Heartless

55

We all stood in front of Tony's grave in black suits. I looked over at Steve, he had a somber look on his face and had tears cascading down his cheeks. "Does anyone want to read it?" Steve asked.

"I guess I will." I choked out, wiping my tears off of my face. "Anthony Edward Stark. May 29th 1970, February 2nd 2026." I paused for a moment to stop myself from sobbing, Yelena grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "To live in the hearts of those we love is not to die." I silently agreed with that statement.

"We're going to miss you Tony." Steve said gravely. "At least some people don't have to miss you anymore." It took a moment for me to process what he meant.

"Um, I'm going to go get some water." I said, Yelena let go of my hand and I walked into the compound to pour myself a glass of water. I downed the whole glass in three gulps. I poured myself another glass. I walked back out and grabbed Yelena's hand again, Steve and Natasha were kneeling down in front of the tombstone with clenched jaws.

"We love you Tony, and we're going to miss you so much." Natasha whispered, I nodded and wiped a stray tear from my face. I finished the glass of water and put it down on the ground, Daisy walked up beside me and grabbed my hand.

"I'm sorry." She said shortly. I knelt down and kissed her on the forehead. "I don't really know what losing people feels like. But I know you've lost many." She said.

"Yeah, I have." I said softly, she hugged me tightly and I kissed her on the cheek.

"Klaus knows how much he meant to you." She said, I nodded and smiled sadly. "He's really sorry."

"Well tell him that I said thank you." I told her, patting her on the shoulder. "Why don't you go back to Finn, it looks like he needs some company." She nodded and walked away. I stood back up and Yelena put her arm around me. I saw Wanda and Pietro embracing each other and I felt another pang of grief for Kate. I looked at her tombstone and I smiled sadly. "I love you, always." I whispered to it. "And I miss you so much."

"What?" Yelena asked.

"Nothing." I said, she gave me a suspicious look and then nodded, looking back at Natasha.

"I'm going to go talk to Natasha." She said. "But I'll be back. I love you." She kissed my cheek.

"I love you too." I whispered.

"Hey." I turned around to see a tall man who looked like he was about 20 years old.

"Hey." I said.

"I'm Harley, Harley Keener." He said, holding out his hand, I shook it and smiled at him.

"Tony mentioned you, um, before he died." I said, he laughed softly and looked down at the ground. "He said you were one of his kids." He laughed again.

"Yeah. He said something about you too, Ivy, right?" He asked.

"Yeah." I said.

"I heard about Peter too." He said, gesturing towards the tombstone with the name Peter Benjamin Parker on it. "And I've heard about you being the new leader of the Avengers."

"Oh, yeah." I said. "Wait, how do you know?" I asked.

"Well, Tony and I were close, and word gets around fast." He said, I laughed and put my hand over my stomach.

"May I ask what the gender is?" He asked.

"Oh yeah, it's a boy." I said, he smiled. "Oh, he's kicking! Do you want to feel?" I asked him, he nodded and gently put his hand on my stomach.

"Oh!" He said. "Do you know what you're naming him yet?"

"Oh not really, but I have a few ideas." I said vaguely, he nodded. "Well, why did you stop by?" I asked him.

"Well, it's his funeral." He pointed out, without saying his name. "And actually uh, I was wondering if I could talk to you..." He trailed off.

"Well you are, so what did you want to talk about?" I asked him. He scratched the back of his head and looked around nervously.

"Well I know this isn't exactly how you're supposed to do this but I was wondering if I could you know, join the team." He said.

"Well, I don't really know how to do this either." I said, laughing. "But um, what can you do?" I asked him.

"Well no super special abilities, but I know how to make Iron Man suits and I'm really good at engineering, and I can fly in the suits and stuff." He said.

"So you can technically do anything that Tony was able to do." I asked him, he nodded. "Well, Tony loved you. you seem talented, and I like you so far, so you know what, fuck it. You're in." I said, he laughed and gave me a high five.

"Thank you so much! But now I need a name." He said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you know, Scarlet Witch, Black and White Widow." He said, gesturing to all the Avengers. "Sheath." He said, gesturing to me.

"Oh, well I'm sure you'll figure that out." I told him, he nodded and put his hands in his pockets.

"Well, I should probably leave now." He said.

"Stop by tomorrow around nine." I told him. "We'll figure everything out then."

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow."