_______________________________________

Alex up with everything that had happened since she was gone, his main focus being Pepper.

"So, let me get this straight, you had a dream she got pregnant?"

"Yep. So vivid."

"My dreams are vivid too, but never involving children. You should look that up. Maybe it means something."

"I think it means it's time to have a mini genius, billionaire, playboy--"

Tony's words were cut off by a familiar orange portal opening up in front of them.

"Tony Stark, I'm Doctor Stephen Strange. I need you to come with me."

Dr. Strange then looked to Alex.

"Alex, I'm sorry about the turn of events that have happened regarding Loki."

"Thanks, Dumbledore. Means a lot." She deadpanned.

"I'm sorry, are you giving out tickets or something? Alex, you know this guy?" Tony was beyond confused.

"Sort of. Not really. He can see time, though."

"Time is a construct, I cannot 'see'--"

"Not now." Alex held her hand up.

While Dr. Strange was absolutely appalled she had just spoken to him this way, he sighed and simply shook his head.

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

"Who's we?" Tony rose an eyebrow.

Suddenly, Bruce emerged from behind Dr. Strange in the portal. Once his eyes set on Alex, he hastily embraced her.

"How the hell did you get off that ship?" He asked.

"I have my ways."

"Hey, Tony." Bruce spoke.

"You okay?" Tony asked before being caught off guard by Bruce hugging him.

They stepped through the portal, and they were back in the building Alex remembered from before Sakaar. They met an accomplice of Dr. Strange, who went by the name 'Wong'. The place was torn up, from the stairs being broken in half to battered books lying around.

"Love what you've done with Hogwarts." Alex said to Dr. Strange, who rolled his eyes.

Tony sat on what might be the ugliest couch in New York while Wong spoke:

"From the dawn of the universe, there was nothing. Then, boom! The Big Bang sent six elemental crystals, hurdling across the virgin universe. These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence."

Above them, much like Frigga had once shown Alex, five out of six Infinity Stones hovered above them.

One by one, Dr. Strange listed them: the blue was Space, red was Reality, purple was Power, orange was Soul, yellow was Mind, and lastly, green was Time.

Alex looked down at her chest, where she still wore her necklace. Had it been a regular necklace, she would've chucked it into the Hudson River as you would with any gift of an ex-boyfriend. However, ex-boyfriend had gifted her one of the Infinity Stones.

"You need to protect that with your life." Dr. Strange said out loud, as if reading her mind.

She looked at him, shocked. "How did you know I had this? Did you see when Loki gave it to me because you see everything in time?"

He looked at her like she was a child. "That, and, I can see it glowing through the fabric of your shirt."

"You have a fucking Infinity Stone?" Tony gaped. "Where was this in your recap this morning?"

"I thought it'd be better that not many people know."

"I am not 'people'. I am Tony Stark."

"You must be incredibly powerful to be able to waltz around with one around your neck." Dr. Strange spoke. "They are powered by energy, as energy is one of the fundamental parts of life. So, naturally, Alex, you yourself can power them."

"That is power that should not be held in my hands." She deadpanned.

"Sometimes, I think you're exactly like me." Tony thought aloud. "Now, not one of those times."

"That stone around your neck can never reach his hands."

"Who's 'he' again?" Tony scratched his head.

"Thanos. 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!" Bruce chimed in.

Tony paced around the room. "That was part of Alex's recap. What's our timeline?"

"No telling." Dr. Strange replied. "He has the Power Stone, already making him the strongest creature in the whole universe. If he gets his hands on all six, Tony..."

"He can destroy life on a scale hither to undreamt of." Dr. Strange added.

Tony leaned on a random object casually. "Did you seriously just say 'hither to undreamt of'?"

"Are you seriously leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos?"

"Are we seriously having this conversation right now?" Alex rolled her eyes.

"If Thanos needs all six, why don't we just stick this one down the garbage disposal?"

Dr. Strange sighed. "No can do."

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

"Things change."

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

"And still conversely, it may also be his best change against us."

"Well, if we don't do our jobs."

Alex rolled her eyes once again at the ego-competition occurring before her eyes.

"What is your job exactly, besides making balloon animals?" Tony quipped.

"Protecting your reality, douchebag."

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

"Yeah, that's the thing." Tony rubbed his forehead.

"What do you mean?"

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

"What?! Tony, you lost another super bot?!"

Tony shook his head. " I didn't lose him. He's more than that. He's evolving."

"Who could find Vision, then?"

Tony paused. "Shit. Probably Steve Rogers."

Alex grinned. She knew Tony would be reluctant to involve Steve, but she also knew that Tony wasn't an idiot. They needed Captain America, no—scratch that, they needed the whole team. And Alex, for one, was ecstatic.

"We're getting the band back together, aren't we?"

"Call him." Bruce ordered.

"The Avengers broke up, Banner. We're toast."

"Broke up? Like the Beatles?"

"Well, it's time for a reunion." Alex urged.

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

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

Tony hesitated, sighing. He then pulled out the ancient flip phone Steve had mailed him. Alex's heart soared at the fact Tony had it on his person, which meant that he was always prepared to call his old friend.

