A/N: In regards to Tony having extremis:

No, he does not officially get the virus in the movies. However, it's implied that it's the reason he can operate out the shrapnel and I like Tony with extremis, so I'm going with it.


Tony sat staring out at the vast expanse of New York stretched out in front of him. Now that his mansion was gone, he and Pepper had needed somewhere to stay, and Stark Tower had just felt right. Especially since it had become the unofficial base of the Avengers. They all had their own living quarters; as to how much they were used varied from Avenger to Avenger.

Tony absent-mindedly tapped his chest where the arc reactor had sat for so many years. He still wasn't fully over the emptiness, or rather, fullness of muscle and skin which filled the hole left by the reactor. There had been two things stopping Tony from removing the damn shrapnel from his chest: the uncertainty of the operation, and the aforementioned gaping hole. Extremis solved both these problems.

Of course, in hindsight the physical issues weren't the only thing stopping him. The arc reactor had become his anchor in a vast sea of changes. As long as it was still quietly humming he was still alive, and if he was still alive then he wasn't dead. Tony smiled at the though. It sounded stupid looking back on it, but it was how he'd felt. No wonder the palladium poisoning had affected him so much. Regardless, even if he'd had the possibility of operating away the metal shards, he probably wouldn't have taken it.

Then Pepper appeared. Well, appeared is probably the wrong word. She had always been there, helping him deal with... everything, but it was only recently that she'd been there. She had slowly taken over the role of his anchor, though it had, as usual, taken him far longer to realise than it should have.

It took Pepper falling, her hand just inches from his, into what seemed like the fires of Hell themself for him to realise just how much she meant to him. Tony's hand clenched involuntarily at the memory. In that moment he would have given anything to catch her. His money, his suits, his life even. After the impossibility of getting her back, the Clean Slate protocol seemed like nothing. And besides, what is Christmas if not a time to do stupid things for a good cause?

He'd never give up on his suits completely. There would be times when the world would need them, just as he had. But now Pepper was safe. Extremis saw to that. Her safety made him far happier than tinkering ever could. And really, how hard could living with extremis be?

-/-/-

"Hey, Tony!"

The shout came from Tony's right as he entered the room, and he turned to see Clint waving at him. Clint was sitting on the edge of the Olympic-sized swimming pool, dangling his feet in the water and playing with the towel around his neck. All in all, he looked like quite the relaxed tourist, right down to the hideous purple board shorts. Tourist he was not though; only Steve surpassed him in time spent at Stark Tower.

Tony sat down next to Clint, following Clint's example in dipping his legs in the water. While he was curious as to why Clint had asked to see him in the pool of all places, a far more important issue had appeared.

"Of all the infinite colours there are in the world you considered that," Tony said, pointing an accusing finger at Clint's bathers "to be worth buying?"

"Nothing wrong with purple."

"I mean, it would be considered community service to disintegrate them, yet you chose to wear them?" Tony's outrage was making itself known by his constant gesturing to the offending article of clothing.

"Yeah? Well you can't talk mister lime-green-with-red-swirls." Clint shot back.

And it was true, Tony's own board shorts were a rather bright shade of green.

"Pepper bought them for me, and that means they're automatically stylish and tasteful. Besides, did Pepper buy you bathers? Of course not. That's absurd. Why would she? I don't even know why you brought it up..."

Clint simply sat there straight-faced, waiting for Tony's brain to catch up to his mouth. It took Tony rambling about half a shopping trip to Milan, but he eventually stopped talking. Though, Clint suspected, that may have been because of a lack of breath rather than running out of things to say.

"Actually, Pepper, or at least, something related to Pepper is the reason I called you here."

Clint felt the immediate shift in the air as Tony turned his full attention to Clint. He hesitated, composing himself as he wondered how to begin.

"You know how you and Pepper are possibly the most gossiped-about people in the world?"

Clint was decidedly not looking at Tony as he talked.

"And that there are lots of strange people on the internet?"

Indeed, everything in and around the pool seemed to be of great interest to him, though there was no way he could fail to notice the dangerously orange tinge shining through Tony's skin.

"Well, someone sent me a link to a website where, uh..." Clint paused again, waiting for some kind of response from Tony. None came, so he pressed on.

"So this site, it has photos of models with, ah, Pepper's face pasted on them." By this point Clint was unable to keep a tiny smile from flitting over his lips.

"I have some of the photos, if you'd like to have a look." Clint was trying his damnedest to keep a straight face, and was, for the most part, failing miserably.

