As soon as Peter had the gauntlet secured under his left arm, he immediately made his way through the chaotic mess that was the battlefield. Tony's blood ran cold as he watched every alien in a nearby radius suddenly raise their ugly head to observe this change of events, a hellish shriek tearing from their lungs as they forgot their current fight and made chase to the gem-encrusted glove. Activating his thrusters, Tony shot off the ground and raced to catch up to Peter before the aliens did, but there was too much ground action going on to even have a shot at getting close to him. He could only watch as Peter ducked and weaved his way through the many small swarms of aliens. Flying over it all, he had to watch as Peter almost got speared from behind by one of Thanos' children, but was spared when Wong appeared and sent the attacker through a portal before they could reach him. It was a lucky thing that there were others who could help look after the kid for once, and that the huge mass Thanos had just released was still making its way to where everyone was fighting. Peter didn't have to fight his way through all of that on top of this, and didn't have to face it all alone, something Tony was grateful for.

His relief didn't last long however as he could hardly believe his eyes when Peter activated instant kill mode to get through a particularly thick swarm of first-wave aliens that he had suddenly come across, his spider legs going in all directions stabbing the aliens through numerous parts of their bodies. Tony could barely see the kid through all the blood and guts being thrown through the air.

As the freaks pressed in on him despite his best effort to fight his way through, Tony could hear his heartbeat picking up tempo as his movements became more frantic. He needed to get out of there, and quickly.

Pausing his mass destruction of the aliens, Peter suddenly looked up and shot a web at something flying through the air, which then sent him flying along with it. It took Tony a moment to realize that the kid had just caught a ride with Mjolnir as it flew over him.

Knowing that Peter was definitely in over his head, and that no one else was going to pay enough attention to realize that fact, he made the executive decision to catch up with him and take the gauntlet himself. He'd rather take the brunt of the aliens' attention than give them a bigger reason to target the kid. The last thing Tony wanted was for this to be the reason he di- no, he wasn't going to finish that thought. Peter was going to be okay, he had to be.

Racing to cut off the Asgardian Hammer and taking out as many aliens as he could on the way, Tony was making good progress until he saw something that made his heart sink and then sigh in relief all in a matter of seconds. As Peter sailed through the air behind Mjolnir, his web had gotten shot by a stray laser from a nearby alien and he had begun plummeting to the ground, only to be caught by none other than Pepper herself.

"Oh, thank god," he sighed to himself in relief. Peter would be safe now. Surely Pepper would take him to the ground where Tony could scold him then hug him and then scold him some more for giving him a heart attack and taking on the gauntlet alone.

That kid and acting before thinking! His impulsiveness will be the death of us both!

Once again, however, he was thoroughly disappointed as she instead flung him up to catch a ride with Valkyrie on a flying horse.

"Pepper! What the hell do you think you're doing!" he screamed through the comms, definitely a lot harsher than he had intended, but his son was now flying through the air on a winged horse with the one item Thanos wanted more than anything.

"He's just a kid!" he continued hotly, "He shouldn't be taking on the gauntlet by himself, he'll get himself killed out there!"

"Calm down, Tony!" she yelled back with the slightest bit of amusement, sending Tony's blood pressure impossibly higher. "He needs to get the gauntlet to Scott! Besides, he's riding with an Asgardian warrior!"

"Exactly!" he cried, probably a bit more hysterical than he meant. If anything that made him worry more.

He knew all about Valkyrie and her kind from the preliminary research he had done with JARVIS after his first encounter with Thor. He always liked knowing everything about who he was dealing with, so he had read up on whatever information there was on Thor and all the lore that came with him. From this research he knew that she knew what battle was like and in any battle you had to bring the bad guy down by whatever means necessary, no matter the consequences.

One thing that did surprise him though was that Valkyrie was currently wielding Stormbreaker, Thor's beloved weapon. It made him worry for the fate of his friend. Surely he hadn't given it up?

Refocusing his mind to the task at hand, he shot off once again trying to catch up to Peter's increasingly small form. He definitely wasn't going to get any closer if he continued this way, and he didn't know how much sanity he had left to spend in his fight to reach the kid.

It was this thought, however, that finally made logic catch up to his anxiety-addled brain as he remembered that he could close the distance through his comms. Calling on Friday to open up a private line, he began to desperately try and get his attention.

