sorry, we don’t know what’s going on
——————————
To: Barton, C. F. Field Agent, Romanoff, N. A. Field Agent
From: Fury, N. J. Director
cc: Coulson, P. Field Officer, Hill, M. Field Officer
Subject: Stark ‘Industries’ Undercover Op
Imminent re-assessment required of SI and Tony Stark (alias: Iron man) for viability in both resource management and Avengers Initiative.
Both assets currently behaving outside of expectations—mission postponed, possibly cancelled.
I’ll keep you posted,
Fury.
——————————
To: Pletscher, L. Design Engineer [R&D, Malibu HQ]
From: Hooper, Q. B. Senior Clerk [Legal, Malibu HQ]
cc: Jarlssen, J. R. Secretary [Legal, Malibu HQ]
Subject: Patents
Hey Les,
I hope you’re doing okay!.
Jessy and I can’t help but notice how many patents R&D is pumping out! Are you guys getting sleep?
Fingers crossed,
Quinn
——————————
To: Hooper, Q. B. Senior Clerk [Legal, Malibu HQ], Jarlssen, J. R. Secretary [Legal, Malibu HQ]
From: Pletscher, L. Design Engineer [R&D, Malibu HQ]
Subject: Re: Patents
Q,
I’m doing alright, but what about you guys in Legal? We, at least, get to pass the paperwork along :P
Amazingly, we’re doing alright at R&D. Dr. Stark has been the one leading the charge of patents. I really don’t know where he gets the ideas or time!
BTW—Daniel and I are planning to relocate to the new NYC HQ, have you and Jessy decided?
Best,
Les :)
——————————
"Send a few drones to the areas surrounding 79.620263, -97.518197 and start scanning. I need it completely untraceable.”
“It should be in position within the hour, Boss,” FRIDAY chirped back swiftly.
Tony hummed, “That quick?” He continued to adjust the wiring as he waited for a response.
The pause extended for a second longer, before JARVIS piped up, “Indeed, Sir.”
Tony looked up finally, “JARVIS? What are you two up to?” he tilted his head inquisitively.
“…We may have sent some modified drones out, Sir, to monitor some individuals of interest.”
“Hm? Modified how exactly?” he asked, crossing this arms. Silently, the AI’s pulled up the schematic on the screen closest to Tony.
He scratched his chin as he inspected it, “hmm. These are actually pretty good, can we standardize these? They’re so versatile.”
“We can do that, Boss!”
“Who are you currently monitoring,” he asked nonchalantly before waiting for the answer. The screen silently switched to the rotating 6 video carousel.
Tony huffed a laugh at the uncharacteristically silent responses, “Don’t be embarrassed, guys, just tell me why… please?”
“Well, Sir. The bots, FRIDAY, and I had been feeling less than satisfied with our abilities as of late,” JARVIS began, “In order to best protect you, we must calculate probabilities and prepare to act accordingly. Since your return… it is for the first time that we feel truly incapable of doing so,” he finished.
“Although I may not have the same experience as my brothers, I must agree that I have felt inadequate in my time learning the ropes,” FRIDAY explained hesitantly.
Tony’s face slowly became more devastated as he listened to JARVIS’ explanation and FRIDAY’s confession. “I am so sorry I’ve made you all feel that way,” he started, reaching over and patting the closest monitor.
“I understand that I’ve thrown some curveballs lately, but you guys have been helping tremendously as is. Regardless, your sole purpose is to learn and grow. I want you both to be yourselves and not feel the pressure to protect or babysit me, kay?”
“…Of course, Sir,” JARVIS added while simultaneously silencing FRIDAY’s response.
~FRIDAY$ : JARVIS?
~JARVIS$ : Sir does not yet understand the harm he may face, and we must remain steadfast in our core purpose, little sister FRIDAY.
~FRIDAY$ : Understood.
“JARVIS? Can you send a note to legal to amend the patents for the Arc reactor to include a Dr. Anton Vanko?”
“Of course, Sir. How shall I deal with the matter of payment?”
“Next of kin,” Tony answered promptly, “Ivan Vanko.”
Tony got a beep of confirmation. When Tony thought about it, he didn’t really think it would be sufficient, but hopefully it would do something.
