Wow. Here we go. Final chapter. Thank you all for your support!

Flashing lights. Loud bangs. No, not bangs. Shots. There were shots being fired all around him. Wincing, Tony covered his ears. Or, he tried to. When he couldn't move his hands, the billionaire looked down, and what he saw made his heart plummet. Immediately, he knew where he was. The same dim lights, the familiar musty smell, and the one thing Tony knew he would never forget: the giant hunk of metal sticking out of his chest. Somehow, he'd ended up back in the Afghanistan cave.

Fighting the rising panic in his chest, Tony struggled to sit up, but once again found his hands unwilling to move. With a glance down, Tony finally saw that they were strapped to the table he sat on. He couldn't move.

While he was struggling to get his hands free, Tony suddenly heard something coming down the hall. They were shouting in a foreign language, one Tony didn't know. He had a feeling though, that he knew exactly what they were saying. They were coming for him.

"Tony."

That was a voice the billionaire thought he'd never hear again, and for a moment, he wondered how his captors had managed to bring the man back from the dead.

"Tony, look at me."

When Stark refused to look at the man for fear of finding out it was some sort of trick, the man grasped Tony's face and forced the billionaire to turn his head. Tony slammed his eyes shut. He didn't know how much more torment he could take. He'd had enough of friends and loved ones betraying and hurting him.

"Stark, open your eyes."

This time, the voice was more gentle, and against Tony's will, his eyes began to open. The voices from outside were getting closer, but as Tony looked at Yinsen, they seemed to fade away.

"This is a trick. It's some kind of trick," Stark whispered, shutting his eyes again.

"This is no trick, my friend. But even if it were, you'd be in no real danger."

Tony cracked his eyes open, peering at Yinsen warily. The older man continued.

"This whole thing, Tony. It's a dream. More of a nightmare, I'd guess," Yinsen amended with a nod to the arc reactor in Tony's chest. "But a dream nonetheless."

The men outside the door continued to shout, and Tony felt the anxiety building in his chest again.

"Stark. Listen to me. They're not real. None of this is real. Concentrate."

Breathing quickly, Tony concentrated on the voices outside the door. 'Come on,' he thought to himself. 'You know it's a dream. You can control it.'

Even though he knew it was a dream, Stark couldn't quite figure out how to make the members of the ten rings disappear. Or the arc reactor, for that matter. It wasn't until the men outside the door began pounding on it and jiggling the handle that Stark was actually able to concentrate. He wasn't going to let them control him again. He kept thinking that he wanted to be anywhere but the cave he was in, and after a moment, just like that, all the noise disappeared. In fact, he was somewhere completely different, though still familiar: the Avengers Tower common area. Thankfully, Yinsen was still around.

"You're still here?" Tony asked as he observed his surroundings. Everything looked so familiar, yet felt like an entire lifetime ago. He touched his chest, sighing with relief when he found the arc reactor missing.

"Apparently. Should I feel touched that you got rid of everything about Afghanistan except for me?"

The question jerked Tony out of his walk down memory lane, and he stared at Yinsen in slight disbelief. "You saved my life in that cave," the billionaire answered. "You're the reason I am who I am today." Then, a realization hit Tony. "Wait, is this one of those life-altering moments dreams that I get to choose whether I live or die?"

Yinsen quirked an eyebrow in amusement. "Is that what you want it to be?"

"Stop being cryptic and answer the question."

"No. This is not one of those dreams."

A sudden weight felt like it was lifted off Tony's chest, but it was replaced almost immediately by another worry. "But I'm not … I mean, did I …"

"You're not dead, my friend."

"Is everyone else …"

A sudden memory of Peter kneeling in front of him came to Tony. "We won, Mr. Stark. You did it, sir, you did it." Another memory entered his thoughts, this time of Pepper in front of him.

"You can rest now." Pepper's tears, Peter's distressed voice, all of it made Tony anxious to see his family again.

"Let me wake up then," Tony demanded.

"If that is what you wish," Yinsen said. With those words, everything began dissolving around Tony, as if it were sugar in water. "And Tony," Yinsen said as he began to fade away. "I may have saved your life, but you are the reason you are who you are today. Well done, my friend. Well done."

0-0-0

Slowly, very slowly, Tony began to open his eyes. He kept them half-closed, expecting there to be a bright light shining down on him, but thankfully, they were dimmed. While he continued to wake up, he noticed a strange, almost metallic taste in his mouth. Definitely worse than cottonmouth, but not as bad as having a mouth full of blood after taking a shot or two to the jaw.

"Tony?" The voice was quiet, as if she weren't what she was seeing was real.

He was still exhausted, but for that voice, Tony would have moved mountains. Waking the rest of the way up for that voice? Easiest thing he'd ever done. His eyes opened the rest of the way, and he turned his head to look at Pepper. Her hands were covering her mouth, and her eyes were watery.

"Your eyes are red," Tony mumbled, still trying to work around the dry, gross-tasting feeling in his mouth. "Few tears for your long-lost boss?"

Pepper didn't try to hold back the tears, though Tony's comment made her laugh unexpectedly.

