𝐊𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐊, 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐀

ELEANOR

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'If I were to ask you if you were expecting a boy or a girl as a child, what would you say? Hypothetically, of course.'

I hated my mouth.

'I am an interface, ma'am. A system incapable of synthesis or reproduction,' HELEN replied in a similar static voice. 'All hypothesis considered, I apologize but I still can not answer it.'

Great, I mocked myself. How dumb was I to seek comfort from an artificially intelligent system that was built to carry out exclusive errands? There was no blaming HELEN; she was nothing but sympathetic when it came to support. I remembered letting loose a few silent tears in the suit out of pure anxiety and her gentle words of assurance managed to pull me out of my reverie. I heartfully blessed Tony once again for being the futurist he had grown to be.

'Mm, so,' I pushed the topic away immediately. 'The repulsors you picked up over Russia. What about it?'

'Kiernsk, ma'am.'

'Uh-huh,' I mused along. 'Anything unusual in its history?'

'Indeed. My investigation has narrowed down two events,' she shared. She pulled up a web-engine article and highlighted the words as she spoke. 'At seven-fifteen am, on June the thirtieth of nineteen-oh-eight, a massive explosion occurred in the skies overhead. Scientist referred to it as the 'Tunguska Event'. It was the largest impact event on Earth in modern history.'

I hummed. 'And the second?'

'Mr Stark was charmed by this happening and once the Cold War was over, in nineteen-ninety-two, he bought a substantial parcel of estate onsite and constructed a subterrene laboratory. He even built a getaway cottage in the nearby woods for his convenience.'

Of course, he did. It sounded like something Tony would do. I withheld an eye roll and letting a smile spread on my face.

'He's in Russia, alright,' I accepted. 'So, we're heading correctly.'

'Miss Preece,' she said in a curious voice, 'I'd be negligent in not informing you that doing this will violate the terms of your release as stated by Norman Osborn. And breaking the rules is your defect.'

I tried not to sound hurt by her words. 'I thought I told him to sod off.'

'Not to his face, no.'

'Well, whatever,' I scoffed. 'I'd like to be left alone and not to be babysat by a chap who has a dick for brains.'

'I should also specify dick-for-brains probably knows by now.'

'He can't do anything about it, HELEN,' I sighed, exasperated. 'Osborn can only estimate not track. Zero contingencies. And by the way, it's been seven hours in this suit and if I don't take a hot shower soon, I might start to scream.'

'The inbuilt heaters have been switched on due to the drop in temperatures, ma'am,' she informed. 'Maybe you could sweat it out.'

'Very funny,' I commented drily. My eyes caught the view of a waterbody. 'Anything yet? I can see the river.'

Kirensk was a tiny state that was a peninsula, surrounded three parts by a massive river called the Lena. The population was below five thousand and the number of forest ranges in this region could be the reason why many airbases and subterranean research labs were present.  Tony was smart to have built a place that was a needle in a haystack.

I began to lower the altitude to the armour, reaching a point where my ears didn't pop any more. I could make out homes and cafes but I was careful to remain in stealth mode. Osborn's dogs could be anywhere so I had to stay vigilant. I kept my eyes on the horizon ahead.

'Not yet, but there is a lot of residual repulsor noise. I can detect it but can't locate the position.'

'But, he was here?' I asked, starting to doubt my plans. 

'Ah, I presume he's still here. Something in this region is powered by repulsors but it's not us.'

'Maybe, he's hiding. Can you—'

It passed in mere iotas.

Something searing cut right through me, knocking me a good few feet away. I immediately felt the bruises start to form where the panel met my skin, my repulsors shut down and I pirouetted to the ground in a deadly spiral. I could make out a yellow blur that had knocked me down, going out of sight as the force of the air sent me reeling the opposite way. I screamed to HELEN as I tried rebooting my repulsors.

'HELEN, the beams!'

'I've got it, ma'am. Starting up in three... two... one.'

The screeching whir of the repulsors alerted me as I exerted the force faced downwards to plough me upwards to the air. Having no weapon systems, I had zero protection so I had no choice but to escape. I shot forward, firing to a full-throttle ahead. 

'What is that?!'

'I'm running a scan, Miss Preece, one second—'

I dodged another blast and I picked up the radiation readings of the repulsors on the screen ahead. I drew my eyebrows together as I formulated a quick idea.

'HELEN, match the readings with the Iron Man repulsor tech.'

'On it,' she said and pulled up the armour's prototype design and continued to match the two together. I gasped when she flashed the outcome on the screen. 'It's a one-hundred per cent match.'

'That's Tony!'