Tony slowly unclenched his hands from the fists they'd become. He'd have time to wipe the smirk of Clint's face later. Right now there were more pressing issues to deal with. Tony snatched the photos from Clint's hands. As he looked at the photos steam started rising from the water around Tony's legs. Most of the photos weren't even good manipulations. That wasn't the problem. It was the fact that these internet-people were taking someone as wonderful and beautiful and perfect as Pepper and degrading her. He knew he was showing the effects of extremis, but he didn't care.

There was one last photo he'd not seen. Tony flipped the page with shaking hands. When he'd processed what was on in the page the entire stack burst into flames.

Tony was vaguely aware of Clint shouting something, and before he knew what was happening two strong hands shoved him forwards and, arms flailing, he was in the water.

One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi.

Tony's head broke the surface and he gasped for air, kicking his feet to- Tony grunted in pain as his foot hit the ground. He stopped and glanced around him. He was standing on his knees in water that barely reached his waist. The rest of the pool was covered in a thick white haze, as was seemingly the rest of the room.

Through the fog came the unmistakeable sound of laughter. Tony picked out three- no, four voices. Clint, Thor, Bruce, and... Steve? Tony's eyes narrowed.

"Now, Thor!"

That's what Clint had shouted. The gears were quickly clicking into place as Tony climbed out of the pool. The location, Clint's smirking, and what he saw through the rapidly dissipating fog.

The group's laughter had subsided into the occasional giggle; Thor, Steve, and Clint had finally recovered enough to hand Bruce a ten dollar note each.

"Right." Tony's voice pierced the air. For a man who'd just been pushed into a pool, Tony was suspiciously dry.

"Which one of you thought this up?" Thor and Clint opened their mouths to speak, but Tony cut them off.

"It can't have been Grease over here." Tony pointed at Thor. "There's no way he'd be clever enough to think of this. He'd probably just hit me."

Thor nodded, then realised he should probably defend himself, but Tony moved on before he could speak.

"Spangles is far too goody-goody to think this up." Tony shot a scathing glance at him. "Though evidently that doesn't extend to going along with the nefarious plans of others."

Steve raised his hands defensively. Tony ignored him and continued.

"Big green and hairy over here understands what it's like to have anger issues." Bruce had the courtesy to look slightly guilty, but a smile was still playing around his lips.

"Which leaves bird-boy as the only available candidate!" Tony stopped in front of Clint, who was still letting out the occasional giggle. Upon seeing the glint of orange in Tony's eyes Clint stopped and met Tony's gaze.

"Yeah, 'twas I who dunnit and all that. You gotta admit, it was pretty funny. And don't look at me like that. I lost ten dollars on this." Tony let out a snort at Clint's crestfallen face.

"What did you bet on? How many unbroken bones you'd have left in your body after this?" Tony was joking, but the glint remained.

"The temperature of the pool water post-Stark." Steve chimed in. "Banner was the only one who thought any water would disappear."

"And besides, Bruce gave me the info on extremis." Clint said, trying to absolve himself of at least some responsibility. Tony turned to Bruce.

"It was pretty hard to miss the file that you left in the lab, Tony." Bruce said in response to Tony's unasked question.

Tony sighed. "So that's where it was."

"All fun and games aside," Steve cut in, an earnest look on his face "we do need to know what happens when you get angry, and how we can stop any potential accidents from happening." Steve glanced around and smiled.

"We might need a bit more water next time though."

Tony heard Clint snigger from behind him. Tony silenced him with a glare.

"And the photos and website? Are they real?" Tony asked sharply. The group pointed at Clint.

Clint grimaced. "Yes. However," he hastened to add, as the orange became more apparent in Tony's eyes. "Pepper's been informed, and she's apparently 'dealt with it'." Clint used his fingers to make air quotes. "Her words, not mine."

"Why wasn't I the first person to know about this?" Tony demanded.

"Look around you." Bruce said.

The haze was almost gone, allowing Tony to see the melted plastic where his legs had been touching the pool deck, and the ashes of the incinerated photographs. Thank god for heat-proof underwear. Tony finally acknowledged Bruce's point with a nod.

"What about you, Zeus? Why are you involved?" Tony asked Thor, prodding him in the chest as he spoke.

"The hawk offered the chance of pushing thee into a vast pool of water." Thor grinned. "I thought it inconsiderate to ignore one's friends, especially as they so desperately needed my assistance."

This response set the others off giggling again. Tony sighed and started walking towards the exit. Halfway there he turned.

"You better refill my pool, Captain Responsible!"

This did nothing to stem their amusement, so Tony left them there. As their laughter faded behind him he couldn't help but smile. Maybe the Avengers Initiative did have a future after all. Not that he'd ever tell Fury though.