It was a normal day, a day that seemed to bring nothing new. Nothing exciting, nothing frightening, nothing... dangerous... But that had all changed.
"Lesson number one. Heroes... There are no such thing..."
The wave of ignition hit us like nobody's business.
By us I mean Pepper, my beloved wife, and myself. I'm Tony Stark, founder of Stark Industries and Ex Successor. I'm also quite known as the presteemed Iron Man, savior of many and ego-maniac to all.
Nonetheless, none of that mattered at this point. I was knocked back by the blast, blown against the wall and forced to watch my happy home crumble around me. When I opened my eyes, I could see it all, the walls being blown to bits, and then... Pepper! She was in distress, fighting against the falling concrete and materials pushing her down, falling to the cold water below.
I charged towards her, reaching out to try and grab her hand as she fell. I almost had her! So close, yet so far! "Pepper!" I screamed her name as she tumbled down, into the siege below. At this point, if I tried to rescue her without my suit, I'd just sabotage both of our chances for survival. I shifted my head, immediately searching for any of my suit models that remained salvageable from the blast. And then I spotted one! The marque 3! It remained intact, still bearing some horrible wounds, while the others had been destroyed.
I quickly grabbed at it, pulling it, in it's suitcase form, away and activated it. Feeling it grip my body in it's warm, radioactive metal form, I wished simply for it to hurry. Moments later, it completed the transformation, and I immediately sprung into action.
Leaping from the still crumbling wreckage, the weight of the suit quickly dropped me into the water below, it's air-tight seal giving me oxygen at ease as I swam down. And there she was, fighting for consciousness. I swam towards her, only to have a sudden crashing and splashing sound above grab my attention.
Right over my head, a large chunk of concrete sunk quickly. I ignored it as well as I could and continued to swim towards Pepper, hoping to avoid the concrete and reach her. But even the suit couldn't get me out of the way quick enough. I felt no pain, as the suit protected me from the concrete that plowed it down into the sea bed beneath me. But that was when real problems arose. The pressure from the falling concrete crumpled and crushed the titanium alloy of my suit, breaking holes that quickly released my oxygen and allowed salty, cold water to take it's place. I couldn't see Pepper anymore, as the concrete and housing continued to crush me.
And then, it all went Black.
"It's Tony!"
"I know it's Tony! Who else wears a gold and red iron suit for god's sake?"
"Stop bickering you two! You're like children!"
"Keep quiet Natasha! Stay out of this."
"Damn it Cap, don't you think we have better things to do than this? I mean, can't you see those holes in the suit? Water's still pouring from them."
"He needs CPR! He's drowning!"
"We can't do CPR! At least not with his suit on."
"Get the suit off of him!"
"Cut it! Cut it off!"
"Alright. Fine. Let's try this."
...
I awoke slowly, my vision blurring into place as I let out a weak and pained moan. I shifted my head to look around, the familiar faces of Agent Natasha Romanoff - otherwise known as Black Widow - , beside her Agent Clint Barton - Hawkeye - and even Mr Steve Rogers - the great Captain America.
Clint seemed to be watching me like a hawk - must've be why he's called Hawkeye - while the other two were focused on piloting whatever kind of vessel they had me in.
"What... What the hell is going on? Where am I?" I fought to speak, my throat aching along with my joints. I glanced around some more, recognizing the shape of the Avengers' Initiative submarine used before. I smiled faintly as I thought about fighting along side the other Avengers, oh, good times.
"Tony." Clint turned his attention to me. "That's a good question, one I should probably be asking YOU! Did ya' blow up your place in some experiment or something? It looks pretty totaled. Everyone okay? What about Pepper?"
And that was when it all came back to me. The Mandarin's air strike. The explosion... Pepper! I threw myself off of the cold floor, fighting to ignore the aches and pains that echoes through my body. "Pepper! I need to find her! Where is she? FIND HER!"
"Found her." I flinched as I heard Natasha speak up. I was worried sick, a little comforted by the fact that she'd been found, but also a little alarmed by how quickly she had been. I ran to the front of the submarine, catching sight of her motionless form from the large front window.
