Author's note:
I never thought I'd say this but writing this story is thrice as hard now since I watched Endgame. Especially since at random times a day I just feel sad because of what happened to Tony. Even if this story follows the MCU movie tie-ins, I really don't think I can kill Tony in here when the Endgame arc comes. But I haven't decided yet and we're too far from that. I really hope I can finish this story. Guys, I worked hard for this arc. I hope you all liked it. Next update will be on June. My family will have a month vacation so I won't be able to update. But let's hope!
Thank you so much for reading. I appreciate all the reviews, favorites, and follows. I love you 3000.
"Sweetheart, are you excited?" Pepper grinned happily while she comes near Peter in front of the hologrammed screens.
"I am, I am! We've been waiting for this for months!" Peter jumped up and down. After months of Pepper working on the planning for the Tower and Tony working meticulously on the reactor prototype, it is finally ready to be installed in the undersea wiring of New York City.
"It won't be long now." In a few minutes, Tony finished installing the last piece of the Stark-Energy Reactor.
"We're good on this end. The rest is up to you, kid." Iron Man flew up heading his way to the Stark Tower where Peter and Pepper were waiting.
Peter checked the systems now ready and steady. He's known programming since he was five years old and it is a matter of just monitoring now. "Transition lines are disconnected. We're off the grid. Everything's good on our end, Dad." Peter smiled looking up at Pepper and hugged her side.
Iron Man flies to a clear view of the Tower. "Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy. Let's light her up."
Peter and Pepper turned to the other screen, where they can see what Iron Man's been seeing. Peter turned on the power and they stared in awe as the STARK sign lights up. "Awesome! It's like lighting up our tree during Christmas!"
"We gotta go wider on the public awareness campaign, Tony. You need to do some press. I can do some more tomorrow. I'm working on the zoning for the next billboards."
"Pepper, you're killing me. Remember? Chill. Enjoy the moment." Tony arrives on the landing pad of the penthouse where the bots automatically takes off his suit as he walked inside.
"Sir, Agent Coulson of SHIELD is on the line." JARVIS interrupted. Oh, great timing. I'm once again on their radar. SHIELD must've wanted a piece of the reactor now.
"I'm not in. I'm actually out."
"Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting." Tony raised a brow. It's really that important, huh? Whatever it is, it's gonna wait.
"Grow a spine, JARVIS. We're gonna celebrate."
Tony went inside and saw Peter monitoring the systems while Pepper saw him and smiled. "How are we holding up?"
"Levels are holding steady... I think." Pepper replied and Peter quickly ran to his Dad as soon as soon as he saw him. "Dad, that was so cool! Your armor can breathe underwater now? And you have laser beams? You didn't tell me! What are the added weapons?"
Tony carried him. "Well, that was the reaction I was aiming for. I want to show it as a surprise." He kissed his cheeks as they went to Pepper's direction who's now at the living room pouring a drink. They clinked their glasses and went for a toast. Champagne for them and Peter's favorite grape juice.
"No weapons presentation for Peter, Tony. That's too dangerous." Pepper warned while Peter protested. "But there was a safety glass in between, Pepper and I'm gonna be wearing safety gear at the lab. Please…" Peter used his irresistible puppy dog eyes again. Tony just smiled at them; the sight is too good to pass on. He loves how Pepper can be protective like a Mom to his kid. Pepper almost agreed if she wasn't saved by the Ding of the elevator.
"Security breach." Tony uttered as they all looked at the private elevator where Agent Coulson can now be seen, stepping inside the penthouse.
"Mr. Stark. We need to talk."
"Hi Agent Coulson! We're celebrating." Peter ecstatically exclaimed standing up. Pepper also stood up smiling and welcoming him. "Phil. Come in."
"Uh...his first name is Agent." Tony pointed following, trying to stop her.
"We want you to look this over, as soon as possible." Phil handed out a file but Tony didn't even flinch. Peter stepped in front of them and handed the black tablet to his Dad in which Tony has no choice but to accept. "Dad has a peeve, Agent Coulson. He doesn't like to be handed things except when I give it to him."
