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Chapter 17
Sammy sat on a rolling stool inside of the medical bay on the ship.
Soli sat on an exam table in front of him with his shirt off. A large healing wound could be seen across his chest.
Sammy ran a device across it.
"This shit is taking forever to heal," Soli complained.
"Well, you didn't leave me much to work with."
He groaned. "Fucking…lungs."
"Be grateful you have as much as you do." Sammy glanced up at him. "How long did you smoke?"
"Long enough to hear it was a bad idea a few times from a pain in the ass doctor."
"Anyone, I know?" Sam grinned and looked at the readings on the device.
"A face you see in the mirror. Anyway, how's it looking?"
Sammy sat up and rolled back to get another instrument. "Still determining that."
"Well, as long as it's not worse. Why has it stopped healing?"
"Maybe this is what we should expect."
"Only nineteen percent of the lungs I had?" He took a deep breath and a small device beeped that was attached to his chest. A blinking light turned green.
Sammy noticed and pointed at it. "More breathing like that, man."
Soli rolled his eyes. "What are our other options?"
"Sometimes, there aren't any other options." Sammy held up another device and began to scan him again. "Deep breath."
Soli inhaled.
"Good." Sammy said and continued to scan him.
Soli closed his eyes, "What did Lewis say?"
Sammy said slowly as his attention remained on the scans. "We'll talk about that in a bit."
"Why can't we talk about it now?"
"Because…." Sammy smiled and then turned off the scanner. "Readings show you have 22% lung function."
"I'll take it!" Soli exhaled in relief. "But, I still can't get off the ship."
"Not until it's much higher. But, that's a huge improvement. We'll keep with this treatment. I need to bind that tissue though."
Sammy rolled his chair over to dig in the cabinet.
"And Lewis said what about Rose?"
Sammy rolled back over to Soli with the device. "Lewis said that she's just not showing any interest in getting back. She's not read a book or anything on the subject."
"Ah, it's still early for her. I think we should give it time. I mean, if she can't open the gate-ouch!" Soli jumped.
"Sorry." Sam said. "This new one pinches -"
"Then, use the other one! Damn." Soli insisted and looked back down at his wound.
Sammy rolled back to the cabinet and grabbed another device. When he rejoined him he looked around for a place to plug it in to power it.
Soli held out his hand. "I'll do it, man. Anything to keep from being pinched by that other one."
Sammy handed him the cord.
Soli put it between two of his fingers which began to glow. The device finally powered, Sammy resumed his work. "And deep breath."
Soli inhaled deeply.
"Better?"
"Much better." Soli insisted. "Throw that other one out. How big of a problem is this if Rose doesn't get interested in creating a Dimensional Portal?"
"Well, the gate has to be opened. She has to go through it, and …. "I don't know. I need to study up on how the portal even works. I'm not completely sure how Dad got over here."
Soli nodded, "Well, we also have you this time around."
"Yeah, I could probably figure it out." Sammy said as he continued. "Or Tony could for sure. Although Lewis doesn't want him involved."
"He's still on about keeping him in the dark?"
"He believes that everything should happen as naturally as it can."
"Lewis is changing his title to include 'hypocrite', is he?"
Sammy laughed, "King Lewis versus King Soler of the Khlere. And I have front row seats."
Soli rolled his eyes. "He knows I don't agree."
"And you know my position."
"Go with the best intentions we have at the moment?"
"That's how I roll. If it has to happen, it does. Fixed points are just that." Sammy moved the chair back and sat the device on the table. "That's looking better, man. Let's give it a few more days and-"
Sammy stopped talking as Soli pointed at the doorway. "And Tony's awake."
Sam turned to look at him. "And walking around. Feeling better then?"
Tony Stark stood in the doorway wearing a pair of grey medical trousers with his arm in a sling. His freshly shaven face showed the fresh pink skin from the deep cut that had been repaired from his neck to his ear.
"Soli, how about you handle explanations? I need to ring Lewis." Sammy smiled at Tony as he walked through the doorway. "It's good to see you awake."
Soli jumped off of the table and began to pull his shirt back on. "Come in, Tony. It's alright."
Tony stepped into the room in complete bewilderment. "Rhodey explained that this is a hospital."
"Sort of. Yeah." Soli agreed and began to button up his shirt.
Soli's injury was hard to ignore. Tony pointed to it, "Are you a soldier?"
Soli smiled, "No. Not anymore."
Tony looked at him in confusion. "What happened then?"
"Stupidity mixed with being in the wrong place, at the right time." Soli left the top three buttons undone, and ran his hand through his hair. "It's getting better."
As if he just remembered, Tony quickly looked down at his own bare chest. It was pink and healing from having the arc reactor removed. A small rectangular device that stuck to his chest, continued to blink a small light.
"That's just keeping your vitals." Soli explained. "It also gives pain medication as it's needed."
