A/N: Hi guys! Thanks for all the support. I'm so pleased that Tori got such lovely feedback last time.

It had been six months since she'd last stood in the living quarters that she and Steve had called home. In the wake of her break with Tony, the two of them had consciously kept out of each other's way: she had retreated to Avengers Tower; he went to the facility in Upstate New York. She had wanted to reach out to him every day since Siberia, but she had vowed to herself to respect his wish for distance even though it tore at her heart to do so. But today they would speak. They had to. Otherwise everything they'd been working on for the last few years would have been for nothing.

Hermione took a couple more minutes to let her eyes travel over the rooms where she and Steve had begun their journey as a married couple. Everything was exactly as they had left it before their flight to meet the UN about the Accords but she'd known nothing would have changed: their quarters had been sealed through both muggle and magical means on their departure. Yet so much had changed for her since she had last been able to look around at all the memories that adorned their rooms and feel the warmth of the sunlight as it reflected off the surface of the lake. She took a moment to open Steve's wardrobe and ran her fingers along the fabric of the clothes within, smiling at the familiar scent of him despite the ache in her chest. Would he ever be able to come back here?

She re-sealed the door as she left and tried to ignore the clenching in her gut as she travelled the familiar path to the conference room. They could have easily met in the more relaxed setting of the communal area given the small number of people attending, but Hermione didn't feel that the tone of the meeting was quite right for lounging on sofas and armchairs.

Rhodey was already sitting waiting for her in the conference room and the sight of him helped ease her anxiety a little.

"What's up, Honeybee?" he greeted warmly when she entered the room. She smiled at the term he used for her, founded as a result of his phone autocorrecting her name a few months back. He stood and they embraced, and then he pulled back to view her. "You're looking well," he complimented her, looking pleased.

"Thanks."

Rhodey nodded. "I'm glad that Nepal has turned out to be the real deal for you - I thought it all looked a bit bogus, to be honest."

Hermione shrugged. "I've already told you - I think that was the point. The Masters only showed you what you expected to see so that you could report back to the UN that it was safe for me to base myself out there for a while. If Ross really knew what the students of Kamar-Taj are capable of, he would be terrified of the 'so-called' threat he would assume they pose."

He raised his brows in surprise. "And here I thought you were just doing lots of meditating and finding inner peace. What did I miss?"

Hermione smirked and wondered where to begin, but then she noticed that Vision and Tony were approaching. Her eyes met Tony's through the glass wall and her former unease instantly returned to twist her gut painfully.

Rhodey noticed the abrupt change in her demeanour and glanced over his shoulder to see what had caused it. He turned back to her with a knowing expression and squeezed her arm supportively. "All right, Bee, you've got this," he told her quietly as the door swung open again. "It's been a long time coming and now, hopefully, we can all move on."

Hermione nodded stiffly, her eyes still fixed on Tony. She swallowed with difficulty and tried to adopt a relaxed and pleasant expression, but her body wasn't responding to her wishes.

"Hermione, it's good to see you here again," Vision said, momentarily taking her focus away from Tony. "I trust that you are keeping well."

"Yes, thank you, Vision," she replied, inclining her head at him, aware that Tony and Rhodey were greeting each other next to her. "And I hope all's well with you too."

"I can't complain," he said politely before turning to Rhodey.

Hermione took a moment to gather herself before she looked at Tony again. She could feel his gaze boring into her and she forced herself to meet it. When their eyes met this time, her heart clenched at the absence of warmth and affection that she was accustomed to feeling from him, of the lost friendship of someone who was so very dear to her and always would be. There was no hatred in his gaze, no deep anguish - but there was still pain. She wasn't surprised and it cut her deeply, but somehow that was better than him treating her with indifference. It showed that he hadn't completely thrown away their connection - there was something there that she might be able to salvage.

"Rogers," Tony greeted tightly, his eyes scanning her face. Rhodey bumped into him as he made his way to his seat and muttered a quick apology. Tony shot his friend a quick look before refocusing on her. "Hermione," he said a bit more cordially.

"Tony," she said softly. There was so much that she wanted to say to him but she didn't think that he wanted to hear it. So instead she said, "Thank you for agreeing to have this meeting."

He shrugged and undid the button of his suit jacket before taking a seat. "This is what we do, right? It's our job to talk about these things. I take it you've found out something important."

"Yes, I have," she said seriously, moving round the table to take a seat of her own. "And I'll get straight to the point - I've found another Infinity Stone."

