[Home Plot | Iron Man Lives Again | Pt. VI]

[daretodo]

When midnight on my second night back home comes and goes, and I'm still swinging around New York instead of on some island in the literal middle of nowhere, I'm pretty sure the whoop of joy I let out is heard for miles. As good as the Island's treated me -- well, in some respects more so than others -- over the past couple of years, there's no denying that this is where I'd rather be. My jungle is made of concrete. The sights, the smells, the people -- and not to my mention my powers, boy, I've missed them, alright. No matter how many times I thought of giving up Spider-Man in the past, the truth of the matter of is, he's as much a part of me as anything else. Being out here, saving lives again on a regular basis? It just feels right. Like I'm meant to be here. I'm not too sold on the whole notion of destiny, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I felt more personally satisfied after a measly two nights in the real world than I have in a good long while. And with that kind of natural high, it's entirely too easy to ignore all the inherent complications that this being a permanent situation entails.

It's late by the time I make it back to the Tower, but that's nothing new; I've never been one to keep normal hours, and the definition of what's normal for someone in my line of business is pretty vague, anyway. Barring a run-in with my old pal, Rhino, it's been a quieter night than last, even if my suit's a bit worse for wear between today and yesterday. What can I say? I let a few hits in, it happens. I'm fine, at any rate, rustiness aside, and save for a few bumps and bruises that'll fade in a couple of days, I'm not hurting. Only bothering to take off my mask, I raid the kitchen for Aspirin and leftovers -- ooh, someone ordered Chinese -- before setting out to see if there isn't anyone else still awake, carton of reheated takeout in hand.

My search brings me to another floor entirely, down where Stark -- the one that belongs here -- keeps some of his fancier toys. The sounds of someone working draws me into the lab, and while it could've just as easily been either of them, I'm not too surprised to find my Tony -- which is a weird and sort of creepy association to give to a guy who's from a different universe entirely, really, but that I'm a lot closer to him than his blue-eyed counterpart goes without saying at this point, and I'm running out of clever nicknames.

"Working hard or hardly working?"

Comments

[notawastedlife]

"Working," Tony said. "Can't believe it. New York. They kick you out otherwise, right? No wonder he's the killjoy Iron Man, he's from the wrong coast."

And a number of other factors, and maybe he didn't quite live up to the unbearable hype Tony had gotten from others. He might have added to that. Not to reassure himself, mind, but because it was important to remind people of the distinction.

There were some solid ideas around, too. He'd thought of the briefcase armor, and the eventual extension of the principle, the idea of having it portable, emergency-ready. He just didn't have high-tech nanotechnology available to him.

Not on the island, anyway.

[daretodo]

"Ah, c'mon, Stark isn't that bad," I say, closing the carton temporarily so I can jump up onto the wall in front of Tony, settling down to use my knees as a makeshift table for my food. "A little... intense, sure, but it's not like the same couldn't be said about you. And besides, east coast is always the right coast, what are you on about?"

A beat passes, and my eyes widen in horrified realization. Affecting my best Valley Girl accent, I add, "Ohmigod, you're not from, like, California, are you?"

[notawastedlife]

"Did we not cover this? I forget who I covered what with, everyone has the same misconceptions," Tony said, looking up and then back at what he was studying. "Malibu. Ocean views. Sunshine. Good times. Is that actually comfortable? Gravity still applies. It's not a lot of work just for the visual?"

[daretodo]

"Did we? I don't know, you talk at a rate five times faster than the average human, I might've missed it. Also, we can't be friends anymore. You're from the boring coast. No wonder it's 2008 for you and you're only just getting started, sheesh," I say, mouthful of lo mein. I'm famished. Forgot how much of an appetite fighting crime works up.

"And yes, it's comfortable. I'd say you should give it a try, but you don't have fancy stick 'em powers."

