He was running. Off in the distance he heard a cluster of unidentifiable shouts. His chest was on fire, but when he looked down at it all he saw was his bare skin. Blinking repeatedly, he tried to clear the fuzziness from his eyes, but all he did was worsen the haze. Everything blurred together, and the only constant was the ghost-like pain in his chest and the weird noises in the distance. He might have fallen on his knees, but even that was unclear. The pain would not stop, even when he pressed his entire palm onto his chest, and he was thoroughly confused on what was going on. The noises grew louder, starting to pierce his already broken thoughts, and there was a clatter, as if something fell. His vision cleared for a moment, and he realized that there was an iron mask laying at his feet, splintered and shattered into many pieces. The fire in his chest increased tenfold and he had to close his eyes to try and alleviate it. New noises were sounding, these ones even farther away but somehow clearer than the others. Becoming clearer and clearer, these sounds started to erase the jagged pain from his chest, making his thoughts clearer until...

Tony's consciousness saved him. He shot up in his bed, his entire body trembling and covered in sweat. Somewhere in the distance, he heard the same noises that he had been hearing at the end of his dream, and recognized them as Jarvis' voice. Inhaling deeply, Tony opened his eyes slowly, still trying to shake off the remaining pieces of his dream. Or rather, nightmare. He had been having frequent nightmares since his... stay in Afghanistan, and obviously tonight was not deviating from the pattern.

Tony swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, heading to his bathroom while trying to make sense of the latest nightmare. He had never had one this unclear before, and it was unsettling. Splashing water from the sink on his face, Tony tried to piece together the remnants of the dream that still drifted through his head, and only ended up with a memory of a mask and a horrible pain in his chest. His hand fluttered up to his chest, touching the giant red scar there that always found a way of prompting him to remember his captivity. Even his subconscious was now reminding him of how close he had been to death only three months prior. Jaw trembling, Tony looked at the mirror, seeing for the first time his disheveled appearance. His hair was a mess, his entire body soaked, and his eyes had huge dark circles under them. Groaning, Tony took his hand away from his scar and brushed it through his unruly hair, heading back out into his bedroom.

"Jarvis, what time is it?"

"As I said when you woke, it is 5:46 in the morning. Ms. Potts has been awake for an hour at least, and she is now waiting for you in the living room of the mansion."

Tony rolled his eyes at his AI but still said, "Got it, chief. Tell her I'll be down after a quick shower."

"Of course, sir. If I may, were you having another nightmare?"

Tony clenched his fists and kept his thoughts from spinning towards all the other times Jarvis had caught him waking from a nightmare and the consequences it had bore. "Yeah, yeah I was."

"I still recommend seeing someone about it, they might be able-"

Tony didn't let Jarvis finish. "No. I don't need help. I need to take a shower."

"Of course, sir."

Tony didn't take long in the shower, and by the time he was done, it was only 5:58. Just enough time to get downstairs and deal with Pepper before six o'clock. Great.

Pushing all thoughts of the past night out of his head, Tony went downstairs and found Pepper sitting on the couch, a laptop and a file of papers on the table in front of her. Putting on his best smile, Tony plopped down next to his PA and said, "Everything good this morning, Pep?"

Pepper started at his sudden appearance, but regained her composure extremely quickly. Uh oh. Her smile seemed forced, and if Tony knew anyone, it was Pepper (that isn't really saying much, though, because he still reads her wrong all of the time, but that's not the point). She was not happy. Ugh, what did he do this time?

"Mr. Stark." There it is. Tony was back to being called by his last name, which meant he had to have done something wrong.

"Ms. Potts, you must know by now that there is no reason not to call me Tony-"

Pepper silenced him with a glare.

"I'm listening." Tony sighed.

Pepper gave him the tiniest nod and started to speak. "Very early this morning, I got calls from about ten different news companies, all of them saying that they have an inside piece saying that you have gone insane. Any idea what that is about?"

