A/N: Umm...hi. I'm back and apologies for totally disappearing. It was the SNAP I tell you. But I'm here with a new chap!
Read it. Enjoy it.
Tony Stark's brain wouldn't stop. Actually it was as if it just couldn't stop. At the moment he's standing on the balcony of his penthouse, drink in hand as he stares up to the stars. Or where stars should be if not for the bright lights of this city. It had been about week since that night on the bridge, his friend who he hadn't seen in months was standing right in front of him and then she just wasn't. She was scared. That much he could tell from the entire encounter. Of what was the real question.
"Tony?" it was the tired voice of his fiancée that tore the man from his thoughts. He turned as Pepper walked over to him. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, just not tired I guess." he replied bringing an arm around her and she dropped her head to his shoulder. The pair stood in silence for a while.
"Do you want to tell me what has you so distracted?" Pepper asked, and Tony let out a sigh before bringing his glass to his lips and taking a sip. She looked up to him, waiting for him to answer. "I could take a guess and probably get it right." he turned meeting her eyes. "Tony-"
"She's alone. There was some thing with Barton, and he left her and took the baby with him." Pepper's eyes widened at the news. "And she's wrapped up in something, I don't know. Then there's still Ross on her ass, and whatever HYDRA lackeys out there that are still after her, and she's just alone."
"You spoke to her?" Pepper asked and Tony let out a sigh before giving a nod. She should've expected it. His whole attitude of not caring and not worrying just had to be an act. And yet a part of her wished it wasn't.
"Saw her actually." he replied turning back to the woman. "It was a brief meeting, but I needed to see her, make sure she was alright." Pepper turned away, still a bit shocked all of this had happened. "Pep-"
"How do we help her?" Pepper asked instead and turned back to the man who stared with a look. "What?"
"We?" he asked and she looked at him with a shake of her head. "You want to help her?"
"You know despite everything that's happened with all of us, I did believe at the heart of it that me and Katie were friends. So yes, if she's in some kind of trouble, then I would like to help." Tony met Pepper's eyes a smile curling on his lips before he brought them to hers in a kiss. He let out a sigh and turned back to the city. "Tony-"
"She knows how to hide from me...from everyone. She seems hell bent on not pulling anyone else with her, and I get it. She's trying to play it safe. She's not giving much room to do anything."
"You could always start with the most obvious starting point." Pepper said and Tony looked over to her in confusion. "Clearing her name with Ross." Tony let a snort before turning away.
"That may actually be the most difficult. Ross is a brick wall. He's had it in from her for years, so I doubt I will be able to get over this obsession he has."
"You could at least try." Pepper replied and Tony looked over to her. "I mean Tony Stark seems to have a way of convincing people to do the things they never thought they would do. I can attest to that." Tony chuckled but turned away in thought. "Everyone has a pressure point, you just have to find out what that is for the Secretary of State." she placed a kiss to his cheek before turning and heading back in side. Tony stood there for a moment, before a sudden idea hit him. He slipped his phone from his pocket and dialed before bringing his phone to his ear.
"Hey Matt, it's...as if you were even sleeping. Look, I need your help, so drag yourself away from whoever you picked up tonight and meet me over in the lab." he was about to end the call, but stopped. "Oh and bring food, whatever is fine, as long as it's things I like."
Stephen opened his eyes, awaken by a shifting in the air. He quickly sat up, glancing around his room searching for the source of the sudden change in the atmosphere. The man stood to his feet and slowly went to his door, pulling it open and glancing out into the hallway. He spotted Wong who seemed to be wearing the same perplexed expression. They share a look, both silently asking the same question. 'What's going on?'
Both men slowly walked down the hall, following the mysterious energy. Neither seemed too surprised as they ended up right outside of Katie's room. Stephen reached forward, twisting the door knob before pushing open the door. And of all the scenes they expected to see, neither was quite ready to see the woman floating a few feet above her bed a swirl of lights and an ominous wind moving around her. They're stopped frozen by the sight, unsure what to do.
"What's happening?" Stephen asks over to Wong, assuming the man knew what was happening.
"I'm not sure." Wong says taking a step forward. "But something about this doesn't feel right. We need to get her to wake up." he looks back to Stephen. "You have to do it."
"Me, why me?"
"Because you're her guide, and if she is lost, you are the one to help her out of it. Now hurry." Stephen let out a sigh before taking a few steps forward. He wasn't sure what to do, but after a moment he reached up taking her hand in his and the moment he did, he was no longer in the Sanctum.
Stephen found himself standing in the middle of a city street. A familiar New York street that's usually crowded with people and cars, but now was oddly void of any life. The man spun around at the sudden sound of a deep throaty laugh, but he couldn't find the source. He lifted his eyes to the sky, only now realizing that it had been torn revealing a deep space that should not be visible from where he stood. The laughter continued making Stephen feel uneasy as he began moving in search of Katie. He suddenly spotted a large figure in the distance, and assumed that's where the laughter was coming from. Stephen's feet continued to move, until a hand wrapped suddenly grabbed his arm stopping him. He whipped around, his eyes widening at the sight of Katie. He opened his mouth to speak, only for her to reach over and cover his mouth with her hand as she shook her head.
When she removed her hand, she took a step forward, to stand beside Stephen, as their eyes looked over to the tall figure who stood looking up to the sky, still laughing until he just stopped. Stephen suddenly took Katie's hand in his, when the figure turned their way.
"This is a dream. This is just a dream." Stephen says before turning to Katie who couldn't tear her eyes from the figure now staring at her.
"No, this is not a dream." she turned to Stephen and shook her head. "This is a warning."
Stephen didn't expect to hit the floor so hard and so suddenly, and Katie didn't expect to drop back to her bed. Stephen sat up, sliding a hand across the back of his head as he stood to his feet.
"A warning of what exactly?" he asked looking over to Katie who opened her eyes and suddenly jumped from the bed.
"Thanos." was all she said before rushing toward the closet. There was a box that she plucked from the shelf and before digging through it. Stephen walked over just as she plucked out a notebook and before paging through it, stopping on a page.
"What?" Stephen said and she looked over to him before turning the notebook toward him, showing a rough drawing of a purplish gray man. Stephen realized he looked like the figure from the dream. "This is Thanos?"
