I promised another Avenger story a while ago, and it took a bit longer than expected. However, this one is nearly finished, so there won't be horrible waits! I'll stick to once a week for sure this time (I hope) :-)
So, I haven't had a chance to see Thor 2 just yet (Evil school!), so don't expect it to match anything with that one. This takes place a while after Iron Man 3, so expect any spoilers up to that point.
I've always loved hurting the characters that I love most, but I wanted to go a bit different than my usual story writing. This is mostly Tony-centric, because I'll admit to being a fangirl for Iron Man. However, he's not whumped. Much. Physically. Hehe?
Disclaimer: Marvel owns everything that looks familiar. I just love to play in their sandbox.
Tony was underneath his latest car, another Audi, as he made a few modifications. Mechanics were his second love, only barely topped by computer science, and hadn't had the chance to work much lately with it. After the whole Extremis… thing, he'd been busy working with Pepper to up SI's stocks. Sure, they had the latest StarkPhone and the new StarkTablet, but the shareholders were wanting more, and he wanted to deliver.
So, now he was working on a new engine system to help improve gas mileage. He'd made something similar years before, but it had cost him an absurd amount of money. All he had to do was find a way to make it less expensive, and the company would be golden for years.
He cursed as his finger jammed and some of the oil got in the cut. Just as he was about to roll out from under the car, he had a prickling sensation on his neck. While he hadn't been in the field in over a year, he had learned the hard way never to ignore those feelings. Grabbing the nearest sharp object, which was one of his tools, he held it tightly, rolled out from under the car as quickly as he could, and chucked it at the intruder.
Nick Fury, director of SHIELD, caught it an inch from his face and gave Tony a smirk.
Tony growled as he saw who it was. "Jarvis, what have I told you about letting in people with only one eye?"
"My records show that there is no such command."
"And SHIELD lackeys?" Tony countered to the cheeky AI.
"I'm here on business, Stark," Fury interrupted the banter before it could continue. He had a file in his hands, and could see Stark's eyes on it.
Tony couldn't decide how to feel. After the event in New York, he hadn't heard from any of the team, except for the occasional visit with Bruce, which was awesome. He hadn't spoken with any of the others since, nor had he heard from SHIELD. "For Tony Stark, or for Iron Man?" he asked shrewdly. He still hadn't forgiven them for trying to split the two.
Fury sighed. "I'm not sure yet," he admitted. "I'll be calling all of the Avengers for the debrief. Tomorrow, the Helicarrier will be over DC at 0900, and I expect you to be there. I imagine you'll find your own ride?"
Knowing that he still hadn't made a new suit ever since they'd all been destroyed, Tony hesitated. It was only for a moment, though. "I'll get there," he said. Either he would come up with a suit, or he would take one of his own jets. "Now, leave the file and get out of my workshop," he grumbled, turning back to his car. "I have work to do."
Fury grinned. It was just like old times. He dropped the file onto Stark's desk, which was one of the only free surfaces in the shop, and made his way out. For some strange reason, he had the urge to whistle. It had been far too quiet around SHIELD without the Avengers to liven things up. He hoped that was about to change.
Tony waited until a while after Fury had left before he finally stopped what he was doing (not that he was really doing anything, the file had been distracting him), he went and sat down at his desk and started reading.
His grip on the papers tightened the further he read. Once again, someone was attempting to recreate the super serum that had made Steve, as well what ended up creating Hulk. They were based somewhere in Mexico, and had slowly been moving their way north into the US. The 'volunteers' they had gotten had all died.
Having been through something similar with Extremis lately, he was rather sensitive to this kind of thing, which he was sure Fury was aware of. It seemed like they were just needing Tony to hack into their network and get a better idea of everything, which he was more than willing to do. However, the logical part of his brain told him that it likely wouldn't end there.
"J, pull up the schematics that I made for the Mark 45," he said in a rather resigned tone. Pepper really was going to kill him for this. Right now, though, it didn't look like he had much of a choice.
Pepper looked at her watch for the tenth time and sighed. It had been a while since she had needed to physically drag Tony to bed. A short while after Extremis, actually, had been the last time. Since it was already after 1 am, though, she sighed and made her way down to the workshop. When she saw the plans for another suit, she couldn't help the fear that coursed through her.
