There were many applications to flying independently of his hammer. While there was quite an explosive propulsion when he first took flight, he had achieved a level of control that even allowed for levitation. That was how Thor found himself outside a third storey window, screwing a hinge on a shutter back into place. There wasn’t a ladder quite tall enough to mend it, so Thor had volunteered. It turned out that the screws had stripped the wood they were embedded in, and the whole hinge needed to be adjusted to properly reset the shutter.
It would have been an unusual sight to most, Thor, God of Thunder, using a battery drill to move a hinge. A hammer was certainly more expected at least – and there was one in the toolbelt that he had secured around his waist. It looked practically dainty hanging at his hip.
He called down, “Is there anything else while I’m –” the person he had taken the job from had disappeared. It seemed a little rude, but then, he might not have been able to call out above the sound of the drill with such a distance between them. Thor lowered himself to the ground, looking a little unsure of what to do now.
It took a little convincing, but Tony was finally able to get someone to let him outside. He wasn’t sure why he was under such lock and key. Maybe it was the state he arrived in. Maybe it was the fact Logan was still camped out in the safe house and people were concerned they might have missed something on him; either way, he now owed some people some favors.
Now one matchbox richer, Tony made his way outside. He had heard mutters of the God of Thunder returning to Midgard, but that couldn't’t be. Thor had yet to visit him. However, seeing the floating god outside a window, wielding a power drill, he lit up his joint and inhaled deeply.
“Well this is a surprise,” Smoke curled from Tony’s mouth. “How’s the drill treating you? I gotta say. The tool belt is a good look.”
“Dad got him for my birthday about two years ago,” Chuck said, looking to the German Sheppard that looked at the two of them curiously. Holding her hand out, Malcolm walked over for her to scratch his ears.
“I’ve been, okay.” Chuck shrugged, “as good as I can be with everything. Mom was in New York when the virus hit. And she never made it home…” Chuck trailed off for a moment and said, “a school friend was with me for awhile, but she got bit on a supply run…”
“Well he’s great. What’s his name? Knowing you it’s something nerdy. Not that I have any room to talk,” He smiled, watching them interact. He was glad they had each other.
Tony knew that look. Survivor’s guilt. He was still suffering with it daily.
“Ah… Kiddo I’m sorry. Is…. Can I do anything?” He felt a bit useless, laid up in bed, unable to do anything for anyone until someone released them. And then what could he do for Chuck? Other than be there and support her as best he could.
She asked people not to warn Tony that she was coming. Better not to interrupt him if he worked on something delicate. Instead she would just go into his workshop and have the music lowered. If he still really focused it still might take a moment to get his attention but not startle him either way. When she stepped into the workshop she let the music wash over her as the sight of her friend safe and sound warmed her heart. Pepper just took a moment to let it sink in before turning the music level down.
If that didn’t catch his attention, the sound of the suit he sent her following her into the workshop probably would. Pepper waited for Tony to catch on, not quite able to suppress her smile. “Mr. Stark, it would appear my vacation took a good bit longer than intended due to unforeseen circumstances.”
Friday’s cheerful voice rang out from the suit. “Hi Boss! Sorry I took so long but I did find her and brought her back to you. We just ran into some more people in need of a rescue along the way.”
He was still being checked on often by Bobbi or Bek. Everything was monitored, but at least he was allowed a few hours in his workshop today. It felt good to be productive again. Projects to benefit Haven instead of just laying in bed and feeling guilty for it.
He’d hardly started a project when he heard the door open. He expected Bobbi to pop in in to tell him it was time to rest, but when he was met with the sound of a suit, one of his suits, he spun around; probably too fast, to see Pepper.
“Pep. Holy shit…” He was hugging her before he realized what he was doing. But he’d been through so much who could really blame him.
“Nothing too serious, but feel free to milk it for all it’s worth.” Her tone was absent as she concentrated on the work, but she took a moment to punctuate the statement with her cheekiest grin. “We just need to keep your fluids up and feed you, and make sure these cuts stay clean.” She put the back of her hand on his forehead, she wanted to make sure he wasn’t feverish. “If you start to feel too hot, tell someone immediately, it could mean you need antibiotics.”
