Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tony was flying around taking down Chitauri soldiers that were attacking the city. If you told him a month ago that he would be fighting in a team of superheroes to protect New York against aliens he would tell you that, aliens possibly, but working with others… no way. But here he is saving lives under Captain America’s orders.

Most people were running away and finding cover but among the screaming crowd, Tony spotted two guys in the middle of the street firing from pistols and shotgun.
“JARVIS am I going insane or are you seeing this too?”
“If you meant two men fighting with firearms then no, you are not going insane Sir”.
“Huh… well, they are going to get killed, I’m going down. Keep an eye out for Chitauri for me J”.

Flying towards them Tony noticed two of the aliens being dangerously close. Two men somehow, god knows how, managed to take one down but the second one was coming from behind and advancing quickly. Lucky for them Tony was close enough to fire and take care of the treat. Both men turned and started firing at what they quickly realized was a dead soldier. Surprised, guys soon spotted Iron Man who was landing next to them. The surprise was then transformed into an impressed and awed expression. The shorter guy quickly tries to mask it, unlike the taller one who would under different circumstances most likely go all excited and ask for a picture.

Lifting his helmet Tony spoke: “Thank you for your assistance gentleman but as you can see we got this covered, so please step away from the fight and find cover”.
Shorter one recovered faster and replied in a sharp tone: “Yeah great job so far. Really impressive of you being everywhere at the same time. Clearly, you need more people”.
“Well, there’s a team of special people and a lot of police so two more civilians aren’t really needed”.
“Well, we’re actually FBI agents and we have experience working in a dangerous situation, please resume like you did so far and let us do our job too” Shorty snapped back taking out his badge and showing it to Tony.
“Agent Young hmm? Like AC/DC Young?” Tony said while JARVIS scanned it and confirmed it’s fake. Well well well…
“Yep how nice isn’t it, I’m big fan, lucky me” Came a cocky and little bit teasing reply as the two men entered the staring contest.

He has such a piercing look, nice shade of green. Now that I’m looking at him a little better he reminds me of someone. Have we met before? But before Tony could say something out loud there was an awkward cough from other guy and Tony was ashamed to admit that he almost forgot about him.

“You’re Tony Stark right?” Tall guy waited for confirmation and when Tony nodded he continued: “Well we’re just trying to help and putting our lives in danger is nothing new like my partner mentioned. You don’t have to worry we can take care of ourselves. Helping from the ground is the least we can do to help”.
“There’s no need agents, I’m sure we can handle it. Go find cover.” That ‘agents’ was said with a pointed look and a quick gaze at the badge. Taller one understood that Tony saw right through them and with an awkward cough told his ‘partner’ to go back toward the car.
“Come on Sammy, are we really gonna back off, just like that?!” The guy was getting more and more frustrated every passing second and to Tony, he was getting more and more familiar especially that ‘Sammy’ comment. He remembers one guy a few years back and now that he looks a little more closely… definitely him.
“Jake?! It’s you, isn’t it? I knew you looked familiar from somewhere. It’s totally you!” Yep same dude, his pretty face is practically unchanged. Little harder around the edges, his young and innocent look long gone, seems like life wasn’t that nice to him, a fact that Tony can easily relate to.

“Jake? Dean, what’s going on? You two know each other or something?”
“Dean huh? But considering that your badge is fake I shouldn’t be surprised. No wonder I couldn’t find anything about you online. But I guess Dean does suit you more than Jake.” Stark was quick to comment, earning a curious gaze from Sam, who he remembers being Jake’s or now Dean’s, little brother from his stories, and annoyed look from Dean.
“Or something” muttered Dean avoiding meeting anyone’s eyes.

JARVIS’s warning came seconds before brothers looked up and spotted three Chitauri soldiers coming behind Tony. And by the time they raised their guns Iron Man had already taken one town.
“Left!” Dean shouted as he, and Sam immediately after him, started firing. That gave Tony time to easily finish the third one.
There was a moment of silence as they scanned the surroundings for anything else.

“So glad we met again Deano, too bad circumstances aren’t different, we could’ve gone out for a drink I promised ages ago but as you can see I'm a little busy at the moment. But hey, after we take care of aliens how about you and your bro drop by my tower?”
“How did you know about us being brothers?”
“Come on Dean you told me, remember? Well I did” at Dean’s clearly surprised look Tony added, “Genius here, and you were quite an interesting guy. Definitely one of the most memorable nights in my life.”
“Huh, right I did mention younger brother… Well thank you for your offer but I don’t think we’ll have much time after so maybe another time?” Dean answered a little flustered.

Tony damn well knew there won’t be other time with this guy. He is take it and leave it, a one-time thing type. All those years ago they exchanged phone numbers but he never called. And Tony won’t let reason for one of his favourite nights just walk away.
“Come on. Tour of the tower, drinks on me, and hey you’ll finally see my awesome car collection as I promised.”
The last comment clearly caught Dean’s interest and obvious little hints from Sam aren’t helping at all, who’s clearly on board with the idea. But before Dean could make up his mind Nick Fury’s voice drew Tony’s attention.

“Stark, you hearing me? We have a missile headed straight for the city.”
“How long?”
“Three minutes, at best. Stay low and wipe out the missile.”
Tony only took a few moments to think about his plan before returning his attention towards brothers.

“Well gentleman something huge came up, so I’ll need to cut short our little meeting. If I don’t make it back feel free to come to my funeral and take that drink offer.”
With that, Tony took a few steps back and spoke: “Jarvis, put everything we got into the thrusters!” Jarvis only replied with short “I just did.”

Brothers couldn’t do anything but watch as Iron Man's suit flew away, both staring in confusion and surprise after him.
“Son of a bitch…” Was the only thing said for the next few moments.
Sam and Dean then looked at each other and decided to stay until the portal is closed and if necessary, help with the cleanup. They couldn’t hear what news Tony got but it was obvious that it’s nothing good.

Both of them turned their heads toward a giant hole in the sky and noticed a tiny figure carrying something on their back.
“No way, is that him?” Sam asked amazed but then remembered the conversation from earlier, “Shit, I really hope his plan works without him dying.”
“Me too man, me too.”
Brothers then watched as Tony vanished in the rift and after a few moments watched as the rift started to close.

“What a hell he’s not back yet can’t it stay open for a few more minutes, shit come on Tony.”
They were both holding their breath waiting. In a few seconds they exhaled in relief. But relief was short-lived when they saw Tony just falling. Brothers followed him with their eyes for a few seconds, before Iron Man disappeared behind tall buildings.

“Shit shit shit, you think he will be alright?” Asked Dean concerned.
“I’m not sure but I feel he has more chances to make it” there was a pause, “I think we should take his offer and go to his tower, to see if he’s all right.”
“Damn it Sammy, we’re not going there. Maybe he invited us but his security didn’t and I’m not going to get arrested just so you can fulfill your nerd fantasy.”
“Please, like you don’t want to go in there too. Besides, maybe it’s my turn to have Tony Stark fantasy” said Sam, making his annoyed bitch face and started walking in a general direction towards giant tower, knowing Dean would agree anyway.

“What’s that supposed to mean and hey we're not going there, come back now.”
“You know what it means. Jake? Really Dean? Memorable night? And he said you were quite an interesting guy. Do you have something to tell me Dean?” Sam asked, turning to look at Dean and slowing down a little allowing him to catch up.
“What?! NO! And so what if he called me interesting, it just means I have an amazing personality. Maybe you’re just jealous Tony Stark likes me.”
“No Dean I’m jealous you met Tony Stark and didn’t bother to tell me. He’s one of the richest and smartest people in the world, of course I would be a little jealous. And when did you even have a chance to do so?”
“It was a little more than a year before dad went missing. I was parking my Baby when he saw me. Obviously he liked her, like anyone with any taste does, and he tried to buy her.”
Sam chuckled “I imagine that went well. I would’ve loved to see his face when you said no.”
Dean laughed and started walking again.

"Yeah it was hilarious, he started upping the price hoping I would crack, but it's my Baby, of course I couldn't sell her."
"So… how far did he go with the money?"
"I can't even tell you, the number he offered was insane, I'm ashamed to admit that I thought about it, but then again it was a lot of money. Honestly, I thought he was pulling my leg about the price once it passed 5 digits and I didn't take him seriously."

Dean turned left and continued walking. Sam was standing in place a few more seconds thinking Dean’s words over when he remembered to start walking again, his long legs taking him to Dean in a short time.

“Wait, wait, wait, why wouldn't you believe him about the money? He's Tony Stark, if anyone could pay you a crazy amount for a car it's definitely him!”

Dean mumbled something in reply but as he was climbing over rubble without looking back his answer was barely comprehensible.
“I didn’t catch that, what did you say?” Sam almost yelled after his brother as he also started climbing.
“I said, I didn’t know he was famous,” Dean repeated, still walking a few steps ahead of Sam knowing too well how his brother will react to his statement.
“Hahaha no way dude, are you being serious? I always told you you needed to watch more news or something other than movies and cheap porn motels offer, but I never thought you were that out of touch with the rest of the world, you didn’t know who Tony Stark was? Really?”

