TA-DA! Presenting, the sequel to Dream Quarantine (although reading that first isn't really required) and my latest brain-child and product of procrastination. All sorts of crazy stuff will be going down in this so I hope you enjoy :)

Review and I will love you forever.

In the dark recesses of space, Thanos was preparing his army.

Not just Chitauri this time, he'd learnt his lesson. That ridiculous race of monsters had been easily defeated by humans. Of all the species in the nine realms, it had to be the mortals that thwarted his plans.

Thanos glowered from his throne and watched the proceedings as they went on around him. Not just Chitauri, but Skrull as well, another race with the unique ability to shape-shift, taking the appearance of whoever (or, in some cases, whatever) they chose. That would surely come in useful.

Thanos' mind turned to Loki, the God of Mischief trapped in his cell in Asgard. If he recalled correctly, he had promised a rather… imaginative end for that particular worthless individual. All he had to do was keep his big brother away long enough for him to be extracted from the cell, then the real fun would begin.

Thanos smiled. Torture always cheered him up.

Below him, weapons were made and plans were formed. The Midgardians would not stand a chance this time.

There won't be a next time, Thanos thought to himself. In a few weeks, the human race will be extinct and the universe will be mine.

He smiled again.

Not long now.

XxXxXxX

'It won't be long now,' Hela told her father. 'I sent Panic on a scouting mission a few days ago, he reports that Thanos readies his armies, it won't be long before he seeks to claim the Earth for himself.'

'With the full might of Thanos, the Earth will perish,' Loki said. 'Not even the Avengers could save the planet.'

Hela cocked her head to one side and gave her father a look. 'You sound… not sorry or remorseful… but… regretful?'

'I have had many an interesting talk with Thor,' Loki replied. 'While I hate the Avengers with every inch of my soul; there are innocents on the Earth that will meet their fate when Thanos attacks.'

'Perhaps, perhaps not,' Hela replied.

'What do you mean?'

'I am considering readying my army, assisting Midgard in the fight for their planet,' Hela replied.

Loki's eyebrows shot up. 'Are you sure that's wise?' he asked. 'It is not safe.'

Hela glared at him. 'It's a war, father, it's not supposed to be safe,' she said. 'But I have been to Midgard a few times and I find it to be a rather pleasant place. Thanos would take it and turn it into a mine, a forge for his army, the humans deserve better.'

Loki scoffed affectionately at his daughter. 'You've gone soft,' he remarked.

Hela smiled sweetly. 'It is only a thought,' she said. 'But there is nothing to stop Thanos from coming after Helheim if he succeeds in capturing Midgard. It is unlikely, but not impossible that he could claim all of the nine realms for himself. If he can be stopped at Midgard, then maybe we stand a chance.'

A noise behind them disturbed their conversation and Hela turned her head to see her grandmother stood there, watching the pair.

'Time to leave, Hela,' Frigga told her, not unkindly.

'Give my best to Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton,' Loki said, smirking. 'And throw Tony Stark out a window for me.'

Hela smiled and kissed her father on his cheek. 'See you soon,' she said softly. 'I will keep you updated.'

Loki clutched her hand tightly. 'Don't go to war, Hela,' he warned her. 'Not unless you absolutely have to, I do not want you risking your life fighting for the mortals.'

Hela inclined her head in acknowledgement and turned to follow the Queen of Asgard out of the cell.

'What were you talking about?' Frigga asked, taking her granddaughter's arm as they stepped out into the twilight.

'Nothing terrifically exciting,' Hela replied as they strode along the Rainbow Bridge towards the Bifrost. 'Only the possibility of war.'

'With Thanos?' Frigga asked, sounding unsure.

'Yes, you do not think he will attack?'

'I am not sure,' she replied. 'Honestly, I think he might. But I agree with Loki, I do not want you caught up in it.'

'I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself,' the Goddess of Death responded indignantly. 'I have my own army; I will defend my realm and the souls that rest there, no matter what the cost.'

'And the humans? Will you assist them?'

