Tony looked up from the console as one of the Institute's students walked into the Geek's Lair, looking around.

"Hey." He said in greeting and the girl looked at him, then stared at his chest where his ARC reactor was glowing.

"Is… is that…"

"The thing that keeps the shrapnel from piercing my heart." Tony confirmed and the girl tilted her head slightly.

"Why don't you just get the shrapnel out?"

Tony snorted. "It's too close to my nerves and veins. Any attempt to cut it out would kill me."

For a long moment, the girl looked thoughtful, then she nodded.

"I can get the shrapnel out for you."

Tony blinked. "What?"

.

"I'm surprised that I didn't think of that." Xavier admitted. "If anyone can get the shrapnel out without causing damage, Kitty would be the one."

"But… how?"

"The same way that she saved young Chris' life." Xavier explained. "Kitty has managed to develop incredible control over her phasing powers. She could reach into your chest and simply phase the shrapnel out without causing any damage."

Tony blinked at that. "She… could?"

Xavier nodded. "Yes. Of course, I would insist that it be done in the medical bay here. Although the one in Stark Tower is impressively equipped…"

"It's still not up to pure Kryptonian standards." Tony finished with a slight laugh, then he sobered. "Charles… do you know what this means to me? A chance to be… normal again."

"Something that most of my students wish for every day." Xavier sighed.

Tony sighed. "Sorry. It's just… ever since Afghanistan, I've almost defined myself by… by this."

Xavier nodded as Tony tapped himself on the chest, making a slight metallic noise.

"I mean, sure, it keeps me alive and I do great things with it, but at the same time… it's the difference between a panic room and a prison. The first you lock from inside, the second is locked from outside. They can both be unlocked, but…"

"I believe I follow you." Xavier said as Tony placed a hand over his implanted ARC reactor.

"All this time, I've needed this, but it's been the key on the outside. If Kitty can do what she says… the key will be on the inside."

For a long moment, both men were silent, then Tony spoke again.

"Charles… if this works, Kitty should be rewarded. I'll pay for her tuition fees, here, Uni, heck! She wants a job with Stark Enterprises or a spot on the Avengers, I'll make it happen!"

"I wouldn't tell her that yet." Xavier warned. "She is still too young for the sorts of things that you encounter on a regular basis."

Tony shrugged slightly. "The offer still stands. Heh, she would have been a real asset about four missions ago. Someone stole a group of biocomputers and we managed to get all except one of them back. Kitty could have just run through the goons and walls to the controls and slammed the doors shut before they could leave the building. Damn place was a fricking maze. We had to have Banner make a few new doors."

Tony went silent again, then he chuckled. "Ah hell, look at me. Nervous. Okay, let's do this."

"I shall ask Kitty to come."

"I think Clark's off doing good again, so I'll call… Karsta. Hope Susan don't mind me borrowing her shopping buddy."

"Given her medical skills, an excellent choice." Xavier nodded.

.

"You know, there're hundreds if not thousands of women who'd love to be here now." Tony joked as he shucked his shirt before lying down on the padded table. Kitty rolled her eyes.

"Why? You're… old."

Tony gasped and clutched at his chest. "Moi? Old? No, I'm not old! I'm too handsome to be old!"

Kitty shook her head while Karsta's lips twitched in a slight smile, then Tonly looked at the short armatures rising up around him.

"Um, what are those tentacles for? You know, I really don't think that I like tentacles… I've read too many Japanese comics…"

Kitty shot Karsta a confused look, getting a shrug in return, then the tentacles suddenly lit up.

"Whoah! I… I can't move! Okay, that's pretty damned cool. That's me? Wow, I have a handsome set of internal organs."

Kitty sighed as she looked at the semi-transparent hologram just above Tony, then she whistled.

"Whoah! Another half-centimeter…"

"Four point two millimeters, to be precise." Karsta noted. "The field from the device is holding the shrapnel steady, but I am concerned about the long-term effects."

"Yeah, the old model was poisoning me." Tony admitted. "So, can you do this?"

Kitty nodded, then placed her hand on Tony's chest.

"He is immobilised." Karsta stated. "You may begin."

Tony's eyes widened as Kitty's hand seemed to vanish into his chest as if she was sliding it into a pool of still water, then his gaze rose to the hologram where a representation of Kitty's hand was curling round the largest piece of shrapnel. A few seconds passed, then Kitty removed her hand from his chest…

…and dropped the shrapnel into a small bowl.

