Maggie shields her eyes against the bright sun of Central Park. Beside her on the picnic blanket, Pepper sets out the takeout containers of food they'd picked up at a nearby restaurant. Tony, sitting across from them, fiddles with his phone.
"Come on," he grumbles, furiously tapping the screen. Pepper clears her throat.
"How about we worry about work after lunch?" she suggests. She forces a plate and utensils into Tony's lap. "It's one of our last days with a twelve-year-old."
Maggie perks up at the mention and takes a plate for herself. "It's my birthweek."
"Not a thing," Tony comments, setting his phone aside. "I still can't get ahold of Thor. Or Bruce."
"It's just been a few weeks," Pepper says. "He used to be gone longer without any communication. I'm sure everything's fine. Plus, Bruce will keep him in line."
"Yeah." Tony sighs. He helps Pepper open the takeout containers and starts serving Maggie food first. "So, you're becoming a teenager."
"Yep." Maggie beams. Her parents have been hyping up the fact that she's close to her teenage years, as if her age could compare to their century of life each. "Do you feel old yet?"
"I've felt old since the day you started walking," Tony says.
She swats a fly away from her fries. "I'm really excited for my parties."
It's hard to hang out with all her friends from school given her parents' chaotic schedules, so having a day that has been completely set off limits from their work, except for a world-threatening emergency, means she'll for sure get to spend time with her friends at home. And, after that, she gets another party with her whole family—all the Avengers, plus Coulson's team, and Scott and Hope promised they'd bring Cassie. She hardly sees Cassie since the Langs live on the other side of the country, so this is a pretty big deal.
In short, Maggie's really looking forward to the next few days.
"It's so rare that we can get everyone together," Pepper says, as if she read Maggie's mind.
"Everything's on the up and up these days, huh?" Tony says between bites of his burger, before frowning. "Still, the Thor thing is bothering me…"
"Mama says you just worry too much," Maggie says, pointing a fry in Tony's direction.
"Hm." Tony picks a fry up for himself. "What does your dad say?"
"You make mountains out of…" Maggie pauses, trying to remember, "something. I don't know."
"Molehills," Pepper finishes for her.
Maggie's about to resume eating her burger, when a portal suddenly opens up beside them. Tony practically throws his burger aside, moving to his knees in front of Pepper and Maggie, when a strange-looking man walks out of the portal.
Tony blinks. "Strange?"
Maggie furrows her brow. Had Tony read her mind?
"Tony," the man replies, standing between them and the portal. Maggie notices Tony's stance relax, and looking closer at the man, he doesn't seem like a bad guy. "I need you to come with me."
"Uh, squirt," Tony says, glancing back at Pepper and her, "this is Stephen Strange. Doctor Strange. The wizard guy?"
Maggie's only heard of him a few times, in stories from Tony and her parents, of which there aren't many; as far as she knew, Stephen Strange was a wizard who only seemed to appear in dire circumstances. Naturally, birthday parties and family gatherings were not dire, so he never quite crossed the bridge between coworker and family member.
"Maggie Rogers, pleasure," Stephen Strange says with a nod of acknowledgement in her direction, before turning his attention back to Tony. "Look, we need to hurry. It's not overselling to say that the fate of the universe is at stake. We need your help."
"And who's 'we'?"
Just as sudden as Strange, Bruce now emerges from the portal, just behind him, looking sheepish. At the sight, Pepper and Tony both jump to their feet.
"Bruce!" Pepper exclaims, stepping to stand next to Tony.
"Hey, Pepper. Tony." Bruce stops before them, glancing down at Maggie. "Hi."
"Dude, where have you been?" Tony asks. He holds up the phone he was messing with earlier. "I've been trying to contact you and Thor for days, I thought we'd gotten the communication link to work—"
Instead of answering, Bruce envelops Tony in a silent hug.
"Uh…Bruce, you're scaring me."
Bruce pulls away enough to meet Tony and Pepper's eyes. "We're in trouble."
A familiar pit of anxiety suddenly fills Maggie's stomach. She slowly rises to her feet, reaching for Pepper's hand with her shaky fingers.
So much for her birthday parties.
Strange leads them all back through his portal and into a strange building Maggie hears him call the "Sanctum Sanctorum." She recognizes it as Latin, and briefly thinks of Natasha, who claims to be fluent, despite it being a dead language.
After Strange introduces them to a man named Wong, Maggie sits down on a couch between Pepper and Tony, watching Wong's magic with wide eyes.
He conjures up images of five different colored stones. "From the dawn of the universe, there was nothing. Then, boom: the Big Bang sent six elemental crystals hurtling across the virgin universe," he explains. "These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence."
Strange gestures to each stone as he lists, "Space. Reality. Power. Soul. Mind. And Time."
At the final word, he opens the strange device on his chest, revealing what Maggie presumes to be the Time Stone itself.
"We heard about the Stones from the Guardians," Tony reminds, turning to Bruce. "What happened?"
"Thanos—" Bruce suddenly stops as his eyes briefly meet Maggie's. "I don't think Maggie should be here for this."
