Chapter 36: Tony Stark's Rooftop Dance Party

The Big Day arrives! It's Tony Stark's Rooftop Dance Party!

I made an 8Tracks playlist for this chapter! Check it out on 8tracks: /ledasf/jarvis-drop-my-needle

Hill's voice came through the intercom. "Sir, we were supposed to leave for Stark's party 15 minutes ago."

Fury sighed. He'd accepted the invitation because he wanted to see how things were working out with this rather odd slumber party of scientists, superheroes, and gods, but he also wanted to see some things disappear from his to-do list.

"Let's plan to leave with Coulson in an hour."

"Yes, sir."

Fury hit the speed dial on his phone. "Coulson, we are leaving for Stark's in an hour."

"Of course, sir. There's space on the helipad at the Tower, so we can take your 'copter."

"Thanks, Coulson."

The day had started warm, and by the time the party began, the temperature on the rooftop patio was over eighty—unusually high for this late in the year. Stark was already there, a bright blue drink in hand, while Steve and Bruce stood off to the side. Natasha and Clint were one level up, watching us all.

"What are you drinking, Tony?" I stared at the glass in his hand.

"It's a little something I mixed up for the party today! Bartenders!"

A few of the Roomba-bots rolled out, and made the rounds, offering the blue drinks to everyone.

"Ladies, and gentlemen, I present today's feature cocktail—The Tesseract!"

Steve raised his glass. "A toast, to our host!"

We all raised our glasses. "To Tony!"

We drank.

"God, Stark, what is in this?" Nat stared at her drink, and back at Tony.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Tony grinned. "Just enjoy it! It's got fruit juice in it. It's good for you!"

Nat set her glass down on the table next to her. "I don't need Vitamin C that badly."

Tony shrugged. "Jarvis! Music, please!" Tony gestured dramatically, and the rooftop filled with sound.

"Ooga-chakka ooga-chakka ooga ooga ooga-chakka," poured out of the speakers.

We Midgardians laughed, and started chanting along.

"I-I-I-I-I I'm hooked on a feeling!" I grabbed Loki's hands and started dancing. Grinning somewhat self-consciously, he danced along with me, easily falling into the rhythm of the music.

Selvig wandered into the party, still half-lost in thought about whatever he had been working on in the lab. One of the Roomba-bots rolled up to him, its platform rising to offer him one of the bright blue drinks, which he took with some hesitation.

"Hey, get down here! Or else dance up there!" Stark pointed to the two spies on the terrace, laughing.

"Alright, alright!" Natasha laughed, trying to pretend to be cross with Stark. She knelt, then jumped down to land next to Tony. Clint casually leapt and landed on Tony's other side, laughing at having surprised Stark so thoroughly.

Stark had clearly put a great deal of thought into the playlist. A mix of fun pop songs that were easy to sing along with and dance to, with the occasional retro disco piece thrown into the mix to keep things lively, had us all laughing and dancing around the rooftop like caffeinated kittens. Tony kept the drinks flowing, and the combination of heat, loud music, and alcohol was a fabulous potion of restored youth for the lot of us humans.

The speakers throbbed with electric guitars: Duh-duh-duh, duh-duh-duh.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Of course, Stark!"

Tony pointed to his AC/DC shirt. "You can't be surprised!" He tried to grab her hand to pull her into a dance, and she easily evaded him, laughing. "Ask Bruce!"

"Jarvis, crank the tunes, dude!" Tony danced over to where Bruce was standing as he watched all of us, rolling an empty glass in his hands. Tony took the glass from Bruce's hand, tossed it over the table, and pulled Bruce out to dance with him.

She was a fast machine

She kept her motor clean

She was the best damn woman I had ever seen

Tony pulled Selvig into the dance with him and Bruce, and the rest of us had already paired off.

Taking more than her share

Had me fighting for air

She told me to come but I was already there

I saw Natasha and Clint dancing on the other side of the table where she'd jumped to evade Stark.

