Who would have guessed zombies made perfect stay-at-home parents?

The only reason the past six months had been such a breeze for Tony and Pepper was because the latter didn't need to eat or sleep anymore. Well, technically, there was nothing that stopped him from eating, but this materialized astral form didn't need any nourishment, and he couldn't enjoy the taste of anything that wasn't served in Valhalla, so it would just be a waste of good human food.

Even though Pepper still woke up once or twice to breastfeed Morgan, she could now get a good night's sleep, while Tony's favorite nighttime activity was to enjoy every bit of this miraculous second chance he had been given to the fullest, so here he was, in the nursery, watching Morgan sleep.

The universe thought he had the perfect life. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, Iron Man, Avenger, Titanslayer, husband to an amazing woman, and father to a beautiful baby girl… Only a selected few remembered what had truly happened. Morgan was going to grow up in a lie, trying to fill a void she wasn't even aware of. Well, that depended on how long it would take them to find Ana, but he was trying not to get too hopeful. There were an infinite number of timelines out there. Finding the one she had created would take decades at best. It was like finding not a needle in a haystack, but one very specific straw. JARVIS had dedicated himself solely to this task ever since Tony had given him a body. He barely left the study downstairs.

He reminded himself time was just an illusion, that at some point in the future, Ana was back in her own world and a part of his life. He just had to be patient and wait until they reached that point.

"Boss, it's 6 AM," FRIDAY whispered the notification in order not to disturb Morgan.

Well, 6 AM meant it was time to make breakfast for Pepper. He gently brushed Morgan's cheek with a thumb. There were people who thought he was insane to choose this mundane world over the eternal glory of Valhalla, but he had seen Valhalla, and watching his baby girl like this was better than anything Valhalla could offer. He felt like he could spend an eternity in this room.

But his wife needed to eat, so he went to the kitchen, and decided to make an omelet.

He was taking two eggs from the fridge when JARVIS phased into the kitchen through the wall. "Sir, I've found her."

The eggs exploded in Tony's hand. "Shit!"

"Sir?"

"Yeah, I heard you… Just a sec," he mumbled. He took his sweet time washing his hands. He wasn't expecting to hear the good news any time soon. He certainly wasn't expecting it to happen today. The truth was, he wasn't ready.

He recalled Thanos' last words before his death. Tony, his full rage unleashed, had impaled Thanos with his own big-ass sword—because who didn't love poetic justice, right?—while their respective armies battled around them. That was a rage that made the Siberia fight look like a kindergarten brawl.

"She is the one thing you can't have back, Stark," Thanos had boasted. Probably just to taunt him one last time before he died. Tony had lost it after that. He had kept slashing and stabbing Thanos' dead body until the sword had broken in half. Then he had used the Soul element to shred his soul into nothing, so that he could never, ever come back. No one had taught him how to do that; it had happened instinctively, on the spur of the moment, but deep down, he knew he had done a neat job. His only regret was his parents had seen him like that.

Finally, he turned to face JARVIS. "Are you sure?"

"100% sure, sir."

"Show me."

They went to the study. Here, there was a holographic map of Cosmos JARVIS had been using to pin down Ana's location.

"This is it, sir," he pointed at a thread. "This is the timeline Ana created."

Now, all Tony had to do was to travel through the Quantum Realm to get there. For certain reasons, JARVIS thought Tony should be the one to do it, and he should do it alone. He had explained to Tony, and Tony had understood his reluctance to go there with him. He thought it was needless, but he understood.

"I can't believe we got so lucky…"

"I wouldn't call it 'luck,' sir."

"Why not?"

"The bond you and Ana share, it's not metaphorical. It's a sort of quantum entanglement, one that I can perceive. She and I share a similar bond. That's how I found her. If, for example, Thanos had tried to find her, even with the Infinity Stones, I don't think he would've ever succeeded."

Yeah, how about that, you son of a bitch… "Huh."

"Shall I set up the Quantum Tunnel?"

"Yeah, you do that. I'll go wake Pepper up."

He had been caught totally unprepared. A part of him wanted to dance his way to the bedroom, but Thanos' last threat echoing in his head made him drag his feet there instead. Maybe, if he shared his concerns with Pepper, she could find the right words to soothe him.

