Skidding Down Memory Lane (2/3)
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- - -
When they entered through another futuristic door, Tony didn’t feel a sense of familiarity. It was just as jarring as the rest of the ‘tower’, and it bugged him that he didn’t remember designing any of this. Usually his projects stuck with him at least on some level, and the innovation he was seeing would have certainly been worthwhile to remember.
He was aware of Rhodey watching him, trying to do it in an unassuming way, but it was like hot coals burning his back. Tony felt almost guilty for not managing to pull himself together. These people expected him to act a certain way, to provide them with something, and he had no idea what that was.
Tony slowly moved around the room, touching things. Some of the tools were familiar, others he could guess what they were used for - and then there was a plethora of items he had no idea what they did. Were they prototypes? Parts of some machine? Components or completed designs?
Feeling an almost claustrophobic frustration, Tony wandered around the workshop - then was startled by something suddenly moving beside him. A robotic arm extended itself, as if coming out of hibernation, followed by whirring and a bleep.
Tony stared at it and was vaguely aware of Rhodey stepping towards him, opening his mouth to speak.
From a corner farther down the room, another robotic form extracted itself, rolling towards Tony and its twin, and Tony felt a tight grip of emotion clutch at his lungs.
“Hey, buddy,” he murmured, touching the bot closest to him, and unexpectedly there were tears in his eyes. He turned himself towards the bot, sliding his hands along its frame, hiding his emotional response.
The second bot reached them, its mechanical claws gently touching Tony’s hair, and he reached out his right hand, gripping one of those claws in his fingers. They easily looked like one of the weakest part of the bot’s body, but in reality, they were built for complex tasks that often required considerable strength.
Tony closed his eyes, feeling almost as if he were floating on the pleasant sensation of finally recognizing something. He had never imagined something could feel this profound and meaningful.
“You recognize them?” Rhodey asked, sounding hopeful.
Tony nodded, lifting his head and quickly brushing the evidence of tears from his face. “Yeah, of course. I mean…” He realized it might be a little insulting to Rhodey, whom he couldn’t really connect to the young man in his memories. However, when he glanced at his companion, Rhodey just looked happy.
“That’s great. Maybe the rest of it will come back, too.”
Tony didn’t tell him it hadn’t ‘come back’; it had always been there. He supposed that his memories didn’t simply cut off at a certain point, but were more like a film that had been torn apart unevenly rather than neatly spliced. He had mixed flashes from the area of the damage, but lacked a complete recollection of what took place before - and none of what came after. That made the most sense, even if he had a hard time wrapping his head around it.
Comprehending it wasn’t a matter of genius or a high IQ; he supposed it wasn’t the natural state of the brain to forget, and then be constantly teased with reminders it could no longer connect to anything. It was starting to feel like his head was on fire, and not in a good way.
Was there ever a good way?
The door opened again with a soft hiss, and Bruce stepped inside. He was wearing glasses now, and they made him look more like a nerd. Not that Tony cared: he already knew the kind of scientific mind Bruce had, and he was drawn to that.
“Everything going well?” Bruce asked, looking at Tony and the bots.
“He remembered the robots,” Rhodey informed him. “Does it make sense he still doesn’t remember Jarvis or his armor?”
“They were introduced into his life at different times,” Bruce mused. “When did you build the bots, at MIT?” he asked Tony.
Tony nodded, looking at the bots again, noting various differences. Still, they were essentially the same, and it was almost like coming home, finally, having them greet him.
“So, his memory cuts off a couple years later, around 1991?” Rhodey mused.
“Something like that,” Bruce agreed. “It’s likely he’ll have flashes of other stuff, which may appear confusing…”
Tony tuned them out, focusing on the workshop again. The bots trailed behind him, picking up stuff he took too long to look at, or happened to touch, as if waiting for him to tell them what to do with those things. They seemed smarter and much more intuitive than he recalled, but it was still a much easier transition to accept than everything else around him. He was glad to see they had grown and advanced.
“Tony, do you mind if we step outside for a moment?” Bruce asked.
“Go ahead,” Tony agreed. “I’ll hang out here, see if I can’t jog a memory or two.”
The two men still seemed uncertain if it was smart to leave him, but they did step out. It was mildly intimidating, being left all alone, but Tony looked at the bots and figured he had all the company he needed right here.
Dummy offered him some gadget and he took hold of it, turning it around in his hands while the bots watched, tilting their heads, following the motions. They used to try and copy the movements of his hands with their arms and claws, but they weren’t nearly as dexterous. He used to think he might have to re-design them, but apparently he had decided against that.
“Sir, Miss Potts has arrived,” the almost-but-not-quite voice of Jarvis told him, startling him a bit.
Tony looked around to locate the armor, but couldn’t see it. Besides, the sound appeared to have come from the walls, or somewhere around him, but not just from a single speaker. It was as if the voice emanated from the entire room.
He wasn’t certain what to do with that information, and he was still puzzling that when the door opened again, a woman stepping inside. She was wearing a dark skirt and dress shirt, very professional. Tony supposed she was beautiful, though she looked a bit too old for him.
Well, too old for what he remembered himself to be, anyway.
“Tony,” she started, crossing the room. “Are you okay? They told me you got hurt.”
Tony blinked, trying to figure out what he was expected to say.
The woman stopped, blinking, then composed herself, standing straight.
“Uh, I’m fine,” Tony offered, then cleared his throat, wondering how he sounded. Not squeaky, he hoped.
“Do you know who I am?” she asked, voice soft, calming. It put Tony somewhat at ease.
“No, ma’am,” he replied, yet he felt a strange guilt for being forced to admit it.
She chuckled. “Well, that is a sure sign that you don’t remember me: you’ve never called me ‘ma’am’ in the entire time we’ve known each other.”
“Miss?” Tony attempted to salvage it.
She laughed. He liked that sound. “It’s okay. I’m Pepper Potts.” She actually offered her hand for him to shake, and he accepted it.
“They asked me before if I knew you,” Tony recalled, then felt his face flush. “I’m assuming I really should know who you are.”
“Bruce told me this is most likely temporary, and you could be your old self by tomorrow,” she said.
“What if I’m not?” Tony asked, feeling that heavy lump in his chest again. He reached up to rub it, even though he knew that wouldn’t fix it.
Pepper watched him, then moved over to find herself a chair, and Tony followed her, sitting down on a nearby work bench, trying to appear aloof and cool. She was a pretty lady, though, and she had come to see him, so he might as well try to impress her.
The bots trailed behind him, clearly waiting for instructions. Tony had no idea what they might have been tasked with the last time he was here.
“Do you come here often?” Tony asked, unsure if he meant the tower or the workshop. He left it up for Pepper to decide.
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you trying to hit on me?”
Tony cringed internally. “You’re a very beautiful lady. It would be rude of me not to.” He saw her look, mixed with concern and light amusement. “Right?” he asked, voice smaller, insecure. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do or say.”
“You don’t need to impress me,” Pepper told him. “You may not remember, but… we’re already there. Well, have been. It’s complicated.”
Tony processed that for a moment. “We’re together? A couple? Did we get a divorce?” he asked, feeling cold sweat on his skin all of a sudden.
