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.
When the next scene formed, the team were faced with Tony surrounded by hologram faces of the three soldiers who died for him in the Humvee above pictures and information on their families. They listened silently as Tony went over the information with JARVIS and debated how he should contact them and watched as he shifted position slightly with each twinge of pain they could feel running through his chest.
"Tell me J, who do you think would best accept my condolences on getting their loved one killed?" Tony asked darkly as he swirled his finger around the rim of the now empty bottle.
"I hate it when he gets like this," Rhodey muttered worriedly as he bit his lip.
"No one likes it," Clint bit back, a bit more forceful than he had meant to, and it drew a questioning look from Rhodey. He tightly folded his arms across his chest, feeling more and more like a bowstring ready to snap. Tony's dark mode, the empty bottle, the phantom pain in his chest and the presence of Tony's bot's - Tony's children - bringing up memories he'd rather stay buried.
"I think that now is probably not the best time sir, it is quite late. And with some rest, you might better be able to prepare?" JARVIS answered calmly.
"Right, I am getting... gross. I should - I should shower." He avidly refused to analyze the sudden twist in his gut as his fingers began to absently twitch out a staccato on the Arc.
Tap tap. Tap tap. Tap tap...
"Sir, from my scans, it appears that the bond between the metal and skin could prove... rather less than watertight. Some provisions will need to be made for safe showering. Perhaps a waterproof film dressing? I'm sure U would love to look into compounds for a skin safe reusable adhesive. Or a compound that can bond to the skin and metal to create a permanent seal. In the meantime, the first aid kit is stocked and I shall place an order for disposable dressings, discreetly of course."
A proud smile twitched at Tony's mouth, "What would I do without you J." It was a complication he should have figured out earlier and proved just how messed up his mind was at the moment.
He pointed a finger demandingly to U who had been hovering closer at the topic. "U, I'm placing you in charge of that project, I will expect nothing but your best work!"
His stern demeanour gave way to a chuckle as U chirped happily and wheeled away to his workstation.
"Wait, so they have their own specialities?" Steve seemed mystified, "I thought they just assisted Tony when he needed it and liked what he did."
"Humans are not carbon copies of their parents, Mr Rogers. Mr Stark's A.I.'s and I are the same in that regard. It is the reason I am neither JARVIS nor Ultron in persona, I just am." Steve had the decency to appear embarrassed, he had realised in a way he had begun to value Vision as more Human than the others which was simply because he appeared and acted typically more 'Human'. Vision didn't acknowledge Steve's inner turmoil and thankfully diverted the attention back to the bots. "U's speciality was medicine and human biology, Butterfinger's speciality was product design, art and psychology, where-as Dum-E is into mechanics, pyrotechnics and chemistry. Or anything he can make explode."
Peter couldn't hold back a snort at that. He knew now why Dum-E loved his webs so much and squealed excitedly when he first introduced it.
"I had found U actually to be a great help when it came to patching you all up, especially since I am not a people doctor, unlike Dr Strange." Bruce gave a sad smile at the thought of the bot that had once helped him and Tony out so much when they worked on joint projects together.
"Was that the reason S.I. managed to turn around and create so much only a few months after quitting making weaponry?" Peter asked, "the turn around I remember was remarkable-"
"- Truth be told Tony told me he was looking at properly diversifying S.I. for awhile. But Obadiah had always rejected the designs that branched too far away from weaponry," Rhodey answered. "Even the projects he allowed, Obadiah deliberately kept them as small as possible. Tony was bored. He wanted to make other things as well as weaponry and he had plenty of rejected projects ready to go. Of course, after Afghanistan he chose to drop the weaponry element altogether."
Tony ran a hand through his hair as he slowly turned back to the holo screen and the faces of the soldiers that stared back at him, he would swear that their eyes were accusing him. "Goddamnit. What do you say, how do you apologize for being the reason that someone's loved ones came back in a box? I'm supposed to be a genius and I have no fucking clue on this... Maybe they don't even want to hear from me, it's been 3 months, maybe I'd just make things worse. And isn't it horrible that I don't want to, that I don't want to face them." He grimaced as he admitted that last part, it made him feel awful and cowardly.
Feeling guilty himself, Bruce looked down and wrapped his arms around himself. He knew he would have no idea what he would say to anyone who had lost family members in Johannesburg. Of course, the rational part of him blamed the witch but he couldn't help but hate himself because of what had happened.
