Chapter 95

Steve stared at the screens in the quinjet, heartbroken as he twisted the wedding band on his finger.

Toni was gone. Into space. And he had no idea if she'd ever come home again.

He closed his eyes. It had only been minutes since the call she'd made, where she'd all but said goodbye to him, knowing fully well that there was a chance that she wouldn't come home again, and he didn't know how to handle it.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. They were supposed to deal with everything together. Every milestone, every villain; all the good, and the bad, they were supposed to handle it all.

And instead, he was once again on a mission and not with his wife when she'd needed him most. He'd left his wife and his children behind, and the attack had happened in their city.

"FRIDAY, please tell me Morgan and Peter are okay," he pleaded the AI, voice thick as he tried hard not to cry. He needed to keep it together. He needed to be there for his family. He needed to keep it together for the avengers. He needed to keep it together for the world, and fight against this Thanos. He couldn't let his grief get to him.

"Morgan is safe in the Tower with Miss Potts and Miss Carter-Sousa," FRIDAY told her. "Mr Wong and Mr Banner are also there as well, and neither seemed to be unharmed after the battle."

"Banner?" Steve's brows furrowed, "Since when was Bruce back?"

"He returned shortly before the battle," FRIDAY told her, but he felt unsettled.

"Peter?" he pressed, knowing that while his daughter was safely at home, the AI had made no mention of what had happened to his son.

"I'm sorry, Mr Stark-Rogers," FRIDAY told him. "Boss' instructions were to use the suit she'd deployed to take him home. However JARVIS and I lost contact with KAREN around the same time that we lost contact with Miss. I have run the numbers, and due to the fact that there was no damage to his suit or the tracker in it, they indicate that he was most likely with Miss when the ship left the earth's atmosphere."

He fell to the ground just then. Peter was with Toni. And both of them were out of the earth's atmosphere. He'd been in Germany, and once again on another mission, when his family needed him most, and now his wife and son were gone. They were gone, and he didn't even know what was happening with them. He had no idea where they were, or if they were okay, and he'd have no idea if something happened to them. They were gone, and there was nothing he'd be able to do about it.

"Steve?" Sam said, as the others gathered around him with concern, "What happened? Is everything okay?"

"Toni and Peter were on that ship," he gasped, "They're both gone. Both of them. I don't know what to do. They were both on that ship and I have no idea if they're okay or hurt. What if something happens to them? What am I going to do?"

"Steve take a deep breath," Rhodey said, as he came up to him. "You have to snap out of this, okay? You're no use to her if you're like this. Toni? She's a fighter. She's the strongest person I know. She's like a phoenix, always rising from the ashes even when the odds are not in her favour. She did it in Afghanistan, and she'll do it again now. Especially if Peter's with her. Her children are the most important things to her in the world, and if either of them are at risk, then she'll do everything in her power to keep them safe. She'll be back, I promise you that. You need to get it together and have some faith in your wife. Believe that she's coming back."

He stood, as the others helped him up, knowing that the man was right. He'd been her best friend for years, and if anyone knew his wife, it was her brother. The man who'd been there with her through so much. He believed that Toni would be coming home, and believed that she was okay. So he needed to have faith in her too.

Toni loved him. But she loved their children more. A fact he didn't fault her for and whole heartedly agreed with. She'd do anything to keep them safe. Chances were, Toni would be furious with Peter for being with her on that ship, but that she'd do anything in her power to keep him safe.

"You're right," Steve said. "We need to get home."

"Sir, you have an urgent call from Dr Banner," JARVIS told him, and Steve gestured for the AI to connect him through.

"Banner?" Harry asked, eyes narrowing, just as Bruce came on the screen in front of them all.

"Steve," Bruce let out a relived sound, "It's so good to see you all."

Steve could see Ava behind him, and Harry visibly tensed at the sight.

"Not now," Natasha told him in a low voice. Harry's jaw was still clenched but he agreed with her.

"What happened?" Steve asked him, wanting to know the details. Any details.

"Toni told you about Thanos," Bruce said, and the others had nodded after Steve had debriefed them after the first call with his wife. "His children got Strange. The man had the Time Stone. They're going to be coming for the Mind stone next."

"Vision," Steve said in understanding.

