Hello,
Thank you to everyone who has commented, enjoying this fic so far! We are getting closer to the end now. Each Marvel movie will have a separate fic dedicated to it. So, Iron Man 2 will not be covered in this fic.
Understanding the Real Hero: Iron Man
EIGHT
There was a TV in the corner of Tony's workshop. A news report showed a reporter standing in the desert, next to a line of villagers as they made their way down into a ravine, carrying only a few possessions. The reporter was describing the fifteen-mile hike to the outskirts of Gulmira could only be considered a descent into hell. Simple farmers and herders from peaceful villages had been driven from their homes, displaced from their lands by the warlords, who'd been emboldened by a new-found power.
"That's why Stark weaponry was so sought after. It could change the tides of a conflict," explained Rhodey. "It was the best weapons tech in the world. And still is, even if Tony isn't in the business anymore."
"It allowed the Ten Rings to gain a lot of foothold in Afghanistan," muttered Sam. He glanced at Tony. "I know it wasn't you, Stark, and I know why you feel the way you do…"
"People lost their lives and livelihoods because I didn't know," sighed Tony. They'd already gone through this. "I had to do something about it. Especially after I saw this news report."
Steve looked sharply at him. "What did you do?"
Tony advised him to carry on watching.
Tony sat on the couch, fiddling with an Iron Man Gauntlet on his right arm, using a screwdriver with his left, fiddling with the newly made suit. He was stone-faced, angry.
"There is only one other time I've ever seen you that angry before…" noted Rhodey quietly.
"When?" Tony had rarely become angry before Afghanistan. He had led a care-free life. He couldn't think of what Rhodey was referring too.
Rhodey tipped his head towards Steve and the others and mouthed back to his friend: "Siberia."
"Oh." Tony realised now. He should have remembered but a part of him wanted to forget the whole Siberia business. He'd been deeply hurt by Roger's betrayal. And he wasn't looking forward to viewing it either. Once Tony had been rescued and brought home, he'd spent hours ranting about Steve and the others. His anger over everything that had happened had since evaporated but the resentment was still there.
The reporter continued to elaborate that the villagers had been forced to take shelter in any dwellings they could find. Some found shelter in the ruins of other buildings or in the remnants of an old Soviet smelting plant. The TV flashed to show gunfire.
As Tony continued to fiddle with the Gauntlet, the palm began to glow.
"Why do I get the feeling you're going to blow something up?" swallowed Bruce, alarmed by the expression on onscreen Tony's face.
The violence in Gulmira was being attributed to the Ten Rings. Then, there was Raza, seen smoking on screen. The Reporter confirmed the men were heavily armed and on a mission; a mission which could prove fatal to anyone who stands in their way.
Tony stood up.
Everyone in the room seemed to flinch. They could tell Tony meant business.
The news reporter continued, stating there was little hope for any of the refugees.
"Stark…?" Bucky hesitantly asked.
Tony leaned forward.
"I'm not sure if I should ask this or not… but… what were you thinking?"
Tony sighed. "I was thinking of Yinsen, and what he told me. His final words have stayed with me all this time. 'Don't waste your life'. And, for months, I'd been at home, creating this suit of armour when I could have been doing something more to help the people of Gulmira. Yinsen died so I could live. It should have been the other way around. He could have given the world more than I have ever given it."
"That's not true," defended Steve, feeling guilty at the low amount of self-esteem Tony had. He knew Clint's constant derogatory comments were getting to the Inventor. "You've given the world plenty, Tony. You've made mistakes but so have all of us."
Tony raised his head and looked at Steve directly in the eye. "And yet I am the only one willing to try to rectify my mistakes."
"That's not true, Tony, and you know it!" retorted Steve.
Tony raised an eyebrow. "When did Captain America rectify his mistakes with the Accords? Oh… wait… no… you think the world needs to rectify their mistakes…"
Steve pursed his lips. "The Accords are wrong, Tony, and you know it!"
"And, yet, I'm in a position to help the world when it requests it and not be obstructed when you are unable to fully help others when the authorities arrive and attempt to arrest you. Please, tell me, how is being on the run, any help to the world?" The Inventor folded his arms across his chest. "The world needed us to be together, Cap, standing alongside them, not opposing them!"
"But you recognise they are wrong though." Steve saw the opportunity. Tony hadn't denied it.
"There are a lot of things wrong with the Accords, but working with them, which means we have the ammo to change them. Running from them and showing how against them you do not grant you the opportunity to negotiate changes with the Accords Committee." Tony pointed out. "I don't like working with Ross either. But, you'll find, he isn't the one in charge of the Accords. More than seventy-five percent of the time he does not get his own way."
Steve's expression was hard. "He still has twenty-five percent too much."
"That's the way the world works, Steve," sighed Rhodey. "You can't always get what you want. You have to compromise. If you want to fit in, you have to –"
"Play well with others," interjected Tony. "A label once directed at me. Fighting against the Accords when you did was the wrong time to do it. I have the ability to make suggestions, talk to the other members of the Committee, and get them altered so they are more in favour of us. Even if you decided to come back, they wouldn't be able to trust you because you do not have their confidence. You threw that all away when you went against them."
Steve sighed. "Tony… We're never going to agree on the Accords. There is no way of knowing who was right or wrong. We just have to live with it. Whilst the Accords are in place, I will not work with the Governments. I will work with the people of the world to help them when they need it most."
