Hello all!

Another chapter down... 9 chapters to go... Exciting times. Cannot believe we're heading for the end of this fic now...

Good news is that I have two weeks off from work starting from this Friday and I'm not really intending on doing much but I'm going to try my best to make a lot of progress on this fic so from now onwards the updates will remain weekly. I'm really excited about the following chapters!

Thank you, everyone, who has commented so far!

Please, do, enjoy!


Chapter Twenty-Nine

The Strategy

Wednesday 8th August 2018

"Tony?"

Tony wiped his face with the towel, slowing his jog on the treadmill before it finally stopped. "What do you want, Steve?"

It had been two months since Thor and the Guardians had arrived on Earth. Thanos had not yet attacked which surprised Tony and Natasha. They had contemplated trying to seek the Titan out but they figured the moment they left Earth, Thanos would strike, and they couldn't risk leaving the planet undefended.

The world was on heightened alert, though the general public was unaware of how prepared Earth was for an alien incursion, nor were they aware of the incoming threat that threatened their entire civilisation. Those that needed to know were kept in the fold. The Guardians had agreed to stay and had been bunking out at the Avenger's Facility, taking the occasional excursion to space.

"I just wanted to talk…"

"About what?" Tony stepped off the treadmill, throwing the towel over his shoulder.

Steve bit his lower lip. "Well… this may seem odd… Wasn't Morgan born in 2019?"

"She was…" Tony replied slowly. He wondered where Steve was going with this.

"Isn't it getting close to the time when she would need to… erm…" Steve's face went red. "Sorry, this isn't a subject I would usually partake in…"

Tony chuckled. He was sure Roger's didn't mean to discuss his and Pepper's sex life but Steve was one of the only people who knew Morgan had existed and had an invested interest in ensuring she was born. "I am well aware of when she needs to be… created." He peered curiously at Steve. "I suspect there is more to this conversation than you're hinting at though." He was quietly bemused.

Steve shrugged, trying to avoid Tony's assertions. "Remember when you told me about Morgan?"

"Yeah…" He was intrigued by where Steve was going with this.

"When I met Peggy… I had hoped after the war had ended, we could be together… Then I slept for seventy years. I see you with Pepper and the future you hope you can still have… When you told me about Morgan, your eyes…I saw how much you cared for them, how much you love them and would do anything for them. You already gave your life for the universe… I'd do anything for you to get what you want. You deserve it after everything you've been through." Steve glanced away.

"Really?" Tony wasn't sure. He'd made plenty of mistakes in the past. "I believe I'm not worthy. I've spent the last part of my life trying to make up for all the silly mistakes I've done, trying to be the person I was supposed to be… I'm not sure I can make up for decades worth of wrongs… I may have been brought back… but am I worth the trouble I've caused to let me have the life I want to have?" He shook his head. It was a hard idea to believe. "Steve… I have to face Thanos. I may die doing it, in fact, there is a very high chance I will do so. No one else can make the sacrifice I will probably have to make. I want to be a father to Morgan, I want to see her grow up… but…" He lowered his head. "I do not believe it will happen… We're too close to the date of her conception for me to believe she is meant to be…"

"Tony," said Steve earnestly, "I want to promise you one thing and I intend to keep it, no matter what."

"Steve…" Tony held up his hands to stop him, afraid of what Steve was going to promise. He didn't want him to make promises he couldn't keep.

"No, Tony, I'm doing this." Steve was stubborn, if not practical. Once he got an idea into his head, he had to do it. "I am promising you, no matter what happens, you will get to be with Pepper, and Morgan will exist." He shook Tony's shoulder gently. "Besides, the only way I'll be able to ever be with Peggy now is if I join her in death. You may not be a man of God, Tony, but I was raised as one… and though I've had my eyes opened, and I see how large the universe is, a part of me still hopes we are united with our loved ones when we die. It won't be just Peggy I see, it will be my mum and my dad too."

Tony wasn't sure what to say. He recognised Steve would try to tell him otherwise if he attempted to talk Steve out of his promise. No, Steve may have made a promise, but he wouldn't accept it, as long as he had some control over it.

It wasn't just the world that needed Captain America. The friends and the family he had made here had to count for something. He didn't dispute Steve's words, only accepted them… for now.


It was late afternoon when Tony received a message from Natasha, asking him to join them in the Conference Room. Making his way there, holding Pepper's hand, they arrived to find Carol Danvers standing against the wall, her arms folded across her chest, and grimacing.

Tony brightened when he saw her but Carol's expression said it all. She was not here for a social visit. Something had happened…

Reluctantly he released Pepper's hand, dread settling into the pit of his heart. Thanos had been too quiet for the last two months. They'd let him go and now Tony figured he was about to learn what the mad Titan had been doing all this time. Steve, Bruce, Thor, and Wanda were already waiting for him.

