(MCU) Arcs Collide: Chapter 38 - United We Stand Even Apart

Chapter 38 - United We Stand Even Apart

Summary: Tony is panicking. Thor reunites with something he thought was gone forever. Someone makes a grand entrance.

Two days. A deep breath. There are two days before he is here. Another deep breath. Thanos. And just thinking about the name Tony could feel his panic rising, so he forced himself to take another deep breath.

"Dad, it's going to be okay. You are not alone," Friday spoke softly.

Tony took another deep breath and replied a little breathlessly, "I know, Fri. I know."

There was a pause before someone spoke, this time it was Jocasta, "Dad... We know you are not doing well, maybe you should do some work to distract yourself?"

Tony paused for a moment to consider that. Jocasta was his youngest AI, he mainly activated her for Pepper and SI as Friday was too busy helping him. But it didn't mean he considered her any less of his girl than Friday or Vision.

Still, she was right, maybe he should put his efforts and focus on something else, something productive.

He was sitting in the bathroom of the conference room floor for the past twenty minutes freaking out. The minute the council dismissed him after he promised to set the planetary defenses in motion he ran out of the room, ignoring the worried glances he received.

He has two days until the monster that haunted him for all those years finally comes back to finish the job, and Tony has too many things to do instead of throwing a self-pity party.

It's time to use everything he learned in therapy so he could do his damn job.

Another deep breath, but this time it actually worked, he could feel his heart beating slowly again, his headache disappearing and his breath went back to steady and ordinary.

With a small smile to the phone camera he was holding Tony said, "What would I do without my baby girls?"

The deadpan voice of Jocasta came a moment later with an answer to the rhetorical question, "Most likely gone insane."

Friday's amused response was much simpler, "You are assuming you would manage to get this far without us, Boss."

Tony let out a short laugh, "You got me there Fri. Well, any idea where I should begin?"

This time Friday's response was all business, "Me and Jo already began running all the protocols related to the planetary defenses. Including sending out the orders you set there."

Jocasta joined her the moment after, "A perimeter is being set around the area designated by the council for the battle. Surrounding cities that can be potentially in the crossfire are being informed right now that the force field will be powered up tomorrow evening and all citizens who wish to leave the cities should do so before then."

Friday then offered helpfully, "You finished project 'Pointbreak' last evening, I believe Prince Odinson will be very glad for a chance at a reunion before the battle."

Tony nodded and said, "Thanks, baby-girls. Fri, please call Thor to my lab. I will be heading there now myself."

"Of course, Boss," was the response he received from the Irish voice.

---

Tony pulled out the metal case from the hidden compartment in his lab and set it down on one of the free tables at the corner of the lab.

Just as he put the case down carefully the door slammed open, and Thor's voice boomed around the lab, "Friend Tony! You have summoned me."

Tony let out a heavy sigh at the manners of the Asgardian. He might be a king, but when he was in the tower, he took the time to unwind and behave as loose as he can.

Tony was a little surprised hearing a second, feminine voice scolding him, "How many times do we have to remind you Tony has a heart condition with the reactor inside? Can you not kill our best chance to win this fight before the enemy is even here?"

Tony turned around to see Jane Foster glaring at Thor with both fists at her hips. The god of thunder and king of New-Asgard shrunk into himself before clearing his throat and saying in a much calmer voice, "Apologies friend Tony. I'm afraid my nervousness is getting the better of me."

Tony gave him a smile and dismissed it easily, he knew the big guy didn't have any bad intention after all, "All good Pointbreak, we all deal with our nerves in a different way." He then looked at the brunette and asked casually, "How's life as queen-in-waiting?"

Jane groaned and replied dryly, "I miss my van and my simple life." Then she caught a glance at the ring on her finger and she smiled before adding, "Still worth it."

Thor gave her a big smile before saying toward Tony in complete confidence, "Aye, the battle before us will be hard fought, but if I shall fall in battle, I know my people will be led by the right people."

Tony couldn't agree more. Val and Jane together would make a wonderful pair of rulers, if a little unpredictable.

