Chapter Text
Tony and Peter climbed over across the icy rocks of the freezing planet, making their way to the top of the mountain. Peter was starting to get irritated after almost slipping over a chunk of snow for the fifth time.
''Mr. Stark, why can't I just climb up the rocks? This is going to take forever. You can just fly right after me.''
''No, we can't.'' Tony grunted as he took a large step onto a bigger size stone. ''This place is barely holding itself together as it is. If you tried to scold the mountain, you'd probably cause an avalanche.'' Peter let out a dramatic groan and Tony rolled his eyes in response. ''Stop bickering like a little child, we're almost there.''
Peter huffed slightly as he jumped from the last rock onto he flatter part of the mountaintop. Tony cracked his back, which was presumably hurting already from the long climb. It seemed like he was about to make a comment when they both heard an echoing voice from behind them.
''Welcome.'' They both turned around in an instant, staring at the hovering figure that was completely covered by dark cloak that flowed around him. The figure slowly landed on the dark-grey rocks below their feet.
''Anthony, son of Howard. Peter, nephew of May. You've traveled a long way to come to this point, but your journey has not ended yet.''
Tony took a step forward, staring at the mysterious figure with a questioning gaze. Peter silently questioned if the man was actually standing in between them to defend him, but he quickly shook that thought out of his head.
''Not planning on ending it either, but may I ask what in the world you are doing here?'' The figure hesitated for a moment before answering Tony's question. ''I have been tasked with guiding the ones who wish to possess the soul stone, and the two of you seemed to have chosen that path.''
The figure stepped into the light, revealing its scarlet red colored skin that covered its entire face, with the disturbing absence of a nose. Peter's nose wrinkled for a moment as he observed the creature’s appearance.
The red-skinned figure signaled them to follow as he walked in between the tall pillars that started to surround them. Peter twirled around, trying to take in everything around him while Tony questioned why they had even allowed him into space.
When they arrived at an extended piece of rock at the very end of the mountain, the guide came to a halt. Tony couldn't fully explain it, but he was starting to get a very bad feeling in his stomach from the sight ever the edge of the cliff.
''What you seek lies in front of you. In order to get the soul stone, a sacrifice must be made. Something that one holds dear to their heart, that which can never be replaced.''
One of Tony's eyebrows got raised onto his forehead as he turned his face towards the red skull. ''I have a lot of unreplaceable stuff, so what do you want?''
The caped figure didn't even bother to raise his gaze to meet the spark of nervousness in Tony's eyes as he responded. ''The sacrifice cannot be something that can be possessed, man of iron. It's an equal exchange.''
There was a beat of silence as the Red Skull stared down at the rocks that rested such a large distance from the cliff. ''A soul for a soul.''
Peter's head shot up and stared up at Tony's face, the realization taking over his features. Tony returned the look from the corner of his eye before taking a step away from the edge, forcing Peter along with him.
''Alright kid, for this one time, just- just hear me out for a sec, okay?'' Peter nodded, but Tony still grabbed a hold of his biceps to make sure that he wouldn't run off.
''We have to get the soul stone, or all the people who got blipped away will stay dead, forever.'' Tony could feel that Peter started to tremble, and he simply couldn't get himself to look him in his most likely teary eyes.
''Listen, I'm not going to sweet talk this, because that would be a waste of time. With how the situation's looking right now, only one of us is going to get off this popsicle planet, and we both know who that's going to be.''
Even if Tony was keeping his head down the entire time, he could sense that Peter's entire body tensed up at his last sentence. ''You're going to get off of this rock, bring the stone back to the Avengers and stay the hell out of their business until that purple grape is six feet under, understood?''
When Peter didn't respond, Tony put his hand on the boy's back and pulled him against his chest. Peter let his head rest on the older man's shoulder while curling his arms around his back, desperately trying to fight the tears that pricked in his eyes.
''Alright kid, this time it's a hug.''
''I promise it'll all be alright; those idiots are perfectly capable of defeating Thanos without me. You're gonna have to survive this thing, Pete. Who else will protect the little guys?''
Peter only tightened his grip around Tony's chest, seeming completely unwilling to let go. ''Please don't go. I don't want you to go. Sir, please......''
Tony tightened his grip as well, but it was only to shut the kid up. It wasn't because he could feel the tears running down his cheek, because Tony Stark doesn't cry. He was an impregnable, sarcastic piece of shit who never let anyone close to him. He wasn't going to cry over some arachnid.
The only sound that added to the silence were the gusts of wind that blew themselves against the rocks as neither of them uttered a word. Then, finally, Tony softly pulled away from Peter, who let his arms fall to his side. Tony took the glasses that rested on the tip of his nose and flipped his hair out of his face before putting the piece of tech onto the kid's face.
''Here, you can keep that, see it as a little goodbye present. You'll have to keep Friday company for me, alright?'' Peter nodded, blinking just hard enough to cause to tears to stream down his chin. Tony let his hands slide down the boy's arms, slowly taking a step backwards.
He gave Peter one final nod before turning around, leaving Peter standing in between the darkened rocks of Vormir. The man dashed towards the edge of the cliff, trying his hardest to not rethink his decision and cower back.
