Hi my lovely readers,
I'm back with a new chapter thank you all for your continued support, every comment, heart and bookmark I receive makes me smile :) - I hope you enjoy this,
I hope you all stay safe and healthy!
Doodlegirl1998 x
No copyright infringement intended...
All Movie Scenes used here belong to Marvel Studios and their respective owners, I'm not out to profit from this work.
I made it purely for enjoyment purposes.
The sudden shift in their surroundings was becoming increasingly familiar, but no less jarring and discombobulating as the group once again find themselves in Tony's mindscape. Though not quite as they are used to.
The stygian orb that ever hung in the corner seems darker and more putrid than usual against the golden grains that swirled inside before slowly falling and pooling into miniature dunes underneath. The spiralling wind current around it is leaden with stifling, dry heat, the scent of iron and acrid smoke.
Peter ducks to the far side of the group as they all lean away from it, despite the heat from it, being near the thing feels like someone has just poured ice water down his back and makes his senses scream. But he lets his eyes follow the line of sand leading to the intimidating, cumbersome armour of the original suit.
He gives a low whistle as he sees it standing clear and still for the first time. It's clunky and rugged, wires visible under the steel plating, small dents in the metal that had never been beaten out and stains from rust not quite polished away. But still an engineering marvel.
The angular eye slits above the thin, almost frowning mouth, still seem to glare out at the world, even with nothing behind the mask.
'A phoenix rising from the ashes,' Bruce thinks, remembering the little carving and how Tony had occasionally used the words himself. It was a fitting description, all the pain and torment of Afghanistan had birthed the suit and with it, Tony had found a strength, a part of him, he hadn't known he had.
The words 'Maybe in my hands this can do some good' float above the suit, looking handwritten under the more artificial script of 'MARK 1'. Bruce knew he would do good with it. Despite its origins, the transformation Tony had experienced would lead to good.
Bruce still struggles to see his own transformation the same way, despite how hard Tony had tried to help him see the Hulk as more than a monster. Even as Tony became friends with the Other Guy.
'STUPID, PUNY BANNER,' rumbles the distant voice in his head. 'HULK STAY. HULK PROTECT BANNER. HULK PROTECT TIN MAN. HULK PROTECT FRIENDS.'
A low growl drew everyone's attention to where Angry Tony was pacing, stalking back and forth in front of a screen that took up one of the walls. His hands altered between clenching and unclenching or moving clips on the screen at random. Multiple clips of Obadiah, Pepper and Tony in the living area were layered on top of each other.
Bucky can't help thinking that the Aspect currently looked more like Tony than the actual Tony. His band top revealed the healthy tanned skin and muscled arms that Tony had lost and not yet regained since Afghanistan. Though there were fresh scars on his arms and the reactor shone brightly in his chest.
Angry scowled at an image of Obadiah. "Locked out… Locked out!"
Mask sighed from where he was lounging on a couch in an expensive, pristine suit that somehow did not have even a rumple in it, spinning his dark sunglasses in his fingers. "Calm down. You're going to make Pincushion antsy when he gets back."
Angry flipped him the bird without even looking over his shoulder. Mask sneered and put his glasses on.
The glasses are so dark that Natasha realises she can't even see his eyes behind them.
"Thank you very much for keeping your cool back there," Mask clapped his hands loudly. "Oh wait that was me. At least we got some New York pizza, you can thank me."
In a heartbeat, Angry was gripping the back of the couch, looming over Mask with dark eyes. "Fuck you! I. Am. Locked. OUT! Of my own fucking company!"
Clint suppresses a flinch.
Mask just smirked up at him. "You really do have an awful temper."
Angry jerked back several steps, almost stumbling through Steve. There's a second before he gave a growl, crossed his arms and turned his back.
"The board thinks we've gone crazy, Obadiah probably has something to do with it and you don't even seem to care."
Bruce can see how tense Angry has suddenly become and the shift from an angry yell to quiet hiss is blatant. It's all a little too familiar to Bruce, to catch yourself acting like something - someone - you don't want to. He knows that anger and the bitter aftertaste.