Tony furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Insane? From what? He had night terrors, but that was it- well and anxiety, and most likely PTSD, but none of those were equivalent to insanity. Pepper noticed his lack of comprehension, and shook her head slightly.

"Of course I didn't believe them, but they all seemed to have the same source: someone from inside Stark Industries. This person said that you had lost your mind and had even tried to kill them. Here, let me quote their account for you." Pepper pulled out a sheet of paper with an entire paragraph neatly scrawled out. "I was heading home for the night when Mr. Stark left the building, mumbling under his breath about something. I could not hear it at first, but when he got closer, I made it out to be "Kill, kill them all," or something like that. I was deeply unnerved, and attempted to leave as quick as I could. Before I could escape completely, however, Mr. Stark grabbed my arm and held me in place. His eyes were crazed, and I know what he said for sure now. "Kill all of them. Kill them all. Will you? Kill, kill" I was so scared. At first I thought that maybe he was putting on an act in order to scare me, but then he got closer, and I saw that it was genuine. The only thing it could have been was insanity, or rather a significant loss of mental cognition, caused by his captivity in Afghanistan. Just after I noticed this, Mr. Stark grabbed me by my neck and tried to choke me. I struggled and eventually got out, but by then I was certain that there was something wrong with the usually charismatic and charming man. I hate to be the one to tell the world, but Mr. Stark is dangerous and needs to be put someplace where everyone else can be safe."

Tony's jaw was slack. That had not happened. It even sounded made-up. What insane person would walk around and repeat the words "kill" over and over? It was astonishing what lengths people would go to simply tarnish his name. Tony let out a small chuckle and looked at Pepper, which immediately wiped the smile off his face. Her face was grim, and her mouth was a deep frown.

"Tony, I know this sounds far-fetched, but the media believes it. There have been two more witnesses that spoke out since this morning, and I think that the story will be out there by this afternoon. Are you sure that nothing like this happened?" Pepper looked worried, but more importantly, she was confused. She didn't know what to believe. Tony felt a small pang in his heart, and he rubbed his chest to get rid of the ghost-pain. It hurt him to know that she didn't believe him over everyone else. She had been the one to stick with him through thick and thin ever since he got back from Afghanistan, but this one news story can make her question him?

"I never did anything like that, and you know it Pep. This person, whoever they are, is just trying to put dirt on my name." Tony stopped rubbing his chest and looked straight in his assistant's eyes. She looked away.

"Tony, you know that these claims are serious. Even if they don't sound true, there is a possibility that they are. And, God, Tony, this can make you unable to be the CEO of Stark Industries. If it's deemed that you do in fact have an unstable mind, then the company has the ability, and the right, to remove you from your position and have you receive... help."

Tony swallowed deeply, looking out across the living room to the large windows and sea showing through. These fake claims could ruin his life. He wouldn't be able to be in control of his company anymore, and what's worse, he most likely wouldn't be able to work on any of his projects until he received "treatment" for his supposed insanity. "But there's an easy way to prove that I'm not insane, right? Just have some doctors test me?"

Pepper nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. But once it's out in the media, it will be hard for you to get your name out of the mud. These claims are almost incriminating. Walking around saying that you want to kill? Even without the "insanity" allegation, this could still make people think of you as a potential murderer. And I'm not even sure if we could sue." She took a deep breath. "Tony, please answer me truthfully. Where were you on the night of July 8?"

"You seriously expect me to know where I was three weeks ago? I have no-"

"Sir was at the Stark Industries complex, working on the Arc Reactor and studying its function. At the end of the night, he refused me access to any of the cameras or audio due to an argument that occurred between him and Mr. Stane, so I have limited knowledge of what he did after 10:02 p.m."

Tony blanched. That sounded bad. And, of course, Pepper thought so too. She rubbed her temples, looking down at her lap. "Tony, I don't know what to say. Three witnesses against one man who doesn't even know what happened?"

