"You can be my...assistant," Tony tells Harley later that day. The boy's mother still isn't back yet and he's starting to get the feeling that this is a normal occurrence. He's not going to say she's a bad mother for leaving her 11-year-old son alone at 10 o'clock at night, because there are a lot more dangerous situations for the kid to be in. It's just weird and his fatherly instincts are probably kicking in.

He watches as Harley's eyes brighten considerably and the inventor fears that was the wrong choice of words for this particular boy.

"Like a mechanic?" Harley asks, sliding to the edge of his seat. When Tony gives him a small nod, he practically jumps out of his skin and down Tony's throat.

"Yeah, kid. Now calm down before you break something," he tells him. Bruce comes back with an armload of equipment. He sets it down on the floor, an amused smile playing on his face. Tony looks like he's regretting his decision already.

"You know...if I was building Iron Man and War Machine…" Tony gives him an amused look.

"Iron Patriot now," Tony tells him. Harley's eyes widened again.

"That is way cooler !" Harley insists. Tony scoffs. He's glad Rodney will never get the satisfaction of hearing that from his tiny assistant.

"No, it's not," Tony says, pouting a bit. He thinks his name choice was better and won't be satisfied until his voice is heard.

"Anyway, I would have given him the retro...retro…." He's trying hard to form the word correctly, but he just can't seem to get it to run off his tongue as smoothly as he'd like.

"Retro-reflective panels?" Tony supplies. Harley nods.

"For stealth mode," he continues. Tony considers it for a brief moment. It's actually a pretty good idea.

"If I had the materials, I'd do it right now for the Mark 42. But we don't really have the time. Maybe, when this is all over, I'll build one back at the tower. Hey, Bruce!" Tony calls. The scientist pokes his head out from under the desk. A bunch of wires dangle from his mouth and he's hung a tiny pair of pliers off the arm of his glasses.

"How are those wires looking?" the inventor asks. Bruce gives him a thumbs up and ducks back down. A few moments later, he comes out with them.

"These are all good to use. For now at least," Bruce says. Tony nods and takes them. He turns back to Harley.

"Isn't your mom back by now? I don't want her coming after me with a sharp weapon, thinking I've done something to her kid. I have a reputation to uphold and Tony Stark with a big red slash across the face for the rest of his life will be certain to put a pretty big blotch on it for a long time," he remarks. Harley shrugs and begins to play with one of the discarded wires.

"So Harley, where are your parents? I'm sure they're close by. You can't be more than ten or eleven," he says again. He's genuinely curious about that information since he doesn't want any trouble with the folks. Harley looks up at him and the look he has tugs at Tony's heart strings. It almost makes him want to adopt another kid.

"Well, my mom already left to go work at the diner and I haven't really seen my dad since he went to 7-Eleven to get scratchers. I guess he won, 'cause that was six years ago," he says. Tony grimaces. It kind of sucks, but he can't change anything without doing something major.

"Mm. Well, that happens, dads leave. No need to be such a pussy about it." This earns him another scolding look from Bruce. Tony ignores him. It feels good to use his regular language around an older kid. Harley is practically a preteen, so he's sure he's not too bad of an influence. Tony's sure he must experience a lot worse things in school.

An hour later, Harley is asleep on the sofa and Bruce takes that as a sign that he must corner Tony to get a word out of him. The inventor is a little uncomfortable that Bruce thinks he still has to hunt him down in a room no bigger than his living room at the tower, but he guesses it's necessary. He's been busy all day and having a kid around doesn't help things.

"So what are we going to do now?" Bruce asks him, looking at Harley. "He's just a little kid all alone here."

"He said his mom was coming back Bruce, so just relax. If you're that worried, then perhaps we can stay until she gets back. Until then, we've got work to do if we expect to find the Mandarin before his next attack. And to answer your question...well, we ," Tony points to himself and Bruce, "are going off the grid until we can get this whole Mandarin thing sorted out. We can't stop—we won't stop—until the Mandarin is lying dead at my feet."

Bruce begins to rub his temples. He's spent six hours if his morning being eagle carried like a hobbit from the freaking Lord of the Rings across six states. While completely naked, he might add. He really doesn't have the time or patience for Tony's ranting.

