Wow what is this, a two-day updating streak? Insane. I'm trying to get this all wrapped up before the one-year anniversary of Endgame, which, while perhaps not realistic, is what I'm setting my sights on, so here's Chapter 8 :)

Wow only 4 more chapters left.

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It took a few minutes for the room to unfreeze from the shock. The second Tony felt the tension glueing him to the ground melt away, he took after the kid.

"Tony-" he heard someone call after him.

"Give me five minutes." he called back, already having no intention of turning back to chat.

"FRI, where'd he go?" Tony asked, pausing out in the hallway. The AI was quiet for a few seconds before responding.

"Look up, boss." she said, and that was definitely humor laced in her words. Tony looked up and was met face to face with Peter, suspended from the ceiling with a faint smile on his face.

"Little shit." Tony muttered.

"Me or FRIDAY?" Peter jested.

"Both of you." Tony responded, a smile on his own face. However, it quickly melted away as the severity of the situation hit him. Peter noticed the change in his countenance and the smile fell off his own face; he flipped down from the ceiling and stood in front of his mentor, looking him in the eye.

"I'm not letting you die, Mr. Stark." Peter said with such certainty Tony paused, surveying him with a calculating gaze.

"Yeah well, same goes for you, kid."

"So we have a deal?" Peter asked, and Tony rolled his eyes.

"Yeah kid, whatever you say."

There was a long pause, and Tony briefly looked away from the teenager only to fix him with a fierce gaze seconds later.

"He's not wrong about you, kid. Neither was the time stone. I may not be big fans of either, but they chose correctly." he said quietly, sincerity bleeding into his tone. Normally he wouldn't be this upfront with his emotions, but he knew the kid needed this reassurance, especially with the weight of the universe and everyone's futures on his shoulders. And Tony would be damned if he let him carry that burden alone. Peter looked up at him, gaze wet with unshed tears yet piercing straight through him. They flicked up and down his frame, trying to decided whether Tony was placating him with false reassurances or whether he really meant it. Tony didn't break his gaze from him the entire time, and eventually, Peter nodded slowly, realizing that this was real. Tony wholeheartedly trusted in his abilities.

"Thanks, Mr. Stark." he said softly, quickly using his sleeve to sweep away the tears before they could fall down his cheeks. Tony patted him on the shoulder, soft if not a bit awkward, and the kid offered a wan smile. "We should get back to them, shouldn't we?"

"Eh, probably." Tony replied. "I always like to be fashionably late, though, so I don't think I'm the best consultant." This earned a snort from the teen so the billionaire took it as a win. They hadn't traveled far from the room where the rest of the Avengers were gathered, so they reached the doorway in a couple of seconds before Peter stopped abruptly.

"There's someone in there who wasn't before." Peter said, tilting his head. "Another heartbeat. They're in the left corner of the room behind the table, hiding in the shadows." 

Tony opened his mouth to respond; to warn the team or ask FRIDAY, he wasn't sure. Since they were in the doorway, however, several Avengers had already heard Peter's warning and turned to the corner, where a figure was obscured in the shadows. Natasha waved them off when the figure gave a chuckle; her stance was relax and unthreatened and she approached the person like an old friend.

"Fury, stop creeping in the shadows and join the party." she said, and Tony sighed as the figure leaned into the light, revealing himself to be Nick Fury.

"You seem to have an astute ability to be creepy in just about every situation, Nicky." Tony said, and Fury fixed him with a blank stare.

"Call me that one more time, Stark, and you'll be deprived of your tongue. Or relieved of it. However you choose to see it. I know which one I'd see it as." Fury said, tone devoid of emotion, but the upturned corner of his mouth gave it away.

Tony held up his hands in mock defeat and turned to Peter. "Peter, meet Nick Fury, head of SHIELD and resident son of a bitch." He didn't register Steve's sigh, only focusing on Fury as he got up from where he was seated and walked over to the duo still standing in the doorway.

"I thought that was you." Fury said offhandedly. He turned to Peter and nodded. "Spider-Man. I would say nice to meet you, but the circumstances certainly could have been better."

Peter blinked, starstruck, and Tony diverted Fury's attention for a few moments so that the kid could mend his brain cells enough to provide some form of coherent speech.

"Yeah, speaking of which, how'd you get in here and how much do you know?"

