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“C’mon kid, FRI has the compilation up!” Tony yells from where he’s situated on the couch in the living room. Outside wind and rain beat against the sides of the cabin, but inside it’s warm and cozy.
Tony checks his texts from Pepper again - Staying in the city tonight. Don’t want to drive in the storm. Morgan sends goodnight hugs and kisses. xx - before setting it down, impatient. He’s been feeling oddly fatigued all evening, but Peter had practically begged to watch the video– how was Tony going to say no? Still, the sooner they start, the sooner he can go to bed.
“What’s taking you so long, Pete–”
“Jeez, I’m right here,” Peter says, coming in with a giant bowl of popcorn and two cans of Sprite, plopping down beside Tony. “You’re more excited than I am and it was my idea!”
“What can I say? I love to watch home videos,” Tony replies, figuring that’s better than admitting he’s not feeling very well. He pops a few kernels into his mouth and chews, only to give a hard swallow when a wave of nausea rolls over him. “Alright, FRI, start the show.”
Immediately the video starts to play on the giant television screen. The title card appears first, showing a giant group photo of everyone who came out for the Fourth of July BBQ Tony and Pepper hosted, the words above reading Stark Cabin Home Videos - Summer 2024.
The first scene is from Memorial Day weekend when they were on the beach, and Tony recognizes Pepper’s voice as the one behind the camera.
“Look at me, Morgan!” she says, pointing the camera toward where Morgan is busy building a sand castle.
The little girl looks up, grinning. “Hi Mommy!”
Pepper then turns to where Tony and Peter are in the grass nearby, Tony lunging for a frisbee the kid had just tossed, not even coming close to reaching it as it sails over his head.
“That was a terrible throw, Pete,” Tony calls out.
“Not my fault you’re so short,” Peter yells back, laughing.
Peter cackles at the jab from months ago, and Tony turns to him with a mock stern face. “Low blow. And you’re only half an inch taller, I’ll remind you.”
Peter just shrugs in response, grinning as he stuffs his face with popcorn, only to open his mouth and show Tony the chewed remnants.
“That’s it, I’m disowning you.”
“You can’t disown me– only May can do that.”
“In spirit, then,” Tony retorts, turning back to the screen. Nevertheless he puts an arm around Peter’s shoulders and ruffles the kid’s hair gently, just to make sure he knows he’s joking. A piercing stab of pain hits his sternum at the movement, making him suddenly tense, but it passes as quickly as it came and he relaxes once more.
The camera is still trained on Tony and Peter playing frisbee, going back and forth between the two for a bit before Pepper turns out toward the lake. Out in the distance it’s a beautiful day, but then–
“What’s that?” Tony says, seeing a tiny, dark but distinctly human-shaped blob standing on the far-side lake beach for just a few moments before Pepper turns the camera back to Morgan. “Did you see that?”
“See what?” Peter says, brow furrowing.
“The figure on the beach,” Tony says. He blinks a few times, feeling suddenly lightheaded, only to shake his head. “Nothing, ignore me– probably an animal.”
The camera switches to a sunny June afternoon, everyone sitting around the dining room table. Harley is there too, and the five of them are playing Go Fish.
“Okay, Mo, your turn,” Tony says from behind the camera.
“Petey, do you have any… fives?”
Peter frowns, before setting down three fives. Morgan gleefully scoops them up before laying down the set.
“Look, Daddy– I’m winning!” she says to the camera, and Tony trains the lens on where she already has six sets, Harley’s three a distant second.
He laughs when he sees Peter let out a huff. “Sore loser, underoos?”
“She’s won the last four games!” Peter complains, but even then he smiles a tiny bit when Morgan giggles at the reminder of her earlier victories.
Tony’s fond grin at seeing all his kids together falls away when he suddenly sights through the dining room window a figure out on the dock. “FRIDAY, pause.”
