A/N

Answers to your reviews-

Psyka – I know right :,-( Tah dah! Update is here!

Genderqueerwriter- I know right! He is a massive creep. And me too I love the idea of parental Tony and him loving Peter like a son. P.s that would be hilarious

Afredrigo- Thank you! I hope you like Afghanistan!

Guest – Thank you

KnowInsight – I agree he deserved a more gruesome end.

The new format is
the normal text is the memory
' ' - the thoughts of the characters
Italics - the others viewing the memory (their thoughts are not italicised)
Bold Italics - thoughts of the person the memory belongs to

***Copyright Notice ***

No copyright infringement intended...

All Movie Scenes used here belong to Marvel Studios and their respective owners, I'm not out to profit from this work.

I made it purely for enjoyment purposes.

As soon as they were back in the mindscape, Bucky felt Winter's righteous rage push to the forefront of his mind at the reminder of Pierce.

"How dare he try to help that traitor to kill Stark? How dare he suggest me as alternative!?" Winter snarls as he paces the mindscape, the others back away apart from Steve who moves closer to try and calm his friend.

"Buck-"

"My name is Winter! Can't you tell when you are looking at your friend?!" Curling his hand into a fist he brought it back and turned to the bookshelf behind him.

At this movement, Bucky suddenly stole the control from Winter before he could destroy the bookshelf. 'What the hell are you playing at?! This is Stark's mind, you can't afford to lose it in here. What if you damage his head?'

Horrified, Winter stills.

"You are my friend." Bucky feels Steve's hand on his shoulder, Bucky uses all the mental strength he has rebuilt from the BARF sessions to keep Winter from turning his smile into a sneer.

'Personally, I feel closer to Stark.' Frustrated at being held back by Bucky, Winter settled for hissing inside his head. 'At least he isn't expecting me to be anything I'm not. If Pierce and Stane weren't already dead I'd kill them myself.'

Steve lets out a relieved breath that he didn't know he was holding when he manages to guide Bucky back to the group, it was then that he let it sink in what he had previously seen.

'Oh my goodness, Pegs.' He felt greatly saddened at seeing Peggy's progress into the woman he saw a year after the Avengers had formed.'I wish I was in Daniel's place… Oh, Pegs I wish I was there for you and not in that blasted ice…We could've grown old together.'

He briefly remembers Wanda's vision where he was dancing with Peggy after the war and blinks back the thin layer of tears that gathered along his lower lashes.

'That should have been me… I just wish I had more time; even if I was in Tony's place.'

He feels an irrational spike of anger and envy at remembering how close Tony had been with Peggy which led him to think about the so called 'Dark Days' he had seemed to go through after his visits to her.

'It's hard to find someone with shared experience.' He had once confided in Natasha, but now ironically, he seems to have found it in a person who seemed to be the polar opposite of himself. 'The bully, the close bond to Peggy and the Depressive days… 'I am surprisingly finding more and more similarities to Stark as the memories go on.'

'Tony, you should've told me. I could've helped.'

When his thoughts cleared, he finds the others have moved on to the topic of HYDRA and Obadiah, despite feeling internally saddened that no one else wished to talk about Peggy, he forces himself to listen in anyway.

"-not surprised that Stane is involved in Hydra and using Tony's aunt to sliver his way in like that. I shouldn't really put anything past that despicable creep…" Rhodes shakes his head whilst out of the corner of his eye, Steve sees Wanda's eyes flash red at the mention of Stane. He can't help but feel worried; she had been uncharacteristically quiet and subdued ever since finding out the truth about her family, but now rage was etched all over her face.

It is hard to decipher whether it is directed at herself or Stane but either way he vows to talk to her about it soon.

"What gets me is how he uses Mr Stark's depression, his trust issues and his Aunt and Uncle leaving against him like that. All the touching and the sly digs too… I think I understand why Mr Stark is so careful with me now. I don't know if you've noticed but he never touches anyone below the elbow or the top of the back." Peter speaks up, his voice sounds hushed and upset.

Growling, Bruce's eyes flash a dark green. "You're right! The most disgusting type of people are those who use other people's mental health problems against them." Wanda shrinks in a little on herself, eyes downcast, but Bruce continues. "At least Tony has JARVIS there keeping an eye on him and Obadiah. I would've personally let the Hulk at him by now if I could."

