Hello friends! Sorry I disappeared for a couple weeks there...life decided to throw all the exams at me. I'm back with a quick update tonight as an apology for ignoring this for two, three weeks. I had to add another lead-up chapter, otherwise this chapter was going to be a monster. Like, upwards of 7000 words.

Today I bring you Tony Stark and Wanda Maximoff. Next update will not be Black Panther unfortunately. Probably will be the Guardians or Dr. Strange. Then we'll hit Wakanda. By the way, Black Panther is fantastic, go see it if you haven't already. I'll give a spoiler warning at the top of that chapter when it drops.

Thanks to everyone reading and special thanks to those who have favorited, followed, or commented. I'll try to address comments every few chapters from now on:

dragonrider1234: Thank you! Probably the hardest part about writing so many characters is attempting to capture their distinct personalities. I am glad you enjoyed the beginning!

Bunyx: You'll get some more Wanda in this chapter!

Sugar: Thank you! Hopefully you will enjoy the ride!

Mamba: Thank you! Dr. Strange should show up either in the next chapter or the one after that. I had to get some background set before he made his grand entrance!

FavFan: Or did he *wink wink*? There are still a couple trailer scenes with him that I haven't addressed yet :)

willdawg992003: Thank you for your comments! You are right, it is likely Gamora knows of Loki, but she probably wasn't aware of the location of all the infinity stones since she wasn't really a part of the Black Order (at least that is my theory). I'm completely flattered you think I have an in at Marvel. I totally wish I did, but alas...as for appeasing death, well, you'll have to wait and see! I'm so glad you caught that!

Anonymous: Thank you! The Guardians will absolutely screw around with the Avengers. I love the rumors flying around about the Lego sets. Unfortunately my story probably won't incorporate a ton of those elements as my chapters so far (especially this one) negate a few of those rumors already. But I'm definitely using some of those rumors as inspiration!

Apologies made, game plan laid out, comments addressed. Houston, we are ready for takeoff. Enjoy!

Song: Mind Games by Sickick

"Sir?"

"Sir?"

"Sir!"

"Go away, Friday".

"My apologies Sir, but you have a meeting with Dr. Selvig this morning".

"Cancel it".

"I must apologize again Sir, but Ms. Potts asked me to ensure you got up and made it to your office before the meeting". Friday didn't sound very sorry. Almost smug, in fact.

Tony sat up, hair strewn every which way and a bit of drool stuck to his cheek. "She's gone already?"

"Yes sir, she had SI meetings in Washington DC today".

"And Wanda?"

"Ms. Maximoff has been moved to the Avengers facility upstate".

Tony chuckled to himself as he ungracefully rolled out of bed and onto the floor. "I guess that's the last place Ross would look. Just make sure he doesn't plan any surprise visits. I'm assuming Vision was happy".

He could almost hear Friday smiling. "Yes Sir".

"Did she say anything about what happened?"

"No Sir. She was quite out of it. I believe Vision is waiting for her to wake up. I am sure he will fill us in when necessary".

Tony nodded to himself. He had expected that. "Coffee?"

"Started 15 minutes ago".

"You're the best, Friday. Though I created you, so technically, I'm the best".

30 minutes later Tony was in the suit and headed out to Avengers Headquarters. Ugh, Selvig. The man was amusing, he would give him that. But the crackpot theories were a bit much for even Tony Stark. He liked concrete science, facts, engineering. Stuff he could experiment and touch and see. Selvig lived in the impossible. Which made him extremely valuable in circumstances such as the Battle of New York, extremely annoying on a daily basis. Tony shuddered to think they would be in another situation like New York anytime soon. Actually, anytime at all. Tony had no desire to fight aliens ever again.

He angled his suit towards the helipad on top of Avengers Headquarters. Rodey stood by the door holding a manila file and glancing at his watch. Jerk.

"Well look who decided to show up to work".

He was not awake enough for this. "It's 8 am, Rodey, not noon. Give me a break".

