I can't believe we're getting so close to the end! I can't thank you guys enough for all of the favorites and follows! :)

As always, a huge thank-you to stjohn27, my awesome prereader and sounding board.

"Oh no!" Peter exclaimed as he landed on the far side wall of the training area with the grace of a master ballet dancer, the adjustable eyes on his mask going completely white as Tony landed on the floor with a clank next to Sam, who was trying his hardest to keep from laughing. "Steve, I'm so sorry! I'm still getting used to all the web-shooter combinations Dad gave me, and—"

"It's okay, Peter," Steve replied from where he was trapped on the ceiling more than thirty feet up, shaking his head even as he let out a chuckle. "But… ah… I think I'm gonna need a little help getting down from here unless Tony doesn't mind the floor getting cracked again."

"No, no, let's not do that," Tony said quickly as his helmet disappeared. "Just got the floors redone, don't need to crack them while they're still all nice and shiny. Vision? Would ya mind helping out Cap up there?"

"Not at all, Mr. Stark," replied Vision as he took off to retrieve Steve, easily burning through Peter's elaborate web cage securing Steve to the ceiling.

"So, what do ya say we call it a day?" Steve said once he'd landed on the floor, still brushing remnants of Peter's webs from the shoulders of his uniform. "We can pick this up tomorrow after breakfast."

"That sounds good to me," answered Peter as he flipped down to the floor, landing perfectly next to Tony.

"As long as you get your homework done at some point, Pete," Tony reminded him. "I highly doubt that Avengers training would be a valid excuse for missing assignments."

"I'm mostly done already, Dad," said Peter. "And I can finish the rest on the drive back tomorrow night."

"Then it is movie night tonight, isn't it?" asked Pietro as he skidded to a halt next to Peter.

"It is for me!" Peter exclaimed. He pulled the mask off his head, his sweat-dampened curls springing up in all directions. "We were gonna start on the Back to the Future trilogy, remember?"

"Not me," said Wanda. "You boys can watch your silly movies by yourselves. Natasha said she'd do my nails for me tonight."

"They'll just get destroyed again as soon as we get back to the farm!" Pietro protested. "What's the point?"

"Aww, Ro, it's still fun," Barton said as he unbuckled his armguard. "Let the girls have their girly times, and you and Peter can watch your movies."

"You're not doing anything until you take a shower first, Spider-Kid," Tony said as he grabbed Peter around the neck, rubbing his knuckles into the top of his head. "The eau de teenage boy you're letting off is a bit too pungent for my tastes right about now. We wouldn't want the rest of the folks wilting at the dinner table."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll take a shower," grumbled Peter. He ducked down out of Tony's grasp, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his mask. "And then dinner. I'm starving!"

"So am I!" said Pietro with a grin. "Race ya!"

Tony watched the two boys head towards the exit, with Peter talking a blue streak about Back to the Future or Legos or some other such thing. Barton came up next to him, shaking his head.

"Seems like your boy's getting the hang of things there, Tony," Barton said. "I was pretty impressed by him today."

"Yeah," Tony said softly. He tapped the small, triangular-shaped device resting over his heart, watching with pride as his nanotech armor began to dissolve and flow back into its housing unit. This long weekend was the first real test of his new armor, and so far it had performed well beyond his expectations. "Yeah," he repeated, a little louder. "Not that I expected anything less, of course. The kid's a natural, what else can I say?"

Barton shot him an amused look, clapping a hand on his shoulder as they headed for the stairs. "Don't worry, Tony. It eventually gets easier."

"It does?" Tony asked, almost involuntarily. "Are ya sure?"

"Absolutely," said Barton as they arrived in the equipment room. "It's hard to not hover all the time at first, because it's instinctive, ya know? You just wanna protect them from everything because they're just kids, and the real world kinda sucks. But then as you keep going, it gets a little bit easier to fight against that instinct and to just sit back and watch, and then you eventually see that they really are a lot more capable than you think they might be."

"I know Pete's capable," Tony cut in. "He's more than capable, in fact. But I still—"

"Look," Barton interrupted. "I know the twins are a few years older than Peter, but they were close enough to his age now when I first got them that I feel like I can say this. You're never gonna be absolutely sure about what you're doing with teenagers. It's always gonna feel like a guessing game, so the best thing you can do is just keep putting your best guesses forward, and then just pray like hell that you don't mess 'em up all that much by the time they turn into adults."

Tony shot Barton a look sharper than his arrowheads. "Gee, thanks, Legolas."

"Hey, I just call things like I see 'em," said Barton with a chuckle. "But c'mon, Tony. If you haven't messed up that kid of yours by now, then I don't think it's possible. He's gonna be fine!"

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine," Tony said, not quite convincingly. "Now me, on the other hand—"

"You're gonna be fine too, Tony," Barton said as they arrived on the main floor of the residential section. "Now, what's this I hear about a wedding?"

"Yep," Tony said with a smile. "You heard it. We're finally gonna make it official."

"Mmm. Finally making an honest woman out of Pepper, hmm?" Barton said.

"More like she's finally making an honest man outta me, Barton," Tony retorted. "I'm the one who's marrying up in this scenario."

"Yeah, yeah, that makes more sense," said Barton with a wink. "Well, congratulations, Tony. I'm happy for ya both."

"Thanks, man. I'm happy for us too."

"So, how was the Compound," Ned asked as he slid into his seat in front of Peter in their homeroom classroom. At least this year's homeroom teacher didn't require the students to sit alphabetically just to listen to a bunch of announcements. "Did your dad still take ya out driving while you were up there?"

"Yeah, man," answered Peter, a huge smile splitting his face. "We went out twice. I mainly stayed in the parking lot, but Dad let me go around the block a couple of times too. It was awesome! This car we have up there, it practically drives itself! It can even parallel park on its own!"

"Aww, dude, that's so not fair! Parallel parking is supposed to be hard!" Ned whined. "And my dad says I can't start learning until the weather warms up again, which you know won't be until like, April or May around here."

