Author's Note:
Good news everyone! This is the second to the last chapter of the story, and I just wanted to say congratulations for making it almost to the end of the story. Also just wanted to say, that once again, I am not that skilled when it comes to fight scenes (or anything closely related to action depending on what it is), but I try my best. Anyways, happy reading!
After everybody got suited up and made their way towards the Quinjet, the vehicle took off into the sky, Natasha and Clint wasting no time in putting the jet into maximum acceleration once all the heroes were inside. Steve had gathered them all around the meeting room table, all except for Tony who stayed off to the side, but he was within close proximity to them so he could still hear. Even Natasha and Clint had joined them, after they put the Quinjet in autopilot once they locked in their coordination, so now it was time for their Captain to formulate a plan.
Steve looked over at Tony, the brunette ever so slowly turning his head to look at the Captain, giving him a small smile or reassurance that he was listening, before he turned his head away again to stare at anywhere other than where his team was. Steve smiled in return, understanding that while Tony looked like he wasn't listening, he actually was.
"Alright team, listen up," he started, making eye contact with all of them, "the streets are overrun, and the Triskelion is probably crawling with these things. Wanda, Nat, I want you two with me on the ground. We need to evacuate all civilians we see, and clear the streets. Clint, I want you high in the sky, you see anything out of the ordinary, you inform us, or you shoot it down. After we get the streets cleared, we move in. Banner, you see the situation take a turn for the worse, you Hulk out. Thor and Tony, I want you guys getting inside the building. Clear the inside of the building and we'll move in on your command. Understood?" They all nodded their heads in response. Steve dismissed them, Natasha and Clint heading back towards the front of the Quinjet where the pilots sit, Wanda, Bruce and Thor casually take their seats inside the jet, and Tony was still standing in the same exact spot.
Steve walked over to him, drawing the attention span of the brunette once more. He placed his hands on either side of Tony's face, cupping his cheeks in his hands. "You gonna be ok?" He asked sincerely.
"It's kinda surreal that after everything that's happened, we've finally gotten down to the root of the issue. I guess it's just some last minute jitters." He shrugged it off like it was nothing. The soldier simply smiled, nodding his head in understanding.
"When you get inside the building, do everything you can to make sure it's safe. Once you're done with that, head to top and we'll meet you there." A quick nod of Tony's head had the Captain leaning forward, placing a gentle, and carefully slow kiss on Tony's lips before he pulled back. "You can do this Tony, I believe in you."
"Thanks for the pep talk, Cap. I better have a reward after all of this is over." Steve snorted in response.
"Cap," Natasha yelled, drawing his attention towards her, "we're coming up on our destination in fifteen minutes." He nodded his head at her and turned back towards Tony. "You ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." Tony reengaged his helmet and walked over towards the hangar's ramp, waiting for it to open. He heard Steve walkway, then two new sets of footsteps took his place, coming right next to him. It was Thor, the God of Thunder simply sending a comforting pat on his back. The ramp opened, and Tony could feel the familiar rush he always got when he used the suit. It's similar to how a skydiver might feel; that quick rush of adrenaline you get when you jump out of a plain and free fall, the wind whipping your hair in many directions, the gust of wind contorting to your body, your sensories are on overload as your brain is still stuck on the image of you still on the plane, long after you have already jumped out. Tony loved this feeling, he was always in control when he flew around in the suit, he remembers the first time he tested his Iron Man suit.
He remembers the feeling of pure sensory overload, mixed in with the rush of fear as he fell from outer space, the ground getting ever so closer and closer to him. He remembers feeling adrenaline pumping throughout his body when he got the suit to work again just before he hit the ground, allowing him to make it back home safely. "God, what a rush that was," he thinks to himself as he gets closer to the edge. He inhales deeply and exhales slowly, turning around and noticing Steve, a two finger salute casted in his direction. Under the helmet, he simply smiled and returned the gesture before he opened his arms wide, and fell backwards out of the plane.
Once he felt like he enjoyed the look of the world upside down, he righted himself and activated his thrusters, accelerating himself towards his destination.
"Once we get inside that building, turn every disgusting alien creature you see into ash. Got it, Thor?" Tony spoke, looking at the Asgardian flying next to him.
"Aye, I can assure you these creatures will feel the full might of my powers for all they've done." Tony smirked, liking the way the Asgardian spoke.
As they got closer to the Triskelion, they could see the mass hoard of creatures running to and from the building. The geniuses' eyes were so focused on the streets and the building, that he didn't see the yellow beam of energy coming towards him until it was too late. His eyes widened as the beam got closer to him, he attempted to barrel to the left out of the beam's way, but he was too slow and it hit him square in his right shoulder. It destroyed the majority of the suit, cutting off power to Tony's right gauntlet, sending him into a teeter mid air as he started to descend towards the ground.
