This is The End

“I'm her son..."

The shiny gauntlets from Mark 43 attached themselves to Tony's hands and he immediately fired at the holographic display of Peggy Carter's personal file. The blast of course went through the Hologram but it didn't stop Tony from firing and destroying the wall behind it with fury blazing in his eyes.

"Tony stop!" Bruce shouted in alarm as he slowly approached his friend with raised hands. "I understand that you are in shock but you need to calm down..."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Tony hissed with gritted teeth. "I would like to see how you would feel when finding out that your entire life was a fucking lie!" He stopped moving and took a few calming breaths before exclaiming "Dammit!" and kicking a nearby chair into the already damaged wall. "I'm so fucking stupid! I should've realized this sooner. I always felt that I was somehow connected to her in a way I simply couldn't explain but I never would've thought that I was her s-son..." He paused and turned to Maria with a sharp look. "This information was in her personal file. My file had Howard Stark listed as my Father, but nobody was listed as my Mother. The entire fucking S.H.I.E.L.D knew this!"

The bookshelf in the corner of the room started to violently shake as Tony stalked closer to Maria and blue veins started popping out on his arms. Thor immediately took one protective in front of Maria but that didn't stop Tony from his marching. It actually made things much worse because now it wasn't just the bookshelf that was shaking. The whole room started to violently shake to the point that the books fell from the bookshelf and all bottles in the small bar that resigned in the corner exploded.

"Stark..." Maria tried to defend but Tony didn't let her talk.

"You got some balls. I will give you that." Tony remarked while the blue veins from his arms spread to his face and around his eyes. "S.H.I.E.L.D always tried to manipulate and control me on every step I made and I always looked to the other side. I worked with you against my better judgment and this is what I get in return?" He pointed at the still flickering hologram of Peggy's file and his brown eyes started to glow with flickery and electric blue. "You kept this from me my entire life and now when your asses are burning you come to me and ask me to save you from the bed you guys made for yourselves?" He released a bitter laugh that send shivers down their spines. Even Thor's. "I should send you to hell. I should call back The Iron Legion and let you all burn."

"Stark... Tony... I didn't know." Maria defended with a soft voice in hopes of calming the raging genius down before things could get ugly. "None of us at S.H.I.E.L.D knew this because Carter's file was classified." She nervously bit her lip and looked at the floor. "Only someone with the clearance Level 10 was able to reach it..."

The windows started cracking under an invisible pressure while Tony's gaze went to the floor and hands bailed into fists. "Fury..." He growled under his nose and one of those already cracked windows shattered, making Bruce quickly take a few steps away from the windows with an alarmed look on his face.

Thor quickly looked over at Bruce to make sure the Doctor is unharmed and that his green alter-ego doesn't have any plans of coming out. Bruce quickly gave him a nod that confirmed that he is fine and without a scratch and Thor carefully took one small step in Tony's direction with his hands held up in surrender. "Man of Iron. I am not going to pretend to understand what you must feel right now, my friend." He carefully began. "However I must insist that you calm down. I don't understand how you are doing this." He pointed at the chaos around them. "but you need to stop before anyone gets hurt."

Tony looked at Thor with a confused look on his face as if he had no idea what the God of Thunder was talking about. He looked around them and his mouth slightly dropped when he finally realized what was happening. He looked down at his still armored hand with horror written over his face. Tony tried to calm down. He tried to think of nice things like kittens and puppies. He even tried a few of the breathing exercises Bruce thought him over the two years they have been living together but nothing worked. It actually made things even worse because now the furniture started levitating and circling around like a protective shield.

"Thor? Guys?!" Jane called out from the other room with an alarmed voice because the doors shut in front of her face just as she was about to enter the room. She tried to push them open but it was pointless. "What the hell is going on in there?! The doors won't open!"

"Jane, stay where you are!" Thor ordered as he pushed himself to his feet and quickly dodged an incoming table that was flying directly at his head. "Man of Iron! You need to snap out of it!"

"I can't!" Tony snapped with a panicked and cracking voice as he fell to his knees and curled his arms around him in a protective manner. "I can't... I don't know how to control it!" He said but his voice came out more like a worn-out whisper. His facial expression was broken but also exhausted, drained of color. His glowing eyes started to flicker between their natural brown and electric blue and it was clear that he had problems focusing his gaze on them. Despite his visible exhaustion, Tony managed to find a bit of strength within him and focus on Thor. "Thor... You got to knock me out." He pleaded with The God of Thunder. "Knock me out before I kill you all like I did that one guy on the Barton farm..."

