Now that they were all sat down on the couch- Pepper, Happy, Morgan, Katya, and Peter- Pepper leaned forward to press a button on the side of the Iron Helmet, the one that would usually make it fall away, but it instead turned into a projector of sorts, and a Tony-shaped hologram materialized in the corner of the room.
"Daddy!" Morgan called. Pepper smiled sadly and hugged Morgan closer to her side.
The hologram began to speak.
"Everybody wants a happy ending, right? But it doesn't always roll that way. Maybe this time- I'm hoping if you play this back... it's in celebration. I hope families are reunited. I hope we get it back, and somewhat like a normal version of the planet has been restored, if there ever was such a thing."
Katya had heard from the others how bad the Blip, as they were calling it, had been. It had driven society into near madness, worldwide economic depression and, now that everyone was back, a significant homeless and displaced population. It had been bleak, lonely, and gray. The world had been driven into devastation. Katya felt a pang in her chest when she realized her selfish gratefulness that she hadn't been there for it. And that everyone who had had put their lives on the line to bring her, Peter, and so many others back.
"God, what a world. Universe now. If you told me 10 years ago that we weren't alone, let alone you know to this extent... I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised."
Everyone that had been at the battle with them was here, now, waiting outside- the commotion of cars driving up and people greeting each other had stopped, and Katya could see through the cabin's window that the walkway between the house and the lake was lined with people- and aliens, and other species- clad in funeral garb.
" But come on, you know? That epic forces of darkness and light that have come into play. And for better or worse, that's the reality Morgan's going to find a way to grow up in. So I found a private area to record a little greeting in case of an untimely death on my part. Not that death at any time is ever timely."
They'd made a wreath of flowers with Tony's initial arc reactor into it- Tony had told her stories about how the purpose of the initial one was to keep a warrant piece of shrapnel from wandering into his heart. And then it had become so much more.
"This time travel thing that we are going to pull off tomorrow... it's got me scratching my head about the survivability of all this. But then again that's the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end."
Pepper and Morgan had made their way through the crowd to slide the wreath into the water- the reactor had been monogrammed with 'Proof that Tony Stark Has a Heart', which he would have loved. The air hung heavy and silent as the wreath slipped into the water and began to float away, gently pushed by the lapping of the lake's small ripples. Katya squeezed Peter's hand, and she realized her face was leaking again. Small and silent, slow drips of water that found their way down her cheeks and to her chin. She didn't wipe them away.
Peter, beside her, stood solemn, his eyes red-rimmed, the hand that wasn't clasped to Katya's stoically at his side. Aunt May gave him a squeeze on the other side. Katya's gut twisted.
" What am I tripping for? Everything is going to work out exactly the way it's supposed to."
The rest of them watched solemnly as the wreath began to slowly disappear into the waves, getting smaller and smaller with each glance.
"I love you 3000."