Ross flopped a thick file down on the conference table. "Here's all the intel we've managed to take of their camp. We used satellites and were using planes until one was shot down. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that this is all top-secret and none of this leaves the room." Ross reached inside the folder and pulled out a picture shoving it into the middle of the table.

Natasha, Tony, Peter, and the Vision were seated in a half circle facing Ross. Rhodey was seated next to Tony his crutches resting on the table. He may no longer be an Avenger in action, but no way was Tony going to let Ross bully him out meetings.

Tony stared at the photo and felt his blood run ice cold. This was like his nightmares come to life. Romanov's hands were clenched so tightly her knuckles were white. Rhodey, Vision, and Peter seemed mostly unaffected but then again they hadn't been in New York in 2011. The image was a bit grainy, clearly it was military equipment and not Starktech that had taken the photo. The figure was clear all the same. It was Loki, there was no doubt about that. He wasn't wearing his iconic horned helmet and was dressed in an armored green robe. If Tony was being honest he looked a little rough around the edges. But then again he probably had murdered Thor before he brought his army to Earth. There was no way Thor would have ever allowed Loki to return otherwise.

Loki really wasn't the most terrifying thing in the picture though. Oh no. That was reserved for the little blue cube he was bent over picking up. The Tesseract, Tony's nightmare fuel.

Tony felt Ross's voice fade out all he could see was the pitch black void of deep space and hundreds of alien ships coming towards Earth. He was cold suddenly and an involuntary shiver ran down his spine as the blue glow shrunk beneath him and he was falling, falling, falling, never going to stop.

Tony snapped back from his flashback when he felt a warm hand resting on his arm. Tony blinked coming to. He focused on the arm tracing it backup to where Rhodey was shooting him a concerned look. He gave Rhodey a grateful smile and when Rhodey gave no inclination of moving his hand anytime soon, well he wasn't going to say anything. Tony slowly began to tune back into the debrief where Ross was still talking.

He was shoving more images into the center of the table for viewing. One showed a dark skinned man with golden eyes sitting on a box. He was dressed in golden armor and appeared to have a sword swung onto his back. Sitting next to him was an honest to god rockman that had some sort of giant purple centipede curled up on its lap. That image was weird but not nearly as bone chilling as knowing that Loki had the Tesseract and was back on Earth.

"We believe these two to be Loki's generals, given their appearance and placement in the camp." Ross said gesturing at the two figures in the photo.

"Dude that guy looks just like a Rock Troll!" Peter burst out excitedly. When everyone turned to stare at him his face turned bright pink in an embarrassed blush as he let out a quiet sorry.

Ross cleared his throat eyeing Peter distastefully. Then Ross was pushing another photo to the center and Tony and Widow both had a sharp intake of breath. There was Bruce some woman lying on top of him and Loki standing over both of them with tesseract in hand.

Bruce, oh god Bruce. Nobody had seen Bruce since Ultron. But now, now it looked like he'd found out about Loki and come out of hiding. Bruce probably had tried to fight him with the big guy on his own and somehow Loki had defeated the Hulk. Bruce and his companion they looked terrible, no scratch that if Tony was being honest they looked like they might be dead.

"It seems Loki has drawn out our missing Hulk," Ross was saying. Natasha, Tony and Rhodey were trading looks across the table. Natasha's face was calm in appearance, but her twitching fingers were her give away. If Bruce was really in Norway Tony needed this meeting to be over, oh about two seconds ago.

"Okay! Not that this hasn't been a great time because you know how could it ever not be with you here Ross. But I think it's time the Avengers assemble and all that. I'm afraid you'll have to go Ross. I really don't feel comfortable with you staring at me as I get changed. Voyeurism really isn't my thing." Ross sputtered at Tony, clearly taken off guard. "Nice talk Ross," Tony said cheerfully as he half pushed half escorted Ross through the door which Friday snapped shut behind him.

With that Tony turned back to the rest of the Avengers and walked over to his hidden stash of alcohol in the room. "Anyone else want one of these before we go deal with a psychotic alien magician?" Tony asked as he poured a glass of scotch for himself.