"Do you know where he is?" Bruce asked him urgently, "The children of Thanos are going to be going after him next. We need to get to him and keep him safe. If Thanos gets all the stones…Steve…it's not going to be good."

"I know," Steve closed his eyes, "JARVIS can you connect with Vision? Get his location, ASAP. Tell him it's an emergency."

"There is an override I can employ," JARVIS nodded, "It is meant for emergencies only, which I believe this constitutes as."

The AI sounded worried, and Steve didn't blame him. Vision was as much of JARVIS' son as Peter was his. And both of them wanted to keep their family safe.

"Setting the coordinates for Prague," FRIDAY said, "ETA, 10 minutes."

He took deep breath, as he nodded at the team. "Gear up."

"Come home safely," Ava said, coming onto the camera. She was holding Morgan tightly in her arms, and Steve wished more than anything that he could reach through the screens and hold his daughter. To be able to give her a hug or a kiss on the head and promise her that everything will be okay.

"Dada?" Morgan asked him, and he felt his heart break. She'd said the word a before, and had more words in her vocabulary, and he was proud of her for every milestone she'd hit.

"I love you, Morgan," he told his daughter through the screen, "I love you so much, okay, Sweetheart?"

"Dada," she giggled, and he smiled at her gently.

"That's right, Baby," he encouraged her.

"I'll take care of her," Ava promised him. "Just, get home safely okay? All of you. Please?"

He nodded at Toni's cousin, whom he'd come to consider as his own family.

"I'll do everything in my power," Steve promised her.

The plane landed then, and Steve saw that they were at a subway station. They moved off the jet quickly, with their gear, as Rhodey gave orders to circle around the group, giving them the element of surprise.

He moved into position, as he stood on the other side of a platform, waiting for the train car to pass.

The female alien spotted him quickly, as she tossed a spear at him, but he simply moved out of the way to catch it.

Sam flew in then, as he knocked the same alien off her feet and through a store. Steve picked up his spear and threw it with full force back towards the other alien and sue him if he put in more strength than necessary. These 'Children of Thanos' were the reason his wife and son were god knows where.

The spear went past him, as Natasha caught it while running and began using it to fight against the creature, as she stabbed him in the stomach and threw him to the ground.

She pulled the spear out, and threw it back to Steve, who blocked an attack from the female alien at the same time. He blocked her attacks and struck her a few times, as Rhodey flew in and kicked her off her feet, towards where the other alien was lying.

Pietro ran towards them, and grabbed both of their spears, leaving them defenseless, as he gave one to Harry as well, who'd been attending to Wanda and Vision.

"Get up," the female alien said desperately to the male.

"I can't," he said, pained.

"We don't want to kill you," Natasha told them both. "But we will."

"You'll never get the chance again," the female alien promised her. She pressed a button on the male alien's suit, as the two of them shot off in a beam of light, similarly to the Stark Trek movies he'd seen with his family.

He was tempted to run forward. To be beamed up in the light, so he could get onto the ship and go into space and find Toni and Peter.

But he thought about his sixteen-month-old daughter at home alone. He couldn't do that to her. Couldn't leave her alone. So he held himself back. Even if a part of his heart was gone with his wife.

"Can you stand?" Pietro asked Vision, as Harry and Pietro helped the man to his feet.

"Thank you, Steve," Vision said, sounding a bit overwhelmed, and Steve stepped forward, as Vision threw his arms around him. He felt his heart melt, knowing that this was his family. Vision was as much a part of their family as the rest of them. And if they hadn't gotten here on time, it would be another member he'd have lost because of Thanos.

"Of course," he told Vision softly, "We're family. Now let's get you both on the jet, okay?"

"Okay," Wanda nodded, as Pietro walked close to her.

"Where to, Cap?" Sam asked, and Steve closed his eyes.

"Home," he said, simply.


They got to the Compound exactly two hours later, and he couldn't help the break in his heart as they walked the hallowed halls without Toni there. He'd been to the Compound without her before. But in those situations she was almost always at their home, working with SI or inventing something to keep them safe, or spending time with their children.

She was never just not there.

"It's good to see you, Bruce," Rhodey greeted the man as they walked into the conference room and saw him and Ava talking to Everett Ross on the screens.