"Peter! If you don't answer my call right now I swear you're not going to live it down for the rest of your-"

"Oh hey Mr. Stark!" he greeted easily, like he had met up with him in a grocery store aisle instead of riding on a flying horse in the middle of a giant alien battle.

"Oh hey there Peter," he began in the same tone, faking a calm demeanour, "I was just checking in to tell you to GET YOUR ASS OFF OF THAT HORSE."

"Woah, calm down sir, it's okay! Ms. Warrior lady is very in control of the situation."

I'm going to kill him.

"Okay kid, I'm going to ask you one more time. Give me the gauntlet and get off-" he was cut off again, this time by Valkyrie's voice, yelling over the wind.

"What's going on back there kid? Are you ready to hand the gauntlet off or what?"

Tony heard Peter say he was ready before the kid directed his attention back to him. "Listen Mr. Stark, I've got this. I'm going to get the-"

He never got to finish his sentence. Distracted by Peter, Valkyrie hadn't seen the necrocraft until it was too late.

Tony had to watch, as if in slow motion, as the stray ship began firing at them, causing the nearby hillside to explode and launch dirt and debris into their path. With no chance to pull up, the resulting blast sent Peter, Valkyrie and the flying horse in all different directions. Suddenly, the comm line went dead, and Tony's heart fell.

He knew he couldn't make it to him in time, not even with the advanced boosters in his suit, so he could only look on as the kid went flying to the ground. Sudden flashbacks to when he had to watch Rhodey fall helplessly to the ground, in this very manner, filled his vision and he felt sick. Seconds later, but what felt like minutes to him, he was finally able to breathe again as the suit's retractable spider legs shot out and took the brunt of the fall, leaving Peter basically no worse for wear on the ground. He wasn't sure where Valkyrie and the horse had landed, but he was just thankful that Peter was okay.

That relief, much like all the other breaks he'd been able to catch throughout the battle, was short lived, as the ship that had caused the explosion came back around and began firing its lasers for round two. Seeing red, Tony sized up the ship and charged toward it right as it lined up its next shot.

Reaching it just in time, Tony rammed his left shoulder into the side of the ship, causing it to spin off course and its laser bolts to hit dirt.

He slammed into it again.

And again.

And once more, this time slamming into it feet first, sending it spinning wildly where it crashed into the ground and exploded.

His rage-filled vision starting to clear, he froze as he suddenly noticed something that had gone over his head before. There was a pounding in his ears that did not belong to him, a beat that was thudding at a breakneck pace, and it turned his veins cold as ice. Whipping around, he gasped as he took in a massive hoard of aliens, piled higher than most office buildings. They were snapping and snarling, all pushing in towards one particular spot.

The same spot that Peter had been just moments ago.

He couldn't see him anymore.

"NO!"

Tony began madly shooting round after round of repulsor blasts, taking down as many aliens as he could to try and reach Peter, but there were too many. It was like bailing water from a running stream: the ones he removed were just replaced a moment later by three more that rushed in. Tony tried to listen for his heartbeat, to grab onto any chance that he was still down there, but he couldn't hear anything over the blood pounding behind his own ears. He could barely think straight, panic attacking his senses and sending his mind into a dizzying spiral.

Nonono, he's got to be in there, he's got to be.

Desperately trying to locate him with his scanners underneath the alien bodies, he suddenly froze as a bright light started emanating from above. It was dim at first, but Tony could see it grow brighter as it reflected off of the slime ridden bodies of the aliens below. Looking around, he noticed everyone on the battlefield seeming to freeze as well, all curious as to what was forming in the sky above them. Even Thanos and Wanda had both frozen mid fight to see what was going on. Momentarily forgetting Peter in the wake of another looming threat, he glanced around and noticed that all of Thanos' goons were firing at the bright light that was slowly getting closer to them.

"Friday, what are they firing at?" he asked in disbelief. He didn't even know what it could possibly be. The only person that normally made a sky appearance was Thor and he was already battling on the ground below.

"Something just entered the upper atmosphere" she readily replied.

Something just entered the atmosphere? What the hell was going on?

Abandoning his rescue mission, he flew up towards the new threat in the sky to head it off before it could cause even more destruction below, figuring that it wouldn't do Peter any good if they were taken out by whatever was approaching. It finally came close enough to them that he could see what, or rather, who it was.

Carol Danvers.

The other wonder from space. She was moving so fast that she was only a blur of light, but she seemed to be moving with purpose.