Quiet shut up was the only reply Sam got as Dean continued to walk.
“Soooo when did you realize who he was?”
“When I saw his face on the news when he disappeared.”
“How in hell did it take you…” Sam did quick math in his head, thinking over events that happened, “4 years to figure this out! He’s Tony Stark dude, his name is everywhere, and no matter how you act sometimes you definitely aren’t that stupid.”
“Wow thanks a lot Sam, I’m flattered really. You sure know how to make a girl feel special.”

Getting bitch face number 14 in return Dean let out a sigh and answered the question.
“Of course I heard about Stark and his industry, it’s just I never saw his face or bothered to read an article about him. To me he was just some rich dude who made weapons, and was having fun with his money. When he approached me half drunk in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, in some small Nevada town, I just assumed he was just some random guy. Now that I think back on it, his arrogance was kinda justified, along with the huge ego, probably a normal thing for rich, billionaire, playboy.
Anyway, he saw me park her from the window inside the bar and approached me, bought me a drink. He then started bidding on Baby and I just wrote it off on his drunkenness. I said as if anyone has that much money just laying around on hand. He was offended and asked if I knew who he was. Like I said we were in a small Nevada town so I just replied I wasn’t from around and was just passing by. He was surprised and obviously amused. And he introduced himself as Tony Jarvis.”

Sam chuckled to himself at his brother's obliviousness ready to ask more questions when he realized something.
“Wait Dean tower is the other way.”
“I know.”
“Dean come on turn around please, this is an amazing opportunity, we can get inside The Tony Stark Tower, for free, and talk with one of the greatest humanitarians in the world!”
“No Sam we are going back to the car and getting the hell out of here and back on the road.”
“But Dean…” Sam was practically whining at this point but he didn’t care, “please please we need to go. Come on, let's be real, look at the mess the city is in, we might not be in the center of New York but we are deep enough that there is no way we can just drive away easily. Look at the streets around us, completely destroyed”.

Dean hated when Sam was right but damn it, he really didn’t want to confront Tony after all these years. So what if streets were almost impossible to drive on, he will find a way out even if he has to make a d-Shit!
“Shit, shit, shit, shit” Dean took on running.
“Wait Dean what happened, Dean!”
“Shit Sammy what if something happened to my car, she was parked on the street, fuck, fuck come on hurry.”
Sam knew that when it came to Impala Dean won’t listen to reason, so he didn’t even bother saying that it’s too late now and if something did happen running won’t make any difference.

As they were talking and navigating back to the car almost half an hour had passed, so they weren’t far away from the place they parked. With running it took them less than 10 minutes to enter the street Baby was in. They also faced less destruction as they were nearing the corner where the diner was and where Dean managed to, by some miracle, find a parking space a few meters ahead.

Dean picked his speed running as fast as his legs would carry him, scanning for his Baby.
Sam was some steps behind him, his longer legs helping him keep up with his rabid brother. He passed the diner, not really paying attention to the workers cleaning or group of people sitting and eating in the middle of this chaos, as he let his eyes wander over where he remembered Dean parked. Sam caught up with his brother who has stopped frozen in place not far from the sidewalk where they supposedly left their vehicle.
Sam couldn’t see the metallic shine of their car. Dean might be forgetful about other things but when it comes to Baby his brother has a memory like an elephant, so they are definitely in the right place, but in front of them are only 2 untouched cars and none of them classic Chevy, one flipped and 2 barely visible under the fallen part of building above them. Oh crap oh crap oh crap was only thought going through Sam’s head as he finally processed what happened, which quiet, barely audible no’s from Dean confirmed.
“No, no, no, NO MY BABY!” Dean suddenly yelled and took off.
“Fuck” Sam muttered as he stopped and watched his brother dash toward ruined cars.

Chapter Text

Avengers had returned to the tower, chained Loki and handed over tesseract and scepter to the SHIELD. The group was exhausted but at Tony’s constant nagging and Thor’s enthusiasm they finally agreed to go and eat shawarma. That’s how Steve found himself sitting at the table in the little diner with his head in his hands barely touching his food trying not to seem too bored. His head was killing him, migraine coming back again.

JARVIS had confirmed the existence of a clear car route, so 6 of them, with Hulk gone, took the smallest limousine Tony owned, which was to Steve still very spacious car and he didn’t understand Tony’s need to complain.
They left Loki on the floor where they found him, hands tied, muzzle on and laying under Thor’s hammer. They were all skeptical when Thor first told them his plan with the hammer but to reassure them he asked Tony to move it. Even with the suit hammer didn’t budge. So they left Loki with chains on his stomach and hammer, I should start calling it Mjolnir Steve thought, on top of them, the area around him cleared so his legs won’t kick anything. Loki was displeased with this arrangement to Thor’s and Clint’s obvious amusement. Steve was willing to bet this wasn’t the first time this had happened. With the little he saw how brothers interacted and talked about each other it reminded him of the classic sibling dynamic he saw between Bucky and his sisters but also between the two of them and later with Howling commandos.

To stop his mind from thinking too much about the past, which to him was less than a year ago, Steve had gone with everyone to eat. But even with superhuman metabolism he was still under a post battle mindset unable to do so. So he just sat at the table feeling like an outsider, trying to will himself to at least take small bites.

When he was in war, Commandos were always loud and talked among themselves helping his brain calm down. He’s used to commotion around him and this silence, even though it’s welcoming and nice, wasn’t helping him. And here I am again thinking about painful memories, oh God give me strength.
Steve took a deep breath letting his senses take in the noise around him. Workers in the dinner cleaning, faint sirens and chopper blades, movement of very few New Yorkers on the street outside trying to get their life to normal after the battle.

Suddenly there was yelling.

“Has anyone else heard this?” Steve exclaimed while jumping to his feet.
“Heard what Steve?” Tony asked, confused.
“I also heard someone yelling for their baby” Thor added, also standing up.
The two of them shared a look before Steve quickly grabbed his shield. Rest of the Avengers were moving seconds later, also going outside following the Captain. Clint quickly put his quiver on his back with one hand while the other grabbed his bow, Natasha with her hands on her belt ready to snap into action and even Bruce who just calmly followed everyone else. Tony was the only one left by the table standing confused and annoyed.
“Damn the superhumans and their super hearing, I just wanted a damn break.”
He took out a couple of notes and left them on the table asking the owner to pack him leftovers, I saved the goddamn world I deserve this, Tony muttered to himself as he finally went outside to see what’s with the yelling, fidgeting with his suit bracelets but not activating them.

...

Steve was both thankful and annoyed with the interruption, having something else to focus on. But as he ran outside there were not many people and the few that were, were looking towards two guys on his right couple of meters away. One of them was trying to calm the other guy down who was practically working himself into a panic attack. We really are a team now huh Steve thought as he started walking towards them, rest of the Avengers following behind him.

“Dean, Dean calm down please, come on you need to calm down, it’s going to be ok Dean, Dean can you hear me? Dean? I’m going to slap you come on” Sam was begging concerned for his brother. He was panicking back when he couldn’t find his car when Bella stole it, but this is different, much different. This time he actually went into a minor panic attack, and with a good reason Sam grimley thought looking behind Dean at their car. Fuck.
“Gentleman is everything ok here?” someone asked as they approached.
Sam looked up. Fuck. In front of him was Captain America. Standing in his uniform, not that different from the comics Sam remembered Dean having when he was younger. He also remembered watching about him in his history class and about his sacrifice as well as seeing the news about his body being found frozen in ice. He was actually alive and in front of him.

Dean soon stopped panicking but was still visibly distressed. Slowly getting aware of his surroundings he looked up.
“What?” Dean stared in shock. Captain America, with his shield and uniform, seeing him being out of his mind about his car. I must be dreaming, or hallucinating at least if Sam’s grip on my arm is proof that I’m awake.

“Sir are you alright? We heard someone yelling about the baby, was that you? Is your child ok?” Steve asked, concerned and ready to jump into action.

Not hallucinating then, that crazy reporter leaking the news was telling the truth.
When Dean realized what Captain meant his face heated up in embarrassment. Sam let out a nervous chuckle.

“No no there is no child and none is in danger this is, well you see...” Sam trailed off lost for words, thinking how to explain his brother’s car obsession.
From the back of the little group that approached them Tony Stark himself came forward. Sam was relieved. Well at least we know he made it. Hope he can help us.
“Dean? Is that you, what happened? Is everything ok?”
“Hi Mr Stark we’re ok it’s just-” but Dean interrupted Sam’s attempt to explain the situation.
“It’s Baby Tony she’s…” Dean trailed off looking behind his back at the destroyed cars.
“What baby? You don’t have- oh no, oh no Baby” Tony’s brain quickly caught up, understandment washing over him along with sadness and sympathy.
Tony walked up to Dean hugging him quickly: “Which one is her? How bad is the damage?”

“She’s flipped, thank god the fallen block missed her, only just. She’s upside down so I don’t know how bad it actually is but from this side she’s ok.” Dean started to explain, glad that someone will understand his love for Impala. When he saw Tony walking up to him, he was annoyed only for a moment but then heavy weight lifted from his heart. He might have felt bad under different circumstances but when it comes to his car, Dean was willing to ask for help, ok even beg.

