INFERNO │ Marvel

2.2 reckless behaviour

"That was a disaster, Tony," Amelia sighed as the two entered their workshop.

"Really? I thought that went pretty well," he replied, taking a seat at his desk. He clapped twice. "Wake up! Daddy's home!"

"Welcome home, sir, miss," JARVIS greeted them both. "Congratulations on the opening ceremonies. They were such a success, as was your Senate hearing. And may I say how refreshing it is to finally see you in a video with your clothing on, sir."

"U!" Tony yelled across the room as the robot spilt liquid from a blender. "I swear to God I'll dismantle you. I'll soak your motherboard. I'll turn you into a wine rack."

"How many ounces a day are you supposed to drink?" Amelia asked him as he downed his drink.

"We are up to 80 ounces a day to counteract the symptoms," JARVIS explained. She grimaced as Tony lifted his shirt, revealing thick black lines extending from his arc reactor.

"Check palladium levels."

"Blood toxicity, 24%. It appears that the continued use of the Iron Man suit is accelerating your condition. Another core has been depleted," JARVIS said. Tony removed the reactor from his chest and replaced the palladium core, the old one rusted.

"God, they're running out quick, Tony," Amelia whispered, her breath shaky. She had spent a large chunk of time since Tony had told her about his palladium poisoning trying to find a cure, yet neither of the Stark siblings had succeeded yet. "I'll keep working, Tony. I swear, we'll figure this out."

"I have run simulations on every known element, and none can serve as a viable replacement for the palladium core," JARVIS spoke. Amelia closed her eyes and leant back against the edge of Tony's desk. She didn't need to hear the words again. "You are running out of both time and options. Unfortunately, the device that's keeping you alive is also killing you."

Tony looked at his sister, who was actually terrible at hiding her emotions from him, despite what she thought. "It's not so bad," he tried to reassure her light-heartedly. "I'm not dead yet."

"But you will be, and there is seemingly nothing I can do to stop it," she said. "I've been trying my best to support you with living your fullest life with the time you have left, but I wish there was actually a way to save your life."

"Well, sometimes things are out of our control," he responded, and a long silence between the two followed.

"Tony, have you thought more about what I said? About making Pepper-"

"Miss Potts is approaching. I recommend that you inform her-" JARVIS interrupted.

"Mute."

"Tony, what have you done this time?" Amelia asked him as Pepper stomped down the stairs. "She looks pissed."

"Is this a joke? What are you thinking?" she scolded Tony the second she entered.

"What?" he feigned innocence.

"Did you just donate our entire modern art collection to the-"

"Boy Scouts of America," he finished for her. "Yes. It is a worthwhile organisation. I didn't physically check the crates but, basically, yes. And it's not 'our' collection, it's my collection. No offence."

Pepper looked to Amelia for help, but she just shrugged her shoulders. "This doesn't concern me. It's not my art collection. It's his."

"No, you know what? I think I'm actually entitled to say 'our' collection considering the time that I put in, over 10 years, curating that."

Amelia zoned out as the two argued back and forth. Tony had become more argumentative since the palladium poisoning became a problem. Amelia hadn't fared much better, considering the huge secret they were keeping. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place: defending her brother's decisions at the end of his life and making sure he didn't kill himself early with his recklessness.