Hi Guys, that's right! I'm not dead. My apologies for making you wait so long but I have had a bit of a breakdown recently… Might be something to do with the 12 finals I had in May. But I'm back and hopefully 19k will make up for the wait.

I have had tonnes of new followers in the last few weeks especially, and a few reviews, which gave me a lot of motivation to get on with writing these chapters and is literally the only reason you are getting anything before July. So, reviews make all the difference guys, take note.

And ahhh Man, I am so excited about finishing this story. I have all the chapters drafted and most of them half written, so I'll try get them out weekly.

So… As we reach the 300,000-word milestone, the characters reach their own even more important one. It's finally time. Are you ready guys? I'm not sure I am. Buckle up It's only just begun.

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Previously.

The stage is set. The day has arrived. A plan is in place and everything is ready. Or is it?

Thanks to Frigga's lessons on Asgard Tony has a much better handle on the CAEB's powers, yet optimism is being strangled by apprehension and fear as the Avengers face the greatest challenge of their lives.

Tony is haunted by the knowledge given by visions, which depicted the deaths of several of the Avengers, something which he is desperate to prevent, whilst also knowing that this these are likely his last days on earth.

With the outside world in panic and chaos of this unprecedented evacuation, there is no turning back.

The final countdown has started. The last preparations are being made.

It's time.

Chapter 38- The Dawn of Battle

07:02am

The tension in the room was thick. Wednesday had dawned and they had all watched it in one way or another. Most stood at their windows as the sun rose over the city. Clint instead chose the balcony. It seemed Steve had, had the same idea at first, but upon seeing Clint he sought another spot to be alone. It turned out the roof was also taken. Tony sat with his feet over the edge, still as a statue watching the dawn, contemplating what was to come. He had clearly been there for some time and Steve couldn't blame him, sleep had evaded him as well, it was probably the same for the others.

With the prime spots taken, Steve went for a gentle run stopping by the lake in central park to find his own haven of peace in the abandoned city. It was spooky. The city that never sleeps was silent. Even the birds seemed to have abandoned their home. Animals always had a sixth sense about these things, apparently. He wondered briefly if that was what it was like for Tony. He tried to ignore the reality of the situation and lose himself in the beauty and serenity of the morning, but all too soon it was time to return to the tower for the final briefing.

"Why do we have to do this at 7am." Tony whined. "We have another 9 and a half hours yet, I could have been in bed asleep, with Pepper."

"Stop whining Tony, we all know you didn't sleep last night." Steve snapped.

"Don't get so high and mighty Steve, you didn't either." Clint grumbled.

"None of us did." Natasha said solemnly. "Look," she sighed. "We're all scared, and I don't mean to make it worse by saying this, but these could be the last few hours we all spend together, let's not spend them squabbling please."

"You're right Nat." Steve nodded. "Sorry." He looked at Tony and Clint briefly and then down at his feet.

Tony put a comforting arm across the Captain's shoulder. "Yeah, I'm sorry too. You guys are my family, I want you to know that."

"We know." Natasha smiled.

"It's going to be fine." Tony said, his brow creased in an unreadable expression of emotion. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Any of you."

"Tony…" Steve started, a little worry in his tone.

"Right everyone shut up, let's get this done and then start getting into position." Fury took his stand at the front of the room and everyone went silent.

"At 4:32pm today the portals are going to open at the following 38 locations. 3 of these we don't need to worry about, we were able to seal them. Apparently, there are around 3000 civilians who are refusing to leave their homes, the protection of which is being left down to Stark's Iron legion."

Tony mocked saluted.

"Haven't we been through this already?" Clint asked, a little offhandedly.

"One more time won't kill you Clint, but it might save your goddamn life so shut it." Tony growled.

"Ok!" Clint held up his hands in surrender.

Fury folded his arms and glowered at the Archer and the billionaire with his single eye. "Am I interrupting something?" He asked, unamused.

"Sorry." Clint bowed his head in surrender before the director decided to continue.

"Humans, Avenger's excluded, are staying outside the exclusion zone. Our job is keeping civilians out of the city until the shield is up. Doctors Banner, Fitz and Simmons are tasked with bringing that online. After that, our job is crowd control and coordinating the forces. Dr. Banner will remain inside the shield should the Hulk be called up."

"Ermmm Why?" Clint asked the question on everyone's minds.

"Tony and I discussed this last night." Bruce began. "I know the Hulk is a huge asset, but Tony is going to have his hands full with the fight, you all are. I worked on the machine with him I have the best chance of getting it going if something goes wrong and Tony can't get to it. Once that's online I'm all in with the Hulk getting to smash some shit."

"Ok." Fury jumped back in, not leaving time for the point to become one of discussion. "The allied forces of Asgard, Vanaheim and Alfheim will operate as their own unit. They are our main offence. Avengers, you are in a unique position; the enemy will be focused on the allied forces, which will leave you free to move around the field and mop up any problems we might have. Anything unexpected, anything threatening to break through the defence, it will be your job to deal with it."

There was a general nod of consensus. Of course they wanted to be doing more, but they had all faced that Makluhk a few months back, so they knew that they would last all of 5 minutes before being torn apart if they faced the hoard head on like the Asgardians would be doing.

"I believe you have your own plans and strategies in place?" Fury turned to Thor.

"Indeed, we do. Our assault is focused around the front lines and facing whatever should come out of the portals. All our forces are fully briefed."

"And communication on the battlefield? I believe that is your domain Stark." Fury asked.

"I can't link all 3 million of us, but I can extend the communication link to commanders of each battalion. Conventional Comms have been handed out should something prevent me from maintaining the link." Tony clarified.

"Then from there on it's just down to fighting smart and hard and hoping for the best. And of course, Stark… we'll be leaving you to do your own thing and bring it home." Fury said with a nod. A look of respect and sadness behind his eyes.

"Too right." Tony smirked, but his eyes conveyed appreciation back to the Director's direction. "But about the CAEB…" Tony started hesitantly.

"Oh, why don't I like the sound of this." Bruce groaned.

"What?" Fury frowned. Tony surely couldn't be having second thoughts at this stage.

"I know I have should have told you all this a lot sooner, but I was searching for another less risky way." Tony Started.

"But you couldn't find one." Steve finished, frowning.

"No, hence why I waited till now to tell you all."

"Tell us what Stark? Don't keep us hanging." Tash demanded.

Tony huffed out a breath and scratched the back of his neck nervously. It hadn't gone unnoticed that every fibre of his body had been tensed all morning, but he levelled himself and started speaking. "Kairon and his lackies are the main target. They are the real threat and they will likely hold back, let the warmup acts soften us up."

"What is your point?" Fury asked.

"The CAEB is what defeated them the last time and they are scared of it. They realise what I am, and they are going to scarper."

"Why would they run?"

"Kairon is cautious. Incredibly cautious that's why they have survived this long. He would rather be trapped in another dimension for a few more centuries, than dead. If any single one of them gets away, then we can't guarantee that this attack will be the end of it. We have to end them here and now, we cannot let them escape."

The realisation sat heavy in the room. "So, until they show themselves its Iron man only?" Clint asked in disbelief, his face paling. How were they going to do this without the CAEB? The Makluhk were going to tear them to shreds and that was if the craft didn't vaporise them first.

" I know it sounds bad… But until they show themselves we cannot close the portals and until they are trapped here then yes, I'm restricted in what I can do. However, they already know I can do more than a normal human, I astral projected my ass to their cave for god's sake and they know about my teleporting, so I have some leeway. But I will have to be discrete until we have them trapped. No acts of God, just party tricks."

"And we all know you love your party tricks." Bruce chuckled.

"Damn right."

"Once the portals are closed they'll be trapped here right? No teleporting out of here?" Clint asked.

"No, the Asgardian shield will prevent that." Thor confirmed. "It is impenetrable by any means."

"Then how will Bruce get through if he's on the outside?" Clint asked and Nat frowned.

"Did you not read the full brief Clint, seriously?"

"It was 640 pages long, I just read ahead for my bits!" Clint

"It's ok Guys." Bruce chuckled. "I can get through the shield with this." Bruce held up a small device. "One use only, free pass through the shield. Asgard tech is the best."

"Hey!" Tony protested, but it was largely ignored.

"Great. So, lure them through, close the portals trap them and then let Tony loose." Clint summarised.

"Sounds good to me." Tony folded his arms.

"Right well I think we have covered everything. I just need to reiterate, as cruel as this may sound, we cannot focus on the civilians. Leave the iron legion to do their job. The focus must be on the enemy, everything possible has been done to protect the people, those who have stayed, have done so at their own risk." Fury instructed.

Steve tensed a little at those words and he saw Tony do the same. He knew it was right, but it didn't sit well with him. It didn't sit well with any of them. But as Fury as so tactfully put it a few days ago they couldn't have 'soldiers getting killed because some stubborn ass civilians were too stupid and selfish to evacuate.'

"All that is left to be said is… Good luck out there, and to those of you who stand with us from other planets, we shall be forever in your debt."

8:04am

Pepper pulled Tony to one side straight after the meeting. He had been heading to the workshop to start getting ready, but she wanted one last moment alone with him before it all kicked off. She wasted no time into pulling him in for a long, tender kiss and for a few moments they just stood, holding each other and listen to their breath's in the silent corridor.

"Tony?" She asked after a moment.

"Yeah Pep?" Tony looked up from Peppers shoulder to see her gazing at him with teary eyes. He tenderly brushed away one that had broken free and started to track a little path of moisture down her pale cheek and frowned a little as he asked, "what is it Pep?"

Pepper swallowed heavily. "You think this is it, don't you? You think you're not coming back."

Tony closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. "I've only seen one future Pep, and I've seen it over and over again and in it, to beat them, I have to die. A human isn't built to support this power, no matter the techniques Frigga has taught me, no matter the tech I've developed, that doesn't change. These five beings Pep, they are stronger than anything we can imagine and its going to take everything the CAEB has to stop them."

Pepper was biting back the tears as Tony pulled her back into his embrace.

"But in that… nightmare future I keep seeing, there were civilians still in the city, I didn't have the exoskeleton or any sort of preparations… So much was different then to what it is now Pepper."

"So maybe… you think maybe things could be different?" Pepper asked hopefully.

"I think a lot of things have changed. I think, I haven't had one of those nightmares in weeks and in that reality Steve, Natasha, Clint, Thor… They all die, and I am not going to let that happen. But I can't let us lose either. I want to live Pepper. I want more than anything else to come home to you and live our lives, forget about aliens and alternate dimensions and all this fighting. But I have to walk into this knowing how this is probably going to end, or I won't be able to go through with it and I don't want to give you false hope."

Pepper nodded solemnly and wiped her eyes. "Just promise me one thing Tony, please?"

"Anything Pep?"

"If there is any way we can win this, and you make it out alive, you take it. Please."

"I will. I promise."

…..

12:32pm

Tony blew out a shaky exhale. He knew they were split up for a reason, it was his damn plan after all… well, his and Steve's, and it was a good plan, but regardless he hated being so far away from the others. Here, he was in the best place to react to the craft that would, in only a few hours, be tearing through the city. He didn't like this. He needed to be closer to them, he couldn't keep them safe from over here if Edraskil showed. What if he couldn't get to them fast enough? What if he couldn't stop it, any of it? What if he had to stand in front of the 5 knowing he'd failed his friends and had to leave Pepper alone?

