Tony woke up with a new sense of purpose. A fierce determination that he thought he would never get back. After Thanos happened Tony nearly fell off the deep end. The sheer sense of guilt and loss and failure were almost too much. How could anyone come back from losing a fight like that? No one had ever lost to the extent that they had.
It meant that for those five years afterwards, Tony had no drive to accomplish much of anything. It was only his friends that kept him together. Towards the end Tony had begun to move forward slightly. He began to build and invent again. An act that had moved Pepper to tears. But Tony had still felt lost and couldn't see much point in them.
Then the Avengers had come to him speaking of Time Travel. Of righting the world again. And that spark of hope began to burn in his chest. He was desperate to coax that spark into a flame but there was always a doubt in the back of his mind. An overwhelming sense of inevitable defeat.
It was a dark shadow that tainted his resolve and left a bad taste in his mouth.
Now though. Now that spark of hope had fanned out into a roaring flame and it had sent all of those dark shadows running for the hills.
First things first though they needed to plan. For that they would also need a fully functioning lab. But Tony was not going anywhere near it until the whole place had been deep cleaned. Perhaps with an acid so corrosive it removed a few layers of its surroundings. To ensure that there was not one iota of dust left.
Then again that probably wasn't a great idea. He would prefer that his equipment wasn't destroyed in the process. Though it may be old and technically defunct in his mind he would still need them as a base layer for his improvements. It would make things go faster if he didn't have to start from scratch.
That meant, for at least one day, Tony and Bruce could do nothing but sit and wait. But that didn't mean that they had to be unproductive. Instead they simply switched their mind into brainstorming ideas.
They were in the penthouse and Tony was looking out into the city below. He couldn't help but be drawn to the bustling life outside the window. It didn't seem real. Almost a caricature of itself. After 5 years he had forgotten just how busy New York was. If he had thought that there were tons of people last night it was nothing compared to now.
"Pizza's here," Bruce said from behind him.
Tony turned away from the window and made his way over to the couch. He swiped a slice of pizza before collapsing heavily onto it.
This still counts as breakfast right? Well it had pieces of bacon on, so it must count. Tony had woken up ravenous and nothing less than a large pie would do. Thankfully, one of his favourite pizza places served at all times of the day.
He groaned as he ate the first bite. It had been some years since he had been able to enjoy this particular pizza. That family had been caught up in the snap of course.
Bruce sat down too but he had to pull on the groin of his pants to get comfortable.
"I thought you said that these were your loosest jeans," Bruce said with a grimace.
"I don't really do loose okay. I'm more of a tailored fit kind of guy," Tony said "And don't worry, JAIDAY have ordered you a new wardrobe. It'll be here tomorrow."
"JAIDAY?"
"Hey it sort of works."
"Referring to us both as a collective may complicate things in the long run, Sir." JARVIS interjected.
"Ugh fine. It doesn't feel great to say anyway." Tony sat up and claimed another slice of pizza. "Back to business then. Where do we start?"
oOo
They started off with a timeline. An incredibly detailed timeline that they had the A.I's to keep track of. Tony had one of his old tablets set up with a holographic display. He placed it on the floor so that it created a screen of blue in front of them. Thankfully he had at least made those by 2012.
Bruce had to come over to his couch so that they could both read it. Not that they both weren't proficient enough to read backwards, it was just easier this way.
The timeline may have been a little extensive because they both had excellent memories and also could not seem to prioritise what was important and what wasn't.
Besides the obvious of course.
"I think it was my birthday meal on the 16th that year," Bruce said. "We got into a fight with some mafia when the place turned out to be a front, remember. I Hulked out and broke a few tables. Lost my shrimp pasta in the process" he said mournfully.
"Oh yeah I remember that. Someone tried to throw a lasagna at you and it hit me instead. By the time I got the suit on it was already in my underwear." Tony mused "Damn. Why do fronts always have the best food though?"
Tony made a note and placed the memory into the relevant spot.
"Is that really a pivotal moment to note down, Sir?" JARVIS inquired
"Of course it is," Tony said without hesitation
"Are instances like 'Barton got trapped in an air vent' and 'Fury tripped over Thor's hammer' also equally vital, sir" Tony wasn't sure he liked JARVIS's tone. Was he always this sassy?