"It is most curious how the voice within the walls had his own thought process. I was led to believe that Friend Anthony had not the ability to create souls unlimited to a mortal shell. Only the highest Sorcerers and Mages I believed possessed the power to do this." A grin cracks open Thor's face but the others only appear perplexed. "Friend Anthony must be gifted too!"

Wanda blanches at the thought of JARVIS having a soul. 'No, no he can't have a soul…but I did feel another presence being transferred into Vision in the cradle, it was at the back of my mind but I was so scared I didn't think-'

"No, Thor." Steve steps forward towards Thor, "Whatever JARVIS was, it wasn't alive. He was an Artificial Intelligence ergo it or he didn't have a soul and never felt-"

"I believe I will have to disagree with you there Mr Rogers." Everyone's eyes snap to Vision who speaks in an unusually, unfriendly tone, his loss of calm unnerves everyone, especially Steve. "If the memory was not enough proof for you, I can tell you myself that I still have JARVIS' protocols stored within me, despite not being bound to them. Sometimes I do get flashes of memories about times with Sir from twenty years ago and the most intense feeling I have ever experienced was a strong familial bond that linked me to Mr Stark. Do not tell me my predecessor was not real. He was. Just like I am, despite being Artificial too."

"Vision, I wasn't implying that you-"

"But you did." Rhodey snaps in retaliation, angered by the condescending tone Steve had utilised which implied that Vision had nothing to be upset about in the first place. "Steve if we follow your logic regarding JARVIS, Vision would not be counted as real either, so please shut up before you make yourself sound even stupider."

"Rhodes man, look Steve isn't right but-" Sam tries to speak up, but Rhodey cuts him off harshly.

"Don't make excuses for him. He accused my friends of not being real so of course I'm going to snap at him for that. 'Man out of time' or not." He directs the next part to Steve in a vitriolic voice. "However, you were friends with one of the biggest futurists on the planet so I am sure that he would have helped you catch up- if you asked. Yes, I am being mean because I am not feeling charitable to you right now. I'm actually feeling quite bitter… any favourable feeling I had towards any of you lot," he gestures to Team Cap, "died when you went to top up your tan in Wakanda for two years and left us - namely Tony - to deal with your shit."

No one has anything to say to that for a long time until the Being reappears, seeming sombre.

"I need you all to prepare yourselves. The next selection of memories will be painful and disturbing for you all to watch." The Being frowns deeply.

"Oh, fuck this is Afghanistan, isn't it?" Rhodey groans, appearing tense when the Being nods.

Steve, Bucky and Thor appear confused but everyone else tenses at this - no one knows for sure what had happened there in those three months - but they know it had led to Tony shutting down weapons manufacturing.

They quickly judge from the Being that the truth would be darker than they ever imagined.

"Mr. Stark! Excuse me! Mr. Stark!" A beautiful blonde reporter was halted by security as she rushes up to Tony, she holds her hands up in a term of surrender as her eyes remain focused on Tony.

"Christine Everheart, Vanity Fair magazine. Can I ask you a couple of questions?"

Tony side eyes Happy next to him for a moment before Happy, appraising her, gives the signal that she is safe to talk to. "She's cute."

"She's alright?"

'Are you sure?'

Happy gives a miniscule nod that only the spies notice before Tony whips around to face Christine and approach her.

"Hi."

"Hi." Christine replied sweetly.

"Yeah. Okay, go."

At these words Christine's head straightens and her tone becomes more inquisitive as her smile loses a lot of it's fake sugariness.

"You've been called the Da Vinci of our time. What do you say to that?"

"Absolutely ridiculous. I don't paint." Tony deadpans as a cruel smile breaks out on Christine's face in preparation for what she is about to say.

"And what do you say to your other nickname," her fake smile falls completely into a dark frown as she drags out her next words for emphasis. "The Merchant of Death?"

Tony keeps a severe frown on his face as he looks down his nose at her. "That's not bad."

"And to think I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt-" Wanda begins to rage before Rhodey cuts her off.

"Did you forget about Stane? Why would he think it was bad when he thought all the deaths were America's enemies?" Rhodey snaps in return whilst Tony narrows his eyes at Christine and guesses which university she went to.

"Well, Ms. Brown. It's an imperfect world, but it's the only one we've got." Tony raises an eyebrow at her. "I guarantee you the day weapons are no longer needed to keep the peace, we'll start making bricks and beams for baby hospitals."