If Morgan's birth had taught them anything, it was the fact that postpartum depression was no joke. It had been hard enough for Tony, watching the woman he loved go through it. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Pepper to actually experience it. One night, she had woken up crying and said, "I want my daughter, Tony!" again and again. She had never said which one, but Tony had understood. Instead of going upstairs to Morgan's room, he had gone to the study and asked JARVIS if there were any developments.

But she had overcome it in the end and become his anchor once again. Pepper was stronger than he could ever be.

She was waking up by the time he entered, and it took her less than one second to realize something was going on. "Tony? What is it?"

"JARVIS found Ana."

She shot up in the bed with a beautiful smile. "T—that's great… right?"

"Yeah, it is."

She slipped out of the bed and walked up to him, looking like a goddess in her white, satin pajamas. Tony had laid eyes on the actual goddesses of Asgard. All of them, except for Thor's psycho sister, who had gone back to ruling Hel, obviously. And he still thought Pepper made them look like a bunch of hags.

Too bad he couldn't have sex anymore. Pepper had said it was okay, they would make it work, and there were other ways he could make her happy in bed, but they could never make another sibling for Morgan. Tony had learned not to be greedy, though. He knew how lucky he was to have what he had.

"What's wrong, then?"

He kissed her lips before answering. "It's just something Thanos said, before he died. It's ridiculous, but I can't get it out of my head. I never told you before, didn't think it was something you should be worried about any time soon. But now…"

She cupped his face in her hands, making him look into her eyes. "Tell me."

"He said she was the one thing I couldn't get back."

"That's plain bullshit, and you know it."

"What if it's not? I don't know what he did to her, Pep."

"I thought Heimdall was telling you…"

Yeah, back in Valhalla, everybody was waiting for Ana to make her move and leave Thanos at his weakest, so that they could go to war. The last Asgardian gatekeeper was keeping them updated. He gave Tony even more detailed reports, believing he had a right to know what was being done to his daughter. In fact, everybody there respected him a lot, for while Ana's plan was morally questionable, it was also incredibly brave and probably the only way to bring Thanos to his doom. Considering how much the Asgardians despised him, the second part was kind of the only one that had mattered to them at that point.

"Yeah, but no one can tell me how it affected her. It's something I gotta see for myself."

"And you will."

"That's what freaks me out."

"Tony… You say you're scared, but do you know what I see right now? A happy man. You're just happy to get her back. We all are. Maybe she'll bounce back, maybe she won't. Ever. But she'll be with us. Because what's the other option? Are we just going to leave her there?"

"Never."

"Exactly."

…

Pepper came to see him off with Morgan in her arms. He kissed them both before stepping onto the platform.

"How long is this going to take?" she asked nervously.

"For you, only a few seconds. For me? As long as it takes. I'll try to make it quick, though. I got no intention to mess with another timeline."

"Okay."

Under Pepper's and JARVIS' nervous gazes, he suited up and went to the year 2019 in that timeline, just in case. Yeah, that meant letting his poor Ana suffer in death for an extra year, but he wanted to make sure Thanos was gone and the dust had settled in that universe before ruffling the feathers.

As he moved toward the universe Ana's actions had created, he felt the bond JARVIS had talked about. It was almost like it was tugging at his heart. The void he had in him had been filled instantly, and he knew his Ana was here. Or maybe, it was just in his head…

He found himself in a white, brightly but artificially-lit room. It was small. Through the rectangular window on his left, he could see a sight that would have given him an anxiety attack once: Space. Right, this was most likely Fury's space station. The one he had built with the Skrulls. He had one back in Tony's own timeline as well.

He turned around to find a cryo-chamber just sitting in a corner. There were some cracks on the lid, but it still seemed active. All he had to do was take a few steps forward, and open it. He would have his Ana back.

"She is the one thing you can't have back, Stark."

His feet remained glued.

All of a sudden, the alarms went off. Shit. They must have detected an intruder, which was, well… him.

There was no time to hesitate anymore. He ran to the cryo-chamber, pressed the button to unlock it. The cryo-chamber opened with a hiss, and there was a rush of steam at first, but once it cleared out, he saw her. Dead, but that was no longer a problem. When they returned home, he was going to bring her back with the Time Element.

