** Spoilers for Endgame! **

Hi! So, yes, another fix-it fic because I can't accept how the movie ended. Denial is strong my friends. Hope you'll like it! Tony didn't deserve to die, so he's not going to. I tried to give a logical explanation even though it has never been introduced in the MCU. I also gave another end for Steve and Bucky because I didn't like how the movie handled them.

English is not my mother-tongue so don't be too harsh! If you see any mistakes, please tell me.

Enjoy ! :)

"Everything is temporary,
Everything will slide,
Love will never die."

There was something really wrong about death. Tony had never been an expert on the matter, but he was pretty sure death wasn't supposed to cause you so much pain. His entire body was on fire and as he tried to move he thought he was going to pass out. Did he make it to hell? It was the only way he could explain the pain. So, he saved the universe, leaving behind him his daughter, Pepper and Peter but he still managed to go to hell. He knew he had quite a life of abuse, but it wasn't really fair. The last moments of his life haunted him as he tried to understand where he was. Peter, crying. Rhodey, always by his side. And Pepper… his sweet, beautiful Pepper, trying so hard not to break in front of him. She told him they were going to be okay. It was time for him to rest. So why wasn't he resting? He deserved it, damn it. He had paid enough for his past mistakes. But the world apparently decided against it as a new wave of excruciating pain coursed through his body, forcing his tired mind to black out completely.

Voices. They woke him up twice, but it's the first time he can understand them. Well, at least, he recognizes some words. Alive. Awake. Healing. What were they talking about? It couldn't be about him. Tony Stark died, he knew it. He felt his soul leave his body, he heard FRIDAY when she told Pepper there was no way he could survive his injuries. It's not like he wasn't prepared for his death. As soon as he found out how to use time travel, something woke up in him: certainty. The Iron Man should never have lived in the first place, he was only living on burrowed time. When Stephen Strange gave up the time stone to save him, he already knew something was off. And it took him only a few months to understand what: he was going to die. He tried to deny it, for five years exactly. But his journey had reached his end as soon as he had worn the gauntlet. So, no, he couldn't be alive.

And yet. The unbearable pain was a constant reminder of how much his mind wouldn't shut up. The noises around him were unmistakably the ones of a hospital: the beeping of machines keeping his heart steady, the worried voices of loved ones, sick patients coughing and talking with raw voices. But how in hell could he have made it? He didn't plan this at all.

Answers came to him only a few weeks later. He was very well alive, because his eyes were currently watching his perfect daughter play with Peter Parker. When he really woke up for the first time a few days ago, at least ten people were by his side to greet him. "Welcome back from the dead", they all said with sad but relieved eyes. Pepper was holding his hand even though he didn't feel anything because of the meds he was on. Morgan was trying so hard not to hug her daddy too much, so she wouldn't break more of his bones. Peter and Rhodey were smiling and Tony was surprised to see Harley standing there, but he loved the kid and he knew Pepper would have never left him alone. Happy was in the back of the room, he was talking with Stephen Strange and Bruce, watched silently by Captain America himself and Sam. Only few people were missing, but they all came to see him at some point.

It was a very grey morning when they all decided to explain to him what had happened. Some of his strength was back and he was able to focus on conversations more and more. It wasn't always easy because the pain took all of his energy, but Tony Stark really needed answers. Pepper was only there to calm him down because the story came from none other than the Sorcerer Supreme.

"You died", he said with a mix of sadness and guilt. "I saw it. I knew it. When I gave up the stone five years ago it wasn't to save you. In more than 14 million realities the only way you could win was for you to die. So, when the time came… you did it. Without a single hesitation. You took the gauntlet from Thanos, you snapped, and you died. But…"

He stopped, looking for help. Tony could see how much it was costing him to tell this story. To acknowledge what he did. Stephen Strange knew he was going to die but he let him die anyway. If Tony wasn't mad at him, he could guess by the look on her eyes how much Pepper was angry. And she wasn't the only one. Rhodey was staring at the Sorcerer with such hatred that if a look could kill he would have been already dead. Tony knew thought that it wasn't Strange's fault. He had forgiven him a long time ago. He hoped they would do the same eventually.