"Captain," Ross said, greeting them, "I'm glad you managed to safely get to Vision before the Alien invaders did."

"As am I," Steve said. Ava was holding Morgan, and he knew the woman had been on the phone with the Accords council, trying to help organize the world's defenses when the aliens came back. "We're here to fight them. Together."

Ava gave him a sad smile, as he took his daughter from her. Morgan looked happy to see him, and he kissed the top of her head, praying that nothing happened to her.

"I'm glad you're back," Ava told him.

"Me too," Steve said, as Morgan played with his beard. "Bruce. I'm glad to see you're back."

"He was in space, apparently," Ava said, and he didn't miss the bitter undertone in her voice. Harry shot the man a glare, but they didn't have time for this. Not now. Not when the aliens would be back for Vision.

"It's good to be back," Bruce scratched the back of his head, as he looked around the room. Steve tried not to notice the way Ava's eyes dropped so she wouldn't meet his gaze. He knew it woud be between Bruce and Ava to work out their relationship. Even if he'd personally liked Bucky with Ava, he wasn't sure the two would repair their relationship beyond anything but a friendship. And well, it was up to Ava to decide if she wanted either of the men in her life.

Harry, on the other hand, looked like he was trying very hard not to say anything.

"I think you look great," Sam said, with a nod, "All things considered. Space, huh?"

"Space," Bruce shrugged, not really wanting to get into it. "Yeah, I'm back. For good."

He wasn't discreet in the look he'd shot Ava then, and Harry stepped in front of her protectively.

"We'll see," Harry said simply, and Ava pushed her brother aside so he was no longer covering her.

"Hey, Bruce," Natasha said quietly, and Bruce looked at her, somewhat expressionless. He was unable to get a read on his feelings towards the woman.

"Nat," Bruce said with a curt nod.

"This is awkward," Sam whispered to him, and Steve sighed.

He clapped his hands. This was going nowhere, and he needed to get them all back on track.

"Okay. Let's get started with what we know," Steve said, deciding to get back to the matter at hand. "We know Thanos wants the infinity stones. We know he has two, the power and space, in his grasp, and that the Time stone, Doctor Strange, Toni, and Peter are en route towards him now. Meaning he may have three shortly. The Reality, Soul, and Mind remain."

"So we gotta assume they're coming back, right," Rhodey said, with a nod. Wanda placed an arm on Vision.

"We know they can find us," she said, and Pietro looked at her worriedly. "They knew where Vision and I were and came directly to us. They can track the stones."

"They showed up for the Time Stone too," Bruce nodded, "Right towards the New York Sanctum where Strange was. If I hadn't landed there and he hadn't gone to get Toni then neither of us would have been there with him."

"We need all hands on deck," Steve nodded.

"Where's Clint?" Bruce asked Natasha about the former original Avengers member.

"Retired," Natasha said firmly. "After Ultron he wanted to step back and stay with his family. Didn't want his newborn son to grow up without knowing who he was. Same with Ant-Man. Tried to recruit him a few times but he made it clear that his daughter was his priority. We may be able to get in touch with Hope and ask for their help as well."

"There's an Ant-Man and a Spider-Man?" Bruce asked in confusion, and Steve closed his eyes.

"Spider-Man is Peter," Steve told him softly. They'd agreed to keep their son's identity a secret, but with Peter in space, the man should know that it was their son up there.

"Peter?" Bruce said in confusion, "Peter Parker?"

"Yes," Steve said with a nod.

"He called Toni, Mom," Bruce said, and Steve could tell the pieces were starting to be put together in his mind.

"We adopted him after his aunt and uncle passed away," Steve said.

"He has powers," Bruce said slowly, as if to question how that happened.

"Oscorp," Ava said, voice filled with distaste.

"Okay," Bruce said, clearly wanting to ask a hundred more questions, but he knew now was not the time. "Okay. Look. Thanos has the biggest army in the universe. And he's not going to stop until he gets…until he gets Vision's Stone."

Bruce looked grim, and Steve knew why.

"Well, we just have to protect it then, don't we," Harry said for them all.

"No," Vision shook his head, "We have to destroy it. I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head, about its nature. But also, its composition. I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something, very similar to its own signature, perhaps…its molecular integrity could fail."