"Rehearse that much?" Quips back Christine as her eyes squint analytically at him, trying to gauge his reaction.

"Every night in front of the mirror before bedtime."

"I can see that."

"I'd like to show you firsthand."

Christine shakes her head but the wide smile that spreads over her face at the offer was more than telling. "All I want is a serious answer."

"Okay, here is serious." Tony's tone becomes darker, "My old man had a philosophy: 'Peace means having a bigger stick than the other guy.'"

"That's a great line, coming from a guy selling the sticks."

'Howard was more than that.'

They were surprised by the defensive anger pooling in Tony's gut for Howard and the fact that his voice chilled a few degrees.

"My father helped defeat Nazis. He worked on the Manhattan Project. A lot of people, including your professors at Brown, would call that being a hero."

'I do.'

"And a lot of people would also call that war-profiteering."

"Tell me," at this point Tony makes no effort to hide his irritation, he tears the sunglasses from his face and stares back at her. "Do you plan to report on the millions we've saved by advancing medical technology? Or kept from starvation with our intelli-crops? All those breakthroughs: military funding, honey." Proudly, Tony smiles at the end of his speech and his eyes lighten.

'That's my side projects - SI has never been all about weapons. I have never allowed it to be, just try to make up something bad about those, honey. I dare you.'

"Wow," Christine appears genuinely amazed about his lack of guilt and she tilts her head up at him challengingly. "Did you ever lose an hour of sleep your whole life?"

"I'd be prepared to lose a few with you." Flirtatiously, Tony raises an eyebrow at her and a slow smile creeps around the corner of his mouth.

"Smooth Stark…" Clint snorts cruelly, "you really would screw anything with a pulse wouldn't you? She's pretty, sure- but don't you care that she insulted everything you and your family stands for? You really do only care about the brawn-"

"Did you forget about Sunset?" Natasha looks away from Christine and Tony, who are now climbing into the car together, and narrows her eyes at him.

Clint opens his mouth but Natasha cuts him off.

"No you view it as a joke don't you? It is not funny that the 'playboy got played' - that toxic relationship is exactly the reason he became one! Until Afghanistan, he didn't care who he had sex with or who saw him do it. Why do you think there are so many sex tapes of him around and JARVIS didn't remove them? Sex is just an act, Tony learnt that from Sunset just as I learnt it in the Red Room..." Natasha swallows and shakes her head before sharpening her glare towards Clint. "Imagine if that was Cooper, would you find it so funny then?"

"No," Clint coughs through a crack in his throat. "No I wouldn't. I'm sorry, Nat."

Natasha nods as the scene morphs and whirls around them.

" I'll try again later…" The scene came into focus at Pepper's words, the Avengers note that they are obviously standing in Tony's workshop now; Tony is knelt over the guts of a 1932 FORD FLAT HEAD ROADSTER that they know from his memories he worked on with Howard, they recognise it being responsible for a few of the scars on Tony's hands.

Although working with cars is a hazardous business so they knew Tony didn't entirely blame Howard for those and despite the injuries he received it was one of the rare times he felt close to his dad.

'Wow… I'm feeling oddly nostalgic today. Definitely a minor dark day.'

Pepper herself is walking towards him with her hand clasped around her mobile which she had lifted to her ear.

"Please don't turn down my music." Tony asks JARVIS distantly, keeping his eyes on the screen where JARVIS was displaying information about the car.

"I'll keep you posted." Flicking off her mobile, Peppers voice became fondly exasperated. "You are supposed to be halfway around the world right now."

"How did she take it?" Asks Tony, sounding distantly interested as he takes a part of the metal guts from the car.

"Like a champ." Pepper sighs, they note with some amusement that she appears like a long suffering parent.

"Why are you trying to hustle me out of here?" Examining the metal grill for a moment, Tony places it on the floor as Pepper begins to speak.

"Your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago."

"That's funny... I thought with it being my plane and all, that it would just wait for me to get there."

Clint and Scott snort at that. "He does have a point."

"I need to speak to you about couple of things before I get you out the door."

"I mean, doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?"

Cap merely gives the others who appear amused and memory Tony a look of faint disapproval before sighing similarly to how Pepper did to Tony earlier.

Wanda hisses under her breath, "not everyone is fortunate enough to have their own plane. He should treat them and Miss Potts better."

"I was the one waiting for him." Rhodey notes coldly as Wanda looks to him.

