"Your father was a great man. It was an honor to serve under him."
Tony's words made the smile on Nick Fury's face freeze awkwardly.
"Serve under him, huh."
Tony nodded.
Now that he put it that way, everything made perfect sense.
"..."
Looking at Tony's perfectly matter-of-fact expression, the fake smile on Nick's face became a little harder to maintain.
How had Tony Stark managed to be every bit as irritating as his father, Howard Stark?
"So where exactly is this place?"
After looking around at the surroundings, and then glancing at Fenris, who had somehow already made himself comfortable on a nearby couch, Yinsen instinctively moved closer to him and lowered his voice. Since Fenris was the only person here he actually knew, he asked quietly.
"SHIELD. A special independent agency. That bald guy is the one in charge."
Fenris answered openly, not caring in the slightest that Nick Fury was standing right there. "It's a special agency with special responsibilities, and since it's based in Washington, it's always fighting with other departments over one thing or another."
"And that bald guy's a little black-hearted, so you should probably keep your distance from him."
As the man who had truly set Iron Man on his path, Dr. Yinsen was a genuinely kind, warm-hearted person with a conscience. To keep him from getting talked into something by Nick Fury later on because of Tony, Fenris offered the warning in good faith.
"I see."
Yinsen nodded, fully convinced.
"Fenris!"
Nick, who had been talking to Tony about something off to the side, suddenly whipped his head around.
He might have been an ordinary man, but he was not hard of hearing. Was Fenris talking that loudly because he wanted to make absolutely sure he heard every word?
"Director Fury, I kept my end of the bargain and brought Tony Stark back to you. As for your side of the deal, make sure the nuclear fuel you promised me gets delivered to the school as soon as possible."
Fenris raised a brow and smoothly changed the subject.
"...Fine."
Nick got angry for a second, then clenched his teeth and nodded.
The benefit had already been put right in front of him. So what if he had to bleed a little?
He could live with it.
"Hill, Tony Stark is back. Make the arrangements and have a doctor perform a full examination."
Nick pressed a button on the desk. "Then contact Stark's secretary and driver. Inform them of the news and tell them to prepare to bring their boss home."
"Understood."
Hill answered crisply from the other end.
"I'm afraid that won't be necessary. I do not need to be examined by your people."
The atmosphere had still been relatively cordial just moments earlier, but the instant he heard the word examination, Tony's face went cold. He refused flatly, with no room whatsoever for negotiation.
Tony knew his own physical condition better than anyone. At this point, his life was being sustained entirely by the Arc Reactor in his chest.
Aside from a very small number of people, he had no intention of letting anyone else know that.
And beyond that, Tony did not trust this so-called SHIELD at all, even if the man in front of him claimed he had once worked under Howard Stark.
"I also don't need you contacting Pepper or Happy. I can get back on my own."
After a short pause, Tony looked at Nick Fury's expressionless face and added the second refusal.
As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Fenris, who was calmly drinking tea off to the side as though none of this had anything to do with him.
"Fenris. That is your name, right?"
"Since you've already helped this much, would you mind finishing the job and taking me back?"
At first, Tony had assumed Fenris was a SHIELD operative. If that had been the case, then any plan to get close to him would have required much more careful thought.
But from the exchange just now, Tony had clearly picked up on something. Fenris had shown this so-called SHIELD director absolutely no respect at all.
That meant the two of them were at the very least equals. Possibly Fenris outranked him in practical terms.
"Sure."
It would not take much time either way, so Fenris accepted without much thought.
"Wait a second!"
Just as the three of them were about to leave, Nick suddenly spoke up from the side.
"Fenris, I've got no problem if Stark doesn't want my goodwill, but you still have to tell me the details of the rescue."
"Otherwise, I've got no way to explain it to the others."
"Explain it?"
Fenris blinked, apparently not having considered that part.
Nick was quiet for a moment. "SHIELD isn't a charity. Everything we do needs funding. If I can't explain it, how is that supposed to work?"
"Fine. When my stuff is ready, call me."
Fenris waved a hand.
The next moment, the three of them vanished from Nick's office.
"Crook."
Looking at the now empty office, Nick resentfully pressed the button again.
"Hill, tell the doctors they won't be needed after all."
"And the batch of highly enriched uranium I asked for earlier, is it ready yet? Push them. The moment it's ready, contact me directly."
...
Stark Tower, top floor.
Fenris had no idea what Tony's home actually looked like, but he had at least seen Stark Tower, one of New York's landmarks, so he simply opened the portal above the building.
"Why are we in midair?"
"Ahhh!"
The sudden sensation of weightlessness hit without warning. Neither Tony nor Yinsen had expected that one step through the portal would lead to open air.
Panicking, both men grabbed onto Fenris's arms for dear life.
"Relax."
Fenris grinned, caught hold of both of them, and drifted gently down toward the top of the tower.
Thump.
Only when they landed lightly did Tony finally come back to himself.
Seeing the familiar surroundings, his eyes lit up. He strode quickly toward the upper floor.
"Pepper?"
Tony called out eagerly.
"Sir, welcome home."
The doors responded with a warm male voice after recognizing Tony. "Are you looking for Miss Potts? I have already informed Miss Potts that you have returned. She will be here shortly."
"Your complexion appears to be somewhat poor. The bathroom and medical center have already been prepared. You may wash up first and then undergo a full physical examination."
"It is good to see you again after three months, sir."
"Thanks, JARVIS. That is exactly what I needed."
The sound of JARVIS's voice finally let the tension Tony had been carrying begin to loosen.
"Where is Pepper right now?"
"Miss Potts is on the sixty-sixth floor."
JARVIS answered at once.
"Good. That's great..."
The moment he heard that, Tony suddenly let out a breath and his pace slowed. His body began to sway.
After more than three months of crushing pressure, he was finally back in the place most familiar to him. Hearing JARVIS's voice again, and learning that Pepper was here, finally pushed his mind past its limit.
"That's great..."
He murmured something softly, and then the swaying grew worse and worse until everything went black and he lost consciousness completely.
"Tony!"
Seeing that something was wrong, Yinsen immediately ran toward him, but another figure moved first and caught Stark before he could hit the floor.
"He should be okay. I think he's just exhausted and passed out."
Yinsen gave him a quick examination and let out a breath of relief.
"But he needs surgery as soon as possible. Otherwise Tony really won't be able to hold on much longer... I just don't know when he'll wake up."
"Surgery as soon as possible?"
Fenris thought for a moment. Then sparks began to burst through the space ahead of them once again.
"Come with me. There's someone who should be able to save him."
(End of Chapter)
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