Sanctity Part I
by elfin


Sanctity - the quality or condition of being safe from assault, trespass, or violation


"Don't you want to live a normal life again?"  Rhodey asked over a rare dinner at Reds Wine Bar.  They were given a table on the private mezzanine but even just passing through the bar had half the clientele turning to stare.  Tony paid and Rhodey didn't argue.  He never argued when Tony paid. 

"You make all your dates pick up the tab?"

"Hell, ain't like you can't afford it."  He didn't mention the date reference and Tony didn't try to get him into bed at the end of the night.

"I spent all day in a meeting of the board of directors.  That's normal, Rhodey, that's what my life would be without Iron Man."  The usual response, the standard response.  The truth was so much more complicated he wouldn't know where to start even if he wanted to try and explain it.

"Normal for you isn't board meetings, Tony, it's… fast cars, faster women, gambling, drinking, and obsessive periods of actually designing exceptionally complex and intelligent weapons."

"I've told you…."

"Doesn't have to be weapons.  Defence is good too.  All I'm saying is that I'd be happy seeing you go back to even a portion of the life you used to lead."

Tony sat back, glass of red wine resting against his index finger and thumb.  "All you're saying is you don't like me playing the hero."

"This isn't about you.  It's about Pepper and me."  Voice dropping in volume he said, "We both love you, Tony.  We've almost lost you twice.  We don't want to lose you again, not to some green goblin, orange mandarin or… red devil!"

Tony laughed, of course he did, because how else could he react?  But behind the laughter was the truth.

He knew Rhodey and Pepper had wanted to take out Fury's other eye after he'd left that night.  Bad enough he was running around with delusions of super-heroism, the idea that there was a group of them, a team of them, all trying to out-do the others, all trying to win the world's greatest 'who can piss the highest' contest by defeating the and wildest and weirdest villains around.

But Tony hadn't started down this road for notoriety or fame.  He wanted revenge, revenge for himself for Yinsen's life, for Obadiah's betrayal, for the people of Gulmira.  But most of all he wanted revenge for what Raza and his gang of insurgents had done to him personally, what they'd stripped from him; the devastating injury to his heart, the three months in captivity, the torture, the pain, the fear, the death of the man he had been and the birth of the man he was now.

Because unlike Logan and Banner and Parker and whoever else Fury dragged into this madness, Tony had a choice.  He could hang up the suit, stop anytime he wanted and go back to running his father's company 24x7.  He didn't turn into a green monster when he was angry, couldn't scale buildings without the help of repelling gear, hadn't got a skeleton made of Adamantium.  The only thing he had was an arc reactor in his chest, a power source keeping him alive.  It didn't have to power the suit.  It could just as easily power the R8 and save him from ever having to buy gas again.

But just because he could stop didn't mean he wanted to.  He wanted to piss the highest because he'd always wanted to.  He wanted to be a super-hero because the world had always revolved around him anyway.  He already had the notoriety and the fame.  He wanted the greatest of adrenaline rushes, and didn't see why skinny, dweeb and wolfy should have all the fun.

#

"You're vulnerable."  Dragged into Fury's office one beautiful California morning when he should have been catching a few morning rays and an early swim before descending into the workshop for the day, he listened to a twenty minute diatribe about security for the team and the protection of its members before asking Fury to cut the bullshit and get straight to the point. 

So he did, and Tony appreciated the honesty even if it was bollocks, something he told Cyclops right to his fuck-ugly face, adding, "Vulnerable?  I'm the vulnerable one?"

Even with one eye, Fury could give a look that could crack diamonds.  "That high-tech glow light in your chest is the only thing keeping you alive.  Stane proved how piss-easy it is to steal it, to kill you.  Christ, you're lucky it was the only way he fucked you, Tony."  He took a deep breath, telling himself he wasn't going to murder the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. with his bare hands.  "You're the most recognisable person in a state of globally recognisable people!  You're a public figure, anyone at anytime could put a bullet through your brain - take you down in the blink of an eye."