He followed her as she streaked through the sky and a haunting thought suddenly dawned on him. She's heading straight for Peter and the swarm of monsters that I just abandoned!

Tony frantically put all the thrust power he could into reaching the kid, but it was too late. He had once again failed to reach him in time, just as he had failed Rhodey, and now he too was going to pay the price. In an instant, Carol reached the ground and sent a shockwave of energy cascading across the battlefield that made the whole ground shake. Tony instinctually put his arm up to cover his face from the debris flying through the air, even though his helmet would've done a fine job on its own. All he could see was dust and his ears were filled with the distant roars of the beasts that had been hit by the blast. Almost as fast as it had come, it disappeared and the dust began to settle. Tony couldn't help but notice Wanda and Thanos first, as they stood out amongst the rest, and saw that as a result of the massive shockwave, Wanda had taken her focus away from Thanos and began saving herself from flying rocks and monster parts. Using this to his advantage, Tony watched as Thanos punched as hard as he could and sent her flying into a large piece of concrete several feet back where she lay, dazed and unmoving. Afraid of what else he might see, or rather who, Tony stayed hovering several feet above the ground with his eyes shut tight. He was hovering on a panic attack, he could feel himself start to breathe heavily and his heart was hammering in his chest. He had just cost Peter his life. He was once again responsible for the kid's death and this time it was permanent.

"No no no no, Peter. Oh my god, Peter," he mumbled incoherently, his heart sinking as many scenarios filled his mind with no happy ending. Surely he couldn't have survived that blast.

"Boss. Boss!" came a sharp voice in his ear.

"What Friday?" he asked meekly. Whatever it was she had to say, whatever new threat was coming to wipe him out, he didn't care anymore.

"Tony. Before you start imagining the worst case scenario, listen to me," came the annoyed reply, but there was a hint of gentleness in her robotic voice. "Peter is alive. You had me tracking his vitals through Karen, remember? He's perfectly fine, not a scratch on him."

… what?

Cracking an eye open, Tony peered at the health bars he now remembered were projecting in his HUD. He almost started crying in relief.

There they were, blood pressure, oxygen level and body temperature, all blinking back at him and vibrant with life. The kid was alive!

Tony's eyes rolled back in his head, finally letting himself breathe after being taken on that rollercoaster of emotion. Once again Peter had been saved from certain death, somehow squeaking through with all the odds against him. If he hadn't been panicking so much he could have looked and seen that himself or even simply slowed down to listen for the kid's heartbeat, which was becoming clear once again as his own pulse slowed it's deafening beat. Gratitude for this outcome as well as Friday's reassurance loosened the tension that he had not known was gripping his shoulders and he hummed contentedly.

"Oh thank God for you. You're the best, Fri."

"Thank you for noticing, sir."

He took a few more deep breaths to slow his heart and compose himself enough to look down. Sure enough Carol had somehow known to touch down at the farthest end of the hoard and sent a shockwave down through the rest of the swarm. Peter was laying at the other end, clutching the gauntlet, perfectly unharmed as the blast of energy had passed right over him and instead carried the aliens on top of him away.

He cut the power to his thrusters and felt his feet touch down on the ground, about to make his way over and get started on the kid for giving him so many heart attacks in a span of ten minutes but also hug the shit out of him for still being in one piece, when Carol approached Peter first. He stayed back and watched the scene in front of him unfold, interested in what she had to say to him.

"Hi, I'm Peter Parker," came the quiet introduction, the kid looking starstruck by the powerful woman.

"Hey, Peter Parker," came the cool reply. "You got something for me?"

"Oh ya... anything for you," the kid responded, face lighting up with excitement as he got up from where he was laying on the ground, practically shoving the gauntlet into Carol's arms.

"Wow, what you did was awesome! How'd you do that? You were glowing and fast and you sent out that big shockwave that got rid of all the aliens, thanks for that by the way, and you don't even seem tired! Is it like space powers? Does it work in an endoergic sense?" He talked faster as he went so that the last questions all came out in a rush.

Carol smirked at Peter's rambling; Everyone instantly fell in love with him, it was just something about his personality that everyone instantly warmed up to.

"I'll show you later, kid" she chuckled.

If Peter replied, it was cut off by the blood that began rushing through his ears at those words. That was absolutely not going to happen! Not on his watch! The kid was a magnet for trouble and there was no way in hell he was letting him get anywhere near that blast or anything like that ever again.

