A/N: Ok, obviously an explanation is in order.

First off, I would like to express my deepest apologies for how long this chapter took to make. I can't imagine how frustrating it must of been to wait, and I'm sure some of you were confused by the wait.

I'm just going to come out and say it: I have depression. It is something that I have dealt with for most of my life, but in the past eight months or so it has been made worse by a break-up, and the subsequent fallout from that. Long story short, a lot of people I thought were my friends turned out to not really care about me, and my ex did everything in her power to make sure that I thought as badly about myself as possible.

Picking up the pieces and moving on has not been easy, and every free moment I had to write was eaten up by how awful I felt. I lost almost all motivation I had, and I couldn't pull myself out of it for a long time. Luckily, I finally got help, and started seeing a therapist for my issues. For anyone going through a similar situation, I implore you to get help, because trust me, you are worth it, and it can help you.

I would like to thank everyone who still read this story and continued to support it. I expected the viewer numbers to drop down, but somehow they've been almost as strong as ever. There has also been a ton of reviews that have come in since then, and I have read each and every single one (even the nitpicky ones). I appreciate all the love and support, and I will try to write more in the future.

Thanks, and I hope you enjoy the chapter! Love you guys!

"Calibrations are complete. You are now online."

For a moment, Tony was surrounded by darkness.

Then, the darkness disappeared, replaced by the familiar glow of the blue HUDs that are a stable of all versions of the Iron Man armor. Double checking everything, Tony couldn't help but feel a bit at home inside his armor. But he also couldn't help but feel a bit worried.

"It feels a bit...heavier than I remember," he stated, slowly moving his arms, looking at them.

"There have been no modifications to the armor since the last time you tested it, sir." JARVIS told him.

"Oh...good..."

"Sir, you seem a bit apprehensive about this."

"No, no, just...I just need to get a bit used to this. It's been a while."

Tony moved around the lab, seeing how his movements felt in the suit. He quickly adapted to the weight. He turned on his thrusters, slightly lifting himself off the ground. The black and gold suit landed down with a thud.

Tony smirked under his mask. Iron Man is here, and he is ready.

"JARVIS, what's the estimated time to get to Peter's location?"

"With the suit's capabilities, estimated time is at around three hours. However, it should be stated that the suit is still in the prototype phase, and-"

"That'll do, JARVIS," he cut off his AI. He walked over to a large clearing in the middle of his lab, that was created for one purpose and one purpose only. For takeoffs.

"Alright buddy," Tony started. "Let's start the countdo-"

Stark was interrupted by the sound of his systems getting a call. In his helmet, he saw the notification symbol for Steve Rogers.

"Dammit," the billionaire cursed. "JARVIS?"

"Answering the call, sir."

"What? No, that is not what I-"

The call was answered. "Tony?"

Stark sighed. "What is it, Captain Impeccable Timing?"

"I know you retired-"

"Oh boy, if you only knew-"

"But we need you to come to Australia and look at some information we found," Steve finished.

"Oh, so that's where you've been the past week or so. Ok, how about you just transfer the data over to my computers and I'll take a look at it later."

"We can't do that," Steve quickly said.

"And why not, exactly?" Tony asked.

"Because we're at an abandoned Hydra base, and their encryptions prevent any non-Hydra computers to get any information."

"Well, that's going to have to wait," Tony said, as the ceiling to the lab started to open up, showing a tunnel that was going straight up to the roof.

"Tony, this is serious. From the bit me and Sam were able to decode, we got some really disturbing information. They're planning something big."

"Sorry Cap, priorities," Tony stated, as he started to warm up his thrusters.

"Stark, I don't think day time drinking counts as a priority. Wait, what's that sound?"

"I found Peter, Steve," Tony revealed. "He's alive, but he's out of our solar system, in the next galaxy over. I can get there fast, but only in an experimental suit that hasn't been fully tested with a type of arc reactor energy that may or may not actually work. It can survive take off and entering velocity, the vacuum of space, and has an oxygen system that can last for at least a year. But I don't know how well it will hold up, and I don't know what type of trouble Peter is in, so I need to go, now."

