Welcome to the first in the line of...probably quite a few. I won't lie, this is probably going to be a dumping ground of ideas, so if you happen to get inspiration from one, or want to continue one of them into a full blown story, feel free to shoot me a PM and let me know. If not, well, hope you enjoy the read!
Warnings/Tags - Major Character Death, Mild Endgame Spoilers (Kinda), AU.
Character focus - Tony Stark, Peter Parker.
Tony doesn't ever really stop to think about what he's doing. He didn't have to. He had seen the alert pop up on his HUD, and he had sprung into immediate action, repulsors pushing him up into the sky and away, flying towards the Avengers Compound far faster than he needed to. But then again, the compound had been turned to scrap and shrapnel in the wake of Thanos' last attack, and if it weren't for the fact that there was a very much so alive Peter Parker standing outside of the wreckage, he likely would never have looked back.
Peter wasn't supposed to be alive. Peter had sacrificed himself to bring back everyone they lost, while destroying whatever threat Thanos' supporters might have brought with them.
Pepper didn't understand what the younger man had meant to Tony, but she tried to. It wasn't her fault, after all. She had been gone for five years, feeling as if it had been nothing. And Tony had adopted a 16 year old kid, had helped him grow into a man who one day, five years after Thanos won, would be instrumental in their victory over the Mad Titan, rather than take over SI for Tony by the time he hit 25.
Peter had been two weeks away from turning 21. Not even old enough to drink. Not that either of them had cared. Tony had been stone cold sober from the moment they had watched everyone turn to dust around them on Titan. Hadn't even felt the urge to drink when they had made it back to earth, barely running on the last dregs of fuel he and Peter had managed to extend to get them to crash land in upstate New York. Didn't want to drink when he learned both Rhodey and Pepper had been lost to the Snap. He couldn't drink, how could he?
May was gone too. Had been gone since the initial attack, the hospital she was in hit by a stray piece of shrapnel during the fight with the Children of Thanos. It was the worst luck in the world, and of course it would go to Peter. The kid had been devastated, but Tony was there for him, had insisted on being there for him. With everything else going on, with half of the entire earth's population missing, he had done what he needed to make Peter Parker his kid, in all the legal ways that mattered.
Tony had initially wanted to retire, to take Peter and run to the Eco Cabin up north that he had commissioned to be built for he and Pepper. But Peter had insisted they stay. Peter had insisted that the world needed them now more than ever, that someone had to step up to start fixing things, and in April, only six months after everyone had vanished, Stark Industries launched their first branch office, creating a large shelter for the lost, offering jobs to those who needed one, offered homes, safe ones, and offered food to those that had nothing, known as Stark Industries Relief, or as it was eventually more commonly known as, SIR.
Between Tony and Peter, they came up with enough ideas to at least kick-start the world into getting better again. Agricultural issues needed to be dealt with first and foremost, as well as getting trained people to deal with other similar ventures, ranging from electrical issues and beyond.
It hadn't been easy, that had never changed.
But they made it work.
And somewhere in the chaos of it all, Tony and Peter had become a family, a father and son, something Tony had craved for decades.
It took longer than expected, but eventually while working late one night with noted from one Hank Pym and Scott Lang, Peter had a breakthrough, something he had shared immediately with Tony.
They had a way to get everyone back.
Everyone left of the Avengers was brought back to the compound, brought back to where they were going to attempt all of this. Even Steve, the man that Peter had gotten into a screaming match of epic proportions with not even three years prior when the Super Soldier had tried to turn down helping Stark Industries Relief, citing that the world needed to grieve, not worry about Stark Industries stepping in to fill the power gap. Peter hadn't taken it kindly, and the normally calm and collected boy had lost his shit.
The vindictive part of Tony watched now and then, when the urge to go sit in the lab with Peter festered in his stomach, his heart screaming with the knowledge that Peter was buried in the cemetery next to May and Ben Parker. He hadn't been able to locate graves for Richard and Mary, so it would have to suffice.
Steve, Wanda, Natasha, Clint, and Loki. That was all that remained of their little "Team." It wasn't as much as he was hoping for, and he hated it. He hated it even more when they had all reappeared on the platform, and Clint was carrying Natasha's limp body, blood splattering against the ground as the man's shoulders shook with sobs, Soul Stone clattering against the steel of the platform. When Loki stood there saying nothing, his green eyes dark, almost black as his mouth flattened into a grim line, Aether contained in a swirl of green magic in his left hand. When Wanda's hand opened, revealing the Power stone encased in the flowing crimson of her own chaos magic. When Steve's hand tightened around the scepter, the Mind Stone glinting menacingly near the head of it. When his own hands squeeze the Tesseract hard enough for the edges of it to dig through the glove of his suit. When Peter's white knuckled grip on the Amulet containing the Time Stone made the material groan.
They had made the gauntlet, and when the time came, it was given to Peter, the youngest of them all. Or rather, less so given, and moreso taken while they slept, or most of them, as Tony would later come to find out. Loki had been present as well, and as much as Tony had wanted to kill him, had tried to kill him after, he knew the god had been right. Loki never could have done it, his mind and body tainted by the effects of the Mind Stone. Clint refused to even leave his room, and the Chaos Magic saturating Wanda made her unsuitable as well. That left Tony, Peter, and Steve, and of the three of them, Peter was by far the most durable, by far had the best healing.
Tony had turned it down earlier that night, not wanting to lose his kid, not now, not when they were so close like this.
