AN: So, I just got a new puppy. A very young little man (named Jack) who will be needing some attention when he is awake. I will still be posting, no fear, just might need a little patience for a few days while we get him on a schedule.

OOOOOO

Tony paled, too.

"How? I mean, yeah; the ones on Earth, the one on Asgard and the one Thanos has. But the soul stone is hidden somewhere, right? No one knows-"

"Gamora knows," Peter interrupted, ignoring the way the cloak was tightening its grasp on him, almost painfully. It was trying to comfort him, and the cloak wasn't where he was seeking comfort, just then. Nutmeg had climbed away from the fabric, and was on Peter's shoulder, now, puffing his fur out to tell it he was annoyed. "She told Thanos that she didn't, but she does. And now I do, too."

"She told you?"

"The mind stone did – and Alec confirmed it."

Tony nodded, forcing back his concern, reacting to the fact that Peter needed him to be calm and collected, just then. He reached out and plucked Nutmeg from Peter's shoulder before the creature could scratch Peter.

"Okay. So you know. We knew it was probably going to happen, right?"

Peter licked his lower lip, nervously, but he nodded, too.

"Yeah." Of course it was. That was the whole reason Thanos was coming for him. He was destined to control the stones – or whatever the prophesy said. "We can't let him get to me," Peter told him. "I could destroy the universe."

It was obvious that Peter wasn't afraid for himself, but for everyone else. Tony shook his head, amazed and impressed by the boy he called son. Like he always was.

"He isn't going to get anywhere near you, Peter."

"But if he does… you can't let him have me, Tony," Peter told him. "Even if it means killi-"

"Don't you even think about finishing that sentence," Tony told him, firmly. "We're going to be ready for him, and he isn't going to get close to you. You trust me, right?"

"Yeah. Of course."

"Good. We'll keep you from Thanos, and you'll help us make sure he can't hurt anyone else."

The boy leaned into him and Tony put his arms around him, reassuring him as he tucked Peter's head under his chin. Wrapped in the cloak like he was, Peter couldn't hold Tony, but he could soak in the reassurance the strong arms around him were giving him, and he did.

"I'm sorry."

"For being incredible?" Tony asked, forcing a smile from Peter.

"Yeah."

It'd been a long time, really, since Peter had needed bolstering from him – aside from the search for comfort from the bad dream, but Tony was always willing, and the two of them stayed in the corridor for several long minutes. The cloak caressed Tony's head and Peter's cheek, crooning soothingly into the boy's mind, helping to steady him.

Finally, feeling the tension relaxing, Tony pulled away, a hand still on his son, though.

"Better?"

"Yes. Thanks. What do we do?"

"We keep you away from Thanos, of course, and keep doing what we're doing to get ready for him and his army. When he comes, he runs into a wall of hurt that will make him wish he'd never heard of the infinity stones. Or Peter Parker."

Thor wasn't the only one who could be confident, after all – even though Tony was smart enough to know that it was going to take more than confidence to quell the threat. Peter smiled at that, young enough to be thrilled by the surety of Ironman and having been around him enough to know that the Avengers augmented by Strange and Wong weren't pushovers.

"Okay."

"You good?"

"Yeah."

"Go find someplace else to be, right now," Tony told him, patting his cheek, lightly, allowing his expression to remind Peter how much he loved him. "I think you could do with a chance to be away from planning and worrying."

He was sixteen, after all, and it was a lot of pressure to put on those bony shoulders.

"What should I do?"

"Go check out the helicopter and then spend some time with Groot. Just stay out of trouble."

Groot was young enough to keep Peter distracted with young people things; video games or something else. Maybe the simulator, if flying was interesting to a tree. Peter didn't comment on the irony of telling him to stay out of trouble when there was a huge wave of trouble coming his direction. Instead, he nodded.

"Alright."

"I'll keep the cat."

Peter nodded; he couldn't really carry Nutmeg with the cloak determined to cuddle with him.

"When can I come back?"

Tony rolled his eyes.

"You're not being kicked out," he said. "When you're ready, come back. I'm not going to be doing much, right now, though – and you probably can't, either. The army will take their cues from Steve, more than anything. You and I are just window dressing, really."

