TITLE: The World Is Emptier Without You

WARNING: ENDGAME SPOILERS, Post Avengers Endgame

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Nebula is impassive during the funeral. She is not crying silently or gritting her teeth. She just watches. Later, when she's alone, she remembers how he taught her to have fun, was patient with her, didn't make her feel like a failure for being unable to grasp the simple concept of fun. She remembers his steadfast presence, how he offered her the last food even though he knew that he needed it more than she did, she remembers his warmth as she had tucked him in the seat. She remembers being worried, an unfamiliar feeling.

It hits her then, she has lost her only friend, and she thinks all the experiments that Thanos did on her hurt less compared to the hurt of losing her sister and him.

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Rhodey and Happy sit together, keeping Morgan between them. They remember the first time they met him, a smartass who slithered into their hearts before they realised. They remember looking at him, at different points of time, and thinking, I'll protect him with everything I have. Looking at Morgan, whose mannerism is so much like her dad, they smile through their heartbreak.

Together, Morgan's uncles tell her about her dad, the things he had accomplished, their voices drowning out the faint sounds of a wife grieving her lost husband.

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Peter wraps his arms around himself, remembering the hug his mentor gave him, and how safe and secure it made him feel. He remembers that happy glow that filled him everytime he was looked at with pride and warmth. He did not expect this and he doesn't know how to deal with this. He thought they would have more time.

Aunt May comes up behind him and wraps her arms around him, and he breaks. He cries for the lost opportunities, he cries because of the devastation that's choking his throat, and most of all he cries for the man who deserved better.

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In all the years she knew him, Pepper spent most of her time worried for him. He was all she had, just like she was all he had. Outside, in front of all the people, she stood strong because she was Pepper Stark and she wouldn't break. After, she left her daughter in the safe hands of her uncles, and walked to their room. Alone now, she let herself realise that he is gone and there are no more miracles and she isn't going to get the chance to run her fingers through his hair as he laid his head on her lap, she won't be awakened in the dead of the night with the sounds of him brainstorming with Friday, she won't be able to see him bantering with their daughter. The wave of grief that engulfs her is so powerful that it brings her to her knees. She chokes back the scream rising in her throat, and it comes out as a whimper. Pressing her hands over her mouth, she sobs, mourning the man she loves, her heart chanting, Tony, Tony, Tony...

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You can rest now.

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