Last time: Dont trust a ad that sounds too good.
Tony watched Pepper retreat for the night she had a early meeting with the shareholders. Tony on the other hand didnt have to be up till two in the afternoon. He poured a glass himself. "Drink?" He offered the other scientist in the room. The amber liquid burning past his lips but he needed the little extra.
"I dont drink... Cant risk with the other guy." Bruce said, watching Tony. Stark could tell that big green didnt yet relax into the living space fully. He was getting there but he was not there tonight. Good thing he didnt plan to stay here much longer.
"Jarvis, where is the spiderling now?"
"He is in his room repairing his spiderman suit, sir."
"Okay, warn us if he leaves his room." Tony said leaving the alcohol behind and making his way towards the elevator. "What are you waiting big guy. Come." He waved at the other avenger who took a deep breath in.
"You want to poke it dont you." Bruce stated more than asked the question.
"Aww, look at you! You already know me so well, totally my science bro. " Tony entered the lift and Bruce hastily followed him. They both stayed silent as Jarvis took them to the lab. Neither said anything as Tony walked in the work space and neither was said anything when Stark pulled the data he had on a screen, while Banner put on his glasses. They both looked at the information collected from the incident earlier today.
"Peter is from the future." Tony was the first to break the comfortable silence.
"I know." Was Bruce reply.
"You figured it out too." It was another prolonged silence, Tony walking to a fridge, which Bruce firstly assumed was for heat sensitive things. A simple lab fridge. Instead Tony pulled out a box out and offering it to him.
"Raspberries?" A smile danced on his lips as Bruce accepted the offer. Somehow wondering if Tony was training him with positive enforcement.
"We cannot ask him about it." Bruce said popping the red food in his mount.
"Why not?"
"I am sure you know."
"... Something horrible happens to Jarvis. Something that I cannot fix and makes me use Friday."
"I know."
"Well I want to know what. Forgive me for wanting to save my baby."
Bruce bit his lower lip, looking at the screen to avoid to look at Tony. Anyone with eyes could see that Tony cared about the AI as if it was his child. Of course he would want to protect the AI.
"He doesnt trust shield." Stark tried a different route.
"I know."
"It wasnt just him not trusting them like not trusting government, he was looking absolutely terrified to come to shield. He was all but clinging to me while I was at shield taking the tesseract from them. And then again he didnt show or behaved like that to the eye patch. So the old pirate isnt scaring him the same way shield does. I want to know why? What could possible a teen set to such behavior?"
"I know. ... Shield wasnt really trust worthy with the whole phrase two weapons of mass destruction."
"I dont think he knows about that."
"Most likely not, but..." Bruce started, only to have Tony finish his fear.
"But what something like that happened again? And this time it went public. " They shared a look. No Bruce didnt trust shield. He didnt trust anyone. He stopped, that wasnt the truth... he trusted Tony, and kinda trusted the other avengers. He shifted, unsure how it happened, he wasnt easy at giving anyone his trust anymore. Even less this fast. He will try untangling that knot of feelings later.
"What would shield do with a time machine?" Bruce asked.
"Hell if I know. Lock it up? Destroy it? Weaponized it? Use it to kill baby Hitler? But If I put names to the question. Fury would lock it up or make a weapon out of it. Agent Coulson would go for destroying it for being too dangerous..." Tony winced the death of the agent still heavily lying on his mind. He pop several more raspberries in his mount.
"So its clear we keeping it away from their hands. Logical follow up question what would we do with it?"
"Huh?" Tony looked over to where the container was secured in the wall. He knew Bruce was watching it as well.
"... Would you use it hypothetically speaking to never become the Hulk?" Tony asked dead on, turning his eyes on Bruce. Not judging even understating the pain.
"If you asked me just a week ago... I dont think my answer would be anything but yes..." The doctor fidgeted with his shirt button tugging on it nervously. " But... with out the hulk would earth now be invaded and owned by aliens?Loki the ruler? It... it would kill millions... instead of hundreds of peoples whose blood is on Hulks hands now." He took off his glasses and sat down. Tony saw that the doctor was slightly shaking. He was probably thinking about it the moment he figured it out it was a time artifact of sort. It was tempting. Way too tempting. He placed a hand on Bruce shoulder, filling the slight jump at the physical contact. He ignored it keeping his hand firmly in place, giving the man a anchor to now, he distracted him with his own answer to the question.
