The sun had set before the trio was able to depart for space travel. Thus, Tony made the executive decision to have Thor, Loki and Naomi stay the night and leave in the morning, much like they had on Asgard. Peter too, had been set up in a room by Tony because it was 'too late to swing around on silly string.' he would kill her if she ever told him, but Naomi definitely sensed his dad side poking through. It was already present in his humor.

Tony and Naomi stayed a bit later in order to wrap up plans and supplies for her second trip off planet Earth. Thor and Loki had been lodged in a room together, monitored by SHIELD agents and all kinds of technology that definitely didn't exist in Naomi's dimension. Presently, the co-leaders of the war against infinity war strode down an empty facility hallway, lit by bright blue strips of light along the ceiling.

"Hey- did you tell Peter about Infinity War? We kinda got sidetracked earlier." Naomi commented, breaking the comfortable silence the two had previously held. The sidetracking was almost completely Naomi's fault, but she failed mention that. Watching Peter's over-enthusiastic reaction to literally everything was a much welcomed break from the heavy subject matter that followed the Swanson.

"Nah. I know you said he was involved in the fighting-" Tony paused for a moment, thinking. "But things are different now. Can't we win without the kid?" His eyes were fixed forward as he spoke, the only thing betraying him was his voice. Underlying his worse was a sense of resigned hope, knowing what her answer would be but praying for the opposite. Naomi's eyes drifted down to her shoes- also provided by SHIELD- and clasped her hands behind her back. She was sure that they weren't even going anywhere anymore, just wandering down the hallways with no regard for how much sleep they would get later.

"I don't know." Naomi admitted. In a dimension where her only advantage was her knowledge, she was at her weakest when elements that she had once regarded as fact in the movies shifted. With so much preparation, she had absolutely no idea whether it was the right thing to do bringing Peter into the fight. "I wanna give him the choice, but we both know what he would say." Naomi added somberly. Beside her, Tony nodded. Peter would always join the fight- he wouldn't be Peter Parker if he didn't constantly get into trouble.

"He's just a kid." Tony muttered under his breath.

"I know." Naomi said. They walked in silence for a moment, randomly choosing a direction whenever the path forked, avoiding other SHIELD agents as they went. neither of them knew what time it was, and they didn't care.

"Did he die?" Tony asked suddenly, his voice quiet. Naomi's head jerked around to face him, and she halted in her tracks. Realizing that her reaction could give her away, she smoothed her facial features before he stopped as well, and turned to face her.

"I thought you didn't want to know?" She played it off, transferring her shock at his question to his original answer. Tony didn't want to know the casualty list, and Naomi had given a thousand thanks because of it. She didn't know how to look him in the eye and tell him all that he had lost.

Tony slid his hands into his pockets as he stared at her, watching for her reaction, searching for an answer. "I didn't. But now I need to." It was painstaking how tired the man was, mentally exhausted and yet resigned to fight the largest battle of his life in the near future. She softened as she took him in, his somber and serious mood affecting her own.

"He didn't die in the fight." She decided. It felt like a nasty lie not to tell Tony the entirety of the truth- but Naomi had a horrible sense that it would come out soon anyway. Tony was too smart for his own good, and even at her positive answer his face hardened.

"Did he die?" He repeated. Tony's voice did not betray him this time- it was as stern and stony as his expression. It was his eyes- they swam in a vulnerable fear that Naomi hadn't seen in him before. She had known how much Tony Stark cared for his friends- his family- but seeing it in person almost brought her to her knees. It was humbling in a way, to see just how much a person could care for others. Telling him about Peter's death was an impossible task.

"Not... not permanently."

Tony sucked in a breath, despite having prepared himself for the answer. It didn't matter to him that Naomi said Peter would return- what mattered was that in some other dimension, other timeline, Tony had failed to protect him. He stumbled back a few paces before Naomi rushed closer, desperate to right the wrong.

"It wasn't your fault! The snap- it, it was random!" She pleaded, hugging her arms to her chest as she searched his eyes. They met hers but he didn't focus on her- his mind was filled only with the knowledge of the 17 year old's prophesied demise. "Tony it wasn't your fault." Naomi grabbed his shoulders, steadying him as he finally focused onto her. Several seconds passed where they simply stood there, each of their inner thoughts unknowable to the other.

Unable to wait for Tony to respond, Naomi took a chance and pulled the Iron Man into a hug, noticing for the first time that she was shivering slightly. The hallway wasn't cold or drafty, but somehow she still shook- and was dimly aware of a wetness in her eyes. Tony didn't respond as she clutched him, her head hunched over his shoulder, obscuring her quivering lips and clenched eyelids. After eons, he retuned the hug, instinctually patting her on the back as he felt her shake. Tony himself was unnaturally still, barely aware of his own breathing.

"My kid died."

It was a statement- incontestable and shattering. It was a realization that no parent should ever come to, and Naomi cursed herself for ever telling him.

"I'm sorry." She pressed her forehead onto his shoulder, stilling in the slight comfort of his fatherly embrace.

"Why?" Tony's question almost came out as a laugh, breathy and disoriented after the tragic news. "You couldn't stop it." The second part of Tony's statement hung in the air- that he couldn't stop it either. Neither of them could've stopped it- then. This time, it was different, and Naomi was already committed to stopping Peter's, and everyone else's deaths.

"We can now." She said, and still hugging in the hallway, they both knew they had no other choice.