Pepper giggled. "Thanks Peter." Agent Coulson replied smiling.
"Okay, it's way past your bedtime already, kid. Skedaddle there and wait for me in your room. I'll tuck you to bed." Tony kissed Peter's forehead then Pepper bid a farewell hug to Peter. "Bye Agent Coulson!" He waved as he run to his room.
Peter walked his way to his room but at the back of his mind he can't help but feel curious. Why is Agent Coulson here all of a sudden late at night? Why does he look pretty shaken? It keeps bugging him and he knew he won't be able to sleep if he didn't find out. He stopped his tracks and turned back tip-toeing as to not make any noise. As the stubborn little kid he was, he decided to peek through. The adults didn't even notice.
He watched as Dad typed in at the tablet with Pepper close to him. Dad expands the files and different profiles appear in holographic form floating in the air in front of them. Different reports appeared; Peter's mouth gaped open shocked as he saw the Hulk roaring attacking the army, a man in a red, blue and white outfit in the ice, Natasha and a guy with a bow and arrow, and a long haired man with a hammer. Wait, I know that kind of outfit, that's Thor from Norse legends! Peter loved and used to read a Children's book of Norse Mythology when he was still in the second grade. He looked at Dad now staring worriedly holding a blue cube hologram. Oh, they're leaving now; he ran past his hiding spot and hurriedly went to his room before they can see him.
Peter can't believe what he just saw. He tried to breathe evenly as Dad might come in any second. Oh men, I'm toast. I'm not supposed to see that. I should've just gotten into my room; I might not even be able to sleep now. A knock from his door startled him and he saw his Dad's figure coming close. Dad gave him a scrutinizing look and sits at the bed close to him.
"Pete. Whatever you saw earlier… forget about it, alright. It's nothing you need to worry about."
Peter's eyes widened. "I-I didn't…" He tried to argue but then, oh screw it, Dad's not going to believe that. "Okay… I'm sorry, Dad. How did you know?"
"Oh, I know and JARVIS knows." Peter face palmed, he forgot about JARVIS. Dad laughed and pinched his nose.
"What was that?" Peter asked worried. Dad's not gonna fight, is he?
"A precious item of theirs has just been stolen and they just need me to help find it, as their consultant."
"That's it?"
"Yeah, that's it. So no need to worry, my little one. I'll still drive you to school tomorrow, and then I'll fly out. Pepper will be in DC, you know that right? So Happy will be here to babysit you. That okay?"
"Okay, but Dad..." Peter looks up at him and cupped his face. "Please be careful..." and he hugged him.
"I always am, Pete... Alright, let's sleep now. You got an early morning quiz in English right? We don't want you snoozing at it." Tony kissed Peter's forehead as his kid hugs him. Peter listened to the sound of humming in his Dad's chest, like a little lullaby drifting him off to sleep.
Peter stared at his phone discreetly. Months ago, he found a way to reconfigure some codes in JARVIS's program that automatically tracks his Dad's location synced to his phone. He secretly activated it at his computer before he went to school. He still can't stop thinking about what he has seen last night. The blue cube Dad was holding, that might be what they're finding. But who took it? And why is Thor there? He can't believe the Norse god is real. But it is as if anything can be real now, there's even a big green guy. But why is he here? That's only stuff of legends and fairy tales. He wondered if he should tell Ned. The tracker says Dad is now heading to Germany. Dad said he'll take the jet but at this speed it looks like he's in his armor.
"Peter, you okay?" Ned nudged his arm whispering. "You shouldn't let Ms. Nils see that."
but it's too late. Ms. Nilsen's booming voice alarmed them suddenly "Peter Stark." She comes to them shaking her head disappointingly, holding a tray for Peter to drop his phone.
"But-but I need this, I really need this Ms. Nils." Peter pleaded but Ms. Nils just shot her eyebrow up. Peter sighed in defeat and dropped the phone.
"You know my rule kids. You can get it back after the school day ends." Ms. Nilsen returns in front and continued her lecture.
.
.
