Disclaimer: As always, I don't own these charachters - Iron Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, etc etc (guess what? they belong to Marvel and Disney...)Keep in mind that I'm the moral owner of Blackdragon, though. and that no way i'm getting money from this piece of literature... I'd like to, but it's still merely a dream...

spoiler alert:Invincibled Iron man, the tony stark disassembled arc

BLACKDRAGON ISSUE #35 - Reassembling Tony STARK (part one)

"My name's Tony Stark and I am an alcoholic… - no? Oh, sorry, looks like it's the wrong meeting….- inside the holographic message generated by J.A.R.V.I.S.' database, Tony smiles a little, dressed and looking like he once used to be, sitting on what few of them remember was the chair on his office on the helicarier. – Anyway, no crying, please, ok? That goes especially you, Chris. Yeah? Yeah, okay, so…"

I'm not crying. And I can't believe he was trying to let it sound like funny! Chris, standing like the others, dressed in civvies – black Lacoste polo-shirt(that leaves glimpsing her triqueta tattoo on her left hip) and classic skinny jeans with white, blue striped Adidas sneakers(*)isn't telepathically talking with the others, just… thinking between herself, while, in fact, she fights back the tears, and bites the black-nailed nail of her right index finger.

"Once done recording this on Pepper's unit, I'll have to handle the keys to Osborn. If you watching this, everything went horribly wrong… but I promise that everything will start to go horribly right again soon. Eh, that might sound weird, I know... – he smiles again, to let the smile disappear after few seconds – because if I'm right, and, c'mon, I usually am… - he lets out a breath, exhaling deeply – Persistent vegetative state, right? Right…"

Why the hell is he still trying to let is sound funny? What kind of jerk he is? Did he really think I was going to find it funny?

"Maybe I'm already dead, but you managed to… well, you know what. Anyway, if I'm dead… MK 1616, seize Stark-drive X and fly in the nearest active volcano, ok? Ok – he pauses, taking again a deep breath and then looking again in front of him, like he could actually see them – assembled there, between you, there are the tools and the knowledge to… bring me back. To reboot me, as my sister would like to say it."

I can believe he thought I could find it funny… he was sick. I had to know the alcohol destroyed all his brain-cells a long time ago…

"Do you want me back? Can you forgive me? Because, here the thing. I'm not apologizing. What happened, it simply happened. It happened because it happened. And you don't have to apologize, either, what's in the past lays into the past."

"Me? Apologizing? He turned his back to me and I should be the one asking for pardon? It was just your fault if I did what I did! – Chris pauses a little to regain control of her – sorry, didn't mean to snap. Pretend it didn't happen."

"I had a good time, ok? I had a great time. And along the way I even helped a little… maybe. And…I'm saying this because every one of us knew there no happy ending. We all know this lesson. We die… heroes die… Cap- Bucky, Thor, you know it. Bill. Janet. Clint. And even the X-men do…Jean Grey, Kitty Pride, and now, even Charles…."

Charles. Hearing the name of this common acquaintance – that, unknown to Tony at the time, was still alive – her heart skips a beat and she unwillingly dilates her pupils. Did he knew, when he registered the message, what she now does? Did Extremis do to him what her "new" mutant ability was doing to her? Did he know that they shared a past with Xavier?

"This is our job. And our retirement plan coincides with our death… and, recently, a whole lot of us are on It.…and… and, this isn't the real deal. The real deal is… is that the bad guys are waiting around for us to fall apart, and I'm not any longer on this "falling apart" business. They are doing "divide and conquer", and we're doing the divide routine… we're putting our heads on silver platters for these guys again and again and again because… because, as someone once said me, we let us get in the way of stopping them… - that would be me, I guess, Chris says, sitting close to the hospital bed, her eyes, almost full of un-cried tears, trying to stop the urge to skim over the hands of her beloved older brother - and so… as I said, I'm not apologizing for what I've done, but, well, I'm done – another longue pause, another long breath, an action mimicked by Chris, a mirror the reflected from a very young age all the actions and the nervous tick that she "took" from her brother – I've destroyed everything at SHIELD that I've built and that Osborn could exploit. There are few suits, but no repulsor power, so you'll be ok when it all comes down. The 1616 is loaded with a viral assault for Osborn's data-spine; whatever he has left, should be negligible for the ones that handed Ultron his ass few times. Zak Stane's attack on Star industries crippled our repulsor power capabilities, and, whatever he thinks, Normie is too stupid to figure out how to make them on his own. The only living person who knows exactly how to make them and how they work is you, Chris. But I know Osborn quite well, and he will never ask you for help, even if he would end holding you captive – which I'd not let it happen…better if we don't push our luck too far."

