st_arkintern | Ghost of Christmas Future

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Ghost of Christmas Future

"Mr. Stark?"

Peter stands at the edge of the bed that Tony shares with Thor. He wears the Iron Spider armor Tony made for him, the faint glint of the moon through the thin slit between either side of the curtain reflecting off the suit's dark colors.

Peter's hair is styled differently from the Peter here at the inn; it's longer, more wild, even floppy. School had grown more and more demanding as the end of his sophomore year approached and balancing school and his time as Spider-Man was difficult. He had promised May he'd maintain his grades as part of the Spider-Man Negotiations of 2017, but criminals didn't stop just because he had two papers to write by Friday, a quiz tomorrow, and a test next Tuesday.

Hair had been less of a priority. Peter couldn't put off his homework if he wanted to continue being Spider-Man; he couldn't put off his evening patrol if he wanted to protect Queens, either. There were no serious long-term consequences to not getting his hair cut (save for perhaps more bullying from Flash, who was prone to bullying him anyway). A haircut could wait until later.

Peter always thought there'd be more time later.

Tony doesn't stir. Peter presses his lips together -- a nervous habit acquired when he was still alive -- and draws a little closer. He resists the natural urge to place a hand on Tony's shoulder to wake him; he knows that his fingers will slip right through. Instead he repeats, this time a little louder:

"Mr. Stark?"

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“Wherever I go, it won’t be with you.” He admitted, turning Thor’s ring over in his fingers. “But I signed up for this reluctance, didn’t I.”

"I'm used to traveling the universe solo." At least he was now; Mjölnir had been fine company -- like traveling around with a friend from back home. But Mjölnir wasn't a person and it wasn't even intact anymore -- its crumbled pieces had been left behind on the cliff in Norway.

Traveling the universe was what he was going to do. He had to find Thanos, and though Tony might insist on going there, if they survived -- and if his people didn't make it to Earth, he'd have to find them and bring them there.

And the universe was a tremendously large place.

"I knew what I was signing up, too, you know," he says. Tony perhaps didn't; even if he knew Thor was keeping secrets, he probably didn't imagine it was something like this.

Content to wallow in the bittersweet punch of it all, Tony rocked gently against his friend and partner and began to hum. It was low enough that rain could have drowned it out.

"No sweeping exits...or offstage lines...could make me feel bitter...or treat you unkind."

Thor looks down at his hands as Tony begins to sing -- at the ring Tony had made for him. What had he done to deserve any of this? He had made so many mistakes, and yet still, Tony was willing to forgive them. He had once choked the man and yet he still didn't want him to go.

Even now, when he was responsible for the destruction of half the life in the universe -- when he was responsible for the death of his son and half of the people from their timeline who was here, Tony was sitting here, singing.

Why did Tony think he deserved this? Why? No matter how many times his mind went over it, he came up with nothing.

Thor doesn't say or do anything. He just listens to Tony's song.

Tony soothed himself with the singing and soft swaying. Music had always been a bond between them from the moment Tony had JARVIS blast Immigrant Song in the back of his Bentley.

Wild, wild horses--We'll ride them some day.

As the lyrics faded, so too did Tony's slow movements.

"I don't understand why you're doing this." When he's failed everyone so completely.

They're the first words he's managed to put together since Tony began to sing. But it's not just the song he's asking about. It is everything tonight.

Tony tilted his head up, silently asking for clarification.

Thor glances at Tony for only the briefest of moments before turning to look back at the wall.

"I'm responsible for the death of half the life in the universe. Your son and yet, here you sit with me now."

Thor knits his hands together.

"I kept telling myself over and over again that I had done everything that could be done to save the universe, but everything I did was to kill Thanos and to see him suffer. Even now, the only thing I want is to see him dead."

“Yeah.” He replied to Thor’s initial statement. “I am.”

"Why?" he asks again. "There is no reason for it. I hid this from you, though you deserved to know. You needed to know."

“Yeah. I did.” Tony leaned his head back on Thor’s arm. “Don’t do it again.”

Thor laughs hoarsely. He finds himself wanting to get angry, but nothing he can say can pull it out of him.

What more can he say? The worst of his sins are out on display. There is nothing more he can say.

“Together. That was Peter’s wish.” He squeezed Thor’s hand tight.

Thor turns and looks at Tony and blinks away the tears.

"Together."

“And mine.” His breathing began to slow. “Too many mistakes...too many Avengers I thought I’d never see again.”

"You will probably see all too much of me when I find the other Asgardians," Thor says. Tony had promised they would have a place to stay and Thor would take him up on that offer; he had imagined that things would all just work out when he got to Earth, but now he's not nearly as sure.

There's one last thing Thor needs to say. One last thing that Tony should know. Thor swallows and says it.

"Quill and I have only truly discussed where we think Thanos may be," he says. "He thought that might be Titan, but now that I know you're alive there, I'm not so sure myself."

Thor would probably be starting from ground zero again.

"If we manage to kill him, I'm going to use the gauntlet."

“Wherever he went, it wasn’t back home.” Suddenly, Tony wished he’d bothered to ask, though that may have been outside the scope of Peter’s abilities. Though it stood to reason that if Thanos returned to Titan, peaceful cohabitation with the two souls left wasn’t on the menu.

“Are you gonna tell the others?”

"What part?" he asks. "The half the universe being wiped out part or the part about me being responsible for it?"

There were still people who were unaware of the former and only Tony knew the latter. It could just as easily be one as much as the other.

“Both.” Tony shook his head. “Every single person we have here laid it all out. Some didn’t come back.”

"Rocket, Bucky, and Rogers." Thor looks up at the ceiling. "Everyone else knows about what Thanos has done except Loki."

He had given Loki the notebook, but he had declined to read anything but the details that were relevant to him.

“I’m not asking you do it alone.” Tony bit his lip. “Though with Peter...that’s me.”

Thor takes a breath at the mention of Peter.

"Are you certain you'll be okay?"

Tony's body shook in a wry chuckle. "Yeah. And if I'm not, Pete and I can be Not Okay together."

Thor sets a hand loosely against Tony's back.

"Let me know if you need anything."

Eyeing Thor meaningfully, Tony scooted towards his lap. Ask and one received. "Keep me warm."

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st_ormbreaker - 2018-12-28 02:00 (UTC) - Expand

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