Woah, it's been a bit, but I needed time to re-start my latest section. All the stuff I wrote when I was sixteen was a bit jumbled and hard to follow so I had to change a few things up. I'm seriously hoping that you all don't hate me too much for the consequences of fighting Thanos, but lets be honest- Lincoln isn't exactly all-powerful enough to take on a titan alone.

To clear up a question- Lincoln did make changes in the very beginning when she was naive and unaware of the consequences it could have. Those changes came back to haunt her more than once. That's why she started to be careful so that future events could be predictable and easy for her to sort out in the moment.

sucks

IDon'tOwn Marvel

"I knew her too." Loki stood his ground in the sanctum. "She deserves every effort we can offer her."

"Loki, I can't even begin to explain to you how wrong it is." Strange tried to reason with him. "Using the stones again even for one person would put everything we worked for in jeopardy, not to mention how devastating it would be to the person that uses them. We're lucky we're not already swarmed with beings from all over the universe looking for them."

"Does she intimidate you?" Loki glared a little. "You couldn't handle having a psychic around?"

"There are dangers with her existence." Strange sighed, "But that's not why. I told you, we're not using the stones for anything and that's final."

"Bring her back."

Strange didn't flinch. "No."

"Bring her back or I will." Loki's jaw tightened as he readied himself to pull out a dagger.

"Loki, you need to let her go." Strange looked between his eyes. "She's not even your friend."

"You could never understand what she was to me." Loki snapped, his heart lodging up in his throat as he remembered the possible permanency of his loss. "How could you?"

"Love or not," Strange shook his head. "I'm sorry. I miss her too."

"Not like this."

"You think I didn't love her too?" Strange stood up finally with a frustrated sigh. "What about her family? Or every other person she's saved and come across. Everyone misses her. But we are not putting the entire universe at risk over a person that never belonged on this planet in the first place."

"She belonged with me!" Loki shouted, pausing after to let the knife disintegrate from his hand before he did something stupid. "I only want more time with her, Stephen. Couldn't you allow her back with my brother and myself? We'd keep her safe and contained and I'll face the consequences of using the stones."

Strange stared back at the god dolefully. "Please move on."

Loki shook his head, feeling weakened again. "I can't."

"The stones are gone." Strange took in a careful breath, looking to the shelf where Loki could see that neat little stack of tarot cards all set up on a stand.

His heart sank further through the floor when he saw that part of her. Even the future-seeing cards had the life stripped from them like a tree robbed of its leaves in the bare of winter. He shut his mouth again after a moment and looked away too.

"Wanda helped with the spell to destroy a few of them and the remaining could destroy each other." Strange explained quietly, "There is nothing for you here. I don't have them anymore."

He didn't have to say anything else. Loki took that information and turned right out the door.

God forbid anything go right for him in his painful run of life.

Oftentimes with victims of gruesome deaths, funeral homes tend to avoid recommending open-casket services. Bodies can be deformed or just beyond the point where make-up or prosthetics will do anything to make them look human. At least, that's what aunt May told him when Peter asked if he should be prepared to have to see her today. He wasn't sure if it was something he would have to be mentally aware of. Aunt May told him that it may be something he could expect.

After all, it was only a stab through her chest that did her in.

He was sure that watching his mentor get run through had to be the worst thing he'd ever seen in his life, and he just fought and killed a bunch of aliens. But, for some reason, getting out of the car at Mr. Barton's house in Iowa was proving to be a more difficult task than witnessing the unexpected death of his friend.

"Peter?" Ned's voice barely caught his attention and Aunt May placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Give him a minute." She whispered before leaning into the car again while Peter stared dead ahead, trying to keep the tears back. "Take your time, honey. I'll be out here."

His jaw tightened when the image of Lincoln sliding down onto the tip of Captain America's shield flashed in front of his eyes again. The ghastly smell of the battlefield filled his nose again. He could've choked on the scent of blood, bowels, and burning flesh that sucked out all the fresh air in his lungs. Explosions rang in his ear with the gnashing of alien jaws and screams of friends and foes all joining in like some nauseating chorus in a horror movie.