"But that wasn't even the best part!" Peter added. He leaned closer, lowering his voice. "Dad built me a new Spider-Man suit, and I got to try it out this weekend with the team!"

"He what!" Ned exclaimed, so loudly that Peter had to shush him. "He did what? I thought he was still upset about the whole Spider-Man thing!"

"Not anymore," Peter said happily. "I guess Steve helped him calm down about it, so I started training this weekend and it was awesome!"

"Oh my God, you're gonna hafta tell me all about it," Ned said, wrinkling his nose as their homeroom teacher walked into the room. "Maybe at lunchtime?"

"Sure, dude, but only if you promise to stay quiet about it," Peter hissed. "Remember? It's supposed to be a secret!"

"I know, I know, I know!" Ned said, drawing a glare from their teacher.

Thankfully, Ned dropped the subject until he and Peter had both retrieved their lunch trays and sat down at their usual table, the din of the surrounding conversations hopefully providing some cover for their own whispering.

"I will admit though," Ned said through a mouthful of potato chips. "This whole keeping secrets thing is a lot harder than I thought it would be."

"Ned, you promised!" exclaimed Peter. He crushed his empty milk carton in his fist, smiling at how easy it was. "You can't tell anyone, dude, you promised!"

"I'm not gonna tell anyone," replied Ned. "I'm just saying, I can understand why you were so moody all the time now."

Peter shot him a harsh glare. "Yeah, okay. Like you're never moody."

"Not like you," Ned retorted. "But I s'pose if I was freezing all the time and had to hear everything that was going on everywhere, I'd be a bit moodier than usual too. Too bad you can't read minds, I bet that'd be easier."

"Somehow I doubt it," muttered Peter, shuddering. "I think it sounds even worse, actually."

"Okay, so… tell me!" Ned said as he nudged Peter with his elbow. "What'd you do in training?"

"Well," Peter started. "Dad and Steve started me out with just the flyers, so Dad, James, Sam, and Vision, but then—"

"You know, I still haven't met Vision," Ned interrupted. "What's he like?"

"Um, he's fine, he pretty much stays at the Compound all the time, so that's why you haven't met him," said Peter. "I dunno, he's just… Vision. Talks like a British butler and looks like something we could build with our Legos. Although he's been practicing altering his appearance lately to try and make himself look more human. Says he's trying to fit in better. He kinda had a bad experience when he went to the store once, so—"

"Mmm, that's cool," Ned said, popping another chip into his mouth. "But you were talking about training."

Peter wrinkled his nose. "Yeah. So the first morning I was just with the flyers, and I basically worked on trying to stay out of everyone else's way and still learn how to work my suit at the same time. And I guess it went okay, because that afternoon Steve called all of us to work together in the huge training room."

"The one that's like the size of a football stadium?" Ned asked with wide eyes. "Whoa!"

"Yeah, that's it. We even had comms and everything, 'cause it'd be impossible for some of them to hear what's going on otherwise. And I even stole Steve's shield! Just webbed it right outta his hands!"

"You did?" Ned exclaimed. "Whoa! Did he get mad?"

"No, man, he thought it was funny," answered Peter. He winced, remembering what happened shortly afterwards. "But then I kinda accidently webbed him to the ceiling, so we decided to stop after that."

"You webbed him to the ceiling?" wheezed Ned. "Oh my God! I wish I could've seen that!"

"Yeah, well, I wasn't trying to," Peter mumbled. "I'm still getting used to all the web shooter combinations Dad gave me, there's over five hundred of 'em!"

"Five hundred? Dude, what does your dad think you're gonna be doing?"

"I dunno," Peter said with a shrug. "But he always goes overboard with the tech, so I'm not too surprised."

"Yeah, that's true. Do you think he'll let you start doing the stuff you were doing before you got caught?"

"Who knows," answered Peter. "He's still a bit sore about that, so I'm not gonna push it yet. Just trying to not make a fool out of myself during training right now."

"Yeah, that's probably for the best," Ned said. "I sure wouldn't wanna piss off Iron Man. Even Flash is afraid of him now."

"Nah, he tries to look all tough and stern, he's really a big softie," said Peter, smiling. "But he does have a temper, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if there's a tracker or three in my new suit, so… no patrols for awhile I think."

Crumpling up his potato chip bag, Ned quickly downed the rest of his milk. "Iron Man's a softie, huh? Now that's a secret."

"You boys and your secrets," Michelle suddenly piped up from the other end of the lunch table. "What do you two have to be so secretive about?"

Ned shot her a confused look. "Um… it's a secret."

Michelle scowled as she closed her book. "Hmph. That figures."

Peter watched her walk away. "Man, I don't get girls," he said once she was out of earshot. "They're just… weird."

"Except Shuri, right?" Ned said, elbowing him in the side. "You get her. And Betty's not so bad either, at least she knows how to not talk in code most of the time."

"Yeah, I do," Peter said with a wide smile as a burst of warm fuzzies filled his chest. He and Shuri had even gotten to talk when they got back to the Tower the previous night. "Shuri's definitely the exception."

The training sessions continued throughout the winter and early spring, both at the Compound and at the newly-remodeled training area in the Tower. Both Tony and Steve were quite impressed with how quickly Peter was learning, and adapting to working so well with the other team members. And while Peter managed to accidentally web Steve up to the ceiling a couple more times, thanks to his overzealous studying and preparation, he was able to master the use of his new suit well enough by the end of the spring that Tony decided to unlock the suit's AI a bit earlier than he'd planned, an AI that Peter promptly named, Karen.

And with the AI now unlocked and functioning, Tony—with Pepper and Steve's approval—finally agreed to allow Peter to resume his afternoon patrols.

