Author's Note:

Avenger Facility - Upstate New York

Tony Stark, the genius, billionare, playboy, philantropist, sits in his workshop alone; bruised, beaten and broken, staring at the holo-screen in front of him. The screen itself had multiple, smaller screens going down either side; some showing live feeds and news coverage of different locations and cities, while others showed pre-recorded footage of the battles that rocked the world. Tony grabbed one of the smaller screens and dragged it front and center before him. The footage showed a huge battle, one epic in size and sheer ferocity in a land long hidden away from the world.

Tony recognized a few familiar faces among the crowd fighting, battling against the new, alien horde threatening the world; former comrades in arms, Rogers, Romanoff, T'challa along with the Hulk, were leading the battle readied Wakandan's against the cosmic force threatening the latter King's homeland.

After watching the fight unfold for a few minutes he paused it, swiping it off the main screen before dragging over a new video. He did this several times, before swiping the entire holo-screen off to the left; he quickly swipes his hand up, bringing forth another screen, one showing mostly still images and profiles of various individual's. Stark glances at the various images, until his gaze settled on one; he pulled it down and motioned his hands outward to expand and enlarge the image.

He leaned forward on his stool, staring at the brutal image before him, his eyes scanning every detail, every pixel, while an overwhelming sense of guilt and regret rushed over him. The image itself showed his friend, collegue, and fellow Avenger Vision, laying on the ground, motionless with a gaping hole in his forehead. It was there where a yellow jewel-like stone, the so-called Mind Stone, once resided; that is until it was taken and along with it, Vision's life. Tony glanced at the hole for a few seconds, until his gaze found his way to Vision's eyes; there was no light, no life behind his eyes, only darkness, only death.

A viotile mixture of sadness, anger, guilt boiled within as he continued staring at the image, causing Tony's jaw to clench until swiped the image off screen in exchange for another. The new image showed a beaten and bloodied War-Machine and Spiderman laying side by side. The image itself only added more guilt, anger and rage to an already viotile concoction. Unable to stand the sight, he quickly swiped the image off screen, after he spun on his stool towards his workstation; at the center, among the tools and other bits, was a damaged Iron Man faceplate which caught his immediate attention.

Stark stood up and walked towards the station where he picked and stared at said faceplate. After staring at it for a few seconds, the generally care-free, almost mild-mannered Tony Stark started to lose it. He threw the damaged faceplate across the room, after which he lashed out, throwing and shoving his tools and various other items off the table.

After that he picked up stool and tossed it across the room; after that little outburst, he leaned against the table, dropping his head down and closing his eyes as he took slow, deep breathes in an attempt to calm himself. He was so caught up in the moment, in the fact that his own anger and guilt got the better of him, that he didn't even notice someone slowly walking out of the shadows towards him.

The man looked to be in the same shape that Stark was, sporting a busted lip, a cut above his left brow and a bruise on the right side of his cheek which mixed perfectly with his black, swollen eye. The man was still in his suit, the same one that he wore into battle just a few days ago. It was newer, darker than the one that he wore previous times before, back when he was on good speaking terms with Stark and the Avengers, back before the Accords.

This man, looking just as worn and tired as Stark, walked to the middle of the room before stopping; allowing the man in front of him a few seconds of peace before speaking up.

?: "Bad day huh?" (He said sarcastically while glancing around the floor, looking at the tools and circuit's scattered about.)

Tony: (Tony lifted his head up, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath while his thoughts drifted momentarily.) How the hell does he do that? (He slowly open his eyes, only to have his gaze the other man's.) "That, is an understatement Rogers." (As he leaned against the edge of his workstation, he glanced at the man's attire.)

"I like the new look, the beard is a little grunge, but y'know; whatever works." (He finished by giving a shrug, hoping that his sarcastic charm and care-free demeanor would throw Rogers off.)

Steve gave a subtle nod and grin as he continued walking towards his friend, which despite how things ended the last time that they saw one another, is how he thought of Tony. He stopped a few steps away from Stark, turning to look at the holo-screen.

