"You don't look like you're from around here." The voice was clear but not in the way that the half unconscious man could really hear her; the words came across fuzzy to him, almost slurred, probably a product of whatever it was he had gone through. But there was still, in some strange way, a clearness to them. And he knew what it had said and he knew what it meant. It was everything else that made no sense.

Tony Stark, genius, philothropist, attempted-hero, PTSD riddled idiot, failure of a leader. That was him. That had always been him; maybe everyone had been right, he really wasn't cut out for being a hero. Hell, even he had never really been fully convinced of his ability to truly even try. Building stuff was easy, being a billionaire playboy was easy, being an alcoholic and sass master supreme was easy. Actually doing good, that was hard, and no matter what he did, no matter how he tried, he never seemed able to get it right.

But never had he felt that more than in that moment. It felt like he could barely breathe, it felt like everything had suddenly stopped but still he could feel Peter in his arms. He could feel the smaller form of the teenage would-be hero, that young man who with pleading eyes and cracking voice had asked not to die. Had begged. And apologized to Tony, like it was his fault, like it was ever his fault; try as he did though, as much as the brilliant businessman tried to tell himself how he'd told Peter to go home, how he'd tried to make him stay away, how Peter had disobeyed and that's why he'd been on Titan, how Peter was not supposed to be there and yeah it was his fault, Tony could not convince himself of it. Every inch of his mind screamed "You should have protected him", "You should have done more", "He was your responsibility and now he's dead", "You failed to save even just him". His fingers twitched and he realized that he had been holding basically the same position since Peter disappeared, almost like it was just a dream and if Tony wished hard enough, didn't believe it enough, it would stop being real.

It was not that he didn't notice the others suffering either. He saw Doctor Strange crumble away before his eyes, his mind racing with how, and why, and just so much why. But even as he asked the sorcerer had no answer that honestly made him feel any better about this; deep down Tony knew Stephen was never going to be able to give him an answer that made this any less horrific. Thanos had gotten the Time Stone and portalled away ala Space Stone, Peter had crumbled in Tony's arms, Stephen disappeared before his eyes, Mantis and Drax and Star-Lord; they had all just drifted to ash and while it was Peter that hurt the most in that moment, it was with each and every one of them, the looks on their faces, their movements and expressions as it dawned upon each and every one of them what was happening, what was going to happen to them and those they cared for, that Tony's heart started to shatter, more and more.

Until he found his whole body feeling numb when he first noticed his fingers start to slowly break apart. He stared at them, simple and quiet; it didn't hurt, none of it hurt and he wondered if it was the same for the others. Tony convinced himself that the only difference was that he was not afraid, not like Peter had been. It had been a very long time indeed, the Iron Man told himself, since he had actually feared death.

He thought of Pepper as his body started to turn to nothingness, slowly but surely; he thought of their engagement, he thought of their last conversation, he thought of the dream he'd had and the part of him that really did want to have a child with her. He wondered if she was okay, if she would be disappointed, angry, sad. Then he thought of Bruce, and he thought of Steve; he thought of his friends, the ones not there, the ones he left behind on Earth when he came to this place with Ebony Maw's ship. Were they okay? Were they safe? Did Doctor Strange's giving Thanos the Time Stone...no, their combined failure to stop Thanos, did that doom them too? Had Steve turned to dust before Bucky's eyes, did Bruce have to watch as Natasha disappeared? Did T'challa watch as his people shattered and turn to ash? What about Hawkeye, Fury, Happy, Rhodey? How many of them had suffered, how many of them died in the arms of those they loved or inches from their wanting fingertips? How many lives were on Tony's hands again? A voice tried to tell him:

"If Star-Lord hadn't let his emotions get ahead of him..."

"If Doctor Strange hadn't given up the Time Stone..."

"If Mantis could have held out just a bit longer..."

"If Peter had just listened and gone home..."

But all were too weak in the face of the louder voice, his own, shaking as it made it's way out of his mouth and into the dusty air of Titan, a last cry of a dying man into a dead planet's atmosphere, the last thoughts of the guilty as he closed his eyes and fell to his knees, saturated with emotion and anger and pain. And so much self-hatred it hurt.

"If only I'd been better..."

He opened his eyes to a sky full of stars, and a giant glowing full moon. And his heart was still beating but Tony didn't know whether to say it was true or not. Nothing felt true, nothing felt real, and he stared upwards, gaze glued to the formation of the celestial bodies; his mind tricked him into seeing a circle, surrounding the moon, six stars making a halo around the shining rock in the sky.

"Hey," the voice from before spoke, not the ones from in his head, not his own; the word came out crisp but there was curiosity, and concern. Tony turned his head to find himself looking into two red eyes, set in the face of what looked to be a young woman. She stared back at him and tilted her head, blinking once, twice, then speaking again, "You okay?"

"Where am I?" He spoke with a voice that felt like it hadn't been used in a thousand years.

She smiled a strange smile; not pity, not happiness, not amusement or anger. It was unknown and the words came from her clearly as her first. It was his mind that was struggling to make sense to him.

"The city of Hyperion. I'm Tsuki Kokuryuu; you want some help?"