Understandably, all three of them looked surprised. Tony leant across the table towards her. "What? Here on Earth?"

She nodded. "Yes. From what I've been told, it's been here for thousands of years."

"Have you got it with you?" Rhodey asked, his eyes scanning her over as if trying to spot it.

She shook her head. "No. It's still safe where I found it."

"And where's that?" Tony questioned.

"Nepal," she replied.

"Ah," Rhodey said with the beginning of comprehension.

Tony glanced at him and then back to Hermione. "Nepal?" he repeated.

She nodded. "It's been in the custody of the Masters of the Mystic Arts for centuries."

"Ahhh," Rhodey said again. "Well, that definitely wasn't on my grand tour of the compound," he said, sharing a look of amusement with Hermione.

"You've heard of these Masters?" Vision asked him.

"Yeah, but only because Hermione put in a request to the UN's Security Council to study with them," Rhodey explained. "Ross sent me over to Kathmandu to check that she wasn't up to anything duplicitous. It looked like what I would expect a remote, Himalayan 'house of wisdom' to be like - killer views, of course."

Hermione smiled. He wasn't wrong: the views of the mountains from Kamar-Taj were breathtaking.

"But I take it you were being duplicitous," Tony said, and Hermione hoped that she was imagining a note of accusation in his voice. Either way, her smile vanished at once and her shoulders tensed defensively. "I'm guessing it wasn't just a normal 'house of wisdom', was it?"

Rhodey frowned. "Tony - Ross didn't give a damn about what she was studying: he sent me out there to look for any sign of Cap. And in case you were wondering, there wasn't any: not that first trip, not the two random drop-ins I did, nor on the security cameras Ross had set up on all the exits. So, no, Hermione wasn't guilty of anything deceitful in Nepal."

Hermmione sent Rhodey a grateful smile and Tony shifted awkwardly in his seat. "I wasn't implying..." he muttered.

"It's OK. You weren't exactly far off the mark," Hermione admitted quietly, her insides writhing a little as she looked at Tony. "Omission is familiar territory for me, right?" His mouth tightened at her words but she continued, "And Kamar-Taj is more than what it seems."

"The Mystic Arts," Vision said, "What exactly does that involve?"

"Well, put simply, it's a different branch of magic," she said. "One that muggles can access." She could see that they were all very intrigued.

"And when you say muggle magic, we're not talking about card tricks or pulling rabbits out of hats, are we?" Tony asked.

"No," she answered. "This is the real deal."

"And you've known about this place the whole time?" Vision asked.

She shook her head. "No, I had no idea. As far as I'm aware, my magical community has no clue about what is taught at Kamar-Taj. The Masters have kept themselves extremely well hidden."

"But how did you find out about them?" Vision questioned.

"I didn't find them," she revealed. "They found me…"

Hermione looked along the table at the assembled department heads of the Aid Relief wing of Stranger Enterprises. "The World Health Organization is fast tracking all tests on the pharmaceuticals that have come out of last month's trip to Wakanda. If all goes well, they will be made available for use by the end of the calendar year. I want to hit the ground running with this, Alison. You've got the list of medicines being trialled so I want to see a new report every two weeks of where in the world each of those drugs is going to be most needed, and plans for how they can be administered most effectively."

The bespectacled woman halfway down the table nodded and made a note on her tablet. "Sure thing, Hermione."

"Alright, that's it for today," Hermione told the men and women before her. "Thank you for all of your hard work, as always."

The room was filled with the sound of chairs scraping backwards and muttered farewells as her employees departed. Hermione was easily the youngest amongst them but she liked to hope that any initial qualms her staff may have had about working under her had been swept away over the last couple of years.

"Hermione Rogers," a soft voice spoke behind her. Hermione paused in collecting her possessions, instantly alert with her magic at her fingertips because something felt off. When she turned to see a hooded figure in loose, yellow robes that were most unlike those worn in the wizarding world, her unease wasn't diminished. The figure lowered their hood and Hermione felt something indescribable sweep down her spine as her eyes met those of her visitor. The pale figure's appearance would be quite startling on its own due to a completely bald head and dark, mystic eyes, but the aura they were giving off was quite unlike anything Hermione had ever experienced before. The stranger smiled. "I have long looked forward to this day."

Hermione still wasn't reassured.

