Epilogue

Thanos put the Power Stone back into the Gauntlet, yelling from the gamma radiation coursing through him, until Tony made one last attack on Thanos, pulling on the Gauntlet before Thanos punched him away.

"I am... inevitable." Thanos uttered. He snapped his fingers, but nothing happened except a metallic 'clink.' He saw the Infinity Stones are missing. Tony had the stones on his own gauntlet, the gamma radiation coursing through him, to Thanos' shock.

"And I... am... Iron Man." Tony snapped his fingers with a loud 'Clang' and a blinding flash of white.

Rocket fired at a Leviathan and before it devoured him, it crumbles into ash. The Black Order starts crumbling to ash. T'Challa and Quill looked around in surprise; Steve looked on in exhaustion, knowing that they have won. Valkyrie stared at Tony in shock. Thanos, in horror, looked around and saw his entire army disintegrate. He looked at Steve, who just stared at him. Thanos sat down and mourned his loss of a victory before slowly erased from existence.

The power of the gauntlet's raw energy has left Tony's entire right side fatally injured. He stumbled for a bit before his body collapsed beside a pile of debris. James soon flew in and went up to Tony to see his long-time colleague and friend fading away. Valkyrie raced over and gasped. James bowed his head, knowing the damage was done. Peter Parker soon swung in and saw Tony collapsed on the ground.

"Mr. Stark?" Peter Parker looked on in horror and ran up to his fallen mentor. Tears start to form in Valkyrie's eyes, "Hey... Mr. Stark? Can you hear me? It's Peter. Hey. We won, Mr. Stark... We won, Mr. Stark. We won. You did it, sir. You did it." Tony is unresponsive. Peter breaks down and hugs him, "I'm sorry... Tony…."

Peter is gently led aside to grieve by Steve. Pepper Potts flew in with her Rescuer suit and sat in front of Tony, "Hey."

Tony was barely able to move his head, but manages to look Pepper in the eyes, "Hey, Pep…." It was barely a whisper and Valkyrie tried and failed to hold back a sob.

Pepper placed her hand on Tony's Arc Reactor and Tony weakly rested his hand on hers. Pepper took a good look at Tony's fatal injuries, "F.R.I.D.A.Y.?" Pepper asked, still hopeful until told otherwise.

"Life functions critical." F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied.

Pepper's hope dissipated. Tony smiled with tears in his eyes, "Tony. Look at me." Peper made sure that Tony got a long look at her smiling face, "We're gonna be okay. You can rest now." With that acknowledgment, Tony's arc reactor flickers off for good. Pepper could no longer contain her grief and starts crying on his shoulder.

Valkyrie held onto James and sobbed into his shoulder. Jame's arms wrapped around her, his arms shaking as they mourned a teammate and a friend.

Tony's Cabin

"You're married!?" Peter Quill yelped in shock as Valkyrie and James sat around a table in Tony's cabin. It was the day before the funeral, and everyone was catching up with the people who snapped five years ago.

Valkyrie smirked and squeezed Jame's hand. She hadn't moved far from Jame's side since Tony's passing, "Got married about a year and a half ago." Valkyrie said, "In Wakanda."

"You got married!" Peter parroted his earlier statement, trying to understand everything that had happened during the five years he was gone.

Valkyrie laughed for the first time since Tony's death. Everything would be okay.

It was the day of the funeral. Tony's immediate family and friends were gathered in the living room watching a hologram that Tony had recorded for them in the event of his death. Apparently he had guessed that he wouldn't make it.

"Everybody wants a happy ending, right? But it doesn't always roll that way. Maybe this time. I'm hoping if you play this back, it's in celebration. I hope families are reunited, I hope we get it back, and something like a normal version of the planet has been restored. If there ever was such a thing. God, what a world. Universe, now. If you told me ten years ago that we weren't alone, let alone, you know, to this extent, I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised. But come on, you know? The epic forces of darkness and light that have come into play. And, for better or worse, that's the reality Morgan's gonna have to find a way to grow up in."

Pepper, Morgan, Happy Hogan, James and Valkyrie all watched Tony's holographic message being projected from his Iron Man helmet. Tony had sat down while recording the message. Pepper was hugging Morgan. Happy Hogan sat next to Morgan. James and Valkyrie stood together behind the couch, holding each other.

