Hey... so you know how the last chapter wasn't all sunshine and rainbows? This one isn't either... sorry :( I don't like leaving things on a sad note, but I'm feeling dat angst so that's how this story's going to end :(. It does kind of tie into Spider-Man: Far From Home (if fan theories are correct) so there is that.

Hands, fingers, they pressed sharply into his neck, his wrists, they settled on his heavy chest and pushed, pushed, pushed. Pain made him gasp, cough, lunge forward to fight off his unseen attacker. But he fell back again, against something hard,

"-eyes."

"Peter! Open your eyes for me!"

Eyes? Did he still have eyes, were they unfeeling, like his stomach had been in death.

Death.

Was he still dead? Had he been dead? Had it all been a dream? His eyes fluttered open, he did have them after all. A blurry face was above his own, with facial hair that reminded him of Mr. Stark's. In fact wasn't it-

He blinked.

Mr. (Dr.?) Strange was kneeling next to him, much like Mr. Stark had before the orange place. Two hands grasped his shoulders, lifting Peter into a sitting position. Once Peter could sit on his own, Strange let go with a huff.

"Jesus. Are you okay?"

Peter nodded slowly, his voice hoarse, "I think so, where are we?"

"Titan." Strange replied tersely.

Peter stared. So it hadn't been a dream then. The air hazy, the gravity just slightly off, the ground barren and unforgiving, and the sky unsure of what color it wanted to be. All the same, had any time passed? But it was missing one thing.

Peter scrambled to shaking feet, eyes frantically scanning, searching.

"Woah… just slow down." Strange reached out a trembling hand, but stopped when he saw Peter's face.

"Where's Mr. Stark?"

Dr. Strange's face fell. He'd been stuck in some sort of alternate dimension, orange, the same color as the soul stone. Steven could only guess, but when he faded away, he must have been transported into it. He could only assume that the same thing had happened to Peter when he found the kid unconscious. He spared a quick glance to the aliens, the woman with the antenna was trying to placate Mr. Lord, while the red and blue guy sharpened his knife. They would have questions too, but he felt that the underaged spider and maybe son of Tony Stark deserved an explanation first.

Thanos' plan had been to wipe out half of the population, which had happened. But now they were back, with Tony Stark and the blue woman gone. The only explanation was that she and Stark had survived, and left, presumably to stop Thanos. Strange still felt the Titan's presence, but it was muted… somehow. Steven wasn't complaining. But the blue woman and Stark… he didn't feel them anymore.

They were gone.

He explained these knowns as best he could, he didn't sugarcoat. He was a doctor after all. But his heart still clenched as Peter's face fell with every passing word, then became blank upon his final pronouncement.

That made him more sorrowful than he would ever admit.

Peter didn't understand. There was no way Mr. Stark could be dead. Sure it felt like Peter had been in the orange place - soul stone - for a while, but Titan looked exactly the same. Strange didn't know what he was talking about. Peter would find Tony and prove Strange wrong. Peter wasn't ready to say goodbye to Tony yet, he hadn't made it up to Tony for failing on Titan, he hadn't thanked him for the suit, he hadn't… he hadn't… he hadn't.

"Are you going to be okay?" Strange was looking at him intently, making an odd motion with his hands. An orange (so much orange) gateway appeared in front of Peter, and through it, he could see central park.

"Yeah." Normally, Peter would have made some sort of exclamation at this exciting new development, it was a portal after all. But for some reason he didn't feel like it. Peter was going to prove Strange wrong. He took one step, then another.

Dr. Strange watched Peter's stiff, retreating back. He wanted to comfort the kid, but he barely knew him, and he still owed the aliens an explanation, whenever Mr. Lord stopped sobbing. Steven was responsible for him now, he knew it in his gut. Tony Stark was dead, and even if it had been the only option, he was still responsible. He had chosen all life over the lives of Tony Stark, of that blue woman, of Steve Rogers, and Clint Barton, and James Rhodes, and oh so many more that he had yet to check.

If the kid who had just vanished through a portal needed him, Steven would help, make no mistake. It was just one small way to make up for all the loss.

Fin.