"The study of Nature makes a man at last as remorseless as Nature" – H.G. Wells
December 18
The entire Stark Tower was bustling, scientists were finishing experiments, salesmen were closing spreadsheets and figures. The executives were finishing the company objective meeting. Even Pepper Potts was winding down work for the company shutdown. From the 19th to the 3rd, Stark Industries employees were enjoying no work-related projects. But Tony Stark was worked up more than ever. The man had no off switch and it was a pain for normal people to deal with.
"Tony, calm down. No lab for the rest of the day. Relax like a normal person" Pepper Potts was still in executive mode. Corralling Stark was no easy task and a seasoned professional like herself was frequently caught off guard by the thoughts that floated in the man's head. It was days like today that she worshipped Jarvis' ability to lock him out of the lab until he scrapped the original idea.
"Nope, not possible. The lab is always open. You know how it is. Science till I die" Tony waltzed by her with his megawatt grin and evil glint in his brown eyes. God, she hated that mantra. He had the balls to trademark the phrase after he first said it at a MIT alumni gathering.
"With your luck, that is how you would die" she muttered to her planner. The man had no concepts of taking a break or relaxing or doing social things. Sure, he can work a crowd like a puppeteer and converse with people, but to sit down and do something like a Thanksgiving dinner was out of the question. The team found that out quickly when he declined to partake in their 4th of July bash. She remembered the day clearly.
(Memory)
Tony strolled out of his lab covered in grease, oil stains, and a slightly charred left hand. His mood was already sour enough, muttering about donating Butterfingers to the next bomb disposal squad. Stark paid no mind of anyone else, so lost in his own world that he nearly ran over Natasha. She moved out of his way and raised an eyebrow at his lack of manners.
"He can't see you Natasha" Pepper informed the miffed assassin.
"I'm right here. He isn't blind." Pepper inwardly sighed. The joys of innocent people's bubbles being popped.
"He can't see you because he's focused on doing something else. Probably trying to see if he can build a cost-effective death star."
Natasha stopped and turned wildly at Pepper. "Is he insane?"
"Well, you see, he's special. Different than you and me and Bruce for that matter…" Natasha didn't look convinced. "He may be a little?" I held up my hand to show just how little it was.
"THAT'S IT! Jarv, rerouting all the power to the thermocluster of the rotator of the engine. Then we can use the collider to create a vacuum seal and release the excess electrons from there into chamber 1. With the electrons colliding with the protons in chamber 2, we can steadily release the energy from the booster and…" Tony was in mad scientist mode.
"The ship would be ripped about by the sheer force of the 'fuel' you are using. And the calculations are complete. With enough electrons, you can achieve .99993 times the speed of light" Jarvis said, sassing his creator's choice of fuel for the mad idea.
"I'm sorry, what?" Natasha spit her tea into the sink. "What ship, speed of light, and 'fuel'? You better explain this Stark." Her green eyes narrowed at him. Poor Tony, you can't hide now.
"What Sir has been working on was recreating the Millennium Falcon. He has designed it to carry 7 passengers and is made of a vibranium alloy Sir has recently created. The 'fuel' choice of Sir's craft was to create an exploding supernova in the back of the ship and direct the energy flow to create a thrust vector" Jarvis explained as Tony hit his head against the fridge repeatedly. "I have taken precautionary measures to ensure that he will not build the craft Mrs. Romanoff."
"Thank you, Jarvis" she turned to Tony, who was still hitting his head. "Stark, you know better."
"But I was so bored today" Tony whined.
"Do you know what today is?" Natasha asked.
"Tuesday?"
"It's Thursday actually. And it's the 4th of July" Natasha said. By then, more of the Avengers have gathered into the kitchen.
"What did he do?" Bruce asked as he walked in from the elevator.
"Tony was working on build a spaceship that can travel at light speed" Natasha accused. Bruce just shook his head and chuckled softly.
"I got bored. And why aren't you grilling Bruce on what he was doing in the lab?" Tony diverted attention to Bruce, who was now eyeing the genius with a sideways glance.
"My experiment was completed so I checked the results. It took, maybe an hour to look over. I wasn't in there for 3 days straight" Bruce accused. Tony was beginning to see this conversation play out. It's a 'Let's Bash on Tony's Science Habits' lecture. Well, too bad, he wasn't gonna play.
"Well you are all lovely today, tell me how the fireworks go, and how the grill works on the deck. I got some stuff to do" Tony turned and with typical Stark fashion, walked out of the room ignoring all protests and pleas.
"He doesn't do holidays. Never has, never will" Pepper said, she was just as disappointed as they were.
"I hate to be at his house for Christmas" Clint grumbled.
"You won't even notice Christmas passing. The days blur together. But that doesn't mean you can't celebrate. Just don't decorate his personal spaces. He doesn't like the holly jolly ruining his creative spaces" Pepper explained.
"Oh, that wouldn't be too bad" Natasha said.
"Nope, Christmas at the tower. Never would've thought I would see the day" Pepper sighed wistfully.
(End memory)
"Since you all have decided to remodel my entire tower and ruin the décor with red and green and a giant tree, and mainly Pepper's insistence of locking me out of my lab for a month, I have decided to create a Christmas list to buy you people gifts. So, what is it you like?" Tony stood by the elevator, looking as mad scientist like as ever. Oil stained Metallica t-shirt, black sweatpants, and the dirtiest shop rag you could ever imagine hung on his shoulder.
"I want a massaging bed. You know, the sleep number one that can change firmness and bend and give massages to people. That would be so nice" Clint said.
"Dude, you already have that, have you not looked at the remote?" Tony stated as he looked at Clint like he just said blue isn't a real color.
"We have a remote?" Clint asked. Tony laughed loudly, and so did a few other Avengers present.
