Chapter 8: Left Turn At Albuquerque - Mag7/HL/Ironman
Title: Left Turn At Albuquerque (8/?)
Author: strangevisitor7
Fandom/Universe: Iron Man (Marvel Movie 'verse)and Magnificent 7 (Part of the Aces Immortal Highlander AU)
Beta: ithildyn
Rating: PG
Characters: From Iron Man: Tony Stark, Pepper, Rhodey. From Mag7: Vin Tanner, Ezra Standish, Buck Wilmington, JD Dunne, Chris Larabee. OC's from the Aces Immortal 'Verse: Charlotte Sparrow (AKA Pearl Black) and Cecily Desjardins.
Summary: Stranded in the past, Tony runs into some familiar faces. In this chapter Tony may have found the solution to fixing the damaged Iron Man Armor
A/N: This is part of the Aces Immortal series created by me and ithildyn, which means that Ezra Standish is Immortal in this story.
Banner by ithildyn
Chapter List
Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8; Chapter 9; Chapter 10; Chapter 11
Chapter 8: Left Turn At Albuquerque
Tony flung open the door to his hotel room. He quickly lit the oil lamps before reaching under the bed to pull out the Iron Man armor. His offhanded comment to Ezra about weaponry had sparked the inspiration he'd been seeking for two days.
He laid out the suit on the small wooden table and began tearing the casing off the armor's left sleeve. If he was right, all the wires and connections he needed to repair the power couplings could be scavenged from the weapons.
"Thank you, Ezra!" He exclaimed as he peered into the open panel and spotted exactly what he needed.
He retrieved a small bundle from the closet that contained a few crude tools he'd 'borrowed" from the smithy without Tiny's knowledge. His brain was singing to him and the solutions to his problems were flowing fast and furious. Removing the weaponry was simply genius, if he said so himself. He just hoped his rewiring of the suit wouldn't do anything to the modifications that Reed had made that had sent him into the past in the first place.
"One thing at a time," he chastised his wayward thoughts. Sitting down at the table and cursing the lack of light, Tony got to work.
******************************************
As the first rays of dawn crept through his window, Tony sat back to admire his handiwork.
"I really think this is going to work."
"I agree, sir. By my calculations you should be finished in another 3.6 hours."
"Thanks, Javis." Sometime in the middle of the night he'd restored power to the disembodied voice of the suit's A.I. system. It was the first concrete evidence he'd had that he was on the right track.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he peered out the window noticing the encroaching daylight for the first time. Tiny would be expecting him at the livery in less than an hour but his fingers itched to finish his work. He glanced down at the armor one last time before deciding that he could stand one more day of manual labor to keep up appearances.
Standing, he retrieved a blanket from the bed and carefully tossed it over the suit. He was unwilling to risk moving anything and hoped that the lack of maid service would be enough to prevent its accidental discovery.
He splashed some water on his face from the basin and ran his fingers through his hair before realizing that he was still wearing Ezra's fancy borrowed clothes from last night. Tony laughed at the thought of how angry Ez would be if he got manure on his fancy duds.
After changing into something more appropriate for the livery, he spared one more longing look at the pile on the table. Shaking off the desire to stay, Tony headed out the door locking it behind him.
***************************************************
By the end of a day which included more manure shoveling then Tony had ever hoped to do in a lifetime, he was trying to remember why he'd thought keeping this job was a good idea. Then Buck and JD stopped by.
"You look worse than that shit you're shoveling," Buck smirked as he entered the stable.
"Thanks so much for your candid assessment." Tony felt worse too. Thirty hours without sleep was beginning to take its toll. "I just didn't get much sleep last night."
Buck smirked. "You find the ladies in town entertaining."
"No, not at all." Tony laughed at the idea that he'd patronize one of the cesspools they called whore houses in this time. He shuddered at the thought of what diseases might be running rampant in those places. "I was working on an idea for a new invention and lost track of time."
Buck frowned clearly disappointed that Tony hadn't used his winnings to visit the ladies. "That don't sound like much fun."
"Geez Buck, not everyone thinks a whorehouse is the best way to spend his time," JD said. "Whatcha working on?"
"Can't really share, JD. It's still a work in progress."
