Chapter Text
26 years later
“How bad is it?” Steve asked Natasha and took her hand.
“The doctor said we should... we should... if we want to say goodbye we should do it now.” She squeezed his hand.
“What about...” Steve started again.
“Director Hill sent a jet to Cambridge to get Clint and Peter and one to Princeton to get Ashley and Anthony.”
“That's good.” Bruce said, when he closed the door to Tony's room.
“How is he, Bruce.” Natasha said when she saw him swallow really hard.
“I don't think that...” Steve laid one arm around his shoulders and held the other man when he started to sob. “Sorry, I...”
“I know.” Steve said. They heard footsteps and saw two of their four children arrive.
“Dads? Mom?” Clint said and looked at the three of them.
“How is he?” Peter asked and looked at Bruce.
“He'll be glad to see you.” Bruce murmured and patted the young man's shoulder.
“Can we go in?” Clint asked and Bruce nodded. Peter opened the door and Clint followed his brother.
“Hey, dad.” He greeted Tony when the old man opened his eyes.
“Peter!” He smiled and when he saw the other boy his smile got even broader. “Clint.”
“Hello, daddy.” They both approached the bed in the middle of the room. It was awful to see him in this condition. He was pale, all his hair were gone from the chemotherapy, he wore a beanie to cover his head and his thin arms lay on the quilt over his haggard body. Pepper sat beside him and held his hand.
“Hi, mom.” Clint kissed her cheek and Peter hugged her.
“You look good,” Clint finally said when he sat beside Tony and took his hand.
“Liar,” Tony coughed but the smile was still present on his face. “How are things at MIT?” He asked.
“Good, the ARC4 I've built is working perfectly. Thanks for the tips. From the new students I've got this semester there are a two really promising. The new building you've sponsored is nearly done and the dean hoped that you would come to the ribbon-cutting ceremony.” He said and he saw Tony nod slightly.
“I'd like that. But I guess you have to take my place, my boy.”
“No, please. Don't say that, dad.” Peter took his other hand. “I want to have you at my graduation in a few weeks. You know, the first Stark in Harvard, you've said.”
“I know, but let's face it, Pete. I...” he coughed again and this time there was blood on his lips. “I guess, this won't happen, my boy.”
“Dad!” The door opened and the twins came in, both rushing to Tony's side. Clint and Pete rose to let their siblings to their father.
“Ashley, Anthony.” Tony smiled again and when he saw Steve, Bruce, Natasha, Thor and Jane enter as well he realized his whole family was there.
He smiled and closed his eyes. Just for one minute.
'Clint?'
'Hello, Tony'
'What are you doing here?'
'I'm here to accompany you.'
'Am I...'
'Yes, Tony.'
'But...'
'See, your whole family was there for you in your last minutes.'
'They are hurting.'
'Yes, they will miss you.'
'Why are you here?'
'It is always a beloved one who accompanies you.'
'A beloved one?'
'Or would you rather Nick accompanies you?'
'No, I just thought...'
'I always loved you. All of you, I've said that, didn't I? My love never died.'
'What we've done to you...'
'Don't... It's forgotten and forgiven.'
'How? How could you forgive us?'
'Because I love you. I've seen what you've done afterwards, Tony. All the children you've helped since then.'
'I've named my biological son after you.'
'Yes, I've seen it. I'm here for some time now. I've waited for you.'
'Clint, there's a light over there.'
'It's for you, Tony. Do you want to go home?'
'What about them?'
'They will hurt for some time and then they will get better. They will still miss you. Like you've missed me.'
'Yes, we've missed you and it had hurt so bad.'
'I know and I'm sorry, Tony. But it will be better.'
'Will I see them again?'
'Of course. When their time has come we'll accompany them.'
'Really? I'd like that.'
'Let's go home, Tony.'
'Oh, Clint! This is so beautiful...'
One year later
It was the first anniversary of Tony's death. The whole Stark family was there in the tower, Steve, Bruce, Thor, Natasha, Pepper, Jane, Clint and his boyfriend Tom, Peter and his girlfriend Samantha, Ashley and her boyfriend Rodney and Anthony. They held the sjaund for Tony, drank ale, talked about him and then Steve rose and left the room.
Two minutes later he came back with a few black and a few blue boxes. He handed the black boxes to Bruce, Thor and Natasha and one he put in front of himself.
And then he took the blue boxes and gave Pepper, Jane, Peter, Ashley and Anthony one of them.
There was only one black box left.
“Clint, you are the oldest of our children. You should get Tony's ring.” Steve said and handed the young man the last black box.
“It was Tony's idea. He got us matching rings.” Steve, Bruce, Thor and Natasha opened their boxes and put their rings back onto their fingers. Beside the purple diamond was a red one now.
Pepper, Jane, Peter, Ashley and Anthony opened their boxes as well. The rings were identical, but they had only a red diamond.
“The stones are not natural. They are made. We withheld a small amount of Tony's ashes to make diamonds of it. The ring shall remind us that we're only strong when we stand together. As a family.”
“Dad?” Anthony asked. “The red diamond is Daddy Tony's ashes. But what's with the purple one on your rings?”
“It will remind us of the one time we failed.” Steve said and Natasha, Bruce and Thor nodded.