𝚂𝚞𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝: 𝙸'𝚖 𝙾𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝙷𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗

𝚂𝚞𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝: 𝙰 𝚂𝚘𝚞𝚕 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝙰 𝚂𝚘𝚞𝚕

Good morning people! Credit for this one shot idea goes to nosweetdreams who (thank you again) gave me here consent to write this chapter so here it goes..

"Mr. Stark? Who's that guy?" Peter asks, tapping his mentor's shoulder, who looks around to the east side of the mountain. Tony spins around, ready to fight or kill anyone or anything that could hurt his kid. "What do you want, red?" He snarls, approaching the red-faced and black-clothed man.

"Welcome," the red man says, his voice deep and wavering. "Anthony, son of Maria. Peter, son of Mary." Tony sees Peter wince in the corner of his eye, so the older man puts his arm around the boy slowly, as the red-face continues to talk.

"Consider me a guide, to you, and to all who seek the Soul Stone."

"Well, where is it?" Peter pipes up, taking Mr. Stark's arm off of him and approaching their so called guide.

"Pete-"
"I got it, Mr. Stark."

Tony sighs, taking a couple steps closer, to make sure red-face guide doesn't make a move. "Oh, child. If only it were that easy," red-face says, slyness pricking at his tone.

Peter and Tony follow their guide across the mountain rocks, the wind howling behind them. The 15 year old is a little on edge. He doesn't know what Vormir holds for the two of them, and some warped part of him doesn't want to.

As they get close to a cliff, Peter's Spidey-sense starts going crazy. He awkwardly wraps his arms around his stomach, suddenly getting nauseous at his fear of heights.

He's always had a fear of heights since his parents died on that plane.

"Kid? You alright?" Mr. Stark asks him. He subtly nods. "You sure?" He nods again.

"What you seek lies in front of you. As does what you fear," the guide says, and pauses, to look at Peter right in the eyes, as if he knows something the teenager doesn't. "It's down there? Well, easy-" Tony starts to explain, but only to be cut off. "For one of you."

Red-face continues. "In order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange. A soul, for a soul."

Tony and Peter glance at each other. The tension grows between them. Something that has been happening for a while. It's their feelings. They don't talk about their feelings with anyone, not even each other, even though that's the whole problem. The father-son duo have felt like this for a while. Ever since they connected before going to Germany.

****************

"When you can do the things that I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you."

****************

Tony stands up from where him and Peter sat on the rocky ground, and he starts to move forward, toward the edge. The teenager behind him stands up and runs to the mentor, leaving Tony in surprise by hugging him (tight) from the behind. Peter accidentally lets a gasp escape his mouth, and left gaping at the edge, spidey-sense screaming, while Tony spins around to see what was wrong.

Stark kneels down, in front of his kid. "It'll be okay. Just let me go. You remember how to activate your suit, right? Just put the pim particle in on the ship, and travel back. Same as last time. Doctor Banner will be there waiting for you, Okay?" Peter shakes his head, tears forming in his innocent eyes.

"No! You can't do that! Back home, you have a wife and daughter, while I'm an orphan, with only one living family member left! Let me do it. Aunt May is better off with only one mouth to feed." Tony gasps at the sudden conflict from the Parker. He knows the kid is right, though, but he would rather lose it all than to watch his son die.

Mr. Stark stands up, feet firm on the ground. He pulls the kid into a hug, and whispers, "I love you, Pete. And I always have. I've always thought of you as a son. I like it so much when you work in the lab with me, rant about your whole day, talk about the latest LEGO set you and Ned are building, the relationship status with MJ.. everything, kid. I love everything." Peter nods, starting to cry now. Tony wipes his cheeks.

"I love you, too, Mr. Stark. You're like my Dad, all the time, too. Ever since Ben died and you came a long, it's like both of my parents never left. You're the best mixture of Dad mode, and protective mode, and whatever other mode in the entire Dad world!" Peter exclaims, voice wavering.

Tony nods, smiling. Peter backs up, as Tony backs up too, time travel suit and all, closer and closer to the edge. Peter feels tears prick at his eyes. "I love you, Dad!" He screams, like Mr. Stark couldn't hear it if he even whispered it. He knew that Tony would hear everything and anything he had to say, no matter what time or place.

"I'm sorry," his mentor mouthed, stepping one foot back, then the other..

Falling, falling..

all,

the way,

down.

****************

Peter still hears his voice ringing in his head as he stares into the soul stone with cold eyes.

"Other wire, Pete."

"Underoos!"

"Language, kid."

"I love you, Peter."

It glows a bright orange in his hands. The Tony Stark, actually has enough of a heart, to sacrifice himself for his kid. His kid. And this kid, Peter Parker, has almost lost his whole world in the doing so.

He sticks his pim particle in with watery eyes, and teleports back home, to be greeted by the team in worried eyes.

Everyone but the co-leader.

Iron Man. Tony Stark.

Genius, billionaire, philanthropist.