*Endgame spoilers. Trigger warning. You know the deal.*

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Morgan knew the second she stepped through her front door that she was in for it. She knew the second her mother didn't text her as she was on her way home like she always did, that she was done for. Although today more than ever, she couldn't care less about what her mom had to say to her, or what she was going to take away or lecture her for – because for once, Morgan H. Stark, was DONE.

She was sick and tired of being pushed around at school for being fatherless, sick and tired of hearing teachers yap her ears off, and sick and tired of having to be Morgan Stark.

Tears threatened her eyes as she tossed her Adidas backpack carelessly across the room, which ended with the pack opening and spilling her schoolbooks across the carpet. Currently, she wanted nothing more than to take a match to the books and watch them burn – highschool had been giving her such a hard time, and for once Morgan severely regretted enrolling in all AP classes. Her head felt like it was split in two, and her chocolate eyes were clouded over with exhaust to the point where she could barely see straight.

With a sigh and an aggravated groan, the teenager stormed up to her bedroom and slammed the door shut, falling face-first onto her bed where she proceeded to scream into her pillow.

She was more than surprised when a light knock rapped on her door, sounding soft and in no need of hurry. Her mother must've heard her slam the door.

"Not now Mom!" she snapped over her shoulder from the bed before digging her head back into the pillow.

The door opened anyway to reveal the blonde widow of Anthony Stark, her hair starting to grey in several places and her face developing the occasional wrinkle. Despite that, Pepper looked amazing for her age, something that would forever fascinate Morgan.

"I said not now, Mom!" the daughter repeated into her pillow, angry that her mother had ignore her protests.

"Morgan, we have to talk," the blonde spoke sternly, knitting her eyebrows together as she sat on the foot of Morgan's bed. When Morgan neither moved nor responded, Pepper felt the need to speak again. "Morgan, sit up please. I'm talking to you."

"Go away," she mumbled in response. "I don't want to talk."

She heard her mother sigh before she said, "that wasn't a question. Come on, please listen to your mother."

Morgan didn't respond, and instead whined into her pillow, still refusing to budge. She didn't want to face her mom right now, mostly because she knew that she'd get pounded for dropping another letter-grade down in math. That, and her head was throbbing beyond possible comprehension, which made it hard to understand much of what was being said. Her mom's words were nothing but jumbled noises crowded into her brain.

"Please cooperate Morgan," her mother spoke again, sounding desperate. "This is about your-"

"Grades? Yeah, thought so," Morgan finally shot back, flipping over on the bed with an eye roll.

"Listen, young lady, don't you give me any sass," her mother warned with a frown.

"Or else what? You'll take away my phone like the last three-hundred times?" the teen snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

Pepper looked taken aback, her mouth hung open for a few brief seconds before she straightened her shoulders and pointed a finger warningly at her daughter. "Morgan Howard Stark," she started. The brunette rolled her eyes yet again, knowing another lecture was to follow. Here we go again. "You know better than to talk back to your parents!"

"Parent," she corrected, with strong emphasis on the 't.'

Her mother's face went red as frustration was soon replaced with instant anger. For a moment, Morgan was still – she regretted the word as soon as it left her mouth. She was surprised she'd even said it; brought up something so delicate to the both of them and used it in a venomous way.

"Mom, I-"

Her mom silenced her with her hand, closing her eyes for a moment, a sign that she was trying to keep her composure. "Morgan, we've discussed this," she eventually pressed on. "I told you that if you ever needed help in school, you could ask me or Peter. We're here to help you."

Morgan's apologetic gaze fell when she realized that her mother had dodged the offensive comment. She would've expected her mom – who was normally so sensitive when it came to that subject – to come at her, grounding her instantly and cutting her off from the world for months. Or worse, ban her from going into the garage. Yet she had reacted in no such way. Morgan was surprised.

The daughter cleared her throat as she readied a response, not entirely sure of what to say. "Well, I don't need any help."

Pepper scoffed, a look of doubt crossing her face. "Really? Because your grades sing a different song entirely."

Morgan massaged her aching temples, feeling frustrated and tired. "Mom, I told you, I don't need any help in school. It was my choice to enroll in the AP classes! I'm fine, I've got it under control."

"Not from where I'm standing," her mom fired back. Morgan opened and closed her mouth as a pause fell upon them, neither woman interested in sharing their wounding thoughts that would do nothing but worsen the situation.

Her mom ended the silent moment when she spoke again with a deep sigh. "Honey, you know I just want what's best for you, right?"

With a heavy sigh, the teenager replied. "Yes."

"Then you understand why I'm upset. You're smart kiddo, you've got your father's head. All I'm trying to do is keep you on track."

"I know Mom," she answered weakly. "But school's been rough lately, and it's . . . it's not just because of the hard work."

Almost instantly, Pepper's face fell as her ocean blue eyes glistened with worry. "What? What's wrong?"

