"How long will you be gone, do you think?"
Stephen smiled, slightly, sliding an arm around Natasha as they walked from her quarters where he'd materialized only moments earlier, toward the lounge.
"It depends on how long it takes us to find this thing. Wong came up with a pretty clever spell that should cut through the eons of Flerkin consumption, but the place is massive and there are piles of things littering the area."
"A pile for each Flerkin?"
"Maybe," he conceded. "Or maybe-"
He was interrupted when they heard the door to Peter's quarters open and the cloak quickly transferred from the sorcerer's collar to greet the boy.
"Hey, guys."
Peter's greeting was cheerful, despite being throttled by excited fabric – or maybe because of it.
"Good morning, Peter," Stephen replied. "Where's Pete?"
"He's heading for the lounge, now. Are you ready for your thing?"
"My thing?" Strange echoed, amused, as they all started moving, again.
Peter moved to walk in front of them, turning so he was walking backwards and could look at them. Romanoff and Strange noticed the way he casually used his spider senses and easy balance to keep from having the need to look back over his shoulder every now and then as they walked.
"If I called it a trip," he said. "Then I'd think suitcases. And if I called it an excursion or an expedition, I'd think of dog sleds and yelling mush a lot. So…" he shrugged, obviously amused at the expression on the sorcerer's face. "A thing…"
"Sometimes you amaze me."
Peter smiled.
"That's good, though, right?"
"Of course it's good, baby," Natasha assured him. She was pleased that Peter didn't look concerned about Tony accompanying Stephen on his… thing. For one thing, she didn't like it when he worried, but for another, it meant that his spider senses weren't putting him on edge about the upcoming events of the morning. "He's a wizard, remember? He sees all kinds of crazy things and you top them all."
As she was speaking, the Cloak of Levitation was crooning cheerfully in his mind and loving up on him with corners of fabric – as if agreeing with everything Strange and Natasha were saying.
"A sorcerer," Stephen corrected, rolling his eyes as he did every time she called him a wizard. He was long past being annoyed, though, at the way they were so informal with him – and each other. "But she's right; you are right there at the top of the list of things – and people – who amaze me."
Peter's ears turned red, which made the adults smile. He smiled, too, though.
"How long will it take?"
He had no way of knowing that he was repeating Natasha's question, and Stephen didn't point it out – although she smirked.
"We're not going to go shopping for souvenirs," he told Peter. "In and out as quickly as we can."
"And we already know that the time in that place is similar to our own, right?" Peter pointed out. "Since it didn't take you a week or anything to get back, last night."
"Right. It should work out the same way. But no promises."
"Yeah."
He still didn't look worried.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
They were met in the lounge by Tony and Pepper who were having a cup of coffee as they waited for the others. Peter had turned around by then and walked through the lounge entrance next to Natasha.
"Where's your menace of a cat?" his father asked when Peter sat down.
"Pete has him. Where's your delicious piglet?"
Tony rolled his eyes at Stephen's amused snort.
"Stop saying that, son. You know he's sensitive." He looked at Strange. "Are you ready?" he asked. "Wong figured out his spell?"
"We're good to go, yes."
"Have you eaten, Stephen?" Pepper asked, unable to hide that she was a little concerned about her husband going on a magical journey to a place filled with who knew what that might want to send him to some other reality – or worse. "We're going to eat before you two leave."
"I've eaten," he confirmed, pulling a chair out for Natasha before settling next to her, more than comfortable with them all by then, of course. "But I'll have a snack, and some coffee."
"Is Pete on his way?" Tony asked Peter, knowing that if the guy had Nutmeg, Peter must have spoken to him already that morning.
"He said he was."
"Good." The billionaire looked at Stephen. "Anything I need to bring?"
"Your suit."
Tony smirked.
"Aside from that."
"No." The sorcerer looked at the others. "I'm going to keep him beside me," he added. "In case anything happens, we'll leave immediately and come back here to regroup before trying, again."
"But you don't think anything will happen, right?" Pepper asked.
"I'd never say that there is no chance," Stephen told her. "Not when magic is involved. But I've been where we're going, and if I thought that he would be in danger, I wouldn't let him come."
"If there's no danger, I could go too," Peter reminded him. "I'm good at judging what can be dangerous, remember."
"You're not going," Tony said – again. "For one thing, you're needed here, to keep mom out of trouble. For another, if I let you go, then I have to let Pete go – and probably Romanoff, and then mom. And then Steve, and Clint, and next thing you know it's a party when we don't have time for one."
Peter shrugged, but Alec snorted in his mind.
"You didn't really think he was going to say, did you?"
"I can dream."
"You and I are going to be busy, today," Pepper said to Peter, unaware of the silent conversation going on in Peter's mind. "So you can't go with them."