"Com'on I won't tell anyone." When Tony shook his head, JD relented and changed the subject. "You sure play a mean game of poker. Ain't often Ezra loses that much money and he was bear after you left. Said all sorts of things about…" JD was cut off abruptly as Buck elbowed him.
"Shut it, JD," he snapped.
"Was he still claiming that I was cheating?" Tony watched his new friends exchange a guilty glance. "I was not cheating!" This little dream trip into the old west was turning into a nightmare. Everything was going wrong. Ezra obviously distrusted him, Vin looked like he wanted to shoot him every time they saw each other and now Buck and JD were questioning his honesty too.
"Course not. Just wanted to hear you say it," Buck admitted.
"Look, I appreciate you wanting to defend your friend, but you won't have to worry about me much longer. I should be leaving town soon."
"Whoa there, Eddie. We ain't here to run you out of town."
"Then why are you here, Buck?"
"Can't a fella just stop by and invite another fella to get a drink 'cause he enjoys their company?"
"You're not my type," Tony snarked and noticing Buck's confusion continued, "Thanks, but I've got things to do tonight."
"Gonna finish your invention?" JD asked excitedly. "Can I see it when it's done?"
It was clear that JD was going to keep pestering him about his invention and the last thing he needed was the kid to come knocking on his door. There was no way he could let JD get a glimpse of the Iron Man armor, but there was no reason he couldn't lie to him to keep away. "Sure JD, if I get it done before I leave I'll share it with you, but you got to promise to stop asking me about it."
"Good luck with that." Buck laughed.
Tony smiled as he understood that getting JD to stop pestering him about his 'invention' might be a futile request.
"I promise," JD said while glaring at Buck silently telling the bigger man to shut up.
"Good." Tony nodded and then gestured to the stable. "Now if you don't mind, I have work to finish here."
"Sure thing. But Ezra's gonna be upset you ain't coming to the saloon tonight," JD said. "I think he was hoping to win his money back."
"I've had enough of playing poker with Ezra Standish for one lifetime, thank you very much." He was still having trouble dealing with this version of Ez.
"Well if you change your mind, I'm buying the first round."
"You have to come now, Eddie." JD laughed. "Ol' tightwad here never buys."
"Now that just ain't true!"
Tony laughed. He really did enjoy the friendship between these two men and wouldn't mind spending more time with them. "I'll think about it."
They said their goodbyes and Tony felt a little better knowing that at least JD and Buck enjoyed his company.
***********************************************
Tony really hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but he'd been up in the loft when Vin came storming into the stable, pulling his horse in behind him, and growling over his shoulder, "I said I ain't talking about this no more."
Tony peered over the edge of the loft to see Chris enter the stable. Given the tenseness of the situation, he decided that revealing his presence was not his best course of action.
"You are one stubborn son of a bitch."
Vin didn't respond, he simply set about unsaddling his horse and then began brushing the animal down. The silence between the men stretched to a near unbearable point for Tony. He was almost tempted to interject just to get the conversation going again when Chris finally spoke.
"What about Charlotte?"
Vin stopped in mid brush to look back at Chris, an unspoken request for clarification in his eyes.
"She misses you. You haven't been out for a Sunday dinner in weeks."
"I saw her in town last week."
"Not the same. You're family and she wants her family to sit down and have a meal together."
"I ain't family," Vin said curtly and returned to caring for his horse.
Chris walked over and grabbed him by the arm, forcing Vin to look him in the eye. "This isn't about Cecily. This is about Charlotte and she wants you there."
Vin chuckled ruefully. "Course it's about Cecily. Charlotte ain't had her go at me yet."
"Well I haven't been able to get through that thick skull of yours and no one says no to Charlotte. Especially when she's got her mind made up about the way things should be."
Don't I know it Tony thought. He was a bit concerned about his meeting the indomitable Mrs. Larabee and his own ability to avoid her questions. Not to mention having to lie to her face. That wasn't something Tony was particularly good at in the present.
Vin's face grew hard again. "Which is why I ain't goin'."
"I promised her that I'd get you out to the ranch."
"Don't care. Ain't my problem you made a promise you can't keep."
