Chapter Text
The first thing Tony remembered was how he died. From when he took the infinity stones from Thanos and — hopefully — saved everyone with his self-sacrifice.
He also said the most egotistical statement ("-and I.. Am Ironman") as he snapped his fingers, leading to him experiencing an excruciating pain coursing through his body. That's also when he was definitely certain he wouldn't survive this.
Unlike Thanos, who was a giant purple alien that was clearly stronger than human, or Bruce/Hulk, who had the brains of Bruce, but still the body of hulk. Tony was only a human — sure he is one of the smartest humans out there, but still human. So when Thanos and Bruce were both greatly affected by the infinity stones, it was no question that a mere human would experience no less.
So, when Tony opened his eyes and found himself laying on the floor, in a dark enclosed room with very comfortable looking seats at the back, he was confused (to say the least).
Im.. dead?
"Friday..?", he asked warily for his trusty Ai, as he tried to understand the situation.
Why did this look like a theatre room?
Silence.
After a second of no response, Tony looked down at himself and noticed that his suit was gone. What was even more surprising was that he seemed completely fine. No pain, injuries, scars. Nothing. Zilch. Nada.
"Yep.. Im dead", he concluded, assuming that this some form of afterlife. Tony didnt even believe in those things, but its either that or he was crazy and imagined the whole thanos thing.
Tony slowly pushed himself upright, his knees made a *click sound as he stood straight. "Getting reminders of my age, even after i died", Tony chuckled at the irony. He scanned his surroundings with narrowed eyes, when a voice spoke out from the darkness and broke him out of his thoughts.
"…Tony?"
…
"God?", Tony whispered to the darkness.
"Is that you?", it spoke, with a sort of sadness in the voice. Then a shadowy figure stepped out of the darkness and into his vision. Steve stumbled forwards, trying to instinctively reach for a shield that wasn't there.
"Rogers", Tony's eyes fell upon his friend/co-worker/rogue avenger's eyes with equal confusion.
Steve seemed almost pale, "You died".
"Yep", Tony nodded his head, "That i did".
They both stared at each other in silence, unable to process what's Infront of them, until another voice spoke.
"where am i?"
A third figure stepped out of the darkness, red hair, tactical suit, arms ready and prepared for any attacks, and green eyes which widened slightly as she saw the two others.
Tony froze, "…Nat", he whispered as he watched the assassin who was also meant to be dead. He remembered the snap. He remembered everything before that as well, including when Clint informed the avengers that she had sacrificed her life for the soul stone — an irreversible fate .
Then the lights flashed on, dim — extremely dim — but just enough for them to see the whole place properly. Thats when the three noticed more, familiar, faces around them : Bruce, Rhodey, Sam, Clint, Bucky, and Dr Strange.
Bruce stared between the three in astonishment, "This cannot be possible", he glanced around the room, "where… are we?"
Tony followed Bruce's gaze, "dont know"
Rhodey folded his arms, walking over to Tony, "I saw you die", he doesnt take his eyes of his best friend, in fear that he would disappear.
"I know, honeybear", Tony replied, "and man, did that hurt."
Then, next to them, Steve noticed Bucky, "Buck?". Before they knew, bucky was already holding onto Steve in a tight hug.
On the other side of the room, Clint finally saw Natasha, "..Nat" he whispered in disbelief. The colour drained from his face as the memories flooded back.
"Clint..", in a instant, they closed the distance between each other, wrapping the other in a crushing embrace.
The others quietly left them space, giving the pairs a much needed moment alone.
==================
"So.. what are the ideas?", Rhodey asked, pacing around the room, "How did we get here?", he looked around at the others for answers, "well, anybody?"
"I don't know Rhodes..", Tony stood up from the very comfortable seats, "The last i remember was the snap, and then, you'know, waking up here"
"and exactly, how is that even possible?", Sam questioned, "Like, I might understand if someone, somehow, managed to kidnap us all or something. But you died, years ago. So did Natasha", he tried to explain, "and Steve grew old", he pointed a look at Steve, who stayed sat, staring at the ground. "Yet, somehow, you're all here"
"He's right", Bruce spoke out from behind, "This isn't possible, well, not scientifically at least".
"So… You think it's magic?", Tony asked. They all turned to look at the magician, who was staring into the distance behind them.
"It is magic, but it's not me", Strange spoke out, "I'm unfamiliar with this magic, however"
"Look who finally decided to grace us with his attention", Tony rolled his eyes sarcastically.
"Cant you just..", Bucky gestured vaguely with his hands" I dont know.. make a magic portal thing and get us out of here?"
Strange gazed over him with no emotion, "If I could, you think I would not have done that already?"
"whatever", Bucky huffs, "I cant do this anymore", he sits back down on a chair, almost as if he has given up.
Just then, a voice spoke from.. the ceiling?
No, the voice was coming from every direction.
"Welcome"
The avengers immediately dropped into a defensive stance — Tony instinctively tried to search for the speakers or just some place for the sound to enter the room from, but there were none. Steve, natasha and bucky tried to look for any open spaces, or areas for entry — still, none.
Then, two flashes erupted across the other side of the room. A young man stumbled forwards, almost tripping over his own feet, followed by a young woman wearing a MIT jumper, who caught him before he could fall.
The boy noticed the avengers and froze immediately, "Uh- Um excuse me?"
The avengers all turned around and watched the strangers, both in confusion and suspicion.
The young woman next to him, however, wasted no time to overthink, "where are we?", she demanded, "who are you? why are we here?"
The questions came in a rapid fire, not giving them any space to speak or answer. the boy looked over at the girl and tried to whisper in a hushed tone, "MJ, wait! those are the avengers!"
Most of the avengers simply stared back, observing the conversation between the two. Tony, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes, feeling some sort of recognition at them, "It's.. you", he spoke without realising, catching their attention.
The boy paled, "You're Tony Stark", he seemed like he was ready to faint, "OhMahGahd Tony Stark just spoke to me".
The girl, MJ, immediately shook her head, standing infront of the boy protectively, "No." She gazed at Tony, "That can't be", she looked straight into his eyes, "Tony Stark died years ago."
Tony shrugged in acceptance.
Fair.
"We're aware", Strange sighed, "We're trying to understand this just as much as you are"
The boy turned towards him and gasped. (which kinda sounded like a squeak)
"Oh My God", his eyes lit up in astonishment, "You're Doctor Strange", he paused for a second, "Wizard… Sir."
That's when something clicked in Tony's mind, "You're Ned, right?"
Ned's eyes somehow widened further, if that was even possible, "You know my name?", his voice got an octave higher.
Tony nodded in remembrance, "Peter used to talk about you both constantly", he looked back at them, "You all went to Midtown. We met a couple times. I think you even came to the Tower once with Peter. School trip or something, i cant remember--", he rambled on.
"I'm sorry", MJ interrupted, "We did go to Midtown, but we don't know any Peter", she admitted.
Tony's brows furrowed in confusion, "…What?"
Before he could ask another question, Strange's expression changed in realisation. He stumbled back as the memories slammed and returned into him. The spell. He remembered it.
The avenger's snapped their attention to Strange in worry.
"Tony", Strange gasped out, "Don't. Don't say another word about that"
Tony stared at him in confusion, "What are you talking about?"
Before Strange could answer, the mysterious voice spoke again.
"All stories deserve to be known, and understood"", the words echoed, "I am the Author", the voice paused briefly, "And You are here to witness the life… of Spider-Man."