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Chapter Text

The sudden darkening sky made Tony look up and he quickly hopped off his stool and rushed over to the window to watch the fireworks. Below, the deck workers of the helicarrier scrambled to clear the area as the grey clouds began to spiral and lightening began to flash above. Tony felt his hair stand on end as the vortex shattered apart and the blue lightening arced down to strike the helicarrier deck. He squinted against the bright light as it danced from sky to helicarrier and then faded away. The clouds dispersed in the next second and the sky was once again a clear blue.

Thor stood where chaos had just raged, shifting the Tesseract transporter in his arms. The distinctive knot pattern that always appeared when Thor arrived from Asgard was burnt into the metal deck below his feet. The thunder god raised a hand in greeting, his hair and red cloak whipping around in the wind. The high altitude of the helicarrier did not affect Thor as he strode across the deck and went inside. Tony grinned and went back to his worktable now that the lightshow was over with.

It started off with small things disappearing around the helicarrier; staplers, rulers, small electronics.  Things like that. Pretty much anything that weighted a couple of pounds and wasn’t nailed down. Someone even made off with Bruce’s favorite pen. They were either very brave or very stupid to steal from Bruce. Steve told Clint to knock it off but the archer said it wasn’t him. Steve told Tony to knock it off but the engineer said it wasn’t him either, followed by a long rant about being innocent until proven guilty in the United States and pretty much chasing Steve from the lab with the sheer volume of his protests. Coulson told Clint to knock it off but the archer still said it wasn’t him and spent the rest of the day pouting while hiding at the shooting range. Fury told them all to knock it off and Natasha favored the men on the team with a deadly stare. The little statue thing that usually sat on the corner of Fury’s desk disappeared that evening and one of Natasha’s favorite knifes went missing the next day. Neither was very pleased.

A few days later Tony and Bruce were in the big lab on level seven when Jarvis suddenly informed Tony that tablet number three seemed to be moving by itself. “What do you mean ‘by itself’, Jarvis?” asked Tony, wandering around some of the bigger machines, trying to remember where he had left tablet number three.

“I mean that the tablet is moving but you and Dr. Banner are nowhere near it,” replied Jarvis dryly.

“Cute, Mr. Sassy Pants.” Tony went over to the table and looked down at the empty spot where the tablet should have been. He tapped the table top with a fingernail. “Tablet? Here tablet! Here boy!”

“It’s not a dog, Tony. It’s not going to come on command,” said Bruce.

“Works on Dummy and the other bots.” Tony turned in a little circle, looking around. “Ok, I give. Where is it, Jarvis?”

“Five feet to your left, sir.” Tony followed Jarvis’ instructions until he was crouched under another table, digging tablet number three out of the dusty corner.

Tony stood, turning the tablet over in his hands. “So, do you want to tell Fury the helicarrier is haunted or should I?”

“The helicarrier is not haunted, Tony,” Bruce said, taking tablet number three out of his hands and inspecting it himself.

“Well, it didn’t crawl under there by itself, no matter what Jarvis says,” snapped Tony.

“Maybe it fell to the floor and we kicked it there by accident?” Bruce suggested.

Tony snatched tablet number three from Bruce’s grasp and clutched it to his chest. “You monster! How dare you suggest that I mistreated one of my babies! I would never.”

“It’s a computer tablet, Tony. Not your offspring,” said Bruce with an exasperated smile.

Tony gasped and then began to pet the tablet’s casing. “Don’t listen to him, number three. He doesn’t understand,” he muttered to the device. The computer gave a little chime.

Bruce threw up his hands. “I give up. You are not normal.” He went back over to his stool and returned to fiddling with the device scattered in pieces across the table. “If you are really going to tell Fury the helicarrier is haunted then make sure to tell me so I can be there to watch his reaction.”

Tony opened his mouth to reply, still cuddling tablet number three to his chest, when the Avenger’s alarm blared through the com system. Tony winced and set the tablet carefully on the table. “That is an awful sound,” complained Tony as they both made their out of the lab to see what was wrong. “I’m hacking the computers and changing that when we get back.” Bruce couldn’t fight back a grin in response.

Tablet number three, the silver stylus Tony had been using, and several pieces of the machine Bruce was working on were gone when they got back.

Chapter Text

On the surface, the debriefing was about the latest Dr. Doom robot attack they had just put an end to an hour and a half ago. In reality, it was about figuring out who was a nasty, dirty thief. “This has really gone too far,” Bruce said in a calm voice, the type of calm that a person had to work at and signaled a certain type of warning for the doctor.

“I’m missing a dozen arrow heads!” exclaimed a rumpled Clint. “And Natasha is missing three knifes and a throwing star!” Next to him, a dusty Natasha pressed her lips together, not exactly pleased for it to be known that someone had managed to steal from her.

“My music device has gone missing!” lamented Thor, a tiny scratch on his cheek. “It was a gift from Lady Darcy!”

“Okay, okay! We’re all missing things. I’m sure this was all a bit of fun and games but now it’s time to give the items back,” said Fury, raising his voice to be heard over the team. He paused. “Stark, are you paying attention? Stark?”

The light above the table was flickering. Tony stared up at it, entranced. He knew the others were talking and that he should probably be paying them more attention because tablet number three was missing and his baby needed him but he couldn’t pull his attention away from the ceiling. Because. The. Light. Was. Flickering.

“Tony?” Steve asked softly next to him, concerned. His hair was falling over his forehead and he had a split lip from the Doombot fight.

“Is he okay? Did he hit his head or something in the fight?” snapped an impatient Clint.

“It’s the light. It’s flickering,” Bruce replied tiredly.

“So? It’s just an annoying light.”

“To us it’s just an annoying light. To Tony it is a rhythmically flashing visual disturbance and high pitched buzzing sound bent on driving him insane.”

“Too late,” muttered Natasha.

Fury rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “God, I hate geniuses. I never have this problem with the rest of the geeks,” he muttered.

Half of them startled as Tony stood so fast that his chair rolled into the wall behind them. He stomped over to one of the uncomfortable metal chairs stacked in the corner of the conference room and yanked one off. The dark haired man then carried the chair back over to the table and set it on top, all the while staring up at the flickering light. “Tony? What are you doing?” asked Steve cautiously.

“Stark, don’t you dare climb up on my table,” growled Fury.

Tony turned around, scooted his butt onto the table, swiveled to the side, kicked his legs up onto the table, and then used Steve’s shoulder to lever himself up onto his feet. He then scrambled up onto the chair and lifted the ceiling tile out of his way. Steve caught it before Tony could drop it to the floor. “Tony, is this really the time for this?” Steve pleaded.

“Just let him fix it,” Bruce said, rubbing at his temples. “He won’t be able to concentrate on anything else until it stops flickering.”

“Crazy fucker,” muttered Clint.

Tony stuck his head into the ceiling, reaching up to snatch at some of the light’s wiring. Must stop flickering. He yanked a wire out and tugged at a screw, giving a little growl when it didn’t move. “Steve?” he asked, poking his head out. “I need your pocketknife. I know you have one, you Boy Scout.” Steve fished it out of his pant pocket with a sigh, not even bothering to argue, and handed it up to the other man. Tony put his head back in the ceiling and flicked the knife open, using the flat side to loosen the screw. It smelled musty up there and he fought not to sneeze.

Something skittered to his right and Tony jerked his head around. His first thought was ‘rats!’ and if there were rats inside his beautiful helicarrier than Tony was going to blow a gasket. Heads would roll. Vermin were not allowed inside his babies. He squinted into the darkness. But the shape that hunched in the gloom was no rat. Not unless you counted prehistoric rats the size of most large dogs and had spikes growing out of its back. Little red eyes squinted back at him. “Bruce?” he called, not looking away from the thing. “Is the biology lab missing any of its critters?”

Bruce lifted his head from where he had been cradling it in his palms. “No. I don’t think so. Why?”

“Because I’m not the only one up in this ceiling,” Tony replied tightly. Everyone looked up, as if they had suddenly gained x-ray vision and could see through the ceiling tiles. There was a hissing sound and then claws on metal and Tony jerked back with a yelp as the thing shot toward his face. He flailed, knocking the back of his head on the metal frame of the light, and fell. Steve caught him before Tony could hit the floor, stumbling back away from the table under his weight.

They all listened to the skittering fading away into the distance, eyes tracking the noise. “Ow,” Tony muttered peevishly, rubbing the back of his head.

“Do not tell me there are rats in the helicarrier,” snapped Fury.

“The King of Rats!” exclaimed Tony. “That thing was fucking huge!” The ceiling suddenly gave an ominous groan. It creaked and a crack appeared in the next ceiling tile. “Um…” Everyone jumped back as the ceiling gave away, spilling a mountain of office supplies, weapons, personal items, and small electronics onto the table top.

They all stared for a moment. “I fucking told you it wasn’t me!” cried Clint. “You all owe me a damn apology!”

“Tablet number three!” Tony exclaimed happily. The tablet gave a forlorn beep from the pile. Tony wiggled. “Put me down, Steve. My baby needs me.” Steve put Tony on his feet with a sigh and Tony fished the poor tablet from the mess on the table. “Poor little tablet,” soothed Tony, rubbing at teeth marks along the casing of the device. “Did that nasty creature try to eat you?”

“Crazy fucker,” muttered Clint again with a shake of his head.

“We have found our thief, my friends!” exclaimed Thor. “Now we shall hunt the malicious beast down and take our justice from its hide.” Bruce’s mouth twisted in distaste at the thunder god’s announcement.

“Stark is bleeding,” Natasha informed them all flatly.

Tony blinked up at her and then down at himself, searching until he found the deep cut on the palm of his right hand. Steve hissed and gently took hold of his wrist, tilting his hand up. Blood began to pool between Tony’s fingers. Tony looked down at the mess that had fallen out of the ceiling and then back up at Steve. “I dropped your pocketknife,” he said mournfully, as if this was a grave injustice.

“Does not that hurt, my friend?” asked Thor curiously.

Tony’s face twisted. “Well, it didn’t until you asked. Ow! Ow! Ow!”

Fury sighed. “Rogers, take Stark to medical before he faints. Romanoff, Barton, pick your weapons out of this junk and then have some of the junior agents take the rest of it away. I think there might be some moldy food in there from the smell of it. We’ll have to get some traps or poisons to kill the rats,” Fury ordered.

“I would be happy to smite the vermin for you, Lord Fury!” Thor offered happily.

“Please don’t,” muttered Bruce, visions of the helicarrer falling from the sky filling his head.

“It wasn’t a rat!” cried Tony. “It was green and black and had spikes growing out of its back and huge fangs and was at least the size of Pepper’s old cat, Muffin.” Everyone stared at him. “What? Muffin was huge. Some Maine Coon thing that could kill you in your sleep.”

“Stark, do I need to have you tested for foreign substances?” demanded Fury.

“I am not on drugs, you asshole!”

“And we’re leaving,” Steve said loudly. “Come on, Tony. Let’s go get your hand stitched up before you really do faint.” He guided Tony out of the door with a hand on his lower back, his other cupped around Tony’s bleeding fingers.

“Oh, you’re lucky you’re cute, Cap, or I’d kick your ass for that remark. I’m telling you there is some sort of mutant animal loose on the helicarrier!” cried Tony as they made their way down the corridor.

“Sure thing, Tony. Whatever you say.”

“Oh, I hate you.”

“So, we shall not be hunting down the foul creature in question and dispensing justice?” asked Thor mournfully.

“No, Thor. No smiting. No dispensing justice. Do not wreck the helicarrier,” said Fury shortly.

Thor wilted. “That is disappointing.” Clint patted him sympathetically on the shoulder. Natasha poked at the pile on the table, fishing out her missing throwing star. It was covered in moldy cheese and she made a disgusted face.

“Clean this mess up,” growled Fury, storming from the room with a flare of his coat. They all looked down at the mess on the table.

“I will fetch Agent Son of Coul and he will order others to clean this up,” stated Thor, quickly leaving the room as well.

Bruce glanced between Clint and Natasha. “Don’t look at me,” he said, tossing his hands up. “I don’t even wash my own dishes.” He backed through the doorway and fled down the corridor.

Clint frowned at a crusty arrow head he could see in the smelly mound. “You don’t really think rats did all this, do you?” he asked Natasha.

The female assassin shook her head. “No,” she said quietly.

Chapter Text

Tony and Bruce returned to lab seven after medical had stitched the gash in Tony’s hand and wrapped it in white bandages. He was currently picking at the corners of the bindings. Bruce gently pushed his hands apart. “Leave it alone,” he chided.

Tony sighed and picked up tablet number three. “Poor baby. That monster really hurt you,” he muttered. Bruce couldn’t fight down a smile and Tony scowled at him. “It was not a rat! It was a monster. Some creature that the biology lab created and then let escape. I knew the soft sciences couldn’t be trusted!”

Bruce laughed. “It was probably a raccoon or something, Tony. Some animal the helicarrier picked up when docked for repairs at the Triskelion,” he said reasonably.

“It wasn’t a raccoon either! Why won’t any of you believe me? It nearly ate my face off!”

“I have done numerous scans of the helicarrier, sir, and I can find no evidence of any such monster as you describe,” announced Jarvis over the speakers of the lab.

Tony scowled and sat on a stool, cradling tablet number three to his chest. “Who asked you, you traitor?”

“Forgive me, sir. I have, however, found numerous small heat signatures and other signs of small vermin animals. Most likely mice.”

Tony squawked. “There are no mice onboard my helicarrier! Stop blaspheming!”

“Don’t get upset, Tony,” soothed Bruce. “Mice and rats get onto the best of ships no matter what we do.”

“I will not have my helicarrier talked about like it is some leaky wooden boat!” Tony cried, standing in a huff. “I am going home. I do not have to take this abuse. Jarvis, ready the suit.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I thought you were going to finish that new ear piece for Thor today?” asked Bruce. “One that wouldn’t fry the first time he used his lightening powers.”

Tony opened his mouth to answer when a loud thump came from the ceiling. They looked up, listening to the sound of claws on metal and scurrying going on above them. Something gave a low growl and there was another thump followed by a squeal. “Still think it’s rats?” snapped Tony. Bruce looked uncertain as Tony scrambled up onto a table and shoved a ceiling tile out of his way.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be sticking your head up there until we find out what is really running around,” advised Bruce.

“This thing tried to eat tablet number three! It is on my shit list,” Tony retorted. “Come to me, you evil little monster. Come meet your fate,” he called as he peered around the dim area between floors. Bruce rolled his eyes. Tony swiveled his head around, searching. “Come on, you bastard!”

“Tony, get down before you fall again. I’m not Steve. If I try to catch you, we are both hitting the floor,” pleaded Bruce.

“I think it’s gone again,” Tony said, annoyed. He turned his head and barely had time to realize something white was coming at his face before something furry and breathing smacked into him. He yelped, grabbing at the thing as short little claws dug into his scalp. Panic. Pain. Fear. Tony flailed and slipped. He hit the table top hard, knocking the breath from his lungs. Several pieces of very expensive and delicate equipment crashed to the floor.

“Tony!” cried Bruce, rushing forward. The white ball of fur scrambled across Tony’s face, clinging to the dark haired man.

It was coming for him. It had followed him through the glowing blue light with claws and fangs and red, red eyes. The others were dead, faces vacant in pools of blood. It had come for all of them. Death had come to their village. It was hunting him through the strange flying vessel. It was going to kill him. He was going to die.

Tony howled as if being tortured. The scream echoed down the corridors and one of the junior agents lunged for the alarm at the blood curdling shriek. Bruce tried to grab the creature, to get it off his screeching friend, but the thing only clung harder, claws cutting into Tony’s skin.

Coulson ran in, gun drawn. “What is going on?” he demanded. A pair of agents in black body armor showed up behind him.

“It fell out of the ceiling!” cried Bruce, green speckling his eyes. He quickly backed up to the other side of the lab, trying to breathe deeply.

Steve and Natasha appeared in the doorway, both wearing workout clothing. “Tony!” Steve yelled, moving forward.

Natasha grabbed his arm and hauled Steve back. “No,” she barked.

