Awakening

I own nothing, for if I did then Penny would be in the Marvel Movies and Iron Man 3 would have happened very differently.

I winced as I slammed through the glass windows and into the hall beyond. The secondary shield that was in my pocket had flickered on, and thankfully had absorbed most of the impact.

"Jarvis!" I exclaimed as I climbed to my feet. Dust was thick in the air and the base was trembling around me. I spotted Rogers a few feet away, climbing to his feet. I didn't see any of the other Agents, or even Thor.

"Sir, it appears that Agent Barton and others have returned. The explosion disabled the third turbine and the Helicarrier is slowly losing altitude. I recommend immediate action."

I grunted in reply, shifting rubbed as I climbed to my feet. I flicked off the shield, and spun around as a hand gripped my shoulder tightly.

Before I could blink I came eye to eye with a determined looking Hel. Her face was covered in dust and her hair was disheveled, but she looked pleased.

"I have to return." I raised an eyebrow at her tone of voice. "Boss found the issue, and Penny should be back on her feet soon. I must go deal with the Souls, but we'll be around. Good luck Tony, and try to keep my father alive."

"All right…" I gasped at Hel's short statement before she vanished into the shadows and I was left alone with Rogers, who appeared at my side.

"You should suit up." He said before dashing down the hall.

Nodding to myself I riveted on my heel and sprinted towards the hangar where my suit was stored.

This I could deal with, this move I knew how to counter.

At least until Pen returned.

"Fury," I shouted into the com as soon as it was connected to the SHIELD frequency, sprinting down the many halls passing agents on the way.

"Jarvis reports that it's the third turbine that's down, and that it's most likely Barton. I recommend focusing on Loki, this is his next move. But also, don't let Barton increase the casualty count. We've lost enough people as it is.

"I'll get the engine back online, as it would be too hard to maneuver in the suit in these halls. Do you copy?" My voice was harsh, and I knew that Fury would be irritated with me alter, but I didn't care. Right now it really didn't matter.

"Who put you in charge?" I heard Rogers mutter but I ignored him. He was being an ass again now that he wasn't in the shield. Stupid puppetmaster.

"Does that really matter right now?" I asked as I slid onto the floor and tried to remember which hangar my suit was in.

"No," Fury's voice was hard and cold, showing that he meant business. "Coulson, initiate lockdown in the detainment units, and mobilize the agents into search parties! Then get to the armory, you know what to do. Stark, get that turbine back in working condition, Rogers, you're to help him, keep us in the sky. We can't afford to lose another engine!"

"Hear ya loud and clear." I grumbled as they basically ignored me, I didn't like being brushed off.

"Get to the turbine Rogers, I'll meet you there!" I exclaimed as I slid into the correct hanger and with a swipe of an icon on my phone, the wall retracted showing my suit.

I smirked; this was going to be fun.

I chuckled to myself as a distraction as I listened to Fury chew an agent out for not using his head; his temper was hilarious when it was directed at someone else.

Jarvis kept me updated on what was going on inside as I flew out around the Helicarrier and inspected the damage. The explosion hadn't really done too much damage to the engine itself, though all of the maintenance points were gone. It dislodged some debris that got caught in the turbine, severed a few connections, and short circuited the cooling system, all of which was fixable.

However, we had to fix it quickly, as Fury didn't think to cut the power. Because the rotors were jammed, the turbine was overheating and unless we fixed it soon, we would get blown out of the sky.

I continued to pull away the damaged parts of the turbine that didn't matter as I kept track of everything. Until Rogers showed, there wasn't something much I could do. It would be too hard to mess with the cooling system while I was in the suit.

Though I loathed to admit it, I needed Rogers help.

"Stark!" Speak of the devil… "I'm here!"

Rogers's voice echoed through the com and his life sign showed up on the map of the turbine on the HUD.

"About time!" I called out to him as I let another burnt piece of metal fall to the ground. Flying down to the hole in the side of the 'carrier I pointed Rogers towards the control board. "I need you to access the control panel, and tell me which relays are in the overload position. We need to get the superconductor cooling system back online or fixing the engine won't matter; it'll just blow itself up!"

Another holographic scan of the engine appeared on screen, showing me what I still needed to do. Most of the debris on the outside was removed, there were a few connections that needed manual repair, but then all I had to do was clear the scrap from the rotors.