Fury opened his mouth to reply, probably with some cryptic answer about how he saw and knew everything, but Natasha beat him to it.

"I informed him and told him to get his ass over here as quickly as possible." she said, reclining in her chair with her eyes fixed on the trio standing near each other.

Tony snapped his fingers as a thought came into his mind. "Ah, yes, something the wizard mentioned. Who is Carol Danvers?" Fury blinked, and for a split second, was thrown off-guard. "Captain Marvel? Ringing any bells?"

Fury tilted his head, the momentary shock gone. "How do you know about her?"

"The wizard mentioned it in the letter I told you about." Natasha filled in. Fury nodded.

"Danvers and I worked together on an alien... not quite invasion, but an intergalactic war of sorts in the 90s. She left to aid in stopping it, but I can get in contact with her. We also need to collect as many people we know about as we can." he turned to Natasha. "Who else did Strange mention in his letter? Someone named Nebula and her team with Quill? We need to reach Wakanda. And someone needs to get in contact with Thor. Their resources would be a huge help, not to mention this is a threat involving the whole universe, not just Earth."

Sam Wilson broke in for one of the first times since arriving. "Are we sure it's a good idea to bring in Quill? Didn't he ruin the original plan by losing control of his temper?"

Tony was shaking his head forcefully before he even finished speaking. "First of all, that was in an alternate timeline. We can't give up on more help because of a mistake other-Quill made. And besides, Strange said that Thanos succeeded in snapping in every timeline. We would have lost whether or not Quill punched Thanos then, and who knows, maybe more people could've died of permanent injuries that couldn't be reversed by the snap. Thirdly, you can hardly blame him for his anger. But that specific crime hasn't happened in this timeline. Gamora is alive as of now. Ergo he would have no motivation to mess it up."

"But he did it once, couldn't he do it again?" Sam asked, no malice present in his voice, just genuine concern. But Tony could see the video feed from Peter's suit flashing in the forefront of his mind, and the words echoing over and over: Barnes killed your parents. 

He killed mom.

Tony spared a glance to the man in question, standing by Steve, a quiet, but not particularly malicious presence. He mostly seemed confused by the whole idea, still rattled by Hydra's hold on him. Tony couldn't compare this confused, quiet, shell of a man with the soldier who had ruthlessly killed his parents. The very idea of it seemed bizarre. All he could see was that he was a victim of a terrible chain of events. And he knew that if they faced Quill down with all the facts, he'd get it too. He may not be the brightest (based on the video feeds at the very least), but he can grasp the importance of events. 

He shook himself when he remembered he hadn't answered Wilson's question. "No. No, he wouldn't do it again."

There was a beat of silence. Then: "How do you know?" 

Tony spun on his heel and looked Steve directly in his face, eyes flicking briefly to Barnes before moving back again. "Because I didn't." The silence lay in the room, heavy and muffling like a thick blanket. Steve clenched his jaw and Natasha pushed herself up from her sitting position.

"You know." 

It wasn't a question. Tony nodded. Steve's eyes flicked back and forth between Barnes and Tony, and he instinctively formed to move a barrier between the two. Tony scoffed.

"Relax, Rogers, I'm not going to attack him." Steve blinked in confusion and Tony wanted to sigh out of exasperation. Did they really think that's what he'd be focusing right now, facing the possibility of the end of the universe? "I've known since I watched some more of the kid's videos, of just the two of us. That's what the events after the 'Civil War' led up to, in case you were wondering." the man said nonchalantly, watching Cap shift uneasily from foot to foot.

"But you understand why I kept it from you?" the super-soldier asked quietly.

Tony sighed again. "Yes. As much as I don't like it, yes, I understand. All's not automatically forgiven and everything isn't fine and dandy, but we have bigger fish to fry at the moment. And hearing about it was a better way to find out than actually watching my parents get murdered on film with the murderer standing 5 feet away." The billionaire said drily, sarcasm overtaking his words at the end; tension hung in the air, undisturbed by the smallest breath of air. The whole room was holding their breaths.

"Wait, what?"

And there it was, that tension, snapped. It flowed outward in waves and Tony's head snapped to Wanda, who asked the question. Natasha was the one who replied.

"Barnes killed Stark's parents and Steve and I knew." she said calmly, as if she hadn't just dropped a bomb of information in the room and watched it explode people's brains.

