Tony and Pepper have taken to running, a habit they began after getting engaged — the second time, anyway.

Grace was, of course, ecstatic when Tony and Pepper told her they were engaged, but a few days later, she let it slip that she was disappointed that she didn't get to be there.

Seeing as Tony himself thought the press conference wasn't as romantic or special as his proposal to Pepper should've been, he decided to do it again — for real.

They were eating dinner together, the four of them — Tony, Pepper, Grace, and Happy. It was spaghetti. Tony and Pepper made it from scratch, and made a whole mess of the kitchen while they were at it, though that might've been mostly Tony.

He'd been waiting all evening for the perfect moment, and finally decided there was no time like the present when he noticed some sauce on the corner of Pepper's mouth. He grabbed his napkin and reached over — she was sitting on his right side — to wipe it off.

"What are you-?" she started, mouth half full. "Tony, I can wipe my own mouth."

She laughed a little as she grabbed the napkin — and Tony's hand in the process — with her left hand. Tony caught it before she could put the napkin back down, and he quickly took the engagement ring off her finger.

"Tony, what on Earth are you doing?" she asked, trying to take the ring back. Happy and Grace looked on, both confused and amused. But then Grace understood, just a few moments before Tony put the ring on the table and pushed his chair back.

"Well, I-I just think we need a... a do-over, you know? Something better. Something more personal," he said, getting down on one knee.

"Tony-" Pepper gasped, cutting herself off. Tears of happiness began to prick her eyes, and, across the table, Grace and Happy were already crying.

"Virginia Potts," Tony started, then shaking his head a little. "Oh, wow, that was weird. I don't think I've called you Virginia since the first day I met you. Or did I even then? Have I ever called you Virginia?"

"Dad," Grace said through tears and quiet laughter.

Tony nodded and looked back at Pepper. "Right. Right..." After a silent moment, he sighed. "Now that I'm thinking about it, I really should've written something down. I don't- I don't even know what to say. I mean, what can I say? Nothing you haven't already heard-"

"You can at least think of something," Pepper cut in, joking softly. "I mean, really, Tony..."

Tony laughed quietly, looking down, then back up at her. He started to speak again, but stopped to take her hands first. Finally, he took a deep breath, and said, "Pepper... You have no idea how much... how much you mean to me. Since the beginning you have been there for me, you've been there for the most important person in my life, especially when I couldn't be. You keep me sane. You keep her safe. Even from me. But it's not just that — and that's important. That's-That's incredibly important... But it's you. It's your smile. And-And your laugh. And the angry look you give me when I screw up... It's your heart and your bravery and your determination and, honestly, your ability to put up with me everyday. Very few people can do that."

Pepper laughed through her tears, once and breathlessly. "I know."

Tony smiled. "The point is, Pep... It's you. It's always been you." He grabbed the ring back off the table and took another deep breath, even though he already knew her answer because he wouldn't blame her for changing her mind. "So, I'm asking you... will you marry me?"

She couldn't speak, so she nodded, mouthed the word, 'Yes,' and a smile broke out on Tony's face as he put the ring on her finger and kissed her, then chiding Happy not to shake the camera so much as he took pictures and cried. Grace was a mess but a happy one, and she came around the table and hugged her parents, and then Happy couldn't take it anymore and hugged them too. Peter and Harley heard all about it later, though separately, but Grace didn't mind telling the story twice.

And so, now that they have a wedding coming up, Tony and Pepper are running, partly to stay in shape with all the cake and food they're tasting and partly to de-stress. They had been running around the compound grounds for a while, but they miss the city and want a change of scene, and Rhodey is always at the compound with Grace anyway. So, they've taken to running in the heart of New York, and Happy usually accompanies them, riding around the area in a golf cart to prevent people from taking pictures, though he always has to stop and get Grace food from her favorite places before they leave.

Meanwhile, Tony is telling Pepper about a dream he had, trying to explain something he'd said that morning, something he'd mentioned to Grace. But he's so out of breath and saying all the wrong words, and she isn't getting it. "Slow down, slow down," he says, slowing to a walk. "I'll spell it out for you-"

"You're totally rambling," Pepper says, walking next to him.

"No, I'm not-"

"You lost me."

"Look, you know how you're having a dream, and in the dream you gotta pee?" Tony asks.

Pepper nods, following him thus far. "Yeah."

"Okay. And then you're like, 'Oh, shoot, there's no bathroom, what am I gonna do? Oh! Someone's watching-'"

"Right-"

"'-I'm gonna go in my pants.'"

"And then you wake up, and in real life you actually have to pee," Pepper finishes.

Tony nods, pointing at her as she's finally understanding. "Yes."

"Yeah. Everybody has that."

Tony turns, facing her as he walks backwards. "Right! That's the point I'm trying to make." He stops, forcing Pepper to stop with him as he gets to the point. "Apropos of that, last night, I dreamt we had a kid — and I mean, like, a baby, like a baby, not Grace. And it was so real. We named him after your eccentric uncle. Uh, what was his name, again?"

