...and probably you know all the dirty shows I've put on // blunted and exhausted like anyone....
Life seemed to enjoy doing this to Tony Stark. Get him settled, if not content then at least accustomed, and then turn everything on its head.
It hadn't taken long to find the Iron Man armour- but once he had it in his hands, it was hard to remember why he'd gone looking for it.
No, this time Tony was quite content to sit on the sidelines and let someone else try their hand at guiding the course of events, futurist or not. Let someone else see if they could do better. The ship was obviously entirely capable of running herself, with those pulled out of podsleep there for little more than lawn-trimming duty. What the hell was the point of having a crew if they weren't going to be allowed to do anything useful?
And so here he was, back at square one. With a hell of a lot more to give than things that exploded and maimed, frustrated that all he would ever be remembered for, even here, were his mistakes- but this time he just didn't have the will to try again.
He'd been planning to set up some kind of workshop somewhere, take the suit apart, give it a servicing and pick up as close to where he'd left off as possible. Instead he found himself hefting the suitcase containing the compacted armour through the city, not really sure where he was going or why, his feet leading him aimlessly through what felt like a collection of buildings for a giant museum exhibit rather than any real city that had been built for inhabitation.
They were like relics, all of them. Preserved, living specimens.
Exhibit n, Anthony Edward 'Tony' Stark, the Iron Man.
High above him, the holographically projected sky shimmered, clouds passing overhead in an elaborate pretense, for a purpose he didn't understand. Focusing, he attempted futilely to perceive the ceiling beyond, trying not to think too hard about the last words Steve had hurled at his back.
Was it worth it?
And for the first time, the answer was completely obvious.
Here, in the Bleed, where the Super-Human Registration Act, the Avengers, SHIELD, Norman Osborn, Stamford and everything else that had contributed to the inevitable lost all meaning?
No.
It had all been for no lasting reason at all.
It hadn't taken long to find the Iron Man armour- but once he had it in his hands, it was hard to remember why he'd gone looking for it.
No, this time Tony was quite content to sit on the sidelines and let someone else try their hand at guiding the course of events, futurist or not. Let someone else see if they could do better. The ship was obviously entirely capable of running herself, with those pulled out of podsleep there for little more than lawn-trimming duty. What the hell was the point of having a crew if they weren't going to be allowed to do anything useful?
And so here he was, back at square one. With a hell of a lot more to give than things that exploded and maimed, frustrated that all he would ever be remembered for, even here, were his mistakes- but this time he just didn't have the will to try again.
He'd been planning to set up some kind of workshop somewhere, take the suit apart, give it a servicing and pick up as close to where he'd left off as possible. Instead he found himself hefting the suitcase containing the compacted armour through the city, not really sure where he was going or why, his feet leading him aimlessly through what felt like a collection of buildings for a giant museum exhibit rather than any real city that had been built for inhabitation.
They were like relics, all of them. Preserved, living specimens.
Exhibit n, Anthony Edward 'Tony' Stark, the Iron Man.
High above him, the holographically projected sky shimmered, clouds passing overhead in an elaborate pretense, for a purpose he didn't understand. Focusing, he attempted futilely to perceive the ceiling beyond, trying not to think too hard about the last words Steve had hurled at his back.
Was it worth it?
And for the first time, the answer was completely obvious.
Here, in the Bleed, where the Super-Human Registration Act, the Avengers, SHIELD, Norman Osborn, Stamford and everything else that had contributed to the inevitable lost all meaning?
No.
It had all been for no lasting reason at all.