Chapter Text
"Okay," Steve satisfyingly sighs. "Now that we’ve got how, we’re going to need where and when."
Tony stands in the corner of the room, cup of coffee in his hand and glasses pushed up the bridge of his nose. It's quiet before the storm, he thinks - the storm being whatever they're about to do, if it'll work. Peter is vigorously taking note of everything they say, sat on the couch even though Tony told him he didn't have to be here if he didn't want to. But he should have know because, of course, the kid wants to be here.
Steve continues. "Most folks here have encountered at least one of the six Infinity Stones - "
"I think you mean nearly been killed by one of the six Infinity Stones," Tony substitutes, stepping to stand newly next to the Captain.
"You know, I still have no idea what the hell any of you are talking about," Scott dumbly intervenes, ever the oblivious one in the room. "I mean, I haven't been killed by any of these Stones. Just saying,"
Tony brings his cup to his lips. "Yeah, that's why he said most folks, Louis Tully,"
"Regardless, we’ve only got enough Pym Particles for one round trip, each. And the Stones have been in a lot of places throughout history." Bruce adds.
"Our history. Not all of them are going to be a fun drop-in." Tony quickly says.
Clint grunts from where he's perched up in the chair, tattooed arms crossed over his chest. "Which means we’ve got to pick our targets."
Steve snaps his fingers. "Exactly," he turns to the hologram in front of them, tapping on the picture of the Reality Stone. "Let’s start with the Aether. Thor, what do we know?"
Everyone simultaneously turns to look at the God of Thunder in question. Tony isn't sure he's even a god anymore - maybe a more bloated, hairy, cheese and beer smelling, blond version of him in his thirties. Thor sits quietly with sunglasses shielding his eyes, left hand inside his pants as he slumps further down.
"Is he sleeping?" Natasha asks, worryingly.
"I'm pretty sure he's dead," Rhodey says.
Peter whispers. "I bet you ten bucks,"
"Peter," Tony scolds.
Finally, after what must have been ten minutes, Thor rises from his chair. "The Aether isn't a stone, it’s more of an angry sludge. My grandfather hid it from the Dark Elves - wooooh, scary beings," he wiggles his fingers, imitating a ghost. Nobody laughs as Jane Foster's face appears on the holo-screen. "So Jane - that's Jane...she's an old flame of mine. She stuck her hand inside a rock this one time and then the Aether stuck itself inside her. A-and she became very, very sick."
Everyone winces uncomfortably and Tony resists the urge to cover the kid's ears with his hands.
Thor continues, "So I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from, and we tried to uh, to fix her. We were dating at the time, you see, so I got to introduce her to my Mother...who's dead," the God of Thunder pinches his nose and sucks in a sharp breath. "and oh you know, Jane and I aren't even dating anymore, these things happen though you know, nothing last forever,"
Tony finally takes it upon himself to push the man (hermit?) back into his chair. "Okay big guy, awesome. Eggs? Breakfast?"
"I'd like a Bloody Mary, thank you."
Everybody sort of sags and begin to disperse out of the room one by one.
Peter comes up to him once the rest of the team is out, clinging onto his arm. "So...about the who time travel thing - "
"Kid, I think we already firmly established that you aren't going out there. Or anywhere, for that matter." Tony calmly tells him as he snakes an arm around his shoulder and smoothens out his hair. This reckless kid that has been giving him an average of two-point-five heart attacks a day for the past five years. God. He doesn't want to say it - it's so sickeningly cliche - but time flies.
"But Tony,"
"But Tony what? But Tony I haven't finished my homework yet and I'm going to get to that right now?"
Peter groans. "I'm so beyond homework right now,"
"Shh! Don't let Cap hear you, he'll lecture you about the importance of education for hours,"
"And he'll lecture you about being a good parent," the kid snarks.
"Peter Benjamin Parker-Stark!" Tony puts a hand to his chest and pretends to be offended. "God, what am I going to do with you?"
They order Chinese for dinner and everyone comes back to sit around the table and exchange new ideas.
Rocket sits on top of the table, slurping noodles from his take-out container. "Quill once said he stole the Power Stone from Morag,"
"That’s a person?" Brice asks confused.
"It’s a planet. Quill was a person." the raccoon defends.
And Scott has his mouth wide open, chopsticks dropped onto his place mat. "Wait, like...a planet? Morag is a planet in space?"
Rocket coos and pinches Scott's cheek and ruffles his hair. "Aw, look! It’s a puppy, all happy and everything. You want to go to space, puppy? I’ll take you to space,"
"We've dialed two Stones down so far," Steve comes up to him as they're clearing the table of plates after dinner. "Power on Morag and Reality in Asgard. Both in twenty-fourteen, I think. Maybe one's in twenty-twelve."
"That's - " Tony chokes on his own spit. "That's great, Steve. Wow. So close,"
The blond leans against the counter and watches as he plunges a few plates into the sink. "Yet so far, I know." he sighs. "How's the kid? Not too traumatized already, I hope."
Tony lightly laughs. "Naw, he's great. Tougher than you think,"
"He's - I'm very happy for you, Tony.
"Thanks Cap, me too. You're not doing too bad yourself." he pats his teammate on the back. "You know, don't tell the kid I told you this but he was a very devoted Cap fan when he was ten - still is. If anything, even if you don't think so - you're still doing a lot of good for this world."
"So are you. Thank you,"
"Don't kick the bucket just yet, people will go haywire," Tony smiles and winks before he shoves his hands into his pockets and exits the kitchen.
While searching, he finds Peter and Scott bundled up in blankets on the balcony, looking at the stars above. He slides the glass door open and steps into the night, nuzzling himself between the two. "I can't believe you two decided to have a sleep-over without me,"
"There's a reason why we didn't invite you," Peter sasses.
"Ooh, your levels of sass are off the charts today, kid."
He falls asleep two minutes later, after listening to Scott and the kid ramble about bad movies from the eighties.