"Never, Mr. Stank".

"You have to let that go!"

"Nope, you're stuck with it for life".

The two men walked down the stairs, Rodey limping ever so slightly. He would have to look at his spinal implant later. Make sure it wasn't glitching. If it wasn't, there was always the chance it was a psychosomatic problem. Maybe he should ask Bruce. Or Dr. Cho. And Rodey was staring at him. Right. Meeting with crazy pants.

"Fine, if I'm stuck with Mr. Stank, you're never living down the Iron Patriot. Or that one spring break trip…"

"Yeah, yeah, we've both got dirt on each other. No need to prove it". Rodey hurriedly shushed him. The support team they walked past was trying really hard to look like they weren't listening. "Selvig is waiting in the conference room. He brought Darcy with him. Was that you?"

Tony snatched the file from his friend's hand and smirked, "Yeah. What can I say, the girl is amusing. And of course a valuable scientific mind".

He ignored Rodey's muttered, "Isn't she a political science major?" and strode into the room. "Dr. Selvig, always a pleasure".

"Mr. Stark". The man nearly fell over himself as he appeared from between stacks of papers that appeared to be calculations and astrocharts. The man needed to discover technology, stat. Maybe Tony would take pity on him and give him a Starkpad before he left. He inclined his head to the brunette girl perched on the edge of the table, popping bubble gum while fidgeting with a modified phase meter.

"Sup, Stark?" She tilted her head, then asked, "Does your suit have air conditioning?"

"Yes".

She nodded as if life itself made sense, then returned to the phase meter. "Cool".

Momentary distraction over, Tony turned back to Dr. Selvig. "Pepper told me you have some theories to share?"

Dr. Selvig nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I do! Are you familiar with the lore of Ragnarok?"

"Asgardian end of days?" Tony set down the file, then picked up some of Selvig's papers. "Yes, I'm familiar with the mythology".

"I believe it has begun. Perhaps already ended. There were two great energy surges over the past couple weeks. One here on Earth and one in the general vicinity of Asgard. I was just lucky I keep my equipment trained on that sector of the galaxy. I believe if Thor is still alive, he will be returning to Earth".

"So your theory is that giants, Loki, and a wolf consumed the life tree or whatever and restarted the universe? I think we would have noticed something like that".

"No, no. That may have been how it happened long ago, but I believe that the current Asgardian Ragnarok would be exactly that: confined to Asgard".

"Thor said something about a fire demon, Sulfur or something" Darcy piped up from the couch. She was now wadding Selvig's papers into balls and throwing them at his head. "I would have remembered a wolf".

"Asgardian Ragnarok would be the perfect time for whoever is hunting infinity stones to make his final push. Asgard is the protector of Midgard and the rest of this galaxy. With their defeat, it would leave us vulnerable". Selvig valiantly tried to ignore Darcy's assault.

"Theoretically" Tony reminded him. Wait. "Back up a second. Who is hunting what? Thor called the mind stone an infinity stone. The tesseract was one too, right?"

"Yes. Thor took me to a Norn cave during the whole Ultron mess and received a warning of Ragnarok and the infinity stones. These stones are the essences of the early universe. Each harnesses more power than you can possibly imagine. Three infinity stones don't just pop up like they have without someone pulling the strings".

Tony glared at Selvig for a moment. "Hold the phone. The tesseract, currently on Asgard. The mind stone, currently in Vision. What is the third one?"

"The Aether". At Tony's blank look, the man hurriedly added, "it popped up when Thor was on Earth during the Dark Elves' invasion. In Greenwich? The reality stone?"

"Okay". Tony sat down and looked at the file again. With more interest this time. Ragnarok was a stretch, but even Tony could admit things had been different the past ten years. Between the rise of superheroes, the alien invasion, the fall of SHIELD, Ultron, hell even Thor himself, it had been a strange decade. It wasn't a stretch to imagine there was a puppet master, orchestrating the events of the universe so the pieces would fall to him. Or her. From his experience, evil was gender neutral. Though there did seem to be more male supervillains than female…

These energy readings from the last couple weeks were very interesting indeed. The first from Earth was like nothing he had ever seen. Massive amounts of power leaking from Norway over an extended period of time, culminating with one final release of power last week. How had he missed this?

