The Empire Strikes Back
PenPatronus
Chapter 2
Stark's Sins
"Hey, guys, you ever see that really old movie, 'Empire Strikes Back'?"
-Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Wanda leapt to her feet. "Absolutely not!"
Wilson folded his arms and spat, "Hell, NO!"
"No way!" Scott stood and backed away as if from a grenade. "No way in hell am I helping that asshole!"
Three high-pitched cackles erupted from Clint's chest. "Nat, people usually ask for help from their friends. Nobody here is Tony Stark's friend!"
"Whoa," Nat gasped. She held up her hands as if they'd all pulled a gun on her. "Calm down."
Clint rolled up his t-shirt and showed Nat a bandage that covered half of his torso. "Stark almost blew me up at the airport."
"He shot me at point blank range!" said Wilson.
"Stark gave Ross the collar that subdued my powers!" Wanda sputtered.
"It's his fault we got locked up in that underwater maximum security hellhole!" Scott throttled the air with both fists. "And then he pretended to not know who I was!" When four faces frowned at him, Scott shrugged and said, "Ok, maybe that wasn't his worst sin, but I'm still pissed about it…"
"Guys…" Steve sighed and rubbed his eyes like he was battling a migraine. "Let's hear her out."
"You all make valid points," Natasha conceded. "Yes, Scott, you ended up in the Raft. What you don't know is that Tony allowed T'Challa to follow him there. If he hadn't, then T'Challa couldn't have told Steve about it, and Steve never would've found you." She turned to Wilson. "Yes, Sam, he shot you. He shot at everyone. But he kept his promise to you. You gave him the intel, and he went alone and as a friend. He could've told Ross and sent the whole army after Steve and Bucky, but he didn't." Wanda started pacing, and Natasha's eyes danced back and forth as she addressed her. "Yes, Wanda, that was Stark tech. Yes, Tony ordered Vision to detain you in the Compound. But, when the prison was breached, you guys only escaped because Tony refused to come help when Ross called. He could've stopped you, but he didn't. And as for you, Barton…"
Clint cut her off. "I'm supposed to be waterskiing with my kids." Barton's voice was low, and dangerously measured. "My family doesn't know if I'm alive or dead right now because I can't contact them, because I'm a fugitive, because of Stark! He stood by when Ross' men carted me off from the airport!" Clint shook his head at her. "YOU stood by, Nat! You're supposed to be my friend!"
"I am." Natasha turned the phone on and set it face-up on the rug. "And so is Tony. I can prove it, Clint. I can prove that he deserves your help."
All eyes turned to Steve. He sat statue-still and stared at the flickering lantern. "What happened?" he whispered.
"You're really going to listen to her two-faced bullshit? You've got to be kidding me," Lang snorted. He took a long swig of rum and then marched towards the spiral staircase in the corner of the roof. "I'm out!" he declared, and mimed scrubbing soap and water around his hands and then flicking it off. "I wash my hands of all of you!"
"Lang," Sam called reluctantly. He opened his mouth to continue speaking, but failed to find anymore words.
"Pym is sending a private jet for me in a couple days," Scott announced. "I didn't tell you because I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave. Seriously, Rogers, I was more than happy to help you fight some psycho assassins but THIS is where I draw the line! I have a daughter—I'm DONE!" The rest of the group heard the echoing mumbles as Scott descended the staircase, muttering to himself in disbelief, and cursing all of the Avengers as he went.
Wanda glared at Natasha, and then started to follow Lang.
"One more thing," Natasha called to her. "Wanda, you should know that a year ago, Ross ordered Tony to tell him where your brother was buried."
"What?" Wanda's legs went rubbery. She sat down beside Sam and dug her fingers into the rug. "Why?"
Nat's nose wrinkled. "To analyze Pietro's body…to make more Quicksilvers. Tony REFUSED."
"He never told me that," Steve murmured.
Nat gave him a look that was almost pity. "I think that he didn't want to burden you with more than you already had," she said softly. "He was trying to protect you, Steve."
