Footpaths (part 3)

Tony wakes up at ten the next morning, after coming back home around five from his flight half across the country. It was good to clear his head even if he didn't come up with an exact list of things he wants to call Fury the next time he sees the man. He decided that the man deserves his best spy badge though.

The questions list is pretty much ready, though, and it's long.

'There are some leftover pancakes,' Happy says as soon as Tony walks out of his room into the living space. 'Long night?'

'Yeah, I guess,' Tony mutters, moving towards the kitchen, and his face brightens at the sight of the big stack of thick pancakes sitting on the table. There are fruit slices waiting for him in a plastic container and they look yummy enough that he chooses them rather than jam or syrup.

'I had a very interesting talk yesterday,' he says, the words muffled, and then swallows a bite of the food. 'With Director Fury?'

'The spy?' Happy frowns, closing the newspaper he was browsing and looks up at Tony. 'Anything you didn't want him to know that he knows?'

'You could say so,' Tony admits and raises an eyebrow, looking at Happy challengingly. Happy, being himself, catches on immediately.

'No,' he states, eyes wide, and Tony nods at him in a jerky movement. 'Yes?'

'Yes.'

'Well, he deserves the spy, then, I'll give him that –'

'Happy! You're supposed to be on my side,' Tony says accusingly, taking up his fork again and jabbing the pancake ferociously. 'But well, I guess you might be right. A bit.'

'Are you gonna do anything about that?'

'He knows I've got access to all his databases, so we're even on that. So we'll just going to have a pleasant chat, I think. At some point.'

'Wish I could watch,' Happy sighs, opening the paper again. 'JARVIS, will you let me watch?'

'If you want to, Mister Hogan. It is a highly entertaining material, as long as your mental approach towards it is right.'

'Sometimes I hate you, J,' Tony murmurs, back to eating his pancakes. It's strange that he's feeling so calm right now. He should probably be more… panicky or something, but he just can't bring himself to care. He's a bit too tired and too sore for that and the thought of the mission he has to leave for tomorrow doesn't make it any better.

'You love me more than you could ever hate me,' JARVIS replies cheekily, making Happy snicker, and Tony inclines his head in silent agreement.

'By the way, I have a meeting today, right? At twelve? Or wasn't it today?'

'It is today, sir. I believe Miss Annik will be waiting for you at Riverside at noon sharp.'

'You're going out in this weather?' Happy pipes up, not looking away from what he's reading. It looks like kids section but Tony can't be sure, newspapers are weird sometimes.

'We're just going out for a quick walk, the kids can't exactly be out for a long time, they're too young for that.'

'Well, don't forget your scarf and gloves, boss,' Happy tells him, giving him a stern look. 'And be back for dinner, would you?'

'Yes, mom,' Tony rolls his eyes and puts a piece of mango in his mouth.

When he's done with food, he goes over the mission updates Phil sent him earlier in the morning, giving him some missing details he inquired about. The good thing is that the mission isn't very complicated, it's all about picking up some things from an abandoned base of a local terrorist organization that S.H.I.E.L.D. took care of recently – before anyone else can get there. Some of the items are experimental and rather fragile, hence Iron Man coming in instead of regular agents, and they need to be transported out of the country to the nearest base in Vienna pretty quickly, so the suit's speed comes in handy.

The bad thing is that Tony isn't exactly feeling well and as much as he hates to admit it, he'd rather swallow some painkillers and banter with JARVIS all day long in one of this workshops. But he can do this, he can finish the mission, so he's not going to be a baby.

'Hello, Annik,' he signs as soon as he sees her. Happy was right to remind him to take gloves – he threw a pair at Tony when he was dressing up, a logical choice in this weather would be to wear his warm mittens, but then signing and typing would be impossible. It's funny how he still forgets those little details sometimes.

'Hello,' Annik says, smiling, and the kids all sign hello to him. It's amazing how easily they get used to simple signs with Nate being around as rarely as he is. JARVIS prepared him a file about studies of the used of sign language to communicate with babies before they begin to speak, though, so it shouldn't be that surprising.

