AN: Tony is from a universe in which he and Pepper never got together. One of the reasons is simply because I don't like the dynamic they present as a couple (man-child with a slightly condescending nurturing authoritarian wife), but mostly it's because if they had ever had Morgan, Tony never would have allowed this kind of time travel to happen. The entire reason he almost doesn't help them in the movie is because of the risk that changing the past could present to Morgan's existence, which leads me to believe that this kind of time travel was actually feasible, he just intentionally chose the kind that doesn't affect the timestream you start in so that his daughter wouldn't accidentally be rewritten. Otherwise, why would he have even been worried about it at all? Also, I will never write a world where Steve would have stayed in the past, because A) he was in love with Bucky and nothing will ever convince me otherwise B) If he had for some reason stayed in the past, he still would have needed to appear on the platform at the end, even as an old man. There is no way that he could have managed to live out all of those years ignoring the corruption of SHIELD and the torture and brainwashing of his best friend just to keep a promise to Peggy, plus, the movie had already established that this kind of time travel doesn't work that way and C) Steve's entire storyline and all of his character development revolved around him having to learn to let go of the past and live in the present. It made no sense on a character level for them to set him back that way just because they wanted to give one of their heroes a 'happy ending' but still needed a plausible way for Chris Evans to exit the role. They could have had him get trapped somewhere that made him happy enough he just never came back. Or they could have had him stay in another timeline and come back on the platform implying that he had used his life in the other time to fix things, thereby creating a natural exit for Chris without assassinating Steve's character or creating giant plot holes such as D) if we're supposed to believe that Steve went back to his own timeline and allowed the Steve from 1945 to stay in the ice, and that he married Peggy without ever telling her that HYDRA was growing in her organization and allowed Bucky Barnes, his best friend since childhood who he became a fugitive for a couple movies before, become a mindless killing machine through years of abuse and mind rape, even after the first thing he did when he traveled to 2012 in the same fucking movie was tell the 2012 Steve that Bucky was alive, and that that's the story which had always been going on behind the scenes, and he had always been Peggy's husband and he was there the whole time just hiding in the shadows, that would mean that not only is Steve a selfish piece of shit, which we know from the previous films is not true, that would mean Sharon Carter full on knowingly made out with her aunt's husband; her literal uncle. And that shit is just too nasty to comprehend. Hard no for me, thanks.
TLDR: 1) Tony and Pepper never got together and never had Morgan in this universe because he would never risk erasing her. 2) Steve and Bucky are in love because I have eyes and I said so. 3) The writers created a giant plot hole by not having Steve show up as an old man on the platform instead of just sitting on a random bench. 4) Steve is not a selfish asshole so I refuse to believe that if he had gone back, he would have just lived all those years without interfering in anything. 5) If Steve really was always Peggy's husband, Sharon Carter is a nasty incestuous ho.
"…And I am… Iron Man." Tony said, snapping his fingers. He felt a pulling sensation from the gems on his glove, and suddenly he was no longer kneeling on a battlefield in the tattered remains of his iron man suit. Instead, he was standing behind a podium at a press conference. He was wearing a business suit, and the people had just erupted around him.
Somehow, judging by where he was and how the people were reacting, the gems had turned back time to the first time he had said that phrase. The reporters were shouting questions about his reveal, and Tony could feel himself becoming overwhelmed. The miniaturized arc reactor was heavy in his chest, and Tony thought he could feel the palladium working its way through his body in an effort to poison him. It had been years since he had felt this sick. How was this even possible. He hadn't even known he had wanted to do this.
Tony staggered and leaned against the podium. He distantly noticed Happy come to stand behind him. Ever the public figure, Tony remembered he needed to give the press something or it was going to be hell trying to get out of here. He tried to remember what he had told them the last time he went through this, but all that he could think about was that Thanos was coming, and his team wasn't even a team yet.
Looking up after taking a moment to gather himself, Tony spotted Agent Coulson at the back of the room standing beside Pepper. That was all the explanation he needed. Casualties like Coulson were the entire reason that Tony could never have been happy with simply snapping his fingers and making the other army disappear. It wasn't as easy as just winning the battle. Tony needed more time to win the war. The nanobots in his suit must have recognized that thought in him and worked together with the stones to give him what he wanted.
