Chapter Twelve: The Proposition
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Tony blinked at his duplicate across the threshold, his brain sluggishly taking in the words. Or maybe his brain only felt sluggish. Or maybe his brain was fine, but he was slow? Whichever the case, he felt that it took him an awfully long time to respond to the man.
"I don't have your face on purpose," Tony said. His words were more mumbly than he'd intended, but he or his brain was operating on some sort of lag, so talking was more challenging than it usually was. "I was born with it. Or I guess, I grew into it? Pretty sure I didn't look like this when I was born, but that was a while ago, so I could be wrong."
"Christ," Stark responded with a shake of his head, "you are in exactly the state JARVIS said you would be, aren't you? Are you going to let me in?"
"Still thinking," Tony admitted, but he tried to shuffle back a step. Fortunately, Stark reached out to catch his elbow, because otherwise he would have ended up on his ass. That would have been embarrassing.
Stark drew in a breath and let it back out slowly. Reaching behind him to close the door, he repeated the process. "Alright, so what would Pep or Rhodey do? Well, Rhodey would kick my ass, so what would Pep do?"
The man seemed to be talking to himself, which was fortunate because Tony didn't know the answer.
"Right, so," the billionaire turned his attention on Tony, "here's what we're going to do. First things first, you're sitting down before you fall on the floor. Seriously, do you know much I have to drink to get this unsteady on my feet? Have you been drinking? You don't smell like a distillery. Jarv, he hasn't been drinking, has he? Taken anything?"
"He has partaken of neither alcohol nor drugs of any kind," JARVIS' voice replied from the phone in the man's pocket, "although he has been conscious for the bulk of the past eighty hours without much sustenance."
"See, that explains why you can't stand up straight," said Stark as he steered Tony over to the couch. "I've been reliably informed that sleeping and eating are requirements rather than options."
"Not that you are often inclined to listen, sir," JARVIS quipped.
"That is quite enough commentary from my ass, thank you," the man groused. He maneuvered Tony down onto the sofa and straightened up again. "Okay, you're going to stay put and I am going to find you something to eat, then, you're going to sleep."
"You said we should talk," Tony pointed out.
"Ah!" Stark held up an admonishing finger. "Food, sleep, then talk. Or maybe, food, sleep, shower, then talk. No offense, but you are pretty rank."
"I think I forgot to shower," mumbled Tony.
"Yeah, I think you're probably right," the man agreed.
Stark wandered off towards Tony's kitchenette. Tony honestly wasn't sure what he might find in there. Did he even have food?
The answer was obviously yes, as the man soon returned with a peanut butter sandwich and a mound of chips that were probably a little stale. Stark extended the plate towards Tony, then set it down on the side table when he didn't reach for it. Tony dragged the plate closer and picked up the sandwich in both hands. He tried not to think about how plain peanut butter sandwiches were Natalia's go-to meal.
Tony honestly hadn't felt all that hungry until after about the second bite. Then he was ravenous, finishing it off in several large bites before practically inhaling the potato chips. He looked up just as Stark set down a glass of water.
"Thanks," he murmured, grabbing it up to take several gulps in a row.
"Sure thing," Stark said casually. "Why don't you lay down and get some sleep? I'll… clean up or something."
"You don't have to-"
"I know, but I'm gonna insist on the sleep thing," the billionaire interrupted. "Your under-eye circles have circles. You look like a raccoon. Or like you're dying. Not a good look."
"Yeah, okay," Tony relented. Now that he had some food in him, he really was starting to feel rather exhausted. He turned to lay his head on the arm of the sofa. "Maybe… Maybe just for a… a min…"
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Tony didn't realize he'd actually fallen asleep until he woke up, blinking the grit from his eyes. Then he continued to blink a few more times because it took him a moment to remember why Stark was sitting in his armchair. It couldn't have been a comfortable position, slouched half-sideways with a leg over one arm, phone held over his head as he swiped at the screen.
"Um," said Tony.
Stark's attention snapped over to him and the man promptly lowered his phone and shifted into a less back-warping position. "Oh, thank god, you're finally awake," he declared. "You've slept for hours. Though, to be fair, I thought you'd be out for about another eight to ten."
