stark, peter parker

xv. sorry, it takes a bit for me to process so much stupid at once

the avengers sat at a table in a room full of holographic displays, each showcasing the six infinity stones. tony, steve, and bruce, the leaders of planning the mission, stood up front.

"okay, so the 'how' works." steve said, now that the group knew they could time travel successfully. "now we gotta figure out the when and the where. almost all of us has had an encounter with at least one of the six infinity stones."

tony turned to him. "well, i'd substitute the word 'encounter' for 'damn well near been killed by' one of the six infinity stones."

scott shook his head. "i haven't, i don't even know what the hell you're all talking about"

"regardless," bruce said, "we only have enough pym particles for one round trip each, and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history."

"our history." tony specified. "so, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in."

kodie nodded in understanding. "which means we have to pick our targets."

her father pointed a pin at her. "correct."

"let's start with the aether." steve said. "thor, what do you know?"

the group all looked over to thor, who was man spreading on a chair, sunglasses on. it was impossible to tell whether he was awake or asleep, but he didn't move.

"is he asleep?" hazel asked.

"no," rhodey replied, "i'm pretty sure he's dead."

thor soon woke up, walking to the front of the room to discuss his connection to the reality stone. "where to start?" he wondered. "umm... the aether, first, is not a stone, someone called it a stone before." he pointed to the group. "it's more of a... an angry sludge thing, so... someones gonna need to amend that."

he cleared his throat. "here's an interesting story though," he continued, "many years ago... my grandfather had to hide the stones from the dark elves..." he wiggled his fingers to accentuate his point. "ooooh, scary beings. so jane," he turned as an image of jane foster appeared on the screen, "oh, there she is. that's jane... she's... an old flame of mine... she... she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time..." he acted it out with his hands, "and then the aether stuck itself inside her... and, she became very, very sick,"

"so i had to take her to asgard, which is where i'm from. and we had to try and fix her. we were dating at the time, you see. i got to introduce her to my mother... who's dead," he trailed off, beginning to look on the verge of tears, "and oh you know, jane and i aren't even dating anymore, these things happen though you know, nothing last forever," tony began to attempt to push him back into his chair, but he held up a hand. "i'm not done yet, the only thing permanent in life is impermanence."

dakota furrowed her brows, trying to wrap her head around all that thor just said. "have you been listening to anything i've been saying?" thor asked her.

she shrugged, a confused expression on her face. "yeah, sorry, it takes a bit for me to process so much stupid all at once." she explained.

thor reluctantly sat down in his chair, and tony nodded at him. "awesome. eggs? breakfast?"

thor smiled. "i'd like a bloody mary, thank you."

the group got mcdonalds for breakfast, naturally, and dakota sat cross-legged in her chair, eating while rocket paced across the table, sharing his story about the power stone. "quill said he stole the power stone from morag." he began.

"is that a person?" scott asked.

"morag's a planet." rocket explained. "quill was a person."

scott gasped. "a planet? like in outer space?"

rocket chuckled. "oh, look. it's like a little puppy, all happy and everything." he began to imitate talking to a puppy. "do you wanna go to space? you wanna go to space, puppy? i'll get you to space."

nebula took the stage, looking at the group. "thanos found the soul stone on vormir."

natasha looked up from her notebook, where she had been taking notes. "what is vormir?"

"a dominion of death," nebula answered, "at the very center of celestial existence. it's where... thanos murdered my sister."

an extremely awkward silence fell on the group, and dakota looked around the table. "not it." she said, putting a finger to her nose as if they were playing nose goes. scott noticed her action, and his finger immediately flew to his own nose.

⎊‎⎊‎⎊

a few hours later, only a few of the avengers were still awake. tony, natasha, and dakota lay on the table, surrounded by papers, while bruce lay on the floor next to them. the time stone popped up on the holographic display, and natasha looked at it. "that time stone guy..." she began.

"doctor strange." bruce reminded her.

she nodded. "yeah, what kind of doctor was he?"

tony shrugged. "ear-nose-throat meets rabbit from a hat."

"nice place in the village, though." bruce said.

"yeah. sullivan street." tony nodded.

bruce shook his head. "hmm... bleecker."

natasha sat up slightly. "wait, he lived in new york?"

"no." dakota shook her head. "he lived in toronto. were you even paying attention?"

the woman ignored her comment, looking over at the group. "guys, if you pick the right year, there are three stones in new york."

bruce sat up in surprise, his jaw dropped. "shut the front door."