Steve was silent on the other end, obviously stunned. After a few moments, Steve cleared his throat. "...Please save him, Tony."

"...Can do, Rogers..."

With a deep breath, Tony turned his thrusters to full power, launching himself up into the tunnel at amazing speeds, going up the length of the tower in the blink of an eye. The panel to the roof opened up at the last possible second, just allowing enough space for Iron Man to squeeze through safely.

Tony yelled in exhilaration, never before going as fast as he was now, as he kept going straight up, soaring through the clouds that hung high above New York. Eventually, flames started to burst around his suit, as he started to go high enough to go through the atmosphere.

"Come on come on come on come on..."

Iron Man's view started to get a bit obscured by the orange color of the flames, but after a few seconds, the fire disappeared, as his view was one that was quite familiar to him.

The empty, but beautiful void of space, inter-spread with stars, asteroids, and everything in between.

Tony felt a small lump in his throat, which he quickly swallowed. "Alright Peter...I'm coming to get you."

Peter's head hurt. Really badly. He's getting really tired of being knocked out.

"So, I get his suit, right?"

"You do not get his suit. It is an important part of him. I shall take his suit."

Peter slightly groaned, his head still fuzzy from the crash. Why does this stuff keep happening?

"Why do you get to have his suit and I can't, huh?"

"Because you would do weird stuff to it. I will simply hang it on my wall, and remember the fierce, yet surprisingly weak, warrior."

"Oh come on! You know how much cool stuff I can do with it? It actually looks really advanced for humie tech."

"Will both of you idiots shut up?"

Peter groaned loudly, sitting up, and earning the attention of the three bickering guardians, Gamora, Drax, and Rocket. "You know I can hear you guys, right?"

Drax blinked. "Actually, we thought you had died."

"Yeah," Rocket agreed. "You weren't moving at all."

Gamora furrowed her brow, before looking at her two friends. "Wait...did you even check to see if he was alive?"

She stared at Drax for a second, before he turned his head, pretending not to notice her gaze. She then looked down at Rocket, who was doing the same thing, his eyes on the ground.

"You idiots didn't check if he was alive!?" Gamora exclaimed.

"Of course I did!" Rocket said.

Drax looked at the small engineer, confused. "You did?"

"Well, I poked him with this stick I found."

Gamora stared at him, blankly. "You poked him with a stick."

Peter stared at him, blankly. "You poked me with a stick?"

Drax stared at him, blankly. "You poked the spider with a stick?"

Rocket looked at the three surrounding him. "What? I poked him, he wasn't moving. That means he was dead."

Peter threw his arms up. "I'm obviously not dead!" He exclaimed.

"Well how was I suppose to know that!?" Rocket argued.

"By checking for a pulse!" Gamora answered.

"Well sorry, but I ain't a doctor!" Rocket stated.

"That's not being a doctor, that's having a brain and any sense of basic survival skills!"

"Uh, guys?" Peter interrupted.

"What!?" They both yelled.

"Where are we?"

Peter looked around, taking his mask off. He saw the flaming wreck of the Milano next to him, but past that, he saw the broken and shattered husks of various ships, all laying on a sandy and barren wasteland. The landscape was covered in broken steel, rocky mountains, and a sense of despair.

"Welcome to Sector 22," Rocket said. "Otherwise known as 'The Galaxy's Largest Ship Graveyard'.

"How...how did they all get here?" Peter asked.

"There used to be a strange gravitational phenomenon that sent all these ships crashing into the planet whenever they got close," Rocket explained. "The gravity corrected itself a few decades ago, but pirates and the like still dropped destroyed ships here. People tend to avoid it like the plague."

"Sooo..."

"Are you going to ask why we're here?" Gamora interrupted.

