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CaveLeather
To be honest, Luca was completely out of his depth regarding the relationship issues between Tony and Pepper.
He was still playing a game of "will-they-won't-they" with Gwen, and his own relationship progress bar was moving at a snail's pace.
Instead of trying to play couples therapist, he felt it would be more reliable to just code an algorithm to solve their problems using big data.
"Or... maybe I should just zap Tony with the Mind Stone to perk him up? Hell, that's gotta be more effective than a shrink, right?"
Of course, he was just venting.
Pepper had called him early that morning, in tears, asking him to look out for Tony. Plus, seeing Tony look like a walking corpse for the last few days was getting on Luca's nerves. As a friend, he couldn't just watch this happen.
He decided to try a little shock therapy. Anything to snap him out of it.
"Come here and watch this!"
Luca tossed a holographic projector in front of Tony with a bit of attitude.
Tony, still dazed, looked confused at first but was quickly drawn in by the footage playing in front of him.
"I... I know this road."
Tony looked blankly at Luca again, then turned his eyes back to the screen.
The projection showed surveillance footage. The quality was grainy and clearly dated.
But it wasn't just the location that was familiar to Tony. It was the timestamp in the corner:
December 16, 1991.
The day his parents died. The day he became an orphan. A date burned into his memory forever.
On the screen, the familiar car crash played out—the impact, the fire.
But then, the footage showed something Tony didn't know. Something completely different from the official report.
A motorcycle pulled up. A figure stepped off and brutally murdered his parents, who had survived the initial crash.
"Is that... Sergeant Barnes? My parents didn't die in an accident?!!"
In an instant, Tony's lethargy vanished. His chest heaved, and suppressed rage seemed ready to explode. He stared dead at Luca, articulating every word through gritted teeth.
"Where did you get this video?"
Luca didn't hide anything.
He had acquired the footage from the Hydra base when he woke up the Winter Soldier.
His original plan was to show Tony immediately after rescuing him. Luca was the type to side with his friends regardless of the moral high ground—"loyalty over logic." He had never intended to cover up for Captain America or the Winter Soldier.
As for revenge? Luca believed there were no lines to cross. He didn't care about collateral damage.
The most he would do is stop Tony from killing Steve if Cap tried to intervene, just so Tony wouldn't have to kill his friend too.
He had only hesitated this long because Tony had been in such a zombie-like state since the rescue.
If revenge can wake him up... at least it's a goal.
Hmm, maybe I should tip off Steve? Let him run away with Bucky. That way, Tony has to chase them, dragging out the vengeance arc and getting him through this slump?
Luca's mind started wandering with wild ideas, even as he explained the origins of the video to Tony.
But contrary to Luca's expectations...
Tony didn't suit up. He didn't fly off in a rage to hunt down Bucky.
The intense anger that had flared up suddenly died down. He fell back into silence, his eyes going empty once more.
The silence was deathly. Just as Luca was about to say something, Tony finally spoke, his voice raspy.
"...Does anyone else know about this?"
Luca paused, surprised, but answered immediately.
"As for the video, I'm the only one who has it."
After another long silence, Tony asked, "Does... Ba... does he remember doing it?"
"Maybe? He was brainwashed, but he probably has some fragmented memories," Luca replied, unsure of what Tony was thinking.
Another long silence.
It went on so long that Luca felt like Tony's life force was fading away.
Finally, Tony looked Luca in the eye and spoke slowly.
"Keep this a secret for me. He... he didn't have a choice."
With that last sentence, Tony's head tilted to the side, his eyes closed, and the half-eaten bun dropped from his hand.
Luca screamed.
"Holy sht! Hey, don't die on me?!"
He rushed forward, grabbing the slumping Tony and reaching out to check his breathing.
Maybe Luca was too rough, or maybe Tony wasn't that far gone, but Tony opened his eyes again.
Weakly, he muttered, "Tired... just sleeping..."
Then he eyed Luca's metal hand hovering near his nose.
"Can metal even feel breath?"
After the weak roast, Tony closed his eyes again. His lips moved slightly, barely audible.
Luca awkwardly retracted his hand and moved Tony to the sofa.
He looked at his mechanical right arm and grumbled, "For a physicist, you're dumb. Breath condenses on metal, you know!"
"Fine, you're the saint who forgives and forgets. And I'm the villain trying to stir up internal conflict!"
Luca grumbled as he put away the projector. He thought for a moment, then used the Mind Stone to cast a mental soothing effect on Tony before covering him with a blanket.
Since he couldn't stay there and watch a grown man sleep, Luca pulled out a "Baymax-style" medical robot and a custom-made [Stun Watch].
"Jarvis," Luca ordered. "This robot has health monitoring protocols. If this guy refuses to sleep on time later, hijack the robot and zap him with the Stun Watch. Make sure he sleeps till dawn!"
He shoved a box of a thousand tranquilizer darts into the robot's hands.
Satisfied, Luca sat down at the computer to finish the work Tony had left in shambles.
Jarvis quietly connected to the medical robot.
Through the robot's speakers, the AI whispered the words he had read from Tony's lips just before he fell asleep.
"Thank you."