Well, here it comes. This one turned into a bit of an epic… and all the characters are going to go on one hell of a journey, especially our poor billionaire. Set immediately after the first Avengers film the plot is quite different from anything you've read before.

I've been reliably informed by reviewers that it gets better as it goes on, so hopefully I can convince you all to stick in to the end.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy… It's going to be one hell of a ride.

Prologue:

Chapter 1: Manhattan

Everything ached. He was pretty sure he was bleeding internally. He could feel his pulse, rapid and weak, throbbing all over his body. The accompanying sensation of his tattered armour digging into his flesh made breathing difficult and it was warm in here. He was roasting inside his shell. His vision seemed pixelated and the weight on his back he was fighting so hard to control seemed to be slowly crushing him. Darkness gathered in the corners of his vision and yet the light above was blinding. He had to pull up. The tower loomed ahead, but his strength had long since left him.

Come on! He could do this - he had to do this. As he approached Stark Tower, he managed to pull up in time. He barely scraped the top of the building, but it was enough to make another bruised rib buckle. Yet he didn't notice the pain anymore. Everything in him was focused on his task. And now he was finally flying upwards, just meters away from the glowing blue that rimmed an intense void of darkness.

That void that would be his final destination. He knew that. He wasn't really bothered about dying; he hadn't thought twice about grabbing that missile until now. But seeing Pepper's contact photo staring back at him from his display forced him to swallow down the tears. He didn't want to leave her without saying goodbye. But she never picked up.

…

Pepper watched the TV screens from the jet in horror as events unfolded. Tony disappeared from view and was gone. Just like that. Eaten by the blackness and sucked into the empty.

As the agents around them cheered, Maria glanced over at her Boss. Fury bowed his head, realising that Stark had just paid the ultimate price for his mistakes.

As cheers broke out in the streets, there wasn't a sound from the Avengers. Their eyes remained fixed on the ring of blue. This wasn't over yet.

Pepper held her breath. The Avengers held their breath. Together, they prayed. He was coming back. He was coming back. Wasn't he?

…

In a flash, the Earth was gone. Just... gone. He was separated from everything he knew, and every second he continued his course death edged nearer. He hadn't been scared before, but the sight he saw before him stole the air from his lungs. The alien warship loomed, but it was the vastness of space surrounding him that was truly suffocating. It was so cold, he couldn't breathe. The suit was too damaged. The oxygen just leaked away into the vacuum surrounding him. He was running out of time, out of power - and he was so very tired. He wanted to run. Until this moment he had wanted to see space all his life - he was a scientist after all - but there was no wonder in what he saw before him; only despair. If he let go now and turned back he could make it. He'd be ok - they all would - and he'd see Pepper again.

But the missile was still so far from its target. There was no guidance for it up here other than him and he had to make sure that it reached its destination. That was his only job now. His final task.

The suit was nearly exhausted - he could feel the arc reactor burning in his chest, the last of the fuel that was keeping him alive evaporating. He didn't matter. In his head he never really had, but now he had to ignore his terror and carry on. He had to die.

How much did he have left to give? Would he make it far enough? His vision blurred his lungs screamed. Where had the air gone? The suit was compromised. He was compromised and suddenly he could hold on no longer.

The rest happened in slow motion. The nuke reached its target and the shock wave blasted through him. He could feel his life leaving him, slowly draining, but there was tunnel, no bright white light and no guardian angel to guide him, only pain.

Alone. He was so very alone, in this desolate place and far, far away from home. He hoped he wouldn't remember dying. He had many awful memories but this was well up there. That was his last thought before the darkness folded in and he started falling.

...

Far away alarms sounded deep beneath the golden City. Platoons of thunderous footsteps pounded down the marble stairs but they were too late. As Odin burst into the dark vault the prisoner who must never leave already had a knife in hand.

"No!" The All-father's voice was but a whisper. This was not possible.

A dark smile passed across the prisoner's face and without another second of hesitation he plunged the metal deep into his chest.

Odin looked at the corpse in horror. The life had already drained from their prisoner's body, his face ghostly white. They had kept him so close to death for millennia, so it was no wonder it took him quickly. Blood pooled around his feet and the stench of it rose in the air and clung inside his throat. Death had just freed the most dangerous being in the universe and Odin had let it happen.