Not every day, of course. Peter was too busy with Academic Decathlon practice and Robotics Lab and just spending time hanging out with his friends to go on patrol every day, so he and Tony decided that Peter would go out for about an hour or two after school twice a week, with a couple hours on Saturday afternoons if he felt it was necessary. The rules Tony set down were simple: no engaging of any group of more than three people without calling for backup, and no staying out after dark. Even though Peter could see better in the dark than most people could during the day, Tony still wasn't comfortable with him staying out alone after sundown. Especially in Queens.

Tony also continued to tinker with and perfect his new nanotech armor. The initial housing unit that he'd designed turned out to be too heavy and uncomfortable during prolonged practical use, so Tony rebuilt it using a new type of lightweight storage material that Stark Industries was testing out as a possible new casing for their line of smartphones. The rebuilt unit worked much better in terms of both aesthetics and practicality, which also helped Pepper to be a bit more accepting of Tony actually wearing the thing.

With his nanotech armor finally finalized—at least for the time being—Tony turned his attention to building a nanotech suit for Peter. While Peter was perfectly fine with his new Spider Suit for Avenger training and his routine patrols, such that Tony often had to remind him to actually take the thing off when he was done so he could wash it, Tony knew if a real mission came along and Peter's suit ended up getting damaged that he'd most likely need a backup. And what better kind of backup could you ask for than one that could fly out to you? Plus, the nanotech suits could adapt and create weapons and defenses using only the users thoughts and vocal commands, which could prove to be invaluable during a more intense battle.

"Pardon me, boss," FRIDAY said late one evening when Tony was up tinkering in the lab. "But Captain Rogers is on the line. He's wondering if he can come up?"

"Yeah, sure, FRI," Tony answered, chuckling at the fact that even after living in the Tower for over seven years, Steve still always asked first before coming upstairs. "Tell him I'm in the lab, and that Pete's asleep."

"Sounds good, boss."

A couple minutes later Tony heard the tell-tale sound of Steve's heavy footsteps as they echoed across the wooden floor of the living room.

"Hey, old man," he said once Steve appeared in the doorway, dressed in one of his favorite blue t-shirts and the jeans Natasha had gotten him for Christmas, a rather sour look on his pale face and dark circles under his eyes. "What's up? Something on your mind?"

"Yeah, actually," Steve said as he folded his large frame onto the couch. "I just saw a rather interesting news story a few minutes ago, about an incident that happened in Hong Kong."

"Hong Kong?" Tony asked. "It's a nice place, pretty crowded though. Makes New York City look like a sprawled-out, Midwest suburb. Why? What's going on there?"

"Well, that's the interesting part," answered Steve. He furrowed his brow, steepling his hands under his chin. "Do you remember that list of names that were on HYDRA's hit list? For Project Insight?"

Tony's belly gave a hard swoop at the mention of Project Insight, and he set down the piece of tech he was working on. "How could I forget that, Cap? Our names were all on that list. Yours, mine, Bruce's, Peter's—" Tony broke off, biting his bottom lip. "It still gives me nightmares sometimes, Steve. That whole thing was terrifying."

"I know it was, Tony," Steve said softly. "But there was someone else who also appeared on that list, someone by the name of Stephen Strange. Does that name ring a bell?"

"Um…" Tony stammered, wracking his brain. "Wasn't he some hot-shot surgeon over there at Metro-General? Invented some new-fangled surgical procedure or something? I'm pretty sure Pete did a paper on him for the decathlon once. He's supposedly a pretty smart guy from what I've heard, and with an ego to match."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too," Steve replied. "But after I saw this news report I asked FRIDAY for some more details. Apparently this Doctor Strange was in a near-fatal car accident around the same time as the incident on the Raft. He ended up surviving, but the accident damaged his hands such that he could no longer work as a surgeon. From what FRIDAY told me, he ended up almost bankrupting himself trying to find a cure afterwards."

"And… so… he found himself over in Hong Kong?" Tony asked, confused and more than a little impatient. "What's this about, Cap?"

Steve pursed his lips. "The news report didn't have a lot of details, Tony, but from the way the witnesses were describing what happened, it almost seemed like aliens came in and attacked the city."

"Aliens?" gasped Tony. "Are you sure?"

"No," Steve said. "Because almost as soon as the weird stuff started happening, things just all of a sudden went back to normal. Almost like time got turned back or something."

"Okay," Tony said slowly, his heart already starting to thud as he sank down onto one of the lab chairs. "Was anyone able to describe what these aliens looked like?"

"I'm not convinced they really were aliens, Tony," Steve said, trying to sound reassuring. "Because the pictures they showed on the news looked like just regular people with very odd-looking makeup jobs. But it was dark outside, so the pictures aren't the best quality, and—"

"So how does this Strange guy play into all this?"

"Well, apparently he was one of the people trying to stop them," Steve said, his eyebrows knitting together. "Witnesses described something that looked like a stone that glowed green from a pendant around his neck."

Tony shot Steve a skeptical look. "So you think this guy actually managed to turn back time? Really? Like that god-awful old Cher song?"

"That's what it sounds like to me, Tony," Steve answered without missing a beat. Cap probably doesn't even know who Cher is. "How else could things just suddenly go back to normal?"

"Eyewitness are notoriously unreliable with information, Cap. Especially when they're stressed, you should know that by now."

"Maybe so," agreed Steve. He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. "But, Tony, don't you remember what Thor told us right before he and Bruce left? About the Infinity Stones?"

"Thor told us about four Infinity Stones, Cap," Tony said. "Power, Space, Mind, and Reality. I don't remember him mentioning anything about anything that could alter time—"

"But he said there were six in total, and one of those six is called the Time Stone," interrupted Steve. "I looked it up. The two that Thor didn't mention are the Soul Stone and the Time Stone."

"Probably because he didn't know where they were," muttered Tony. "And you think this Strange fellow—boy, that name just invites itself over for puns, doesn't it?—is in possession of the Time Stone?"

"Unless you can think of another way to explain what happened, yes," Steve answered. "I do."

