A/N: Covers Iron Man 1 & 2. Movie events are slightly altered. The first Movie is mostly Death's POV with some Tony thrown in. The second Movie is a mix of POV's so please be aware of this.

Warnings for language, angst, mentions of torture, character death, violence of various sorts.

Thoughts in Italics

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Death often spends long stretches of time just observing the many life forms around her. Watches them come into being, and leave in a various multitude of ways. Everything from peacefully surrounded by one's family, to complex torture, devastating bloody war, disease, famine and so many others. Normally such comings and goings of fleeting mortal being's lives did not bother the entity. The end of their lives were just another step in the ever rejuvenating circle of life, as dictated by the Primal Source of Creation. The Source was not a god or an immortal, as many beings mistook it for, but the formless matter that birthed the many universes. All powers wielded by the gods come from the Source but only Primal gods can manipulate the Source. This is also why a god's power returns to the Creation Source after their death, until another is chosen to replace that fallen god. Not even the Primals know why or how a replacement is chosen by the Creation Source. The balance or flow of the Source is very delicate, and should it be disrupted it could destroy existence. This is why the Primal Gods guard any information about the Source viciously. It is unknown what created the Source, but the Primals instinctively know the Source as their point of life. Without it they, nor anything else, would exist.

Observing these varied continuous cycles on millions of worlds, Death did little to interfere in the long eons she has held her godly position. However, Death had promised to watch over the mortals precious to Harry's heart, and a promise from such a creature as herself was no light boon. There are few rules a Primal being like Death had to follow. Some, like this one, could be bent so long as it wasn't constantly abused. Others could not be broken, ever. Punishment meant the end of one's own privileged immortal existence, with another chosen to replace the fallen god. The giving of one's sworn word was one such rule that could not be broken, thusly, these deeply binding promises are very rarely given to anyone. One of many reasons the gods take such bitter offense at mortals breaking their promises.

Being one of the Primal Gods of Creation; Death is very well aware of these unspoken rules, and has seen many countless gods both major and minor rise and fall throughout time primarily because of disregard of these unbreakable rules. Over reaching their bounds is another common one, along with hubris. There are nine Primals in total, each Death became familiar with over time, since their various Domains overlap frequently. Many of the Primals were genderless, like Death, while others locked themselves into a preferred form. Magic, for example, had chosen to remain female many millions of years ago. Destiny is another Primal God that Death was closely familiar with. Though Destiny was reclusive, concerned with little else outside of the Threads of Fate, and the Tapestry Loom those threads were woven on. Rarely did Destiny interact with other Primals, never mind any of the mortal lives woven into that endless tapestry. While it is within Death's vast power know the beginning and ending hours of life for each soul in existence, Destiny knew their lives, intimately; from first breath to last wheeze. Including all the Gods alike. Death actively avoided the creepy god whenever possible outside of a work capacity. It was hardly a loss in the conversation department, and Destiny never seemed to notice.

Since Harry's transformation, Death often wondered where the former Wizard would fall into the Immortal Ranking of the many, many gods. Having created the little godling, instead of him being born to replace an already Fading God, Death had little idea what to expect. Death suspected that judging the little one based on his power now was pointless, Harry was still just a babe coming into his abilities. Death firmly believed that Harry's power would grow, expand and bloom well into his first few millennia. Until then, the young god first needed to learn the basics of what he could do. Only time and experience would eventually answer most of Death's questions concerning the former mortal. After the spectacular failure with Thanos, Death was enthusiastic that this experiment would come along much better. After all, the Deathly Hollows were created specifically to seek out the one Death needed to be successful in this endeavor. A true companion of the heart.

Three items carefully chosen and painstakingly gathered up over time. Bathed in Death's Primal blood and heavily enchanted to their purpose, nearly giving them life and mind of their own. The skin of a fallen god was treated and sewn into the coveted cloak of invisibility; a sliver of the Yggdrasil World Tree meticulously crafted into the famed Elder wand; and the Resurrection Stone. Death's pride and joy of the three. A shard of the deadly Infinity Stone, known more commonly as the Soul Gem. Purposely shattered by Death to keep its devastating power out of the hands of the insane Titan Thanos. The madman claimed his many campaigns of mass enslavement and genocide across multiple universes were courting gifts to his beloved Death, but the ancient being was not enamored of them in the least. The Titan utterly failed to comprehend the importance of universal balance. The Primal god was deeply disgusted by the Titan's obsession with obliterating life wherever he found it. Unfortunately, for some reason, Death was unable to kill the beast. So the god was stuck returning to the Titan's side again and again to keep an eye on the monster's where abouts and doings. Which Thanos, deep in his own power mad delusions, took as romantic interest and approval, no matter what Death said to the contrary. The vile creature only took it as the Primal god playing coy, and so the situation remained unresolved. It was a pleasant bonus to be so fond of the little Valkyrie Prince. That is why Death continues with the plans for transformation despite the situation with the Titan.

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In the meantime Death remains near to the little blue planet upon which the young godling had made his home. Keeping a close eye on Harry and his two companions in cryo sleep as they move across the human solar system in their little shuttle ship. Death also keeps an eye on the Valkyrie people who remained on Earth. Watching events unfold with increasing amusement after Harry's departure from the planet's surface. Poor Alice's anguish was not particularly entertaining to the being, but Death was appreciative of the skilled work and precise thought the Valkyrie Prince had put into his getaway scheme. Harry's adoptive human parents, with the help of Valkyrie Medical staff and Police, believed the elaborate robbery ruse wholeheartedly. Both grieving and hopeful of a better outcome for their son in equal turns.

Meanwhile Harry's as of yet unclaimed mate was the most interesting development of the lot. One very colorful and stubborn mortal man by the name of Tony Stark, finally got over his own sense of hurt ego and made his way to England. Death felt no pity for the man, if Harry truly had been lying broken on that hospital bed, the entity felt Stark deserved a bit of sorrow over lost chances. The god was not pleased with Tony's past snub of Harry, regardless of the circumstance or reasons. In spite of her personal feelings on the matter, it was Stark she was most concerned about watching over. The human had a tendency to be careless and reckless with his personal safety. Completely oblivious at this point in time to the impact his injury or death would have on Harry. Acting on a hunch, the god places a tracking and monitoring spell on the man, privately hoping to not need to use them, but suspecting otherwise. Death's intuitive concern about the incautious mortal is validated not long after Harry was deeply entrenched in cryo sleep.

The first time Death is called to Stark's side, the human is traveling in a hot unforgiving desert terrain the humans had named Afghanistan. The entity materializes into chaos and wreckage by the human's side, carefully Death remains invisible to human perception as the deity assess the situation. Death looks around and finds a ruin of scorched and twisted metal husks that at one time appear to have been a line of military vehicles. The breeze was foul with the scents of burnt flesh, blood, gunpowder and overheated metal. Luckily Death didn't require breathing, because the sand kicked up by the violent conflict is thick in the afternoon air, making it difficult to see very far. On the ground around them there were American soldier corpses in the destruction, but Death was not interested in them. By the very nature of Death's powers, she instinctively knew that these lives were meant to end now as events were unfolding. T

heir souls would return to the in between place until they were properly sorted to wherever their next step is to be. For them, the pain was done, this life cycle is at its completion. Kneeling down in the hot sand Death considers the still form of one Tony Stark, who is easily recognizable without an American military uniform, wearing his usual business suit. Sighing softly, Death closely examines the damage done to the unconscious man's chest, frowning with unease at the large amount of dark blood that spreads over the white dress shirt like some kind of morbid flower. The man is oblivious in his unconscious state, so the entity reaches out to lightly touch the bloody wound, ignoring the continued rifle fire and shouts that echo around them. Releasing a gentle burst of power through the mortal's body in an effort to better determine the actual damage below what is apparent on the surface. Death grimaces in immense displeasure at the numerous pieces of shrapnel in dangerous proximity to Tony's, thankfully, still beating heart. Acting swiftly, because it would not take much for the mortal to pass into the next realm in his present state, Death quickly traps the soul into the mortal's body. Preventing it from leaving until Death could figure out some way to repair the damage done internally. Healing was not the Primal god's strong point on the best of days, this would be a challenge Death wasn't quite sure it could overcome. The best Death can do is lock Stark in the land of the living for a while, bandage him up, and find a mortal healer to do the rest.