"Yes, I thought he was apart of my imagination. After my daughter was born, I started having these strange dreams about talking trees, and talking raccoons, but I also dreamed about him. Thanos, whose soul purpose was finding the all the stones for-" she flipped through the notebook before finding the page she was looking for and turning it to Stephen. "It's called the Infinity Gauntlet. It will give him immense power and make him unstoppable." she turned notebook around, and looked down to the drawing. "I didn't think it was real. I mean this can't be real-" she looked back up to Stephen and shook her head. "This is crazy, this is impossible, this can't-"
"Hey," he placed his hands on her shoulders. "You can't choose which impossible things to believe in and those you don't. Right now you need to trust what you feel." Katie dropped her eyes back down to the sketch and the feeling was undeniable. "Is he coming?"
"Yes." Katie said lifting her eyes to the man. "He's coming, and we have to-" a sudden crash startled them and they shared a look before rushing out to find the source of the sound. Katie trailed behind Stephen and Wong, feeling a breeze as she caught up to them. She found them both at the top of the steps, and so she pushed them aside, her eyes widening at the sight of an old friend lying in a pile of rubble in a hole in the steps.
"Thanos is coming." Bruce muttered looking up to them. "Thanos is coming." Stephen glanced over to Katie who turned back to him and sighed.
Bruce wasn't completely sure of much at the moment, but he definitely knew that something bad was headed to earth. What he didn't expect was to fall directly into the place where he would be able to find help. And he definitely didn't expect Katie to be there. Bruce stood in the bathroom, staring at himself in the mirror. He knew he should be moving with urgency, but he keeps playing the events prior over and over in his head. He was with Thor on a ship and then Thanos appeared, and destruction followed. Loki is dead, and when the Hulk attempted to fight back, he was no match. Bruce has no idea how they're going to beat this thing, but he knows he really doesn't have the time to have mental break in the bathroom.
With one final deep breath, Bruce finally turned and stepped out of the bathroom, only to be engulfed in another hug from the woman he didn't expect. He chuckled slightly and returned the hug. He didn't expect to find her here, but he was relieved to see someone familiar at the moment.
"I don't think we have time to keep hugging." Bruce said glancing down to the woman. He looked around the room and suddenly had questions. "What exactly is this place and why are you here?" Katie pulled from the hug and looked up to the man. He looked her over, suddenly realizing something. "You're not pregnant."
"I'm not. I have a daughter who you haven't met yet." Katie said with a sad smile. "Her name is Natalia Antoinette Barton. She's actually about to turn two." she turned away from Bruce, trying not to feel the sadness of not being with her daughter, but failing.
"Hey," Bruce spoke, and Katie turned back to him. "What's going on?"
"I'll give you the cliff notes version on the way down stairs." Katie replied nudging her head toward the door.
Stephen stood looking up to the current hole in the ceiling of the sanctum.
"And you say you've heard of this Thanos before?" Stephen asked, before turning to Wong who nodded. "What are the chances that Katie's dreams coincide with a falling hulk in our Sanctum?" Both turned at the sound of voices, where they see Bruce and Katie coming down the stairs.
"So he just took her and left? Clint?" Bruce asked and Katie nodded. "That-" Bruce shook his head. "That seriously doesn't sound like him. He loves you, he wouldn't-"
"Well he did, and right now I'm glad he did. If Thanos is coming then I want him and Tai as far away as possible." she looked over to Stephen and Wong. "Right now we know what Thanos is looking for, and you have one of them around your neck. Then there's Vision who I have no idea where he is or-"
"We have to find Tony." Bruce suddenly said, and Katie turned to him with a shake of her head. "What? I kind of figure this all powerful alien guy was reason enough to bring the Avengers back together. Plus Tony has to be keeping tabs on Vision and-"
"I said I didn't know where Vision is, but I'm sure I could find him. We don't need to call Tony." she turned back to Stephen. " Whatever is happening, it's happening soon, so-"
"Why shouldn't we call Tony?" Bruce asked and Katie sighed and turned back to him. "What's going on?"
"Bruce, no one knows I'm here. I don't want anyone to know I'm here. If this thing is as big as I believe-"
"It is, trust me, I've seen this bastard first hand, so no offense, I doubt we will be able to fight him on our own. So right now it's time for you to stop running-"
"I'm not-" Bruce gave a look that made the woman shake her head. She glanced over to Stephen and Wong who only silently stared. "Tell him we can do this without them."
"You tell him." Stephen replied and Katie glared at him before letting out a huff and turned back to Bruce.
"We-" the words couldn't even come out of her mouth because she knew they weren't true. She knew the fight they were inching closer to would take more than the four of them, and so she groaned before turning back to Stephen. "Could you find Tony?"
"I could, but-"
"I know, but I'm not ready for him to see it." Katie said and Stephen took a step toward her closing the distance between them and she sighed. Bruce looked between the pair curiously.
"At some point he will, they all will." and with that Stephen turned and walked away.
"Are you two...?" Bruce whispered over to Katie who looked at him like he was crazy and he just held up his hands. "Never mind."
Matthew was being a stubborn little jerk, which Tony told him as he and Pepper stood in front of him at the lab.
"It's not happening Tony. I love you, you know I do, but I love my sister more, and I made her a promise to not contact her unless necessary." Matthew replied. .
"And me standing here telling you that I can help her, is what?"
"Words Tony. You have yet to explain to me how you can help her. Look right now we have to trust that she knows what she's doing and that-"
"You think this guy she's with will be able to keep her safe?" Tony asked with a shake of his head. "Look Barton, the dead Hawk walking left her and now she's relying on people she probably shouldn't trust."
"Well when it comes to reading people, my sister usually has a good eye." Matthew said, with a roll of his hand. "Except for the dead Hawk walking."
"Could you two stop calling him that." Pepper sighed. "I want plausible deniability if something really does happen." she turned to Matthew. "And I know you want to protect your sister, but you know her better than we do, if she truly was in some serious trouble, would she ask for help if even she knew she needed it?" Matthew thought over the question and hated the answer.
"Just make the call Mattie. I'll have FRIDAY trace it and then-" there was a sudden clicking sound in the air, and they all turned to see sparks of light appearing. The sparks expanded and formed into a circle and out of that circle walked a strange man wearing a cape.
"Tony Stark, I'm Doctor Stephen Strange. I need you to come with me." They all turn to the man in obvious shock. Pepper turned grabbing Tony's arm, definitely not expecting to see anyone appearing out of circle of lights. "Oh, uh, congratulations on the wedding, by the way."
"I'm sorry, you giving out tickets or something?" Tony asked watching the man warily.
"Wait, I know you." Matthew says pointing to the man.
"We need your help. Look, it's not overselling to say that the fate of the universe is at stake." Stephen replied hoping the urgency was clear. There was no time for questions right now.
