Schism

Killian was dead, the President was safe, Tony wasn't dead, and it was thanks to Pepper and Rhodey. God, he loved his friends - no, his family. His heart had broken when Pepper had fallen, but it burst when she saved him from Killian. She was breathtaking! 

Thanks to Jarvis and the extra Iron Man suits, they were able to get the President to safety, Rhodey back to base to report on the Mandarin issue, and Tony and Pepper to Stark Medical. Poor Bruce was freaking out a bit - not Code Green levels since he and Hulk had actually started to communicate after the Battle of New York, but not being around to be able to help against Killian had upset him. 

Maya had apparently had a change of heart before the end and created a worm program to destroy Extremis' notes so they couldn't continue to be used as a weapon. Tony remembered enough to make sure Pepper was stable - he couldn't remove Extremis, but he had Bruce's skills in the squishy sciences, and they were going to be damn sure she'd be safe until they could figure out how to remove it.  And Pepper and Tony promised each other they'd both get help with PTSD. 

*****

Thor sat with Loki's body, keeping vigil. He and his mother had taken turns upon their return from Svartelheim. Thor had asked his mother to be his co-regent - thanks to his eye-opening experiences on Midgard, Thor was aware of his shortcomings and knew Asgard would benefit most by having both his mother and himself to care for it. The Asgard-force - no longer "Odinforce" (they should have known something was wrong when father claimed the magic of Asgard as his own) was stronger than it had been in centuries. 

Thor felt such shame and sorrow at the abuse that he and Asgard had, albeit unknowingly, lain on Loki's shoulders. His brother had been by his side - a Jotun had been by his side - growing up together, fighting, dreaming, scheming. So many lies and so much pain as Odin's legacy - no longer would Thor allow it to continue.

Thor gently traced the lines of Loki's Jotun heritage that had appeared upon his death - and saw blood seeping into Loki's shirt from the wound in his chest. Before Thor could react, Loki's body began to tremble, then seize violently. Thor ran to the door of the chamber, calling for the healers and sending for his mother. The healers arrived, Eir - the lead healer raced to Loki's side and worked to calm the seizures. She hurriedly opened his tunic and watched as the wound slowly knit itself together. 

Loki screamed.

*****

Charles Xavier had thought about reaching out to Anthony Stark, but the time never seemed right. 

He'd known who Dr. Stark was. How could he not? Genius, billionaire, former-playboy, philanthropist.  

He’d wondered if Anthony Stark was a mutant.

Charles had had an idea that Anthony Stark might be a mutant since his return from Afghanistan, and was almost certain after his reveal as Iron Man. Charles had felt... something... but until Hank had commented on the medical implications of Dr. Stark's survival, he hadn't truly, seriously considered it.  

And then the man had survived the fall from the portal in New York, and the attack on his Malibu home. Charles wouldn’t have been surprised if there were additional life-threatening instances he wasn’t aware of.  

Charles consulted Cerebro and confirmed it. Dr. Stark wasn't quite in the same league as Logan, but he was definitely in the ballpark with him. 

Now Charles faced a bit of a conundrum. When he'd reached out through Cerebro to confirm his suspicions regarding Dr. Stark's mutant status, he'd unintentionally and unexpectedly picked up on the rather stunning amount of psychological stress the man was experiencing.

How do you introduce yourself to a total stranger and offer to help them deal with something so personal? 

Charles finally decided to take a page from Dr. Stark's book regarding dealing with difficult situations.... directly.

He picked up the phone. 

*****

If Thor lived for 10 thousand years, he never wanted to hear his brother scream like that again. 

Frigga arrived in time to assist Eir in putting his brother into a healing sleep. Somehow, Loki's Jotun heritage - magic - he didn't really understand it, somehow it had held him on the edge of death and his body had slowly begun to repair itself.  According to his mother and the healers, Loki would recover from his physical wounds.

As co-Regent, in addition to the care and protection of Asgard, Thor embraced his responsibility to enable more invisible wounds to begin to heal. He started with his warrior friends - centuries of misconception had begun to crumble with Loki's sacrifice and healing of Frigga. Thor himself reframed their adventures together, forcibly removing the blinders of judgement they had all worn because Loki was "different" - even though his difference had saved them countless times. 

To Thor's surprise, Heimdall - who had never hidden his mistrust of Loki - had experienced a change of heart. Apparently his lack of Sight where Odin's behavior was concerned and how it had endangered Asgard had shaken Heimdall deeply and caused him to re-evaluate what such errors may have caused.

As Loki's healing progressed, all of Asgard showed signs of waking from a state of stagnation and apprehension. It seemed as though Odin's state of mind had tainted the magic of Asgard itself, and Thor promised himself he would not let that happen again. 

*****

For someone who hated being in Medical, Tony ended up there a lot. Second degree burns, a mild concussion and a broken ankle - ugh! What a pain in the ass! Tony was extra frustrated because he couldn't work on Pepper's extremis issue with a concussion. 

At least he knew what was up with Shield and Fury. He never expected Matrix-Pirate to have such a change of heart, but the guy was being VERY careful about uprooting Hydra and not so ends-justify-the-means as he had been up till now. Amazing how learning your worst enemy was able to find a comfy home inside your organization could instigate major re-prioritization.

While Tony had been fighting fiery assholes, Fury, along with Natasha and Clint, had been hip deep in thwarting a Hydra assassination plot involving high level Shield agents and Alexander freaking Pierce.

Tony wasn't willing to be part of Shield, but when Fury requested help directly, he decided helping dismantle Hydra from the inside out was no problem. 

*****

Nick Fury was a cold-hearted SOB and a bit of an asshole who spent most of his career with Shield convinced that the ends justified the means. He'd seen things that quite honestly he wished he hadn't (and truth be told, done things he wished he hadn't as well). And he'd been OK with that (mostly). 

Until Tony Stark, with a bit of information and tech, had upended his world.

Howard had been an integral piece of Shield's creation, and his tech was a marvel in its time. Tony was a whole different level of genius when it came to tech. Until recently, Nick hadn't thought too deeply about why Shield hadn't attempted to bring Tony under its wing, but now - with Hydra revealed IN SHIELD - he wasn't surprised at all.

They'd killed the man's father and mother, using Bucky Barnes - the Winter Soldier UNMASKED - to do it. Considering the man's prowess with computers, Stark WOULD have found that information and Hydra would have been in for a world of pain considering what happened to people when they hurt him or those he cared about. 

What Hydra had done to Barnes had made Nick puke, and that had NEVER happened in his career. And he did not want to even start thinking about the shit-storm that would happen when the information found its way to Rogers. 

Fury couldn't sit on this intel, but he knew he was shit at this kind of thing. Stark had given him a way to make untraceable/untrackable contact through his butler-AI, so he reached out but asked to be put through to Virginia Potts instead. 

Stark was going to need the support.