"...maybe..." Peter sheepishly stated.

"Simple," Rocket said, "Morlun has some sort of genetic tracking on you. So, we're gonna use you as bait, set up a trap, and make sure that he never hurts anyone ever again."

Peter's eyes widened. "You mean...you're gonna kill him?"

Drax shook his head. "We cannot kill him. I tried."

"Yeah, we all saw you try," Rocket told him. "We also all saw you get thrown into a building or six."

Drax scowled at his tiny teammate. "Well, I saw him almost eat you."

"I am Groot!"

Everyone looked over, to see the potted plant right next to the still body of Star-Lord.

"He's finally starting to wake up?" Rocket asked, as the others started to go over towards him.

"I am Groot."

"Ugh..." Quill moaned, as he began to stir. Suddenly, his eyes flew open, and he sat up as quickly as he could. "AAAH!"

He looked around for a second, before realizing that he wasn't in any immediate danger. He saw the wrecks of the ships, realizing that they made it to their destination. "Oh, good, the hyper space jump worked. We're here."

Peter looked at Gamora. "So, we did try to come here? We didn't just crash?"

Gamora rolled her eyes. "Yes, we tried to come here."

Noticing her tone, the brunette cocked an eyebrow at her. "You do realize that I have plenty of reasons to not think that, right?"

Gamora thought for a moment, before she looked back down at the ground, only to see Rocket poke Quill with presumably the same stick as before. "Ow, quit it," Quill said, slapping the stick away from him.

The green warrior looked back at the teenager. "Good point."

Quill stood up, his mouth gaping open when he saw the flaming wreckage of his ship. "The Milano!" He cried in distress, quickly stepping over to it. "My Ship! No! I didn't think the damage was this bad!"

"Well," Drax started, moving over to him and putting a firm hand on his shoulder. "You were wrong, my friend."

"To be fair, a vampire monster was wrecking it pretty badly," Peter said, looking at the ship.

"Yeah," Rocket agreed, "And then you went into hyper space. Which wrecked it even more."

"It probably wouldn't have been that bad if you were piloting slightly better too," Gamora added, with Groot in her arms.

"I am Groot," Groot stated.

"Thanks guys," Quill deadpanned. "I appreciate your loving support. Ugh, Yondu's gonna be pissed when he hears about this."

"Who?" Peter asked.

"Long story," Rocket dismissed. "Anyway, we need to get ready for Morlun. We put some space between us, but he's flarking fast."

"Right, right," Quill nodded. "Ok, time to get things set up."

"So, what's the plan, exactly?" Peter asked, putting his mask back on.

"Rocket made a special type of weapon in order to stop Morlun," Quill told him.

Rocket gave a toothy smile. "Oh yeah, the biggest bad boy that I ever created."

"I am Groot."

"I know that's saying something, that's why I said it," Rocket said, proudly. "Anyway, this gun is so damn powerful, it can take the electromagnetic energy from anywhere we point it at, and it'll turn into a pocket of dark matter."

"Whoa, really?" Peter said. "I mean, that sounds like it breaks every rule of physics."

"Pfft, maybe to you humies," Rocket said. "This gun can't kill Morlun, but it can trap him in a little inaccessible and inescapable part of the universe forever."

"Awesome!" Peter said, suddenly relived, thinking that Morlun might not be unstoppable after all. "Where is it?"

"I was doing the finishing touches on it! In my workshop! In...the...ship..." Rocket slowly realized, before everyone turned towards the flaming wreckage of the Milano. "Aw, crap."

Drax blinked, before looking at the others. "I believe that could be a problem."

Peter sighed. "Great observation, Drax," he told the destroyer.

"Of course."

"He was being sarcastic," Gamora informed him.

"No he wasn't, that was a sincere compliment," Drax argued, seemingly a bit offended by the suggestion. "I have great observational skills. Tell her how wrong she is, Spider. "

Spider-Man put his head in his hands, frustrated. "I'm going to die."

