When Peter Parker disintegrated in front of his eyes, Tony Stark was at a loss.
“Something’s happening…”
First, Tony had watched the woman with the antenna disappear - he never did know her name. He watched as Peter Quill looked helplessly at where his friend had just been standing, now turned to dust in front of his eyes.
“Quill?”
Then, he’d watched Quill look around helplessly as another one of his friends turned to ash. Everything was happening so fast. No one could do anything about it. Quill was looking around desperately, trying to work out what was going on. He’d just lost his friends, and Tony was doing nothing about it. However much Peter Quill had annoyed the billionaire that day, he was still part of the team trying to stop Thanos.
“Stay, Quill.”
It’s the only thing that Tony could think to say. Truth be told, it wouldn’t be much use: saying that wouldn’t mean that the universe would pick someone else. If Quill was going, then he was going.
“Oh, man.”
Just like that, the pained expression from Quill was gone, because Peter Quill was no longer there. He was just ashes, floating through space. As were his friends.
All because the Avengers had lost.
“Tony…”
No. Tony turned around, wishing that he could just wake up from this nightmare. But he couldn’t. This was real. All of it. There was no waking up, he was already wide awake. As he turned around, Tony saw the inevitable.
“... There was no other way.”
Doctor Strange took his final breath, and then he was gone. Stephen Strange. The one who had brought this to the Avengers’ attention. Now wasn’t the time for a ‘what if?’, but what if they had thrown the infinity stone away? Would this have happened? No. But it was happening, and Tony was watching his newfound ‘friend’ disintegrate in front of him, just as Quill had done with his two friends.
“Mr Stark?”
Tony turned around again, fast. God, no. Please. Not Peter. He was only sixteen. He hadn’t even lived his life! He just wanted to make the world a better place. Looking out for the little guy. He was such a good person, and he was going to lose his life right here, right now. On an alien planet. Away from his aunt, May. Away from his friends, Ned and MJ. With Tony.
“I don’t feel so good.”
Then Tony realised. The kid’s spider-sense. He could feel all of this. For everyone else, they could only feel themselves going when they were already turning to dust. Peter Parker could feel every second of this pain. The kid was holding his sides, and it looked like he was almost trying to hold himself together. That broke Tony. He couldn’t save a kid. A kid he had tried his hardest to protect. A kid who he hadn’t known for very long, but a kid that he would drop everything for in a matter of seconds if he had to. His kid .
“You’re alright.”
Tony was shaking. Peter was taking steps towards him, and Tony wanted to tell Peter that everything was going to be okay. He wanted to tell Peter that he would get them off this planet, they’d go back to Earth, and they’d get everyone back. But he couldn’t. The words didn’t form as Peter got closer and closer to him.
Tony didn’t want to lie to Peter.
“I- I don’t- I don’t know what’s happening. I- I don’t-”
Then the kid practically fell into Tony. Tony held Peter close to him. Peter was gripping onto his mentor like he was his life support. Like if he held onto Tony for long enough, he wouldn’t fade away. But Tony could already feel the dust from Peter’s arm floating past his ear. He could feel Peter’s grip get lighter and lighter until it was barely there.
“I don’t wanna go. I don’t wanna go. Mr Stark. Please. Please! I don’t wanna go. I don’t wanna go.”
Tony couldn’t take it any longer. He stumbled forward, falling to the ground, trying to comfort Peter, trying to keep the kid grounded. He tried and tried to hold onto him, but he couldn’t. Dust was starting to surround the two, and Tony was just trying to focus on Peter’s face. But there was no stopping it. He was watching the kid - his kid - turn to ash right in front of him.
“I’m sorry.”
Peter looked Tony dead in the eyes before saying it. Then, he turned away, looking at the sky. Then he went. He was gone. Peter Parker was gone. Tony grabbed at the ground. He didn’t know what use that was going to be, and he didn’t know what he was trying to do, but he continued to feel the ground, crawling in dust, knowing that said does was his friends and teammates not even five minutes before. Tony sat there, looking at his hand. The hand that had felt Peter disappear beneath him.
“He did it.”
