We Do What We Want
Previously in Chapter Sixteen: We’ve Only Just Begun:
Imagine the surprise that ran rampant through the room when J.A.R.V.I.S. took that moment to open the elevators. DUM-E, U, and Butterfingers rolled out to greet Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy. That wasn’t what shocked the room though… that honor belonged to the no longer dead Anthony Edward Stark, who came strutting out after them.
The communal living room of the Avenger’s Tower was dead silent. Except for the sound of the bot’s squeaking tires (Tony would really have to overhaul them soon) no one was making a sound – just staring at the newly resurrected Anthony Edward Stark. It was like the room had frozen… everyone that hadn’t been in the Penthouse Suit for J.A.R.V.I.S.’s reveal were suddenly questioning whether or not they had survived the end of the world after all. Tony being Tony of course, couldn’t stand the awkward silence. He proceeded to through his hands up in the air and yelled, “Don’t shoot! I don’t wanna die again so soon!”
This seemed to break the spell that had fallen over the room – then again that could have been Pepper Potts marching forward to bitch-slap the holy fuck out of him for what he put her through. A sickening crunch was heard as Tony’s head rocked to the side, Pepper flushed a brilliant fiery orange and gasped in pain. Before anyone else could react Tony’s hands shot out to cradle Pepper’s broken wrist. The blue orb under his shirt brightened to the point where the whole room could see it – his hands lit with a gentle blue glow as well and without a word, Anthony Edward Stark completely healed Pepper Potts’ broken wrist.
“By Odin’s Eye! The Man of Iron returns a god!” Thor was the first person to actually speak – and the Tower shook with the force of his rumble. He’d not seen the man without the Arc Reactor – and did not immediately recognize the SoulSphere. Everyone could see the difference in the condition of his body – he wasn’t big and bulky like Thor, but he shone like the Æsir.
“Technically… that’s not true,” Tony started, “But they didn’t tell me about the healing thing… can you do the healing thing, Thor?”
“Nay, Man of Iron, that is a most rare ability – even on Asgard. Please, if you would. An explanation would not be amiss,” the Prince trailed off.
Tony looked around the room – the people he knew and the people he didn’t to the people he loved as family and the people that were getting there – and wondered just what he was supposed to tell them. It was suddenly obvious to him that he didn’t have all the information concerning the whole coming back from the dead thing. He hated not having all the information. He was still cradling Pepper’s wrist in his hands. He looked in her eyes and gently tugged her into his arms. He kissed her lips, then her forehead, and then wrapped her into an embrace. “The truth is… I don’t know the whole explanation. I don’t even know what I can tell you of what I do know… All I know for a fact is that I love you, Virginia Potts. Rhodey? You’ve always been a brother to me. Happy? A bestfriend. Avengers? I did my best to create a home and safe place for you all…” he trailed off as Natasha Romanoff stepped forward.
The Black Widow was cautious in her approach – this man was back from the dead and fundamentally different from his past life – but she felt she owed it to him to apologize. Her partner in crime – Clint ‘Hawkeye’ Barton – stood proudly beside her. “We failed you, Tony,” she said quietly – in reverence to the woman he held swaying in his arms. The look on his face though – Widow knew she was in for a fight, so she hurried on to get her point across. “We spoke on it after you passed – we each thought we were doing what was best either for S.H.I.E.L.D.” she glances at Rogers, “or for you, yourself,” her eyes flit to Barton and Rhodes. Tony’s face softened at the implication that it wasn’t just his family looking out for him – but the Avengers too. “None of us knew you were so dangerous ill because you hid it so well and maybe we thought we’d have the time,” she trailed off herself, not sure of how to finish and whether or not she could speak for the rest of the group.
She didn’t have to. Where she stopped, Captain Rogers picked up. “Stark, I think what she’s… we’re trying to get across here is that what has happened is done. We can’t change it even for the world. What we can do – if you’ll allow it, is spend the rest of however long we each have making it up to you. It doesn’t matter if you came back different or the same. So long as you’re happy and healthy – well that’s good enough for me.”
“Us. That’s good enough for us,” Director Coulson cut in. Bruce nodded his agreement.
Tony Stark’s first act back from the dead might have been to crack a joke – but the second had been to heal an injured Pepper Potts. They might not know just how much Tony had been altered in his trip to the Otherside – but that didn’t matter to them because he was back. And he was still Tony.
To be Completed In: Chapter Eighteen: The End is Only Another Beginning