Tony remained calm at first, his first thought to save his friends. He then felt the Icey touch of water filling his armour, the hit his shoulder he had taken earlier had punctured his suit. He was aware that his shoulder was in incredible pain and that he couldn't move it or his arm, but the suit breach must have simply slipped his mind, Tony wanted to slap himself for his stupidly. Panic set in fast, his breathing accelerated before the water even reached his waist. His arm and shoulder were now numb from the water pouring over it. His concern was no longer on the world around him or his friends, but that the Iron Man amour he built would be his metal coffin. Tony had never really thought about drowning, wasn't something he worried himself over, now his head was consumed by the thought. Dazed and confused Tony didn't know what to do, he just remained still, floating in the black void. The water was halfway up his chest now, the little air remaining was getting hard to breath in. His eyes stared blankly, all Tony could figure out was that he was going to drown, he believed this to be his irreversible fate. A knocking caught his attention, he blinked rapidly as the water rose to his neck. The light of the arc reactor revelled someone knocking against his golden faceplate.

Steve felt himself being pulled around by the water, the violent act of it filling the room generating the brutal beating. His ribs irradiated pain. Once the water settled Steve felt like he had already been holding his breath for minutes. He immediately spotted the beaming light of the arc reactor in the pitch black, his eyes not even having to adjust to the darkness. He secured his shield to his back, Tony's unmoving from drove Steve to swim over. If the water hadn't made his blood run cold, a chill would of run down his spine. The blue glowing eyes of the suit stared blankly as usual, even though the lights were on nobody seemed to be home. Steve knocked as hard as he dared against the faceplate. In the back of his mind he was concerned for the other members of his team, Natasha especially. Steve then noticed the damage the armour had sustained, with his lungs starting to crave oxygen Steve tugged at Tony's uninjured arm, pulling his towards the massive opening created by the Hulk. The darkness and pain were disorientating him, with the horrific stabbing pain in his ribs and no visual sign of which way was up. Going on instincts Steve swam in the right direction, pulling Tony along behind him. Two red beams suddenly pierced through the water, only just missing him and Tony. A roar echoed around them, Hulk seeming angrier than ever. The roar made Steve feel like his ears were bleeding, the pain almost rendering him unconscious. Even though the pain quickly passed the freezing water threatened to render Steve's muscles useless, he continued to push himself. He had already almost lost Tony to many times, he refused to let Tony slip through his fingers now. The water rippled violently, as Superman and Hulk collided against each other somewhere in the distance. Both Steve and Tony were forced violently through the water as a shock wave rippled through them, Steve managed to keep hold of the Iron Man armour. He battled against his lungs, the water's surface was now in sight, the sun only just starting to rise. Steve could now see that his vison was becoming blurry, that each desperate attempt he made to get to the surface was being countered by the weight of the Iron Man armour. Steve unwillingly breathed in a gulp of cold water before snapping his mouth shut, he could feel the water swirling in his screaming lungs. He could no longer fight against the will of his mind, he was forced to try and take a deep breath, but all his lungs were gifted with was the cruel touch of water. He didn't even feel his grasp on Tony slipping, his fingers numb from the waters deadly touch. Steve's eyes slipped closed, his legs stopped trying to propel himself towards the surface. The water grew still, the battle that had raged was either over or had moved on to another location. He recalled all to vividly the feeling of icy water, his lungs pleading for just a sip of air, his muscles paralysed by the cold. The only twisted comfort he had this time was that he wasn't alone, but this comfort sickened him as one of his closest friends would be dying at his side. He inhaled one last time, his lungs now full of water, his entire body numb.

Bruce struggled to pull the super solider from the water, the pebbled lake bank making it hard for him to get traction. Bruce's suit kept him warm enough for his muscles not to seize up, allowing him to swim to the surface. The sun had only just started to rise, a lighter blue tint could be seen on one side of the sky. Bruce had seen Steve and Tony before he reached the surface, he made the hard choice to swim up and get a fresh breath before diving back down to help. Using his grappling gun, he didn't have to swim that far. It latched around Steve's waist and Bruce just had to hope he still had hold of the Iron Man armour. Just before the river bank Steve's steal grip on Tony finally came loose, Bruce quickly pulled Steve just out of the water and rushed to fetch the sinking armour. Back on the river bank he dropped the armour on its back still half in the water, Bruce collapsed exhausted. He sat for just a second allowing himself to catch his breath. He had no time to take in the wooded surroundings he manoeuvred himself to Steve's side, the trees behind towering over them. He wasn't breathing. Bruce didn't hesitate, he pulled his gloves off, he then pinched Steve's nose and gave him mouth to mouth.