"Even when they do not want you to?" Tony pointed out. "Do not assume the public is on your side, Steve."
Steve's jaw clenched.
Bucky raised a hand, stopping Steve from responding. "Leave it, Steve." He looked apologetically at Tony. "Didn't know my question would lead to this."
"It's alright," acceded Tony. "The Accords are a tricky subject to navigate."
"You can say that again," muttered Sam, shaking his head warily.
Tony walked around the couch, throwing the screwdriver away. He looked angry.
"Around me, a woman begging for news on her husband, who was kidnapped by insurgents, either forced to join their militia or-"
Tony raised his arm, palm out in front of him. He aimed at the other side of the garage, and fired, blasting one of the lights hanging from the ceiling. Tony was angry and determined.
"Desperate refugees clutch yellowed photographs, holding them up to anyone who will stop." The woman's voice droned on in the background.
Tony walks forward, flexing his head.
"Stark, remind me to never piss you off again," complained Sam. "You really look like someone not to be messed with."
Tony remembered blasting Sam off his feet after Rhodey had fallen and lacerated his spinal cord. He could have done so much worse to Sam if he'd wanted to.
"A child's simple question, 'where are my mother and father?' There's very little hope for the refugees, refugees who can only wonder who, if anyone, will help."
"Why didn't the US Army step in?" asked Steve. "Surely, this is what they should be doing?"
Rhodey shook his head. "It wasn't that simple. When they are using human shields, and have civilians everywhere, it is impossible for us to step in. Civilian casualties have to be prevented at all costs."
"Sometimes you cannot prevent civilian casualties," argued Steve. "We try our best to save them as much as possible. It's not always possible."
"Like Lagos?" Wanda asked. "Sokovia?"
"Both of those incidents could have been prevented," said Tony quietly. "Sokovia is on me."
Wanda's expression slightly changed when Tony mentioned Sokovia.
"They couldn't be avoided," stated Steve. "We have to accept it and move on."
"Steve, the Air Force nor the Army would ever put civilian's lives at risk. We have to monitor the situation and take action at the most appropriate time. It is not acceptable for civilians to die," pointed out Rhodey.
"But how many died because you didn't intervene?" Steve grated. "You could have saved many lives by sacrificing a few!"
Rhodey's eyes glinted angrily. "Not when they are innocent people!"
"Sometimes sacrifices have to be made in war," steeled Steve.
The argument would have continued if the Voice hadn't spoken up.
And, yet, when it came to it, you were unable to sacrifice the few for the many, Rogers.
"What?" Steve was startled, surprising twisting across his face. "I wouldn't hesitate to make that choice!"
Hmm, you'll see.
Steve cast his gaze around the room. "What does that mean?"
Sam swallowed, glancing at Steve. "I think it means you do the exact opposite of what you say you would do…"
"But… I'd… never…" Steve shook his head. "I wouldn't… Would I?" he asked aloud; however, the voice did not elaborate.
"I guess you'll find out, Cap," added Sam.
Steve wasn't sure he was looking forward to finding out or not. He just couldn't imagine putting his own needs first above the needs of others. He wasn't selfish like Tony was. Helping others is my priority. Nothing will change that. Everything I've done is so I can continue to help others. The world just cannot see that.
Tony's reflection stared back at him in the three glass panels overlying the entrance to his lab. He hated what he saw, loathed himself for what he had been contributing to for years. The repulsor on his palm brightened and he blasted his reflection in the middle glass pane before he spun and shattered the rest before finally walking away from the mess.
"In that moment, I hated myself. I hated what my weapons had been used for. I had to stop it," explained Tony quietly. "It's why I decided to go to Afghanistan."
Wearing a black jumpsuit, Tony stepped onto a black grid. Panels in the floor opened up beneath him, and the boot and leg pieces of the Iron Man Mark III, painted red and gold, were fastened over his feet and legs.
From above, a large robot reached down with the front and back pieces of the suit, the Arc Reactor glowed in front of it as the chest plate slammed down, followed by the pieces for the arms and hands-on Tony's outstretched arms. Last came the helmet from the side, clamping round underneath his chin.
Intensity bore from his eyes and the faceplate fell into place.
Sam swallowed, his eyes a little fearful. "You really are intent on a one-man mission there."
"When you learn your weapons have been sold illegally by someone who you thought was a family friend and business partner…" Tony shook his head. "I can't describe the emotions."
"But you wanted to fix it," added Rhodey. He sighed, his shoulders drooping. "I wish I hadn't turned my back on you… Would you have come to me before going if I'd been interested?"
Tony frowned. "I don't think I would. I still would have done what I did in Afghanistan. I had to stop my weapons from being used to terrorise the innocent. If the US Army wasn't going to step in, I had to do it myself."
Rhodey could accept that. "If they'd known, they would have attempted to stop you."
"I know."
There was a brief shot of Tony flying through the air, speeding across towards his goal.
"How long did it take you to get to Afghanistan?" asked Bruce.
"I pushed the suit as fast as it would go. It took me a few hours. The suit can fly faster than any plane. If a direct flight was available from Malibu to Afghanistan it would take about fifteen hours. For me… Around three hours of flight time."
Sam's eyes widened. "That quick?"
