#tony stark sad

I’m Still Your Sunshine (Tony Stark x Daughter!Reader)

Description: A continuation of the songfic “Sunshine” which follows the events of endgame.

Author’s note: hi guys. So I worked really, really hard on this piece, and honestly, I think it turned out really nice. This is the second verse of “You are my Sunshine,” which is kind of a response to the first verse, so that’s how I treated it, with the entire thing in your POV. I really hope you all like it!

I’m still your sunshine

It came back slow, the feeling of being alive – almost like waking up from a deep sleep just as the sun began to rise, shining through the window of your bedroom.  It’s the kind of sleep that leaves you feeling simply refreshed in the morning and ready to take on the day.

Unfortunately, that peace was rather short-lived; it left the moment I remembered what had happened – the moment I remembered leaving my dad.

Quickly, I shot upright, panic coursing through my veins as I whipped back and forth, searching for my father.  Quick, shallow breaths got shorter and shorter by the second, my vision getting more and more blurry when I couldn’t find him right away. 

He couldn’t have died, not him.  He was way too stubborn to not figure out a way to survive.  Right? Right?!

A hand rested on my shoulder, and immediately I jumped around, arms flailing to try and land a hit on the intruder.

“(Y/N), it’s just me!” the voice sounded like it was coming from far away, on the shore of the ocean where I was drowning.  There was no air, no light. I couldn’t find my way out.  I was scared. I just wanted to see my dad.

I had to find him.  He’ll definitely save me, just like he always has – just like he promised he always would.

“(Y/N), it’s me, it’s Peter!  Just calm down, ok?!”

Peter.

I knew Peter.  He was the one that dad recruited.  I hated him at first, when he’d stolen my spot in the Civil War, but it didn’t take long for him to weasel his way into becoming one of my best friends.

Little by little, my breathing started to slow down. Suddenly, I could feel Peter’s arms around me, keeping me as close as possible until I calmed down. And… my cheeks felt wet, too. I must’ve been crying.

“It’s ok, I’ve got you,” Peter murmured, refusing to loosen his grip on me for a second.  I could only nod into his shoulder as I tried to focus simply on calming down.

Your only sunshine

I glanced over at everyone else, each of them alive and standing just like I was.  But… how?  And more importantly, how long were we all away?

“Five years.”  He seemed to read my mind.  Was that one of Dr. Strange’s powers?  I didn’t think so, but then again, he wasn’t exactly forthcoming with a lot of information.

“My dad?” My voice was hoarse and sounded foreign as I asked about the only thing I really cared about.

“He needs our help,” he stated simply.  Ugh, that was just like him, wasn’t it?

“Whatever he needs,” I answered confidently, straightening up and lifting my chin to stare at the man before me.  I could see Peter nod out of the corner of my eye as well as all of the – what did they call themselves?  The Guardians of the Galaxy? Oh well, it didn’t matter as long as they were willing to help my dad.

Dr. Strange opened one of those weird yellow circles that he loved so much, and before long, we were jumping through it and onto what looked like a massive battlefield, surrounded by every ally I could have ever imagined.

Still, I was focused on one thing and one thing only: Steve Rogers, the man who used to think of as an uncle until he decided to betray my father.  The man who was standing alone.

I managed to catch his eye for a second, but before I could even say anything, he had turned away.  It looked like I would have to find my dad on my own.

“AVENGERS!” Steve summoned Mjolnir… wait, WHAT? “…assemble.”  Ok, I’ll figure it out later.  Time to fight.

I’ll always love you

The fight was unbelievable.  I almost couldn’t tell where one side began and the other side ended.  Really, I was just focused on hitting anything that looked gross, which was actually working pretty well.

Suddenly, everything stopped.

It.. it was him.  He was right there, hugging Peter, and he was ok!

“Dad!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, fresh tears stinging my eyes.  Immediately, he looked up and our eyes met.

I started running so hard that I almost fell a few times as my feet struggled to keep up.  My chest was tight, each breath fighting to get through the sobs trapped in my throat. But I didn’t care about all of that. All I cared about was seeing him again.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I was crashing into his arms.  Together, the two of us sank to the ground.  I could feel him sobbing just as hard as I was as he held me as tight as he could, almost as if he was afraid to let me go again. I wouldn’t even dream of complaining, though. I felt the exact same way.

“I-I thought you were gone,” I gasped shakily, my hands clutching onto anything they could hold to remind myself that he was still there, still with me.

“I would never leave you, sunshine.  I’m right here, I promise,” he muttered, pressing a long kiss to the top of my head.  “It’s ok.  We’re ok.”

Though I’m away

I wanted to stay like that forever, but we both knew it couldn’t happen.  Eventually we would have to keep fighting.  No matter what, we had to win.

“Scott, how long you need to get that thing working?” My dad was the one who broke the fantasy.  Quickly, I wiped my eyes, and together, we stood back up just in time to see a passing Dr. Strange.

“Hey!” I snapped, stopping the wizard in his tracks.  “You said one out of 14 million, we win, yeah?  Tell me this is it!”

He frowned and glanced at my dad before turning back to me.  “If I tell you what happens, it won’t happen.”  I searched deeper into his eyes, looking for the cryptic meaning behind his words. There was something there that I couldn’t figure out, but whatever it was, it made me sick to my stomach.

“You better be right,” my dad nodded, laying a hand on my shoulder.  I glanced up at him, worried.

