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After Infinity: Stark

Summary:

Half of the universe was wiped out with the snap of Thanos's fingers. Tony is stranded on an alien planet with no knowledge of whether his friends or fiance are alive and waiting for him, or nothing more than a pile of dust. An Avengers family reunion is overdue, but once they're back in business, can they reverse what has already been done? Told mostly from Tony's point of view, along with those most meaningful to him. Pepperony, Steve and Stark reconciliation, and Peter Parker father!son relationship all included.

Chapter 1: Dust in the Wind

Chapter Text

Numb. Void of all emotion, all thought. Maybe he was the one who disappeared. Right now, it didn't sound so bad. It should've been him, but here he sits on some bumble-fuck, middle-of-nowhere planet (yes, planet) living out his worst nightmare. That is, if he was living at all.

He guessed maybe the stabbing pain in his side was a good indicator. Now that was a pain he wasn't completely numb to.

Robo-smurf (Tony didn't take down names) was tampering with something behind him. Whatever she was trying, it didn't seem to be working. Occasionally she'd scream out in frustration or hurl a rock across the barren landscape. Tony didn't flinch.

"You could help." Baldy snapped, mumbling something else inaudible to herself. Stark didn't pay her mind since it was far off somewhere else…

Dust? What the hell was that… What the HELL was that? By "wiping out half of the universe", Tony imagined nothing short of a dramatic genocide with explosions and guns blazing, but just fading away in a wisp of ash? Somehow the peacefulness of it all was even worse. God, the kid's face... Tony felt sick.

He didn't even realize there was a burst of light somewhere behind him. The ground underneath him jolted just a bit, but he couldn't bring his muscles to move in response. It could've been giant legion of Thanos's army for all he cared. At this point, did it really matter?

"Need a ride?" Tony heard a familiar deep, rumbling intonation. It was probably one of the few exceptions that would motivate him to bring his attention back to something other than his own jumbled thoughts of defeat. Stark looked up to see a friend that he hadn't seen in nearly two years now. Thor smiled sadly down at him and reached out a hand.

Tony hesitated, taking a moment to notice that this wasn't the same Thor he had fought with back in Sokovia. His hair was chopped short (honestly, it was about time), his hammer was now an axe, and Tony couldn't quite place his finger on what it was, but there was something different about his face too. Later he'd discover the whole "missing-an-eye" situation.

"Stark." Thor said, a tinge of worry in his voice as his smile fell. Tony took a deep breath and grasped Thor's hand, allowing the God to help him to his feet. Start groaned and clutched at his side with his other hand, a leg buckling underneath him. Thor instantly hand an arm underneath his, helping him stand.

"You are injured."

"Just a small impalement, not a big deal."

"We'll get you back."

"Back to what, exactly?" Tony spat out a little more bitterly than he intended. Thor pulled away from Tony just enough to look at him.

"Friends who are counting on us. A universe who is counting on us."

"Half a universe."

"A universe all the same."

Tony scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"I understand how this looks. It's not over." Thor persisted.

"It's not over? I just watched the majority of our best defense disappear into fucking pixie dust!"

"Lord? The wizard? The kid?

"Yes." Tony brutally cut him off. How did he even know about Peter? He'd been M.I.A. doing who knows what the hell what.

Okay, Tony. Misguided anger, here. He tried to talk himself down.

"All of 'em." Stark finished in a much quieter tone.

"You'll feel better once we get back to Midgard. There are still people counting on you; worried about you."

Tony felt his chest tighten. He found his mind begging for Thor to be referring who he so desperately couldn't stop thinking about. However at the same time, Tony was doing everything in his power not to think about her. He knew the odds of her surviving whatever twisted party-trick Thanos just pulled, and continuing to think of those odds would just drive him mad. The only way to find out if she was alive was to go back and find out of course, but Stark was terrified that he wouldn't find what he was looking for.

"Our friends…"

Tony felt his heart drop into his stomach. So still no word on Pepper.

"What, all two of them left?"

"Banner, Natasha, Rhodes, Cap…" As Thor began listing, Tony felt his mind reel itself in a bit. Maybe there was even the tiniest spark of cruel hope. There was also a sudden spike of pain sent down Stark's spine. Tony doubled over and hissed.

"Alright, alright. We'll have a big, happy family reunion. I got it."

Thor seemed satisfied enough with this, and started guiding Tony towards an emptier, flatter part of the landscape.

"How'd you find me?"

"Ah well, a talking rabbit with exquisite space-tracking skills."

"Christ, never mind. I'll stop asking questions."

Thor smirked and gripped the handle of his axe. Tony glanced down at it.

"New gadget?"

"Very. 'Bout an hour."

"Nice. A little theatrical, maybe? Hair's cute though." Tony teased. Thor chuckled and shook his head.

"I've missed you, metal man."

"Uh, hello?"

Thor and Tony both turned to the sound of a new voice. Tony sucked in a sharp breath, remembering that twisting his body wasn't the best of ideas at the moment.

"Who's that?" Thor asked. Tony had forgotten about the freaky, alien girl.

"Not sure."

"One of ours?"

"Enough."

Thor shrugged and thrusted his axe up in the sky, showering all three of them in a blinding light. Tony felt his insides churn and his head void of all thoughts and vision other than the blazing brilliance around them. His body suddenly felt weightless, almost as if he didn't have one anymore. He did have one last thought before Thor hurdled him into space, though. It was of grass. Grass and trees and buildings and people and Pepper. Most of all, it was Pepper.

Earth. That's all he wanted now. Maybe it was broken. Maybe it was devoid of half the population. Maybe… Well, maybe the one person he loved more than anything else in this God-forsaken universe was nothing more than a pile of dust. But maybe not. And that's all Tony needed.