Tony inclined his head. "My suit is faster than the QuinJet. I can get to anywhere in the world within a fraction of the usual time."
"How did you occupy your mind for three hours?" queried Wanda.
"I didn't. I kept thinking about Stane and how I had allowed myself to become complacent and not take any interest in my company, and how people had gotten hurt because of it." Tony leaned back. "And, in that time, I also had JARVIS take scans from the satellites circulating above Afghanistan to find the exact locations of my weapons so I could get in and out as fast as possible. The time went by quite quickly. I was very focused on one thing. It helped."
Wanda nodded thoughtfully.
Gulmira itself was in chaos. Villagers were running, trying to flee as missiles landed in the high dunes. Terrorists chased them, shooting them down, tearing men from their families, and shoving women and children to their comrades.
One of the terrorists, whose name was Abu and had been heavily involved in Tony's captivity, yelled in Arabic for the weapons they were collecting to be stacked and to clear out all of the houses.
Steve's eyes hardened. "I don't like that guy. He's a bully."
Tony wanted to comment but stopped himself.
A family was dragged out at gunpoint, the man separated from his wife and children. His wife was screaming and the son ran towards his father. Abu grabbed the boy and threw him away from his father. The father fell to the ground and was beaten in the chest. Abu ordered for the man to be shot, informing his men they were all incompetent.
"Why shoot them?" Thor asked angrily.
"Because the men were more likely to fight back than the women or the children," answered Sam. "They could use the women to look after them and for pleasure, and they could take the children and convert them to their religion and their way of life. They always needed to boost their numbers. The men were unlikely to be converted."
"There is no honour in what they did," grated Thor.
"There never was," continued Sam. "Terrorists live their lives very differently to the rest of us. It was always the innocents who suffered."
Forced to his knees, a gun pointed at his head, the father's son was still yelling for his father.
Then something came flying head-first from the sky and lands on their left knee and right foot and stands up to face the man who had just been about to shoot their unarmed prisoner.
A few of them cheered at Tony's entrance.
"That was iconic!" cheered Sam.
"Just came out of nowhere," agreed Bucky.
A cascade of bullets ricocheted against the fully powered Iron Man suit, however only a few dents were made, and Tony punched the man away. The repulsors from his hands killed two of the men, then he raised both and turned to the two trucks where the civilians were being held hostage. The terrorists had guns held to the heads of the women.
"Cowards," grated Steve, clenching his fists. "I'm glad you went in, Tony."
Tony lowers his arms, powering down.
Inside the helmet, the targeting system was classifying all terrorists as hostile and all hostages as civilians.
"Oh, I like that," grinned Sam. "Giving the illusion you are standing down but in reality…"
Tony smirked. "Planning something else."
Mini missile launchers appear on the top of his shoulder and target the hostiles, killing them instantly before they had any time to react.
"Smooth," complimented Rhodey. "If we had tech like that, we would have gone in. The only reason we started to gain ground against the Ten Rings was that Tony got involved as Iron Man. He was able to get into areas we couldn't."
Tony elaborated further. "I didn't trust the military with my tech either, not after this. They were lucky I allowed Rhodey to have his suit."
"I think you mean stole," replied Rhodey wisely.
"Hah! No, I let you take it. If I hadn't wanted you to have it, I wouldn't have let you get into the suit in the first place. There is a difference between the two."
"When did you steal the suit?" asked Steve.
Rhodey exchanged a glance with Tony. "I'm pretty sure you'll see it happen."
The boy rushed towards his father and the two hugged as Tony stomped past in the suit, his mission not yet over with yet.
"I'm glad you saved them," smiled Wanda. "They didn't deserve to have their family torn apart."
Tony's lips twitched. "Neither did you, Wanda."
"It's not your fault," she answered, realising to hear it from her would maybe help him make peace with it. Tony's only crime had been to trust others, and she couldn't hold it against him for that.
"But it was alright for you to tear me away from my family?" snarked Clint.
Tony rolled his eyes. "I think you did that yourself, Barton!"
"He does have a point, Clint. You did choose to retire," Natasha pointed out. "And you made the choice to come when Steve wanted you to. You had a choice not to."
Clint pursed his lips. He didn't like being told it was his choices which had got him into the mess in the first place.
"Clint…" Steve started, "I shouldn't have asked for you to come. I'm sorry. I was concerned about Wanda."
"Actually, Rogers," interjected Tony, "you weren't. Why not be truthful for a change instead of hiding secrets?"
Steve glowered.
"Most of what you did was to protect your friend. And, yes, there were other Winter Soldiers in hiding, but if you'd come to me legitimately and instead of trying to do things yourself and illegally, the situation may have all turned out differently. We might not have had our fight in the first place," stated Tony.
Steve didn't reply, only lowered his head, not wanting to believe how much he had done wrong to the team by his own choices.
Abu had been watching from behind a wall and pulled out a phone and quickly began dialling.
A red metal fist slammed through the wall to Abu's right and pulls him through the wall, sending him crashing to the ground in front of the villagers.
Tony engaged his thrusters, lifting himself a few metres into the air. "He's all yours," he declared. He flew up into the sky whilst the civilians looked at Abu and he at them, as they approached him.
"Did they kill him?" Thor enquired.
