So, this idea was actually derived from a commercial I was watching. I forgot which one, but it's not from deviantart so don't worry about disclaimers or all that.
Tony's lab was hardly lit as he worked vigorously inside it. He'd woken up with the biggest idea he'd had since before the plane crash (which was the Iron Man armor idea) and had explained to everyone that he was going to be working in his lab all day and all night if he needed to. He had requested to work alone, but if someone felt that it was absolutely necessary to disrupt his progress. He cleared himself of any possible disruptions, human or Iron Man-related. He wanted to complete this while the idea was fresh in his head. It was sort of like cracking an egg; you can't just crack it open then leave it. It won't be as good later.
The young inventor had always been on the borderline of time traveling; all scientists believed it was possible. Einstein had even believed it, and that was something that pushed Tony to attempt it and now he had. He'd woken up and it was like the blueprints were scanned into his head randomly. If this works, he thought, I'd revolutionize the world. He felt like the utmost genius of the city with this idea in his head. He was working on the inside when he heard footsteps brushing the floor of his lab. He didn't care to look up to see who was here and grace their presence with a greeting.
"So, what's today's work?" A girl's voice asked. Tony grunted once as a response and continued his work. The girl sighed in complaint and tried again.
"Come on, what are you doing?" She asked. He still did not give her his attention. He may have muffled something into his project-thingy, she thought, but she didn't hear it. (And even if she had heard him say something she wouldn't have understood it anyways.) What he was doing that was more important than eating or paying attention to his friends was beyond her, but she knew Tony and she knew that with just a little more prodding he'd give a clear answer. She knew how he worked by now. She watched him work more and in an effort to get him to at least glance at her, she flipped her red hair innocently. Nothing. She rolled her eyes. When Tony was in his work, he was deep in it. There was no getting him out until he wanted to get out.
"Can't I just have a hint, then?" She asked. Tony sighed and stuck his head up without looking away from what he was doing.
"Fine, I'll tell you. I'm making a prototype for a time machine." He lowered his head once more. Pepper sighed and watched him work more. He would obviously not be paying attention to anyone but his little 'time travel' project today, but oddly that was okay with her because she got to watch him work and sometimes when he was inventing stuff his muscles flexed and that made him look hot. Plus somewhere in the middle of his work he'd have to charge his heart and he'd have to take his shirt off when she was in the room. Of course, then he would wonder why she's just sitting in the lab watching him work (maybe he wouldn't because he'd be so wrapped in his work that he wouldn't care to ask).
~…~
"A-ha!" Tony exclaimed. Pepper had gone to have dinner with her mother earlier, so Tony had exclaimed it to himself. His precious prototype was finally finished, and it looked like it would work; but there was only one sure way to find out. He pushed a few buttons and a large, purple-ish circle opened up in the large, circular frame. The portal. At least the sight test was working, Tony thought. He checked off visual test on the chart he had made upon starting the project and hesitating to think about stepping inside it. He stared into the spinning portal, actually kind of scared. To go back in time was to revolutionize the world today. He knew to be careful in what he did because what he did in the past could alter the course of events in the future.
Tony stepped through the portal.
At first it was all white light as he carefully stepped forward. Soon enough the white light turned to dimly lit city street lights of the Big Apple. Tony looked around to see where he was. It was the part of town where there were more places to eat than attractions to be at. He knew where he was, now he just had to know when he was. He caught the attention of a passerby for the information and asked if he could get the time. The street walker looked at his watch impatiently and told him that it was just about 5:04pm. Tony thanked him and asked another person the date. The person explained the date, Tony thanked them and walked off. He walked by the restaurant district and passed a restaurant with booths by the windows so you could see who was sitting at the table. That was when Tony saw her.
He caught red hair out of the corner of his eye, and glanced again to see that his initial suspicion was correct; Pepper was sitting in the booth. Who she was sharing a meal with, he wanted to know. Some feeling that had been buried deep inside him, it felt, was digging its way out. He felt that every time he saw Pepper with any guy that wasn't him. Tony glanced to the left a bit to see Gene on the other side of her stare. Tony gasped. Pepper…at dinner…with Gene? Why would she go out with Gene? She hates Gene. Unless…
Then it clicked for Tony. The date was the day that they had to do that group project and Pepper got paired with Gene. They must have argued their way to the restaurant without him knowing. And all that time he'd thought Pepper was annoying him in words until he yelled at her and she was silent for a while until trying again. He was wrong. He'd given Pepper the chance to get close to Gene by not being around them and leaving them alone together. He'd made a mistake, a big mistake. The small feeling that was showing a bit earlier was finding its way out from the bottom of Tony, and Tony didn't like it one bit. He tried to identify it but for the life of him could not. Rhodey had mentioned that one word…what was it…jealousy? Whatever that meant.
Tony had the urge to go in there and ask Gene what the heck he was doing with Pepper, but he remembered that he wasn't in the right time and he could change the future for the worse if he interfered. He decided to leave it be and look around town more to finish the evaluation of the time machine. The time travel test had passed, and it seemed that everything was in order and everything worked. Tony pulled a remote-type thing from his pocket, pressed a few buttons, and when he opened his eyes again, he was back in his lab. It worked, he thought. He really time travelled. Then Tony realized something else that he wanted to see.
He set the time and date and walked back through the portal. When his eyes opened once more, he saw that he was just where he wanted to be. He looked around. Empty field. Tony looked to the sky to see a white and blue jet. Tony made sure he was back far enough. He was good. He shut his eyes in fear for a few moments then once he opened them, the empty field he was staring into was the site of destruction. Parts of plane were everywhere, and a young brown-haired boy was lying on the ground, gauntlet on his arm, reaching for the rest of his armor in searing pain. Tony looked away and changed the date and time on his time machine controller to a different past date.
The new date was a little less painful. Tony was watching himself on the roof and saw behind his daydreaming past self to see Pepper staring at the back of his head. Why would she stare at him? Then again…she'd done stuff like that tons of times before…and the way she was looking at him was almost a look of admiration. Tony kept the thought and his stares. The more he examined it, the more he thought she was admiring him as she told him all about himself. Before he could get caught staring by people from the past, he set the remote to present time and he was back in his lab. Knowing that the time machine worked, he started finding a way to integrate the technology into the Iron Man armor in a way to avoid thinking about the fact that he observed Pepper admiring him. Maybe it was just the shock of first meeting a rich teenage boy, Tony thought.
Then he had an idea.
Aww, this story is going to be sooo cute. I guess I'm going to do a good amount of posting for a few months, I have like a ton of stories going now. (What, fifth story still going?) review!
