Chapter Text
Pepper and Happy showed up just as they said in front of Grace’s apartment, and after making sure he had everything he’d need at the compound, they started making their way out of the city.
“So” - Grace turns to Pepper - “anything new?” - he asks, raising his eyebrows.
Pepper slumps down on her seat, dropping her shoulders, and throwing her back with a groan.
“That bad, huh?” - Grace asks with a slight chuckle. He gets it, he’s had a crazy morning too, with the whole… everything. Pepper rolls her head to the side, looking at Grace with tired eyes.
"He left us with a huge mess to clean up." - She sighed.
"Assuming he's involved." - Pepper narrowed her eyes and raised her eyebrows, starring at Grace with the most unimpressed face he's ever seen. - "Hah, yeah." - Honestly, he had been thinking the same thing too. Whatever was happening up there in space had to be involved with what happened here on Earth, one way or another.
"I just… don't know where to go from here." - Pepper turns her face towards the window, watching the buildings pass by. Grace takes a look outside too, they've been stuck in traffic for a while now. Half the world disappearing at random means a bunch of people who were driving just suddenly weren't there. There are almost as many crashed cars as when those aliens invaded the first time. Well, at least from what he's heard, he wasn't on Earth for that. Whatever, he's getting distracted. Grace turns back to Pepper as she starts talking again. -"Rhodey called,"- she says, facing Grace again, -"said he's bringing everyone who's left back to the compound. He's bringing back Steve and Natasha."
"Steve? Captain America, Steve? And the Black Widow?" - Grace tilts his head - "I thought they were… on the run or whatever."
"We haven't seen them since the Sokovia Accords." - Pepper pauses for a second, straightening back up on her seat. - "What do you know about the Accords? Did Tony tell you what happened between them? Between Steve and Tony, I mean."
"Um, I know as much as everyone else does, I guess." - Grace had already returned to Earth when the whole Sokovia Accord fiasco happened. He was barely a year back into teaching and had to hear about the Avengers' "breakup" for the rest of the semester. Back then, he wasn't in the mood to hear about Iron Man all the time, at the moment, he was still just… an ex from college at best. It's not like their relationship ended that horribly, Grace was just still salty that Tony had ghosted him. You don't spend two years in a relationship with someone just for them to never get back to you once you both graduate. So what if it'd been over twenty years? If Grace wanted to be upset over it, then so be it, dang it! - "We started reconnecting a few months after all that stuff happened, and he never really talked about it. Though I'm guessing something… personal happened. With the way he avoided the topic and everything."
"Hmm, it's not really my story to tell, but they… had a big fight, you could say…" - Pepper's words taper off, looking down at her hands when her phone starts ringing. - "Work" - she says - "Have to take this."
Grace tunes out Pepper as she takes her call. He can't imagine how hectic it must've been for her today, being in charge of the company and all. They spend the rest of the drive in moderate silence, Grace makes some small talk with Happy, but nothing of note. Once they're out of the city, Grace gets absorbed with the view outside. He watches the landscape roll by, birds flying by, trees in bloom.
Spring. What a beautiful time of year for the end of the world as we know it.
Grace let out a humorless huff, ignoring the glances Pepper and Happy throw his way. Grace crosses his arms and leans heavily on the car door. Both Peter and Tony are out there, in space! He keeps coming back to it, but what else is he supposed to think about? That and his students.
Oh man, his kids. He hopes they and their families are doing ok, as ok as they can be right now.
Grace drifts off watching the passing cars drive by, he didn't get much sleep last night, and this morning has been draining. He wakes back up once the car comes to a stop.
Grace stares at the ceiling of the incredibly nice and expensive-looking room Happy showed him to when they arrived at the Avengers Compound. It's been a few hours since they arrived, Grace thinks, he's not really sure how long it's been, he's been lost in his mind since being left alone in his room.
He went out for a bit earlier. When the rest of the Avengers landed, he walked out into the common room and listened in as Rhodey told Pepper what happened in Wkanda and they discussed what the next steps were when—
"Friend Grace!" - Thor noticed him lingering by a corner. Everyone in the room turns to look at him, and he fumbles, putting his glasses back in their place instead of hanging off his chin.
"Oh, uh, hi, Thor. Rhodey." - He says, nodding towards them and walking further into the room.
"It has been quite some time since we've last met, no? How has your return to Midgard been so far?" - Thor and Grace had met six years ago when Thor just showed up one day flying around in space while Grace and Rocky were on their way to Erid. Turns out he was there to use his magic hammer thing to Bifrost —some sort of teleportation thing? Grace still doesn't really know— Grace back to Earth. Not before taking a detour to Erid to drop off Rocky and the taumoeba, of course. After landing on Earth, Thor took some of the taumoeba back to Asgard, apparently they were having some astrophage trouble too, and Grace hadn't seen him since.
"Well, before today, things had been going great, really. I went back to teaching two years ago, so, yeah, it's been good, yeah." - Grace runs his hand through his hair, scanning the room for an exit. His plan involved standing unnoticed in a corner and then slipping away before anyone saw him, not getting introduced to the freaking Avengers! Sure it's not all the Avengers, but can't a man just want to eavesdrop in peace? Thor introduced him to all the people he had yet to meet, Captain Rogers, Ms. Romanoff, and—hold on. Was that a raccoon? This day can't get any more insane. Just as he thinks that, Grace notices someone else walk in the room and turns to see who it is.
"Dr. Banner!" - Bruce looks up as Grace makes his way towards the other scientist, extending his hand out for a handshake.
"Dr. Grace, good to see you."
"Ah, just Grace is fine."
"In that case, just call me Bruce."
"You two know each other?" - The two scientists turn to look at Rhodey.
"Yep, we met when Project Hail Mary was just starting up!" - Grace explains - "We were looking to test how astrophage interacted with radiation and who better than Dr. Seven PhDs himself. Stratt was planning on having him on as a permanent addition to the Vat, but..."
"Then the Hulk happened."
"Then the Hulk happened, yeah." - Having Dr. Bruce Banner on board the project would've been incredible, but alas, we can't all get what we want in life.
"Right, well now that everyone's here, let's get back on track. These plans won't make themselves."
As the discussion around what to do about the "snap," which is what they're calling it now, (apparently some big purple alien snapping his fingers is involved? In some way? Grace had missed that part of the story), continues, Grace very slowly and very stealthily, if he does say so himself, steps out of the common area.
After successfully escaping, Grace locked himself away in his room.
And that's where he lays now, still staring holes into the ceiling and still failing to think about anything other than Tony and Peter somewhere in space. If they're even still out there and not… dusted. Oh gosh, let's not think about that right now. Today has truly felt like such a long day, and it's not even night yet! Maybe he should've stayed and listened on what the Avengers were talking about, it'd have given him something to do at least. But today has been exhausting, and he didn't think he had it in him to keep up with all they were saying. He'll just ask Pepper for a recap tomorrow or something.
After another second of rotting in bed, Grace gets up and heads over to the in-suite bathroom. He'll take a shower, freshen up; maybe it'll help him calm down a bit. There's nothing he can do right now that can't wait until tomorrow.