The pain in his chest started up again. Maybe he was a little insane... no! He was not insane, he had PTSD and anxiety. That did not even begin to qualify as being deranged. What the hell were those people thinking? Even if he had said something like that, it would be way more likely that he was drunk. A few wisps of thought flashed to the forefront of his mind, and Tony stilled. His nightmares... sometimes after waking from them, he would feel desires, no, urges to get revenge. Maybe these claims held more truth than Tony was willing to acknowledge.

No. No. He is not insane! No.

Tony put on his charming play-boy smile and looked at Pepper again. "Don't worry Pep. I-I will go see a, um, specialist and get this all cleared up, okay? We can put out a statement and tell everyone that I am by no means, quote unquote, disturbed in the head."

She folded up her laptop and grabbed the files before standing up and turning to face him. "I really hope that will solve everything, Tony."

Tony watched as she left the room, and let his face fall. They had this conversation many times before, he remembers. Her telling him that he needs help, him always shooting her down. And the only reason he is finally getting help is to save his already frail reputation. Tony buried his head in his hands and whispered, "I hope so too."

~o~

"Oh, shut up Jarvis, you know I'm right!"

"If I were not programmed to follow your every command, sir, I am sure that I would come up with an incredibly solid argument to prove that I am correct."

Tony shook his head and continued to tinker with the car's undercarriage. Loud ACDC music blasted out of the speakers in his workspace, in direct opposition to the soft classical music that Jarvis believed would be 'better' for him. Just to spite his AI, Tony sang along to the song as loud as he could, even though his voice was about as good as a cat scratching a chalkboard.

"Enjoying yourself?"

Tony jumped, almost hitting his head on the underside of the car. Rolling out from underneath, Tony coughed and said, "What are you doing down here, Obi?"

Stane frowned at the engineer and backed away from him as he wiped his greasy hands on a towel. Honestly, Tony was still calming down from the unexpected noise, but he put on an arrogant smirk to hide his emotions from Obadiah. What was Stane doing in his workshop anyway? He didn't have authorization to be down here, no one did, not since Afghanistan. The older man shook his head and then abruptly smiled. "Well, Tony, I came down here to check up on you, of course, and also to bring some bad news."

Tony kept the smirk on his face, even though he knew what was coming.

"The news just broke that you are clinically insane and have harassed and attempted to kill a woman only three weeks ago."

Tony grimaced and turned away from Obadiah. What could he say? That he didn't do it? Why should Obadiah believe him over three eyewitnesses? It's just like Pepper said: it's going to be incredibly hard to get anyone to believe his story.

Deciding to just go for it, Tony replied, "None of that is true. I didn't do anything to anyone, and I am most definitely not insane. I'm even gonna go to a specialist to make sure, okay? And then we can put it out there and deny their stupid claims."

Suddenly there was a hand on Tony's shoulder, and he tensed up. Closing his eyes, Tony counted to three before turning around and facing Obadiah. His father-figure was inches away from him, wearing a sad expression on his face.

"Tony... I fear you may be too far gone for anyone to help you." Tony furrowed his eyebrows. What? "You don't remember that happening? It was the night we had the fight about the Arc Reactor. You... well you weren't in your right mind after that, and you rushed out of there like a mad man. I followed you, just to make sure you were all right, and well, you did what that woman claimed. Tony, I don't think going to a specialist will help you now."

No, that's not right. That isn't what happened at all. "You have gotta be kidding me right now."

Obadiah just shook his head. Tony knew what Obi had just described didn't happen though. Maybe Obadiah saw something else... but no, Stane had always been so honest before.

Tony remembered leaving the complex in a rage, not interacting with anyone, and heading straight for his mansion. He did not even see a woman, no less try to kill her. What the fuck is going on? Can he even trust his own memories anymore? His nightmares and reality all seem to twist into one lately, leaving no room for Tony to process or make sense of anything. Oh god, what the hell is he going to do?