"Stark, you are troubled." The familiar and usually comforting voice of the Asgardian queen came from close behind him.

"How did Thor take it?" Tony huffed back.

"He is not yet aware of my presence and you are changing the subject." Frigga folded her arms and gave him a look that only a mother knew.

"Of course I'm troubled." Tony snapped, before he composed himself. "Sorry that wasn't fair."

"It is understandable, and I am not offended. What bothers you?"

"My friends." Tony sighed. "I don't like being this far away from them, I can't protect them from here, not without the CAEB."

"You have fought in a similar way before. Just last year and you were happy to do your job then."

"That wasn't the same… I mean we'd only just met each other."

"You didn't love them then, but you do now. You cannot let that distract you Stark, or they will get hurt. Your plan is sound, trust it, trust yourself and trust them. They are all highly skilled and valiant warriors, they can look after themselves."

"Mother!" Tony turned to the third familiar voice, but this one was angry, and he felt his nerves shudder in response.

"And so, it begins." Frigga sighed, rolling her eyes and turning to the angry and rapidly advancing blond demi-God.

"What on Asgard are you doing here?" Thor demanded.

"Thor my Son, you will not convince me to return to Asgard…"

"Stop this madness Mother!" Thor demanded.

"Madness?" Frigga scoffed. "I have been fighting for longer than you have been alive. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"I do not doubt it mother…"

"Then why are we having this conversation son?"

"Mother, skilled warrior or not, you are the Queen…"

"And you are a Prince, Son and only heir to the throne."

"Mother…" Thor protested once more.

"I am not here out of stubbornness Thor, I am here with purpose; to help Anthony here with the CAEB should he require it and…"

"This is your doing!" Thor turned to Tony angrily.

"Woah easy pointbreak, not my idea!" Tony held up his hands with an annoyed and tired sigh.

"Do not get angry with him, he does not dictate my mind, and neither will you, or your father."

Thor practically growled, before turning back to Tony with a regretful look. "My apologies Stark"." He said sincerely, before the exasperated look returned to his face and he turned to Frigga. "But mother, you must see reason!"

Tony growled to himself as the argument continued. His blood thundered behind his temples and his ears were ringing in a way that only aided the small men in his skull in their mission to repeatedly stab him with small dull knives behind his eyes. He couldn't deal with this right now. He had to get away from the tension.

Frigga felt it before she saw it, there was a faint flash of blue light and when they both turned to look Tony was gone.

"Look what you have done now. We are mere hours from battle and of all of us Stark has the greatest burden to bare and you have upset him further." Thor ranted.

"I upset him? It is you who accused him of forcing me to be here and started this blasted argument!" Frigga huffed in disbelief.

On a rooftop a few blocks away, Clint felt something strange by his left shoulder. He turned and then sharply recoiled as he realised there was someone now sat behind him.

"Hey feathers."

The friendly voice did nothing to put the archer at ease. "Jesus Shit! Tony what the hell?" He grunted as he tried to breath his way through the shock.

"Sorry, just testing your reflexes, they're poor by the way, better get your head in the game." Tony teased.

Clint let out a shaky exhale as the adrenaline poured round his system, composing himself before he spoke again.

"Tony what are you doing here? We're supposed to be in position." He hissed like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "If Steve finds out…"

"Thor and his mother are having a fight, and I'm pretty sure Thor wants to kill me so…" Tony sighed and Tony's tired and dejected posture soon had Clint change his tact.

"What did you do?" Clint chuckled.

"Nothing honestly. He's just pissed his Mother wants to fight."

"The Queen of Asgard wants to get involved in this shit show?"

"Yeah, she thinks, well I agree actually, but I didn't want her here…" Tony took a breath when he realised he was rambling. "Anyway, if I have a CAEB spaz attack, she's in the best position to help me get it under control and she also wants to play as my bodyguard since there quite a high possibility the 5 assholes will target me as a priority since I've caused them trouble a few times already."

"Right." Clint huffed. "Well this is a good start to the day."

"No kidding." Tony sighed again.

The two of them sat for a moment looking over the city, although Tony doubted it could be called a city anymore. It was more a glorified barracks. A cluttered desert ready to become battlefield. One of his Iron Legion was stood on nearly each visible structure, awaiting the go sign from Jarvis. The hubs were positioned ready to take flight. Ground to air and ground to ground missile launchers, Asgardian cannons and giant crossbows… everywhere he looked there were weapons or soldiers. He didn't dare think of the carnage that would take place in just a few hours, of how many of the rows upon rows of Asgardian and Vanaheimian? Vanheimian? (Who cares Norse shit was hard to pronounce) … warriors would be nothing but battered corpses by the time the sun set.

Would it even end today… or would the battle drag on into the dawn, into the day after that, the next week? For all he had seen in his stupid visions, his sight had been so limited. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, settling there like a bad omen. His first vision had shown people screaming and fleeing from the Makluhk, the city had been full of life… he had prevented that at least. But the paranoid part of him wondered if he had. Could he really change the future just like that? Or would it always find a way to counteract itself and spring back? Was destiny real and inevitable, or did every decision they made actually matter?

"What's really bothering you Tony?" Clint's voice cut through Tony's trail of thought.

"I just feel useless until I can use the CAEB. I hate being so far away from you guys and if something goes wrong…"

"Tony, you're not useless as Ironman. You never have been, think about how many times you've saved our asses in the field without the CAEB. You're probably the team's biggest asset in the field…"

"Yeah but what if that's not enough? what if someone gets hurt because I'm fucking around waiting for the portals to be closed?" Tony threw his arms in the air in frustration.

"You can sense us, right? Wherever we are whatever is happening?"

"Well yeah, that's how I will keep the comms link." Tony shrugged.

"Well, just turn up the volume if you're so worried, that way you'll know the second any of us is in trouble at least until you can let loose on these motherfuckers. Or is it too energy intensive to do that?"

"No, I could do that, but…The others wouldn't want me doing that. They'd want me to focus on my job."

"Since when do you do as you're told?" Clint chuckled, "and besides, and please don't take this the wrong way, but you're not going to be much good to us if your head is all over the place."

"My head's always all over the place." Tony countered blankly.

"Granted." Clint snorted. "But if there's any time you need to be 100% focused, it's today man. Do what you have to do is what I say."

"I knew this was a good idea." Tony declared after a moment of contemplative silence.

"What was a good idea?" Clint asked, perplexed.

"Talking to a being of lesser intelligence, helps me to put things in perspective." Tony said with a sly smirk.

"You're a jackass."

"I know, but you love me."

"Debateable." Clint huffed, but then they both chuckled. "It's ok you know."

"What is?"

"You're annoyed with yourself for being so scared about today, you feel like a coward, but Tony you're the bravest man on this goddam planet."

"Cut the flirting and ask me on a date."

"And there's that snarkiness." Clint smiled. "We may all complain about it all the time, but man I am so glad you've not lost it. You've been through hell, but despite everything, you're still you. I don't think you realise how far you've come man, 12 months ago, hell 3 months ago if you'd have got this scared you'd be hiding under a mask of everything being alright and probably driving Cap mad over the comms, laughing in the face of danger. Maybe you still do put on your mask sometimes, but the difference is now you know you're doing it and so do we, and you let us in. Before you wouldn't be here talking to me, I'm glad you know you don't have to do this alone anymore."

Tony pondered for a moment and realised how right Clint was. He still did revert back to his protective personality when something was off and put on the charismatic charm and the arrogant 'nothing can hurt me' facade. But the difference was that now, he was putting on the mask when he felt uncomfortable, not wearing it as his real face and when the other's pushed, he trusted them enough to take it off and confide in them and let them see the real mess that was going on beneath. He was, almost, human… and he hadn't felt like that in a long, long time.

"Thank you, Clint." He said sincerely.

"Look after yourself today… brother." Clint said, putting a hand on Tony's shoulder.

"We'll look out for each other." Tony conceded. "All of us."

….

1:15pm

For some reason at precisely quarter past one Tony started to feel a little more relaxed, well, for a moment at least and then he started questioning it. He only felt like this when his friends were near, the people close to him. A quick check told him they were all ok, but they were slightly out of position. Clint was gathered with Steve, but the archer, like himself, often shifted about in search of company. Nothing else seemed to be abnormal… apart from that other presence.

It took Tony seconds to realise who it was, and his mind suddenly clouded over in fear and anger. No way. No way this wasn't happening, not on his goddam watch!

Clint turned around and was confronted immediately with red and gold armour.

"Fuck's Sake Tony! Will you stop making me jump." Clint barked, covering his face in exasperation.

"Tony what are you doing over here? You're supposed to be in quadrant." Steve said a little angrily, but it was too late. Tony clearly knew. Why else would he be here?

They couldn't see his face through the mask, but Steve could almost feel the murderous rage rolling off him as he fixated on the black and silver clad figure stood behind Steve.

"Tony, just take a breath…" Clint said slowly as if he were talking down a nuke.

"Rhodey…. No! No, no, no, no, no. Please… you can't be here!" Tony yelled, storming up to the war machine armour and shoving him roughly in the chest.

"Well I am here so suck it up." Rhodey said, enunciating the last three words calmly.

"You weren't part of the plan."

"Well I am now."

"Rhodey please." Tony begged. "I have enough to worry about, with all of them I can't be worrying about you too."

"Look Tony, I called him." Steve held up his hands, not in surrender but in an attempt to calm down the Engineer.

Tony flipped up his face plate and now they could see the rage and worry clearly written on his face, his brown eyes tinged with a little bit of blue, not unlike when Bruce got pissed off at something and the hulk started showing.

"What the actual fuck Steve!" Tony spat at the soldier, but Rhodey stepped between them before things could get physical.

"Tony you can't expect me to sit around and do nothing!" Rhodey scoffed.

"We need more air support Tony, it's only logical we have another suit in the air." Steve doubted logic would work at this stage, but it was worth a try.

"And you just thought you'd sneak him into the field behind my back, what the fuck happened to being a team Steve!"

"We knew how you would react!" Steve protested, but Tony was right.

"I can take care of myself Tony, I am not a child and I am not your responsibility." Rhodey said calmly.

"You don't get to play that card, not after you treated me like your responsibility for the last 20 years!"

"Fine, you're right… I'm not your responsibility and you are not mine. We are in this together Tony, no matter what. I am here, and I am helping you. I know you are worried about us, I know what you have seen, but this isn't just your fight, it's all of ours. You may feel like this is all on you, but it isn't. We are a team and a family, and I am not going to let you face this alone."

"Will you all just get a grip!" Clint yelled. "This is not going to be how this happens! After everything we've been through we are not going to spend this time fighting with each other!"

"I cannot believe this." Tony shook his head, looking at Rhodes. "I cannot lose you too Rhodey."

"Who says you're going to lose any of us?" Steve offered, but that didn't seem to help.

"Steve you know what I've seen…"

"We know Tony and we understand but, not being funny I don't give a damn about your visions, we don't want to die and we sure as hell aren't going to lay down and do so." Steve said firmly.

