Chapter Text
Grace lost more than half of his kids in the Snap.
He had been facing the board, only to turn as the dust of their bodies began to dissipate. The school had been so loud that day with confused cries and screams. Children were never picked up. Twins were turned to only children.
There were entire classes simply wiped out of existence. The only evidence they had ever been there came from the papers with unfinished writings and backpacks still on the floor.
His upstairs neighbors had a baby. Her cries had been disturbing his sleep for weeks now.
It was silent when he went home that night.
So when Stratt simply walked away and began packing up the Astrophage operation? He found himself practically sprinting to catch up to her. His students didn’t survive the Snap just to be murdered by some stupid space mold.
“At the school you said there were thousands of people more qualified than you.”
“I was being modest. I’m still a microbiologist who spent his career working up theoretical models for alien life! …Even if I was proven wrong again.” He had been thrilled when the biology of the Chitarui had been made public, even if he had been proven entirely wrong about the only original idea he’d ever had.
“Dr. Grace,” Her brow furrowed. “I understand you’re frustrated about being proven wrong, but-”
“This isn’t about me. This is about my children!” His voice warbled, wet and broken as he thought of the faces of every child he had lost. “I lost more than half of my students in the Snap. If- if there’s something I can do to keep the other half alive, then I want to help.”
A beat.
“Three. You can have three dots.” He didn’t realize how hard he had been clenching his jaw until the relief flooded through him.
“...Just three, huh?” Would three really be enough to make a difference?
“Plus the one you killed.” Carl added smoothly. “I would take the three.”
“I’ll take the three.” Grace resigned.
“Get to work Dr. Grace. The world is counting on you.” Stratt threw the bean bag back at him, and something akin to grief rose in Grace’s chest. He remembered how excited all his kids would get when they played The Beanbag is Lava. The school system had moved on and filled up classrooms again, but Grace hadn’t forgotten.
He wasn’t sure he ever could.
++++++++++
The end of the world was pretty quiet this time round. Tony’s overworked nervous system was used to big alien robot battles or whatever bullshit the universe had decided to throw at him over the years. He expected if anyone were to come by his house asking him to join a team, it would have been Steve or Nat.
Not some woman he had never seen in his life.
He had no idea how she had even found his house. Tony led a much more private life after the Snap, choosing to reside in a cabin with Pepper and his newborn daughter. Several black vans had rolled up to his house while Tony had been on the porch. His nanotech suit practically itched for him to activate. High energy beams were a pretty good deterrent, after all.
“Dr. Stark?” The ginger said as she approached him. Two men in black were in tow behind her. They didn’t seem armed, but assassins didn’t always start with their ace.
“You know, I think you're the first person to remember I have multiple doctorates.” The tension in his body only got worse as she got closer.
“I’m Eva Stratt. I’m with the Petrova Task Force.” She didn’t offer out a hand to shake. Either she knew Tony was too paranoid to take it, or she didn’t care enough to shake his hand. He found himself almost a little amused. Billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, Avenger, and this Eva Stratt didn’t care for the formality of a handshake.
Petrova. He had certainly heard of the Petrova Line- bit hard to miss when it was assumed to be the newest disaster. It had gotten Tony more worked up than he would like to admit. First Aliens invade New York, and now the goddamn sun?
He had been itching to do something about it, but there was no confirmation from anywhere that the Petrova Line was actually dimming the sun. Besides, he wasn’t sure he could leave himself to abandon the newfound domesticity of his life. Tony was retired now (at least that’s what he told himself).
“Listen I don’t-” Tony stood up. “Do the whole world saving thing anymore. I have a family. I have a life now, so I don’t think I can help you with whatever this is.”
“Your family is going to die if you don’t help us.” Stratt replied, no color of emotion creeping through her words. Casual wasn’t the right word for it- rather a grim acceptance seemed to haunt her.
“Excuse me?” Tony felt his heart drop to his stomach, his hand already covered in the Iron Man glove. “Is that a threat?”
“No, Dr. Stark. That is a promise.” The concept of being blown up by Tony didn’t seem to move her in the slightest. “The Earth will cool by at least twenty degrees. Famine will become rampant as crops fail. War will break out as countries fight for resources. We will lose half of what’s left of Earth if we do nothing. I’m not asking for an Avenger. I’m asking for you.”
