Afternoon!

Thank you for all the comments so far! I'm in the process of planning out the rest of the chapters for this story... At a best guess, it will be around 40 chapters. We are close to the end of the story... the Endgame is coming... So much more exciting stuff to come! And, yes, Ant-Man and the Wasp will appear! I haven't forgotten about them! This story has evolved a lot as I write it and originally I had another idea for their role but it had to be dropped... But they've both got a significant role to play to come!

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!


Chapter Twenty-Seven

Returning Home

Wednesday 30th May 2018

"What the hell just happened?" Bruce yelled in astonishment, mere seconds after the portal had vanished. "What? But that –" He shook his head.

"Tony?" whispered Pepper, her eyes shimmering with tears, focused on the space where Tony had been moments before.

"FRIDAY?" Rhodey asked, looking up at the ceiling. "Can you triangulate the energy signature?"

"No. It is of foreign origin. I am unable to trace it back to its source. I do not detect Mr. Stark on Earth."

Steve winced. "I was afraid of that."

"We have to get him back!" Pepper raised her voice. "We have to!"

"This was supposed to happen," said Natasha quietly, keeping her head low. She'd known at some point Thanos would get his hands on Tony. It had been bound to happen. The Stones had told her as much on Vormir.

Everyone turned to look at her, surprise stretching across their faces. A few tears stained Pepper's cheeks.

"Wait," Bruce held up a hand, rubbing his forehead with the other. "Tony has the Stones? All of them?"

"Five of them," admitted Natasha. "It's… complicated…" She wasn't sure how she could explain it. Not everyone was partial to the information she and Tony had died before coming back. Most believed they had simply been sent back in time.

"Tony has been absorbing them," mentioned Steve quietly.

Bruce's mouth hung open in surprise. "How? Why Tony?"

"He couldn't do before we came back," explained Natasha, "but since then, he's had an affinity for the Stones." She couldn't let on what she knew, not just yet. Tony deserved to know first, that's if he ever returned to them. She was certain he would.

"Why did you say this was supposed to happen?" asked Wanda quietly. Red energy flickered between her fingers as Tony's kidnap had clearly agitated her. "I should have tried to do something to stop him from being taken."

Natasha leaned forward and patted Wanda's arm. "There are things about Tony and I most do not know. We kept it to ourselves for a reason…" She glanced at Bruce and Rhodey. "To protect ourselves."

Rhodey pursed his lips together. "What have you been keeping from us?"

Natasha swallowed. She knew Tony wouldn't be too happy if more people knew but she had no choice. "Pepper, Wanda and Steve already know this part… But Tony and I were not sent back in time. We didn't go to sleep one day and woke up back here in the past…"

Bruce paled. "No…"

"We both died."

"What…?" Rhodey's eyes widened. "How?"

"We tried to save the universe from Thanos. I died trying to get one of the Stones and as a result of this; I appear to have the abilities of one of the Stones."

"The Soul Stone…" muttered Steve. "That's what you were warning me about before Vormir."

Natasha nodded. "A Soul for a Soul. I sacrificed myself so Clint could get the Soul Stone. Tony told me I succeeded… It was the only way to get the Stone. Tony died not long afterward… He sacrificed himself to save the universe, to stop Thanos from destroying everything. He used all six Stones…" She bowed her head, the heavy price Tony had paid to save everyone. "He was the only one close enough who could stop him… After we died, we woke up back here. There is more…"

Bruce reached for a glass of water before motioning for her to continue.

"You all know Tony has been absorbing the Stones as we collect them… Both of us have powers. I can read people's Souls, and Tony and I share a link… We think once Tony has collected all the Stones, he will be able to use his own powers," shared Natasha. It was important they knew this. "When we collected the Soul Stone on Vormir last year, I sacrificed myself again but I survived this time. For us to retrieve the Space Stone, Tony had to be taken by Thanos. There was nothing I could do to stop it."

"But Thanos will not give him a chance to get close enough to him to be able to take the Stone…" reasoned Steve. "Especially if he suspects Tony has collected all of them, whether he knows he's been absorbing them or not."

