Here's the final chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and keeping up with the story, I really appreciate it and I hope that you find the ending a satisfying conclusion to this little story.

Enjoy!

Peter felt trapped. Only this was not because someone had dropped a building on his head. He watched with tears in his eyes as the might of the Avengers formed a circle around himself and Mr. Stark but for a moment, they just stood there as if they were too stunned to move. As soon as he saw the human wall, all he wanted to do was run. He wanted to pick up Mr. Stark and take off toward whatever that city was behind them but he did not know where to go. He needed to know where to go before he just ran blindly in. Why were they not doing anything? He needed help. And then Captain America took a step toward them, it caught his attention and he looked up, begging, "Help me, please." His voice was quiet, so unlike the confidence he normally felt as Spider-Man but even though he had the suit on, he could not be Spider-Man. In this moment, Spider-Man bled into Peter Parker and he was just a kid who desperately needed someone's help.

Steve knew Tony could not have been doing alright after what he had witnessed, he was not even sure Thor would have been able to take the amount of damage that gauntlet had done but he still stepped away from him when Bucky called his name. It was selfish and stupid and yet he had done it. Now he was looking at the kid that had made the entire endeavor possible. He was young, like Tony said, but the way he was crying and holding a battered Iron Man in his arms made him look even younger. But Steve could not move, eyes glued to the image before him. Then the kid, Peter, he reminded himself, begged for help and for whatever reason that snapped everything into place. He knelt down next to the pair, holding his arms out, "We'll get him help. Come on, kid, let me have him."

But Peter did not relent and instead stood easily, cradling Mr. Stark in his arms, only wincing slightly. Ignoring the Captain's orders, he forced himself to meet Captain America's eyes, "Show me, please."

Steve gestured up at the city, "We'll take him into Wakanda, the king's sister, she'll be able to help him." It was a lie and Steve knew it, he could not promise that but he could not take the weight of the misery in the kid's eyes.

Then Dr. Strange stepped up carefully into the circle, "Peter," he started, a level of familiarity in his tone, "Will you allow me to help?"

Peter regarded him for a moment, knowing exactly what he could do but he did not trust himself to talk, so instead he nodded quickly. Then only a few second later, a portal appeared before him, a lab of some kind obvious in the background. Peter took a deep breath and stepped through, still clutching Mr. Stark in his arms.

As soon as the kid was through, Strange looked back at some of the other Avengers, "Captain America, I believe you and King T'Challa should go with him."

Surprised that this – wizard? Sorcerer? – knew his name, Steve was struck dumb for a moment before realizing what he said and stepping through the glowing circle of orange, followed closely by T'Challa. As they appeared in Shuri's lab, the doorway closed behind them and they were left looking at a still sniffling Peter as he laid Tony on the bed Shuri had directed him to. They watched the two teenagers and soon as he was down, Shuri started scanning and Peter stepped back.

The room was silent as Shuri got to work.

Peter curled with his back into Mr. Stark's side careful to avoid any of his injuries but desperately needing the comfort that came with proximity. His arms were wrapped around his knees and he tried to pull them closer as he shivered unconsciously, tucking closer into his mentor's side. If he closed his eyes, he could still feel the pain of the molecules of his body drifting apart as his powers tried desperately to hold him together. But that pain had not been as bad as being pieced back together. His healing had tried to help speed up the process but all it did was piece the molecules back together wrong and then they broke apart again as they rearranged themselves. And for some reason, it still hurt if he moved the wrong way. Peter shivered again as he released he actually understood what happened, he wished to god he didn't. Still, it helped lying next to Mr. Stark so he curled up a little tighter and tried to relax at least a bit.

That was how Captain America found him. The kid who looked impossibly young to be such a strong hero was dozing, the soft breaths and quiet heart rate monitor pulsing beside the bed the only sounds in the room. Still, Steve wanted to sit with Tony for a bit but could not handle the thought of scaring the kid. Stepping carefully into the room, he called out quiety, "Peter?"