Hearing foreign voices growing closer than before, the being looks up to observe as a scruffy group of armed natives searched through the wreckage and bodies. Before Death could decide what to do with the situation one of them spots Stark and calls to his companions, converging over the prone man. Death bit her bottom lip in reservation as she watches them. She can not so blatantly interfere with what fated happenings were purposely planned and woven by Destiny. This series of events reeks of the weaver's special flavor of magic. The other Deity has a vested interest in this situation in regards to this place and time, though Death is uncertain what it can be at the moment. Sighing in resignation, Death reluctantly observes as they gather the billionaire as well as the stolen supplies they found. Retreating with prisoner and spoils to the complex network of hidden natural desert caves embedded into the rocky hillsides they are using as a base of operations. The entire rough journey Death stays by Stark's side, watching in frustration as they nearly drop the helpless man more than once in the long winding walk back. Diligently monitoring Stark's delicate condition until the other humans search out a doctor to treat him. If the Primal god had left Stark to his own devices, the mortal would have died on the battered stretcher before ever reaching the caves.

After several long minutes of impatiently waiting, a couple of the men come back. They push and prod a tired and dirty man towards the wounded billionaire. Looking this new person over carefully, Death notes that this doctor the natives brought in appears to be a prisoner as much as Stark. Though dirty, clearly underfed and covered in scrapes and bruises, the man's hands were steady as they gently peel back Stark's bloodied shirt to examine the damage. The wounds are still bleeding sluggishly, but it is the internal damage and the shrapnel the Elder God is most concerned about. How will the mortal even know, if he cannot see it? He will require hospital equipment to asses Stark's health. The conditions inside the cave room are decidedly filthy, and the doctor is very limited in what tools he can find or convince his guards to search out. Death grimly leans over to observe this Yinsen's rough bloody work on Stark's body, curious what the mortal could do with the wounds considering the deplorable situation. The Deity watches with an unhappy frown as Stark's chest is opened up, causing more damage, blood loss, and a near guarantee for infection. When the god sees the old car battery she doesn't realize what it is for right away. The car battery is carefully attached to the magnets already placed inside the chest cavity and Death has to stop herself from doing something irrational in retaliation. Seeing that it is preventing the remaining shrapnel from piercing Stark's heart calms the being just a little. Regardless of the other worldly creature's misgivings and disgust with the situation, the method, though hideously crude, is indisputably working.

During the gruesome process of opening up the chest cavity, Stark begins to stir , and Death suddenly realizes that before this process started the Doctor did not use anesthetic to keep him unconscious. Swiftly the being moves to Stark's head and making sure no one else in the room but Stark can see, Death shifts its features in an effort to calm or distract the man from what is going on around him. The last thing the mortal needed to do was flail around and cause himself even more damage at this delicate and critical point of the surgery. Death takes on an illusion of Harry's appearance as she reaches out to gently stroke the man's hair and his cheek, murmuring softly in comfort. Tony's eyes are dilated and shift wildly, leaving only a thin ring of dark blue to be seen, his face twisted in fear, confusion and pain. Luckily, Stark does not appear to be aware enough to comprehend his situation and is easily entranced. When he finally focuses enough to see Harry's face, the blue eyes never leave it during the short period of time he remains awake.

Thankfully it does not last very long, one of the guards sees Stark's eyes are open and covers the mortal's nose and mouth with a Chloroform soaked rag. Death watches critically as the mortal's eyes roll back into his skull, slipping into insensibility once more. Within a few breaths, Stark is deeply unconscious once again. The doctor, Yinsen, does not seem to hear Stark's muffled slurred words to Harry, and the guard obviously didn't care. After a time Death glances over her shoulder and discovers that Yinsen has finished connecting the battery and begins to clean up the grizzly chest wound as best he can with the supplies on hand. Frowning, Death lays a cold hand of her own lightly over the still open partially open wound, calling upon a weak and rarely used portion of her power. She could not heal the man of his injuries, but she could do a few little things to protect him in other ways. Destiny's weave allowed for this at least. Gently Death eases her power into the mortal's battered body, using it to soothe the heat and pain of the injury. Then sets up an invisible, thin barrier to ward off infection and sepsis. In a place this rustic and dirty as the cave system, dying from shock and illness is a large possibility.

Seeing that there was nothing else the entity could do to help Stark without interfering too much in the balance of things, Death caresses his cheek one last time and steps away, fading from the world, but still keeping a close eye on the mortal. Stark would survive his wound, though not without cost. Death would linger close by in case she was needed again while Stark was trapped in captivity by the locals. The situation was extremely volatile, plus Stark had a smart mouth even at the best of times, and a severely skewed sense of self preservation. The mortal's soul was still locked into his body, so that would give him an edge he would not have otherwise had. Short of his body being completely destroyed, or bleeding out dry, Stark would live where others would perish. Even with these actions, Death was pushing the boundaries of what she could safely interfere with within Destiny's weave.

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Death notes with wry amusement that upon waking, Stark handles the situation with his usual bullheadedness, and defiance. Wholly unsurprising to the being closely watching over events. Unfortunately for the arrogant mortal, his captors have little patience for the man's attitude and promptly introduce Stark to a large unfriendly water tub. Still, Stark's stubbornness holds out for several days of rough treatment and waterboarding before the billionaire reigned in his sarcastic tongue and started to use his brain. Death had been starting to wonder if the man was purposely trying to get himself shot and die in those sandy caves. Talking with Yinsen appeared to help mellow Stark's attitude from outright rebellion to covert manipulations of his captors. Smart, considering Death was pretty sure the natives were reaching the end of their rather short patience. Terrorists weren't known for their forgiving natures and sense of humor after all.

Death did have to admit however, that when the man put his mind to something, the genius was immensely resourceful and creative. Stark knew how to manipulate and deceive well when he actually wanted to employ the skill set. Death observes with growing exasperation and amusement the way Tony and Yinsen build a means of defense and escape directly under their captor's noses. A giant metal suit of armor, of all things. Well, the man was well known for coming out of left field with some of his ideas. Death muses silently as she watches the slow but steady progression of the crude, clunky suit. Usually these ideas were turned into weapons to be sold through Stark Industries, so the Primal god wasn't surprised that Stark chose a weapon as his means of escape. There were plenty of parts lying around to be used after all, but the format the weapon took was certainly something unseen before here on Earth. It was rather clever, what the human could come up with using a pile of piecemeal parts and scrap metal. Death watches in curious fascination as Tony creates the miniature version of an arc reactor to replace the use of the battery he had to lug around to do anything. Placing the reactor within his own chest cavity with barely a blink, both ridding himself of the cumbersome car battery and now having a source of power for the metal suit they were constructing.

In their final rushed bid for freedom however, their carefully constructed plan quickly unravels. The mortal Yinsen passes into Death's realm before he can reach the desert sunlight. Pleased with the mortal for helping Stark as he had, the entity halts the spirit's journey briefly and allows the man's soul to linger long enough to watch Stark's escape and the subsequent rescue by the American military. Death laughs softly under her breath as Stark took the time to thoroughly annihilate everything in his path before taking to the air in the strange armor. The mortal had a vindictive streak a mile wide and then some. In this at least, he was a good match for Harry, who was more often than not, too sweet and forgiving when he should not be. Not to say that Harry couldn't be just as vicious, only that it took much to rouse the Valkyrie to such a state.

