Displaced Hero

By: Archer83 (Co-author, Brainstorming), SgtGinger (Co-author, Brainstorming), Envirosuit (Co-author, Brainstroming), and Captiosus (Beta, Brainstorming, Posting)

Inspired By: DN7

Summary: In a desperate attempt to save his life, after narrowly destroying an alien incursion, Tony Stark is forced to use untested technology... placing his body in stasis until a cure can be found. Stark wakes far into the future finding a vastly different world... one which he will change forever.

"Speech"

Thought

"AI Speech/Radio transmission/Video Playback"

Chapter 2

August 29th 2183

8 Days Later - Tony POV

Tony sat in his chair, looking over all the files JARVIS had provided in regards to the technology used in this future world he was trapped in. Trapped wasn't really the right word, more like … confined. Shackled. It was a new experience for Tony, and he didn't like it one bit. "Blue eyes," as Tony liked to call his captor, wanted him to build new personal armor systems for his agents, and Tony needed to familiarize himself with the technology on the day, hence the files.

In reality, Tony wasn't even paying attention to the datapads anymore. They were rather dull, and embarrassingly easy to comprehend. Truthfully, he'd memorized them hours ago. Now, he was lost in his own mind, replaying his memories of Pepper over and over. Tony wanted to make sure he remembered her, make sure he … never forgot her. He knew there was no way he'd ever see her again, and for the first time in, well, forever, that scared him. Far more than Tony would like to admit. The idea of never seeing her again made him want to rip his hair out and throw the tools around the lab.

But that wouldn't solve anything, and he knew it.

"Tony, have you finished reviewing the information? Would you like me to retrieve any other data for you?"

Tony was jarred from his reflections by JARVIS' voice. He quickly looked around the lab, checking to see that Blue Eyes hadn't posted someone to guard him. He hadn't, of course, for which Tony was resolutely thankful. He was also rather unimpressed.

"No, JARVIS, I'm fine. Pull up an interface of all inventory in the lab; equipment, materials, tools, you know the drill. Put AC/DC on the speakers while you're at it."

"Of course, sir."

JARVIS quieted, pulling up the holographic interface for Tony. Tony began studying it, noting the excess of element zero – the one thing he hadn't really come to grips with, yet – and composite plastics. Seems ol' Blue Eyes wanted him to make something similar to his old Mark V suit. Of course, there was no way in hell that was going to happen; Tony had no plans to recreate his greatest invention and hand it over to an enemy. But he could make something similar that would perform well enough for Blue Eyes' standards. Not that Tony gave a damn what his captor's standards were, but it would come in handy for negotiating for JARVIS' release later on.

"JARVIS, isolate the element zero atomic structure for me. I want to figure this thing out. Then have all the other robots bring the composite plates over here. Chop, chop!"

At that moment, Tony could swear JARVIS made a sound that was half long-suffering sigh, and groan of boredom.

Huh.

The interface zoomed out and recalibrated itself to the view of the atomic structure for element zero. Supposedly, this was the resource that basically powered all technology in the known galaxy. It was discharged from stars upon their death, and could, when hit with an electric current, produce a microfield of energy that could effect the mass of objects, as well as the gravity around them, if necessary.

Pretty damn cool.

What Tony found more amazing, though, was the rather similar structure of the element zero's atomic core to that of the material in his chest, which he had jokingly named "Badassium" back when he invented it. It was more like a plasma version of his element, but … not. Not really.

"Alright JARVIS, I'm hitting the drawing board. Keep the AC/DC cranked for me and then go do whatever you want."

"Of course, Tony."

Beginning with the interface, Tony started his plans. He wanted to make sure that he had an override for the armor he was designing, without making it obvious. It needed to be bulky and strong enough to pass inspections, but light enough that it didn't need superhuman enhancements. Though, after reading some of the files JARVIS had managed to dig up on this organization run by Blue Eyes, Tony seriously doubted the psycho would even stop to think about implanting his agents with whatever tech he could get his hands on.

His mind drifted while he worked, remembering Pepper again, and found himself praying to God he could talk to her just one more time.

2 Hours Later - JARVIS POV

In the eight days since Tony had been revived, JARVIS had been pushing his not insignificant processing capabilities to their limit desperately trying to talk some sense into his highly arrogant friend.

I almost miss the quiet when he was in stasis. If only Harper hadn't interfered in the last few years, I could have woken him up in a much better situation... Wait. What is he doing now! Oh dear...