'If I have to, will Odin assist the humans?'

Frigga frowned and Hela smirked. 'No, of course he won't. The meagre might of Earth is too far below the mighty Odin, there is no point even considering helping them.'

'We don't know yet,' Frigga said quietly. 'This war may not even happen.'

'It will,' Hela said defiantly. 'I'm certain of it. I can feel it in the air; the realms are bristling with anticipation.'

They'd reached the Bifrost and Hela nodded a hello to Heimdal, who obligingly opened the gateway for her. Frigga swept Hela's hair off the dead side of her face and kissed her cheek gently.

'Let me deal with Odin,' she said. 'You concentrate on ensuring that, should it come to it, your realm is guarded and the souls you protect are safe. I promise you this though, Hela. If you require assistance, you shall have it, regardless of what Odin thinks.'

Hela smiled and kissed the Queen's cheek. 'Thank you, my lady,' she said. 'I will keep you informed.'

Then she was sucked back into her realm and was gone, leaving Frigga and Heimdal alone.

'Keep an eye on her,' Frigga told the gatekeeper. 'I worry about her down there all alone with only the dead for company.'

'Yes, my queen,' Heimdal responded, bowing his head.

'And if they request it, allow Loki's sons Narve and Vali to visit her,' Frigga said. 'They should be allowed to see their sister.'

Heimdal bowed his head again and Frigga left, striding back across the bridge in the quiet night air of the Realm Internal, engrossed in her own thoughts.

XxXxXxX

Tony Stark, or Shellhead as he was also (affectionately?) known, was at the moment unaware of the possibility of being defenestrated again and was lounging on the sofa with Clint, watching Whose Line is it Anyway? and laughing their respective heads off. Outside, the sky was black and rain lashed against the windows, the wind howling and the water in the bay churning and smashing forcefully against the side of Liberty Island.

Thor had been stood silently by the window for the past twenty minutes, looking out across the New York skyline, brow furrowed.

'What's the matter?' Tony called to his silent teammate. 'You've got a face on you like a smacked arse!'

Thor frowned. 'A smacked arse?' the God of Thunder said. 'I do not understand.'

'He means you look depressed about something,' Clint said, before Tony could go into detail.

'It's true there is something on my mind,' Thor acknowledged.

Tony put the TV on mute and leant over the back of the sofa to watch Thor carefully. 'Share with the group,' he said.

'There is a rumour among the nine realms that Thanos means to attack Midgard,' Thor said.

'Sucks to be them!' Clint scoffed. 'Wait… that's us!'

'Be kind, rewind,' Tony said, ignoring Thor's confused look as yet another classic reference went sailing straight over his large blond head. 'Who's Thanos?'

'The leader of the Chitauri,' Thor said. 'He threatened Loki with unimaginable pain if he did not claim the Earth as his own.'

'And now he wants to have a go himself?' Clint asked. 'Why?'

'I am unsure,' Thor said. 'But Loki believes he wishes to take control of the whole Universe, which will include the nine realms.'

'Cause he's a reliable source to get information from,' Clint muttered.

He was ignored.

'Any idea when he plans to attack? Do we need to warn SHIELD and the National Guard and every 3 letter organisation in the phone book?' Tony asked.

'I must return to Asgard,' Thor announced after a moment's contemplation. 'I must speak with Loki and my father; perhaps we can bring some light on this situation.'

'Shed some light, buddy,' Tony said. 'But close enough.'

Once Thor had gone (Tony had told him to stop opening the Bifrost inside his tower because it was doing strange things to its structural integrity), the two superheroes unmuted the TV and continued to watch as the weather outside picked up and the wind whistled and the rain lashed against the window.

'Should we be bothered about Thanos?' Clint asked after a pause. 'I've never heard of him.'

'Neither have I,' Tony said, drumming his fingers against the side of the sofa, a sign all the Avengers had learnt to recognise as boredom or agitation, Clint suspected it was the latter in this instance. Tony didn't like not knowing things.