"I get the feeling this is going to be bad…" Tony noted, realising it was probably the most obvious thing he could say.

"You could say that," Carol shrugged. "You have powers now, right?" She was staring at Tony.

He figured the others had already informed her. "Yeah," he admitted. "Absorbed all the Stones, now I have powers. Why?"

"Thanos implied as much," stated Carol darkly.

Tony swallowed. He wasn't liking where this conversation was going. "And?" He probed further.

"I was ambushed. And, believe me, it is very difficult to ambush me," said Carol. "He has something, a device, on his person, situated on his wrist. A device which disabled me."

The bad feeling became worse. Shit.

"What is it?" whispered Pepper, her face chalk white.

"It drained me of my powers. He could have easily killed me and I would have been helpless against him. But he didn't. He chose to let me go. I know he wanted me to come here but I couldn't not warn you. He said to me 'if I can negate the effects of your powers with this device, then I can harness the Stones from Stark'." Carol leaned forward. "I have reason to believe he has a larger device installed in his ship which could harness your powers. The device he had on him is one he can use to block or drain me of my powers. I'm ineffectual against him if he has the device on him."

"Which would explain why he let you live," said Steve, "because he has a defence against you."

"That means this device would affect me too?" asked Wanda.

Carol nodded. "If you got your powers from the Stones, yes."

"She did," confirmed Tony. He wanted to scream. He'd discovered his powers but would not be unable to use them against Thanos. "I could have ended this ages ago if I'd just gone to find him myself…"

"Tony…" began Steve, "you cannot blame yourself. You weren't ready. We weren't ready. Now we are. We know how to prepare ourselves. He may be able to take away your powers but he won't take away Iron Man."

Steve's words did make him feel slightly better. He still had the suit. Even if Thanos did block his powers, he'd still be able to deal damage.

"The question I have," began Natasha, "is where did he get this device from? Who built it for him?"

"I don't know," answered Carol, "even my own scans couldn't identify the material used. It's tough and very ancient… Not many in the universe would be able to craft such a device."

"Oh no…" Thor muttered, shaking his head. "We have to get to Nidavellir. It's where I got my hammer from. Only Eitri would be able to build such a device. Last time Thanos was there he killed all the dwarves, save from Eitri… If he returned there…"

"He might not have a reason to leave him alive this time…" swallowed Bruce, shock adorning his features.

"How quickly can we get there?" asked Steve, already activating his comm-unit to summon the Guardians and the other Avengers.

"Depending on the location, I could get there in a few hours or days," said Carol.

"A regular ship would take weeks," said Thor, "even with its location within the Nine Realms. I could take us there in an instant…" He held up his hammer. "I'd be quicker."

"No," Tony shook his head. "There is another way."

"Tony…" Natasha clearly knew what he was thinking.

"We need to know if I can, Nat. I can portal all around the Earth, to any place I want to be or where I need to be. We've been waiting for an opportunity like this. If I can portal myself to Nidavellir, without ever having been there, just by thinking of it, then we know how far my portal abilities can stretch. We assume I could return to Earth before because I live here. This is the perfect time to test my theory. How far do my powers truly reach?"

Natasha sighed. She raised her hand. "I vote for Tony over Thor."

He smiled gratefully at her. Her support was what he needed right now.

"If you're doing this, I'm coming to," said Pepper, grabbing his hand.

"What-? No!" Tony turned to face her. "You have to stay here where it is safe."

"Chances are Thanos is on his way here already," stated Pepper haughtily. "If he comes here and you are not on Earth, the first thing he will do is come and get me. But he won't because I'd be with you and you can protect me easier if you know where I am. Plus, I have my own suit. I'm not as defenceless as you want me to be, Tony. I said I'd stay by your side. That isn't changing."

"How could I be so lucky to have you?" he whispered.

"Someone has to stay here if Thanos comes in the meantime," interrupted Steve.

"You should stay Steve," suggested Natasha. "Carol, Thor, Tony, Pepper and I should go to Nidavellir. We shouldn't be too long."

"I think Carol should stay here," advised Bruce. "We might need her. I'm not sure if the Hulk is even going to fight in this battle. We're having issues at the moment…" In the two months since Bruce had been on Earth, he had not been able to summon the Hulk. And it was frustrating that one of their biggest hitters was refusing to help. "I'm working on a solution… but…"

"You don't know if it will be ready in time," answered Steve.

"I'd stay," said Carol, "but I know what Thanos is using. These guys do not. I can help narrow the search down at Nidavellir, especially if something has happened to this Eitri. If he's not alive, I'm the only one who can identify anything to do with this device Thanos has had created."