"Ok, I can do this. This isn't an issue."

Iron Man sped through the cosmos, still in the Milky Way, but getting closer to Peter all the same. The speed he was going at was incredible, the stars turning into streaks of light as he zoomed past them. Honestly, it was a lot for the billionaire to take in.

Almost too much.

"It isn't a big deal. I'm prepared this time."

Tony hasn't been in space since the Battle for New York, when Loki attacked. Tony had to throw a nuke through a wormhole. Everyone called him, and the other Avengers, heroes for it. But, Tony didn't feel like too much of a hero for long.

After the initial thrill of the Avengers being officially formed, and the battle being won, Tony only felt small. When he looked up at the army of Chitari, all of them with the express purpose of taking over the Earth, he knew that humanity wasn't anything compared to what was out there.

They were able to fend off the Chitari. Maybe they were lucky. But he wasn't dumb enough to think that they were the strongest the universe had to offer. And even if they were, Tony knew that if humanity didn't evolve, they wouldn't last.

He developed PTSD from the incident. He worried about his life, his friends, his world. He did whatever he could to protect the world, with his inventions, with the Avengers, with Iron Man.

Eventually, he got over his fear. More and more capable heroes showed up. His life was in danger more and more often. His friends...Pepper...they were always in danger because of him. He didn't see a point in going on the way he was.

And now, being back out here again...he began to see the point again. And he began to feel afraid.

To calm himself down, Tony checked the readings on his HUD, double and triple checking to make sure everything was ok. He knew he had to be extra observant while he was doing this, since he was too far away from Earth for JARVIS to be able to communicate with him, and he wasn't able to make a copy of his code before he needed the suit.

"I can do this. I can do this. I can-"

Suddenly, an alert sounded in his suit, making Tony turn to his left, only to see an asteroid flying straight at him. "Whoa!" He exclaimed, narrowly avoiding it. He looked again, to see more coming, as he had accidentally entered into an asteroid field.

They varied in size from regular rocks to giant boulders, as Tony started to brace himself, knowing that he wouldn't have the reflexes to avoid them all. He tried his best to avoid the bigger ones, narrowing dodging them, only to get hit by the smaller ones. Iron Man bobbed and weaved through the field, desperately trying to get through it in one piece, only to get himself and his systems disoriented every time one of them hit him.

Tony tried hard not to panic, having no idea how much longer he could keep up with the asteroid field. With the size of some of them, if the wrong one hit him, there's a good chance that he would be done for. And he was painfully aware of that fact.

Stark braced himself, as he noticed a few moderate sized ones coming towards him. He put his arms in front of him, blocking the impact, somewhat. When he put his arms down, he immediately saw what was likely the biggest asteroid he had seen yet, easily the size of a three story house. He didn't have time to move.

"Ah!" Tony cried, as out of instinct, he raised his palms in front of him, blasting the asteroid with his lasers, being able to cut a hole straight through the gigantic floating rock. Tony straightened out his body, as he flew straight through the hole. However, before he fully exited the asteroid, his leg snagged on a crevice inside. Although he was only stuck for a second, it was enough to send he spiraling out of control, knocking several smaller asteroids out of the way in the process.

He spun out of the asteroid field, back out into the open vastness, as he slowly stopped spiraling. He stayed still for a moment, aimlessly floating.

Tony was gasping for air, not being able to catch his breath. He assumed the worst, that the asteroids had damaged the suit enough to stop his oxygen supply, but as he looked at his readings, he saw that everything was fully functional. In fact, the asteroids didn't seem to do any damage.

Yet the billionaire couldn't breathe. And suddenly, it all made sense. This has happened before. He has having an anxiety attack.

"No, no no no no no no..." he muttered to himself, as he had lost his composure. This was it. He couldn't do this. He couldn't make it through space. He couldn't save Peter.