“Excuse me but what’s going on?” Steve raised his voice looking between Tony and the panicked guy, who’s name is apparently Dean.
“Right, well you see Cap what you and Thor heard were cries of anguish from a man who lost one of his most beloved possessions.” Tony tried to explain.
“She’s our home man, my most valued everything” Dean sadly added looking back at his car, still emberrest THE Captain America saw him like that.
“What my brother is trying to say is, we lost our car. It means a great deal to us, especially to Dean. We were supposed to leave New York today, but now we have no way of getting out” Sam finally got his words back, answering confidently but his cheeks were still a little reddened.

With Sam's words everyone immediately relaxed. Steve put away his shield while Natasha crossed her arms, moving them from her belt.
“Soooo no child is hurt and everyone is safe? False alarm?” Clint asked while putting away his arrow back into the quiver.
“False alarm?! No this is a serious problem Barton. Precious car is in danger and I need extraction immediately!” Tony exclaimed as he went around the car asserting the damage. He took out his phone.
“JARVIS found some way to get this car back into the tower asap. I'll do further examinations when we get her to safety” last part was said to Dean who was now looking at Tony like he was a little crazy, along with Sam and the rest of Avengers.
“Look Dean, I invited you to my tower and I plan to keep that promise. We really need to catch up and talk, I'm sorry this happened to your baby but it was a blessing in a way? Sam said you were supposed to leave, I guess you might not have a place to stay at hand and with the mess city’s in it will be hard to find it. Don't worry about repairs I will cover everything, you and your brother just need to come and stay for a few days. Deal?”
“Deal” jumped Sam talking Tony's outstretched hand, shaking it. Dean then grabbed Sam and pulled him aside with a quick Excuse us toward Tony and the rest of his group.
“Hay Sam come on, it's my car I think I have a say in this too?” Dean whispered-yelled at his brother.
“No Dean you don't, because you will just politely decline his invitation and we will be stuck here for way too long. All because you’re too prideful to admit you need help. You don't want to fly and you certainly won't leave the car here to someone else to fix her. And by the time we call and find the nearest hunter who's willing to come to us… Come on this way we'll be comfortable and you'll get car fixed for free, with help from Tony Stark himself. Please this is one off opportunity. We deserve this break ok?” and just to drill his point home Sam threw in his puppy eyes look.
Dean let out a long sight. Damn you Sam.
“Fine but I still don't like this, not one bit ok? I’m only doing this for my Baby, are we clear? We should’ve summoned Crowley, he got us into this mess after all”.
Sam just nodded grinning from ear to ear, completely ignoring the last part of Dean’s complaint and turned to go back towards Tony and his friends?

As soon as brothers moved aside Tony was crowded, first from Steve but then rest joined clearly itching to find out what happened.
“What was that?” Captain asked, his tone unclear but Tony was sure he wasn't approving.
“Ok sooooo, I met this guy Dean almost 10 years ago now, we hung out, got along well and I'm just trying to be nice, no big deal.”
Tony chose not to say anything about false names and fake FBI badges. Now that he knows, hopefully right, names and with JARVIS further scanning them as soon as they step into his tower, Tony will finally have more information on his Jake, well Dean. He has a lot to explain. Speaking of JARVIS, there was a text message on his phone that confirmed that transport for the car was arranged and on the way. Perfect.
Tony moved away from Avengers and turned back to brothers, who were walking towards them with Sam first, openly smiling and Dean grumpily following.
“Deano movers are on the way and in like over an hour or so the car will be ready and loaded to be moved to my tower to be fixed. As we wait, are you and Sam up for shawarma and getting to know the rest of my team better?”

With Tony’s comment and brothers agreement everyone turned to walk back to the diner and to continue eating. Well everyone but Steve. Before proper introductions were made, man approached Steve and started talking to him. When Tony turned back to see what was the hold up he overheard something about 107th and Azzano. No matter how much annoying Rogers was fun to Tony even though he knew not to go over the line, so Steve was left alone.

The group had all been introduced and they moved to sit back in the little dinner waiting for the movers. Tony got more shawarma for the brothers while Avengers unpacked and continued to eat their orders.

Chapter Text

Dean wasn’t blind, he could see how beautiful these people are, beautiful and deadly. Especially two government or more accurately SHIELD agents as they said. Even if he was more used to dealing with monsters, that just helped Dean notice how was Natasha moving and watching everything, like it's prey ready to be pounced upon. He didn’t have a death wish so he wasn’t even going to bother to try and flirt with her. That cold and subtle no in Natasha’s eyes at his smirk while being introduced was warning enough no matter how pleasant her smile was. Archer was an interesting person. While all smiles and talk he was also more than capable to take down dangerous people. Aldo Dean wasn’t really sure what good arrows were in this alien fight. 

Thor was something else completely, obviously out of this world. Loud, cheerful and very friendly he would occasionally jump in and mention some things about Asgard, his home, out in space, different realm as he said. Sam and Bruce Banner were hanging to his stories, asking few scientific questions from time to time, well Banner was asking mostly and Sam was trying to follow along, and to Dean it seems like he was managing well enough. 

Quiet doctor was so out of place with everyone and he looked like he really wouldn’t hurt a fly. He was little embarrassed of his ability at Tony’s outburst about his “little green problem”. Dean saw the Harlem incident on the news and the fact that something like that comes out from a person like Bruce was surprising. But Dean, and thankfully Sam too, did notice his hesitation to talk about the Hulk beyond how he was made, and what brings him out, so they left that subject alone.

Dean was a nerd too, no matter how much he denied it out loud but he wasn’t that interested in Asgardians and their science, not while there are many unanswered questions regarding the invasion. So finally Dean turned to Tony asking him to explain everything, who quickly launched into the story. He was all over the place trying to engage everyone as he explained to brothers what happened and how they resolved this giant mess.

While listening to the story Dean found himself thinking from time to time about the Captain. He never thought that he would actually meet his childhood hero, not that they actually got a chance to do so as Steve stayed outside. There weren't many expectations bisedes what he read about the guy in history books and comics, but Dean wasn’t ignorant to believe that’s all to him. He had to be a perfect figure and all the propaganda was expected. But Dean was also sure there’s more to the man then what Tony was saying, with subtle jabs and comments that Steve wasn’t there to counter, not that he actually would as he was probably too polite to do so. He was still talking with that man outside after all…

And Tony, Tony was still the same loud, charismatic self Dean remembers all these years ago, but he also can see the slight twitching and need to brush over the part about the nuke. Dean wonders what Tony saw up there, how many alien ships or how the space was.

This whole story is so out of his and Sam’s league and expertise. Crowley had just shown up when they were getting ready to leave the motel after the case was done, and teleported him and Sam to a deserted parking lot somewhere in Manhattan claiming to have an important case for them. Mentioned someone trying to open another portal near Stark Tower and Dick Roman and how more dangerous he would be if he gets a hold of technology like that. He then disappeared unwilling to say anything more besides offering to make his demons less of a problem for the next year as a payment for their help. After this whole mess with Tony and his colleagues, he and Sam would have to summon Crowely and troughtoutfully question him. Dean scoffed at the thought, first Leviathans now this. At least Sam wasn’t seeing Satan anymore, not awake anyway. 

Time flew as the group talked, with Tony done retelling everything, it was mostly Thor talking about his travels. As he started to explain more about 9 realms Tony suddenly stood up and excused himself, “Important call, ignore me.”, face blank as he asked one of the workers if the bathroom was free for his talk.

As soon as the door closed behind him Tony reopened the message JARVIS sent him.

“J how is this possible?” he whispered, staring in shock. On his screen was information about brothers JARVIS found. 

“Sir, I took the liberty and ran facial recognition scan when you met them in battle after the badge was fake. I knew you would ask more about them but I wanted to have some basic information ready before they enter the tower. Around a month ago brothers started climbing the FBI most wanted list but before things escalated more they were arrested and later killed trying to escape. When I saw both of them declared dead I went through public records to check. But then I saw them filed as dead before this too, so I decided to do more thorough research. I didn’t have time for anything else besides what I sent you and there wasn’t time to show you this before.”

Tony took a deep breath and looked down again. Dead mother, constant moving, Sam in Stanford for a law degree were all the things Dean told him. Before 2005 brothers were practically invisible to the public like any regular citizen, but then there was an incident with several murders and Dean found guilty AND dead. But then throuht years there were few more police arrests, more smaller convictions like fake IDs, credit card scams but also grave digging what the fuck. JARVIS has highlighted one officer's entry about his father basically brainwashing them to follow his crazy footsteps as a "hunter of supernatural" witch was probably his way of coping with the dead wife. 

"'Pity that Dean got to Sam and dragged him back, the kid was moving toward something normal and promising' tell us what you really mean detective" Tony muttered going through everything again. 

"Sir I wanted to ask permission to access SHIELD files and if they have something on them" 

"Yes of course, go ahead and do that now. How far is the car transport?" 

"It took them a bit to organise everything and finally go but they should be here in 10 to 15 minutes" 

"Ok." And with that Tony walked out calling Dean if they could talk in here for a moment.

Sharing a look with Sam and quickly glancing at everyone else Dean shrugged and stood up walking up to Tony, who was back inside the bathroom.

“Everything Ok Tones? What do you want to talk about?” Dean asked as he entered, closing the door behind him.

“Dean Winchester is it? That’s your real name right?” asked Tony, face serious.