He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, rubbing his hands over his thighs to try and put himself back in the moment. If he started spiraling now, he'd have a hard time keeping it together for the service. After all, it was Tony Stark who would miss her the most. He needed to push it down so as to not seem selfish about his own grief.

Peter stepped out finally and took notice of the others around and near the door. No one looked like they were having any bit of a decent time and Pietro even sat with his head in his hands on the porch with Wanda and Vision nearby. To take his mind off the actual event, he ignored the hushed and nervous whispers of Mr. Barton, Ms. Romanoff, and a few others in a circle on the grass and just tried to figure out who was here.

"Hey, so glad you guys could make it." A lady offered out her hand out to May. "I'm Laura. I'm Clint's husband. Peter and May, right?"

"Yes," Aunt May smiled politely, putting a hand on the other boy. "This is Ned too. He was a student of Lincoln's."

"Right." Laura forced a small laugh. "I forget that she did so many things. Why don't you come and get a drink and sit down or chat? We're trying to get a few things sorted before we get going."

"Oh, please, let me help with something." Aunt may offered immediately, "I need something to do."

Of all the people around, Peter made note of the few people he knew were missing. Assuming that they were inside proved to be a bad move too since the house held two gods accompanied by some lady he'd never met. There were a lot more people outside than inside really.

Loki's eyes barely flickered up to notice them walk in before leaning back in his chair while Thor spoke about something that seemed to go right over his brother's head. Peter could see the blank stare on Loki that he felt on himself at the moment. Processing even his Aunt's conversation with Laura was proving to be hard. It was like English had become a foreign language and even more so when Loki locked eyes with him to stare back.

Peter averted his eyes after a moment when he thought his heart skipped a beat from being stared down by the scary god.

"Mrs. Barton?" Peter was almost surprised by his own voice as it voiced his curiosity for him.

She looked at him quickly. "Yeah, kiddo?"

"Is Captain Rogers here?"

Thor fell silent and Peter could feel the eyes in the room on him, making his adrenaline spike enough for the whole space to feel real again. He opened his mouth to apologize and take it back, only to be interrupted by another voice.

"Any of us could have made that same mistake." Sam Wilson said, catching Peter's attention away from the other eyes. "There's no need to be spiteful about it."

"Oh, I-" Peter shook his head quickly. "No, I was- I wasn't being angry or anything. I'm just…wondering."

"Good." Mr. Wilson looked at him carefully. "We're here to remember our friend, not argue."

"We don't think he's coming." Laura answered for Peter then with a small smile. "Bucky is staying with him at the moment."

May looked around again before breaking the short silence then. "What about…"

"Why don't we discuss that?" Laura passed a nervous look to peter. "I don't want to put your kids in the middle of anything today."

"Ned, why don't you and Peter-"

Ned nodded at Aunt May's request. "Sure thing, Ms. Parker."

Peter was being led carefully from the room then, passing by Sam through the doorway, still fully capable of hearing what they were talking about. Peter stopped his friend from going too far.

"Hold on."

"Peter." Ned gave him a desperate look. "Please don't stress yourself out more. You've been quiet all day and it's scaring me. Whatever they're talking about, we don't need to know."

Peter just looked up at his friend between his eyes and got a sigh in return. Ned let go on his arm and let him stand there.

"Tony isn't taking it too well knowing that the stones are destroyed." Laura explained.

"I'm sure I wasn't the only visitor to that old warlock with his all-righteous duties." Loki cut in with a scoff. "He's fortunate I wouldn't want to cause a fuss over Miss Vexatious's dead corpse."

"No need to be grim, Loki." The strange Asgardian woman replied.

"Sorry, dear Lissa." Loki replied insincerely. "But…who even invited you?"

The woman hesitated in the silence, getting their interaction cut off by Aunt May.

"So Tony won't come?"

"Yeah, but it's not just that." Laura hushed her voice more, making it so that Peter could only barely hear. "He's got…Lincoln. And Pepper can't talk to him about it without him shutting down. I didn't want to say anything in front of the kids or the others. Only a few of us know."

"He…has Lincoln?" Aunt May asked incredulously, "What do you mean? You don't have her body?"

Peter could sense the shake of the head from Laura at that.

"It's a bit creepy isn't it?" 'Lissa' muttered to herself. "I don't understand humans sometimes."