"Tony and I have a connection with one another… a bond of sorts," admitted Natasha, continuing to drop the surprises, "and we hear a voice which advises us… I was told for Tony to be able to gain the Space Stone, he'd have to be taken by Thanos… I was never told when this would happen… If I'd known I would have tried to stop it from happening. I think Tony will come back to us. But our connection is also deeper. We can sense one another… It's how I found Tony after Thaddeus Ross took him. It's how I traced him… I knew he was being hurt."

"You let this happen…" murmured Pepper, dry tears evident on her face.

"Pepper…"

The other woman held up her hand. "No, I understand, no matter how much I hate the idea you knew in advance."

"The voice we hear can stop us from revealing things. I've been here for two years longer than Tony. I wasn't allowed to change anything for two years until he arrived here," Natasha revealed, her voice hard. "I had to sit through Hydra and Ultron, knowing I could do nothing to change it, no matter how hard I tried. I didn't know it would be Tony who would be coming back… All I was told was someone else was coming and I had to wait."

"Why were you here for two years before Tony?" asked Rhodey, putting forth the question which was pondering everyone.

Natasha shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I woke up in 2014, just before we exposed HYDRA. I tried to make changes, I couldn't. Before I died, we had to collect the Infinity Stones from the past… Tony invented a time machine… Clint and I were sent to Vormir where one of us had to die. The year we chose was 2014 because one of the other Stones could be found in that year too. I suspect I woke up in 2014 as I died in that year. However, Tony died back in 2023 after all the Stones had been collected. He was the only one who could be classed as being properly sent back whereas I just woke up in the year I passed away in."

"The voice you mentioned…" began Wanda, "do you know who it is?"

Natasha did but could she really say? "I do… But Tony doesn't know yet though he has his suspicions. It wouldn't be fair if you all knew and he didn't. Tony and I are at the centre of the coming storm. We have to face Thanos."

Pepper breathed out slowly. "Tony will be okay, won't he?"

"I can't promise anything but the Voice told me he had to be taken. They wouldn't have allowed it if Tony wasn't meant to make it back," answered Natasha. She glanced around at them all.

"We have to wait then?" Rhodey leaned back in his chair. "Wait for him to pull off the Stark miracle as he did all those years ago in Afghanistan?"

"That we do," she confirmed.

"Can't you use your link to see if he's alright?" queried Steve. "If you traced him to Ross, surely you can do the same this time?"

Natasha frowned. It was an excellent question and she had been pondering the idea herself. "I could try… But even if I did, we can't rescue him. He's not on the planet."

Pepper's face steeled. "It doesn't matter. As long as I know he's still alive…" Her right hand clutched her wedding ring on her left ring finger. "We still have so much more to live for."

"I know," murmured Natasha. "Okay, let's go to Tony's lab. If he's going to return to us unexpectedly, he'll return there."

"How… how do you know that?" Bruce looked suspiciously at her.

Natasha grimaced. "Dunno… Just a feeling I have…"


Stark's Lab

Avenger's Compound

"I sensed his power…" Wanda sat on a chair facing Natasha as the other woman sat cross-legged on a mat on the floor. "Tony's, I mean. Ever since you two came back, he's been buzzing with energy, as if it has been fighting to get out of him."

"How powerful do you think Tony is?" Rhodey stood to the side, arms folded across his chest as they waited.

"More powerful than me," Wanda answered.

"She's right," interrupted Natasha. "When I searched our bond, I saw his power too." She leaned back slightly, placing her hands on her knees. "Ok, I'm going to see if I can trace him, feel him… Please no talking. It may distract me when I do not need it."

Everyone agreed. Pepper, Bruce, and Steve sat to the side whilst Rhodey began to pace as Natasha closed her eyes, and breathed deeply. The last time she had been able to accurately trace him was because Tony had been in pain and she had felt nothing from him. Tony had been missing for a few hours now. Thanos had to be hurting him, so why hadn't she felt his pain?

Maybe it is because our bond is now fully active on both sides ever since Tony and I absorbed the Soul Stone together. It was a reasonable assumption to make.

Instead, she decided to focus on her own heart and her own soul. The Soul Stone was able to help her separate herself from her physical form to her soul form. Two separate entities merged together to form a single person. As she formed the connection, she could feel the souls of her friends around her, but they couldn't sense her.

