Unseen, Not Untrue.

Chapter Seven

Bantering with the God of Mischief was kinda fun, in a terrifying I-could-end-you-at-any-moment kind of way. He was witty, which Tony appreciated, and he'd be lying to himself if that smile wasn't killing him. Sure, it was scary, but he could imagine a genuine one in its place and damn.

He offered a drink while he slipped on his suit bracelets and continued to banter. Somehow, they ended up standing rather close and then holy shit he touched me with the Glow Stick of Destiny shit I'm screwed- wait. But nothing happened. He quipped, once again courting Death, before being promptly defenestrated from his own damn tower. 

Now that was just rude.

The fight was long. The Chitauri individually weren't a problem, but the way they operated made them appear like a hive-minded species, and so, like any hive-minded species, they swarmed.

It was long and hard, Tony used his ability a lot less cautiously. In the chaos, nobody would be looking for mutant abilities, too busy focussed on the first aliens that properly came to Earth. And that they were trying to kill everyone. No the best first encounter, if he was honest. Thor didn't really count as a first encounter, the incident was pretty covered up by SHEILD. 

Well, at least now they could shove this in the faces of all those stupid enough to think that the Earth was the only planet in the universe with life on it.

~~~

They were winning, they could close the portal-

And then there was the nuke. It was enough to level Manhattan and make New York uninhabitable for hundreds of years- which could not happen. Eight point four million people lived in New York City. That's a lot of people dead, injured or misplaced for a very long time. Not to mention nuclear fallout.

"Stark! You know that's a one-way trip?" Steve shouts. Tony doesn't respond.

He grabbed the nuke. It was rigged to a timer, but it was heavy and determined to hit his tower. He pushed, used all the suit could give, then he pushed with his power and nearly screamed when it felt like someone had taken Thor's hammer to his skull. Maybe he did, he couldn't be sure, but it worked, he was flying vertically towards the portal. He could see space- not his space. It wasn't the same stars or nebula in their solar system, hell, even the next three surrounding it. It was someone else's galaxy.

"Would you like to make a call, Sir?"

"Call Charles." He grunted, licking fresh blood from his top lip and breathing roughly.

"Tony!" The man cried out, barely letting the phone ring once before it connected.

"Hey Charles..."

"Tony what are you doing?!"

"It's a nuke, Charles, I can't let it hit... I'm sorry. I don't have much time. I just want you to know that I'm so thankful for everything you've done for me even if I don't deserve it. You and Ororo. Tell her that, would you? You guys are the closest thing to a family I have, to parents, after Jarvis died." He chokes out as fast as he can, tears falling freely down his face.

"Tony... you were my family too, I'm sure Ororo feels the same." The man's voice was strained, obviously crying.

"Yeah... Hey, look after the bots for me? And JARVIS? Charles will look after you, the kids will love you guys, I'm sure of it."

"Of course, Sir, anything." JARVIS sounded so sad, it was such a pure sound of grief that came into his tone that proved to Tony, even if he hadn't already known from the beginning, that JARVIS was just as human as anyone, even more so. And he hated himself because JARVIS would witness him die.