Steve: "How are Rhodes and the kid?" (He looked back at his friend, who simply stared back at him; his eyes filled with sorrow, guilt and something else...shame perhaps.)

Tony: "They're alive which is more than I can say for..." (His words drifted off, as he once again felt the overwhelming loss boiling up to the surface. His eyes drifted back towards the holo-screen.) "I should've seen this coming, should've known that something like this-"

Steve: (This time, Steve's eyes were full of sorrow, pity, but not for himself, instead for his friend, as he interjected.) "Don't go there Tony. Blaming yourself for what happened won't fix anything. What happened out there wasn't your fault."

Tony: (For a mili-second, Tony felt as if all the blame, all the guilt washed away, but that feeling it didn't last.) "Yeah well, that's debatable. Either way, we both know that this war isn't over; not by a long shot."

Steve wholeheartedly agreed, which says alot about how far both he and Tony have come since their little dispute. Despite the loss, the damage and destruction left in the wake of the fighting; he wasn't sure why, but Steve knew, felt that the war was far from over.

Steve: (He looked down and stared at the for for a few seconds before looking back at Tony.) "We need a plan, for what comes next."

Tony: (He tilted his head slightly to the left, staring at the Sentinel of Liberty for a moment before turning around, just enough so that he could grab a small packet behind him; afterwhich he turned back around.) "We? Don't tell me that the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan, doesn't have an actually plan.?" (He said playfully as he reached into the packet, pulling out a handful of blueberries and popping a few of them in his mouth.)

Steve: "I-"

F.R.I.D.A.Y.: "Sorry to interrupt Mr. Stark, but it seems that there is an un-authorized vistor in the facility; precisely-"

Stark: "Yeah, your a little late to the ballgame F.R.I.D.A.Y." (He said grabbing another handful of blueberries before holding the packet out to Rogers.) "Relax, Rogers here is a friendly...for now." (A playful smirk washed acrossed his face.)

F.R.I.D.A.Y.: "I'm not talking about Mr. Rogers sir, there is someone else in the facility and they somehow managed to get past your security protocols."

Both Tony and Steve gave one another suspicious looks, before Rogers took a quick glance around the room, taking note of every exit and possible entrance into the room.

Steve: (He activates his new shield, the one given to him by the Wakandian king himself T'Challa. He glances over at Tony once more, asking with an uncertain tone.) "You think its Thanos, or one of his Black Suns?"

F.R.I.D.A.Y.: (The AI interjected.) "Muscler and Bio scans reveal him to be human, Captain Rogers. Though I note that he appears to have a highly advance- " (Static flushed through the comm's systems and then, silence.)

Tony: (He glanced around the room, confused and suspicious.) "F.R.I.D.A.Y.?"

The former Captain America, now Nomad, took up a defensive stance; his brow furrowed as he started scanning the room. Meanwhile, Stark reached down for his watch, before twisting the outer ring and tapping the screen, transforming his fancy Rolex into a makeshift repulsor.

Steve: "What happened?" (Still glancing around the room, scanning every dark corner, every shadowed doorway.)

Tony: (He reached into his back-pocket and pulled out his digital holo-card, then used it to check his systems. After a quick check of the systems, he found an anomaly; one which made him look less than thrilled.) "F.R.I.D.A.Y's offline." (He tried to reboot the security system, only to find himself quickly locked out of his own system.) "Well, that's just fan-freaking-tastic...the whole system just went dark."

Less than a second later, a smooth, calm voice spoke, which startled both Rogers and Stark. The two start to cautiously scan the room.

?: "Sorry about that," (Both Stark and Rogers tracked the origin of the voice to a darkened doorway to their left. Rogers took a defensive stance while Stark powered up his repulsor and aimed.) "I didn't want us to be disturbed, plus I haven't had the best experience with A.I.'s, so..."

Steve: "Who are you?" (His tone demanding to be answered as he cautiously took a step forward.)

?: "A friend Captain Rogers. Here to help." (His tone remained calm, despite the fact that a living legend and leader of the New Avengers were ready to attack at a moments notice, without hesitation. Something that he wholeheartedly wanted to avoid.)