'I'm going to call it in,' Clint said, plucking his earpiece from the pocket of his jeans. 'We can't rely on Thor; he doesn't exactly have a great sense of timing.'

'True that,' Tony agreed, not taking his eyes off the TV but continuing to drum his fingers in that absentminded fashion against the sofa.

'When's Pepper back?' Clint asked, as he waited to be connected to Director Fury.

'Ummm… Thursday, what day is it today?' Tony asked, still sounding distracted.

'It's Tuesday,' Clint informed him. 'You been pulling all-nighters in the lab again?'

'Mmm-hmm,' Tony said, not really looking at anything but staring at a spot on the wall opposite him.

'I wondered where the smell was coming from.'

Tony turned his head and stopped tapping in order to glare at him. Clint shrugged nonchalantly.

'Go take a shower and a nap,' he told his teammate firmly. 'I'll get Natasha to pick up pizza on the way back from the helicarrier; we haven't tried to park the Quinjet in a car park recently, that's always good for a laugh, right?'

Tony didn't say anything, and when Clint pocked him with a finger he jumped sky high.

'Um… right, shower, nap, pizza, sounds good,' he said, springing up from his seat and nearly sprinting to his bedroom, leaving Clint sat on the sofa with a puzzled look on his face.

'You wanted to speak to me, Agent?' Fury's voice sounded in his ear.

'Um, yeah, Stark's lost it,' Clint said, still staring after Tony.

'Tell me something I don't know.'

'Some dude called Thanos is going to attack Earth.'

'That is something I don't know, tell me more.'

XxXxXxX

Tony had a shower but he didn't sleep, he sat on his bed instead wrapped in a towel staring into space, in his mind anyway.

Since that little missile-incident with the Chitauri a few months ago, he hadn't been sleeping. Every time he closed his eyes he was back there, in the blackness of space staring at the Chitauri mothership about to get nuked, his chest burning, his head aching, his lungs calling out for air, Pepper's face still there in his mind.

I never told her, I never told her how much she means to me.

Full of regret, faced with his mortality, and then he was falling down, down…

Down…

Down…

Down…

Tony jerked awake with a shout on the floor where'd he landed after drifting off. For a minute or so, he lay there, clutching the fabric of his towel, shaking and clutching his eyes tightly shut.

'Sir?'

JARVIS' robotic voice made him start, but it also worked to ground him, to bring him back to the present. He was at home, he was safe, he was… he was…

He was terrified.

'Sir, Ms Potts is on the line, shall I ask her to call you later?'

'No!' Tony yelped, picking himself off the floor and climbing naked into bed, leaving his towel on the carpet and burrowing under the blanket, suddenly desperate for warmth, his body still shaking from the aftermath of his nightmare. 'Put Pepper on.'

'As you wish.'

There was a click as the call was transferred, and then: 'Hey, honey.'

And suddenly, everything was okay. Tony closed his eyes, that way he could pretend that Pepper was there next to him, talking to him, keeping him safe. She was his anchor, in so many ways.

'Hey, Pep,' Tony said, smiling in spite of himself.

'So, what's the damage?'

Tony frowned. She didn't know, did she? JARVIS hadn't said anything?

'What do you mean?' he asked, a feeling of dread creeping into his gut.

'Toasters. How many have we lost?'

'No toasters, a couple of microwaves though.'

He heard Pepper chuckle and it warmed his heart. 'Thor still putting the boxes of Pop Tarts in there?'

'Yep, he hasn't worked out that a) they're meant to go in the toaster, packaging not included and b) cardboard is highly flammable.'

'Is everything okay?' Pepper asked after a moment's pause. 'You sound… off.'

'Charming,' Tony scoffed.

'I mean it,' Pepper said. 'What's happened?'

'Nothing,' Tony lied, running the material of the comforter through his fingers.

'Tony…' Pepper said in her "This-CEO-Don't-Take-No-Crap" voice she reserved for board meetings and occasionally the press.

Tony sighed. 'It's just something Thor said, anything possible alien invasion.'

