CAEB Part IV - The Cross He Bears.
Chapter 7 - When the Levee Breaks
With seven days to go Tony finally appeared in the common room for the first time since movie night. He headed for the couch, via the fridge and practically collapsed into the soft cushions with a grunt and relieved sigh.
Bruce had informed them all that Tony had apparently been experimenting with the exoskeleton for the past few days and had made a list of things he had been trying out with the CAEB powers.
"How goes the CAEB shit?" Clint asked, not really expecting an answer by the way Tony buried his face into the leather of the new sofa. The man looked thoroughly done and in need of a good night's sleep.
"So far everything I tried I can do." Tony mumbled.
"That's amazing Tony, really amazing." Steve encouraged.
"But…" Tony prompted, sensing the Captain wasn't quite finished.
"You look exhausted please don't overdo it."
"Yes Mom." Tony dismissed it lightly and Steve didn't rise to it.
"What sort of things have you tried?" Clint asked, genuinely intrigued.
"Not much new stuff yet. I've been more fine-tuning stuff. Teleporting, energy manipulation, I broke quite a lot of things." Tony smirked.
"That's cool, but can you make a fluffy pink unicorn?" Clint grinned childishly.
"I cannot make things out of thin air. I'm pretty sure it breaks some law of physics."
"Thermodynamically that should be possible." Bruce mused. "The first law of thermodynamics states…"
"Energy cannot be created nor destroyed only transferred from one form to another." Clint said, and everyone stared at him incredulously. "What? I listened in school… sometimes."
"Nearly spot on Clint." Bruce nodded, slightly impressed. "So yes, theoretically if Tony could find enough energy, he should be able to create things."
"Yes, but I could neither generate enough energy myself to achieve that, nor hold that amount of energy from another source without exploding." Tony quipped, with a bite in his tone.
"And nobody wants to be cleaning your guts up off the green room all, that's just gross." Clint scoffed.
"Thank you, Clint, never knew you cared." Tony huffed.
"Bruce said you could channel energy from other sources?" Natasha pried. "Not just mechanical sources, but biological as well?"
"If you are asking if I've tried channeling people yet, the answer is no. And I don't see why I'd need to, we're fighting in a city, not exactly a shortage of power and I don't want to accidently make someone go kablooey."
"Granted Stark, but this is a war - what if the enemy, or even our own government cut power to the city? It wouldn't' hurt to explore all our options." Steve reasoned.
"Are you volunteering to get turned into soup Rogers?" The genius scoffed.
"Yes, because I trust you Tony, you aren't going to explode anyone."
"Well ain't that cute, we can write that on your gravestone. 'Trusted Tony Stark and exploded.'" Tony illustrated with his hands.
"Tony come on." Steve huffed.
"I'm not doing it Steve and that's final." Tony buried his face back into the new couch and was silent, telling them that, that was the end of them matter.
"Ok, well, ermm, I got to… go clean my arrows." Clint said awkwardly and scarpered.
Natasha rolled her eyes. "We're just going to leave you to crash Tony, ok, but don't moan when come back to cook dinner. You have a perfectly good bedroom if you don't want to be left in peace."
Tony gave a weak grunt in response as the others left him alone.
…
Exoskeleton mark 3 was currently under construction. The 'blowing up' issue that had been a seemingly parasitic problem of the mark 2, he was now 98% sure he'd fixed. Tony of course hadn't told the others of the 3rd degree burns he had suffered when the thing had backfired whilst he was trying to teleport a car over from Malibu. The CAEB had fixed him good as new and he tried again to the same result.
Tony was now sat in the lab, just killing time. Another simulation was running on the infernal machine, and the 3D printer would probably take the rest of the day to finish printing the exoskeleton
There was something he needed to do, and he'd been putting it off. There wasn't even a single cell of him that wanted to go back there, not after last time, but he needed to know.
He looked around the room and his eyes fell on the fried exoskeleton and the one that was incomplete. He could do it without, he'd done it before… Yes, he'd been semi-delusional and bleeding heavily afterwards, but now he had the implant and he was stronger.
He could do this. He closed his eyes and searched.
He was back there, in that cold, blackened place. The faint purple glow that lined the walls seemed duller this time and Tony could feel it. This planet - this heap of rock he was skulking around in, buried deep beneath the surface and so far away from everywhere he knew - was dying. The energy that emanated from the rock grew dimmer and dimmer with each passing moment. Tony drank in its radiation, the feeling of a strange unknown alien power helped banish the chill that threatened to eat him down to the bone and he took a breath. He was here for a reason and he had to stay focused.
But as he moved around the empty void of low ceilings and icy stone, in the darkness he could find nothing, sense nothing, or no one. They weren't here. The 5, somehow, had a route out of this place. The room where he had caught them planning last time, seemed completely unchanged. He now had a full view of the map of the portals and the algorithm that had nearly driven him insane, but that was nothing new. Maybe this was a good thing. Maybe that meant they weren't on to him and the CAEB, that the preparations they had made were aimed in the right places.
He breathed. He had found the peace of mind that he was after and now it was time to get the hell out of here before…
"How are you here again mortal?" A voice from behind him growled.