"I-Obadiah, are you sure? That's not what I remember at all. No-no I left the complex and drove straight home. Maybe you were seeing something or... " Tony trailed off as Obadiah rubbed his forehead in exasperation.

"You know what, Tony? How about you go see that specialist, just to get this all cleared up. I'm sure they can help you. In fact, I know a guy who is qualified to diagnose mental illnesses." Obadiah smiled. "I'll set you up an appointment with him."

Tony smiled weakly back. That's good. It will prove that he is perfectly right in the head, not like there was any concrete evidence to prove that he was not. Except for the three witness accounts and Obadiah's recollection, that is.

Obadiah was gone in the next instant, leaving Tony to his racing thoughts. None of this made sense or fit together, but maybe that was just a sign of his deteriorating mind.

The next few hours passed by extremely slowly. Tony couldn't focus on anything, and his thoughts always went back to the two conversations he had only hours before. Jarvis had shown him the articles and news story on his "insanity" case, which was being more accurately described as extreme paranoia and PTSD. After reading one of the unprofessional diagnoses of his mental health, Tony was starting to question it himself. He was certainly not insane, that term had gone out of use years ago, but there might be something wrong... and if he couldn't remember what happened that night, then maybe he was-

"Sir, Mr. Stane would like me to tell you that he was able to obtain an appointment with Dr. Kellan Ressco at 6:00 p.m. tonight. It is now 3:45 p.m."

Tony jerked out of his thoughts and said, "Seriously? That quick?"

Jarvis' voice was sarcastic when he replied, "Well Sir, you are one of the richest and most influential people in the world. I'm sure their office could easily make room for you."

Tony chuckled. "True, true. Okay, I'll be there. Send me the directions, will you, Jarv?"

"Already done, sir."

Tony dropped the small microwave he had been tinkering on and wiped his face off with the towel next to him. After tonight, everything would go back to normal. He could set up a press conference and tell the media that he was in no way mentally unbalanced (except for, well... you know what? Whatever).

Something clattered from across the room, and Tony jumped right out of his seat, banging his elbow against the table. Cursing profusely, he glanced over to where the sound came from and saw that it was little more than his robot Dum-E dropping a glass of coffee. Holding his elbow to him (it was definitely going to bruise), he made his way over to Dum-E and shooed him away, telling him to go and get a towel to clean up the spilled liquid. Tony reached down and began picking up the shards of the coffee cup, cutting up his hands in the process. It didn't bother him though, and the pain was a welcome distraction from his conflicting thoughts. Throwing all the pieces into the trash, Tony went back over to his work station and plopped down in his chair, resting his forehead against the cold table and centering himself.

"Oh Jarvis, I hope this works out," he whispered. His AI's response was drowned out by the overwhelming desire to sleep, and Tony drifted off into dreams of faceless people wearing vacant masks.

~o~

"Sir, it is 5:00 p.m. I insist on your awakening so that you can prepare for your visit with Dr. Ressco."

Tony blinked himself awake and chased away the last remnants of his odd dream. 5:00 was early enough so that he could get ready and arrive at the appointment on time. Contrary to his usual behaviour, Tony wanted to arrive before the set time to give off the best impression he could. Groaning slightly, he got out of his chair and headed towards the door of the workshop.

"Thanks, Jarv. What would I do without you?" He said as he left the workshop and walked upstairs to his room.

Jarvis made a snarky comment back, which Tony successfully ignored. He grabbed a nice shirt and some black pants to change into, grappling with the decision to wear a tie or not. Deciding against it, Tony changed out of his dirty and oily clothes to take a quick shower before throwing on the clean ones. Looking in the mirror, he was reminded that it was only this morning that he had woken up and talked to Pepper. The dark circles were still prevalent under his eyes, and his hair was damp and sticking out everywhere. Tony scratched at his goatee and grabbed a comb from the counter, raking it through his unruly hair and attempting to make it look presentable. Sadly, there was nothing he could do about the circles under his eyes, so he grabbed a pair of dark sunglasses to mask them.

