"Dad's going to kill us if he sees us."
"He won't see us if you keep it down."
"Move the camera up more."
"Would you three shut up. He's about to do it!"
"Raise the camera!"
The camera lifted slightly just as Tony knelt and held up a box.
"FINALLY!"
"Rhodey!"
"Uncle Rhodey!"
"Cavallo!"
"Colonel Rhodes!"
Tony turned to the group with a glare while Pepper looked amused, even with tears in her eyes.
"It's about time and you all know it!" Rhodey said defensively.
"She hasn't even said yes yet," Nebula pointed out.
Tony looked up at his girlfriend with wide eyes and she gave a wet laugh, nodding and pulling him up into a hug.
The group cheered and the camera bounced forwards.
"Can I see the ring?" Peter asked as Tony put it on her finger and Pepper held out her hand.
The ring was shaped into a flower with a modest diamond at its center and little garnets speckling the petals while gears were engraved into the platinum band.
"Aw, you didn't use Uncle Happy's?" Peter whined before letting out a grunt in time with the sound of a smack and the camera jerking downwards.
"It looks lovely, Father," Nebula said pointedly.
"Jess helped me. I picked the setting and garnets, but she might have convinced me to tone it down on the diamond, a little."
"Does a little translate to a lot?" Harley asked innocently and Tony shoved him away without even looking.
Pepper kissed him on the cheek. "I'll send her my thanks with the announcement."
"Wait, you told Drew you were doing this but not me?" Rhodey asked, affronted.
Tony gave him an annoyed look. "I didn't tell anyone but Jess and Jay, and yet here you all are."
"Jay's a gossip and so is Nebs. Can I be the ring bear?" H.O.M.E.R. asked.
"It's ring bearer and you know it," Nebula said.
"I want to be the ring bearer," Peter said.
"If Peter's ring bearer then I want to be the flower girl," Harley said.
"If anyone's going to be the flower girl, it's going to be a girl," J.O.C.A.S.T.A. cut in.
"I'm willing to wear a dress!" Harley shot back.
"I think it makes the most sense for U to be the ring bearer," P.L.A.T.O. hummed.
"Oh man, imagine Dum-E as the flower girl," Harley said before laughing alongside Rhodey. "Okay, I'll give it up for him."
"No," Happy said blankly.
"Would it not be more traditional for Vision to be the ring bearer as the youngest male?" J.A.R.V.I.S. pointed out.
"I am fine letting one of the others do it. I would prefer to observe as it would be my first time at a wedding," Vision hummed.
"Do we get any say in this," Tony asked, wrapping his arm around Pepper as the two watched the group bicker.
"Nope! I'm planning the whole thing!" Peter declared.
"Like hell you are!" J.O.C.A.S.T.A. argued.
"I will find someone qualified," Nebula said.
"I'm qualified," F.R.I.D.A.Y. cut in. "I've already picked out flowers, cakes, a selection of dresses, and a few venues."
Tony frowned. "When did you do all that?"
"The file folder Pepperony Wedding was created on December 26, 2012 and was last updated seven minutes ago."
"Karen."
Vivian looked up to see Pepper standing in the doorway.
"It's time to go."
Vivian nodded and put the tablet she was watching videos on into her backpack. "How was your meeting?"
"Boring, but productive," Rhodey joked from the hall and Pepper rolled her eyes.
"What have you been up to?" Pepper asked as they turned to go.
"J.A.R.V.I.S. and J.O.C.A.S.T.A. put some home movies on my tablet. I…" she trailed off, not wanting to upset them.
Pepper set her hand on Vivian's shoulder.
"I wanted to know more about them, the others," she said softly. "I know some about Peter, Harley, and S.I.L.K. from when they made me, but I only know the basics of Dum-E, F.R.I.D.A.Y., H.O.M.E.R., P.L.A.T.O., Vision, and T-and Tony."
As Vivian thought, they both immediately looked sad. They shared a look and Pepper wrapped her arm around Vivian's shoulders.
"I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry about, kid," Rhodey said, running his fingers through her hair. "Of course you want to know. We'll answer any questions you have."
Pepper leaned down to press a kiss to her head.