[notawastedlife]

"Right, the one with all the movie stars and the only actual public superhero, that's... the boring one? I did wonder, actually, why you needed to have all the powered up people in one place when there's an entire world to protect, now I know," Tony said, bobbing his head one way and then another, shrugging with one shoulder. "New Yorkers. There are other cities, you know."

[daretodo]

"Other countries have their own superheroes," I say, and it's true enough. After all, I've worked with most of them, at one point or another, thanks in part to my old connections at the Bugle. Whenever I really felt like escaping from my problems, I used to ask Jolly Jonah if he didn't have an assignment he couldn't send me on. That usually went about as well as you'd expect to, but sometimes I lucked out.

Speaking of ol' Flattop, I should visit. He won't appreciate the house call, but Marla'll still be alive. And if I have anything to say about it, she'll stay that way.

"And anyway, there are a couple of other teams scattered throughout the country, but, I mean, Malibu over New York? Seriously? I'll pass. I've had enough fun in the sun to last a lifetime."

[notawastedlife]

"I said cities, it's still a cross-country plane trip if someone attacks, I don't know San Francisco. For you, anyway," Tony pointed out, now actually swinging his chair around. "I can fly. Is there a Captain France? Captain.. Iraq? But, really, have you? Have you? Because you do not look like a man who has had enough fun in the sun to last a lifetime."

[daretodo]

"Black Widow used to be based out of San Francisco," I say around another mouthful of food. "Back when she was still shacked up with Daredevil. Which she isn't, now, but-- Dude, have you seen the Quinjet? And what's that supposed to mean, anyway, that I don't look like a man who has had enough fun in the sun. I lived on a tropical island for two years. How much more does a guy need?"

[notawastedlife]

"Doesn't count," Tony said, eyeing the food. Great, now he was hungry. And he couldn't order New York pizza without giving Peter some ammunition. "Being trapped on a tropical island isn't the same. Less mod cons. No scene. Black Widow? She's, what, your aunt? Deals mostly with rich and elderly male supervillains?"

[daretodo]

I nearly choke on my food.

"Noooo," I say, stretching out the vowel. "She led the Avengers for a while. Works for S.H.I.E.L.D. Defected from Russia. Doesn't age like normal folks, I'm... not too sure on the specifics of that, honestly. But, uh, she's a looker. Red hair, black catsuit. Flexible." I clear my throat. "Not someone you wanna tick off. I almost had a thing with her once."

[notawastedlife]

"...I hope we've got one of those," Tony said. "I mean, for the sake of the other people, not me, I'm, you know, taken. You and your redheads, huh? Is that an insect thing, an attraction to strong colors?"

[daretodo]

"Well, seeing as my wife is currently a blonde..." I point out, eyebrows lifting. I'm not used to it yet, the color change. Which isn't it to say Mary Jane isn't as gorgeous as she was two days ago with her natural color -- she is, and locker room talk about the Widow aside, there's really only one girl for me -- but it's an adjustment, associating her with cropped blonde hair instead of her usual red. While I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually -- I'll have to, since I'm increasingly convinced this isn't a dream -- I'm not yet, plain and simple.

"I don't know, I've dated the whole spectrum." A beat passes, and I frown, shaking my head. "And we're not seriously talking about my dating history, because that is not a thing I want to think about right now!" The awkward turn from yesterday's party is still burned fresh in my mind. It's not an experience I feel the need to relive right this moment. "We have bigger fish to fry -- our forty-eight hours are up."

[notawastedlife]

"I noticed," Tony said, frowning faintly. "Even allowing a less than exact two day span, either we're oversleeping or..." he gestured, "this is the real deal. I can work with the real deal. Might even be easier."

[daretodo]

"Well, at least it won't just be data for data's sake if this is real. Because even if we end up learning something about how the Island works and then wake up, we won't exactly have this kind of tech at our disposal," I point out. There's also the fact that anything we learn would probably just be a propagation of our own theories; after all, we'd technically just be asleep -- safe and sound in our own heads. "And, yanno, you can talk up Malibu all you want, pal, but my universe has the cooler toys."