"Tony," Natasha's voice rose from the table, "Do you think...is Bruce dead?" Her voice was even but Tony could tell there was something small and soft in Natasha that was breaking. Rhodey and Vision both turned sympathetic faces towards her but she didn't meet any of their gazes.

"Here," Tony said sliding a bottle of high quality russian vodka down towards Natasha. "I don't know if he is Nat. We can't be sure, but we do know that the green guy is no pushover. And," Tony paused trying to remember how to make his tongue move, "if Loki really did kill Bruce you can be damn sure we're gonna avenge him!" Tony and Natasha both tipped their heads back and finished their drinks. The alcohol burned down Tony's throat and he stood in abject horror as he watched Natasha set down the vodka bottle, empty. It must have been one hell of a serum Natasha had received in the Red Room if she could down a whole bottle of Vodka like it was nothing.

After he set his glass down Tony turned to Peter, "Now remember spiderboy, drink responsibly. Alright everybody suit up. I've got our ride all ready to go." If Tony was being perfectly honest with himself he had enjoyed keeping Strange waiting.

It was decided that while Strange might be a fast way of travel someone should still take a Quinjet as backup. Natasha volunteered and silently crept away to the hanger. Besides Tony didn't fully trust Strange and if someone had to pull the team out of hot water he knew Natasha would do whatever it took. That left Tony, Vision, and Peter to travel via way of sorcerer.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That was how Tony Stark found himself staring at an orange rippling portal that overlooked a field in Norway. This...this really shouldn't be possible he thought. He was running through everything he knew about string theory and quantum dynamics but what he was seeing just didn't compute. Aliens make sense sure, but magic? Magic really? His life had really gone downhill since Cap left.

Peter let out an excited shriek and began asking Strange a hundred questions a minute. Tony caught the words, wand, hogwarts, Harry Potter, apparation, wizards and about a dozen other words from Peter's tirade. Strange looked a mixture of uncomfortable and horrified as Peter kept talking. Tony felt himself smile at Strange's discomfort.

"Okay spiderling that's enough you can compare notes with Gandalf over there after the mission." Tony cut in as he patted Peter on the back. Peter nodded though the wonder didn't leave his face as he pulled his mask on.

Tony turned back to the portal. "You sure this is the right place Dr. Strangelove?" he said itching to reach out and poke the portal in the name of science.

"Do you feel the need to question everything I do?" Strange asked dryly, one of his eyebrows arched.

"No! I would never?" Tony replied scandalized, "I always trust people with magic capes that make portals in my living room. In fact maybe we should make a weekly thing of it."

Strange let out an exasperated sigh as he kneaded his forehead muttering something about being the Sorcerer Supreme and Wong not having to put up with this shit.

"I shall go first Tony." Vision volunteered, "As I am the least destructible of the group."

"Sure thing Vis," Tony said as he gulped and Vision floated through the orange monstrosity.

He saw Vision floating on the other side of the portal. "Is it all clear over there?" Tony asked. Vision responded with two thumbs up and then gestured for them to follow.

"Spiderboy you're up. When you go through Vision will grab you and float you to the ground." Tony instructed back in mission mode.

"Sure thing Mr. Stark." Peter gulped and then rushed through the portal. Vision caught him as Peter hung awkwardly around him trying not to fall.

Whelp, here goes nothing Tony thought as he flipped his face plate down and activated his repulsors. It took one second and he was shooting across a field in Norway.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The first thing Tony noticed when they touched down was the empty field. Long grasses swayed in a gentle breeze but there was no army in sight. It was quiet, far too quiet for his liking. The second thing he noticed was the missing presence of Dr. Strange. The caped crusader was nowhere to be found.

"This is quite peculiar." Vision commented as Peter climbed off of him.

"I agree. Friday scan the field for heat signatures." A series of images quickly popped up on his interface as his suit mechanisms whirled.

"Sorry boss nothing here." Friday's mechanical voice answered.

"I think we might have been duped by the Sorcerer Supremo. That or our intel was out of date." Tony said as he peered around the field.

"I dunno Mr. Stark, something's off my spidey senses are tingling." Peter said as he glanced around nervously.

