AN: hey guys, sorry for the wait. i'm not dead i swear

Hecca beta'd this

also there's cover art now! if you want to see it properly, it's on ao3 under the same title and penname.

precipitate
verb

cause (an event or situation, typically one that is bad or undesirable) to happen suddenly, unexpectedly, or prematurely.

A golden-eyed watcher stood on the edge of a broken bridge, staring into the void it overlooked. His gaze flicked from planet to planet, realm to realm, as he watched over the universe and its trillions of inhabitants. He turned towards the golden palace behind him and smiled slightly when he saw the approach of a golden-haired prince.

"My Prince," he greeted as Thor landed by him.

"Heimdall," Thor said, stowing Mjolnir away.

"I presume you are here to inquire after Midgard?"

Thor nodded and asked, "How fares Jane?"

There was a pause as Heimdall directed his gaze towards Midgard. "Jane Foster is well," he said.

"And my fellow Avengers?"

This time, after a longer silence stretched between them, Heimdall straightened, his brow furrowing in concern. "I do not know," he said. "Something is cloaking the tower of your Midgardian friends from my gaze."

Thor's eyes widened. "Few things can block your vision. Do you know what it is?"

"I do not," Heimdall said.

He said nothing for a few moments, focusing on the blank in his sight. "It is difficult to even recognize the fact that I cannot see it."

Thor narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Is this one of Loki's schemes?"

Heimdall cast his gaze towards Asgard's golden palace, at Loki who was in a holding cell awaiting his trial. He shook his head. "No, I do not believe so. I can—" he paused, concentrating on the castle. After a beat of silence, he said, disbelief in his tone, "I cannot see the Tesseract."

Heimdall abruptly turned from his vigil and lifted Hofund from its stand. "I must look into this," he told Thor. "I fear there may be more at play here than we know."

Thor followed Heimdall as he strode down the Bifrost. "Heimdall, wait. What is it that you speak of?" he asked worriedly.

"My Prince," Heimdall said, stopping and rounding on Thor. His eyes conveyed the worry his body language was concealing. "My vision originates from the power of the Infinity Stones. I can see everything created by the stones. For me to not see the Tesseract— for me to not recognize that I can't see it…" He shook his head, turning back and continuing towards the palace. "I must find the source of this."

-o-O-o-

Jack took a deep breath, calming himself slightly. "If my wing is broken," he said, his voice shaking, "it means my grace isn't being contained somewhere else. It means I won't be able to find it and get it back," saying it out loud made it all the more real, and Jack had to pause before admitting defeatedly, "it means my grace is just… gone."

Jack's wings trembled, the injured — the broken — one especially so. He took a shaky step back, carefully avoiding meeting Tony's gaze. Tony had promised that Jack would get back to his world, to his home. He'd promised that everything would be ok. But that was impossible now. That was impossible because Jack's wing was broken. Because Jack was broken.

An oppressive silence coated the room. Jack could feel his heart pounding, bashing against his chest. The thumping of his heart was echoing in his ears, hurting his head. The ceiling lights felt too bright, almost as though they were burning his eyes. He clenched his eyes shut. He couldn't stay. He had to leave. He had to away from the room, away from everything. Jack hesitated for a moment longer, before he turned towards the door and, ignoring Tony's shout of "Kid, wait!", pulled it open and fled the room.

Jack paid little mind to where he was going, allowing himself to stumble wherever his feet took him. His thoughts were spinning through his head, crashing against the walls of his skull, a constant reminder of the revelation he'd just made.

His grace was lost, scattered across this universe. That part of himself, his only hope of getting back to his world, to the Winchesters, was gone. Tony had promised to help him, but now there was nothing to help. Jack raised a shaking hand to wipe away tears he didn't know had fallen. He felt his grace's absence more keenly than ever, the painful emptiness amplified tenfold by the knowledge that it would never again be filled.

Jack dimly noted that he was standing before a window. He looked up at it with blurry eyes, watching his reflection which stared back, familiar but for the two foreign shadows lurking behind it. Jack stretched out his left wing, watching as the reflection's did the same. His wings' physicality now felt unnatural rather than novel, no longer a puzzle to solve but an unfixable problem.

