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Tony could feel himself getting foggy, in a way that had never happened to him before. His superpower had always been his brain and his way of thinking, so to feel that not being able to function properly, made him aware of what was happening.
The fact that Pepper was on her knees - in her suit - next to him, telling him that it was alright for him. That he could go, that they would be alright, it made it all clear. He was dying, he was going to leave his amazing wife, and Rhodey - his best friend, just as he was going to leave his kids behind.
He felt like he was floating, like everything that he had been worrying about was taken away from him. After all, he had snapped his fingers in an effort to deal with Thanos and it had worked - the Mad Titan was gone, Earth and the Universe was safe.
Floating in what seemed to be space, he could see 6 colors floating in front of him, the voices coming from them were enough to let him know that the stones were sentient, that they had a mind of their own, and wanted to be heard.
They stopped talking when he cleared his throat, the orange one seemed smug when it said, “I told you he would be able to hear us.”
The other stones seemed stunned, but Tony was concentrating on the orange one, “You’re the soul stone, aren’t you.”
Glowing, it confirmed that.
Tony hummed, “So what am I doing here? Waiting until I die?”
Soul moved closer, “We wanted to make sure if you’d be able to hear us. You’d be our first wielder able to do that. I was right, of course, but I wanted to make sure. But to answer your question, no - and you’re not dying. You and Dr. Banner are the only ones who used us for a purpose outside of themselves - to restore the universe, instead of themselves or do something for themselves.
And such dedication should be rewarded. You won’t die, we’ll send you back to your loved one. Hoping that you’ll have quite the long life ahead of you.”
Tony frowned, “And those killed in the effort to stop Thanos, or in his mad quest?”
The stones seemed to be talking among themselves, “What about them?”
“They deserve a chance at life too, theirs was taken by a madman bent on killing off half the universe.”
The stones hummed again, “And you are adamant that they deserve this, even Loki Laufeyson?”
Tony nodded, “They deserve their chance at redemption.”
---
When he woke up, he was still on the battlefield, seeing the other Avengers all kneeling in front of him, he groaned, which made Pepper gasp and touch his face.
“Tony?”
He hummed, “I feel strange, Pep, what happened?”
Dr. Strange approached, “You were dead for 5 minutes, Dr. Stark.”
Humming, Tony stayed where he was, still feeling heavy and exhausted, “Yeah, heads up, there might be some others returning to life. The stones were quite giving for some reason.”
As he said this, a familiar man in black and green appeared with a groan. Soon followed by Gamora and Natasha. The two women appeared quite disorientated, sitting down as soon as they were corporal again.
Tony just grinned, “I’m going to take a nap now.”
With that, he passed out, much to the shock of his wife and the others. All of whom were so glad to still feel a pulse. The battlefield fell into chaos at the knowledge of what was happening. Thor pulled his brother up and in a hug as soon as he was able, much to the shock of Loki - who seemed to be getting used to the fact that he was in fact alive again.
Looking at Tony Stark passed out, all of those gathered couldn’t help but feel that this was quite the act from someone who was known as someone not being able to play well with others. But here he was, able to bring back those they had thought lost forever.