"Yeah, well, just give me a few minutes, I can probably think of something," grumbled Tony. He pinched the bridge of his nose, anxiety already starting to bubble up from the pit of his stomach when a thought came to him. "Hold on. When did you say this happened?"

"Just a few hours ago, I'm not sure of the exact minute though," said Steve. "Why?"

Tony's eyes fluttered closed, and he pressed his fist to his chest. "Because just a few hours ago, Rhodey called from the Compound, saying that Vision was having some kind of… headache."

"Vision had a… headache?" Steve sputtered, his eyes going wide. "How is that even possible?"

"I didn't think it was," Tony admitted. "But we got him on the monitor and I could see it. The stone in his head was acting funny, like it was fluctuating or something."

"That stone is the Mind Stone, Tony," Steve said. "If Doctor Strange was using the Time Stone at the same time, maybe Vision's stone could sense it somehow."

"Yeah…" mumbled Tony. "I've definitely heard stranger things. FRIDAY, what do we know about a Doctor Stephen Strange?"

"Doctor Stephen Strange was a former neurosurgeon at Metro-General Hospital until a near-fatal car accident resulted in severe injury to his hands," answered FRIDAY.

"Yeah, yeah, we know that already," Tony said impatiently. "Anything else?"

"Only that he's been absent from his New York Penthouse apartment for many months now, boss," said FRIDAY. "According to news reports, he apparently sold off most of his valuables in a vain attempt to recover the use of his hands."

Tony raised his eyebrows, looking over at Steve. "What're you thinking, old man?"

"I'm thinking I really wish Thor was around right about now," Steve said with a heavy sigh. "These are questions that he's best equipped to answer. But if I had to guess, I'd say that this Doctor Strange somehow managed to find the Time Stone."

"Well, apparently he not only managed to find the Time Stone, Steve," Tony cut in. "According to you he managed to use it, and somehow stay alive while doing so. Now, from what I remember Thor telling me, these fancy rocks aren't meant to be used by us 'mere mortals'. Thor almost flipped out in that HYDRA bunker when I was about to grab for Loki's scepter, remember?"

"So you're suggesting that Doctor Strange is no longer human?" asked Steve, quirking an eyebrow. "That he's been changed somehow? Enhanced?"

"With all the weird stuff we've seen, Steve, I wouldn't put it past him," said Tony. "But if this guy did in fact wield an Infinity Stone and live to tell about it, then my gut tells me that something bigger is going on, or is gonna be going on very soon. Especially if it seems like these stones can talk to each other."

Holy shit!

"Like what?" Steve asked worriedly.

Tony huffed out a sharp breath, slumping even further into his chair. He never enjoyed recounting his time out in space when he flew that missile through the wormhole. "During the Battle of New York, when I grabbed that missile and flew it through the wormhole, I saw something."

Steve sat up straighter on the couch, leaning forward. "What did you see?"

"An army," Tony said, shivering as his entire body broke out into a cold sweat. "A huge, massive, space army, just sitting there, ready to invade. It was like they were just waiting for orders or something. And I sent that missile right into the mothership, and I watched it explode, and that was the last thing that I remember seeing before—"

"We thought you were dead when you came out, Tony," Steve said quietly. "You weren't breathing. If Bruce hadn't caught you like he did—"

"Yeah, sure would be nice to have the big guy around right about now," Tony mumbled. "But then later on, I saw the army again, Cap. Down in the HYDRA bunker, when Wanda mind-zapped me. I saw—" he broke off as tears sprang to his eyes and his hands clenched into fists, those feelings of complete and utter helplessness and anguish when Peter died in his arms rushing back with a vengeance. I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go! Peter had pleaded, his face and body so beaten and covered in blood that he was barely recognizable.

It was an image that never failed to make Tony's blood run cold.

"You had a vision, Tony," Steve whispered. "At least that's what you told me, after the fact."

"Yeah," croaked Tony. "And in that vision, I saw all of you guys dead. All of you, including Peter. But the space army was there too. It was almost like it was waiting to take all of us out before it attacked. And I held Pete's lifeless body in my arms and I watched it fly through the wormhole to attack Earth, and I didn't do anything to stop it. I couldn't—, Steve, I couldn't. I just couldn't move." He sniffed, swiping at his eyes. "And then when Thor started going on about these stones, about how someone somewhere was making pawns of us, and that safe was in short supply—"

"You think that now another Infinity Stone has shown up, that someone's going to send another space army to Earth?" Steve asked, with no hint of sarcasm whatsoever. "Is that what you're saying, Tony?"

"I'm saying that that army has been in my head ever since the Battle of New York, Cap," Tony answered. "Loki even told me when he was taunting me that day that he was only a messenger, that the real danger had yet to arrive. What if that real danger was what I destroyed with the missile? And now—"

"And now you think they're coming back," Steve finished. "That's the theory?"

"That's the theory," repeated Tony. "And if this whole thing in Hong Kong wasn't part of it, then maybe it was just a warm-up of sorts. I can't imagine that using an Infinity Stone doesn't leave some sort of trace on it or something. Maybe that's what was happening to Vision, almost like the stones were trying to talk to each other. So whoever's out there in the cosmos keeping track of these things is probably gonna pick up on them eventually, and they're gonna come looking for them."

They were quiet for a few minutes, trying to digest the information, until Steve spoke up again. "This is why Thor thought it best for the stones to be separated," he said. "The four stones that he mentioned were all on different planets."

"Except that's changed now, hasn't it?" said Tony. "If that thing Strange used in Hong Kong really was the Time Stone, then now there's two of the Infinity Stones on Earth, not just one." He paused, tapping his chin. "FRIDAY, show us the areas in Hong Kong that were affected by the recent… thing."

Three seconds later, a darkened area of the city appeared on the viewscreen. A building, around three stories high and rounded in the front like an old-fashioned steam engine, stood in the center of the area, surrounded by brightly-colored neon signs. A rather odd, round window looked out from the top floor of the building, crossed over with four curved lines to form some sort of symbol.