And Mikayla, Lino and Layla aren't babies anymore. They are toddlers now and every time Tony sees them, they seem to be so much bigger and smarter. It's strange to think that the first time he's met them was almost a year ago. They remind him of how much time has passed more than anything else and it's more bittersweet than anything else.

They go for a quick walks, just as planned, and it's mostly silent besides the children's excited babble about the snow. Tony teaches them the sign for snow and they repeat it clumsily, with more focus than he'd expect, and it the party gets even quieter when they sign rather than shout to each other.

After fifteen minutes everyone is cold and refreshed, so Tony scoops up Layla and Annik takes Lino and Mikayla hands and they go into one of those family-friendly cafés and sit in a far corner. The kids get warm tea while Tony and Annik choose hot chocolate, trying to explain to the waitress that no, they are not a couple, not even close.

The place is warm and cozy and the kids instantly get some crayons and paper to play with so it's very satisfying. That's probably first time ever they are in such place so they constantly wriggle in their seats, looking around and talking in their private child-speak between sheets of paper they go through in the next half hour.

'I'm glad you could find some time to go out with us again. It's been too long, the kids are so fond of you.'

'I hope we can do this soon,' Tony types quickly, letting JARVIS read it out. 'Maybe the weather will be more pleasant by then.'

'I certainly hope so, the kids are growing stir-crazy sitting cooped up in the house, even the older ones.'

Tony smiles in acknowledgement and helps Annik dress Lino and then they go out; it's only five minutes' walk to Riverside so before they know it they're standing in the warm hall of the building.

'We don't get to see you this Sunday, if I remember correctly?'

'I have a previous engagement, sorry,' Tony types quickly. 'But the next one should be as usual.'

'See you then,' Annik says, looking away from the tablet screen and signing him goodbye, and the kids follow her suit. Tony signs them all bye bye and leaves, shrugging slightly as soon as he steps into the freezing air. It's half past one, the nearby store's clock says, so he still has plenty of time before dinnertime.

'Check me the soonest bus to get to the big 'shop,' he murmurs into the phone, pretending to talk to someone, and a second later JARVIS has the information ready for him on the screen. It takes longer than it should to commute, the city is still too covered with snow to function normally, but Tony doesn't mind. Watching people, subtly of course, will never get old.

'J, the armor for tomorrow is ready like it should be?' Tony asks when he's inside the workshop, hanging his coat by the door.

'Yes, sir. I have checked all the parameters and everything seems to function perfectly.'

'Good, good,' Tony murmurs, rolling his sleeves up and making his way across the room. When he gets to the workstation that has half-ready robot prototype, he nods to himself with content and waves as J to pull up the schematics for him on the nearest screen.

'Are you going to finish RS-19 unit?' JARVIS asks after a few minutes, when Tony is finishing getting his tools that have been scattered around the place.

'There's no deadline, I get to do it when I want, so now sounds good,' Tony says, crouching in front of the robot's frame to make sure all the necessary wires are already in place. 'Besides, I really need some distracting and simple handiwork. I've been doing too much coding and typing and all the software work recently and my calloused fingers just miss playing with a wrench and a screwdriver, baby.'

'I know your liking for hardware,' JARVIS admits, sounding almost reluctant. Tony stops and looks at the ceiling.

'Don't give me that, I'm always gonna like you best,' he says firmly before turning his eyes back on the robot. 'And someone has to do the dirty work. Daddy doesn't mind,' he adds. JARVIS doesn't say anything else but a moment later Tony recognizes the first notes of his favorite playlist and it means enough.

The next evening Tony departs at 10 p.m. in Mark X and at 1 p.m. local time he arrives at the scene of his mission. It's a research facility, mostly underground, hidden between rocky hills and snow-covered plains, with no big towns nearby and nothing but a flick of crows around.

'That's pretty ominous,' he mutters, scoping the area for any signs of life, but there isn't anyone but a group of four people travelling in a car a few miles away, making their way south through a ice-covered rocky road. 'Have I mentioned recently that I hate winter? Like, 95% of the time?'

'You have mentioned the fact about seventy six times since December 22nd,' JARVIS informs him flatly, amusing Tony with his manner to say about when he's in fact citing a very precise number.