"What's up dude? You know how strict she is! And you seemed distracted since this morning. Is this about your Dad on his business trip?" Ned asked once Social Studies finished and they're now in pairs for their Science class.
Peter looked down worried while they answer questions in their Book. "Yeah, I know… but this one's not just some ordinary business trip. He studied all night for that."
"About what?"
Peter whispered. "About Thermonuclear Astrophysics."
Ned's eyes widened. "The what? That's heavy stuff."
"Dad can parse several information streams at once, so it's pretty much just easy stuff to him."
"That's awesome! Your Dad's really the smartest… Oh, can I sleep over later? Oh my God, I wanna see the inside of Stark Tower!" Ned excitedly exclaimed his eyes gleaming.
"Yeah, yeah, sure Ned. I'll ask Dad later when I have my phone back."
"Oh I'll ask my parents now." Ned put his phone out and texted his parents right away.
Peter's brows knitted. "Ugh, no fair." They still have two classes left before class dismissal.
"You should've opened your phone in this class." Ned giggled. "We're good! They agreed!"
.
Happy picked them up and they first went to Queens for Ned's things. Peter tried to call his Dad, but he was out of reach so he texted him instead, but he still haven't received a reply. Dad said Ned can sleep over anytime, but Peter still wants Dad to know. And to know if he's alright. They dropped by Delmar's for a sandwich before heading to the Tower.
"Wow..." Ned stared in awe at the lobby reception of Stark Industries. They can just lead straight to the Parking then the private elevator but they decided to tour Ned from the ground floor on the way up.
Peter laughed at Ned's reaction. "Oh, you haven't seen anything yet."
Every staff at the lobby greeted Peter "Mr. Stark." and welcomed them while Peter greeted them all back.
They went to the glass elevator and saw the spiral staircase and glass bridges at the middle of the Tower leading to the company offices. The interior looks luxurious and sophisticated and Ned was just overwhelmed the whole time. They also saw the R&D Halls. Different scientists and engineers coming back and forth.
They ended the tour with the Penthouse to Peter's room. "This is so much cooler than your room in Malibu, Peter." Ned's eyes glowed with amusement as he stepped inside. Peter's room is twice larger now with dark red and dark blue silhouettes that match. His favorite colors. All surrounded by glass windows with a panoramic view of Manhattan. His ceiling still has glow in the dark stars. A king size bed with a pull out at the bottom so when a friend sleeps over. There's a bookshelf and a blackboard wall. All his Toys lay out in a corner like playground. Bathroom with a walk-in closet. Headboard wall that looked like a gallery of modern art frames of Star wars, Star Treck, Iron Man and all the different pop culture stuff. His collection of Science Awards on a glass cabinet. And a side table with a picture frame of Peter with his Dad. All was neatly organized in perfect setting.
Ned slumped his back at the soft bed and relaxed. "I can just stay here forever..."
Peter sits on his giant bean bag while still tracking his Dad. He's somewhere at the North Atlantic now. It just stops there. Weird. He nearly dropped his phone when his yodelling phone ringtone roared into life. The wacky face of Dad grinning came into view and he immediately answered. "Dad!" Peter's eyes uplifted, he transferred the video call to the screen of his computer so he can see Dad clearly.
"Hey, kid. I just saw your text. Sorry, got caught up in the middle of something earlier. Of course, Ned can sleepover. Is he there?"
Ned abruptly stood up from the bed and sits beside him on his bean bag fully occupying the screen now. "I'm here Mr. Stark! Oh thank you, Stark Tower is superb! The labs are huge! Can I work here someday-"
"Okay Ned, my turn now." Peter pushes Ned lightly as if he can lift the big boy up, if he won't cut off, Ned will start to ramble non-stop. Tony laughed by the whole silliness. "Bye, Mr. Stark!" Ned called out while he went outside to the kitchen giving them some privacy.
"So how are you? How's school?" Dad smiles at him softly. He misses Dad already.
"It's okay, we toured Ned around the Tower and he went like this." Peter copied Ned's facial expression earlier of mouth agape in awe and Tony laughed. "We also went to Mr. Delmar's. He says Hi. Are you in a lab Dad? Did you find the thing yet? Will you come back home tomorrow already?"
