Death was Arrested - Chapter 8
A few hours had passed since the transmission from Red Skull, and little progress was made on any strategic front. Steve had tried calling Ross non-stop, but there was no answer. Tony needed rest, but how much of it was unknown. It didn't help that they had no qualified physicians on hand to help him. Steve, Nat, and Kimberly sat in the lounge together, with Steve finally concluding that Ross either didn't want to talk to him, or that he was wiped away in the decimation.
"Where is he?!" A frantic female voice was heard from outside the lounge. The trio in the lounge all rose to their feet quickly, startled by the new voice. The red-haired woman entered the room, her face stained by tears.
"Pepper," Natasha greeted her. But before she could embrace her, Pepper continued.
"Where is he? Where's Tony?"
"He's in the medical bay," Steve explained. "He suffered severe dehydration and starvation. We're lucky we found him when we did."
"Thank you for finding him," Pepper replied. "Can I see him?"
"Let me take you to him," Nat replied. "He's still unconscious, but you can sit with him if you'd like."
Nat guided Pepper to his room, and when Pepper saw him lying in his bed, she began to tear up again. She quickly composed herself and thanked Nat. She dragged over a chair and put it next to him, and she sat down and grasped his hand. She sat there for nearly a half hour not knowing what to say, or what to do.
"Tony..." She started, but tears once more threatened. "I... I thought the last memory of me you had was one of anger and disappointment. You were on that ship and I... all I saw was another broken promise to me. I didn't think you cared about me, all you cared about was your avenging, being iron man. I didn't realize that what you were really trying to do was to save me... to save us." She closed her eyes, tears continuing to fall.
"Are those tears for your long-lost fiance..." Tony's voice stirred, startling Pepper. She looked at him, seeing his eyes were now slightly open.
"Tony..."
"I never thought I was going to see you again," he confessed, squeezing her hand. "When everyone was wiped away... I hoped against hope that you were ok." His voice trailed off for a moment. "I promise I'll never miss another dinner reservation."
"I think you should promise to never make promises you can't keep," Pepper retorted, a smirk on her face.
"Well, at least I got sentimentality from you for about thirty seconds, that's more than usual," Tony replied playfully.
"This coming from the man who said that sentimentality would never be a word that defined him?"
"I'm just saying, I was in deep space, running out of oxygen, food, and water, I could just use a little more sympathy."
"You could use a swift kick to the head."
"That's also probably true," Tony replied, a small grin. "I love you, Miss Potts."
"It won't be Miss Potts for much longer," she grinned. After a brief pause, Pepper continued. "Look, you can't keep that promise, you have a job to do, and that job might mean you will miss some dinner dates."
"I know," Tony replied. "I think we have a chance to undo what Thanos did. I don't know necessarily how..."
"Maybe you should ask Steve?" The mention of his name caused him to grimace.
"Rogers?"
"Yeah, he's here," she replied. Without a word, Tony leapt off the bed and started putting on the change of clothes that Bruce and Rhodey had gotten him. "Tony..." Her faint plea wasn't enough to keep him from dressing quickly and heading to the door.
"Let's go Pepper." He waited patiently for her, but she didn't budge from the chair that she had been sitting in. "Pepper!"
"I know you and Steve had a falling out, but don't you think you need to move past it?" She pleaded. "For goodness sakes, half the universe is gone, I just found out that you were still alive. Steve is here, maybe you guys can talk and figure out if there's anything you can do..."
"We didn't just have a falling out, it's his fault that this happened in the first place." The angry accusation was the last thing he said before walking out the door. He was fueled by adrenaline and rage, moving quickly through the hallways before he ended up exactly where he didn't want to be: in the lounge with Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff, not to mention a petite brunette he had never met.
"Tony," Steve greeted him, yielding a scoff from his old friend.
"Figures," Tony started.
"Tony, don't say something you'll regret," Pepper called out as she ran into the room, finally catching up to her fiance.
"I don't think I'll regret this." Tony's tone was serious, his eyes locked onto the man who he hadn't seen or talked to for years. "You think you're some sort of hero, swooping back into our little pad when the going got rough? Well where were you when the fate of the universe was in the balance?"
"We were doing what was available to us, which at the time was saving Vision and Wanda," Natasha deftly countered.
"Seems like you did a great job," Tony quipped. "I'd imagine Vision had to die so that Thanos could get the his stone?" The room was silent, and Steve's countenance fell. "And Wanda? Where is she?"
"She's gone Tony," Steve replied. "T'Challa, Sam... Bucky..."
"Of course," Tony chided. "Your precious Bucky."
"Look Tony, this isn't easy for any of us..."
"You don't get it, do you?" Stark shot back. "I was earth's last defense, and when the going got tough, I had to rely on a wizard and kid from Queens. Not on the Avengers, not on..."
"And exactly who's fault was that?" Romanoff challenged, but Steve put his hand up.
"It's okay, Nat," Steve replied. "We could have done the Sokovia Accords better. If I had been willing to listen..."
"If only you could have listened," Tony mocked. "Tell me, Captain Rogers, do you remember when you asked me when Coulson died, if it was the first time I lost a soldier?"
"I do."
"Peter Parker died in my arms, begging me not to go. He was sixteen. He was... I put him in harm's way to stop you from breaking the law." Tony began to tear up, thinking once more about the young man who he had grown very fond of. "Do me a favor, Cap... stay out of my way before I decide to call Ross on you." He turned to walk out, before Steve interjected.
"We don't know where Ross is," Steve replied.
"Then I'll call the next available agent!" Tony walked out briskly, Pepper trying to catch up with him. He finally slowed down enough so she could catch him, and they made their way out to her vehicle. They barely spoke, Pepper trying to give Tony the space he needed, despite the fact that she disagreed with how he was handling this conflict. Tony opened her door for her so that she could enter the driver side of the car, but before he could walk around to get in himself, he heard a voice calling out for him.
