Chapter Text
December 25, 2024
The battle was over, and the clash of weapons silenced. Tony Stark watched Peter walk away with Rhodey. Poor kid, Tony thought. He doesn’t deserve to lose another father figure.
But lose one he would. Tony could feel his life slipping away. Peter would never know how much his little halting speech just now had meant to the man of iron. To the rest of the world, it must have looked like Tony had been looking past Peter, oblivious. But no, the kid had had his full attention.
Tony registered Pepper kneeling by his side.
“Hey.”
“Hey, Pep.”
Tony faintly registered Pepper’s question to Friday and the response.
Tony looked deeply into the eyes of the only woman in the universe who mattered, the love they shared filling his soul. I should have married her in 2008, he thought.
Pepper smiled. "Tony, look at me. We're going to be okay..."
Tony could feel tears welling. I’m sorry. He tried to communicate that single thought to her. How he was sorry that he wasn’t strong enough to stay, how he couldn’t say goodbye to Morgan. Sorry for everything he had ever failed to do or be.
Pepper seemed to get the message. She caressed his face gently and planted a small kiss.
Tony could see his world fading to black, Pepper’s smiling face still clearly in his mind’s eye as he heard her words.
“You can rest now.”
Everything went black.
Tony bolted up in bed so suddenly he could feel the mattress jump beneath him. He was disoriented and deeply confused. He looked around his bedroom. His bedroom! Gone was the battlefield where he had… Tony paused. Yep, he was positive he had died.
He stared down at his hands in disbelief. Not only were they moving and his heart clearly pounding in his chest, but his hands looked no worse for wear.
Tony got up and walked to a mirror. He looked perfectly fine. There wasn’t even scarring from his final fight with Thanos.
Tony walked through the familiar hallways of his home, meandering his way to the living room, just soaking up the normalcy of it all.
He emerged from the hallway into the living room where Morgan and Pepper were sitting on the couch reading a children’s book. He noted the Christmas tree that twinkled nearby. Wasn’t it October?
Tony didn’t wait for them to look up. In typical Tony style, he asked “Pepper, why am I not dead?”
Pepper and Morgan’s heads jerked up. Pepper’s mouth formed a small o and she dropped the tablet.
“Daddy!” Morgan cried, flying off the couch into her father’s arms.
Tony sank to the ground, holding his daughter close to his beating heart. In less than a millisecond, Pepper had her arms around him, bathing him in kisses. Tony could feel a wet spot growing on his shirt from Morgan’s tears. Tony stared ahead in a daze, caressing Morgan’s hair, the truth finally sinking in. Anthony Stark was alive.
Tony didn’t know how long they had been hugging and kissing each other on the living room floor when Tony pulled back to ask Pepper. “I was dead, right? I died.”
Pepper held his scruffy face in her hands and nodded through the tears, “For over a year.”
“It feels like it was just yesterday.”
“How do you feel?” Pepper asked, her eyes crinkling in concern,” Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I-I’m better than fine, I’m alive!”
“But what you went through-”
“It’s like it never happened. But it did. I remember it all perfectly but none of it hurts, not like it used to. Wherever I was for a year, it- oh my gosh, a year?!” Suddenly Tony’s eyes widened as the reality settled in, “Peps, Morgan, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to-”
Pepper kissed him, “Didn’t mean to die? It’s ok, I told you we’d be alright.” Tony smiled up at her and she slid closer into his side, “But clearly you didn’t listen,” she teased, “What are you doing back?”
“No, I don’t wanna think about that now. What I wanna know is, Morgan,” he peered down at the mound of blanket permanently stuck to his chest and brushed back the curtain of warm brown hair, “how old are you now?”
Morgan’s big brown doe eyes that Tony was so sure he’d never see again, glistened up at him. “I just turned 6.” she replied through the snot and tears.
“And what did you do for your birthday?” Pepper urged.
Morgan’s smile lit up and Tony nearly cried, he was so happy to see her again.
“I had cheeseburgers!”
“Wow,” Tony said in disbelief, “I can’t believe you had cheeseburgers without me.”
“You snooze, you lose.” Morgan said, folding her arms.
Tony looked at Pepper in shock, but Pepper shrugged as if to say “She’s your daughter.”
“You snooze, you lose, huh?” Tony said, bringing his hands into tickle formation.
Morgan tried to hide her giggles but quickly succumbed to the onslaught of tickles and kisses.
“So what else has happened since I was gone, other than Morgan becoming the new sass master of the house?”
Pepper's cheeks inflated with a sigh.
“That good, huh?”
“No, everything’s fine here, but there were a few scary moments on the news.”
“Oh? Because, you just say the word and I’ll grab my suit and-” Pepper tensed and Tony backtracked, “Or not. Whatever you need.”
“No, it’s fine, don’t worry.”
“You sure?”
“Yes. Whatever happened, Spider-Man took care of it. I don’t even remember most of it, if I’m honest.”
Tony’s heart swelled with pride, then shriveled with worry.
“Is he alright?”
“Who, Spiderman? I don’t know, from what I’ve seen on the news I think he’s alright. Then again it depends on what channel you listen to…”
“You don’t know?” Tony ran his hands through his hair and got up to pace, “I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that Peter never visited or that you never thought to check on him!”
“Tony,” Pepper said, very concerned and confused now, “Calm down. No one’s seen Peter Quill since we undid the Snap.”
“No, not Quill! Parker!” Tony knelt in front of Pepper and clasped her shoulders, “Peter Parker, the kid, underoos… No?”
