Disclaimer: I do not own anything that I have written. Yep, that is right, I own not even one iota of the below work.
Warnings: Cannon violence, sexuality, and blood. Possibly worse language than the actual movie. Will contain homosexual relationships.
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Chapter Two
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"Start new project named: Project Proving. Put everything on my private servers and make the call to that instructor you found."
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"So, when does this instructor you picked show up, J?" Tony asked, moving holographic parts around as he worked on the prototype for his new 'watch gauntlets' sub-section of Project Proving. The idea was to use the Vibranium that Howard had left to make slick gloves with a smaller version of his repulsors within, which went from a watch, to a gauntlet in seconds flat. Meaning that Tony would no longer be completely venerable without his suit.
"Mister Wilson should be here very soon." JARVIS injected.
A knocking erupted from the from door a few minutes later, a loud voice announcing to the world, "Professor Badass is here for his interview!"
Tony sauntered over to his doorway and opened it, met with the face of a masked man in red and black. The inventor blinked a few times in shock, before giving the man a small smirk, "Do you go to all your job interviews in full spandex, or am I just that special?"
"The suit shaping tight against my taunt arse is usually the only thing that gets me hired after I start opening my mouth." The unruffled voice erupted form the mask, somehow though, you could hear the man's expressions. Tony didn't think he had ever met a voice that was so expressive in his life.
"I have always had a thing for nice eye-candy around me. Well, I would ask you to sit down, but my questions and requirements will take all of five seconds to explain. I want to be taught hand to hand combat; I don't want SHIELD or any other person comma agency finding out any details about it. JARVIS picked you as the prime choice because you are the most skilled, but neutral power there is. So, you feeling up for it?"
"Handing repeated ass beatings to a rich douche and getting paid for it is actually my dream job. Plus, you're Iron Man; I get to work with you... You're one of my top five favourite heroes!" Wilson said, and you could see the faint outline of a smile under the mask, "I won't stop my day job though, I enjoy it, and I make a shit ton of money doing it."
"Alright, when do we get started?"
"Now."
As soon as Wilson spoke, he lunged forward and within seconds, Tony was staring at his own ceiling, pain radiating down his back and air rushing out of his lungs, wheezing for a second he managed to form a faint voice, "I wasn't ready..."
"Awwh, how adorable, you think the bad guy will give you time to get ready?"
Eventually, the training did make itself into the matted floor of Tony's gym room, which had only just been made in the last few months. The beating lasted for hours, and Wade was utterly ruthless taking Tony apart every time, correcting him through pain and a painful type of positive reinforcement. The inventor had to have been downed hundreds of times before Wade stopped for the day and left, but not without shooting back to Tony, "Don't worry young Padawan, I'll be back tomorrow, about the same time."
The only answer the masked mercenary got was the pained groan of a flattened Tony Stark.
"Should I cancel the contract, sir?" JARVIS asked, secretly scanning his creator for any injuries, as one of his primary objectives was the creator's health – and his worry would not allow for him to do anything less than that.
"Nope, he's perfect J, great choice." Tony spoke, sitting up with another groan, placing an arm on his stomach and finally dragging himself to the workshop.
"Sir, no one knows your preferences like I do." The words were double layered, and Tony knew that was a linguistic skill that the AI had inherited from his maker.
There was a moment of silence as Tony chuckled over JARVIS sense of humor, but as the laughter faded, a more serious atmosphere rose. Tony was dreading asking the question he was about to, he didn't want to remind himself of the hurt. It was still too new, too raw for him to want more treatment on that particular wound, but he needed to know. It was a desperate ache that would not go away –
"How is she, J?" Tony eventually asked, almost dreading the answer.
"Miss Potts has taken an interim to take a vacation before looking for a new job, sir. She seems, from all accounts I can find, to be doing much better and she looks much more relaxed than before." The AI stated bluntly, knowing better than to draw it out.
Tony didn't think he'd ever felt more want to cry than he had in that moment, "So she actually is better off without me..."
The AI didn't respond, because they both knew the answer. It wasn't Pepper's fault, nor was it Tony's, it was just the similar attitudes that brought them together, and the different aptitudes that tore them apart. Eventually it was bound to happy. Still, there was no place for the famous saying 'better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all' in this house. At least, not for some time, because the healing had only just begun with the acceptance that there was no fixing what happened.
"You'd better have DUM-E, and U take all the alcohol out of the house." Tony stated bitterly.
"I already did, sir." JARVIS promptly informed, and there was a grim smile that appeared on Tony's downtrodden face. His AI really did know him almost too well.
"I almost forgot... The suits that Rhodes took, I want it back." There was a slightly angry undertone to the Stark's voice.
It was not surprising. He had faced the betrayal of those he'd trusted in regards to the Iron Man technology before, but he'd honestly thought that his best friend knew better. That he'd known Tony was going through everything possible to make sure that the suit didn't get into the wrong hands, the governments hands. Somehow, though, that wasn't the worst part. That came in regards to the fact that Rhodes allowed some second rate government contract to actually touch Tony's technology, as if they had any right. Taking the suit was one thing, but letting someone else modify it... That was a completely separate matter.
"Are you sure, sir?" JARVIS asked with the slightest bit of hesitation.
"I got a half-assed apology – He still thinks that he did the right thing. Stealing from a friend isn't the right then, especially with my history on the matter. A history that he knows, and ignored... I trusted him, and I actually do trust him with a suit... If he learns his lesson and actually comes to apologize, I'll have a specially made one ready for him, weapons and all, none of that second rate stuff he got from Hammer." Tony announced, specifically thinking about making something a bit like Mark II but with a few more guns and less repulse and smart-target tech.
"Understood, initiating Overload Protocol – Suit ETA: 47 minutes." JARVIS announced, his tone losing emotion, and sounding like a standard computer. Tony hated when JARVIS did that, but understood that in regards to such things, sometimes the AI 'forgot' that he was something new, something different.
With that done, Tony wandered into his bedroom, trying his best to ignore his aching muscles as he laid down, staring at the ceiling, and just thought of everything that had happened in the past few days.
For some reason there was a wet track making its way down Tony's face, all the way to his neck. The roof must have a leak or something; Tony made a mental note to get JARVIS on that.