"Check the nightstand Legolas, it's right next to the condoms, courtesy of the Stark household" Tony bowed dramatically and was pelted with an ornament on the top of his head. "Ouch. And ornaments, really? Are you 6?"
"We happen to have a little spirit, Stark. Maybe you should get some" Wanda grumbled as she used her tendrils of magic to hang the ornaments on the tall points of the tree.
"Eh, no room in the old brain for that kind of stuff. I don't believe in stupid fairy-tales meant to entertain children" Stark folded his arms and leaned against the wall, he was clearly irked about being away from the lab.
"Christmas is about the Christian faith, Stark, not a fairy-tale" Steve corrected.
"There are 19 major religions, meaning those religions of more than 100 million followers, and there are hundreds more of minor religions around the world. So, odds are, lots of people are going to be wrong. Believing in something you cannot see and will never know if it exists or not is not something I can commit myself to. Cause not once did any of those major religions mention that we are not alone in the Universe. And almost everyone on the planet celebrates Christmas, so it's not bound to a set religion. It may have at one point in time but that time is not today. There is no Christmas spirit in me, cause odds are, it's nothing more than an economic fallacy to boost the economy during a time in winter in which it routinely slows down." Tony glazed lazily at the stunned group of Avengers.
"So, he doesn't have a heart besides the metal contraption. Fitting for a man that killed millions" Wanda growled as her magic broke an ornament. If it wasn't for the unstable nature of the magic, Tony would've told her to not make a mess on his living room.
"Yes, you have said that many times before" Tony said slowly. He honestly hated working with the team. Leave him to his bots and seclusion of the lab.
"Ultron would be such a proud son to see his father today" Wanda growled out. "Pietro is dead, because of you and your weapons! And he will never come back, because you lack a heart" Wanda screamed and tears streamed down her face. She ran out of the room and Vision got up to go after her.
"You good Stark?" Steve asked. Tony looked at him, and did he see…pity? Nah, Stark thought he was losing his mind.
"Of course, I'm always good Cap. Never not been good. Well, with that lovely note, tell Friday what you want for Christmas and she'll see what she can do. I'll be in my lab, don't bug me unless I'm dying or it's been a week, whichever comes last."
"Stark" Falcon said. Tony paused for a little bit, Falcon never talked to him.
"Yes?" Tony asked. He was met with silence. "Good talk." God, he hated people in house. What happened to just him and Pepper and his bots. Even Rhodey knew better than to stick around for more than a few days.
"Friday, elevator to lab, lock down that floor, only I get in or out of it. Understood?" Tony asked, still bitter over the lack of control of his stuff in his house.
"Yes Sir."
"New project Fri, private collection" Tony said as he cleared his desk of papers and other metal contraptions.
"Secret project Sir?" Friday asked. Just like Jarvis.
"Yeah, don't want prying eyes to look the wrong way." Tony started to fiddle with the holograms that danced in his hands. He typed out a short essay, no longer than a page. He signed the bottom with his signature and saved it the collection.
He spun the hologram around, admiring how far he'd come. Looking at the first model to now, Iron Man was the most evolving hero out there. "Retirement Sir? It seems unlike you" Friday commented.
"Not retirement, just officially becoming a consultant."
"Are you sure you aren't acting brash? Ms. Maximoff's words were harsh Sir, but this is a drastic measure."
"Bleh, I've done plenty more drastic stuff than this. This way I can invent to my heart's desire" Tony chuckled as he watched Dum-E and U play tug-of-war with a shop rag. "Back to the way it was. Me and you guys. Who needs the world?" Tony spun in his chair, feeling melancholic and free for the first time.
December 19
"Stark is fine. He's a tough bastard. Got thicker skin than you all do" Fury grunted. He was asked to make a call to the tower over concerns of Stark. To find out someone attempted at hurting Stark's feelings was laughable. Stark could shake off every insult known to man.
"He's in his lab and locked us out of the floor Fury" Steve commented. Surely that would put warning bells in the Director's head.
"How often does he do that?" Fury countered. The Avengers were stumped, they were locked out a lot by Stark. "Case in point, he's fine." Fury hung up the phone.
"Tony, come out of the lab" Steve said. Tony ignored him as he was too busy with a ridiculously large kiln and some molten metal.
Steve sighed and watched as Tony stretched the molten metal into thin strands and used a spool to make the metal almost thread like. The wire was coiled up and left in a heap on the side of a bench. Tony turned and was shocked to see Steve there. "Cap, what do you need?" Tony said as he opened the door of the lab and stepped out. Immediately the door closed behind him, and an audible click was heard, signaling the locked door.
"I wanted to see how you were doing" Steve asked. He gave Tony a quick once over, and he looked just the same as he did every other day.
"I'm good. Made a vibranium thread, thinking of making it into a Kevlar style fabric, except this will stop knives, bullets, and bombs, pretty much anything" Tony said.
"We are friends, you can tell me if Wanda is bothering you."
"I appreciate the gesture Cap, but I am fine. It takes a lot more than a few words from an angry 20-year-old girl to get under my skin. I would've been murdered by the media a long time ago if that was the case."
"Good. Cause I didn't want you to do something irrational, like build that spaceship or raise the dead." Tony's eyes light up like street lights. Uh-oh. Steve tried to backpedal the conversation. "I mean, don't do anything crazy, okay?"
"I got to work, bye Cap" Tony said as he slipped into the lab, already in his element. Steve watched helplessly from the other side of the glass.
"What have I done?" Steve said miserably.
December 20
"Is Tony still down there?" Clint asked.
"Sir has not left the lab in 18 hours. He is very busy running calculations and designs" Friday announced.
"On what?" Natasha asked.
"I don't know."
"It may have been my fault" Steve pipped up.
"What did you do?" Bruce asked.
"I told him not to do something irrational, like raise the dead, and then he was gone in his lab."