Tony frowned and swiped his finger through the air. He scrolled through the crowded timeline and realised that JARVIS was probably right. Most of these weren't essential but they were good memories.
"Fine, could you save this one and make a more sleek timeline with all the important stuff in?" Tony said.
"Already done, Boss." said FRIDAY "I took the liberty of using some of my own and JARVIS's recollections of events to categorise them based on importance. I have colour coded them based on threat and anticipated which ones would change based upon the alteration of previous events."
The screen changed to show off FRIDAY's new and improved timeline. The major events were highlighted in red but the ones that could potentially change were struck through with blue lines. For example the event titled Ultron was in bright red but the subsequent ones: Sokovia, Accords, Civil War, all had blue running through them to show that they were likely to change.
"Well, aren't you a teacher's pet." Tony mused.
"I don't think it counts as being a teacher's pet if you're better than the teacher, Boss."
Tony's mouth dropped open. The audacity. "Alright smartass, why don't you just run us through everything to do with the stones."
"Gladly Boss," she said, unperturbed.
Tony remembered back in 2023 when they were all brainstorming about the locations of the infinity stones. There was also the added drama of finding out when those particular stones would come into play.
For example, Thor only became aware of what he called the Aether during 2013. When freaking holes to other planets began to pop up all around the globe and it infected his ex. Tony did not want to ever find out how a stone could infect you. But with their current path he had the feeling he would inevitably find out. Unfortunately, Thor had no idea about where it could be before then. So that particular stone would have to wait.
Other problematic stones included the power stone and the soul stone. Neb and Rocket had been kind enough to offer their knowledge on the subject. The power stone had apparently been found by that Star Lord idiot he had run into on Titan. The guy had stolen it from a planet called Morag in 2014. However, there wasn't any way of knowing whether it would still be there in 2012 or if it had ended up there at some point after.
The soul stone was another kicker. Neb said that it was located on a planet called Vormir but that was it. She knew nothing else about the planet. Not even if it had breathable air. All she knew was that her sister had been killed while she was there. That meant that it was undoubtedly dangerous.
They also had the lovely problem of being millions and millions of miles away. As of right now they had no way of traveling that distance. The only spaceships that Tony had been in had been non-terrestrial. Sure he had been nosy and poked around a bit but that kind of technology would take years to replicate. Never mind the fact that the current tech he had was not up to standard.
So not only would he have to create a spaceship, he would also have to invent the stuff, to invent the stuff to build the damn thing in the first place. Thankfully, he wasn't completely empty handed. With his nanobots on hand he would be able to speed up his inventions.
The good thing though was that 2012 was a pivotal year for the infinity stones. If they played their cards right, they could have three of those bastards right off the bat. SHIELD currently had the tesseract (But probably not for long). Then Loki would bring his big glow stick with the mind stone in it. And there was a wild Time stone floating around New york with a mean wizard attached to it.
Out of those three the Time stone would probably be the most difficult to obtain. Simply for the fact that those wizards were unpredictable bastards with a bad attitude.
The people in his life would probably say that he had no right to complain. They would see it as Tony getting a taste of his own medicine.
Tony was scrolling through all the information about the stones. FRIDAY had made a very efficient and very informative infinity stone cheat sheet for them to read.
He was just about to reread about the mind stone when the entire hologram blue screened. Though it probably didn't count considering it was blue anyway.
Tony let out a confused "Hey!"
Only for the reason to become apparent when he heard the dulcet tones of his best friend. "Damn are you having a pizza party without me? Shame on you Tony"
Tony's head shot up to see Rhodey swoop in and grab a slice of pizza.. Rhodey smirked down at him with the occasional glance towards Bruce. Though the look quickly turned to concern when he saw the emotion in Tony's eyes.
He couldn't stop staring. Rhodey was walking unaided with completely natural legs. No brace or machine just him. His best friend was healed. Even better, his best friend had never been hurt in the first place. Tony had always felt so disgustingly guilty about Rhodey's broken back. He always tried to improve Rhodey's legs to make up for it. But nothing could ever make up for that.
But here he was completely whole again. Tony's throat felt tight and he could feel the tell tale prick of tears in his eyes. Though he tried not to make it obvious that he was overwhelmed.
And failed completely.
"You okay Tones?" Rhodey asked.
