Tony tinkered with the schematics in front of him as he tried to make sense of the morning's events. There were some surprises at the Hydra facility to be sure. Surprises in the form of three enhanced individuals Jarvis and S.H.I.E.L.D. both had yet to identify. He let out a frustrated sigh as Jarvis interrupted his thoughts to inform him the repairs to the Iron Legion was beginning. At least one had acid damage from a civilian throwing the nasty stuff right at it. They were meant to help the team help people. Today they were delivering a warning for safety, asking people to calmly evacuate for their own safety. He was trying to make sure people were kept as far away and as safe as possible and this was the fruit of his efforts. More hate and destruction to add to his legacy.

Legacy…

What else would he call that vision of the future he'd had back at the Hydra base? The Avengers, his teammates, his friends. All dead before his eyes, their bodies broken, bloody, and limp as they lay in unnatural positions. Steve and his rasping plea, why didn't you do more Tony? Why didn't you save us? Why? It was on a loop and he couldn't just shake it off.

He jolted in his seat when a hand gently touched his shoulder. "Tony?" he dimly heard and as he focussed on the present he saw that his favorite science bro Bruce joined him. The man was being very timid and his face was full of concern for Tony. "What's going on?"

After a beat of debating what to say, how much to say, he settles for, "How much time ya got?" and flips a Stark Industries tablet over to him. His eyes are wide as he scans the screen and his brow furrows as he makes eye contact. "Ultron? We scrapped that project. We're not ready for it, we just don't quite have the capabilities yet."

In lieu of speaking he first nods his head towards the glow stick of destiny, as he had once called it, sitting right there only feet away. Bruce's eyes follow and he sees the gears turning already. "I think, with that mind games voodoo staff we might stand a chance of cracking it." he doesn't plead, he doesn't beg, he reminds himself. At Bruce's hesitance to mess with it he does just that, "Just give me 24 hours. Work with me for 24 hours, that's how long the staff is here before it gets zapped back to Asgard." To his immense surprise, Burce needs little else to convince him and they dig into the project as a team.

All he knows is that it is late when Pepper stops by the labs to retrieve them. She all but orders them out to go get ready for the party he had insisted on throwing. "You're the host, showing up is kind of mandatory." she shrugs nonchalantly in a very Pepper way and, to both of their surprise, he immediately allows her to pull him from the room instead of begging five more minutes out of her, under the agreement with Bruce that they would pick up asap in the morning to maximize the limited time left with the scepter.

In the back of his mind he knew why. If the Ultron project failed and destruction rained over Earth, their mightiest heroes unable to stop it, what hope did civilians have? What hope did Pepper have? If he knew one thing for sure in his heart, he was not going to throw away time with her. With his team. With his friends. With his family.

Tony became Pepper's shadow for the night, his arm around her waist possessively, protectively, wary to let her out of his sight now that she was next to him. Pepper leaned into him, her very presence conveying reassurance. Idly he tapped his fingers on her waist, content for the first real time that day. Of course, he really should have known that wouldn't last for long. They all should have.

After the party had winded down and the guests had all left, the only ones still comfortably draped across multiple couches and chairs were the Avengers and a few of their close friends. The group has some rousing fun, poking fun at each other while making what was admittedly most likely futile attempts to lift Thor's magical hammer off the glass table. A small creak and shift made everyone in the room freeze and Tony found his eyes flitting from the man with a plan whose hands were on the handle of the hammer to the Norse God who it belonged to. Biting back a snort of amusement he told himself to have Jarvis get a candid of that moment. His grip readjusted and what Tony thought was a very half-hearted attempt to lift it once more, Steve let go and shrugged it off; clearly pretending he hadn't even noticed the slightest shift.

The whole celebratory affair was put to an end when the lights flickered and a gravely voice quoted Pinocchio at them, promising destruction all at the hand of Tony Stark and his desire to provide "a warm light for all mankind" and a shield around the Earth.