The next hour was a whirlwind. Steve felt his head still swimming from seeing Tony's lifeless looking form being rolled out. He had known that he was alive, based on Valkyries declaration that he needed a healer, not a mortician. But for a second, his worst fear seemed true. He had to push down the raising concern for Tony as he was immediately wheeled off to medical and Steve had to shake hands with the newcomers who were strong enough to not need medical attention. He met Valkyrie (he immediately liked her), the rock man- Korg (who was actually a giant softie), Meek (who didn't say much except make weird noises), and about 50 Asgardians. Steve gulped as he realized 50 people wasn't exactly enough for an entire planet and wondered exactly where the rest of them were. After Thor and Bruce recovered from seeing their friend half dead, they were actually quite in a good mood. Both he and Bruce spent the rest of the night with the newcomers. Setting up their camps, catching up, and just being genuinely happy that they were all alive. Rocket had disappeared most of the night, along with the strange blue woman that had said literally nothing to them since they landed. Apparently, Thor had managed to get into contact with Valkyrie, who had left with several Asgardians on escape pods when Thanos attacked their ship. She had camped out deep in the galaxy, keeping her word to Thor that she would keep what remained of their species alive. Along the way, the ships had broken down for several days. By the time they were in working order, they had received a distress signal from the blue girl- Nebula was her name. They found a decimated planet, several piles of ash, a furious woman, and Tony with a stab wound in his abdomen and brought him home, finishing the course to Earth they had previously planned. Once they were close enough, they picked up contact with Thor and received the coordinates for Wakanda. Things couldn't have turned out better, and Steve was incredibly thankful for Valkyries diligence and will.

But now that things had settled, and the Asgardians were all set up; Steve, Nat, Bruce, and Thor found themselves huddled in a small hallway with only two chairs outside the room where Tony was being patched up. It was getting very late, around 2 in the morning and they were all exhausted. But they couldn't sleep until they knew Tony was okay. Natasha and Bruce sat in the chairs, while Thor and Steve sat leaned up against the wall.

Inside the room, Shuri was finishing up, shaking her head at the sheer amount of people she had healed this week. It was beginning to become overwhelming. As the now Queen, she knew she could entrust this duty entirely to others, but she couldn't bring herself to not help. She leaned over Tony and opened his eyelid to check his response to light; when she confirmed he was fine, she turned towards the electronic screen that was keeping track of his vitals. His red blood count was better after the blood transfusions, and his temperature and breathing rate were normal. She began to assess a few other markers of health when a small groan behind her caught her attention and she turned slowly towards her patient. He was looking at her through half lidded eyes, a sleepy expression on his face.

"Who'r you" he mumbled. He wasn't immediately defensive or weary, he just seemed confused.

"I am the one who saved your life." She turned and tapped a few buttons on the screen to check some other vitals.

"Wasn't aware I was dying…" he raised his hand to observe it. "M' really tired."

"You had a stab wound."

Tony grimaced, "Aw that. Come on… I fixed it myself pretty well."

Shuri rolled her eyes. "Just because you close up the external wound doesn't mean your organs are fine after being spliced up."

"Mm..m'know that." Tony's said sleepily, his little strength already sapping. "Doesn't mean I couldn't hope it wouldn't be true."

Shuri scoffed. "You were very lucky. You were found and kept alive." Her look softened, as she stopped her work. "There are some people outside who would like to see you."

But Tony had closed his eyes all the way, completely oblivious to anything she had just said, partly due to exhaustion setting in and partly from the pain medication currently being administered through his IV.

Shuri half smiled, and then grabbed the blanket to pull it up over him. She then stepped through the doorway, not surprised at the group struggling to stay awake outside. "He is going to be fine." Shuri confirmed the worried Avengers, who all looked up at her in surprise and let out a sigh of relief. "He needs sleep but will recover." The others thanked her profusely, and she brushed off the thanks, claiming it was nothing. She then moved on to help the medical staff with the injured Asgardians. But not without glancing back sadly at the group who were lucky enough to have their friend survive. She closed her eyes briefly, wondering if her brother was watching her from the Ancestral Plane. If he was proud of her. If he had even gone there, given his unusual death. She opened her eyes, and shook herself, knowing there were many others who needed her.

After she left, the group sat in silence, staring at the door that held their friend they had started to slowly assume was dead.

"It might be best…if Tony doesn't wake up to all of us." Bruce starts quietly, unsure of how to word what he was about to say. "It could overwhelm him, and he's injured."