When Stark is safely in the protective arms of his friend Colonel James Rhodes, Death feels comfortable enough to move on to other tasks that had thus far been ignored while Stark was threatened. Death turns to the mortal soul lingering beside her in content silence, observing the destructive events unfolding. Death inclines her head to the spirit in respectful acknowledgement before using her power to send Yinsen's soul on its way to whatever version of torment or paradise awaited it after judgement. Death then returned to its own normal duties, content that Tony is safe enough for now in the hands of his friends and the medical doctors of his own people. However, as a paranoid precaution, Death leaves the mortal's soul locked with the fleshy body. She had a hunch this was only the beginning of Destiny's meddling. Rarely did the other Primal god pay such specific attention to one mortal, but the flavor of Destiny's magic was only growing stronger with time. Indicating much more was to come, and that somehow, Tony Stark and the events that took place here in this forsaken place were a significant piece of it.

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When Tony returns back home in the states, Yinsen's words are still ringing in his ears along with the faint phantom echoes of screams and gunfire. After feeding himself a few much missed Burger King cheeseburgers, Tony took Yinsen's words to heart and went about changing his life with a ruthless determination usually reserved only for his binge projects in the lab. One of the first things Tony did was totally shut down and dismantle the weapons department within Stark Industries, loudly and publicly in a media conference. Regardless of the waves of displeasure it caused in the people around him and the ugly argument it sparked with Rhodey, Tony refused to change his mind.

In the days following his homecoming Tony has to ruthlessly suppress an instinctive response to flinch at loud noises. Vivid nightmares left him with too little sleep and even less tolerance for daily stupidity than normal. He was drawn and haggard, consuming enough coffee to take down an elephant just to keep functioning throughout the day. When he was finally left alone long enough Tony immediately used Jarvis to launch an investigation into where the stolen weapons had disappeared from within Stark Industries. Tony was certain that someone, somewhere knew what was going on. While the search was constantly running in the background, Tony began plans for a new upgraded version of the suit that had saved his life. Since Stark Industries was responsible for the misplaced weapons, Tony was hell bent on cleaning up the mess. Even if it meant he needed to personally hunt down each and every single weapons cache he could find and destroy them by himself.

Thank God for Pepper's experience for running interference because of Tony's sometimes less than stellar personality. He was too busy, too focused on his personal mission to bother with the rest of the demanding world outside his door. At first he got away with not leaving the house. Using the excuses of settling back in and recovery, but they didn't last long. Truth was, Tony was half convinced he'd be shot walking out his front door. But mostly, he just could not be bothered with the pettiness, the flashing lights and pointless drama he used to so enjoy drowning himself in. None of it was important any longer, not since Afghanistan. Not since Yinsen. Not since Tony Stark was forced to stare at a twisted reflection of himself and his life in a metaphorical mirror, and was horrified at what he saw looking back.

When Tony eventually and with reluctance forces himself out into the public, or risk publicly losing face he could not afford at this juncture, Pepper sticks by his side. Tony could not begin to express the gratitude he felt at that show of loyalty after everything in recent months. The situation brought them closer together, and Tony began to notice Pepper in a new light. However, he was far from the collected persona he portrayed to everyone around him. And very far off from seriously considering anything new with anyone, never mind acting on his idle musings on the attractive and fiery woman. Constantly Tony found himself battling the ugly paranoia that reared its head concerning the people around him. Despite his attempts to push the persistent feeling away Tony was all too aware of the truth of the matter. The terrorist group calling itself the Ten Rings had gotten a hold of Tony's weapons somehow, and it certainly wasn't from Tony himself. But that did not mean that someone within his company wasn't dealing under the table behind his back. Someone that knew him well enough to either soothe any suspicions he might have had, or utterly distract him. There were only a small handful of such people.

If there was one person that Tony was instinctively unconcerned about, it was Miss. Pepper Potts. The woman was scary efficient in her own right. She was merciless and vicious in the boardroom, and Lord help anyone that was dumb enough to enter any sort of negotiations with her. But this sort of double dealing wasn't normally on her moral compass. The only other being he trusted without question at this point was Jarvis, whom Tony had built and coded with his own hands. Everyone else fleshy was suspect, which left Tony twitchy even on one of his good days. What Tony feared most coming up in his covert investigations with Jarvis were Stane's and Rhodey's names. Tony was not a religious man by nature, but he found himself praying in the privacy of his own mind that their names aren't flagged in any way.

When Christine Everhart approaches him at a charity function, angry and self-righteous, shoving a news article in his face about Yinsen's home village being annihilated by the Ten Rings using more Stark weaponry, Tony is livid. When Tony learns from Obadiah Stane's own mouth that his long time family friend was the one betraying him Tony finds himself adrift, uncertain how to react at first, beyond his own personal sense of pain, loss, and rage. Quickly though he regains hold of himself and shoves his personal emotions aside. Swiftly leaving the charity event with Pepper in tow, he sets about getting Stane arrested and oust from Stark Industries as fast as possible. Overwhelmed by his swirling mess of emotions, Tony was not in his best frame of mind to deal with the downward spiraling situation at hand.

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The second time Death is summoned to Tony Stark's side after the billionaire was supposed to be safely returned to his home in the States, the being is admittedly a little irritated. Bypassing the technological security systems put in place in the tower without effort, Death appeared in a black curling swirl of foul smelling miasma, an unconscious manifestation of the entity's displeasure. Not that the mortal could even see the spectacle to appreciate it. Looking around the entity frowns at the silence in the workshop it had been summoned too. Seeing no threats, or Stark immediately in view, Death closes her eyes. Reaching within, she uses her power to feel out the room, quickly and easily picking out the mortal's soul signature across the room on the floor behind a metal work table.

Opening black eyes, the being swiftly moves over to the unconscious man, kneeling down to lightly touch Stark's shoulder. Pushing her senses out to evaluate the state of the unconscious mortal. The brunette is still alive, but barely, Stark's heart struggling against whatever strange paralysis holds him. Pushing the man over onto his back Death quickly notices the lack of the arc reactor in the mortal's chest. Gritting her teeth and swearing softly under her breath, Death gathers up power and grabs forcefully onto Tony's soul preventing it from slipping away from the fleshy body. It was already locked into the mortal, but the extra measure made the Primal God feel better.

The rough whir of metal rolling on metal catches the god's attention. Death looks up to see the robot Stark called Dum-E holding out a glass box to the unresponsive man in a rather useless attempt at assistance. Seeing the original arc reactor encased in glass, ironically labeled as Tony's heart, Death swiftly knocks it out of the robot's grasp with a sharp aggressive gesture. The noise of glass shattering caused by her actions captures the attention of the AI, Jarvis. There were no cameras in a position to see her move Stark's body before, but the AI could certainly hear well enough.

"Hello? Is anybody there? How did you get in? I cannot see you, reveal yourself at once!" Death ignores the agitated British voice, knowing the AI system would be a useless distraction at this point.

Tuning out the increasing demanding and aggressive AI along with the distressed beeping of Dum-E, Death picks up the original reactor from the shattered remains of the case. Making sure there is no glass before carefully attaching the wires together and locking the reactor into place with a soft click. The agitated AI system falls silent in the background, as does Dum-E. Tensely Death waits, watching as the lights flicker to life in the reactor after a long moment.

Standing up when Tony begins to stir, Death steps back, slowly releasing her hold on Stark's soul. Watching as the man's blue eyes opened Death fades away, task complete for now. Death would prevent Stark's entrance into her realm as best as it was able. But the entity hopes that Harry returns swiftly, because with Stark's poor luck recently, Death was uncertain she would be able to shield the mortal much longer without it being noticed by Destiny, whose influence around the human was growing stronger every day.

Already this second interference might lead to questions if Stark looked too closely. Or if Jarvis, the AI guardian brings certain inconsistencies to Stark's attention about his miraculous recovery from the brink of destruction. Though Death would not be seen on any camera unless it chose to be, the arc reactor floating in mid-air and reconnecting itself to Stark's chest would likely be alarming. It was a sure bet that the AI recorded the entire encounter from what angles it could. Death was fairly certain nothing of her actions had been seen, but with Stark, you never knew if there was some kind of unseen tech around. Regardless of the poor quality, Jarvis seemed intelligent enough to have done so. Death resigns herself to keeping an even closer eye on the mortal. It would not break this promise to Harry. As Harry's future mate, Stark was not an acceptable loss, for any reason.

