Thanks so much to all who mentioned the format issue! You are awesomesauce.
"And I…am…Iron Man."
With a single snap of his fingers, the world stops.
The world stops, and Tony expects pain. It doesn't come. Instead, he feels a strange peace settling around him, and he opens his eyes. What he sees startles him. He's no longer on the battle field, surrounded by the fighting and greying brown clouds overhead. No, now he's surrounded by an expanse of a soft sunset hue with a thick layer of fog havering just above the ground, blurring the line between land and sky. He breathes in and then out heavily.
To his surprise, the gesture doesn't hurt, not even a twinge. The hurt from the arc reactor in his chest when it was still there and even now when it's been taken out that, though not dulled, has become a constant presence every time he breathes ever since Afghanistan, is gone too. In fact, nothing hurts. He's been battered and bruised all day long from everything that's happened and ever since his lovely stay in Afghanistan all those years ago, he's always ached just a bit. He feels none of that here in this place, wherever this is. He glances down at his right arm to find it completely undamaged, so unlike Banner and Thanos' arms after they both used the Infinity Stones. After taking his lack of pain in, he comes to the conclusion that he must be dead or in the place in between.
After another examination of his arm and his surprising, confusing lack of pain, he looks at the place around him. It's open, the expanse of fog covered land and the sunset colored sky leading on for miles upon miles as far as his eyes can see. He slowly turns in place, searching for something, anything, distinctive and could tell him something about where he is.
It takes him a couple circles before he finds something that he's sure wasn't there a few turns earlier. He finds someone sitting in a chair, a rocking chair type of deal at that. It takes him another moment for him to realize that he knows this someone. Gods, it's been years, lifetimes, since he last saw this person, but he's never forgotten them. No, never. He could never forget this person who helped him become the man he is today, helped forge him in a cave in the middle of a fucking desert. No, Tony Stark remembers this person with a striking clarity. How could he forget? How could he forget the only friendly face he'd seen for those three hellish months? How could he forget the man who gave Tony a second chance at life? How could he forget the man whose death and sacrifice, though largely unknown to the rest of the universe, became the catalyst that would save the universe?
How could he forget?
Despite his body being completely healed and free of damage of any kind in this strange place, or reality (because he's quite sure he's not in Kansas anymore, thank you very much), Tony's legs very nearly give way beneath him, and he stumbles a few steps in the other man's direction. Then as confusion wafts over him, he feels tears begin to gather in his eyes. His throat even gets clogged and he has to choke down a swallow.
"I…don't…Yinsen?" Tony croaks out as he tries to comprehend the sudden appearance of the man sitting in the chair and facing away from him. A man who dies in his own fucking arms over sixteen years ago…
The man in the chair turns at Tony's cracked voice and lets a soft, kind, wise smile that Tony remembers oh, so well cross his lips. And for a long second, Tony forgets to breathe.
"Hello, Stark"
And that's all it takes for Tony to remember to breathe again.
Don't waste it. Don't waste your life.
"Yinsen."
"Well done, Tony. You did not waste your life. On the contrary, I would say that you've done quite the opposite. You did good, Stark." And those words cause a wave of calm and relief over Tony.
"I…don't get it. You're dead. How?" Tony manage after a few moments of silence. Yinsen rises and moves to stand in front of the tired mechanic. He keeps a serene, calming expression on his face.
"Indeed, you are correct. Ho Yinsen died in that cave those sixteen years ago, and there is no way to bring him back. Even my counter-part, the Time Stone as you like to call them, cannot bring him back without whole realities collapsing and tearing apart."
And then it dawns on Tony that this plane of existence is somehow within one of the Infinity Stones. This is not Yinsen, simply one of the Stones taking Yinsen's form.
"You're the Soul Stone."
"You are correct. I am not Yinsen. I am indeed what you beings like to call the Soul Stone. I chose this form because I thought that it would be more…comforting to see a familiar face and for his part in ensuring that events played out as they were meant to," the form of Yinsen explains. Gods, now I'm talking to a literal Infinity Stone. I've truly done it all now, Tony can't help but think for a second.