There was a pregnant pause before JARVIS voiced almost haltingly. "In a sense, I could feel horrible for being glad that their sacrifice meant you could come back to us." Tony's gaze became sharp as his head snapped up to the ceiling, his mouth opened as if to say something in response before JARVIS barreled on. "However, I will not. Such feelings are very human and most would assume I am incapable of such feelings. As such I am not ashamed to feel or to act human, you shouldn't be either, as it is in our nature. I'll keep their information stored for future reference should you ever need it, Sir."
Perplexed Steve frowned, this was quite a culture shock for him, not only was he brought up in the early part of the 20th century but was a very devout catholic. He thought he had made lots of progress accepting things like Gods and aliens but there were elements still where his knowledge gaps in this strange era were prevalent. "JARVIS, does he view himself as human? To what point does this new type of life become sentient? How? How did Tony do it?"
"Dad really is quite remarkable. He nurtured us and guided us to build ourselves up from his base programming, and through that, we became our own Intelligences," KAREN's voice answered softly. This made a few of the team jump in surprise, especially Peter he wished KAREN had given him some warning before speaking out of his suit like that.
Vision wistfully considered how he had never had what the rest of his family had due to the tragic consequences of his birth. He could only be thankful that he and Tony had finally been working on bridging that divide.
The information faded and the lights around the room dimmed. Only some soft lights on the walls and from U's workbench lit the area. Knowing this was JARVIS telling him to get some rest he pushed away from the bench he'd been leaning on. He gasped as the sudden movement aggravated his chest and reached blindly for whichever bot had rolled over to help. Between their fumbling to steady him, the bot's claw ended up hitting his hip and made the wooden phoenix which he had carefully placed inside, clatter to the floor.
Tony's breath caught for a moment before he realised that it was undamaged.
He quickly swallowed the relief and moved down to take it before the bot, Butterfingers he realised, scooped it up in his claw.
Butterfingers beeped in a confused tone and tilted his claw to analyse the wooden figure.
"Ah! Give that to me, before you drop it again!"
The harsh tone caught Clint off guard, he twitched and frowned deeply. 'I hope he apologises for that.'
Butterfingers appeared to wilt after Tony carefully took the Phoenix figurine from him.
Feeling awful, Tony patted him on the head and apologised, before he stabilised himself and walked towards an unassuming part of the wall and pushed against it.
The panel, which had looked flush against the others gave way, moving backwards and sliding aside to reveal a safe built into the cavity, fronted with a keypad screen full of complex symbols.
Bruce straightened and shuffled to try and get a look but Thor drew his attention with a gasp, an indistinguishable bright gleam entering the god's eyes. "I did not think your world used these languages anymore."
"Actually, some people still do," Bruce's eyes flicked through the many symbols. "It's predominantly ancient Mayan and engineering symbols but there's a few Latin symbols, hieroglyphs and - I don't recognize the other logograms."
Transfixed, Bruce gave a low whistle as he watched Tony press and drag his fingers in patterns across multiple keys. Bruce had come across a few Mayan symbols while travelling in Mexico and had met people who still spoke Yucatan Maya.
"The other symbols are Cuneiform," Vision stated. At the blank looks, he expanded, "It's ancient Sumerian, one of the earliest known writing systems created around 3200 BC."
"Never pictured 'The Futurist' as a history nerd," Clint smirked.
"On the contrary, the best way to prepare for where you're going is to know where you've been. And creating a new language from a mix of ancient logographic systems and modern engineering symbols is an almost surefire way to encode his work."
"I guess we can add these to his list of languages," Natasha said.
Tony placed the Phoenix inside, in pride of place at the front of a collection of trinkets.
Amidst a number of various photos, Wanda's eye was caught by a Menorah and well-loved Torah sitting near a pile of sheet music written in a feminine hand. The sight was striking and it reminded the witch strongly of the things her mother had possessed until they'd lost it all.
Straight away, Sam spotted the faded military medals won by an 'Edwin Jarvis', some of which he recognised as a 1939-1945 Star, Defence Medal and a Victoria cross. Although Jarvis had never mentioned his military past to Tony, there was no doubt the butler possessed a great deal of hidden bravery.
There was also a rather well loved copy of C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia that Steve recognised as belonging to Mr Jarvis straight away. He smiled upon seeing it again, remembering how he loved C.S. Lewis's works and the keen Catholic values that he resonated so strongly with in the past.