Jack grit his teeth and tore his gaze away from the image. He brought his hand back up to his face and scrubbed furiously at his eyes. He could scream. He could cry. He could tear the feathers from his wings and grind them to dust. It wouldn't help. It couldn't help.

The idea that he'd had any control over this situation had been an illusion, one that had been brutally ripped away. Now Jack had to decide what he was going to do with the pieces that were left behind.

Jack swallowed past the lump that had formed in his throat. He blinked past the stinging in his eyes. He pushed away the ache in his chest. He would be ok. He had to be ok.

JARVIS would help him. Tony would help him.

'Tony...' Jack thought, a pang of guilt stabbing through his chest. When he'd fled his room, he'd been too overwhelmed to do anything but run. He hadn't even registered Tony's call to stop and had left him behind without explaining anything.

Jack resolved to apologize to Tony when he saw him next.

Jack was drawn out of his thoughts by the sound of slow, heavy footsteps. His head snapped up, his wings flexing uneasily. Anyone could be coming. Jack didn't know who they were or how they'd react to seeing him.

Jack considered running again, escaping before the approaching person saw him. He was preparing to flee when they turned the corner.

It was Steve, the man who had confronted Jack when he'd first woken up.

Steve stopped short when he saw Jack. An expression of confusion flickered over his face, then was quickly replaced by one suspicion. Jack shied away from Steve, staring at him apprehensively.

Steve frowned. "Where's Tony?" he asked, his voice flat.

Jack answered, voice quivering, "I don't know. He was showing me around the tower."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "So, what are you doing here?"

Jack's throat tightened. He swallowed and, very unconvincingly, said, "I got lost."

Steve rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Look, Jack," he said. "It is Jack, right?"

Jack nodded.

"Ok. When you're around the tower, you're gonna need to stick with one of us. Got it?"

Jack ducked his head. "Yes. Sorry," he said quietly.

Steve nodded curtly. "Good," he said, turning down the corridor. "Follow me."

Jack, upon realizing that he wasn't getting punished, let out a breath of relief. He trailed after Steve, thankful that the man knew his way around the tower.

"Where are we?" Jack asked, breaking the silence that had settled over them.

Steve glanced at him questioningly. "New York," he said.

Jack blinked. "What? No, I mean, where in the tower?"

"Oh," Steve said, the confusion clearing from his expression. "We're near the leisure room. It's just down there." He pointed down a hallway they were passing.

Jack's eyes widened, and he looked around again. "Oh, I see," he said. "I recognize this area now."

Steve laughed. "The tower is quite the maze, isn't it?"

Jack nodded. "I wasn't even sure what floor I was on," he confessed with a bashful grin.

"I still struggle sometimes," Steve admitted with a smile. "It isn't like anything I'm used to. This whole time is still so crazy…" he trailed off, shaking his head.

Jack wondered what Steve meant about the time. He considered asking what was so strange about 7:44, which was what a nearby clock read, but decided against it. That probably wasn't what Steve had meant, anyway.

"Well, I think we're nearly at the penthouse," Steve said. His sense of direction had, apparently, been correct, for when they rounded the next corner the stairwell came into view.

"Thank you," Jack said as they entered the room.

Steve acknowledged the thanks with a nod. He said, "Dinner should be soon. Tony will have ordered something."

Jack perked up at the mention of food. He wasn't sure when he'd last eaten, but he was hungry. "Do you have nougat?" he asked.

"Well, Tony probably has some somewhere," Steve said. He shot Jack a quizzical glance. "Why?"

"I like nougat," Jack said with a grin.

As he finished speaking, the paneled wall slid open with a ding. Jack looked to the right to see Tony standing in the elevator. He met Tony's eyes, and his guilt came flooding back. His gaze skittered away, and he swallowed nervously.

He wouldn't let himself run away this time.

-o-O-o-

Upon Jack's revelation, Tony's mind had instantly jumped into overdrive. Fixing problems was what he did for a living, and he'd be damned if he didn't help fix this one.

He had not, of course, expected the kid to bolt.

His shout for Jack to stop had been ineffective, and he'd been left standing alone in the room. He had run to the door, but Jack was already out of sight.