"JARVIS!" Tony yelled, watching as screens flickered in his vision, indicating the suit's damage and energy level, "put power into the remaining thrusters!"
"Right away, sir." The AI worked his magic and soon Tony started to balance out again, but he still crashed hard into the asphalt waiting for him. He rolled across the ground and bounced for a few seconds before he finally came to a skidding halt. He groaned in pain and sat up, looking at the right side of his suit, noticing the gaping hole where the color of red and gold used to be, and the flickering blue light where his repulsor blast was always functioning at the ready. There were eerie sounds in the distance, getting closer as the minutes rolled by. He stood up as the sounds were in close proximity to him, his left repulsor blast at the ready.
He heard a window break just a short distance away from him, a creature bounding on all fours rapidly gaining distance towards him. He held his left hand out, firing at the creature. It leapt into the air, avoiding the blast and landing onto a banged up and discarded car, teeth bared at Tony, smiling at him. A shiver went up his spine as he switched to the miniature rockets located on the suit's shoulder, firing a few of them at the creature. It was agile, it moved like a blur and it was hard for Tony to land really anything on this creature.
"Come on." He whispered. He waited for the perfect moment, watching as the creature moved so fast he hardly had any time to lock onto its location. He waited, letting it get closer to him. Once the creature suddenly disappeared from his field of vision, he turned around and held his left hand up, the familiar humming sound of his repulsor blast directed at the creature's face that tried to jump him from behind. He let the blast go and watched as the alien sailed away from him, its body crashing into another destroyed car, and staying there, limp.
"Iron Man, do you copy!?" He heard a familiar voice in his ear.
"Yeah. What's up, Cap?" He replied. He heard a small sigh, followed by what sounded like Steve saying a silent thank you that he's alright, before he spoke again.
"Thor said you got shot out of the sky. Are you alright?" He looked at the once blue light of his right gauntlet, faded into nothing but a grey light.
"Flying is going to be a little rough, other than that, peachy. Where are you?"
"We just arrived. Black Widow and Hawkeye are about to land this thing. We'll meet you-". An explosion sounded in Tony's ear where Steve's voice used to be, causing his eyes to widen and a chill to go down his spine.
"Cap? Cap, are you there?" The sound of metal groaning resonated around him. A shadow loomed over him, and as he looked up, his heart metaphorically sank into the pit of his stomach. The Quinjets left wing was broken off, fire and smoke emanating from the vehicle, it's flight compromised. He watched in horror as the jet crashed into the side of a building, breaking not only glass and part of the building, but part of the jet itself. He watched as the Quinjets right wing broke off, falling onto the street below. He watched the jet descend dangerously closer to the ground, bits flying off, getting lost somewhere in the building or in the city, fire dancing, crackling, smoke wavering in the air as it finally touched the ground.
"Cap! Cap, please answer me!" He pleaded. There was no answer, just pure static coming into his ear. He grit his teeth, first in anger, then in anguish. His eyes wouldn't leave the destroyed transportation vehicle the others used to get here, because that's where Steve was, that's where his team was, and he watched as they fell to their doom.
His hands curled into fists, his body was frozen in place, but he willed himself to turn away and look back at the Triskelion. He took the first step, ready to activate his thrusters on the next step he took, but he was frozen in place when he heard the sweet voice of his lover he thought he lost.
"Iron Man."
"Cap," was the only word he managed to let slip past his mouth.
"We're ok. Get inside the building, we'll meet you there." The corner of Tony's mouth curved upwards, a smirk plastered on his face.
"Aye aye, Captain." He started up his thrusters and ascended into the air. His flight was clumsy, occasionally he had stutters in his flight and he would have to readjust the balance onto his other side as best as he could. "Hey, Thor."
"Yes, Man of Iron?" The Asgardian replied.
"You think you can deal with most of those assholes inside," he asked, his eyes focused on the top of the Triskelion where a weird, bright yellow light was being emitted, "I think I have somewhere more important to be."
When he heard the confirmation from Thor, he continued his flight to the top of the Triskelion, the bright yellow light getting more blinding by the second, until suddenly it diminished in strength. He uprighted himself once he reached the top, cutting his thrusters and landing gently on the roof. He walked slowly, eyes boring holes into the back on the creature that was standing on the roof with him, a staff- no, a scepter, Loki's Scepter, in its hand.
"I'm surprised you didn't die after that terrible fall you had, Stark." The creature snarled.
