Reactions
Tony stood at one of the benches in his workshop watching the footage of the interaction between Rogers and Heilyn earlier that day. No matter how he looked at it, the shorter man should not have been able to shift Rogers’ bulk. The man was a super soldier for God’s sake. Without some form of super strength, it shouldn’t have been possible.
Then there was the hand print that had remained once Heilyn’s hand had left Rogers’ shirt. He had told Jarvis to collect that shirt once Rogers discarded it. There might be some readings he could get from it, but he wasn’t holding his breath.
It had looked burnt to him when he had gotten there, and sure enough, Jarvis’ camera had picked up smoke after it must have happened. Which all rather pointed to the possibility of Heilyn being yet another enhanced individual. The only surprising thing was that he hadn’t been recruited by SHIELD. What did that mean? Had they approached him only to be shot down? It seemed unlikely, or he would have been brought in forcibly like Bruce was in response to the invasion that Loki had led. So that just left the possibility that Heilyn had somehow managed not to give his abilities away before now.
Tony had to admit it was a possibility. Jarvis’ hardware was top of the line. He paused as a thought came back to him. The other man’s reaction to him wanting to get some readings on him. It made him frown. Did that mean he had given himself away before and been subjected to people experimenting on him without permission? It wasn’t a pleasant thought, and Tony made a mental note to get the man’s permission before doing any readings or tests of any type.
He had to admit that he’d felt a thrill of something go through him, when he'd watched how easily Heilyn had taken Rogers off guard. Sure, the element of surprise couldn’t be underestimated, but it was still an impressive feat. He particularly enjoyed the stunned look on the super soldier’s face. It certainly didn’t happen often enough that someone could stand up to him. Usually, the person either deferred to his legend, or argument. If neither of those worked, then the super soldier had his strength and sheer size to throw around, but that hadn’t worked out with Heilyn.
Tony would keep the man around for that alone, but he was also an absolute god in the kitchen. He spared a moment to thoughts of other places he might be a god, before being forcibly removed from his thoughts by Jarvis.
‘Sir, Mister Rogers is requesting your presence on the common floor,’ he said, tone so carefully blank that Tony raised an eyebrow at him. He wasn’t normally shy about letting his feelings be known.
‘It won’t kill him to wait,’ he replied offhandedly. He didn’t really want to talk to the other man, or more accurately, he didn’t want to go and be lectured. He just knew that was what he would be walking into when he did eventually cave and make an appearance.
‘Mister Rogers has been attempting to gain access to your personal floor.’
He blinked a few times as he mulled that sentence over.
He sighed.
He’d have to go and see what the man wanted. It wouldn’t be at all out of character for him to try and force his way in somehow, and Tony didn’t really want to have to pay to repair whatever he broke in his attempt.
‘Let him know I’m on my way. What’s it looking like up there anyway?’
‘They are all currently in the lounge on the common floor. Mister Rogers has taken it upon himself to inform the others of your new tenant,’ Jarvis revealed. Tony wasn’t all that surprised. This wasn’t going to be pretty he could tell.
He stepped into the elevator and straightened his clothes as best he could in the reflective surface of the doors. They were workshop clothes, and he spared a second to wish he was wearing one of his suits. He wondered when it had started to feel like going into battle instead of meeting with friends to talk.
When he stepped out onto the common floor he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. The so-called ‘Team’ were all waiting for him, assembled in front of the elevator doors with Rogers in the lead. He was standing in his Captain America (TM) pose, looking down at Tony with a disapproving look, arms crossed over his chest like he had any right to dictate Tony’s actions.
‘Huh. Looks like you got the Wonder Twins and Brucie Bear on side,’ he said sarcastically, ignoring the twinge of pain that went through him at seeing his Science Bro standing with Rogers.
‘Tony, this is serious. You’ve put all of us in danger by letting a complete stranger into our area,’ Captain Spandex shot at him. ‘It’s bad enough when you don’t think your actions through normally, but this time you’ve brought a dangerous unknown into the tower. How are we supposed to do our work: keeping the world safe from threats, when you invite those threats into our lives?’
Tony stood watching them impassively for a moment.
‘Done?’
He waited for the irritated look on Rogers’ face to pass before continuing.
‘You all feel this way?’
He was careful to make eye contact with every one of his teammates for their reactions.
‘Of course we do Tony,’ Natashalie said, a familiar condescending look on her face. ‘It’s not like it’s the first time you’ve done something that’s come back to bite you.’
Oh that was rich. Wasn’t she one of those things? Well, not like that, he hadn’t slept with her, but hiring her sure had been a mistake.
‘Um, what actually happened?’ Bruce asked in his normally worried tone.
Tony mentally breathed a sigh of relief. At least someone was willing to hear him out.
‘I told you what happened Bruce,’ Rogers said firmly.
Tony tilted his head to the side in mock thought. So, whatever Rogers said, that was how it was, was it? That was news to him.
‘Yeah, but there’s always more than one side to things. This guy was here to see Tony, right? And obviously, Tony’s not hurt, so he can’t be all bad. Maybe you just caught him at a bad time?’
Well, that was a surprise. He smiled softly and suddenly wished he had kept some of Heilyn’s food on the common floor. He could have offered Bruce a sweet as thanks. As it was, he was still standing by the elevator doors, and he was starting to get antsy. He felt like an animal caught in a trap, watching a predator approach, so he did what he usually did. He proved that he was a bigger threat than the predator daring to approach him.
