Saving Grace

Ninety Seven

All around Grace, Thanos' army begins to turn to dust. It blows through the battlefield, carried by a unfelt wind, and it seems to get in her way as she struggles to her feet, sprinting to her father.

As she gets closer, she sees Thanos himself break apart, now sitting, in utter disbelief at having been defeated. Her father has disappeared from her line of sight, but she keeps running for where she'd last seen him.

She tries to fly, still only one thruster working on her foot, and it's wonky but it gets her there. She lands, looking around, spotting him sitting up, leaning back against some wreckage. She runs to him, crouching in front of him, tears welling in her eyes at the sight of the burns covering half of him, the destroyed state of half his suit.

"Dad?" she asks, scared, holding his left hand in both of hers. "Dad, are you okay?"

"Grace," he breathes, unsure if she can understand him. Talking is so difficult.

"Come on, let's go- let's-" she cuts herself off, because he looks at her sadly, like he knows he's not moving from that spot, not while he's breathing. And Grace knows it too, and she holds the grief and the pain back, the sobs. Those will come later, when he can't see and feel guilty about it. Squeezing his hand — his real hand, as the suit's is destroyed — in both of hers (her suit retracting to the bracelet thanks to Sai), she can't help but cry. In a shaky voice, she says, "I love you."

He squeezes her hand back, breathes out an, "I love you, too," practically mouthing it.

Rhodey lands then, and he walks over, crouching next to Grace. There are tears in his eyes, and he says nothing. He can't. A silent understand passes between him and his friend.

And then Peter touches down, sees Rhodey and Grace. "Mr. Stark?" he asks. Rhodey solemnly steps away, but Grace can't.

"Kid," Tony tries.

"Hey," Peter says, running over, taking Rhodey's place next to Grace. His breathing is ragged, and his words are shaky. "Can you hear me? It's Peter." Tony makes no reply, hardly changes expression; he can't. Peter starts shaking him, though not hard, grabbing his hand, his arm. "Hey," he says softly. "We won... Mr. Stark... We won, Mr. Stark. We won." He starts to cry. "You did it, sir, you did it..." He looks over at Grace then, hearing a stray, muffled sob escape her, and then he looks back at Mr. Stark. "I'm so sorry... Tony..."

Pepper arrives, and Peter backs up, though he stays near Grace, wanting to help her, to do something. Needing the comfort himself. Rhodey lays a hand on his shoulder, and they both can only watch.

Pepper crouches in front of Tony where Peter had been, right next to Grace. "Hey," Pepper whispers, placing her hand on his chest, over the arc reactor.

His lips move, though no sound comes out. "Hey, Pep..." He slowly lays his hand over hers.

"Friday?" Pepper asks.

"Life functions critical," she replies, and Grace sobs again. Tony looks at Pepper, the tears in her eyes, and he tries to smile. She tries too. For him.

"Tony?" she asks softly. He turns his head towards Grace, who's struggling to keep it all in, so Pepper says, "Look at me." He does, and she assures him, "We're gonna be okay." She rubs his arm gently, strokes his hair, tries to keep herself from crying too much, tries to smile. "You can rest now."

He looks at Grace again, and she nods, mustering a smile as she squeezes his hand again. "It's okay," she whispers. "We'll be okay."

He weakly squeezes back, trying to whisper, "I love you, sweetheart," though he gets the message across clearly in only a look. And then his grip loosens.

A few moments later, the light in the suit — the arc reactor, his heart — blinks out.

Grace chokes down a sob, pressing his hand to her mouth, just holding it there, not wanting to let go, but not wanting to feel him go cold as that bright, warm life slips away and leaves them all. Finally, though, she gently sets his hand down, on his lap, her own hands shaking. He looks as if he were just sitting there, but he still stares out, seeing nothing.

Pepper kisses his cheek and rests her head against his chest and sobs, and Grace turns and hugs Peter tightly, closing her eyes as she lets it all pour out, crying so hard she makes no sound except for gasps of air as she struggles to breathe. Rhodey, his Gand still on Peter's shoulder, weeps, and Peter sobs but tries not to, tries to be strong for Grace, who's holding onto him but looking at Tony now, at her father, the closest family she has, the one who wanted her when her own mother didn't, who took care of her when he didn't even know what he was doing, who tucked her in at night, who watched Disney movies with her, who made her chocolate chip pancakes, who protected her with everything he had, who loved her and argued with her, who had cared for her these twenty two years, who wasn't a perfect father but the best father, her father, now dead, a sacrifice he made for the universe, a sacrifice that he made for her, in more ways than one.

Out of the corner of her eye, behind her, Grace sees Clint sink.

Tearing her eyes from her father, she sees that he's kneeling, and then he brings his fist up and rests his forehead against it, looking down.

In front of Clint, T'Challa looks back and follows suit, paying his respects, feeling for the girl sitting up there who's just lost her entire world. In front of him, Carol does the very same.

Next to him, Wong sinks, then Bruce, close by, kneels slowly, openly crying for the loss of his friend. In front of Bruce, Scott's girlfriend kneels too.

Then, a man Grace has seen only in pictures, Peter Quill, on her right, kneels too, knowing him, not as well as the others for sure, but knowing him, and knowing enough to know that this sacrifice shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

Next to him, Nebula and Pegasus Girl do the same, Nebula sinking solemnly for a friend — a brief friend, but a friend nonetheless.

In front of Carol, Scott sinks, the tears about to pour. He can't imagine how the others, the ones who'd known him for years, are feeling, just with the way he feels now.

Next to him, Steve falls more than kneels. He sinks as though he can't bare to stand anymore. Even from this distance, Grace sees tears in his eyes, rushing down his cheeks, hitting the ground.

Thor sinks heavily, lowering his head, and Grace sees him crying, the tears falling down his face.

Further behind him, Strange steps forward and kneel resignedly, painfully. He lowers his head too. Gamora steps down from the hill of wreckage she's standing on and kneels likewise.

To Grace's left, almost in front of her, Wanda looks at Grace sadly, as if she's trying not to cry, and kneels. Next to her, Sam does the same and lowers his head.

Next to him, Bucky sinks heavily, as if there is a weight pushing on him, forcing him to his knees. The weight of guilt, Grace knows. He lowers his head too, and she wants to tell him that it's okay. That she — and, most importantly, Tony — forgave him years ago.

Next to him, Shuri crouches, and an alien, the one named Mantis, sinks behind her. Behind Sam, her spear pointed to the sky, Okoye kneels, and the alien Drax does the same behind her.

Rhodey, from his already half-crouched position, kneels the rest of the way slowly at first, then all at once.

The army around them, everyone left, people who never knew Tony at all, all kneel in respect for him, honoring what he's done. His sacrifice.

Pepper raises her head, and she sees everyone kneeling around them, and then shakily gets up on one knee.

Then, Grace, mustering all her strength, lets go of Peter and places her hands on the ground and pushes herself to her knees. Peter's arms slide back, though they're still around her. And he supports her as she pushes one leg out, placing her foot on the ground. Peter soon does the same, opting to just hold Grace's hand tightly as their tears fall freely.

They all stay that way for a long, silent moment, though it feels like years before Steve slowly raises. He walks over to Pepper, putting a comforting hand on Grace's shoulder as he goes. He quietly offers to carry Tony's body back to their home.

Though Grace already knows it won't feel like home anymore.