With a small chuckle, Mask's smirk settled into something loser but confident. He stepped up and laid a hand on the other's shoulder. "What's there to worry about? The board needs us, they'll remember that soon enough. And Obadiah? As if he could fool us. We are the smartest person in the room!"
Steve gives a disappointed frown, muttering, "and there's the Tony we know."
"It's literally the Mask speaking Rogers. He's Tony's defence mechanism, he's what hides Tony's true thoughts and emotions, everything he says and does is an act," the cold drawl of the soldier cuts through Steve's thoughts like a blade of ice. "Right now he's faking confidence to try and reassure himself. Right, Romanoff?"
Nat meets his eyes and holds his gaze but doesn't respond as his stare turns into an incredulous sneer. The truth was Mask disturbs her. It was difficult to see through Tony's mask ordinarily, but here in the mindscape where Mask appeared more separate from the whole, his act was even more dissociated from Tony's actual emotions. Here, Mask was almost precisely what the world thought Tony was. And perhaps Mask's act was a little too familiar to her.
Angry rolled his eyes at Mask's lies. "We both know damn well that we've been fooled already and that Obadiah was keeping things from us. And I know you don't trust him because you don't trust anyone."
"Of course I-"
Angry gestured for silence as Pincushion entered the room.
If Angry looked almost normal and Mask even more perfectly - carefully - put together than ever, Pincushion was the exception. He wore clothing from Afghanistan, his injuries were barely scarring over and there was a bloodstain around the reactor. He looked like he was still barely surviving on half bowls of rice.
"Oh, Tony…" Steve winces as he sees the state of the mental construct, knowing that Pincushion was much more the real, whole, Tony.
"Save your pity, Rogers," Rhodey says quietly, just loud enough for Steve's hearing to pick it up. "Tony sure as hell wouldn't want it, least of all from you."
He ignores the barb. Instead, he wonders what things might have been like if he'd met the real Tony instead of being faced with anger and masks. But Tony hadn't trusted them, had walled them off and isolated himself from the team. 'How many misunderstandings could we have avoided if you'd been more open and just let people help you?'
Always able to sense when he needs him, Steve feels a hand clasp his shoulder as Bucky steps up behind him.
"Don't worry Stevie, Stark's made of strong stuff, we know he'll get through this. We're seeing him at a tough point and it's still fresh for him, but it does get better. Trust me on that."
Angry followed Pincushion to the screen wall, where, with a sharp hand gesture from Pin, Obadiah's voice rang out as his appearance took over the screen.
"The board is claiming you have post-traumatic stress. They're filing an injunction."
"A what?!"
"They want to lock you out." Obadiah's expression, as well as his voice, was measured and calm the entire time, almost looking down his nose at Tony before his face shrunk back down with the other images.
Power rises up in her gut and pulsates behind her glowing eyes. Wanda wishes for the real man to appear in front of her, so her power could tear him apart or rip into his mind and make him feel as she had felt all those years ago, trapped, as she waited and waited for a bomb to finish destroying her family.
She blinks and lets the red recede as she hears Spider-Man snort.
Her lips quirk up as Clint gives a huffing laugh as the boy points to where the word 'prick' has materialized across Obadiah's frozen face.
"This is utter bullshit!" Angry's dark brown eyes looked even darker as they narrowed and his teeth bared.
"It hardly matters. If they did remove us the company might survive, but they would lose their best mind and the Stark name. And we still own the controlling interest, that could cause them a lot of problems if they force us out. And there may be something to be said about starting over, a new company that's truly ours without the taint of weapons."
"I will not be forced from my own company for doing the right thing!"
"Pepper and Obadiah have a point," interrupted Pincushion. "Our decision lost the company 46 ½ points and from their perspective this decision was rash, we never consulted anyone and then we disappeared without giving them a roadmap. We've always tried to work with the board before, never undermined them so blatantly and publicly. We can't expect them not to do something.
"I don't want to be forced out of the company either, but right now the company isn't my priority. They've stopped weapons, we'll work on digging out the rot later. Let Obadiah soothe the board over, but, we'll keep an eye on him as well," Pincushion made a gesture and a file on Obadiah appeared on the screen, 'Potential threat - wariness recommended - trust revocation pending' was written over it in bright amber. "I don't believe Obadiah would really betray us, but his actions right now need to be watched, he's always advocated for stronger weapon designs."