"And who's "we"?" Tony asks, and Bruce knowing Tony's suspicions won't be eased unless given a reason, decides to make himself be known. The three of them turn in shock at Bruce who walks from the spinning circle of light over to them.
"Hey Tony." Bruce greets, and Tony still stunned can barely speaks.
"Bruce." Tony says still looking at his friend who he hadn't seen in years. Bruce glances over to Pepper with a nod.
"Pepper."
"Hi." is all Pepper can say at the moment, her brain still reeling from all the sudden unexpected craziness they'd just been plopped into. Tony looks down to Bruce and can see the exhaustion in his eyes, but there's something else.
"Matt." Bruce greets looking over to the man who waves before turning to the man wearing the cape.
"You ok?" Tony asks and Bruce turns back to him, and just brings the man into a hug. Tony returns the hug, looking down to his friend before glancing over to Pepper who places a hand on Bruce's arm as well.
"Are they hugging?" a distant voice asked. A voice that made the two men pull back and turn back to Stephen who glanced back as well.
"Kitten?" Tony took a step forward when Katie suddenly walked out as well. "You're-"
"I'm here and it's a crazy story, but Stephen is right, we don't have time." Katie said before glancing over to Pepper. "Hey Pepper, we need to borrow your fiancee, kind of some serious intergalactic bullshit headed our way and we could use the Iron Ass' help." she glanced over to Tony and Bruce with a nod. "Unless you two want catch up over some tea and braid each others' hair?"
"Katie-" It was Pepper who spoke and Katie turned to the woman and they stared for a moment.
"Don't worry, I'll get him back to you in one piece." she turned about to return back to the sanctum but stopped and turned back to the woman and held up two fingers. "Two pieces max." she looks over to Matthew with a pointed finger. "And you can't-" before Katie could even say a work, Matthew simply walked passed her not giving her a chance to tell him to stay. "Matt-" he'd already walked into the sanctum and she just shook her head.
Tony always expected there to be another out of this world fight with aliens, and powers beyond his skill set, and he'd spent a lot of time trying to prepare for it. Sure the whole Ultron thing didn't work, but he learned from him. So as he stood in some old brownstone, watching some guy wave his hands and somehow create a pretty realistic image of the galaxy, he realized maybe he wasn't as prepared as he thought.
"From the dawn of the universe, there was nothing. Then, boom!" the image shows an explosion that reveals five stones."The Big Bang sent six elemental crystals, hurtling across the virgin universe. These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence."
"Space." Stephen continues, as the corresponding stone lights up as he speaks. "Reality. Power. Soul. Mind. And Time."Stephen glances down, and lifts his hands to open the Eye of Agamotto, revealing the Time Stone emitting emerald light.
"Six?" Katie asks turning to Stephen and Wong. "Six Stones?"
"It's what the ancient texts says." Wong replies in confusion, and Katie shakes her head. "Why?"
"I don't know, I-" she turns to Stephen who watches her as well. "I think there's more to it than that. Something that isn't written, maybe it can't be written." the pair stare at each other and the others look on in confusion.
"Is this a staring contest because it's rude to have in the middle of an existential crisis." Tony says standing to his feet as he looks between Katie and Stephen. He'd been watching the pair since he arrived, how they seemed to be having little whispered side conversations all huddled close together, and he for one didn't like it. "Tell me his name again."
"Thanos." Bruce said. "He's a plague, Tony. 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 lets out a deep sigh and turns away.
"This is it." he mutters before turning back to the others. "What's our timeline?"
"No idea." Bruce says.
"Soon." Katie says with certainty and they turn to her. "I can't explain how I know that, but just assume I'm right, and what is happening could be happening within the next couple of minutes." she glanced over to Stephen and she gave a nod.
"Will you two stop doing that!" Tony says walking over and standing between the pair.
"Look, he has the Power and Space Stones, that already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe." Bruce says getting back to the matter at hand. " If he gets his hands, on all six Stones, Tony..."
"He can destroy life on a scale hitherto undreamt of." Stephen adds, and Tony turns and leans against a the cauldron beside him and begins stretching as if he's about to go for a run.
"Did you seriously just say "hitherto undreamt of"?" Tony asks.
Katie shakes her head and looks over to Matthew who has his phone pressed against his ear. She walks over to him just as he pulls the phone from his ear and glances over to see her.
"You know I know I should call this in. Another Alien attack, is at the top of the things I should report, but I just don't even know what I would say." Katie sees his hand shaking a bit, and she takes his hand in hers. "I remember seeing you on television during the whole Battle of New York thing, I remember thinking how bad-ass you had to be to fight freaking aliens, and how if you could do it, I could probably do it too." he looked over to his sister and shook his head. "Maybe I shouldn't have walked through the portal of swirling lights."
"Mattie, hey, you're kind of a bad-ass too, and I know this is scary, and I know you're probably freaking out right now, but it is now our responsibility to save the world and that includes you. I'm making you an honorary Avenger, ok, and I promise you are going to make it to the end of this."
"How can you promise that, Rinny?"
"I don't know, maybe it's because I won't allow for any other outcome than for you to live." she gave his hand a squeeze before turning to see Tony walk over to them, the flip phone in hand. "What's happening?"
"Everyone wants you to call Cap." Tony says and Katie quirks a brow before looking over to the guys behind him who just shake their head.
"You're going to have to talk to him at some point Tony." Katie replied before taking the phone from his hand.
"And find Vision." Tony said quickly and Katie looked back up to him in confusion. "Bruce said you may have a way of finding him, unless you know exactly where he is. I mean he did seem to have a bit of a crush on you."
"He did not-" Katie let out a frustrated sighed. "You lost him?"
"So do you have a way to find him or-" Katie turned around and shook her head. She wasn't sure if she's ready to explain just how crazy her life has gotten.
"Steve's good at the whole lost and found thing, he can find Vision." Katie turned back to Tony who looked at her curiously.
"You're hiding something." he said and Katie just turned away from him. "And if we're about to be knee deep in another alien attack, I think your best friend deserves some honesty, I mean unless the role's been taken by some smart ass in a cape all of a sudden?"
"I feel so bad that Pepper will have to deal with this for like ever." Katie says before looking down to the phone. She'd only flipped the phone open before she heard the faint noise of something. She lifted her eyes to Tony who looked as confused as she before they turned to the others. They noticed Stephen's hair oddly blowing in a wind.
"Hey Doc, you wouldn't by chance be moving your hair right now, would you?" Tony asked, and Stephen lifted his eyes now noticing her hair moving as well.
