This was never, ever meant to be a multi-chapter fic, but I started writing it and quickly realized this story has a mind of its own. Carol Danvers got real into her feels about the Stark family and there was no turning back. While this story, at its heart, is about the Stark family, you can expect some of your favorite non-OG6 Avengers to show up. Well, okay, you can probably expect your favorite OG6 Avengers to show up too.

Chapter 1: Let's Go To Work

Carol stood on the steps of the Stark family lake house, looking around at all of the wonderful, crazy, amazing people she had been working with for the past 5 years. They all had a story; they all had things in their lives that led them to where they were standing right now.

Then she remembers where she is standing and her eyes settle on Morgan and Pepper. They were still standing near the lake and Pepper was holding Morgan in her arms, as Morgan buried her face in her mother's neck while she sobbed.

Pepper pressed a kiss to the side of Morgan's head and Carol could see that she was crying too. Pepper had kept her composer pretty well in the days since Tony's death, even though she was grieving and facing a life without the person she loved; left alone to raise their daughter.

Carol felt Nick's hand on her shoulder and the presence of Maria Hill behind her.

"He loved them so much..." she said, as she watched Peter Parker hover a few feet away from Pepper and Morgan; ready to jump up and do anything they needed him to.

Nick chuckled from beside her, "one of the first times I sat down and spoke with him was right after he handed the company over to her. I think the whole world knew then that he loved her."

Carol watched Maria rush off the porch and across the yard to Pepper's side, as the woman began to cry uncontrollably along with her daughter. Maria waved all the superheroes off when they started to gather around the pair. They were all on edge, ready to take the next bullet, bomb or mad titan for Pepper and Morgan.

Carol and Nick stood to the side as Maria helped Pepper and Morgan inside. Maria gave a brief glance at Nick, to which he simply nodded. It was a silent request for privacy, which the grieving family hadn't received much of in the days following the battle.

"I have to do something," Carol said, as she stared at the door Maria had closed behind her.

"There is nothing you can do. It's over." Nick said.

"No. I don't believe that. He should be here with them. They should be a family. That little girl had her father when she went to bed one night and the next he wasn't there to tuck her in because he was dead. He's dead, Nick. We came to him and asked for his help one last time and he ended up dying for it."

"He knew that was a risk and he took it."

Carol shook her head, "look around you at all of the people who would trade places with Tony if they could, so that he could be here with Morgan and Pepper. I even saw the Winter Soldier crying when he looked at Morgan's little face. No one wanted this."

"Danvers—"

"Captain."

Nick rolled his good eye at her, "Captain, of course no one wanted this, but it was the only way."

"What about Gamora? Nebula brought a Gamora from another timeline and that didn't hurt anything."

"That's not the problem," a voice came from behind her. She turned her head just slightly and noticed it was Doctor Strange who had spoken.

"Then what's the problem?" Carol asked, as she turned to face him.

"In the timelines we could take Tony from..." he began to explain.

Nick cut him off, "in those timelines either Pepper doesn't exist or she meets him too late."

"Too late for what?"

"To save him. In the timelines we could take him from, if we attempt to go to a point where we could take him, he's either dead or dying." Stephen finished his explanation.

"I don't understand."

"Either the world has ended because Tony and Pepper never met, or there's some sort of epic catastrophe standing in her way and she can't reach him."

Carol listened to Nick, and for a moment she was stunned to silence. How epic could one love be that to go without it would be a choice between dying or destroying the world? In this world, this timeline, he chose death.

This is the most fragile of all the timelines. One wrong move could send this world spiraling out of control. One wrong step and this could all just disappear; turn to ash in an instant. Morgan could cease to exist. This lake house and the life Tony built with Pepper here could cease to exist.

Their love could cease to exist, and wouldn't that be something? A love that ceases to exist because a butterfly flapped its wings in China.

"Then we travel back to the battle and I'll take the gauntlet. I can handle the snap. I won't die from it." Carol wasn't actually sure she wouldn't die from it, but even if she knew she would, she'd do it anyway.

"No." Nick responded; the word came out harshly, like he was angry with her.

"When I close my eyes, I can see him there on the ground. I can see Pepper kneeling down in front of him and I can hear her telling him he could rest. I can hear her crying and I can still feel her struggling in my arms when I had to pull her away so they could take his body. There's always a chance I could die going into a mission and that's never stopped me. Why should it stop me now?"

She crossed her arms and looked at Nick defiantly, but he wasn't having it.

"You protect the universe and it needs you. I can't let you risk your life over this. People die, Carol. I couldn't protect Tony from that, but I can still protect you!" He shouted.

When Carol's eyes flashed a bright orange, Stephen stepped between them. Everyone had turned their attention to the three of them; Carol's eyes burning bright as Nick stood his ground.

An eerie silence descended over everyone, like the calm before the storm. The only sound that broke through was a child, wailing for her father. Time stood still for a moment and everyone held their breath.

It was Nebula who moved through the crowd first, pushing past the others and rushing inside to Morgan. Carol caught a brief glimpse of her gathering the child in her arms before the door closed again.

Stephen was the first to speak, "I'll take the gauntlet."

"I can't let you do that, Doctor." Nick said, as though he had any power over the man at all.

"I'm not asking. The universe does need Carol, but Morgan needs her father and Pepper needs her husband."

Bucky Barnes took the first step forward, "I'll take the gauntlet."

"No he won't," Steve Rogers spoke from behind him.

The two men shared a look before the Winter Soldier spoke again, "I owe him, Steve."

"I'll take the gauntlet." The voice came from Sam Wilson, who took a step forward as he spoke.

"I'll take the gauntlet." The talking raccoon offered from the back of the crowd.

Carol could practically hear Peter Quill roll his eyes.

"Are you going to put your whole body in it? I'll take the gauntlet." Quill said. When he stepped forward, the remaining guardians moved in sync, wordlessly offering their services in exchange for Tony's life.

Carol turned her attention back to Nick, "are you going to stand in our way?"

Nick gave a long suffering sigh. Carol knew he must have been exhausted from dealing with insubordinate superheroes, but this wasn't something she was willing to back down on. He gave a slight shake of his head and that was all Carol needed before she stepped off the porch and began gathering the others.

"We should speak with my father." Carol heard Hope say to Scott. She watched them both walk off in search of Hank. They were going to need all the Pym particles they could get.

Carol spared a moment to look at the men and women who surrounded her. It was a ragtag team of superheroes, most of which hadn't been around the last five years. They'd never seen the way Tony looked at his daughter and his wife; the pure adoration on his face as though he couldn't believe, even after all this time, that a woman like Pepper could love him and that they had created this perfect little person who loved him unconditionally.

Carol was startled from her thoughts when Nebula came barreling out the door and down the steps of the lake house.

"I will wield the gauntlet."

Something in Nebula's voice left no room for argument. The only thing Carol could do was give a slight nod in her direction.

"Let's go to work."