"Come here, we got a situation." Tony said, beckoning you and Peter over to where he was standing.

You looked down to see Ebony Maw interrogating Doctor Strange, who was floating above the ground horizontally, face down, surrounded by dozens of glassy needles which were each about two feet long. The levitating cloak was hovering, quite clearly anxious, behind you.

Tony took a deep breath.

"See him, down there? He's in trouble. What's your plan? Go." he said to Peter.

"Um. Okay... okay. Did you ever see this really old movie, Alien?" Peter asked you and Tony. Tony shook his head and you shrugged apologetically.

"Really, aw man, you should see it, it's so great..." Peter trailed off at the look on Tony's face.

"Okay, anyway. Here's what I'm trying to say."

Peter quickly explained his plan, which was crazy and dangerous but was better than anything you could come up with. Tony seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

"Well, no time like the present." Tony said, and dropped down off of your platform to the ground, landing behind Ebony Maw. You and Peter watched as they exchanged some words that you couldn't hear, and then Maw began to summon large metal objects to float menacingly behind him.

Tony said something sharp, and then raised a hand to blast a huge hole in the wall behind Maw. Immediately everything, including you, Peter and Strange, was sucked towards the opening in the side of the ship. The pole you had been planning on grabbing hold of for stability proved extremely unhelpful almost instantly, snapping off in your hand and flying towards the hole, along with you.

Strange had been pulled free of the needles Maw had been torturing him with, but he was now heading towards the hole in the side of the ship, helpless to resist. His cloak tried in vain to hold him back, but Strange's arm slid loose and he continued towards the gaping hole. You teleported towards a sturdier looking pole on the other side of the ship, grabbing on to it and twisting your head to try and see what was going on behind you.

Just as you were coming up with a hasty plan to teleport to Strange and back over to the pole with him, Peter shot a strand of web towards the wizard from one hand and shot another towards a piece of the ship behind him, straining to hold the two together.

The strand of web connected to the wall quivered and then snapped, and you gasped as both Peter and Strange flew towards the hole. As they reached the very edge of the ship Peter grabbed hold of Strange, and then eight metal spider-like legs shot out from the back of Peter's suit, bracing against the wall around the hole to stop the two of them from being sucked out.

"Yes! Wait, what are those?!" Peter yelled. The legs bent in a crouch, and then straightened to make a huge leap back into the ship. Tony immediately used something in his suit to spray the hole, and it sealed back up instantly. You fell to the floor, and when you looked up Strange was on the floor too. Peter had landed on his feet, next to the levitating cloak.

"Hey, we haven't officially met." he said, offering the cape his hand. The cape ignored him and floated over to Strange, who was getting to his feet, and attached itself back to his shoulders.

"Cool." Peter said. You stared at him in confusion and amazement. He had to be sixteen, if not fifteen, and he was dealing with being stranded in space and almost having just died extremely well. Maybe he was in shock. As you got to your feet you were met with the sight of Ebony Maw floating, quite dead, outside of the ships window.

You turned away.

"We've gotta turn this ship around." Strange said. Not even a 'thank you'? Wow, Tony was going to love that. You walked towards them slowly.

"Yeah. Now he wants to run. Great plan." Tony said. You sighed, knowing where this was headed.

"No, I want to protect the stone." Strange replied, gesturing to the Time stone, which was still mercifully around his neck.

"And I want you to thank me now. Go ahead, I'm listening." Tony snapped. You opened your mouth to intervene but Tony pointed at you and glared, "Don't get involved."

"Thank you for what? Nearly blasting me into space?" Strange scoffed as Tony walked past him to look out of the front window of the ship which encompassed the entire front wall.

"Who just saved your magical ass? Me." Tony stated.

"I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet."

"Admit it. You should have ducked out when I told you to. I tried to bench you. You refused." Tony retorted.

"What, you think you'd be better off if you were up here on your own?" you scorned, unable to stay out of it. He was being irrational.

"I thought I told you not to get involved." Tony said to you heatedly.

"I am involved. I'm here, we all are." you told him. He seemed to soften slightly as he looked at you and Peter.

"Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you." Strange said harshly, and, in your opinion, very unnecessarily.

"And due to that fact, we're now in a flying doughnut billions of miles away from Earth with no backup." Tony shot back.

"I'm backup." Peter said, raising his hand.

"No. You're a stowaway, and so are you." he said, pointing at you, "The adults are talking."

You bristled with indignation.

"I'm sorry, I'm confused as to the relationships here. I would have thought she was your kid if she weren't Asgardian, but what is he, your ward?" Strange asked, pointing first to you and then to Peter. Tony looked at Strange, then at you, swallowing hard.

"No... I'm Peter, by the way." Peter said.

"Doctor Strange." the wizard replied.

"Oh, we're using our made-up names. Um, I'm Spider-Man, then." Peter told him as Tony walked away. Strange frowned.

"This ship is self-correcting its course. Thing's on autopilot." Tony informed you all; you crossed to stand next to him at the front of the ship.

"Can we control it? Fly us home?" Strange asked, joining the two of you. Tony didn't reply, his eyes glazing over.

"Stark?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you get us home?"

"Yeah I heard you. I'm thinking... I'm not so sure we should." Tony said slowly.

"Under no circumstances can we bring the Time stone to Thanos. I don't think you quite understand what's at stake here." Strange stressed.

"No. It's you who doesn't understand that Thanos has been inside my head for six years since he sent an army to New York and now he's back! And I don't know what to do. So I'm not so sure if it's a better plan to fight him on our turf or his but you saw what they did, what they can do. At least on his turf, he's not expecting it. So I say we take the fight to him, doctor. Do you concur?"

