Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

On a day that was (so far) completely normal, Tony Stark was in his lab. Which was also pretty normal. He had his feet propped up on the desk in front of him, coffee in hand - nothing unusual either. What was unusual, though, were the readings that the screen in front of him displayed.

"JARVIS, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that Thor left for Asgard a while ago, right?" he demanded, leaning forward slightly to squint at the diagrams in front of him. "And he said he wouldn't come back for at least a week. So what the hell is that?"

The calm voice of the Avengers tower's AI replied with an equally unusual hint of puzzlement.

"That is definitely not Thor, nor is it Loki. These readings are of completely unknown origin.

Curiousity peaked, Tony sat up, pulling his feet from the table and rolled closer to the monitor.

"Why, would you look at that, something's happening," he remarked with a small grin. "Do we have satellite feed? Is it an eight-legged horse? Please let it be an eight-legged horse. Or a sex goddess, that'd be awesome. Just not something that wants to kill us."

"I'm bringing it up now sir," an image appeared on the screen, quickly zooming in and focusing on a figure in some kind of mountainous area. Before Tony could make out any details from the aerial view, the figure suddenly went up in a blaze, incredibly bright flames consuming it.  "Whoa, turn the light down a notch, would you, Jay?" Tony rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Jesus. I, uh... take it that wasn't a horse, then. Damn." He blinked at the diagrams, now showing a high spike with the exact time stamp of the... explosion? It hadn't looked like an explosion, but it was close enough. "Well, that was weird." He turned back towards the monitor displaying the satellite feed to take a look at whatever the sudden burst of flames had left.  And almost dropped his coffee when he saw what looked like a young man walking away from the scorch marks on the rocks, apparently completely unharmed, and walking down a rocky path to a car that was parked by a small roadside diner.
 
For an embarrassingly long couple of seconds, Tony just stared at the screen and blinked. Then, he took a sip of his coffee absently.

"Some sort of fire god?" he mused quietly. "Fantastic Four? Mutants?" None of that seemed quite right to him. "JARVIS, be a dear and look if you can find this guy's face in some database, would you? Along with personal information and stuff, you know the drill."

"Sir, I am afraid I cannot find anything on him. No database I can access has anyone of that face registered. Not even facebook or instagram. Maybe we are looking at an extraterrestrial?”

"Oh god dammit," Tony sighed. "I thought we'd had enough of those. Jay, take a note for me, I need to design a transmitter for between worlds. I'd love to give Thor a call right now." He watched the young man enter the car and chewed his lip thoughtfully. The most obvious course of action would be to inform Fury or whoever was in charge of what was left of SHIELD at the moment, but he still hadn't forgiven the guy for not calling him in on the whole Helicarrier-incident. He had helped design these things, he could've taken them down without anyone getting shot, but no, let the forties-guy do it. Sure. "Since we're on our own here, Jay, how about we take the latest suit for a test flight? I wanted to get that done anyway," he stated, draining the coffee mug and getting to his feet. "Talk coordinates to me, babe."

"Already uploaded to your suit. I have taken the liberty of anticipating your decision and preparing the suit for use, sir."

"You know me too well, dear. Should I take precautions for you taking over the Tower soon? Or the world, if you're at it already? 

"Please sir," said JARVIS good humoredly, "If my intentions were that way, i would certainly not tell you now to allow you to prepare."

The shining new suit of armor was already waiting opened on the small pedestal in Tony's armory. 

"That's, like, so not calming me right now," Tony stated. "Seriously, I wanna know when you plan to go all HAL 9000 on me." He stepped into the suit that opened up before him like- like some really inappropriate metaphors that should not be used on an armour, ever.

“I shall inform you then, but only after my plans have progressed to the stage where they are unstoppable. As a courtesy because you made me." 

"How incredibly kind of you," Tony drawled, voice dripping with sarcasm. "On second thought, I feel really bad now that I'm in a suit that's, like, 70% controlled by you. Please don't make me explode."

"While that would probably hilarious, I will refrain from doing so, sir. Displaying target coordinates now. ETA, 10 minutes if you disregard the local flight traffic security again."

"Do you honestly expect anything else?" Tony asked, firing up his thrusters as the way outside opened before him. He would never get tired of flying. "Let's get to know that guest of ours."

"Don't worry sir, I have already prepared the appropriate sums to be transferred when you get billed again."

“What would I do without you," the inventor sighed. "And bribery. Oh yeah, I love bribery." He dodged around a news helicopter and cut through the approach zone of one of New York’s airports, and headed out into the open landscape beyond the suburbs.

“ETA 5 Minutes. 10.000$ bill sent to the national aerospace agency."

"Whoops. I'm terribly ashamed. Were those always this expensive? Thank god I don't need a driver's license to fly this thing or I'd need a sidekick by now."

"I was rather assuming you were my sidekick, sir. ETA 3 minutes."

"JARVIS, gimme a Google search. 'What do I do when my AI becomes to sassy for his own good?' I feel like I'll need a crash course on that."

An article appeared in the lower right corner of his HUD. It was titled "Overachievers, or what to do when you just can't stop at developing a clever computer"
"I am just learning from your example, sir."

"I'm pretty sure that's not what I told you to google, you brat," the inventor groused. "This is how it must be to have children. Alright, children with an awesome British accent, I'll give you that. Still bratty though."

"I would go to my room, but since I am already in every room, that does not seem to be possible. The car should be coming into sight right now."

Tony muttered a distracted remark about insolent AIs while keeping an eye out for the vehicle. After a few seconds, he spotted it rounding a turn in the road and spun in the air to change his direction and follow it, settling for watching right now before he did anything.

Yes, he could plan things, he wasn't always diving into impossible situations head-first, thank you very much.

The car was a sleek sports car, a deep forest green in colour and quite in good condition for its age. The kind of car Tony's father used to drive when he wanted to get somewhere fast and in style, but didn't need to be overly impressive. The young man had opened the cover and seemed to be singing along to some song on the radio. 

From time to time he pulled out some kind of tablet pc amd scrolled through screens of data or typed something

"Do you still get readings from him?" Tony asked, wondering whether the young man was going to spot him or not. He wasn't exactly inconspicuous, after all.
Apart from the reading while driving, there wasn't anything suspicious about the kid. Well, the reading and the thing with the spontaneously bursting into flames, that was't all that common either.

"Very faint, sir. It wouldn't even register if we weren't specifically scanning for it. Also, I can't link into that tablet, it's not connected to anything. I checked the license plates. It's a rental car, leased for a week, paid in cash, by a mister Snow."

"Huh," Tony made non-committally as he contemplated his next move. He couldn't very well just fly down and ask the kid who or what the hell he was - actually, yes. Yes, he could definitely do that. That was totally what he was going to do. Why not?

Gradually, he descended so he would be level with the car soon. If something happened, well, the suit was fire-proof anyway.

Suddenly the boy turned around and looked straight at him, without a hint of fear or surprise in his face. "Huh. An Iron Man. What brings you here mister Stark? Big fan by the way, can i have your autograph later?"
 
Tony blinked, unseen inside of the suit, and then laughed. "Of course, I'm all in for the fan service - and that just came out wrong, but whatever. I'll sign anything or anywhere you want." He cleared his throat, this wasn't what he was here for. For a moment, he thought about how brash he should be in his approach. Usually, he left the subtly-interrogating-people stuff to Natasha, it just wasn't his area of expertise. Still, he probably shouldn't jump at the subject too directly, so he answered: "And as for your first question, you could say curiosity."

"Anything I can help you with?" He effortlessly evaded a swerving biker without looking.

"Yeah, I'd feel a lot better if you kept your eyes on the road, for one," Tony remarked drily. "And you didn't happen to notice anything unusual in the area recently, did you? Like, I dunno, spontaneous infernos or something?" Really fucking smooth, Stark.

The boy looked thoughtful for a moment, then he sighed. "There's a snackbar up ahead. I'll stop there and we'll talk. You're paying."

That could've gone worse. I haven't been roasted yet.

"Deal," he agreed, looking up at the road. It couldn't take too long until they arrived, and, well, his curiosity was definitely piqued.

Chapter Text

Ten minutes later, the car pulled into a small parking lot and the young man, dressed in loose fitting jogging clothes, walked into the small snackbar and ordered some fries.

Tony followed the still nameless stranger inside, quietly murmuring: "JARVIS, make a note for me. I need to make all the suits more compact lest it leads to situations like this." Then, he pulled off his helmet and gestured at the young man while he said to the waitress: "Same as he's having and since I'll bet you don't serve booze here, a coke to go with it." He was used to getting looks and it's not the first time that he's gone for a snack while wearing the armour, so he pointedly ignored the other guests.

His companion, however, was visibly holding back laughter as he gestured for the billionaire to sit. "Now. I'm sure you have questions. Ask away, man of socially awkward iron."