There was a heightened sense of worry and anxiety, mostly from Pepper and Rhodey emitting from them. Steve was calmer and determined and Wanda was angry and hopeful, all at once. Bruce was different. There was a green tinge to his soul, highlighting his connection to the Hulk. For now, the Hulk was asleep.

Passing on by them she reached out beyond the Compound, up and out, focusing on Tony. She felt herself leaving Earth, tracing their connection, following him to the other side of the universe. His soul was burning bright in the heavens above and now she could feel the pain he was in.

She nearly opened her mouth to scream as pain rocked over her entire body, engulfing her soul in a cosmic storm of agony but it soon passed. Tony's soul was burning brighter than before. Once it had a golden hue around it, now it vibrated with six different colours amongst the gold.

"Tony?"

He couldn't hear her. She wasn't looking out of his eyes like she had before either.

Her soul moved forward, reducing the length between them before she found herself hovering above a chamber in Thanos' ship. She could see Tony, his body alight with different colours as he floated in the air.

Wait, Tony can fly?

She could hear what they were saying to one another.

"We could learn much from one another, Tony Stark," said Thanos.

Tony scoffed. "No, we can't. We may be similar in some aspects but in others, we are completely different. There is no you and I. There are only us as enemies." He raised his hand and pointed it at the Titan.

Natasha saw one of the Black Order sneaking up behind Tony but no words verbalised from her mouth as she sought to warn him of the danger. It was too late as Tony was struck from behind and he went flying, hitting the wall with a sickening thud and he fell back to the floor.

Natasha winced. But he's got all the Stones…

She wanted to help him but all she was, was just an invisible spectator to this event, utilising her bond with Tony to see if he was alright. Yet she couldn't. He was completely alone…

He is not alone, Natasha Romanoff, the Voice reverberated in her mind. He has us…

She swallowed; assessing the information she had just been given. Then help him escape, she pleaded.

He will escape. We would not have ensured he came here if he was not supposed to escape. We spent two years changing him to be what we needed him to be. We will not lose him today.

The Voice's assurances were not very comforting, but it was all Natasha had to rely on.

He will be home soon, the Voice added. You should wait there. It will not be long.

Natasha didn't want to leave. She wanted to see how this would play out. Her soul was moving backward of its own accord, and she vanished from the ship, back out into space and sent spiralling back to Earth and back to her own body in the middle of Tony's lab.

She came too with a great gasp of air, slumping back and falling flat-out on the floor. She felt exhausted. Mentally drained too.

"Nat!" Bruce bounded over to her, kneeling down beside her. "Are you alright?"

Natasha closed her eyes briefly. "Yeah… just feel really weak…"

"You were shaking," said Wanda, "and you were pale."

Natasha tried to sit up, her body still shaking. "I think I overstretched myself…"

"Did you see Tony?" questioned Pepper quietly, rubbing Natasha's shoulders for her.

"I did. He's alive. And I think he's got the last Infinity Stone."

"How do you know?" queried Steve, passing her a glass of water which Natasha drank quickly to soothe her sudden dehydrated mouth and throat.

"Bit difficult to miss when his body is glowing and he's floating in the air," she admitted. "I heard the Voice again. It told me he would be home soon…"

"Do we know how soon?" Rhodey continued to pace, arms behind his back in worry.

"Not sure…" she admitted. Her chest began to warm suddenly, a sensation she had rarely felt and then there was –

"I am detecting a large spike of energy reading in this very lab," FRIDAY warned before there was a flash, and a portal appeared and Tony was stumbling out of it, landing with a thud on his front as the portal disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"Tony!" Ignoring the exhaustion rocking her body, Natasha pushed herself to her feet and rushed over to Tony, rolling him onto his back. "You're here!"

"What?" Tony groaned, "You were not expecting me so soon?" He coughed. His face was covered with bruises and parts of his clothes were torn and shredded. He sat up.

"TONY!" Pepper pulled him into a hug, kissing him on the cheek.

"Ow," he grunted, but ignored the pain and pulled Pepper into a deeper hug. "Thank you."

"For what?" Pepper asked.

"I thought of you and our home… and then I was here. You saved me again, Mrs. Stark."

Pepper couldn't help the tears sliding down her cheeks. "I won't ever stop saving you."

Tony smiled at her. He glanced around at the others, all with relieved expressions on their faces. "Did you miss me that much?"

