Precursor Note: See? This is what happens when people ask me to do something that I already kind of want to do. *sigh* I really shouldn't have taken on another fic when I told myself never to have three going on at once ever again. I will regret it later.


Avengers Tower, May 2015

Steve watched, patient and quiet, as Tony worked with Bruce to create the Vision without unleashing Ultron. Letting out a soft sigh, he rubbed the bridge of his nose to stave off an imagined headache. It had been a very long night.

The flight back to the Tower had been as uneventful as they all usually hoped, though Clint's injury was worrying. It was after Clint had been given the all clear by Doctor Cho that Tony had pulled Steve over into a private area where they could talk without the rest of the team barging in on them. Unlike the open ground of Strucker's base that Steve had stopped Tony on, this was Tony's territory now. The genius had seriously downplayed just how much he did for the team when Maria Hill had called him boss.

"We have to tell them," Tony started as soon as the windows of the room went opaque. "I can't even begin to try to create Vision without Bruce's help, and he's not stupid. He'll know I'm up to something even if I don't clue him in on what I'm doing."

"And what exactly are we going to tell them?" Steve countered, crossing his arms. "I know for a fact that you'd be skeptical if any of the rest of us said we'd seen visions of the future."

"I— Well…" Tony stuttered to a halt, for once at a loss for words.

Looking at the glass that would have shown a view of the common area if it hadn't been blacked out, Steve waited for Tony to come up with his answer. Steve already had is own ideas of what they could say to convince their teammates, but he wanted to hear what Tony had to say. Listening to his friends was going to help him in the years to come – it was a fact he could feel was ingrained into his soul. (And if that was because of a certain cosmic entity that he and Tony had apparently made a deal with to save half the population of the universe, then he wasn't about to think about it too deeply.)

Steve's eyes flicked back to Tony as the man let out a noise of frustration. "Thor would be easy enough to convince, but the twin spies and Brucie? They need proof." Tony seemed to deflate for a moment before Steve could almost see the light bulb lighting up over his head. "What if I could prove that the Mind Stone is in the scepter?"

"It could work," Steve said with a one-shouldered shrug.

"And how much do you want to bet Wanda saw most of everything I did? The Maximoffs would know what's going on— at least to some extent. She could back me up," Tony went on, his train of thought not quite stopping to process Steve's input. "I guess if we really had to, we could just let things play out enough to let that be the proof, but that would probably mean Sokovia all over again, and—"

"We'll do our best to keep that from happening."

Tony frowned at Steve's interruption, casting his gaze across the room, looking somewhere else without actually seeing. "We were offered a chance to change one thing, and we chose Ultron. What was that even supposed to mean?" he asked in a quiet, broken voice.

Noticing the shift instantly, Steve straightened and moved closer to Tony, putting a hand near but not on Tony's arm. "You know, knowledge can enable change, but those changes negate the knowledge. If we change what happens now, almost everything else will be different."

"Almost everything," Tony repeated. "But will it be enough? Can you guarantee that I'm not going to watch a kid – who was my responsibility to bring home – disintegrate, begging not to go because I was supposed to protect him, while all I could do was hold him because we failed!"

Steve didn't move an inch when Tony started yelling at him. He could feel the pain in Tony's voice, the pain of loosing someone he held close to his heart cutting into him. Steve didn't know who this kid was, but he could guess – the one in the red and blue suit who could shoot webs, the one he'd seen in a vision of that airport. And Steve knew that if this was what it took Tony letting someone in enough to make him sound like this… Well, it made Steve wonder just how hard of a blow Tony had taken when whatever it was that broke them apart created that schism.

He liked to think that they were a bit more than co-workers on a team. Sometimes he hoped that they were at least friends.

"Tony…" Steve started before he was cut off as Tony suddenly left the room.

Steve still had no idea what Tony had been doing from the time he left to when they'd gathered the team up in that same room to tell them the secret. That whole discussion could have left Steve wanting for an entire week off, but with Ultron and Vision and the Maximoffs all lined up to be dealt with? He didn't think he'd be getting a break for a long while yet.

"Hey, Cap," Tony called from across the room, waving him over. "I think I've got something," he stage-whispered conspiratorially as Steve got close enough to hear him in such a voice.

"Something I'll be able to understand?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, gaining a slight smile from Bruce.

Tony let a grin of his own show. "Come on, Steve. Even you'd be able to recognize this," he said, gesturing to a hologram he then displayed in the middle of the lab.

"The Mind Stone."

"Got it in one."

