Can We Keep Her?

In Memoriam

There were a lot of ways people had expected Tony Stark to die. In a cave in Afghanistan at the hands of terrorists paid by someone that he loved like family. An accident while testing out a new suit. Poisoned by the same device that had been built to save his life. In the midst of battle. He had had money on a heart attack. He was sure his heart was eventually going to give up on him.

No one had predicted peacefully in his sleep at the age of 79 with Pepper at his side and a building full of people he considered family after he had spent so long with no family at all. Yet that is how it happened.

Loss had been something that was becoming more and more on all your minds. Your father had passed before the triplets had graduated from high school. His heart had got him in the end, though he had lived a long life by the time it did. It had devastated you all. Especially after you'd gotten so used to him being in the apartment next door.

Most of the other original Avengers were all showing their age too. Natasha and Clint both officially retired from everything when Clint's eyesight began failing. They'd moved to California in a house on the beach. You visited with them anytime you went out to check on your LA store.

Bruce's mind had started to go. It was heartbreaking to see the man whose greatest passion was science like that. Hulk, however, still looked as young as ever and was starting to take over more often. You wondered if one day he would just stay like that for good and there would be no Bruce.

Sam had moved out of the tower when he stopped being able to do the runs with Steve. He and Rachel had bought a place uptown and were raising their own kids there.

Thor was the only one that hadn't shown any signs of aging at all. He looked just as young as he ever did, and while he wasn't always on Earth, when he was he'd started making offers to Steve and Bucky about taking them and the kids to Asgard at some point. Part of you hoped that in the end, they would take him up on it. Though you weren't sure if the kids were ready to come to terms with their mortality or lack thereof yet. Right now, they were nineteen now and still aging as normal.

Tony had outfoxed everyone, including himself. He'd gotten to see Edwin take his place in the Avengers and graduate from college with an electrical engineering degree. He'd seen him start his Ph.D. and meet the girl he was pretty sure he would marry one day. He'd gotten to see Maria get Valedictorian of her class and start College. He'd learned that even though she looked nothing like either of them, Maria had somehow managed to be the best of both he and Pepper.

He had gotten the happy life he'd never expected or dared dream of. He had gone to bed happy and content like he often did these days, and the following day he didn't wake.  No one had expected it.

Pepper had called in the morning to break the news. You had watched Steve take the call stoically not even sure what was happening.

"I'm so sorry, Pepper... We'll be right up... Would you like us to bring anything? Of course... No, I understand... I'll see you soon." He'd disconnected the call and you and Bucky looked at him both equally confused.

"What's going on?" Bucky asked.

"It's Tony. He passed away," Steve said, his jaw set.

"Oh no," you gasped and just slammed into him, wrapping your arms around his waist and burying your face in his chest. You felt the tears come immediately. Sadness for Tony. For Pepper. Their kids. For Steve and yourself. He had been there since the first day you met Steve and Bucky. He was the reason why you had met at all. At every major point in time, Tony had been there and now he wasn't anymore.

Steve just held himself stiff, stroking a hand down your back. "I know. Pepper needs some help. Contacting people and ... organizing things. So I'm going to go up."