The kid slowly, almost lazily opened his eyes. It was exaggerated when he slowly blinked them a few times, trying to collect himself. His spidey sense had told him someone was there but it took time to clear his vision. Then he realized who was talking and threw himself upright in the bed, "Mr. Captain America, sir." He blurted out every respectful name he could come up with.

Steve chuckled at the surprise on the kid's face, "You can call me Steve." Then his tone turned solemn, "How's he doing?"

Peter shrugged his shoulders as tears sprung to his eyes, "Shuri doesn't know. She said that she's never seen anything like this before but that as far as she can tell, he's stable." He did not feel nearly as confident in what she had said as he wished he was, "She doesn't know when he'll wake up." He could not even bring himself to think about 'if'. Then he looked over at Mr. Stark's wrecked arm, he still did not know what happened. Looking over at the Captain, he asked, "What happened to his arm?" He figured if anyone would know, it would be someone who was there.

Steve glanced over at the mangled limb. He was still surprised Tony had survived as long as he had and that gave him a little more confidence, "She didn't tell you?"

Peter just shook his head, he had meant to ask but everything had happened so fast and his mind was still a little fuzzy from the whole being pieced back together thing. He had just forgotten. And that realization made him feel incredibly guilty. How could he have forgotten to ask something so obvious about Mr. Stark's injuries? Still, he was not able to contemplate that for much longer as Captain America's voice dragged him back out of his head.

The Captain's voice was gentle when he answered, "He used the gauntlet to channel the stones. Thanos had similar wounds on the arm he had worn the gauntlet on, although his were not nearly as bad." Steve's voice trailed away as he contemplated the stupidity of his friend.

Peter felt the fear return again, only this time it escaped as anger, "Why would he do that? There had to be another way." He was furious and terrified and he just wanted Mr. Stark to wake up, "Someone else had to have been able to use it. There are literal gods who are Avengers, why couldn't they have used it? Or why didn't anyone put the stones in their weapon? Or why didn't you just destroy the stones? Or…or…"

"Peter," Steve started quietly, waiting for the kid to swallow back his rambling thoughts so he could tell him why Tony had done it. It took him a few seconds to look up at Steve but he eventually did, a look of pain and anguish playing across his face. Steve swallowed hard before he continued, "He did it for you. He won't allow anyone else to do it and the fact that he's still alive means he figured out something no one else could. But he did it to bring you back."

Peter looked at him with something akin to disbelief on his face. Why would Mr. Stark risk everything for him? Surely Captain America was exaggerating, trying to make him feel better. That had to be it. Right? Unfortunately, it really did not make him feel better. In fact, the thought that anyone would risk as much as Mr. Stark had for him made him feel sick. He needed to change the subject, quickly, "Wh-what happened to Thanos?"

"He's dead." Steve snapped. He did not particularly want to talk about it.

But Peter needed to know for sure, the last time…the last time…he shuddered as he asked, "Are you sure? How?"

Steve was not nearly as defiant when the kid asked in such a quiet, unsure voice. He needed closure, so Steve sighed softly and looked him in the eye, "Peter, he – he's – dammit, kid, Tony killed him." He could not place his finger on why that was so hard to say. It is not like Tony had not killed before but for some reason, saying that to this kid felt wrong.

"He did?"

Steve did not miss the way Peter reached a hand behind his back and grabbed ahold of Tony's good hand, but the old soldier continued, "Yah he did. And trust me, Tony wanted him dead. He's not coming back." But he did not elaborate on the second question. Tony had killed him alright, had done exactly what he had said he was going to do when he volunteered to take the gauntlet.

But Peter was persistent, he needed to know, "How?"