"Tony you need to calm down. Yes, this is dangerous, yes, we all care about each other and we don't want anyone to get hurt, or worse…. This is shit, this is scary, but you need to accept that we are not your responsibility. These are our lives, our choices and we can and will look after ourselves. This isn't all on you." Clint looked Tony deep in the eyes for any sign of understanding. "Steve, Rhodey, you should have been upfront about this, I'm pretty sure we're all aware of where secrets get us in this team."

"You're right, Clint, I am sorry Tony." Steve said, looking down at his feet.

"Whatever." Tony scoffed, skulking away.

"Tony…" Rhodey started again.

"You're an asshole you know that." Tony stopped and grunted at Rhodey, but there was a small amount of reluctant acceptance in his eyes.

"And you're a self-destructive martyr." Rhodey scoffed back.

They both chuckled lightly, the tension finally seeping out of the air.

"Besides, you need me. You know shit goes down when I'm not around to prevent you making a giant mess."

"True." Tony admitted. "Just please, stay safe will you?"

"I'll be careful Tony. Don't forget to watch your own back instead of watching everyone else's."

"Sure."

"Tony I am sorry, we… I was going to tell you." Steve offered. "But we should have told you from the get go." He admitted.

"Whatever, the lot of you just please no more nasty surprises today, at least no domestic ones." He said, pointing a firm finger at the three of them, before turning away, his shoulders dropping in defeat. "I don't think I can take much more of this."

….

2:15pm

Clint hadn't gone back up to his perch yet, so he Rhodey and Steve were still milling about in quadrant 3. Natasha seemed to be the only one who was currently following the plan, she was over with Sif in quadrant 1 and even Thor had seemed to have had enough of his own species and was now also approaching the little gathering. Now Tony just felt like the odd one out, sat on his roof doing what he was supposed to be doing and he was never put off turning up to a party without an invite.

He decided conventional flying methods may be most appropriate, not that teleporting was highly strenuous anymore, but he had to save himself and the suit mechanics needed to warmup. Besides, he thought Clint had, had enough jump scares for one day.

"Tony are you going to spend any time in your actual position, or are you just going to keep hopping all over the place?" Steve sighed as the armour clunked down next to them.

"Says you guys. Me and Tash were the only ones in position. I'm bored, we have 2 hours and I can get back there by snapping my fingers even if we get caught off guard." He shrugged.

"That's fair I suppose." Steve shrugged.

"And I came to say sorry for earlier." Tony breathed.

"So am I." Steve nodded, the following silence compounding their mutual sincerity.

"What happened earlier? And why do I keep seeing blue flashes and flying armour all around the city when the fight hasn't even started yet?" Natasha frowned as she and Sif approached.

"Turns out Stark can't do what he's told." Steve chuckled.

"Really, I am shocked." Natasha smiled. "Nervous Stark?"

"Is it stupid question day?" Tony bit, taking them both by surprise.

"Sorry." Nat held up her hands and Tony sighed.

"No, I am. I'm nervous… no, honestly I'm frickin terrified and it makes me a little grouchy."

"Yeah, we noticed." Rhodey chuckled.

"It'll be ok Man." Clint offered, patting the armour's shoulder.

"You're not alone Stark. We're all scared." Tash smiled, allowing her true vulnerability to briefly show on her face. It looked strange to see the spider show emotion, but maybe they had all changed in the last 12months a lot more than they had realised.

"Whose stupid idea was it to set up so goddamn early anyway." Tony scoffed. "And don't answer that." He added, knowing all too well who's plan this was.

The group chuckled, but the silence that stretched between them held a lot of unspoken words. This was potentially the last time they would spend together, stood in battle armour, anxious and desperate and praying that time would speed up as they could get this over with, everything was so very, very real now. This wasn't New York, it was a war zone. The streets were clear of everything other than soldiers and weaponry. Most people had taken their vehicles and left as instructed, there was the odd abandoned car, but they had been pushed out of the way or onto the sidewalk where possible. It was a ghost town. The only sign of life other than the armies were the pale and frightened faces of those who had remained behind the glass of their apartment windows.

"Just do me a favour please… all of you?"

"What is it Tony?" Natasha asked in concern. There was something in Tony's demeanour that was hauntingly serious, and it gave her chills.

"If you see the big fucker dressed in silver armour, you run like hell. You get as far away as you can. No matter what happens you do not engage with him, with any of them. You leave them to me."

"Tony…" Steve started in confusion.

"I mean it guys I really, really mean it." Tony's eyes were dark and full of fear. It made the others stop and take a breath. They had joked about Tony never being serious in the past, but honestly with that look he had never been more serious about anything in his life.

"Ok." Steve nodded. "Ok, Tony." He said softly and sincerely.

"If we promise this will you chill the fuck out?" Clint scoffed, half in jest, but his eyes showed his sincerity.

"No. I don't think any of us can manage that. We're about to fight an alien army for the second time in a year, none of are going to be 'chill' but if you guys promise me this I promise you that I will spend less time watching your asses and more time beating the shit out of aliens." Tony said definitively, with a small smile.

"Then we definitely promise." Clint grinned, and Natasha nodded.

"We all do." Steve nodded.

"May I ask how the walls between world appear to you currently Stark?" Thor's booming voice cut through as he approached, bringing them back to the current scenario.

"The walls are thin, its unravelling but slowly." Tony pondered, his eyes glowed blue as he concentrated. "I can… I can actually feel them…" He said, in surprise, his face twisting and his

"Hear what Tony?" Nat asked in concern, putting a hand across his shoulders to ground him.

"The Makluhk… I can hear them." Tony panted as the sensation ran through him. "They're almost here!"

"Stark, breathe. Please. Save your strength." Thor approached rapidly, but Rhodey and Steve already had a firm grip on the trembling Engineer.

"Tony you good?" Steve asked, worry bleeding into his voice.

"It's ok Steve." Tony breathed shakily. "Sorry guys, it just suddenly got very real." Tony said, patting Steve on the arm, getting him and Rhodey to let go, while Natasha had already given him his space.

"Oh, now it gets real for you?" Clint rolled his eyes.

"Shut up feathers." Tony growled, not so playfully either.

"Ok, everyone." Steve moved in to calm the situation. "No more party tricks Tony… I think we should just go back to our stations and clear our heads."

"Yes, I agree. Come on guys." Natasha nodded. This was an absolute mess and it hadn't even started yet. Goddamn men and their hormones, she cursed to herself.

…..

2:45pm

'Comms check.' Tony said levelly, though his head was spinning.

Numerous calls of check came through at the same time. Tony replayed the voices. Frigga was closest, just behind him, but still gave her reply to comfort him. Nat, Steve, Clint, and Rhodey. He could sense them, and they were all close by. Bruce, Gemma, Fitz, Coulson and Fury, were positioned together just outside the conflict zone. Thor, Volstagg, Fandral, Hogun, Sif and Heimdall were all currently closer to the front lines. Pepper was also safe and sound, not as far away as he wanted her to be, but he knew better than to tell her what to do.

'Tony…' Nat started.

'Yes, I know it's the 5th time, but with all the dimensional walls going trippy, all my senses are feeling really screwy.'

'You going to be ok when they open?' Steve asked.

'Only one way to find out.' Tony shrugged even though it was only Frigga who could see him.

'This is not very comforting Man of Iron.' Thor said, and Tony could feel him frown, two miles south of him.

'I'm messing with you, I might be a bit thrown off at first, but I'm getting pretty good at blocking stuff out and compartmentalising…'

'Your idea of compartmentalising is putting stuff in the 'to do' pile and ignoring it for as long as possible.'

'Thank you for that incredibly helpful input Natasha.'

'Just an observation.' Natasha chuckled.

'Yeah, well I have expert help this time, so you can all relax.'

'Only when you do.' Rhodey countered.

'Touché.' Tony chuckled.

.….

3:26pm

'You know what, now I'm not even nervous anymore, just bored. I really am just completely and utterly bored.'

'And what do you want me to do about it Clint?' Tony asked with a sigh.

'And I'm hungry, are you hungry?'

'You know what? Yes! Fuck this, I could do with a snack. What do you fancy?'

'For a last Meal? Hell, whatever decent you can drill up.'

.

'Tony can you stop teleporting all over the place? We need to know where you are.' Steve said, a little irritation in his voice as he saw another flash of blue in the air. Then he frowned as he realised there may be something more to this. 'Everything is ok isn't it?'

'All fine and dandy up here Stevie boy, just having a nice summer rooftop picnic with our favourite archer. You are very welcome to join us.'

'No, I don't want to join you… where the hell did you get the food?'

'Plenty of abandoned corner shops around the place Cap.'

'So, the pair of you have resulted to stealing.' Steve said disapprovingly.

'I paid for it.' Tony mumbled, clearly between mouthfuls. How that worked when Tony was talking inside his head, he wasn't sure, but apparently it was a 'thing'.

'Oh really?' Steve sad sceptically.

'Yeah, paying for it with our lives in just over an hour. They'll get over it. Be right back feathers imma go get Rhodey.'

There were a couple of blue flashes, one from the roof one a few blocks away were Steve knew Rhodey had been and then another back on the roof.

'Come up Steve we've got Pop tarts!' Clint chimed in on the now three-way conversation. 'But don't tell Thor, because he'll just scoff the lot… Or Tash cos she'll confiscate it.'

'No thank you, and don't come whining to me when you get a stitch.' Steve chuckled.

'Suit yourself.' Tony scoffed

The line went dead in Steve's head.

"What are you talking about?" Natasha came up behind Steve with a look of curiosity. Steve knew he just had to think to communicate with Tony and the other's like this, but he just couldn't get used to it. Every time he spoke across the link he spoke it aloud… it felt weird not to, so Natasha had heard one side of the conversation.

"You really don't want to know." Steve bit his lip.

"Stark and Clint then." She chuckled.

"Yes, and Rhodey, though I'm not sure how willing a participant he is. They were all supposed to be staying in position, there's only an hour to go…"

"Don't worry about them Steve, they're unconventional but they are taking this seriously."

"I know. So why are you out of position?"

"It's good to keep moving, besides, it's damn hot in the square at least you have some shade here."

"You need anything? Water..."

"I already raided someone's apartment." Natasha shrugged.

"Not you as well." Steve moaned. "That's someone's life."

"Well they're not going to need it Steve and if that's what the boys are doing they've got the right idea. No need to be tired and dehydrated before this thing starts."

"They took it a step further. Robbed a store and are having a picnic on the roof."

"Huh." Natasha grunted. 'We invited to the party Stark?'

'Are we in trouble?' Tony asked tentatively.

'Not unless I'm not invited.'

'Right, I'll pop down and get you and Cap.'

'Thor, up for a picnic on the roof?'

'Stark should we not be preparing for battle?'

'We are doing, it's called carb loading, proven to improve performance.'

'Is this an Earth tradition?'

'Yeah, totally.' Clint Chuckled.

"Well this is nice." Clint stretched out on the roof staring at the bright blue cloudless sky. A few of the others who had just been teleported in were looking a little disorientated still as they got used to the sudden change, but everyone was soon relaxed and settled. Digging into some of the random selection of junk food Tony seemed to have gathered. "But tell you what I could really eat right now, is a spaghetti and meatballs." Clint hummed.