"Been there, done that. Sorry. You had to say it before… and I'm sure he was desperate enough to be ready to ask for my help." she can't help but smile a little.

"Because he thinks too little of you, and, besides, there are no longer the resources to actually make them. It means that the only functioning one is the one you've got, Pep. Be good to it and it will be good to you. – the hologram pauses again – so…this is it, and if I die, I'm dying with a clean conscience….and… I want you to… it's going to take the 3 of us – Cap, Thor and Iron Man, together – to clean it all up. You know, people say… people say "let go, and let God". This is me letting go. And, differently from you, Chris, I've never believed in God, but… Cap and Thor… they were… whatever sense of a higher power in this life I had, it come from them, from you, from who you thought I could be. Whenever I looked up, you were the ones I was looking at, for guidance, and leadership… and now… now, absolution. So... this is it, for real, now, I mean. Let 1616 know what you decide and we'll get into the how of it all…"

"I've never begged in my whole life, but I'm pretty sure that's what I'm going to…" Chris, still sitting, her hands on her face to cover it, is saying, but, as soon as she is going to end the sentence, the hologram re-stars.

"One more thing, real quick… in the case I couldn't come back… or you wouldn't me to… Osborn. He will lose it. He will lose Control. Control of this game he thinks he is playing. When he'll squeeze it all too hard… something will slip through his fingers… and in this chaos, there will be blood and thunder and that's when you'll beat him –he grins, almost evilly – I mean… think of him and his gang like cars on a highway. Dozens of car, moving very fast and very independently down the same stretch of road. Say… a deer runs in front of Norman's car. He jacks the wheel one way, swerves; everybody is speeding up or breaking. And they all start crashing into each other. That's Osborn, people. And those are his goons, always, and always, and always. We need to be like… a school of fish. A hundred little pieces reacting as one coming apart… coming together… asymmetrical, independent, and independent all at once. Think like a school of fish, guys. Think resilient. And… -he pauses again, blinking his blue eyes, like worried, taking breaths – and… that made me think of another thing. You must be prepared for heavy casualties, before, during. After Osborn needs shock as cover when he makes his moves and when we strike back, when you strike back, he'll dig in and get messy….Okay….okay… that's it."

"Please, could someone tell me I'm just having one of my usual nightmares?" – Chris says, hands on her face to cover it, or to try to wake herself up from this nightmarish and unreal situation – that's so not happening…"

"Man, Tony…" Don Blake, M.D. and human "host" to Thor, is sitting on a chair as Chris does, and is massaging his two-day beard, thinking what Captain America, the previous Bucky, Says at loud.

"That's unbelievable"

"When I met him he was weird but… was this insane when you worked for him, Hill?"

"More or less, Natasha"

"Maybe it's because he raised me, but the first and last part made sense… mostly, more or less. I mean… that was pretty much his vision of life. dad wanted us to be the perfect politicians and strategists… – Chris allows herself a soft, sad smile, as, again, pulls her right hand back, like she was scared, a couple of inches from his forehead – I'm still trying to get all the cars and deer and fish school metaphors, though." Everything that the long haired brunette says is merely a whisper, and it's hard to say if even the others heard her words; probably, the only thing that they get is the last part, said with a hint of a smile, almost joking.

"We bring him back, we have to. Blake?" Cap leaves his spot and goes closer to the second still "living" member of the holy trinity of super-heroes.

