Tony Stark / Iron Man

@strongestavengerbruce

Tony was glad that Bruce was here and even happier that they were going to be working together.  The part that bothered him was that they were going to be working on VERONICA.  When he put on that suit the last time he’d had to put away his own feelings to do what needed done.  Afterwards, he’d been more concerned about Bruce’s state of mind than his own.  It had taken months before he allowed himself to even start to deal with it.  Looking at the old specs for VERONICA made him feel a twinge of unease.

On one of the display, he had a list of things that needed tweaking.  The suit needed to be offensively and defensively stronger.  Much of what he’d discovered about Hulk’s abilities and what needed to be done in order to counter that.

Beneath that was a suggestion to integrate his current nanite based suit into a new design.  Which would allow him several more options when it comes to fighting Hulk, if he needed them.  If he was going to have to do something he didn’t actually want to do then he was going to do it right.

Tony had been working with only a few breaks on a containment and distribution unit for the lightening that Thor could direct toward powering this area.  He designed the main unit first and determined its maximum power storage before starting on the smaller units.  The smaller units could store power though at a smaller amount while easily hooking into the existing power hookups and releasing electricity at the standard rates.

By the time he was finished he had a decent set of blueprints.  Though he had to use what was standard for electrical systems currently.  The problem was that he knew New York was a city that had existed for a long time and the electrical systems were updated as needed.  So, it was like an archaeological dig.  Instead of different levels of dirt representing different eras, it was different types of wires.  If he could merely hook into the main power grid and manage it that way it would be easier.  Unfortunately that was located outside of the dome.

This was going to be a long and tedious job.  It would go faster if he had some help.  There was a guy in here that had an electrical engineering degree and a few helpers.  Whether or not he was willing to work with Tony was unknown.  Only one way to find out.

Tony put a generator that ran on diesel as well as biodiesel fuels in the trunk of his car.  Pretty much put any kind of oil in it and it would run.  Along with some converter packs for standard fuel generators.  At least he knew the visit wouldn’t be a complete waste of time.

The bright red sports car was halfway down the driveway when it stopped and rose into the air.  He flew the car to the place where he knew Steve and Scott were staying and set the car down a good distance away.  He shove the Starkpad in his pocket and grabbed the generator out of the trunk.  Glancing around he got as close as he felt was reasonably safe and put the generator down, it was heavier than he liked.  “Hey, anyone home?  It’s Tony.  I came in peace,” he yelled holding up two fingers in a peace sign.  He was wearing a jogging suit with a hoodie and had sneakers on.  Of course he had a pair of very expensive sunglasses on as well, but not his other suit at least not yet.

Bruce faltered, wanting to thank Tony for his attempt to comfort him but struggling to find the words. He smiled quietly instead, ducking his head to collect himself. “I never sing your praises, Tony. I spend the better part of my life warning people about you.” He teased halfheartedly. Could he say that anymore? When it had been two years since they were given a chance to really talk like this? He paused in his task of readying the medication, frozen by the sentiment of what his friend was telling him. 

He had long since assumed, upon hearing he had been missing for two years, that the team have moved on without him. Only incorporating him into the battle with Thanos when he reappeared because he could technically be of use. Who would miss him, after all? Even his closest friends had lives that would continue, push them away from remembering him or worrying over his welfare, and into moving on. Tony was no exception. “You did?” He asked, unable to hide my disbelief. “You- you didn’t even know where I was, Tony- or if I was okay…” He swallowed his emotion, still trying to process the information. “You… didn’t give up on me…”

“Oh, I-” Reminded of what they were doing, he cleared his throat, blinking tears from his eyes. “It isn’t the same as sleep, I think based on what you’ve told me, you should be safe. But either way, I promise I’m here, okay? I won’t let anything bad happen to you…” 

Tony grinned at Bruce.  "I know it's because you're trying to save all my time for yourself," he said.  “The last thing you want is someone moving into your territory and getting to play with all my advanced toys.”  It was well known that he had an ego, most people would say his ego would dwarf a small planet.  He liked to play that image up, it was good cover.

Tony gave him a look that was his way of saying ‘duh’ without actually having to say it.  “Buddy, I know the Big Guy can pretty much shrug off anything.  I figured if he decided to come back and bring you with him then I should be ready,” he said.  “I did look.  Figured you managed to find some rock in the middle of some backwards country to hide under.”  The thing he wasn’t going to say and wouldn’t even admit to Pepper was that he couldn’t even consider that Bruce was never coming back.  Especially after Siberia.

