The nightmare was always the same.
Tony stood in the ruins of New York, ash falling like snow while the screams of the dying echoed through empty streets. Pepper's body lay motionless beneath a collapsed building, her hand still reaching toward him with fingers that would never move again. Rhodey's War Machine armor was scattered across three city blocks, the pilot inside nothing more than a memory and regret.
And through it all, Thanos's voice echoed with satisfied finality: "I am inevitable."
Tony jerked awake in his workshop at 3:17 AM, the arc reactor's blue glow casting familiar shadows across walls lined with holographic displays and half-assembled technology. The nightmare had been getting worse since his return from Afghanistan, mixing memories that had actually happened with fears about what might happen again if he wasn't careful, wasn't smart enough, wasn't fast enough.
"Boss," FRIDAY's voice cut through the silence with gentle concern, "your heart rate and stress indicators suggest you experienced another nightmare. Should I contact Dr. Hansen about adjusting your sleep medication?"
"No," Tony replied, running his hands through his hair as he tried to shake off the lingering images of destruction and loss. "I need to be alert. Can't afford to be medicated right now."
He stood up from the couch where he'd fallen asleep, his body protesting the awkward position he'd maintained for the past few hours. The workshop around him was a testament to sleepless nights and relentless preparation—armor components in various stages of assembly, weapon systems being calibrated for threats that hadn't manifested yet, and energy systems that represented decades of advancement beyond current technology.
"FRIDAY, show me the updated timeline for Project Insight."
The main holographic display activated, showing a complex web of intelligence data, personnel movements, and strategic assessments that painted a disturbing picture of HYDRA's infiltration of SHIELD. Red markers indicated confirmed HYDRA operatives, yellow markers showed suspected infiltrators, and green markers represented the few SHIELD agents Tony was confident were still loyal to their original mission.
The ratio was depressing.
"Based on the intelligence you provided, Director Fury has begun implementing security reviews for key personnel," FRIDAY reported. "However, the process is proceeding slowly due to concerns about alerting HYDRA leadership to the investigation."
"Too slow," Tony muttered, manipulating the display to highlight specific operational timelines. "At this rate, Pierce will have time to implement contingency plans before we can neutralize his network."
The workshop door opened without fanfare, and Pepper walked in carrying a cup of coffee and wearing the expression of someone who had been dealing with Tony's nocturnal habits for weeks.
"You're having the nightmares again," she said, settling into the chair across from his primary workstation with the casual familiarity of someone who had learned to navigate his space without disturbing his work.
"I don't have nightmares," Tony replied automatically, though they both knew it was a lie. "I have strategic planning sessions that happen to occur while I'm unconscious."
"Tony." Pepper's voice carried the patient tone she used when she needed him to stop deflecting and start being honest. "Talk to me. What's really going on?"
Tony looked at her for a long moment, weighing how much truth he could safely share without revealing the impossible reality of his situation. Pepper was brilliant, intuitive, and capable of handling complex information, but explaining time travel and future knowledge wasn't something he could ease into gradually.
"I keep seeing things," he said finally, which was true enough. "Possible futures. Worst-case scenarios. Things that could happen if we're not prepared enough."
"Like what?"
Tony gestured to the holographic displays showing global threat assessments and defensive preparations. "Artificial intelligence that decides humanity is obsolete. Alien invasions that make our current military technology look like sticks and stones. Energy weapons that could crack planets in half." He paused, his voice growing quieter. "People I care about dying because I wasn't smart enough to protect them."
Pepper studied his face with the careful attention she'd learned to apply to his more serious moments. "These aren't just abstract concerns, are they? You're talking about specific threats."
"I'm talking about patterns," Tony replied, which was his standard deflection when anyone got too close to the truth. "Technological development trends, geopolitical instabilities, the kind of threats that emerge when civilization advances faster than wisdom."
"And you think you can prevent these threats by working eighteen-hour days and surviving on coffee and determination?"
"I think I can minimize the damage by being prepared instead of reactive," Tony said, turning back to his displays. "The world is changing, Pepper. New technologies, new capabilities, new ways for things to go catastrophically wrong. We can either adapt proactively or wait for disasters to force adaptation on us."
Pepper was quiet for several minutes, watching him work with the kind of analytical attention she usually reserved for complex corporate negotiations. "You're not just building technology," she observed. "You're building contingencies. Backup plans for backup plans."
"Always have," Tony replied, though that wasn't entirely true. The original Tony Stark had been brilliant but reactive, innovative but rarely strategic. This version had learned the hard way that preparation was the only reliable defense against the impossible.
"No, you haven't," Pepper said gently. "The old Tony built amazing things and figured out what to do with them afterward. This Tony is building specific solutions for specific problems that haven't happened yet." She leaned forward. "How do you know what to prepare for?"
The question hung in the air between them like a challenge and an invitation. Tony could deflect again, offer another explanation about pattern recognition and strategic analysis. Or he could trust Pepper with something closer to the truth, something that might help her understand why he'd become someone she barely recognized.
"Because I've made mistakes before," he said finally. "Big ones. The kind that cost people their lives and destroy everything you're trying to protect." His voice grew quieter. "I've learned that being brilliant isn't enough if you're not prepared. That innovation means nothing if you're always one step behind the threats."
"Tony, what happened to you in that cave?"