"I'm sorry, my friend." Thor apologized and quickly pushed through the furniture that was circling around Tony and punched him directly into the jaw, knocking him out cold instantly.

Tony's body fell to the floor and the room instantly stopped shaking. At that moment, Jane managed to finally burst through the doors, with Laura following close behind her. Thor kneeled down next to Tony and gently rolled him on his back while the others quickly circled up around them.

"What the hell happened?" Jane asked as she kneeled down to Tony and carefully tilted his head so she could see if he has any visible head injuries.

"Tony, he..." Bruce swallowed hard and pointed at the destroyed room around them. "He did this. We told him about Ms. Carter and he freaked out. Blue veins spread around his body and even his eyes glowed. He was panicking and he couldn't control whatever was happening. He made the entire room shake and those bottles and window shatter."

"Shellhead did this?" Laura questioned with slightly widened eyes as she knelled next to the now ruined mini-bar and glass all over the ground. "How? I thought he was an ordinary human..."

"He is." Bruce quickly interjected. "Or was... We don't know what happened and it seemed like he didn't know either. He mentioned however that this happened before. On your farm." He looked and Laura and continued. "He said that he killed someone like this. Did you see it?"

"No." Laura shook her head. "When I got out of the house everybody outside was already dead."

Bruce took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "We will figure this out." He glanced at Thor and gave him a small begging look. "Could you carry him to the med bay?" Thor nodded and picked Tony up while Bruce glanced up at the ceiling. "Jarvis? Could you Inform Dr. Palmer that we need her up here?"

"She is already on her way," Jarvis replied with a worried voice.

"Alright..." Bruce muttered and looked at Maria. "Stay here. Keep calling whoever you can and overlook the evacuation. Try to get in contact with Rhodey and Clint again too. Inform them of what just happened here."

"Understood." Maria nodded and gave one last sad look directed at Tony. "I didn't lie when I said Carter's file was classified. Only Fury had access to it."

"I believe you," Bruce reassured her. "I suspected as much. Tony always liked to joke that Fury is The Spy and that his secrets have secrets but it never was just a joke. I just wonder why Tony's parents hid it from him. He told me about Peggy Carter. All his life he thought that she was just his distant Aunt... I don't even want to think about how he must feel right now."

"Or how he will feel when The Archer and The Colonel bring her other version here." Thor quietly added.

"That might be even more complicated than you guys think..." Laura muttered with a small wince. Everybody looked at her with confusion and she mentally cursed herself for her smartass mouth. "Clint texted me while I was in the shower. He was studying some file he and Colonel Rhodey found at the base about the clone."

"And what did he find out?" Bruce asked with a curious look he shared with Jane.

"Basically everything," Laura answered with a small shrug. "Hydra was apparently crazily organized with their shit. They kept a whole file that described this Clone's life from the begging until now." She took a deep breath before she looked mainly at Bruce and Jane before she continued talking. "She was created in 1977 by Arnim Zola, but she had a fatal flaw. She was aging too quickly and had to be frozen before she could die or age to the age that would be no longer useful. Zola died in 1982 and the project was picked up by his Protegee, Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker."

"Strucker?!" Maria called out with a frown and a visible look of disgust on her face from behind them where she was still working on the Info Dump issue with three large holograms around her. "That Son of a Bitch!"

"You know this man, Lady Hill?" Thor softly asked.

"Yeah..." Maria nodded. "He was one of us. Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D with level 8 clearance. He was one of our most praised scientists..." She grimaced and took a deep breath. "He was also an arrogant motherfucker who always walked as if he was better than everybody else."

"Strucker tried to create other clones on his own but every single one of his creations had some really disgusting mutations and died before they got out of the test tubes. He eventually gave up on the whole project and just continued looking for a way how to stop this Peggy Clone from aging too quickly." Laura continued with her own grimace. "He eventually managed to find the cure in 1993."

"And what was the cure?" Bruce asked with a clear scientific curiosity written all over his face.