Tony tilted his head; he could have sworn he'd seen that symbol in the window before somewhere else. He walked over to the viewscreen, circling the window with his fingers. "FRIDAY, I've seen this window before. Where have I seen this before?"

"Cross-referencing, boss," FRIDAY responded.

"Have you been to Hong Kong, Tony?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," Tony said absentmindedly, tapping his chin. "But not this part of Hong Kong. I've seen this window somewhere else, somewhere—"

"There's a building in New York City with the same window, boss," FRIDAY interrupted, replacing the display of the Hong Kong building with another three-story brown building, this one topped with an odd greenish roof not too unlike the buildings at Columbia University.

"There!" Tony exclaimed. "It's in New York! I must've driven past it before or something, I recognized the symbol in the window. FRIDAY, what's the name of this building?"

"According to the phone listings, it's called the New York Sanctum, boss," said FRIDAY.

"Sanctum?" Steve asked. "What does that mean?"

"A sanctum is otherwise known as a shrine, temple, or holy place," FRIDAY continued. "It can also be defined as—"

"Yeah, yeah, thanks FRI," interrupted Tony. "I'm pretty sure Steve here is more up to speed on holy temples or shrines than I am."

"Yes, boss, but if you'll allow me to continue," FRIDAY said in a rather biting tone. "Sanctum can also mean a secret place or hideaway."

"Hideaway?" Steve asked. "What could this Strange guy be trying to hide?"

"Who knows?" answered Tony. "The Infinity Stone, perhaps? Maybe we should pay him a visit."

Steve's eyebrows shot up. "You think that's a good idea?"

"Why not?" Tony said with a shrug.

"Well, for one thing, if he is trying to hide out, he may not appreciate us just going up to his… Sanctum and ringing the doorbell, Tony," said Steve. "And do you really think he'd actually tell us anything?"

Tony held up his hands. "How the hell am I supposed to know? What're we even asking, Cap? You're the one who came to me with this info, remember, so what is it that you wanna know?"

Steve was quiet for a few moments, his eyebrows knitted together like they always were when he was busy strategizing. "I guess I want to know if he is in fact in possession of an Infinity Stone," he finally said. "And what he plans to do with it."

"And if we should be concerned," Tony added. "Do you think he's a threat?"

"I don't know, Tony," Steve said. "So I'd feel a lot better if we could rule that out." He leaned back onto the couch, tipping his head back and rubbing his eyes. "Is there still no way to get in touch with Thor?"

"No," Tony said sadly. "And damn if I didn't wish there was, old man. We really could use both he and Banner right about now."

"I'd second that," Steve muttered. "I never thought they'd be gone this long. So, when should we go?"

"I suppose tomorrow works just as good as anything else," Tony said. "We can drop Pete off at school and then head over."

Steve nodded, huffing out a long breath as he pushed himself up off the couch. "Sounds good, Tony."

"You okay there, Cap," Tony asked gently. He hadn't seen Steve look this tired and worried in a long time, probably since the whole Project Insight mess. "You seem… tired, do you need a nap or something?"

"I don't know," answered Steve. "I've just been feeling… uneasy lately, I can't really explain it. And this thing in Hong Kong definitely isn't helping."

"Mmm. Well, premature freak-outs are usually my speciality, so don't go trying to take them away from me, yeah? I'm rather attached to 'em."

That at least drew a small chuckle, and Steve clapped his hand on Tony's shoulder as he headed out of the lab. "Don't worry, Tony, I'll be fine. I'll see you in the morning."

"Sure thing, Cap," Tony said softly. He watched Steve go, then leaned back in his chair, running his thumb across his beard and fighting the urge to go and get another cup of coffee. Steve wasn't the type to get all worked up over nothing, not at all like Tony's tendencies to do so. So for him to be this concerned about whatever-the-hell this thing was in Hong Kong, something very strange indeed—no pun intended—must be going on.

"Hmm," Tony said, narrowing his eyes as he parked the Audi on the street, about a half a block or so from the New York Sanctum. "This is definitely a step down from where Doctor Strange used to live."

"FRIDAY said he nearly bankrupted himself trying to cure his hands, Tony," Steve said, shooting him a hard look as he got out of the car. "Sounds to me like he was desperate."

"Yeah, well, desperation can make you do some pretty stupid things," Tony grumbled. Not that he had any sort of personal experience with that, of course.

"That is true," agreed Steve. They crossed the street, their steps slowing as they approached the rather run-down building.

"Do you wanna ring the doorbell, or should I?" asked Tony once they arrived at the front door.

Steve shot him another glare, reaching around Tony to push the doorbell, which they could hear echoing inside the building as if it were empty. About thirty seconds later Steve frowned, pushing it again.

"Maybe no one's home," Tony mumbled. "How long ago was the thing in Hong Kong?"

"Just a couple of days," answered Steve. "So it is possible—"

He was cut off by the sound of the heavy wooden door swinging open, revealing an Asian man with a crewcut, his very round face wearing a very deep scowl.

"Can I help you?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"Hopefully," Tony said. "We're here to see—"

"Hello," Steve said politely as he shot Tony a side-eye. "I'm Steve Rogers, and this is Tony Stark. We we're hoping to speak with Doctor Strange, if he's available."

The man's eyes narrowed even more as they flicked between Tony and Steve. "He's busy."

"Busy doing what?" demanded Tony. "Messing around with time again?"

"Tony!" Steve hissed.

"What do you know about it?" the man asked suspiciously. "Were you there or something?"

"I saw something about it on the news," Steve answered.

"There wasn't anything on the news about it," the man insisted. "We made sure of it."

"Well, apparently you didn't get everything," Tony snapped. "'Cause the old man here saw something, and not even he could make up a story like this."

"Who is it, Wong?" a deeper voice said from further inside the building.

"Tony Stark and Steve Rogers," the man, apparently named Wong, answered.