Death watched intently as Tony battled the betrayer Stane, hovered close whenever the mortal was in peril, prepared to intervene once more if given no other choice to preserve the human. Stark proved determined and resilient however, despite being out powered by Stane's grotesque version of Stark's suit, both with weaponry and the mini arc reactor running it. Regardless of being outclassed and outmaneuvered time and again, Stark manages to buy enough time for Pepper to blow the larger reactor under their glass rooftop battle ground, defeating Stane and his metal monstrosity.

Afterwards things finally seem to settle down, Destiny's power seems to retreat into background for now, though it does not totally leave. Death finally feels comfortable enough to leave Stark to his own devices to return to her own eternal duties for the time being. Death should have known the relative peace would not last. Stark was forever in trouble it appeared.

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Meeting Phil Coulson, agent extraordinaire of SHIELD is a brief experience that Tony quickly forgets in light of the other events surrounding the large televised press conference where he blatantly reveals himself to be Iron Man. Tony didn't see the need to hide himself behind false cue cards for the likes of Christine Everhart to mock and drag his name through the mud. Tony was rather fed up with both her, and her usually nasty articles. He had nothing to be ashamed of when it came to the Iron Man suit, nor his actions in using it. Tony had saved thousands of lives by getting rid of Stane and his blasphemous version of the suit, whether directly or indirectly. He refused to let the likes of that smug harpy Everhart continue to ride her superior high horse, as though Tony were a dung beetle beneath her tacky faux Gucci heels. Whoever her stylist was needed to be fired, desperately. Those shoes were ugly monstrosities and clashed with the business professional style she was trying to pull off. Pepper wore it a million times better, and with more comfortable ease.

Death takes curious note of the meeting between the two players with deep amusement, pleasantly surprised with the turn of events. Chuckling softly to herself, the being settles in to enjoy what it anticipates to be a entertaining conference. Though to be truthful, Death hadn't been to one yet where Tony didn't make it worth observing. The mortal was fantastic at showmanship if nothing else. Stark knew how to grab attention and keep the audience avidly watching him. She was beginning to understand why Harry was so enraptured with the human the more time the god spent in the genius's presence. On the surface the two seemed to be a poor match. Both headstrong and stubborn, both having widely differing ways of dealing with the world and its problems around them. But Death was beginning to see where one would balance the other man out. Where they would feed into each other, where they would soothe and calm one another as no one else could. Death thought Harry's inner Valkyrie might have chosen very well for itself. Time would reveal all in the end.

Coulson himself is a bit less than enthused about his first encounter with the famed Tony Stark, for various reasons both professional and private. The man's interactions with the very polite and professional Miss. Potts are more in line of what he was expecting from the billionaire. While Coulson found Stark as a human being entertaining and challenging, as a SHIELD agent he found Tony to be a pain in the ass. The man seemed to have a subconscious talent for making things more difficult than they needed to be for the people around him. What was so difficult about reading the perfectly prepared alibi from the cue cards? Apparently everything. Phil was uncertain if Stark's stubborn insistence to make his own statements was just a move to pander to the genius's own ego, if the man simply refused to conform to Fury's wishes, or if the billionaire had other presently unknown motives for his actions. Which ever option it was, Stark had just made life both for himself and SHIELD more difficult and interesting for everyone involved. The Director was not going to be pleased.

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With Stane gone, and Rhodey in the clear for dealing weapons, Tony begins to settle down into his new role as Iron Man. While the public hotly debates from one extreme to another about the suit and Tony's use of it, the billionaire quietly boarded his private plane for a visit to British soil. It was not easy, making sure Pepper stays busy enough to not notice his absence for a week or so. Tony wanted to get out from under all the scrutiny for a while, having unpleasantly realized his taste for being the dramatic center of attention wasn't as fun and fulfilling as it used to be.

He desperately missed Harry. With the other man the world just fell away, stopped at the front door and Tony could relax in a way he'd only ever felt in Harry's presence. He felt regretful that he had not contacted Alice before now. Aside from a phone call to reassure her that he was alive, Tony had not had much time to make arrangements to see Harry since he'd come home from Afghanistan. The Stane situation in California had kept his attention away from where he really wanted to be for too long. Ducking Pepper was a mixture of dodging her constant demands for Stark Industries and being uncomfortable discussing Harry with her.

Tony felt torn about the two of them and was having a hard time dealing with his burgeoning romantic feelings for the woman when his heart still wholly belonged to the emerald eyed man. He floundered emotionally, lost on what to do with the situation. Harry may very well never wake up, was his best friend above all others, the past lonely years aside. Pepper was one of his best friends too, was here and available and able to reciprocate his feelings. He strongly suspected she already did. Logic and loyalty were pulling the man into two very different directions.

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Tony's private plane landed on the Heathrow runway late into the British night, but Alice had thoughtfully sent a town car and driver out to meet him at the airport. He missed much of the drive through London's nightlife because he was busy tapping away on his personalized Stark tech phone that he had created for himself. It had a direct line to everything connected to Jarvis in addition to having all the normal functions of a regular high end cell phone. He could talk to Jarvis, pull up any of his projects, even bring up multiple hologram screens and use Jarvis to remotely hack other electronics with ease. It was his own personal little new toy and he was currently in love with it.

He's brought it along for a reason other than his own personal enjoyment however. Tony had figured out that Alice had cameras watching the room in which Harry was kept. Tony planned on having Jarvis hack into the computer system they were being run on and monitor the other man as well. Tony could not visit as often as he wanted too as it was, and he had a suspicion that he was only going to become more busy with the Iron Man suit and the backlash it was beginning to cause in certain political circles.

Never mind the hell is was dodging the SHIELD agents that popped up absolutely everywhere. Like he wasn't going to notice being followed around all the time by strangers, or that the same faces keep appearing in his peripheral vision. He didn't want those nosy bats anywhere near Harry, that was just too close and too personal. Tony would not tolerate it. So Tony had carefully made sure to lose his babysitters before getting on his flight. Tony smirked to himself as he mentally pictured the fit they would have when they realized he was gone. It wasn't like he didn't have a cover, he went on a personal trip, location undisclosed. He wished them luck in trying to find him when he did not wish to be found. He did know how to lay low, he just rarely felt the need to do so in the past.

Arriving at the Sinclair home, Tony gathered his bags and was quietly let into the house by the driver. Quickly Tony dropped his bags off in the room he used when visiting before, then slipped down the dark hallway to Harry's private room. Now, when everyone was sleeping was the perfect time for Jarvis to work his technological magic, the footage of Tony's interference would easily be erased afterwards. Carefully opening the bedroom door Tony peeked inside, seeing the room is empty he silently slides inside, closing the door behind him as he went. Pulling the chair from the corner over to the bed to sit beside Harry, Tony settles himself down into it and brings up Jarvis on the cell phone. " Alright Jarvis, show Daddy what awesome things you can do."

A heartbeat later a holo screen popped up with coding scrolling across the monitor, showing Tony what Jarvis was doing as the AI went to work. Tony grinned to himself as he watched, immensely pleased. "Jarvis you dirty boy, don't you know it's not nice to flip a girl's skirts? I thought I taught you better."

"The world would be in shambles if I followed your stellar examples on proper behavior, Sir." Jarvies replied scathingly, causing Tony to muffle a bark of laughter in response. "Yea...probably."

Tony falls silent as he turns his attention to watching Harry. With the room nearly dark and the house so quiet, for a few moments Tony could pretending that Harry was just sleeping. The illusion does not last however, when Jarvis interrupts his little fantasy. "Download of program is complete, I can see him through the cameras now."

Tony nods, lightly tapping a couple things on the holo screen and closing it down. "Good Jarvis, just monitor and record for now. I'm going to spend some time with him before going to bed."

"Yes Sir." the AI said, subdued. Putting the phone in his pocket Tony reaches out his hand to gently weave his fingers through Harry's cool ones. In silence he sits beside him for the rest of the night, eventually falling asleep in the chair.

