Updated: 28/8/2021
Happy 29th Birthday to Me and Happy 55th Birthday to my Dad!
This is the biggest mass update I have done
Chapter .5.
Tony was in the lab in the helicarrier. But his ear was listening to Fury's conversation with Thor about Loki. That man had a screw loose.
Tony looked at Bruce and felt sorry for the guy. He was surrounded by people that didn't understand him. Tony hoped to tell the man how he had been sending General Ross on wild goose chances across the globe since Bruce had turned into the Hulk. From Siberia to the Gobi Desert.
He watches Bruce scan the sceptre. Something in it was making a slight noise. But Tony couldn't exactly tell anyone that.
"The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's report of the Tesseract", Bruce tells Tony, "But it's going to take weeks to process"
Tony's fingers grazed the computers and information from the computers enters his mind. One of the beauties of being a Technomage/Technopath.
"If we bypass their mainframe and direct route to the Homer cluster we can clock this at around 600 teraflops", Tony tells him.
"All I packed was a toothbrush", Bruce chuckles.
"You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd lot it. It's Candy Land", Tony says
"Thanks, but the last time I was in New York, I kind of broke Harlem", Bruce replies typing.
Tony could hear Rogers and Rhodes approaching.
Oh what fun. Hear the sarcasm.
"Well, I promise a stress-free environment. No tension, no surprises…", Tony starts and then zaps Bruce.
He didn't believe he had anything to worry about. He believed that Bruce had more control then he realised. He was trying to help Bruce's confidence.
With his kids powers he helped them build their confidence with using them. Only at school they needed to keep it on the downlow.
"Ow!" Bruce winces feeling the electricity.
"Hey!" a voice shouts.
"Tony!" another voice shouts.
"Nothing?" Tony asks Bruce ignoring the two people who just entered.
"Are you nuts?" Rogers asks him angrily.
Tony rolled his eyes at Rhodes's look of disappointment mixed with exasperation and was that fondness?
"Jury's out", Tony replies honestly.
Rhodes rolls his eyes in fondness. Tony really hadn't changed much at all had he?
"You really have a lid on it don't you?" Tony asks Bruce, "What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?"
Rhodes has to hold off a laugh at the Tony-like behaviour still being as bad as before. He couldn't laugh. If he did the good old Captain would explode. Even through Rhodes out-ranked him he didn't want to start a fight. He was here to prevent one.
"Is everything a joke to you?" Rogers asks Tony.
Tony restrained himself from rolling his eyes. Rogers needed to lighten up. He could see Rhodes wanting to laugh. And Tony didn't know how he felt about that yet.
"Funny things are", Tony replies.
"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny", Rogers lectures.
"He is right Tony", Rhodes says.
Tony wanted to sneer at them. Did they really think he would do something to endanger everyone? His sister was on this carrier. If he didn't have complete faith in Bruce's control, he won't have done it.
"No offence, Doc", Rogers says off-handily to Bruce.
"Sorry Doctor Banner no offence against you", Rhodes says looking truly apologetic.
"Sure", Tony sneers at Rhodes.
Rhodes winces. He senses that Tony had formed some type of bond to the Doctor. And Tony was protective of the few friends he had. As they were off him. Proof being Happy and Pepper keeping him out of Stark Industries the last two years.
"It's all right, I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things", Bruce says offhandedly.
Tony wanted to build Bruce's confidence. But these two weren't making it easy.
"You're tip-toeing, big man. You need to struct", Tony advisors the good doctor.
"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr Stark", Rogers states.
Tony wondered if Rogers had always been this uptight even in Howard's days.
"Do you think I'm not?" Tony asks them, "Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equations unless I have all the variables"
"You think Fury's hiding something?" Rogers asks him.
Rhodes had to admit Tony had a point. He didn't trust Fury. But wasn't in the position to question it.
"He's a spy. Captain, he's 'the' spy. His secrets have secrets", Tony points out, "It's bugging him too", Tony says gesturing at Bruce, "Isn't it?"
"Uh…I just want to finish my work here, and…", Bruce starts.
"Doctor?" Rogers asks.
"What is your opinion Doctor Banner? As I believe Tony has a point", Rhodes says.
Tony was giving in if Rhodes believed he would get points with him for agreeing with him on this one little thing then he was sadly underestimating him.
"A warm light for all mankind. Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube…", Bruce starts.
"I heard it", Rogers states.
Tony wanted to roll his eyes. How dumb was Rogers? Tony's old children would get this point without it being explained to them.
He made a mental note to himself to take to Sharon and ask her if Aunt Peggy mentioned how dim-witted the good captain was back in the day.
