Chapter Text
The moment the words “Iron Man” left his mouth, he could feel himself slipping away. Tony barely felt himself walking over and sitting down. His arm—which once was a searing pain—was numb. He stopped blinking, because it hurt too much. He couldn’t even bring himself to turn his head when he heard a “Mr. Stark?”
Peter was in front of him, but he could not really hear what he’s saying. He made out the tears runny down his dirty face, but not the words come out of him mouth. Tony tried to get “Pete” out his mouth but didn’t make it far enough before he sees Pepper come into vision. His relief was so strong that “Pep” falls out of his mouth without even trying. She was still here. She’ll still be here when he’s gone, and Morgan won’t be alone. She had a sad smile on his face while she was reassuring him.
“We’ll be okay. You can rest now.” Tony wanted to reach out, saying no you won’t. He saw her face trying to smile softly, making sure he’s not scared. He couldn’t bring it within himself to argue. He didn’t even notice himself slip away.
When Tony woke up, he was not on Earth, and he couldn’t remember who he is.
Peter was at home, wrapped in a blanket when the rest of the world found out about Iron Man. It was only a few days after the battle, a few days after Peter found out that five years had passed by. It had hit him hard, being on Titan at one moment and watching Tony slip away in the next.
Peter hadn’t even known where to go or what to do. It wasn’t like the Vulture where he could slip away and pretend nothing happened. He didn’t have Tony to tell him it was going to be okay, and that he did a good job. Any other day, Peter would’ve been star-struck to be shoulder to shoulder with War Machine, but now all he could remember was the torn expression on the man’s face as his best friend died.
They had waited a few days before telling the world what had happened, not that they hadn’t figured it out on their own. Aliens raining down from the sky again, half the population suddenly reappearing, of course it had to be the Avengers. Where was Tony Stark to do the press coverage, to take glory in saving the world? The world saw Hulk’s arm and started to draw conclusions. Peter was sitting on the couch when news channels began to tearfully explain to the world that Iron Man—Tony Stark had died saving them.
Peter curled in on himself, biting his lip to keep himself from sobbing. He knew better than anyone that you couldn’t believe everything that came on TV. His mind flickered through all the false coverage of Spiderman over the last few years. They didn’t know Tony like he did. Peter would be seeing him in a few days. He would give him a hug, because he’s there. He would introduce him to his daughter, and Peter would awkwardly stammer “Congratulations” to him and Pepper since he wasn’t around for the wedding.
The news channel he was watching showed clips of some of the monuments and tributes people were putting up all over the world, primarily of Iron Man. They showed some of Tony Stark himself, people getting facial hair inspired by his, like it was 2012 again. They showed some artwork of the Black Widow and some of Captain America, whose whereabouts were inconclusive.
It had been a couple days and Peter had rarely left the couch, rarely slept, and rarely kept his eyes off the TV. Now that they were finally telling him what he already knew, he let a tear drop and turned it off. Iron Man was dead.
They didn’t open the casket at the funeral, which was probably for the better. Peter would’ve forced himself to go look and start to break down all over again. He stood there with Aunt May, who was probably going through all sorts of emotions. It took a while for Peter to remember that she hadn’t seen him in five years. Her face was only slightly older, most likely due to the stress. She hadn’t really touched his room. Peter thought that maybe she had hope all five of those years that they’d bring him back.
Peter met a lot of people at the funeral. They knew who he was now, so he reintroduced himself to Steve Rogers and the team he met back in Germany. Sam Wilson teased him when he realized Spiderman was still in high school. It made him smile for a second. He met a boy named Harley, and they both wondered what the other was doing there.
He was scared to see Miss Potts—Mrs. Stark, now. He stood back while everyone else mingled, trying to think of what he could say to the woman who lost her husband and the father of her child. He had no idea what he could say to Morgan Stark, Tony’s actual kid. He didn’t really have to say anything since Pepper laid a hand on his shoulder while he was standing by the water.
“Are you doing okay, Peter?” Peter opened his mouth to reassure her that he’s fine, but his lip wobbled. He closed his mouth and looked back at the water to avoid crying in front of her. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to spend more time with him. You know he loved you?” Peter didn’t say anything. Pepper wasn’t really expecting anything, so she opted to hold a picture frame out in his field of vision. Even though it wasn’t five years ago for him, Peter is blown away by how old the picture of him and Tony seems as Peter is presented an award for his Stark Internship. The frame looks worn, and Peter is stuck wondering how many times Tony picked it up, where did he keep it, why did he keep it? Pepper stood there with him a while before telling him he should keep it.
“What? Why?” Peter blurted, making Pepper smile.