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Alice shook Tony gently awake in the morning offering him breakfast and tea while the nurse does her morning check on Harry. Groggily Tony got to his feet and followed the petite woman downstairs to eat, more interested in the tea than the food, truth be told. But he politely eats what is offered to him without complaint, Alice was one of the few older society woman that Tony enjoyed being around. The woman was intelligent and purposeful rather than gossipy and scheming like many others he had met in the past.

Just as they were finishing their meal, the plates being cleared away, Dr. Blake arrived at the house to speak with Alice concerning her son's prolonged condition. Instead of sending Tony out of the room as a non-family member, she requested he stay, grasping his arm tightly in apprehension. Doctor Blake gently tried to have them sit down as he told them that Harry had not made the progress they had hoped he would. While Harry was not declining in health, he was not likely to wake from his coma any time soon. He had passed the point where his waking up was an realistic hope. Biting a trembling lip as she fought off tears, Alice dug her fingers into Tony's arm, though he felt them only distantly, adrift in his own sense of disbelief and loss. Since Alice seemed unable to respond to the Doctor's words, Tony forces his own feelings aside. "There is nothing that can be done? No drugs or therapies that can wake him?"

Blake shakes his head in regret. "No, there isn't. Harry must wake on his own, or not at all at this point. To try and force him to wake could have severe effects to his mind or physical health. It is possible it would kill him entirely depending on his reactions to the attempts." Despite barely holding herself together Alice politely escorts Doctor Blake to the door when he is ready to leave, swiftly excusing herself go to her room to grieve. Tony is silent throughout it all, unable to force himself to participate further. Deeply numb inside, he slowly gathers himself to his feet and goes to see Harry, not knowing what else to do with himself. He's done in depth research into Harry's doctors and knew Alice was paying for the best available, if Blake said Harry was unlikely to wake, then there was nothing Tony could do about it. No amount of money, or genius could fix this.

Tony stood beside the bed, gazing down at the man he realized he was in love with too late, and felt his heart break completely. There was no coming back from this, there was no miracle recovery, no happily ever after. Harry was forever out of his reach. Tony was too late. Harry would never know how sorry he was about the time spent apart, Harry would never hear his confessions. Harry would never open his eyes.

Blinking rapidly in distress, Tony only then realizes how shallow and rapid his breathing has gotten. Stumbling towards the chair kept in the room for visitors he falls into it, vision fading in and out as he struggles with his panic attack. For a long time Tony cannot seem to get enough air into his lungs, the world felt as if it were falling out from under his feet, though he knew logically that was impossible. He was sitting down, and had not moved. Eventually his ears pick up Jarvis's voice calling to him from the cell phone in his pocket, trying to walk him through the breathing exercises they used when he'd had attacks in the past. Slowly Tony calms his breathing and his heart rate until they are something approaching normal. He lifts his gaze from the floor to Harry once more, shivering from time to time in his seat.

There was no future with Harry. He needed to accept that. He needed to try and move forward despite this devastation. Harry was the last person on earth who would want Tony to stall his life, waiting for something that was a near impossibility. Letting out a long breath Tony gets shakily to his feet, walking back over to the bed and leaning over to kiss Harry lightly on the mouth, then the forehead before pulling away. Again he reminded himself that there was no going forward with Harry at his side, there was only this. Only what was right in front of him.

Tony turns away and leaves the room, unable to accept it just yet, unwilling to let go just now. But he knew, eventually, with a little time and distance, he would learn too.

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Approximately six months later, after his devastating visit to England Tony found himself at opening night of the Stark Expo in Flushings, New York, standing backstage and staring down at a blinking meter that coldly reads - Blood Toxicity nineteen percent. Tony survived his ordeals in Afghanistan, survived Stane's traitorous double dealing and homicidal attempts on his and Pepper's lives. Only for the very thing keeping him alive to turn around and slowly destroy him from the inside out. Palladium poisoning was a slow, ugly way to die if Tony cannot somehow find an alternative. Sighing softly to himself Tony tucked the meter back into his pocket and turned his attention back to his performance for the crowd, ignoring his father's voice droning on in the background as the iconic video clip played.

Years after the man's death and Howard Stark still had Tony grinding his teeth in rage at even the mention of his name. Time had not softened Tony's feelings towards his late father, or his deplorable actions towards his only son. Tony forcefully pushes the wandering thoughts away, refusing to let himself get worked up over it. Straightening his expensive suit and gathering his thoughts, the billionaire prepared himself to wow the thousands gathered for this huge event. Forcing a smile onto his lips, Tony steps back out onto the stage to greet the wild and enthusiastically cheering people.

Death watches silent and invisible from the sidelines, a fierce scowl twisting her pale features. Not at the human Tony Stark in particular, but at the softly glowing device in his chest that was supposed to be the mortal's saving grace, and was now instead slowly poisoning him. Because of this Stark was constantly pinging Death metaphysical radar, and until the situation was somehow fixed, he would continue to do so. Unfortunately Death was at a loss at what to do to remedy the problem, the Death god's healing magic was very basic at best, and the mortal was already doing everything in his considerable power to search out a solution himself. The best Death could do is trail after the mortal and hope something changed for the better, as it was though, Death was worried it will have to confront a very upset Harry upon his return to Earth. Stark's state of health would only deteriorate faster with each use of the Iron Man suit, and the mortal was too stubborn to put the tech aside. Just hovering about watching, being nearly useless, rather pissed the god off. The mortal was constantly a thorn in Death side, this needed to be remedied as swiftly as possible.

As Stark showboats around with the Iron Man suit flouting every rule and regulation as he pleased with Death trailing behind, the god contemplated long and hard about what to do. There were a few options open to the god, but these choices would so fundamentally change who and what Stark was, that Death was not sure if enough of the man would survive for it to have been worth it in the end. It is entirely possible that Tony Stark would cease to exist and something or someone else would have taken his place in the same body. The human that Harry knew and loved would no longer be there. If the mortal man was to be bonded to Harry, a Valkyrie and a God in his own right, Stark could not remain a mere mortal. Changing Stark utterly however, even to save his fragile life was not the answer, Harry would never forgive such a transgression.

Death was aware though, that however reluctant the divine being might be to pursue this path, Harry's happiness was at stake. Valkyrie mated for life, and a life without a mated partner was hell for one of that race. It would be even more so considering Harry was now a Godling, both blessed and cursed with long immortal life span. Death found herself regularly cursing Destiny under her breath. What the hell was the other Primal god trying to accomplish with this newest curveball anyhow? The entire mess left Death uncertain if steps should be taken or not without Harry permission, or the mortal's knowledge. What was Destiny aiming for? Did the Primal god want to corner Death into performing such drastic actions? Or was Death's promise to Harry not accounted for in Destiny's weave, just an outlying factor to a pre-planned fate involving one Tony Stark? Too many questions and not nearly enough answers for Death to be confidant about any move she could make right now. Time was quickly going to run out, Harry was not available to ask and Stark was completely clueless to the hidden movements of other players around him. Still Death is hesitant, stalling the decision as long as possible. Very bad things have happened before because a foolish god messed with a mortal's place in life without proper consent and preparation. Death had learned the hard way with the pitiful, but dangerously mad monster Thanos.

Following Stark around in this frame of time was not always as tedious as it sounded. There were many times Death found the mortal to be highly entertaining, even while simultaneously wanting to strangle him with her own skeletal hands. The conference in Washington D.C. concerning who the Iron Man suit properly belonged to for example, was one of the being's favorite instances. While highly amusing, the man was only causing more future problems for himself with the way he handled speaking to the politicians. There were other times however, that were not amusing in the least, when the entity barely refrained from murdering the cocky mortal herself. Each and every time Stark gave Pepper that look, the one that should have been reserved only for Harry. When Stark had made the woman CEO of Stark Industries, the Death god had had to leave the man's lab before the being did something regrettable that could not be undone, to either one of them.