"Tony, please don't start with this again. We don't need to do anything other than what we're supposed to. We go in, find the Mandarin, turn him over and get out before we get back to headquarters and do what we can for the rest of the team while they take care of Ultron. That's it," he insists. Tony gives him a hard stare.

"Since when have you been so uptight about this?" Tony asks. A wave of frustration passes over Bruce and the scientist has to force the Hulk down from tearing Tony's head off. How can Tony still not see what kind of mess they're in? That they are the ones responsible?

"Well, gee. I don't know...since we built the world's first serial killer AI, Tony! I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Ultron can't be salvaged. If I could go back and undo what we did, I would."

As he says it, Bruce realizes he actually means it. Without Ultron's existence, they probably wouldn't even be in this situation. They could be in their homes, relaxing with their loved ones, drinking eggnog and eating gingerbread men. Opening gifts on Christmas morning. Of course, there would still be the problem of the Mandarin, but that's beside the point. He wishes they'd just given Thor the scepter right off the bat.

"Bruce, I know this is hard for you, but at least try to see the positive side of things. We were so close ," Tony tries to reason. Bruce shakes his head. There's too much at stake to try and see reason now.

"Ultron is unstable and on a rampage against humankind. There is no positive side, Tony." The inventor sighs and sits down beside his friend. He places a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, what if I told you...I had a hit on the Mandarin?" he suggests instead. The scientist lifts his head. He hadn't been expecting that.

"How?" he demands. Tony simply shrugs. He'd gotten bored while waiting for the suit to charge and began doing some research on the broadcast signals for the Mandarin. It hadn't been that hard actually. In fact, he wonders how the government didn't think of it in the first place.

"I've been running scans on the Mandarin broadcasts," he says. "Apparently, the signal comes in from Miami, Florida. I also found out that there might be another broadcast tomorrow, so that's where we need to be by morning." Bruce nods.

"See, everything's going to be ok, Bruce. We're going to be ok," he assures the other man with a wide grin. "Now go wake up the kid. I've been thinking about some of the bombings and the fact that one that happened right here. I've got some questions that definitely need answers." Bruce nods and goes over to the couch where Harley is sleeping. He begins to shake him gently awake and the boy stretches out with a yawn.

"What time is it?" Harley asks in a sleepy voice. He rubs his eyes and sits up when Bruce prompts him to. He's still sleepy, but if waking up means he gets to have some more fun with Tony and Bruce, then so be it.

"It's a little after midnight, kid, so listen up. Tony wants to talk to you really quick before we head out. We may have a hit on the Mandarin and if we're lucky, we'll be done with him by tomorrow afternoon," he explains. A look of sadness crosses Harley's face.

"You're leaving me?" the boy says. Tony smiles at Harley's apprehension.

"Well, we've got to stop the Mandarin and we certainly can't do it from here. And we can't take you with us because it would be too dangerous. So you're going to stay here with the suit and take care of it, ok? You're going to update me on everything it does. Every tick and whistle. And when I need it, I'll let you know. So perk up. If this all works out, you'll be part of the team that saves the world from the Mandarin. An honorary Avenger of sorts." At the mention of becoming a symbolic Avenger, Harley perks up considerably. His slow nod turns into eager excitement.

"Oh...ok! What can I do?" the boy asks. Tony smiles at him and reaches over to ruffle his hair. The gesture is not appreciated and Harley pushes his hand away.

"Well, you can start by showing me that memorial you were talking about earlier. I think it'd be a great help in confirming my suspicions."


By the time Thor retires to his room, it's almost 6 am. He's beyond tired, having spent the day scouting for signs of Ultron in Russia. It's been about two months since the talk with his father about Thrym happened, and still, the king is having trouble getting regular meetings with the frost giant sovereign.

So far, there is no sign of the AI and it worries him greatly that his team faces an adversary that can survive without a body. Ultron could be anywhere right now. Maybe even watching their movements as they go about trying to bring him down.

Thor begins to take off his cape and armor when a dark shadow casts itself in the corner of his eye. He turns around, expecting to be attacked. It's only Loki though, rising from his seated position on the sofa. He gives Thor a tight-lipped smile and then looks away from his brother. Thor sees that Loki looks somewhat well rested but still tired. They all are.

"Loki, where have you been? I've been trying to talk to you all day," Thor says, taking a step toward his brother. Loki sighs and sits back down.