Peter got caught out of the alarming conversation when someone was pulled in the back door hurriedly and Scott Lang was held by his shoulders by a man Peter knew as Luis. he looked up down the hall in the direction of the commotion and caught Ned's attention.

"What?" Ned asked, looking over his face, "You sensed something. What is it?"

Peter held up a hand and waved him off. "They're talking."

"About what?"

Peter waved him off again and shushed him.

"What if we went back in time-" Luis laid out desperately. "And save Lincoln before she dies."

Scott released a dejected sigh. "Okay, buddy. Why don't we sit down and find something to drink? I think you're losing it."

"No, no, no, Scott. Scott." Luis grabbed his arm again and Peter walked up to the corner of the hallway, listening in better. "You time traveled! Remember? With the quantum…moving…thing?"

Scott hesitated, opening and shutting his mouth in the silence before sighing again. "No, Luis. Please drop it. I can't do this today with you. I already have Cassie asking me about her 'big sister'."

"Come on." Luis hissed, "There has to be some kind of math or science that does that. We could go back in time and stop Captain America. If we had been there-"

"Luis, please drop it." Scott begged again. "I'm so tired today. I know you're hurting too, but you really need to take a chill pill. We're at her funeral. Talk about it later with Dave and Kurt over drinks, okay?"

Peter shook his head to himself and took a deep breath, moving back over to Ned. "It's nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing." Peter confirmed, only finding the troubling information to be that Tony Stark had made off with Lincoln's literal dead body and wouldn't give it up.

It was a weird day for emotions, but he had only the shocking news to thank for making him think about anything other than his dead mentor. Unfortunately, his mind pressed back to the time travel thing when he stood around the living room with Ned, Aunt May, and a whole bunch of other super famous people by what he knew to be an empty urn. Mr. Barton was tasked with a speech, but Peter's eyes roamed back to where Luis was trying to whisper to Scott next to four other people he didn't know super well.

Pietro came in halfway through and stood in the doorway before leaving again shortly after with his sister following him. It was a solemn moment that Peter could barely focus on.

"Like I said, there's really not enough words to explain what she did for and meant to us." Clint concluded, "I know time and again she didn't hesitate to put her life on the line for us. She gave her life to protect us and a universe that she never believed was hers. Despite her worries, we all know that she belonged with us. She always has been exactly where she needs to be. She was a friend, a daughter, a mentor…and a hero. And she'd definitely tease us all for crying over her."

"She said it when we got drinks once." Luis persisted, ignoring the eulogy. "I know it. Kurt and Dave, we were all there. She talked about the future, man. Said we went back in time and got the stones. What if we did it here for her? Screw the wizard."

"Let's go." Scott snapped at his friend, grabbing his arm and pulling him past Peter to the door and disappearing outside.

Aunt May's hand came up onto Peter's back, rubbing it comfortingly while he blinked at the conversation she hadn't overheard.

Luis knew something about the future. Something that Lincoln had told him about time travel and the infinity stones after the battle with Thanos. It wasn't like Peter could ever expect Lincoln to be back, but…he really wanted to know what Luis was getting on about. And maybe he needed to talk to Aunt May about visiting Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts too.

"Jeez, you act like my mom." Lincoln chuckled, running her fingers through her short hair. "I'm fine, really. It's just a week and I have literally always wanted to go to iceland."

"You couldn't just…" Tony gestured his hands in a circle.

"Nah," Lincoln laughed at his impression. "I could use the portal, but I want to experience the cramped feeling of a small airplane seat for the next five-ish hours. And I think I'm gonna walk."

"Alright, just take care." Tony smiled, looking over her face. "My god, when did you grow up? Hm?"

Lincoln's smile fell then and her face contorted with an expression of pain. Tony's face fell too as he looked down to see the burned hole through her chest and his hand outstretched. He'd shot his own kid through the chest with the tech he advanced to protect her.

Her mouth opened and shut like a fish gaping for air before her eyes locked with his, giving him the worst feeling of dread as he was weighed down immediately by her look of betrayal.

"Why would you do that?"

Tony's eyes shot open in bed and he sucked in a sharp breath, blinking away the dream then. He raised a hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead and then drop his hands to scrub his face of the memories.