"Mister Stark."

Tony froze, as he heard an unfamiliar voice. He cautiously looked around, looking for the source, and getting ready to fight for his life.

"Mister Stark? Do not worry, you are safe," The voice said, soothingly.

"Who is this?" Stark demanded, a little freaked out.

"We have never met, but my name is Charles Xavier."

Tony scrunched up his face in confusion. "The advocate for mutant rights?"

"Yes, it is a pleasure to be talking to you," Xavier stated.

"Uh, yeah, about that, how exactly are we talking?"

"I haven't made it public knowledge, out of fear of how the regular homo sapiens would respond, but I am a telepath."

"That...actually makes a lot of sense," Tony said. "I hate how much that makes sense."

"We are living in strange times," Xavier said. "I mean, I remember when you were just a simple billionaire."

"Yeah, those were the days. Actually, I was kinda a dick back then. Hey, weird question, but how powerful are you, exactly? I'm having some trouble believing that a mutant on Earth can mentally chit chat with me."

"Ah, very observant, Mister Stark," Charles complimented.

"I am one of the smartest people in the world. And please, all the people who telepathically talk to me call me Tony."

"Well Tony, I am able to communicate with you through a device called Cerebro. It was created to find other mutants, but I am currently using it to find Spider-Man."

Tony's jaw locked up for a second. "Why?"

"An associate of mine heard of his situation, and asked me to search for him. But I see you already found him."

"Yeah, but..."

"But you're not sure you can make it."

"How did you-? Duh. Telepath."

"Tony, I know what you have faced, and how it has effected you. Do not mistake your trepidation for weakness, for you are a very strong person. But we all need help at one point or another."

Suddenly, Tony felt calmer than he had in a while. "What...what's happening?"

"I am implanting a few mental suggestions to help you. They are only temporary, but they should get you to Spider-Man."

Tony was surprised. "Th-thank you."

"I must warn you, they won't be around for long, and I worry that I will not be able to reach you after you get the young man. You will have to rely on your own bravery to get him back."

"You don't sound worried," Tony noticed.

"That's because I know you have it. Good luck."

Tony felt Charles' presence leave his mind. He stayed still for a moment, processing everything. "Won't let you down." With new determination, Tony zoomed past the cosmos, ready to save his intern.

"Ow, ow, ow, OW!"

"Come on Drax, you're almost there!"

Spider-Man was sitting on the dusty ground of the ship graveyard, his knees to his chest, as he watched Drax the Destroyer digging through the flaming wreck of the Milano in order to get Rocket's gun. Rocket, Groot, and Star-Lord, for their part, were cheering him on.

"Why, OW, am I the one doing this?" Drax questioned, as he dug through the burning metal. "It would make more sense for someone smaller than me to get the weapon, and squeeze through the rubble."

"Dude, you're the toughest one of us, if anyone can handle moving stuff around in fire, it's you," Quill reasoned.

"Why not Rocket?" Drax asked.

"I'm allergic to fire," Rocket said.

"Really? I could of sworn I have seen you near fire."

"Yeah, my allergies only act up when I touch it."

Drax went quiet for a moment, before looking at the furry engineer. "You are being sarcastic."

"Damn, he's learning," Rocket cursed.

"Rocket would probably get really hurt if he did it," Quill stated.

"Well, what about Groot?" Drax asked.

"I am Groot!" Groot protested.

"He's literally made of wood!" Rocket yelled.

"So?"

"WOOD IS FLAMMABLE YOU IDIOT!"

Peter sighed as he watched the argument from a distance. The realty of the situation sunk in for him a while ago, but it still didn't make him feel any better.

"Parker."

Spidey turned, to see Gamora standing next to him. "Oh, hi."

Gamora raised an eyebrow at him. "You seem...uncharacteristically quiet."

"Well, I'm not exactly feeling great right now," Peter revealed, as Gamora sat down next to him.

