Ten hours after it had lifted off from London, Tony Stark's personal jet landed on the Nashville International Airport in Tennessee. Tony had refused Pepper's suggestion to wait until Harley would come to New York.

"He is going to be my personal intern, Pep. I don't care what others or the media would say. We can make it that I visited his town as the last visit in our vacation. I know there is a mothballed S.I. factory there; it can be used as an excuse. The rest of the applicants finalized can come to New York, and if any of them are interesting, I will look into it further."

Pepper had still tried but had finally agreed to it. As decided, the next day, the entire group went to visit the factory, as everyone knowing about the time travel wanted to see the boy that might one day replace Tony as Iron Man. Soon after, Ben Parker drove in with the Keener family. It had taken a personal call from Pepper to get Harley's mother to agree to meet them, as she didn't believe they were speaking the truth. Morgan immediately accosted Hailey Keener, who was the same age as her, and dragged her off in running around. Penny had remained with them for a few minutes before joining Tony at his request. When she reached him, Tony was discussing something about a potato gun with Harley, whom she already hated. It had always been her dream to work with Tony Stark, and now this boy was going to take her place just like that. Her aunt and uncle and asked her to wait till she was fourteen before asking Mr. Stark, but she was still four months short of that and was now going to never be able to do so. Controlling her tears, she marched towards them, ignoring the amused glances of her uncle.

"...can you improve upon it, Mr. Keener? Tell me."

As the boy babbled some nonsense about making his rubbish idea even worse, she couldn't help but huff. While Mr. Stark didn't notice, the boy did, most likely due to his elf-like years. He frowned at her.

"Is there a problem?"

She didn't think what Mr. Stark would think and launched into what she thought was wrong with the potato gun, which meant everything. She had just completed her first point when the boy interrupted her, refusing that it would work in her way. She couldn't believe it that he would say like that, so she explained the same thing differently, but the bullhead was still unable to understand.

Tony Stark, who was now walking a little behind from the two bickering teens, had to stop himself from giggling. Harley, who had been more than he had expected, was now scowling at Penny, who was acting like a brat. She spoke at an impossible rate, not giving Harley time to talk most of the time, overriding his opinions. The teenage boy was also not stepping down, using sass and insults more than anything else in the few seconds he was getting to speak. A shiver ran through him as he imagined both of them in his lab. Pepper stepped up next to him, thinking the same thing.

"Ready to become a babysitter for two teenagers like you, Tony?"

Horror spread inside him as he imagined the future ahead. It was when both the teens had stopped and were shouting at each other with red faces that he snapped out of his musings.

"All right, firecrackers, that's enough. Both of you are right and wrong..."

"He is wrong, Mr. Stark."

"She is an airhead, Sir."

He paused at the anger on Penny's face, which amused him too much. She turned to look at Harley, who was glaring back at her.

"What did you call me?"

Harley must have more of a recluse than he had expected because he didn't realize the danger he was in as he rolled his eyes. By now, everyone in the group had stopped and were looking at the two feuding teens.

"I called you an airhead. Want me to tell you the meaning of it too? It is..."

"You...You absolute ars..."

"Penny Parker"

"Penny"

"Ms. Parker."

May, Ben, Pepper, and Mordo all spoke simultaneously, stopping the girl in question midway. Shame and horror bloomed on her face as she saw everyone looking at her. When her eyes landed on Tony, he just raised his eyebrows. She turned and walked away with a huff, standing next to Laura Kinney, who immediately put a hand around her. Like Penny, Harley was shocked at seeing everyone, but he just fidgeted in his place as his mother walked towards him with a stern face.

Having already made a decision, he turned to look at his girlfriend, who was still smiling smugly.

"Keep doing that, and you will have wrinkles faster than me."

The smile disappeared immediately.

"Harley's mother?"

Pepper sighed as she looked at the mother and son who were standing a little distance away from them.