Steve: "That might mean a lot more if you weren't skulking around in the shadows." (He said skeptically as he took another cautious step forward, before stopping.)

Tony: (His patience had been waning since before this intruder broke into his facility, now that patience had finally reached it limit.) "Okay, enough of the nice cop routine Rogers." (He took a step forward, still aiming his repulsor at the shadowed doorway.) "Listen pal, I have had dumpster fire of a week so listen up 'cause I'm only going to say this once. Step out, nice and slowly or...you're dead." (His words laced with a veiled threat and with it, the intent to act on it.)

After a few, tense-filled seconds, the mysterious figure steps out from the shadows and into the light, revealing himself to the pair. Stark and Rogers both sported the same expression, though to different degree's; a mixture of confusion, shock, and disbelief flushed across their faces.

?: "Yeah, been there, done that; a couple of times actually. It didn't seem to stick." (The man, mid-to-late 40's took a few slow, cautious steps towards the pair of heroes; his arms slightly raised, surrendering in a cavalier fashion.)

Steve: "Coulson?" (His words matched his expression perfectly, afterwhich he slowly began to lower his shield, without realizing.)

Tony: "Yeah sorry, not buying; especially after the week we just had, but nice try." (His repulsor began pulsating as he prepares to fire, when suddenly it powered down, much to his surprise. He looked at it, confused.) "What the hell?"

Coulson: (He lowered his arms and took a couple of steps towards the two, before rolling up his left, revealing his highly advanced prostetic hand.) "Yeah, I had a little incident with an axe a while back, but good news; I got an upgrade, including an built-in localized EMP, which comes in handy for trigger-happy billionare's having a bad week, so...bonus there." (The digital screen that was fixed on his wrist kept flashing the words, All Electronics DISABLED.)

Tony started fussing with his repulsor for a seconds while Steve cautiously walked up to the very lively Coulson standing before him. After finding it impossible to re-activate it, he removed it and tossed on the workstation.

Tony: (He walked over, standing beside Rogers, gazing suspiciously at the not-so-dead agent in front of him.) "Well, you pretty spry and lively, for a dead man, sorry; former dead man Agent."

Coulson: (A small grin rolls across his face.) "Its good to see you too Stark. Captain Rogers." (He extended his hand out towards the former Captain America.)

Steve: (The Avenger quickly scanned the man up and down before taking the man's hand, shaking it.) "Coulson. Glad to see dying didn't take."

Coulson: (After shaking and holding his hand for a bit longer than he should have, Coulson lets go.) "Thanks. New shield?" (He said curiously as he gestured towards Rogers wrist-mounted shield.)

Steve: (He glanced down briefly, before looking back at Coulson.) "Something like that."

Coulson: (He nods a little.) "Wakandan right?" (Rogers nodded in response.) "Pretty cool."

Tony: (Upon listening to Coulson gush over Rogers and his new-Wakandan-issued shield, he rolled his eyes and decided to interject.) "Okay sorry to break-up Coulson's little fanboy moment, but..." (He turns to Coulson.) "How exactly are you alive and more importantly; what took you so long to ring me up?"

Coulson: (His gaze turned to Stark.) "To answer your first question; its a long story, but it involves Fury and T.A.H.I.T.I. Second, your not exactly easy to get a hold of nowadays, plus me and Ross never really saw eye-to-eye, and since you work closely with him; I thought it best that we keep our distance. But given the current threat, I thought it best that we step out of the shadows and...assist you in the matter."

Steve: (His brows furrowed as he tilted his head slightly to the

left, looking quzzically at the agent.) "We? Whose we?"

Coulson: (He glanced over at Rogers, trying his best not to have another fanboy moment and keep his cool composure.) "Me, and my team. Both of you lost good people, my team and I are here to help."

Tony: (Waves his hands in the air, taking and putting all the attention on him.) "Okay, hold up; what team?"

On that queue, Coulson's grin grew wider and wider until...