Steve winced internally, knowing what Bruce was hinting at. During their time at the Avengers facility, before things turned to absolute shit, Steve had caught Bruce up on everything he had missed. The Accords, the explosion at the UN, Bucky, his and Tony's fight…Tony's parents. It would probably be best if Tony didn't wake up to someone who had ran his shield through his "heart", literally, right after being stabbed.

"Tony and I weren't on the best terms last time I saw him either." Natasha muttered. "But I'm happy to see he's alive. I doubt Tony is still angry. It's been two years, and there's much bigger things at stake now." She raised her eyes pointedly towards Steve.

"You're probably right…" Steve admitted. "But Bruce is also right. We shouldn't agitate him while he's healing. Thor, why don't you check on him?"

Thor's eyes widened in surprise. "Me?"

"You're the most neutral out of us all. He's always liked you." Steve commented with a sad smile.

Thor contemplated this for a little, and then nodded. He got up and brushed himself off, striding towards the doorway.

"Uh- me and Tony are pretty good friends?" Bruce said indignantly. But Thor was already through the door, and Steve gave him a small smile and gestured towards the door. Bruce followed Thor through the doorway, glancing back at Steve in feigned annoyance. As soon as they both disappeared, Steve dropped his smile slowly, and then began to head down the hallway back to their designated room. He stopped, and then paced backwards, stopping outside the door, leaning in to try and hear. And then walked again towards the hallway.

"Steve, stop." Nat had her head propped on her hand, leaning against the chair. "It'll be okay."

Steve groaned and plopped down in the chair next to her. He looked at the floor, his body tense.

"Two years. Two years ago, I gave him my number and told him to call anytime. He never oncecalled." He wrung his hands. "He didn't even call when he knew Thanos was coming. Before he went off on a suicide mission. What does that tell you?"

Nat leaned forward, putting her hand around his chin and lifting it up to so he would make eye contact with her. "Steve, none of that matters anymore. Tony will forgive you."

Steve swallowed, gently lifting his head away from her and getting out of his seat. "I hope you're right." He then looked towards the doorway. "Let me know when he wakes up. When he's fully awake, I mean." With that, he turned and finally went all the way down the hallway and out of her sight.

Natasha let out a breath and leaned back in her chair, bringing her knees up to her chest. The last thing they needed was old wounds being dredged up. They were finally starting to pull together some friends, and Tony would be able to give them more information on Thanos. Not that Tony would be overjoyed to see her either, but she knew there was bigger things than his snide remark about her being a double agent.

Meanwhile, Bruce and Thor entered the room. It was a gold color, with white curtains draped over the windows. It was dark outside now, with the only light coming from the lamps. Tony's eyes were closed, and he looked peaceful, his olive skin illuminated by the light. He had a white sheet pulled up to his chest, his arms tucked underneath.

Thor approached him slowly, leaning over the bed to look at his face closely. He looked pretty much the same as when he had last seen him, albeit a little older, with grey tinging the ends of his unusually messy hair. He leaned closer and whispered his name, shaking his shoulder gently.

Tony's eyes shot open, and he almost jumped up, but winced when his wound prevented him from moving too much.

Bruce put his head in his hand, sighing. "Thor, the intention was to not agitate him."

"Oops." Thor shrugged. "Tony, my friend! It's been too long."

"Thor?" Tony calmed down and squinted at him. "Thought you were…dead. Wher've you been? What happn'd to your hair?" Tony said bewildered, but still slurred.

"Oh." Thor exhaled and ran his hand through his hair, "a creepy old man caught it off."

Tony furrowed his eyebrows. "Damn…can't call you point break anymore." He murmured as his eyes began to slide closed again, bringing his body slowly back to a sleeping position, his breathing evening out into a peaceful sleep. Thor let out a little laugh, and then glanced back at Bruce, who was a little open mouthed.

"Wow, he's more knocked out than I thought. He was awake for a minute tops…we should probably come back later."

Thor nodded in agreement, fixing the sheet that had been crumpled at Tony's movement. Thor left the room to inform the rest of the group that Tony was far too tired to coherently talk with them and frankly they were all sleep deprived, while Bruce marveled at the advanced vitals screen. He hesitantly tapped on a file that detailed his condition and read it, the worry tensing up his every muscle beginning to fade as he read Shuri's positive notes. Content, he exited out of the file and sat in the chair next to Tony's bed. He studied his sleeping face, wishing he weren't too weak to stay awake.