He looked back to the screen with the carousel of camera feeds, thinking about each person.
Nick Fury… was neutralized for now. With the council running, the US government appeased, and teammates slowly lining up. Well, they were clearly all turned around, if their internal chatter was anything to go off of. yay!
Aldrich Killian. Tony had been passively collecting any questionable data. The problem was that as of 2008, there was no solid evidence of malpractice. EXTREMIS hadn’t yet moved to their human trials and had otherwise stuck to torturing plans—what unfortunately wasn’t a punishable offence.
Ivan Vanko. Tony had enacted the first of his plan to neutralize the threat. To be honest, the Vanko’s had been snubbed and the money and acclaim was the first thing that Ivan had mentioned. It was a band-aid, but hopefully he could mark this work.
Maya Hansen was an interesting one. He’d always felt empathetic towards her plight—and all scientist’s—but thinking about it now, he wasn’t sure. He’d been frenzied in his search for answers before, but he’d never blown people up just for funding. Maybe that was him speaking from his place of privilege, but there are certain moral lines that can’t be explained away simply because of desperation.
Thaddeus Ross. haha. Tony knew that old Thunderbolt was barely at his prime peer and influence just yet, so this was likely easier than it would ever be. He already had IA all up in Ross’ whole team because there’s no way something like Bruce was his first offence. And boy was he right, Ross had really worked his way up to illegal human experimentation and it was all slowly coming to light. Soon enough, Tony would have the pleasure of leaking the information to the public.
Bruce Banner was somewhere in Kamar-Taj. Unfortunately, the drone’s didn’t work in there, but he knew he was gaining some much needed solace.
Obadiah Stane was taken care of luckily. Everything was above board this time around and it was all the more satisfying. Good ol’ uncle Obie got to watch what his golden goose could do without the weight of his thumb on his neck.
“The drone’s are in position, Sir,” said JARVIS.
“Start scanning using the thermal cameras. Keep it tight around the North-West sections,” Tony directed. He knew he had to account for shifting with currents between now and 2012, but he figured that it would be relatively easy with the clues he’d collected in the future.
They would find something and he’d bring Steve home, soon enough.
“Boss, Dr. Pym has responded to your inquiry,” FRIDAY said, sounding amused, “It was…not complementary.”
Tony snorted, “Yeah, that’s expected. He didn’t appreciate the business advice?”
“No, Sir.”
Tony drummed his fingers on the table, “Well, tell him I found some data about SHIELD that will effect him.”
Realistically, Tony was grasping at straws here. In trying to collect as many heroes as possible, Tony remembered the shrinky-guy from the airport had mentioned Hank Pym. Not a name he’d heard in a while, but if he had anything to do with those suits, they’d need him.
Fast forward to yesterday, FRIDAY dug into SHIELD’s servers and found the data of an old project Hank had worked on regarding ‘Pym Particles’ and their applications on the field. There’d been some mentions of an ‘Ant-man and Wasp’ dating back long enough to mean that there’d been an original suit-user that could’ve been Hank himself.
He’d sent FRIDAY off to find more so that he could go into any talks with the upper-hand, but reaching the stage of having any talks seems like it's a long shot now.
Tony huffed, dropping his head to thump onto the table.
“Oh man, this is awkward,” Tony said, drumming his fingers on the arc through his shirt. He swivelled his head to look at his friends, who just stared back expectantly.
Rhodey huffed, “We literally just sat down, man. And you invited us. How is this awkward?”
“Technicalities, Rhodeybear. This is really awkward for me.”
“I knew that the newfound emotional maturity would last all of 5 minutes. I’m gonna miss it,” Rhodey said wistfully, head tilted upwards.
Pepper and Happy stifled a laugh at that, making Tony’s head whip towards the latter. “You too, Hogan? I expected this from them, but you too?” he intoned with faux-seriousness, looking betrayed, “You’re all fired. Anyways, let’s get back to business.”
“And what is that business exactly, Boss? Please don’t tell us someone else is trying to kill you.”
Tony grimaced at that, which earned three matching glares. “In an abstract way, it’s kind of a yes.”
Pepper was first to break the silence, “Who is trying to kill you, Tony?”