"You okay?" Pepper slurred out the question when he sat up. "Tony?"

He swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah, I'm…fine. Just…I need to go out and breathe. I'll be right back."

Pepper rolled over to look at him with those eyes that tried once again to peer into his mind. "Want company?"

He shook his head, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and getting up. Making his way down to the kitchen, he stopped at his holo-table, just knowing how the basement was calling his name right now. Lincoln didn't deserve to have to wait any longer.

Tony got water from the fridge and then promptly descended into his basement where he flicked on the lights and popped up the table to project his work so far. He'd started his project two weeks ago, almost immediately after she'd been…knocked down. There were a few important pieces missing, which made it all that much more frustrating, but he wouldn't dare abandon her while she needed him to bring her back.

"Alright kiddo," He sighed a little, looking at the far door that led to her suspended body. "Just give me a little bit of time. I have to dig up that journal you hid so well."

Naturally, there was no response from the door, but Tony didn't expect one.

Not yet.

"Steve, your friend set this up out of concern for you." Lisa, the familiar therapist of his, said while Steve just stared quietly at the wall in his apartment. "Can you hear me?"

He tightened his jaw at the question, opening his mouth to answer then, only to shut it again when the words never came.

"Bucky tells me that you aren't taking care of yourself." She continued, watching him carefully. "Do you need some water?"

"I don't-" His words came out raspy while the grief weighing on his chest almost pushed him back into tears just from speaking. "I'm okay."

"You don't look okay."

He tried to look at her, but, again, the simple action was capable of dragging him out of his numb state and right back into one of despair. If he could just hold still and not say anything, maybe he wouldn't have to feel that guilt.

"I see." She replied to the silence, not taking her eyes off him. "You can't avoid it, Steve. Sitting numb won't make it go away. It's not what she would've wanted."

"You didn't-" Steve spoke up quickly with his voice shaking and tears starting in his eyes again, "You didn't see how she looked at…"

Lisa nodded quietly.

Steve looked up at her with new tears falling down his cheeks. "I don't deserve your help."

"Yes you do." She stared back unwavering while his breath hitched in his effort to hold back a sob. "You won't believe me when I tell you, but I know it wasn't your fault."

Steve just looked away again, shaking his head. "Get out of my house."

"I can just sit here quietly-"

"No," He shook his head again. "Lisa, please. Get out."

She took a careful breath and then nodded before getting up. "I'll be back in two days. Please take a shower."

He waited until the front door shut before launching the mug of tea across the room and then falling back into the heavy tears that felt as if they were pouring directly from his chest and pulling him towards the floor

"You seem alright, Tony." Strange commented gently, watching his reactions carefully.

Tony nodded at that, looking away with a gentle breath. "I'm…alright."

"Did you need something?"

"I…" Tony blinked when the words got lost and cleared his throat. "Uh, I understand why you…had to get rid of them."

"You're here to…apologize then?" Strange asked incredulously, "Tony, are you alright? I know Lincoln-"

Tony laughed dryly at that. "No, no. Not here to apologize. What I said before, I meant. I just think you can get me something that I want."

Strange shut his mouth at that and sighed, "Great, well, at least you're not yelling."

"I want her journal." Tony stated evenly then, "As her family, I have a claim to what belonged to her. You can find it for me, yeah?"

Strange nodded thoughtfully at that. "You can't have it."

"I can't read it." Tony provided, knowing damn well that Lincoln had gotten high once and let it slip that the spell wears off if she dies. "What's the big deal? It has sentimental value."

"You would be able to read it." Strange replied, making Tony internally groan. "I'm sorry. It was destroyed too."

Tony felt his stomach flip at that. His plan cracked right in front of him and he didn't have an immediate solution.

"I think you should leave-"

Tony didn't need to be told twice and got up quickly, moving swiftly to the door with his face burning up in anger. To be so close to getting that missing piece, only for Strange to tear down his attempts to save his daughter once again, was nothing short of infuriating. With or without that Wizard's help, Tony would be bringing his kid back. There wasn't a single person who would stand in his way.