At first glance the other seemed innocuous. Asgard was far enough away the Earth wouldn't see the effects of an energy surge unless they were looking for it. But Selvig apparently was. And the energy readings were astronomical, even accounting for the distance between Earth and Asgard. Nothing good could have caused that. He was about to ask Darcy what she meant by a sulfur man when one of the many machines Selvig brought started to beep. Darcy backed away and held up her hands, "I didn't touch it".

Tony looked over the shoulder of Dr. Selvig as the man gasped, hand clutching his chest. A moment later, the billionaire knew why. "That's the tesseract. What the hell is the tesseract doing back on Earth?"

"Is he here? He was supposed to be dead, but he never seems to stay that way…" Selvig was muttering, collecting papers and looking suspiciously close to removing his pants in order to "think better".

Darcy was looking a little less bored than usual. "Oh, I like him. He's evil but entertaining at least. Maybe he just needs company. Thor has Mew-Mew. Let's get Loki a cat or a mace or something. Oh! I could get him a taser!"

Tony despaired for the human race as he ran out of the room, barking the coordinates from the machine at Friday. After instructing the scientists to stay in the conference room and Rodey to get the team ready just in case, he jumped in his suit and flew towards the coordinates. Right in the middle of New York City. On the way, he was definitely thinking about the tesseract and preventing alien invasions and evacuation routes. Not Loki with a cat.

Alarms blared through Avengers Headquarters, startling Wanda awake. She had her powers prepared instantly, shoving the figure beside her into the wall…

And oops, it was Vision. As quickly as she attacked him she let him go, returning to the bed and holding her head in her hands.

The Vision didn't even look fazed, merely melted through the floor, then returned as the alarms went silent. "We are just on high alert. No need to be alarmed".

"Ugh". Wanda had a headache the size of Sokovia. Her hand drifted down to her side, where some neat stitches and a persisting ache were all that remained of her previous injury. She vaguely remembered a nice woman coming into Tony's apartment and fixing her up, Pepper stroking her hair and murmuring as the woman expertly plucked pieces of the blade out of her side. Chloe or Claire or something like that. She didn't remember much more. But Vision was here, so that must mean she was at the Avengers Headquarters. And wasn't chained to the bed or fitted with a shock collar. This was already going better than she had anticipated.

"Are you quite alright, Wanda?" Vision's hand hovered over her shoulder, as if he was afraid he would spook her.

"I'm fine, Vis". She was shocked when her voice creaked and scratched. How long had she been out? Then, she noticed the hand hovering over her protectively wasn't…red.

It was definitely Vision. She could feel that with certainty. But the man looked nothing like he had before. Instead of red skin, he looked human. White pasty skin with blonde hair, his tight fitting blue shirt looked like it belonged, instead of his out-of-place sweaters from two years before. The eyes though, the eyes were the same.

"Vis? What happened?"

The android looked down at himself in confusion, then seemed to understand. "Oh! It makes people much more comfortable when I appear…human…in daily life. As a member of the Avengers, I often have to appear before the United Nations. It was prudent to learn to change the color and texture of my molecules to emulate the human image".

She couldn't help it. She laughed. Vision looked confused, but chuckled a bit with her. "They like you to appear human until they need your help. Then they are happy to see a flying red man, yes?"

"Yes" Vision smiled a bit more genuinely now. "Yes, I suppose they are". He quieted for a moment, lost in thought. "We don't do much now. Train a lot. Ask the UN council to send us where we are needed. Sometimes they do. They sent us to help in Manchester when the concert was attacked. Some hostage rescue missions". He hesitated before tentatively continuing, "I wish I could say it was because the world was getting better. According to my calculations, powered villain attacks should decrease with the Accords and they have".