Move! Please, you’ve got to move! It's coming!

Tony’s teeth clicked shut, the scream cutting off, and he rolled off the table, hitting the floor and scrambling backward with the white creature clinging to his neck. There was a bang from the ceiling and a dark shape dropped down onto the table they had just vacated. It was black and molted green with spikes along its back, just as Tony had described. Long limbs bent at an awkward angle as it scrabbled on the metal table top, hissing through long fangs. Coulson started shooting at it immediately. The creature jerked away from the bullets, snarling. Dark green liquid splattered on the wall as one of the projectiles caught the creature’s torso and it let out a howl before leaping back up into the ceiling. They could hear it clattering away.

“Hmm, not a rat then,” observed Natasha calmly.

“No, apparently not,” agreed Coulson. He reached up and tapped his radio. “Sir, we may have a problem. I recommend going into lockdown mode until it is resolved. Nothing in or out.”

Tony huddled against a cabinet, staring with wide eyes at the table where the creature had been. He trembled slightly, feeling like he’d been squeezed through a small hole. His head felt heavy and his ears rang. He looked down at the white fluff cowering in his lap. “Jesus Christ, it’s a baby Ewok,” he gasped.

Steve shook Natasha off and hurried to kneel next to Tony. “Are you okay?”

Tony winced and shifted, lifting his bandaged hand. Red soaked the wrapping, dripping down his wrist. He must have torn out the stiches. It throbbed like a bitch. His back ached from hitting the table and then rolling off onto the floor and the tiny cuts the creature had left across his cheeks all stung. There was a slow throbbing developing behind Tony’s eyes. “Fuck no, I’m not okay,” he snapped.

“Is the creature hostile?” asked Coulson, gun now pointed at Tony’s lap.

Tony pulled his knees up and crossed his arms over it, shielding the little furball. He felt unaccountably protective. “Hey, watch where you are pointing that!”

Steve shifted so that he was between Tony and the weapon. “Phil,” he said sternly.

“That is a potently dangerous alien creature we have never encountered before, Captain. We must take precautions,” replied Coulson.

“It’s sitting in Tony’s lap. Point the gun somewhere else. Now.” Steve’s voice changed, going from everyday guy to the Captain America ‘I will be obeyed’ voice that he used in the field. For a second, nobody moved. Then Coulson sighed and lowered the gun. Steve relaxed. “Thank you,” he said. Coulson frowned at him and Steve suspected he was going to get a lecture about proper procedures when this was over with.

Tony peeked down between his arms, bright blue eyes looking back up at him. “Hi,” he said softly.

Greetings. The creature was perhaps as big as an average cat, with triangle ears and a short snout with a pink nose. He had sharp little kitten claws but also a thumb like digit he was using to hold onto Tony’s shirt. He was furry and wore no clothing and if it wasn’t moving around on its own Tony would think it was a stuffed animal from a toy store.

“Where did you come from and what was that other nasty thing?” Tony asked, curious.

I came though the bright blue light and that was a Gersnupalgink, indeed a very nasty thing. The creature poked his head up between Tony’s arms and looked around. Where is this?

“The SHIELD helicarrier,” answered Tony. He shifted, folding his legs so the creature could sit in the cradle. “Um, on Earth. You might know it as Midgard. Thor calls it that.”

“Tony,” asked Steve hesitantly. “Are you talking to it?”

“Duh. He speaks awesome English for being some sort of intergalactic teddy bear.”

“Stark, we can’t hear anything except you,” said Coulson, eyeing both creature and engineer like he’d like to get his gun out again.

“Don’t be dumb,” retorted Tony. “He’s talking back to me.” They all stared at him and Tony frowned. He looked at Steve. “You really can’t hear him?” The solider shook his head and Tony looked back down at the creature. “Why can’t they hear you?”

I am not touching them.

“He says you can’t hear him because you aren’t touching him,” relayed Tony.

“Oh. May I?” asked Steve, raising one hand.

Tell him that he may. Tony nodded to Steve and he gently placed his hand on top of the creatures head. Greetings.

“Did you hear that?” demanded Tony.

Steve hesitated but shook his head. “I didn’t hear anything.”

Not everyone will be able to communicate with me thus. I am sorry.

“He says not everyone will be able to talk with him,” said Tony, blinking owlishly.

“We need to get you back to medical so that they can take care of your hand again and clean those cuts,” announced Bruce. The bandage around Tony’s hand was solid red by then and as fascinating as meeting new life was, Bruce wanted to see to his friend’s health first.

“I do feel kind of lightheaded,” muttered Tony. Which in Tony-speak meant he was in agony and about to pass out. Steve shifted and slid his arms under Tony’s knees and back, lifting both him and the little creature in his lap. “Whoa, big boy! Yeah, no. Steve, put me down. This is not happening.”

“Calm down, Tony. It’s just until medical gets a look at you,” said Steve, shuffling sideways out of the door and heading down the corridor.

Tony sighed. “I’m beginning to think you have a fetish, Steve. You seem to like carting helpless injured geniuses around a lot.”

“Shut up. You’re just trying to make me blush.”

“But it’s so easy! I can’t resist.” The white creature craned its head around, blue eyes blinking. It chirped as Steve rounded the corner and disappeared with his burden.

“I’m beginning to think we should just lock them in a room until they get it out of their systems,” Bruce muttered to Natasha, once again in control of himself. The assassin smirked in response.

“Do not say that anywhere where Clint may hear you. We’d never find them again,” said Coulson drily. Bruce and Natasha snickered.

Chapter Text

It turned out that out of all of them, the creature could only communicate with Tony and Thor. “It is the All Speak,” explained Thor. “It is a gift from my Father so I may communicate with any beings I wish.”

“A first contact situation and the only two who can talk with the alien are Stark and another alien,” muttered Fury sourly. “That’s just fantastic.”

He is not a very happy man, is he? The creature thought to Tony from where it was snuggled against his hip. Tony smirked.

“What is your name, small one?” asked Thor.

Panzelasia.

The others in the group all looked expectedly at Thor and Tony. “His name is Panda,” replied Tony quickly. He glanced down. “You don’t mind if we call you Panda, right?”

I do not mind.

Fury looked unimpressed. “Stark,” he growled.

“Trust me. Panda is better,” said Tony. He even sort of looked like a panda, if you disregarded the lack of black markings. Tony winced as the doctor stitched his hand back up. They had numbed the area again but it still burned and pulled uncomfortably.

“And the space bear got onto the helicarrier, how again?” asked Clint, eyeing Panda nervously.

“I told you. The bright blue light got him and the gremlin. That’s all he knows,” said Tony tiredly. He ached all over and the soreness was beginning to settle in his bones. It had been a long day full of Doombots and quick stops against hard surfaces. Even his hair felt bruised.

“The gremlin?” asked Coulson, one eyebrow raised.

“Yes, the gremlin. It looked just like that 80’s movie. Do not even start with me,” huffed Tony.

“Somebody needs a nap,” teased Clint.

“Shut up, Clint.” Tony wasn’t even able to summon the energy to banter with the archer. Clint frowned at him and backed off, sensing that Tony was reaching the end of his rope.

“I want to know why Panda was stealing our stuff,” Natasha said.

That was not me. It was the Gersnupalgink.

“That wasn’t Panda. It was the gremlin,” replied Tony dutifully, rubbing at his eyes with his free hand.

“But why was it stealing all those things?” asked Steve.

It enjoys reflective items. Panda was grooming himself absently, running his claws through his fur and licking his flank.

Tony snorted, amused. “It’s a magpie. It likes shiny things.”

“There’s no telling what it walked off with then,” Steve commented.

“It walked off with shiny things, Steve. I just told you. Try to keep up.” Tony smirked while Steve frowned at him.

“Don’t start, Tony,” scolded Bruce. He helped the doctor tie off the bandage around Tony’s new stitches.

“Since apparently Stark really does need a nap,” grumbled Fury. “I suggest we all call it a night, get some food and get some sleep before trying to find a way to track that gremlin creature since Jarvis can’t.” Tony’s face tightened into an impressive scowl at the mention of Jarvis still not being able to track the aliens.

“It is most perplexing, Director. I can see Panda on the cameras and yet he will not register on any of my scans. He has no heat signature, no detectible heartbeat. I am at a loss,” supplied the AI.

“I’m still not happy about your computer minion being in the helicarrier’s systems,” Fury growled.

“Tough,” snapped Tony, glaring.

“Alright,” Fury barked. “Stark is with Panda as the only viable option we have as a translator right now. God help us. Rogers is with Stark and Panda in case that gremlin thing comes back. Romanoff and Barton will get some rest and then start the search for the gremlin thing in the morning.” Clint opened his mouth but Fury talked over any protests he could make. “Rest first, then monster hunting. Coulson, get Stark and Panda set up in one of the ambassador suites and I know that mess is still on the conference room table. Clean it up and make sure all the items get back to their owners. I don’t want to see any of you until tomorrow morning after I’ve had at least two cups of coffee. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes sir,” replied Coulson. Everyone else gave the director displeased frowns. Fury scowled back at them and stormed out of the medical bay, scattering nurses in his wake.

A very unhappy man. Panda climbed into Tony’s lap again.

“We have ambassador suites?” Tony asked, confused.

The helicarrier did indeed have ambassador suites and they were rather spacious and well appointed ambassador suites with a proper attached bathroom. Tony looked around the room and frowned. “How come the Avengers are given tiny little postage stamp rooms but then there are these huge suites that nobody is even using? I mean, isn’t it a waste to not put us in these rooms?” They even had windows and Tony crossed the room to look out at the night sky. Far below, city lights twinkled in the black. Tony thought they were somewhere over New Jersey. Panda leaned forward in Tony’s arms and pressed his nose against the glass.

“These are special rooms, Tony,” replied Steve, closing the door and resting his shield against a dresser. “Besides, our quarters are fine.”

“This from the man who has never slept on sheets with a higher thread count than two hundred.” Tony yawned, breath fogging the glass. “I pity you.”

“My sheets do just fine. Thank you.” Dinner had been a sleepy affair in the helicarrier cafeteria with plates of fresh fruit and vegetables for Panda and some overly salty beef stew with bland cornbread for everyone else. Steve thought that Panda had eaten more of Tony’s beef stew than Tony had. At least Steve had held firm and succeeded in keeping Tony from drinking anymore coffee.

Tony sat heavily on the edge of the bed, wincing as body parts throbbed. Panda crawled out of his arms and walked up the duvet to inspect the pillows. It was odd watching Panda walk, sort of like watching a koala bear lumber around. Tony wondered if Panda’s species lived in trees but the thought dug up visions of blood covered fur and Tony pushed it away quickly. He flopped back on the bed, legs hanging off the edge, and groaned. His back was killing him and he could really use a shower. “Alright, Steve. We’re here, you’ve done your duty. You can leave now.”

“Nope,” said Steve. “I’m stuck like glue to the both of you until we find the gremlin thing.”

“I don’t need a babysitter, Steve. We’ll be fine,” Tony replied sourly, closing his eyes.

I would prefer if your warrior stayed with us while we rested. Panda said, walking down the bed to rest his paws – hands? - briefly on Tony’s arm.

“He’s not my warrior and nobody asked you,” muttered Tony.

“What?” asked Steve, frustrated with only hearing half a conversation. Tony waved a limp hand at him, the white bandage wrapped around his palm. Steve rolled his eyes. “You may not need a babysitter but Panda needs a bodyguard and while you’re Panda’s translator that means you’re going to have to put up with me.” He waited for some sort of protest from the man sprawled out on the bed but none was forthcoming. “Tony?”

“I believe Sir has fallen asleep, Captain,” supplied Jarvis softly. “He has been awake for over 32 hours at this point.”

“Geez, for a genius he is such an idiot,” muttered Steve. Steve turned down the sheets and gently took Tony’s shoes off. He carefully rolled Tony over and laid his head on the pillows, afraid he was going to wake him. But Tony was dead to the world and Steve was pretty sure a bomb could go off before Tony would wake up. Panda waited until Steve had tucked Tony into the bed before climbing over the engineer and curling up against his stomach.

Steve turned off most of the lights, leaving the one of the far side of the room on. He then pulled up an arm chair – probably the most comfortable chair in the whole helicarrier – and settled himself in it. He rested his shield against the side of the chair and folded his arms. In the dim light of the bedroom he watched Tony sleep, listening to his deep breathing. Then he figured watching the man in bed was probably a bit creepy and resolutely directed his gaze out of the black window. Steve hadn’t meant to doze but it had been a long day for everyone and the soft sounds of Tony slumbering lulled him into sleep himself.

Chapter Text

The soldier had no idea what had woken him, merely that one moment he was sleeping and the next he was awake, aware instinctively that something in his surroundings was not right. Steve cracked his eyes open, scanning the room. Tony and Panda were still sleeping peacefully on the bed. Then the slight hissing reached Steve’s ears and movement along the bottom of the bed caught his eye. The gremlin crept across the floor. Steve frowned. This was not the one that had been in the lab earlier. It was green and dull orange, instead of the green and black beast they had seen that evening.

Long claws reached up to the bed and the creature pulled itself up the duvet. Red eyes stared across the bed at the two sleeping figures, focused on where Panda was snuggled against Tony. No, that wasn’t right. The gremlin wasn’t looking at Panda, but up at where the arc reactor glowed a pale cool blue in Tony’s chest through his shirt.

It’s a magpie. It likes shiny things, came the memory of Tony’s chuckled words.

Steve was up and ramming his shield against the gremlin within his next breath, flinging it off the bed. “Tony, wake up!” he cried as the thing tumbled to the floor with a screech.

Tony’s eyes flew open and he sat up in a panic. The gremlin leapt at Steve, clawing at his shield and lashing its long tail. Tony scooped a frozen Panda up into his arms and kicked away the duvet. He stumbled from the bed and fled toward the door. “Jarvis, sound the alarm!” he shouted.

“Sir, above you!” Jarvis warned quickly.

Tony checked his momentum at the AI’s cry just as the ceiling tile over him broke and dumped another gremlin into the room. This time it was the green and black creature they had already seen. The beast snarled and Tony could feel blinding panic seeping through him from where Panda clung to his shoulders. Tony darted to the side as the gremlin lunged, feeling claws tear at the back of his shirt, and threw himself into the bathroom. “How many of those damn things are there?” snapped Tony, slamming the door shut. The gremlin managed to stick its claws and muzzle in between the doorframe, snarling and snapping at Tony and Panda. Tony shoved his shoulder up against the door and snatched up the heavy marble soap dispenser on the sink counter, smashing it into the gremlin’s snout. It reared back with a cry and Tony was able to close and lock the door. He fumbled the light on, blinking against the glare. Tony stared up at the ceiling, stumbling back until he was in the shower, which was surrounded completely by ceramic tile, and yanked the glass shower door closed.

Tony leaned against the cold tile wall and panted, his heart feeling like it was going to pound out of his chest. He was feeling lightheaded and damn it all to hell if his stupid hand didn’t throb like a bitch again. His lower back where the gremlin had caught at his shirt burned. “Calm down, Panda. It will be ok,” he gasped to the furry alien. Panda was making a weird distressed clicking noise against his neck. Something banged and thumped against the bathroom door and Tony prayed it would hold.

Where is your warrior?

Good question. “Jarvis, how is Steve doing?”

“Captain Rogers appears to be holding his own against the first gremlin,” reported Jarvis. “Agent Coulson and Agent Barton have arrived.” Tony flinched as gun shots echoed in the bedroom and he heard the gremlins howling and shrieking. Another gun shot and the sounds fell silent.

Tony felt relief prickle over his skin and allowed his legs to go weak, sliding down the tile wall to sit on the shower floor. He was aware that what he was feeling was not completely his own emotions but he couldn’t quite make himself let go of Panda. His stomach churned and Tony tried to breathe deeply. “Calm down, Panda,” he muttered.

“Tony?” called Steve in the bedroom.

“In here,” shouted Tony.

