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He always knew this day would come, he knew it since the moment he put on his first armor, so many years ago, in a cave, with the help of a friend he could not save.
This was the day Tony Stark died.
Half of his body burned to the bone, beyond any healing, so at least he was unable to feel any pain. His mind was numb to the world, like if reality had become a dream that would soon end.
All Tony could do was watch how his best friend Rhodey pleaded him to not go to the one place he could no follow, how Peter cried, saying that they had won, and apologizing for being unable to save him. Tony feels a pang of guilt to have to let them down on this one last time.
Then Pepper, lovely, radiant and beautiful Pepper, the only woman Tony had ever loved, mother of his so precious princess Morgan, appeared before him. He could barely heard what she was saying, but she pressed a kiss on his forehead, whispering for him to rest now, that everything would be okay now.
Pepper was always right, he knew that. They all would be okay, and he was so very tired.
There was no tunnel with a light at the end, there was just silence, and a kind peace.
So, without any word, Tony let himself surrender to the silence…
“YOU WERE A BRAVE AND KIND MAN, TONY,” a dark figure said, standing before him, Tony almost felt he knew this person. A scythe hanging from their shoulder “… AND YOU DESERVE TO REST IN PEACE… BUT SADLY, YOUR STORY IS NOT YET OVER…”
With only the strength to arch a brow, whiteness filled the world.
Tony felt somebody smile somewhere.
And then, silence came.
x-o-0-o-X-o-0-o-x
With a ringing in his ears, Tony opened his eyes. The place was completely silent. The ceiling was perfectly white and pristine. Looking to his sides, there were equally clear and pristine crystal walls with a small tint of blue.
Under normal circumstances, Tony would sarcastically think he died and went to heaven, but Tony was pretty sure he actually died this time, and somehow he woke up in a strange place, a place too quiet and clean for his taste.
He was laying on what appears to be operating bed, and God, Tony hated those. Looking around, he unconsciously put his right hand on his forehead. Surprise filled his head, realizing that his hand was not burnt at all, it looked normal, healthy … too healthy, like he had never used it in his life at all, those small scars he got from working on his bots were gone, all traces of his hard work were completely missing. Thinking about it, he realized that his whole body felt amazing, refreshed, healthy, not a pinch of stress to be notice.
But despite this, Tony started to feel panic in his chest. None of this was possible. He died just minutes ago… right? Had he been saved somehow after his snap? If that was the case, then where was everybody? Or was this the work of somebody else that needed him alive for nefarious reasons? Well, it wouldn’t be the first time. Tony needed answers right now, and damn it, he was going to get them.
But just when he stood on his feet, a booming voice startled him.
“Anthony Stark, what an absolute honor!” turning around, a man in a lavender suit extended his arms, with a big smile on his face. Behind him were other three persons in perfectly clean suits, a middle aged woman with her hair tied in a bun, a stoic black woman with white-golden marks on her face and a bald guy… with a golden cross on his front teeth.
The first guy, the one with the booming voice, a John Hamm look alike, had some weird purple eyes, (kind of like Elizabeth Taylor’s, a small voice unhelpfully added), and a way too big smile. He clapped his hands, almost trembling, with his impossible big smile getting a bit bigger. Tony felt the need to step back a few steps or he would be knocked out from the aura of pure joy this man radiated.
“Do you know what this means, Anthony Stark?” the man asked, and Tony opened his mouth to ask what the fuck was going on, but the guy spoke first. “This is a sign! A sign from Her that She is still watching over us!”
The loud voice of this guy could be heard in the whole… wherever the hell Tony was. He blinked, confused, while the people in suits just watched him, expectantly. Oh, they were probably waiting for him to say something.
“Uh… okay?” Tony’s voice sounded like a small whisper compared to the other guy. Trying not to feel too self-conscious in front of fully clothed strangers while he was only using some kind of white robe, Tony stood firmly, “Yes, okay, so, I have a few questions here that I-”
“Of course Anthony, you must have questions, and we gladly will answer them,” Booming Guy exclaimed, Tony was really getting annoyed that he keep using his complete name.
Clearing his throat, Tony started, “First of all, were in the hell am I? How did I get here? Where is my family? Who are you? And why, why is this place so freaking shiny?! I feel like is burning my eyes!”
The woman with the hair tied stepped up, with a more normal volume of voice, but equally excited.
“You are in Heaven, and we are the Archangels Gabriel, Michael, Uriel and Sandalphon” she answered, pointing to each one at their respective name.
Well, this was new, but not all that surprising for Tony, I mean, he had seen and met actual aliens and wizards, he went to space, and he traveled through time and saw his dead father not long ago, so it was not all that weird that angels were a thing too, right?
“That explains the creepy supernatural atmosphere of this place at least.”
“We are not supernatural, we are ethereal,” the bald guy, Sandalphon? commented in a slow tone.
“Supernatural, ethereal, alien, it’s all the same to me at the moment, and no one has explained to me how I got here yet.”
“Oh, but that’s the good part” exclaimed Gabriel, putting his hands on his shoulders. “You are dead, Anthony!”
