All Our Souls

Iron Rusts

A/N: Wow! I'm updating! First time in, what, three weeks? (Wow, oof.) Miss me? School is a jerk and doesn't let me do what I love to do, but it's the weekend so it can't control me anymore. Get used to slower updates, though. Anyway, onto our story for today. Hope you enjoy! :)

The Man of Iron sat on the dusty red planet, face in his hands. A tear rolled down his cheek.

He couldn't believe he was gone.

So many emotions flowed through his mind at once, it was almost impossible to sort through them all, although some feelings dominated others.

Sadness. They lost.

Grief. The kid's gone.

Guilt. It should have been him.

Pain. But was it an injury physically or mentally?

Exhaustion. Tony Stark was so exhausted, physically and mentally.

What was next?

The man couldn't find any reason to move an inch, so there he stayed.

A certain blue woman was standing a few feet away, not having any motivation to move, either.

The pair stayed still, not interacting, wrapped up in their own thoughts, for quite some time.

Finally the blue woman spoke up. "We should leave."

Tony gave her an unreadable expression.

Nebula continued. "I don't want to be here anymore. I don't think you want to be here, either. Let's go."

Tony shook his head and stayed put.

Nebula sensed she would need to persuade the Iron Man. "Look, I know you don't want to go anywhere, but right now? We are not being attacked. We have a ship. We have food. We have water. We have oxygen. We have everything we need to get off this sorry excuse for a planet, so if you want to live, you'll come with me."

The man looked up at her again, expression still blank but with more understanding. Then he said something Nebula only partially expected to hear.

"What if I don't want to live?"

She wasn't completely shocked, but still surprised. It only took her a second to gather her thoughts and speak again.

"No, nope. Not even an option. I don't care!" she added as Tony was about to say something  in defense. "You're coming back with me and that's final. End of discussion. Now are you gonna walk or do I have to drag you?"

Tony didn't move but had lost all will to argue. Nebula picked up the old man and slung him over her shoulder, like a sack of potatoes. Tony said nothing, other than yelp in surprise as he was picked up.

Tony Stark was put down in a chair, the copilot's chair, and strapped in. Nebula strapped herself into the pilot's chair, then powered up the ship and stared at the control panel for a few seconds.

"You know how to fly this thing?" Tony asked, monotone.

Nebula sighed. "We'll see." She flipped a bunch of switches that she believed to be the right ones, and sure enough, the ship was prepared for liftoff.

Tony's eyes widened. "That's a yes or no question!" he said with fear.

"Then yes," Nebula smirked as she put the ship in gear and started to soar through space.

Tony got over the initial shock of the take off and lost himself in his own thoughts again. Soon, however, he spoke up. "Why did you take me with you?"

Nebula looked over in Tony's direction, acknowledging that she heard him, but making no attempt to answer the question. "What do you mean?" she said after thinking for a minute.

Tony sighed. "What I mean is, I don't know, it wouldn't have been hard, in fact, it would've been easier, to just leave me there. You're making it harder for yourself by accommodating me. Why?"

Nebula showed no emotion in her face as she replied, not even looking in Tony's direction, "Did you want me to leave you to die?"

Tony raised his hand a few inches above his thigh only to let it fall again. "Maybe," he said.

"Why would you want that?" the blue woman asked, sounding more curious to anything else.

Tony bit his bottom lip, and chewed on it as he tried to form coherent thoughts. "I... lost everyone I cared about. Actually, that's a lie. I may have lost everyone I cared about. O-only a few I know are gone for sure. I just... don't see the point in living if what you live for is gone."

"That's not true," the blue woman snapped back.

Tony looked at her in confusion, a tear dripping down his face as he remembers what he knows is lost.

"There are bound to be people you care about still alive. Half the universe, right? There's a really low chance that fifty percent contains everyone that means anything to you. That's why you're here. With me. Right now. There are still people that need you, and we're going to find them," Nebula stared Tony in the eyes, almost intimidating him into believing what she was saying.

"And you?" Tony asked.

Nebula's stern expression softened slightly. "No one means anything to me." Anyone could see that she struggled to believe this herself. "And even if there was someone, they're gone. Forever. Irreversible. No ressurrections. She's dead!" Nebula yelled for no apparent reason, voice cracking as she struggled to keep herself together.

Nebula put the ship on autopilot on a course towards Earth and left the room, not that there were many other places to go on the small ship.

Tony had the good sense to leave her be, or was it just that he didn't have the energy or the willpower to move?

He couldn't help but wonder what he would find back in Earth. Was Pepper okay? Which other Avengers lived? Rhodey? Did he make it? What would May say when she learned Peter was gone? Peter was gone. Peter was gone.

Peter was gone.

Tony finally wrapped his head around the fact that the kid - his kid - was gone, and he couldn't handle it.

Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, was on the floor sobbing. He'd never been one to cry. Then again, he'd never lost a kid either.

Tony recalled the kid stumbling towards him, a look of pure horror on his face.

Peter telling Tony he was sorry, that he didn't want to go.

Peter crumbling to dust in his arms.

Tony had mentally broken down. He curled himself into a ball, tears flowing down his face. The pain was unbearable.

Little did he know that Nebula, in the next room, was crying just as hard over the sister she didn't know she loved so much.

A/N: I made it sad. I'm sorry, but not really. I always kind of imagined how this conversation might play out.

I won't necessarily be playing this off the events of Endgame, meaning  I may or may not have Tony and Nebula stranded. Probably not, it works better with my vision if they get back on their own.

The stories are all connected, just in case you were wondering.

Vote, follow me, and comment suggestions or constructive criticism, and be alert for more chapters!