Work Text:
The night is quiet with only the soft sounds of waves hitting the shore. Stars twinkle above the beach with the moon lighting up the sand and the creatures that inhabit it. The occasional sound of dripping water could be heard from a large house that sat upon a sheer cliff. It had rained recently leaving the air fresh and moist. Leftover clouds drifted over head the house briefly leaving it in darkness before the moon is uncovered again.
The house itself is rather pretty with its stark white walls and soft curves. It hung a little over the cliff causing any to see it to worry if it would fall. Inside was what you would expect for any rich person’s home. Large living room, large couch, large… well everything.
But downstairs is where things become less normal. Under the house sat a highly technical laboratory. Bright blue holograms swirled around the room like an ocean with the person commanding it sitting in the middle. His head was in his hand with the other swiping items aside with almost careless flicks of the wrist. He was slouching, head tilted down, shoulders bowed, and legs spread slightly. Many would be appalled at the picture the man created, ‘no way’ they would deny ‘that isn’t Tony Stark. Man who threw a party just last weekend’. He paused a second to yawn before returning to his task.
“Sir, I would like to remind you sleeping is a necessary bodily function that you have neglected for the last thirty-six hours now” A voice chimed in from hidden speakers in the walls.
“Sleep is for the weak J” The tired man mumbled out, eyes still glued to the images floating in front of him.
“Sleep is for the healthy” Jarvis corrected but he didn’t push further.
Tony continued to search for a couple more minutes before straightening up. More awake than he was a second ago, he tapped on the folder he found and multiple saved audio files popped up. Tapping on the one that had been opened recently he sat back and listened as his voice played over the speakers.
Nothing, there was no reason for Director Fury to have opened this file. The most notable thing Nick could have wanted is what he finally ended up building the suit out of. A Google search would have given him that particular piece of information. Tony leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily.
“That was the last file he opened. What was he looking for?!”
The AI didn’t reply.
Tony tapped the file again. And again. And again. Frustrated he accepted the fact that maybe Fury hadn’t found what he had looked for in the time he had access to Tony’s computer. No longer having a goal with his night, having finished his earlier projects, he got up from his chair. He cracked his back and looked forlorn at the empty mug at his desk. Jarvis had shut down the coffee machine for the night and wouldn’t be turning it back on until Tony got some sleep.
“Sir”
“Yeah, yeah I’m going”
Swiping at the holos, he moved the ones Fury had touched into a new folder to look over again a different time. Or check for bugs and viruses, you could never be to careful with that guy. He started moving toward the door and only stumbled once before getting to the handle. Looking back once sadly he opened it and step out toward his bedroom. Maybe things would start making sense in the morning.
~~
Tony didn’t much sleep that night. Between his crippling nightmares and the issue at hand, his brain did not want to cooperate with this frivolous thing called sleep. Still some sleep is better than no sleep. Or at least that is what Tony tries to tell himself as he yawns into his first cup of coffee. Somehow he is more tired today than he was last night.
Stepping into the lab he can’t help but smile when You and Dummy come rushing forward to greet him. He could hear Butterfingers beeping somewhere further back in his shop. Giving them a fond pat on the head he heads back to his chair to take another look at the files.
Scrolling through them yields the same results as they did last night. He is at the last file when something catches his attention. It is a reply to an observation he had made after he had tested his Mark 3 suit for the first time.
“A very astute observation, sir. Perhaps, if you intend to visit other planets, we should improve the exosystems.”
“Hey Jarvis”
“Yes Sir” Jarvis replied with as much confidence as any would when Tony Stark came upon some inspiration.
“How plausible do you think a space suit is?”
Jarvis would reflect on this later musing how this hadn’t even been one of Mr.Starks’ worst ideas. How anyone would have thought a transformer coffee maker was a good idea was beyond him.
~~
Tony started this project like any other project he did, with the most fun and difficult task that is in the way of his goal. Specifically actually making it up into space. Alive. He had a few good ideas too. Since the suit weighed less than any rocket NASA had ever launched, he wouldn’t need nearly that much power. A few extra arc reactors in the suit could easily fix that problem. His repulsors didn’t require oxygen to operate so being able to maneuver in space wasn’t his main problem. In order to survive in space he would need a pressured atmosphere like earth’s or else his skin would expand, the fluids in his body would boil, the air from his lungs would be stolen faster than a sneeze, and he would be dead in only a few minutes. He didn’t want a huge suit with air storage taking up most of the space.
“Sir if I can be of assistance I found an interesting article on the MIT website about space suits that have technology that can help to you.” Jarvis cut in
Tony looked up from his page of notes and turned towards a holo.
