"Tears shed for another person are not a sign of weakness. They are a sign of a pure heart."

- José N. Harris, "MI VIDA: A Story of Faith, Hope and Love"

  Harper trickily managed to get up and looked around. How long had she been unconscious ? She rubbed her forehead and during the only second she closed her eyes, someone hugged her. She immediately knew it was Peter. Tears rolled down the boy's cheeks and he didn't even care. He was too scared he'd lost Harper forever.

  "Are you alright ?" he asked with frightened eyes, his voice sore from the crying.

  "I... My ribs hurt but that's fine. How are you ?" she said while she gently rubbed his cheek with her finger.

  Peter quickly nodded as Strange walked toward them. He was all serious and preoccupied.

  "What's going on ?" Harper asked, concerned by the warlock's expression. "Where...Where's my dad ?"

  Tony's absence was as loud as thunder : she remembered him being there before she passed out, thought. Where was he now ?

  "On Earth."

  "On Earth ? What the..."

  "We've been gone for five years. They need our help."

  Everything came back to her in a single shot : Thanos, the fight, that moment when they almost took off the gauntlet...

  "Are you saying he won ? Thanos ?"

  "Yes."

  Harper felt her head spinning. Thanos winning meant people disappearing. And based on the warlock's word, that included her.

  "Then how are we...well, alive ?"

  "We'll have time for that later. We need to go help them : the fight against Thanos is far from over."

  Moments later, Strange opened a portal under the amazed gaze of the two teenagers. They weren't alone on Titan : Starlord, Mantis and Drax had also come back to life, and they were all ready to fight with them. They went through the portal and found themselves right back at the Avengers compound. With a single look over her shoulder, Harper noticed how shattered the place was. She looked around and saw all the portals Strange, Wong and other sorcerers had opened. It was marvellous, enchanting and breathtaking. Everyone who had been dusted in Wakanda was back. Far away in front of her, Harper saw Steve Rogers, standing by himself, with his broken shield, and yet ready to take on Thanos. His eyes got brighter when he finally understood what was going on. When Steve held out his arm, Harper was still looking for her father. She couldn't believe her own eyes when Mjolnir landed in the soldier's arms. Harper squeezed Peter's hand one last time and gave him a determinate look before he put on his mask.

  "Avengers !" Steve shouted. "Assemble."

  Everyone started running toward Thanos' army. Kicks were given, the dead fell to the ground, the wounded cried in pain. Harper only had one thing on her mind : finding Tony. She was running faster than ever, throwing fire balls at anyone who dared getting in her way. Her eyes shone with a ferocious look. Peter threw himself in front of her when a long dagger flew in her direction.

  "No !"

  Moments after getting him back, she thought she'd lost him : thankfully, he'd made the dagger go out of their way with an extremely accurate web spurt. The alien who'd thrown it, feeling humiliated and angry, ran to them.

  "Harper, get away from..."

  "Hum, I don't think so."

  She pushed Peter out of the way and lifted both her arms above her head. In that exact moment, one could see all the energy that flood her veins, burning under her skin. Her eyes themselves flared up as two huge flames raised from her hands. She set fire to the alien and a lot of those who called themselves 'Thanos' children' got caught in the flames. She fought this way for several, long minutes before her eyes got back to normal and a new presence triggered her mind.

  "Dad !"

  She ran to him as he'd just hugged Peter. With tears in his eyes, Tony looked his daughter up and down, as though he didn't believe she was finally back. He held her against him as tightly as he could.

  "I missed you so much," he whispered in her ear.

  "I know, Dad. I'm here now, and I'm okay."

  Those few words were enough to fill Tony with an immense joy. It barely took Pepper Potts five seconds to run to her family. She joined the hug and when Harper tilted her head up, she told Peter to join in. Harper cried and for the first time, there were tears of happiness on her cheeks, reddened by the fight and adrenaline.

  "We have so much to tell you," Pepper said with a smile.

  "And I can't wait to hear that. But first...let's show this asshole what the Stark family can do."

  Tony let out a happy laugh, happy he'd got his daughter back, happy he could see that determination of hers again. Then, the Starks, as well as every other soldier, went for the army that destroyed their home. And this time, they were going to beat them. One thing leading to another, one kick leading to a flame or web spur, they eventually had to split up. Harper and Peter sticked together, though : as it turned out, they were a lot more efficient that way. Peter stopped counting how many times he just carried Harper from one place to another thanks to his webs and Harper had got him out of too many bad-looking situations to count them. A weird noise caught her attention : it was the sound of Mjolnir flying past her ear. She turned around and met Steve, a big smile spread across his face.

  "Harper ! You're..."

  "Though you got rid of me, didn't you ?" she joked. "Too bad for you, I'm back and I'm even stronger than before !"

  Steve saw what she meant when she smashed –literally– one of their enemies. He stared at her wide-eyed.

  "What ? Am I too strong for you, grandpa ?"

  He shook his head before putting his attention in the fight : at least Harper hadn't lost her totally made-in-Stark humour. The fight went on for a long time before the famous metal gauntlet landed right beside them. Peter picked it up instantly and after a quick nod (which was only there to reassure Harper), he ran away, squeezing the gauntlet against his chest. He could feel the power of the Infinity Stones against him and he fought back as hard as he could to prevent the enemy from getting to it. Fortunately, he could count on the mysterious entity that had just blown up Thanos' ship, depriving him of a major weapon. Peter was lying on the ground when this glowing woman with short blond hair found him.

  "Hi, I'm...Peter Parer," he mumbled.

