Bruce pulled up to the lake house that had a big open view of a stream going at the back of the house. It felt so wrong visiting without seeing Tony but Morgan grew very attached to having him around and pepper told him that when he comes for their annual 'playdates' she's less sad so Bruce made it his mission to make sure she smiles every once in a while.
He didn't even get out of his car properly when he was greeted by Morgan almost running him over "hey m" he said cheerfully. Bruce wasn't good at giving kids nicknames so he settled for the first letter of her name
"Hey uncle Bruce" she responds while jumping around him and he notices her eyes are puffy as it always is when he visits. she was a very strong kid he thought, and he bent down to give a tight squeeze and he hoped it made her feel a little better. He moved his arms around her to support her back while he pulled away and tickled the 5 year old, she giggled as she tumbled to the ground "uncl…. wait...uncle Bruce" her shoulders were shaking as she laughed and he stopped to scoop her up in his arms "are you crazy" she said playfully while trying to climb him.
"no, but I'm starting to think you are" he said while carrying her up the porch and asked "where's your mommy"
"she's making brownies for us silly" she laughed and jumped off the minute they stepped inside the house and Bruce stayed put waiting to be welcomed further in the house while Morgan ran to the kitchen and came out with pepper practically being pulled out of her clothes "mommy see, uncle Bruce is here" and pepper composed herself after Morgan let her go.
"yeah honey I heard his car outside" she said smiling and moved to invite him inside "hi bruce" pepper said hugging him and he returned her affection. "hey Pepper"
When they parted from the quick interaction, Bruce heard the pain in Pepper's voice and it didn't look like she'd been sleeping either, he gave her an apologetic look and she answered his silent statement by giving him a tired smile. They all missed Tony, he had a big impact on everyone's lives, everything just felt so out of place, especially for the fact that he missed Natasha just has much and everything aches inside of him constantly, but he pushed all those feelings and emotions aside to try and manage the biggest smile for Morgan's sake
"Can we go play superhero now uncle Bruce?" she asked and he nodded as she pulled him into the living room where she had all her toys displayed on the floor and coffee table. Pepper retreated back to the kitchen and there was no doubt she was in immense pain and he wished Tony could just come back so he could take the pain and heartache away from her and Morgan
"of course we can" he said smiling sitting on the ground with his back pressed again the couch, smiling as she handed him a variety of toys
"okay now those are yours and we're going to fight each other" she said smirking knowing she had all the good toys, she always did this when they played and Bruce always let her win, not that he had much of a fighting chance but he agreed like he always does and set this team down on the coffee table mirroring hers. He had a winnie the pooh, a plushie of a ladybug, tinkerbell, a barbie with one arm and three other fairies he noticed from the Winx club when he came over and she'd make him watch it with her. Her team was ready and standing with lilo and stitch, Elsa and olaf, Tigger, and at the very end iron man. He smiled when he saw Tony's toy and thought his team wouldn't stand a stance now.
Yes, Morgan was beating him again. Bruce was laughing as she tried to impersonated Tony and took down his last team member "Friday, I need extra booster repulsors to take down barbie how far along are we" she said and made explosive noises as she ended off the battle
"How do you manage to beat me everytime time" Bruce said, sounding like a sore loser and watched as pepper stood in the doorway with a plate of brownies and holding her laugh back as she set it down on the table
"Okay I think you had enough winning for today Morgan… look how you're making Bruce cry" she said and they all laughed at that and she left and returned quickly with chocolate milkshakes
"Yay! thanks mommy" Morgan said and pepper smiled gesturing for Bruce to have some and turned to leave
"I love mommy's brownies" she said taking a big bite and Bruce laughed at how she kept filling her mouth till she couldn't speak.
"mhm I can see" Bruce said shoulders now shaking with laughter and watched her slurp at the milkshake
"m, you know 11 years ago after I met your dad for the first time when we fought all those crazy aliens…. we ate shawarma and he ate exactly the same way" he laughed sadly while telling the story and watched as she moved to sit in front of him
"Mommy said I eat like him too, especially when I eat a cheeseburger" the tears formed fast in her eyes and Bruce wondered if telling the story was a bad idea.
"Morgan I'm so sorry" he said getting up to sit on the couch and pull her in for a hug as she made the softest of noises and he felt her tears sink on his t-shirt. "it's okay m….i wish I could take away the pain, im sorry"
"can't you bring daddy back like...he brought everyone….everyone else back" she asked and he heard the pain in her voice as she struggled to speak and Bruce wanted the earth to open up and swallow him whole when he couldn't give her the answer she wanted.
"I'm sorry Morgan….if I could….he'd already be here" he said as his own tears now formed in his eyes
"do you miss him too" her question brought so many memories flooding back of him and Tony joking in the lab and driving to science exhibitions and all the lunches and dinners they've had together.
"everyday" he breathe.
"me too, sometimes I think I hear him at night in my room and then I cry and go to sleep next to mommy" tears now rolling down her face at the speed of lightning.
"sssshhh it's okay m, it's alright…." Bruce exhaled saldy and wished to take away all the pain she's been put in because no child should feel like this, he remembers when he lost his mother when he was around her age and it felt like shit so he knew what she was going through. He lifted her head as he speaks "remember Morgan….your dad was the strongest man I knew, and all he ever wanted was for the world to be safe and he left….knowing it'll be a better place…..for you"
"it'll be a better place if he was here uncle bruce" she said as she pushed her head against his chest again and he picked her up and soothed her while he circled the space in the living room until her sobs got quieter and quieter and he saw she had fallen asleep with her tears dried on her face.
"I know m, it would be'' he breathed as he walked to the kitchen, with Morgan in his arms, only to be shown pepper crying her eyes out over at the sink. she must've heard their whole conversation, Pepper turned around and was frightened when she saw him standing there and moved to the counter as she cleared her throat.
"um.. hey.. she fall asleep" pepper asked and he gave her a knowing look to tell her it's okay to cry and she moved to take Morgan and Bruce let her, Pepper walked upstairs quietly laid Morgan down and came back down to see Bruce out, except when she saw him wipe his eyes the minute she entered the kitchen again her first instinct was to hug him and she did.
He hugged her back and pulled away after a good few seconds. "I wish I could say he's just being dramatic and that he'll show up in his suit any minute but…."
"yeah I know" pepper said sadly "sometimes I wake up and think he'll be downstairs working on a project overnight but…"
Bruce gave her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder and smiled sadly. She walked him to the porch and watched as he walked to car door and stopped before he opened it and turned to her "he'll be back" is all he says and gets in his car, starts the engine and pulls out.
Pepper hugs her middle tightly and whispers to herself "he'll be back"
