A/N Thanks for all your support. Here we go!
The instant Hermione stumbled out of a portal with that look on her face, Tony knew. The world momentarily swam grey before his eyes, but then he took a breath and his vision cleared. Whatever was coming they could put up one hell of a fight - that's what all these years of preparation had been for.
Pepper clutched at his arm, sensing the fraught atmosphere. Tony turned to her. Had they really been discussing the possibility of her being pregnant a few seconds ago? It might as well have been another lifetime if the reason for Hermione's abrupt presence was what he suspected. He simply pulled Pepper in close, kissed the top of her head and then strode towards Hermione's still active portal.
"Is it him?" Tony asked as he stepped over the threshold with her.
"Yes." The word came out bleak. Tony repressed a shudder.
On the other side of the portal, he only had a second to take in the forms of two unfamiliar men before, much to Tony's surprise, Bruce stepped forwards and embraced him tightly.
Very quickly, they all brought Tony up to speed: Thanos and the Infinity Stones, just as they'd feared.
Multiple thoughts and possible strategies began rearing in his mind but he needed more data - he needed to know how much time they had. "What's our timeline?" he asked Bruce.
"No telling," Bruce replied. "He has the Power and Space Stones - that already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe. If he gets his hands on all six stones..."
"We know," Hermione said, her voice hollow. "He can wipe out half the galaxy in one stroke." Her hands balled into fists at her side and she turned to Tony, her gaze steely. "We need to start our defence. He could be here at any moment. However, with the Space Stone in his possession, he might not even need a ship to bring him here."
Tony swore. A vast majority of their defence scenarios had been planned out with the assumption that spacecrafts would be involved. Stranger Enterprises and Stark Industries had spent millions developing technology and equipping militaries around the world to defend the planet's skies, but now there was a chance their enemy would arrive without them being any the wiser. Still, they had to get the word out as a matter or urgency. He raised his watch to his mouth. "F.R.I.D.A.Y, put the word out to everyone on the list to be on their guard. Code Black. Further updates to follow imminently."
"Sure thing, boss."
Tony's gaze switched to the two men in robes. He'd heard about Strange and Wong through Hermione but this was the first time they'd come face to face. Though their small group might not know too much about the impending arrival of Thanos, they did know what the crazy bastard was coming for: the remaining Stones. They had to take advantage of that. "Look, when we didn't know that Thanos was actively on his way here, I was reasonably happy to let you wear a Stone like a necklace," Tony told Strange, whose eyes narrowed. "But I think we can all agree that it's not safe just dangling there where anyone can make a play for it."
"You underestimate the capabilities of the Masters of the Mystic Arts and insult the oath we swore to protect the Time Stone with our lives," Strange said coldly.
"Not true," Tony denied coolly. "I just refuse to underestimate Thanos. You heard what Hermione said - half the galaxy gone in a heartbeat if we fail. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen even if it means prickling your ego."
"My ego?" Strange scoffed. He looked set to make a further caustic comment but Hermione's voice cut him off.
"Enough. The Time Stone stays with Stephen and Wong. We know where it is and it can be protected," she told them all, her tone brooking no argument. She turned to Tony. "We need to get in contact with Vision."
He stared at her in amazement. "What - you haven't already warned him?"
"I tried before we got you - he didn't respond and neither did Wanda when I tried her. I can't even portal to him because she's giving off natural interference to protect them both," she explained. "But you can find him, can't you? He has to know what might be coming."
"Shit," Tony muttered, running a hand over his face. "No, he turned off his transponder two weeks ago when he left to meet Wanda. I can't trace him when he's offline."
She put her hand to her head, matching Tony's dismay.
"Have you told everyone at Salter?" he asked. Cap and the others could carry on trying to get in contact with Wanda and Vision while he and Hermione started rallying the world's defences. To his surprise, Hermione groaned and raised another hand to her head, her eyes screwed up.
"Doesn't anyone else hear that?" she said, her voice strained as though she was in great pain.
The men looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Hear what?" asked Wong.
Then Tony saw it. A lock of Strange's hair was fluttering. "Say, Doc, you wouldn't happen to be moving your hair, would you?"
Strange's eye glanced upwards as Hermione hissed in another painful breath. "Not at the moment, no," he said slowly.
The only place such a strong breeze could be coming from was the rather large hole Bruce had created when he'd crashed into the Sanctum. Tony scrutinised the opening and, as he watched, some debris flew past outside, obviously caught up in an incredibly powerful gust of air. It could be nothing, of course, but something in Tony's gut told him that this was it: showtime.
