A/N: After many life interruptions, I've managed the next chapter. I've refined a lot of the next bit of the story based on what people are saying they'd like to see in their comments, so hope you'll all like it. :) There is going to be a big whack of Pepperony coming up very soon that wasn't going to be there originally. I hope it won't end up breaking the flow of the evening too much, but I wanted to put it in there and people are interested in the Pepperony stuff it seems. ;)

Also, I've just been crazy busy this week and really, the next three weeks is not looking any better with me covering a lot of shifts at work. I normally like to respond to all of the people who are kind enough to leave me comments, but I'm going to have to beg your forgiveness this round and not reply. I'm sorry :( but at the moment I think it's probably better to spend an hour writing then an hour responding to comments, which I love to do BTW, but I'm pretty time poor at the moment. Just know I really appreciate every single comment and favourite I get. You're all made of awesome! :D

Okay, running to the next job now, here's the chapter as I try to keep all the balls I've launched into the air front and centre in people's mind...

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The silver centipedes glided through the ducts of the Avenger's Tower, multiple feet moving almost soundlessly. The tiny metal creatures had dispersed themselves throughout the entire building, using the hidden ducts and bundles of electrical wires to weave their way around undetected for days now. They came to a fork in the duct and two went to the left, while one went on to the right. The one on its own halted briefly to scan the area. A red beam came from its eyes and swept the area in a beam of red light, relaying information back to its controller.

oooOOOOooo

Lewis walked along the service corridors making his way back to the elevators from the garage. The Tower was a huge building and impossible for three men to police, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to do his best to familiarise himself with as much of the building as he could. He walked around the level, one above the garage, which housed the power source for the entire building, the arc reactor. Lewis could hear its quiet hum through the walls as it worked away tirelessly. Out of habit he tried each door he passed to make sure it was locked. He had an all access pass to every door and level in the building except for the door to the arc reactor and Tony's lab. Only two people had those keys and they were Tony and Pepper themselves. He'd been given the tour when he'd first started but after that the two areas were off limits unless Tony or Pepper were authorising it.

Each door he tried was locked and Lewis nodded to himself approvingly. His military training has taught him to be prepared for anything and a part of that was knowing your way around in the case of an emergency. A brief flash of red light coming through the air conditioning vents caught his attention. "Jarvis," he called out, "what was that?"

"Sir?"

"I saw something kind of red light in the air conditioning vent, Level One, Sector B, vent number-" Lewis walked closer to read the number, "one dash three two. Do we have a scanner or something in place there?"

"No, sir."

"Can you detect anything?"

There was a brief pause. "No, sir, nothing is flagging as abnormal."

Lewis frowned and came to stand directly under the vent, peering up at it. When he didn't see the red beam again, he looked around and saw a metal chair at the end of the corridor. Lewis quickly retrieved it and placed it under the vent. He stood on the chair to reach the air conditioning vent, pushing on it to displace the cover. Gripping the side of the vent, Lewis then hauled himself up so that his head was sticking through the hole and he could see into the duct properly, holding himself in place with his upper body strength. Lewis looked up and down the duct and couldn't see anything. He cocked his head and listened intently, but there was only the hum of the reactor to be heard and the movement of the air in the duct. Reassured, Lewis replaced the vent cover and jumped back down to the ground.

Cody's voice came into his earpiece. "Sir, Ms. Potts is secured and we've done a sweep of her office. She's saying she's done for the night."

"Good," said Lewis, "I'll be right there." With a last look around, Lewis walked briskly to the service elevator and stepped inside, pressing the floor for Pepper's office. The doors closed and whisked him away to his destination.

oooOOOOooo

The centipede slowly unmelted from the metal wall, reforming itself into its intricate shape as its sensor picked up the sound of the life form leaving. It scurried further down the corridor and conducted another scan, the red beam of light washing over the walls as it had done countless times before since having been dispatched inside the building. This time though, it detected something new, the energy signature it had been waiting for. It relayed the information to its controller, waiting patiently for its next instruction. Digital information flooded the centipede's tiny CPU and a feeler twitched in understanding. It's tail, complete with small pincers on the end, reared up and started to emit a silent signal, calling to its brothers and sisters to come and find him. The signal wound its way through the entire building and within seconds, the hundreds of the tiny creatures scattered throughout the tower were hurriedly making their way towards that signal.

