Disclaimer: I do not own the original canon nor am I making any profit from writing this piece. All works are accredited to their original authors, performers, and producers while this piece is mine. No copyright infringement is intended. I acknowledge that all views and opinions expressed herein are merely my interpretations of the characters and situations found within the original canon and may not reflect the views and opinions of the original author(s), producer(s), and/or other people.

Warnings: This story may contain material that is not suitable for all audiences and may offend some readers. Specifically, this piece includes attempted self-harm and the same towards another person. Please utilize understanding of personal sensitivities before and while reading.

Author's Note(s): More Jenny Rhodes! For those playing the home game, this scene takes place during the gap in Iron Jizz between Chapter 4: Gorgets and Chapter 5: Whiffle. Also, UMass is the nickname for University of Massachusetts whose Boston campus is roughly fifteen minutes away from MIT and apparently has a kickass Psychology program.

Final note, I've been working with several characterization headcanons as I do these different Tony-centric ficlets, but this time I think I need to say this explicitly because it's important to the events seen in here. Tony is, in my mind, autistic but undiagnosed, for various reasons, primarily Howard's pride and the accelerated path Tony took through his education. Those who care for him typically just adapt to whatever quirks this cause. The reaction displayed herein does not seem logical, which is where this particular headcanon fits in: it's not logical and that's the point. Meltdowns aren't logical or deliberate. They just are, kind of like seizures, and for the same reason.

Fem Power Challenge Information:
Fill Number: 09
Representation(s): Jennette "Jenny" Rhodes
Bonus Challenge(s): Not A Lamp
Word Count: 1796 (Story Only); xx (Story & Epigraph)

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Hummingbird
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"Trust your instinct to the end, though you can render no reason."
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Jenny had known since first meeting the kid, that Tony didn't like people in his space. He defended whatever little territory he created in an area with all the bluster of an overgrown hummingbird. It was an interesting thing to watch for the simple fact that Tony tended to not care about much that would aggravate a normal person but something that didn't bother others seemed to be a huge deal worth hours of ranting or worry. Of course, the fact that normal wasn't something applicable to the kid was also something she had known since first meeting him.

So she expected defensiveness when she arrived at Tony's apartment just off the MIT campus the Saturday before classes started. She hadn't expected Tony to open the door wrapped in a blanket like some kind of Fifth Century nun. The moment she recognized the blanket as one of Jamie's, she knew that she had made the right decision, not just in choosing UMass but also in not waiting until the end of the first week of classes to announce her presence in Boston.

"Jenny?" Tony asked in a wondrous tone. Then his expression crumpled. He dropped the blanket, reaching for her with both hands. "Did something happen? Is it Rhodey? Mama? It's Rhodey, isn't it? That's why you're here. Something's happened and he's—"

He dropped his hands to his side as he straightened. Like a mask sliding in place, the expression of panicked grief smoothed out to leave a blankness that made her gut fill with ice. Beyond even the feeling of wrongness at seeing the kid who was normally as animated as a hummingbird looking stiff and robotic, a sense of impending doom bore down upon her like the world on Atlas.

Jenny wasn't stupid, regardless of what her brothers both seemed to think. Anyone with eyes could see that Jamie was half in love with Tony, even if they doubted Tony's ability to be consistent in returning that affection. She was surprised that there were people who seemed to legitimately believe that Tony Stark had no heart while claiming to have met him. She had heard whispers the last few days, even on the UMass campus across town from MIT, of Tony getting into fights or deliberately setting his 'bodyguard' onto people. (Like anything could convince Jamie into acting like a mindless attack dog; that commission he fought for had more purpose than getting his ass in the air.) They spoke of her idiot brothers like they were something like avenging angels or wrathful demons instead of, well, a pair of idiots who couldn't be trusted to their own devices.

Watching the sharp determination Tony used as he backed up a few steps before twisting completely away, she could believe it all. He marched deeper into the apartment. Concerned, Jenny followed, only pausing long enough to close the door and scoop up the pilfered blanket. He was already typing into a computer when she found him again. His hands were flying too fast for her to follow what he was typing.

But the blankness remained.

So did the silence.

"Tony?" She tried to pitch it so that it would pull him from whatever zone he had just fallen into, but he didn't so much as twitch. Tony didn't like people in his space, but maybe she should try touching him? The feeling of foreboding was only growing with every keystroke. How the hell could the midget even type that fast? "Hey, squirt, I need you to look at me. Can you do that?"

Still no response—but the screen in front of Tony had dialogue channels that looked suspiciously like they shouldn't be accessed by seventeen-year-olds, genii or otherwise. Jenny could imagine trying to explain why she didn't stop this to a bunch of generic government lackeys before being turned over to Mama. Maybe it would be like the story Tony told of hacking the Pentagon a couple years before he met Jamie? Any way it went, Tony didn't need to continue thinking something was wrong with Jamie when there wasn't.