You stared at Tony in concern and sympathy. He was really panicking. You weren't sure why you weren't. Maybe you were in shock. Strange seemed to be considering what Tony had said.

"Alright Stark. We go to him. But you have to understand... if it comes to saving you or either of those two or the Time stone I will not hesitate to let any of you die. I can't, because the fate of the universe depends on it." Strange finally said, gesturing to you and Peter as he spoke.

"Nice. Good. Moral compass. We're straight." Tony said, before walking briskly over to Peter. When he was in front of him he tapped each of Peter's shoulders with the edge of his hand, dubbing him as though he was knighting him.

"Alright kid, you're an Avenger now."

Peter looked at Tony in disbelief, his expression utterly betraying the rollercoaster of emotions Tony's words had sent him on.

"You, come with me. We need to have a chat about that ring on your finger." Tony said, beckoning you over to him as he walked past Peter. Strange looked down at your hand in surprise.

"Congratulations." he said. Your windpipe seemed to just cease working every time you thought about Loki. You tried to thank Strange but couldn't get the words out, nodding empathically instead before following Tony past Peter, who watched you go.

Tony flew back up to the platform you'd been stood on with him and Peter earlier, and you teleported after him. He sat down heavily on the floor and patted the space beside him; you sat next to him.

"What an afternoon." he sighed, looking at his transponder which showed a black screen.

"Does Pep know you're up here?" you asked gently.

"Yeah."

He didn't elaborate.

"So," he finally said, holding his hand out towards you, palm up, "Let's see the damage."

"Damage?" you protested, giving him your hand with the ring on it. Tony didn't immediately respond, staring at the ring for a few seconds before nodding in... reluctance? Approval?

"Where have you been?" he asked, letting go of your hand. You shook your head.

"You go first. Why did the Avengers break up? Why are you and Steve not talking? Where are the others?"

Tony sighed.

"It's kinda a long story."

"I haven't got anywhere to be." you told him, even managing half a smile.

And so Tony told you everything. He'd been right, it was a long story, and not one you particularly enjoyed listening to. The fact that half of the team were literal fugitives was something that you couldn't wrap your head around.

"I would have been on your side." you told him, when he was finished. A badly disguised smile spread across his face at your words.

"I thought you might have been. Okay, your turn." he said. You spent a few seconds trying to work out how to put all that had happened since Sokovia into words.

"We were on Asgard. Loki got rid of Odin and took over the throne disguised as him."

Tony stared at you.

"Got rid of him?"

"He didn't kill him. He just stripped him of his powers and put him in an old peoples home in New York." you told him. Tony actually laughed.

"Odin was in a nursing home in New York. I wish Fury could hear this, he'd love it."

"Or not." you smiled.

"So you co-ruled Asgard for a bit. What next?" Tony asked, shaking his head disbelievingly.

"Thor found us, this was only about two days ago. We took him to find Odin on Midgard but he wasn't there, and then our wizard friend down there kidnapped Loki so Thor and I went to find him." you told him, gesturing down towards Strange, who was looking out of the window at space.

"He said he would take us to Odin if we took Loki straight back to Asgard, we found Odin, he died and then Thor and Loki's evil sister appeared and tried to kill us all."

"Whoa, back up." Tony said in shock.

"It all happened pretty quickly."

"How did Odin die?" he asked.

"He just kind of... dissolved into sparkles." you replied. Tony stopped asking questions after that. You described your journey to Asgard, then Sakaar, finding Bruce and the Quinjet, and then your journey back to Asgard, and the fight against Hela. Your escape, Asgard's destruction, and then Thanos.

"He tortured me. Loki gave him the stone." you said, your voice barely a whisper at this point in the story. Tony put his arm around you.

"Heimdall, he's kind of like the gatekeeper of Asgard, sent Bruce and I back to Midgard, and that's how we wound up at Strange's place. He's dead now too." you finished, resting your head heavily on Tony's shoulder, trying not to listen to the thoughts he was having.

"What was that about earlier? With our alien friend... you went sorta feral on him." Tony asked.

"He showed me... in my mind I mean... Loki. Dead. Thanos had killed him." you told him. He didn't immediately respond.

"So... is he really...?"

"I don't know. I don't see how he couldn't be, but... I also haven't felt anything."

Tony shifted slightly.

"You know, kid... I know people say that when someone close to you dies you can feel it... but I don't think that's entirely true."

You exhaled through your mouth, smiling: a laugh, if a morbid one.

"No, it's different. Loki and I are soulmates; when I died and you brought me back Loki said he knew I was dead." you explained.

"I remember Thor saying something ages ago about soulmates. I thought that was just some Asgardian bullcrap." Tony said.

"So did I." you smiled.

"What about Mr. Thor? Is he alive?" Peter asked, swinging up over the edge of the platform, underneath which he'd presumably been hanging to eavesdrop.

"Peter!" Tony said accusingly, "You shouldn't eavesdrop."

"There's nothing else to do." he complained. Tony gave you a squeeze and then removed his arm from around you, standing up awkwardly in his suit.

"You want to save your strength. Who knows what we might be up against, and when." he told Peter.

"I'll be down there if you need me."

With that he flew down towards Strange. Peter sat down opposite and watched you for a while.

"Can I see your magic?"

You smiled, summoning the purple mist to your hands and watching it swirl above and around your hands.

"Whoa." Peter breathed, leaning forward to get a closer look.

"Was teleporting up to an alien spaceship whilst free falling five hundred feet above the ground not a good enough look for you?" you teased. He looked worried for a second, and then his face broke out into a grin when he saw you were smiling.

"I'm kinda a science nerd, so this stuff is really cool for me." he told you.

"You wanna teleport again?"

"Uh, yeah!"