God this kid did not let up, Steve chewed on his thoughts for a minute, trying to filter out what he wanted to say. Eventually, he landed on something, "Tony used the gauntlet on him. Thanos took the brunt of six infinity stones and without something to harness them with, it killed him." Steve refused to go into detail, was not even sure he understood everything he had witnessed. Still the images snapped into his mind. Thanos had died screaming. Steve remembered the lull in the battle as the hulking Titan was wrenched up into the sky above the battlefield, in complete view of those fighting. Only then did the screaming start as he slowly started to disintegrate as each molecule was pulled away from him, slowly. At one point he put his hands to his head as if he was trying to block something out but it went unheard to the rest of them. Both armies stood in enraptured silence as the Mad Titan met the same fate as those he had sought to erase. It had been a surreal image, even given everything they had seen. Eventually, there was a bright flash of light that winked out of existence nearly as quickly as it appeared and the Titan was no more. His armies had fought on but they were demoralized, quickly cut down by the Wakandan army. Steve shivered at the memory and tried to force himself back into the present.

The kid was sitting there silently, the hand clutching Tony's still behind his back but he did not say anything. Steve was worried what he had said had been wrong but if it was, the kid did not show it. Instead he just tucked his knees up to his chest, wrapped his free arm around them, and laid his head on his arm.

They sat in silence for a bit, listening to the soft sounds in the room before Peter realized something. Speaking softly enough to disturb the silence but not loud enough to break the peace, he asked, "How do you know my name, sir?"

Steve was caught off-guard by the question, unsure of what he was going to say, he settled on asking the kid to repeat himself, "What?"

"My name, how do you know my name?" The kid did not look mad but confused. Peter had never actually met Captain America before, at least he was pretty sure he had not, that seemed like something he would not forget.

The memory flashed in Steve's mind, "Tony told me."

And just like that, Peter felt a weird course of betrayal shoot through him. Mr. Stark knew that he did not want anyone to know who he was but he had told Captain America? Why would he do that? They were not even talking the last he knew. The reaction made him feel so childish.

Steve saw the strange look that crossed the kid's face before he realized what he had said. Tony had told him that Peter had not wanted anyone to know about his identity. Well damn, he probably should have let Tony be the one to tell him that everyone now knew. He scrambled to explain, "He didn't mean to say anything, Peter, I promise. He was upset when he got back to Earth and we were not doing anything but arguing about what to do next. He just – he was furious and he wanted us to understand what he had lost. He said your name because he was grieving, not because he was trying to betray you. He wanted us to know who you were."

That made sense, kind of. Mr. Stark cared about him, of course, but grieving for him? Being so angry that he used the gauntlet? So angry that he killed Thanos? It immediately struck him that it seemed like too much for Mr. Stark to do for him. All that shot through his head so quickly that it only came out as a stuttered, "Why?"

Steve looked at him dumbfounded for a moment, surely Tony had told the kid what he meant to him. Then he stopped himself, of course he had not, this was Tony Stark. He was even more maladjusted than Bucky, and he had his brain scrambled by the Soviets. Sighing heavily, he looked the kid in the eye, "He never told you, did he?"

That made Peter nervous, "Told me what?"

Steve held the kid's gaze and tried to get him to understand, "Tony cares more about you than he's apparently ever said. You need to ask him about it when he wakes up but for now you need to know that he was a mess for the two years you were gone. I have never seen him so upset. He was angry. He was frustrated. And he had been planning revenge since the moment he got back to Earth. And Thanos took the full force of that anger."

Revelation given, the room lapse back into silence as the oldest Avenger and the newest Avenger sat beside the man who just saved the world, each lost in their own thoughts.

Tony was floating.

There was a weird pressure on his right hand and a throbbing burn down his left side but it did not stop his body from floating on its own accord. Then he heard it, the shout that would forever freeze his blood.

"Stark!" The booming voice of Thanos carried over the serenity of the orange-red world he was in and he was instantly transported above the battle field. Quickly, everything returned, slamming into him.