Tony knew he needed to say something quickly when Pepper and Coulson began approaching the podium with concerned irritation etched across their faces. He turned on his P.R. face and decided to do what he did best and wing it. "Uh oh. I had a story I was supposed to stick to. Looks like I'm about to get in trouble." Tony joked, effectively silencing the crowd. "In all honesty, I didn't want to lie. Lying would make everything I'm about to do harder. Over the last few months since my return from the desert, I'm sure you've all noticed the dispute inside and outside of my company as to what exactly Stark Industries is supposed to be doing for people. I know most of the board wants weapons, as do a lot of the public. Not to mention the armed forces. I don't think I was candid enough at my last press conference, and that has likely led to some confusion, so let's give this another try."
Tony paused to collect his breath. He was going to have to solve this palladium problem as soon as possible. He couldn't believe he had gone months the first time feeling this weak or weaker. It didn't help that the body he had landed in was also covered in various well-hidden cuts and bruises left over from the fight against Stane.
After a moment he continued speaking. "I told you all last time that the reason Stark Industries will no longer be producing weapons was because I witnessed the weapons that I had spent years developing being used by the opposite side to kill the very soldiers I thought I was arming. In the last few days, I found out why. Obadiah Stane has been dealing under the table. I don't know for how long. The attack that resulted in my kidnapping was actually orchestrated by him. Over the weekend, he was fired and arrested for his numerous crimes. I'm telling you this, not to point a finger, but to enlighten you as to why Stark Industries will never be making weapons again. If I can't trust someone I previously considered a lifelong friend and mentor not to go mad with power and greed and attempt to kill me, and my board not to vote me insane due to a moral awakening, I definitely am not going to trust anyone else in my company to resume manufacturing and selling weapons."
Tony ignored the hands that were waving in the air and kept his speech going. He was definitely going to need a nap after this. "That is not to say that Stark Industries will be idol. In the next few weeks, I will be revealing the new directions in which Stark Industries will be leaning. There was a time when my father dreamed of a world with completely clean energy. I think that will be possible too now that we no longer have the distraction of weapons production and can funnel some of our talent into other projects. Weapons were in higher demand, but they were never the sole objective of Stark Industries. This change is a good thing." Tony did his best to look reassuring.
"But what does that have to do with the Iron Man weapon we saw over the weekend?" Christine Everhart from Vanity Fair demanded over the crowd.
"Maybe you didn't hear me. I am Iron Man. Iron Man is not a weapon. It's a suit. And it's mine. You can't have it. It's my own high-tech prostheses." Tony said glibly as he backed away from the podium. "Looks like that's all I have time for today folks. Sorry, not sorry." He called over his shoulder as he pushed through the crowd. Pepper and Coulson were waiting for him by the doors and joined his and Happy's swift walk towards the car.
Pepper waited until they were out of earshot of the press before rounding on him. "Tony, what the hell was that? There was a plan for a reason. Do you know how difficult it was to put together your alibi? And telling people about Obadiah? You can't just make decisions spur the moment like that as if it doesn't affect the company." She scolded looking baffled and annoyed.
Tony sighed and held the car door open for her, waiting until both she and Coulson got in before he sat down and answered. "Look, I'm sure that seemed very reckless to you, and I understand why you're upset. I promise I'm going to explain. Right now, I need you to call the office and get something delivered to the house."
"What? Tony, what could you possibly need from the office?" Pepper really looked annoyed now.
"I need Dad's tabletop model of the Stark Expo." Tony told her, staring her down until she rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone to call the office. Then he turned to Coulson. "You should call Fury. I have some things he needs to know."
Coulson gave him a wide-eyed look before he pulled his phone out and presumably texted his boss. "How could you possibly know that name, Mr. Stark?" His tone was mild on the surface, but Tony could tell he was truly put out.
It was tempting to keep the knowledge of the coming dangers to himself and to try and fix things on his own, but Tony had learned over the years that things generally went better when the plans were a group effort that everyone agreed upon, rather than him just attempting to pull together a bunch of strings in the background while praying no one noticed he was up to something and then got the wrong idea.
