I Am Ironman (MHA) Chapter 182: Reluctancy

[Third Person's PoV]

After Ultron was thrown from the jet, Vision flew in his direction. A few minutes later, a bright flash of yellow light marked the end of Ultron.

Tony stood with his fists on his waist, surveying the wrecked city of Sokovia. "We did it, guys. We saved the city," he said, still taking in the devastation their battle had caused.

lissa let out a laugh. "This city looks anything but saved."

"Trust , it could've gone way worse," Tony scoffed.

lissa raised an eyebrow at his words but chose to close her eyes and stay silent. The quiet stretched between them, and Tony, noticing the awkwardness, realized what she was thinking but not saying.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Natasha pacing, a heavy expression on her face as she fidgeted with a communicator in her hand.

"What's wrong?" Tony asked, hoping to shift the conversation.

Natasha glanced at him and absentmindedly slapped the communicator against her palm. "It's nothing… Don't worry about it."

Tony narrowed his eyes. "That looks like the face of soone who just got dumped."

"What? Who would be stupid enough—" lissa began before realization hit. "Ah… Bruce."

Natasha shook her head. "First of all, I haven't been dumped. We weren't even a thing, so there was nothing to dump. He just… hung up on when I told him to return with the jet Ultron was flying earlier. That's all."

"I see. You've been ghosted," Tony nodded in understanding.

Natasha gave him a deadpan look.

"Sorry…" he muttered ekly.

lissa scoffed. "You know, for soone so smart, you say the dumbest things sotis."

Tony smirked. "Well, prepare to see in action again…" He winked before turning back to Natasha.

"I know I'm asking at the worst possible ti, but… are you still up for the surgery?"

"Surgery? What surger— Ah…" Natasha trailed off as realization dawned.

"I'm still not sure—" she started.

"Wanna hear my advice?" Tony cut in.

"Not really." Natasha retorted plainly

"Well, I'm telling you anyway." He scoffed. "Get the surgery. Don't let one bad relationship dictate your entire life. From what I can tell, this is sothing you really want, but you're holding yourself back. Just because things with Bruce didn't work out doesn't an every other relationship will end the sa way."

Natasha ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "Look how low I've fallen—I'm getting life advice from a kid who's barely gone through puberty."

Tony smirked. "Yeah, and this kid is already having more sex than you—"

"TONY!" lissa elbowed him hard in the ribs, her face red with embarrassnt.

Natasha blinked in disbelief. "You two… already?"

lissa's face turned an even deeper shade of red as she started furiously slapping Tony's arm. Tony only laughed. "Let tell you—"

A black tendril shot from lissa's back and wrapped around his mouth. "You're not telling her anything. What happens in our bedroom stays in our bedroom."

Tony pulled the tendril off his mouth and grinned. "But we've done it in places besides our bedroom. Should I tell you about—"

"I swear to god, Tony," lissa growled, glaring at him. "I will take this hamr and shove it so far up your—" She cut herself off with a warning glare.

Natasha pinched the bridge of her nose. "I really don't need to know what you two do in your spare ti."

"Your loss," Tony shrugged. He then glanced at lissa. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you be returning the hamr? The battle's over, isn't it?"

lissa quickly put a finger to her lips and made a shushing noise. "He hasn't asked for his hamr yet. Maybe he's forgotten, so let's not remind him."

Tony scoffed in disbelief and amusent before turning to Natasha. "Well?"

Natasha sighed, a small smile forming on her lips. "Alright... I'm convinced. Let's go ahead with the surgery."

Tony and lissa exchanged grins and double high-fived, earning a chuckle and an exasperated shake of the head from Natasha.

"Alright," Tony nodded. "We'll head back to the Avengers' headquarters. It'll be better to perform the surgery there."

Just then, Thor landed behind them with a heavy thud, his fist pressed into the ground. Rising, he deactivated his sword and hooked it onto his belt.

"My hamr, please. The battle is over, and I have fulfilled my end of the bargain. I am no longer in your debt," Thor said with a faint smile.

lissa shot Tony a glare. "I bla you," she muttered, eyeing the hamr reluctantly.

"What did I do?!" Tony asked, incredulous.

"You and your big, stupid mouth," she grumbled under her breath. "If you hadn't said anything, he wouldn't have rembered."

With clear reluctance, lissa placed Mjolnir in Thor's waiting hand. However, as Thor tried to pull it away, lissa's grip remained firm.

Thor glanced up, puzzled. lissa was looking off to the side, a slight blush coloring her cheeks as her grip tightened.

"What are you doing?" Thor asked plainly.

"I don't know what you an," lissa replied, her lips pursed in defiance.

"Why are you still holding onto Mjolnir? Our deal is over," Thor stated, giving the hamr a stronger tug.

"But I've only had it for a few minutes—an hour, really," lissa protested, pulling back.

"What use is Mjolnir to you? The battle is over, the war is won, so it should return to its rightful owner," Thor insisted, pulling again.

Their hands shifted around the hamr's handle, tugging it back and forth as their argunt escalated.

"Are you a god?! Don't be greedy! I bet you have tons of other hamrs stashed away sowhere!" lissa shouted.

"Preposterous! Mjolnir is one of a kind, forged in the heart of a dying star and blessed by the All-Father himself!" Thor bood.

"Exactly! He's the All-Father, which ans he's my father too, so technically, it's my birthright!" lissa argued, clutching at any rationale she could muster.

Thor's eyes widened. "Where do mortals get such ridiculous notions?! And didn't you say you could replicate Mjolnir with your mortal science? If so, why do you still need mine?"

"That's not the point! The point is that this hamr sings to ! It feels right in my hands! You're not the God of Hamrs, so why do you need it? What kind of lousy God of Thunder needs a hamr to use his lightning?!"

Deciding the struggle had gone on long enough, Tony wrapped his arms around lissa from behind.

"Yes, Tony! Help keep the hamr just a little longer!" lissa cheered.

But instead, Tony's symbiote tendrils extended, prying lissa's fingers off the handle.

"YOU TRAITOR!" she shrieked as Tony successfully pulled her away. A bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, striking Mjolnir and dispelling her Viking attire.

Thor exhaled in relief, giving Tony a grateful nod before spinning Mjolnir and soaring into the sky with a powerful whoosh.

lissa's lips turned into a pout as she stared at Tony. "You were jealous, weren't you? Jealous that I was worthy and you weren't, that I was giving the hamr more affection."

Tony regarded her with a deadpan expression, eyes half-lidded.

"..."

BONK!

Tony lightly knocked her on the head, and she crouched down, clutching her head with a wince. "YOU BIG BULLY! I'm in an abusive relationship!"

Tony rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Stop being dramatic. We've got things to do."

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