Collateral Damage

Peter walked slowly behind the titan that was at least a foot taller than him, if not more. His shadow engulfed Peter, if that was even possible; there was hardly any light in this dark hallway. 

"Where are you taking me?" Peter asked, not eager to catch up with the titan whose strides were much larger than his.

"They've corrupted you Peter," Thanos said sadly, stopping in his tracks and turning. He motioned for Peter pass in front of him. "They've blinded you with hope."

"No, they haven't. 20/20 vision man- even better actually because of my abilities-" Peter explained.

Thanos pushed him harshly in the back and Peter stumbled into a circular room, looking around at the empty walls. 

Thanos moved his gauntlet and red energy flew out of it, developing the room. Peter tensed, before he realized the power wasn't meant to hurt him. He watched in awe as his surroundings changed. Thanos walked to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. Peter flinched, trying to duck away but the titan's grip was like iron and Peter was afraid he would dislocate his shoulder. 

"This is a planet, much like Earth. Prosperous. Plentiful. Beautiful," Thanos said sadly.

"Is that...Titan?" Peter asked, his brow furrowing from how different it looked.

"Yes," Thanos said. "This was my planet, before it turned into ruin, dust, and forgotten souls."

"Can we save the sob story?" Peter snarled, daring to try and pull away but the hand on his shoulder tightened and Peter yelped in pain, staggering backward, his collarbone feeling like it was about to crack. He stood perfectly still, his mouth a tight line, mad at himself for letting out a cry of pain 

"I warned them that one day, we would become corrupt, overpopulated, crowded. Food would be scarce, savagery would rise, and evil would take over. I warned them all, I offered them a solution. A small price to pay for salvation."

"What you call salvation? We call it the murder of trillions," Peter said, daring to look the titan in the eyes. "You're insane."

"I'm driven," Thanos corrected. 

"Call it what you want, you'd ruin people's lives," Peter said, before he asked, "What do you expect them to do? Get over it?"

"It will save them all," Thanos said quietly.

”We don’t need saving,” Peter hissed.

Thanos shook his head, looking at Peter with such disappointment. "Do you want to see what will happen to your world eventually? What will happen to every world?"

The image changed and screams of pain echoed around the room that promptly became a warzone of fire and ash. Peter jumped in fear with every shake of the ground, watching hundreds of men, women, children of all race and species die screaming. 

Peter's chest tightened, his ears ringing and he flinched, freezing in shock as a small boy fell dead, bleeding from multiple wounds, right at his feet.

"Stop," Peter said weakly, turning away. "Stop it. I don't want to see anymore-" He squeezed his eyes shut.

When he opened them, he was somehow relieved to see the blank room. He had felt Thanos' arm release from his shoulder but Peter still couldn't move, his body frozen by his own doing. 

"That is what happened to my planet," Thanos said. Peter looked up was surprised to see pain on the titan's face. Peter hadn’t thought he was capable of feeling with all the bad things he had done. "Thats what happened to my family, because they didn't listen."

"Murdering half of humanity isn't the answer," Peter said quietly. "There has to be another way."

"This is the only way," Thanos insisted. "Do you care about your home?"

"Very much so, yes, but that doesn't mean I'm ready to kill-" Peter spluttered.

"If you cared about the people on Earth, and the whole universe, you would see what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to save the world," Thanos urged. 

Peter stared at him, shaking his head, "Stop trying to act like you're some saint, or some philanthropist. If I was given a choice to die with my family, in pain, or live in peace without them, I would die in pain. You don't get that, and do you want to know why? Because you don't love. You probably had a crappy childhood and bad parenting and you're all screwed up! So leave humanity alone and go see a therapist."

Thanos watched him carefully, almost amused with Peter's outburst. Peter was testing his boundries, he knew that, and the flicker of anger he saw in the titan's eyes showed that there would come a point in time where he didn't let Peter's jabs slide. 

Thanos finally spoke very softly, his voice low and broken, "I did love someone. My daughter, Gamora."

Peter frowned. Gamora...that name sounded familiar. That was Quill's girlfriend! He thought she had been kidnapped by...Thanos. Hold on, did he say 'what he saw in Gamora', as in past tense?

Peter gulped, "Did you- did you kill her?"

Thanos lowered his head, "It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. But it was a decision that could not be avoided. The soul stone required a sacrifice," Thanos said weakly, looking down at the orange stone in the gauntlet.

"I loved her. And that was why I had to kill her. That same love binds her to this stone, keeps her soul safe and under my protection."

Peter widened his eyes, "What is wrong with you?”