Pepper drops her head slowly. "Right..."

Tony, after thinking for a moment, finally remembers. "Morgan! Morgan."

Pepper sighs. "So you woke up-"

"Naturally."

"-and thought that we were..."

"Expecting," Tony finishes. "A baby."

"Yeah."

Tony becomes hopeful. "Yes?"

Pepper shakes her head. "No."

"I had a dream about it. It was so real," Tony repeats.

Pepper laughs at him a little, stepping forward and resting her hands on his shoulders. "And so is our daughter," she says. "I mean, she's about to graduate, and we have the whole wedding coming up, and that's already gotta be a lot for her... Besides, if you wanted to have another kid now..." she reaches down and unzips Tony's jacket, revealing the arc reactor on his chest "... you wouldn't have done that."

Tony nods a little, rests a finger on it with a 'clink.' "You know what, I'm glad you brought this up, 'cause it's nothing. It's just a housing unit for nano particles-"

"You're not helping your case, okay-"

"No, no, it's an attachment, it's not a-"

"You don't need that," Pepper says, quieting him for a moment.

Then, he says, "I know. I had the surgery. I'm just trying to protect us. And the future us-es, and that's it. Just in case there's a monster in the closet, instead of, you know-"

"Shirts?" Pepper finishes.

Tony smiles. "You know me so well." Pepper sighs, but he keeps going. "You finish all my sentences."

"You should have shirts in your closet," Pepper says.

"Yeah..." Tony trails off, thinking. "You know what there should be? No more surprises. We're gonna have a nice dinner tonight. Show off this Harry Win-stone-" he holds up Pepper's left hand, referencing her ring "-and we should have no more surprises. Ever. I should promise you."

Pepper smiles. "Yes."

"I will," Tony says, kissing her, but only for a few seconds. They're interrupted by a surprise.

A strange, oddly dressed man steps out of a ring of sparks, all blue robes and red cape, a beard not unlike Tony's. "Tony Stark," he says, then giving his very fitting name. "I'm Doctor Stephen Strange. I need you to come with me." It's only then that he notices Pepper, despite her hand still on Tony's shoulder and Tony's hand still on hers. "Oh, uh, congratulations on the wedding, by the way," Strange adds.

Tony, in utter shock, the same as his fiancée, asks, "I'm sorry, you giving out tickets to something?"

"We need your help," Strange says gravely. "Look, it's not overselling it to say that the fate of the universe is at stake."

Tony raises a brow. "And who's 'we?'"

And then Bruce Banner steps out of the ring of sparks. "Hey, Tony."

Tony looks at him in surprise. "Bruce."

He nods at Pepper as he walks forward. "Pepper."

"Hi," she says softly, not sure what to think now.

Bruce is visibly in distress, extremely overwhelmed, and Tony notices. "You okay?" he asks just as Bruce hugs him. Tony looks at Pepper, hugging Bruce all the same, then he looks back at Strange, who nods at him.

He looks back at Pepper. "I... This is serious, Pep."

"Yeah..." she says.

"I need you to go back home, stay with Grace and Happy and Rhodey, just st-stay safe. I'll call when I can, okay?"

Pepper nods. "Yeah, okay. O-Okay."

Bruce lets go finally, and then Tony kisses Pepper. They part ways, Pepper going to find Happy and Tony following Strange and Bruce into the ring of sparks, which is a door to another place.