Pepper burst out laughing, covering her mouth, trying to compose herself. “Yes and no: we have been a couple for a while, but there have been some ups and downs.”
“Which way was it going before I forgot who you are?” Tony asked.
“Up, I think, although there have been… some disagreements between us lately,” Pepper said. It sounded like the truth. “Some promises you made, and have been forced to break since.”
Tony didn’t like the sound of that. At the same time, the ache in his chest increased again, and he supposed his nerves would be shot after this experience. Even as he was slowly rubbing his chest, he saw Pepper watching. “There’s this weird pressure in my chest. I think all of this is putting me on edge,” he tried to make light of it.
Her face got serious, almost sad. “You don’t remember any of it, do you? Afghanistan? What happened after? New York?”
Tony frowned. He felt like there was another keyword there he was supposed to recognize and react to. “No,” he finally said, frustration peaking once more.
“Not even Jarvis?” she asked.
“I’m afraid not, Miss Potts,” the voice replied, once again coming smoothly from all around the room. It was a bit like the best movie theaters, only more advanced, and coming at a pleasant volume.
“Who is Jarvis?” Tony asked. “I mean, I know Jarvis - Edwin Jarvis - and I think there’s some kind of a connection because of the way this one talks.”
“Jarvis - short for ‘Just A Rather Very Intelligent System’ - is an AI you created. Well, he was initially just a user interface, but that hasn’t been the case for many years,” Pepper told him.
Tony sounded out the very ridiculous acronym. “That’s a really stupid name - I mean, I get why I would have named him Jarvis…”
“I think you just came up with that acronym on the spot, to explain it to someone,” Pepper smiled.
Tony looked up around the room. “I always wanted to make an AI. Well, I kind of thought of putting one in the bots, but they were already developing their own identities within the software I created, so it would have been wrong to replace those with something else, even if it was more advanced…”
The bots bleeped, and Tony looked at them, wondering at how similar they were despite everything. He hadn’t changed them too much in all these years that had taken place since their inception.
He looked at Pepper again. “So, what happened in Afghanistan? And is the thing in New York connected to me fighting alongside all those other guys?”
Pepper bit her lip in thought. “I think it’s not the right time to tell you. There’s enough going on, and you should probably try to get some rest, let your body heal.”
It suddenly felt like she was freezing him out. Until now, she had been genuine when talking to Tony, but apparently they had approached territory she felt he couldn’t handle.
She stood up, standing there with some uncertainty, then took a step closer to Tony and leaned in to kiss his cheek. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Okay,” Tony echoed, trying to take a good whiff of her perfume. Perhaps he had given it to her, though it wasn’t familiar to him.
“Good night, Tony,” she said, then walked out without looking back.
Tony sat there a moment longer, slowly swinging his legs, then took a breath and dropped himself to the floor. He couldn’t help a tiny grimace of pain, his body protesting. “Maybe I should go to bed,” he mused. “Where is my bed?” he asked.
“May I guide you there, sir?” Jarvis - or J.A.R.V.I.S., as he perhaps spelled it - replied. Just knowing what was behind the voice put Tony more at ease, and knowing it was his creation made it better, too. The bots weren’t startled by this incorporeal entity, either, so they had to be used to it.
“Sure,” Tony agreed. He guessed that if he went somewhere he shouldn’t, someone would come redirect him. However, it sounded like he lived here, and maybe owned the place - it wasn’t hard for him to imagine he might be really rich when he grew up - so perhaps he would tell them he was the boss and would go where he liked.
J.A.R.V.I.S. opened the door, and Tony stepped out through it, seeing the lights dim in the workshop behind him. He looked back, already feeling like maybe he should go back and hang out with the bots, but J.A.R.V.I.S. kept illuminating panels in the floor ahead of him, ready to guide him.
Deciding to give rest a chance, he followed the lights to a floor few levels up, and it took him a moment to realize the entire floor was his domain; there was only one bedroom, and plenty of other spaces, including a gigantic bathroom.
“Shall I draw you a bath, sir?” J.A.R.V.I.S. asked, ever willing to assist.
“Why not?” Tony mused. While the AI did that, he went to check the bedroom, not finding a whole lot of clothes there. He did, however, locate a walk-in closet, and he spent a moment looking at all the suits and power ties, and a long row of shoes for all occasions, from dress shoes to sneakers. What drew him in, eventually, was the array of more worn-down jeans, pants, and various articles of clothing with band names adorning them, as well as other words he didn’t know the meaning of. They were just as lovingly placed on the shelves, prominently displayed, and it was like looking at the closets of two different people. Tony knew, however, that they were all his, reflecting the two lives he lived.
One in the limelight, no doubt a corporate leader, and the other for the time he could spend at home, feeling comfortable.
He finally began undressing the clothes he was wearing, struggling with some of the zippers, then padded over to the bathroom. Even though it might have been smarter not to, he couldn’t pass up the chance to look in a mirror, seeing the naked body of a man he did not recognize. Bruises and dirt were on his skin, as well as some tiny scratches. Scars stood out on his chest, and he touched them, aware that they stood quite close to the ache he kept feeling.
Maybe it wasn’t just anxiousness after all.
“Your bath is ready, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. informed him, snapping him out of it, and Tony stepped over to a shower head, cleaning most of the grime off him before slowly settling down in the warm water of what looked like a Jacuzzi.
He sighed, closing his eyes, the warmth making his body release some of the tension he had unknowingly held onto.
“Sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. prompted.
Tony jerked. He felt very lethargic, and he instantly knew he must have drifted off.
“Perhaps you should get out of the water and go to bed, sir?” J.A.R.V.I.S. suggested gently.
“Yeah,” Tony agreed, slowly getting out and giving his body a quick rinse, then toweled himself off. As he did that, J.A.R.V.I.S. had already set to draining and cleaning the tub with some fancy automated functions, and Tony left the AI to it, checking out the vanity. He found a toothbrush that was his, noting there were very few items there that suggested a female presence. As he brushed his teeth, trying to find something familiar about it while staring at his face in the mirror, he once again began to feel surreal.
None of this was familiar. He could follow all the breadcrumbs and mimic the habits he imagined the man living here had, but none of it felt familiar.
With a frown, he left the bathroom and returned to the bedroom, finding himself a pair of underwear and a tank top to slip into before he slid between the cool sheets. J.A.R.V.I.S. was turning off the lights around him.
“Good night, J.A.R.V.I.S.,” Tony called out on a whim.
“Good night, sir,” the AI responded.
- - -
It had been a risk to let Pepper Potts interact with Tony, but most of the team was eager to see if it might spark some recognition in Tony, so they let it happen.
Steve sighed when there was no such recollection, and he could tell everyone else shared his disappointment.
“At least he knew his robots,” Clint mused. He was going over the arrows in his quiver, seeing as Tony couldn’t be trusted to run maintenance on their gear. J.A.R.V.I.S. was doing as much as he could.
“It certainly made him happier,” Rhodey agreed. “He was acting more like himself.”
“This cannot be easy for him,” Thor deemed, arms crossed over his chest. “We should help him adjust.”
“All this could be temporary, and something we all laugh about tomorrow,” Bruce interjected, watching the monitor carefully to follow the interaction between Tony and Pepper.