"How are mother and father? The children are still enjoying their visits, yes?" he asks. Thor nods.

"Mother and father are quite satisfied with the arrangement. But how are you? I know that not being able to see mother upsets you." Loki shakes his head slowly. He still doesn't understand how Thrym came to suspect him of sabotage, but he agreed to stay on Midgard for the sake of safety.

"I...I've just been feeling unwell lately," he admits to his brother. Thor's eyes widen and he leans forward.

"Loki, are you with child?" the god asks quietly in a voice full of worry. He doesn't really make it his business to look into the goings on of his brother's body, but maybe now is a good time to start. Loki raises an eyebrow, smiling ruefully. He shakes his head, laughing.

"No, but do not worry. That was my first thought, too. I just have this... feeling ," Loki tells him. Thor frowns, not understanding what Loki could possibly mean. He says so and Loki rolls his eyes.

"Of course not. I wouldn't have expected you to. It's just a feeling with my magic. At first, I did consider the fact that I might be pregnant again. But this is different. Something I certainly do not care for," he says slowly. Thor sighs and places a hand on his shoulder.

"It's probably just stress, Loki. You should get some more sleep. We all should. As long as we keep searching for Ultron and we find him soon, we'll be fine. Until the next threat comes along, I guess." The thunder god laughs and places a hand on Loki's shoulder. Loki smirks and places his hand on top of Thor's.

"Alright, I will. But only if you do something for me first," he says. Thor nods and leans closer. "I wish for you to take Minva and Frelser to Asgard. I don't know how long they'll stay there, but it will be a long while," he explains. "Too much has happened for me to allow them to stay here in danger. Will you do that for me, Thor?" he asks. His brother nods and tightens his hold.

Loki relaxes into his touch and he can feel a bit of stress leave his body. It's always nice to have his older brother to comfort him, but the knots in his stomach are still as tightly twisted as before.


Boom...boom...BOOM!

The sound of breaking glass and the acrid smell of bomb fumes sends the Avengers into action straight from their slumbers. The tower is under attack once again, but instead of robots, the threat comes from human men in masks.

Between the six of them, the battle is over rather quickly. Steve stands over the last man, ready to handcuff him to a table leg.

"Hail...Hydra," are his last words before he swallows a cyanide capsule. The captain frowns, the words bringing up past memories that echo darkly in the back of his mind.

With the battle finally over, there is a discussion to be had. In the Debriefing Room, Steve stands over two young S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who are writing down what he says furiously. They look young enough to be the type of interns willing to do anything to please the bosses.

"Six Hydra agents swarmed us and we were completely unprepared today. I want you to check the security. How did they even get anywhere near the building so easily? Why weren't we alerted earlier? What happened to the defensive measures we put into place months ago?" Steve goes on to list a bunch of other issues that must be fixed before sending the two young men off to report. He flips on the news and slips into a chair.

There's talk of the attack already spilling over into the news. There's also footage of a live car wreck involving an SUV whose model matches the make of a S.H.I.E.L.D. issued vehicle. He immediately recognizes that the car does indeed belong to their organization. He and Natasha exchange looks as they see a middle-aged African American man pulled from the wreckage. It's instantly clear who the man pulled from the wreckage is and both agents spring out of their seats.


While the rest of the Avengers debrief, the horrors are only piling up for Loki. His two adversaries are pitifully under matched against him, but he can't help but think their endgame isn't exactly with him. He slits a man's throat with one of his daggers and takes the other one down with a simple spell to freeze the blood.

Once he is certain there are no more enemies on his floor, the god rushes into Frelser's room where he finds Minva sobbing in the corner. He sees that the crib is completely smashed and the floor beside it is scorched to ash. The floors are covered in a thick coating of ice in spots and he almost slips as he walks toward his daughter.

"Minva, are you alright?" he asks in a worried voice. The girl is shaking and Loki can't tell if it's from fear or the temperature

Loki takes one look at the mess and feels his stomach clench painfully. Frelser is gone, stolen in the chaos of the battle and Minva clings to his side, trembling. He kneels down in front of her and grips her shoulders firmly.

"Minva, where is Frelser? I know you're scared, but please tell me because this is very important," he says to her. The girl wipes her eyes and leans against his shoulder.

"They took him," she whispers. Loki continues to hold her while she speaks. He strokes her hair when she begins to shiver again.

