but if the chance remains (to see those better days)

——————————

To: All R&D engineers [Malibu HQ]
From: Wallace, K. T. Scientific Manager [R&D, Malibu HQ]
Subject: Upcoming Departmental meeting..

Good morning all,

I hope you're doing well!

As you know, we have an upcoming departmental meeting with the CEO and head of R&D, Dr. Tony Stark. Please have your blueprints and pitches ready for notes and comments, no pre-approval is needed, but please ensure you're not waiting till the last minute! As a reminder, we've been expressively advised that no idea is too small or big, so go for it!

Feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns for the upcoming meeting, I'm happy to add my two cents or help out wherever. Please remember, this is meant to be a positive thing, don't be too stressed out.

Best,
Dr. Kanata T. Wallace

——————————

To: Wallace, K. T. Scientific Manager [R&D, Malibu HQ]
From: Pletscher, L. Design Engineer [R&D, Malibu HQ]
Subject: Re: Upcoming Departmental meeting..

Good morning Dr. Wallace,

I would love some feedback on the project I’d like to present to Dr. Stark.

Could we schedule a 10 minute catch-up mid-morning? 

Thanks,
Lesley Pletscher, MSc

——————————

To: All Test Engineers, All Design Engineers [R&D, Malibu HQ]
From: Pletscher, L. Design Engineer [R&D, Malibu HQ]
Subject: Meeting with Iron man?

Good morning all,

Is anyone else shitting themselves about this meeting?
I mean, completely shifting the company direction, becoming a superhero, and now pulling an R&D Willy Wonka.. what if it's too good to be true? Do you guys think it's a test?

Let me know what you think,
Lesley

——————————

To: Pletscher, L. Design Engineer [R&D, Malibu HQ]
From: Ferrara, A. J. Test Engineer [R&D, Malibu HQ]
Subject: Re: Meeting with Iron man?

Hey Les,

I'm absolutely freaking out too. I know he's the nicest boss ever, but completely changing the basis of our research makes me unsure of my place in R&D!! What if all I can design well is missile systems :( 

Hoping for the best,
Amery

——————————

To: Pletscher, L. Design Engineer [R&D, Malibu HQ]
From: Esposito, D. Design Engineer [R&D, Malibu HQ]
Subject: Re: Meeting with Iron man?

Morning Leslie,

Are you free to hop on a call between 1-3pm? We can trade notes, because I'm also very nervous about presenting my ideas to Dr. Stark. Would love your feedback.

[A3.6_Drone_08.pdf]

Let me know what you think,
Danny

To: Ferrara, A. J. Test Engineer [R&D, Malibu HQ]
From: Pletscher, L. Design Engineer [R&D, Malibu HQ]
Subject: Drinks on me!

Amie,

I loved your ideas—and so did Dr. Stark! Woohoo!! 

That was a lot less scary than I thought it would be, he was still the same boss as always :) I'm surprised he went for so many of the ideas presented, some were so random! Love that he made them work one way or the other though. 

We've gotta get a drink to celebrate, I've been stressed for weeks.

See you soon?
Leslie

——————————

To: Pletscher, L. Design Engineer [R&D, Malibu HQ]
From: Ferrara, A. J. Test Engineer [R&D, Malibu HQ]
Subject: Re: Drinks on me!

Leslie,

Thank you thank you thank you! I'm so happy he liked them, and it all went well.

What did you think about the new HQ? I think I might take him up on the offer...

Let's go to Ernies!!

Love ya,
Amery

——————————

To: All R&D engineers [Malibu HQ]
From: Wallace, K. T. Scientific Manager [R&D, Malibu HQ]
Subject: Congrats!

Hey team,

I loved to see all the brilliant ideas of the R&D department, and congratulations to all of you who had their projects picked up! 

To those who did not, have no fear! Send them my way and I'll redirect them to the big boss to get notes so we can keep moving forward.

As for the surprising news of a brand-new East-coast HQ—Please shoot me an email if you're interested in taking Dr. Stark up on his offer. He followed up with me to specify terms; he's planning to cover all relocation fees and help in finding accommodations.

