Awakening

This chapter is dedicated to KuroHikaTsuchi, who was the first person to get Pen's first four lives right :)

I OWN NOTHING

Third POV

By the time that Hulk caught Stark and laid him on the ground, the strange light show on top of Stark Tower was over, even the dark purple light had faded.

They weren't sure why, but this left a pit of worry in everyone's stomach, especially Xavier's and Hulk's, though they were showing it differently. Xavier couldn't get any readings on the man, but he was the first to notice that the Arc Reactor in Stark's chest wasn't lit, and Hulk was just growling at anyone who tried to come near.

Nightcrawler and Thor had both also gone after the falling form of their friend and fellow hero, but Hulk had surprised them all and been the first one to catch him. Hulk brought the limp, suited man back to the ground where every Avenger and Xmen gathered around, hoping that they had not lost one of their own.

Jean was looking on with worry, and was fidgeting, wanting to see to Stark herself, she couldn't tell from there whether or not Stark was breathing, and none of them had any idea if the suit was space-proof.

Hulk ripped Stark's faceplate off as soon as he was on the ground, and all three of Jarvis' suits landed instantly at his side, causing everyone else to back away.

The Mark IV knelt by Tony's side and with a few clicks; the suit fell away, leaving the bruised and battered form of Tony Stark lying on top of his suit. Most of the Xmen jumped as Jarvis hissed at his creator and tapped the Arc.

"You always pull the most unreasonable stunts." Jarvis grumbled as he fiddled with the Arc, knowing that the short time in space had just shorted it out for the moment.

Humming in accomplishment, Jarvis let a small jump from the suits fingers to the Arc, at the same time that Hulk roared, determined to wake his friend.

Tony awoke with a gasp, and Xavier chuckled as the Avengers, Jean, and everyone else relaxed. If anyone had been listening they would have heard Jarvis also sigh in relief before he chuckled.

"I recommend that if you wish to go to space, you should reconfigure the suit's limits beforehand, sir." Jarvis drawled and Stark sighed leaning back against the inside of his suit.

"No one kissed me right?!" Tony asked just as Jarvis finished talking, his eyes scanning the crowd uncomfortably, trying to find Penny. "And haven't you already said that Jar?"

"Something along those lines, yes." Jarvis replied and Tony relaxed as everyone let out some chuckles. "And I believe that Miss Pepper would be very displeased with me if I let anyone besides her kiss you."

Tony smirked at Jarvis and the AI was pleased to note that his creator seemed to be back to full mental function. He would have to consult with his data logs and perhaps Miss Penny to see what had caused the lack of judgment.

"That was a stupid move Stark," Barton stated and Tony became confused for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, I know…" He muttered before glancing up at the tower, noticing the lack of light.

"Well, I believe that we are all relieved that you are alright." Xavier stated before turning towards his men. "I believe that a quick cleanup of the bodies is in order before we return to the manor."

The Xmen nodded, most even gave Stark a brief and silent 'thank you' before running off to do whatever.

Xavier didn't move as Tony climbed to his feet and Hulk shrunk down to Bruce.

"Glad to see you still breathing." Bruce stated clapping Stark on the back as his other hand held up the tattered pants, but Tony didn't reply as he looked to his Tower in worry.

The light show was over but Penny wasn't by his side. That was really wasn't a good sign.

"Sir!" Jarvis exclaimed and the three suits turned their attention towards the Tower just as a massive pillar of fire erupted into the sky.

"Jarvis!" Tony barked and the Mark IV nodded before the Mark VII leapt up from the ground and wrapped around Tony. All four suits jumped into the sky and shot off towards the Tower.

"Lock down the Tower and get the Tower shields online," Tony growled as worry squirmed in his gut. His whole body was sore and his chest felt like it was on fire because of the short time the Arc was offline, but none of that mattered to him.

He had to make sure that his daughter was ok.

On top of the Tower

Almost as soon as E're had fallen unconscious, a large burst of flame appeared near Penny's fallen form and a large red and gold bird the size of a swan appeared in a pillar of fire.

Fati, who had been approaching her fallen Sister with an evil smirk and a deadly looking black knife, stepped back in surprise.

"What are you doing here you mangy bird!?" Fati hissed slipping back into English, and she felt her vessel fight against her, not wanting to see the girl killed.

Her aura flared as she squashed down the Soul of the Asgardian, he was starting to ignore her. Usually, most mortals would be dead after being forced to channel so much Immortal energy, not to mention their Soul, but he…he was very resilient.