“And if he doesn’t remember?” Natasha asked. “We need to prepare for that.”
“Is it possible it could be permanent?” Rhodey asked uneasily. The thought troubled him, and Steve could understand why. The effects of Iron Man being out of commission for an unknown amount of time would complicate matters for the Avengers - not to mention Tony’s own business.
“We don’t yet understand the nature of his injury, so anything is possible,” Bruce snapped. “It’s all hypothetical. There’s no reason to go into full disaster mode just yet.”
Steve glanced at him from the corner of his eye. Maybe Bruce was just trying not to think of the worst case scenario, hoping it wouldn’t come to that.
“Seeing as there is no apparent injury, the chances of a full recovery are high,” J.A.R.V.I.S. chimed in. “We should closely monitor Mr. Stark to track any changes in his condition.”
“Can you keep an eye on any suspicious HYDRA activity at the same time?” Steve asked. Tony and J.A.R.V.I.S. had been helming that search, though he, Natasha and Clint could pick up the slack if necessary.
“Of course, Captain Rogers. I am fully capable of maintaining that search independently,” the AI responded, not sounding like he was offended by the insinuation he might need help, but Bruce smiled slightly so perhaps he heard some annoyance in J.A.R.V.I.S.’s tone after all.
Pepper seemed to grow more uneasy and took her leave, Tony remaining alone in the workshop. A minute later Pepper joined them in the meeting room, whereas Tony jumped down from his seat and headed out.
“Where is he going?” Clint asked, immediately alert.
“To bed, Agent Barton,” J.A.R.V.I.S. replied dryly. “I will maintain oversight and report if there is anything to share.”
“Thank you, J.A.R.V.I.S.,” Pepper said before any of the Avengers could reply. She took a seat, sighing. “I think I need a drink.”
Rhodey moved to pour one for himself and one for Pepper, and looked at the people around the room - then grabbed a bunch of glasses and put them on the long table, pouring them all a shot.
“I think you handled it pretty well,” Bruce mused, also taking a seat.
Pepper looked at him, then shrugged. “It was like talking to a stranger, yet… This is the Tony I never got to meet,” she said softly, looking at Rhodey. “He’s more innocent, less shaped by the experiences that made him into the man you all know.”
Rhodey nodded. “It’s hard for me to reconcile with that fact. I mean, it’s been a long time, and obviously Tony has a lot of gaps in his memory. He himself probably doesn’t know how to put it all together into a coherent timeline.”
“Let’s hope that he doesn’t have to figure it out,” Steve mused, inhaling the smell of the amber liquid in his glass before taking a sip of it.
Everyone was silent. Obviously they agreed on that - and were preparing themselves for something a lot worse.
- - -
Despite being tired earlier, Tony couldn’t sleep: he drifted off for a few hours, then woke up and kept lying in bed, attempting to quiet his mind and make the nervous tension disappear. He was feeling more aches across his body, from whatever had happened that he couldn’t remember. There were cuts and abrasions all over his torso, tiny wounds on his face, and he had still been covered in fine dirt particles even when he went to shower and take a bath.
It was getting to him, the not knowing, and he didn’t like it.
He wondered that if no one had told him, would he even have known something was off? How long would it have taken? Until he saw himself in the mirror?
After having been presented with a volley of questions and a whole lot of partial data - because no one wanted to give him all the facts for some reason - he felt all the more frustrated. Not knowing what was expected of him, and knowing these people were most certainly waiting for something, was aggravating. It didn’t help that this group was essentially like strangers to him, and he was caught in between wanting to ignore them and wishing he could give them what they wanted.
And maybe provide himself with some answers, too.
A fully digital screen near the bed was telling Tony that it was in the middle of the night, just a little past two. Despite the hour, he got up and grabbed some stuff from the closet because they were his, so it was fine. He went for jeans, a comfortable long-sleeved shirt, and sneakers.
As he came out of the closet, he stopped to stare at the far wall, which constituted floor-to-ceiling windows. Slowly he walked closer, taking a look down across the Manhattan streets. He knew what it was, some of the landmarks familiar, but the amount of lights, high-rises, and traffic moving down below… The neon signs were long gone, but the night was still a-glow to a point of almost making the night sky above disappear into a dark abyss.
“Sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. prompted, most likely to remind Tony that he was being watched.
“I want to go back to the shop,” Tony said, turning away from the view outside.
“Of course,” the AI replied, pretending it wasn’t an issue.
He managed to get to the workshop without running into anyone, though J.A.R.V.I.S. was actively lighting his way, sort of keeping him company.
Tony wasn’t certain how he felt about the AI. In part, he was sorry he couldn’t remember creating J.A.R.V.I.S., because that was definitely an achievement he had been looking forward to all his youth, even though he could have never dreamt up stuff like this. Having that gap in his memory, and being faced by a program that mimicked their old family butler was kind of unsettling, and while he wasn’t exactly afraid of J.A.R.V.I.S., he wasn’t sure how to deal with him either.
At the workshop, the bots were dozing in sleep-mode. They stirred at his proximity, whirring softly as they moved forward, ready for the day’s work. Tony tried to see if anything in the room would spark a bit of recognition, a hint at what he had been working on. It didn’t help that all this was alien, someone else’s work-space and life. The only thing he felt a connection to was the bots, and he slid his hand across Dummy’s body as the bot came close enough. The slight vibration under his fingers - a current, a heartbeat - was comforting, even though it wasn’t what he had once built.
Part of him wanted to take the bots apart a little, to see what had changed, because obviously they had been upgraded. He would have never trusted anyone else to do it, so it must have been the Tony he couldn’t remember right now.
However, the idea of dismantling the bots, even to see under the hood, was unthinkable at this time, seeing as they were his only thread of familiarity.
He wished he would have truly recognized Rhodey, but the more he thought about it, the less of a connection he felt. It was like he was trying to force himself to accept the changes, and that wasn’t how it worked. These new things didn’t fit with his memories.
Tony kept walking around the space, looking at things, picking items up more boldly than before. It was just him and the bots after all - and J.A.R.V.I.S., who was quiet, but ever-present. There was no way to explain it, but Tony knew there were eyes on him.
“Are the others awake?” Tony asked after a bit. Not that he was sure J.A.R.V.I.S. would give him an honest answer.
“Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff remain awake, sir. They are… concerned for your well-being.”
“Have you told them I’m awake and down here?” Tony asked.
“Would you like me to?” Was that a ‘no’?
“No,” Tony said. “I would like a bit of privacy.”
“Of course, sir.”
The AI sounded like he was agreeing to Tony’s request, but there was no knowing if it was just a façade to keep him calm.
Tony continued his exploration, then found a fridge with some snacks and drinks in it. He was suddenly hungry and explored the selection, picking out a wrapped item which ended up being a burrito. It smelled okay, and he located a microwave. Well, at least that’s what he hoped it was, seeing as the only familiar thing was the shape and size.
After puzzling over the touch-panel controls, he managed to turn it on and heat his snack. He also grabbed a bottle of soda - even though it was a green tea flavored one with added vitamins and minerals - and while munching on the burrito, he located a drawer full of dried fruit and other rather healthy stuff. Tony looked at them, placing a few that looked appetizing on the counter, then found another cabinet that held bottles of alcohol and glasses. Somehow that did not surprise him at all, and he even poured himself a few fingers of scotch.