"She doesn't have any skill set, nor any education beyond high school. She is not lazy or anything like that, given that she works three different jobs to support her children. Quite a large number of her bills are unpaid, and from her lack of savings, I believe she and her children are living on paycheck to paycheck. From what FRIDAY had told us, she would also be too proud to accept money."

"Hmm... She works as a waitress, right?"

"No, she works as a cook, but if we don't have a regular kitchen in the mansion, and I don't believe it would be viable to set up a staff to accommodate her."

"What about the tower?"

"That could work, but she has agree to that."

"Well then, we have our responsibilities. I will go talk to the awkward teenager while you work your magic on his mother."

"Tony, you can't.."

He nearly ran away from her, excusing his mother to talk with Harley. The boy accepted his offer to become his intern immediately but was initially reluctant to transfer to New York. After learning the opportunities that he and his sister would have while a chance for a far better job position for his mother, all the doubts vanished. In between, Tony learned more about Harley, understanding that the teenage boy was not just an introvert but reclusive by his own choice. By the time they returned to the main group, Pepper had convinced Harley's mother to shift to New York, and Morgan had made a new best friend.

Once the Keeners had left, they settled down in the grounds for a picnic, waiting for Steve Rogers to join them, traveling to Tennesse in S.I. owned helicopter. Mordo left sometime after, for Stephen Strange was supposed to arrive in Kamar Taj by the end of the day. Nobody had any idea at that moment how unfortunate the Sorcerer's departure at that moment was.

It was an hour after Mordo had left, and the sun had just started disappearing behind Horizon when Logan stood up immediately. The act was enough to gather the attention of others, who were relaxing all around. When his claws snapped out a second later, everyone tensed.

"There is someone else near."

He hesitated for a second as his head leaned to a side.

"A lot of someones."

Tony tapped his watch as he looked around.

"FRIDAY"

"The surveillance system here is an older system, Mr. Stark, and is not connected to any network, but the outer..."

The A.I. paused for a second before answering in a disturbed tone.

"All the cameras of outer wall security system went offline at once, Mr. Stark."

"Shit, what is the weapon situation?", He asked both FRIDAY and the people around them, who all had heard their exchange. Barton, Romanoff, her brother, and Ben Parker all had single guns each, but FRIDAY was already on point.

"All the suits stored in the cars are deployed, Mr. Stark."

"Clint's bow and my bites are also there."

"The suits will retrieve them, Ms. Romanoff."

"FRIDAY, any idea what we are dealing with?" He enquired. The A.I. replied after a few seconds.

"There is an underground viewing room a hundred meters east of your location. I would recommend moving there immediately. The module is approaching your position and would be able to launch Mark 44 in 17 minutes."

He turned to Rhodey as they started herding everyone towards the area FRIDAY had suggested.

"Contact EDITH. She has control of the module and would be able to scan a large area around. His best friend nodded and pulled out his communicator. Just as they approached the gate of the viewing room, three suits flew over the factory and towards them. Tony frowned at seeing only one nanotech suit, while the other two were modified Mark V's he had designed for emergency use.

"FRIDAY, where are the rest of the suits and Bruce?"

"The Rescue suit, Mark 54, and two nanotech suits have been dispatched from the airport along with Dr. Banner. ETA is thirty minutes, Mr. Stark."

The nanotech suit landed in front of him, engulfing him a second later, while the two mark V's landed in front of Rhodey and Nela. One of them was carrying two suitcases, out of which came Romanoff's and Barton's weapons. Rhodey's voice caught his attention as JARVIS initiated the command of the suit.

"I have them...shit. EDITH is reporting 81; no wait, make it 124 unknowns approaching us from all directions."

By this time, everyone except him, Rhodey, Nela, Virgil, Logan, Laura, Ben, Natasha, Barton, Natasha's brother, Barnes and the other two supersoldiers had been shuffled inside the room, which had only one entrance. Natasha was handling the three super soldiers' weapons when Rhodey started swearing.

"Tones, every single one of them has a much higher body temperature than the average human."