"You got snatched from right in front of us by the monster you've been warning us about," stated Rhodey. "How the hell are we supposed to react when you return to us quite unexpectedly?"

Tony grinned. "Point. You should know I have the ability to do the most impossible things…"

Rhodey rolled his eyes. "Oh, we know, Tones… We know."

Natasha still felt tired but she needed to hear from Tony what had happened to him. Though she had seen a brief glimpse she was sure the others were dying to know too. "What happened to you?"

"A lot, surprisingly," answered Tony. "Anyone got any water? I'm parched."

"I'll get it," said Steve, rushing off to retrieve Tony and Natasha another cup of water each.

"Thanks." Tony eyed Natasha. "Are you okay? You look a bit… unwell, Nat."

She grinned. "I used our link to search for you… I found you… saw a bit and then got yanked back here. It drained me… I think the distance was the problem."

"Oh…" Tony nodded. "Hmm, makes sense."

She folded her arms across her chest. "So, tell us. What happened to you?"

"Thanos toyed with me for a bit. Threw me around like a ragdoll with the Space Stone and then dumped me into a pit full of those warriors of his that attacked New York. He wanted to know what I'd done with the Stones. I refused."

"Good." Natasha knew how important it was that Thanos never found out what Tony could do.

"He turned nasty…" Tony admitted. "He used a device on me which could project y memories out of my mind so Thanos could see them."

"Shit," whispered Steve.

"Language," muttered Tony.

"He saw everything… All my life before we came here… He realised I'd travelled back in time. He saw I'd fought him before. Pep… he threatened you… He's been watching us for a while now. He had agents observing our wedding day… I think it has been since Xandar…possibly even before then too. He always knew who I was when I fought him on Titan. Just lately I've been under more surveillance."

"How did he realise you'd travelled back?" asked Wanda.

"He saw how the Accords were handled. My memories were a different story. They didn't go well before… A huge rift was torn in the Avengers because of them. But Nat and I made sure we handle them well enough the divide didn't happen. He saw himself win. Saw my life after Thanos had won…" He choked back a sob. "He saw… Mo… " He nearly said Morgan's name but stopped himself.

"Our future child…" Pepper realised.

Tony nodded. "Yeah. He threatened them. He saw my death…" He glanced at Bruce and Rhodey. "Sorry, that's something we neglected to men-"

Natasha held up a hand. "I told them. They know."

"Oh. Right." Tony swallowed. "He saw my death but they couldn't see further… They found a barrier in my memories, something I can't even remember even now. They tried to break it down."

Shit. Natasha knew what they had found. Tony's memories of the two years he'd spent with the Infinity Stones.

"They broke the barrier down…I don't remember what they saw, all I know was that I was in a lot of pain during the mind-reading and I blacked out. The next thing I knew I was free, waking up on the floor and found both Thanos and his Squidward son unconscious on the floor. I took the only opportunity I had and retrieved the Space Stone from his Gauntlet… I wasn't careful enough. Thanos saw… I don't think he knows I absorbed it, only that I have somehow concealed it with my person. He was trying to kill me when I stopped him…" He sighed, his shoulders drooping. "I got all the Stones and I can use the power I have, just not very well. I barely escaped."

"You made it back though." Natasha smiled, pleased to see him.

"Yeah." Tony glanced at his hands. "I need to learn how to use these powers, 'cos, either way, Thanos is coming for me. I'm the key he needs to destroy the universe… There's probably some way he can use me, and we can't let it happen."

Natasha agreed. A brief image flashed in her mind. When she'd been conversing with Soul on Vormir, she'd seen flashes of the future. One of them had been of Tony held in a machine, his body shimming in six different colours… She'd been shown it for a reason. "We won't let him use you, Tony."

The others shook their heads, agreeing with her.

"If Thanos needs you to destroy the universe, he will not succeed. We will not let him," she vowed. "And once you can control these powers, he will have no way of beating you or forcing you to surrender." She flickered her gaze over to Pepper. "And if he thinks he can use Pepper against you? He won't. We'll protect her too."

Tony's lips twitched at the side. "Thank you."

Natasha reached out and rubbed him on the shoulder in a friendly gesture.