Hearing those words was what made Tony lose it. He said down, hands covering his mouth. He had failed. He had failed to stop Thanos. He had failed to stop Thanos and he was still one of the remaining people alive. Tony was the leader of what was left of the Avengers - if any of them were still alive and fighting - and now they had failed. Tony had survived. He wasn’t supposed to. The billionaire let a single tear roll down his cheek, and he felt a presence next to him. He knew that it was the last of Quill’s friends.
They stayed like that for an hour or two, in complete silence, before going to patch up the ship.
— — — — —
“I lost the kid.”
Those were Tony’s first words when he got off the ship. Twenty-three days later. Twenty-three days since he’d lost Peter. Thank God Pepper was still alive. Thank God Rhodey was still there. Thank God Natasha had survived. Thank God that everyone else he considered to be family had made it.
Tony paused. Vision. Of course, Vision was gone. Vision, who had a goddamn infinity stone in his head. He was family. He was what was remaining of Jarvis. He was gone. The creation of Vision may have been a mistake. But he’d become part of the family. He had all of JARVIS’ code in him, and the only way he could rebuild the robot was to get to Wakanda. However, the Princess - who had access to his code - had also been dusted.
Tony also had other people to check up on. It may have been twenty-three days ago, but there were people that he knew the remaining Avengers wouldn’t have known to call. Harley. Harley’s sister. Harley’s mother. God, what would Harley be thinking right now - if he was still alive? Would he be angry at Tony? He hopes so. Someone has to be angry at him. Pepper wasn’t angry. Rhodey wasn’t angry. Tony needed to call Harley. He needed to know if he and his family were okay.
However, a certain argument with a certain hundred-year-old super soldier meant that Tony couldn’t do that as soon as he’d have liked.
— — — — —
“Hey! This is Harley. If it’s important, you probably have the wrong number.”
Voicemail. For the third time since Tony had woken up. Tony just hoped that the boy was busy. But who would be busy? Half the world had been dusted. Nearly everything had been shut down. Tony knew that this meant Harley had probably gone, but he refused to believe it. Not until he had proof. Even if it meant that Tony had to physically fly over there and see if Harley and his family were okay. Tony called again.
“Who is this?”
Finally, someone answered. It certainly wasn’t Harley, though. It was a girl’s voice. Tony assumed that it must be Harley’s sister - the voice sounded far too young to belong to an adult woman.
“The mechanic. I’m friends with your brother. Where is he?”
“I don’t know! He- he just-”
It sounded as if the girl was about to start crying. Tony didn’t know how to deal with this. Harley was definitely gone.
“It’s okay, kid. You don’t need to say any more. Is there an adult in the house with you?”
“Yeah, my mama’s here. Harley just... He disappeared in front of us. We were talking about his car, and then he suddenly looked like he was in pain, and then he was just… gone.”
“I understand, kid. I watched people disappear too. Can you put your mother on the phone?”
Tony knew for a fact that Harley hadn’t told his mother or his sister about the fact that he knew Tony. No one apart from Harley ever went in the garage, apparently, so there was no reason for Harley to have to explain anything. Tony heard muffled whispering before a woman started talking.
“Hello? I didn’t know my son talks to fully-grown men.”
“As far as I’m aware, I’m the only one.”
“Who are you? My daughter said that you just called yourself ‘the mechanic’, and Harley has you saved in his phone as ‘old man’, so I have no clue who you are. So, tell me.”
Tony realised that both Harley’s sister and mother had spoken about Harley in the present tense, so Tony decided to do the same.
“Of course he has me saved as that. Anyway, I’m Tony Stark, and I-”
“I’ve just lost my son, and you’re pretending that you’re a goddamn billionaire!”
“Please, I know that wasn’t the best way to announce myself, but let me finish? I know that right now isn’t an easy time. I watched someone close to me disintegrate too, and I would never, ever do this to mess with someone. I am Tony Stark. I’m not lying to you. I was checking on Harley to see if he… you know. I wanted to make sure he and his sister had an adult with them. I’ll go now.”
“I’m still not sure how real this is, but I’m reading through your’s and Harley’s messages now, and he calls you Tony a lot. Not to mention you talk about the Tower. So, I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. I have no idea how my son knows you, but we don’t have time to get into that. Thank you for thinking of my children.”
“Anytime. Call this number if you need anything. I’ll send food, clothing, money, or a jet to get you to New York. Anything you need.”
“Thank you, Tony. I appreciate it.”
