Stay Alive
Pepper had gone through a lot of emotion spirals while in a relationship with Tony Stark. This, though, had to be the most stressful. Him leaving for space for the second time in one month, and then barely sending any word except in mission reports, was torture.l Her and May had mostly stayed in the compound, not holding any press conferences, or answering any of Ross’s questions, which the secretary was not happy about.
When Tony finally did come back along with everyone who had been in the golden light, things seemed like they were going to be alright. The two women had been prepared to jump onto Tony’s jet and go straight to Wakanda when suddenly Ross’s alert got out. There would be no travel from the United States to or from Wakanda. They were forced to be reunited with their loved ones via hologram.
It was this that drove Pepper to hold the first press conference since Thanos, and it was dedicated entirely to speaking out against Ross, and the war that he was now waging on Wakanda over the Avengers, and his stupid accords. Pepper had not been sure how the public would receive her statements, but was surprised by how much enthusiasm they responded with. It looked like she wasn’t the only one against this war after all.
May would speak with Peter on the hologram daily, and Ned and MJ were called in to say high as well. They had not yet been made aware about Mindy’s true identity as Palmarius, as the strange entity did not want her cover blown. She had made the decision to stay on Earth, and she didn’t want to find a new cover.
Pepper would speak to Tony often, and the other Avengers. She had been introduced to the Guardian’s of the Galaxy as well, and very reluctantly agreed to speak with Loki. She had already begun writing up an alliance contract between the Guardians and the Avengers, as Tony was perfecting his intergalactic communication so there would be less lag. He was also getting Quill an ipod.
The Guardians of the Galaxy would be staying on Earth to fight with the Avengers. As Gamora had put it, “The mess my father created is not yet fixed until the wars waged because of it are solved.” No one was complaining about this, as they could definitely use the help of the guardians. The more influential people they had on their side against Ross, the better. Pepper was yanked out of these thoughts by the voice of F.R.I.D.A.Y alerting her to the arrival of who had been identified as Scott Lang, and three others.
“Let them in,” Pepper said in confusion Last she had heard, Scott Lang had been in Wakanda with the others. She turned when she heard the elevator door open, and sure enough, there stood Scott, his daughter, and who Pepper took to be the little girls mom and step-father.
“Hey, Pepper,” Scott said, looking uncomfortable.
“How are you here?” she asked. “I thought you were in Wakanda, and now with the travel ban...How did you get out?”
“Shrinking suit,” Scott replied. “I headed back to Pym’s house, and he said to bring these guys here so Ross can’t get to them. You don’t mind, right? I had just figured he’d told you.”
“He didn’t, but it’s fine. We’ve got the space. May Parker is here too, so you’ll probably run into her. F.R.I.D.A.Y will show you to your rooms, I need to talk to Scott for a moment,” Pepper said. The others nodded and followed the AI’s instructions on how to get to where they’d be staying, while Scott looked at Pepper expectantly. “You know I’m going to ask. What’s going on down there?”
“Everyone’s stressing. T’Challa is buried in work that he needs to catch up on, and Okoye and M’Baku are just trying to fight this war without weapons, which will not hold for long. “
“And the others? Are they staying?”
“The Avengers and Guardians are. So is Palmarius and and Loki, but Captains Marvel is keeping out of the action, she doesn’t want to get on Ross’s radar or people to force to sign the accords. I think she’s going to stay low with Maria and Fury, help from behind the scenes,” Scott explained.
“And what about the people that didn’t sign?” Pepper asked, knowing how touchy Tony was on the subject of Peter signing the accords. She had a feeling he himself was regretting the decision as well.
“They are staying. Peter, Thor, the rouge Avengers, they’re still being pestered by Ross. We’re trying to keep the Guardians on a low profile, but he probably knows about them. He’ll probably want there signatures as well.”
“And Dr. Strange?”
“Has already received a notice from our dear government. They definitely want him on board.”
“What about Palmarius?”
