A/N: Hope you are all staying safe in these weird, trying times! As for the soul stone; I haven't been able to see anything about an official way of returning it, so I'm going to make my own process. Thanks for staying with me, I know this story is long.
OOOOO
Peter was tired the next morning – not surprisingly.
"We're going to have to do a better job of getting you back into your routine," Tony commented as he walked with the boy and Pepper to the car. "You look like you're ready to fall asleep on your feet."
"It's the extra therapy stuff," Peter told him, shrugging. "When I'm done swimming every day and I'm more used to waking up early, again, I'll be fine."
"He can sleep on the drive," Pepper said – to both of them. "I'm going to be in a conference call so he won't want to stay awake, anyway."
She winked at Peter, who smiled and then looked at Tony.
"I'm good."
He wasn't above napping on the way – he'd done it many times – but he didn't want her to think that it was because what she did was boring.
Tony nodded.
"Keep her out of trouble, son," he said. "Don't let the other person win the meeting."
"Not all meetings are competitions," Pepper said, rolling her eyes.
"Everything is a competition," her husband told her, opening her car door for her. "Drive safe."
"I will."
She kissed him and got into the car, and Tony caught Peter's eye over the roof before the boy got into the car as well.
"You're good?"
"Yeah."
"Let me know if Alec has any thoughts about what we talked about last night, okay?"
"I will."
Peter got into the car, pointedly buckled his seatbelt, and settled in for the drive. Pepper patted his leg, and then turned on the car's communications, bringing up the interactive software that would allow her to conduct her conference call while she drove. By the time everything was set up, she was on the highway heading toward the city.
Before her attendees of the call all came online, Peter was already asleep next to her. Pepper smiled, softly, and turned on the seat warmer, as well as the heater in the car. It wasn't that cold, really, but she didn't want him to be uncomfortable.
All part of the mom thing, she told herself, before she turned her attention to her meeting.
OOOOOOO
Tony spent the morning working on manufacturing the driver's side fender for Peter's Pontiac. It was relaxing, and enjoyable for him, and it gave him time to mull over the problem of the two remaining stones that were still embedded in the polymorph that was sitting in the safe in his and Pepper's quarters. They needed to get them taken care of – and as soon as possible, really.
For one thing, he didn't like the target they represented to the compound and the earth, and for another, they needed the closure on the whole killing Thanos and defeating his army and saving half the universe thing for Peter. They were getting him back on track, now, and they wanted to keep moving that forward.
It was just a matter of making sure that whatever the solution was, it was done without injuring him.
He was still thinking about it when Stephen and Wong both walked into the garage where he was welding the last two pieces of the front bumper together a few hours later. Friday drew his attention to them, but Tony wasn't lost in his own world so much that he'd missed their arrival, and he turned off the torch, lifting the protective mask to look at them.
"Gentlemen."
"Tony." Both sorcerers studied the damage to the car, and the pieces that were accumulating to repair it. "How's it going?"
"We'll start putting it together this weekend, and see what parts we still need. Headlights should be here today or tomorrow."
"It'll be the same as it was?" Wong asked.
"Yeah. It should." He shrugged. "If we do it right, no one will ever be able to tell it was wrecked." He took his gloves off, and set his equipment aside. "I assume that since you're both here, this isn't a social call to see Romanoff…?"
"No." Strange smirked. "Peter called me about twenty minutes ago."
"Oh?"
"Yes. He told me about the conversation the two of you had, last night, and asked my thoughts on the idea of using his connection with the mind stone to locate this planet to return the soul stone."
"And…?"
"And I wanted to hear what your concerns are before we all sit down and discuss it."
"My concern is that I don't want Peter to have to try and use Thor's rock to find this planet, again," Tony said, walking over and sitting himself on the hood of Natasha's Corvette. She and some of the others – including Carol – were dropping parachutists that afternoon and were down in North Carolina, so she wouldn't know he was rubbing his rear on her favorite sportscar. "I'd much rather use a portal – which would also allow me to go with him, to keep him out of trouble."
"He doesn't know how to return it, though?" Wong asked. "The stone hasn't given him any indication of what to do?"
"Not that I'm aware," Tony confirmed. "I assume there's a trick to it, though. Someone has to have used it, before, and returned it. Maybe we appear on the planet with the rock in hand and it just vanishes."
"Something tells me the real deal will be a little more profound," Stephen said, speculatively. "I agree that it isn't something he should be attempting alone. You're not against him going, though?"
"I get the feeling he has to," Stark replied. "Otherwise I'd have you make a portal and we'd just toss it through. If we portal in – if we can figure out a way to do it – then I'll go, and Peter, both wearing our suits in case the atmosphere is off, and we can do what needs to be done and portal out."
"With me," Strange added. "I don't need a suit to breathe. I can use a spell."
"Good enough."
"It'll depend on the mind stone, then," Wong said. "If it can give Stephen a visual of where to go, he should be able to make a portal. The other option would be the teleportation stone, and since we don't know where this planet is, we don't know the distance involved and if the jump would be survivable. Not a risk to take if we can avoid it."
"Not a risk to take, at all," Tony agreed. "I'll bury the thing in my backyard before I let him try that."
"And the power stone?" Stephen asked. "What is the plan for it? Presumably we're not going to be returning it to Xandar?"
"Probably not. We'll worry about one at a time, though."
"The power stone is the most dangerous of them," Wong reminded both men. "I don't like the idea of it being left where someone could repeat what happened to the former guardians of it."
"I agree," Strange said, nodding. "It'll bear some consideration."
"So, you're willing to try this mind stone portal thing?"
"Yes, of course. Talk with Peter this evening – and see if Alec can nudge something from the mind stone. I'm not sure how it would work, since I'm not going to be able to do a Vulcan mind meld on your son and get the visual from him, so the stone will have to cooperate a little."
"We'll figure it out. Thanks."
"Of course." The sorcerer looked at the car. "You realize I could have this back together with the wave of my hand, right?"
"Yeah. But it's better this way."
"I suppose."
Tony looked at his watch.
"Stay for lunch?"
"Sure."