But Tony was focused on her. "You knew, too?" he asked quietly, eyes burning. Yet she held his gaze steadily, unflinching, until he let out a breath and the tension and rage flowed out. As much as he wished he'd never known, that she would have just pinned it all on Cap so that he didn't have to add her to the long list of people who'd betrayed him, he knew it'd only turn out worse in the end. And so did she.

Apparently other people in the room weren't that far caught up and were still hooked on the fact that Barnes had killed Tony's parents. The noise in the room rose until it was a jumble of voices, confusion, and chaos. Fury caught his eye and promptly walked the fuck out, indicating that this was Tony's problem to deal with. That motherfucker.

Oh well, he had bigger problems than getting Nick Fury to wrangle a group of confused and aggravated Avengers.

Somehow, as his eyes were following Fury out the door, they landed on Barnes, pressed against the wall, eyes following Tony's movements. They locked gazes for a moment and Tony was struck by the fear in Barnes' gaze. No, not fear. That wasn't the right word. Neither was confusion. More like... a mix of the two. Barnes wasn't particularly afraid. He'd been through enough shit that a room like this wasn't scary; plus he could kill just about everyone if he tried (individually). Nor was it straight up confusion; he had an intelligence about him. Moreso, it was the lack of knowing what comes next. All the memories Barnes held were those of being ordered around, getting commands, knowing where he's going and what he's doing. But now, freed from Hydra's clutches, he doesn't know who he is, what's his mission, what's his purpose. He's free-floating, just waiting for the next blow to land.

Tony broke eye contact first, working on breaking up the confused Avengers. Yet while he did so, he could feel Barnes' gaze on the back of his head the entire time, assessing. He ignored it as he spoke to his teammates.

"Hey!" he shouted. "It doesn't matter. Not now. Yes, it is important, but currently we are dealing with the threat of universal extermination so we need to put all other feuds on the back burner and not start this up right now. Or ever." he added as an afterstatement.

He sighed, thinking back to an easier time when the team dynamic hadn't been stressed and taut, like a rope about to snap. Back before Thor left.

And then an idea struck him. He thought of the conversation they'd had, right before Thor disappeared in a swathe of rainbow-colored light and simultaneously destroyed his lawn. The mark was still there. And didn't Thor once say that an Asgardian named Heimdall controlled the.. the.. Bifrost? And that he could see any person in the universe... if they were just to get his attention.

All these thoughts flowed through Tony's head at once, and he dashed out the door for the umpteenth time that day, calling over his shoulder that he was going to get Thor.

By the time he'd reached the strange pattern scorched into the grass, he was moving at a significantly slower rate and was breathing heavily. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he examined the area. Slowly, tentatively, he walked into the center of it, almost expecting to disappear in a burst of light or combust or some stupid magical shit like that. When nothing happened, he cleared his throat and raised his face to the sky, squinting.

"Uh, Heimdall?" he called out awkwardly. He wasn't exactly used to calling to people from several galaxies away. Especially not Asgardians who most likely didn't have time for some human trying to get their attention. How the hell was this supposed to work?

He could only hope that Thor had told Heimdall to keep an eye on Earth, just in case the Avengers had to reach him; though Tony had to admit, even to himself, that the prospect was ludicrous. Still, they had to try.

"We... kind of need Thor back. You know, end of the universe, all the works." Tony shoved his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels. He felt silly, a human standing in the footprints of a god, calling for attention like a little kid calls to its parent. God, he hasn't felt this way since he was a child striving for Howard's praise.

Minutes of silence passed and Tony sighed, shoving a toe underneath a loose piece of dirt and flinging it up. He watched it hit the ground and turned to go back inside; they'd have to get ahold of Thor through another route. Man, they really should have figured out communications before Thor went offworld to who-knows-where.

Just as he was about to move back indoors, however, he felt his head throb like it was being split open. He thought he'd experienced headaches from hangovers, but no, this was 10, 100, 1000 times worse. He gave a short yell and collapsed on the ground, hands pressed against the scorch marks Thor left when he departed. Then the pain ceased and it was no longer a pattern of scorched and living grass underneath his hands, but a massive, arching golden room. The only exit was a clear bridge spattered with glowing rainbow flecks. That's when Tony realized this wasn't his vision. This was Asgard. Which meant...

He lifted his arms and yeah those were definitely not his hands-

"What do you want?" a voice echoed in his head, loud yet calm. Tony's own mind began dissecting how this could be possible, what science could lead to this. He heard the voice chuckle (could you even hear when it's all in your head?).