"What's wrong?" The warrior asked.

Peter turned his head at her, incredulous. "Seriously? You honestly have to ask? I'm in a ship graveyard acting as bait because of a talking space raccoon's plan."

"To be fair, the bait part was Groot's idea," Gamora informed him.

"Wait, seriously?" Peter asked. "I thought he was cool..." He said, dejected.

"He's probably the most level-headed of us," Gamora admitted. "But, you know, desperate times. Why are you panicking?"

Peter threw up his arms. "It's like you're not even listening. I get it, super deadly space assassin, you're probably used to dealing with this stuff."

Gamora shrugged. "This isn't really something we're used to dealing with. Sure, we've stopped universe level threats before, but those were few and far between."

"Then why are you surprised that I'm scared?"

"Because you are brave," Gamora simply said.

Spider-Man was beyond confused at the statement. "Uh, come again? I think one of my concussions got in the way of my hearing."

"I saw you on Xander throwing yourself into danger to save others, without thinking anything about it. I have seen you deal with Morlun, standing up to him as much as you possibly can. You jumped into the void of space on instinct because of me. You're brave."

Peter was stunned. "I...didn't think of it that way."

"I'm sure we can defeat Morlun," Gamora said.

"I have found it!" Drax said, triumphant.

"No you didn't, dumbass!" Rocket yelled. "That's the toilet!"

Gamora blinked. "Or we're all going to die screaming."

Spidey nodded. "Sounds about right." Peter then looked back at Gamora. "You know, you kinda remind me of this person back on Earth."

That seemed to grab the warrior's attention. "Really?"

"Yeah. She's a lot like you, actually. She's really tough, and smart, and deadly, and scary. Like, really, stupid scary. Seriously, scary."

"I'm gonna to take that as a compliment," Gamora said, a hint of ice on her voice.

"Uh, yeah!" Peter backtracked. "It totally was. And she had a long history of being alone. But she's part of a team now, and even if she doesn't like to show it, she really does care about those around her."

Gamora gave a silent stare at the teenager, before looking back at the other Guardians trying to find the weapon. "We're going to defeat Morlun," Gamora stated after a moment.

Under his mask, Spidey smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, maybe we can."

Back at the wreckage of the Milano, Drax was still fighting the flames as he dug through the scrap. He lifted up a particularly large sheet of metal, before his eyes widened. "Haha, yes!" The destroyer exclaimed in victory, as he lifted something up over his head. "The weapon!"

"Wait," Quill said, double checking to make sure it really was the gun they were looking for. "Yep, it looks like it. But just to double check, Rocket?" Quill asked. He was met with silence. Confused, Quill looked around. "Rocket?" He asked, seeing no sight of the furry engineer.

"I am Groot." Groot explained.

"What do you mean he wandered off?" Quill questioned.

"I am Groot."

"Well, did he at least say what he was doing?"

"I am Groot?"

"What do you mean 'Maybe'!?"

"I am Groot!"

"He does mumble," Drax interjected.

"Ugh!" Quill exclaimed. "He's the only one who can fix this thing! We need to get him here now before-"

Quill was interrupted by a sudden, earth shattering impact in the distance. Everyone stood at attention, as they saw a large plume of smoke by the horizon.

Peter immediately felt that familiar tingle in the back of his head. "It's him," The young hero said, grimly.

"Morlun," Gamora grimaced.

Drax stepped out of the wreckage, holding the gun in one hand, before picking up Groot with the other. "How much time do you think we have?"

Quill tapped behind his ear, summoning his helmet. "None."

After seemingly a few seconds, Morlun appeared before them, the dust around him flying wildly due to his speed. He stood still, eyeing down his prey, annoyance and anger etched on his face, unwavering.

"This game has gone on long enough," The vampire snarled. "It ends now. Spider!"

Spider-Man stared at him, his gold lenses wide.

A small smirk appeared on Morlun's face. "You're going to die."