"I don't know yet, Pete. But surely, we're soon gonna find this thing. And yes, this is a lab. A little cramped up but we'll manage." Peter's eyes squinted, there's a man from Dad's back that just walked in and he looks familiar. And a lab moving in the middle of the Atlantic? Where are they staying? How big is it?
"Who's that Dad?" Dad looked over his back. "Oh, big guy you're here. Come." The man went beside Dad. "Peter, I want to introduce Dr. Bruce Banner."
"Hi, Dr. Banner. I'm Peter." He waved at them then his eyes widened as he finally recalled. "Oh oh- I knew it. You're the scientist with the outstanding research on anti-electron collisions! You're among the famous scientists pictured in one of our classrooms at Midtown Tech." Peter gushed and Tony laughed lightly tapping Bruce's shoulders while Bruce looked over at Tony impressed. "Yeah, that's my son."
"Hey, Peter. Your Dad told me great stuff about you. I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about when we meet."
"Dr. Banner's gonna visit the Tower, Pete. And when we're done here, let's try that Shawarma place near the Tower." Dr. Banner already went to his part of the lab just watching them now.
"Really?" Peter's eyes sparkled. Tony didn't know if that sparkle was for Banner or for the Shawarma or both.
"Yep. For now, we're gonna finish our work here alright. I'll call you tomorrow. Be safe, okay? Text me if there's anything you need. I love you, kid." Tony grinned giving a flying kiss to his son.
"I love you, Dad." Peter forced a smile hiding his worry. Hoping and wishing that Dad is just there as Tony Stark, their consultant, and not Iron Man. Because Dad as Iron Man means there's trouble, and he has to fight the bad guys again, endangering his life. and Peter doesn't know if he can take that anymore.
Right after the call, Tony started to poke Dr. Banner for fun with a miniature electrical prod just to see if he can get his alter-ego to wake up, when suddenly Steve Rogers walks in on them pissed off stopping him.
They got close with a heated argument delving on what SHIELD is hiding from them, and it ended with Rogers ordering stuff up to focus on their mission.
He comes in here and treats us like soldiers. Guess what, old man. We're not. That guy has no chill. Who does he even think he is? Contempt and disbelief flooded Tony. Ever since he was a kid, all he could hear from Howard is how he helped Captain America, how great the Captain is, how he didn't get the chance to help save him, as if they were really so close. The whole adulation of his father irritated Tony to his core that he grew up with a disdain for the soldier.
Surprise, surprise, Dad. He isn't that great. "That's the guy my dad never shut up about? Wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice." Tony ventured as he recombines patterns for the different equations on his screen.
"The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us." Bruce replied as Tony walked over the monitor near him.
"What he's got is an ACME dynamite kit. It's gonna blow up in his face, and I'm gonna be there when it does."
Bruce smirked. "I didn't get a chance to say earlier, your son is really impressive. For him to understand my research at that age is incredible. "
Tony smirked proud. Peter surely knows how to crawl his way into everyone's heart. "That's my boy. They call him wonder kid, boy genius. I told you, we're fans of your work. I'm sure he'll be ecstatic to have you around the Tower."
Bruce looks over skeptical. "He didn't know I'm the Hulk?"
"Oh he will. That kid finds ways to know stuff. Stubborn little fella."
Bruce smirked. "Seems obvious where he got that from."
"Hey, I've read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you."
"So you're saying that the Hulk... the other guy... saved my life? That's nice. Saved it for what?"
"I guess we'll find out." Tony smiled knowingly as they continued solving the equations and formulating algorithms until they can get a hit of where the Tesseract is.
"So, where is he now?" Ned asked as they put their lunch trays at their table.
"Looks like he's coming back here in New York." Peter answered as he took a bite of his cheeseburger. Dad finished off his work early, it means they already found the cube.
"Dude, that's really so cool how you managed to hack JARVIS."
"Weren't even close, Ned. I just added in some snippets of codes. I couldn't really get in deeper. Too much protocols, it will alert Dad."
