[10 PM] [Stark Tower Lounge]
The lounge was quiet. Lights were low and warm, reflecting off glass and polished metal.
Tony sat at the mini bar with a Rubik's Cube in his hands, turning it slowly. He was not rushing it. He had already solved it twice and scrambled it again out of habit more than challenge.
The elevator doors slid open.
Frank Castle stepped out. He stopped for a moment, scanning the room, then walked toward the bar.
Tony did not turn around.
"How are you doing, Frank?" he asked, eyes still on the cube.
Frank took the seat beside him. He rested his forearms on the counter and looked straight ahead.
"I am breathing," Frank said. "Some days that is the best I can offer."
Tony nodded as if that was exactly the answer he expected. He twisted the cube once more, then set it down, perfectly aligned. "That tracks," He said, looking at Frank. "Under normal circumstances, I would've offered you a nice drink, but I don't think it'd be a good idea to drink alcohol since this isn't a normal circumstance."
"What's going on? A new threat? Just point me in the direction," Frank said with a serious expression.
Tony chuckled softly. "Oh no, Frank. There is no serious threat right now. For once, the universe is behaving. So take a breather and let us talk for a moment."
Frank narrowed his eyes. His body stayed relaxed, but his voice did not. "Then what is going on?"
Tony studied him for a second, then leaned back against the counter, folding his arms loosely. "Let me ask you something first. What would you give to spend one full day with your family?"
Frank stiffened.
He let out a slow breath through his nose. "Is this some kind of sick joke?" he asked with a bit of rage. "You know very well they are gone."
Tony did not smile. He simply met Frank's eyes and waited.
The silence stretched.
Frank closed his eyes. His hands curled slightly on the counter as if bracing against something invisible. When he spoke again, his voice was rough but steady.
"Anything," he said.
Tony nodded once. "Then let me ask the second question. What would you give me if I fulfilled that wish?"
Frank's eyes snapped open. He stared at Tony, disbelief flashing across his face before something far more dangerous followed it. "You do not play with that," he said. "Not with me."
"I am not playing," Tony replied calmly.
Frank swallowed as his heart began to beat faster. He was shaking from the inside. 'Why is he saying that? Is it really possible to bring the dead back to life? As long as I've known this man, he never joked about things like these. If there's a possibility that he can bring them back even for a day... then...'
His voice dropped. "Can you?"
Tony looked at Frank and said firmly, "Yes, Frank. I can bring them back to life. Not for just one day. Not as ghosts or clones or anything temporary. I mean fully alive, healthy, and real. They will grow old, laugh, and live like normal humans."
The room felt smaller.
Frank's breath hitched once. He shook his head slowly, like his body was rejecting the idea before his mind could catch up. "No," he said. "That is not possible."
Tony tapped the bar once with his knuckle. "It is possible and you know I would never joke about such things."
Frank looked at him, eyes getting a little teary now. "You are talking about rewriting death."
Tony nodded. "I am."
Frank's voice dropped to a whisper. "There is always a price."
"Yes," Tony said. "There is."
Frank turned fully toward him. "Name it."
Tony's expression softened, just a little. "As you've probably heard about the Avengers initiative... I need someone to lead the new era of heroes who will work on the ground-level threats. Right now, there are too many superhumans and mutants and not enough people with experience to lead them. Even though the crime rates have gone down significantly, I've got reports of internal conflicts among the new generation. So, it's time for the next stage. The Ultimates will deal with cosmic-level threats, X-Force, led by Magneto, will deal with Omega-level threats, and the Avengers, led by you, will deal with Alpha and ground-level threats."
He paused for a moment.
"I want you to make sure that no one ever goes through what you've gone through. You wanted to clean up the streets and take your revenge. I gave you your revenge, and now I'll give you your family. In return, I want you to clean up the world. So, what do you say, Frank? Are you ready for the next stage?" Tony asked.
Frank did not answer right away. His eyes stayed locked on Tony's face, searching for the trick, the lie, the cruel pivot where hope turned into humiliation. He found none. Just certainty.
