“You're totally rambling,” Pepper Potts said, laughing at her jogging partner, and the love of her life.

“No I'm not,” retorted Tony Stark, turning to face her, grinding their jog to a walk.

The two were on the trails in Central Park. It's a bright and sunny Spring day. New Yorkers and tourists alike were jogging, picnicking, and enjoying the day. Few noticed the high profile couple as they bantered back and forth, none of them aware of what was coming their way.

“Look, you know how you're having a dream, and in the dream you gotta pee?” Tony took off his sunglasses as he continued his story. “And then you're like ‘Oh my God! There's no bathrooms. What am I gonna do?’”

Pepper gave a slight grin as she finished his thought. “And then you wake up and in real life you actually have to pee.”

“Yes!”

“Yeah, everybody has that,” Pepper said, laughing.

“That's the point I'm trying to make.” Tony ran his hand through his hair as he took a breath. “Last night I dreamt we had a kid.”

Pepper gave him a quizzical glance. “So you woke up and thought that we were...”

“Expecting.”

“Yeah...” Pepper wasn't sure if Tony was serious or just relating a dream. The look in his eye made her realize he was actually questioning the possibility.

“Yes?” Tony asked, heart starting to race.

Pepper shook her head emphatically. “No!”

Tony tried to cover his disappointment. “I had a dream about it. It was so real.”

Pepper turned her attention to the glowing triangle on Tony's chest, an ARC reactor firmly planted there and on display through the cutout in his black skintight shirt. “If you wanted to have a kid, you wouldn't have done that,” she said, tapping the ARC reactor.

Tony looked down then flashed a sheepish grin, trying to placate the situation. “I'm glad you brought this up, 'cause it's nothing. It's just a housing unit for nanoparticles,” he said, dismissively waving his hand.

“You don't need that.” Pepper tried to keep the admonishing tone from her voice. She knew that even after Tony had the surgery to remove the shrapnel that endangered his heart the man couldn't help himself. Tony was futurist and always thinking of the next big idea, often the next big twenty ideas.

Tony nodded that she was right, technically. “I'm just trying to protect us...and future us-es. Just in case there's a monster in the closet.”

Pepper smiled. Tony would always be looking for monsters. “You should have shirts in your closet.”

“We're going to have a nice dinner tonight,” Tony said, holding Pepper's left hand high, a large diamond engagement ring gracing her ring finger shone in the sun. “Show off this Harry Winston. And we should have no more surprises. Ever.”

He was about to kiss Pepper when a voice came from behind.

“Tony Stark.”

With a whirl, Tony turned to see a surprise. A big surprise. Standing before them was a swirling portal, floating in midair. Inside the portal was the man who spoke, a man who Tony had never met before.

The man in the portal spoke. “I'm Doctor Stephen Strange. I need you to come with me.”

Tony shot him a questioning look as Doctor Strange continued. “We need your help. It's not overselling it to say that the fate of the universe is at stake.”

Tony remained unconvinced. “And who is ‘we’?”

Appearing next to Doctor Strange was a man Tony knew very well. A man he sent away to avoid more destruction. A man he'd lost track of. A friend he had missed and mourned—Bruce Banner.

“Hey, Tony.” If Tony needed convincing, the look on Bruce's face was enough to get him to follow.

* * *

Inside the Sanctum Sanctorum, Tony looked on in boredom as he received a history lesson from Wong.

“At the dawn of the universe there was nothing. Then...” Wong wove his hands as green mystical discs formed around them. Completing the incantation, he thrust his hands forward and an image of five stones formed out of thin air, floating in space. “...the Big Bang sent six elemental crystals hurtling across the virgin universe.” The Stones spread out. “These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence.”

Doctor Strange moved forward and pointed to each stone individually, naming the aspects. “Space. Reality. Power. Soul. Mind.” He pointed to his chest where the Eye of Agamotto hung around his neck, glowing green. “And Time.”

Tony felt something gnawing at the edge of his mind, something that had been there for six years. “Tell me his name again.”

Bruce stepped forward, the horrors he had witnessed aboard the Statesman in his eyes. “Thanos. He's a plague, Tony. He invades planets, he takes what he wants. He wipes out half the population.” Bruce's next words confirmed to Tony his darkest suspicions:“He sent Loki. The attack on New York, that's him.”

Instantly, ghosts that had chased Tony Stark since he flew a nuclear bomb into space to end the Chitauri invasion of New York six years ago, when he witnessed something he shouldn't have in shadow, all became clear. Finally.

“This is it,” he whispered. A plan began to form in Tony's mind. “What's our timeline?”

A shrug was all Bruce could offer. “He has the Power and Space Stones. That already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe.” Bruces voice softened, as if he couldn't fathom the future. “If he gets his hands on all six stones, Tony...”

Doctor Strange stepped in as Tony began to pace, finally resting his arm on a large coffer by the destroyed staircase. “He could destroy life on a scale hitherto undreamt of.”

