Chapter Text
Tony was annoyed. Annoyed that the council wasn't taking his claims of there being something big on the horizon seriously. He was frankly terrified at how right Fury was when he said how outgunned they were, 'hopelessly, hilariously.' He was annoyed with Steve and his merry band of followers. They were in Wakanda because T'Challa felt guilty for blaming Barnes. Tony understood that. What he didn't understand was why Rogers still believed he was in the right. Natasha was practically pulling her hair out in frustration. Tony had to give her props for withstanding the entitlement Rogers had, along with Wanda, who Natasha admit to being wary of. Tony made a mental note to FRIDAY to get Nat a gift as a thank you when she, and by extension, the Rogues, inevitably returned.
CRASH!!!!!
He was jolted out of his uplink by the noise and corresponding shake in the walls. He was flying out of the sky-door not two seconds later, his suit already having formed around him. (It was one of the many side-effects Extremis had on his body.) A quick scan of the building showed no damage, so he quickly turned around, only to find a massive plume of smoke trailing from somewhere in the sky to the forest bordering the Compound.
'Boss,' FRIDAY spoke through the suit. She sounded nervous, 'I'm detecting several life-forms at the location of the... noise,' Tony nodded to himself and flew towards where the smoke was now steadily rising into the air.
"Holy shit!" he said to no one in particular, "Is that a spaceship?!"
'It appears so, boss,' FRIDAY corroborated, 'the life-forms are inside the vessel.'
"Thanks, sweetpea. Now, let's see if they're friendly," Tony said before flying down to hover a few feet of the ground, repulsers charged and at the ready, aiming at the ship. He amplified his voice through the suit when he spoke next, "I AM ONLY GONNA ASK THIS ONCE, OPEN THE COCKPIT DOORS OR A BITCH IS GONNA LOSE A CUTICLE! YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS!" Thankfully he didn't have to wait longer than two, as the ship made a hissing noise before the belly opened downwards into stairs. Tony steadies his repulsers on the opening and forms a missile at his shoulder just for good measure.
"We're friendly! We come in peace!" a smooth, male-sounding voice emanates from inside the ship,
"That's debatable," a rougher, grumpy-sounding male voice snarks,
"Shut up Rocket!" The first voice hisses,
"COME OUT ONE AT A TIME, WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" Tony orders through his confusion,
"Who should go first?" A calm female voice asks,
"Probably me," says the first voice, "Whoever is out there will probably freak out if any of you guys come out first,"
"I am Groot," a scratchy, high-pitched voice says with an air of being offended,
"Because, the last time I was here Terra didn't even know aliens existed, and I don't exactly know how welcoming they'll be due to the invasion that happened a couple of years back," The first voice says in a huff,
"ANYTIME NOW," Tony announces,
"Alright, alright" Voice #1 exclaims, "Mantis, you come out when I give the all-clear, then Drax, you come out with Groot, then Rocket, and then Gamora and Nebula, got it?" There are several sounds of agreement, "Okay, we're coming out! Please don't shoot!" There are footsteps and then a pair of boots start making their way down. The boots continue up into a pair of brown, leather-looking pants with a thick belt and what look to be two sci-fi guns. Then there's a gray shirt covering obviously thick muscle, and over that is a maroon leather trench coat. And then Tony is staring at the face of a... human male... with curly, strawberry-blonde hair, a resting smirk on sinfully perfect lips, and the bluest eyes Tony had ever seen! They didn't even remind Tony of Steve's blues like most others did! This man's eyes were vivid, practically cerulean blue, and the irises seemed to shift if Tony looked closely, which he quickly realized he was doing.
'dear gods this guy is hot,' Tony thought,
"Woah," The guy breathes, "Are you an android?"
"Not important," Tony says, coming back to himself, thankful for his helmet blocking the guy from seeing how he was blatantly checking the man out not two seconds ago, "Now, wanna tell me your name, or do I have to guess?"
"I think I'll wait until everyone is out and you either freak out or stay calm from their appearances," The man says with a nervous smile,
Tony shrugs, "Fair enough,"
"Ummm, would you mind putting the missile away? I promise we're not going to hurt anyone,"
"I'll be the judge of that," Tony snaps,
"Okay," The guy huffs before he turns around, and Tony has to scold himself for immediately trying to check out the man's ass, which is unfortunately not visible due to the trench coat he's wearing. "Mantis, you first!"
Quick, light footsteps are heard before a pair of dark-green high-heeled boots bounce down the stairs. When the woman-like figure's bare arms come into view, Tony thinks she's another human due to the pale skin tone, but then he sees her face. She's not gross or anything! In fact, her features are dainty and smooth, with straight, shoulder-length dark hair that has scattered highlights. But she is most definitely not human, considering her eyes are large and pure black and she has a pair of antennae protruding from her forehead! She gives a timid wave and an awkward smile, before moving to stand next to the man,
"I am Mantis," She says in a soft and soothing voice,
"Hi," Tony greets in a hesitant voice.
"Hmmm, not freaking out," Says the mystery man, "Have you met other aliens or something?"
"Or something," Tony says,
"Oh, good then! Drax, Groot, you guys can come down now!"