"He also just asked for the ARC!"
Natasha sees the unhappy look on Angry's face, his scowl outmatched only by Wanda's and the glint of rage in Rhodes' eyes.
Peter shivers and steps back, "I do not want to imagine what could have happened if Obadiah had given the reactor to the military in 2008!"
"Strength invites challenge," Vision agrees. "This challenge would have sowed chaos and could have torn the world apart."
"I remember when that Russian guy got a hold of the tech," Scott said. "When he and Hammer built those suits and showed them at Stark's Expo, that was a real fuck up. Hank had a right laugh at that one-"
"Hey Scott," he looked to Rhodey, who had just spoken, "Shut up."
"You're too trusting, hedgehog," Angry bit out.
"Enough about Obadiah," Pincushion pulled up a new file that had Angry grinning devilishly and Mask smirking. "Enough about the company. Let's get to the real shit."
Pincushion smiled reverently at the silver holographic suit floating steadily in his palm.
"This is my Vision."
Vision shivers a little, reminded of the origin of his name.
"And we're going to make it a reality."
"Day 11, test 37, configuration 2.0," Tony spoke seriously as he stood on a platform, the arc reactor glowed brighter within a brace wired around it, connecting to the half-finished gauntlets and boots.
"For lack of a better option, Dum-E is still on fire safety," he gestured pointedly at the bot, but there was a glint in his eyes, "If you douse me again and I'm not on fire, I'm donating you to a city college."
There were a few snickers and chuckles from the group as Dum-E's arm drooped and he gave a short buzz. Clint had the distinct impression of a teenager sticking his tongue out behind his fathers back.
Tony turned towards the camera U was holding. He bent his legs and angled his arms, tensing his back.
"All right, nice and easy. Seriously, just gonna start off with 1% thrust capacity."
He took a deep steadying breath.
Peter rubs his hands together, his gloves rubbing unpleasantly against his sweaty skin. He isn't sure if he should look away or not.
Scott is almost bouncing on his toes.
They are all either fidgeting or standing as though turned to stone as Tony briefly hesitates.
"And three, two, one,"
Immediately the jets under his hands and feet sputter like fire igniting and Tony is pushed a foot into the air and somehow, miraculously, stays.
'Oh my god, I'm flying. I. Am. Flying!'
Rhodey gives a massive whoop, he remembers how exhilarating it was the first time he'd felt the repulsors burst to life under him and the feeling of leaving the ground.
Thor gives a victory cheer as his brother in arms joins him in the sky for the first time, before turning to high-five the spider boy.
The white light pouring from Tony's palms and feet abruptly reminds Wanda of the way she pools her magic under her and in her hands to fly. She remembers how Vision had helped her so much in learning where to channel her power and how to move her body to fly. She sees how Stark wobbles and bucks as he tries to find stability as he defies gravity, every effort going into keeping himself straight and not flipping head over heels as she had in her first attempt. She sees here, how those lessons began.
Frowning slightly to herself, she pulls out of her thoughts as Stark drops back to the platform, nearly toppling at the shift in gravity.
"Okay," he mumbled as he straightened. Tony turned back to Dum-E who had the fire extinguisher held raised and ready at him.
"Please don't follow me around with it, either, 'cause I feel like I'm gonna catch on fire spontaneously. Just stand down." Dum-E let out another disappointed noise while lowering the extinguisher and Tony turned back to the task at hand, "If something happens, then come in."
"Aww, Dum-E looks so disappointed," Sam grins, "Does he get to use the extinguisher at any point?"
"I am certain if Dum-E cannot find a reason to, he will make one," Vision replies with a small quirk of his lips.
"And again, let's bring it up to 2.5. Three, two, one."
The repulsors ignited with a brighter light and lifted Tony a few feet into the air.
He wobbled again, the flight less steady due to the higher thrust. He shifted his weight, moving his arms, trying to centre his position. He threw a nervous look at U as he passed him, drifting further from the platform.
He groaned as he floated away.
"Okay, this is where I don't want to be!" he moaned, as his wayward flight approached his line of vintage cars. "Not the car, not the car! Eee yikes!"
'Please let that buff out!'
