"Y'all look like hammered shit."

Steve chortled at his friend's comment regarding his, Natasha's, and Tony's appearance.

After their fight with the Asgardians earlier that day, the three nursed their injuries by applying ice packs to their most severe pain, drinking beer or lying on the couch in the adjoining room and watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S on the television. The sun had long set and darkness had consumed visibility beyond the interior of the building. Dinner was served moments ago and the team were allowing their stomachs to recover from Wanda's homemade chicken paprika.

Natasha was cuddled up to Steve in the lounge room with her head leaning against his shoulder and she was holding a beer in her hand. Tony was on his own, sitting at the dinner table with an ice pack resting on the side of his head.

After returning from a long mission in Europe, Sam Wilson, one of Steve's trusted friends and fellow soldier, had acquired a bottle of beer and joined Steve and Natasha by occupying an armchair which was perfect for him to kick his feet up and relax.

"You missed quite the party, Free World. Got some visitors from Asgard to come down and give us a taste of Asgardian steel. Kids these days have got no respect for their elders whatsoever. They just come in without an invitation and beat the crap out of you because you live in a trailer park." Tony greeted him sourly.

"Those guys were, like, two thousand years old. You barely held your own against Thor until Steve intervened." Natasha piped up without tearing her eyes off of the screen.

Tony perked up and half-rotated his upper body so that he was able to look over at the Black Widow without putting too much strain in his neck.

"Well, crikey, Natasha. Point Break carries a mean swing with that mallet of his, you know. He should probably lay off the VB – and I'm telling you now, that stuff tastes horrible. I've taken precautions to upgrade my suits with more electric-resistant attacks, so that won't do anything negative to my suit's power levels except boost it above two-hundred percent."

"Do we get anything fancy like that, Richy Rich?" Sam jested.

Tony offered him a smile as he replied, "We've already got, what, three flyers on the team? I don't wanna clip your wings or anything, Papa Doc, but didn't you have an issue with an intruder recently?"

The smile on Sam's face instantly dropped the moment he mentioned an intruder that had been desperately buried to avoid any further embarrassment.

"What intruder?" Steve questioned, glancing over at Sam.

By a stroke of luck, Sam was spared pure humiliation when Samantha and Wanda emerged into view to welcome Sam for his safe return. Both women's hair was dark and wet after spending their first bath together. Samantha approached Tony and touched his shoulder with her hand.

"When you have the time, I wish to have words with you in the lab about something. I know we are not on the best of terms with one another, but there is something of extreme importance I must tell you – and you will want to hear what I have to say, Tony." Samantha barely spoke louder than a whisper before she made her way over to formally greet and introduce herself to her fellow Avenger.

Tony watched the blonde woman join her girlfriend and converse openly with Sam Wilson. It was later announced to the team that Wanda and Samantha were a couple.

In the laboratory where Tony had been working on solo projects and experiments, Tony joined Samantha in the lab, scepticism and a sense of uneasiness in being alone with the Assassin plagued him with doubt and insecurity in spite of her saving his life.

"Alright, Dawson. What do you want to talk about? What's this big thing you want to tell me?" Tony asked nonchalantly.

"Tony... how familiar are you with your history?" Samantha asked politely. "I'm sure every single person in the world has a god to waste their time worshipping or people of logic who find more evidence beyond the Big Bang, but what if I told you that several millennia ago, there was a civilisation before ours?"

"Impossible. What evidence is there that there were people before us? Cavemen weren't smart, but they invented the wheel."

"Allow me to indulge you..."

Spending enough time at the compound taught Samantha some unusual things that were quite surreal. She utilised an accessible holo-projection and searched for various sites to teach Tony the lore behind the Assassin's, Templars and the First Civilisation.

It took a good hour or so demonstrating various significant moments in history where the Pieces of Eden benefitted leaders, generals and madmen. During this time, Tony's knowledge expanded as he absorbed every ounce of detail shown, but only so much could be shown as the rest of history and its secrets laid within Abstergo.

Samantha offered him a deal: to shelter her from the Templars and she would allow him to protect Earth like he truly intended prior to his inventing Ultron.

When there was nothing else to be said, Samantha took her leave and returned to her room where she hoped she would find her girlfriend waiting for her in nothing but her nightdress. Samnantha was completely bedazzled when she entered her room and found Wanda Maximoff removing her black silk nightdress and letting it collapse to the ground.

She was stark naked and slightly nervous as Samantha shut and locked her door before hastening to remove her own clothes. Wanda tittered as she and her girlfriend climbed into bed to have amazing sex.

