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July 4th 2023. Harley’s POV The glare of the screen burned my eyes as i stared at the date. July 4th. Today was so many things. Independence Day (Not that that meant much in Wakanda). It was Steve’s 105th birthday. And it marked nine years since I’d lost my mom. I bit back my tears and looked back down at my project, suddenly finding myself unable to concentrate. It felt like there was a Cinderblock in my chest and I couldn’t even turn to the one person I always did on this day. for the first time in eight years, Tony wasn’t there. And nobody could tell if he ever would be again. He was the first non-super-powered person in the known universe to use all six infinity stones and survive even two minutes, let alone two months. I put my head in my hands and sighed heavily, trying my hardest not to cry. Tony and Steve were more my dads than either my biological one or Tyrone ever were. A fact that could still come to haunt me, If I couldn’t bring myself to say it aloud before it was too late. The door opened behind me and Shuri walked in, “Aren’t you going to dinner?” she asked. “Dinner?” “White wolf showed up earlier, he’s pretty much dragged Captain Rogers and your siblings to a restaurant. I thought you’d be going too.” “Oh, right. Do i still have time? Or am I late?” “If you go right now, you won’t be.” “Thanks Shuri.” I said, hurrying out the door. leaving the princess muttering something about “White boys.” in my wake. Little did she know, I wasn’t heading to the restaurant, but the hospital. Steve would likely have a hard enough time celebrating his birthday without me bringing the mood down even further. This however, was my chance to have a few moments with Tony. Alone. The tears began burning the back of my eyes the second i saw him lying there, intubated, half his face hidden by bandages. The beeps of his heart rate and the artificially induced breaths keeping time with each other in an eerie cadence. Even after two months, Tony still showed no sign of waking up from the coma. I sank into a chair beside him and saw all the little signs of the rest of my family scattered about the room. Steve’s compass tucked into Tony’s good hand. A crayon drawing from Morgan and Sarah in a homemade macaroni frame on the sidetable, propped up against Melanie’s pencil case. Peter’s favourite hoodie draped over the end of the bed, even Hiro and Tadashi’s San Fransokyo Institute of Technology Baseball cap hung from the top of Iv pole. Hesitantly, I reached out and took Tony’s good hand in mine. It was limp and still. But it was solid. Warm. Alive. I hadn’t been sure it would be. I hadn’t been sure it would stay that way. The weight in my palm, the warmth under my fingertips, was the tangible reassurance I needed to believe it. “Tony?” I asked quietly, “It’s me. Harley. I… I don’t know if you can hear me or not. But I figured i might as well talk to you. I mean, we’re still connected, right?” Silence. “You’ve been asleep for a little over two months now. Today’s the fourth of July. Steve’s birthday. and I know you’d be making jokes about the fact he’s… well, technically speaking he’s 105. And… you know what else today is.” My voice cracked when i broached the subject. “Today’s been hard. It’s the first time in a long time, I haven’t had you to tell me it’s gonna be okay.”