As if on instinct, I stopped my fleeing and swirled around to face him. Like being rammed into a heavy boulder, the armour slammed into me and my head spun with the impact. Painful tears fled down as my heart leapt to my chest at our continuous descent to the ground, my immediate worry tended to the child in me. The baby, my mind screamed. The baby won't take it. His thick hands were curled around my neck, coming face to face with the golden mask. 

'Tony!' I cried out, fighting off a choke. 'Tony, it's me!'

'Who sent you?' He demanded. His voice was cold and menacing even with the mechatronic static. I started to feel a chill climb up on my bruising spine. Did he not remember me?

'It's Elle, you twat!'

'Ground approaching in twenty-metres,' HELEN informed. 'You can't take that hit, ma'am.'

I acted quick, using his silent distraction as an upper hand and turning us over. I heard the harsh grunt Leave his lips as his back took most of the impact and the snow around cocooning us with biting cold. It was like experiencing a car crash but without the car. Which meant I would not be surprised if I wound an iron pretzel around a pine tree.

This was not how I imagined our reunion to be.

When the momentum died out, I got to my knees and coughing out the pain that intensified up near my chest. I cradled the flatness of my armour-panelled stomach, hoping to feel something but beat. Wishing it was a good sign, I swallowed the raw weep that built in my throat.

 As Tony shook his head to wad off the concussion, I slipped the headgear off my head. It was risky but I hoped that he would recognize me if he would see my face. The below centigrade winds whipped against my cheeks like icicles but nothing was more unpleasant than realizing that Tony didn't recognise me.

'Anthony Stark,' I said in a loud voice, my hands braced forward in surrender. 'It's me. Eleanor.'

As soon as the words left my lips, his repulsors came online and he pushed them towards me in an aim. It shook as he thrust it forward and I shrieked out.

'Don't you dare, Tony!'

He didn't back down.

'I didn't go through all your crap for you to blow my brains in the Tundra,' I directed my anger towards him and finally reaching his feet. 'Please.'

I pushed my hair away from my face to show him myself wholly without obstruction. His hand dropped with a thud. I saw the familiarity rush to his eyes and the breath I was holding in came out with a whoosh.

'Thank god,' I whispered, not wasting time to plant my fingers against his front and pull the facemask right off the hinges. My brain took him in, his familiar features that were etched into my mind taking in the indifferences. I was scared for him than for myself, his ashen skin and sunken eyes pulling out a gasp in me. I had to keep telling myself that he is real and I was really with him after fourteen days of venturing out on my own. 

'Elle! Elle, I'm so—the armour —I forgot about your suit!' He murmured in a hurry, using his elbows to rise up. He brushed the snow off his chest and letting the panels to headgear align back into his neck. I could finally see the full extent of his exhaustion, my sympathy shooting the bars.

'I'm so sorry,' he said, swallowing down what I thought was a sob. 'Are you hurt?'

'It's fine,' I said nonchalantly, shaking my head. 'Just a bruise or two.'

'It's my mind, Elle - '

'I understand,' I attempted to shush him. His arms flew around as he tried to justify himself in vain.

'No, you don't! I forgot you, Elle, and that is—the suit is for you—'

'Tony, calm down.'

'I can't believe I—'

I planted a soft kiss over his lips in the hope he would stop his incessant mutters. And he did, his metal-clad hands going around my waist to pull me close. I leaned my forehead against, satisfied with the warmth that coursed through me. Our breaths came out in synchronized puffs and somehow, that managed to calm him. I could feel the trepidation leave us and setting in weariness. 

'Let's get out of here before we freeze our asses off,' he whispered, the steam from his mouth curling around my cheeks warmly. He reached beyond me for my helmet, passing it to me with a smile. The smiled I had missed too much that I graced one of my own.

'Helmet?'

'Thank you,' I held it between a finger. I hefted myself off the ground and holding out a hand to help him up. When he finally limped his way up, he blinked at my armoured-stature in a daze.

'Wow, you look...'

'Large?' I spun around in a circle with a small laugh. 'It's a tad bit bulky.'

'I was about to sexy but yeah, that works.'

God, I missed him too much. I let my smile bunch up my cheeks, coiling a metal fist with his. I stuck a hand up toward the large, glacial slope we had created. 

'Lead the way, love.'

He shook his head, shuffling forward in a short stride and crushing his lips to my forehead. 'I missed you.'

I snorted. 'Seriously? Sweet-talking me after attempting to kill me?'

'For one second, can't you be serious?' A shiver jogged down my spine when a harsh wind nipped against my cheeks. He nodded in understanding. 'Let's get you warmed up.'

'Hey,' I cocked a brow at him, finding my pace as he linked his hand with mine and walking ahead. 'Did you truly buy a piece of land where a mysterious meteorite hit and a establish a lab there?'