He should have known Peter wouldn't listen. And he hadn't. They had all awoken to the sheer shockwave of power, had all scrambled into the central courtyard of the Compound, underneath the deep expanse of the starry sky. They had found him there, cradled in Loki's arms, the deity moving a hand over his body, green Seidr drifting over his arm, trying to heal some of damage the Gauntlet had done. Peter was shaking, his brown eyes staring up at the sky, a half smile on his face.
Tony had been by his side in an instant, hands shakily trying to reach out and touch him, but not wanting to interfere with Loki's work. He trusted the God, as weird as it felt to say. Trusted him with Peter's safety, especially.
"H-Hey-hey, Dad. I uh. I think I broke that little rule. Don't- Don't be too upset, okay? I had to do it. Bring them all back. May. Tash. Everyone. They should-"
Peter tried to speak, but was interrupted with a coughing fit that ended with blood splattering on Tony's face and Loki's hands. The god leans back, the flow of Seidr fading as Tony looked at him, alarmed. The green eyed god merely shakes his head, eyes glinting with sorrow and regret. No. Nonononono- Not his kid, not Peter. Never Peter.
"Should be alive now...Dad? I don't...I don't f-feel so good. But that's...that's fine. Just...be happy. Please, dad. Please."
Tony had been trying to reassure him, trying to tell him that he would be okay, but it didn't matter. With a half smile, Peter's eyes had lost focus, his chest stilling as Tony's heart shattered.
Peter had done more than any of them thought possible. He had brought back everyone. Not just those lost in the Snap, but everyone. May, Natasha, Thor, and the many Asgardians slaughtered by Thanos. Pepper and Rhodey as well, the former calling his phone repeatedly until Tony threw the thing against one of the nearby stone pillars, where the nearly indestructible StarkPhone continued vibrating.
Steve had returned the Stones and come back, and he and Barnes had vanished to wherever. Clint had taken Natasha with him to the Farm, likely to hole up with his family for the forseeable future. Wanda had her twin back, and the two of them were still staying in the compound, from what Tony had been able to gather. Thor and the Asgardians had joined their brethren in Norway, Thor happy to do as Loki had done and relinquish the title of King to Valkyrie. Loki elected to stay in the Compound, unable to handle the sight of Thor and all he had failed. Tony couldn't blame him.
He felt the same way every time one May Parker called him.
Then the compound was attacked with the final wave of Thanos' children, and they had had to relocate, Tony buying back the Tower once more. They hadn't lost anyone in the attack, something Tony had been exceedingly grateful for.
Things with Pepper were strained at best, in comparison to the way they had been before. Despite her previous position, Tony had been CEO again for half a decade, and had taken all of it on as a responsible adult, having Peter sit through board meetings with him when possible, as well as actively participating in them as well. He had been very sincere in his desire to pass the company onto Peter one day, especially considering nearly half of the Relief efforts were designed by the kid.
He hadn't been able to hand the reigns back to Pepper, hadn't been able to get himself to let go of the title, not out of some desire to keep the job, but out of fear that letting go would mean that he had failed, failed the one he had loved as his own child.
SIR was redirected once more, with the return of so many people. Life went on with the world.
Tony tried to move with it.
Loki, as it turned out, was quite useful. He always seemed to show up when Tony was leaning too far over the railing of the balcony, eyes closed as he tried to pretend that everything was alright in the world. Always there to put a hand on his shoulder, to speak with quiet, kind words. They were friends, Tony had realized a few years previous. They were friends, and they had both lost everything. The only difference being, Loki had technically gotten it all back. But it didn't feel the same. It didn't feel fair, and Loki hadn't been able to handle that thought.
Tony could respect that.
As Tony finally neared the wrecked compound he slowed to a stop, staring at the man, no. Staring at the boy standing and looking up at him. It was very definitely Peter Parker, but he looked far younger than he should be. He looked 16 again, which if he were being honest, was the least weird thing going on here. He had lowered himself to the ground, and the suit had retreated back into the Nano-tech housing unit on his chest. He wasted no time in pulling the shorter boy into a hug, squeezing tightly as Peter returned the gesture just as tightly.
"I'm sorry, Dad. I'm sorry for leaving you behind. I swear I didn't want to. But it was...it was needed. It had to be me."
Tony didn't say anything in response yet, can't say anything, because with that one statement, Peter had sent him reeling. Not only was Peter looking impossibly young, but he still had all of his memories. God, if that wasn't going to raise some interesting questions. He couldn't bring himself to care, though. Couldn't, wouldn't, didn't really matter in the long run. All that mattered was that his kid was here, that he was okay.
"The Stones, they...they said I was a thank you. For fixing the universe. They were instrumental in creating it, and for them to have been directly involved with erasing half of it? They hated it."
The story wasn't the least plausible thing he had ever heard of. And honestly, it made sense in a twisted kind of way, assuming that the stones were genuinely sentient in some fashion or another. He didn't care though.
"Let's go home, kid. We gotta talk tomorrow."
It was all he had been able to say, and with a tap against his chest, his suit was deployed, something Peter mirrored. Spider-Man had undergone some changes over the half-decade, but not enough to make the kid unrecognizable. He clings to Tony's suit, and Tony begins the flight back to the Tower. It wouldn't take more than an hour considering the pace he was going at.
And that's all I got for this one. A lot of these might mention common things, I believe SIR comes up at least once more, and that's in the ones that I've written up until this point. Some of these will be longer, some will be shorter, but all of them should at least hit the 1k words marker. I think. Probably.
Until next time!