oooOOOOooo

Jerry blew out a sigh of relief as he checked over the information one of the centipede minions had just sent him. He wanted to be sure before contacting the big boss. He pushed up his thick glasses and re-read the data carefully. Once convinced, he jumped up and headed over to his lap top and dialled up an important number. It rang a few times, but then his boss' face filled the screen as Jerry's call was answered.

Justin Hammer gave him an interested look. "This had better be good news, Jerry. I'm in the middle of a workout."

"Sir, the centipedes have located the arc reactor."

Hammer's face brightened. "At last. Is the next phase ready to go?"

Jerry's head bobbed up and down. "Already in progress."

"Good," said Hammer in satisfaction. "Very good."

Jerry hesitated, not sure if he should be saying this. "Sir, I just wanted to point out that I've never done this kind of thing before and we haven't really tested it, so we don't know if this is going to work."

Hammer grinned and waved a hand at his concerns. "I have complete faith in you, Jerry, otherwise you wouldn't be my go to guy for all things computer-related." The cheerful smile stayed on Hammer's lips. "Just don't disappoint me, okay? You know what happened to the last guy who let me down."

Jerry snuck a nervous look off to his left, where the body of Noble Maniatis was in a cryogenic coffin propped up in the corner of Jerry's computer lab. He swallowed hard. "Sir, do we really have to keep that body in here with me?" It creeped Jerry out having those lifeless eyes follow him around the room.

"I can hardly keep it in the penthouse," said Hammer dismissively. "He clashes with my drapes." He grinned, as though he'd made the funniest joke in the world. "Besides, I thought you'd like the company."

"Sir, he's dead," said Jerry hesitantly, "don't you think we should just get rid of the body?"

"I didn't get rich by throwing things out willy nilly," said Hammer emphatically. "You'll never know when something can come in handy, and I'm not done finding a use for our Doctor Maniatis yet."

Jerry didn't even want to think about what that meant, he was already in way deeper than he'd ever intended. "Um, okay, sir."

"Just let me know when Phase Two is complete."

"Yes, sir, I will."

The screen went blank and Jerry let out a relieved breath, so far so good when it came to pleasing his boss. Jerry tried not to look at the dead man in the room as he went back to his desk. It was a horrible reminder of how a bad situation could get a whole lot worse and he certainly didn't want to end up sharing the other man's fate. "Come on, you little creepy crawlies," he muttered into his computer screen. "Don't screw this up. I don't come back together after being disassembled."

oooOOOOooo

Steve walked into crowded club and blinked, having to take a moment to absorb all that he was seeing.

"What do you think?" shouted Tony in his ear above all the music and voices. "I told you this was going to be fun. Carnaval des Lumières is the hottest club in New York at the moment."

Bruce was looking around as shell shocked as the others. "The Carnival of Lights," he translated, "I guess I can see that."

The entire building was essentially a converted warehouse with a large central area and a balcony which ran around all of the walls. In amongst the heaving wave of patrons there were carnival performers of all types – fire eaters, people on stilts, contortionists set up on platforms dotted around the place, acrobats and above their heads trapeze artists glided back and forth. The place was full of colour and movement and loud music. It was an incredible thing to behold and Steve felt like he'd walked into an alternate dimension.

Thor nodded approvingly as he looked around. "Tis a very merry festival, Tony Stark."

"And it's about to get a whole lot merrier," said Tony as he ushered them along.

A smiling woman, tall and blonde, dressed as a very sexy Harlequin walked up to them. "Mr. Stark, we're so glad you and your party could join us tonight."

"We're very glad to be here, Esmeralda," Tony returned. "Is our table ready?"

"Of course," she said easily, "just as you requested."

