Archive of Our Own ^beta

MONDAY – 2:45 PM

Tony heaved a heavy sigh, reaching for a can of soda. He stared at the lifeless metal body displayed before him, darting a small glare, “Where did I go wrong?” He muttered under his breath, sipping some of that sweet carbonated drink as his amber eyes scanned through the newly rebuilt body of Arsenal, looking for a fault. Albeit he unfortunately found nothing that could answer him as of why Arsenal was still not working. He ran through the programming several times too and nothing seemed to be wrong – or at least as far as he can tell right now. Did he happen to skim over something important? Was Ultron secretly still alive and living inside of him? Was this something else? Some other entity hacking into his systems and causing for the mysterious malfunctions?

All these spitballing of ideas had only made his head hurt. He grumbled a little, sipping the rest of his soda to calm himself. And as if the Heavens heard his pain, someone came into the lab to hopefully pull him out of his misery. It was Clint, “Hey Tony!” He greets zealously with his usual grin, a can of Tony’s favourite soda in hand. “Thor’s thundering some hotdogs up there. Everyone else is hanging around too. You wanna come?” 

Tony looked at him with a stern expression for a second before he lightened up a little, but turned his head from the latter. “Sorry Clint, I’ve got stuff to do.” is all he said. It seems he’s not taking up on that offer to be pulled out of his misery. Clint turned to the inactive Arsenal before turning back to Tony. “Ah, Arsenal, right. You do realize you’ve been going at him for, like, what, three to five months now?” 

“Yeah, duh. I’m still not giving up on him, if that’s what you’re implying.” Tony glared a little at him, getting all defensive again. As if mentioning Arsenal was some sort of way to trigger that unusually aggressive side of him again. Clint put his hands up in surrender. “Yeah, yeah. I know. Everyone’s just been worried about you. But you’re the genius and you always find a way to make things work anyway, so…” His words trailed off as he ambled over to a nearby table and placed the soda can he had down, sliding it a little closer to Tony. “I’ll just leave you to do your smartass thing, I guess.” 

Tony muttered a small thanks for the soda before Clint took his leave. 

WEDNESDAY – 11:16 PM 

“I think there’s something in this part of the code that’s blocking the rest of–” Tony cut himself off as he turned to his lab partner who was lightly snoring, ready to full fall asleep on the table. His eyebrows furrowed as he lightly hit him. “Sam, wake up!” He yells, which caused the latter to jolt up. “I’m awake, I’m awake!” He stumbled with his words as he sit up straight. Although that didn’t mean his body had fully recovered from the rude awakening and was ready to power through the night. 

Sam yawned, slowly blinking his eyes that begged for him to close them again. “Tony, don’t you think it’s time we hit the hay? We’ve just had a really tiring mission earlier too. We can always work on this tomorrow. Arsenal isn’t going anywhere.” 

“You’re kidding, right?” Tony scoffed, with that sudden aggression again. Sam just stared at him with those droopy eyes and a small frown, half of Tony’s reaction is not even registering in his brain anymore. He’s just so damn tired. As much as he’d love to help, he’d also love to be asleep, just like the rest of the Avengers right now. Tony heaved a small sigh as he looked away. “Fine, you can go to bed, Sam.”

Sam, indeed, took off from his seat and was about to head out the door, feeling as grateful as a sleepy man could be. He turned back to Tony for a moment. “What about you? Don’t tell me you’re gonna stay up until the break of dawn again.” 

Tony didn’t even look at him. He just went back to swiping through holographic screens again. “Goodnight, Sam.” He replied, sarcastically, which was Sam’s cue to leave before Tony lashes out at him more. 

And so, he spared himself the trouble and left the lab. 

FRIDAY – 1:50 AM

“Tony, are you–” Steve yawned a little as he welcomed himself into the lab. He heaved a small sigh as he saw Tony passed out on the table, his arms sprawled over the top and his right hand leaning over the edge, below it was a wrench. Looks like he was working on something and ended up dropping it when he supposedly fell asleep. Worried for his health, Steve made his way over to check on him. Tony hasn’t been eating or sleeping in the past few days. And if he does eat, he’ll haphazardly take a bite out of sloppily-made sandwich and offer the rest to Hulk. Steve frowned at the sight of this broken man. Even if he got some sleep now, it wouldn’t be for the best still, since this sleeping position is going to kill his back in the morning. He nudged him gingerly, calling out his name in a small voice, almost whispering, in fact. Tony grumbled a little as he fluttered his droopy eyes open. He was pale, scrawny, and had bags under his eyes. This man was in serious need of help and should be kept away from his little personal project. If only he’d listen to them, instead of getting offended at the slight mention of Arsenal. 