"At the moment, no." he replied before their eyes look up to the hole in the ceiling created by the falling Hulk and what looks like falling debris before turning to the door, only now realizing that there are people running out there. Tony walks for the door, pulling it open to see people frantically running, and they all seemed to be fleeing from the same direction. Tony quickly walks out, Wong, Bruce and Matthew behind him. Stephen stops in front of Katie who doesn't seem to move.
"I thought you were usually more active in moments like this." Stephen says and Katie glances over to him. "What is it?"
"It's starting." Katie replies before placing a hand to Stephen's arm. "I think we're missing something. There's something that doesn't feel right about there only being six stones. I don't know why, but you need remember that."
"Hey-" before he could speak, Katie had turned and rushed out the door. She saw Tony up ahead and went to follow. She came to a stop at the sudden car crashing into the light pole beside her.
"Matt!" she called and her brother turned his stunned eyes to her, "Help them!" she pointed to the car and her brother gave a nod before rushing over. Katie went to follow Tony whose back was pressed against the wall of a building as he peeked over the side. "How many is it?" Tony turned back to her, and she saw the glasses her were now wearing.
"You know it's moments like this, I'd love to see you in a suit of armor." Tony says and Katie chuckled despite herself. "Which I'm actually working on, but it's not finished, so you should be going back that way." he nudged his head before walking along the street, Stephen, Wong and Bruce now walking over as well .
"Tony, don't you dare-"
"I would love to have this argument with you kitten, like I seriously would, but not now." he glanced over to her with a look of seriousness. "You still have a daughter who would like you to continue to be alive, now go!"
And so Katie just stood there, her back still pressed against that wall as the guys went to fight whatever monster was waiting for them. She knew Tony was right. She had a little girl who she didn't want to leave. She refused to let her daughter grow up as she did without a mother. But there was a problem. Katie turned her head at the sudden crash, and knew the fighting had begun and for the life of her she couldn't just turn around and run away. Tony had his suit, and Stephen and Wong had their magic, and Bruce had a Hulk, and she had none of the above. And yet she took a deep breath and pulled her back from that wall, and began walking toward whatever dangers lied ahead.
"Dr. Banner, if the rest of your green friend won't be joining us..." Stephen says before lifting his hands, and with a simple spin of his hand, Bruce falls through a magically appearing door and lands in Central Park. Stephen lifts his head to see Katie as she walks over to him, her eyes glancing up to see Tony's current attack, "You know, I kind of agreed with you being far away from this."
"I saw this coming which means I think I'm supposed to be right here in it." Katie says looking up to the alien creature who stands in front of them. "Ebony Maw. One of Thanos' minions."
"Yeah, we got that, any idea how to get rid of him?" Stephen asked before lifting his hands and getting his magical shields at the ready.
"No, but keep that Stone safe, or he will be the last of your worries." Katie says looking over to the man, giving him a wink. "I think I'm going to say hi." he looked at her in confusion, but then she turned and began walking toward the alien.
"Wha-no, no!" he called after her, but it didn't seem to stop her. Tony drops down in front of her stopping her, and just shakes his head.
"Sorry Kitten, but you don't get to play the hero with this. At some point your luck's going to run out." Tony glances over to Stephen. "How about you do your abrah cadabrah and get her as far away as possible, and while you're at it, get that stone even further."
"It stays with me." Stephen declares.
"Exactly, bye!" and with that Tony looks back to Katie.. "Get the hell out of here!" he lifts up into the sky to move the fight away from Stephen and Katie, by attacking Maw. Katie stands there for a moment before turning to Stephen who seems to be staring at her with wide eyes.
"What?" she asks before looking down to herself and seeing light illuminating from her hands. "Oh." she lifts her hands and it's quite strange the feeling that suddenly passes over her. There's no time to ask questions, or to over think because right now only one thing mattered. There was a crash, and Katie lifted her head and didn't see Tony anymore. She did see Ebony Maw who was now standing directly in front of her, his eyes looking right into hers.
"Well, well, well. You are not from this planet, now are you?" he asks as he lifts a hand to touch her, but before he does Katie lifts her fist and throws a punch that sends the alien flying down the street. She lifts her fist with wide eyes not expecting that at all. She looks over her shoulder to Stephen who still staring in shock as well. "Um, I'm going to go help Tony. You got this?" he simply nods and in a blink of an eye, she's just gone.
Katie ran, finding Tony's fight was now happening in the middle of Central Park where he seemed to have help from New York's friendly neighborhood Spider man. She felt the power moving through her strengthening as she picks up speed.
"Hey Cull!" she calls out and the alien turns in time to see the woman shoot forward toward him. The moment Katie's hands latched onto the monster, they're instantly dropping into snow. Katie lies on her back for a moment, her entire body buzzing. She hears the growl of Cull Obsidian and she quickly jumps to her feet. He does the same and runs to attack her. "Oh, sorry, got to run!" and just as the alien attempts to tackle her, she's just gone.
When Katie appears back into the park she's standing behind Bruce whose eyes are to the sky.
"Where did everyone go?" Katie asks, and Bruce whips around his eyes wide as he looks to her. "What?"
"You were here, and then you weren't and now you're here again." Bruce says and their eyes turn to the ship that's getting higher and higher in the sky. Katie places a hand over her heart and takes a step forward.
"Stephen's on that ship, isn't he?" she asks turning back to Bruce whose staring at her with wide eyes. "Bruce?"
"You were here and then you weren't and now you're here again." Bruce repeated the words and Katie suddenly realizes how the act of seeing her abilities may have freaked the man out. "How did you do that?"
"Honestly, I'm not completely sure." Katie says her eyes looking back to that ship. "What I am sure of is, we have to get Stephen and that stone before Thanos does." she glanced around the park. "Where's Tony?" she turned back to Bruce who simply looked back up to that ship. Katie followed his eyes and her heart sank. "No!" she began running. Where she was going, she didn't really know, but she wasn't going to stop.
Once she found herself standing below the ship, her feet finally stopped and she focused every beam of energy inside of herself to transport to the shop. Her entire body strained, and she groaned, her fists clenched at her side, but nothing happened. Soon there would be no use, because in an instant the space ship just warped sped further into the sky until it was no longer visible.
"No!" Katie screamed, her eyes boring up to the clouds in hope of spotting the ship. This couldn't be happening. It was the single thought she had in this moment. Not only was Stephen and the Time stone on a ship presumably headed to Thanos, but Tony was in tow. She turned at the sound running footsteps and turned to see Bruce who stopped in front of her a bit out of breath. "I couldn't-" she lifted her eyes to the sky once again.
