The room was silent for a second, and then Happy broke in. "Come on, Boss! You cannot expect us to believe that Bucky Barnes, Captain America's best friend, is not only secretly alive, but he's also a HYDRA assassin who killed your parents. That's completely insane."
"He's right, that doesn't even make sense, Stark! There's just no way." Hill scoffed in agreement rolling her eyes and shaking her head.
"Why? What's more insane about that than anything else I've said today, Hap?" Tony defended.
"Well, for one, that would make him like 90 something years old at this point, and Nat had a run in with the soldier just a few years ago and I think she would have noticed if he was a literal geriatric." Clint scoffed.
"I'm going to say it real slow guys, cause it's obvious I've been talking so long you've all stopped listening very well. They. Kept. Him. In. Cryo. For nearly the entire time. At most he's like a few years older than he was. Plus, we never really had a chance to figure out how the serum worked before Steve went into the ice, but I'm pretty sure there would have been some level of extended life. Cap didn't look any older when we fought Thanos in 2023 than he did when I met him in 2012. I won't speak for you guys, but I definitely looked a bit different after 13 and a half years of near constant battle than I do right this second at 39." Tony laughed looking at all of the men in turn. "Holy shit. I just realized how young I am now. I'm not even 40 yet. You know I was 53 when I woke up this morning?"
Happy and Rhodey rolled their eyes and Clint laughed, shaking his head. After a moment, Happy stood up. "Alright Boss. I think it's quitting time for me." He said, motioning for to his watch which read 11pm. "If you've finished your story, I think it's time for me to head out. I'll see you tomorrow. This has been absolutely ridiculous, and not at all believable. Good luck with convincing everyone else." He waved over his shoulder as he headed for the front door.
"I'm gonna have to agree with Happy. This has been an interesting day for sure, but I am beyond ready for it to be over. Good night Tony. I'm glad you aren't gonna die from blood poisoning. Call me tomorrow, man." Rhodey stated as he ruffled Tony's hair.
Tony swatted at Rhodey's hand and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Love you too, Honeybear. Just know you're all gonna be kicking yourselves for doubting me when Thor shows up in a few months. Drive safe and all that." He waited until Rhodey was almost at the door before he called out. "Hey wait. Drive Pepper home. She looks like she's about to fall asleep sitting up." Pepper sat up straighter at that and made an attempt to open her eyes wider to appear more awake. It didn't help. She really had almost been asleep the moment before.
"I can stay and see everyone else out Tony. I'm not asleep. I can also drive myself home. I drove here this morning." Pepper insisted while rising from her spot on the couch. She busied herself with gathering the leftover take out cups from dinner. Rhodey and Tony shared a look.
Tony shook his head. "Stay and do what Ms. Potts? Sing me a lullaby? It's almost midnight. Go home and go to bed. These guys don't need help getting out of here, and you don't need to clean this stuff up. I'll call in a maid service in the morning. I have to hire someone to fix the shit I wrecked today anyway. Also, what's that thing they say again? Driving tired is just likely to result in an accident as driving drunk. Just let Rhodey take you. You can come get your car tomorrow."
"Come on Ms. Potts. Let's get out of here. It weirds me out when Tony starts saying things that are too reasonable." Rhodey laughed while resting a hand at her elbow. She gave a halfhearted glance at the mess in the room before she finally cooperated and allowed him to lead her away. She was so tired she forgot to formally say goodbye to the others as she left.
"Alright." Tony said to the agents as he stood up from his piano stool. "Are you guys sticking around town for a few days, or should I get started on the Cap and Barnes thing by myself?"
Fury shook his head. "Romanoff, Hill, and I are needed elsewhere right now. You can keep Barton and Coulson for the three days, but that's all the time I'm willing to waste on you unless you can deliver some real results. Find us proof of life on Captain America first and then I'll consider lending you help on the Barnes issue." Tony was surprised he had been given that much leeway. He noticed that Clint looked excited. He must have had a lot of fun kicking around the lab today. He was also the only one who had seemed to really believe any of Tony's story, so hopefully after Tony helped them locate Steve, he would be willing to help Tony convince the others. Coulson likely didn't care where he had found the lead on Cap, he just seemed determined at the thought of his new mission.
"Nice. Does SHIELD have accommodations for them, or should I call a hotel and get them somewhere to stay?" Tony missed the Avengers Tower at times like this. There was something to be said for having a nearly unlimited number of rooms at his immediate disposal. Even the Compound had felt too small at times in comparison. He should have built it taller. This house didn't even have a guest room. It felt ludicrous after having lived so long with other people.
Fury sighed. "Normally I would have them stay in the cabin SHIELD owns in the area, but I'm feeling a bit wary towards that after spending half the day learning all of the ways HYDRA has been fucking us. Go ahead and make some calls for them if you will." He relented. He valiantly ignored Clint's victory whoop and instead helped Hill gather their stuff. The one laptop had eventually mutated into a small collection of them at some point while Tony and the others had been creating the element in the lab.
