Always Been You | Tony Stark

Captiolo (4) Quattro ~ Helping Hand

Tony had called me early the next morning, saying how he needed help with something. When I questioned him more on what exactly I was helping him with and why Pepper couldn't do it, he said Pepper was in some meeting for him with the company, and I needed to help him with the glowy thing I saw the other day.

That piqued my interest, so I quickly changed out of the pajamas I never changed out of and made my way downstairs to Tony's workshop.

When I got down there, I saw Tony threw the glass wall, laying shirtless on a medical chair with a glowing disc protruding from the center of his chest and wires hooked to him. I quickly put in my code to enter, making my way over to the man.

"Hey, that was fast! How big are your hands? Show me."

I silently walked over, staring at the glowing disc in his chest.

"What is that?"

"That, oh nothing." He waved off. "It's just the thing that used to be keeping me alive."

"What?!" I shrieked.

"Yeah, just don't worry about it. It'll make you more anxious for this." He looked down at my hands. "Oh wow. You have small hands, very petite."

"What is this? What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to help me swap this out for an upgrade." He looked down at the glowing object in his hand. "The one in me is an antique. Needs a replacement that wasn't made in a cave. I ran into a little speed bump, though, so I need your help."

"Speed bump, what does that mean?" I furrowed my eyebrows, confused.

"It's nothing. It's just a little snag. There's an exposed wire under this device." He slowly started to pull the old device from his chest. "And it's contacting the socket wall and causing a little bit of a short." He fully pulled the device out, handing it over to me.

"What do you want me to do..?"

"Put it on the table over there. That is irrelevant." I grabbed the device, cringing a bit at the fact that it was inside his chest just a moment ago, before putting it on the small table as instructed.

"I just want you to reach in, and you're just gonna gently lift the wire out."

"Is it safe?"

"Yeah, it should be fine. It's like Operation, you just don't let it touch," He used his finger to motion towards the silver disc still in his chest. "The socket wall or it goes "beep."

"Seriously, you're comparing this to Operation?" I gawked.

"Do you not want to think of it like that? What about thinking of it like disabling a bomb? You've done that before I think, at least for training?" I nodded my head. "Yeah, see. You've got this. Just gently lift the wire. Okay?"

"Okay." I hesitantly said.

"Okay."

I slowly started to move my hand towards the gaping hole in his chest before pulling away.

"Are you sure I should be doing this? Why can't you get a professional?" I rattled off, my nerves getting to me.

"Avery you can do this. You are the most qualified, trustworthy person I have ever met. You're gonna do great." He reassured me. "Is it too much of a problem to ask? Cause if so, just think of it as repayment."

"Repayment, repayment for what?"

"For the leg. Lots of people would kill for a free Stark Industries leg made by the Tony Stark. Not to mention you also are getting free housing." He joked.

"Hey, I thought you were doing that out of the kindness of your heart!" I tried and failed not to smile.

"No way. I don't have a heart. Now, can we please get on with this, 'cause I'm..."

"Oh, right."

"I really need your help here."

I took a deep breath, slowly putting my hand threw the hole in Tony's chest.

"Oh gross what is that?" I cringed.

"It's an inorganic plasmic discharge from the device, it's not from my body." He groaned, seemingly feeling me in his chest.

"It smells!" I complained.

"What do bombs not usually have inorganic plasmic discharge and smell bad?" Tony jokingly asked, trying to calm me.

"Not the ones I've been around!" I let out a small chuckle.

"It's the copper wire, you got it?"

"Okay, I got it! I got it!" I nodded

"Now don't let it touch the sides when it's coming out."

"I'm not! I'm not!" I said, slowly pulling the wire out.

"Okay, now make sure that when you pull it out, you don't pull the magnet with it."

"Okay, okay." I slowed when listening, making sure I wasn't about to do something I wasn't supposed to.

"Okay, do you see the magnet?"

"Yes." I nodded.

"Okay so what I need you to do is put the wires of this through the magnet, and then attach that bottom part to the base plate. Make sure you..." He trailed off as I worked, yelling out when I connected it, slowly putting the device in his chest.

"Was that so hard? That was fun, right? Remind you of your time in the Force? Here, I got it. I got it. Here." He rambled, making sure the device was in properly. "Nice."

"Are you okay?" I asked, holding my hand u and spreading my fingers apart as there was gross discharge on them.

"Yeah, I feel great. You okay?" He started laughing.

"You have a funny way of making a girl repay you for her fake leg," I smirked. "What do you want me to do with this?" I looked down at the old device, picking it up.

"That?" He looked over. "Destroy it. Incinerate it." He tapped the one in his chest.

"You don't want to keep it?"

"Avery, I've been called many things. "Nostalgic" is not one of them."

I paused thinking about what he said for a moment.

"Are you going to tell me how these things work?" I pointed between the one in my hand and the one in his chest.

"Their mini Arc Reactors. My dad and Stain worked on creating a larger one way back when, but couldn't ever get it to work." Tony moved around the workshop, grabbed a shirt off one of the desks, and started putting it on.

"But you did? And in a cave?" I asked, looking down at the reactor in my hands. I remember Tony telling me all about the large Arc Reactor when he first showed me around Stark Industries compound. It was truly fascinating.

"Yep. And with scraps they had from my weapons. Hey, Butterfingers, come here." He snapped to one of his helper robots. "What's all this stuff doing on top of my desk? That's my phone, that's a picture of me and my dad. Right there. In the garbage. All that stuff."

"Tony." I grabbed his attention, seeing how he didn't really want to be thinking of the object keeping him alive at the moment. "I'm really happy your back.

"And leave you to deal with Rhody all on your own? Not a chance."

I smiled at the joke.

"No, we couldn't have that. That is torture no single ordinary person could ever endure." I jokingly added, starting to walk to the door.

"Good thing you're not ordinary and only 80% a person." I heard Tony jokingly yell out as I left.