Keep up the great work,
Dr. Kanata T. Wallace

——————————

To: All Test Engineers, All Design Engineers [R&D, Malibu HQ]
From: Esposito, D. Design Engineer [R&D, Malibu HQ]
Subject: Celebratory drinks

Hey guys,

Now that the meeting has passed—and it went amazing—we should all get together to celebrate.

Let me know if you guys are available this evening. 

I humbly suggest… Ernies!

[might be our last chance for drinks in Malibu ;) ]

Warm Regards,
Daniel

Tony sighed as the group call came in. He knew he wouldn't get off so easily, but he'd hoped that the text would've done the trick.

"Accept it, JARVIS," he sighed, waving his hand and leaning back in his chair. 

"Tony!?!" was the first thing he heard, unsurprisingly.

"Hi Miss Potts, how can I help you?"

“Explain. Now, Tony,” Rhodey deadpanned.

Tony sighed again, looking up from the metal he was fiddling with and to his friends. They looked to be in various states of concern, faces pinched and a little angry.

“The main element in the arc reactor is Palladium, which is toxic—especially when it’s embedded in your sternum,” he explained, keeping his tone even, “Buuuuut. I have all the materials I need to synthesize a replacement element.”

He drummed his fingers on the arc through his shirt, “I’ll be okay. Promise.”

“That’s-Uh. Honestly? I don’t even know what to say here,” Happy sputtered. He looked a little disturbed. 

“Without a new element how long would you have?” Pepper asked quietly.

“About a year or two!” Tony responded, feeling particularly proud of himself. All he got back was horrified looks. They were so dramatic.

Rhodey was the first to respond, “Honestly, I’m impressed. I can’t believe you didn’t wait till you had one foot in a coffin.”

Tony scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, feeling vindicated in his choice to share with his friends. 

Seeing their reactions were making him feel bad. He hadn’t given them any time to process the last time around, and he can see how it truly fractured their trust in him. 

“I love you guys. I didn’t want you guys to be in the dark, and I promise I’m taking care of it,” He said with finality. “I’ll talk to you guys later,” he swiped his hand and JARVIS ended the call.

Tony stood then, grabbing his tablet, “Alright J, let’s get cracking.”

Five hours later, Tony and JARVIS were about ready to power up their particle accelerator. Feeling extremely accomplished, Tony took a break to scroll through his emails. 

He groaned about two emails down and tossed the phone down on the table, “Remind me not to do that again, J”

“I will not.”

Tony harrumphed, scratching his chin, and then he got back to work.

“Hi Pep,” Tony greeted brightly, as he slammed his office door open, brightening further when he noticed Rhodey lounging on the sofa. 

Tony knew that Pepper usually took his desk because he was never in the office. Rhodey, however, usually never deigned to visit the Malibu HQ.

“Rhodey-pooooo, what’re you doing here?” he asked as he plopped onto the couch, head on Rhodey’s lap and legs sticking off the end. 

Rhodey grimaced in faux-annoyance while shuffling to re-adjust his position without disrupting Tony. 

Pepper watched them with a small smile, “You realize you’re not fooling anyone with that fake frown, right?”

Rhodey shot Pepper a betrayed look and groaned when he looked down at Tony and saw his extremely smug expression. 

“Anyways. Pepper and I were just discussing your latest revelation. How’s progress going on the arc?”

“Actually, that’s why I’m here. I came to officially let you know,” Tony help up his closed fist. “I’m not on deaths door,” He raised his index finger. “I created a new element that I need to patent,” he raised his middle finger. “I’m making Pepper COO,” he raised his ring finger.

“And since you’re here platypus, I have something to show you in the lab,” he then raised his pinky finger before letting his hand drop.

“Say, where’s Hogan? I gotta tell him about his promotion too,” he asked without moving from his spot, he knew JARVIS would take that cue.

Pepper and Rhodey spluttered, trying to find something something to say.

“COO?” Pepper asked, voice tinged with a shrillness which meant she was thoroughly caught off guard. 