"I'm going to grab her- ack!" I spoke up, suddenly to have Clint push against me.
"Tony, you can stay right here. Tend to your wounds."
He was right. I hadn't noticed it, but the crushing before had left a pretty nasty aftermath. The splintering metal had left nasty, and now salt-filled slices along my arms, legs, cheek and even stomach. They bled slowly, infectious sightings beginning to brew within them. But that wouldn't stop me.
I gave Clint a returning shove. "Don't touch me." I growled, obviously angered. "I'm going to get my wife, if you don't mind!" I turned to walk towards the exit hatch, knowing it would lead to a chamber that prevented water from entering the main part of the submarine, only to have Clint completely defy what I had just said. He grabbed my by the arms, holding me back as I stifled a surprised yelp.
"You will do no such thing." he growled back to me, turning his head to nod to Steve. I watched as he dashed towards the exit hatch, putting on one of the oxygen takes, and left. I kept my watch on the super-soldier as he swam out towards the woman I could only faintly see through the front window. I stifled a worried whimper, almost forcing myself to stop watching as I glanced up at Clint, whom of which kept a harsh grasp on me.
Moments seemed like hours, hours passing painfully by, until the exit hatch re-opened once again and Steve made the climb in, a soaked Pepper still in his grasp. And then Clint released me, allowing me to make no hesitation as I dashed towards her.
Steve laid her down gently on the floor, and I knelt beside her. I glanced up at Steve, fighting the worries that came from his sorrowful stare.
"Help! She needs CPR, now!" I turned to the others. Even I saw the inevitable fate, but refused to accept it. I gave a hard push on Pepper's chest, pressing my lips against hers as I performed the measures myself. Nothing. I tried again, desperate, and still received no signs of life.
"Tony..." Steve placed his wet hand on my shoulder, though it only made things worse.
"Shut up! I know, you're going to try and tell me to give up!" I hissed, now fighting the tears peaking from my brown eyes. "B... But I don't believe it..." I gave Pepper's chest another forceful push, and still received nothing.
Natasha had kept her focus on piloting the submarine, and away from Pepper and myself. It was probably the smart choice. Though, I had full attention from Steve and Clint, whom of which continued their silence, until Steve broke the streak.
He lifted his hand from my shoulder, sighed and spoke. "Tony. I'm sorry." he said calmly and sadly, but that continued to make the situation worse.
Eventually, after about a minute of trying repeatedly, I gave up. I wiped at the tears that began to spill from my eyes, dripping down onto Pepper's already wet body. I whimpered before wrapping my bloody arms around her and pulling her close. The other two men watched me, Clint now diverting his eyes from the scene and towards Natasha, and Steve watching with his face buried in his hands.
I... I couldn't believe it. So quickly. In one strike, I'd lost my home, my life's work, and even the one I loved most. I felt the tears push their way out of my eyes as I bared my teeth in sorrow. I gently rubbed my hand on the lifeless woman's cold, wet cheek before giving it a tender kiss. Pulling back, I felt more and more choked up until my soft crying escalated to a harsh sob. I couldn't help but sniffle and shudder as my eyes remained locked upon Pepper. I whimpered her name, barely audibly even to myself, as I pulled her closer. I stroked her soaked hair, now resting my head against her as I continued to sob.
I held her close and continued to sob, my tears mixing with the blood that continued to ooze from my cheek and spilling onto Pepper's lifeless form. And then it hit me. This was my fault. The Mandarin wants me dead, and now they'd killed the one thing I can't live with out. They'd done something worse than killing me. I'd have given my life for Pepper, not the other way around. It wasn't fair. And they... they would pay.
I gently lowered Pepper's body onto the floor and wiped the last of my tears away from my eyes. The thoughts of the Mandarin continued to plague my mind, anger and hatred towards them beginning to push away the grief and sorrow that had filled my mind seconds before. When I opened my eyes, they had been wiped tearless, though my face was still wet with the mess. I couldn't see myself, but I bet Steve could get a pretty good view, and I bet my eyes would have been leaking with the rage.
They would pay for this.