"Hey, right now the plan is still the same." Bruce said and Katie dropped her eyes back to him. "We have to have faith that Tony, Stephen and Peter can-"
"Wait, Peter is on that ship?!" Katie asked, her eyes looking to the sky, and she's once again pulled into a whirlwind of emotions ranging from angry to completely afraid. "He's just a kid." she looked back to Bruce. "He's just a kid."
"You know Tony will take care of him." Bruce said and Katie glanced up to the sky with a shake of her head. "We have to find Vision." Katie brought her eyes back to Bruce. Bruce held up the flip phone Tony must've dropped. "I was going to call Steve, unless you have another way to find him." Katie looked to the doctor for a moment before letting out a sigh.
"Call Steve. I need to find Matt." Katie said before turning and rushing off.
When Katie found Matthew, he was just as she left him. Still helping people get to safetly. When he spotted his sister, he quickly ran over.
"Hey what the hell just happened?" Matthew asked. "I saw that wizard guy being pulled by one of those alien guys. Then I think I saw the Spider kid go after him and then Tony went after both of them." Katie didn't say anything and from the look on her face, she didn't really need to. "They have the stone."
"They do. But we're going to trust Stephen, Tony and Peter to keep it safe." Katie says glancing around the streets, unable to shake how reminiscent the scene was to so many of her dreams, except now there were way more people. "Bruce is calling Steve. We need to find Vision and make sure his stone doesn't get in Thanos' hands." Katie turned away, and her brother caught her arm.
"Hey, this isn't your fault. You didn't know any of this was going to happen." Matthew said and Katie turned to him and shook her head.
"Actually I did." she glanced up to the sky. "I knew he was coming, but I refused to believe it." she felt a surge of emotions hit her in that moment because she couldn't stop thinking about her friends in some spaceship in the sky. She looked back to her brother. "I didn't want to believe what was staring me right in the face, and now-" she shook her head and her eyes went right back to the sky as if at any moment she'd see Tony in that Iron suit flying back down. She needed to see him right now. She need to know that he was alright. Right now she needed to know that this thing that was once just a nightmare in her head and had spilled out didn't just swallow him up and take him away from her. "Get as many people to safety until help arrives." Katie looked back to her brother who stared at her and she placed a hand to his cheek. "You survived your first alien fight. I'm proud of you."
"Rinny-"
"But it's going to have to be your last." she says before bringing her arms around him in a hug. "I'd die if I lost you to any of this." she placed a kiss to his cheek before pulling back from the hug. "I love you little brother." she attempted to turn, but he caught her hand and she turned back to him.
"What the hell was that?" he asked pulling her back to him. "That sounded way too much like a goodbye, and you don't say goodbye to me. You're going to kick some alien ass and then you're going to come back and annoy me like you always do." he watched her and waited for her to confirm is orders. "Rinny, you need to promise me that you're going to come back." she took a step toward her brother and smiled.
"I promise I'll never you leave you." she said, giving his hand a squeeze before pulling away. Matthew stood there and watched as his sister got further and further away and he couldn't shake the feeling that it would be a long time before he saw her again.
Pepper sat on the edge of her bed clutching her phone to her chest. The call to Tony was just disconnected and every attempt to call him back was unsuccessful. The last words he was able to speak to her was his confirmation that he was indeed on the space ship that hovered above New York. Now she didn't know what was happening. She didn't know he was safe or even alive. She pulled the phone back and once again dialed his number.
"Pepper-" Pepper lifted her eyes to the unexpected voice and her eyes widened at the sight of Katie standing in front of her. Pepper looked around the room, unsure where the woman came from. "I know-"
"Where is he?!" Pepper demanded as she stood to her feet and stalked toward Katie. "Why aren't you with him?! You're supposed to be with him, making sure he comes back to me! You promised me!" Pepper shoved the woman, and Katie stumbled back a bit. "You-" Pepper pointed a finger at the woman. "If anything happens to him-"
"Pepper stop!" Katie snapped. "I'm here to tell you that my promise still stands. I don't care what I have to do, but I promise you, I will get Tony back to you. You will marry him and you will spend the rest of your life with that man." Katie took a step forward. "This moment, this is why I'm in his life. I never understood it, and I don't think neither did you, but this is it Pepper. I don't know how or when, but I am going to find him and I am going to bring him back." Katie reached forward and took Pepper's hand and Pepper grasped it right back. After a moment, Katie took a step back and Pepper watched her closely.
"Thank you." Pepper said and Katie gave the woman a smile.
"Don't thank me yet. Save it for later, and make sure it's a good one." and in the blink of an eye, the woman is just gone, and Pepper stands there unsure of what just happened. She looked around the room, and took a step forward in search of where the woman has just gone.
Tony wasn't sure what to expect when he climbed into the space ship to rescue the doctor. He didn't expect for Peter, who he remembers telling to go back home, to appear back on the ship. He didn't expect for another battle with the alien guy Ebony Maw, and he didn't really expect to win. Right now they were flying in a donut of a space ship, and he was annoyed. Tony walked past Strange, shaking his head and with his armor retreating into its containment as Strange gets to his feet as his cape returns to it's place around his neck.
"We've gotta turn this ship around." Stephen says and Tony turns to him with a glare.
"Yeah. Now he wants to run." Tony turns away from the man with a shake of his head. " Great plan."
"No, I want to protect the stone." Stephen replies firmly, also growing annoyed with the man. "I have to protect this stone." Tony walks towards the expansive front viewport, showing a hyperspeed/warp effect. From what he could tell, they were moving very fast and only getting him further and further away from Pepper.
"And I want you to thank me now." Tony says looking back to Stephen. "Go ahead, I'm listening."
"For what? Nearly blasting me into space?" Strange asked and Tony's eyes almost popped out of his head.
"Who just saved your magical ass?!" Tony asked, "Me."
"I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet." Stephen replied before glancing around the ship.
"Admit it. You should have ducked out when I told you to. I tried to bench you. You refused." Tony shook his head before turning back to look out the viewport. "I told her and she-"
"She?" Stephen said and Tony turned back to him. "Katherine? Where is she?"
"That's just it!" Tony snapped. "I don't know. She ran after and jumped on the other alien monster thing and just disappeared!" Tony watched as the doctor turned away and let out a sigh of relief. "Which you don't seem too surprised about." Stephen turned back to Tony. "What did you do to her?"
"I didn't do anything to her, and right now there are more pressing issues. Like who-" he turned to Peter who'd been standing there watching the exchange between the two men. "Wait, I know you. You're the boy scout." Peter looked at the man and realized where he recognized him from.