Damn. Too late.
He turned, knowing he was still invisible, but came face to face with Kairon and his four followers. Tony took a breath. It seemed it was time to play his usual game of pretending not to be utterly terrified in the face of certain death.
"You think your little trick can hide you from us?" Kairon scoffed. "You may not be visible, but I sensed you, just like I did before, and I brought you here then, do not think I will not do so again?" Kairon threatened and Tony was surprised to realize that the creature was speaking English and not its usual garbled tongue; then he remembered - these beings were once Asgardians; they knew his language.
"You think I'm trying to hide? I just don't know this thing works yet." Tony's voice sounded disembodied in the room he was just out of phase with, though he supposed now he had been discovered he may as well try to cross over into this other dimension before he was dragged there like before.
"What thing? How are you doing this. You are of Earth and Humans are so primitive..." Edraskil spat.
"I'm smarter than your average Earthling." Tony said immodestly, as the room came into sharp focus. The looks on the faces of the five told him he had successfully become solid in the room.
"Nevertheless, you should be dead. You were bitten by the Makluhk, how did you survive its venom?" Kairon asked.
"Yeah, well I'm pretty hard to kill." Tony shrugged.
"So, I gather." Kairon mused.
"I hear you guys are Asgardian, so why so ugly?" Tony asked, genuinely intrigued to see how they would respond.
"Who told you that?" Kairon looked taken aback.
"My buddy Thor." Tony said simply.
"Odinson." Kairon growled. "Why does he fight with you?"
"I don't know, he just likes fighting."
Kairon growled. "You talk too much."
"I get told that a lot. But you didn't answer my question, what happened to your faces?"
"The one thing that can stop us, the thing that trapped us here."
"Lord Kairon, you should not reveal…" The Green clad follower spoke up. Ever the voice of reason Tony remembered, but Kairon cut him off angrily.
"Shut up Urzus. If I required your council I would ask." Kairon roared and Urzus cowered.
Urzus, another name to Tony's list of bastard aliens he needed to kill. "The one thing that can stop you huh. And what is that exactly?" Tony asked with feigned interest.
"Why are you here human?" The Navy one demanded, the voice and close proximity made it clearer to Tony that 'Navy' wasn't a he, but a she.
"I'm pretty sure that's obvious." Tony chuckled.
"Silence Elthusa." Kairon ordered.
Kairon, Edraskil, Elthusa, Urzus. Tony ticked them off in his head. But what about Mr. Black stood back there in silence?
"You mean to find our weakness, some way of defeating us, but there isn't one, you and your planet will lose, you will burn and there is nothing you can do to save them." Kairon roared, triumphantly.
"Right fine we'll just give up now then." Tony shrugged.
"Have you considered that you may be divulging as much to us as you have gained. Perhaps more." Urzus chuckled.
"I don't really care." Tony shrugged with a flick of his head.
"You are reckless." Kairon's eyes narrowed.
Tony chuckled. "No shit."
"Yes. Perhaps you have forgotten your last visit, I see now the scar has healed." Kairon leant forward to touch Tony's neck. The Engineer simply leant away without moving or giving up his ground.
"I remember quite well. That wasn't very nice." Tony said, patronizingly.
"I dislike recklessness and I dislike spies." Kairon growled. "Perhaps if you are so difficult to kill, I should start trying now."
A flare of energy erupted around Kairon as he got ready to strike.
"Ok time to go." Tony hissed in panic.
He snapped into his body so hard he cringed at the whiplash. He patted himself down quickly for injuries but couldn't find any. He sighed in relief. That had been close. Too damn close.
And then it hit him, pain in a wave that knocked the breath clean out of his lungs. Shit. There was the downside to astral projection to another dimension. Being dissociated from his body gave him no idea how hard he'd pushed and now the pain was hitting him like a train. But that shouldn't have happened - he had been channeling the power of the lab, he shouldn't have taxed himself so hard. He looked around in his search for answers and realized that it was dark. There was the scent of singed electronics in the air. Something had gone wrong.
He yelled out. The pain was unbearable, and it was everywhere. He fell to his knees and clutched his skull, searching from relief. He felt weak, shaky, breathless. Then he smelled it.
"Shit." Toffee apple. He was going to have a seizure and he was pretty sure he was hemorrhaging internally.
He was in trouble. He'd gone too far, and Jarvis would be fried. He had to get to the others and fast.
For the first time Tony was scared. He was dying. And he was terrified.
…
Coulson hadn't been able to sit down and just have half an hour to himself in as long as he could remember. Between battle planning, his normal SHIELD duties, monitoring Fitz and Simmons and joining Ward and May on another mission last week, he was running on fumes. They had another progress meeting in half an hour which would be in the conference room downstairs, but for now he sat on the couch in the common room, overlooking New York as the sun began to set with a book in his hand.
He had barely noticed Natasha wander in to join him. She knew how valuable peace and quiet was to everyone at the moment and that she could do with a little herself. She settled for Netflix and headphones on a StarkPad.