"And I heard SI has one of the highest staff satisfaction scores in the country and Miss Potts has no complaints she went on to become his CEO after all… what were you saying?" Peter couldn't resist sneering at Wanda under the Mask, he had thought she had learnt better than to make nasty assumptions but clearly he was wrong.

To her credit Wanda appeared a little chastised and didn't respond, only turning her head back to the memory into the middle of a new conversation.

"I need it." Smiling a little as Tony got up, Pepper turns back to her clipboard to hide the light pink blush that flushes across her cheeks. " Buy it, store it."

"Okay... the MIT commencement speech-"

"Is in June… Please, don't harangue me about that stuff."

"Well, they are haranguing me, so I'm gonna say yes…"

"Well deflect it, absorb it, don't transmit it back to me."

"Did we just hear Tony's hacking method?" Natasha whacks Clint over the head for that remark, "Ow! Jesus Tasha."

"Shut it! I've had enough of missing things because people keep talking over whats happening."

"Why only hit me?!"

Natasha smirks evilly at that question, "You're closest."

"What are you trying to get rid of me for? What, you got plans?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Pepper answers shortly however her voice became softer as her business like demeanour thawed even more and betrayed her real affection towards him.

She opens up the blue folder she has been leaning on to reveal a long document inside that needed Tony's signature.

"I don't like it when you have plans." Tony grins widely at her and his eyes soften as he looks over her face.

With how obvious Tony was being with his attraction to Pepper, Thor couldn't help but boom a short laugh at this statement only becoming louder when Tony reveales he didn't know it was her birthday. 'At least I remember and celebrate Lady Jane's birthday with her each year, however adjusting to the midgardian calendar was difficult so other events are harder to remember… I sympathise friend Anthony.'

This causes Clint to give Natasha a betrayed look when she doesn't whack him for his laughter.

"It's your birthday?" He smiles softly.

"Yes." She responds in the same way, failing to hide her blush this time.

"I knew that. Already?" Tony's eyebrows furrow and he quirks his head forward in a curious manner.

"Yeah, isn't that strange, it's the same day as last year." She smiles teasingly, looking from the folder back to Tony.

"Well, get yourself something nice from me."

"I already did."

Tony's grin became even wider at this admission which they didn't think was possible. "And?"

"Oh, it was very nice. Very tasteful. Thank you, Mr. Stark."

"You're welcome, Ms. Potts."

Tony's expression flickers before closing off from the amiable smile they saw morph into something more business like as he looked away from her and downed the shot of coffee he made previously.

It is with some bemusement that Wanda notes that she is in Stark's head once more, seeing and experiencing things as if she is him.

She finds herself with a lot of begrudgingly impressed looking soldiers and officials in front of her.

'Alright, let's get this over with.'

"Is it better to be feared or to be respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?"

'That's it lay the rhetorical questions on thick…then hit them with the persuasive facts. God, I could do this in my sleep.'

"With that in mind I humbly present to you the crown jewel of the Stark Industries freedom line, the first missile system to incorporate our proprietary repulsor technology. They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once, that's how dad did it, that's how America does it and it's worked out pretty well so far."

Wanda snarls inside his head at this. 'You really don't know do you, Stark?'

"Find an excuse to let one of these off the chain and I personally guarantee you… the bad guys won't even want to come out of their caves." Gesturing to the missile in front of him, the machine turns around and fires at what she knows to be a mountain range behind him.

Wanda stilled. 'Stark really didn't know… he was naïve enough all this time to think he was just supplying aid to help fight 'the bad guys' not civilians, like my parents!'

Despite the stoic and rather hard delivery of that persuasive speech, Tony doesn't turn around once but she knows a pleased, arrogant smile is threatening to overtake his schooled professional mask.

'I am the best - I only make the best to protect my Rhodey.'

"For your consideration, the Jericho."

She hears the mountain range dramatically explode as the shockwave showers him and the crew of army generals with dust.

They are all temporarily blinded and when the ash clears she feels Tony open a casket of expensive drinks.

"I'll be throwing one of these in with every purchase of five hundred million or more. To peace!"

Stark's phone buzzes and he flicks it open to reveal the image of a shirtless Obadiah Stane.

Anger boils inside her very veins at seeing him again. 'This is who my rage should've been directed at - I only wish I could kill him myself for what he did to my family… he is the true merchant of death.'

