JARVIS was not programmed to panic, but if he had been, this situation might have triggered it. His sensors detected an anomaly—an enormous, wolf-like creature standing in the middle of the living room. More importantly, Liam lay unconscious at the beast''s feet, missing a hand.

    Even more baffling was the fact that Liam had appeared inside Tony''s home without setting off a single alarm or alert. Tony had security systems so advanced that even a fly couldn''t sneak in unnoticed—yet here Liam was, gravely injured, without so much as a warning.

    "Sir," JARVIS spoke through the speakers. "I believe you should come to the living room immediately. Liam is in critical condition."

    "Define ''critical condition,'' JARVIS." Tony asked and started walking fast. He had questions of how Liam was able to appear again at his place without the knowledge of anyone. Last time it was the door, but this time it was inside his house. Though he wasn''t angry of how Liam was able to appear, he was curious.

    "He is unconscious, missing a hand, and currently accompanied by an unknown entity resembling an oversized wolf." JARVIS said.

    "What the hell do you mean by missing limb and ''oversized wolf''?" Tony was now running up the stairs.

    "I am unable to determine its exact classification, sir, but it is considerably larger than any known Canis lupus species. It appears to be guarding Liam."

    "Right. Of course, because why wouldn''t Liam bring home some kind of goddamn direwolf?" Tony muttered. "Where''s Yinsen?"

    "Doctor Yinsen is in the kitchen. I have alerted him as well."

    By the time Tony reached the living room, Yinsen was already approaching from the hallway. Neither of them was prepared for the sight before them.

    A massive wolf, dark-furred with piercing golden eyes, stood over Liam. Tony immediately stopped in his tracks, holding up a hand as Yinsen followed suit. Fenrir let out a guttural growl.

    "Whoa, whoa, easy there, Cujo," Tony said. "Nobody''s here to hurt your—uh, owner? Partner? Whatever Liam is to you. We just need to make sure he doesn''t bleed out all over my very expensive floor." Though he complained, he felt like his blood was boiling. He had already know that Liam was going through some kind of trials and Liam had assured him that it was safe.

    "Stark. What is it?"

    "Liam''s hurt. And when I say ''hurt,'' I mean ''he''s down a damn hand and bleeding all over my furniture.''"

    There was a pause before Fury spoke again, his voice hard. "What happened?"

    "Not sure. He just dropped in with a giant wolf that looks like it could take down a tank. Also, said wolf nearly took my head off when I tried to help. So I will send you a list of surgical equipment since we won''t be able to explain to a hospital." Tony said.

    "I''ll be there with everything. I''ll bring Romanoff and Barton. Rogers, too."

    "Yeah, great, just what I need—more people in my house with opinions. Get here fast."

    Yinsen nodded, already working on stopping the bleeding. Tony glanced up at Fenrir again, shaking his head.

    "Liam, buddy, you better wake up soon and explain what the hell is going on and whose heads I need to pop?"

    Liam jolted awake with a sharp intake of breath. He was expecting to be in the battlefield but instead he found himself at a well-lit, pristine room.

    As his vision adjusted, he noticed someone slumped in a chair beside his bed. Happy Hogan, half-asleep, snored lightly with his arms crossed. The slight movement must have triggered something because Happy suddenly snorted awake, rubbing his face before his eyes landed on Liam.

    "Oh, you''re up," Happy became incredibly aware. "You''re up! Hang on, I gotta call everyone."

    Meanwhile, a blur of fur and movement launched itself onto the bed. Fenrir, who had been resting nearby, wasted no time in bounding onto Liam''s lap. Liam was very relieved to see Fenrir fine and he even noticed that there was no wound in his belly.