A/N: Okay so the basic info you will need to understand the story is: Tony can see them only The Clone can see Tony. Tony is in any reflective surface even outside the Tower. There is no food or drink in this other dimension. When Tony's punching walls imagine a tired, hungry, desperate, angry, sad, depressed, traumatized Tony sobbing while screaming and swearing and yelling insults at The Clone. When anyone besides The Clone refers to Tony until the story says otherwise they are talking about The Clone. It will all make sense when you read it in context.
Set after the Avengers Movie but before Iron Man 3.
"I'm breaking up with you." Tony deadpanned
Pepper looked shocked "What?!"
"You were just another fling only longer. I'm a playboy! What did you expect, you didn't think I actually loved you did you? How could I when you're bossy, easily angered and weak." Tony said all this in one breath
"You're actually breaking up with me?" Pepper's voice had gone an octave higher
"Are you deaf you stupid woman!"
Pepper gulped loudly, she was fighting back tears "Oh... Well then." She took a deep breath and looked away from Tony "I- I guess I'll just get back to work, Mr Stark." She turned away from Tony and walked towards the elevator, there was a mirror there and she could see the tears sliding down her face, she knew Tony could see them to so it horrified her when he smiled sadistically catching her eye in the mirror.
Now I suppose you're all wondering why Tony's breaking up with the love of his life in such a mean way. It's not to protect her from his enemies or keep her away from the superhero scene, but simply because that wasn't Tony. That was a clone of Tony. The real Tony Stark was currently stuck in what can only be described as another dimension. Tony was stuck in a dimension that was a reflection of his own, in other words Tony was stuck in the mirrors and any other reflective surface. No one but The Clone (As he will be referred to) could see or hear him but Tony could see everything as long as there was a reflection.
The Clone was intent of destroying Tony's life and he had started with Pepper. During this scene Tony had banged his fist on the reflective surface till his hands were bloody and bruised as well as screaming and shouting till his voice was hoarse, when Pepper had looked at him in the mirror he had hoped that she had heard him, that she had figured it out, but he saw the tears in her eyes and his heart broke. A whole new torrent of curses streamed from his mouth as he attacked the barrier once more.
The Clone laughed sadistically "One down. Six more to go. Maybe I'll even put you on SHIELD's bad guy list just for fun!" (The six left are Rhodey and the Avengers)
"YOU BASTARD! YOU FUCKING BASTARD! I WILL DESTROY YOU WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE!"
"Well then I guess I'll just have to make sure you never leave." The Clone laughed manically
"Sir. Who are you talking to?" Asked JARVIS not getting the situation and unable to see Tony
"Mute." The Clone said he flashed Tony a smirk before going to Tony's room which he had reflection proofed.
LINE BREAK
Pepper cried over the phone to Natasha "Tasha! He just broke up with me! He said he never loved me! He said I was a fling! A fling Natasha!"
"I read people for a living and I can tell you with great certainty when I was at Stark Industries, Tony loved you more than even himself and seeing as he's got textbook narcissism that's hard to do. Something must have happened. Clint and I are investigating."
"If something's going on with Tony you might as well bring the other Avengers, Thor's in New Mexico with Jane and Bruce is still moving around, you know where to find Steve. Oh and bring Rhodey he's known Tony even longer than me."
"Ok will do. You hang in there Pepper we'll get to the bottom of this."
LINE BREAK
The Avengers had gathered in the Living room of the tower. Natasha was hugging Pepper in her time of need while also talking about what could have made Tony change so drastically.
Pepper said slightly wobbly "Tony hasn't been the same since the Battle of Manhattan but never anything extreme just a few sleepless nights or a nightmare about flying into that wormhole, nothing over the top."
Bruce was thinking "So are we ruling out extreme PTSD?"
Clint asked "Why don't we just ask JARVIS?"
"Who?" said Steve and Thor at the same time
"Not who, what." The smooth British voice rang down from the ceiling "I am J.A.R.V.I.S. Just A Really Very Intelligent System."
Clint smirked "I guess acronyms aren't Stark's strong point."
JARVIS continued "I am an Artificial Intelligence created by Mr Stark to assist him and keep him alive."
Natasha asked "And anything strange?"
"Sir has been caught speaking to the mirror and other reflective items on 6 occasions. He has taken out any reflective items from his room and shut down my cameras and sensors."
Steve was next "What did he say to the mirrors?"
"Do you want a summery or word for word?"
They all exchanged glances before Thor spoke up "A summery."
"Sir appears to have convocations with his reflection. They are usually taunting and sadistic however due to Sir's cynical and sarcastic streak that wasn't what bothered me. From what Sir has said, he seems to be taunting himself."
