No one interrupted Tony as he told the others what Vision had told him and Pepper, and Stephen's expression when they were finished was almost resigned, more than anything.

"You don't seem to surprised," Tony said to his friend.

"I'm not," Strange admitted.

"Things seem to be hurtling toward Peter wielding the stones against Thanos," Wong said. "I've been researching with the other sanctums and have found a few more references that could be indicators that the stones are destined to be gathered. Clearly Thanos has found some of those references and assumes that he is the one intended to hold them."

"Other prophesies?" Pepper asked.

"I hate that word," Tony told them all with a scowl.

"So do I," Stephen agreed. "But we don't have a better word to call them, right now." He frowned. "I have to admit that if it comes down to it being Peter holding them, or Thanos holding them, I would prefer it be Peter."

"We know he doesn't want to dominate the universe," Wong added. "Or destroy half of it."

"The problem is I don't see how he can do it," the sorcerer supreme said. "The power of the stones – even a single one – is ridiculous. I wield the time stone, but can't hold onto it, directly. Only through the buffering of the eye of agimoto can I use it – and I'm not sensitive like Peter is to all of them."

"He's stronger, though," Wong pointed out – and it was obviously a conversation the sorcerers had had before. "If Alec is capable of protecting Peter from his own sensitivities, the boy's enhancements could keep him alive."

Tony didn't look reassured – and neither did Pepper.

"What do we do?"

"Wait and see how things unfold," Strange said. "I'm not going to bring the time stone anywhere near Peter – or Thanos – if I can avoid it. If I have my way, he won't even find out that the thing is here."

"As far as we know, he's coming for Peter," Wong reminded them. "Scary, yes, but if he knew we have not just one, but two infinity stones here, then I imagine it would change things, considerably. The threat would be to the entire planet, then, and we'd have very little hope of containing it here, where we can try to mitigate the dangers and damage."

Tony nodded.

"Good point."

"Not to mention, if we keep everything here, we can bring the others to help, and not keep our resources scattered."

"You mean the other magicians?" Pepper clarified.

"Right. The sanctums will assist, because they know the dangers we're facing if we fail, here. The infinity stones are the biggest danger," Strange said. "But not the only danger. If any of these creatures get into any of the sanctums, they could wreak serious havoc with the relics found there."

"Not to mention the loss of knowledge if any of them were leveled," Wong added.

"We need you to allow all of the sorcerers to come here, though," Strange told them. "Like us, they actually need to have been someplace before they can jump there – or make a portal."

"They can come whenever it's convenient for them," Tony said. "I assume you'll be with them, though?"

"We'll bring them a couple at a time."

"I trust you, you know that."

Strange nodded. And then looked at the suit inside the build chamber.

"How long until it's finished?"

"Tomorrow."

"And it'll do everything yours will?"

"It isn't nanotech," Tony said. "But it's as good as any of the later models of my initial suit – and with Vision as AI, it'll be even more effective."

It was clear that Tony was onboard with the idea of Vision being in the Rescue suit. Of course, anything that would make Pepper safer was always a plus, as far as he was concerned. Since he had no say in the removal of the mind stone – he didn't own Vision, after all – he was going to accept the request the construct had made.

It would also – hopefully – make Wanda feel better if she knew that he was still around, even though she couldn't actually touch him. She might – probably – could interact with him, even if he was linked to the suit.

"Anything we can do?" Wong asked.

"You're doing it. Thank you."

OOOOOOOO

It was close to dinner time when Tony called Peter to see what they were doing and if they were ready to eat. Since they'd finished talking about the shield and had moved on to what they thought the aliens might look like that might come invade the earth, it was probably just as well that the conversation was interrupted. Neither knew much more about aliens than what they'd seen on TV, or in movies (and Peter had a lot more experience with movies than she did) and the skrull that they'd seen. Alec was an alien, but Peter didn't actually know what he looked like, beyond vague glimpses that were brought up by the mind stone, they were bound to just work themselves into nightmares, visualizing tentacles and big, gaping jaws with sharp teeth.

"Ready to eat?"

Peter nodded, even though Tony couldn't see it.

"Yeah. In the lounge?"

"We were thinking in our quarters. Ask Shuri if she minds joining us there, or if she'd rather eat in the lounge with the others."

Peter looked at the girl, who shrugged.

"She doesn't mind," Peter interpreted. "When?"

"Come any time."

OOOOOOO

Tony and Pepper had long since put a small table in their living area, near the wet bar. It was purposely designed to be the place where they could eat meals when they wanted to do it as a family – and not be in the lounge. Not large, but with three comfortable chairs and a couple of folding chairs stashed behind the bar just in case they had company. At the moment, it was set for four, and there were covered dishes on the bar that were giving off the wonderful aroma of pasta, sauces and fresh bread.

Peter and Shuri joined them, and the boy gestured for Shuri to take the comfortable chair that he normally sat in while he went to get one of the folding chairs. Tony was holding Ironpig, and tucked him under one arm before he stood when Shuri sat down, and Pepper smiled at both teens, although Peter thought she looked a little worried.

Pretty much the same expression that Tony wore, lately.

"How was the debriefing?" Pepper asked, taking Nutmeg from Peter so she could cuddle the kitten while Peter set his chair up.

"Shuri knows her stuff," Peter said, obviously impressed with his friend. He set the chair down across from Shuri and sat down. "How is the suit coming?"

Pepper kissed Nutmeg and then put him down on the floor, while Tony did the same with his piglet – sans the kiss.

"It's looking good," Pepper told him. "Friday says it'll be finished tomorrow."