Jane sent another glare at the blond and hissed, "I don't care weapon or not! You are coming back!"

Thor was about to retort, but Tony beat him to it by saying, "About that actually..."

That got both their attention and Tony opened the case to reveal what was inside. Once Thor and Jane caught sight of the item they gasped, and Tony said with his usual smirk, "How about a hammer?"

Inside the case was the repaired Mjolnir. The ancient hammer of Thor looked a little different after his treatment. Obviously, there were many lines (previous cracks) decorating the hammer now.

Tony just felt lucky SHIELD found all the pieces so it could be rebuilt. Of course, Tony didn't have any of the material used for the original creation of the hammer (Tony remembers Thor mentioning something called Uru or something like that), so instead he filled the cracks with Vibranium. And because the two metals had different shades of silver to them the lines across the hammer were very clear to see.

On instinct Thor raised his arm and slowly the hammer lifted itself from the case and flew gently into Thor's waiting grip. Lightning sparkled where his hand met the handle.

Thor peeled his eyes from the hammer to look at Tony with awe, choking out, "How?"

Tony shrugged, "After the whole Hela breaking it thing SHIELD came to the scene and found the pieces. Not wanting them to fall into some wrong hands they began to consider how to move them, but luckily it looks like breaking it also broke that stupid 'worthy' magic of it. So, they gathered everything and locked it up until I asked for it."

Jane seemed to finally shake off the shock herself and she asked Tony curiously, "But why did you fix it and how?"

Tony sat down on his chair and explained, "At first, I didn't think much of it, especially when Thor came back controlling his powers without it. But when he mentioned during training that he needs a weapon to better fight Thanos I began considering ways to repair the hammer. I couldn't get my hands on any Uru, whatever the hell it is, so I replaced it with my fabricated Vibranium instead."

Thor frowned and asked wryly, "Won't it interfere with the hammer's magic?"

Tony shrugged, "I'm really not the one to ask anything related to magic mumbo jumbo. What I can tell you is while it won't be as indestructible as it was, though that didn't work out too well either huh? This hammer can increase the kinetic energy produced by the hammer, so each of your swings will land harder."

Thor once again was looking at him with awe, "My friend, I will never be able to repay such a debt."

Tony waved his hand, "No debts here Pointbreak. Can't really have my friend fighting a titan not in full power. And anything else that increases our chances against the mad alien is a win in my book."

Thor shook his head before saying in a voice thick with emotions, "Nay, you misunderstand. While it will be an enormous aid in my fight against Thanos, the meaning of this hammer is deeper to me. It is my father's legacy, probably the only one I have now Asgard is no more. For that alone you have my eternal gratitude friend Tony."

Thor finished with a deep bow. Tony shook his head, a little uncomfortable before adding, "Well I will say it doesn't look like it has the worthy thing anymore. Even after I fixed it I could still lift it so you probably should be more careful with that from now on."

Thor gave Tony an odd look with some weird gleam in his eyes Tony just couldn't name. As if he understood something Tony completely missed.

A moment later that look disappeared, and Thor began, "I will keep that in mind, my friend."

Tony then waved his arms toward the exit and urged the blonde alien, "Now, go, go practice a little. I'm sure you missed your... whatever this hammer was to you."

Thor let out a deep laugh before responding, "Aye, it is a good idea. I shall see you soon my friend. Shall we milady?" He finished while offering Jane his arm.

Jane smiled a little. She paused before taking the offered arm, turned to Tony and with the widest smile said from the bottom of her heart, "Thank you Tony."

Before Tony could deny the gratitude again, Jane took Thor's arm and both of them left his lab.

---

One day left. All the New Avengers and their allies were already in the tower and the HQ itself is on lockdown.

Tomorrow during the day the deep space detectors should alert them of the incoming fleet approaching Earth. At that point they will have two hours to prepare themselves and meet their enemy in the selected location.

Tony knows his part of the final battle, he knows what he will have to face and after another therapy session as well as a BARF session Tony was sure he was ready for it.