Fawkes landed on Penny's shoulder and let out a challenging thrill, and if birds could glare, this one would be.

Fati sneered at the bird, she had never been fond of phoenixes, and could never understand why her Sisters had created them.

"You won't keep me from my prize." Fati growled out before there was a large energetic flare on the rubble reduced roof and a cold hand gripped her shoulder.

Faster than even she could think, she was spun around and came face to face with a red eyed, pissed off Mortem Immortalis.

"What," He growled out as he pulled Fati down by Loki's shirt. "Did you do!?"

Mortem had sensed his Bonded's distress, but Fati had shielded the whole city against other Immortals after Mortem had left the first time. So, when he had tried to return, he could not. Even their Bond was blocked, and he could do nothing as he felt his mate's mind break.

Then his Sisters had joined his efforts to break through the shield, and combining their powers, they were able to appear before her.

But Mortem was still beyond pissed.

Behind the enraged Immortal stood the said Sister, Vitam, Insania and Infinitas all stared at Fati with cold hard expressions on their faces.

"I did nothing." Fati smirked and Mortem pushed her back as a snarl ripped from his throat.

Insania was the one who stepped forward and grabbed Mortem's arm, keeping him from doing anything more. He tensed, but didn't fight her grip as Vitam confronted Fati.

"Is this how far you've fallen Sister?" Vitam asked as she glanced down at Aequivalere's fallen form before sniffing the air. The young, normally cheery girl flinched back as if she had smelled something nasty, and she had.

"What have you done!?" Vitam snarled as Mortem's gaze flickered between his Bonded and Fati, clearly trying to prioritize while Infinitas glanced at her Brother in worry. If he fought against her, there would be little she could do.

You never got between a Bonded couple, that was a fact that everyone knew back in Cor.

"You have meddled in powers beyond you, Fati." Infinitas stated sadly, as she recognized the energy now entangled in Fati's own.

"But that is not why we are here." Insania interrupted her demeanor cold and hard, most unlike the usually dreamy girl as she led Mortem around Fati and brought her to the Youngest.

Vitam looked towards her twin for a moment before she and Infinitas intoned together, "Fati Immortalis, you have been found guilty of Over Stepping, Interference, Intentional Harm to another of Cor, Attempting to Take Another's Realm, and Attempting to End one of Cor. By Father's Word and Wishes you are to report to him immediately to face trial, and to receive punishment by Father himself."

Mortem and Insania both knelt down besides Fawkes and E're, and almost instantly she was in Mortem's arms while Insania's hands went to the girl's mind, trying to measure the amount of damage that Fati had inflicted upon her.

Fati had frozen at the two Immortal's words, before she chuckled and shook Loki's head.

"You think that something as simple as Father's summons will sway me?" Vitam and Infinitas shared a look before shifting into fighting stances. Infinitas' staff glowed and Vitam looked positively livid, though less than her brother.

"We have been tasked with bringing you to our Father," Vitam stated coldly as a smirk appeared on her face.

"But he didn't say that you had to appear willingly," Infinitas finished smugly, and Fati knew that Father's order was because of the Time Immortal. In her mind, if Father truly did have a problem with her actions he would have summoned her eons ago. But no, it was only now that she was called forth.

Infinitas must have done something, Fati reasoned.

"You're welcomed to try," Fati stated smugly as her dark purple magic spun around her. "But I've learned much since Aequivalere,"Fati spat her name like it was a sour taste in her mouth. "was born! Nothing will keep me from accomplishing my goal, not even Father can stop me now!"

"And what is your goal?" Vitam asked, being slightly more out of the loop than Mortem and Insania, and Infinitas of course knew. But she knew everything.

Fati laughed and smirked at her Siblings. "Why, to End the spoilt brat of course! It's what I've been working towards this whole time! At first I thought that it would be easy, but then she proved herself stronger than I thought, it took so much planning and plotting. But I finally planned the whole thing out! I would slowly break her; wear her down until she was practically begging for it to end!

"Then I would appear, like a merciful Sister, and give her a break before the end. All it took was a final blow and the fragile pieces of her mind shattered once again! Though this time, it is not as nearly superficial."

Suddenly, Fati's aura flared, turning almost black and Fati quieted with a wince. All four Immortals noticed this, but only Infinitas had an inkling about what this meant.

