Chapter 3
Tony was somehow able to sleep despite the tremendous pain and was only slightly surprised when Clint woke him up some hours before dawn. His captivators seemed quite dead when Clint and Natasha helped him and Doctor Ho Yinsen out of the cave and into a car.
"How did you find me?"
"Your PA asked Fury to organize a rescue mission", Maria Hill answered behind the wheel.
"You must have a pretty good tracker in you", Clint wondered in a low voice. "But what else could you expect from a tech guy like you."
Tracker? Sure. Plausible explanation. They didn't know the truth.
Tony sat in the backseat between Clint and Natasha. The car battery connected to his chest felt heavy in his lap. He felt cold.
This time everything was going to be different. Well, not everything. He was going to destroy all misplaced SI weapons this time, too.
But this time, he wasn't alone.
Nat opened a water bottle and gave it to him. Then she handed him a box of his favorite painkillers. He had trouble holding it in his fingers but could snack five before somebody Nat stole the box from him.
From then on, everything felt a bit fuzzy. He met Rhodey at some point, probably at the airport.
They were in his plane. He was sitting on a sofa. The interior looked ancient. There was a wet bar and a dancing pole.
"I own this plane. I decide where I'm going. I'm going home." Tony looked at his glass of mineral water. He might have given up alcohol at some point. Was it a minute ago? Or yesterday? Or ten years ago? Something was wrong with time. He almost remembered some important equation.
"Tony, you need immediate medical attention. We are heading for Germany." Rhodey was standing behind the bar and drinking whiskey. His whiskey!
Clint sat on a chair further away. He looked like he was sleeping. He wasn't. Maria was reading a book. Tony had given the bedroom of the plane to Yinsen. That he could remember.
They should have a toast, the agents too, for fighting Thanos and saving the world. Was that three days ago? He wasn't sure.
He looked at his chest.
"Doctor Yinsen fixed me. And last time I did it months before medical attention. I can fix this myself."
"Tony. You are in a shock and you speak nonsense."
"I'm in a perfectly reasonable state. I know how the time machine works. It's..." He tried to demonstrate it with his hand but the pain in his right arm felt like he was snapping his fingers with the stones.
He was so tired. This was different from the last time.
He saw the packet of relief peeking out of Natasha's chest pocket. She had changed clothes at some point. A white shirt, grey cardigan, and black perfectly fitting pencil skirt. He reminded himself, that he was a married man now.
He looked at his hands. He had lost his wedding ring.
And he knew how to look charming and appeal to women. "Can I have one more of those, please?"
"Mister Stark, you have exceeded the safe amount already."
"I don't play safe. Besides, I have a high tolerance for... everything. Rhodey can prove it." Tony had taken tremendous time, effort, trial and error, and finally over a year of therapy and some inventions in virtual reality to free himself from addictions he had formed to ease the post-traumatic stress from childhood and events later in his life.
Addictions weren't just psychology, they were also very much physiology. And he really needed a drink. Or cocaine. Or LSD. Or something else he used to party with just some days ago.
He would have to fight his body into sobriety again. Like he'd have to fight against his enemies again. He had won Thanos and saved the world. And now he had to do it again.
He felt time slowing down. He was pretty sure he didn't lose his consciousness.
Rhodey sat by his side. "Tony..."
Nat was on the other side. "Are you okay, Mister Stark?" He could snatch those pills now if he wanted to.
He didn't. He wanted to save his loved ones. He wanted to restart Avengers. Or build Avengers for the first time like it was going to be in this version of time.
Rhodey held his right arm. He barely felt it. "Tony, you're gonna be okay. You are in shock now. But it's not dangerous. You are alive. You will be fine."
"Yes, I am alive. I will be alive." But what about Morgan? All of his enemies would aim for what was dearest for him. His daughter.
Was Morgan here? If Pepper had known where he was, she... He couldn't bear the thought of losing his daughter. He had to know.
"Can I borrow your phone? I need to call Pepper."
"Sure", Rhodey said choosing her name from the list, "'though I already texted her that we got you."
Pepper answered immediately. "Rhodey, what's going on? How is he?" She looked young. She was at his place.
He opened the camera, too. "I'm fine now, thank you for asking."
"Tony! It's so relieving to hear your voice."
"Likewise, my love." Rhodey looked like oh, please. "I've missed you."
"I miss you too, and Jarvis and Happy and your bots, your whole family miss you," Tony smiled like a sun at that, "but please, tell me you're going to Germany and not flying straight home. I've booked a doctor for you and you'll get a smaller battery for your chest piece. Take a day or two to rest and freshen up."
"I will. Say hi to my bots and the rest of the family." At some point, he had to tell them. Especially Rhodey. But things like that were so much easier to show than tell.
"I will. Tony, I love you."
"I love you too, Pepper, now, and always." For a moment Tony didn't feel the pain, just serenity.
"So when did that start?" He asked when Tony had given the phone back to him.
"What?"
"That thing with Pepper. She's flirting you back!"
"Well, it's a long story..."
"Tony, you are an idiot." Rhodey seemed almost mad.
"I'm not. I'm a genius. I invented a mini arch reactor, a new element, and a time machine, among other things."
"Tony, she's good. She's a good PA. A good person. If you mess with her, she will leave you."
"I won't." The truth was, he wasn't that sure he wasn't going to mess up. Especially now. "I'll marry her and be a good husband."
"Well, that escalated quickly."
"And a good father."
Rhodey's eyes almost rolled out of his face. "I know facing death may have changed your personality, but..."
Tony had stopped listening. He had to be a good father. His daughter needed bodyguards.
Tony laid his arm around Natasha's shoulders. A flirty move, that came out of his muscle memory. "Agent Romanov, do you want to hear a secret? Or two, that Nick Fury is keeping from you?"