No one protested.
Tony tried to envision the person who had stocked up this work space with these very specific things. Just like with the clothes in the room upstairs, it felt like there was this kind of a divide: custom-made suits and ragged band apparel, expensive alcohol and healthy snacks. As if someone was living two different lives…
“J.A.R.V.I.S.,” Tony spoke up.
“Yes, sir?”
“I created you, right?”
“Indeed, sir.”
“Does that mean you have to obey my every command?” Tony held his breath, wondering if that meant he could use J.A.R.V.I.S. to figure out the things he wanted to know.
“In principal, yes,” the AI replied after a bit of a pause. It was interesting that there was one, and Tony wondered why.
“That’s not a straight answer,” Tony stated.
J.A.R.V.I.S. didn’t reply.
“Are you trying to avoid telling me something?” Tony pressed. If he built an AI, he would make sure it obeyed him.
“For your own protection, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. finally responded. “There are things you clearly do not remember, and the team is not certain if filling the blanks is advisable at this time. I share their concern.”
Tony frowned. “It might help,” he suggested. For the life of him he could not imagine what might be lurking in the shadows. All of this was so surreal. The technology around him, the people… Captain America. Part of him couldn’t believe it was him. If Tony hadn’t seen the man staring back at him from reflective surfaces, he would have never even considered that what they were telling him about losing his memory might be true.
But there were so many things missing, he could tell. Numerous details and flashes that floated in and out of his memory, out of order, disorienting. None of them really contradicted one another, but it was like trying to put a difficult puzzle together, and he was pretty sure he only had pieces for a couple corners of the whole picture.
Tony kept thinking of his parents, and where they might be, and then it occurred to him he did remember their funeral. It just seemed so fresh, in a way, having them there…
He didn’t want to dwell on that, so he looked around the alien space again, wondering if he should go poking around and see what all these things did. He knew he would figure it out, sooner or later; he was smart, after all. And apparently he had built all this, so it should be familiar.
For some reason he was confident that he would remember how this tech worked faster than he would recall who any of these people were.
The bots still looked like they were waiting for him to start doing something they could participate in.
“What was I doing, the last time I was in here?” Tony asked.
Both bots tilted their arms, then looked down. Tony followed their example, and as if on cue, the floor turned less opaque, revealing a space underneath. It looked almost like an assembly line for something, with robotic arms folded and waiting to be put to work.
“What is that for?” Tony asked.
“The Iron Legion, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. replied. “A group of semi-autonomous drones controlled by me - and yourself, of course.”
“Huh,” Tony said. “Can I see one up close?”
He could hear some machinery moving, then he looked up and to the right, seeing something like an elevator rising up through a sudden gap in the floor. On the platform stood a black-and-white humanoid shape, a lot like the armor he had seen earlier, but it looked a bit less bulky. Probably because it wasn’t supposed to fit a human pilot inside.
Tony walked over to it, moving around it. The drone, as J.A.R.V.I.S. had called it, seemed lifeless. He slowly raised a hand and touched it, trying to become familiar with it. “I built this?”
“Yes, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.
“What about the other one? The one that’s…” He frowned. “I was wearing it?”
“During the mission yesterday, yes.”
“Until I took it off and then there was an explosion?” Tony tried to piece it together. He could remember every little detail of what had occurred since he woke up on that aircraft, Quinjet, so his memory wasn’t faulty.
“Indeed, sir.”
“Can I see that, too?”
This time the floor didn’t reveal another lift, but a section of the back wall opened, and he could see the red-and-gold armor inside, a very different color scheme from the drone. Tony walked over to it, standing in front of it, feeling oddly small in comparison. His eyes dropped down to the circular area in the middle of the armor’s chest, and he reached out to touch it, remembering how it had been lit up before. As if activated by his touch, it suddenly began to glow, with a barely decipherable sound, and he stepped back as the armor’s eyes lit up as well. It was as if the armor breathed in, shifting ever so minutely, coming alive.
“I’m sorry, sir. The armor misinterpreted your signals. I shall turn it off -”
“Don’t,” Tony said, taking another step back. He kept looking at the armor, and it felt like it was looking back. Part of him was really nervous, but the rest… This was supposed to be familiar to him, and he supposed that perhaps in a sense, he could convince himself that it was.
The technology in front of him was just as incomprehensible to him as the surrounding room in general. His brain felt like it was constantly being overheated with stimuli, trying to parse things together into something he knew, or could easily adapt to understand.
He had built this thing in front of him, yet he had no recollection of that. Was it only ‘familiar’ because people told him it was supposed to be? It bore no resemblance to the bots and the techniques he had used to build them.
Tony took one more step back, then motioned for the armor to follow. He wasn’t sure if he needed to give J.A.R.V.I.S. or the armor a verbal cue, but the AI had implied that the armor had tried to interpret him before, so -
It did step forward, and Tony backed up a little more, letting the armor step completely away from its docking station, or whatever it was called. Eventually he lifted his hand, and the armor stopped. Still, it felt like it was looking at him, the same way Tony always knew if the bots were doing the same.
As if on cue, the bots rolled up, chirping. You picked up a rag and proceeded to polish the armor’s left arm, though there was no dirt Tony could see. Dummy reached up to its full height and seemed to stare the armor in the eye for a moment, then moved away again. Tony smiled, unable to help himself.
“Yeah, don’t get into a staring contest with this guy,” he said to the bot. The armor stood there, unyielding, unflinching.
Dummy let out a sound of protest, actually flicking the armor’s face with its claw.
Tony laughed, then moved to dodge under Dummy’s arm and move around the armor, sliding his hand along it, feeling the thrum of energy. To the outside, it was very smooth, though he could tell it was made of numerous small pieces. He couldn’t determine their function like this, and while he knew he probably could have asked J.A.R.V.I.S. for information, perhaps that was a mystery for another time.
All of a sudden something like an alarm began to sound, making Tony jump. The bots perked up, shifting nervously, and Tony tried to see if something had happened within the workshop area. There was no smoke, no fire.
“What’s going on?” Tony asked.
“No need for concern, sir. The Avengers are responding to the threat,” J.A.R.V.I.S. told him, and the alarm suddenly disappeared.
“A threat?” Tony asked. The silence was almost deafening now.
J.A.R.V.I.S. kept mum.
“Are you freezing me out?” Tony demanded.
“Perhaps you would like to go back to your room, sir?” J.A.R.V.I.S. requested.
“I would like to know what is going on, and I’m staying here,” he said stubbornly. That’s where the bots were, after all, and if here was danger, maybe Tony could fashion some kind of a weapon out of all this stuff. Something simple yet effective…
“Please, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. pleaded.
Tony stood his ground, folding his arms over his chest. The AI didn’t want to tell him things? Fine. Then Tony wouldn’t do as he was asked.
A sudden shiver seemed to run through the building, making the whole structure vibrate, and Tony thought he perhaps detected an explosion in the distance. All of a sudden staying here wasn’t the most appealing of options, but then, what difference did it make if he went up to his room? At least he had the bots here, as well as the drone and the armor, though he wasn’t sure if the last two could be helpful in some way.
