The train sped down the tracks, cutting through the blizzard without a care for the amount of snow on the tracks ahead of it. All its closed and locked cargo hung on tightly as the wind whistled past them, as determined as the train was to reach their destination. All except for one.
In the middle of the long line of train cars, one of the boxcars was wide open. If one were to examine closer, they would see a scrawny, shivering figure standing in the entrance, the wind making the hood of his ragged and torn sweater fight to hold onto his head.
He looked around the vast expanse of snow around him, mist billowing out of his mouth with every frantic breath he took. He squinted his mismatched eyes to stare through the snow, noticing something that looked like buildings in the distance.
Shifting anxiously on his feet, he started to edge closer to the very edge of the doorway. "That's your best bet, who knows when this train will stop…" He whispered to himself. "Come on Tony… You can do this."
He crouched a bit, growling in frustration. "Come on, Tony! You flew a nuke through a wormhole! You can jump out of a train! One, two…"
Not waiting for three, Tony threw himself out side of the moving train. When he looked down, he realized that the ground was a lot farther down than he thought. With a panicked cry, he held his arms out in front of him.
Suddenly, a blue glow started to surround him. His descent slowed and then completely stopped, leaving him floating in midair with a blue glow surrounding him. After a few seconds, he opens his eyes and looked around, sighing in relief.
"Looks like I'm figuring this thing out!" He whispered to himself happily. Then, he moved his arms back to his side, lowering his arms and closing his eyes, trying to float back down to the ground.
Unfortunately, the glow suddenly vanished away. He crashed back down onto the ground, tumbling down the rest of the snow covered hill. He slid to a stop at the end of the hill, staring up at the sky with an annoyed expression.
With a sigh, Tony rolled over and stood up, wrapping his arms around his shivering form, and wading through the heavy snow towards the town in the distance. Despite the pain of the cold biting at the skin, and the needle-like feeling of the snow hitting his skin, he forced himself to keep going.
If I stop, Hydra will find me. I need to call someone, Rhodey… Or Pepper… Or anyone! I need to get help! He thought, stumbling his way through the snow.
It felt like it took an eternity for Tony to make it to the town. It was small, the buildings were all old and made of wooden logs, looking as though they would fall down with the slightest push, and yet they were somehow still standing strong.
Tony sighed in relief, turning to look around the small town for any sign of a place to stay. Near the middle of the town, there seemed to be more business related buildings.
When he turned to look at once, he caught sight of his reflection in a window and froze in shock.
He looked… strangely younger, early twenties at the oldest. He knew why, but he didn't dare think about it, it brought up too many bad memories. Unfortunately for him, so did something much more obvious.
The left side of his face had skin that was a dark blue color, which slowly faded a lighter color as it got closer to the middle of his face, along with cracks all along his skin. His left eye had black sclera, with a glowing blue iris and no pupil.
He frowned and lowered his eyes, staring down at his hands. They were also stained a dark blue color, and Tony didn't even have to pull up his sleeves to know that it traveled above his elbows on both arms.
That was when he realized that he wasn't the only one who could see his appearance. Looking back up, he saw the reflections of several other people who were brave enough to walk through the snow staring at his face with disgust.
Feeling extremely self conscious about his appearance, Tony pulled his hood over his head, placing his sweater covered hand over the left side of his face.
To his relief, he finally caught sight of a hanging sign that read Baikal Inn.
I don't have any money, but maybe they'll let me stay in there until someone comes to save me. It would be nice to be warm for a while. He thought hopefully, heading over to the inn and going inside, thankful for the warm air that hit him the instant he was inside. He quickly pulled his hood further over his face, closing his mutated eye for good measure.
The inn was small, and only had about six tables in the whole place, and a single aisle that led to the door and to the what he guessed was the kitchen.
There were about five other people sitting around the place, and most of them were staring at a small television sitting on a small shelf that was constantly flickering and going static as it struggled to display the show.
One of the gruff looking men swore angrily, hitting the side of the television several times in a vain attempt to stop the flickering. "Damn thing never works. I can barely tell what's going on." He groused.
