Chapter 557

"What are you trying to do?"

Evenson took one look at the scene in front of him and immediately understood how bad it looked.

Pepper, a married woman, was unconscious and barely clothed inside an open containment pod. Evenson stood over her with both hands reaching toward her, wearing an expression that was, at best, highly questionable.

Yes.

This was absolutely the kind of scene people could misunderstand.

Fortunately, Evenson’s brain worked fast.

If he let Tony be the first one to shout You pervert!, the situation would become nearly impossible to explain. The accusation would stick before Evenson even got a chance to defend himself.

So he reacted immediately.

Planting one hand toward the sky and the other toward the ground, Evenson practically roared:

"What are you looking at?! I’m saving your wife! Do you have a problem with that?!"

Tony, who had been flying straight toward him, visibly wobbled in midair.

He slowly descended in front of Evenson and opened his faceplate.

His face was bright red. Whether from embarrassment, panic, or the effort of holding himself back was impossible to say.

After several seconds, he finally managed to speak.

"You’re... saving her?"

"Of course."

Evenson nodded.

"You and I both know that Killian’s modifications to Pepper may be called the Extremis program, but there’s nothing particularly ultimate about the resulting organism. It’s riddled with flaws."

Tony’s expression grew serious.

"One of the biggest problems is how easily they overheat and explode."

Tony glanced toward Pepper with obvious concern.

Even now, occasional orange flares erupted across her body.

Evenson continued.

"Killian may have had a way to suppress that problem. But considering the kind of man he is, and his history with you, there’s no chance he would have bothered using it on Pepper."

He tapped the open lid of the containment pod.

"So after going through all the trouble of rescuing her, I’d rather not have her suddenly explode on us. I’m removing the problem before that happens."

"You can actually fix it?"

Tony looked at him skeptically.

Back in 1999, Tony had casually written down what amounted to the foundation of the Extremis formula. But it had remained a formula. Turning it into a practical application would require years of research, and modifying the human body with it was an extraordinarily complicated piece of genetic engineering.

As far as Tony knew, Evenson hadn’t even finished high school.

Unless the man had somehow spent all these years studying genetic engineering through correspondence courses and earned himself a doctorate on the side.

And even if he’d done it remotely, when exactly had he found the time?

"I use magic, Tony."

Evenson gave him a mysterious smile.

"Science and magic are both ways of understanding reality. They’re just two different approaches to the same truth. Some problems are incredibly difficult to solve scientifically but trivial with magic. Other problems work the opposite way."

"So I’m guessing this happens to be one of those problems that’s easy with magic?"

Tony had little choice but to take him at his word.

He knew very little about magic.

He’d tried researching it before and had even developed his own magic-related wristband, only for reality to beat him over the head with the fact that magic wasn’t nearly as simple as he’d hoped.

For once, he decided to trust someone who actually knew what he was talking about.

"It’s not particularly difficult."

Evenson glanced toward Pepper.

"Whatever your scientific explanation for Extremis might be, I see its foundation as nothing more than energy."

He continued before Tony could interrupt.

"That energy is introduced into the human body, where it continuously drives the genes toward the Extremis state. At the same time, the modified body instinctively uses chemical reactions to convert energy taken from the outside world into Extremis energy, maintaining energy balance."

"So..."

Evenson pointed toward Pepper.

"All I need to do is precisely extract all the Extremis energy currently inside her. Once that energy is gone, the transformation will stop and reverse itself, returning her to a normal human state."

"That actually sounds reasonable."

Tony raised an eyebrow.

"But what exactly is your standard for ’precisely’?"

Evenson paused.

"My intuition."

Tony’s eyes widened.

"Your what?"

"My intuition."

Tony stared at him.

So the accuracy of this supposedly precise magical procedure depended entirely on how Evenson felt about it?

Wonderful.

Just wonderful.

"I don’t appreciate that look."

Evenson pointed toward the other two containment pods.

"I’ve already done it twice. Look. Those two are back to normal."

Tony turned his head.

"JARVIS."

A blue scanning beam swept across the first pod.

"Body temperature is within normal human range," JARVIS reported. "No abnormal energy signature detected."

Tony’s expression eased.

Then his brow furrowed.

"However, they appear to be extremely weak."

"Yeah..."

Evenson gave an awkward smile.

"I may have... extracted a little too much energy."

Tony slowly turned toward him.

"Fine."

He pointed firmly at Evenson.

"You are not touching Pepper with those hands. I’ll treat her myself."

His voice left no room for argument.

"I’m going to do it properly. And accurately."

If your definition of accurate is ’whatever feels right,’ then I wouldn’t trust you to operate a toaster, let alone my wife.

Evenson sighed and looked away.

"Suit yourself."

He agreed surprisingly easily.

But from Tony’s angle, he couldn’t see the faint curve of Evenson’s lips.

Everything was proceeding exactly as planned.

A moment later, Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers arrived.

Rhodey had remained behind to hold the position. There was no way he could keep pace with two super-soldiers.

Peggy and Steve immediately checked on Pepper and the others.

Once they confirmed everyone was safe, both of them quietly breathed easier.

With the crisis finally over, Steve found Tony.

He’d been waiting for an opportunity to say something.

"You didn’t handle this very well, Tony."

Tony’s expression soured.

"This was serious. You tried to deal with everything alone. That’s not smart."

Steve placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Next time, ask us for help. We’re not just teammates."

He smiled.

"We’re family."

"Family?"

Tony already disliked the lecturing tone.

That last word made it worse.

He narrowed his eyes.

Steve seemed to notice.

"Yes. Family."

He glanced toward Peggy.

The meaning behind the look was obvious.

If you count through Peggy, I’m basically your uncle-in-law.

And then, considering Howard...

Actually, you should probably call me Uncle Steve.

Tony’s eye twitched.

Oh, so that’s what you’re doing.

"You know, I still haven’t accepted your relationship with my aunt."

Steve didn’t look remotely bothered.

"And right now, I strongly disapprove."

"That’s fine."

Steve smiled.

"Peggy accepts it. That’s enough for me."

The two men continued trading barbs.

Meanwhile, Peggy quietly walked over to Evenson.

"Pick a time."

Evenson’s brow twitched.

He stared at her for a moment.

"A time... for what?"

"To go to S.H.I.E.L.D."

Peggy seemed completely unaware of how suspicious her previous wording had sounded.

Her expression turned serious.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.’s behavior during this incident was extremely strange."

She paused.

"But not unfamiliar."

Something about what had happened had clearly struck a nerve.

"I want you to come with me. I need to find out exactly what happened. Otherwise, I won’t be able to put my mind at ease."

"I see..."

Evenson scratched his head.

"Why do I have to go?"

He glanced toward Tony and Steve, who were still arguing nearby.

"Can’t you take them?"

"They aren’t suited for that kind of conversation."

"Are they not?"

Evenson looked back at her.

"...All right."

He sighed.

"I’ll go."