He arrived home with just as much determination as he had before and turned to a second source for help. Lincoln's phone had been collected by him not long ago and brought back from the compound for her to use again when he brought her back. Now it might be one of the keys he needed to help bring her back. Pepper luckily didn't bother him either while he shuffled through information for what had to be hours.

Photos, notes, and text messages were all shuffled through and collected as data on his computer with the help of Friday. Granted, he had to turn down her moral boundaries at one point for this task since they were getting annoying and in the way. His lovely Fiancée showed up later in the evening asking him to come up for dinner, and in his effort to not hurt her too and fall apart, he listened well and went up for chinese take-out food.

"Can I ask tonight?"

Tony poked his noodles with his fork and hesitated in thought before shaking his head, "I'm just coping. You know that."

"I know." Pepper nodded, watching his expressions carefully. "It's…hard for you to take care of yourself at the same time."

"I am taking care of myself." Tony looked up at her quickly, "Are you alright?"

Pepper had tears starting in her eyes. "Please talk to me, Tony. I mean, Clint called half a dozen times with Natasha and the others."

Tony felt his stomach do a flip at their mention.

"They said you have her and…" Pepper sucked in a shaky breath, looking away. "I know how hard it was for you to lose her, but she has other family that wanted to say goodbye."

How could he possibly get Pepper to understand how important it was that he didn't give up the body for something destructive like cremation or burial? How could he explain that he needed every bit of her possible in order to bring her back? And how could he tell her that he didn't need to miss Lincoln with the knowledge that he was going to bring her back any one of these days now?

Tony looked down again, "I don't know what you want from me."

"I just want you to be honest for once." She watched him with her eyebrows knitted back in concern. "It's just us here. Why didn't you go?"

Tony stared hard at the noodles in his little to-go box with his fork still playing around with the contents. He knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Tony?"

He shook his head, really just wishing now that he could get back to the basement. "I'm not ready to say goodbye yet."

Peter took a deep breath, walking up to the house a week after the funeral and three weeks since he was fighting a purple alien from space. Aunt May had allowed him to go on his own to see Mr. Stark before his trip to Europe with his class next week. If Lincoln were there, she'd probably have something to say about how Mr. Stark thought of him like family and that he shouldn't be worried about knocking on the door. Unfortunately, she was not around to reason with him, so he stood still with his hand hovering over the front of the doorway for a moment longer than what was socially acceptable.

After a minute of that, he had to take a deep breath and finally knock.

Everything is alright. Ms. Potts is here too.

The door swung open mere seconds later and Peter swallowed hard after taking a step back. Mr. Stark himself stood in the doorway with an expectant look and then smiled politely in a way that made a chill run up Peter's spine.

"Hey, kiddo." Mr. Stark held his hand out to invite him in. "Friday told me you were standing out here."

"Yeah," Peter nodded hastily, stepping into the house. "I'm sorry to bother you-"

"You're not bothering." Mr. Stark shut the door behind him. "You got that trip to Europe soon, yeah? Want me to send Happy with you?"

"No, Mr. Stark, I'm okay, really." He replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets and taking a long notice of how 'put together' his other mentor looked at the moment. "I…wanted to tell you something."

Mr. Stark smiled brighter at that, "What's the big news for my favorite spider-kid?"

"Well…" Peter opened and shut his mouth hesitantly, the bile rising in his throat again as memories and emotions came flooding back.

This was getting to be a bit too confusing for his liking and all he could think about was how badly he wanted to have told Lincoln this first. She would've been so excited for him. He sucked in a sharp breath then when the unsettled emotions hit him hard.

"Okay," Tony put a hand on his shoulder to try and guide him forwards. "Take a seat, buddy. On the couch, let's go before you get any more pale and yack on Pepper's new carpet. I won't be upset, but I'll have to hear it from the soon-to-be missus."

"I wanted to…" Peter cleared his throat to try and shove the possibility of tears back while Tony did nothing but remind him how he wished it was Lincoln worrying about him. "I wanted to tell Ms. Rogers first."

Tony seemed to tense slightly at those words, making Peter immediately worry about the man who was practically her father.

"I'm sorry." Peter apologized quickly, "I don't mean- I don't-"

Tony smiled with a slow breath in through his nose and rubbed Peter's shoulder. "I know. It's not your fault."