He started making his way over to where the two were standing to say exactly this, when his comm crackled to life in his ear and Steve's voice filtered in, tired but strong.

"Hey Danvers, nice of you to finally show up. You got back up coming your way, now get that gauntlet to Scott!"

"Scott?"

"Hideous brown van, can't miss it," Tony chimed in, finally deciding that he should intervene before Carol offered to fly Peter around the battlefield.

"And yeah, it's about damn time you showed up. What took you so long?"

"There's a lot more going on in space than you'd think" she replied derisively. "Besides, what happened to putting on the suit and hiding?" she added, a mocking yet impressed look on her face.

"Well, lady, you go and invent time travel and it tends to draw a crowd."

Peter, who was still admiring Carol, turned his head to look at Tony, his face scrunched in confusion about the statement Tony had just made. He looked like he was about to question him when Tony cut in,

"No big deal, now go do what Capsicle said and get that gauntlet to Scott!". She just rolled her eyes and flew away, clearly not fazed by him like Peter was. Suddenly he remembered why he was angry.

"And you!" he started on Peter hotly, "What the HELL did you think you were doing? Going off like that, flying through the sky, riding on intergalactic winged horses! You could have been killed!" His voice got higher and higher as he continued. "I thought I told you not to play hero! I just got you back and I will NOT lose you again, you hear me?"

The confusion and questioning look on Peter's face quickly vanished and morphed into surprise as he saw how angry Tony was. His giddy excitement from earlier was replaced with panic as the weight of what he had just done seemed to finally sink in.

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Stark! I just saw that the Cat-Man from Germany was in trouble and was trying to pass off the gauntlet. No one was around, so I just did what anyone else would have done and grabbed it."

"Well you're not just anyone else! You're f-"

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the look on Peter's face. The kid just looked so damn hurt. Realizing that he was being unfair, he paused to really get a read on Peter's face and could see the sincerity in Peter's eyes. The kid looked truly upset that he had caused Tony the grief that he did. His only thought at the moment had been to help out another hero in need, no matter the risk. Tony's hard expression softened. He just couldn't withstand the wounded puppy look the kid was giving him. The kid was only trying to do what anyone else here would have done, but Peter wasn't just anyone else to him; he was family, so he had lashed out more than he intended to.

He figured that he should just let it go and start over, the stress that he had caused Tony be damned, because Peter didn't deserve to be reprimanded for just trying to help out. He walked over and gave in to the impulse he had fended off earlier, reaching a shaky hand up to tousle the kid's hair. Much like a father would when he was proud of his son, which was true to this moment. Tony was extremely proud of the kid's bravery and willingness to do what was right no matter the consequences, even if it scared the crap out of him. He saw Peter sigh in relief and lean into his touch. He took a step back, keeping his hand on Peter's shoulder, and continued the conversation in a much calmer manner.

"Listen, I'm sorry for yelling, but you had me worried! I thought you were dead when those aliens trampled you and then Danvers dive bombed the pile and... I was worried I would have to lose you again, kid." It was the truth, he really cared for the kid and was terrified that he had lost him, for good this time.

Peter gave him a small smile. "I'm okay, Mr. Stark, really."

Giving the kid a quick squeeze on his shoulder he released his grip and ran his hands over his own face. He took a deep breath and reorientated himself for the fight that was about to come.

"There's still a lot for us to do in order to beat Thanos. I want you to stay back, I'm going to-" he was cut off by Peter's protests.

"But Mr. Stark, I can help! I promise I won't go rogue this time," he pleaded.

Tony admired his ambition, and for once he felt like his plan would be putting that trait to good use.

"Well, actually, I might just have something up my sleeve for you, so long as you promise to never pull a stunt like that one again. Remember team Titan? Our first rodeo with Thanos? Well he doesn't, so I say it's time that we settle the score. I want you to round up everyone and meet me over by the quantum tunnel. Hopefully by that point we'll have Thanos under control and we can finish him off the way we planned the first time."

Peter's eyes were initially narrowed in confusion, unable to understand what Tony meant about Thanos not remembering their epic fight, but must have forgotten about the puzzling statement at the mention of his involvement because his eyes widened and were practically shining with excitement. The fact that he was being given a special mission by Tony himself was something Tony knew he had always dreamed of, and he figured that telling the kid about Thanos' 2014 time stamp would no longer be necessary.

"Thank you sir! I won't let you down, I promise!" he exclaimed, and with that he scurried off to begin collecting the people he needed.

