The thing about flying for Tony is that, ever since he first put on the suit, flying isn't fun unless he is in a suit, a metal one not Armani. Tony sunk down in the soft white leather chair and tapped his knuckles on the wooden table while bouncing his foot on the floor. He was driving the flight stewardess insane with his stir-crazy.
He watched the land below grow closer. As they came closer to the landing strip in the distance he could faintly see the rebuilt tower.
The flight stewardess told him that he needed to buckle up, with an urgency that confirmed her irritation with him. Tony nodded and put the buckle on as they descended through the stray clouds. When the plane finally touched ground Tony was about to shout for joy along with the attendant. After a five hour flight Tony couldn't wait to get out and stretch his legs. When the stairs came out he quickly nodded to the captain and stewardess and raced down the steps. He hadn't even put on his sunglasses yet before he noticed a row of cars waiting for him. Men stood around the line of cars looking at everything except the man who had just emerged. Tony could easily peg them as SHIELD agents. He let out an irritated breath and put on a tight smile that was enough to be pass for his usual smirk.
" ." A man said opening the door for him. Tony nodded and slipped into the car. He was surprised to see Natasha sitting opposite of him. He let out a sharp breath and slouched down in his seat for a moment before he crossed his legs and put his hands in his lap.
"And here I thought I might be able to get to the tower without an escort." Tony joked and looked out the window as the car headed out of the airport. Natasha tilted her head to the side and watched Tony.
"I would have thought you would come in a suit." She said. Tony looked down and raised his arms.
"What jeans and a t-shirt aren't good enough for you?" He asked with dry humor. He dropped his hands on his thighs with a slap. Natasha narrowed her eyes at him and gave him a sarcastic look.
"You know what I meant." She said. Tony looked back out the window.
"Yeah well Pepper had a boyfriend coming over, I had to get out of the house early." Tony mumbled in a lame attempt at humor.
Natasha rolled her eyes and began a short explanation of why she was there. This of course was ignored by Tony. He really wasn't interested at the moment. His mind was otherwise preoccupied with other things.
They were only minutes away from the tower now and Tony could watch it growing larger through his window. He hadn't been back to the tower since the fight with Loki and his army and he wasn't planning on coming back this soon either. It wasn't as if the place wasn't fixed or anything. That was the first thing on the agenda for Tony. But he just couldn't stand looking out of the penthouse windows and see all the destruction the Chitauri caused. It was only a month after the attacks so the reconstruction of the city was still being completed.
There were still some people who thought that the Avengers were also responsible for some of the destruction of the city, mainly the political figures of New York. So Thor and Bruce weren't too popular with anyone of high ranking in the city, particularly Senator Stern.
Tony wondered if S.H.E.I.L.D. managed to get a hold of Bruce and Thor. A month was definitely long enough for Bruce to go back to some remote country, let alone three and Thor has been on Asgard since or at least that's what Tony knew of.
Tony had tried to convince Bruce to stay with him for a while and show off his candyland but Bruce declined and was off before Tony could convince him otherwise. Tony just shrugged it off knowing that the man hadn't stayed in one place for more than a few weeks in a long time. And he seemed to enjoy helping the sick in third world countries, though not as much as love loved science. Tony could tell that much.
Rogers wasn't a problem, he had never strayed too far from the army so Tony couldn't imagine they had a hard time finding him. Not to mention he acted like a scared rabbit whenever he faced a technical problem in this futuristic world. Whenever the Captain was around Tony, Stark went out of his way to try and confuse the soldier as much as he could with his techno lingo. It wasn't like he enjoyed it, he just couldn't help but be bitter towards the captain. Okay maybe he did enjoy it a bit but it was only fun, most of the time.
Natasha and Clint both were agents and were so far on call, as Tony knew. Unless there was a new recruit that Tony wasn't told about then that meant everyone was accounted for. Though it might be amusing if they had Spider-Man join the group, can you imagine the amount of trouble that kid could get in. Not to mention, there would be two spiders crawling around the team.
Though it would be enjoyable to have him around, Tony doubted the team could stand his quips, the same with Tony. The guy's lines were hilarious but very envious. Tony would probably drive himself mad to try and up the guy in sly comments. In the end the team would probably duck tape their mouths shut. Just the though of it brought a smirk to Tony's face.
"I'm sorry Mr. Stark, has something I have said amused you?" Natasha asked bringing Tony's attention back to Natasha. Tony looked at her with a blank look and instead of coming up with one of his snarky remarks he merely said.
"I'm sorry what were you saying?" He asked and Natasha rolled her eyes. Yeah, with lines like that, he would definitely have some competition if Spider-man joined this quirky crew.
The car came to a stop, within seconds the suicide doors opened and a hand was outstretched to Natasha. Tony looked up to see Hawkeye. Natasha took his hand and got out of the car quickly, followed by Tony.
