gadgeteerphilanthropist:

iamthefirechild:

gadgeteerphilanthropist:

iamthefirechild:

Summer didn’t try to stop him. Didn’t anything. He was numb; she was numb. Dummy was … Dummy had left. Because of her. Common sense began to reassert itself there, though.

Because, truthfully, Dummy was always going to conflict with her, wasn’t he? He wanted Tony all to himself, and Tony had made it more than clear to her, if to no one else, that he didn’t want that to happen. That he wanted as much as they were both, or all, willing to give him, and wanted to share himself among them as much as they would let him.

It would have been a problem eventually. Even she could see that, still castigating herself for her role in Dummy’s departure. So much of what she had said had been, if warped, truth. Cruel truth, wielded with an unkind tongue, but truth. Dummy would have forced Tony to choose.

Summer drew a deep breath. “Jarvis, please let me know when he lands safely. Just text me. Otherwise I’ll worry. I guess you have protocols for locking down his living area when he’s not here? Is there anyone else here right now?”

-I am uncertain as to where he is planning on going, as he is refusing to answer me, but I shall do my best to keep you informed, Miss Summer.  The children are in guest wing A, and Loki is in guest wing B.  There are also a few workers still, though I suspect they will be leaving shortly.-

“Okay. I don’t care where he’s going. You’re part of the suit, you’ll know when he takes it off. That’s all I want.” Then her mind actually caught up with what Jarvis was saying. “Loki. He has Loki here. What in the actual fuck.”

-Mr. Stark has met multiple incarnations of Loki already.  I believe he used the term ‘spacey-wacey’ to describe it.- The AI sounded faintly amused as he said it.  -This one in particular asked for safe lodging, and has proved relatively harmless, if incredibly inquisitive, so far.-

She put it in the ‘Not My Division’ heap. “He’s going to kick me when he finds out about this,” she muttered. “Okay. Okay. Lock up his personal spaces, the workshop, the garage. To me, too.” She glanced out into the living area, with the lights she’d strung softly glowing. Tears stung her eyes again, but she blinked them away, walking a straight line to the landing pad door. “Jarvis, I know you aren’t human, but I love you, too.” Then she stepped off the edge, catching herself halfway down.

gadgeteerphilanthropist:

iamthefirechild:

Summer didn’t try to stop him. Didn’t anything. He was numb; she was numb. Dummy was … Dummy had left. Because of her. Common sense began to reassert itself there, though.

Because, truthfully, Dummy was always going to conflict with her, wasn’t he? He wanted Tony all to himself, and Tony had made it more than clear to her, if to no one else, that he didn’t want that to happen. That he wanted as much as they were both, or all, willing to give him, and wanted to share himself among them as much as they would let him.

It would have been a problem eventually. Even she could see that, still castigating herself for her role in Dummy’s departure. So much of what she had said had been, if warped, truth. Cruel truth, wielded with an unkind tongue, but truth. Dummy would have forced Tony to choose.

Summer drew a deep breath. “Jarvis, please let me know when he lands safely. Just text me. Otherwise I’ll worry. I guess you have protocols for locking down his living area when he’s not here? Is there anyone else here right now?”

-I am uncertain as to where he is planning on going, as he is refusing to answer me, but I shall do my best to keep you informed, Miss Summer.  The children are in guest wing A, and Loki is in guest wing B.  There are also a few workers still, though I suspect they will be leaving shortly.-

“Okay. I don’t care where he’s going. You’re part of the suit, you’ll know when he takes it off. That’s all I want.” Then her mind actually caught up with what Jarvis was saying. “Loki. He has Loki here. What in the actual fuck.”

gadgeteerphilanthropist:

iamthefirechild:

“He what?” Summer gasped. Relief crowded up her throat. “Oh, thank god, I thought he was going to shoot himself again or something.” She wrapped her arms around the pillow, crushing it to her chest, tears overflowing her eyes again. “I — I lost my temper. It didn’t start that way. I just went — I wanted to talk to him, get to know him. He’s so closed in, so focussed on you, in the shop. I wanted — I told you, that day, I wanted to know all your loves. I do. I did,” she stumbled.

“S-so I went to him, and I told him what you had told me — that he had asked you to marry him, and there were difficult things, and he’d shot himself. And he said he’d only asked if you would ever be willing to marry him permanently, and he wished he had died then. The bullet didn’t work right, he said.” Summer gulped against the memory of that, of the way he’d sounded. “I-I couldn’t — I tried to tell him how much that would hurt you. If he tried to kill himself again.

“And all he could say was that you were his everything, and he wasn’t enough. That you didn’t need him, because you had someone else. He — Dummy didn’t know you meant me. And he walked away. And I … lost my temper. I said a lot of things, I took the door off its hinges, I told him he was selfish, and that if he really loved you like he said he did then he would want your happiness, that I was willing to give you up so that you could be happy or willing to love you both, and that he had promised to try and this wasn’t trying.”