"Yeah. Well, I've fallen from the sky before and believe me when I say it's going to take more than that to take me out of commission." He retorted. The creature slowly turned around, showing its face to the genius, who in return, sneered. "You're a lot uglier than those other guys, so I'm guessing you're the leader."
"That would be correct." The thing in front of Tony was just like all the others, except this one wore a skull mask over its face, covering everything except its eyes and its mouth. Where all the Axelons had simple black eyes, this one's right eye was pure white, and Tony could make out the small wrinkles on its face. Needles to say he was disturbed and disgusting, and it seemed to pick up on this fact. "Oh I'm sorry, maybe you'd prefer a more suitable appearance. Where are my manners?" The creature grinned at him before taking in a deep breath, a small white light temporarily blinding Tony, causing him to look away. The light dimmed down, and once he looked back, his eyes widened.
"Ah, this feels so much better. Don't you think, Tony?" It had his features down to perfection; his blonde mop of hair that sat perfectly on top of his head, shaved off at the sides while the top was swept over in a wavelike fashion, the usual tight skinned shirt Steve usually wears that shows off his muscles, and his ever so fashionable brown khaki jeans. It left Tony speechless at how… Accurate these things were able to impersonate them, it's no wonder that Steve was having a hard time telling real from fake. "Oh wait, hang on, forgot the signature suit." It even sounded like Steve, which made this more realistic than it needed to be as it closed its eyes once more, white light blinding the genius yet again. This time, when he was able to look again, he saw the creature was dressed up in Steve's Captain America outfit.
"I think I'm enjoying how speechless you are, makes everything easier."
"You're not getting away with this!" Tony yelled. Fake Steve simply shook his head and smirked at the genius, sending a shiver down Tony's spine.
"And just how do you plan on stopping me, when you're frozen in place?" It walked forward, ever so slowly, its footsteps thumping and thudding on the rooftop tiles. Tony raised his left hand, the humming of his repulsor starting up as the creature continued to take its time coming closer to him. "Go ahead, shoot me. You know I'm a fake." He grit his teeth, but he couldn't shoot.
Why couldn't he shoot? He knew this thing wasn't Steve, he just saw it transform in front of him. His hand started to shake and before he knew it, the creature was already in front of him, lowering his left hand and gently cradling the right side of his helmet.
"Fear is a powerful foe, isn't it?" It whispered. The sound of crushing metal resonated in Tony's ears, pressure being felt in his left forearm. He looked down quickly, noticing the vice like grip of the fake Steve that made the metal groan and creak until eventually it broke, bits and pieces of his suit falling onto the floor, the blue light of his left gauntlet flickering until it too, just like his right gauntlet, turned grey. The right side of his helmet was the next thing to chip away, caught in the grip of the alien, his eyes wide like saucers as it held his face, a malicious glint shimmering in its eyes.
"I can just see the fear written all over you. Why don't I help magnify that fear by giving you a first hand experience what the mind stone can really do?" He was too scared to move, he watched as the scepter moved closer to his face, a blinding yellow light staring at him in the face until he willed his eyes shut. Specs of white and black danced around behind his closed eyelids until they suddenly stopped, but when he opened his eyes, everything was different.
He first noticed that the scene around him was different, he was by himself and was no longer on the roof of the Triskelion. The second thing he noticed was that he didn't have his armor. The last thing he noticed was the area he was in was dim, barely lit except for the lights that shone above his head. His breath hitched and a lump formed in his throat when he realized where he was.
"Please no…" He whispered to himself. He turned around as he heard commotion coming from behind him. His eyes widened and his heartbeat quicked, his hands shook and his breathing was labored while he stood there, watching himself be dropped onto a table, blood pooling around the area where his heart was.
He remembers what happened here; it was when he was struck by his company's own bomb and shrapnel entered his heart. He was brought here, in this barely lit cavern in Afghanistan where he had open heart surgery, while he was still conscious. He watched as the scalpel made contact with his skin, cutting him open, creating a crevice in his chest where he could see a hemostat making its way inside of him. He shuddered, which only grew in size as he started to see himself convulse, heard himself scream, watched these people put their arms on him to hold him down as he thrashed about, feeling every ounce of pain he knew he was in. He closed his eyes, not wanting to look anymore, and then suddenly the screaming stopped.
When he opened his eyes again, the cave was gone, replaced by fancy furniture, glass windows next to a cliffside view of the ocean, a liquor cabinet, a fireplace, wooden tiled flooring, makeshift kitchen a few feet away from the liquor cabinet and a spiral staircase that lead to the upper part of the building. He was back home, in his mansion, late in the middle of the night. He remembers what happens next.
