Chapter 40: Tony
Tony found Steve fighting Chitauri in a ruined intersection. The Captain was outnumbered seven to one, but that didn't seem to stack things any better in the aliens' favor.
Still, Tony didn't have time to play fair with the creatures invading his home world, especially when one of them managed to throw Steve through a car windscreen. He launched a set of mini-missiles and watched with satisfaction as they felled the Chitauri, leaving the intersection enemy-free.
Then Tony landed and approached Steve as he got to his feet, brushing glass off his uniform. "You good?"
Steve nodded and grabbed the Tesseract off the street where he must have dropped it during the fighting.
"Older than you," Tony noted.
"Yeah." Steve set the Tesseract on the ground and smashed it with the edge of his shield. The blue Space Stone lay amongst the fragments. Steve picked it up quickly and dropped it into its place in the Gauntlet. His gloves' fingers were blackened by the brief contact.
Tony sucked in a breath as the Gauntlet practically hummed with energy. He could feel the immeasurable power so very close to his skin. He didn't know what would happen if his suit gave out. And he really didn't want to find out.
"That's six," he said, looking up to meet Steve's gaze. He was surprised they'd made it this far, and Steve looked like he felt the same.
A sudden panicked shout rang out from further down the street, and Steve's eyes widened. "Bucky!"
As one, he and Tony turned towards the sound. Split seconds later a blast from above hit the ground between Tony and Steve with enough force to throw them off their feet, and Tony realized Barnes' shout hadn't been a call for help – it was a warning.
Thanos had arrived.