Tony’s throat closed painfully.
No… that couldn’t be true.
Without noticing or caring about Tony’s pained expression, Gabriel started to guide him out of the room, to a quiet, long and empty hallway. Tony’s mind went blank, barely hearing what Gabriel was saying.
“Many centuries ago, before the first man and woman were created, many of ours brothers and sisters were lost in The Great Rebellion, many died or fell from Heaven. To balance our numbers against the ones with the demons, She, our mother and creator, decided that, instead of creating new angels, she would give humans the opportunity to become angels. It was a good system actually, many saints and heroes became part of the host, but in the last centuries, fewer humans had the chance to become angels. We believe is because this new life style has made humanity too cynical and faithless for our cause. That’s why you coming here is such big news. You are the first human to become an angel in the last thousand years!”
“Your accomplishments in saving Earth have granted you a place among us, Anthony” the black woman, Uriel, spoke with a soft voice.
Snapping out from his numbness, Tony threw Gabriel’s arm off himself, stepping away from them “But… why me?! Many people fought and died against Thanos’ army, and I don’t see anyone else here.”
“It is not up to us whose souls get to become an angel or go to Paradise. She chose you to be here for a reason only She knows,” Michael explained not very helpfully.
“You keep mentioning this woman. Who is she? And what about my family and friends?” Tony could fell the panic rising at the bottom of his stomach.
“She is God, the one and only, Alpha and Omega, Creator of Everything, the all-knowing Mother, Architect of the Universe,” Uriel spoke, her expression slowly starting to show contempt.
“All your earthly matters stayed behind the moment your human body died,” Michael continued. “To anybody who ever knew you, you are dead. All your attachments are forever broken now that you have ascended to a higher order.”
“Just consider it a promotion. You have now been commissioned with a new body to contain your essence. Soon you'll be given a flaming sword and a post to guard!” Gabriel clapped his hands, joyful. Once again, he tried to put his hand on Tony’s shoulder, but he jumped at the contact, retreating with a horrified expression.
Tony didn’t want to listen anymore. He was dead, and thrown into a strange place with people who clearly did not care what he was going through. How could they talk about somebody’s death like it was a good thing? He started to feel like he couldn't breathe, this place was choking him. All the blinding brightness and chilling silence was driving him mad. He had to get out, he needed to find his family right now!
So he ran, leaving behind the confused angels. He ran through the empty hallways, sometimes seeing other people in fancy suits with hoverboards, who gave him strange looks. But no matter how far he ran, there was not exit to be found.
“Woah, there!” A hand on his shoulder stopped him completely. Gabriel had the stupidest confused expression on his face. “What’s going on? You shouldn’t run away, we were just about to explain your new role in Heaven!”
“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Tony screamed. “I don't fucking care! I never asked for this, to die and leave my family, to be made a goddamn angel! I just… just…!
“Maybe you should calm down for a bit” Gabriel was starting to get worred.
“Calm down? calm down?! Yeah, not fucking happening! What I need is to get out of here, where is the exit?!”
Suddenly, two new angels appeared from nowhere and grabbed his arms. Michael instructed them to take him back to the room Tony woke up. Tony resisted every step, kicking and screaming, asking why was this happening. Tony asked again and again, but the angels just keep looking at him with cold eyes and annoyed expressions.
Long ago, his mother used to tell him how angels were creatures of love, kind and good, watching over them and ready to protect the ones in need. He lost his faith the day his parents died, but now he couldn’t help but wonder, is this how angels really were? Cold, uncaring creatures, that acted like this was just a business transaction?
If this is how an angel was meant to be, then Tony did not want to be an angel at all!
Suddenly, something throbbed in his chest.
The angels quickly let go of him like he was on fire. Tony tried to sit up, but when he looked at his hands, he realized that there were literally flames climbing from his hands to his arms and to the rest of his body.
The fire started to grow all around him, and soon all his body was engulfed in blood red flames. Everything hurt, he was burning once again, but after the snap that consumed his human body, Tony was getting accustomed to the pain.
The angels stepped several feet away from him, horrified.
“What is this?!” asked Uriel in panic.
“Hell fire…” whispered Gabriel. “He… he is Falling!”
Tony would have laughed if the air on his lungs would have not been consumed by the fire. Only Tony Stark could only last five minutes as an angel…
The floor under Tony gave out and he fell.
x-o-0-o-X-o-0-o-x
He felt the fresh wind on his face, with the sounds of leafs moving to its rhythm. He vaguely remembered the blackness of space and the stars, almost like how he fell that other time, in New York, many years ago. But this time, he was surrounded by flames and… feathers?
He slowly opened his eyes, the view of a warm sunset welcomed him. He didn’t know where he was now, but was too exhausted to care at the moment.
He didn’t know long he stayed on the soft ground, until two blurry figures appeared in his vision field, a blond man and a red head with black glasses.
“Oh my, can you hear me?” one of them asked, he had a British accent.
Tony just blinked, too tired to do anything else.
“Oh… Good then. Do not worry, we are here to help you. Everything will be alright”
“I doubt it”, was the last thing Tony could think before passing out.