The Name on Your Lips - Starker

Tony Stark

Tony imagines that his second time being “born” was probably a lot like his first; a room filled to the brim with joyful tears in the presence of a doctor. Biggest differences to note were that (fortunately) the doctor didn’t slap his ass this time around and there was no man in the corner of the room making false promises to be a good father.

There was not a dry eye as Morgan bawled, clutching onto him with desperation as if he might disappear if she let go. Despite being a foot taller, his little girl still fit perfectly in his arms with her head buried in his neck.

As he rocked her, just as he had seven years prior, he took note of the other people present for his little Jesus routine. Dr. Strange had been an understandable attendee. Morgan and Pepper of course had front row seats. Rhodey was grinning from ear to ear while Happy couldn’t control the hysterical waterworks coming from his eyes.

There were a few people missing from the lineup, but Tony imagined this may not have been the most publicized event, which was probably for the best.

After completing a battery of tests to ensure he wouldn’t start hungering for human flesh (his words), he caught up with his family. Well, the ones that were present at least.

Finding out that his wife had remarried was certainly an unexpected blow. He couldn’t blame her; it had been almost seven years since he had been placed in the ground. Not to mention, their relationship had been hanging on by a string at the time of the final battle. Even now, he vividly remembered their last interaction; a quiet exchange when he told her he had perfected time travel, filled with grief over knowing it would inevitably be the end of them.

It would definitely be an adjustment. Pepper had been by his side, through thick and thin, for over a decade. They had broken up several time throughout their history, mostly because of his conflicting sense of priorities, but he was surprised that this time hadn’t stung as bad. Perhaps he had matured in the afterlife.

After getting up to speed with the present company, he felt compelled to ask. “Where’s Peter? Bruce and Cap?”

He was told all about how Steve had chosen to live his life with Peggy. They told him about Bruce being on the other side of the world, working with some new Avengers.

“What about Peter?” Tony asked again. He would have thought for sure that his protégé would be first in line to see this freakshow. He tried to hide his disappointment at the idea that Peter had somewhere better to be.

He didn’t expect the words, “Who?” to emerge from Pepper’s lips, a look of confusion on her face.

His eyebrows immediately furrowed. “Peter. Parker.”

Pepper turned her head to look at Rhodey and Happy for answers. They looked equally as confused.

“The kid,” Tony pushed insistently. “Hap, what happened to the kid?”  He could feel the ever-familiar sensation of weight pressing on his chest.

Was Peter dead?

No, he had worked too hard to bring him back just for Peter to have died.

The screens monitoring his heart rate began to ring, signaling Tony’s distress.

“I’m sorry—Tony, I don’t know who that is,” Happy stated carefully with open hands, terrified that his words were causing his best friend’s rising heart rate.

“Spider-Man,” Tony explained.

“Spider-Man?” Rhodey chimed in, looking just as puzzled as the rest. “That guy from YouTube? I didn’t even realize you knew the guy, Tones.”

In desperation, since everyone else was completely useless to him, he turned to Strange. “He was on the—the spaceship with us. Thanos’ creepy ass squid guy kidnapped you. Peter stowed away on the ship,” Tony spouted, much to Stephen’s concern. “You called him my ward.”