The visitor (whom Hermione believed to be a woman) sensed this because she smiled and said amiably, "I understand your caution but I do not intend you any harm - if I did, I would have done so whilst your back was turned, wouldn't I?"

"Then why have you come here?" Hermione asked, still keeping her magic on alert just in case. "Who are you?"

The stranger frowned lightly. "I wonder if it might be easier to show you," she said conversationally and looked to Hermione for her opinion.

"Er, yes, all right," she agreed cautiously.

The strange woman smiled again and then made a sharp vertical motion with her hands moving in opposite directions. A thin, glowing line appeared in the air between them. The stranger moved her hands again and more fiery patterns grew from the first line until a complicated shape was created. Hermione stared at it, the energy projecting from the glowing symbols making her skin tingle pleasantly. She reached her fingers upwards and, after an encouraging nod from the other woman, moved her hand closer to the projection. Despite the way that it glowed and crackled, it gave off no heat. Just as her fingers were about to pass through it, the stranger made another motion and the air between the connected symbols became translucent and Hermione's hand met a solid force, like a shield. The stranger pushed the projection forwards slightly and the strength of the barrier forced Hermione to take a couple of steps back. With another wave of a hand, the glowing symbols fizzled away into nothingness.

"That - that was amazing," Hermione admitted. "I've never seen technology like that."

"It wasn't technology. It does draw on energy but not in the way that you think."

Hermione shook her head. "I don't understand."

"And yet you are able to achieve impressive feats the same way," the stranger told her, confusing Hermione further until she clarified, "through spells."

Hermione gasped. "It's magic?"

"Yes," she smiled.

"But I've never seen anything like that," Hermione said, frowning. There had been no wand, no incantation. Then she realised that this woman knew that she was the Sorceress and her wariness returned once more. "Why are you here? How do you know about me?"

"Hermione, I told you I have been looking forward to our meeting for a long time. I've known about you since before you were born - long before even your grandparents were born," the stranger told her, making her feel as though her stomach had dropped away. "To those I teach, I am known as the Ancient One or the Sorceress Supreme, and that is why I am here: to offer you the opportunity to discover what more you are capable of."

Hermione's mind was trying to process the astonishing, crazy words that she'd just heard. "S-Sorceress Supreme?" she stuttered and the Ancient One smiled.

"I don't mind sharing part of my title with you," she said. "I think you've more than earned it."

"You don't consider yourself to be a," she hesitated, not liking to use the word outside the world she was so protective of, "a witch?"

"No, I am not like you in that way," the Ancient One revealed, making Hermione's heart hammer in her chest. "I do not have the ability to perform your spells."

"But you think I can master yours?" Hermione asked eagerly.

The Ancient One nodded. "Anyone with belief and discipline can master the Mystic Arts, but I warn you, you will not find it easy: it will require you unlearning so much of what you already think you know."

"About what?"

"About the universe; about yourself; about what is possible…"

Tony was frowning at her. "So this random woman breaks into your office, makes some pretty lights, says some very crazy things, and you hightail it to Nepal at the first opportunity?"

"Not quite," Hermione said. "I was definitely intrigued, but I also had a lot of reservations because of my commitments to Stranger Enterprises, the UN and the fight against Thanos. But after thinking about it for a while, I realised that any new skills that I could use to stop him, new allies I could bring to the fight, would be worth it. So I submitted my request to the Security Council and I'm now working around my studies so that nothing suffers in my absence."

"You can do some of this new type of magic?" Vision asked.

Hermione nodded. Her first few days in Kamar-Taj had been as frustrating as the Ancient One had predicted. Opening her mind to the concept of infinite universes, powers older than time itself and drawing energy from other dimensions of the Multiverse to create spells. It was simply a matter of belief and perseverance. She studied hard, absorbing as much from the ancient texts as she could, but it wasn't until she saw the Sling Rings being used for the first time (and realised the possibilities they presented for her) that her desire to succeed really set in. Within two hours of seeing the glowing rings, she successfully cast her first spell and had progressed rapidly ever since. "I would show you but that's not why we're here. Last week, the Ancient One showed me one of their ancient relics: the Eye of Agomotto."

"A Stone?" Tony asked.

Hermione nodded. "The time stone."

"Time?" Rhodey repeated, looking troubled. "And does it do what I think it does?"

"Yes," she said grimly. "The Ancient One told me that the Eye can manipulate the Stone to modify the flow of time, but," she added quickly at the alarmed faces, "using it is forbidden. The Masters don't go against the natural order of things."