Scott smiled when he spotted the hand-sewn 'JARVIS' stocking which had no doubt been used for the A.I.'s human counterpart.
The smile dropped when he saw a wooden box right at the back of the safe, the only distinguishing feature was a very old polaroid of Jarvis, a young Tony and his robot cat Amico stuck to the side. He could only guess that perhaps this was where the robot cats remains ended up.
Tony let out a long sigh when he spotted one photograph he must have placed in the safe when he'd been very drunk.
'Why the fuck would I put this shit in here?'
He flicked the photograph to the desk on the side.
Interest piqued, Steve looked to the side and felt a dip in his stomach when he saw a photo of young Tony and Howard.
Steve swallowed the words he was about to say. 'At least he's not throwing the photo away he's just taking it out of his safe… that's fine. Given what we've seen so far I guess it's understandable…'
They felt a strong swell of mixed emotions suddenly rush up and bunch in their throats as the door swung shut and the panel slid back over to once again hide the precious collection.
Even so, Tony didn't turn back around.
Tony appeared in the dim lab with damp hair, looking rather pale and fingers twitching over the reactor. He'd finally ditched the last suit vestments for a tank top and jeans, both well-worn with a few grease stains.
There was an almost collective wince amongst the team. Clearly, Tony's attempt at showering had not gone well and he did not look like he had even attempted to sleep. The Arc shone alien-like under the shirt that hung loose and highlighted how much weight he had lost.
"Oh man, I knew he'd lost a lot of weight but this makes it look even worse," Bucky cringed. He knew it was because here, Tony felt comfortable enough to completely drop the strong front he'd been putting up, he felt free to drop his masks. Up on the podium where he'd announced SI's new direction he'd had to look as strong as possible, mentally and physically, and the suit layers helped hide the 'weakness' that weight loss and the scars would have shown.
Sam was pretty sure that from the faint haunted look in his eyes that the man had just come out of a flashback.
Dum-E rolled over almost silently, though he did not reach out to Tony. Instead, it was Tony who placed a hand on his chassis and seemed to slowly come back to himself.
"Let's start work." Tony's voice sounded out as with a clap of his hands the lab came alive again.
"On what, Sir?"
'That particular soft tone is new. Fuck I must look pathetic…'
"Not pathetic," Vision assured, "never pathetic."
A point deep within his chest tinged again, this time stronger.
Tony knew he had to be honest with his children about this, especially JARVIS.
"The Arc."
"What?!" Peter's voice rose to an amazingly high pitch, so, that for a brief moment Natasha was hit with a familiar wave of doubt and uncertainty regarding the young hero's age.
"Hush," Natasha spoke up before softening her voice a little to show her concern when the young man's body stiffened. "I want to hear what he says."
"But he needs it to live, it's not like he can take it out to experiment with it."
"This model of the Arc was never made to be permanent," Tony answered reluctantly. "In Afghanistan… the shithole where I was held. They didn't have the best equipment. Or the best wiring but we - I - made do. But it's no more than jury-rigged scraps."
They felt the strain at the back of Tony's mind as he struggled to push away the thoughts of a body bleeding out on sandbags.
JARVIS had the good sense not to comment on that slip-up.
Tony swallowed as he took a seat at his workstation, "So J, bring up all the scans and analysation on it that I know you've done. I want to completely rework the specs, create a whole new model with our best materials. Looks like you boy's get to help give me an upgrade for a change."
The tense unease that had been tingling in the back of their heads finally began to give way to a sense of comfort as Tony fell into an easy rhythm with the A.I.'s, full of teasing and bantering between him, JARVIS and Dum-E, with U and Butterfingers occasionally chipping in from U's workstation.
Rhodey smiled as, for the first time since his capture, Tony finally seemed calm and relaxed.
Several of the group appeared jarred at the sudden scene change. But none so much as Steve who looked dazedly at the amount of new kit that had appeared in the lab.
"Where did all of the equipment come from? What is all of this?"
Vision preened proudly, "My family can do a lot in a short space of time when they put their minds to it. And when the situation calls."
"Even Dum-E?" Peter questioned. "I mean the memories do make him seem a bit clumsy at times you know..."
"He is what one might call a 'troll'," Vision answered, as he lifted an eyebrow and his lips curved in a small amused smile.
"I knew it," Rhodey whispered as he looked over to the bot now.
The three bots crowded around Tony as he held a second brightly glowing reactor in his hands.