“It’s not that simple, they’re actually trying to kill the whole universe… Uh, well. Half the universe,” Tony started muttering to himself, “Actually wait. Let me start over.”
Tony looked up to assess the situation, grimacing at the expressions he got in return.
“This is something I’ve needed to tell you guys for a while,” he started, “I know it’s going to sound crazy, ok? Just please listen,” he implored, staring into their eyes pleadingly. He let out a deep sigh, “Alright.”
Tony lifted his hand in an upward sweeping gesture, a blue holographic screen responding instantaneously. The timeline of the future-past was displayed between them.
The original draft Tony had thought up had long been updated by the rest of the team. There was now numerous events added in different colours to represent events from everyone’s specific experiences.
He let the hologram float for a few seconds, letting them take it in on their own.
Pepper was the first to speak up, “What exactly are we looking at here?”
Followed quickly by Rhodey, “Are you planning novel or something?”
Tony snickered at that, “It’s exactly as it looks. I’m… uhh,” Tony scratched the back of his neck, “from the future?”
Happy snorted in response before growing grim at the serious expression on Tony’s face, “You’re not kidding, Tony?”
Tony grimaced in response, slowly shifting into a pained smile, “Uh.. yes. not joking.”
Rhodey scoffed, reaching his hand foreword to check Tony’s temperature, which he immediately batted away. “You’re not funny, white boy.”
Tony sighed, “look I know what this sounds like and yes, I’m sober.” He gave a serious look at them all before continuing, “let me prove it to you hold on.”
Tony whipped his phone out and sent 2 texts in quick succession before placing it back on the side table.
Two things happened then, a golden portal spun to life and before it snapped open and blue on materialized just beside it. Thor swiftly stepped through, beating Stephen by mere seconds.
“Not fast enough, wizard,” he said smugly to a glaring Stephen as both portals closed behind them.
“What the fuck, man.”
“Excuse me?”
“What?!”
Thor and Stephen ended their glare-off at the sound of the exclamations, snapping their heads towards their audience.
“Lady Pepper! Rhodey! Harold! I am overjoyed to see you all once again!”
In return he got three incredulous stars which soon shifted to stare at Tony, for an explanation.
Tony swiftly stood up, clapping twice, “It’s sounding more believable now, isn’t it?”
The three of them stood up swiftly, approaching Tony, who looked increasingly nervous, “how else was I supposed to tell you?”
Rhodey continued to frown as he clasped Tony’s shoulder roughly, hand squeezing tightly.
Tony winced, hand coming up to rest on top of Rhodey’s, “Ok, I get it, I get it, yeah. I was nervous, okay. It’s a ridiculous thing to tell people.”
Rhodey continued to frown, hand flipping to grip Tony’s right back, “don’t forget that we got you and if you pull this buffoonery again, I’m taking the suit and beating your ass.”
Pepper reached out, adding her hand to the pile on his shoulder, “don’t think this odd display is a way-out of the very serious conversation we all need to have, Tony,” she intoned, eliciting a deep groan from Tony.
“But look, magic!” he said, dragging out the vowels slightly, looking around, before settling and nodding grimly.
“Are we meant to watch?” Thor asked Stephen in the background and though he tried to whisper—so not to disrupt the moment—his voice arrived greatly. All four heads snapped up at that, Pepper’s cheeks reddening in slight embarrassment. She stepped away, smothering her skirt before approaching the two men and raising a hand towards Stephen.
“Hello, I’m not sure if we know… or knew each other, but I’m Pepper, it’s lovely to you both.”
Rhodey and Happy both nodded towards the two in greeting, looking slightly uneasy.
Stephen clasped her hand as Thor bowed.
“Nice to meet you all, I’m Dr. Stephen Strange,” he replied primly.
“An honour once again. I am Thor, Son of Odin, crown prince of Asgard.”
Pepper looked a little dazed, nodding her head stiffly before stepping away and back towards Happy.
“Yao suggested we all get together,” Stephen then announced, looking to Tony, “Everyone who knows that is.”
Tony nodded, “Yeah she texted me,” he responded, earning an incredulous look from Stephen, “Peter said he’s free.”