There was a pause for a moment as Wong stuck his head back inside the door, exchanging words with whoever else was inside. Finally, he poked his head back out.

"You may come in," he said, pushing open the door. Tony stepped inside, his eyes sweeping around the vast entryway of the building that resembled a nineteen twenties hotel ballroom. About ten or fifteen feet from the door was a wide staircase that led to the second floor, flanked on either side by tall umbrella stands that matched the railings on the staircase.

And standing off to the side, in front of what appeared to be something that resembled an actual cauldron, stood Doctor Strange. He was dressed in some sort of blue outfit topped by a flowing maroon cloak with a high collar, not too unlike, Tony realized with a grimace, what those damn kids in that Harry Potter series liked to wear when they were playing magic.

"Mr. Stark," Strange said, his voice low and arrogant to Tony's ears. "And Captain Rogers."

"It's nice to meet you, Doctor," said Steve. "We… um…"

"What are you doing here?" asked Strange. "I don't recall ever contacting the Avengers."

"We're here because your little escapade over in Hong Kong was messing with one of our team members!" Tony snapped, already completely over this man's holier-than-thou attitude. "And we'd like an explanation."

Strange's thick eyebrows knitted together. "I fail to see how that's at all possible. As far as I know, none of the Avengers were present in Hong Kong recently."

"One of our team members is an artificial life-form, Doctor," Steve began.

"Ah, yes," Strange interrupted. "The Vision, as you call him? I've heard of him."

"Not 'The Vision'," said Tony. "Just 'Vision'. And no, he wasn't in Hong Kong with you and the rest of your little traveling entertainment troupe. But part of Vision's personality stems from something that didn't particularly enjoy whatever the hell it was that you guys did over there. It was messing around with his systems, and I wanna know why."

Stepping closer to Tony, Strange narrowed his eyes. Tony stared right back at the slightly taller man, unblinking. He'd had more than his fair share of encounters with arrogant assholes to know how to not back down.

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to discuss the incident in Hong Kong in greater detail with you, Mr. Stark," Strange finally said. "But suffice it to say, I am curious as to how you think you're able to connect that incident with a malfunction in your artificial team member."

Tony and Steve exchanged loaded looks, with Tony rolling his eyes. This was getting them nowhere.

"And I'm afraid I can't explain it any further than that, Doctor," Tony said, overly politely. "So if that's it, then I guess we're done here."

Tapping Steve on the elbow, Tony turned, intending to head for the door when Wong suddenly spoke up. "Stephen," he said quietly. "Perhaps we should—"

"Should what?" Strange interrupted, rather angrily. "Perhaps we should also open up the Sanctum as an amusement park, is that what you're suggesting?"

"These are the Avengers," Wong insisted. "They're not reporters or private investigators, or even the hospital Board of Directors. I'm sure they're fairly good at keeping secrets by now."

"I assure you, Doctor," Steve said. "We're only looking for answers. We have no intention of—"

"I have little interest in your intentions, Captain," said Strange. He huffed out a sharp breath as he glared at them. "My only interest is doing my job effectively, which does not allow for interference from any outside sources, no matter who that source might be."

"And what exactly is your job, besides making balloon animals?" asked Tony.

The corners of Strange's lips twitched. "Protecting your reality, douchebag. I am a Master of the Mystic Arts."

"What the hell," Tony muttered. This dude really thinks he's a wizard. He yanked on Steve's elbow, trying to get him to head for the door. "We're getting nowhere fast here, old man, let's—"

"I must apologize for Stephen, here, Mr. Stark," Wong spoke up, earning him a sharp glare from Strange. "He is still getting used to his position here. What exactly is your question?"

Tony let out a sigh as he glanced at Steve. "We need—"

"We'd like to know," Steve cut in. "If you're in possession of the Time Stone. It's one of the—"

"Six Infinity Stones," interrupted Strange with a slight smirk. "Yes, I've heard of them. Why do you ask?"

"Because Vision's got one of 'em stuck in the middle of his forehead," Tony barked. "And when you guys were having your little soirée over in Hong Kong, it started acting funny."

"Funny, how?" asked Strange.

"Vision said it felt almost like a power surge," explained Tony. "It was painful for him."

Wong glanced over at Strange, who gave him a quick nod. "Which stone does this… Vision have?"

"The Mind Stone," said Steve. "It was encased in Loki's scepter during the Battle of New York."

"And you think this power surge was caused when Stephen used the Time Stone?" Wong asked.

"Seems too coincidental to not be the case," said Tony. "So you were in fact using the Time Stone, then?"

Instead of answering, Stephen held out his arms, bringing his hands across each other in front of his chest and causing the pendant he was wearing to open, revealing a bright green stone encased inside.

"I am the guardian of this Sanctum," Strange said. "I am also the Sorcerer Supreme, which puts the Time Stone— and its protection—under my responsibility. I have sworn an oath to protect this stone with my life."

"Okay," Tony said slowly. "So then does protecting it also include using it?"

"No," answered Strange. "Using it is not something I take lightly. The incident in Hong Kong was a matter of life or death. I had no other choice."

"And I don't suppose you can expand on that explanation at all?" said Tony.

"I'm afraid not, Mr. Stark," replied Strange as the pendant closed back around the stone. "I've already told you a lot more than I personally feel comfortable with."

Tony gritted his teeth as he glanced up at Steve, who only shrugged. "Well, then I guess we've gotten pretty much all we're gonna get outta this visit," he said. "Thanks anyway."

"You're welcome, Stark," answered Strange. "Please send my regards to your artificial friend."

"Yeah, yeah," muttered Tony as he pushed open the heavy wooden door.

"Have a nice day!" called Wong as they exited the building. Tony and Steve stood on the street for a moment, both lost in thought.

"I can't believe that guy actually thinks he's some sort of wizard now," Tony said once they were headed towards the car. "I mean, really. That dude's ego was radiating off of him so strongly I think he could've overheated Peter with it."