Thanos looked up at him in shock. Peter was too angry to watch his mouth. Screw it. Peter walked up to Thanks and hissed, “You killed your own daughter for this plan. How many people have to die for you to get that we aren't pawns, or pieces in this game you think you're playing? They're innocent lives!"

For a second the titan seemed speechless but Peter figures that was because of his act of defiance, going toe to toe with the man holding 4 infinity stones, not his actual words. 

"It's not a game," Thanos snapped, towering over Peter to regain the upper hand, who tries not to look as intimidated as he feels.

"It's the harsh reality that no one seems to see. The dystopian future that everyone turns a blind eye to because they're afraid to accept it. It seems I'm the only one with the strongest will to see it coming and act upon it."

"Or you're the one person crazy enough to think of a genocidal solution to a problem that can be handled some other way," Peter argued, taking a cautious step backward.

"You want to know why you're here?" Thanos asked suddenly. Peter didn’t answer, just looked at him curiously.

"Because I see that same will and determination inside of you Peter. You're strong. If you could just understand-"

"Ohhhhh no," Peter backed away. "I'm not joining your stupid mafia boy band. You've hurt my friends, my family. You're trying to destroy the world. I'm nothing like you."

Thanos frowned and held out the gauntlet. Peter suddenly was dragged forward, his feet slipping on the ground and Peter tried and failed to avoid Thanos' hand that closed around Peter's neck. Peter winced in pain; the hand wasn't choking him, just keeping him still with pressure on his throat. The titan looked down at Peter who was struggling to pull his massive fingers away, gulping in every last breath he could just in case the hand decided to close.

"What do you want from me?" Peter gasped out, pulling away weakly from the grasp around his throat.

"I want to see what's preventing you from seeing the light. What's your deepest nightmare Peter?" Thanos asked. 

“Howler monkeys,” Peter choked.

Thanos cracked a smile and Peter fury his teeth, growing anxious and scared. He couldn’t hide that emotion anymore.

“No-“ Peter kicked and punched, trying to get away from the gauntlet that lowered to his head, desperately trying to pry his fingers around from where they were looped around his neck.

"No- no!” Peter said through gritted teeth, thrashing in Thanos' grip.

"Please-" Peter half sobbed. It was no use. He felt the metal rest on his head and curling around his temples. Peter whimpered and went tense, red light consuming his vision. 

Thanos concentrated, feeling Peter squirm and writhe in pain beneath his grip, kicking and punching, his eyes squeezed shut. Thanos' eyes rolled into the back of his head just like Peter's and for a couple seconds they both went frigid. Thanos' brow furrowed as he looked into the boy's head, examining every section of his mind, his fears, his joys, his darkest nightmares, his thoughts. 

Once he was satisfied, he suddenly opened his eyes, not letting Peter up yet. 

Peter was still flinching, self consciously kicking and punching weakly at the titan's hand who was still clasped around his throat, now practically holding him up; the boy's legs had buckled a second into the vision. There were tears falling down Peter's cheeks and Thanos watched them in awe and shock from what he had seen. He hadn't thought such a young mind would be tortured with so much.

Thanos let him go and Peter dropped to the ground, his eyes shooting open. He gasped for air, coughing and choking on sobs, his eyes red with tears. He looked up at Thanos in pure hatred, scrambling a few feet away before he collapsed again, trembling. 

"I understand why," Thanos told him. "You've lost your father. You've lost your uncle-"

"Shut up," Peter seethed weakly.

"You can't bear to lose him to-"  

"I said shut up!" Peter shouted, his voice echoing around the room, swallowed by the sheer size. He hated how weak he sounded, his voice cracking with emotion.

Thanos almost smiled, nodding slowly. "I saw the way he tried to protect you on titan."  

"Get out of my head," Peter snarled angrily, still weak on the floor, his forehead beaded with sweat, his entire body shaking. 

"You could do amazing things Peter. You could help me," Thanos urged.

"Give it up," Peter said weakly, mustering a laugh as he furiously wiped his eyes and glared defiantly at the titan. "Just give it up."

"Many people have told me that," Thanos said simply, nodding. He walked toward Peter with the gauntlet held out, the purple stone glowing. "I have learned to ignore that phrase all my life. In fact, it fuels me to do the opposite."

"Bite me," Peter snarled. 

Steve walked into the lab later that day, after Tony had gone to the med bay to check on his stitches. He had planned to just grab his jacket but a certain picture caught his eye, leaning up against the wall at what looked like Tony's favorite and most used workspace. 

He picked it up and saw a picture of Tony and a boy, in his teens, with bright brown eyes and curly hair. That must be Peter. Tony's arm was slung around the kid's shoulder protectively, and they both were grinning happily up at the camera.