Tony had been about to ask JARVIS to help him track Jack down when he paused. He had no insight into what was happening. He had no idea what grace was, and, even if he got Jack to explain what it was, he knew that he wouldn't be able to fix the problem anytime soon.

If Tony were feeling what he assumed Jack was feeling, he'd want time to be alone and come to terms with his situation. As much as he hated to admit it, right now his presence would likely be a hindrance rather than a help.

So, Tony had, after instructing JARVIS to monitor, but not interact with, Jack and report back to him if anything went really wrong, decided to sit this one out.

Tony had picked the StarkPad, which he'd intended to gift Jack, off the bed, and put it back onto the dresser with a sigh. He would give it to the kid later. He stepped out of the room and started towards his workshop, resolving to find something to tinker with until he was needed.

—o—

Tony glanced up from the boots he was working on when JARVIS' voice echoed throughout his workshop. "Sir, Mr. Jack has encountered Captain Rogers," the AI said.

Tony's eyes widened. "Shit," he said, standing and making his way towards the doorway. "Are they ok? How pissed off is Steve?"

"Captain Rogers is leading Mr. Jack towards the penthouse. They are acting cordially."

Tony let out a breath. "Well. That's certainly something." He stepped into the elevator which, courtesy of JARVIS, instantly begun rising towards the penthouse.

Tony was worried about what he would find. Steve was fair, sure. Hell, he was the poster boy for fairness. But he had set the conditions of Jack's freedom, and Tony had broken them.

The doors dinged open, and Tony was quick to survey the room. He could feel the worry melting off his face when he saw that everything seemed to be in order. As he stepped out of the elevator he moved towards Jack because, sue him, he was worried about the kid. He stopped in surprise when Jack's face fell, and he seemed to shrink in on himself.

"Tony," Steve said, drawing Tony's attention away from Jack. "I was just helping Jack find his way through the tower. I found him wandering the halls. Alone."

Tony winced internally. This wasn't a conversation he wanted to have in front of Jack. Turning to the kid, who, he noted worriedly, was still avoiding his gaze, he said, "Hey, Jack. Why don't you go to the dining room? Steve and I just need to clear some stuff up."

If it were possible, Jack withdrew even further. He nodded dejectedly, which just served to make Tony feel guiltier.

"Hey, kid," he said gently, stepping towards Jack. Jack looked up at him hesitantly. "I'll come in right after you. There's food in there if you're hungry." He gestured to one of the stairways. "It's just down there. If you need me, I'll be right here. I promise."

This time, when Jack nodded, it was a happier gesture. He turned towards the staircase and, with one last glance back at Tony, left the penthouse.

Tony turned to Steve, who was studying him with a pensive look. After a few beats of silence, Steve finally said, "He's a good kid."

Tony blinked. "Huh. Gotta say, Cap, I didn't expect that."

"I'm sure you didn't," Steve said, his expression shifting into one of exasperation. "Because you broke the terms we agreed to. That the team agreed to. Jack said he got lost, but it obviously wasn't true. What actually happened?"

"He ran," Tony said. Steve raised an eyebrow, but Tony raised his hand to ward off any questions. "Turns out he doesn't realize what had happened to his wing. I guess he just thought it was injured, cause when he found out it was broken, well, remember how he mentioned his 'grace?'"

Steve nodded.

"Yeah. Apparently, that's why his grace is gone. I still don't know exactly what it is."

"Why didn't you go after him?"

"He was badly shaken. I doubt I would've helped. Trust me."

Steve shook his head. "You know, Tony? I'm finding that harder and harder to do. We agreed — you agreed — that Jack wouldn't go unsupervised, and look what you did the moment we went away."

"Steve. Buddy. You're killing me. I'm fine." He poked Steve's shoulder. Steve glared at him. "See? You're fine too, back to your normal, prissy self and all. Everything's okay! No need for all this worry and melodrama."

"That's not the point, Tony!" Steve snapped, his frustration bleeding into his tone. "Your strategy of 'cutting the wire' only works once. After that, you lose your team's trust. And you're already well on your way to losing mine."

"Boo-hoo," Tony said. "Are we done?"

Tony would freely admit — to himself — that his constant audacity wasn't strictly necessary but, well, he did have a reputation, and it wasn't going to maintain itself.