"Of course we will! It's my moral imperative… he is sick and there's a way to heal him. It's just… everything's is a trivia, right now."

"The crazy bastard pulled this off, so I say yes – Hill answers, standing still – he might be a suit, but he has nerves of steel"

"I blew my cover and almost ended in a gulag….we close the deal, and I say we do. – Natasha comes closer, and puts and hand on Chris' left shoulder, kneeling a little on her, making the telepath wincing – Christine?"

"What kind of question is this? – she almost shouts, tears finally leaving her eyes, turning to face, full of anger, Natasha, for the mere question, ready to let all the pressure and anger and everything else that she bottled up explode in a single moment – he is my only family, and you ask me if I want him back? Bloody Hell, of course I agree!"

There is, as Mr. Stark said, a second presentation, explaining how to…. Reboot him – J.A.R.V.I.S. "says" in front of the bed, where Tony lays, open eyes as he could see them, intubate – if you'll agree to proceed with this operation, I'll play it now. May I have your answer, Ms. Potts?

"I'm… I'm so sorry, but… I need some time…" Pepper can't take it any longer, and running away from the room they find themselves is, along the stairs, she collapses into tears, leaving them on their own and without an answer.

"I can't say I blame her – Chris says, still sitting a little calmer now, closed eyes and taking a big breath while running her hands through her brownish- reddish hair, feeling their eyes on her, like she should be mad at the woman, or be the one to run after her, instead of Hill, to convince her to do what they all think must be done - we went through that much in the last couple of years… and although Tony is always part of… of our family… and I so want him back… still, he isn't the only one we lost. With Genosha, the Decimation, Stamford, and the Invasion… my husband Alec, Jean Grey, Steve, Bill Foster, Janet, Happy… so many died… and he is the one who gets the chance at coming back"

"You are scared." The physician she has been introduced to, says going to sit near her, looking at Tony's immobile body as Chris starts to look at the ceiling, hands still in her hair; they've said his name is Don Blake, but she is not stupid – and she didn't need Cap or Natasha to tell her he was the "human host" of Thor.

"Yes" she adamantly admits, closed eyes, without facing the young blond man. Somehow, every time she meets someone who has come back, she asks herself why they look younger than before their "deaths"; looking at this man, having seen pictures from more than a decade before, she can say it's the case; he even looks younger than Pete – and Pete should be a way younger than him.

"I've never figured you out as the kind of person who gets scared. Not after I found out you were an x-man. Even with Jean Grey and her returns, you should know better than us that, to quote Tony "dying is the super-hero retirement plan", don't you? – Natasha grins, almost winking at her, a smile that somehow seems a laugher, as, staying at her back, put her hands on her shoulders – but, somehow, I think that's not what you're scared of, right? – Tasha relaxes a little, a sad smile on her lips, while going under them, closer than before – Xavier, although still alive, has been partly depowered by Osborn's machines. Emma Frost is stuck into diamond. The Cuckoos have lost their fragment of the Phoenix Force. Psylocke is mostly a telekineth. It means that, currently, you're the most powerful psych of the planet. But, still…" Natasha grins, as she shows Chris that she is really intelligence super-star, demonstrating what a great knowledge of the "X-Men archives" she has gained.

"You didn't touch him. You didn't try to make mind-contact with him. You didn't try to use your powers to reboot him." Dan ends Natasha's thoughts, still looking not at the brunette, but in front of himself, at Tony, a hand under his chin, like to concentrate.