They continued eating their lunch until his phone buzzed with Happy calling. Peter's eyebrows knitted. This is the first time Happy called at lunch. Peter just shrugged, Happy might've just called him accidentally again with the phone in his butt pocket. But this time the phone just kept ringing, so he finally answered the call.
"Peter, meet me out in five minutes. We need to get you out of here."
What? Peter looks at the clock at the wall and checked. It's still half past noon. "Happy, it's still our lunch time. We're not allowed to go out half day. You can-..." But he was cut off with a loud blasting sound coming from the Tower. All the students looked up from the glass windows where they can see the Tower clearly just a few blocks from them. Students started chattering and Teacher's now looked alarmed.
"I'll be at our parking spot. Bring Ned with you." Then the call ended. Peter looked at the tracker. Dad's already in the Tower. He's back. What's that noise? His heart started to thud. There's something wrong.
"Come on, Ned." They hurried down their classrooms to get their bags.
"Where are we going? We're not supposed to go out." Ned asked confused while they're heading at the front doors now, but Peter was too preoccupied with tracking his Dad that he has completely ignored everyone around him.
He stopped short, is Dad free falling from the Tower? Peter panicked, he checked again on 3D view, oh my god, he's really falling. No! "He's falling Ned!" He quickly ran out the door to see the Tower. As the doors opened, the sudden booming blast of a bright blue beam appeared from the Tower into the sky forming a space vortex like a portal to another dimension. Peter and Ned stared in awe, there are alien creatures in chariots coming from it and he can see Iron Man now firing his blasters at it. The ear-splitting ring alarm at the entire school startled them. The Principal now instructing the whole school of evacuation through the speakers. All the students knew of the drill before. Everyone is supposed to wait in the Gym until they can get everyone a ride out of school. The teachers tried to remain calm guiding the students out as they headed to the yellow buses ready to go.
"Peter! Get in, quickly!" He turned to see Happy in the Rolls Royce now parked in front of them, and they hurriedly went inside the car. "Your Dad called earlier saying we need to get out of Midtown."
"What was that?" Peter asked as they put on their seat-belts.
"We don't know."
"Boss." Happy immediately answered the call before it can even ring the second time.
"Swear to God, Happy. Don't tell me you lost my kid again."
"He's here, boss."
"Good. Avoid the Tower and head upstate. I'll call in later. Take care of my kid." The call ended before Happy can even reply and Peter can even cut in. Dad must be busy fighting. Peter stared outside, people are running and there are fires from the direction the people are coming from. They're already far from the school but still a few blocks from the Tower and they can see a congestion now forming ahead leading outside the city. And then they saw it, the flying alien in chariots up close coming, and a blast from their weapons knocking every car down.
"Get down!" Happy shouted right until their car was the one who got blasted now. Peter and Ned screamed terrified. In a split second the car slid off to the side track hitting a building pavement hard.
"Happy?" Peter looked up trembling and he started to check Ned for any injuries which thankfully they got none. They started to look at the driver's side now and they found Happy unconscious, blood was forming on the side of his head. He must've hit his head hard. Peter immediately looked at his backpack and searched for his glue prototype. Once he found it, he leaned Happy's head gently on the other side with Ned's assistance. Peter's hands are shacking but he managed to smother his medical glue at Happy's cut that completely stops it from bleeding.
"Peter, we need to get out of here." Ned mumbled afraid as he stared outside. There are a lot of unconscious civilians now. There's also a huge alien sea-monster now flying overhead them that looks swimming in the air. They can't even believe it in their own eyes. It's a Leviathan, it's only a myth from the Bible, but now it's real.
"But we can't let Happy here alone." Peter tried to shake and wake Happy up but it's to no avail. "Happy, please..." He whispered almost tearful.
"We're gonna die here if we're gonna stay here!" Ned now shouted as he spotted an alien with an energy rifle now coming at their direction. Peter's eyes widened in panic and they immediately hopped off from the other side of the car away from the alien. I'm sorry, Happy. They ran as fast they could, but Peter's lungs finally caught up with him, he cannot run anymore, his hands are on his knees. More aliens are coming their way, are they going in the right direction? He can't even tell anymore. They're gonna die. They left of all their belongings in the car in panic. There's no way to contact Dad.
