A/N: This is the big payoff, the end of the Reconstruction period and the beginning of Infinity Wars. That isn't to say this is the last chapter of this anthology, because I still have other fill-in stories and moments of introspection and maybe some post-Wakanda superhero action, but this would be the ending I hope for. Rather, the rebirth that I hope for. I see it as an end credit scene for Thor: Ragnarok or Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

Next week, look for a new chapter of In Between Times (based on events from Civil War), but don't worry, Reconstruction will be back.

Call to Arms

Lightning crackled across the clear night sky, blinding in its brightness, making the attendees at the military reception shade their eyes in alarm.

Angry clouds boiled up out of nowhere. Thunder crashed, loud enough to set off car alarms on the street below. Rain came, pouring down as suddenly as if someone had turned on a fire hose.

The conference participants rushed for the door, shoving to get inside — all but Tony Stark who stood waiting, face slightly upturned toward the downpour. His hair was plastered flat and his Armani suit was soaked.

"Come on, Mr. Stark!" a man called

"Go on without me," Tony replied. "I'm waiting."

"Waiting? For what?"

"Another guest," Tony answered, as Thor dropped from the sky.

"Trouble?" Stark asked calmly, as if he had been waiting for this moment since Thor left for Asgard.

"Indeed."

"Stark, stop consorting with that alien! He hasn't signed the Accords," Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross barked from the protection of an awning.

"I am not of your world, old one. I have no patience with your petty squabbles. A fiercer foe is coming than you have ever seen, fiercer even than the Chitauri. Go and prepare your forces for war," Thor warned the former general. He turned his attention to Tony. "We have no time for pleasantries, Tony Stark. We must take action!"

"I'm all yours," Tony said. He pressed a button on his wristwatch and the Iron Man armor formed around him. "Come with me," he told the thunder god.

"Not without me!" Rhodey ordered, scooting his wheelchair out in the open. He curled his fingers around a switch on the arm of his wheelchair. The device unfolded and refolded, encasing the colonel and transforming into the War Machine armor. "Now, we can go."

The three heroes zoomed away from the apoplectic Ross.

At Avengers HQ, Thor told Tony about Ragnarok and the approach of Thanos, who had already claimed the Infinity Stones held at Asgard, Xander and Knowhere.

"The location of the final stone is still unknown, but we all know where the Mind Stone lies," Thor said.

"So he will be coming after Vision next," Tony said grimly. "He'll be coming to Earth."

"Aye, and he has no respect for innocents," Thor warned. "We need to prepare, we need assistance."

"On it," Tony said, as he reached into the back of a desk drawer. He flipped open an old-fashioned phone and pressed the button for the only preloaded phone number.

Steve Rogers always kept his virtually untraceable old-fashioned flip phone next to his heart. He felt it immediately when it began to vibrate, even though he was a little busy.

He slammed together the heads of two human traffickers. A kick sent a third flying down the alley.

"Tracy!" he called in warning.

"See it," Sharon Carter replied. She stepped gracefully aside and the flying goon crashed into the brick wall at the end of the alley. She thumped his head with her bo staff and the man tipped sideways, unconscious.

It was a moonless night and the alley was full of ominous shadows cast by the dozen men who had been surprised by the two heroes' attack. The only illumination came from two lights above two widely spaced metal doors.

Before her victim hit the ground, Steve had pulled the flip phone from inside his coal black outfit. He held the phone to his ear with his left hand, while he deflected a bullet with his right vambrace and pirouetted in a spinning kick to knock aside two machine guns.

"Hey, you caught me at a bad time," Steve apologized to Tony.

"Down!" Sharon called. Steve dropped to hands and knees as Sharon pole-vaulted over his head to land on the two men who were scrabbling for their machine guns.

"Give me a minute," Steve said into the phone. He tossed it to Sharon, as he waded into a charging crowd of men with handguns.

Sharon caught the phone easily. Knowing who was calling, she said, "Your call is very important to us. All our operators are busy assisting other customers." Two men charged at her, big paws reaching for the much smaller woman. "Please stay on the line," Sharon finished, then tossed the phone straight up.

One of her opponent's eyes automatically followed the flying object until it disappeared into the darkness above. This was a mistake. Sharon's staff caught him under the chin, knocking him out, so he never realized the phone didn't come down again.

"Hey, pal, you caught us in the middle of something." Sam Wilson's voice came out of the darkness, startling Sharon's second foe and making him easy prey for a swift side kick. "Can you give us ten minutes?" Sam continued.

On the other end of the line, Tony could hear the sound of battle, so he knew Steve wasn't playing with him the way Tony played with Ross. But Thor's news had made the billionaire impatient. "Make it five. Tell him Goldilocks is here."

Sam understood what that meant. He dropped out of the darkness, chortling an ominous, evil laugh that made the bad guys flinch. (Steve had been right about Laughing Owl.) Laughing Owl spun like a top as he dropped, black and gray patterned wings and outstretched fists flattening the crowd in front of Cap, I mean, Nomad. No one saw what hit them, which was the way the former Falcon liked it. Standing smirking atop a pile of foes, Sam calmly handed the phone to Steve.

"He says Goldilocks is there," Sam relayed the message, not wanting to say Thor's name or anyone's name in front of these goons, even if most of them were unconscious. "He said you have five minutes."

"I'll make it three," Steve decided. Holding the phone carefully in one hand, he rushed the last group, which had surrounded Sharon — to their cost. Her staff had knocked away every weapon and they hesitated to attack, wary of the whirling wood.

They didn't see Nomad charging from behind or Laughing Owl shooting toward them headlong like a bullet. And, a moment later, they didn't see anything at all.

While Sam and Sharon hauled the human traffickers into the selfsame shipping container they used to transport their human cargo, Steve stepped away out of earshot to talk to Tony, who summarized Thor's report.

"He thinks we have a month," Tony said.

Steve sighed, "Aliens from outer space — again!"

"So, can you roundup the usual suspects?" Tony asked hopefully, using a reference he knew Steve would understand.

"I can," Steve promised (he did get that reference). And he gave Tony a time and place for a meeting.

Steve thumbed a message on his phone and sent it to carefully memorized numbers across the globe.

Barefoot and contented, Natasha Romanoff sat in the dirt and carefully cleaned a cut on the arm of a brown-skinned toddler, while Bruce Banner prepared an antibiotic injection. Natasha's phone chimed in a tone saved for one person alone. The two Avengers eyes met, Bruce nodded, then Natasha looked at the text.

Clint and Laura Barton were just getting started on breakfast, when Clint's phone chimed. Laura kissed him then stood back and waited.

The chime woke Scott Lang from a sound sleep in Hank Pym's mansion. He ran to tell Hope and Hank.

T'Challa frowned at the message, then told his staff to begin preparations to wake Bucky Barnes.

The text message held a date and place and concluded with two simple words — "Avengers Assemble."

A/N: Admit it. You're waiting for it, aren't you? We've been waiting for YEARS!