Summer stared at the pillow, not really seeing it, seeing that door and her fire. “He told me he didn’t ever want to see me or be around me. That he hadn’t known what you wanted, that you wanted that. He said it was being forced on him. And he didn’t want it. He made it sound like it was your fault because you hadn’t told him. So I — I said I’d been first. Before he was human you loved me. It was wrong, I shouldn’t’ve said it. I just — I was so angry. You would do anything for him, you love him so much, and he just … as if the only thing that mattered was what he wanted.” The final words left her limp and empty. She’d finally, finally gotten past that space where she feared losing him, and now she wasn’t even sure she could forgive herself for this.

Tony stared in silence, his expression numbly closed off as he listened to her, gaze fixed on the wall.  When she finished speaking, there was a long moment of silence as he continued to stare at the same point.  “I.”  It started and stopped quickly, barely even anything more than a syllable, before he simply decided he didn’t want to talk.  He didn’t want to explain.

Finally, he looked at her, quiet and blank and with none of his usual attitude.  And then he turned, right hand still cradled to his chest, and headed for the balcony.  He strolled along the landing strip, his armor forming around him as he walked, and without another word, he took off.

He wasn’t actually sure how long he was in the air for.  But one moment he was leaving Stark Tower in New York, and just like that, he was landing in the garage in the mansion in Malibu.

Well.  He had been thinking about a vacation, anyway.

Summer didn’t try to stop him. Didn’t anything. He was numb; she was numb. Dummy was … Dummy had left. Because of her. Common sense began to reassert itself there, though.

Because, truthfully, Dummy was always going to conflict with her, wasn’t he? He wanted Tony all to himself, and Tony had made it more than clear to her, if to no one else, that he didn’t want that to happen. That he wanted as much as they were both, or all, willing to give him, and wanted to share himself among them as much as they would let him.

It would have been a problem eventually. Even she could see that, still castigating herself for her role in Dummy’s departure. So much of what she had said had been, if warped, truth. Cruel truth, wielded with an unkind tongue, but truth. Dummy would have forced Tony to choose.

Summer drew a deep breath. “Jarvis, please let me know when he lands safely. Just text me. Otherwise I’ll worry. I guess you have protocols for locking down his living area when he’s not here? Is there anyone else here right now?”

gadgeteerphilanthropist:

iamthefirechild replied to your post: ~Dear Tony, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Summer came and talked to me today. And I can’t. I can’t do it. You loved her first. Went to her for everything. She stayed in your room. I’m sorry I didn’t see it before. You love her most. And I’m not going to stay in the way of that because she loves you best. Take care. Jarvis won’t help you find me and has covered my trail, so don’t worry about finding me. But never forget that I do love you. You’re the only one I’ll ever love. -Dummy~

Her shields were still down. She’d forgotten, and now here was Tony, anger sharp as a knife. She deserved it. “All the wrong things,” Summer managed to say, voice rough.

Tony released her and shoved himself away from the bed to pace across the room, dragging his hands through his hair.  He barked out a laugh that sounded like it had to be painful, followed by an equally sharp, “Oh, yeah, that’s fucking specific.”  He threw one hand out to the side, gesturing out to the rest of the penthouse.  “He’s fucking gone!”

He paused, then, as he said it, as if it was only just then sinking in.  For a moment, he stared at the wall across the room, until the silence was broken by a tense, “Shit.“  His right fist lashed out, slamming into the wall, just to do something, anything to relieve the pressure that felt like it was building around him.  “Fuck,” he bit out again, pulling his hand back to his chest.

“He what?” Summer gasped. Relief crowded up her throat. “Oh, thank god, I thought he was going to shoot himself again or something.” She wrapped her arms around the pillow, crushing it to her chest, tears overflowing her eyes again. “I — I lost my temper. It didn’t start that way. I just went — I wanted to talk to him, get to know him. He’s so closed in, so focussed on you, in the shop. I wanted — I told you, that day, I wanted to know all your loves. I do. I did,” she stumbled.

“S-so I went to him, and I told him what you had told me — that he had asked you to marry him, and there were difficult things, and he’d shot himself. And he said he’d only asked if you would ever be willing to marry him permanently, and he wished he had died then. The bullet didn’t work right, he said.” Summer gulped against the memory of that, of the way he’d sounded. “I-I couldn’t — I tried to tell him how much that would hurt you. If he tried to kill himself again.

“And all he could say was that you were his everything, and he wasn’t enough. That you didn’t need him, because you had someone else. He — Dummy didn’t know you meant me. And he walked away. And I … lost my temper. I said a lot of things, I took the door off its hinges, I told him he was selfish, and that if he really loved you like he said he did then he would want your happiness, that I was willing to give you up so that you could be happy or willing to love you both, and that he had promised to try and this wasn’t trying.”

Summer stared at the pillow, not really seeing it, seeing that door and her fire. “He told me he didn’t ever want to see me or be around me. That he hadn’t known what you wanted, that you wanted that. He said it was being forced on him. And he didn’t want it. He made it sound like it was your fault because you hadn’t told him. So I — I said I’d been first. Before he was human you loved me. It was wrong, I shouldn’t’ve said it. I just — I was so angry. You would do anything for him, you love him so much, and he just … as if the only thing that mattered was what he wanted.” The final words left her limp and empty. She’d finally, finally gotten past that space where she feared losing him, and now she wasn’t even sure she could forgive herself for this.