As such, Tony had decided pretty quickly while he was standing at the podium wondering how the fuck this do-over was possible that if this was his one chance at saving everyone, he wasn't going to mess things up by trying to lone-wolf it. This meant he was going to need to try and convince people he wasn't insane though, so that was going to suck.
"That's one of the things he needs to know." Tony finally answered after a moment of consideration on where he should start. "Tell him to bring a computer with him with access to SHIELD files. And his three most trusted agents after you. Maria Hill, Clint Barton, and Natasha Romanoff." Coulson couldn't hide his alarmed confusion now.
"Mr. Stark, this is unprecedented. I must insist you tell me where you learned those names." Coulson looked on the verge of anger now.
"I promise I will. As soon as everyone is together. This is not a story I want to have to tell everyone twice." He spent most of the rest of the ride dodging questions from both Coulson and Pepper and ignoring the concerned glances Happy kept shooting him in the rearview while doing his best to reassure Pepper that he still had the best interests of his company in mind when he had decided to release the information about Obadiah. Eventually he got tired of defending himself with vague half-truths and decided to just let Pepper rant at him instead. "Pepper, text Rhodey and have him come over. And have Jarvis order us all some food. I'm thinking pizza. And not from New York this time. Somewhere close." He said, cutting off whatever she had been shouting at him as they pulled up to the house.
He wasn't shocked to see that Fury was waiting outside his gate. Quinjets were pretty fast, after all. He was a bit more surprised when he saw that Clint, Nat, and Hill were all waiting with him. He had expected at least one of them to be on assignment, and that they would have to wait. This seemed like his lucky day. Rhodey was even in the process of pulling in behind him and the others.
Tony ignored the comments from everyone as he hopped out of the car and let them all into the house. As he motioned them to the lab, Jarvis notified him that the food would be there in 20 minutes. And that his dad's model would be there shortly before that. God he had missed Jarvis. Friday was wonderful, but none of his other A.I.s had ever come close to Jarvis. He would have to figure out how to clone him so he could keep him once he made Vision later.
"What the fuck is going on Stark?" Fury demanded, finally done with being patient. He and the other agents seemed wary, while Pepper, Rhodey, and even Happy just looked long-suffering and exhausted.
Tony ignored them all for a moment as he silently programmed Jarvis to start running tests on his palladium levels. He wished he had the technology for Extremis so that he could remove the arc reactor from his chest, but he would have to settle for creating the new element early instead. Hopefully, in the future he could get Extremis without nearly being killed by Aldrich Killian this time around.
"Did you bring the computer Fury? This will be easier with visuals." Tony asked as he pulled up some holograms displaying his own vitals.
"I'm not showing you shit until you explain exactly what the hell is going on Stark!" Fury snarled. Pepper jumped beside him, and Happy looked like he was about to say something in Tony's defense when Rhodey interrupted.
"Tony are these your vitals?" He asked, moving to examine the holographic display Tony had just brought up.
"What? You thought I spent three months in a cave in the desert after nearly being killed with my own weapons and I came back fine aside from the massive piece of technology in my chest? Never mind the fact that I've been running off the weaker prototype for the last few days since Obadiah stole my new one. Do you even know why I have this thing? Did I even tell you? I genuinely can't remember."
Tony sighed and then addressed the room as a whole. "I have the arc reactor in my chest to keep the shards of shrapnel the bomb left inside me that were too small to remove from entering my heart. Sadly, the only thing I have to run the arc reactor is palladium which is toxic to the human body. Which is why I had you call the office and have them deliver Dad's Expo model Pepper. It has specs hidden inside that will help me create a new element. Which will subsequentially save my life. A fact that Fury and SHIELD have likely known for years but which was kept from me, along with a ton of research I should have inherited when my parents died."
"It was classified information Stark. And it may have been your father's research, but it was ultimately owned by SHIELD, not by Stark Industries. We had no responsibility to release it to you as you are not a member of SHIELD." Fury sighed and leaned against the hood of one of Tony's cars. "It was also, not my decision."
