I Dreamt We Had a Kid

Chapter 27

They sleep in the woods in tents, the rain silently pittering over them as they sleep. Tony pretends not to hear Steve's silent cries as he falls asleep.

They travel forward in time to 2015 and make their Journey to Bleeker street.

They don't even have to knock, because a person is already at the door.

"Wong?" Tony says because the man looks like a younger version of him

"Yes, now come, the ancient one wishes to see you," he says, leading them to a large and open room with light streaming through the windows.

"Are you the main wizard?" Tony asks the bald person facing the window.

"You can say that," the person turns around and Tony is taken back because it was a woman, he was not expecting that from a bald head.

"I know why you have come," her voice is soft and full of wisdom, "You need not explain."

She reaches into her pocket and hands them the necklace that Stephan used to wear.

"The fate of the universe depends on you, Tony Stark, do not disappoint it," her hands are clasped behind her back. "Go, now."

"Thank you," Steve says from next to him, and with a tap on their bracelets, they are back in Wakanda.

"We have the stones," Tony says to Shuri, who is standing in front of the vibranium infinity gauntlet, which already has the power and reality stones inside it.

Thor, Rockett, Nebula, Rhodey, Clint, Vision, Scott and Loki are all nervously sitting on the couch, tapping their hands on the table.

"Where are Nat and Bruce?" Tony asks, already knowing the answer.

"They're not here yet," Thor says in a worried tone.

Tony and Steve join them on the sofa.

"Thanos will have figured out what we are doing soon," Loki says, breaking the silence, "He will surely be there to fight at the battle of New York."

Everyone takes that in for a moment because he is right.

"We'll be there ready to fight him," Steve says.

They sit there for a long time before the quantum tunnel opens. Everyone is on their feet and standing next to it when Nat comes out, half carrying a very broken looking Bruce. She has tears down her face.

"Nat, what happened?" Steve says, helping carry Bruce as they head off to the medical bay.

She doesn't have to answer because she hands Shuri a small metal container containing the soul stone.

"I didn't to, he made me do it, push him off for the stone." her voice sounds weak under her usual confident tone. "I wasn't expecting him to come back up, but then he appeared on the stone," she swallows, "He was crying like a child saying Hulk."

"They took Hulk instead of Bruce," Rhodey says, receiving a nod from Nat.

"They had just worked things out," Tony says, trying not to let his emotions show.

The Avengers knew they had to get the final stone soon before Thanos figured out where they were and attacked, but they delayed as much as possible so Bruce had time to recover.

The had collectively decided Bruce would be fighting in the Hulkbuster armor since that was what he fought Thanos in the first time.

In the few days they spent in Wakanda, they held a funeral for Hulk. It was rather sad, a grave was placed under a tree and prayers were said by Steve, though no one really thought it meant anything. Bruce looked utterly broken, but he insisted they "finish off the bastard" so that's what Tony was preparing for.

It was 4 am and Tony was laying in Steve's bed once again. They were both so lonely and tired, they were both shamelessly laying there, Steve snoring gently beside him. Per Tony usual, he couldn't fall asleep, so he simply focused on Steve's breathing and tried not to think about what they were going to do in the morning. One more time, Tony let his mind drift to a memory.

It was Christmas morning. All the Avengers were still asleep except Tony, carols playing over the speakers and a tall Christmas tree standing in the corner.

Peter was the first to wake up after Tony, naturally, so the two of them sat alone on the couch.

"I got you something, Mr. Stark," Peter said excitedly, grabbing for a small box under the tree that was wrapped in newspaper and a bow.

"Thanks, kid," he said, slowly unwrapping the paper and opening the box to find a flash drive.

"Play it," Peter reached over and grabbed his charging laptop.

Tony happily complied, sticking the spiderman flash drive into his computer.

"Hey, Mr. Stark!" An excited Peter said on the screen, "Merry Christmas, I made this video of the two of us, I know kinda cheesy, but I hope you like it anyway!"

The video switched to his alibi video for May, to footage of them working in the lab, to random little vlogs Peter had taken of them. Videos of them laughing, smiling, and even the two of them asleep on the couch together.

Tony couldn't believe Peter made this. His heart was full of pure joy, his blood rushing through his veins and he had to focus on not crying. When the video stopped, Tony was silent.

"I'm sorry Mr. Stark," Peter said in a panicked voice, "I mean I get that you don't like it, it was weird and-"

"Peter for god's sake," he pulled Peter into a tight hug. The first hug he had ever given him actually that wasn't the result of either of them having a panic attack. "I love it."

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Stark," Peter mumbled from his shoulder. Tony ran a hand through Peter's hair and smiled. "Merry Christmas, Pete."

Tony blinked the tears from his eyes, rolling his head into the pillow and falling into a peaceful sleep, the hope of getting Peter back warding off his nightmares.