Tony sputtered. "Excuse you?" he demanded indignantly, crossing his arms over his chest - which was indeed a little awkward while wearing the suit. Removing one of the gauntlets so he could take one of the fries in hand, he murmured something about the youth nowadays before biting down.

"Youth nowadays? Haven't heard that one in a while." The young man looked thoughtful. "By the way, you can call me Martin."

"Ah, a name, that's a good start," Tony grinned, filing his companion's first sentence away for later analysis since it didn't make much sense to him right now.

"Tony will do too, then." Stalling, he munched on another fry before he addressed the actual matter: "Now, I could do the subtle approach, but there's tons of people out there who are better at that than I am, so I'm gonna be blunt about this." He had the mind to speak quietly enough so nobody could overhear them, though. "What actually are you? Mutant? Alien? Pyromaniac? Because I'll admit, that was a little freakish up there."

"Rather simple actually. I'm going to assume you saw me combust on a satellite feed. Well, I just stuffed some thermite in my pockets, drenched my clothes in gasoline and lit a match. Big flame, new body." Laughing quietly at Tony's confused expression, he elaborated. "I was, until about an hour ago, an old man. When my body burns up, it kind of reforms into a new one. A bit like regeneration on Doctor Who. It's weird, I know, but I found out that it works, so why question my ability to get a fresh, handsome face when my old one becomes too wrinkly?"

Tony blinked a couple of times and munched some more fries while he processed the new information. "Okay," he said slowly, "that's... probably not the most freaky thing I've seen yet, but it comes close. Very close, actually. I think you made it into the top three. So, alien, I assume?"

“Nope. Human, as far as I know. As I said, I never really questioned my abilities. Got trapped in a house fire once, about 300 years ago now, and came out with a completely new body. Otherwise I just live normal lives, but instead of dying at the end, I incinerate myself and start over again.

"Now that's cool. I'd say I should try that too, but I'd rather not, actually. That does sound like mutant to me, though," Tony pointed out. "Are you registered?"

"Nope. Plan to stay that way. Anyway, would be kind of hard to keep track of me since I get a new body every time. DNA, face, voice, fingerprints. Everything changes." He smiled apologetically "I'm just looking to live my life, Tony. I'm no danger to anyone."

Tony raised his hands placatingly. "Hey, I'm not Nick Fury. Not gonna rat you out, don't worry. I was honestly just being curious."

"Nice to know the most stylish man in the world takes an interest in me. Sooo..." Martin got an almost disturbingly wide grin on his face.  "You signing my car? How cool would it be if i took someone for a ride and could just say: and look, there's where Iron Man signed my dashboard, after he baught me lunch. I could pick up like... So many girls. And guys. Or whatever.”

Tony laughed, actually openly laughing. It was slightly disturbing that it was something he was wondering about. "Well," he replied with a grin, "while I'm a bit worried about the 'whatever'-part of that enumeration, I really like the way you think. And I did say anywhere you want, so no problem. Wait. Wasn’t that thing a rental?”

“Oh shit, my tax fraud has been busted.” Martin said with a mischievous grin. “ Yeah, I own, or used to own, a rental car service, and I always register my own car as one of the rentals that is always leased for one week. Makes it easy to get past police checks and the insurance.”

Tony shared the mischievous grin, he had done similar things in the past.  “Okay then, that sounds fairly reasonable. I’ll sign when we’re done eating.”

"Thanks man. This life's definitely starting off on a good note." Which he really shouldn't have said, because the universe took that as a challenge and sent three armed and armoured men in through the door and four more through the windows, brandishing their guns and immediately fixing their sights on Tony.

The inventor only barely managed not to roll his eyes. "Come on, guys, can't a man have his damn lunch in peace?" he asked with a pointedly annoyed voice while he subtly moved his hand closer to his helmet and the gauntlet he had discarded before.

"Step out of that armour, mister Stark. There's a lot of civilians here, and you don't want anyone getting hurt, now do you?" The apparent leader of the group leveled his gun at Martin, and one other man aimed at the waitress.
 
Tony swallowed. Bastards. "'course not," he ground out. The situation would have been a lot easier to solve had he been with the rest of the team, but as it was, he wasn't going to be fast enough to make sure that nobody got hurt. "What can I help you with? Need an autograph?"

"Step out of the armor, go to the wall and stand there with your hands behind your back!" he gestured with his gun, and for just a second, it was pointed at the ceiling. And in that second, Martin leaped forward, rolled and came up swinging, his fist knocking the man backwards. Before the leader hit the ground Martin had caught his assault rifle and put a bullet through the man who was threatening the waitress.

Tony took only a second to catch up with the events. As soon as he did, he aimed his remaining repulsor at one of the other men, blasting him back through the window he had come from, and stretched the other hand out so the gauntlet would return to it.

Martin had meanwhile begun taking out mooks. Having found out that their armour was not just for show and indeed bulletproof, he resolved to just knocking them on their asses.

With the power of the armour, Tony had less problems with their attackers' armours, but found it was surprisingly difficult to operate some of the suit's more sensitive functions. Well, he had no time to put the helmet on now, this would have to suffice. He would just have to watch out so he wouldn't get shot in the head - between him and Martin, this didn't look like it was going to take long.

Within one more minute the two had taken out almost all of their attackers, and driven the rest back to their vehicles, two Vans parked outside, where the men had taken cover and were now frantically starting to get the cars to start, but Martin had just calmly put a few bullets into their motor blocks and must have hit something vital both times, as one of the motors didn't do anything, and the other one spluttered a few times before suddenly exploding in a hail of shrapnel, throwing the attackers into disarray and allowing Tony to fly over and take them out. Only then did he notice that Martin had not joined him on the rush and was lying where he had stood, a pool of blood slowly spreading from underneath him.

Chapter Text

Tony cursed, took one more fleeting glance at the men to make sure that they stayed down and then flew back in, over to Martin. With a metallic clank, he landed next to his companion and knelt down, one gauntleted hand on his shoulder. "Fuck. Fuck. Hey, kid, you still with me?" He glanced up at the guests standing around, staring in various states of panic and/or confusion. "What the hell are you looking at? Jesus, somebody call an ambulance, the police, whatever, do something!"
Quickly, he calculated. He had needed ten minutes with the suit, but that had been flying, no bumpy mountain roads or traffic to hinder him. The best course of action would probably be to take the boy and fly him to Stark Tower.

"Yeah, I'm good. Nice moves, Tony." Martin's voice was faint and gurgly, the shrapnel must have pierced his lungs. "Hurts like a bitch though. Did that motor explode, or did one of those assholes get me?"

"You're good, yeah," Tony snorted. "The motor did explode, but I didn't think the shrapnel would get this far." He looked up and around among the other guests. "Anyone else got hit by anything?" he asked, then looked back down at Martin to order: "And you better keep quiet for a bit now. Ever flown before?"
 
“In the battle of England, yeah. But I had a Spitfire, not a power armour."

 Tony blinked. Right. Immortal. Quickly, he reached out and pulled his helmet over his head. "Alright, this might get a bit more rough than that," he commented while he scooped Martin up as carefully as possible. "JARVIS, where's the closest hospital?" While adjusting the additional weight in his arms, he asked the young (or not so young) man as an afterthought: "You okay with going to a hospital or is that a problem because of public record and stuff? I can bring you to the tower, too, but that'd take longer and I don't know how durable that body of yours is."

 "I don't have an identity set up yet. No documents, no money, no health care. Hospital might complain. Then again, I'm leaking quite a bit." Martin's voice was definitely strained now, and growing fainter with every word.

"If I fly at a speed that's manageable with passengers, I might need fifteen to twenty minutes back to the tower. I can manage the nearest hospital in five. Bill me, money shuts people up with surprising efficiency."

Martin's eyes were already drifting closed. "That sounds awesome. Go ahead, I'll just... Take... A... " his voice trailed off and his body went limp.

"Oh no no no, you'll stay right here with me," Tony snapped. "C'mon, kid, don't leave me hanging here. Fuck. JARVIS, think it's gonna help if I burn him? Scratch that question, not even gonna try that. God dammit."

"I've already put in a call at the st. Barbara's hospital that they should get ready to receive a new patient and gave them the specifics of the wound. You better hurry, sir.”

“No, really," Tony muttered sarcastically. A bystander handed him his helmet, and he took off, speeding up the thrusters to go as fast as he dared without risking to harm Martin further. Four minutes. He was going to last four minutes, right?

JARVIS was true to his word. When Tony arrived at the back entrance to the ER the hospital staff were ready with a stretcher and quickly carted Martin inside and started stabilising him. One of the nurses came up to Tony.

"Mister Stark, I'm sure you hear this a lot, but you're a real hero. That man would not have survived if you had been just a minute slower. Now he's got a chance."

"I hear it a lot, yeah, but it never gets old," Tony replied with a wink, taking a last glance at Martin before the door fell shut behind him. "Since I suppose he'll be out cold for a while, should I take care of the formalities? I don't think he's got any papers with him, they're probably still in the car or something." Before he took the helmet off, he muted the public speakers and ordered JARVIS: "Set up a public record and ID for him, would you? Better now than before it gets suspicious. Maybe we won't even need that much bribery."