“Yes. Wait how-”
“So how are you alive? For the 3rd time that is? Quite the talent you have here, escaping arrests and prison, not to mention death itself”

“Tony let me explain please.”

“Did you faked your way with me too? Was I scammed too but was just too drunk and having too much fun to notice, I mean I am Tony Stark, what's a few stolen things to a billionaire right?”

“No Tony, listen please I’m not a criminal, not really I mean. Yes we do have fake IDs and few credit cards but my job doesn’t exactly come with the paycheck”

“And what job is that?”

“I...Me and Sam, we hunt monsters.”

Tony snorted and let out a humorless chuckle, “Oh so you are actually going with that huh? Monster hunter really? Ok sure Buffy whatever you say.”

With that Tony started walking out bumping shoulders with Dean on the way to the door. But before he could actually put his hand on the door handle Dean caught his arm holding Tony back.

“Tony…”

“You’re lucky I didn’t call the authorities before this but if you don’t let go of my arm right now that will change.” Tony hissed face murderers.

Dean softened the grip but his hand sayed in place.

“Tony you have to believe me it’s the truth, I swear. This is why I didn’t tell you the last time, but I am not lying please.”

There was a soft beeping coming from Tony’s pocket but two men ignored it staring into each other’s eyes. One was hard and threatening while the other was open and pleading.

“Sir if I may interrupt. It appears that the mister Winchester might be telling the truth after all.”

“What?” came from both Tony and Dean.

“I went searching through SHIELD and under some heavy security there was a coded file ‘Project Slayer’. Among various information that mostly revolves around supernatural there are some things about Winchester family”

There was another surprised What but this time Tony’s was in disbelief while Dean’s in anger. Two men looked at each other again, Dean’s hand dropping from Tony’s arm.

“Well looks like you aren’t insane after all, that’s a relief. No matter how much I don’t trust SHIELD, they are serious organisation and they wouldn’t lie about this stuff.” There was a moment of silence as Tony actually realised what had just happened. “Oh my god monsters are real. I just fought aliens led by the crazy guy from another planet and monsters are real. Are all legends real? Are there vampires for real? And werewolves and ghosts and oh my god is there actual magic?! Are any of religions right? Is God real? Am I going to hell? Who am I kidding of course I am, with all the weapons and and, basically that last year of college would be enough I-”

“Tony, TONY calm down ok? I don’t think you will go to hell as long as you stopped doing crazy shit and are sorry. Calm down now please. Yes all these monsters are real and most legends are true. Not bigfoot tho. Sasquatch is probably Sammy.” Dean added trying to lighten the mood.

Tony took a deep breath nodding in appreciation at Dean trying to smile but it came off more as a grimace. Regardless Dean smiled back.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door startleting both of them.

“You two are ok in there? I need to use the bathroom now if it’s alright.”

Dean let out a relieved sigh, it was Sam’s voice. 

“Yeah come in you can go if you want.”

Sam opened the door stepping in, his eyes darting from his brother to the billionaire in concern.

“Dean, you good?” asked Sam, clearly recognizing something on his brother’s face.

“You didn’t really need to go did you Sam?” at Sam's surprised look Tony continued, “You were just worried what could a genius billionaire find out about the two of you. And let me tell you if it wasn’t for some last minute SHIELD hacking both of you would probably be escorted out of NY, or depending on how much bullshit I got as an explanation I might’ve got you arrested right away.”

“You told him?!”

“No! His computer thingy did some research and showed him the police records. I was trying to explain but he didn’t believe me, I mean not that I blame him, but his computer was done checking SHIELD files and it looks like they have some information on supernatural. And have kept some tabs on our family too.”

Tony quickly pulled out his phone and with a few taps the holographic screen showed up. Brothers look at it in awe.

“Ok so, according to this SHIELD wasn’t that lucky finding you for the most part, they could only follow the breadcrumb trail you left behind. Looks like they send an agent out to cover up after you, mostly with police reports and few arrests. If it weren’t for SHIELD the two of you might have jumped at the top of the FBI most wanted list.”

The few clicks on the phone and some swiping was accompanied with oh and mhm as Tony searched some more. The whole thing was too fast for the Winchesters who were used to much simpler technology, so they waited for Tony to read them again what he found.

Back in the diner Natasha’s phone started to ring. She took it out and frowned at the caller's name.

“Is everything ok back at the base? We were cleared from any new duty Sir.”

“What did they do?”

“I’m sorry I don’t understand the question? We all packed and went to the shawarma place Stark wanted us to try.”

“Typical of him, go to eat and cause more problems. Where's he now?”
“In the bathroom.”

“Get him on the phone.”

“I’m sorry what?”

“He’s actively ignoring my calls and that wouldn’t be anything new if someone on the tech team didn’t detect breich in our systems that has Stark and his AI all over it, especially certain files which are deeply coded and off limits unless the person goes looking for them specifically. And all in knowledge of this information answered my calls and no one leaked anything. So once again, get Stark on the phone.”

Even before Fury finished talking Natasha had stood up and started moving towards the bathroom. Moment after he was done Natasha opened the door and took on the scene in front of her. Stark was standing with his phone out, looking at something on the hologram, Sam and Dean towering over him, three of them clearly in the middle of something. As soon as they realised that door was opened Tony quickly turned the screen off.

“Sir I’m 90% sure it’s him.” with that she went up to Tony holding up her phone.

“For you Stark. And in future answer your own phone. I’m not your secretary anymore.”

Tony was surprised but that quickly turned into annoyance as he realised who was on the other side of the line.

“Stark here, you called?”

“I am sure you know the reason why I called you. So cut the crap and talk.”

“I am sure that I don’t know what’s the reason, I had an exhausting day and would like to finish my shawarma and sleep for a week, if you could hurry this up.”

“Don’t act dumb it doesn’t suit you. How did you find the Slayer project and why are you digging through those files?”

“Permission to speak in front of Natasha?”

“The fact that you are asking permission…” Fury took a deep breath, thinking this over, “Fine, she vaguely knows about it but not what's exactly the nature of it all, and if the content inside those files is why you went digging I guess you would need more help. Speak now.”

"Ok, Ok, sooo. I may have met certain someone ages ago and then we saw each other again in the middle of the invasion right before you gave me that missile warning. And I thought eh that's it from them, I'm probably going to die but then they were passing by the shawarma place and we all sat down to chit chat and JARVIS may have found some public records that aren't flattering at all, and for one they aren't dead. Anyway JARVIS asked if he can look through SHIELD files, which I obviously allowed. Seeing the amount of security J had to go around it's either all secret code or it's the truth. I kinda wish for it to be the second one. Even though it's all, well, to simply put it fucked up, I like the guy and I hate for him to be a criminal nutcase."

"So you met a hunter… who is it? Someone from our files?" 

There was a pause as Tony looked at Dean silently asking for permission. To his surprise Dean seemed to understand what he was asked, or at least trust him enough, as he nodded, go on. 

"The Winchester."

There was colourful cursing from the other end of the line. 

"You never go half way do you Stark? I don't know why I am even surprised. I take it both of the brothers? They always go in pair."

"Yeah both of them are here."

"Take them to the tower of yours I'm coming over."

"Whoa not so fast, in case you forgot today was very eventful and I'm pretty sure everyone else needs rest too, before we spring this all on the team. I take it you want team involved too?" 

"Not particularly no… this isn't to be spread around. I kept it a secret long enough. But if they overheard this all I can't stop further explanations."

"Only brothers and Natasha are aware about this. We are still in the bathroom. Thor has good hearing but we're out of range. They might ask questions why you called Nat and why did you need me."

"Keep the supernatural talk for tomorrow then. Explain it over breakfast or something. I'll be coming over around 2, need to hand over the Cube to Thor as promised. I would prefer if this stayed between the 4 of you, maybe even Barton to make it easier on agent Romanov."

"Alright then, brothers, spy duo and I will be waiting for the talk and keep the rest of them in dark." 

"Very well then. Till tomorrow Stark." and with that the line went dead. 

"Well that's going to be interesting." Tony said as he looked up at the worried brothers and blanked faced Natasha but he could see well hidden curiosity in her eyes. 

Chapter Text

"We have a meeting tomorrow at 2 with Director Fury of SHIELD. I don't know what he wants with two of you but I'm coming with so don't worry. He won't arrest you, well I don't think so at least" brothers nodded at Tony, accepting the explanation for now. 

"Nat, I'm not sure if you want Barton in on this but you are allowed. Fury said you might be familiar with the situation but not really. It's project slayer." Tony said looking at the spy trying to see if she showed any recognition. As always Natasha kept her face controlled, only raising her head in agnologment. 

"I'm vaguely familiar with the name. Had to cover someone's tracks once, 3 years ago. I was informed it was SHIELD agent doing some undercover work. The whole thing was not the usual style operation but it wasn't my place to question my superiors or other agents' work. Colson was of course in on it and he gave me the mission." Natasha and Tony gave a second of silence, feeling the greef from Colson's death return. 

"Barton was always closer to him than I was and he had few theories around the project, so I do think it's OK for him to know too. He deserves this closure at least."

With that Natasha nodded at the three men and exited the bathroom. 