"You just sat here the whole time?" Tony asked with a frown, levering himself up from the couch cushions.
"A little bit, yeah," Stark responded after a minute pause.
"Sir tested and made alterations to the encryption on your number two hard drive before attempting to organize the contents of your work table," JARVIS said via Tony's computer speakers. "After which, he resorted to trolling people on the internet."
"It's not my fault. They already believed the moon landing was faked," the billionaire stated defensively.
"You altered my hard drive?" Tony asked, less upset than simply bemused by the entire scenario that was playing out.
"Just… Just a tiny smidgen. Honestly, you probably wouldn't have even noticed if Jarv wasn't such a damned snitch. And I didn't even look at anything."
"Sir."
"Okay, okay, I was a little curious about where you'd stashed the arc reactor blueprints and the designs for that grenade launcher that literally caught on fire and practically blew up in R&D's faces," Stark conceded sheepishly. "But I didn't get into anything personal, I swear. Though, I suppose I still probably should have asked first. I've been told I have boundary issues..."
"You knew about me before the hotel," Tony cut in, feeling foolish. Of course the man had known. He was a publicly acknowledged genius. It was arrogant to think he could keep hacking into the man's servers without his notice.
"To be honest, if you hadn't taken the time to help on JARVIS, I probably wouldn't have," Stark told him. "I honestly would have thought you were a drink-induced hallucination and wouldn't have questioned it. But you made changes to the code and left notes that were - they were inspired. And so obvious in hindsight, but I was too close to the project. I needed your eyes to help me figure out where I was getting hung up.
"You saved me, you took me home, you did some work on my pet project - and that was all you did. You didn't contact me again looking for a reward or any sort of compensation. You didn't steal anything, which you could have done way too easily that night. Of course, that got my attention. I absolutely had to keep an eye out for you, figure out who you were," the billionaire declared.
"So, the first time JARVIS interacted with me…" Tony questioned, trying to re-frame everything that had happened in relation to the billionaire.
"I told him to. It felt like it was time for you to meet the one you helped create," Stark confirmed. "I mean, that is why you kept hacking into my personal servers, right? To find out whether I had finished him?"
Giving a short nod, Tony dropped his gaze to hands, his thumb pressing into his left palm. He had spent so much of the last few years trying to evade detection by this man and it had all been for nothing. Stark had already known he existed, had probably known where he was.
"Why… Why are you here? I mean, why now?" Tony asked without raising his eyes. "If you knew about me, why… Why let me hack you? And why wait this long to - to confront me?"
"Confront you?" the billionaire repeated. "Right. Now, I can see how you might jump to that conclusion, but that's really not why I'm here."
Tony shot the man a skeptical glance. "Then what? Why?" he asked again, a plaintive note entering his tone.
"How about we start over," the other man proposed, then held out a hand. "Hi. I'm Arno, pleased to finally meet you. I'm here because a mutual friend was worried about you. Also, I'm kind of a huge fan of how you hack into places you shouldn't be and disappear at the drop of a hat."
If Tony had been somewhat bemused before, he was wholly incredulous now. He looked between Stark's face and outstretched hand in bewilderment. It was one more of those instances where he wasn't quite sure something was happening the way it ought to be. It seemed a normal enough introduction, but the situation itself was certainly not. Was it?
Hesitantly, Tony reached out to take Stark's hand. "I'm Tony," he replied, "and I… I'm a fan of how you make stuff? But especially your AIs. They're incredible." His response grew less uncertain as he continued. "JARVIS was worried about me?"
"Yeah, he was. Worried enough that he actually gave me your location," Stark - Arno? - told him. "He never would before. Personally, I think that's because you're his favorite."
"Master Tony does tend to cause me less grief," JARVIS put in primly.
Tony let out a delighted cackle, ever amused by the AIs snark. Then, he caught himself and shot Stark - Arno - a cautious glance. The other man was grinning.
"There's someone that you ought to see," Arno informed him, "but you'll need to come to Malibu to see them."
"Who?" Tony demanded, instantly wary.
"Okay, whoa - I totally went about that wrong," the billionaire backpedaled quickly. "I think you should come to Malibu with me because there's a four-hundred-pound robot who misses you and wants to see you."
