Chapter Text
"Dr. Strange told me there were 14,000,605 futures. Out of all of them, of all the possibilities, there was only one where we won..."
Pepper couldn't hold back her gasp as the screen gained color. Tony sat in a chair, his right arm in a sling and visibly bandaged. He was clearly exhausted, brown eyes dim and shoulders slumped as if he had just been relieved of holding up the weight of the entire world. His eyes bore into hers through the screen, his soul laid out for the audience in a way he never was with the press. Gone was the easy grin and exaggerated movements that defined Tony Stark as the world saw him - this was Tony. Exhausted, hurting, but alive Tony, who had been through so much that she hadn't fully yet wrapped her head around.
"I remember when he told me that, right before Thanos came to Titan - the planet I was on after getting on that ship that day. There wasn't time to discuss it. No time to figure out what he meant or what to do. We were too busy trying to stop him. He threw a moon at me. That wasn't... fun." He cleared his throat, his eyes caught in the memory. "I was supposed to die up there. He was about to kill me when Strange gave up the Time Stone for my life. I didn't understand him then, why he would choose to do it. I wouldn't understand for a long time."
The footage switched to Steve Rogers - Captain America, alive and well after having supposedly died way back in 1945. She'd only ever seen the black and white photos before yesterday. Coinciding that man with the colored video of the present day - it was a shock to her brain. "When we saw the news, heard that Tony had gone to space, we knew we had to fortify the ground. We did our best, but it wasn't enough. It never would have been enough. Thanos got the Stones and snapped."
Again, the screen changed. Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow. "Everyone knows what happened when he snapped his fingers. Half of life was gone. His mission was completed." She paused, eyes faraway. "And we were all left to pick up the pieces."
Another change. Bruce Banner, the Hulk. On the surface, he looked like a demure scientist who couldn't wield a drop of rage. "It lacks rationality, how the world survived without half the population, with all the chaos and sadness and devastation that came with that, and yet it did. I suppose it shouldn't be too surprising. Humans have always been resilient." He looked down, fiddling with the hem of his sweater. "But I don't think many wanted to have survived that. I think we were going through the motions, trying to make things alright even if it never would be."
The screen switched to Clint Barton, Hawkeye. There was a look to his eyes as he spoke, a man obviously haunted by his memories. "I wasn't on the battlefield." He said. "I was at home, with my family, about to have a picnic. I turned around for one second, and then they were gone. I had no clue what happened. I couldn't believe what happened. I couldn't believe that my family, that so many families, had died. So many good people lost..." He glanced away, then looked back. The darkness there sent a shudder down Pepper's spine, "...while bad people got to live."
Thor appeared on screen. He was the guy with long blonde hair and eyes older than his physique suggested - that was not what Pepper thought an off-world alien would look like, though there had to be different types of aliens. She'd seen the footage of them with the Chitauri Invasion. She should have listened to Tony more when he rambled about alien possibilities. "I lost myself." He said quietly. "Just as many did. I was haunted that I was inches from stopping him - that if I had gone for the head instead of the chest, Thanos would not have snapped. That it was my fault, and I am still deeply sorry that I didn't. I believe that many of my friends carried similar guilt that we could not do more. I did not want to face the world." His eyes were glassy. When he blinked, a tear rolled down his cheek. "I didn't understand how I could live when I lost my entire family, how I could be breathing when my heart was so heavy, how I could continue to survive when I had been inches from stopping him."
Steve re-appeared. "In those five years, we put our efforts into trying to help the world heal, to help everyone move on. As Avengers fighting Thanos, we knew the stakes, knew what we were trying to stop. When we failed, we knew what happened. The people... the people around the world didn't. Clint didn't. I can't imagine how terrifying and confusing that was." He took in a shaky breath. "We did what we could, knowing it would never be enough to fix it. I tried to move forward." He shook his head. "But I couldn't. I don't think any of us really could, no matter what we told ourselves."
"What made you realize that you could fix it?" An off screen interviewer asked.
Steve's lip twitched up in the barest smile. "Ant-man showed up."
Another screen change. This was surveillance video, showing Ant-man - Scott Lang, as Rhodey filled in for them - asking to be let into what looked to be an Avengers facility. Natasha's voice soon overlaid it: "He was supposed to have been Blipped. He later explained to us about the Quantum realm, how five years had been five minutes for him, and then the idea - time travel."