Looking back at his outfit, Tony rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and unbuttoned the top two buttons. Putting on his best and most charming smile, he almost looked like the billionaire playboy he was before Afghanistan. Satisfied with the mask, Tony left his room and went down to his garage, checking his watch on the way. It read 5:34. Good enough.

"I wish you well at your appointment today, sir."

Tony's mouth curled upwards and he said, "Thanks kid. Take care of the place for me." Remembering how Obadiah got into his workshop earlier that day, Tony kept going. "Also, makes sure no one gets down here, okay? I'm not sure how Obi did, but this is my personal space, so no one gets to be here without my permission. Got it?"

"Affirmative, sir."

Tony hopped into his hot-rod red car and started the engine, speeding out of the garage. The place was about ten minutes away, so he was going to be incredibly early, especially for him. Blasting rock from the speakers, he sped down the road, darting around other cars and melting easily back into his old pastimes of dangerous and reckless driving. The anxious thoughts and worries withdrew to the back of his head and he focused only on the adrenaline surging through his veins. Laughing and singing along to the music, Tony got to the doctor's office in only eight minutes.

It was a small space, with a couple of offices and rooms and a enclosed waiting space with a few chairs. Tony plastered a huge smile on his face and walked up to the front desk, signing himself in. The small space felt like it was crushing down on him and restricting his air, but he didn't let it show on his face. The receptionist was shocked by his appearance, even though she knew he would be coming in, and it took him longer than necessary to sign in. The other people waiting were all staring at him, making Tony's back crawl. Their stares were piercing him, and he felt like they could see all of his insecurities just by looking at him. Finally, the receptionist was done and he was able to sit down and absorb himself in reading the latest news on his phone, successfully ignoring the other people and their obnoxious ogling. The headlines were all about him, as expected. Tony sighed and exited the news app, scrolling through his emails instead. His sunglasses were darkening his vision (of course he was wearing them inside!), so he was basically just pretending to look busy in order to avoid recognizing the existence of the other people in here.

"Mr. Stark?"

Tony's head shot up, and he saw a blonde man with thick-rimmed glasses and bright blue eyes looking around the room, holding a clipboard out in front of him lazily. Tony put on an easy smile and stood up. The few other people in the room's eyes followed his motions as he followed the other man to another room, this one looking more like an office, with a mahogany desk and velvet chairs next to a well-worn bookcase. Very stereotypical.

"Good afternoon, sir. I am Dr. Ressco. How are you today?" The blonde man, Dr. Ressco, smiled brightly at Tony as he sat down in the velvety chair behind the desk. The doctor was giving him odd vibes, like a... a bad actor would. Huh. Tony blinked hard behind his sunglasses and sat down in the chair opposite the doctor.

"As good as ever. Hey, do you by chance have any coffee? I had to wake up pretty early this morning, and damn am I feeling it now." Good, go with the old, spirited Tony. Nice and easy.

Dr. Ressco smiled again and nodded before turning to his right where- well where there was a coffee machine. Okay then. The doctor handed him his freshly brewed black coffee and turned back to look at him. Tony leaned back in his chair, placing the hot cup up to his lips and taking a slow sip. The doctor's eyes traced his arm and hands, and Tony remembered the bruises and cuts that would be snaking across his skin there after the debacle in his workshop. Suddenly self conscious, Tony lowered the cup and placed it back on the table, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Alright, now that that's all settled, please fill me in. Have you ever been diagnosed with any mental illnesses or issues before?" Dr. Ressco folded his slender hands on the table, looking straight into Tony's eyes. That's totally not unsettling or creepy.