He was taking her into his arms when the door whooshed open and Fury came in.

"Stark…"

"I'm not the Tony Stark you know," he said simply, hoping he would let them go without too much fuss.

"Obviously. Ours is dead."

Damn, did he have to tell him?

"But the universe is safe," he added. "Our Earth has never been destroyed, Thanos was never able to snap his fingers. Thanks to our Tony and Ana… And this one as well." He almost looked like he was going to miss her. A time-traveler had to be the most precious thing in his collection. But that was nothing, compared to how precious she was to Tony.

"I'm taking her home."

"I know."

He attached the second Quantum Suit housing unit he had brought on her chest, and used the opportunity to take a closer look. Even in death, she seemed to be in pain, and she was. An afterlife with massive PTSD was hard enough in Valhalla. He couldn't even imagine what it must be like while you were stuck in your own body. That was what happened if you died in a different timeline than your own. His dad had told him about it, too.

"When you two met, how was she?" He had had to swallow before asking.

"She was focused, determined, reliable…"

"I didn't ask you if she was a good soldier. How was she? You know, as a human being."

"Honestly, I don't know. She never let me see her as a human being. She wanted to be treated as a tool, so I did just that. It wasn't easy, even for me, and you know what a cold-hearted bastard I am. It was easy for her, though. So, if there's any humanity left in her, it's up to you to find it."

"How's Pepper doing here? After my death?"

"She's strong. She let Ana took over Stark Industries. She's now raising her son, Morgan."

He couldn't help but smile. So, Morgan was a boy here… Then he remembered that this was no happy ending, and he felt responsible for it. He owed them an apology. His kid as a time-traveler must have made things a lot more complicated for them.

"Do they not have the Nexus?"

"Of course they do. Ana's plan worked perfectly… Well, for most people, at least."

"Why don't they use it to bring me back, then?"

"I think they're afraid of the backlash. You guys have to do a lot of questionable things to prepare for Thanos. Hell, you announced Howard's return with a press conference! "

So, that was public information here…

"Well, next time you see my dad, tell him to stop being a wimp!" Maybe he shouldn't have intervened, but he couldn't bear the thought of Pepper being a widow and his kids orphans in any universe.

Tony's suit was still on. He activated Ana's as well, and scooped her into his arms. Under Fury's cold, watchful gaze, they were sucked into the Quantum Realm.

There, he brought them to a halt.

Honestly, it was beautiful here. Here he was, maybe not human anymore, but he was alive enough to feel love, joy, hope, fear, concern, and everything else a human was capable of feeling. If only Ana could see the Quantum Realm, too. He had shown her every beautiful spot on the Earth, until there was nothing new for them to see. She wasn't that little girl anymore, but to him, she would always be that little girl, and the universe was full of beautiful things he wanted her and Morgan to see.

But while he was busy enjoying the sight, her soul was being tormented, so he focused to use the Soul Element like his dad had taught him. Mephisto probably still wanted a Stark's soul in his dungeons, and Tony had to protect hers from him until she was resurrected. He mentally reached her essence, felt it, even poked at it. He felt her pain, but the energy from the element wrapped itself around her, like a protective layer, under his command.

Suddenly, he found himself in two places at once. The physical manifestation of his soul remained in the Quantum Realm, but his essence was pulled into the Soul World. Instinctively, he knew his very soul was bared. There were no lies in the Soul World.

It looked like the secret HYDRA bunker in Siberia, but merely an outline of it, and there was an orange hue over everything. He heard the sobs and sniffing of a little girl, and then she spotted her, indeed. She was sitting against a wall, hugging a broken Iron Man helmet, her shoulders shaking with each sob. How old was she here? Four, maybe five…

"Kid?"

When she looked up, Tony had perhaps the most painful moment of his existence. Seeing so much pain on the face of a little girl, it made him understand… Fury was right; Thanos had broken her. He had broken her again and again, until there was no joy or hope left. Tony hated himself for having destroyed Thanos' soul and ended his suffering so quickly. He should have built a prison for him instead, condemn him to neverending suffering or something like that. Seeing such undeniable proof of the damage he had done to Ana had shattered all the peace Tony had found after rebuilding the Earth.

