Who: Tony, Carol, and later Brandon Stark Where: Outside Stark Tower When: Tonight What: Fixing the stupid Infinity Stone Rating: Just for language, me thinks.
Tony had completely intended to skip his birthday and not mention it to anyone, but, once Sandra of all people realized what he'd done and let it pass without a word, she promptly booted both of her parents out of the tower and told them to have a good time. Which meant that, when they returned, Tony fully expected the place to either be full of even more people, completely trashed, or possibly just on fire.
Still, dinner was nice, and now he and Carol were walking back, chatting back and forth. "So, I'm still bewildered that, apparently, in the future, Rocket and Six somehow have a kid. Still scratching my head over that one."
While she was an Avenger, a Guardian of the Galaxy, and the hero known as Captain Marvel... tonight Carol Danvers looked like a supermodel. For Tony's birthday, they'd gone out to one of the most ridiculously expensive restaurants on Galador, and she'd been sure to get a special dress that was perfect for the occasion. As they walked back to Stark Tower, just chit-chatting as usual, she burst out laughing as Tony's choice of topic. "I know exactly what you're thinking.... and oh my god I hope it's not how it sounds."
She wasn't the only one who had gone all out. Tony had thrown on a suit and tie and everything. "I really had to stop myself from asking. I'm guessing some kind of donor situation, which just makes me curious all the more as to who." He only didn't ask because he knew that Rocket would eviscerate him, friends or not. "She talks JUST like him, though. It's eerie." Because Sandra didn't act like him at all. NOT AT ALL.
"Oh, she sounds adorable." Carol laughed, loving these moments when they weren't actively snarking at each other or being dicks to each other... they were just enjoying each other's company. "Besides... Sandra may look more like me, but she couldn't act more like you if she tried."
"To be fair, Sandra also can fire those blasts like you do, so she got SOMETHING else from you other than just your gorgeous looks," Tony pointed out. But yeah, Sandra was somehow mostly the more hyper version of him. It was scary. "Imagine what any other children of ours could act like, though."
"Excuse you..." Carol replied with a happy laugh, "I may have superpowers, but I don't have a healing factor. So you better watch how much childbirth-related punishment you put this body through, mister..."
He laughed, too. "As someone who never thought that they'd have the chance to have even one kid, I can safely say that ANY you're willing to give me is a blessing," he explained, slipping an arm around her waist. "I never thought I'd be a good parent. I'm still kind of amazed that I apparently helped raise a functional kid."
"You're a better man than you give yourself credit for. Hell... BOTH versions of you are. You need to give yourself a little more credit, Tony." She said, her tone soft enough for him to tell she was being serious, as opposed to the almost constant teasing they did to each other.
"I like to think that you make me want to be a better man," he replied, giving her a soft smile. Carol herself was why he had every intention of staying here, but throw in that they had a child together? Yeah, they were going to have to throw him out kicking and screaming.
"Jesus. You got lines like that at the ready. I never had a chance, did I?" She asked, only half-kidding, as she leaned into him as they walked. "Never thought anyone would turn me into a lovestruck schoolgirl... much less Tony Stark. No offense."
"It's not a line if it's true," he pointed out, tightening his hold when she leaned it. "And no one expects me to actually be charming. That's how I sneak under defenses."
"You know what? Why don't we go home now... and end this birthday in the best way possible?" She asked, adorably still flattered by his every compliment.
"I think that sounds like an amazing plan," Tony replied, stopping so that he could lean in to kiss her.
Of course, no sooner did they say that, when an explosion shook the entire park area. "What the hell...?" Carol grumbled, immediately spinning around. "Really? NOW?"
Tony spun around as well. "Goddamnit. I can't even get a break on my birthday!?" He was thinking that someone had picked TODAY to make an attack.
Carol flew ahead of Tony, hoping to give him enough time to armor up if needed. But when she got there.... what she saw threw her for one hell of a loop. "Tony? Um.... whatever just happened? We're not under attack. There's someone here. And I think.... I think it's you."
He had already sent a signal to have him armor fly to him, hidden gauntlet coming over one hand, only to pause when he heard Carol's voice. "What?" That wasn't what he was expecting. He ran over to where she was, trying to see just what in the hell was going on.