'Cause the walls start shaking

The earth was quaking

My mind was aching

And we were making it and you

Shook me all night long

Yeah you shook me all night long

Steve was the only one not dancing. He was watching us all dance, like the divorced dad acting as a chaperone at the school dance.

Shook me all night long

Yeah you shook me all night long

I felt the floor shake.

"Hey, Stark, I think you need to turn down the bass!" Bruce called out over the music.

"Sir," Jarvis' voice cut over the music, which stopped instantly. "The building is under attack."

"Where, and who?" Stark was instantly on guard. "Suit 27, while you're at it, Jarvis."

"Persons unknown, eight of them, attempting to force their way in through the loading dock door."

A red blur flew towards Stark, who stood with his arms outstretched.

"That's not going to work for them." Stark stood still as the suit wrapped itself around him.

The floor shook again.

"Sir, another group is attempting to break through the lobby doors."

"That's not going to work for them, either." Stark's anger was plain in his voice.

The floor shook a third time.

"Sir, they've released airborne personnel, three of them, who have punched through the glass in the lab on the other side of the building."

"On my way, Jarvis. Keep the others locked out." He turned to Natasha. "Take them"—he pointed to me, Jane, and Selvig—"take my 'copter and get out." Stark turned and jumped into the air, disappearing around the curve of the tower.

Oh my god. No. Not this.

It was just a bad dream.

No.

Loki kissed me. "Go. Go to safety."

"But Loki—"

"Let the fighters fight. Go. I will see you when it's done, and it will be done quickly." He kissed me again, and pushed me towards the helicopter. Thor was steering Jane toward the same spot on the roof.

The floor shook again. Steve Rogers had disappeared, presumably to suit up.

Selvig and Natasha were arguing.

"I have to go to the lab! They're after the Tesseract!" Selvig was frantic.

"And that is exactly why you shouldn't go to the lab, Dr. Selvig. Please, evacuate with us. We'll make sure everything here is safe."

"I'll leave carrying the Cube in its case, or not at all."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Fine, Clint will take you to get it, and then you are getting out."

Loki and Thor had changed from party clothes to their Asgardian armor. Thor was holding Mjolnir.

I realized Loki had no weapon.

How is he going to fight?

The floor shook as another missile hit the deck, smashing Stark's helicopter into flaming pieces.

So much for evacuation.

Bruce turned to me and Jane. "You two, get inside and find the biggest piece of furniture you can, and hide behind it. Stay out of the way."

We did not have to be told twice, and started running for the door to the common room.

Our path was blocked as three people in black fatigues came running out of the door, pursued by Stark and Rogers. One of the invaders was carrying the case which housed the Tesseract. They found their way blocked by Loki, Thor, Clint, and Natasha. Bruce was lurking at the far end of the patio.

Stark's voice rang across the rooftop. "Put down your weapons, and put your hands up."

The would-be thieves looked around the roof at the assembled fighters, and then at each other. The apparent leader nodded, and they set their guns on the deck.

"Good start. Now set down the briefcase." Stark's voice was flat.

The one carrying the case set it carefully on the ground.

We all exhaled.

"Now!" the leader yelled.

The second man opened the case, set something on the Cube, and stood back.

We all watched in horror as the Cube emitted a beam of light which began swirling upward.

My hands were suddenly burning.

The leader laughed hideously. "You are too late, Iron Man. The Chitauri are coming!"

Stark had had enough, and let loose with the repulsor beams. The leader fell silent, and fell over. Stark took aim at the remaining two invaders. "Well?"

The one standing furthest from the Cube put up his hands in surrender.

"Good move, Aladdin. What about your friend here?"

"My only regret is that I will not live to see your destruction. Hail, Hydra!" The man screamed, and collapsed.

Natasha had the remaining thief handcuffed and was marching him into the Tower by the time the rest of us realized what had happened.

The blue light of the Tesseract continued to spiral outward and upward.

"Dr. Selvig, what is it doing?" Stark stared at the scientist.