“Again, anytime.”
Tony hung up after that. He put his head in his hands. He’d lost the two boys he saw as sons. He’d failed to protect them.
— — — — —
The day they managed to bring everyone back was amazing. Seeing all of those portals open rendered Tony speechless. When he saw Peter, time froze. Tony almost forgot about the battle happening all around them.
“Holy cow.”
Peter pulled Tony to his feet.
“You will not believe what’s been going on.”
God. It was his kid. Rambling like he always would on a day when he’d come back to the Tower after school.
“You remember when we were in space, and I got all dusty?”
How could Tony forget? It was one of the worst moments of his life; watching Peter slip away when all he could do was sit there and watch.
“And I must have passed out because I woke up and you were gone-”
He thought that Tony had left him.
He thought that Tony had left him .
He thought that Tony had left him.
“But Doctor Strange was there, right? And he was like, ‘it’s been five years, come on, they need us’.”
Tony could only stare at Peter in disbelief. He couldn’t believe that his time travel discovery had worked and that it was all worth it. It was all worth it because Peter was standing right there in front of him, exactly how he used to be. Which must mean that Harley was out there, somewhere. Tony was so overwhelmed with emotions that he couldn’t even move.
“And then he started to do that little sparkly thing that he does all the time-”
Tony stumbled forwards, towards the teenager, opening his arms wider as he got closer.
“What are you doing-?”
Tony hugged him. Tight. Tony didn’t want to let go.
“Oh. This is nice.”
Peter hugged Tony back - just as tight - and that’s all Tony needed to hear before the battle continued.
— — — — —
At the reunion after the battle - which took place at Tony’s - everyone was there. Not a single person missed out. Tony wanted them all to be there. He may not know a lot of them very well - he missed out on five years with them - but he wants everyone who had worked together to be there.
Steve Rogers. Captain America. Who may have betrayed Tony before (and honestly, he’s not sure he’ll ever be fully over it). Who made Tony feel terrible when he got back to Earth. But, he was someone that Tony ultimately trusted nonetheless.
Happy Hogan. His Head of Security. Who had always been there for Tony. Who had watched Tony go from a terrible man into a man who had saved the universe. He had seen Tony at his worst but had decided to stay.
Rhodey. War Machine. Iron Patriot (Tony still thought that was a stupid name). Who had been friends with Tony since they started at MIT together. Who would always be with Tony. The only person that Tony could truly call his best friend.
Pepper Potts-Stark. Who - although they’d had breaks - had been with him for the long haul. The only woman he’d ever been with that had given him a chance. Multiple, in fact. The woman who’d given him a life that he could only dream of ten years ago. The woman he’d settled down with, who he’d had a child with. The woman he loved.
Morgan Stark. The daughter he’d always wanted, but never thought he’d be able to have. The daughter who he’d get to raise - even though, hours before, he thought that he’d never see her again. But now - thanks to everyone holding onto Tony and taking a bit of the stones’ power each - he’d get to see her grow up into one of the greatest women of all time.
May Parker, Peter’s aunt, who had lost her apartment after the Blip, but still worked for herself. Who wouldn’t accept Tony’s offer of a place to stay. She had outright refused, saying that she was a strong, independent woman, but Tony already knew that. He couldn’t help but admire her for it. She was so supportive of Peter, despite the boy constantly putting himself in danger, and despite the fact that he wasn’t even her own child. However, she treated him as such. Tony just had to have her at the reunion party - however many times she told the billionaire that it wasn’t her place.
Thor Odinson. Who had struggled so much through the past five years, but had pulled through for the final battle. Tony felt sorry for him, truly, but his decision to stay with the Guardians for a while was certainly going to allow him to have a break from running a kingdom - a break he clearly needed.
Valkyrie. Who had brought Thor back to himself. Who had helped Peter during the final battle. Who used to be so determined to stay as a scraper on Sakaar - she wanted no part of this. She thought she was better off dead, but she was now ruling Asgard and doing a good job of it.
Bruce Banner. The Hulk. Tony’s best friend, his science partner. Who had snapped his fingers to get everyone back. Who had somehow managed to bring Natasha back too (discovered by Steve while he was returning the stones). He was someone who Tony truly couldn’t live without.