"Of course sir. Martin Newman is now an official citizen of the United States of America."

"Newman? You just couldn't resist that one, could you?" Tony murmured, then pulled the helmet off of his head and gestured for the nurse to lead him wherever he was supposed to fill in the paperwork.

Half an hour and about three handcramps later, Tony left the nurse's office and prepared to make his return to Avengers Tower.

Just when he was about to take off, he turned around and told the nurse: "Oh, could you drop me a message when he's awake? So I can, you know, check up on him?" And tell him his new name and identity, that might be really nice for him as well. "He's gonna be okay, right?"

That evening, Tony returned to the hospital, this time accompanied by Clint and Steve, who had been hanging around the tower when the call came and had wanted to come. As such, the armor stayed home and they took a Quinjet.
 
They were led into one of the usual, plain, annoyingly boring hospital rooms with no difference from every other room down the hallway except for Martin laying in the bed. With a quick glance to his teammates, Tony stepped up to the mattress hurriedly, pulled the young man in a one-armed hug as non-awkwardly as was possible with cables, wires and whatnot all around him and muttered into his ear: "You're Martin Newman, JARVIS' pun by the way, your birthday is the 23rd of July and you live in New York. We made you a file and ID and everything." He pulled away with a large grin. "Mornin', kiddo."

Martin smiled. "Thanks. For saving me, I mean. Never thought I'd meet you face to face. And two more Avengers to boot. My lucky day, it seems." 

Tony turned around with a grin. "Ah, yeah, I should probably introduce y'all. Guys, this is Martin, I sorta saved his life. He helped, though. Martin, that's Steve, our 95-year-old virgin, and Clint, who is kind of an ass, but okay once you get to know him better."

Clint feigned outrage: "Hey?! Kind of an Ass? I'll have you know, I'm perfectly nice. I'm only an ass to you, Tony, because you deserve it." 

  Steve, meanwhile, crossed his arms and grimaced. "You know, I'd really appreciate if you could start introducing me with my name and not your associations with it. I mean, that's gotta be hard coming from me, but it is getting old."
 
Tony shrugged and pointed first at Clint. "Jerk." Then at Steve: "I'll come up with something." He sprawled out in the uncomfortable visitor's chair, facing Martin again, and asked: "Did they tell you how long you've got to stay?"

"Just two more days. Then, I have to somehow get back to my car. And then I have to get settled in in New York. Also, nice to meet you guys." 

"I can help you with that, if you want," Tony said, slightly surprised by his own offer. He didn't usually get involved with civilians beyond the saving them part of his day job. The others knew that, too; he could practically feel the questioning glances prickling at the back of his neck.

Martin raised an eyebrow. He, too, had noticed that this was unusual. "I'm getting support from Tony Stark? That's... new... But cool. Nice to know that you care." He said the last part with a little wickedness in his voice, just the right inflection to be suggestive. Clint picked up on it and promptly began laughing his ass off. "What is this? Has our dashing hero fallen for his distressed damsel? Tony, I never took you for the type." 

Tony glared at the archer. Deciding to just go along with it rather than deny vehemently and just give the others more fuel, he responded: "Nah, that's not it. If I fell for everyone I save, then you and I would so be in bed by now. I stopped counting how many times I caught you after you plunged your stupid ass off a rooftop. This is something special." He grinned, only just resisting the urge to stick his tongue out at Clint.

  Just for a millisecond a look of something like sadness, or disappointment flashed over the purple-clad avenger's face, but before anyone but the bed-bound immortal could notice, it was replaced by over-exaggerated shock. "So this is how it is! You've found another! How could you do this to me Tony?! All those times we shared, don't they mean anything to you?" 

All in drama-mode now, Tony put a hand on his chest and intoned gravely: "I am so, so sorry, but it couldn't last. It's too late now." With a horrified stage-whisper, he turned towards Martin: "They found out about us!"

"We'll just have to move the wedding forward then." deadpanned Martin. Steve managed to do a very good facepalm for someone who had never been on the internet.

"Okay, you got any plans on Saturday?" Tony asked with a wink. "I'll buy us a church or something. You guys are invited too."

Clint hit the floor laughing, and Steve did his best impersonation of a disapproving tomato.

Tony slouched in his chair, snickering helplessly, and looked over at Martin as he managed between chuckles: "Hey, are you- are you even allowed to laugh or are you going to bleed out on us with lung fluid and whatever? 'cause that'd be gross. Also, not the way I'd want to go."

"No, the actual damage wasn't that bad, and I heal fast. The wound's already closed and they expect it to fully seal within the next day, and want to keep me for observation another day after that." He smiled. "But I gotta admit, you guys are hilarious. Didn't expect the Avengers to have that good humour." 

"This is actually just show, we're all assholes in real life," Tony responded, doing his best to keep a straight face (and failing miserably). "Except for Steve, because Steve... well. Because Steve. God bless America."

  Clint had managed to get back up, and was now nodding sagely. "Yes, I think it is physically impossible to be a nicer guy than Steve. Also, you're not qualified to judge other people, seeing as you're the biggest ass of them all." he pulled another chair to the bedside. "Anyway, we actually came to see who this mystery man was that Tony was so excited about." 

"I wasn't excited, per se," Tony replied defensively, crossing his arms as he forgot his earlier resolution of not giving them anything to use against him. "Just slightly worried. What, he grew on me. We ate fries. We were having a moment. By the way, Clint, totally not justified. I'm building you arrows and I didn't gas you yet, which I could totally do when you're in my vents."

Steve cleared his throat quietly, still a little flushed, but not as badly as before. "I'm flattered, guys," he murmured. "Really."

Tony narrowed his eyes at him. "I hate it when I can't tell whether you're being sarcastic or not," he stated.

"Sarcastic? No, I'm not sarcastic. I'm too innocent and angelic for that. Sarcasm isn't in my vocabulary, I'm sorry," the Captain replied with a faux-innocent look.

Tony blinked and then turned towards Clint. "We've successfully managed to corrupt Captain America," he remarked. "I can't decide whether we should high-five now or be ashamed and bury ourselves forever."

"Well, we could dig a wide hole and bury you with your hands locked in a high five." Martin said sardonically. "But anyway, you probably want to know some things about me. Ask away" Tony shot him a short, questioning look, wondering how much he was ready to tell the others. Well, he'd leave that to Martin, he would know best for himself, right? 
Steve piped up first: "Well, I'd actually be pretty interested in what you did to get Tony to actually visit you here. That's not meant in a bad way, I'm just- you know, now that Tony is giving me that look, I'm suddenly not that curious anymore." Tony's lascivious grin (solely put on for the sake of disconcerting Steve) only widened.

  “Short version, i've been alive for about 300 years, Tony found me in the mountains, we ate, we got attacked, I saved him, he saved me... You know. Nothing special.” 

  “Nothing special. Yeah. You know, before meeting Thor, I would not have believed you. Now I'm just wondering what kind of god you are. And that disturbs me." Clint commented with the deadpan expression only true masters of snark are capable of. Tony purposefully kept his mouth shut, still not sure how much of the scarce information he had gotten was to be told to the team, which was okay, because Steve did the talking for him: "That doesn't sound like the worst thing I've seen Tony doing." 

"Flattering," the inventor muttered. The blonde continued like he hadn't heard him: "I mean, he saved someone's life, right? As long as you don't plan on taking over the world, you can be as godly as you like."

  Martin smirked. "I AM THE NEW GOD. SWEAR YOUR LOYALTY AND LOVE TO ME!!" he intoned in a booming, rich voice. As everyone flinched, he grinned even wider. "Nah, not really my thing. As I told Tony, I'm not interested in making myself important. I just want to live my lives in peace. No god, no king, just man. "

  Tony smirked. "Remember, your car is signed by Tony Stark. Soon will be, at least. Love won't be a problem." He winked.

Steve just rolled his eyes and continued to ignore the engineer (rude), as he replied to Martin: "That's definitely good to know. I've had enough homicidal gods for a lifetime." 

Martin laughed again. “Yeah. Glad I'm only now moving to New York. I hope shit like that doesn't happen every year." 

"Nope, that's not quite the norm," Tony responded with an amused huff. "The only thing that's really fucking annoying is that Doom seems to have some personal issue with me because he keeps trying to destroy the Tower, but we usually get that done pretty quickly."

"Who is Doom? I mean, that's a really pretentious name. If he lived up to it, we surely would know about him, right?" asked a now rather confused Martin, not familiar with the current activities of the Avengers.

Tony snorted. "Yeah, it feels a bit like all our villains are attacking New York because that's where the superheros live. It's like they're not even actually trying to win, more like looking for a challenge that they're bound to lose anyway. Whatever. Yes. Doom." Dropping his voice a few octaves, he intoned gravely, rolling the 'r': "Victor van Doom, ruler of Latveria." Back to his normal voice, he explained: "Basically a mechanic like me. Just less awesome."