Steve wasn't sure what was going on as he coughed up water, he could just feel that his cloths clung to his skin and that his hair was stuck to his still bleeding forehead. He then felt himself get rolled onto his side and his eyes snapped open. His thoughts all rushed into his head at once. Bruce couldn't prevent the captain pushing himself up onto his hands and knees as he continued to expel water from his lungs. Steve gasped and clutched his ribs.

"Tony!?" Steve coughed, his eyes wide. Bruce simply turned towards the Iron Man armour that still lay on its back. Steve was on his feet before Bruce could even turn back. Bruce didn't have a chance to help as Steve heaved the armour fully from the water. He rolled the armour onto its side and Bruce watched as water began to rush from a hole in the left shoulder. Steve's numb fingers tumbled for the armours manual release, he soon found it and the back of the armour opened up. Water poured out, drenching the already soaking wet pebbled bank. Steve gripped the back of Tony's dripping wet top, tugging him out enough so he could get a grip under his arms. But Steve quickly noticed something wrong with Tony's left shoulder. Instead he put his arms around Tony's chest before hauling him out of the armour and up the bank slightly. Now away from the armour Steve watched Tony silently for just a moment, Tony's soaking wet navy-blue AC-DC, long white sleeved top clung to him. The sleeves themselves still rolled up just passed his elbows. He was about to check if he was still breathing when the genius violently began to cough up water. Steve rolled him onto his good shoulder, but Tony still cried out in pain. Blood glided down his arm from his shoulder, which was clearly dislocated. Steve couldn't help but smile at the sight of him breathing and the arc rector beaming brightly.

"Have you got anything to stop the bleeding?" Steve peeled away a piece of Tony sleeve to get a better look at the wound. He glanced back at the amour and it became clear that the metal had bent inward and punctured his skin.

"No." Bruce replied looking around for any sign of the others. Steve put two fingers to Tony's neck, his eyes where closed and he was still coughing up some water.

"Hold him down for me." Steve commanded, he then weakly pushed himself to his feet, trying to ignore that fact that he might have multiple broken ribs.

"What you going to do?"

"Relocate his shoulder." Steve confirmed what Bruce had suspected. The bat then complied, getting on one knee he put one frim hand on Tony's chest, the other on his right shoulder. "Ready?" Steve had a firm grasp on Tony's bleeding arm.

"Ready." With a quick but strong tug Tony arm popped back into place. His scream seemed to bounce off the surrounding trees, his eyes however remained closed, his body now shaking. The bushes nearby suddenly rustled, both Steve and Bruce's head shot up, eyes looking in the direction of the sound.

"What's the chance that its Superman?" Steve asked as he took his shield from his back, he then put himself between Tony and whatever was approaching.

"What's the chance that it's not?" Bruce replied trying to be positive. Two metal figures then emerged, the two-legged alien like robots shared a similar style and material as the mind control devices. The aliens' hands suddenly turned into weapons, weapons that Bruce instantly recognised. Steve threw his shield, it sliced straight through one of the robots, its torso and lower limbs hitting the ground at different moments. The other robot looked down at his friend but just as he looked up a batarang bounced off its face, it then raised both its hands both now weapons. But Steve's shield blocked the shots before it also sliced right through the robot.

"I didn't expect that." Steve honestly said out loud, looking down at the robot corpses.

"What's that shield made of?"

"Vibranium." Steve simply replied as he knelt back at Tony side.

"Don't tell me then." Bruce believed the name to be made up. "What's the plan?" Bruce asked, wanting to change the subject.

"We can't stay here." Steve's eyes darted around the gloomy woods and across the lake. "I'm sure we haven't seen the last of these things." He looked over at the mangled metal corpses. He then put his shield down, allowing him to cradle Tony in his arms. lifting the genius, he made his way over to the armour that only lay a meter away.

"What are you doing?" Bruce again questioned Steve.

"Tony would kill me if I left the armour behind." Steve carefully put Tony back in his amour before closing it up. "Anyway, he'll be safer in there." Steve then tried to lift the Iron Man armour onto his shoulders, but instead he clutched his ribs in agony. Steve lifted his wet grey top; a massive purple and black bruise ran up the right side of his ribs.

"That doesn't look good." Bruce took the opportunity to pick up the captain's shield, it felt light in his hands.

"I've been through worse." Steve replied before successfully lifting the armour onto his shoulder's. Bruce's eyes scanned the colourful metal surface of the shield before handing it over. "Let's go find the others."

Authors Notes

Hello all, hope you enjoyed this chapter. I don't know why but this one just seemed to take me longer to write than any of the others, writers block maybe? Who knows. Anyway love to know what you thought, see you soon.