And we have come to the final chapter of this story. I have enjoyed writing in this world, and thank you all for your support in this story.
Tony
Over the sound of the engine, Tony barely heard the large sliding door bang open and then close again, signaling that someone had come into his lab.
"Uncle Tony?" came Rebecca's soft voice, as she tried to yell over the sound of the blow torch Tony had in his hand and the multiple machines that were currently working on Tony's newest project. "Are you in here?"
Tony cut on his blow torch off and peered carefully down at the small metal pieces in his gloved hands. "Over here."
"Marco," Rebecca called.
"Polo," Tony answered, and moments later Rebecca stuck her head around a pile of half-forgotten projects and smiled at him. She had the same smile as her father.
"I think it's time you cleaned out the lab again," she said, setting her school bag down and pulling up a stool on the other side of Tony's work table. "This does not meet the fire code. It's like a maze in here."
Tony rolled his eyes and took off the safety mask he had pulled over his head. Rebecca was just like her mother when it came to other people's safety. Georgiana had raised her well.
There honestly wasn't much of Georgiana in Rebecca. Named after Bucky's sister, Rebecca looked strangely like her father. Rebecca had her father's brown hair, light blue eyes, sharp jaw, and mouth. Only Georgiana's nose and freckles had been passed down. Currently, Rebecca sat on her stool in her private school uniform and was leaning on the table in a way that Tony could imagine Bucky would lean. It wasn't just Bucky's looks Rebecca had gotten, it was her manners. Her body language was somehow similar to Bucky's, and her eyes sometimes studied people in the same way Bucky's did. Tony often blamed Rebecca for causing him to actually like her father's presence. Because Tony had loved Rebecca from the moment she had been placed in his arms as a new born fourteen years ago, and she was so much like her father that it was impossible to love her and not understand him.
"I'll tell F.R.I.D.A.Y. to throw out all the forgotten projects tomorrow when I'm not at the tower," said Tony. "Happy?"
"Yep." Rebecca smiled, and hopped cheerfully out of her seat to peer over Tony's shoulder. "What are you working on?"
With his gloved hands, Tony carefully lifted up the burning metal box in his hand. "The newest Stark invention. Right now, you see a box, right?"
Rebecca frowned. "Right."
"But, throw this box at something that is exploding, at it will open to suck up the explosion. I got the idea from watching her mother on missions." Tony lifted it up so Rebecca could have a better look. "Of course, it would only work on little explosions."
"Awesome," said Rebecca, carefully inspecting the side of the small box. "Need any help?"
"Naw," said Tony. "I thought we could work on your wings today."
"Yay!"
Tony loved these small moments in the day. Rebecca was extremely smart, and went to an advanced placement private school in the city. Only fourteen, and Rebecca was already considered to be four grades above her class. After school she would wait at the Stark Tower, usually helping Tony in the lab unless Pepper stole her away, until Georgiana or Bucky finished a mission or a meeting and picked her up to fly home to the cabin where they still lived.
Since Rebecca's birth, and the complete return of Georgiana's powers, Bucky and Georgiana had become the new leaders of the Avengers. The Reviver and Captain America were the two most talked about heroes, and had been for the last ten years.
"Mom said she called you today," said Rebecca.
"She did," Tony put the box down on the table. "Your mom and dad are both on an overnight mission, she asked if you could bunk here tonight."
"Oh." Rebecca's face fell. "Okay."
Tony carefully pulled off his hot gloves. "What, my guest room isn't fancy enough for you anymore?"
Rebecca laughed. "Please, your entire tower is too fancy."
"Shiny is always better than not shiny."
"Can I call Jensen and see if he can come work on his wings, too?" Rebecca asked.
Tony shrugged. He didn't mind Jensen. The boy didn't have Georgiana's high function brain, but he was a good kid. A year younger than Rebecca, Sam's son was Rebecca's closest friend, and they were both currently building themselves wings like the ones used on the Falcon suit. Jensen had been born with Sam's sense of flight, and Rebecca had been born with Georgiana's flawless pilot skills.
"Sure," said Tony, and Rebecca pulled out her phone. "Order pizza while you are on that thing, too."
Rebecca hummed in approval, and disappeared in the maze that was currently his lab and started talking on the phone.
Tony looked down at his hands. His hands were getting old. He was getting old. Old and content and finally happy. He had Pepper. He had Rhodes. He sometimes had Bruce. His health was back, and he had successfully passed down the title of Iron Man. He had his friendship with Georgiana and he even had his awkward friendship with Bucky. He had Rebecca to work on projects with him and challenge his mind, and Sam and Jensen to always bug him. The Stark company was finally doing things that could only ever be used to help people.
Steve would have been happy for him.
Why was it that some people figured out their life right away, and others took years? He felt as if he had been forced to come close to killing the world before he had finally figured out ways to help it.
Rebecca was not going to have that problem. She had Georgiana, and Bucky, and Clint, and Natasha, and Sam. And him. And Tony was never going to let Rebecca have to face her mistakes by herself, the way Tony had always had to face his mistakes.
Georgiana had started Tony's healing process, but Rebecca had finished it. He could not look at that girl without forgiving her father. Tony was finally, finally, at peace.