"I'm not scared of dying. I mean, I know that, even in our line of work, it's something inevitable. If not one time, it will be the next one, and one day, you'll look at yourself and you'll realize that you've reached the last page of your book. Besides, once you have Venom trying to eat you and Bullseye firing at you at same time and you don't freak out, you quit being scared of death- she almost laughs, as she says so, remembering that time, when Wisdom and Tony saved her life, just to regain composure immediately after – No, Dr. Blake's right. I haven't tried to use my powers on him, although it could be the most reasonable thing to do, because I'm scared to. I'm scared of finding his mind empty, finding out he was wrong and there's nothing we can do to save him. I'm scared of losing myself in the void and in the silence… the silence… that's the part that scares me the most. I'm scared that, if I'll feel all that silence inside me, I'll get lost, and I'll no longer be able to break the contact… I'm so used to the telepathic white noise that without it… you think it had to be vice-versa, but it isn't. It's not the voices that drive us crazy, it's the silence. Hell, - she grins again, almost laughing -when the High Evolutionary turned our powers off, I almost went crazy – she pauses, to look at the man at her side, who, feeling her look on him, turns to face her – do you really want to bring him back? Even with everything he did? And I'm not talking about the Civil War. I'm talking about…"

"What happened between Tony and Thor, it stays between Tony and Thor. I'm a doctor, and it's my medical imperative to cure a sick man."

"I know what Thor thinks of it… well; at least I think I do. I know the feeling of finding out you've been used by someone you trusted and saw as a friend… he thinks he created an aberration, an abomination, an insult, using his genetic code, the same genetic code he extrapolated from one of his hair he collected on their very first meeting, without letting him know it, without his permission, and tried to tell the word it was the real deal. He thinks Tony defiled his body, desecrated his trust, violated everything that it is and he stands for.- she pauses as he looks at her, almost surprised by hear the same words Thor used with Tony while they met in New Orleans months ago, before the Invasion – what can I say, I'm the best sister of ever, always checking on her brother... – she grins, almost a laugh, so quiet that it's vanished even before it could actually start, as she gets serious again – I wasn't around Tony at the time he come out with the idea of cloning y… him. But I know my brother. I know what people thinks of him, and they are wrong… mostly. Tony's a good man; it's just that his solutions sometimes are a little too… extreme. He didn't want to give that… creature in Shield's hands, but… he was trapped into the game. He couldn't support the SHRA and not listening to their orders. But the… the creature… when he created it, he was scared. He thought about a scenario where y… Thor was gone, and there was a treat so big only the Mighty lord of Asgard could stop it. I can't say what he did was right, because, obviously, it wasn't, but it's how we've been raised. And he did it with the best of intentions. But as a friend of mine once said, I walked through Hell's road, and they were paved with your good intentions…"

"We are all going to bring him back!" as the wooden door to room 26 is suddenly opened wide, Chris turns, as everyone else, and look at the person who just talked: Pepper Potts is standing into the doorway, her voice imperative and sure, but, somehow, she is crying, too, like a weight had just been released by her tiny and mortal and human shoulders. And, as soon as everybody is inside the room, Chris leaves her chair, almost flying, jumping out of it, tears of joy in her eyes as she hugs firmly the dark skinned man – man in blood and bones and only blood and bones- in front of them, her arms around his neck, her head hidden between his shoulder and his head, as he hugs her back, hands on her back gently pecking it.

"Jim! Oh God, Jim… I'm so glad you are here and that you are okay! I'm so sorry for what happened, and for what I did to you! It's all my fault, well, not only, but in part, I mean, Tony thought about it, but I went along with it and I thought it was a good idea, but I swear to God, it was only supposed to be something to help us buying you time while we regenerated you a new body, and I know things didn't go as we planned, and I'm sorry for what happened with Osborn and I know I haven't behave like myself in the last months, I but I really meant well, and I'm just glad that you have a human body back, and I hope everything will stay in the past. I'm not asking for forgiveness, but I'd like to have a civil friendship with you, because you've been not only my bodyguard, but friend, too, and then you saved my life too, a couple of times, and I'm so sorry I had to lie to you, but I didn't want to put people in danger or in jeopardy because I was a mutant, and I didn't know how you all could react, or the world could react, and…"

"Easy girl, breath – he says, smiling on her head, as his military shirt is wet by tears, the same tears she cried while talking without taking a single breath – you remember how you are supposed to do it, right? "

"It's good to have you back"

"Well, at least this time I got the hug in place of the dead guy…" he says, smirking, as he releases her, letting her see that he bring along other 2 people.