- - -
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- - -
When they entered through another futuristic door, Tony didn’t feel a sense of familiarity. It was just as jarring as the rest of the ‘tower’, and it bugged him that he didn’t remember designing any of this. Usually his projects stuck with him at least on some level, and the innovation he was seeing would have certainly been worthwhile to remember.
He was aware of Rhodey watching him, trying to do it in an unassuming way, but it was like hot coals burning his back. Tony felt almost guilty for not managing to pull himself together. These people expected him to act a certain way, to provide them with something, and he had no idea what that was.
Tony slowly moved around the room, touching things. Some of the tools were familiar, others he could guess what they were used for - and then there was a plethora of items he had no idea what they did. Were they prototypes? Parts of some machine? Components or completed designs?
Feeling an almost claustrophobic frustration, Tony wandered around the workshop - then was startled by something suddenly moving beside him. A robotic arm extended itself, as if coming out of hibernation, followed by whirring and a bleep.
Tony stared at it and was vaguely aware of Rhodey stepping towards him, opening his mouth to speak.
From a corner farther down the room, another robotic form extracted itself, rolling towards Tony and its twin, and Tony felt a tight grip of emotion clutch at his lungs.
“Hey, buddy,” he murmured, touching the bot closest to him, and unexpectedly there were tears in his eyes. He turned himself towards the bot, sliding his hands along its frame, hiding his emotional response.
The second bot reached them, its mechanical claws gently touching Tony’s hair, and he reached out his right hand, gripping one of those claws in his fingers. They easily looked like one of the weakest part of the bot’s body, but in reality, they were built for complex tasks that often required considerable strength.
Tony closed his eyes, feeling almost as if he were floating on the pleasant sensation of finally recognizing something. He had never imagined something could feel this profound and meaningful.
“You recognize them?” Rhodey asked, sounding hopeful.
Tony nodded, lifting his head and quickly brushing the evidence of tears from his face. “Yeah, of course. I mean…” He realized it might be a little insulting to Rhodey, whom he couldn’t really connect to the young man in his memories. However, when he glanced at his companion, Rhodey just looked happy.
“That’s great. Maybe the rest of it will come back, too.”
Tony didn’t tell him it hadn’t ‘come back’; it had always been there. He supposed that his memories didn’t simply cut off at a certain point, but were more like a film that had been torn apart unevenly rather than neatly spliced. He had mixed flashes from the area of the damage, but lacked a complete recollection of what took place before - and none of what came after. That made the most sense, even if he had a hard time wrapping his head around it.
Comprehending it wasn’t a matter of genius or a high IQ; he supposed it wasn’t the natural state of the brain to forget, and then be constantly teased with reminders it could no longer connect to anything. It was starting to feel like his head was on fire, and not in a good way.
Was there ever a good way?
The door opened again with a soft hiss, and Bruce stepped inside. He was wearing glasses now, and they made him look more like a nerd. Not that Tony cared: he already knew the kind of scientific mind Bruce had, and he was drawn to that.
“Everything going well?” Bruce asked, looking at Tony and the bots.
“He remembered the robots,” Rhodey informed him. “Does it make sense he still doesn’t remember Jarvis or his armor?”
“They were introduced into his life at different times,” Bruce mused. “When did you build the bots, at MIT?” he asked Tony.
Tony nodded, looking at the bots again, noting various differences. Still, they were essentially the same, and it was almost like coming home, finally, having them greet him.
“So, his memory cuts off a couple years later, around 1991?” Rhodey mused.
“Something like that,” Bruce agreed. “It’s likely he’ll have flashes of other stuff, which may appear confusing…”
Tony tuned them out, focusing on the workshop again. The bots trailed behind him, picking up stuff he took too long to look at, or happened to touch, as if waiting for him to tell them what to do with those things. They seemed smarter and much more intuitive than he recalled, but it was still a much easier transition to accept than everything else around him. He was glad to see they had grown and advanced.
“Tony, do you mind if we step outside for a moment?” Bruce asked.
“Go ahead,” Tony agreed. “I’ll hang out here, see if I can’t jog a memory or two.”
The two men still seemed uncertain if it was smart to leave him, but they did step out. It was mildly intimidating, being left all alone, but Tony looked at the bots and figured he had all the company he needed right here.
Dummy offered him some gadget and he took hold of it, turning it around in his hands while the bots watched, tilting their heads, following the motions. They used to try and copy the movements of his hands with their arms and claws, but they weren’t nearly as dexterous. He used to think he might have to re-design them, but apparently he had decided against that.
“Sir, Miss Potts has arrived,” the almost-but-not-quite voice of Jarvis told him, startling him a bit.
Tony looked around to locate the armor, but couldn’t see it. Besides, the sound appeared to have come from the walls, or somewhere around him, but not just from a single speaker. It was as if the voice emanated from the entire room.
He wasn’t certain what to do with that information, and he was still puzzling that when the door opened again, a woman stepping inside. She was wearing a dark skirt and dress shirt, very professional. Tony supposed she was beautiful, though she looked a bit too old for him.
Well, too old for what he remembered himself to be, anyway.
“Tony,” she started, crossing the room. “Are you okay? They told me you got hurt.”
Tony blinked, trying to figure out what he was expected to say.
The woman stopped, blinking, then composed herself, standing straight.
“Uh, I’m fine,” Tony offered, then cleared his throat, wondering how he sounded. Not squeaky, he hoped.
“Do you know who I am?” she asked, voice soft, calming. It put Tony somewhat at ease.
“No, ma’am,” he replied, yet he felt a strange guilt for being forced to admit it.
She chuckled. “Well, that is a sure sign that you don’t remember me: you’ve never called me ‘ma’am’ in the entire time we’ve known each other.”
“Miss?” Tony attempted to salvage it.
She laughed. He liked that sound. “It’s okay. I’m Pepper Potts.” She actually offered her hand for him to shake, and he accepted it.
“They asked me before if I knew you,” Tony recalled, then felt his face flush. “I’m assuming I really should know who you are.”
“Bruce told me this is most likely temporary, and you could be your old self by tomorrow,” she said.
“What if I’m not?” Tony asked, feeling that heavy lump in his chest again. He reached up to rub it, even though he knew that wouldn’t fix it.
Pepper watched him, then moved over to find herself a chair, and Tony followed her, sitting down on a nearby work bench, trying to appear aloof and cool. She was a pretty lady, though, and she had come to see him, so he might as well try to impress her.
The bots trailed behind him, clearly waiting for instructions. Tony had no idea what they might have been tasked with the last time he was here.
“Do you come here often?” Tony asked, unsure if he meant the tower or the workshop. He left it up for Pepper to decide.
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you trying to hit on me?”
Tony cringed internally. “You’re a very beautiful lady. It would be rude of me not to.” He saw her look, mixed with concern and light amusement. “Right?” he asked, voice smaller, insecure. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do or say.”
“You don’t need to impress me,” Pepper told him. “You may not remember, but… we’re already there. Well, have been. It’s complicated.”
Tony processed that for a moment. “We’re together? A couple? Did we get a divorce?” he asked, feeling cold sweat on his skin all of a sudden.