"Well I think that was meant for you", Bruce says looking at Tony, "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the Tower, it was still all over the news"
Rhodes admits that made since. He wanted to see Tony's masterpiece but knew if he tried Tony's security would have him on his ass before he could blink and then Pepper would kick his ass from here to Timbuktu and Happy would have wants left.
"The Stark Tower? That, big, ugly…", Rogers starts.
Rhodes grabs his arm and squeezes giving Rogers the message to shut up. As Tony was looking at them with a hard expression. Rhodes knew Tony was barely tolerating BOTH their presences at the moment. As he didn't like both of them.
"…building in New York", Rogers finishes.
"It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for, what, a year?" Bruce asks Tony still looking down.
"It's just a prototype", Tony says in an offhand sort of way.
Rhodes remembered the arc reactor he last saw and wondered just how great it had gotten in the last two years. As Tony was never the one to stop improving the original design.
"I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now. That's what he's getting at", Tony adds.
Rhodes admits what Tony was doing was good and better for the world. And after some time he had come to believe what Tony was doing was for the best. And it would change the world for the better. Tony saw it then. But why couldn't he?
And why couldn't he accept it back then? Would it had saved their friendship?
"So, why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D bring him in on the Tesseract project", Bruce asks them rhetorically, "What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"
Tony and Rhodes smelt something was off about this whole thing. Not that they would try and work out what it was together.
"I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking all of S.H.I.E.L.D's secure files", Tony says looking at his tiny screen.
Rhodes smiles that was the Tony he knew.
"What have you found so far?" Rhodes asks.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Rogers asks butting in.
"JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge", Tony replies not answering them.
He didn't tell them his powers also were looking through everything. It just took his head a while to process the data.
Best part of his powers was that they were undetectable. That was not saying JARVIS wasn't.
"In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?" Tony asks offering them some of his blueberries from his packet.
Rhodes had to admit he was curious about what Tony would find in those files. What was S.H.I.E.L.D hiding as not to call Tony in sooner?
"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around", Rogers states.
"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence?" Tony replies ignoring what Rogers just said, "Historically, not awesome"
"I think Loki's trying to wind us up…", Rogers starts.
Tony holds back a retort. That only one getting round up here was Rogers. Didn't he know the world wasn't just black and white? Not all Agents and Agencies were good.
"This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed", Rogers finishes.
"We have orders. We should follow them", Rogers adds.
"Sometimes you have to question if the orders are given for the right reason Captain", Rhodes says.
"Like you did?" Tony sneers rhetorically at him, "Your being hypocritical"
Rhodes flinches that was true.
"Following's not really my style", Tony says to Rogers after glaring at Rhodes.
"And you're all about style aren't you?" Rogers asks.
"Of the people in this room, which one is, A, wearing a spangly outfit, and, B, not of use?" Tony asks.
"Tony behave", Rhodes tries to cool them down.
He knew what Tony's problem with Rogers was. But what was Rogers problem with Tony?
"Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you", Bruce tries to get Rogers see reason.
"Just find the Cube", Rogers says storming out the room with Rhodes just behind him, but he does give Tony a look to say he believed him.
But he needed to calm the Captain. Tony had Bruce to get him to calm down. So Rhodes left after Rogers.
Tony breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"That's the guy my Dad never shut up about?" Tony asks Bruce, "I'm wondering If they shouldn't have kept him on ice"
"Huh", Bruce says, "Guys not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us"
"What he's got is an Acme dynamite kit. It's going to blow up in his face", Tony replies casually, "And I'm going to be there when it does"
"Yeah. I'll read all about it", Bruce says tapping on his screen.
"Uh-huh. Or you'll be suiting up with the rest of us", Tony replies seriously.
Bruce chuckles, "You see, I don't get a suit of armour. I'm exposed. Like a nerve. It's a nightmare"
"You know I've got a cluster of shrapnel trying every second to crawl its way into my heart. This stops it", Tony says gesturing to his chest, "This little circle of light, it's part of me now, not just armour. It's a terrible privilege"
"But you can control it", Bruce points out
"Because I learned how", Tony replies.
"It's different"
"Hey, I read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you", Tony points out.
"So you're saying that the Hulk…The other guy saved my life?" Bruce asks sceptically, "That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?"
"I guess we'll find out", Tony says.
"You may not enjoy that", Bruce retorts.
"And you just might"
Rhodes pulls out his phone to make a phone call while he was following the Captain through the carrier and dials a number he didn't really used and he got voice mail.
"You better get here. Something is going down. And Tony is going to need you. As he won't let me near him. So get here soon", Rhodes says and hangs up.
Hopefully he would be here when this all kicks off and before Tony got himself hurt…
Author's Note: What do you think? Please Review:)