Steve only shook his head, a slight smirk playing on his lips. "What?" demanded Tony. "What's on your mind, old man?"

"I'm sorry, Tony," Steve said with a laugh. "But I have to say, Doctor Strange wasn't all that different from you when I first met you."

"Oh, come on!" Tony exclaimed as he started the car. "I was never that—"

"Yeah, you were, Tony," Steve interrupted. "On the helicarrier? Before the Chitauri showed up? You were."

Tony scoffed. "I refuse to believe I was ever that insufferable. And we were being influenced by the Mind Stone on that helicarrier, in case you've forgotten."

"No, I haven't forgotten, Tony," Steve said, still chuckling. "I will say though, you're a lot better now than—"

"All right, all right, that's enough of that," grumbled Tony. "I'm just sore about the fact that I'm gonna have to tell Pete that I met a real-life wizard today. Or, at least someone who thinks he's a real-life wizard."

"You're gonna tell Peter about this?" asked Steve.

"Kid'll just find out anyway," Tony said with a shrug. "He's already heard about the Infinity Stones, and he's too smart not to pick up on the rest. I don't think I could keep it from him if I tried anymore."

"You're probably right," Steve said. "I just don't want him to feel too burdened by everything."

"He's my son, old man," said Tony, not without a hint of melancholy. "The poor kid's gonna always be burdened."

"Hey, Dad," Peter said as he entered the lab, tossing his backpack in the general direction of the couch. Tony was bent over the counter, examining the new pod he'd just completed to house Peter's nanotech suit.

"Hey, buddy," Tony replied. "How was school?"

"Not too bad. You know how it gets towards the end of the year; everyone's just trying to push through till the end."

"Yeah," Tony said with a chuckle. "I'm pretty sure that was my attitude about school all the time though, not just during the last few weeks of the year." Tony had told Peter plenty of stories over the years of all of his inventive ways of ditching school, as the curriculum at his prestigious boarding school only managed to bore him to tears. "Robotics Lab okay?"

"Yeah, it's always fun," Peter said with a smile. "What'cha working on?"

"Oh, just a little something for a certain Spider-Kid," Tony said with a wink, setting down the pod and removing his glasses.

"Really?" Peter exclaimed. "It's for me? What is it?"

"Mmm, you'll see when I'm done," Tony said, winking. "And you'll never guess who I met today?"

"Who?" asked Peter, his brown eyes wide under his mop of curls. Kid needed another haircut.

"A wizard. Or at least a guy who calls himself a wizard."

Peter's eyebrows went so high they disappeared under his hair. "Oh my God, really? Like, really really?"

"Really really," answered Tony. "He even wore a robe and everything."

"Oh wow, I can't wait to tell Ned about this!" Peter yelped, just before he froze. "Wait a sec. Can I tell Ned about this?"

"Eh, sure, why not," Tony said. Can't be too much of a secret if he's walking around New York City dressed like that.

"Oh good! What Hogwarts house was he in do you think? Remember when we did that quiz, and it said that Steve was in Gryffindor and you were in Ravenclaw, but we also thought you could've been in Slytherin, so—"

"Yeah, yeah, I remember, Pete," Tony muttered. He had to admit that the Harry Potter stuff hadn't turned out to be as bad as he'd feared once they'd actually gotten into the movies. "Um… I'd say either Slytherin or Ravenclaw for this guy too. He's damn smart, or at least he used to be, but he's also arrogant as hell, so—"

"Oohh!" Peter said excitedly. "I can't wait to tell Ned! He's probably gonna faint! Wait, why were you talking to a wizard today? Something strange happen or something?"

"Yep," answered Tony, trying to hide his smirk. That name, I just can't! "In more ways than one. But it's nothing you need to worry about, Pete, and I mean that, okay? Steve and I just wanted to… make our acquaintance, that's all."

Peter scowled; Tony knew he hated being told not to worry about something, but he couldn't see any good reason to tell Peter about the Time Stone at the moment. "Hmph. Fine. It's still pretty cool though."

"Probably not as cool as whatever it is that you're building in Robotics Lab," Tony said. "When am I gonna get to see it?"

"I should have it done by next week," Peter said happily. "And I think you're gonna love it."

"I know I will, bud," Tony replied. "Go on and get a snack, then get started your homework, yeah? Pepper wants to take you for a haircut after dinner."

"Yeah, okay. And when are we gonna go out driving again? I wanna make sure I get all my hours in by my birthday."

"We're headed up to the Compound again this weekend, bud. We can practice some more up there."

"Uh huh."

The days and weeks passed more or less uneventfully. Wedding plans were made, changed, finalized, and then changed again, with the date finally being set for the second week in December, only a few days following the anniversary of Peter's adoption. Nothing else was heard from Doctor Strange, and Vision's Mind Stone stayed its usual dormant self, even as Tony took it upon himself to get in touch with Shuri and ask her how her data analysis on the stone was coming along. Tony was growing more and more uneasy even having the thing around, and was starting to contemplate asking Shuri if she thought it would be safe to try and remove it.

It was yet another question Tony would have preferred to ask Bruce and Thor. If in fact the Mind Stone could be removed from Vision, what would they then do with it? Destroy it? Send it somewhere else? Tony couldn't explain why he felt so uncomfortable with the thought of having two of these Infinity Stones on Earth, but the fact that Steve shared his uneasiness only worked to intensify it.

Discussing the Mind Stone was not the only reason Tony had for contacting Shuri, however. Peter's sixteenth birthday was rapidly approaching, and since it now seemed unlikely that he'd get to spend it on Asgard as Tony had originally hoped, he asked Shuri and T'Challa if it would be okay for the family to spend it in Wakanda again. As he'd suspected, Shuri was more than willing to entertain that suggestion, and even suggested that Ned come along as well, which nearly caused Ned's head to explode when Tony first broached the subject with him. T'Challa even seemed to be looking forward to it, saying that Bucky Barnes would enjoy the company as well.