Tony placed his sunglasses over his eyes to give him a stronger connection to F.R.I.D.A.Y and led the way out onto the street, his arm around the struggling Hermione. The strength of the wind was more obvious here and members of the public were all running in the same direction - many with panicked screams.
Hermione stepped away from Tony's supporting arm, holding her hands up to prevent a car from crashing into a lamp post. The terrified driver half fell out of the car and joined the others desperately trying to get away.
"Granger, are you good?" Tony asked, pausing for just a moment to check on her.
When she turned, her face was still pinched with the mysterious pain that she was experiencing. "I'll manage," she said through gritted teeth, following him down the street.
There was still no sign of whatever was causing this mass-panic. "F.R.I.D.A.Y, what am I looking at?" he asked, going against the flow of rushing people and, as ever, heading towards the very thing others were fleeing from.
"Not sure, I'm working on it," the voice replied.
"Hey," Tony called, briefly turning around to address Strange. "You might wanna put that Time Stone in your back pocket, Doc!"
"Might wanna use it," Strange pointed out, creating glowing symbols around his wrists.
Reaching the corner, Tony craned his head round to look down the next street but had to step backwards immediately as debris flew towards him at great speed. He tried again and took a few jogging steps into the road that was filled with abandoned cars to get a better look at the threat. A huge structure hovered in the air, the force of its engines creating the buffeting wind. "F.R.I.D.A.Y, evac anyone south of forty-third street, notify first responders," he instructed as Hermione spoke into a device at her wrist seeking immediate contact with anyone at the Security Council.
Strange made a few complicated gestures with his hands and finished with a sweeping motion, neutralising the effect of the wind. The five of them walked closer to the craft, alert for any attack that might come.
"Yes, requesting air support," Hermione said urgently. "Spaceship in Greenwich Village, over Bleecker Street. No sign of hostiles yet. Emergency services to assist with evacuation of civilians - do not approach the ship."
A blue light beamed down from the front of the craft onto the street and, a moment later, two figures were revealed: one was large, muscular and held a battleaxe; the other was small and slender.
"The Black Order," Hermione gasped from where she stood next to Tony.
"Black Order?" Wong repeated, the term clearly unfamiliar to him but its significance was not lost on Tony: thanks to Hermione's information, his notes on the Infinity Stones were extensive, but he'd long had them committed to memory.
"They're children of Thanos," Hermione explained bleakly. "Like me."
"Not like you," Bruce said confidently, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm really not seeing the family resemblance," Strange told her.
"Your real family is right here," Tony said, taking his eyes off his enemies for the briefest moment to give her a reassuring glance.
"Thanks," she said, before quickly speaking into her wrist device to update the situation.
"Hear me and rejoice," the smaller of the brethren announced. Tony remembered that he was called Ebony Maw and had telekinetic powers, meaning that despite his size, he was probably the more dangerous of the two. "You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos."
"Not if this child of Thanos has anything to say about it," Hermione called, making Maw's lip curl with loathing.
"Abomination," he sneered but Hermione ignored him.
"Shield," she instructed lowly and then she was gone. Strange and Wong made strong motions with their arms and a glowing barrier appeared in front of the men. Through it, Tony could see the abandoned cars suddenly shoot towards the aliens. Cull Obsidian battered a couple aside with his axe and Maw swatted the rest aside easily with his telekinesis. He relaunched a couple of wrecked cars back towards Tony and the others but the wizards' barrier held firm. Distracted by the cars, none of them noticed the portal appearing over Obsidian's head until his body had been abruptly levitated a few feet off the ground. The portal closed around his neck, decapitating the huge alien in a single stroke. Tony flinched as the headless body collapsed to the ground with a crash, shocked at the level of ruthlessness that Hermione had never displayed before. She had remained hidden throughout her assault but Maw abruptly let out a high-pitched whistle and she suddenly appeared a few feet beyond their protective barrier, crumpled on the floor with her hands once again over her head to stave off some invisible pain.
"Yes, you hear them, don't you?" Maw crooned, looking wickedly pleased.
Tony didn't like the sound of that. He pulled the cords of his workout clothes and tapped the glowing chest attachment so that his nano-tech suit started to deploy around him.