“Tony, you should really sleep on your bed, not here.” said Steve. “Come, I’ll carry you there.”

Tony rubbed his eyes as he was still getting adjusted to his presence. “Why are you awake?” His voice was hoarse and his words were almost incoherent, being all sleepy still. Good thing Steve already knows his ‘gibberish’. 

“Well, I was going to sleep, but I kept thinking about how you’re letting Arsenal take over your life, and I found you here, as expected.”

“...Arsenal’s my–” 

“–Your dad’s greatest creation. Yeah. He flew into the sun for you and everything.” Steve rolled his eyes, “Tony, please. Just… Just please, Just this once. Be nice to yourself and get to a proper bed.” If only Tony could comprehend the amount of desperation Steve had in that response and the anxiety in his eyes. 

 “No! I need to–” Tony yelped as he was suddenly pulled from his seat and carried by Steve. The latter grinned as Tony was in his arms and was rendered helpless, “–Sleep. You need to sleep. Now come on.” 

SUNDAY – 8:03 AM 

While Tony definitely wasn’t a morning person, the villain they had to face today surely was and the fact that someone decided to wreak havoc in such an early time is the bane of Tony’s existence. Not to mention his suit was busted up badly, and he’d have to repair that too. 

He limped slightly as he dragged his severely tired legs into the lab again . He was so tired and just so pissed off at… Well, everything. Everything is bothering him. The annoying villains that force him to wake up in such horrible hours, his suit malfunctioning too, the Avengers meddling with his life – saying bullsquat like him needing mental help or whatever that’s supposed to be, and… Arsenal. It has been five months and Tony cannot get him to function properly. He made little spurts of breakthroughs in getting Arsenal to power up and work, but it’s incomplete. Arsenal is still lifeless and he’s not back. Whenever Tony tries to power him up, whatever stupid programming his sleep and food-deprived self tried to do, it causes for Arsenal to go rogue. Last time, he attacked Tony and almost banished him to another dimension, like where Arsenal stores all the things he consumes. 

He stared at the powered-down humanoid piece of machinery with seething rage. His fists shook as he felt his armour begin to sting him a little as it kept sparking as the aftermath of being beaten up from the battle. His eye twitched. He forcefully pulled off one of his gloves that was causing him such pain and was about to throw it at Arsenal’s face with all his might. But then he paused. It was as if there was a small voice inside his head, screaming at him “ What the hell are you doing?! “ 

His vision darkened there for a second. Indeed, what was he thinking? Arsenal is already damaged at his own hands, and now he was about to make things worse for himself. He took in a deep breath before turning away and haphazardly throwing the glove on another table. “JARVIS, be a pal and help take this stupid suit off of me, please.” He commanded as he was just so done with what happened earlier. If he ever even decides to think about how badly that villain roughed him up, he might just smash something in a fit of anger. At least Hulk would probably be proud with all the smashing. 

TUESDAY – 3:30 PM 

Tony slouched in his seat, mindlessly playing with an electronic piece that resembled a baseball. He tosses it in the air, it lands in the palm of his hand, and repeat. Tony’s brain is wracked with so many thoughts of everything that it kind of just got put on autopilot. 

Sometime he wishes he could just stop thinking and not exist for a minute. It’s not like he wants to kill himself, yet , but just have a moment where the world ceases to exist and he could be at peace. Be at peace… Playing catch with Arsenal. Yeah, ‘cause that’s what he’s good at, right? When Arsenal was alive, he often asked when he and Tony could play together. When would Tony would take a break from all his superhero-ing to just stop and smell the flowers. Enjoy life. Tony was always busy with saving the world and commanding Arsenal to do this and that for the sake of destroying Thanos, absorbing some weapon that could cause major destruction to Manhattan, etc etc. And staying true to his programming, he followed every one of Tony’s orders. But after the mission was done, Arsenal was left in the background to be used again for only absorbing energy and other tasks for dangerous missions. Arsenal always wondered if he’ll ever see the day Tony would come to him and ask if they could play together. He’s aware Tony is no longer the little boy Howard had originally had in mind by the time Tony actually found Arsenal, but even Thor and the other Avengers play games and have fun in life, so what harmful difference would that be if Tony did the same?

If only Arsenal knew how much pain and suffering Tony is going through right now to bring him back. If anything, he would dread the fact that Tony is currently in this mess because of him. He would never want anything bad happening to Tony. He loves Tony and always wants the best for him – programming or not. And yet, here is Tony, wasting away his days, becoming more and more mentally unstable by the week because of how hard he’s trying to bring him back. 

This wasn’t what Arsenal would have wanted. Not at all… 

But Tony isn’t giving up on him. Arsenal never gave up on him, after all the bullsquat Tony made him do and go through. 