"But Strange couldn't let you go". At everyone's surprise, it was Steve who continued the story. "So, he did everything to fix you. For days. He wouldn't sleep, wouldn't let us in. He studied every miracle, tried to use his powers. Then he discovered… well. You remember the fight we had in 2012 about Fury not telling us everything? You were right. He brought back Phil Coulson. After days of being dead. An alien serum, I think. So Strange threatened him, quite a lot. He went back in time, found the serum and… here you are."

It was a lot to take in, but Tony tried not to look as if he was going to faint. He died, he really did. And it was alien technology that brought him back? Okay. He didn't know how to react. He didn't even know Coulson was alive. What was he doing, now? Why did Fury hide such an important information? Could they use it to bring back other people? How did it work? His mind was already trying to conceive new technologies. He really was alive.

"What about Natasha?"

Because if he could earn his life back, she surely could too. But she wasn't there. She should be. He understood by how much they all looked devastated that she didn't make it back.

"Her death wasn't like yours", Rhodey tried to explain. "She died for the soul stone, and the Red Skull didn't want us to bring her body back, even when Steve went back to give it to him. But it's not over. We haven't used all of our resources to bring her back. We now have our best scientist to work on it."

He smiled, even though he didn't really believe in his own words. But Tony would try, as much as Strange tried to fix him. Death wasn't the only option anymore. Aliens, superpowers… cheating death was only a consequence of everything. What a world. What a universe. And Tony Stark was going to live in it for a while now. He was stunned, but happy.

"Thank you", he said. "All of you. I'll make my life worth it, I swear."

"But you already did it, Tony" said Pepper witch such a soft voice he wanted to never leave her side ever again. "You saved the universe. You saved us all. You don't have to prove anything to anyone anymore. You deserve to rest, being alive doesn't change that."

Maybe she was right. The world had new Avengers, now. Iron Man was the beginning, but he didn't have to be the end, too.

"I'm going to retire too, you know." And even Captain America could surprise him sometimes. "I gave up my shield to Sam. The world can do without me. When we went back in time… I saw Peggy. I think I need to go back there…"

"And what about… Bucky?"

Because, you know, it's not like we lost our friendship because of him, so don't you dare leaving him behind. Tony wasn't mad at them anymore, sort of, but what happened in Siberia would never really heal, and if he went through this only for Steve to leave Bucky, then the Iron Man would be very pissed at him.

"Bucky's coming with me, of course. 2023 doesn't really have anything for him anyway. We'll try to find the Winter Soldier in the past, settle down, live a quiet life for once. We all deserve it, Tony. I'll also try to make Howard say to his son how much he loves him."

"Give him hell, buddy."

But Tony was smiling. It was really warming to hear such a thing from Steve, the one who always loved Howard more than his son. He and Bucky didn't belong to this world, not yet, and if time travel could fix that, then they had to take a chance. No more Captain America, no more Iron Man, but the universe still had the greatest superheroes.

"So, what happens now? Am I going to heal completely?" He really didn't want another Arc Reactor to keep him alive.

"Of course you are, Mr. Stark!" Oh how much did he miss Peter Parker's voice and optimism. "Mr. Strange fixed everything, a couple of weeks at the hospital and you'll be able to get out! We made a new suit for Harley, we'll have to show it to you. And while you were sleeping Morgan made her first robot and…"

"Okay, easy Peter, you're going to exhaust him, why don't you go and see if Morgan needs anything?"

Pepper was trying to look serious and not to laugh, but it was great to see some joy eradiating from the boy. Almost dying shook him up a lot and he just didn't want to lose Tony. He couldn't. He needed his father-figure more than anything else in the world, and here he was, very well alive.

They were all okay. Tony had now to find a way to live without guilt, without regrets. But he actually didn't regret any of it. He would live his life over and over again if it meant being alive and happy with his family. Everything he did, everything he went through, it was to lead him just right here. Not to death, not to loneliness. But to happiness and love. Maybe Iron Man died fighting Thanos, but Tony Stark still had a great life to live. And nothing will ever keep him from doing so.

Maybe I'll add another chapter, I would like to write so many things! I just don't know if it's worth it, please tell me! It's cross-poster on Ao3 btw.