"I don't know. According to Clint, it isn't stated in the file." Laura said and Bruce's face slightly fell which made her feel kinda bad. "Sorry..." She said with an apologetic small smile before her face became serious again and she began to address them all again. "This was the first time she wakened up. She didn't know that she was in cryosleep for 14 years or that she was a Clone. She quickly accessed the situation she was in and figured out it would be for the best if she just played along with everything Strucker wanted."

"That's smart," Bruce commented with a nod of understanding. "She made Strucker believe she was under his control and waited until an opportunity for her escape presented itself. This is similar to what Tony did when he was captured by The Ten Rings..."

"Yeah... except it didn't quite work out." Laura pointed out with a grimace. "Strucker got in contact with The Red Room and she was trained by some of their best Black Widows for a year until she was cleared for active field duty. During this entire year, she was never treated like a Person. She didn't even have a real name. Hydra just referred to her only by Asset."

"Asset?" Jane frowned with disgust. "And you are saying that she went through this while also fully aware of the situation and her memories intact?" Laura sadly nodded and Jane looked pale. "God... I'm going to puke..."

"The opportunity for her escape finally presented itself when she was sent on her first official mission. Strucker sent her on an assassination assignment to Germany. Her target was Stark Industries Board Member, Dr. Don Heck." Laura continued. "She intended to warn the target and get him to safety before she would run to S.H.I.E.L.D and inform everybody about Hydra, but when she met with Dr. Heck. He recognized her, and this was when she figured out that she is a clone and that she was in cryosleep for 16 years."

"That must have been..." Bruce began but paused and shook his head. " I don't even know how to properly name it... I don't think "shocking" covers it enough."

"Yeah, it was fucked up. According to what Clint wrote in his message this realization completely threw her off her game and she froze." Laura nodded in agreement with Bruce's words and continued recapping the message she got. "She didn't even realize that there was someone else with them in the room until a bullet went right through her stomach and hit Heck directly in between his eyes." Laura sighed and shook her head. "She was convincing in her fasade but Hydra would never send such highly valued Asset as her on her first assignment alone. Barnes was with observing the whole mission from a distance and when he saw that she wasn't complying with her orders he killed the target instead and then dragged her back to Hydra where everything about her deception was revealed."

"I take it Hydra didn't like that very much," Jane commented with a frown.

"Nope." Laura nodded with a look of disgust. "Zola designed her to be the perfect Soldier for Hydra. She wasn't supposed to have any of Carter's original memories. After Strucker learned the truth he ordered for her to be taken to The Chair. They didn't even treat her injuries after her encounter with Barnes..."

"The Chair?" Thor frowned in confusion.

"The Chair is some kind of a memory suppressing machine." Laura began to explain. "It is supposed to make people lose their identity through a series of electroconvulsive shocks directly into the mind and make them easier to control and obey orders. Hydra used this device to shape Barnes into The Winter Soldier." Bruce, Jane, and even Maria looked at Laura with horrified and disgusted looks, while Thor still looked greatly confused by all of this. "However, this had no effect on Carter 2.0 and after a sixth try, Strucker finally gave up and put her to the cryosleep again until he would find another way to make her obedient to his and Hydra's will."

"She was sleeping in cryo for another 21 years?!" Bruce questioned with wide eyes. "Does she even realize how long it has been?"

"She does." Laura nodded.

"How is she taking it?" Jane asked with a worry hearable in her voice.

"Surprisingly pretty well," Laura answered with a small shrug before a pleased smile crossed her face. "She broke Clint's bow after they freed her. She was disoriented and thought that they were Hydra but Colonel Rhodes managed to calm her down." She chuckled and crossed her arms across her chest. "A big part of Clint's message was him crying about his beloved bow."

"Ah yes!" Thor beamed and chuckled as well. "The Man of Hawk and his mighty bow. I remember one time when I and Man of Iron were trying to play-" He paused and quickly corrected himself when he saw the look Jane send his way. " I mean... when we were testing if everything is in proper working order!" Jane just rolled her eyes at him and he grimaced at the memory of what came after they were busted by the Archer. "We ended up with an hour-long lecture about why you don't touch Hawkeye's bow..."

"Yeah... I got a lot of those too." Laura said with a small relatable grimace.

"You said that she was disoriented but what about her mental state?" Jane wondered. "She wasn't treated as a Human being for her entire existence and the only somewhat good memories she has arent her own. How is she taking that?"