Nonchalantly flying straight to the sun for Tony’s sake because of how much Arsenal loves and cares for him is something Tony himself can never replicate, but rebuilding him was a viable compromise. 

…If Tony manages to push through this and not become more deranged than he, slowly, already is. 

THURSDAY – 4:28 AM

Tony’s head was spinning and he felt like he was about to collapse. As always, he had been working tirelessly for Arsenal’s sake. He made a few adjustments and figured out some problems. He’s not sure if Arsenal is finally going to work for real or if he would need to reprogram some things again. At this point, he was slowly losing his hope and he doesn’t even know why he bothers trying. But he’s here now, attempting to reboot Arsenal for the… Uh… Tony isn’t sure anymore. He lost count since about nine and a half months ago. He took a step back as he listened to mechanical whirs and electronic hisses. His droopy eyes turned to the floor and if he was being honest, he was mostly ready to get beaten up again. But then something different happened.

“ Hello, Tony! “ A familiar voice greeted him, which was… The best thing his ears could ever hear. His mouth was left agape as his eyes widened and he was frozen from absolute stupefaction. 

“ Oh, it seems that you are hurt and are in need of severe medical attention. ” Arsenal claimed as he stepped off of the little platform he’s been stationed at for months, taking small steps towards Tony. “ I will gladly assist you and tend to your pain. ” He said. Tony, on the other hand, slowly turned up to face him, and he couldn’t believe his eyes. Arsenal was moving and talking just fine. It was as if nothing even happened. “...Arsenal, is that really you?” 

“ Yes, it is Tony. I believe I flew into the sun and yet I am here in Avengers Tower. ” Arsenal replies. “ But that is not the matter of the current situation. My scans have found that you have an increased heart rate and elevated blood pressure, and possess a severe lack of sleep and nutrients. Your stress levels are also abnormally high. ” 

And his scanners are working… Everything is working. Arsenal is here. He’s back. He’s finally back. 

Tony slowly recovered from the initial shock as tears began to poke through his eyes. Arsenal was very alarmed. “ Tony, you are crying. Why is that so? What troubles you, friend? ” He said immediately, as the robot scrambled for a nearby tissue box and wiped the tears with it. 

Tony let out a small chuckle. “I’m just so glad you’re back, Arsenal.” And as weird as it sounded, he couldn’t help himself but wrap his arms around the humanoid and pull him in a tight embrace. Arsenal, to others, was just a powerful robot, and at first, to Tony, he was just that. But Arsenal proved himself to be more. He wasn’t just some scrappy birthday present. He was Tony’s best friend that always cared for him. No one really did that. Tony grew up mostly alone after all. Off to fend for himself. Hell, at some point, he got desperate and showed all his achievements to himself in the mirror. No one was there to talk to him, to be at his birthday parties, to say he did a good job – no one. But Arsenal… Arsenal would make humanity extinct if it meant for Tony to be safe and/or happy. He obeyed every command of his, and only his. Arsenal would drop everything to save Tony. Even if Tony didn’t need the help, Arsenal would still come to his rescue – like all the times Tony was knocked back by his enemies, and Arsenal took no millisecond to go fly and hug him tightly, using himself as a sort of cushion to lighten Tony’s fall and absorb most of the impact for him. Earth could cease to exist and as long as Tony was safe, Arsenal couldn’t have cared less. Maybe he didn’t have the exact same capabilities to feel the human emotions that Tony was feeling, to mourn the lost of a best friend, to now have said best friend in their embrace with tears being shed, but if there was one thing. No matter how smart of an AI Arsenal could get, he could never truly feel the whirlwind of emotions that Tony felt because of him, but if there was one thing Arsenal was certain of, it was that Tony was to be comforted, loved, protected, to know that all his efforts didn’t go to waste at all, and that deep down in whatever mechanical heart Arsenal had, he was very grateful to be in this moment, to see Tony again after all that has happened.

Arsenal, though still dazed and baffled of Tony’s reaction, instinctively wrapped his bony arms around him too. “ I am glad to be back too, Tony. ” If he could smile right now, he would. Arsenal would have a big smile just knowing that Tony is safe. And that, perhaps, someday, they’ll finally have that game of catch. Maybe even baseball. If Tony doesn’t like that anymore, Arsenal would be happy to do anything with Tony and serve him to the best of his capabilities. 

Tony sniffled a little, "Hey Arsenal..." 

"Yes, Tony? "

"Do you want to maybe play catch tomorrow? No bad guys or throwing power crystals... Just- Just regular 'ol throwing and catching a baseball or something."

"Yes, I would like that. I would be most ecstatic to get to play with you without your dangerous toys. But would that make you happy, Tony? "

Tony smiled a little, "The happiest I'll ever be."