Tony looked up at him. "Where is this?"
"Don't worry. You're safe."
"Where is this?" Tony asked again.
"There's a lot to explain, Tony."
"Then start explaining."
"Umm. Well. Umm." He closed his eyes and groaned. "I'm sorry, I know this drives you mad."
"Drives me mad?"
Soli nodded quickly and seemed to be picking his words carefully. "Yeah, Pa-"
Tony rose his eyebrow.
"Tony." Soli corrected himself. "Tony. Sorry."
"What were you going to call me?"
"Tony." Soli said and cleared his throat. "I know your name. I said Tony."
Tony stood looking him up and down.
Sweat beaded up on Soli's forehead. "Tony, I know-"
"Who are you?"
"Well, I'm….ummm…."
Tony walked into Soli's personal space which forced him to take several steps back. He bumped into the wall with such force that it knocked over several boxes of bandages.
With Tony's angry eyes bearing down into Soli's soul, he returned to being a helpless little boy that Tony had saved all of those years ago. Soli closed his eyes and just like the boxes that had spilled out everything just moments before, he completely unloaded the entire story.
"I didn't mean to break the Time Jumper you made, Pada! It overloaded and we ended up here. But everything else worked out. I followed our plan exactly. Mission 1: Save Lewis from getting killed in that attack. I wasn't sure I could find my way around the Quauhtin Castle, so I got help. I popped back to get someone who would. But, I knew it couldn't be Arles because he has to rule and declare peace. I got Sammy. I meant to have him right back from the time we left, but we went to save Legate from having that crash and then we went to get Lewis. You told me to do the exact time because Lewis wouldn't leave otherwise. We got there just as they attacked the palace and but I got hurt. Sammy has been working on it but doesn't think it will be something I'll ever be able to leave a place where the atmosphere isn't controlled because of my lungs….but we figured since we had crashed this far back we could rescue you and get that arc out of your chest before you had that heart surgery to save you and ….and so when we left the palace, I was hurt and completely overloaded the Time Jumper and we ended up back here before you ever met The Doctor or got married to the Princess….or met Rose Tyler."
Tony took a couple of steps back and considered what the young man had said.
Soli panted in fear.
Tony was putting everything together that he had just heard. "You traveled in time?"
Soli nodded while he continued to try to catch his breath, "Yes, sir."
"How far in the future are you from?"
Soli held his hands up and turned around to find a place to sit down. "I'm sorry, Pada. I….have…."
Tony watched as he sat on the rolling stool that Sammy just got up from.
"I need to catch my breath." Soli managed.
Tony continued to look at him in shock.
Soli closed his eyes and took long, deep breaths as he leaned against the wall. It gave time for Tony to process what he had just been told. He rubbed his face and pulled back his hand in surprise.
"Where's my beard?"
Soli was recovering and was able to say, "I shaved it because of that cut on your face. It looked….weird."
"Weird?"
"Yeah." He rubbed his face and then dropped his hands. "Okay. What did you ask?"
Tony stopped rubbing his face. "You were telling me that you have traveled in time with something I've made. How far are you from?"
"Hundreds of years, Pada. But, I was aiming for-"
"How can you be hundreds of years old? You look 20."
He grinned, "I'm not human. You found me the first time you went to another planet with the Doctor."
"The Doctor? Doctor Who?"
Soli stood up and took a deep breath. "Doctor Jonathan Smith. An alien. A….well, you two get along like peanut butter and jelly. That's what 'cess always said."
"Who is 'cess?"
"What I call…well, nevermind. You told me not to tell you who she is. Rhodey already managed to get it out of me though. He's….completely not what I expected."
Tony looked completely confused. "Why wouldn't you know Rhodey?"
Soli closed his eyes as he realized what he had said, "I am total shit at this."
Tony shook his head and walked over to sit on the examination table. "Hang on a damn minute. Let me think."
Soli nodded and sat back down on the rolling stool. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing while Tony digested what he had heard.
"I've always wanted to make a way to travel in time. You mean I actually did that?"
Soli didn't open his eyes. "Yes. You call it a Time Jumper, but Doctor John called it a Vortex Manipular. He helped a bit on the designs, but you also found where he left out certain things. When you confronted him about it, you argued. He ended up moving off-planet because of the divorce-"
"Who divorced?"
Soli opened his eyes, "Doctor John and Rose. Not you and 'cess."
Tony scratched his head. "I don't know if I believe this or not-"
"You told me that when we were to meet to tell you that being a father wasn't as big of a deal as you always thought it would be."
"Anyone could say that-"
"You also told me to mention Arno-"
"Arno?"
"Yes, your brother. You reassured me that no one else knew of him and that would be a safe bet to convince you."
"That's selling it."
"You also told me that if you could have done it all over again with me, you would have named me Michael." He smiled, "I named my first son that."
"Michael, huh?"