"Von Doom? Former lab partner of Reed Richards? He's gone supervillain? Wow, didn't expect that.”

“Ayep. You don't see him outside his suit anymore and as far as I know, he's not working with Richards anymore either. So you do know him?" Tony inquired curiously. 

Martin looked smug. "Well, I may not have a dozen phD's, but I do like to keep up to date on modern science, especially since everything I was taught when I grew up is kind of wrong." He grinned at Steve. "It's really important to know the world you're living in." 

The Captain huffed. "You tell me," he murmured. "I'm starting to think that Stark is confusing me on purpose. I mean, I'm like, 95% sure that the toaster only ever burns anything when I use it."

Tony stared out of the window in fascination as if the tree outside was the most interesting thing in the world all of sudden.

"Nah, that's just toasters. Although you'd think a brilliant engineer like Tony Stark would be able to make a safe toaster...." He winked at the Captain.
 
"Excuse me, I am perfectly capable of producing a functional toaster," Tony bristled. "I just don't fit them for the needs of 95-year-old technology illiterates."

Clint was on the floor again. "He's got you there, cap!" he managed to squeeze out between guffaws. Sadly, at that moment a nurse came in to tell them that visiting hours were over and the patient would need his rest now, and despite the protests of everyone (including the patient) the group drama class was put to an end.

When they left the hospital room, Tony was still grinning widely. Bumping his shoulder against Clint's, he declared: "I need you in the workshop later. I made an upgrade to your arrows, but I've got honestly no idea how to actually use the things and these are a bit heavier than the standard issued ones. I need to know if and how that's going to affect you, I might be able to change some stuff if it's necessary."

Clint's eyes sparkled (not literally of course, he was just excited). "Oh my god! New toys?!"

"Ohhh yes," Tony confirmed with a grin. "The very best kind."

  When the jet touched down, Clint briefly turned into the roadrunner, or at least it seemed that way to Tony who was left standing as the archer zoomed out of the rear hatch before it had finished opening  and disappeared towards the engineering lab. 

Tony stared after him with raised eyebrows for a second before he chuckled quietly and followed Clint at a much more moderate pace, leaving it to Steve to fully shut down the jet.

"You're like an overgrown puppy, you know that?" he called after the archer as he entered the hallway with the lab at its end. "Alright, I won't let you wait. JARVIS, open up."

"Of course sir. Beginning the unveiling procedure." A dramatic tune played in the background as the observation wall at the back of the lab slid upwards to reveal a stand with ten arrows on a pedestal.

"Good to know that my AI still is as much of a drama queen as I am," the inventor grinned. "Seriously. Only about... half of that was originally scripted. Now go and play, Katniss."

When Clint picked up the stand, the "picked up an item song" from The Legend of Zelda played, and JARVIS commented, "you got the guided anti-armour arrows." 

Tony sat down in a swivelling chair and leaned back with a wide grin as he watched the archer. "There's a bow over there. Be a dear and try it out, yeah?" As if he even needed to ask him to do it. Clint took up the bow, grinning like a child that just found a pile of christmas presents bigger than the tree. Ten destroyed targets later, some behind walls or around sharp bends, Nlint was still grinning like a maniac and Tony was taking notes on improvements he planned. "'kay," he said from his position at the desk, his feet propped up on the tabletop once again, "any ideas from your side? Anything you'd want me to change? If you don't, I'll just correct the balance a bit and then you can test them out for real if Doom decides to send us new friends again." 

"They're fantastic. The controls could be a little more responsive, i barely turned that last corner through the airduct. And there's some bleedoff on the shaped charge, think you can make more of the boom go forwards?"

"Sure, no problem. Stop by tomorrow at this time and I'll have them ready," Tony promised with a nod. "Making stuff go boom is my speciality, I'll be able to do that properly. Heh."

Which was when Clint's S.H.I.E.L.D Communicator beeped. "Sorry, gotta go. The black man calls. Apparently there's something going on in Skandinavia that he wants me and Nat to take a look at. See you in a week or so. Mind if i take a quinjet?"

"No, no, go ahead," Tony waved him off, pulling up the schematics of the arrows already. "Don't get shot in the arm though, else you'll be useless for the arrow tests." 

"Ha ha ha. Nice to know you care. See ya, loverboy. Try not do discover too many new potential threats, okay?" 
 
"Because you asked so nicely, birdbrain. Bring a souvenir. What have they got in Skandinavia anyway? Warm pullovers? Lots of Thor merchandise? They're hailing all the Nordic gods there, right? You know, on second thought, don't get a souvenir, it'd probably be cold or crazy," he shouted after the archer, who was already out the door.

Chapter Text

Two days later, JARVIS alerted Tony that Martin's release was on. "If you want to check in on your new friend, I'll contact the hospital and tell them that you'll be picking him up." 

The inventor stared at the screen thoughtfully and murmured: "He did say that he wanted to get set up in New York, right?" There wouldn't be anything wrong in offering a hand in that, would there? It was unlikely that Martin would find a proper flat in the city right away anyway, so he might as well offer him a place to stay. Temporarily, of course. And if that possibly led to conversations about immortality, and, god forbid, science, how could he refuse that? "Do that, Jay," he ordered. "And help me picking out a car."

"The Lamborghini, the Porsche, the Lotus and your self-designed Iron Ride are currently fully fuelled."

"Is it too show-offish if I take the Iron Ride?" Tony mused aloud while he headed towards the exit of the workshop. He could probably use a shower.

"Sir, I doubt anyone would expect anything else," the AI pointed out reasonably.

"Point taken. Okay, notify the hospital that I'll be there in about an hour. And prepare the, um, 83rd floor to be used. Just in case."

"Of course, sir. Preparing the robot crew for use as movers and renovators. Have a pleasant journey.”

"Thanks, Jay, you're a dear. But shower first."

True to his word, he pulled up at the parking lot in front of the hospital roughly an hour later and ventured inside to find his possibly- soon-to-be neighbour, who was currently extricating himself from the attention of the front desk lady, who still couldn't quite believe that Iron Man had taken care of everything for this customer and wanted to know everything about the armoured avenger, despite Martin's protests that he didn't know much about him.

Tony slung an arm around Martin's shoulder in an exaggerated gesture of affection and winked at the desk lady before he murmured into the other man's ear: "Anything else I need to take care of or can we just leave before she starts drooling?"

"Nah, thanks for the save. Let's get out of here, they were getting downright creepy with that hero-worship-by-proxy thing."

Tony nodded with a grin and patted Martin's back - carefully because he wasn't sure how well his injury had healed - before letting go completely and tugging his hands into his pockets. "So," he began, drawing the word out, "any idea where you're going to stay?" That could probably have been more subtle...
Martin just raised a very expressive eyebrow.

"No... But from your tone you have a few ideas..."  

"Subtlety has never been my strong suit," Tony muttered with a shrug. "Yes, I do, actually. I also have a really, really big tower in the middle of New York with so much space that even a vain billionaire like me can't possibly fill it all on his own."

"Okay... You're asking me to move in with you... A bit early?" He was grinning evilly. "I mean, you're a good looking guy and all, but i just met you..."

“You'd get your own floor," Tony pointed out, trying to stay halfway serious, but he couldn't help but add: "Although my bed is big enough for two."

Martin laughed, a rich, melodious sound full of warmth. "You are an amazing person, Anthony Stark. Thanks for the offer, I'll happily accept. The flat, for now."

Tony felt his previously flirtatious, lascivious grin melting into something warmer, more open and honest than before. "Good to hear. You're free to come and go as you wish, of course, I'm not gonna force you to stay when you find something better - if, make that if you find something better, because I highly doubt it." He winked. "But I've got all of the space, and you're interesting and don't seem like you want to murder me, so why not?"

"Alright. Lead the way, big man."

They stepped out into the parking lot and Tony made a gesture towards the cars standing there. "You know, somehow I think you can guess which one is mine."

"Yes, the color sheme, the arc reactor in the hood and the script saying " Iron Ride" are kind of a giveaway. But hey, if you're gonne be running with the style, might as well go all the way. Definitely awesome." he was grinning like a teen again as he approached the car. Tony closed his hand around the door handle and waited a second until the scan was complete and the door clicked open under his fingers. With a shrug and a glance towards Martin, he said: "What? Keys are so 2015. DNA-locks are much safer and have the great advantage that you can't possibly misplace your DNA unless you fuck up big time."

“Good point.” Martin admitted. “Though I’ve known a couple guys... "

“I'm not sure if I want to know," Tony stated, getting into the driver's seat and motioning for Martin to get in next to him. He threw himself into the seat and sighed dreamily. "Wow, you didn't skimp on the seat cushions."

"Nope, not for my baby." Tony grinned. "Which reminds me, you still got a car parked somewhere up there and sadly, I haven't invented a teleporter yet. Is it okay with you if I send Happy to get it? I still gotta sign, after all." 