Stupidly enough, he thought of Peter. Peter and everyone else was gone and this wouldn’t bring any of them back. But he also knew damn well Peter would want him to do everything in his power to save what was left of the world. He knew he’d never get a good night’s sleep again (not that he slept very well these days) if he let a frozen wasteland form in the broken world his daughter had been born into.
“How’d you find my house?” Tony asked instead.
“I have my methods.” She responded vaguely. How reassuring. He needed to increase his security. “And SHIELD told me.”
“Bastards.” He sighed. Just who the hell was this woman that SHIELD was out here sharing his location at the drop of a hat? Their timeframe had to be short if they were that desperate.
“If we do nothing, we die.” It was always life or death. Everyday seemed to be the end of the world. At least the previous fights had been something he could shoot at. “You are the best engineer of our century.”
“I’m flattered, really. And what exactly do you need an engineer for?” Tony raised an eyebrow. “I’m a scientist too, you know. Weren’t we just talking about my doctorates? I remember that.”
“You do not have clearance for that.”
Tony sighed and flexed his fingers. God, he was getting too old for this. Pepper would understand. She knew he could never truly rest. She knew the work was never over even if he said he was done.
“Fine. Fine, I’ll do it. Jesus Christ.” He needed some wine.
“We will be here to collect you in twenty four hours.” Nothing changed in her expression, but Tony got the impression she was satisfied.
“Ah, no. I fly private. I’m not getting in any of your planes.” He didn’t care who she was or why she seemed to have such high authority that SHIELD would listen to her. He wasn’t getting in one of her planes.
“I know. You will be following us.” Damn. Was he really that predictable? “You’ve saved the world countless times. We’re counting on you to save what’s left of it.”
And then she simply left like she had just ordered a coffee instead of recruiting Tony Stark to stop Armageddon.
He really needed that wine.
++++++++++
That’s a big ass boat.
It was nearly the same size as SHIELD's helicarrier. He could see the hubbub of people working like ants as they approached the landing dock.
Stratt had already given him the spiel about his living situation before they left, but not the actual problem he was supposed to be helping with. They wanted an engineer. They wanted a scientist too, but they were mainly looking for his engineering skills. What, was he supposed to death ray the Astrophage? At least he got to have his own security. That was reassuring. She escorted Tony towards a conference room as soon as he got off the jet, two separate coffees in her hands.
“Everyone, this is Tony Stark. I am sure you are familiar with him. He will be our head engineer for Project Hail Mary.” A brief moment of applause. “Stark, this is Dimitri Komorov, Dr. Lokken, and Dr. Lamai. These are the primary people you will be working with.”
“Tony Stark!” Dimitri had a rather thick Russian accent. He enthusiastically shook Tony’s hand, and dear god this man had a death grip. Lokken and Lamai followed suit with much less intense handshakes. “Big fan! Iron Man suit is very cool, no?”
“Right, I’m uh-” Tony’s eyes swept over the room. There were a few other scientists there, but the conference room was mostly empty. “Still not exactly clear on what I’m supposed to be working on.”
“You have not told him?” Dimitri frowned. Stratt dimmed the lights, and pulled up a projection of a star map. She gave Tony the whole ordeal- the repeated pattern of infection, Tau Ceti’s unknown immunity, and his job, which was helping create the Hail Mary.
“So just to make sure I have this right.” Tony leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs. “You want me to help build a ship just so we can…go check Tau Ceti out? That’s our plan?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my god.” Tony ran a hand over his face. “And then what? If they find nothing we just die?”
“Dr. Stark, This is not a problem we can simply blow up out of existence. These are alien cells and we have found nothing that kills them other than a strong poke from a needle. Unless you can find a way to poke the entire Petrova Line, this is our only chance.”
Right. A Hail Mary. This was almost certainly going to fail. The Earth he had worked so damn hard to protect was actually going to die because of what, cells? Tau Ceti was 11.9 light years away too. That would mean they needed at least twenty four years to get the information back, and that’s assuming he could make something that actually reaches light speed.