"I can't be here," his little Ana said.

By some miracle, he managed to smile. "Sure you can. Why Siberia, though?"

"I don't know… I'm lost."

Well, considering this was where they both had hit the rock bottom, it made sense. Even in the Soul World, he had to take a deep breath to compose himself. He suddenly felt so self-conscious in her presence. He was the only one who could fix her, but… what if he screwed this up? What if he failed to give her what she needed to heal? He couldn't live with himself.

But something needed to be done, so he extended his arms. "Ana, honey, I'm so sorry. I know I couldn't protect you before. But things are different now. I'm asking you to trust me one last time. Please. Come here."

She was reluctant at first, but she approached him slowly, like a skittish, but curious kitten approaching a human for the first time. Tony waited patiently, until she put the helmet down and threw her little arms around his neck, and then he locked his around her. At that moment, despite everything, he felt complete for the first time in what felt like forever. He was finally reunited with a part of himself, a part that had been cruelly ripped away from him, and he wouldn't stop until she was okay.

In the Quantum Realm, he was urging the suit on. The tunnel spat them back onto the platform in his garage.

Pepper and JARVIS were anxiously waiting for them. Morgan was smiling at her daddy, oblivious to what was going on. They looked so hopeful, so innocent that Tony decided never to tell them what had happened in the Soul World.

"Let me see her," Pepper begged him.

He went down to his knees while still carrying Ana, and deactivated her suit. JARVIS quietly took Morgan from Pepper. Pepper knelt, too, and placed Ana's head on her lap, very gently, even though she obviously couldn't hurt her.

After Morgan's birth, when Tony had put her into Pepper's arms, she had looked at their little girl just like she would look at Ana. And right now, she was holding Ana just like she held Morgan. Of course, Tony had always known that she would never favor one child over another, but seeing them like this, with his own eyes, was something else.

"Eight years with Thanos, huh?" Pepper asked thoughtfully. "My poor baby…"

Yes, this was hard for her to believe. As far as she was concerned, Tony had gone to space, and appeared in their living room a few hours later, saying the Earth had been gone for eight years and he had been in Valhalla during that whole time. Oh, and then, he had asked her to take a pregnancy test.

"She's going to be alright. She's home now."

"While you were gone, JARVIS and I decided that you should do the… thing alone."

"But—"

"We don't want to overwhelm her," JARVIS said. "We believe it's best if you explain what occurred during her absence."

He decided not to argue. He still wasn't very experienced with the Elements. Even the slightest distraction could be enough to break the link and leave Ana's soul vulnerable. She being taken to Hell was the last thing anyone needed. Pepper gave her back to him, he strode out of the garage and into the main house. Ana and JARVIS' room was upstairs. JARVIS and Pepper had decorated it together. Ana would love it, he hoped. He placed her on the queen-size bed, closed the door, and then came back to sit on the edge of the bed, and held her hand.

"Come back to me, kid, okay?"

Maybe it was too much, to expect her to be more than a shell of the person she once was. The person she used to be before the fear, paranoia, and grief had consumed her. Before she had been forced to make terrible choices to destroy Thanos.

Well, there was always the emergency plan. If she was beyond hope, he could always turn her into a baby. She could get a clean slate, grow up with Morgan. They had discussed it. Pepper would love to get a chance to raise Ana. JARVIS was willing to wait until she was an adult to start over their relationship. He was confident that she would fall in love with him again, no matter whoever she grew up to be this time. But that would only happen if Ana asked for it. If they were going to make her live a lie, they couldn't do it without her consent.

Using the Mind Element to preserve her memories, he used Time to make her body go back in time.

She woke up with a startled gasp, and backed away from him, but then, her body froze, except for her eyes. She was blinking, looking at him, and with each blink, there was a new emotion: Confusion, disbelief, hope, and fear. It was like turning the pages of a book.

"Hey, baby girl…"

"What's this place?" she asked, looking around suspiciously.

"Home."

Her eyes blazed with hatred. "You found me, didn't you? I thought you couldn't, but… This is how you're getting back at me! Showing me what I can't have…"

Damn. She thought Thanos was playing a trick on her. "Honey, it's me, I swear!"

"Prove it!"