"I have no idea." Laura shook her head. "Clint's message only stated that she apologized for his bow and after that she didn't say even one single word." She frowned and bit her lip. "Honestly we can expect everything from her. PTSD, Anxiety... you name it."

"Alright..." Bruce signed and rubbed his forehead. "We will deal with it after they bring her here. Right now let's focus on our current problems. Figuring out what's happening with Tony and evacuation of the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D agents." He frowned and shook his head. "We need help. Even with the entire Iron Legion out in the World and more Legionaries being fabricated as we speak we are at a serious disadvantage against Hydra."

"I can ask for help in Asgard." Thor offered and shared a look with Jane. "I don't think that my Father will be willing to help Midgard with all of our forces but maybe he can spare some soldiers but I wouldn't put high hopes on it."

"What about other superheroes?" Laura questioned with a raised eyebrow. "The Avengers aren't the only ones this planet has... What about The Fantastic Four?"

"I believe I can answer that," Jarvis said. "Mr. Stark had me call Dr. Reed Richards immediately after he took off to while Waverly. Dr. Richards of course didn't answer his phone because he was too caught up in his work, so I took it upon myself and hacked his small robotic helper named Herbie, and informed Dr. Susan Storm-Richards of the situation. The Fantastic Four came out of their retirement after they dropped Little Franklin and Valeria at the Rhodes Family house where The Hulkbuster is guarding the whole perimeter. Dr. Richards also reinforced the defenses of the house before the entire team took off. They are currently trying to save as many people as they can on the west coast"

"What about Captain Rogers and Lady Romanoff?" Thor asked. "Are they also fighting in this war?"

"They are the ones who caused this war to begin with." Laura pointed out with narrowed eyes. "I will be having words with Natasha after I see her again. Fist words."

"Captain Rogers was found near the river outside Triskelion. He is currently unconscious and in hospital in Washington DC." Jarvis informed. "Ms. Romanoff on the other hand went completely off the grid. I can find her if you want but it will take some time."

"No. Let her be for now." Bruce shook his head. "All Spiders eventually crawl out of their hiding spot. Natasha is no different."

"I might know about someone who could help us," Maria called out from behind them and everybody turned in her direction. She pulled a small device out of her pocket and threw it to Bruce, who caught it and frowned when he saw it was an old-looking pager. He shot her a look full of confusion but before he could question it, Maria began to explain. "I stole it from Fury. In the 90s Fury encountered a woman who was abducted by aliens and gained abilities that could rival even Thor." Thor loudly scoffed and shook his head in amusement because to him that was simply ridiculous. Some humans like The Hulk might be powerful but he is a God. "She is currently somewhere in Space but she left Fury this... pager so he could call her in a case of emergencies."

"So why didn't Fury call her during the Chitauri Invasion if she is so powerful?" Jane wondered out loud with crossed arms.

"I don't know." Maria quietly admitted and looked down.

"Why did you rob your Master, Young Padawan?" Laura asked with a curiosity written all over her face. "You have always been loyal to Fury, Maria. You always followed him everywhere he went like a second shadow. I don't think he would be happy knowing that you are now spilling his secrets and that you robbed him."

"He is not here to do anything about it, is he?" Maria sarcastically remarked with a bitter tone. "When I was younger I used to admire him. Sure, he did some morally questionable things but who didn't in our line of work? I always believed that Nick cared about our Agents. He did try to argue with Rogers about this... Info Dump but then he easily backed away and went along with it when Rogers stubbornly stood his ground. All of this is happening only because Rogers was afraid he would lose The Winter Soldier's trail which he lost anyway..."

"Fury lost your respect when he allowed this to happen, didn't he?" Laura observed.

Maria didn't say anything and just kept her eyes fixated on the floor. Bruce meanwhile rolled the pager in his hand with a thoughtful expression on his face. S.H.I.E.L.D had around 780000 employees and even with the large expansion of The Iron Legion and The Government finally stepping up they still have a serious disadvantage because of the lack of manpower.

Without a second thought, Bruce pressed the button and activated the pager before he threw it back to Maria. "You implied that she is from Earth, am I correct? Bruce asked and Maria nodded. "That means we are her people. If she is a good person she will help us out and if not... She can go to whatever hell she came out of."

At that moment, the elevator ringed, and out stepped a tired-looking Christine Palmer. She froze in her movement when she noticed an unconscious Tony in Thor's hands and had to take a visible doubletake to make sure she sees right.