"Where's Uncle Thor?" Maggie asks. Bruce and Thor went to space together a month ago; only Bruce has come back. Clearly, something bad happened to him. "Is he okay?"
"I don't know," Bruce quietly admits.
He summarizes the events of the past few weeks, giving the highlights of the destruction of Asgard before focusing on the real reason things suddenly went south: Thanos.
"He's a plague, Tony," Bruce finishes. "He invades planets. He takes what he wants. He wipes out half the population. He sent Loki. The attack on New York. That's him."
Tony tenses at that. "What's our timeline?"
"No telling. He has the Power and Space Stones, and that already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe. If he gets his hands on all six Stones…"
"I thought the Guardians had the Power Stone," Pepper says.
"They gave it to this planet they thought would keep it safe—Nova-something," Tony says. "And the Space Stone is the Tesseract."
"Which was on Asgard, which we destroyed." Bruce sighs.
"You should've just destroyed the Tesseract while you were at it," Tony says dryly, standing up. He walks closer to Strange and Wong, examining the magical projections of the Stones. He gestures to where the Time Stone rests on Strange's chest. "If Thanos needs all six, why don't we just stick this one down the garbage disposal?"
"No can do," Strange says.
"We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone," Wong explains. "With our lives."
"Are you serious?" Tony asks. "Did you miss the whole 'the entire universe is at stake' part?"
Before Strange can retort, Bruce cuts in. "Look, the fact is we have this Stone. We know where it is. What we should be focusing on is Vision—he's out there somewhere with the Mind Stone. We have to find him now."
"He's in Europe with the others," Tony says.
Maggie suddenly grows more nervous. Vision, Wanda, Sam, Clint, and her parents have all been in Europe for the past few days for a mission; they're due back tomorrow, so they'd be back in time for her birthday. But if this Thanos guy is looking for the Stones… "Is Thanos gonna attack them?"
Pepper stands then, gently pulling Maggie up from the couch with her. "Maybe we should go get some ice cream while your uncles figure this out."
It's weird. Her parents are always gone on huge missions to stop world-threatening villains, but the stakes haven't felt this high in a while—not since the Sokovia Accords situation almost three years ago. And she remembers how badly she'd wanted to remove herself from the situation.
So, this time, Maggie looks up at Pepper with a nervous exhale. "Okay."
Tony gives her shoulder a quick squeeze. "Hey, give your Uncle Brucie a hug, okay? It's been awhile. He needs it."
Maggie releases Pepper's hand to wrap her arms around Bruce. He hugs her back tightly, and she thinks about Tony's words. Being away from home—from Earth—for so long, and then destroying a planet and being attacked again afterward must have taken quite a toll on him. She squeezes her arms around him a little more tightly at the thought.
She suddenly hears a faint rumbling sound and perks up. "What's that?"
It takes the adults another moment or two, but they catch on quickly. As the rumbling grows stronger, Tony looks up at the hole Bruce made when he crash landed through the ceiling. "Something's happening."
Maggie notices debris in the sky. Tony, Strange, and Wong hurry outside. Bruce releases Maggie to follow. Pepper quickly takes her hand again, leading her behind the men.
Outside is total chaos. A woman nearly runs Tony over with her panicked run, stopping just long enough for Tony to catch and steady her before taking off again.
A car barrels toward them from the street.
"Tony!" Pepper yells, just as the car crashes into a pole several feet away from Tony.
Bruce rushes to help the driver. Tony looks between the chaos and Strange, his eyes wider than Maggie's used to seeing. He puts on his sunglasses. "FRIDAY, what am I looking at?"
"Not sure, I'm working on it," the AI replies.
"Strange, you might wanna put that Time Stone in your back pocket." Tony locks eyes with Pepper. "You need to get out of here!" he yells over the growing rumbling. "Use Rescue!"
"We've barely tested it!" Pepper shoots back. "Is it really safe?"
The group rounds the corner, only to see a huge, alien spaceship floating over the street. Strange and Wong ready their magic.
"I don't think you have a choice," Tony replies. "Go!"
Maggie grabs Tony's hand. "Uncle Tony…"
Tony looks back at the spaceship once, and then quickly closes the gap between himself, Pepper, and Maggie. He kisses Pepper briefly, pulling them both into a hug. "You guys need to get out of here—out of the city. F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s already sent a distress signal to the others in Europe. Call them as soon as you're safe. I love you."
"I love you, too," Pepper says as Tony unzips her jacket, revealing the small, discrete arc reactor device he'd designed for her to wear under her clothes for emergencies—such as right now. He gently presses down on it, triggering the nanotech Rescue suit to cover Pepper.
"Uncle Tony," Maggie says, tears gathering in her eyes. "What's gonna happen?"
"I don't know, kid." He glances at the spaceship again. "But you know I'm never going down without a fight."
He ruffles her hair, and she wraps her arms around his neck, as if her hug has the power to stop whatever events are about to unfold from happening. He holds her for several moments, then nudges her back toward Pepper. Now suited up as Rescue, Pepper wraps her metallic arms around Maggie's midsection. "It's gonna be okay, squirt. Okay?"