"Like I said before I'll be coming with and he won't make you do anything you don't feel comfortable doing, I swear we'll kick him out as soon as you want it okay? If you need time to talk try doing it quickly JARVIS alerted me that the movers are here in couple of minutes." Tony once again addressed the brothers then went out too. 

"Well, we were worried if they'll do security check in the tower and what lie to tell but as you see everything worked out. With Tony at least. What are we going to do with the Shield?" Dean asked, moving to lean on the sink. 

"I'm not sure. You saw what Tony found, the few hunters that SHIELD got to. They would either want to kind of employ us or ask more about the hunt and lore."

"Yeah thought so too. Man, I really wish for them to ask us to work. It would be aces to actually get paid."

"Yeah…" There was a moment of silence as the two of them thought over the possibilities. 

"OK Sammy, you can go back if you want. I need to take a piss now."

"Yeah no I'm not staying for that" and with that the younger hunter went out to join the rest of the group. 

…

When Tony caught up with Natasha he heard the end of her explanation about Fury's call.

"...noisy as always. Had JARVIS digging around the Avengers initiative and the clean up stuff."

"My call ignoring didn't help his already annoyed ass. That council meeting was the boiling point and my busy charming self was just enough to make him explode." Tony added in rolling his eyes. "Can't even catch up in peace." 

Sam caught up too, circling around the table to get to his seat, eyes roaming over his bag to check if anyone touched it. Packing the last of his shawarma he opened the duffle bag just to double check as he put in the food. Hiding his relief when he saw it was the same way he left it, Sam closed it and put it on his arm over his shoulder preparing to leave. 

Before anyone said anything else Dean walked out of the bathroom wiping his hands on the back of his jeans.

But as soon as Dean walked up to the table Steve entered the dinner. He only managed to say “I’m sorry. The gentleman and I finished talking and I offered to help him home” when Tony interrupted him announcing that the movers are here and walked out.

Rest soon followed. Brothers right behind him as they already got everything packed. 

Walking out, they were hit with the wind from the chopper blades. The helicopter already dropped a few cables and everything else necessary for the transport. 

Dean stared in shock. No way. 

He ran up to Tony who was already talking with the movers, showing them the car and talking about the best way to flip it over. 

"Tony, TONY WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!? ARE YOU CRAZY?" Even if there wasn't any noise from the helicopter Dean would most definitely yell at genius. 

"Relax Dean, they are trained professionals, let them work OK? Car will be safely transported to my tower and then to the workshop where we can repair it together."

"I can't relax! My baby is going to be strung up and in the air! What if something happens what if-" 

"Dean!" Sam yelled coming up beside two of them, "you OK?" 

"I don't know Sam, what do you think!?" 

"Dean if it makes you feel better you can fly with them" Tony suggested as he began to pull brothers back making more room for the workers to secure everything into the right positions.

“I don’t know about that I mean, is there even a place for me to travel?”

Tony stopped and stared at Dean, taking in his nervous tone.

“Wait, wait are you afraid of flying?” Tony let out a surprised laugh. “You are a big bad hunter and flying is what gets you?”

“Hey! That stuff I can kill and defend myself from, with the planes I have no control.”

“Dean come on, it's probably different than flying in a plane, I’ll come with you it’ll be fine.” Sam then turned to address Tony, “There is a place for both of us in there right?”

Billionaire laughed, “Even if there wasn’t they’ll make it. I’m following in my suit.”

Tony moved back to tell the change of plans and make driving arrangements with the rest of his team. Helicopter was fully on the ground, workers climbing back in Sam right behind them. Dean cast one last look at his now flipped back car, wincing at the damage, and followed his brother.

Avengers all agreed to come back to the tower. Well Bruce only really had a choice and others needed convincing as Steve promised to return to SHIELD base with Thor who needed to pick up his brother and then the Tesseract to return home, as Fury promised to give it back to Asgard. Tony informed them that the Director will be there tomorrow with Cube but didn’t mention Sam and Dean.

As the hunters went in the helicopter and Avengers slowly packed back into the limo Tony waited for Mark VII to come to him. It wasn’t too badly damaged in Tony’s fall at the end of the battle and JARVIS informed him it was suitable enough to fly in, but the shorter usage was recommended. 

Even if he took off last, Tony was soon catching up with Winchesters, flying around the car inspecting the external damage and laughing at Dean’s displeased face in the cockpit.

…

The car was transported to Tony’s garage from the landing pad which luckily didn’t suffer any destruction. To Dean it was all too weird, having a garage near the top of the tower, but with the money Tony had laying around and his brain, actual moving was quick and easy.

Sam, unsure where he was allowed to roam, just followed Dean and their host to Tony’s workshop and garage. Even if the cars aren’t really his thing Sam could still appreciate the interior and technology that was used to build everything. 

As Tony rambled on how he made everything and what he uses this space as, Dean was practically salivating at the sight of all the cars. After the older hunter finished the quick tour of the space he returned to where his brother and billionaire were talking.

“Okay so the plan is, you guys get your things and I’ll show you the rooms where you’ll be staying. It’s late afternoon and after a day like this I really won’t complain about the early retreat after everyone else gets here. I seriously need to sleep and avoid any existential crisis I feel coming if I think too much, both with the aliens and monsters.”

Dean pulled out his keyes and with little effort opened the trunk taking out his and Sam’s duffle bag with clothes. After a thought and glance at Tony he also opened their weapons compartment underneath, quickly rifling through everything checking for obvious breaks and trying to sort the mess out. 

Curious, Tony approached Dean peeking at what he was doing. In front of him were pistols, shotguns, knives, stakes, wooden boxes, and a few jars filled with stuff Tony was happy not knowing about. Genius let out an impressed whistle.

“Damn. I take it that different nightmares require different killing methods?”

Dean looked up at Tony who reached in lifting few stuff around to take a closer look, opening one of the silver bullet cases. “Yeah, what you got there are silver bullets, mostly for werewolves. Lot of other stuff is also weak to silver. For ghosts we use salt in shotgun shells and iron. But to kill a ghost you must burn the remains, their bones or other object the deceased person attached themselves to.”

“Wait, stop please. We'll go over it all tomorrow with SHIELD… did you ever used Stark weapons? I know some of them weren't available for everyone but I do remember there being some type of guns that could be bought outside of military."

"Yeah no. Some hunters got their hands on Stark stuff but it's hard to put apart and modify. Plus using any other type of bullets except also Stark manufactured ones was practically impossible. And hunters didn't want to waste their time on it all when other stuff was cheaper and easier to get to" Sam explained. 

Tony let out a sight. He was hoping that his weapons were doing more good besides being used by the US army, and even that is questionable knowing how countries get with politics on that topic. 

Casting one last glance at his suit repairing, Tony turned to walk out of the workshop.

"Come on, I'll show you the rooms now. You can leave the bags there then come up to the penthouse if you want. I need a drink."

Chapter Text

After a few questions regarding sleeping arrangements JARVIS and Tony settled on the floor half a dozen or so levels down from the garage. It had 5 bedroom suits and one big kitchen and joined living room.

Brothers were in awe. Even though according to Tony, who insisted they change floors if they don’t like anything, these were some of the smallest guest bedrooms in tower, for hunters it was much much more than their usual sleeping conditions. 

Leaving the bags in their selected rooms which were next to one another, Winchesters followed Tony up to his penthouse. When the elevator door opened they were welcomed with the ruined floor, mainly giant crater in the middle of the room. Their eyes soon found a person laying on the floor and upon closer inspection they noticed the chains and big hammer on top.

Tony moved to the bar casting a quick glance at the brothers and noticing their silence. Oh right Loki.

“So this is Loki, he was leading the invasion, as you remember I explained it all in the diner. Don’t worry he’s well secured and harmless like this. Drinks?”

Sam shrugged but Dean nodded asking for something strong.

“Sir, the rest of the guests are down in the main Tower garage, should I send them up?” 

“Yes please JARVIS send them up.”

…

Tired and still covered in dried sweat and dust Steve asked for the nearest bathroom. Others had time in the diner to clean up a bit, but he was too preoccupied to go with them, plus right after he returned the chopper arrived for the car, and if it weren’t for those two newcomers Steve would accuse Tony of messing with him on purpose. 

It took almost ten minutes but at this point Steve really didn’t care for taking his time. He knew he was the last one to show up regardless how long it took him to freshen up. He really didn’t want to meet anyone or have any kind of post battle talk and analysis, as they didn’t really have time to discuss it with him before, but they accepted him as the leader and he accepted himself too. They all needed to go over available footage and see what went well and what went wrong. He also wasn’t sure if others even want to talk about it now. But the brothers were a sudden occurrence and Steve wasn’t sure how do they fit in.

All of this was exhausting and his regular headache was back. Just when he thought it went away… Now he was craving some peace to just lay down and sleep, he wasn’t picky at this point and even sitting against the wall would be amazing. But JARVIS informed him that others gathered on the top floor with Loki and that included the two guys who they found next to that shawarma place. Even though Steve was still wary about them, his Ma didn’t raise him to be a rude person, so he went there. 

When the elevator doors opened he saw that Tony was behind the bar pouring drinks, Thor was sitting next to Loki on the floor in the corner, doctor Banner was sitting in the armchair, facing away from destroyed floor where they found Loki in. Natasha and Clint were standing, with him facing the door and her turned so she could easily look at Thor and Loki. Smart. Two new guys were sitting on the sofa across from Banner. 

