WARNING: SPOILERS!!! ~A Watty's 2019 Submission!

Saved for Some Marvel Book I Haven't Come Up With Yet!

Tony set up his old helmet, shaking at the touch of the cold metal, and grunting when it clicked on. 

"This thing on?" He murmured, tapping on the helmet with a small clicking noise, letting out a sigh as a small beam from the eyepiece shone on him, indicating that it was recording him. He got what he needed. "Hey, Miss Potts... Pep." He leaned back against the wall, exhausted. It had been a long couple of days. Or weeks. He wasn't certain. "If you find this recording... don't post it, on social media. It's gonna be a real tear-jerker. I don't know if you're ever gonna see these. I don't even know if you're still..." he wiped his face. "Oh, God, I hope so..." 

He straightened up a bit. If Pepper saw this, he didn't want her to cry. He wanted to look somewhat okay. "Today is day 21... uh, 22. You know, if it wasn't for the existential terror staring into the literal void of space I'd say I'm feeling more better today. The infection's run its course, thanks to the blue meanie back there.  You'd love her. Very practical. Only a tiny bit sadistic." 

He thought back to how she and Kim had helped him heal as much as they could from what Thanos had done to him, and how they had tried to fix the ship to get back to Earth, to no avail. "Some fuel cells were cracked during battle, but we figured out a way to reverse the ion charge to buy ourselves forty-eight hours of playtime. But now it's dead in the water. We're one thousand lightyears away from the nearest 7-11. Oxygen will run out tomorrow morning. That'll be it." He took another deep breath, looking out the window at the empty space he was trapped in. "I'll get to see Aria again. And Peter. Can't wait for that." He looked back to the helmet. "If you could let a Miss Christine Palmer, if she's around, know that her daughter is safe. Tell her, Kim went okay. She went with her father. She'll understand, and I hope it helps her." As he said this, he thought about Kim. Young, vulnerable Kimmy Strange, who was dying like he was, thanks to starvation and lack of oxygen. Nebula gave so much of her food to the two of them, and Kim ate as little as possible to preserve them all. Tony had done the same, but it hadn't been enough, especially thanks to the fuel running out. Now, they were both slowly going to die, drifting away in space with no hope of survival.

"And Pep, I... I know I said no more surprises, but I gotta say I was really hoping to pull off one last one. But it looks like... Well, you know what it looks like." He rubbed his forehead, feeling himself fade a little bit, but he had so much more to say. "Don't feel bad about this. I mean actually, if you grovel for a couple weeks, and then move on with enormous guilt..." he couldn't joke anymore. He was too tired. He just wanted to sleep. "I should probably lie down. I'm gonna caress my..." his voice trailed into gibberish. "Please know that... When I drift off, it will be goodbye the whole time... I'll think about you." he leaned in close at this last part, making sure that if he could, he was looking right into her eyes. "Because it's always you." He then turned off th helmet, wrapped himself in a jacket, and lay down, finally sleeping, thinking of his family back home. And when Nebula found him, she lifted him into her arms, and set him in the captain's chair, making sure he was comfortable when he passed, already having sat with Kim until she fell asleep. She listened to Kim talk about her life at home, how she had come to be, and what she hoped for, and when she finally drifted off, Nebula had closed the door behind her, never wanting to enter the room again. 

But little did she know, that there truly was hope. Tony found himself waking to see a new light. A burning light, one so bright he thought it was the sun. The light faded slowly, and it revealed a woman. A blonde woman with long hair, who stood in midair, studying him. It was as if she knew who he was, and Tony drifted off again as she went under the ship.

Avengers

On Earth, it was Steve who heard it. He had finally decided to shave off the beard, and he heard the roaring wind outside. He and the others ran outside, and found the woman, Carol Danvers, better known as Captain Marvel, bringing the ship down to Earth. She carefully lowered it, and a staircase was lowered. Steve ran as fast as his legs could carry him, when he saw Nebula helping a weak Tony out of the ship, and he took his once close friend over his arm, helping him the rest of the way.

"I couldn't stop him." Tony panted, taking in as much oxygen as he could.

"Neither could I." Steve tried to assure him, but Tony stopped and stared at him, despair filling his eyes.

"I lost them." he told Steve. "I lost the kid. And Aria..." Steve felt a pang in his heart. Aria. Of all the people, not only did Thanos take that innocent kid from Queens, he took Aria. She had been like a daughter to him as well, someone he truly cared about.

"Tony, we lost." he told him. Tony just panted, knowing that there was never a more true statement.

"Is, uhh..." Pepper came rushing over, looking as though she could hardly believe her eyes.

"Oh my god!" She wrapped her arms around Tony, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Oh my god!" She pulled away, looking behind him. "Where's...." She looked back at him, and he shook his head. More tears slid down her face, and he put an arm around her. 

"it's okay." Pepper and Steve then helped him away as Rocket hurried over to Nebula, who was carrying Kim, not wanting to wake the young girl up yet. 

"Nebula?" She looked to him. "Where's Quill? And Drax?" She shook her head. "Mantis?" She shook her head again, and he felt his heart drop. They were all gone.

"This is Kim." She told him. "She is in our care now. Her father was taken as well." Rocket nodded, and they followed the others back.