“Pull it up for me J”
A website popped up displaying a skin-tight white suit fitted for the female body. Curiosity peaked Tony read through the article and grinned. This is what he was looking for.
~~
Tony worked through most of the day, only taking breaks for lunch or when he needed to go to the bathroom. But finally by the end of the day he has a plan for locking up the coils so the suit would stay fitted to his body.
“What do you think Jarvis?’ Tony asks while spinning his 3D model checking for any errors in the design.
“Wonderful work as always Sir, shall I start constructing the materials needed to build the suit?”
“Yup, order the fabric necessary, Dummy!”
Said AI popped up from under a desk on a platform a few stairs up from the main floor.
“Come get me some coffee”
Dummy squealed with excitement and disappeared back under the desk. Tony shook his head in fund exasperation and turned back to his holo.
While waiting for a fresh pot of coffee to brew, Tony contemplates another big problem he has yet to start cracking into. The sun itself is a huge sphere of heat and radiation. Without the Earth’s magnetic shield life on this planet would be impossible. If he was, for some odd reason, outside of this shield he would receive the unforgiving radiation from the sun. He would need a different shield against the sun’s harmful radiation. Granted the Earth's shield lasts for miles, the situation is rare enough for this to not to become an issue. But this is a limit, Tony never liked limits. Ever since he was little Tony had his father telling him to do better. He would always build new things to show off to Howard, hoping he would finally pay attention to him. It always ended in disappointment and he could remember the day that he stopped trying as clearly as if it was yesterday. He had been twelve and only a few weeks away from going to college.
“Hey Dad?” Tony asked hesitantly, carefully stepping into his father’s workshop.
“What Tony?” The annoyed reply had come from somewhere in the corner under a pile of metal.
“I created some blueprints for an Idea I have and…” Tony paused
“And what!”
“And I was wondering if you would look it over with me”
Howard huffed and pushed himself out of what looked like the remnants of a car. He didn’t seem to notice the copper wires in his hair. Tony had to bite his check in an effort not to laugh. Walking over he handed them over to the impatient man. Howard hummed and flipped through the many pages of blueprints and loose papers. Every so often Howard would tisk and a frown was steadily making itself known.
The frown was still there when Howard lowered the papers. Tony fidgeted and snapped his fingers a couple of times.
“What is this?” Howard’s voice was low and dangerous
“The designs for a learning AI and its robotic body” Came the nervous reply
“You want me to waste my time looking over plans for an idea that is as childish as it is stupid?” It wasn’t a question
“God Tony I thought we got past this. Designing and programming robots isn’t profitable or in any way a good way to spend your time. You are going to college soon and you can’t afford to get distracted. Some day the CEO of Stark Industries will be you and I won’t allow you to drive the company that I built into the ground!” Howard ended his tiaraid by ripping the papers in half, then in half again and again until the papers were confetti on the ground. He turned away and went back to working on the car parts he had messed with earlier.
Tony stood still face tight and eyes wet. It seemed like days before he could convince his body to bend down and gather the pieces of paper with jerky motions. Holding the ruined plans close to his chest as not to lose a single piece he walked as straight-backed as possible. Stark are made of Iron, he wouldn’t cry. He opened the lab door and walked out. He would not cry. The urge to sniff became harder to ignore. He walked faster.
He would not cry. Starks are made of Iron.
He passed Jarvis.
“Anthony”
He started to jog. The tears were coming at him harder. Snot started to drip from his nose. He started to sprint.
“SIR!”
Tony made it to the door his bedroom and threw himself in before slamming the door closed. Sliding back he put his head in his knees.
He wouldn’t cry. He Would Not Cry. Starks are made of Iron. He would not…
Salty water started to soak his jeans.
A chirpy beep brought Tony back from his musing with a startled jump.
“There better not be oil in here Dummy, I will send you off to the community college just down the street”
Tony looked into the cup and to his dismay it was nether coffee or oil.
“Did you just give me a mug of water!?”
Dummy cheeped in agreement and spun around, happy to have fixed Tony’s problem. Before Tony could even begin to order for a coffee Dummy rolled away happy that his job is done.
Tony looked down again.
“Thanks buddy, this is just what I asked for” Tony exclaimed sarcastically “Just some good H2O. One Hydrogen and t…”
Tony stopped and contemplated his problem again. The best way to deflect radiation was to run it into a particle of a similar size. Hydrogen just happens to block those particles extremely well. Excited and brimming with ideas, Tony sets down the mug. Fingers fly across the holo, Dummy’s incompetence is soon forgotten.