He came from a wealthy family and, apart from Rhodey and Clark, had almost no friends. That's why Tony valued friendship so much. He could laugh off Natasha's deception and choose to ignore her in the future—but if Natasha ever betrayed Clark, Tony would definitely be angry.
"Tony, you've been really busy lately. You appointed your former assistant, gave away your assets all over the place, and let your friend fly off with one of your Iron Man suits. If I didn't already know all of this…"
But Nick Fury didn't want to dwell on that. He hadn't cleared out the surrounding area so Tony and Natasha could argue freely for no reason.
"I didn't give it to him. He took it himself."
Tony, ever proud, refused to admit that he had willingly handed over the Iron Man suit.
"What? He took it? You're Iron Man, and he's just a regular colonel. How could he steal your suit? He even beat you up and took your phone… come on."
Fury paused mid-rant and turned to Natasha.
"What do you think? Is that possible?"
"According to Mr. Stark's own security protocols, using the Iron Man suit requires his personal authorization."
Having been undercover in Stark's home for some time, Natasha immediately exposed Tony's lie.
"Mhm."Fury raised an eyebrow at Tony, as if to say, I don't know how you expect to lie your way out of this.
"What do you want from me?"
Tony knew this bald man must have something he needed. Otherwise, he wouldn't be wasting his time with all this talk.
"What do I want? The real question is: what do you need from me!"
You're becoming a problem. And believe me, the world does not revolve around you."
As Fury continued, he felt himself slipping into a full-on lecture mode.
"Okay, okay—I get it."Tony couldn't stand another long-winded monologue from Fury and interrupted him.
"Alright, time to inject."
Fury said as he glanced toward Natasha, standing behind Tony.
"What?!"Tony was confused by Fury's sudden declaration. Inject? What the hell was he talking about?
Just then, Natasha—standing silently behind him—jabbed a syringe into his neck.
"Whoa! What is this? Are you harvesting my kidneys?!"
Tony instinctively grabbed the spot where she injected him, completely baffled.
But the shot didn't make him feel worse. In fact, he felt… better. Lighter. Less burdened.
"What did she just give me?"
His body told him that whatever Natasha had injected was a good thing. But that didn't mean Tony appreciated the ambush-style treatment.
"We did it for your own good. That was lithium dioxide—it'll alleviate your symptoms. We're hoping you'll get back to work soon," Fury explained.
"Give me two more boxes of that stuff and I'll be fine," Tony joked, feeling a little hopeful again.
"It's not a cure—just symptom relief," Natasha corrected him, not wanting Tony to misunderstand. After all, it wouldn't fix the underlying issue.
"Tony, what you need is a real solution," Fury said seriously, not wanting Tony to rely on temporary fixes.
"I know. I know what I need to do. I've been trying to find a palladium substitute. Banner and I already tested every possible element combination—you know the result."
Tony had tried. Six months ago, he and Banner explored every idea they could think of. Nothing had worked.
"No—you haven't tried everything yet." Fury grinned.
"What? What do you mean I haven't tried everything? You think there's something I missed?" Tony frowned, thinking hard. He was confident he had tried everything.
"This isn't the place to talk. Let's go back to your villa," Fury said, glancing at the time and motioning for Tony to look around the public space they were still in.
Meanwhile, Jane had brought Thor back to her lab.
Since Thor only had a hospital gown, Jane gave him some of her ex-boyfriend's old clothes.
"For a homeless lunatic, he's actually got a decent build," Daisy commented, impressed. Then she turned to look at Clark, wondering how his physique compared.
"Hey, why are you staring at me like that? You thinking something naughty?"Clark teased her after noticing her gaze.
"You're overthinking it."
"What's this?" Thor asked, pointing at a tag on the shirt Jane had given him.
"Oh, that? My ex-boyfriend," Jane said, walking over to remove the tag.
"He was a doctor—good at dealing with patients, not so great at dating. Never mind, let's not talk about him. This was the only thing I had that would fit you."Her expression made it clear she didn't want to revisit that relationship.
"I need sustenance. This mortal shell feels weak."
"Sustenance? What kind?" Daisy asked, confused.
"He means he's hungry," Clark answered, having heard Thor's faint stomach growl with his enhanced hearing.
"Then let's go eat. Clark, you haven't had breakfast either, right? Let's go together."Jane was curious about Thor's origins, but she figured it was better to feed him before grilling him with questions.
"How did you fall from the storm and survive?"After they sat down and ordered food, Jane finally asked the question she'd been holding in.
But Thor, laser-focused on eating, completely ignored her. He had just fought frost giants in Jotunheim, been cast down by Odin, hit by Daisy's car, and now it was noon. He hadn't eaten in nearly two days.
"This drink is amazing—I like it," Thor said after polishing off his last bite of pancake and finishing a glass of soda, smiling contentedly.
"I know, right? But how did you manage to eat that much?" Daisy asked, astonished that Thor had eaten enough for five people by himself.
"Another!" Thor declared, smashing his cup on the floor.
Just before the glass hit the ground, Clark caught it.
"Whoa, what are you doing?!" Jane was startled by the sudden movement.
"The drink is good. I want another," Thor said nonchalantly.
"Thor, just say it tastes good. You don't have to smash things," Jane said, baffled by his behavior.
"I meant no offense."While the meal didn't compare to Asgardian feasts, after two days without food, Thor was perfectly satisfied.
"Thor, did you say you're from Asgard?"Noticing Jane and Thor were about to argue over their clashing worldviews, Clark stepped in to change the subject.
"Yes. I am Thor Odinson, son of Odin, King of Asgard."Thor declared proudly after finishing his meal, revealing his true identity.
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