“And you won’t draw anything on my face, right?  FRIDAY, don’t let him draw on my face,” he said ignoring the emotional response Bruce was having.  It wasn’t that he didn’t care, he just didn’t handle emotions well.

“Yes, boss.”

Reunion Feast.

Thor could all but see the genius man of metal’s brain ticking round in his head as his focus shifted to Thor’s eye, the almost auburn red-brown colour to the iris a sharp contrast to his natural blue, before the mechanism flashed slightly as he blinked and the lens within it re-calibrated itself. Maybe once they had established what could be done to get Thor back to his Kingdom, he could allow Tony to have a look at it, he would probably get some enjoyment out of that, and he was always amazed at the kind of things the genius came up with. Sure it was still fairly antiquated in comparison to the Asgardian technology he had grown up with, but for a Midgardian it was impressive.

“Aye my friend. My elder sister called Hela. She ruled the realm of the underworld and my father kept her existence hidden from me until he passed into the halls of Valhalla…which released the magic he was keeping her locked away with and she came to take her rightful place as Queen of Asgard.” He explained, idly rubbing at his fake eye as it itched the socket slightly. “Now you mention it, she did seem to have much more of a look of Loki…” he added with a soft laugh.

Listening to Tony’s explanation, Thor was simultaneously pleased and disappointed. Pleased because he had been right in his assumptions that the mortal would be working on something, but also disappointed that there seemed to be little possible at the moment.

“I have some knowledge of the stones, but not too much…only legends…but maybe there is some truth within them?” he offered, before glancing down at the sparks as they danced around his fingers, letting them grow and coil round his hand and forearm in one long tendril. It was almost a party trick now, ever since he’d come to terms with the fact he didn’t need Mjolnir to control the lightning, he had found himself letting it dance around his hands and arms like pet snakes. “I would be more than willing to help charge things my friend, It would take but a little of my power to do so now I am able to fully tap into my ability! Simply point me at what you require power for.”

Tony listened to Thor explain his sister and the situation he’d found himself in.  “And I thought my dad kept a shit ton of secrets,” he said.  “As far as I know I don’t have any siblings out there, but it’s possible that they exist.  My dad was known for being in the company of a lot of women.  Not that I can judge.”  The major difference was that once Tony got with Pepper there was nobody else.  Okay, it was before they got together, but no question that after.  Howard wasn’t as faithful to his mother.  He also was bad about making sure doors were locked so Tony saw things he really didn’t want to ever see.  “Maybe you got all the good genes in the family.”

He wished he had better news for Thor.  Though he couldn’t help feeling a bit relieved to see the other man.  This kind of weirdness was more his area than Tony’s and he was good to have in a fight.  “It’s okay,” he said.  “There’s a couple of wizards on Bleecker Street that seem to know a great deal.  Even gave me a sort of mystic presentation on them.  Origins and all that stuff.  Their group also spent loads of time guarding the Time Stone.  So, as far as information goes I think we can pool it all together and hopefully figure something out.  Maybe find out where the Stones are and see if we can do something about what they’re doing.”  He didn’t like the idea of dealing with something he didn’t understand and his only way of dealing with it was to learn all he could about them.

Tony watched Thor produce electricity and let it roam over his skin.  “Damn, man, you have fully embraced that whole thunder god name though it is actually lightening which is kind of weird, but whatever,” he said.  “That whole St. Elmo’s fire glow is badass.”  He paused briefly.  “You guys probably called it something else.  It’s that blue glow from ambient electricity.  Used to appear on the top of ship’s masts.  Which is why it was named after St. Elmo, he was the patron saint of sailors.”  It was science knowledge, maybe it was just trivia, but it was Tony’s area which made him feel more comfortable so he felt better about rambling about it.  “When I get finished building what I need to build, I will let you know and you can hit it with electricity.  I just need to be able to contain and channel the electricity properly or we will have fires and that’s no good for anyone.  If it’s not a place I own then I’m going to have to deal with lawyers and insurance people.  The mess with the Chrysler building was more of a headache than I thought it would be.  Apparently I’m not allowed to call it an act of god if I can name the specific god responsible.”  He shook his head though he had a teasing smile on his face.