Chapter One

Iron Man's eyes followed the movement of the nuke as it shot towards the mother ship of the enemy. He drifted in the dead space, his suit slowly losing power. Thoughts swirled around his mind, he was going to die. Here, alone. As the screen of his suit turned black, he felt a suffocating pressure. The nuke hit its target, and he was pushed back, hurtling back to planet Earth, home. He didn't know that though, his eyes closed; His body, mind, everything slipping into oblivion. He didn't want to die just yet. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't fight…

Tony woke up with his world blurry. He gasped for breath, his lungs heavy. Panic raced through his veins when he couldn't feel his body. He could hear something, faintly. His name? He tried to move but his body didn't comply. He couldn't breathe, he was going to die. He was alone, in the darkness. He only could think of that.

"Tony!" Pepper cried, it was faint, though it was heard. He felt his hands being squeezed. He hazily realized he was in his bed. He blinked, inhaling then exhaling. He needed to breathe. Once he felt his body, he sat up and looked at Pepper.

"Tony!" Pepper had tears in her eyes. "I thought you were going to die. JARVIS woke me up. What happened?"

"Nothing, I'm fine." Tony quickly replied, trying to keep everything locked up. It was just a nightmare, it was nothing important.

"Sir, you just had an anxiety attack." JARVIS contradicted, concerned.

"I'm fine." Tony growled in defense. "I'm going to the lab."

"But-" Pepper was going to argue but Tony was out of the door before she could say anything.

As Stark made his way down the stairs, something flashed in the corner of his eyes. He glanced where it had come from but there was nothing there. So, he pinched the bridge of his nose and pretended it was never happened. He needed to get his mind off of things.

"JARVIS, activate mark 7." Tony said to the AI.

"Sir, all the upgrades are not tested completely."The AI tried to remind him.

"I don't care, just do it." He commanded.

"Yes Sir."

He looked toward the glass door of his lab and a face shimmered in it. He blinked and it wasn't there anymore. He swore it was there…

"Is something wrong Sir?"

"No." Tony suited up after that and flew out from a test drive.

"Thrusters at full capacity Sir."

So, Stark tested it. He shot up toward the sky, the stars surrounded by blackness. Memories of the portal jumped in his mind and he lost concentration. He didn't want this anymore. This fear, the anxiety. He wanted to leave it behind, and he knew how.

"Turn off the thrusters." Tony demanded and was greeted by a falling sensation. He watched as the ground came closer by the second. He wanted to close his eyes and feel peaceful. But, he couldn't, he already did that once. He'd watch it all.

"Sir."The AI called as the ground was getting too close for comfort.

"I don't want to hear it JARVIS!" Stark said and continued to watch himself fall. In the corner of his screen, there was another flash of something that wasn't supposed to be there. A face and it was the same one from before. He caught a smirk, blue eyes, and black hair. Then it disappeared before he could take in all the details.

A sudden jolt came and Iron Man stopped falling. He was surprised by this sudden impact and let out a winded gasp.

"Sorry Sir but you would have taken substantial damage if you hit the ground."

"Thanks." Tony wasn't all too thrilled with this but decided not to push it. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to do that in the first place. Plus, the face he saw was now haunting his mind. He stepped into his lab and the armor was peeled away. A steaming Pepper stood in front of Tony.

"What was that stunt?" Pepper yelled, annoyed. Stark's face paled and realized that he was right in the view of Stark Tower when he was plummeting toward the ground.

"It was a test." He brushed it off, but it was a lie. However, he didn't want to deal with her at this exact moment.

"No it wasn't!" Pepper continued, noticing the lie right away. "First the anxiety attack and then dropping out of the sky."

Tony glanced at her with indifference. He wanted to work and she was in the way right now.

"I can't take this anymore!" She screamed and a few tears fell from her eyes. "I'm leaving Tony and us… It's over. I can't live with you always in danger."

He could tell she was hurt and tears flowed down her face freely, but there was no guilt. When did he become so heartless? He watched her closely and she watched him in return. When he made no move to comfort her like usual, it was final. She marched out of the lab.

"Ms. Potts has left Stark Tower."

JARVIS stated, and Tony sighed. How did this happen? He thought he loved her, but when he didn't feel anything when she was crying; he knew that was a lie. Had he never loved her? No, he had. But now he didn't feel anything for her.

"Sir, it seems that Thor and Rogers are entering the building."

Stark gave a questioning look to nothing in particular and walked to the living room to great the two.

"Hello my friend." Thor spoke, but his voice was strained. Rogers had a stern look on his face.

"We have a problem." Steve frowned as he spoke. Tony gave a sigh and went to his liquor bar to grab a drink.

"So you didn't come by to just visit, what a shame." Stark sighed again, he didn't want to deal with this. "You have the worst timing ever too…" He mostly whispered to himself but it was caught by Steve.

"Well, personal problems aren't important right now." Steve almost growled at the other. "Loki is free."

"What?" Tony was surprised and he looked at Thor in disbelief. "How?"

"He found a way to use an illusion to escape. The Loki I brought to Asgard was a fake." Thor said, discouraged. Then it hit Tony like a brick and he spit up his liquor as it did.

"Are you okay, my friend?" Thor asked worried. Tony had a strong grip on the bar and was leaning over. The face was all he could think of. It was Loki's face. Rogers quickly took action and tried to prop the other up.

"What's wrong?" Rogers asked but got no reply. Tony glanced at his glass of alcohol and saw Loki's face. He stumbled back in surprise. Now that he thought about it, he saw the face a lot but never took notice to it. It was just a shadow out of the corner of his eye. But now it was real and haunting.

"Sir, your heart is beating at an abnormal speed."

Tony would have groaned but he couldn't. His breath was ragged. Memories flashed in his mind, the one of the portal. He realized that when he was floating in space, he saw Loki with him, like he was physically there with him. The last thing he saw before he blacked out; Loki's face.