Chapter 10
When they've finally appeard in the balcony, Tony felt glad to see that everything was fine- Harley was using a bulletproof glass as a shield, with a glove (one of Tony's) on his hand. Sure, he could've been better- he was sweaty, pale, and probably shocked, but besides a burn on his shoulder he looked pretty good.
And then he felt a little guilty because his father has passed out, on the way to a Hydra helicopter.
The man just couldn't keep himself out of trouble.
Tony sighed and turned the engines on, just to remind himself that he couldn't fly.
Great.
All of the eyes were on him now, and the agents began firing at them- his armor could take it, but he wasn't sure that Harley's makeshift for a shield (a 'bulletproof' glass) could. He needed to create a distraction and save his father at the same time.
A blue, white and red frisbee seemed to give him the perfect idea.
"Rogers," he gasped, shooting an agent and protecting him with the suit at the same time. "Got a pretty neat swing, I'll give it to you." Steve caught the shield and turned, leaving his back exposed. Tony shot a continual fire at the shield, and with slow angle changes Steve hit down almost fifteen agents down.
"Thanks." he answered, and hit a woman who was on her way to them.
"Do you remember that time when Thor wondered what it's like to be Mjölnir?" Tony asked, firing five quick pulses at agents that were on their way to Harley.
"Yes, why?" Steve threw his shield at one of the helicopters, but an agent managed to get himself in the way, and the shield flew back without causing any harm (except for the man), Steve catching it mid air.
"You probably wondered what it's like to be a patriotic frisbee, if you get the idea."
Steve, of course, didn't get the idea, but before Tony could explain, one of the helicopters rose into the sky. The genius immediately caught Steve from his collar, lifting him like a kitten. He turned around a few times, catching momentum, and before Captain America could resist, Steve was flying in the middle of the sky, a helicopter becoming alarmingly closer, until he crashed into the front window.
Tony watched from the ground. A few seconds passed, and the venchile began diving, probably because of Steve's more successful throws. Tony could only get glimpses of the situation above, between shooting and defending himself and Harley. Maybe he shouldn't have trusted Steve with doing it. He hoped that they'll make it. The last thing he needed was a lecture from ghost-Steve about killing Howard and from ghost-Howard about killing Steve, as they'll probably hunt him as long as they can. Sure, they were dead, and there's no such thing as ghosts, but there again, there's no such thing as such a perfect teeth, and when did Howard let the reality stop him?
The Team arrived exactly in the moment when Tony began running forward, as he saw a big, buff man, holding in his hands a smaller man, in the doorway of the helicopter, waving at him. The universe felt as it was moving in slow motion- he could hear Peter's shout from the behind, the 'woosh' sound of an arrow, crossing the air and pinning exactly in the middle of an enemy agent. He became aware of his fast heartbeat, of the heaviness of the suit without the help of the floating system.
It was funny, really. He was running forward, hoping to catch Steve and his father mid air against all the odds, and somehow get out of it without any long term damage, not to talk about without dying. It was almost a suicide mission, there were so many things that could go wrong- he could be too early, or too late, or just crash into wrong part of the helicopter and make a 2 Starks And A Half (in Howard's mind, Steve was always Stark of an honor) dough.
Was it worth it?
Should he jump?
The helicopter was diving from the skies, leaving an incredible trail of red, orange and yellow sparks, almost like fireworks. Like those in the fourth of July, Cap's birthday. He remembered celebrating those with the team- doing fake interviews with him, changing his ringtone to Star Spangled Banner, hanging draws of thousands of children who sent him a birthday 'present', decorating everything in blue, red and white.
So fireworks, like in the things he lost.
On the other hands, those were fireworks- fireworks, like those he made in Pepper's last birthday, filling the skies of Malibu in a thousand small lights. Yellow sparks, like that time (well, one of them) that Harley and Peter blew something up in his lab. He remembered the first time he saw fireworks- it was his sixth birthday, and Jarvis took him to a park. 'Your father couldn't come, but he gave me this gift for you.' Jarvis said, as he opened his palm to expose a remote which turned out as a controller to a small fireworks machine.
Tony liked to pretend that he didn't hear the fight between Jarvis and Howard after the drunken man found out about that.
He focused his eyes on the helicopter, almost reaching to the edge of the big balcony.
The genius found himself humming a tune- at first, he didn't recognise it, but a memory popped at his brain. This was his last thursday at home, before Howard sent him to a boarding school. "I'd love to change the world," his mother hummed, as an answer to his question about why was she depressed. "But I don't know what to do." she chuckled bitterly and drank a glass of the whiskey that his father saved for special events.
Yeah, his childhood wasn't that good.
And suddenly, he understood.
He is an alcoholic, like his mother and father.
He wants to change the world, like his mother and father.
But unlike them, he was willing to bare the consequences of being a hero.
