In Asgard, Thor stood before Odin's throne, "Father, Anthony is not well. He may die yet today, his body is shutting down. I ask that you consider this when deciding if Loki can visit Grace. She is losing her brother- her only family. I beg you to remember my mourning and the need I had for my friends in that dark time."
Odin nodded, "I will take your advice into consideration." He dismissed Thor.
Thor went to Loki's chambers and found his brother sitting on his bed attempting to read.
"What news have you from Midgard?"
"Grace is beside Anthony's bed. He has lost consciousness. His life is coming to a close."
"And Odin has not yet made up his mind?"
"No."
"Thor, know this- if I receive word from Heimdall that Mr Stark has died and I am not yet permitted to travel off-realm, I will break every law and promise I have made if to reach the hidden passages in this world so that I can stand beside her. I will forfeit ever seeing this place again in order to give comfort to my only friend."
"Allow Father just a little more time. I do not want him to declare you an enemy again and one that I must retrieve at any cost."
"Then he ought to hurry. I will not wait so long that it hurts her."
"I can likely arrange for you to travel with me to Anthony's funeral, but if you leave Asgard before then, I cannot guarantee your safety."
"If Miss Grace needs me before then-"
"Loki, no. You will be no use to her if you are forced into a lifetime of hiding from the forces of Asgard without your magic. You will be no use to her if you make yourself a fugitive and are reclaimed here only to be confined, your ability to visit or to have visitors stripped from you. Please, wait. She will understand if you must delay in order to keep her in your life."
"I am failing her, Thor."
"No, you are not. You are bound by circumstances beyond your control to delay so that you might still see her in the future. You must consider this."
"I must do nothing of the sort...but for once you seem the wiser of us. So long as I can be with her as she buries him, I will do my best to delay...but if she is hurting more than she can bear alone, I will leave this place."
"You have asked Heimdall alert you of his passing?"
"Of course."
"Then I shall wait with you. Anthony is my friend- while we are not so close as you are to Grace, I will still mourn for him."
Loki gestured to a chair near his windows and returned to his book, trying yet again to finish the same page, still unable to focus on the text as he worried about Grace.
Late that night, Grace and Pepper still sat beside Tony's bed, Doctor Carter monitoring him from the workstation behind the bar. Neither woman had moved much during the day. Steve had arrived not long after lunch and had made it his mission to be sure that both Pepper and Grace ate at least a little something for dinner and that both took the time to take care of themselves for at least a few minutes through the day. One by one through the night, the others arrived and took up vigil in Tony's living room or out on the roof deck. No one spoke much more than a few words of greeting.
Around midnight, Tony's vital signs stabilised and he opened his eyes. He smiled at Grace and she took his hand. He weakly tugged her arm to bring her close and they held each other tightly before he requested a few moments alone with Pepper. Grace stepped out of the room. Less than an hour later, his vital signs dipped again and he was unconscious. Pepper called for Grace and for Doctor Carter. Her eyes were red, her cheeks wet with tears, and she wore a set of beautiful interlocking diamond rings that she had not been wearing when Grace had left the room. Grace moved her chair beside Pepper and wrapped her arms around her as Doctor Carter's tablet began to blink and beep rather urgently. Tony's heart stopped. Doctor Carter turned the volume off on the tablet and sighed. Pepper was shaking.
"Ladies, it's over. I'm so sorry."
"Bring him back..." Pepper whimpered as she started sobbing into Grace's shoulder.'
"You know as well as I that he requested very specifically that we not drag this out- that we let him go when his body decided to go. As his doctor, I recommend we respect that request."
"JARVIS? Can you confirm?" Grace asked.
"Yes, Miss Stark, this is what Mr Stark requested."
"Doctor, will you please announce this to everyone waiting?" Doctor Carter nodded and left as Grace asked, "JARVIS, what's next?"
"Doctor Carter will alert the proper authorities and Mr Stark's body will be removed for cremation. I believe all his friends, save for Nick Fury and Thor, have arrived. His funeral plans indicated he wanted to be buried before any public announcement is made. I will contact the cemetery tonight and tomorrow at 11 in the morning he will be interred beside his parents. At noon, there will be a press conference wherein one of the members of the board of directors will read a prepared statement. By the end of the week, there will be both a public funeral ceremony and a public after-party to celebrate Mr Stark's life. He has requested that you both attend the internment, but if you do not wish to be present at any of the other events, he does not want you to make yourself uncomfortable by attending. It was Mr Stark's clear intention that you both be taken care of in the coming weeks. The reading of his will shall take place quietly after these events."