"What has caused this madness," Mortem asked, glaring at her as E're's head rested in his lap and Fawkes rested on her chest, quickly singing to the unconscious girl.

Fati sneered, "You know nothing! My life was perfect before she was born, before you brought her to life! She ruined everything! I had been the Youngest, I was the favorite, the one that everyone respected and loved! And then she along, only a foolish Mortal who survived on sheer dumb luck alone! My favorite pawn turned Immortal and stole my spotlight! Even before she was one of us, she had enraptured everyone's interest!

"It was always, Harry Potter this, and Harry Potter that! Some of our Siblings even came to me and blamed me for the stupid Mortal's suffering! I was the only one who saw her as what she was, weak, pathetic, unworthy!"

Fati didn't notice, as she was too far gone in her rant, but all four of the Immortals' faces were red and they were getting very angry. Fawkes was glaring at her, and Mortem looked like he was about to feed her Soul to Dementors, even if they wouldn't be able to eat it.

"So you took control." Insania interrupted, and Fati almost jumped, realizing that she had just said that aloud. "You wrapped her up in your web and fed her lie after lie to keep her entangled. You stripped and bound her Soul whenever she became too close to the truth or to breaking loose. You convinced her that her Realm was part of yours, all because you are the spoilt brat pitching a fit because you became a big sister."

Insania and Fati stared each other down, as Fati realized that Insania was no longer her pawn. She just didn't know that she had never been.

"It was easy," Fati stated with a smirk, and her purple energy turned almost black. "So easy, one little speech and Aequivalere fell right into my web…believing that Balance was part of Fate…please!"

Fati laughed and it took all of Mortem's self-control not to kill her on the spot. Sadly, that was against Cor's laws. So, he couldn't.

"I have to admit, her First Life must have left her subconsciously aware of manipulations because it took more drastic measures then usual to control her, a few twisted memories here and there, blocking some powers, stripping others…it was work, especially chasing you all around those dimensions so that she could fulfill her Duties was a pain…but in the end, it was worth it. Because, here we are."

Fati smiled in triumph and once again Insania had to hold Mortem back, but this time, Infinitas had to do the same for Vitam.

"I have to admit, I thought breaking the rest of her sanity would be more difficult…" Fati mused to herself, as Mortem's eyebrow twitched. "But then again, I guess that's what happens after a few millennia worth of nightmares and grief."

All of the Immortals were beyond pissed, though Infinitas was hiding it the best, not to mention she had known most of this already.

Suddenly, Infinitas smirked and stepped forward. "Thank you for your confession Sister," She waved her hand and a silver orb the size of a basketball appeared, hovering in the air above their heads.

Fati's eyes widened as Mortem chuckled.

"I'm sure that this was quite…revealing…to the rest of Cor, not to mention Mother and Father." He stated, showing the true reason for his lack of attack. Insania smirked.

"Your web is falling apart at the seams, your plots falling. Soon your entire kingdom will be nothing more broken spider webs coated in darkness." Everyone looked at Insania in surprise before Fati growled and her dark purple energy did turn black.

Her eyes flashed black before she smirked.

"This isn't the end." She stated and suddenly, blasts of black, dark blue, gold, and light blue all were flung towards the immortal, intent on restraining her. Just before the energies could hit her, however, Loki's body practically burned purple and a dark blast of power exploded from her, instantly destroying the broadcasting orb.

Surprisingly, it was Fawkes who was the fastest to react and he flung himself at the Immortal golden fire erupting from his body sending another pillar of fire into the air. His ancient magic dispersed the dark energy heading towards the Immortals and they were able to hit the wayward girl with their own powers. With a pain filled scream, Fati flew into the air, before a bright purple flashed blinded everyone, and Loki's body fell to the ground, barely breathing.

"Vitam, tend to him!" Infinitas exclaimed as she strode forward and picked up Fawkes, who had been reduced to a chick in a pile of ashes after that attack.

"Of course, Infinitas." Vitam exclaimed and within a moment she knelt down besides Loki and started fixing the damage done to his Soul. She couldn't heal his physical wounds, as that was beyond her Realm.

Infinitas sighed, unable to See what would happen next to Fati, as she waved her staff over Fawkes and he grew rapidly, until he was mature once again.

"Thank you old friend," She whispered to him in English and he trilled in response before flying off and retaking his position on top of E're. Settling down atop of her stomach, the phoenix resumed his song, this time louder and more powerful, trying to help bring peace to her shattered mind.