"J, calculate orbit." he decided.
"We're too heavy." was the answer of the British AI.
Tony thought for a moment. "Eject the Vibranium Arc Shield." he ordered, and jumped as the metal piece fell from his chest.
For a moment, he was in the air. He felt like he was watching another character, catching Steve between his arms, a smile widening on his face. Steve was smiling, too. He looked at Steve's eyes, and knew that Steve could see his smile.
Webs caught his suit, and he let his body fly back, Steve and Howard safe in his arms. He owed one to Peter.
The three of them rolled on the floor as they hit the balcony. JARVIS wasn't there- the lights of his suit were off. Steve was standing above him, raising the shield. Flashbacks began popping, and oh my god he couldn't breath Steve will kill him why did he eject the Arc Shield-
Steve landed the shield on the webs, panting. As he finished cutting them, he rolled to Tony's side, and the two of them lay there as the team run to them.
"Hey, Tony?" asked the Super Solider.
"Hmm?" Tony answered, trying to keep his breath calm.
"Got a pretty neat swing over there." he patted the suit's arm twice, leaving his hand there, which earned a chuckle from Tony, but he quickly drew his hand off like he got a burn.
"YOUR SUIT IS ON FIRE!" he shouted, jumping from his place and-
His vision was suddenly full with fire-fighting foam, as Dum-E cheered from the floor beneath them, lifting a fire extinguisher happily in the air from a big hole in the floor.
"Good boy." Tony told him, patting the fire extinguisher twice, as Dum-E patted his shoulder, trying to open the suit with the emegency clamps, until he gave up and folded his long hand, back to the lab floor.
"Thanks, Captain Rogers. I'd like to quote a not so smart man, 'you got a pretty neat swing' yourself." said a british voice.
"J." Tony gasped in relief, as suddenly all of the systems were turned up, blue lights srrounding his face. "Good to see you, man."
"I would've said the same, but unfortunatly I don't own eyes." answered the AI. "I must say, if I may use the common language- it's good to hear from you."
Tony laughed. "Open it up, J." he ordered, and the suit opened itself. Peggy, Jarvis and Natasha were standing besides them, with unhappy looks on their faces.
"Anthony Edward Stark-" began Aunt Peggy. Oh god, it was bad. Her accent was showing. "You are a terrible, reckless, stupid man. It's probably not the first time-" she looked at Natasha and Jarvis for an approvment.
"Just like the time you were trying to make something in your father's lab- even when you were five, I barely managed to follow your thoughts line, but from what I did understand in the end, you decided it will be delightful to give yourself second-degree burns all over your body." Jarvis contributed to the reprimand, and Tony blushed at the memory. He was just five back then, and it was the third time he managed to convince Jarvis letting him inside the lab.
Unfortunatly, it was the last for the next four years.
Natasha snorted. "Typical."
The three of them exchanged looks.
"I think you should-" Peter suddenly showed up between them, saving Tony from the lecture, his mask covering half of his face. "Mr Stark!" he shouted, excited, Harley on his side, almost as excited. "Did you see it? You were like bzhhht and gravity was like shwoop and Peter was like uh uh and then his webs were like wooooosh and your suit was like cling and Peter was like swap and you and Cap were like Shwik and then like fwap." he finished talking (with fitting gestures) and Tony laughed.
"Indeed, Peter did the best woooosh and swap I've ever seen." he said sarcasticly, and Peter's face fell a little at the statement, his smile vanishing. "But seriously, good job, kids. Both of you saved my beautiful ass over there, and the humanity couldn't survive without it."
Peter's smile appeared quickly, flashing at Tony, and Harley nodded at him with gratitude, his lips curving up. "Thanks, Mr Stark!" Peter cheered, and turned on his heels- just like Tony taught him. "You're welcome, Mechanic." said Harley. "Oy, don't forget to take care of your injuries!" he shouted from his place, although a small smile appeared on his face as he watched The kids' back.
Spiderman was one of the strongest men he has ever seen, and probably could beat Tony in a few situations of One Vs. One- but yet, Tony found himself hesitant every time that he let Peter go into the battle field. There were so many times that something could go wrong; so many times that Tony was waking up from a nightmare, sweaty and shivering, as a small body was in his hands just a few seconds ago. He ran Peter's death in his head for a million times, every night the same dream- the cameras, flashing everywhere, as the red of the spandex suit was a little bit darker, curious to catch a picture of the fallen hero. Tony flies up, into the skies, opening his face plate, letting his face freeze in the strong wind as he removes the mask of Peter, getting one last look at the child, and then throws it away, as far as he can, to get rid of the evidence of the hero he once was- it wasn't about Spiderman, it was about Peter. He flies down, into the middle of the city, to Aunt May's house. She probably would cook something; ask him if he wants her to call Peter and tell him that he's here. And then, she'll notice the teenager, curled in Tony's hands, looking almost like he's asleep. She'll scream at him, call him a lier, never wanting to see him again- she probably wouldn't want him in the funeral, and he'll respect her request. After a few years, he'll probably finally manage to make himself visit the grave- a small, grey tombstone, which shows nothing about the hero beneath it.