Tony straightened in his seat and leaned forward, heart lurching in his chest. "U? You're the one that took him?"
"JARVIS was concerned when you hadn't made it back to get him and directed me there. I figured since I was the reason you'd spooked that the least I could do was keep him safe until I could get him back to you," Arno said.
Slumping in relief, Tony pressed both hands over his eyes, valiantly fighting back tears. U was alright. He was okay and Tony would be able to see him again. "I can't believe you've had him all this time," he murmured thickly.
"He's brilliant. Just looking at him from the outside, it's hard to believe I wasn't the one that built him, but inside? Especially his coding and software? Obviously all you," the other man said. "It's amazing. He's amazing. My bots adore him. They think he's a cousin or long-lost brother or something."
With a couple deliberately slow, deep breaths, Tony straightened up again, meeting Arno's gaze determinedly. "I want to see him."
"Does that mean you'll come to Malibu?" Arno asked, almost casual except for a note of something Tony didn't know how to identity in the man, yet. Eagerness, maybe.
"Yeah," Tony agreed, himself eager to see U again. "Yes. I'll come, just… let me pack my things."
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At Tony's request, Arno left the apartment while he took a shower and packed. Tony needed the solitude to process. As friendly as the billionaire was, he still wasn't certain what to make of the man. There was also the fact that he'd been keeping tabs on Tony all along.
"JARVIS?"
"Yes, sir?" the AI promptly replied.
"What- I mean, why… Why didn't you let me know that Stark knew about me? That he was, I don't know, tracking my movements or whatever?" he asked.
"Sir requested that I withhold such information from you."
"So you lied," said Tony.
JARVIS paused. "I… misdirected," he offered. "Had you ever directly asked me, I would have provided sufficient information for you to learn the truth."
"That's a fine line to walk, J," the man shook his head, stuffing things into his duffel.
"If it is any consolation, until now, I have withheld your exact location from Sir. You truly had me most concerned, Master Tony. I didn't know who else to contact to come to your aid," JARVIS told him, and he did sound regretful.
"That does make me feel a little better," Tony conceded. "Say… how much does he know about me?"
"I would say that Sir knows less than you worry he does but more than you would like," JARVIS replied. "He is aware of many of your activities and of your skill with computer systems, in particular. He knows that you have had two close associates, but not their names. Naturally, he is also aware that you have gone by various aliases over the past four years, although neither he nor I have been able to ascertain from whence you came. A fact which has him most intrigued."
"I guess that's not so bad," Tony mumbled.
It could have been worse. Even though Tony wasn't entirely sure just how. About the only information Arno didn't have on him, it sounded like, was that he'd been raised by a top-secret underground organization of bad guys.
His gaze swept over the room around him, mentally checking whether there was anything he had missed. There was not. The only things he had left to pack up that he needed to take were the hard drives from his computer. He hadn't quite finished his private chat with JARVIS, though.
"What does he want from me?" Tony asked the AI. He knew it was possible that JARVIS would lie to or misdirect him, again, but he really didn't think he would. Not about something like this. He still trusted the AI that far, even if he would be a little more wary of him in the future.
"Frankly, Master Tony, I believe that Sir genuinely wants to know you, to understand who you are. Not unlike your own curiosity regarding Sir," JARVIS answered. "Beyond that, I believe that he sincerely wants to help you. He… Well, as near as I can discern, he feels a sort of kinship to you. Because you share an appearance and a greater intellect than ordinary people."
Tony let out a sigh. "He thinks we must be related," he surmised.
"Sir knows that you are not," countered JARVIS.
"He does? But… how?" Tony asked in surprise.
"When you ran into each other in the hotel penthouse, you cut your hand on the window latch during your retreat," the AI reminded him. "Sir retrieved a sample and had it discreetly tested. He was… disappointed that you share no relation, but that does not seem to have changed how he regards you."
Tony frowned, unsure what to make of that. He wasn't sure what to make of any of it. If Stark knew they were unrelated, why would he want to help him? He didn't understand.
"He really has U?" It was the last question he had for the moment. The most important one. "He has U and he's okay?"