Insania sighed, looking between the bird and then her Sister. E're's mind was a mess, and it would take more than just a few minutes under her power and a Phoenix's song to fix it.

"Is she going to be ok?" Mortem asked switching to English, as he turned his attention on rebuilding their mental bond so that he could help her. He was worried, E're had lost her mind once before, and while her slip into madness had been superficial and had only lasted one lifetime…

The results had been horrifying, never before had so many Souls flooded into his Realm in such a short amount of time. That world…not even Infinitas had been able to guess the path that had lain before that particular dimension.

"This is far worse than her previous break, and you know that I was barely able to restore her mind last time…" Insania stated softly as very Immortal shivered, recalling the horrors that had taken place during that specific Life. "But, she is also free of Fati's manipulations now…so I believe that with time…and patience, her mind will completely heal."

Mortem released a breath that he hadn't even noticed that he had been holding, beyond relieved that his Bonded would be ok.

"I'm still not happy about how that played out." Mortem scowled, and stroked Penny's pale forehead. "We could have captured her just as easily as soon as we arrived. There was no need to let Fati ramble on for so long!"

Vitam glanced up, her hands still glowing gold and she shared a nod with her twin. She did agree with her Brother's statement. "I too did not see the point of it."

"The point," Infinitas snapped, before sighing and continuing softly, "Was outing the child to the rest of the Family, so that they too know what we do. Father wished everyone to know how unstable and dangerous Fati is at the moment. This was the fastest and easiest way to do that. If we had just claimed that Fati had broken Laws, then her allies would have challenged us, and our Family would become fractured. Father did not want this. It was his Wish, Mortem, Vitam; it would be wise to remember that."

Mortem scowled at the fact that they had postponed treating E're, but didn't say anything else. Father's word was Law no matter where you were in Existence, and they all knew better than to challenge it.

"Still was stupid." Mortem muttered and then all of the Immortals froze, as a voice belonging to none of them, responded.

"I might have missed the rant itself," They all spun around and noticed Tony leaning against a pile of rubble behind them; his t-shirt was ruined and his jeans torn in many places, giving him a rough look, add the four suits around him as he rubbed his sore leg and Mortem felt bad for the Mortal. "But I have to agree it was sorta pointless. Now, I'll only ask this once. Is my daughter ok?"

The Immortals all shared a look as Fawkes seemed to let out a trill like chuckle. Fati's energy had concealed their presence while she was there, and now that she wasn't…they had just not noticed them.

Vitam was suddenly very glad that they had been behind her and her Sister, if the Immortals on Cor had caught sight of them…there would've been a very large protest.

Infinitas just smiled simply before nodding to Tony, who returned the nod slowly, unsure of what was truly going on.

Mortem and Insania then locked eyes with the rest of their audience, which thankfully were just the other Avengers. (Xavier had recognized Mortem's energy and had dragged the Xmen away from the Tower.)

"This complicates things, huh Sister?" Mortem drawled as Insania giggled. She had known the whole time that they were there.

Barton, Romanoff and Rogers all looked between the Immortals, Stark, Penny, and Fawkes before their brains finally decided that enough was enough and they collapsed unconscious from the mental overload.

Bruce simply shook his head slowly and collapsed onto the ground next to Tony, rubbing his temples as he worked through the shock.

Tony and Thor glanced at all of them in worry, while Thor occasionally glared at the spot where Fati had been. Asgardians were the only ones who could understand Immortals when they spoke in their own language (which didn't really have a name), so he had heard Fati's whole speech.

Thor was far from pleased to learn that it had been Fati that had caused his godfather so much pain over the years.

Vitam was the only Immortal truly worried about the mortals' presence and she gave Tony a once over as she replied to her twin, "Indeed, Brother it does."

Thor chuckled as Tony gulped at the look at that Vitam was giving him.

Jarvis remained silent, knowing that it was not his place to interfere, though he did take note of the smirk on Insania's face.

That smirk never meant well for his processors.

Well, that was a bit different than how I planned…but hey, that's how it works with writing. Or at least, that's how it works a lot of the time with me :)

Long chapter, so I hope you all enjoyed it!

Oh, and I'll reveal what Pen's first four lives are next chapter (for those of you who haven't put it together yet), if not in the chapter then in the AN.

So…yeah,
Thanks for reading! You all rock!
Cp