Tony shrugged. "Don't know. I presume so. At that point, I didn't really care. I just wanted to destroy all my weapons so they couldn't be used against innocents again."
Iron Man flew through the air, across the mountains, targeting his weapons on the ground below in the hands of the terrorists. The targeting system found the Jericho missiles. Then he was hit out of the sky by a blast from a tank and Tony landed with a loud bang on the ground, creating a ditch as he crash-landed.
"You were targeting anything that was yours?" Bruce asked.
Tony nodded. "Yeah. Not just the Jericho. I wasn't going to let them have any of my weapons, not even the ones which were purported to be fake by the black market."
"Mr. Stark was very thorough in his mission," stated Vision. "JARVIS was able to hack into remote satellites and use the data to map exactly where the weapons were being stored. And which ones, that were being sold in Mr. Stark's name, were not genuine missiles from the Stark range."
"I'd already witnessed my weapons being used against the US army and myself…" Tony shook his head. "Never again."
Hauling himself up out of the ditch, Tony faced the tank which fired another missile at him. A slight lean out of the way kept him out of its path. He raised his right arm and fires one small missile which hits the tank.
Turning away, Tony stomped away as the tank exploded in a fiery bang.
"You definitely mean business…" observed Sam. What he was seeing was the side of Tony that he never wanted to meet in person. He was sure he may have had a glimpse of him when he'd tried to help Rhodey after Vision's attack had knocked him out of the sky.
"I could have done much worse to you than I did, Sam," recognised Tony. "You're lucky."
Starting towards the Jericho missile launcher, Tony wasn't fazed by the men beginning to fire a cascade of bullets at him. A waste of bullets. Tony moved to hover in the air. He targeted the Jericho missiles with his repulsor and fired off a single shot at the base of it.
The missile exploded.
"Another one down," breathed out Wanda, relieved. "How many were there?"
"Quite a few," answered Tony, "that and a stash of other weapons that I didn't want them to have. Much as I was proud of the weapons, I designed… I knew I couldn't clear my conscience if I didn't do something about stopping the endless circle, I had become trapped in. Taking them all out and stopping production was the only way I could see which would help. I may have been hasty in my actions but I was trying to protect those I had unwittingly put in harm's way."
Steve's lips twitched. "You did the right thing, Tony."
As Tony shot up into the sky, Raza arrived with a row of trucks, stopping in dismay, briefly glimpsing the Iron Man suit as it vanished into the sky above.
"He knows it's you, doesn't he?" asked Bruce.
"I'd guess so. He found the remains of the other suit in the desert. He would have put two-and-two together. A more advanced suit than the one his former captive escaped in? Could only be him coming back for more," snorted Tony. "I never had any other dealings with him, as much as I would have liked to have killed him for putting me through what he did."
Across in California, at the Edwards Air Force Base, a military surveillance screen had picked up the explosions happening in Afghanistan. The General asked if they were clear to go in there.
Sam pulled a face. "That's not good."
"Why not?" Steve was surprised. "Tony's doing them a favour."
"Unauthorised action in a restricted area is bad news for Tony," pointed out Rhodey. "And they wouldn't have known it was him."
The Private verified they hadn't been as the terrorists had been using human shields.
Steve tutted. He still believed they should have gone in regardless of that factor. It would have been something he would have done. Better to save many than just a few.
The General needed to be put through to the state as all at once the phone lines went crazy as the calls came through, asking who was involved with what was happening in Afghanistan. They all needed answers and they were trying to find the target again before the order came through that they wanted Colonel Rhodes from Weapons Development to come down.
"Oh, this is bad," swallowed Bruce. "Why do I get the feeling something is going to happen?"
Tony and Rhodey exchanged glances and winced. Bruce wasn't far wrong.
As Iron Man continued to streak across the sky, Rhodey entered the intelligence room. They informed him they'd run an ID check and it had been cross-referenced with all known databases and they had come up with nothing. Rhodey wanted to know if there were any high-altitude surveillance in the region. The Private confirmed they had an AWAC and a Global Hawk in the area.
"Didn't know you'd gone global, Hawkeye," grinned Natasha, poking fun at the archer.
"I may have good vision, but I'm not that good Natasha," clarified Clint. But he did smile at her joke, leaning back in the chair.
Rhodey considered that the new technology had appeared out of nowhere and why hadn't it appeared on radar.
Rhodey shifted in his seat. "Why didn't we detect you sooner?"
"JARVIS was scrambling the signals," answered Tony, shrugging his soldiers. "When I started to make some noise, I wanted people to know I was there, so we dropped the scrambler so I could be detected."
Rhodey frowned.
"You would have noticed the explosions anyway. No point in hiding myself once I had sneaked into the area." Tony winced. "Though I didn't anticipate your response."
Grinning, the Colonel replied, "You learned your lesson there, alright."
The technicians had managed to get a minimal radar cross-section. Rhodey asked if it was stealth. They replied that it was tiny and they believed it to be an unmanned aerial vehicle. When they asked Rhodey what they were dealing with, he asked if he could make a call.
"Did you usually call Stark?" queried Sam.
"For anything, we didn't recognise, yes," replied Rhodey. "If anyone could get new technology into a war zone, it would be Tony Stark. He was always experimenting. He did have a bit of a history of doing it so he was always the first port of call."