“Captain, nice of you to finally show up, didn’t think you could be late. What do you want to drink? Or are you too good for that?” 

Like he expected Tony was first to say something and of course it was to make fun of him. Oh how he would like to snap back but the fight on helicarrier was still in his mind even though they were probably under sceptre's influence. 

“Can’t get drunk, fast metabolism, so why bother.”

“Huh that sucks, no wonder you’re so uptight all the time.”

 Oh how would Bucky laugh at Stark for this comment and at Steve too. He was far from uptight but no matter how great Avengers were he didn’t want to replace Howling Commandos. He cleared his throat. He knows it’s stupid but for him everything happened not too long ago and Peggy and Bucky…

“Yeah it does suck” he awkwardly smiled at Tony and quickly looked away, turning toward the strangers.

He did hear their names but they never formally met. They were both standing now making their way to him so he started walking forward too. Taller one was first to get to him raising his hand for a handshake. He accepted. 

“We didn't get a chance to say pretty much anything back there. My name is Sam. It’s real honor meeting you sir. This is my brother.” Steve smiled and turned to shake the other man’s hand too. 

“Dean” was the only thing he said, starting to look a bit flustered. 

“Thank you but there’s no need for all this formality. I’m not that old and I’m off duty now, so call me Steve.”

Steve turned to look at Sam who was smirking at his brother with the same look on his face that Bucky would have when he was about to mess with him. They do look like brothers he thought as his eyes went back to Dean. 

Said man let out a cough getting his faint blush under control. His cheeks were still a bit red but it was not noticeable. Steve could see a few freckles on them and when he looked better Dean had freckles all over his face. 

Realizing he was probably being rude his eyes went back to Dean’s. He had interesting eyes, artists in him couldn’t help but notice. Clear green colour without any blue or brown inside, which wasn't that common. They were even more beautiful when the sun was shining on them making the green pop. Even when Dean was crying they looked amazing. 

What, how would he know that, he never saw Dean cry. Dean who now looked calm and business ready with only a hint of amazement in his eyes. Dean who was serious and who hated talking about his feelings. Dean who was joking and being sarcastic and cared about others, especially his brother. What is wrong with me? Dean and Sam. Michael and Lucifer. What... 

His headache was back and suddenly there was a loud ringing in his ears. High pitch sound that could break glass.

“What is that noise?“ Steve yelled hoping others could hear him. 

“What’s what Rogers, everything is normal?“ said Tony, looking at others in concern. 

But Steve couldn’t hear him and the ringing was soon mixed with chatter. Thousands voices speaking in his ear, sounds coming from all around him. He turned, trying to see if Tony heard him, it’s his home after all, but instead of people all Steve could see were blobs of light, some shining bright, like a summer sun, almost blinding. Some blobs were bigger then others, more powerful, how did he know that? Blobs had almost human shape and then, where the head is supposed to be, on some there were animal heads, more than one, together in the same light. Suddenly lights had huge shapes behind them, looking almost like wings. Then he was looking down and there were more lights but these were smaller, soft blue mixed with other colors, moving, living. There was a sense of love and home, brothers and sisters, and then nothing but duty and orders, obeying and blindly following. Then there was a sense of falling, it hurt, being born, being Steve Rogers, big and beautiful tree, then obeying again. Suddenly a quick flash of red fire and screaming, so much agonizing screams of tortured but among all these stained blobs of muted light one stood out, still beautiful and almost completely pure only slightly ruined by the place. Hell. He then gripped the blob, no soul, the soul, raising it from the fire, rebuilding it, caring for it, protecting it, being ready to die for it. Dying for it. For them. 

„Dean“ Steve whispered, breathing in. Everything was quiet now. No noise, no lights shining, just him gripping Dean’s left shoulder, when did he move, and those green eyes looking at him in concern, confusion and little bit of fear.

Everything started spinning and going black. Steve closed his eyes.

Chapter Text

As soon as Dean felt Captain’s body dropping he quickly reached out to steady him. But Steve was unconscious and the sudden full body weight was starting to strain him.

“Couch, move” Dean grunted out, slowly moving towards it, Sam was fast to help him.

Everyone except Loki was now standing and moving closer to look at the passed out Steve, who was lying down with a frown on his face. He looked like he was having an unpleasant dream.

“What the hell was that!?” Tony was also fast to add but no one had any idea what to reply.

Dean was in shock. The way Steve suddenly stood, his whole body language was reminding him of other angels wearing their vessels. He didn’t notice before but just now, standing close to the man Dean couldn’t help but think that Steve’s eyes were the same blue as Castiel’s and it really didn’t help the hunter the way Captain said his name. But Dean was just grieving and all of this was just a coincidence. Right?

…

Sam was looking at his brother taking in the confusion and small bit of fear in his expression. I’m not the only one who noticed the familiarity of it all then. That Dean was so painfully similar to the way Castiel would say it. Even that small head tilt.

Banner was now leaning over a passed out man, lightly slapping his cheek trying to wake Steve up. Tony quickly moved his glass under the soldier's nose, which surprisingly made Steve frown and slowly stir. 

“Wha-what’s going on, what happened?”

“We don’t know, you started hearing something then passed out in Dean’s arms.” replied Tony drinking all of the remaining alcohol from his glass.

Steve stopped massaging his head, his gaze snapping up to meet Sam’s own eyes then quickly turning towards the younger hunter.

“Hello Dean.”

And if Sam was thinking how earlier Dean coming from Steve’s mouth sounded like Castiel’s it was nothing compared to this signature greeting along with the intense stare.

“No, no, no. No way man, Cas?” Dean shakenly asked.

“Yes, hello” was Steve’s, no Castiel’s anwer, looking as awkward as Sam always remembered that the hunter couldn't help but laugh.

“Oh my God” Dean whispered, still staring even as he slowly began to walk up to Cas. Sam silently agreed. Oh my God indeed. Questions were flying in his head and he couldn't take it anymore.

“How?!” 

“Ahm excuse me, what the hell is going on and who’s Cas?” Clint also blurred out staring at the trio along with everyone else in the tower.

“Right, I suppose this can’t wait for tomorrow till that SHIELD guy shows up?” Dean hopefully asked and Sam could see it on his face, he wanted to get Cas alone and grill him for answers.

“It’s related to Fury’s visit I take it?” questioned Tony but by his tone Sam could already tell he knew the answer.

“I trust everyone here. We worked very well today. With Clint’s and Natasha’s SHIELD involvement, the Hulk situation and Thor’s off world origine, it won’t be too much of a surprise I imagine. And Tony, despite how we started I do admire you and your work a lot. And with you knowing Dean and them coming in high security location willingly I would say you are in the know of their work, yes?”

“I- thank you, well... I yes, wait, wait how do you know about their work, and furthermore how do you suddenly know them? And who’s Cas?”

“I am.”

“No no you are Steve Rogers, 40s own superhero, my father's little experiment, went under the ice, spent some years as Capcicle, woke up a little while ago and is constantly under SHIELD’s surveillance. No way you found time to meet these two, plus it wasn’t in the file.”

“Yes. But I am also Castiel, angel of the Lord.”

Loud what and are you joking was coming from all around Sam but surprisingly Tony was silent. Staring in shock open mouthed. Natasha was quiet.

“How? Since when? I’m most certain that if you were anything but human the machine and super soldier serum would react differently to you.”

“Are you serious Stark? Didn’t it part where Steve, Captain America, The Golden boy said he’s an angel phase you at all? Are you in on this? Did you hire two actors just to make it all this more believable?”

“Barton that’s enough. It’s the project Slayer I believe? You haven’t explained anything to me yet but this is related to that yes?” Natasha cut in sharply.

“Wait, what!?”

“The reason Fury called is because Stark went snooping and found project Slayer files. Why he was able to access one of the most secure SHIELD secrets is because he searched specific information from the files, one of them being about the two.”

“So it’s about the existence of these so-called angels?” asked Bruce but Clint shook his head.

“Supernatural. It’s about monsters isn’t it? Like Buffy? Oh my fucking God I was right hahaha, I can’t belive it! My crack theory is true! That twitch Colson did when I connected the name with the show as a joke was actually because I got close, I can’t believe it!” Clint exclaimed all happy.

At Clint's excited revelation Sam saw Natasha's face doing a barely noticeable twitch but when Dean confirmed archers suspicion, younger hunter was still carefully watching other spy so he didn’t miss the surprise that was quickly masked.

“For real? Monsters exist? Like vampires, werewolves, ghosts and all that?” Clint continued to ask.

“Yeah, me and Sam are hunters, driving all around the good old US of A killing things that hurt humans. Dad started to do so when we lost mum and when we were old enough we joined in.”

“When Director Fury called Tony he asked for a meeting tomorrow regarding our family business. I think all talk about supernatural and hunting should be left for that meeting. As for Castiel… I don’t know if we should have anyone else in on this. Well at least not for now. How much do you trust Fury and SHIELD?” Sam added.

It was Natasha who answered: “Fury himself, I think he would be able to keep it a secret separate from Shield but I don’t know if he would hide it in the Slayer project file or not and who else has access to it.”