"It was insane." Steve added.
"But we had enough hope to try." Bruce said.
A sound, like thunder rumbling, happened as Thor spoke. "I had nothing left to lose."
The screen returned to Tony. "They came to me first - Natasha, Steve, Scott. It hadn't been the first time I had seen Nat or Steve in five years, despite what people thought. She was my daughter's aunt, and Steve... we were civil enough to have dinner sometimes. What was the point of fighting each other?" He sighed. "Scott, he was a surprise. I didn't know the guy that well, but I knew he wasn't supposed to be around. Then they lay out the idea of time travel?" He shook his head. "I'll admit, I didn't want to try it at first. I didn't think it would work. It was straight out of science fiction, some Back to the Future craziness, and I didn't want to mess up what had been gained. I didn't want to lose my daughter."
He looked off to the side, taking a deep breath, and Pepper's heart twisted at the teary sheen over his eyes. "But then a few certain someones changed my mind, and I had to try." He gave the camera a tiny smile. "And I figured it out. I couldn't believe it." He wiped at his eyes, vulnerability showing. "For the first time in five years, I had hope that the world didn't need to keep limping along like it was."
"The Avengers reformed." The video returned to Steve. "One by one, and we built a time machine. Scott was the test subject. We, uh..." He scratched the back of his neck, sheepish. "We didn't get it right the first time."
Bruce coughed into his fist. "We were... struggling a little bit."
Natasha came back, arms crossed. It was hard to tell if she was smiling under her deadpan expression or not. "Scott got turned into a baby. And an old man. And a teenager."
Tony cracked a grin. "They wouldn't get anywhere without me." He joked. It was fond, his eyes lighting up briefly.
"When did you get there?" The interviewer asked.
"At the right time."
Steve snorted, a small smile on his face. "He squealed tires up to the Compound right when I thought everything would fall apart. Brought the solution and gave me my shield. It was... healing, for both of us, I think. We left our fighting behind and worked together as we were supposed to. It was... really good to have him back as my friend."
"Steve's probably in my... top one hundred list of favorite people." Tony chuckled. "I'm kidding. He's... He's family. I guess we've always been family. All of us."
The screen split in two, showing both Tony and Steve as the interviewer asked another, heavier question that made the smiles disappear: "Do you think that if the Avengers had been together when Thanos and his army arrived in 2018, you would have won?"
Together, they answered: "Yes."
"It's a hard pill to swallow," Steve continued. "We can't change the past, but we can make sure nothing like that ever happens again in the future."
Tony nodded, as if he could hear Steve and was agreeing with him. Maybe he could hear him. The background behind them all looked similar. "A lesson to everyone watching: resentment is corrosive. Don't hold onto it."
It was a wise statement, one she knew her Tony - 2008 Tony, not 'her' Tony, what was she thinking? - wouldn't say. If he had resentment, he didn't voice it. He went through life acting as carefree as possible, doing whatever he wanted because he had the money, means, and mind to do so. No, he wouldn't say something like that. His serious moments were few and far between, his wisdom barely a seed compared to this Tony's bloom of it.
'But it won't be long before he's put on that path,' her mind whispered. 'When we return to 2008, it'll be tomorrow. Tomorrow, things will never be the same again.'
She desperately wished that she would remember this experience - at least some of it. Enough to keep Tony from getting on that plane. Enough to keep him safe. There had to be another way for him to grow into the Tony he'd become. There just had to be. He shouldn't have to go through all that pain.
She tuned back into the documentary when Natasha spoke: "We finalized the time machine. Clint went on a test run. It worked. Then we brainstormed. We needed the Stones, figured out the best times to get them, and got ready for our most important mission. We had one shot."
More footage showed up - of several of them, walking in red and white suits toward what Pepper assumed was the time machine. One of the figures was very large and tinted green - she had to assume it was Bruce in Hulk form, though he was far different from other footage she had seen. "We had a motto." Steve's voice said as they climbed onto the platform, and a zoomed in overhead shot showed them putting their fists in, creating a circle. She couldn't help but think that the middle of it looked like Tony's arc reactor. "Whatever it takes."
"It would take a while to go through everything that happened, but essentially-"
"We blew it," Tony finished for Bruce, tone flat. "Mostly. Things went wrong. A lot of things. Steve and I had to take a trip further back in time to fix it. We did gather all the Stones, but..." His voice seized up, coming out haunted and hollow. "It came at a cost."