Tony looked up at the giant tower in front of him as he tugged on the hem of his sweatshirt. It looked just as sleek as before, if not more so now. There was a brand new shiny A on the side of the building and Tony was only somewhat reluctant to say that the tower definitely looked better that way. He followed behind the two agents as they went inside, though noticeably slower. Once inside, Tony could see many S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives walking around the building as they approached the elevators. Tony did a full circle as he saw the commotion in the building that was nearly abandoned around a month or two ago.
There were teams of people, in their own messy huddles, talking to each other, each member had at least one or two files in hand. There was a main desk set up right in the entry that had a giant S.H.I.E.L.D. logo stamped right on the front of it.
Tony couldn't help be be a bit annoyed with it. The building, though it was a prototype, wasn't made for S.H.I.E.L.D. to operate in. Tony was thinking that the building might have been an adaptation to R&D department. There were a couple of people he wanted to look into for the company. Now everything was pushed to the side as S.H.I.E.L.D. made themselves comfortable.
Tony couldn't tell if Pepper had done it for her own enjoyment or if she really felt as if they wouldn't try to take the building as theirs in the end. Even though they were just borrowing the tower for only a short amount of time Tony felt as if somehow Fury would come in and steal his baby from him.
"Hurry up Stark." He heard Clint say from the inside of an elevator. Tony hurried over and got in, then watched Hawkeye as he hit the button for the penthouse floor. The doors closed and the three were brought up to the top, when the doors opened Tony saw that the room had not been changed except for the floor, windows and stonework had been replaced. "The top ten floors of the building still remain yours, Stark, during S.H.I.E.L.D.'s stay." Hawkeye said going over to the couch and sitting down, Natasha following him close behind.
Something about that fact irked Tony in a way he wouldn't imagine. Tony just passed it off as anger at Hawkeye lounging on his couch and putting his feet up on the glass table. Though he knew it had something to do with the way the man had thrown the situation back in his face, point blank.
He didn't enjoy the fact that Pepper let S.H.I.E.L.D. pollute the building and was practically taking over. This was his tower no matter what she or anyone else said. They couldn't dictate what goes on within or how many levels they can take up.
But Tony made it a point to ignore the verbal bash and he would respect Peppers decision, no matter how much it angered him. Instead, he walked over to one of the armchairs and sat down facing the two.
"You make it sound like I'm running a hotel." Tony snarked. "So when will the rest of the lovely bunch arrive?" Tony asked crossing his arms.
"Bruce should be getting here in a few hours, Thor was already here visiting his lady friend and as for Cap, well, he is on an errand for Fury right now and he should be getting back soon." Barton said and Tony smirked.
"Hard to imagine him having errands, they're more like feats." He said. "Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you here?" Tony asked and Natasha sat up.
"Simply put, as I assume you weren't listening to me in the car, we are here to babysit you." She said.
Tony nodded slowly and then got up from his chair. He was not planning on letting them watch him while they wait for the others. The two of them together was more than intimidating. But the thing that bothered him the most was something he couldn't deny, even with all the complaints about the mess with S.H.I.E.L.D. and his building and having his own babysitters.
This tower was haunting him, there was no mistake. Just sitting in the room was bringing back the memories of the last time he stayed here. Of course his teammate's were unaware of his problem. With all the assumptions directed towards him, how could they guess that he was a master at hiding his emotions? He found it ironic that neither of them hadn't noticed his reluctance to bite back at their snarky comments. Tony could only guess that they thought they had tripped his tongue.
The thought amused him.
"Well, tell me how well that works out for you." He said as he walked out to the balcony, his suit assembled as he walked.
"Stark!" Hawkeye yelled as Tony reached the end of the walk and he gave them both a flippant salute as his facemask came into place. Tony took off into the sky and flew off with the intentions to eat at that one shawarma joint, the one the team had gone to before. Maybe even a quick flying maneuver around the statue of liberty and check up on the rebuilding progress.
Though by the time he did this barely two hours had passed and he felt as if the entire team wouldn't be back by then. Tony was aware that Banner would take his sweet time getting back to the hustle and bustle of the city and the Captain was out out on an errand. So he wasted another hour trying out new flight maneuvers he had been working on, much to Jarvis' disdain. Tony was alerted the moment the last member of the team had stepped foot through the front doors of the building and he made his way back.
By the time Tony got back there were two fuming agents, one mud clad Captain, a god wearing a long red curtain and one expert on gamma radiation. Not to mention the Director and his right hand man, or woman if you prefer. Tony landed with a thud and walked inside, the armor striped from him as he walked.
He didn't have a care about the frowning faces directed at him. He had long ago gotten used to them and stopped trying to please them by shutting up and following orders as Rogers put it.
"Nice to see that you had the time to join us Stark." Fury said and Tony shrugged. Captain blackbeard frowned at him but must have notice that it was having no effect and looked to the rest of the team, ignoring the billionaire.