“You’ll need some reminding how much he cared about you.” She rubbed his back before returning to the house where everyone else is. Peter stood there a bit longer, looking at the smiles on their faces, looking at his signature.
Peter was not surprised by how smart Morgan Stark was for her age. When he finally entered the house, she was there to greet him. Peter was a bit shocked.
“You know who I am?” Morgan frowned at him.
“My daddy had a picture of you.” Peter looked at the frame in his hands.
“Y-yeah…”
“Of course I know who you are, silly.” Peter swallowed and smiled down at her.
“Yeah, I’m very silly. What did he say about me?”
“You’re his spider-kid.”
“I’m his what?” Morgan smiled in a way that told Peter she was trying not to laugh.
“You stick to walls.”
“I can do more than that.”
“I met your aunty. She’s really nice.” Peter had a feeling she wasn’t talking about at the funeral. “Happy says you talked too much, but you’re barely saying anything.” Peter smiled.
“I think I just want to hear you talk for a bit.”
When Anthony first woke up, that’s all he could remember: Anthony. His name. He was laying on a cot of sorts. He thought he may have been injured, but nothing hurt. He couldn’t find a single trace of pain. He couldn’t remember what happened, how he got here. Even more concerning, he couldn’t remember anything at all.
His garb was loose fitting and as plain as the room he was in. Metal walls with a metal floor and matching metal furniture. He rubbed his hand over his face and found himself clean shaven, which meant someone had been taking care of him. He ran his hand through his hair and found that it was a medium length and clean. The tips were starting to curl. He took a look at the door and debated checking out what was on the other side when it opened by itself.
A man walked in. He looked as human as Anthony, except his eyes were a seafoam green so bright, Anthony thought they had to be fake. He carried a metal tray that had a matching bowl, cup, and silverware on it.
“Nice to see you are awake,” the man greeted with a smile. “You gave us quite a scare when you popped up. It’s been a few days since the awakening, after all. Can you understand me?”
“Where am I?” Anthony muttered. The man smiled and set the tray down on a desk in the room.
“A small planet called Yundar. We are not well known amongst common travelers.”
“A small what?” The man frowned and titled his head at Anthony.
“Would you like to give us some information on how you arrived here? We do understand that it was a while ago.” The man asked, ignoring Anthony’s question. He pulled out a small device that resembled a tablet and began writing on it.
“I don’t remember.” Anthony stood and walked over to grab the cup, swishing it around to make sure it was just water.
“What about a name?” Anthony looked over at the man, eyeing him up and down.
“Ant.”
“Ant?”
“That’s what I said.”
“And that’s your full name?”
“That’s what I can remember.” Anthony set the cup down after chugging it, wiping his mouth of the drops left on his chin.
“Human, correct?” Anthony paused again then nodded slightly. “Do you remember your home planet?” He bit his lip, trying to think how best to proceed.
“Where did you say I was again?”
“Yundar. Does it sound familiar to you?”
“How far is that from…” The man perked up, leaning forward a bit, pen ready to write.
“From?”
“Earth?” The man didn’t react besides his eyebrows furrowing. “Midguard?” Anthony didn’t know where that name come from, but it sounded familiar. The man still did not react. “Terra?” Another name Anthony couldn’t explain, but he finally struck a familiar chord in the man, since his eyes widened, and his pen seemed to loosen in his hand in a short burst of disbelief.
“You’re Terran?” Anthony swallowed a lump that had appeared in his throat and nodded. The man looked at the ground for a moment. He started to back out of the room.
“Wait! Where are you going?” The door slammed before Anthony could finish his sentence. His heart started to beat faster, and his hand instinctively went up to his chest. He could feel himself start to panic, and he didn’t know what to do about it. The feeling felt familiar, and he was terrified. He went up to the metal door and tried the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. He started to pound on the door. “Open up! Let me out!” He tried this for a few minutes before realizing that it was useless.
He slid down the metal door and ran his hands through his hair again. Why wasn’t he on Earth? Did they kidnap him? Why couldn’t he remember anything? Why did this situation feel so familiar? He tried to steady his breathing. He looked around the room focusing on every little object there was in the room. He turned his attention back to the door. He could tell how thick it was when the man opened it, and Anthony knew that he could not muster the amount of strength required to get it down with physical will. He had almost completely disregarded the physical approach when he saw a lock on the door.
If he was from Earth like he thought himself to be, then he thought space would seem more unconventional. But on the thick metal door was a deadbolt lock that looked similar to one he could find on a suburban home. His eyes flickered back to the silverware brought in with him, and he let out a shaky breath.