[notawastedlife]

"I've barely even gotten started in Malibu. Visit my universe in a couple of years, then we'll talk," Tony said, kicking lightly and turning in a complete circle in the chair. "I might... re-purpose a couple of the toys here to make that possible, assuming this is real. Kind of have to."

[daretodo]

"Inter-dimensional sleepovers, my favorite," I say with a quick smile, before polishing off the rest of my food. Crushing the empty carton into a ball, I shut one eye to aim, then toss it over into the bin across the room. That's one of the many good things about being back home -- hopping between universes is as simple as calling up the FF on a slow day. Not that we have all that many slow days around here, mind you, but the situation isn't quite as hopeless. Goodbyes are easier when see you later isn't just a figure of speech. Of course, I have zero intention of saying either to Mary Jane -- even if that's not entirely up to me.

Flipping down from the wall, I land on the ground without so much as a sound. The novelty of being able to do that again isn't one that's going to wear anytime soon, I'm sure of it.

"What've you been workin' on, anyway?"

[notawastedlife]

"Oh, you know," Tony said, reaching across, tapping something, and watching a gauntlet condense around his hand.

"This and that."

Like he said: High tech nanotechnology. Once you had the basic building blocks, all you needed to be able to do was tell it what to be.

And have enough of the right kind of material around for them to build themselves out of, of course. Also probably wise to avoid that whole grey goo scenario, but it wasn't as if he was Justin Hammer.

[daretodo]

It's very difficult to forget that Tony Stark is a genius. I mean, for one, it's what he's known for, regardless of universe of origin. He's not like me. 'Cause people, they see me, and they think I'm some blundering, blathering melonhead. I try to work that to my advantage as best I can, but, you know, the fact is, people do forget that I'm a smart guy. Heck, sometimes I forget I'm a smart guy, but that's more to do with my life outside of a laboratory context. I don't make the brightest decisions sometimes, let's be honest.

But Tony... Tony's someone who has genius stamped across his forehead. And maybe we don't always agree -- cold fusion, anyone? -- but I'd just be plain old dumb not to acknowledge the fact that he could think circles around me in his sleep. Or, apparently, manipulate high tech nanotechnology while I was off reacquainting myself with my old life.

I'm moving closer before I even realize it, equal parts curious and impressed, though it's not like I haven't seen anything like this before. But after two years on some random island, where he physically had to drag on each part of his armor, any technology seems new and exciting again, and it's the scientist in me, not the superhero, that wants to get a better look. I stop myself from reaching out at the last second. The grin I flash him's all glee.

"Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" I crow, clapping my hands together. "My little Iron Lad's all grown up. So is there more where that came from or what?"

[notawastedlife]

"Why would I make just one glove?" Tony said, giving Peter a mildly befuddled look, flexing his hand and watching the gauntlet disassemble itself again. Convenience.

Now, if this was real, and he could get this level of technology back to the island, that was a playing field he liked. If it wasn't, then this part wasn't actually entirely helpful, given it relied on a whole lot of technical advances they didn't have, and indeed that he'd have to set about replicating in his own universe before he could do anything remotely like this.

But when in Rome, build aqueducts, right?

"I worked up the whole thing, figured it might come in handy. Even with that other guy zipping around."

[daretodo]

"Well, what are we waiting for?" I ask, matching his look with one of my own. "Let's take it for a spin, c'mon! Anyone asks, we can just say Iron Man got a new suit. He's got, like, a whole roomful downstairs, no one'll even bat an eye."

[notawastedlife]

"Just a room?" Tony said. "Here. Right. Stashes across the various holdings, as well, probably."

It was -- and this was annoying, to have to acknowledge -- what he'd do, if he'd had this much time to work on it.

"All right, let's go. See if we can dig up some of these bad guys I never got to meet and beat."