𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄 || 𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐊

𝟏𝟒.

As the sun rises Tony sits in a donut on top of a donut shop eating donuts while wearing his Iron Man suit. "Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to exit the donut." Tony lowers his shades as he sees Nick Fury looking up at him before walking away.

Inside the donut shop Tony sits at a booth across from Nick. "I told you I don't wanna join your super-secret boy band." Tony tells Fury who chuckles. "No, no, no. See, I remember, you do everything yourself. How's that working out for you?"

"It's... It's... It's.... I'm sorry, I don't wanna get off on the wrong foot. Do I look at the patch or the eye? Honestly, I'm a bit hungover. I'm not sure if you're real or if I'm having..." Tony says.

"I am very real. I'm the realest person you're ever gonna meet." Nick tells him. "Just my luck. Where's the staff here?" Tony says looking around. "That's not looking so good." Fury refers to the veins on Tony's neck.

"I've been worse."

As Tony drinks the coffee in the cup Y/N walks out in her S.H.I.E.L.D suit with Natasha beside her wearing the same black suit.

"We've secured the perimeter, but I don't think we should hold it for too much longer." Natasha says as they reach the table. Tony looks over his shades "Huh! You're... fired." Tony says as he looks at the both of them.

Y/N sits down beside Tony and Natasha sits beside Nick. "I don't believe that's up to you, Tony." Y/N mentions. "Tony, I want you to meet Agent Romanoff." Nick gestures to Natasha "...Agent L/N." he gestures to Y/N.

"Hi."

"I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D shadow. Once we knew you were ill, I was tasked to you by Director Fury." Natasha says looking at Tony who turns to Y/N. "Okay, look, I was tasked to you a couple of years ago but I'm just now finding out that you were sick. Why didn't you tell me before?" Y/N says. Since Tony couldn't believe that Y/N wasn't who she said she was he didn't really have anything to say to her at the moment.

"I suggest you apologize." Tony says to the both of them. "You've been very busy. You made your girl your CEO, you're giving away all your stuff. You let your friend fly away with your suit. Now if I didn't know any better..." Nick says.

"You don't know better. I didn't give it to him. He took it." Tony cuts him off. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. He took it? You're Iron Man and he just took it? The little brother walked in there, kicked your ass and took your suit? Is that possible?" Fury says looking at Y/N and Natasha.

"Well, according to Mr. Stark's database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorized usage." Natasha explains and Tony snorts. "What do you want from me?"

Y/N looks at Natasha before they both exit the booth. "What do we want from you? Uh-uh. What do you want from me? You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with. Contrary to your belief, you are not the center of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with. Hit him." Y/N takes something from Natasha she uses it to stick Tony in the neck.

"Oh, God, are you gonna steal my kidney and sell it?" Tony says through a groan. Natasha grabs Tony's face and examines his neck. "Could you please not do anything awful for five seconds?" After that Y/N sits in the booth beside Tony.

And Natasha sits back beside Nick "What did she just do to me?" Tony asks. "What did we just do for you? That's lithium dioxide. It's gonna take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work." Nick says. "Give me a couple of boxes of that. I'll be right as rain." Tony says.

"It's not a cure, it just abates the symptoms." Natasha explains to him. "Doesn't look like it's gonna be an easy fix." Fury tells him. "Trust me, I know. I'm good at this stuff. I've been looking for a suitable replacement of palladium. I've tried every combination, every permutation of every known element."

"Well, I'm here to tell you, you haven't tried them all." Nick states.

...

Back in Malibu, Tony sits with Nick as S.H.I.E.L.D agents look out into the distance. "That thing in your chest is based on unfinished technology." Nick says. "No it was finished. It has never been particularly effective until I miniaturized it and put it in my..." Tony tells him.

"No. Howard said the arc reactor was the stopping stone to something greater. He was about to kick off an energy race that was gonna dwarf the arms race. He was on to something big, something so big that it was gonna make the nuclear reactor look like a triple-A battery." Fury states.

"Just him or was Anton Vanko in on this, too?" Tony asks. "Anton Vanko is the other side of that coin. Anton saw it as a way to get rich. When your father found out, he had him deported. When the Russians found out he couldn't deliver, they shipped his ass off to Siberia and he spent the next 20 years in a vodka-fuelled rage. Not quite the environment you want to raise a kid in, the son you had the misfortune of crossing paths with in Monaco." Nick says.

"You told me I hadn't tried everything. What do you mean I haven't tried everything? What haven't I tried?" Tony questions. "He said that you were the only person with the means and knowledge to finish what he started."

"He said that?" Tony says. "Mmm. Are you that guy? Hmm? Are you? Cause if you are, then you can solve the riddle of your heart." Nick states. Tony shakes his head "I don't know where you're getting your information, but he wasn't my biggest fan."

"What do you remember about your dad, huh?" Fury questions. "He was cold, he was calculating. He never told me he loved me. He never even told me he liked me, so it's a little tough for me to digest when you're telling me he said the whole future was riding on me and he's passing it down. I don't get that. You're talking about a guy who's happiest day was when he shipped me off to boarding school." Tony elaborates.

"That's not true." Nick states. "Well, then, clearly you knew my dad better than I did." Tony says. "As a matter of fact, I did. He was one of the founding members of S.H.I.E.L.D." Fury spoke. "What?" Tony says flabbergasted.

"I got a 2:00." Nick says. "Wait, wait, wait, wait. What's this?" Tony asks referring to a case. "Okay, you're good, right?" Nick says.

"No, I'm not good." "You got this? Right, right?"

"Got what? I don't even know what I'm supposed to get." Tony says. "Y/N and Natasha will remain floaters at Stark with their covers intact. And you remember Agent Coulson, right?" Nick says starting to leave but he stops.

"Oh, and Tony, remember I got my eye on you." Nick says before leaving. "We've disabled all communication." Natasha tells. "And you know what that means, no contact with the outside world." Y/N says. "Good luck." Natasha says before walking away.

Y/N stands there for a second looking at Tony before turning to leave. In her opinion she liked Tony, that wasn't the word to describe how she felt. She loved him, but she wouldn't get a chance to tell him, because he probably didn't wanna hear what she had to say.