The door flew open, the lock splintering, and Steve stormed in. He looked none the worse for his fight with the gremlin with just a few cuts along his arms. Steve froze in the doorway, horror twisting his face. “Oh god,” he gasped, rushing to Tony. Tony frowned and then looked up. A long streak of red blood ran down the shower wall where Tony had slid down to sit. “Don’t move,” ordered Steve, opening the shower door and crowding inside. “Where did it get you?”

Tony shook his head. “It’s just a scratch. It barely caught my shirt.” He shifted forward, revealing the tear in his clothing and the three shallow claw marks on his lower back. “Burns like shit, though.”

Steve relaxed, gently touching Tony’s side. “It doesn’t look too bad,” he said. “Is Panda okay?” Tony looked questioningly down into wide blue eyes.

I am unharmed.

“He’s good,” replied Tony, hugging the trembling white fluff ball tighter and rubbing behind his left ear.

Natasha and Coulson entered through the ruined doorway. The red-headed assassin ran her eyes over Tony and clicked her tongue. “You’re fine,” she announced and disappeared back into the bedroom.

“You have, however, earned yourself another trip to medical,” said Coulson.

Tony frowned. “Wonderful. You should hand out punch cards. Get two sets of stitches get the third set free! Can I at least have some coffee this time?”

“No,” replied Steve, scooping Tony up and backing carefully out of the shower. He made sure to put his hand on Tony’s back high enough not to aggravate the gremlin slashes.

“Not again, Steve. I can walk, you know.”

“Um, better if you didn’t. Your shoes didn’t make it and the room is a mess,” said Steve apologetically. He did a little turn out of the bathroom door so Tony’s bare feet didn’t hit anything. The bedroom was indeed a mess and Tony scrunched up his nose at the smell of gunpowder and dead animal. Oddly, it also smelled like wet grass. The two gremlins had several bullet holes in them and had been just short of blown apart. They both had two arrows sticking neatly out of the center of their heads. Clint was poking at one with the end of his bow.

Tony’s shoes were covered by green blood and what looked like a part of a gangly arm. “Ew,” said Tony as Steve picked his way through the bedroom to the door. Panda hid his face against Tony’s stomach. “That’s gross guys.”

“Phil may have been a little overenthusiastic with his gun,” said Clint with a grin.

“Nonsense,” replied Coulson blandly. “I was merely neutralizing a threat to a visiting dignitary.”

“Uh, I don’t think the first gremlin was after Panda,” said Steve as he maneuvered out into the hallway with Tony. He looked grim. “It was staring at the arc reactor.”

A chill ran through Tony and he lifted one hand to press against the disk in his chest. “It likes shiny things,” he muttered.

Coulson’s face went blank. “You don’t go anywhere by yourself until we resolve this, understand?” Tony mustered a half-hearted glare at the agent. “You and Panda will always have an escort, Stark,” insisted Coulson.

“Let’s head toward medical,” interrupted Natasha before Tony could rally up a good amount of irritation through his exhaustion and pain in order to bitch at Coulson. “I’m sure they’ll be very pleased to see Stark for the third time in twenty four hours.”

“I have to be setting some sort of record,” Tony grumbled. Steve started down the hall and Tony chose to ignore the fact that Natasha was coming with them. He hugged a faintly trembling Panda and laid his head on Steve’s shoulder, not even bothering to demand to be put down so he could walk on his own. He suddenly didn’t mind the closeness.

The nurses cleaned the cuts from the gremlin carefully. They even added a few stitches on some particularly deep slices, which Tony complained was just them getting revenge for his totally reasonable whining and wiggling. It hurt, god damn it. He was lying on his stomach, face mashed into a thin pillow. (There was no reason to think that his face was mashed against said pillow to hide the few tears he couldn’t keep from leaking out. Nope nope.) The burning had traveled all across Tony’s lower back and around his hips.

“Is it supposed to be hurting him this badly?” demanded Steve.

“They are wounds made by an alien being, Captain Rogers,” Dr. Hall said calmly. Or as calmly as he could with half the Avengers team glaring down at him. “There is no telling what foreign substances might have been on that creature’s claws or what Mr. Stark’s reaction to them will be.”

“Fucking fantastic,” growled Tony. Steve laid one broad palm between his shoulder blades and rubbed gently. A few of Tony’s muscle did manage to unknot under the touch.

“The gremlin scratched me too but I’m not reacting to it,” Steve said.

The doctor gave him an unimpressed look. “Your physiology is vastly different from Mr. Stark’s, Captain. We’ve already seen the amazing amount of cell regeneration your body exhibits. I doubt any foreign bacteria or poisons would even have a chance to make you sick before your body merely cycled them out.”

“Lovely,” muttered Tony into his pillow.

Panda patted his cheek. I am incredibly sorry for this. It is all my fault.

Tony picked his head up and gently grabbed both of Panda’s hands – paws? -, rubbing at the soft pads. “It’s okay, Panda. You didn’t have any control in this. We don’t blame you.”

“Hopefully those two are the only gremlins on the helicarrier,” said Steve. “Does Panda know how many gremlins came through the light with him?”

I do not. Only one Gersnupalgink came through the light with me but more soon appeared. Soon it seemed as if I was running from a whole army. I was in no frame of mind to count them. Panda ducked his head in shame.

“That’s okay, Panda. Nobody would have been,” soothed Tony. He glanced up at Steve and shook his head. “He says only one came through with him but more somehow got on the helicarrier after. He’s been running from a couple, it seems.”

“Then we have to assume there are more,” said Coulson with a frown. There was suddenly a bang from above them and a heavy scrambling. Coulson pulled his gun and point it up at the ceiling. Steve snatched up his shield from against the wall and leaned over the bed, protecting its occupants. Panda squeaked and shoved himself into Tony’s arms, pushing his chest up. A spasm clinched the muscles of Tony’s back and he cried out in pain.

The clattering faded away in the ceiling and Coulson tapped his radio, ordering agents up to the area above medical. Tony panted, his back twisted up like steel wire and his muscles burning. He thought his spine was trying to stab through his skin. “Tony?” asked Steve as Tony tried to breathe steadily past the agony. Steve placed his hands on Tony’s sides and rubbed lightly, hoping to sooth away whatever pain was attacking him.

It was like being touched with hot embers. “Stop!” Tony choked. Steve removed his hands, apologizing. Panda crawled out of Tony’s arms and the man curled his fingers into the sheets and bit down on the pillow.

“What’s wrong with him?” demanded Steve, voice heavy with concern. His hands hovered over Tony’s back, afraid to touch him.

“Muscle spasms, most likely,” replied Dr. Hall quickly. He spoke urgently with a nurse, who hurried away with a nod. “Mr. Stark, just keep breathing as evenly as you can,” advised the doctor. “That’s it. You’re doing good.” Tony bit down harder on the pillow and growled, panting through his nose. What did the moron think he was doing already? As soon as he could, Tony was going to punch the idiot.

The nurse returned with a filled syringe and the doctor quickly swabbed a spot on Tony’s arm before injecting him. He tried to rub at the needle site but Tony jerked away. Would people please quit fucking touching him! “Give it a moment,” Dr. Hall said primly.

Tony panted through the pain. At the head of the bed, Panda started up a distressed clicking, like he had when the two gremlins had attacked. Finally, Tony felt a cool rush seep through his veins and his muscles loosen. His back unknotted and he took a deep breathe. “Is it working?” asked Steve softly. Tony nodded against the pillow, too wiped out to speak. Tentatively, Steve placed his hand back between Tony’s shoulder blades and rubbed gently. Now that his body no longer felt like it was trying to tear itself apart, Tony allowed the touch.

“What was that about?” demanded Coulson.

“I’m afraid we can go ahead and assume that there was at least some form of poison involved with the creature’s claws,” replied Dr. Hall. He gestured to one of the nurses. “We’ll start Mr. Stark on an IV for fluids and give him some pain medication while we begin to run tests and try to figure out a way to combat the poison.”

“I want Bruce,” muttered Tony sullenly. He was starting to drift.

Steve leaned down to him. “What, Tony?”

“I want Bruce to run the tests,” Tony said louder. Bruce had always been better at the soft squishy sciences than Tony.

“I’m sure the doctors and labs here will be more than enough to handle this, Stark. There is no reason to wake Dr. Banner,” said Coulson, marking something on a small tablet.

Tony frowned against the pillow, eyelashes sweeping against the rough fabric as he blinked. Wait, did he mean that one of the team had been attacked and injured and nobody woke Bruce to tell him? That was amazingly dumb. “Jarvis?”

“Sir?”

“Brucie.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Stark,” said Coulson warningly.

“Didn’t tell Bruce. That’s dumb,” muttered Tony sleepily. “You’re not usually dumb, Agent.” The dark haired man was drifting in between asleep and awake, resting on a warm current of whatever drugs they had given him, when Tony’s throat closed up and he suddenly couldn’t breathe anymore.

Chapter Text

He drifted between too hot and too cold. It was dark but sometimes there would be a bright flash that hurt his eyes and a burst of noise that made him want to curl up and hide. A small pleading voice muttered very softly somewhere, gently calling for him. Tony ignored it and drifted, exhausted and sore. Everything ached and a wave of sharp needle like pain would shoot through his body every once and a while. He wondered vaguely if he whimpered with the pain, if he was making noise outside of his head, but that thought was quickly obliterated by a new stab of agony to his chest.

What was going on? Why did he hurt? Was this the effects of the palladium poisoning? But, they had taken care of that right? There was a different core in the arc reactor. It shone a cool blue, like the full moon on a dark night. Where was Pepper? Where was Jarvis? Where was Rhodey? He hurt. He hurt everywhere.

Tony? Tony, can you hear me? I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I’m so, so sorry.

Panda? That was Panda. Calm down, Panda. This wasn’t your fault. Poor Panda. Where was Panda? Tony hoped he wasn’t in the dark place with Tony, where all the hurt was. Another wave of pain rolled over him and Tony sobbed, skin so hot he thought he was lying in flames. He wanted it to stop. Please make it stop! If he could peel his skin off, he would. It hurt. It hurt so badly.

Sound burst against Tony’s eardrum like missile fire. “…gone for…Asgard…mother Frigga…on Tony.” The words washed against the pain and scattered. Asgard? Thor. Tony thought of bright blue light that cut through the sky and felt as if he should know something about that. Something about the bright blue light. Then something cold and wet touched his toes and Tony’s heart tried to burst from his chest. It crept over his calves and up his thighs and Tony howled, thoughts scattered like leaves as terror took hold of him.

Steve fought not to drop Tony as the other man screamed and thrashed in his arms. The tub of lukewarm water splashed all over the floor as his legs kicked. “Get him in the water! We need to bring down his temperature!” yelled Dr. Hall. A pair of nurses huddled in fear in a corner. A third nurse, a short red head, raced over to the wall intercom and began to speak urgently into it.

“I’m trying!” snapped Steve. “Tony! Tony stop! It’s okay!” He didn’t seem to hear him and Steve had to turn his head away before Tony could claw his face. “Tony!”

They were trying to drown him again! They were going to shove his head under water and hold him there until his lungs burned, until his body betrayed him and he breathed in! He could feel the brackish, dirty water closing over him. He could feel it rushing down his throat, sweeping up his nose. He could hear the harsh, guttural voices yelling at him, demanding things he knew he could not give them. Water was everywhere. It splashed across his chest, shocking him and making his heart beat unevenly. It soaked the dirt floor of the cave, turning it into a messy brown sludge that his knees slipped in. They were going to kill him!

“Just drop him in, for pity’s sake. He doesn’t understand what’s going on,” barked the doctor. The man yelped as Natasha suddenly appeared and shoved him harshly aside, snatching Tony’s lower half from the tub and lifting him out of the water. The dark haired man’s terrified screaming tapered off. “What is the meaning of this?” Dr. Hall demanded, righting himself. “I am trying to treat my patient!” He yelped again as Clint came up behind him and caught his arms, shoving them up his back, and then started to frog march him out of the room.

“Thank you, doctor, but your services will no longer be required by SHEILD,” Coulson said with the blandest, coldest voice they had ever heard the agent use. “Clint, do not drop him off the edge of the helicarrier. Take him to Agent Sitwell and let him properly process the man out.”

“No fucking promises,” growled Clint. Steve stared, surprised and confused. He shifted a shaking and delirious Tony in his arms and stepped back away from the tub.

Natasha let go of Tony’s legs and Steve cringed under her glare. The red-headed assassin had never directed such a furious look at one of her teammates before. Over her head, clinging to her hair, was Panda, staring at Steve with wide blue eyes. “I have never thought you to be stupid, Rogers,” hissed Natasha, her voice as sharp as one of her knifes. “But that was the most idiotic thing I have ever seen you do.”

Steve looked away, unable to meet her eyes. He wished he could say he didn’t understand, that he didn’t know, but he knew what Tony’s screams had meant. He remembered Bucky jerking awake in the night, a shout tearing from his throat. He remembered nights when his friend could not escape the memories of the Hydra facility Steve had rescued him from. He remembered the Howling Commandos huddled around a fire, drinking and muttering about memories Steve did not share, memories of captivity and experimentation. Torture. “I didn’t…” Steve tried to say but his voice drifted away. Tony shivered in his arms even as his skin burned with fever.

“He was not told the details,” muttered Coulson, stepping forward and lightly touching Natasha’s arm.

“That is no excuse,” hissed Natasha, jerking her head to stare at the agent. Dust covered the black surface of the light body armor she wore, turning it grey. She and Clint had already spent many hours in the crawl spaces hunting the gremlins through the helicarrier.

For a moment, Coulson and Natasha looked at each other. Coulson gave a slight nod and looked at Steve. “We can’t submerge Tony to being down his temperature. We’ll soak towels and wrap him in them.”

Steve nodded. He glanced down at the tub. “Water?” he asked hesitantly.

Natasha made a small noise in her throat and stormed out of the room. Coulson pressed his lips into a thin line. “Water,” the agent agreed. “But you’ll have to ask Stark himself when he wakes up.” Steve gave a subdued nod and followed him back to Tony’s bed in a large but private medical room.

Natasha was already there wetting towels with cool water, her body armor discarded in the corner. “Any sign that Thor has returned with news?” asked Steve as he gently lowered Tony onto the bed. The dark haired man shivered as his fever raged, brown eyes unfocused and wandering. On his back, the gremlin scratches were red and puffy, seeping pus and hot to the touch. Natasha used a small cloth to wipe the sweat off his face.

A clattering sounded above them but they ignored it. Sheets of steel had been bolted over the ceiling tiles to keep the gremlins out of the medical bay. “No, unfortunately,” replied Coulson. He turned to a blond nurse wheeling in another basin of cool water. “Have Dr. Murphy summoned to the helicarrier,” he ordered.

The nurse blinked. “This isn’t Dr. Murphy’s rotation,” she argued. Natasha and Steve began to wrap the wet towels around Tony’s torso. He whimpered and jerked under their hands. The nurse stared at where Panda clung to Natasha’s hair.

“I am aware of that,” Coulson said frostily. “But Dr. Hall will no longer be handling Mr. Stark’s care and we need Dr. Murphy to please come up to the helicarrier and take over.” The nurse shrank under Coulson’s tone.

Natasha rolled her eyes. “Jarvis, find Dr. Murphy’s number and get her up here.”

“My pleasure, Agent Romanoff,” replied the AI.

“A helicarrier of highly trained personnel and the only one I can rely on was programed by Tony Stark,” muttered Coulson. Tony’s eyes fluttered at his name.

“Jarvis, is this doing any good?” asked Steve.

“It is, Captain. Sir’s temperature has dropped to 102.6 degrees,” answered Jarvis.

“I wish Thor would come back with help,” Steve muttered, rewetting a towel across Tony’s shoulder. Panda jumped from Natasha back to the bed, walking up to sit on the pillow and run his claws gently thought Tony’s hair in a grooming motion. It seemed to calm the ill man’s fidgeting somewhat. The alien made some faint clicking noises, which they thought meant some sort of distress. Without Tony or Thor, none of them could communicate with the little alien. “It’s okay, Panda,” said Steve, reaching out to pet him between the ears. “Tony will be fine.”

“A helicopter has been dispatched to retrieve Dr. Murphy, Agent Coulson,” announced Jarvis. “She should arrive within the next hour.”