Tony had taken off the gauntlets to eat and suddenly rubbed his hands together, with a face of concentration.

"What are you doing Tony?" Thor asked.

Tony held up a finger and a moment later held out his hand, which suddenly had a shop ready meal in it flickering with blue energy. The others blinked in confusion and Clint's face lit up.

"Yes Tony!" Clint reached out to take it but was stopped by Rhodey talking.

"Well, that's all rather impressive Tony, but unless you got a microwave and a plug…"

There was another flash of blue in Tony's eyes and then he peeled the cellophane lid off the ready meal, which was now steaming and handed it over to Clint with a plastic fork, also seemingly produced from nowhere.

"Touché." Rhodey conceded.

"Walmart special." Tony shrugged.

"Ok, that's cool." Natasha nodded. "Where's mine Stark?" She smirked.

"What can I get you all?" Tony offered.

"Tony, shouldn't you be saving your energy?" Steve frowned.

"It's cool, honestly its like leaving a lightbulb on in a power station right now. Call it a pre-workout stretch." Tony shrugged. "So last call for food orders?"

4:27pm.

Tony let out a shaky exhale. What had started as a faint buzzing he now realised was the Hive mind. The sound of the Makluhk communicating was faint, but it was there. Real, solid, unavoidable.

"Ook that's loud." Tony breathed, unwillingly speaking through the communication link. He was still adjusting to all the weird and wacky signals rolling around. Apparently, someone trying to break the walls of reality from another dimension lead to one hell of weird trip for those able to see it.

'Loud?' A questioning voice of a certain spy came through and reminded Tony he'd relayed that to the entire team.

'I can hear the Makluhk… certain waves are starting to breach the weak points.'

'Then we must assume the enemy can also hear us.' Thor said astutely.

'Yes, unfortunately. So, let's keep in mind what we say out loud.' Tony grimaced.

'Battle stations guys. T-3 minutes and counting.' Fury came through loud and clear. 'And good luck.'

'God speed everyone.' Coulson. Tony smiled, and he could feel a general feeling of warmth through the team's connection.

'We on schedule Stark?' Steve asked.

'Very much so.'

Tony stared intently at one spot in the sky which was warping and wobbling dangerously, flashes of light not from this world burst through, invisible wavelengths, fragments of noises and sound and particles. He wondered what it looked like to the others, maybe a like a heat haze above a road in the desert, but not like this, for all the hell the CAEB had brought him, it had also brought him a lot of beauty and this, despite being terrifying, was beautiful. The energy bouncing all over the city, a whole new world his eyes had been opened too that only very few beings had ever witnessed. He should have written a book, but this was no time to ponder his regrets.

Thunder rumbled through the city, the once bright blue summer sky darkening a little as pale conjured clouds began to circle, signalling for the forces of Asgard that the battle was near.

'How we doing, Tony?' Steve asked, nervousness in his voice despite his best intentions.

Tony let out a steadying breath. He watched as the weak points began to tremble and vibrate, the air around them whipping and whirling. The buzz of the hive mind grew more and more intense, he could hear their growls, voices, the whirring up of engines coming from the other side and a surge of nausea ran through him

'It's time.' He whispered. 'The walls are going to break any second now.'

'T-1 minute according to the countdown.' Bruce's voice. He hadn't heard it all day and it was refreshing.

'I'd say that's accurate.' Tony confirmed.

'All set up out there Bruce?' Steve asked.

'We're ready.'

'Asgard, prepare to engage!'

As Tony started to siphon off his connection with the hive mind so he could concentrate, there was a thunderous thud that made the ground shake. A rhythmic drumming that rippled through the air and a chant that had the very city vibrating. It took Tony a moment to realise that it was nothing supernatural or dangerous, merely the Asgardians hammering on their shields to a beat. It was their battle cry. And by the Gods it was terrifying.

Tony didn't realise he was trembling until he felt Frigga's hand on his shoulder.

"Deep breaths Stark." Frigga soothed.

"What's the point in all that shielding bashing and chanting if they're scaring themselves and us as much as the enemy." Tony shook his head, flipping down his face plate and drowning out some of the infernal noise.

"Adrenaline can be an aid Stark."

"Yeah, but these aren't good nerves, these are very, very bad nerves." Tony ranted.

"What's wrong?" Frigga frowned. Stark, nervous or not was brave, he had face certain death and fought it with humour on countless occasions yet now he was trembling like the Earth beneath them. Something was wrong.

"I thought I was ready, I thought I could do this but right now… I just can't… I can feel it all. It's too much."

"Deep breath and shut it out. Choose not to feel it Stark, your own emotions are more than enough for you to have to handle this day. You are more than ready, you just have to step back and take control."

Tony knew she was right, but this was a sensory overload, between the forming portals and the chants and the emotion bursting in the city, he had to find something to focus on.

In the end it was simple. He searched for her. And she was there. Outside the city boundary, but not so far away. She couldn't leave him. She was there.

'I love you Pepper.'

'Good Luck Tony. I'm here with you.'

'I know.' He smiled.

Everything was calm again. He was in control. He was ready.

4:32pm

There was a crack that sounded like splintering earth. The sky darkened, rippling with blue light. The walls between the world strained and then crumbled. The portals flickered into life and grew.

For a brief sacred moment there was complete and utter silence. The very air was still. Tony would cherish that moment for all time. The moment that New York fell silent, right before the world exploded.

Suddenly, with a hideous shriek, Makluhk were pouring into the city. Craft were screaming through the air, roaring jets with nearly invisible bodies. There was a collective howl over to the left; Mega wolves as they had been so aptly named. Tony hadn't faced them before; he'd been on vacation in Malibu after the big team bust up, but he'd read the files, seen the footage. They were not to be underestimated.

The iron legion had leapt into action, the hubs were humming, invisible in the air. The sounds of explosions and clattering swords filled the streets. At the front lines the battle had already started. It was showtime.

'Bruce shields up!' Tony ordered.

'On it.'

Tony was already sky bound, a missile pouch opened on his shoulder and a set of the homing magnetic explosives he'd designed for these stealth craft deployed. 5 craft exploded almost simultaneously, careering towards the ground as nothing but pieces of flaming debris. He heard more explosions not far away. The familiar pulse of the War machine jets worked away in the sky over to his left as Tony gathered up a string of craft and had them chasing his tail to keep them away from the perimeter.

And there they were. Tony rolled his eyes. Civilians, the ones that had refused to leave, finally realising how real the danger were now running from their apartments and right into the line of fire.

"Jarvis, civilians Quadrant 2 sector C5."

"Noted Sir. Iron legion squadron 6 has been sent to your location."

"Thank you, buddy…"

'Stark.'

The voice ripped into his head and his skull exploded in pain. The world was swept away from his vision, blackness enveloped him. The only thing in his mind was that voice, that too familiar voice and he couldn't escape.

He didn't notice he was falling until he slammed into the ground and new pain tore through him. The air had been punched out of his lungs, he could feel the cuts and bruises, but his mind was being torn away from his body.

'Tony's down!' Clint yelled in panic.

'What happened?' Steve asked, urgently.

'I don't know he just fell!'

'I will check on Stark, the rest of you focus on your tasks.' Frigga insisted.

'There is something… an energy, a voice.' They were surprised to hear Heimdall join the conversation.

'A voice?' Frigga asked.

'It's a language I do not know, I will assist.'

'Rhodey, pick up the slack with the craft until Bruce can get the shield up.' Steve ordered.

'But Cap…'

'Rhodes stay focused let the Asgardians help Tony, stick to the task!'

….

'Anthony Edward Stark. I see you. It took me some effort to locate a frequency that would incapacitate you. But you have visited us twice now and we have watched as you and your friends negotiated our little tests. Your recklessness and arrogance has betrayed you. You felt as long as you left before we could harm you, you would be safe, but you have allowed us to learn your weaknesses and you yourself are a threat that we cannot condone.'

Fuck, that was Kairon's voice. Tony screamed in agony at the pain in his skull. The CAEB was writhing inside him. He couldn't focus on anything else, but the pain. Somewhere, vaguely in the real world he could feel his helmet being removed, hear some voices, they sounded frantic and pleading. But there was nothing he could do to reassure them. His world was on fire.

'I can sense your fear. Fear for your friends, fear for their lives. You may be one of your measly planet's greatest minds, but you are nothing but a weak and feeble human. Soon you will realise how pathetic and helpless you truly are in comparison to our power, you will be able to do nothing but watch as your friends, your city and your planet dies.'

There was a jolt through his entire body. The world snapped back into focus, but the pain did not lift.

"Stark, can you hear me. What is wrong?"

Frigga. Tony could feel her magic pushing out Kairon's influence, giving him a moment of clarity, but it was straining her. The blood dripping from her nose mirrored that he could feel dripping from his face. He was lying in a crater from his own impact, the suit was damaged, critical red alerts flashing across the HUD.

"Kairon." He rasped out. "Some sort of frequency. It burns."

"I can feel it Stark, but I don't understand the language." Heimdall? Yes. Heimdall was there too.

There was an explosion nearby and Heimdall turned to fight off a Makluhk that had burst out of a nearby building.

"Stark, you have to push him out." Frigga urged him.

"Can't." Tony choked. The pain was overwhelming, the frequency was so similar to the CAEB he couldn't separate the two.

"Yes, you can, you are stronger than him. I will help you, channel me, channel the power you can feel. Push it out!"

Tony tried to reach out to Frigga's magic, tried to reach out for something, anything. But there was nothing. It was like he was trapped in an invisible prison in his mind.

'There is no way out Stark. You are beaten. And your world will burn.'

"Anthony you have to do it now!"

Tony took a breath. He could do his. He had to do this. This was not how this was going to end! But he couldn't… the pain, there was so much pain, all he could do was scream as Frigga's magic let go.

"It's no use, it's too strong." Frigga collapsed back into Heimdall, blood streaming down her face.

'You thought you were so clever, didn't you? Discovering our plans, keeping your civilians safe, evacuating the city…'

Tony's stomach lurched. Shit. What was he talking about?

'You thought you could keep them safe. You think that the people you save make your life worthwhile, make up for your sins. But you are nothing but a pitiful, waste of life Stark. A stain on existence. You will never find redemption, not you or any of your little friends. I am going to show you that.'

Tony felt a strange energy force its way into his head, reaching out to the communication link. No! he had to keep them safe, then suddenly there was a burst of energy in the city.

'Steve, we have a problem. A huge problem!' Clint said, panic flooding his tone.

'Care to elaborate Barton!' Steve growled.

'We have civilians in the field.'

'We know! Leave it to the iron legion!' Natasha threw back, voice strained, clearly in throes of a fight.

'No, I mean, we have 1000's of people, just popping up everywhere in some weird orange light,'

'What?"

'Clint is right!' Rhodey exclaimed. 'They're everywhere!'

'What's going on, where's Tony? Frigga?'

'Kairon is in his mind. We are trying to expel him.' Frigga replied.

'What do we do?' Clint asked.