"What are we going to be doing?" he asked, curiously. He knew they weren't going to the tower, after all.
"If we're going to get Pete back to where he belongs, it's up to you and I to figure out how he should approach Tony in his own reality to be able to have that connection with him and the Avengers."
"Not because of Thanos," Tony said, quickly. "But because he can learn a lot from them, like you have – even if he's going to be a magician and not an Avenger. A connection with the Avengers – and me – in his world will also give the Stephen there a chance to get to know me there, and that will only give the earth that much more protection if something big ever did come up."
"That's a fair point," Strange conceded.
"How would he be able to approach you?" Peter asked, uncertainly. "I mean, everyone in his reality knows he's Spider-man, but he hasn't had Tony Stark walk up to his doorstep and introduce himself, yet. What can he do to change that?"
"That's what you and mom are going to figure out."
Peter rolled his eyes, but before he could say anything, he looked back over his shoulder, causing everyone to do the same. Sure enough, Pete walked into the lounge with Nutmeg in his arms, the kitten always willing to be carried or cuddled.
"I suppose it'll give us something to think about," he admitted.
"And something to do," Tony agreed. He smiled at the boy who walked over to the table. "Good morning."
"Hi."
"Ready to eat?"
"Yeah."
Pete sat down beside Peter, and Stark reached over and took the kitten from him.
"Go get our breakfast, boys, will you?"
The two got up and headed for the bar, and Strange watched them go.
"You're not worried about one of them doing something dumb and maybe trying to follow us, are you?"
"No." Tony shook his head. "I was, though, which is one of the reasons Pepper came up with a way to distract them, today."
"One that makes a lot of sense," Romanoff added.
"Right?"
They turned the conversation back to the different dimension when the boys returned carrying platters of food, but it wasn't much of a surprise that Peter – and now Pete – were already trying to brainstorm a way for Pete to stand out enough to get Tony's attention back in his own world.
"Who better to figure that out, though, really?" Alec asked. "You and Pepper know him better than anyone could – in any reality."
"Yeah."
OOOOOOOOOOO
"Don't forget to maintain the proper interior pressure."
"I won't."
"And remember that you need to activate the recorders, yourself."
"I know."
"And if things start to go bad, somehow, and that creature attacks you, remember that you have the four new rockets on your left forearm launch."
"I know, FRIDAY."
"I won't be there to remind you to recycle your air."
"I'll remember."
"If you run into trouble, you can always try to-"
Tony deactivated the helmet of his suit, amused at the way his AI was nagging him, but also aware that he needed to reassure his wife and son – and that had to take precedence over reassuring his work wife.
Pepper gave him a slightly worried smile.
"You're sure you know what it looks like…?"
Tony nodded, holding up the picture that Stephen had supplied.
"It's in the suit's database, now. Even if FRIDAY isn't with me, I can still use the sensors. I just have to sort the images, myself."
"He'll be fine," Peter assured her.
He looked confident, too, Tony decided.
"He's right, Pep," he said. "This isn't a reckless half-assed idea. Stephen's on board and there's nothing that the two of us won't be able to handle. We'll be there and back before you have a chance to miss us."
She nodded, reassured by the confidence coming from him and Peter, both. They were all in the gym, now, and they were getting ready to go. Strange was sorting the last spell that he was going to need, and wanted to have it ready – and he was also saying goodbye to Natasha, who didn't look worried, either, Pepper decided.
Pete did – a little – but Peter was joking with Tony and Stephen, telling them that he would pay them both good money if they found something interesting and brought it home for him. He was in the middle of reminding them that dads were supposed to bring kids home souvenirs from trips and things, when Stephen finally shook his head, and looked at Tony.
"Ready to go?"
"Yup."
Peter moved back to stand between Natasha and Pepper, and Pete was on the other side of Peter's adopted mother.
"Be careful," Pepper told him – again.
"We will."
He didn't really care for goodbyes, so he didn't bother with one. Luckily, Strange was the same way. He gave Natasha a slight smile and a wink, and suddenly he and Tony were gone.
Pepper sighed.
"Well…"
"They're fine," Peter assured her, reminding her without actually saying it that he was connected to the mind stone and the mind stone was connected to both Stephen and Tony.
Pepper gave him a relieved smile and then she turned to Natasha.
"What are you doing, today?"
"Working on some scheduling with Steve and Clint. Did you need me, though?"
"No. But if you get bored, later, and you want to help us with our project, feel free to stop by. We'll be back in the lounge."
Romanoff nodded.
"Will do."
Pete went over and picked up Ironpig from his enclosure, still amused at the idea of Tony Stark having a pet pig.
"This should be interesting," he said.
Peter shrugged.
"Definitely."
"Pepper knows him best," Alec reminded him, again. "If anyone knows what will pique his interest, it's her."
"True."