"And I was trying to protect him when I didn't tell him that the Winter Soldier murdered his parents," Steve murmured. He gestured at the group. "Look where our good intentions have landed us."
"I'm sorry, guys, but my number one priority is to get home to my family," Clint declared. He took a long swig of rum and got to his feet. "Whatever mess Stark has gotten himself into now, I…I don't care."
Nat grabbed his wrist. She squeezed it tight, like she was checking for a pulse. "Five minutes." It was almost a beg. "One video clip."
Nat didn't wait for his answer. She tapped the Stark-phone's screen, and a holographic image appeared. Another tap, and the video started to roll. Wanda Maximoff gasped at the sight, and Sam Wilson had to turn away from the picture of Tony Stark, more bruise than not, tied up in a chair. Bright lights highlighted every blood-splattered contusion on Tony's pale skin. His reactions were sluggish, his eyes slow to blink, even when a fist came at his face. The bad guys had taken away his suit jacket and shirt, leaving his naked torso unprotected. White liquid entered his body through an IV in his left arm. A masked man in dark camo kicked Tony in the ribs and though the chair trembled, it stayed upright and secured to the floor. Tony spit blood.
The masked man circled him like a hungry shark. "Where is Nick Fury?" he demanded. A subtle boredom in his voice betrayed the fact that this was not the first time he'd asked that question. "Where is Phil Coulson?"
Tony slouched in his seat. They could barely hear him speak over his gasping breaths. "I don't know."
"Where is Thor? Where is Banner?" The masked man grabbed his throat. "We know that Steve Rogers contacted you. Where is he? WHERE IS HE?"
"I won't tell you." Tony gasped out the last of his oxygen.
Steve stood up from the table and threw the pitcher of rum off the roof like a shot-putter.
The masked man loosened his grip. Keeping his hand around Tony's throat, he slowly walked around until he stood behind the chair. Double doors opened. The Avengers watched, shocked, as two men dragged a woman into the interrogation room. Pepper Potts' hair was disheveled, her pantsuit ripped, her cheeks doused with terrified tears. She tried and failed to speak around the gag covering her mouth, and winded up just shaking her head back and forth at top speed.
"No," Tony croaked. He struggled with his binds. "No, God, please."
"Nat?" Steve gasped.
"The real Pepper Potts is safe. Coulson's team took her to a safe house outside of Phoenix right after Stark was kidnapped. It's difficult to tell, but this woman is wearing S.H.I.E.L.D. facial camo, the same tech I wore to infiltrate the Triskelion. That's not Pepper…" Nat's voice dropped past a whisper. "…but Tony doesn't know that."
"Oh, my god," Sam whispered.
A gun pressed against Pepper's temple. She shrieked. She shook.
"Please, no," Stark begged.
"Answer this question," the masked man whispered. "I give you one chance to answer this question, or she dies." The man paused, and everyone leaned forward except for Natasha, who put her face in her hands. "We know that Clint Barton has a family," the masked man hissed in Tony's ear. "Where are they?"
Tony's face seemed to slide, to droop. Too many emotions to count flickered across his face. "I love you," Stark whispered to his ex-girlfriend.
"WHERE ARE THEY?" the man bellowed.
"He has kids, Pep," Tony whispered. "Honey, he has a b-baby…"
"Tell me!"
The woman in the Pepper mask wept.
A breath.
"TELL ME!"
A single tear dripped off of Tony's chin.
"No."
A crack. Blood splattered. The howl of grief and rage that came from Tony Stark sounded inhuman.
Stark slumped in his chair, his body suddenly still as if he'd taken the bullet himself. And then the trembles began. His body seized and quaked with sadness so hard that the floor vibrated. "No," he cried. "NOOOOOO!"
Natasha paused the video. Tony's voice seemed to echo throughout Wakanda.
Barton crouched half-standing, half-sitting, like he was about to leap right into the video. "Now do you believe," Nat whispered, "that he's your friend?"
Twin tears plopped onto Clint's cheeks. He slumped back down to his knees and hunched over. With a voice like sifting gravel, he stuttered, "W-We have to s-save him. T-Tonight."
To Be Continued