"It's me, Heimdall."

Oh. Yeah, that much should have been obvious by now.

"I'm assuming you heard that we need Thor?" Tony asked, holding back any sarcasm or witty remarks he may have made (okay, definitely would have made) if he were talking to other humans or, hell, even other aliens. But he couldn't risk pissing Heimdall off, not if he was the only way to reach Thor in a timely manner. And in this case, time was everything.

"What makes you think that Thor should abandon his own people, his kingdom, for a squabble on Earth?" Heimdall asked; not harshly, but with a personable calm. His presence exuded thought and logic.

"Ever heard of Thanos?" Tony said as a response. "You must have."

The silence was enough, and Tony barrelled on.

"Then you must know that he was the one who sent the aliens to earth in 2012." Tony said.

"And Thor helped you with that, even though it wasn't his planet to protect." Heimdall said. "Threats are arising for Asgard, and we need our leader."

"But that's the thing." Tony said, words rushing out of him, trying to get the Asgardian to understand. "It's not just Earth's issue. Not this time. He's working on collecting all the infinity stones, and if he succeeds, he has the power to do anything. Snap half the universe out of existance- which, long story short, already happened. This is our second chance. We won't get a third. And it can get so much worse. He can make everyone become his mindless slaves. Anyone. Anyone in the whole universe. It'll be his to control. We can't do this alone. You know we can't. And if we fail, sure, we may die first, but you can bet your ass he won't stop there."

Heimdall was silent. Tony didn't say another word, knowing that nothing he could add now would help. It was up to the Asgardian to make the logical decision with all the facts laid out before him.

"I see... there's a small issue, though." Heimdall mused. "There is a threat incoming to Asgard. I can sense it. It'll destroy us, and what if Thor isn't around in time to help with that because he is off helping you all?"

"If Thanos wins, it won't matter whether there's a threat to Asgard or not; we'll all be dead." Tony said bluntly. He then hesitated, not sure whether offering help would be seen as an insult. "If we win, and defeat Thanos, the Avengers will come and help Thor against the threat, if you need it."

He could almost sense Heimdall weighing the choices. On one hand, he didn't want to get involved with humans, much less accept any help from them. And Tony got that; Asgardians were proud. But they were also smart. Because on the other hand, they were all facing mass extinction. In the end, it was no choice at all.

"Very well." Heimdall said. "I'll send Thor down to you." A pause. Then, in a voice tinged with humor, he said: "You might want to move out of the way." With that, the connection was severed, and Tony rolled out of the way, holding his throbbing head gingerly. Apparently human brains aren't built for intergalactic communications, who knew?

He heard a commotion behind him, and when he rolled over onto his back, he found Thor staring at him in amusement. Tony just stared at him from the ground before flopping his head back in exhaustion.

"Hey Point break, I see you still enjoy destroying my lawn." he said, gaze fixed on the sky above him. He heard a laugh and then Thor's face was in his vision, holding out a hand to help Tony get up.

"I missed you, Tony." Thor said, patting the billionaire on the back. "Of course, Heimdall told me some of what you said, but it was very brief. I do wish this could be under better circumstances, though I'm excited to work with everyone again."

Tony smiled briefly, beckoning Thor to follow him inside. "The rest of the team is in here. We're collecting as many people as we can to help us fight against Thanos, so anyone you know of who could help, let us know."

Thor nodded, and then, as they approached the room that held the other Avengers (hopefully they hadn't killed each other just yet), Thor spoke.

"Are you still debating whether the elevator is worthy?"

Tony let out an unexpected bark of laughter.

Yes, they had a massive battle on their hands. But they can do it right this time. They will do it right this time. No more do-overs. No more retakes. This is it. This was the fight of their lives. And they were damn well sure they had to win it. As a team.

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Oh wow that ending was bad, I am very sorry. Also sorry if Heimdall or Thor (or anyone, really) were out of character, I don't have much experience writing the two and I tried to get some levity into this chapter before the others arrive, so... sorry.

And I know this chapter really didn't have a lot of Peter, but I plan for the majority of the rest of the story to be centered around Peter's POV! I just couldn't make him be the one interacting with Thor because in this timeline he's never met him... and plus it just flows better with Tony to explain it.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed and sorry for any mistakes :)