SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS: ENDGAME, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
5 Years Later...
Rome sighed as she stared at the small cottage house ahead of her. She had been parked for five minutes, just looking at it. The familiar feeling of sadness and relief washing over her body, ever since The Snap five years ago. She lost almost everything on that day. She had lost her mother, Roxie, and most of all, she had almost lost Tony.
"Auntie Rome," A small voice came from the back of the bar. Rome turned around and smiled at the little blonde-haired girl, "Why are we at Uncle Tony's house?"
Rome smiled at her Luna and tried to make sure her eyes did not water. "Because I need to talk to Uncle Tony about something," She then unclicked her seatbelt and exited the car. She moved to the other side of the car and opened the door.
Rome smiled as she watched the sleeping form of her son. He had finally closed his eyes when they reached the halfway point of their trip. He had closed his little eyes and nodded off to sleep, his little body limp and relaxed. Not wanting to disturb him, she did her best to unbuckle him from the car seat and transport him into her arms. He was heavy but even at seven years old she couldn't help but still carry him like a toddler.
"Luna," She whispered to her god-daughter, "Come on, grab your stuff." The little girl nodded her head and grabbed the small pink backpack. She threw it over her shoulder and started skipping towards the front door, causing her pigtails to bouncing.
There was slight mumbling and Nicholas stirred in her arms, telling her that he was waking up. She chuckled and kissed the top of her head as she walked up the porch steps, "Alright sleepy head," She mumbled into his hair, "It's time to wake up."
She gentle placed him on the ground and he wobbled a bit before stabilizing himself. She watched as her son let out a great big yawn and rubbed his tired green eyes. He gripped her hand tight and seemed nervous to let go of it. She smoothed down his curly black hair and motioned for Luna to ring the doorbell.
It took Tony only a few minutes to reach the door. A smile graced his face as he saw who it was, "Hey guys," He greeted them warmly smiling at each of them. "Luna, Nick, Morgan's playing in the Den if you want to join her." They both nodded enthusiastically and Luna grabbed Nick's hand zooming them off into the house. Leaving her alone with Tony.
The smile the graced his face vanished when he looked to Rome. "What are you doing here?" He asked her. He said it with a slightly defeated tone, probably already knowing what she came here for.
Rome shrugged, trying to play it off, "Can't I just visit an old friend?"
Tony scoffed, "Of course you can, you know you're always welcomed here," He said and leaned against the door, "But you usually call first and by the look on your face, I'm guessing they got to you."
Rome smiled, her lip wobbling in doing so, as she sat down on the wooden chair. "They told me things," She confirmed and thought about what Steve had told her.
Tony sat down in the chair next to her, "What do you think?"
Rome sniffed and wiped her nose, "I think, that as much as you want to deny it, you've already made up your mind." She then looked off into the distance, trying her best to catch sight of the kids. She saw a glimpse of them. All three lying on the ground playing with each other and it made her heart sore. She then looked back Tony and placed her hand on top of his. "We've come, far haven't we?"
He snorted, "Feels almost like a lifetime ago," He then looked up at her, tears clearly in his eyes, "Rome I can't lose them," He said in a thick voice, "I can't lose this."
"You won't," She reassured him, "You won't ever lose them."
"I just," He paused and lifted his hands up, "I feel like if I do this, then I won't be coming back."
Rome was openly crying now, understanding what he was saying. "Are you sure?" She asked him and he nodded. They had been friends for so long that she couldn't barely stand the thought of a world without him. She had known him before the Avengers, before Iron Man, before all the alien shit. She had just known him as Tony and to watch him grow had been a great privilege of hers.
"Do you think they'll understand?" He asked her motioning off to where the kids were playing.
"No, not at first, but then again no ever truly does," She bit her lip, "We just keeping moving forward."
Tony laid his other hand a top of hers and Rome tried her best not to sob. She knew that this was probably the last time she was ever going to see Tony again. This was her last time ever spending time with him. Her last time being his friend and confidante. The time she had with him, she would cherish forever.
"I'm gonna miss you," She said with her voice wavering, "I'm gonna miss you so bad."
Tony smirked but she could see the sadness behind it, "Life's never been easy for us has it?"
"No one ever said it was," She agreed and a small sad smile graced her face, "So, how about you go save the world one last time?"
The sky had turned dark but Rome had not moved from her place. She still stood in front of the lake where the funeral was held. Her tears had dried up hours ago, the kids were taken inside, but she could not find herself to move.
When she moved she would have to accept the fact that her friend was dead. Not just her friend, her best friend in perhaps the entire world. She was never one to easily accept death and she knew this was coming but she still held out hope. Rome was waiting for Tony to pop up, to say something witty and tell her it was all a practical joke on them.
She waited and waited and waited, but the joke never came.
This was real and there were no do-overs this time. This time death was permanent. This time it was going to stick and she hated that. She hated that this was the only way it could have ended. The only way to defeat Thanos was through the sacrifice of her best friend and it hurt. It hurt seeing him there, no arc reactor light, so still and lifeless. There was no fire behind his eyes, no witty statements or quips, it was just silence.
"Hey," Came a deep voice and Rome jumped, turning around to see Stephen's face.
"Hey," She said weakly and watched as he made his place beside her.
He took a deep breath and looked out towards the water, a distant look in his eyes, "It was the only way," He said and she could hear the undertones of the statement. Telling her not to be mad at him, not to be angry with the world. "14 billion possibilities and this was the only we could have won."
"I know," She said, "Still hurts, though."
He paused for a moment, "You wanna come inside?"
Rome shook her head, "No, I think I just wanna stay here for a little longer."
Stephen put his hands into his jacket pockets, "Okay," he said and stayed there with her.
Rome felt like her heart was breaking. It had never hurt this much before, not even with her dad or Roxie. This was an entirely new feeling to her and she didn't how long it would take to heal. Maybe she would never heal or get over it. Maybe this would haunt her till the day she died. She didn't know and at this point, she didn't care.
"He was a dick," She said quietly and Strange gave a strangled noise in her general direction. He looked at her questioningly and she shrugged her shoulders. "He's a dick for doing this, dying, he's a dick for doing a lot of other things⦠but he was also my friend," She then paused and nodded her head softly, "And I'm really gonna miss him."
Tony Stark was many things to her; a dick, asshole, master of quips, her boss, a hero. But most importantly, he was her friend and that was something that would never change. Even in death.
