fiction | Part of the journey is the end

6. What if... Killmonger rescued Tony Stark?

"Every journey has a beginning, but change one step along the way, and you could end up at a very different destination," said the Watcher.

"I'm getting the hang of that," Clint said. "The wrong kid gets kidnapped and suddenly Thanos is good."

Military convoys were driving down a road in Afghanistan, 2008.

Dread twisted in Tony's gut, panic surged through Rhodey, and the rest of the Avengers sent Tony concerned glances.

Peter's eyes widened. "Afghanistan in 2008? This is that day, isn't it?"

Tony was sick with fear and nodded. That day in Afghanistan had been the turning point in his life; nothing had been the same after that.

"What happened?" Nebula asked. Based on Tony and Rhodey's faces, what they were about to watch wasn't anything good. She just wanted to know whose spines she had to remove.

"I got kidnapped," Tony answered flatly.

Tony Stark was joking around with soldiers inside the van. "Yeah, peace. I love peace. I'd be out of a job with peace," Tony said.

Wanda scowled. Her parents were dead because of Stark bombs. Logically, she knew if Tony hadn't made those weapons, the American government would've just used someone else's weapons, but she had stared at a Stark bomb with her parents' corpses in the same room for two days. That sort of thing stuck.

Peter's brows shot up. "Are you serious?"

Tony cringed. He never wanted Peter to see the person he used to be. "I wasn't a good person back then, kid. I'd like to think I've gotten better and I've certainly had my eyes open since then, but I've said and done a lot of things I regret. A lot."

Peter had a troubled expression. He knew that Tony had been a weapons developer, which was obviously an awful thing to do, but he had only known him as Iron Man—the genius superhero who saved people—his entire life. And everyone deserved a second chance, right?

The convoys were attacked, soldiers were shot, and bombs were flying.

Rhodey's mouth went dry at seeing the chaos. He should've just ridden in the truck with Tony, and maybe if he had, Tony never would've gotten kidnapped.

Tony flinched. He didn't remember much after the missile exploded, but he remembered the chaos and fear before that very well.

Tony got out of the convoy. He hid behind a rock and tried to make a call, but a Stark Industries missile landed right next to him.

Tony squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't watch this again.

Wanda subconsciously shrank back in fear at seeing a Stark Industries missile, Peter was extremely pale, and panic seized Rhodey's brain.

The missile was about to explode until Erik Killmonger grabbed it and threw it away.

The room was silent while T'Challa's mouth fell open in astonishment. He couldn't help it, what did he just see?

Tony opened an eye and he struggled to conceal his shock as he saw Killmonger throw the missile away. "What?" Tony said, baffled. "Who the hell is that?"

"My cousin, Erik Stevens. He also goes by the name Killmonger," T'Challa answered, looking at Killmonger suspiciously. He knew his cousin had spent some time in Afghanistan, but why hadn't he saved Tony Stark in their universe? What was he up to?

"Oh. I wasn't expecting him to be your cousin."

"Is this the guy that Shuri keeps complaining about?" Bucky asked T'Challa, who nodded.