'Avenger's protect the civilians. Thor, any men you can spare send them to assist please.' Steve ordered.

No. What was happening, civilians appearing out of nowhere? Tony's mind worked slowly, clouded by pain as he rolled onto his side. Frigga was still by his side, but looking away from him, distracted and worried, her face stained with the blood of her effort to keep Kairon out. A Makluhk roared as Heimdall speared it with his sword and then withdrew it, swinging and taking the beast's head clean off.

A flash of orange caught Tony's eye as 5 people suddenly appeared not 50 feet away from him. The woman screamed in shock, huddling the 4 kids closer to her. Two girls and two boys. They all screamed as a craft exploded through the top floors of a building nearby. The sound of repulsor blasts tore Tony's eyes upwards

The noise of the family's cries was so achingly familiar, but he couldn't place it, until his mind started drawing him into a flashback.

"Power reduced to 19%."

Tony was holding something in his arms, something heavy. He groaned and strained at the effort, trying to keep the heavy object from throwing him onto his back as he struggled to balance it in his failing grip. He was forced to one knee as he glimpsed at the 5 faces staring back at him from behind the windshield of the car he was holding and screamed.

As he finally got control of the weight and started to set the car down he heard the engine hit the rev limiter and the sound of the back wheels turning full speed. As soon as the rear wheels hit the tarmac the car surged forward, hitting Tony straight in the chest before he had time to get out of the way.

"Lady!" He begged as he clung onto the hood of the car and she continued to press her foot flat to the floor. She was panicking and so were the children but if he didn't get them to stop this was going to really hurt…

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" He yelled desperately as his gauntlet encased hands lost grip on the smooth metal of the hood, leaving scratch marks behind where his fingers desperately clawed for grip. The car went straight over the top of him as he hit the tarmac but trapped him underneath. Sparks flew and heat burned at his back as he was dragged along the asphalt underneath the speeding vehicle, head flooded with panic it took him a moment to come to his senses and lift the car to free himself with a yelp of pain, effort and terror.

Before he could reach the part of the memory where he turned to see Obadiah fly at him in the suit he built from the stolen arc reactor he realised why the family looked so familiar. They were the family from the car. The children were older but from his limited memory he recognised them.

His stomach turned cold, but another flash of orange snatched his focus away for a moment. There was a young boy, maybe 15/16 years old, tall, but wiry with a skin tone looked Asian, or maybe Indian? It didn't take long for him to place him in his mind, wearing a blue hat and jeans with a dirty striped t-shirt, he was clutched in the arms of a terrified and crying woman, with a young girl.

An AK-47 was held to the woman's head, the man's chest, against the neck of a woman holding her baby. They were shouting something, probably threats, demands in a dialect he didn't understand. The men thought the hostages would save them. He simply targeted the hostile and the missile pouch on his shoulder took out the threats. The little boy burst from his mother's arms yelling, "Papa, Papa!" As he ran into the arms of his kneeling father.

His sensors picked up one final hostile hiding, dialling for help, and this one was personal. Tony thrust his fist threw the wall and pulled out one of his former captors, thrusting him at the feet of the people he had just saved.

"He's all yours." He said, taking to the sky.

"No!" Tony gasped as he came to a realisation. How the hell was this happening? How the hell had they got inside his head and seen that…

'That's right Stark. Everyone you and your pathetic friends have ever saved are now back in this city, all the people you were trying to protect. You have failed. And now you'll watch them burn. You will die knowing that all the good you ever achieved has been undone by my hand.'

"No!" Tony yelled, he writhed on the floor, straining against the energy invading his skull, ignoring the pain as he tried and tried to force it out, when he felt hands on his shoulders and heard the distance voices of the real world.

"Connect with me, use your magic I will help you find the source of this beast and drive it out. Stark! You have to drive it out." Heimdall's voice seemed faint and far away, but he heard it all the same and suddenly Tony's head was flooded with magic, this time far more effective, but it wasn't strength he was lacking, he couldn't distinguish himself from this frequency.

'Tony… Tony I'm in the city.'

No. Not Pepper too. No!

'I'm sorry I don't know how, I just suddenly was here… I…'

That was it. That was just it. Tony was done with this fucker. Messing with his head was a low fucking blow and bringing Pepper here was the last damn straw.

"Get out of my head!" He yelled in effort as Frigga's magic homed in and Heimdall's focus helped her to isolate the source. He felt the energy separate from the CAEB and then he could push. Like a snap his strength returned to him.

He instantly reached out with the CAEB, finding Pepper and teleporting her the fuck out of there, all the way to goddamn Malibu. It was after all, the safest place he knew.

'Pepper are you ok?' He asked frantically as he sat up.

'I'm fine Tony, what is happening?'

'Just Kairon playing some sick game. Stay safe.' He cut the connection. He needed to get back in the fight.

Tony stumbled to his feet and was almost knocked off them again as the ground was shaken by a nearby blast. Shit, his armour was a mess and they'd barely even started.

"Are you well Stark?" Heimdall held him firm.

"Yeah, never better. Thank you both." He said, nodding to Frigga who was wiping the blood from her face like nothing happened.

'Shield is ready to deploy.' Bruce's voice came through loud and clear.

'Wait!' Tony yelled in protest.

'Stark you back with us?' Steve asked.

'Just about.' Tony grunted. They were what? 15minutes into this goddamn fight and he felt drained.

'What happened?'

'Kairon tried to take out his biggest threat by mind fucking me. We've kicked him out.'

'Does he know about the CAEB?' Steve asked.

'I don't think so, kept calling me a pathetic human, so fingers crossed he's not figured it out yet.'

'Can someone tell me why I'm waiting with the goddamn shield; the craft are getting dangerously close to the perimeter.' Bruce yelled.

"Jarvis, set up a protective barrier at the perimeter with squadron 5, tell the rest of the legion to forget the craft, gather the civilians I need to get them all in one place, or at least a few large groups."

"Yes Sir." The AI responded.

'Tony what's going on?' Steve asked.

'Kairon's brought them into the city, everyone we've ever saved.'

'What?'

'Everyone?' Clint said in disbelief. 'How?"

'Yes, everyone and I don't know how… not really.'

'Shit.'

'I can get them out, but I can't do that with the shield up, it will take too much of my power.'

'But won't that show your hand?' Rhodey asked.

'They know I can teleport, so hopefully not. Has anyone seen them yet?'

'No, they haven't come through they're not in the city.' Natasha confirmed.

'Damn it.' Tony growled

'Tony?'

'I have to risk it. Work with the legion, get them into big groups, keep them safe. Once they are all together I will teleport them out. Rhodey work with me protect the perimeter.'

'Tony, we can't risk exposing the CAEB, as you said the endgame is more important.' Steve implored.

'Steve I am not going to let these people die. Now get them rounded up!'

'On it.' Rhodey answered.

'You heard him, let's round them up.' Steve agreed.

'Split into teams?' Tony said, still a little disorientated.

"Widow, with me… Rhodey and Stark on-air patrol. Clint we're going to need your eyes… Your majesty, Heimdall are you available to help?' Steve barked out.

"As long as you have no further need of me Tony?" Frigga asked him directly.

"I'm good, I'm good, go." Tony nodded.

'We are free to assist.' Frigga informed Steve. 'And there is no need for such formalities, I am no Queen here, only your comrade.'

'Sif is coming to your aid Avengers.' Thor informed. He was clearly busy by the strain in his voice, but keeping up to date with the conversation.

'Great, Sif… Cover me and widow, Heimdall and Frigga move south west and aid the legion form a second group.' Steve barked out as everyone started to move into position.

..

"We are the Iron legion. Please stay where you are and follow our instructions. We are here to protect you. The Avengers will shortly be arriving to evacuate you from the conflict zone. Please stay together for your safety."

A mother and her two daughters stopped dead in front of the white painted droid and started to back away in fear. They had just run from the building they had been taking shelter in as it took fire from these strange, nearly invisible, craft. Mere metres before they made it to their next shelter, and relative safety, they came face to face with the robot not knowing whether it was friend, or foe.

"We mean you no harm. We are here to protect you." The robotic voice repeated, and the woman started to relax a little when she realised the robot wore the Avengers crest, emblazoned on its chest. The head was all too familiar, closely resembling the iron man suit; It was friendly.

She realised that in her fear she hadn't heard anything the robot had said, but its gesticulated directions were clear enough. There was getting to be quite a large group of them now she realised, as she pushed her children hurriedly towards the gathering, keeping them close. A nearby explosion made the ground tremble and her youngest girl let out a whimper of fear.

"It's going to be ok girls." She said calmly, though she hardly believed it herself. They had been so lucky to escape last year; Living in Hell's kitchen during 'the incident', as the media referred to it, was almost a death sentence. Their home had been wiped off the map and the only reason she and her children survived was due to the red headed woman, Black widow, who had swooped in and taken down the Chitauri beast that was about to shoot them.

She would be forever grateful to that woman… but that didn't mean she would ever feel safe in New York again. They had left the city once it was all over and moved away, deep out into the Montana countryside. They'd just been about to sit down for lunch when they suddenly ended up in the city, surrounded by explosions again and running for their lives.

"Mum what's happening, how did we get here?" Her eldest asked, tears tracking down her cheeks.

"I don't know sweetie, but the iron legion is going to protect us so we just have to do what they say, ok?"

They both nodded as she hugged them close.

"Where are you from… did you just appear here too?" A tall, handsome young man smiled hesitantly as they got closer.

"Yes… we live in Montana, I don't know how we got here. Do you know what's happening?" She stuttered in fear.

"No, not really, but it seems a whole bunch of us were just teleported here or something?" He yelled over the sound of another nearby explosion, ducking his head a little on instinct.

"By who?" The woman asked, not expecting an answer and the man just shrugged his response.

"You heard on the news right, that they had evacuated the city?" A second man, short, plump and balding jumped into the conversation.

"Of course." The woman answered.

"Well the Avengers were trying to stop civilian casualties, so I'm guessing the bad guys dragged a bunch of people back into the war to keep the Avengers busy. Stupid bloodthirsty Aliens!"

"Hey some of those aliens are fighting for us!" A young woman corrected him from a few metres away, she was too small to see her face in the crowd.

"You're right, my bad!" The bald man held up his hands.

"So, where did you get dragged here from?" The first man asked the bald man.

"Oh no, I'm not one of you guys, I live here but I didn't want to evacuate. Thought it was some sort of government conspiracy, but boy do I feel an idiot now."

"Huh I bet." The young man scoffed.

"But why us? Why were we brought here? Are you from Montana too?" The woman asked the young man.

"No, I'm from Staten Island, but was on Holiday in the damn Maldives! I've talked to a few people, there doesn't seem to be a pattern. A lot of people are from the city, but had evacuated, some people were from a long way away like you… It doesn't make sense."

"Please follow us and stay alert. We are taking you to safety. Please follow us and stay alert, we are taking you to safety." A faint, faraway voice of another iron legion bot caught their attention as they saw another small group of people, maybe a dozen, approaching them.

"That's Captain America!" Her youngest daughter gasped, pointing over to their right and sure enough the red, white and blue clad figure was leading in another group of people, 30 or 40 strong looking round attentively to keep track of any danger.