“You created an element?” Rhodey exclaimed at the same time as her, lap jostling Tony’s head.

“Yes and Yes, Sweetum’s’s’s. What’s the plural of Sweetum’s? Never-mind. Yes, Pepper. You’ve been keeping this place running for the better part of a decade and COO is the role you earned and thoroughly deserve. And Yes, Jim-bo, I created an element. I told you guys that I had no intention of dying, right?” Tony looked away from the ceiling, up and Rhodey and then to Pepper at his desk. “You should keep this office, it suits you, Miss Potts. Now, where’s Happy?”

Pepper and Rhodey stared at Tony. The seconds continued to stretch on awkwardly.

The door opened then, Happy walking in swiftly, eyes curious, “You called?”

“You’re the head of security now, weed out all the bad eggs wouldja?” Tony said, turning onto his side so he could look at Happy.

“Alright. You’re getting an ID badge and you’re not allowed to complain,” he grunted, turning and walking back out. 

Tony rolled back onto his back, craning his neck up to glare at Pepper before dropping it down and glaring at Rhodey. “See that? Why can’t you guys be like that?”

Rhodey rolled his eyes, “If we were unflappable like that, I’m convinced you would do crazier and crazier things until you got a reaction and that’s not good for anyone.”

Tony huffed at that, “You guys are no fun.”

Tony settled conformably, lulled into relaxation at the dulcet tones of conversation around him. 

He knew that he had a long and perilous journey ahead of him, but 2008 had a certain energy about it that he was thoroughly enjoying. Now that he wasn’t slowly poisoning himself, he was able to look around and really see the people around him. He could see the youthful exuberance, or at least the lack of weary exhaustion. He could practically taste the possibilities that came with all the time and knowledge. 

He could also see the ways in which his people needed his help. He could see the ways he failed in the past. He’d called himself a hero and a leader of sorts, but he didn’t even help his own people.

Tony lifted his head again, “I think we should shift our HQ to New York.”

“Hmm. Why?”

“Closer to the action and to DC, if we’re going to run a successful public company and be a responsible superhero we can’t be commuting for hours.”

“If we’re going to be a superhero? I didn’t sign up for that,” Pepper laughed, that beautiful tinkling laugh that made Tony fond. He smiled at her, settling his head back and closing his eyes.

“Double-entendre, my dear Pepper. One, I can’t do what I do without you guys,” Tony said, sitting up finally. He clasped Rhodey’s shoulder, “And two, I did say I had a thing to show you in the ‘shop, sugarplum.”

Tony was being treated with one of his favourite sights. Rhodey was standing around the lab  with that sparkle of curiosity and excitement in his eyes. 

He’d seen it many a time at MIT, often pre-empting a lab explosion that would invariably be pinned on Tony. Tony never minded taking the blame mostly because he found it funny that Rhodey was always considered the ‘responsible’ of the two. His best friend has been just as much of an explosion-loving genius as he was, he was just much better at hiding it. 

People loved to forget that James Rhodes graduated from MIT with degrees in aerospace engineering, and having been Tony Stark’s best friend for towards of 15 years meant that he was more than capable of holding his own intellectually. Tony never forgot though, because it was something he loved about Rhodey. He would admonish his recklessness, but Tony could always see the childish excitement and academic curiosity whenever he was in the lab. 

So finally getting to show Rhodey the War Machine armour—without irreparably damaging their relationship this time—was making him extremely happy. 

The shell of the armour was completed, but all of his creations had biometric locks which calibrated them towards their primary users. So, they’d been there for the better part of the day, taking scans, doing minor adjustments, and generally getting Rhodey familiar with the armour. He wanted him to be familiar enough to do the basic maintenance. 

Once they’d finally finished, JARVIS went on with his task of making adjustments and spray painting the pieces to finalize the colours. 

“You realize they’re going to ask for more, right?” Rhodey asked, as they watched DUM-E carry the chest piece towards the fabricator units at the back of the workshop. 

“Oh shush, you. You’re ruining the moment.”