Natasha came back on screen. She looked uncomfortable. Pepper had the feeling that she rarely looked like that. "The cost of the Soul Stone was a death. Clint and I fought for it - I won."
Pepper was floored. She hadn't expected that. At all. Despite not knowing the woman, tears welled up in her eyes. It was clear she would know her one day, and to think that she died-
'She's alive,' she reminded herself. 'She's alive. She's sitting right there. She's in the pictures. Everything will turn out okay.' Her nerves somewhat settled, Pepper took in a deep breath, never taking her eyes off the screen.
"We built our own gauntlet." Tony said. "We were a single snap away from bringing everyone back, but not anyone can wield the Stones. Not without dying. It was impossible for a regular human to survive." He didn't meet the eyes of the camera then, and she could read him enough to know there were a million thoughts swirling in his head. Why? Why did talking about the snap-
A gauntlet.
The scars up his arm.
She might throw up. It couldn't be true. She had to be wrong.
Except it would be him.
It was always Tony who could survive the impossible.
Who could make something out of nothing.
Who defied the odds like no one else could.
Who did things just because he was told he couldn't.
She held her breath, waiting for the moment he said it, admitted it - but it was Bruce who appeared. "The Hulk was made from gamma radiation. The radiation off of the Stones was mostly gamma. I was Professor Hulk then - a mix of myself and Hulk." He tapped the fingers of his right hand against his knee and Pepper finally noticed the scarring there. "Tony told me back in 2012 that the Hulk saved me for something. I never imagined it would be that but... it was like I was made for it. What I was meant to do. I snapped, brought everyone I could back." He squeezed his hand into a fist. "I tried to bring Natasha back. I couldn't. Her sacrifice... it was necessary for one of the Stones."
"Lady Natasha is a fearless warrior in every aspect." Thor's voice rumbled as he came back on screen. "We cannot thank her enough for what she did."
"I didn't need thanks." Natasha said, a very small smile on her face. "I just needed them to bring everyone back."
"And we did." Clint returned to the screen. He sounded choked. "Bruce did. I got a call from my wife. It was... It was the most beautiful sound I had heard in five years."
"Then everything went to heck." Tony broke in. "Absolutely everything. I'm not going to go into every specific. Essentially, when you mess with time, time tends to mess back." He paused, seemingly gathering himself. "Thanos from 2014 showed up with his army and understood what we had done - what we had reversed. He destroyed the Compound, almost killed us all, and was gunning for the gauntlet. We held him off until Dr. Strange got there and, with a bunch of other wizards or whatever they call themselves, brought in everyone who could help. Wakandan soldiers, every hero who had been Blipped, an army to rival Thanos's."
"The Avengers assembled," Steve finished, "and it was the fight of our lives." Footage rolled, quick clips of the fighting, of the devastation raging as two sides battled for control.
"But it was not enough." Thor said, gripping the armrests of his chair so tightly that Pepper thought they might break. "We were beaten down. Thanos got the gauntlet. He planned to snap away the entirety of the universe's population, to start from scratch."
The entire population? Pepper couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.
"He was about to snap." Steve said, eyes not on the camera. He was looking at something off screen. At someone. "Then Tony was there."
"I looked across the battlefield at Dr. Strange. He raised one finger." Tony's eyes were full of so much determination, so much fire. "And I knew what I had to do. I went for Thanos. I took the Stones. When he snapped, the gauntlet was empty." His lips tilted up in the barest smile. "I snapped him and his army away."
Rhodes gasped beside her. Happy was still, his fists clenched into his knees. All Pepper could do was listen and force her lungs to move even as her mind flashed back to the scarring on Tony's arm.
"He lost. We won. Our one future - we did it."
"We thought we lost Tony, too." Clint said quietly. "A human couldn't survive the snap. And he was gone."
Was she breathing? She couldn't be breathing.
Tony had died.
Died.
"For thirty seconds." Steve was back on-screen. "For thirty seconds, Tony was gone."
"But the Stones saw what we all did in Tony Stark," Thor said, voice low with a level of awe. "They decided to allow his wish while protecting him from what damage they could. They restarted his heart."