"You met my dad in Hell," he said quickly. Yeah, it wasn't exactly something he wanted to remind her right now, but it was one of her few secrets Thanos had never been able to discover. "Or… remember our conversation in the Soul World? That was me, protecting your soul from Mephisto!"

She still seemed unconvinced.

"Your mind was under Wanda's influence, until Thanos destroyed the stones. That's how you deceived him." It was another thing Thanos had never been able to figure out. He had died not knowing how he had been fooled.

"How do you know all these? How did you escape Hell? I thought there was no hope for you."

"I never went to Hell. The Norns were quicker to act than Mephisto. They took me to Valhalla."

"Is that where we are now?"

"No, kid. I told you, we're home."

"I don't understand…"

He went to open the curtains, so that she could see the sky and the trees outside. "Look."

Slowly, Ana got out of the bed, and approached. She looked, but she seemed scared, as if her gaze might destroy everything it touched.

"You remember this place, right? We bought it shortly after Sokovia. I was going to build Pepper cabin, but then…"

"Then she broke up with you."

He shrugged. "Well, I finally built the cabin."

She whipped her head around so violently that Tony thought she would hurt herself. "Is she here, too?"

"They're all here, kid. Pepper, JARVIS, Morgan…"

"Huh…"

She was going to fall on her knees, but Tony caught her and put her back in the bed. He waited in silence while she processed the news. It wasn't going to be easy.

"How old is Morgan?"

"Six months."

Again, silence.

"Dad," she said after what felt like an eternity. "What happened?"

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

He decided to start from the beginning. "Like I said, I went to Valhalla, was greeted by my mom there."

"Your mom?"

"I know. She was no warrior, but she'd died fighting HYDRA. That, combined with Sigyn's prayers, earned her a spot, I guess. Thor was there, too. Even Loki. Everyone was pissed. They wanted revenge on Thanos. But Heimdall said we had to wait until you weakened him. Most people spent their days feasting, drinking, dueling, but I was just not interested. They tried to distract me sometimes, but it didn't really work. You girls were all I could think about. At least Pepper and Morgan were out of Thanos' reach, but you…"

"How much do you know?"

"Heimdall told me everything you had to do."

She nodded slowly.

"It wasn't all bad," he added to cheer her up. "The Dwarves had a forge there. They let me use it. They taught me a few secrets. I built an Uru suit, even got to keep it. It's in the garage; you're going to love that bad boy."

Her lips curled up into a smile, but it faded quickly. "So, you attacked Thanos after I noped out of this timeline?"

"Yep."

"How did he die?"

"I killed him myself. With his own sword." He had waited for too long to be able to tell her this.

"Did he suffer?"

"Not as much as he should have."

"I'm sorry I couldn't do it myself. I could've tried, I guess. I wanted to. But I was terrified, of what he'd do to me if I failed. I knew he wouldn't let me die. I had one shot at this, so I chose to escape."

"Kid, all I did was to put a sword through him. You did much more than that. You broke him. I'm so proud of you."

"Dad?"

"Yes, baby girl?"

"What's the part you're not telling me?"

"Okay, there are two things you won't be happy to hear: First off, my dad helped us."

Confusion flickered across her face. "He did?"

"He escaped Hell to build the Nexus and give it to me. It wasn't easy for me to forgive him. I only did in the end because I believe he actually thought he was protecting us when he had your mind wiped."

Tony remembered how he felt when he had first seen him before the battle. Tony had frozen, but his mom had walked up to him, looked him in the eye, and asked, "Is it true? What you did to our granddaughter?" She knew it was true, of course. She had just wanted him to say it to her face. He had, and she had slapped him.

"Is he still around?"

"He was raised in Hell, meaning he can never enter Valhalla. My mom refused to return without him, so they're both here now. They're living in a nice beach house in the Bahamas, but that's a family secret."

She nodded. "What's the other thing?"

He took a deep breath, even though his lungs didn't need air anymore. It was just a habit.

"Come on, Dad. If you know of the things I had to do as Thanos' daughter, then you know why I have no place in this world, in this universe. What will happen to me?"

"Okay, let's make one thing clear: You were never Thanos' daughter. You were his captive."

"It won't matter to my victims."

"Your 'victims' don't remember you. No one does, except for a selected few. That's what I had to do."

