Disclaimer: Don't, and never will own. Maybe in my wildest dreams, but those don't count.

Warnings: Foul language (dur), m/m SLASH. If it's not your thing, the back button is in the top left hand corner of your browser. Kindly use it. Violence. Mentions of suicide, self-harm, non-con.

A/N: Yay! Science bros! Honestly, I have so many feels, it's ridiculous. So here's a story, hope you enjoy. I'm not gonna waste your time with ridiculous notes, I mean, who reads them anyways? (I do... But I might just be weird.)

Chapter One

"JARVIS, don't let him in," Tony Stark shouted from the workbench at which he sat tinkering with the Mach VIII.

"Sir, Director Fury is insisting he speak with you and the rest of the Avengers. It is a matter of urgency."

Tony sighed, "Thor went back to visit Asgard, Steve is off boxing or something, Romanoff and Barton are always with S.H.I.E.L.D anyways, and Bruce and I are busy. So can't he find the others first?"

Bruce Banner, who was studying a tablet at the other end of the room, looked up. "Did you need something, Tony?"

"What he needs, doctor, is a lesson in hospitality."

"Hospitality? I don't think it was offered at MIT when I was there." The sarcastic remark elicited a low chuckle from Banner and a grumble from Fury.

"Save the sarcasm for once Stark. I've called the rest of the Avengers here as well. They should be arriving shortly."

Tony sighed. After he'd rebuilt and rechristened Stark Tower as the Avengers Tower, all of the Avengers had begun to call it home. However, with the exception of Bruce, they'd all taken off for the weekend to do whatever they fancied in their free time. Well, Natasha and Clint were on a mission, but regardless, they weren't there. Even Pepper had gone off to Asia for a conference - probably to escape Tony's reaction to the announcement of her relationship with Steve Rogers, aka Captain America. Come to think of it, that was probably why everyone else left as well. The genius liked to convince himself he didn't care, they'd been over since a few months after the Manhattan disaster. After all, he was allergic to emotions.

"Sir," JARVIS broke through the billionaire's train of thought, "Mister Steve Rogers and Mister Thor have arrived."

Blinking a couple times, he sat up a little straighter, "Alright, let them in," he said wearily.

"Uhm... why don't we move to the living room? Or something? " Bruce interjected before Fury asked if Stark had been listening to a word he'd been saying.

As they got up to leave, the physicist vaguely wondered where his friend's mind had been, but dismissed it until later. They entered the foyer to be greeted by Thor and Steve. The tension was palpable as Iron Man and Captain America locked eyes. THor, thankfully, started to speak, "My friends, shall we not convene somewhere else?"

Everyone, including Tony and Steve nodded and they converged towards the topmost sitting room.

"So, what are we all doing here? And what about Agents Romanoff and Barton?" Banner inquired once they all sat down.

"They have already been debriefed and are currently pursuing the mission," Fury replied.

Tony set down the drink that JARVIS had brought him before speaking up, "Can't the lovebirds handle it?"

iThe director glared while Thor and Bruce hid snickers and small smiles. Rogers, in his husual manner, cut straight to the chase, unamused by Tony's snide remarks, "Sir, what is the mission?"

Fury relaxed slightly and sept his gaze around the small room. "This is more for Stark and Doctor Banner, but you all have the right to know. Our scans recently picked up reports of a foreign artifact. It's power is not unlinke that of the Tesseract. We had recently retrieved it from a Sanctuary in the AMazon. However, someone stole it - or rather, it disappeard."

There was a short pause before Stark burst out laughing. "You lost it didnt'you? You actually... lost something."

The Director sent the other man a piercing, one-eyed glare before talking again, "It emits a gamma signature, close to that of the Tesseract. It will be weaker though, it's not pure energy, more of a stone or metal. Much like what Mjölnir is made of."

"Mjölnir is crafted from a dead and fallen star," Thor rumbled, "If what you speak of is what I believe it to be, the it is more powerful than that and you should leave it lost.

"Just like the Tesseract," Rogers grumbled, "Sir, if this... star... is going to cause as much trouble as the Tesseract, the whatever took it can have it as far as I'm concerned."

The DIrector sighed heavily. He hadn't expected it to be all this difficult,.

"And if whatever took it is hostile? What then? We could be worse off than before," Bruce spoke softly, glancing around the room and wringing his hands. Everyone shrank back a little at the remark. Stark was, narurally, the first to speak. "Alright, we'll find it. But once we do, we're either leaving it with whatever has it, if it's not hostile, or we're sending it away. Or keeping it to be studied. In any event, I'm - we're - not going to let S.H.I.E.L.D take it to be weaponized. Agreed?"

The rest of the Avengers nodded. Nick Fury was a smart man. He knew that refusing Stark's offer would be foolish. And thy'd been right about the Tesseract so they could be right about this too. "Fine. You'll be working from headquarters. Your ride is waiting abouve the tower."

With that, the tall black man stood and lead the way out. TOny took another drink, smirking slightly as he followed them out. "Well kids, have fun on your ride."

He clapped the other scientist on the shoulder, and lowered his voice, "I'll see you soon. DOn't let htem give you too much trouble, okay?"

The physicist smiled slightly at the contack, returning the clap on the back. "Of course not. At least Loki isn't on board this time."

Stark chuckled slightly, "Well that's true enough."

With that remark, he backed away and stepped towards the edge. He held out his arms, enjoying the soft breeze for a moment before looking down. Just one step, all he had to do was keep his mouth shut - no. He couldn't. The nightmares, that's all they were. They weren't real. Shaking his head slightly, he gave a soft command before stepping off the edge of the building.

"Stark!" Rogers called in alarm while Bruce ran to the edge, coming face to face with a fully suited Iron Man.

"What, miss me already Cap?" Tony's voice came through distorted through the faceplate. "Really, I'm not the suicidal type, Rogers."

The billionaire saw Bruce tilt his head to look up and meet his glowing eyes. Stark felt as if he'd read his thoughts earlier, caught his lie. The man knew him just that well. Oh well. Matters like that could be dealt with at later times. With a quick nod, Iron Man sped off as JARVS calibrated his navigation system to reach the aircraft carrier.

Yes! Chapter One done. I'm on a roll! Feedback is love. I'll give cookies to people who review? Maybe...

See you next chapter, or in another story.

~Ravvyn