Nat gave Clint a quick hug and whispered something in his ear before turning to face Tony. She had one of the been the quietist people in the room the entire day, but Tony wasn't surprised. He knew as long as someone was freely giving away information she preferred to save her breath and just observe sometimes. After a moment of studying Tony's face, she leaned in and spoke threateningly.
"I don't know you Stark, and your story was impossible and insane. I'm not sure how you got all of that information on us, or what you plan to use it for, but know this. If you saw a SHIELD file with information on me, it only covered a fraction of what I've done. You come anywhere near Barton's family and your body will never be found. I will thank you for bringing HYDRA to our attention though. No matter what you're planning, that was at least somewhat helpful."
Tony had learned long ago that sometimes the best reply to Nat was saying nothing at all. He let her walk by him in silence. She was followed shortly by Hill who gave a brief head nod in Tony's direction but said nothing on her way out.
"Coulson, as soon as this idiot thinks he's found Cap, drop me a line. Barton, don't be wowed by his fancy toys. You know your job. Make sure you do it. Shoot him if he wastes our time." Fury called over his shoulder as he walked out of the house.
"Great. I think they just left with our only SHIELD vehicle. How are we gonna get to around for the next few days now?" Clint griped to Coulson looking put out.
Tony laughed at both the look on Coulson's face, and Clint's disgruntled attitude. "Come on." He said, moving swiftly towards his lab. They followed after him in subtle confusion. Once they reached the lab he called out to his favorite A.I.. "Hey Jarvis, you still up?"
"For you, sir, always." Jarvis replied. Tony had never gotten over the ease with which Jarvis had used human speech patterns. He had never even technically programed him to do that. It was something Jarvis had learned on his own. "Do you need something specific, or did you just want to talk?" The sass was another thing he had learned on his own. It was amazing. Tony had missed him so much.
"Ha, ha, Jarv. These guys need a place to stay for a few days. Take care of that for me." Tony commanded while moving over to the cars. "Now, which one do you guys want to take? Keep in mind, charging the Tesla is kind of a bitch right now. Not as convenient as stopping by the gas station yet. You can take it, just make sure you get it back here to charge before it goes dead."
Coulson's eyes widened. "Mr. Stark, I'm not sure that's appropriate. We'll have to decline. If you're fine with us waiting, I'll call a-"
Clint hit him non too gently in the chest with the back of his hand and cut him off. "Shut up Phil. I'm taking the fucking Tesla. I mean, it would be rude to decline Tony's hospitality. Also, it's a fucking Tesla."
Tony laughed as Clint started petting the car. He handed over the key as Coulson shook his head. He thought he heard Coulson mumble something about 'stupid billionaires and their stupid fancy toys.' under his breath, but Tony and Clint both ignored him.
"Welcome to knowing a billionaire Clint." Tony said with a smirk. "You're gonna love it. Tomorrow let's talk arrows."
"Tomorrow we search for Steve Rogers." Coulson reminded him firmly.
"Eh. That's mostly a job for Jarvis." Tony shrugged. "Speaking of jobs for Jarvis. How are those reservations coming buddy?"
They waited a moment for Jarvis to tell them where their reservations had been made and under which name, and then they were gone. Tony was surprised when Clint didn't peel out of the entry tunnel like a maniac, but he supposed Coulson probably wouldn't let him.
Finally. He was alone. He could go to sleep. "Jarvis, I'm gonna hit the hay. While I sleep buy the satellites closest to this area in the arctic." He commanded, entering some coordinates into the computer. "Once their ours, use them to search for large solid masses under the ice."
"Yes sir. Will there be anything else?"
"Yeah. Give me a 7 am wake up call. And Jarvis. Please… just be here when I wake up." Tony knew it was a bit late to be doubting it now, but he couldn't help but worry that when he woke up this all would have been some elaborate dream. Since he had woken up that morning, he had traveled to 2012, gotten thrown around by a Hulk, traveled further back to 1970, had a heartfelt conversation with his father, traveled back forward to 2023, fought Thanos and his army, almost died using the Infinity Stones, changed the course of history by rewinding time to 2010, created a new element, and told a very long emotionally draining story to a bunch of people who didn't know they were supposed to be his friends yet.
He felt like he needed to sleep for a year to recover from all of this, but he was slightly afraid to close his eyes. He thought for sure that he would be tossing and turning for hours thinking about everything that had happened, everything that him turning back the clock would change, all the problems his foreknowledge could potentially cause, but he was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He didn't even have any nightmares.
Tony regretted telling Jarvis to wake him at 7 am. Especially when Coulson and Clint didn't return until 9 the next morning. He spent the time before they arrived working on catching Jarvis up on his new Iron Man specs. It would take a few months for Tony to reinvent the nanobots, but for now he could at least develop a suit as good as the one he had had in 2016. It would be weird to be running off the chest piece again instead of a separate power source though. He really needed to figure out Extremis again as soon as he had a minute.