"She appears to be—awake." Selvig stared at the rapidly growing cone rising from the rooftop.

"What are the Chitauri, Dr. Selvig?" Natasha had returned, and was standing next to him.

Selvig continued to stare at the spiraling light. "I've never heard of them, Agent Romanoff."

Loki spoke up. "They are an alien race, from a world so distant that many think it only a myth."

Natasha turned to Loki. "And their intentions would be?"

Loki's face was grim. "Based on history, not peaceable."

Natasha turned back to Selvig. "Doctor, turn off the Cube. We don't have time for an alien invasion today."

Stark cut in. "Yeah, it's seriously ruining my party."

Selvig was staring helplessly at the Cube. "I wish I could, Agent. But I don't know how they turned it on, so I don't know how to turn it off."

We all stared at the Tesseract and its growing vortex.

Jane gestured to the Cube. "That thing they put on it. If we pull it off, it will stop."

"Done." Stark landed on the roof, and walked over to the Cube.

Or, rather, tried to walk over to the Cube. As he approached, a wave of energy shot out and knocked him off his feet.

"Well, that's not going to work. Okay, take two." Stark leveled his hands, and aimed the repulsor beams at the Cube.

And was knocked off his feet by a blast from the Cube.

"Okay, that wasn't it, either." Stark stood up, still staring at the Cube.

"Look. At. The. Sky." I pointed to the clouds, feeling like a five-year-old.

The ray from the Tesseract had encountered—something—and a black hole was forming, filling the sky.

"It's an Einstein-Rosen Bridge! And me without my instruments!" Jane's voice was filled with excitement.

"Yes, which the Chitauri are about to cross. With their weapons." Loki's voice was flat.

Stark stared. "You mean to tell me that a bunch of aliens are about to fall out of the sky?"

Loki's tone conveyed his exasperation. "That is exactly what I am telling you, Stark."

We all stared at the black hole in the sky. It had stopped growing, and we waited in silence to see what would happen.

Moments later, the first aliens appeared. Mounted on flying platforms in groups of two and three, the aliens wore dull metallic armor and carried weapons with openings which glowed the same blue as the Tesseract.

Steve stared at the creatures riding their cosmic motorcycles through the air. "An army. From outer space."

"You owe me five bucks, Rogers!" Stark cackled.

Without skipping a beat, Steve replied, "It's okay. I owe Fury ten."

"And I intend to collect, so let's shut those things down!" Fury's voice echoed across the comms. Jarvis had patched the local system to SHIELD.

"So, now what?" This was the first time I had heard Stark speak with anything other than absolute confidence.

"We fight them. Together." Steve pulled his shield off his back.

"Call it, Captain." As much as Stark liked being in charge, he clearly knew that this was better left to Rogers to handle.

"You three, get inside, take shelter." He pointed to the three of us civilians. "Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash. Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow 'em down. Loki—"

We all turned to see Loki holding the Sceptre.

"Loki, what are you doing? Are you crazy?" Stark barely managed to get the words out. If I didn't know better, I would have said that Stark was actually frightened.

Loki's voice had the tone of a parent patiently explaining things to a toddler. "This is a magical weapon. As I am the only magic user here, it seems reasonable that I should be the one to wield it."

"That's the stolen piece from the Met! Do you even know what that does?" Stark was unable to conceal his overwhelm.

Loki pointed the sceptre at the pile of helicopter rubble. A flash of blue light flew at the heap, which promptly shattered into smaller bits, and burst into flame. With a wave of his hand, the flames extinguished.

Rogers permitted himself a bit of a smile. "Alright, then. Loki, do whatever it is you do with that thing, and help Thor slow them down."

He turned to Bruce. "Dr. Banner, right now would be a really good time to get angry."

Bruce smiled. "That's my secret, Cap." He started walking towards the edge of the roof, slowly transforming. "I'm always angry."

