Shield and Sword

Chapter 1

New blood and old blood stood together in silence. The only sounds heard was the subtle noise of Tony's IV bag dripping. All were standing with the exception of Tony, Thor, and Jeannine. Since teaming up with Carol Danvers, she had been thrown into this family of heroes. She voiced her opinion but mainly kept to herself.

"It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth.", Rhodes states as his gaze is towards the hologram in the middle of the room. Jeannine comes over to Tony to adjust his drip. He furrows his eyebrows at the stranger.

"I don't think we've been introduced, I'm Tony Stark." He says as he attempts to extend his shaky hand. Jeannine smiles and takes his hand gently.

"Ravi de Vous rencontrer Mr. Stark. My name is Jeannine Sauvage and keep your hand down. I don't want you to pull out your IV. " she replies placing his hand down to his lap.

"Jeannine is a good friend of mine. Her skill set was what helped me pinpoint your location. " Carol explained. She then turned her focus back on the hologram.

" So what do we know?" She asked Natasha.

"World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census. And it looks like he did... he did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent, of all living creatures."

Everyone looked at the pictures of those lost to the snap with both sadness and unbridled rage.

"Where is he now?" Tony spoke up.

"We don't know. He just opened a portal and walked through." Steve answered.

Tony looked to Thor who was sitting alone on a bench. With his elbows on his knees, despair was written all over his face.

"What's wrong with him?" Tony asked to any who would answer.

"Yeah, he's pissed. He thinks he failed. Which of course he did, but there's a lot of that's goin' round, ain't there?" Rocket answered earning a confused look from Tony.

"Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear." Tony said.

"Maybe I am."

"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep Space scans, satellites, and we got nothing. Tony, you fought him." Steve says looking to Tony for guidance. This was the first time they had been in the same room since the incident with the Accords. Rocket, Carol, and Jeannine were the only ones who didn't know of the bad blood between the two men.

"Who told you that?"Tony asked in surprise.  "I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away the store. That's what happened. There was no fight."

"Did he give you any clues, any coordinates?" Jeannine asked standing next to Carol.

"Pfft! I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming." Tony continued.

"Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus." Steve said to Tony. Tony shifted his gaze to Steve and clinched his jaw.

"And I needed you. As in past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late buddy. Sorry. You know what I need?"Tony begins to stand and Jeannine goes to help him. He waves her away.  "I need to shave. And I believe I remember telling you, Cap."

Tony starts to head towards Steve, tearing out his IV. Jeannine and Rhodes goes to stop him.

"Tony, Tony, Tony, stop!" Rhodes begs.