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, then a click as the line changed to a video call and Tony was able to see Pepper on the window screen sat in her hotel room, strawberry blond hair loose around her face wearing a vest top and no make-up, looking stunningly beautiful and scrutinising her boyfriend buried under the blanket with his wet hair sticking up on end, black rings around his eyes and paler than usual.

'Tony,' she said softly. 'When is the last time you slept?'

'About five minutes ago,' Tony said, voice muffled by the pillow he'd buried half of his face into.

He was also on her side of the bed, Pepper noticed.

'For how long?'

'About five minutes.'

Pepper smiled sympathetically at him. 'I'll be home soon,' she said. 'Try and get some sleep.'

'I'll be counting the seconds,' Tony informed her, gazing longingly at her. 'Could you… stay? On the line I mean, until I fall asleep.'

'Of course I will,' Pepper said. 'What shall we talk about?'

'Tell me about your day, how's Tokyo?'

'Tokyo is okay; these businessmen are stuffy and dull though. And I swear if I have to eat sushi one more time I'm going to go spare. I've never been a massive fan of the stuff and now it's being forced down my throat! And every time I walk into a room it's like "oh wow there's a woman in here" and I get stared at for the duration of the meeting. Oh, and I met a little girl yesterday who asked me if I was Iron Man's girlfriend and when I told her yes she was literally so excited she was jumping up down and asked for a picture. I hear the weather is really bad over there at the moment, is Thor annoyed about something? Tony?'

Soft snores indicated that, at some point during her rant, Tony had fallen asleep and was now curled in a ball in their bed, eyes closed, drooling onto her pillow.

'Oyasumi, Tony.' Pepper said softy. 'Aishiteru.'

The screen went dark, but Tony didn't notice and carried on snoring.

XxXxXxX

SHIELD Agent Natasha Romanoff was parking the Quinjet in the car park of the nearest pizza joint because she could, that was the only reason.

That and seeing the wonder on the little kid's faces gave her a bit of a kick. And her partner had dared her to.

'Nice one,' Clint's voice said into her ear via the earpiece where he'd been monitoring her superb bit of parallel parking using the camera attached to the outside of the jet. 'You didn't even knock any wing mirrors off this time.'

'Can it,' Natasha retorted, unclipping her safety harness and ensuring that the jet was 'locked', so to speak. 'What is with this weather?' she asked as she stepped off the jet and hit the remote release so the cargo doors slammed shut behind her as she strode, nonplussed and with a gun strapped to her leg, in through the doors of the shop.

'Dunno, it's not Thor though, he's off planet at the moment.'

'Damn it, blaming Thor for weather is so much fun,' Natasha said as she joined the queue. 'Remember when we tried to blame him when it snowed? He was so confused.'

'I think we actually had him convinced it was his fault,' Clint said chuckling. 'He looked so apologetic.'

'Good god we're turning into Tony,' Natasha said shivering.

Clint laughed.

It wasn't until Natasha was strapped into the Quinjet again with the pizza boxes stacked next to her and was bringing the jet up into the air that she noticed the figure stood in the corner of the car park. She blinked once, and it was gone.

Natasha Romanoff was the best at what she did for a reason and if there was one thing she was certain of it was this:

Trust your instincts.

There had been someone there, she was positive, and the thought of being watched sent shivers running down her spine that had nothing to do with the sharp turn she had to execute in order to avoid sending a tree crashing down onto a car.

Something was coming, she could feel it.

Something big.

XxXxXxX

Thanos was waiting, seated on his throne, when the Skrull returned from Midgard.

'Well?' he said impatiently, he didn't like to be kept waiting.

A few seconds passed and suddenly instead of the ugly creature in front of him, he was staring at the beautiful face of Natasha Romanoff, who bowed, red hair swinging across her face.

'I am yours to serve, my Lord,' it said in Natasha's voice.

Thanos smirked. Now the fun would really begin.

Oyasumi- Good night.

Aishiteru- I love you.

Please review! :D This story is gonna get awesome, pinky swear :)