I mean, it's no Five Guys but it's better than most. This world likes you more than it does me.

[ he takes another bite and leans back in his chair ]

What's the last memory you have from home?

[That's a fairly ominous question, Tony. Natasha crosses her arms, balancing her mimosa glass carefully in her outside hand.]

The last memory I have is a conversation with you. "They're coming for you?"

[And then she'd got herself out of there.]

That's it. I left, then I was here.

--- I had a week off. Got back to that weird space-prison.

[ would that he could sugarcoat it only tony knows romanoff well enough to understand it would only piss her off.

he doesn't have good news for her, none at all. ]

It's not peachy back home.

[Finishing the mimosa and setting the glass aside before crossing her arms. There's a lot to glean just from that much.

She knows there's more.]

So what are we looking at?

Do you want the horrible news or the really bad news or the pretty-weird-but-overall-okay news?

[ there's some of those, too ]

Sounds like an awful full plate. [That's not new. The fact Tony is reacting to this means this is more than a standard threat.] Let's start with the horrible news.

Earth is under attack. FRIDAY, give her clearance to the latest video files

[ he gestures towards his computer. It's only a few shots FRIDAY has recorded - New York in dust, in ruin, a spaceship in the sky. ]

He's called Thanos. He was the one behind the New York attack. He sent his minions over, it's been fun.

[Natasha Romanoff is, in most respects, not what one would consider flappable. Quite the opposite. But that particular image of New York laid waste by a space ship has a resonance for her.]

And the really bad news?

He has a serious amount of power. Remember Thor's little speech about the Infinity Stones? Turns out he has two of them. He can harness their power.

[ he puts down the cheeseburger and sighs ]

Word is he took the one that was in the Tesseract from Thor. There's a chance he didn't make it.

So we also have to assume Thor's down. [One way or another. That's one asset they wouldn't be able to count on. Other considerations can wait for later.]

The okay news?

[Might as well get all of the cards on the table before she started taking score.]

Banner's back. There are wizards in the world and they're on our side.

[ that has to count, surely? ]

Pepper and I are engaged. Pick and choose, all those things are pretty okay.

Congratulations.

[The engagement is the easiest thing to respond to, and the only part of it that isn't complicated. The rest, she chews over.]

So you and Bruce and wizards fought that thing?

And the kid. He popped out of nowhere. Something about a field trip.

[ he watches the video before turning it off. The scenes are bad enough when they play in his head. He doesn't say anything else for a while, simply takes the rest of her mimosa and drinks it. ]

That's about it.

[ that's as much as he's willing to say, anyway. ]

The wizard has a stone, by the way, so there's that.

Could be worse. [And it could be much better. The Hulk, Spider-man, and wizards along with Tony and whatever version of his suit he's currently on. But it could be worse.]

I notice you said has. He still has it? [So the fight isn't over.]

As far as I know, he still has it. It's called the time stone, they have some weird new-age thing with it, they're sworn to protect it. Seriously, the wizard is a douche.

[ but, and he'll only tell her that: ]

He has a few tricks up his sleeve that aren't painfully tacky.

Hopefully he's got enough of them to hold out a while.

[She considers, organizing her thoughts carefully. The fact there's nothing she can do about it here looms over the conversation.]

What's the outlook?

I don't know. We have two stones that we know of, the wizard has the Time Stone, Vision has the Mind Stone, there's that. I haven't met Thanos but fun fact: the big guy doesn't want to come out after that one encounter they had.

[ he holds her gaze ]

Not great. I may not be around to help much.

[Voice level and professional, but the concern isn't entirely hidden in her eyes.]

Just where do you expect to be, Tony?

Remember the flying donut?

[ he looks ahead for a moment more before he meets her eyes again. She may not be Pepper but he hates telling her all of this when they're here, when it's all so far away and out of their control. ]

I'm sorry. I'm hoping it's not a one-way trip.

You're on that thing? [It's obvious. She says it anyway, searching his face for confirmation. It raises so many questions—how for one, and why for another.]

You don't owe me an apology. [Pepper on the other hand... Natasha keeps that to herself for the moment.]

Do we know were Vision is in all this?

Me and the wizard and the kid.

[ it's a damn field trip isn't it. ]

I don't know about Vision. He hadn't contacted me in a while. I was about to call Rogers, figured he could talk to Wanda about it but then the spaceships arrived and things got really fun.

So you and Steve... [It's not a question. She doesn't have to ask it because she can see the answer—it would take something like an alien invasion to get them talking again. She's just looking for confirmation.]

I didn't get to talk to him at home. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I was stuck on a spaceship.

[ but -- ]

We're cool here.

[ he had to make an effort. he still does. ]

[That's not exactly what she was asking, but it answers the question either way. Both ways.]

That's reassuring to hear you say.

Don't compliment me,

[ he waves his hand, dismissive, slightly annoyed ]

You know a part of me hates it. We're not friends but we can get the job done if we need to.