"They gave us a chance to save him," Bruce said, "and the Hulk saw it, too. He retreated into my mind, left my body so I could shrink to the size of a human again, where my fingers would be small enough to work on Tony with Dr. Strange, who transported him to the hospital where Dr. Cho was. Together, we worked. It wasn't enough to keep him from slipping into a coma for a week."
"I don't remember any of it." Tony said honestly. "I remember thinking I was about to die - and then I woke up. Honestly, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it."
"Once Tony was awake and stable," Steve continued, "I went back in time to return the Stones. If we didn't, it would have done something to the timeline. I still don't understand what, just that it would have been bad." He paused, eyes conflicted as if he were debating with himself. "I thought about saying in the past, after everything. I was the man out of time for so long, never belonging." His eyes swept over the room beyond the camera. "But I couldn't abandon my family. I may have come from the past, but I belong here, in this time, and I finally understood that."
"How did you come back?" The interviewer asked Natasha.
She smiled. "Steve asked for a refund."
"I returned the Stone that we received for her sacrifice." The blonde clarified. "And that was deemed worthy enough a deal, thank God."
"Good thing, too. You boys wouldn't get anywhere without me."
"Completely agree." Clint grinned. "You're most of the Avengers' brain cells."
"Uh, genius over here." Tony joked.
Natasha rolled her eyes. "You certainly don't act like it."
"She's right."
"Hey! You're supposed to be on my side, Brucie! Science bros!"
"Sorry." He most definitely wasn't sorry, judging by his cheeky smile. The easy banter eased Pepper - Tony was alive. Natasha was alive. Thanos hadn't succeeded forever.
"What else happened?" The interviewer asked, bringing them back on track.
"A lot." Steve replied. "We did our best to help with everything we could with half the population coming back - military, world governments, civilian efforts, organizing. It was chaotic."
"Tony brought back Vision." Bruce said. "It's a complicated story, but he did." He shot a half-hearted glare off-screen. "And bought himself another week of enforced bed rest because he decided to walk by himself."
"I'm not going to apologize. I have no regrets there."
"How is Loki alive?" The interviewer asked.
"The ways my brother cheats death are not ways I wish to discuss." Thor answered, eyes protective. "He is a hero. He was mind controlled by Thanos during the first invasion of Midgard. That has been proven."
"No one is denying that, Pointbreak." Tony placated. "Earth court cleared him, too. He's good."
Thor nodded, some of the tension leaving his shoulders.
"What do you plan to do now?" The interviewer asked. "What will the Avengers do?"
Steve answered for them. "As Avengers, we plan to protect the world. There are so many more than us now, all around the globe, the universe, and we'll be ready if anything else comes. We'll always be here, always ready. We're stronger than we ever were before."
The camera panned out, revealing that the six Avengers - the original Avengers, Pepper realized - were sitting in a half-circle in a large room. They stood, gathering together in the middle: Tony in front of Steve and Thor, Natasha and Clint on the genius's left, Bruce on his right. There was so much power in the image that it took what remained of Pepper's breath away.
They had done exactly as their name said.
They had avenged the Earth.
They had avenged the universe.
The screen faded to black and Rhodey got up from his seat, coming to stand in front of the television. It was only then that Pepper noticed how Nebula had disappeared, retreated from the room at some point during the documentary. The woman couldn't blame her. It must have been hard to hear, and she had lived through it. "Usually this much isn't told to the public," he said, referring to the documentary, "but after everything, they deserved the truth. As much truth as could be given without chaos anyway."
Happy found his voice first. "You're not worried about someone trying time travel? What you guys did, I mean. Not..." He waved a hand, grimacing. "Not what's happened with us."
The man shook his head. "To do what we did, you'd need Pym Particles, the brains of two geniuses, and to get passed some sort of time travel authority. Highly unlikely anyone could do that."
Pym Particles? Time travel authority? Pepper decided to not question any of that. Instead, she focused on a moment that had struck her deeply near the beginning. "Tony hadn't wanted to do it," she said. She didn't blame him, not one bit. She wasn't sure she would have been able to do it if she had been in his position, "but he said some people convinced him. Who were they?"
Rhodey smiled, though his eyes were sad. "Tony told me... he was washing dishes that night, the sprayer went wild, and the water hit a photo of his kids. That changed his mind."
"Oh," she whispered, heart twisting.
"He hadn't wanted to risk destroying the fragile stability Earth had created," he said. "He definitely didn't want to risk Morgan, but he knew he had to try." He wiped a stray tear from his eye. "And he was willing to pay the ultimate price as long as they all lived."