He gestured to Wanda. Her powers may not have been of the Mind Stone anymore, but there was a trace of them still in her magic. Something Strange had commented on. That her magic while having been stripped from the Mind Stone itself, her powers were different than what the other sorcerers at Kamar Taj held, and it seemed like the stone was responsible.

"No," Wanda said firmly. "It would destroy you with it. We're not having this conversation."

"We must," Vision said, "Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it."

"That's too high a price," Wanda argued.

Vision took her face in his hands, "Only you have the power to pay it," he said, and Wanda pulled away from him upset, as Pietro wrapped an arm around her comfortingly. "Thanos threatens half the Universe. One life cannot stand in the way of defeating him."

"But it should," Steve looked up at him firmly. "We don't trade lives, Vision."

Vision shook his head, "Captain, 70 years ago, you laid down your life to save how many millions of people. Tell me, why is this any different?"

"Because I had no one," Steve said finally. "I made that choice knowing there was another way. But I didn't want it. I lost Bucky, and I didn't want to find any other options. I could have jumped out of the plane. I could have given them my coordinates. I didn't do any of that. Vision. You're not nothing to us. You're JARVIS' son. Toni's grandson. My grandson. You matter to all of us, and if you think for a second, we're just going to be okay with this, with you taking your life, you're wrong."

"I don't have a choice," Vision said, and Steve could tell he was a bit distressed.

"Actually, you might," Bruce said. "Your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. JARVIS, Ultron, Toni, me, Ava, the Stone. All of them mixed together. All of them learning from one another. All of us made you who you are."

"You're saying Vision isn't just the stone?" Wanda asked him in surprise.

Bruce looked over at Ava, "I'm saying that if we take out the stone, there's still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts."

"I agree," she spoke to him, meeting his eyes for the first time, "He's more than just the stone. If we remake some of those connections not to include the stone, then we have a chance."

"Can we do that?" Natasha asked.

"Not just me," Bruce sighed, "I'm going to need help. Strange helped us initially with all the neural when we were drawing up the original parameters for ULTRON. And with him gone…"

"You better find someone fast," Rhodey said with a sigh, "We also need to take this somewhere else. If Thaos comes back, we don't want to risk all the lives in New York for this fight. We need somewhere isolated."

"I know somewhere," Steve said, closing his eyes, hoping T'Challa wouldn't mind their visit.


Toni watched in horror as the alien who'd kidnapped Strange had him hung up by some sort floating apparatus and had hundreds of sharp objects pointed his way.

Were they going to torture him into giving them the stone?

"In all the time I've served Thanos, I've never failed him," The alien spoke to him, annoyed. "If I were to reach our rendezvous on Titan with the Time Stone still attached to your vaguely irritating person, there would be... judgement."

The needles started to move closer towards Strange's face, and she saw him grimace in pain as the skin glowed where it was being pierced.

"Give me the stone," the alien said.

"Wow," she muttered to herself, as she saw Strange's cloak tap on her shoulder. She froze at first, before realizing what it was, "You're a seriously loyal piece of outerwear, aren't you?"

"Yeah, uh, speaking of loyalty," she heard a familiar voice, and turned to see her son hanging upside down.

"What the?" she said, catching herself before she swore, as he jumped down.

"I know what you're gonna say," Peter said before she could say anything.

"You should not be here," she said in shock, as panic filled her.

"I was gonna go home," Peter said, as she closed her eyes, "But it was such a long way down and I just thought about you on the way. And I kinda stuck to the side of the ship. And this suit is ridiculously intuitive, by the way. So if anything, it's kinda your fault that I'm here"

"Peter, she said simply, and his eyes widened as if he regretted what he just said.

"I take that back," he said quickly, "And now I'm here! In space."

"Peter, you should have gone home," she swallowed, "You would have been safe at home. Do you even know what you signed up for? This? This isn't a field trip. It's a one-way ticket. I have no idea how to get this thing home, and that's assuming we manage to defeat Thanos."

She didn't want to scare him, but she couldn't help how terrified she felt. She didn't know if they would get home. didn't know if she would make it home alive. But she couldn't have Peter get hurt. Not here. Not in space.

