Chapter 1

Tony

Titan- moments before the snap

Tony groaned as Thanos disappeared. He turned to Strange, "Why would you do that?" he asked.

Strange just gave him a haunted look, "We're in the Endgame now."

Tony sprayed his stab wound with a sealant, staunching the bleeding for now. He knew he needed to get up, to do something, but what was there left to do? They just lost. He could only hope that Vision and the others could keep the last stone safe from Thanos, which, at this point, seemed pretty hopeless. He sat there dumbly; he had never felt this defeated in his entire life. Not in the cave in Afghanistan. Not stumbling through the snow in Tennessee. Not even laying alone in Siberia with a cracked arc reactor and an unwanted shield. This seemed like a loss that there was no coming back from. If Thanos succeeded, if half of the universe died, then what? Iron Man couldn't save them. The Avengers could avenge them, but what was the point? Maybe Tony would be part of the fifty percent that didn't have to deal with the consequences, he almost hoped-

"Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark, oh my gosh, are you okay?" Peter came barreling toward him. "You were fighting him off and it was so cool! You made him bleed and everything! But… but then he stabbed you and-"

"I'm alright kid," Tony said. He was lying. He felt very much not alright, but he would rather calm Peter down than upset him even more. Tony tapped the housing unit on his chest and the remaining nano units rushed away, leaving him in only his tracksuit.

Peter reached out a hand and carefully helped him to his feet.

Tony winced. With the adrenaline quickly rushing away, every cut and bruise he had received from Thanos throbbed with pain.

The others were helping each other up and coming toward them when the weird antennae lady tensed. "Something's happening," she said, and just like that, she completely disintegrated.

Everyone looked at each other in panic as Drax and Quill also turned to dust.

Tony turned to Stephen, wanting so badly to shout at him. Why had he given up the stone for him? Now everyone around him was dying because of it. If they had kept the stone safe like they agreed to, none of this would be happening.

Seeming to know exactly what he was thinking, Strange just shook his head. "Tony, there was no other way." And he too turned to dust.

"Mr. Stark?" Peter asked.

Tony turned, expecting the worst. The fear in Peter's eyes mirrored his own as they stumbled toward each other.

"I'm so scared, Tony," Peter whimpered.

Tony wrapped his arms tightly around the boy. Peter's face pressed into the side of his neck, anchoring them both to reality. They stood there, each waiting for the other to fall apart in their desperate embrace. Time seemed to freeze, they could have stood there for days. After what was really only a few minutes, they pulled apart, realizing that they had both survived. Tony gently reached out a hand and wiped a tear from Peter's cheek, even as he held back tears of his own. He just stared at Peter, reveling in the fact that at least he had survived. If Tony had had to watch Peter turn to dust with everyone else, he thought he would've fallen apart, never to be put back together again.

"He did it," the blue lady said grimly, sinking to the ground. She slumped in the dirt; staring at the ashes of her friends.

Tony also sat back down, his strength leaving him all at once.

Peter looked around them. "What did he do exactly?"

"He wiped out fifty percent of all living creatures," she said.

"Like, back on Earth too?" Peter asked, the pitch of his voice rising in fear.

"Everywhere." she replied.

Peter turned to Tony, "What about everyone back home? What if they- what if my aunt is gone? And Ned and MJ and all of my friends? What if we get there and they're all gone? What are we gonna do?" His eyes were getting misty again and his voice cracked on the last question.

Tony would have been lying if he'd said he wasn't thinking the exact same thing about Pepper and Rhodey and Happy, but now wasn't a good time to think about it. As much as he wanted to despair, he knew the kid needed him to be strong, so that's what he was going to be. "Well, first things first, we have to get home," he said far more confidently then he felt. "Hey, Avatar, do you have a way for us to get back to Earth?"

The blue lady turned to him, "my ship was destroyed on entry, but Quill's ship should be here, we can use it to get off this cursed planet." She got up and walked away, presumably to find the ship.