"Find it." He broke the dread-filled silence. "Scour the Universe. Find the new host!" Odin's thunderous voice sent feet scrambling to obey furious their king. "And do so quickly!"

...

Air! He was breathing, oh shit - something was roaring. "What the hell!" Jeez it was the Hulk, just the Hulk, ok, ok. Thor was there, and Steve. "What just happened?"

That question answered itself soon enough as the world came back into focus. He was back, but how. Oh God that hurt. He felt like… well, like he'd just fallen to Earth through a portal.

"We won." Steve's simple words made relief wash over him. He clicked his witty persona back into place, but lay still as long as he could without raising unwanted concern.

The team was tired, they had eaten their Shawarma in silence and then SHIELD inevitably had wanted them all to have their injuries checked and be fully debriefed. Tony hurt all over; it hurt to breathe, to move, to sit, and even to think. It was over - so why did he feel like he was still fighting, his energy constantly draining away?

He was almost too tired to bother fighting treatment, which was certainly not like him. Bruce was concerned when he re-emerged from the Hulk's grasp; he didn't remember much of the battle, but he did remember that the Hulk hadn't been all that gentle with Tony when he'd saved him from the fall. Tony kept up the façade that he was fine. He brushed off the medics with his usual tantrum-like behaviour and if it was less convincing than usual no one else noticed.

Thankfully, SHIELD waved on the debrief. It took some persuasion, but apparently it could be postponed till 7 AM. 'I mean Jeez, did they think there were going to suffer sleep amnesia?!' There was no way in hell Tony was going to get up that early. He'd rock up at 15:00 or maybe 15:30, probably drunk just to piss off Fury. Whatever. He wasn't going to feel guilty about it. They'd just saved the world; didn't they deserve a break?

Everyone was fine. It was a miracle really - they were battered and bruised, but rest of the team had dealt with nothing more serious than a few broken ribs. Their wounds would heal, and despite his public stubbornness, Tony would have Jarvis check him over to make sure there was nothing seriously wrong with him. He wasn't an idiot, he just hated fuss.

But would their minds heal?

The question popped into Tony's mind unexpectedly. The others should be fine, he mused. War was nothing to most of them. Thor had seen centuries of death, Steve was a soldier and despite the fact that Natasha and Clint weren't, they were more than used to situations like this. Tony and Bruce were the only civilians. But Bruce didn't remember much of the Hulk being in control. Besides, he was so pleased with the fact that the only damage done by the Hulk was to the aliens that he wasn't dwelling on the horror or the death. And no one had seen what Tony had.

He had no one to talk to. Not that he would ever talk about his feelings. That was not something he ever did. His circle of trust would never be bigger than a few people. In fact, he thought he had already let it stretch too far some days.

Once back at the tower, he disappeared down to the lab. He needed to be alone and to be busy, so that he wouldn't think about it. Busy, so he wouldn't keep remembering what he saw out there, so far away.

But he did remember. He wished he had died like he was supposed to. Then he wouldn't have to keep reliving it every time his mind wandered. But that wasn't all. Underneath the multiple broken ribs, cracked pelvis and barrage of bruising the battle had left him, there was something different in there. Something was sucking the life out of him. Something that Jarvis didn't understand and… what really scared him was that he didn't understand it either.

…..

The Ravens had arrived in time to see the battle end and see the heroes depart with Loki well and truly detained. They had information to deliver to the Æsir on Midgard deemed of the utmost urgency, yet their Master would need to know the outcome of the battle. They glanced at each other and seemed to agree. They could not approach the Prince with so many Midgardians present. With a caw in the silenced city, Muninn spread his wings and took off from the scorched branches they had made their perch, disappearing into the horizon. Huginn watched his compatriot leave and then returned his gaze to the Prince as the setting sun demanded that the light begin to fade.

…

Hope you enjoyed Chapter 1, call this a teaser… my little prelude to set the scene. We start off quite slow, but believe me, very soon everything will get turned upside down.

Just a sentence in that comments box will make my day, if you could take a second it would be hugely appreciated. See you in chapter 2.