"That's not overly reassuring," Tony muttered. "We're talking about powerful sorcerers capable of changing time. That's not safe."

"Tony, I told you, it's been safely under the protection of the Masters for centuries," Hermione pointed out. "Let's face it - they've done a better job at keeping people safe than we have."

His lips slid into a momentary scowl. "Touché," he muttered.

"If I'm not mistaken," Vision said, "That means the whereabouts of five of the Infinity Stones are known to us."

"Yes," Hermione agreed. "The Power Stone is on Xandar, the Space Stone is enclosed within the Tesseract on Asgard, the Aether - the Reality Stone - is on Knowhere and the Time Stone joins the Mind Stone here on Earth," she finished, her eyes straying to the yellow glow set in Vision's forehead. "The Masters already knew about the existence of the Stones but not what had become of them - except the Time Stone, of course."

"The sixth Stone," Tony said, "What is its power?"

"It's called the Soul Stone," she revealed. "Alleged to be capable of manipulating the soul and conjuring up spiritual representations of the dead." To her, it sounded like a horrible mix of the Imperius Curse and the Resurrection Stone, and she couldn't repress a shiver.

"That's… dark," Rhodey murmured. "Thank God that one hasn't reared its ugly, haunted head."

Tony rubbed at his chin, looking pensive. "Now we know what it's called and what it does, maybe we should pass it onto Thor - ask him to try and track it down."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Rhodey asked. "Normally when someone gets their hands on one of the Stones there's chaos. If it's hidden away somewhere then maybe that's safer."

"I agree, but what if someone with bad intentions gets it?" Tony posed. "I'd rather it was in our hands than some psycho who's going to be playing with our souls and raising armies of ghosts."

"Someone like Thanos?" Vision asked.

Tony shrugged. "He's got history with the Stones, hasn't he? But if the last few years have proved anything, he's not the only whackjob out there."

"I've tried to contact Thor," Hermione said, earning her a surprised look from Tony.

"You thought the same as me?"

"Not exactly," she answered. "I wanted to warn him about its capabilities in case it followed the trend of the other Stones and made an unwanted appearance. I've tried communicating with Asgard but there's been no response. However, I had more success with the Benatar - I thought they should be warned too."

"The Benatar?" Rhodey asked.

"My Guardians," Hermione explained, a small smile tugging at her lips…

Hermione held the device high in the Nepalese air. She doubted that it would make any difference to her attempts to link with the Benatar but she was at the end of her tether. Theoretically, the communication device should work across all reaches of the galaxy but it was becoming increasingly temperamental. Perhaps it was in need of repair.

"Yo, what's up, Granger?" Peter Quill's voice suddenly sounded from the device above her head. "Wait - where are you?"

Hermione quickly brought the screen down to her face and felt a ripple of contentment at the sight of him peering at her. "I'm here - sorry. How are you? It's been a long time." And it had been. Hermione remembered speaking with her friends not long after her trial in front of the Confederation, and then once more a few months later where she'd heard all about their encounter with Quill's father, Ego. But nearly a year had passed since then - she hadn't even known she was pregnant the last time they'd all talked.

"Yeah, it has, but we're all good," Quill said cheerfully, as he kept half an eye on the controls of the ship. "No major life-threatening escapades for a while, just a couple of minor ones."

Hermione smiled. "And was Rocket to blame?"

"What do you think?" Quill scoffed and Hermione laughed.

"Why are my ears burning?" a familiar voice called off-screen.

"Because you've got cyber-fleas," Quill claimed before Rocket came into view.

"No I ain't," the raccoon retorted gruffly and then he caught sight of Hermione. "Who's the broad?"

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Really?" Quill asked impatiently. "Isn't this getting a little old now?"

"What?" Rocket shrugged. "I don't recall ever seeing her before - I have a short memory."

"We both know that's a crock of shit," Quill said. "You don't forget a thing."

"So if I have met this humie before," Rocket continued, ignoring Quill, "it was so long ago that it's like it never happened; like someone deserted us and never looked back."

Hermione would be touched at Rocket's weird but familiar expression of missing her if he wasn't being a bit of an asshole about it. "I'm sorry, Rocket. I'll try and get in touch more often."

"You think I just want to see your face?" Rocket asked and then burst into laughter. "That's hilarious! You always were too sentimental."