Rhodey winces as he sees the scuff marks the repulsors leave in their wake.
"Why are the thrusters sparking like that?" questions Steve. "I've never seen them do that before."
"They're not finished yet, the energy isn't being channelled perfectly."
He passed his cars with short-lived relief as his drifting took him towards the other end of the lab and right over his main work area. Papers scattered in the path of his boots, a few of the smaller tools rolling and clinking to the ground.
He threw out his hands forcefully before he bumped into the wall.
His path halted before his momentum turned him back towards the centre of the lab.
Thor feels his lips curve into a small smile as he reminisces that his first flight with Mijonir nearly wasn't that lucky until Loki had halted him from colliding into one of the castle pillars with his magic. ("It seems like my tricks are useful after all, brother. Since you are struggling with the navigational element of flight." "Loki! I'm not that bad." "Of course, the pillar merely wanted to give your face a friendly high five, how silly of me.")
His smile fell whilst a hollow pit in his stomach grew upon remembering Loki's passing once again, for thousands of years he and Loki had fought side by side, being without him… felt like missing a limb.
He distracted himself by focusing more intently on his SHIELD brother Anthony who had accidentally drifted too close to one of his AI children.
Clint grimaces as Tony gave a hysteric laugh as he hovered too close to Butterfingers.
"Don't worry! Could be worse! Could be worse! We're fine!" Tony assured as he just managed to adjust his angle to not scorch the bot.
/I'm ok, just lightly toasted./ Butterfingers replied with cheery tones.
U chirruped and vibrated with a laugh. /And for once it's not Dum-E's fault!/
There's a staticky whistle-like noise from Dum-E that makes Peter smile. He knows it's Dum-E's version of blowing a raspberry and one of his favourite noises to make.
At that moment Karen wishes she could smile like the others. The trio really behaves like a band of brothers and she wishes she could have the same comradery with FRIDAY. It wasn't that her elder sister wasn't kind towards her. She just found that FRIDAY was very task orientated at times and rather secretive towards the rest of their family, especially about their father, but JOCASTA swore she hadn't always been that way. It put her on edge. She knew she wasn't the only one of her siblings to feel that way. What was FRIDAY hiding?
Tony rolled his eyes and managed to unsteadily fly back to the platform, his softly spinning descent looked almost controlled before his arms pinwheeled out as he dropped the last foot to the ground.
Wanda couldn't quite hold in a giggle behind her hand.
The group share grins and laughs, high on the glee of the successful test flight.
Tony regained his footing and turned towards Dum-E with the beginning of a smile.
The bot started raising his extinguisher.
"No! Ah, ah, ah, ah!" He yelled, throwing his hand out.
Clint snorts. "Such a dad," he laughs as Dum-E exaggeratedly wilts.
Tony looked to U and Butterfingers.
"Yeah, I can fly."
He jumped and squawked as a small stream of powder hit his back.
"Dum-E!"
/I saw a spark. Really I did./
There is a riot of laughter as they watch Tony begin to chase after the already fleeing bot.
Armour being slotted into place above his skin wasn't, in itself, disconcerting, despite its unfamiliarity. Neither was finding himself in his grandfather's body unable to control his own movement, which was starting to become somewhat familiar. No, what had Vision still feeling off, was how much more intense everything felt. Vision wasn't made entirely of metal but human skin was much softer and more sensitive than he was used to, he felt overly aware of every brush and pinch of the cold metal suit against Tony's skin.
He was aware of the sudden rigidity of foreign muscles as metal began to enclose around his chest. Teeth ground together as the reactor was tugged and clamped around, and the inner padding, far thicker than anywhere else in the suit, was settled quite firmly around Tony's torso.
He reminds himself it was only the first suit up, of course it wasn't perfect and the kinks would be fixed. But... Vision also knew his grandfather and it worried him.
"JARVIS, are you there?" Tony asked as he secured the faceplate.
"At your service, sir."
Hearing his father speak with a voice that was a perfect match for his own, was disconcerting. And was no less so even as it was becoming familiar. No wonder Tony had not been able to stand his presence for so long. He was beginning to understand why his first attempt to reach out had ended so disastrously.