“They don’t know about her yet. The crew has kept the defeat of Thanos pretty quite. Ross knows they had help, but doesn’t know who. He probably thinks it’s just some being that lived on Knowhere and didn’t return to Earth.”
“If only he knew the truth,” Pepper said with a sigh. “Well, you go find your daughter, I’m sure you have some catching up to do. I’ll let you know if I hear anything,” Pepper said. Scott smiled thankfully at her, and headed up to the room F.R.I.D.A.Y directed him to. Pepper watched him go and then turned her attention back to the large window she was looking at, and to the street below, where a five mile march was being held to protest the war. If Ross wanted chaos, he had gotten it.
Wanda sat alone in her room, watching as a stream of red light floated around her, twisting lazily through the air as she moved her fingers. She had been spending most of her time with Natasha, but given that the other woman was currently in a meeting with Okoye, she was left with nothing else to do but think about what could possibly be coming.
The threat of war was now a reality. She had been naive to think that the defeat of Thanos would change Ross’s mind about how he wanted to solve his accords problem. She wished that Vision were there, but he had not been brought back with the others. He was gone.
“Wanda, you in here?” Asked the voice of Steve Rogers. She flicked her hand and the door opened to reveal said soldier. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said.
“What do you need, Steve,” she asked tiredly.
“I was told to give you this,” Steve replied, handing her a small box. “Stark gave it to me.” Wanda nodded and took the box, staring at it as Steve went back down to the main meeting room to rejoin the others. She carefully lifted the lid and sucked in a breath. There was only one thing sitting inside; a glowing golden stone that seemed to radiate power. The mind stone. Stark must have gotten it back rom Palmarius. She looked at the lid of the box o find a sticky note attached with a short message.
‘Bring to Shuri. Fix Vision.’
“Thank you, Stark,” she whispered before closing the lid of the box and racing down to Shuri’s lab where she would end up spending the week.
Thanos was dead. Peter had not been permitted in the room to see the assassination, but he had been alerted the second Nebula landed the killing blow on the great titan. He was glad that Thanos was dead. Peter had never thought he could ever think that about a living being, but it was true. He had wished him dead this whole time, and now that wish had been granted. Did that make him a monster? He really didn’t care if it did. Thanos was dead, and that was all that mattered. Now, though, they would have to turn their attention to Secretary Ross, and the war they were currently fighting against there own country.
Wakanda had shut down all trade they had been beginning with America, and the travel ban was not going to be lifted any time soon. The shields were being sent full power, and were being constantly worked on and updated by Wakanda’s best engineers.
Peter spend a lot of time with Shuri in her lab, as neither of them were allowed to venture outside or join in anything war related by T’Challa and Tony. They would discuss vines, and Shuri would try to teach Peter how advanced Wakanda’s technology was. A lot of it went over Peter’s hea, but he did more web designs, from Shuri, and an update to the eyes of his mask to better suit his enhanced senses.
He had finally been released from the prison like room the doctors had been keeping him in, and he now had a much more open room right by Tony and Bucky. He didn’t get to see either as much as he would have liked as they were constantly in war related meetings, but he didn’t mind as much. There were always people around, and that was a good thing. Palmarius would always be willing to hang out. He still referred to her as Mindy, and was very interested in the reasoning behind her secrecy when he had more than willingly revealed his secret identity to her. Her answers were always vague and unsatisfying, forcing Peter to finally just let it go.
“Will you be staying on Earth? Or are you going to go with the Guardians and hang out in space?” Peter asked on day. Palmarius was still in her ‘infinity warrior’, as Peter had started calling it, form. This gave him the impression that she would not be returning to Queens once everything was settled with Ross.
“Oh I’ll be staying,” she replied casually, which surprising Peter greatly. “If I leave, then who’s gonna play Eliza in Hamilton?” she asked, referring to the next school production. “Honestly, there is no way that I’m letting Helen Baker get that role!” she declared.
“Do you think you’ll be an Avenger?” Peter asked.
