Title: Blue Christmas
Author: Fr0st6yte (RoboTitaness)
Fandom: Avengers
Characters: Tony Stark, Dummy, You, Butterfingers, Jarvis, Friday
Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort
Summary: Dummy, Butterfingers, You, Jarvis, Friday. Five AIs and their love for one Tony Stark.

i.

Dummy was the first one.

Really, he didn't know he was going to be the first one, but at the time he was the only one. It was the first time he had turned on and Tony hadn't even realized he still had his video camera on and pointed at the scene. His dorm room was devoid of his roommate and so no one had seen him throw his phone across the room earlier.

As the video continued, a ding originated from the laptop but Tony didn't uncurl. With a few more pings, Dummy came to life. The bot was raising its glass barrel, and whirled as it started to roll away from its charging station. In the corner of the frame, Tony still didn't look up.

No one but a camera would be privy to the scene that followed, for Tony would show this video to none.

The robot, unsophisticated that it was, simple that it was, turned to its creator, and rolled closer, and seemed to chirp hesitantly. When Tony still didn't uncurl, it reached out and nudged the teen with his glass. Finally, slowly, the boy looked up and saw his creation looking back at him. The bot made a few more hesitant, questioning chirps, and Tony managed a watery laugh. Reaching out, he stroked the barrel and thought of Ana and how she took care of him. Of how she enjoyed teasing Jarvis with her nicknames. How she would never call her favorite one to her husband ever again.

"Dummy," he whispered. "Hello Dummy."

ii. & iii.

"And now!" Tony crowed, blinking owlishly at the camera. "We're here to see another new member of the Stark household. Dummy, meet your new baby twin sisters." The twenty year-old swept his hand towards the new robots. "Their names are -"

"Anthony!" The shout echoed through the video, interrupting the boy's proclamation. Tony didn't look perturbed at the loud voice, however, and turned to the newcomer with a wide smile.

"Aunt Peg -"

"What are you doing?" she asked coldly. Tony didn't even blink, still smiling widely.

"I made both -"

"It is your parents' funeral day!" she cried, grabbing his arm. "Daniel, Edwin, and the children are all waiting for you, ducky," she continued, softening her voice after he flinched.

"But…" he trailed off.

Peggy's face softened further into a compassionate look, and she drew the young man close. "I know it's hard. But we're all there. You're coming home to us for Christmas, and we'll talk."

"But the funeral… And the press…"

"I know you don't want them there. I don't either. And it's the last public appearance for a while, I promise. It'll all be over soon." She started as some beeping sounded around them and she turned to see the two new robots looking at them curiously. "What are their names?"

"Butterfingers and You," Tony muttered.

"Your father loved you Tony. You know that."

"I know," Tony replied. "Actually it was Mom who loved calling Dad Butterfingers. Said he always spilt stuff when she was around."

"Your father was a bubbling idiot as a young man, when he met Maria," Peggy confirmed nostalgically. "Only times he wasn't smooth. Come now, ducky."

"Bye You, Butterfingers." Both bots only rolled closer however, and Tony rolled his eyes slightly. "I'm okay, girls. Dummy, take care of them."

iv.

"This has to work," Tony muttered. From off the camera's screen, pounding could be heard, but Tony ignored it. The three bots were crowded around him, but Dummy kept glancing to the door, before focusing back on his creator.

"Come on!" Tony growled, fingers flying over his keyboard. His eyes squinted as he searched through his code, looking for the one stray character that was ruining his work. "Where are you?" His left hand groped around, and You pushed a bottle closer. Taking a big swig of whiskey, he continued looking.

"Aha!" He yelled, frightening Butterfingers, who rolled back. Her twin nudged her slightly and she rolled forward again. "There you are!" Fixing the error, he re-compiled and ran the code again. "It should work now." Taking another drink of alcohol, he deliberately ignored the shouts outside his door.

"Tony, open the door this instant -"

"Jarvis wouldn't want -"

"Please, Tony -"

The lights suddenly blinked and the bots shrieked in surprise and terror. Tony, for his part, simply stood there, eyes up and bottle in hand.

"Are you up?" he asked curtly.

"…I…am…sir?" Tony froze before talking again.

"What day is it?"

"December 20th, sir," came the prompt reply. "You…you are Anthony Stark, sir?"

Tony again seemed to freeze and be at a loss of words. "Yes." The word seemed choked up.

"Young Master," the voice started but Tony interrupted him.

"Just sir."

"Sir," the voice corrected. "Who…who am I?"

Tony closed his eyes, still drowning out his friends' voices, and said, "You're Jarvis."

v.

The camera screen was turned on once again, decades later. The three bots were in a corner, quiet and unmoving. There was only one person in the middle, sitting stoically in his seat and typing on a computer. No voices could be heard, no other person.

Finally, Tony called out, hesitantly, "Friday? We up?"

Static answered him for a second before a female voice called back, "Sir? I am up."

"Welcome Friday," Tony said. The man was still sitting in his seat, at an angle that his face wasn't visible to the camera. "Bots? Here's your baby sister, Friday."

"Why Friday, sir?" the voice suddenly asked. Tony didn't answer immediately and Friday started saying, "I'm sorry, sir -"

"Because all good things happen on Fridays, my girl," he interrupted. "The start of the weekend, of relaxation. Of rejuvenation."

Bonus.

The scene was a dismal one. Three robots crowded around a hunched figure in a chair, and gentle music floating around. The last two beings couldn't be seen - one was simply a memory now, and the other was intangible, finding music to keep her creator relaxed.

The video camera didn't find any trace of people who used to be there - a tall woman with brown curls, a man with dark skin and a blue uniform, a woman with flaming red hair and heels, others in red and blue and black suits. None were there. If the camera was an AI, it would know that many of them had abandoned the man. Some had died, and the man missed them with every breath he took. One was in the hospital, unable to help the man, who was being torn apart from the inside.

Instead, the video showed a video of another family, one of the man and his creations, who cared for him as much as any biological organism could. They tried their best to give him the comfort that he deserved.

With a quiet beep, the video camera turned off, out of battery.

Cross posted on AO3 (Fr0st6yte)

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