"the dead… -she says as she, again, wipes away the tears with her hands, facing, open mouth and wide eyes, the man in his early 30s, who's smiling and offering her his right. It doesn't matter that is actually the second time that they meet, although the first one they spoke for just few minutes, HE is WHO he is. And she is the kind of person, the kind of hero, still an amateur, in certain ways, a "kid" who'll always be fascinated and in subjection of this man – Sir…"

"You let her speechless. Good work Steve; it's the first time it happens since I know her. And I know her since I know Tony… meaning, from a really long time." Jim's almost laughing, as she, without even noticing it, gives him her best deadly and annoyed look.

"It's… a… pleasure…. to see you again, sir. I'm sorry we didn't have time to properly introduce each other last time in New York but the X-men had an emergency in town and asked my assistance, and…" She says, still uneasy, eyes focused on their shaking hands, almost buttering the words that come out of her mouth.

"The same goes here, Dr. Stark. I had things to do myself, too.… I'd like to tell you that I've heard many things about you from your brother, but I'd lie, I'm sorry – he still smiles, not a bit uneasy – what I know about you it's what the press says, and it is not a bit nice – he grins a little – with some additions by Clint… but it's not like he is nicer than them. "

"Oh, please – she says, her hand free, and in her back-pocket like the left one, trying to fake at her best a regained control – my husband learned that Tony was my brother two weeks before the wedding, when I had to explain him why on the newspapers was written that "Tony Stark's sister has won the Nobel Prize" and not my name. – she pauses, serious and but unsure, facing again Rhodey, an hand still in her pocket while the other one on the back of her head – not that isn't amazing and etc and etc, but… why are you here?"

"Iron Man is in trouble, and we're going to bring him back." Steve Roger says, serious and a little cold, while she turns to look at him.

"Dr. Stark – Dr. Lisk, the grey haired man who operated Pepper say looking at her – May I ask if you are already aware of what we're going to do?"

Chris takes a long breath, at closed eyes, and, crossed arms, as she re-opens her black orbs she looks at the man in the eyes, mistress of herself and her actions again, like she just turned off her "emotional chip", like she once joked quoting Star Trek, one of her favorite TV shows. "we haven't already listened to my brother's instructions, BUT knowing him, given my ability to analyze data to extrapolate the majorly possible scenario, considering the advices I gave him in the past, and given our collective presence here, I can say that I know what we are going to do with a probability of mistake of 1 on 1.000.000… - she turns, and walks in direction of the chair we they had been before, facing Tony – and I'm not kidding."

(Later)

"Are you aware that this is crazy? We're having surgery if an hotel room!" Lisk pauses, looking at his staff and at the woman in front of him, Christine Stark, who, although having a Dr. in her name, isn't a medical doctor, but is still dressed like one and being a part of the operation.

"This is Dr. Blake's cabinet – she calmly explains, as she looks at what the staff is doing – this place is where he has surgery. If he can, with all due respect, you can, too. Besides, it's not like we had that many more chances. – She pauses, putting herself between the beds of Pepper and Tony – the first step of the process that will bring Tony back is removing the repulsor unit from Ms. Potts' chest…. And inserting it into Tony's one. Connected with his heart, from now on the electromagnetic repulsor battery will fuel his biology from now on, like it did in the past."

"With all due respect, I still don't understand why you have to assist me and Dr. Blake. As Mr Stark explained in his presentation, I've been the one who put this into Ms Potts' chest, and I'm sure that…"

"Because, Ms Potts was basically a sane being, while my brother isn't, and my ability to work on molecular level could come at hand. Relax; I've assimilated Dr. Henry McCoy's medical knowledge once"

"Ms Potts wasn't…"

"The repulsor was meant only to accelerate her recovery, Doc. She decided to keep it, but it wasn't a life-or-death choice. Somehow, the woman thought that being a super-hero could be… cool. Bet she regrets it every single day of her life. Hell, I do! – she pauses, looking at the staff, crossed arms, waiting for her moment to come while they are operating on Pepper – Pepper's body is, forgive my similitude, back on-line, while, obviously, Tony's one isn't. It has forgotten how to work, and who and what its possessor was. Meaning, we're going to fix it with the coolest technology of ever" under the mask, she is smirking. She is control, concentrated, and focused. And it's the first time in a while.