"Hey FRIDAY?" Steve asked. "I know it's not my place, but who's the kid?"

"Peter was recruited by Tony a couple weeks before your fight in Germany. Peter Parker is also Spiderman. He lives in-"

"Queens," Steve nodded, smiling a bit. 

"Yes. He and Tony grew quiet close."

A video popped up of the kid and Tony working in a lab. Peter was in a new suit, a more flashy, more Iron Man resembling one, that was made of what looked like Tony's nano particles, not his fabric that Steve fought him in. Suddenly 8 legs popped out of the kid's suit and he jumped, looking behind him. 

Tony ducked, laughing, narrowly avoiding getting smacked in the face with a metal leg. 

"Is he- he's not Tony's son," Steve's brow furrowed, recognizing the relationship between the two as somewhat father and son. 

"Not biologically." That was all FRIDAY said on that note.

"What- what happened to him?" Steve asked.

"Peter came from a field trip, just in time to save Tony's life. He stowed away without Tony knowing on the ship that attacked New York. They got to titan and encountered Thanos and...well, I have footage."

Steve nodded as the screen changed. The view was from what looked like Tony's front camera. He heard his friend's ragged breathing, his gasps from air. This must have been right after Tony got hurt. Stark groaned and shifted his view towards the commotion and Steve saw the kid standing protectively in front of him as Tony turns on his side to cough up blood. 

"No- Peter- get out of here-" Tony pleads weakly, the camera shaking. 

The kid turns around with a firm look. "I'm not going to watch you die," he says. Steve sees the glint of tears in his eyes.

"Queens..." he mutters, watching as Peter jumps to attack the titan, getting a few hits in before 'Thanos' grabs his wrist, stopping his attack. Cap got a good look at the enemy for the first time, intimidated by his stature, his demeanor, and pure size. Peter had put up a good fight, as good as, if not better than what Cap would have offered. That showed how powerful this being was, and how ruthless-

Cap winced as Thanos punched the kid in the face so hard his mask shattered. Peter gasps, wincing in pain but still managing to maintain a glare. 

The view shakes again and Cap hears Tony choke out, "Peter." 

Thanos laughs lowly, still holding the thrashing boy by his wrist, "So young. So reckless. I admire you."

"Let him go!" Tony yells, the camera tilting as if Tony tried to get to his feet and failed. Cap had never heard that much anger in Stark's voice, nor that much fear and desperation. 

"What's your name little one?" Thanos asked, ignoring Tony, his voice creepily gentle.

Peter grit his teeth, "Screw you."

Cap had to crack a smile despite the circumstances, remembering that same wit when he had encountered the web slinger at the airport. 

Thanos spoke again, "Strong. He reminds me of you Stark." Peter's arm was cruely twisted behind him as Thanos pulled him closer. The boy cried outin pain, dazed and confused. It looked like he pushed on the double pressure point in Peter's neck, and somehow the kid remained standing, his mouth open wide, but no sounds of pain were coming out, his eyes wide and fearful whenever they weren't squeezed shut. He flinched, his knees shaking and then a small whimper came from his mouth.

Steve hated Thanos. Anyone who could do that to a child without even breaking a cold stare was a monster, and he deserved to die. 

"I said let him go!" Tony screamed, and Cap again winced at his broken voice. 

"You've corrupted him," Thanos says, using his other hand to gently ruffle Peter's hair. The boy winces, closing his eyes and jerking away from the touch as much as he can. 

"Stop it," Tony seethed, rising to his feet. "Don't touch my kid."

Steve noted the use of 'my kid'. 

"I'll show him the truth," Thanos assured him. 

Peter stared straight into the camera, obviously at Tony, his gaze filled with terror, as if he was begging him to save him.

"Tony," he whispered softly, trembling in the titan's gasp. 

"No," Tony begged. "Pete- wait- please-" 

Thanos raised his gauntlet and the blue stone glowed. 

"Oh God," Steve said quietly.

"NO!" Tony yelled.

"I love you," Peter sobbed. Tony lunged forward as Thanos' hand tightened. Peter squeezed his eyes shut as he was pulled backward and the portal closed. Tony tumbled into open air and the recording shut off. The screen went blank and Steve looked down, rubbing his nose.

When he looked up he jumped, the screen peeling away to reveal Tony was standing in the doorway, staring where the footage had been playing.

Steve stuttered for an explanation, "I came in to get my jacket, and then I saw the picture and then I asked FRIDAY-" Steve trailed off. Tony was clearly in pain, both physically and emotionally and Steve took a deep breath, well aware of the tears in the eyes that never cried. 

