After Mary was kidnapped, Clark's life seemed to return to normal. HYDRA had vanished following Senator Stern's suicide, and even Nick Fury's old boss, Alexander Pierce, had disappeared.
Still, after the incident, Clark realized that his hearing wasn't strong enough to monitor the entire city—he couldn't be like in the comics, always hearing cries for help.
So he asked Tony to create a device for his family that could send out an alert in times of danger. The only requirement was that the signal had to be strong. As for whether it could be blocked, Clark believed Tony could handle it. After all, Tony's Iron Man suit was always connected to JARVIS, immune to jamming. Surely it used its own tech.
A few months passed. Clark hadn't hired any new employees at his flower shop, afraid that if someone attacked him again, the shop would be their first target.
At first, Clark had thought maybe his past life had been too idle. He'd often go into space to soak up the sun, then come back to Earth to "digest."
But over time, he got tired of the back-and-forth. So he returned to lying around in the flower shop, sunbathing like usual.
One day, while basking in the sun, Clark got a phone call. He glanced at the screen—it was Tony.
"Hey, Clark, are you free tonight?"
Tony's lazy voice came through as the call connected.
"I think so. What's up?"
Clark felt so relaxed under the sun that he was almost dozing off.
"There's a tech expo opening tonight. You've probably seen it on the news. Wanna come check it out?"
On the other end, Tony was lounging on a private jet back to L.A., wine in hand, chatting away.
"Tech expo?"
As soon as Clark heard that, he thought, Isn't this the opening from Iron Man 2? Yeah, timeline checks out.
"What? Don't tell me you didn't know? Seriously, what do you even pay attention to every day?"
"I'm reviving my dad's tech expo. It'll run for almost a full year. All kinds of cutting-edge tech will be showcased. You could even bring a girl, make a night of it."
Clearly annoyed, Tony was surprised Clark didn't know about it—especially since he'd dumped millions into advertising. To vent a little, and knowing Clark was still single, Tony jabbed at the sore spot.
"I don't have a girlfriend right now," Clark replied.
Honestly, he didn't know why. He was handsome, in great shape—why was he still single?
"Want me to introduce you to someone? You like 'em thick or slim? Cover models, maybe?"
"Forget it. Actually, could you introduce her sometime?" Clark deflected. "By the way, how's Banner doing?"
Maybe trying to change the subject, or maybe reminded by the "girlfriend" topic, Clark thought about Banner, who had recently gone through a heartbreak.
Banner believed he couldn't control the Hulk and was terrified of hurting Betty if he lost control. After the failed experiment with Stern six months ago, Banner had been hiding from Betty. Then just last week, Betty married her psychiatrist.
When Tony broke the news to him, Banner went silent—and hadn't said anything since.
"Honestly? Not great. He's kind of spiraling. Maybe he'll bounce back in a few days."
Clark sighed, thinking Banner's love life had always been a mess. First Betty, then sort-of chemistry with someone in Avengers 1, and by Captain America 2, she was cozying up to Steve.
"Love is never smooth." Clark mused aloud.
"What'd you say?" Tony asked, confused by Clark muttering in Chinese.
"Nothing. Hey, someone just walked into my shop—I'll talk to you later."
While chatting about girls, someone had entered the flower shop. Clark looked up—was that Daisy?He figured there was nothing more to say to Tony and hung up.
"Hey, Daisy. Got time to stop by today?"
Tony stared at the hung-up call, a little annoyed. No one had ever hung up on Tony Stark before. Clark doing it left him a little sour.
"I've recently been selected to be a professor's assistant. Her lab's near here, so I stopped in to say hi."
"Nice. This is my flower shop—what do you think? Not bad, right? Oh, by the way, are you free tonight? I've got two tickets to Stark's Tech Expo opening ceremony. Want to come with me?"
Maybe Clark's mindset had shifted. At first, he thought Daisy's face was a bit square, but now, seeing her more often in New York, she looked prettier each time. They'd gotten quite close.
Seeing Daisy reminded him of the expo, and suddenly it didn't seem like a bad idea to take her along.
"I'd love to, but I probably can't tonight. I'm heading to New Mexico in a few days with my mentor, so I've got a lot to study and prep. Probably won't make it."
Daisy shook her head, apologetic.
"Alright, guess I'm going solo."
"I can't chat much longer. I'm late already. See you!"
She glanced at her phone, saw the time, and realized she had to go.
"Alright. See you."
Without a date, Clark went to the Tech Expo alone that evening.
Since it was the opening ceremony, most exhibits weren't open yet. The night mainly featured performances and speeches, but a lot of big names from the business and tech world were attending.
Thanks to Tony, Clark didn't have to stand with the general crowd—he had a VIP seat.
As the ceremony began, Clark saw a group of gorgeous women in sexy outfits come running out from backstage.
"Rich people..."He muttered with a mix of jealousy and sarcasm.
Suddenly, Clark sensed something quickly approaching from the sky. He turned and saw Iron Man diving down, landing in the center of the stage.
"Asshole," he muttered.
After landing, a mechanical arm extended beneath Tony's feet, removing his armor piece by piece. Standing before the audience in his formal suit, Tony grinned.
"It's good to be back. Bet you all missed me."
It had been a while since Tony stood on this kind of stage. Over the last six months, he had buried himself in his lab, rarely appearing in public. He'd been focused on upgrading the Mark armor—and finding a cure for his palladium poisoning.
Even with Banner helping, there was no effective solution. At best, they could delay it, but the source of the poison—the arc reactor in Tony's chest—kept leeching toxins into his blood.
There were only two options left: remove the arc reactor (which Tony refused, still addicted to the superhero life), or find a new, non-toxic energy source. But Tony had tried every known element—nothing could replace his chest reactor.
Now, Tony felt like he was nearing the end of the road.
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