Tony raised his hands. "I liked to push the boundaries. Sometimes it was the only way to efficiently test new technology, and I knew I could trust Rhodey."
A shrill ringtone sounded inside the helmet of the suit. "Hello?" Tony answered.
"Tony?"
He couldn't identify the speaker over the noise of the flight. "Who's this?"
"It's Rhodey."
"Sorry, hello?" Tony teased.
"I said it's Rhodey."
Rhodey threw him an irritated glance. "Were you doing it deliberately?"
"No. I couldn't actually hear you. It was only when JARVIS put up your photo on the viewscreen that I realised it was you."
"Speak up, please," requested Tony. On Tony's display appeared Rhodey's name, title, and credentials with a photo.
"What in hell is that noise?" Rhodey, back in the intelligence room put a finger to his ear so he could hear better.
The Avengers laughed.
"Didn't it raise your suspicions?" Bucky questioned.
Rhodey nodded. "It did."
Continuing to fly through the air, Tony tried to divert attention from what he was really doing. "Oh, yeah, I'm driving with the top down."
"Yeah, well, I need your help right now."
"You believed that?" Steve asked incredulously.
"Driving with the top down was what Tony did on a regular basis," defended Rhodey. His eyelids lowered. "Though it was usually easier to hear him…"
Tony snarked back. "It's funny how that works, huh?"
Rhodey cringed. "I get why you were mad."
"I forgave you long ago." Tony smiled warmly at his friend.
"Yeah. Speaking of funny, we've got a weapons depot that was just blown up a few clicks from where you were being held captive."
"Well, that's a, uh, that's a hotspot. Sounds like someone stepped in and did your job for you, huh?" Tony was slightly breathless, something which Rhodey picked up on.
"Why do you sound out of breath, Tony?" Rhodey queried.
"He's suspicious…" intoned Sam. "He's not going to think you're driving…"
"I'm not, I'm just jogging in the canyon."
Sam groaned. "You've just blown your own cover." He shook his head.
"I thought you were driving."
Tony knew he was caught in a bad lie. "Yeah, right, I was just driving to the canyon where I'm going to jog."
Everyone laughed at Tony's attempt to save his lie.
"Do you ever go for a jog, Stark?" asked Clint. "Or do you just sit at home all day and pretend to be brainy?"
"Pretend to be brainy?" Tony was aghast at Clint's words. "Better to be pretending to be brainy then holding a grudge against the person who helped your family whilst you were in jail… Oh, and who also got you your terms so you could return home to them!"
Clint's face paled. "That was you?"
"Do you really think I'm that heartless, Barton? I knew Rogers was going to try to break you all out. Why do you think you got the offer to return to your family and charges dropped if you consented to house arrest for two years? If Rogers had broken you out before the offer was in place, you wouldn't have been able to return home. You would have been immediately arrested."
Clint's cheeks warmed red. "I didn't know. Laura never said."
"I asked her not to. But I kept your family protected from Ross. And, I had no obligation to do so." Tony folded his arms across his chest, his point made.
Clint sat quietly, mulling over everything Tony had revealed.
"You sure you don't have any tech in that area I should know about?" asked Rhodey, his eyes focusing on the moving target on the big screen in front of him.
"Nope." Tony was emphatic about that.
Major Allen confirmed they had spotted the bogey and needed Whiplash to come in hot.
"Okay, good, 'cause I'm staring at one right now, and it's about to be blown to kingdom come."
"Yup, it is bad," swallowed Bruce. He shook his head. "Only you could get the army to try to blow you out of the sky."
Behind the suit, two jets veer into place.
"Yep, that's my exit!"
Tony twisted to the left, rolling away, heading off in another direction. The jets followed.
The pilot, Whiplash One, confirmed they had got the bogey in its sights.
Rhodey wanted to know what it was, however, Whiplash One couldn't identify it. They couldn't get radio contact either. Rhodey cleared them to engage the target.
"Why didn't you just tell him it was you?" Bucky observed Tony's reaction carefully.
Tony sighed. "I didn't know who I could trust. I'd been betrayed by someone close to me… how could I trust the army? And, Rhodey, hadn't been supportive. Who could I trust?"
"Pepper," Steve pointed out.
Tony rolled his eyes. "Other than her."
On Tony's display, a message flashed up, urging him to engage the supersonic flight. "Hit it!" The suit burst into speed, streaking off into the clouds in an effort to lose its pursuers.
Whiplash One reported the unidentified object had just gone supersonic! And he had a lock on the target.
"You went supersonic and they could still get a lock on you?" Bruce gulped.
"Don't worry. They didn't succeed in blowing me out of the sky," reassured Tony. "I'm still here."
"Yeah, but that didn't stop something else blowing up though, did it?" Rhodey retorted.
Tony winced.
"I really hope it isn't what I think he means," swallowed Bruce.
Thor leaned into Bruce. "The planes?"
"Yep. Something else blew up. Has to be one of them," deduced Bruce.
Everyone exchanged worried glances as they watched the pursuit continue.
A missile streaked towards Tony.
JARVIS stated quite calmly. "Inbound missile."
"Flares!" Tony ordered.
The flares engaged and the missile hit them, the resulting explosion sent Tony through the air.
