(A/N: I was gone for almost a month. I'm sorry about that folks. I wouldn't have been, but my brain has been all over the place. I don't think you minded though, because I haven't seen much activity on this story, and can only assume from lack of reviews that not many of you care. I got one review answering my question, so this fic will not include any mpreg. Now, I don't know how much longer it will be, but I predict only one or two more chapters. I don't know how paper will translate to computer after all. Anyway. On with the show!)

Part 5: Fury, Deception, and Progress

1 month later

5 post injury

The crutches that Tony used were his own modified design, adaptive and reactive. They bore his weight when he needed to, but offered him a gentle resistance so that he could also work on retraining his legs to hold him upright. They were also unsubtly colored like his armor, and came with lights in the bottoms so that he could manage stairs at night. He was obscenely proud of them.

"Tony, you need to at least talk to Fury about this," Bruce said, obviously using what Tony had come to call his 'pleading eyes' but the billionaire was not having any of that. If Fury wanted to talk about the major security breach that had led to an exploded coffee maker, and a near set-back in his recovery, then Fury could call him. The clone couldn't have existed without a sample of Fury's DNA, which meant that the fool had allowed someone close enough to do the damage. Now, Tony knew that something like that could happen, and he would be willing to forgive, but for one factor. Nick Fury was so paranoid that he never allowed anyone close enough to touch him that wasn't a trusted SHIELD member. That meant that an Agent was dirty.

"If he admits that he has a traitor in his ranks then fine. But until then there isn't anything anyone can do to make me deal with the bastard," Tony said firmly, glaring at Bruce and swinging one of his crutches for good measure. He had full use of his arms, and decent mobility in his legs. Even most of his burns had been superficial enough to have already healed. It was a point that he was trying to make, rather to emphasize: he didn't need anyone's help. He was a grown ass man and was able to get around without an over-protective parent hovering behind him like his bones would crumble into powder.

"You know that he won't share that with you. He will investigate internally and deal with the breach in secret. That is just how Fury operates," Bruce said, trying to be persuasive when he knew that he had no chance of getting through to Tony when he was in such a state. The scientist merely breathed through his nose, slowly, counted to ten, and gave Tony a kiss on the head. He wasn't going to keep arguing, not when Tony was still hurt, and not when he could just as easily talk to Fury himself. No one got around Tony Stark's pride, not even his husband-to-be. Dammit all if that wasn't part of what Bruce loved so much about him.

"I'll be up at 6 for dinner," Tony called as Bruce retreated, knowing that his partner was stressed. The smile Bruce gave him was worth the certain interruption to his work in progress. He had gotten much better about dealing with being a people person. The Avengers were no longer just people that stayed in his house with him; they were his family, a ragtag bunch of heroes with serious issues. He loved them all in their own way, even if he was mildly terrified by Natasha, and would never understand Thor's insatiable appetite.

With the lab empty, Tony slid himself into a standing position, using his crutches as levers, and hobbled away from the random assortment of wires and circuitry that he had been pretending to fiddle with while Bruce was present. He proceeded with as much purpose as he could toward a concealed set of tables, tucked around the back corner of his lab and covered with random schematics to throw people off of them. The sheets of paper were easily cleared away and stacked nearby, ready to be strewn about once again. Beneath them was a collection of small tools, a box containing an odd assortment of gems and several gold rings, empty of adornment and in varying sizes.

While he had never told Clint and Natasha that he was going to be providing the rings for their wedding, he had told them not to worry about anything. He was more than capable of covering the costs, the planning and the prep, and it would give him practice for his own impending nuptials. Besides all of that, he knew that no one, famous ring maker or not, could craft a unique or special enough design for the couple. He was talented, and had spent hours mapping and re-mapping the contours of the metal and the placement of the gems until they were perfect. If a ring could symbolize personality, then the designs that he had come up with were so spot on it would be amazing if they didn't speak.

Natasha's ring, being from Clint, was a non-traditional metal for a wedding band, black hematite, the same as Clint's magnetic arrowheads. The gems were small, cut into triangular chips to build a simple flower of amethyst and emerald, a blending of Clint's favorite color, and his secret love of nature. Around the flower shape was a collection of small threads of hematite, which were blended down into the band after having been woven into something resembling a nest, which was how Clint chose to sleep. Tony had seen the inside of Clint and Natasha's room during spying mission when they were out. He had seen the careful construction of blankets and pillows, stolen shirts and other bits of fabric with only enough room in the middle for two closely snuggled bodies. He knew that Clint had a morbid fear of sleeping unprotected and so surrounded himself with things that were familiar and safe. The Avengers themselves were Clint's waking nest, and they all realized it on some level.

Tony was now working on Clint's ring, which was from Natasha, who was very secretly a very traditional woman, at least in some matters. He kept with the traditional matching metal for the rings, though the hematite in Clint's ring was meant to represent Natasha's daggers; they had saved Clint's life more than once. With the gems he chose to diverge, placing small, round cut rubies along the edges of the ring, for the fire in Natasha's personality that flared even more brightly when she was with Clint. He chose a slightly larger circular cut of sapphires to fill the space between the rows of rubies for the simple purity of Natasha's love for Clint. So much of the woman, though stern and outwardly cold, was built around Clint and protecting him, that Tony had no idea what sort of woman she would be without the archer. He wondered silently, if Clint wasn't with them, whether Natasha would be with them as well. The band of Clint's ring was plain and simple, just like Natasha's attitude toward life, clear-cut and unadorned, uncaring for anything but what she needed to do.

They were by far some of the most personal things that Tony had ever crafted, and he had been careful to ensure that nothing of himself went into them. He poured his love for his friends into the work, into the great care and detail of the cut of the gems, into the shaping of the metal, but left no impression of his personality upon them. He would save that, the utter emptying of his heart and soul into a piece of metal and stone, for the ring that he would give to Bruce. When he said 'I do' he would slip a literal representation of his entire being onto the finger of the man that he loved, and he would be happy to do so.

He knew that Bruce already had a ring picked to give to Tony, one that meant something to Bruce on a level that Tony could scarcely comprehend. There was a love in that bit of silver that Tony didn't have the words for, and though it wasn't Bruce's personality, it was his heart that Tony would wear, and that meant the world to him. He loved Bruce with nearly as much intensity as a human being could muster, and was not ashamed of the idea that Bruce loved him just as much. Which was exactly why he intended to ignore the fact that Bruce had scuttled away to make a call to Fury on his own.

(A/N: Oh my god, I really didn't mean to go that sappy. I truly didn't people. But here it is, and I hope you liked it. If you could please leave me a review to tell me what you thought, I would appreciate it immensely.)