young avengers → infinity war & endgame [p. parker]

THE WAR: FOUR

"The future is worth it. All the pain. All the tears. The future is worth the fight."

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THE WAR

SOMEWHERE IN SPACE

After he lost the slim chance of communication to Earth, Tony tried his best to push away the obvious nerves and anxiety threatening to take over him. The fact that he was in the very place that he had feared to end up on was hard to take in, he was supposed to be getting ready to go to dinner with Pepper. He was supposed to give Valeria the dress he bought for her junior prom and unbeknownst to her, giving Peter some tips on his date-that-he-didn't-realize-was-a-date with Valeria. Tony wanted to say that he'd be back but he knew he'd only be lying to himself. He got lucky six years ago, now he wasn't so sure he would be.

Shifting his focus from all the negativity for his own good, Tony knelt down to catch a glimpse of Strange frozen in place with various needle like weapons pointing at him. He wished he cared enough to hear what the space Squidward was preaching about but all Tony wanted to do was get Strange out of that predicament. Sure, he barely knew him, but the fate of the world depended on it.

Only a few feet away from Stark, Peter and Valeria were trying to whisper as quietly as possible. As much as Peter wanted to make it seem like he wasn't afraid of the lecture or scolding Tony was going to give him the moment he lays eyes on him, his nerves were all Valeria could feel radiate off him as he peeked over the wall to see what their mentor was doing. "Pete, you know I can literally feel how nervous you are even when I don't want to. It's making me more anxious."

"You're the one who pointed out that he's going to kill--" Hearing Tony's iron suit rustle a bit, Valeria placed her hand on top of Peter's mouth, pulling him away from the wall to avoid being caught. Trying to ignore the fact that she could feel Peter's face heat up, remembering the fact that they're both still 16 and probably haven't been out on an actual date so it's normal for little stuff like this to make them feel like little kids, Valeria tried to figure out what to do. Removing her hand from Peter's mouth as she felt Tony's presence become more distant, Valeria pressed the button on Peter's suit that immediately covered his face with his iron mask. "I'm going to appear first, maybe he'll take it easier on me than you. Don't take my word for that though. You'll pop up once I mention you, got it?"

Not waiting for a nod in agreement, Valeria took a deep breath in as she began walking towards the place Tony was crouching in. She didn't have to worry about making any sounds, as she'd been able to soundproof her shoes not too long ago. Valeria was meaning to do the same with Peter's new suit but she wasn't really counting on another space invasion to hit Earth. Feeling something roaming behind her, Val was ready to turn around and give Peter an annoyed look for not listening to her only to be dumbfounded by a floating red cloak following her. "What the fu--"

"Yeah, exactly that." Valeria didn't even need to look to know the facial expression Tony must have at that moment. He wasn't talking about the fact there was an extremely loyal cloak flying around them, he was talking about the fact she was standing where she was, in a donut shape space ship in space. "Tony, I'm sorry--"

"Sorry doesn't cut it. It may have cut it when you showed up in small missions unannounced or when you almost burned down one of the labs, but not this time. You're here, you're in the place that I least wanted you to be in. The place I did everything my power to make sure you'd never have to face. Yet, here you are." Valeria knew she deserved every bit of Tony's lecture, but she noticed that his tone of voice wasn't angry nor was it disappointed. If Tony was afraid before, he was terrified now. Trying to find the right words to respond to Tony's emotional speech, Valeria struggled to do so.

"I'm not saying I thought this through because I really... didn't. But I also couldn't just fly back home, terrified that you, my mentor, was going to be up here alone. I would have been waiting for the exact same feeling I got when Rhodey got into his accident and... now that I can actually do something to help, I just couldn't stay behind." Valeria hated defying Tony, but in this case, she had to. She'd left behind Midtown High on her own will, all to continue training and to become an official Avenger eventually. She wanted to be a hero, to know how to use these powers for good. Tony needed help, he needed saving up here. Valeria knew it, Peter knew it.

"Kid, I know you want to prove yourself but you know how much I hate this place so I would have expected you just listen--"

"Mr. Stark, it's my fault." If Tony was only afraid before, now he truly was angry as he saw his other younger avenger-to-be pop up upside down from the roof. "What the f--"

Stepping in between Tony and Peter, Valeria held her hand out towards Tony's chest while also giving Peter a look for not listening to her once again. Letting himself land on the floor, Peter hesitated to remove his mask as he'd have to fully face Tony and Valeria. He knew he should've listened and followed Val's plan but he couldn't let the girl take all the blame when in reality he practically dragged her back into the ship. They both had to take in Tony's lecture, not just Valeria. "I'm the one who just instinctively shot a web that stopped us from flying back to Earth. I dragged her up here because I thought she was going to freefall down. If you're going to be mad at her then you should be mad at me also." Peter noticed Valeria's eyes on him, finally looking at her once he finished his words. Not that she didn't expect Peter to step in, it's the kind of person she has realized he his towards his friends, it just didn't make her feel so alone.

"Oh, don't worry, I can be mad at the both of you at the same time very easily. This is no walk in the park, this is no junior prom, this is a one way ticket--" Tony wanted to keep going, wanted them to understand why he didn't want them here. But what was done is done and seeing the look on their faces, full of regret and sincerity, Tony couldn't keep scolding them. Truth be told, he felt warm on the inside knowing Peter and Valeria, two kids he took under his wing in a sheer moment of instinct, cared about his well being so much they'd defy him. They did this for him, Tony wasn't used to people risking something for him. He thought this would be a one way trip, but for them, he was going to do everything within his power to bring them home. "You know what, forget it. I just, want you kids to be okay. I had your outfits picked out and everything for your dance. Now come on, we have to save this wizard."

As Tony began to walk off, the red cloak following his footsteps, Val and Peter stayed behind for a split second. Giving him a small nod followed with a weak smile, Peter followed Tony's trail first, with Valeria not so far behind. The moment he no longer was facing her, she let out a quiet sigh. She didn't want him to notice the deep doubts within her about this trip. Her force empathy couldn't let her have high hopes, she sometimes cursed this power.

Deep down, Valeria knew Tony was right. This was a one way trip.

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AUTHORS NOTE: here is the weekly update!!! ahhhh we love pain, we truly do. sigh i love tony and his two oblivious little prodigies. I JUST WANT TO PROTECT THEM. so i try to involve many of their perspectives, not only just val's because i think it's also important to her character in general for you all to see how the people around her think of her. in other ways, make y'all emotionally invested in her and her relationships so IF something goes wrong,,,, more pain!!! :-))))) skjfnjs i love y'all

on that note, thank you so much for all the love this book is getting I truly don't deserve any of it omg almost 20k reads????? i suck at cute words but you guys deserve everything good <3