Chapter Summaries

Lynn warned Coulson about Thor, the Destroyer, and an impending Chitauri invasion, then revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by a serpent organization. Coulson accepted Lynn’s conditions and was left to investigate the betrayal himself.

• Lynn explained that Thor had been exiled to Earth and warned Coulson that the Destroyer would come after him, urging him to evacuate the town.
• Coulson asked about a larger threat, and Lynn warned that the Chitauri would invade Manhattan if Fury continued his research.
• Lynn demanded that Coulson promise not to identify him as the source of a final secret, and Coulson agreed.
• Lynn told Coulson the keyword was “Serpent S.H.I.E.L.D.” and said that Natasha, Fury, Clint, and Coulson were allies, leaving him to investigate everyone else.
• Lynn offered Coulson his number and help with fighting, then left the bar as Coulson remained silent.

Lynn told Coulson about the dangers ahead but worried that his warning might alter the timeline. Tony and Ivan reassured him that he had made the right choice, and Lynn resolved to keep helping where he could.

• Lynn opened a portal to Tony's underground lab and found Tony and Ivan still working.
• Lynn told Tony and Ivan about his conversation with Coulson, including Thor, the Destroyer, and the Chitauri invasion.
• Tony and Ivan urged Lynn to focus on what he could control and reminded him that they would help if things went wrong.
• Lynn lightened the mood by asking for lunch, and Tony ordered Chinese food through JARVIS.
• After lunch, Lynn reflected on how his choices had already changed lives and decided he would not stand by while ordinary people were in danger.

Tony brought Lynn to Stark Tower to show off his newly furnished penthouse, while Lynn reminded him that Tony still had not shown him the house he had promised. The chapter left Tony facing Lynn’s complaint about the delay.

• Lynn stayed at the Sanctum instead of going to New Mexico, leaving Thor to face his trial without interference.
• Tony summoned Lynn to Stark Tower, and Lynn drove there rather than using a portal.
• Tony led Lynn through the unfinished lobby and up to the tower’s completed penthouse.
• Tony showed Lynn the penthouse’s smart controls, floating sofas, concealed cabinets, and other features.
• Lynn teased Tony about his luxurious home and demanded an update on the house Tony had promised him.

Tony showed Lynn a warm, fully equipped apartment in Stark Tower and told him it was his new home. After moving his belongings there, Lynn learned from Coulson that S.H.I.E.L.D. was pursuing Tesseract research and suggested searching for Howard Stark’s research records.

• Tony led Lynn through a hidden elevator to a separate apartment in Stark Tower and explained that JARVIS controlled its systems and access.
• Tony told Lynn the apartment was for him, then left to return to the seaside mansion and test the Mark VI with Ivan.
• Lynn returned to the Sanctum, told Wong he was moving out, packed his belongings, and opened a portal to his new home.
• Coulson told Lynn that the New Mexico situation had been resolved and that Fury had authorized Erik Selvig to research the Tesseract.
• Lynn advised Coulson to look for Howard Stark’s Tesseract research records as a safer guide, and Coulson agreed to investigate while keeping Lynn’s involvement confidential.

Lynn visited the Ancient One at Kamar-Taj and defended his efforts to change events and save lives. He then found Banner, who had made progress in reconciling with Hulk, and recruited him to work at Stark Industries and prepare for an alien invasion of New York.

• Lynn returned to Kamar-Taj and the Ancient One confronted him about his recent interference in events.
• Lynn admitted he wanted to save people and pointed out that the Ancient One had allowed him to help Tony, Banner, and Vanko.
• The Ancient One told Lynn she would retire soon and jokingly urged him to wait until Stephen arrived before causing more trouble.
• Banner told Lynn that he and Hulk had begun to trust each other, though he still could not fully control their transformations.
• Lynn offered Banner a research job at Stark Industries and warned him to prepare for an alien army invading New York.
• Banner agreed to leave Kamar-Taj with Lynn and take the job.

Lynn visited Wanda and Pietro at Kamar-Taj, noticed signs that Wanda’s Chaos Magic was nearing awakening, and brought Dr. Banner to stay with him in Stark Tower. Banner settled into his new room and waited with Lynn for Tony, while JARVIS ordered them Chinese food.