‘Brucie Bear’s right. I swear, the only intelligent one of the bunch,’ he started as he strolled around the others. He looked out at the view, relaxing his body to give the impression of disinterest. ‘Heilyn’s a friend. Whatever else he might be on top of that, is frankly, none of your business. He’s going to be living here from now on.’
He turned to face them and saw Rogers open his mouth to respond.
‘No! This is not a discussion. No matter what it might say on the outside, or what the media may have dubbed it, I own this building. My money paid for it, so I am well within my rights to invite whomever I like to live within it. Surely you remember that, since I was the one who let you all live here – rent free, I might add.’
He looked into each person’s eyes. He was dead serious about this. If they did anything to scare off Heilyn, he didn’t know what he’d do. There was something about the other man that made Tony want to take hold of him and never let go.
‘There you go again. I didn’t think your ego could get any bigger. Guess I was wrong,’ Natashalie put in.
Tony shrugged.
‘We’re not talking about my ego. If you’ve got a problem with who I invite to live here, then feel free to seek other accommodation.’
He didn’t have the energy to care about this conversation anymore he realised with a sigh. He turned on his heel and walked back over to the elevator. Jarvis, his clever boy, had obviously been paying attention and opened the doors as he reached them. They closed on the sounds of the others protesting, but he didn’t stop.
Once the doors closed, he slumped against the railing at the back of the small metal box and rubbed a hand over his face. It was so draining, dealing with those people.
He strolled out when the doors opened onto his floor and thought for a second.
‘Think it’s too much to call him, J?’ he asked, looking up.
‘Might I suggest Miss Potts or Colonel Rhodes instead sir? Mister Kalua will most likely be packing for his move.’
Tony pouted. It was a good point, but he didn’t really want it to be. He also didn’t want to talk to Pepper or Rhodey. They had been surprisingly distant ever since the rest of the Avengers had moved in. He missed them, but what could he do? He’d kept up the usual invites for movie nights, and meals once a week, but they had started declining after the rest of the team started crashing them.
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Heilyn stood in the middle of his living room surrounded by boxes. He bit his lip as he wondered exactly how he was supposed to do this. He’d already resigned from his cleaning job, to his bosses irritation, but now he was left with the realisation that he had a lease. It was pure luck that it was only another month before he had to renew it, but that was still longer than he had hoped.
Exactly when was he supposed to be moving into Stark Tower? Did they just have room's spare, or was he supposed to wait for one to be made available? He knew he’d said he’d start ‘tomorrow,’ but was that just when he was supposed to start cooking? It was pretty far from his current apartment to the tower. Was he supposed to get there early, stay all day organising meals, and leave after he’d made the last meal of the day? He’d only be getting back late, barely have time to make his own food and fall into bed to sleep, only to have to repeat it all over again the next day.
It would definitely be easier when he was living there, but until then, just what was he supposed to do?
He sat down on his couch feeling overwhelmed.
His phone ringing brought him back to the present, and he blinked hard, looking around the room. He didn’t know where he’d left his phone, and now his living room was full of open boxes. There was no way he’d find it in time to pick up, he thought, horror shooting through him. He hated to make people feel like they weren’t important enough for him to pick up the phone.
He stood and immediately fell over his coffee table. It had been buried in his entire collection of blankets, but that didn’t stop it from hurting when his shin connected with it!
He cursed as he clutched his calf. If it wouldn’t just hurt him more, he’d kick the damn thing.
His phone went silent, and Heilyn cried out in frustration. How was he supposed to find the damn thing now?
He didn’t have to worry too much though, as it started ringing again shortly after. He lunged toward the noise and finally managed to unearth his phone. He gave a triumphant cry as he did so, and pushed the button to accept the call.
‘Hello?’
‘Hello, Mister Kalua. Sir tried to call you a moment ago and is now pouting because you did not pick up. I would be happy to show you the footage when you arrive tomorrow,’ came Jarvis’ now familiar voice.
Heilyn laughed loudly in surprise. It looked like Jarvis was getting a bit wild. It was highly entertaining to him. He honestly couldn’t wait to spend more time talking to the AI.
‘I see. I buried my phone trying to pack,’ he admitted sheepishly.
‘I did try to dissuade sir from disturbing you while you were packing for your move. As usual however, he disregarded my advice and did as he pleased.’
Heilyn laughed again. Jarvis was sassy.
‘Yeah, about that. You don’t happen to know if there are any rooms available immediately, do you? Turns out I didn’t think this whole thing through as much as I could have. I mean, I still have a lease here for another month, but getting to Stark Tower early, staying to do my job, then getting back here doesn’t leave me much time to sleep,’ he trailed off, realising he had just dumped all his rambling worries on Tony’s AI, who probably had much better things to be doing than talking to him.
‘Not at all. I believe it is sir’s intention to have you stay in the tower from tomorrow onward. There is always a transition period with any new job, naturally, and sir is positively eager for access to your cooking at any hour he wishes.’
Heilyn was insanely grateful for Jarvis’ reassuring words.
‘Thanks. I was really starting to freak out about that. That sounds kind of dumb, huh,’ he muttered looking out his window. The view wasn’t nearly as nice as Tony’s of course, but that was to be expected.
‘Not at all sir. It’s only to be expected of any sudden change.’
‘You don’t have to call me ‘sir’ Jarvis. Just Heilyn is fine.’
‘I shall update my protocols regarding your preferred name.’
Heilyn smiled. Tony really had performed a miracle when he created Jarvis. He was a wonder.