Tony's Apology

Zhang went upstairs.

Oaks, meanwhile, stood with a blank expression, watching Tony Stark gape at the open shop door.

"I thought I hung the 'Closed' sign."

Turning off the CD player's music, Oaks shrugged helplessly:

"Tony, tell me—do you ever knock before coming in?"

"Oh shit!"

Tony gasped, his wide eyes still frozen as he lunged to the shelves in one stride:

"Did they move? Were they all swaying to the music just now? What the hell, plants can dance now?"

"You must've seen things."

"No, no, no, my eyes are perfect—I don't even have nearsightedness, let alone see things!"

Tony waved his sunglasses, striding over to Oaks, who looked resigned:

"These are sunglasses, get it? So since I'm not seeing things and I'm not nearsighted, it has to be your doing, right?"

He grabbed Oaks by the shoulders and stared at him for three seconds.

"Come on, I thought we were friends. How many more interesting things are you hiding from me?"

"You think this is interesting?"

Oaks had to admire Tony's nerve—in some ways, his worldview acceptance rivaled Zhang's.

"Alright, alright, I'm entitled to a little privacy, aren't I?"

Oaks finally pried himself free from Tony's grip and flopped onto the sofa with a wry smile:

"You like being in the spotlight, you're used to it. But I'm the research type—I'm not used to too much attention."

"Oh ho, and I heard you set up some environmental charity."

Tony spotted the coffee pot on the table, his eyes lighting up as he poured himself a cup:

"And, buddy, are you being watched by someone? Why did it suddenly get so hard to dig up your info overnight?"

"That? Just trouble from these special abilities."

Oaks shrugged. Tony probably didn't know yet that his father, Howard, was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founders—otherwise, Nick Fury wouldn't have had to personally hand over Howard's belongings to him later.

"The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division—they're wary of people like me with special abilities. After all, they operate under the banner of protecting the world.

And most people with powers don't know how to control them."

"Like that big green guy? And that name is awful."

Tony caught on immediately—Dr. Banner's fame was hard to miss.

"Exactly. But their abilities often cause destruction because they can't control them, like the Hulk.

Or they suddenly gain immense power, which warps their minds—inflated egos, lashing out at society, that sort of thing.

But I have full control over my power, and I don't have any anti-human or anti-social tendencies."

"Wow, cool."

Tony took a sip of coffee, stroking his neatly trimmed goatee, leaning forward slightly, and looking at Oaks with mock seriousness:

"That special ability you mentioned—is it that strange energy in these plants and that Recovery Serum?"

"You analyzed it?"

Oaks was genuinely surprised this time, but on second thought, it made sense—this was Tony Stark, after all:

"How'd you do it?"

"I'm a genius!"

Tony smugly crossed his legs, but then glanced around:

"Alright, I just found that some unique energy exists. What it actually is? No clue."

"But about the rapid healing, something came to mind."

He scratched his hair, looking puzzled:

"I think it was called... 'Extremis'? I remember tweaking an equation that should also have rapid healing, but the details are fuzzy.

Guess I hadn't gotten into the habit of recording everything back then. Or maybe it wasn't lab research?"

Coming up with "Extremis" was a flash of insight—anything beyond that was lost.

After all, it was the kind of memory he'd toss aside easiest—a one-night stand with a lady.

Sure, she was a female scientist, but with Tony's speed at moving on to the next new thing, he'd probably forgotten it within two hours.

Oaks fell silent.

Extremis virus—that's what he must've meant.

Come to think of it, that was some black tech, capable of even limb regeneration, something Oaks couldn't do yet.

Of course, the side effects were quite obvious—human bomb, after all.

But now was clearly not a good time to help him recall that.

"That's right, the energy I wield, I named it 'Nature Force.' It's very beneficial to life, and through different methods of application, it can achieve various effects."

Since S.H.I.E.L.D. already had that information on file, there was no point hiding it from Tony. So Tony's charming brown eyes widened once again.

"Ha, you bastard, you really are interesting! But I didn't come here today to explore your abilities."

With that, Tony paused, fidgeted and bounced his leg again awkwardly, but finally he spoke:

"I came to apologize."

"Apologize? For what?"

Oaks had been surprised quite a bit today—what act was this?

"I asked a friend to check your travel records, the days you went to the Amazon Rainforest."

Once he started, the rest came easier. Though he was apologizing, the words flowed more smoothly:

"Anyway, we're friends. Snooping into your privacy without your consent was wrong of me.

But I'm very curious about how you traveled to and from the Amazon Rainforest without any travel records."

Tony spread his hands:

"This is still your privacy, so I came today specifically to apologize. You don't have to tell me the answer."

"...I'm honestly surprised. I didn't think this would stay hidden long, but I didn't expect you to notice so quickly."

Oaks shook his head. He didn't mind Tony's little curiosity, because since S.H.I.E.L.D. had already approached him, they must have noticed it too.

The reason they hadn't brought it up yet was probably to use it as leverage to pry into his secrets.

Strictly speaking, this wasn't a big deal. He wasn't an official government employee—Banner ran around everywhere too, didn't he?

What surprised him was that Tony, with his extreme arrogance, had come specifically to apologize for this. It seemed he really cared about privacy, whether his own or his friends'.

Was it because he was fed up with reporters?

"I forgive you, but only because you set up a Foundation." Oaks pursed his lips.

"Not because I put your name on the Foundation's partner list?"

Tony immediately got cocky again:

"Hey, boss, coffee's empty. Refill!"

"You bastard..."

Oaks grunted a couple of times but didn't bother arguing with this lazy bastard fifteen years his senior. He refilled the coffee:

"You were going to find out sooner or later anyway. Might as well make it clear today."

"Do I get the honor of listening in?"

Oaks and Tony frowned and turned toward the shop door. A dark figure appeared in the doorway.

"Zhang! Get down here, let the cat in!"

"..."