"Then why are you upset?" Wanda tilted her head, studying Vision. She wasn't sure if he noticed, but he exhibited more human traits than before. He was unsure of himself, his emotions chaotic instead of the clear calculation he exhibited before the Accords.

"Look at you, Wanda. If the world was improving, then why are you hurt? And why didn't we get notice of any attacks?" The android was genuinely troubled.

"Because Natasha, mostly. She is good at pinpointing potential targets. She still has contacts in dozens of nations. I can't say much more. I believe in what our friends are doing and do not want to jeopardize their work, but we are working in the shadows. Trying to stop attacks before they start. Obviously they aren't always successful, but it helps". Wanda gauged Vision's interest, and seeing no hint of disgust, she continued, "Natasha and Steve make a scary team sometimes. And we are effective. But…you are right. Powered villains are laying low. And Vis, it's not because of the Accords, however much I wish that were true. Something is coming. They're fortifying themselves and bracing for the fallout".

"Does that have anything to do with this?" Vision pointed at her side.

"Maybe". She stood up again, slowly walking to the window. It was raining in upstate New York, water dripping steadily from the gutter above them. The sky had darkened, a clear indicator that the storm would continue for some time. "A former…acquaintance of Natasha's, Mikula, he was gathering supplies, men. Then he stopped. Went completely off the radar. It made her nervous, so we went to see him. The Avengers who didn't sign, we normally don't work as a team, it draws too much attention, but Widow wanted me there. Apparently he was enhanced, telepathic". Wanda hugged herself, pulling the sweater she was wearing closer around her. Vision stepped up beside her, silently waiting for her to continue. She turned back to the window.

"When we arrived, he was crazy. Repeated the same things over and over. Fought us off when we tried to question him. Thought I was Maw, whoever that was. Then he showed me. It was so…fast…I couldn't understand everything. Just…pieces. Mad Titan. Earth. Infinity Stones. Two, maybe three on Earth. Time. Mind. Soul-keepers. While I was distracted he slipped his dagger into my side. Thought I was Maw again. Widow got me out, but the politsiya came. Apparently they were after Mikula for stealing missiles. She wrapped my injury up, put me on a train to Kiev. I was out of it, my powers were screaming at me. To get back, to protect the source. You".

Wanda refused to look at Vision, even as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "I have learned how to stay under the radar. I called in some favors, got a ride to JFK then hightailed it to Stark's place. Even if he arrested me, he could protect you. I just needed to pass on the information".

Finally, Wanda turned to the side. Vision's face was contorted into an almost amusing combination of fear, confusion, and protectiveness. How could she make him understand when she didn't even understand herself? He knew more about the mind stone than anyone, but even he would admit his knowledge was rudimentary at best. Almost without thinking, she reached up to where the mind stone usually sat on his brow. The stone glowed in response; her powers trailed out of their own accord and embraced the stone. Ah. Wanda gently manipulated them, then asked, "May I show you?"

Vision nodded. She concentrated, bringing up the memories as if it were nothing. Death and destruction from the stars. A hand of gold. Ash and dust, the smell of decay and death, a man bowing at the feet of a throne of bones. Three stones, the mind stone, the time stone, the soul stone. Vision, standing proud and tall, then writhing on the ground in agony. A goateed man with a red cloak, time held in his hands, sorrow in his eyes. A woman adorned in gold, sending a package to the stars surrounded by thick jungle, war drums drawing nearer and nearer. A deep voice laughing, looking down on a small blue and green globe. "Dread it. Run from it. Destiny still arrives".

With a start, Wanda pulled back, bringing her powers under control once more. Vision was panting, overwhelmed as his electronic brain attempted to sort out the details. The stone still glowed in his forehead. Without hesitating, Wanda cradled his head in her hands. "We can stop this, Vis. This is what the Avengers came together for".

"To see if we could become something more. Something that could keep the Earth from harm, be better than humanity".