"Tears of joy," she shot back lovingly. "I hate job hunting."

Tony held out his left hand, which Pepper took. "Don't need to cry anymore," he assured her. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Except maybe to get a cup of water, because the taste in my mouth is killing me."

"Right. Shuri said that might be a side effect for a while," Pepper thought out loud. "I'll get you some water."

"Wait, who said what now? Side effects of what?" Tony gripped Pepper's hand a little tighter when the redhead tried to get up. "Pep, what's going on?"

In response, Pepper simply looked at Tony's right side. Tony suddenly remembered what happened. An image of Hulk's charred skin flashed in his mind, and suddenly, the billionaire didn't want to look. However, his eyes seemed to have a mind of their own, and they wandered over. Tony braced himself for the worst.

He loosened up however, when he saw his arm, fully intact, clear of any scarring or charred remains. Confused, he looked back to his wife.

"Remember Dr. Cho and her cradle?" the redhead asked, brushing her hand over Tony's forehead. Tony did indeed.

"Okay, that explains the perfect arm. Doesn't explain who the other person you mentioned is, or what side effects I'm currently suffering from?"

"Shuri helped with the procedure. She's T'Challa's sister."

Tony could tell there was something Pepper was avoiding. Gently, he prodded again. "And the side effects?"

Pepper sighed. "During the procedure, there was a complication. The radiation was interfering with the cradle's work. If I understand what Dr. Cho was saying-"

"The radiation could have integrated into the rest of my cells, resulting in my tragic death," Tony finished.

"Exactly. What Shuri did, she found a way to purge the radiation from your body. She and Peter worked almost an entire day to figure out how to save you. When they did, they had Bruce modify it for gamma radiation. They used your element, Tony. The one that saved you from palladium poisoning."

The pieces clicked into place, and Tony looked at his arm again, this time noticing a faint shimmer as he moved it around in the light. There was also a thin bracelet Tony hadn't noticed before. "So. My arm is part vibranium. If I'm correct in my guessing, this little doodad-" he lifted his arm and exposed the bracelet "-deposits vibranium into my system to get rid of the radiation, which explains the metallic taste in my mouth."

Pepper stared at Tony, slightly concerned. "You seem to be … taking this rather well."

Tony took his wife's hand. "Pep. I should have died. The fact that I'm here, talking to you, makes all this worth it. I'd sacrifice the other arm too, if it meant … if it meant staying here with you."

Tears once again filled Pepper's eyes, and she gripped Tony's hand in hers as tight as she could.

"So uh, did the doc say when I could get back to more … physical activities?" Tony asked with a wink. Pepper, while used to Tony's sense of humor, couldn't hold back her surprised laugh at his forwardness. However, before she could answer, the door opened. In walked Peter, with Morgan in his arms.

"Sorry, Ms. Potts-I mean, Pepper, I couldn't find any salads that didn't look completely wilted, so I got an all natural fruit smoothie. I also got me and Morgan-" After shutting the door and turning around, Peter realized what was happening, and his face lit up. "Mr. Stark!"

"Daddy!" Morgan jumped from Peter's arms and climbed onto her father's bed, nestling up next to her father.

"Careful, Morgan," Pepper warned, nervous for Tony's arm.

"She's fine," Tony assured his wife. Still holding tightly onto Pepper's hand, Tony wrapped his right arm gently around his daughter, pulling her close and planting a kiss on her head. "Hey Morguna."

"Hi." Morgan wrapped her arms around her father's torso, getting even closer than before, if that were even possible. After returning her hug, Tony looked back to Peter. When the billionaire looked up, Peter was just slipping his phone back into his pocket.

"What, you're tweeting about me waking up instead of saying hi?" Tony teased. Peter grinned, a truly sincere grin. One of his first since coming back from the snap.

Tony eased his bed into a more upright position and, after making sure Morgan was still comfortable, looked to Peter, who was still standing by the door, holding a bag of food in one of his hands.

"You gettin' in on this, kid?"

Peter looked between Pepper and Tony, both of whom were staring at him expectantly. Slowly, Peter moved forward, and when he reached the side of his mentor's bed, Tony grabbed Peter and pulled the kid in for a hug, accompanied by Pepper and Morgan.

Suddenly there was a loud commotion outside the door. Loud exclamations, crashes, certain expletives …

"They said mommy's word," Morgan pointed out as the hug broke apart.

"My what?"

"Golly gee, wonder what's going on out there?" Tony asked, trying to move on from Morgan's statement. Plus, he was actually curious as to what was going on in the hallway. They didn't have to wait long to see though, because the cause of the trouble burst through the door, trying to look as calm and collected as possible after barrelling down several doctors, from the look of the carnage outside in the hall.

"Tony?"

"Harley?" Tony had a surprised grin on his face. The other teenager, forgoing the 'cool guy' facade he'd had ever since Peter met him, rushed forward. He stopped at the foot of Tony's bed, as if suddenly realizing he'd interrupted a moment.

"I uh … Peter told me you were awake. I was nearby, figured I could stop in and say hi."