"Is that an Asgardian?" Her eldest asked, pointing to a tall dark-haired woman, clad in silver armour holding a very large sword and looking incredibly at ease in the chaos. "She's not an Avenger." Her daughter added certainly.

"She must be." Her mother agreed.

Suddenly the ground shook again, almost throwing them to the concrete. There was an almighty roar of an engine and a blaze of heat as laser blasts rained down close by, eating up the road and heading straight towards them. The iron legion stood to attention, arms raised they returned fire at the invisible craft as it grew closer and closer.

"Everyone take cover!" Someone in the group shouted and the mother pulled her daughters close in horror, using her body as to shield them.

Suddenly there was another roar, but this one sounded cleaner and electronic… friendly even. A flash of red and gold shot through the air just above them, the buffeted air whipping her hair into her face and taking her breath away momentarily. Small missiles left the iron man armour and moments later there were two loud bangs. Several chunks of burning metal fell from the sky, slamming through the buildings as their debris rained down into their street and the next. The wave of searing heat and cloud of dust that followed made them cough and shield their faces.

"Thanks Stark!" Captain America shouted to the sky as the crowd cheered, but suddenly there was a loud growl and a woman screamed hysterically off to the left. The crowd pushed roughly, trying to move away from the threat. She took a tight grip on her children as she was jostled roughly and her youngest was nearly torn from her feet. She pulled them both hard, lifting them to stop them getting trampled as the iron legion moved in swiftly to shield the left side were the commotion was happening. The sound of the legion's blasts were accompanied by the shrieking of some unknown creature. There were too many people between them and the threat to see what was going on, but they did see the Asgardian woman leap into the air, sword raised, before she slammed it down into something out of their sight. There was a terrible shriek and as the horrible sounds of a creature slowly dying bled into the air the mother felt her eldest tug her sleeve.

"I want to be as strong as her one day." She beamed ear to ear, despite the fear induced tremble in her frame.

"You can be sweetheart. You can be anything you want." If they got out of here alive that is.

…..

'Tony are you leading them in a cheer routine, or are you actually going to take down all those craft following you around?' Clint asked, not so much humorously but more anxiously and Tony could more than understand why. He was currently on full damn throttle trying to keep the damn laser from hitting him and his armour was taking a bit of a battering.

'I'm trying to take them somewhere where I can blow them up without putting my friends and the people we are trying to save in the middle of a rainstorm of jagged flaming metal.' Tony grimaced as a laser blast clipped his ribs. Thanks to the under armour he didn't feel the heat, but it was probably going to leave a nasty bruise.

'Ok point taken.'

'Tony have you got a minute.' Rhodey's voice came through as a runt of effort.

'Little busy Rhodey.' Tony huffed as he had to do an instant direction change with sent his head spinning from the G-force.

'How busy?' That's when Tony felt the worry through the link. Rhodey's worried. Tony tried to get a brief image while he blasted towards the park where Jarvis was showing a low level of friendlies. Rhodey was utterly overwhelmed and unlike Tony, was truly on the defensive and not just leading the craft on a merry chase. His buddy needed help and fast. A quick look at the HUD showed the iron legion were more than occupied. Rhodey needed him.

'Give me 30 seconds.' Tony grunted as he diverted all power to the thrusters, leaving them behind a little only to stop, hover and turn, before blowing them to kingdom come. But there were Jarvis had already locked Rhodey onto his HUD and he streaked through the air towards his best friend.

Rhodey really was overwhelmed. Swarmed by craft in blaze of laser blasts Rhodey was dodging frantically, but despite Tony's recent upgrades to the suit, the war machine was not made for agility, it was pure muscle. Tony was closing in fast, eating up the distance between him and the craft, but he didn't even get close enough to begin firing the warning shots to distract a few of the craft before Rhodey was hit square in the chest by a laser blast.

As the black and silver armour went spiralling out of the sky, Tony engaged the 12 or so craft with extreme prejudice.

'Rhodey!'

'I'm fine Tony. Kick their asses.' Tony heard the groan in Rhodey's tone, which did nothing to calm his nerves, but at least he was alive and conscious.

A blast hit Tony hard in the side and he went slamming into the building beside him, rolling across the office space floor in an explosion of glass.

'Rhodes and Stark are getting their asses handed to them south of the park.' Clint's voice broke through Tony's pain and annoyance as he got himself to his 'Anyone available to assist?'

Tony scoffed. Asses handed to them? Now Tony was pissed. No one tries to laser blast his best friend and gets away with it. The craft were lining up level with the hole Tony had left in the side of the building, lasers charging for a joint attack. They thought they had him at a disadvantage, but they had no idea they were just lining themselves up for him. He smirked.

'Shit, Tony get out of there, they're going to blow the building!' Rhodey's warning came through, but Tony was too busy trying to figure out which of these load bearing beams might be strong enough to help brace the suit.

'Tony!' Steve called urgently.

'Stark can you hear us? I am inbound.' Huh, it was nice to hear Thor was looking out for them from the front lines.

'Guys relax I've got this covered. Thor hold your position.'

As the whine of the laser's charging rang in Tony's ears there was the whine of Tony's own weapon charging as it unfolded from his shoulder plate and he braced against a pillar.

'And how exactly have you got this covered Stark?' Natasha asked sceptically, but the worry was more than evident.

Tony didn't need to answer her as the weapon deployed and Tony was shoved backwards hard into the support beam he was backed up against. A massive surge of energy from the cannon on his shoulder obliterated the craft outside the building in a ball of flame.

'Satisfying.' Tony sighed with a smirk as he brushed off the singed and spent cannon which detached from his armour and discarded it on the floor. He quickly inspected the support he'd used to brace himself against the cannon's backlash and it was quite noticeably buckled, but thankfully the structure was still sound.

'When did you make that, and can I have one?' Clint asked in awe as Tony watched the remains of the obliterated aircraft spiral to the ground below in a cloud of ash.

'Sometime, no and I only have three of those, so let's not get ourselves in that sort trouble again please.'

"Damage report J." Tony asked as he took flight from what was left of the side of the building and headed down to where Rhodey had landed in the street.

The HUD flashed up red in numerous places, too many places and although Tony knew he had enough spares, he was going to be conservative. Besides... a couple of those buckled panels where providing useful pressure on places where he had suspected minor contusions which could give them some time to clot with help from the CAEB.

"Jarvis, I need a replacement energy cannon, panels 42, 8a and 33 need replacement and send in a drone to brace the damage to the structural support in the building please, mark it on the danger list."

"Yes sir."

"You okay Buddy?" He held his hand out to Rhodey and helped the man to his feet. The armour was heavy, and Tony was tired, despite the mechanical assistance of his own suit he grunted a little from the effort.

"I'm good, I'm good, thanks for the assist." Rhodey sighed.

"What did you do to piss those guy's off?" Tony smiled lifting the face plate. He quickly ran through Rhodey's injury report; His friend was battered and bruised, maybe a busted rib, but nothing serious. Most obvious was the flickering arc reactor in the centre of his chest which had been scorched pretty heavily

"Replacement central panel, analgesic injection and arc reactor for Rhodey J." He said silently.

"Already inbound."

"I really don't know, I think they like you better than me." Rhodey chuckled and then winced.

'Tony, Rhodes, air support required immediately.' Steve's voice came over and Tony slammed his faceplate down instantly.

"Take 5 get yourself patched up, replacement stuff is incoming." He instructed Rhodey as he took off and headed back in the direction of the fight.

Steve and Natasha were guarding a quickly growing group of civilians about 20 blocks North of where he was and as he caught sight of them he could quickly see that the iron legion guards helping them were being torn apart by a small pack of Makluhk. There were at least 500 heat signatures bundled together and Sif was patrolling the perimeter, viscously trying to take out the Makluhk before they got close to the vulnerable conglomeration.

They were holding their own but whichever way you looked at it, craft were inbound and the Makluhk were homing in on the large body of people and all they had was Tash and Cap to hold them all off.

Tony screamed over the top of the group, sending some covering fire to drive the Makluhk back as he headed for the group of craft and quickly set to destroying them. But the Makluhk apparently weren't going to wait. The iron legion were taking a battering, Cap had moved out as the odd beast started to break through the legion's defences.

"Shit." Tony swore. This was taking too long. He really needed back up… or he could just use the cannon again, but that only left him with one spare…

Thunder rumbled across the sky and lightning struck a few of the craft. It was quickly followed by the familiar long-haired bond figure landing with a thud in the square.

'Tend to the civilians Stark, I have this.'

'Thanks, pointbreak.' Tony sighed in relief, but he had no further time to chat.

Tony turned tail and shot back towards the group, raining fury down on the Makluhk on the ground, but they were swarming like a nest of angry ants. A small fleet of Asgardian soldiers were moving in to help hold back the beasts, but then something struck Tony hard in the stomach, or at least, that's what it had felt like. It took a moment for him to realise that the sensation was nothing physical, but a warning… Something was wrong. He focused, who was it, who was in trouble?

Steve.

Steve slammed into the ground hard on his back. The way his head whipped back into the concrete was the least of his problems, however, as the Mega wolf landed on top of him and started tearing at the tiny circle of Vibranium he was trying to hide himself behind. God damn it, he should have taken up Tony's offer for a bigger shield!

He'd barely got that out when a force hit him from the side and sent him rolling across the road, but the weight of the Wolf was gone and instead a flash of red and gold was blasting the shit out of it a few feet away. The beast gargled, snarled and screeched until it finally grew still.

Steve groaned and got to his feet, moving towards his comrade who had decided to casually sit on the floor after the effort. Steve didn't blame him for taking a few second; If his own exhaustion was anything to go by, Tony and the others would also be on their last legs and yet this fight had barely begun.

"You ok Cap?" Tony sighed as he turned to see the man approaching.

"Yeah thanks, you?" Steve grunted.

"So done with this already." Tony whined and rolled his eyes.

"Join the club." Steve huffed and helped him to his feet. Once the iron Avenger was upright Steve could almost see Tony's head flick back into analysis mode just from the way his posture changed. The guy was already trying to figure out where he was needed next. They all needed a five-minute cease fire. They all knew they weren't going to get one.

'Tony we're ready.' Natasha said, tiredly.

'We got them into two groups.' Frigga confirmed. 'Heimdall and I have the rest gathered, but we cannot defend them for long.'

'All of them?' Tony demanded.

'Clint?' Steve asked their most trusted eyes.

'Everyone I can see, if they're hiding there's nothing I can do. We can't waste any more time.'

'The number remaining in the city really is minimal Stark. This is the best possible outcome.' Heimdall confirmed. Well if the all-seeing dude said so…

'Then that'll have to do. Avengers and… others, step back. Give them a 5-meter exclusion zone, I don't want to pick you up with them. Bruce, hand on the button get ready to deploy the shield.'

'We're ready Tony, do your thing.' Bruce confirmed.

Shit this was going to take a lot of power, but he had the power grid and he turned the exoskeleton up a couple of tolerance notches to preserve his internal organs.

"Jarvis, find me somewhere to put them and send in some emergency glucose for after please." He said as he started to channel the power of the city's grid and get ready to manipulate it to carry the several thousand civilians. This was certainly the biggest group he'd tried to move, and he had to do it quickly.