The suddenly it went dark. There was the un-mistakeable sound of equipment powering down. There was very little light in the room as the twilight as had taken hold. Natasha looked up from her tablet.
"What's going on?" Coulson looked up as Natasha took out her headphones.
"Power's out? Jarvis?" There was no answer and Natasha frowned. "Emergency power should be coming on any second."
But after nearly a minute nothing had happened at all and Coulson got nervously to his feet. "Is it supposed to take this long?" He asked, receiving no reply as Natasha tried to log into the tower diagnostics on her tablet, but the connection wasn't loading; the whole system must be down. "Natasha look outside." Coulson said, his voice dangerous.
Natasha turned around instantly to look through the windows and it hit her like a train. Even with the power out inside the building it shouldn't have been this dark, they were in a middle of a city at nightfall, light should have bleeding in from outside, but the city was dark. "Where was Tony?" She asked urgently. Suddenly she had a tight knot in her stomach. Something was wrong she just knew it.
"In his lab… do you think he got the machine working?" Coulson asked tentatively. "Was it an EMP?"
"No, the StarkPad is working, it must just be the grid."
Low level lighting suddenly flickered on.
"Thank God, emergency power." Coulson sighed.
"We need to find him." Natasha said gravely.
They hit the stairs and started heading for the lab. Coulson cursed the emergency lighting. Why was it always red? They hardly needed a reminder something was wrong, and it made it damn near impossible to see. Coulson stumbled a little in the darkness, one hand on the railing for guidance as he tried to keep the flying assassin. Natasha seemed uncharacteristically worried and he knew better than doubt her instincts.
"Coulson!" Natasha's voice rang out in the stairwell and the agent picked up speed. He nearly ran into Natasha in the darkness as she came to a sudden stop.
"Romanoff?" He asked.
"He's here." She said and Coulson let out a breath of relief as he made the last few steps.
The Agent peered through the darkness and could now make out the form of a man, stood at the bottom of the flight below theirs. "Stark what is going on?" He asked, concern growing in his chest.
Tony was hanging onto the railing panting for air, his skin seemed to be covered in a sheen of sweat, illuminated in the red glow. It soon became clear he was barely standing. Something clattered to the floor, falling from his hand and Natasha rushed forward, looping Tony's arm over her shoulder before he could fall.
"I got you Stark." She said comfortingly.
"Nat…" Tony grunted, struggling to hold her gaze.
"Talk to me. What happened?" She asked calmly.
"I miscalculated." Tony wheezed and coughed harshly. Natasha tightened her grip as Tony's weight got heavier and his chest heaved with hacking coughs.
"Tony, Tony…" A faint voice rang out from the object on the floor that Tony had dropped but moments ago. It was Tony's phone. Coulson picked it up hastily as Bruce's voice rang through. "Tony, please talk to me, where are you?"
"Bruce, It's Coulson..."
"Phil, what's happening where's Tony?" Bruce demanded.
"We've got him, South stairwell."
"I'm coming." The scientist said quickly.
"Shit!" Natasha's voice snapped Coulson's attention back to the Billionaire who Natasha was still holding up. His palm was outstretched and trembling, coated with blood from his coughing.
"We need Bruce now!" Natasha lowered Tony quickly, but gently to the floor. He was still conscious but fading fast. He lay tried to lift his head but didn't seem to have the strength. Instead he seemed to lay back in acceptance, panting weakly with sweat drenching his skin.
"He's on his way." Coulson relayed. He glanced back at the phone screen and Bruce had already ended the call.
Tony shuddered against an invisible cold and let out an involuntary groan. Coulson's jacket was off in a second, he fell to his knees and wrapped it around the trembling Engineer's shoulders.
"Tony…" The agent started but was cut off by a clatter above them that sounded like a door opening.
"Bruce!" Natasha yelled out, praying that the doctor was nearly with them.
"No, it's Steve." The Captain's voice rang down from a few floors above. "What's happening with the lights?"
Tony suddenly jerked retching horribly Natasha quickly threw him onto his side, but what came out of his mouth wasn't vomit. The liquid was dark, thick, and smooth and there was a lot of it. Too much.
"Is that…" He didn't finish. It was blood. Phil could tell simply from the smell of it. The foul, sickening, metallic odor permeated the space. Coulson's chest tightened in horror.
"We have to get him to medical now." Natasha choked out.
"Captain!" Coulson yelled urgently.
Steve hadn't heard that tone in Phil's voice before. It was a cry, mixed with horror and desperation that had had him leaping over the railing, dropping three floors before swinging himself to land next to the others. Coulson and Natasha were knelt next to Tony and a puddle of, oh lord, was that blood? Steve was frozen for a moment as his brain processed the scene. The Billionaire was on his back, trembling and mumbling seemingly out of it, his breathing had escalated from rapid to panicked as he wheezed desperately for air.
"Tony breathe, you've got to…" Natasha coaxed, but was cut of abruptly.
Tony suddenly made a sharp move to sit up, clutching his chest violently, hand over the arc reactor protectively.
"Tony no stay down." Coulson's hand moved towards Tony's shoulder, pushing him down forcefully.