Another one of the men scoffed and rolled their eyes at the complaint. "Why don't you just go home and listen to the radio then, Lund?" He suggested teasingly.
Lund narrowed his eyes towards the other man. "It's easier to follow when there's pictures," He grunted, his face quickly becoming downcast. "Besides, my wife won't want to see me right now, not after I lost that new job…"
The man who had been teasing Lund became saddened as well, turning his eyes back down to the half full glass mug below him, and let out an exhausted sigh. The air in the room surrounding the group of men turned tense, and thick.
"Excuse me?" A voice right next to Tony's ear suddenly said in Russian, making the genius jolt in surprise and whip around to face the voice.
A tall middle aged woman with short brown hair and sharp black eyes stared down at Tony, suspicion obvious in her expression. She held a platter of drinks in one hand, while her other hand was placed on her hip. When she saw the state of his face, her expression blanked for a moment, and then quickly hardered once more.
When he didn't respond right away, she firmly asked,"Are you here for something? Or are you just here to stand around and take up space?"
It took Tony a few more seconds to calm his beating heart, watching as the men by the flickering television turned to glance at him curiously and with the same suspicion as the people outside had.
"I-I… I just need to use the phone," He managed to force out of his shivering body, almost forgetting to speak in Russian. If I can call someone, anyone, I can get home...
The woman sighed and shook her head. "I'm afraid you're out of luck, kid," She said,"My phone broke months ago, haven't been able to afford to get it fixed."
"I can fix it for you!" He interrupted quickly, and motioned towards the television. "I can fix that too."
One of the men at the table glared at Tony suspiciously. "What are you, some kind of mechanic?" He questioned.
Tony gave a weak smile. "Something like that," He replied vaguely.
The middle aged woman frowned at his response, and suspiciously asked,"What are you trying to get in return? Money? Food?"
"I don't need any of that," Tony answered firmly,"All I want is to use the phone, that's it. Please."
She stared down at him for several long, painful seconds before her expression softened the slightest bit. If he hadn't been teammates with an assassin for so long, he almost would have missed it.
With a sigh, she set her platter down. "Alright, but start with the television," She ordered,"I want you in my line of sight for now, stranger."
Tony nodded in relief, quickly hurrying over to the tv and unplugging it from the wall, carefully turning it so he could see the back panel. The woman handed him a set of tools, and stood back to watch.
One of the men glared at Tony still, and turned to the woman. "Louise, how can you trust this stranger?" He questioned,"We don't even know who he is."
"Yeah, look at him! I bet he's never even seen a television as old as this. How do we know he can fix it?" Another man questioned.
The woman, Louise, rolled her eyes at them. "Well I don't see any of you jumping to fix it now, do I?" She pointed out.
The men went quiet instantly, and Tony couldn't stop the small snort of amusement that came out of his throat. The men shot their glares back towards him, but this time they didn't dare say anything.
It only took Tony less than a few minutes to find the problem in the wires and fix it. It may be an old television, but it's still much less complicated than an Iron Man suit. He turned the television back around, plugged it back into the wall, and grinned proudly as it displayed a perfect image once more.
"Well would you look at that!" Lund said excitedly,"He really did it! I'd say it looks even better than before!"
The men, still seeming to be suspicious of an outsider, grudgingly offered their thanks and turned back towards the television without another word.
Louise chuckled in amusement. "Don't mind them, their pride gets in the way," She teased,"Let's see about that phone now, okay?"
She stood up and walked towards the kitchen, and Tony made to follow, until he saw a familiar face on the screen of the small box he had just fixed. He backtracked, leaning against the table to stare at the news report.
It's… Me? Or at least, it was what he used to look like before Hydra took him from that damned Siberia base. But why is my picture there? Why am I grouped with Rogers and his damned group? He frowned, listening as the reporter spoke.
"The search continues for the group of Avengers that over the past year became fugitives. After refusing to sign the Accords, Captain America- also known as Steve Rogers -aided the Winter Soldier in his escape after the bombing of the Vienna Conference he was responsible for," The reporter explained, showing footage and the photo that supposedly incriminated Barnes.
