𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 | 𝐏. 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑

chapter one: part of the journey is the end

"And I... am... Iron Man..."

SNAP!

Tears were falling down your face uncontrollably as you squeezed your eyes shut. You kept your head down in your room and held a framed photo of your father, Tony Stark. You find yourself continuously crying, and you're at a complete loss on what to do.

To you, his death was like a blink of an eye. Everyone came back from the dead, but at what cost?

Tony Stark heroically died by snapping his fingers with the powerful infinity stones in his hands to defeat the Mad Titan Thanos.

The fact that Natasha Romanoff had to die in order to obtain the Soul Stone is another thing that devastated you the most. Given that Pepper Potts is your second mother, Natasha was like a third mother to you.

Your biological mother tragically passed away at the age of three from a rare condition that didn't give her much time to survive. Your biological father, Tony Stark, adopted you, and Pepper Potts cared for you as if you were her own daughter. You lost far too many significant individuals in your life. You feel completely disoriented, as though pieces of who you are were suddenly taken from you.

You brushed away your tears as soon as you heard a knock. "Who is it?" You asked solemnly.

"Morgan." Your half-sister, Morgan Stark, replied with her usual optimistic yet soft voice. "Mommy said it's time to go out."

You let out a long sigh and got off your bed. You opened the door, revealing a 5-year-old Morgan staring at you with her beady brown eyes. With a somber expression, you grasped her hand while holding the framed photo of Tony in your other hand. "Ready to watch a hologram?"

Morgan grinned broadly as she nodded. You felt sad for her. She is far too young and clueless to comprehend what death is. It's difficult to explain why Tony won't wake up from a long and deep sleep, even though you know she's clever and will discover the truth eventually. You are aware that you will soon need to give her an explanation.

You know that Morgan may ask you more questions, so you need to be ready.

James Rhodes, Pepper Potts-Stark, and Happy Hogan were already seated on the couch in the living room when you and Morgan arrived. Morgan took a seat next to Pepper as you moved to the Iron Man helmet that was set on the table.

Finally, a holographic image of Tony Stark sitting on a chair and contemplating something deep appeared after you hit a button to turn it on. You watched your father sigh as you sat next to Morgan.

"Everybody wants a happy ending. Right?" Tony asked. "But it doesn't always roll that way. Maybe this time. I'm hoping if you play this back, it's in celebration. I hope families are reunited, I hope we get it back and something like a normal version of the planet has been restored if there ever was such a thing."

Tony stifled a sigh. "God, what a world. Universe, now. If you told me ten years ago that we weren't alone, let alone, you know, to this extent, I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised, but come on. The epic forces of dark and light have come into play. And for better or worse, that's the reality Morgan and (Y/n)'s gonna have to find a way to grow up in."

Morgan was staring cautiously at the holographic Tony while you held her small hand and she held yours back. She was likely to be somewhat afraid because she had never seen her dad in holographic form. To comfort Morgan, you gave her hand a small squeeze.

"So, I thought I better record a little greeting, in the case of an untimely death, on my part. I mean, not that death at any time isn't untimely." Tony scratched the back of his head. "This time travel thing we're gonna try and pull off tomorrow, it's got me scratching my head about the survivability of it all. Then again that's the hero gig."