"Peter, please, come on." Ned pleaded terrified. A blast was about to hit them when a shield defended coming from the man dressed in the color of the American flag.
"Get out of here kids!" The man shouted at them while he fights dozens of aliens now coming their way.
"Captain America." Peter mumbled as recognition dawned on his face and the names of those heroes from the tablet files. They stared in amazement for a second before reality hits them and Ned has to practically drag Peter. They stealthily hid at the side of a yellow taxi catching their breath. The thundering lightning startled them after, as they saw Thor at the side of a building now launching a blinding bolt of lightning at the space hole keeping the aliens from coming. The roaring sound of the Hulk jumping from a building smashing ten chitauri's at once. Then the flying chariots came past them, and he saw Natasha fighting her way over it. Hawkeye with a bow and an arrow hitting his targets bulls-eye without the slightest mistake. And finally, the familiar wheezing sound of the thrusters relieved Peter all over… Iron Man... Dad shooting off aliens with his blasters then flying in towards the mouth of the Leviathan like the tale of Jonah's, completely destroying its insides. Peter and Ned stared speechless. They are in the middle of the World's Mightiest Heroes singlehandedly fighting and defending the Earth from its invaders.
Tony shakes his head keeping his senses straight from a slight knock off, he just rolled down the street from ripping off the insides of a hard shelled Chitauri Leviathan. He let out an overwhelming sigh, a small band of chitauri's now coming at him with their energy rifles. He hissed from a headache as he tried to stand up.
"Sir, my sensors just scanned the whole area, Peter is just on the next two blocks from here." The monitor showed heat signatures from Peter and Ned hiding from chitauris. "Shit!" Tony paled, why is my kid in here? He checked Happy and Peter's phone tracker earlier and it was okay. Goddamn it! That was minutes ago. Why the fuck is this always happening, Peter getting caught up in the middle of the fight! They must be scared as hell right now.
Chitauri's started to fire at him and he immediately stood to fly up getting away to Peter's direction. "Stark! Stark, you hearing me? We have a missile headed straight for the city. The payload will wipe out Midtown." Fury's tense voice suddenly echoed.
"Fucking shit Fury! My son is still here in Midtown! How long?"
"Three minutes, at best." Terror overtook Tony. Shit. He's out of time. It's too late. He can't fly out Peter in time. "JARVIS, put everything we got into the thrusters!"
"I just did, Sir."
Tony switched to the Avenger's intercom. "Somebody get to my kid just a block outside Grand Central!" Tony commanded as he left the street.
"We're on it, Stark." Rogers replied.
.
The loud roaring sound of the repulsors made Peter's head turn on the direction it came from. Then he saw Iron Man flying rapidly heading somewhere. Where is Dad going at that speed?
He caught in his peripheral a few chitauri's coming at them. "Ned!" Peter managed to move Ned and himself before a blast took them. When they looked over, Thor and Captain America's already there. Thor's lighting and killing the alien's with his hammer and Captain America defending and attacking anyone who comes in close with them. They managed to put every alien down in a few seconds.
"Do it... -Stark, these things are still coming!" Captain shouted as if he's talking to someone. "Stark, you know that's a one-way trip?" Peter stood up and went to them, his forehead creased from confusion. That doesn't sound right at all. Dad can't be doing that. Dad can't do that...
"Captain, Sir... Is that my Dad? Can-Can I talk to him?" Peter's voice now trembled. Captain took off his ear piece and gave it to Peter. He saw a hit of sadness from the Captain's eyes. Peter looks up, Iron Man is still distances from them but he can see it all clearly. The small figure of Iron Man slowly coming in gripping tightly a missile on his back. "Dad..."
"Peter..." Dad's voice broke.
"Don't do it Dad… Please. Please, Dad." Peter's eyes now welled with tears, his throat now hurts. "You can't leave me alone again Dad. Please. I don't want to lose you, too..."
