(Not Quite) Home From Work Scene 1
Every once in a while, Tony would disappear. Officially it was scheduled as a random vacation. He was allowed to do that, he'd told Pepper once. She agreed, not really knowing what he was on about but willing to indulge him. Seeing him in full armor, though, was… surreal.
It wasn't the Iron Man armor.
For one thing, the color scheme was way off. This was a dark grey, uniform-like armor that could be likened to knights of old if it weren't so obviously different. He wore a thick black leather shirt with silver spikes that was padded heavily at the wrists and shoulders. His pants looked like some lighter material, though they had no additions to them. It was the mask that threw her off the most. It took the form of an obsidian skull with holes where the eyes should be. It was all but moulded to his face.
If Pepper hadn't known what he really looked like, she would have screamed that there was a zombie or something in the Mansion kitchen. Granted, that's exactly what the others did. Then the skull made a confused noise and his head tilted.
"The mask, dear." She murmured. "It's… intimidating."
"Oh, well that's an easy fix."
His voice changed when he was in uniform. The mask made it deeper, yet somehow it still managed to still sound like him. People rarely recognized him when he took it off. Something about his face and voice remained even after he slipped back into the skin of Tony Stark. At least the mask didn't move when he talked.
The skull retracted by sliding up and into itself until a black cube was all that remained. Tony pocketed it and turned to Pepper.
"Still scary?" He prompted. They went through this every time he came back from… well, she desperately wished to call it the underworld, because it wasn't Hell in the way humans perceive Hell. She seemed to be the only one immediately able to see through whatever the uniform made Tony look like. Happy and Rhodey both knew what he looked like in-uniform and not, but they admitted that it took everything not to run screaming sometimes.
"You're allowed to do that." Tony had scowled, a far off look in his eyes. "And don't ask me why she can see through it, I've got no clue."
"No one's running away from you because you look like a badass." Rhodey snorted.
"Yeah, we've been around too long." Happy snickered.
"You're asking the wrong person, buddy. But you do look pretty pleased with yourself."
"There's a trial coming up. For the first time in living memory, the Nine will convene. Including the Queen of Helheim."
"I want you to know that you said that in another language." Pepper informed him, amused, as she moved to sit on the couch. "Relax, stow the armor, and then we can talk about why you're a kid in a candy store."
"I look happy to you?" Tony wondered. "That's, uh, that's actually hilarious. Do I always look happy to you?"
"I know what your expressions look like and the closest this one resembles is that weird mix where you can't decide if you want to rip someone's head off or build something to do it for you."
"And that's happy to you?"
"No, it's got you looking like a kid in a candy store. Can't decide what you want first but you know you want it all."
"Sounds appropriately bloodthirsty." Tony chirped. His armor melted away so completely that by the time he threw himself back on the couch he was in dark blue jeans and a black shirt.
"Anyway, there's a trial coming up that Helheim has been invited to help judge."
"Were you told why?"
"A man of Asgard has been brought up on assassination charges. The son of the Light King was found dead in his rooms and all signs point to an Asgardian presence. Odin is furious, of course-." Thunder clapped and lightning flashed as if to punctate his statement.
"And so is Thor, apparently, who is also being called home."
"But they found who did it?"
"They have a suspect. Unfortunately, things are made difficult by the fact that the suspect has been poisoned."
Pepper yelped at that and then rolled her eyes.
"What the fuck, Tony? Why are they calling for a trial when their only suspect is dead?!"
"Because he's not, dearest. That, too, was a failed attempt on his life. Someone broke into my lab and stole something that is not to be used among the Aesir. It isn't to be used among anyone, because it revives those on their way to death. I know nothing of what it does to the living but someone was keen to find out."
"You sound like you're being translated." She reminded him patiently, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. He slipped into different languages when stressed, though it often came off as variations of English.
"He spoke an old tongue that I have never heard before, Lady Potts." Thor rumbled from the doorway.
"Good day, Thor. When did you get in?"
"Few minutes ago." He growled bitterly. "I wish to know why he speaks that tongue. It does not belong to mortal plains."
"There are many things that do not belong to mortal plains, godling, and yet we have them."
Pepper jerked away from her lover. He gave off the heat of an open flame and his eyes were pitch black.
"Do not ruin this couch." She ordered. "I like this one. I liked the last one too but you couldn't handle whatever news you got that day. I am not buying another couch just so you can throw your weight around with the God of Thunder." Pepper hissed. That apparently struck Tony as funny, because the heat faded and the couch remained intact.
"From the bottom of my heart, Pepper, fuck you and the high horse you rode in on." He snickered.
"I would but you're not into that." Pepper deadpanned.
"Indeed, I like my privacy." Tony snorted before he burst out laughing again.
"That was a good one. Thank you."
"Hey, I just reminded you that you're a jerk who ruins my good furniture. I like it even if you don't care." Pepper drawled. "Are we giving any thought to the fact that Thor is a gaping fish in the doorway?"
