Assemble | Avengers | Second Part

Captiolo (25) Venticinque ~ He's Back

~Avery~

He was really here. He was back. He was Alive. And he's okay.

God, I can't wait to bring him home. Can't wait to see the look in the kids' eyes once they see Tony again.

"Peg, honey, you need to loosen your grip a bit," Tony mumbled to me as Bruce got him hooked up with an IV.

"Sorry," I mumbled back, quickly taking my hand away from his, though he just as quickly recaptured it.

"I didn't mean to let go. Just loosen it up." He gently squeezed my hand.

"Alright. It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth." Rhodey started, standing on the other side of Tony, images of those dusted popping up via hologram in the center of the table.

"World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census and it looks like he did..." Natasha paused, and Tony and I both sucked in breaths upon seeing Pepper and Peter's photos. "He did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out... 50% of all living creatures."

"Where is he now? Where?" Tony asked.

"We don't know. He just opened a portal and walked through." Steve said, leaning against a couch with his arms crossed.

Tony scoffed, rolling his wheelchair forward a bit before looking towards Thor, who wore Earth clothes instead of his normal Asgardian. "What's wrong with him?"

"Oh, he's pissed. He thinks he failed. Which, of course, he did, but you know, there's a lot of that going around, ain't there?" Rocket the raccoon said.

"Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear." Tony pointed to the creature.

"Maybe I am."

"You should've seen Thor before Loki visited. Wouldn't even come out of his room, then." Olivia ignored the two's conversation.

"Wait, Reindeer Games made it? Seriously? But not his wife. Damn, we got unlucky with that."

"Tony," I warned, glancing at Thor who was now glaring at my fiancé.

"What about Speedy Gonzalez? Heard anything about him?" Tony asked.

"Mother fucker hasn't answered his phone, and I don't even know what country he was in last. I'm still trying to track him down." The man's aunt rolled her eyes.

"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep space scans, and satellites, and we got nothing." Steve steered us back on track. "Tony, you fought him-"

"Who told you that?" He asked, fiddling with his shirt buttons. "I didn't fight him. No, he tore Liv's wings clean off and then wiped my face with a planet while Bleecker Street magician gave away the stone. That's what happened. There was no fight, 'cause he's not beatable."

"Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?" Steve pressed.

"Uh..." Tony sputtered, doing a mock salute with his hand. "I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming."

"Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus."

"Steve, lay off."

"And I needed you," Tony spoke over Olivia. "As in past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late, buddy. Sorry. You know what I need?" He sniffed, moving to stand from his wheelchair and knocking over the dishware in front of him. "I need a shave. And I believe I remember telling all youse..."

"Tony-" "Tony, Tony!" Rhodey and I shouted as the man proceeded to rip the IV out of his arm.

"...alive and otherwise, that what we needed was a suit of armor around the world. Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not. That's what we needed."

"Well, that didn't work out, did it?" Steve rhetorically asked.

"I said we'd lose. You said, "We'll do that together, too." And guess what, Cap? We lost. And you weren't there. But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the "Avengers". We're the "Avengers", not the "Pre-vengers."

"Okay." Rhodey nodded, the two of us now gripping onto Tony so as to not let him fall.

"Right?"

"You made your point, hun. Just sit down, okay?" I tried.

"Okay. No, no, here's my point. You know what? She's great by the way."

"Tony, you're sick. Sit down." Rhodey said as the man pointed to Carol.

"We need you. You're new blood. Bunch of tiered old mules." Tony ripped himself out of me and Rhodey's grips, moving towards Rogers. "I got nothing for you, Cap. I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust, liar."

All of us were quick to react as Tony carelessly ripped the new housing unit out of his chest, letting out a shaky breath as he planted it in Steve's hand. "Here, take this. You find him, you put that on, you hide."

"Tony!" Olivia shouted as the man collapsed to the ground, being the first one at his side.

"I'm fine." He shrugged everyone off. "Let me..."

I groaned in frustration as Tony completely fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Come on, Rhodey. Help me get him back in the chair." Olivia huffed, signaling me to bring said wheelchair around to them.

Because of the serum and Tony's lack of muscle, Olivia was easily able to get her nephew back into the wheelchair, the three of us and Bruce quickly making our way to the medical wing of the compound.

I don't think Tony's going to be coming home just yet.