#12.16 Endgame

[theherothechampiontheinquisitor]

I hate to be That GuyTM, but I just wanted to see if there’s any status update on 12.16 since it’s been about a year. Figured you were probably busy judging by prior comments but wasn’t sure if you had any date in mind for the next chapter.

Sorry I'm on Tumblr very sporadically these days and just saw this in my asks. Honestly, I have been writers blocked for awhile now. I have a partial chapter three written but everything I want to do is just not going.

A lot of it honestly I think is because I just got burnt out. I was putting out 5-10k chapters mostly every week for like a year and then the sequels and other stories.

It's still something I'm determined to finish even if not in the original capacity that I preferred. The last story was gonna be another sprawling epic but I think I need to scale it back and just end it appropriately with an opening to do everything else I wanted in the future because I hate leaving people hanging.

I'm sorry it has been so long

[12-16-91-stark]

NEW FIC: 12.16 Endgame

Oh hey everyone...Let the end begin. :)  If Pepper had known that this was the last day that Tony would spend in their home that they built together, she would have made it more memorable. As it was, the day began like any other since the decimation, until Steve Rogers and the Avengers darkened their door.

OR

The last major story in the 12.16.1991 series. We're in the Endgame now.

READ CHAPTER 1 ON AO3 NOW

[12-16-91-stark]

TODAY IS MY 32ND BIRTHDAY!!!

As it's my birthday I want to give YOU all a gift. Sadly, I dont have any chapters complete at the moment BUT I can give snippets!!!

Would you like a glimpse of the next Meet the Parents Chapter?

A glimpse of the upcoming fic 12.16 to Endgame???

Or we can play roulette and I can give you snippets from any of my 30 word docs I have half finished lol 🙌

Let me know what you want and I will share!!!

[12-16-91-stark]

Brief Update

Hey guys, sorry it has been a little bit, but I needed to update ya on a few things. 

I am still writing the next chapter of Meet the Parents and I have some 12.16 to Endgame completed as well, plus im working on a few in between requests too. 

Having said all that, unfortunately my 9 year old just tested positive for Covid after being exposed by her irresponsible unvaxxed grandparents, and in addition to that I start a new job on Monday. 

My updates have already been way slower than I would like, so I’m going to do my best to keep to a better schedule, but these are those extenuating factors of life. I think I’ll slide you guys an Endgame sneak peak in the coming days and hopefully I can keep this stuff coming. 

Keep my family in your thoughts. So far she is the only one showing symptoms and I have been vaxxed thankfully, so hopefully everything remains mild. Thank you as always for the love and patience. 

[12-16-91-stark]

Sneak Peeks

Meet the Parents: Chapter 4

Tony turned his attention towards what he had come outside for, his eyes immediately seeking Pepper out where she was pacing back and forth across the gravel driveway, blue tooth in place as she had a very animated conversation, arms gesticulating and her brow furrowed, Tony couldn’t help but to smile lovingly, watching her. He truly did not know how he had ever gotten along without her by his side, personally or professionally. 

“She works too hard,” a quiet voice spoke from behind him. 

He was startled to see Mike sitting in a weathered looking rocking chair just out of his peripheral vision. He held a beer in his hand, the condensation rolling down the bottle, his own eyes transfixed on Pepper, just as Tony’s had been a moment ago. As always it was hard to discern the man’s feelings, his features as impassable as they had been from day one, what felt like a lifetime ago even though it was just yesterday. 

“She does. She enjoys the challenge though.”

It wasn’t a lie. She had told him as much once.

Tony tried his best not to flinch when he heard the creak of the rocking chair as Mike stood up and approached him with heavy footfalls, falling in, shoulder to shoulder with him. He still had the beer in hand and took a drink from it as Tony waited for him to speak again. 

“Do you know how many birthdays, holidays, or vacations I have had to watch this same scene play out over and over, until she just stopped coming home at all?”

--------------------------------------------

12.16 To Endgame teaser

“This isn’t goodbye,” he gingerly spoke, lifting his head to look at her.

Even so she couldn’t hold back the sting of tears, the knot returning to her throat as the panic returned. She tried to nod her head and agree with him but the finality of their situation had already settled like a weight in her chest. “I know,” she finally managed to choke out, the words a complete lie that she knew he immediately saw through.

As predicted, Tony’s face shifted into a frown as he sat up and pulled away from her briefly so that he could reposition himself beside her on the pillows instead of on top of her. She went willingly into his embrace, his arm settling around her shoulder and his other reaching to cover her hand where it lay flat on his chest over the arc reactor scar, gently giving her a reassuring squeeze. 

