Ch80. PLUS ULTRA

"Nervous?" Tony turned to Natasha asked, trying to sound nonchalant but, to his own mortification, even he knew he was utterly failing.

Natasha, however, didn't point it out. She just gave him a reassuring smile and calmly spoke, "I am not nervous because I have a complete belief in you, Tony. Nothing will go wrong." She gently squeezed his hand.

Tony smiled back. Logically, he knew she was as nervous as him... maybe even more since she didn't go through all the calculations and didn't have iron-clad proof that nothing would go wrong. But her will to follow him even to the unknown was very endearing for To-

"But on the off-chance, something goes wrong, I know who to blame." Natasha off-handedly added, nudging Tony's shoulder with an amused smirk.

'I stand corrected.' Tony dryly thought. 'Endearing, my ass.'

"Gee, thanks." Tony remarked with an eye roll.

"Aw~, don't take it so seriously. It might be only my last words. No big deal." Natasha purred and before Tony could retort, she pressed her body into his, claiming his lips in a searing kiss. They pulled apart only after a few seconds, both breathing a bit harder and their cheeks dusted pink, "But if this fails and this is my last moment of life, I am happy to spend it with you." Natasha whispered while her green eyes gazed intently into Tony's brown ones with genuine adoration.

Tony involuntarily smiled at her and put his free hand on her cheek, causing her to instantly snuggle into it. "Nothing will fail." He reassuringly said with confidence apparent in his voice before he kissed her forehead.

Yes, Natasha knew exactly how to lighten the mood and drive his nervousness away. He no longer felt nervous. Only a bit irked, exasperated, loving towards the woman in his arms, and... horny as heck.

Tony pulled away and Natasha instantly yet nonchalantly pulled out a hand mirror from her pocket and looked into it, causing Tony to frown.

"What?" He asked.

Natasha gave him a disarming smile, "I gotta check if this is not some kind of revenge for what I did to you before the meeting with Balalaika."

"Oh." Tony suddenly gained a realization, "Now that you mention it, I never got my revenge for that! Good of you to inform me, Miss Romanoff. I will definitely have to prepare something special." He mischievously grinned.

Natasha just dismissively shrugged, "You shall not succeed."

"We shall see." Tony's good mood did not diminish even a little at her dismissive reply. He knew... read believed... that she was just acting and inwardly she was definitely nervous as heck. "It's going to be gloriou-"

"Just remember who is doing your paperwork for you." Natasha interrupted him and Tony blinked.

"Or nevermind." He mumbled under his nose.

"Anyway!" He quickly turned towards the alchemical circle in the room as if the previous conversation did not happen, "Before we start..."

Natasha's lips twitched upward at the sudden turn in the conversation, and with a fond sigh, she decided to be quiet and let Tony explain. She knew Tony would not be deterred for long by her threat but it bought her the essential time to prepare for whatever bratty stupidity Tony would pull on her later on.

'At least I am never bored.' Natasha thought in exasperation.

"As you can see, there is only one Alchemical circle that will be doing the change-" Tony started.

"Will that make some kind of connection between us?" Natasha asked, her eyes gleaming happily. She had read a very small bit about rituals... especially outdated marriage rituals, nudge, nudge, wink, wink... so, that's why she asked.

"Nah, I just didn't have enough materials for two circles." Tony dryly shrugged, inwardly smirking when Natasha huffed and squeezed his hand to an uncomfortable degree. But... she didn't let go.

To be honest, it would create a small 'connection' between them. That's what rituals did by default when two people were caught up in one ritual. It was inevitable but the connection would be so neutral and irrelevant that it didn't matter. There was no benefit nor demerit in it. At best, It was just a sign that they went through a ritual together.

Maybe telling Natasha would please her but Tony preferred to tease her instead. God knew he didn't have a lot of opportunities for that.