'Mhm,' Tony murmurs, focusing on the readings displayed on the HUD: he can see the base from where he is now, there are floor plans provided by S.H.I.E.L.D. in front of his eyes. There are possible entrances marked, as well as exit ways, and Tony knows the plan by heart by now – make sure it's secure, grab, pack together, transport to Vienna base, repeat three times which should be enough according to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s specialists.

It turns out they were a bit wrong about the whole operation. Everything goes perfectly well during the first two trips, Tony even recognizes two New York agents overseeing the op for Fury at the Vienna base.

The third time he gets close to the place, an hour and fifty-six minutes after he left it with package no. 2, JARVIS informs him that he can detect seven men within the perimeter, and a black helicopter that brought them to the site while Tony was away.

'Code read, I guess,' Tony mutters, waiting for JARVIS to gather as much information about the whoever they are, while hovering in the air over the base with all of his anti-radar and invisibility protocols fully engaged. The man are taking the rest of the weapons and putting them one by one into crates that are no doubt going to be transported via the helicopter. They have no organization insignia so Tony can't tell who they are and there are they from, it's impossible to even tell their race as they are all covered with thick warm clothing.

'They seem to be carrying concealed weapons on themselves, sir,' JARVIS informs Tony a moment later. 'I suggest you consult Agent Coulson or at least the Vienna base.'

'You know what they're gonna say.'

'I know, sir, and you know that I do not approve of putting you in more danger.'

'The risks of being a superhero,' Tony sighs, 'send them a note we'll need someone to collect the livestock.' Then gives JARVIS a sign, and a moment later he's descending rapidly. It doesn't take long to have all the man hit with tranquilizing darts, even if it requires JARVIS to maneuver more than normally to make sure they hit the small patches of the men's exposed skin to maximum efficiency of the tranquilizing agent. It takes five seconds to work and exactly when Tony breathes out in relief and turns around to see how much of the weapons have the man already removed, he notices a movement out at the edge of his field if vision and a second later something blows up, the force of the explosion sweeping Tony off his feet.

'One of the men managed to arm one of the bombs before he dropped unconscious,' JARVIS steady voice cuts through the buzzing in Tony's head. He can feel a pulsating bruise forming at the top of his forehead from hitting his head against the faceplate when the blast threw him as if he were a sack of potatoes and not a man clad in an armor. 'Sir?'

''m here, J, 'm okay,' Tony mumbles, trying to focus his eyes. 'Reactor?'

'Arc reactor is intact, sir. The integrity of Mark X is not compromised, there are a few dented plates but they do not present any danger.'

'What was that?' Tony slurs slightly, sitting up and surveying the area: everything seems to be covered with grey and black explosion marks. None of the men seem to be injured though, whoever used the weapon must have thrown it at Tony before ducking behind a small wall peeking out from under snow. 'S.H.I.E.L.D.?'

'A team from the Vienna base will be here in approximately fifty minutes, sir.'

'Do we have enough darts to keep those bastards asleep?'

'Yes,' JARVIS replies simply and Tony lets himself close his eyes and slump a bit inside the suit. 'I will make sure they stay unconscious.'

'Thanks, lifesaver,' Tony mutters, 'now talk to me, I probably shouldn't fall asleep on my watch and I need a moment to get up.'

'Of course,' JARVIS declares eagerly and starts to recite all the data regarding current situation at the base, the men's vital signs and status of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team until Tony feels okay enough to stand up again and surveys the area for himself.

The agents take care of everything, including getting the last load of weapons into their jet and after a short and endless reassurances that he's fine talk they finally let Iron Man leave for the US, after he makes promise to report to Agent Coulson as soon as he's in New York.

Tony wishes he could take a long nap before swinging by the HQ but tomorrow he has a meeting with Nate's primary job buddies and the next morning he starts radiation, so postponing the inevitable sounds impossible.

He manages to get through the debrief without too many questions and concerned stares from Phil and when he is released home, he leaves the HQ without as much as stopping for a moment, he's not feeling up to Steve's or Bruce's concern right now.

'No signs of concussion, sir,' JARVIS assures Tony after a quick brain scan he does in the workshop, sounding more relieved than an A.I. should be able to.