Suddenly, a certain red head popped into his mind.

"Oh my god." He nearly slapped himself in the forehead as he frantically fumbled in his pockets for his phone, excited to finally bring some good news to Pepper.

Two days later, most of which consisted of Tony sleeping and recovering, the original Avengers were situated at a large table used for meals. Tony had made a wonderful recovery and was sitting in a chair, although Shuri had warned him not to push too hard or he'd end up back under her care. She made it very clear how little she wanted that. Most of the Avengers, sans Bruce, didn't know the specifics of his injury. But they knew he'd been stabbed, and that being stabbed definitely wasn't good. Nevertheless, they were happy to be currently residing in one of the most technically advanced places on Earth. They were all forever indebted to the Queen and were happy to hear that she was finally resting after nearly collapsing after very little sleep, food, and water.

Steve and Tony had not spoken to each other ever since last night when Tony was awake enough to remember their fight. Steve sat on the opposite end of the table, his head propped on his hands and his leg bouncing nervously. He made brief eye contact with Tony, who held it for a beat before averting his eyes and joking with Bruce next to him. Steve bit his lip and thought back to their first conversation when Tony had woken up. It hasn't been terrible. But it hasn't been great either. Just….weird.

"Tony."

The conversation ended abruptly, Tony in the middle of cracking a joke at the expense of Thors haircut. Tony turned his head, taking in the sight of a very different looking Steve Rogers hunched at the doorway. Behind him sat Thor and Bruce, and in the corner of the room was Natasha. She had obviously snuck her way back onto Tony's good side. That, or she just didn't care to complicate things and made it clear she was going to be in that room whether Tony liked it or not.

Steve swallowed and stepped forward. "It's good to see you, Tony. You look good."

Tony narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. "Yeah...you too. Nice beard. Being on the run really suits you."

Before Steve could respond to the hidden jab, Bruce interrupted. "-uh Tony just woke up about a half hour ago and is still catching up a little. But I called Pepper and she's coming. It's a long trip and she had some loose ends at the company to tie up. Lot of slack to pick up on when half your staff-er- anyway she'll be here in a few days, more or less."

Tony lit up at the mention of Pepper. The relief he felt when he learned she was okay almost overwhelmed him. He knew she'd be pissed about the whole leaving Earth on a flying donut thing, but right now he just wanted to hold her.

"That's...really great. I'm glad she's coming." Steve managed to smile.

Tony nodded back at him. "Yeah Rogers. It is great."

There was a tense silence following that statement. Until Thor began lamenting about his new space friends, telling Tony he had to meet the talking rabbit who liked gadgets like he did. Steve watched, the worry of seeing Tony again gnawing at him and getting worse the longer he stood there. He could feel Tony not wanting him there. So, he read the room and left without a word.

"So, Thor, you going to tell us why Asgard just showed up at our doorstep after picking me up from the middle of nowhere?" Tony shifted in his chair, wincing a little as he tried not to disturb his healing wound. His proposition tore Steve from his thoughts and brought him back to the present. Tony had previously caught Thor up on their little "Civil War" but had mostly focused on the governmental divide. He left out the part where he learned Bucky killed his parents and then proceeded to beat the ever-loving shit out of his then good friend. Bruce whispered to Steve that he was going to tell Thor that part later. It just felt wrong to air that out and revisit such a brutally tender moment in front of everyone right now.

Thor's expression immediately darkened after the inquiry. He put his hands together and leaned forward on the table.

"Yes. I suppose that I have a lot to catch you all up on. It was one hell of a week."

"Week? Thor, you've been gone two years." Steve tilted his head in confusion.

"Yes, that was full of mostly uneventful things like battling Trolls and I did learn how to play the harp from a Fossegrimen. Just generally kept peace in the Realms. Unimportant."

"Oh yes, unimportant." Tony snickered.

"Alright Thor, we're ready to hear it." Natasha put her hand on his shoulder and gave a side smile.

Thor grimaced a little and looked around at his friends. He was about to recount the most difficult time in his entire 1500 years of existence. He didn't know exactly where to start and if he was mentally prepared for the task. But his friends deserved to know what had happened. These were most of his first Midgardian friends, the ones who had bravely fought beside him all those years ago despite their mortality. And fate had brought them back together again. He took a deep breath and began his story.