Natasha Romanoff. Black Widow. Who always kept Tony together in times when he needed her the most. She was one of the people that knew Tony the best, and would never judge him for his reckless choices. She wouldn’t leave him when he was being stupid. If anything, she would help him get out of the mess he made.
Doctor Stephen Strange. Who had known the ending from the very beginning. Who knew that they only had one shot. Who Tony had seen disintegrate five years before. He was going to be leading the Avengers - along with Natasha - once both Tony and Steve officially retired.
Wong. Sorcerer Supreme (on a technicality, apparently). Who was invited to Tony’s wedding (even though it may have sounded like a joke), but had never made it, as he was also lost in the Decimation.
Scott Lang. Ant-Man. Who had come up with the idea to bring everyone back - even if it had sounded stupid and impossible at first. If he was being honest, Tony would admit that he had completely underestimated Scott’s intelligence - but Tony knew he’d never make that mistake again.
Hope Van Dyne. The Wasp. Who had started off hating the Avengers, but had helped them in the final fight. Tony would be forever grateful. Not a lot of people would help out in a fight that was started by people who they so strongly disagreed with. Let alone be on the side of those people.
Hank Pym. The original Ant-Man. Who’s company rivalled Stark Industries, but whose work had meant that the Avengers could successfully travel back in time.
Janet Van Dyne. The original Wasp. Who had been lost in the Quantum Realm before, but had managed to escape. If Scott hadn’t recused her, no one would never have even known that travelling through the Quantum Realm was possible.
Rocket Racoon. Who had always managed to make Tony laugh when they were planning the ‘Time Heist’ - whether that was because of the absurdity of a talking racoon, or whether Rocket was actually hilarious, Tony didn’t know. Ultimately, though, Rocket had helped get the stones.
Groot. A talking tree, which may be just as strange to Tony as the talking racoon. But any help was appreciated - except when Groot would talk back like a grumpy teenager.
Peter Quill. Star-Lord (as he called himself). Who may have annoyed Tony to his wit’s end, but he had a heart and gave Tony a good laugh during this reunion party. Yes, he may be stupid at times, but he was a friend.
Drax - or ‘the screaming man’, as Morgan had dubbed him. Tony didn’t really know what to think of him - he was just surprised that he’d worn a shirt to the party. But, truly, Tony did appreciate his help.
Mantis - Tony had learnt what her name was now. She was also a bit behind when it came to human interactions, but Tony supposed that was to be expected from some alien species. Quill explained to him that she hadn’t learnt all human etiquette as of now, but the Guardians were working on it.
Nebula. Who Tony had developed an emotional attachment to. Who had given Tony the final few crumbs of food when they were preparing for - what they thought was going to be - their inevitable death. Who had helped Tony repair the ship. Who had comforted Tony - even if she didn’t fully understand human emotion - when he was mourning Peter.
Gamora. Who had lost her life five years ago - killed by Thanos - but came back and joined the Avengers’ team straight away. No questions asked - even if she had no idea who the people on her previous team were.
King T’Challa. Black Panther. Who Tony had only fought with during the Civil War, but Tony knew he was a good man and had brought his entire army into this fight. Who had been willing to sacrifice everything he had built in Wakanda during the initial fight with Thanos, before the Decimation.
Okoye. A member of the Dora Milaje. Who had helped Natasha during the five years of Tony’s retirement, and had run a whole country on her own after the loss of all members of their royalty.
Clint Barton. Hawkeye. Whose family Tony didn’t know very well, but he had to invite them. They were one of the reasons that Clint had decided to help out the Avengers after the Snap, after all. Tony was glad to see them all alive and happy.
Wanda Maximoff. The Scarlet Witch. Who had been through so much already. Who had never gotten to grow up properly. Who had lost her parents. Who had lost her brother. Who had lost the love of her life. Tony swore to rebuild Vision as soon as he could get to Wakanda - if not for himself, for Wanda.
Bucky Barnes. Previously known as the Winter Soldier, but now dubbed the White Wolf. Who had killed Tony’s parents, but who Tony had learned to forgive. He had shown that he was completely different from his brainwashed self. Admittedly, it had taken Tony the five years during the Decimation to learn that, but he had. Tony noticed the way that Bucky shielded Peter from a few blasts during the final battle against Thanos a few days ago, and Tony was grateful.