'Then I'll just go to bed,' Tony mutters, taking of his clothes absentmindedly, and a moment later he's asleep.

'Are you feeling okay?' Levy asks Tony when he enters her office on Monday morning, watching him with unsure face.

'Yeah, just had a tough weekend,' he replies easily, sliding into the chair in front of her. 'You know what kind of tough.'

'I see,' she says slowly and then looks back at the file in front of her. 'I wanted to see you before you go off to radiation for two reasons. I'll draw blood today and we'll see if you need a transfusion anytime soon – any headaches, dizziness, vertigo recently?'

'Not unless I hit my head,' Tony says truthfully, flashing her a shy smile. Levy sighs deeply.

'All right then, that sounds promising…' she trails off with just a hint of sarcasm to her voice. 'The other thing is that I want to remind you that I'll need you in hospital for a few days in a month, we need to do a full check-up, including all the not-so-nice procedures to see how are things inside you.'

'You use weird sentences, Doctor,' Tony comments, playing with his hands in his lap just a little nervously. 'Yeah, I remember. I'll make sure no one wants me when you'll need me, even if it gets complicated, you've got my word.'

'I'm glad,' Levy states, nodding to herself and skimming through the file. 'Now, go to the nurses to have your blood drawn before you go upstairs, all right?'

'I will,' Tony assures her, standing up, and disappears into the well-lit corridor.

Getting prepped for radiation is routine by now and Tony doesn't even spare it a thought, doing everything mechanically, mentally cataloguing everything he has to do this week. Fury promised to have the weapons delivered, but without a deadline, so Nate can focus on his no-S.H.I.E.L.D. job. And Pepper would probably be happy to have a look at the progress Tony's been making about the big reactor. They need to synthesize more of the new element – still nameless, sadly – to start modeling the core before they get to constructing the reactor itself. It needs to be done piece by piece, in small portions, until there's enough of the metal to melt it down and mold it into the core.

'JARVIS, any important news I need to know about?'

'Not really, sir, unless you count another rise in Stark Industries stocks, thanks to Miss Potts' great job as the CEO.'

'Come on, that's not news,' Tony chuckles, making his way to the kitchen. He had to leave earlier today to meet with Levy before radiation and he wasn't feeling like eating in the morning, so now it's time to get some calories.

'Sir, I have two S.H.I.E.L.D.-related messages for you,' JARVIS states a moment later, when Tony is buttering his toast and then waves at the A.I. to continue. 'Captain Rogers and Agent Romanov have boarded a Quinjet and are officially on their wait to Russia.'

'And the other one?' Tony asks, hardly understandably, chewing a perfect salty piece of his toast.

'Spider Man sent you a text wondering if you feel up to, quote, doing some science.'

'I guess I do…'

'Sir, are you sure that's a good idea?' JARVIS wonders questioningly, a note Tony knows too well audible in his metallic voice. 'Are you feeling –'

'I'm okay, J, don't sweat it, I can just pop a few pills if I don't feel perfect, and besides, tell him to come here. You're right about one thing you didn't say, I don't feel like moving outside my warm apartment again today. And make sure Happy knows he's got a day off.'

'I am sure Mister Hogan will enjoy a movie or two.'

'That's my boy,' Tony praises JARVIS warmly and goes back to eating. Before he manages to finish the meal, even if it's a very slow one, Peter knocks on the apartment's door. Tony wipes his hands and puts on his glasses before nodding at JARVIS, a moment later the door open and Peter is dripping melted snow on the floor.

'Sorry for that,' he says sheepishly, gesturing at the small puddle of water, and then takes off his coat.

'No problem,' Tony signs and lets JARVIS speak for him. 'Did you use your super spider abilities to get to my place extra soon or were you in the neighborhood?'

'Guess,' Peter shoots cheekily and Tony raises an eyebrow. 'So, you wanted to show me your little nest?'

'Too cold to go out,' Tony explains with a shrug, it's almost the truth. 'How do you feel about seeing all the magic that I get to have around all the time in my cozy flat?'

'If this is just a cozy flat, then I'm just a high school science geek,' Peter murmurs, not quietly enough, and Tony smirks at the comment and gestures at Peter to follow.