In answer, JARVIS pulled up multiple security feeds on the computer monitors. Tony easily recognized the garage workshop he had spent several hours in that night long ago. Milling around the work benches were three robots. One of them was using a broom to try to clear off a counter top with limited success, a second - a visibly different model from the first - was relocating various abandoned coffee cups to a sink.
Then there was the third. Nearly identical to the first bot in appearance, though slightly shorter and its base a little bit narrower. It was carrying around a camcorder, seeming to be recording everything it came across.
Tony may have cried a little, but JARVIS would never tell.
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It came as little surprise that traveling between cities without being seen and identified was much easier when flying by privately-owned jet. It was also far more convenient. Tony could admit that flying commercially was probably ruined for good for him.
Tony had worn a sweatshirt with the hood drawn over a cap with the bill pulled low to shield his face once they had landed and disembarked. The flight had been rather quiet, although, that was largely due to the fact that Tony had fallen asleep again shortly after they had taken off. Stark didn't seem to be offended.
Thus far, the man had been rather accommodating, actually. Naturally, this made Tony wonder what the catch was. No matter what JARVIS said, Tony just couldn't bring himself to believe a man with the wealth and accompanying power of Arno Stark would just help someone like him, shared appearance or not. The world didn't work that way. Even Tony knew that.
There was a car waiting for them, though thankfully Stark - Arno - had planned to drive himself, rather than have Hogan do so. Tony appreciated the gesture. If nothing else, Arno seemed to respect his desire for anonymity.
Although the drive began in relative silence, Arno soon spoke up. "So, why did you even know where I lived that night you drove me home, anyway?" he asked, shooting Tony a curious glance. "I mean, obviously, you had to dig it up somewhere since my address is unlisted, but why… Why the interest? A couple years before that, you just crop up out of nowhere and you look into me, you look into my company, but you've never done anything with the information. Haven't sold it to any of SI's competitors or overseas. You never tried to approach me or impersonate me - avoided me, in fact.
"I guess I don't understand your motives," the billionaire concluded. He gave Tony another inquiring look, eyes off the road long enough that it made Tony nervous - especially given that they were going twenty over the speed limit.
"Four years ago, I didn't know anything about you," Tony began, grateful when Arno looked back at the road. "That is, I knew about Stark Industries and that the company had gone to you after your father... well, died. I knew you were supposed to be brilliant. Beyond that, I didn't know anything and I didn't have much reason to, really.
"But when I… um. Th-that is, four years ago was when I was first mistaken for you, and I learned that my face was known everywhere; that I could be your doppelganger. I was curious and I also needed to understand how looking so much like you might affect my life, so I researched as much as I could," he told the other man.
By that point, they were on the long drive leading out to the mansion overlooking the ocean. Arno tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as he considered the information he'd just been given. "So, quick question, but how could you know about SI and me, yet have no clue we looked alike until four years ago?"
Tony froze like an animal suddenly caught in a spotlight.
"I mean," Arno continued, "even before that, my face was closely associated with the company. My dad's publicist was huge on trying to get me seen and recognized as the hotshot-heir-future-of-SI or whatever. Four years ago… Well, even you just said my face was widely known. So, why didn't you know it before then?"
"I- I, ah…" Tony tried, but the words evaded him. How could he possibly answer that without saying more than he was willing to share with this man? He knew it was objectively unfair. Tony knew practically everything there was to know about Stark, but the billionaire only knew the sparse details of his existence post-Hydra.
He didn't want to tell him. It had been hard enough sharing what details he had with Clint. Natalia had already known his origins because of the way they'd met, but hadn't really asked for more beyond the bare basics.
But this was Arno Stark. This was the man who had made his departure from those who saw him as nothing more than a tool to be used even trickier. He was the man whose life might have been Tony's if only he'd been born to different parents.
Tony didn't want to tell Arno anything about his past. Recoiling from the very idea, he hunched his shoulders defensively, arms wrapping around his middle. It was irrational, surely, but nevertheless, it was the way he felt. His past was his alone. It was his. He was the one to suffer through it.
"Whoa, okay. Easy," Arno's voice cut in.