"Hi!" Laura awkwardly waved with a cheerful smile while they all stared at Christine who just blinked at Laura before her jaw dropped.

****

Tony woke up with a headache, which is not surprising considering he was knocked out by The God of Thunder. He wondered for a brief moment if maybe the events of the last night happened or were they just a bad dream. He hoped that it was just a dream but with only one glance at his phone he knew that it really happened and it wasn't just a really bad nightmare.

He is also not in denial any more.

Peggy Carter is his Mother. But with the acceptance of the truth also comes the painful realization.

Neither his father nor his birth Mother wanted him. Tony was fine with his Father neglecting him because he had a loving mother who loved him and wanted him despite him being a spoiled brat who never appreciated her love the way she deserved until it was too late. Now he figured out that it isn't exactly the case and he felt like shit because how else would someone feel if he learned that his parents didn't want him? How would a child feel if it learned that its Mother rather played the role of an Aunt instead of being a Mom?

His curiosity eventually got better of him.

Tony always knew that his Father and Peggy were a little too close for just being friends but he never questioned it before. He had no reason to. Howards Stark was many things but a cheater wasn't one of them. Despite all of his faults, Howard loved Maria with all of his heart. This however made Tony even more confused and slightly ashamed of himself when he realized that he doesn't actually know the depths of Howard and Maria's relationship. He knows that they got married in 1979 but he didn't know when they actually started dating. He quickly found the answer in the dumped S.H.I.E.L.D files and it shocked him. Maria Carbonell and Howards Stark apparently met in Italy during one of Stark Industries balls in 1977, or a year after Tony was born.

This made Tony even more confused because he is sure that he had a Mother for his entire childhood, even up until he was one year old. He considered the possibility that Howard threw Peggy out after he got involved with Maria but he quickly waved the option off because there is no way in hell Howard Stark could make Peggy Carter do anything she didn't want to do herself. Nonetheless, Tony had a little hope that maybe Peggy did want him but Howard forced her to leave. That theory however shattered into pieces when he dug more deeply into Peggy's life in the year 1977. Peggy and Howard were more alike than they would admit out loud. Both of them always put their work first and everything else second.

Peggy's Bosses were aware of Tony's existence and they were concerned that Peggy was neglecting her work for her Son. They put a lot of pressure on her and later gave her a choice. S.H.I.E.L.D or maternal leave. She obviously picked S.H.I.E.L.D instead of being Mom. According to the file she admitted Tony was a distraction for her and decided to rather pick up a role of an Aunt instead of a Mother in his life. It was her idea for Tony to grow up thinking that Maria was his Mom. This was all Peggy, not Howard, and it made Tony feel even more worthless.

"What was wrong with me, J?" Tony brokenly whispered with a small tear running down his cheek. "What was so fucking wrong with me that my Father rather searched for his lab rat in the Arctic and my Mother picked her spy agency instead of me?"

"There is nothing wrong with you, Sir," Jarvis reassured.

"J..." Tony released a soft sob. "Neither of my parents actually wanted me in their life. Dad shipped me into a boarding house at the first chance he got and kept me around only because I was his only heir... My Mother rather played my Aunt..."

"May I speak freely, Sir?" Jarvis quickly asked.

Tony raised a questioning eyebrow at the ceiling but quickly nodded. "Always, J. You know I value your opinion on things."

"Does this revelation change anything?" Jarvis bluntly questioned. "You are 38 years old man who achieved many remarkable things on your own. You even saved the entire world. Does it really matter if Ms. Carter is your biological Mother? It was Mrs. Stark who raised as her own, along with Edwin Jarvis and his wife, Ana Jarvis. They were your real parents who loved you no matter what."

Tony's mouth slightly opened as he stared at the ceiling with a shocked and thoughtful expression on his face. A part of him wondered since when can Jarvis gives pep talks, but the other part of him realized that his artificial buddy is right.

Why should it matter who his parents are? They just brought him into this cruel world, nothing else. He made himself who he is today. He is Iron Man and the entire fucking world knows his name. He is recognized as one of the Earth's best defenders. He is not famous because he is just someone's son. He is Tony fucking Stark.

And Tony Stark is a bitter and very vengeful man. Just ask The Ten Rings.