The explosion didn't impair the Air Force planes as they shot through the flames following Tony's descent as he spiralled through the air, attempting to re-engage the thrusters. His boosters fired just as one of the Air Force pilots got a lock on the suit. Shots grazed the suit as he tried to dodge in mid-air.
"Deploy flaps!"
Sections of the suit flared out, halting the flight of the suit as the two aircraft shot past. The pilots reported their target had jumped off the radar and the sat visual had been lost.
"What happened?" shouted Steve. "Where did you go?"
"You'll see…" Tony grimaced. He hadn't had any choice. The only way out of the situation was to try to make them believe they had lost him. He hadn't anticipated them locating him hanging onto one of the underbellies of the fighter craft.
They were constantly scanning for any sign of the target. They believed the bogey had been handled.
Rhodey started at the lost visual, shaking his head slightly before his cell phone rang. The caller ID showed it was Tony "The Starkster" Stark.
"The Starkster?" Clint sniggered.
"It was an old college nickname Tony had," reported Rhodey, feeling slightly embarrassed. "I just liked to keep using it on my phone."
"Hello?" he answered.
"Hi, Rhodey, it's me," wheezed Tony.
"It's who?"
"That really came back and bit me in the backside," groaned Tony.
Rhodey felt a bit guilty. "I thought you had done it deliberately before which is why I did it back to you."
Tony shrugged. "I know. It doesn't matter. We got everything sorted."
"I'm sorry, it is me," Tony sought to clarify. "You asked. What you are asking about is me."
"No, see, this isn't a game. You do not send civilian equipment into my active war zone. You understand that?" Rhodey reprimanded.
Rhodey shook his head. "I really wish I'd picked up on it being you before you had to spell it out for me."
Tony winced. "This is not a piece of equipment. I'm in it. It's a suit. It's me."
Rhodey was shocked by the admission.
The Major wanted to know more. "Rhodey, you got anything for me?"
Rhodey glanced at his superior, lowering the phone gently, not knowing what to say.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Sam barked, surprised at Rhodey's lack of attempt to help Tony out of a bad situation.
"I froze…" admitted the Colonel. "I just… didn't know what to say. I was shocked it was Tony out there."
The pilots in the two aircraft marked their position and began to veer away, and that was when one of the pilots saw the suit clinging to the hull of the plane. The pilot reacted, informing his superiors it looked like a man.
In the intelligence base, Rhodey gaped at the screen as the full view of the suit came on the screen.
"Shit." Sam pulled a face, shaking his head. "This isn't going to end well."
"I hoped they wouldn't see me," explained Tony sadly.
"This is tense," swallowed Wanda, her face pale.
Tony was still surprised by the concern she seemed to have for him.
The plane rolled in the air in an effort to dislodge the target. It didn't take long before Tony lost his grip and he went falling back, right into Whiplash One's wing, breaking it off completely.
Sam almost jumped out of his chair. "NO!"
Bruce closed his eyes, wincing.
"This is when we need Thor," pointed out Steve. "He'd be able to save the pilot."
Tony frowned. Did Steve believe he wouldn't try to help if he had the chance?
"He'll eject," observed Bucky. "Parachute will deploy. He'll be fine."
Natasha caught the glimpse of uneasiness between Tony and Rhodey.
The pilot pulled the ejector seat and as he shot into the sky, the plane exploded in a ball of blazing fire.
Whiplash Two was asked if he had seen a chute deployed. He hadn't.
Everyone in the control room was worried, watching the events unfold, horrified by it.
Whiplash One's chute was jammed. The pilot was falling to his death.
Bucky's face paled at once. He'd assumed the parachute would have deployed. "Shit."
"I really hope-" Steve began but stopped when he saw Tony reappearing onscreen, flying down towards the tumbling pilot. "Oh, thank god, you're helping!"
"Did you think I wouldn't?" asked Tony, raising an eyebrow.
"No… but…" Steve couldn't finish what he was thinking, nor did Tony want to know either.
"Whiplash Two, reengage. If you get a clear shot, you take it."
The second plane veered into position.
"He must be crazy!" shouted Sam. "Can't he see you're trying to help?"
"For all, he knows I could be attempting to kill his pilot," said Tony.
Rhodey attempted to intervene. "Major, we don't know what we're shooting at. Call off the Raptors."
Sam rolled his eyes. "Now, you try to help?"
"My friend's life was on the line!" argued the Colonel.
The Major was not buying it. "That thing just took out an F-22 inside a legal no-fly zone. Whiplash Two, if you have a clear shot, take it!"
"See, this would have been the point where I would have admitted I knew who was inside the suit. It might have made him call off the other pilot," suggested Bruce. "Might not have worked…"
"But I don't think anyone would have authorised the continual shooting down of Tony Stark," added Tony, grinning slightly.
Rhodey agreed. "If I'd said your name, he would have pulled them back. When you revealed yourself to be Iron Man, the Major was shocked he'd nearly killed you. Though he wasn't too impressed you destroyed one of our planes and snuck into Afghanistan without authorisation."
Tony grinned. "But he didn't complain."
"I'd say you were lucky he didn't," said Steve.
"Only because he didn't want it to leak out into the press, he had nearly killed Tony Stark," pointed out Rhodey. "It wouldn't have looked good on his record."
JARVIS warned Tony he'd been re-engaged and suggested executing evasive manoeuvres. Tony kept going, reaching out his left hand and pulled the parachute handle-free, engaging it, slowing the pilot's descent, and saving his life.