Through her pain, Hermione struck out at Maw, throwing him off his feet, but he used his own power to right himself, hovering a few inches off the ground. "Our father had them bred just for you," he told Hermione smoothly, as though nothing had happened. "They're trained on your scent, sister, and want nothing more than to rip every trace of you from existence." He signalled with his hand in the direction of the ship and the blue light beamed down again.
Gremlins, gargoyles, Tony wasn't sure what they were called. They were all different shapes and sizes but they all had nightmarish features in common: rows of needle-sharp teeth, wickedly sharp claws and talons, oily black hides and hate-filled eyes. A holographic cage kept the creatures contained but they were scratching and scrabbling against the barriers in their desperation to get to Hermione. Tony couldn't hear the cries of the ugly brutes that were obviously affecting her so badly, but he felt a shiver down his spine nonetheless.
Suit now fully formed, Tony braced himself to come to her aid if those beasts were released. He quickly glanced at Bruce. "Are you gonna Hulk-up, Banner?"
His long-absent friend didn't look very enthusiastic about the idea but he nodded. "Yeah, I guess."
Tony returned his attention to Maw and Granger in time to see him duck away from one of her spells but it still struck the alien-equivalent of his collarbone, the bone piercing through his flesh. If the magic had hit where she'd intended, Tony was sure that she would've snapped his neck. Maw let out a piercing shriek at the pain and temporarily lost control of his telekinetic abilities, making him fall to the ground. Tony fired up a repulsor, ready to finish the creepy dude off, but the ground beneath his feet shot into the air as fast as a bullet, throwing him hundreds of feet into the sky. Irritated, he zoomed back down to street level but, in his momentary absence, all had kicked off. The demon-beasts had been released and there were far more than Tony had realised. Most had focused their attack on Hermione and she was creating portals and unleashing endless spells to take them down. He wondered why she didn't just apparate away, remove herself from the danger, but then he saw that a few of the creatures were bearing down on the others - perhaps they could detect her scent on the men, too. If she left, the beasts would just focus on whatever traces of her were left for them here.
For some reason, Bruce hadn't brought out the Hulk yet and a number of the devils had made a beeline for him. Tony blasted the first away but its smoking remains did nothing to deter the half-dozen that were still locked on Banner, who was scrambling away quickly. A portal suddenly appeared next to Bruce and he fell through it. Strange closed it before the beasts could follow him and turned just in time to block a beast attack of his own - the creature's massive jaw kept apart by a strand of glowing magic. Tony used a repulsor to get rid of it and landed next to Strange. "Gotta get that Stone outta here, now," he ordered.
Strange shook his head. "It stays with me," he vowed resolutely.
"Exactly. Bye," Tony said shortly, taking off to go to Hermione's aid, or to take out Maw should the opportunity present itself. A beast took a flying leap at him but he created a nano-shield in a heartbeat to swat it away. Dozens of the horrid things were still focused on Hermione. The strain of keeping them away whilst fighting through the pain their very existence seemed to cause her was clear on her face. Wong was helping her by producing different shields, portals and restraints but Tony knew that if just one of those creatures got through, there was a high chance that she would be overwhelmed and her defence might fall.
A double-headed, humpbacked monstrosity flew at Tony's face and started scrabbling around his head. He could feel the impact of the claws and teeth on his suit as it tried to rip it apart but the nanotech stood up to the task. He tried to grab the pest but it evaded him, leaving him partially blind. A weight tugged at his left leg and then another on his right - the creatures were trying to drag him down. He powered up his whole suit and a powerful blast burst out all around him, destroying the creatures in an instant. Tony's vision cleared just in time for him to see Maw use his powers to swing the fallen Obsidian's axe at him like it was a baseball bat. The force of the blow propelled him through the nearest building and he came to a stop against a tree in a small park.
Bruce came rushing over to his side. "Tony, you OK? How we doing? Good? Bad?"
"Really, really good," Tony replied cheerfully as he struggled to get to his feet. "Really good. Do you plan on helping out?"
Bruce looked a little sheepish. "I'm trying. He won't come out."
"Try again," Tony suggested. "If one of those beasts gets a hint of Hermione on you then you need to be able to protect yourself." Bruce nodded and screwed up his face in concentration.
"Boss, air support was requested by Mrs Rogers a few minutes ago," F.R.I.D.A.Y said. "The jets are on their way but the Secretary of Defense wants an update on the situation - Mrs Rogers isn't responding to him." Tony hoped that this was because she was merely too preoccupied and not because something terrible had happened to her in the few moments that he'd been away from the fight.
