It was a dark, forbidding, world. There was a sun above, but it appeared to be in perpetual eclipse, as there was only the faintest ring of light coming from all around the edges, and nothing grew in that hostile environment for as far as he could see. There were jagged peaks that rose up and up and somehow he knew that the top of the one in front of him – the one with two pillars rising even higher from the surface – was where he needed to go.

He looked around. There were no animals. No birds in the dark sky that he could see, nothing on the ground around him for as far as the eye could see. No noises but the sound of the faint breeze that was ruffling his hair and kicking up little whirls of dust and dirt in the distance. He felt an atavistic tremor run through him, and studied the peak that loomed in front of him.

"Bring him, man of iron," a deep voice said, softly. "The stone must be returned, and the balance must be restored."

Tony felt Pepper stir in the bed beside him, and he gathered her closer to him, breathing in the scent of her hair, even as he shivered, again.

"Is it safe?"

"There is more danger on your world than on this one," came the reply. "The stone needs to be returned and only the boy can wield it."

"I could."

"It isn't your burden to bear."

"He's a boy."

"Yes. But a remarkable one. Bring him here, man of iron," came the command, again. "He need not come alone. But he must come, and he must return the stone to the sacrifice."

"Wait. What?"

The dream faded, though, and Tony sat up with a start. To his surprise, Pepper sat up, as well, and when he looked at her, he somehow knew that she'd had the same unsettling dream that he'd had.

OOOOOOO

Peter roused when they joined him in his bed. One on either side, as was the norm with them.

"Hmmm?"

He opened his eyes and felt loving arms coming around him, the smell of the shampoo that Pepper preferred telling him, immediately, who it was. Sleepily, he rolled toward her embrace, the toddler inside him more than willing to cuddle, and the teen much more asleep than awake and compliant.

"Go to sleep, son," came a soft whisper from behind him, and he felt the blankets being brought back up over him as Tony made sure they were all covered before he, too, put an arm around Peter. "We'll talk in the morning."

"Did I sleepwalk?" he asked, groggy.

There was a soft chuckle, and the light was dimmed, once more.

"No. Sleep, sweetheart," Pepper crooned. "You're fine."

He did as he was told, content to be held and never happier than with the two of them.

OOOOOO

"So you both had the same dream?"

Tony shrugged.

"We weren't in it, together," he replied, looking at his wife for confirmation. "I didn't see her, there, but I had a dream, and she woke the same time and knew exactly what I'd dreamed about."

"Huh." Peter looked at the two of them. When he'd woken, they'd both already been awake. They'd once more assured him that he hadn't been sleepwalking, and then Tony had explained what had brought them to his bed in the middle of the night. "From the description, it sounds like the place I got the soul stone – and where I found Sirah."

"From what I was told, I'd say it's a good guess."

"What do we do about it?"

"We get dressed and have some breakfast," Tony told them both. "It doesn't change anything, really. II already intended t go with you when you return the soul stone. This just tells me that they expect me. That's all to the good, really, since it means I won't be battling my way through whatever barriers that might be put up."

"We won't," Pepper corrected, brushing her fingers along Peter's cheek before she stood up. "I'm going with you and Stephen when you take Peter back."

Tony opened his mouth, and closed it with a shrug. Of course she was. She had the Rescue suit, now, and even without Vision acting as AI, Friday could handle her systems as well as his own. Eventually, he'd have to get her an AI of her own, now, but since they weren't going to be in battle – as far as he knew – there wasn't any reason Friday couldn't keep both of them safe.

"We still need to figure out how to get there," he reminded her. "But yes, I think that's a good idea."

Before they could say anything else, the Cloak of Levitation came soaring into the room, wrapping itself cheerfully around Peter, and silently heralding the arrival of Stephen Strange, who – despite the early hour – was perfectly dressed in his tailored suit and looking as if he'd been awake for hours. He looked surprised to see Tony and Pepper in the boy's room – obviously still in their pajamas – and glanced at Peter, as if to make sure he didn't look upset or injured.

"Did you sleepwalk, last night?"

"They came to my bed," Peter replied, smiling. "I'm not the spaz, this time."

"Did you just call mom a spaz?" Tony asked.

"What? No."

Strange smirked. Obviously, whatever had them in Peter's room wasn't serious. Or so he thought – until Tony told him what had happened. Then he frowned.

"That's interesting," he said. "I had a dream last night, too. One that didn't feature either of you, but definitely showed me the place you just described."

"It's called Vormir," Peter said, reaching for Nutmeg once the cloak had settled a little. He looked at Strange, expression a little uncertain – not surprising, really. "You saw it?"

"Yes."

"Well enough that you could go there?"

Tony and Pepper both looked at Stephen, as well. The sorcerer supreme nodded.

"Yes. I saw it as plainly as if I'd been standing at the base of that peak. There's even a trail, isn't there?"

Peter nodded.

"It's steep in some places, but it's an easy climb"

"We can go there?" Pepper repeated.

Strange didn't even hesitate at the insinuation that she intended to accompany them. He simply nodded.

"Yes. I'm certain I can portal us in, based on what I saw."

"Then we'd better get dressed," she said, looking down at herself and then at Peter. "You're officially excused from school, today."

The boy nodded. He looked uneasy, but resolute. Tony understood the hesitation.

"We could wait," he offered. "If you want. We can try to find a place to stash the power stone so you don't need to hold them both."

"No. It's okay. Two stones aren't going to be that much worse than one is. I'm just nervous."

He'd just gotten the brace off, after all. He didn't want to hurt the hand, again.

"Get dressed," Tony suggested. He looked at Strange. "Are you going to bring the time stone?"

"Yes. If you're ready, then I'll go advise Wong what we're doing and meet you in your workroom in an hour."

Which would give them time to alert those who needed to know, and get themselves ready.

The cloak grumbled in Peter's mind, not happy about releasing him so soon after their arrival, but it soared back to Stephen's collar, and the sorcerer vanished a moment later.

Stark looked at Pepper.

"Let's go change. I think breakfast should probably wait, though…"

She definitely agreed, looking at Peter to see if he was alright with that. He shrugged.

"I'm not hungry."

He was too nervous to eat, really.

"Get changed, son," Tony told him. "I'll meet you in our quarters so we can get your stones out of the safe while mom gets her Rescue suit on."

"Someone should tell Natasha what we're doing."

"She probably already knows," Stark replied. Romanoff had a connection with the mind stone, too, after all, and it was probably telling her what was going on. "But Nick and the others need to be told, too."

They left, and Peter went to his dresser for some clean clothes.

"You'll be fine," Alec assured him. "You're healthy and the stones will dim their reaction to you, like they did before."

He just nodded.

He hoped so.