The screen freezes and Tony stands up, eyes wide as he walks over to the television to get a closer look. Indeed, there is an unnaturally tall figure in what appears to be a dark cloak on the dock, face shadowed. “What the hell?”
“What’s wrong?” Peter says, still curled up on the couch.
Tony turns to him. “Don’t you see it? There’s someone standing on the dock! But nobody else was there that day, and we were all in the cabin…”
Peter squints at the screen. “I don’t see anyone on the dock.”
“What do you mean?” Tony says, pointing at the figure. Sure, on the screen the person’s maybe only two inches tall, but it’s far more obvious than the vaguely human-shaped dot on the lake beach from Memorial Day. “He’s right there!”
“There’s nothing there,” Peter says again, looking at Tony with suspicion. “Wait, is this a prank? Are you trying to scare me or–”
“This isn’t a prank,” Tony says, voice grave. “Do you really not see it? It’s right there!”
Peter slowly shakes his head back and forth, before calling out, “FRIDAY?”
“I cannot detect a figure on the dock in the video, boss,” FRIDAY confirms. “Perhaps there is some dust or other debris on the screen?”
Tony wipes his fingers across the TV screen, already knowing the truth. “No, the screen’s fine…”
Peter’s Adam’s apple bobs up and down, eyes full of concern now as he looks Tony up and down. “Are you feeling okay, Mister Stark?”
“I feel fine,” Tony barks back, letting go of his aching left arm with his right hand and waving it at the screen. “Just– keep playing, FRI.”
The scene changes to the Fourth of July BBQ. This time it’s Clint with the camera, and he jokes a bit with Natasha and Steve before going over to where Peter and Tony stand at the backyard grill.
“Smells great, guys!”
“Thanks,” Peter says over his shoulder, flipping a burger over. “Should be done in about ten minutes.”
“Hey, Pete– turn around and say Happy Fourth!”
“I’m manning the grill!”
“The hotdogs and burgers won’t burn in five seconds, kid,” Tony says, wrapping an arm around Peter’s shoulders as the kid sets down his BBQ fork, turning around with a sigh.
“Happy Fourth,” the kid says, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Tony lets out a laugh, before giving Peter a giant, sloppy kiss on the cheek.
“Ew– what the–”
“Happy Fourth, underoos!” Tony crows, going in for another sloppy cheek peck, Peter pushing away from him.
“Mister Stark!”
The camera twists a little bit to the left, following Peter’s movements, only to show–
“Pause,” Tony says, his heart beating so fast it feels like it’s going to break through his chest. “What the fuck?”
There on the screen - in the backyard, not more than twenty feet from Peter - stands a cloaked figure. It appears humanoid but is towering, at least eight feet. Even with the sun Tony can’t make out any features beneath its hood, just a gaping, ominous black void where its face should be.
This close up, there’s no denying it’s there. Tony turns to Peter, expecting the kid to be shocked.
But yet again Peter is just staring at him, confused. “What?”
“You– you can’t be serious! Don’t you see him? He’s twenty feet behind you!”
“I– I don’t see anyone but you and me,” Peter says as he looks at the screen, sounding deeply worried now.
Tony takes a deep breath, the lightheadedness from before coming back in full force, making his knees go weak. He stumbles over to the armchair, which is about ten feet closer to him now than the couch.
Peter turns back to Tony just as he collapses into the chair, eyes going wide. “Mister Stark, you’re looking really pale. Maybe we should call Pep–”
“No,” Tony says, even as he feels a weird twinge in his chest. He clutches at his left bicep again, hand squeezing it even as the sensation feels muted now, almost numb.
He takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart. “You swear to me, on Morgan’s life– you really don’t see it?”
Peter opens his mouth, only to close it again. He gives Tony a grave shake of his head.
Tony nods quickly once, twice, three times. “Okay, that’s– okay. FRI, keep playing.”
Peter looks like he’s about to protest for a few moments, but Tony pins him with a hard stare before turning back to the screen. He can feel the kid’s eyes on him, but he refuses to look over as the video keeps playing.
