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Day One: Unpacked Bags & Unsaid Things
The teens stood in the penthouse of Stark Tower, all six of them frozen—backs rigid, eyes flicking to every potential exit. Gert clutched Old Lace’s reins tighter than necessary. Nico stood with her arms crossed like a ward against the world, her boots planted wide. Molly hovered near Karolina, fingers twitching like she wanted to hold someone’s hand, but didn’t dare. Chase stood close to the back wall, trying to look cool but visibly tense. Alex stayed by the elevator, eyes darting from the exit to Toni Stark like he was ready to bolt.
Toni didn’t move.
T’Challa stood beside her, arms folded with practiced calm.
“We don’t lock doors,” Toni said finally. “If you need to go, you can. But we’d like you to stay.”
“You’re not gonna lecture us?” Nico’s voice was sharp, cautious. “No rules?”
“Not today,” said T’Challa softly. “Today, you are tired children. You deserve to breathe.”
“We’re not kids,” Gert muttered, brushing pink hair behind her ear. “Not anymore.”
Toni tilted her head. “You’re sixteen, sweetie.”
Gert’s jaw clenched, but she said nothing. Molly shifted her weight and whispered, “Do we get our own rooms?”
“You get your own floor,” Toni replied with a grin. “Kitchen’s always open. You don’t need permission to eat.”
That was when Molly cried—silent and instant. Not sobbing, just a flash flood of grief and disbelief. Toni didn’t rush forward. She simply crouched a few feet away.
“I’m gonna put this blanket around your shoulders. Okay, baby girl?”
Molly nodded. Barely. Toni stepped forward slowly and wrapped it around her.
And just like that—healing started.
Month Two: The Night Gert Trusted Her Food
Toni caught Gert in the kitchen at 3 AM. The teen had her phone flashlight on, illuminating every spice bottle, every drawer. She sniffed the milk like it might kill her.
“Gert?”
Gert startled violently, hands dropping the container with a clatter. Old Lace growled from her corner.
“I was just—” Gert blinked. “I wasn’t—just checking. For... science.”
Toni held up her hands. “It’s okay. Wanna help me make pancakes?”
“Is there a reason?” Gert asked slowly.
“Yeah,” Toni smiled. “Because I saw Lilo & Stitch earlier. It’s an Old Disney kind of night.”
Gert didn’t ask what that meant yet, but she sat at the counter. By the third pancake, she said: “My parents drugged me once. To get me to stay in the lab. I stopped eating anything they made after that.”
Toni didn’t flinch. “That’s unforgivable. I’m so sorry.”
“Why’re you making pancakes then?”
“Because you’re hungry and you’re safe and I’m your mom now. Pancakes are a mom thing.”
Gert blinked, hard. Then nodded. She took the plate and ate the whole stack without checking it twice.
Month Six: Disney Check-Ins & Knife-Free Pillows
“New Disney, huh?” Toni asked as Karolina walked into the living room in full sparkly glow, wearing a Moana hoodie.
Karolina smiled shyly. “Yeah... felt like singing How Far I’ll Go in the shower. Good day.”
Molly giggled on the couch, nose in a comic. “Yesterday was Old-ish Disney. Tangled.”
Nico snorted. “That movie’s my trauma allegory.”
Alex leaned into the doorway. “You guys are so weird.”
“You keep ‘The Incredibles’ in your bookmarks. You have no moral high ground,” Chase replied, spinning one of the Fistigons on his finger.
T’Challa passed by and whispered, “Hakuna Matata, little ones,” and all six teens grinned.
None of them noticed the knives missing from under their pillows, or the duffel bags slowly gathering dust in closets.
Year Two: Trust, in Layers
“Don’t touch me!” Nico screamed.
Toni froze instantly. “Okay. I hear you. I’m not coming closer.”
Nico stood panting, fists clenched. The Staff of One thrummed faintly where it leaned against the wall. “Sorry. I just—reflex.”
“You don’t ever have to apologize for protecting yourself,” Toni said gently.
Nico’s shoulders shook. “I thought I’d be better by now.”
“You are better,” T’Challa said, appearing in the doorway. “Better doesn’t mean perfect. It means healing. It means today wasn’t as bad as yesterday.”
Nico sank to the ground. “Can someone... stay? Just—stay in the room?”
Toni smiled, sitting by the door. “We’re not going anywhere.”
Year Three: Chase’s Fear, Spoken Aloud
“He hit me with a wrench,” Chase said out loud for the first time, sitting beside the garage’s open bay.
Alex sat next to him, silent.
Toni knelt down in front of them. “Victor Stein is never going to touch you again.”
“I keep trying to be the opposite of him,” Chase whispered. “But I’m scared there’s too much of him in me.”
T’Challa’s hand came to rest lightly on his shoulder. “A man afraid of becoming his father is already better than him.”
Chase exhaled. He didn’t cry. But when Toni said, “I’m proud of you,” he leaned into her hug and didn’t pull away.
Senior Year: Saying Goodbye
Their last day before college wasn’t marked by a party. It was quiet—nostalgic. Full of movie quotes, photo albums, hugs that lasted a beat too long.
“Are you crying?” Molly asked Nico with mock offense.
“I will stab you,” Nico said with zero bite.
Karolina kissed her temple. “We’re gonna be okay.”
Toni stood in front of them all, teary-eyed but smiling. “The Tower stays unlocked. Always. I’ll never change the alarm codes. You don’t need a reason to come home. But if it’s Old Disney... just text us first so I can get the pancakes ready.”
“And the mac and cheese!” Molly added.
T’Challa nodded. “You are loved. You are wanted. You are ours.”
When They Came Home: Old Disney Days
Gert came home the day she failed her ethics final and panicked that she was her parents.
She didn’t knock. She just curled on the kitchen floor with Old Lace while Toni made Bambi-night cocoa.
Alex returned the night a classmate called him “manipulative” in a debate.
He texted one word: Dumbo. The Tower lights were on when he arrived. Toni was waiting with his favorite blanket and no questions.
Chase came home after his first solo tech pitch flopped.
He walked in to The Fox and the Hound playing on the big screen and T’Challa silently handing him a wrench with “Fix it tomorrow” engraved.
Karolina came after a Pride, not PRIDE (Promoting Resilience, Independence, Dedication & Excellence) meeting where someone said her glow was “too much.”
She arrived glowing and sobbing, and Nico met her at the elevator with a whispered, “Atlantis: The Lost Empire is already on.”
Molly came after a nightmare about the fire that killed her parents.
She climbed into Toni and T’Challa’s bed whispering, “Can we watch Peter Pan?” and neither of them said no.
Nico returned when the world felt too loud and too sharp and she couldn’t remember who she was outside the pain.
T’Challa didn’t say a word. He just walked into the panic room with her, sat silently until her breathing slowed.
And they stayed. Until it passed.
Final Scene: Home Is Unlocked
Years later, the Tower still glowed at night.
Old Lace snored on the couch. Molly left her ballet shoes by the door. Karolina’s light hummed from the kitchen. Nico’s Staff leaned against the fridge. Alex’s laptop was open on the counter. Chase’s latest invention sparked on the workbench. Gert’s pink hairpin rested beside Toni’s screwdriver.
“Looks like it’s a New Disney night,” T’Challa said, wrapping an arm around Toni’s waist.
She smiled. “Then let’s make cocoa. All six of our kids are home.”