"The what?" Tony asked.
"No, no." Peter said with a shake of his head. "That-" he looked over to Tony. "I was looking for Katie, and he opened the door, and just assumed I was a boy scout for some reason." Peter hoped the excuse made sense, but then he noticed the look on Tony's face and realized why he probably should've just lied. "And you're probably wondering how I knew where Katie was?"
"I am." Tony says walking back over to the boy. "You knew she was alive and where she'd been staying."
"I- uh, I ran into her on my way home. We talked and then she rushed off. I don't know why, but I followed her and it lead me to that cool looking brownstone. Where uh-" he turned to Stephen. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name." Peter held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Peter."
"Doctor Strange." Stephen replied and Peter frowned a bit before dropping his hand.
"Oh, we're using made up names, uh, I'm Spider-man." he replied before turning to the awaiting gaze of Tony. "And she wasn't even there."
"You saw her and didn't think to tell me."
"I did!" Peter replied. "You were the first person I was going to tell, but she asked me not to." Peter shrugged and Tony just shook his head before turning and walking back over to the viewport.
"Right now all that matters is keeping this stone as far away from Thanos as possible." Stephen said and Tony glanced back to him. "Can you get us home?" Tony turned away, unsure if the answer right now was to run. "Tony-"
"Yeah I heard you. I'm thinking...I'm not so sure we should." Tony replied and Stephen looked at the man as if he were crazy.
"Under no circumstance can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos. I don't think you quite understand what's at stake here." Stephen shook his head as he glanced back to Peter hoping for some support on this argument, but the boy didn't say anything. He turns back to to Tony who stalks over to 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. At least on his turf, he's not expecting it. So I say we take the fight to him. Doctor. Do you concur?" Stephen doesn't say anything for a moment thinking over the choices. He turns away in thought but shakes his head as he turns back to the man.
"Alright, Stark. We go to him. But you have to understand... if it comes to saving you or the kid or the Time Stone... I will not hesitate to let either of you die. She wouldn't-" Stephen let out a sigh. "I can't, because the fate of the universe depends on it."
"Nice." Tony replies with a shake of his head. "Good. Moral compass. We're straight." Tony turns and walks over to Peter and formally taps each of his shoulders with the edge of his hand as if knighting him. "Alright, kid. You're an Avenger now." he hates this moment so much, he can't even look at Peter in the eyes. This fight was going to be rough, he knew it, and Peter was just a kid. He wasn't supposed to be here.
When Bruce finally found Katie, she was sitting on the steps of the Sanctum. She looked up to him as he walked over before standing to her feet.
"Steve and Natasha are working on finding Vision." Katie shook her head before pulling a flip phone from her pocket and Bruce looked with wide eyes. "You have one too?" he watched as she typed a few keys before slipping it back into her pocket. "Ok, what just happened?"
"I just sent Steve a message about Vision." Katie replied and Bruce waited for her to continue. "He's in Scotland." the man in front of her didn't say a word, and Katie knew he wanted more explanation. "You want me to tell you how I know that, but I don't even know where to-" the phone in her pocket rang and she groaned, pulling the flip phone back from her pocket, seeing it was Steve calling her back. "And here is Steve probably wondering the same thing, but we don't have time." she simply sent him another text saying such before looking back up to Bruce. "Bruce-"
"Just be honest with me. What happened to you?" Bruce asked and Katie looked at him for a moment before shaking her head and turning away. "Does it have to do with Thanos?" she turned back to the man and let out a sigh.
"How about I tell you on the way."
"On the way where?"
"The team's rendezvous spot." Katie says nudging her head for the doctor to follow her.
The moment she stepped out of the car and looked up to the Avenger facility, Katie let out a heavy breath she hadn't known she was holding. This is where it began. The moment she walked away from her nice, safe life with her husband and daughter because of some meeting she knew was destined to fail the moment she heard about it. Bruce started to go inside, but stopped when he realized she wasn't following him. He glanced back to her, unsure what he should do right now. That seemed to be something happening a lot to him recently. Bruce wasn't sure what Katie would tell him on the drive here, but he most certainly didn't expect for her to tell him that she now has magical powers. It's what he witnessed in the park and at this point he just couldn't believe it. It didn't make any sense. This woman who he has known for years, whose never had magical bone in her body, now suddenly had abilities. He had questions that she could barely answer because apparently this was new to her as well.
Katie's eyes turned to Bruce who was just standing there looking at her, and she hated it. She knew he was trying to see it. He was looking at her as if she were a new formula he was trying to solve, and to be honest she felt like she was. She didn't want him to look at her as if she wasn't her. It was her biggest fear. That they wouldn't see her any more.
"Stop staring Bruce." she said before walking toward the front door. The facility was unusually empty, and Katie figures it probably because of the alien space ship that just invaded earth again. Bruce and Katie walked over, and stepped onto the elevator. The silence between them was awkward. Katie just shook her head before turning to Bruce. "Speak!" Bruce opened his mouth expecting at least one of the hundreds of thoughts spinning around in his head right now would just come out, and yet nothing. "Bruce-"
"This doesn't make sense." he finally said, and it seemed to be the thought that was constant. "Are you sure something didn't happen to you? Maybe some radioactive waste-" Katie glared at him and he threw his hands up. "I'm sorry, I'm just-" he looked at the woman for a moment. "What if this isn't a good thing? What if could this somehow hurt you, or worse? People don't just develop magical powers overnight." Bruce let out a breath and waited for her to respond. "I just don't want this to some how take you away." Katie looked at the man for a moment, when the doors finally slid open, but neither moved.
"I don't want it to take me away either. But it's here. When all of this is over, when the heroes beat the bad guys, then we can focus on this, but now we have work to do." Katie said before turning and finally stepping off the elevator. She heard Bruce follow, and decided to stop and turn to him. "You're the first person I've told this Bruce."
"Why me?" Bruce asked. "Why not Tony?" he thought about that for a moment and just shook his head. "Actually never mind. Tony's reaction is going to be-"
"Tony." Katie said and the man chuckled.
"Wait, Barton, does he-"
"No, he doesn't." Katie said with a shake of her head. "It was just starting when we left and he didn't stick around long enough to figure this out with me." Katie felt the emotion tighten her throat at the thought. She doesn't think she'd be as scared about all of this if Clint was here. If he did that thing where he reassured her that everything would be alright. Now she had to do that for herself, and she wasn't really good at it. Katie turned her eyes back to Bruce who looked like he wanted to say something comforting in this moment, but just didn't know what that was. "You should find Rhodey, and I'm going to head over to the lab. I want to see if I can somehow access FRIDAY, maybe get a last known location on Tony and the others." Bruce gave a nod before watching the woman turn and head down the hall.