While Death was willing to admit that Pepper was certainly capable of doing the job position well, the entity was furious at Stark for giving away something so close to his heart to that viper of a female of all people. Once marginally calmed from her fury, Death had to remind herself that Stark had no knowledge of Harry's true state of health, and thus had chosen the next most logical option to continue keeping Stark Industries in good standing. The mortal was being realistic, Stark knew full well the chances of him finding a cure for the Palladium poisoning in his system shrunk everyday. The human was only making sure that his affairs were in the best possible order he could manage with the limited information he had. Pepper was intensely disliked by Death for her actions against Harry, but the woman excelled at her job, and would move the company forward in the direction Stark wanted it to move. It was an intelligent business move on Stark's part, even if Death did not like it personally, and thought Stark was tying up his emotions into it, into her, more than he should be.

Death returned to Stark's side once the god's anger cooled enough to not commit homicide, to find the billionaire boxing his friend and sometimes driver Happy Hogan for sport. Snorting softly in exasperation and settling down to watch the match, the three are shortly interrupted by Pepper with what seemed like an eternal pile of paperwork and a new woman with darker red hair than Pepper's own. Rolling her eyes in mild disgust at Stark's blatant perusal of the admittedly attractive new woman, the god barely resists the impulse to smack the mortal on the back of the head. Interestingly enough, Death watched as the woman noted Stark's interest, and subtly dismissed it. Neither telling the billionaire to back off, or showing any return interest beyond a mild curiosity. Death soon found herself snorting in laughter when the seemingly delicate wisp of a girl took Hogan down in the boxing ring hard like a sack of potatoes without much effort only a few minutes later, not even breaking a sweat on her pretty skin. Death understood Stark's interest and excitement, the woman was interesting. There was something about the new redhead that was familiar, but Death was not interested enough to bother following her around to learn more about her. Keeping an eye on Stark's swiftly declining health took precedence to Death's own idle curiosity.

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By the time they reached Monaco for the Grand Prix, Stark's toxicity levels had reached fifty three percent and the wear was beginning to show in Stark's health and demeanor. Death was growing increasingly concerned about the state of the mortal mental health as well as his physical. The billionaire was beginning to show alarming signs of deep depression in conjunction with suicidal carelessness of his own personal safety. Stark's encounter with the same slimy Justin Hammer from the D.C. conference, with Christine Everhart on his arm sends the man scurrying out of the restaurant. Having missed the conversation between them, Death doesn't know what possesses Stark to displace the professional driver from his sponsored racecar and take the wheel himself, but the entity is livid. Ivan Vanko's appearance on the race track only further enrages, and worries the god. Death was doing the best it could to keep the mortal alive for Harry's return and the stupid human was doing everything to the circumvent the god's attempts short of slicing his own wrists open. Death would never get used to the many ways mortal beings spiralled out of control when faced with irrefutable proof of their own transience.

Death watched, sidelined and helpless as Vanko used his electric whips to slice off the front nose of Stark's car, sending it flying end over end across the Stark survives the car wreck, pulling himself from the debris. With Vanko menacingly advancing on Stark, Death is briefly distracted by the roar of a car engine startlingly close by as a black car bursts through the fence separating racers from the spectators and slams into Vanko. Ramming the heavily tattooed man into another part of the fence and away from the prone form of Stark on the ground. Death darts over to check on their attacker, hoping the man was killed instantly, but unfortunately finding the mortal still alive. Hearing Happy Hogan and a clearly hysterical Pepper arguing with a stubbornly dallying Stark, Death looks over Ivan, spotting what appeared to be a replica arc reactor attached to a chest harness, powering his weapons of choice. Pursing her lips in dismay Death steps back, severely limited in what actions she could take in situations like this. Destiny's magic was heavy and cloying in the air around them, further frustrating the Death God. Already the god was treading a very dangerous line with her protection of Stark. Vanko quickly regains his breath enough after a few moments to begin attacking the car pinning him down. Slicing it slowly into pieces as Pepper uselessly screeches in sheer terror and flails pointlessly around, ignoring a desperate Stark begging her to toss him the suitcase Iron Man suit so he could actually do something. Happy Hogan meanwhile, is dodging Vanko's attacks the best he can with a busted up vehicle, he would not last much longer if something did not change soon.

When Stark finally manages to get a frenzied Pepper's attention long enough to get the armor from her, he immediately puts it on, turning to launch a vicious attack on Vanko. Ignoring the other two mortals as inconsequential, Death sticks close to the combatants, observing closely to be sure Stark came through this battle alive, flinching each time Vanko got a good hit in. When the Russian manages to toss Stark around like a rag-doll, Death prepares herself to step in, hoping an appearance would not cause too much terror in the populace. Fully prepared to accept the consequences such blatant public interference would bring down upon herself. Thankfully interference is not needed, Stark puts Vanko down for the count, crushing the arc reactor powering Vanko's harness in one metal hand, expression thoroughly pissed. The suit is torn up and badly damaged, but Stark is alive and relatively unharmed. Ivan Vanko is dragged away unresisting by the local police to be incarcerated, laughing his ass off like a lunatic.

Later, after being patched by the medic and cleaned up, Stark goes to visit Vanko where he was being held by the French Police. There, they learn of Anton Vanko, and Tony's father Howard's involvement with the Russian man so long ago in their effort to create the original, larger version, of the arc reactor. Rather put off by the Russian's demeanor, and uneasy with the man's knowledge of the Palladium poisoning him, Tony leaves, making a mental note to look further into the insane man's claims.

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Unbeknownst to Tony, while he was trying to talk Pepper into vacationing with him somewhere around the world, Ivan Vanko was broken out of prison by Stark's long time business rival Justin Hammer. The Hammer Tech CEO was seeking to use the Russian criminal's knowledge and hatred of Tony to utterly embarrass the billionaire at the year long Stark Expo. The man had some pathetic wet dream of being able to knock Tony Stark from his dominant place in the business world and placing himself there instead. Convincing Ivan Vanko seemed easy enough to Justin, not realizing just how dangerous the calculating man in his company was, or understanding how intelligent Ivan was under his rough exterior. Intelligent enough to play Justin Hammer for the fool he truly was, and use the CEO of Hammer Tech for his own personal vendetta against the famous Man of Iron. It would take time for his plans to bloom into fruition, and Ivan would need to keep Justin Hammer oblivious to his machinations, but that was easy enough. Hammer was blind to anything aside from his own personal ambitions and delusions of grandeur for the time being.

Back in Malibu California Tony was busy looking up this Anton Vanko who was supposed to have dealings with the late Howard Stark. To Tony's dismay, Jarvis find ample proof that Anton Vanko did in fact at one point work with his father, and was deported because of suspicions of selling classified information to the Soviets. Rhodey interrupts his dark thoughts on the matter when he enters the lab, trying to coax Tony into going upstairs and handling the rapidly escalating situation involving his Iron Man tech and the military government. Stark says nothing at first, letting Rhodey vent his frustrations before turning to just look at him in exhaustion. Quickly picking up on the fact that Tony is not acting like himself, Rhodey asks him if he is alright. Clumsily Tony gets up from his seat and stumbles over to one of the tables with Rhodey's help, proceeding to switch out the corroded Palladium core in his chest reactor with a new one. Casually playing off Rhodey's horror at the state of the removed Palladium piece, until Rhodey asks about the dark lines on tony's neck. Swiftly changing the subject, not wanting to elaborate, and knowing that Rhodey would draw his own conclusions anyhow Tony asks about something that has been on his mind for a while now. "Do you think we would have made it this far?"

James blinks, pulled from his thoughts on the questionable marks on Tony's neck "Who?"

"Harry and I. If things had worked out..would we have made it you think?" Tony's turns to regard Rhodey curiously, a faint smile touching his lips.

James crosses his arms over his chest, leaning back against the desk as he considered the questions seriously for a few moments "I don't know, I would like to think so. Many things would have been different over the years though, if Harry had been here. I don't think you would be where you are now. But who knows, maybe things would be the same. He always was right beside you getting into just as much trouble before. Why do you ask?"

Stark leans back in his chair, blue eyes staring off into the distance, as though looking at something Rhodey cannot see. "I miss him Rhodey. That fight was so stupid, it didn't really matter in the long run. I don't know why I never called him, I should have. Now he's gone. They said he isn't going to wake up, did you know?" He refocuses his gaze back on his friend.

