Saving Grace

Eighty

Once inside, Tony is given an IV to combat his dehydration, and then they sit him in a wheelchair in the living room with some food and water. The table he's at has projections above it — pictures of those missing. The ones they lost. Most everyone else is just standing around, preparing to fill Tony in.

Grace is sitting next to her dad, silently crying, her mom standing behind her and stroking her hair, not know what else she can do. Tony holds Grace's hand, although weakly. Nat made her some tea while Tony was getting the IV, and it's sitting on the table next to her now, steaming.

"It's been twenty three days since Thanos came to Earth," Rhodey begins.

"World governments are in pieces," Nat adds, standing close to Grace. "The parts that are still working are trying to take a census, and it looks like he did... he did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out... fifty percent of all living creatures."

There's a long silence. Tony finally asks, "Where is he now?"

"We don't know," Steve replies. "He just opened a portal and... walked through."

Tony sighs, then looks over at Thor, sitting in the next room, one with glass walls. He'd been in the compound all this time, too guilty to do anything, go anywhere, even talk to anybody at first. "What's wrong with him?" Tony asks.

"Oh, he's ticked," Rocket speaks up. "He thinks he failed. Which of course he did, but you know there's a lot of that's going around, ain't there?"

Tony looks at Rocket in surprise as he speaks. "Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear."

"Maybe I am," Rocket replies seriously.

Steve changes the subject again. "We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep space scans, satellites, and we got nothing." Steve sighs. "Tony, you fought him."

"Who told you that?" Tony asks.

Grace speaks up, her voice quiet and gravelly. "He did."

Tony turns to her. "Who?"

"Thanos."

Her dad sits forward, surprised and concerned, half angry. "When did you-?"

"Wakanda," Grace cuts him off. "I was in Wakanda with everyone else. We went to get the Stone out of Vision's head and destroy it, and Thanos... met us there. I... I wanted to help."

Tony sighs, lets the anger fade. It's over now anyway. Nothing he can do. He continues. "Well, I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away the store. That's what happened. There was no fight 'cause he's not... He's unbeatable."

Steve nods in understanding, then asks, "Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?"

"Uh, no," Tony replies. "You know, I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming."

Steve stands, having been leaning on a side table, and he nows steps toward Tony. "Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus."

"And I needed you," Tony replies, real, hot anger creeping into his voice. "As in, past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late, buddy. Sorry," he adds quietly. He leans down, sniffs the bowl of soup in front of him, then shoves it forward, turning it over on the table as he stands, his hand leaving Grace's. "You know what I need? I need a shave." He starts to mess with his IV, trying to pull it out, though Grace and Pepper reach to stop him. "And I believe I remember telling all of you-"

"Tony," Rhodey says, stepping forward. "Tony-"

He rips out the IV. "-alive and otherwise, that what we needed was a suit of armor around the world! Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not — that's what we needed!"