Seeing Tony Stark's disheveled state, Lynn reached out and pulled him up from the floor. "Yeah. Those two green-skinned aliens.. strong in both tech and magic.. just claimed you destroyed their planet."
"Ridiculous!"
Still struggling to fully remove his armor, Tony snapped, "The only thing I destroyed was the Chitauri mothership in the wormhole, and that was to protect Earth. I've never destroyed a planet."
"Sir, those two aliens said they came across time."
Jarvis reminded him calmly, "It is possible they came from the future, intending to kill the present you to prevent the future you from annihilating their home planet."
"What the FUCK?!"
Tony had just managed to get out of his armor and exhaled in relief—only for Jarvis's explanation to hit him. He threw his hands up.
"Time travel? Seriously? People in the future can just build time machines now? Like Back to the Future?"
He walked to the wine cabinet, found an unbroken bottle among the shattered glass, and opened it.
He grabbed two glasses, handed one to Lynn, and poured him a drink. "Do you really think those aliens could time-travel? And if they could, why not go further back?"
"For example, travel to when I was lying in my cradle—and strangle me then? Wouldn't that be a lot simpler?"
Taking the glass, Lynn sipped his drink and replied to Tony's ranting, "Who knows? Maybe future you invented a time machine—and maybe the one those two green aliens used was built by you too."
Thinking about Natasha's description of the future—Tony Stark in white armor, destroying a planet with a single glance—Lynn felt the aliens might actually be telling the truth.
"I don't buy it."
Tony took a swig, exhaled, then glanced around at the wrecked room. "But I do think these two aliens are worth studying."
"Their tech… and that magic, like Elsa Bloodstone's teleportation circle? Jumping across the world instantly?"
He pointed at Lynn. "Don't tell S.H.I.E.L.D. about this yet, buddy. Let me study it first, then we'll talk."
"Up to you."
Lynn shrugged and leaned against the counter. "I'm not part of S.H.I.E.L.D., so it's none of my business."
Tony snapped his fingers at him. "Ha! I like that attitude, Hall. Not everyone can stay that carefree."
Before he could continue, Tony's phone suddenly rang.
He picked it up and flicked a finger across the screen. Happy's face appeared in a video call.
"Tony, I've got something to tell you."
Seeing Happy's wide forehead fill the screen, Tony Stark said, "What is it? Did you harass an intern again?"
Then he flipped the camera toward Lynn. "Say hi, Happy. This is my new friend, Lynn Hall—a detective from Manhattan, New York."
"Hi, Mr. Hall, I'm Harold Joseph Hogan, Tony Stark's bodyguard. Just call me Happy."
"Hi, Mr. Happy. Being the bodyguard of a famous genius billionaire playboy must be quite taxing."
Lynn raised his wine glass toward the screen in greeting.
Hearing Lynn's statement, Happy felt embarrassed, and Tony started cackling like a kid.
"Eh? Did I say something funny?"
"Oh... ha.. haha... he's laughing like that because, Mr. Hall, do you know what happens whenever I tell people I'm Iron Man's bodyguard?"
"They laugh at me. Mercilessly. In the end, I can only walk away with whatever dignity I have left. I mean, come on! Tony isn't Iron Man twenty-four hours a day."
Happy's dramatic complaint made Lynn burst into laughter.
Even the tense atmosphere from the alien attack earlier seemed to melt away.
"Hah.. Alright, Happy, what do you need?"
"Oh, right! Tony, Pepper is meeting with a scientist. He's very rich and very handsome."
"Um, okay."
Tony didn't even blink. He simply took another sip of wine. "Isn't that normal?"
"Tony, trust me—you know I'm the best at reading people. So I looked him up... His name is Aldrich Killian, the guy we met at that science conference in 1999."
"I don't remember!"
Tony set his phone on the bar, popped in a Bluetooth earpiece, and walked over to the alien bodies. He waved at Lynn. "Come on, Hall, give me a hand. I can't move these alien corpses by myself."
In the headset, Happy kept rambling. The moment he heard Tony mention alien corpses, his voice shot up. "Alien corpses? What alien corpses, Tony? Did you find aliens again? Wait—why is there a chunk missing from the ceiling in the video? Did you wreck the house again?"
"What? Of course not."
Tony grunted as he and Lynn lifted one of the bodies and carried it toward the downstairs lab. "Aliens attacked me. Damn it—this thing isn't even taller than me, so why is it so heavy?"
"I'd say at least several hundred pounds."
"Four-fifty, roughly. Probably because of its body and bone density," Lynn replied, adjusting his grip on the corpse.
"What the actual fuck?! Tony, you were attacked by aliens?"
Hearing that Tony had been attacked by aliens, Happy immediately shot up from his chair. "I knew I shouldn't have left your side! Look at this—how long have I been guarding Pepper, and you've already been attacked?"
"I'm coming ove—"
"No need, Happy."
Tony exhaled as he and Lynn set the corpse on the lab table. "Just keep protecting Pepper. You don't need to worry about me."
"…Alright."
Happy knew he wouldn't win this argument. "So, where was I? Right—Aldrich Killian. At first he and Pepper were just discussing business, but now something seems off."
"That Killian guy is showing Pepper his brain."
Tony, heading back upstairs to get the second alien corpse, froze. "He's showing what?"
"His brain. A really big one. Like some holographic projection. And Pepper's looking at it like she's interested."
Tony told Happy to flip the camera, and after several painfully clumsy attempts, he said helplessly, "Okay, okay, Happy—calm down, alright? I trust Pepper."
"But—"
"Shh.. I've got things happening here, so we'll talk later."
Tony ended the call and glanced at the second corpse. "Lynn, this one's bigger than the last. So…"
Seeing Tony's expectant look, Lynn shrugged. "You know, Tony… you could at least pretend you're going to pay me for this."
_______
(づ￣ 3￣)づ
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