Slowly Rhodey nods, brown eyes sad. "Yea...Alice told me when I went to see him. I'm sorry Tony."

Dismissively Tony waves him off. Not wanting Rhodey to see just how deeply upset he was about the entire situation. "It doesn't matter I guess. I don't think either of us is going to be around as long as we thought we were."

Rhodes straightens immediately, frowning in alarm at the words. "What are you saying Tony?"

Tony shakes his head, flashing him a dim parody of his usual cocky smile, "Nothing...I'm just in a terrible mood. Harry's gone, Pepper is pissed at me, you're pissed at me. That psycho tried to kill me, and the government is contemplating storming my house. It's been a shitty few days Rhodey." He finishes tiredly.

Unwilling to let up now that he suspects there is more to Tony's actions and motivations of late, Rhodey pursues the question again. "There's more you're not telling me isn't there?"

"Nothing that matters." Tony tries to reassure his long time friend, with limited results.

"Why don't I believe you?" Rhodes responds with a tired sigh, reluctantly letting go of the matter only because James knew he would not be able to drag more out of Tony unless the other man was willing to let it be done.

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The next time Tony sees Rhodey is at Stark's disaster of a birthday party. Encouraged by the sneaky Miss Rushman to do as he wished, Stark got thoroughly drunk and took the Iron Man suit out to play, much to the delight of his party goers. Death wanted to dropped the red headed minx off a high mountain for her careless words. Unfortunately, Tony's reckless actions only further pissed Pepper and Rhodey off. Eventually sparking a down and dirty physical fight between himself and Rhodey in a second suit the man snagged from the lab, that nearly destroyed the entirety on the Malibu mansion. By the time they were done, it was a miracle the house did not fall down around their ears. Rhodey left with the second Iron Man suit, and Tony was left with a killer hangover.

The next morning, as Tony was slowly working his way through a box of donuts, he was met by Nick Fury. After reluctantly coming down from his perch to meet with the one eyed man, Tony learns that Miss Natalie Rushman is in fact Natasha Romanoff, a SHIELD shadow that was assigned to keep an eye on him. After a less than pleasant conversation about Tony's father and Howard's past history with SHIELD and the arc reactor, Fury leaves Tony in Phil Coulson's capable hands to work on finding out what it was he was missing in his research for a Palladium replacement. With a few well placed threats involving a taser and Supernanny from Coulson, Stark gets down to business going through the cases of his father's things that Fury had left behind in the house for him. Finding nothing to help him in his search he starts playing the old videos, on the off chance some information was recorded instead of written down. What he finds instead is a half assed recording of his father calling Tony is greatest creation, which does little beyond piss him off further with the dead man.

Fed up with being cooped up, Tony slips his guards and goes to visit Pepper in the office, buying a box of strawberries along the way, having a vague recollection of her mentioning them at one point in a conversation. They were her favorite, or something? He didn't really remember, but hey, what woman doesn't like strawberries? They were romantic! Apparently Pepper, who turns out to be deathly allergic to them and still deeply angry with him. He tries to tell her about the state of his health, and explain some of his outlandish actions of late, but he stumbles over his words repeatedly. Until Pepper cuts him off completely in her impatience and tells him to leave. Too angry with the man for the time being to see his distress as anything other than more attempts at excuses to pass off responsibility for his behavior, she storms out of the office to continue her work cleaning up Tony's most recent media nightmare. Frustrated, Tony throws away the strawberries as he heads out the door only to pause when he catches sight of the model to one side. Tilting his head at it curiously he frowns, then blue eyes widen as his mind sparks with an idea. Grabbing the pieces of the model he tucks it into his car, taking it back to the Malibu mansion for a closer look with Jarvis. After picking it to pieces layer by layer, he discovers what it was Howard was hiding. A new element. One that would completely supersede Palladium.

Excited by the possibilities Tony quickly goes about ripping apart the remains of the house to make room for himself to properly synthesize this new element for his arc reactor. Coulson briefly stepping into the lab at one point to let Tony know that he was leaving for New Mexico for a while, some incident there pulling him away from keeping an eye on Stark. Once the pieces were put together, and Tony was sure the specifications were correct, he had Jarvis light it up.

Death, seeing this as a likely last opportunity gathered her own power to combine with that of this new element Stark was creating. When the bright blue laser hit the triangular piece of metal Stark was charging, Death reached out to place her own hand on the piece, letting loose her own power into the new core. This reactor would not fail Stark, the god would make sure of it, with this new element able to boost Death own power in combination with it, the god could heal the damage already done to Stark's body by the Palladium and perhaps more. Playing with unrestrained, unfocused power had a way of forging its own path, but perhaps this was what exactly was needed in the long run. It was not long thereafter Stark had a glowing new core for the reactor.

Just in time, somehow Ivan Vanko had gotten a hold of Tony's private phone number and placed a call to the billionaire to call him out at the Stark Expo. If Tony did not show up, Ivan was going to attack the helpless innocent people there instead. Swiftly making up his mind despite Jarvis' protests about untested tech, Tony dons the Iron Man suit once more, flying out with intent to stop his new threat. Landing on the Expo stage in the middle of Justin Hammer's presentation, Stark attempts to warn Rhodey, but in his lingering anger with Tony, the man does not listen until it is too late. Within just a few seconds the second Iron Man suit, and the drones littering the stage have been remotely taken over by Vanko through the installed Hammer tech. Targeting Tony, Rhodey manages to get out a warning in time for Iron Man to lead the hostiles drones outside, away from the civilians. The battle is long and hard, but with Natasha's help from the Hammer building they manage to get the suit back under Rhodey's control just in time to finish the battle with the drones side by side. When Vanko shows up in his own version of the suit, the two quickly find themselves to be over matched. In a last ditch effort on both their parts, they each aim a repulsor blast at one another, releasing the pulse simultaneously, violently blasting the three over them away from one another. Tony and Rhodey are battered, but alive, while Vanko, taking the brunt of the blast in the face and chest is down for the count.

Taking a breath, thinking the battle done, Tony barely refrains from swearing when all the downed drone light up with a red blinking light, beeping in a countdown fashion that immediate puts Tony on edge. Thinking swiftly, his first thought is of Pepper, knowing she is likely somewhere involved in the management or cleanup of this mess and thus directly in harm's way. Quickly taking to the air, he has Jarvis pinpoint her for him before swooping down to pluck her from the pavement just as the drones begin exploding everywhere, dropping the both of them safely on top of a building a safe distance from the explosions. Pepper, terrified and still angry begins yelling at Tony, threatening to quit. Seeing no other way to silence her, and since he can seem to get himself to speak to the woman to properly express himself, Tony just leans over to kiss her. It worked rather well in shutting her up, but Tony finds as he pulls away, that while he enjoyed the kiss, and wanted another one, a large part of him felt like he was betraying Harry. Tony pushes the feeling away firmly. Reminding himself sternly that he was not betraying anyone, he hadn't been with Harry in years, and was never going to be again. So the feeling was completely ridiculous. Thankfully, Rhodey broke the moment before it could get any more Twilight Zone-Esque for Tony.

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A couple of months after the spectacular events of the Stark Expo in New York, things have settled into relative peace in Tony's life. Rhodey and Tony were on good speaking terms again, though they still did not get to see one another as often as they would have liked. The relationship between Pepper and Tony was slowly but steadily growing, and the arc reactor was no longer poisoning him. With the new Arc technology he had a new and very profitable venture in the clean energy race.

The only rainy cloud on the horizon were Tony's visits to Harry's side. Uncertain as to why, he kept them quiet from Pepper for as long as he could, somehow feeling that they were too private to share with her. So he made excuses to be out from under her radar for long enough to visit whenever he could. Being the intelligent man he was, and knowing how intelligent Pepper herself was, Tony knew it was only a matter of time before his trips to England were discovered. Rhodey constantly told him he was stupid for hiding them from the woman, but Tony could not shake the feeling that he was on the verge of losing Harry forever, and it made him cling even tighter to what he did have, for as long as he could. It did not make logical sense, and he couldn't properly articulate it in a way Rhodey nor Pepper would understand or accept as sane, so he kept it to himself.