"She has a point," backed up Tony. "But we're wasting time standing here and debating this."

Steve nodded and back away. "If Thanos is nearly here, Tony, we'll have everyone ready by the time you return."

Tony inclined his head. "I'll hold you to that, Rogers." He held out his hands. "I've never done this before and if it doesn't work, we have Thor as a backup."

"Wait, don't you and Pepper need your suits?" asked Natasha. "What if Thanos is waiting for us there?"

"Another good point raised," muted Tony, "but one I had already thought of." He reached into his pocket and held out two miniaturised Arc Reactors. "One for Pepper, and one for me. I rarely go anywhere without these." He placed the Arc Reactor on his chest, the metallic behind attaching to his clothes, and Pepper did the same. "If we needed these, we're ready."

Pepper smiled gratefully at him.

"Good luck." Steve stepped back.

"Pepper, Thor take my hand." Pepper stood by his right side and Thor on his left. Then Natasha held Thor's hand and Carol held Pepper's.

Tony closed his eyes.

Take me to Nidavellir… he willed silently.

He felt his chest warming and a pull at his navel and he clutched tightly at Thor and Pepper's hands before a nasty tang reached his nose, a smell so nauseating he nearly gagged.

When he opened his eyes, he knew he wasn't on Earth anymore.

He was on Nidavellir.

But his eyes found the smelling and rotting body of what, he could only presume, was Eitri, just meters from where he had brought them.


Avengers Compound

The alert came through within ten minutes of Tony leaving Earth.

Multiple ships were pushing through the atmosphere, heading down towards the Earth. It was without question that Thanos had finally decided to attack.

"He must have been waiting for Tony to leave…" Steve had already called for the Avengers to assemble, alerted Wakanda and called the Accords committee, before the ships had even been detected. Even FRIDAY's satellites hadn't picked up on the ships. The only reason he could think of was that they must have been cloaked. "He was watching us all this time…"

Steve rushed towards the hanger. They had to face this threat now and hope they could hold them off before Tony returned.

"The ships have changed course." FRIDAY indicated.

Steve continued running towards the Jet. "Where are they going?"

"Calculating new trajectory… Queens… Drop ships are heading to Queens."

The location surprised Steve. "Queens? Why Queens? What's so important for them-" And it hit him. He knew what they were after. If they couldn't get Pepper to get to Tony they'd… "The kid…"

Steve only ran faster.


Nidavellir

"He killed him…" Thor knelt down beside Eitri's body, gently touching the cold body. "He's been dead for a while…" His eyes roamed his body. "He gave him his hands back… Then killed him…"

Tony wiggled his nose. A part of him had expected this. "What do we do now?"

"We look," said Carol, already moving around the chamber they'd arrived in. "There has to be some clue left behind that we can use."

Pepper was on the other side of the Chamber, fully suited up now, same as Tony was. It felt dangerous to be here, though whether that was because they'd found Eitri, or because they felt Thanos was lurking somewhere…

"Most of the equipment is destroyed," observed Natasha. "He's been really thorough… If there are any clues here, they'll be long gone. Thanos would have made sure of it."

Tony moved around to the other side of the chamber, ruffling through the rubble. "How did Eitri make his designs?"

Thor moved away from his friend's body. "Usually hand-drawn. The dwarves were… rather… despite being advanced, they never forgot the old ways. Then they created a mould of what they wanted to make before starting the full forging process. Depending on what it was they wanted forging, sometimes it could take minutes, hours, days or weeks."

"Likely any designs are burnt then…" noted Tony. He was thinking this was a useless trip. Still, he did know he could go anywhere in the universe just by thinking about it. He started to shift through the rubble. "If we can find anything, any clue…"

"We can't stay too long," said Natasha.

"I know. We need to at least do a base check, just in case. An hour at most," said Tony. "If we find nothing then we leave and work on the assumption Thanos has in his possession a device he can use to drain my powers and transfer them to himself because that is what he wants. Stopping Carol, Wanda and I becoming a threat to him is the other part of his plan."

"Let us not waste this hour then," said Pepper.


Exactly fifty-three minutes later, with just seven minutes to go before Tony intended to call it a day, he heard Pepper excitedly yelling for them to converge on her. Thor was halfway around the station and Carol had to fly out to bring him in since he hadn't switched on his com-unit.

Tony boosted over to her, choosing not to portal over to her. There was no point in using his powers for such a small jump. He landed beside her. "What have you found?"

She held up a box-shaped piece of clay. "A mould of something. But look," she pointed at the centre of the box-shaped piece. "There is room for one person to hang. Can you see the little chains? And the head piece?"