But Vision would take this chance to get to know his father through more than disjointed memories that lingered like badly overwritten code, while he had it.
"Engage heads up display,"
For less than a second, the world in the helmet was black. Then a fraction of the world became visible as the narrow eye slits lit up with tiny code rolling across them before multiple layers of holographic readouts began flickering through the black, dancing across his vision and following the movement of his eyes.
Always central to Tony's vision was the screen showing exactly what Tony would be able to see without the mask with crystal clarity. But within the mask pops up info of items as he glances at them, distances and materials, info and comparisons on the models of his cars and more. The suit gives him every fact and then some of what he could need.
Vision can feel his grandfather's thrill but he takes everything in easily with his own enhanced sight and processing. For him, the instant visual analysis isn't unusual, but for Tony it's everything his mind tries to do but done for him and presented visually and concisely.
"Do a check on control surfaces."
"As you wish."
Both Tony and Vision's attention is primarily on the inpouring of data across the HUD, but both can feel and hear the shifting of the armour around them. Vision is somewhat surprised to feel as much of the slithering and flaring of the mechanics as he does, not having quite realized how close the mechanics sat against delicate skin.
Tony vaguely wondered if he should be feeling claustrophobic. With the faceplate down, the helmet was completely enclosed and all his visual input was through cameras. The suit completely wrapped around him and while it responded to his every movement easily and naturally, the hydraulics didn't completely remove the sense of the suit's 250 pounds. He had essentially swathed himself in a tin-can even more effectively than he had in Afghanistan. Well, regardless of what a normal person might feel, ensconced in his own tech Tony felt completely in control and excited.
"Test complete. Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics."
"Yeah. Tell you what. Do a weather and ATC check," Tony felt like a fire was being lit in his veins and he just couldn't wait any longer. "Start listening in on ground control."
"Sir," JARVIS protested, "there are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is-"
Vision can't help the exasperated concern he feels as he is pulled from Tony's body and lands next to the Colonel, who is already shaking his head. He isn't quite sure if it's with exasperation or disorientation.
Rhodey shares a brief scowl with Vision as he rubs his knuckles over the centre of his chest.
They hope that the jostling of the arc whilst donning the armour could be attributed to teething problems with the early versions of the suit.
"-JARVIS. Sometimes you got to run before you can walk."
Something in Tony's tone brings up Clint's memory of teaching Cooper to ride a bike. How Cooper had begged him to not let go, but eventually Clint had. It had taken Cooper a minute to notice and then he'd gotten upset until Clint pointed out that he had been riding on his own.
Clint knew that sometimes you had to just do the thing, lest you get too caught up in your own head about it. And he could see that as brilliant a scientist as Tony was, the man definitely preferred live tests over running numbers.
The fire in Tony's veins seemed to ignite, bright and engulfing as he finished his countdown, as he lifted off the ground and was propelled, shooting swiftly, along and out of the curved garage tunnel.
A manic cheer built in his throat even as he scraped the side of the tunnel, escaping his throat as he escaped into the night sky.
Thor hollers along with his teammate, he knows that feeling of fire and remembers it from his first flight. He remembers the joy and practically hearing his burning blood as it rushed through his body and matched the roaring of the wind, as it does now in his friend. He hadn't felt like this since his first flight and first battle.
Natasha shakes her head slightly, attempting to ground herself even as they are weightless in the sky. From what she can see of the rest of the team it seems that they were all caught up in Tony's adrenaline. The flight and the view were magnificent, but she always preferred keeping a clear head. She can't help her grin.
"Handles like a dream!" Tony noted proudly.
Rhodey laughs like he hasn't laughed in a long time.
The flight was smooth, the view was magnificent and he felt on top of the world.
His blood was still pounding as though screaming for more.
Higher, higher, higher!
Jarvis's voice barely registered in his ears.
'85,000 feet?'
"Records are made to be broken! Come on!"
'Easy!'
His blood screamed; higher, higher, Higher!
Her face sets into stone, Tony's adrenaline becoming something distant as Natasha notes the tiny gleaming crystals forming on the suit.
JARVIS is trying to warn Tony but Natasha knows that the genius isn't making out the words. Tony's constantly racing mind has become singularly focused on his course, there's no mad swirling of ideas anymore, his mind has narrowed down to a point in the sky.
