A Different Path

Avengers Assemble (Part 2)

"Pepper!" Tony yelled as he came to the door to the room they were in. It was locked, of course, barricaded from the inside by what Jarvis had told him.

His AI was speaking in his ear, quickly, telling him everything that was going on. The suit had managed to save Coulson, but he was severely injured. Nick was with him now. Thor and Hulk's exact location was unknown, but the deployed drones would find them soon enough.

Natasha had apparently knocked the mind control out of Clint and he was back to conciousness and fighting. Hydra agents were slowly dwindling as SHIELD advanced.

"Pepper!" He called again. No answer.

"Allow me," the Captain said, gently pushing him out of the way before slamming his shoulder into the door. After doing this twice, the lock failed and the door came open. Heavy as it was, it only went a few inches.

Tony gave him a quick nod of thanks before pushing through the opening, desperate to get to his family. "Pepper!"

This time, he got a response. "Tony!"

"Daddy!" His kids yelled, they sounded scared. All five of them tackled him with a hug, him barely managing to stay standing.

As he whispered assurances, he felt a wet spot on his shirt where Aurora's face was.

"Star, hey, star, what's wrong honey?" He gently pulled her back so he could see her face. She sniffed and Tony gently wiped the tears from her face.

"I- I wanted to h-help. I made a force f-field pressed to the door to keep it closed, but-but it didn't let us h-hear you."

"It's okay, star, you did good."

"B-but you couldn't get in-"

"And if it had been someone else? Star, you protected your mom and siblings. You did amazingly."

She sniffed again, a small smile coming to her face. "Thank you, Dad."

"What for?" He asked, genuinely confused.

"For believing in me."

"Always."

/

Loki was in New York.

At his tower.

Going to harness the energy of the Arc Reactor.

Oh no, that was not going to fly with Tony. He would not go down without a fight.

They couldn't continue on to the safe house. They had to turn around and protect New York.

The hellicarrier was only running due to Tony and all the SHIELD engineers working together. The emergency lights stayed on and one of the engines (remarkably not the one Tony was nearly shredded in) kept randomly halting for a few seconds, causing everyone to be on edge.

Coulson was fine. Would be fine.

Jarvis had located Thor and they had found Bruce in the bottom level of the helicarrier. Hulk had transformed back into Banner in an area that was heavily shielded from any technology, a beginning of a Hydra base.

Tony was very annoyed his inventions hadn't been enough to find him, even though Jarvis said some sensors had been knocked out.

The genius flew ahead of the helicarrier and to his tower. He could hear the chatter over the comms as the Captain, Natasha, and Barton made their way over, the archer piloting the quinjet.

Tony's family were in the safest room in the quinjet. Nick was with them, but then he got a call from the World Security Council.

The brunette landed on the disassembly platform, watching Loki with narrows eyes as he walked through it. He didn't need it anymore, his suit had nanites, he just hadn't gotten around to removing it.