We can start and finish wars

We're what killed the dinosaurs
We're the asteroid that's overdue
The dinosaurs choked on the dust
They died because God said they must
The new world needed room
For me and you

-Our Love is God; performed by Evan Todd, Barrett Wilbert Weed, & Ryan McCartan in the Off-Broadway show, Heathers: the Musical

It was almost surreal, knowing aliens truly existed. If anyone had asked Tony a number of years back if he believed in extraterrestrials, he would've laughed his ass off. He wasn't one to believe in things like that. At least until he experienced it firsthand. That was the problem with Tony - he typically didn't believe in things like aliens, or even religion, until he managed to see it for himself. Even after becoming acquainted with Thor, the literal God of Thunder, Tony still found it hard to believe there were higher powers out there. It could've been his stubbornness coming through, or it was his inability to actually believe there were gods thriving in other worlds and dimensions. Knowing what Tony knew now, it made him wonder how any of Earth's religions could explain how they're no longer alone in the universe.

After everything that happened with Loki and New York, Tony and the rest of the team were baffled at the very concept of aliens. They weren't prepared for something so monumental, so...mind-blowing. But they managed to fight their way through, and despite the amount of damage that went down, they were all confident that things would work out. Tony managed to get the Department of Damage Control to work on salvaging any remaining alien parts scattered around the city. It was the least he could do after everything that went down.

"You doing okay?" Natasha's voice snapped Tony out of his thoughts. The billionaire had spent a majority of his morning putting some additional enhancements to the Iron Man suits, only to be forced out of his workshop by Bruce. The amount of time that Tony spent in his workshop never really mattered; if he had ideas on how to improve something, or whatever else came to mind, then he'd spend every waking moment on that project. Which was why, after being forced out, Bruce had lectured him on taking care of himself, especially after the scare with the portal. Tony acknowledged Bruce's concerns - maybe not visibly, but he acknowledged them - but told his friend that he didn't need a reminder of the portal. Out of all the things that happened in the battle, that damn portal was the one thing keeping him up at night. Tony remembered every feeling that went through his body before he lost consciousness. He remembered seeing the shadowy figures of the Leviathans and the Chitauri. He remembered seeing what felt like countless alien ships and then the bright flash of the nuke once it made contact. "Tony," Natasha's voice brought Tony back again, causing the billionaire to shake his head.

"I'm fine," he replied; shrugging off the assassin's concern. He could easily pull up that nonchalant facade, it was Tony's form of protection. Turning to one of the cabinets, the billionaire started rummaging to find some liquor.

"It's no good lying to a spy, you know that right?" There was a light mocking lilt in Natasha's voice, which caused Tony to sigh. "Anyone else would buy what you're pulling, but I've been trained to see through people."

"What do you want?" Tony's voice held an iciness to it, causing the assassin to arch a brow.

"Bruce told me you've been working yourself half to death," she responded. "He's worried about you. We all are."

"Well I don't need people worrying about me, okay?" Tony snapped. "I'm fine; I'm alive. That's all that matters."

"I'm not going to argue with you on this," Natasha sighed. "I came to see how you're doing. You might be fooling yourself into thinking everything's fine, but it's a different story for us." Right as she was about to leave, Natasha turned and looked at Tony again. He poured himself a cup of whiskey, an indescribable look was in his eyes. "We're all handling this in different ways," she said, "just try not to do anything self-destructive. We need to be ready for when Fury needs us again."

Tony didn't even say anything as she left.

-0-0-0-0-

Megatron's optics narrowed slightly. He'd been told of one remaining power source that could be of use to the Decepticons. From what Starscream had told, the power source had the ability to alter the minds of its victims. That could be extremely useful for the Decepticons. The only problem was that the source was constantly changing locations. After whatever happened in that disgusting human city, the underbelly of human society quickly grabbed a hold of it. That meant if Megatron was going to obtain it, he'd have to be able to figure out its exact location.

"How am I supposed to know of its location if its constantly on the move?" the leader growled, his optics glowing a brighter shade of red.

"We could send one of our own to retrieve it," Starscream sputtered. "It shouldn't be hard..."

With an almost animalistic growl erupted from Megatron as he slammed a fist on the ground. Starscream stumbled back, holding his hands up in surrender. "We must get that Scepter now," Megatron barked. "I need to know its exact location."

"I have heard about a human in New York whose technology is advanced for human standards." Starscream wouldn't look directly at his leader, still cowering in fear. "He should be able to help find the Scepter's location."

With a single nod, Megatron let out a snarl. "Send Laserbeak to their location," he muttered. "Have him do whatever is necessary to find that Scepter."

(A/N):

This is a short chapter, but hopefully you guys like it. If you think there's any improvement that could be made, don't hesitate to let me know! Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Nothing in the MCU belongs to me; nothing in the TRANSFORMERS universe belongs to me. All I own are my OCs and the subplots I put in.

For all of you who offered OCs for my story CAN'T HOLD US, would you guys like to see them written into this story? If so, PM me or leave a review. I'd appreciate your input!

If anyone who has an idea on subplots or OCs specifically for this story, let me know.

Be kind to one another, don't text and drive, and happy holidays!

Many blessings,

Indigo Callahan