  "Hey, Peter Parker, you got something for me ?"

  Harper, on the other hand, wasn't giving in. She was determined to fight until her last breath and she didn't have any other goal but to win this thing. Her shoulder was bleeding profusely ; the adrenaline running through her body kept her thoughts away from the pain. She was going fast and forward, until she found herself face to face with none other than Thanos himself.

  "Look who we have here."

  Harper didn't say anything and looked at him carefully. She noticed that he'd got his hand on the Infinity gauntlet and a chill ran down her spine. She tried to hide her fear as she threw herself at him. She heard him scream when she burnt the skin on his skull. If it was a moment of weakness, it was short : with help from the Power stone, he punched her and threw her on the ground, a few meters away.

  "Don't you. touch my daughter...ever again."

  Harper recognised the characteristic sound of her father's armour before she even saw it. She watched as Tony started fighting the giant : no way she was going to let him do this alone. Even though he protested against it, Harper helped him and tried to weaken Thanos once again. Nothing could do the trick : he was too powerful. She got smashed against the ground once more and watched Thanos raising his hand in the air as she felt her heart filling with both hopelessness and anger.

  "I am...inevitable."

  He snapped his fingers. Harper readied herself for the worst. She closed her eyes and for a second, she was convinced she would turn to dust again. Nothing happened, however and that's when she laid eyes on her own father that she understood. The Stones, like slow, poisonous snakes, made their way along his arm and to his hand. His armour was melting under their power and Tony, on his knees, stared at Thanos straight in the eyes. The Stones were now on his hand, breaking it with their tremendous power.

  "And I...am..."

  Harper thought she hallucinated and yet, he looked at her very briefly. He gave his beloved daughter one last look. One day, she'd understand, he said to himself. One day, she'd forgive him.

  "Iron Man."

  He snapped his fingers. This time, Earth itself seemed to tremble beneath the strhengt of the greatest power in the universe. Astonished but relieved, Harper watched as Thanos's children died, one by one : they all turned to dust, exactly like she did five years earlier. Then, Thanos himself disappeared. Harper hurried back to her father. The Stones had hurt him badly and his gaze was already fleeting. Rhodey stepped back.

  "Dad ?"

  He was sitting on the ground, leaning against a pile of stones and his breathing seemed to be the hardest labor in the world.

  "Dad, please, look at me."

  Uncontrollable tears rolled on Harper's cheek and down to her neck : she couldn't lose him. Not now. Not now that he'd only got her back.

 " Dad, please, stay with me," she begged him. "I love you..."

  Slowly, she felt her heart breaking as her father's was beating slower and slower. She squeezed his arm, kissed his cheek.

  "More than anything," he whispered.

  Peter arrived and kneeled next to Harper. He was crying, too.

  "Mr Stark ? Hey, Mr Stark ? Do you hear me ? It's Peter... We won, Mr Stark. We won, Mr Stark. We won, you did it, sir, you did it. I'm sorry, Tony..."

  It was Pepper's turn to find out how the man she loved, the only man she'd ever loved that much, sacrificed himself. She made her way through the Avengers who'd already gathered around Tony Stark. She helped Peter get up before kneeling next to her husband and daughter.

  "Hey."

  "Hey, Pep..." It was barely a whisper, but she heard it and placed her hand on Tony's chest. He immediately put his hand above hers.

  "Friday ?"

  "Life function critical."

  Tony smiled to his wife.

  "Tony," she said. "Look at me. We're gonna be okay." It was her turn to smile, now, fighting back tears. "You can rest now."

  The iron man with a golden heart gave his family one last smile before his eyes faded forever. Once his lifeless hand fell of Pepper's, Harper realised what had just happened. She got up slowly as tears rolled down her cheeks and violent sobs shook her shoulders. Peter, even though he was just as crushed, squeezed her hand. She snuggled against him and hid her face in his neck : she couldn't keep her eyes on what was happening. Every happy memory she had played under he closed lids. Her adoption. Her very first cheeseburger. The first time she'd called him dad and above all, every time he told her how much he loved her. She couldn't control herself anymore. She had to go away from everyone.

  "Harper, don't..."

  "Please," she whispered. "Let...let me go."

  Peter couldn't even speak anymore. It was way too hard. He watched Harper running far away from him, completely helpless as Pepper cried over Tony's body. In the distance, they heard the orphan's harrowing scream, a scream that came from deep inside her. They heard the detonation when her anger and her sadness exploded, setting fire to everything that was around her.

  There, where Tony had just died, Clint Barton kneeled. When King T'Challa did the same, every single Avenger and soldier followed the lead. Soon enough, everyone was kneeling for the fallen hero. A few minutes later, Steve Rogers stood up and took a step forward. He laid his hand on Pepper's shoulder and after she stepped aside, he softly placed his arms under Tony's body to lift him up. As he walked toward the compound (or what was left of it), he didn't stop his tears from falling. 

  As to Thor, he was the one who walked in Harper's direction. He found her huddled up in the middle of the ruins spread across the battlefield. Around her, smoke still rose from some places. Parts of her clothes were burned whereas Harper's skin was intact.

  "Hey, little flame."

  When she head the voice of the God of thunder, Harper's lids opened and she looked at him with her broken eyes, as though a part of her had left with Tony. Thor ran a hand through his hair and lifted her up. He carried her like a child and Harper, who was far too tired, sad, and heartbroken, let this big man's step rock her to sleep.

***

Well, that was...emotional. Did I cry while watching those scenes all over again just for the sake of ''''accuracy'''' ? Definitely. I hope you like it ! 
- Céline