Tony sniffed and stood up. "Yeah I'm fine, I'm perfect. Have I ever told you how beautiful your legs are?"
Tony leaned in for a hug and Rhodey opened his arms without hesitation.
"Are you high right now?" Rhodey said jokingly.
"High on life"
"You know that's worse right?" Rhodey said, leaning back. They both smirked at each other and Rhodey shook his head. Thankfully, he had dealt with Tony long enough not to get too concerned.
After the initial shock of it, Tony began to calm down. It wouldn't do for his best friend to get suspicious of him because he started crying over his perfectly sculpted legs. He could do that in his own time.
"Are you going to introduce me?" Rhodey raised an eyebrow and indicated with a flick of his head.
Oh shit Bruce. He had gotten so caught up in the moment that he forgot that they technically didn't know each other yet.
"Oh yeah" Tony tried to get himself back on track. "This here is Brucie Bear. Otherwise known as Dr Bruce Banner. Otherwise known as one of the only scientists I can have a decent conversation with."
Bruce looked profoundly unimpressed by his introduction. "I think next time I can introduce myself."
"But I always do it so much better. I give it that added pazaz."
"It is quite the title," Rhodey said before he reached his hand out for Bruce to shake. "I'm Rhodey. Otherwise known as Colonel James Rhodes. Otherwise known as one of the few people that can handle that idiot over there."
Bruce didn't hesitate to take his hand and smiled. "Yeah I don't think there are many of us that can do that."
Rhodey looked appreciatively at Bruce. It was probably strange for him considering Tony hardly ever played nice with anyone. The fact that the two of them were alone in his penthouse together and Rhodey had never met him before was probably a little sus.
"Are those Tony's clothes?" Rhodey's voice had a suggestive lilt.
Tony had a feeling that his friend's thoughts had drifted into indecent territory
Bruce sputtered for a second, looking like he had been caught out doing something he wasn't supposed to. Bruce grabbed a handle of the Black sabbath shirt and tugged at it nervously. "Oh, er, yeah. I mean, I'm just borrowing them."
"Brucie had a little accident and had to borrow some of mine, no biggie," Tony said while clasping Bruce's shoulder.
Bruce shoved Tony's hand away. "You make it sound like I wet myself." Bruce turned towards Rhodey, desperate to explain. "My luggage went missing and the clothes I was wearing got covered in oil when we were working on something yesterday."
Rhodey smiled like it was christmas. "So you're telling me that Tony invited you over. You went into his lab together. Then you stayed overnight even though there is only one room up and running. And now you're wearing his clothes."
Rhodey turned to Tony "You don't have to be all secretive with me. I'm glad you're getting back out there man. I'm happy for you."
Yep, his friend's mind was definitely in the gutter.
"Whoa, whoa. No. That's not-" Bruce waved his hands
"-You're getting the wrong end of the stick there my friend," Tony laughed "Bruce only wishes he could get into my pants."
"Technically, I'm currently in them," Bruce said, while shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. As if they had rode up somewhere.
"Touche."
Rhodey looked between them. "So you're not secretly dating."
"Not currently. Unless there are any plans to sweep me off my feet. Bruce?" Tony turned to Bruce with hopeful eyes.
"Thanks but no thanks."
"Damn,"
Rhodey put his hands up. "My bad. I just thought Tony had finally found a boyfriend that could fit in his short ass jeans."
Tony went and stood next to Bruce. He wrapped his arm around him almost protectively. "We may not be banging, But we have short-king solidarity. Isn't that right Bruce?"
With his other hand Tony raised his fist up, hoping that Bruce would bump it too and they could have a 'moment'.
But that moment was quashed when Bruce denied him and said. "I'm taller than you,"
"Yeah by like what? An inch. That doesn't count sweetheart."
"I miss being 8ft tall" Bruce whispered under his breath. Thankfully, low enough so that Rhodey couldn't hear. He didn't want to explain that little detail right now.
Rhodey didn't actually stay long. He was only there to say farewell really, because he was off on a super secret government mission that would take him away for a while.
Obviously Tony already knew all of this but he managed to fake his surprise at the information.
When it came time for Rhodey to leave, Tony decided to escort him out personally. They left Bruce in the penthouse. Which made Rhodey raise his eyebrow again. Since when did Tony trust people other than him and Pepper alone in his house?