"Remember me now, do you?" Hermione said wryly.

"Certain things are coming back to me," he agreed with a sniff, "Like how you had magic powers that would make any job in the galaxy a piece of cake to pull off. Now that would be worth having round here instead of most of these other idiots."

"Jackass," Quill muttered as he made an adjustment to the Benatar's controls.

"So, how about it, Granger? Fancy rejoining your abandoned team for a little bit of fun? I'm sure we could make it worth your while if we find the right mark," Rocket suggested.

"As appealing as you make it sound to be back in your company, Rocket, it has to be a no, I'm afraid," she answered with little sensitivity. "I have a life here - family who need me."

Rocket waved a dismissive paw. "You can leave them for a year or two, can't you? They're not going to miss you."

"No, Rocket," Hermione said firmly.

He made a disgruntled noise and left the cockpit, muttering to himself about 'selfish witches'.

"Sorry about him," Quill said, "You know how he gets when he hasn't been able to blow something up for a while."

"Oh, I remember," she replied with a sigh.

"So, how's tricks?" he asked amiably. "Anything interesting happened on my home planet recently? Is there a new dance move?"

Hermione briefly considered trying to explain meme culture to him and how dance trends popped up all over the place, but she didn't really know where to begin. She settled, instead, for showing him how to dab.

"Oh, yeah," Quill murmured, striking the required pose a few times. "This is a real power move." He tried it with his arms pointing in the other direction. "I wonder if I have a better side. Hey, Gamora," he called, "What do you think?" Hermione saw her sister climb into the cockpit, watching Quill with a confused expression. "Which way looks better?" He demonstrated dabbing to his left and right and looked at Gamora expectantly.

"What exactly am I looking at, Peter?" she asked eventually, with a touch of weary amusement.

Quill nodded his head in Hermione's direction. "New dance move from home."

Gamora smiled at the sight of her sister and walked past Quill's continued posing. "Hermione," she said warmly, "it's so good to see you, sister. We miss you."

"I miss you all too."

Gamora held up a pausing hand. "Hang on, I'll be right back, you'll want to see this."

Hermione waited curiously for a few seconds and then Gamora returned to the cockpit with Groot in tow. Hermione gasped when she saw how he had grown to a height nearing Gamora's waist.

"See, here she is, Groot," Gamora said, indicating the screen. "I told you."

"Groot - you've gotten so big!" Hermione exclaimed as he paused in his cheerful waving to clamber onto the co-pilot chair to see her better.

"I am Groot," he said, taking a breath and standing as straight as a rod to show off his height.

"I can see," she agreed. "Definitely not a baby anymore."

He looked at her proudly. "I am Groot." He ducked out of sight for a second and there was suddenly the familiar sound of music being played in the Benatar. Groot shuffled back into view, grooving to the beat of the funky song.

Hermione laughed as he waved his arms above his head and jumped up and down. "Look at you go!"

"Ooh, good song choice," Quill called, coming back into view and similarly strutting his stuff. "Do you remember," he sang along with the music, "the twenty-first night of September?"

Quill shuffled his way over to Gamora, obviously keen to get her involved as Earth, Wind and Fire's 'September' continued to blast out. Gamora's previously stern expression at Quill's antics dissolved into a grin and she let him lead her in a few moves.

"Granger, you better be shaking that butt right now," Quill called out to her as they built up to the first chorus.

Hermione glanced around at her surroundings amid the grounds of Kamar-Taj, only just realising that the music was disrupting the peace and tranquility normally favoured in the compound. "Errr, hang on," she called. She'd walked out of her room onto the long veranda in pursuit of a connection, but she hurried back to the lodgings and quickly cast a couple of wards so that she wouldn't disturb the other students at Kamar-Taj.

"Ba de ya, say do you remember," Quill sang, twirling Gamora under his arm, "Ba de ya, dancing in September."

"Ba de ya, never was a cloudy day!" Hermione joined in with a grin, levitating the communication device so that she could relive her time on the Benatar by having a good dance and momentarily forgetting her worries. Quill cheered when he saw her dancing and then he showed Groot how to dab so that they could do it in time with the music. By the time the song had ended, Hermione's cheeks ached from the amount of smiling she had done.

"Thank you, Groot," Hermione said a little breathlessly. "I needed that."

"I am Groot."

"No, I don't dance very often," she answered, taking a seat at her desk. "I don't really have the time. Things are…" she hesitated, "busy and a little strained here."