There was no need to say anything further. Most of them knew what was coming for them. Controlling himself, he observed everyone around him before forming a plan.

"Listen, everyone, the ones that are coming for us are not simple humans. They all have been given an unstable form of Extremis serum. It is not as good as the supersoldier serum, but it does give them super strength and quick healing. The problem is that the more they heal, the more their body becomes unstable. They might also have the ability to breathe fire, not sure about that."

Nela's faceplate opened as she looked at him with wide eyes.

"Are you fucking kidding me? what are they, Dragons?"

"No, just a bunch of retired soldiers who are now working for a megalomaniac who wants revenge for being ignored. Nat, Clint, Ben, you guys stay at the gate and support the others. Logan, Bucky, Erica, Jonathan, you guys stay the front and hold them back. They would be more brute force than finesse; keep that in mind. Virgil, stay behind them until the hulk buster drops. FRIDAY will help you to use it, but use it wisely. It is not supposed to be used in close-quarters combat, understood. Me, Nela, and Rhodey will target them from above and stay ahead. Everyone, clear."

Everyone nodded, their eyes searching around.

"Hold them here, guys. The gate should not be breached in any condition.

They didn't have to wait for long, as men and women in groups came out of the factory or climbed the walls and started approaching them. They didn't falter when his face helmet snapped down and all the three suits powered up. Once they were close, they stopped in a semi-circle some distance away. When one of them stepped a little closer, Tony took the initiative, hoping to delay the fight as long as possible.

"Hello, Killian. I didn't know that a meeting with you and your minion was scheduled."

The orange glow dimmed a little as Aldrich Killian's feature became more evident.

"Your girlfriend took away my company, my research, my life, Stark. You ignored me that night in the hotel, making me wait for you all alone while you enjoyed your riches. Now, when I had earned everything I deserved, Potts took all of them away. I have nothing left, and now, I am going to make sure you don't too."

He waved his hands at all others around him.

"Look at them, Stark. Each one of them is here because of you. Some got hurt by your weapons used by America's enemies, while others got hurt when you pulled away from the military contracts. All the armors and safety that could have saved them had you not pulled your company away from it. And now they are with me, helping me to make you pay, to make you understand what it is like to lose everything."

Killian's voice darkened as his body started glowing again.

"I am going to kill all your friends and take you, Potts, and your children away. Once I have broken both of you, she will die screaming in front of you. Your mongrels, what was their name, aha Nela and Morgan, they would be next..."

Blood was rushing through his head as Killian started to speak, but when he started talking about Pepper and his children, his control snapped. The twin missile launchers from his suit rose as lifted off.

"oh, bully for you."

Missiles from the other two suits joined in as their first salvo stuck the group in front of them. Nela and Rhodey flew forward, targeting individuals while he held back, using the superior power of his suits to stem the tide that was pushing towards the room that had now become a bunker. The three supersoldiers and Logan met the attackers head-on, and the resulting melee was brutal. It didn't take Tony long to know that his position was worthless. With the Extremis soldiers taking shots at him, he could not stay stable enough to provide support to Logan and others. At JARVIS's recommendation, he too dropped down near them and started using the sword like nanotech projections from the suit with devastating effect. The first one to take a significant hit was Barnes when a torrent of lave emerged from behind the men attacking them and fell on them. One of the attackers held Barnes's artificial arm long enough that he couldn't pull it away in time. The metal, which was strong enough to take a direct point-blank range hit from a cannon and survive, melted away like simple plastic. Barnes stumbled only for a moment before pulling out a knife to block another attack. Logan, too had been hit, but his skin was already healing while it was still sizzling.

They managed to hold them back for a few more minutes, but the number of attackers started to prove too much. According to JARVIS, all five suits were at minimum 7 minutes away, but he was not sure they would be able to hold that long. He was still trying to find a way to push the tide of men and women around them back when FRIDAY's voice thundered inside the suit.

