Hmm. 2 years later... and here you go. OMG. I can't believe this took over 2 years. After I left off on a cliffhanger. Because... OMG! THE CAT! Anyways... yeah. I started this story back in 2014. So many more movies have come out since then. So many new characters and junk. And I'll admit that I only know the movies. I don't know the comic books at all. And most of the cartoon stuff. I watched the Ultimate Spider cartoons. And the Earth's Mightiest Heroes. And Janet here is solely based off EMH's. I brought her in before the Ant Man movies. (Which I love! I love Scott. So much.) And Peter was before the Tom Holland Spider-Man. But OMG I LOVE HIM! Him and Tony's dynamics in the movies. UGH! Anyways, it's been over 2 years. I'm gonna try to scrape together the end of this. See if I can start on part 4. And not give up again. Because I really liked this story.

Anyways... to play catch up and remind y'all that are still around... Bruce cured himself and can't Hulk anymore, Thor vanished without a trace, Clint got alien frog spit in his eyes and is blind, Natasha got stabbed in the back by a fire breathing unicorn horn and is paralyzed, Steve got zapped by a purple fog thing that made him tiny again and really insecure about everything, Jarvis' program was hacked but Jarvis foiled it, and Tony was kidnapped but escaped. Because he's too awesome. And we found out Loki is the Revenger (named that by Janet.) (Also, OMG I ALMOST DIED! In the new Thor movie. When Thor calls themselves the Revengers. XD) Thor is back and acting weird. Tony created mechanic parts for the broken team members. A visor thing for Clint that tricks his head into seeing vague shapes, a spine thing that attaches to Natasha's brain and reads brain stuff to move, and a less fancy version of the Iron Man suit for Steve that doesn't fly but hides that he's tiny and stuff. Tony created a giant green Hulk suit for Bruce but Bruce refuses to look at it.

Janet, Sam, Bucky, and Peter are on the team. They all moved in except Peter. Peter still goes to school and helps when he can. Janet and Natasha are dating. Peter and Sam are NOT dating. But have joked about it cuz Peter wants to move in. Tony has a cat. The cat is a dickhead. Who Tony called Dickhead. Everyone else called the cat Fluffy. That Thang and Thang Two are twin vacuum cleaner robots that Tony made to vacuum up the cat hair. They are painted pink and wear bows.

I think that is all. That seems like a good recap.

Avengers: Astounded
Part 3: Elastic Heart
Chapter 26: Running Up That Hill

"Redirecting all power to the unibeam." He said to himself, not even sparing a second to think. He pulled up when he got closer. He took aim and fired. He was thrown back as the blast erupted from his chest. He scrambled back towards the tower, as fast as his repulsors could go. The horned beast lost its grip on the building and tumbled towards the ground. "Incoming."

"Incoming what?" Steve asked over the com channel. "Tony? What's going on up…"

Tony turned off the com channel and dived for the workshop floor. "Hey!" He called loudly as he hovered above the floor. He heard a beep and turned.

U rolled out, followed by the pink twins. All three were covered with dust and debris. Thang Two looked like her hoses would need replaced. And That Thang wasn't rolling right. But they were up and cognitive. "Dum-E?" U attempted to point downward. At least that's what Tony thought. He tilted his head. "Dum-E went downstairs? For help?" U bobbed in his nodding manner. "Butterfingers?" Tony turned. "Butterfingers!" He called out the bot's name.

He heard a low beeping sound under a large piece of ceiling. He lifted it gently. The bot was lying on his side underneath. His base was cracked, wheels busted. But it looked like Tony could fix him easily. "U, see if you can get him up." Tony pushed the piece of ceiling off and let it fall behind them. Then he stepped back and turned.

"Fluffy?" He called out loudly. "Here kitty, kitty."

A flash of orange caught his attention. "Fluffy!" He bent down and lifted the corner of his upturned desk. "Fluffy." He said softer. The small cat was pressed up against the wall, his fur all puffed out. He arched his back and hissed loudly. Tony popped off his helmet. "Dickhead."

The cat darted forward and jumped on him. His claws scraped against the suit, trying to find purchase. "You're okay, you're okay." Tony said softly, putting the desk down and standing up. "Stop squirming." He attempted to hold the cat tightly as he turned.