When Katie stepped inside Tony's lab she couldn't help but smile. It would make no sense to anyone else, but she could feel him in this room. She pulled off her jacket spun around for a moment. The last time she was here, she didn't get the big tour she was promised. When she turned around, she began typing away. It didn't take long for her to restore FRIDAY, and the moment she did, Katie lifted her head.
"You with me, FRIDAY?"
"Yes, Katie. How can I help you?" Katie paused for a moment, thinking over the question. She needed to know one thing first.
"Is Tony alive?" she was almost afraid of the answer. It had been hours and Tony was in space, and there hadn't been a word or whistle from the man.
"Mr. Stark's vitals were normal from my last transmission. There was a slightly elevated heart rate, but I'm assuming that was because of the-"
"The fact that he was in outer space." Katie sighed, before typing a few keys. "Alright FRIDAY, I'm assuming since Tony is so far away, you're not able to access his current location. I am going to expand your locale perimeters. I want you to give me Tony's last known location before you lost him?" Katie lifted her eyes to the aerial map and watched as FRIDAY before her search. It was taking longer than Katie could stand, and soon she began pacing as she nervously chewed on her thumb.
"I'm sorry," FRIDAY spoke after a few minutes of searching. "I'm unable to get an exact location of the suit. My systems became scrambled during my last transmission with Mr. Stark, and it's prohibiting me from pinpointing our last point of contact." Katie groaned before turning away.
"Think Katie." She muttered to herself. "You have freaky powers, there has to be a reason. How can I find you Tony?" she continuing pacing as her brain began trying to work out this problem in her head. Her eyes glanced up, and she stopped when she noticed that stupid kitten mural on the wall. She let out a heavy sigh. "No matter how many times you remodel this lab, that damn thing still remains on that wall." she closed her eyes taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, and suddenly an idea it her like a strike of lightening. "The Time Stone." she lifted her eyes as dots she'd only now began realized were connected. "I should focus on the Time Stone, not Tony." she turned, closing her eyes once again, and focused everything inside of her on the stone." Inhaling, and exhaling, Katie imagined the stone in her head, able to see it as if it were right in front of her. Soon she was pulled from the moment, so focused that she didn't noticed that the air passing through her lungs suddenly changed.
"Uh, Mr. Stark?"
Katie snapped open her eyes at the familiar voice, and when she did she realized she was no longer standing in Tony's lab. Her eyes were staring right at Stephen who now stood in front of her, a proud look on his face at the sight of her.
"I did it." Katie whispered a smile coming to her face. She shoved Stephen in excitement before spinning around just to see where the hell they were. "I can't believe I did it."
"Did what exactly?" Katie turned at Tony's voice, and she was immediately struck by the look on his face as he stared at her. There was confusion mostly, but then there was something else. Something she didn't recognize. He walked over to her, placing himself right in front of her. "Not that I'm not ecstatic to see you, but how the hell are you standing in front of me, on this space ships light years away from planet earth?" Katie opened her mouth to explain, only to realize she wasn't completely sure how to explain it. She still had no idea how she could do what she could. "Well?" Katie glanced over to Stephen who took a step forward.
"Right now, there are more important things we should be worried about and-"
"No," Tony says interrupting the man before turning back to Katie. "That's not how we work. This doesn't just get pushed under the rug. Not with us." Katie looked at the man for a moment letting out a sighed before giving a nod.
"He's right." Katie says glancing over to Stephen. "He's right." she turns back to Tony. "I have abilities. I have no idea where they came from, or why they suddenly decided to pop up now. The only thing I can assume is that it has something to do with Thanos."
"Are you saying Thanos did this to you?"
"Nothing was done to her." Stranger said in annoyance, and Tony turned a glare to the man, but Katie just held up her hand. "This wasn't done to her."
"Well excuse me for trying to understand what the hell is going on with my best friend since,-" he turned back to her. "She left and doesn't talk to me anymore." he shook his had and turned away, heading back over to the view port, and Katie walked over to follow.
"I thought I could save you from it." she said and he turns back to her. "Did you know I've been dreaming about Thanos for years. I've been dreaming about him coming back, and looking for those stones. I knew he was coming, and yet I didn't believe it." Katie dropped her head and slid a hand over her face. "I blew my life to shit. Bart left me and he took my baby, because I couldn't let this go." she looked back up to Tony who was still watching her with that look she was still trying to decipher. "I didn't tell you about it, and I never came to you because if I was wrong, if I was just going insane, if I was just a ticking god damn time bomb, I didn't want anything I loved in the blast radius." Tony shook his head before once again turning away from her. "Tony, I still don't know what this is. I found Stephen and little by little I'm getting some control of it. But why it's happening, where it came from, I don't know." he didn't turn back to her, and that's how she knew he was truly upset. She let out a sigh before turning back to Stephen and glancing back to Peter. "Wait, where's the bad guy?" she glanced between the guys before turning to Tony. "Why-" she glanced back once again. "Why aren't you headed back to Earth." Stephen looked over to Tony who continued staring at the view port. She turned back to Tony and sighed. "Tony-"
"What will running do?" Tony said turning back to the woman. "A fight's coming, and I for one would not like that fight on Earth. That's death that we can prevent. We're taking this fight to him." Tony glanced over to Stephen and Katie followed his eyes. She glared over to the man before turning back to Tony. "He won't expect us to bring the fight to him." Katie looked at him for a moment trying to gauge if he was serious or not. It was the look in his eyes that told her how serious he was.
"No." she said with a shake of her head before walking around him and looking down to the ship's controls. "All of you are coming back to Earth." The button's labels were in a language she didn't recognize, but the controls themselves looked familiar. She pressed a few buttons and they felt the ship suddenly pause.
"Hey," Tony grabbed her arm and spun her to face him. "We're doing this."
"And what is this?!" she snapped angrily. "Do you know?" she glanced over to Stephen and just shook her head. "Oh, you're next." she turned back to Tony. "You have absolutely no idea what this guy is. Look Tony, I get you want to-"
"No, I don't want any of this, but here it is." Tony said. "This fight, it's happening whether on Earth, or wherever Thanos is. I for one would like to avoid putting millions of lives in jeopardy. Right now we have a choice, and this is what we're choosing." Katie stared at the man before looking over to Stephen.
"Do you agree?" she asked, and Stephen gave a nod.