The fighters scattered into position while Jane, Selvig, and I ran into the building. The largest object in the room was the granite bar. I was worried about the shelves full of glass bottles hanging over it, but figured that was less of a hazard than being in the line of the aliens' fire. We ducked behind the bar, crawling as far under it as possible.

Listening to the sounds of the battle was unnerving, but I knew it was much too dangerous to try to watch. Also, I wasn't entirely sure that actually seeing the fight would be an improvement. If we couldn't see it, we wouldn't know how much danger our friends and lovers were in. Well, not in detail, anyway.

We hid under the bar, listening to the sirens, the weapons fire, the cries of the aliens as they were wounded and killed.

Jane turned to me. "Didn't this happen to us once before?"

In spite of the circumstances, I laughed. "You mean when we accidentally wandered into that biker bar? That was just a fist fight among some humans."

"We hid behind the bar then, too." Jane laughed in spite of herself.

"Jane! Your father wouldn't have wanted you going to biker bars!" Selvig was beside himself.

Jane retorted, "Erik, it was a long time ago, and it was just once!"

Our conversation was interrupted by a rain of shattering glass. A stray shot from someone's weapon had hit the shelves above us, scattering glass and alcohol in all directions.

"Turn away from it!" I yelled as I flipped myself around.

Jane and Selvig did likewise.

Once the shards finished falling, I uncovered my head and looked up.

And saw a Chitauri looking down at me from over the bar.

The Chitauri grinned, showing a skeletal visage under the face armor, and aimed his weapon.

I am not going to die here.

I am not going to let my friends die here.

I raised my hands, focusing on the Chituari's neck.

Badly designed armor—it leaves such a vulnerable spot exposed.

"You souls of geese, That bear the shapes of men, how have you run!"

I focused all my energies, and pushed with my thoughts.

Two slender beams of blue light streamed forth from my hands, hitting the creature directly in the gap in its armor.

With a surprised look, the Chitauri fall backwards, out of my line of vision, and we heard the thud as it landed on the floor.

"Are you two okay?" I looked at my companions.

"Yeah, fine." Jane shook her hair, sending bits of glass flying.

"Yeah, all good." Selvig had managed to cover his head in time, and the glass had landed on his arms. He shook it off.

"Are you okay, Sia?" Jane was staring at me, wide-eyed.

"I'm fine."

I will not think about this just now.

"What was that?" Selvig was staring at me.

I am not going to have this conversation right now.

"Shakespeare, Coriolanus, Act 1, Scene iv." I smiled sweetly at Selvig, then turned away. "My god, this is going to be such a mess to clean up." I stared at the floor, covered in glass and glittering like ice.

Jane rolled her eyes. "Really, Sia? We're being attacked by aliens, and you're thinking about cleaning up?"

"Well, someone is going to have—"

The floor shook again, and a flash of rainbow light filled the room.

Asgard!

The three of us peeked over the top edge of the bar.

The light cleared, and Frigga, wearing full battle armor and holding Gungnir, stood on the deck.

Loki and Thor stopped fighting long enough to offer quick bows.

"Who is that?" Fury's voice cut through the sounds of battle.

"Frigga, Queen of Asgard." Loki's voice was tight.

Fury's voice was tight. "This is not the time for a family reunion! We are fighting a battle—"

Frigga raised Gungnir, and aimed it at the Tesseract. Gold light poured forth from the spear.

"With all due respect, ma'am, that didn't work when I tried it." Stark's voice echoed across the roof.

Frigga ignored him, and kept Gungnir focused on the the Tesseract.

The gold light pierced the blue column.

Loki stopped aiming at the aliens, and turned the Sceptre to point at the same spot.

"Opposite side, Loki. Think pincers."

Loki tilted the Sceptre, and a stream of blue light shot towards the cube.

The aliens, one by one, stopped fighting to watch the lights in the sky.

Frigga's voice was a paragon of calm. "Steady, Loki. Mirror my movements."

Slowly, Frigga tilted Gungnir so its beam moved towards the beam from the Sceptre.