He would be lying to anyone if he as Thanos's booming voice did not scare him. He had been petrified to make his move as the stone settled into the gauntlet, he was terrified of what would happen if none of this worked. Still he had conjured those horrible images in his mind and closed the glove. It was only now that he was trapped in this odd limbo that he was able to remember it. He had been so focused on his revenge, so focused on rewriting the wrongs Thanos had done, that he had not even given his own brutality a second thought. The entire event had only taken a few heartbeats. As he floated in this orange-red world his mind was assaulted by the images he missed. He watched himself on the battlefield, saw the pure hatred in his own eyes as he closed the gauntlet around his hands. Felt the power and pain course through him before a satisfied smirk curled on his lips. And then as soon as Thanos let out a scream, he knew his revenge was satiated. It was a split second later when he snapped his fingers. But this time, instead of meeting the little girl, he watched the entire event play out before him. He watched the Titan scream and squirm as his life floated away in extended agony. And as much as he wanted to cringe at how sick he actually was, he could not help the pleasure felt at watching the genocidal Titan get what he deserved.

And just like that Thanos was gone and he went back to floating in silence.

Peter was trying to sleep through the latest bout of images of his own death and the fears that Mr. Stark would not wake up, when he felt the hand clutched in his start to shift. Peter's eyes popped open and he bent his arm under him so he could sit up, "Mr. Stark? Mr. Stark can you hear me?"

The fingers twitched again and this time the man started to groan, his eyes moving beneath the eyelids. Peter took that as a good sign and squeezed his hand back, encouraging him to wake, "Come on Mr. Stark. There is no way you would ever let me sleep this late."

That voice, Tony knew he recognized it, knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he absolutely had to listen to it. So he fought against his own want to just fall back to sleep and clawed his way to the surface. He squinted one eye open, but there was nothing there which was weird because he knew he needed to listen. Something reminded him that he had another eye, so he winked that one open too. And that was when he saw the source of the annoyance. His kid was sitting next to him, anxiously bouncing on the side of the bed. He felt a soft smile creep to his lips as he tried his voice, "Hey Pete."

Mr. Stark's barely audible greeting sounded like a shout to Peter, he had been waiting nearly a week to hear it, "Hi Mr. Stark." It was in that moment that he felt unsure of himself. He wanted to hug his mentor, to make sure he was actually alright but something held him back. Mr. Stark was not really someone who liked to be touched, had told him that on multiple occasions in fact and now that he was actually coherent, it seemed like the hug on the battlefield was more of a fluke than a trend. Thankfully, Mr. Stark cleared it up for him.

Tony watched Peter watch him. The kid had initially leaned forward, like he was going to hug him and then something stopped him. Realizing that he did not particularly care, Tony pulled his hand gently from Peter's and quickly pressed himself higher in the bed before reaching out and tugging the kid toward him. Peter immediately slid forward, reversing his retreat and collapsing slowly into his mentor's side, his head resting on his shoulder and his arm resting carefully on his chest. Tony tugged him close, infinitely thankful he was alive.

"Thought we weren't there yet, Mr. Stark?" The comment was ridiculous, especially given the fact that the boy was, and had been, curled into his side.

Tony could not help but smirk at the kid's comment. They were definitely beyond that, "Kid, I just took on a Titan to get you back, I think we're there."

That reminded Peter that wanted to be angry at Mr. Stark. He wanted to be mad at him for putting himself in that situation but as soon as he summoned the anger, it was gone. Still the curiosity was there, he needed to know why, "Why did you do that, Mr. Stark? He could of killed you. The gauntlet almost did." There was a tinge of anger in his tone but he knew it would dissipate the moment Mr. Stark challenged him on it.

Something in him knew this conversation was coming and while he would have preferred it be another time, he knew they would need to talk about it eventually, so he sucked it up and tried to explain, "I had to Pete." Tony did not know how else to answer that question because that was the only truth.

"No you didn't," Peter whispered into his mentor's shoulder, "You didn't need to risk anything for me."

"Yes, I did." Tony insisted, gearing up for what he assumed was going to be a childish argument, until the kid caught him off guard.