• Lynn found Wanda practicing runes and saw red strands of light appearing around her magic, but chose not to tell her what they meant.
• Wanda described feeling something inside her runes, and Lynn encouraged her and Pietro to continue their studies before moving to New York.
• Lynn met Banner after he packed, opened a portal to his Stark Tower home, and offered him a room there.
• Lynn called Tony to announce a surprise, then showed Banner his room and introduced him to JARVIS.
• Banner asked about working with Tony, and Lynn said they would discuss it when Tony returned.
• Lynn asked JARVIS to order Chinese food and complained to Banner about Tony calling General Tso’s chicken authentic.

Lynn invited Coulson to Stark Tower and asked him about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s difficult internal investigation. He then asked to have Natasha assigned as his liaison, but Coulson said he would need to ask Director Fury.

• Lynn called Coulson and invited him to visit Stark Tower, while Banner chose to read in his room rather than meet the agent.
• Coulson arrived with snacks and beer, and Lynn served him orange juice as they settled in to talk.
• Lynn asked Coulson how the investigation into Hydra within S.H.I.E.L.D. was going, and Coulson said they had little to go on and were waiting for suspicious agents to reveal themselves.
• Lynn asked Coulson to assign him Natasha as a liaison so he would have someone to talk to, and Coulson said he needed Director Fury's approval.

Lynn warned Coulson that Captain America needed protection from being manipulated, then brought Bruce Banner back from Kamar-Taj to work with Tony Stark. With a coming disaster now unavoidable, Lynn and Tony prepared to detect the Tesseract’s energy fluctuations before a portal opened.

• Lynn urged Coulson to find Captain America a safer place to adjust to the modern era, and Coulson agreed to look into it.
• Tony returned from arguing with Ivan Vanko, and Lynn revealed that Bruce Banner had come back from Kamar-Taj.
• Lynn told Tony that the disaster he had warned about could not be stopped and asked him to prepare for it.
• Tony instructed JARVIS to send the lab requirements for a gamma-ray and spatial-energy detection device to the high-energy physics lab.
• Tony went to welcome Banner and show him the experimental equipment prepared for his research.

Lynn asked Tony to build a device that could cultivate living tissue while Lynn modified it into a compatible organ, and Tony agreed. Lynn left the lab pleased, while Tony began the Regeneration Cradle project by contacting Dr. Helen Cho.

• Coulson told Lynn that Natasha would contact him in a couple of days, and Lynn joked that he wanted her as a housekeeper.
• Lynn asked Tony whether he could use tissue grown from Lynn’s stem cells to create a functioning organ compatible with him.
• Tony explained that the plan might work if Lynn could record an organ’s microscopic structure with complete accuracy.
• Lynn sincerely asked Tony to build a device that could grow and preserve tissue buds while Lynn changed their properties.
• Tony agreed, and Lynn hugged him before leaving the lab.
• Tony asked JARVIS to contact Dr. Helen Cho about the Regeneration Cradle project.

After Loki stole the Tesseract and attacked S.H.I.E.L.D., Lynn gathered Ivan, Banner, and Tony to explain the crisis and discuss helping retrieve it. He said they could fight alongside S.H.I.E.L.D. but would not join its chain of command, and Tony asked when they needed to answer.

• Coulson called Lynn to report that Loki had stolen the Tesseract, killed agents, controlled Hawkeye and Professor Selvig, and destroyed an underground S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
• Lynn brought Ivan and Banner through portals to Stark Tower and asked Pepper to leave so he could speak privately with Tony.
• Lynn explained the Tesseract's history and warned that activating it signaled across the universe.
• Lynn told the others that he would share intelligence and fight alongside S.H.I.E.L.D. but would not join Fury's command.
• Tony asked Lynn when S.H.I.E.L.D. needed an answer.

Lynn, Tony, Banner, and Ivan agreed to help S.H.I.E.L.D. fight the alien threat without joining or taking its orders, then traveled to the Helicarrier. Lynn discovered that Steve Rogers was there and confronted Coulson for not warning him.

