Marvel || IronFamily || Marvel || The Invincible Iron Man || Marvel || IronFamily || Marvel

Title: The Invincible Iron Man – Reports of my Death are Greatly Exaggerated

Fandom: Marvel

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Marvel Comics for the creation of some of the most awesome heroes ever. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: Avengers Endgame SPOILERS, found family, fluff, hurt/comfort

Marvel Characters: Anthony 'Tony' Stark, Peter Parker, Harley Keener, Morgan Stark, Nebula, Happy Hogan, James 'Rhodey' Rhodes, Carol Danvers, Maria Rambeau, Monica Rambeau, Virginia 'Pepper' Potts

Summary: Tony was a man who calculated for every possibility, including the chance that he might wield the Infinity Gauntlet himself. In the aftermath, he finds himself surrounded by his family.

The Invincible Iron Man

Reports of my Death are Greatly Exaggerated

"Tony. Tony, please. Please wake up. You can't-"

Peter was sobbing, cradling Tony's face in his hand. Tony wasn't moving. He couldn't die, couldn't leave Peter alone. Peter needed his mentor. His–His father figure. What was he supposed to do without Tony…?

"Kid, please let me rest some. This was exhausting…", sighed Tony, nudging Peter.

"Y… You're…", stammered Peter in disbelieve.

"Alive and kicking. Yes", replied Tony. "What? You think I didn't modify the arc reactor to take the power-kickback that the gauntlet would cause? I made an Iron Man gauntlet, of course did I adjust for the possibility of me wielding it."

Peter laughed and cried, at the same time, as he threw himself at Tony, hugging him tightly.

"It still hurt though, Pete, so mind the spider-strength."

"Right. Oh. Sorry. I'm so sorry", sputtered Peter.

/break\

Peter was still floored that it had been five years. He had spent five years in the dust? He had spent five years in the dust and Tony had a daughter now?

"H… Hello, kiddo", greeted Peter with a slightly awkward grin.

Morgan Stark was wearily staring up at him while hiding behind Happy. "Mo, there's no need to be afraid. That's Peter Parker. He's a friend of your dad's."

"Hello", piped Morgan up.

"I still don't understand, Happy", admitted Peter as he knelt in front of the girl.

"It's rather easy, really. Tony always wanted to be a father and Pepper has always been a good friend to him. She agreed to be his surrogate. I think it was losing you that really pushed him over the edge though. You mean the world to him too, kid", explained Happy, judging Morgan a little.

Morgan curiously approached Peter. "So you're like my big brother now?"

"Yeah, totally. Absolutely", sputtered Peter, not knowing what to say.

"Now, I think Tony wants to see both of you", prompted Happy.

Morgan stared at Peter's hand nearly demandingly, until Peter offered it to her and led her into the hospital room. He knew so many people were waiting in the waiting room. The Avengers, all those who had lived.

"Ah, all my children in one room", laughed Tony delighted. "Harley, you have to meet them - that's Peter and Morgan."

The lanky teen next to Tony's bed turned to look at them. "Hey. Heard a lot about you, Parker. Guess I snuck in quicker than you."

Harley smirked at Peter and Peter frowned. How many children did Mister Stark have? What had he missed?

"Mister Stark, I… I met your daughter?", offered Peter nearly timidly.

"Yes. I did good on that one, huh?", asked Tony with a proud smile.

Morgan climbed onto his bed and snuggled up to to her dad. "Mommy says you got really hurt trying to protect everyone?"

"Your mother is a wise woman", sighed Tony with a wince. "Shared custody on the munchkin, you know."

Peter nodded blankly and leaned against the wall next to Harley. "So… you…"

"Met Tony when he crash-landed in my barn a couple years ago. He… stayed in touch, we talked science. He's been helping me with my college application for MIT before–well, before I was dusted", offered Harley. "He's been talking a lot about you lately. Before the, you know, dusting."

"Huh", grunted Peter, head tilted. "No. Wait. I recognize you. He had a photo of you in his lab!"

"Because he's sentimental", muttered Harley and rolled his eyes fondly.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not in the room!", complained Tony.

"If you could all just not talk at all?"

Startled, Peter turned toward the blue-skinned woman in the bed next to Tony's, while Tony laughed. "Ah, smurfette, don't be like that. Look, we get to share a room during our recovery. It'll be an important bonding experience!"

"We had enough of that while we were stuck in outer space and over the past five years. You made me babysit your squirt", countered Nebula dryly.

"She actually sat on the baby", whispered Tony toward Harley and Peter. "I made a very horrified sound when I walked in on that."

"You told me to babysit. What else was it supposed to mean? The words baby and sit are right there", complained Nebula irritated.

"Are you alright, auntie Nebu?", asked Morgan softly.