"What is going on?" she asked, and watched him jump slightly and give her a guilty look. That's when she became worried. Tony rarely gave her that look, and it was never good. "What happened?" she asked.
Tony waved a hand, and the holographic projection disappeared. "Fury came by today," he started, and nodded at the tightening in her face. "He's calling the team together again. Could be something going down soon."
Pepper looked around at the workshop, and began to wonder if this was going to be never ending for them. Would the world always need Iron Man? She wouldn't voice that thought, though. Not yet. She picked up the file and started reading. She had a rather high security clearance, as CEO of SI. Also, Fury was aware that she always read the debriefs. She paled as she read it through, and understood why Tory was going to go through with this. "Try to get some rest tonight?" She asked. She would check on him in the morning when she brought him coffee.
Tony watched her leave, and felt, not for the first time, as though he needed to choose between Iron Man and Pepper. He shook himself slightly, deciding to worry about it later. "Alright, let's see about making it a bit more compact. I'd like something that's smaller than the Mark 5. That was too much hassle to carry around."
The two of them worked well into the night and finally, around 4, they had something worth assembling. "Can we get that done in time?"
"You will be approximately 35 minutes late for the debrief, sir, if you take into account the time needed for completion and flight."
"Sounds good. Let's do this." He raked a hand across his face and started working on cleaning up the shop a bit, which took him an hour or so. He finally started making his way upstairs to grab some coffee. He knew it was going to be a long day. When he reached the kitchen, though, he started waking up to the wonderful smell of freshly brewed coffee. Pepper gave him a weak smile as she poured him a cup. "Is the suit going to be ready in time?" she asked as she fixed it the way he liked. She was already dressed for the day in her skirt suit and stilettos.
"Barely, but I don't think Fury expects me to be on time anyway." Tony took a few gulps of the drink and waited for the caffeine to take effect. "I'll send you a text around lunchtime to let you know what's going on."
Pepper nodded as she filled her travel mug, having already had two cups of her own. Time with Tony had corrupted her, and it showed in her coffee consumption. "I hope I don't have to tell you to be careful," she said, keeping her eyes anywhere but on him.
Tony looked at her for a moment, and set his cup down quietly. He walked around the counter until he was standing next to her, and forced her chin up with one of his fingers. "You don't have to tell me, because I'll already be thinking about coming home to you."
That forced a smile out of her, and they continued with their normal morning routine. She had a few papers for him to sign, which he did much more gracefully than he usually would have. She accepted the papers with a smile, which was a bit more genuine than before, and made her way to the office.
Tony watched her leave, and then made his own way to the workshop, where he tried to occupy his time with his Audi. After a few more minor issues, though, he realized that he couldn't keep his mind off the impending meeting.
Bruce would be there, which would be nice. He hadn't seen his fellow scientist for a few months, and they could catch up. Maybe he could even chat with the other guy for a while. He hadn't seen the Hulk since Manhattan.
Natasha was a wild card. Tony knew that he would never be able to fully trust her, regardless of the fact that they were teammates. There was just too much history there, and though he knew, intellectually, that she had been doing it under orders, it didn't lessen the fact that he would never accept betrayal twice by the same person.
Thor was an unknown, and not just for the fact that Loki was his brother. He was quite literally an alien, and while that sent up quite a few red flags for him, it was also an unknown variable. The scientist in Tony thrived at the idea of having a chance to learn something completely unknown to any others, except for maybe Reed Richards.
Clint was a complete mystery to him. The first communication they had was in the middle of a battle, and while Tony thought that the archer was good in that setting, managing to keep a cool head, looked out for the teammates, and did what he needed to do, he didn't know the man at all. He'd have to do some more research before trusting the man.
Steve. Well, Steve was one person that Tony didn't want to think about unless he had less coffee and more liquor. While they had no real history, there was the whole Howard thing standing between them. The life sized elephant in the room that would likely never go away, no matter how much time had passed. Also, they were completely different people in every sense of the word. He could likely write an entire book on their differences, but would have a hard time completing a single Word page about their similarities.
Deciding that he'd done enough brooding for the morning, he looked up as Jarvis informed him that the suit was ready. He grinned, realizing how much he'd actually missed this. "Alright, J, let's suit up." Iron Man was back.
This is just the beginning, it'll pick up soon. I couldn't help starting this after watching IM3. I just can't imagine Tony giving up Iron Man completely, you know?