Especially since he wasn't acting like the kid who took apart electronics out of boredom or who whined but still followed Jamie around the neighborhood doing fix-it chores. This wasn't even the quiet solemness he displayed while talking to Mrs. Nguyen about her time in the camp or the echoing pain he always reflected when Mr. Katz spoke of trains and suitcases. Jenny was certain that she had never seen Tony like—

The memory of Tony jumping in when a couple of thugs had started hassling Jamie hit hard and fast with the recognition. Short as he still was, at fourteen, Tony had been even smaller, waifish even. Jamie hadn't needed help; it wasn't anything he wasn't used to, being an honor student determined to join the Air Force in their neighborhood. Tony still put himself in front of Jamie as a physical shield while drawing the focus of their tempers to him. It had been cute at the time, watching the little guy acting so tough when he was usually just brash and flash. But the look in his eye—focused and determined and desperate—was close to what she was seeing now.

Jenny had to get through to him before he did something stupid.

"Hey, Tony," she called softy, hovering just out of arm's reach—hers, not Tony's, because she had noticed that as well. The kid had a habit of being hypervigilant about anyone larger than him (and she had a good half a foot on him still) in his immediate vicinity. "Hey, little bug, what are you?"

"I'm a genius," Tony replied by rote. It wasn't much, but his fingers slowed to a stop. She counted that as a victory. It didn't feel like much of one when she realized Tony was shaking as he turned towards her. His expression, now a look of uncertain hope flickering into something raw like grief, felt like a knife. That had nothing to do with Jamie. When he spoke, his tone was a bit jagged, like he had swallowed broken glass. "You've never called me that before. That's—that's not what you call me. I'm not your little bug. I'm your squirt. Or just 'the kid'. I'm not—I don't want you to call me that. It's not yours. It's not yours!"

He was gesturing wildly as he voiced his complaint, threatening to pitch himself off his chair. As if noticing the threat, he ran his fingers through his hair several times before dragging his palms down his face. When his nails left light pink lines behind, Jenny knew she had to interfere, even though she also knew it was going to make him freak out worse than he already was. She couldn't just let him hurt himself. Even if she could have forgiven herself, Jamie never would have.

The flinch Tony made when her hands wrapped around his wrists knocked his side into his desk. He grunted from the impact even as he tried yanking himself free. She steeled herself against the desperate whine he made when the attempt failed. Then she had to arch backwards to escape his lunge for her face with his still-restrained hands. His eyes were wild and oddly unfocused as if he was only half aware of his surroundings. If she had to describe the kid at that exact moment, she would be hard-pressed to use any word other than feral.

Screw bird analogies. Jamie was absolutely spot on with koala. Adorable until ferocious was very apt.

Tony didn't show any of his shrewdly accurate even on the fly tactics in his attacks. It was just mindless rage. Holding his hands like she was seemed to be exacerbating whatever was happening, but she didn't see how she could just let him go either. He kept trying to turn his attacks onto himself between wordless screams directed at her face. Regardless of any other considerations, her resolve to not let Tony hurt himself remained firm.

Some storms could only be waited out.

Given enough time, even the most destructive ones faded.

Whatever this was, it was not an exception to that. It took time, longer than she would have guessed anyone could have maintained that level of energy, but eventually, Tony did calm. He was disturbingly quiet, but it wasn't the same blank silence as before the—whatever it was, because really, she had no word and it didn't seem fair to call it something like a fit when it didn't seem voluntary. When he started the shudder-flinch thing he did whenever he wanted comfort but didn't know how to go about it, Jenny didn't even think about tucking him under her chin like she had seen Jamie do more than once.

"You back with me, squirt?" She felt the tensing of his body against hers. Careful to keep the strokes firm the way that Tony preferred, Jenny rubbed his back. "Okay, so first off, you need to know that Jamie's fine. Everyone is fine. No one is hurt. I'm here because I'm going to UMass this term and wanted to surprise you. Nothing more amiss than you moping about Jamie shipping out."

"Na' mopin'," Tony denied. The words were kind of mushy, like he didn't have the energy to speak more clearly. He pressed his face into her collarbone. Dumb genius probably thought he was hiding. She pressed a kiss to the air above his forehead, unable to do more due to the angle. "Not."

"Whatever you say, squirt," Jenny agreed.

She squeezed him tightly for a moment, knowing that he preferred his hugs on the stronger side if they involved both arms. True to form, Tony relaxed into the hold. Occasionally, he would shiver again yet he never acted like he wanted to move away, so she gave no indication that it was required. Even if Jenny was starting to suspect that Tony could do with a decent meal and at least a nap, she wasn't going to push him away if he was willing to accept being held by someone other than Jamie. The kid had enough trouble surrounding affection as it was. She wasn't going to add to it.

On a whim, Jenny pressed a palm to the space between his shoulder blades and used her fingers to tap out the rhythmic pattern for Tony's go-to song for when he was worried. She would never get over the fact that she knew Iron Man well enough to do that naturally. She didn't even like rock. She only knew it so well because of Tony's obsession with it.

Ugh. The things she did for these idiots. Brothers were such bothers.

Even the little bird-like ones.

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An Ending
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