From this position, her ear was placed perfectly over Tony’s heart, and she focused on the comforting, steady beat, reiterating to her rebelling brain that Tony was safe and alive in her arms. It didn’t stop her tears though, if anything, the closeness almost made it worse, as the tears finally rolled down her face for what felt like the millionth time that night, a quiet sob escaping from her chest, and Tony held her tighter against him. 

“I’ve got you, Pep,” he reassured, taking on a different meaning from before, and she thought his voice didn’t sound all that steady anymore either, but she was unable to bring herself to look up from where she was burrowed into him as she finally let go.

[12-16-91-stark]

I know you don't have the time, but there are some docs that caught my attention: Lost to Me; Home for the Holidays and Me Before You.

You're fine, no worries!!!

Lost to Me is again part of 12.16 to Endgame, it's just the first part I had written for it and for some reason when I continued with a different scene i made it in a dif word doc? lol But here is another taste...

Howard entered the room slowly. The air was chilled and he had to suppress a shiver as he gently closed the door behind him, making sure that the privacy shade on the window was pulled down. The light was dim and he kept his sights on the pristine white tiles of the floor, unable to bring his eyes up to look at the slab in the center of the room. His heart pounded away like a freight train in his chest and he felt the the first droplets of sweat forming at his temple and around his collar despite the cool temperature.

He could do this. He owed it to his son. Right foot forward, then left, and repeat.

---

Home for the Holidays is an IronFamily Thanksgiving in a post-Endgame, Tony lives world <3

Peter spent Thanksgiving morning simultaneously with his face pushed to the glass looking out over the front of the apartment and running to the kitchen to help Aunt May with the food preparations. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade was on the tv in the living room, the announcer’s fawning over the new balloons and artists as they performed. Years and years ago Peter remembered when Aunt May and Uncle Ben had taken him to watch the parade and ended up scarring him when the Barney balloon impaled itself on a lamp post and came crashing down. He hadn’t gone to see the parade in person since then. Even if they did have a superhero section featuring Spiderman this year.

It was the first major holiday his mentor, kinda Dad (though he would NEVER admit that anywhere but the comfort of his own brain), would finally be able to attend since he had finally been released, after months in the hospital.

Life had been very touch and go, for Tony Stark after the battle against Thanos. When he should have been taking his final breaths, Dr. Strange had stepped in and helped save him. Peter didn’t know the exact details of what had occurred. One minute they had been on the battlefield and the next they were in South Korea with Helen Cho. Afterwards he hadn’t really cared what happened as long as it meant that his mentor had survived.

Tony lost an arm, the one that had snapped, and he probably wouldn’t ever hear properly again out of his right ear either. The severity of the scarring had been lessened but the damage to the skin ran deep due to the magical properties of the gauntlet, so part of Tony’s face would always be marred by the lightning shaped scars. (Thor had been quick to reassure how warrior like this made Tony.)

There had been a lot of tears in that waiting room but Peter mostly remembered Pepper’s calm determination in light of the uphill battle she and Tony would journey together. Limbs could be replaced with prosthetics and Stark Industries already held a medical patent on high tech hearing aids from where Tony had created them years earlier for Clint. The psychological healing and the rigorous physical therapy regimen would take longer, but it was a small price for Tony’s life.

---

Me Before You is a brief little scene based off the book/movie, just putting Pepperony in the shoes of the main characters. Tony was injured in an accident, paralyzing him from the neck down and wants to end his life. Pepper is the caretaker who accidentally falls in love with him and is determined to change his mind.

"There's got to be something that can be done, Tony. I can't just let you do this."

"It's not your choice to decide Pepper. I decided this a long time ago. I'm not getting any better and I won't get better. This is my life now. I'm an engineer who can't build. I can't walk, I can't go to the bathroom or get out of bed. I will never be able to make love to you the way you deserve. This is not a life that I want."

"So, that's it then? You're just going to give up like that? No one else gets a say?"

"It's my life, Pep."

"You are so incredibly selfish, you know that? How dare you bring me on here...make me fall in love with you and then only now tell me you want to kill yourself?"

"It's euthanasia, not suicide."

"It's suicide, Tony. Paint it up with all your medical terms and fly off to Switzerland but at the end of the day you're still choosing to die."

"It's not that simple…"

"Does Rhodey know? Or your mom? Do any of them know what you have planned?"

Tony swallowed harshly and turned his head away from Pepper, hair falling in front of his eyes, hiding the stinging tears that had appeared during their argument.

"They don't do they? When were you going to tell them? After you were dead? Send them a note through Jarvis?"

"Pep…"

"No, don't Pep me. You can't…" she began to falter, the hysterical edge in her voice turning to tears. "You can't do this to the people who love you, Tony. You can't. Please, don't do this."