Steve was behind him, helmet off and smiling. He stepped forward and brushed his suit fingers along the terrified cat's back. "You called him Fluffy."

Tony rolled his eyes. "That's his name. Fluffy." The mechanic said. The Dickhead Cat." He added.

Steve was still smiling widely. "We subdued the… whatever it was. Peter stopped it with a web before it fell. No damage to the street."

Tony nodded his head slowly. "That's good." He hadn't really thought. He had just acted. He saw the thing tearing into his home and he just reacted. Sending it falling to the ground seemed like a good idea.

Steve continued. "We found Dum-E in the control room. I think when Jarvis went down, he went to try and fix him."

Tony nodded again. "What's downstairs look like?"

Steve smiled. "Like nothing happened."

Tony frowned. "Nothing? Nothing! Get me Fury on the line." His phone popped out and hovered in front of him for a moment. Tony snatched it out of midair and pressed it to his ear.

"What?" Fury said as he picked up.

"How does our building get attacked by a giant beast and you do nothing?"

"Didn't know." Fury answered.

"Didn't know?" Tony gasped. "A giant monster was ripping it apart!"

"Top half is your jurisdiction."

Tony hung up on him. "Asshole." He held the cat out awkwardly as he stepped out of his suit. Then he pulled the cat back against him. The cat swatted at the light under his shirt. And he glared at him. "Stupid Dickhead." He looked back at Steve. "Where's the Hawk and Baby Spider?"

"Clint went to call the others and wait for them." Steve answered. "Peter… last I saw him… he was still spraying the beast with web."

Tony nodded slowly. Dickhead batted at the light in his chest again and Tony looked down at him for a moment. He knew he liked the cat, deep down. Of course he did. Really, really, deep, deep down. Because the cat was a dickhead who kept shedding all over his stuff and pissed on his suit designs a few times. He just never realized how much the damn cat mattered. Until he saw that thing ripping into his workshop. The bots... he worried about them. Of course he did. But they were more durable and he could fix them, he was certain. It wouldn't have been the first time he had to fix them. And their... unique codes that make them... them. But the cat? The cat was mortal. Something fell on him and he'd get squished and that would be it. Tony couldn't fix a squished cat.

"Tony." Steve's voice was soft. He stepped closer and reached out to touch his shoulder with his armored hand.

"Hey." Peter pulled himself up over the edge. "Dude, it's still hanging. Do I .. just.. uh..." Peter still as he looked around. He pulled off his mask slowly and took in the ruined workshop. "Whoa... shit..."

Tony looked around. "Watch your mouth." He snapped. But there was no real energy behind his voice.

"Sorry." Peter mumbled out sheepishly.

Tony sighed and shook his head. "Don't worry about it, kid."

Peter nodded. He stepped closer and cleared his throat. "We can't get a hold of the others."

"The com tower's down." Steve said. "Everything's down."

"We need it back up." Tony mumbled, his eyes on the cat again.

Steve nodded. "What can we do?"

"Everything..." Tony said slowly, running his fingers along Dickhead's back. The cat's tail was still puffed up and twitching. But he leaned into Tony's touch. "I run everything... from my workshop..." His voice came out broken.

"Tony." Steve said his name softer and stepped forward.

Tony blinked for a moment and then shook his head. "Yeah... we need coms back... need to alert the other team and find out if Loki's in both places or if this was the decoy. I need to get Jarvis back online."

"Alright." Steve said, nodding. "The bots?"

Tony glanced back at them, all huddled together and holding up the broken Butterfingers. "All their cognitive responses are fine. Everything's facial except Butterfingers. His base is pretty busted up." Tony turned back to Steve. "See if the others can salvage... any of their stuff. Or the cat's stuff. Everything but them is replaceable. My room's gone so... tell them to go to your room."

Steve smiled and nodded again. "Got it.

Tony turned slightly. "Spidy, call the others."

"Comms..." Peter started to say.

"Use your cell phone." Tony said. "Call me the moment you get a hold of anyone."

Peter nodded. "Right."

"Go down with Hawkeye." Tony continued. "Keep everyone away from the building and check on One-Eye downstairs. Make sure they're all okay."

Peter nodded again. "Yes, sir!"

