"You have news?"

"We've narrowed down the options. I suspect we'll know which planet we'll find this boy on any day."

"I want him alive."

"Of course."

Thanos scowled, looking at Maw. The man was powerful – one of his greatest successes – but this was important. This boy could make his destiny come true. He needed him alive, and needed to make sure someone didn't 'accidentally' damage him.

"Find the planet. I'll take care of the rest." He paused. "I want an impressive showing, however. A reminder of the consequences of saying no can be."

"I'll see to it."

"Do that." Thanos nodded, feeling smug and satisfied, and admiring the stone that was in the golden gauntlet on his hand. "Soon I''ll have them all, and the universe will thank me for saving it."

"Of course. I've sent people looking for the missing minion."

"I'm not worried about her," Thanos said, waving his hand, negligently. "When the time comes, everything will fall together. The universe has been moving toward this moment since the stones were scattered. They'll find their way to me when I need them. The boy will call them, if nothing else."

OOOOOO

"It'll kill you," Wanda said – and the way she said it made it clear that this was a conversation (argument) that the two had had more than once, already.

"No. I can't be killed," Vision told her. "I'm more than capable of surviving without the stone – it just makes me greater."

Maximoff looked at Tony, who was frowning at Vision, clearly still trying to process what he was hearing – and trying to come up with his own arguments to keep the mind stone where it was. He certainly didn't want the thing in Peter's grasp and had been counting on its permanent position to protect the boy from being a wielder of any of the infinity stones.

"He's right about that," Stark conceded. "The mind stone isn't what brought him to life – that was Thor. The mind stone is a focus, but Vision would still be sentient if it were removed."

"Can you do it, though?" Pepper asked – and obviously she wasn't any more enamored of the idea than Wanda. "It would take so long…"

"It wouldn't," Vision told her – and Wanda. "My synapsis are designed to work collectively. Anyone with the right tools could remove it with only a few minutes work – as long as they didn't actually touch the stone, itself.."

"Leaving you a vegetable," Tony said.

Vision shook his head. It only took a moment for him to access and understand that Tony didn't mean it literally.

"You of all people know that wouldn't be the case." Vision shrugged, and his look at Wanda was almost apologetic. "It's what I want," he said. "And what I'm being told is required. When the time comes, I want a promise that one of you will take the mind stone out and allow me to interface with Rescue and help."

"And when it's over?" Wanda asked, and Peter found that he could actually feel waves of emotional anguish hitting him in a barrage of angst. "Then what?"

"Then they put it back where it belongs," Vision told her, calmly. "And I'll relinquish the AI responsibilities to whatever system Tony makes for it. Presuming Peter is willing to give up the stone once he's finished with it…" he added, looking at the boy.

"I don't want it," Peter said, and his eyes were watering, now, tears stinging them. He wasn't capable of handling Wanda's agony as well as the own guilt that he was suddenly feeling. This was all his fault.

"It isn't," Alec told him, as his knees gave way, and he was forced to take Tony's shoulder for support. Stark guided him over to the arm of the sofa, and eased him down, and then stepped up, holding Peter, who leaned his forehead against his father's solar plexis, soaking in the comfort that he was giving him. Alec was working on buffering the emotional backlash from Wanda – while she was forcing herself under control, realizing what she was doing to the boy. "None of this is on you. But you're clearly the best solution."

"You okay?" Tony murmured, stroking Peter's hair, unaware of the conversation going on in his mind and warring, silently, with the cloak over who was going to caress his cheek, next.

"I'm sorry…" Peter said into Tony's shirt. "Just give me a minute…"

"I'm sorry, too," Wanda told him, and now Peter felt the emotions fade, entirely. Either Wanda brought it under control, or Alec was buffering him – or both. "I know better than to allow myself to get worked up like that. It's just…" she looked at Vision, helplessly, and Pepper put an arm around her, understanding completely.

"It just seems so terrible," Pepper finished, and Wanda dissolved into tears of her own – even though Peter didn't feel a resurgence of sorrow coming from her.

"Yes."

Pepper looked at Tony as she soothed Wanda, and he continued to hold Peter.

"You can put him back together, again?" she asked. "You're sure of it?"

"He created me," Vision reminded her, calmly. He, of course, was unaffected by Wanda's breakdown – although Tony and Pepper were, as well. Just not as much as Peter, who was (as ever) sensitive to everything going on around him. "It will be simple."

"He's right, Pep," Tony told her, not taking his arms from around Peter. "Bruce and I know him better than anyone. Either of us could do it. And we will," he assured Wanda.

"It's settled then," Vision said, looking far more confident than the others in the room. "We will remain in the compound for a while. I don't have to be separated from the mind stone in order to begin teaching you to use your new suit – and we need to be near at hand."

"We might have a year, or more," Tony reminded him, looking down at Peter, who had stopped crying, but was still holding him.

"No…" Vision's expression remained passive, but his tone changed. "Thanos knows where Peter is. He's going to be coming, soon."

"How do-?" Tony interrupted himself. "The mind stone telling you this?"

"It's hinting at it, yes."

"How much time do we have?"

"I'm not completely certain."

"Days? Hours?"

"Not hours. Perhaps several days."

"It takes time to gather an army," Wanda said – and they were all reminded that Wanda had her own connection with the infinity stones. She gave a sniff, and pulled away from Pepper's embrace with a slight smile of thanks. "Many days, still. I think."

"Days?" Tony looked down at the boy he was holding, but Peter still had his face buried in his shirt, not ready to release him. The cloak was rubbing his ears, lovingly, but the boy was suddenly tired, and very much in need of Tony's support. "You're sure?"

"No. I'm sorry. It's not guaranteed. I don't want to raise an alarm and not be right about it."

"But we will stay here," Vision repeated. "So we are where we're needed."

Tony nodded, looking at Pepper.

"We'll make sure there's a room for you guys."

"Thank you." Vision looked at Peter, and then back to Tony. "I did not mean to upset him."

Or Wanda, obviously.

"It's okay," the billionaire assured him. "It's been a rough week."

"We are going to go listen to the debriefing on the shield," Wanda said.

Not that Vision needed to hear what Shuri was telling the others; he was already aware of all the results from her tests. But Wanda wanted to allow Peter a chance to recover his equilibrium from her loss of control, and knew that Tony and Pepper were the ones to help him do it.

"We'll be along, shortly," Tony said, nodding.

They left, closing the door behind them, and Pepper moved to stand beside the arm of the sofa that Peter was sitting on. Her hand went to his back, caressing it – and the cloak.

"Do you hurt?" she asked the boy.

Just to be sure.

"No." his voice was muffled, but he shook his head. "I was just caught by surprise, and Alec wasn't able to buffer her, completely."

"But he's handling the mind stone, right?" Tony asked. "It's not hurting you?"

"I'm okay." Peter pulled back, a little, looking up at Tony, and then at Pepper. His brown eyes were damp, and red-rimmed, but Tony's shirt had kept his cheeks from being smeared with tears. "We can go to the debriefing…"

Tony shook his head before Pepper had a chance to, and he brushed his hand along Peter's hair, once more.

"We'll stay here a while, instead," he said. "I don't need a debriefing, and Shuri can tell you what you want to know, later, over dinner, or something. We'll just hang out for a while, okay?"

"Okay." It was a measure of how tired he was that he didn't even argue. He just leaned back into Tony's embrace. "Not for long, though."

"Sure."

He looked at Pepper and mouthed, silently, 'for as long as he needs…'

She nodded her agreement, and rubbed Peter's back, soothingly. With any luck, they'd put him to sleep for a while and let him get some real rest.