Tony watched the sobs begin to wreck through her body wordlessly. He would give anything to be able to wrap his arms around her and hold her close to him. But he couldn't. He was a prisoner in his own body, couldn't she understand that?

How he wished he had met her before all of this, but he hadn't. He would never live a normal life again. Maybe she would stay with him now, and maybe she did love him now too, but eventually his condition would drive her away. She would tire of taking care of him, grow tired of not being able to do what normal couples do and then what? He couldn't bear to one day look into her eyes and see that resentment there. Better to cut it off now, to go forward with what he had planned from the minute he woke up from that accident.

"Pepper, please," he whispered through his own tears, begging her to understand.

Instead she moved from her position at the door and came to where he sat in his chair and collapsed into his lap, tears still falling. The scent of her shampoo filled his nostrils as she settled against him and he breathed her in, soaking up every breath, every tear.

"Please, don't do this," she whispered against his neck.

"I'm sorry." He leaned his head against her, stubble brushing against her cheek. "I'm so sorry Pep. You weren't supposed to love me."

She clung tighter to his neck and god how he relished being able to feel her there.

"I'm going to change your mind." Her tears had stopped and her voice was steady and resolute against his ear. He could almost believe her when she said that, but he knew that there was nothing that could be done.

"You can't."

"I will."

He just sighed and leaned against her further. He knew he would let her try. He didn't want to leave her yet, but he knew it was cruel to get her hopes up and lead her further along. It was only going to hurt her more in the end, but Tony Stark had always been a selfish bastard and he would take every moment he had left with her.

[12-16-91-stark]

Happy birthday again!!! Can we get a snippet of Lost to Me please? What I've managed to see makes me really curious 👀

Thank you for the happy birthday wishes!! Sorry, I'm late, work was busy and I went to bed super early last night. Lol

So, "Lost To Me" is actually part of "12.16 to Endgame" it was just originally partially written when I was doing "12.16" and so has it's own word doc. I can certainly share some though, I just wanted to make that clear. 😁

----

“I need to see him,” he forced the words from his lips. Rhodes and Strange shared a glance and Howard slammed his fist against against the porch, his body not even registering the pain though he knew his knuckles were now bloodied and possibly fractured. “That wasn’t a request,” he snarled, becoming every inch the feared weapons developer of yesteryear in an instant. 

He shouldn’t take his anger out on these people. Not his son’s best friend, not in front of his granddaughter, not in front of his wife, but something had broken loose inside of him and he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

Strange stepped up solemnly. “I can take you.”

[theherothechampiontheinquisitor]

Hi! I don't want to sound pushy, but I miss "Meet the Parents". When do you think you'll be able to update? If real life it's the reason we have to wait, it's okay. I don't mind waiting. I was just curious.

Hello! Sorry for the lack of updates. My new job is a lot more demanding than I initially thought or at least the hours cause I work a weird mid-shift from 1015-645 so by the time I get off I have time to make my kids dinner and then go to bed pretty much. lol I am still writing, this Meet the Parents chapter has me in a choke hold and does not wish to be written at all, so I've been having some issues with it but I have also been writing on the Endgame fic for the 12.16 universe. Either the first chapter of that or the next Meet the Parents chapter will be completed soon! I hope lol Trust me I wanna get it out there asap too because i am craving the validation lol. I appreciate you all checking in on me periodically though. <3 You guys are the best. <3 Have a one sentence teaser for 12.16 Endgame :D If she had known that this was the last day that Tony would spend in their home, that they built together, Pepper would have made it more memorable.

[12-16-91-stark]

Hi! I hope you are doing well. I miss your updates (but it's okay if you don't have time, real life problems exist).

Hello! Sorry for the lack of updates. My new job is a lot more demanding than I initially thought or at least the hours cause I work a weird mid-shift from 1015-645 so by the time I get off I have time to make my kids dinner and then go to bed pretty much. lol I am still writing, this Meet the Parents chapter has me in a choke hold and does not wish to be written at all, so I've been having some issues with it but I have also been writing on the Endgame fic for the 12.16 universe. Either the first chapter of that or the next Meet the Parents chapter will be completed soon! I hope lol Trust me I wanna get it out there asap too because i am craving the validation lol. I appreciate you all checking in on me periodically though. <3 You guys are the best. <3 Have a one sentence teaser for 12.16 Endgame :D If she had known that this was the last day that Tony would spend in their home that they built together, Pepper would have made it more memorable.

[theherothechampiontheinquisitor]

Happy ffwf! Do you have any new fic ideas you are excited for? Can you tell us a bit about it/them?

The last chapter of 12.16.1991 will be posted Weds. So after that I have some oneshots to tie into Infinity War and Endgame or what I envision it'd look like for this universe. Theres also going to be random oneshots just sprinkled throughout in the same verse.