"Okay."

"Mom will be home around five. Why don't you meet me in the garage then?"

Peter nodded, and Tony pulled him into another hug.

"I love you."

Which made the boy smile.

"I love you, too."

They separated, and Tony watched as Peter walked down the corridor, still being loved up by the cloak. Then he looked down at the kitten in his hand and kissed the top of Nutmeg's head and went back into the lounge.

"Is he alright?" Natasha asked, before any of the others could.

"Sure." Tony reclaimed his seat, affecting a nonchalance that he didn't feel. "He's stressing, is all."

"And with good reason," Steve said.

"Yeah." Ready to change the subject, Tony turned to the military liaisons and Steve. "What are we looking at?"

"We want to know more about the shield," Grady said.

Everyone looked at Tony – not a big surprise. He nodded, leaning back in his chair and cuddling Nutmeg up against his chest. Better that he tell them what the shield can do, rather than allow them to interrupt Shuri to have her explain it.

OOOOOO

"I'm pretty sure that this isn't what Tony had in mind to keep you from stressing."

Peter shrugged, even though no one was there to see it – and Alec didn't need the gesture.

"I know. It's a good way for me to sort things out, though."

He had gone to his room with the cloak, not stopping to find Groot, or any of the others, and had settled on the floor, using the coffee table as a desk and the front of the sofa as a backrest. He had a notebook in front of him and was making notes in it. Infinity stone notes. Where each was, and who had it.

The time stone was easy; he didn't even write Stephen's name down, and the mind stone was equally simple. Even easier, really, since Tony expected Vision and Wanda to be at the compound pretty much any time. Thor had the space stone, and something was nagging at Peter that it was important to know where it was, but he couldn't focus on it enough, just then, to understand why that might be important.

The power stone scared Peter. Especially in Thanos' hands, since Peter didn't have any trouble visualizing the damage that he'd watched being done in the video footage to Xandar actually being committed against the compound – or worse, the city of New York.

"That'll have to be figured out," Alec agreed. "Like has already been pointed out, your best bet is going to be to distract him from the population and keep him here."

"Any idea how to do that?"

"You already know that answer."

"Tony and Pepper won't like that answer, though."

"No."

Peter looked down at the list, feeling a shudder go through him. Fear. He knew he had to be the distraction. He wasn't completely sure how that was going to work, though, and to distract himself, he thought about the two missing stones. The soul stone. He didn't know the name of the place, and the guardian was a scary red skulled persona that loomed large in Peter's mind.

"You don't need to worry about him. He won't stop you from possessing the stone when the time comes."

"How do you know?"

"Because he simply advises how the stone is obtained – and you'll know when the time comes."

"Do you know?"

"Yes."

Proving that even if Alec hadn't wanted to admit it, he'd meant it when he said that he couldn't lie to Peter in his mind. But he didn't need to tell him everything. Obviously. Peter didn't press.

"The girl has the other stone. The reality stone."

The mind stone had shown him the girl, and had told him even without him asking what was so important about her. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Peter knew that she was the one with the stone that was missing, and that the Collector didn't have it – and didn't know where it was. Only the girl – and she didn't even know where she was, so the reality stone was truly lost at that moment.

But not hard to find, when it was needed.

Peter sighed, wondering why he was even bothering to catalogue where they were. That many of them in one place would almost certainly kill him, and he knew it. Not to mention, he had no way of holding them. Of wielding them. Thanos had a mighty gauntlet. Peter didn't.

"Not yet," Alec agreed. "Why don't you stop worrying about it, for now, and go see what Groot's doing? He'd probably make a good distraction for you since Shuri, Ned and MJ are all out of reach, right now."

With another look at his list, he decided that there wasn't any good to come from brooding over what he couldn't do anything about, just then. So he got to his feet, the Cloak of Levitation slung over his shoulder.

"Karen? Where's Groot?"

"The Quinjet simulator."

Not surprising that the videogame enthusiast would make his way that direction. It was one of Ned's favorite things to do, too.