"Tell him that I recommend an airstrike on the ship," Tony instructed after only a short hesitation. With only Maw to take care of, it might not be necessary, but it would be a wise precaution to take the spaceship out of the equation. "Warn the first responders."
"Yes, Boss."
"Tony, they're back!" Bruce warned and then let out a yell. Two of the larger gargoyles had followed Tony through the hole he'd made in the building and had plucked Bruce into the air with their talons. Tony didn't risk using a repulsor in case he accidentally hit Bruce. He took off after them and was concerned to see blood stains seeping through Bruce's clothes where the talons had pierced his skin. One of the creatures looked set to sink its jaws into his neck.
A white substance suddenly encased the beast's head and a white cord looped around Bruce's waist, pulling him back down to the ground.
"Hey, Mr Stark!" an amiable voice called. Parker swung into view, his webbing taking out the second beast and another loop of the substance helped break Bruce's fall into a tree in the park.
"Kid, where'd you come from?" Tony asked as he plucked Bruce out of the branches to bring him down to solid ground.
"Field trip to MoMA," Parker replied. "Is he going to be OK?"
Bruce moaned and held a hand to his bloodied shoulder. "See, Hulk? This is your fault!"
Parker gasped. "Wait - you're Dr. Banner! Oh, man, I'm such a big fan." He held out a hand for Bruce to shake and then seemed to realise that it wasn't the best timing. "Er, sorry, I guess we can catch up later."
Bruce grimaced in the kid's direction. "Sure," he said tightly and then turned to Tony. "Leave me," he instructed. "You've got to help the others. I'll be OK - it's not as bad as it looks."
"You need to get her scent off you," Tony warned him and then pointed behind Bruce. "Jump into that water fountain and then get as far away as possible - the Air Force are on their way." He didn't feel happy about leaving Bruce behind but they needed to make sure that the Stone was safe. "I'll be back. Kid, let's go."
"What's the situation, Mr Stark?" Parker asked as he followed Tony up over the rooftops back towards Bleecker Street.
"It's Code Black, kid," Tony replied. "The Stones are our priority. Stick with the wizard in the red cloak."
To his credit, Parker didn't even flinch at the revelation that the long-planned-for battle against Thanos was underway. "Sure thing, Mr Stark."
"Watch out for Squidward - he's got telekinetic powers."
"O-OK," Parker stuttered, clearly surprised. "And what about those black things?"
"They're locked onto Hermione. Don't get close to her or they might pick her scent up on you," Tony warned as the battle site came into view once more and he quickly took stock of the situation.
Wong was down. He seemed to have come off worse in a battle with a fire hydrant because he was soaking wet but it meant, at least, that the hellish beasts couldn't detect Hermione on him and they had left him alone.
Despite the bone protruding below his chin, Maw had subdued Strange by restricting his airways and limbs with utility cables that he'd ripped from below the pavement. A pained yelp from Hermione showed why she'd been unable to prevent Maw from gaining the upper hand: the beasts had broken through her shield. He momentarily caught sight of her bloodied and wounded form before she turned to smoke to get away from the beasts. Maw whistled and the beasts howled. The pain this caused Hermione was enough to break her from her apparation form. The twenty or so creatures that were left rushed towards her, eyes manic and jaws salivating. Tony swooped towards her but -
"I've got you, cuz!" A loop of webbing lifted Hermione out of harm's way and into Parker's arms.
"Peter, no," Hermione said weakly. "Put me back. It's too dangerous - they'll rip through your suit."
"Then I guess I'll have to keep us moving and you can take them out as we go," Parker replied as he swung past Tony in the opposite direction, the black beasts chasing after them.
"Target is locked, Boss," F.R.I.D.A.Y told Tony as he changed course towards Maw and Strange. "Do the pilots proceed?"
"Affirmative," Tony grunted as the car Maw had propelled in his direction shunted him into the side of the building. "Granger, Parker, take cover - they're taking the ship down," he warned. Barely were the words out of his mouth when huge explosions detonated above him, setting off huge fireballs. The ground shook all around and a couple of the already damaged buildings collapsed.
There was a shout from Maw. "No!"
Tony turned to savour the devastation on the alien's face but was surprised to see that Maw's attention was focused on a rapidly disappearing red blur: Strange's sentient cloak was helping the unconscious Master to escape.
