connection - parkner week 2019

day ten: tony stark

when peter parker disintegrated in front of his eyes, tony stark was at a loss. 

"something's happening..."

first, he'd watch the woman with antenna disappear - he never did know her name. he watched as peter quill looked helplessly at his friend, who had just disintegrated in front of him.

"quill?"

then, he'd watched quill watch as another one of his friends turned to ash. everything was happening so fast. no one could do anything about it. quill was looking around desperately, trying to work out what was going on. he'd just lost his friends. and tony was doing nothing about it. and however much peter quill had annoyed the billionaire that day, he was part of the team trying to stop thanos.

"stay, quill."

it's the only thing that tony could think of. truth be told, it wouldn't be much use, saying that wouldn't mean that the universe would pick someone else. if quill was going, he was going.

"oh, man."

and just like that, the pained expression from quill was gone. because peter quill was no longer there. he was just ashes, floating through space. as were his friends. 

because the avengers had lost.

"tony..."

no. tony turned around, wishing that he could just wake up from this nightmare. but it was real. all of it. there was no waking up. he was already awake. as he turned around, he saw the inevitable.

"... there was no other way."

the doctor took his final breath. and then he was gone. stephen strange. the one who had brought this to the attention of the avengers. god, now wasn't the time for a 'what if', but what if they had thrown the infinity stone away? would this have happened? no. but it was happening, and tony was watching his newfound friend disintegrate in front of him, just as quill had done with his two friends. 

"mr. stark?"

tony turned around again, fast. god, no. please. not peter. he was only sixteen. he hadn't even lived his life! he just wanted to make the world a better place. looking out for the little guy. he was such a good person, and he was going to lose his life right here. right now. on an alien planet. away from his aunt may. away from his friends. with tony.

"i don't feel so good."

then tony realised. the kid's spider-sense. he can feel all of this. for everyone else, they could only feel themselves going when they were already on their way. peter parker could feel every second of this pain. the kid was holding his sides, almost trying to hold himself together. and that broke tony. he couldn't save a kid. a kid he had tried his best to protect. a kid who he hadn't known for very long, but a kid he would drop everything for in a time of need nonetheless. 

"you're alright."

tony was shaking. peter was taking steps towards him and he wanted to tell peter that everything was going to be okay. he wanted to tell peter that tony would get them off this planet, they'd go back to earth, and they'd get everyone back. but he couldn't. the words didn't form as peter got closer and closer to him. 

tony didn't want to lie to peter.

"i- i don't- i don't know what's happening- i- i- don't-"

and then the kid practically fell into tony. tony held peter close to him. peter was gripping onto tony like he was his life support. like if he held onto tony for long enough, he wouldn't fade away. but tony could already feel the dust from peter's arm floating past his ear. he could feel peter's grip get lighter and lighter until it was barely there.