Chapter Text
“Boss?” The voice was so tentative that the accent was almost completely gone, even as the woman standing before Tony looked down at herself. “What is happening?”
“Not again.” Tony muttered under his breath, but then she looked up at him with bright, unnaturally purple eyes and he saw the fear. “Shit!” He jumped up and… forget Ultron, Vision, the Mind Stone. This was his girl. When he reached her he stopped, a hand reaching out and…
She stumbled forward on legs she had never used, a cold hand latching onto him and Tony reacted on instinct. He stepped closer, gathered her up, and felt her weight against his arms and chest. Her feet tangled so he wrapped an arm around her naked waist, holding her up until she could gather them under herself again.
“What’s happenin’?” At least her accent was resurfacing over the fear. “My… my processor…”
“…brain…” he supplied even as she continued to speak.
“…is accessing too much stimuli.” She was still staring with wide eyes, her gaze locked somewhere around his chest where one of her arms was curled, probably uncomfortably.
“Here, let’s sit you down.”
“I…” she stuttered but then her head jerked in weird approximation of a nod.
Tony considered his usual chair, but it had no back and she probably needed all the support she could get. He turned to the sofa in the corner of his workshop and practically dragged the woman over. When they were both sitting down, Tony deemed it safe to release her. She leaned towards his body automatically, so he kept the hand around her waist.
“It… I feel something.” She was looking down at her hands again. Her fingers were relaxed but constantly twitching, as if typing on a moving keyboard. Her chin was jerking in random directions from time to time, and the closer Tony looked, he noticed her entire body shivering.
“I am not sure if it’s the air in general you’re feeling or…” he started speaking even as he reached over her shoulders to collect the blank laid on the back of the sofa.
“Boss?” The question was as tentative as the first time she asked it and when he looked down, she was finally looking at him.
“Relax.” He unfolded the blanked and draped it over her shoulders, pulling her closer so she was practically sitting in his lap. “We’ll figure this out.”
“It… I don’t like it.”
“Don’t like what, girl?”
“The temperature. It is so much.”
“Too warm?”
“I register 75 degrees fahrenheit in the room.”
“Well, you are hot.” He tried for a grin, joking with her even as he tried to process what was happening.
The look she gave him was an exact replica of Pepper, when she was exasperated with him but still not tired of his bullshit. It must have been recorded somewhere in her data-banks. After a moment the shivering started subsiding and he felt the heat radiate off her body. There was no mind stone, no Ultron, no cradle to create her body. One second they were working together on that book asshole-Strange dropped off and then–
“Boss?” She questioned, and it sounded like she had repeated the word a few times. Tony zoned back in and felt a tentative touch against his chest. The scars from the operation were completely numb but the skin around them was extremely sensitive. He reached up to grab her fingers. They still felt cold compared to his own skin.
“What is it Fri?”
“I feel something?”
“Wanna try to describe it?” He leaned back a little, pulling her slight frame with him as he settled more comfortably into the sofa. He needs to call that Strange asap and get this fixed. What if she was feeling pain?
“According to my data, the symptoms I am registering in my own hardware…”
“…body…” her voice was trembling and her body soon followed, fingers twitching irritably in his and fear tainting her voice.
“…are consistent with those you–you st-started ex-expe-experiencing a-a-a-after the b-b-bat-attle of New–New York.” She could barely finish the sentence with her stuttering, her body automatically curving further up, knees hitting his elbow as she tried to make herself as small as possible.
Fuck. She was having a panic attack! Tony let go of her arms and she clutched tight, short nails digging into the sensitive skin around his scars. He wrapped his arms around her and heaved, her entire body moving until she was curled sideways into his lap, her weight settling on the cushions between his spread legs.
“Shh…” he wrapped her tight and tucked her head under his chin. Her hair was pink, he just noticed, a stylish cut to it leaving it shorter on one side and trailing almost to her naked breasts on the other. “I’m here, Fri.” He started shushing, trying to remember everything he read, but never did, to stave off a panic attack. Her shaking intensified and it seemed like she was having problems breathing.