Steve narrowed his eyes. "Yes," he said stiffly. "We're done."

"Great!" Tony turned towards the dining room. "You wanna join us for dinner?"

Steve nodded curtly and followed Tony as he left the penthouse.

"Hey, JARVIS, can you tell the others that food's here?"

"Certainly, sir."

The dining room was smaller than many of the tower's other communal rooms. A banquet table, which could seat 8 people, stretched the length of the room and was piled high with the variety of food that had been ordered earlier the evening. Jack sat at the end of the table, a plate of food set before him. His chair was turned sideways, so the backrest didn't impede his wings.

Jack was staring at Tony. He swallowed his mouthful of food and, rather unexpectedly, said, "I'm sorry."

Tony's brows furrowed. "What for?"

"Running away. I didn't mean to. A lot was happening. I thought that maybe if I didn't have my grace then you wouldn't…" He ducked his head. "Without it I don't know how I'm going to get back to my world. But I know that running was wrong and I—"

"Hey, kid," Tony interrupted Jack's rushed apology. "It's ok. I don't— I didn't blame you for a second."

Jack blinked. "But I ran away," he said, a perplexed frown on his face.

"That's fine. You needed space. I get that," Tony said. "What did you think I was going to do?"

Jack's eyes flitted away nervously. "Well, before now, the people looking after me… it, uh, it changed, it's not like this anymore, but at first, if I didn't have my grace, I don't think they would've let me stay." He hesitated a moment longer, before admitting, "They wanted something. They… well, one of them, Dean, only wanted me because of what I could do. I just thought that maybe you also—"

"Ok, I'm gonna have to stop you there," Tony said. "Whether or not you have your grace or whatever, I am never going to kick you out of this tower. I swear, Jack, you're not here because I think you can do something for me."

Jack smiled hesitantly up at Tony. "Thank you," he said. "I think I needed to hear that."

Steve cleared his throat, and Tony glanced over at him. He grimaced internally, realizing he had almost forgotten about the other man's presence. The Captain nodded towards one of the room's doorways, alerting him to Bruce, Natasha, and Clint, who were just entering the room.

Jack turned to them and, in what seemed to be his instinctive gesture of greeting, raised his hand and said, "Hello."

Clint grunted noncommittally, but otherwise ignored Jack's greeting. Natasha narrowed her eyes and stared at him analytically. Bruce smiled slightly and brought a hand up to wave back at Jack.

"Hi," Bruce said.

Tony clapped his hands and said, "You're all finally here. Now we can eat!"

Jack glanced down at his half-eaten plate of food. "Oh," he said. "Was I not meant to start?"

"Nah, it's fine," Tony reassured, making a plate of his own and sitting by Jack. "Y'know, we don't do team dinners all that often. We should do them more. Team bonding and all that."

"We don't do them because you're usually holed up in your workshop, Tony," Bruce said.

Tony grinned unabashedly. "True."

"So, Jack," Natasha said, taking a seat opposite Jack. Jack smiled at her, unaware and unquestioning of her intentions. "You're from an alternate universe. What's different about your world?"

"Um," Jack said, raking his brain for a significant event he knew of. "Well, there was the apocalypse in 2008. Did this world have that?"

"Well, I think you'd be able to tell if it had," Tony said slowly, very concerned. "Did yours?"

Jack turned to Tony. "Yeah," he said, blissfully ignorant of Tony's, and the other Avengers' mounting concern. "It happened before I was born. My father helped stop it. He died, too," Tony's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to offer his condolences, but was stopped when Jack continued with, "But then he un-died."

The table was silent as the Avengers processed that information. Tony, deciding that he really didn't want to address the whole back-from-the-dead thing, said, "If this 'apocalypse' happened four years ago, in 2008, and you weren't born yet…"

"Oh, no, I was born in 2017," Jack said.

Tony's eyes widened. "Wait, so your world's ahead of ours? It must be, what, 2040 there?"

"What? No, it's not," Jack said. "It's 2017."

There was a long silence. Jack took a bite of pizza.

Tony's heart felt like it was frozen in his chest. He almost felt the need to check to see if his arc reactor was working. They had believed Jack to be young, but this was on a whole other level. It didn't make sense. It couldn't be true. But what reason would Jack have to lie?