"Don't pin him!" Steve shouted desperately, but it was too late. A flash of blue erupted in the red lit corridor and Coulson was flung into the air violently.
"Phil!" Nat yelled out as the agent thumped heavily into the concrete wall of the stairwell.
"Coulson? Nat?" Bruce's voice suddenly erupted from below.
"Bruce up here!" Steve yelled.
"Coulson?" Natasha was at the agent's side the second Bruce was there to take over.
"I'm ok." A grunt acknowledged.
"Someone want to fill me in?" Bruce asked desperately.
"Tony's puking up blood and he CAEB flung Coulson against a wall." Nat said simply.
Bruce took a breath. "Nat, take Coulson to the infirmary, tell them to prepare for an extra patient. Then can you go let Clint and Rhodey out of the armory with the override code? It locks down automatically when the power is cut." Bruce said shakily.
"On it." Nat nodded, wide eyed. She looped Coulson's arm over her shoulder and headed towards the door silently.
Tony twitched violently.
"Give me that phone." The doctor demanded and Steve retrieved it for Bruce quickly.
The scientist tapped on the screen and soon a bright, steady light shone from the camera flash. "Here hold that." Bruce handed Steve the makeshift torch and began to palpate Tony's abdomen through his shirt, searching for signs of pain on the Engineer's face. "Tony, can you tell me anything, anything about what happened?" Bruce asked. But Tony wasn't there, he was staring off into space. The light from the phone highlighted the blood still running thick and slow, down the Billionaire's face and suddenly Bruce noticed the way Tony' hands were curled and twitching, the way his breath was coming in short sharp pants.
"Shit, he's going to seize." He said with a gasp, preparing to brace. As if on cue, Tony's entire body tightened and went rigid, twitching lightly. Choked grunts as the spasms grew stronger and within seconds Tony's whole form was shaking violently.
"Oh my… What do we do?" Steve asked frantically
"Wait till he stops seizing, get him to medical… and pray." Bruce swallowed.
"Pray? Bruce…"
"There's nothing I can do Steve! Either he will heal quickly, or he will need major surgery because I'm pretty sure he's hemorrhaging internally and there's not a goddamn thing I can do about it! We've got to wait until he stops seizing and then we can get him to the infirmary and into the hands of some real medical professionals, so just hold the torch and when I say carry, carry!"
"Sorry. I'm sorry." Steve tried to calm, himself. Tony bleeding to death he could handle… well he said handle, but he meant deal with without panicking, but with a seizure - there was something more terrifying about watching someone writhe on the floor, completely out of control of their body, than almost anything else. It was unnatural and looked painful and there wasn't a damn thing they could do but watch and wait and… pray indeed.
"No, it's my fault." Bruce sighed in apology.
"No, Bruce." Steve said in comfort, while he helped the Doctor hold Tony on his side, until Tony's quivering frame finally came to a halt.
"Carry?" Steve asked, but it seemed Bruce had several things to check first.
"Tony?" Bruce asked gently, finger on Tony's pulse. "Tony?" He tried again, but there was no response from the Billionaire. No snarky comment, not a grunt of annoyance, not so much as a flutter of his eye lids. Shit. "His pulse is weak and thready, but it's there." Bruce sighed, relief and worry mixing in a dangerous tone. "Carry." Bruce ordered, and Steve didn't waste a second.
The Captain ran with the Billionaire all the way to medical and handed off to the doctors as he was ushered out of the way. Bruce brushed past him in the corridor a few minutes later. He wasn't stopped from entering. No one would dare.
Steve stood near the door, staring at the frantic movements of the medics. The incessant beeping of the machines and the cries of alarm just made Steve's breathing increase and the panic rise in his chest. What was happening? Was he going to be ok? Why was everyone so worried?
"Steve take a breath." Natasha was suddenly by his side. "It will be ok."
Steve did as he was asked. "Ok. Thank you, Nat."
"You good?" She asked.
"I'll be good when Tony's good." He said firmly. "Do we know what happened?"
"No, I…"
"Someone please tell me what the hell happened!" Rhodes roared as he barged his way into the Med bay.
"Rhodey, we'll talk outside." Steve asked calmly.
"We'll talk right here!" Rhodes insisted, angrily.
"Outside!" Steve roared, and everyone stopped, stunned. Rhodes' jaw clenched angrily, but he turned his back to the room and marched back into the corridor as Steve followed. The Captain had a stern and determined look on his face as he closed the door to separate them from the Medical wing.
"Steve, Rhodey…" Clint was late catching up the anxious airman and ground to a halt when he saw the look on the faces of the two men in the corridor. "I'm interrupting something." He said certainly.
Steve sighed, and his face softened a little to speak to the Archer. "It's ok Clint, just go in and Nat will fill you in."
Clint gave a curt nod and moved away quickly, making sure to shut the door behind himself.
Finally, alone and a little more composed Rhodes turned to the Captain, in a mixture of worry and confusion.
"Steve, what the hell is going on? What happened?" The airman spoke quietly, his face pale.