"Tallman mountain state park is sufficiently out of the war zone and abandoned."

"Thanks buddy."

Tony took a breath and readied himself.

'Any time now Tony, it's getting hard to hold these creatures back!' Steve grunted.

'Fuck off.' Tony grunted, and he heard Clint scoff. 'I'd rather not scatter these people to atoms.'

Tony took a long breath out and a blue glow took over the groups at the centre of the city. There was a palpable hum in the air, like the sound of a large machine charging up and the sparks of exploding transformers erupted into the air.

Then they were gone. 1000's of people disappeared in a blue flash.

'Push the button Bruce.' Tony groaned.

'Are they safe?'

'No, I vaporised them.' He scoffed. 'Push the goddamn button!' Tony growled.

A golden light erupted at the edge of the war zone, rising from the ground like a bubble and slowly enveloping the city. The rest of the world was now safe. They could focus the fight.

But it seemed the strain in Tony's voice had not gone unnoticed.

'Tony are you ok?' Steve asked, he could feel a number of people approaching as he staggered, his head spinning.

'Gonna need a minute.' Tony grunted.

The world was spinning violently, and his legs felt weak. His eyes rolled back in his skull. His knees gave out and hit the concrete, but before he could face plant in the street he was held up by a strong pair of hands, which lowered him to the ground.

"Are you with me Stark?"

Tony's eyelids fluttered, and it took a moment for everything to come back in to focus. A laser blast from the craft seared into the ground inches from his face as he was dragged roughly out the way.

"Hey Sif." Tony coughed with a smile as he could finally focus on the face of his saviour. "And Thanks."

"You need to rest, I must get you to safety." Sif shook her head in worry and surveyed the immediate area for danger.

"I'm good." Tony protested as Sif dragged him to his feet and started to haul him across the street. She let go of him momentarily and he swayed dangerously, before she grabbed him and yanked him back upright before he could fall, again. It was clear by the searing look she was giving him that her actions were a deliberate method of revealing his lie.

"Ok point made." Tony conceded. Tony staggered, with Sif's help, out of the open street and she gently set him down out of sight in a doorway, before beckoning some Asgardian soldiers over to give them cover.

"J, where's that glucose shot?" Tony blinked tiredly.

"Inbound sir. Encountering some slight difficulties"

"Hurry it up." Tony sighed and sunk back into the doorway. He felt drained and weak. He couldn't help it, but his arms were trembling, and the exoskeleton burned hot against the under armour from the surge of protection. Hell, this really wasn't going well. But at least they'd dealt with the surprise, he supposed, and the city was now isolated from the rest of the planet.

But one thing that was very annoying was the Blinky red light in his HUD signifying a broken rib that was unstable. Fuck's sake, how had he done that and why had it happened at the moment he didn't have any damn strength to heal himself?

Then suddenly more red lights started flashing in warning. Tony groaned and hauled himself to his feet, he had to get up, he had to fight.

"Stark? What are you doing? Rest!" Sif insisted.

"Makluhk incoming!" Tony pointed to the approaching beasts and raised his hand as he spotted the jet of his incoming glucose shot and snatched it out of the air. A panel opened in his armour exposing Tony's bicep. He took the first packet and injected it into the IV catheter he'd stabbed himself with earlier for this reason and then replaced the suit's supply with the cartridge from the second packet.

"You back in the game Stark?" Sif asked noting the injection.

"Looks like I have to be." He grunted as the first growls met their ears and they turned to face the enemy. Sif was an incredibly skilled and ferocious warrior, but his sensors were reading over a dozen inbound. Sif him and three Asgardians, may not be enough…

'Anyone free for an assist?' Tony put out over the link as the world started to tilt dangerously to the left. That wasn't good. He wasn't stupid enough to think he was in a fit state to fight. At least he could stand now, but he felt terrible.

'We'll send someone the second we can.' Steve said desperately. So that meant no. Tony could get the vague sense they were all in trouble, but everything was fuzzy, every move he made his limbs felt like led weights dragging him down. There was nothing he could do until his blood sugar and the CAEB ad his injuries all started to stabilise.

"Jarvis, what are my blood sugar levels looking like?" Tony wheezed, blinking hard as he tried to focus on the threat that was rapidly approaching. The glucose should have kicked in straight away but he was struggling to feel much difference.

"Sir, I am sending in a second cartridge. Blood sugar levels are still dangerously low. 45mg/dL."

"Fuck." Tony growled to himself. With blood sugar that low he shouldn't be standing yet alone operating lethal weaponry, but like everything else today he hardly had a choice. He had to keep going. He raised a gauntlet and sent off a repulsor shot as the Makluhk came into range. Sif was already bursting into action; her sword having felled three by the time Tony took down one. The other Asgardians were not faring so well.

Sif was keeping the threat well away from Tony as he staggered, around, trying to give covering fire to the other two Asgardians, who were quickly becoming overwhelmed. But it wasn't enough. There was a terrible scream and a crunch as a Makluhk wrapped its jaws around an Asgardian throat and bit in deep.

Tony fired blast after blast, but he knew it was too late, trying to get the foul beast off. The stench of blood was thick in the air and the Makluhk had their own unique and revolting odour which added to the vile reek. Then a head rolled across the ground, the second Asgardian… he hadn't even seen what had happened but as the Makluhk started to fight each other in a race to devour the severed limb he felt bile push up his throat. He was going to puke. And what was worse, his legs were shaking too much to hold him anymore. He felt himself sliding down the wall he was propped against as his vision started to fade.

'Thor can you spare any men!' Steve begged. 'Sorry Tony we're in trouble here.'

Tony barely registered the voices as he fought to stay conscious. He had to help Sif, there was no way she could handle this alone, the odds were too great.

'I apologise Captain, we too are overwhelmed.' Came Thor's reply.

'The Makluhk are organising!' Clint warned them. 'Steve you are in a kill box, you and Nat need to get out of there. Shit, they're coming for me, I need to change position.'

"Stark!" Sif yelled in worry as she saw the armour slump into the corner, but she had too many Makluhk on her tail to reach him. The Avenger wasn't moving, but he'd had his shot… what was wrong?

'Stark is down, I require urgent assistance.'

"I have you Sif!" Frigga and Heimdall burst into the street and Heimdall instantly took to aiding Sif in her fight whilst Frigga went straight to Tony's side.

"Stark?" She asked, shaking him gently.

"Incoming glucose shot." He whispered quietly.

"Do you need assistance?"

Tony gave what could be deemed passable as a nod in response. Frigga worked swiftly once the cartridge arrived and after a minute or two Tony could feel everything settling back into place as the glucose worked its magic. As he was helped back to his feet he felt better but thoroughly exhausted. He usually slept for a day after something like this, but there wasn't that option now. He had to wake himself up.

He quickly reached out to assess the battle field. It was chaos. The Makluhk were over running everything. Steve and Tash were in trouble… Clint, was barely on top of it, running for his life. He had to do something.

"They need help." He panted as he took a step out into the street, Frigga close to him with a firm and steadying hand on his shoulder.

"Who Stark?" She asked.

"The other's, all of them, I need… I need to teleport them out of there, the Makluhk are overwhelming them. But I haven't the strength." He groaned.

"Channel it Stark, you know how…."

Suddenly Frigga was cut off as Sif screamed in agony behind them. The dozen Makluhk had grown in numbers. More than 20 corpses lay on the ground, but a whole pack had descended on the street. Heimdall was essentially pinned against a building barely holding his own and Sif had now disappeared under a swarm that were trying to tear her apart.

Tony didn't waste a second. He reached out to the power lines and connected with the Makluhk's hive mind. It took a moment to orient himself with the strange but slightly familiar matrix, but once he had his bearings he could sense exactly where to twist.

The Makluhk started screeching in pain falling away from their victims and collapsing, writhing in pain as Tony continued to twist their frequency. The burning of the exoskeleton against him reminded him the CAEB was trying to drain his body, so he pulled more energy from the grid until he finally stabilised. Now he had it. He was back in the game.

He reached out to Steve, Natasha and Clint, locating them and pulling them away from the danger. In a flash they were safe in front of him, looking around, dazed and worse for wear, but very much alive.

Sucking in a breath of relief, Tony swiftly followed Frigga to were she was knelt by Sif's side. The warrior was propped up against a half-crumpled street light, face twisted in pain and clutching her bloodied arm.

"We need to get you to the medical tents Sif." Frigga told her, but Sif was having none of it as she tried to get to her feet but was prevented by Heimdall.

"I will endure. I have had worse." Sif said proudly.

"Maybe." Tony agreed, "but you are not going anywhere with that arm and those bites." Tony huffed. Her arm was a mess. The claws had run deep, and a quick glance said it was probably broken as well. Then there were the angry red bites, one on her neck, another on her side evident from the marks on her armour. They could send her to medical, but that would put her out of action for the rest of the fight and she was one of the best they had. They needed her.

"Jarvis send in the antivenom, make it a double dose." Tony instructed. He could heal this… the worst of it at least, get her back n the game. Giving her the antivenom would cut his job in half and save his strength. Healing was still one of the hardest things for him to do and with the city in the state it was, he was finding it harder and harder to find viable sources of power to draw from.

As the flesh and bone of her tattered arm knitted back together painlessly and the antivenom coursed through her system Sif looked up at Tony in amazement.

"Thank you Stark." She said sincerely as she inspected the now perfect skin of her healed arm and dabbed her side in disbelief.

"No, thank you. You seriously save my ass back there." He said, offering her a hand.

"It was my pleasure." She countered.

"Everyone ok?" Steve asked, tentatively approaching the group as Sif got to her feet.

"Yes." She confirmed and both Heimdall and Frigga nodded.

Clint looked around at the squealing dying Makluhk and then to Tony. "Can you do that to the rest of them? These things are evil incarnate."

"No Clint, a) I haven't got the strength right now and b) trying not to show the CAEB's hand, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Clint rolled his eyes. "That old thing."

"Are you ok? Sif said you were down?" Natasha asked concerned.

"I was… Teleporting everyone out the city was draining, I'm ok now, but could still use a minute."

"I think you've bought yourself several." Steve nodded to the now still creatures in the otherwise empty street.

'Tony, I could use a hand. The craft and Makluhk are targeting Thor's legion on the front lines and it's a bloodbath down here!' Rhodey broke through in Tony's head shattering any hopes they had of a breather.

'Tony, we have a swarm of wolf things trying to break through the barrier on the south west side.' Bruce informed them.

'North west too.' Coulson's voice added.

"You were saying Steve?" Tony sighed.

"Tony if you need time…"

"No one else can help out Rhodey." Tony sighed. "I'll be fine Steve." Tony nodded and took to the air. "Iron legion are needed on border duties J, get them on it."

"They are inbound Sir."

Great. Tony nodded to himself as he soared across the city to give Rhodey and Thor support. The streets below him were littered with small fires, bodies, blood and crumbling buildings. The Asgardian forces looked small compared to the hoards that were pouring through the portals. The city was falling, they were losing. They had to get these portals closed and soon… so were the hell were the 5?

….