"It started after I had defeated a giant hell monster who was prophesized to destroy Asgard. Upon my return home, I found out that Loki had banished my father and was posing as him and watching a play he wrote-"

"Loki!?" Several of them cried out.

"A PLAY" Tony laughed.

"Yes, Loki." Thor's eyes grew fond as he let a small smile spread across his lips. His heart ached, but he had to keep going, as his friends did not know of his untimely death yet. "He's a terrible playwright. It was truly horrendous." He sniffed sadly.

"Wait, wait. Loki? As in 'you told us he was dead' Loki?" Tony questioned slowly.

"Yes." Thor repeated, slowly, obviously a sore spot for him, so no one pried further. "Anyway, I revealed him, and he took me to Earth to find our Father. But Loki had placed him in what was now a pile of bricks. So, this caped wizard man showed us where he was-"

At the mention of a wizard, Tony perked up, the confused expression on his face replaced by curiosity. "Wizard? Was he a tallish guy with a living red cape who makes orange circles appear? And a goatee that he totally stole from me?"

"Yes, the very one! He was an admirable ally. Took me right to my father." Thor smiled at the memory of him constantly changing rooms to disorient the God.

"Oh…hm." Tony laid back down, grunting a little. "Guess he really isn't so bad after all." He didn't say anything else but looked a little lost in thought, a pained expression crossing his face.

"After we found Odin, he turned to golden dust and joined Valhalla, among the other brave warriors. With his death, my sister I did not know I had, she's the Goddess of Death, was able to rise from her sleep. She destroyed my hammer and, as we tried to escape, cast us out of the Bifrost where I landed on a trash planet and was captured and made a slave." He finished and paused.

The others were dumbstruck, except Bruce who was nervously fiddling with his shirt tail, obviously not looking forward to the next part.

They all erupted with questions at the same time, but Thor held up a hand. "Please, let me finish. I wish to get through this quickly." As he finished speaking, a small spark of electricity, barely noticeable, jumped from his hands, fizzling out within seconds but alerting them to his internal struggle with this story. He was obviously trying to keep it light, but they all understood this must be painful to relive.

"I was forced to fight their champion in an arena; that's where I found Bruce!" Natasha raised her eyebrow and looked at Bruce, who was looking at his lap. "We fought, he cheated ("Hey!" Bruce exclaimed), we escaped to Asgard through the Devil's Anus, where we fought Hela. She took my eye," he gestured to his eye that was now brown instead of his normal blue, "Bruce fought a wolf, I sent Loki to initiate Ragnarok, which then killed my evil sister and Asgard, but spared my people's lives."

"Wait-Asgard is gone?" Tony whispered.

"I'm not finished, there's more." Thor spoke softly and sadly, he was looking down at the table, his hands fidgeting. He lifted his head to gaze at Brue, who gave him a remorseful look. He faintly heard "Tony I swear if you interrupt one more time I'm going to stab you again" from Nat in the background.

"I trusted Loki with such an important task, and he did it. He didn't let me down and our people were saved because of him. But within hours of this. Hours of finally reconciling with my brother, hours of my people losing their homes, Thanos found us. He killed half my people. He stabbed my best friend. He destroyed the Tesseract like it was made of paper and stole the Space Stone. He- "Thor's voice caught in his throat. "Thanos snapped Loki's neck because he tried to kill him. And then he blew up our ship. When I awoke, I was with Rocket and his friends. He gave me this new eye, I went to forge a new weapon, and here we are." By the time he was finished, there was a glint of tears in his eye. He slowly wiped it away and refused to make eye contact with the rest of his friends. But if he had looked up, he would be met with a sea of concerned gazes.

No one knew what to say. There was nothing to say that could make this right. They had all lost so much, but no one had realized just how much Thor had lost. They thought all the disappearing acts, all the quiet evenings he spent sitting alone, all the solemn walks he would take, all the times he barely spoke. The storm that had broken earlier. It all made sense now. No one quite understood Loki and Thors relationship either. They would all gladly line up to strangle the villain who brought war to their planet. But Thor seemed to care very deeply for his brother. And based on the story, Loki had helped saved his people. He had stood up to Thanos instead of joining him. Their hearts broke for their friend; they understood his grief and suffering.

Surprisingly, it was Tony that moved his hand slowly to the god's shoulder. He placed his hand there and squeezed gently.

"You still got us, buddy." Tony gave him a sad smile. "You're not alone…and you can't blame yourself. We all lost someone. We all couldn't save everyone. We all couldn't protect the universe. But we're damn sure going to avenge it."