She could detect the hint of fear in his voice, and she understood his worry. He had significant trauma done to his chest, it was fair for him to be nervous about anybody touching it. “I would rather make sure that it’s done right. We can take it slowly, and you can tell me if you need me to stop. What do you think?” She wasn’t going to force him to do anything, but she wanted to make sure everything was done properly.
“It’s good to see you too, Tony,” she bit her lip a little self consciously as she finished tending to a cut on his jaw.
He heard her talking, he nodded along slowly, taking note to call someone if he felt warm; but all he could focus on was the fact she’d have to touch his chest. Stitch up his chest. The thought of that made him feel sick.
Bek wasn’t out to hurt him, right? She was just trying to help him.
He was staring at his hand too long. He hadn’t said anything for a long time. He looked up at her, blinking back the tunnel vision that usually followed his panic.
“Yeah. Slow. That… That should work just fine.” He flexed his hand, feeling the texture of his pants on his palm.
“Well, I’m not giving you a drink, but –” she presented a pristinely rolled joint from the breast pocket of her shirt. “You can’t smoke in the hospital, but there’s no reason why you can’t go outside if you feel up to it. Get some vitamin D, get high.” Colour her extremely jealous, an altered state was literally all she wanted right now.
“Me? I’m fine!” She waved off his concern, perhaps a hair less convincingly than she wanted to. “I just wanted to be the one who got to update you on everything you missed. Can you blame a girl for missing her best friend?” She wanted to start light hearted but she could also feel more serious things threatening to burst out of her.
“You, Bobbi Morse, are a goddess among us mere mortals.” He tucked the joint behind his ear. As soon as he was feeling up to it he’d be outside. Maybe it’d help him sleep through the night. Or at least get a nap in.
The face he gave her was less than impressed but he let her slide. She’d tell him if she wanted to.
“Fine. You missed me.” He relaxed back again, looking over at her, still rather unconvinced.
“But I would like to be filled in. I missed… Quite a bit.” Tony felt like he’d been gone far longer than a month.
The reaction didn’t take Steve by surprise. He wouldn’t press the issue for now. Instead he’d focus on the other things. “Me? What I’m always doing. Looking for people that need my help.” An easy smile sat on his face. Even if the treks could be difficult he kept up the relaxed demeanor. They often called on him to make hard choices and things he might not want to do.
“I haven’t been back long. Just long enough to hear how some might find it a bit more reassuring if I stuck around. So looking at taking on things that keep me in Haven most of the time.” Steve reached to scratch the back of his neck. “Uh apparently stayed long enough between trips to help provide to the gossip. But that’s not important.” Much more important to try and think of other things.
“Enough people here gonna need to think about a major expansion. Its a good thing.” That thought made him smile more easily.
Of course that’s what Steve was doing.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, buddy,” Tony went to chuckle, but it quickly turned into a cough. Dehydration did that to a person. He took a sip of water from the cup Bek had left him before settling back down.
“Gossip? Do go on, Steven. And you can’t say no to me. I’m an injured man. I think I deserve some bullshit gossip after the month I’ve had.” Tony really would settle for any news. He had next to no idea what was going on anymore.
“That many more people arrived? I’d been putting plans together before I left but now… Shit.I didn’t think we’d need to expand so soon.”
She walked over to his bedside, smiling softly she said, “Dad picked me up about a week ago. Caused a commotion, I guess he went off without telling anyone why he ran off.” She gave him a hug and said, “I’m glad you’re here.”
Malcolm sat next to Chuck, looking between Tony and her. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she looked at him with a smilie, “how are you feeling?”
“That sounds like the most Phil thing to do.” Tony remarked, giving her a tight hug to let her know how glad he was to see her. “I’m glad I’m here too. More importantly I’m glad you’re safe.”
He let her get settled, glancing over at her and the dog. “I’m gonna be okay. That’s what matters. What I wanna know is how you’ve been, and how you got a hold of this cutie.”
Steve easily shifted a chair close to the bed and settled down in it. Someone had the forethought to make the visitors chairs comfortable enough. Which was good since he planned on staying for as long as needed. Otherwise Tony might try to escape he could always pass the job on to someone else.
“Well I missed out on a bunch of stuff. Which is probably incentive to stick around and keep an eye on people.” He gave a small self depreciating shrug as he stretched out his legs and crossed them in front of him. “Clint’s checked back in after his long trip I think someone said he claimed zombies blew him up. I heard something about a fight with spider-enhanced infected. Overall the place seems to be doing great. You set up a good thing here.”