“Tasha is right. It also depends on what being an angel means. Do you have any extra powers? I mean even as Captain you were almost not human compared to the rest of us but are you now officially different?” asked Clint.

“Right, Cas what about your grace? You don’t have it now by any chance” Sam asked somewhat hopefully. 

“No but I’m sure we’ll be able to find it easy with your research and Tony’s technology.”

“Right. Of course we wouldn’t have it that easy” Sam commented more to himself than to others. 

...

“Grace?” Tony was curious, this whole day was crazy and it’s still not over yet. He really shouldn’t be surprised if Jesus showed up soon too. If he didn’t know Captain America and his golden personality he would’ve said they were messing with him. “And please JARVIS can do all the work alone, he's just that amazing.” he quickly added. 

Steve looked at everyone who fought by him today and wondered what everyone’s soul look like. Would they shine or were their past actions enough to stain them and to what extent. 

“Grace is in a way angels' very being. Grace is what distances us from humans and as Dean once colorfully explained it’s our battery and it can go away with time if we’re cut off from Heaven for too long” and before anyone could ask anything else he continued, “usually higher ranked angels can sever that connection if they see it necessary. It happened to me when I was helping Dean and Sam with the Apocalypse. I still could fly but only heal minor injuries and smaller miracles”

What apocalypse and what do you mean apocalypse and Tony’s you can fly was heard from few people but “could you cure cancer?” came from Bruce. Everyone turned to look at him. 

“Really BrucyBear that’s what got your attention?” amused Tony asked. 

“What, I’m just wondering what minor injury is and if he can cure deadly diseases, it’s what caught my attention. You asked about flying.” Banner defended himself. 

“Yes, angels can heal any type of health issues in our full power. Well, higher ranked angels can but ordinary cherubs couldn’t”. 

“Wait, cherub as in Cupid right?”

Castel’s yes was interrupted with Tony’s “Apocalypse remember? And how are you angel now? When did this happen? How?”

Steve, well Castiel, took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts and started talking.

Chapter Text

“I really hope you all believe this otherwise I’ll be just crazy talking. Right. Okay. Obviously as an Angel of the Lord that implies God is real, so sorry if you are an atheist. Not that Dad cares too much, just be a good human. I won’t go too much into detail of the world creating and origin of everything but before the world was made there were Angels. We are supposed to be God's warriors, executors of his will. Only Archangels and a handful of others actually met God. After Lucifer’s rebellion he went completely off grid so to speak and only stayed in contact with Joshua but he never actually said anything to anyone.

I never spent too much time watching over humanity and only visited earth on a mission two times after humans evolved and Adam and Eve were banished from the garden. So when I finally started to pay attention I was pleasantly surprised. Innovation was everywhere, so much creativity and love. But I also saw the bad side.

I remember watching the world during the first world war. I was starting to question our orders and wondering why couldn't we go down and help. Why do we have to stand and watch as humans kill each other, why are we just sitting in Heaven allowing it to happen if Father told us to look after them. I had enough, so I decided to go down and help as much as I could. Healing sick and injured, reuniting people with their loved ones and performing little miracles all over Europe. When the war ended I stayed on Earth until I was assured that fighting stopped and the majority of humans could continue to live in peace and somewhat safely."

Room was quiet and only soft "What happened next" from someone broke the silence.

"My commanders weren't too happy with what I did and they considered it a rebellion and the only suitable punishment was to fall."

"Like Anna did?" Sam asked but he already knew the answer.

"Yes. Casting angels out of Heaven is considered the worst punishment. Dean and Sam know this but when angels fall they are sent to Earth without their grace and usually without any memory of life before and are born like any other human.

But one of my superiors didn't think it's enough so he said that he would arrange for my human form to be weak and unfit for normal life and that if I lead a miserable life and died earlier it couldn't guarantee that I'll go to Heaven or be an angel again."

"That son of a... It was Zack wasn't it. That asshole"

"No it wasn't, Dean relax. You two never met this angel. And what he did was against everyone else. He was cast out too when I returned to Heaven. Obviously he didn't count on me surviving and telling Anna about it. But the rest of angels weren't really pleased how things played out, with me becoming Captain America, so they erased memories of my life as Steve Rogers."

"Jesus. Not so angelic bunch after all" Clint was first to say something.

Some of them were staring at Castiel or Steve (Sam and Dr. Banner with sympathy and Natasha and Loki with curiosity but they were hiding it quite well) and the rest were looking anywhere but at him.

"Yeah well angels are dicks" Dean angrily said and then finally looked at Cas.

"I... Cas... this just proves you're better than them and you'll always be.“ He smirked „well I guess you kinda were always a rebel, even before you met me. At least you remember everything now.“

„I guess you’re right.” Cas replied with a head title and small smile. He shook his head and continued.

“Right, I don’t know how familiar you all are with the Bible and original story of Lucifer, but when he was cast out of Heaven it was written that he will rise once again, to have one final battle with Michael. It didn’t matter who would win, there would still be mass destruction and a lot of people would die. Yes, they would be sent to heaven if angels succeeded but… Dean and Sam were ready to stop it and so was I. I won’t bore you with details and it’s very long story for another time, but we stopped the apocalypse and locked both Michael and Lucifer in a cage in Hell in which Lucifer was trapped in all these years before breaking free. It all started in May in 2009 when the final seal was broken by demons Lilith and Ruby”.

There was once again silence as everyone processed the information until JARVIS spoke up.

“Sir, there are records of unexplainable big events happening from May 14th in 2009 till the beginning of June especially with natural causes. I also found a series of books called Supernatural by Edlund Carver that follow the life of two brothers, Sam and Dean, and also the presence of one very active fan on multiple fan forums claiming it is all real and that she met with Sam and Dean on a few occasions”.

There was a loud groan from both Sam and Dean at the mention of the books.

“Wait wait wait!” Clint jumped in, “you guys know about these? Are they real?”

There was silence as brothers looked at each other communicating without words but Castiel cut their arguing as he knew how long it might take.

“Yes, Winchester gospels, they were written by the prophet Chuck Shurly and they followed Sam and Dean’s lives up until Dean went- I mean before brothers and I met and they found out about the breaking of seals and apocalypse. Chuck still wrote as he was having visions which allowed him to see into the near future, but nothing was officially published”

…

Dean sent a greathful look when no Hell was mentioned, he really didn’t need to have all these strangers knowing that about him, even if he went for the good reason. Stuff after was far from good and he would have to explain some of it at least and he really didn’t want to talk about it now. The Cas he knew probably wouldn’t bother hiding that information but living as a human and having Steve’s memories too, definitely changed him. He felt ashamed having Captain America know that about him and Hell, even though Cas was Captain. That was still weird and confusing and he needed time for it to sink in.

Dean looked around the room. He wasn’t too aware about everyone's background but he knew at least about Tony’s curious nature, and two government agents, well SHIELD spies, certainly won’t just forget about this without any research on him and Sam.

Dean rolled his eyes: “Yeah yeah now you can read the books and find out about our lives in detail, every important and private details, dirty private details, in-”

“If I may sir?” JARVIS interrupted Dean, “There is also the existence of Supernatural continuation of the story but only in online form released by beckywinchester176, the very same fan claiming books are all true. Books start with you coming back and end with final fight between Michael and Lucifer”

“Well fuck” exclamed Dean shaing a look with Sam.

“Not a word Dean and thank you JARVIS.”

…

Yes Sam was very annoyed that more of their lives were out for people to read, and the mere mention of Becky made his head hurt as their last meeting was still fresh in his mind. He’s just grateful the divorse papers went through quickly without any issues. It was one of the most uncomfortable moments of his life. Sam shuddered as he remembered. He was also very thankful that JARVIS didn’t mention hell at all. Now wasn’t a good time to talk about that topic at all with the craziness that happened today. 

“Wait really?” Tony asked, amazed “J gather all this in one file and remind me to read it next time I have a few hours free.” Brothers just sighed in defeat.

“What about other religions? If heaven and hell and angels and demons exist clearly Christianity got it right? Have you met God? Was he also involved in the apocalypse?” Bruce spoke more than fascinated with everything that was said until now.

“Yes well there are gods and God with capital G. During the apocalypse Sam and I ended up in a hotel where a lot of gods from other religions all gathered to try and kill Lucifer. Christianity is the most widespread religion and others have fewer followers so the power of these gods was nowhere near Lucifer’s. He strolled in and killed everyone way to esely.”

“Which reminded me, Thor, sorry for your loss” Sam said grimly and with sympathy.

“What are you talking about young hunter?” Thor asked, clearly confused.

“Among all these gods was also Odin and he too was killed by Lucifer, you didn’t know?”

“I didn’t know that because that is impossible, my father is alive and well, I saw him yesterday, when he sent me here to stop Loki”.

“Sam do you think he was an imposter? Like Gabriel was pretending to be Loki too?” asked Dean, turning towards him.

“I don’t think so, other gods would have noticed something, at least Kali would, she knew Gabe was lying.”

...

There was suddenly a loud rattling noise and everyone turned to look at the source. Loki was shaking his chains, trying to say something, his eyes darting from Thor to Sam and Dean.

“Brother do you know of this? And who is this Gabriel they speak of?” 

