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The sight that greets Pepper at the hospital has the woman placing a hand over her heart. When Tony had texted her to say that Ada was awake, she literally dropped her breakfast and rushed to get here as fast as she could.

She smiles sadly as she comes to sit beside the bed. Ada is out cold, leaning against Tony's chest, her hand gripping his shirt tightly even in her sleep. He'd sent her another brief message explaining how the girl had gotten so upset they had to give her something to calm her down.

"I should've been here." She sighs heavily while brushing some hair out of Ada's face.

"No," Tony shakes his head softly. "You couldn't have known."

"Well, you shouldn't have had to tell her on your own."

"I couldn't wait." He mumbles, running his hand over the top of Ada's head. "She knew, I could see it in her eyes. She needed me to confirm it as much as she didn't want to hear it."

Wiping her eyes, Pepper nods before asking. "Other than that, did she seem...okay?"

"Confused," Tony whispers even if his voice won't awaken the girl. "Took her a minute to remember my name. Slurred her words a bit. I guess that shouldn't be surprising."

"She'll be okay." Pepper mutters. Tony isn't sure if she's talking to him or herself.

"She'll be okay." He repeats, placing a kiss to the side of his kid's head.

It's hours later when Ada stirs from her slumber. Tony hasn't moved from his place on the bed. He couldn't have even if he wanted. Ada's fist hadn't let go of his shirt once.

Pepper notices first as Tony is half asleep himself. She sits forward, setting her book aside and placing a soft hand on the girl's arm. "Hey, sweetie," She speaks quietly, getting Tony's attention while Ada detaches her hand from his shirt to rub her eyes.

Ada mumbles something that neither adult can understand. It takes a moment, her brain still waking up but they can see when she remembers. Tony, some selfish part of him had hoped she would forget the last time she woke up if it meant he could keep her from feeling that pain just a little while longer.

Her lips wobbles and she squeezes her eyes shut, obviously trying her best not to cry. Pepper grabs a tissue from the side table and sits on the edge of the bed. She whispers softly to the girl as the wipes her cheeks before offering her a new tissue. Ada takes it, weakly removes the tube from under her nose to wipe it.

"S-sorry." She whispers and Pepper shakes her head.

"No, honey, don't apologize. It's okay." Pepper tells the teenager, her own voice strained as she holds back her own emotions. Leaning forward, Pepper wraps her arms around the girl as best she can and Ada returns the hug with her good arm, crying into the woman's shoulder while Tony sets a hand on her back.

Pepper and Tony share a mournful look over Ada's head. This was their kid. She may be a little broken right now, but they would both stay by her side and help her put herself back together.

Ada is much more coherent the next day. Her words still slur but she doesn't speak much. It took her three minutes to remember Pepper's name and when Dr. Anderson came in, he had to reintroduce himself.

Now Pepper is talking to her about anything, trying to keep the teenager's mind off things. She's not sure if it's working as Ada just stares forward, her fingers fiddling with the edge of her blanket.

"The others want to see you." She approaches the topic a little more hesitantly. They informed everyone later yesterday that she'd awoken but told them it wasn't a good time to visit.

"Others?" Ada turns to look at Pepper with furrowed brows, blinking to clear her vision.

"Yeah," Pepper sighs calmly, reminding herself silently that this was okay. Normal. That Ada would get better, stop forgetting the people closest to her so easily. "Peter, MJ, Ned," She lists off, hoping to see recognition in the teenager's eyes and trying not to get discouraged when she doesn't. "Sam, Nat, Steve. The list goes on."

"Not t-today," Ada mumbles, turning her eyes down to her lap. "If-f...t-hat's okay."

"Of course that's okay." Pepper nods even though Ada isn't looking at her. She had wanted so badly for Ada to wake up and was grateful she had, but the blank look in her eyes was nearly as hard to see as when they were closed.

The door opens and Tony strides in, two cups balanced atop each other in one hand, the other holding two jell-O cups. "How are my two favorite girls?" He asks while allowing Pepper to take the top cup. "These are strawberry, not cherry." He says without waiting for an answer, setting the red colored food down on the table.

"You're...allergic t-to...stra-strawberries?" The thought randomly pops into Ada's head, the words escaping her mouth before she could really think about them. She turns to look at Pepper in question.

"Yes," Pepper actually chuckles with a nod. "That's right. And this idiot here bought me some once."

"Yeah, that was my bad," Tony mumbles but can't stop his own lips from pulling up into a smile. "But enough about me, you need to eat something, kid."

"N-not..." Sighing, Ada looks back down at her hands. She can barely move her right one. The cast covers her entire forearm and slides down onto most of her hand. "Hun-gry."

"Nope," Tony shakes his head. He understands this behavior. She's sad, frustrated, and stubborn. Not a good combination. She might not feel hungry but she needs to eat. "You said that yesterday and I let it go but you gotta eat today."

When Ada doesn't speak, Tony moves to set on the bed beside her and lifts her chin with his finger. She's biting her bottom lip, eyes glassy. "I know, honey," He whispers softly, wiping away a tear that falls. "Take a deep breath." Tony nods encouragingly when she does. "You'll feel better if you eat something, okay? Just try."

Giving a small nod, Ada takes the Jell-O, determined to open it on her own. It takes much longer than it would've before, but she succeeds and accepts the plastic spoon handed to her.

She hadn't lied when she said she wasn't hungry before. She really hadn't felt hungry but after the first bite of gel-like substance, Ada feels the pit that has become her stomach. She eats both cups of Jell-O.

She's tires easily. Ms. Potts and Mr. Stark both tell her it's okay to sleep and she wants to protest but can't control her eyelids as they slide shut.

Dreams don't find her, only darkness before Ada is once again blinking her eyes open. Her vision barely clears. It's annoying. Someone is with her. Mr. Stark, her mind takes to long to present the name to her.

She's grateful they're here for her, but she just wants them to leave her alone for a while. But she doesn't voice these thoughts. It would be rude. But why did it matter?

Before Ada can answer her own question, Tony looks up to see she's awake and he offers her a smile. "Hey, kiddo, how are you feeling?"

Opening her mouth, Ada takes a breath and searches for a good answer. "Sh-shitty." She settles on.

Tony snorts at her answer, happier than he ever thought he could be at such a simple word. It was just so Ada. Something he hadn't seen much of since she woke up. "Any pain?"

Humming, Ada closes her eyes to focus on her body. She feels weird, stiff, and like she needs to stretch really badly but no pain other than the dull ache in the side of her head. "Wh-where's...?"

"Pepper? She went home to shower, do a few other things."

"Y-you ca-can..." Ada would've rolled her eyes at herself if she didn't know it would hurt. "too."

"What? You tired of my company already?" That makes Ada's lips twitch and Tony takes that as a win.

"N-never."

"Good, cause I'm not going anywhere." He says it lightly but the words mean a lot. To both of them.

Sigh...I've got the next five chapters written, I do believe. So, yeah, working on more after that. I can't believe this little one-shot turned into this big story. It's thanks to you guys. You're all amazing!

Sorry for any mistakes and stuff ^

Teaser: "I hate you,"