Peggy chose S.H.I.E.L.D instead of being his Mom? That's fine! Tony is happy about everything she accomplished. It's just kind of sad that it is now all burning to ash thanks to her idiotic former fling, a Russian assassin, and her former one-eyed protegee. Now, Tony isn't an idiot. S.H.I.E.L.D existed for a reason. There is a high possibility that The Government will try to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D under new management in the near future. The only problem with that is that Tony won't allow it to rise again. S.H.I.E.L.D is Peggy's legacy. What better way to show Mommy dearest that she made the right decision when she chose her spy organization instead of her Son than destroying her legacy?

"Thanks, Jarvis." Tony wiped away his tears and looked at the ceiling with a grateful smile. "I needed that."

"You welcome, Sir." Jarvis warmly answered and Tony could hear proudness in his voice. "I'm glad I could help."

"You did more than help me, J," Tony said as he sit up from his lying position. "You reminded me of who I am. I am Tony fucking Stark and I hate liars." He grinned darkly as he ran a hand through his hair and winked at the ceiling. "Call President Ellis for me, J. Hack his phone if necessary, but get him to pick up his bloody phone."

"Right away, Sir," Jarvis replied with a slightly confused voice.

A small hologram with the picture of the President appeared in front of Tony and the phone ringed only seven times until Ellis finally picked up, which Tony considered as his new personal record. He kinda likes annoying The President of The United States. Who wouldn't like to annoy him once you saved his life once?

"Hello, Matty!" Tony grinned and waved at the hologram that shifted and showcased the tired-looking face of Matthew Ellis. "How is your day going so far?"

"Mr. Stark." Ellis tiredly greeted back with a slightly annoyed tone. "Not very well as you can probably imagine." He took a deep breath and ran his head on his forehead before he looked back at the camera. "It's not every day that sensitive information relating to every first-world country and even a few third-world countries are dumped on the internet by two of our most praised superheroes. Agent Romanoff made things even worse at the Congress hearing. Russia wants her head on a silver pattern." He winced and grimaced. "Well, they said that they will be satisfied with Captain Rogers's shield instead of the silver pattern too."

"Congress hearing?" Tony frowned with a confused look on his face. "What Congress hearing?"

"Didn't you watch the news?" Ellis questioned with his own frown. "The whole Congress hearing was rushed but dozens of reporters were present. Originally both Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff were supposed to come to answer for their crimes but only she came, which I honestly suspect is better than both of them doing what she did."

"No, I haven't seen it." Tony shook his head and winced when memories of why he wasn't able to see it came back to him. "I was... preoccupied with something personal. What did Romanoff do?"

"She basically told the whole Government to fuck off and that we wouldn't arrest her because we need you guys to keep the world a safe place now more than ever with S.H.I.E.L.D gone," Ellis responded with a deep sigh.

"She did what?!" Tony demanded and jumped out of the bed. "Did she hit her head as a baby or what?"

"I don't know." Ellis shrugged. "The only reason she wasn't arrested right away is that one of The World Security Council Members, Pamela Hawley argued that Romanoff saved her life from Alexander Pierce at Triskelion. Not to mention that a lot of people actually took her words seriously. The World needs The Avengers now more than ever, so even if we do not like it, we do need her... Would it be possible for you or your AI to track down the leaked files and possibly take them off the internet?" Ellis asked with a hopeful tone. "I know that you are a really skilled hacker, Tony."

"No. It would be only a waste of my time." Tony quickly answered with a serious tone. "There are already thousands of copies, both digital and on paper. Those files are out there and there is nothing we can do about it. I will put my whole IT department at Stark Industries to work on a program that could hypothetically track who accessed the files so The Government can keep an eye out on potential threats and possibly track down a few criminals. It will take some time but I will help create the program personally... However, I will want something in return."

"And what would that be?" Ellis curiously asked after a short moment of silence. He clearly didn't expect Tony to want something for his help.

"Let's start with something easy fírst," Tony said and clapped his hands together with his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he leaned forward to the hologram. "I want the official ownership of The Avengers Initiative. I want it all. After the battle of New York, Fury registered The Avengers as S.H.I.E.L.D property so everything including our name and merchandise legally belonged to S.H.I.E.L.D and Hydra made money off us for 2 years." He paused and made a thoughtful expression before he shrugged his shoulders. "Well, they made money on everything Avengers-related except the Iron Man merchandise that I own myself. Now that S.H.I.E.L.D is officially being dissolved by The Government, all of its assets are up for the taking, so this shouldn't be difficult to arrange for you."