The reporter continued,"Soon after their disappearance, Tony Stark apparently hacked into the RAFT's security system and helped Captain America break out the fugitives known as Clint Barton, Scott Lang, Sam Wilson, and Wanda Maximoff. Although he has not been seen since, U.S. Secretary Ross has confirmed that they are likely traveling together."
The report cut to an interview, showing Thaddeus Ross standing at a podium, as he loudly declared,"These criminals must be brought to justice, and the rest of the Avengers must be put under careful watch. We cannot afford to have our citizens hurt by these dangerous and unhinged fugitives." The man gave a sad sigh, shaking his head. "The Accords were supposed to help the Avengers… And yet it seems that that was all it took to reveal their true nature..."
The clip ended, and the reporter returned to the front of the screen. "Anyone who has seen these fugitives is urged to call their local authorities and report their location to authorities, for the safety of yourself and others," She finished,"And now onto our next story…"
Lund stared at the screen impassively. "Y'know, I don't think that they are criminals," He firmly declared.
"What? Why?" One of the other men asked,"You saw all the footage, that secretary guy even showed the footage from the iron man suit they recovered that showed Tony Stark made a truce with them."
Before Lund could reply, all of their glasses suddenly shattered. Glass and beer spilt all over them, making them all cry out in surprise. They stood up and brushed the glass away quickly.
"What the hell?!" The tallest of the group said,"I didn't break it this time! I swear to god I wasn't even holding it!"
Tony heard none of this, his mind had gone into a whirl. He was standing at the edge of the table, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, a strange blue glow surrounding them. His whole body shook, and breathing suddenly became extremely difficult. I didn't do that, I didn't join them. I'm not a criminal, I'm not. I never was… I never was!
There was a gentle hand on his shoulder, someone was leading him away, but Tony couldn't seem to focus on them. All he could see was Captain America slamming his shield into his chest over and over again… And then the world around him faded away.
The next time awareness returned to him, he was sitting on a stool in the corner of a kitchen. He frowned in confusion, looking around the area to try and figure out exactly where he was.
Before he could move, the curtain covering a doorway was moved open, and he saw the woman from the Inn walk in. She noticed his movement and smiled, setting her platter of dirty dishes down. She grabbed the kettle on the stove and picked up a cup, pouring the steaming water into it.
Walking over to Tony, she gently pressed the warm cup into his hands. "Here, drink this. It will make you feel better,``she promised.
Tony stared down at the cup, tiredly noticing the tea bag inside of it. "Oh… Thank you…" He whispered, sipping on the tea quietly. It warmed up his shivering body, and helped melt away some of the stress still built up in his muscles.
A few minutes passed before Louise softly asked,"How are you feeling?"
"I feel better, thank you," He told her, quickly drinking down the rest of the tea in order to keep that warm feeling in his cold bones.
After he emptied the cup, he looked up at Louise again. "What happened to me?" He tiredly asked, the last thing he remembered was watching the news report.
"You had a panic attack, so I moved you back here to calm down," Louise replied as she placed plates in the sink. "I don't think you wanted Lund and the others to see what was happening to your hands and your eye."
The genius frowned, and lifted up his dark blue hands. "My… What happened to-" He gasped, remembering the shattering of the glass mugs. My powers did that… I wasn't controlling them, I let my emotions get the better of me again, damn it!
He shook away those thoughts, and forced himself to focus on what was more important. It was that Louise had seen what he had done. He took a deep breath, looking back up to the woman. "Y-you saw my powers…" He said.
"I did," She confirmed, her voice void of any emotions.
Tony frowned at that, as he still couldn't tell what her intentions were. "What are you going to do?" He questioned, prepared to get up and run if he had to.
Louise rolled her eyes, picked up the toolbox, and held it out to him. "Well, I'm going to give you these tools and tell you that I want you to fix the phone like you promised you would. Considering how easily you repaired the television, this shouldn't take long."
""Oh… Oh right," Tony recalled, setting the tea cup down on the counter and taking the tool box over to the phone.
He set aside thoughts about his precarious situation, and followed Louise over to the phone. It was one of the old corded phones that hung on the wall, but looked like it had been half-ripped out of the way.