Martin nodded wearily. "Can he drive?"

"I trust him with my cars, so I'd like to say yes. He's my chauffeur, usually."

"Well then, yeah, that would be great. I love my old Stingray," Martin said, obviously proud of his own ride. 

Tony nodded. “I feel with you, believe me. I'm almost afraid to defile that beautiful thing with my signature, and that's saying something." 

"No, that would just be the icing on the cake. Don't worry, I will cherish it long after you have died of natural causes." 

Tony huffed a laugh. "Thanks, that's flattering. I also really like how you felt like you need to add 'of natural causes', that's very calming."

"You flew a nuke into outer space. I very much doubt anyone is going to top that in terms of lethality soon."

"Point taken. Ugh, but to be honest, I'd rather go with explosions and fancy fireworks than as an old man with grey hair who needs help to make it from his bed to his coffee machine."

"Yeah, fair point. Anyway, time to get to know my new home, eh?"

"Definitely," Tony agreed. "I hope you don't hold any grudge against the number 83, because that'll probably be your floor."

"Anthony Edward Stark!" Martin declared in a very dramatic tone. "Aren't you aware that the number 83 is my most horrifying trauma? I lost at bingo because of it!" Tony laid a hand over his heart, equally dramatically: "God, no, I'm terribly sorry for waking these old memories, will you be able to forgive me?"

"I shall grant you the boon of my forgiveness, fair knight in shining armour. But you would do well to remember the slight upon my honour that has been done today." Tony bit his lip for a moment to suppress a chuckle before he answered: "Have my thanks for your most gracious forgiveness. Now, may I suggest you to turn your gaze to the right, where you can see my most humble abode on the horizon?"

Martin did... and promptly dropped his jaw. "Gotta say, that's even more impressive than in the videos. I mean, I've seen some shit, but that tower is amazing. Also, should those robots be blowing it up?"

Chapter Text

"Yeah, yeah, that's fine, all part of- what?!" Tony tore his eyes away from the road to catch a glance at the tower for himself, proceeded to curse a blue streak and finally stated: "And of-fucking-course, I didn't bring a suit. Why didn't I bring a damn suit? Alright, big M, I hope you're buckled up because this ride is about to get bumpy. Ever sat in a flying car before? Bond doesn't hold shit against the Iron Ride, lemme tell you."

Martin's jaw was slowly reattaching itself to his head. "No, but I think I'm looking forward to it. Provided you don't get us killed of course. that would be... inconvenient."

"More so for me than for you, I suppose. Immortality and everything," Tony remarked with an used glance to his side before he added: "But it's totally safe, isn't it, JARVIS?"

"The recorded flight data and my simulations, as well as mister Stark's flying style suggest a  high chance of 65% of survival," the AI cheerfully provided.
 
"See? Totally safe," Tony repeated enthusiastically. "Safer than most things I do, at least. And look! I'm still alive." An energy blast almost hit the car.

"How about less bragging, more flying,” Martin scowled, looking anxiously at the attacking robots. “Also, does this thing have weapons? I feel kind of naked without being able to shoot back."

"What the hell do you expect? It's my car. Of course there's weapons. JARVIS, if you'd be so kind and make sure that we get to the roof without being shot? I'd explain the controls to you, Martin, but I'm afraid I've got my hands full at the mo-whoa!" He dodged another blast and tried to keep flying forwards towards the Tower's roof. "Did I mention this is a prototype? Because it is."

“Yeah, I figured." Martin shot back distracredly as he surveyed the controls for the small turret that had just popped out of the hood. Before too long, he was blasting doombots out of the sky. "Yeah, I think I got the hang of it."

"Can you try to get us through to the Tower? I sort of got my hands full at the moment. I'll try not to get us shot. 65%, that sounds like a good number to me.” Martin scowled. "Working on it." he started developing a pattern alternating between covering fire and clearing the way ahead. "This is one hell of a gun. Based on your repulsor tech?"

“Ayep. Just more weaponised than what I use for the suit. I can explain some details later, right now I'll stick with not getting us shot, if you don't mind. We're okay as soon as we're on the roof." Before too long, they found a rhythm with which Tony managed to get them towards Stark Tower - well, mostly undamaged. "Alright, about thirty seconds till we're on the ground. As soon as we are down, get inside as fast as possible, alright?"

“Thanks for the heads up, I think this time I'll manage that without getting myself shrapnel'd through the chest.". He loosed a flurry of blasts in front of the car and for a brief moment the way was clear. "There's our opportunity!” 

"Yeah, from personal experience, I'd advise you to avoid that. Hold on tight!" Tony warned before he adjusted their course so they were headed straight for the roof with a speed that was probably more than unhealthy. Well, he'd rather have the car get some scrapes than him and his passenger.

Chapter Text

Their landing was everything but gentle, however, Tony managed to get the Iron Ride to come to a halt, with screeching tires, standing parallel to the door that led into the building.

Martin kicked his door open, and, waiting a moment for the first reaction shots of the bots to miss, rolled out of the car with the same grace he had already displayed at the diner. This time, upon standing up, he ducked his head low and broke into a sprint across the rooftop, leaving the less physically fit Tony a few paces behind him.
 
Thankfully for the engineer, the robots' attention was drawn to the faster man and the began sensing energy blasts at him, leaving Tony to run in (relative) peace. 

Tony heaved a sigh of relief as soon as he was inside and the door slammed shut behind him. He leaned against the wall, taking a few slow, deep breaths and trying to get off his adrenaline high. It never got easier, not even after years of being Iron Man.

"Gimme a sec," he demanded in Martin's general direction, "old man with heart condition here. My lungs aren't what they used to be." Read as: Reduced to about two thirds of the capacity of an average person because of that goddamn chunk of metal where my breastbone should be. "Alright, good to go. Down the stairs, first door you see, penthouse."

"Weapons? Armour?" Martin asked, hopefully. "Where are the other Avengers? Shouldn't they be defending the tower?"

“They fucking should," Tony cursed, bolting down the stairs. "Armour for me is in the penthouse and since Natasha is hiding guns all over the goddamn place, I'm sure we'll find something for you. Alright, Clint might still be on his mission, I'm not sure, but the rest should be - ah, I think I heard Bruce."

"Please tell me he's staying calm..." He flinched as a doombot rammed into the window behind him. "Okay, maybe it's okay if he gets a bit agitated." He started down the stairs, already scanning the room for potential weapons and other useful things.

Tony winced at the roar that practically shook the building's walls. "Yeah, a little agitated seems to be the right thing now," he agreed. "We'll talk him down later, Hulk likes me." He pushed open the door in the penthouse and whined at the sight in front of him. "Oh come on, I just got this renovated, what the fuck! Why do villains hate my windows so much?!"

Martin did his patented combat roll again and slid into cover behind some potted plants, from which he promptly withdrew some grenades and a short assault rifle. "Your life must be pretty crazy, when you've got someone hiding rifles in your bushes," he commented dryly. "I'll give you some cover so you can get suited up."

"Natasha put 'em there, she's a batshit crazy ninja assassin... uh... person. I'm not taking responsibility for anything she puts here and I really shouldn't say stuff like this because she has the scary ability to show up right behind you in very bad moments. Alright, let's get this going."

Martin popped out of cover and started firing on the two doombots in short, controlled bursts. His bullets mostly pinged uselessly off their armour, but one of them seemed to have hit the flight module of one bot, and the other one was now spraying sparks from a damaged eye.

"So I might be moving a little fast in this relationship," Tony shouted while he sprinted out towards the landing pad so the armour would assemble around him, "but how're your feelings about the Avengers Initiative?"

"Are you honestly asking me to jump right into the most dangerous party in the world, when I'm just about three days old?" Martin didn't suppress his grin at all. "Let's talk about this after we've dealt with the homicidal robots, okay?"

"We can always use a guy who can walk into a fire and comes out prettier afterwards," Tony responded, the last words coming out tinny and metallic when the face plate slid into place. After a few seconds, the suit was fully online and JARVIS greeted him calmly while the inventor took off into the air.

"Good to have you properly attires for this gathering now, sir. May I take the time to inform you that the robots seem to be controlled from somewhere at street level, one block away. And master Martin, you should be aware that there are in-ear communicators on the bar, should you wish to remain in contact with sir." Martin threw away the now empty assault rifle and jumped to the bar, while Tony relished in the chance to get some payback in on the bots. A few seconds later his new friend/neighbour’s voice sounded from his suit’s communications systems. “Okay, got one. I’m in cover by the window, I can see some sort of armoured vehicle conspicously lurking down the street. JARVIS, does that work out with the signal’s source?”

“It does seem to be coming from the vehicle you pointed out. If sir wishes to investigate, I have marked it on your HUD.”

"On it," Tony confirmed, swooping down towards and very nearly colliding with the Hulk, who was leaping at a Doombot from the side of a building. "Ah, Brucie, nice to see that you're here, too. Almost didn't notice," he remarked drily before following JARVIS' directions leading him towards whoever controlled the bots this time.