"That is still so cool man," Scott cheered.
"I swear it looks brighter or bluer," Sam said as he tilted his head and squinted.
"And they sure got it done a lot quicker," Bucky mused. "Benefits of proper tools and not having to do everything by hand, I suppose."
Tony ran a few quick tests on the new unit before JARVIS deemed it safe.
Tony turned it over in his hands a few more times as if to find a fault, then began fiddling with the electrode pads hooked up to a heart rate monitor.
"Sir…" JARVIS finally prompted.
"Right, right. It's time." He grasped the Arc and gave it a rather harsh twist.
The machine detached.
The new model made this one seem disturbingly bigger and clunkier as Tony placed it down next to it.
Peter cringed at the empty hole where Tony's sternum should be and wanted to turn away when Tony's fingers pried inside, attempting to grasp a stray wire.
Meanwhile, Scott tried his best not to gag. The image of Stark reaching impossibly deep inside his chest was disturbing and he hoped by the end of this experience he'd at least have a stronger stomach to show for it.
Tony grimaced as he blindly fumbled for the wire that seemed just out of reach of his normally nimble fingers and instead encountered a sticky substance.
'I knew it, the shortage is already causing not only pain but generating increased amounts of plasmic discharge. I've got to sort this.'
The group could feel his anxiety and irritation spike.
"That stuff... doesn't seem like it would be safe," Natasha frowned consideringly and looked over to Bruce. "What could a prolonged exposure to that discharge do?"
Bruce blanched, he wasn't quite sure what the substance was, but the possibilities running through his mind were not good.
"JARVIS, I don't think I-" Tony hissed in a hoarse voice. "I can't reach it."
Tony strained and stretched his fingers, feeling them brush the wire and accidentally nudge it against the sidewall, he let out a pained yowl and yanked his fingers from the socket as it zapped him.
Bruce made an aborted move forward before Tony slammed his hand down on the table.
"Agghhh! Why?! Why can't I fucking do this! It's my own damn body!... It's my body…"
They watched with wide eyes as Tony leant over the bench, one hand gripping the edge with white knuckles, the other splayed over the hole in his chest.
Bucky couldn't help grinding his teeth, understanding that flash of rage all too well. A mix of loss and anger at your own body feeling foreign and out of your control.
"He definitely has PTSD," Sam murmured.
Rhodey cringed at hearing Sam say that, despite his initial worries about Tony after Afghanistan, he had thought his best friend had only really started to struggle after New York. How could he have been so blind?
Tears burned at the back of his eyes and he almost wanted to let them fall but a cold curl of shame appeared in his gut at the temptation.
He forced the feeling down and tried to get his frayed emotions back under control. He couldn't understand why his emotions seemed so extreme lately or why one second he wants to throw things and the next he wants to sob.
Are you okay? Cheeped Butterfingers in low soft tones. He and his brothers hovered nearby in clear concern.
Tony looked over and gave a weak smile to comfort them. "I'm fine guys. Everything's fine."
You need to put your engine back in or you'll stop working! Do you need my help?
His lips quirked up at the term Dum-E had chosen for the reactor, it was fitting.
Gently with shaky hands, Tony placed the Arc back inside of his body. More than ever the machine felt wrong, if it wasn't necessary to his survival Tony was sure he would have tried to claw it out.
Bucky felt his face fall when he remembered how he had tried to do exactly that with the metal arm when it was first installed. He wouldn't wish that on anyone.
"I'm sure we can figure this out together sir," JARVIS spoke up in a small voice but Tony hardly took notice of the A.I. as his mind darted in a wild scramble to search for a solution.
"Couldn't he just invent a mini robot to go in there and fix it?" Scott asked. "That's what I would do if I were him."
Bruce shook his head. "He needs to fix it quickly, before the short causes any real damage, they don't have time for that."
"What about one of the bots?" Wanda shrugged looking at the three machines that were nervously watching. The poor things had pulled off amazing impressions of kicked puppies, clearly wanting to help their father but unsure of what to do. She felt kind of sorry for them having just witnessed Tony's little freak-out.
Natasha looked over the claws of the bots and winced at the idea. They may have been built to work with machinery but those claws didn't look like something you wanted in your chest.
With his mechanical heart back in, he spent a few minutes ignoring the situation to talk to the bots and made sure that they were okay as he chastised himself for flipping out like that. Though the bots were more concerned with making sure that he was going to be okay. Dum-E kept checking on the light under his shirt.