“Hey there, Rogers. Self deprecating is my thing, get your own.” He leaned back against his pillow, careful of his stitches. “Shit, looks like I’ll have to set aside some time for Barton.” After what he saw new infected didn’t seem too far fetched anymore.
Now it was his turn to shrug. He’d not been taking compliments on Haven well. The way he saw it anyone with his means should be doing the same thing. “I just provided the foundation. Everyone else has been building to make it better. But enough about me; what have you been up to? When’d you get here? Where were you?”
Bobbi sat, legs crossed under her in her seat, reading a slightly battered copy of Tess of the D’Urbervilles while she waited for Tony to wake up. She had missed him, and with Logan stable and in the care of other medical staff, she wanted to check on Tony’s progress herself.
To be honest, it was not the best book for her current state of mind. It was a miserable story, all things considered – but it was less stressful right now than a Mills and Boon, which was also among the books on the trolley they had for people stuck in the infirmary. She put the book down when she noticed Tony was starting to stir, laying it face-down and open to keep her place. “Hey,” she said gently, leaning in closer. “How are you doing, honey?”
After Bek left, it seemed the best course of action was a nap. Maybe now that he was home and could see his friends the nightmares would stop. He was wrong.
He managed to wake himself before things got too bad, blinking and looking around to see Bobbi by his bed. “Well, hey there,” he smiled slightly, feeling a little more at ease already.
‘How are you?’ Well, that was a . . . tricky question. “Let’s see: I’m sore. I’m tired. I’d give anything for a drink right now. So all in all, just about the same as when I left.” Humour was the only coping mechanism he had left.
She didn’t need to think very hard to determine what the problem was. She stopped for the moment. “Hey, you’re a little banged up, boss. You’ve gotta let me take care of you.” She smiled at him encouragingly. The IV would do very little to help his probably very dry mouth, so she set aside her tools, and picked up the cup of water that had been set out for him. Gently, she put one hand behind his head, so that she could help him drink.
“I know you were probably hoping for a cuter nurse,” she joked as she set the water back down again. She decided not to go back to the chest again just yet, instead she started on a cut on his cheek, she dabbed it gently with alcohol to clean it, at least that one didn’t look like it needed any stitches.
The water was welcomed, it had been a few weeks since he had been able to have more than a sip. “I figured I’d gotten a few scrapes. What’s the overall damage?” He hadn’t been bitten or shown any signs of infection, otherwise he’d be in a much different situation.
He scoffed at the comment. “You’re plenty cute, Winters. I don’t want to hear it.” He let her clean up the rest of the cuts. “I can take care of the one on my chest,” he said softly. All he needed was a mirror. It shouldn’t be that hard.
To be perfectly honest it was really great to see Bek again. They hadn’t had a full conversation since their ride to grab shit SHIELD tossed away. It was a real comfort having her there. She was his friend as well as someone who knew what she was doing. Someone he could trust. “It’s really good to see you, Bek.”
Funny how you sometimes didn’t realize how much someone’s absence affected you until they were back again. With Bucky Steve felt this nagging concern for his survival and well being. Difficult not to after thinking he lost him and then finding out he lived but went through horrific torture and brainwashing. But with Tony, well that something entirely different.
Tony Stark lived through his own series of tragedies and horrors. Yet the guy kept surviving. No matter what was thrown at him it never kept him down for long. A fighter and a survivor who’d been tested time after time. So it never occurred to Steve to worry about not seeing Tony around. Because a zombie apocalypse at its worse should just slow the man down, not ever stop him.
He couldn’t say how the compound felt about his absence but he could about Tony’s. The almost electric feeling about Iron Man being back. One more thing he’d been neglecting in his frequent scouting runs. As solid a friend and partner to fight with as he’d ever had.
So now he sought out his friend. “Hey Shellhead, I thought I was the one that was supposed to go out on the long trips, not you.”
Needless to say, Tony was exhausted. Sleepless nights. Next to no food or water, the near constant pump of adrenaline through his veins every waking moment. Even now, lying in bed. Tony felt flighty; like at any moment something, anything could go wrong. He’d been gone for a while now, and it was probably getting to him.