"Surely Stark will realize that he won't make it. That's impossible. Growing tissue from a decaying body and preserving memory and vital functions can't happen" Bruce said. "It may however, give us some time to do things while he is busy."
"I don't know, you also said it was impossible for him to build a spacecraft to go the speed of light, and here he did it was a supernova as the thrust. I wouldn't say impossible for Stark, I've seen him in action, unlikely, but not impossible" Natasha added.
"What did you see him do?" Vision asked.
"He synthesized a new element, the same one that makes up your body."
"Mr. Stark's intelligence is something of beauty" Vision said. "There is an art to his madness."
"Is that why you are out here and not with Wanda?" Clint asked.
"She made it clear that I am not allowed to defend him since he has done inexcusable acts" Vision added.
"You got kicked out of the room." Clint deadpanned.
"Yes."
"The white couch is all yours Viz. Welcome to love my android friend" Clint mockingly toasted and received a slap on the back of the head from Natasha.
Meanwhile, Stark was hard at work going insane. He was running numbers in his head faster than ever before, like someone spiked his coffee with straight speed. "Friday, bring me Pietro's body by tomorrow morning at the latest. And contact Helen Cho for me, urgently."
Friday patched Cho through immediately. "Stark, it's not every day the tech wonder calls a biologist."
"If I was to recreate tissue from a stem cell in a dead culture, what kind of a kick would it need?" Tony asked. He was already fiddling with a remade coupling for the cradle.
"What? I... Stark… What are you doing?" Cho stammered. He saw someone walk behind her and she had the most orange hair he'd ever seen. Damn that was really orange. Orange is a color of heat. Fire. Pepper has a fire. Pepper was orange… Extremis.
"Nothing, silly question. Good day" Tony hung up the call and immediately scoured his handwritten notes for something.
"Where is the file!? Come on, I don't have time to do this. Friday, eta on the dead flash?" Tony continued to throw papers around the room as he looked for his notes.
"The body is arriving tonight via helicopter. Russian officials are asking why you need the body though."
"Tell them it's for gene analysis of superhumans to determine if there is a unique pattern for them. It sounds real enough" Tony made a thorough mess of his lab. Paper's covered the entire floor, and metal pieces littered the benches.
"Friday, scan the room, locate anything Extremis related" Tony ordered.
"Far left corner behind you sir. 3rd file from the wall." Tony ran over to where Friday was directing him too. He grabbed the file and opened it to find his comprehensive analysis of Extremis and it's bodily functions.
"You are a savior Fri" Tony whispered as he read the file.
"Thank you, Sir. It means a lot coming from you" Fri responded.
December 21
The helicopter landed on the pad on the roof of the building. As the rotors spun down, Tony ran out on the pad and opened the door.
"I need that pronto" He pointed to the tube containing Wanda's dead brother. He dragged the tube out of the plane and onto a shop creeper. Tony wheeled it to the elevator and quickly ran back to the helicopter.
"You never knew of this and were never here, understood?" Tony asked as he held out an envelope full of cash.
"Sir yes sir." The pilot shook his hand and put the rotors in high gear.
Tony jogged to the elevator access on the roof and the doors immediately opened for him. "Thanks Fri. To the lab, no one in the elevator" Tony commanded as he started typing codes into the tube.
"Sir, Sam Wilson is attempting to contact you on a kitchen appliance issue. The toaster seems to be burning the toast too much for his liking" Friday responded.
"Tell him to toast it for 2 minutes less and see if that works. I'm not going to reduce the heat output for him. If he wants to change it, buy him a new toaster to play with. I'm busy. No more issues." Tony wheeled the dead road-runner into the lab and promptly pushed him over into a corner.
"Now the real fun starts… Building a cradle that can handle extremis and jump starting an already dead heart."
December 23
"Test Number 34, modification B regarding the power coupling of the inserted power source. Dum-E, stand back, no fires are ablaze quite yet. Friday, hit it" Tony said as he connected the latest coupling to the power source.
The cradle glowed a soft orange as the power hummed in the air. "Diagnostics?" Tony questioned as he adjusted the power output.
"It is a success. The cradle seems to be holding steady with the power output. The needles' temperatures are holding steady for the extremis. In all the cradle is ready for the subject" Friday stated.
"Of course it's a success, I was directly involved in this endeavor."
"Shall I begin to thaw the subject?" Friday asked. "With the given window, the subject will not be able to wake Christmas morning due to the extensive injuries to his body. Also, given the nature of his injuries, scans have reported 7 bullets still lodged inside of the subject's body. You must remove those before the extremis kicks in or the bullets will be sealed in his body, cause organ hemorrhaging and eventual death."
"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine today. Begin the thawing process of the subject. I'll begin to prime the extremis for activation. Let's hope this doesn't get too violent."
"Sir, Doctor Banner is requesting your presence in his lab" Friday's voice cut through his music, effectively disrupting his rhythmic pattern of activating the cultures of the extremis and testing the cultures on its regenerative state.
"Didn't he come by an hour ago with some food?" Tony asked, confused as to why Bruce waited a little while to then need to talk to him again.
"Sir, it is currently 11:23 PM on Thursday, December 23. Doctor Banner originally stopped by on Wednesday, December 22, at 7:30 pm. He is inquiring about missing pieces in his lab."
"Tell him I needed them" Tony responded, as he shocked the orange goo in the glass box.
"He is insisting on asking you for what purpose?"
"Uh… I needed them to dissect a dead culture of extremis, I want to see if I can couple it into the reactor to give the power source a healing factor to prevent damage from happening."
"Doctor Banner has bought the ruse Sir. But I may fear he may want to see your progress" Friday added nervously.
"No one gets on this floor but me. Lock it down. It'll be fine. If I come up while the cradle rejuvenates the dead guy, I can quell the worries of the jitterbugs" Tony said as he rotated on his work stool.
"Wise choice Sir. Agent Romanoff is growing increasingly worried about the 'next diabolical creation.'"
