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“Parker and Romanoff will go to Vormir-”
Tony puffs out his chest, glaring right into Rogers’s eyes. “The kid sticks with me. It’s not up for discussion.”
Steve twitches in annoyance. “Tony, we’ve talked about this.”
Tony claps a protective hand on Peter’s back, who looks even younger in the room full of heroes. “No, you talked and I ignored you. I can pull out, my game is pretty strong.” He lets himself smirk when Peter groans and flushes at the joke. “He stays under my wing or I pack us both up and go back to my abiding family. Choice is yours.”
“Fine.” The man spits out.
-
Tony watches Peter as he gazes incredulously onto the mountain. “Holy cow.” He breathes, watching the view intently. “This is so totally awesome. Ned’s gonna freak when I tell him I've been to space twice.”
He nods along and ignores the twitch of his wrist.
Peter bumps into him for probably the hundredth time. Tony can’t say he’s surprised, the contact keeps his anxiety at bay and he’s more than willing to do so. Since they’ve been here the kid hasn’t said much but he doesn’t seem particularly disturbed.
Tony on the other hand is terrified. For once he has no idea what to expect and no logical plan. The only thing he’s certain of is Peter beside him, walking along the inclined rock to the top. The walk is long and daunting, nothing to look at except stone. Listening to Peter's steady breathing grounds him.
“Gettin’ tired, old man?” Peter provokes with a smirk at Tony’s heavy breathing. “I can see the gray hairs coming in by the second.”
Tony rolls his eyes and smacks the boy’s arm without force. “You’re little shit, you know that? And you’re the one that gave me these gray hairs, kid.”
They walk in silence after that, Tony mistakes it for peace. He wishes nothing more than for this to just be a regular day, maybe one where Peter begs him to go on a run with him through the park or workout in the Compound before they hit the lab. He misses just spending non-life-threatening time with the kid.
In the midst of his thoughts, Peter tugs on Tony’s sleeve. “Mister Stark, something’s wrong.”
Tony wants to kick himself for not seeing the hooded figure earlier. Instead he pushes Peter behind him and activates his gauntlet watch.
“Anthony, son of Maria. Peter, son of Mary.”
Tony sneers, keeping his hand locked around Peter’s wrist. “Who are you and why is your voice so creepy?” The teenager snickers from behind him and shuffles a little closer on instinct.
“Consider me a guide. To you, to all who seek the Soul Stone.”
He nods nonchalantly. “How about you tell us where it is and we’ll be on our way.”
The silence hangs in the air like a noose. Deadly but prominent against the stone behind him. Peter sneaks a look over Tony’s shoulder and hears a small gasp.
“If only it were that easy.”
As they’re guided to the edge Tony’s grasp on Peter never releases. The sight in front of him makes him nauseous and the fog hangs on the kid’s shoulders like a vice .
“What you seek lies in front of you, as does what you fear.”
Peter looks down to the bottom of the cliff. “Well this isn’t season four of the Great British Bake Off so we're doin' pretty good so far-”
“Peter.” Tony scolds, pulling him far away from the edge. He turns to the hooded figure. “Alright, Grim Reaper, so the stone’s down there. How do we get it exactly?”
“It’s down there, for one of you. For the other, in order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange.” A pregnant pause, then words Tony dreads hearing. “A soul for a soul.”
They sit for awhile. Tony knows what has to happen but he allows himself the small mercy of holding his kid for the last time. Peter pressed into Tony’s side, pondering until the teenager stands to pace, gnawing on his lips.
“Maybe he’s making it up.” Peter babbles. “He has to be, there’s gotta be another way. I can climb down and-”
Tony shakes his head, refusing to meet the boy’s eyes. “Sorry Pete, I don’t think so.”
“What, cause he knows our mom’s names? Our mom’s have two of the most common names-”
“Kid.” Tony interrupts. “Thanos left here with the stone, without his daughter.”
Peter’s nose scrunches adorably despite the situation. “I’m not your daughter.”
He sighs and rubs a hand over his face. “Not the point.”
“So what- oh. ”
“Yeah,” Tony says bitterly. “‘ Oh .’”