Vormir, June 2015

Death floated (because why walk when you can hover over the ground?) across the wetland earth, headed for the massive mountain range that housed the home of the Soul Stone. Lightning slashed the sky in weaving arcs somewhere far off in a light show of multicolor, thunder echoing unheard in the distance. Night had fallen several hours ago, and the eternally eclipsed sun would not rise for another three.

She didn't need to be here, but nothing especially important was happening on Earth – or anywhere else for that matter – at the moment. So, she had decided to travel to the site of the Infinity Stone that was arguably the hardest to obtain. It wasn't like she desired to remove the Soul Stone from this place (it was actually much safer if she left it where it was); however, she did want to have a chat with its current keeper.

Johann Schmidt should have died when he touched the container of the Space Stone. The energy that the Tesseract had been putting off at that point in time was more than enough to kill a human (superhuman or otherwise), but more often than not, Infinity Stones had their own plans in mind, though only a couple of them had any real level of sentience – like the Soul Stone. However, as a wraith protecting the one of the Stones, the Red Skull had been rendered untouchable by death until the Soul Stone was no longer there to be protected.

The task was truly a curse – there was no other way of stating it – for one like Schmidt. It must have been a blow to one's conviction, to have power just within reach but never being able to wield it. And in the end, it would be someone else who left with the prize.

"Ah, Herrin Death," greeted the Stonekeeper.

"We meet again, Mister Schmidt," she returned in greeting. "Or do you prefer Red Skull? Stonekeeper?"

"I have no need of fancy titles anymore, dear lady." And perhaps the sad touch in his voice wasn't a part of her imagination.

She lifted her head just enough to reveal the slight smile under her hood. "You needn't use such fancy titles with me either. We're not quite on the same playing field, but I can't touch you because of the Stone you guard."

"And that makes us more than simple acquaintances, does it?" the wraith asked, not without a little curiosity.

"Well…" Death drawled out the word, tilting her head to the side while turning her eyes that way as well in an exaggerated motion. "I should think we'll be seeing each other a few more times after this. We might as well move on past that awkward stage."

The Stonekeeper was not so dull as to take the statement at face value. "This is about the Stone."

"Is there any other special feature about Vormir I should know about?" she quipped.

If the Red Skull had eyebrows, Death was sure she would have seen him raise at least one of them at the comment. "Even if the Mad Titan does not remember, the Infinity Stones do. They know when their power has been tampered with," he said cryptically.

"Then surely they understand our reasons for setting back the universal clock."

"The Soul Stone does," the wraith responded after a long pause. "Though I cannot say for the others."

"Of course," Death nodded in understanding. After all, the Stonekeeper was only the guardian for the Soul Stone, not the other five.

As of right now, the Space Stone was still encased in the Tesseract – sitting upon a pedestal in the Vaults of Asgard. The Mind Stone was with its new owner, Vision. Reality was still posing as the Aether in the collection of Taneleer Tivan. Power was locked away in the Nova Corps vaults. The Eye of Agamotto held the Time Stone. And, obviously, the Soul Stone resided here on Vormir. All six Infinity Stones could be accounted for.

The Infinity Gauntlet was already on the left hand of Thanos.

It would take another two years or so for him to gather enough forces to begin his conquest, starting with razing Xandar, the capital of the Nova Empire. After that, only a week had passed until he'd come across the Asgardians' ship, taking the Space Stone and killing all but the king. The rest had been easy pickings (so to say anyways) from there. It had been not unlike watching the dominoes effect.

And perhaps under different circumstances – if Thanos hadn't acquired the Stones in the order he had – maybe it wouldn't have gone so badly for the heroes. Sometimes, instead of wondering, it's better to simply make those circumstances. (Perks of being the embodiment of an abstract concept, granting status as a cosmic entity. Not like Eternity could say anything since he helped with this.)

"Was that all you wished to talk about?"

Death let a teeth baring grin cross her face. "Not quite… I have a proposal for you."


A/N: So, yeah, two extra scenes. There you go. That's what you're getting. Scenes, drabble-like things that are only connected by the break lines. It's easier on me to write it this way, and you'll enjoy it because I'll update quicker (probably, don't take my word on that).

Also, the POVs are mainly going to stick to Death, Tony, Steve and Doc Strange – any others will only be for a small section, probably to show what's been going on with them as far as Infinity War planning goes. Most of the timeline dates are based on when the movies came out or based on occurrences in those movies that provide references to when events took place (like that made any sense, hehe)… Oh! and all (if any) pairings will be cannon or at least only implied if it's not canon.


mfaerie32: Oh, I'm excited, too, but we're in for a long and bumpy ride XD