"Tony, wait!"
He looked to see that it was the petite brunette who had been in the lounge with Cap and Nat.
"Look, I know that not everyone watches the news, but I'm engaged, so I can't really..."
"I'm not here about..."
"Oh, well if you're not interested in that, I can sign whatever you want, just tell me who the autograph is going for..."
"Stephen Strange visited me twelve years ago!" She yelled, the name catching Tony's attention.
"You know Strange?" She nodded. "And who exactly are you?"
"Kimberly Hart, former power ranger," she replied.
"Power ranger?" He rolled his eyes and then started to go over to the passenger side of the car.
"Tony, you can't leave!" He ignored her as he began to climb into the car. "Strange said there was one way to save the world, and..."
"What did you say?" He stopped to look at her. He climbed back out of the car and made his way towards her. "What... what did you just say?"
"When Strange and I talked, he said that Tommy, another ranger, and I, were key in helping you and Steve save the universe from Thanos. That we were the only way."
"Strange knew..." Tony whispered. He leaned back into the car and spoke to Pepper. "We're staying." He focused his attention back to Kimberly. "What all did he tell you?"
"He told me that Tommy and I were key, and that we needed to help you and Steve. He was pressed for time, I'd imagine that it was because he knew Thanos was coming."
"So... just to be clear, you saw Strange from the future, in the past."
"Yes," Kim admitted sheepishly. "Look, I know it sounds crazy..."
"It does," Tony interjected. "But right now... we could all use a little crazy. Tell you what, Ms. Ranger, wrangle everyone up. The master of the mystic arts has been engineering our victory, and I'd hate to disappoint him."
Kim spread the word throughout the compound that Tony was coming back, which shocked a lot of people, especially Steve and Natasha. Everyone, including Thor, Loki, Rocket, and the rangers, gathered in the common room. Many sat at the table in the center of the room, including Steve, who sat at the head of the table. He stared right at Tony, who paced around the room. He looked over towards Loki, which brought a grimace to his face.
"Not going to lie, I'm a little concerned that you're not in restraints," Tony quipped.
"This is my fight as much as yours," Loki replied, his tone laced with a seriousness that Tony didn't expect. "He killed our people."
"No offense, but considering you started this whole mess, you're not exactly on my friend list just yet."
"Tony..." Bruce interjected.
"I'm just saying..."
"He makes a false move I'll remove his head from the rest of him," Clint added, still dressed in his ninja garb.
"My god... Clint?" Tony gasped at the new look, as well as the sadistic reply. "What happened to you?"
"What happened to him is what happened to the rest of us," Tommy spoke up. "Look, I know you've been gone for a while, but we're all hurting here. We're scrambling to find a way to undo what Thanos did."
"Ok," Tony sighed. "Where are we so far?"
"There's a power source that we have, it's called the zeo crystal," Tommy explained. "Our hope is once we find Thanos, we can find a way to harness the power of the stones with it."
"What good will that do?" Tony asked.
"We don't know, honestly." Tommy confessed.
"It's possible that we could reverse time," Wong chimed in. "It might get the ones we've lost back, and we might be able to stop Thanos if we have the power of the stones."
"Ok, so here's the million dollar question," Tony started. "How do we find him... and how do we stop him?"
"We're still working on finding him," Rhodes started to explain. "But once we find him, Thor will take the rangers with the crystal, along with a few others, while the rest of us defend the earth from the impending threat."
"Impending threat?" Tony asked.
"The Red Skull," Steve replied.
"You mean your old nemesis from World War II?" Tony asked. "HYDRA?"
"Not HYDRA, Red Skull with Thanos' army of outriders," Steve replied. "Apparently Red Skull led Thanos to one of the infinity stones. In exchange, he has an army."
"Not to mention that army wipes everybody out in the future," Scott Lang added. "At least, if we don't change it."
"And how would you know that?" Tony challenged.
"Because I traveled five years into the future and found it decimated by outriders," Scott replied. "Believe it or not, the only Avenger left was you." He pointed at Tony.
"Me?" Tony asked. The revelation stunned Tony. He pulled over a chair and sat down. He took a couple of deep breaths, trying to take in all of the twists and turns the avengers and rangers had just told him. "I saw this coming."
"What do you mean?" Thor asked.
"When Wanda..." he stuttered. "When she and Ultron fought against us, she showed me a vision. The avengers were dead. Earth, overrun. And I was the only one left."
"That was a dream, Tony," Natasha challenged.
"It's reality," Tony replied. "This is my fault. Thanos... when I fought him on Titan, he knew who I was. He knew. Like I was some guardian to be conquered. And when it was over..." His voice trailed off for a moment as memories from the battle flooded his memories. He gulped hard, and then continued. "I gave him everything I had, with my greatest innovation, and I got one drop of blood. That was before he impaled me with my own armor. Before Strange saved my life by giving him the Time Stone."
"He saved your life so you could help us," Kim comforted him.
"Why am I the survivor? Why did the kid have to die?!"
"We've lost, Tony," Steve replied, standing up. His voice, the tone, it captured everyone's attention. Tony's full attention was on him. "All of us. We've lost friends. We've lost family." Steve looked over to Katherine, who had a tear falling from her eyes. He then looked over to Clint. "We've lost a part of ourselves. But, we have a chance to make this right. This is the fight of our lives."
"How do we plan on winning this fight?" Tony asked sheepishly. Steve looked back towards his old friend, and for a moment it seemed like it was just the two of them in the room.
"Together."
To Be Continued...
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- Googz333