“Thank you, Jarvis.” The three worked to bring down Tony’s fever with the cool towels, keeping up a rotation of freshly wetted towels across his body.

“Sir’s temperature has dropped below 102 degrees,” stated the AI after a while. Steve sighed in relief. Tony was twitching on the bed, shifting restlessly, but he no longer had that frightening blue tint to his lips.

“Can he have another dose of painkiller?” asked Natasha. If they let it go on too long the man would start whimpering and trying to roll off the bed. It would ebb into sobbing after that, the gremlin claw marks infected and raw on his back.

“Not for at least another half an hour,” Jarvis replied, worry clouding his tone.

“Roll him on his side. I want to try something.” Steve turned Tony carefully onto his uninjured side and Natasha picked off the gauze from the wound. Blood and puss stuck to the pad and she tried to be as gentle as possible getting it off. Tony still whimpered in pain, back arching away. Steve hushed him, stroking his shoulder. Natasha wet a towel and laid it across the slashes, hoping the cold would help with the pain. Tony groaned, trying to twist away. Natasha grabbed his hip, holding him still.

“Shh, it’s okay, Tony. Just give it a moment,” muttered Steve. Panda petted at Tony’s hair, quietly chirping. Natasha lifted the towel away and Coulson handed her a fresh cloth. The three continued to replace towels. “How does it look, Jarvis?” Steve asked. Tony lay limp and still on the bed.

“Better, Captain. Sir’s temperature is now 101.8 degrees. Agent Coulson, the helicopter with Dr. Murphy is now approaching the helicarrier. ETA less than 10 minutes.”

“Thank you, Jarvis,” Coulson said, drying his hands. “Keep this up, you two. I’ll be back soon.” Natasha nodded, switching out a towel across Tony’s belly.

“Sure thing, Phil,” agreed Steve absentmindedly.

Coulson left the private room they had Tony ensconced in and crossed the medical bay. Fury was waiting in the corridor. Coulson paused, regarding the director coolly. “Sir?”

“Isn’t nurse duty a little beneath you, Agent?” asked Fury blandly.

Coulson didn’t blink, didn’t dare tense a muscle. “The Avengers are my responsibility, sir. I take that very seriously.”

“Even to sooth a fevered brow?” Fury drawled blandly.

“If I must.” Coulson kept his face blank as Fury looked him over.

The director waved a hand. “Just go.”

“Thank you, sir.” Coulson made his way quickly down the corridor, heading for the landing pad on the helicarrier deck, aware that Fury was drilling a hole in his back with his one eye.

Coulson donned a breathing mask before moving out onto the thin air on the deck. The wind whipped around his suit jacket as he watched the helicopter land. A brown haired woman jumped from the vehicle and hurried across the deck toward him, her own breathing mask over her face. They both ducked back inside and the door was shut and locked behind them. “What happened?” demanded Dr. Murphy, yanking off her mask. “Where is Dr. Hall?”

“Dr. Hall has been relieved of duty, Dr. Murphy,” replied Coulson. He herded the woman down the hallway quickly. “Mr. Stark has been poisoned by an alien substance and he was unable to handle the situation. We need your help.”

Murphy winced. “I bet. The man always had the bedside manner of a jackal. He didn’t particularly like Stark either,” she muttered. “What did he try to do?”

Coulson considered telling her for a moment based on her bedside manner comment. “He tried to submerge Mr. Stark in a tub to bring down his temperature.”

Murphy growled, storming into the medical bay like the coming apocalypse. “Idiot never did read the warning files on his patients. Those warning are there for a fucking reason.” Coulson decided he liked Dr. Murphy as she strode into Stark’s room. “What have we got?” she barked as she washed her hands and yanked on a pair of gloves.

The blond nurse jumped, surprised. “Let me get his file,” she said, scurrying away.

Murphy rolled her eyes, stepping around Natasha and gently pulling Tony’s eyelid open to flash a small penlight into them. “Computer? Omnipotent voice in the ceiling? Can you hear me?”

“I can, Doctor. I am Jarvis.”

“Awesome. Can you bring me up to date on Mr. Stark’s condition?”

“Of course,” replied Jarvis, faintly surprised. Natasha favored the doctor with an approving look. “Mr. Stark was injured by an alien creature last night at 12:34am. Sir has three cuts on his lower left side that are displaying signs of infection or poisoning.” Murphy rounded the bed and grimace at the sight of the wound, leaning down to gentle prod at the area. “Sir has since displayed signs of severe muscle spasms, fever, and asphaltic shock.”

“How’s his breathing now?” demanded Murphy, shoving the ear buds of a stethoscope into her ears and resting the pad against Tony’s chest, just beside the arc reactor. An oxygen mask was over Tony’s nose and mouth, although he pawed at it from time to time trying to get it off.

“Strained but not blocked.”

“Blood test results?”

“On going, Dr. Murphy. Dr. Banner is still doing tests trying to isolate the foreign element.”

“Then we’re doing symptom management until he can get something made to counteract the poison,” Murphy observed. “Laura?” she called. The red-headed nurse poked her head into the room. “Find Tammy and get me Mr. Stark’s bloody file.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Okay, let’s get started,” muttered Murphy.

Chapter Text

The skin around the gremlin claw marks was dying, turning a greenish black color. Dr. Murphy and Bruce were carefully cleaning the area, removing dead tissue in hopes of stopping its spread. An IV dripped a steady stream of the concoction Bruce had cooked up to try and at least slow the effects of the infection or poison. They couldn’t tell if the gremlin’s claws had just been dirty or if the creature itself was poisonous. Tony lay unconscious on the bed, turned on his good side. He twitched and whimpered in his sleep, uneasy and in pain. Steve sat at his bedside, leaning against the mattress and holding one of Tony’s hands in both of his. Occasionally something banged up in the ceiling above them. Sometimes this was followed by growling, other times there was loud creative cursing. Mostly in Clint’s voice.

It had been decided that Clint and Natasha were better served trying to hunt the gremlins through the helicarrier while Steve stayed with Tony and Panda in case one of the creatures managed to get to them and attack again. Steve’s shield rested by his feet. So far they had only been able to kill one more gremlin, mostly because Natasha had leapt upon it from behind while it was focused on Clint. They had both fallen through the ceiling tile into the break room on floor 4 section C, Natasha’s knife buried in the back of the gremlin’s neck. The vents and crawl spaces between the floors were narrow, dark places and they had trouble maneuvering around up there. A handicap that the gremlins did not seem to share.

A commotion in the main medical bay had the three people in Tony’s private room looking up. “Now what?” muttered Bruce. He and Murphy glanced at each other. Steve stood in concern, although he didn’t release his hold on Tony’s hands and stayed beside the bed.

Murphy shrugged and went toward the door, peeling her gloves off and pulling her mask down. “What’s going on out here?” she called toward the knot of people along the wall. They seemed to be struggling to hold a black clad person down on a bed.

“Fucking get it off!” Clint’s voice carried over the noise. Murphy raced across the room at the shout, Bruce on her heels. Steve felt his breath catch in his throat; had Clint been slashed by the gremlins like Tony? His hands tightened around the dark haired man’s fingers.

“Hold still, Clint!” growled Natasha, hacking at a strap of the body armor he was wearing with a knife. “I’m almost through.”

“What happened?” demanded Bruce, crowding his way next to the bed Clint was laid on.

“It spat some sort of glop at him,” snapped Natasha, heaving at the back piece of the armor. “It’s burning through the armor.” The red-headed assassin yanked again and the strap finally broke, the piece of armor clattered to the floor. A softball sized area on the back piece smoked and sizzled like acid had been poured on it.

“Fucking hell! It burns!” shouted Clint, flailing about on the bed trying to get his shirt off. Bruce and Natasha grabbed the hem and hauled it off of him. A patch of irritated skin decorated his back, not too seriously burned but red like a bad sunburn. “Jesus,” hissed Clint, squirming about in discomfort but calming down.

Bruce and Murphy had the nurses fetch a sterile solution and cleaned the burned area, waving away the SHIELD enforcers that had been holding Clint down before. “It’s not bad,” said Bruce, dabbing at the burn. “You should be fine.”

“You’ve had worse working the toaster,” Natasha said as Clint craned his head around to look. The archer huffed and buried his face in the scratchy sheets.

Coulson appeared from the corridor, striding quickly to the bed. “What happened?” he demanded.

“The damn thing hocked an acid loogie at me!” snapped Clint, slapping his palm against the bed in frustration.

Coulson gave Clint an unimpressed look and turned to Natasha. “We had a gremlin cornered above storage bay four,” explained the red-headed woman, “when it seemed to convulse and then spat some sort of substance at us. It immediately began to burn through the body armor.”

Steve’s face twisted from where he was standing in the doorway to Tony’s room. “Like that one dinosaur from Jurassic Park?”

“Close enough,” Natasha replied, voice bland.

“I knew we should’ve never shown you that movie,” muttered Clint as Bruce taped down a pad over the burn on his back.

“Do you need any pain medication or are you okay, Barton?” asked Dr. Murphy.

Clint rolled his shoulders and then pushed himself up to sit on the edge of the bed. “Nah, I’m good. Just stings a little now.”

“Is Barton going to be okay, doctors?” asked Coulson, his brow wrinkled slightly. “He’s not going to have a reaction like Stark, is he?” Steve chewed his lip from where he stood in the doorway, glancing over his shoulder to check that Tony was still sleeping on the bed. Natasha tensed, her lips pressed together unhappily.

“We honestly can’t say,” Bruce answered. “He might not since it wasn’t the gremlin’s claws that got him and the substance didn’t enter his bloodstream but I must admit we’re flying blind here.”

“Well, we’ll know soon,” grumbled Clint, folding his arms across his chest and shifting uneasily. “It was barely fifteen minutes after Tony was scratched before he started having symptoms.”

Murphy bent and picked up the back piece of the armor from the floor. The acid had burned straight through the armor and had pot marked the floor under it. She lifted it and looked through the hole at Clint. “You’re one lucky bastard, Barton. Any slower on getting the armor off and you’d have a crater in your back instead of just a little burn.”

“Yeah, thank god for quick partners,” agreed Clint, giving Natasha a smile. She gave the archer a slight nod in return.

Steve turned and went back to his chair besides Tony’s bed. They had fifteen minutes before they would know if Clint was okay or would be joining the genius in a sick bed. Steve sat in the chair and slid his hands back around Tony’s, rubbing his thumbs over the underside of the dark haired man’s wrists soothingly. Tony’s breath hitched behind the oxygen mask and Steve leaned forward to mutter quietly to him. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m sure Clint will be fine,” he said softly.

Panda lifted his head from where he was curled up in misery in the shadows under the bed. Guilt consumed the little alien and he let out a sad little chirp. The fur around his eyes was darkened with tears. He stood and lumbered forward to curl against Steve’s ankle, seeking comfort. Steve smiled down at Panda and reached down to scratch quickly behind one ear. “I’m sure everything will be fine.”

Clint turned out to be fine, no reaction appearing after thirty minutes. He harassed Coulson until the agent gave his consent and sent him and Natasha back up into the ceilings to hunt down more gremlins. They stopped by the private medical room to check on Tony and Steve before leaving. Clint winced as he caught sight of Dr. Murphy and Bruce carefully cleaning the wound on Tony’s back and removing dead tissue again. “I’m sorry, man,” the archer muttered.

“Going back to hunting?” asked Steve, ignoring the apology. Clint and Natasha nodded, the red-headed assassin coming forward to stroke her fingers through Tony’s hair. “Be careful,” warned Steve, his tone slipping into Captain America range. “Do not let the gremlins get either of you again.”

“We will not,” Natasha replied, stepping away from the bed. “We know what to expect now from the beasts.” Steve nodded and they turned to go.

“Any word from Thor?” asked Clint, stopping in the doorway.

“No,” sighed Steve. “Not since he left.” Clint looked disappointed and nodded again before hurrying to catch up with Natasha. Steve bent down to Tony and muttered, “I’m sure Thor will be back soon with help, Tony. Hang on a little while longer.” Bruce and Dr. Murphy continued to ignore him as Steve whispered to Tony, the doctors bent over the wound.

“Jarvis, check?” requested Bruce, voice muffled by his surgical mask. The AI had turned out to be invaluable with monitoring Tony’s vital signs.

“Sir’s temperature has risen to 103.4 degrees,” Jarvis informed them, sounding tense.

Murphy sighed, standing to stretch her back, gloves covered in blood. “The towels just aren’t working well enough anymore,” she muttered. She set a bloody scalpel down on the tray and picked up a bottle of saline solution to flush the wound.

“Ice packs?” asked Bruce, shaking out a sterile pad and dabbing at the claw marks.

“I want to try something stupid,” Murphy replied as they taped up the wound and coiled bandages around Tony’s torso.

“Stupid often works for us,” Bruce said tiredly. He stripped off his gloves and washed his hands. “How stupid are we talking about here?”

“Really stupid. I want to try putting him back in the tub.”

Steve frowned. “Tony didn’t like that last time. He had a panic attack.”

“If we do it right, we can keep him from panicking. We need to try or else his fever is just going to fry his brain at this rate.”

“If you think you can do it, it’s worth a try,” said Bruce, rubbing at his face. “We don’t have much of a choice.” Steve didn’t look very happy but didn’t say anything. He looked down at the bed where Tony was breathing raggedly and stroked his thumb across the other man’s knuckles.

Murphy sighed, just as unhappy with the situation as the other two men were. “Tammy, Laura, fill the tub with room temperature water but only fill it half way. And get some rubber mats on the floor. This is going to be messy.” The nurses filled the tub as asked then stood warily nearby. They had been there the first time this had been tried. “Okay,” muttered Murphy. “Jarvis, play some music. Something… something that would normally get Mr. Stark’s attention. Something he can focus on.”

“Understood, ma’am. One moment.” Beethoven began to play over the speakers, the lovely opening cords of his 9th symphony drifting through the room. Bruce and Steve both looked surprised. On the bed, Tony stirred and grumbled something.

“Louder,” ordered Murphy. The volume of the music grew in response. “Alright, Captain, pick Mr. Stark up and bring him over.” Steve carefully slid his arms under Tony and lifted him gently, walking over to stand over the tub with trepidation. The memory of Tony’s screams the first time they had done this was not something Steve wanted to repeat and it made him nervous. Bruce picked up Panda from the bed, swinging him around his neck so the alien could cling there without getting in the way. “Get in,” instructed Dr. Murphy, rising her voice over the music.

Steve hesitated. “What?” he asked, thinking he had heard the doctor wrong.

“Get. In. The. Tub. With. Him,” repeated Murphy, gesturing to the water.

Bruce seemed to catch on. “It’s a good idea, Steve. To keep Tony calm we have to make this experience as unlike before as we can. Get in the tub and Tony can lie on top of you.” He watched as Steve’s face grew bright red. Bruce couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “You don’t mind, do you Steve?” he couldn’t help teasing.

“No!” stammered Steve, shifting toward the tub. “It’s just… It seems a little… Oh geez!” He stepped into the tub and slowly lowered himself down. Tony’s toes touched the water and he kicked a little, muttering. His eyelids fluttered and his breathing picked up, panic waiting just beyond. “It’s okay, Tony. Just relax. Everything is fine,” Steve whispered in his ear.

“Louder, Jarvis,” Murphy called again. The music filled the space to bursting as Steve sat himself in the tub. Water overflowed onto the floor, even filled halfway. Tony muttered and jerked as the cool water washed over him. His hands flailed, tugging at the IV, and Steve caught his wrists lightly, rubbing soothingly at his pulse points. The soldier lay back, resting Tony in his lap and against his chest. Water rose up to Tony’s shoulders as he twitched, confusion twisting his mouth.

Bruce knelt on the wet mat and used a cloth to wipe at Tony’s face. “That’s it, Tony. Just be calm.” Panda chirped, lifting one hand to pat at Tony’s shoulder. Bruce wondered if the little alien was projecting calm into their sick friend.