"And what are your plans for the future of The Avengers Initiative, Tony?" Ellis curiously asked as he folded his hands under his chin.

"I'm sure you are already aware of my Iron Legion that has been running around the whole world and saving lives. I plan to simply expand The Avengers Initiative." Tony said with a small smirk. "Bruce and Thor already live with me at The Avengers Tower and Barton is going to join us really soon if he already isn't here..." He frowned and silently wondered how long was he out if The Government already arranged a Congress hearing with Romanoff. "We will become a private organization founded by me with no puppet masters pulling our strings. After we are done extracting the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D Agents and bringing them to safety, we will focus on Hydra. Maria Hill informed us that many of S.H.I.E.L.D's valued items, including Loki's scepter, went missing. We will start with trying to retrieve the missing golden stick of destiny that can control people's minds."

"That's a thing?" Ellis questioned with a grimace before he quickly shook his head and gave Tony a look that Tony wasn't sure what actually meant. "So you are saying that you want The Avengers to be independent of any other agency like S.H.I.E.L.D and The Government."

"Yes." Tony nodded. "Hydra didn't infiltrate only S.H.I.E.L.D. They were literally everywhere, even in The Government. So, yes. For now, The Avengers need to have a free reign until the threat of Hydra is neutralized. Of course, I don't plan to run around the world guns-blazing without giving the Government of whatever Country we will be in a proper heads up because that would be simply crazy, arrogant, and most importantly, illegal."

"That sounds... acceptable. For now at least." Ellis quietly commented and nodded his head. "The Avengers Initiative is yours. I will have someone from my office contact your lawyers and finish the paperwork by the end of this day."

"That's not all," Tony interrupted with an annoyed roll of his eyes. He then mentally laughed to himself because who else got the balls to shush The President of The United States? Not many people... "There is another thing I want. It's something really important to me..." He cryptically trailed off and Ellis visibly shivered in his chair. Tony noticed this and smirked at the hologram mischievously. "That Iron Patriot rebranding you guys did for Rhodey? It needs to go. It sounds stupid and everybody, even Rhodey himself agrees with this statement. Rhodey is War Machine and I would really like him to be one of our new recruits for The Avengers."

"Seriously...?!" Ellis huffed in annoyance before a soft chuckle escaped his lips. "Fine. I will have Iron Patriot be rebranded back into War Machine again. The addition of Colonel Rhodes to your group will also help with the connections and possible future cooperation between The US Air Force and The Avengers. Perhaps we could make the same contract you had with The Air Force before The Avengers were formed for all of you?"

"That's not a bad idea," Tony admitted and nodded in agreement. "However I can't guarantee that we will go to even of the half of the missions The Air Force can request us to assist within the near future because of the threat Hydra poses..."

"Understandable." Ellis quickly reassured. "Hydra needs to be a priority for all of us at this moment." He then gave Tony a small smile. "If that is all I have other things to do. Stay safe, Tony, and... good luck with everything."

"Bye!" Tony cheerfully waved and Jarvis ended the call. He then leaned back into the bed and whistled to himself. "That was surprisingly very easy. He must be really desperate if he didn't even put a small fight for The Avengers merchandise. I made a few million dollars on only the toys and I owned only the Iron Man merchandise... I wonder how much we make as a group..."

"Hey, stranger." A cute female voice greeted and when Tony turned to the other side he was met with the sight of Christine Palmer. "I thought it would be obvious that you were supposed to be resting and not working."

Tony noticed that something was different about her right away. The most obvious change was her red hair but that wasn't what Tony was mentally referring to. She looked exhausted but not because she is physically drained.  "Hi, Christy!" Tony greeted her with a small wave of his hands while he shamelessly checked her out. "You look well. I like the red hair. It suits you."

"Thanks." Christine smiled and settled herself down on the edge of his bed. "I felt like I finally needed some change in my life."

"Let me guess. Your idiotic boyfriend is still an idiot." Tony guessed with a roll of his eyes.

"Ex-boyfriend. We broke up" Christine corrected with a raised finger. "We are just friends now. Or we were until he accused me of only pitying him and that I love a good sob story and then refused to even apologize or acknowledge he was out of line... I'm done trying to help him when he clearly doesn't want my help and only pushes me around like a ragdoll."