Heavy footsteps are matched to a large pair of boots and equally beefy legs. When the man's torso comes into view, Tony first thinks he's wearing some kind of patterned shirt, but then he notices his hands match the rest of his body. The guy is blue! He's also covered in red designs that litter his entire body, and they are present on the man's face as well! On his shoulder is... Tony actually doesn't know what it is. It's tiny, and looks to be made completely up of wood! Tony thinks it's just a plant... until it waves. No, it's definitely alive, and not in the same sense as regular plants,
"This is Drax, and the little guy on his shoulder is Groot," The first guy says,
"I am Groot!" Exclaims the plant-child,
"I'll tell you in a minute, bud," Tony responds, then stiffens when all of their eyes widen simultaneously,
"You understand him?!" Mantis asks in wonder,
"Uh, yeah? Don't you?" Tony asks,
"I mean yeah but it took a while to learn! All he says is 'I am Groot!'" Says the human, "Ohoho, Rocket's gonna have a field day when he finds out!" The big blue man looks at the other guy with a confused expression,
"Why would he spend a day in a field after learning that this robot understands Groot?" He asks, and Tony has to contain a snort because the guy looks completely serious,
The other man sighs, "No, Drax, I mean he's going to react extremely when he finds out," he says in an annoyed breath,
"When I find what out?" Comes a voice from the stairs. Tony looks over to find a raccoon wearing pants and standing on its hind legs?!
"Is that a raccoon?!"
The human bursts out laughing, "I told you so!"
"I AM NOT A RACCOON!!!" Yells the raccoon, "I'M NOT EVEN ORIGINALLY FROM TERRA!"
"Well, you look like a raccoon," Tony deadpans, before projecting a hologram of said rodent in front of the group,
"Boom. There's your proof Rocket. Or should I say, Rocket Raccoon?" The human teases, pointing at the hologram.
The raccoon- Rocket- is just staring slack-jawed at the image. Tony then hears him mumble to himself, "well how would I know? I didn't ask to get made," This makes Tony turn off the hologram out of sympathy. Rocket looks at him before giving a grumbled, "Thanks,"
"Sorry about that," Says Tony,
"Doesn't matter," mumbles Rocket,
"Ooookaaaay," Says the human, leaning up and down on his toes, "I'm going to keep going because this is awkward. Gamora, your turn!"
"We're already outside," the female voice from earlier says from Tony's side. He spins around to find two more women(?). They were both thin and wearing mostly black bodysuits, but that's where their similarities ended. The one on the left was completely green, apart from some silvery markings on her face. Her hair was long and wavy and was a very dark pink that got brighter at certain angles. Her features were angular and elegant, and she had a stern expression. The one on the right was a vibrant azure, however; she had many cybernetic enhancements, including an entirely metal arm. It made Tony curious about how it worked, and he made a mental note to ask her about it, 'If they aren't hostile,' FRIDAY quickly added. Her eyes were completely black, much like Mantis', and she was bald. Her expression was angry-looking, but Tony surmised that it was probably how she always looked.
"Hello. I am Gamora, and this is my sister Nebula," Said the green one, identifying her as the one who spoke before. The blue one only narrowed her eyes, confirming Tony's earlier observation,
"Noted. Now," Tony turns back to the human, "You want to tell me your name?"
"As soon as you get rid of the rocket on your shoulder," The guy states. Tony acquiesces, deconstructing and recalling the missile back into the suit, "Woah, cool."
"Name, 'Space Race'," Tony stresses,
"Huh? Oh, yeah, right," The guy steps forward, "I'm Peter Quill, and we're known as the Guardians of the Galaxy,"
".............."
".............. Nothing?" Peter says with a groan, "Man, we usually get a better reaction than that!"
"Sorry, I was looking you up. You didn't happen to have left Earth in 1988, did you?" Tony questions,
"How did you know?!"
"Missing persons report online," Tony simply states,
"So you are a robot?" Peter asks,
Tony sighs, and finally decides to land, "No," he lets the suit retreat back into its casing with a thought, "I'm Tony,"
"Holy shit you're gorgeous!" Peter barks, before blushing, "I didn't mean to say that!" The rest of Peter's group, mainly Rocket and Drax, start laughing, except for Nebula and Mantis, the latter of which puts her hand on Drax's shoulder and proceeds to burst into giggles, antennas glowing. Tony is just as red as Peter, but he's too curious about the antennae to address it,
"Why are your antennae glowing?" He asks,
Mantis removes her arm from Drax, who is still chuckling, and faces Tony, "I don't exactly know why they glow, but they do whenever I use my empathesis,"
"You feel feelings?!" Tony says, astonished,
Mantis grins, nodding, "Yes! I can also somewhat alter emotions, and I can make people fall asleep!"
"Wow, I wouldn't be opposed to that," Tony says with a smirk. Mantis steps forward with her arm extended, making Tony flinch back, "Maybe not this minute!" He quickly adds,
"Uh, not to be a buzzkill," interjects Rocket, "But you wouldn't happen to know a place where we can fix our ship, would you?" Tony looks closer at the ship and notices how absolutely beat-up it looks. The metal is warped and littered with holes, and one of its giant wings has been torn clean off! But Tony can still see how beautiful the ship was and would be if it were still in one piece.
'Fuck it,' He thinks, "As a matter of fact, I do. Follow me," He says, turning around and walking back towards the Compound.
"I am Groot!"
"Yeah, there's food there," Tony says over his shoulder,
"WAIT, YOU CAN UNDERSTAND GROOT???!!!" Rocket yells,