Stark's Villa, Los Angeles
The hall was alive that night — rich men in tailored suits, media personalities nursing expensive drinks, and women making their rounds with fake smiles. Military people lined the sides and SHIELD agents were scattered throughout; the entire hall was filled with people from different departments.
"It's getting late," Natasha said, scanning the room with a bored expression. "And the man who arranged all this still isn't here." She glanced at Coulson and Clint beside her.
"Probably lost track of time with his cover girls," Clint said, not bothering to hide the amusement in his voice. "Can't blame the guy — he was away for months in that cave with only men."
He was still mid-joke when the lights dimmed.
Tony Stark walked in with Pepper Potts at his side, and almost every eye in the hall shifted toward him.
"Mr. Stark, good to see you—"
"Always a pleasure—"
"Tony! Welcome back!"
Tony exchanged a few quick handshakes before raising his glass slightly.
"Alright, alright, you're starting to make me think you actually missed me."
A wave of laughter moved through the hall.
Tony smirked faintly, though the exhaustion beneath it hadn't completely disappeared.
"Seriously though… thank you for coming tonight." His gaze swept across the room. "A few weeks ago I was stuck in a cave, wondering if I'd ever see decent food, terrible music, or overpriced drinks again."
More laughter followed, lighter this time.
"So tonight? Eat too much, drink too much, embarrass yourselves responsibly. Apparently being alive is something worth celebrating."
He lifted his glass a little higher.
"To second chances."
The room answered with raised glasses and applause before the crowd surged toward him again.
After entertaining the guests, Tony walked over to where Natasha's group was sitting.
"How's the party treating you?"
"Very well, Mr. Stark," Coulson replied.
Tony glanced around the table, then at the room. "You're all sitting here without company? No companions for the evening?" He caught the eye of a few women nearby who were clearly not short on confidence. "I can fix that, if you—"
"That won't be necessary, Stark," Coulson said flatly, cutting him off before he could wave anyone over.
"Suit yourselves." Tony leaned back, unbothered.
He scanned the nearby tables. Nobody close enough to matter. He set his glass down and lowered his voice.
"I want to ask you something. Do any of you know Mr. Omnix's origin?"
The three of them exchanged a brief look.
"Did you find something, Mr. Stark?" Natasha asked, keeping her tone even.
"Is he an alien?" Tony didn't waste any time and asked exactly what he wanted to know.
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Natasha asked, puzzled, since Tony clearly misunderstood Omnix as a superpower person in the desert, and no one cleared that misunderstanding, so how did he know now?
Tony watched their faces carefully, but their faces gave nothing away. He wanted to know if they were hiding something, but he couldn't read anything from their expressions.
Since they had saved him, he chose to trust them and told them what JARVIS had found.
Hearing Tony's findings, they glanced at each other with mild disappointment — they had hoped Tony had uncovered something they didn't already know, but it turned out to be only what had leaked from SHIELD.
Since he had laid his cards down, they did the same — sharing what they knew, enough to confirm what Tony had already suspected.
"I genuinely didn't expect to be sitting here confirming that aliens walk among us," Tony said, a faint edge of excitement slipping into his voice despite himself. He wanted to meet Omnix. The more he thought about it, the more he needed to.
"So how do I contact him?"
"We don't have his contact information," Natasha said. "He reaches out to us. Not the other way around."
Tony wasn't sure if they were telling the truth, but he decided he would find Omnix himself.
"About the rescue," Tony said, setting his glass down. The usual humor in his voice faded slightly. " Since I made a promise in that cave, I intend to keep it. So go ahead — name your price."
"That won't be necessary," Coulson replied calmly.
"We're not interested in compensation," Natasha added.
Clint leaned back in his chair. "Besides, saving billionaire geniuses is part of the job description."
A faint smirk crossed Tony's face, but it disappeared just as quickly.
"No," he said quietly. "You guys saved Yisen and me. I'm not someone who breaks promises — so what do you want?"
"Can I get a private plane?" Clint asked, in a joking tone, testing just how serious Tony was.
"Sure," Tony agreed immediately.
"Clint," Natasha said, giving him a look.
"That was a joke," he said quickly, seeing Tony actually agree.
"So if you won't ask for something, I'll figure it out myself."
"Mr. Stark—" Coulson started.
"Don't argue with me," Tony cut in, pointing lightly at him. "I've already decided." And with that, before any of them could say another word, he left.
On Jack's side, Red Queen had just informed him about what had happened to George.
"Red Queen, monitor George and make tracking down Sin Eater the top priority," Jack said coldly. "He went after my future father-in-law. That was a mistake he'll regret."
His voice was calm, but the anger beneath it was impossible to miss.
Is this because of my butterfly effect… or was George always meant to be attacked? Jack wondered silently.
Whatever the answer was, his plans had changed.
He needed to return to New York as soon as possible.
A/N:🚨 Power Stone Goals! 🚨
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