"What's going on?" Gamora asked in concern.

"That would take a while to explain," Hermione replied. "And maybe I will another time but, er, there's actually something that I want to talk to you about alone." She looked a little guiltily at Quill, not wanting to force him or Groot out of the conversation, but he didn't look particularly upset.

"Come on Groot," he said, beckoning to the little tree, "Let's teach Mantis our new dance."

Groot waved at Hermione and then jumped down from the seat to follow Quill.

Once they were gone, Hermione told her sister about the discovery of the Time Stone and her new knowledge of the sixth Stone. "So I wanted you to know what you could be up against if it's discovered."

Gamora's face was carefully devoid of emotion. Hermione wondered if her sister also associated the Stones with Thanos. Neither liked talking about him and it was therefore understandable why her sister was so stony.

The sisters were silently lost in their own thoughts for a few moments until Hermione had to ask, "Have you any idea what Thanos is plotting next? I've been doing everything I can think of to try and get Earth ready in case he attacks. I can feel in my bones that it's only a matter of time - that he'll want revenge on me and the planet that has defied him before. Stopping him is my top priority," she admitted and then, despite her earlier words about postponing a description of her troubles, she found herself telling Gamora all about the Accords and her self-inflicted separation from her family. "I don't think anybody else really understands why I'm doing it," she admitted tearfully. "Why I'm going to do whatever it takes to stop my worst nightmare coming true no matter how much it costs me."

"I know," Gamora told her softly. "I saw how much losing everything had broken you. How you had to become someone else to just survive and live to fight another day. It's OK, Hermione."

Hermione wiped at her eyes and sniffed loudly. "Thank you, sister."

Gamora looked at her contemplatively and then she leaned forward in the co-pilot's seat. "You know what Thanos's end goal is."

Hermione shook her head. "I don't," she denied. "He's just a megalomaniac that wants to wipe out half the galaxy," she said, throwing out the familiar phrases.

"Literally, Hermione," Gamora stressed. "He literally wants to destroy half of all life in the universe. It's not just an expression."

"What?" she gasped.

Gamora painfully explained about Thanos's attack on her home world, and his long obsession with bringing balance to the universe.

"But- but that's insane," Hermione insisted. "He can't possibly hope to achieve that."

"He can," Gamora explained, "With the combined power of the Infinity Stones."

Hermione's mind felt like it was buzzing as it tried to take in the concept. "H-he wants them all?" she stuttered, and if she hadn't already been sat on the bed she knew she would have collapsed onto it. "He'd be unstoppable..."

The grave expression on Gamora's face showed that this was true.

"Oh God," Hermione groaned, hiding her face in her hands, "oh God, oh God." She could feel some sort of panic taking over her.

"Hermione," Gamora said firmly, "it's not going to happen."

"Five Stones are already out there," Hermione stated breathlessly, looking at her sister, "if the whereabouts of the Soul Stone is discovered - "

"Hermione," Gamora said sharply. "Thanos won't find the Soul Stone."

Gamora's meaningful look was lost on Hermione. "How can you know that? It could be anywhere. All these other Stones have popped out of obscurity in the last few years. This one will surely follow."

"Stop panicking and listen to me," Gamora snapped. The harshness of the tone finally broke through Hermione's panic and she did as told. Gamora glanced around the cockpit and pulled the screen closer so the chance of them being overheard was reduced even further. "When Thanos first began his quest to discover the Stones, he entrusted the search for the Soul Stone to me."

Hermione let out a ragged breath. "You couldn't find it," she deduced but at her sister's poignant stare she clutched a hand to her heart. "You found it?"

"After a long and seemingly endless search, I found the only map revealing its location," Gamora admitted tightly.

"You know where Soul Stone is?" Hermione asked faintly, feeling lightheaded.

Gamora nodded. "But I burnt the map and told Thanos that I had been unsuccessful with my search."

"He doesn't know about the map you saw?"

"No."

"Does anyone else?"

Gamora paused. "Nebula."

Hermione groaned at the sound of their sister's name. "Nebula?! Nebula knows?"

"She isn't going to tell Thanos - I think she loathes him more than either of us do," Gamora revealed but Hermione wasn't particularly reassured. "She's not as bad as when you knew her: she's mellowed somewhat, and helped us on more than one occasion. Look," she continued at Hermione's skeptical expression, "the point is that Thanos isn't going to get the Soul Stone. He's never going to be aware that I know and even if he did, I would die before revealing its location, Hermione. I promise you."