"Vin..."
"No, Chris! She's your wife and I get that you want to make her happy, but I'm your friend and I'm asking you, as a friend, to just let this go."
Chris nodded. "I'll make her understand."
Good luck with that Tony thought.
Chris clapped Vin in the shoulder. "I still think you're an idiot, but I won't mention it again and I'll tell everyone to leave ya be about it too."
Vin nodded his silent thanks and Chris left the barn.
Once the gunslinger was out of sight, it was if a damn of emotion had broken loose in Vin. He flung the brush he'd been holding across the barn, before slamming his hand against the nearest post. Shaking off the pain of the impact, Vin slumped against the stall and slid to the ground.
Tony watched as the tracker sat silently on the ground, head in his hands. He couldn't tell, but he suspected that Vin was struggling to hold back tears. For a man who insisted he was no longer in love with Cecily, he was fighting awfully hard to convince himself of that fact.
It was apparent that everyone wanted the two back together. While he may not understand what a sophisticated and educated women like Cecily would see in a scruffy uneducated lawman like Vin, the history Tony knew of the Tanner family confirmed that the two were together and yet here they were miles apart.
Maybe that’s why he’d been sent to this point in time, to get these two back together for good. On the other hand, maybe he’d just watched too many episodes of Quantum leap on TV Land with Rhodey.
The direct approach had been a dismal failure, so that left the indirect approach which truthfully he was much better at. Tony had joked briefly with Buck and JD about Vin’s jealousy. He’d dismissed the idea of pretending to court Cecily simply because he hadn’t wanted to mess with events or get shot, but now it seemed time was challenging him to play fairy godmother.
He knew making Vin jealous would work, but there was one problem. Well two. He needed to get Cecily into a compromising position where Vin could find them. That shouldn't be too hard; no woman could resist him when he turned on the charm.
No the tough part would be to get Ezra to trust him. Because there was a good chance someone, probably Vin, would attempt to shoot him when they realized he was trying to seduce Cecily, and he really needed Ezra to make sure that didn't happen.
Now that he had decided to be time’s bitch he really wanted Vin to get the hell out of the barn so he could find Ezra before he lost his nerve.
Author: strangevisitor7
Fandom/Universe: Iron Man (Marvel Movie 'verse)and Magnificent 7 (Part of the Aces Immortal Highlander AU)
Beta: ithildyn
Rating: PG
Characters: From Iron Man: Tony Stark, Pepper, Rhodey. From Mag7: Vin Tanner, Ezra Standish, Buck Wilmington, JD Dunne, Chris Larabee. OC's from the Aces Immortal 'Verse: Charlotte Sparrow (AKA Pearl Black) and Cecily Desjardins.
Summary: Stranded in the past, Tony runs into some familiar faces. In this chapter Tony may have found the solution to fixing the damaged Iron Man Armor
A/N: This is part of the Aces Immortal series created by me and ithildyn, which means that Ezra Standish is Immortal in this story.
Banner by ithildyn
Chapter List
Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8; Chapter 9; Chapter 10; Chapter 11
Chapter 8: Left Turn At Albuquerque
Tony flung open the door to his hotel room. He quickly lit the oil lamps before reaching under the bed to pull out the Iron Man armor. His offhanded comment to Ezra about weaponry had sparked the inspiration he'd been seeking for two days.
He laid out the suit on the small wooden table and began tearing the casing off the armor's left sleeve. If he was right, all the wires and connections he needed to repair the power couplings could be scavenged from the weapons.
"Thank you, Ezra!" He exclaimed as he peered into the open panel and spotted exactly what he needed.
He retrieved a small bundle from the closet that contained a few crude tools he'd 'borrowed" from the smithy without Tiny's knowledge. His brain was singing to him and the solutions to his problems were flowing fast and furious. Removing the weaponry was simply genius, if he said so himself. He just hoped his rewiring of the suit wouldn't do anything to the modifications that Reed had made that had sent him into the past in the first place.
"One thing at a time," he chastised his wayward thoughts. Sitting down at the table and cursing the lack of light, Tony got to work.
******************************************
As the first rays of dawn crept through his window, Tony sat back to admire his handiwork.