He was pretty glad when the door cracked open and Steve walked in. “Yeah well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Tony joked, sitting up slowly. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages. Catch me up, Cap.” Seeing an old friend was good, the added distraction of a good conversation was even better.
Being a daughter of a top SHEILD agent has always proven to give Chuck a rather interesting extended family. People her classmates has on sweatshirts and lunch boxes, Chuck called her aunties and uncles.
So when Chuck found out that Tony Stark was there, she wanted to say hi. She had been about thirteen last time she had seen him. With Malcom in tow, Chuck made her way towards the hospital wing. She walked in and called out “Uncle Tony?” She looked around for any sign of him.
Tony was at least cleaned up for visitors by the time they started coming around. He hadn’t been expecting much, of he was being honest with himself. He’d sent Bobbi offto deal with Logan, and Bek having finished up her exam of him he was expecting some downtime. Not that he wanted any downtime, the silence would likely drive him insane and any time spent with himself in his head always turned out badly.
The last visitor he expected was little Chuck. Only she wasn’t so little anymore. He didn’t even know she’d arrived until she poked her head in, calling his name.
“Well, holy shit, kiddo,” he smiled, sitting up carefully. “When the hell did you get here?”
Today had simply exploded for the medical personnel at Haven. There was a difficult birth in progress in one of the bedrooms – they had determined that “home” births were safest when some of the things that came into the infirmary were considered – and now, their two missing men were back in the compound. Bobbi had gone out to deal with the situation she had the most expertise in – an infected mutant with a healing factor – and Bek found herself face to face with her unconscious former boss.
In the end, she had taken a deep breath and chosen to be professional. The man was filthy, covered in cuts and scrapes, and he was severely dehydrated. She was glad to have one of the nurses on hand to begin with, it felt incredibly inappropriate with her personal-but-not-that-personal relationship with the man to give him a sponge bath. Once he was clean and dry, and wearing underwear, Bek asked Paul to head over to the safehouse to see if Bobbi needed anything while she tended to Tony’s injuries.
She checked the IV bag that was connected to Tony’s hand, and then began to properly clean every scrape she found, checking for bruises that might indicate broken bones. Everything seemed fairly superficial. She began to clean a particularly deep cut on his chest, she was concerned that it might need stitches.
Tony didn’t remember much after he’d passed out. How could he? He’d been unconscious and whisked away to the medical wing before he’d hit the ground. There were a couple of flashes of light, but for the most part everything was dark and everything hurt.
He was perfectly content lying in bed, letting the IV be put in and being cleaned iup. He knew that had to be done. He hadn’t been bitten, but an infection could still set in and he didn’t need anyone wasting antibiotics on him. What did cause him to jerk awake was someone’s hands moving over his chest. Which meant he was shirtless and he didn’t like that shit at all. He did his best to bat the hand away, moving as far away from it as he could on the bed without falling off.
“Let’s . . . not. Do that. Thanks.”
He did his best not to sound irritated, but it was difficult when someone was poking at the one thing that really set him off. Glancing over at his assailant, once the harsh glare of the lights wore off, he felt a little bad. He knew Bek was only trying to help. But still, his chest was an off limits area.
“Oh,” still tense, he eased back into the bed, still feeling a little shaken, “hey, Bek.”
Looking back on it all, really reviewing the entire situation and playing it back in his mind, Tony was beginning to realise maybe this entire thing was his fault. Their main reason for returning to Avengers Tower was to get JARVIS, something he should have never forgotten in the first place, and if not for that, they wouldn’t be in this mess.
Not that Tony would ever forget JARVIS, but other things took priority the day they had to evacuate the Tower.
He should have known it wouldn’t have been as easy as he was assuming. He figured with two people it would be in and out, no hitches. Looking over at Logan in the passenger’s seat he really couldn’t have been more wrong.
Maybe it was their detour to the School that threw everything off. Tony had only suggested it to help set Logan at ease. Their little field trip set them arriving at the tower an hour from sunset. The closer to night, the more active they became. Both men knew that. They shouldn’t have been so shocked when some of the smarter ones cornered them in one of the lobby areas. Thankfully Tony knew this place better than himself and they managed to get over to the labs, Logan taking care of any stragglers he saw along the way.
There, hidden away in Tony’s old lab, they were able to grab the drives that held JARVIS, along with a few other resources that may prove important in the future, and set up to head back out.