Hermione stared into her sister's intense gaze. After a few seconds, she nodded, accepting Gamora's vow.

"After his failed exploits with the Stones in the past, I don't think he'll make another move for them unless he's confident he can get them all," Gamora told her. "You and I both know that hardly makes him any less dangerous, but I'm telling you about his inability to acquire the Soul Stone because I don't want you to miss out on living your life in fear of something that might never come to pass. He knows Earth is well protected and those two Stones will give him pause for thought. An attack on Earth would be no small feat even for Thanos. So make whatever preparations you can, Hermione, but don't forget to enjoy the life you thought was gone for good..."

Hermione saw echoes of her own reaction on the horrified faces of the three men after she revealed Thanos's desire to collect the Stones and the purpose behind it.

"But before you panic like I did, apparently Thanos's attempts to locate the Soul Stone have yielded no results," Hermione told them. In order to keep it hidden from Thanos, Hermione had promised Gamora not to tell anyone that she'd memorised the location of the Soul Stone. Hermione hated to think what he would do to Gamora to try and make her reveal the truth. "It's truly lost."

"Well, that's something," Tony muttered. "But we can't afford to believe that's always going to be the case. We need to plan for the worst case scenario - that Thanos is going to come here for those two Stones."

Hermione nodded. "That's why I called us together. Now we know what his ultimate aim is, it makes it easier to put a fight back in place." She looked sympathetically at Vision. Hearing that a genocidal warlord wanted to rip the Stone from his head must be deeply disconcerting.

"Let's start with the Time Stone," Rhodey suggested, also throwing a concerned look Vision's way before refocusing on Hermione. "How do you rate its current protection should Thanos show up?"

Hermione frowned. "Personally, I don't think it's anywhere near enough. I told the Ancient One about Thanos's aim, and I know she understands the seriousness of the threat, but she didn't seem willing to discuss the possibility of the Stone being taken out of their possession even to help defend it. The Masters of the Mystic Arts pledge their lives to defending what lies within the Sanctums and they are trained in combat, but the eye of Agomotto spends most of its time on a plinth in the library," she revealed, the frustration evident in her voice. "So, I have a few spells of my own that I'm going to request to put in place to help protect the Stone that don't involve removing it from Kamar-Taj. That's the best I can do for now but I'll keep lobbying for more."

"Right," Tony nodded, "Yeah, you keep badgering those wizards - if you can't persuade them to hand over the Stone then I don't know who could."

"But what would you propose we do with it should it come into our possession?" Vision enquired.

"Surely the failsafe way to stop Thanos from getting his hands on it would be to destroy it," Rhodey pointed out. "He can't add it to his rock collection if it doesn't exist anymore, can he? Do you think it could be done?" he asked Hermione.

"I've already thought of that," she said. "And even if we just put to one side the immense energy surge that would no doubt be created from destroying such a powerful object, I'm not sure it would actually do what we intend."

Tony frowned. "What do you mean?"

"They're always talked of as Stones - solid objects. But the Reality Stone currently exists as the Aether," she reminded them. "A fluid."

"You think someone already tried to destroy it when it was a Stone and the Aether was the result," Rhodey posed.

"It's certainly possible," Hermione agreed. "What's more - Thor and I attempted to destroy the Aether. Our efforts only temporarily shattered the fluid before it reformed once more."

"So breaking the physical form of the Stone doesn't destroy its properties," Tony mused.

"No," she said. "And it might only release something worse."

"Huh," Rhodey muttered, "So, destroying the Stones is out - what else have we got?"

They stayed in the conference room for another hour mooting different possibilities with various degrees of hope until their brains felt like they'd been temporarily exhausted.

"Well, now begs the question of what we tell Secretary Ross and our overseers at the UN," Vision said.

Hermione glanced at the others apprehensively. They knew that it was in her nature to keep things close to her chest, but that was no longer in her control once she had shared her knowledge with those around the table.

"The key point to any defences or plans we implement is that they succeed," Rhodey said eventually. "At the end of the day, we all know our job is to keep the people safe. If sharing too much compromises the success of those safeguards then we've already failed." Hermione tried to imagine the consequences of informing Ross about Thanos's intent, the Time Stone and the true abilities of the people at Kamar-Taj, and she barely suppressed a shudder.

