2018

"Hear me, and rejoice. You are about to die at the hands of the children of Thanos. Be thankful, that your meaningless lives are now i-"

Tony was scared. He was put out. He had just found out that Thor is gone, the Hulk was defeated, and he still had not called Steve. He especially was annoyed by these ugly-ass aliens.

"I'm sorry! Earth is closed today. You better pack it up and get outta here."

Ebony Maw was equally as annoyed. "Stone keeper. Does this chattering animal speak for you?"

Tony grimaced at the name, as Doctor Strange challenged them.

"It means, get lost, Squidward!" Tony jabbed at him again.

"He exhausts me." Maw told his huge friend, who charged at them with a huge weapon.

"Banner, you want a piece?" Tony asked his friend.

"No, but when do I ever get what I want..." Bruce mumbled. He tried and tried and tried to bring the Other Guy to the party, but to no avail.

"What, this is no time for thing! That's a thing!" Tony was getting really scared now. He activated his new suit, hoping this test run would suffice.

So far, so good.

And thank Odin's beard Peter was off on a field trip, otherwise-

"Hey man!"

Tony looked up, thinking he was going to be squished flatter than a pancake, when none other than Peter had just saved his life.

"Where did you come from?"

"I saw a big donut flying in the sky and I just thought you needed backup!"

Tony thought he was living in a nightmare. This was not just a bunch of thugs trying to rob a bank, or some rogue Avengers who sometimes held back when fighting a kid. These things were no joke. Tony could tell right away that this was bad news.

And Peter was his top priority now.

"Doc, you better throw that thing away!"

"It stays with me!"

Damn, he was just as stubborn as Tony was.

As the fighting went on, Ebony Maw was paying close attention to the Iron Man. He had offended him. Usually people cowered in fear, begging for mercy, for they were no match for his powers. He never took anything personally, but for some reason, this mere earthling had touched a nerve or too. He got an idea.

"Time to have some fun."

After dealing with the Stone, knowing it was en route to his ship, Maw decided to leave a present for the one who dared to mock him and the Almighty Thanos. He would live to regret this day.

Twisting his hands in a threatening pattern, Ebony Maw sent a curse to Tony Stark, who after breathing in oxygen, also inhaled a dreadful fate.

"Why would you do that?" Tony turned to Strange, who just shook his head.

"We're in the Endgame, now."

His sling ring opened up a portal to Wakanda, where Steve Rogers-Stark stood alone in the jungle. He almost had a heart attack.

"Tony?"

Tony's lump in his throat almost choked him. "Hey, Cap." He fought back the tears, not wanting to embarrass himself again in front of the wizard. "It's been a minute..."

Before he could even get out what he wanted to say, Steve collapsed to the ground. "...I am so sorry...for everything, I...I was an idiot...and I hurt you, and I-"

"Shhhh...shhhh...I was an idiot, too. Too stubborn for my own good, you know that."

Steve looked so broken and tired, and thin.

"Dad?" Peter rung his hands together nervously. "Is this..."

Steve's eyebrows shot up into his forehead. Dad?

Tony smiled sadly. "In the flesh...and I've missed him so much."

"I've missed you too..."

"I tried to find you a couple times...but I couldn't..."

"I was on the move, a lot." Steve ran a shaky hand through his longer hair.

"Please forgive me." Tony told him with a serious look. "I don't wanna fight anymore."

Steve finally looked at Tony, really looked at him. He noticed a new suit, no surprise there, but it was torn to bits, hardly anything left. It was almost moving towards a central location in his abdomen where...blood was dripping from!

"Tony, you're hurt!" Steve panicked.

Tony looked down, as if just remembering. "Oh, yeah, about that..." His knees buckled, but Steve was there faster than lightning to catch him.

Steve stared through the window of the Wakandan hospital, not hearing anything from anyone.

It was all white noise.

All he wanted was for Tony to wake up.

"Hey..." A weak little voice grabbed him and pulled him out of his stupor. He turned to see a kid, who was given fresh clothes and was setting down a box with swirling colors of blue, red, and gold. "I'm Peter...Stark...Rogers...sorry, it's been a long day."

Stark...Rogers...

At Steve's look, Peter quickly explained. "Oh, I'm adopted...as of last year, I uh...I'm your son, too..." He smiled hopefully.

"Tony..." Steve let the tears fall. "He gave you a home..."

"Yeah...wait, how can everyone tell I was homeless- I mean, just, wow, is it...is it that obvious?"

"Kid, I've never had a home until I met him. For as long as I can remember, I've been on my own. But Tony...he really is something, isn't he?"

"He thinks that about you, too." Peter whispered. "Don't tell him I said this, but he doesn't sleep at night, bad dreams, crying out your name and whatnot...he really misses you. I keep telling him to call you, but..."

"That stubborn little..." Steve refrained from saying anything inappropriate in front of his son..."wait, does that mean, I'm your..."

"Well, yeah! That's what I just said!" Peter laughed.

"Sorry...it's been a long day." Steve smiled.

They talked for the next several hours, Peter telling him his story after Germany, Steve soaking in every word.

Tony, on the other hand, woke up in a violent scream, and nobody heard him.