Tony patted the kid on the shoulder as he walked by. Then he paused and turned to wave at Steve. "Cap. Here. You take Fluffy and..." Tony attempted to hand the cat over. But the cat sunk his claws into Tony and wouldn't let go. "Ouch! Damnit, Dickhead!"

Steve stepped closer and reached for the cat. But still, the cat wouldn't budge.

"Asshole." Tony mumbled. "Fine. Dickhead is coming down to the control room with me."

Steve nodded, a smile on his lips. "I'll be up here if you need me."

Tony hugged the cat tighter as he stepped back towards his suit. "Uh... Dickhead..." He attempted to pry the cat off again. "I gotta put the suit on!" He snapped. Dickhead finally dislodged his claws and let Tony set him down on the ground. Then Tony quickly stepped into the suit and picked the cat back up. He glared down at the cat and shook his head. Then let out a sigh. The power was out. The elevator was off-line. Everything was. He held the cat tight as he took off. He flew down to the control room. He manually pried the door open and slipped in.

Dum-E raced towards him, knocking into him. The bot let out several loud beeps.

Tony pushed him back and the cat jumped down on the bot. "I know, I know." Tony said. He pushed past and headed over to the large control panel. It was dim inside the room, the glow of the emergency lights harsh. As he reached for it, the lights snapped on. Tony stilled and looked up. He popped his helmet off.

"Sir!" The AI sounded relieved.

"Jarvis?" Tony blinked for a moment. He hadn't even done anything yet.

"Tony?" Natasha's voice sounded over the com channel.

"Yeah, I hear you, Nat." Tony said.

"Good job, Mr. Stark!" Peter said excitedly.

Tony opened his mouth slowly. "I... I..." He stuttered for a moment.

"Sir?"

Tony wavered a bit on his feet. His hand shot out and touched the wall, stabilizing him. "I did nothing." He whispered. What the fuck was going on?"

"What?" Someone asked over the line. Tony wasn't even sure who. His mind was racing.

"Sir?" Jarvis said again.

Tony shook his head and rubbed at his eyes. Too many voices. He needed to concentrate. He needed quiet. He reached up and turned off his earpiece. The voices stopped and he breathed out. That was much better. "Jarvis?"

"Yes, air?"

Tony straightened up and blinked. "What the fuck just happened?"

"I don't know." Jarvis answered.

"You don't know." He repeated.

"I have no record of roughly 23 minutes."

Tony tilted his head to the side slightly. "How... how do you not know?"

"The timeframe is gone." Jarvis said. "Similar to the 3 minute span in which Thor disappeared. Except on a much grander scale."

"Bullshit." Tony stepped out of his suit again and went to work. He checked every wire, battery, port, every physical piece of hardware that make up his mainframe. Then he logged into the computer terminal and opened every file and checked the lines of code. "Damnit!" He leaned heavily on the table, shaking his head. "I can't find anything!" He snapped.

"Yes... well. As I said..."

"Shut up, Jarvis!" He snapped again. "I want more security, more firewalls..." He paused and shook his head. "No, fuck that. I want real firewalls."

"Uh... sir..." Jarvis started.

But Tony was still ranting. "A fucking bubble around the whole tower! No one's getting close!"

Jarvis let out a sigh. "Sir... the building is located in a busy city... you can't build a wall, fire or bubble related, with the public so close."

Tony straighten up and frowned for a moment. "Yeah... right." He said slowly, like that had just occurred to him. "Public endangerment would be bad." He breathed out and glanced down at the ground. "We need more room. Where we can really shield. With like... the reflector panels and shit. And a lava moat!"

"A moat will not keep large flying monsters out." Jarvis pointed out.

"Hence the reflector panels." Tony said. "I'll give T'Challa a call. See if I can finally talk him into sharing how he hides a whole city."

"Sir..."

"Find me someplace I can buy." Tony kept on talking, interrupting and ignoring him. "Some place up state, not too far away. So the kid can still go to school. And Pepper can still harass me."

"Sir..."

"Lots of space so Hulk can run around when we fix him. And Thor, too, when he gets back to himself." Tony said with a nod. "Work on it. Now."

"Right away, sir." Jarvis said.

Tony turned his earpiece back on.

"And it was all like, rawr! Imma eat you!" Peter's voice rang through the channel. "And I was like, No! Eat my web! And then I..."

"Spidy!" Tony snapped.

