Little Trouble

Chapter 38

One week later...

It was Tony's funeral.

Peter was sitting in the cabin where he'd lived for the past 5 years along with Pepper, Morgan, Rhodes, Stephen, and Tony's other friend, Happy. They were watching a pre-recorded holographic message that Tony had left them. It made it seem like he was there, talking to them, in real life. But Peter knew that wasn't the case. He was truly gone.

"Everybody wants a happy ending, right?" the holographic Tony said. "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. 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, you know? The epic forces of darkness and light that have come into play. And, for better or worse, that's the reality Morgan's gonna have to find a way to grow up in.

Peter looked at Morgan, who was between him and Stephen, holding both their hands. Peter smiled at her, for her sake. He was 14 and he was having such a hard time. It must have been so much worse for Morgan.

"So," hologram Tony continued. "I thought I'd probably 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. This time travel thing that we're gonna try and pull off tomorrow, it's– it's got me scratching my head about the survivability of it all. That's the thing. Then again, that's the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end."

And that was the grim message they all had to accept. Nobody wanted to, but they all had to accept that death was inevitable.

"What am I even trippin' for?" hologram Tony said. "Everything's gonna work out exactly the way it's supposed to." He had positioned the recorder so that when he looked up, it was if he was looking at Morgan. "I love you 3,000," he said.

The holographic message ended.

That message had only been meant for Tony's closest friends and family. Now it was time for the actual funeral.

Pepper held Morgan's hand and carried a wreath with Tony's first arc reactor on it. "Proof That Tony Stark Has a Heart" was written on the arc reactor. Stephen and Peter followed, and Rhodes and Happy followed them. Pepper sent the wreath adrift in the lake outside the house. Everyone watched silently as it floated away.

After the service, Stephen went around talking to the other Avengers he'd never met. Peter spoke with Shuri, who was pretty funny and showed him all her tech that she had made. He met Harley,  who was a few years older than him. He had met Tony when he was around Peter's age. They both figured out that they loved inventing stuff, and Harley said Peter was welcome to come to his house anytime to make stuff together.

He also talked to some of the adult Avengers. He met Sam and Bucky, and Bucky, rolling his eyes, had let Peter touch his metal arm. Both Sam and Bucky were pretty nice to him. He wanted to talk to Wanda, but she had left somewhat quickly, saying that she had important things to do.

Later, after the funeral had ended, Peter sat alone on a bench, looking out at the lake. He reflected on everything that had happened to him. He'd gotten his dad back, but he'd lost the other one he loved just the same. It was so wild, he wondered if other people in the world had gone through something similar. Most likely not. All over the news, there were reports of parties, clips of people reuniting with loved ones. 

He looked around, watching Happy play with Morgan, Steve talking to Bucky, Clint playing with his children. Stephen was joking around with Wong, Sam and Rhodes were talking about their homes, and Shuri teasingly dumped water on T'Challa and ran away laughing as he screamed and started chasing her.

They might be broken, but they were healing.