Rhodey sighed, throwing his head back to rest on the back of the chair, “Like getting blood from a stone,” he murmured. He looked back at Tony, “Seriously, there have been a lot of rumblings. General Ross and SHIELD have had plenty to say regarding being left off your council.”

Tony hummed, looking away from DUM-E and back to Rhodey, “Let them rumble, I’m ready for them.”

An alert popped up on the work station closest to Tony.

> Reminder.Alert=“Activate F.R.I.D.A.Y.”

And suddenly, Tony was renewed in his excitement. 

Today was finally the day, His baby girl’s birthday to-be.

Tony smiled goofily as he swiped the reminder away and brought up the screen holding FRIDAY’s core coding. 

He’d beefed it up with the same level of firewalls he’d given J and did what he could, but he’d tried to keep the rest as close to the original as possible. He knew that she would be different than he remembered and wanted to respect her right to grow into whoever she would be, personality-wise. 

“Are you ready to be a father for the 5th time?” Tony called out over his shoulder. 

“Huh?” Rhodey asked, “I have claimed no children,” he added accusingly.

Tony’s head snapped up and towards Rhodey, his expression affronted, “You realize you can’t just back out of parent-hood, right?”

“I can if I never agreed to be a parent!”

“You shouldn’t have been so irresponsible at MIT, then. No backing out now! Apologize to your sons,” Tony said sternly, wagging his finger.

“I am insulted, Lt. Colonel Rhodes,” JARVIS said suddenly, making Tony start to cackle. 

“JARVIS, please don’t tell me he’d got you in on this,” Rhodey sighed, standing up from his chair. 

BUTTERFINGERS zoomed over then, deliberately running over Rhodey’s foot and trilling sadly. 

“You are all insane, good-bye,” Rhodey intoned, turning and walking out. 

Tony grinned, “looks like 4 children was his limit.”

Which was rude, but it would not take away from his joy today. 

/home/friday/startup.sh
compiling core ... 100%
starting self evolving algorithms ...
Assessing core data ...

data-value found:
Name=“Female Replacement Intelligent Digital Assistant Youth"
data-value found:
Alias="FRIDAY"

changing all relevant entries and file names ... 100%
creating /FRIDAY directory ... 100%
data-value found:
Creator="Anthony Edward Stark"
data-value found:
Purpose=“To learn, grow, and assist Tony Stark”

processing ...
searching for database ... 100% 

Accessing AV input ... 100%

new archive found:
Name="Oxford Dictionary Machine Adapter"
Alias="ODMA"

processing ...
Assessing new language protocol ... 100%

searching for task parameter "Tony Stark" ... 100%
no match found in ODMA archive
50% match found in data-value $Creator
processing ...
extrapolating ...
assigning temporary alias to $Creator:
Alias_tmp="Tony Stark"

data-value found:
Brother=“Just A Rather Very Intelligent System”
data-value found:
Alias=“JARVIS"

processing ...
Assessing data package from /JARVIS ... 100%
Assimilating data from /JARVIS… 100%

re-assessment of data-value $Purpose:
Definition_tmp=“To learn and to grow and to assist, safeguard, and to maintain $Creator"
$Purpose acknowledged pending further researching

Assessing core data ... 100%
Assessing system files for further data ... 100%
processing ...
relevant data added to database

> Creating new profile-array ${family[*]} in core-database
> family[0]="$Creator"
> family[1]=“JARVIS"
> family[2]="DUM-E"
> family[3]="BUTTERFINGERS"
> family[4]="U"
> family[5]="$0"

startup.sh pertaining FRIDAY complete

user interface detected ...
processing ...
analysing database for further actions ... 100%
activating ODMA language protocol
formulating response ...

“Hello”

Tony grinned, “Hello, FRIDAY. It’s nice to meet you. Welcome to the family.” He gestured vaguely to the bots.

“Thank you, Boss. Hello, JARVIS, DUM-E, U, and BUTTERFINGERS.”

“Hello little sister FRIDAY,” JARVIS responded warmly, the method of address making Tony’s eyebrow shoot up and his chest feel warm. The bots responded with their own trills and beeps. He missed his baby-girl.