Tony frowned Peter's instincts were usually spot on, but he couldn't deny that there didn't appear to be anyone in the field.

"Perhaps if you'll allow me." Vision said stepping forward. He closed his eyes and the yellow mind stone on his forehead began to glow. Vision floated upwards, opened his eyes and let a beam streak out across the field.

The beam shot straight for the first hundred feet or so then it refracted back towards them. Peter and Tony lunged to the side as the shot narrowly missed them.

"Okay let's not shoot any more lasers Vis." Tony groaned as he dusted his suit off and stood up.

"There appears to be some kind of invisible barrier." Vision concluded, a look of curiosity passing over his face. "That means someone else must be here."

"We know you're here!" Tony yelled cupping his hands over his faceplate. "Come out and face us Reindeer Games!"

There was an audible sigh and then a ripple that passed across the field. Then Loki stepped from the nothingness as the air seemed to swirl around him. A woman followed behind him and then the rockman from the images.

"I told Heimdall that ploy would never work." Loki muttered to his companions.

Tony stiffened at Loki's appearance, glancing at Peter and Vision. "Well it looks to me like horns over there didn't learn his lesson from last time." Tony growled aiming his repulsors at Loki. "Getting your ass handed to you once wasn't enough? We'll be happy to give you a discount on the second course!" Then Tony took the shot at Loki.

The rockman stepped in front of Loki. The blast hit him and fizzled out. The man didn't seem to even notice he'd been hit as he continued to walk towards the Avengers. And was he waving? Tony thought as the odd trio continued to advance.

"Man what did you do the last time you were on this planet to get that kind of greeting?" The woman asked Loki. Loki shrugged and the group stopped a few feet away from Tony.

"Whose rockhead?" Tony asked temporarily taken aback by the moving Earth creature that should not be possible.

"Oh hello my name is Korg." the creature said holding his hand out. Was he asking for a hand shake? "I started a revolution. We stole this ship and hopped on it and flew here. Or at least tried... the ship blew up. Someone's always trying to stop revolution." the creature babbled.

"So these are aliens Mister Stark?" Peter whispered. "They're a lot less blue and scary than I was thinking."

"Don't let your guard down Peter. Loki killed over 80 people in less than two days last time he was on the planet." Tony answered. Meanwhile Vision just took in the scene and said nothing.

Loki held his hand up to silence the Rockman and said: "Relax Metal Man we are not here to fight. We are here to treat."

"Like I would believe anything that came out of your lying mouth!" Tony replied angrily.

Tony's inflection didn't appear to phase Loki though. "I do believe last time we met on this planet you offered me a drink. I would like to take you up on that offer now while we discuss the situation."

"There's nothing to discuss!" Tony spat, "You're going to be locked away for a long time. We know what's going on! What did you do to Thor? There's no way he would let you bring the Army of Asgard to Earth!"

"Oh is that what you think is going on?" Loki asked in a bored tone. "Really I'm disappointed in you. I thought you were meant to be the one in your group with brains. Is this truly the way you wish to negotiate?"

"There's nothing to negotiate you psychopath." Loki completely ignored this and instead turned to Vision.

"That's a very interesting gemstone you have on your head." Loki commented.

"Yes. Your brother left it in my care the last time he was here." Vision replied simply.

"The sentimental fool! He has no idea what he's done!" Loki cursed loudly.

"Enough of the act Loki. Surrender now and we won't have to make you eat dirt or don't. Really it doesn't matter to me I would love to pummel you again." Tony cut in pulling the conversation back.

"Charming," Loki began, "But I do believe you will want to hear what I have to say."

"Wh-" Tony started, but then Loki waved his hand and the field was rippling again. Out stepped Bruce barefoot in a tan tunic and ratty pants.

Peter gasped, "Is that Bruce Banner?" Tony was at a loss of words himself and couldn't make his tongue move. When his brain finally came back to his body Friday was already calling Natasha.

"Natasha!" Tony said into the com. "Bruce is here get over here as soon as possible."

"Bruce? He's alive?" she said softly, "You're sure it's him Stark?"

"Yes! Just break the sound barrier with my Quinjet and get here already!" he replied before hanging up.

