This story is being set up a little differently. This is the "base chapter". Every chapter following this chapter will each be a different ending to this first base chapter, kind of like a book with multiple endings. I will write a Table of Contents at the end of this chapter so you can navigate to the endings you want.

He repeatedly tried to tell himself it was a peaceful way to go. He guessed there were worse ways… maybe. Drifting off through a void of dark nothing towards certain death by suffocation and a tinge of starvation light years away from everything he knows and loves was kind of a bummer.

It was beautiful. That was truly something Tony didn't need to try to tirelessly convince himself of. If he had viable sustenance and a very specific red-head wrapped up in his arms, Tony may actually enjoy this- floating through star-speckled ink, watching everything from comets to distant moons wander by. It was truly an experience that he wouldn't have been able to imagine even in his most vivid, childhood dreams. Tony faintly remembered wanting to be an astronaut for a while when he was little. Nowadays, after New York and now this, not so much.

He was surprised he hadn't cracked up yet. In the past week… it was a week, right? Anyway, he's had two anxiety attacks since Titan. Before everything went to shit, he had gone nearly 3 years panic-free. Sure, it screwed his streak, but again, with everything that happened, Stark would've expected to be freaking out a whole lot more.

Tony expected that it was just all too much at once to process. Numbness was a common reoccurrence within him lately. Everyone dusting into nothing, the kid fading in his arms, Thanos winning, having no way home, running out of food and water, realizing the oxygen was running out, the acute pain in his punctured side, being completely alone… It was just too. damn. much.

"Stark,"

Tony didn't respond the voice, but it was obvious that he heard. Okay, so he wasn't completely alone, and he was grateful for that. Nebula was alright company. The whole part-robot thing took a little getting used to, but after everything else, that was the least-weird thing he had come across as of late.

When Tony didn't respond but instead kept his eyes focused out the window, Nebula stepped into the cockpit. He felt her eyes on the back of her head, but he was… well, spaced out… while looking at space. Ha.

"I was examining the ships usage and I think if we can figure out how to disable the oxygen in the pod antechamber, we could extend it another day or so. Come and look at-"

"Why?" Tony muttered.

"Because you need it to live, dumbass. Come on."

Tony didn't move. Nebula knew full-well what he meant- What was the point?

"What's one day going to do except prolong the time I have to sit here and wither away?" Tony asked, but not unkindly. He was too tired to have emotion in his voice anymore, or feel it for that matter.

"A lot could happen in one day."

"I appreciate your spunk and slightly irritating relentlessness, but I've been through all the stages already."

"What stages?"

"You know… Denial, anger, grief, and uh… something else, I don't know, whatever. The main point being that I finally got to acceptance so let's let sleeping dogs lie."

From where Tony could see her reflection on the window, Nebula looked perplexed.

"Wh-"

"It's an Earth expression." Tony interrupted, knowing she wouldn't get the idiom before she could even question it. It was quiet for a while.

"I don't believe you." She said, finally walking further into the cockpit and leaning against the wall in front of where Tony sat on the ground. He still kept his gaze out toward the sky. He didn't feel like arguing. He didn't feel like anything.

"I don't really care what you believe, especially not at this point… No offense, Blue."

"I don't think you've completely given up. I don't think you're okay with whatever is going to happen once that oxygen runs out tomorrow-"

"I know what's going to happen when the oxygen runs out tomorrow."

"If you really claim to love that woman back on Ear-"

"DON'T." Tony suddenly found strength within him to barely shout. Nebula quieted- the whole ship did. That was another strange thing about space. There was no white noise, no wind outside, no airplanes going by in the distance… It was silent- completely and utterly silent.

"Don't you dare question what I'd do for Pepper." He said, calming and quieting his voice once again. Just saying her name sent knives through his chest. God, what he wouldn't give just to see or hear her one last time.

"I just mean," Nebula started to say timidly and with slight annoyance, ", that if you're giving up on yourself because you feel like you failed with Thanos or because you're scared of what you'll find back on your home planet, that's stupid. Probably the most stupid thing I've ever heard."

Tony scoffed and rolled his eyes as much as exhaustion would allow. If he was being honest, he did this more to cover up the fact that Nebula caught him off guard by kind of hitting the nail on the head.

Sure, he was terrified of what he'd find on Earth. No doubt, the dusting was a universe-wide phenomenon if Thanos got what he wanted.

And yeah- he hated himself just a bit right now. They had their chance at the gauntlet. He had his chance at the gauntlet. He let everyone down. From the day he announced he was Iron Man, he made a worldwide promise to protect everyone. Even worse, from the day he took Peter under his wing, he made a silent promise to do the same for him. He failed. He failed Peter, he failed himself, he failed Pepper for not coming back, and he failed the world. Who knows if Pepper was even still alive?

