Chapter Text
“Mr. Stark… I… I don’t feel so good.”
Tony holds Peter in his arms as he seems to be getting weaker and weaker. Unable to stay on his legs anymore and collapsing into Tonys arms.
Tony can do nothing but stare helplessly at Peter, trying to soothe him as he himself is overridden with guilt and terror. Why did he have to drag the Kid into this? Why did he have to fail? Thanos won, all around them people, friends, …family were disappearing. Turning to ash and leaving nothing behind, not even a body to mourn, not a funeral to hold.
His grip on Peter tightens as he sees him slowly turning to dust. Why is it taking so long? The pain is clear on the kids face and yet he is still here. Still alive. Still suffering.
A groan leaves Peter’s lips as he can do nothing but tense up in Tony’s arms. The pain is unbearable. Somehow, everything hurts all at once and at the same time, he feels numb. Numb to everything except his emotions. He tenses again, a sharp sting as if getting stabbed flashes through his stomach, up into his chest.
Tony watches helplessly as Peter dies. His mind racing, unable to form a complete thought. He should have protected him, he should have been there for him. Peter is too young to die, especially of such a gruesome death. He watches as Peter’s expression distorts into one of utter terror.
And, to onlookers, it would seem as though Tony is feeling just as much pain as the boy in his arms. But the source of Tony’s pain is different, one doused in regret and guilt and a strange paternal instinct, which, until now, he has tried to ignore and push down as much as possible.
Because the truth is, Tony does see Peter as a sort of son. But he never voiced that thought, to anyone really. Not even to Pepper, his wife. But she knew… and everyone else could see as clear as day how much Tony cared for the boy.
He thought about when Peter just started his internship at SI, coming in after school, throwing his backpack into a corner and spending hours together in Tony’s lab. And every time, Tony would invite Peter to stay for dinner, and after, he would join him on his drive home with Happy, listening to the kid ramble about all kinds of topics.
He remembers working on a new Spider-Man suit together, he remembers how strangely proud he was of Peter when he came to him with good grades or when he did exceptionally well during a fight as Spider-Man
But he had failed him. He failed Peter spectacularly and now, Peter is dying in his arms. Looking up at him with teary, bloodshot eyes.
“I don´t wanna go… I don’t wanna go!” Peter´s voice is shaking, tears rolling down his cheeks as Tony lays him down on the ground, grabbing his hand as Peter slowly but surely turns to ash.
And Tony can do nothing but watch. Watch as one of the people he cared most about dies right in front of his eyes.
He watches his son die, and there is nothing he can do about it, nothing he can do but watch, and weep as the reality of it all sinks in. Tony will never see him again.