A/N: Okay, it's here! I'm assuming that everyone has seen endgame, so beyond what I've already done, I'm not going to really give much of a description of the creatures that Thanos has available to him. We'll assume if I mention the dog-like creatures, it's the ones that overran Wakanda, and the flying turtle things, and Thanos' 'children', of course will be brought in – but I'll try to describe them as it comes along. I'm going to do everything that I can to keep it from being confusing, but there are a lot of people and will be a lot going on. Enjoy!

OOOOOO

"Karen!" Peter couldn't help the way that his voice broke – either in fear or in excitement. "Tell Friday to wake up Tony and Pepper – and to warn everyone."

The AI responded, immediately, and Peter headed into his living room area, hopping awkwardly as he was trying to put his jeans on. The door opened without a knock and Natasha walked in, zipping up her own uniform. She was already awake – not surprisingly – and he didn't even blush that she had found him in the middle of getting dressed.

"It's happening?"

"Yeah." He didn't ask how she knew, but suspected it was the mind stone. "I told Karen to wake up Tony."

"I called Stephen," she told him. "He and Wong will be here in a moment and Steve-"

"Is right behind you."

Rogers and Carol both walked into the room, still pulling on clothing, and Peter heard a purely mental snort, but didn't even think to ask how the two managed to be coming in at the same time when Carol's quarters weren't even close to Peter's. With them was Jack, who looked confused at being in Peter's room in the middle of the night, but the half-grown lab was used to things being weird around him, and he simply went for Nutmeg, who wasn't looking nearly as thrilled about being awake when they should still be snuggled in bed – or being mauled by Jack.

"What's going on?" Danvers asked, her expression serious, but her own eyebrow quirking when she saw Peter pulling on his t-shirt.

The boy looked scrawny, but he was surprisingly well-muscled.

"It's Thanos," the boy said, double-checking the nanite housing for his suit when Alec reminded him to do so. "He's here. Or close."

"I'll go take a look," Danvers said. "Where do we meet?"

"Command center," Steve told her.

She nodded and left the room, and Steve turned his attention to the other two.

"You woke Tony?"

Peter nodded.

"I just-"

He was interrupted by the arrival of Strange and Wong, who walked out of Peter's bedroom. The Sorcerer Supreme wasn't wearing his normal perfectly tailored suit; instead dressed in a stylized outfit that was similar to the one Wong was wearing – although he had the Cloak of Levitation on his high collar and the necklace that housed the time stone was around his neck.

"Thanos?" he asked, the single word telling them all that he didn't need to be briefed.

Natasha nodded.

"Peter?"

Tony's voice coming over the boy's watch was easy for all of them to catch.

"I'm in my rooms," Peter answered. "Steve, Natasha, Wong and Stephen are here with me," he added, quickly, making sure he understood that he wasn't alone and freeing Tony to do whatever he needed to do.

"Stay with Romanoff – meet me in the command center as soon as you can."

None of them were surprised that Natasha was the one that Tony wanted with Peter. The boy nodded, even though Tony couldn't see it, and looked at Natasha to make sure she was alright with that imperative – which she was, of course.

"We'll be right there, Tony."

Peter hesitated, looking at Nutmeg and Jack.

"They should be okay here?"

The plan had been to evacuate the rest of the pets to Clint's, but there wasn't time, now. Steve nodded.

"Yeah."

They left the boy's quarters, then, as a group, closing the door behind the pets to keep them out of harm's way, heading for the command center of the compound as an alarm blared a low warning, waking everyone up and sending them to their prescribed places.

Steve moved ahead at a trot; his job was to meet with Grady and Lyle, and get the military going in the right positions, as well. He would trust the others to do what they needed to do, because he had plenty on his plate, already, and they would meet up when it became necessary.

"What do we know?" Strange asked.

"Nothing, yet," Natasha admitted. "I was woken with an internal warning and went straight to Peter's room. Carol went to see what she could learn."