"Is the Alchemy circle made of liquid metal?" Natasha asked after a while. She couldn't stay mad at Tony for long. Not when she had such a wonder of Mystic Arts in front of her. Despite everything, she was a Sorceress and during the years of her study, she did gain a lot of interest in the art.

She might never be obsessed with it and the level of her interest might barely be enough to classify it as a hobby but it was an interest nevertheless.

"Why, yes! Good of you to notice, my young padawan!" Tony excitedly gushed out. "The circle is basically carved into the floor, and into the carved out gaps is poured the melted metal from Destroyer! That shit is an extremely good energy conductor and has a lot of very beneficial properties for this ritual! Just a pity it would be evaporated as the sacrificial part of the ritual." He grumbled, his mood souring a bit at that. The metal was hella precious and losing it after the first use...

Tony was not amused.

"Huh... Good to know that risking a war between Earth and Asgard was not totally in naught." Natasha casually remarked. "I won't ask about the patterns of the circle. I have never studied alchemy or rituals in any kind of depth so I wouldn't understand anyway. Just tell me what to do." She shrugged, and contrary to her words, her eyes still curiously trailing over the circle.

This was going to change her life so, of course, she was excited, wary, nervous, expectant... and felt many more things, some pleasant, others not so much.

"I guess it would be for the best." Tony nodded. "We are both a bit jittery so let's get it over with." He offered her a reassuring smile before walking forward.

"I know it is tempting but be careful not to step on the circle." Tony quipped while gently pulling her after himself due to their joined hands.

"I am not five, Tony." Natasha rolled her eyes. "I think I can resist the urge pretty well." She added while carefully walking only on the floor, instead of the parts where glittering metal-like silvery liquid was flowing through.

They reached the middle of the circle and Natasha looked around... "Only one designated place for the finished product? Shouldn't there be one for each of us?" She tilted her head.

"Ah, normally yes, but we will be undergoing the exact same thing and JARVIS with FRIDAY will regulate it. The designated place for the finished product is normally put in an alchemy circle for better energy conductivity and control of the flow. In short, with better control, you need less energy for the ritual since you use every bit of it efficiently. Here, the conductivity is taken care of by the liquid metal and the ritual is powered up by thirty arc reactors so it is not like we will lack energy." Tony loved talking about his inventions so he didn't miss the opportunity to educate the uneducated girl.

"Thirty arc reactors?" Natasha alarmingly whispered before abruptly turning towards Tony with worry in her wide green eyes, "Are you trying to light us up like a Christmas tree before a big boom? You know that the human body can not handle having the energy of even one directly channeled into itself!"

"Most of it will be channeled to the circle rather than us." Tony explained as he pulled Natasha close to his chest and affectionately put his hand on her cheek, gently caressing it.

"That doesn't sound very convincing." Natasha quietly complained while biting her lower lip.

Despite her worries, they both knew she would go through it. She trusted Tony's judgment. He was most of the time right. The only thing she could do now was to pray this was not one of the times when he was not.

"Don't worry. I will hold you in my hand throughout the entire process." Tony reassured her.

"So cheesy." Natasha involuntarily smiled at that. "I guess that makes it so much better." She rolled her eyes before putting her head on top of Tony's chest, tightly hugging him.

Chuckling a bit, Tony let himself fall back onto the floor, cushioning the impact with a small spell so it felt as if he fell onto a bed instead of a hard floor.

They both were lying in the middle of the alchemical circle, snuggling and ready to go...

"Will it hurt?" Natasha quietly asked with slight fear in her voice.

Tony put his hand on top of her head and started to gently caress her hair, "No, just close your eyes and relax. You won't feel a thing. I am too spoiled to make a ritual that would hurt." He tried to comfort her while heeding his own advice and closing his eyes.

With a snicker, Natasha did just that, and soon... They both fell into the land of dreams.

When JARVIS noted that both of them were put to sleep, he started up the arc reactors and the alchemic ritual circle glowed with a silvery bluish hue as the unbelievable metamorphosis began.

Not even Tony was aware of what he had just created...