"Uh, not that I know of. Yeah, no. Shouldn't that be on all those handy-dandy medical files that I allowed you guys to see? Wasn't that something I signed when Obi set this whole thing up?"

Dr. Ressco's smile never dimmed. "Of course. I just wanted a non professional report from the patient themselves. It seems that you may be wrong, however. When you were twenty-one years old, you were diagnosed with depression and moderate anxiety."

Tony licked his lips. That was just after his parents had died in a car crash. "Oh, well, I thought that didn't count."

The doctor raised an eyebrow at him, saying, "Anything counts, especially in this case. Yes, I saw the news," he said as Tony opened his mouth, "but I find that my opinion would be better unbiased, don't you?"

Tony nodded and took another gulp of the coffee, feeling it start to buzz his nerves and wake him up ever so slightly.

"So, let us begin."

~o~

As Tony walked out of there, he felt like it could have gone a lot better. The doctor had said that he would need a week or so to consult others and get the best result possible so as to not misdiagnose him with anything. Tony understood, of course, but just the fact that Ressco needed to consult anyone meant that there was a great chance that he actually does have a serious mental illness.

Really, as the appointment had gone on and on, Tony felt like he was digging himself a hole with his responses. Dr. Ressco had been unrelenting in his onslaught of questions, and after every one, Tony felt like the doctor was going to diagnose him with something worse and worse. It was a relief to be out of there and back in his car, letting the wind blow through his previously combed back hair. The fierce joy he had felt on the way there was replaced with anxiety and doubt. No music accompanied him on his journey back to his mansion, and even after the multiple cups of coffee he had downed, his brain was still too tired to even think about what he had said.

He finally arrived at the mansion and pulled into the garage, ignoring his AI welcoming him home. He simply went straight up to his bed, ripped off his clothes, and laid down. All of the stress from the previous day weighed him down, pressing on his chest. His chest, where his scar was throbbing and reminding him of what he could not escape.

He did not elude the nightmares that night. They attacked him unceasingly, never sparing him a single breath or rational thought. They dug through his head until they found his most internalized fears, and then laid them bare in front of his face, forcing him to watch, to feel, until he could not bear it any longer. Only then would they release him from their claws and allow him to fall into the darkness of his mind.

~o~

The sea was beautiful, radiating wonderful colors, reflecting the sun's warmth, and exuding an aura of calm and peace. Tony could not share in this wonderful feeling. The events of the past few days weighed down on him, inhibiting the wondrous feeling from spreading through his body. It had been three days since his appointment with the doctor and the news of his supposed "insanity", and since then the claims had only gotten worse. Two more people had come out and said that, ever since Afghanistan, he had withdrawn from his role as CEO and ceased to interact with anyone except for Pepper and Obadiah, who were essentially running the company for him. They said that, when they did see him, he was unstable looking, almost like he was living in a never-ending nightmare.

These claims were ruining him. He felt nothing but numb pain and despair. If he didn't have depression before, he most certainly did now. Even Pepper, the one person who could usually pull him out of his funk, was distant. She did not want to associate herself with a crazy man who tried to murder someone. Really, Tony knew that she was better off without him, but it didn't stop the hurt. He had just been starting to realize that his feelings for her were more than just the desire to be friends, and now it was all over.

Really, the sea had no right looking so beautiful, when everything in his life was so shitty. God, Tony couldn't handle all of the overwhelming pressure of the past few days, which was actually why he had agreed to go on the boat ride with only Obadiah and no one else. His father-figure thought that it would be a good idea to have him release his emotions and unwind, even if it had to be on a ship. That was probably the best idea he had heard in a while, so Tony had agreed. But, just to make sure, he had told Jarvis that if anything happened to him, if it be by his own hand or not, his AI would shut himself down and delete every file that Tony had ever made. Especially all the weapons files. If Tony... left... then no one would be able to take advantage of his work. He knew that it was unfair to Pepper and Obadiah, who were there for him through so much, that they would not be able to continue his work and maybe even profit off of it, but Tony couldn't handle the paranoia that someone bad would get their hands on his incredibly dangerous designs and then use them for awful purposes. So he had made sure that no one would ever be able to.