"Boss, Nela's suit has suffered damage to the flight systems, and it will not be in the air for long."

As the suit lifted off, he called out to Rhodey.

"Find Nela, immediately."

"She is a coming down west of you, Tones. Look out."

He turned around, but it was already too late. Two of the extremis soldiers had grabbed the suit, while the third had torn it open. Time slowed down as the soldier's hand rose in a punching motion, its end directly facing the unprotected body of his daughter. A scream left his mouth as the arm started coming down. The suit was closing the distance, but there wasn't enough time.

Out of nowhere, something slim and reflective slid out of the darkness. His HUD tracked the object automatically, and before he could even take a breath, it stuck the soldier, cutting his arm and then his body in half. JARVIS was still tracking it as it stuck another soldier before flipping back in the direction it had come from. Ignoring the item as JARVIS identified it, he directed twin blasts on the soldiers holding his daughter down. Both of their head was blown away, their bodies falling back a second later. Nela was staring at him with fear in her eyes as he opened his faceplate to look at her.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded, her eyes full of tears. Knowing it was not the time to time to console her, he forcefully ripped the suit away. While Nela climbed out, his HUD once again tracked Captain America's shield as it swirled around them before hitting two soldiers who were approaching his back. The owner of the shield finally vaulted in the view, grabbing the metal frisbee as it flew back.

"Stark, is she okay?"

Nela, who had wrapped herself around his suit, nodded, but didn't say anything. He looked at the man, who would have one day fought him and left him for dead, but had just saved his daughter from certain death.

"Rogers...Steve, Thank you."

The super soldier nodded in acknowledgment before letting his shield fly once again. He had not paid much attention to Rogers during the New York invasion, but not; he couldn't help but gasp after seeing the way Rogers used the shield. Somehow, it would always return to Rogers after being thrown, despite being bounced multiple times, and his arm would already be in a position to grab it, no matter what he was doing. Pushing it back in his mind, he grabbed Nela before calling Rogers to hold on the suit. They lifted off immediately, only to see another scene of horror that evening. Logan and other supersoldiers were nearly swamped with the soldiers attacking them and had been pushed back to right in front of the door to the bunker, but then, another party entered the fight.

Thor and Loki burst out of a rainbow of colors, their weapons already flying. While Loki's daggers hit some of the soldiers, Thor's hammer threw the entire circle of them away from Logan and others. By the time he dropped down next to Logan, Thor and Loki too were standing there. Steve immediately jumped away from him and towards Barnes, who raised his hand to keep him away. Roger seemed hurt for a moment before noticing the melted arm his best friend was pointing at.

"Bucky"

"Hey Stevie"

Any further conversation was interrupted when four suits landed around them, with Bruce Banner stepping out of one of them.

"I am not late to the party, am I?"

While the words were light, the shivering and light green ting in his skin told the real story.

"No, Bruce. You are not, and this party is going to become a lot rougher now."

"Oh."

He pointed towards Killian, who was staring at them with anger.

"That son of bitch just tried to kill my daughter. I am going to answer them in their language now."

With that, Tony stepped out of the nanotech suit and was soon engulfed by Mark 54 while the other two suits took positions around them. Nela stepped into the Rescue suit once again, while the nanotech suit covered Virgil. FRIDAY had pulled the Hulkbuster back as military jets were approaching their location.

Killian chose that moment to open his mouth.

"Earth's mightiest protectors. Thank you for gathering here, otherwise, I would have had to hunt you down, one by one. It would have..."

A knife streaked across the gap with so much speed that it took off the soldier's head it stuck. The culprit, Loki, looked at them with raised eyebrows.

"Are we going to stand and listen to his monologue? I can think of far better ways to spend my time, Stark."

A smile came on his face as he turned back to look at the extremis soldiers in front of him. JARVIS cycled all the weapon systems as the rest of the avengers got ready. With a roar, the Hulk came out, and they attacked.

Hey guys, do review/comment what you think about this.