At around 8:30 Jarvis informed him that the satellites he had had Jarvis acquire the night before had pinpointed a large ship a very small distance away from where he knew they had found Cap the first time. That made sense considering the rate at which the ice caps were melting. It was a reasonable gap, but still significant enough to concern Tony. He would have to have Stark Industries increase their research into global warming. What good was saving the earth from aliens if he the humans just destroyed the planet instead?
Clint pulled the Tesla into the garage at exactly 9 a.m. From the anxious look on Clint's face when he and Coulson exited the car Tony could tell something had happened during the night.
"Oh, god. What now?" Tony asked, sliding away the holographic display of his suit that he had just finished working on and sending a silent command to Jarvis to render it.
Clint looked nervous as he held out his phone. It had his bank information pulled up. "I think you probably mis-typed yesterday when you paid me for the day labor. I didn't realize until my wife called me this morning and told me to look at it. I swear I had no idea it had happened."
Tony laughed as he remembered what he had done. "Shit Clint. I'm sorry man, that probably scared Laura to death."
"It's fine Tony. I get it. Mistakes happen. You're probably just used to entering larger amounts. I can send it back as soon as it settles. Or we can call the bank and tell them to put a stop on it. That's probably the better option, so the IRS doesn't think I actually have it and then try and slap me with taxes." Clint laughed as his nerves deflated.
"Nope. Not a mistake. That's yours. I just forgot to warn you. Sorry it scared you." Tony said as he pulled up the satellite images of what was likely Steve's plane on the holographic displays.
"What?! Tony, no! You can't just give me one hundred thousand dollars!" Clint exclaimed, gesturing wildly with his phone. "You don't even know m-" Clint cut himself off at Tony's raised eyebrow. "That's too much! That's insane!"
"Clint. I'm a multi-billionaire. One hundred thousand is barely even a blip for me. It's the equivalent of a normal person overtipping at a restaurant." Tony shrugged turning away from the arctic pictures to check the rendering progress of his suit. It looked like it had about an hour left. Coulson was quiet as he watched Tony and Clint argue from across the room.
"This is insane. I met you yesterday Tony. I know you claim you've known me for years, but I met you yesterday. I can't accept this." Clint said, shaking his head. "Why would you even do this?"
"I'm an eccentric billionaire philanthropist. I do this shit all the time." Tony scoffed.
"If you want to give to charity, just do that man. Don't just give me a hundred thousand dollars. Why would you even come up with that amount anyway? You asked me for a number yesterday and I told you to send me a hundred bucks. In what world does that translate to one hundred thousand?!" Clint looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel.
"You never specified a hundred bucks; you just said a hundred. So, I had to guess." Tony shrugged.
"That's ridiculous! You knew I didn't mean a hundred thousand, Tony!" Clint yelped.
Tony sighed and finally turned to fully look at his friend. "Look. I told you yesterday. In the future you have 3 children Clint. 3. Your third kid wasn't born until 2015. My coming back here may have just severely fucked up your life. This may change things so much that that kid never gets born. Or a different one gets born in his place. One hundred thousand dollars is a fraction of what I will owe you if that happens." Tony shook his head as the realization began to sink into Clint. His face was getting paler by the second. "I know it wouldn't be the same to you as me killing one of your kids, because you will have never met him. You won't feel that loss the same way you would if I had accidently run over Lila or dropped Cooper out a window, but it's the same to me. I met Nate. I knew him. He was a cool little dude. And he was a part of you. And I may have just rewritten his entire existence. It doesn't matter that it was an accident. I'm still responsible for that. I know from your perspective it seems like we just met yesterday, but from mine we've been close friends for years. The Avengers are my family. No amount of money will ever fix this. I kind of feel like I just accidentally killed my nephew."
Tony turned away and shrugged as Clint's face fell even further. "But, I'm an emotionally stunted billionaire. So, just let me deal with this the only way I know how. By throwing copious amounts of money at it until it hurts less." He walked over to his computer monitor and fiddled with the display for a moment before he spoke again. "I'm serious Clint. This is nothing compared to what I should be giving you."
Clint crossed his arms and stared at his shoes for a moment before looking back up to meet Tony's eyes. "Fine. But you're gonna help me explain it to Laura when she inevitably calls me back later." He finally settled doing his best to look stern. "What the hell am I even supposed to do with that much money?" He asked looking a bit lost.
"Start a college fund for the squirts. Buy a boat. Build an addition onto your house. Get an inground pool. Sit on it and let it grow interest. Doesn't matter. It's yours now. Also, don't worry about the taxes. I marked it as a gift, so I'll be the one to pay those." Tony quipped. "Now, gentlemen." He said motioning to the satellite images he had pulled up earlier. "Since that's settled, let's move on to the big business. I think I found a ship."