He looked amused. 'Sort of. It's the land underneath it.'

∞

The series of incidents that had transpired was hasty enough to make me unsee the big picture. How much ever I tried to reason with myself that Tony was, in fact, here and alive - it wasn't probity. He was dying and the way he was acting about it was hurting me. 

Tony's mind was plagued with a phobia I couldn't comprehend. Better yet, even begin to. It was taking what was important to him and twisting it into critical complexes while muddling up the rest. Like he was trapped in a lucid dream and I couldn't get him out of it. He was doing a wonderful job at hiding it yet I could see through him like glass. He continued to mutter under his breath; low and inaudible. I tried to get close enough to hear it and when I did, I was shocked. 

Names. Names of everyone close to him. All the way from Rhodey to DUM-E from his lab.

I pushed his hand away as he pressed the ice into the deep bruises of my back. 'I said I'm alright.' 

My tank-top was hefted all the way up to my neck and Tony had filled a fibre towel with ice from outside, hoping to numb the bruises. He clucked his tongue, pushing my neck down to get the spot at my nape. The chill introduced a new set of shudders that crushed my spine. 

The cottage that Tony owned was in smack-dab in the middle of the woods and submerged in a dense coat of snow. The home seemed to have the lights switched on and checked off everything you would want in a getaway home. A jacuzzi? Check. A well-stocked kitchen which I had no idea as to how that was possible? Check. A home-theatre system? Double-check. It was a winter wonderland outside and wooden haven inside. Exactly what I needed after living with cravings for two weeks.

'Elle?'

I looked over my shoulder. 

'Is,' he started in a muffled voice, 'is the baby fine?'

I nodded, breaking out into a smile. 'She's fine.'

I heard him inhale sharply as he heard the gender of the baby. My heart was full when I saw his lips roll into his teeth to conceal an enigmatic laugh, no doubt, and his hands going to his mouth to shroud his delight from me. I got on my knees over the cushion, laughing freely as I clasped his shoulders. He faced me, his pearlie-whites gleaming in satisfaction. 

'We're having a girl?' 

I nodded with vigour, unable to control another laugh. 'We've got to start name-hunting.'

'I like Tony Jr.'

My nose scrunched up with disgust. 'Veto. I like Hazel.'

'Pfft, veto. Toni,' he picked. 'Yeah, Toni with an 'i'. Like Toni Braxton.'

I thought about it for a second, chewing my cheeks. Deciding against, I suggested another name. 'Ruth.'

'I'm done with the whole four-letters thing,' he grumbled and I burst out laughing. He had a valid point. 'I mean, it's baffling.'

We hummed in unison, conjuring up names that struck our mind. I took a good second to think about it. And when it hit me, I couldn't hold it back, smiling largely when I spoke. 

'I like Margaret. Margo, for short.'

'Mags,' he insisted. 'Short for Margo.'

'You can't—'

He silenced with a dicey look. 'Shut up, she's my kid, too.'

He pursed his lips, gauging the grin on my face. A small one of his budded on his lips. I knew he was giving in on purpose and it was a thoughtful gesture. It didn't pass unnoticed.

'Yeah, you win hands down. That is positively safer than Toni with an 'i'.'

'It may be a middle name,' I offered with a smile. 'Margaret Toni Stark.'

'No,' he faked a gag. I thwacked his shoulder. 'Hmm, how about—'

'—Howard?' I suggested with a significant smile. He blinked in surprise. 'I like Howard.'

'Margaret Howard Stark?'

'I love it.'

'Mhmm,' he hummed. 'Has a superior ring to it. I approve.'

I placed a soft kiss over his lips, running a hand down his icky hair and smiling when I felt his hands roam around my abdomen. According to the sorcerer slash doctor, the baby was about the size of a lemon. If I scrutinized myself in front of the mirror, I would be able to see the barely visible bump at the edge of my navel. 

The positives were one too many. Every time I donned the armour, I was terrified of the consequences. The risks of misconceptions during the first three months were high and the very fact rattled me to the core. Because of my carelessness, I would be jeopardizing this life inside me and our happiness itself. Even if I weren't as excited, Tony was the one who had been looking forward to this for a long time and endangering that expectation was frightening.

'I won't let anything happen to both of you,' he promised as if he heard the thoughts that had troubled my mind. 'Not on my watch.'

∞

[ :') who's ready to see margo h. stark? i know i am. i bet she's one cheerful lil' nipper! ANYONE ELSE SEE THIS: MARGARET 'PEGGY' CARTER AND HOWARD STARK - SHE'S NAMED AFTER THESE TWO GENIUSES  - ] 

edited!