"Let him be. Either he'll say something or he'll leave."
"Can you talk about how you found all the gory details of this trial? It sounds stranger with every word."
"I've told you all I can, I'm afraid." Tony admitted. "Anyway, I'm hungry. Did you eat today? Is it dinnertime? I could make you dinner."
"I'll snack on whatever you're having but I'm not in the mood for a full meal."
"You sick?"
"Tired. I think I might need you to step in for a bit. I need a vacation. Or just a bender."
"You could take a vacation to go on a bender but you could also just take a vacation." Tony chuckled warmly. "Trust me, I know what you mean. Wanna vent over tacos and root beer floats?"
"Fuck yes!" Pepper hissed excitedly. "I haven't had ice cream in so long that I forgot what it tastes like."
"Well, we should change that. And you should kick back a bit. Dinner and drinks are on the way."
"You're a dream."
"That's what I like to hear."
(Not Quite) Home From Work Scene 2
Tony awoke to a dream. Tacos and root beer floats had done exactly what they needed to do, which was let her guard down enough to rant about who was making her life hell this time. Which Tony would absolutely take care of. He's done that before, taken over for Pepper when she was at her wit's end. It didn't happen often. When SI heard that Tony was back at the helm for the first time in years, half of them were ready to go to war. This time they'd be slightly less bloodthirsty but the sentiment remained. Virginia Potts was not one to get run off easily. If she ran, then the Merchant of Death came out to play.
Which, considering he woke up to a dream, was apparently an apt statement to make.
"Your betrothed sounded weary."
"That's one way of putting it. Good evening, my Queen. How may I serve you?"
"You can start by telling me about Stark Industries on the way to your labs."
With every incarnation of the Merchant, the space changed to suit their needs. Tony's space very closely resembled his workshop back at the Malibu mansion, with a few keys exceptions. Potions stocked the shelves instead of tools. Beakers fizzed constantly without heat. Everything was under his control. He had assistance from dead scientists in his ventures, and he most often took advice from them. But someone had to have gone through his lab for the poison used on the assassin. Which means that someone journeyed to the Underworld.
Death is supposed to be eternal. There is no way out. Tony enforces that, if the nature of Death isn't enough. There is no going back. He learned that the hard way when he pleaded with Hela to spare his parents.
"Your mind has wandered, Faithful One, and the look on your face begs the question of what to?"
"The potion theft." Tony admitted. "But you asked about the company. Right now we have a few major contracts because despite no longer being in the weapons game, we are still a reliable source for other things. Namely military gear, in an effort to soothe some wounded egos when the transition began It's not good business to leave a customer hanging even if you discontinue a product."
"What's the nature of these contracts?"
"For the first time ever someone aside from me is interested in having clean energy. They wanted research on the arc reactor in order to jumpstart their own product. They don't want to copy the arc reactor directly, they want to know what exactly I did in that cave and why it worked. It's been the subject of many a thesis but I think this is the first time anyone from the industry has officially approached me about it."
"So where's the conflict?" Hela wondered.
"Pepper just found out that they're using it to develop weapons. Or trying. They'll never succeed, because they could barely find their way out of SI without help, but now we've got a battle on our hands. Legal is out for blood and Pepper is not having a good day."
"Is it not clearly stated that your works are not weapons?"
"It is indeed. In rather airtight language, if I do say so myself. They asked for the research a few years ago with the claim that they were interested in how it would work. There are fail-safes in place to prevent weaponization but most of it is paperwork declaring intent. We can't yank it back like we want to because they've holed up in the middle of fuck knows where and we literally can't get to them. The good news is that someone found an old military contact with connections who is definitely interested in keeping the weaponization of nuclear energy among the US military, so War Machine might get sent out."
"Why not Iron Man?"
"There are some places Iron Man will never go that War Machine has to. I can't start an international incident over something that isn't saving people. Not at that level of trust with the world yet."
"Are you content with the solution that was found?" Hela queried.
"I'll have to be." Tony responded as he turned left and unlocked the lab. "Anyway, the lab thefts. I'm going to ask around down here, see who might have an idea of what to look for. Whoever did this had a way into and out of the realm of the dead, and that means trouble if anyone else tries to follow them."
"Do so… I had not considered that."
"What was your line of thinking, my Queen?" Tony asked, confused.
"I did not see it as a security breach. I thought there was a traitor in our midst. You are not the only one capable of traveling between Realms, Faithful One, simply the most dangerous."
"I shall consider that as well. Perhaps one of the Asgardians saw something."
"Why would they get involved? Odin has enough on his plate, since no one has answers to the mess that started it all. The accused doesn't even remember the incident despite all the potions they used."
"Or perhaps because of that." Tony murmured thoughtfully. "It matters not. Heimdall, at least, should know something."
"Do what you must, Faithful One. I await your conclusions."
Hela left the lab, shutting the door behind her.