• Tony, Banner, and Ivan agreed with Lynn that they would cooperate with S.H.I.E.L.D. but keep control of their own tactics and equipment.
• Lynn called Coulson and confirmed their terms, which Director Fury accepted, while Ivan went to prepare additional equipment.
• The group boarded a S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet and arrived at the Helicarrier.
• Coulson introduced Tony, Ivan, Banner, and Lynn to Steve Rogers, who asked Banner about finding the Tesseract.
• Lynn pulled Coulson aside and accused him of springing Rogers’s presence on them without warning.

Tony criticized Fury for withholding information and proposed using Stark Industries satellites to locate the Tesseract faster. He returned to Stark Tower with Lynn, while Banner and Ivan stayed on the Helicarrier to assist with the search and Ivan’s arc generator.

• Rogers paid Fury ten dollars, and Fury briefed the group on recovering the Tesseract.
• Coulson explained that S.H.I.E.L.D. was scanning network-connected devices, while Natasha said the search was too slow and asked for help narrowing the area.
• Lynn approached Natasha and again offered her a paid position as his butler, but she ignored him.
• Tony revealed that Stark Industries satellites were already equipped to track gamma rays and said he would use them to search for the Tesseract.
• Tony assigned Banner and Ivan to work aboard the Helicarrier, then opened a portal and left for Stark Tower with Lynn.

Tony and Lynn searched for the Tesseract while agreeing not to disrupt the expected course of events. When Fury reported that Loki was in Stuttgart, Lynn chose to stay behind and let Tony join Captain America and Natasha.

• Banner asked to join the workshop and dragged Ivan Vanko along with him.
• Tony ordered JARVIS to scan the globe for the Tesseract’s gamma-ray signature, but repeated scans failed to locate it.
• Lynn told Tony he knew the Tesseract’s general area and advised him not to change events, and Tony agreed.
• Tony teased Lynn for staring at Natasha, and Lynn sheepishly promised to watch himself.
• Tony told Lynn that Loki was in Stuttgart and Fury wanted them to go; Lynn declined and returned to his residence.

Tony joined the mission to capture Loki in Stuttgart, but Loki surrendered before Thor seized him from the Quinjet. Tony and Thor fought over Loki until Captain Rogers stopped them, and they agreed to return together with Loki while leaving his eventual trial to Asgard.

• Tony flew to Stuttgart, struck Loki with a repulsor blast, and watched him surrender to Captain Rogers and Natasha.
• As the Quinjet traveled back toward the Helicarrier, Thor tore open its rear hatch and carried Loki away, prompting Tony and Rogers to follow.
• Tony attacked Thor while he questioned Loki about the Tesseract, then fought him after Thor insisted Loki would face Asgardian judgment.
• Thor and Tony exchanged blows until Rogers intervened with his shield and ordered them to stop.
• Thor agreed to return with Tony and Rogers, insisting Loki would ultimately stand trial in Asgard, and they escorted Loki back to the Quinjet.

After Loki was imprisoned aboard the Helicarrier, the team discussed his plan to bring an army to Earth and how iridium would stabilize a portal. Tony then confronted Fury over ignoring warnings about Tesseract research, leaving Fury facing the accusation in silence.

• Fury placed Loki in a glass cage that opened onto the clouds below, and Loki mocked Fury and the safeguards before Fury left.
• Banner said Lynn had helped him understand himself, while Thor explained that Loki intended to invade Earth with an army from beyond the known worlds.
• Banner connected Loki's kidnapping of Selvig to the creation of a second portal, and Natasha reminded Thor that Loki had killed eighty people.
• Tony identified iridium as the stabilizer Loki needed to bring an army through a larger portal.
• Tony accused Fury of ignoring Coulson's warning about Tesseract research and blamed the research for enabling Loki's arrival; Fury met Tony's gaze without responding.

Tony argued that Fury’s Tesseract research had created risks without preparing for what might follow, then Lynn arrived on the Helicarrier with an idea for making a safer copy of the Tesseract. Tony, Banner, and Ivan considered whether Lynn’s ability could break down, record, and replicate it.