"Why?" Peter's voice was tentative, like he was asking for an answer he had no right to know.

His voice was small and somewhat muffled but Tony caught it. Felt the way the short breath puffed against his neck. And he would be lying if he said the question did not make him anxious, did not make his chest tighten with the implications. He needed more time to come up with an actual answer so he just…did not say anything.

Peter filled in the gap, lifting his head away from Tony's shoulder, "It's just, Captain America told me that I needed to ask you why you did it and I couldn't ask you for a long time, so I just…I just wanted to ask." Then he slowly started to scoot away, mumbling, "I'm sorry."

Tony was instantly taken back to Titan. Back to the worst moment in his life when the last thing the kid said to him was that he was sorry and Tony in his infinite wisdom said nothing. Not just something lacking substance but literally nothing as his kid disintegrated. And so the touch of anger in his voice was completely subconscious, "Peter, do not ever apologize to me for anything ever again." He looked down as the kid flinched back farther at his tone, "Look Pete, I'm sorry, I just…I'm not very good at this." Thankfully, that stopped the kid from moving, and Tony took a breath, "But I'll try." He closed his eyes and forced himself to focus, forced the slowly building pain to the back of his mind, "I did it because I had too, I realize that's not the answer you want but it's the truth. I had to get you back and the gauntlet was the best way to do that. I did what I had to do and that's it."

"But why?" Peter's voice was strangled as he tried to understand why he was so important.

Tony sighed, he knew this would make things weird, that the kid would probably think that he was trying to replace…someone or think that he was some kind of weird old man but at the same time, Pete deserved to know. Ultimately, Tony knew he would not have been able to wield the gauntlet otherwise. So dropping his eyes, he whispered the one thing that scared him more than anything else, "Because I love you, Pete."

Peter scooted forward again but did not say anything as he let Mr. Stark continue to talk.

Tony's voice was soft, almost ashamed of what he was admitting, "I realize I don't say it, well ever, and even now its kind of weird but its…its true." Tony kicked himself for how bad he was at this, "Pete, you're the closest thing I've ever had to a son and I didn't handle the last two years well." He took a deep breath and explained the connection, "The gauntlet needed a will to control it but the conviction had to be so solidly held that it was beyond any doubt. Only with that would the stones believe you absolutely needed to do the thing you were ordering them to do. For me, it was getting you back." When he finally looked up at Pete, the kid was just staring at him with an expression Tony had no hope of reading. And for the first time since he could remember, he felt embarrassment flush his cheeks but this time there was nothing to backpedal. He had just put everything out there and if he took it back now, he instinctually knew he would ruin everything.

Peter could not believe what he had just heard, had Mr. Stark actually just said that he loved him? It took him a second to process. It was weird definitely but only because it was not a normal interaction. It was weird because it came from a place of brutal honesty without any sarcasm or wit. The more Peter thought about it, the less out of left field it seemed. He knew Mr. Stark cared, even for as generous as he was, multi-million dollar suits for teenagers were beyond even the most philanthropic person. And he knew he loved Mr. Stark. He had not said it either but that was mostly because he did not think the older man would actually want to hear it, the last thing Peter had wanted to do was scare him away. Peter knew he was not a fan of emotional stuff. Then he heard the rest of what Mr. Stark was saying and the embarrassment that showed on his face when he said it. Peter knew he needed to make it right, "Mr. Stark," he started, waiting for the man to look up at him, "Thank you for saving me and…um…I love you, too." Mr. Stark was right, it was a little weird to say but a big part of him felt better now that he had said it.

Tony felt his eyes start to well up as he looked at the kid, but he felt better, like he should have said it a long time before he lost him on that stupid planet. He wanted to say something snarky, something that let the air out of this emotion balloon but he could not think of anything. He would blame the injuries. Instead, he held out his good arm, "Come here, kid."

And without an instance of hesitation, Peter curled back up into his mentor's side, head on his shoulder as he just took in the situation, refusing to let himself analyze it. He just relaxed and for the first time since he had been pieced back together, the pain of that process had dulled.