"Well fuck her too. What would the human popsicle think when he awakes to being a diabolical creation from Mr. Stark himself" Tony added to the antics by giving a wave of his hand. He liked the added flair.
"Okay, we got one shot at this. Loading the primed extremis into the cooling chamber. Is Dum-E finished with removing the bullets?" Tony asked as his concentration did not waver from pouring the highly dangerous liquid into a container without a funnel.
December 24
"Dum-E has successfully removed the bullets, but one was embedded deep into the pelvic bone. Resulting in extensive digging by Dum-E's part. The projected wake up time will be 10:24 pm on December 25" Friday stated.
"Ok, no delays, chop chop Dum-E, slid over the patient" Dum-E did the hard part of prepping the body for the cradle, and now the rest was up to Tony.
"Damn, he's light, and really cold and gross" Tony fought the urge to vomit as he looked down at the dead body in his arms. "God this is so disgusting. Close the cradle and begin injection process."
"Sir, may I remind you that extremis needs a live host to actively heal."
"Yeah, working on the calculations. Tell you what, I'm heading up for a coffee run and will converse to you about the values. Monitors all vitals. I want you to get a reading every quarter second. Start with 360 Joules with the monoplastic defibrillator built in to the cradle." Tony washed his hands clean of the dead Russian track star and shivered at the touch of a clean towel.
He walked out of the lab and waited for the doors to lock and the lights to shut off. Good, no one can see in or get in. "Keep the floor on lock down still. And start the shocking thing, the CPR like thing with electricity."
"You mean 'fibrillation' Sir?" Tony swore he heard a soft chuckle from his AI.
"You know what I meant smartass" Tony smarted.
"Yes Sir. Arriving at the Avengers floor. And the 360 Joules failed. Upping it by increments of 20. I will notify you when it gets to 600 Joules." Friday explained.
"Good girl. Now Daddy has to play with his friends" Tony smiled as the doors opened and revealed sunshine.
"Damn it's bright up here. Friday, tint the glass please" Tony asked as he shielded his eyes from the offensive light.
"Stark. Didn't think you were ever going to come out of the lab. What were you doing?" Steve asked. Friendly at first to engage, then the lecture starts. How typical.
"Experiments on improving the arc reactor. I think I found a way to make it on a large scale so it can power its own grid. Nothing large, but imagine the entire city of New York on clean energy. Then LA, Hong Kong, Toyko, San Fran, San Jose, San Diego, Miami, Dallas, Houston,"
"We get it Stark" Clint cut in. Both verbally and physically, seeing as he pushed both out of his to get to the fridge.
"Sir, 600 has failed. Any other options?" Friday's voiced over the floor intercom.
"Uh… Bruce, I need your pen" Tony said as he ripped off a few paper towels as paper. Tony didn't wait for Bruce's answer and just snatched the pen out of his breast pocket.
"Mass of object?" Tony asked Friday.
"Currently or in its original state?" She asked. It was times like this he truly appreciated how fast his AI's learn to read a room.
"Both will work."
"Current is at 203.34 pounds. When at original state it was 218.98 pounds" Friday voiced.
"Thanks dear" Tony said as he scribbled notes and theorems on the paper towel. The paper towel quickly filled with notes and was the current holder of Bruce's attention.
"Tony, what are you doing with Frankenstein's theorem?" Bruce asked. "It's nothing more than a myth, it doesn't even work."
"Well, I needed a base for the theorem I'm writing so I figured his was a good start to base it on. Frankenstein's had everything written down for it to be a theorem, except it's theoretical. Friday, try 2356.3. Tell me if that fries it."
"Upon first attempts it was signaling a reading, but the energy was too low to counter the effects of the test environment."
The extremis. Tony mentally slapped himself, he forgot the extremis needed the energy and would use the available energy first. He scribbled it in on a new towel and went to work.
"Tony, take a break. Rest, get some food, after all it is Christmas tomorrow" Steve said.
"No can do. I need this done asap. Okay. Friday, let's see if the fat lady can sing high notes. Try 4819.02. Final answer" Tony said. And he waited. And continued to wait. And waited some more.
"Readings are holding steady Sir. Congratulations Sir. It was a pleasure to witness this event. A true achievement for mankind" Friday couldn't hide the pride from her voice.
"ETA on when it'll be ready?" Tony asked as he tucked the paper towels into his pocket and tossed the pen back to Bruce.
"Estimated time of completion will be… 12:56 am, December 26." Friday sounded a little disappointed at the completion time.
Tony took a deep breath and looked for his secret coffee bean stash in the cupboard. "Well, I guess that'll have to do. Notify me if anything strange occurs, I'm going to be up here for the next hour or two, depending on how pissed Captain is at me" Tony turned to fix a glare on Cap. To his credit, Tony can glare people down with ease. Perks of being the smartest guy in the room.
"Good luck Sir" Friday sassed.
"What is wrong with me being in a lab for multiple days at a time? I like being down there. I have food down there and my bots to keep my company. I don't understand what the big issue is" Tony crossed his arms and leaned against the counter.
"It's not natural Tony" Natasha said, and her voice had a twinge of sympathy in it.
"I've been doing it since I was 12. Nothing has changed that much. Stark Industries never complained, Fury doesn't complain. Only you do."
"They ask you to build stuff for them. We are your friends" Steve argued.
"You can't pin this on me. It's not my fault I find comfort amongst my AIs and my isolation. It's not my fault I don't let other people know my designs. I can take care of myself. I've been doing it longer than any of you have" Tony growled.
"You have people who care Tony. Pepper, Colonel Rhodes, and us. Why don't you want to spend time with us? Get to become friends with us. We don't bite" Clint joked.
"I like my shop though. All my greatest achievements are down there. And there is so much more room for more achievements" Tony argued. His ears perked at the sound of the click clack of heels on the floor. Uh-oh, they brought the big gun.