"Unfortunately, Tony is right. This fight is happening. Taking the fight to him helps us avoid unnecessary collateral damage." Stephen said and Katie shook her head before turning back to Tony.
"I promised Pepper that I would bring you back."
"You talked to Pepper?"
"I did. She shoved me. I told her that I would bring you back to her, and that you two would get married." Katie took a step toward the man. "I told her that's why I am in your life." Katie reached forward, and took Tony's hand. "I save you, because you saved me." Tony gripped her hand in his. Katie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Ok, ok, this is happening." she conceded because she knew they were right. She pulled away from Tony, and turned way, and he watched the way her eyes looked up and stared at nothing in particular. He smiled at bit at the familiar sight. "He has two stones." she turned back to them. She looked over to Stephen and shook her head. "More dreams I didn't think were true. He has the Space stone and the Power stone." she turned back to Tony. "He doesn't even have them all Tony, and he's still extremely powerful. He's also very smart. So this surprise attack has to take him off his game long enough for you to get that glove off his hand. Without it, you will be able to kill him."
"Ok, how do we do that?" Tony asked, and Katie looked at him sighed.
"You be you. Be smarter-" she turned to Stephen. "Use every resource you have. Do not let him get his hands on that stone." Katie shook her head. "I should've stopped him from getting the two he has, but we can't change that now." she turned back to Tony and sighed.
"I don't like that look."
"There are more stones." Stephen said, and Tony glanced over to her. "She has to make sure they're safe." Tony looked over to the man in confusion before turning back to Katie.
"You?" Tony asks looking at the woman in front of him. His friend, his best friend. He thought he'd pulled all the secrets she had after learning she wasn't just Cher. As it seems, there were still things about his Kitten that were surprising him. "Why—how?" so many questions and so little time.
"I've been running from this Tony for too long, and because of it, he now has two stones. I can't let that happen again. I know where they all are. I can find them. I'm connected to them." she turned when she felt uneasy.
"Hey, Kitten-" she turned back to Tony before bringing her arms around him in a hug. She held onto him tight, wanting to hold on to this moment for longer than it could. She had an inkling of what their future held and and she knew she probably wouldn't get another chance to just hug her friend.
"I have to go." she pulled from the hug, and placed a hand on Tony's cheek. "Don't die Iron Ass." she pulled out of his grasp, " and I will more than likely be back." she turns to Stephen, before walking over to him and wrapped her hand around the stone around his neck. She looked up to him, and he gave a nod.
"Protect the stone, I know."
"No, protect Tony and the Stone. You lose either one, and you're a dead man." she says before placing a kiss to his cheek. She spins around to the silent teen who hadn't said much since she appeared on this ship. "Let's go Peter." the boy looked confused before looking over to Tony. "Peter-"
"I want to stay." Peter says turning back to the woman. " I want to help. Mr. Stark made me an Avenger, and I take that seriously." Katie looked at him for a moment before looking over to Tony, who turned away from her glare. "Look I know you think I'm just a kid, but I know what's at risk here." Katie turned back to him. "The world needs saving, and I want to help."
"Peter this isn't idiot muggers, or even what was it-" she turned away in thought. "guys stealing alien tech." she walked over to stand in front of the boy. "Peter, I know you're a hero. I know that when a fight erupts, you want to be there to help, but this fight is beyond everyone in this room, and that includes the guy in the cape with the magical powers behind me." Peter glanced over to Stephen who gave a slight nod. "Peter, you are an Avenger-" he turned back to the woman. "And so am I. This fight Tony, and Strange are searching for will be at the front lines."
"I can handle it." Peter replied with the upmost confidence, and Katie sighed. "I can do this." Peter saw the look in the woman's eyes and could only imagine his aunt giving him the same look if she were standing in front of him. Katie stood there for a moment, thinking, analyzing. Trying to weigh the pros and cons, Trying to quantify all the risks involved, and in the end she didn't like the number. But also in the end was this brave kid, willing to risk his life to protect this planet. Katie let out a huff, before grabbing the front of Peter's suit and pulling him toward her. His eyes widened in fear unsure what she was about to do.
"I'm getting you back to your aunt in one piece, do you understand? You fight and then you live."
"What if-"
"I will worry about what happens after the what ifs." she replied. She had no idea what that meant, or how she would do it, but she knew it was a promise she was going to keep. She finally lets him go, and takes in a deep breath doubt everything about this moment, and yet letting it happen. "Fine." Katie says looking at the teen. "They're going to need all the help they can get, and I guess that's going to be you." She turned around and looked between Tony and Stephen. "I have to go, but I want you both to know something."
"We know you care, Kitten." Tony said, and Katie turned to him and shook her head.
"I do care Tony," she said with a smile. "But what I was going to say is that, no matter what my purpose is, no matter what I am, I care more about your lives than those stones." she looked over to Stephen. "Fight as hard as you can, for as long as you can, but do not die for the inevitable. If he's going to get those stones, then he will get them. It will then be our job to take them back." she turned back to Tony and gave him a smile. "I'm keeping my promise to Pepper." she walked back over to the view port, looking down to the controls, and blinking a bit as the labels seemed to become blurry before becoming clear and in English. She frowned a bit, unsure what was happening, but she didn't have time to question it. She pressed a few buttons, before pushing back the accelerator lever causing the ship to once again speed through space. Her eyes lifted to the screen which showed the destination. She turned back to the guys and gave a nod. "You're going to Titan. That's Thanos' home world. Not sure that helps you, but I hope it does." Katie took a step forward before taking a deep breath. "I'll be back."
The moment she disappeared, Tony and Peter both stared at the spot she was just standing, their expressions the undeniable look of shock.
"Just so I'm clear, we're putting all of our eggs in the whole element of surprise." Strange asked, and Tony turned to him, and couldn't help but miss the unbothered look on his face. It was as if a woman magically disappearing in front of him was no big deal.
"Has she always been able to do that?" Peter asked looking between Tony, and Stephen. "I mean it's totally cool, awesome even." Peter turned to Tony who stood glaring over to Stephen. "Uh, maybe I should give you two a moment. I mean this is an alien space ship. When am I ever going to get an opportunity like this again." Peter turned to go look around a bit.
The two men stood in silence for a bit, before Tony finally spoke.
"What happened to her?" Stephen let out a sigh.
"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure." the mystic replied with a shake of his head. "What I know is that she is important."
"Important to what exactly?"
"I think everything."
Author's note:
Where am I going with this? -I don't know.
But know, I am still writing, and will finish this story.
Just know that it will not end the way you've seen in the movies.