They stayed that way until they fell asleep, Tony far earlier than Peter but both safe in the knowledge that the other was alive.

Four Years Later

Peter skipped up the steps to the Avengers' Compound, looking forward to spending most of his summer break training and working in the lab. But before he went down to work, he had someone to see first.

Stepping into the main living room of the compound he saw his target. Setting his bag down quietly, he slid the webshooter out of the pocket and slapped it onto his wrist before climbing up the wall, quietly using the ceiling to get into position. As soon as he was directly above the objective, he released a web and used it to drop upside down, using the elasticity of the web to lower himself slowly behind the persom. As soon as he got about halfway down, he heard the giggling and he, knowing he was caught, tipped his head up to look below him into the blue eyes of Morgan.

The little boy stood up quickly, arms reaching up toward the ceiling and the slowly falling spider, toys and blocks forgotten on the ground. "Peter," he squealed, broad smile on his face.

As soon as the little kid saw him, Peter let go of the webbing and fell into a crouch beside him only to suddenly be attacked by the short two year old arms of Morgan Stark. Peter immediately scooped the kid up and started asking about what he was doing and how he had been. And then the real magic happened because as soon as Morgan started talking, he had Peter's full attention and the older boy did not say another word until the kid gave him a chance or asked him a question.

Tony watched for a moment, shooting off a text to Pepper and telling her to come down to the living room. He knew she was on a conference call but really the investors could wait, Tony still owned the controlling stock in the company so what were they going to do? He watched the two play for a few more minutes before he stepped into the room, "How are my two favorite kiddos doing?" He exclaimed, a smile plastered across his face.

"Daddy," Morgan squealed, "come play with us! Peter is being Spider-Man, come be Iron Man!"

Tony did not miss the look on Peter's face when he held up the Iron Man action figure, the snotty kid was smirking and Tony felt warmth blossom in his stomach as he realized this was his little family now. Limping across the room, Tony was eternally grateful when Peter stood and helped him slowly sit on the ground. For the most part he had healed but his arm and leg still gave him trouble. He wore a brace that augmented his movement but Peter still understood that he needed the help from time to time. Snatching the Iron Man figure out of his oldest son's hand with a smile, Tony looked down at Morgan, "So who are we fighting today?"

The little boy looked up at him with his big blue eyes and whipped a toy out from behind his back, proudly declaring, "Mysterio!" with a smile. Tony's smile faltered as he felt Pete stiffen beside him. Instinctually, he threw his arm around Peter, tugging him into his side and giving his shoulder a squeeze before redirecting his youngest son, "What about the Silver Surfer instead, buddy?"

Morgan looked between Tony and Peter, and with an intuition beyond his years (which Tony swore he got from Pepper), he shrugged his shoulders and dug around looking for the little silver man in his massive box of toys. Finding what he wanted, he tugged it triumphantly out of the toy box, as Tony threw the Mysterio toy onto another table. He could have sworn he had gotten rid of that action figure after Pete fought him but apparently there was another one lurking somewhere in the house, probably one of those damned box sets. He needed to screen those a bit more carefully next time.

The boys set to playing as Pepper came into the room and joined them, Morgan handing her a Black Widow action figure as they took on Silver Surfer. They played until Morgan fell asleep and Pepper carried him back to the room. As soon as he was out for the count, Peter and Tony headed down to the lab for the better part of the night.

After a few hours of working, Peter fell asleep on the table like usual and Tony fondly ruffled his hair before standing him up and dragging the kid as best as he could to his room. When Tony finally got back to his room for the night, he could not help the feeling of contentment that came over him as he drifted off for the night.

Alright well that's the end of this story! I hope you enjoyed it! I also hope you liked the epilogue, I was not sure about writing it but after I did I just could not get over the idea of a mini-Tony and Peter as a big brother.

Let me know what you think and as always have a wonderful day/night and keep being creative!

-Lily