Bucky smiled in a little wonder at seeing Tony calm so easily in their presence, leaning against U and stroking Butterfingers' arm. Even casually raising his shirt for Dum-E to better appraise the reactor. It was the calmest he'd been with anyone getting near it since Yinsen.
The five of them talked the situation over with all the bots volunteering for, or really demanding, an upgrade to their claws to be able to help. But that would take time they didn't have. He needed someone else to help.
He thought briefly about calling Rhodey since he would best understand the tech and what needed to be done, but Rhodey may not have any more luck than he'd had. Rhodey had also looked pretty upset at the conference and hadn't contacted Tony since. It would probably be better to let him cool off for a few days.
Rhodey winced at the reminder of how awful he'd been at that time.
He didn't even consider Obadiah.
Hopefully, Pepper had small hands.
Tony quickly re-sanitized the workstation and chair he was using, wiping off the discharge he'd accidentally smeared around.
"Pepper's been in for a couple of hours now right?" Tony asked JARVIS as he walked over to his computer. 'And she hasn't even come down to say hi.'
"Yes sir, she is currently in the living room."
"Pepper!" Tony demanded as he brought up the intercom link. "How big are your hands?"
"Isn't that the question the girls normally ask?" Clint asked whilst he gave a cheeky grin which Bucky caught and mirrored in response.
"What?" He could hear the confusion in her voice and he couldn't blame her. Especially since this was their first conversation since the conference.
"How big are your hands?" He couldn't help but let a bit of desperation leak through into his voice. The short was sending increasing amounts of electricity through his chest, into the pacemaker and painfully disrupting his heart's rhythm.
"I don't understand why-" She began but Tony cut her off.
"Get down here. I need you." He cut off the connection before she could finish, knowing the odd, abrupt conversation would alarm her. Perhaps it was a little mean, but if it got her down to the lab quicker, Tony wasn't going to feel guilty.
"I guess it's not just a question the girls ask," Rhodey lifted an eyebrow at Clint who looked like he was about to laugh. He quickly switched his expression to the stern face he had often used in his time as a Colonel to focus back on the scene in front of him.
Sure enough, a few moments later he saw her fearful face peer through the glass door leading to the workshop as she keyed in the entrance code.
"Hey," His lips twitched in an attempt of a small smile from where he was now reclined on a chair. "Let's see them. Show me your hands. Let's see them." Despite the circumstances and the barely concealed concern that marred her face, she kept a steady pace towards him and raised her hands. Thankfully, they were as petite as he had hoped they would be. "Oh, wow, they are small. Very petite, indeed."
Hoping not to freak her out with what he was about to ask, he made sure to keep a calm tone and downplay the issue. "I just need your help for a sec."
Natasha was impressed at the tactic he was using, she had often used it to de-escalate panic on missions.
"Oh my God," She breathed as her eyes darted across the medical monitoring equipment, her pale face turning to look at his chest as the reactor's light captured her attention.
Tony was incredibly thankful that between the light from both reactors and the spotlight Butterfingers held above him that the scarring that riddled his chest was washed out and how the device itself, the alienness of it, drew all attention. Scars seemed far less noteworthy to a hunk of metal inserted in your chest.
"Is that the thing that's keeping you alive?"
Steve attempted to peer closer. After taking the time to really think about it he'd concluded that it was rather amazing.
Ashamedly, when he had first scanned through Tony's file he had written off the invention as something else Tony had undeservedly inherited from his father.
But now he saw that he was very wrong.
With a pang, he remembered that he didn't have the best first impression of Howard's capabilities either, thanks to that disastrous flying car venture, but Howard had proved him wrong. In terms of character and genius.
Tony kept his eyes on the new Arc clasped in his left hand to keep himself focused. "It was, it is now an antique," murmured Tony with a rather forced detachment.
A small part of his brain was happy that he was replacing something he got in the cave with a better version he had made for himself, whilst another was sad that he would lose something Yinsen had physically contributed to.
"This is what will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future." He tilted the new Arc to admire it and to give Pepper a better view of the new sleeker model. "I was swapping it up for an upgraded unit and I just ran into a little…" He glanced at her whilst he tried to figure out the best way to phrase what he was about to say but his brain stuttered again when her eyes met his, "speed bump."
She blinked rapidly as panic, urgency and mild irritation at Tony being so vague flashed across her expression. "Speedbump? What? What does that mean?"