It had been the hardest part, to be honest. Even harder than going toe-to-toe with Thanos. It wasn't just people's memories of her he had erased. He had also erased all the pictures, and videos, awards, gifts they had exchanged, even her MIT diploma… Every single vestige of her existence. He had had to cry like a baby in Pepper's arms afterwards.

"Who's this 'selected few'?"

"Rhodey and Happy, of course. They're family. Vision, too, because he and JARVIS are like twin brothers now. Wanda, because she helped us with this arrangement. Fury and Strange, because those two apparently have to know everything. That's it. Oh, and there's Cap, too, but he's not around anymore, so…"

"What?"

"Let's just say after he helped me get my happy ending, I helped him get his."

"You sent him back in time, didn't you? To Peggy?"

"He didn't belong here, kid. Just because he was able to adapt didn't mean he was happy. I'm going to miss him, though."

"So, I'm not Ana Maria Stark anymore. Just nobody."

"No! You are Ana Maria Stark. Always. That's the name I gave you. No one can take it from you."

"Thanks, Dad. But this is still a risk. We're putting Morgan in danger."

"Well, it's a risk we just have to take."

Her gaze lingered on his wedding ring. Tony looked at it, too, and smiled. He never took the ring off. It was a constant reminder that he officially belonged to Pepper now.

"Oh, it was the wedding of the century," he said, knowing what she wanted to know. "'The Iron Wedding,' they call it."

"Too bad I ruined it with my absence."

Well, her "absence" had been extra unbearable during the wedding, it was the truth. But Tony had learned to be grateful for what the universe gave him, instead of complaining about what was denied. "Look on the bright side. Now we have an excellent excuse for a vow renewal."

She chuckled, then became serious again. "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Why is JARVIS not here? Why is he avoiding me?"

That was another question he had been expecting. "It's… complicated."

"Is it, though? Say it, Dad. Say that he's disgusted by me. By the things I did. That he doesn't want to be my boyfriend anymore."

"It's not that."

"What, then?"

"He's ashamed."

She flashed a bitter smile at him. "Makes sense. I'm ashamed of myself, too."

"No. Not you. He's ashamed of himself. He thinks he failed you."

"That's ridiculous."

"It's something you guys should talk about, but I swear to you, kid, you have no reason to doubt his love…"

She nodded again—she was doing a lot of nodding—and put her hands on his shoulders, digging her fingers into his skin, as if she was trying to put him back together. Then she started to cry. Not with loud, violent sobs, but with one long, quiet wail, shattering Tony's heart. Yeah, that was her humanity, coming back in full force. "What happened to you… That was so wrong… So wrong…"

"I'm okay. I actually died pretty fast. You were the one who had to watch the whole thing."

"It happened because of me. If it hadn't been for me, Thanos would've left you alone. I wish I'd never been born."

It made him want to bring Thanos back, only to kill him again and again, forever. "No! Don't say that. If you say that, Thanos wins. Don't do that to me."

"I'm sorry… I just missed you so much."

"I missed you, too, kid. Come here." He pulled her into his arms. He held her tight, let her feel his strength, so that she would be convinced that he was whole again. He buried his nose into her hair, inhaled her scent, but she didn't smell like herself. She smelled of ice, and the chemicals that had preserved her body in the cryo chamber.

She stilled when they heard Morgan's distant, muffled cries, and pulled herself back to give him a questioning look. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yeah, sounds like Maguna needs a diaper change." He was now very good at guessing what different types of cries meant.

Ana had gone so pale that Tony laughed. "What? Okay, dirty diapers are nasty, I gotta admit, but it's not that bad. Come on, time to meet your little sister…"

She collapsed on the bed, limp and unconscious.

"Shit…" Tony shook her gently. "Kid? What's wrong? Come on, kid, wake up!"

JARVIS entered the room through the locked door. He looked at her, head tilted to one side, and placed a hand on her cheek.

"What's wrong with her, J?"

"I think she was just… overwhelmed."

Well, JARVIS didn't seem too worried, so that was good. "Maybe she just needs a moment with you first, before she meets Morgan. I'll leave you guys alone. Because I clearly screwed this up."

"There was no easy way to do this, sir. But I believe the hardest part is over."