"You're right. About all of it. It wasn't your decision. It was SHIELD's. And it was HYDRA's." Tony saw the confusion on the agents' faces. Clint and Natasha looked especially offended. "HYDRA has infiltrated SHIELD. A fact that I can show you, as long as you brought a computer with access. I could hack the data base remotely, but that would take a lot longer and I'm a little bit busy at the moment trying to save my own life." Tony said, moving to open the shop door. Jarvis had given a silent notification indicating that both the model and the food had just arrived. Tony sent Happy up to bring down both deliveries and tip the drivers. He had to make two trips, and Clint, being the kind of guy that he was, jumped up to help. It was nice to see that they were all still the same people, even if none of them knew him the way he was used to.
Fury huffed and begrudgingly motioned for Hill to set up the laptop they had brought. Natasha observed Tony silently, obviously learning more from watching than she could have by talking right now. He was so thankful that this snap had enabled him to save her. Her loss had stung the hardest after Peter's. He quickly pushed the thought from his mind and hoped his momentary sadness over her hadn't been too obvious but knew realistically that she had probably read it clearly anyway and would be wondering what it meant. Oh well. He would have to tell them everything eventually anyway. It would make sense to her then.
"Show me." Was all Furry said as he pushed the laptop in Tony's direction. Clint and Happy had brought everything down and everyone but Natasha and Fury had accepted some pizza. Rhodey placed a piece beside Tony in obvious hopes that he would eat as well. It was clear that the vitals display, as well as Tony's explanation of his health had spooked him a bit. Tony took a small bite before he turned his attention back to the computer.
He took a moment to find some of the files he knew would be connected to corrupt agents and then sent them to his own email so that Jarvis could display them in holographic form. The more he added, the more the agent's attitudes turned from unconvinced to concerned and then finally to scared. It took some time, but eventually, Tony had nearly 100 different agents that could be proven to be compromised and quite a few that were obviously patsies doing the bidding of true HYDRA agents. It was clear they were everywhere. After a moment of silence, Natasha cursed and left the room. Clint shot the display a concerned look and then followed Nat.
Maria sat down heavily on a stool Tony kept in the corner. Fury moved closer to see that Tony had barely gone through any files on the laptop. "God damnit. How the fuck did you learn all of this Stark? HYDRA was supposedly irradicated in the 40's. How did you even know to look?"
"That's the part that's going to be hardest to explain. And I'm definitely not going to explain it twice, cause it's gonna be hell enough getting any of you to believe me, so it'll have to wait until Clint and Nat get back." Coulson's eyebrow twitched at the overly familiar way he talked about the other two agents but Tony pretended not to notice and instead moved over to the Stark Expo model. "In the meantime, Jarvis, let's see about saving me from a premature death. Kindly Vac-U-Form a digital wire frame of this model. I'll need a manipulatable projection." Tony suggested, allowing the agents to crowd the laptop, and turning his attention elsewhere. Jarvis had already programed the laptop to search for certain key words and phrases that would indicate HYDRA's presence and it was now continuing to compile an encrypted file for Fury to use to try and weed out the bad later.
"1974 Stark Expo Model scan complete, sir. Would you like me to search the scan for anything in particular, sir?" Jarvis asked as he displayed a holographic scan of the model.
"Yeah… what does that look like to you, Jarvis? Not unlike an atom right?" Tony showed indicating the building at the center of the Expo. "In which case the nucleus would be here." He said, pointing at the center. He could distantly feel Rhodey and the others watching him work but did his best to ignore them. He could just barely remember how he had found the element the first time, and he needed to concentrate on getting it absolutely right. "Highlight the unisphere." He commanded, enlarging it with his hands so that he could see it more clearly. "Okay, now throw out the footpaths Jarvis.
"What is it you're trying to achieve, sir?" Jarvis asked.
"Yeah, Tony. What exactly are you trying to find?" Rhodey asked coming up behind Tony to get a better look. He noticed that even the agents were watching him now. Even Clint and Nat who had just returned to the lab.
"I already told you. Dad discovered a new element. He just didn't have the technology necessary to synthesize it. I'm rediscovering it. Jarvis, loose the landscape and the shrubbery, the trees, parking lots, exits, and entrances. Now structure the protons and the neutrons using the pavilions as a framework." He finally remembered, blowing the projection up so that everyone could see it around them. "He's been dead this many years, and he's still taking me to school. Tony smiled at Rhodey ignoring the awe on everyone else's faces. He didn't deserve it anyway. This wasn't actually Tony's discovery. It was Howard's. He had only rediscovered it by chance by doing a puzzle his father had left for him. And this was basically cheating anyways because he had already done it once 12 years before. He would rather be admired for things he had actually done. He clapped his hands closing the element.