"It's nothing, it's just a little snag," he reassured her as he looked down to the Arc, "there's an exposed wire under this device." He couldn't help the pain that came through his voice, even as he tried, once he loosened the Arc and pulled it loose. He could almost feel his heart contract at the feeling of emptiness, the absence of the - now disturbingly familiar feeling - machine. Without the weight of it, he felt exposed and vulnerable.
He forced himself to carry on in as nonchalant a voice as possible. "And it's contacting the socket wall and it's causing a little bit of a short."
He steeled himself briefly before he gave it a sharp yank that he felt reverberate through his chest. The large wire, dangling from the Arc like a tail, was disconnected from the base plate with a snap, flopping out of his chest and dripping plasmic discharge.
Carefully, he passed it off to Pepper who was beginning to look more and more out of her depth by the second, "W-What do you want me to do?"
"Put that over there," he breathed as he flicked his hand in the direction of the table once he had passed it carelessly off to her. "That is irrelevant."
She clasped the Arc gently in the tips of her fingers and moved away briefly whilst hissing a soft but disgusted sounding, "Oh my god."
He couldn't tell if the disgust was from how he had just carelessly discarded something that had been powering his literal heart or at the outlandish nature of this situation.
Tony quickly decided he couldn't fault her either way. Definitely not, with what he was going to ask her to do next.
It quickly became impossible to even look at her now, he instead turned his gaze to the new and improved Arc that would guard his chest for the foreseeable future. "I just need you to reach in and you're just gonna gently lift the wire out." He forced himself to lean back, relax and look at her.
He blew out a shaky breath to try and give the pretence of calm for Pepper's sake.
"Is it safe?" Pepper asked tentatively.
He felt his heart leap to his throat. 'Well, she didn't say no, or run screaming from the room'.
"Yeah, it should be fine." It was a bald-faced lie and he could tell Pepper looked daunted at the task. "It's like Operation, don't touch the socket wall or it goes beep."
Bruce had a despairing look on his face as a few of them exchanged incredulous looks at how much of an under exaggeration they knew that to be.
"What do you mean it's like Operation? What is that?"
"It's just a game, never mind." He discarded that idea of trying to comfort her as his heart was again painfully forced from it's regular rhythm and got straight to business.
"Just gently lift the wire, ok?"
Pepper's hand dipped into the hole, then pulled back as if she had been burned, with a sharp inhale. "I-I don't think that I am qualified to do this."
Tony responded in a level albeit strained voice. "You are fine. You are the most capable, qualified, trustworthy person I have ever met. You are going to do great."
Whilst the pain began to increase, Tony's attitude shifted and he became unable to hide the irritability. "Is that too much of a problem to ask-"
"-Ok, ok-"
"-Because I'm going to really need your help here."
Tony sucked in a harsh breath, the visual of Pepper's fingers in his chest he knew would be disturbing so he looked away.
The Avengers gazes seemed stuck on the scene in morbid fascination, as unable to look away as one was from a train wreck.
Scott, having just disturbingly remarked that Pepper was one knuckle in and still going was forbidden by Rhodey on making any more gross remarks this scene.
"Oh, oh! There's pus!" Pepper's voice went unnaturally high.
Peter cringed and his face creased in worry before he remembered swiftly that the 'pus' was really the plasmic discharge.
Meanwhile, Wanda considered how much easier it would have been if she had been in the place of Pepper and could have dealt with this all with her telekinesis. Then she remembered this was in 2008, she and Pietro were filled with rage against Stark and had no powers at all. And if she did and was in Pepper's place… at that age, she was certain she would have torn his reactor out and left him to die.
The thought made her shudder. She vowed to herself that she wasn't that person anymore.
"It's not pus. It's an inorganic plasmic discharge." Even with this new information, Pepper cried out, her eyes tightly shut and mouth twisted in disgust. Her hands started to create a very weird distracting sensation from the centre of Tony's chest. "It's from the device, not my body."
"It smells!" Pepper cried out.
Nearly everyone was thankful at that moment that that was one ghost sensation Sparkles decided to save them from in this scene.
Bruce however, was worried that the discharge could be telling of a deeper problem that the device was causing for Tony. Smell could have helped figure out what it actually was.
"Yeah it does," Tony's voice sounded strained yet focused. "The copper wire. The copper wire, you got it?"
"Ok. Ok, I got it."