Tony gave Strange an incredulous look. “Did you seriously just say ‘hitherto undreamt of’?”

Pointing to the large pot Tony was resting on Doctor Strange countered, “Are you seriously leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos?” Tony gave the Cauldron the once over. Being a man of science, Tony was not used to mystical relics, despite his massive intellect.

“Is that what it is?” He asked, unimpressed. Suddenly, the hem of Doctor Strange's Cloak of Levitation rose up and smacked Tony's arm off the Cauldron as though it possessed a mind of its own. Which, apparently, it did.

Tony jolted back, surprise crossing his face. He quickly covered. “I'm...going to allow that,” he said, pointing to the Cloak. He walked away, mind racing when a simple solution popped into his mind. He turned back to Strange, pointing at the necklace around the mystic's neck.

“If Thanos needs all six, why don't we just stick this one down a garbage disposal?”

“No can do,” Strange admonished.

Wong offered an explanation. “We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone with our lives.”

Tony let that soak in for a moment...then dismissed it. “And I swore off dairy...Point is, things change.”

Doctor Strange was adamant in his resolve. Shaking his head he informed Tony of his limits. “Our oath to protect the Time Stone cannot change.” He turned his focus to the emerald glowing Eye of Agamotto hanging around his neck. “And this stone may be the best chance we have against Thanos.”

“Yeah, so conversely, it may also be his best chance against us.” Tony dug in his heels.

“Well, if we don't do our jobs ,” Strange's voiced raised.

Bruce stepped in between the two arguing men. Having witnessed Thanos firsthand, he paled at the thought of the Titan getting his hands on any more stones. He had to convince them of a better plan.

“Okay guys,” he said, addressing them both. “Could we table this discussion right now?” He pointed to the Time Stone. “The fact is, we have this Stone. We know where it is. Vision is out there somewhere with the Mind Stone and we have to find him now.”

Tony scratched his head, a nervous habit and a cue to Bruce that there was something weighing on his mind. Tony tried to break the news as gently as possible. “Two weeks ago Vision turned off his transponder. He's offline.”

Bruce was shocked to his core. “Tony, you lost another super-bot?” He feared the worst, since the last time that happened Ultron was born. And Bruce was partially responsible for that, a mistake he dreaded happening again.

Tony quickly sought to soothe his fears. “I didn't lose him. He's more than that, he's evolving .”

“Who could find him then?” Doctor Strange's voice was all business as he tried to maintain focus on the matter at hand.

Tony thought for a moment...and sighed heavily. The last person on Earth he wanted to face was the only option he could think of. “Probably Steve Rogers,” he demurred.

Bruce was energized by the mention of Captain America's name. “Call him,” he urged. But Tony's reluctant gaze instantly deflated his enthusiasm.

“It's not that easy,” Tony sheepishly admitted. Realizing, he looked at Bruce again, a touch of shame entering his usually cocky attitude. “God, we haven't caught up in a spell, have we?”

“No.” Bruce tried to hide the feeling of betrayal from his voice.

Tony shook his head, as though he couldn't wrap his mind around events he was there for, and partially responsible as well. “The Avengers broke up. Cap and I fell out hard. We're not on speaking terms.”

“Tony, listen to me.” Bruce felt like he was now dealing with two kids who had a schoolyard fight. The magnitude of what they faced was beyond a falling-out between teammates. “Thor's gone,” he stressed. “Thanos is coming . It doesn't matter who you're talking to for now.”

Knowing Bruce was right, Tony reluctantly took out a flip phone and opened it. A single contact was listed: Steve Rogers. Tony had yet to use it, but never could he have imagined a day like this would come. He looked to Doctor Strange, about to ask if he could mystically contact him, but something else caught his attention. The man's bangs were blowing ever so gently, back and forth.

“Say, Doc, you wouldn't happen to be moving your hair, would ya?”

Puzzled by the odd question, Strange looked at the man. “Not at the moment, no.”

As a unit, Wong, Doctor Strange, Tony, and Bruce all gazed up to the source of the breeze: the broken window high above the foyer. The wind began to speed up slightly. As they noticed this, their senses turned to the sounds of people yelling in the streets, car alarms starting to blare. Tony gently opened the door, but it blew wide, crashing past him with a blast of wind and debris.

Outside, the heroes found dozens of people fleeing what seemed to be a tornado in the middle of the West Village. Dust, papers, and even cars were lifted and flew through the air, obstructing views and adding to the chaos.

As the quartet moved to help as many fleeing citizens as possible, something in the distance caught Tony's eye. Putting on his sunglasses, the display inside lit up. He gulped at what he saw.

“Hey! You might want to put that Time Stone in your back pocket, Doc!”

Strange followed Tony's gaze. His face grew grim. He snapped his arms and green discs formed around his wrists.

“Might wanna use it.” His voice was dark.

All four men stopped in their tracks as the source of the panic and destruction was revealed. Hovering high above the buildings was a ring-like ship spinning vertically. It was not like anything on Earth, which could only mean one thing.

Time had run out.