"What," said Tony, his eyes wide. The other Avengers remained silent, too shocked to say anything.

Jack swallowed. "What?"

"How old are you, Jack?" Steve asked hesitantly, as though afraid of the answer.

"I, uh, six months? I was born in May."

Tony began laughing, borderline hysterically. "You're joking, right?" he asked. "This is a joke. This has to be a joke."

Jack squinted at him, tipping his head to the side in confusion. "No?" he said. He looked around the table, taking in the other Avengers' expressions. His wings rustled uneasily. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah," Tony said. "Yeah, you're— you're six months old. That doesn't even make sense. How are we speaking to you? How are you not an infant?"

"My mother… she told me it was too dangerous for me. I couldn't be a baby, or a toddler, or a child. There were people who would've come for me, who did come for me, and I needed to be able to defend myself."

"But how?" Tony asked.

"Oh," Jack said. "I don't really know. It wasn't something I decided to do. It just… happened."

Clint scoffed and said, "You're kidding, right? You don't actually believe this? He," he waved his hand at Jack, "isn't six months old. That's… he can't be a fucking baby."

Tony gasped dramatically. "No swearing around the children!" he scolded.

"Screw you, Stark," Clint snapped, pushing his plate away. "He's not your kid. He's not a kid. This is ridiculous."

Natasha put her hand on Clint's shoulder. "Clint, stop," she said firmly. "You need to calm down."

Clint scowled but stood down nonetheless.

Jack had, by this point, shrunk back into his chair. He hadn't thought the Avengers would react so strongly to his age, and he didn't like the way Tony was arguing with Clint.

Bruce, noticing Jack's discomfort, shot Jack a comforting smile, and quietly said, "Don't worry. They get like this sometimes, but they're fine."

Jack shook his head. He stood up, and said, "But it's happening because I'm here. Maybe I should go."

"I think that's a good idea," said Steve gently. "There are some things we need to discuss, and I'm not so sure you'd want to be around to hear them."

Jack nodded his acceptance and made his way to the door, leaving his plate sitting on the table. He glanced back, ready to wish the Avengers a good night, but stopped when he saw that they had already begun speaking.

He pulled open the door and left, leaving them to their discussion.

-o-O-o-

JARVIS helped lead Jack through the tower and back to his room. Jack remained quiet as he walked, picking worriedly at his hand. He didn't know why Tony had reacted the way he had, and he hoped it wouldn't change anything.

Jack thanked JARVIS as he stepped into his room. He made his way to the balcony, hoping that fresh air would help him clear his mind. He peered at the panel Tony had fiddled with earlier when he'd asked how to open the glass door. He was unsure of how to use it.

Jack looked up from the panel when JARVIS said, "I presume you wish to go outside?"

He nodded. "I'm not sure how to open the door."

"I am able to do it for you." As JARVIS spoke, a pane of the glass slid away, creating a doorway.

"Thank you," Jack said as he stepped onto the balcony. He took a deep, calming breath. The railing sat in a way that effectively shielded him from the view of the rest of the city, meaning there was no worry of him being seen.

Jack pulled the stool out from under the table and took a seat, stretching his unbandaged wing out behind him. He rested his arms on the table and lay his head down on them, closing his eyes with a sigh.

"When you are ready to return inside, merely press the button on the right wall," JARVIS said as the glass door slid closed.

Jack was unsure how much time had passed when he felt a foreign energy seeping into the air around him. He shivered, looking up from the table and peering into his room. "JARVIS?" he asked.

No response.

Jack stood from the stool and made his way into the room, realizing that the outside of the tower must not have speakers.

Once he was off the balcony, he said, "JARVIS, are you there?"

The room was silent.

Jack's heart sped up slightly, its nervous fluttering mirrored by his wings. The energy was getting stronger, gathering its power in his room.

"JARVIS, what are—"

Jack cut himself off as the swirling energy converged at his feet. He glanced down sharply and felt a spike of panic when he saw orange sparks springing from the carpet.

Jack cried out for help as he ran for the door but was cut off by the started yelp that escaped his lips. An orange portal had opened beneath his feet, and there was nothing Jack could do as he was sent plummeting into its depths.

AN: hehe guess who