"I though the meeting was tomorrow." Tony said walking over to the bar and pouring himself a glass of water.
"It is." Natasha said her arms crossed.
"Really, Stark? Now you decide to drink?" Cap said as if he wasn't covered in grime and standing in the middle of the white carpet.
"What, its water." Tony said taking a sip.
"Right." Cap said glaring, turning back to the Fury.
"Back to what I was saying." Fury said, sounding annoyed. "The meeting tomorrow starts at ten in the morning. You need to be on time. That means you too, Stark." Tony brought his hands up in a confused gesture, the glass still in hand.
"Why me?" Fury walked into the elevator with his right hand woman.
"I'll see you all tomorrow. You will all be staying here tonight. Stark, I trust that you will find them rooms to stay in." With that the elevator doors closed and they were left alone. It was an expected departure from the Director, Tony thought, God knows that without his dramatic entrances and exits, Fury would be less of a man.
Tony sighed and turned back to Rogers, placing the empty glass in the sink.
"So what happened to you?" He asked and Steve glared at him.
"That's classified."
"Remind me why we're having the meeting here?" Bruce cut in before the two had time to go at each other. The group turned to him and Natasha responded.
"The helicarrier is under repairs and remodeling." She said slowly glancing at Hawkeye as she spoke. Thor tossed his hammer into the other hand and stepped forward with one foot.
"Must we remain here? I have other-" He was cut off by Steve.
"Our orders are to stay here." Tony rolled his eyes at him and walked away from the counter.
"Well I wasn't prepared for a sleepover but let me see if there is enough room for all of you or if Cap needs the couch. I prefer the latter." Tony said walking down the side hall and checking the rooms. Though the level didn't look as big, the floor could hold up to five guest rooms, including the master bedroom. Tony had anticipated that he might be handling some of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s guests. Though when he built the tower he was still merely a consultant and had no intention of having a single member of the Avengers stay there.
It was just as well though, then he wouldn't have to hear anyone complaining about having to sleep out in the living room. Even though he didn't sleep much, he would never let anyone but Pepper or him set foot in the master bedroom. Maybe Rodey if it was a special case but otherwise not a single soul would dare go in there.
After grabbing extra blankets and putting them in the guest rooms he went and checked on the master bedroom. It was the last door in the hallway pushed back to the south side of the building, it was almost identical to his room in Malibu except that there was a marble countertop next to the door that ran the length of the wall all the way to the bathroom, above it was a large mirror. Tony saw that the bed was unmade from the last time he had stayed here, right after the attack. That was when he had his first nightmare. One that would seem just childsplay compared to recent ones.
Tony shook his head to clear his mind. He made up the bed and went back out to the main room. There he saw everyone was on the couches and talking about their endeavors for the past few months. All except Natasha who was only listening. The sun was setting behind them and Tony saw that soon they would all start heading to their rooms. He figured he should get into the shop now rather than wake them later.
"What about you Stark?" Steve said turning his head to face Tony. "What have you been doing?" Tony opened his mouth to tell them all about the new designs he had for the Ironman but he though better than to bore them with the details so he just said.
"That's classified." Tony took out his phone and pulled up some specs for the armor. Bruce snorted and Steve frowned, turning back to the group. "Anyways there is unfortunately enough room for you all. Sorry Cap you must part with the couch tonight." Tony patted Steve on the head as he walked over to his workshop. Steve moved his head away from his hand and glared at him. Tony was oblivious as he frowned down at his phone. "All the rooms are down that hall over there. The last door at the end of the hall is my room and if you even set foot in it I will have Jarvis sick Dummy on you with the fire extinguisher. I will be in my lab most of the night, if you have any questions keep them to yourself, goodnight."
"But what about-" Thor started but was stopped in a second.
The doors to the shop opened and the team got a glimpse at all the suits hanging from the walls as he entered.
"Oops, sorry big guy, that's a question." Tony said as he held up a hand in a motion for him to stop.
The doors to the lab shut behind him and Tony could hear the faint click of the lock. Tony slid his finger up the screen of his phone and a holographic image of the armor on his phone appeared in front of him.
He was irked.
Don't get him wrong. He didn't just want to sit by passively while S.H.I.E.L.D. walked right over him and cornered him in the tower with the rest of the team. But he was going to let them do what they wanted to, for now. Just to make Pepper happy. But once he reaches his limit S.H.I.E.L.D. will be out on their asses faster than they could say 'sorry'. If they were ever capable of the word.
Tony put his phone back in his pocket and pulled up a metal stool to sit in front of it. He was trying to figure out how to make the final part of the suit without the actual suit being there. He knew he had everything above the waist done but there was still the bottom half he needed to finish.
Tony shrugged and started working from the feet.
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Here we go! I have almost all of the updates up right now. I got through half of the chapters before the next semester kicked in. I was extremely lazy over the summer. Plz like if you like, if you'd like! Leave a comment below! I'd love to hear what you guys thought!