Ava gasped, desperately trying to fill her lungs with air again. She had been fighting when an alien from Thanos' army had thrown her to the ground, knocking the air out of her. Peter staggered over to his twin and helped her up. When they looked up, Ava felt her heart sink. It was Tony against Thanos. It was either everyone is wiped from existence, or Thanos and his army. The twins tightened their holds on one another when Thanos kicked Tony away, and Peter hugged his sister. "I love you, Ava." "I love you too, Peter." "I am inevitable." When Thanos snapped his fingers, nothing happened. The twins didn't feel the pain of fading away. They looked at one another before looking at Tony to see him with all six Infinity Stones.
"And I. . . Am. . . Iron Man."
Tony snapped his fingers. The twins and every other Avenger looked around as they saw Thanos' army fading away. They were smiling. However, their smiles left when they no longer saw Tony. Spotting a spaceship not too high up, they used it to swing over where Tony, Pepper, and Rhodey were.
As soon as they landed, Ava froze, but Peter rushed over. "Mr. Stark? Mr. Stark, it's me. It's me, Peter. We won. We won, Mr. Stark. Mr. Stark?" Peter began to cry and Pepper began to pull him away, Peter desperately tried to hold onto Tony. Ava slowly made her way over and kneeled in front of Tony.
"Thank you for everything, Tony. I won't let you down." Pressing a kiss to his cheek, Ava bit back her tears as she took over for Pepper and held Peter. She could've sworn that she heard Tony say "Kids," but she was probably imagining it.
Pepper kneeled in front of her husband and put her hand on his chest - where his symbol was. "It's okay. You can rest now. We'll be okay."
Tears were wanting to spill, but Ava bit them back, not wanting Tony to see her cry for his last few seconds of life.
Tony smiled at Pepper and placed his hand on hers. That was the last smile from Tony Stark. As he took his final breath, his head rolled to the side, and his suit had turned off. His hand slid off from Pepper's, and that's when Ava began crying. Taking a step away from Peter, Ava faced Tony before going down on one knee. Clint saw this, and he followed her lead, followed by T'challa, Steve, and everyone else.
Ava began to sob, along with Peter. Everyone looked at the twins and frowned. They were too young. Too young to have fought in two wars. Too young to lose someone. But Tony wasn't the first person they lost.
Bucky walked over and he placed a hand on Ava's shoulder. Ava shot up and pulled him into a hug. Steve walked over and kissed the top of Ava's head before going over to Tony's body. He hesitated before picking him up and the heroes began walking away.
🕸 🕸 🕸 🕸 🕸
Ava gripped onto Peter's hand as they watched the funeral. A lot of the heroes that they fought alongside with were there as well, paying their respects to Tony. One tear slipped from Ava's eyes, but she made no move to wipe it away. As the funeral ended, Pepper and Morgan approached the Parker family.
"Morgan, this is - "
"Ava!"
Ava's eyes widened and she bent down in front of Morgan. "You know me?"
Morgan nodded her head. "Daddy talked about you and Peter." At that, Peter walked away and May went after him. Ava bit back tears and smiled at Morgan. "You're really pretty, Morgan. And you look just like your dad." Morgan smiled.
"Daddy told me that he loves you 3,000. And Peter too. Daddy is watching over us."
"That he is, Morgan. If you need anything, I'm only one call away. Okay? Just ask your mommy. Now, why don't you go over to Happy? I need to talk to your mom." Morgan nodded and pulled Ava into a hug before walking over to Happy. Ava wiped away some tears before standing up.
"Thank you, Ava."
"Of course, Pepper."
"Any time that you need anything or want to see Morgan, let me know, okay? You're family. And so is Peter."
Ava nodded and she and Pepper hugged. Ava made her way over to Steve and Bucky and she smiled. But as soon as she saw Bucky's face, her smile fell and it turned into a frown. "You're leaving, aren't you?" Ava asked Steve.
Steve looked at her, then at Bucky, and then back at Ava. As Steve let out a sigh, Ava got her answer. "I want you to promise me something, Ava." When Ava said nothing, Steve continued.
"I want you to promise me that you'll keep going. Even when you're alone, and you just want to give up. Find a way to get back up. But don't do it because I'm telling you to. You're a good kid, Ava. And an amazing hero. Just do what you think is right. Even when everyone says you're wrong. Will you do that for me? Will you promise to be not a perfect soldier, but a good person?"
Ava wiped away a stray tear and nodded her head yes. Steve smiled at her and pulled her into a hug. "I'm going to miss you, Steve," Ava whispered as she tried not to cry. Steve frowned and squeezed harder. "I'm going to miss you too, kiddo." As the two pulled away, Steve gave her a large bag.
"Open it when you're alone."
Ava nodded and she stepped back and stood next to Bucky. Bucky held out his hand and Ava took hold of it. Even though they started off on opposite sides, the two had gotten to know each other in small moments and have grown to care for each other. With one final squeeze, Ava reached up and placed a kiss on Bucky's cheek.
"I'm one call away, Bucky."
"So am I."
Bucky pulled her into a quick hug and Ava had quickly left once Steve got onto the platform. Ava walked over to the lake and began to enjoy the view. It truly was beautiful. She frowned as she began to think about Tony, but then smiled as she focused on all of the happy memories they made. She heard footsteps, and when she looked to her left, she gave the man a small smile. Dr. Strange gave Ava a small smile, but Ava saw the pain and regret in his eyes. "It's okay." "What?" "Don't feel bad. Yeah, Tony wanted to make it out alive, but he'd rather have everyone that he loves live and sacrifice himself. There was no other way. You saw all of them, and this was the only way we could've won. And you didn't hesitate. You didn't want to do it, but you didn't hesitate."
"Hesitate what, exactly?" Dr. Strange asked.
"Killing us. Peter and I were erased from existence five years ago. . . And Tony died in order to save the fate of the universe. You didn't hesitate because it had to be done. . . But it's something that no one wanted to do."
Dr. Strange was hit by a wave of pain, and Ava seemed to have noticed. She took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before cracking a smile. "So, doc. . . When are you going to teach me how to do all of that? Or should I ask Dumbledore?" She had managed to make the man smile and he looked down at her.
"I guess I wouldn't mind teaching you." Ava smiled up at him, and he gave her his contact information. "I hope I'll see you around, Ava Parker."
"Me too, Dr. Stephen Strange. Me too."
With one final hug, Stephen Strange walked away from the young girl and he bid goodbye to everyone else. Ava continued to look over the lake and she felt someone else approaching her.
"Tony talked about you and your brother. A lot."
Ava turned to her right and she was met with a boy with dirty blond hair. "I'm Harley. I met Tony like ten years ago."
"Potato gun kid?"
Harley let out a chuckle and nodded. "Yeah. He cared about you two, you know." "And he cared about you too, Harley." Harley smiled over at Ava, and couldn't help but ask his question. "Was he in pain?"
Ava was thrown off by his question, but she answered nonetheless. "He was. I know he was. After he snapped, he tried to hide so we wouldn't see him in pain. . . He put on a brave smile like he did every time he was in pain or he felt himself breaking. That's what he did. He never wanted his loved ones to see him breaking. I'm going to miss Tony."
"Me too."