The Precursors never left Tony's mind since the moment Samantha showed him the untold history of the world. He wanted to know more.

Showing up unannounced without a set appointment was a regular thing for Tony Stark. His cockiness and pride in his fame and intellectuality enabled him to venture with little concerns regarding the threshold of dangers he trespassed. No matter where he went, his excuse was always, 'I am Iron Man'.

Tony made a grand appearance at Abstergo Industries in New York, the very same building that was once the Avengers Tower. Everyone in the lobby were gobsmacked to see Tony Stark in the flesh as they were only honoured with seeing him online in his Iron Man suits saving the world.

Nobody could disrespect Tony with authority by preventing him from entering the building as the world's smartest man waltzed inside and approached the receptionist. A young blonde woman sitting behind the desk looked up and gasped when she recognised the figure standing over her. Due to how shocked she was, she was unable to conceive any words coherent enough to understand except her stutters.

"Is the big man in, sweetheart?" Tony asked suavely as he leaned against the desk.

Her eyes lit up when he addressed her. "As a matter of fact, she is. Take the elevator up to the ninety-second floor, she'll be in her office. I'll notify her of your arrival, Mr Stark."

Tony winked at her and then strolled through to the elevator.

Folks gossiped about seeing Tony Stark in person, some even taking photos to concrete evidence that they witnessed a hero live and in person. Tony didn't mind. He simply went about his business and took the elevator up to the ninety-second floor. His unscheduled meeting with the head of the company came as quite the surprise to the young director managing Abstergo Industries.

A young woman in her thirties was seated at her desk, staring at paperwork she was applying her signature to. Her head lifted up when she heard footsteps growing closer and louder into her office.

"Mr Stark! Imagine my surprise having one of the most intellectual, influential people in my office! Sofia Rikkin, head of Abstergo Industries. For what purpose have you come here to grace me with your presence?" The woman with dark-brown hair smiled brightly as she stood up and reached her hand out.

Tony grabbed her hand firmly and shook her hand.

"Thought I'd come and see how the old girl was doing since you bought the tower from me. I can see you've given her more than a facelift. Good old Dexter White... revolutionary breakthroughs in anti-depressants, health and fitness products, and communication networks. Abstergo really wears its heart on its sleeve with its commitment to scientific advancements. It always fascinated me, the Animus... How'd you do it?" Tony replied, beaming joyfully.

As he observed the layout of her office, Sofia explained the intricacies of the Animus whilst he observed various books for both work and free time. There were a profoundly limited number of photographs, one being at her desk and one on a shelf – both of which contained portraits of both Sofia and her father.

"Well, it's quite simple: our team of professional researchers have dedicated their life's work into this project; to access the memories of their ancestors through their DNA. Genetic sequencing. We've come a long way from the chair, Mr Stark. From what was supposed to be a practical device to comfort the user where it could probe into their skull through the occipital bone, now takes less extreme requirements for access. To put it in the words of Warren Vidic, 'it works just how animals remember where to go to migrate'."

To demonstrate the usage of the Animus, Sofia rotated her monitor to show footage of a human test subject lying on a table, which was the earliest draft of the Animus. She proceeded to show Tony exactly how things worked regarding the technical side of things. She then offered to show him their laboratories.

Sofia, now accompanied by Tony Stark, ventured into the elevator and down to the seventy-eighth floor, where Tony could take a gander at their work. They wandered through a hallway; on both sides were rooms with workers focusing on solo projects. Tony took mental note of everything that seemed significant and worth his attention as they made their way to Sofia's old lab where he was permitted to feast his eyes on the Apple.

"What's this supposed to be? The key to Treasure Planet?"

"Amusing, Mr Stark, but no. It's an Apple of Eden."

"Funny. I thought it would have a few chunks out of it... and look like an actual apple instead of just a golden ball."

Tony reached out and grabbed it, holding the artefact in the palm of his hand. The power felt immeasurable, yet in the metaphorical sense of the word. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but the moment he touched the Apple, something inside of him changed.

"The Apple refuses to respond to me," Sofia grunted. "You are a man of science and profound arcane knowledge, Mr Stark. I believe you would be the right candidate to operate the Apple. Though we are not allies, I trust that you would have better luck than I. Unlock the Apple and give me its secrets, and I shall give you something more valuable in return."

Tony studied her closely, almost hesitantly asking what she could possibly have to offer him. "Go on," he encouraged.

Sofia took slow, cautious steps towards him. "Something you've always wanted to know, Mr Stark. Something that's been bothering you for years... December 16, 1991..."