“How are we even going to fuel this thing? It needs to travel pretty goddamn far and pretty goddamn fast.” He had designed a lot of engines in his life. An ARC reactor could certainly power the Hail Mary, but it wouldn’t actually be useful for propulsion.
“We need two million kilogram of Astrophage. Will work very well as fuel. Perhaps less if you come up with better system.” Dimitri replied.
“And where are we going to get that?” Was Astrophage really their best shot? His skin prickled uncomfortably. It would definitely be the most efficient option. Those little guys could hold an absurd amount of energy, which would get the ship to just about light speed with Dimitri’s proposed spin drive designs. Maybe even light speed if Tony could push it. Any other fuel option would be slower and far less efficient.
“I have scientists all over the world currently trying to figure out Astrophage breeding.” Stratt’s phone suddenly rang. “A moment, please.”
She excused herself out of the conference room, leaving Tony alone with Dimitri, Lokken, and Lamai.
“Avenger, huh?” Dimitri grinned. “Must be cool saving the world again.”
“Retired, actually.” He exhaled sharply through his nose. The Snap had been over a year ago, and the loss still stung sharply every time he remembered. Which was about everyday.
“Ah. Work is never done though, is it? Russia has Red Guardian! Is like Captain America, but better.” Tony had never heard of the Red Guardian in his goddamn life. I mean, he wasn’t surprised the Soviets had tried to make their own brand of superheroes. How he had never heard of it was beyond him.
“That’s a low bar.” Tony conceded, and Dimitri bellowed with laughter. He laughed exactly how you would expect a man like him to- a deep, loud laugh that echoed off the small conference room walls.
“Come drink with me! Free alcohol on Stratt’s Vat.”
“Now you’re speaking my language.” Dimitri weirdly reminded him of Thor before everything happened. He had the same enthusiasm the Asgardian possessed when they weren’t fighting for their lives. “Where’s Brucie Bear?”
“Dr. Banner will not be joining us.” Lokken finally spoke up. “Too many complications.”
“Awh come on! He’s got the whole turning green thing under control.” Plus Tony missed him. Not that he would tell Bruce that.
“Not a risk Stratt is willing to take. Though he is still virtually consulting on the project until he finishes stabilizing his relationship with the Hulk.”
Stratt re-entered the room, clutching her phone much more tightly than she had been a moment ago.
“One of our scientists figured out how to breed Astrophage.”
++++++++++
It was actually impressive there was a way for this to get worse.
Grace had literally just thrown up. He was horribly jet lagged. All he wanted was to sit down and chug a bottle of water. But no, of course there was no rest for the wicked. Stratt led him into a conference room with what seemed to be every world representative ever. Even the guy he had insulted back in Denmark was here.
Nope. Nope. Absolutely not. He had immediately started to leave as soon as the room quieted. He was not doing this right now.
That’s when he made eye contact with Tony Goshdarn Stark.
Oh my god. Oh my god. There was no way Tony remembered him, right? I mean, Tony was a billionaire and literally Iron Man. It had been so weird seeing his old academic rival saving the world on TV. It wasn’t like Tony hadn’t been famous back in college, but that was for Stark Industries. There was a difference between scrolling past a news article about the company his dad had built and hearing he diverted a nuke from blowing up New York.
Tony had gained a million different problems since college. He couldn’t have remembered Grace, but that didn’t make it any less embarrassing that he looked like an absolute mess in front of an Avenger.
Grace gave his whole explanation on how the breeding process worked, pointedly ignoring Tony Stark. He seemed almost amused at how quickly Stratt gave Grace top secret clearance.
Tony was in fact amused, but also experiencing unparalleled levels of whiplash. He hadn’t been in a room with Ryland since they graduated. The last he heard of Grace, the guy had been expelled from academia for having way more balls than anyone else. He had a fiery stubbornness that was second only to Tony. In fact, Tony was nearly certain if he had said something like that he wouldn’t have gotten expelled.
Ryland could also be a massive asshole. He was incredibly smart, and he knew it too. It had been like looking into a mirror anytime they got into debates. Grace never backed down and loved proving Tony wrong (which he could unfortunately be very good at). As infuriating as Ryland had been, Tony found it thrilling that someone was able to actually keep up with him.
