T̶o̶n̶y̶
Tony threw Pepper into the Mark-29 he was going to give her for her birthday. He had designed it specifically for her in case something happened and he couldn't be there for her. It was silver and blue- the opposite coloring of his suit.
The other world haunted him every day. He knew he had PTSD. It was why he tinkered so much. He knew he would never forget what was waiting on the other side of the portal and he wanted to be prepared to face it and save Pepper.
But she was his Yin and he was her Yang. They were perfectly balanced, no matter how much they had to overcome. He felt at peace around her. They might even be able to fight evil together, but he was too afraid of losing her to even think of that possibility. She was his everything, even though he'd never admit it. And besides, who'd run the company if she were fighting evil all the time?
So, as they flew across New York Harbor to their private island from the zombie apocalypse, he kept glancing back to check on her.
That changed when Bruce spoke through his earpiece. "Hey, Tony. You know there aren't any zombies, right?"
Tony stopped. "You're kidding, right?"
"Nope."
"I'm dead."
He didn't realize how dead he actually was at that certain moment in time as Jarvis altered his and Pepper's elevation closer to the water in order to avoid a strong wind.
"Sir, there is a large object coming to surface beneath us." Jarvis said.
Tony looked down just as a large squid tentacle lashed around him and Pepper. He would have tried to shoot it if he wasn't being shaken so hard he couldn't even open his mouth. It seriously didn't help that his blaster was crushed against his chest like he was saying the pledge of allegiance. Cap would never get over it.
The monster dragged them underwater. His suit wasn't water resistant. Neither was Pepper's. Pepper was going to drown. He was going to drown. They were all going to drown. Well, except for the squid.
1, 2, 3, 4.
The creature dragged them deeper and deeper. It was impossible to escape. He felt the pressure in his lungs and he was sure Pepper felt it too. The edges of his vision faded to black. If he didn't drown then he would black out.
15, 16, 17.
Pepper got a good angle and shot the tentacle. The creature roared, but only seemed angry.
22, 23, 24.
The crushing feeling just got worse. His lungs felt about to burst. It had gotten to the point where he couldn't see due to the darkness even with the flashing emergency lights. He couldn't even tell Pepper he loved her thanks to the water in the mask of his suit. He leaned his forehead on what he thought was her forehead. It was. She leaned in.
37, 38, 39.
So this was how he'd live his final moments, drowning and unable to move in the hands of a kraken- squid, whatever- with his forehead on Pepper's. He guessed it could've been worse.
47, 48, 4-
N͟͟i͟͟c͟͟o͟͟
"So, what's all of this?" Nico pointed to the owls.
"Annabeth's new power." Percy said.
Nico shrugged. "Okay...since when does Annabeth have powers? And why exactly did I hear a gunshot?"
"Your friend almost died." Clint said nonchalantly.
"It was Percy, wasn't it?" He rubbed his forehead.
Clint nodded.
"Are we just going to leave the owls here?" Nico asked.
"Until Tony gets back to open the window, yes." Natasha said.
Bruce pulled off his headset and looked up from the laptop. "I don't think Tony's coming back, Nat."
"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked.
"See for yourself." He turned around the laptop where a news report was playing. He looked a bit green.
"Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, the creator and CEO of Stark Industries went down over New York Harbor about an hour ago. Our sources say it was a booster malfunction that caused the suit to go down. The couple has been presumed dead. No bodies or suits have been found." A news lady spoke.
Steve slammed the laptop's top down. "We've got to send out a search party."
"Take me to New York Harbor." Percy said. He looked guilty. "If they're in there, I can find them."
"Thor and I will scan the area through the sky." Annabeth said. "Nico, can you tell if they're dead?"
Nico concentrated. "I can't tell. There's something godly blocking my power. And it's not Thor."
"Great." Peter said. "What can I do?"
"I normally wouldn't say this, but you can scout the public surveillance cams with Bruce to check for any sign of them being kidnapped. Bruce, teach him how to hack. Clint, go with Nat and search one side of the harbor. Nico and I will search the other. Gwen, if you're willing, you can join Bruce and Peter."
"Will do." Gwen said.
"Cap, you're missing couple of vital pieces of information. Annabeth can hack already and her laptop is somehow as advanced as Tony's, if not more." Bruce said.
"You messed with my laptop?" Annabeth was mad, but managed to keep the tone out of her voice.
"It's irrelevant. Okay, so, Annabeth can swap places with Peter. Peter can join Clint, and Nat can fly with Thor in a helicopter." Steve said. "So, it's Percy by sea, Clint, Peter, Nico and I by land, Nat and Thor by air, and Bruce, Annabeth, and Gwen by tech. Let's head out."
Nico and Cap were walking by the shore after searching hours for the lost couple, when Steve decided they should take a break.
"What was it like growing up?" Steve asked as he sat on the dry dirt. "Tony told me you were from Italy. What was it like?"
"I don't remember much. We left for America when I was little. I might have been around four at the time. I just remember it was very...nationalist. They had us draw pictures of our leader for art projects." Nico remembered what Bianca told him about school. "I'm just glad I didn't have to stay there for long."
"I- what's that?" Steve walked towards the water and picked up a blue and silver gauntlet with an engraved ring design. He tapped his earpiece. "Hey, guys, I think we found something."
"I've got something too." Hurricane came up out of the water in front of them and handed Tony's mask to Captain America. "It's got writing on it. I can't read what it says, but I think it's important."
"It's in ancient runes." Steve said to the team. "Norse runes. We should have Thor check it out."
"To the tower?" Spidey asked through the earpiece.
"To the tower." Steve agreed.
Än̈n̈äb̈ëẗḧ
"Steve's right. These are in Norse." Annabeth handed the mask across the table to Thor.
"This is Loki's writing." Thor said.
"Loki's?" The team exclaimed in various tones.
"How did he escape?" Clint asked.
"Who's Loki?" Percy asked.
"He's the Norse god of mischief." Annabeth said.
"He's my brother. Adopted brother. The Midguardians lost quite a bit over the years." Thor added.
"So, what exactly did the mask say?" Natasha asked.
"It says to meet him at the docks at two o'clock if we want our friends to live." Thor said.
"If it wasn't our friends who were in danger, I would've said that was cheesy." Clint stated.
"So, I guess this means they're still alive?" Spidey asked.
"For now." Bruce said dimly.
"I'm not finished. He's on our side, for the most part. Something about a being a- it's a Midguardian term- dough-bleh age-net?"
"You mean a double agent?" Percy asked.
"Something like that." Thor agreed.
*End Chapter*
A̠/N̠ W̠h̠a̠t̠ d̠o̠ y̠o̠u̠ t̠h̠i̠n̠k̠?