"Okay," Maggie whispers back, despite the fat tears she feels roll down her cheeks. Tony gently brushes them away with his calloused fingers before standing back.
"Maggie, hold on tight," Pepper says, lifting her. Maggie wraps her arms around Pepper's neck, tucking her head against Pepper's neck as Pepper takes off.
She looks down once when they're airborne, watching Tony's figure shrink as their distance grows.
Pepper's unfamiliarity with the Rescue suit makes the ride a bit bumpy, but the flight to the Avengers Facility passes quickly. Maggie and Pepper exchange no words during the trip, until Pepper quietly announces they've landed.
Before Pepper can stop her, Maggie rushes inside the building, hurrying toward the lounge she and her family always hang out in together. She turns on the news, which is broadcasting the attack on New York City live.
Maggie lets out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding when she sees Peter—as Spider-Man, of course—fighting alongside Tony and Strange.
"Maggie," Pepper calls as she enters the room a minute later, holding her phone, "we need to call your—"
Pepper's phone suddenly rings, cutting her off. She answers it quickly, hurrying to stand beside Maggie in front of the TV. "Natasha? Maggie and I are safe."
She puts the phone on speaker, holding it between Maggie and herself. "I have Maggie here."
"Mama?"
"Thank God, you're safe."
"There's an alien looking for Infinity Stones," Maggie rushes out, breathless. "He's gonna attack Vision!"
"Tony warned us already. We just finished our mission and will head home tonight, so we can get Vision to a secure location."
"Where's Daddy?"
"He and Sam are wrapping a few things up so we can leave soon. I'll tell him to call you as soon as he can."
Not the answer Maggie wants, but she knows it's all she can get right now. "Please come back as fast as you can."
"We will. Swear to you on Avenger's honor. Be good for Aunt Pepper, alright?"
Maggie nods, forgetting Natasha can't see her through the phone. Pepper lays a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"We'll hold down the fort here, Nat," Pepper says.
"Good. Don't hesitate to get out if anything else happens. Maggie?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you, okay? Don't forget. I'll see you in a few hours."
"I love you, too," Maggie murmurs back, hugging her own midsection for some semblance of comfort. "Please be safe."
"Always. Pepper, can you take me off speaker?"
Pepper steps away then to have a more private conversation with Natasha. Maggie keeps her eyes glued to the TV, watching the haphazard clips from the city. One alien corners Strange, but can't get the Stone from the device on his chest. The footage becomes fuzzy, so the news cuts to another shot, this time of Wong fighting off an alien alone.
Minutes pass before Pepper returns to the room, and by then, the news cameras have turned to the sky, where the giant spaceship is now leaving the atmosphere…followed by an all too familiar trail of light.
"No," Pepper whispers. "No, no, no…"
In seconds, she has Tony on the phone.
"Tony? Tony. Tell me you're not on that ship."
Maggie doesn't need to know what Tony says; the look on Pepper's face at his response says it all.
She briefly considers asking to talk to him, giving him another I love you, just in case…
But she knows she shouldn't take these moments away from Pepper.
Instead, she runs out of the room and down the hall to her room, slamming the door behind her and throwing herself onto the bed with an angry sob.
Within hours, Bruce arrives at the Avengers Facility, with an air of defeat around him. His eyes reflect the same red Maggie knows is in her and Pepper's eyes.
"I couldn't stop him," is all he says, head down. "Or Peter."
Maggie's only known Peter since the Accords mess, and out of everything to come out of that situation, Peter is one of the few good things. He'd become the occasional babysitter and, more importantly, a refreshingly young, friendly face to see around the Avengers' bases. She'd met his Aunt May once or twice, but she can only imagine how awful she must feel right now.
Soon after Bruce's arrival, Steve finally calls. Pepper hands her phone over to Maggie immediately.
"Daddy, Uncle Tony is…"
"I know," Steve says quietly, in a tone Maggie's not sure she's heard him use before. "I know. But we have to believe in him. He's Earth's greatest defender."
"Yeah," she says. "Are you coming home yet?"
"We're about to leave. The quinjet is packed and ready to go."
"Is Vision okay?" Maggie can't imagine the stress of knowing he has such a large target on his back, by someone as dangerous as this.
"You know him—always calm in the face of danger. And we won't let Thanos get to him."
Maggie suppresses a shudder at the name. She glances around the room for a moment, noting Pepper sitting out of earshot with Bruce, before she quietly asks, "Do you really think Uncle Tony will come back?"
"If anyone can come back from space, it's Uncle Tony." Steve pauses. "I'm sorry I can't talk longer, but we need to get going—Mama and I can call again from the quinjet once we're in the air."
"Okay."
"I love you, Mags. Just hang in there with Aunt Pepper and Uncle Brucie, okay?"
"I love you, too." Maggie clenches her jaw to keep her tears at bay. "Please be safe."
"Of course."
a/n: ...h...hi...? :0