"I got into MIT." Peter wiped away the tears that started in his eyes, his stomach pitting with grief as he looked away. "I was waiting for her to come back to tell her, and just…then I saw her…"

Tony watched patiently while Peter pulled the letter from over a month ago out of his pocket to show him.

"May knew first and then Ned found out because he and MJ got in-" Peter bit his lip to try and deter sobs. "I just wanted to tell her."

"She's so proud of you, kid." Tony squeezed his shoulder, "And she already knew you'd get in. Trust me, she knows."

Peter sniffled and wiped the tears from his face with his hoodie sleeve, looking down at his lap.

Why isn't he upset? Peter couldn't help the twitch of anger leaking into his system then. He hasn't cared about any of this and now he's sitting there without an ounce of emotion on him like nothing ever happened.

"Pete, this is great." Tony said then, the words almost just passing right by the teenager. "I'll cover the rest of the tuition, but you got an excellent scholarship already so it's barely anything-"

"Why didn't you go?"

The words fell out of Peter's mouth before he could stop himself again, his impulse once again getting the best of him at a bad time. His mentor's death was seriously going to start causing bigger problems if he couldn't learn to control himself. However, as he watched Tony's still reaction, he felt that this question was justified.

"Parker-"

"No," Peter shook his head, swallowing the lump in his throat and knitting his brows together in accusation at the man. "She would've wanted you there. Why aren't you even upset?"

"People process grief differently." Tony continued evenly, "I know you won't understand that-"

"I don't get it." Peter stiffened a little at the touch on his shoulder now, shifting Tony's hand off him. "You're not even upset. Did you want her dead?"

"She's not-" Tony's jaw tightened then as he caught the rest of his words, but what had been said already caught Peter by surprise.

His jaw fell open a little before he shut it tight again and stared. "What?"

"Nothing, kid." Tony tried to change the topic. "I'm gonna take a quick trip to the basement so you can take a moment."

"No, Mr. Stark," Peter caught his arm. "Are you okay? Lincoln died, right?"

Tony opened and shut his mouth, clearly put on the spot again before he shook his head, "You need a minute to collect yourself-"

As if on cue to interrupt the awkward moment, there was a bang from the front door and then harsh whispering outside it.

Tony took the opportunity to step away from Peter's questioning and the teenager on the couch quickly cleaned up his face to try and disguise his distress from whoever was at the door. The man of the house pulled the door open and Luis, Kurt, and Scott almost fell inside on top of each other.

"Tony Stark, I am so sorry." Scott started immediately, passing a glance in at where Peter was standing and shoving the MIT letter back in his pocket. "Luis is taking this hard-"

"No, no, no," Luis shook his head quickly, looking frantic. "We just go back in time and bring her back here right before she dies. It's foolproof."

"Luis!" Scott pleaded, "Don't."

Tony sighed a little and Peter even cringed, knowing already about the conversation that Scott and Luis had at the funeral. Luis must've really fallen apart.

"It's okay," Tony held out a hand, making the three fall silent. "I'll hear him out."

Peter looked back at the man fast in shock with Scott and the other two doing the same. Scott opened his mouth to say something, only for Tony to shoot him a look that made the jaw shut tight again.

"Alright," Tony beckoned them in and passed a look back at Peter. "Can you do something for me, Kid?"

Peter nodded quietly, closing his hands into fists in his pockets.

"I'm not quite done with you yet and I know you had a long drive out here." Tony patted Peter's arm casually, trying to catch his eyes while he softened his voice in a way that made it so the others couldn't hear. "Go sit in the lab for a bit for me. I don't want you to have to get wrapped up with 'Crazy' right now. I'll take care of it."

Even Tony's new maturity and lack of snippiness was unsettling. He put on this less-than-dismissive attitude that Peter couldn't say he was comfortable with. Nevertheless, Peter listened and turned to the basement door with no intentions of tuning this conversation out. He sat down on the second stair after shutting the door and turned up his listening ears for whatever Luis was so desperate to get through to Tony. To Peter though, it really all just sounded like Luis was going crazy.

You know, until Tony asked for a minute alone with the man and started to agree with him.