She gracefully guided them to their table and Steve quickly averted his eyes from the sexy sway of her bottom in the too short skirt. The way women dressed in this era still unsettled him. He knew it was common place and the norm, but he really didn't know what to do with his eyes half the time. Was he meant to look, not look, or not get caught looking, Steve had no idea.

Esmeralda had taken them to one corner of the club where a huge padded booth, all covered in crushed velvet was waiting for them. It could sit at least ten people and the Avengers all slid in as a fire eater on the podium in front of them spat out a mouthful of fire above their heads.

Steve felt Thor tense beside him and half-stand. He grabbed the other man's arm. "It's okay, Thor," he said quickly, "the guy isn't attacking us. It's all part of an act, you know, to entertain us."

Thor still looked suspicious as he slowly sat back down. He kept his eyes on the man who was going through his routine with great showmanship and flare. "As you say, Steve Rogers, but I will maintain vigilance around this breather of fire, just in case."

Bruce shook his head. "That could have gotten real ugly, real quick. Nice catch, Steve."

Steve gave a pained look at Tony. "This is a bad idea," he said for what felt like the hundredth time that night. "All these people, all these dangerous acts going on around us-"

Just as he said that a heavily tattooed woman walked by them, swallowing a sword as she went. Thor's eyes went wide as he watched her pass. "That is a strange place to keep thy weapon," he noted in disbelief. "Verily, an enemy would not see it coming, but it still seems dangerous to me."

"You just don't want to see where she keeps her car keys," said Tony in amusement. "Or maybe you do, I don't really know what you're into, Thor." His grin widened. "And that's what tonight is all about, getting to know each other better." Tony made a sweeping gesture with his hand as two waitresses, also dressed in carnival costumes complete with masks, arrived with trays of cocktails. "This is a drink I created myself," he said proudly as the red drinks were placed in the middle of the table, complete with little umbrellas sticking out of the large cocktail glass which had strawberries floating on top

"I'm not drinking," said Bruce firmly.

"It's one drink," Tony wheedled. "Looks, it's not even a real drink, it's got a little umbrella in it, how dangerous can that be?"

Bruce eyed it warily. "What's in it?"

"You just have to drink it, B, not perform an autopsy on it."

Steve picked it up and sniffed it gingerly. "It smells like strawberries."

"It's basically a fruit smoothie," said Tony blithely. "I call it the Stark Raving Mad."

"Because that's what you've got to be to drink it?" asked Bruce dryly.

"It's what you are if you don't drink it," Tony corrected him.

"So, a drink named for you," said Steve flatly. "I'm assuming it going to give us all a headache and end up being a bad idea."

Thor didn't seem to have the same reservations the others did. He downed it in one go and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he smacked his lips together, nodding approvingly. "Tis a fine mead, if somewhat odd tasting."

"You see," Tony cajoled, "Thor likes it."

Steve looked over at Happy. "Happy isn't having one," he noted suspiciously.

"I'm driving," said Happy. He lifted up his orange juice. "I'm on the soft stuff all night. If I lose my licence for a DUI, I've only got my skills as a ladder to fall back on." He pulled a face. "And I don't fancy a job with 'Tony Stark's Crotch' written into the position description."

"Why are you making this so much hard work?" asked Tony in exasperation. He looked at Bruce and Steve. "It's one drink, with an umbrella in it and one of you is a super soldier and the other one is all supped up on gamma radiation, how big of an effect is it going to have really?"

Bruce and Steve looked at each other and then over to Thor who was reaching quite happily for another of the brilliant red cocktails.

They picked up their glasses and Tony grinned. "A toast," he declared dramatically, "Avenger's Unclench!"

"Just so you know," said Bruce dourly, "I'm drinking this in spite of that toast, which was god awful."

"One drink," Steve warned him resolutely, "and then we're done."

They all drank from their cocktails as Happy sipped on his orange juice, and that was the last thing Steve would clearly remember for the rest of the night...

A/N: If anyone has seen the movie, Van Helsing , I'm thinking of the ballroom scene in that as the inspiration for this night club. ;)