The sight at the hallway door that closed off the collection of labs proved that to be impossible. Dozens of zombies crowded the hall, looking for a way in. Tony had locked the doors as they went, so it would take them some time to work out how to get in. Which was good, because they needed to plan a way out.
It took weeks, but between the two of them they’d managed to thin the numbers of the gathering herd but it was finally to a controllable point. They had no idea what awaited them outside but it was a risk they had to take. Water was running low. Tony was only human after all, Logan could have lasted a while longer, but not comfortably. By Tony’s guess they’d been stuck in this stuffy lab for a month now. They were supposed to be gone for just a week.
On “Day 32” if Tony had counted correctly, they gathered all they could carry. They had taken most of his lab with them the first time, but now all the labs in the basement of Avengers Tower were stripped clean. A solemn nod was shared between the two men before the doors opened. And then all hell broke loose.
The stack of bodies stank beyond belief, it was probably a huge distraction to Logan. Tony couldn’t blame him, it took all he could not to retch at the smell himself. Quietly, carefully, the two made their way up the stairs, Logan listening out for anything that could cause trouble. Then they heard it.
It was a small sound, Tony would have missed it completely had Logan not perked up and said something.
“Someone’s callin’ for help,” he’d said.
Tony had tried to tell him it was bullshit, he’d cleared the Tower before evacuating to Haven. But he froze when he heard the sound a second time, much louder than before. Maybe it was Tony’s intense, unmedicated anxiety, but the entire situation read badly to him. To Logan it must have read as a chance to save someone, so he was gone. Tony followed closely, checking the gauntlets to the suit were able to function. Just in case. They didn’t stop what happened next, but it kept the situation from escalating further. Even now Tony wondered if that had been enough.
The cry for help hadn’t come from a left behind Stark Industries employee, or from a random civilian who happened upon the Tower before it had been overrun. No, it came from one of them. The zombie.
They had discovered early on the more intelligent a person was, the smarter the zombie you’d end up being. Tony had encountered groups of them smart enough to make traps, form little travelling herds. He’d never heard one speak, until now.
Maybe shouting for Logan wasn’t the smartest idea. Maybe it’s what set this whole thing off. Had he not yelled, maybe that thing would have stayed hunched over, pretending to be hurt, calling out softly for help it didn’t need. Tony and Logan could have headed back home, not worried or bothered by anything. Instead Tony shouted out and the thing jerked its head up. It moved fast. On Logan and gnawing a chunk out of his arm faster than Tony could even react. Logan could heal. That was his thing, right? This was going to be fine.
Right?
Something in him said no. So he fired. He must have been shaking. Doing his best not to hit Logan, the beam hit the zombie in the shoulder, skimming it at best. At the very least it knocked the thing off of Logan, sending it skidding back into a pile of chairs. Tony expected Logan to get back up, to rush over to the monster and end it. But he didn’t. He laid on the floor, writing in pain, gasping for breath.
Then the thing screamed. Loud. The sound bouncing off the walls, ringing in Tony’s ears.
He still wasn’t sure how he got to Logan. Everything happened fast, he didn’t think; he reacted. There wasn’t time to think. That scream was that zombie’s real cry for help and Tony wasn’t sticking by to see who showed up. The adrenaline must have helped him get Logan to his feet, Logan’s own must have kept him conscious enough to help walk out to their truck. He was able to take a few of the ones gaining on them out. Tony took out the ones ahead, he couldn’t help but notice Logan hadn’t stopped bleeding.
And now here they were, thirty minutes from Haven. Tony had pulled the truck over outside the city, it was finally safe enough to pull over and patch Logan up. A Logan who had finally stopped bleeding. After cleaning the bite, he saw it hadn’t healed. Not completely. Not even close to the speed that Logan healed normally. Even his knuckles weren’t healed, bleeding a little more every time Logan flexed his fingers.
Tony promised him over and over, he’d get him home. Home to his girls. To Storm. To a community that needed him. Logan kept insisting Tony leave him, until he passed out anyway.
Twenty minutes now. Logan stirred in the seat beside Tony. He couldn’t turn. COuld he?
Ten minutes. Logan had started to sweat. A fever set in. That was fast. Too fast. Logan complained he was freezing. At least he was still talking.