Something didn’t feel right.

I’m still your sunshine

It was a mad dash for the gauntlet.  The flying woman had it for a while, but she lost it when a rusty old van exploded, and now, it was lying on the ground.

Run.  I had to run.  I couldn’t let Thanos get there first.

My dad covered me and tackled the massive, wrinkly grape, but I wasn’t really paying attention.  All I was focused on was the piece of metal lying just a few feet away.  I finally reached it, but just before I could grab it, I was sent flying by a large purple hand.

I gritted my teeth together and forced myself back to my feet just in time to see Strange holding up one finger – a warning but also a reassurance.  We could still win.

I screamed and raced forward, tackling Thanos while dad yanked on the gauntlet, but before I could even hope to rip it off his hand, he punched us both away.

I couldn’t believe it.  We… we lost.  “I am… inevitable.”  I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for it to happen all over again.  Waiting for that terrible cold feeling to come back.

“And I… am… Iron Man.”  My eyes snapped back open to see my dad with a gauntlet of his own.

And he snapped.

And it was all over.

Just only yours dear

After a while of staring in wonder as Thanos’s entire army turned to dust around us, we all came to the same incredible realization.

We really did it.

We actually won.

I turned to my dad, a wide smile on my face, ready to hug him, congratulate him on winning the war for us and probably throw in a few jabs about how he always has to be the biggest hero.  Then I saw him. And suddenly, my smile disappeared.

I dragged myself numbly back to my feet, staring at my father where he sat, burns covering the entire right half of his body. If felt like there was a bubble in my chest, pushing against my heart and lungs and stomach. I kept waiting it to fill with terror or anger or grief or something, but it merely sat there. Like it was just waiting to be popped.

Peter ran past me on my right, and I stumbled a bit.  I think it was Bucky, or maybe it was Sam, who helped me back to my feet.  I didn’t really care who it was. I just kept walking.

I heard FRIDAY say something along the lines of, “Life functions critical,” but it didn’t really register above the ringing sound that was banging against the inside of my skull.

I fell to my knees next to Pepper in front of him, my entire body shaking as I took in just how bad it really was – as I realized that my dad, my hero and my constant savior, wasn’t going to make it.

“Hey, sunshine,” he whispered.

I took a deep, shaky breath in, forcing back tears.  I didn’t want his last moments to be spent seeing me cry.  He hated it when I cried. Somehow, he always thought it was his fault when it never really was. “Hey, dad,” I smiled a bit, though we both knew it was fake.  “Everyone’s fine now.  We’re ok, thanks to you.”  My voice broke as the lump in my throat grew overwhelming, keeping me from saying anything more.

Pepper nodded, her hand laid gently on top of my own.  “We’re gonna be ok.  You can rest now.”

There we sat, watching as the arc reactor in his chest flickered off. Watching as the life left my dad’s eyes.  Pepper started crying on his shoulder, but I could only sit back and stare at the man who’d raised me, who had given everything to me, suddenly gone.

And I was alone.

And I’m coming home someday

It was a nice funeral — classy, of course, considering Pepper was the one who put it together.  But it still didn’t change the fact that the greatest man I’d ever known — the greatest man this world had ever seen — was gone.

I felt a slight tug on my hand, and I glanced down to see my younger sister – part of me still couldn’t believe I actually had a little sister.  She was staring up at me with wide eyes, curious eyes that looked frighteningly similar to dad’s. She probably didn’t even understand what was going on.  Then again, she was her father’s daughter, so she’s probably a genius.

“What’s up, Morgan?” I struggled to smile at least a little bit, crouching down so I could be at her level.

“I’m hungry,” she said simply.

I chuckled a bit.  “How ‘bout you and I go get some cheeseburgers?” She nodded back.  “Dad always did love those things, huh?” I asked absentmindedly as I led her past the crowd, ducking to avoid the endless stares of pity that followed us, and back inside the little cabin. It was just like the one he used to always dream about taking me to when everything was over — when we wouldn’t have to be heroes anymore.  

“We can get as many cheeseburgers as you want, okay?”

“Okay.”

We ate lunch together.  She was a good kid. I could tell.  And from the moment I first saw her, I made a promise to myself and to my dad that I would protect her since he couldn’t any more, and it seemed like she understood.  In no time at all, we had become inseparable.

After lunch, she started yawning, so I took her to her room for a nap.  I hesitated a moment after I had tucked her in.  I didn’t want to leave just yet. “Hey, how about a lullaby?”

Morgan nodded, and I smiled, settling in next to her so she could lay her head on my lap.

The familiar lullaby left my lips like it was nothing.  I was singing my dad’s part – the part that had gotten me through some of the worst times in my life.  It had ended far too quickly. I wanted to stay longer, to be with her. But before I could even think of getting out of the bed, I heard it.

Morgan’s little voice drifting through the bedroom with the same response to the song my dad had taught me so long ago, stopping me in my tracks.  

I felt something wet rolling down my cheeks.

I… I was crying.

For the first time since the day of the battle, I was crying.  But somehow, I wasn’t too sad. No, it felt more like a reassurance — like suddenly I knew that everything was going to be ok.

I snapped out of my trance long after the song had finished and glanced fondly down at my little sister, who was already half asleep by then.

“I love you,” she mumbled tiredly.

I smiled and laid a gentle hand on her head, smoothing her hair away from her face.

“I love you, too, sunshine.”

Yes I’ll be coming home someday