The next big fic though is one I've been working on, off and on, since last year called No Expectations where it is post The Avengers. Tony guilts Pepper into taking him to meet her parents and of course everything that seemingly can go wrong for Tony does as he struggles to get approval from them, especially Peppers dad, Mike. Poor Tony is fighting an uphill battle due to preconceived notions from his inconsiderate, pre Afghanistan days.

That story was supposed to come out before 12.16 but here we are. Lol

I have a ton of other stuff I wanna write too but that's the one that I'm most excited for outside of the 12.16 universe.

[12-16-91-stark]

I am in love with this story so happy you are continuing this series for the ask game Wizards

Man you hit the Wheel of Fortune dinger with this word... From the 12.16 Endgame verse...

He didn’t mean to put her anymore on edge and he would stop his pacing if he could, but ever since that wizard (and really that bothered him too), had shown up saying the Avengers needed all the help they could get, mobilized Pepper and then was gone with her just as fast in a bright flash of orange magic, he had been left with a horrible feeling.

His eyes scanned each window as he passed, looking for any signs of Tony or Pepper’s return or even another one of those wizards.

Howard’s heart began pounding as he made his way to the edge of the porch, just as the leader of the wizards...was that Dr. Strange?...closed one of the orange portals behind himself and Rhodey.

[12-16-91-stark]

Hello once again:))Happy New Year health and happiness to you and your family #3&6 actually a crossover with the Castle fandom like Tony and Pepper in Castle Rick and Kate are another one true pairing the crossover story would have angst action and romance. Eagerly awaiting your next extraordinary story Thank you for sharing your beautiful words with us

3. Do you anticipate writing for a new fandom this year? Which one?

Honestly, I dont think so. I am pretty content in my Marvel zone. If I did write for any other fandom it would still probably be something with RDJ. I have a couple half written fics for Charlie Bartlett, The Judge, Gothika and even Home for the Holidays. It's usually just stuff that I think of while I watch the films so there's nothing ready for publication and i don't forsee them being done any time soon.

I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about any of them though. :)

6. Which yet-to-be-started fix do you plan to start this year?

Hmm. See that's the problem. Most fics I want to do have already been started a little. Lol I guess I would say...one of my angstier ones.

Either my one where Tony died in Endgame but gets brought back only to have to deal with his new many disabilities and then later finding out he was at peace and preferred to be dead ala Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 6. Lol

Or

One where he gets taken by Hydra and becomes their new sleeper assassin unknowingly.

---

I sadly haven't seen castle but as for the new story....

I think you guys deserve a good year.

12.16 to Infinity

Go ahead and give that a click and tell me what you think. :)

[theherothechampiontheinquisitor]

For the fanfic asks game: worry

This isn't for the last chapter of 12.16.91, but it is for my Endgame oneshot in the 12.16 verse :D

---

Maria reached over and gently grasped his hand in hers and squeezed. “I’m worried about them, too,” she whispered quietly so Morgan wouldn’t hear her. 

Send me a word and if it's in my WIP I'll post the sentence it appears in!

[12-16-91-stark]

Hi I have 3 words for the ask please lol hopefully these are in either one or multiple stories they are scared / blood / hospital Thank you

Surprisingly, only one of the words was found, though that has more to do with the fact that everything is unfinished or else there definitely would have been more. Lol

Once more from 12.16 Endgame world

---

 It was scary to have both of her parents leave so suddenly for reasons that she didn’t understand and he was trying his damndest not to feed into that.

[12-16-91-stark]

For the fan doc ask game rescue

From my Endgame 12.16 universe oneshot...

He would then vacillate between dispondance and manic hyperfixation, coming up with ways that they could potentially rescue those that had been lost, but the likelihood of success diminished with each more and more outlandish idea until he was drained dry, even with Howard to help him.

Send me a word and if it's in my WIP I'll post the sentence it appears in!

[12-16-91-stark]

Not really a question, but just sharing that I didn't realize we were down to the last four chapters. I'm gonna miss this story, you know? *cue in the tears*. --potts89

I knooooooow I can't believe it either, and honestly it could always run longer, I get pretty wordy sometimes, but I felt that 30 chapters was a nice end.

Don't forget though, I will be taking requests for oneshots for this bad boy so it will still be continued weekly as long as requests hold out. :) I already have one done for Endgame and a bunch of other ideas.

I'll formally take requests post CH 30 but feel free to send them in to me here as the ideas go through your head too. :)

Also I will of course miss you and your wonderfully long and insightful reviews. I hope you'll continue on to 12.16 oneshot land with me! ❤❤❤

And in general to everyone, thank you so much for the love and support.