That was safe enough; Danvers could get eyes on the scene – even before their own satellites – and was carrying enough firepower of her own that they didn't need to worry about her running into anything she couldn't handle. As long as she was just taking a look, anyway. Even Carol wasn't a match for an infinity stone, after all.

"We haven't had a chance to bring the others to the compound," Strange said, as they walked. "We've already alerted the other sanctums, but we won't bring anyone in until we know where you want them – and once we do, one of us will have to open a portal to bring them."

"I'll take care of it," Wong assured him.

"We'll figure it out," Natasha said, turning a corner and seeing the guardians coming down the corridor in a group.

"Is it happening?" Quill asked, from where he was leading his people.

"Looks like it," Natasha said.

They didn't have an actual role for the newcomers, since they weren't really Steve's to command. But Quill, Drax and Rocket were clearly fighters – and Gamora was a wildcard for them, because while Natasha had her pegged as dangerous, she knew Thanos better than any of them and that made her far more important for intel than brawn.

Groot was an unknown – but as far as Romanoff was concerned, he was a baby – like Peter – and she didn't want him anywhere near the fighting. And, of course Mantis would be more effective staying out of the way.

They fell into the group as they headed for the command center, joined as they did by others; SHIELD agents and Avengers, and the military commanders from the guard – all heading the same direction, ready for whatever was to come.

They just needed to learn what was happening so they knew where they needed to be.

OOOOOO

The command center wasn't a large room, but it was bustling with activity, just then. The crew that manned it overnight were still at their posts, and every display was on and showing satellite feeds, which were screaming warnings of all kinds about objects heading toward the planet that weren't supposed to be there.

More people were arriving every minute, but Steve was already there – as were Grady and Fury – and they were calm, which made those around them calm, as well. Natasha and the others went into the room, standing out of the way against the wall as they watched, impressed, as Steve and the military liaisons started looking at the information that was coming in but not acting on it until they had more intel.

Peter hung back, well aware that he wasn't any help for them in the command center – or with tactics. He was learning them, of course, but he was learning them from Steve. Instead, he watched, standing beside Groot, near the door, and suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?"

He knew it was Tony before he turned, and he nodded.

"Yeah." He frowned. "Where's Pepper?"

"She went to the workroom. Wanda and Vision are with her."

Wanda was a good choice to be with Pepper; she was as powerful as anyone Tony knew, and that meant Pepper wasn't someone he was going to need to worry about – at least, not yet.

"Carol went to take a look," Romanoff said, not having missed Tony's arrival. "When she gets back, we'll have a better idea of if it's really Thanos, or a comet or something. Steve won't order an evacuation of the area around the compound until we're sure – but the guard units are already on stand by."

"We have army units ready to stand between here and the city?"

It was clear where Tony's primary concern was – even though he didn't have the authority to order the military around. He left that up to Steve.

"We do," Lyle Harris confirmed, hearing the question as he walked in. The general's aide had already been on the phone with his general, letting him know that there was potentially something happening and making sure the general was ready to back up any decision that the military made to help. "General Baldwin has already made the calls; we're just waiting for confirmation."

Tony nodded, deciding to stand next to Peter and watch, as well. His presence wasn't needed by Steve and Fury, just then, and he knew it. But his son most certainly needed him to be close at hand – and as the billionaire settled in to wait with the others, he looked at the boy.

"Activate the majority of your suit, will you?" he requested. "Keep the helmet off, but I want you buffered as much as possible."

Tony hadn't missed that Stephen was wearing the time stone, after all – or maybe Friday had pointed it out.

Peter didn't argue. He tapped the housing on his hip, and Groot looked impressed as the suit activated.

"I am groot?"

Rocket rolled his eyes (although he really was wondering if he could talk someone into making him a suit that would activate with a touch like that).

"It wouldn't fit you."

Peter started to say something, but before he could, he felt a tingle, and looked out the door and down the corridor. Tony and those close enough followed his gaze, and they all watched as Carol walked toward them. Her expression was serious, and maybe a little worried.

"That doesn't look promising," Rocket said.