He cleared his head, the remark about Obadiah still grating like gravel in an open wound.  "Right.  And a bullet to the brain would be a mere flesh wound to the rest of your collective."

"They have ways of protecting themselves."

"No one protects themselves from a bullet in the brain."  He shook his head with a sigh.  "Come on, Nick.  Banner won't hulk out unless the world is moments away from complete annihilation.  Pete's greatest defence is his smile; he just makes people believe he's harmless which, of course, he is.  Logan… he's your exception I'll give you that.  Someone shoots him he just pushes the bullet back out, although he won't tell me why it doesn't just ping off his thick metal skull.  Must be hell getting through airport security."

"Tony!  This isn't about them.  It's about you."

He leaned back in his chair.  "I have protection, I have bodyguards.  Hate to break it to you but being public enemy number one isn't new to me.  I've been on someone's hit list my whole life."

"I know."  Fury hesitated, looked at Tony in that assessing way he hated, then leaned forward and read from an open file on the wide desk in front of him.  "When you were eight years old, an anti-war group abducted you from outside your school and held you ransom for seventy-two hours.  Obadiah was the one to deliver the cash and to deliver you back into your mother's arms.  A week later every member of the group who held you - not just the ones involved in the kidnapping but every group member - was dead."

Tony stared at him, mind blank for just a moment as he tried to suppress the rage building rapidly inside him.  "You wind Banner up like this?"

"No."  It was a measured response accompanied by the flicker of a maybe smile.  "I'm pointing out that you don't have Obadiah standing between you and harm any longer."

It was enough.  Tony burst up from his seat.  "You asshole.  Obadiah Stane ordered a hit on me because he wanted the company, he wanted the money.  Forty-three years of love and family and when it came down to it, it all meant fuck all to him.  And when he paralysed me, he talked about me like I was some fucking resource he could just use up and throw away.  He smiled when he reached into my chest and took out the one thing keeping me alive.  There was nothing but twisted hated in the way he looked at me."

"All I'm saying -"

"All you're saying is bullshit.  Don't lecture me on my own security.  I know how to look after myself.  I've learnt the hard way."

"I want to offer you -"

"I don't want anything you have to offer me.  I don't even know why you're worrying.  I don't appreciate your concern."

Fury sat back, arms outstretched in what Tony presumed was a peace offering.  "I'm just protecting my own."

"I'm not yours, Nick."

"I just meant you work for me."

Taking a step forward Tony slammed his palms flat on the desk, putting his whole weight behind them, the words resonating through him.  "I don't work for anyone."

He spoke slowly, deliberately.  "You are a part of my team.  That is all I meant."

Two deep breaths and Tony straightened.  "Sorry.  I'm….  That fucker Raza used the same line after he dunked my head in a toilet ten or twenty times.  Ever been through that?  Anyone ever tried to drown you while you've got a fucking car battery in your chest?"  His words were angry but he kept his voice level.

"I didn't mean anything by it."  Tony reckoned his apology was going to provoke one in return and he wasn't disappointed.  "I know how hard you fought for your freedom, I respect that.  All I'm saying is that there are ways I can help boost your own personal security.  If you'll let me.  I promise it won't cramp your style."

He knew when he was outnumbered.  If he didn't agree, Fury would find a way of placating Rhodey and Pepper, getting them on side and he'd end up with whatever the hell this 'extra protection' was whatever he did.  In a previous life that would have meant sending Happy out for more condoms.  He had no idea what it meant in this one but he knew he was going to find out, sooner or later.  May as well make it sooner then he could send it back if he didn't like it.

"When I'm Iron Man, it's just me and Jarvis."

"Accepted.  Although you might appreciate the extra -" he wisely stopped short of finishing the sentence.  "The scope of this will be up to you.  Okay?"

Tony nodded.  "Okay." 

"Good."

"Great." 

"Tell me, Tony, are all our conversations going to be this difficult?"


Part II