Peachy Keen

Chapter 12

"No, no, this is good. T'Challa told them... they know..." Tony had thought he was the only one who
knew. He could have killed Rogers and Barnes at nearly any time up until the end of the fight.
Barnes wouldn't know what Iron Man was capable of, but Rogers had to. He had to have known.
Hadn't he seen what Tony did to Leviathans? Rogers knew Tony was holding back.

He was crazy mad with grief and betrayal and he still didn't want to kill them, and he held back
because in his heart he knew, he knew, Rogers would fight, sure, but he would stop. Once he'd
worked out his anger on the punching bag, he'd stop. And then they would talk.

Rogers wouldn't beat him to the ground and abandon him, broken and alone, with no care for how,
or even, if, he survived.

He just... wouldn't.

Only he did.

And Tony knew then how badly he'd been mistaken. Rogers had known Tony would hold back,
and he'd treated it like any tactical advantage. Find a weakness and strike, strike, strike, before the
enemy learns to cover it.

Tony took a deep breath and wiped at his face. "I'm just sentimental about gifts, Vision."

"Ms. Potts suggested I bring a giant rabbit."

Tony laughed. "She's never going to let me forget that. Ok, look. While I'm tempted to make
vibranium armor, that's, that's a vanity project. We need to find a better use for it. Something that can
protect everyone. No matter how generous Wakanda is, the source is limited." Tony picked up a tube
of vibranium and peered at it. "I'll have to study it, make tests, find out all the properties..." He was
mildly regretful he hadn't kept the shield, but then, his father had told him it was an alloy, and
anything he learned from it would be unlikely to be exactly the same as the pure form.

Vision reached back into the pocket on the bag and produced a flash drive. "Wakandan scientists
have already conducted many tests and found alternate uses for vibranium, beyond its strength and
ability to resist force."

"Gimme!" Tony reached out for the flash drive.

"There is also information on linking to the Wakandan Deep Net, which is inaccessible to outsiders.
You may confer with Wakandan scientists and officials. In the interest of further saving time, I have
taken the liberty of setting up an account for you, under the name 'Iron Panther', which was king
T'Challa's suggestion."

Tony grinned. "This is really like my birthday." Tony went over to the floor vault he had installed
just in case, and put the rucksack in it. "We have to go out and get cake."

"CAKE!" Charley said from a dark corner of the room. "Chocolate," she added. "Hello, Vision."

"Well, shit," Tony said, tiredly.

"Swear jar," Charley remarked. She went over to Vision and touched his arm, and then pointed at
the rucksack. "Cake," she said decisively.

"What?" Tony said.