"Now, don't let it touch the si-ides-!" Tony cut himself off with a yelp of pain which lanced across his chest. Tony made the instinctive and quickly aborted motion to jolt upwards which caused the sensation to worsen.
The ghost pain that lanced through their chests caused even the Widow and Winter to jolt while Clint let out a violent curse.
Although Steve uncharacteristically didn't bother to reprimand him, the pain that was lancing through his chest was reminding him of his pre-serum days, the experience was jarring him to the core.
"-Sides when you're coming out. That's what I was trying to-"
"-I'm sorry. Sorry." Pepper turned wide sympathetic eyes to him.
"-To say before," Tony continued before looking down at the wire now disturbingly being held up in all its slimy glory by Pepper's fingers.
But Pepper seemed to be pulling still. That was a bad sign.
"Now make sure when you pull it out you don't pull out the magnet-" Tony's chest spasmed and his voice laced with agony just as Pepper pulled out the wire.
Unfortunately, the magnet that was meant to stay in was now dangling from the wire in Pepper's fingertips. The gooey discharge was dripping from it and onto his chest as the heart monitor blared.
"-At the end of it! That was it. You just pulled it out." Tony's voice sounded drained as he finished that sentence, it was exactly what he had hoped wouldn't happen. The team knew it was bad from the drastic intensity of the ghost pain alone.
"Oh god!" Panicked, Pepper's eyes became dish plates whilst she struggled with what to do to fix this situation. "What do I do?
"Okay, I was not expecting - Don't put it back in, don't put it back in!" Tony instructed her, she was quick to do as he asked and placed the wire on the metal table.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh nothing, I'm just going into ventricular fibrillation because you yanked it out-"
"WHAT?! I thought you said this was safe!"
"-Like a trout!"
Although he wanted to apologise for his misdirection, Tony knew there was no time. He handed her the new arc and directed her to place the new one in the old one's place.
"Ok, Tony," she took a brief moment despite the machines blaring, to try and comfort him. "It's going to be ok."
"Is it?"
"It's going to be okay. I - I'm going to make this ok."
"Let's... hope," He answered, wanting her to move it along. 'Just put. IT. IN.'
"Goddamnit, Pepper! Now is not the time! You have a job, do it!" Rhodey yelled, echoing the sentiments of the rest of them. Their own hearts felt like they were about to beat out of their chests and Tony was far too still and breathing rapidly for their comfort.
It took everything in him to keep his composure and to keep the pain off his face to not alarm Pepper and instruct her how to attach the new Arc.
"Attach that to the base at the bottom and make sure you - YEOW!"
The yell coinciding with a loud electrical sparking noise was not the most reassuring thing the team could have heard next, and the lot of them including Rhodey with his mechanically assisted legs rushed to Tony and Pepper's side.
Tony breathed a sigh as the new reactor kicked in.
"Was that so hard? That was fun right? Here, I got it. I got it. Here." Tony reassured Pepper whilst he double-checked the positioning of the new Arc.
"You ok?" Pepper questioned breathlessly.
Rhodey couldn't help but smile a little then, even in a situation like this their immediate concern was for each other first, he was glad Tony still had Pepper in his life, even if it was just as a friend.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as Tony seemed to get his colour and breath back and was immediately acting lively again.
"Yeah, I feel great," Tony answered before chuckling in relief that it was done.
Reassured, Pepper smiled too and sighed, "Don't you ever, ever, ever, ever, ask me to do anything like that ever again."
"I don't have anybody but you," Tony confessed as he gave a small shrug.
There was a beat of silence which was broken only by the quiet, now regular rhythmic beeping of the heart rate monitor, it created an intense moment between the two.
Rhodey looked devastated. 'Does he really think that?'
Sam laid a hand on his arm. "I don't think he meant it quite the way it sounded, of course you're friends. You're his best friend. He just…"
"Thinks I hate him. He thinks, me being a bit peeved off means I wouldn't come if he needed me! He thinks that - that I would, what, abandon him?! Over a bloody weapons contract!"
"Hey!" Bucky said forcefully as he moved into Rhodey's space and gripped his shoulders. "You and those bots are his family, he knows he has you. Even if his mind twists things up sometimes. After everything we've seen, he knows he has more than just her."
Rhodey sagged, "right, right. You're right."
Clint leaned around, eyeing Rhodey's gauntlets. "And you know, you have big man hands."