The man gasped. "Jeez that phone is old!" He exclaimed,"I feel like I just got teleported to the stone age-" Someone hit him on the top of the head. "Ow!"
Spinning around, he found Louise standing behind him with a rolled up newspaper. "Weren't you ever taught to respect your elders? Be nice, that phone is older than you, kid."
It's really not. Tony thought to himself, but he bit back the retort and quickly fixed the phone, setting it back on the wall. "There we go," He said,"All fixed."
Louise moved next to him, taking the phone and dialing a random number, listening as it actually rings. "Oh, you really fixed it!" She happily said, a wide smile on her face as she held out the phone to him. "Here, you can make that call you needed to now."
At the reminder of what he had come to the inn to do in the first place, Tony felt his blood run cold, images of Ross on the news report and Tony's own face plastered with the word fugitive over it ran through his mind, and he released another sad sigh.
Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, and Peter, they'll be in danger. Ross won't listen, he's probably waiting for a chance to shove them into the Raft. If I, a fugitive, go back, it will give him enough reason to hurt them. Tony shuddered in fear and rage at the thought. And Hydra… They'll chase me all the way there, everyone will be in danger if I go home…
After several tense moments, he shook his head. "I-I can't…" He whispered.
"Hm? Why not?" Louise questioned.
He weakly raised his dark blue hands, staring down at the slight glow that could be seen. "I.. I… The news report… It made me realize that if I reach out to the people I was going to, I'll put them in danger…" He whispered.
Tony wrapped his arms around himself and lowered his eyes to the ground as he continued,"Even if it means I have nowhere to go, I'll protect them. I'll stay here, because then they'll be safe."
A pregnant pause fell over them, as Louise absorbed what he had declared, and Tony accepted the meaning of his own decision. Eventually, the woman reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Look, I can offer you room and board if you want. But, you'll have to work," The woman offered.
Tony looked up at her, the surprise evident in his eyes. "What?" He questioned,"W-work?"
Louise chuckled. "Yeah, at the inn. The housework, the dishes. It'd be nice to have an extra hand, especially someone who is good at things related to electronics." She explained.
"B-but I broke your dishes with my powers…" He weakly argued,"I'm dangerous…"
The woman arched an eyebrow. "Did you purposefully mean to break them?" She interrogated.
With wide eyes, Tony shook his head. "No I didn't!" He replied,"I-I just don't know how to control them and-"
"Then it was an accident.,``she interrupted, and gave him a playful grin. "Between you and me, I always gave Lund and his friends the glasses I don't care about since they broke one of my nice glasses a few months ago."
"Oh, I see…" Tony whispered.
Louise nodded firmly. "I'm sure, with time, you'll be able to get better control over them. Like everything, you just need to practice," She pointed out.
His words made him remember his time trying to build his iron man suit for the first time after escaping from Afghanistan. She's right, I can do this. I can stay here, and learn to control these powers. He smirked as an amusing thought came to him. That would be the best middle finger to Hydra too, wouldn't it?
Tony looked back at the woman, and gave her a nod of agreement. "Okay, I'll take you up on your offer." He declared.
Louise gave a happy smile. "I'm glad," She said, reaching behind her and then shoving a mop into Tony's hands. "Since I just closed up shop, you can start right away!"
"What? Right now?" Tony exclaimed in surprise. "But I just got hired? Is there no training period at all?"
Louise smirked at him, and handed over a metal bucket filled to the brim with soapy water. "If you can fix my television and phone, you can mop the floor," She said, patting his back. "Go ahead and get started!"
She turned and walked away, while Tony rolled up his sleeves revealing that the dark blue skin went up past his elbows before it started to fade into cracks, and started his work. He dragged the heavy bucket and its accompanying mop into the next room, and started to clean the floor.
While he worked, he tried to push away the thoughts of what Steve Rogers had condemned him to, what Hydra had done to him, the fact that Ross had turned him into a criminal, and his friends.
They will be safer without me there, Hydra will focus on me, Ross will focus on the 'fugitives' and not them. Things will be better if I'm not there… Yeah…
They don't need me.