What was happening? He felt so hot. Where was Mother? There was Mother’s music, playing in endless loops from the record player as she danced around the library. She danced alone. Always alone. But if Tony was very still and very quiet she would let him sit on the couch by the fireplace and let him watch. Or simply forget he was there. He could never tell which one it was. Father used to dance with Mother but now he just stayed in his workshop, smelling of hot metal and too much alcohol. So Mother danced alone, making slow sweeps around the room, eyes a distant fog. Soon Jarvis would sneak into the library and silently pick Tony up from the couch. They would go up to his room and Jarvis would put Tony to bed, softly humming the music from the library.

Water swished around Tony. This was odd and distantly worrying for some reason Tony couldn’t recall. Was Jarvis giving him a bath? Someone was cradling him, holding his head up above the water while the music swelled around them. Jarvis must be. He was taking a bath in the library. Tony was so tired that he could barely think. Taking a bath in the library was a perfectly acceptable activity. He drifted between the music and the cool water.

“Keep it up, Jarvis,” called Murphy as the nurses scooped buckets of warmed water from the tub and poured in fresh cool water. It was uncomfortable for Steve but Tony seemed to be settling. The dark haired man occasionally shifted and muttered something too low to hear but was otherwise calm in the tub. Steve and Bruce exchanged thankful glances.

Natasha and Clint stumbled into the medical bay, both dusty and covered in grime. “Well, I’ll be damned!” exclaimed the archer, taking in the scene.

Natasha’s eyebrows rose and she gave Doctor Murphy a nod. “Clever,” compliment the red headed woman. Coulson walked in behind them, palms pressed over his ears. He looked surprised to find Tony in the tub, Steve sitting behind him, and gave Dr. Murphy his own respectful nod for her ingenuity.

“What is his temperature now, Jarvis?” Murphy asked. Steve swished the water over Tony’s shoulders while Bruce used a cloth to squeeze the cool liquid over his hair, careful to keep it from running into his face.

“Sir’s temperature has dropped back down to 102.7 degrees.”

“Great! Let’s keep going until it drops below 102.” The doctor gestured to the two nurses. The loud music had pretty much chased everyone else out of the medical bay. “Laura, keep replacing the water with fresh. Tammy, strip the bed and wipe it down while we can. Let’s clean some of this mess up while he’s in the tub.” Murphy looked at the two new arrivals. “You two okay?”

Natasha nodded. “Merely dirty.” They felt a touch silly shouting at each other but at this point didn’t dare turn off the music.

“Damn things are like eels and twice as slippery! The toxic spitballs are fun,” said Clint with a scowl. “But we’ve got good news!”

 “Thor is back,” Coulson announced loudly, drawing grins from everyone.

They waited until Tony’s temperature dropped to take him out of the tub. Steve shivered as he stood and was given dry clothing. He was not fond of the cold. They briskly dried Tony, who muttered in irritation and swatted weakly at them, although he seemed mostly unaware of what was going on. They dressed him in a new pair of scrubs and carefully removed the bandages from the wound on his back. It wept a yellow fluid and was raw and red. The surrounding edges were blackened with dead skin. “Oh Tony,” muttered Steve sorrowfully.

“It pains me that I was not able to return sooner,” Thor said sadly. “But the potions needed time to brew. The healers and my Mother worked as quickly as they could.”

“It’s alright, Thor. Let’s just hurry and treat Tony,” said Bruce. He lifted the phial from the carved wooden box Thor had presented them and looked doubtfully at it. “Do you know what is in it?”

“I was given a list,” Thor said, pulling a parchment from a pouch.

Dr. Murphy plucked it from his fingers and unrolled it, Tony’s chart open on the table in front of her. Her eyes darted between each. “I don’t understand what half of these things are,” she said.

Bruce leaned over and looked. “They look like old folk names. That one is feverfew.”

“Jarvis, perhaps you can help?” asked Coulson.

“I can, Agent Coulson,” the AI replied. “If you would be so kind as so lay the parchment flat on the table and step back.” Murphy put the paper on the table and Bruce anchored the corners so it wouldn’t roll up again. “There is nothing there that Sir would have an adverse effect to,” Jarvis announced after a moment. “Although, he hates the taste of licorice.”

“He’ll just have to suffer through it,” said Clint. “So, that one he drinks and the other one gets put on the claw marks?”

“Indeed, archer,” Thor answered. “The wash will stop the skin death and sooth the area so that it may heal.”

Murphy turned the large jar around in her hands. “Well, let’s get started. Steve, could you prop him up?”

Steve slid his arm under Tony’s shoulders and lifted him vertical. The dark haired man muttered and twitched. Panda lumbered down the bed to sit at the end by Thor. Murphy tipped the phial of liquid carefully into Tony’s mouth. “Come on, Tony. You’d make us all very happy if you’d just swallow it nicely,” Steve coaxed softly.

“Too easy,” muttered Clint to himself. Natasha elbowed him before reaching forward and rubbing at Tony’s throat. They all gave a little sigh of relief as he swallowed. This was followed by faint strained chuckling as Tony made a face, lips twisted and nose crunched up. Steve laid him back down on his good side gently, replacing the oxygen mask.

“Right. No Licorice All Sort for the holidays then,” Bruce said. He and Doctor Murphy poured the jar of wound wash into a bowl where it swirled a gentle golden color. They all glanced at the infected gremlin claw marks, raw and weeping.

“Here goes nothing,” Murphy muttered, pulling on gloves and using a sterile cloth to carefully apply the wash to Tony’s back. He whimpered and tried to jerk away, nerves tender and the pain fierce.

Steve grabbed onto Tony’s hands in case he tried to roll onto his back. “Shhh, sweetheart. I know it hurts, Tony. I’m sorry,” Steve whispered softly, hoping to sooth him. The others thankfully ignored him as Steve leaned in close and continued to murmur quietly to Tony as the doctors patted at the wound with the wash.

Murphy and Bruce redressed the wound and covered the supply of the wash Thor had brought. “We’ll apply the wash every hour and hope for the best. I do not like the rate that the tissue is dying. It makes me nervous,” Murphy said.

“We’ll have to worry about blood poisoning soon,” said Bruce. Murphy nodded and pulled off her gloves, noting something on Tony’s chart.

“But Tony will get better, right?” asked Steve, the sick man’s hands still folded between his own. “He’ll start to heal now that we have the medicine from Thor’s mother.”

“The Asgardian healers are the best in the nine realms,” Thor said proudly. “My Mother is yet the best among them. Tony is in good hands, Captain.”

“We’ve seen Asgardian medicine do wonderful things, Steve, but we can’t guarantee that Tony will recover. We’ll do our best,” said Bruce softly. He looked down sadly at where Tony was lying pale and sweaty on the bed and had to blink rapidly.

“Well, that just fucking sucks,” growled Clint, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Clint,” muttered Coulson.

“Nope. That’s not gonna work right now. I am going monster hunting because if Tony doesn’t get better I’m gonna want a gremlin skin rug I can walk all over. See ya,” snapped Clint, anger and helplessness sharpening his tone. He stormed out of the medical bay. Coulson sighed and gave Natasha a tired look. He jerked his head after the archer and Natasha nodded slightly before following. Steve frowned and went back to stroking the back of Tony’s hand, praying for his recovery.

Panda reached up and put a hand on Thor’s arm. The subdued god looked down silently at the little creature. “No, dear Panda. Nobody blames you for friend Tony’s condition.” Thor lifted Panda and he curled up in the god’s arms, hiding his face. “There was nothing you could have done and soon Tony will be well again. He will tell you himself that he does not blame you,” Thor soothed.

“It’s okay, Panda. Everything will work out for the best,” Steve said, feeling bad for the little alien. Panda gave a quiet, sad little chirp.

Chapter Text

About forty minutes after the third application of the wound wash Jarvis announced that Tony’s temperature had dropped to 101.4 degrees, the lowest it’s been since the first day. Steve looked up at Dr. Murphy and Bruce, searching their faces to see if the announcement was good. Both of them still looked tense and worried but Steve thought he could see a slight lightening of their expressions. He looked back down at where Tony lay on the bed. The dark haired man’s skin was still flushed from fever, the skin around his eyes grey. His lips were almost colorless. His breathing still rattled a little in his chest but Steve told himself that that was better than the pained wheeze it had been before. Steve rubbed his fingers over Tony’s pulse at his wrists, holding both of his hands to keep Tony from trying to roll onto his back.

Steve leaned down to speak softly to him. “Hear that, Tony? You’re getting better. Soon you’ll be up and in your workshop, creating all sorts of things.” Panda was curled up in front of Tony’s belly, tiny claws working at the blanket and slowly unraveling it. Steve gave the creature a wan smile. “Can you hear me, Tony? Everything is going to be alright,” he muttered, thumbs still rubbing at Tony’s wrists. There was a loud bang and the sound of claws against metal. Steve hunched protectively over the bed as a gun shot went off above them. One hand drifted down to rest on his shield, propped up against his chair.

Bruce looked up in concern as they heard the bullet ricochet against something and Clint’s voice cursing a blue streak. It was impossible for him to use his bow in the crawl spaces. There was a howl from a gremlin creature and rattling. Panda curled up into a tight ball, trembling. Steve and Bruce glanced at each other with worry. “I’m sure it’s fine,” said Bruce doubtfully. Everybody jumped as an alarm from one of the many machines surrounding Tony went off. Bruce hurried over and fiddled with some knobs.

Steve stood, pushing his chair back, his shield falling over and sliding away. “What’s going on? Is something wrong?” he demanded. He glanced down at Tony but he appeared to be the same, still and grey on the bed. Panda scrambled up to his feet and began to click.

Dr. Murphy raced into the room and over to the machines, peering at a small screen. “Huh,” she said, one side of her mouth lifting.

Steve was about to burst. “What is it?”

Bruce leaned over and tapped at Tony’s cheek softly. “Come on, Tony. Wakey wakey. I know you can do it.” Steve’s heart jumped as Tony’s eyes fluttered in response to Bruce.

Steve bent down, rubbing at Tony’s cold fingers and jiggling them a little. “Tony? Tony, can you hear me? Wake up, please. Come on, sweetheart. Please wake up.” He didn’t notice Bruce and Murphy stare at him. “Wake up, Tony. Please?” Steve continued to coax. He watched Tony’s eyes roll under his lids and then crack open. He gave a little cry at the slit of brown. “There you are,” whispered Steve as soft as falling snow.

Tony’s blink slowly, clearly confused. He coughed a little, fingers flexing in Steve’s hold, and then his back arched and legs kicked. The dark haired man gave a whimper and clinched his teeth, pushing his head back into his pillow. The heart monitor began to race and tears gathered in Tony’s eyes. “Another dose of morphine. He’s in pain,” snapped Bruce. Murphy hurried to the cabinet and quickly pushed the syringe full of medication into Tony’s IV. Bruce grabbed gently at Tony’s shoulders and tried to keep him still. “I know it hurts, Tony. Hold on. The morphine will kick in soon.”

Steve reached up and wiped the tears away from Tony’s cheeks, the other man breathless with pain. “You’re ok, sweetheart. Just give it a moment. I’m sorry. Shh. Shhh. It will be okay. Breathe for me, Tony. Come on.” Tony dropped his eyes to stare at Steve even as he writhed on the bed. He sucked in air through his teeth and Steve smiled down at him. “Good. Thank you. Can you do it again?” Steve guided Tony through the pain until the morphine did its job and Tony was able to calm down. His mouth moved, lips white. “You want some water?” clarified Steve, reading the motion. Tony gave a weak nod and Steve looked questioningly up at Bruce and Dr. Murphy.

“A little,” answered Murphy, busy exchanging the saline bag. “Too much will upset his stomach.”

Bruce brought Steve a cup with a straw and Steve held it still while Tony took a few sips. He coughed a little. “What…?” he croaked, grimacing.

“You were attacked by a gremlin,” explained Steve, setting the cup aside and returning to holding Tony’s hands. “The wound became infected. We only just got a handle on it when Thor brought some medicine back from Asgard.”

Tony blinked, possessing. “Jarvis?” he muttered.

“Hello, Sir. May I say it is gratifying to see you conscious again,” said the AI. Tony huffed softly. “It has been four days since you were injured in the ambassador suite. You have been quite ill from the claw marks the first gremlin gave you. Agent Barton, Agent Romanoff, and several other SHIELD members have been hunting the remaining gremlins through the helicarrier. They estimate there to be six to nine gremlins left, although more imprecise reports merely state ‘a lot’. They are hard to track and nearly impossible to pin down. I’m afraid they are not making much headway in the matter.”

Tony closed his eyes and rested a moment, trying to organize his thoughts and dig through the muddled mess that was his memory of the past few days. Some things were obviously fever dreams and delusions. (He beat down a memory of seeing his Mother dancing to the record player and another of the old family butler Jarvis giving him a bath. Then there was another memory of the cave and water and… no, just no.) Other things held more merit. (A familiar gentle voice and a soothing touch among the pain. An endearment nobody in their right mind would call him. The rattle of claws on metal.) There had been something important in there somewhere. “Tony?” Steve whispered softly in concern.

Tony squeezed the other man’s hands where they were curled around his own and pried his eyes open. The important thought swam up from the depth of his mind. He glanced down at the white ball of fur huddled on the bed. “Panda,” he rasped.

The little alien crawled forward and laid a paw gently on Tony’s forearm. I am so sorry, Tony. This is all my fault. I brought the Gersnupalgink here with me.

Tony shook his head weakly. “No, Panda,” he tried to sooth.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be talking, Tony,” Steve said. “You should be resting.”

Tony glared at him. “Panda, the blue light? Show me again?” he asked. Panda tilted his head and just like before Tony felt his stomach dip and his vision was overtaken by a blue light. This time, now that he was focusing, he could practically hear the crack of the lightening and feel the energy buzzing across his skin. He snorted as the vision faded, the motion causing pain to jab at his side.

Steve leaned across Tony in concern as he grunted. “Tony?”

“Maybe you should rest,” said Bruce. “You’ve been through a lot, Tony.”

Tony gritted his teeth, annoyed. “No. The blue light, it’s…” He had to stop and breathe. The air in his lungs rattled and he fought down the urge to cough. He could just imagine how painful that would be. This was just as bad as when the arc reactor had been first installed, when he had to relearn to breathe around the metal base and everything had arched down to the bone. The pain radiated out from his lower back, burning and cutting into his nerves. “Thor. Tesseract,” Tony managed to gasp.

“Maybe we should put him under?” suggested Murphy. “He’s straining himself.” Bruce put up a hand to stall her, focused on the trio on and around the bed.

“What about Thor and the Tesseract, Tony?” asked Steve. Tony gave an unimpressed growl. Panda let out a distressed murmur and rubbed his head against Tony’s stomach.

Bruce, good old Bruce who was the only one who could even begin to follow Tony’s leaps in logic sometimes, took a step forward with a thoughtful look on his face. “The blue light that Panda describes being caught in; that’s the Tesseract’s energy, isn’t it? Panda and the gremlins arrived with Thor. He’s scooping up innocent bystanders everywhere he travels between Asgard and Midgard, punching a hole through dimensions with dark energy.” Tony nodded, neck protesting the movement. “Jarvis,” snapped Bruce quickly.

“Doctor?”

“Scan the helicarrier for Tesseract energy signatures,” ordered Bruce. “Let’s see who pops up.” Tony gave him an approving look.

“One moment,” replied Jarvis.

“Do you really think Panda and the gremlins got picked up by Thor traveling back and forth?” asked Steve.

“If the blue light Tony says Panda is describing is the Tesseract then it’s very likely that he is. If that’s so, then Panda and the gremlins will have traces of the Tesseract’s energy on them and that energy we can track,” Bruce said.

“Doctor, I detect ten Tesseract energy signatures on the helicarrier,” announced Jarvis, sounding a little surprised.

“Disregard the signature in the vault, that will be the Tesseract itself, and the signature in the room with us, that will be Panda. Transmit the location of the other eight signatures to the search teams and inform Fury and Phil we’ve found a way to track our little vermin problem,” Bruce said with a huge smile.

“Good. Good,” sighed Tony. His science bro always understood. Tony’s eyes drooped in exhaustion.