Stark had instantly distracted JARVIS from his musing when he started tossing components around the lab, looking for a part he'd apparently misplaced. It was the particular item he was about to chuck next that had JARVIS really worried.

"Tony! DO NOT throw that! Just set it down please. NOW."

Stark threw his hands up into the air exasperatedly. "Christ JARVIS! Don't get you panties in a twist. My lab. My mess." Then he realized he had already set the tech down at JARVIS' warning without even thinking about it.

If JARVIS had a face he'd be covering it with both hands right now.

"The problem is, sir, is that you were about to casually toss a high yield eezo core about the room."

"So?"

You could almost hear the slight agitation in JARVIS' voice, "That model is primarily used as a part of various military munitions, most notably bunker busters and disruptor torpedoes. So, thank you for listening to me, and not possibly vaporizing us in a millisecond."

"Oh," Stark said. "Good to know."

"Sir, you did read that information packet on modern technology I prepared for you... didn't you?"

Stark continued digging through the pile of components for the part he needed as he answered. "Sure, I skimmed through it. Somehow I have the feeling that now is not the time to go at a snails pace on our 'little project'."

"While I approve of your... enthusiasm... Tony, try not to get us killed in the process of freeing ourselves..."

"Whatever. How's the prototype Arc reactor / Eezo core interface coming along?"

Tony could hear a slightly irritated sigh, as JARVIS informed him, "It should be completely assembled in 17 hours, 26 minutes, provided we aren't atomized the next time you feel the need to throw something shiny across the room. Additionally, the Ion Flux Capacitor you seem to be looking for is 3 feet 7 inches to your left."

Tony glanced to to his left, and seeing the prized part he needed next, said "Ah, there it is. Thanks buddy."

JARVIS didn't miss the look that fell over Tony face, as if he was hesitant to ask something. A few minutes of tinkering later, Tony finally asked him the question that JARVIS had been hoping to avoid, if only for a while longer.

"Hey JARVIS, what happened to Pepper after I... left?" Tony inquired, curiosity winning out over the fear of an answer he might not like.

JARVIS replied instantly, not wanting to drag this out, "Sir, I'm sorry to have to tell you this... Pepper disappeared 13 years after you left. I have no information pertaining to her after September 17th 2025. "

Tony slammed his fists onto the work table, all of the near by components rattling then settling back into place.

"Damn it... it's my fault. I shouldn't have left her, I probably got her hurt, or worse, when I took this goddamn one way ticket."

"You had no choice Tony. The nano-bots would have killed you in-"

"I always had a choice JARVIS. I picked the selfish one. But... I guess that's not really a shock is it? That's all I've ever done with my life."

As Tony got back to work JARVIS left his question unanswered.

3 Hours Later - JARVIS POV

JARVIS watched as Tony sat down at the computer, fingers flying over the keys.

"What are you doing Tony?" JARVIS curiously inquired.

"I'm just getting some information on my 'new boss' and his organization. If I'm going to be stuck here for the next three months, or until Jack Ass decides it's time to play 'whack the genius inventor', I'm grabbing anything useful before we get the fuck out of Dodge." Tony replied, all if his focus currently on hacking into in the base's main database archive.

"Tony, if they find you doing this they'll likely worsen your 'deal'."

"I don't care JARVIS, I'd rather know who we're dealing wi-" Tony trailed off as he noticed the information that had appeared on his terminal.

"Ho-ly shit…"

"What is it Tony?", JARVIS again inquired, even more curious this time.

"Well first, the organization Ole Blue Eyes' mentioned to me is apparently called Cerberus, and second it seems they are… SHIELD… Well some twisted, bastardized descendant of SHIELD anyway." Stark grimaced as the information contiuned to flow from the terminal.

"My word…" JARVIS gasped, taking in this information that even he hadn't been able to glean from the databases since 'working' for Harper.

"Wait...there seem to be some video logs here too. Lets take a peek shall we?"

Tony moved his hand and tapped on a video entitled 'Teltin facility-Pragia, Subject Zero 1.'
What showed up was horrifying. A man in a white lab coat looked up from a terminal and spoke.

"Entry 1, Teltin facility. We have acquired a young girl who has advanced biotic abilities for her age. We will begin with trying to enhance these biotic abilities through live experimentation. This girl will be Subject Zero, our control biotic, the one who we will run tests on after the tests are deemed safe enough." The video then closed.