"I have so many things in my life that I would change. Too many. I wouldnt know where to begin you know? If I were on the right place in the right time on the helcarrier. Even could have been more curios and I would find out about that Pegasus project that brought Loki here. I could have been there and stop him, before he started brainwashing people. Or even before Loki came. Or maybe go earlier fix Afghanistan. Or maybe even earlier when I took over the company, kick someone off, before deals under the table started. Or maybe even before that to save my parents. Or even before that... Dammit I must sound like a sad excuse for a living thing. If I want to change things all the way back to my first word I spoke."
Every word he spoke, he could see the face of people he could save. People that didnt need to suffer but did because he didnt take responsibility or he didnt know, or was too late. It hurt. His own fingers tapping against the glass on his arc reactor the sound and feeling of glass helping him. Yet who was he to change the past that lead to this future? Shouldnt they let the future come? They were avengers not fixers...or?
"And Spiderman? "
Bruce asked, and Tony nodded. Yeah, would spiderman change his own life? He thougth about it.
"... He freaked out because of spiderman merchandise he saw. Not supposed to exist. For now he wants back to the future. On the other hand he didnt bat a eyelash on jumping into the fray and save people. I saw the vids on the internet. He didnt focus on the aliens as much as he was taking care of civilian safety. His nets stopped a lot of rubble of crashing bystanders. Helping people who got stuck in their cars... Question is would he change others lives? "
"Would you change my life, Tony? " Bruce replied in return, it was a fair test question. Put youself in a others shoes to better understand. "If you could, would you change my life? Save me from suffering? Save the people who Hulk killed? Stopping the hulk outs?"
There was a long silence between the two sciences. Each questioning themself.
"Would you do it for me?" Tony returned the question.
Each of them running the scenario in their head. Each trying to figure what is too far. What would they do in such a situation. After several minutes of silence, something felt like it fall in its place. A detail shifting in its right place. Like something clicked in a apparatus.
"I need a drink. " Tony declared yet he didnt move from the spot. "We cant use it."
"We have to pretend we dont know this. Not ask him. Not let anyone know until we send him back. " Banner summed it up for both of them.
"...and if he slips something up, or hints something?"
"We use it as good as we can."
"Ah big guy just admit you are just as eager to keep a suspicious eye on Shield like I am." Tony grinned, and in less then a minute Jarvis was set on task to keep a eye on Shield. To burrow himself deep down and watch them. To inform Tony about anything that was fishy or even a f of fishy.
"What do you think of the data?" Bruce asked Tony, pointing to the data of the slight time jump the gem performed.
"Well duh, obliviously the readings made only sense when the start and the end events are combined. If watched just from one moment it felts like we have a camera just from one side when the object is 3D. As well it work in a small radius around the thing. Seeing how it took you with it even if you didnt touch the spider kid. Yet I was left behind stuck to my machines. How does it lock on, is a question."
"Or why it activates." Banner started to type using the data to input a simulation. Stark leaned over and started working to speed it up.
"We should make a reading while its in down time." Stark spoke and with that Dummy went to fetch it. Surprisingly nothing happened as the stone in the container was idly staying there. They removed it and put it to the measurements. The readings they got were absolutely boring. It will help later on the way. A hour later from when they removed the gem they returned it to the safety container.
"We could set up tests and probe it with different radiations and see what happens."
"And how should we see what had happened when it happened?" Tony frowned his mind racing to solve the problem. "Maybe a robot AI to hold the stone..."
"Sir, I must inform you that the gem just vanished. No power build up was detected. For tent of a seconds the gem was shining."
Another silence.
"Did...did we do that? Delayed activation, maybe?" Bruce carefully asked. Because they did took measurements but the stone didnt do anything out of ordinary. Now that it was placed back in place it just straight up vanish?
"um... It will come back. Right?"
"Uh-huh"
They waited. Busying by going over what they did had of data. Two hours later and no stone, Bruce went out for the night, Stark did as well. Jarvis left to keep the watch while Stark slipped beside Pepper. Hoping when he wake up he will see the gem back. He didnt want to do explanations on why they sneaked up some tests behind the spiders back.
AN: Ola~, I need a a few OC preferable agents of SHIELD people or hydra sleeper agents. If you are interesting pm me or post in review. Thanks for reading ^^ If you have any suggestion or comments well everyone likes to read reviews