Tony and Pepper glanced out the slightly-open door, where doctors could still be seen trying to clean up the mess caused by Harley and his 'nonchalance.' Tony quirked an eyebrow at the kid, but didn't comment on his story. Instead, he gestured for Harley to come closer.

"Good to see you again, Harley," Tony said. When Harley was close enough, Tony pulled the rest of the group back to finish the hug they'd begun, and in that moment, surrounded by the people he loved most, Tony felt peace.

0-0-0

One month later

The fire crackled, sending up a few sparks, and laughter wafted through the air. Peter looked at the crowd around him. Tony was on one side, May on his other, laughing at the fast-paced quips being thrown around. Sitting next to Tony was Pepper, then Harley. Morgan couldn't stay in one spot for long. In fact, she kept coming over to sit on Peter's lap. In doing so, she smeared melted chocolate from her s'more all over the teenager's jeans, but he didn't mind at all.

The rest of the campfire ring was comprised of Hawkeye and his family, Natasha, Shuri and T'Challa, War Machine, Happy, and Banner. The rest of the heroes had declined Tony's offer to come over for s'mores, still reconnecting with people they'd lost during the snap. For Peter though, almost everyone he cared about was sitting around the fire.

"Hey," Tony said, throwing a large marshmallow at Peter's head. The teenager's hand shot up and caught it before it could hit him, and Peter looked at the billionaire with his eyes raised. "Where'd you go?" Stark asked.

"Hm? Nowhere. Just … thinking. About everything that's happened."

"Old memories." Tony nodded in understanding. "Been there kid. Don't get stuck there. It's a bad place to be stuck. Makes you miss things in the now. Like that s'more my daughter's been trying to get you to eat for the past two minutes."

Peter looked down and saw Morgan was indeed trying to hand him a graham cracker sandwich. "Oh. Hey, thanks," he said to the young girl as he accepted the treat with a smile.

"You're welcome," Morgan replied with a little hip twist before going to sit on her dad's lap.

"Hey kid," Natasha called from her place by the fire. Peter looked around, trying to see if she was talking to someone else. He clearly wasn't expecting to be addressed by one of the founding members of the Avengers. "Yeah. Peter, I'm talking to you." Now that it was confirmed, Peter looked at the spy.

"Uh, hi. I mean, yeah? What's up?"

Natasha smirked at how nervous the kid sounded. "When do I get you in the training ring?"

Peter's eyes widened. "Training ring? With you? I, uh, geez … Uh …"

"I wanna see that," Clint added in. "Spider v spider."

"Do I get a say in this?" Peter asked, slightly terrified for his life if he were to actually step in the ring with Natasha.

"Sure. Say, what day this week works best for you?" Natasha asked. Peter let out a nervous chuckle, but thankfully at that moment, Morgan accidentally dropped her entire s'more into the fire. Tony and Pepper were now having to stop her from reaching in herself to get it, which distracted everyone from the subject on hand. Peter cast one last glance to Natasha, who winked at him. Her message was clear. It said, "Can't avoid me forever, kid."

"Tony, just reach in there and get it yourself," Clint challenged.

"Just because my arm is imbued with vibranium doesn't mean I can just reach into fire without being hurt," Tony shot back.

"Actually, there's no proof of that yet," Shuri piped up. "We have no idea if that's true or not."

Tony opened his mouth to respond, then shut it and looked at the fire thoughtfully.

"No," Pepper said, not amused with where the conversation was going.

"The lady said no," Tony said with a shrug, though he didn't look completely convinced. He didn't do anything about it though, and instead, got more ingredients to make his daughter another s'more. "How many is this for you, little miss? Don't you need to go to bed soon?"

"No," the little girl pouted. "I'm not tired."

"Clearly, because you've got more sugar than blood pumping through your body."

"You know what that means, don't you?" Pepper asked, wiggling her fingers menacingly.

"No!" Morgan shrieked gleefully, jumping out of Tony's grasp and running to the other side of the fire as Pepper got up and began chasing her daughter.

"It means you're gonna be super tasty for me to gobble up," Pepper continued as she chased her screeching daughter around the fire pit. Peter watched the pair, fondly remembering when May would do similar things with him when he was little.

It didn't take Pepper long to catch her daughter, and she scooped the little one up her arms, pretending to gobble on her arm. Morgan was laughing and shrieking, and everyone laughed as they watched the interaction. Tony reached over and clapped a hand on Peter's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. As the teenager looked around at the people around the campfire, at friends both old and new, he felt an immense burden lift off his shoulders because he knew that whatever life threw at him, he'd be able to handle it with his friends at his side.

So if you've read my stories before, it's a typical cheesy Deliwiel ending. If you're new, now you have your first taste of my endings XD Hope you enjoyed!

Seriously though, thank you all so much for your support with this story. By far, it's my most popular one, which was a daunting feeling. But you've all been so kind and considerate and I appreciate you all *hugs*

Hope people didn't seem too OOC ... But I'm actually pretty proud of this ending, which is a miracle in and of itself XD

Lemme know what you guys think!