New York, 2012

Manhattan, New York

As I ran towards Steve I could hear him talking on his comm and my stomach dropped.

"Stark, you know that's a one way trip?" he asked, meeting my wide saucer eyes. I looked up to see Tony flying towards the portal, a missile of some sort in his arms. I pressed the piece in my ear and said in a shakey voice.

"You're gonna come back, right old man?" my voice shook as my attempt at humour came out too tense to fool anybody.

"Only if you're there to catch me, kid." Was the only answer I received as he disappeared into the portal. I grabbed Steve's hand, my knees shaking and my eyes blurred. He couldn't leave me. He was the closest thing I'd found to a father figure. I hadn't ever shown him how much all his training and effort on my cuffs had meant to me. The commlink went dead and I gasped with horror as I watched an explosion shine on the other side of the portal. "Tony!"

Suddenly, all of the Chitauri soldiers and leviathans keeled over, motionless. I could hear a ringing silence as Tony failed to reappear through the portal. I could feel Steve tense next to me, his voice seem to break me out of my horror.

"Close it." I heard myself cry out as I turned to Steve and buried my face in his chest, refusing to watch as Tony was lost to us forever. He put his hand on my back in an awkward attempt to comfort me. I close my eyes tight and press my face into Steve, refusing to watch another person I care about disappear.

"Son of a gun!" Steve exclaimed suddenly, turning me around and pointing up into the sky.

I could see a tiny figure falling through the sky, the sun shining off red metal. Tony. I watched for a moment, Thor walking to stand next to me, his form towering over me. Something wasn't right.

"Tor!" Steve yelled, as I pulled away from him and began running towards where Tony might land. I was vaguely aware of Thor noticing it too – Tony wasn't slowing down. I kept running, my breath coming in short, sharp pants. I felt my heart burning, whether it was with emotion or with my powers, I wasn't sure. I just kept running. I held my hand up towards Tony, pulling every ounce of energy that I could from my form, creating a shield around his still distant figure, pushing against it with all my might in an effort to slow him down. It was working, I could feel the weight against my arm, and see the shield glowing brightly around the Iron Man suit. I felt something hot run down my top lip, smelled the scent of iron and tasted coppery blood. Black spots started to swim in my vision as Tony slowly descended towards the tops of the skyscrapers. The world seemed to stop for a moment, and then it turned black.

I wondered for a moment if I had died. If I hadn't saved Tony it would be what I deserved. Phil's face flashed through my mind and I reached out to him. He faded into the distance. Then another familiar face clouded my vision. My father – not Tony – my real father. The one that had strapped me to a doctors chair and tried to force a syringe into my arm.

"Only if you catch me, kid." Tony's voice disrupted the image.

I saw Steve, fighting the Chitauri, but I couldn't help him…

Clint, Natasha, Banner, Thor… All of them fighting, but where was I?

I felt cold…

Tired…

Then, my world went dark.

A rhythmic beeping woke me up and I groaned, trying to open my eyes. I could feel a familiar itchiness in my arm, a needle of some sort. Crisp sheets tucked tightly around me, and the smell of disinfectant. A hospital. I groaned again, reaching up to rub my eyes.

As I opened them I became aware of three things. Steve was sitting at the foot of my bed, watching me with a weary smile. Tony was snoring softly in the chair next to me, and… he was holding my small hand in his large calloused one. I made a move to sit up and Steve moved forward, concerned. Tony jumped, trying to take his hand from mine. I squeezed it lightly, his gaze softened imperceptibly.

"So you landed ok, old man?" I rasped, my throat felt dry and my head pounded at the effort. "I'm not fired for not catching you, am I?"

"No," Tony replied, he smirked at me affectionately. "But you missed schawarma. Gonna have to make it up to me for that." I rolled my eyes and turned to look at Steve.

"So… what happened?" Steve shook his head at Tony and I, obviously amused by our strange friendship. It took him almost an hour to explain to me that we had won, the Chitauri had been defeated and Loki had been taken back to Asgard with Thor and the Tesseract. I chose not to ask about the strange Schawarma incident, nodding my head at the appropriate times instead.

"What happened to me? I remember Tony falling…" Tony frowned. Holding up two fried looking cuffs in his hand.

"You used your energy reserves. Broke my toys while you were at it." He muttered, his brow creased in a way that was far too serious for the normal Tony. He stood up and looked away from me as if he couldn't look at me.

"You knocked yourself out, Tor." Steve said, his voice quiet. "You used so much of your energy… Your nose was bleeding and you wouldn't wake up… SHIELD came and got you."

"I'm sorry," I said, clenching my fists and looking at Tony. "I didn't mean to break the cuffs."

"Break the cuffs!? You think that's what I'm mad about!? You could've been -" he trailed off, giving me a strange look as I sat up properly and gave him a quick hug before collapsing back against the bed with a grin on my face. I hadn't realised he would worry about me – not many people did anymore. "I'll just make you new ones… But last chance – I won't make you more if you're just gonna trash them." I rolled my eyes as he walked out of the room, giving me a wink.

"Steve…" I asked, my voice serious. He looked at me with curiosity in his eyes. "When we were on the bridge, I called you a punk… It was only meant to be a joke… I'm sorry if it offended you." He looked shocked that I'd even bought it up.

"No! It just took me by surprise, that's all." He stood up, ruffling my hair as he stood up. "Someone I used to know called me that too. It just bought back memories. Now… You need to go back to sleep." I pouted, but he just smiled. "I'll come check on you later."

I settled back into the pillows as Steve left the room, my eyes growing heavy as my consciousness faded into sleep.

I could feel a searing pain travelling through my body and a sense of confusion overwhelming my mind. I was cold and somewhere unfamiliar, somewhere with grey stone walls and a dampness that let in a hideous chill…

Rough hands grabbed at my body and a voice spoke to me in a language I didn't understand… Romanian? Ukranian? Russian? I wasn't sure...

I could see a man, blurry, but close by. I walked closer to him, drawn in like a moth to a flame…

I ran my fingertips over a stubbled chin, the whiskers scratching against my skin. Pushing the hair away from the forehead of the face, such a familiar face…

Blue eyes snapped open, full of pain and confusion. I could feel that pain, like a million volts of electricity burning through my body, and my heart shattered in that moment as I let out a gut wrenching cry…

I jolted upright, panting. The room around me was dark, but I could once again smell disinfectant. My body was covered in sweat and the crisp sheets of the hospital bed were crumpled around me. I sighed, rubbing my sore eyes.

I had never had a dream like that before.