Endgame Fix-It
Peter's punch went through a space dog, and he stared at his hand to make sure he wasn't getting dusty again. He patted his body, but he was solid. Peter looked around and saw all the spaceships, space dogs, and aliens turning to dust.
Did, did we win? Peter asked himself, and he looked around to see what was going on. That's when he saw it. Tony was on his knees and wielding the infinity gauntlet.
No. No, this was not how things were supposed to happen.
Peter ran all way to Tony, and Peter tried to get Tony to talk or react, but Tony had a vacant look in his eyes. No, he couldn't lose Tony, too. He already lost his dad and Uncle Ben. Peter couldn't lose Tony.
"Peter, we can save him," Dr. Strange spoke somewhere behind Peter. "We need to take him to Wakanda, but we have to hurry."
Peter grabbed Tony and helped Tony up, and Miss Potts took Tony's other side. Dr. Strange opened up a portal, and they all walked through, followed by King T'Challa and Princess Shuri. There was a lot of commotion as Shuri gathered a gurney for Tony, then they had to convince Peter to let go of Tony.
"Peter, Tony will be okay," Shuri said, voice soft. "I promise you."
Peter sucked in a breath and finally let go of Tony. Shuri and her team rushed Tony into another place where Peter, Pepper, and Rhodey couldn't follow. Peter knows he should probably talk to Pepper and Rhodey, but a lump in his throat stopped him from forming words. So, Peter paced, fidgeting with his fingers.
Tony couldn't die; he just couldn't. Peter just got him back; they just got each other back. They had just started getting close. Peter would go over to the compound and work with Tony on small projects or even on Avengers tech, even though the people who would wear them were on the run. Peter got to see a soft side of Tony that he never showed except for family, and it made Peter believe he was becoming family, too. Tony would make Peter's favorite Italian dish whenever Peter came hungry to the compound. Some weekends, they would just spend their last day together watching movies and stuffing their faces. May had even started warming up to Tony, which, after finding out that Tony had recruited him and put him in danger, was difficult. They would all get together once a month and eat dinner. May and Tony would argue over the cooking since both were of Italian heritage, each thought they were better suited for cooking dinner.
Peter doesn't know how much time had passed since Shuri and her team rushed Tony away, but his head snapped up when he heard the door opening. Peter hadn't realized he was on the ceiling until Shuri stared up at him in astonishment.
"Oh," Peter mumbled and dropped to the ground, then walked over to Shuri. "How is he? He's okay, right? Tell me he's okay."
Shuri stared at him with an open mouth, staring at him, then at the ceiling, then back at him. "Uh, y-yes. Mr. Stark will be fine. There were a few complications during the procedure, but Mr. Stark pulled through."
Peter felt his body relax, and his lungs expanded in relief. Peter turned when he felt a hand on his shoulder; it was Pepper. Peter flashed her a small smile.
"Can we see him?" Pepper asked, squeezing Peter's shoulder.
Shuri nodded. "Yeah, he's asleep, but before you see him, there is something you should know."
Peter's heart dropped. He didn't like Shuri's tone of voice.
"What is it?" Rhodey voiced everybody's question.
Shuri sighed. "The damage from wielding the infinity gauntlet was severe, and it was spreading to his chest. We had to stop it before it reached his heart, so we...we had to remove his left arm."
Peter sucked in a breath, and he heard the soft gasps from Pepper and Rhodey behind him. Tony's an engineer; what was he going to do with only one arm?
Peter shook his head. A one-armed and alive Tony is better than a dead Tony. "Knowing Tony, he'll start making blueprints on a new arm as soon as he can."
Pepper chuckled softly and moved her hand to wrap around his shoulders. "Where is he?"
"Follow me." Shuri turned around and led them through the door she came in through. Soon, Shuri stopped in front of a pair of double doors. "I'll leave you alone with him; just make sure to stay quiet as he needs all the rest he can get."
Shuri left, and they all hesitated for a second. Then Pepper was grabbing the handle and pulling the door open. Peter stepped in after Pepper, Rhodey behind him, and his eyes found Tony immediately. Wires and tubes were coming out of and connected to his body, but Peter focused on the rise and fall of Tony's chest.
Pepper had moved to Tony's right side and grabbed his hand. Peter could hear the sharp intakes of breath from Pepper and Rhodey's short shudder from the other side of the room. Peter's eyes finally fell to Tony's left side, and he bit his bottom lip to stop the gasp. In place of Tony's arm, there was only a stump that was his shoulder.
Peter walked over to Pepper. "He'll be okay. Tony's a fighter, and there's no way he would let this be his end."
"He talked about you all the time," Pepper said, her voice low, but there was a hint of admiration. "He would always tell Morgan stories about you, and when they played superheroes, Morgan would always be Spider-Man, her favorite hero."
Peter didn't know who Morgan was, but by the way, Pepper spoke with such fondness, Peter figured Morgan was their daughter. Peter's heart clenched at the thought of a mini Stark running around pretending to be shooting webs. Her father's IronMan and her favorite superhero was him.
Peter tried not to flinch when Pepper wrapped an arm around him and pulled him closer. He hadn't expected that, but Pepper was warm, and Peter felt safe. Peter let his shoulders sag and leaned his head on Pepper's shoulders. Rhodey walked up to Peter's other side and squeezed his arm, sending him a small smile. Peter returned the gesture and looked back to Tony, who was alive and just sleeping. Peter still couldn't quite wrap his head around everything that had happened that day, but Tony was breathing, and that's all that really mattered.