Whiplash One confirmed his comrades' chute had been activated.
Everyone in the control room was cheering.
As Tony flew off over the terrain, the other F-22 was called off.
Sam leaned back in his chair relieved. "That was intense."
"He only called them off because Tony saved the pilot." Rhodey reminded them. "But he did say, if the same signal appeared again without authorisation, he would shoot you down."
"But when it did, you stopped him," Tony remembered. Rhodey had helped to keep the skies clear when he had gone to confront Stane.
Rhodey spoke to Tony over the phone. "Tony, you still there?"
Tony was relieved the other F-22 had been called off. "Hey, thanks."
"Oh my God, you crazy son of a bitch. You owe me a plane. You know that, right?"
Tony chuckled. "Yeah, well, technically, he hit me. So, now are you going to come by and see what I'm working on?"
"No, no, no, no, no, no, the less I know, the better. Now, what am I supposed to tell the press?" queried Rhodey.
Tony thought the answer was obvious. "Training exercise, isn't that the usual BS?"
"It's not that simple," denied Rhodey.
"You used the training exercise excuse, didn't you?" groaned Steve, shaking his head.
"It's standard in the military, Steve," explained Sam. "Best way to keep the media off our backs when events occur which we cannot explain."
"Plus, we wanted to maintain the idea we hadn't intervened in Gulmira. The ramifications of the Army entering Gulmira would have been problematic for us… Certain rules were in place and if they were proven to be broken, we could potentially be losing our jobs," eluded Rhodey.
The screen cut to Rhodey standing outside at a podium, making a statement to the press about the incident with the F-22, confirming the pilot was not injured.
Rhodey's statement was being broadcast live on TV. At his home, Obadiah Stane watched, listening to the rest of Rhodey's statement. The Colonel confirmed it was still unclear who or what had intervened in Gulmira, but he could assure them that the United States Government was not involved.
Obadiah frowned.
"He knows," observed Wanda quietly.
"He has a suspicion," agreed Steve. "He might not know for sure…"
"He will soon," said Tony, crossing his arms over his chest.
Pepper made her way down the stairs to the workshop.
"Hey! Ow! Ah… ah!" Tony yelped.
"It's a tight fit, Sir," observed JARVIS. "Sir, the more you struggle, the more this is going to hurt."
A few of the Avengers laughed, imagining what was happening that they couldn't see.
Pepper finally reached the bottom of the stairs and saw the shattered glass on the floor before finally looking up.
"Be gentle. This is my first time." Tony stood on a raised platform, pieces of the Suit being removed one at a time by the arms of a larger robot embedded into the ceiling. "…designed this to come off so… OW! Hey! I really should able to…"
Everyone stared.
"That's how you used to get out of the suit?" Thor asked. "But… you're usually so fast!"
"New technology at the time," explained Tony. "Wasn't possible. Plus, since I was trying to keep the suit a secret, I couldn't exactly ask anyone for help."
"Please try not to move, sir," advised the AI.
Pepper walks up, shock evident on her face. "What's going on here?"
Everything stopped. Tony looks over at her, trying to figure out what to say. "Let's face it. This is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."
"What-" Thor began.
"You don't want to know," butted in Rhodey. "Pepper has seen things I haven't. Nor do I hope to ever see."
Tony felt bad for what Pepper had endured during her time as his assistant. She'd walked in on things she would never forget. Whether it was work-related incidents or personal 'sexual' encounters, she had maintained a professional attitude. When they'd got together, she'd know what she was letting herself in for. It hadn't deterred her. He still wondered what she saw in him that made her want to stay with him.
Pepper's eyes widened as she studied the Suit Tony wore. "Are those bullet holes?"
"I think if I'd seen that myself and I were your PA, Stark," stated Sam, "I would have been handing in my notice then and there."
"Pepper was loyal beyond what I expected of her," added Tony quietly. "Regardless of the shit I pulled, she always stayed by my side."
In Afghanistan, several black jeeps pulled up. Raza stood there waiting with a couple of guards. Obadiah Stane stepped out of one of the jeeps, accompanied by men of his own. Obadiah cast his gaze around at the camp before stopping in front of Raza.
Thor glared at the screen. "He was directly involved with your captors!"
"He sold me out," affirmed Tony.
"Welcome," the terrorist said, noticing his guest studying the burn scar on his face. "Compliments of Tony Stark."
"If you'd killed him when you were supposed to, you'd still have a face," Stane remarked wryly.
"Wait… They weren't supposed to kidnap you?" asked Steve.
Tony shook his head. "No, they weren't. Stane never told them the name of the business partner he wanted them to kill. But when they found out it was me… Raza changed the orders and had me captured instead. He wanted more money before he would kill me. In the meantime, he'd try to get me to work for him."
"You paid trinkets to kill a Prince," commented Raza.
Rhodey clenched his teeth together. "Stane didn't pay up though, did he? If he had, they would have killed you."
Tony frowned. "I don't think they would have killed me. They'd have kept trying to get me to build weapons for them. If I had created the Jericho though… like they wanted… I think they would have killed me… They wouldn't have given me the chance to leave."
"Show me the weapon," ordered Stane.
"Come," indicated Raza. "Leave your guards outside."