“Nah, don’t want everyone knowing about me. I was designed to hide out in the open and not draw attention to myself in my task as the stones eyes, ears, and fists. If Earth is ever in major danger though, let me know,” she said.
“You know Ross is going to find you out if you fight for us now,” Peter warned. “Why don’t you leave like Captain Marvel did?”
“Because, I have no place in S.H.I.E.L.D, and I do not fear Ross. I could smit him with one blow if I wanted to. Even if he sees me, he will only think I am one of the Guardians,” she replied simply. Now, I’ve gotta go help Shuri in her lab. She’s trying to rebuild Vision, and will probably need some help with the mind stone.”
“You gave her the mind stone?” Peter asked, just noticing that one of the glimmering stones from Palmarius’s crown was missing.
“Yes, the mind stone was far more useful powering Vision then it was sitting around in some collectors hoard. It was watching you guys, always. That’s how I knew who you were when I arrived on Earth. It’s also how the soul stone knew to make it’s test love. Through watching the interactions of the Avengers through Vision’s eyes, we learned that no one would throw away the thing they loved most; it’s how we tricked Thanos.”
“You did all that by watching us?” Peter asked.
“Yup, all from you guys.”
“What about the other stones?”
“I’m not sure yet. I’m sure that Wakanda will probably want one to study, so I’ll leave one with them. Dr. Strange will be wanting his time stone back soon, so I will give that to him. I assume that Stark is going to want one, I will have to think about whether or not I heed that request. We all know what happened when he got his hands on Loki’s scepter,” she mused. “I may give another to the sanctum, it really depends on how this all plays out.”
“Then you’ll be practically out of infinity stones, aren't they what power you?” Peter asked.
“Yes, but there are other stones. Not as powerful as the main six, more like sub stones. They are useful though, and many desire them as well. Thanos probably would have gone after them sooner or later had his ate not been in Nebula’s hands,” Palmarius explained.
“Where are they now?” Peter asked.
“All over the place, no one can say for sure. I have found two so far, the death stone, and the ego stone. They can give me just as much power as the other ones, and I serve them all the same,” she said. With that she was gone, and Peter was left to think about everything she had said.
He was not alone for long, though, before Tony’s meeting got out and the man himself came over, a grim expression on his face.
“Hey Mr. Stark, what’s going on?” Peter asked.
“Ross is still pushing for your signature on his stupid contract,” Tony growled, sitting down beside him.
“Well if it will fix this, I’ll just sign the-”
“No, no, and no. You will not be signing those papers. By signing those, you give up all your rights, and your identity. It won’t do anything to stop him either, he will attack until he gets what he wants. You signature will do nothing to change that,” Tony growled. Peter nodded and looked down.
“I heard you gave Wanda the soul stone, Palmarius was just here,” Peter said, changing the subject.”
“Yeah, I thought it was fair, Wanda didn’t get back anyone she had lost, so I talked to you friend about it,” Tony replied.
“They’re in Shuri’s lab now trying to remake his body. They’re having some problems though, you wouldn’t happen to have the machine that did it the first time, would you?”
“No, it’s back at the compound. There’s no way Ross would let me have it sent. If he found out Vision was gone and we were trying to bring him back he’d only try and use it to prove his case,” Tony said with a sigh.
“Oh, okay,” Peter said. “How’s Pepper?”
“Stressed. She confirmed that Scott and his family are at the compound, and May is still there as well. They’re all fine. Ross has been pressuring them, but he can’t do anything. Not really.”
“What does he think about May being there? Does he think that I’m-”
“No, as far as he knows, May is one of Pepper’s friends who was staying with her after I left for space. The disappearance of you and Mindy is being written off as a family getaway to try and deal with the whole thing. It’s not too difficult to hide, half the city isn’t going into work or school. Everyone’s still trying to process,” Tony assured him.
“Good, I don’t want her to be caught in the middle of this. She doesn’t deserve that. She doesn’t deserve any of this shit,” Peter said bitterly.
Ah, if only Cap could hear the kid now, Tony thought to himself. Steve would flip out.