Cold-Blooded

[]Chapter 11[]

A hundred years after my terrible action, I woke to the same cold world I knew before I had slept. Nothing ever truly changed in the Arctic, no matter what year it is or who inhabits the Earth.

Which brought me to my next thought. Bruce. My heart trilled with the thought of his cheesy laugh, and I began to wallow in memories and thoughts of the past; of the future.

That is, if he used my gift. I had left it for all of them, a rare bottle that would never be seen again. It was a vile of immortality, of course. I couldn't go on living through my dreary existence without even trying to get them to live it with me.

If they hadn't accepted it, I was still curious as to if S.H.I.E.L.D. remembered me and what I had done for them. I certainly had kept them in mind, but then again- a hundred years is much longer for humans than it is to me.

Then I remembered that Thor and Loki were both immortal, so at least I could search for them if all else fails and they aren't at Headquarters. It couldn't possibly be that hard to find two godlings.

That brought me to my next question. How was I supposed to find the floating fortress; if it even exists anymore? My most reasonable plan- get them to find me.

So, I suited up into my white suit and pulled the mask over my face, and finally set out across the plane of swirling flurries- which ended up being about thirty feet of snow as well. I was forced to resort to transportation if I wanted to make it to civilization before nightfall.

~*~

"Holy shit." I whispered, gazing up at the clean steel buildings, surprised that next to nothing had changed- with the exception of flying cars that only the rich could afford. That last part about the whole rich thing wasn't too much of a shocker though.

Stark Tower stood tall and proud amongst the rest of the city's buildings, and I decided this was my best shot of getting anywhere. Tony or his descendants could probably tell me a thing or two.

I jogged across the pavement in the direction of the Tower, laughing, as I leapt over cars and got rewarded with angry looks and several middle fingers. The whole thing was invigorating though.

I rang the crystal bell, chuckling at the extravagant use of money. It certainly spoke numbers about the people who resided in this building. They were obviously still rich, whoever they were.

A non-aged Tony arrived at the door, face lighting up at the sight of me. He pulled me into a hug, then patted my back lightly and stepped back. "Wasn't sure if I'd see you again, but I decided to take the potion anyway. Immortality sounded pretty damn good."

I chuckled. "You haven't hanged at all, Tony," was my reply, as I stepped inside and followed Tony across the brightly lit foyer, towards the elevator, while he continued to chatter meaninglessly.

After a moment of silence, he turned to me. "Clint and Natasha did not take the vial, but Bruce, Fury, Steve, and I did. Loki and Thor were already immortal of course," he informed me.

I let out a strong sigh. "That's good to hear, but it's also sad to learn about Clint and Natasha. Did they get together?" My mind was on Bruce, but I had to pay my respects to my deadly departed friends, as I assumed they were no longer living.

Tony nodded. "Yes. They married, had four adorable kids, and died twenty years ago." I nodded my head, this was very good to hear. I was happy for them, they had always seemed perfect for each other.

"And the others.....?" I questioned. Tony laughed once as the doors dinged open and he walked into the kitchen, with me trailing behind him. He grabbed a bottle off of the wall and began to pour it into a cup.