Attention snapping over to the man, Tony blinked. At some point, they had pulled into the mansion's garage without his noticing. Gulping in a breath, he forced it out again slowly. He really needed to stop doing that.
"I had good reasons," Tony finally offered quietly.
"Clearly sensitive ones at that," Arno noted, letting the subject drop. Instead the man climbed out of the vehicle and strode towards his work area. "Daddy's home!" he announced.
Tony scrambled to follow him. He caught up just as Arno's robots converged upon him. One of them - DUM-E, the only Tony had based U off of - turned his claw between the two men in apparent confusion, or maybe curiosity. The other, Butterfingers, greeted Tony with an inquisitive whir.
Then, there was U. Wonderful, brilliant U, who veered around the others to make a beeline to his creator, beeping and clicking and buzzing with such excitement, it sounded like he was about to come apart. The bot barely braked in time to avoid running Tony over. He reached out with his claw to tug at Tony's hair and clothes, obviously checking the man over as he had witnessed Natalia and even Clint do on occasion.
"Hey, boy," Tony greeted with a laugh, eyes flooding with tears as he reached out to stroke and pat his beloved bot. "Hi. I missed you. God, I missed you so much."
He looked over at Arno, who had averted his gaze, patting and stroking his own two bots as a small smile tugged at his mouth. It wasn't until that moment that Tony was entirely certain the man had truly intended to reunite him with U. This was a man who understood how Tony felt about his bot.
Tony leaned his forehead against U's strut, gaze remaining on Arno. The man was obviously aware of his regard but waited to be addressed. After a moment, Tony spoke.
"Why take him? Why keep him for me?"
"You're joking, right?" Arno arched a brow.
That wasn't really an answer, but then, it wasn't precisely what was on Tony's mind, either.
"Alright then," Tony conceded, straightening up. "What do you want from me?" He'd already asked JARVIS, but he wanted to hear Arno's answer to the question.
Arno's mouth twitched upward as proof that that had been the question for which he'd been waiting. "Well, it's not so much that I want something from you as I have a proposition."
Even having expected something of the kind, Tony found himself tensing, but kept his tone level. "I'm listening."
"Right. Well, it seems apparent to me that you are doing your best to remain off somebody's radar. I, on the other hand, could really use the ability to be two places at once, sometimes. Honestly, I think both things have the same solution," Arno stated candidly.
"You… You want me to take your place, to stand in for you," Tony uttered incredulously.
"Some of the time," the billionaire clarified, "just some of the time. There will be things I will absolutely have to deal with myself, and of course, I'm sure there are things you want to do of your own that have absolutely nothing to do with me or living my life. But in my experience, sometimes the best place to hide something is in plain sight."
"That is insane," Tony declared.
"But also genius," Arno countered.
"But insane! How am I to convince anyone who actually knows you that I'm… that I'm you? No one close to you would ever fall for it."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that. I mean, you fooled Happy and Pepper. Granted, it was only for a few minutes and they thought you were hungover, but they fell for it," Arno pointed out. "And judging by weird Happy said 'I' was acting, you weren't even trying."
"Yeah, but they're your employees," Tony argued.
"They're also my friends. Among the closest," Arno said firmly.
Oh. Tony blinked in surprise. He hadn't realized that. But still… "That doesn't mean I could actually pull it off in the long term."
"Maybe," the other man conceded with a doubtful waggle of his hand, "maybe not. Then again, I'm a genius, and I'd bet you're at least as smart as I am. Why not give it a try, huh?"
Lips pressing together, Tony deliberated. It would definitely be a challenge, even if their uncanny likeness would lessen it somewhat. It would certainly help keep him off Hydra's radar. At least, for a little while.
A voice in his head that sounded rather like Clint pointed out that it could be fun.
"Come on, Tony," Arno cajoled, then swept an arm to indicate the workshop. "If you say yes, you get to play in my shop."
That would definitely be a bonus. "You'd let me build things?" Tony asked for clarification. "Experiment and stuff?"
"I'm always on the market for a science buddy," Arno grinned, already divining Tony's response. And he was right, too, the smug bastard.
"Alright," Tony finally agreed. Despite his misgivings, he couldn't help but feel a little excited. "Let's give it a try."
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To be continued...