Thor smiled back thankfully, but sadness and pain still clouded his eyes. "Thank you, Stark. That means a lot to me."

Around the table, the others offered consolidations and words of encouragement. They were all still a little in shock about the multiple tragedies he endured in such a short amount of time. But, they offered whatever words they felt best, feeling protective of their friend. Thor looked around the table in appreciation, nodding slightly to everyone as they spoke. He wiped a hand casually by his eye again, sniffing and straightening up. "Thank you everyone. Your friendship means more than you know." He turned to Tony. "Why don't you recount the events of Titan? Maybe it will help us determine how to defeat the mad man?"

Tony grimaced, slowly peeling his hand off of Thors shoulder. "Yeah…yeah, good idea. I don't know if it will help. Boy, there's so much to tell but also nothing to tell. I guess it started on Earth. I was with Pepper, discussing…things. And that wizard guy you talked about showed up. His name is Stephen Strange and he protects the Time stone. I also met up with Bruce there and one of Strange's wizard buddies. They informed me about Thanos and his obsession with collecting these stones. I-." He paused, shifting his eyes towards Steve at the other end of the table. He was listening intently and blinked a little in surprise when Tony looked at him. "I was about to call Steve to ask him where Vision was. So we could protect the Mind stone and his life."

After those words left his mouth, he glanced away from Steve and instead focused his gaze on the rest of the Avengers. Steve was a little in shock but didn't show any outward signs of it. Tony had just confessed he thought of calling Steve. When Steve thought Tony hadn't even considered him. A little flower of hope bloomed inside him, wondering if maybe Tony wasn't as caught up in their civil war as he previously thought.

"But before I could call, Thanos' children touched down on Earth. I hijacked one of his ships and let it continue its autopilot to Titan. Apparently, it was his home planet before he proposed his crazy genocide idea. They didn't agree with him, and his planet was eventually overused, turned into a barren wasteland." He shook his head and exhaled. "Stephen and some other weirdos tried to help me defeat Thanos on Titan. It…didn't go as we planned. He ended up retrieving the Time stone from Strange."

Tony hesitated, as if deciding how to form his words carefully. In truth, he was battling internally on how much to share. Did they really need to know that Strange only gave it up to save his life? He swallowed thickly and then continued, deciding against it. "After that, he disappeared. I assume that's when he came here, to Wakanda." He shrugged as he finished, seemingly confirming that there wasn't much helpful information.

The others didn't miss the fact that Tony left out the part about how he got stabbed. He left out the part about why this Stephen Strange wasn't with him now, or the other "weirdos." But they could guess what happened. In that moment, they all felt connected through their losses. They all had a reason to keep fighting, they all had a reason to stay strong.

Tony put his elbow on the table and placed his hand under his chin, "I don't know about you guys but recounting all of this makes me really tired and really angry. I'm ready to do something."

"Where would we even start?" Natasha countered logically.

Tony bit his lip. "Okay. On Titan, when we faced him. He mentioned something about watching the sun set on a grateful universe. What a dick, right? That obviously doesn't tell us anything about where exactly he is. But, it does tell me that he's…finished? He didn't seem to have any further plans after 'balancing the universe.' So, he's just sitting on a space rock, finding him could take hundreds of years, even with the advances in space exploration from our racoon friend. And based on what you guys told me about the battle, we don't even know if he's alive or bleeding out somewhere from the giant axe wound in his chest"

The others nodded, waiting for him to get to his point.

"So…if he has, retired, shall we say, then it would be really difficult for us to find him. And he's currently no threat to anyone anymore, so there's no reason to chase him down, except for vengeance of course. There's nothing we can really do in this timeline, right now. So, what's our only option?"

He was met with several beats of silence until Bruce perked up from where he sat. "So, you're saying he might not try to stop us if we tried to fix this. Or tried to…" he furrowed his eyebrows, looking at Tony with the same expression when he asked him to help him create Ultron. "Oh…no Tony. That's a terrible idea."

The others looked from Bruce to Tony in confusion. Only Thor seemed to smile slightly to himself, catching onto what the scientists were alluding to.

Tony quirked his lips into a small side smile. "No, it's not, Bruce. The only way to defeat Thanos is to stop this from ever happening."

Bruce sighed and leaned back in his chair, throwing up his arms in knowing defeat and sighed.

"We're going back in time."