Peter’s face hardens and he settles his eyes on the cliff. “We get the stone or millions of people stay dead.” He takes in a deep breath. “Whatever it takes.”
Tony quickly makes the nanobot- Iron Man suit encase his body, shy of the helmet and grabs hold of Peter’s biceps in each hand. “I think we mean different people.” He grunts.
Peter looks him dead in the eye. “Mister Stark, think about this. You have a family, a life to go back to.” He swallows hard. "They need you, Tony."
"What would your aunt say if she heard you say that? What about your nerdly little friends.” He argues. “What about me, huh? I’m your family, kid." The 'I need you' goes unsaid, but not unheard.
Peter shook his head causing a few tears to drip down his face. “All it’s been about is bringing everybody back. It has to be me."
Peter breaks out of Tony’s hold and does something he never thought would happen- Peter uses his super-strength to hold Tony at arms length at tears fill up in his eyes. “It is not you when I am the other option. You have to understand.”
“Please.” Peter says, still denting the suit with his hands. “Please don’t make me tell them- tell them you died for me. I can’t have more people dead because of me.”
Tony softens. “I’m not dying because of you, idiot, I’m dying for you. Now let me go so I can take a nosedive and you can get a pretty rock. C’mon, kid.”
Peter shakes his head and releases Tony, but before he gets far the kids webs along the suit’s arm to the stone behind them. He struggles and yells out as Peter begins walking toward the hooded figure.
Tony shakes his head, tries ripping his hand away from the rock again but it's no use. "Young man, get back here right now or so help me God." His voice cracks against the last vowel.
By a miracle, Peter does. He's crying too, and Tony thinks that maybe he sees the sense in letting him make the sacrifice. For Peter's life he'd do anything, even if it was in exchange for his own.
Peter steps right into Tony's chest and hugs him tight. With his free arm he recuperates, trying to pour every ounce of love he has for the boy into it. Tony wants this damn suit off of him so he can properly comfort the boy. He kisses the teenager's head that's buried against the neck of the suit neck. He memorizes the warmth and a little part of him screams at him for being weak enough to let the kid pin him down. Losing Peter is not an option nor will it ever be.
Peter pulls away all too soon before Tony can grab him again. He lets out a watery chuckle before wiping his eyes. "We're there right?"
Tony nods, feeling the tears cascade his cheeks in sorrow. "We've been there, kid."
"Tell May I love her."
Tony tried to rip his hand away again with no such luck. "Tell her yourself, get your ass over here and undo this. Please, Pete. I can't lose you." He wouldn't be able to live with himself if Peter died for him, the sin is too heavy in his chest to breathe.
Peter is openly sobbing and Tony itches to comfort him, flinches when he chokes on himself. His heart is breaking with every step closer to the cliff that Peter takes. It hurts, hurts so bad he can barely stutter a breath. He tried pleading once more, Peter is just out of reach but it feels like magic when his palm is pressed to Tony’s cheek.
“You have to let me go.” He says softly. He sounds far too old and too sad for his age. A kid, Tony's kid is about to die in his place. There’s a sickness weighing him down, his tears are being wiped away by a gentle thumb. His idle arm holds his kid once more. He knows this time is the last.
“I’ll never let you go.” Tony whimpers. It’s true. This moment will be burned behind his eyelids until he dies. He’ll feel this pain forever, Tony he already knows.
Peter steps away and rips away the webbing. Before Tony can grab him, he’s sprinting towards the ledge.
Tony turns on the blasters to the highest power, but he’s too late to be the sacrifice.
Tony’s just in time to watch Peter hit the ground.
His feet stumble on the ground once more and he cries until he wakes up again, in the damned pool with an orange stone glowing in hand.
-
Steve looks over at the empty spot next to Tony. There’s nobody there and it hits him- it was Parker’s spot. He sucks in a breath and glances at his friend.
Tony’s eyes are hard and vacant. There’s no sparkle or welcoming snark when the billionaire places the stone into his hand. He looks down at the orange stone, glowing and captivating then back at the man in front of him.
“A soul for a soul.”