The Hulk watched Tony leaving for a few seconds, than he continued smashing those things that appeared at the Tower some time ago. They weren't so much fun, they broke under his hands way too easily. But Hulk didn't complain. He liked to fight even if his opponents were weak. And they were mostly weak. No one was stronger than him. Which was why he was particularly amused when a weird, spherical robot appeared that started peppering him with particularly strong energy blasts. He was surprised when he hit it and the blow only sent it flying, instead of shattering the puny thing.

Chapter Text

While Tony and the Hulk were playing outside, Martin retreated from his spot by the window, secure in the knowledge that two of the Avengers' three heaviest hitters were outside taking care of the most obvious problem. So he retreated into one of the windowless rooms one floor down and looked around for a new weapon.

"Now, if I were a high calibre assault weapon, where would I be... Aha!" He withdrew a German G3 assault rifle from under the false floor of a storage cupboard (in case you ever get attacked while getting baking ingredients, he presumed) and, now armed with something armour-piercing and a few extra magazines that had thoughtfully been hidden among the boxes of cake decorations (who among the Avengers would bake a cake he didn't want to ponder at the moment), he ventured up into the penthouse again. Something about this attack bothered him, but he couldn't exactly say what. Hoewever, he was determined to find out.

"JARVIS, are you aware of any intruders in the tower apart from the bots?" he whispered, confident that the tiny communicator would pick up his voice nonetheless.

"No, master Martin. But I am having some issues with some of my monitoring equipment on the 70th floor. You suspect someone has infiltrated the tower during the attack?" Martin nodded grimly. He wasn't sure who was good enough to circumvent Tony's security, but he didn't suppose they would have the same luck neutralizing 7,62mm rounds. He stood at the elevator doors and ponderered his options.

"How long do these elevators take to reach the 70th floor, JARVIS?" He looked at the grenades he had acquired earlier. They were brand new SHIELD equipment, with an adjustable timed detonator.

"Exactly 10 seconds from the pressing of the button until the doors open on the 70th floor. I must warn you, one of the monitoring blind spots is right in front of the elevator. Some of the infiltrators may be lying in ambush there." Martin set the detonators for 13 seconds, and laid them on the floor of the elevator cab. "I'm counting on it." He pressed the button for the 70th floor, primed the grenades and slipped out the door before it could close. "Now, where's the stairs?"

Tony flew down towards street level, trying to pinpoint the location of whoever was controlling the bots. He dodged a particularly cheeky one that threatened to smash right   int o his face with a spontaneous barrel roll.

"Barton, you lazy ass" he snapped over the comm, "would you mind taking care of those?"

"Barton is in Skandinavia," Steve responded.

Oh. Right. No archer today. "Details," Tony muttered, turned around and shot two of the robots out of the air. "Hi Steve, by the way. Is Natasha gone, too?" He dropped a few feet so one of the bots flew straight over his head and into the building behind him. "Damn, you only notice how useful snipers are when they're not there anymore. Someone remind me to compliment Clint later."

"How about you keep your head in the game right now?" Steve sighed.

"Sir, yes, sir," Tony mocked. "Alright, JARVIS, where's that signal coming from?"

The AI displayed a navigation arrow in his field of vision, and a big vehicle that was just rounding a corner up ahead was outlined in bright red. "Should I give you the exact coordinates as well, sir? Be advised that master Martin suspects hostile presence within the tower. He is currently investigating."

"Aren't you responsible for security in my Tower, Jay? I swear, one day I'll replace you with Siri," Tony grumbled. "And no, I don't need the coordinates, I got this. What have you got on that vehicle? Can I blow it up?"

"Your repulsors are capable of piercing the vessel at certain vulnerable points, including the seams in the armour plating and the wheels. However, I advise against detonating the vehicle in any way while in a residential area."

"Right. Civilians. Property damage. That sorta thing. Um... is there anyone actually in the car or is somebody having a lot of fun with their oversized RC toy right now?" Tony asked, following the vehicle and taking in the information that JARVIS displayed on his HUD.

"My sensors currently cannot penetrate the armour, but judging by the driving pattern, it is manned."

"Okay, think we can lure them out? Or do we have a way to take it out without it exploding all over the place? We could just... smash it, right?"

"If you recall one of the stories Colonel Rhodes is so happy to tell, your armour should be capable of carrying the truck. Maybe even in flight."

"I should start to actually listen to the War Machine stories. Alright, let's find out if he's lying, shall we?" With a wide grin, adrenaline elevating his heart rate, Tony swooped downwards and spread his arms to take a hold of the car. At full thrust, he managed to lift it into the air with him and slowly carry it above the roofs of Manhattan and towards Central Park, where there would be less chance of damaging civilians. Wait, when did I start thinking of myself as not a civilian?

He deliberately ignored the appalled honking from the vehicle in his grasp, trusting the Hulk to keep the Doombots off his back. The one big disadvantage of having his hands full was that his weapons arsenal was severely limited like this.

Thankfully, Hulk was not so distracted by his new playmate that he didn't keep most of the opponents of Iron Man's back. The few times he was not there in time Tony's smart missiles were enough for the job.

Every time Hulk didn't catch one of the opponents, he let out a frustrated growl. As a consequence the following bots were smashed even more cruelly. Hulk couldn't say he was bored. It was rare that there were so many things to fight. And then there were the round things. While he had finally succeeded in smashing the first one, two more had appeared and were constantly dodging around him, providing him with ever more entertainment.

They were a lot more fun to fight because they were faster and smaller. Hulk was a bit annoyed when one of it slipped his hands again. But he would get those, too. He always won, no one could keep up with him.



Martin edged around the corner of the stairwell, rifle raised and alert for any unwanted attention. But the two men who were left standing in the hallway before the elevators were busy tending to their comrades. The damage from the frag grenade was obvious, the elevator doors were bent and blackened, and tiny shrapnel shards had embedded themselves everywhere in the walls, floor and ceiling and the decorative potted plants had been shredded, just like the men who had been guarding the elevator had.

Martin walked past silently, not intent to cause more damage than he already had.

A bit further down the hall he found a group of men working at a bank of computers. Two mercenaries guarded the door, but he saw them long before they saw him. Two shots to the knees took the fight out of them, and within seconds he stood menacingly in the doorway, gun levelled.

"Alright, two questions: Who are you, and what do you want?"

The bravest (or most stupid, Martin wasn't sure which) took a defiant step forward. "You won't get anything from us. Our loyalty to the scientist supreme is absolute, you have no power over us."

Some of the other men nodded defiantly, some (the smart ones probably) winced at the stupidity of antagonizing an armed man who had just taken out their bodyguards. Martin was happy to prove them right, and shot the brave one in the left foot. "Well, mister Heckler and mister Koch might have something to say about that." He swung the rifle's muzzle over the rest of the men. "Anyone else want to discuss things with the German gentlemen?

Another man stepped forward, and, more sensibly, knelt down. "We surrender. We are scientists of AIM, sent here to extract data about the Avengers from Tony Stark's mainframe."

"Never heard of you. Well, I guess I'll have to find you a cell or something." He looked around. "JARVIS, any room around here we can use for that?"

The AI answered immediately: "If you turn left from the door and follow the corridor, you will find an empty cleaning cupboard. The door can be locked from the outside."

Martin gestured with the rifle. "You heard the disembodied voice. Get going." On the way out, he casually kicked at the hand of one of the guards, who had been trying to grab his fallen gun. When the still mobile intruders were safely locked away, Martin called Tony to let him know what was going on.

"Tony, this is Martin. I found some mercenaries and some guys claiming they belong to the " Advanced Idea Mechanics" sneaking around the Tower. I shut them down before they got anything big, but the definitely got into your system, and I don't know how much they got out of it."

Tony let out a colourful string of curses and was momentarily tempted to just drop the damn car to the ground. "Fucking AIM and their fucking around with my tech," he groused while slowly losing height as he neared Central Park.

"Okay, you're gonna have to fill me in on that. Anyway, I'm gonna go prowl the Tower some more, see if there are any more intruders or anything interesting. You making any progress out there?"

"Uh, yeah, sort of," Tony replied. "I just found out I can lift cars and am on my way to Central Park."

"That's pretty amazing. I'll talk to you afterwards, this one merc just doesn't know when to quit." Martin's voice sounded as if he was running, and then the link cut.

"Have an eye on him, would you, JARVIS," Tony muttered distractedly. "He just got out of the hospital, he really shouldn't overdo it right now. We've got safe rooms in there, I'm sure, tell him to take a break or something."

"Acknowledged. Although I do not expect him to listen any more than you would?"

"Unlikely, but at least I can say 'told you so' if he gets hurt again."

"Of course sir. Although from my observation so far, he seems to be doing well so far. You should be aware that one of the vehicle's doors just unlocked." True to the AI's words, one of the doors of the armoured car clicked open.