Pepper burst out laughing, covering her mouth, trying to compose herself. “Yes and no: we have been a couple for a while, but there have been some ups and downs.”
“Which way was it going before I forgot who you are?” Tony asked.
“Up, I think, although there have been… some disagreements between us lately,” Pepper said. It sounded like the truth. “Some promises you made, and have been forced to break since.”
Tony didn’t like the sound of that. At the same time, the ache in his chest increased again, and he supposed his nerves would be shot after this experience. Even as he was slowly rubbing his chest, he saw Pepper watching. “There’s this weird pressure in my chest. I think all of this is putting me on edge,” he tried to make light of it.
Her face got serious, almost sad. “You don’t remember any of it, do you? Afghanistan? What happened after? New York?”
Tony frowned. He felt like there was another keyword there he was supposed to recognize and react to. “No,” he finally said, frustration peaking once more.
“Not even Jarvis?” she asked.
“I’m afraid not, Miss Potts,” the voice replied, once again coming smoothly from all around the room. It was a bit like the best movie theaters, only more advanced, and coming at a pleasant volume.
“Who is Jarvis?” Tony asked. “I mean, I know Jarvis - Edwin Jarvis - and I think there’s some kind of a connection because of the way this one talks.”
“Jarvis - short for ‘Just A Rather Very Intelligent System’ - is an AI you created. Well, he was initially just a user interface, but that hasn’t been the case for many years,” Pepper told him.
Tony sounded out the very ridiculous acronym. “That’s a really stupid name - I mean, I get why I would have named him Jarvis…”
“I think you just came up with that acronym on the spot, to explain it to someone,” Pepper smiled.
Tony looked up around the room. “I always wanted to make an AI. Well, I kind of thought of putting one in the bots, but they were already developing their own identities within the software I created, so it would have been wrong to replace those with something else, even if it was more advanced…”
The bots bleeped, and Tony looked at them, wondering at how similar they were despite everything. He hadn’t changed them too much in all these years that had taken place since their inception.
He looked at Pepper again. “So, what happened in Afghanistan? And is the thing in New York connected to me fighting alongside all those other guys?”
Pepper bit her lip in thought. “I think it’s not the right time to tell you. There’s enough going on, and you should probably try to get some rest, let your body heal.”
It suddenly felt like she was freezing him out. Until now, she had been genuine when talking to Tony, but apparently they had approached territory she felt he couldn’t handle.
She stood up, standing there with some uncertainty, then took a step closer to Tony and leaned in to kiss his cheek. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Okay,” Tony echoed, trying to take a good whiff of her perfume. Perhaps he had given it to her, though it wasn’t familiar to him.
“Good night, Tony,” she said, then walked out without looking back.
Tony sat there a moment longer, slowly swinging his legs, then took a breath and dropped himself to the floor. He couldn’t help a tiny grimace of pain, his body protesting. “Maybe I should go to bed,” he mused. “Where is my bed?” he asked.
“May I guide you there, sir?” Jarvis - or J.A.R.V.I.S., as he perhaps spelled it - replied. Just knowing what was behind the voice put Tony more at ease, and knowing it was his creation made it better, too. The bots weren’t startled by this incorporeal entity, either, so they had to be used to it.
“Sure,” Tony agreed. He guessed that if he went somewhere he shouldn’t, someone would come redirect him. However, it sounded like he lived here, and maybe owned the place - it wasn’t hard for him to imagine he might be really rich when he grew up - so perhaps he would tell them he was the boss and would go where he liked.
J.A.R.V.I.S. opened the door, and Tony stepped out through it, seeing the lights dim in the workshop behind him. He looked back, already feeling like maybe he should go back and hang out with the bots, but J.A.R.V.I.S. kept illuminating panels in the floor ahead of him, ready to guide him.
Deciding to give rest a chance, he followed the lights to a floor few levels up, and it took him a moment to realize the entire floor was his domain; there was only one bedroom, and plenty of other spaces, including a gigantic bathroom.
“Shall I draw you a bath, sir?” J.A.R.V.I.S. asked, ever willing to assist.
“Why not?” Tony mused. While the AI did that, he went to check the bedroom, not finding a whole lot of clothes there. He did, however, locate a walk-in closet, and he spent a moment looking at all the suits and power ties, and a long row of shoes for all occasions, from dress shoes to sneakers. What drew him in, eventually, was the array of more worn-down jeans, pants, and various articles of clothing with band names adorning them, as well as other words he didn’t know the meaning of. They were just as lovingly placed on the shelves, prominently displayed, and it was like looking at the closets of two different people. Tony knew, however, that they were all his, reflecting the two lives he lived.
One in the limelight, no doubt a corporate leader, and the other for the time he could spend at home, feeling comfortable.
He finally began undressing the clothes he was wearing, struggling with some of the zippers, then padded over to the bathroom. Even though it might have been smarter not to, he couldn’t pass up the chance to look in a mirror, seeing the naked body of a man he did not recognize. Bruises and dirt were on his skin, as well as some tiny scratches. Scars stood out on his chest, and he touched them, aware that they stood quite close to the ache he kept feeling.
Maybe it wasn’t just anxiousness after all.
“Your bath is ready, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. informed him, snapping him out of it, and Tony stepped over to a shower head, cleaning most of the grime off him before slowly settling down in the warm water of what looked like a Jacuzzi.
He sighed, closing his eyes, the warmth making his body release some of the tension he had unknowingly held onto.
“Sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. prompted.
Tony jerked. He felt very lethargic, and he instantly knew he must have drifted off.
“Perhaps you should get out of the water and go to bed, sir?” J.A.R.V.I.S. suggested gently.
“Yeah,” Tony agreed, slowly getting out and giving his body a quick rinse, then toweled himself off. As he did that, J.A.R.V.I.S. had already set to draining and cleaning the tub with some fancy automated functions, and Tony left the AI to it, checking out the vanity. He found a toothbrush that was his, noting there were very few items there that suggested a female presence. As he brushed his teeth, trying to find something familiar about it while staring at his face in the mirror, he once again began to feel surreal.
None of this was familiar. He could follow all the breadcrumbs and mimic the habits he imagined the man living here had, but none of it felt familiar.
With a frown, he left the bathroom and returned to the bedroom, finding himself a pair of underwear and a tank top to slip into before he slid between the cool sheets. J.A.R.V.I.S. was turning off the lights around him.
“Good night, J.A.R.V.I.S.,” Tony called out on a whim.
“Good night, sir,” the AI responded.
- - -
It had been a risk to let Pepper Potts interact with Tony, but most of the team was eager to see if it might spark some recognition in Tony, so they let it happen.
Steve sighed when there was no such recollection, and he could tell everyone else shared his disappointment.
“At least he knew his robots,” Clint mused. He was going over the arrows in his quiver, seeing as Tony couldn’t be trusted to run maintenance on their gear. J.A.R.V.I.S. was doing as much as he could.
“It certainly made him happier,” Rhodey agreed. “He was acting more like himself.”
“This cannot be easy for him,” Thor deemed, arms crossed over his chest. “We should help him adjust.”
“All this could be temporary, and something we all laugh about tomorrow,” Bruce interjected, watching the monitor carefully to follow the interaction between Tony and Pepper.