"Tony... this is pretty weird. And that's coming from someone who's seen a lot of shit." Carol mumbled, standing over what appeared to be, well... Iron Man.
The armored figure was on all fours, clearly winded, a little smoke coming from the armor itself. Armor which technically looked more advanced than what Tony himself wore.
Well, Tony was working on that advanced armor, OK!? Gauntlet only slightly lowered, he looked on in confusion. "Our lives are weird, Carol. Having another possible me show up is just a Tuesday." He sighed before frowning. "You can speak anytime, by the way," he said to the figure on the ground.
"S-Sorry..." The figure said finally, voice sounding a bit tinny from obviously damaged circuitry, but just clear enough to be able to tell it was a very young voice. "Not my fault... your time-travelling tech.... is total crap..."
"Oh, my time travel tech is totally crap? Getting real tired of hearing how much I suck from kids, you know," Tony grumbled, rolling his eyes. A man could only take so much! "Who are you, anyway?"
Slowly, he sat up, the helmet of the armor vanishing as if pixelating off of him. He was clearly a kid, with short black hair and intense eyes not unlike Tony. "I'm your son. Brandon Stark. Yeah. One guess who named me that, first one doesn't count."
Carol burst out laughing then. HARD. "Oh my god..... Tony, I somehow got you to let me name a kid after a Game of Thrones character."
Tony visibly relaxed as his own gauntlet went back into his watch, letting his arm drop down to his side. "Game of Thrones, really?" he asked, looking at Carol with a laugh. Why was he not surprised? "Wait a minute...you said my tech sent you here? Why are kids coming here en mass?"
"It's the stone, Dad." He said, starting to catch his breath. "It's busted up even worse than when all this started. We gotta fix it, at least a little... or it's gonna be a total freakin' catastrophe."
"Fantastic. Goddamn stone," Tony muttered under his breath. As grateful as he was to the thing for bringing him here, he wished that it would chill the hell out sometimes. "First thing's first, though, and that's checking on you. You look rough."
"Trust me... the way I came here.... not nearly as quick and painless as when the stone transfers you somewhere." Brandon said with a little tired smirk, groaning as he slowly got to his feet, bracing himself against a nearby tree. "Sorry about all this. Not exactly the way I wanted you guys to meet me..."
"Ok, first?"Carol chimed in, holding up an index finger for emphasis. "Just knowing you exist in any way is incredible. So... enough of that. Second? Let's just get you home with us, ok? We can get you patched up, get you some food..."
"No. Mom.... I can't. Not yet." He held up a small, triangular device, similar in style to the Tessaract from Tony's world. "This is what me and Dad made. It brought me here.... but it's also gotta be used now to fix the stone. And I don't know what it's gonna do. It could send us all back where we came from. It could trap us all here. It could send some back, and keep some here. Either way... I dont wanna start enjoying this until I know what's going on, and until I know I accomplished my mission."
"If it's that bad, I'm kind of amazed I didn't just insist upon coming myself," Tony admitted. Even if it was neat that he'd figured out a way to time travel in the future, he wasn't sure if people should be doing it on purpose. (Stone issues aside.)
Tony had to pause for a second, because hearing him say 'I don't know what it's going to do' but going to use it anyway just reminded him so much of himself that it caught him off guard. "Alright, well, first, fix the stone. THEN, unless you get sent back, food and patched up, OK?" Yeah, if the stone was screwing up worse, then they needed to fix it ASAP. "Even if I wouldn't hate getting to know you before you go back."
"Let's just say you had every intention of being here." Brandon said with a small, barely-perceptible smirk. "For now... just get me to where Cosmo keeps the stone. I need to get this over with before I lose my nerve."
Carol looked from Brandon to Tony and then back again, eyes full of concern. She didn't want to risk losing the boy so soon after meeting him... but she also knew he was right. "You just better not vanish on us, kid."
"I have the distinct impression that I'm sitting in the future with a broken nose or knocked out," Tony said with a huff. Yeah, OK, definitely his kid. He'd have done the same thing to someone else.
"Come on then. Let's take you to the stone and hope we don't accidentally unmake the universe or something."
"Alright..." Brandon nodded, taking a deep breath. "In a few minutes.... this device is gonna be used to fix the anomaly in the stone. So say hello AND goodbye to your greatest invention."