Iron Man now head past them in full speed flying up into the wormhole. "Peter, listen... it's alright. You're not going to lose me, remember? Remember what I said? Feel your heart, I'm always there, I will always be with you. You're the best thing that ever happened to me, kid. I love you... I love you so much."
Peter's knees weakened as he looks up heavenward, gripping his chest tightly as Iron Man disappeared from the portal. "No! Dad! No... Please! Please come back!" Peter cried screaming as tears ran down his cheeks.
Ned let out a tear seeing his bestfriend helpless; he tried to hug Peter who's now on his knees. The earpiece falls and Cap picked it up. They saw suddenly, all of the chitauri soldiers and chitauri leviathans keel over and begin to shake, then stopped, falling over all at once. The avengers waited for Iron Man to come back, hoping he'll make it through. Thor and Cap see the supernova coming towards them and Thor nods to Cap.
"Close it." Cap commanded conclusively.
"Please don't! Don't! Let's wait a few minutes more! Dad will come through!" Peter in his small voice looked at them with tear-stricken pleading eyes. But it was too late, Natasha already turned off the Tesseract with a loud blast coming from it as the wormhole quickly closes.
"I'm sorry, Peter..." Cap mumbled apologetic. Peter's chest tightened, another set of tears shone in his eyes. He cannot accept it. He felt as if life was coming out of him. Dad, please. Please come back...
"Son of a gun!" Cap gazed disbelievingly and there they saw Iron Man's figure falling... Just falling continuously without his repulsors.
"He's not slowing down." Thor uttered and started swinging his hammer to fly up but Hulk suddenly snags Iron Man out of air, crashing and sliding down the building, and landing near them.
Peter stared shocked as they run towards his dad. Thor rips off Dad's helmet. He can't believe it. He was about to rejoice but noticed Dad is not breathing. Panic is now rising on Peter's chest. "D-Dad... Wake up! JARVIS read vitals!" but JARVIS is not responding.
Suddenly, the loud roaring fury of the Hulk startled all of them, startling Tony awake heaving heavy breaths. "What the hell! What just happened?" Dad muttered and the words brought forth unimaginable happiness in Peter's heart.
"Dad... You came back." His eyes started to water with Joy. Tony pointed a finger over Peter's heart. "I always will, Pete. No crying now, alright." And Peter let out a laugh as tears flow from his eyes.
"We won." Cap stated genuinely and all of them started to smile in relief.
"Yey! Alright. Good job, Good job, guys. Have you guys ever tried Shawarma? There's a Shawarma joint about two blocks from here. My treat. I promised this kid we'll have one, once we're done." Tony looked at Peter and brushed his hair. Peter smiled as he remembered Dad saying that on their phone call.
"We're not finished yet." Thor interrupted. They walked their way to the Tower which is just a block in front of them. Thor and Cap assisted Dad while Peter and Ned gushed talking over their heroes. As soon as they got in, Ned's parents came to come pick him up. Peter and Ned hugged each other. It is one adventure and memory they're going to remember forever. The Avengers all went to the Penthouse and apprehended Loki. SHIELD followed afterwards to get the Scepter and also tried to get the Tesseract but Dad and Thor insisted that the Tesseract went back to Asgard. They checked Happy who luckily just had a mild concussion. Apparently, the Chitauri's did not kill everyone who's already down.
Tony Stark just saved the world from mass destruction. The Avengers formed, past their differences and short comings, they came strong united as a team to save and defend the Earth. The world now vows thankful, people around the world felt safe to know that they are there.
"That was a noble thing to do, son of Stark. You had one powerful adhesive. It reminds me such of my Mjolnir here. Your metal man father must be proud." Thor complimented grinning as Peter finished recalling the story of how they got into their situation in the middle of chaos. He had a large bite of his shawarma after.
Tony caressed his son's hair. "Amazing job, son. And it's Iron Man not metal-man, Point break."
"Thank you, Mr. Thor. You can just call me Peter. What are you all gonna do after this? Are you all going to fight together evil now?" Peter asked inquisitively as he took a bite of his shawarma.