Tony tried to steer Rhodey's thoughts in another direction but he had a feeling that his friend was jumping back onto the secret boyfriend train.
"I really like this Bruce guy, Tony. He's funny and doesn't take any of your shit. He can hold his own up around you and give it straight back" Rhodey said appreciatively. "It's nice to see you branching out and making more friends."
"Hey, I have friends," Tony said, affronted.
"I mean real friends. Not just someone who schmoozed up to you at a gala."
Yeah he forgot that 2012 Tony was quite the loner. The fact that post-snap Tony had more friends was kinda sad.
"Yeah he's pretty cool. You should see him when he turns green and becomes 8ft tall."
Rhodey laughed but Tony could tell by the way he shook his head that Rhodey didn't believe him.
"Anyway, I'm leaving at around 4am tomorrow but you should still be able to call me if you need me. But this is a covert mission so don't get mad if I ghost you. Also, I think Pep is gonna come over in a few days to check how your whole clean energy schtick is going. So behave or who knows what she could walk in on." Rhodey laughed.
"I've told you already, we're just friends. There will be nothing for her to walk in on." Tony said "Anyway, I hope you enjoy Hong Kong. You should definitely get me a postcard."
Rhodey closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. His breath came out in a big sigh. "I'm not even going to ask how you found out that very secret and very sensitive information, that only the U.S government is supposed to know."
"You know me. A lot fingers and a lot of pies,"
"Please stop fingering pies, Tony."
oOo
The next few days felt like a whirlwind. Bruce's new wardrobe had arrived so he no longer had to mooch from Tony. That at least meant that he was no longer moaning about the quality of Tony's clothes. He was back to wearing his smart button ups with the occasional sweater. As well as jeans that actually fit him.
Damn, you give someone the jeans off your ass and they still complain.
Tony had also had a rather extensive clear out of his liquor cabinets. He just didn't like having the alcohol around. Just the sight of them left a bad taste in his mouth. So he made a big ceremony of dumping them all down the drain. Some of the bottles were actually quite expensive. He probably could have saved some and gifted them out. However, once he started he realised that it was too cathartic to stop. So down the drain they went with the rest of it.
He decided to leave the empty bottles on the counter and deal with them at another point. Some of the bottles were pretty and he didn't want to just throw them out. Maybe he'll put a couple of string lights in them and make some decorations.
The lab was also finally dust free so that they could actually step foot in it again. While it still gave him chills he knew he needed to be in there. There was too much for them to do for him to be scared of his own lab. Not that he would ever use the word scared.
Him and Bruce got to work as soon as they were able. The first thing on the agenda was creating some kind of containment unit for the stones. In their raw state those things emitted a fuck ton of power. And Bruce had recalled how both the tesseract and Loki's scepter had emitted gamma radiation.
They would hopefully be able to keep them in their original containers. The cube had worked well enough. Though the sceptre may be a problem because it seemed to have a mind of its own. The mind stone didn't project any hate and discord when it was in Vision's head. So that may have been a property of the sceptre itself. Then again if it was Thanos that was probably a design feature in everything he owned.
Tony decided that his nanobots were the best bet at holding onto those things. They could mold around it and create an impermeable barrier. He had made several improvements to the bots since Thanos had managed to shatter them. They should be more resistant to physical blows now.
Though in his bot's defence Thanos had two fucking infinity stones so it's actually amazing that they stood up so well.
The containers also needed to be able to block signals. It wouldn't be helpful to announce to the whole galaxy that they were in possession of an infinity stone. They needed to be able to transport them without fear of being sniffed out by rabid aliens.
Which was easier said than done. There was only so much that you could shield before his tech maxed out. He had a feeling that a thing older than the universe itself would probably find a way to leak out of whatever it was in.
That's what Bruce and Tony were working on when they were interrupted by his A.I's trying to speak over one another. They had had a few teething problems trying to share the same space. They hadn't yet worked out who should speak and when. Though the longer they were together the more they would integrate until they worked seamlessly with one another.
"Boss-"
"Sir-"
"-I'm sorry I-"
"-A problem,"
Tony didn't have the chance to work through what they were trying to warn him about when he heard the door to his lab slam open. His eyebrows shot up when he saw someone there.
His hands quickly followed as he eyed the weapon trained at his head.