Steve raised an eyebrow "Firstly, streak? It's a lot more than a streak. And secondly why is Stark being mean to himself?"
Rhodey had been watching them studying them, having never have met them he was leaning against the sofa but he stood to attention abruptly "Okay I know what we need to do."
Pepper smiled "I knew we could count on you Rhodes!"
"Steve I need you to go find Tony and start talking about how great his father is, if he gets edgy or tense or angry then I'll have to change strategy if not then... then we may be in trouble."
Steve gave him a weird look but like the soldier he was he followed orders from the Colonel. He asked JARVIS where Tony was and then sort him out. "Hey Tony!"
The Clone was in the lab working on the Mark 30 "Captain America." He said without looking up
"What no Capsicle?"
"What?"
"Your nick name for me. Capsicle. 'cause I was frozen in ice. You know."
"Right sorry wasn't listening. JARVIS why didn't you inform me Steve was here?"
"He was accompanied by Agent Romanoff who overrode my systems."
"Oh Natasha's around?"
"Another slip Tony you're losing your game."
"What?" The Clone asked for the second time
"You call her Natashilie or itsy-bitsy."
"Right sorry, didn't sleep tonight." The Clone had to change the subject "So Capsicle, what brings you to my humble abode?"
Steve snorted at humble before saying "I just wanted to talk about Howard Stark, I mean since I woke up I've come to terms with the fact that everyone I knew is long dead, but you're my only connection to my past life Stark, and I was hoping you would talk about him just this once, please."
The Clone beamed "Of course Steve what do you want to talk about?"
"Are you sure? I mean Natasha warned me you might not want to."
"Why wouldn't I?" The Clone was getting anxious had he messed up?
"Since you didn't get along with him, and you hated him, and you won't even talk about him to Pepper or Rhodey."
Shit "Oh well... anything to help a friend?" The Clone was so screwed
As soon as those words were uttered the Avengers and Rhodey had surrounded The Clone, pointing various weapons ranging from guns to bows to magic hammers, Bruce was even wearing Tony's arm repulsor from the Mark 7.
Rhodey spoke "Okay what is wrong with you?"
"James, let's not make any rash decisions just put down the gun and-"
"What did you just call me?"
"James. Because that's your name." The Clone was freaking out his contact had not given him enough information
"You call me Rhodey or Platypus maybe Rhodes. Never James." Rhodey's finger tightened on the trigger "Where's Tony."
That shocked Thor "Is that not The Man of Iron?"
Clint looked freaked out "If that's not Tony, then where is he?"
"And who's this guy?" asked Bruce gesturing to The Clone
The Clone smirked he had the advantage "Tony is in a parallel universe. My goal was originally to ruin Stark's life by ruining the good things he had. Break up with Pepper, scare of the Avengers find some way to shake off James, become a criminal and get on SHIELD's bad list, make Stark Industries bankrupt, then let Tony return and leave him picking up the pieces."
Something snapped in the back of Natasha's mind "You mean picking up the shards."
"What?" the Clone said for the third time that night
Clint caught on though "He kept talking to mirrors."
Bruce realised "So Tony's in a theoretically possible universe that exists only in reflective surfaces?"
The Clone grinned "It's not theoretical. It's completely and utterly retical."
At that everyone but Natasha turned away to face a mirror. Natasha had more sense than to turn her back on the enemy.
Tony's face was pressed up against the wall, they figured it out! He yelled "Rhodey! Pepper! Avengers!" please let them hear me Tony begged in his mind please.
He banged on the mirror and was surprised to see a hairline fracture ruin the usually flawless glass. Everyone on the other side noticed too The Clone whispered loud enough for everyone to hear "...impossible!"
While Clint asked alarmed "Is that a good thing?"
Tony punched the smooth surface again and winced as his already bruised fist made contact with the unmoving glass. He punched it five more time before the fracture grew he kept punching it until he was kicking it and punching it he was yelling as he took out his frustration and anger on that crack on the wall. It grew and grew until it finally just smashed.
The Avengers, Rhodey and The Clone stumbled back as the glass shattered and they are face with a very angry Tony with blood dripping from his ruined hands he looked even angrier then Fury when the council tried to bomb Manhattan. He climbs out of the mirror frame and stalks towards The Clone without a word he punches him in face and watches as he passes out. Tony looked at the others before smiling and also passing out.
"-ony...an...hear...Tony?"
"...he okay?"
"Tha...weird...Clone... Mirror Universe... Others inside..."
"How...escape?"