Obadiah signals his men to stay outside, following Raza into the tent.
Pieces of the Mark I had been placed into position, giving a rudimentary glimpse of what it had been like when Stark had torn his way through the camp in an effort to escape.
"His escape bore unexpected fruit," stated Raza, walking around to a table at the side of the tent.
"So, this is how he did it," breezed Obadiah. He folded his arms across his chest as he inspected the Suit.
"I don't like the expression on his face," swallowed Steve. "He's up to something."
Sam was frowning, his mind working. "The other suit… The big one that was all over the papers… That was Stane, wasn't it? It was announced he'd died that night but…" He caught Tony's eyes, who gave a small perceptible nod. "Oh."
"What is it?" Steve had caught the tail end of the conversation.
Sam glanced at his friend. "I think you'll find out if you just watch Steve."
"This is only a first, crude effort. Stark has perfected his design. He has made a masterpiece of death. A man with a dozen of these can rule all of Asia. And you dream of Stark's throne."
"He did realise it was you," affirmed Bruce. "And now he'll probably try to make a deal with Stane to produce more!"
Tony was relieved that Raza was no longer a problem. But the thought of the Iron Man suit designs being spread across the world for anyone to design them was a terrifying thought. Though a lot of companies had tried to replicate the technology, they hadn't been advanced enough to make it as sophisticated as Tony's models.
Obadiah had been circling the suit whilst Raza spoke. It was only now that he stopped and turned to look back at Raza, his expression revealing nothing.
"We have a common enemy," continued Raza, sitting in the chair at the table. "If we are still in business…"
Stane inspected the empty hole in the centre of the chest plating of the suit.
"I will give you these designs as a gift, and in turn, I hope you'll repay me with a gift of Iron soldiers." Raza raised a drink.
"I don't think that is what Stane wants," observed Clint. "He's remained way too quiet for him to be interested in any sort of deal."
Obadiah smiled, and walked up to Raza, patting the terrorist on the soldier, and then, there was a shrill, metallic, buzzing whine. In both of Stane's ears something glowed. In his hand, he held a small object which had been hidden in his hand as he shined the light at the back of Raza's head.
Raza gasped, then couldn't move. Paralysed.
"Yeah, he's gonna steal the reconstructed suit," said Sam.
Then Obadiah spoke briefly in Urdu. "This is the only gift you shall receive."
Raza's face was steadily growing whiter.
"What is that device?" asked Steve.
"It was a piece of technology I designed and a prototype was created but it was never approved for use. Stane assured me the device had been destroyed… In fact, he stole it and used it for himself," explained Tony. "It paralysed you for about fifteen minutes. It's not a device I am proud of for creating. If it helps, the device no longer exists."
"Technology," mused Stane, "it has always been your Achilles heel in this part of the world." He pulled out the earplugs from his ears and put the device back in his pocket. "Don't worry. It'll only last for fifteen minutes." He patted Raza's head. "That's the least of your problems."
He left the tent, striding past his men who had already detained the rest of Raza's men. "Crate up the armour and the rest of it." He carried on back towards the Jeep. "All right, let's finish up here."
"He killed them all," said Natasha. "One cell wiped out."
"As much as I loathe Stane for betraying me," said Tony quietly, "the fact he ensured Raza's death is one of the only things I'm glad he did."
"It also meant the US Army could go in and retake more territory," pointed out Rhodey.
Gunshots echoed through the air as Stane got into the SUV, already pulling out his cell phone to make a very important call. He wanted Sector 16 set up underneath the Arc Reactor and required the data to be masked. He ordered the recruitment of their top engineers. "I want a prototype right away."
Tony leaned back. "Now you know. Stane sold me to the terrorists. And you wonder why I have issues with trusting people? Don't keep secrets from me. It doesn't end well for the people that do."
Steve looked ashamed. "I'm sor-"
Tony held a hand up. "I don't need your sympathy. I just need you to understand why I am the way I am."
Even though they hadn't even finished watching one movie yet, Steve was beginning to understand Tony just that little bit better. And, he wondered if maybe the tear between the Avengers could eventually be fixed.
To be continued...
Please let me know what you think!
It is getting difficult to maintain good conversations between characters.
Clint is starting to be a bit more open-minded about Tony. Though we do not know for sure, we know both Scott and Clint took home arrest after they were captured from the Airport fight. I don't think it is something Ross would have given them the option for, but I could see Tony trying to make things easier for them if they agreed to stay away from the Avengers. I think if they had escaped when Steve had gone to the prison to rescue the others, then the deal they had to stay with their families wouldn't have happened if they had escaped with Steve. I think its possible a deal would have been reached and they declined to leave or had deals in place. More on Tony's involvement in that as we go along.
Steve says he would sacrifice the few for the many. His actions in the movies do tell me he would allow people to die if it meant saving the majority. Unless its Bucky. The voice is referring to Steve denying Vision the opportunity to sacrifice himself to destroy the Mind Stone in Infinity War. I never really liked how it is alright for Steve to sacrifice himself, but not for other people to do the same if they had the chance. Steve, at this point in time in this fic, cannot believe he would be unable to sacrifice the few for the many. Watching Infinity War is going to be an eye-opener for Steve, but it will be a while before we get to that point.
The next chapter will be posted next Sunday!
Until then,
the-writer1988