Iron Phoenix | Tony Stark x oc

Chapter 16

Athena came home past midnight, but she still had to record a video since she hadn't uploaded in ages so she logged on the DreamSMP. As expected, there was nobody online since for the people in Europe it was something along the lines of 7 am and who plays at 7 am? For the Americans it was between 1 and 3 am. Usually there was at least someone online, even in the middle of the night, but since there was a big lore stream just hours prior most people already played a few hours.

Athena wished nothing more than to join a lore stream again, but her character was a close ally of Techno, who couldn't play currently, and Athena was busy with her 'job' too, so both of them weren't that important in the story at the moment.

After a few hours of recording Athena sent the footage to her editor and somehow managed to get ready for bed without falling unconscious from exhaustion in the process.

She woke up four hours later, not rested at all, thanks to her nightmares. Courtesy of the voices.

Athena arrived at Tony's house at 11 am. She didn't see Pepper anywhere, so she went straight to the workshop, where Tony was tweaking the Mark III.

"Hey Tony" Athena mumbled and sat down on the floor, leaning back on a table. Tony looked up and asked: "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, just tired is all" Athena closed her eyes for a moment. "Trouble sleeping?"

"Yea, and also everything else I need to do isn't exactly helping me get enough sleep"

Tony shot her a questioning look. He knew that she was a youtuber, but he pretty much never watched YouTube so he didn't ask further.

"Trying to upload as often as possible, farming resources on the DreamSMP for not just me, but Techno as well, since he can't play currently"

Athena tried to look calm and collected, but she probably wasn't succeeding, since Tony now turned around to face her, sitting down as well. "What do you mean?" he asked softly. Tony feared that it was a touchy subject in the way Athena said it before.

And, as Tony had feared, Athena tensed up ever so slightly."He has cancer. And I don't know if he's gonna make it-" Athena's voice cracked, making it clear that she cared for Techno a lot.

Discord decided it was a good idea to send a notification, which made both Athena and Tony jump slightly.

Athena took her phone out and mumbled: "Speak of the devil" when she saw that it was a message from Techno, asking her if she had time to talk.

"Techno asked if I have time to talk a bit now" she informed Tony, who was sending her a curious look. "Yeah, sure, why not"

Athena sent Tony a thankful smile before she opened Discord on a monitor that was just hovering around. She started a voice call with Techno, who picked up almost instantly.

"Hey Techno, How's it going?" Athena asked with a softness in her voice Tony was surprised to hear.

"Meh, not all that great, not gonna lie-" Athena flinched slightly at her friend's words, which didn't go unnoticed by Tony, but relaxed again when Techno continued talking: "But it's getting a bit better, thankfully" "Thank god" Athena sighed.

"I thought you were an Atheist?" Techno asked and Athena could hear the smile in his voice.

"I am willing to start believing in gods if it means you will get better" Athena answered in a very serious tone, which made both Techno and Tony laugh.

"You're not alone?" Techno asked, having heard Tony. "Yea, a colleague" Athena answered, shooting Tony a look that said: 'You better play along', since she hadn't told anybody, not even Techno, and to put her friends in danger because they knew about Tony's suit was the last thing she wanted.

"Nice to meet you" Tony greeted. "And who might you be? Your voice sounds familiar" Techno answered and Athena silently cursed herself, since she knew very well that Tony Stark would never just dismiss something like that.

And, exactly like she had expected, Tony said: "I don't think we have met before, but of course you know me, I'm Tony Stark" "HEH?" Techno was confused as hell. Athena never mentioned anything about the fact she had met THE Tony Stark before, so he initially thought Athena was pranking him. At least, until Athena said: "You just can't keep your mouth shut, can you?"

Tony just looked at her, confused. Athena facepalmed and asked: "You didn't believe me when I said I didn't tell anyone?"

"Not really, no" Tony answered, only now realizing that Techno really didn't know that Athena was helping him develop the suit.

"Well this is awkward" Techno said before Athena could say anything, "Could someone please explain to me what the fuck is going on?"

Athena shot Tony a glare, which effectively scared the billionaire, since he saw what Athena could do, so he closed his mouth again.

"Well, I have been working with this idiot he-" "What is that supposed to mean?" "As I was saying, I have been working with Tony on something revolutionary for the past months" Athena continued, ignoring Tony.

"Hold up a second, so you never worked at Stark Industries?" Techno clarified, he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Athena not just met Tony Stark, but also was working WITH him, not for him, and had literally called him an idiot just moments before.

"No. You see, I was actually using an advanced technique called 'Lying'" Athena answered with a smirk. Tony was confused why Techno let out a chuckle, but neither Athena nor Techno bothered to clarify.

"How dare you use my own spells against me?" Techno answered. He and Athena could literally have a full conversation using only references and they enjoyed it.

"Wanna see me do it again?"

"What is going on?" Tony decided to interrupt the two, since it was clear to him that there was some sort of joke going on that he was probably supposed to understand.

"References" Athena simply answered, which didn't explain it in the slightest to Tony, but she couldn't care less at the moment.

"But why did you lie to me?" Techno asked, immediately making Athena feel guilty "Well, what we are working on is something that the public is better off not knowing what it is, at least for now. If someone wanted this technology destroyed, they would go after everyone who knows about it and I didn't want to put you or anyone else in danger because of me" Athena tried to explain, but was interrupted by Techno, who said: "But Technoblade never dies, Nobody can get information from me" Athena let out a small laugh at that, but it was humorless, since both her and Techno knew very well that Techno could still die of his cancer.

"You can't tell anybody, not even your family" Tony spoke up again. He knew that the fewer people knew about the Mark III, the better.

"Yeah sure, but I have to know first what it is that I can't tell anyone" Techno answered. Athena sighed and agreed, before switching to a video call. Techno's face appeared on a screen in front of Athena and Tony.

1219 words

Technoblade never dies
Fly high king