Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, but I did buy nail polish in Loki colours.
Chapter 5
"Fuck!"
Tony ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Work did not go as planned and, by God, it was boring. With a simple gesture, he readjusted the blue screens in mid-air around him, trying to see if there was something his eyes had missed.
For several days now, S.H.I.E.L.D. had him investigating the pattern of a small impact in the city. Whatever had caused it came from Asgard, that much was clear. It even showed some similarities to the pattern Thor gave off when descending to earth, except this time there were no thunderstorms or lightning flashes in the sky. Instead, it had rained, the only rainy day in an otherwise sunny week. Clouds had darkened the skies and water came pouring down. The air had felt colder too, like Old Man Winter had decided to take a day trip to New York.
Something came down alright, Tony thought to himself as he sneezed loudly. "And gave me this fucking cold," he muttered to himself. Tony wiped his nose and tossed the tissue in the general direction of the garbage bin. It ended up missing the bin and rolled into a small pile where several other balled-up tissues lay.
"Dummy! I need you to clean up this mess." One of the robots in the lab reacted, making a soft whirring noise of protest.
"No bitching."
Dummy huffed and let his head sink in defeat. The robot started wiping the floor and sorting out the trash.
Tony noted the irony in his situation. Iron Man could survive nearly anything—killer machines, psychopathic Russians with a hoard of robot soldiers, throwing a nuke into outer space, and, of course, godly super villains with massive alien armies. Ah, those were fun times. But Mother Nature in all her screwed up glory decided to give him a freaking cold. He couldn't even wear his Iron Man suit in his current state. One stupid sneeze and a building might get blown into tiny bits of rubble.
"Jarvis?" Tony pinched his nose, holding back another sneeze.
"Yes, sir?"
"Is Pepper back yet? I need some pills. Or some other glorious medication to fight off this damn cold. God knows I have better things to do than being sick, like dating sexy blond twins."
"Miss Potts is in the elevator, sir. She will soon reach this floor."
Tony minimalized all the screens with a flick of his index finger. "I'm calling it a day, Jarvis. Close down the lab behind me. There's no point chasing after air." Tony walked out and the lights went down one by one. Only a few green and red flickers indicated that the devices were merely asleep. He went straight to his bar, feeling the need for a good strong drink.
"Sir, Miss Potts has arrived."
"Thank you, Jarvis."
Tony could hear footsteps coming down the hallway. Those footsteps were always a familiar and secure sound, something that probably would never change. He cared deeply for the woman, more than he did for most people. They had even tried to be together for a moment and make it work, but Tony just could not see her like he saw other women. Sure, the sex was great, but afterwards, there was always an awkward atmosphere. While he was with her, he gave monogamy a small try. It lasted for about two weeks until he had an interview with a petite, slender, and very attractive brunette. And…well…she was hot and he wanted his mouth to do more than just talk. When Pepper walked in on them, she didn't even look angry, just disappointed. She told him to, "Be ready in ten minutes."
Tony took a good bottle of Glenfiddich whiskey from under the counter and a glass from the cabinet. He put both down on the bar's counter. The footsteps halted and he turned around, opening the bottle.
"Pepper, please tell me you have the pills." The bottle made a gulping noise as he filled the bottom of the glass with the honey-coloured liquid.
Pepper sighed, "Yes, Tony. I have them. And please do not tell me you intend to take them with whiskey?"
"Aaaah, come on, Pep! You know me better than that." She handed him the bottle and he immediately took three pills out. Disregarding the instructions, he threw them into his mouth and swallowed them down with a decent gulp of whiskey.
"Of course I'm taking them with whiskey." He rolled his eyes and downed the rest of his drink.
"Sometimes I think you have a death wish, Tony. You really should take better care of yourself."
"Maybe, Pep, but Death has no wish for me. He's had plenty of chances for that already," Tony quipped back as he started to refill his glass.
"Sir, Director Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. is calling," announced Jarvis.
"Tell him I'm out. Important business or something like that." Tony sipped his whiskey, enjoying the taste as it lingered on his lips.
"Sir, he is demanding your attention now."
Pepper looked over at him like she wanted to say something.
"End the call, Jarvis."
"Yes, sir."
After a moment of silence Pepper's phone rang. She reached into her purse, taking it out. Tony shook his head in a huge NO, but Pepper answered the call anyway. "Yes?"
Meanwhile, Tony face palmed and made an 'I-am-definitely-not-here' gesture. Pepper pointedly ignored him. "Yes, he is here, Director. Hold on. I'll put you on speaker phone. Jarvis, if you would, please?"
"Certainly, Miss Potts."
Tony mouthed the word 'traitor' toward her. Pepper gave him the 'you-better-do-this' look.
"Stark, you'd better have an explanation ready!"
Tony mouthed 'Why?' toward Pepper dramatically before answering Fury. "Bruce and I have done what you wanted. Whatever it is, it came from Thor's home. Ask him."
"I know that, Stark, but what and, more importantly, WHERE is it?"