"The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for palladium." Jarvis informed him. He heard Pepper let out an audible sigh of relief and Happy say an emphatic 'thank god' under his breath. Rhodey clapped him on the shoulder in congratulations.
"Thanks Dad." Tony huffed a laugh.
"Unfortunately," Jarvis continued, "It is impossible to synthesize."
Tony ignored the concerned looks he received from the others at that and instead smirked. "Uh-huh. Get ready for a major remodel fellas! We're back in hardware mode." He told his bots, moving to the closet to grab the things he would need. "You guys keep working on your files. This should only take a little while." He directed at the SHIELD agents.
He had Jarvis put in a rush order for the supplies he was going to need and after a substantial amount of money he had them delivered in under an hour from about 6 different Stark Industries warehouses. In the meantime, he busied himself taping off where he would need to make adjustments to the lab while explaining to Rhodey that he hadn't really known the palladium was that much of a problem until a few weeks ago, and that he just hadn't told anyone yet, because he was still going over different options.
Once he had everything ready, he had everyone move back from the wall, and put on his safety glasses.
This went over fine until he brought out the sledgehammer. Which is when Pepper tried to have Happy take it away from him insisting that since he was sick, he shouldn't be doing any heavy lifting. She finally settled for Rhodey using the sledgehammer for him. When he brought out the jackhammer, she gave up and rolled her eyes inviting Natasha, Fury, and Maria upstairs to continue going over the SHIELD files in peace. Clint stayed downstairs, excited to help demolish the floor, and Coulson left to make a phone call to the main office to cover for their continued absences.
Tony had to admit, the demolition went a lot smoother when Happy, Clint, and Rhodey were all trading off with him, and it helped to build some comradery between Clint and the others. Pepper nearly had a fit when after a few minutes, Tony and Rhodey brought the jackhammer upstairs to create a hole next to the piano so that they could run the wires he would need. He noticed Maria was laughing into her hand, and Natasha was suspiciously straight faced in the way she only got when she was attempting to hide her amusement.
As soon as he had all of the wires run from various areas, he and the guys started assembling the coil ring in the workshop. Happy and Rhodey were nervous when he kept propping the coils up on stacked books on top of generators and motorcycles, but Clint argued for Tony's point, that if it works, it works and eventually the other two conceded to his point as well.
When he had everything ready to synthesize, he handed out sunglasses and had the men stand behind the coils. Rhodey and Happy shouted when the laser burned a line through the wall as Tony turned it into place, but Clint just offered to help Tony move the wrench. Tony laughed and told him he had it, but thanks anyway.
Once the element was fully synthesized, Tony fit it into a new arc reactor and exchanged it with the one in his chest. The guys were a bit alarmed when he didn't wait for Jarvis to run diagnostics, but after he didn't drop dead and they visibly watched the black veins that had just began showing on his chest recede, they backed off.
"Jarvis order us some more food. I'm thinking Mexican. Make sure you get enough for the group upstairs too." He commanded, leaning back in his computer chair. He waited until Jarvis gave an affirmative response and then turned back to the men. "You guys did some major labor with me today, and I am not a free labor kind of guy. You're all getting paid. Happy, Rhodey, I know where to send your checks. Clint, pick a number and give me your bank routing details."
"Are you fucking kidding me? This was the most fun I've had at work in ages. You can't pay me for that." Tony stared him down until Clint relented. "Fine. Send me a hundred." He said and then gave Tony his bank routing numbers. Tony smiled deviously to himself. Clint hadn't specified 100 what, so he went ahead and added a few zeros when he sent it. Now the Barton clan wouldn't have to save as hard for college. Clint wouldn't notice until later.
Then he finally led the others upstairs so that they could eat the food he had had Jarvis order, and then he could tell them his story. It was going to be a long night. Tony wished he had taken the nap and waited until tomorrow to explain, but it was too late to turn back now. At least this core gave him more energy. He had forgotten how much of an upgrade it had been.