"Alright then" I muttered to myself, practically itching to get to work. "Show time."

Not even five minutes later my itching anticipation had turned into annoyance.

God how I wished Pen was here; Rogers was really starting to… ok, he was irritating me even more.

I understood that technology had changed a lot since the 40's, but still! Rogers had no idea what he was looking at, what he was supposed to be looking for, or even what we were doing! I had to explain everything using small and demeaning words, which caused everything to take twice as long!

If Pen was here it would be fixed already, and I wouldn't have to be explaining everything to him while I tried to repair the engine and keep it from exploding. Finally, after a few tense minutes, I had just pictured him as a small boy who knew nothing about electronics and walked him through it. It actually worked well, and I was extremely grateful for my fatherly instincts.

Barton had obviously gotten to the bridge, as Jarvis had become garbled before disconnecting from the system, leaving me to do all of the work myself. I wasn't too worried about my AI, as there wasn't a virus on the planet that would crash his systems, but it was still a setback.

I had noticed something, even though Hel was gone didn't mean that the edge came back. It stayed where it was, in the corner of my mind. I wasn't sure if it was Hel's reassurance that Penny would be back soon, the fact that I knew who shot her, or the fact that I actually had something to do...but I was able to keep my head on my shoulders.

Roger's voice broke me out of my thoughts as I finished reconnecting the last wire. "It's done, did everything that you said. Now what?"

"Now," I said as I maneuvered through the engine and blasted my way into the rotors. I glared at the debris. "I'm going to clear the rotors, but it's not going to re-engage without a jumpstart. Rebooting the coolant drained the core, it's refiling but that's going to take time, time we don't have. I'm going in and pushing to get it spinning; then we'll be back in the air."

"You'll get torn to shreds before it even hits full speed!" Rogers exclaimed in worry and I smirked as I warmed up my lasers.

"Oh, so you do care." I drawled as I narrowed my eyes at the large piece of metal in my way. "Besides, I've faced worse things."

Yeah, like Afghanistan. I shuttered in my suit, pushing the haunting memories to the back of my mind.

"Stark," Rogers' voice was suddenly soft and I narrowed my eyes at the tiny blip on my screen that was him. "Just because you lost your daughter doesn't mean that you should.

"I'm not suicidal Rogers." I snapped, cutting the man off. I glared at the screen, wishing that it could be the real person. "I don't have a death wish, and I'm not trying to die. Now if you're done concerning yourself over my mental stability, there should be a large red lever near you. It'll slow down the rotors enough for me to avoid certain death."

"Fine," Rogers sighed and I almost sighed as well. I really didn't need anyone thinking that I was suicidal. I would be dead if that ever got back to Pepper...or Pen. "I see it, by the way, how do you know where everything is and how it works anyway?'

I snickered at Rogers, really it hadn't surprised me that he hadn't figured it out...it wasn't the proudest moment of my life…

"Haven't figured it out yet? Typical. Two reasons, one: Jarvis has access to the blueprints and I have access to Jarvis, and two: got really wasted about a year and a half, two years ago and bam this puppy was born." I drawled with a smirk, slightly depressed that I couldn't see Rogers face at the moment. I bet it was priceless.

"You...you made this thing?!" Rogers exclaimed in disbelief and I chuckled, oh poor, poor Rogers.

"Well, technically I only designed it. SHIELD was the one who bought the plans from me and built it after making a few adjustments. But yup, the Helicarrier is my brainchild. Though, I of course had a better name for it." I stated smugly, knowing that in the eyes of Steve Rogers my level of genius just rose.

"Now," I said, bringing the conversation back to the present. "As soon as I say, pull that lever. Unless of course you want me to become Stark sushi."

I snickered at my own joke, though Rogers obviously didn't find it funny. I could tell he was scowling, even if I couldn't see him.

My lasers whirled to life and I thought, "I sure hope everyone else isn't making a mess of things."

BE HAPPY, cause lookie...two chapters in an hour! ^.^ I rock, anyway, short chapter, hoping to get the rest of the 'carrier attack out soon. Hope it all flows well!

Thanks to everyone, REVIEW (puppy eyes) pleeeeaaassseeee
Till next time!
Cp