Better Days | MCU IronDad AU

Chapter 9 ▬ Nothing But Ashes

What are you doing here? No, stop. Go to youtube, go watch watch the trailer for "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" and cry over Bucky and Sam's chemistry. Go watch the trailer for "What If...?" and cry over that otherworldly animation. Go watch the trailer for "Loki" and cry over his mischievous non-dead adventures. GO, GO WATCH THOSE TRAI---

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— CHAPTER NINE —
NOTHING BUT ASHES

'NORMAN OSBORN!' Tony hollered as he crashed into the lobby of Oscorp Tower, glass shattering and metal creaking. His suit rippled like water, nanotech shifting in waves, to deflect smaller particles, a starburst of shards and metal and blazing blue light as he landed roughly on the tiled floors, cracking the smooth ground beneath him.

People screamed at the sight of Iron Man, murderous and cloaked in scarlet, trudging towards them. Security guards shouted and flashed up their guns, their barrels pointed straight at him. Tony couldn't care less. Tony didn't care less. All that ran through his mind was Peter is here, he's in this building, Osborn has him, he's going to hurt him.

The lobby of Oscorp Tower was simplistic – simple white floors, simply green potted plants, simple brown tables and chairs, simple everything. Even the people looked simple – they didn't wear anything extravagant, other than their normal clothes hidden under their white lab coats. Their expressions, however, were far from simple; they were twisted with fear.

One man shuffled between security and up to Tony, figure hunched in fright as he stuttered, 'U-Um, Mr. Stark? That you?'

'Do you see any other people flying in Iron Man suits lately?' Tony asked, his voice flat and knife-sharp through his helmet. He only hoped the faceplate could express the rage boiling in his blood.

The man cowered, his bald head reflecting the light from the windows. 'I-I-I see,' he said, voice wavering. 'Why don't— why don't you just, just, step out of the suit—'

'Where is Norman Osborn?' Tony asked him, gauntleted fingers curling. 'Where is he?'

'Mr. Osborn?' The man looked up in fear and confusion. 'He's— he's going out today. Has some conference downtown, I think.'

'Where?' Tony pressed. He took a step forward, and security cocked and loaded their guns, yelling at him to take a step back. Tony didn't. 'Tell him to get back here, I'm not moving until he gets his self-absorbed face into his own damn building so we can have a talk like normal businessmen.'

There were phones out, the flashlights flickering as they recorded Iron Man throw petty remarks. People were murmuring all around him – what does he want? Why is Iron Man here? The Accords must have made him snap. Their words were curious, but Tony tried to not let them faze him. He was here for one thing, and one thing only.

It was a standoff, a silence so painfully thick it was bound to choke people. So quiet a feather could be heard fluttering in the breeze. Quietly, Tony whispered to his suit, 'Fri, get me a scan of the building's floor plans. Find that room, now.'

'On it, Boss,' F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied just as quietly. She set to work quickly, running through scans of every room on the forty-second floor, as they had previously found, on side of the HUD as Tony stood rigidly in the centre of the lobby. He could hear someone make a call to Osborn himself from the front desk, only to put it down and look at it with worry a moment later.

It only took a minute when suddenly the crowd of people parted. Tony raised his head a little, the suit's HUD zooming in on the person who strode towards him.