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Saturday 6th August 2016
Pepper called Tony from the lab around 11:15am the following day, leaving Peter on his own. He instructed FRIDAY to inform him if Peter made a move to leave. The kid was curious enough to want to know why Tony had been called away.
He found Pepper sitting in their private common area of the Compound with Natasha and Carol Danvers.
"Finally got free," said Natasha. "Before we start, Fury knows about us being from the future, as does Carol. It was the only way to convince them."
Taken back by the admission, Tony stepped back. "I thought we weren't telling anyone."
"We aren't. Fury and Carol have agreed to maintain our secrecy. It hadn't escaped Fury's notice that we had been working together more often. It raised his suspicions. But he won't tell anyone else. He understands why we need to keep our conditions a secret," explained Natasha carefully.
Tony joined Pepper on the couch. Carol was watching him. "I remember you."
"I don't remember you," stated Carol.
"You won't. But you won't forget me," grinned Tony.
Pepper slapped him on the arm. "You won't. It's impossible to forget him."
"We'll see." Carol leaned forward. "You have a request to make? A mission?"
Tony nodded, squeezing Pepper's hand. "We do."
"Tony, do you want to do the honours?" asked Natasha.
"Err… sure?" He'd been expecting Natasha to be the one to talk to Carol and ask her but he could understand Natasha's reasoning for wanting him there as well.
Carol focused her steely gaze upon him.
It made him slightly uncomfortable.
"We need to get in contact with a group who call themselves the 'Guardians of the Galaxy'. Have you heard of them?" enquired Tony.
"I have. I've never encountered them before but I've heard rumours about them. Why do you need them?" she responded.
"First, they have a ship which would be useful to move around the universe in. Secondly, they know a bit more about the Infinity Stones and where some of them currently are. We need to retrieve them before Thanos does."
"I could just kill Thanos for you." Carol's hands glowed in her lap.
"No." Natasha shook her head. "Killing Thanos right now is not the solution. He may be a tyrant or whatever he is out in the universe, but he has an army."
"I can take out ships with my hands alone." Carol was adamant and Tony couldn't blame her.
He'd watched her take out Thanos' command ship during the battle. She was fully capable of carrying out her threat.
"We were sent back for a reason," continued Natasha quietly. "I think if the answer was as simple as you going off to kill him, we wouldn't be here. We've been given this chance to do things again…Tony and I have to be the ones to face him."
"But if she could, Nat, why not?" asked Tony. If it was as simple as sending Carol off to kill Thanos…
Natasha caught his eye. "I do not believe it is that simple," she repeated.
Sadly, Tony didn't either. "You had trouble killing him before."
"I fought him?" Carol's head twitched slightly to the side. "And lost?"
"You did," admitted Tony. Natasha hadn't been there. "It was a close call though. He's after the Infinity Stones. We need to stop him from gathering them by finding them ourselves and destroying them. But we also need a ship to go out into space. Since the Guardians helped us before, we wanted to bring them in on this. We lack the technology to send a message out there or build something quickly to reach out to them. That's why we'd like you to find them for us and ask them to come to Earth."
Carol inclined her head. "I could do that."
"And you won't go after Thanos?" asked Natasha.
Carol sighed, her shoulder slumping slightly. "I won't. But only because it feels… right?... to leave him to you."
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Later that evening, after Carol had departed Earth to seek out the Guardians and Tony had driven Peter back home to Queens, Tony and Pepper lay in bed together.
Pepper's head rested on Tony's shoulder and his right arm was wrapped around her body, holding her close to him.
"It's going to start now, isn't it?" she asked quietly. "Now you've got Carol going out there…"
"It is Pep. But we both knew that."
"You've got to go out there, haven't you? Into the stars. If you want those stones…"
Tony's lips twitched. "I have no choice. I don't want to… but Nat and I can only rely on each other to get these stones destroyed. And we can't get into space on our own. I may be a genius and I have knowledge of the future, but we do not have the materials to ensure safe spaceflight from one end of the galaxy to the other. I could design something but it wouldn't be a simple or quick build." Tony pressed a kiss to her head. "I'd rather not go into space again. I have no choice though, I have to."
"New York?" she guessed.
Tony nodded. "And… Titan." He'd not informed Pepper of his other trip to space.
"I didn't want to tell you but I went to space again. I was chasing after one of the Infinity Stones, trying to prevent Thanos from getting it. It went straight to him. He would have gotten it anyway, regardless of any decision I'd have made. That was the place where Peter died in my arms. It was where I faced Thanos for the first time. I nearly died there, Pep. I was stabbed there. He wanted to kill me…"
"But he didn't," she said gently. "Tony? Wherever you need to go, I'm going to be there, whether it is in space or not."
"Pep… you can't," he pleaded.
"Tony, I promised you I would be there for you. I mean it. Every step of the way." She leaned up now, resting on her elbow.
"I don't want to see you die…" he whispered.
"You won't," Pepper reassured him. Leaning down to kiss him on the lips, Pepper ran a hand down his face.
"If you are going to die, Tony, I'm spending as much time with you as possible, whether it is on Earth or off it. I'm not leaving you." stated Pepper.
Tony turned his head away. "I don't deserve you."
Taking his chin, she turned his head back towards her. "You deserve me, Tony."
He shook his head. "No, I don't." He didn't want to believe it. How could he be so lucky?
"No matter what happens we'll face it together, the way we have faced everything for the last twenty years. It won't ever change. You were sent back here for a reason. You were told to trust me with the truth for a reason. Destiny bought us together, destiny will keep us together."
Tony pulled her closer. "You're right like you always are. I died but destiny sent me back. Whatever forces are at work they wanted me to trust you. And I will." He smiled, and pulled her closer, kissing her on the head.
It didn't take long for them to fall asleep snuggled in each other's arms.
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