"Who took him, sweetie?" he questions. That feeling of wrongness is back again, but it's settled in the lower part of his back now. He can feel it hovering just over his kidneys, waiting to strike.

"Blue...cold men. They were frost giants I think…they scared me," she finishes. Minva starts to cry again and Loki focuses on her for the moment. Panicking won't do either of them any good. The god hesitates for only a second before gripping the girl's arm and swinging her onto his hip. He carries her from the room and after he gets her settled to a state of calmness, he sends her to the lower floors to sleep.

A few hours later, Loki encounters Natasha in the Planning Room, where she is studying a topographic map. Her head lifts as he enters and she gives him a look of sympathy.

"Still no sign of Frelser?" she asks. Loki shakes his head. The infant wasn't in his room and he's already had the rest of the tower searched. The only viable choice left now is that he was taken by an enemy. He suspects that the attack earlier was just a distraction. His teammates tried to reason with him on where and how such a thing could have happened, but he knows better.

"I have reason to believe this entire situation was a trap," Loki says from his seat. "Frelser is gone. He was taken by whoever attacked the tower. Only they had help we didn't see. My guess is it was an associate of Thanos. More specifically, a creature named Islis."

"I thought that Minva said she saw Jotuns," the woman says. Loki nods and takes a seat in one of the swivel chairs at the table. She pauses for a moment, before looking up from her work. "I know that look, Loki and it's never a good sign. What are you thinking?" she asks him. The god shakes his head and begins picking at one of his nails. Another worrisome sign Natasha notices. Loki prides himself and his appearance almost obsessively.

"I'm going to Asgard. Thor is still out and I cannot wait for him to return. I know it is risky given the arrangement Odin has with the Jotun king, but I can't just sit here while my child has gone missing," he tells her. The spy nods as he rises from his seat. She's never had children and knows she will never be able to thanks to her training in Russia, but she's grown attached to Frelser as well.

"You're taking Minva, aren't you?" she says. Loki nods. He's sure that the arrangement had to come sometime with the increasing attacks that have plagued them for the past couple of weeks. Minva is an innocent child that he doesn't want to be harmed in the battles yet to come.

"I can't afford to put her in danger here. She'll be safer with my parents," Loki insists. The look he gives her almost pleads with her to not argue with him. She respects his wishes either way, knowing the decision had to be made sooner rather than later. Natasha only hopes that this doesn't make things worse for those living on this green and blue marble called Earth.


Peter Quill's one wish in life is to just be left alone. It's bad enough that he has the one and only Yondu Udonta riding his ass about past owed profits from the jobs they had together. He slips his mask on and proceeds to enter the cavern.

The guy who hired him to do this gig was paying him a shitload of money to get whatever ancient relic was locked inside and he's not about to pass up the opportunity to be the first to get his hands on it because that money could really set him for life.

Peter—or Star-Lord as he prefers to be called—squeezes through the tight opening, careful not to scratch his suit. It happens to be one of a kind. Once he's in, he immediately sees what he came for. The fact that the object is sitting right in the middle of the room is unsettling at first, but when his first few steps don't trigger any traps, he keeps going.

Soon enough he's standing right in front of the metal orb. He puts his mask up, studying it. He reaches out and gives it a tentative poke. When chunks of rock don't start falling on his head, he snatches the item up and stuffs it into his pack. All at once, men burst out of the walls. He curses and tries to make a run for it.

The men quickly surround him, however, and he looks around for a way to escape. The only way out is the way he came and at the moment, it's blocked. He sighs and begins to raise his hands above his head in surrender.

"Look, see what had happened was…." His mask comes down again and he assumes a fighting stance. He begins to lash out randomly at the closest opponent. When no one makes a move toward him, he pauses and looks around. The circle parts and a white-haired man enters into the circle.

"You may relax, Star-Lord. I merely needed to ensure that our contract remained unbroken. You may have heard of my associate, Korath-Thak." He gestures to the dark skinned man standing beside him. "He allowed me the use of a few of his men so that I would not...get my hands dirty, I suppose you would say." The Collector steps forward and holds out his hand.

"Now, please. May I have the orb?" he asks. Peter frowns under his mask and looks down at his pack. Suddenly, all that money doesn't seem so tempting now. Whatever this guy wants this orb for must not be all that honorable, or he wouldn't have hired an illegal mercenary to find it.