"Be the best of humanity" Wanda gently corrected. "We did lots of good together, did we not? We can do so again. Or, at least you can". She pulled back a bit. "I'm more of a liability than a help right now. Can't go out in public lest Ross finds me".

Vision seemed to start a bit at her declaration. "What you saw, I don't think the law is going to matter when the time comes. Will you stand by us, Wanda? Even though we abandoned you?"

Wanda smiled. "Of course. And I am not without fault. If you abandoned me, then I also abandoned you".

Vision's comlink suddenly pinged. "Vision".

"Get her out of here. Ross is here. Something happened in New York. He wants a meeting". Rodey's voice was tight and stern. Something was very wrong. "He knows she's here, Vision. He has sent his men looking. I know he's trying to distract me with whatever he has come to meet about". A voice crackled in the background, then faded out as Rodey cut the connection. Wanda turned to Vision, trying to drown the fear she knew was in her eyes.

"No" was all he said, pulling her closer. "No, we will stay together. Fight together. A cracked weapon is not strong".

"Vis, you have to let me go". She shushed his inevitable argument as the sound of boots echoed up the hallway. "I'll come back. You know how to reach me". The men pounded at the door, demanding they open it. "The mind stone. We are connected. Just let me know when and where and I will be there. Might bring some friends if that's okay".

He nodded. Wanda hesitated for a moment, then drew him in quickly, lips meeting momentarily. The symphony of pounding on the door behind them drew her away, glancing at the window. She snatched her coat from the chair, ignoring the bloodstain from her injury as Vision wrapped a scarf around her neck and placed a ski hat on her head.

The door burst open behind them as a dozen booted men bolted into the room. Vision shifted into a defensive stance. That wouldn't do. Wanda used her powers to quickly knock him out. How could they protect him if the government branded him a traitor? Her powers watched her back without prompting as she launched herself through the bulletproof window, landing almost effortlessly on the grass below. Summoning her power back to her, she took a deep breath and calmed her mind. She had been practicing under the guidance of Natasha and Steve. "I don't want to be here". She ran smoothly through the long grass surrounding Avengers Headquarters. "I don't want to be here". Her power rose easily to her hands as she zig zagged to avoid bullets. As soon as she reached the tree line, where more men with guns inevitably waited for her, she stopped. Breathed. She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to be here. "I'm not here. I never was".

And she was gone, standing silently on the shore of the East River. No one was alarmed by her sudden appearance, because in their minds, she had walked up nearly ten minutes ago. With a deep breath and a glance at her watch, she pulled her scarf around her and headed down Houston Street. The alarms at Avengers Headquarters. Something was wrong. Her instincts told her the problem was here. Northwest. She nodded to herself, adjusted her coat, and lost herself in a sea of people. The stage was set. The first move was made. And she didn't even know what game they were playing. Time to find out.

The stench of fresh blood permeated the air, blending perfectly with the cries of the soon dead in the background. Proxima Midnight thrusted her spear through the skull of a man dressed in blue leathers. A woman with white hair in the same blue leathers pleaded from the ground, bracing her gushing arm against her chest. "Rhomann!"

Midnight chuckled, then rested the butt of her spear respectfully on the ground as her commander passed. He strode into the vault, tearing the door off like it was nothing but cardboard. It was nothing, like the rest of the universe, to the might of her master. When he returned, he dropped a purple gem into the golden gauntlet on his hand. The woman on the floor cried out, trying in vain to call someone on her comlink. Thanos merely laughed.

"Your precious Guardians cannot help you now. You sent them away". Her Lord's booming voice filled the room. She stood taller, proud to be standing beside him at the beginning of his reign of glory. "Thank you, for keeping this safe for me".

Proxima Midnight nodded at Thanos, then stepped forward. It would be an honor and privilege to cleanse the filth from her Lord's sight. She relished the snick of her spear through the ranting woman's cranium, satisfied that more opportunities such as this would be coming. Death must be appeased. Midnight was only too happy to oblige.