Steve squeezed his hands gently. “That’s fantastic,” he said, finally seeing an end to this nightmare.

“Sirs, there are five gremlins gathered above the medical suit,” Jarvis announced tersely. They all paused and in the silence could then hear the faint scraping sounds going on above them. They had all gotten so used to ignoring sounds from the ceiling that they had not noticed.

The intercom came on with a crackle. “Shit! Get out of there! They’re right above you and the little fuckers are undoing the bolts!” shouted Clint. One of the metal panels covering the ceiling tiles gave a pop and a corner dipped down, a set of claws forcing their way through. This was followed quickly by a black muzzle with long fangs.

Bruce snatched up a scalpel from a tray of tools and quickly cut through the line of the IV attached to Tony. “Get him out of here,” ordered Bruce. The gremlin peeled back the corner of the metal panel like the top of a tin can, forcing its head through, as Steve scooped Tony up from the bed and charged from the private medical room.

Tony gave a pained cry at the less than gentle handling, clutching at Steve’s shoulders. Panda wrapped his limbs around one of Tony’s thighs and hung on. “Sorry. Sorry,” breathed Steve, regretful of the pain he was causing but unable to slowdown to be more careful. The dark haired man gasped as spots danced in front of his eyes and pain tightened his chest. Steve ran across the medical bay toward the exit, his only thought to simply get away.

The gremlin slithered through the hole in the ceiling and fell into the private medical room, scattering equipment and overturning the bed. Murphy leapt back and dashed out of the room while Bruce snatched up the tray and swung at the gremlin’s head as hard as he could. The creature flew into the wall and landed in a jumble of limbs, snarling and howling. Bruce cursed as another gremlin fell from the ceiling and raced from the room before it could lunge at him. SHIELD enforcers in black body armor and shields poured into the medical bay, Fury on their heels. “Contain the little bastards!” he shouted.

The gremlins leapt out of the empty room and jumped toward the enforcers, being met with a wall of shields. The gremlins wrapped around the shields, claws swiping around the edges and tails lashing. Their claws scrapped harmlessly against the body armor. The enforcers lifted black sticks that crackled with energy, pressing them to the creature’s bodies wherever they could. The gremlins howled, the electricity dancing over their skin. The retort of a gunshot banged above it all. In Steve’s arms, Tony went suddenly limp, losing consciousness. Steve glanced down in worry as he reached the corridor.

Coulson appeared from around the corner, wearing a strap on vest over his dress shirt and holding a complicated looking gun Steve had never seen before. Steve stared at him, surprised. “Get out of here,” snapped the agent, ducking into the medical bay. Several feet away from them, a ceiling panel crashed to the floor and Steve fled in the opposite direction without waiting to see what fell through. He realized that in his haste he had left his own shield in the private medical room like a rookie.

“Left hallway, Captain,” Jarvis called suddenly. Steve skidded around the corner, hoping that the clattering he could hear behind himself was just his imagination but fearing it was not. “Down the stairs.” Steve took the steps in two leaps. “Right hallway and straight on,” instructed Jarvis as Steve landed at the bottom. Steve turned, struggling to keep his balance while carrying Tony. At the end of the corridor a door swished open on its own and Steve put on a burst of speed, racing through it. The door closed behind him, so close that he could feel the swish of air against his back. Something large thumped against it.

Pale lights around the floor lit the small room and Steve skidded to a stop before his momentum could carry him into the far wall. He looked around the empty room, confused. He tightened his grip on Tony. “Jarvis, where am I?”

The overhead lights came on and there was a swish behind him. Steve turned to find the Iron Man suit gleaming in an alcove. “This is where Sir stores the armor when aboard the helicarrier,” explained Jarvis. The alcove swished closed, a little light in the corner turning from green to red.

Steve looked around at the smooth gun metal grey walls, floor, and ceiling. The thudding at the door sounded hollow and far away. “The gremlins can’t get in here?”

“I cannot say for sure,” Jarvis replied, a touch of regret in his voice. “I have no measurements of the creatures’ strength but I will say that this room is one of the most secure on the helicarrier.”

Steve released a breath. “Thank you, Jarvis.” He knelt and gently laid Tony on the floor, careful with his head. He didn’t have anything to cushion the other man’s body with. Tony’s skin was colorless and his eyes looked bruise. About a foot of tubing trailed from the IV in the back of his hand where Bruce had cut it. Steve pinched it off and tossed it aside. He pulled up the wrinkled scrubs top that Tony was wearing and checked the bandage over the wound on his back. It was dotted with fresh blood and Steve frowned in concern. He cupped Tony’s face in his hands, his skin still warm with fever, and leaned down. “Tony, can you hear me? It’s okay. Jarvis says we should be safe here. Can you wake up for me?” Steve turned his head and put his ear to Tony’s chest but he didn’t know what he was hearing. Was that whirling sound really the arc reactor? At least his chest rose and fell with steady breathing. “Tony? Sweetheart, can you hear me?”

Panda gave a little squeak and cautiously lifted his head. Steve laid a gentle hand over the creature’s back. “It’s okay, Panda. We’re safe for now.” The little alien let go of Tony’s leg and rolled off onto the floor. There was a distant banging against the door to the room and Steve thought he could hear the crackle of the energy batons the enforcers were using. “Jarvis, how is the fight going?” he asked.

“The SHIELD forces have managed to kill three of the gremlins but the other five have managed to take control of the corridor outside of this room. Two of the creatures are holding off the enforcers while the other three are attempting to gain access. I’m afraid the SHIELD forces are hampered by the close quarters and their efforts not to damage the helicarrier.” Steve gave a frustrated sigh. “Captain,” the AI continued hesitantly. “The gremlins are destroying the floor and wall panels. I’m afraid that, given enough time, they will eventually gain access to this room.”

“Thanks, Jarvis,” Steve said in disappointment. He shifted to sit against the wall and gently pulled Tony into his lap, hoping to keep the other man comfortable and at least semi warm. He laid Tony’s head on his shoulder and, as he had done while Tony was unconscious in the private medical room, began to mutter soothingly to him. Panda crawled over Steve’s legs and settled in Tony’s lap, sorrowful blue eyes looking up at Steve. “It will be okay,” Steve said, hoping to reassure everyone. He stroked back Tony’s damp hair and sighed again. “It will be okay, sweetheart. I’ll protect you and Panda. Everything will be fine.” Tony gave a little groan as Steve caressed his cheek and Steve pulled back a little to see his face. “Tony? Can you hear me?” Tony’s eyes fluttered open and Steve grinned. “There you are, sweetheart.”

Tony blinked tiredly, confused. (He really hated feeling confused.) Steve’s face drifted into focus above him and he realized that Steve was cradling his body against his chest. He felt hot and cold and absolutely everywhere hurt. Pain stabbed at him from the wound on his back and Tony tensed, hissing through his teeth. “Hurts,” he gritted out.

Steve petted his hair, hoping to comfort the ill man. “I know. I’m sorry, sweetheart. I don’t have anything I can give you. Try and breathe through it.” Panda chirped sorrowfully in Tony’s lap. Tony tried to take a deep lungful of air past the pain. Something screeched at the door, sounding like nails on chalkboard. Tony’s eyes rolled toward the sound. “It’s okay. We’re safe in here,” said Steve.

Tony glanced around the room and then shut his eyes in exhaustion. “Liar,” he croaked.

Steve huddled them altogether tighter. “Yes,” he agreed quietly. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

Tony breathed slowly against Steve’s shoulder. “Do you…know you’re…calling me that?” he asked, pausing to gather air between words.

“What?”

“Sweetheart…” The word drifted in and out of Tony’s memories, distorted by fever but always in a familiar voice. Tony peeled his eyes back open and looked up at the man holding him.

Steve blushed and looked away. “I… Sorry. I’ll stop.”

Tony shook his head weakly. “Didn’t…say that.” He lifted a hand to touch Steve on the cheek but had to return it to his lap after a minute. “Like it,” Tony huffed softly.

“Really?” asked Steve quietly, his eyes widening. Tony dipped his head in a slight nod. Steve looked torn and pained. “It’s just…” he muttered, “I thought I was going to lose you and I’ve lost too many people already.” He bent his head to press his face against Tony’s hair. “Please don’t leave me.”

Tony’s lips curled up slightly. “Try,” he whispered. The pandemonium outside the room was muffled but audible. The screeching of the gremlins mixed with the crackle of the energy batons and rending metal. Steve really did have the worst timing ever, thought Tony, barely able to keep his eyes open.

Panda chirped in Tony’s lap. Steve is your mate?

Tony stopped himself from grimacing at that word, even if it did stir thoughts of being barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen. “Maybe,” whispered Tony in response, bending a finger to rub under Panda’s chin. “I’d like it…if he were.”

Your warrior and your mate? pressed Panda.

Now that did make Tony smile, Steve looking down in confusion because he was only hearing half of the conversation. “Yeah,” agreed Tony.

Panda bowed his head. I have brought much misfortune to you and your family. I am sorry.

“No, Panda,” whispered Tony. “Don’t…” They all startled as there was a huge crack from the doorway.

“Sir!” snapped Jarvis. “The gremlins are tearing the wall besides the door apart.” The ruckus from the hall grew as a gap widened near the floor, the metal sheeting being slowly shredded by claw and fang. Steve hauled himself to his feet, Tony gasping in pain in his arms, and backed up to the far corner. Panda began a low rumbling growl, a sound they had never heard from him before. Steve was surprised when two floor panels slid smoothly away and two arms rose into the air from their hidden folded positions. “We shall give them hell, Sir,” announced Jarvis, the claws on the arms clanking menacingly.

“Movie quote,” wheezed Tony, dizzy.

But Steve was not listening; the arms had given him an idea. “Jarvis, pull out the suit,” he ordered. The arms turned to face him as Steve stepped forward, as if they had eyes to see with. “We’ll put Tony in the Iron Man suit to protect him.”

“Excellent idea, Captain.” The alcove doors swished open, the pedestal the suit was standing on sliding forward.

“No!” cried Tony, curling his fingers in Steve’s shirt. A gremlin snapped and howled from the hole by the door, forcing its head in and wiggling about.

“Yes,” barked Steve. “Don’t argue! The suit will protect you!” One of the assembly arms rose and removed the right arm of the suit, peeling it open and lifting it away in preparation of putting it on Tony.

“But you…!” Panda suddenly scrambled from Tony’s lap and jumped to the floor as the first gremlin forced its way into the room. “Panda!” Tony rasped, reaching for the little alien but missing. Panda stood ridged on the floor, growling with his lips pulled back in a snarl. The gremlin in the room stood, tail lashing, and just as Natasha described, began to convulse. Panda dodged to the side as the gremlin spat, the glob landing on the floor and hissing and smoking.

“Panda, get back!” shouted Steve. Another gremlin slipped into the room and one of the assembly arms turned toward it, darting forward to clank a claw at the creature. The gremlin bent down low to the floor, the arm sweeping over its head.

Panda meanwhile continued to growl, in a standoff with the first gremlin. The black and red creature looked wary in a way they had never seen the gremlins act, balancing on its tail and swaying side to side. Panda danced forward, snarling, and the gremlin shifted down to all fours, scuttling sideways like a crab. A third gremlin entered through the hole, a blast from an energy weapon from the SHIELD enforcers exploding behind it. The assembly arms turned to face the creatures, leaving the suit. Steve backed away, trapped in an increasingly crowded room. The second gremlin convulsed and spat an acid glob at the assembly arms. The metal began to sizzle on contact, eating through a beam. Steve turned and put his back to the room, hunching over Tony protectively. Tony shook his head, face grey and blood beginning to seep through his scrub top over the wound. He tugged weakly at Steve’s shoulder to no avail.

Panda’s eyes began to glow, arcs of blue light racing over his puffed up fur. The little white alien snarled as the light gathered over him and the gremlin crouched low, long legs tensed like springs. As the gremlin leapt Panda darted in toward its stomach and the two collided. The gremlin howled as the blue light crackled between them like a miniature star and the smell of cooking flesh filled the room. Steve gagged as the gremlin slumped to the floor, skin blackened as if it had been roasted over a fire. Panda stumbled away, fumbling over his own feet as the blue light dissipated.

The damaged assembly arm cracked and fell apart where it had been hit with the acid spit. The other arm swept a gremlin up and tried to toss it into the wall, but the creature dug in fang and claw and hung on, tearing at the machine. The last gremlin turned toward a vulnerable Panda, stalking toward the drained alien. “Override,” coughed Tony against Steve’s shoulder, “Stark-Foxtrot-7-7-5-Halo-Virginia.” The eyes of the Iron Man suit lit up and the armor raised its remaining left arm. A familiar whine was heard and a repulsor blast flashed from the palm, killing the gremlin going after Panda. The gremlin tearing at the assembly arm leapt toward the suit and began to claw at the head, digging into the face plate and leaving gashes across the front. One of the eyes shattered. The Iron Man suit reached up and wrapped its hand around the neck of the gremlin. There was a sickening crunch and the creature went still.

Steve stared at the three dead gremlins, slowly turning around. He jumped as someone cursed loudly out in the corridor and several gunshots sounded. “Stark? Rogers?” shouted Fury. “You alive in there?”

“Ass,” wheezed Tony. The Iron Man suit dropped the body of the gremlin whose neck it had broken, the body thudding onto the floor.

“Yes, sir. We’re fine,” yelled Steve. Tony trembled in his arms, breathing quick and unsteady against Steve’s neck. His fever had risen again and there were two splotches of red across his cheeks in an otherwise ashen face. Steve looked down in concern. “Don’t worry, Tony. We’ll get you back to medical quickly. Jarvis, can you open the door?”

The door opened but jammed half way, warped from the gremlins beating at it. Thor appeared in the gap and slammed the door open the rest of the way. “My friends!” he cried, squeezing past the broken assemble arm. “Is all well?” Clint slipped in behind him, scanning the room with the muzzle of an assault rifle before relaxing.

“Panda!” Tony gasped, pointing weakly.

Thor went to where Panda was collapsed on the floor, reaching down to gently pick him up. Some blue light crackled over Thor’s hands and forearms, his blond hair lifting with static. The god didn’t seem to care. “Little one?” he asked. “Are you well? What has happened?” Panda shifted shakily, chirping softly.

The door crowded with Fury, Coulson, Natasha, and Bruce, a pack of black clad SHIELD enforcers behind them. “It looks like the threat has been neutralized, sir,” said Clint, nudging the body of the gremlin the Iron Man suit had killed with his boot toe. The functioning assembly arm reattached the right arm of the suit and the pedestal slid back into the wall, the alcove closing. The arm folded neatly back into the floor. The broken arm tried to return to the floor as well but just ended up jerking a couple of times before lying still.

“Make a hole!” snapped Bruce, dodging between Natasha and Coulson. “Are you okay?” he asked Tony, raising one hand to touch where blood was seeping through the dark haired man’s shirt. Tony gave him an utterly miserable look in return, limp in Steve’s arms. Bruce glanced up at Steve and jerked his head. “Come on, let’s get him back to medical. The wound wash survived the chaos, thank God, and we need to get a handle on his fever before it climbs again.”

Steve nodded and began to pick his way across the messy floor. “Yes, of course.”

Tony tipped his head back and looked over Steve’s shoulder. “Panda?” he muttered.

“I shall see to the comfort of our little friend, Tony,” reassured Thor, cradling Panda in the crook of one elbow. “Do not worry.” The little alien was emitting a whistling snore. Tony relaxed, closing his eyes as Steve walked past the two gremlin bodies in the corridor. It was not a pretty sight. Someone had gotten overly enthusiastic with the bullets again. Strangely, there was the smell of wet grass just like before. Fury gave orders to have the bodies delivered to the biology labs and, surprises of surprises, even semi-politely asked Jarvis to scan the helicarrier for more Tesseract energy signatures. He then forbad Thor from traveling until further notice.