“And if he doesn’t remember?” Natasha asked. “We need to prepare for that.”
“Is it possible it could be permanent?” Rhodey asked uneasily. The thought troubled him, and Steve could understand why. The effects of Iron Man being out of commission for an unknown amount of time would complicate matters for the Avengers - not to mention Tony’s own business.
“We don’t yet understand the nature of his injury, so anything is possible,” Bruce snapped. “It’s all hypothetical. There’s no reason to go into full disaster mode just yet.”
Steve glanced at him from the corner of his eye. Maybe Bruce was just trying not to think of the worst case scenario, hoping it wouldn’t come to that.
“Seeing as there is no apparent injury, the chances of a full recovery are high,” J.A.R.V.I.S. chimed in. “We should closely monitor Mr. Stark to track any changes in his condition.”
“Can you keep an eye on any suspicious HYDRA activity at the same time?” Steve asked. Tony and J.A.R.V.I.S. had been helming that search, though he, Natasha and Clint could pick up the slack if necessary.
“Of course, Captain Rogers. I am fully capable of maintaining that search independently,” the AI responded, not sounding like he was offended by the insinuation he might need help, but Bruce smiled slightly so perhaps he heard some annoyance in J.A.R.V.I.S.’s tone after all.
Pepper seemed to grow more uneasy and took her leave, Tony remaining alone in the workshop. A minute later Pepper joined them in the meeting room, whereas Tony jumped down from his seat and headed out.
“Where is he going?” Clint asked, immediately alert.
“To bed, Agent Barton,” J.A.R.V.I.S. replied dryly. “I will maintain oversight and report if there is anything to share.”
“Thank you, J.A.R.V.I.S.,” Pepper said before any of the Avengers could reply. She took a seat, sighing. “I think I need a drink.”
Rhodey moved to pour one for himself and one for Pepper, and looked at the people around the room - then grabbed a bunch of glasses and put them on the long table, pouring them all a shot.
“I think you handled it pretty well,” Bruce mused, also taking a seat.
Pepper looked at him, then shrugged. “It was like talking to a stranger, yet… This is the Tony I never got to meet,” she said softly, looking at Rhodey. “He’s more innocent, less shaped by the experiences that made him into the man you all know.”
Rhodey nodded. “It’s hard for me to reconcile with that fact. I mean, it’s been a long time, and obviously Tony has a lot of gaps in his memory. He himself probably doesn’t know how to put it all together into a coherent timeline.”
“Let’s hope that he doesn’t have to figure it out,” Steve mused, inhaling the smell of the amber liquid in his glass before taking a sip of it.
Everyone was silent. Obviously they agreed on that - and were preparing themselves for something a lot worse.
- - -
Despite being tired earlier, Tony couldn’t sleep: he drifted off for a few hours, then woke up and kept lying in bed, attempting to quiet his mind and make the nervous tension disappear. He was feeling more aches across his body, from whatever had happened that he couldn’t remember. There were cuts and abrasions all over his torso, tiny wounds on his face, and he had still been covered in fine dirt particles even when he went to shower and take a bath.
It was getting to him, the not knowing, and he didn’t like it.
He wondered that if no one had told him, would he even have known something was off? How long would it have taken? Until he saw himself in the mirror?
After having been presented with a volley of questions and a whole lot of partial data - because no one wanted to give him all the facts for some reason - he felt all the more frustrated. Not knowing what was expected of him, and knowing these people were most certainly waiting for something, was aggravating. It didn’t help that this group was essentially like strangers to him, and he was caught in between wanting to ignore them and wishing he could give them what they wanted.
And maybe provide himself with some answers, too.
A fully digital screen near the bed was telling Tony that it was in the middle of the night, just a little past two. Despite the hour, he got up and grabbed some stuff from the closet because they were his, so it was fine. He went for jeans, a comfortable long-sleeved shirt, and sneakers.
As he came out of the closet, he stopped to stare at the far wall, which constituted floor-to-ceiling windows. Slowly he walked closer, taking a look down across the Manhattan streets. He knew what it was, some of the landmarks familiar, but the amount of lights, high-rises, and traffic moving down below… The neon signs were long gone, but the night was still a-glow to a point of almost making the night sky above disappear into a dark abyss.
“Sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. prompted, most likely to remind Tony that he was being watched.
“I want to go back to the shop,” Tony said, turning away from the view outside.
“Of course,” the AI replied, pretending it wasn’t an issue.
He managed to get to the workshop without running into anyone, though J.A.R.V.I.S. was actively lighting his way, sort of keeping him company.
Tony wasn’t certain how he felt about the AI. In part, he was sorry he couldn’t remember creating J.A.R.V.I.S., because that was definitely an achievement he had been looking forward to all his youth, even though he could have never dreamt up stuff like this. Having that gap in his memory, and being faced by a program that mimicked their old family butler was kind of unsettling, and while he wasn’t exactly afraid of J.A.R.V.I.S., he wasn’t sure how to deal with him either.
At the workshop, the bots were dozing in sleep-mode. They stirred at his proximity, whirring softly as they moved forward, ready for the day’s work. Tony tried to see if anything in the room would spark a bit of recognition, a hint at what he had been working on. It didn’t help that all this was alien, someone else’s work-space and life. The only thing he felt a connection to was the bots, and he slid his hand across Dummy’s body as the bot came close enough. The slight vibration under his fingers - a current, a heartbeat - was comforting, even though it wasn’t what he had once built.
Part of him wanted to take the bots apart a little, to see what had changed, because obviously they had been upgraded. He would have never trusted anyone else to do it, so it must have been the Tony he couldn’t remember right now.
However, the idea of dismantling the bots, even to see under the hood, was unthinkable at this time, seeing as they were his only thread of familiarity.
He wished he would have truly recognized Rhodey, but the more he thought about it, the less of a connection he felt. It was like he was trying to force himself to accept the changes, and that wasn’t how it worked. These new things didn’t fit with his memories.
Tony kept walking around the space, looking at things, picking items up more boldly than before. It was just him and the bots after all - and J.A.R.V.I.S., who was quiet, but ever-present. There was no way to explain it, but Tony knew there were eyes on him.
“Are the others awake?” Tony asked after a bit. Not that he was sure J.A.R.V.I.S. would give him an honest answer.
“Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff remain awake, sir. They are… concerned for your well-being.”
“Have you told them I’m awake and down here?” Tony asked.
“Would you like me to?” Was that a ‘no’?
“No,” Tony said. “I would like a bit of privacy.”
“Of course, sir.”
The AI sounded like he was agreeing to Tony’s request, but there was no knowing if it was just a façade to keep him calm.
Tony continued his exploration, then found a fridge with some snacks and drinks in it. He was suddenly hungry and explored the selection, picking out a wrapped item which ended up being a burrito. It smelled okay, and he located a microwave. Well, at least that’s what he hoped it was, seeing as the only familiar thing was the shape and size.
After puzzling over the touch-panel controls, he managed to turn it on and heat his snack. He also grabbed a bottle of soda - even though it was a green tea flavored one with added vitamins and minerals - and while munching on the burrito, he located a drawer full of dried fruit and other rather healthy stuff. Tony looked at them, placing a few that looked appetizing on the counter, then found another cabinet that held bottles of alcohol and glasses. Somehow that did not surprise him at all, and he even poured himself a few fingers of scotch.