Steve took a breath. Rhodes looked torn apart with worry, but Steve didn't have the answers he was craving, none of them did.
"We don't know Rhodey, Ok?" He started, tentatively. "All we know is the power went out, Bruce got a panicked phone call off Tony asking for help. He was a mess when we all got to him, bleeding… He told Nat and Coulson that he'd miscalculated, and he was sorry - that he needed help."
"So, the CAEB then." Rhodes spat bitterly.
"I think that's a safe bet."
"Why does he keep doing this?" Rhodes yelled out, but quickly composed himself, steadying his breathing. Steve waited, just simply putting a hand on the Colonel's arm to steady him. "What's wrong with him, is he going to be ok?" The airman asked after a beat.
"Major internal hemorrhaging I heard Bruce say..." Steve said sternly. "But we have to trust the CAEB is doing its thing."
"It's the CAEB that put him in there in the first place." Rhodes growled.
"I know Rhodey…"
"Guys." the door behind them suddenly opened and Clint popped his head out. "Sorry to interrupt but, he's going to be fine, blood pressure and heart rate have stabilized, he's coming around." Clint nodded, his face a little pale. "Thought you'd want to know." He added to justify his interruption.
"Thank you, Clint." Rhodes forced himself to offer the Archer a weak smile as Bruce appeared at his shoulder.
"Rhodey, he's asking for you." The doctor added.
Determination flooded the airman's face as Rhodes moved quickly towards the door, towards his friend but he was blocked by something solid. Steve stood firmly between the airman and his target.
"Steve, what are you doing? Let me through!" Rhodes protested in disbelief, trying to side-step the super-soldier, who just blocked his attempt.
"No…" Steve began but was cut off by the angry Colonel.
"Let me past Steve!" Rhodes growled.
Bruce moved Clint out of the way irately, so he could get through the door and into the corridor. Tony needed them right now and they were having some sort of childish stand-off. "What is going on here?" He demanded sharply.
"I'll let you through in a minute. There's something else I need to talk to you about first." Steve said firmly to the Colonel, who glared back at the Captain with some ferocity.
"What?" Rhodes hissed.
"Bruce, how's Coulson?" Steve asked, but it sounded more like an angry quip.
"What's wrong with Coulson?" Rhodes asked, growing more and more irritated by the second.
"He's fine, a little bruised and concussed but nothing serious." Bruce explained calmly. "What is this about?"
"Yes Steve, care to explain?" Rhodes spat.
"Coulson pinned Tony on his back, and Tony blasted him against a wall."
"Clint go back inside." Rhodes said firmly.
"Oook!" Clint held his hands up and retreated instantly. He wanted nothing to do with whatever 'this' was.
There was a moment of silence in the corridor and Rhodes and Steve stared each other out.
"What do you want me to do about it? Apologize? It ain't my fault." Rhodes scowled, folding his arms, and pulling himself up taller.
"I know it isn't Rhodey, but this is getting out of hand." Steve's tone was firm, but reasonable in an attempt not to escalate the situation further. "First, he strangles me, now he's hurt Coulson. Honestly, I don't care if it's me he lashes out at, or Thor, we can take, but he could have killed Coulson. If it was Nat, or Clint, or God forbid he hurt Bruce and the Hulk starts tearing the place up, it would be a disaster!"
"You want to make sure it doesn't happen again? It's really very simple." Rhodes glowered. "Don't pin him on his back!" He shouted the last part.
"Why?" Steve barked. "What is the deal with it?"
"Back off Steve." Rhodes warned.
"We don't know." Bruce said truthfully. He'd had enough of all the squabbling and secrecy.
"Bruce!" Rhodes protested.
"Come on Rhodey, he's right." Bruce pleaded. "Whatever happened today could have ended very badly for Phil and Tony would never forgive himself if it had. You can trust Steve and he needs to understand."
"Well there's not much to understand." Rhodes huffed. "He never told me why."
"But..." Bruce prompted.
Rhodes sighed and conceded. "But it is something to do with Howard, he's never spoken about it, and he's not going to, so just accept it and leave it."
"I can't do that." Steve announced and marched off.
"Steve!" Bruce called after him.
"Rogers, where the hell are you going?" Rhodes' terror came out in the form of rage as he bellowed after the Captain. The last time Steve had gone off like this Tony had been kidnapped by SHIELD, a series of events which he was not going to let happen again.
"Oh relax." Steve spat back, spitefully. "I need some air and space to think. Just go and see Tony."
…
Tony came around slowly. His eyes flickered open a few times, but he was too weak and exhausted to hold onto consciousness for long, but he could feel the CAEB buzzing inside him. He was getting stronger with every passing second but as his eyelids prized themselves apart and stayed that way, he felt not too dissimilar to when he'd been used as a chew toy by the Makluhk.
As the room came into focus the CAEB suddenly went berserk. His senses were instantly bombarded by an onslaught of voices and emotions that made pain radiate through his skull and his already throbbing insides churned sickeningly.
"You gave us a scare there Stark." Nat spoke calmly, but he could feel the anxiety roll off her in waves in a way he had never felt from the assassin before. Then he realized she was holding his hand and that was most likely the reason the connection was so stiflingly strong.
