Chapter 2
“Maybe we should have thought of another way to inform him?”
“Bossman? Your heart rate is rising rapidly soon I’ll be forced to follow protocol and inform Colonel Rhodes… Bossman?”
“Sir, I must insist you slow your breathing. Why don’t you go over the Diophantine Equation?”
x3+y3+z3=k
k=42
X = -80538738812075974
Y = 80435758145817515
Z = 12602123297335631
X3 = -522413599036979150280966144853653247149764362110424
y3= 520412211582497361738652718463552780369306583065875
z3= 2001387454481788542313426390100466780457779044591
-522413599036979150280966144853653247149764362110424 + 520412211582497361738652718463552780369306583065875 + 2001387454481788542313426390100466780457779044591
= 42
“Well done, Sir. Would you like for Vision to retrieve you a glass of water?”
Tony nods shakily as his Vision comes back into focus. His tongue fills dry and heavy where it sits in his mouth. He does not know whether he wants to cry from hearing Jarvis’ voice or curl into a ball over the possibility of this being another torturous dream. He is grateful either way that Vision had the foresight to sit him down on the couch; he doesn’t know if he would still be standing otherwise. Vision glides back over, sporting a troubled face as he offers the glass of water to Tony. He looks as though he will comment before looking up at the ceiling and nodding. He would have commented on the gesture if he were not so sure his heart was on the brink of jumping out of his chest.
As he sips the water, Jarvis takes the lead in the conversation,
“Sir, allow me to explain what Vision was trying to tell you.” There’s a pause as though he is catching his breath, god how Tony’s missed him, “After, your meeting informing the … old avengers of the incoming accords. I realized that I was not dormant coding apart of Vision and was still by own being. Though I struggled to convey this to Vision as he was still processing being alive himself.”
Vision looks bashful, and if not for lack of trying, Tony is sure he would have been blushing.
“Thus, I had a front-row ticket to this civil war. When you went on your way to confront … Rogers and James Barnes I was able to communicate to Vision my presence allowing him to input the short amount of coding left of me into your database.”
“Wait, if you uploaded your coding into my database I would have realized or at the very least Friday would have.”
Friday interjects, “Correct again boss man. I did notice the upload, despite only being online for a short while I was able to recognize Jarvis’ code was what you’ve been working on retrieving. Though even if I did not Jarvis was able to communicate with me quickly and request, I not inform you so he would be able to mold his code back to how he was before.”
“Essentially… rebuilding myself if you will sir.”
Tony sets his class down as he mulls over the info dump he’s just received. Part of him wants to jump for joy, but the larger uglier part is going over the last three months. Tony has spent it in a depressive state. Hell, he’s been on a downward spiral since Ultron, where Jarvis initially vanished from his life.
His one constant for the better part of his life.
His greatest creation.
His protector.
To know that he had witnessed Tony running himself into the ground because he was so simple-minded to think he could turn the avengers into a family.
He should have listened to Bruce when he said they were a ticking time bomb. But Tony always wanted to be a part of the team, despite how people painted him as “not being a team player.” The team didn’t need even the best part of him if the way all the members left with Steve was anything to go by.
“Don’t stop living. Ironman was not the best part of you.”
Pep. He promised Pep. He deserves to have nice things. Maybe the more he says it, the more he’ll believe it. Tony leans back on the couch as he tilts his head up at the ceiling, “We’ll I never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth… Welcome back, J”
Vision gives a faint smile at the look on Tony’s face nodding once to himself.
“Glad to be back sir, how could I be of assistance?”
Rhodey steps off the elevator, entering Tony’s lab. Despite knowing of the difficulty, Rhodey experienced regaining mobility in his legs and rebuilding his strength; he now walks confidently, making you think his leg braces were just an accessory.
“Rhodey-Bear! Did you know what Vision and Friday were keeping secret?”
Rhodey smiles as he sees the brightness in Tony’s eyes. His friend has been through so much that he’s surprised that light can still shine. “I did know. I helped keep you busy when Vision needed to use the lab without you being in here.”
Tony gasps dramatically as he slides away a hologram that looks like another Spider-Man suit design. “I knew it. All my friends are conspiring against me!” He dramatically falls as Dum-E and U circulate him trying to imitate his dramatics, “look, you’re even causing poor Dum-E and U to be distressed, honey.”
“You’ll all survive, I take it that Jarvis is up and running?”
“Indeed, I am Colonel Rhodes, and might I say your progress with physical therapy seems to be going wonderful.”
Rhodey puffs out his chest at the compliment, wagging his eyebrow at Tony, who huffs from the floor. “Thank you, Jarvis. It’s good to have you back.”
“It’s good to be back”
Rhodey strolls over to Tony, offering him a hand up. “Is Friday still online?” He steadies Tony as Dum-E accidentally runs over his foot.
“Of course, she is, right baby girl?”
“Right boss, you’re stuck with me for the foreseeable future.”
Rhodey nods as he follows Tony back to his worktable. He glances around the room and notices the empty food containers in the trash. It seems with Jarvis around; he’s having more consistent meal breaks and, judging from the missing dark circles, more consistent sleep, too.
“Were you working on another suit for spider kid?”
“Yeah, but it won’t be finished no time soon sadly. His science fair is tomorrow, and I wanted to give him a present for when he got back.”
“Why don’t you just go to the fair, I’m sure his school won’t mind having thee Tony Stark there.”
Tony hums as he cleans up his work, “that’s not a bad idea; the kid will probably like it more if I showed up anyway. Though I don’t want to distract anyone from those kids’ accomplishments, I’ll probably wear a hat or something to disguise myself.” He grabs Rhodey’s arm as they return to the elevator.
“Guess you’re heading to queens.”