So here we go. The last proper chapter, just the epilogue to go.

Disclaimer: Still not mine. Thanks to Marvel Comics Database, Marvel Universe Wiki and The Ultimate Marvel Character Guide for the background information.


Maria stood frozen on the spot as Banner stepped forwards, eyes wide and Tony's execution forgotten. She snapped out of it long enough to glance around at her swarm of Cape Killers.

"What are you waiting for?" She yelled. "Fire!"

"No!" Tony yelled as the grunts rained a torrent of bullets down on Bruce, Blake and Natasha. Banner threw his arms up to shield his face, as if that would have deflected the bullets, but he didn't need to. They never hit their targets, instead hitting a faint blue wall surrounding the trio and bouncing off, a few flying back to their owners. Maria gaped and span to face the grunt holding Sue, who was still out cold. Perplexed, she ordered them to fire again, but it yielded the same result.

"I think it's safe to say that you're going to have to hear what I have to say." Banner said, staring Maria down. "Even you, Steve."

Steve, who was still slack jawed at the sight of Bruce, shook his head.

"You're dead." He whispered hoarsely. "You're dead. I saw the file, Stark killed you."

"And yet here I am." Bruce growled. "And it's all thanks to Director Hill." He stood up a little straighter and addressed the entire crowd, including the few Avengers that had shown up during the fighting. "Tony Stark did not kill me, nor did he kill Nick Fury. For the past seven years, I have been held captive in the bowels of this very air ship and used as a living, breathing, scientific experiment. Maria Hill arranged to have Fury killed and framed Tony."

Maria laughed. "And why exactly would I do any of that, Bruce?"

Bruce merely pointed at Robert's mutated form. "For that. You were the one that thought up Prop Forty-Two. It isn't a registration act; it's a mutant roundup in order to create a new race of super soldiers like him. Only things didn't go your way at first, did they Maria? Because what it meant was that you'd be experimenting on people with special abilities, like me, like the Avengers, and when Nick found that out, he scrapped it, and you saw all your planning, all your hard work, flushed down the toilet. And you couldn't have that, could you?

"The night that Tony disappeared was the night she acted. She made sure Fury was alone, and she killed him. Probably using one of her loyal subjects," he motioned to the Cape Killers. "When Tony and I heard the commotion, we rushed over, but it was too late. One of her guard shot me, but the bullet only injured me. I hit the deck and Tony did the only thing he could do, he ran. But Maria couldn't let him breathe a word of what he'd seen, so she framed him for Nick's murder, and mine. And she's been using me as a human guinea pig ever since."

He turned to face the few Avengers that were crowded around. "Ever wondered what happened to the people you rounded up? Where they went to? Why they were never seen again? Well, they're all him!" he pointed at Robert again. "She stripped every last ounce of mutation, special ability, from those people and funnelled it into that monster, including me. Some of them weren't strong enough to survive it, and I wish I hadn't been if this is the result."

Steve turned to face Maria, eyes narrowed. "Is this true?"

"Absolutely not." Maria answered quickly. "Steve, you've seen the specs for the serum, you know it's just a refined version of the shot you were given during the war."

"That's a lie!" Reed shouted. Everyone span around, staring at Reed who looked completely surprised at his own outburst. Swallowing a wave of fear as his gaze connected with Maria's, he kept talking. "I've been working on this project since the beginning. I was naïve at first, I just went along with it, but as I became more involved with what was going on, I started to notice things. The people that we were rounding up weren't coming back from the research facility after being registered, and then I started to find out why. I tried to get out, but my family was under threat, I only did this for them, but it's too late now. It's over, Maria." He said.

Maria scoffed. "It's over? What, do you think you're in some kind of movie?" she looked at Banner. "There's no way you can prove any of this. Every single scrap of research on this serum is water-tight."

"Except that it isn't." Reed spoke up again. "When I started noticing things, odd things, I began keeping a log of every single person going into the medical and research facilities. Names, background information, abilities. Everything. Not to mention ghost files of what you've actually been doing." He let a small smile play on his lips. "You're done, Maria. When I release this information, you're done for. And I'm the only person who can get at it."

"Hey!" a Cape Killer called from where Cable lay slumped against the wall. "This one's still conscious!"

Quick as a flash, Maria turned and pointed her gun at Cable, pulling the trigger. The bullet flew from her gun and straight through Cable's techno-organic eye, killing him instantly. Immediately, the force field protecting Bruce, Blake and Natasha, vanished. Maria smiled cruelly and turned her gun onto Reed, who backed away, eyes wide.

"You have just caused problem after problem for me, haven't you?" she asked him, pulling the hammer back on her gun. "And seeing as you're the only person who has access to any…incriminating evidence, killing you will solve all my problems won't it?"