"Peppy. How are you? I thought you were off to your parents" Tony smiled, but Pepper could clearly notice it was forced.
"Came home for the day, forgot to bring the presents. And you know, I love the jet you built. It's so nice, why don't we use it more often?" Pepper asked.
"Cause I'm a boring person that likes to work and do nothing else with his life. Plus I like using the suit to fly. Much more fun than a boring plane."
"That 'boring' plane has a gyroscopic billiard table. And a mini-bar. A bedroom. And a small pantry. It's a luxurious house for most people" Pepper explained.
"Did you say mini-bar?" Tony asked.
"Of course. All you heard was the alcohol. I swear, it's science or alcohol or sex with you." Pepper sighed and rolled her eyes. Clint stifled his laugh in his drink while Natasha had a hard time suppressing her smile.
"Science alcohol sex with you. I'm so game. Bruce's lab is unoccupied now. I got the booze in hand" Tony hoisted a bottle of champagne, "you got the walking sex appeal, and the science is waiting downstairs. I always wanted to be educated on sex-ed. I'm a hands-on learner" Tony winked and Steve choked on his drink.
"No, No, and definitely no. Poor Bruce would never go into that lab ever again" Pepper scowled.
"But can I still get the sex-ed class?" Tony pouted and placed the bottle back in the chiller.
"I'm your assistant, not your sex-bunny."
"That's a shame. There's an entire piece in Playboy magazine on why I was the best fuck in the world. Ask any of the 12 Maxim calendar girls for the year 2014."
"Tony, that is something I didn't need to know" Natasha stated as she moved her tea aside.
"The more you know, you may need that fact to save someone's life one day. Who knows, maybe an intruder would break in and could clone other people. If I ask what year the Maxim models were in the calendar, I will shoot the person with the wrong answer" Tony grinned.
"I'd rather get shot then memorize these stupid details about your life" Clint added.
"I agree. It doesn't make any sense that someone would break into the most heavily armed building filled with AIs, secret defenses you installed, and the Avengers" Bruce further added.
"Maybe. But you never know. Science awaits my return" Tony said quickly and barreled into the elevator. Thankfully Friday kept the elevator at the floor, waiting for him.
"Son of a bitch" Natasha said as she slammed her hands down on the counter.
"What? Stark isn't here anymore" Sam Wilson spoke. It was rare he spoke since he liked watching them attempt to be a family.
"He worked us over like fools. I swear when I get my hands on him" Natasha growled and stood up.
Bruce saw that as his cue to intervene. "Hey, Nat, bad idea. Tony is being Tony, you can get him next time. He won this one fair and square."
"What are you talking about?" Steve asked.
"Tony took the conversation and flipped it onto something else entirely and we didn't even notice him do it."
"He's good at it" Sam commented.
"That he is" Natasha said.
December 25
The rest of the team woke up in the morning on Christmas. They smiled and greeted one another and ate breakfast together at the table. Even Wanda was there, and she seemed in good spirits. Everyone was there but Tony, but that was to be expected. He doesn't wake up before noon if he sleeps that night.
When noon, slowly passed to one, and one became two, and two vanished to three, the Avengers were quickly losing hope. They sat around the living room, watching the television and playing cards or reading books. Everyone's eyes shifted to the elevator, waiting for it to open and Stark to stroll in his typical fashion, delivering some witty comment. But the comment never came as time passed. At six, Steve gave up.
"Let's go ahead and do the presents and dinner. It's clear he doesn't celebrate Christmas" Steve got up and shuffled over to the kitchen, so did everyone else. But to their knowledge, Tony did warn them that he wasn't a take-a-day-off kind of guy.
"So, who do you think is gonna win the basketball game? Lakers are beating the Celtics by 5 at the half" Sam spoke, trying to start a conversation.
"No one here follows basketball besides you and me" Clint said. "And I think the Celtics. They run a good 2-3 zone and can switch to man-on better than any team I've seen."
"Awe man, I was rooting for the Lakers" Sam mockingly pouted.
"Let the better man win" Clint joked, but it only brought out a measly chuckle.
"Hey, Friday, how long has Tony been awake for?" Steve asked suddenly.
"Sir has been awake for the past 46 hours. And before his 1 hour power-nap he was awake for 52 hours. And he was asleep for 3 hours before then. Overall, Sir has been operating on 4 hours of sleep for the last 98 hours."
"Hot damn. How does he do that?" Sam whistled.
"Sir has spent lots of time actively thinking about ideas for projects that it's hard for him to turn it off his thinking. It's like asking a shark to stop swimming. He'd sink if he doesn't stop swimming. Much like a shark, Sir fears of losing an idea by falling asleep, so he makes sure it is recorded and beginning development before he falls asleep. Sleeping has always been a fleeting subject for him to grasp."
"Thanks" Steve said, his face showing him deep in thought.
"What's up Steve?" Wanda asked.
"Do you think he is on a huge science binge right now? Like it might be a long shot, but he has been really focused the last few times we've seen him."
"Possibly. But it's also possible that's his normal behavior" Natasha added.
"Yo, I didn't ask to build a psyche profile of Stark at dinner. Let's just eat and then open some presents. Stark can come tomorrow. Today is Christmas" Clint stated, looking at everyone for an objection.
Tony was busy staring at the cradle in morbid fascination. He watched as the bullet holes healed themselves and how his body glowed orange. Tony suddenly laughed out loud and it caught his bots off guard.
"Oh, sorry guys. Wanda is probably gonna kill me, that's all. Normal day" Tony pulled himself together.
"How long until he is taken off life support in the cradle?" Tony asked.
"It is expected to be at 9:36 pm. May I suggest some sleep Sir? I can monitor the vitals and awake you if the need arises" Friday suggested. She was a little less focused on the monitoring of his health than Jarvis was because she is too engrossed in his ideas to notice, much like him.