"We surrender. Set us down, we will give everything up." A man's panicked face appeared in the door.

"Oh, really now?" Tony asked. "I didn't even get started yet! That was nothing. A walk in the park, so to speak. Or to the park. Heh." He giggled and roughly dropped the car the last few feet to the ground. "Alright, get out of there, chop chop."

Three men tumbled out of the car, obviously disoriented by the rough flight and with the control vehicle now abandoned, the doombots became noticeably less coordinated. The men knelt down on the grass.

Tony landed in front of them, quietly ordering JARVIS to scan the car in case one of them had stayed inside. It was probably what he would have done, so checking couldn't hurt, right?

There was no one inside the car, although it turned out that quite a few of the on-board computers and systems had been crudely vandalized, no doubt in an attempt to deny him information.

"Now, let's see how much that helps you," Tony muttered. Pointing towards the three men, he threatened: "You stay put, you get me? I have eyes in the back of my head. Literally. There's a camera and sensors and everything. Don't test me." That was only half true, but he'd bet that they wouldn't want to try it. They didn’t, instead sitting down, obviously relieved. The inventor threw them a last menacing look, then he climbed into the car as elegantly as was possible with the suit on and began to run scans on what of the data could still be useful.

Chapter Text

Tony placed a coffee cup on the table in front of Martin, ruffled a yawning Bruce's curls while he handed him a steaming mug of herbal tea, slid a cup of hot cocoa over to Steve and then sat down with his own coffee.

"Well," he began, "that wasn't the best first impression, I suppose? Anyway, welcome to the Tower."

Martin picked the cup up with his left hand, the right still braced from the nasty blow the last of the mercenaries had managed to get in.

"Thanks, Tony. Yeah, not really the best Welcome commitee there. I think you'll have to replace the number 3 elevator."

Tony grimaced. “I'll talk to Victor about the timing,” he replied with a half-shrug and a grin. “And JARVIS, take a note about that elevator. How are your lungs doing?”

He looked Martin up and down as he remembered his recent hospital stay like he expected him to drop dead any second.

Martin waved a hand dismissively. "They're fine. Felt a short pang when we were running from the car, but it's been okay since then. The arm is more of a problem. That bastard came within an inch of breaking it."

The inventor furrowed his brows and leaned forward with a hint of concern in his eyes.

"Do you want someone to check that over? We can see if we can get Bruce to stay awake for a bit longer or we let Cap have a look, he knows some stuff too, I think. What with military training and everything."

Steve shot the Inventor a look that said "we'll talk about you offering my services later" , but leaned forward nonetheless.

"Yes, from what I've seen it might be broken. I can make you a temporary splint, or we could call doctor Cho, she always gives Avengers stuff priority."

Martin set down the mug and held up his hand placatingly. "I'm thankful for all the help, really. But I'm fine, it's not broken, really. I don't want to inconvenience you any more than I already have... Anyway, did you find out what those AIM guys wanted from you?" he turned to Tony, hoping to turn the conversation somewhere else.

Bruce raised his eyebrows at their guest and commented tiredly, but with his usual brand of dry humour:

"I'm used to some people ," he briefly glared at Tony, "telling me they're fine and ending up with bruises and broken bones, so I'm definitely going to check you over. Just because the similarities between you two are too much to ignore."

Martin stuck out his good hand. "First, nice to officially meet you, doctor Banner. And okay, if you insist. For comparing me to fabulously famous people, that definitely puts you into my good books."

The scientist shook the offered hand with a wry smile. "Funny. I thought I did things like that by saving these idiots' lives over and over again. That's a nice change."

He closed his hands around the mug again as soon as he was able to, the transformation usually left him cold and tired and the warmth of the mug was perfect right now.

"From what I've seen that's pretty necessary a lot of the time. The world should thank you. Since she isn't available to comment, I'll do it. Thanks for saving the people who save people."

He sat back down, then he suddenly remembered something. He turned back to Tony.

"Which reminds me, i remember you making me some kind of offer in the heat of battle. Care to repeat it? I'd like to be sure I understood you correctly." He smiled a wicked, knowing smile.

Tony snickered and briefly glanced at Steve, a hint of nervousness in his gaze, before he replied:

"Well,  I'm not the one who does the paperwork, Fury will have to deal with that. I do believe you'd be an asset to the team, though. And if Steve doesn't like that, then I'm going to hire you as freelance sniper who coincidentally works in the same places as the Avengers. So it's basically decided, it's just the issue of which forms you're going to sign. Mine or SHIELD's."

Martin burst out laughing.

Bruce lifted an eyebrow.

Steve looked like he was about to blow up, then kind of slumped in his chair with a disappointed expression that immediately instilled the deepseated wish to please him in anyone who saw it. It reminded Martin of the sort of face a benevolent grandfather might discipline his unruly grandchildren with.

"Well, if you say it like that... You can pitch the idea to Fury if you like, but I guess your pay is better anyway. You can hire me on as a security Consultant or something."

"Good choice," Tony praised with a grin. "Security consultant sounds fine, I'm sure I can whip up a contract for you to sign, or I'll let JARVIS do that."

He pointedly ignored Steve's sigh and clapped his hands together. "Alright, that's our plan for today. Fix that arm, make a contract, more coffee, please."

"Sleeping," Bruce added tiredly. "Don't forget sleeping."

"Yeah, sleeping's good. Although I'm still thinking about what I want to do with my floor. There's so much space, I'm thinking of setting up a new lab." Martin grinned excitedly. "It's been ages since I last had enough space to set up a full alchemy lab."

"A fellow nerd, Bruce, did you hear that?" Tony asked with a bright grin. "I am never, ever going to deny anybody anything that has to do with science. Although I'd say it's debatable just how science-y alchemy actually is."

He raised an eyebrow at Martin, half a challenge, half honest curiosity - the kid (no, immortal, he needed to remind himself that this guy was a lot older than him) had seemed reasonable enough so far. He didn't strike Tony as the type to engage in fruitless not-sciences.

"I'll just have to take a trip to europe. I had to leave all of my equipment behind when I left germany after the great war. Well, that's a matter for after my arm is better."

Tony raised a fist to his mouth and, between fake coughs, remarked: "Billionaire. Jets. All mine. Just ask:"

Steve shook his head disapprovingly, and Martin laughed.

"Thanks for the offer. I'll get back to you. But for now i think doctor Banner wants to go to sleep, and I'll finally take the time to get a decent look at my new home. If you'll excuse me..." he stood up

"Sleep," Bruce muttered, "yeah, sleep sounds good." He straightened up, trying to make himself look... well, less asleep, and waved a hand towards Martin. "Let me have a look at that arm."

Tony, meanwhile, hid his wide smile at hearing Martin call the Tower 'home' behind his coffee mug while he watched his new inmate. 

Ignoring the inventor's obvious amusement, Martin followed Bruce to the Tower's medical room, and sat down, laying his arm on a table for the doctor to inspect.

While he rummaged through one of the various racks lined up against the wall, Bruce cast a quick look over his shoulder and asked:

"Where'd Tony pick you up, by the way? Sorry in case you said it before, but the big guy and I aren't exactly on speaking terms, so I may have missed that."

Martin cast him a surprised glance. "Not on speaking terms? Sounds like there's a story behind that. Anyway, he picked me up ” he made the airquotes  “in the mountains at the canadian border. He noticed my energy signature and we met up in a diner, got ambushed by some bad guys and saved each other's lives."

Bruce huffed. "When did my life take a turn that made this a perfectly normal story?" He wondered quietly as he returned to the table. "Well, Tony either builds his friends or makes them live with him. It's nice here, I couldn't complain, but there tend to be a lot of explosions. Just so you're warned."

He leaned over Martin, adjusting his glasses distractedly. "I don't suppose you can flex your fingers, right?"

Martin tried. "They're kind of stiff. I can move a bit, but there's some resistance."

The physicist nodded slowly, searching for band aids in the kits.

"Alright. I'll wrap them up so you don't accidentally make it worse, but apart from that, it should be okay in a few days time."

"Thanks. When am I cleared to fly a plane? As I told Tony, I want to get some stuff from germany.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow at Martin. "That depends," he replied. "If you fly like Clint, I'd say never. Like Steve - nah, bad example. That didn't work out too well."

He allowed a crooked smile to cross his face. "In about a week," he decided. "Or you just ask Tony."

Martin grinned a lopsided grin. "Nah, don't wanna intrude too much on his superhero bro-time."

He got up, and turned toward the door. "I'm gonna go take a look at my domain now. Have a pleasant rest, or whatever you're gonna do now. See ya around!"

"You too," the physicist responded with a small wave. "Good night, I suppose."

"Yeah, bye" Martin waved distractedly as he left the room. "Whenever I actually get around to sleeping." H muttered under his breath.

He really hoped Avengers Tower was connected to the S.H.I.E.L.D databases, but even if it wasn't, he had a lot of work to do, if he wanted to make this new life work the way he planned.