She swears.
Rhodey is no longer laughing.
Sam has gone still.
Ice glistens white and frost spreads like ivy.
Natasha is hissing in Russian under her breath, urging Tony to snap out of it.
Spider-Man is yelling for JARVIS.
One of the boots pops and shoots sparks.
The blue eyes flicker and go dark.
Iron Man drops like a stone.
Sam's stomach drops with him.
He can't breathe - Stark is falling - his vision warps - Rhodey is falling - his chest is burning - Riley is Falling! -
He.
Can't.
Breathe.
He is falling? He needs to - he needs to…
Deploy flaps! - What? -
"Sam? Sam!"
He is falling - Stark, Rhodey, Riley, RILEY! -
A flash of bright gold - he is no longer falling - someone's face...
"-Need to breathe. With me. In. Hold. Out. In-"
He copies the movement, gasping as his air returns. His limbs are shaking but his vision begins to unbend itself.
"That's good. Keep breathing. This is just a memory, no one got hurt. Keep breathing."
Sam remembers that they're only watching a memory and Stark is fine. Stark did not get hurt, he did not break his back, he did not - he shoves the thought away before it finishes.
Breathe. In. Hold. Out.
There are hands on his shoulders, solid but not tight.
"You're doing good. What do you need?"
Sam thinks. "Are you okay?" He asks. Because it's Rhodes in front of him, breathing deeply, hands on his shoulders. He asks because there's a tightness around his eyes. He asks because he can't ask Riley.
Rhodes gives him a positive as Sam slowly stands on legs that feel like jello. Some of the team are looking at him, some of them are looking at Rhodey.
The Alien is watching nearby, which explains the golden flash and why the Iron Man suit is hanging a hundred meters above the road and nothing else is moving.
There are several questions on if he is okay.
"Yeah, yeah," he says slowly, feeling like he's wading through molasses. "I just feel kinda wiped."
"Apparently, that's pretty normal,"
There's a question to that, that he's too tired to voice. How did Rhodey know how a panic attack felt and how to calm someone having one?
'Oh,' he doesn't need to ask that after all.
And from some of the looks to Rhodey and the suspended suit he's not the only one.
"Sorry for the freakout," despite what he tells the vets he works with he can't help but feel embarrassed at breaking down in front of all of them.
"No," Rhodey lets some of his colonel's commanding voice filter into his previous comforting tone. "It shook me up too. It was understandable. Everyone here will agree with me when we say we don't blame you for reacting like that."
"Aye," Thor rumbles, looking uncharacteristically solemn. "Twas the Haunting, was it not? You can not help that my friend."
If Sam was in a sharper sense of mind he would question that wording but instead, he just nods. He had seen Stark fall before in the Desert but this hit harder, why?
Then it clicks.
This time he had not only felt what it was like for Stark when he fell but Sam was in the air with him this time. Like he was with Riley. Like he was with Rhodey.
"I know we like to give each other shit but I'd be the last person to blame you for this, man." Bucky's hand gives his shoulder a rough squeeze.
Cap gives him a nod of acknowledgment.
The Being is still watching him and he gives them a nod and Tony's repulsors burst to life in time for him to skim over the traffic and back up into the air.
"Yeah!" Tony shouted, the brief panic of his fall drifting away as he soared up again.
His previous excitement was still there but he acquiesced to JARVIS more easily than usual and turned for home. By the time he came to hover over his roof the adrenaline high was well and truly dissipating.
It was with tired relief that he told Jarvis to kill the power.
He barely had a moment to consider actually seeking out his bed for the night before he was crashing through the roof, through the piano and the floor, into his workshop and on top of his Shelby Cobra.
"Holy shit!" Peter yells over the blaring car alarms, as they suddenly find themselves down in the workshop. He peers wide-eyed up into the hole and directly into the night sky.
Steve cringes, "Well, uh, at least he landed on something."
"The car!" Scott moans, reaching helplessly.
"The poor piano," Wanda mutters.
That's when they realize Dum-E is present and still wielding his fire extinguisher.
Tony just blinked a couple of times at the spray coating the suit and leaned his head back. Maybe he'd just sleep here tonight.