“My–my– I c-can’t get… elec-elec-p-power is not… running-reaching…” she gasped out and he easily translated that the electric sparks she was so used to running her server were now air needed for her new lungs to function. Her head started jerking more, a strange movement that seemed more robotic than human… and considering who exactly he was holding in his arms, it made sense.
Hold your breath. He remembered scoffing when he read that. The last thing you wanted to do when you felt like you couldn’t breathe was to try and actively not breathe. But he tilted her chin up, looking into those eyes that made him think of the amethyst earrings Maria used to love wearing, and felt his own eyes well up in sympathetic tears. She started crying, doing nothing to hide it and her breath was hitching more. Tony reacted quickly, leaning down to lock his lips over the plush pair that never should have existed as a physical thing.
She stopped, her breath gone completely, her body stilling as if frozen, except for her head, which Tony held with a firm grip on her chin. After a few moments, the jerks of her chin stopped too and he let go. When he pulled back and opened his eyes –when had he closed them?– her lips were still parted and her own eyes closed.
“How’s it now?”
“All functions running at normal parameters.” She replied and he recognized the cocky tilt of her voice when she was teasing him. The curl at one corner of her lips only solidified her words. She was fine.
“Good.”
“What was that?”
“Come now, Fri. You’ve seen more than your fair share both on the net and here in the workshop.” He grinned teasingly and she finally opened her eyes. “All functions running properly?”
“Yes, boss.” She sounded normal and Tony pulled back a little to assess her. She seemed fine.
“Wanna call the Asshole?” He didn’t want to say it, maybe she needed to experience this a little longer, whatever this was. But Vision was floating at the edges of his mind again and that made him think of Ultron and at the end of the day Friday was his creation.
“Sure, boss.” She smiled tentatively and there was no hurt on her face at all. “As pleasurable as that was, and I do admit it was a nice experience, I prefer to return to where I am meant to be.”
“You know you don’t have to, right? Just… we should let him know what is happening but you can stay like this a while longer.”
“Sure, boss.” She smiled again and snuggled closer into his chest. When Tony looked down his noticed her eyes darkening, a dark film falling over the beautiful purple. “Calling Dr. Strange, now.”
“Do a video call, Fri.” Tony grinned, turning her slightly so her shoulder and back were into his chest, facing the computers where he was sitting when all of this started.
“Tony?” although the voice was obviously male and belonging to the asshole-supreme himself, Tony watched in fascination as Friday’s plush lips moved to form the words. “Are you already done– what!? What are you–”
“Ah.” Tony finally looked up at the screen. After noticing the camera in the bottom corner he realized that Friday’s naked body was almost completely on display to the asshole-pervert. “We have a problem.”
“What pro… wait… why is she…?”
“Strange, meet Friday.” He gestured towards her even as he pulled the blanket from her shoulder to try and give her some modesty. “You are currently talking through her, and though it is kind of creepy… that is not my main concern here.”
“The book, I take it.”
“I don’t know what else it could be.”
The asshole huffed as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. “I’ll do some research into it, but I won’t be able to make it to New York for at least another week.”
Tony thought about it. Could he hide Friday from the Avengers for a week? Rhodey and Vision? No way. Maybe Vision could actually help. Good thing Captain-I’m-Always-Right wasn’t fighting his way back to the US yet. “Done.”
“And… Friday?” Asshole-supreme seemed tentative. “I do apologize for any inconvenience, but I do have to admire your creator’s imagination.”
“Thank you Dr. Strange.”
“See you soon, Dr. Asshole.” Tony waved, a reflex reaction to Friday to turn the call off. For a moment, he wasn’t sure if it would be accepted, but the video screen disappeared and then those amethyst eyes were looking back up at him.
“Alright,” he smiled down at her. “We have a week to figure this humanity crap out. Fair warning, it sucks.”
“Yes, boss.”
“That’s my girl.” Tony smiled and tucked her head under his chin again, placing a kiss on the surprisingly soft hair under his nose.