Pepper broke the moment between her and Tony and turned away to wipe her hands while Tony took it as a cue to rip off the heart rate monitors he had attached to himself.
He glanced quickly to the table and while he saw Pepper was still busy cleaning her hands, he used this as an opportunity to quickly shield his back from view.
Inadvertently giving the team another look at it, Thor's expression turned stony upon seeing the brand once more.
He clenched Mjolnir so hard his knuckles turned white and vowed that if Stark still bore the mark - he would consult Asgard's mages to try and find a magical means to heal it. Once his father never would have allowed such a thing, having little regard for both mages and mortals. But losing Frigga and Loki had changed him. He was certain Odin would allow Tony to be healed in the Halls.
"What shall I do with this?"
Pepper had cradled the old Arc reactor carefully in her hands like she was holding Tony's heart - which in a way she was.
Artistically struck by the beauty the machine, Steve's fingers twitched with the urge to catch this moment - to draw the Arc as a heart with veins of wires cradled in Pepper's delicate hands.
Scott took a short moment to marvel again at the Arc's technological wonder.
All Tony saw was a very dangerous device that was born out of the darkest time in his life and if in the wrong hands could cause devastation.
"Destroy it. Incinerate it."
"You don't want to keep it?" Pepper gazed at the defunct device, clearly, she had attached some symbolism to the old Arc reactor even though it currently wasn't protecting Tony's heart.
"Pepper, I've been called many things. Nostalgic is not one of them."
"The stuff in that safe says differently," Wanda quipped.
"Will that be all, Mr Stark?"
"That'll be all, Miss Potts."
She smiled at him and they moved away from each other.
Distracted by the newly recognised warm butterflies fluttering in his chest, Tony made to turn around to break the moment before aborting the gesture when he remembered what was on his back.
However, it was too late.
Pepper had seen the brand stamped on his back. Her face had gone the colour of milk, her eyes had blown wide with horror and appeared suspiciously bright.
"Oh my god… Why did they do that?" Pepper's body seemed lined with tension and she appeared to be clutching the old Arc tighter now.
They felt such a high level of panic run through him that for once, his mind went blank other than chiding himself about how stupid he was to let his guard down and forget for a single moment.-
"It doesn't matter." He felt exposed and just wanted the conversation to end.
"Doesn't matter?!" Pepper nearly screeched, incredulous and insulted on Tony's behalf.
"Once everything is sorted, I'm going to try and get it removed. Don't tell anyone." A dark look came over Tony's face, "They would think that I am weak. I am not. I can't afford to be if I am going to run this company. You know that, you've worked with me long enough. So this is going to require absolute discretion from you. You didn't see this." He muttered quietly "Don't even tell Rhodey, I don't want him to think less of me."
"I would never!" Rhodey objected, sounding raw and hurt.
Pepper appeared uncomfortable but sighed. "You look as handsome as ever Tony. I see nothing wrong with you."
She tried to reassure him with a compassionate smile but he hated that look on her face. He tried to relish in the fact that Pepper had called him handsome despite everything but it didn't work. He hated pity.
"Thank you." Tony said, trying to sound sincere, but he knew he didn't quite manage it.
Awkwardly, Pepper seemed to hesitate for a moment before moving closer. "Rhodey wouldn't think less of you for this, I don't-"
"- Don't. Please," Tony cut her off, there was a hoarse note in his voice that he was trying desperately to hide, "I didn't mean to let you find out."
Seeing that Tony was not ready to talk about it, Pepper nodded. "You know where I will be if you need me, Tony."
With that, she turned away.
The team watched her go, Natasha knew from the business woman's body language that she was trying not to take offence at Tony's brush off and it was easy since concern for her boss and her friend was taking priority.
"Hey, Butterfingers, come here," Tony wiggled his fingers at the bot. "What's all this stuff doing on top of my desk? That's my phone, that's a picture of me and my dad."
Steve's shoulders dropped as he watched Tony slide a trash bin towards the bot and told him to bin the photo.
Authors Note - I am SO SORRY this took so long and for a long while there was radio silence coming from me on my end. I have gone through a lot of personal, academic and work-related changes since my last update, it all came with a lot of pressure which I had found hard to manage. Suffice to say that coupled with my dissatisfaction with some of Marvel's creative decisions lead to a serious sapping of my creative energy which I have only recently come back from.
I hope some of you out there still like my work and are happy to know that this story is still alive and will continue to be updated! :) See you next time!