"I really think this is going to work."
"I agree, sir. By my calculations you should be finished in another 3.6 hours."
"Thanks, Javis." Sometime in the middle of the night he'd restored power to the disembodied voice of the suit's A.I. system. It was the first concrete evidence he'd had that he was on the right track.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he peered out the window noticing the encroaching daylight for the first time. Tiny would be expecting him at the livery in less than an hour but his fingers itched to finish his work. He glanced down at the armor one last time before deciding that he could stand one more day of manual labor to keep up appearances.
Standing, he retrieved a blanket from the bed and carefully tossed it over the suit. He was unwilling to risk moving anything and hoped that the lack of maid service would be enough to prevent its accidental discovery.
He splashed some water on his face from the basin and ran his fingers through his hair before realizing that he was still wearing Ezra's fancy borrowed clothes from last night. Tony laughed at the thought of how angry Ez would be if he got manure on his fancy duds.
After changing into something more appropriate for the livery, he spared one more longing look at the pile on the table. Shaking off the desire to stay, Tony headed out the door locking it behind him.
***************************************************
By the end of a day which included more manure shoveling then Tony had ever hoped to do in a lifetime, he was trying to remember why he'd thought keeping this job was a good idea. Then Buck and JD stopped by.
"You look worse than that shit you're shoveling," Buck smirked as he entered the stable.
"Thanks so much for your candid assessment." Tony felt worse too. Thirty hours without sleep was beginning to take its toll. "I just didn't get much sleep last night."
Buck smirked. "You find the ladies in town entertaining."
"No, not at all." Tony laughed at the idea that he'd patronize one of the cesspools they called whore houses in this time. He shuddered at the thought of what diseases might be running rampant in those places. "I was working on an idea for a new invention and lost track of time."
Buck frowned clearly disappointed that Tony hadn't used his winnings to visit the ladies. "That don't sound like much fun."
"Geez Buck, not everyone thinks a whorehouse is the best way to spend his time," JD said. "Whatcha working on?"
"Can't really share, JD. It's still a work in progress."
"Com'on I won't tell anyone." When Tony shook his head, JD relented and changed the subject. "You sure play a mean game of poker. Ain't often Ezra loses that much money and he was bear after you left. Said all sorts of things about…" JD was cut off abruptly as Buck elbowed him.
"Shut it, JD," he snapped.
"Was he still claiming that I was cheating?" Tony watched his new friends exchange a guilty glance. "I was not cheating!" This little dream trip into the old west was turning into a nightmare. Everything was going wrong. Ezra obviously distrusted him, Vin looked like he wanted to shoot him every time they saw each other and now Buck and JD were questioning his honesty too.
"Course not. Just wanted to hear you say it," Buck admitted.
"Look, I appreciate you wanting to defend your friend, but you won't have to worry about me much longer. I should be leaving town soon."
"Whoa there, Eddie. We ain't here to run you out of town."
"Then why are you here, Buck?"
"Can't a fella just stop by and invite another fella to get a drink 'cause he enjoys their company?"
"You're not my type," Tony snarked and noticing Buck's confusion continued, "Thanks, but I've got things to do tonight."
"Gonna finish your invention?" JD asked excitedly. "Can I see it when it's done?"
It was clear that JD was going to keep pestering him about his invention and the last thing he needed was the kid to come knocking on his door. There was no way he could let JD get a glimpse of the Iron Man armor, but there was no reason he couldn't lie to him to keep away. "Sure JD, if I get it done before I leave I'll share it with you, but you got to promise to stop asking me about it."
"Good luck with that." Buck laughed.
Tony smiled as he understood that getting JD to stop pestering him about his 'invention' might be a futile request.
"I promise," JD said while glaring at Buck silently telling the bigger man to shut up.
"Good." Tony nodded and then gestured to the stable. "Now if you don't mind, I have work to finish here."
"Sure thing. But Ezra's gonna be upset you ain't coming to the saloon tonight," JD said. "I think he was hoping to win his money back."
"I've had enough of playing poker with Ezra Standish for one lifetime, thank you very much." He was still having trouble dealing with this version of Ez.
"Well if you change your mind, I'm buying the first round."