This version of Grace was like a polar opposite- at least from first impressions. Stratt had to literally push him back into the conference room to get him to share his findings. He made her say things for him instead of just talking into the mic. Whatever had happened after Ryland got kicked out, he had clearly been domesticated.
Grace had practically jumped out of his seat as soon as the meeting ended. He looked almost like a fox preparing to bolt, but Tony casually strided towards him before he could get the chance.
“Long time no see, Ry!” Tony smirked as he threw his arms open.
“Ahaha! Tony Stark! Yes. Uhm.” Grace wiped his sweaty palm on his pant leg as he laughed nervously. “Nice to meet you.”
“Oh don’t be like that.” Tony tilted his head, pouting. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember me.”
Grace cleared his throat.
“I…didn’t think you remembered me.”
“Wow, do you really think so little of me? Of course I remembered you!” He replied in mock offense, and watched as Ryland squirmed instead of biting back. The Ryland he knew would have said something along the lines of ‘Absolutely’ the moment Tony asked.
“Well. You know.” Grace gestured vaguely at Tony. “You’re a super hero.”
“And you’re one of the few people who can keep up with me.” Tony tilted his sunglasses down. Of course he was wearing sunglasses indoors. “Come on. It’s been what, twenty years? Let’s get a drink.”
Tony casually grabbed Ryland’s shoulder and escorted him out before he had the chance to refuse. He gave what looked like a “please help me” look to Stratt, who was in the middle of talking to the Dutch representative and most certainly did not care about whatever Grace had going on.
They ended up in the lower deck, where there was a bar stocked with drinks free for the taking. Tony poured himself a scotch.
“What do you want? Wine? Vodka?” There was a surprisingly large selection. Guess it made sense though- big boat and a whole lotta stress.
“Just a beer is fine.” Grace was twiddling his thumbs.
“Wow, twenty years and you still have no class.” Tony tutted as he poured Ryland a glass. He felt almost bad. Grace just kept taking it instead of bantering back. “So, what have you been doing with that brain of yours since Denmark?”
Ryland practically spat out his drink.
“You heard about that?” He quickly shoved his glasses back up.
“‘Course I heard about that, are you kidding? I would’ve loved to do the same thing.”
“I’ve uh, actually started teaching.” A warm fondness seeped through his voice.
“So you have been domesticated then. Raising the youth of America, huh?” He tipped his glass at Ryland.
“Something like that.” Grace shrugged. He took a sip of his beer, and his smile faltered. “At least what’s left of it.”
They both took a much longer sip of their drinks.
“Welp, that’s why we’re here, right?” Tony grabbed onto Ryland’s shoulder. “Not my first rodeo. This is light work.”
He wished they had Stephen right now. There would be no waiting game, no desperate attempts to reach light speed. They could just drop a team in Tau Ceti and instantly get news back. He was absolutely planning to use the Stark Relief Foundation to keep the world together in the mean time. He had more money than he knew what to do with anyway.
“I don’t know how you do it.” Ryland laughed, but it was a little pained. “I don’t have the uh…bravery gene you all have.”
“Oh don’t be modest.” Tony patted him on the back. Why did getting older make Tony so touchy? I guess they weren’t competing for summa cum laude anymore. “Working with kids everyday sounds worse than fighting aliens.”
“Teenagers, actually.”
“Even worse.” He crinkled his nose.
“You know, we were supposed to go on a field trip to Stark Industries before the Snap. One of my students had an internship there.” Tony’s mouth went dry. Peter had mentioned that field trip. He talked about how he wanted Tony to keep the trip casual. Oh my god, was Grace that biology teacher Peter brought up every now and again?
“Peter Parker?” Tony asked before he could stop himself.
“You knew the names of your interns?” Ryland’s eyebrows raised in surprise before his cheeks immediately turned red. “Not that you’re- you know. It’s just. You know-“
“God no.” He snorted as he stirred his glass. “Peter was special though. Bright kid. Only intern that was still in high school.”
“His whole friend group got blipped.” Grace sighed. “I don’t know. At least one of them wasn’t left alone, you know?”
The silence was heavy after that.