I Dreamt We Had a Kid

Chapter 18

Tony stares at the wall for a while, trying to figure out what that was. What did he know? Peter was probably happy, living with his aunt and uncle in another dimension. That was good. Strange had told him that he saw the future. A future where Tony saved the world.

Tony needs some time to process what was just said to him, so he rests his hands in his face and sighs.

"I have to go back," Tony says to Wong, "Well call you if we need you."

Wong just nods and leads Tony to the door. The warm August sun shines down on him as he walks back to his ship. He keeps his sunglasses as a disguise low and watches the busy civilians from afar.

On the ride back to Wakanda, he ponders Strange's words some more.

"The moon does not simply disappear when we are not looking at it," he had said. Tony knew this to be an Albert Einstein quote. What could it mean? Was he referring to the people that were lost, that they were still there in our hearts or some cliche like that? Was it a hint to defeating Thanos? Or was it something completely different that he was missing.

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Chapter 18

Wakanda is particularly hot in the summer months. The African sun beats harshly on the country and its people. He is greeted kindly by everyone he passes as he makes his way to the common room. Everyone is sitting there around a small table talking except Steve.

"Where is Steve?" Tony asks, wanting everyone to be there when he talks about what he has learned.

"On the edge of the farmlands in the white wolf's old home," Shuri says, not glancing up from the file on the table.

So Tony walks outside again, into the blistering heat of Wakanda. He enjoys the walk, sucking in deep breaths of the summer air. The cottage is small. It has a thatch roof and stone walls. Why would Bucky have lived on the outskirts of Wakanda?

Tony gently pushes open the door, "Steve?" he says into the room. There is no answer so he travels out of the hut and to the back. There Steve is, feeding some goats in a pasture.

"Are you a goat herder now?" Tony asks, hands in his pockets.

"Tony," he seems flustered, his eyes are glazed over and red. "These goats were Bucky's, he would have wanted them to be taken care of." He pats the head of a white goat near his ankle.

"Farming suits you," Tony laughs. "Is this where you come in your free time?"

"No free time when your training to save the world," he wipes his hands in a water bucket and dries them off on his pants.

Tony isn't stupid, this is classic deflection, but what is he to say. It is rather embarrassing to be caught tending goats a majority of the time.

"Come on, Steve, team meeting I got some new info when I was in New York."

"You were in New York?" Steve asks, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Yes, it's Peter's birthday today and I went to see his aunt."

At the mention of Peter, Steve's attention shifts from cleaning himself off and directly to Tony.

"I'm sorry Tony, I guess I have had a lot on my mind lately." He glances toward the hut.

"It's all right, I know you miss your friend." Steve gives a small smirk and quick nod at this, but his eyes don't seem so upbeat. They are full of something Tony cannot place.

So they walk to the meeting room in a comfortable silence and when they arrive, Tony sits at the head of the table and tells them about Strange.

"What could that mean?" Rhodey asks.

"It could mean anything, it could be literal, figurative we don't know," Nat says.

There is some chatter about what it all means, but there is a quiet from Tony's right. Steve hasn't said a word.

"Steve, what do you think?" Tony asks.

Steve looks like a kid caught daydreaming in class when his name is said, his eyes are filled with both fear and desperation.

"Steve you ok, bud?" Tony asks, placing a hand on Steve's arm. He wipes his nose and drums his fingers on the table for a moment.

"He said the people that died could be experiencing forgotten memories?" Steve asks in a small voice.

"That's what he said." Steve just nods at this. He gets up from the table, a hand over his heart and heads to his bedroom, grabbing his sketchbook from the table on his way out.