"You have to come now, Eddie." JD laughed. "Ol' tightwad here never buys."
"Now that just ain't true!"
Tony laughed. He really did enjoy the friendship between these two men and wouldn't mind spending more time with them. "I'll think about it."
They said their goodbyes and Tony felt a little better knowing that at least JD and Buck enjoyed his company.
***********************************************
Tony really hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but he'd been up in the loft when Vin came storming into the stable, pulling his horse in behind him, and growling over his shoulder, "I said I ain't talking about this no more."
Tony peered over the edge of the loft to see Chris enter the stable. Given the tenseness of the situation, he decided that revealing his presence was not his best course of action.
"You are one stubborn son of a bitch."
Vin didn't respond, he simply set about unsaddling his horse and then began brushing the animal down. The silence between the men stretched to a near unbearable point for Tony. He was almost tempted to interject just to get the conversation going again when Chris finally spoke.
"What about Charlotte?"
Vin stopped in mid brush to look back at Chris, an unspoken request for clarification in his eyes.
"She misses you. You haven't been out for a Sunday dinner in weeks."
"I saw her in town last week."
"Not the same. You're family and she wants her family to sit down and have a meal together."
"I ain't family," Vin said curtly and returned to caring for his horse.
Chris walked over and grabbed him by the arm, forcing Vin to look him in the eye. "This isn't about Cecily. This is about Charlotte and she wants you there."
Vin chuckled ruefully. "Course it's about Cecily. Charlotte ain't had her go at me yet."
"Well I haven't been able to get through that thick skull of yours and no one says no to Charlotte. Especially when she's got her mind made up about the way things should be."
Don't I know it Tony thought. He was a bit concerned about his meeting the indomitable Mrs. Larabee and his own ability to avoid her questions. Not to mention having to lie to her face. That wasn't something Tony was particularly good at in the present.
Vin's face grew hard again. "Which is why I ain't goin'."
"I promised her that I'd get you out to the ranch."
"Don't care. Ain't my problem you made a promise you can't keep."
"Vin..."
"No, Chris! She's your wife and I get that you want to make her happy, but I'm your friend and I'm asking you, as a friend, to just let this go."
Chris nodded. "I'll make her understand."
Good luck with that Tony thought.
Chris clapped Vin in the shoulder. "I still think you're an idiot, but I won't mention it again and I'll tell everyone to leave ya be about it too."
Vin nodded his silent thanks and Chris left the barn.
Once the gunslinger was out of sight, it was if a damn of emotion had broken loose in Vin. He flung the brush he'd been holding across the barn, before slamming his hand against the nearest post. Shaking off the pain of the impact, Vin slumped against the stall and slid to the ground.
Tony watched as the tracker sat silently on the ground, head in his hands. He couldn't tell, but he suspected that Vin was struggling to hold back tears. For a man who insisted he was no longer in love with Cecily, he was fighting awfully hard to convince himself of that fact.
It was apparent that everyone wanted the two back together. While he may not understand what a sophisticated and educated women like Cecily would see in a scruffy uneducated lawman like Vin, the history Tony knew of the Tanner family confirmed that the two were together and yet here they were miles apart.
Maybe that’s why he’d been sent to this point in time, to get these two back together for good. On the other hand, maybe he’d just watched too many episodes of Quantum leap on TV Land with Rhodey.
The direct approach had been a dismal failure, so that left the indirect approach which truthfully he was much better at. Tony had joked briefly with Buck and JD about Vin’s jealousy. He’d dismissed the idea of pretending to court Cecily simply because he hadn’t wanted to mess with events or get shot, but now it seemed time was challenging him to play fairy godmother.
He knew making Vin jealous would work, but there was one problem. Well two. He needed to get Cecily into a compromising position where Vin could find them. That shouldn't be too hard; no woman could resist him when he turned on the charm.
No the tough part would be to get Ezra to trust him. Because there was a good chance someone, probably Vin, would attempt to shoot him when they realized he was trying to seduce Cecily, and he really needed Ezra to make sure that didn't happen.
Now that he had decided to be time’s bitch he really wanted Vin to get the hell out of the barn so he could find Ezra before he lost his nerve.