Growing Up

Chapter Twenty Three

"-ng." Fresh tears fell to the floor. Her head was foggy, but she swore she could hear the sound of a baby crying. (Y/n) stumbled forward and braced herself against the kitchen counter.

"Mom?" She looked down to see her son-in-law trying to pull himself up off of the floor. (Y/n) looked down at her hands and flexed them a few times. They were covered in dust that had gathered on the counter. The shrill cries of James brought her back to reality.

"Where is Dani?" (Y/n) wiped her hands off on her pants, feeling her cellphone was in her pocket.

"Shh, hush now baby boy, it's okay." Jonas rocked James in his arms. "I don't understand what is going on. Maybe you should try calling Tony." As he said that, the phone was already up to her ear and ringing.

"Anthony Edward Stark if you are still on that ship I swea-"

"(Y/n)?" His voice trembled. "Oh god, it worked. It worked!" As he rejoiced in her ear, a loud boom cut him off. The apartment shook violently and the two adults looked out of the window to see alien ships firing at the Avengers compound. A portal opened up behind them, just like the one Strange had used to summon Tony that morning. Was it that morning?

"We need to go now." Danielle was standing there with her hand outstretched for them to take. They followed her through the gateway into the living room of a little cabin. (Y/n) met the familiar eyes of her daughter.

"They did it." She engulfed her mother, husband, and baby in her arms. A little boy came running in, skidding to a halt in front of the huddled group.

"Mommy what is going on?" They broke apart and Dani knelt down and took his hands in hers. Just as she was about to explain, Danielle put a hand on her shoulder.

"As much as I want you all to catch up as a family, I need to steal your mom." (Y/n) gave a confused look to her best friend but allowed her to pull her to the garage. "Tony had me come make sure you guys were safe." Danielle started tugging a box down from the top shelf.

"What the hell is going on? Last thing I remember is my body turning to dust."

"That was five years ago. Thanos managed to wipe out half of the entire universes population with a single snap. The ones who survived, Tony, Steve, Bruce, myself, and some others managed to go back in time and pluck the very stones Thanos used out of their time so we could bring everyone back." She opened the box and handed (Y/n) a (f/c) helmet similar to the Iron Man suit. "I know it's a lot to process but we need to get to the battle that's currently raging on between thousands of aliens and the Avengers."

"...Five years?" The knowledge she had been dead for half a decade made (Y/n) light headed.

"Focus, love." Danielle pressed a device to her friends chest and activated it, engulfing (Y/n) in a suit made entirely of nanoparticles. "Ready to save the world?" She just nodded, confused but ready to fight for her planet. They stepped through a red portal and quickly dodged out of the way of a massive alien falling to the ground.

"Look sharp!" Rhodey flew by, shooting at some advancing enemies. "Glad to have you back, (Y/n)."

"Where is she?" Tony's voice shouted over the intercom in her helmet. Her suit boosted her into flight to dodge an explosion.

"Getting swamped over here, could use some help!" Steve pitched into the conversation. (Y/n) and Danielle made their way to America's treasure. She had no clue what she was doing but it seemed just pointing her palms at oncoming aliens and firing was working out. She flew above them, providing cover from the air. Someone was fighting with her, back to back, blasting anything that dared get close. When there was a break in the fighting, (Y/n) turned to see Tony flying in front of her, helmet off.

"It's really you." He grabbed her and pulled her into a long kiss. When they broke apart, they both had goofy grins on their faces. "God I missed you, (Y/n)."

"You've made it longer without me." She replied sadly. "I'm sorry you had to do it again." A large blast startled them both.

"Coming through!" Peter Parker swung through the couple, a large gauntlet in his arms.

"That's what we need to keep from the big purple guy." Tony explained, blasting an alien that was chasing the boy.

"Got it, see you on the other side." (Y/n) took off after Peter.

As the battle continued, it seemed there was no end in sight of Thanos' army. Stephen Strange was holding the Hudson river up, Steve, Bruce, and Thor were trying to keep Thanos away from Tony, who had the gauntlet. He was winning despite being outnumbered by the three heroes. (Y/n) watched in horror as Thanos got the gauntlet and put it on, raising his hand to snap, bracing for the imminent destruction. When his fingers met, nothing happened. Tony smirked at the big purple baddie and lifted his hand revealing a gauntlet on his own, his nanites pulling the six stones he had stolen into place. She rushed across the battlefield in an effort to help her husband who was trying to withstand the overwhelming power the stones gave. He said something to Thanos but she was too far to hear it.

"Tony-" She tried to speak to him but she didn't know what to say. He snapped his fingers with a smirk on his face. The armies of aliens began to turn to dust around them. Thanos sat on a rock, looking around as his plans turned to nothing before him. He looked at peace as he too turned to ash. Tony collapsed against a large rock outcropping. Peter beat her to his side, trying to tell him everything was okay. By the time she got to him, a small crowd had formed around her husband. Rhodey pulled the young boy out of her way.

"Let her say goodbye." He told him softly. (Y/n) knelt down in front of Tony, taking in his burnt skin and tired eyes. She took his free hand in hers and brought it to her lips. He could barely meet her eyes.

"You did it Tony. You can rest now." Tears fell from her face to his as she gently kissed his cheek. "I love you, Tony."