I had nothing to do today, so here's an extra chapter.
When Lynn found the Ancient One, she was in the library sorting through an old star chart. Parchment covered the entire long table, its dense annotations written in ancient Sanskrit. The snowlight coming through the window gave the faded ink a dark golden sheen. Hearing footsteps, the Ancient One did not look up, but simply set a scroll tied with silk thread gently on the corner of the table.
"Every time you come looking for me, it's never anything good. Out with it. What do you want this time?" she said.
Lynn stopped on the other side of the long table. "Ancient One, there's something I'd like to run by you."
The Ancient One raised her eyes to him. There was no impatience in them, only the calm of someone accustomed to the antics of the mischievous monkey in her household.
"I'd like Bruce Banner to stay at Kamar-Taj for a while. He's the one Tony brought back from Brazil, the guy who can turn into a big green brute. He needs help accepting Hulk instead of continuing to fight him. That process needs a quiet environment, and someone who can handle things if he loses control. I can't think of anywhere more suitable than Kamar-Taj."
The Ancient One set down the star chart in her hands. Folding her hands on the table, she looked at Lynn and remained silent for a while before saying, "Why do you always like bringing trouble to Kamar-Taj?"
Her tone was calm, as though she were asking a question whose answer she already knew.
Lynn's mouth stretched into a textbook goofy grin.
"I should have left you starving on the streets for a few more days back then," The Ancient One said.
Lynn's smile did not fade in the slightest, but he lowered his head a little. In that slight bow was a trace of sheepishness so faint it only ever showed in front of the Ancient One.
The Ancient One shook her head gently and picked up the star chart again, her gaze returning to the ancient annotations. "He can stay. I'll keep an eye on his condition." She paused, then added, "But remember, you must take responsibility to the end for every person you bring back."
"I know."
He stepped back twice, then added before turning around, "Thank you, Ancient One."
The Ancient One did not answer. She merely waved him away.
Settling Banner in did not take long. Mordo arranged the room, finding him a place in the most secluded corner, far from the dining hall and training grounds. Banner set his canvas bag at the foot of the bed and surveyed the stone walls and wooden windows around him, his expression suggesting he was checking that this was not another temporary refuge he would have to flee. Leaning in the doorway, Lynn said, "Remember to go to the dining hall at mealtimes. They won't wait for you, so don't be late unless you want to go hungry," then slipped away before Banner could answer.
Tony was still there when he returned to the courtyard. Leaning against a stone pillar, he was watching the outlines of the distant snowy mountains. At the sound of Lynn's footsteps, he turned his head, his expression holding a smugness he had been suppressing for ages and could finally release.
"All sorted?" Tony asked.
"Yeah, it's taken care of. Why haven't you left yet?" Lynn sat down at the stone table, picked up the half cup of cold tea left from earlier, and took a gulp. "What's with that look on your face? You've had it plastered on this whole time."
Tony did not answer immediately. He sat down opposite Lynn, crossed his legs, and tapped the edge of the stone table twice, his smile slowly widening. "You had one mess after another going on before, so I never got a chance to brag... tell you."
"Tell me what?"
"I'm Tony Stark, Iron Man!" Tony raised his chin slightly as he spoke, that classic, arrogant Stark smile spreading fully across his face. "At the press conference, every camera was pointed at me, every reporter waiting for an explanation. I admitted it outright: 'I am Iron Man.' You should have seen how magnificent I looked. The camera flashes nearly blew the ceiling off."
Lynn set down his teacup and chuckled. "I saw the replay on TV afterward. But before you came showing off to me about it, a one-eyed black cue ball had already paid you a visit, hadn't he?"
Tony's smug smile froze on his face. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest, his expression shifting from boastful to appraising. "How did you know he'd come to see me?"
Tony was quiet for a few seconds. He looked at Lynn, then slowly nodded.
"The night of the press conference, I got home and found him standing in the shadows of my living room. How did he know when I'd be home? I'm also a little curious how long he would have stood there if I hadn't gone home that night. Did he strike that pose in advance and wait for me, or did he only pose once he saw me coming?"
Tony's tone was light, but Lynn could hear the anxiety he was hiding.
Tony continued, "I had JARVIS guarding the house, and he breezed through my security. I'd just announced to the world that I was Iron Man and was feeling on top of the world, and then someone told me I had no idea what this world was really like. He showed up at that exact moment and told me there was a much bigger world waiting for me, and a whole bunch of things I'd never heard of threatening Earth. Honestly, I didn't trust him. So I didn't agree."
"You were right not to." Lynn leaned back in his chair, lacing his hands behind his head as he resumed his usual languid posture. "You've got money and technology. There's no need to go to Serpent S.H.I.E.L.D."
Tony's eyebrows rose slightly. His mind was rapidly piecing those words together with everything he had heard before. "Serpent S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Lynn smiled. He did not answer. "Let's change the subject. That thing in your chest, the thing that saved your life and is also killing you. Do you have a way to fix it?"
Tony glanced down at the faint glow in his chest. The reactor's blue-white light was barely visible through his T-shirt. He was silent for a few seconds, then stood, picked up the Sling Ring he had left on the stone table, and slipped it back onto his fingers.
"Still looking," he said, his tone returning to that casual Stark manner. "The palladium poisoning is spreading slowly. I monitor my blood toxicity every day. It's still within safe limits for now."
"That's not the answer I wanted." Lynn did not press him further, simply looking into Tony's eyes.
Tony did not answer. He raised his hand and traced a circle, and orange sparks blossomed in the courtyard. Beyond the portal shone the cool white lights of the underground laboratory in his Malibu mansion. He stepped through and, in the final second before the sparks closed, spoke without looking back.
"I'll find a way."
The portal closed.
Lynn watched the orange sparks dissolve into the air, picked up the tea that had gone completely cold, and slowly took a sip. "Tsundere," he muttered.
He set down the teacup, stood, and walked out of the house.