But right now, he is in his bedroom cuddling with his fiancée. Tony always felt such calmness and warmth when he was with Carol in this way.

At the beginning when they had just started dating, and even a little before that, when Tony was having daily panic attacks from the events of the Civil War and the invasion, Carol's presence always managed to center him.

It was the fact she knew what he was going through, she understood it, lived through it to some extent.

When Pepper tried to calm him down from his attacks after the Mandarin ordeal it felt different, more like an outsider who tried to reach out a hand and pull him out from his nightmare.

But with Carol each time he was in the middle of a nightmare, and she was there for him it felt like she was stepping inside of the hellish scenery and pulling him with herself as well.

"I can hear you thinking like an overheated laptop," Carol joked while raising her head from his shoulder to look into his eyes.

Tony let out a short laugh, "Sorry to interrupt your rest Babe, but you know what they say, it's a danger you have to accept when dating a genius."

Carol playfully rolled her eyes before saying softly, "Somehow I'm getting the feeling it's not your brain that's overworking right now."

Tony's laugh was a little strained this time as he tried to force humor to his words, "Well I do have the love of my life, and one of the most beautiful women in the galaxy in my arms. You should be thankful I don't burn the sheets as we speak."

Carol just smiled back at him before resting a palm on his cheek and Tony immediately felt the tension leaving his body and her words sent him to a place of complete relaxation, "Whatever is going to happen tomorrow we are together in this."

---

The location the council chose for the final battle was interesting. Not far from the southern countries of America there were a couple of unmanned islands that were close to each other.

They provided the perfect setting for the plan the team had in mind, although it was a little too close to some old villages and cities, but that was solved by force fields which had been erected around them since yesterday.

Speaking of force fields, this location did supply an interesting possibility. With the combined efforts of the Planetary Defense Program, they managed to install the field generators deep inside the waters around the islands. It will supply a strong force field the enemy won't be able to undermine and won't have an easy time destroying.

All the fighters for the coming battle were transported to the bigger island by SHIELD jets while the agency was cooking something else up for the fourth phase of their plan.

Strange and Loki cast a spell on their stones to increase their output so Thanos would be able to sense them immediately while they hid the signature of the mind stone, which was given to Carol for protection.

All of them were taking a deep breath to mentally prepare themselves to face an alien army when Vision was the first to notice and call out, "In the sky."

At the British voice's call everyone looked up to see many far away dots descending on their location. The enemy was here, it was time.

Tony turned to see Carol standing very close to him. She caught him in a hug and said, "Remember, even if we are apart, we are fighting him together. And that's why we are going to win."

Tony was surprised when a real smile spread on his face and he responded, "I promise to kick Titan ass if you promise to kick all the other ones."

Carol laughed from the heart and replied, "I promise."

They exchanged kisses just in time for Thor and Bruce to approach him.

With a nod from all of them Tony allowed the nanites to form the helmet around his head and after picking up Bruce he and Thor left toward the second, smaller island.

Tony and Thor landed next to a large boulder. Once they touched ground Bruce jumped from Tony's arm while his helmet disappeared.

Tony noticed the growing shadow that covered both islands and the ocean around it created by the destroyer ship of Thanos.

Tony pointed toward the boulder and said, "Use Stephen's invisibility cloak and hide behind the boulder until the right moment."

It was more like an invisibility amulet and even that was very temporary with conditions on it, but Tony couldn't resist the jab.

Thor gave a single nod before saying seriously, "Aye. I wish you fortune in the coming battle my friends."

Bruce nodded and looked at Tony with worry saying, "Be careful Tony, don't push your luck."

Tony just smiled and waved him off dismissively.

With both of them out of sight Tony leaned back on the boulder and looked as casual as he could while wearing his Iron Man suit.

A couple of minutes later a beam of light came down from the ship in the sky toward a spot not so far away from Tony himself.

When the light disappeared a new voice Tony could spend his entire life without hearing called out, "Stark."

Time to start phase one.