Dr. Murphy met them in the hall outside the medical bay, clucking over Tony’s condition. She and Bruce guided Steve over to a bed that had survived the gremlin stampede. Steve gently lay Tony down on his side, taking hold of his hands as he had been doing. Tony blinked blearily up at him and Steve leaned down to press a soft kiss to his cheek. “Go to sleep, sweetheart. Bruce and Dr. Murphy will take care of you.” Tony gave a little half smile, not able to keep his eyes from sliding closed and sleep from claiming him.

Chapter Text

Tony was sprawled out on a lounge chair on the Tower deck, turned slightly on his side to relieve pressure against his healing back. A glass of lemonade sat on the table next to him. He would have been drinking something a little stronger but alcohol had been banned while he was on the pain meds and still taking antibiotics. Tablet number three, now repaired and once again without any nasty teeth marks, was wedged between the chair arm and Tony’s thigh as he tapped out some ideas for an impact resistant opaque material to replace the ceiling tiles on the helicarrier. Panda was off in a corner digging into one of the huge potted ferns that decorated the deck. A small cleaning robot was having the time of its electronic life vacuuming up the soil Panda was flinging out of the pot, beeping and whirling across the floor.

Footsteps sounded across the deck and a shadow fell over Tony. He hummed in his throat in acknowledgment. “Tony, time for your meds,” Steve said quietly. Tony raised one hand and Steve put two pills into the cup his palm. He popped the pills into his mouth and chased them down his throat with a gulp of lemonade. The dark haired man then went back to tapping on his tablet. Steve waited for a moment but then turned to leave as Tony continued to ignore him.

Tony’s hand shot out and Steve yelped as it latched onto his arm, yanking him down on to the chair. “Tony, no, I don’t want to hurt you. You’re still healing,” protested Steve as Tony arranged his limbs.

“Shut up. It’s fine,” snapped Tony, wiggling around so he was lying more on Steve than on the chair. Pain flashed across his face as his movements pulled on healing skin and then he settled. “See? Like I said, it’s fine.” He propped the tablet against Steve’s belly and the other chair arm and went back to his schematics.

Steve hesitantly put his arm down around Tony’s shoulders and slowly relaxed. He watched the top of Tony’s head for a moment, his thumb gently rubbing at the curve of Tony’s shoulder. Chirping drew his gaze across the deck, to where Panda was basically destroying a potted plant. The alien had attracted the attention of two of the floor cleaners now. “Tony?” he asked quietly.

“He’s fine,” replied Tony.

“He’s killing that plant.”

“He’s having fun. Some sort of burrowing instinct, I think. I’ll get the plant replaced later.”

Steve sighed and closed his eyes, lying back in the chair. “You know you can’t keep him,” he muttered. Tony tensed against him, fingers stilling on the tablet screen. Steve looked down at him with a sympathetic frown. “Panda doesn’t belong here, Tony. Once you and Jane figure out how to stop the Tesseract from punching holes in other universes when it’s used, you should work on sending Panda home.”

Tony turned his face into Steve’s chest. “He doesn’t have a home,” he muttered.

“What?”

“He doesn’t have a home. They’re all dead, Steve!” Tony snapped, suddenly struggling to sit up.

Steve caught him and eased Tony back against him, the dark haired man tense and glaring. “No, don’t do that. Explain to me what you mean,” he pleaded gently.

Tony sighed and relaxed, curling up against the other man again. “Panda showed me, when he first fell on me. It was just a lot of feelings and images but I could see them. His family, his clan or whatever, they’re all dead. The gremlins killed them all. It wasn’t just a war between them, it was genocide. Panda is alone, Steve.”

Steve sucked in a shocked breath. “I’m so sorry,” he said quietly, bringing his other arm up to hug Tony in comfort. He glanced over at Panda but the little alien was still engrossed in the potted plant. Steve didn’t think it was ideal for Panda to be forced to live with them, they were practically strangers, but if Panda’s whole family was gone, well, Steve knew what it was like to suddenly be alone and in a strange place.

“Once we fix the Tesseract, Thor will take Panda to Asgard with him,” Tony muttered.

Steve looked down at him in surprise. “You’re sending him to Asgard?”

Tony sighed. “It’s not fair for Panda to stay here when only Thor and I can talk with him and it’s not like we can take him out and start handing him to people to see if they can hear him talk. If Thor can talk with him because of the All Speak, then everyone on Asgard should be able to talk with him. He’d be lonely if he stayed here.”

“That’s…” Steve paused, rubbing Tony’s arm and thinking. “Amazingly mature and perceptive of you.” He yelped as Tony pinched him hard in the side.

“I can be mature and perceptive if I want to be,” complained Tony, pouting at him. “I’m not a complete idiot when it comes to feelings, you know.”

“They’re just messy and you rather ignore them most of the time,” teased Steve, smirking.

“Avoidance works just fine, I’ll have you know.”

Steve pressed a kiss to Tony’s temple, which caused the dark haired man to freeze for a moment before melting against him. “It really doesn’t,” Steve muttered. Tony cuddled against him for a moment before wiggling around again. Steve grunted as a pointy elbow pushed into his chest.

“Panda?” called Tony. The little alien popped his head up out of the pot, gone from a fluffy cloud white to the brown of the potting soil. “Panda,” said Tony chidingly, fondness rolling in his chest. “You are a mess. Come here.” Panda flung himself from the pot and lumbered across the deck until he was in snatching range and Tony was able to pick him up. “I think there is more dirt on you than there is left in the plant pot,” Tony grumbled. The two floor cleaner robots were going to town on the mess. Tony turned Panda upside down and ruffled his fur so most of the soil fell to the floor. Panda squeaked as he dangled, sounding sort of like a pig, and the floor cleaners went nuts, beeping in protest.

“Sir, do not torment the cleaning robots. We do not want them to stage another protest for better working conditions,” pleaded Jarvis. 

“That was once and it was years ago,” Tony said quickly as Steve eyebrows shot up. “It’s not what it sounds like.”

“It is exactly what it sounds like,” Jarvis disagreed.

“Shut it!” Tony snapped. He sat Panda in his lap. “You look ridiculous.” He brushed at his ears with a sigh. “Like you’ve been dipped in chocolate.”

What is chocolate?

“It’s a sweet food that humans like. I’ll see if you can have some later,” replied Tony absently, still petting Panda. He cocked his head and stared at Panda with an unhappy look on his face while Panda preened under the attention. Steve squeezed Tony’s shoulders. “Panda, do you like us?” Tony asked.

Yes. Very much.

“Do you like Thor?”

I do. He is very nice.

“How do you feel about going to Asgard with Thor?”

Panda sat up, fuzzy ears twitching. You wish to send me away?

Tony was barely able to contain a flinch as a wave of fear and sadness washed over him. He gave his head a little shake. His ears were ringing again. “No, Panda,” soothed Tony, pulling the little alien close. “I would never want to get rid of you. But you wouldn’t be happy here with only Thor and me to talk to. On Asgard, everyone would be able to hear you. You wouldn’t be so alone there.”

Panda curled himself into a ball, hiding his face. I am alone no matter where I go.

Tony fought off the smell of smoke and blood and the sound of screaming, shoving it away from his mind. They weren’t his memories anyway and it felt disrespectful to be experiencing them. He stroked down Panda’s back. “I’m sorry,” Tony muttered. He bent down close to Panda, although he knew with Steve’s superior hearing that the other man was probably able to hear everything he was saying anyway. He wanted this conversation to at least seem private. “That grief will never go away, I’m sorry to say,” Tony whispered. “It will lessen with time but that’s all. You’ll always miss them. But if you stay on Earth, Panda, you’ll have to remain hidden, either up on the helicarrier or in the Tower. In Asgard you’d be able to speak with and go anywhere you wanted. You wouldn’t have any freedom if you stayed here.” Tony felt Steve squeeze him gently, evidence that he had indeed heard everything Tony had said. Panda was silent, a miserable ball of fur against Tony’s stomach. He leaned back against Steve with a sigh, his side aching.

“What did he say?” asked Steve softly.

Tony shook his head. “Nothing yet,” he muttered back.

Finally Panda uncurled himself. You are right. When you fix the device, I will go with Thor to Asgard.

Tony gave a relieved smile. “I think that is for the best, Panda.”

The little alien scowled. I really do not like the helicarrier.

“It’s not such a bad place when it’s not being overrun by homicidal mutant lizards,” Tony said with a chuckle. Panda did not look convinced. He clicked and settled down in Tony’s lap for a nap.

“He agreed?” Steve asked.

Tony blinked drowsily and nodded. “He’ll go with Thor back to Asgard,” he answered through a yawn. He didn’t know if it was the pain meds that were knocking him out or if Panda was projecting or whatever again, making his mind go foggy.

“That’s good at least.” Steve tucked Tony more firmly against his chest. Tony hummed and let his head rest on Steve’s shoulder, eyes slipping closed. It looked like it was nap time.

Tony keyed in a few final numbers with a flourish, the screen filled with equations. “Jarvis, run that and throw up a 3D rendering,” he ordered, reaching to grab his coffee cup and taking a sip.

“Yes, sir,” replied the AI.

Tony stretched cautiously, careful of aggravating the healing wound on his back, and looked up to survey his surroundings for the first time in hours. Steve had been reading on the couch and had since fallen asleep, the book slowly sliding out of his lax grip. Soon it would fall to the floor with a thump and Tony knew it would jerk the solider awake with a flummoxed frown. Tony couldn’t help but smile, pleasant warmth buzzing over his skin. Steve had pretty much refused to leave Tony’s side since they left the helicarrier and Tony found his overprotectiveness, well, sweet. Nobody had ever shown him such consideration before. It might become irritating later, if Steve didn’t let off, but for now it pleased Tony and he allowed the other man to hover.

Tony turned to his table companion and found Jane staring off to the side, a laptop open in front of her and a pencil slowly sliding out from behind her ear. He couldn’t wait until it fell into her lap and startled her into yelping. He followed her gaze and found Panda messing around with some scrap metal on the corner of the table. The little alien was lifting a small metal pipe up, Dummy standing ready with a long screw and You holding a power drill. A few deft movements from the two robots and the pipe was secured into place. Panda lumbered around to the other side of the contraption, Dummy and You watching him avidly, and lifted a heavy weight on a flexible wire. He released it and the weight crashed into another weight, jerking it into swinging. “Huh. A Newton’s cradle,” said Tony, surprised.

“How is he doing that?” muttered Jane. Both Jane and her friend, Darcy, had tried to see if Panda could talk to them but neither had been able to. Darcy claimed to hear some sort of far off muttering before handing Panda back to Tony, a look of pain tightening her face. She claimed Panda to be totally ‘Japanese anime cute’ but touching him apparently gave her a migraine.

“He’s not actually an animal, Jane,” replied Tony. Panda was playing with an old laptop that Jarvis was helping him use. Tony could see instructions on the screen. Jane blinked wide eyes, ‘does not compute’ practically stamped across her forehead. Tony rolled his eyes. You think Jane would be used to weird stuff after meeting an Asgardian god, for pity’s sake. Speaking of Thor… “Where did Thor go?”

“Poptarts,” replied Jane, a ping from her laptop drawing her gaze away from Panda. She frowned down at the screen. The pencil slide out of her hair and she flailed after it before it could roll away.

“I am finished, sir,” announced Jarvis.

A blue hologram appeared in the air over the table, a set of detailed numbers and then a wire frame that looked like a badly misshapen trumpet flower. One side of the tunnel was exploded outward. Tony reached up and turned the wire frame around so the exploded part faced him and frowned. “Well, scrap that idea,” he muttered.

“Unless we’re looking to blow Asgard into bits and pieces,” said Jane, looking disappointed.

“Nope,” replied Tony, popping the ‘p’ sound. He swept his hand through the air and the wire frame hologram collapsed and disappeared. From behind them, Tony heard the book fall with a fluttery thump and the following snort as Steve jerked awake. Tony smiled, amused and charmed despite himself.

Steve yawned, sitting up and checking the other occupants of the workshop. Tony and Jane were still at their computers and Panda was rooting through a box of metal pieces, the makeshift Newton’s cradle still clacking away on the corner of the table. He rubbed his face briskly to banish the last of his sleepiness and glanced at his watch. Steve stood and walked up behind Tony, loosely wrapping his arms around the dark haired man’s shoulders, looking over his head at the computer screen. “Hey, how is it going?”

“Badly,” replied Tony sourly.

“Really badly,” added Jane with frustration. She knew that Thor was worried about not being able to travel home and she felt bad about not being able to help her boyfriend. She gave a key on her laptop a vicious push.

Steve smiled sympathetically, bucking his head to press a kiss to Tony’s shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll get it soon. Have you two eaten?”

Tony frowned, unable to keep himself from leaned back against Steve’s chest. “We just had breakfast,” he complained.

Steve chuckled. “That was hours ago, Tony. It’s after one now.”

“Huh?” Tony reached up to where Steve’s arm was looped across his collarbone and turned his wrist around so he could see his watch. It read 1:27pm. Way past lunch time, then. As if in agreement, Tony’s stomach suddenly growled.

Steve chuckled again, squeezing Tony’s shoulders tightly for a moment before stepping back. “Come on. We’ll head up to the kitchen, grab something to eat real quick, and you two can continue to plump the reaches of the unknown after.”

Jane stretched, arching her back and raising her arms over her head. “We might as well. It’s not like we’re getting anywhere.”

Tony gave her an insulted look and then sighed. “Alright. Panda?” he called across the table. The little alien pulled his head out of a box of bits and bobs. “Are you hungry? We’re going up for lunch.”

Panda trotted across the tabletop so Tony could pick him up. Food sounds good. Will there be Cheetos again?

“I’ll never forgive Clint for giving you so much junk food,” muttered Tony. “Yes, you can have Cheetos.”  He lifted Panda so he could cling to his neck and stood. “Jarvis, trash that and save our work. We’ll pick up where we left off later.”

“Yes sir.” All of the computer screens went blank.

Jane groaned as she stood. “We’re never going to get it right,” she muttered.

Steve gently herded everyone toward the door. “Don’t say that, Dr. Foster. I’m sure Tony and you will figure it out soon. You just have to keep trying.”

Jane frowned in confusion as Tony chuckled. “Steve is better than those motivational posters with the kitten hanging from the tree branch saying ‘Hang in there!’.” Tony patted Steve on the arm with a smile. “Much cuter too.” Jane smiled as Tony ducked away from Steve’s gentle grab and mock growl. “Too slow!” cried Tony, hopping up the stairs with Panda hanging around his shoulders like a backpack. Steve gave slow, playful chase. Jane quickened her pace to keep up with them.

On the main level, Tony and Steve raced from the hallway and across the living room. Clint tilted his head back on the sofa to watch them clatter into the kitchen. Jane arrived a couple of seconds behind them, a tolerant smile on her face. An outraged squawk from Tony sounded in the kitchen. Clint rolled his head in the other direction. “Don’t they just make you want to throw up rainbows?” he asked as Jane walked past him.

“Try being trapped in the same room as them for hours on end,” muttered Jane. Clint snorted and then turned the volume of the TV back up as his show came back on. She entered the kitchen to find Tony and Steve inching around the island, the span of marble between them. Thor was by the left hand counter, his Never Ending Poptart Toaster going full speed. Jane went over to him and leaned her forehead against his chest.

Thor slipped a hand under her hair and rubbed at her neck. “How are you, fair Jane?” he asked in a voice that for him was considered soft.

Jane groaned as the knots in her neck melted. “I’m doing just lovely,” she muttered contentedly.

Tony danced around the kitchen island, keeping it between him and Steve. “You’ll never catch me!” he crowed. Steve gave the other man a narrow eyed look, amusement curling his lips. Panda clicked and clambered up over Tony’s head. Tony yelped as Panda’s little furry belly covered his eyes, reaching up to grab at the alien. “Ow! Panda, no fair!”

Steve darted around the island and grabbed Tony’s arms as Panda leapt off of Tony and landed on the counter. “Got you,” Steve teased.

Tony glared up at him. “You cheated. Panda helped you!” The little alien clicked a few times, lumbering across the counter to the fruit bowl.

