Alpas

Chapter 28

Sneaking away from the Avengers was harder than I thought. I had to turn my phone off as soon as I got my ride called for. Make it to my plane. Then head to see Helen. They almost caught up with me a few times.

As I change into one of Mac's uniforms, I look at myself in the mirror and smile. Gosh I miss this. Just the feeling the suit gives me. It's amazing.

I miss the feeling my powers would give me as well. The way I could feel them coursing through my veins. It was comforting. Like, with them there, I knew I was never alone. But with the team, I never feel alone. So it almost evens itself out.

I finally feel the plane landing, and I am out and in the cab as soon as it does. I want to get this over with as fast as possible. And hopefully I'll be able to come up with an excuse to the team before I get back.

"Mackenzie. What's going on?" Helen asks as soon as I'm out of the cab.

"Something is wrong with the chip. I'm not sure what. But I was in an explosion, not by my choice of course and I'm not sure if it's cracked or if it just was shuffled around but my neck is in so much pain." I ramble on for a minute as she drags me to her lab.

"I thought that this chip was your end game? What made you change your mind?"

"I thought it was too. But I still have to help people. I just do so without my powers now. It gets complicated." I sigh as she whirls around me, scanning my neck, checking my vitals and so on.

"Do you see anything?" I asks her.

"Well, it looks like the chip was ruptured. It has a slight crack from how much damage you sustained during this explosion. And the pain should subside on its own. But this means no more. You can't just go back to fighting. You have to stop. Or the chip will break. And honestly, I can't even begin to tell you how much pain you'll be in. It could quite possibly kill you. All of your powers will come rushing back to you all at once. The headaches from the voices. The emotional turmoil from everyone's thoughts and feelings. The visions. All of it. Full force. And there's nothing you can do to stop it, and your body might not be able to handle all of that at once. So please. Be careful." She says as she places her hand on my arm.

"I appreciate you. Can I show you something?" I ask her.

"Of course."

"Promise you won't tell anyone what I'm about to show you?"

"Yes Mackenzie." She smiles.

"My name isn't actually Mackenzie you know. It's Dakota." I smile lightly and take off my mask. Tears. That's all I see streaming down her face.

"Dakota... Why? How? I.. you?" She whispers as I pull her in for a hug. "How have you kept this a secret from the team? From Tony? Do they know you're here?" She starts to panic.

"Hey now. Breathe honey. No they don't know I'm here and none of them know about this. And I'd like to keep it that way. I should have told you years ago. I was just so afraid of pretty much everything. But now I'm starting to wonder who I really am and what I should do with my life? Ya know? I want to help people. I want to go out and save the world. Like Mac. But at the same time I love my life. Being with the team. With Tony. My company. Just taking it easy. As myself. But it's like I have these two different halves of myself that just don't mesh correctly. And I'm not sure what to do." I rush it all out and she just stares at me.

"Well, Dakota. I've told this to Mackenzie several times. That I think she is great, just the way she is. And that she should let her true colors shine. And if the world can't handle it then shame on them. Look. I know you. And several other people know you. Your band. And the world may not see you that way but we do. And sure. The team might be upset but who cares? If they can't understand something like this then they don't deserve your beauty." She says and I can't help but smile and let a few tears fall. I knew she would be able to put it in perfect words.

I embrace her tightly, not wanting to let her go.

"I knew you would have the right words. I think I'm going to give it just a bit more time and ease them into everything. I'm just nervous that this will ruin it all." I sigh.

"Well, you won't know until you try. And it might make everything more complicated. But the ones who truly love you will make sure they are in your life no matter what. I promise you this. You always have me." She smiles and lets me go.

"Thank you so much. I promise, I'm going to stay out of any more missions. I'll just stay home or away from now on. This is too much to keep up with anyway." I chuckle.

"That's what I like to hear. Now get! Before the team finds you and questions me. You know I am not such a good liar. Especially around Thor." She giggles.

"You're a mess." I smile and head out of the door. This is going to be a long flight home.

~~~~

Tony's P.O.V:

"Look. It's not like she disappeared out of thin air. She was right here!" I shout and slam my hands against the bathroom sink of Dakota's hospital room.

"Tony..." Natasha says as she rubs my shoulders. "D looked really spooked. Something is going on that we don't understand. It could have been the file. Who knows? She saw more than I did. Or maybe she doesn't like hospitals. She is sometimes confusing and she does just jump right into things. I may not know much, but I know this. She loves you. And she loves us. She will come back."

And she was right. Because after searching for Dakota for hours and coming up empty, after trying to track her phone and never finding her, I finally get a notification that her phone is active. And right as I see this, she begins calling me.

"Babe?" I answer quietly.

"Hi baby. I have a lot to explain. And I'm on my way to do so, okay? I just had to get out of that hospital for a while. Where are you?"

"Still at the hospital, waiting for you to come back." I sigh with a light smile.

"Okay. It's gonna be an hour or so, do you want me to meet you at home?"

"That'll work." I smile.

"Awesome. I'll see you soon. And will you make sure the whole team is there, please?"

"Oh, sure. Is everything okay?"

"Everything is just fine. I just have a lot to tell everyone. I've gotta go, so I can get home faster. I love you."

"I love you too Dakota." And with that she's gone. And I stand there, leaning against the bathroom wall, and it feels like my stomach has made it's way into my chest.

"What does she have to tell us?" Natasha ponders.

"I don't know. But by the sound of her voice, it must be big. Nat. I.. what if she's not okay? What if she is sick or something? I can't.. I can't lose her. I just can't." I whisper that last sentence.

"Hey now. If I know anything about Dakota, it's that she is one tough woman. She has survived harder things than most have. She probably just wants to explain what happened today and be honest with us. You know how she is." Nat reassures me.

I hope she's right. I hope it's nothing serious. What if she has an illness that she didn't want us to see? It could be anything.

Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe I'm just paranoid. Because everyone I've ever truly loved has left me. And I have always held out hope that Dakota would be the exception. That should would be there for me always. That we would have that happily ever after ending. That I could grow old with her. Have children even. I've never thought about having children until she stepped into my life.

She keeps me grounded. She keeps me somewhat humble. She's my sanity. She's my humanity. She's my everything. I don't ever tell her these things, because, it's me, ya know? I'm the Tony Stark. I don't get this way. I don't open up like this. But somehow this woman has managed to break down all of my walls and turn me into a more vulnerable version of myself. And that doesn't scare me. It just makes me crave her more.

So I'll go home. And I'll wait for the love of my life to return. I'll listen to whatever she has to say with an open mind and open heart. No matter what it is, we can get through it. We always do.