Thor loved a battle, by the Gods he thrived in the throes of war… but he was not by any means accustomed to such odds. The city was in chaos, his forces were being overwhelmed. He himself had already required medical aid for Makluhk bites three times and there were scores of his people in the medical tents at the edge of the city or lying in the streets unmoving, their blood staining the concrete.

This was Hel if ever he saw it and they were losing. He thanked the Gods when Stark arrived to aid them. Alongside the War machine armour his legion finally overturned their disadvantage and got on top of the marauding beasts that came at them from all sides. But the second things were under control, the pair of them left. Thor knew how instrumental they were as air support and he had watched as they had whipped back and forward across the sky over the past hours, never stopping, always needed. He admired the humans so much; For all their relative weakness they could endure so much, he could only pray he had half their determination and resolve behind him in the coming hours. They would all need every ounce of their strengths' if they were going to succeed here.

After another half hour of battling and making headway they had the portals in their section well and truly bottlenecked. With the battle under some tenuous semblance of control, for the first time since it began Thor could take a moment and breathe. He was tried. Exhausted even. And that was a feeling he was entirely unaccustomed to.

'Is everyone alright?' He asked over the link. He had no idea were the others were or what they were doing or at this stage if they were even still alive.

'Debateable, but yeah… we're all still standing.' Nat replied.

Clint made a swift jump between two buildings as he fired the last arrow from his quiver. Another was nearly instantly delivered to him as he continued to pick off the odd Makluhk struggler. God the hubs were fantastic. He hadn't run out of anything all day. Food, water, weapons… it was the best he'd ever been looked after on a mission. Tony really had out done himself.

As he sprinted away from an incoming craft, laser blasts tearing at his heels he dived out of the line of fire. As he settled down and caught his breath he clutched a hand to his side as he felt a familiar and annoying stabbing pain.

'Fucking Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!' Clint groaned over the link.

'Clint!' Natasha yelped in alarm

'Clint what's happening?' Steve's anxious voice asked.

'Are you hurt?' Nat demanded.

'Relax everybody, just a stitch from the spaghetti.'

'I told you.'

'You idiot."

'Though it might be food poisoning. Tony you sure you cooked that properly?'

'Not now Clint.'

'Tony?'

'Just a little busy, essential coms only please, you're giving me a headache.'

...….…

'Stark our forces are struggling; the enemy is fierce indeed.'

'Yeah Thor, kind of got that about two hours ago', Tony growled to himself. This sucked. This really fucking sucked and it made the Chitauri look like a room full of sleepy kittens. This was not going well.

'Tony, you know you said if you silver guy leg it?'

Tony's blood froze. Natasha's voice was hushed and level.

'Natasha, where are you?' Tony asked urgently

'I'm in the outskirts… The Bronx, Pelham Avenue. They've come through an unguarded portal, blasted the concrete out you filled it with.'

'An unguarded portal… Fuck.' Tony focused on Natasha's aura and soon sensed it and sensed him. Edraskil.

'Stay hidden' He urged her.

'Oh, don't worry I am.' She scoffed.

'I'm going to get you out of there, I just need a minute.' Tony grunted as he tackled a craft and went smashing into a building. He needed to find somewhere safe, so he could focus for a moment and figure out what to do.

'You can't use the CAEB, they'll sense it. I can't run Tony they'll see me, but if I can stay hidden I can listen…'

'No! Just no Nat.'

'They're here, they're all here. The rest are coming through. We can trap them Tony!' Natasha informed him, but Tony had already felt it or, more accurately, them.

'Bruce, you in position?' Tony asked.

'The machine is warm and running, is this hit the button?'

'No! Wait for my signal. We need to be certain. Natasha stay where you are.'

With the craft dispatched and Rhodey standing guard for him Tony focused on Natasha and homed in on the nearest energy source. In a glow of blue Tony and Natasha were simultaneously shifted across town, her to where he'd been stood and when Tony opened his eyes he was crouched behind a parked car. A parked car… really Natasha! Such an excellent hiding place.

He rolled his eyes at the little spider's recklessness and then returned his attention to the job at hand. There was a large hole on the concrete of the road and a faint blue glow of a portal beneath. Rubble littered the street from the evidently large blast they'd used to make the way clear.

There were indeed 4 figures in the street in front of him as he cautiously peered round the car's bodywork to get a look, but there was no sign of Kairon and his sensors were telling him the same… But that was the thing. Tony could feel it, he could feel all 5 of them but he couldn't see Kairon. Everything was screaming at him, telling him that something was wrong, but he had to be certain they were all here, he needed visual confirmation.

'Bruce, we're still waiting for Kairon. Do not hit the button until I tell you!' Tony hissed as he paid attention to the 4 figures on his HUD. He could have sworn he'd sensed all 5, but Kairon was nowhere to be seen. Was he losing it?

'Tony what are you doing, where are you?' Nat shook herself. One minute she'd been crouched behind a parked car the Bronx, the next Rhodey was offering her a hand, with a very worried look on his face. 'You're where I was, aren't you? You teleported right to them! Are you insane?' Natasha growled.

'I need to see what's going on Nat.' Tony shivered. A great big heap of red and gold armor hiding behind a Goddamn car. Well done Tony, so inconspicuous. This wasn't going to end well, he knew it.

'Tell us the second they are all through and then get the hell out of there Tony!' Steve hissed through the link.

He took a deep breath and set Jarvis scanning for life signs in the wider area. He couldn't use the CAEB to search, not so close, it was too much of a risk. Maybe Kairon had come through, but somewhere else. He forced himself to stay calm, even though the hairs standing to attention all over his body were alerting him to the very close, very real danger of the four figures calmly surveying their environment in front of him.

But he just couldn't escape the feeling. Kairon was here, he could feel it, the CAEB was adamant, but there was no sign of him, no clue that he was…

"You!"

Tony spun around, and his heart leapt. He recognised the voice before he saw the being it belonged to. Shit! He leapt to his feet, but the figure that had appeared out of nowhere behind him grabbed him roughly by the throat and slammed him into the parked car. The metal of the roof crumpled underneath Tony's back and the suit groaned and fizzed as the metal protecting him was slowly crushed and started to aid in his suffocation.

Kairon stared him down as Tony pinned his feet against the abomination's chest and used all his strength to try and push him away or to at the very least keep some pressure off his screaming neck. But Kairon was too strong, there wasn't even the slightest bit of give. This was bad, this was really bad, from this position Kairon could easily snap his neck. Tony started to panic. There was no air and he couldn't escape, he was seconds away from being snapped in half. He writhed under the grip, but the emotionless masked face of Kairon stared back, though his eyes glinted in amusement.

'Bruce hit the button!' Tony screamed in his head. He really, really, really needed the CAEB right now as the others gathered round amused to see what their leader had caught and Tony's vision went black at the edges.

"You did well to teleport out your civilians Stark. You are every clever for a human."

'Here we go!' Bruce's voice came through in his head, unaware of the desperation Tony was currently feeling. He kept his eyes fixed on the flickering blue he could see under a drain cover a few feet away, praying that any second he would see the change that would signify the damn things had been closed. But as he scrabbled at Kairon's armor in last ditch attempts to get free, he saw nothing, felt nothing…

'What's going on?' Tony demanded of Bruce. He gasped in some air as Kairon stared at him in amusement, but he knew the voice over the link had been steady, somehow.

"Clever or not, you humans are so…" The grip tightened, and Tony writhed feeling his spine start to crush. "… fragile." He laughed.

Fuck. He couldn't wait for Bruce, he had to get out of this. Just before his body threatened to go limp he activated the energy cannon. Kairon released his grip a little in surprise as it appeared from his shoulder plate and whined as it charged. But the monster didn't move fast enough. As the cannon shot right in Kairon's face, three of the 5 were thrown haphazardly across the street and Tony was blasted backwards into the car. He didn't have time to stop and gasp for air though, as the two left standing advanced angrily. He wrenched himself out of the metal cage of the car that had him momentarily trapped and staggered to his feet. The car was essentially folded in half by the force of the blast but despite its power, all his adversaries were already on their feet. That had been his most powerful weapon and it barely left a scratch on anyone but Kairon who had taken a direct hit and was sporting a singed mask the only sign of his injury was a trickle of blood slid down from underneath, staining his blackened neck.

Tony opened fire, taking off from the ground, but the torn metal around his throat was still restricting his air. The repulsor blasts were enough to hold them back as he made for a retreat.

"Jarvis activate the damn Retroreflectives!" He ordered and the sudden disappearance of the suit of armor had the 5 momentarily looking around in confusion. Of course, Kairon instantly began to search for him with his powers, Tony could sense the weird and powerful energy reach for him. Being nearly invisible as it turned out, bought him all of 5 seconds.

'Stark we need to close these portals now.' Steve demanded.

'Shout at Bruce not me!' Tony thought as he wheezed for air as he tried to loosen the metal round his throat.

'Like I've just been yelling at you for the last 5 minutes it's not working! What do I do?' Bruce begged.

'What do you mean it's not working I made the damn thing!' Tony had clearly missed some of the conversation in his oxygen starved moments.

'It's overloaded."

'You're a damn physicist, reset it! Ughhh Fuck!' Tony growled internally as he was caught by a burst of Kairon's energy and flung across the sheet. He felt a few ribs buckle as he hit the corner of a building and spiraled onto the ground.

'Tony what's happening?' Bruce asked in alarm.

'Tony needs back up!' Steve yelled.

'I'm fine, you guys do not come over here!' Tony insisted. But he was not in fact fine and everyone knew it. This was not going well, this was going really not well. Every time he got to his feet and fired off a shot he was blasted on his ass again. Each blow was more violent that the last. They were playing with him, making him hurt before they went in for the final blow.

'Nope, he's definitely not fine, he's being tossed like a rag doll!' Clint yelled getting eyes on Tony.

'Well, 5 on 1 is really not fair.' Tony protested.

'Get the fuck out of there!' Rhodey yelled as Tony fired off a shot at the navy armoured figure which knocked it on to its ass, but not before Tony was thrown into an electricity pylon... and that really hurt. His whole body was now trebling with the hock to add to his rapidly rising list of injuries and all his offense had served to achieve was pissing off the Navy one even more.

'Bruce any time now.' He insisted and now he really was running. He couldn't fight these guys not like this, one of them maybe but 5… he was losing badly.

'It's not working Tony, get out of there.' Bruce begged.

"Fucking Shit!"

And… cliff hanger. Sorry, not sorry.

Well, it's not going so well for everyone right now. How many spanners can be thrown in the works of this machine? The answer, as many as I damn want.

I hope I didn't overdo the on and off strain with the relationship between the teammates at the beginning, but one thing I don't think superhero movies go into how damn terrifying experiences like this are. I don't know if any of you have been in a life/death situation before, but that sort of terror is on a new level that you can't even imagine and only a month ago, Tony was a complete and utter nervous wreck after his breakdown. He may have recovered a lot since then, but these things don't heal overnight, and such a high stress situation is bound to provoke a little relapse.

As usual apologies for any typos. 19k to read through unbeta'd is not an easy task, so have mercy.

Please Guys let me know in the comments if there is anything you desperately want to see before the end, because its not far off guys.