Peter swallows thickly under Tony's intense stare.
"I thought I sent you home!"
"Well..." The teen starts.
"No! I don't want to hear it!" Peter starts rambling about the distance to get back home and Tony throws his arms up. "And now I gotta hear it."
"You asked me to help Mom and I mean...its kind of your fault that I'm here."
Both Iron Man and Levi look up at him with a ' you did not just say that' expression and Tony points at the teen. "What did you just say?"
"I-I take that back...and now I'm here in space-"
"Yeah. Right where I didn't want you to be!" The engineer steps into the teen's space and looks down at him. "This is a one way ticket, you hear me?! Don't pretend you thought this through!"
"I did think this through! I can't sit back at home while the only family I have left disappears into space! What if you never came back?!"
The mechanic studies him and exhales loudly as he turns away. He couldn't really fault the kid's reasoning. Peter was terrified of losing him and Stephen and probably came to do what he could to make sure they all got back home safe...and if something did happen, he would know.
"Come on. We got a situation." The two walk over to the ledge and Tony points down below as Peter crouches. "See them down there? Mom's in trouble. What's your plan?"
"Uh...oh! Remember that really old movie Aliens?"
"First of all that movie isn't that old. Second, just saying it like that is not helping your case. You think I'm mad? Once Stephen finds out, Mama Bear will be out for the whole trip."
"We gotta save him first."
Tony rolls his eyes. "The plan Underoos."
"Right. So you blow a hole in the ship, the alien dude will be sucked out into space, and then you seal the hole back up. I'll grab Mom before he gets sucked out too."
"That's insane. Let's do it." His helmet forms back over his head and he points to Peter. "On my signal."
It was a good thing Peter was accustomed to fighting alongside Tony, because the billionaire's idea of a signal was more like 'you should have been jumping in ten seconds ago'. So he basically did jump in ten seconds earlier and it was still barely enough to catch Stephen with his webs before the doctor followed the alien out of the ship. With the help of the extra appendages in his suit, Peter vaults them to a safer level and Tony seals the large hole as Levi returns to its master's shoulders. Stephen groans as he gets to his feet and it doesn't take him long to notice Peter's presence.
"No. No, no. You're supposed to be on a field trip to MOMA right now!" Stephen looks toward the ship's controls where Tony planted himself. "Why is he here?"
"Oh you know, I thought this could be a nice family trip." The engineer says non-chalantly.
"Tony!"
"I...I'd rather be with you guys and know if something happens, than be told by strangers." Peter answers quietly.
Stephen looks at him in absolute silence with an expression so bland, that Peter had no idea what he was thinking. His eyes didn't give much away either, just the fact that he was looking for any injuries. The teen had nothing more than bruises from the earlier attack on Tony back on Earth, but he wasn't about to admit that. Mama Bear would suffocate him with coddling.
The sorcerer eventually accepts the adults unfortunate turn of events and turns away from Peter with a heavy sigh as he walks over to Tony. "We gotta turn this ship around."
Tony scoffs. "Yeah. Easier said than done."
Stephen sighs. "I need to protect the stone."
"The stone?!" The billionaire asks with genuine surprise. "What about our kid?! Last time I checked you signed those adoption papers too!"
The doctor walks over to his husband and stops at his side, lowering his head and his voice. "Tony...you and I both know this is bigger than our family."
The other man curses quietly. "Well our family is in a flying donut, billions of miles from Earth, with no back up."
Peter holds up his hand from farther behind them. "I'm back up."
Tony turns to him and points at the teen. "No, you're a stowaway. The adults are talking."
Peter mumbles something under his breath before climbing a nearby wall to explore the ship, and Tony ignores the teen to turn his attention back to Stephen.
"The ship is self-correcting its course. The thing's on autopilot."
"Can we control it? Fly us home?" Stephen asks. Tony remains silent. "Tony."
"Yeah?"
"Can you get us home?"
"Yeah, I heard you." He hesitates. "I'm not so sure we should."
The sorcerer narrows his eyes. "Look, under no circumstances can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos or put our son in danger! I don't think you understand what's at stake here."
Tony looks at him with disbelief. "No! It's you who doesn't understand! Thanos has been inside my head for six years since he sent an army to New York and now he's back!" He almost swallows back his next words. "And I don't know what to do. I don't know if fighting on their turf or ours is the better plan, but at least with theirs, they won't be expecting it. So I say we take the fight to him."
Stephen stares at him for a few moments. "Alright. We go to him...but you have to understand, if it comes to saving you, or Peter, or the Time Stone..." 'I have to let you die' goes unsaid. "The universe depends on it."
Tony sighs. "Just...promise that our kid is your second priority. I don't care about me. Keep Peter safe."
The doctor's gaze softens. "Despite the hand dealt to us...he is still my cub. He will always be one of my top priorities. You both are."
Peter jumps down from the high ceiling and both men turn to look at him.
"Were you eavesdropping?" Tony asks.
Peter shakes his head. "I just got back from looking around. The structure of this thing is so weird. It's defying the laws of physics!"
The billionaire rolls his eyes as he walks over to the teen and knights him with his hand. "Whatever...you're an Avenger now."
"Wait...seriously? Did I miss something?"
"Universal war and all that fun jazz. Just promise to stay close to one of us."
"Uh...okay."
Tony didn't miss the pained expression on Stephen's face. While Peter had gone on quite a few missions with the team, they were still trying to keep him out of as much trouble as possible. Making him an Avenger made it mandatory for him to help with anything and everything. Tony didn't like the idea either, but as Stephen said, the universe was in danger. Not just a city, or a state, or their planet. The whole damn universe.
He also didn't miss the conflicting emotions in his husband's (read: wife's) eyes. The man had a duty to protect the Time Stone as he was the Sorcerer Supreme, but he was also a Mama Bear. Someone who had a duty to protect his cub. Tony could tell that Stephen was hating his predicament. No one should ever have to choose an fancy rock over their child.
Tony did understand though. If there was no universe, there was no Peter.
No more family.
He didn't hate Stephen for his priorities. It really was a deplorable situation.
A/N: So this is a bit of a test fic. I know there are a ton of different versions of Infinity War out there but I wanted to do a Mama Bear version. I want to see how much you guys like it (or want it), and if it gets enough, I'll continue this. So let me know.