Tony tore through the halls with Natasha in tow, searching for a new target with zeal and a manic gleam in his eyes. He was still riding the adrenaline high from jump scares and the outcome of his prank and was quick to show it.
"Tony, shouldn't we try to see what we can do first?" Natasha asked.
Tony paused mid-flight and looked up, eyes flicking all over the place as he considered the idea. He looked back to Natasha and grinned.
"I know just the place!" Tony said. "Under compound locations for $500, our next clue is: Where do the Avengers hone new abilities and train?"
"I was just in the gym earlier, Tony. But it's a good pick, it should be empty by now and there's plenty of space and equipment."
"Ding ding ding! We have our winner, folks! Let's get this show on the road."
They shot into the gym and took a look around. Upon seeing that it was empty save for the two of them, Tony and Natasha sank to just above the floor and surveyed the room again.
"You'd think it would have changed a bit after a few weeks of us being gone, but it still somehow looks brand new," Natasha remarked. "There's only one arrow in the far left target on the shooting range."
"Well, most of the compound was wrecked shortly before I died," Tony replied. "Wait, a few weeks?"
Natasha looked at him inquisitively. "You haven't told me about everything that happened after I died, but I have a feeling my answer will be a lot shorter. I spotted a newspaper back in Queens with the date on it. It's been two weeks since the day of the time heist, which I assume is when you died, right?"
"Yeah… A lot happened after Clint came back with just the soul stone. We got them all, but a few things happened that shouldn't have before everyone returned to 2023. Cap, Shrinky-Dink and I lost the Tesseract to Loki in 2012 so I took Steve back to SHIELD in the 70's to grab the damn thing and some Pym Particles for the ride home. I saw Howard, and oh boy was that a trip. Of course, it was nothing compared to Steve spotting Peggy while distracting the Hank Pym of the 70's and stealing from his lab,"
That explains a lot, Natasha mused. That's probably how he got the idea to stay behind after presumably putting everything back.
Tony continued the summary. "If you think that's bad, it gets way worse. A past version of Nebula swapped places with our Nebula at some point and invited Past Thanos to crash the party on Present/Future/Past Earth or whatever you want to call it. We didn't know what was going on, but we assembled our gauntlet and Big Bruce the Zen Hulk unsnapped the Snap of Doom. Then the Compound got blown to hell because Past Thanos showed up and brought a warship and the Chitauri with him as his way more than plus one. A lot happened after that. The wizards dropped by and portaled in a metric crapload of reinforcements from all over the place. Wakandans, more wizards, the rest of the Avengers, and for all I know, Howard the Duck. Cap used Mjolnir, Pepper suited up and it was truly epic, I saw Peter again, Glowing Cap showed up and straight up broke the warship, we played keep away with the gauntlet and Peter had it for a little while right before the ladies teamed up. You would have loved it, Nat," Tony paused, eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"Pepper was absolutely stunning, of course. Wanda just let loose all over Thanos when she got the chance, and I forgot when that was. Awesome Princess Sparklefists almost got him too, but nothing stood a chance until the very end." Tony stopped talking, lost to the world down memory lane. Natasha took the chance to prompt him and pull him back into the monologue.
"If Bruce was the one to undo the Snap, then how did you die in such a way to put you in the Soul Stone?" Natasha asked, but she had a sinking feeling as to how it all had ended.
"Thanos completed the gauntlet again, this time to snap our universe out of existence and create a new one of his own twisted vision. I grappled with him myself, but it was almost too late. He finally snapped, but nothing happened because I had stolen the stones. I snapped him and his army out of existence. The wizard had reminded me of the one possibility out of millions from across the battlefield, and when I saw him with the stones again I knew there was no other way to put him down for good. I was dead in minutes from the gamma radiation, long enough for a few people to say goodbye. The ones that mattered, except for my daughter…" Tony's voice cut off completely.
Natasha put an arm around him and took his hand. "I'm sorry, Tony. I wish I could have been there to help."
"There wasn't anything you could have done." Tony whispered. They hovered in heavy silence for a moment, unsure of what to say but knowing exactly what to do. At last, Natasha spoke up.
"Have you seen Steve yet?"
"No, why do you ask?" Tony replied, puzzled.
"Sam has the name and shield of Cap now. As for Steve… you'll have to see. He's just outside, like he's waiting for something."
"I'll have to go check on him. And how the hell did you see where he is if the door is right behind you?"
Natasha smirked. "As usual, Tony, I have eyes in the back of my head. You know, to better scare people with. Go see Steve. I'll wait here."
"Wish me luck, Romanoff. We'll have to practice later."
"You won't need it, Mr. Stank."
Tony laughed and flew outside, phasing through the door.
Author's Note: I'm baaaack…
And there's our setup for next time chapter. Hope you've enjoyed the fic so far, whether you're a new or returning reader. Special thanks to everybody who also favorites, follows, and reviews!