As they stepped into the elevator, Rhodey's phone started ringing. He gave her a smile before pulling away and taking out his phone. He frowned at it and answered. "Hello?" He went rigid as whoever was on the other side answered. "What? Are you sure? … How long? … Have you told Nebula? … Pepper's with me… Yeah, send a message to J.O.C.A.S.T.A. and I'll call Happy. We'll be right over… Alright."
"What's going on?" Pepper asked when he hung up.
Rhodey turned to them with a nervous smile. "She found Tony."
Vivian pressed up against Rhodey as they got out of the car and approached the man waiting outside Avengers Mansion for them.
He frowned as he spotted her. "Who's this?"
Rhodey tugged her closer as Pepper answered. "This is Karen. Karen, this is Steve Rogers."
Vivian frowned and looked up at Rhodey. "As in Captain America? Shouldn't he be in prison? I thought he broke the law?"
Rhodey's lips twitched up into a smile for half a second. "It's complicated. I'll explain later," he said to her before looking up at Captain America. "She's my niece. I mean, she's my second cousin once removed, but her parents… I'm taking care of her now. Steve Rogers, Karen Rhodes. Karen, Steve," he explained the cover story J.A.R.V.I.S. had set up for her.
"Nice to meet you," the captain said awkwardly, but Karen just pressed closer to Rhodey.
"Where is he?" Pepper said, taking control of the situation.
The captain led them inside, saying, "The information Wong's people were able to get from Cull Obsidian worked. Captain Marvel found him on Titan. He's unconscious so we don't know what all happened, but he was alone in an unfamiliar ship that Rocket believes belonged to the other Guardians. He's badly injured. He used some of the first aid supplies from the ship but it sounds like an infection got to him. Wong brought some healers with him so once he opens the portal they can get to work."
"Is he going to be able to do it?" Rhodey asked. "That's a long way to go."
"He thinks so, with help."
"And there's no word on Strange or Spider-Man?" Pepper asked.
"No. Like I said, he was alone and unconscious. Not even any bodies. Wong seems certain Strange would have been able to make the trip on his own though so it's not looking good."
Rhodey held Karen closer and set a hand on Pepper's shoulder.
They came into the event hall to see a bunch of people standing around. Dr. Banner and Happy were standing off to the side with a blank-faced blonde woman, a large depressed-looking man, and a raccoon in a jumpsuit. A trio of people in robes were standing next to some monitors, talking to the blonde woman on them, while Nebula hovered nearby.
Nebula looked up at them and gave them all a nod. Pepper went to join her while the captain joined Dr. Banner's group. Rhodey and Karen stayed near the door and Happy came over after a moment.
They waited as the robed people finished their talks with the woman Vivian assumed was Captain Marvel then shared a quick word and stepped off to a cleared space. The three raised their hands then, as one, made circular motions with their right hands. Slowly a sparking orange hole opened up to show Captain Marvel holding a weak-looking Tony. She quickly stepped through the hole and the sorcerers dropped their hands as the hole flickered away. Two of them quickly approached her, taking Tony from her and setting him onto a gurney. As they began to wave their hands over him, Dr. Banner came forwards.
"We should get him to the infirmary," he said, unlocking the gurney's wheels.
One of them nodded, the other focused on the glowing symbols she was creating, and they left.
"Thank you," Pepper said to Captain Marvel then turned to the remaining sorcerer. "Both of you." She then followed after the group alongside Nebula before either could respond.
"The others will stay to see to Stark, but I need to return to the sanctum," the sorcerer said, opening another portal.
"Thank you, Wong. If you need our help with anything, you've got it," Rhodey said.
He nodded then stepped through the portal.
Karen hovered in the doorway as the others waited at Tony's bedside.
Pepper and Nebula sat in chairs next to the bed, Pepper's engagement ring glinting as she clutched his hand. Rhodey stood behind Nebula, his hand on her shoulder. Happy leaned against the wall next to the door, looking everywhere but at the bed.
Dr. Banner was sitting in a chair in the corner nervously, not having thought he should be there despite Pepper and Rhodey assuring him Tony would want it. U was off to the side, having been transferred to the Dron-E Mark I and brought over after they trashed part of the workshop in a fit because J.A.R.V.I.S. told them they couldn't come.