Ugh… The thought made him feel like puking up the nothing in his stomach.

Nebula stared at him some more. That was kind of her style; observing and brooding.

"How long?"

"Mm…" Tony mumbled while he fumbled with his sleeve to look at his watch that was keeping a countdown until the oxygen, or lack-there-of, would leave him dead. "Like… 13 hours."

"No. How long have you been with this Pepper."

"Oh." Tony said, actually a little shocked to be talking about anything else but his impending death. "Uh… 'bout 8 years."

"Wow. Must be something special." She said, but it just made Tony chuckle. Even when she was attempting to make small talk with light conversation, everything that came out of this woman's mouth was foreboding and angry.

"Yep, she's somethin'" Tony nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Actually, I've known her for 14 or… 15 years maybe? Something like that."

"What took you so long?"

Tony smiled a bit. He did love Nebula's bluntness.

"Well, she's a very strong-headed, independent person. Aaaaaand, it didn't help that I was the world's biggest asshole."

Nebula nodded. They were both looking out the windshield now, Nebulas arms crossed over her chest and Tony's fiddling with the partial hand-piece to his Iron Man suit. He had previously been trying not to dive too deep into memories about Pepper, even though his mind strongly willed to. Stark was afraid that it'd send him into a spaz attack, knowing that there would be no more memories to keep.

This was okay though. He liked talking about her. He liked seeing her in his mind, even if that's the only way he'd ever see her again.

"I remember that night after I finally kissed her. God, I hadn't been that disgustingly giddy since I was 5 years old on Christmas."

"Christmas?"

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, I- I just remember her laughing a lot because I didn't think I could bear to let go of her that night. I didn't care about anything else, just my arms around her… like I was making up for those dumb, wasted years when I didn't hold her like I so badly wanted to. I just- I honest to God couldn't believe it. Probably took me a week to convince myself that it was real life and not the best dream I had ever had."

Tony wasn't even really talking to Nebula anymore, he was just talking out loud and she happened to be there. His own words sent a strange mixture of shivers, warmth, and pain through his chest. Nothing has ever made him so happy and so devastated simultaneously.

"You are to be married now?" Nebula asked in a low voice. Tony was starting to see what she was doing. She was easing his final hours, like giving a pet a bunch of love before going to put them down- that's what it felt like. Whatever. At least she was trying.

"Yeah. That one took me a while too. But I've been kidnapped, tortured, shot, stabbed… My house collapsed on me and I nearly drowned, I carried a missile to space, a moon was recently thrown at me… Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that after all of that, still, the most terrifying moment of my life was when she left."

Nebula actually looked a little interested in this.

"Actually, now that I think about it, it was like the vice versa of when we got together. I couldn't believe that she was gone. Every single day, I woke up expecting her to be sleeping next to me, and- Well, I don't know. After that and after we worked some stuff out, I knew there was no way in Hell I'd let her go again."

"Hm." Nebula grunted. "I don't know much about that stuff, but it sounds… nice."

Tony smirked. "Yeah. Yeah, it's nice. I don't deserve it, but as long as she's happy."

Never would he be getting this sappy with a stranger, or this sappy period. With Pepper sure, but that was a side of him that was normally reserved just for her. This was kind of a special occasion though, and what did he have to lose?

"So, um… I don't know, what else? You have a family?"

Tony's chest tightened and he didn't know why at first, but he figured it out fairly quickly. This one-on-one conversation with Nebula, specifically that question, and being held captive in space… it was all too similar to when he and Yinsen were stuck in that cave together. Yes, yes… That's right. Tony asked Yinsen about his family and then he asked Stark in return.

And you Stark?

No.

No… So you're the man who has everything… and nothing.

Yeah, Tony would always remember that. The closest thing he had to family back then was Obi (what a dick) and Pepper. He remembered how it hurt to say 'no' in that cave 10 years ago… Any other time it wouldn't have bothered him back then, but at that moment, with his death imminent and nobody but Yinsen to keep him company in that cramped, dark prison, it sucked. Now here he was again. His death was even more imminent. He had nobody but Nebula to keep him company and as far as cramped, dark prisons, this damn spaceship fit the bill.

This time was a little different though.

"Yeah," Tony answered, surprising himself with his confidence. "Yep. I do."

"What are they like?"

"It's kind of a cluster-fuck of freaks with strong opinions is the best way to put it. We're a team though... when we decide to be."

"You're close?"

"Uh… usually. Well, before… maybe not now. I'm not really sure. There was kind of a big… a big fight, I guess."