"Good for you!" Tony beamed and held his hand out for her to give him a high-five, which she didn't give him, making him pout and put his hand down. "I will be honest with you, Christy. You didn't deserve the way he treated you and it doesn't matter how badly he was injured. You deserve better than him... but you won't listen to me because you still love him."

"Yeah..." Christine nodded without thinking before blinking at Tony with confusion. "What?"

"I'm not blind, Christine." Tony smiled. "You say that you are done with him but even now you would run to his aid if he needed you. You are complaining about his attitude but there is still a spark in your eyes whenever you think about him. You love him which also means you are screwed totally... Sorry."

"I... I just couldn't watch him destroy himself anymore." Christine admitted and looked at the floor. "He is obsessed with fixing his hands but it is impossible and he is holding on to false hope. We are Doctors. We know the facts. The nerve damage is inoperable but he simply can't accept it." She sighed and shook her head. "I won't make the first move. It's his turn now..."

"Good," Tony said and clapped his hands together with a small sarcastic smile. "Because I am here, accepting your help. So, tell me my cute and lovable Doctor. What the fuck is wrong with me? How is it possible that I can snap someone's neck with only a flicker of my hand? And when we are at it... Just how long was I out?"

"2 days. You have been sleeping for 2 days." Christine answered the second question first. "Medically there is nothing wrong with you. You are in top shape and your health is better than that of some people that are a decade younger than you. The damage The Arc Reactor left on your body is also completely healed, including your lungs capacity."

"That's not possible." Tony slowly said with a confused frown. "When I had the second operation in Afghanistan to install The Arc Reactor inside of me, Yinsen warned me that my body would never medically recover."

"That's true." Christine nodded. "Under normal circumstances, you would never recover. However, you are not a normal circumstance, are you?" Tony stared at her with a confused look on his face while she sighed and took one of his hands into hers. "Tony... You had an Arc Reactor inside your body that was powered by an element you created based upon an alien cube that could open up wormholes to space. Did you really think there would be no side effects with that kind of stuff?"

"Wait..." Tony made a quick timeout gesture with his hands. "So what you are saying is... That this is the result of Badassium being inside my body? How is that even possible? I had The Arc Reactor since 2010 and lived without it for almost 2 years now. Why would any side effects manifest themselves now?"

"Bruce came with a theory and I personally agree with it." Christine began with a soft, smoothing tone. "The Element." Tony glared at her and she rolled her eyes before she gave in and corrected herself. "Badassium changed your DNA right at the moment you inserted it inside your body." Tony froze and quickly had a flashback to the moment he picked up The New Arc Reactor powered by Badassium and placed it inside his chest. All of the damage from the Palladium poisoning immediately healed...He snapped out of his flashback as Christine continued. "We think that these powers you gained were blocked by the very same metal it gave them to you because you still had it inside of you, but after you took it out..."

"They awoke." Tony quietly finished for her. "So, what now? How do I control whatever it is I can do?"

"You have the ability to manipulate and interact with matter, both organic and non-organic, with only your mind. You also possess an impressive and accelerated healing factor." Christine calmly stated and gave him a small squeeze with her hand. "Your emotions are the key to controlling this. You were in distress and you created a protective shield around yourself."

"So what you are saying is I have telekinesis," Tony concluded and grinned. "Awesome."

"Yes." Christine mirrored his grin. "In theory, you could also create a telekinetic force field around yourself that would allow you to create the illusion that you are physically enhanced. Your imagination is basically your only limitation in what you can do." She then bit her lip and gave him a small apologetic look. "However, your powers are really energy-draining. You might be able to do something really impressive like the show you apparently did before Thor knocked you out, but you won't be able to hold it for long and will pass out from exhaustion, so I wouldn't recommend it..."

"Control my emotions and don't go crazy with my powers. Got it!" Tony smirked and concentrated on a small mug on the nightstand next to him. Unfortunately, nothing happened, making Tony frown. "Seems like I need to work on it."

"You will figure it out," Christine reassured him before she gave him a hesitant and an small apologetic look. “We need to talk about my other patient.”

“What other patient?” Tony questioned with a frown. 

“Rhodey and Clint arrived only 2 hours after Thor knocked you out.” Christine revealed and Tony immediately knew where this is going. “We need to have a chat about The Clone of Peggy Carter.”