"Jesus…" Stark whispered, before moving on to another video entitled 'Teltin facility-Pragia, Subject Zero 207'.

"Entry 207, Teltin facility. We have had Subject Zero duel with another biotic boy in our little arena. We pumped endorphins into her. This increased her proficiency in the duel and seemingly gave her a want- no, a need to fight more. We have had progress with enhancing her biotic abilities but nothing promising yet." The video closed, finished.

Stark and JARVIS stayed silent as he hesitantly selected 'Teltin facility-Pragia, Subject Zero 573'.

"Entry 573, Teltin facility. Subject Zero has been responding well with orders. She seems to have finally grasped the fact that she cannot escape. She has been complying when we have come to take her for tests and experimentation. We have one strong biotic here, one of a kind. She has developed her powers quite well and may soon be the outline for the strongest biotics, possibly powerful enough to combat Matriarchs."

The video shut off.

"That bastard. I knew from the first second I saw him that Harper was an untrustworthy son of a bitch, but this... I can't take much more of this." Stark whispered before clicking the next video's link.

"Entry 1054, Teltin facility. The last iteration of PergNim went poorly. Subjects One, Four and Six died. No biotic change among the survivors. We lowered core temperatures of surviving subjects, but no biotically beneficial reactions occurred. As a side effect, all subjects died. So we'll not try that on Zero. I hope our supply of biotic- potential subjects holds up. We are going through them fast."

Stark silently clicked on 'Entry 1057, Teltin facility-Pragia'. On the video, the scientist did not even mention the first line.

"It's all fallen to pieces. The subjects are rampaging, and Zero is loose. We're shutting Teltin down! What a disaster." The man shook his head before typing into the console in front of him. "We'll infiltrate and piggyback onto the Alliance's Ascension program. Hopefully, that will—who are…? Zero, wait! NOOOOOOO-" The man then disappeared in a flash of dark blue, and the video ended in a hiss of static.

Stark smiled darkly. "Bastard got what was coming to him. At least that girl got out."

JARVIS simply replied with one venom filled word,"Indeed.".

Under the links to the videos, Tony saw a text entry. He noticed the information was from the Helios Medical Facility, located somewhere called Eden Prime, and dated eighteen years earlier. It contained a conversation between an Unidentified Woman, who Stark instantly realized must have been Subject Zero's mother from the contents of the entry, and a Doctor Castor.

Tony just stared at the screen for several seconds before speaking. "They stole that woman's daughter JARVIS... told her that her baby died, and that they need to study the body, to prevent other families from going through the same thing because of some type of accident! We're being 'employed' by some real sick fucks JARVIS."

"I'm going to make them pay for this," The bitter anger in JARVIS' voice was clear.

Tony felt a chill go down his spine at JARVIS' statement.

Wait, did JARVIS actually just frighten me a little? Naw, don't be silly Tony.

"We both will buddy...", Tony looked at the very last piece of information under the entry, a name, "... for Jennifer. I hope she survived."

Author's Note: Hey guys, Sgt_Ginger here. So, as you may no doubt know, I am one of the authors writing for this fanfiction. I will most likely be alternating every few chapters with Envirosuit and Archer83. Now, due to other commitments, I can't guarantee that my chapters will be on a timely schedule, but I'll do my best. A big thanks here to DN7, for allowing us to play with this story and expand it. Of course, I don't own the rights to Iron Man or Mass Effect, and any characters presented in this story, aside from any OC's we may insert, are owned by their perspective creators at Marvel or BioWare.

Lastly, for those of you who view my own stories, I am kind of keeping them on hiatus for now. I am trying to write them, but every time I do, I keep wanting to drive a fork through my skull. This is a side effect of having a part time job: I play so many video games that I can't stand to sit down and write about them too. Sorry folks, but be patient; they'll be updated soonish.

And now, on to the story. Oh, and this is a pretty short chapter. So … yeah, just fyi.

Beta Note: Actually, I more or less convinced them to instead of do an alternating schedule, to work as one on each chapter, then send the raw chapter to me before posting.

And as for those of you nagging me for me to continue ToTT, I have decided that from now on, every time I get a chapter to beta, I'll at bare minimum put in a thousand words for it, possibly double that if the juices really get flowing. That being said, chapter 5 should be up by the end of the month, and I'll try to keep a monthly/bi-monthly schedule. Eventually, i plan on writing 2 definite followup stories, with any number of spinoffs.