Tony's breathing was ragged and shallow, his ears were ringing, his vision dimming.

"You can rest now," was the last thing he heard, Pepper's soft voice lulling him into dark nothingness.

But it wasn't nothingness.

Next thing he knew, Tony was standing upright again.

Everything felt wrong. The mind-numbing pain that had been pulsing through his entire body was gone, and in its place… nothing. He felt nothing. Even as he moved his hand to look at it, it felt as though he was looking at someone else's hand, it felt completely detached from him. He couldn't even feel the pressure of gravity holding him down. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought he was floating. His hand looked fine, nothing like the burned up mess he knew it had been under the suit. Speaking of the suit, that was gone too. He was back in his normal clothes, the particle unit back in its place on his chest.

Tony looked around him trying to figure out where he was. The sky was a beautiful, bright, orange haze. The ground beneath him looked wet, but when he moved his feet, there was no ripple of water. He knew he had to be dead. There was no other explanation, but this wasn't exactly what Tony had been expecting. He was no expert on the afterlife, if there was one, but this didn't seem like it was it.

He had a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach, like he'd forgotten something important. It reminded him of the feeling he got when he was forced to leave a project unfinished in his workshop. Something was incomplete, but he didn't know what it was. Had he failed? Had Thanos succeeded after all? Was this some kind of trick Thanos was playing on him with the stones?

"Hey," a voice behind him said.

Tony started and slowly turned around. Standing behind him was a girl, probably around Peter's age, maybe a little older. There was something familiar about her, so familiar that Tony felt as though he knew her as well as he knew himself, but he had no idea why. He stared harder, as if that would help him figure out who the girl was. He tried to say something to her, but it came out as incoherent spluttering. Finally, words tumbled out of his mouth, "Do I know you?"

The girl smiled, even laughed a little, "you could say that," she said.

Tony kept staring at her, and suddenly he knew who it was. His jaw went slack with the realization. "Morgan?" he asked. But it wasn't really a question, he knew without a doubt that it was his little girl.

Without another word, the two rushed together in a tight embrace. They both squeezed and held on as if they would never let go. Tony almost hoped they wouldn't.

"I've missed you so much," Morgan whispered into his shoulder.

Tony pulled back to study her, holding her at arm's length. Looking into her eyes felt like looking into a mirror, but at a younger, brighter, better version of himself. "You're so beautiful," he said softly. He pulled her back into his arms.

When they separated again, after who knew how long, Tony asked the question that was burning in the back of his mind. "Did it work?"

Morgan smiled at him again, "I'm here aren't I? You saved us. You saved everyone."

Tony sighed with relief. The weight of the universe slowly lifting off of his shoulders. He looked at Morgan again. "I'm so sorry I had to leave you," he said, not even trying to hide the tears that were rolling down his cheeks. "It was too soon. I wanted to be there for you. The way my dad wasn't there for me."

She put a comforting hand on his arm. "It's okay," she said. "I forgive you. Without you none of us would still be here. The universe is grateful. They haven't forgotten about you, I don't think they ever will."

Tony shook his head, "I don't know if I care about the universe," he said. "Not when I look at you." He wiped his hand across his face. "I wanted to see you grow up, Morgan. I wanted to teach you how to ride a bike and do math problems. I wanted to take you in the lab, show you how things work, let you tinker. I wanted to teach you how to drive and get you your first car. I wanted to send you to college and cry with your mom about how grown up you were. And I missed it. All of it. I know I wouldn't hesitate to do what I did again, but I still sort of feel like I regret it... Is that wrong?"

"No, Dad." Morgan's voice was a little shaky, but she stayed strong. "Of course I wanted you to be there for all of those things. I missed you so much, but I always knew you were still there. Mom told me how proud you would be when I won the science fair in eighth grade. Happy taught me how to drive and told me stories of all the times you got pulled over-"

They both laughed a little.

"Rhodey sent me off to college and showed me pictures of you two when you were in college. Peter was there when I just missed my dad, because he missed you too and knew how I felt. You touched so many people, Dad. Even when I miss you I don't have to go a day without you."

Tony pressed his lips together in a sad smile, he was still crying. "You're so strong, Morguna, I'm so, so proud of you."

At that, Tony felt a release. That gnawing, unfinished feeling from earlier was gone. He felt completely free.

"It's time to go," Morgan said quietly.

He quickly pulled her into one last tight embrace.

"I love you, Dad," she said.

He pressed a gentle kiss into her cheek, "I love you three-thousand."

And with that, he faded away.