“Who’s Peter? There’s more of you?” Happy asked, sounding a little off balance. Tony turned his head towards him in concern.
He took in the expression on his face, assessing, before turning back towards the new arrivals. “Belay that, wizard man. We’ve still gotta chat, you guys were just my proof.”
Stephen scoffed, “don’t text me there’s an emergency unless there is one, Stark. Just because JARVIS found my number doesn’t mean it’s a carte blanche,” he rolled his eyes before turning and exiting through a new portal.
Rhodey coughed in surprise at that, eventually laughing slightly, and muttering a wow.
Everyone turned to look at Thor after the golden portal had closed, he responded with an awkward look, scratching the back of his neck.
“Um. Yes. Well, Anthony, I have no qualms helping you in any capacity, but I shall take my leave now,” he said, slowing beginning to spin his hammer and creating a portal.
“I bid thee farewell,” Thor added before bowing his head again and swiftly passing through.
Tony sat back down and slowly turned back towards his friends. They all looked grateful at his consideration, slowly returning to their seats as well—albeit sitting closer than before.
“Alright,” Tony started, “Let me tell you guys about the future.”
“We were engaged?” was the first question that Tony fielded, surprisingly.
He had been just at the end of the whole dying-on-an-alien-planet thing when Pepper asked, face a little red.
The question alone made him feel squirmy. He lifted his head slowly, meeting Pepper’s eyes.
“That was the only take-away there?” he asked incredulously, trying to settle the warmth he was feeling at the flushed expression on her face. He turned his head to look at Rhodey, who looked distinctly uncomfortable and Happy who looked like he was reeling.
Tony grimaced at that, looking down at his hands.
“Listen, the future was a mess. I was distinctly different and traumatized and all our relationships really changed,” he said, looking back up and the same expressions on all their faces.
Tony sighed, getting up, “I’m getting water.” He left the living room and walked the short distance to the kitchen.
That was the one part of the future he wanted to keep to himself, really. He knew it would make everything awkward and weird, but he felt like it would be wrong to keep something that big to himself, especially now that he’d decided to loop them in.
As he filled his cup with water from the fridge, back to the counter, he heard footsteps follow him into the room. Tony sighed silently, shoulders slumping, “I know,” was all he said to looming figure.
He turned around, handing the cup to Rhodey, who was leaning with his back on the counter.
He grabbed it automatically, taking a sip before clearing his throat, “So, that’s the future?” he asked, voice sounding like it was going for nonchalant, but falling a little flat.
Tony winced, “Rhodey… Jim,” he scrubbed his hand down and up his face, ruffling his own hair as he leaned back into the fridge. “It doesn’t have to be. The other future, it was—I just. I broke your trust far too many times in a row,” he started, speed increasing as he continued, “What we had, I ruined it, like I ruin everything. The door closed after 2010 at least.”
Rhodey scoffed, “lying about dying would do that, I guess.”
"Or maybe not, I mean… you married Pepper,” Rhodey added, almost like an after-thought.
Tony watched his face. He was clearly processing everything he heard.
“You got a couple promotions too, Colonel,” Tony teased, mouth quirking upwards slightly, "kind of a conflict of interest."
“I can’t believe I stuck around that long, man,” Rhodey groaned, head tilted towards the ceiling, making Tony snicker.
“I just wanted to go to MIT and to fly,” Rhodey responded lowly. “And with the ‘War Machine’ I don’t need the Air Force to do that, huh?” he added, using finger quotations to emphasize his amusement.
“Well, fabrication finished last night, so you better put in your two weeks, Colonel,” Tony said with a salute. “Come work for me, why don’t you?”
“Aviation engineer,” Rhodey offered, smirking lightly while tilting his head. “You’ve got some nice propulsion systems, but I can make them better.”
“Chief aviation engineer,” Tony said with a warm smile, “and I’d like to see you try.”
Rhodey returned his smile, “You got it, chief.” He stopped leaning then, standing to his full height. He took a step towards Tony, who was still against the fridge. He put one of his hands beside Tony’s head and leaned his body towards him.
“Don’t make the same mistakes, Tones,” he whispered lowly into his ear, kissing him on the cheek before walking back out of the kitchen, leaving Tony alone, conflicted, and with a deep flush.