"I'm so sorry Tony," he said sincerely.

"Yeah," Tony nodded. He could have had a comeback, or a jab, but he was clearly to weak and sad to fight at this exact moment. Tony rubbed his goatee, walking toward him. He shook his head, "It was my fault."

"No," Steve said immediately, pointing at where the screen was. "You did everything you could."

Tony gave him a quick smile, but he saw the disbelief and the guilt underneath it. He knew Tony would never relieve himself from the blame. Just like always.

Steve then looked up, "Tony, I am sorry. You were right, I wasn't there. If I had been, maybe this wouldn't have happened. I said I can't change what I did, because I can't. We can't just turn back time. But I can help you. We will find him. I promise. And we'll stop Thanos. Together. I can promise you that."

Tony looked up and nodded. "Thank you Steve."

"Now let's go get this bastard," Steve said angrily. 

Tony grinned.

"Ok, so how do we find him?" Nat asked.

"The stones are the most powerful energy sources in the universe," Tony says, hitting a screwdriver against his palm. "They set off a pulse whenever they are used. It's an advanced type of radiation."

He pointed at the screen which had a small revolving circle flashing in the middle, "Lucky for us, Thanos likes to play with his toys. With our combined tech, we could be able to pick up on the signal."

"Unless-" Nebula cut in. 

"Stop, it's gonna work," Tony announced, shaking his head and covering his ears. 

"Unless what?" Cap asked slowly. 

"My father's ship, the Sanctuary 2, is heavily shielded," Nebula said. "It can jumble and dilute any force of energy, no matter how powerful. Even the infinity stones."

"Well crap," Sam muttered.

"So, unless Thanos uses the stones off of the ship, there's no way we can track that signal," Nebula says.

Tony sighs, hanging his head, "He could go right under our radar and we wouldn't even know." 

"So if this doesn't work, what's our other option?" Vision asked.

"We don't have one. We have no way to track him. At all," Tony said, looking sadly at Vision. Then his gaze lifted and his brow furrowed, gazing at Vision's forehead, his eyes flicking back and forth like what they did when he was in deep thought. The gears spun in his head and suddenly they all clicked into place.

Tony laughed. He laughed out loud. Then he spread his hands, walking to the center of the room. "We're idiots," Tony said gleefully. 

Everyone looked up at the insult to their intelligence. 

"Excuse me?" Rhodey raised an eyebrow. 

"We want to find the guy who wants to collect all the infinity stones. We have what Thanos wants. 2 of them," Tony said, pointing at Vision's stone and then at Strange's necklace. He shrugged, spreading his hands. "You want metal, bring a magnet." 

"We can't just hand over the stones Tony," Cap said slowly. 

"I know we can't," Tony rolled his eyes, turning to the doctor. "Strange, I said before that we needed to take the fight to his turf. That didn't work out so well. Thanos thinks he's saving the world, thinks he's doing the right thing. That means he does give a crap about Earth, that's why he's not destroying all of it, just half, so the other half can prosper."

"What's your point?" Bruce asked, frowning. "That he's some saint?"

"Far from it. But I know if he comes here and we lose, he's not going to just attack everyone the first chance he gets. That would disrupt the balance that he's trying to achieve with his plan."

"So you're saying the collateral damage that we're fearing would be minimal? That we have some sort of insurance plan?" Rhodey asked, nodding. 

"Thanos is coming to get the stones. We either go to him, or he comes to us. We went to him, and failed. He's coming for the stones either way, why don't we be prepared when he does? We give him a date, a time, and a location and we try and stop this once and for all." Tony took a deep breath, turning around, "Now, I'm not going to do this without Vision's permission, since you kind of have a stone, in your head?"

"I think it's a logical approach. The only play we really have. I agree, it does look like the best option," he said slowly, exchanging glances with Wanda. 

"That's if," Tony pointed at him, "we can't figure out a way to take the stone out without killing you. Still working on that," Tony assured him.

Vision nodded. 

"Your stone should be a decoy," Tony said, pointing to the wizard. "I agree, we can't risk having both of the stones ready for his taking, but Thanos won't know that."

"My ship is fueled. We could put it on there and in case something goes south I can take it and run," Quill suggested.

"If this goes South, that will be the last stone. You'll be running for your entire life," Cap pointed out.

"Not my first time being chased," Quill smiled.

"Is there any way that you can take it out of that weird fashion accessory Strange?" Tony asked. 

Strange sighed and nodded slowly. 

"Ok then, this could work," Tony said, nodding, clasping his hands. 

"It will work," Cap nodded. 

No one said the words that they were all thinking: it has to.