Tony couldn't even complete the call before distant sounds were heard.

"Doc, you wouldn't happen to be moving your hair, would you?" Tony asked.

"Not at the moment, no."

The rumbling continued, and muffled screams were heard from outside. Tony bravely opened the door, and chaos was on the other side. People ran, screaming, and wind whipped through the streets.

Tony, Strange, and Alex exited the building. They walked in the direction from which people were running to investigate. Alex looked up to see that a gigantic, circular spaceship had landed on the streets of New York.

From the ship descended the same disgusting creatures that Alex had encountered in the ship with Thanos.

"Oh look, Pleekley is back." Alex rolled her eyes.

"Hear me, and rejoice. You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos. Be thankful, that your meaningless lives are now contributing to--"

"I'm sorry, Earth is closed today. You better pack it up and get outta here." Tony cut him off.

"Stonekeeper." The alien looked to Strange. "Does this chattering animal speak for you?"

Strange stepped up, spinning his orange light. "Certainly not. I speak for myself. But you're trespassing in this city and on this planet."

"It means get lost, Squidward!"

"Man, why didn't I think of that one? That one's better."

"King of nicknames. You learned from me."

"My name is Ebony Maw--he exhausts me. Bring me both stones." Maw spoke to the larger alien, his eyes boring into Alex.

"Had a feeling, so I packed extra." Tony spoke, handing Alex a small cube. "Click it."

She obliged, the cube engulfing her as it dressed her in a suit. It was new, sleeker, and definitely more comfortable.

"Shit, Tony, it's beautiful." She looked over herself.

"Thank me later. Banner, let's go."

"We've sort of been havin' a thing." Bruce muttered after failing to release the Hulk.

"There's no time for a thing. That's a thing right here."

Alex held up her hand, freezing the giant creature that approached them. She looked at Bruce expectedly, but he still failed to turn into his alter-ego.

"That won't hold, Tony." Alex called.

Tony was impatient. "Dude, you're embarrassing me in front of the wizards."

"I'm sorry--either I can't or he won't--"

"It's okay. Stand down," Tony assured, nodding to Strange.

Strange opened a portal, sending Bruce back to the small park where they had been picked up. They all turned back to the creature, who had unstuck from his energy hold. Tony sent a car flying at Maw, who simply sliced it in half.

"Gotta get both the stones out of here, now."

"It stays with me." Strange retorted. "Alex, stay nearby."

"Kick some ass, Sparky." Tony flew off to the park after Bruce.

Alex stood tall next to Dr. Strange and Wong. She clenched her fists as Maw stared back at them. He lifted numerous bricks, switching them into pointy objects. He sent them flying at the trio, but Strange opened a portal for them to enter and exit back at Maw. He used a car to protect himself, but one still hit his head.

Wong was knocked unconscious by Maw, who advanced on Strange. Unsuccessfully using his powers, Strange was knocked into a wall, buried under bricks.

"Your powers are quaint." Maw tightened him into the space. "You must be popular with children."

Ebony Maw tried to grab the amulet holding the stone but jerked back when it burned his hand.

"It's a simple spell, but quite unbreakable."

"Then I'll take it off your corpse."

Maw flung Strange back, who landed on the ground with a thud.

"Alright, Pleekley, show's over." Alex lunged at him, landing on his back and dragging him to the ground. She drained him of some of his energy, but he still had enough power to bound Strange's hands with flying rope.

Strange fell unconscious as the rope tightened around his neck, but his clock flew him away. Maw focused on the necklace that Alex wore, and she caught him staring.

"Eyes up here."

She roundhouse kicked him square in the jaw, dodging his punch. He picked up a car using his levitation, sending it flying toward her. She froze it midair, and quickly moved out of the way before it unstuck.

She sent Maw a wink, before using the stone to teleport over to Tony. Absolute chaos was occurring where he was in the park as he fought the bigger of the two aliens.

"Hey! Nice to see you again!" Spider-Man chirped.

"Don't you have school?" Alex jabbed, but with a smile.

"Little help here!" Tony called.

Tony and Alex took turns provoking the giant alien, and Alex did her best to keep him frozen. Strange's body flew past them, him still rendered unconscious.

"Kid, that's the wizard. Get on it."

"On it!"

Peter zoomed away, his webs allowing him to gracefully swing through the air. Once the giant alien became unstuck, he had Tony trapped under a piece of metal. He ran toward Tony, to which Alex ran in front of him.

Without her doing, the suit suddenly projected a holographic shield in front of the two of them. It wasn't needed, however, since Wong had opened a portal for the giant alien to fall through.

Tony stood up, helping Alex who was in shock.

"Energy shield. Part of the new suit. Ask F.R.I.D.A.Y. back at the compound about the suit, okay? I gotta go after the kid up there. You need to stay back and contact Steve. Find Vision, at whatever cost. See you soon."

"Wait, Tony--"

He flew up, and was gone.

____________________________________________

𝚍𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐

𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 :') 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚟𝚘𝚝𝚎 & 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