"OK, but if we take that path and the worst happens," Tony said, his voice faltering slightly, "then the sole blame falls on us: the fight against Thanos lived and died with us. We signed a document six months ago that said we didn't have the power to do that anymore." The tension in the room was palpable as Tony's gaze lingered on them in turn. "We need to be sure of what exactly we're agreeing to here."

It was decided that the four of them would request to sit before a UN panel so that they would all know exactly what information was being parted. They would only provide minimal details of the threat posed and give reassurances that suitable security measures were being put into place, again without offering any significant details which they planned to justify so that those procedures wouldn't be compromised (and the society at Kamar-Taj would be protected).

"God, I need a drink," Tony groaned, running a hand down his haggard face.

"Seconded," Rhodey agreed. He got to his feet and stretched his arms high above his head. "I'll get them. You want anything, Bee?" Hermione shook her head. "Vision?"

"No," he replied, also rising. "But if you'll excuse me, I feel the urge to spend some time on my own, to process my thoughts about all that we have discussed." He nodded at Tony and Hermione in farewell and then led the way from the room, Rhodey shutting the door behind them with a definitive click.

Tony frowned at the door. "Subtle, Rhodey," he muttered.

The two of them sat in silence for a few moments. Hermione was twisting her fingers in her lap, trying to think of what would be best to say. Eventually she said, "I saw about you and Pepper. Congratulations."

"Thanks," he replied, pocketing the sunglasses he'd been fiddling with. "It's been a long time coming, right?"

Hermione smiled tightly. She hated the air of awkwardness between them and she could bear it no longer. "Tony, I'm - "

He cut off her desperate words. "I know," he said shortly but the look in his eyes said much more. "Me too."

She drew in a ragged breath, tears prickling at her eyes at the memory of the broken man she'd left behind in Siberia. "We should have told you the truth," she said, the words bursting out like they'd been released from a dam. He sat rigidly in his seat. She knew he probably didn't want to hear what she had to say but she couldn't stop herself. "Family don't keep secrets from each other and what I did, what I kept from you - though I thought it was well-intended - it was actually selfish and not what you deserved from someone that loves you. I'm so sorry, Tony."

How she didn't cry, she didn't know. The tears were there, her voice wobbled with emotion, but she made sure that her message was heard. She'd been carrying her guilt with her for six months and although she didn't expect Tony to forgive her for the way that she had betrayed him again (and so personally this time) to finally say the words was a release in itself.

Tony let out a quick, low breath and shook his head. "God, I wanted this to be over," he told her, motioning between them. "Lying in that desolate place, I told myself that that was us done. You were out of my life and that was better for both of us. Snip, snip," he made a scissoring gesture in the air, "friendship dead. I guess that was the easiest way to deal with everything that had happened. The guilt and the pain could be cut off just like you were. For half a year, I told myself that I was fine, that I'd moved on. You were managing Stranger Enterprises on your own, I knew you'd have your family safe somewhere - we could survive perfectly well without each other. And then today," he paused, his lips twitching into a frown as he stared down at the table between them.

"Today?" she prompted, her heart in her mouth.

He sighed and looked back to her. Much to her astonishment, his eyes were wet. "Today when I looked at you, I found out that there are some ties that can't be broken. Your family will always be your family." Nothing would've stopped Hermione from getting round that table and launching herself into Tony's waiting arms. "And you're mine, kid..."

A/N Yay! So glad to have those two reunited.

It was interesting to get into the mindset of these characters in regards to what they know at this time - or rather, what they don't know about what's coming. I know that Thanos was able to destroy the Stones in Endgame and Wanda took out the Mind Stone in Infinity War, but you can see why Hermione would come to the conclusion that attempting to destroy them would be a bad idea. Also, according to the Russos, the Stones were only 'reduced the atomic level' in Endgame, not eradicated, and therefore still exist in the universe, so Hermione is technically right in her view that you would never be completely rid of them. So, what do you think she and the others will do? What's their plan?

I loved writing the Guardians cameo. September is one of my absolute favourite songs and I feel like it would fit in very well on a Guardians soundtrack. Worth mentioning that I have no rights to Earth, Wind and Fire's lyrics!

I know that there was absolutely no reference to what's happening with Hermione and her family this time but that will be looked at in the next chapter.

Let me know what you think - your words of encouragement really do have a big impact and motivate me to keep going after all this time.

Keep safe!

Lil Drop of Magic