"Tony?"

Tony closed his eyes and just allowed the salty breeze to blow through his clothes and tussle his hair, not responding to Obadiah. He felt a hand on his shoulder (oddly similar to the action from the first conversation they had in his workshop only three days ago) and leant away from it. He did not want to be touched right now. The hand was gone in an instant. Tony let out a small sigh and opened his eyes again.

"You know, it really is such a shame."

This got Tony's attention. "Shame?"

Tony turned around and looked at Obadiah, who was smiling mercilessly. What was going on?

"That it had to go this way. If you had just kicked the bucket in Afghanistan, it would have saved you a lot of pain."

Tony stumbled backward in his haste to escape Obadiah. What? Why did- Obadiah couldn't- he always said that he was glad that he got home safe! Obadiah cared about him. He-he loved him. Didn't he? His thoughts were darting everywhere; he couldn't focus.

"Oh come on, Tony, you had to have seen this coming! You really are the death of yourself, you know. I ordered the Ten Rings to take you out, but of course they failed and tried to glean weapons out of you instead. So, when I realized that I had to do things all by myself, I came up with another plan. Convincing those people to give false testimonies is so easy when you have millions of dollars at your disposal. And a single call for a favor was all it took to have Dr. Ressco falsely diagnose you." Tony couldn't breath. It was all a lie. All of it. Obadiah had planned all of it out to a T. Fuck, why was he so stupid? "And then, after you were so caught up in your own mind, all I had to do was suggest a simple trip out to sea, 'just the two of us', and you fell for the final trap. Oh Tony, I really am sorry."

Tony was frozen. He was sure that all the anger and resentment and utter betrayal was supposed to be spewing out of him right now in so many different forms. He was sure that he was supposed to be fighting Stane, trying to wrestle the man's own life away from him in order to retain his own. But all he could do was stand there, mere feet away from his former-friend, stuck in his spot unable to do anything. Obadiah purposefully moved away from him, dropping a smaller boat out to sea and jumping on it slowly. In his hands he held a remote control, which, if Tony had been in his right mind, he would have recognized it as a remote-controlled detonator. Once Obadiah was far enough away, he clicked a button on the device.

Time was at a stand-still. As bright red flames exploded out of the deck, Tony stood there motionless, mesmerized by the deadly fire that would soon bring his death. In slow motion, Tony reached out to touch them, unaware of the pain as they licked up his arms. His head dropped backwards, staring up at the sky as his body was consumed by the first wave.

He was thrown backwards, propelled by the shockwave of the explosion. The impact of hitting the water was like being run over by a car, and on the very edge of his mind he felt his hand and foot being torn apart by pieces of the ship. Tony could not think, he was simply hypnotized by the closeness and sheer beauty of his death.

Right before he drifted into unconsciousness and the never-ending darkness, he remembered flashes of faces, some with strawberry blonde hair, others with short, shaven dark curls, all of them wearing tarnished silver masks. All of them letting him go, letting him fall off the cliff of consciousness into endless nothingness.

~o~

Far away, Obadiah Stane smiled down at the corpse of the ship, watching as the flames died down in the late afternoon light. Something bobbed toward him, determinedly fighting against the tide to reach the man's small boat. Reaching out into the water to pick it up, Obadiah laughed in sheer glee and victory. Sitting in his palm was the severed hand of Tony Stark, who had just tragically died in an explosion that was so obviously created by the young man's own insanity. That would be the story told, anyways. Obadiah did not stop laughing until the rest of the flames died down and he heard the tell-tale signs of helicopter blades whirring through the sky. Only then did he plaster on a somber expression and let his fingers go limp, dropping the hand to the bottom of his boat. But underneath it all, he knew that he had won.