Tom Holland Blurbs

after [part one] (p.p.)

***ENDGAME SPOILERS***

I remembered being in physics class at school when I all of a sudden lost feeling in my fingers and toes. When I held my hand up to look at it, my brain literally couldn't compute what was happening. I didn't have fingers anymore, there was gray ash where my hand once was. I felt like I was falling into nothing. Then it all faded to black.

The next thing I knew I was waking up, on the floor of that same classroom. I sat up with a gasp, drawing the attention of the students in the desks around me. I looked around frantically, trying to make sense of what had happened to me in what felt like only a few minutes. The date on the front board caught my eyes. The year read 2023. 

This has to be a joke. I thought frantically.

The teacher, mercifully, had been following the national news on his phone and was intelligent enough to figure out at least some of what was happening. The Avengers were fighting an army and everyone who had disappeared five years ago had suddenly reappeared. While I still had to process that I had missed five years of my life, my immediate thought went to Peter. The news was reporting about the Avengers and while it was not safe enough for reporters to be right up in the action, there were cameras trained on the Avenger's complex and there were huge explosions and screaming. I was chewing on my fingernails with anxiety as I watched the news on a school TV that the teacher had gone and retrieved, worried that my boyfriend was mixed up in something that was much bigger than he could handle.

Finally, reports began coming in that the attackers had suddenly ceased their onslaught. The cameras focused on the wreckage of the complex and I stared at the screen intently, hoping that somehow I would see Peter. Suddenly, figures began emerging, walking towards the crowds of reporters and emergency teams. In the lead I recognized James Rhodes, his War Machine suit clanking against the cracked pavement. He made to approach the cameras, like he had been selected to make a statement to the public. 

"This will be the only thing we say to you all. Thanos is gone and everyone who disappeared five years ago should be returning to their families. We fought hard, we won the war, but w-we... we lost..."  Rhodey wiped his hand down his face and breathed in hard.

My hands shot up to my own mouth, pressing on my lips to keep a sob in. Someone had died. I took a huge breath and prepared myself for what I thought was the worst thing that could come out of Rhodey's mouth, which was Peter dying. I was in no way prepared for what he said next.

"Tony Stark is dead. We will not be answering questions at this time and the Avengers ask that our grieving period, however long that may be, please be respected. We understand you all need answers, b-but we cannot give them to you right now. Thank you," Rhodey turned and walked away from the mass of microphones, his head down, a picture of grief.

I don't think I breathed for five minutes after Rhodey's statement. The headline at the bottom of the TV screen flashed from "Attack at Avengers Complex" to "Iron Man is Dead". Tears streamed down my face. I had met Tony a couple of times since I had been dating Peter, we got along pretty well because generally we were combining forces to stop Peter from taking on fights that were too big. We bonded over wanting Peter to be safe and how much we both loved him, even though Tony wasn't big on sharing his feelings. I saw how much he cared about my boyfriend every time they interacted and it made me so happy because Peter had lost his dad before he really understood what it meant to lose someone and then he lost Uncle Ben and it devastated him. He felt like Ben's death was his fault, he felt like he could have done something to stop it and no matter how much I tried, I couldn't convince him that even Spider-Man wasn't all-powerful. Peter had carried that weight for a long time.

Tony was Peter's hero. And he was my hero too, if only because he made Peter believe in something. I couldn't remember how many times I had heard the story of how Peter had been on the steps of the building where the Stark Expo had been held when it was in Queens years ago and the Hammer drones were attacking people. Peter had stood up to one of the drones, trying to be brave, and Iron Man himself landed behind him and shot the drone, turning and telling Peter "Nice work, kid," before flying off to save the day. Peter followed everything Tony Stark did, reading newspaper articles, looking at inventions and watching interviews. Tony Stark was everything to Peter, he ranted to me often about how brave Tony Stark was for the dramatic way he turned his company around when he found out where the weapons were going. I heard all about how amazing the Iron Man suit was and how many charities Stark Industries was donating to.