"Yes," Frank said at last. "I'll do it. I'll lead them. I'll make sure no one loses what I lost."
Tony nodded once, like a deal had just been signed without paper. "Good. One more thing we need to settle before we do this."
Frank's shoulders stiffened again. "Say it."
"When your family comes back," Tony said carefully, "they do not need to remember how they died. That kind of memory does not make people stronger. It just poisons the rest of their lives."
Frank clenched his fists.
"I can remove all records of the incident. Police files, hospital footage, media, everything. In their minds, it will be a bad accident. They went into comas."
Tony held his gaze. "They will have a blank space where the trauma should be when they wake up."
"I do not want them carrying that," Frank said. His voice cracked despite his effort. "Please do that. Remove their memories... erase that part of our life."
Tony gave a small nod. "Then we agree."
He stood and stretched his arms like a man about to start a long day of work. "Let's go to the medical wing."
Frank blinked. "Right now?"
Tony looked at him. "Frank, if I had your self-control, I would already be running."
Frank did not argue again.
...
[Medical wing] [Private room]
In the room, three empty beds stood ready, sheets perfectly tucked, machines idle and waiting.
Frank stopped just inside the doorway.
For a moment, doubt clawed back in. What if this failed? What if it worked wrong? What if...? He decided to crush all those bad thoughts.
Tony stepped forward. "You can never speak of what you see here today to anyone."
He clenched his right fist.
Nanites flowed from his skin in a controlled cascade, forming the Infinity Gauntlet piece by piece. Metal locked into place. The Reality Gem manifested last, settling into its socket with a deep red glow that made the air feel heavier.
Frank could feel the intense power radiating from that tiny Gem.
Tony raised his hand.
A wave of red energy swept outward.
Reality bent and simply rewrote itself according to Tony's will. It was as if the giant mirror shattered, revealing the real world around them.
The beds were no longer empty.
Maria lay on the first one, blond hair spread across the pillow, her face peaceful. The faint rise and fall of her chest was steady and real. She looked so peaceful and was asleep.
On the second bed was Lisa. She looked too still at first glance. Frank's breath caught until he saw her fingers twitch slightly, like she was dreaming.
The third bed held Franky. His son. One arm was curled over his chest, the other limp at his side. He was breathing.
They were wearing hospital robes.
They were breathing.
Frank's knees nearly gave out.
His mind refused to accept it at first. This had to be a trick. A hallucination. A punishment disguised as mercy. He stepped forward anyway, slowly, like the world might shatter if he moved too fast.
Maria's bed was right before his reach. He walked over to her.
His hand hovered inches above her arm. He was terrified to touch her. Terrified that she would vanish. Terrified that she would be cold.
He touched her.
She was warm and real.
His chest collapsed inward as years of rage, grief, and hollow survival slammed into each other. His breath broke. His vision blurred.
They are alive.
He had lived every day convinced that the universe had taken everything from him and dared him to keep breathing anyway. He had built himself into a weapon because there was nothing left worth protecting.
And now they were here.
He moved to Lisa's bed and brushed her hair back gently, the way he used to when she slept after nightmares. His hands were shaking badly now.
'I failed you once,' he thought. 'I will not fail you again.'
At Franky's bedside, he could not hold it together anymore. He dropped to one knee, one hand gripping the edge of the bed, the other pressing against his forehead.
They were supposed to stay dead. That was the rule. The rule that had shaped every violent choice he had made since.
Tony broke the rule.
Frank hated rules anyway.
Behind him, Tony lowered his hand. The Reality Gem dimmed, settling into silence. He retracted the nanites and put the Gem into an isolated space. Then, he walked over to Frank and grabbed his shoulder, pressing it softly.
"They will wake up soon," Tony said quietly. "Doctors will say the comas were long. Recovery will take time and they will need physical therapy. Stay with them, Frank. Work can wait a bit longer."
"Thank you, Tony," Frank said as tears wouldn't stop falling. "Thank you for everything."
--
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