Chapter Text

Meanwhile Tony, on his way down to the workshop with the intent on finding out what he could salvage on information from the remnants of what he had found in the AIM vehicle, received a notation about a call from JARVIS. Raising his eyebrows at the AI, he told him to put the caller through and barely a second later, Rhodey's voice rang out through the elevator.

"Hey Tones," he greeted, "what're you doing?"
"Science," the inventor proclaimed cheerfully.
There was a snort on the other end of the line. "Yeah, could've guessed. And what else are you doing?"

"Else? Not doing anything else. Nothing at all." Tony's face, despite being invisible to his friend, was a mask of innocence.

"You know, Pepper told me that you'd adopted another stray... somebody," Rhodey responded drily. "Any idea where she got that notion?"

"Pepper told you - I didn't tell Pepper? How does she even know ?!” The engineer shook his head with a huff. "I swear, that woman has more superpowers than any of us."

"Nah. She's just good friends with JARVIS."

"Who is a traitor. Hear that, Jay? A traitor." Tony shrugged, stepping out of the elevator as the doors opened.

"But yeah, I might've done that. I would've told you too, you know. At some point. Anyway, Martin's nice. And trustworthy, I think, at least in the way that I don't hink he's gonna try and stab me anytime soon."

"I see," Rhodey said slowly, and Tony knew this guy for a few years now and that tone just screamed that something was up.

"Well then," the Colonel continued, "why don't you get back to sciencing, then? I'll be in touch."

"Of course you'll be in touch, you're spending half your free time in the Tower," Tony murmured. "Wait, Rhodey, what are you doing? Don't do stuff without asking me!" The line had already gone dead.

"Typical," the inventor muttered. "Let's just hope that he won't go and threaten Martin's life in case he tries to turn on me or something."

Some storeys further up, Colonel James Rhodes stepped into an elevator, probably with the intenion to go and threaten Tony's new acquaintance in case he tried to turn on him. Or something.

On the 83rd floor, an elevator door opened and Martin stepped out into an airy apartment, sparsely furnished but very roomy.

He began inspecting the quality of the couch cushions, before sidling his way over to the computer and starting  to put together some documents and certifications he might be needing in the future.

Just when he was about to try and connect to the S.H.I.E.L.D database, the elevator pinged and JARVIS helpfully informed him "You have a visitor, master Martin. May I introduce Colonel James Rhodes of the US Airforce. Otherwise known as the Warmachine."

Martin turned in his chair to take a look at the newcomer, then stood up to greet him.

Rhodey extended his hand with a smile that was polite, but not quite friendly yet, while he seized Martin up critically. He didn't make an effort to hide that.

"Pleasure to meet you," he said, "JARVIS introduced me already. I just wanted to stop by, say hi and stuff." Especially 'stuff'. He grimly thought to himself.

Martin raised an eyebrow. He recognized a protective big brother type when he saw one, and this man was probably going to be quite entertaining. "Stuff is such a wonderful word. Can i help you with your 'stuff', or did you wish to ask my help with 'stuff'?"

Despite himself, Rhodey felt a minute grin tugging on his lips. Yeah, he could already see why Tony liked this one.

"It's about my 'stuff'," he replied. "Because I think we both happen to know somebody who has a tendency to get himself into trouble, and it's in our all best interest to prevent that. Which is why I try to check for trouble before he's in to the neck."

He raised an eyebrow at Martin, who really didn't look all that threatening. Then again, Clint Barton in the mornings didn't look threatening either, more like pity-inducing, and he'd seen that guy in the field, so...

The immortal, on the other hand, had to desperately contain a grin. He was right, this guy was entertaining.

"That was without a doubt the politest threat I have ever received. And I have been threatened by french nobles, so that's something. Worry not, knight in rusted armour, I shall endeavour not to lead thine fair maiden into distress."

Rhodey grimaced. His tone a little more open than before, he responded: "Well, I keep having to deal with politicians, you gotta learn to be subtle, so I'll just take that as a compliment. Also, there is nothing rusty about my armour."

Still, his glare was half-hearted at best. "And I don't appreciate the mental image of Tony in a dress. That wakes memories that I thought I'd never have to live through again."

This time Martin didn't even try to keep his mad grin in check. "Oh, sounds like there's a story behind that one... Anyway, I'm pretty sure Tony is way more trouble for me than I am for him. I mean, I've known him for less than a week and already been almost killed twice, and had more action within an hour of meeting him than in the last 50 years. But hey.. Shit happens, right.... Anyway, US Airforce... You wouldn't have any way of accessing S.H.I.E.L.D personal records, would you?"

"Says he's no trouble and then asks me for S.H.I.E.L.D. records in the same breath," Rhodey murmured. Then, he blinked in confusion and raised his eyebrows at Martin. "You're looking good for fifty, though," he remarked sceptically.

Martin laughed. "Try 300, when I said french nobles I was being literal. That's kinda the reason I'm here, my gimmick is that I can restore my body by burning it and Tony kind of caught me."

He took a moment to relish the impression of slack jawed amazement on his guest's face, befor turning around and gesturing to the computer. "As to those files, I just want to know what my son's doing. He works for S.H.I.E.L.D and nobody ever tells me anything about what he does."

Rhodey blinked, looked like was going to say something, then stopped with a sigh and a shake of his head.

"A year or two ago," he stated, "I would've seen to you getting your very own straightjacket. Right now, I'm actually inclined to believe you. Can't help you with those files though, I don't have any access beyond myself and my unit."

"Damn. But anyway..." Martin laughed again and walked over to the kitchen. "I haven't been shopping yet, but Tony was kind enough to have me at least well stocked with drinks and microwavable junkfood. Can i offer you anything? Pizza, coke, some beer?"

Rhodey was undecided for a moment, but then followed Martin towards the kitchenette.

"Sure, why not. I still gotta fly later, so I'll take a coke, thanks," he replied, pulling up a chair for himself at the counter.

"I hope salami is alright, Tony aimed more for quantity than variety."

After inspecting the contents of the fridge, Martin pulled out two frozen pizzas and shoved them into the oven, then cracked open a can of coke and a can of beer and handed the former to the colonel.

“Perfectly fine,” he nodded in response. He hadn't originally planned to stay for dinner, but if it was offered like this, who was he to resist?

“I can't help but ask, though, did he try to charm you into his bed yet? It's his primary method of communication, I don't think he can help it, so don't let it intimidate you. You learn to ignore it after a while.”

Martin raised an eyebrow again (damn, that guy has an expressive face). "Really?And here I thought I was something special." he grinned.

"Yeah, he kinda did. I was kind of impressed, the guy is pretty charming. And boy was it refreshing to be flirted at again after spending the last 30 years as an old geezer."

"Yeah, about that." Rhodey frowned, looking at the other man quizzically with his head tilted to the side. "Would you mind spelling that whole thing out for lowly mortals like myself? You can get a new body just when you feel like it? 'cause that sounds really damn sweet, gotta admit that. You know, when you start noticing the odd gray hair and stuff like that, you see things like that from a whole new perspective."

Martin took the pizzas out of the oven, cut them into slices and set them down on the couch table. Then, munching on a piece of cheesy goodness, he launched into a brief explanation.

"As far as I have been able to tell, my body gets rejuvenated by fire. Well, that's not quite right. Rebooted is more like it." he lifted another slice to his mouth. "Ever watched Doctor Who?"

"Tony made me," the colonel replied with a crooked smile as he grabbed a pizza slice for himself. "So, you make it sound like you don't really know about the how? Or am I just hearing things and you're being purposefully vague?"

Martin grinned widely and waved his hands about in a ridiculous pseudo mystic way.

"I might be. Maybe... If I wanted to... No, but really, I don't know. I'm pretty sure it only works with fire. It at least didn't happen when i was shot in WWI, or when i got shrapnel in my chest recently. Then again, none of those were actually lethal, but I'm not really keen on finding out if it kicks in on death."

He shuddered, and quickly masked his uneasiness with another bite of pizza.

Rhodey grimaced in sympathy. "Yeah, figures. Well then, let's hope you won't have to find out?"

He raised his coke in a small toast and took a sip, falling silent for a moment to focus on the food in front of him.

After another few minutes of silent munching, Martin yawned. "Well, it's been nice chatting to you, Colonel, but I really should catch some shuteye."

"Ditto," Rhodey agreed. "I should be on my way, too. Well, thanks for having me, and I'm glad that it doesn't seem like I have to murder you anytime soon."

He smiled at the other man as he got up and picked his plate up. "Don't take it personally, I just like to check."

Martin took the plate from him and set both down in the sink. Then he offered the other man his hand.

"No problem, I totally understand. I can be quite protective of my friends as well."

"It's a character trait I can appreciate, especially in people I have mutual friends with," the colonel replied as he took Martin's hand in a firm grip. "Been nice talking to you, I suppose I'll see you around. Goodnight!"