Attempts
"I came here expecting a high-tech crossword puzzle." Fury looked at Tony's exposed neck, his eye narrowing. "But it seems I am due for an eye check-up."
"I can hook you up with a 50% discount." He took a bite of another donut, enjoying the sugar rush.
"I already get that." Fury leaned in. "So, what changed?"
He had received clear reports that Tony had started spiralling, but the one in front of him was very well put together. All this was a sudden change that Romanoff had alerted him about last night, so he came.
"Lithium Dioxide." Tony gulped the iced Americano. "I know you wanna praise my genius, but this is basically a band-aid on the Titanic."
"Really? Tell me more." Fury faked enthusiasm, but the man across the table had changed in ways he hadn't expected.
"I was looking for a way to fix my problem, stumbled into my father's old notes. And that's when it hit me." He laughed. "For a man that was always busy, he didn't leave behind much work to show for it."
Tony had been looking through the books, old reels, and the Stark Expo dioramas. That's when he realized that all of them were incomplete. And it didn't take him long to conclude who had the missing pieces.
"So, when can I expect the delivery?" Tony shot straight.
"And what makes you think I will just hand things over?" Fury tilted his head.
"Come on, every boy band has their Heartthrob, the Funny one, the Cute Guy, the Bad boy, and the Leader." Natasha nodded at Tony's ramblings.
"And?" Seeing the eyepatch guy feign ignorance, Tony smirked.
"I am all that rolled into one, but I'll reluctantly take the lead position."
"The lead?" Fury's eyebrow shot up.
"Reluctantly, don't forget that," Tony stressed the word enough to make Fury sigh.
"The case is already en route; just get home. I am sure you know the way?" Romanoff gave Tony the ETA as they exited the store.
"Make sure I don't have to sign anything." He said.
"Will that be all?" Romanoff smiled, blinking innocently at him.
"Although every fibre of being is telling me to scream 'You are fired!' What you did was industrial espionage, and that's out of my ballpark since... was it a few days ago?" Tony shrugged before shooting through the sky. Leaving it all to Pepper.
"That was… something." Fury walked out, straightening his coat. But this wasn't the time to be hung up on that.
"Agent Romanoff read up on Biochemistry." Fury looked at his agent with the smile of a boss that had no regard for work-life balance. "You have a new task lined up."
He wouldn't have done this, but he had to call for help from someone regarding a recent case. And that someone had asked him for something in return.
'Well, there goes my chance to binge Burn Notice.' Romanoff sighed, following after Fury.
Back in his mansion in Malibu, Tony took the delivered container that Agent Coulson had placed in the middle of his living room and headed for the basement. Well, he gave up halfway down the stairs and had to call for help.
"You gotta stop using me as a muscle for hire," Rhodes complained. He had just returned and wanted to talk about the unease in the military, but Tony wasn't listening.
"Too bad, I need your help with a few more things. Should I pay you?" He looked at his friend with an amused smile.
"Tony, this is not ab-"
"One of the suits, you can have it." Tony cut in. "Now, are you gonna help me look through this or what?"
"You are beyond irritating." Rhodes rolled up his sleeves.
"I know, but a good type of irritating, right?" Tony chuckled, running towards the answer that would help him continue what really matters.
Reading through the notes, watching old unedited reels of his father, and the real outline of the original Stark Expo, Tony stood in the middle of his lab as the sun started to set.
Finally, arriving at the element that would replace Palladium.
After sorting his father's files, he looked at the book on the now half-organized desk. It had arrived today and still had its thin plastic cover.
Tony ripped the plastic and read through the manga once again, this time fully sober. And watching the final double spread, his eyes found the framed photos of his Father and Mother at the desk, with Jarvis alerting him of Pepper's position.
His mind went back to Afghanistan, that same cave that appeared in front of him like a ghost, and Yinsen.
He looked at the double spread one last time, watching Fujino and Kyomoto clinking their glasses of beer with huge smiles, allowing himself a small smile and a brief moment of reflection.
***
After parting ways with Gwen, John returned to his flat and took a shower. Stepping out in a new pair of clothes he got from the store on the way back, he sat in front of the raging ball of RGB that hurt his eyes.
He quietly turned the RGBs off from the control panel. But as he was checking through the Website dashboard, going through the sales and income, John noticed the red dots gathering on the left.
[Attempt to access the website's data has been detected. Attempt Failed.]
[Attempt to access the website's data has been detected. Attempt Failed.]
[Attempt to access the website's data has been detected. Attempt Failed.]
His brow crinkled at the long list of notifications. Who would try to hack into his website like this?
But this was the world of Marvel, and there could be many people trying this.
This could be from as simple as SHIELD's investigation to a very curious Dr. Doom that might just appear beside him. Neither were options he liked.
'Good thing the system has a built-in protection system, or I'd be doomed… never mind that.' John had been very careful with his internet searches from the moment he landed in this world.
He had only searched for topics after making sure they were public knowledge by browsing news websites, or he might've landed on a lot of unwanted radars. Still, this was the first time someone had tried to investigate him, or more like tried to investigate the writer John Doe.
But who would want to investigate a writer like John Doe? And why? He hadn't seen any notification that he touched some Hydra leader's heart with the published stories or made Gorgon cry?
"Could it be Tony?" John could only think of that at the moment. It could very well be someone connected to Tony, or someone who observed his change firsthand.
And around this time, there was an organization with clear eyes on Tony Stark.
'SHIELD, huh.' John's current computer, the one he had bought from the system shop, came with a magic that prevented hacking, and the website could defend itself, so he was cool on those fronts.
The problem was the old computer he had long unplugged. He had posted Your Name as John Doe through that PC at first, and it was a direct thread that would lead to John himself.
But was there really a need to think that much? Maybe they just wanted an autograph?
"Yeah, right." His finger rapped against the brand-new desk like a drum.
He had no way to erase the records that already existed. And if he did, they would just draw more attention to him. And if this was SHEILD, they weren't gonna come in to discuss Look Back's ending with him; they might have another agenda. An agenda he would only know of when they reached him.
The best thing he could do was play dumb and say John Doe must've used his PC as a scapegoat.
It sounded ridiculous, but it was what it was. And John wasn't sure if it was Hanma's natural arrogance, or the calming effect from his rock-like will, but he wasn't the slightest bit worried about this situation.
At least not as worried as he had initially thought he would get.
"Guess I'll just cross the bridge when I reach it." He leaned into the comfy chair that had just arrived today.
...
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