Pepper clung to Grace and Grace held her tightly, doing her best to carry on with the business at hand instead of breaking down, "Thank you, JARVIS. Do you have all the arrangements for the press release, the public funeral and party, and the reading of his will?"
"I will begin making phone calls tonight for the private graveside funeral and for the press conference. Other arrangements will be made after the announcement of Mr Stark's death. You do not need to worry, either of you. Mr Stark was quite thorough with his arrangements."
Doctor Carter entered the room and gestured to the door, "I'm sorry, ladies, but we have to deliver his body to the funeral home for cremation as soon as possible. The director there has been instructed on how to handle Mr Stark's body- we have very little time to waste, given the time Mr Stark wanted his funeral in the morning."
Grace helped Pepper up from her chair and, with one last glance at her brother, said, "I love you, Tony." She then left the room. Pepper barely moved on her own and it was only because Steve saw them coming down the hall and stepped up to carry Pepper to the living room that she made it from the bedroom at all.
With Pepper curled up on the couch sobbing into Steve's shoulder, Grace was left standing on her own, observing everyone in mourning, "Hey...thanks for being here. I...I...I really appreciate you all coming out here on such short notice. Tony wanted to be buried before the press conference to announce his death and JARVIS has his plans worked out, so tomorrow at 11 we're putting him in the ground. The press conference will be at noon. Later in the week there will be a public funeral and party. Tony wanted us all to only do what we were comfortable with, so if the public stuff isn't something you can handle, don't feel bad if you have to step back. This is going to be hard. We'll hear his will after the public stuff- JARVIS is just going to let us know as things are set. Again, everyone, thanks for being here. You're Tony's family."
Grace went to the bar and poured herself a drink, hoping she could manage to get through the night. When Tony's body was brought from his bedroom to the elevator, she finally couldn't hold her tears and went out onto the roof deck to sob on her own. She did not know she was followed out.
When she sat down in the middle of the roof, Bruce sat next to her, "It's OK to have emotions, Grace."
"Fuck. Just...fuck, Bruce. Fuck this all."
He put his arms around her, "I know. But let go, for just a few minutes. You need to and nobody's going to judge you for it. Not even stony ol' Clint."
She managed a half-hearted laugh and then started crying more heavily.
In Asgard, Heimdall sent for Thor and relayed the news to him. He watched Grace speak to Tony's friends and then described her mourning with Bruce. Thor took this information to Loki, who immediately began to pack.
"Loki, remember what we discussed."
"Yes. And the funeral is in less than 10 hours. Odin has very little time to make up his mind before I go to her one way or another. And you have that same amount of time to convince him to let me travel with you before I do so on my own."
Thor nodded, "I will not interrupt Father tonight- it would not bode well for us. I will discuss this with him first thing in the morning. Grace is being taken care of by Tony's friends."
"That's not the same, Thor, and you know it."
"She will have to be satisfied with what comforts they can give for just a few more hours. Calm yourself, Brother, so that you might be the greatest help to her as possible when you arrive in Migard."
"Please, Thor- while I know nothing of Midgard's funeral customs, I feel as though I would be abandoning her in a time of need to not be there for Mr Stark's funeral. I cannot miss this."
"And I will do everything in my power to make sure you do not. Rest. She will need your strength in the morning."
Loki finished his packing and set out his clothes for the funeral- his black suit and the black and lavender scarf Grace had given him, "I will be in Midgard by 11."
Thor left the room and Loki sat down with his book, worried about Grace.
Grace, meanwhile, had calmed herself and Bruce rejoined the others in the penthouse. She crossed through the friends and went to the elevator.
Steve stopped her, passing a heavily drinking Pepper off to Natasha,"Grace- are you going to be OK?"
"I think so. I just need a little bit of alone time. I'll be back up in time for breakfast. Try to remind everyone to get some sleep, will you?"
"I will do my best. But please, call if you need me."
She smiled, "You're a sweetheart, Steve. I just need to collect my thoughts."
He nodded and returned to the others. Grace rode the elevator alone and entered her dark apartment to find that it seemed a little more empty than it usually did. She went to her bedroom and crawled under the covers, still in shock, not quite believing that Tony was actually gone. She stared at the ceiling and waited for sleep, her alarm set for early so she could focus her energy on making breakfast rather than on the funeral.