Discovering

Feeling desolate Tony was contemplating what alcohol he should drink: something that would chase the cold away that he felt deep down. He knew that alcohol would only speed up his poisoning but at the moment he didn't care.

After coming back from the desert he had truly hoped that he could develop a romantic relationship with Pepper, but after the last conversation with her, where he had tried talking to her about their friendship and she shot him down so carelessly, he didn't feel as inclined to the idea. Hoping she would contact him and try to make peace, he had waited in vain.

Weeks later Pepper had deigned to visit him again. His hope had flared up as he had seen that she brought a coffee for him, knowing he loved fresh, high-quality coffee, but had died a horrible death after he noticed she just wanted him to sign some papers. In the end, she had looked at him like a mother disapproving of her child and at that moment he gave up on the idea of a romantic relationship with Pepper. He was happy that he noticed his not so romantic feeling before he tried to make something more of their friendship. Maybe he was so desperate to feel something real, a real connection to someone that he ignored the ringing warning bells he heard inside his head. If he observed his feelings for Pepper a little closer he would have known all along that the love he felt for her was for a friend or motherly figure but definitely not for a love interest. It hurt nevertheless because now he would die alone, he had hoped that there was more to his life than inventing but time was running out.

Out of his three lifelong friendships, one betrayed him and tried to kill him and the other two were workaholics not unlike him. Tony didn't blame them, but they had barely any time to meet up. Knowing that they were loyal and he could always depend on them, he had thought that it was enough. But as he felt his life slipping through his fingers, he had been hoping for something more.

So here he was sitting and trying to decide which alcohol would suit his mood best. Bourbon, whiskey? No, he was in a sherry mood. Deciding against getting drunk again, he went upstairs to his bedroom, after only one glass, at least trying to get a few hours of sleep in.

Waking up, he went to take his daily shower. Checking his blood value, he noticed his poisoning is getting more serious. Now he had to choke down twice the amount of the liquid which slowed his death down. Going downstairs in hopes of finding something to wash away the horrible after taste, he entered the kitchen and immediately saw the big coffee cup standing on his counter. Delighted he grabbed the frothy goodness and gulped down the first few sips. Never before had he drunk something as delicious as this. Heaven in a cup, it was simply exquisite. Thinking Pepper had visited him again and this time really only brought him a coffee he said:

" Jarvis, try contacting Pepper."

After some ringing Pepper answered:

"Tony, its 5 am in the morning. Why are you calling me so early?"

Pepper complained.

" I just tried the coffee you left for me it's mindblowing delicious. Thank you."

"Tony, are you drunk again? Why would I bring you a coffee cup at 5 o'clock am?? Please hang up and call me back when you are sober. "

*It seems Pepper wasn't the one to bring me the coffee* he thought. So Tony tried thanking Happy and Rhodey but both didn't know about the cub.

A really bad suspicion rose in him because Tony didn't have any more friends that would deliver him coffee except the three he already contacted.

"Jarvis, please show me the footage when the coffee arrived."

He waited, watching the video and expecting to find some person sneaking inside and dropping off the coffee but the reality was much more absurd. The cup simply appeared. Impossible!

"Jarvis. Repeat the scene."

Watching it, again and again, the footage didn't change.

"Search for compromises in your system."

"Sir, I took the liberty and already completed my search for everything that could compromise my mainframe and the recording. Conclusion: Everything is running smoothly. There are no signs of external entries or hacking attempts."

"What the hell? Then, Jarvis, what's your conclusion on how the coffee came to be inside my kitchen? Teleportation?"

"Reporting to Sir: I determined there is a 25% chance it was teleported onto your counter, 75% an invisible person brought you the beverage."

Taking out the device to measure his blood values, Jarvis inquired:

"Sir do you suspect that the coffee was poisoned?"

"Yes, I can't think of anything else that would make sense. The people I consider friends denied having brought this cup so someone unknown invaded my home and left a beverage there. If I am poisoned than it will show up on my device - it has every known poison in its database. "

To Tony's relief, the test came back negative, on the contrary, his blood values improved since he last checked ten minutes ago.

"Jarvis, my blood values improved on a very small scale, why?"

"Checking... There is a 99% chance the cause for your health improvement is the beverage you just consumed."

Looking stunned, Tony took the coffee down to his workshop to further test the heavenly goodness. To his frustration he had no instrument to check the cup of coffee, so he took the time to craft one himself. At night he finished his tests, and all coming back inconclusive. For all intents and purposes, it should be a normal drink but it was by far the healthiest cup of coffee he saw in his life. He tested it three times and it improved his health a tiny little bit every time. Unfortunately not enough to prevent his death even if he could consume as much as he wanted but it would give him a little bit more time till his death.

The next day Valerie once again made a cup of coffee and making both the coffee and herself invisible teleported to Stark's kitchen, putting the coffee down on the same spot as last time. As soon as the coffee became visible she could hear a loud noise upstairs, where she assumed Tony's bedroom is located.

Last night before going to bed Tony gave Jarvis the command to monitor the kitchen. If the invisible gift bearer popped up again he was to be notified immediately.

Tony couldn't believe that he didn't even consider telling the police or his friends. Maybe he was a tad suicidal, Pepper and Rhodey insinuated about his mental health all the time. But he didn't look at it as suicidal, the cup of coffee gave him a sense of mystery, something new to discover.

Tony was almost certain, the visitor didn't mean him harm. If you wanted to assassinate, poison or spy on someone than making oneself known would be counterproductive. It didn't make sense, so he felt like he had to uncover the mystery. The distraction to his daily life was very much appreciated.

Hoping that the little ghost would also appear tomorrow he had trouble falling asleep. He was already showering as the alarm rang. In his haste, he only tied around a towel, and sprinted down the stairs to his kitchen, his hair still dripping wet and there it was! A new cup of coffee.

"Oh, you came again. You are really brave or brazen, I haven't decided yet. What are you? Invisible? A Mutant with teleportation abilities? If so I think you will still be here. So tell me what kind of creature are you? Mutant, Labor experiment? Fairy? Elf? Insane? Professional coffee deliverer? And where do you get that delicious coffee?"

Valerie was delighted to see the excited sparkle in his eyes, while he was interrogating her. Taking caution as not to laugh out loud, she now knew he would keep this chase between them. Noticing Stark found the coffee delicious she happily ported away.