Vivian knew J.A.R.V.I.S. and J.O.C.A.S.T.A. were both keeping an eye on the group through the mansion's cameras, J.O.C.A.S.T.A.'s body currently in Brazil with a Stark Relief Foundation group.
This left Tori and Valeria as the only ones missing. They were still in Tennessee, though J.A.R.V.I.S. was keeping them updated.
The group perked up as Tony's eyes began to flicker. Nebula nabbed U as they tried to fly up to his face and Pepper stood up, brushing her hand across his forehead.
"Tony?"
He groaned then his eyes peeked open slightly.
J.A.R.V.I.S. lowered the lights a little and Tony grunted.
"Tony?"
He blinked and opened his eyes a little more. "Pep?"
"Yeah, I'm here."
"We all are," Nebula said.
He looked around at them and Rhodey stepped forward to help him sit up. "How do you feel?"
"Like I had a moon thrown at me."
Rhodey froze. "Please tell me you're kidding."
Tony frowned, looking around again. "Where… Are we dead?"
Pepper brushed her hand over his forehead again. "No, honey."
"How'd I get here? The last thing I remember…" Tony trailed off, his breath picking up. "The kid, Pete, I-he-I lost him. He… in my arms."
Karen flinched, ducking her head. She jumped when Happy pulled her close, then pressed her face into his side.
"Tone-"
"What happened?" Tony asked, cutting Rhodey off.
There was a moment of silence, then Nebula said, "Thanos."
"He got all the stones," Rhodey added. "And then, with a snap…"
"Half of all life," Tony finished.
"We tried to fight him, even brought Rogers' crew and Wakanda's army in, but it wasn't enough."
"H-Harley? Please tell me -"
"I'm sorry," Pepper said softly. "I called Tori as soon as I realized what happened. She and Valeria are okay, but… he was with them when it happened."
"Where is he? Thanos? J.A.R.V.I.S., F.R.I.D.A.Y., sta-"
"Tones, there's something else you should know."
"What!?" he asked, voice sharp like broken glass "What else!?"
"F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s gone."
"She… How? That's not possible! The backups?"
"Gone," Nebula said. "J.A.R.V.I.S., J.O.C.A.S.T.A., and I searched. Every bit of her just vanished. The same thing happened to Dum-E, S.I.L.K., and H.O.M.E.R."
"He disappeared in ash," J.O.C.A.S.T.A. said. "I saw him. His armor just… disintegrated."
"The same happened to Dum-E," J.A.R.V.I.S. added and U gave a little buzz.
"U wanted to be here. They've been reasonably clingy since Dum-E disappeared," Nebula said.
"I don't understand. Why would they have disappeared?" Tony said.
"We don't know. The best we could think of is that Thanos wasn't being specific enough when he wanted to wipe out all life and their artificial intelligence somehow counted," Dr. Banner said quietly.
"Vis?" Tony asked after a few moments. "P.L.A.T.O.?"
"They were lost in the fight. We tried to separate the Mind Stone from Vision, but we didn't have enough time and Than-Thanos ripped it out of him," Dr. Banner answered.
"P.L.A.T.O. tried to protect him," J.O.C.A.S.T.A. said, voice wavering. "Thanos hit them with a purple and orange blast from the stones. All that's left is bits of code and a few metal scraps."
"Where's Thanos? Where is he now? Where?" Tony demanded.
"We don't know. He just opened a portal and walked through."
Vivian looked up to see Captain America standing in the doorway.
"Get out," Nebula said, standing up.
"I need to talk to Tony."
"No, you don't," Pepper said, voice poisonous.
"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep Space scans, and satellites, and we got nothing. Tony, you fought him."
"Who told you that?" Tony asked, surprised. "I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away the store. That's what happened. There was no fight."
Vivian frowned, glancing between the two. She still didn't know what was going on with Captain America, but she could tell he was upsetting Tony. Clenching her fists, she pulled away from Happy.
"Okay."
"He's unbeatable."
The captain opened his mouth to say something, but paused when Vivian stepped in front of him.
Before he could do anything, she shoved him. Hard.
He flew out of the doorway and hit the wall.
She shut and locked the door, then turned back to the group.
Tony and Dr. Banner were gapping at her, but Pepper and Happy just looked relieved. Nebula was smirking and Rhodey gave her a smile and wink.