After the first mysterious doorway he'd been through had disappeared before he could show it to Pepper, when another one showed up just as mysteriously, Tony viewed it with a jaundiced eye. He had better things to do. He had Extremis experiments to run, research to conduct and developments to develop, Pepper to keep happy, Happy to visit in the hospital... Not to mention a certain director of SHIELD to bug -- not with literal bugs, though it might come to that, but Tony had started off by being annoying and persistent with his questions about Coulson, and he thought he was making progress.
Which was pretty damn interesting, he had to admit.
His inquiries into HYDRA were far more discreet, but just as interesting.
So he wasn't ignoring the hotel. It was too useful for that. But he wasn't running through the hallways rubbernecking at the dinosaurs either. He'd sent a few robots through with orders to roam and report, set up some sensors and a few dozen Jarvis-controlled weapons pointed at that door just in case -- And then he let it be.
Oh, he went through one time just to say he had, and one time to rescue Dummy from the maze, and one time because he wanted an ice cream sandwich from the hotel bistro, but mostly he was just too busy for mysterious doorways. The data from the sensors piled up, Dummy seemed to enjoy the outings to the other side of the doorway, but Fury was starting to crack, so he had to redouble his attention in that direction --
But sometimes, late at night, Tony found himself staring at that particular door, especially when the Extremis experiments weren't going well. Thinking about threats and opportunities. Excitement, and fear. And tonight it was just too much.
"I'll be back in a few hours," Tony said to Jarvis, pushing away the 3-D display of the genetic model he'd been working on. That brought the real contents of his workbench into sight -- a bunch of repulsors he'd been tinkering with, and some structural pieces from a new suit. Or a new something. Maybe not a suit, exactly. He grabbed them all, a vague plan for what to do with them already forming, and hurried through the door before he changed his mind.
He wasn't sure if he was proving something, or just looking for a bit of fun. And he wasn't expecting to find Bruce Banner out on the grounds staring at the sky.
"Hey," he said to Bruce, and tossed one of the inactive repulsors at Bruce to see if he'd catch it. "Heads up!" It was a friendly test, really. A moment later, it occurred to him that Bruce might not know him yet -- Loki hadn't. But when he played that conversation through in his mind, he just wasn't interested in discussing space and time and all the things he didn't know about the nexus, not even with Bruce.
"I'm going flying," he said conversationally, instead. On impulse he tossed another repulsor in a high trajectory and watched its perfect parabola toward Bruce's head with a smug smile. The first one had been the warning, and this one was slow; Bruce could hardly miss it. "Want to come?"
If this was some past version of Bruce, well, Bruce was smart. He'd figure it out. "And by the way, 'no' is not an acceptable answer. It'll be fun."
no subject
Which was pretty damn interesting, he had to admit.
His inquiries into HYDRA were far more discreet, but just as interesting.
So he wasn't ignoring the hotel. It was too useful for that. But he wasn't running through the hallways rubbernecking at the dinosaurs either. He'd sent a few robots through with orders to roam and report, set up some sensors and a few dozen Jarvis-controlled weapons pointed at that door just in case -- And then he let it be.
Oh, he went through one time just to say he had, and one time to rescue Dummy from the maze, and one time because he wanted an ice cream sandwich from the hotel bistro, but mostly he was just too busy for mysterious doorways. The data from the sensors piled up, Dummy seemed to enjoy the outings to the other side of the doorway, but Fury was starting to crack, so he had to redouble his attention in that direction --
But sometimes, late at night, Tony found himself staring at that particular door, especially when the Extremis experiments weren't going well. Thinking about threats and opportunities. Excitement, and fear. And tonight it was just too much.
"I'll be back in a few hours," Tony said to Jarvis, pushing away the 3-D display of the genetic model he'd been working on. That brought the real contents of his workbench into sight -- a bunch of repulsors he'd been tinkering with, and some structural pieces from a new suit. Or a new something. Maybe not a suit, exactly. He grabbed them all, a vague plan for what to do with them already forming, and hurried through the door before he changed his mind.
He wasn't sure if he was proving something, or just looking for a bit of fun. And he wasn't expecting to find Bruce Banner out on the grounds staring at the sky.
"Hey," he said to Bruce, and tossed one of the inactive repulsors at Bruce to see if he'd catch it. "Heads up!" It was a friendly test, really. A moment later, it occurred to him that Bruce might not know him yet -- Loki hadn't. But when he played that conversation through in his mind, he just wasn't interested in discussing space and time and all the things he didn't know about the nexus, not even with Bruce.
"I'm going flying," he said conversationally, instead. On impulse he tossed another repulsor in a high trajectory and watched its perfect parabola toward Bruce's head with a smug smile. The first one had been the warning, and this one was slow; Bruce could hardly miss it. "Want to come?"
If this was some past version of Bruce, well, Bruce was smart. He'd figure it out. "And by the way, 'no' is not an acceptable answer. It'll be fun."