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 Four
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Strangely enough, his nose didn't hurt at all. Probably not surprising, what's the sting of a broken bone compared to the rest of the pain Tony had been through in his life. Alternatively, perhaps, it hurt so much that the area numbed itself. Regardless, Tony shook the thought of as meaningless and starting signing the paperwork that JARVIS had deemed important enough for him to bother with.
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8 hours of sleep was too much to ask for more than once a week, apparently. Instead of the nice, content rising of the night before, Tony stalked out from under his blankets, having woken himself up because of nightmares, and quickly took a shower without an inch of enjoyment. Still, that feeling fading soon enough, knowing that Wade would be here in a few hours. The man's personality could really light a room, after all.
DUM-E cooked a full breakfast again, this time with even more food under the knowledge that Wade would specifically be eating at the mansion today.
Another thing which brightened his mood considerably was the fact his nose only showed the slightest amount of bruising. The Stark wasn't one to take the small things for granted, and was more than happy to just take the healing in stride.
"Oh yeah, we are in SHIELD now, I totally forgot that we hacked them." Tony said, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin, looking up toward the ceiling, as though looking at JARVIS, "I'm assuming you've remembered though."
"Of course, and I've assembled a list of the most pressing and interesting matters for you to read up on." As the words left JARVIS' speakers, a holographic image appeared before Tony as he ate, and Tony quickly imbibed on both the delicious food, and the juicy information.
The list contained interesting Proper Nouns. Asgard, Thor, Coulson, Stark, Hawkeye, Widow, Captain America, Banner, for example. It didn't take Tony long to realize that this was a lot of information, in fact, looking down at the file size, Tony felt his eyes widen, over a terabyte of information was an exceptional amount, "Give me the run down, J."
"Asgard is apparently an alien planet from which this 'Thor' male is from. Seems to have a warrior culture, and at some point humans based their gods after these figures creating Norse Mythology. SHIELD itself doesn't know much about them – Only that they surely existed. We also have some scans and energy readouts from the area, as well as the research that had been doing in regards to Thor's arrival. Coulson is the one in charge of the handling in this situation." JARVIS divulged.
Tony scratched his chin minutely and gave a hum of thought. As a man of science, of course he knew that aliens were a statistical inevitability. The Universe, vast as it was, created conditions which make it impossible for humans to be the only form of life. So yes, the genius believed the fact that Thor was an alien, and that his people were mistaken for gods. Why wouldn't they be, humans always searched for a way to explain any instances that don't make sense. That's what god was there for, so people could disregard the seemingly illogical.
"And the other names?"
"Avenger Initiative candidates the best there is in all of their fields. This includes your file, sir. However, it lacks the high-level redactions that the one shown to you had." JARVIS cautioned before pulling that individual file and placing it in hologram form in front of Tony.
It contained Tony's name, alias as Iron Man, his label of Super Genius, his degrees, aptitudes, suspected fluent languages, height, weight, health, age, physical description, and the psychological evaluation that was done on him. In addition to that, however, was the recommended course of action from Fury:
'We can't have him out of our circle of influence. Bringing him in as a consultant will but is in a place where we can get what we need from him, as well as keep an eye on Stark to make sure that he doesn't go off the reservation. This has the added benefit of being close enough to Stark Technology so that if Stark does rebel, we have a higher chance of getting his tech before we have to potentially eliminate the target.'
Tony could feel his eyes narrowing in a dangerous sort of anger – comparable to that which he'd felt in regards to the 10 Rings Organization and Obadiah Stane. Still, it wasn't entirely unexpected. SHIELD was a spy agency, they needed to have backup plans against backup plans against even more backup plans. That didn't mean that Tony wasn't going to start planning for the potentially inevitability of a SHIELD betrayal.
"Oooooooohhhh~" Tony heard next to his ear, a familiar deep voice, "Secret agent files, you should read mine, it's way worse than yours."
Tony turned toward the masked face, wondering for a moment just how long Wade had been standing there, but didn't really mind it. He'd told JARVIS that Wade was allowed in and out as be pleased. The inventor was growing to feel the 'mentor' he choose was becoming a friend. So, he would treat the mercenary with the same deal he gave all his friends. One free betrayal, the second one only earned after a sincere apology, and after that, well, no more chances.
"I'd rather hear about you from the source. I wouldn't trust SHIELD to tell a rock the truth." Tony drawled out, but giving his friend a smile, "Now, good morning, darling, although I would prefer that you didn't sneak up on me like that. I'll have you know, I am always bordering a heart-attack, I don't need the extra stress."
"Ah-huuuh..." Wade drew out, and Tony got the weird feeling the mercenary didn't believe him, "I see you saved me breakfast though!"
"I was hoping to suck up to you." Tony stated with a mock seriousness, "I have so many questions."
"Shoot!" Then, with a deliberate move, the mercenary pulled his mask up as he stared straight at Stark. Showing severe scaring all along his mouth and chin area. His face looking somewhat like the creators of the moon. Tony stifled any reaction swiftly, although he was sure Wade caught the surprised widening of his eyes before his expression equalized and the genius went on like nothing happened.
Not at all disregarding the act of trust that had passed through them with that move, however.
"You totally quoted an aspect of multi-verse theory toward me. What's your opinion on it?" Tony asked, fascination covering his entire face. What did those scars matter, in the face of important scientific questions.
"We're in a FanFiction right now." The mercenary stated simply, "A FanFiction that is based around your movie self, moving it away from cannon, and I am part of a comic-verse. There are unending versions of the Universe, some of the alternates of myself I've met. Kidpool, Womanpool, Dogpool. Tons of different types and versions of myself exist in other verses which I hold at least a mind knowledge of."
Wade shut up after that, and although Tony couldn't see his eyes, he could tell that the mercenary was waiting for some type of rejection of those words. Instead of concentrating on his friends emotions, Tony allowed himself into a meditation of the information he'd just picked up. If what his friend was saying happened to be true, then multi-verse theory was true, and Wade had some sort of ability to see through all of that. It was interesting, unendingly so. Not impossible either, that was the reason the theory was made in the first place. Wade, in total, didn't seem completely crazy – despite what the reports of him would have someone believe. He was clearly at least somewhat intelligent, he could function on a high-level... If he was stupid, he also couldn't make up a story which included the multi-verse theory at all. You first would have needed to understand the theory, before making a story up about it.
"I believe you." Tony eventually spoke, standing up after that though and heading toward the gym, "I'll wait for you to finish up, you scheduled my ass beating soon, wouldn't want to be late."
"I knew you wanted my spandex covered body pressed close to you." Wade cooed, but Tony could hear the slight choking of emotion the mercenary had forced down.
Tony just gave his friend a grin before he disappeared behind a door.
"Sir, it seems that Mister Rhodes has booked a flight to the closed airport proportional to this house." JARVIS interjected as Tony got into sweats pants and a tee-shirt.
"About time, let me know when he gets here, okay?" Tony responded, getting ready for a fight of two different types. Sparing with Wade was going to be fun, at least compared to having to deal with the emotional upheaval that Rhodes' arrival would bring.
"You have also requested that I update you periodically on the Gauntlet Sub-Section of Project Proving. Currently 31 more hours until completion considering the careful work being put into it." JARVIS informed, and Tony gave a small smirk. Oh how he couldn't wait to always be armed. Surely it would help him feel much less uneasy around, well, anyone that wasn't his friend.
Tony could only hope that Rhodes would still be considered such after this meeting.