"Happens."

Nebula shrugged as if it were no big deal. Tony remembered Nebula telling him about her sister, Gammorah. The one who made Quill throw away the whole plan, by the way. Tony was passed being mad though. He didn't have the energy.

"You and your sister fought a lot?"

"We're not going to talk about me." She plainly said, pushing herself off of the wall and walking away. Tony scoffed and watched her go. And just like that, it was over- his "final meal before the execution". Knowing Nebula, he guessed he wouldn't get a conversation like that out of her ever again. Now it was time to just sit there and wait to die.

Lucky him.

Tony finally turned his eyes from space to his Iron Man mask that looked up at him from the floor, judging Stark with its sad, half-decayed face. Funny how his suits often physically represented his own state of being.

Tony looked down at the countdown on his watch, then over towards where Nebula disappeared. She was nowhere in sight. She usually liked to sit at the communications board and listen to the static, waiting for someone to finally appear on the radio frequencies. There was no one, of course. The chances of someone flying remotely near them in the random depths of space: laughable.

With her out of ear-shot, Tony figured he had nothing else to lose but apologize to Pepper. He was considering leaving her a video or a note of some sort for a while now- would it help or hurt more? Tony finally decided that never knowing what happened was probably worse than anything. If their situations were ever switched, God forbid, he'd rather hear from her as much as it would hurt to listen to.

Timidly, Tony reached forward and underneath the helmet. He fumbled around for the little latch until he felt it underneath his shaky fingers. Tony depressed the small projection.

"This thing on?" He asked, tapping the helmet lightly with the pads of his fingers. A light projected out of the mask and bathed over him, taking in his features and identifying Stark.

"Boss."

Tony couldn't help but smile at the familiarity of that voice.

"Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y."

"Boss, I can't help but sense that you are in dire need of vital necessities and I must insist that-"

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. Can you record a little message for me?" Tony asked as casually as his unusually deep, raspy voice would allow. F.R.I.D.A.Y hesitated for a moment, or maybe it was just because the armor has seen better days, but finally Tony heard the sound of the record tone and a tiny red light began to flash on cue inside of the helmet.

Tony took a deep breath.

"Hey, Miss Potts."

Tony sat back and looked down at his hands guiltily. What was he supposed to say? Where was he supposed to start? At what point did he say too much? Too little?

Well, he had to start somewhere.

Clearing his throat weakly, Tony forced his eyes back up towards his helmet.

"If you find this recording…" Tony breathed in deeply. How should he word this lightly? "…Well, um… I guess it's probably a little obvious by now that I'm not coming home. And I'm sorry about that."

Tony cast his gaze downwards again, trying not to focus on how heavy his chest felt.

"You're probably sick of hearing that; the apology thing, that is. This time I really fucked up though, didn't I?" Tony scoffed at himself in a disgusted tone and looked up at the ceiling. No tears, no tears, come on, Stark… He told himself.

"Just for the record, being adrift in space with zero promise of rescue is more fun than it sounds. An all-inclusive good-for-nothing spaceship with no fuel, an angry half-robot lady, and nothing for lightyears all around, well, it's just a goddamn fiesta up here. Food and water ran out…"

Tony paused and tried to think of the days he's barely been keeping track of on his watch.

"…four days ago? Sounds right. Would kill for a burger right now, by the way. Anyway, more importantly, Oxygen will run out tomorrow morning."

Tony cradled his left wrist with his right hand. He took a staggering breath as he dug up to courage to admit it to both Pepper and himself: "That'll be it."

Tony stopped his movement altogether and just sat in complete stillness for a moment and tried to imagine what it'd be like to just not exist. He's always been skeptical of God and all the jazz, but his Mom was a strong believer. Past being forced to go to church when he was young, Tony has never felt the need to put much thought into it… He guessed that stemmed a lot from his ego. It was a little too late to hop on the Jesus train now.

"I hate to leave you like this. I hate that my last hours won't be spent holding you. Don't- Don't worry about me, though… okay? Don't feel bad about this."

More stillness.

"Part of the journey is the end."

Tony let those words sit with him before sitting up at looking straight at where he knew the small camera to be in his helmet. He gave it a sad smile and imaged seeing Pepper's big, gorgeous eyes on the other end.

"When it does come to that end… When I drift off… I will dream about you. It's always you."

Tony blinked back the haze in his eyes and anxiously tapped his knee to try and distract from the physical pain building inside his chest and throat. His baby. He'd never see his baby again.

"I love you, my future Mrs. Stark." He nearly whispered with a small, devastating half-smile.