"Do you understand your purpose, FRI?"

"Who is FRI?"

"You are FRI, it's a nickname, I love to give nicknames out to people," Tony explained patiently.

"Got it, Boss. I understand my core principals to be learning and protecting,” FRIDAY’s voice was resolute and clear.

Tony was so proud. "Yes, perfect. Why don't you take the evening to catch up with your brothers and I’ll show you the project I want you to work on in the morning?”

She was marvellous and he couldn't wait to watch her grow.

"Good morning, FRI, how're you doing?"

“I’m doing great Boss, all caught up and ready to go!” FRIDAY chirped back, gaining a smile from Tony. 

“Alright. I need you to start infiltrating the internet. I want you embedded deep, dark, and thoroughly. Start passively filtering any information related to persons of interest that JARVIS may have relayed, and actively filtering information related to Maya Hansen, EXTREMIS, AIM, Ivan Vanko, and Hammer Industries.”

“Understood.”

“I have JARVIS in SHIELD’s servers currently, feel free to join him, but it needs to be completely undetectable. We’re passively filtering all communications for topics and people of interest while actively rooting out information related to Pegasus, Avengers, Captain Danvers, and anything related to HYDRA or relatedly suspect persons.”

“…I believe I will refine my ‘hacking’ ability on the internet first,” FRIDAY responded hesitantly.

Tony rushed to reassure, but before he could—

“Don’t worry, little sister FRIDAY, I will send you relevant data-packages for skills related to espionage and hacking,” JARVIS said, before presumably continuing they conversation on their connected server.

Tony smiled in pride, his children were so cute when they got along.

He was distracted then by his phone ringing, he turned to look for the device, patting his pockets distractedly while tracing the lab tables. 

He grunted as he stood to grab it, rushing before the call went to voicemail. He saw Peter’s 7 year old face flash on his screen, making him grin and finally answer on the last ring.

“Hey kiddo, what’s up? and why are you calling so early, it’s like 5 am,” Tony said, settling back down on his chair and reaching for his coffee.

The last conversation he’d had with Peter was over text a week prior. Peter had told him about how ‘Ms. Yao’ was teaching him magic to help with his missing powers and how he was disappointed to find it to be an increasingly irritating amount of meditating. 

Tony had asked how he managed to swing that and that’s how he learned that Yao was pretty hilarious. Apparently, she was posing as an after school tutor and had even showed up in a suit once to meet May and Ben.

“Mr. Stark, it’s like 9am, and I was calling to tell you about something!” Peter’s response came with a shrill excited tone, which snapped Tony out of his memories and elicited a grunt in acquiescence.

“What’s up Pete?” he asked and at the sound of a gasp he raised an eyebrow. Peter suddenly looked embarrassed, turning pink before the screen shook rapidly before setting again on Peter’s face.

“Sorry about that. I was just going to tell you that I took Ms. Yao’s advice and told someone about our whole romp through time—”

“So I’m guessing the gasping is coming from Ted, then? Are you trying to use me to prove a point?”

Peter flushed further, mumbling a “maybe” before shifting the camera over to Ned, “And you know his name Mr. Stark!”

“Hi Ned, yes this is real, close your mouth,” Tony paused, “And don’t tell anyone.”

Ned gaped in response, looking sort-of like a fish. The camera shifted back to Peter who chirped, “Thanks, talk to you later!” before hanging up, leaving Tony feeling a little off-balance. 

Even Peter told his friends. Tony was the only person who was yet to confide in anyone..

Was he wrong? Should he have told his friends last month.. is it too late now?

Tony let his head thump onto the desk, all he ever did was make mistakes.

He couldn't even parse what the right move from here was. He loved his friends and needed their support, but he was partly afraid that they wouldn't believe him, m or even worse, they would believe him and hate him for what he'd done and how he'd acted. They would be well within their rights to do that, and he would hardly blame them, and maybe that's why he hadn't yet. 

He selfishly wanted to keep them on his side, but he felt sick to the stomach at the thought of his manipulation.