it's cold. and dark. two elements that seem to coincide far too often for any one person's mental health.

there might be fog, or smoke, or some otherworldly substance that resembles both, but for the most part there is just cold and dark.

and quiet.

he's falling through it all, through the cold and dark and quiet, heading nowhere, left to exist in eternal limbo where existence was irrelevant because there is nothing, no one, there is no way back to her-

but it's not so cold now.

He awakens with a start, sweat dampening his brow and all the bed's blankets kicked to the floor, but there is still warmth curled into him in a particular spot.

Scott looks down, blinks uncomprehendingly at the brown fuzz underneath his chin that had most certainly not been there when he had gone to sleep.

"Cassie?" his voice quavered slightly despite his attempts to keep it steady, and she shifted her tiny body slightly, murmured something indistinct before going still again.

His brows furrowed as he thought back to bedtime, tucking his daughter into bed with her ugliest birthday present snuggled in her arms what felt like only five minutes ago, keeping her door cracked open just in case he was needed sometime during the night.

Then he'd gone to his own room, laid down…

'I must've made a sound,' he realized, mortified. 'Probably woke her up… Oh man, if Sam had heard that..!' He shuddered at the thought.

He quickly froze when Cassie rubbed her face against his shirt, mumbling something about zombie rainbow sprinkles.

A gentle squeeze enveloped his heart as he poked her affectionately in the cheek, earning him an unconscious but no less indignant snort, which made him grin.

'Aw, baby, looking after your old man already?' he thought morosely, burrowing his face in her hair with a sigh. 'You shouldn't have to, but who am I to refuse a cuddle buddy?'

Cassie awoke with a muffled squeak in her mouth and the memory of her father disappearing into a speck of light alongside a crazy glowing yellow man bright behind her eyelids.

"You're my bestest friend!" exclaimed Ugly Rabbit, and she pressed her face into his dingy fur, feeling tears prickle the corners of her eyes.

'Don't cry. Superheroes don't cry…' She won the battle, if barely.

Sniffling mightily, she blinked watery eyes at her bedroom, newly installed into Avengers Tower courtesy of Iron Man of all people, and couldn't help but feel very small indeed.

Smaller than Ant-Man even, which was not a comforting thought after the dream she'd just had.

So, with a whimper and the squeak of bedsprings, Cassie slid off her bed and tiptoed to her cracked open door, peeking out into the hall to see if anyone was there.

Seeing the coast was clear, she crossed the hall to her father's room and entered without waiting to see if he was awake, grip tight around Ugly Rabbit but light enough not to activate his catchphrase again.

"Daddy-!" she started as the door slid shut behind her, but the moan from the bed stopped her in her tracks.

Asleep and twitching, Daddy fretfully twisted this way and that across the expensive silk sheets that were on every bed in the Tower, the same sheets that earlier he had gleefully rubbed on her face when she had happily declared them too soft for this galaxy.

Alarmed, Cassie crept closer, biting her lip when daddy whined in his sleep again, like he was afraid of something.

What could he be afraid of? He was an Avenger; Avengers didn't get scared. Unless…

Cassie's eyes widened.

Daddy was afraid of the glowing man coming back and taking him away again! That had to be it!

With a resolute scowl on her face, Cassie clambered up onto the bed, placing Ugly Rabbit on the nightstand where he couldn't wake Daddy up with his noise, and settled against her father's chest, hugging him as tight as she could and closing her eyes.

'Don't worry, Daddy. I won't let the bad man get you. I won't let you disappear again.'

A/N: ALL THE LANG FAMILY FEELSSS :')
~Persephone