"Oh! Hey Mr. Stark." Peter answered in a chipper tone.

"What are you doing?" Tony asked.

"Explaining to the rest of the team what went down." He answered.

"Save us!" Falcon whined loudly over the line. "Please!"

"Dude!" Peter gasped. "We're totally not dating anymore!"

Tony rolled his eyes as he shut the control panels. "Where is everyone?"

"Uh... street." Peter answered. "With Hawk."

"We're still on our way back." Natasha answered.

Tony frowned as he picked his helmet back up. "You're not here yet?"

Steve let out a laugh over the line. "Tony, you've been down there for about 3 minutes."

"Oh... okay." Tony said. "Everyone meet in the kitchen when you get here."

"What do we do with Spike here?" Peter asked.

"Spike?"

"The... uh... the thing... thing?" Peter said.

Tony shrugged to himself. "Call animal control."

"Animal... control..." Peter repeated slowly. "Mr. Stark... I don't think that will work."

"Fine." Tony sighed out. "Call Hank Pym. See if he wants to fly by and shrink it."

"Yes, sir, Mr. Stark! Right away!"

Tony nodded his head slowly and turned. He stepped back in his suit and pointed at Dum-E. "You..."

"Mr. Stark?" Peter interupted.

Tony sighed. "Yeah, kid?"

"Uh... how do I get a hold of Hank Pym?" He asked.

"Call him." Tony said.

"I... uh... I don't have his number."

Tony rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Did you ask Jarvis?"

"Uh... no."

"Then ask Jarvis."

"Yes! I'll do that."

Tony sighed deeply and shook his head. "Cap?"

"Yes?"

"Location?"

"My room." Steve answered quickly. "Working on getting all the bots moved."

"Good." Tony said. "I'm bringing Dum-E and the cat up." The elevators were back up and running. Everything was. Minus his destroyed workshop. But he'd worry about that later. The elevator stopped on Steve's floor. The door opened and Dum-E rolled out, the cat perched on his base. The bot was bouncing a bit. Tony shook his head as he followed behind. "Steve?"

"Here."

Tony stepped out of his suit again. When Steve rounded the corner, Tony practically ran at him. Steve was momentarily caught off guard as Tony threw his arms around Steve's neck. He hugged the Captain tight against him. Steve breathed out and wrapped his arms around Tony's waist. Tony closed his eyes and tucked his chin against Steve's neck. He felt grounded, felt good. In that moment, he felt like everything was going to be okay.

"Mr. Stark."

And then Peter had to ruin it. Tony sighed loudly.

"Tony..." Steve started.

"Shhhh." Tony whispered. "If we ignore him, maybe he'll go away." Steve smiled as he pried Tony's hands off and stepped back. He tilted his head slightly. Tony sighed again, more dramatically, and threw up his arms. "Fine!" He snapped and touched his ear piece. "What, Kid?"

"Uh... I uh... I'm sorry." Peter stuttered a bit over the line. "Are you busy, Mr. Stark?"

"Yes." Tony answered quickly. "I was hugging my boyfriend for comfort.:" He said evenly. "Someone broke my toys. I need comfort."

Steve smiled at him and stepped closer. He grabbed Tony's hand and laced their fingers together.

"I'll hug you!" Janet said loudly over the line.

"Me, too." Falcon offered.

"Hug party in Cap's room!" Natasha said.

"Can I come?" Peter asked.

"No!" Tony said.

"Aw!" Peter whined. "Why am I excluded?"

"No!" Tony snapped. "No to everyone!"

"Come on!" Janet whined. "Everyone needs a hug! Team hug!"

"Nope!" Tony shook his head. "Y'all are banned from Cap's room!"

"I think I have some say over that." Steve said.

"No! You don't!" Tony shook his head. "My room, too, now."

"How cute!" Janet practically squealed in their ears. "You guys are moving in together!"

"We already live together." Steve said. "We all do." He added.

Tony rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Spidy."

"Yes?"

"What did you want?" Tony asked.

"Uh... oh!" Peter stuttered for a moment over the line. "Hank is on his way." He said. "With his new... uh... recruit? I guess? Some guy named Scott? That he wanted you to meet?"

Tony sighed and nodded his head. "Okay. Thanks."