Tony shrugged his shoulders. "We have no idea. It's probably just a puff of smoke. Now, if you will excuse me, I have something to attend to, right, Pepper?" Pepper nodded to him, and Tony was surprised. He didn't expect there to actually be someplace he was supposed to be. "And besides, if it was something of concern, we would have seen Thor already. So take a chill pill, Fury."
"You do not, I repeat, you do not ask me to take a chill pill. This is a matter of national security!"
"Jarvis, shut off all incoming calls, please."
"Yes, sir."
"Stark, I will not sta—" But Fury was cut off. Finally.
"Pepper, don't ever do that again. And what do you mean we have somewhere to be tonight?"
Pepper put away the phone. "You made a promise two weeks ago—"
Tony cut her off. "I make a lot of promises and you know I don't always keep them."
"Well, you should, Tony. You're the city's hero and I would like to keep it that way. I don't care whether or not you want to go because you're going." The tone in her voice made it clear that he was without a choice.
"So much for free will." He took another sip of his drink. "Okay, so what do you want me to do?"
"I made an appointment at a shelter downtown. We've promised to pay them a visit and serve soup to the homeless," Pepper replied. "There'll be an interviewer from the New York Times and if all goes well, we'll get some good publicity. I even made some arrangements with a construction company so we can give a few people a new change in life."
"Yeah, that's nice and all, Pep, but I'm not feeling particularly up to surrounding myself with a bunch of bums tonight."
She gave him a cold stare. "Get over it, Tony. Tonight you will serve soup to the homeless. And I will not have you smelling like one. Get rid of your drink and take a shower."
"Aye, Commander," Tony gave a bright smile. "I'll also brush my teeth, comb my hair, and pick out my finest suit. Teach 'em what style is."
"Don't be so full of yourself, Tony. I am leaving since there are still preparations to be done beforehand. I expect you to be there in…" She checked her watch. "Fifty-five minutes. Jarvis has the address. Be there, Tony!"
Well, she sure didn't leave him with much time to take a decent shower. Being a public hero sure sucked ass sometimes. Serving a bunch of homeless people soup? Pfft, did it even have a point? The only good thing about homeless people was that they drank. He could relate to that. Perhaps he could even play a drinking game with them. That might brighten up his evening. Tony emptied his glass and left for the bathroom. Showers took time, especially when the hot water felt so good rolling down your back.
"Sir?"
Tony turned off the water and stepped out from beneath the shower head. He grabbed a nearby red towel to cover himself. It had the name 'Stark' on it with gold-coloured embroidery. "Yes, Jarvis?" Tony rubbed his jaw. Perhaps he should shave and trim a bit.
"You've been in the shower for thirty minutes. I advise you to get dressed and leave now."
Tony wiped his running nose and looked for the bottle of cold medicine. "Yeah, I'll do that…right after this." Tony walked to the bar in the living room. Still half wet and wearing his Stark towel, he took another pill from the bottle.
"Sir, I advise you against the use of more cold medicine. You've already had enough. Taking more could result in unwanted side effects, especially with the alcohol."
"Jarvis, shut up. I do not care and I will not get drunk from this." Tony took the bottle from the counter.
"Sir, I must protest against—"
"Jarvis, mute." Silence followed. He was glad he'd had the foresight to build in a mute function for the A.I. He could live without its wise-ass comments for the moment.
Tony selected a grey suit, red shirt, and a grey tie with golden dots. He looked in the mirror and approved of his choice. Hell, I always look good. He checked his watch. Eight more minutes. Too bad he could not wear his Iron Man suit. Tony shrugged. He had flashy, fast cars. He would get there in time, even if he could not go as fast as he would have in the suit.
"Jarvis?"
"Yes, sir?"
Tony picked out a new Rolex to match his outfit. "Ready my Lamborghini. I'm leaving."
"Your ride is being readied, sir."
Tony entered his elevator, the doors closing swiftly behind him. It'd actually been quite a while since he'd driven a car. The last time was when Loki got shipped off to Asgard with Thor.
The doors opened with a 'swish,' displaying his garage. The car was ready and stood at the exit. Tony grabbed the handle and opened the door. "Whoa…" He groaned as several black spots clouded his vision. "Yeah, this isn't so good. Oh well." Tony ignored the problem and got in the car. He turned the key and the motor roared like a beast. The gates of the garage opened automatically with the start of his vehicle and Tony drove out at frightening speed.
He couldn't remember exactly when he started to feel sick. After all, those pills were supposed to make him feel better. His sneezing had stopped, but god, his head hurt! Not to mention those black spots he'd seen earlier. He heard the voice of Jarvis in the background telling him they were almost there. Hmm, maybe I should have read the medication directions for those pills, or listened to Pepper.
Tony took the next turn too fast and too sharp. The car lost its grip on the road. He tried to control the steering wheel and managed to straighten out again. Oh, God, my head. The thought barely crossed his mind when his vision became clouded again by black dots. He shook his head and the dark spots vanished. His mind became a bit clearer again. He turned his attention back to the road and his eyes widened.
"Oh, fuck!"
A young man was frozen in the middle of the road, blinded by his car lights, and Tony was driving too fast to stop in time.
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