ripped at every edge (but you're a masterpiece) (Hp x Mcu) by Lissy

Chapter 14: your eyes, they shine so bright

Summary:

Hari meets the bots.

Chapter title:
Demons - Imagine Dragons

Notes:

Timeline:
[x] (2012) The Avengers
[x] (2013) Iron Man 3
[x] (2013) We are here
[ ] (2013) Thor: The Dark World
[ ] (2014) Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Guardians of the Galaxy; Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2
[ ] (2015) Avengers: Age of Ultron; Ant-Man
[ ] (2016) Captain America: Civil War; Spider-Man: Homecoming
[ ] (2017) Doctor Strange; Black Panther; Thor: Ragnarok
[ ] (2018) Avengers: Infinity War

Hari hopes her hand isn't too sweaty. She chews on the inside of her lip a little, feels her heart fluttering wildly in her chest. Tony doesn't seem to be nervous; he looks completely nonchalant as he leads her to his workshop in the tower, humming a little. His fingers are entwined with hers, and the warm, solid weight of it is comforting, keeps her grounded.

"DUM-E might try to give you a smoothie, but I actually like you, so please don't drink it," Tony says mildly. "If it weren't for JARVIS, I might have died from accidental poisoning a long time ago. I probably should keep the motor oil away from him, but making smoothies just makes him so happy."

Hari laughs. "DUM-E is your oldest, right?"

"He came online back in, oh, I think it was 1986. I was 16, and I wanted to be the first person to create any sort of artificial intelligence. He's a learning bot, so sometimes he helps me in the lab," Tony explains. His smile turns soft. "He saved my life once, you know. Back when I, uh, needed that arc reactor in my chest. To make a long and horrible story short, I needed to put my old reactor in, but I couldn't reach it. DUM-E could, and he gave it to me."

Hari squeezes his hand. "I'm glad," she says softly.

Tony clears his throat. "Next came U, who also helps in the lab. He likes to play with the fire extinguishers. And then came Butterfingers. Despite being the only bot with two arms, he constantly drops things. JARVIS is my last. He's...incredible, really. My first fully functional artificial intelligence. The other bots can still learn and be taught how to do things, but JARVIS seems to have a greater understanding of human behavior and other subjects that are just beyond my other boys. He may not have a body, but he is as human as anyone else."

"I certainly can't wait to meet them," Hari says happily.

"Good, because we're here," Tony says as he steps out of the elevator. He leads her down a long hallway. The door at the end opens automatically, and before she can get nervous again, he's tugging her into his workshop.

Hari stares at it, wide-eyed and awestruck. It looks like something out of a sci-fi movie, high-tech gadgets and holographic screens pulled up. She is as breathless as she was the first time she entered Diagon Alley.

Because Tony's workshop is full of his own kind of magic.

"This is incredible," she whispers to him.

He seems pleased with her assessment, grins at her. "This is where I spend most of my time," he tells her. "I upgrade my suits, create new gadgets for Stark Industries, fiddle with whatever catches my eye."

Hari opens her mouth to speak, but she's cut off by electrical whirring. She turns her head and sees the bots wheeling towards them. They sound excited, beeping and making other noises that just seem so happy, similar to how Teddy and Scorpius used to rush her as soon as she got home, almost fighting with each other for her attention and kisses.

Well, it makes sense that Tony's kids are happy that he's home.

One of the bots beeps at her curiously, wheels forward slowly with one mechanical claw outstretched.