It wasn't the only overwhelming feeling in the room. Clint was anxious too, and there was something going on outside in the corridor and it was bad. The negative, angry energy rolled into the room in waves and he honestly thought he was going to pass out again if it didn't stop. He knew he shouldn't, not this soon and not while he was so weak, but he let the CAEB listen in to what they were saying, concentrating hard.
"Tony what are you doing?" Clint shook him anxiously as he came back into the room and realized the monitors were beeping out medical alerts at the Engineer's state.
"Nothing." Tony was trying to sever the connection to their emotions. He couldn't stand this anymore and he was trying to search for Pepper, the only thing that could ground him when he was like this, but it was all too much.
"Tony…" Natasha started, but just one more sensation and he thought he might explode.
"Just get out!" He yelped.
"Stark?" Nat asked and Tony almost cried out as his own gut twisted in time with hers.
"Get out please, I can't… just, get them to go an argue somewhere else, I'm too tired and it fucking hurts."
"Ok." She nodded, understanding dawning. "Ok Tony we're sorry." She let go of his hand and Tony instantly relaxed a little.
"I'll go tell them you're awake, see if that will shut them up." Clint offered, and Tony nodded weakly.
"Can you tell me what's wrong?" Bruce asked.
"I'm exhausted, and I can barely breathe with all the shouting and the worry and the …." Tony panted, nearly hysterically.
"It's ok." Bruce said calmly. "I'll go sort them out."
"Can you get Rhodey in here please?" Tony asked weakly.
"Of course." Bruce made his way to the door Clint had disappeared through only moments before.
"Tony just take a breath." Natasha said comfortingly, and her emotions seemed to have retreated completely as she exuded nothing but calm. "What do you need?"
"I just need to talk to Rhodey then I need some peace."
"Ok. We'll leave as soon as he gets here. I imagine Pepper is already on her way, do you want to see her when she arrives?"
"Yes," Tony grunted. Sleep was threatening to take him again and it would have already if it weren't for all the emotional mess flying around the room.
When Bruce came back in with Rhodes, Clint tight on their shoulder, Natasha ushered them away as requested, leaving the Billionaire alone with his best friend to recover.
…
Bruce sat down heavily into the couch; exhaustion written in lines across his face. "Do we know what happened?" He sighed, finally away from the medical bay. Tony hadn't really explained how he'd ended up in the stairwell or why he'd been such a state. He'd passed out again about half an hour after coming around, leaving them in the dark.
"We all know the same amount, and until Tony is up to talking that's all we're going to know." Natasha said firmly.
It had taken an hour to get Fitzsimmons out of their lab after the blackout, which for some reason had more complex override codes than the armory. Then they had, had to fill in the scientists and Pepper when she arrived on the situation.
Bruce had then taken it on himself to start Jarvis on a reboot which had been ticking away for the last 4 hours and then crashed heavily into the couches, anxious, confused and waiting for news from the med bay.
"Hello Avengers. Power is now back online, system rebooted and fully functional in 48 seconds. Please stand by."
"Oh man Jarvis, it's good to hear your voice buddy." Clint sighed in relief.
There was a slight buzz and whirring, followed by a stale pause for half a minute until the lights blinked back to their normal white light. There was a collective half-hearted cheer in the room which Clint clapped for too enthusiastically.
"All systems back online. Security override still required on door's 85, 192 and 198."
"What are those doors?" Jemma asked curiously.
"Probably some of the other labs on your floor and Tony's workshop. Everything unsafe is programmed to shut down until it gets the override. We'll do it later." Natasha sighed tiredly.
"Jarvis is Mr. Stark ok?" Fitz asked.
"He is recovering Dr. Fitz but has requested privacy."
There was a tired silence in the room for the next few minutes as everyone tried to reset their worry and alarm back to zero after such a crazy few hours at the tower, but no one seemed to be managing it.
"Hang on a second, where the hell is Thor?" Clint asked, realizing the very large missing person from the room. How had they not noticed before?
"Shit!" Bruce exclaimed.
"Bruce?" Natasha asked nervously.
"Door 198." He offered as explanation.
"What about it?" She frowned.
"The green room. Thor was in the green room training." Bruce realized.
"It's been 5 hours!" Jemma exclaimed in alarm.
"Crap." Clint chuckled.
"It's not funny Clint." Nat huffed.
"Is a little… Ow! Ok sorry." Clint protested as Natasha thwacked him round the back of the head. "You know the override codes, right?" Clint asked Bruce.
"The point of the greenroom is that I don't, so it a completely Hulk proof zone."
"So… we need Tony?" Clint asked.
"No, I know them too." Steve said, appearing for the first time in hours. He scratched the back of his head and marched towards the elevator with purpose and they all piled in.
It took about fifteen minutes for Steve to type in the relevant digits but finally the door to the green room slid open and a very angry and disgruntled Asgardian stepped out.
"Comrades, if this was some sort of prank I must say I did not find it amusing." Thor huffed, looking uncharacteristically disheveled.