"I'm on it, Mr Stark," Parker said as he swung past in pursuit, carefully depositing Hermione a few yards away because her extra weight would slow him down. The chasing gargoyles swooped down on her, expertly avoiding her curses whenever she risked dropping her shield. Tony prepared to fly after Parker and Strange but Maw glanced back for just a moment to deliver a final devastating blow with a look of loathing in Hermione's direction. The four-storeyed building she was standing in front of fell forwards as though it was nothing more than a child's building block that had just been pushed over. Tony could see her dilemma in an instant: ward off the falling building or the beasts - there was no time to do both. He reacted instinctively, swerving under the structure even as the gap between the ground and the walls disappeared, and got to Hermione just in time to cover her body with the suit as the masonry tried to crush them both. F.R.I.D.A.Y started listing the damage to his suit as it bore the pressure of tonnes of rubble.
"T-Tony," Hermione gasped. He could see just a small part of her thanks to the light from his suit. There were deep claw marks on her cheek showing through the dust that coated the rest of her face.
"It's OK, I've got you," he reassured her.
"You should've let me die," she choked out. "The Stone - "
"The missiles," he began, intending to reassure her that they had the upper hand, but she interrupted him.
"They wouldn't have got through the ship's shields," she pointed out.
Sure enough, "Uhhh, Mr Stark, I'm being beamed up," the kid's voice called in his ear, confirming that the ship was still operational, and Tony cursed under his breath.
"Hang on, kid," he instructed calmly, not wanting to let Parker know his true feelings.
"Boss, the jets are returning for another strike," F.R.I.D.A.Y said.
"Tell them to call it off," Hermione told F.R.I.D.A.Y. "They're not going to make any impact and Peter and Stephen will just end up getting caught in the blasts."
"Agreed," Tony added.
"I think I can make a portal to get us out," Hermione told him, "But a lot of debris is going to fall through with us before I can close it."
"Do it," Tony instructed, bracing himself. "I'll cover you as much as I can."
"Don't worry about me," she argued. "I'll drop us from a height so that we can get on that ship."
"No, Hermione," he said firmly. "You need to stay on Earth - ready the planet's defence."
"Tony, if you get on that craft - "
"I know," he cut in. If he got on that ship there was a very high possibility that he wouldn't be coming back. Even if he survived whatever he found on that ship or the journey or confrontation that might follow, physically returning home would be very difficult. Hermione understood that better than anybody. Despite the pressing time factor or the entire building that was trying to flatten them, he retracted his face mask to look on her for one last time. "It's OK," he told her. He pressed his lips to her forehead and she placed one of her hands against his cheek, gifting him her love, courage and pride.
"OK," she breathed.
He was falling in a mid-afternoon New York sky, Hermione and the Hudson River underneath him, rubble all around him.
"Go," she urged, turning into smoke and streaming away from the debris.
He did as suggested and caught sight of the spaceship rising rapidly into the atmosphere. Things were escalating more quickly than he'd anticipated. "Give me a little juice, F.R.I.D.A.Y." The thrusters in his feet morphed into one singular, larger jet and there was a clear increase in his speed.
"Look after Peter, won't you?" Hermione's voice requested.
"Already taken care of," he replied, having just instructed F.R.I.D.A.Y to launch the Iron Spider suit from its pod at the upstate facility. "He'll be coming back down shortly so keep an eye out for him."
"OK, will do. And remember, Tony, we have allies out there. Hopefully they'll come to your aid," she said, and he tried to be reassured by her words even if he thought that any assistance was unlikely. "Look out for portals - I'll come and get you as soon as it's safe to do so. Make sure your signal stays strong. I'll find you, I promise."
"I know," he said.
"Good luck, Tony."
"Thanks, kid. I won't let you down," he vowed. "Keep Pepper and the rest of the planet safe for me."
"I will," she said, her voice clearly emotional. "Goodbye, Tony."
He hated how final those words and her tone sounded. This couldn't be the end. He'd fight with every fibre of his being to stop Thanos's plot so that he could get back to the people he loved and see another day dawn on the horizon. "Goodbye, Hermione."
A/N Those words do sound a bit final, don't they? Hmm...
I enjoyed writing the more ruthless version of Hermione that we haven't really seen since the Guardians adventure. None of her Avengers friends saw what she was like when she was being a child of Thanos and the return of badass Hermione is certainly needed now... And while Tony and Hermione have spend time preparing for this encounter so has Thanos - he knows how dangerous Hermione is (he made her that way, after all) which is why he bred special outriders for her. What a nice dad.
Let me know what you think!
Keep safe.
Lil Drop of Magic