There was only grunting as a reply, Loki’s eyes moving down and pointing his chin up showing his muzzle.

“Do you think that is a good idea? And what if he’s lying?” asked Bruce concerned.

“He is restrained good and he is sitting under Mjolnir, I only muzzled him to shut him up Banner, no need for worry, he won’t be going anywhere”

Thor shared one long look with Loki, and whatever he found was enough for him to nod and move to take off his muzzle from his brother’s face. He helped Loki sit up Mjolnir now in his lap.

“Very well Loki you may speak now, but one wrong movie and this is going back” Thor said lifting his hand.

“Well this is a rather interesting situation we found ourselves in. I heard about Midgard’s so-called hunters but never got pleasure meeting one. My time on this planet was always very short and with purpose. Exploring this primitive realm was never too high on my list.”

“Cut the crap Loki get to the point” Clint stopped him obviously annoyed.

Loki just rolled his eyes and continued to talk.

“One of my visits went quite differently than usual. It was ages ago, around a thousand years ago. The nature of my visit is no concern of yours but it did involve my magic. I was found by being more powerful than I ever encountered. They were intrigued with my unique power signature. When they introduced themselves as Loki, I was beyond surprised. We then went on a little adventure to seek out the answers and in the end it asked me to use my name for itself, wanting to be introduced as Loki when meeting with other pagans. Quite nice of him to consider the actual original first. 

As Barton so kindly asked for me to get to the point, the creature, well Gabriel, and I discovered that on Earth all these different gods are alive, but as we Asgardians are powerful alien race, our existence didn’t allow Norse gods to be quite the same as the rest of the pagans. Here on Midgard we are copied as you hunters call it Tulpas, creatures that came to life at mare power of will, mixed with little symbols and magic of course.” Loki paused to look around the room but his gaze was most focused on brothers whose faces were lit up with realisation, as the words Loki just spoke meant most to them.

“A Tulpa can be created by many people concentrating on one thing while looking at a Tibetan Spirit Sigil. Once created, a Tulpa takes on a life of its own and no longer needs people to believe in it.” JARVIS supplied for rest of the Avengers, “it is discovered to be stronger when more people believe the same thing, and the fact that is most spread amongst believers is the truth that will manifest”

“Yes quite. I spent some time with Gabriel but he never actually revealed his true nature to me at the time. My stay on Midgard next few times was too short to try and find him, and if you can get in contact, I need to speak with him immediately. I tried finding him before all this started but he is powerful and probably hid himself from everyone.”

Sam and Dean shared a look. “Loki, I’m sorry, but he’s dead” Sam softly replied.

“Nonsense he’s not dead he can’t be.”

“I’m sorry but he is. That night when all pagan gods invited Lucifer to try and kill him Gabriel stayed behind to help us escape, he’s dead.”

Loki just raised his eyebrow at brothers, giving them ‘are you sure about that’ look. Creature of that power and trickery isn’t dead, he can’t be. Loki remembers Gabriel commenting in passing about his family and why he escaped. If these Winchesters asked him for help and dragged him back in the middle of the fight, faking the death to hide from them would be the next safe step. So he needs to get to Gabe through someone else. Hmmm. These brothers were definitely the “backup” that filth was talking about, he might be able to ask him one more thing.

“Fine I another request then, if I can try to talk t-”

“You are a prisoner, remember? You aren’t in the place to be requesting anything. Thor shut him up I don’t think he has anything more valuable to say” Clint demanded trying to stay calm.

“I agree. I don’t think it’s safe to let anyone else near Loki before he leaves, especially someone he wants.” Bruce commented, but before Thor decided to actually muzzle him Loki spoke up:

“Who sent you here? If I followed the story right so far you two aren’t from here and as you said you go from town to town for hunts. Correct me if my Allspeak is wrong, I am not from this planet afterall, but aren’t towns smaller populated places?And New York is a massive overpopulated place, no?” Loki tries to bullshit his way around to his point.

“Where are you getting with this?” Dean asked angrily standing up from the sofa.

Loki quickly went over all the possibilities, finally deciding that his pride was worth destroying if it meant avoiding Odin’s punishment. Being locked inside his room with limited movement is far better than imprisonment for an indefinite future in Asgardians cells. With mother’s help he could negotiate that for himself. Loki took a deep breath.

 “First, Thor swear you will take me back to Asgard and tell Odin everything you hear from me before he throws me in the dungeons.”

“Brother what are you-”

“Just swear you will do it, and I swear that everything that comes from my mouth is the truth. I swear on Friga.”

There was only silence as the two Norse gods stared at each other. Everyone heard the deathly serious tone of Loki’s voice that even Clint believed he’s telling the truth, ignoring a small part of him whispering that he’s lying.

“Very well brother, you have my word. I will listen and if what you say makes the difference I will make sure you are treated accordingly. You can begin.”

“The attack wasn’t my idea, nor was it my wish.”

Loud protesting was heard all around.

“Enough of this, I promised the truth so you shall have it. When I fell from the Bifrost bridge at best I expected to end up on some new planet deserted or not and at worst I was fully prepared to die. So I was falling and falling, time became irrelevant and I stopped being aware about anything except the cold and silence, and sometimes being conscious enough to form a few thoughts. But then I finally landed, well when I was found to be precise… Being dead would be far better then meeting him.”

Loki knew that his face revealed everything he was feeling but he didn’t care. He couldn’t mask his disgust of that creature.

“The Titan, last one of his race. Ancient being. He travels through space with his army. His crazy idea is that this universe needs a new beginning. We, as in alive and sentient beings, overpopulated. He goes from planet to planet killing half of it’s population. But that’s actually what he does between his search for infinity stones.”

“Thanos” whispered Thor.

“Yes. That is his name. He saw in my mind. He twisted my hatred and failure, bringing forth the anger and my wish to rule. I know that without his manipulation I would never consider actually attacking this planet. I don’t know if any of you believe me but that’s the truth.” Loki finished head raised high.

“These stones? What are they?” asked Tony.

“Infinity stones, before anything they were there, existing united but the great explosion happened and six stone separated, scattering across the universe. I don’t know how your God fits in with all of this and if he had any involvement at all but one who holds all six of them could do anything. And the Mad Titan plans to use them to destroy half of everything alive.” 

“Oh great from one apocalypse to another, we really can’t get any rest.” Dean complained.

“Where are the stones now? Do they have names?” aked Bruce.

“Thanos gave me the scepter and sent me to Earth to deliver him Tesseract. It doesn’t take genius to realise that the Cube is one of the Stones. He chose me to lead the attack because he knew that Tesseract was once on Asgard. But he didn’t know how developed Earth was, as I always made it out to be one of the weakest in Nine realms. Everyone thinks so too. But obviously now that is not the case. I wasn’t allowed to seek out anyone and discuss his plans, but I was seeking out Gabriel as Loki and with that loophole I managed to break out of his influence. Not immediately but enough to set myself to fail. 

Giving me the scepter was a mistake. I realised it was one of the Stones too. While it was still trying to make me follow Thanos, once his influence was starting to crack the Stone sped up the process. The beast hitting me in the end cleared my mind completely.

Scepter is hosting the Mind Stone. The Tesseract is the Space. There are also Reality, Time, Power and Soul.

Like I mentioned, I tried to search for Gabriel hoping to have his help but when nothing happened I reached out to my second contact on this planet. Tell me hunters how well do you know Crowley?” Loki’s guess that brothers were indeed sent by the demon was confirmed when Dean let out a few colorful curses.

“I will count that as very well then. He was the one to send you here? I would say that even without the two of you, the outcome would be the same. But then again the Captain’s situation is perhaps what Norns had planned.”

“Norns? Why does it sound familiar?” asked Dean.

“In Norse mythology they are female beings that rule destiny” answered Sam.

“Yes, you can define them like that. We try not to dwell too much on weaving future plans for us. It leads to nowhere. Do you have any more questions for me or are we done? I would like to rest if you would allow me, tomorrow will be a hard day for me. I need all the strength to talk to All-Father” said Loki while rolling his eyes.

“Fine, all of this is true. If so, what are we doing with the stones then? This Thanos dude now knows about Loki’s failure and that he had two of Infinity stones to collect… How soon are we to expect the attack then?” 

Silence followed Clint's questions. Rest of them realised this too but didn't want to ask any of this first.

“Thor and Loki will need Tesseract to return home. The cube will at least be with them. What are we doing with the Scepter? Mind stone was it?” Bruce added.

“Garbage disposal?” answered Tony just to break the silence.

“I don’t know, is it safe for two stones to be on the same planet at all? Do their proximity amplify their signature or something?” was Sam’s question.

“Asgard is one of the safest places. With Odin in power, Thanos wouldn’t dare attack without assistance from other Stones. And as he’s left without any, we have a long time to prepare.” Answered Thor.

“Correct. And I don’t think he can sense them that easily. Only problem would be that other Stones are very well hidden that going to Earth is his only choice, if he misses their move to Asgard. But even if he immediately starts gathering his army it would still take him years to arrive here without portals. He’s too far away in space.” 

“Well then, I suggest we all go and rest until tomorrow. With fresh minds we’ll see how it goes. Plus there’s that Fury meeting. Come everybody, I’ll show you all your rooms. Sorry Thor you’ll have to room with your bro.”