And Nebula's voice softened too as she answered. "Yes, I am fine. Do not worry about it."

While Harley and Peter started bantering in the corner, Tony smiled, with tears in the corner of his eyes. Five years ago, when he thought he had lost everything, Nebula had been a good, strong friend. When Tony had learned that not just Peter but also Harley had died. Pepper had been a good, strong friend. They only had each other and even though their relationship had broken apart years ago, she had agreed to be his surrogate because she knew how much he longed for a family.

"Tones? Happy said that family is allowed in."

The door opened and the Rhodes-Rambeau family entered. Tony barely had the time to catch sight of his Rhodey-bear before he was tackled in a hug.

"Uncle Tony!"

Tony huffed as the end-twenties woman collided with him and hugged him a little too tightly. No spider-strength and yet, Monica was one strong girl.

"Hey, if it isn't my favorite niece?", grinned Tony.

"I'm your only niece", laughed Monica, hugging him.

Tony turned toward the door to see Rhodey and his wife Maria walk in. The two had met in the air force, somewhere in the late 80s, it had only been a one-night-stand - until they met again ten years later and Rhodey learned that he was a father. Tony, of course, spoiled little Monica Rambeau rotten on behalf of being her uncle now. Rhodey and Maria had rekindled their relationship very slowly over the years, but he mainly tried to keep his wife and their daughter out of the press and the superhero business.

That got a little harder when Carol Danvers, Maria's first love, returned from… outer space. Tony wasn't going to judge, especially not since the three of them seemed to make it work rather well with each other. Tony knew the past five years had been hard, they had been hard for everyone. But for Rhodey, his family – as unorthodox as it had become, with his hot air force wife and their hot space-wife and their brilliant, strong-willed daughter – had given him all the strength he needed.

"Stark, you should have let me do that", commented Carol with a sigh. "I have the strength, you are merely a human. You could have d-"

Maria elbowed Carol with a pointed look toward Morgan, effectively shutting the blonde captain up. There was no need to unnecessarily worry Tony's daughter. Rhodey heaved a sigh as he passed both women to head to Tony's bedside and receive a hug of his own once his daughter reluctantly let go of her favorite uncle.

"You gave me quite the scare, Tones. Don't do that. I'm not the youngest anymore, I might just get a heart-attack because of you one of these days", chided Rhodey, voice muffled by Tony's neck.

"Aw, are you trying to guilt-trip me into being less self-sacrificial?", teased Tony.

"YES!", chorused Rhodey, Harley, Peter and Monica.

Tony huffed and pulled Morgan closer against his chest again once Rhodey let go. With a rather pointed, but love-filled, look on his face did Rhodey fall back to Carol and Maria again. The two women were holding hands and tentatively welcoming him back. It made Tony tilt his head a little, the way those three had fallen together like pieces of a puzzle.

Tony had thought he needed that too. Love, before the family. But he didn't, not really. And well, when had Tony ever done anything in the right order? First Harley, then Peter, now he had Morgan. Whether he found romantic true love… what did it matter? He had a far stronger true love, right here. He had found a family of his own.

"Tony! You shouldn't have kept this one from me for so long. He has some crazy, but good ideas!", complained Harley lightly, slapping Peter's shoulder.

Peter huffed at that and ducked. "We could start a club or something."

Tony huffed out a small laughter at that. Now if that wasn't what he had hoped for. His little science geeks getting along like that. Part of why he hadn't introduced them so far was that he had kind of feared that they might not get along well.

"If that's a genius-sponsored-by-Tony-Stark club, I gotta say I have to be the president, kids", pointed Monica out as she approached them with a flippant grin. "Uncle Tony's been helping me out with my studies for years."

"I don't need a fanclub or anything like that", argued Tony.

"He truly does not. His ego is already large enough", commented Nebula dryly.

"Hey-", complained Tony.

"No, no. Nebula's right, Tones", interrupted Rhodey with a raised eyebrow.

"Tony. They said we can finally see you", announced Pepper, opening the door while knocking.

She had a slightly sad smile on her face as she entered and walked over to Tony. She was closely followed by Natasha, still carrying the guilt over Clint in the way she carried herself and looked at him (as though she wanted to say that she was relieved he was alive, that he wasn't more red in her ledger), Rocket, Thor, Bruce, Steve, Sam, Bucky - oh dear, this room was definitely too small for every Avenger. Still, he smiled to himself.

"Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated. Come on in and see for yourself, the invincible Iron Man."

~*~ The End ~*~

Author's note: Prompted on tumblr (come visit me at takaraphoenix), a what if Tony wielded the gauntlet and lived ficlet. I, of course, could not resist that! So, have some fluffy Iron Family fic. ;3