Tony chuckled at how much energy Peter always had. He couldn't fault the kid for lack of enthusiasm.

Despite his initial plans to stake out beside the tunnel and await Peter's return, a glimpse of a blonde pixie cut blazing towards that same location had Tony slightly altering his goal. After all, the kid wouldn't be needing him there right away, so he might as well help Carol in the event that Thanos appeared and still arrive on time to enact their plan. Getting closer to where she was fighting her way through the fresh wave of Thanos' goons, he realized that she wasn't alone. The backup Steve had requested for Carol earlier had arrived and there, fighting diligently by her side, was Okoye, Valkyrie, Wanda, Mantis, Shuri, Gamora, and to Tony's delight Pepper who was currently taking up the lead.

That's my girl, he thought proudly.

Each female warrior was tackling a different threat in turn, clearing a path for Carol to make her way through. Pepper, who was further up than the rest, was shooting a makeshift path through a group of twenty Chitauri and their alien dog friends. All he could see were her repulsor blasts from her hands as she spun around and shot the aliens directly in the face, but also the missiles she sent simultaneously from her shoulder arsenal to deal with the aliens out of her reach. Above her was Valkyrie, who was back on her horse to Tony's relief, using Stormbreaker to take out all the Chitauri speedsters and necrocrafts trying to use their sky advantage against the people fighting below. He was confused, however, when she suddenly stood on top of her horse, raising Stormbreaker above her head as she stood; She stood frozen in place, the mighty axe tightly clutched in her hands. Tony was about to check if she was alright, when she abruptly swung Stormbreaker down in one smooth motion and with it, brought a sudden cylinder of light that lit up the battlefield in an explosion of colour. The fast moving light waves encompassed an approaching Leviathan that even Tony hadn't seen, causing it to disappear, along with the light, as fast as it had come. The only known trace of anything having been there was a familiar circle burned into the earth below. Holy shit, she just summoned the Bifrost! he thought in amazement, not realizing Thor wasn't the only one able to do so. He looked on in astonishment as she lazily sat back on her horse and continued to tackle the rest of the swarm, like nothing had happened at all.

Tony's brain was still trying to process what he had just witnessed when his attention was caught by Wanda who wasn't far behind her. A bit further from the other female fighters, she was battling another Leviathan soaring overhead. Tony saw the beast heading towards Valkyrie whose focus was entirely on the speedsters circling above her, and thought that she was going to be taken out, but at the last moment Wanda used all of her power to get the beast to freeze. With it now frozen, Wanda concentrated on ripping off its armour, in the same manner as she had done to Thanos earlier, revealing its soft grey skin beneath, now able to be easily penetrated. Valkyrie, having sliced through the nearby speedsters, circled back to where Wanda was battling the Leviathan and threw Stormbreaker like a boomerang, causing the giant axe to slice the now exposed skin as it passed by.

As she retrieved the axe as it looped around and flew back to her outstretched hand, Wanda sent a giant blast at the incapacitated alien causing it to go crashing into the ground just off to their left where it lay unmoving. Impressed by the easy takedown, Tony watched on as the group of female warriors suddenly banded together, their individual threats taken care of, to back Carol as she charged towards Scott and Hope in the quantum tunnel van. Just as she was about to reach it though, she was headed off by Thanos, who suddenly appeared in front of the van and began charging straight for her. Reacting quickly, Tony stopped to charge a bunch of missiles he still had left in his arsenal, when each member of the female team acted at once. All six women, seeming to move in sequence, squared up; Pepper, Gamora, Mantis, Okoye and Shuri standing tall on the ground, while Valkyrie and Wanda took their positions above them in the sky. As if on cue, each of them unleashed a powerful attack to try and slow the Titan enough to allow Carol to get by. A powerful combination of repulsor beams, lightning, red blasts, gun fire and spears assaulted Thanos causing him to go flying backwards, slamming harshly into the ground. Easily speeding past the downed form of Thanos, Carol continued to make her way to deliver the gauntlet.

She was almost to the van when Thanos suddenly sprang up and spun around, faster than anyone had imagined he was capable of, throwing what remained of his double sided sword in one fluid motion. Tony's immediate thought was that he was aiming for Carol, but the sword passed her by easily. Confused as to how someone like Thanos could miss, he looked farther down and his heart sunk.

Thanos' target was clear: He was aiming for the Quantum Tunnel.