"No prank Thor, we're sorry it took so long, but… well, there's been a problem. Come downstairs and we'll fill you in." Bruce sighed.
…
"Tony, I need to know." Steve marched into the room with a look of determination on his face.
Tony felt it instantly; a mix of exasperation, resolve, nervousness, and the low-key bubbling of anger rolled off the Captain. His shoulders tensed up immediately, but he didn't look the Captain in the eye. "Need to know what?" Tony said calmly, engrossed in his StarkPad, still sat in the infirmary by order of team overprotective. He had asked to be left alone, but trust 'Captain Bossy Pants' TM to march in demanding answers when Tony felt barely awake and very ready to bite someone's head off.
"About Howard." Steve demanded. Suddenly the air was thick with tension and animosity. "About why you panic on your back."
"I'm warning you Steve, stop there and get out." Tony's voice was almost a growl and whether it was the CAEB or just Tony, the air seemed to hum in a threatening manner and had Steve's nerves rolling round his stomach like a stormy sea.
"No Tony. I…" He stuttered, his resolve suddenly leaving him as doubt took over. He had expected a sour reaction, but the tangible threat in the air had not been on his lists of things to worry about.
"Steve, I know you mean well, which is why I'm trying - very hard I might add - not to get really, really pissed at you right now, but believe me when I say you do not want to know." Tony said, voice just short of being level.
"Tony, I know that I hold your Father in high stead, but that doesn't mean I will contest anything you say…" Steve tried.
"It is because you hold him in high stead I could never tell you." Tony said, slowly and clearly.
"Tony, if this is because you don't think I will believe you, or that I was friends with your Father, and you hate that…"
"This isn't about me Steve, it's about you!" Tony snapped, stopping Steve in his tracks. The air thrummed violently and then stilled into silence as Tony looked away, a faint tinge of blue fading from his irises.
"Me?" Steve hadn't expected that in the slightest. What the hell did he mean?
"Yes you!" Tony sighed and lay back defeated. "I can't tell you because you worshipped him, and he worshipped you. You were all he talked about Steve, how amazing you were, he never stopped looking for you in that ice. My point is that maybe my Father was the great man he is so famed for being when you knew him, but he didn't stay that way."
"Tony, I know that, that's why…"
"I don't want to spoil your memory of him!" Tony blurted out and Steve fell silent.
Tony looked away, finally putting down the StarkPad, seemingly resigned to the fact that Steve was now going to want him to talk about it.
Steve looked at Tony, firstly in surprise and then admiration. For a moment he wasn't sure what to say. He had always assumed that Tony's strong objection to telling Steve anything to do with Howard was because he thought that Steve wouldn't ever believe Howard could do wrong. To learn that all this time it had been about simply not spoiling Steve's memory of a person he had once admired, shocked him a little. "Tony you can't ruin that for me. I'll always have those memories. The fact is, he's dead and gone and his memory isn't what matters to me you are. You're my friend Tony, a better friend than your Father ever was and I'm here for you. We're all here for you and if your Father changed, if he wronged you in any way, he doesn't deserve the great reputation that has been shoved in your face your whole life. You need to be honest with me."
"I don't know if can talk about it right now." Tony said defeatedly.
The flash of hurt at the memory of his Father made Steve tense. He had always imagined Howard to be a disapproving Father, someone a bit too harsh on their child and that Tony had resented him for but now, knowing Tony, knowing how he reacted to being on his back… he dreaded to think what the man had become.
"That's fine Tony, whenever you're ready, or just give me a ballpark, because right now I'm imagining the worst." Steve said a little anxiously.
"God no, he wasn't a monster or anything…" Tony said, but strangely, he wasn't convincing. His mask slipped a little, or was that a crack forming at the mere mention of Howard?
"Why don't I believe that?" Steve said, non-confrontationally.
"Steve don't." Tony pleaded, tiredly.
"I'm sorry." Steve nodded, knowing now was the time to stop pushing. "I'll see you at lunch."
Steve made towards the door when suddenly he was stopped by an unexpected voice.
"Mainly he just ignored me." Tony sighed. Steve turned around and looked at the Engineer in surprise. Tony continued without prompting. "Especially when I got a bit older, nothing I ever did was good enough, but I kept trying to impress him, until I was about fourteen then I acted out." Tony said casually as Steve made his way back to sit on the edge of the bed.
"That's abuse in its own way Tony." But Steve knew there was more.
"Yeah well, he also hit me a few times." Steve tensed. "Mainly when he was drunk, it was usually just a smack when I was a kid, it was worse when I was older." Tony threw that out there so casually that it hurt Steve. It was like he thought this was normal, ok, even that he had deserved it. It was so wrong, he wanted to scream but he stayed calm.
"Did he ever put you in hospital?" Steve asked, and Tony shuffled in his chair, pausing with a sigh before answering.
"Just the once. I was eight I think. He was roaring drunk, I messed up something… I'm not sure what, but he hit me over the head with a pipe. I don't remember much after that, but I have flashes of him holding me down - on my back - and hitting me over and over…"
"Tony." Steve breathed raggedly, and it was only then Tony realized he was barely maintaining his own composure.