Tony pulled into the driveway of the safehouse just outside Haven. Those gates never looked better. He needed a shower and a shave, then to sleep for sixteen hours. But first, he needed to quarantine the Wolverine.
Logan complained the whole way in, insisting Tony should have just left him. In the end the fever won out, leaving Logan too tired to argue with him any longer. Flopping Logan into bed, Tony let out a long, slow breath. “I’m gonna get you help, buddy. Just hang in there.”
The drive to the gate took the longest. Every second that passed seemed like hours. He was sure everyone thought they were dead. Reaching the gates he honked three times, gathered his bags from the truck, and got out. He prepared himself to be looked over, not looking forward to that examination.
The first guard he could reach he grabbed onto, the wear and tear of it all setting in. “Get Bobbi Morse. Send her to the safehouse. Logan’s in there. He was bitten. Tell his girls he’s safe. Tell Ororo, too.”
Not much else got out of him from there. His ears rung. He heard that scream again. And then Tony Stark passed out.
oh geeze. yikes. okay. so like. life fucking comes at you fast, huh?
anyway, like mod nym said in the post on the main page: i had a lot of life hit me in the nuts all at once. my computer shit the bed. i was living in a not very good household situation. super depression/anxiety hit me. i had a terrible job that worked me full time hours with none of the benefits. you all know the drill.
thankfully now im out of that bad situation and feeling a whole hell of a lot better. i live with my girlfriend and her best friend. i haven’t slept past ten thirty in almost a week (which is a lot for me bc i usually sleep till 4pm). i have an apartment and a new job and things are looking up.
im looking to have tony and logan’s return up on monday so be on the lookout for that bullshit.
other than that if you want to plot something with either of those characters feel free to hit me up in the group’s discord or dm me (beautiful chinchilla#4605)
um.... yeah. let me know if you need anything. thanks for sticking with me you guys. youre all the best.
“Everyone can be a shitty person if you catch them at the wrong time,” Peter countered. Everyone had a past and everyone made mistakes. To him it is what you did moving forward that mattered. Dr. Stark just didn’t give himself enough credit or listened to much to his bad press.
Peter brightened under the praise. “Yeah you really think so?” Because coming from the tech wiz Tony Stark that meant everything. “Yeah I got paper. Bobbi told me to pick up some notebooks for stuff.” He kept that part deliberately vague for now, not quite wanting to go into the circumstances yet.
“Well if there are things to fix the working appliances at least will be safe from me.” He gave a little one shouldered shrug. “Plus, um, I have a few more ideas of stuff I can work on to help.” He focused on fiddling with his food, ducking his head. “They gave me a lot of leeway in the lab I worked in.”
Tony took Peter’s words into consideration, nodding slightly in agreement. He didn’t have the heart to tell the kid his advice was sage, but he found it nearly impossible to apply the advice to himself.
Instead he turned his attention back to the radios.
“Of course I think so,” Tony had put a lot of thought into the communications of Haven, but with how things had been going they were unfortunately moved back on the priorities list. “This is honestly a huge help. Like, an actual weight off my shoulders. I owe you one, Parker.”
This kid was going to prove himself a huge asset to Haven and he’d only been here a day or so. “I’d love to hear those ideas, actually,” Tony said, setting the radio down and turning a little in his seat. “If you’ve got the time we could head to my lab and see what we could do about them. And the radios.”
“Everyone will want to watch him, cute babies take your mind off of way worse things,” Some humor to take the serious tone from the conversation. No one needed to be more stressed than they already were.
“What it says about me is I’m paranoid and sometimes need to get away from it all,” Haven wasn’t exactly made for this scenario, but with some fortifications he’d made it would more than do. Assuming they didn’t get many more survivors.
“We’re gonna do what we can to make sure your kid has a good place to grow up in. So everyone has a good place to grow in. We got dealt a shit hand here with all this, but we just … gotta try.” he finished lamely.
“Everyone will love him, super powers or not. I’m not big on kids and even I think he’s a cutie.” Tony assured her.
“My paranoia benefited people? That’s a first,” he laughed, trying not to think about what would have happened if this place wasn’t around. He tried really, really hard. Those were usually the thoughts that kept him up at night. That or ‘what would happen if a wall went down.’ His laugh died down a little and he glanced over at Jess.
“Coffee? God you are the greatest,” He sincerely meant that, he was dying without the intake of coffee he was used to.