On the other hand, there was Harley- one of the brightest men Tony has ever seen, maybe even smarter then Tony himself. He was amazing, in his own way. The kid took Tony in when he was at his lowest point, and helped him build himself up again. But lately, Harley seemed more and more reluctant to stay back in the home when everyone are risking their lives. They had a huge fight on it, which ended with Tony agreeing to let Harley build his own suit of armor as support. His suit was designed for air only- in the schemes, the suit covered only about half of Harley's body, but could expand in the case of danger. With the help of his idol Peter, the suit schemes was almost completly ready- and that scared the shit out of him. Because he didn't want to see the face of anger and grief again, that broken look. His broken look. That was the worst- Tony will be one of the only men and women that will remember Harley. No one that will give this broken look, except for the man in the mirror, who remembers the small kid only a few years ago, who remembers the man who was suffering from PTSD and panic attacks on daily basis.
And both of them are gone.
He cleaned these thoughts for now from his mind just in time to hear the ending of the lecture. "-So even if you'll be somehow a cockroach, please think before you act." finished Peggy, and Tony noticed that Jarvis was supporting a smiling Howard. "Here, let me." he mumbled and got up. Howard leaned on his right shoulder.
"You've listened nothing, didn't you?" chuckled Howard quietly into his ear.
"Nothing at all." he answered, walking with both of the men towards the building. He pulled his phone out and called Pepper.
"Good luck." Tony mentioned casually, putting the phone at Howard's hand and quickly sliding away.
"Why should I-" "TONY STARK, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?! I'M SITTING NEXT TO THE TV, SEEING MY BOYFRIEND'S TOWER GETTING BLOWN UP ON LIVE, IN THE MIDDLE OF NEW YORK, I HAD MORE THEN 500 INCOMING CALLS- none from you- and then I see you jumping into a fuckING BURNING HELICOPTER, UNABLE TO FLY, AND ALL THAT JUST FOR YOUR LOUSY FRIEND AND THAT LAME EXCUSE FOR A FATHER!" Howard flinched, almost dropping the phone, but Jarvis caught it midair. Both of the men looked shocked, but Jarvis recovered and handed the phone to Tony who was smiling, that devil.
The tech genius quickly vanished into the building, on his way to his lab.
"Peppsy, what's up? You know that I love you, and that you look really handsome in this skirt?"
"What's up isn't SI stocks, that's for sure." she answered with anger, but Tony could feel her calming a little in the other side of the line. "And I'm not wearing a skirt, but nice try."
"You're welcome." he answered, flashing a smile at the phone, although she couldn't see that.
"...You're smiling, aren't you?" she asked. "M-hm." he answered as a 'yes', and the line was silence.
He entered his lab, which didn't look so bad- well, if you ignore the big hole on the ceiling, and the shreds of glass all over the room. He smirked as he saw the pile of shreds, laying one on the other, perfectly organised to make the 'structure' as stable as it could be.
A few minutes of silence passed.
"What are you doing?" asked Pepper from the other side of the line, her voice soft.
"I-"
"Don't tell me." she interrupted him, sounding exhausted. "Do what you want, what you should." she added, her voice even softer. "Just please, keep yourself safe."
he thought about the photos of her face that he saw in the newspapers when he was missing for a whole week.
"I will." he finally said. It was a promise, and he actually meant to keep it.
For her.
"Thanks." she answered, and a few more minutes of silence passed, each of them busy in their own work. Tony began organizing the lab, but found himself standing in his place, playing with a screwdriver between his fingers, his eyes stuck on the phone.
"One day, thirteen hours, fourty six minutes and six seconds. Seven. Eight."
"What?"
"It's the time that passed since I've last saw you." Tony explained, scratching the back of his head.
She thought for a little bit. "300,000." she answered, at the same tone.
"What?"
"That's the value of the accounting error that you've made. The one that made us meet."
Tony chuckled. "With the pepper gas?" she laughed from the other side of the line. "Indeed."
"God, you are brilliant, have I told you that?"
"Flattery won't get you anywhere, Mr. Stark." she answered, and Tony smirked.
"Well, it did got me into your bed."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah. Like that one time..."
The next half an hour passed with Tony describing very detailed scenes of him and Pepper, and their deeds in the bed, with very special emphasis about his big and wonderful 'gun'.
"Noted: Pay your loyal AI trauma compensations." mumbled JARVIS to himself and locked the door, as the two continued talking until the small hours of the night.