He watched as Obadiah stood menacingly over him while he was paralyzed, bleeding from his ears, skin pale and littered with blue veins. He remembers the feelings of helplessness and betrayal, as well as the feeling of creeping death as Obadiah ripped the Arc Reactor out of his chest. He felt a pang of pain from his own chest, as if the action from this memory could be felt from his own body. The feeling grew stronger, and he grit his teeth. He clawed at his chest, trying to make the pain go away, trying to find any means to make the pain cease. He lifted his shirt, and he felt like he couldn't breathe.
Thick dark lines protruded from the Arc Reactor in a zig zag like pattern, slowly creeping outwards from his chest to the rest of his body. He whimpered and started to hyperventilate, the pain growing as the lines kept ascending. He clawed at the reactor, trying to tear it out of his body, wanting the lines to go away, wanting the pain to stop. The pain transferred from his chest to his neck, and he screamed. He begged for it to stop, it was too much for him to take.
He heard laughter around him, loud, malicious laughter, and it got closer until it was right in his ear. He let out a strangled sound when a hand grasped his throat, and pain shot through his abdomen. The fake world around him dissipated, and he was back at the Triskelion, suspended slightly in the air with the tip of Loki's spear embedded in his abdomen. Blood pooled at his mouth, dripping onto the roof floor, eyes glassy and vision blurred due to tears.
"Quite powerful isn't it?" Fake Steve whispered into his ear. With quick sudden movement, the spear was yanked out, and Tony was tossed onto the side. He groaned in pain, a shaky hand moving towards his abdomen area where his suit was pierced and the blood started flowing out of him. His breathing was labored, blood continuing to stain the roof while he struggled to sit up. Strained sounds made their way past his throat as he moved, every nerve in his body telling him to stop moving.
'Big man in a suit of armor, take that off and what are you?' Steve's words echo in his mind. Was he thinking these thoughts, or was it the mind stone making him remember his choice words.
'Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist.' Was his snarky reply. As he fell to his back and watched the world move around him, his eyes barely staying open, noticing Loki's scepter aimed at his chest this time, he would've never admitted the truth out loud even in the face of death, but while all those words about him were true, there was one thing he was holding back from everyone. That he was vulnerable.
He closed his eyes in defeat shortly after watching Loki's scepter being raised in the air, knowing that there was no way out of this. Is this truly the way he was going from this world? What more could he do, in his damaged state. It'll hurt Steve at first, when he's gone, but eventually he'll move on.
The final blow never came, but instead the sound of bodies rolling across the floor was heard instead. Tony slowly opened his eyes, the sky the first thing he sees from his position. He groans, willing his limbs to respond to him. He rolls to the side, finding the scepter laying there within arms reach, discarded. He reaches out for it, fingers coming into contact with the metallic object, the light of the mind stone shimmering in his view. He grabs the scepter and slowly turns his head.
What he sees he has no words for, his mind starting to blank from too much blood loss. He registers that there's two Steve's, throwing punches back and forth. Steve on the other hand, the real Steve, doesn't notice Tony struggling to get up, he doesn't notice the way he stumbles and loses his balance on his way over to him, he's too busy with the imposter in front of him.
He doesn't notice the genius getting closer as he falls to his back, a hand clasping around his throat and squeezing with all his might. He tries to pry it off using his super strength, but the hand doesn't budge. He can feel the world spinning around him, his mouth opening and gasping for air. He doesn't notice when the pressure is elevated, he never noticed when the spear entered the creature's body. He watched as it was lifted off of him, suspended in the air and tossed to the side as its body returned to its original form. He noticed Tony after he dropped the scepter, standing over him and looking pale and weak. He moved forward as the genius dropped to his knees, catching him in his arms swiftly. He noticed the wound in his abdomen, and he quickly told the other's to call for help.
"Steve…" Tony said weakly. The soldier gave all of his attention to the dying man in his arms, eyes glassy with unshed tears, one hand holding Tony while the other grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together.
"Stay with me, Anthony. Don't you dare die on me." He pleaded. The first drop of Steve's tears hit Tony's cheek, and then the rest started to flow, dripping one by one. The brunette simply smiled, cupping the side of his face with his left hand, leaning up weakly to place a kiss on his lips before pulling away.
"I… Love… You." Tony whispered. That's when his body went limp, and the world around him was lost into darkness. That's when Steve kept pleading, begging, asking him to be ok. He held the genius close to his body, the tears continuing to flow down his cheeks as he waited on the roof. He didn't want to let go, he didn't want to live a life without the brunette in it, but Thor had said the paramedics arrived, that's when he had to let go, watching as Tony's lifeless body was transported, and there was nothing Steve could do except hope that everything was going to be ok.