Tony stared into Pepper’s eyes for some form of recognition, but all that stared back was concern and confusion.
Tony leapt up and grabbed the picture of him and Peter from off the shelf next to the sink and held it in front of Pepper.
“Who is this?” Tony practically shouted, pointing frantically at Peter’s smiling face, “Who’s that kid right there?”
“I-I don’t know-”
“No?! Who’s Spider-Man?”
Now Pepper was panicking, her eyes filling with tears, “I don’t know, Tony! Please, no one knows who Spider-Man is!”
“Oh, and I suppose no one knows who Peter Parker is either? Huh?”
“No!” Pepper was crying hard now, and Tony staggered back, nearly tripping on a shaking mound of blanket. He froze and took in the scene around him. His crying wife, his precious daughter hiding under her blanket, the picture of Peter in his hand.
Tony dragged his hand over his face, “Look at me,” he sighed to himself, “back from the dead by some miracle and I’m already ruining the lives of the living. Why the hell am I back?” He knelt down by the blob of blanket that was his daughter and scooped her up, the tears of relief from earlier replaced by tears of regret and shame. He didn’t say anything, just held her tight until she melted like an ice cube and nestled into his arms. Her sobs soon turned to snores and Pepper got up to take her to bed, but Tony didn’t let go, instead pulling Pepper down into a desperate embrace.
“I’m so sorry,” Tony said over and over, kissing her and running a hand through her hair.
Pepper clasped Tony’s face in her hands after the fiftieth apology, “Tony, look at me. We’re going to be ok.”
They sat there for a long time, long enough for Pepper to fall asleep on his shoulder and both Tony’s arms to turn numb. But Tony couldn’t sleep. He had to find Peter and figure out why the heck Pepper couldn’t remember him but could remember Spiderman. Finally, he leaned over and kissed Pepper’s hair, “I need to find the kid.” he said, almost apologetically.
Pepper stirred from her nap, gave a shaky yawn, and gazed into her husband's tear-brimmed eyes. “Alright,” Pepper nodded, “But let us help you. I don’t know how you're back, but I can tell you two good reasons why you're back, and you’re holding one of them.”
Tony looked down at Morgan, who, to his surprise, was wide awake and grinning up at him. “How long have you been awake, eavesdropper?”
“Long enough to know you’re sorry,” she replied, still smiling.
Tony planted a kiss on her forehead. Kids, too forgiving for their own good.
“And the second reason?” Tony asked Pepper.
“To find this Peter Parker.”
Tony kissed Pepper, “You forgot the third reason… you.”
There was a knock on the door and Morgan’s eyes lit up and she wriggled out of Tony’s arms.
“Happy’s here!” she squealed before she’d even opened the door.
“Happy?” Tony mouthed at Pepper, who smiled and kissed him on the cheek.
“Merry Christmas, Tony.”
“I still can’t believe none of those presents were for me.” Tony said for the tenth time. “You know some cultures leave food and presents for deceased loved ones long after they’ve died?”
Tony, Pepper, Happy, and Morgan all sat eating Christmas dinner and it was taking all of Tony’s willpower not to bombard his old bodyguard for information on Peter. When Happy had waddled into the living room piled high with presents earlier that day he had instantly burst into tears upon seeing Tony. He’d hugged him, practically kissed him, and swore upon everything holy that he would convert to Christianity. Since then he could barely look at Tony without wiping tears from his eyes and Tony had decided he’d better wait to ask about Peter until Happy could control his happiness long enough to string two coherent sentences together. But Tony could wait no longer.
“But other then that, I’d say this has been the best Christmas yet-”
“Hear hear!” Happy interrupted, raising his glass.
“Yes. But I can’t help but feel as though someone’s missing… Happy, where’s Peter?”
Happy blinked, “Who?”
“Peter Parker.”
Nothing.
“May’s nephew?”
Pepper squeezed Tony’s arm and shot him a warning look.
“What?”
“May’s dead.” Happy said simply, then, getting up from the table, wiped his eyes and cleared his throat “Besides, she didn’t have a nephew. Excuse me.”
Tony’s heart twisted with regret and worry. May was dead and not even Happy, who was charged with protecting Peter, could remember Peter Parker. Tony’s fears were turning out to be true. Peter Parker was entirely alone in the world.
“You’ve missed a few things while you were gone,” Pepper said once Happy was out of earshot, “one of which is Happy and May dated for quite a while after you… died.”
“Good for them,” Tony said, nodding, “What did Peter think?”
“...”
“Right, never mind. What happened? How’d she die?”
“I don’t know the details, Happy doesn’t like to talk about it, but it had something to do with some villains from an alternate universe who were after Spiderman.”
“And?”
“Everyone’s still confused about what exactly happened, but Doctor Strange sent them all back to their universes and that was that.”
“Does Happy know what happened?”
Pepper’s phone buzzed and she read the message, sighing.
“Who’s that?” Tony pried when Pepper didn’t say anything.
“It’s Happy. He says he doesn’t want to talk about it.”
Tony huffed, “Well he’s gonna have to-”
“But” Pepper interrupted, “he’s sending me everything he has on the events you missed, including May’s death.”
“What? Why doesn’t he just send them to me?”
Pepper sighed, “Dead men don’t have phones, Tony.”
“Right.” Tony reached for Pepper’s phone but she snatched it away.
“Tony, please, It’s Christmas. Wait to grill Happy and for now, focus on the family you still have.”
Tony bit his lip, but stopped trying to steal Pepper’s phone.
“Happy, you can come out now!” Morgan called out, “Daddy says he’ll wait to grill you until after Christmas.”