"I still don't get why you should be here. I worked on Potts' operation and…"

"You don't know my brother's biology. Unique biology, if I may add. – she says as she takes the battery from the doctor, still into the tongs – you can open him now, Doc. – she pauses, looking at the operation with red glowing eyes, almost closed like to concentrate better, thanks to her computer-like lenses- and now, as we'll spread, you'll get what I mean."

"Are those Wires? Are those….wires… in his lungs?- Don looks first at the open body in front of himself, then at the staff, and, least, at Chris, who's laughing under her teeth. – man, I knew Tony had undergone some kind of transformation, but I thought it was just mental, no that it went that… far…"

"As I told you, my brother has a unique physiology. You see – she explains, carefully, more focused, as she keeps in her right the scalpel, explaining the thing more to Pepper's doctor than to Blake, who's more open to this kind of things- a couple of years ago, more or less – she explains, as a nurse dry the sweat from her forehead, and she uses with her left a kind of medical tongs that McCoy developed to help him in his line of work even with his paws –Tony's life crossed the Extremis, a biological weapon meant to enhancicle the human body into organic technology. A bit more, please. As I was saying, to stop the first subjects, he underwent the procedure himself… a procedure… light please. Could someone clear the wound? I need to find the right wires… anyway, the procedure alters the human body, recreating and redesigning the way his inside worked – she smirks a little, as she telepathically tells the doctor how to operate on Tony's body – many of these things are useless stuff, but I'm pretty sure that there's still something salvable… like some cables we could use in order to let this little jewel work better. In the same way, the transformation Extremis made will help us to bring Tony's memory back into his body. – She smirks, again, a little full of herself – Extremis and me, if we want to be completely honest. Rotate his head of 45° on his right, please. Could someone shave this point on the back of his neck, please?"

"There's a USB port… on the back of his neck?"

"You think this is weird, Doc? I'll tell you what's weird: finding an old photo of your boyfriend, and realizing that, with beard and mustaches, is the actual photocopy of your brother. That's weird. – She smiles a little, noticing how people are a bit uneasy with her talking – sorry. Sometimes I forget that not everyone on the planet can multitask."

"Are you keeping yourself occupied, Christine?" Don says, smiling.

"Ehy, not my fault I can multitask. Besides, it's true. Can't believe I haven't noticed how Pete and Tony are physically similar…- she grins again – the hard drive, please…"

"Is that really an USB port?"

"More or less – she says as she is going to connect the Hard Drive to his spine – this is the only thing in the word that this drive plugs into. As soon as it will be connected with Tony's spine, with the repulsor on and going, it will serve as boot disk… and install itself… into... his mind… - she pauses again, as, again, the nurse removes the sweat from her tired face, after hours of surgery – when I first come back after my "avoiding- Tony – Stark – who's – just- a -liar" years, my brother and I finally come to terms… and he put me to work on few of his glorious armors. But me, being the extremely pessimistic and careful smartest girl of the planet whom I am, I created a little hidden program, that uploaded any information from Tony's brain into a hard disk. When I explained him my idea, he backed himself up. (**) – she pauses – now… for let the magic happen, we need to charge the repulsor in order to reactivate it… and this is where World's Greatest Heroes come in… and where I use my technological knowledge."

"Here's the cable. – the doctor says handling her meters of reinforced wires – Colonel Rhodes said he got every inch of it, stripping it out the suit and braid them all together."

"Ok, ok…let's see… take out these mounting clips…. Attach them to the repulsor battery… take out those ones… and attach them to one end of the cabling… now… all we need is the impulse… but, since we no longer have facilities that could provide such an impulse, we'll have to improvise… - she pauses, as she leaves her seat and moves out from the room, removing those clothes – meaning, dr. Blake, that we need a roof and your Partner…"

(Roof, later)

"I know I told it before, but this is crazy!"

