Burn, Baby Burn
Previously in Chapter Five: Reactions, Reasoning, and Doubt
Only Coulson was no longer so sure that was the best of ideas – promise to Miss Potts notwithstanding. Barton had a point about thinking you were going to die and living being torture. The physical pain on using the serum would be immense. And Stark… Tony Stark had been ready to go. What was Coulson supposed to do?
Thor was not accustomed to the Midgardian grieving practices but knew that four days after death, the body must surely be soon prepared for the funeral or else. He tried to bring it up… gently as he could – and was appalled to find that his comrades in arms sought to bury the great Man of Iron beneath the soil.
“My apologies, my S.H.I.E.L.D. brethren and sisters, this is not how it is so on Asgard. I do not wish to intrude upon your customs in your time of grief – but mayhaps consider the Man of Iron’s great love of fire?” he broke with.
Clint Barton of all people knew what he was talking about – he’d read the S.H.I.E.L.D. debrief of Dr. Foster when she’d returned from Asgard – he knew of Lady Frigga’s death and of Loki’s. He’d never really known Stark well enough – but if Natasha and Bruce’s griping could be counted on… he did love blowing stuff up.
The only people who truly seemed keen on burial in the old Stark Family Plot were Rogers, and by default Bucky and Sam. They hadn’t known the family history or how Howard had changed…
Only Pepper Potts, James Rhodes, Happy Hogan, and J.A.R.V.I.S. knew what Anthony Edward Stark’s final wishes were. He’d programmed J.A.R.V.I.S. to take his body in a suit up past the stratosphere and just keep flying until they ran to 5% remaining power and detonate. He’d told his human companions of this – thinking it extravagant and just beautiful enough that they would probably never realize that if he went down in the suit… there’d be nothing left to bury. Of course, that had been before the whole trip through the wormhole – but he’d never verbally changed he’d commands.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. team that had come with Coulson didn’t seem to be in that big of a hurry to be rid of the body actually.
~*~
As it turns out, there was nothing that Coulson could do in the end. The serum he’d had Simmons prep had proved ineffective against the ravages that had ended Anthony Edward Stark’s life. They no longer had access to the alien creature (Kree?) that had provided the original GH-325 that had brought him back from the dead days after the fact and saved the hacker, Skye from the double tap to the abdomen. He’d foolishly thought that Simmons could recreate the serum using both his and Skye’s blood – had told her to use whatever research she could pull from Centipede (Hell, even Garrett) – only to find out four days later that there’d been no change. They were still keeping Miss Potts sedated using the Dendrotoxin from the Night-Night guns – but the Avengers (Rhodey) were finally talking about making plans for the funeral.
Coulson had lost men – and women – before. Losing someone was not something that was new to him. He’d even known that they would lose Stark were he to be activated for the Avenger’s Initiative – but he’d never expected it to be for this reason. And now with the complete and total shutdown (read: they blew the holy Hell out of the Guest House) of Project T.A.H.I.T.I., there was no chance to bring back the fallen Avenger. He felt sick knowing that Nick Fury and Maria Hill had wasted the opportunity on him of all people and now it was gone when they needed it the most.
He’d gone so far as checking with Hill to locate Fury for possibly a hidden sample of the original GH-325 on Day 2 when Simmons recreated sample was showing no affect. Her answer was simple yet brutal. When Coulson had threatened to resign over Project T.A.H.I.T.I., Fury had destroyed everything but what was in the Guest House and that had been on the schedule for demolition three hours after Loki touched down. Even if there were any remaining samples of the GH-325 serum, Fury would not and could not allow it to be used to bring Tony Stark back to life.
“Why? Why not Stark?” he’d demanded.
“Because he’s probably the one person in the world – except for maybe Banner that could recreate it at will. It’s not a risk we’re willing to take. Sorry Coulson.” Maria Hill: straight, simple, and completely brutal in her delivery.
“We might not have any choice but to let him die… “But as you well know, I myself was killed in the attack on the Hellicarrier. He doesn’t have to stay dead…”
“And what’s the price of this miracle you’re offering?”
“Does it matter?”
“No, no it does not. You fuck us over, I will burn you, your team, and your whole entire world to the ground – do you understand me Coulson?”
“Crystal.”
And now here he stands outside of a bedroom holding the body of the great Man of Iron – God, it’s starting to decompose he thinks – knowing that he no longer has the miracles to offer Pepper he thought he had. She’s known for her infinite patience – she’s dealt with Stark almost twenty years – but how quickly will she ignite and burn the world down as promised when she realizes he’s not coming back? The bus doesn’t have an unlimited supply of Dendrotoxin – and even if it did, they can’t keep her sedated for the rest of her life – however long it may be now that Extremis is in the mix…
“Simmons!”
"Sir?” The biochemist in question popped her head out of the bedroom startled at the sudden shout.
“Get a sample of blood from Potts and Rogers.”
“Sir? I’m good, but I don’t think I can recreate either serums – and neither of those were designed to bring back the dead!”
“Isolate the Extremis and Super Solider Serums and mix it with your recreated GH-325.”
“What? Sir! That is preposterous!”
“Simmons. They brought me back from the dead after eight days. How many times did Skye code before we got her the serum? I give you my word, Agent Simmons, this will be our last attempt to bring Anthony Edward Stark back from the dead.”
“And if it doesn’t work, Sir?”
“Then we watch the world burn, Simmons.”
To Be Continued In: Chapter Seven: A New Solution, an Even Bigger Problem