'You ate breakfast?'

'Yeah, I did.'

'Don't sound so sorry,' Tony says, opening the workshop doors and letting Peter go inside first. 'I've got a mountain of snacks.'

Tony shows Peter all the tech magic he has in the small 'shop, excluding Dummy and Butterfingers and You, the three of them are spending some quality time in their mini room, charging and preparing to do their tasks as soon as there is no one from the outside around. While the 'shop is much smaller than the other one, it has all the coolest toys, Tony would never deprive himself of the fun and he's never ever ask JARVIS to work with tools that are anyhow short from the best, so there is a lot to see.

The holographic system installed in the room is far superior to the one in the big workshop as Tony's been working on it since moving in, and it catches Peter's attention immediately. It can create holograms of the size of the whole room in color – even though there's still this bluish glow Tony can't quite eliminate – and it's all changeable and interactive. Tony shows Peter the games and simulations and some projects that are vague enough to be safe, like some nameless towers he wants Pepper to build one day.

'This is so much better than The Sims 3,' Peter declares excitedly when JARVIS instructs him how to make changes to a project, adding floors, changing shapes and adjusting details. 'You could earn so, so much money if this went widely available.

'You don't want to know how much this is worth,' Tony informs Peter, looking closely at the additions Peter has been installing to his project. It looks like a huge flying house so Tony decides he's better off not knowing. Peter nods in agreement, probably imagining the numbers in his head, and puts another sour worm into his mouth.

'It's good you don't have to have clean hands to play with this,' he comments a moment later, licking the sweet-sour crystals off his fingers. Tony gives him a long look before bursting out laughing, and mentally thanks heavens Peter is so not like he was at that age.

'You know, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for what I said the other day,' Peter says quietly when he's throwing an empty sour worms bag into a real trashcan. 'Well, not for what I said, but for saying it, you know –'

'Do I?' Tony asks, thinking about all the endless things Peter likes to babble about when he's excited or nervous or happy, which means most of the time.

'Abut Cap,' Peter admits, looking away. 'I know you guys had some… disagreements because of that. I should have listened to my aunt, you know. She used to day sometimes it's so much better not knowing, and I made you know –'

'We'd get to that talk at some point, anyway,' JARVIS cuts in, translating Tony's signing, as Tony moves to stand right in front of Peter. 'It was bound to happen sooner or later. I'm glad it was sooner. We've sorted things out, so I guess I owe you a thanks.'

'So… you guys are cool now?'

'I think so.'

'I know Steve called you – he told me - so, are you like, together together?' Peter asks, looking up to meet Tony's eyes, and Tony's startled by how hopeful he sounds. Why would he want them to be together together?

'Not really,' he admits, watching Peter's face fall. Good that the boy's got a mask, his face would give him away in a second. 'Why?

'It's nothing. Doesn't matter. Forget I asked,' Peter says quickly, turning around and going back to his project, still hovering in the mid-air. 'I'm glad you're cool. I hate it when I've got to maneuver between hostile people. Anyway, I think it's time for me –'

'You sure? Don't want to stay for lunch? Besides, no work today?'

'It my holiday,' Peter mumbles, obviously contemplating Tony's offer. 'Lunch sounds good, as long as we don't do any heavy talking.'

'I don't talk when I eat, my hands are occupied otherwise and I don't like my food getting cold,' Tony replies, rolling his eyes. 'But I'm sure JARVIS can entertain you.'

'Have I told you already that JARVIS is the coolest A.I. I've even seen, no offence to Ijon, but he's so smart!'

'Thank you, Mister Parker,' JARVIS' own smooth voice says, making Peter jump just a little and smile gleefully. 'Let me tell you that there is a hot lasagne waiting for you in the kitchen.'

'I said,' Peter states, smiling at the ceiling and following Tony out of the workshop, 'the best.'

A/N: I'm still here, sorry for the wait, my life has been a little bit hectic lately. I hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway! I'll love you forever if you drop me a word, it means incredibly much to know what you think :)

Beta, as always, by my lovely dri-dri93 & Kae. Thank you!