Dependence

Chapter 17

Okay so this is where things are very different from the canon universe. I actually wrote this and several chapters in the next book before End Game came out so I was just writing my own part 2 which has similar ideas but is very different from the movie so... yeah....

          Peyton's eyes flew open and she sat up. Her stomach was full of dread, her hair was damp with sweat, and her legs were tangled in the sheets. A split second later Tony was in the room, looking unphased yet sympathetic. This was a normal occurrence. Peyton took in a shaky breath and shook her head as he reached out to comfort her.

"No," she insisted, voice hoarse from screaming in her sleep. Tony frowned but didn't object. She pulled the sheets off of her, stood up, and walked to the kitchen as she avoided the tears threatening to make their way to her eyes. She passed the counters and the fridge and went into the living room where she sat on the couch and grabbed the remote. Tony crouched next to her.

"Peyton-"

"It was the same as always, no I don't want to talk about it," she answered before he could ask, he sighed and ran a hand down his face. Peyton resisted the urge to read his mind. She had done that once before, while they were stranded on Titan with Nebula, she had no intentions of doing it again.

After the two remaining Stark's watched all of the hero's fade away, the had no choice but to quickly collect themselves and come up with a plan. Tony fixed up an escape pod that had been on the flying doughnut and the three of them were off to earth.

They arrived to find the place a wreck. As Thanos had said he wiped out half of the population and left the rest to clean up the mess. Tony and the remaining Avengers tried to find Thanos or some kind of solution, but it seemed hopeless. So, Tony bought a smaller house, something to feel like a home, and he, Peyton, and Nebula moved in (Nebula had sort of become an honorary Stark and she didn't have anyone else). Since they practically gave up, they avoided the rest of the recently pardoned Avengers, they just wanted to move on.

Peyton did try, but at night it always came back to her.

"Peyton, honey, you can't just bottle it all up. You need to talk to me." he said, standing and then sitting next to her. She pursed her lips and looked up at him before sighing and slumping against him. He put his arm around her and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.

"I miss him." she whispered.

"I do too."

~~~

Peyton groaned when she came to the next morning. Her head was pounding in her ears. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around to find she was no longer in the living room, nor was she in her bedroom. She pulled herself up onto her elbows and looked over at her father who was snoring loudly next to her. He must have moved them when she fell back asleep. She wished she could lay back down and sleep more but she knew it was useless. Her body had been refusing to give her more than a few hours a day. Plus, the sun was shining bright enough through the windows that she knew it was well passed the time to sleep anyways.

She pushed the comforter off of her and moved slowly into the living room that was open into the kitchen. The house was a lot smaller than the tower and the compound and extremely cozy. At first Peyton was worried Tony was just getting it for her and that it would drive him crazy- but he seemed to love it as well. As she made her way into the kitchen where she pulled out a box of Lucky Charms, Nebula stepped out of her bedroom, drying her wet red hair with a towel. When they came to earth she had to disguise herself as human- people were scared of aliens before Thanos- now they were terrified.

"Morning," Peyton said, sitting at the small dining table. Nebula grumbled a good morning in response before beginning to brew coffee, one of her favorite earth delicacies. Peyton quickly finished her breakfast and downed her own cup of coffee before rushing to her room to change.

"Where are you going?" a sleep deprived and disheveled Tony asked when she passed him, purse over her arm.

"Library." she didn't let him respond to the obvious lie before walking out the door and onto the porch. Fields of grass and a long road stretched for miles around her. It was nice, all of the open land, away from the noise of the city and the polluted air. She walked about a mile away before shooting a text on her phone. Seconds later a portal appeared in front of her and she stepped through it with ease.

"Hey, Wong," she smiled, dropping her purse on one of the randomly placed old couches.

"Good morning," he replied lazily as she walked around the room grabbing things.

"Any news?" she asked, sitting down with all of her books and files. He didn't reply, instead he dropped a stack of papers on her lap. She looked the pages over and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.

"This is exactly what we need," she said after a minute "but it's dangerous. The Kree aren't exactly the biggest fans of inhumans."

"Well, we could try something else, but this is the best we've got. We could try a different route," he said.

"Wong, I'm pretty sure we've exhausted all other ideas." she sighed, "No, this is the best course of action, I'll figure it out."

~~~

One month earlier:

When Wong heard a knock on the sanctum door, he expected on of the annoying Avengers there begging for more help that he couldn't give. He wished he could help them, but he wasn't God, there was only so much he could do, especially considering Strange and the time stone were gone. However, instead he found Stark's teenage daughter, arms crossed over her chest and face set in determination.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"I'm not giving up." she said. He raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Everyone else has given up, Dad is looking for homes out in the country, and everyone is trying to move on, but I'm not ready yet. There's still options." she insisted.

"Okay... Why are you here?" he asked. She sighed, her resolve crumbling.

"I need help. I have an idea, and idea that will bring everyone- including Strange- and the time stones back. It's far fetched but not impossible and I can't do it by myself." she said. He sighed.

"And?" he asked. She sighed.

"Time travel."