"Pin me on my back and I go straight back there, into the mind of a frightened eight-year-old who wanted nothing more than to make his Father proud." Tony smiled, and Steve couldn't understand why. "You'd have thought after everything since then I'd have got over it." Tony scolded himself.
"Tony?"
"I grew up pretty fast after that. Major reality check. And nothing like that happened again, Jarvis kept a strict eye on things until he died."
"You built Jarvis when you were 8?" Steve asked, taken-aback.
"No… I… Jarvis was. Edwin Jarvis was…"
"Tony stop." Steve said firmly. Tony hadn't even noticed the super solider lean closer to him, but suddenly a comforting hand was wrapped around his upper arm and blue eyes and blond hair were filing his vision. "Relax just breathe, everything is ok. You don't need to say any more."
Tony realized he was shaking, his breathing ragged which is why Steve had reacted. He nodded slowly, pressing a hand to his chest as he realized it was burning with lack of oxygen.
"Breathe with me." Steve said encouragingly, and Tony did, following the motion of the soldier's chest until his breathing as back under control.
"Thank you." Tony sighed.
"It's ok Tony, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you like that."
"No, you didn't push me Steve, I…" Tony sighed. "There's more. When I was about seventeen he did something which I can never, ever forgive him for." He conceded. "But I can't ever talk about it, I can't… I don't… I don't want to have to remember that again, but if you ask Rhodey…"
"Tony it's ok you don't have to." Steve said hastily, but Tony shook his head.
"No, it's time." He said firmly. "I trust you all and its time people knew. Bruce knows already and Rhodey, but… no one else. Ask Rhodey to come see me."
"I will." Steve smiled, putting a little distance between them again. "Do you want me to go?"
"I… Stay until Rhodey comes, would you?"
"Of course." Steve nodded and settled back into the chair at the side of the bed.
…
Rhodes had come back from the infirmary after visiting Tony at his request and gone straight to Bruce. Steve watched on, intrigued, as the Doctor and the Colonel looked equally shocked and nervous and just a little bit relieved.
A meeting had been called immediately and everyone minus Fitzsimmons had been asked to go to the meeting room on the 18th floor that evening. None of them had known why, not even Pepper. When they arrived, they found Steve, Bruce and Rhodes stood staring out over the city, Rhodes' shoulders were tense with worry and nervousness and a little bit of sorrow. Bruce looked a little green.
They all just listened as Bruce and Rhodes retold a story that they could barely believe had happened.
Pepper was confused and anxious, but as Rhodey started talking that confusion turned to shock, horror, worry – utter disbelief. But most of all, but it made a lot of things make sense.
Howard had organized the deaths of Tony's fiancée and unborn child. His own Father had betrayed him, caused him all that pain, and risked the life of his own Son in the process, just to save face. Not only that, but Tony had been abused countless times by his Father and hospitalized at only eight years old.
It hurt her immensely to think of what Tony had been put through, but it also hurt her a little that he hadn't told her this, that even now he still wasn't telling her this, and she was having to hear it from Rhodes. But then again, she more than understood his reasons. She also now understood why Tony had always been so fiercely overprotective of her, why he had taken so long to commit to a relationship with her and why he always threw his own life on the line so recklessly to protection her. He would rather die than go through the pain of loss again.
She needed to find him.
Thankfully that was not difficult, he was still in the infirmary and felt her stormy emotions coming from miles away.
"Hey Pep." He said nervously.
She simply climbed onto the bed with him and wrapped him in a hug. "I'm so sorry." She choked, tears threatening to pour down her face.
"You're not mad?" Tony asked anxiously.
"What reason could I possibly have to be mad at you?" She asked incredulously.
"That I didn't even have the balls to tell you all myself, or to tell you first or that Bruce found out before you did." Tony shrugged
"It did hurt at first." She admitted. She wasn't going to lie about that, Tony could probably tell after all. "But now… that you told me at all means the world to me Tony, especially considering that you've kept that secret, alone, for nearly thirty years." She sighed. "Bruce explained the circumstances as to why you told him and again, I am so very sorry about that night. I should not have reacted like that; I must have made you feel horrible."
"Don't be." Tony said firmly. "It's me who should be sorry."
"No, it isn't. And do not apologize for not being able to say it to our faces, I can't imagine how hard it must have been to let us know at all. I am so proud of you Tony." She said vehemently. "If you never want it mentioned again, it won't be, if you ever do want to talk about it I'm here but just know that I don't think of you any differently."
"You have no idea how much that means Pep." Tony smiled a little and tightened his arms around her. "How did the others take it?" He asked nervously.
"They're shocked and upset," she sighed. "Not with you of course." She added quickly. "They want to see you, but we put them off for a little while."
"Thanks," Tony swallowed. "I don't think I can deal right now."
"That's what I thought." She smiled, pulling away. "Doctors have cleared you anyway, so why don't you come up and get a few hours' sleep in your proper bed?"
"I…" Tony started hesitantly, but Pepper read his mind.
"I'm not going to leave you Tony, I could do with a nap as well."
…