"Yeah…" Tony took the piece from her hand. A part of him wanted to throw it as far away from him as possible.

"And look," she pointed to six small holes embedded at the top of the box. "Room for six Infinity Stones."

Tony swallowed. "This is what he's got on his ship." Realisation dawned on him.

Pepper gripped him by the arms. "Tony… whatever happens, you cannot face him, not while he has this wrist thing that can block your powers. If this is what you think it is, this is what he intends to do to you once you're disabled to transport."

"Pep… I have no choice. I have to face him. I've been on this path for years. I cannot change the endgame now."

She bowed her head. "No… I suppose not… I wish you could though."

Before he could further attempt to reassure her, though he knew how helpless it would be, Carol arrived with Thor and Natasha.

"What have you found?" asked Natasha.

Tony held up the designed mould. "Something Thanos could have had forged before he killed Eitri." He handed it to Carol. "Is it what I think it could be?"

Carol inspected the mould, turning it over in her fingers; a look of pure concentration on her face. "You may be right. If so… We're in trouble."

Tony exchanged glances with Natasha. He couldn't help but notice her face was white and her lips were very slightly trembling.

"We have to get back to Earth," Natasha managed. "We're running out of time."

Tony couldn't agree more.

Pocketing the mould in a small compartment Tony formed in his suit, he took Pepper's and Nat's hands, whilst Thor and Carol took Pepper and Nat's respectively before he closed his eyes, thought of Earth and sent them spiralling back to the Avenger's Compound.

When they arrived home, it was to a disaster.


New York City – the outskirts

"What happened?" Tony swallowed, casting his eyes around him as he took in the view of the smoking outline of New York City. They hadn't been gone long… just over an hour and they had returned to find Thanos had invaded the planet and attacked New York City…

Steve sighed, his shoulder slumping. "We were too slow. It came as a surprise. We reached New York as quickly as we could… But we were too late to stop him taking what he wanted."

Those words caught Tony's attention and a feeling of dread filled his stomach. "What do you mean? What did he take?"

"Not what," clarified Steve, "rather … 'them'."

He had a feeling he knew what Steve was going to say next. He didn't want to hear it. "Don't –"

"Tony, I have to… It's important," said Steve quietly.

"Who did he take?" Tony was afraid of the answer. It wasn't Pepper as she'd been with him. But the uncanny feeling was back. Thanos had seen inside his head, had seen who Tony loved and cared for most of all. With Morgan not existing yet and Pepper with Tony in space, there were only two other possible options: Rhodey and Happy or…

"He took the kid and his Aunt," confirmed Steve quietly. "I'm sorry-"

"Damn it!" Tony whirled away from Steve, anger rippling through him, his body now glowing as his anger increased. "Why couldn't you have been faster?"

Steve looked defeated. "We tried our best, Tony. Thanos struck too quickly and too fast for us to efficiently react before it was too late. He was in and out with the kid and his Aunt before we had all left the Compound. He knew exactly where he needed to go."

Tony cursed, clenching his fists together.

He raised his head.

Above them, in orbit around the Earth, was Thanos' ship. He couldn't see the ship from where he was but he knew the Titan was waiting. Peter was up there with this Aunt. He knew the kid well enough that he wouldn't try anything if it meant putting his Aunt in danger.

But Thanos had acted smart, waiting for the moment when Tony had to leave Earth to strike and take a bargaining chip. Who knew how long Thanos had been waiting to make his move?

Tony gritted his teeth.

Steve laid a hand on Tony's shoulder. "We'll get them back, Tony."

"I know we will." Tony whirled. "Thanos is about to find out messing with me is a very bad idea."

Tony clenched his fists together.

"Assemble the Avengers. This ends today."

To be continued...

Please let me know what you think!

*ducks and hides*

Please do not kill me for that cliffhanger...

Several things in this chapter... Thanos has been quiet for the last few months, making sure he is ready for Tony... and Tony and the Avengers have been preparing Earth for Thanos' inevitable attack. They just didn't expect it to go this way.

Thanos promised Eitri, the dwarf his hands back if he crafted him a machine for harnessing the infinity Stones power from a human... and then promptly killed him so he wouldn't be able to help the Avengers. Thanos figured they'd probably go there which is why he was waiting to attack Earth. He has been ever watchful...

Thanos has two devices in his possession. One, a smaller version on his wrist, which has the capability of blocking Carol's powers and is likely to affect Tony too since Carol's powers come from an Infinity Stone, as does Wanda's. And the second is the large machine he intends for Tony.

The next chapter will be posted next weekend. I'm seeing family next Sunday so if I do update it will be very late at night. If it is finished before Sunday, I will post it on Saturday :)

The next chapter title is: The Ambush

Until next time,

the-writer1988