Iron Man and Jarvis

           Looking out at the vast expanse of space, the huge mothership, bigger than anything Tony had ever seen, probably bigger than the entirety of Manhattan, loomed before him, spewing out leviathans the size of skyscrapers that now looked like small birds in comparison. He let go of the nuke he was carrying, the one he had flown into the portal to save New York from being hit, letting it continue to drift towards the terrifying armada before him. The missile, a weapon so powerful it would’ve flattened Manhattan, now looked so teeny. Would it actually have enough kick to kill the Chitauri?

           Tony couldn’t continue his thoughts however, as the Iron Man’s support systems failed, unprepared for literal goddamn space, leaving him stuck in a lifeless tin can in front of an alien armada who knows how far away from Earth with no way out of the situation.

           Frost crept over his suit-turned-coffin, though without power the joints were near impossible to move anyways. His consciousness was fading just as fast.

           Tony was only dimly aware that he was falling, the nuke connecting with the mothership, producing a blinding explosion that looked like a supernova, the portal closing around him…

           Brief silence…

           Then, awareness exploded back into Tony’s body as the Hulk roared right in his face, bringing with it the sounds of a battered New York City.

           “God, holy fuck…” Tony gasped, trying to blink away the haze as he looked around. The face plate to his helmet wasn’t there, the Hulk was looking down at him, he couldn’t move his body, the arc reactor in his chest was sputtering, the suit was dead…

           “What the hell? What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me.” Right, cover with humor. Don’t show weakness. Speaking of weakness, lifting his head was taking too much energy… so Tony let it fall back to the ground, closing his eyes at the small tink from the metal hitting the blacktop that cut through his spazzing thoughts.

           Breathing, that’s an important thing he should be doing. In, and out…

           As Tony opened his eyes again, he took note of the other Avengers around him, then he looked up at the sky. The portal was gone, thank fuck. But…

           Tony was barely aware of Natasha murmuring something as a realization hit him, slamming into his mind and making his thoughts freeze like a deer in headlights on a dark summer road.

           Aliens were out there.

           Aliens were out there that wanted to kill them.

           Aliens with armadas the sizes of major cities, and possibly even bigger ones, were out there, and wanted to kill them, and Earth was woefully underprepared.

           Aliens were out there, and Earth was so, so fragile. Just a small orbee in the vastness of the universe, and she had made enemies.

           Earth was not prepared to fight galactic wars. Her thin atmosphere would do nothing to protect against anything. Her citizens were too busy warring amongst themselves to do anything about this.

           Tony Stark realized he needed to do something about this.

           Tony Stark needed to save Earth.

           “We won.” Steve’s words cut through Tony’s revelation. Right, it had been just a moment ago that he had spoken. Get it together Stark, deal with it later.

           “Alright. Hey. Alright. Good job, guys. Let’s just not come in tomorrow. Let’s just take a day.” Tony rambled halfheartedly, adding in a lifeless “Woo!”

           He barely suppressed a twitch as he was unexpectedly lifted up by, at a glance, Steve and Thor. “We’re not finished yet.” The Asguardian prince reminded them grimly, looking up at Stark Tower.

           Right, Loki… he was a problem in need of dealing with still.

           Though he was drifting in and out of consciousness, and his memory was fluttering like a panicked butterfly, Tony could still put on his mask and stand enough to loom intimidatingly over Loki.

           He briefly wondered if Loki’s eyes had always been green. Weren’t they blue? Like, a really intense, almost glowing blue?

           Following more things he was barely aware of, like putting Loki in weird Asguardian cuffs and a muzzle and sending everybody off, and a painful mission briefing from Fury, Tony collapsed into bed.

           He was wearing a suit, and he didn’t even know where he was, but his body was finally allowed rest and it promptly gave up, sending Tony into a blissful dreamless sleep.

           Tony floated on the edge of sleep and awakeness. Sleep was so nice, and he was so comfortable, and he was warm and safe…

           “Shit!” Tony gasped, sitting up with a start as the events of yesterday slammed into him, ripping away any relative comfort he had.

           “Good evening Sir, today is May 5^th, 8:43pm. The current weather in Malibu is 75 degrees with a clear sky.” JARVIS’ voice accompanied his windows untinting, and the lights in his room slowly turning on, giving enough time for his eyes to comfortably adjust.

           Tony leaned back a bit, propping himself up with an arm, waiting for his breath to even out. A glance around the room told him that he had gone to bed in a full Tom Ford suit, now horrendously wrinkled but he had dozens of others anyways, and the battered Mark VII Iron Man suit was standing sentry in the corner of the room. The damn face plate was missing, looked like it had been ripped off by either the Hulk, or Steve, or maybe even Thor…

           Tony groaned, rubbing his face with his hands. “JARVIS, please tell me that the whole ‘aliens invaded New York yesterday’ thing was just a sleep deprivation-induced fever dream…” God, his body hurt all over, and his throat was tender… after absentmindedly rubbing it, Tony pulled his hand away and looked down at it to see it coated in makeup. Huh, must’ve had to cover up a pretty big bruise to have that much makeup come off…

           Right, Loki picked him up by the throat and threw him out of the window in his penthouse at Stark Tower.

           “I could very well tell you that yesterday’s events were just a dream, but then I would be lying.” JARVIS responded, hints of snark mixed with a bit of amusement in that British voice of his.

           Tony sat quietly for a moment, before speaking in a quiet voice. “JARVIS, on the other side of that portal, I saw…” He felt his throat tighten from all the emotions threatening to get out.

           JARVIS, bless that AI, waited patiently for Tony to continue. If he were an employee, he’d definitely be getting a raise.

           “I saw… a goddamn huge mothership.” Tony’s voice was barely a whisper. “It made the leviathans look like damn mice. Earth is so fucking unprepared for fighting alien threats. We… I… you and me gotta do something, J.”

           “Sir…” JARVIS sounded seriously concerned. “I will definitely make a note of your concerns, but first I must insist you take some time to recover. Your health is of upmost importance, and you won’t be able to fight if you’re not in top shape.”

           “Damn you and your logical thinking…” Tony mumbled, warmth for his friend blooming in his chest.