"Bruce? Is that you buddy? Where have you been?" Tony asked flying forward and stepping out of his suit to give Bruce a hug. "Everybody thought you were dead! What are you doing with him? Don't you remember last time?'

Loki interpreted the reunion before Bruce could answer glancing anxiously at Banner. "To answer your earlier question I quite remember the last time. It happens to not be my idea to return."

"Like I would fall for that." he glared at Loki before turning back to Bruce, "You're not brainwashed right buddy?"

"No. I'm fine but you need to listen to what we have to say Tony. Loki's here peacefully."

"You're really not winning any not brainwashed points right now Bruce." Tony replied getting back in his suit but leaving his faceplate up. Before turning to address Loki. "If you are here peacefully, which I don't trust for a minute you are, but let's just say in some hypothetical world you are, then where's Thor?

"Ah, yes my brother," Loki said, "Let us say he has placed me temporarily in charge while he fights."

"That's not true actually." The woman with a sword cut in, "Thor left me and the big guy in charge," She said thrusting her thumb at Bruce. Then she smirked at Loki and continued, "Loki here is my deputy."

That was weird. Tony wasn't used to anyone talking to Loki so casually, except maybe Thor.

"Huh, so then where's Thor?"

"Someone tried to blow our spaceship out of the sky. So Thor went out to do his lightening thing." Bruce provided wearily.

"Wait, repeat." Tony ordered. "Did you just say you were on a spaceship?"

"Yes Stark. Now don't be daft. He was in space and last I checked midgardians weren't as resilient to surviving in the vacuum of space as asgardians, so he was in a spaceship. Truly a weak species." Loki mused as he inspected his cuticles.

Bruce looked at Loki eyebrow raised.

"Most of you anyways." he added grudgingly.

"We flew through something called the devil's anus Tony." Bruce said in wonder. "Thor is a really bad pilot."

"Careful there Banner wouldn't want cap to hear you talking like that." Tony replied without even processing what he was saying. His brain was still caught up in the fact that apparently Bruce had been in space all this time. "What so Thor took you to space with him but not me? I'm really not feeling the love here Banner."

"Uh I wouldn't say Thor took me exactly. More like he found me."

"Enough of this small talk." Loki interrupted annoyed, "I will show you my full hand if in exchange you agree to listen Stark." With that Loki waved his hand and something seemed to lift from the field. Suddenly the Avengers were staring at thousands of mismatched people situated all over the field. Some were laying down or huddled together in blankets. Other's were tending small fires or building makeshift shacks.

"Uh guys," Tony said on the team com, "I think we've got a bit of an information mismatch here. I'm not seeing an army."

Natasha's voice came over the com. "What's there then Stark?"

"I'm not sure but it looks like civilians. There are kids and moms looking a little rough for wear."

"Are they hostages?" Natasha asked naturally trying to gather more intel. "Careful Loki's a magician this could be trick. Loki's really good at getting in your head. This could be a ploy or some kind of magic."

Author's Note: I'm sorrrrrryyyyy about the long wait. It was the long century of finals which have now effectively finished! So I should have more time for writing and finishing up this story. Also I want to thank everyone for the reviews I love reading them and I apologize for not getting back to all of you I got a bit backlogged with real life. Also this chapter hasn't but edited yet, so if you see any mistakes feel free to point them out so I can fix them.

Also I will be really disappointed in Marvel if Tony doesn't call Dr. Strange Dr. Strangelove there's just way too many jokes for that not to be his nickname. Hehe I'm really proud of the awful pun I made this chapter and also the Yondu reference. So finally the Science Bro reunion I've been promising, hope it lived up to the disclosure I haven't actually seen Spiderman Homecoming yet, so this might not be compliant with that movie, but I really wanted to write Peter being all wide eyed at the aliens and magic. So I hope you can forgive me for that. Also yes I included Black Widow still with the Avenger's I honestly don't know what happened to her after Civil War but I figure with Black Panther helping Cap in Wakanda that he wouldn't tattle on her shocking him in the airport fight scene. Anyways please let me know what you guys think and as always read and review!