Tony wanted to say so much more. He wanted to sit there and talk to "her" for the remaining 12 hours and 23 minutes he had left. He knew he had to keep this brief though- for his sake and hers. Plus, it wasn't helping that his speech was probably eating up a good amount of oxygen. It didn't really matter at this point anyway. 12 hours, 6 hours… What's the difference besides living more time in pain?

Still, Tony Stark reached forward and switched off his Iron Man armor for one last time.

There was a lot going on inside him after he was bathed in silence again:

Relief that he at least left something for Pepper.

Hatred for himself knowing what this would do to her.

Grief for his own demise, knowing that message was the very last thing he needed or would be able to do.

Tony sat back against the cold, metal chair behind him. He would stand up and actually sit in one rather than the hard ground, but he didn't think he even had the strength to do that anymore. Instead, Stark leaned his head back against the cool surface and turned his gaze out towards the universe once more- a universe that would soon no longer be his.

Tony's eyelids were feeling heavy and he began to question himself- Would he rather spend his dwindling hours asleep and unconscious to the world, or would he rather be awake and alert with his thoughts?

It only took a few moments to decide he was perfectly fine with sleep. That's where he got to see Pepper anyway. He wasn't lying when he said he'd dream about her in his final moments. She had been appearing in his dreams in all sorts of ways over the past week or so. Maybe it was the starvation or dehydration, but some of the dreams were so vivid, he'd honest-to-God think he was back on Earth with her. You could imagine what a stab in the heart it was to wake up on the damn ship after that.

This time, the visions started off in bed in their room at the compound.

She was right there next to him, one hand cradling the side of his face and the other tracing circles on the skin of his hip with her delicate fingertips. He often woke up like this on good days- Well, on the rare days that he had a full night's sleep and Pepper was awake before him. He loved those days.

'Hi.' She whispered, sending chills over Tony's spine. Suddenly, he forgot all about that space-prison of his.

'Hey.'

He yawned and stretched, letting one arm drape over her waist and the other tucked underneath his head. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead, smelling the distinct scent of her conditioner.

'Don't forget your two meetings and presentation today.'

Tony moaned and rolled his eyes before closing them again. He turned on his back and lets his arm fall over his eyes.

'You had to ruin it.' He joked.

'If I didn't say something, you'd happily spend the day away tinkering and you know it.'

'Nuh-uh. I remembered. I'm responsible now.'

'Yeah?' Pepper asked with a doubtful smile. He didn't see it with his eyes still closed, but he knew her well enough to hear her expressions in her voice.

'Yep.'

'Meeting with who? And presentation about what?' She asked. Her inflection told him she had zero expectation of him winning this one… And maybe she was right.

'Uh… That guy, you know. The one- one that… And that lady too, yeah…'

'Yeah?' She asked, obviously amused.

'Yep, uh-huh. And the presentation…' He searched through his mind as best and fast as he could to no avail. Man, he really did need to get better at this responsible thing. '…about… technology.'

Pepper laughed took his wrist in her hand, gently removing his arm from over his face so that he'd turn and look at her again.

'Technology, huh?'

'Yes, ma'am.'

'Just- In general. A broad-scope of-'

'Technology. Yes.' Tony confirmed, also smiling a bit now at his own BS. 'You know, Pepper. I really can't help you if you're going to forget all this stuff. You should try being a little more conscientious. Luckily you're hot, so…'

Pepper rolled her eyes and laughed, kissing him on the nose before pushing herself out of bed.

'All the information is on a notepad in your workshop.' She said, standing and pulling her hair into a ponytail.

Something was off. Tony didn't know what. For some reason, it deeply hurt him to watch her get out of bed. He wanted her to come back. He needed her to. Why was his chest in so much pain?

He tried to ignore it.

'You know, you're not my PA anymore.' He reminded her, watching Pepper disappear into the bathroom.

No… Don't go…

'I think I'm your eternal PA, Mr. Stark.' She called back.

He woke crudely.

Where was Pepper?

Where was his room?

Where the hell was he?

What the fuck was going on?

Tony gasped in a few ragged breaths of air and scanned the room frantically.

Metal. Darkness. Space.

Oh.

Tony's heart fell. It sank into his stomach like it was pulled through quicksand… or maybe a black hole would be more appropriate in this situation. Maybe his lungs did too because he was finding it mighty hard to breathe.

He hated it. He hated it… This constant cycle of truly believing he was back home, safe, with her… Then waking up here. Over and over it went, like his own personal Hell. It was at the point where he wished he could just sleep forever so that he could be with her always.

He may get his wish sooner than he thought.