"I guess we'll lay low for now, Peter." Natasha answered as she put her arm around the kid. "Steve, Clint, and I still have our priorities with SHIELD."
"And Dr. Banner's gonna work for me, kid. At the Tower." Tony retorted.
"Oh, yeah! Cool! It's amazing how you turned into the Hulk, Dr. Banner! You went like this… and then you went like "Grrrr! Hulk smash!"" Peter's impressions are on point from a shy face to a raging one smashing his arms, and everyone laughed. Bruce looked down embarrassed.
Tony turned to Steve. He didn't expect to have a newly found respect and gratitude for the old man. "Thank you for saving my son's life, Rogers. I guess, I owe you." Tony went for a handshake with Steve.
"Thank you Mr. Rogers." Peter smiled.
Steve accepted the handshake and smiled. "It's no problem, Tony. Don't worry about it. You got a great kid."
"I hope you can visit us sometime Mr. Rogers, Natasha, Sir Clint, and Mr. Thor."
"Of course, lil guy. Who are we to miss Stark's throw-ins." Clint smirked tapping Tony's shoulders while Tony grinned. "Of course, all of you are welcome to the Tower. Even you, god of hammer. Just don't bring your god of menace brother."
"It is God of Thunder." Thor corrected and Tony raised a brow while he wipes the sauce out of Peter's side lips.
"I never thought of you as a father figure, Tony. Clearly, I was wrong." Steve interjected smiling at them as he can see now who's Tony's number one weakness is.
"Well, that's called the element of surprise, old man." Tony sarcastically pointed out.
"And he's back." Steve mumbled smirking and everyone chuckled as they continued to eat their lunch merrily. The door of the restaurant burst open suddenly and all of them including the employees looked at the man who just came in. "What'd I miss?"
"Uncle Rhodes!" Peter started to stand up and hugged Rhodey who's now coming at their table. Tony stands up and bro hugged his friend. "You missed a lot." Introductions are made and stories are exchanged as they recalled the Battle they just fought- The Battle of New York and Rhodey's Battle in Hong Kong.
They all came reunited at Central Park the next day to send Thor and Loki off to Asgard. Thor bid his farewell shacking everyone's hand and hugging Peter. Tony's holding Peter's hand while they watched the gods departed using the Tesseract. Natasha hugged Peter before they all parted ways. "I'll see you soon, little Stark." and she kissed his cheeks, Peter's face flushed. Tony and Steve shake hands as they said goodbye to one another. Peter waved his hand to them as they all went different places, for now. Dr. Banner came with them to the Tower. That same day, Tony and Pepper started their plans for the Stark tower renovation.
"JARVIS, secure the room." Tony commanded as he walked at his lab. "Room secured, Sir." It's midnight and he can't sleep. A thousand questions with no answers. Every time he closes his eyes... the glimpse of the space Armada, the wormhole closing, the feeling of falling blind, and the trembling tear-stricken face of Peter. Tony brushed his face. He poured a glass of scotch. It's been a year since he last had the drink and tasting it again felt good, giving him courage. It might as well be the time to get some things off his head for some peace, finding out the things that has answers.
"Search all of the files we hacked in SHIELD. Keyword: Mary Parker." Tony sits on his couch while JARVIS pulls up all the files and reports. Since he got his hands on the files, the questions he had in his head for years now has came into life once again bugging him. This time he can finally rest those questions with answers.
In five minutes, JARVIS has finished compiling all the files. What was fury talking about? He reads on the files and reports but it's just all he already know of. Animal DNA was Mary's research. They've discussed this but it's far from complete. Unless... Tony started to stand up. Scanning the papers... Shit! He finally remembered that morning. He wrote off a formula for the glitch. He hasn't even compiled tests for that formula, it's a wild guess for letting Mary figure out the rest. She didn't actually get it right, is she?
And then he found it. Some words are redacted but Tony already knew it. He covered his mouth with his hands shacking. "Mary... what have you done?"
And it's just the first of Tony's many sleepless nights.