• Tony told Fury that studying the Tesseract had exposed Earth to danger and warned that future unknown threats might be beyond their ability to handle.
• Tony called Lynn, who asked to be brought to the Helicarrier after hearing that Tony had confronted Fury.
• Lynn arrived in the MK2 armor and joined Tony, Banner, Ivan, and the others in the laboratory.
• Lynn privately asked Tony, Banner, and Ivan whether matter’s information could be used to replicate a Tesseract suited to his body with fewer side effects.
• Tony said the idea was theoretically feasible and that Lynn could try it.

Lynn copied the Mind Stone’s physical structure but discovered he could not reproduce its cosmic authority. When Hulk rampaged aboard the Helicarrier, Lynn rescued the injured Natasha and treated her in a lounge, where she left his offer to become his personal butler undecided.

• Lynn examined Loki’s Scepter and recorded the Mind Stone’s physical data, realizing its universal authority could not be copied.
• Lynn made a physical replica of the Mind Stone, then recognized that the lab’s escalating argument could trigger Hulk’s rampage.
• As Hulk tore through the Helicarrier, Lynn opened a portal to the pipe level and rescued the injured Natasha from his pursuit.
• Lynn brought Natasha to a lounge, where she treated her wound with supplies from an emergency kit.
• Natasha asked why Lynn had come for her, and he said he had anticipated the danger and wanted to talk with her.
• Natasha gave no answer to Lynn’s butler offer, but her professional wariness eased as the Helicarrier’s fighting subsided.

Lynn saved Coulson from being killed by Loki, though the sudden portal trip knocked Coulson unconscious. Loki released Thor’s falling cage and left the detention area, while Lynn carried Coulson to safety and waited for the others.

• Lynn tracked the Avengers and Loki through the Helicarrier and found Loki confronting Thor at the detention cage.
• Coulson approached Loki with a modified phase gun, but Lynn opened a portal beneath him and dropped him elsewhere in the corridor.
• Lynn checked Coulson and found him unconscious but alive, with only a swollen lump on the back of his head.
• Loki released Thor’s cage, sending it plunging toward the clouds, and left without being stopped by Lynn.
• Lynn carried Coulson to the lounge, checked his injuries, and waited for the others to return.

Lynn, Tony, and the others realized Loki had chosen Stark Tower as the stage for his attack, and the Chitauri invasion of New York began. As Tony deployed a swarm of unmanned armor suits, Lynn, Rogers, and Natasha arrived in Midtown to protect trapped civilians.

• Lynn deduced that Loki planned to stage his attack at Stark Tower, prompting Tony and Ivan to head there through a portal.
• Lynn asked JARVIS to activate the armor swarm plan, and Tony authorized the deployment of five unmanned Mark V suits.
• Loki opened a portal above Stark Tower, allowing the Chitauri Army to pour into Manhattan and attack the city.
• Tony sent the five Mark V suits to fight the invading forces as Lynn led Rogers and Natasha through a portal to Midtown.
• Lynn warned Rogers about civilians trapped on Third Avenue, and Rogers and Natasha rushed to stop the Chitauri soldiers threatening them.

Tony confronted Loki at Stark Tower, survived being thrown from the building when the Mark VII armor caught him, and learned from Selvig that Loki’s scepter could close the wormhole. The invasion continued as Tony called for help, with Thor and Banner still missing and Lynn hidden nearby.

• Tony confronted Loki without armor and warned him that humanity would take revenge if Loki failed to save the world.
• Loki’s scepter failed to control Tony, so Loki attacked him and threw him through the tower’s windows.
• The Mark VII armor caught Tony in midair, and he returned to the tower and knocked Loki down with a repulsor blast.
• Tony questioned Selvig, who revealed that Loki’s scepter could penetrate the Tesseract’s barrier and close the wormhole.
• Tony surveyed the battle, saw Rogers, Natasha, and Ivan protecting civilians while Chitauri poured through the wormhole, and spotted Lynn hiding nearby.
• Tony contacted Cap and demanded to know where Thor and Banner were as the defenders struggled to hold out.