Sam Wilson. The Falcon. Soon-to-be Captain America. Who was the first one to talk before everyone came through those portals. The sound of his voice had given Tony hope that Peter would come through those portals. And he had. Meaning that Harley had to be out there, somewhere. Tony had a sudden burst of energy after that.
Maria Hill. A SHIELD agent. Who had helped the Avengers through everything. Who had done so much background work. The team wouldn’t function properly without her. Tony could never fully repay her because, without her, none of the ships or technical problems would be looked after. They would have lost.
Thaddeus Ross. Secretary of State. Tony didn’t want to invite him. He really didn’t. Tony had some satisfaction from seeing him sit alone, on his phone, the whole party. He had caused a huge mess, his abrupt announcement of the Accords leading to the Civil War. The only reason he was at the party was because Pepper told Tony that it would be polite.
Carol Danvers. Captain Marvel. Who Tony barely knew, but without her, God knows if they would have won during the fight. She took out Thanos’ ship by flying straight into it. She’d saved Tony and Nebula on that ship, twenty-three days after the Snap. The Avengers were named after her. The team owed a lot to her.
Nick Fury. Head of the Avengers Initiative. Who had given Tony a second chance. Who had given Tony time to change. Who had given Tony a place in the world. Who had given Tony an opportunity to restart his life for the better.
Peter Parker. Spider-Man. His son. Whose picture had triggered something in Tony, causing him to want to desperately figure out time travel. Who Tony had seen fade away in front of him. The boy who had run over to Tony straight after the portals first opened. The boy who Tony had seen, and known that all of this fighting and injury was worth it.
Harley Keener. Who had known Tony since the Mandarin incident. Who Tony just had to invite because it would have been wrong not to. Who was another reason for Tony coming up with time travel. The boy who Tony could be sarcastic with, and he’d come back with an equally as witty comment.
— — — — —
Tony stood in the corner of the room, marvelling at the sight of all of his friends, family, and teammates together, with no imminent threat looming over them. They were safe. And Tony was so, so grateful for them, despite all of the arguments.
Tony watched as Morgan spotted Harley and walked over to him, talking to him for a while before dragging him over to Peter, who was, at that moment, having a conversation with his Aunt May.
Tony watched as Peter’s eyes glistened over when he saw Morgan, tears of happiness almost falling. Tony watched as Peter lifted Morgan onto his shoulders, causing the girl to squeal with happiness. Tony knew that both of his boys would be great brothers to Morgan.
Tony watched as Peter finally faced Harley, and Harley finally looked at Peter.
Tony watched as a blush came over both of their faces.
Tony immediately scrapped the brothers idea.
Tony watched as May teased Peter later about the encounter. Peter just lightly punched his aunt’s arm, the blush back again.
Tony watched as Peter and Harley talked outside after dinner. He couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but they were both smiling, their cheeks flushed. Tony smiled. He may have lost them before, but they had been brought back, and that’s what mattered most.
Tony watched as the boys spent week-long holidays at the Starks’ house, laughing with each other, building things, and playing with Morgan.
Tony watched as Harley ran over to him one day, asking him for advice on how to ask Peter to be his boyfriend. Tony had just laughed, telling the southern boy that he just needed to be himself - no matter how he asked, there was no way on Earth that Peter was going to reject Harley.
Tony watched as his two boys had their first kiss with each other (although he didn’t mean to witness it, they should have kissed somewhere more private, rather than in the kitchen, where anyone could have walked in).
Tony watched as his two boys fell in love.
Tony watched as his two boys went to MIT together, begging Tony to let them be roommates - just like Tony and Rhodey had been. Tony had contacted the university right away.
Tony watched as his two boys carried on loving each other in the same way that Tony loved Pepper.
And that’s where Tony was now, watching his two boys get married, sharing a kiss that wasn’t too different from their first - save for the awkwardness.
Tony watched them dance with each other before he himself went onto the dance floor with Pepper.
Tony watched as Peter and Harley danced with Morgan and Abby - Harley’s sister, as Tony had learnt after the reunion party.
It had been eight years since the Avengers had saved the universe, and Tony was truly happy. His boys were happy. His daughter was happy. His wife was happy.
His family was happy.
And that’s all that matters.