"Tony-"

"Obie, what are you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep till I found out how it went. How'd it go?"

'Wow that's odd and… very creepy.' Wanda muses, but Stark clearly doesn't find this behaviour odd and barrells on.

"Went great. Looks like it's going to be an early Christmas."

Beaming, Obadiah's face lights up at this declaration as he drawls. "Hey! Way to go my boy. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

She feels pride rise in Tony as he stands a little straighter and smirks in return.

"Why aren't you wearing those pyjamas I got you?"

'Creep.' Wanda sneers.

"Goodnight Tony."

She feels him roll his eyes at this whilst sliding into the humvee.

"Hey Tony-" she sees a slightly younger version of James Rhodes approach the vehicle Tony slid into.

"I'm sorry this is the Fun vee," Tony drawls and glances behind him. "The Hum drum vee is back there."

'How rude-' Wanda's thought is abruptly cut off by Tony's.

'-Those new recruits are nervous enough escorting me without you there too.'

'So he was actually being considerate?'

She is still stunned, so much so, she barely hears Rhodey leave and with that she is yanked from that memory.

They all group together in the humvee with Tony and the three soldiers, despite the fact that Tony has done his best to make them feel at ease by playing obnoxiously loud AC DC from the radio, there seemed to be an underlying tension present that Tony could no longer ignore.

Giving the soldier next to him a very calculating glance, Tony suddenly speaks up. "I feel like you're driving me to court martial. This is crazy. What did I do? I feel like you're gonna pull over and snuff me. What, you're not allowed to talk? Hey, Forrest..."

Amused by Tony, most of them snort at this, however Steve appears faintly unimpressed until Sam nudges him.

"Lighten up man."

"We can talk, sir." The soldier next to Tony, Forrest, cuts Steve off before he can retort.

"Oh, I see. So it's personal?" A hint of offence bled into Tony's voice.

"No, you intimidate them."

"Dear God, you're a woman!"

They feel his mortification at that remark before he hastily tries to backtrack. Despite this, he manages to hide his true feelings extremely well and goes instead for an unapologetic, arrogant tone that nearly has Natasha fooled.

"I honestly, I couldn't have called that. I mean, I would apologize, but isn't that what we're going for here? I thought of you as a soldier first."

"I'm an airman." The women soldier replies in a deadpan voice while the men in the humvee turn and smile at him.

Rhodey shakes his head as he looks at his friend and laughs under his breath. "You're digging yourself a hole, Stank."

"Well you have actually excellent bone structure there. I'm kinda... having a hard time not looking at you now." At this all three of the soldiers in the car grin widely as the soldier closest to Tony splutters a laugh. "Is that weird? C'mon, it's OK, laugh. Hey!"

The male soldier in front turns to Tony and smiles. "Sir, I have a question to ask."

"Yes, please."

"It is true you went 12-for-12 with last year's Maxim cover models?"

Cap went bright vermillion and exclaimed an outraged, "TONY!"

"Go big or go home." Clint muttered whilst smirking. "Damn Stark."

"That is an excellent question." Tony whips off his glasses and raises an eyebrow. "Yes and no. March and I had a scheduling conflict, but fortunately the Christmas cover was twins. Anything else?" The soldier next to Tony nervously raises his hand and half smiles. "You're kidding me with a hand up, right?"

Peter suddenly feels an upsurge of empathy for this kid who seemed only a few years old than himself.

'I was a bit of a spluttering mess when I saw Mr Stark for the first time too but at least I fared a little better than this guy.'

"Is it cool if I take a picture with you?"

"Yes, it's very cool." Forrest fumbles for his camera before leaning across and giving it to the soldier in front of Tony and throwing up a peace sign. "I don't wanna see this on your MySpace page. Please, no gang signs." Forrest lowers his fingers hesitantly. "No, throw it up, I'm kidding." He smiles wider and throws the sign back up. "Yeah, peace! I love peace. I'd be outta job with peace."

"C'mon! Just click it, don't change the settings." Impatiently, Forrest speaks up as his friend flips the camera.

The happy atmosphere shatters when the humvee in front of them erupts into smoking detritus. Panicked soldiers begin pouring from vehicles and taking arms.

"Contact-" screams the airwoman as debris strikes the hood.

"What's going on?" Tony asks, attempting to muffle his panic.

"Contact left!" She screams again.

"What have we got?" Presses Tony, desperately.