"May I stay long enough to see the initial trial?" Shuri asked, hopefully.

She was – technically – finished with the shield and should be going home, now. Especially with so much danger looming on the horizon at the compound. It had been one of the first things that T'Challa had told her before allowing her to leave, after all. There, do what needed to be done, and then home to relative safety.

Tony nodded, though. He'd anticipated the request.

"I spoke with your brother, earlier," he said, as he started dishing up their meal. "He's going to come for the trial, and when it's done and you are all suitably (pardon the pun) impressed, you'll go home with him when he leaves."

Shuri smiled.

"Thank you."

"He wants to see the shield," the billionaire told her. "So he can get an idea of what kind of ground it will cover." Tony gestured for them to all start eating, and he looked over at Peter. "Apparently, with Shuri away from home, just now, the people keeping track of your zebra didn't know who to give their weekly progress report to – so they told Ramonda, who told T'Challa. You will be glad to know that he's doing fine, and is getting big."

Peter smiled.

"Good. Thank you."

The topic lasted through their salad and into the main course, but when Pepper asked Peter if he'd heard from Ned or MJ, recently, the boy nodded, looking a little pained.

"Ned called, earlier. He knows something is up and is fishing for hints."

"Which you didn't give him, right?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. No. I can't. He's too smart. He'd figure it out. Or figure something out, anyway. Flash isn't making it any easier."

Pepper frowned.

"What does he have to do with anything?"

"His dad is in the National Guard."

"He's a surgeon, though, right?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. But he's also an officer," Peter said. "And a supernumerary one." The boy rolled his eyes. "I had to look the word up."

"What does it mean?" Pepper asked, curiously. "I understand the word supernumerary, but how does it apply to the military?"

"He's a backup," Peter explained. "If someone has to leave for some reason, or gets sick, Flash's dad would be there to take that person's spot. So he has to be told what's going on. At least, as much as the others are being told."

Now Tony frowned.

"I'm under the impression that the military people have all been told to keep their mouths shut about what's happening. Is this boy's father telling him more than he should be?"

"Flash is dropping hints left and right that he is," Peter said, shrugging. "But he could be lying, of course, just to make Ned and MJ mad. Or because he can't stand the idea of not knowing something."

"I'll speak with Grady, tomorrow," Stark assured him. "We'll put a stop to that."

Peter just shrugged.

"Ned and MJ won't believe anything he says, anyway… they'll just be mad at me that he knows what's happening and they don't."

Which wasn't usually the case. At least as far as Ned was concerned. He was Peter's guy in the chair, after all.

"Still… better to know, for certain."

Pepper nodded her agreement, and then switched the conversation again, wanting to know what else the two had been up to that afternoon.

"I know everything there is to know about the shield," Peter told her, smiling. "And Shuri knows everything there is to know about everyone who is here at the compound, now."

"Perhaps not everything," the girl corrected. "But much more than I did." She gave them an impish smile. "I still have not met Thor, but I do not want the situation to deteriorate so much that he needs to come."

Tony smiled at that.

"We'll see what we can do."

OOOOO

When they finished eating, Tony asked Shuri if she minded giving him his own debriefing of how the shield test had gone, and when she agreed, Peter and Pepper offered to clean up their dinner remains. The billionaire and the Wakandan princess vanished into the workroom, and Pepper and Peter started stacking dishes.

"How are you holding up, sweetheart?" Pepper asked, taking advantage of having him to herself for the moment.

Peter shrugged.

"I'm worried. About you and Tony," he added.

"Us?"

"You're under a lot of stress already, and then all of this stuff about me being the one Thanos is coming after… I know it's a lot."

She nodded.

"It's scary to think about. We've already come close to losing you, you know."

"Yeah." Which was why he was worried about them. And he knew, even as he opened his mouth, that he wasn't going to ease her concerns with his next comment. "I would hold all of the stones and end the threat, if I could. To keep you guys from worrying."

Pepper set the plates that they'd stacked on the bar, and looked at him.

"It'd kill you," she pointed out. "Nothing is worth that."

"Keeping him from hurting you and Tony?" Peter asked. "And Natasha, and the others? And Shuri? And Ned and MJ?"

"We need you, Peter."

He smiled, feeling the love that she was always willing to show him wash over him, just then.

"And I need you. All of you." Peter looked at the door to the workroom, caught her hand and walked her over to the couch, sitting her down and joining her – ignoring Nutmeg, when the kitten jumped up onto the back of the sofa. "Tony and I had a talk one time," he said. "About responsibility."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I told him – and I'm paraphrasing, because it was a while ago – that if you can do something, and you don't… then you're responsible for what happens, after."

"You're talking about when you had Loki trapped in the portal?"

Peter shook his head.

"This was even before that – but it amounts to the same thing. If I can stop Thanos, then I need to, Pepper. Because if I don't, and he managed to wipe out half of the people in the universe, then that would be on me."

"No, it-"

He could see the fear in her expression, and he stopped her, taking her hands in his.

"It would." He squeezed her hand, looking down at the mother's ring that was on her finger. The ring that was so important to him. "But even that isn't the main thing."

"What is, then?"

"I don't trust the universe, mom…" he said to her, this time using the title that she allowed him – and only him. "I don't. If he snapped his fingers – or said the magic word, or did whatever it is that would make half the people in this place disappear, I know I'd lose you. And Tony. And I can't let that happen. Because as much as you guys need me…? I need you. More, even. See?"

She did. But it didn't make it any less scary for her. Pepper hugged Peter close to her, tucking his head under her chin.

"Promise me that you won't do anything stupid…" she said, feeling her eyes sting.

"I won't do anything stupid."