Loki moved the Sceptre in time with Frigga's movement of Gungnir.

I held my breath.

"Oh. My. God." Jane, too, was unable to breathe as she watched. "Why don't I have any of my equipment here?"

The two magic beams met, and fused into one, shooting straight up into the black hole.

The blue column of light from the Tesseract began to fade and cycle back down into the cube.

"Stark!" Fury's voice was hard. "The council made a stupid-ass decision. You have a live nuke, incoming in less than minute!"

"I know just where to put it!" Stark shot straight off the roof.

"Can you keep that portal open for just one more minute, ma'am?" Fury was as close to frantic as I'd ever heard.

"Yes." She slowed the energy pouring from Gungnir, and Loki did likewise with the Sceptre.

We saw Stark flying parallel to the portal beam, up towards the black hole.

Oh, my god. No.

He's not.

He can't.

"Stark, you know that's a one way trip!" Rogers' voice was filled with questions.

"I know." Stark's reply was the calmest I'd ever heard him.

We all watched as Stark gained altitude, steering the nuclear missile up to the black hole.

He disappeared into the black hole.

We could hear the cheers of the SHIELD staff across the comms.

A bright flash filled the black hole.

Everyone fell silent.

We watched.

Nothing.

More nothing.

Still more nothing.

"Close it." Steve's voice shook ever so slightly.

Frigga and Loki refocused the staves at the Tesseract, and the column again began to fade and pull back towards the cube.

"Wait!" Natasha called out, pointing at the sky.

An almost imperceptible blur of red was falling through the portal.

Stark was returning to Earth.

Cheers erupted at SHIELD, and on the roof of Stark Tower.

Frigga and Loki focused more intently, diminishing the energy from the Tesseract, and the portal closed.

The energy column spiraled down quickly, and the cube went dim.

Silence filled the city.

The aliens had fallen to the ground, lifeless, when the nuclear missile exploded in their world.

The battle was over.

"He's not slowing down!" Thor shouted, winding up Mjolnir to fly.

The Hulk let out a roar, and, bouncing off the terrace for leverage, jumped up to catch Stark.

The two of them landed on the deck with a tremendous thud, and the Hulk released Stark to avoid crushing him.

We all rushed to where Stark lay on the roof, unmoving. Thor pulled off his mask, and tossed it aside.

Tony did not move.

None of us moved.

The Hulk roared in grief.

To everyone's surprise and relief, Tony startled back into consciousness.

"What the hell? What happened?" He looked around. "Please tell me nobody kissed me."

Rogers smiled wryly. "We won." With a weary sigh, he sat on the ground next to Tony.

Tony waved his hand. "Alright. Hey. Alright. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."

"We're not finished yet." Thor broke away from the group standing with Stark.

I looked over to see Frigga and Loki packing the Tesseract back into its case.

Selvig moved over to take the case. Frigga handed it to Thor, who stepped back out of Selvig's reach.

"Ma'am, that is the property of the U.S. government." Fury once again sounded like his usual, calm self.

"Did your you-ess government create it at the dawn of time?" Frigga smiled, even though she couldn't see Fury.

"Well, no, we didn't." Fury was starting to lose his calm again.

"And do you have a way to keep it safe from further alien attacks?" Frigga was clearly enjoying this conversation.

"Well, not at present, no." Fury was clearly not enjoying his side of the discussion.

"Then it really doesn't belong to you. We will return it to Asgard, along with this," Frigga gestured to the Sceptre, still in Loki's hands.

Stark spoke up. "Ma'am, that was taken from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and I'm pretty sure they would like to have it back."

"One of life's hardest lessons is that one does not always receive what one wishes." Frigga's smile was pure sugar.

I love you, Sia.

I love you, Loki.

Raising her free arm, she called out, "Heimdall, when you're ready!"

The rainbow light flashed, and the three of them were gone, taking the Tesseract and the Sceptre.

Tony exhaled. "And now, shawarma!"