Peter continued his patrols during the summer, keeping with his schedule of two to three days a week so as to hopefully not draw too much suspicion. Tony just about lost it a couple of times when Peter came home injured, with one particular knife wound to his left leg towards the middle of July that was bad enough to require summoning Rhodey back from the Compound to help Tony stitch it closed. It took over three weeks for Tony to allow Peter go out again after that, with Rhodey insisting that Tony finally go through the field medic course offered by the Air Force so he could learn to stitch up Peter's wounds by himself. Already an expert seamstress from sewing dozens of Avenger uniforms over the years, it wasn't difficult for Tony to learn how to stitch wounds closed. The fact that he was stitching the wounds of his own son was the part of that equation that didn't sit well with him.

Thankfully, Peter's leg was fully healed by the time his birthday rolled around and it came time to depart for Wakanda. Which turned out to be good, because the birthday party that Shuri and T'Challa threw for him blew the extravaganza that was his fifteenth birthday party completely out of the water, making it seem almost quaint in comparison. T'Challa explained to Tony and Steve during the five-hour, ten-course birthday dinner that turning sixteen in Wakanda was apparently a very Big Deal, and with Shuri being… well… Shuri, there were absolutely no corners cut to ensure that this was a birthday Peter would never forget. Shuri even taught Peter a traditional African dance that the two of them performed after the dessert course of the dinner, just prior to the fireworks display that lasted almost thirty minutes.

When it was all over, Ned was so exhausted that Steve ended up having to carry him back to his bedroom, with Shuri and Tony supporting an equally exhausted Peter between them.

They ended up staying in Wakanda for over a week after the birthday celebration, as no one seemed to want to leave. Even Pepper, who usually got twitchy after being away from work over a weekend, was more relaxed and carefree than Tony had seen her in a long time. Steve was more than happy to spend some more time with Barnes, who seemed to have completely recovered from his HYDRA Winter Soldier brainwashing, and after a few encouraging words from T'Challa, assuring Tony that his King's Guard was more than adequate to keep an eye on Peter for a couple of days, he and Pepper took off for the far side of the country to spend some time in the mountainous area, exploring it as a possible honeymoon destination.

Tony had been contemplating taking Pepper to Italy on their honeymoon, as Pepper had never been there before and it had been quite a few years since Tony had been there last. But after only two days spent exploring the beautiful foothills of the Wakandan mountains, all plans for Italy were quickly scrapped.

Unfortunately, almost as soon as they touched back down in New York City, the uneasy feeling Tony had been able to squash down during their time in Wakanda came rushing back. It had been a few months since that incident in Hong Kong with Doctor Strange, and while Vision hadn't reported any further problems with his stone, Tony was getting more and more antsy to just get it out of his head. Peter and Shuri had spent a lot of time going over the Mind Stone data while Tony and Pepper were off exploring the mountains, and Shuri had assured Tony that she felt confident she could safely remove the stone whenever they wanted to give it a try. It was only a matter of making sure it was still okay with Vision, and then getting him down there.

"Hey, Dad," Peter said as he walked into the lab one afternoon, a few weeks after the start of the school year. "How's it going?"

"Not too bad, buddy," Tony said as he ruffled Peter's hair. He'd been working on yet another new Falcon pack for Sam for most of the day and was nearly finished with it, leaving most of tomorrow available for running errands and checking on wedding stuff for Pepper. "How was your day?"

"Eh, it was okay," answered Peter. "Nothing too exciting."

"You sound disappointed by that, Pete," noted Tony. "Were you expecting something else?"

Peter shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I kinda thought that once I got to be a junior that school would be just… different. Harder, or something. But it's not. It's just kinda like how it's always been."

"Well, not everyone's as smart as you are, bud," Tony said proudly. "But if you're really bored I'm sure we could talk to Principal Morita and see if we could get—"

"No, it's okay, Dad," Peter said quickly. "I don't wanna get any sort of special treatment or anything. And it's not that I'm bored, really. It's more that I kinda wish I could just hang out here, building stuff with you. Kinda like Shuri gets to down in Wakanda."

Tony's heart did a flip. He never got tired of hanging out with Peter in the lab, and it amazed him to no end that Peter still seemed to enjoy it just as much as he did.

"College will be more like that, Pete," Tony said, even as he cringed internally. How could he be already thinking about college? "More stuff that you enjoy more often. I won't say no to you hanging out in here with me more often until then, though. You know I won't."

"I know," Peter said with a soft smile. He set his backpack down on the counter, where he usually worked on his homework. "I'm gonna go get something to eat, Dad."

"Sure thing, bud."

"Oh, I almost forgot, I need to show you something," Peter added, returning to his backpack and rummaging through it. He pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, handing it to Tony. "It's a permission slip, we're going on a field trip in a couple days."

"Oh?" Tony asked as he took the paper, smoothing out the wrinkles. "Where to this time?"

"MoMA," answered Peter, jerking his head forward when Tony blinked in confusion. "You know, the Museum of Modern Art?"

"Aahh," Tony said. "Too bad Pepper can't go with you, she'd probably enjoy it." He frowned as he read over the paper. "You're gonna be taking a school bus?"

"Well, yeah," Peter said with a shrug. "That's how most field trips are, Dad, you know that."

"Mmm," grumbled Tony. "I'm still not the biggest fan of the school buses, Pete. The last time you took one of those somewhere you ended up getting bit by a spider. Are you sure that I can't—"

"MoMA's not that far from the school, Dad," Peter interrupted, smirking. "It's too close to take the jet. And besides, I doubt they'd have any spiders in there, so I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Yeah, yeah," muttered Tony as he signed the paper. "Just be careful, buddy. Okay?"

"Dad, it's just a field trip to a museum," Peter said trying to sound reassuring as he slid the permission slip back into his backpack. "What's gonna go wrong?"

And... there we are. ;)

I can't wait to see what you guys think! Please don't hesitate to leave me a review! :)