Tony was uncertain if Pepper knew that Harry was in a coma, the two had never really been close, having met only a few times back in college. But how did one ask the currently girlfriend if she kept tabs on his ex-boyfriend anyhow? He could not recall if she had even known he and Harry had been dating, they had kept things pretty much to themselves. Partly because of Tony constantly being in the media, partly because of the harassment on campus involving other more open students, and partly because neither felt it was anyone else's business. Before Tony could figure out a solution, it all came to a head one morning, whether he was ready for it too or not.

Right in the middle of a cozy breakfast with Pepper, his cell rang; being busy right that moment making them breakfast shakes to go with the eggs and toast Pepper had made, the redheaded woman picked up the phone instead of Tony. Frowning at the unknown number, because she had made herself very aware of every single one on Tony's contacts, she answers with a cautiously questioning tone. "Hello? Pepper Potts speaking, who is this?"

There was a pause on the other end, as though the other person were surprised to hear her voice. Finally after a moment, when Pepper was just starting to get annoyed, a feminine British voice spoke hesitantly in return. "Hello...is Tony there? May I speak with him, it's very important."

Instantly the accent has the hairs on the back of Pepper's neck standing on end in a mixture of shock, disbelief, anger and jealousy. A flood of thoughts rushed frantically through her head as a pit of dread opened up in her belly. How dare Tony cheat on her? What was with him and Brits anyhow? Who was this woman and where did he meet her? How many other women was he keeping secret from her? She was so stupid to really trust him to be faithful to her, she should have known better. His reputation spoke for itself after all, but she had hoped that once Harry was out of the way Tony would settle down with her for good. Apparently not, if this stupid tramp had his personal cell phone number.

Shooting a curious Tony an inquiring look under her lashes, she answers cooly. "May I have your name please? And what is this in regards to?" Tony frowns at Pepper's unpleasant tone, turning off the blender to better hear her, wondering who could be calling him that would elicit such a reaction from her. He makes a motion with his hand to catch her attention, gesturing to the phone and giving her a curious look. Pepper huffs at him in accusatory displeasure, confusing the man more.

There was only a pause before the British woman on the other end responded to Pepper's less than friendly disposition. Her previously hesitant tone taking on an authoritative razor's edge that made Pepper hard pressed to repress an instinctive flinch in reaction, like a scolded child. "Look young lady, I don't know who think you are, nor do I care, but you will give the phone to Anthony right now. Alice Sinclair is calling to speak with him and it's very important! It's a family matter that is none of your concern! Now put him on the phone!"

Pepper sits up ramrod straight in her chair, bristling in shocked rage. "Sinclair? " Hearing Tony's sharply in drawn breath she shoots the man a purely venomous look and thrusts out the phone into his face with hostility as she got to her feet. "Here, you can talk to that Sinclair woman! I'm getting dressed!"

Hastily Tony scrambles to catch the phone before it falls to the floor, bringing it up to his ear as he watches Pepper storm away in a fit unlike anything he's ever seen her do. "Uh...hello Alice? " He offers, voice a mix of hesitation and bewilderment. Torn between finding out what Alice was calling him for, because she normally didn't and chasing down Pepper to figure out what in the world had set her off. An aggravated huff on the other end of the line makes him wince, distantly he can hear Pepper slamming what he thought was the bathroom door loudly.

Alice's voice, when she spoke, brought to Tony's mind a picture of the woman glaring at him in disappointment. "Please tell me you are not stupid enough to be dating whoever that green eyed monster is, Tony darling."

"Uhm?" He offers in response, not wanting to lie to the older woman he respected so much, but uncomfortable with the question considering his and Harry's past history.

Alice lets loose a long suffering sigh to his non-answer. "Men.." She muttered in open annoyance. "I had hoped you would not be as completely clueless as the rest of them." Tony is silent shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other, not knowing what to say to that. Her voice lightens some, as though sensing Tony's unease. " Relax Tony, breathe child. While I think that woman is a poor choice on your part I'm not upset about you dating. I don't expect you to stop living...and I know Harry would not want you to stop your life and wait on him either. So take that worry out of your head right now darling."

Slowly much of the tension bleeds out of Tony's posture, he walks over to the counter to lean against it. "Alice, you know I always love talking to you, but you don't normally call. Is everything alright?"

"No...I'm sorry, no Tony. I-" Her voice wavered and broke, making Tony's guts clench in fear. Minding instantly flying to the possibility that Harry had died in the night. The green eyed man was a healthy as could be expected given his condition, but it was always a possibility. Tony gripped the phone tighter in his hand as she cleared her throat and continued. "I need you to come out to England for a while. Jasper passed away about an hour ago and I- I couldn't think of anyone else to call. Neither him nor I have any living family left, no one close…" Alice trailed off, losing her train of thought in her nearly overwhelming grief.

Tony lets out a tense breath, relaxing his grip on the phone some as he rubs his eyes with his other hand. "Of course Alice. I'm sorry he passed, what happened?"

"It-it's alright. It wasn't such as shock as Harry. Jasper has always had heart trouble, since he was little. It ran in the family, you see. He had a heart attack at work, they rushed him to Hospital of course...but he passed on before they got there. I hate to ask this of you Tony but I...I would really like to not be alone right now. Is it possible…?"

Tony glances up as Pepper stalks back into the kitchen, fully dressed and still apparently angry with him. She stops by the doorway, lips tightly pinched together in displeasure as she gives him a hard stare down at finding him still on the phone instead of chasing after her. Tony frowns at her, finding her expression and attitude intensely unattractive at the moment and turns his body pointedly away from her as he answers Alice. "Yes of course. I'll see what I can do, I don't think I have anything that can't be rescheduled for the next couple of weeks if that is what you need."

Tony was rapidly approaching the edge of irritated himself at her deplorable behavior. Really, she was starting to embarrass him, thank god Alice couldn't see or hear Pepper at this point. He blatantly ignores Pepper's indignant noise of disbelief behind him, concentrating on the other woman speaking into his ear. "I don't think arrangements will take that long, Jasper and I wrote our wishes down years ago with our lawyers. I just need to contact them after I hang up with you and everything will be set into motion. You shouldn't need to take off a couple of weeks dear … just maybe four or five days? I'm not certain yet."

Tony runs a hand through his hair, making it stuck up as he thought quickly. Pepper would not be happy, but this was more important. "Well it really doesn't matter Alice, I'll take the week off and we'll see what happens from there, okay? I can head out there tonight, I don't think I can realistically manage sooner than that, I'm sorry. Will you be alright for the next 12 hours or so? "

It wasn't much, but Alice seemed calmer, a little bit of relief and happiness showing in her voice. "Oh yes, thank you darling! You're so sweet. I'll be alright for now, don't worry. I have to wait for the Hospital to release Jasper's body, and speak with the lawyers, that will take up some time. I should be able to keep myself busy until you arrive. Albert, the driver that picked you up before? I'll have him will pick you up at Heathrow if you like and bring you to the house. Just let me know before you land. "

"Alright, I will. See you soon Alice. Goodbye." Pulling the cell phone away from his ear after her returned farewell, Tony ended the call, turning around to finally face Pepper. She opens her mouth, most likely prepared to tear into him, but Tony isn't in the mood to indulge her temper and cuts her off sharply. "No. I don't want to hear it. Be angry all you like. I'm clearing my schedule for the rest of this week and the weekend. There is nothing on it that is do or die for me or Stark Industries."

He brushes past her as her mouth audibly snaps shut, her eyes wide in surprise at his tone. Lately Tony had not been this assertive with her, letting her have her say in most everything. She represses a growl of annoyance as she watches him go into the bedroom, presumably to get dressed. Whoever this Alice Sinclair was, Pepper didn't like her. Didn't like the effect this woman had on Tony or his attitude. Like Hell Tony was going to England to see her, but for the moment Pepper could see that Tony was not going to listen to her. She would have to wait and try again later today. This trip to England was not going to happen, period.