The disjointed sentences were really annoying Tony as he came to. He realised he had been drugged which he hated it slowed his thought process and that his hands had been bandaged. From his limited and blurry vision he could make out he was in a hospital he could also see the SHIELD emblem painted proudly on the wall. He was in a SHIELD hospital. This was probably the most safe he'd felt since The Clone had first trapped him in his own mirror that had been a weird day. After that weird turned into depressing and then hopeless. He had started punching the wall that separated him from reality and screaming at that damned Clone to let him go, when he had broken up with Pepper was the last straw seeing those tears on her face and hearing her sob as she talked to Natasha on the phone. He slowly drifted back to sleep closing his eyes, not registering that the Avengers, Rhodey and Pepper were sat around him.
He woke up sitting bolt upright unsure of what was going on, his vision was fuzzy and distorted, he felt a hand on his shoulder and he immediately went into defence mode going back to the frightened but determined prisoner in Afghanistan, he tried to attack it only to be stopped by a different pair of hands. His eyes widened as his vision cleared and he saw his hand millimetres away from Pepper's fearful face and Natasha holding his wrists defensively. Tony's first words were "Whaaa?" Not exactly words worthy of the genius but he had an excuse.
"Tony can you hear me?" asked Natasha still holding his wrists
"Uum... yeah." He pulled back his hands and sat on them "What happened?"
Clint shrugged "We were going to ask you that question."
Tony tried to remember all the details "I was in my room and then my reflection attacked me, I think JARVIS had somehow been shut down because he was silent."
Natasha was already filling out the SHIELD mission report even though it technically wasn't a mission. "When did this happen?"
"About two weeks ago. Actually wait. What day is it today?" Tony had lost track of time
"23rd of January 2015." Pepper replied
Tony's eyes widened "What!" he exclaimed his mouth dropped "I was inside a mirror for A MONTH! And none of you noticed!"
The others started shuffling awkwardly mumbling their excuses but Pepper looked depressed she was the only one who spent regular amounts of time with Tony, she should have seen it but she didn't, she had been with a fake Tony for just under a month and she hadn't even realised, what kind of girlfriend was she!
Tony read this on her expression "Pep, it wasn't your fault."
"But I should have known! I spend almost every day with you, I should have seen the difference!"
"Pepper don't blame yourself! You didn't shove me into a mirror did you? No! So it wasn't your fault!"
"But-"
"Fine if you're so eager to blame yourself, how about we make it 12% your fault."
Pepper smiled "I'll bargain for 15%"
The others didn't understand what they were talking about but seeing as Pepper didn't seem to blame herself any more they just went along with it. Tony held up his bandaged hands "So how long till these heal up?"
Bruce flicked through his medical record "It's gonna take a while, you busted your hands up pretty hard punching through into another dimension and all."
Steve frowned "I'm no scientist but shouldn't that be impossible?"
Tony and Bruce looked at each other and when neither could supply an answer Clint shrugged and reasoned "That's magic for you."
Tony started "There's no-"
"-Such thing as magic, we know!" Finished Thor annoyed that the man of Iron was still a sceptic
"Magic is just science we don't understand yet." Tony was never going to admit magic was real. Ever.
Fury walked in "So Stark what happened? I want details."
"What no 'Hello Tony, how are you'?"
"Stark, always the joker. Just tell me what happened."
"I was fixing my hair in the mirror and then my reflection stopped copying me and pulled me in, I was unconscious for what I think was about 2 hours and when I came to I was trapped in my mirror, I realised I could travel to any reflective surface and that no one but The Clone could hear or see me," He shook his head slightly "That sadistic son of a Bitch was going to destroy my life and then leave me to pick up the pieces."
"What do you mean destroy your life?"
"Well he broke up with Pepper and then he said 'One down Six more to go maybe I'll even put you on SHIELD's criminal list.' He wanted to get the Avengers and Rhodey to hate me, make me a criminal, make Stark Industries bankrupt, then he was just going to let me out of the mirror and dump me into the mess he had made. What has The Clone said to you?"
"He say's he's the real Tony Stark and that we've captured the wrong person and that I'm a idiot."
"He said WHAT!" Tony looked mad
"Don't worry Stark we know which one's you and which one's not." Fury reassured
"Good." Tony was still tired after all he'd been in a place with no food or water for a month and he hadn't slept much so he slowly drifted back to sleep
Pepper kissed him lightly on the forehead "You're gonna be okay Tony, you always are."
A/N: I don't even know where I got this idea from, it just popped into my head a few days ago, and I started writing it up yesterday (23rd January 2015) and I finished it today, so I'll just post it shall I! Oooh yay that means I'll have (I think) 9/10 stories on !
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