He knew he had to do it, he knew this was the moment he had to die, but his entire body was screaming, begging him to stop. It was the first time in so long he was sure of the fact that he didn't crave death, and if it wasn't for Peter, he probably would've hesitated so much more.
He'd almost reached the end of the cliff, he had almost done it when he felt a strong pull on his back, launching him back to where he started, smashing his body against a nearby rock. When his vision returned after a couple rapid blinks, he noticed the silhouette in from of him. He got strapped against the rock by some kind of sticky rope, or was it more like a net?
Webbing. Spider webbing.
The silhouette, which he quickly identified as Peter, crouched in front of him. ''Friday, turn the Iron Man suit off. Only keep the heathers online, he'll need them.'' The AI obliged, and Tony could feel his suit growing unresponsive. ''Kid, what are you-''
Peter slid the glasses off his face and placed them back where they belonged, on the tip of Tony's nose. ''You'll have to keep Friday company yourself, Mr. Stark.'' A sad little smile danced around the teen's lips, and there was a strange kind of acceptance that hid behind his eyes.
Tony started pull on the webbing that surrounded his entire torso, but the kid had tied him down with at least four layers, and he didn't have any kind of superhuman strength like some of his colleagues.
''Peter! What do you think you're doing? Let me go!'' Peter chuckled softly, but there was no sign of joy behind it. It was an empty, depressing little laugh that should definitely not be coming from a fifteen-year-old's mouth. He shook his head slowly.
''I'm sorry Mr. Stark, but I can't let you do this. Not when I'm right here.'' He focused his eyes on his mentor. ''Kid, release me. Please. There is no other way''
Peter just stared at him, desperately trying not to cry until something inside of him seemed to break. He quickly wiped the tears that had started to cover his cheeks off his face, but they kept coming. There was another way.
''Peter, don't you even think about it!'' Tony's voice was filled with desperation, he kept trying to pull on the webbing, but as soon as the first thread started to loosen Peter shot another web at his chest.
Peter let his head fall down against his mentor's forehead while letting a trembling breath escape his lips. ''I'm sorry, Tony.''
''Oh don't you dare, kid. Don't you dare pull the first name card on me.'' Tony pressed his eyes shut tightly, trying his hardest to ignore the situation like it'd go away if he'd just forget about it. ''You're not going anywhere, you hear me? You're staying here, right beside me until these webs dissolve and we'll find some other way out.''
There was a beat of silence, but Tony could feel another humorless grin fading onto his mentee's face. ''Mr. Stark, you're gonna have to promise me something.''
''I'm not promising you anything, because you can clean up your dirty work yourself once we get off this planet, with or without the glowing rock.'' Tony's voice sounded hollow, filled with lies directed more at himself than at Peter.
''Forgive yourself. It's not your fault, this was my decision.'' With those words, Peter jerked his head away from Tony's forehead and lifted himself back onto his feet. At first he took a slow, short step backwards, but his feet started to move faster and faster across the rocks with every move he made. He kept moving until he was practically sprinting towards the edge in front of him, trying his hardest to ignore the screams of protest that originated from behind him.
''Pete, Peter stop please! Kid! Get back here! Peter come back!''
Tony could feel his blood go cold in his veins as his eyes followed the hazel brown curls that disappeared behind the edge of the cliff. He couldn't register if he was screaming or not, and he couldn't even bring himself to care. He kept pulling the webbing while crying out to Friday, but of course the kid had turned off the glasses before handing them back to him, and his suit wasn't functioning either.
He kept moving, screaming, crying until he made out the sound of a muffled thud from far, far down below the rocks. Something had hit the lowest layer of rubble, hard.
All the energy seemed to drain from the engineer's body as he blankly stared in front of him, his features taken over by disbelief as he didn't even notice the thick tears running down his cheeks. The world around him seemed to blur out and the noises of the wind and falling rocks faded away.
He barely registered the bright light that came from somewhere above his head until it blinded him completely, forcing him to press his eyes shut. The blinding light made his head feel heavy, until his eyes fell shut and the entire world faded into darkness.
When he slowly drifted back into consciousness, the first thing he noticed was the dampness of his jacket under his suit. He used one of his hands to push himself into a sitting position, only briefly registering that his suit had come back online as the blue holograms flashed before his face.
He was sitting in a low body of water, which had leaked through his suit and had completely soaked his clothes underneath.
When he looked around and saw the almost completely black rock texture, all the memories seemed to come back to him at once.
He swiftly turned around, scanning the entire area hoping Peter would just be sitting beside him, desperately apologizing for almost giving his mentor a heart attack. When he could spot him, his eyes almost automatically dozed off the hand that was still hidden underwater.
He slowly lifted his hand up, and his facial features getting covered by the faint orange light that came from the petite stone in his palm. He stared at the infinity stone for a brief moment before smashing his hand back underwater.
He couldn't help the soft sobs that escaped his mouth, and he definitely couldn't help it when those soft sobs turned into full on painful crying. He could still make out the faint light from under the water, tormenting him. Making sure that he couldn't ignore the realization that was about to hit.
Peter Parker had sacrificed himself for the soul stone. So that everybody that died over five years ago could continue on living, so that Tony wasn't the one who had to die.
Peter had died on Vormir that day, and some part of Tony seemed to die along with it, being left behind to rest against the freezing rocks for the rest of their time.