Steve chuckled and leaned down to kiss the scowl off of Tony’s lips. Tony melted against him, leaning all his weight against his chest and trusting Steve to hold him up. Steve slid his arms around Tony’s shoulders and nipped lightly at his bottom lip. “Ham and cheese, ok?” Steve whispered.

“Uh huh. Fine,” slurred a happy Tony.

“Turkey for me!” shouted Clint from the living room.

Tony came alive, pulling away from Steve and whirling toward the door. “Get your own boyfriend to get you a turkey sandwich! Steve is mine!”

“Aw, come on, princess. Share!” Clint whined, hanging his head back off the sofa again and grinning at Tony upside down through the door.

“No! I am a selfish bastard and I will not share!” Tony glared at the archer as Steve prodded him into sitting on a stool at the island.

There was a soft beeping and Steve glanced down at his watch, going over to the little cabinet by the microwave. He fished out an orange pill bottle and shook a pill out onto his palm. “Time for your meds,” he told Tony quietly, offering the pill and a bottle of water. Tony’s eyes snapped away from Clint, leaving the archer to pout. He grimaced but snatched the antibiotic from Steve’s palm and swallowed it with a gulp of water. “Do you need a pain pill?” Steve asked softly.

Tony eyed the other orange bottle. His back hurt, yes, but the narcotic would make him sleepy and he had science to do and his back didn’t HURT hurt. He could do without it. But Steve would give him a LOOK if he thought Tony was ignoring so much as a paper cut. “Maybe just some Ibuprofen?” Tony hedged. Steve gave him a huge smile, which made Tony feel warm and then annoyed that something as simple as Steve’s smile could make him feel warm. He settled for giving the island counter an embarrassed glare. Tony wrinkled his nose as he saw Panda was eating a banana, peel and all.

Steve set up an assembly line of sandwich making, laying each piece of bread with ham, cheese, and a selection of mayo and mustard. Panda rolled an apple across the island and climbed into Tony’s lap to eat the fruit. Jane collapsed onto another stool, laying her head down on her folded arms. Thor sat next to her and gently petted her hair. Tony’s gaze drifted across them all and then settled on a spot on the backsplash, brain turning over like an engine and thoughts flying. “Would you like a sandwich, Thor?” asked Steve, setting a bowl of chips and a deli container of pasta salad on the island.

“I would, Captain. Thank you,” replied Thor, even though he had just eaten a whole box of Poptarts.

Steve continued in his food making, setting a plate with three sandwiches in front of Thor. He shouted for Clint and the archer entered the kitchen and set down in front of his turkey sandwich with a smug look. He was disappointed when Tony ignored him, mind elsewhere.  Steve set a plate with a sandwich, chips, and some pasta salad in front of Tony and tapped the back of his hand lightly. Tony blinked at him. “Eat,” ordered Steve, setting a fork gently between his fingers. The dark haired man began to mechanically bring the food up to his mouth.

Natasha appeared in the kitchen, taking a juice from the refrigerator and accepting a plate from Steve. Bruce wandered in, yawning. “Jarvis said we were having lunch?” he mumbled. He had been running tests on the Tesseract most of the night.

“Looks like it,” said Clint, kicking the stool next to himself out. Bruce took the offered chair and Steve pushed over a plate, sitting next to Tony.

“Have you made any headway?” asked Natasha, adding a pile of chips to her plate from the bowl.

Jane huffed around her bite and swallowed. “No. We’ve had a few ideas but,” she winced, “none of them worked.” She gave her boyfriend a miserable look. “I’m so sorry, Thor.”

“I am sure you will come up with a solution soon, Jane. There is no need to apologize,” replied Thor confidently.

Clint leaned across the counter and waved a hand in front of Tony’s face. “It’s like nobody is home,” he muttered. Steve pushed his hand away, although Tony didn’t react at all, and told Clint to knock it off. Clint sat back in his chair and grumbled. Panda stole a chip off of Tony’s plate and Steve tore off a small piece of his own sandwich for the little alien.

Tony took a sip of his water and then a bite of his sandwich, his eyes still staring unfocusedly at the backsplash. He picked up his fork and stabbed a bit of pasta salad on the tongs, lifting it toward his mouth. He suddenly froze, eyes now focused like lasers on the spiraling noodle. Steve was the first to notice. “Tony? You ok?”

“I think he’s brain is overheating,” snorted Clint. Natasha thumped him in the arm, causing Clint to yelp and almost fall off the stool. Natasha packed a lot of power in her punches.

“You have an idea, Tony?” asked Bruce, recognizing that look as being on the cusp of a breakthrough.

“Spirals,” muttered Tony, shoving the fork into his mouth. He took two quick bites of his sandwich and gulped down the rest of his water. He then sat Panda on the counter and swiveled his stool around to hop off. “Spirals.”

“Tony? What’s wrong?” Steve asked.

“Spirals,” Tony shouted back, trotting out of the kitchen.

Everybody looked at Jane, as if she could decipher the man’s cryptic message. She was looking down at her pasta salad with an intense stare. “Spirals?” she echoed softly, her brow winkled in confusion. “Spirals?” Jane repeated, as if this would help her understand the pasta’s importance. Her eyes widened after a moment. “Spirals!” she cried in excitement. She grabbed Thor’s face and placed a loud, smacking kiss on his lips. Then she leapt off her stool and raced out of the kitchen with a loud cry of “Spirals!”

Thor licked his lips and grinned. “I knew it would not take them long,” he said happily. Panda clicked and pulled Tony’s abandoned plate toward himself.

They were back on the helicarrier, much to both Fury and Panda’s displeasure. They were on the water, having ascertained that no more gremlins were on the ship, sailing through the middle of nowhere in the Atlantic Ocean. They were a little far north, the salty wind with a chill that caused everyone to be wearing light jackets. The deck was completely cleared of planes and personnel, except for the Avengers. Jane was kneeling next to the Tesseract transportation device, poking at a few wires before snapping on the cover. Thor was standing over her in his armor, looking fond and indulgent as Jane fussed over the machine she and Tony had created to send him back to Asgard, hopefully without gathering any unwanted passengers this time. Natasha and Clint were loitering in the shade of the fake command tower, standing close enough to where an excited Darcy was trying to draw a nervous Bruce into conversation just in case they needed to intervene.

Tony hugged Panda to his chest, muttering into the alien’s fur. Panda clung to Tony’s neck, sometimes franticly grooming Tony’s hair and other times huddled into his shoulder. Steve dragged over a heavy black case and gestured for Tony to sit. Tony gave him a wan smile and sat on the case, shifting Panda to sit in his lap. Tony had a momentary thought about how funny it would be if Steve was informed he’d just instructed his lover to sit on a case of missile components. He then disregarded the thought as unimportant; the components weren’t armed anyway. (He hoped.) Steve stepped away so Tony and Panda could have some privacy.

“You’ll be fine,” insisted Tony, trying to tamp down on the wave of unhappiness trying to blanket his mind. They weren’t his emotions anyway.

I do not wish to be parted from you. Panda was clicking continuously is distress. It aggravated the headache Tony could feel building behind his eyes.

“We’ve talked about this,” Tony said gently. “You can’t stay here. It’s impractical and you wouldn’t be happy in the long run.” He stroked over Panda’s back.

Come with me!

An overwhelming desire to agree to Panda pleas swept through Tony and he gritted his teeth. A rush of hot anger prickled his skin, an emotion he was fairly sure was his own. Tony knew what the little alien was doing. The anger was quickly submerged by a wave of sorrow and fear. ‘Interesting survival skill,’ Tony thought, breathing deeply to try and clear his head, weeding his own emotions out of Panda’s projections. “I can’t do that. My home is here.”

I do not want to be alone. Tears leaked out of Panda’s blue eyes, matting his fur.

“Thor will ensure you make friends, Panda. He will be with you.” Tony’s ears began to ring and he gave a pained grunt. “Panda, please…” A weight seemed to suddenly lift off of Tony’s chest and he sighed, the grey creeping around his vision fading away. He rolled his shoulders.

Sorry. Panda muttered into his mind.

Tony rubbed behind Panda’s ears and didn’t mention it. “Everyone in Asgard will be able to speak with you, Panda. You’ll be much happier there and I shall visit as much as I can.”

You will? Panda asked hopefully.

“Of course,” replied Tony, smiling down at the little alien. The desire to stay with Panda crept over his mind again like a soft blanket, the very thought of leaving him painful, and – “Panda.” The feeling fell away as quickly as it had gathered. Panda huddled in Tony’s lap in misery and Tony stroked over his back. “You will be fine,” he soothed. He could see Steve watching them worriedly from the corner of his eye and flashed the other man a quick, tight smile. Tony felt a little like his heart was being torn apart.

Clint and Darcy suddenly started wolf whistling and everyone looked over. Thor had Jane bent back over his arm, the pair engaged in a heated kiss. Steve coughed and turned red. He looked away in embarrassment and happened to look in Tony’s direction. Tony smirked at him, smiling suggestively, and Steve turned even redder, covering his eyes with a hand. Thor ended the kiss with a loud pop and stood a dazed Jane up on her feet. “We shall not be parted long, fair Jane. I shall return soon. I swear,” announced Thor. Jane nodded with a silly smile and stumbled away, her hair full of static. “Friend Panda? Are you ready to depart?”

Tony stood, his amusement sliding away. He walked toward Thor, shifting Panda around in his arms. “You have your things?” he asked, eyes landing on the crate sitting nearby on the deck. Inside he knew there was a supply of Cheetos and all the toys Tony and the others had given Panda in the last few weeks, including the overstuffed dog bed (not that Panda knew it was a dog bed) he’d slept in, the stuffed bear Natasha had bought him (to give Panda something to cuddle), and the swing Clint had built.

Yes. It is all packed. Panda’s mind voice was soft.

Tony hugged him tightly. “It will be fine. You’ll see.” He smiled down into Panda’s bright blue eyes and had to blink back his own tears. He tugged playfully at Panda’s right ear. “Goodbye.”

Panda clung to Tony’s neck for a moment. Goodbye. Then the little alien hopped out of Tony’s arms and climbed up Thor’s shoulder. Tony’s lips wobbled, which was just ridiculous, and he fought down a whimper.

Thor curled one arm to support Panda and clapped Tony on the shoulder. “All I have to do is press the blue button, Tony, and I shall be transported home?”

Tony glanced down at the device sitting on the crate and nodded. Theoretically, anything touching the device would be transported when it activated. “Yeah. Remember to make sure your touching it when it goes or you’ll be left behind.”

“I shall remember,” agreed Thor with a nod. Tony backed away and then trotted over to stand with the others. Steve wrapped an arm around his shoulders and Tony leaned against his side. “Farewell, my friends!” called Thor.

“Bye, Thor!” shouted Darcy, waving extra hard.

“Goodbye!” Steve called. Natasha and Bruce waved while Clint gave Thor a thumps up. Jane sniffled and waved as well. Thor reached down and pressed the button on top of the device, a blue light bubbling up around it like a fountain.

“This is safe, right?” asked Darcy suddenly. “I mean, it’s not about to exploded, is it?” Clint gave the growing light a nervous look and stepped behind Natasha, who was unimpressed with this action.

“Yes, it’s fine,” said Jane, slightly insulted. The blue light danced with red and golden sparks and gathered into a sphere around Thor and Panda. Jane frowned. “I think,” she added.

“Tony?” muttered Steve as the light began to spin.

Tony bit back a pulse of anxiety that was not his own and squeezed Steve’s waist. “You might want to shield your eyes. This is going to be bright,” he warned as the glowing sphere suddenly broken apart and a beam of light shot up into the air with a boom, splitting the sky apart. A gust of wind slammed into them. Steve wrapped both arms around Tony as everyone stumbled. Darcy yelped as she slipped and fell. The light crackled and snapped, chasing itself up into the air and into the gap cut through the atmosphere. Stars and blackness lurked through the breach in the sky, making Tony shiver. (He wasn’t very fond of space, not after riding a nuclear missile through a mystical portal. The night sky always seemed a bit more…threatening to Tony after that.) The light was sucked up into the gap and the break bled closed, the sky once again blue and perfect.

Tony felt his ears pop and the heavy weight in the back of his mind disappeared. As suspected, the deep attachment he felt to Panda faded away. Tony liked Panda, don’t get him wrong. The little alien was cute and fluffy and innocent and would fetch tools like a good lab assistant. How could Tony not like him? But the mind link between them was gone and Tony felt lighter without it, less focused and overrun with thoughts about the little alien.

Jane pushed her tangled hair back and stared up into the sky. “Well, we either sent them back to Asgard or dropped them on Pluto,” she muttered. A round zigzag mark had been burned into the deck where Thor had activated the device.

“Pluto was an option?” asked Darcy, taking Clint’s offered hand and standing.

“Sort of?” hedged Jane, looking guilty.

“I noticed the new color scheme,” Bruce said wryly. “Red and gold, Tony? Really?”

“I swear to god, it was not on purpose,” Tony replied with a grin. “The modifications just ended up like that.”

“Are you fuckers done yet?” Fury’s voice drifted through their earpieces. “I’d like my helicarrier deck back.”

Steve reached up to his ear. “Yes, sir. We’re done,” he dutifully reported.

“About damn time,” grumbled Fury. The hangers for the planes slid open and began to rise. Workers returned to the deck and began to direct the planes into position, returning to its disguise as an aircraft carrier. “If you’re done, then go away. SHIELD doesn’t have time to babysit you anymore.” They all heard the line click dead.

“A Quinjet will be available to return you to New York,” Hill said over communications. “Have a nice day,” she said shortly and then was silent.

“We work with such happy people,” said Clint sourly. Natasha gave a delicate snort.

By Tony’s ear, Steve’s watch beeped mid-day and, like one of Pavlov’s dogs, Tony’s stomach growled in response. “Lunch?” he said hopefully, looking up with pleading eyes at Steve. He knew there were a few more doses left of his antibiotics, his back ached slightly, and he was hungry. Damn beeping watch.

“Sure,” said Steve pleasantly. “Here or should we eat at home?”

“Let’s go home,” announced Darcy. “This place gives me hives.”

“Allergic to authority?” asked Clint.

“Nope,” Darcy replied with a sharp smile. “Allergic to bullshit.”

“Oh snap! Girl has got some bite!”

“You’re just mad they won’t let you wander around,” Jane said as the group drifted toward where their transport waited.

“This place is like Roswell and Area 51 rolled into one!” complained Darcy. “I can’t stand it.”

Steve and Tony slowly followed their friends, their voices drifting over them on the sea wind. “Are you okay?” asked Steve, concern coloring his tone.

Tony nodded. “I’m fine,” he muttered.

“I’m sure Panda will be just fine,” Steve said, trying to soothe him. Tony had no doubt about that. Panda would have everyone in Asgard wrapped around his little claw soon enough. Tony hummed in response. They all clambered into the Quinjet and strapped into the passenger seats, Clint having a short argument with the pilot that ended with the man storming off the plane and the archer settling into his abandoned seat with a smirk.

“You know, I am going to miss Panda a little,” announced Bruce.

“He sure was cute!” agreed Darcy.

“It was nice to have someone around to cuddle with,” admitted Natasha, who had been caught snuggling with Panda on the couch more than once.

“We should get a pet!” cried Clint. “Hey, Tony! Can we get a dog?”

Tony, who had not been paying all that much attention to his teammates, barely looked up. “I’ll see what I can do about it later,” he muttered, which was pretty much his standard answer when someone asked him for something because people mostly asked him to fix or build things.

“Yay! We’re getting a dog!” Clint exclaimed happily.

“Tony!” hissed Steve. “Tony!” The dark haired man finally blinked up at him, drawn out of his thoughts by Steve’s insistent voice. “You just told Clint we could get a dog!”

“What?” yelped Tony. He looked up to find the others grinning at him. “No! No dogs! They’ll pee over everything and be a pain. No way!”

“What about a cat?” asked Natasha in a reasonable tone.

Tony paused. Cats were self-reliant, right? There’d be a litter box but he could design a bot to take care of that. “Um…” he muttered, thoughts flying.

“Yay! We’re getting a cat!”

“I haven’t said yes yet, Clint! Clint? Did you hear me? Clint!”