"Yeah, and I have no idea why. You also said when you were attacked in the desert, you were listening to…umm…Back in Black. It gave you panic attacks after you came home."
Tony shook his head and stood up. "Alright. No one else could know that. No one else survived, or…did they?"
Soli stood up and took a deep breath, "Pada, I promise you that I'm not making this up. I can prove it."
"Then prove it." Tony insisted. "Because –"
Tony stopped speaking as Soli's face spread into a smile. "I know just the thing. Follow me."
He walked out of the room and through the med bay entrance. Tony followed him down the hallway that was brightly lit and had white curved walls. They turned the corner and Soli tapped a code into a panel that opened a doorway.
Glancing back, Soli grinned, "I love that I'm going to be the first one to show you this."
Tony watched him walk through the doorway and rubbed his shoulder. He looked around his surroundings before deciding to enter the room. As soon as he did, his mouth gaped open.
The room was illuminated by the extraordinary blue ball that rotated slowly outside of the large window. A table sat in the middle of the oval room with chairs tucked underneath it.
Tony walked slowly to the window without taking his eyes off of the view.
Soli laughed under his breath, "I knew this would finally convince you, Pada."
Tony looked at the view. "This is amazing."
Soli continued to look at him. "Wow. The first time you've seen it from up here."
"Up here?"
"Yeah. This is my ship. It was a gift from the Quauhtin. Lewis being their King and all. He's been able to reconnect with his wife, which was a bonus of us coming this far back. The Lewis from this time has, well, that's going to require some more explanation that we can go into later, Pada."
Tony looked back at him, "Pada? Why is it that?"
"You were yawning when you said 'Papa." He grinned, "'Cess insisted and called you that from then on."
Tony grinned in disbelief as he looked back at the view. "I don't know. Me with a kid."
Soli laughed, "You always told me to learn the countries, rather than depending on the computer. See?" Soli pointed, "There is Australia, New Guinea, and….ummm."
Soli tapped the screen right above the area he was unsure about. The computer displayed the information he needed along with random facts about the area.
"Indonesia." Soli said and tapped off the computer display. "Oh, that's right."
Tony looked out of the window and rubbed his shoulder. "Alright. You've convinced me."
"It's real, Pada. You adopted me when I was nine years old. You meet me next year. Well, that was the plan."
"Whose plan?"
"Lewis wants everything to happen as close as it did before."
"You don't agree?"
"No. I think that just the act of us landing in this time is going to alter things. We've already seen it happen. Sammy has just decided to roll with it. But, it is comforting to know that some things have to happen. Like you being taken in the desert. Sammy said it is a fixed point."
Tony shook his head without taking his eyes off of the Earth. "Figures."
"But, we've able to change a lot of things already. The biggest has been canceling Rhodey's tour."
"Where he gets killed." Tony realized. "When was that supposed to happen?"
"A few months from now. So, we're not sure if it is fixed or not."
Tony grinned, "Are you sure I didn't send you back to save him?"
Soli crossed his arms and turned to look at him, "Like a fail-safe?"
Tony glanced back at him and winked. "Sounds like something I would do."
Soli looked impressed. "I haven't thought about that. It makes sense."
Tony cleared his throat and rubbed the shoulder that was being held in the sling. He looked down at the small black, rectangular box that Soli told him was keeping his vitals. "So, let's get this straight. You are my adopted son."
"Yes."
"Who was that just in here?" He pointed.
"That's Sammy. Doctor John's son."
"The one you brought to help."
"Yes."
"How far back is he?"
"He's only about two years away. But, he had just gotten married and had a baby. I hate that I took him from that."
Tony glanced back at him. "Or that I did."
"The device is already in your shop onboard."
Tony turned to face him. "I have a shop up here?"
"Do you think you wouldn't? That the reason I got this particular ship! The hanger is divided. Your suit is down there, too. I made a few repairs on it already." He smiled, "It's really something to get to work on it. I hope you don't mind. I already started a few other models. Well, based on some designs you began with. I've made them for years."
"How far back have you came?"
Soli met his eyes and became serious. "A long way back."
"You're not human."
"Yeah, I have a longer life span than you do. So…"
"What is your name?"
"Soler. You call me Soli for short. Or Sparky because of this." He snapped his fingers and electricity danced on his fingertips.
Tony grinned proudly, "How long has it been since we've seen one another then? To you?"
Soli looked away and swallowed hard. "Umm. A long time."
Tony asked quietly, "How long, son?"
Soli met his proud eyes, "A really long time."
Tony smiled. "Then welcome home, son."
Soli closed his eyes and turned his head to keep Tony from seeing the tears that had welled up in his eyes. He glanced back and forced a smile. "Thanks, Pada."
Tony laughed and pulled him into an embrace. Patting his back and laughing. "Sounds like this was a success, Sparky. We'll figure it all out together, okay?"
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