The question was simple, direct, and impossible to answer truthfully. How could he explain that he'd experienced decades of future history in the space of a heartbeat? How could he describe watching the universe burn because he hadn't been prepared enough, smart enough, fast enough?
"I died," he said simply, which was true in ways she couldn't understand. "The Tony Stark who went to Afghanistan to demonstrate weapons systems died in that explosion. The person who came back understands that every decision has consequences, that every failure costs lives, that being reactive isn't good enough when the stakes are survival."
Pepper reached out and took his hand, her touch warm against skin that had grown cold from too many sleepless nights and too much caffeine. "You don't have to carry this alone," she said quietly. "Whatever you're preparing for, whatever you're afraid of, you don't have to face it by yourself."
Tony looked down at their joined hands, thinking about all the times in his original timeline when he'd pushed people away, convinced that his burdens were his alone to bear. He thought about Pepper's funeral, about the way she'd looked at him during their last conversation, asking him to trust her with the truth he'd been too afraid to share.
"There are things coming," he said quietly, "that are going to test everything we think we know about what's possible. Technologies that will make current innovations look primitive. Threats that will require cooperation between people who don't trust each other. Decisions that will determine whether civilization survives or collapses."
"How do you know?"
"Because I've learned to see patterns that most people miss," Tony replied, which was as close to the truth as he could safely get. "And because the alternative to preparation is watching everything burn while you try to figure out what went wrong."
The workshop fell silent except for the soft hum of the arc reactor and the gentle whir of cooling fans keeping the holographic displays stable. Outside, Los Angeles was beginning to wake up, the first hints of dawn casting long shadows through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
"I've been thinking about the company restructuring," Pepper said eventually, shifting to safer ground but maintaining the emotional connection they'd established. "The board members who voted with you—they're not just supporting new technology. They're betting their careers on your ability to deliver on promises that sound impossible."
"They should be," Tony replied. "Because the alternative is being left behind while the world changes around them."
"And the employees? The thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on Stark Industries successfully transitioning from weapons manufacturing to clean energy development?"
Tony turned to look at her directly, his expression serious but confident. "They're going to be part of the most important technological revolution in human history. Clean energy that can power entire civilizations, defensive systems that can protect against threats we can barely imagine, innovations that will improve every aspect of human life."
"You sound very certain."
"I am certain," Tony said, and the absolute conviction in his voice made Pepper's eyes widen slightly. "Not because I'm arrogant, but because I've learned to distinguish between possibilities and inevitabilities. This technology will work. These innovations will succeed. The only question is whether we implement them proactively or reactively."
Pepper studied his face for a long moment, searching for something she couldn't quite identify. "Sometimes you talk like you've already seen the future."
Tony felt his breath catch slightly, the observation hitting closer to truth than she could possibly know. "Sometimes I feel like I have," he said carefully. "But maybe that's just what happens when you start thinking strategically instead of tactically."
The conversation was interrupted by FRIDAY's voice cutting through the workshop with urgent precision. "Boss, I'm receiving priority communications from Director Fury. SHIELD has detected unusual energy readings from a location in New Mexico. They're requesting your immediate consultation."
Tony's blood went cold as he processed the implications. New Mexico. Unusual energy readings. The timing was too perfect to be coincidental.
"FRIDAY, show me the energy signature data."
The holographic display shifted to show atmospheric readings, electromagnetic anomalies, and energy patterns that Tony recognized with growing certainty. The Bifrost. Asgardian transportation technology that left distinctive traces when activated near planetary atmospheres.
Thor had arrived.
"Boss?" FRIDAY's voice carried a note of concern. "Should I confirm your availability for the consultation?"
Tony looked at Pepper, who was watching him with the expression of someone who had just seen another piece fall into place in a puzzle she didn't understand. The comfortable domesticity of their early morning conversation was gone, replaced by the urgent reality of cosmic events that were accelerating beyond human control.
"Tell Fury I'll be there in two hours," Tony said, already moving toward the armor storage area. "And FRIDAY? Prepare the Mark VII for extended deployment. We may be dealing with capabilities that exceed terrestrial parameters."
As he began suiting up, Tony caught Pepper's reflection in the armor's polished surface. She was watching him with a mixture of concern, confusion, and growing understanding that the man she thought she knew was capable of things she'd never imagined.
"Tony," she said quietly, "whatever this is, be careful."
"I will," he replied, sealing the helmet and feeling the familiar surge of power as the suit's systems came online. "But Pepper? If something happens to me, if things go wrong, remember that everything I've done has been about preparation. The technology, the alliances, the contingency plans—all of it exists to protect the people who matter."
"Nothing's going to happen to you," she said, but her voice carried uncertainty.
"Probably not," Tony agreed, activating the repulsors and moving toward the workshop's launch platform. "But if it does, make sure Rhodey knows that the Mark VIII specifications are in the secure server. Make sure Fury knows that the HYDRA intelligence is actionable but time-sensitive. And make sure you know that none of this would matter if I didn't have people worth fighting for."
As he launched into the pre-dawn sky over Los Angeles, Tony's mind was already shifting from personal concerns to strategic analysis. Thor's arrival meant Loki's exile couldn't be far behind. The Tesseract would soon become active. SHIELD's attention would be divided between cosmic threats and terrestrial security concerns.
All of which meant that HYDRA's window of opportunity was opening, and time was running out to complete the preparations that would determine whether Earth survived what was coming.
The future was accelerating, and Tony Stark had work to do.