"No," he said simply, "I did think this through. Mom, you were going to be up here by yourself! Strange is still that guy's prisoner. You have no backup, and I'm sure FRIDAY and JARVIS don't work up here because Karen's not. Because I don't want you to be alone. I heard what you told Dad. If the universe ends then it doesn't matter where we are. I'm here because I want to be."

She moved forward so quickly, that he flinched, but he didn't pull away as she wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly.

"Oh Peter," she said, in a sad voice. "How did I manage to get a kid as good as you?"

"Through a common love for science," he said cheekily, but stayed in her embrace.

"Okay, listen to me, and listen to me good," she said finally, as she pulled away, and cupped his face. "You are going to do exactly what I say. And if I say run, you run. If I say stay hidden, you stay hidden. If I say leave me behind and take the ship, you go. Got it?"

He didn't answer and she stared at him intently.

"Okay fine got it!" he said quickly.

"Come on," she said, with shaky breath as she showed him Strange down below, "We got a situation, See him down there? He's in trouble. What's your plan?"

"Uh," Peter said, as he assessed the situation. "Okay. Did you ever see this really old movie, Aliens?"

Leave it to him to make her feel old.

She nodded, knowing exactly where he was going with that.

Strange screamed in pain, as they moved into place.

"Painful, aren't they? They were originally designed for microsurgery. And any one of them-"

She landed on the ground loudly, as she raised her repulsors.

"-could end your friend's life in an instant," the alien continued.

"I wouldn't want that, now would I?" she smirked at him.

"You've saved nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine," the alien said, as it raised several objects around him.

"Yeah, but my kid's seen more movies," she laughed, as she blew a rocket out of her shoulder and it pierced the side of the ship. The alien was sucked through it, along with several other things on the ship, including Strange.

The Cape tried to move to grab him but lost its grip on his arm.

Peter shot a strand at him, as he held onto a piece of the ship, only to have it break off. The spider legs she'd created, came out the suit and stopped him from flying out of the ship.

"Yes! Wait what are those?!" Peter asked as he pushed himself backwards, bring Strange back into the ship.

She sprayed out several nanites to plug the whole in the ship, and Strange crashed onto the ground.

"Hey, we haven't officially met yet," Peter said, trying to deepen his voice so Strange wouldn't be able to ID him due to the time they'd spent together in the lab.

"I'm sure we haven't," Strange told him with a wry smile. "We gotta turn this ship around. I need to protect the stone.

"We're flying in a doughnut billions of miles away from Earth with no backup," she shook her head.

"I'm backup," Peter tried.

"You, Sweetheart, are a stowaway," she told him pointedly.

"Yes, and I can agree with your mother that you should have stayed home," Strange sighed.

She walked over at the panels as she saw Peter gape at him.

"This ship is self-correcting its course. Thing's on autopilot," she remarked, and froze as she looked into the expanse.

The last time she'd truly seen space was when she'd taken the missile through the wormhole.

And now the monster who'd sent the Chitauri was back.

"Can we control it? Fly us home?" Strange asked, "Stark?"

"Hm?" she asked, as she noticed them both staring at her. "Yeah I heard you. I just…I'm not sure that we should."

"Under no circumstance can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos. I don't think you quite understand what's at stake here," Strange said heatedly.

She glared at him, "No. It's you who doesn't understand, that Thanos has been inside my head for six years since he sent an army to New York and now he's back! And I don't know what to do. So I'm not so sure if it's a better plan to fight him on our turf or his but you saw what they did, what they can do. Do you want that to happen to our planet again? At least on his turf, he's not expecting it. So I say we take the fight to him. Doctor. Do you concur?"

He paused at that, but nodded, "Alright, Stark. We go to him. But you have to understand," he closed his eyes, "if it comes to saving you or the kid or the Time Stone... I will not hesitate to let either of you die. I can't, because the fate of the universe depends on it."

She placed a tight hold on Peter's shoulder as if to protect him in advance from what they'd face.

"Understood," she said, because she did. She'd die to protect the entire world. But she'd kill anyone who tried to hurt her son.

Peter looked out the window in anticipation and she stayed close to him as the ship stayed on course towards Thanos. She just hoped when they got there that they'd stand a chance.