"Say, uh…" he begins, placing a hand on the bag. "What's so special about this thing anyway?" he asks. He knows asking questions is probably going to get him killed, but he has a conscience to worry about. Being half human and all has its downsides sometimes.

The Collector smiles but does not indulge his curiosity. He simply folds his hands in front of him and watches him for a few moments. Peter shifts uncomfortably under his gaze, wondering what he did wrong. Idiot, he thinks to himself. He needs to learn to keep his mouth shut sometimes.

"Hey listen, I didn't mean any trouble. Curiosity killed the cat, right?" he says with a huff of laughter. The Collector and Korath exchange looks. The darker man grins widely. Peter swallows audibly, not liking the sudden change in the atmosphere.

"You know what? I'm just going to leave this thing right here and be on my way. You can forward my money to the address I already gave you. If you feel like it of course. No rush really. Not like I'm doing anything major anytime soon," he says, placing the orb on the ground and trying to slip past the rigid warriors. When none of the men move, Peter exhales sharply. He feels someone grab him from behind and his first instinct is to snap the wrist connected to the gripping hand into two. The warrior is flipped over his shoulder and onto the ground with backbreaking force. That's about the moment that all hell breaks loose.

As men begin to swarm him, Peter snatches up the orb. He's got a strong feeling that he's not going to be getting paid for this job, so he might as well get something for his time. He pulls out his gun and begins shooting anyone who advances on him. Three, six, seven men down in thirty seconds. But they just keep coming and he knows that they're going to overtake him in the end. There's just too many.

There's a huge crash and half of the left wall caves in. Balls of light arc into the air and explode, blinding them all. The sounds of screaming are suddenly all around him and he can't help but feel a little bad. It just seems like he causes destruction everywhere he goes. A sudden grip on his arm pulls him out of his thoughts. He stumbles blindly after whoever is leading him. Better them than what the Collector has planned.

It seems like an eternity before they stop running, but he's sure they're far away from Korath and his men by now. He begins to slow his pace. His rescuer must be thinking of the same thing because the grip lessens.

Peter stumbles out of the stranger's grip, landing hard on his knees. The person circles around him so that he's face to face with their knees. Slowly, his gaze travels up, and up and up until it reaches a rather nice set of breasts. Well, he thinks, looks like he's getting a reward after all. He might as well be rewarded for something.

"Are you staring at my breasts, or can your head go no further?" the voice above him demands. Peter lets his gaze go the rest of the way up and is met with a strikingly beautiful green-faced woman. He gives her his best smile and stands up, dusting himself off.

"Hey there. You were amazing back there by the way. But if I might ask, why were you hanging around in the middle of nowhere anyway? Surely a woman with your looks could find somewhere much nicer to be."

"My name is Gamora. What I am doing out here is none of your concern. You should be lucky that I even decided to help you, you pathetic excuse for a warrior. But then I realized who you had gotten into trouble with, and I thought to myself, 'now why would Korath take interest in a human male unless he at least had some sort of value?' So I took you," she tells him. Peter immediately deflates.

"So, you're going to try and sell me to the highest bidder?! You can't do that. I'm Star-Lord!" he insists. Gamora smiles knowingly.

"Exactly," she says, baring her teeth. Peter's mouth clamps shut at that. Apparently, he's just jumped out of the skillet and into the fire. But it's a nice fire, not quite unbearable yet. Maybe if he can get a few drinks into her, they can work out an arrangement that they can both accept.

"Hang on...why me?" he asks. Gamora shakes her head and waves a finger at him, pulling a mechanical contraption out of her satchel.

"That's my business. All you need to know is that I know a man more powerful than Korath and the Collector combined. His eye has fallen on you. It's my father who is interested in you, actually," she says. Peter gives her an odd look.

"You're not going to make me a slave, are you? Because if so, can I be like one of those really cool pleasure slaves I keep hearing about? I'd be totally cool with that." Gamora continues to ignore him as she works her device. "Wait, who's your dad exactly?" he asks. He wracks his brain to recall anything about the woman and her name. Nothing comes us. She smiles at him, satisfied with the results of her device's performance. Her answer freezes Peter in his spot, and he almost shits himself. Almost.

"I'm sure you've heard of my father. He goes by Thanos these days."