"Yeah some sleep is calling my name. I'll be on the cot in the corner, wake me when things are almost complete" Tony stumbled over to the cot, the long hours catching up to him when he finally stopped thinking of equations and running tests.
"m'night Frimm" Tony mumbled as he closed his eyes and was quickly off to sleep.
"SIR!"
"Mmmm, what?" Tony snapped, irked that his first real rest period was interrupted.
"He is waking up" Friday's voice spoke.
"Of course, I'm waking up, you ungrateful little-"
"PIETRO MAXIMOFF is waking up" Friday screamed.
"Wha? Oh" Tony blinked a few times. "Who's Pietro? … HOLY SHIT! Why didn't you tell me so?" Tony scrambled over to the cradle, looking in. Pietro's body seemed to look pretty well, and the orange glow died down so his skin was a healthy color.
"I did sir."
"Very funny. Uh, what do I do?" Tony was thinking of restraints so Speedy Gonzalez doesn't bolt.
"I would recommend stepping back from his face. He will need time to adjust to the fact he isn't dying and that will take some time" Friday pulled up a basic guideline of nurse etiquette. It was a small list covering the basics. Speak softly. Answer all questions. Smile. Be patient.
"Alright. Let's make a giant mess" Tony said as he sat down on his stool, waiting for Pietro to wake up.
December 26
Turns out that Pietro was a very slow riser. Tony got bored so he pulled up some work on his phone. He was going to use the holograms in the lab, but Friday advised against it, stating that Pietro might perceive it as he was running a human experiment on him. So, grudgingly, Tony let go of the holograms and fiddled on his phone.
"Ugh." A low moan echoed around the lab. Tony's ear perked up and he looked around, not noticing anything unusual, he buried his face back into his phone.
"How's Wanda?" the whispered question almost missed by Tony, but his curiosity got the better of him. He peered over into the cradle and saw Pietro begin to slowly move.
"Whoa there, bucko, take it easy. You've been injured pretty badly. Had to result to extreme measures to save you. Rest a bit" Tony smiled softly, mentally reciting the nurse guidelines.
"How long was I out?" Pietro asked. He began to turn his head, but he was strapped to the cradle so he could only turn a little bit.
"Oh, let me get that off you" Tony unstrapped the restraint around his head and Pietro began to move his neck around.
"Where's Wanda?" Pietro asked and Tony noticeably gulped.
"Uh, about that." Pietro's face became one full of fear so Tony had to hastily backtrack. "She's not dead. Or injured. Or kidnapped. Just… it's a complicated subject."
"Uncomplicate it then" Pietro tried to be angry, but he was honestly still so tired. And why was he glowing orange?
"I'm not sure if you are going to believe me or not if I told you… so… Friday, bring up Pietro's certificate, body scans, and have Dum-E bring over the bullets" Stark ordered to the ceiling. Pietro didn't know who Friday was, but he immediately thought of the character Wednesday from the Addams family.
A screen lit up above him so he could easily see it. "What is this?" Pietro asked.
"Your death certificate. Verified and signed by Wanda" Tony spoke softly, it was a touch that Pietro didn't know the man had.
"I… I died?" Pietro asked. "I'm dead. Are you dead too?" Pietro asked.
"Nope. I am very much alive" Stark chuckled a little at the question. Pietro was looking around wildly, looking for a clue as to whether he was alive or dead.
"Sir, his heart rate is elevating. Patient is experiencing a panic attack" the computerized voice spoke. Pietro couldn't see straight, everything spun. He wanted to leave. He tried to grab the restraints but his hands fumbled with the restraint. His heart hit his ribcage with a loud thud with every beat. He heard screams in his ears. Wanda's. Clint's. A little boy's. Nothing made sense.
"Hey, kid. Breathe. Listen to me" Tony coaxed as he moved closer. "Focus on my voice. Concentrate on breathing deeply and even. In and out. In and out. Don't focus on anything else. Just breathe, it'll be alright buddy" Tony listened to the kid's shallow breaths and held out a hand on his shoulder. It was as physical as Tony wanted to get, he knew firsthand how violent people got living in a panic attack. Slowly, the breaths became deeper and less labored and Tony swiped his hand through the hologram, erasing it from existence.
"Still with me kid? I spent a lot of time down here and I don't want it to go to waste. Relax. Everything is a little crazy at the moment. Just… keep an open mind. I'm right here with you" Tony hoped that prepped him for his little speech.
"Pietro, during the battle with Ultron, you jumped in front of aircraft rounds to save a little boy and Clint Barton, who's, by the way this is a big secret, you can't tell anyone. He's a father of 3 little kids. You were shot by Ultron 12 times. 7 of those bullets were lodged into your body, the rest went through your body." Tony held up a petri dish with 7 smashed bullets. They clinked together and Pietro winced slightly. "You died there. On the battlefield. We won, but the cost was high. Wanda herself verified the body as you and multiple doctors declared you dead. That was 5 weeks ago. Wanda was hit very hard by your death, you were all she had. So, in wake of my mistake, I sought to at least rectify some of the transgressions I've made." Tony looked down to see Pietro's confused look. "Mistakes." Pietro nodded for him to continue. "So, I brought your body from Russia to here, and removed the bullets and injected you with a serum called Extremis. That serum was something I played with many years ago on achieving the perfect human being. What it does is accelerate your healing factor and gives you enhanced senses. You'll be hungrier than ever before because it increases your metabolism by hundred-fold. I used it to heal your injuries and then used the cradle, the thing you're in now, to jumpstart your heart. The way I had your body prepped after death created a cryogenic effect on your brain preserving memories. Flash forward to now" Tony summed. He looked around. Not a bad day's work he mused.
"But why isn't Wanda here?" Pietro asked.