"Wow." Tony breathed. "That was… For a moment, it looked like you were trying to grab my heart, and sorry, but only one woman can do that."

Kitty paused, then swatted Tony on his forehead.

"Owwww. Please, I'm the patient here, you're meant to be nice to me."

"Stark, hush." Kitty commanded as she placed her hand on his chest again, glancing up at the hologram. "Which bit is the most dangerous one now?"

An odd targeting caret that looked like a crystal formed around one of the metallic shards and Kitty nodded.

"Okay, here we go."

.

Tony sat at the table, staring at the collection of small, metallic scraps in the bowl in front of him.

"Wow." He said for the fifth time as he reached out, stirring the shards with one finger. "What am I going to do with these?"

For a long moment, he frowned in thought, then he tipped the bowl out and began rearranging the shards.

"Maybe… I wonder… perhaps…"

"What's that?"

Tony blinked and the half-turned to see a dark-haired young boy looking at the metal curiously.

"Shrapnel. Until an hour ago, it was trying to kill me. I'm just deciding what to do with it."

The boy walked over to the table and, glancing at Tony for permission, picked up one of the pieces, looking at it closely.

"It looks… etched?"

Tony took the piece and looked closely at it, then looked at the boy.

"I don't see anything."

"Sorry, I think I just used microscopic vision." The boy grinned in embarrasment. "My powers are… starting to activate."

Tony blinked a few times, then he pointed at him.

"I knew you looked familiar! Chris Kent, right?"

"Yep." The now-identified Kryptonian nodded, then he turned as a trrnaged girl entered. "Hey, Laura, I just… uh… Ah! Sorry! Didn't mean to see that!"

Both Tony and Laura stared at Chris in confusion as the boy clapped both hands over his eyes while apologising, then Tony started to laugh.

"Oh, if only I had the power to see through things."

"You… looked through my clothes?" Laura said quietly and Chris flinched.

"I didn't mean to! It just happened! I'm sorry!"

"His powers are activating." Tony noted and Laura nodded.

"When I first used claws, did not know how to make them go in or out. Needed practice. Eyes must be same way. You not mean to look and you say sorry, so it alright. Not angry."

Chris looked up as Laura pulled him into a brief hug, resting his head against her shoulder. "Now, what happening here?"

"Oh, Tony was just wondering what to do with the shrapnel that had once been in him."

Laura looked at Tony, then at the shrapnel for a long moment before her hands darted out, flickering as they rearranged the metal into the shape of a circled A.

"Was assassin." She said as Tony stared at her in shock. "Put things together was needed skill."

"Cool." Tony grinned. "Wait, claws? Like Wolverine?"

"He father." Laura explained.

Tony stared at her for a long moment. "Interested in a position with the Avengers?"

"No." Laura said, glancing down at Chris. "Generation X first, then X-Men with partner. We practice. Know fastball special."

"You throw him?" Tony chuckled and Laura shook her head as Chris tried hard not to snigger.

"No. He throw me."

"What?"

.

"Tony," Pepper asked as she saw the rectangle of illuminated plastic in pride of place on the shelf, a rectangle containing what looked like a broken Avengers symbol. "What is that?"

"That, Miss Potts," Tony said grandly, "Is not only my newest trophy, but also the one that I got in Afghanistan."

Pepper walked forwards to look more closely at the metal held suspended in the plastic, then her eyes widened as she realised what she was looking at.

"Tony is this…?"

"It is." Tony smiled and he engulfed her in a hug from behind.

"But… all the surgeons said…" Pepper managed, trying to come to terms with what she was seeing.

"It's a long story, but the short version is that now I don't have to worry about my reactor giving out." Tony laughed, his goatee tickling the side of her neck. "I've already set it up so that Kitty's education is paid for and she has a job here if she wants."

"Kitty?" Pepper frowned as she mentally flipped through the list of people she knew. "Wait, one of Xavier's students? But she's a teenager!"

"A teenager with a very useful power." Tony smirked.

.

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Author's afternote – I often wondered why, given that they shared the same universe, Tony didn't ask Xavier if there was anything that he could do about the shrapnel problem.

Also, the Fastball Special referred to featured in the Institute Saga II.