The compound had been reduced to rubble, fire and dust and smoke was all around them. Tony wasn’t sure how they were going to get out of this one. The Avengers were strong, but Thanos was stronger.
Rogers was down. Thor was down. And now Danvers was down. Thanos had the gauntlet. He was going to do it again. Tony’s heart raced as he watched the Titan pick the gauntlet up and he thought of Peter. He had done this for that kid. That stupid, brilliant, bright eyed kid.
Tony couldn’t give up now. He wouldn’t. Which was why he really couldn’t believe what he did next.
Iron Man lunged at Thanos and tried to pry the gauntlet away from the Titan. Tony tried, he really did, but Thanos threw him off and tossed him across the battlefield. Tony landed with a thud and watched as Thanos placed the gauntlet on his hand and Tony was suddenly back on Titan. It was happening all over again.
Thanos smirked and held his hand up. “I... am inevitable.” He snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. The smirk vanished from his face as he turned the gauntlet over and realized... the stones were gone.
Tony smirked and held his hand up. Thanos watched as the stones took their place on Tony’s own gauntlet. The look on the Titan’s face was worth the pain he felt.
The power of the stones seared through his body and Tony was sure he was going to pass out. But then, he felt an arm rest on his shoulder. He turned his head and there was Pepper, looking determined as ever. As some of the power of the stone transferred to her, she gasped a bit and Tony felt his body relax slightly.
Then Rhodey did the same. And then the kid. Strange, Cap, Barton, Banner... EVERYONE.
”We got you, Mr Stark!” The kid said to him as he held onto Rhodey.
Tony smirked and turned back to the Titan. They could do this. Together.
“And we...” Tony’s voice was low and determined and for the first time since they had fought him, Thanos looked terrified. “...are the Avengers.”
Tony snapped his fingers and everything went white.
***
Winning had been easy, really. All it took was snapping Thanos and his army out of existence through the use of the Infinity stones. Nothing complicated about it.
But after all was said and done, there were still things to take care of. One of them was mourning.
Natasha Romanoff had given her life so that they could win. It only seemed fair that they celebrate her life after it was all over.
The ceremony had been a simple, quiet affair, nothing too flashy. Just like Natasha would have wanted. They didn’t have a body to bury, but they did have a few mementos to send off.
It had been held at Clint’s farm. The compound was the closest thing she’d had to a real home, but after it had been destroyed, Clint’s farm was second in line.
They planted a tree for Natasha out in the field. As they stood there, mostly in silence, Clint stepped forward and placed Natasha’s spider bites beneath the tree. She had been a friend to them, a sister, an aunt, a mother... their family.
***
Peter and Tony reunited again at Natasha’s service. During the battle, it had been so crazy, they had only had the chance to quickly exchange a few words and a hug. But now they were here and Tony had the chance to really let it soak in that the kid... HIS kid was back.
“Oh, hey, M’ser St’rk, ‘m glad to see y’u!” Peter’s face was stuffed with various foods and it made Tony smile.
Tony suddenly grabbed the kid by his shoulders and pulled him in for a hug. “We-you’re hugging me,” Peter sounded surprised. “I-I thought hugs weren’t your thing—“
”Just let it happen, Peter.”
There was a pause. “Okay,” He responded, wrapping his arms around Tony and hugging him tightly.
Tony exhaled. Five years. His kid had been gone for five years and now here he was, back in Tony’s arms. He was real. He wasn’t fading away like he had been the last time. Peter wasn’t going anywhere, and he never would again, because Tony wouldn’t let him.
He pulled out of the hug. “Wanna meet Morgan?” Tony asked.
Peter raised an eyebrow. “Morgan?”
”Yeah. She’s my daughter.”
Peter’s jaw dropped open, making Tony chuckle lightly. “You have a kid?!” He exclaimed. “Holy cow, I’ve been gone longer than I thought! You have a kid! Mr Stark, you’re a dad!”
I was a dad long before I had Morgan, buddy. Tony wanted to say, but didn’t. “Yeah, I’m a dad,” He replied. “Kind of hard to believe, right? Surprised I haven’t screwed it up yet—oh, speaking of which, here she comes.”
“Daddy! Daddy!” Morgan came running up to the two and leapt into her father’s waiting arms. Tony lifted her up and she began to ramble. “Daddy! Lila and Cooper said that I can spend the night with them sometime!” She exclaimed. “And Ms Laura said I could too as long as mommy said I could! And mommy said I could as long as you were okay with it! Can you be okay with it?”
Tony grinned at his daughter. “Hm... I’m not sure, Princess. How badly do you want to spend the night?”
“Like one billion!”
“Wow, one billion, huh? Well how can I say no to that?”
Morgan giggled as Tony peppered her face with kisses. “Morguna, I have someone here I want you to meet,” Tony said, turning to face Peter, who had been watching the interaction with great interest. “This is Peter. You remember him, right?”
The young Stark looked over at Peter and her eyes lit up. “My daddy has a picture of you in our kitchen!” She exclaimed.
Peter looked surprised. “He does?”
Morgan nodded. “Yeah! He used to talk to you a lot. He said you had gone on a big trip so he talked to your picture when he was missing you! Did you have a fun trip?”
Peter felt touched that Mr Stark had apparently missed him while he was gone. And he had spoken to him? He had a framed picture of him in his kitchen. “Uh—yeah!” Peter replied. “The trip was fun—lots of fun, I met a lot of cool people.” He thought about the Guardians and Doctor Strange.
“That’s good!” Morgan exclaimed. “Daddy used to tell stories about you! He said—“ she glanced around suddenly and leaned closer to Peter while Tony kept a firm grip on his daughter to make sure she didn’t fall. “—He said you’re half spider! And he said they call you Spider-Man! But I’m not supposed to tell anybody ‘cuz it’s a secret.” She giggled.
“Alright, kiddo, why don’t you go find mom and tell her I said it’s fine if you want to spend the night with Lila and Cooper sometime?” Tony said as he set his daughter down on the ground.
Morgan nodded rapidly and began to speed off towards the farm house to find Pepper. She waved at Peter as she ran. “Bye, Petey!” She yelled. Peter returned the wave and then turned to Tony.
“She’s great,” He said.
“Yeah, I know,” Tony replied. “It’s obvious who she takes after.”
“Yeah, Ms Potts.”
“I was going to say me, actually—“
”I know, but it’s definitely Ms Potts.”
Tony grinned and rolled his eyes fondly at the kid and then ruffled Peter’s hair, to which Peter objected. “I’m glad you’re back, Pete.”
Peter smiled at him. “Me too, Mr Stark. Me too.”