Tony continued, "So I thought I'd probably better record a little greeting... In the case of an untimely death on my part. I mean, not that, death at any time isn't untimely. This time travel thing that we're gonna try and pull off tomorrow, it's... it's got me scratching my head about the survivability of it all. That's the thing. Then again, that's the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end." Tony suddenly got up and began to walk towards his camera in the helmet, "What am I even trippin' for? Everything's gonna work out exactly the way it's supposed to." Tony leaned down and smiled. His hologram looked straight at Morgan, "I love you 3,000."

The message ended and the hologram cut out.

The funeral possession was led by Pepper Potts who held a wreath followed by Morgan, Happy, James and Valkyrie.

They walked up to the deck and Pepper laid the wreath on the lake. On top of the wreath was Tony's first arc reactor which Pepper had framed with the words 'Proof That Tony Stark Has a Heart' back in 2008.

All the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy which were Steve Rogers, Peter Parker, May Parker, Thor, Bruce Banner, Doctor Strange, Wong, Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne, Janet Van Dyne, Hank Pym, Peter Quill, Nebula, Rocket, Groot, Drax, Mantis, T'Challa, Okoye, Shuri, Clint Barton & his family, Wanda Maximoff, Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, Harley Keener, Secretary Ross, Maria Hill, Carol Danvers, and Nick Fury, silently watching the wreath float away.

New Asgard, Earth

It was a couple of days after the funeral for Tony. Everyone was splitting up again. The Guardians, Carol, Nebula, and Thor had planned to go back into space. Valkyrie and James traveled to New Asgard to say their goodbyes. Valkyrie already had told Peter that she had planned to stay on Earth with James.

Thor and Valkyrie were standing on a cliff that overlooked New Asgard.

Valkyrie of Asgard asked, "So, when can we expect you back?"

Sensing the tension, the Guardians, except for Peter, left for the Milano.

Thor shifted, "Um... about that..."

"Thor." Valkyrie eyed his awkwardness and her eyes narrowed, "Your people need a king."

Thor looked seriously at Valkyrie, "No, they already have one."

Valkyrie laughed, "That's funny." Then she realized that it wasn't a joke, "You're being serious?"

Thor nodded his head, "It's time for me to be who I am rather than who I'm supposed to be. But you, you're a leader. That's who you are."

Valkyrie tilted her head, "You know I'd make a lot of changes around here."

"I'm counting on it." Thor stated, "Your Majesty." Thor offered Valkyrie a farewell handshake.

"What will you do?" Valkyrie asked.

Thor shrugged, "I'm not sure. For the first time in a thousand years, I... I have no path. I do have a ride, though." Thor turned and walked to the Milano.

Peter turned to Val and James, "Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"

Valkyrie pressed her lips, "Xandar had been destroyed before the snap. I don't think I could stand to even be near the system." She tensed and looked up at Peter, "Plus, my husband lives on Earth." She nudged James, "I could never leave him."

Peter looked a bit put out, apparently, he had still held up hope that Val had changed her mind. He sighed, "Well, Earth has certainly grown their technology. We can talk at any time now." He went in for a hug and Valkyrie hugged him back tightly.

After a couple of minutes, Val let go. Peter moved to James and clasped their hands together, "Take care of her. And if you hurt her, you will have the Guardian's of the Galaxy to deal with." Peter stated seriously.

Valkyrie sighed. She had hoped that James was done with getting the shovel talk, but it seemed that Peter had to get the last word in.

James looked serious, "If I hurt her, I would be the first person in line to beat myself up."

Val rolled her eyes at the banter, "All right. Don't you have a ship to fly, Peter?"

Peter folded his arms across his chest, "Fine, fine." Peter looked at Valkyrie, "Keep in contact, okay?"

"See you around." Valkyrie stated.

Peter turned around and walked to the Malino. At the beginning of the ramp, Peter paused, turned and waved. Val waved back. Peter turned back to face forward and ascended into the Malino.

Valkyrie hugged James as the Malino's engines roared on and rose up to the sky. She watched as it took off and slowly disappeared into Earth's stratosphere.

Valkyrie sighed and leaned her head onto Jame's shoulder, "Let's go home."

A/N: Well, that's the end of the third and final story for Valkyrie! Thank you all to have read, followed, favorited, and reviewed this story!