Rhodes put his head in his hands, breathing deeply. "Gosh, Tony."
A look passed over Rhodey's face, an expression Pepper couldn't understand, and then he was moving over to Rhodes and resting a hand on his shoulder. Her friend raised his head to meet his counterpart's eyes, clearly shocked at the action, and Pepper had to wonder what happened earlier while she and Happy were gone. "He's okay. He made it out. Everything has been pretty much improving so far." He moved his hand and addressed them all. "To catch you guys up on the rest - Tony came home in late November, there are Avengers reunions every month, Steve's had a girlfriend since February, Bruce and Natasha are a thing, the world found out about Tony's kids in the spring, and there haven't been too many major threats. None that hold a candle to Thanos, at least. The anniversary of bringing everyone back is tomorrow, and the Avengers will all be here on Sunday, so you'll get to meet a lot of people."
Pepper's head spun at the influx of information, but she was good at digesting it quickly. It was what made her a good accountant before, and now Tony Stark's personal assistant. (She was sure it assisted when in a relationship with him, too - except she wasn't going down that rabbit hole right now.) "Okay." She breathed. "When will Tony be back?"
"Boss just pulled in," FRIDAY announced. "He has Tommy and Billy."
"What happened with them at school?" Rhodey asked.
"I believe that is a story Boss or the boys would like to tell."
"Huh, now I'm very interested."
It wasn't long before the front door opened. It wasn't Tony who stepped in first - it was a little boy, one of the twins from the photos. He had long hair and sleepy eyes, his free hand holding a bag of what looked to be some sort of action heroes. When his gaze fell on them, he blinked twice before he seemed to remember something. Overall, he didn't look too surprised. His other hand was in Tony's, and the man stepped inside behind him, his other arm holding the other boy against his chest. He was asleep, his little arms wrapped around Tony's neck, and Tony himself had a penguin stuffed animal grasped by the fin in his hand.
Tony's eyes swept over them before landing on Rhodey as he gently kicked the door shut. "Sorry I didn't see your text, honeybear."
"That's fine, you clearly have your hands full." Rhodey replied, amused. "What happened?"
"I'll let Tommy tell you, if he's awake enough to."
"I am awake!" The boy - Tommy - protested even as he rubbed his eyes with a fist. It was extremely adorable. "I got in a fight, Grunkle Rhodey, but G-pa and G-ma said it's okay because I was protecting my brother."
"That certainly makes it okay." The man nodded seriously. "When did you talk to G-ma?"
"On the phone while we ate Burger King."
"Pep will be home in a few hours. She has to grab a package first," Tony added, and Pepper's heart jumped. It wouldn't be long before she'd meet her future self.
She had so many questions.
(Would she be brave enough to ask them?)
Tommy let go of Tony's hand, moving over to Rhodey with his bag of toys held up. "Look what G-pa got me."
Rhodey crouched to inspect the bag as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. "Very cool."
"Will you play with me?"
"I don't see why not. You set it all up and tell me what to do."
With newfound energy, the kid sat on the floor and started pulling out his new toys. Rhodey got down beside him as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "You got them toys and Burger King?" He asked, a brow raised.
"And ice cream," Tommy added. “Miss Joy gave it to us.”
Tony shrugged one shoulder, unfazed by Rhodey's look "They deserve it."
"You spoil them rotten." Rhodey shook his head, chuckling.
"That's my right as a grandpa." He grinned. "I'm going to get this one to bed and then I'll be back down." He headed upstairs just as Tommy finished setting out all his toys. He grabbed up three of them and walked over to the couch where Pepper, Happy, and Rhodes were sitting.
"Do you guys want to play, too?" He held out the action figures, lip poked out, and Pepper didn't think she would ever be able to say no to that face. Apparently, neither could her time traveling companions. Soon, they were all on the floor, directing their toys to battle as Tommy wanted.
"Can my character do a flip?" Rhodey asked, making his little action figure go backwards. It landed atop Happy's toy. The bodyguard frowned as Rhodey grinned.
"Yeah!" Tommy laughed, and Pepper found herself smiling at the sound.
Despite everything that Tony would go through - that they would all go through - there had been a light at the end of the tunnel, a life of peace in the aftermath of war.
She just hoped that their presence hadn't screwed everything up.