Morgan gulped, struggling with confessing all the horrible things that had been happening to the daughter of the great Tony Stark. Truth was, those harmless comments about her dad and those stupid jokes about what a failure Morgan was compared to Iron Man hurt more than she was willing to admit. Though she hid it well, underneath her supposedly thick skin she was hurting, wounded by the words those idiots had spoken.

"Nothing, it's just . . . there are some kids at school that aren't exactly the nicest people in the world. They said some things that kinda bothered me, and so my grades sort of dropped because of it. It's no big deal, I got over it."

Pepper scooted closer to her daughter, resting a hand on her shoulder. Her voice rose an octave when she spoke again, visibly disturbed but what her seemingly well-rounded daughter was telling her. "It certainly doesn't seem like 'no big deal!' Morgan, what are they saying to you?"

The brunette's eyes fell as she toyed with her fingers, unable to find the courage to speak up. She hated recalling those terrible moments in her head – it reopened wounds that took months to heal. Worst part was, those horrible comments hit close to home; she truly felt like a disappointment – a person who wasn't worthy of succeeding someone like her father.

"No it's . . . it's fine, really. It wasn't much, they weren't like, like bullying me, they were just joking around. It's okay, I'm fine."

Her mother shifted uncomfortably. "Clearly, you're not, and those kids are bothering you."

Morgan shook her head with a nervous laugh, wiping her eyes that had since shed tears down her freckled cheeks. "No . . . I-I shouldn't have said anything . . ."

"Morgan," her mother spoke, voice caught somewhere between worried sick and overbearingly sad. "This clearly upsets you, I can see it on your face . . . but I'm not going to force you to tell me if it hurts too much. Just please know that you can always, always, always, ALWAYS, tell me anything. Anything at all. I'm here for you, honey. That's what a mother's for."

Morgan nodded slowly, sniffling. "I know. They just . . ." Morgan took a deep breath, closing her eyes softly, preparing herself to burst into tears. Her mother had a right to know what was going on – she just felt bad she hadn't told her sooner. When she spoke again, her voice was shaky and unsure. "They . . . they said some . . . some really bad things about Dad, and . . . it really hurt me because . . . because they called me a failure and told me I could never become anything as special as him, a-and it h-hurt . . . it felt like s-someone had stabbed me right in the heart, because . . . because I know that I'll never be as great as him, or as s-smart as him, and the truth hurt so bad, mama, it hurt so, so bad." By the end, her head had fallen into her hands, as she sobbed openly, tears streaming down her face. Her mother had taken her under her arm, pulling her close as she gently kissed the top of Morgan's head.

"Oh honey," Pepper whispered. Though Morgan couldn't see her, she could hear in her mother's voice that she was crying too. "Why didn't you tell me sooner, baby girl?"

"I-I'm sorry, Mom, I'm sorry," she wept, crying heavily against her mother's shoulder, her lungs heaving.

"Oh Morgan," Pepper uttered softly, before she took her daughter's face into her hands and forced her eyes to meet her own. When Morgan opened her eyes, they were met with the image of Pepper Potts with tears streaming freely down her cheeks, yet her face remained strong and determined. "Morgan," her mother spoke, voice stern and serious. "You listen to me, okay? Don't you ever, EVER let anyone hurt you like that, you hear me? You are better than all of those people combined, and by god, I know you're going to be something wonderful someday, no matter what path you choose to go down. And you know what, your father would be so proud of you, Morgan. You have no idea . . . you're turning out just exactly like him – someone who's considerate, thoughtful, so goddamn smart and willing to die to protect who you love. That's an amazing person. Th-that's exactly what your dad was. So those jerks are wrong, you understand? They're dead wrong, because even if you turned out to be half the person Tony was, you'd still be the greatest of them all." Pepper paused, stuttering and sniffling just as her daughter was. Her voice fell to a whisper again. "He watches over you, my little girl. He lives in your heart. You are here to carry on his legacy. Not me, not Uncle Rhodey, not Sam Wilson or Dr. Banner. You . . . you're the face of the future, the hope for the next generation. And whether you realize it yet or not, you're destined to be a hero. It's in your blood."

Speechless, Morgan dried her eyes with her sleeves. While she still couldn't fully believe what her mom had said, she at least felt better than she had before.

Maybe . . . maybe her mom was partially right – maybe Morgan didn't fully realize what she was meant to do. Maybe she would find out, somehow, someday, sometime. But until then, all she could do was hope that the name-calling and crude jokes would end. At least now, she felt better knowing her mom knew about it. Really, Morgan loved her mom to the moon and back – she'd done the best that she could in raising a crazy kid, and Pepper would forever have her respect for that.

"Mom?"

"Yes dear?"

"I love you both three-thousand."

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So that ending was utter C R A P, sorry about that. Originally this was going to be an entirely different oneshot with the same beginning but an entirely different ending. Anyhow, thanks for reading, i hope you were able to enjoy and didn't die too much :D