A strange place.

~~~~

It all looks old — not like ancient old, but dated. Archaic.

Tony sits on a floral couch as Strange's friend Wong explains everything, starting from the beginning — the very beginning. "At the dawn of our universe, there was no Earth. And then..." There's a flash of light, the visuals floating in the middle of the room following Wong's movements. "Six elemental crystals hurtled across the universe. These Infinity Stones each contain the power of an essential aspect of existence."

Five of them spin slowly in a circle near his hand, then floating out of their formation, individually lighting up and stopping in front of him as Strange names them in turn. The blue one is first. "Space." Then, red. "Reality." Purple. "Power." Orange. "Soul." Yellow, a familiar one. "Mind." He turns to Tony. "And Time." He opens the eye-like necklace hanging from his neck with magic, revealing a green stone.

Tony looks at Bruce, referring to the half-incoherent ramblings that he'd said before Wong showed up and began the story. "Tell me his name again."

Bruce walks towards him, brows furrowing in worry. "Thanos." Tony stands to meet his friend. "He's a plague, Tony. He invades planets. He takes what he wants. He wipes out half the population. He sent Loki. The attack on New York. That's him."

Tony's heart seizes at those words, then it sinks. In a hoarse whisper, he says, "This is it." He looks at the rest of the group as he turns away. "What's our timeline?"

Bruce answers him. "No telling. He has the Power and Space Stones; that already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe. If he gets his hands on all six Stones, Tony..."

"He can destroy life on a scale hitherto undreamt of," Strange finishes, standing next to Tony when the latter stops next to the railing of the wide staircase, which has a gaping hole in the middle of it, caused by Hulk, from what Tony understands.

Tony turns to the large, bowl-type-thing on an intricate stand, grabbing it with one hand and using the other to grab his ankle, pulling his leg up to stretch it. "Did you seriously just say 'hitherto undreamt of?'" he asks in disbelief.

Strange raises a brow. "Are you seriously leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos?"

"Is that what this is-?" Tony asks, just before hearing a flap as if a piece of fabric was pulled, and something hits his hand — the one holding his ankle.

Tony turns, seeing Strange's cape settling back to its motionless, hanging state on the bottom right corner. He looks Strange square in the eye. "I'm going to allow that." After a moment, he looks back at the group. "If Thanos needs all six, why don't we just stick this one down the garbage disposal?" He points at the Time Stone around Strange's neck.

Strange shakes his head. "No can do."

"We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone with our lives," Wong explains.

Tony shrugs. "And I swore off dairy, but then Ben & Jerry's named a flavor after me, so..."

"Stark Raving Hazelnuts," Strange says.

"It's not bad."

Strange winces. "A bit chalky."

"A Hunk of Hulka Burning Fudge is our favorite," Wong adds.

Bruce looks at him, confused. "That's a thing?"

"Whatever," Tony says, looking at Strange. "Point is: things change."

"Our oath to protect the Time Stone cannot change. This Stone may be the best chance we have against Thanos," Strange argues.

"Yeah, so conversely, it may also be his best chance against us."

Strange doesn't miss a beat. "Well, if we don't do our jobs."

Tony squints. "And what is your job exactly, besides making balloon animals?"

Strange nearly laughs. "Protecting your reality, you glorified soup can."

Bruce steps in before it can get worse. "Okay, guys, could we table this discussion right now? The fact is that we have this Stone. We know where it is. Vision is out there somewhere with the Mind Stone, and we have to find him now."

Tony grimaces. "Yeah, that's the... thing."

Bruce's brows furrow. "What do you mean?"

"Two weeks ago, Vision turned off his transponder," Tony replies. "He's offline."

"What?"

"Yeah."

"Tony, you lost another super bot?"

Tony walks through the group as he responds. "I didn't lose him. He's more than that. He's evolving."

"Who could find Vision, then?" Strange asks.

Tony sighs. "I mean, before he left, he and Grace were close. Sibling bond, you know..."

"Tony," Bruce says, knowing that Grace cannot go get Vision — especially not the Grace he remembers.

Tony is quiet for a long moment before, also knowing that Grace can't do anything, he finally mutters, "Crap." He turns, facing Strange, Wong, and Bruce again. "Probably Steve Rogers."

Strange snorts mirthlessly. "Oh, great."

"Maybe," Tony adds. "But..."

Bruce stands there, blissfully ignorant. "Call him."

Tony shakes his head. "It's not that easy... Man, we haven't caught up in a spell, have we?"

"No," Bruce says.

Tony sighs. "The Avengers broke up. We're toast."

"Broke up?" Bruce says. "What, like a band? Like-Like The Beatles?"

"Cap and I fell out hard. We're not on speaking terms."

"Tony, listen to me." Bruce steps closer. "Thor's gone. Thanos is coming. It doesn't matter who you're talking to or not."

Tony thinks, quiet again, then turns away, pulling out the flip phone he carries with him everywhere now, going to call the only number on it. But he stops.

Something is wrong.

He looks around, noticing tremors in the room, hearing the creak of old wood, though faintly. He looks at Strange, who seems to have noticed it too. The two strands of hair falling over his forehead are blowing back and forth.

"Say, Doc," Tony says slowly, "you wouldn't happen to be moving your hair, would you?"

Strange's voice holds a controlled concern. "Not at the moment, no."

Through the broken, round window Hulk crashed through, they can see papers and other small debris being blown around. The creaking continues, louder. There's a rumbling. Through the windows in the front door, Tony can see people running. As he approaches them, he hears screaming, the noise reaching a crescendo when he opens the door. Cars are rushing in one direction, people run past on the sidewalk. Tony looks around frantically, trying to find the source of the terror.

He moves in the direction opposite of the people, and then a woman in front of him falls to the ground. He reaches down and helps her up. "You okay?" A car crashes into the pole next to them and she screams, running away. Tony looks back at Bruce, Wong, and Strange, pointing to the man in the car. "Help him!"

"Banner!" Wong shouts.

"Wong, look alive!" Strange says.

"Go! We got it!" Bruce shouts. Tony barely heard Wong and Strange.

He puts on his glasses. "Friday, what am I looking at?"

"Not sure. I'm working on it," Friday replies.

Tony turns back to Strange. "Hey! You might wanna put that Time Stone in your back pocket, Doc!"

Strange walks towards Tony, orange sparks circling his arms, which he moves in practiced, controlled movements. Fighting movements. "Might wanna use it."

They round the corner as larger debris fly past, people still scrambling to get away from what Tony and Strange can now finally see. Dust rolls through the street like smoke as it glides through slowly.

A ship. A giant space ship.