Steve cleared his throat. "I think you both need to rest. Tony, you've been through a lot in a short space of time, and Nat, you need to sleep."

She couldn't argue with that assertion.

"Tomorrow," stated Tony.

"Tomorrow?" she queried.

Tony nodded towards her and Wanda. "You, Wanda and me in the training area. We need to work out these powers I have before it is too late."

"Okay. Just make sure you rest," Natasha pressed.

Tony raised an eyebrow at her. "If you do, I will too."

She laughed. "Fine, I will."

Tony's lips pulled upwards. "Good."

In the end, they both slept for hours.


Thursday 31st May 2018

Sanctuary II

"I have news, sire." Ebony Maw bowed before Thanos, rising only when his father motioned for him to do so.

"What have you learned?"

"I have observed all of the recordings taken of Stark. The Stone he took from the Gauntlet he absorbed. It went into his body…"

Thanos leaned forward, assimilating the new information. "How is it possible he can do that?"

"The hidden memories we uncovered… Trying to break the barrier down caused them to break free. The resulting backlash affected all of us. Stark was the first one to wake. He would have seen the memories himself yet does not recall them. He was emitting energy signatures afterward which I have been able to analyse from the footage alone."

"Can they be identified?" asked Thanos.

Ebony Maw inclined his head. "They match the energy emitting from the Infinity Stones which would be understandable if he somehow has the ability to absorb them and use their powers."

"Powers he has only just discovered…" Thanos leaned forward. "The Stones can only be wielded by one who is worthy, who is strong enough to channel their power. A human body is too frail to hold the magnitude of the universe within it. The Power Stone alone would burn his body to ash in an instant. So, how can he survive?"

"I believe the hidden memories may hold a clue for us. Every memory we extracted from his brain has been recorded by our cameras… including these hidden ones."

"Show them," Thanos ordered, waving a hand to tell Ebony Maw to proceed.

Maw pressed a few buttons on a remote he held in his hand before the flickering images of Stark's hidden memories appeared in the air in front of them.

Six figures stood around Stark as he lay on a flat surface.

"We're sorry we have to do this to you…" One stroked the man's burnt and bloodied face.

Blood dripped out the sides of his mouth.

"It is necessary…" another replied.

Stark was naked. The six figures were moving around him, touching, prodding, and healing his injuries.

"He cannot handle our power… No human can."

"Then we must remake him."

Stark was screaming hoarsely as he attempted to fight them off. "NO! STOP! PLEASE! DON'T! NO MORE! LET ME DIE!"

They grabbed his head, pushing needles into his brain, injecting fluids directly into his brain, pushing more needles all over his body.

"Your cells need to be changed, Tony…"

"You need it…"

"That is all we have," confirmed Ebony Maw.

"Those six figures are the universal personification of the six Infinity Stones," deduced Thanos. "They are sentient to the universe. Those are the figures in the memories. It does not surprise me they have a will of their own. It takes great strength and determination to wield all six and bend them to your own will. The Stones changed Stark. Gave him the ability to absorb their powers. They'd be safe with him, no one would know where they have disappeared to." Thanos' expression became menacing. "They underestimated me."

"It may be possible to harness the energy within Stark with the correct equipment," suggested Maw. "At the moment he is dangerous with uncontrolled powers. It may be easier to extract them from him."

"He'll be on his guard now," advised Thanos, "waiting for us to strike. We'll do so when he least expects it. If the only way to obtain the Infinity Stones is to drain them from Stark, then that is what I shall do. Set a course for Nidavellir. I require Eitri's services to craft me a device to do just that…"

He may have to wait a tiny bit longer than he had hoped he would but Thanos knew it wouldn't be long until he had achieved the reality he wanted for the universe. He would save it, and all with Tony Stark's help.

To be continued...

Please let me know what you think!

Thanos has guessed who the six figures are - and it is a fair assumption to make. His intentions to use Tony may be his only way of acquiring the power of the Stones. If he cannot acquire the Stones himself, he can always try to harness them from their source...

The next few chapters will be the lead-up to the final confrontation. And, boy, there is a lot of great stuff to come. Hopefully, I manage to tie up all the plot points I've set up so far in this story.

Next week: Tony begins his training to learn how to use his powers... To be posted Sunday 23rd February...

Until then,

the-writer1988