Checkmate {Book 3} [COMPLETED]

|01|

Then Tony Stark was ripping his house apart, kicking down doors and checking everywhere in a desperate search. He had just come back from the beach with a tied up Vulture and figured out that it was her blood. "Tessa!" He cried into the silence, "Tessa, please be here pumpkin!" He was blinded by swarming tears as he stumbled into the wall in her room, a sob rising in his throat. Then he heard a faint call, "Dad?" He'd never run faster in his life as he tore into the hallway. There she was, standing in the middle of two frames, water dripping off her form. He took her into his arms with his body rattling in fear and relief, his cries escaping his lips.

But then his mind always went back to that replay that never left his mind, and his eyes began to water at the memory. He was standing on gravel, watching as Stephen Strange cracked and turned pale, then his face broke apart, and he dusted away. He watched as his daughter collapsed onto the gravel, dust flying up around her. Peter walked over and squatted down, reaching his palm out to comfort her. But his eyes widened as he saw her feet crack, and he whimpered while beginning to walk over. But as he blinked, the more she disappeared into the air, the more horror she had on her face, the more he got closer. But then she was gone, one with the air surrounding him, floating away. And in that moment he begged to be taken away with her, for he knew he couldn't live without his only daughter. But then Peter turned to him.

"Tony." He was snapped out of his thoughts when his name was being called, and he blinked back into reality. The eleven news was on and talking nothingness to him, and he turned his head slowly to see Natasha standing next to him, a plastic bag filled with fluid tucked into her hands. She sighed and began to replace his old bag, the crinkles filling the air. He breathed out shakily, and she frowned, "The least you could do to yourself is think of a good memory of her, not her last one."

His breath faltered. That's always what happened - it started with a good memory of her, a wonderful, happy one. Then it slowly dwindled to her turning to dust before his eyes in just a few blinks, and he silently whimpered at her retort. You didn't watch what I did.

"My daughter is gone." He whispered, she perked her ears to hear his soft words. "I lost the most important thing in my life, Nat. I lost the reason to keep breathing."

The girl finished equipping his fluid and grabbed the empty bag, looking down at him with her lips pursed. She could see it clear as day - he had no hope. And it was gone the second his daughter disintegrated before his whiskey eyes, along with Peter.

"They wouldn't want to see you like this, you know." She broke through the silence, and his expression remained unreadable.

"Last I recall, you told me recruiting him was a bad idea. Now you're going to play the guilt card on me with Peter?" He sassed back after a pause, breathing out shakily after. "You told me that it was the dumbest thing I'd ever done, recruiting a fifteen year old kid." He abruptly turned to Natasha, and she could see the fire and pain burning in his eyes. "This whole time he survived and has done nothing but make me proud. The snap took him away from me, Natasha, the snap!" He leaned back against his chair, forcing tears to stay coating his eyes, blurring his vision, "Theresa was stabbed and we had no way of making it back home. It seems like she would've died either way."

"We don't know if they died—"

"Well they aren't here, are they? They're gone, Nat, and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. I lost both of them." He whispered the last sentence while screwing his eyes closed, utter defeat surfacing over him yet again.

"And we can get them back if you would just talk to Steve." Natasha said, and instantly Tony's mood sparked again, a brighter flame as he abruptly stood up, turning to her. "Come on, sit back down—"