"Genius and craziness walk side by side, Doc – Chris says as she, again in her civvies, looks at the sky, and the incoming storm – welcome to my family"

"It will kill him!"

"He was positive that this procedure will not be lethal. I know that he sounded insane… that the whole thing sounds insane… but it's going to work."

"If tony and his sis say that this is gonna work... – Rhodey says facing the doctor, a hand on Chris' shoulder as she looks at the scene praying – no matter how insane it seems, it usually works."

"Usually" the doc points out.

"It Will Work" Chris turns to face the man, mad, almost fuming, red in eyes and in her usually pale face.

"It will kill him. It will electrocute him, blow his heart or set him on fire– he puts himself in front of his fellow doctor – Blake, surely you understand the danger…"

"I said... that it. Will. Work! – Chris says facing him, her eyes now shining red in psychic energy, the tiredness of the previous hours forgotten, as she looks at the 50-something ME with crying eyes, her again long hair flying wild in the air, shining of red reflexes as in flames when the lightings illuminate them- I'm a mutant, Doc. An omega level mutant – meaning that I'm one of the most powerful ones of the planet… - she pauses – and, currently, I'm actually the most powerful one, at least among the psyches, and one of the few reaming human computers on the planet. If I say that, with my mutant ability of calculating thousands of scenarios at the same time, I calculated the odds and I saw that the odds are on our side, it means that they really are!"

"I'm with her, Doc. Besides, Tony is always Tony. – Don says – And if Tony said it's how we are supposed to bring him back, it's how we are going to bring him back – he pauses, lifting his cane into the air – I'm just worried about the shield…"

"What about the fact that I calculated AGAIN everything you all don't understand, exactly?"

"Chris…" Rhodey says sweetly but firmly, putting again a hand on her shoulder, from the back, rolling eyes and arching eyebrows.

"Sorry, I'm done with snapping, really. It's just that… although I know it will work… I can't help but being worried. He is still family after all, isn't he?"

"The shield can take it, just smack it dead center" Steve says.

"They'll be fine" Bucky adds. They are both smiling.

"Blake, you can't seriously considerate this… - Tony's doctor looks again at the group, kneeling on his patient's side, while looking at wide eyes at the sky, and, at the same time….it's like he is praying them, praying them to not do anything stupid, the stupid thing they're going to do. – Dr. Stark, I hope you have some sense left in you and…"

"Doc, I know that right now I seem full of myself, I'm well aware of that. – She holds him out one hand, a little cold, looking distant, like she didn't care at all about this man in front of her, the other hand firmly on her hip – like I'm well aware that I'm actually full of myself… but I've always trusted my brother with my life, as I did with Jim Rhodes and the Avengers. I trusted them with my life – she smiles a little as he stands at her side – I still do, and the day they'll do the same… it will be a great day. Every person here trusted my brother with their lives… they trusted Tony, they still do, and Tony have faith in them."

"So, you really are considering to…" he closes his eyes, he can't stand to look at this…

"Yes" Don smiles, and, as his stick hits the grounds, thunders and storm hits as well, echoing in their ears, and the flash of light who falls in front of them is so strong that, for a moment, they are blind… and it's so incredible, and so beautiful, and they are so stunning that, once they are in one piece again, they almost forget that Thor, Norse God of Thunder, Son of Odin, King of Asgard, is indeed in front of them, hitting with his mystic hammer the shield and sending the energy to Tony's body, but that it's still… it use to be Blake. More or less… not that Chris really cares. She doesn't give a damn about him right now. Because, as the thunderbolt hits him, Tony screams, for a fraction of second, Just a fraction, but enough to hope for something better, something good, to come out of this. And, frankly, for Chris Stark is enough. And for once, she doesn't give a damn about people seeing her crying.

Next: A gathering of heroes has took stand, as Tony "Iron Man" lies in his death bed. the greatest heroes of the world come back together in order to see if RIASSEMBLING TONY STARK is possible... be here next month for the last part of the Riassembling tony arc story arc, as the road to siege is already here!