Peter continued. "He said he can store the thing for us until Thor can return it to Asgard... we're still assuming it's Asgardian?"

"Uh... sure." Tony glanced at Steve and shrugged. "Alien is still our best guess. Just like with all of Loki's tricks."

Steve nodded his head. "Yes, still the best option. Natasha, anything from Thor?"

"No." She answered, sounding disappointed. "Still nothing."

"Alright." Tony said. "Everyone, meet in the kitchen area when you get back. We need to figure this out. Don't tell One-Eye!" He added with a snap in his tone. "He's not allowed to join since he can't fucking tell when a monster is eating the building!"

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

This time Fury wasn't invited and Thor still wasn't answering any of their communication attempts. But everyone else was there. Bruce arrived and Steve quickly filled him in on what had happened. The doctor looked around the room and frowned. "Where's Thor?" He asked.

Natasha shrugged. "Still off visiting Jane, I guess." She said sadly. "He's been gone all day."

"He was gone for months." Bruce offered. "Lots to catch up on and make up for."

Tony crossed his arms and frowned. "She said some mean things. She gave up on him. She should be groveling."

Steve shrugged. "She probably has apologized."

Bruce sighed and scratched at the back of his head. "He'd be the one to ask alien questions to."

"Well he's not here!" Tony snapped. "So we can't!"

Sam shook his head. "No need to yell, Tony."

"Yeah, stop being a whiney bitch." Clint said.

Tony's eyes narrowed. "You're telling me to stop being a whiney bitch? Seriously? That just came out of your mouth?"

"Pretty sure." Clint said. Then he paused and tilted his head to the side. "Yep. I'm positive I'm the one talking."

"I think I've earned the right to be a whiney bitch!" Tony said. "I'm clearly the target."

"The target?" Steve repeated.

Tony nodded his head. "I'm the one who fixed everyone. I'm the one who hired a new team. I'm the one who won't die. His words. This is all about me!"

"That's a little egotistical, isn't it?" Bucky chimed in for the first time.

"I'm the last piece." Tony continued. "I'm the he can't break."

"Call me broken one more time, Stark." Natasha warned.

"HIS WORDS!" Tony shouted.

"SHUT UP!" Peter yelled, his voice carrying over the room. Everyone stopped and looked over at him. Peter's eyes widened a bit. "I uh... I mean... we shouldn't be fighting." He said. "That's what Loki would want." He said softly. "He wants us gone. So... he wants us fighting each other instead of him."

Steve stepped forward, nodding his head. "Peter is right. From this moment forward, no more yelling, no more bickering or picking fights or name calling. We're all a team." He said. "We're working together. As a team."

Tony breathed out and nodded his head. Bruce nodded, too. As did Natasha and Janet, then Sam and Bucky. Clint bit back a retort and nodded his head. Peter was smiling and nodding his head enthusiastically.

"Good." Steve said. "Because we're in this together. We're a team. We... we're a family."

"Sir." Jarvis interrupted. "Mr. Pym and his associate have arrived."

Tony nodded. "Thank you, Jarvis. Send them up when they're done with... the thing."

"Yes, sir."

Tony ran a hand over his face. He needed a nap. Or coffee. A lot of coffee. Why the hell hadn't he invented that coffee IV yet? "Someone see that the kid gets back to school safely."

Sam stood up and glanced at Bucky with a smile. The Winter Solider rolled his eyes in annoyance but stood up. The three left, Peter waving wildly.

"Okay... I'm uh... I'm going up to see what I can salvage of my workshop." Tony said, nodding his head. "Clint?" The archer let out a grunt. But he nodded his head and stood up, holding out his hand. Tony stepped over and grabbed the man's offered hand. "And... break." Tony said weakly.

Janet jumped up and dashed towards Tony. She held up her hands, trying to block him. "Wait! Tony, uh... Hank?"

Tony stopped and blinked at her. He opened his mouth slowly. "Uh..." He'd forgotten. In the span of less than two minutes, he'd completely forgotten. "You know Hank best." Tony said with a nod. "You talk to him." He walked around her, tugging Clint along behind him.

Janet stepped aside and let them leave. Then she sighed and crossed her arms. "But I don't want to!" She whined loudly.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Author's Notes: Took me a year to post chapter 25, 2 years for 26. 8D See you in 3 years for 27!