The scene abruptly changes from the BBQ to a night only one week ago. Morgan had begged to do a family sleepover, and so Tony and Peter had built an epic blanket fort in the living room, the four of them camping out in it with sleeping bags.
Pepper holds the camera again. “And now we’re about to go to sleep at our first family indoor campout! Everyone say goodnight!”
The camera focuses on Morgan, already snuggled in her Elsa-themed sleeping bag. “Night Mommy!”
Pepper turns the camera to Tony, who gives the camera exaggerated air kisses. “Good night, Pep. And note to whoever is watching this– don’t let Peter eat beans right before agreeing to sleep in a fort with him.”
“Mister Stark!” Peter whines from somewhere off-camera, the camera shaking with Pepper’s laughter as she turns it on the teen.
Tony feels another painful piercing in his chest, the numb feeling in his arm spreading to the rest of his limbs as he stares with wide, frightened eyes at the screen. “F-FRI–”
The video pauses once more. Tony stands up again, putting up a shaking arm to point. “The– the thing– he’s right behind you, Peter– you can see him standing there through the white sheet– he’s–he wants– he’s fuckin’ targeting–”
There’s a hand on his arm, and Tony jumps only to see it’s Peter, kneeling next to him, expression one of intense concern. “Mister Stark, you really don’t look good–”
“I’m fine,” Tony repeats, even as he feels his heart jack-hammering in his chest, his breaths coming too quick and short. “For the last damn time, I’m fine, I’m just– gah!”
Tony clutches at his chest, everything suddenly feeling too tight and twisted. He starts to fall forward, Peter latching onto his shoulders and carefully lowering him to the floor.
“Mister Stark! FRIDAY, what’s wrong with him?!”
Whatever FRIDAY says in reply, Tony doesn’t hear it, as just then he turns his head to see the cloaked figure by the far wall - in his damn living room - slowly stepping closer.
The pain in his chest is excruciating, but it doesn’t match the fear in his heart for Peter just then. Because Peter can’t see it– has not a damn clue how much danger he is in.
“K-kid,” Tony whispers, pawing ineffectively at Peter’s arm. Peter takes his hand then, gripping it hard.
“You’re having a heart attack, Mister Stark– but don’t worry, FRIDAY called for an ambulance and she’s gonna call Pepper, just hang on okay? Please, just stay with me!”
Tony strains his neck as he looks back at the figure, which is now only feet away. Horrified, he tries to sit up but Peter holds him down.
“You gotta stay still, Mister Stark–”
“N-no–”
Stay away from him!, Tony screams in his mind, feeling utterly helpless as the figure leans down, reaching a withered, scarred hand out towards the teen.
No!
“P-p-pete–”
But the cloaked figure doesn’t reach for Peter. Instead, it places its palm on Tony’s chest. As soon as it does, the darkness encompassing its hooded features disappears, and Tony can see its face.
The sight is indescribable, a horror he has never - even in his worst nightmares - imagined. Tony doesn’t know how he knows but he knows, with piercing clarity– that he’s staring into the face of Death.
Death, who has come not for Peter, but for him.
A tear slips from Tony’s eye as he glances over at his kid again. Peter is looking down at him, face blotchy and eyes wet. His expression carries so much worry and fear, but Tony finds he can only be awed by it in these last moments.
I love you, underoos.
He can’t speak any longer but he hopes Peter can see the truth in Tony’s eyes. Judging by the way the kid is sobbing now, he’s not sure if Peter can.
That’s okay, Tony thinks. He knows Peter already knows how much Tony loves him, because he’s made sure of it– made sure all his children know.
God, he’s going to miss them.
Tony closes his eyes just as his heart stutters, only to finally come to a full stop. His whole body goes numb, until all he can feel is the ghostly hand pressing on his chest, right over his reactor scars.
The last thing Tony hears before Death takes him is Peter begging him not to go.