"Wait, what do you mean his part?"
Don't waste your life.
The desperate last words of the real Yinsen ring over and over again in Tony's mind.
"You did good, Tony. Everything played out as they have always needed to. You did not waste the life Yinsen gave you."
It takes a second for the words to sink in and then Tony is shrugging.
"I suppose so," he says with a false casualness, barely ready to accept the words of affirmation that he didn't know he'd been waiting years to hear. "So, now what? I snapped my hand, and I ended up here. What's happening back home? Did we win?"
"Thanos and his army will dissolve as per your wish for this war to finally, truly end. Beyond that, I'm afraid that I cannot tell you. Although, I believe you know a little more what will happen regarding your future."
"I'm dying, aren't I?"
Yinsen nods, a sad expression painting his features.
"We Infinity Stones were not meant to be wielded by a single being. It is why we allowed ourselves to be scattered among the stars. At our full potential, we are too much for even a Titan as powerful as Thanos to harness, let alone a mortal such as yourself, strong though you may be."
"Then I suppose I'm glad I remembered to do those recordings before I left. I guess I always knew this was gonna be a one-way trip for me. Well then, I guess it's time to face the music."
"Indeed, it is, Stark. Indeed, it is. "
"If you find Nat, could you, uh, let her know we did it? That we won?"
Yinsen nods before something happens and his form shimmers. Then somehow, it's not Yinsen standing before Tony anymore but Nat in her Widow suit.
"Oh, don't worry," "Natasha" says, that familiar, teasing smirk curling her lips and a tired mischief coloring her eyes.
"She knows."
Tony lets out a wet chuckle and lets his own lips curl into a sad smile of their own. "Bye, Nat, I guess, uh, I'll see you later."
"Goodbye, Antoshka."
Then the next instant it's Yinsen again.
"Bye, Yinsen. Thank you."
"Goodbye, Stark. Rest now. You did good."
Then the world blinks again and Tony's back on the battlefield. He's back to his reality and now all the hurt from the battler is back, and he's crippled to the point of being near paralyzed from the pain.
It hurts so much, and he can barely focus on anything around him through the pain.
He just barely manages to drag himself over to sit and lean his back against a debris from battle. Even his eyelids won't let him blink. Everything is so far away and out of touch. He's suddenly so, so tired, but still he holds on to the tiny thread of consciousness he can grasp. He can't leave, not yet.
There still Pep and Morgan and Nebula and Peter and Rhodey and all the others. He can't leave yet. No, not yet.
Rhodey. He's there now, knelt before Tony. His sourpatch who's stuck with him through everything. He can hear him now, but he doesn't understand what his best friend is saying to him. Tony tries so hard to focus, but he's losing his grip.
Next, it's Peter. His kid who's not really his but is totally his now and was gone for five years and is back now. He's there too, sobbing and desperately trying to say something that Tony still can't make out through the mind-numbing pain.
Pepper. Pepper's here now. His beautiful, badass, precious wife and mother of their equally priceless, absolutely amazing daughter. Oh, Morgan. His little Morguna who he loves with all he has and who loves him back 3000. If only he could have said goodbye one last time. Pepper and Morgan, his lights who guide him. Pepper is in front of him now, the helmet of her suit (the one he was supposed to give her for their anniversary but will never be able to now) gone. His…Pepper.
"Oh, Tony."
Her voice manages to break through the fog and for a moment, he finds the energy to move his eyes. For a moment, a precious moment, their gazes met before he loses focus once again.
"Tony, hey, look at me. Tony," she commands with a broken voice. All Tony wants to do is reach out and wipe away the tears gathering in her eyes, but he has no strength so he settles for mustering the energy to his face towards hers. She places one of her hands on his face and guides it so they can meet eyes again.
"Pep," he breathes, already feeling himself losing the battle to stay.
She's silently sobbing but still, she speaks, his lovely light of his life. "It's okay. We're gonna be okay. You can rest now."
He gathers the last string of energy to hold her glassy gaze as he puts his hands on her atop his arc reactor.
You can rest now.
So, he does.
Tony Stark allows his eyes to close and simply rests.