As Maria pulled the trigger, several things happened at once, as if in slow motion. Bruce lunged forwards, eyes blazing as he began to transform into the Hulk, and as he did so, Robert ran at him. As they charged at each other and collided, the bullet left the barrel of Maria's gun and sped towards Reed, but it never made it. Tony had leapt to his feet and thrown himself in front of Reed, blocking the bullet and twisting grotesquely as his body took on the full force of it. He fell to the ground with an almighty thud and was still. Pepper screamed and fought tooth and nail to get out of her captor's grasp. She didn't have to make much of an effort as the Cape Killers were running scared of the fight between the Hulk and Robert. As the Hulk finally managed to pin Robert down and knock him out, Pepper flew to Tony's side, rolling him onto his back and cradling his head in her lap. Natasha and a few Avengers ran over and tackled Maria before she could fire her gun again as a crowd gathered around Tony. He was still conscious, but blood was pouring out of his mouth and his breaths were coming in short bursts.

"Get out of the way!" Blake's voice came from behind them and he parted the crowd, sinking to his knees and looking Tony over as Pepper brushed some of his sweat dampened hair from his face. "The bullet has perforated his lung." Blake said, pulling his shirt off and pressing it down hard over the wound on the left side of Tony's chest. Tony groaned loudly and his eyes widened. "Reed! Help me apply pressure."

"Tony." Pepper whispered, stroking his cheek and rocking him back and forth, tears streaming down her face as Reed came over and helped Blake try to step the blood flow. "Listen to me, ok? Don't you dare die. You promised me you were going to stay with me. You promised."

"This isn't working." Reed muttered. "He's going to bleed out before we can get him to the medical core."

Tony coughed and drew in a gasping, ragged breath, his body beginning to tremble as it went into shock. He stared up at Pepper and somehow managed to flash her a small crooked grin, his eyes slipping shut.

"P-pepper…"

Pepper felt him exhale sharply, and then his entire body went limp.

"No." she mumbled, tilting his head up to get a better look at him. "No, Tony…no!"

Blake grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to pry her away from Tony's body. "Pepper, I need to you let him go."

Pepper shook her head, sobbing heavily, wrapping her arms around Tony's neck and burying her face in his hair. Blake tugged at her again.

"I need to try something that might bring him back, but I need to do it now, Pepper." He said urgently. "You need to let him go for me."

Reluctantly, and with a little help from Reed, she let Tony's limp body slip from her arms and she stood, shaking and silent as Blake knelt beside him, laying his cane down the length of Tony's torso. He pressed both hands onto the cane, just below where the arc was, and closed his eyes. Immediately, Mjölnir began to glow, pulsing with a golden light. As the seconds ticked by, the glow spread from the cane through to Tony, his entire body glowing.

"I need more energy." Blake muttered through gritted teeth. "Bruce, bring that beast over."

Bruce, still in Hulk form, easily dragged Robert's unconscious body over. Blake grabbed one of Robert's huge hands and pressed it against the cane, his own hand covering it. The glow brightened dramatically and Blake's forehead began to sweat with the effort he was making. Minutes passed, and suddenly Blake slumped forward taking in huge gulps of air as if he'd just run a marathon. He gazed at Tony's form, and pressed his ear to his chest, checking for a heartbeat before grabbing his wrist and feeling for a pulse. When neither presented themselves, he sighed and shook his head, looking morosely up at Pepper, who covered her mouth with her hand and choked out another sob, sinking to her knees at Tony's side again. She brought his head back to her lap and smoother his hair back neatly, running her fingers over his jaw and pressing a tender kiss to his cold, bloodied lips. Her hand gripped at his shirt near the arc, which was still glowing, though it had no heart to protect any more.

"I'm sorry, Pepper." Blake said. "I'm truly sorry. I wasn't strong enough to-"

A small intake of breath halted his sentence and Pepper froze, half bent over Tony's body. She pulled back and stared at him.

"Tony?" she whispered, shuffling around to his side so she was facing him. "Tony, come on, please come back…"

He did it again. A sharp inhale, followed by an exhale, and his eyelids twitched, before springing open and he gulped for breath. Pepper let out a sob and flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and crying happily into his shoulder. Blake rocked back on his heels and grinned widely as everyone else looked on, astonished.

"What the hell?" Steve mumbled, staring at Blake.

"Come on, Steve." Said Blake, heaving himself to his feet using Mjölnir. "You've already seen one man come back from the dead today, what's one more miracle?"

Tony, who had calmed down enough to breathe normally again, wound his arms around Pepper's waist and buried his nose in her hair, breathing her in as if his life depended on it.

"I thought I'd lost you." She managed between sobs, gripping his short collar like a vice.

Tony smiled a little and pressed a kiss to her neck. "I came back from the dead twice for you, I wasn't about to let it beat me this time." He pulled her head back a little to kiss her on the mouth tenderly.

"You're stuck with me, I'm afraid."

The End.