The airwoman jumps from the humvee to be immediately met with a hail of bullets, falling still in the sand.

Steve is confused, as are Bucky and Thor. None of them quite understand the cause of the attack. Or the significance of Afghanistan. Steve remembers a small mention in Tony's file about a kidnapping in Afghanistan, and that he'd come out with the Arc Reactor and become Iron Man soon after. He hadn't thought much about it since it was only a brief note. Steve is unsure what to make of of a situation that is quickly looking like a warzone.

"Jimmy, stay with Stark!" Cries the older soldier as he leapt and takes position behind the hood, situating his rifle.

Jimmy grabs Tony, shoving him to the floor, "Stay down!"

Tony, huddles on the seat, staring at the soldier as he fires on their attackers. A shot shatters the air and the windshield, with a cry the soldier falls.

Tony gasps, jolting up and patting his chest.

"Son of a bitch!" Jimmy jams a round of bullets into his gun. The team feels foreboding churn in their guts.

"No! No! No! Wait, wait, give me a gun!" Tony begs. 'Stay here please, kid, stay alive!'

But Jimmy was already slamming the humvee door behind him, "Stay here!"

He steps out when, with an explosion of sound, the side of the humvee, and Jimmy are riddled with holes.

They don't have to see his body to know he's dead.

'That had to have been fragmentation class bomb of some kind- fuck I really have to get out, I'm not safe in here if the attackers have those.'

Tony stumbles out of the humvee, ears ringing and lightheaded, he shakily walks to the front of the humvee where the other male soldier lays prone behind the front end. For a moment Tony just stares, kneeling in the sand next to the body of the young man who minutes before had been smiling and about to take that damn photo. Tony can't even remember if he did.

Tony swipes his gun and takes his place over the hood.

Rhodey is the only member of the team not surprised to see Tony readying to fight the terrorists with only the gun of the man who'd died in the same position he now took. The original avengers are shocked to see how comfortable Tony looks with the gun and the ease he handles it with.

But the gun jammed. He fiddles with it for a minute until he notices damage on the cartridge and barrel.

"Fuck!" Throwing the gun down he seeks out Rhodey, spotting him in the humvee behind, at it's artillery gun.

"Rhodey!"

Their yells are drowned out by explosions and gunfire and Rhodey has to duck down between shots.

"Rhodey!"

"Get down!"

"It's so weird watching this from Tony's point of view." Rhodey mutters feeling anxiety for himself pool in his best friend's gut; as he watches the past version of Tony reluctantly tear his eyes from James and run for cover behind a clump of rocks while weaving between explosions.

'Fuck, I hope Rhodey is alright.

'I gotta contact JARVIS and Obie, they'll help us.'

He yanks his phone from his pocket and hurriedly begins to text, however just as he sends the message a bomb lands in front of him.

A bomb with the words STARK INDUSTRIES printed boldly across the side.

Tony recognizes it instantly. The HB-62 or 'the Hydra Bite', a fragmentation class bomb. The shell designed to shatter in the explosion, the resulting shrapnel would tear through organic matter like a knife through butter.

'I remember showing the plans to Pepper once, the holographic shrapnel tore straight through the model of a human torso.'

Blanching, Wanda's eyes go as wide as dish plates as her legs weaken, she has to grab a hold of Vision to support her.

'Stark has more of a reason to hate himself than Pietro and I had to hate him. What did we do?'

"TONY GET OUT OF THERE!" Rhodey, Bruce and Clint yell whilst the bomb ominously flashes red and beeps repeatedly.

Tony scrambles to his feet with a howl, but it was too late, the bomb detonates with shrapnel flying. Tony is blasted off his feet, hitting the ground several feet away.

He lies in the sand, stunned and half deaf.

He stirs weakly for a moment before reaching for his shirt, quickly staining with blood. Ripping it open with a distant popping of the buttons, exposing the not so bullet proof vest.

'Wow this brings back memories, at least last time I was saving J.'

Quickly losing strength, he tears his eyes away from the blood steadily seeping through the left side of his chest and lies back down.

'Holy Shit. I'm dead.'

"Don't joke about that Stark." Worried, Natasha snaps at Tony, the cracks in her impassive façade widen at the sight of Tony's head tipping back whilst his eyes drift out of focus.

The Blood from his deep chest wounds form a small pool around him, coinciding with this their vision begins to blur and blacken around the edges before going completely dark.