No one protested.
Tony tried to envision the person who had stocked up this work space with these very specific things. Just like with the clothes in the room upstairs, it felt like there was this kind of a divide: custom-made suits and ragged band apparel, expensive alcohol and healthy snacks. As if someone was living two different lives…
“J.A.R.V.I.S.,” Tony spoke up.
“Yes, sir?”
“I created you, right?”
“Indeed, sir.”
“Does that mean you have to obey my every command?” Tony held his breath, wondering if that meant he could use J.A.R.V.I.S. to figure out the things he wanted to know.
“In principal, yes,” the AI replied after a bit of a pause. It was interesting that there was one, and Tony wondered why.
“That’s not a straight answer,” Tony stated.
J.A.R.V.I.S. didn’t reply.
“Are you trying to avoid telling me something?” Tony pressed. If he built an AI, he would make sure it obeyed him.
“For your own protection, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. finally responded. “There are things you clearly do not remember, and the team is not certain if filling the blanks is advisable at this time. I share their concern.”
Tony frowned. “It might help,” he suggested. For the life of him he could not imagine what might be lurking in the shadows. All of this was so surreal. The technology around him, the people… Captain America. Part of him couldn’t believe it was him. If Tony hadn’t seen the man staring back at him from reflective surfaces, he would have never even considered that what they were telling him about losing his memory might be true.
But there were so many things missing, he could tell. Numerous details and flashes that floated in and out of his memory, out of order, disorienting. None of them really contradicted one another, but it was like trying to put a difficult puzzle together, and he was pretty sure he only had pieces for a couple corners of the whole picture.
Tony kept thinking of his parents, and where they might be, and then it occurred to him he did remember their funeral. It just seemed so fresh, in a way, having them there…
He didn’t want to dwell on that, so he looked around the alien space again, wondering if he should go poking around and see what all these things did. He knew he would figure it out, sooner or later; he was smart, after all. And apparently he had built all this, so it should be familiar.
For some reason he was confident that he would remember how this tech worked faster than he would recall who any of these people were.
The bots still looked like they were waiting for him to start doing something they could participate in.
“What was I doing, the last time I was in here?” Tony asked.
Both bots tilted their arms, then looked down. Tony followed their example, and as if on cue, the floor turned less opaque, revealing a space underneath. It looked almost like an assembly line for something, with robotic arms folded and waiting to be put to work.
“What is that for?” Tony asked.
“The Iron Legion, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. replied. “A group of semi-autonomous drones controlled by me - and yourself, of course.”
“Huh,” Tony said. “Can I see one up close?”
He could hear some machinery moving, then he looked up and to the right, seeing something like an elevator rising up through a sudden gap in the floor. On the platform stood a black-and-white humanoid shape, a lot like the armor he had seen earlier, but it looked a bit less bulky. Probably because it wasn’t supposed to fit a human pilot inside.
Tony walked over to it, moving around it. The drone, as J.A.R.V.I.S. had called it, seemed lifeless. He slowly raised a hand and touched it, trying to become familiar with it. “I built this?”
“Yes, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.
“What about the other one? The one that’s…” He frowned. “I was wearing it?”
“During the mission yesterday, yes.”
“Until I took it off and then there was an explosion?” Tony tried to piece it together. He could remember every little detail of what had occurred since he woke up on that aircraft, Quinjet, so his memory wasn’t faulty.
“Indeed, sir.”
“Can I see that, too?”
This time the floor didn’t reveal another lift, but a section of the back wall opened, and he could see the red-and-gold armor inside, a very different color scheme from the drone. Tony walked over to it, standing in front of it, feeling oddly small in comparison. His eyes dropped down to the circular area in the middle of the armor’s chest, and he reached out to touch it, remembering how it had been lit up before. As if activated by his touch, it suddenly began to glow, with a barely decipherable sound, and he stepped back as the armor’s eyes lit up as well. It was as if the armor breathed in, shifting ever so minutely, coming alive.
“I’m sorry, sir. The armor misinterpreted your signals. I shall turn it off -”
“Don’t,” Tony said, taking another step back. He kept looking at the armor, and it felt like it was looking back. Part of him was really nervous, but the rest… This was supposed to be familiar to him, and he supposed that perhaps in a sense, he could convince himself that it was.
The technology in front of him was just as incomprehensible to him as the surrounding room in general. His brain felt like it was constantly being overheated with stimuli, trying to parse things together into something he knew, or could easily adapt to understand.
He had built this thing in front of him, yet he had no recollection of that. Was it only ‘familiar’ because people told him it was supposed to be? It bore no resemblance to the bots and the techniques he had used to build them.
Tony took one more step back, then motioned for the armor to follow. He wasn’t sure if he needed to give J.A.R.V.I.S. or the armor a verbal cue, but the AI had implied that the armor had tried to interpret him before, so -
It did step forward, and Tony backed up a little more, letting the armor step completely away from its docking station, or whatever it was called. Eventually he lifted his hand, and the armor stopped. Still, it felt like it was looking at him, the same way Tony always knew if the bots were doing the same.
As if on cue, the bots rolled up, chirping. You picked up a rag and proceeded to polish the armor’s left arm, though there was no dirt Tony could see. Dummy reached up to its full height and seemed to stare the armor in the eye for a moment, then moved away again. Tony smiled, unable to help himself.
“Yeah, don’t get into a staring contest with this guy,” he said to the bot. The armor stood there, unyielding, unflinching.
Dummy let out a sound of protest, actually flicking the armor’s face with its claw.
Tony laughed, then moved to dodge under Dummy’s arm and move around the armor, sliding his hand along it, feeling the thrum of energy. To the outside, it was very smooth, though he could tell it was made of numerous small pieces. He couldn’t determine their function like this, and while he knew he probably could have asked J.A.R.V.I.S. for information, perhaps that was a mystery for another time.
All of a sudden something like an alarm began to sound, making Tony jump. The bots perked up, shifting nervously, and Tony tried to see if something had happened within the workshop area. There was no smoke, no fire.
“What’s going on?” Tony asked.
“No need for concern, sir. The Avengers are responding to the threat,” J.A.R.V.I.S. told him, and the alarm suddenly disappeared.
“A threat?” Tony asked. The silence was almost deafening now.
J.A.R.V.I.S. kept mum.
“Are you freezing me out?” Tony demanded.
“Perhaps you would like to go back to your room, sir?” J.A.R.V.I.S. requested.
“I would like to know what is going on, and I’m staying here,” he said stubbornly. That’s where the bots were, after all, and if here was danger, maybe Tony could fashion some kind of a weapon out of all this stuff. Something simple yet effective…
“Please, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. pleaded.
Tony stood his ground, folding his arms over his chest. The AI didn’t want to tell him things? Fine. Then Tony wouldn’t do as he was asked.
A sudden shiver seemed to run through the building, making the whole structure vibrate, and Tony thought he perhaps detected an explosion in the distance. All of a sudden staying here wasn’t the most appealing of options, but then, what difference did it make if he went up to his room? At least he had the bots here, as well as the drone and the armor, though he wasn’t sure if the last two could be helpful in some way.
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