"I… she is still upset about Ultron and your death. She thinks I caused it. Which I did create the flashpoint of the events. So, I figured this would be my present to her. A, uh, I'm sorry token. Plus, if she knew what I was trying she would've killed me" Tony chuckled at the end.
"She sure would've. But between you and me, she always thought Ironman was pretty cool" Pietro smiled and softly laughed. Tony's grin was wide and Pietro felt happy for the guy.
"Oh shit. Hey, I need you to limber up. I will go gather some other stuff. Yesterday was Christmas and you were going to be her gift. Now that you are up, let's go deliver presents" Tony turned to look at. "You need to get some clothes on" Tony deadpanned. Pietro looked down and finally noticed he was indeed naked.
"Here, throw these on. They might fit" Tony tossed him a bunch of clothes and Pietro had a hard time choosing between which ones to wear. Pietro undid the restraints and moved his legs for the first time. He groaned and his legs audibly popped as he moved them up and down slowly. The extremis glowed under his skin and he felt much better.
"This is nice" Pietro whispered. With the extremis, he wouldn't feel any muscle fatigue. He hated it when the adrenaline wore off and he would collapse. He felt so useless. Walking around, he noticed that this lab was as big of a mess as he'd seen. But the tech in this room made the mess so… futuristic. And some of the tech moved around and beeped at him. It was crazy to see.
"That's Dum-E, he did the surgery to remove the bullets. He likes a fire extinguisher" Tony said off-handedly as he tried to balance 2 ginormous boxes on top of each other.
Pietro turned to the robot. "Uh, thank you Dum-E. I feel much better now" Pietro said. The robot beeped in response and his head swiveled 360 degrees around its base. Pietro didn't know what to say after that. He didn't know robots could talk, or think.
"He says welcome. It took me awhile to create a working translation of his emotional levels. One of the downsides of a non-talking AI" Tony grabbed a shiny shirt, what looked like chain-mail almost and walked over to the door. Pietro looked at the older man strangely. He wondered just how insane Stark was or how insane the rest of the world was for calling Stark insane.
"You coming or what? You are the biggest present of the evening" Tony looked back at Pietro expectantly. It was a hard look to pull off with all the boxes in his hand but Pietro gave him props for doing it still.
"Yeah." Pietro zoomed into the elevator and knocked over the boxes with his air current he creates. Tony just glared at him and stacked the boxes on the floor. "Asshole" Stark mumbled, Pietro couldn't help but smile at the name.
"So, you want me to hide? Why?" Pietro asked with his arms crossed.
"Cause she might kill you thinking of you as an imposter. And I can't fix that probably. And the extremis can only do so much" Tony looked at Pietro, and it became clear he won the argument. No matter what, Pietro was in Stark's debt, and he'd rather not be in his debt forever.
"Good boy. Guest room over there." He shooed Pietro over to the room and closed the door behind him. "Now, Friday. Get everyone here. I have presents for them" Tony smiled and his eyes glinted in the moonlight.
The Avengers all walked into the main floor living room and glared at Tony. "Hey guys. Presents are here. And before you say it Cap, I don't need presents. I already bought what I wanted."
"That wasn't what I was going to say Tony. It's 7 am in the morning, why are we here?" Steve fixed his gaze onto Tony. But Tony wasn't about to let him ruin his fun.
"I have presents, a day late but it's worth it" Tony motioned for them to sit on the couches. They were halfway tempted to leave and go back to their rooms, but they wanted to appease Tony. He seemed genuinely happy with himself.
Steve sat down in an armchair and waited for the rest to do so as well. Natasha and Bruce sat close together on the couch, while Clint was in the other armchair. Wanda elected to sit next to the fire on the rug. They all looked at him now.
Tony decided with Clint's present first. Increasing order of awesomeness was his gift giving order. Tony thought the best should always be last. "Clint, this box is for you" Tony tossed him a large box and Clint caught it, albeit somewhat shocked by how heavy the box actually was. Clint hesitantly opened it and revealed a new phone and a large metal orb.
"What is it Stark?" Clint asked as he fumbled with the phone.
"Well, that is a new phone. Your wife got one today as well. It's all new gadgets. Monitors health related issues. Delivers messages like a normal phone does. No drop in coverage. Completely secure. Built with its own self growing security system. Meaning the security code constantly builds on itself so it will never be hacked. And it can call anyone on the planet. Just say the name and it'll call them. Video call is also on the phone too. The orb is something much cooler. It's a flying archery target, meant to mimic flight patterns of certain objects. Can mimic a jet, chitauri craft, helicopter. Pretty much any aerial vehicle. It also has a learning program built in on it. Meaning the more you use it, the smarter the orb gets, it can plot flight patterns based on how well your aim responds to situations. Practically indestructible, so go nuts on it." Tony slipped an envelope to Bruce when he thought no one was looking. Bruce nodded this thanks and Tony continued his shuffling amongst the gifts. Tony tossed a package to Natasha. It was a lot lighter than Clint's but still just as large.
She opened it and pulled out a small toy motorcycle. Tony winked mischievously at her and Natasha looked puzzled. "It's a toy Tony" she stated to him.
"But is it a toy. Grab the other thing" Tony pointed in the box. Natasha pulled out a gauntlet that was a sleek black. It contained her widow bites near her wrists and it held various other things. A knife was cut into the gauntlet itself so she had a secret knife. She found that pressing on it with 2 fingers releases the knife. She looked impressed with the design. Very thin and light to carry on her arm, yet extremely durable. "It's excess vibranium from Steve's present. And it also has a built in comms unit so you can always be in touch with us if need be. Just tap the watch portion 3 times to activate the comms. It's connected straight to Friday. And the special blue liquid up at the top is for the motorcycle." Tony's smirk was so wide that Natasha thought he was going to start an evil cackle.
"No way. You didn't?" Natasha asked.