Looking down at his watch, he nearly had a heart attack on the spot: 3 hours, 4 minutes, and 38 seconds left.

37… 36… 35…

How did he sleep that long? He guessed that's what supreme deprivation did to a person. He couldn't stop watching those numbers go down.

34… 33…

He almost wished he hadn't set a timer. Counting down your life… Well, he couldn't think of a more daunting task than that. In fact, it was starting to freak him out just a bit.

11… 10… 9…

Oh, God… He wished he had said a longer goodbye to Pepper before he left. He wished he would have squeezed her so tightly that they would've just, like… melded together forever.

2… 1…

Alright, so only 3 hours and 3 minutes exactly to go. He could do this, he could do this.

The seconds kept ticking by.

56… 55…

Fuck, he couldn't do this.

With some hidden strength that he didn't know he had in him, Tony rocketed up onto his feet, stumbling into the unforgiving wall of the cockpit. His bare shoulder hit with a bang, and before he knew it, his back was pressed up against the biting steel while his lungs fought for air. His heart demanded to break free of the confines of his twisting chest.

The only sound was that of his own panicked breathing. Every part of him trembled from head to toe. His muscles tensed as rigidly as a metal pole.

He knew this feeling. It's been a while. It was familiar in a strange way. Not… comfortable, per se. Nothing about this was comfortable. Lost in space though, well, nothing was familiar. There was just a strange tinge of sadistic relief that came with the awfulness of this particular panic attack- like welcoming back an old friend… an old friend that he hated, but still.

"Stark? What happened?" Nebula's voice came from around the corner. He ignored her. He couldn't explain even if he tried. All he knew was he had to get off the damn ship. He'd rather die in space, he just couldn't be in here. The walls were getting tired and suddenly the whole damn thing was his floating coffin.

"I- I- Shit…" Tony tried to manage his breathing, but it almost made it worse. He stumbled over to one of the chairs and gripped the edge tightly, bowing his head.

"Are you-"

"I never had a kid." Tony blurted out, not even realizing what he was saying. Thoughts were shooting back and forth through his head like panicked bullets.

"What?"

"I never- Just one… At least one would… And Pepper, I never married- She's not even going to be a widow. What do you call someone with a dead fiancé?" He stammered as Nebula inched forward and put a hand on his shoulder. He jerked at her touch but didn't move. This was the part of the panic attack where he was frozen inside his own body. He had zero control over his movements or lack-there-of.

"I don't know." Nebula said darkly.

"Nothing. That's what, nothing. There's no- no… I haven't seen Cap in years. I have to- I don't know, I have to tell him-"

"Stark, sit down." Nebula said, a tad demandingly. Tony wasn't listening. He just kept thinking of all the things he needed to do, all the people he wronged.

"Do- Do dead people miss things? Will I miss her?"

"Stark-"

"That would suck. Shit, that'd really suck. Will I just eternally miss Pepper!?"

After that, things got a little jumbled. The next thing he knew, he was strapped into one of the chairs facing the windshield. What happened? Did he fall asleep? Why didn't he dream of Pepper?

"You're okay." A voice told him from his right. Tony turned his head and got a rush of pain and dizziness. Not to mention, his right eye was killing him.

He managed to see Nebula though, scowling at him with crossed arms as she leaned against the doorframe.

"What the Hell-"

"I punched you." She interrupted.

Tony raised his hand tentatively to his right eye and the top of his cheekbone. Even the slightest brush of his fingers sent daggers of pain through his face. He'd be mad but he kind of understood it. He was freaking the f out and she probably didn't know what else to do.

"Um… Thanks?"

"Yeah."

"How long was I out?" He mumbled, looking at his watch anyway.

"Not much. A few seconds, or so. Do you want me to stay?"

Tony noted the 2 hours and 59 minutes left on his watch. He swallowed thickly.

"No." He said softly. "No, I'm fine. Thanks."

She nodded and stood there for a moment, then left. He was alone again. He had already had his fit, though. The dread subsided and he was mostly just numb again. Numb and ready.

Tony looked down at his watch.

2 hours, 58 minutes, and 47 seconds… 46… 45…

'That'll be it.' Tony remembered his own words in his message to Pepper.

…This is it.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2. Version 1- Believe Me

Tony can't believe he's made it back home.

3. Version 2- I Got You

Pepper takes it upon herself to be 'Rescue' in more ways than one.

4. Version 3- Shoot To Thrill

Tony makes a surprise, bad-ass entrance right in the middle of an Avengers Battle. He and Cap finally bury the hatchet.

5. Version 4- Amnesia

Death by suffocation can do a lot to a man's brain... 4-years-worth to be exact.

Possibly more to come!