A Dad of Ir⎊n Will || Marvel

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The new arm is made mostly of vibranium but Scott had also insisted that they use pym particles to keep it stable within the Quantum field. They try it and Tony is surprised when it helps, because he hadn't expected the other man to be right. He didn't seem to take much serious, but this seemed to be just as important to him as it was to the rest of them.

"How does it feel?" asks Tony softly as Nebula clicks the arm into place.

"Heavy," she says, a serious expression on her face. He nods as he steps closer to help relieve some of the weight and hopefully relieve the strain on the young woman.

"It's because it's so compact," Tony reminds her prodding at it. "There are like a dozen fail-safes in here so it won't fry any of your important networking parts."

He doesn't look at her as he continues to twist and rewire and adjust. This is the day. In a few hours they're going to be strapping themselves into another ship and and trying to locate the wasteland of a planet where everything went so wrong last time. He pulls at a cord that has her other hand reaching out to stop his from moving any more. She doesn't say that it hurts or that what he's doing is the equivalent of shoveling through her guts with a hot knife. He knows to apologize anyway. He can't imagine what she's going through, except he can. The strong grip on his hands stops him from digging into his chest.

"Why do you do that?" Her voice isn't soft. It's strong and echoing in the silence of the lab but she hadn't liked the way that ACDC grated against her wires as she tried to screw everything together.

"Grounding pressure," he says because that's what Rhodey and Pepper had called it and they had gone through more therapy than he was ever willing to. "When we were on the ship I told you I'd almost died. I was kidnapped," he says as bluntly as he knows how because sure, it's been more than 10 years but it still aches to know that Obie had done it. Had sold him off for the chance to sell more weapons. He tries to only give her the facts. "A bomb went off. Metal shrapnel in my heart. I wasn't a good man then, but a good man— a great man saved me. But he had to put an electro-magnet in my chest to do it. I upgraded the model eventually, but it became a part of me. It was heavy and sometimes it burned, but I had it for years. Never thought I'd get to live without it." He squeezes her hand before letting it go and walking over to where his first miniature arc reactor sits in box from Pepper. He brings it over and sits it on the work table in front of them.

"'Proof that Tony Stark has a heart'?" The question is clear in her tone.

"I used to be a weapons dealer. Most efficient weapons in the market. I was proud of what I did. Of what my father did. It was the family business, you know. Was glad I was finally living up to my dad's name. Didn't know about the other name." He shrugs, but his eyebrows are furrowed and his heart still hurts from all that he'd done. "They called me the Merchant of Death... Never to my face of course." He shakes his head, wishing he could wash all the red from his ledger. No matter how many lives he's saved he knows they don't compare to the ones he's help take. "Then I almost died from some of my own weapons that were being sold illegally. Had a change of heart." He taps on the glass casing.

Nebula is looking at him with wide eyes and a slack jaw, but he can't bare to make eye contact. She reaches out her right hand, one that isn't cold and calculating metal, and places it on his chest. He knows she can feel the thick puckered scar tissue through his shirt. It's hard to miss. What she probably can't feel are the much smaller ripples and divots of scars and burns from palladium poisoning and electric jolts from Thor himself, but Tony knows they're there. He closes his eyes until she pulls her hand away. His eyes flutter open and she places her hand on her own chest, clicking a piece of metal out of the way. Before Tony can ask what's happening, he sees it.

"So my father could have easy access to my first heart," she explains anyway. The thumping of her hearts is just as loud and strong in the space as her voice is. Her heart looks normal, almost human, compared to the rest of her. It's covered in moisture and blood and mucus and whatever else runs through the body of blue space aliens, but it's still a heart. Tony knows the fragility and intimacy of having it out in the open like this. He looks away.

"You didn't deserve that."

"I know," she agrees but her voice cracks even as she slides the literal door to her heart back in place. Tony learns to hate Thanos even more. They don't speak again until the new arm is easier for her to handle comfortably enough to finish the mission.

Tony remembers a time where he was sure there was only the next mission, now he's sitting around preparing for the last mission and hoping everyone can make it out in one piece. Harley had texted him that morning that he was sleeping in the shed because the house still felt like a ghost town. And the rest of the team has already called to let them know that they're back in Wakanda.

He walks Nebula to the garage with an arm around her shoulders, stopping only when they're behind the ExCon Security van. He moves away then to go and start up the vehicle, listening to the buzz of the machine in the back conking to life. He steps back out of the van, slamming the door and walking over to where Nebula is trying not to show how completely terrified she is.

"You don't have to do this," Tony says and even though it hurts, he means it. He's not about to force her to put her life on the line no matter how many lives it could save. It's not up to him.

"Yes," she says surer than he's ever seen her, "I do."

Without any further notice, she's flicking the switch on her arm and she's swallowed into the tunnel in seconds. Tony stands, holding his breath and he doesn't know why he's so nervous besides the fact that that's his kid in there and he doesn't know what it'll take for him to stop adopting every kid he comes into contact with, but he's an only child and he's always wanted a big family. Wanted to prove somehow that he wasn't like Howard no matter how scared he'd been to be be wrong.

Tony's pacing back and forth trying to force himself to recall how long it'll take for her to come back. They've been over the plan enough for it to be etched into his brain, but he can't seem to remember. Why can't he remember? Why isn't she back yet? Why isn't he breathing? He opens his mouth in panic and sucks in a gulp of air. He doesn't know how long he's been on his knees learning how to breathe again when the machine starts to thrum and clank before finally spitting Nebula back out. He doesn't know if it's the lack of oxygen in his brain or the residual energy still shifting through her arm, but she's glowing.

"Let's go," says Nebula, head held high for the first time since Titan. Her strength, Tony realizes after months of knowing her, is more than just the will to not give up. It's her will to do better every time. They're getting everyone back, because neither of them will rest until it's done. He forces another gust of air into his lungs before standing.

The walk to the restored Benatar is full of a quiet tension Tony hasn't felt since that first Avengers' team meeting years ago. Back before he had ever properly met Peter or Harley or even knew about aliens other than Thor. He sucks in a breath through his nose, holding it for a few seconds before releasing it out his mouth. When he takes a peek over at Nebula she still looks confident in her resolve even when the idea of her getting hurt is chipping away at Tony's.

They board the ship easier than they had gotten off of it and they take their seats, still habit after months away from the helm of a ship that doesn't even belong to them. They direct it out of the garage and onto the lawn. With the push of a few buttons the engine is humming to life and it only takes a sharp push and pull on the lever for them to finally take off into the atmosphere.

Tony thinks about how they've all been living a nightmare. Even with the good moments bleeding in, nothing was really the way it was supposed to be. They were finally going to fix it.

He takes a breath.

-§-

hey futher muckers
how goes it?

i dont really have anything to say today so uhhh i hope you lot enjoyed this, as always
and lemme know if there's anything in particular you really liked or disliked?

love y'all 3000

-- angel janeé xoxo 💋