"Yup. Courtesy of the Ant Man stealing my little piece of tech, I was able to scan his suit while he was inside the compound and from that I recreated the Pym particle. "I don't have a suit to keep the body together so don't use it on yourself. Just drop one of those little blue ones on the bike to shrink it and the red balls expand it. I'll contact Pym when you run out. I'm kinda in patent law violation by making that." Tony smiled sheepishly and moved on. He grabbed the shiny shirt and tossed it to Steve.
"I'm tired of you getting shot, so put that under the uniform and you'll be good. Won't limit mobility and capable of withstanding a grenade a point-blank detonation. But if you will feel the pressure of a force higher than that. You won't burn though from explosions. I can't make something for your face unless you want an actual helmet" Tony explained, his hands failing wildly as he talked. Steve felt genuinely happy for him. He looked happy and carefree.
"And now the big present of the day. I need you to promise me Wanda. Do not attempt to kill my present or kill me" Tony looked at her. Same with all the Avengers. This was a big deal if Tony was insuring his own protection.
"What did you do Tony?" Natasha asked. Everyone was looking at him.
"Promise me first. This one requires a big background story on" Tony said. He silently pleaded with Wanda to agree with him.
"Fine, I promise. But I am watching you Stark" Wanda informed him. He rolled his neck, it could've gone worse for him.
"Well, remember Ultron?" Upon seeing the glares, he shook his head. "Bad start. Let's start way farther back. Remember in my file Nat, the little blurb about the Extremis serum. How it's a super soldier serum?" Natasha nodded slowly. "Well, I was playing with that in the lab. When I decided to activate a dead culture. With a live culture of extremis, I started to play with it. Steven over there gave me an idea" Tony's mind was moving too fast for him to talk. It wasn't making much sense for the Avengers. They looked at Steve who looked guilty but they didn't exactly know what he was guilty off. "Well, back to the Ultron thing I said. We lost a good friend that day and we all haven't been sleeping at night that well because of it. I decided to see if I could fix that. A phone call to Russia and the cargo was on its way to the tower. It was pretty beat up, so I had to repair it extensively. I also needed a cradle built to hold the extremis, so I worked on that. NO easy feat since the extremis is very volatile. Much more volatile than your serum Steve when it's not bonded to cells."
"Stark, back on point" Clint said as he was growing bored from the speech. Same with all the Avengers.
"Well, Bruce, Frankenstein's theory was incorrect, you know that, because he didn't factor in a self-healing host and a working power source being the same object" Tony explained and Bruce's eyes went wide.
"Tony. You couldn't" Bruce whispered.
"But I did" Tony smiled a large smile that lit up the room.
"What is this about Tony?" Steve asked. He was ready to leave and the rest were so impatient. They also had no appreciation for science.
"Frankenstein's theorem was a hypothesis on how to cheat death after someone died. It was universally proven wrong by every experiment possible. Until Tony activated the only culture of extremis to exist and implanted that into a host to heal. The host would therefore live if the heart was able to be shocked into beating again" Bruce explained. "So, the numbers in the kitchen you and Friday were talking about. That was the theorem you made."
"Yup. Meaning. The host is technically alive and well" Tony summed. The rest of the Avengers were confused as hell. "This ties in to Wanda based on our last conversation. You blame me for Pietro's death, which I also blame myself for. It was my fault Ultron got out of control. During the autopsy of Pietro's death, I medically preserved his brain so his memories and motor functions would remain intact. I fiddled with the idea of the moral consequence of doing it or not" Tony said softly. He crouched down next to Wanda. "After our, let's call it a conversation. I decided to give it a shot."
Wanda looked at him with glossy eyes. "I don't understand."
"You do sister, you don't want to believe him." Everyone turned to the voice. Standing in the flesh, was none other than Pietro Maximoff.
"Hey Sis."
Pietro was greeted with a bone crushing hug and loud sobbing by his sister. He smiled softly and hugged her right back. He would deny it later, but he cried just as hard as she did.
"I'm not leaving you. Never again" Pietro said as he held Wanda's sobbing form near him. She was a wreck. Seeing your brother die in front of you and then see him walking around, alive, was too much for her to bear.
"I'm sorry" Wanda cried as he grabbed his shirt tightly.
"No, I'm sorry. I was the one who died on you. But I'm here now" Pietro soothed his sister's crying. Wanda quieted down but she was shaking. Pietro held onto her tightly and guided her over to the group.
Bruce and Tony were in the middle of a quiet argument while the rest of the Avengers took in the form of Pietro. Pietro understood the conversation Bruce and Tony were having. Was it ethical? No. Was the result worth it? Pietro would kill anyone who would say no.
Wanda dropped onto the couch with her brother still tight in her arms. Tony gave them a sad smile before waving off Bruce's argument. When Bruce made eye contact with the sight Tony was seeing, he became quiet. For Tony, this was worth it. Even if he couldn't save everyone that way, saving one was all that mattered. Someone was saved.
"You!" Wanda growled. Tony held his hands in the air in a calming gesture.
"Can we just talk this out? I'm sure I can explain everything" Tony backed up slowly.
"You took my brother from his resting place, behind my back, for an experiment! You were the one that killed him in the first place! I hate you!" Wanda screamed at him. Tony wanted to call the suit as Wanda stalked forward to him, but he was frozen in shock just like everyone else in the room.
"I wanted to you to die. I wished for your death every night for the longest of times. I hate you" Wanda whispered.
What she did next surprised everyone. She hugged him. Wanda Maximoff hugged Tony Stark. "Thank you for bringing him back" she cried softly. Tony felt the tears soak into his shirt.
Tony wasn't used to hugs, so it took him a moment before he hugged her back. He smiled and stood there, enjoying the moment. Looking around, he saw the smiling faces of his team. They were proud of him. Pietro was proud of him. That was the moment Tony would look back on for the rest of his life.