Tony tried to get to his feet, but pain shot through his whole body and he collapsed back to the ground. He glanced down at the spot where Thanos had run him through with his own weapon, but his vision blurred and he was forced to lay his head back on the rocks. Hands closed around his own and the ringing in his ears drowned out what he thought was Peter's voice. So much for being strong for the kid he thought as he faded into unconsciousness.

When Tony came to, he was lying on a bed and for a moment he thought that maybe it had all been just another nightmare. They weren't uncommon for him, especially the kind where it was his fault that the entire universe died. Ever since New York, the weight of the world had been placed on his shoulders and it only ever got heavier. But, as he tried to sit up, the ache that he felt in his side and his head reassured him that, unfortunately, he hadn't just dreamed the whole thing.

As he became more aware, he realized he wasn't on a bed, but more of a bench, and he had some kind of strange IV stuck in his arm.

"Hey, you're awake!" Peter appeared over Tony, no longer in his Spider-Man suit, but in a t-shirt that seemed a little too big for him.

"Where are we?" Tony asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

"We're on Quill's ship, he calls it the Benatar."

Tony just stared at him.

"You know, like 'hit me with your best shot,'" Peter sang.

Tony snorted, "Pete, I know who Pat Benatar is."

The boy ignored him, "the ship was damaged when Thanos threw that moon at us, but Nebula and I have been working to fix it up and it should get us out of here!"

"Great work kid," Tony said.

Nebula came in and started silently messing with the IV bag.

Tony watched her. "You know, I feel like you're constantly glaring at me. Are you always this angry?"

Nebula stopped and stared at him, "no," she said quietly and went back to what she was doing.

Tony started rambling, only vaguely aware of what he was saying. "I have a friend who's always angry, or at least that's what he says. His name is Bruce, I think you two would get along nicely." Tony realized that there was a distinct possibility he would never see Bruce again, not if he'd disappeared along with everyone else, but he quickly tucked that thought away to the back of his mind, saving it for another day, like, hopefully never. "How long was I out?" he asked to change the subject.

"About 18 hours," Nebula said. The medication I gave you helped you sleep and should assist in the healing process, but our supplies are limited so I'm going to have to take you back off of the meds for now."

Tony nodded.

"I'll let you get cleaned up, Quill's cabin is through that door," she said pointing, "you're welcome to any of his clothes."

"Thanks," Tony said.

Peter helped him up and led him through the door. "Turns out Star-Lord has a pretty cool sense of style," he piped up, "you should be jealous."

"I really doubt that," Tony muttered.

He picked out a simple tee and the only pair of pants he could find that weren't made of leather. Cool sense of style my foot, who still wears leather pants?

"How are the repairs going?" he asked Peter.

Peter grimaced, "the fuel cells were cracked during the battle."

Tony sighed, "that can't be good news."

"No, but I think there might be a way to reverse the ion charge. Nebula agrees, and I think we're getting pretty close, but we haven't quite figured it out yet."

Tony's eyebrows lifted of their own volition and he nodded thoughtfully. "So you're an intergalactic space travel expert now?"

Peter blushed, "I wouldn't say that, Nebula's just a really good teacher."

Tony chuckled, "always so modest. Now get out of here, I need to change."

Peter turned to leave, but Tony cleared his throat.

"I'm really glad you're here kid," he said.

Peter smiled, "me too, Mr. Stark."

When he'd finished changing, Tony climbed down to the engine room where he found Peter and Nebula hard at work. The ship they were on was filthy, but after meeting its owners, he wasn't exactly surprised. "How's it going down here?" he asked.

Peter looked up at him and wrinkled his nose, "still working on the fuel cells."

"Let me take a look," Tony said, coming up beside him.

Peter yawned, quickly trying to cover it up by turning away from Tony.

Tony glared at him accusingly, "have you slept in the last 18 hours?"

Peter shrugged, "haven't had the time."

"Kid!" Tony cried. "Go!"

"But-"

"No buts, go lay down in one of the bunks right now, you're running on fumes."

"Okay dad," Peter grumbled sarcastically.

Tony just shook his head as he watched Peter disappear up the ladder. He turned to Nebula, "alright, show me the fuel cells."