Previously:

Clint was devastated. You could see it in his face. What was I supposed to do? Comfort him? Not speak to him? I opted to go and sit on a bench so I could let him have some peace. I checked on Tony a few times on the way back, but apart from that I just sat there...thinking. I didn't think about how we were going to Avenge her, I didn't think about revenge. I thought about her and how we would miss her. So much. Too much.

It had been 2 hours since the incident. That's what we labelled it as. Tony was unconscious on an infirmary bed in the Avengers Tower. The team was surrounding him, waiting for him to wake up. Clint went with Pepper's body to the hospital.

Barton came back through the doors and sat down on a chair next to Tony.

"Who's telling him?" Bruce asked. James and Sam were already there from the mission and Maria worked in the tower anyway. Bruce, Thor, Jane, and Betty had come in to just...be there. That's what you do apparently. When someone dies you are just...there.

"Telling me what?" Tony said, waking up from a deep sleep it seemed.

"How are you feeling?" Bruce asked, pen and clipboard in hand.

"Telling me what?" he asked, determined. It was like he wanted confirmation that what happened...happened.

"Tony there is no easy way to put this...the incident at the safe facility. The guards weren't strong enough against..." I felt sorry for Steve. He was trying to explain that Pepper had died, but couldn't seem to get the words out.

"She's dead." Clint put simply, sitting there on the chair next to Tony's bedside. Stark looked at him as if he were in a trance. "Pepper's dead. She died a couple of hours ago while you were at the safe facility."

Tony blinked a few times and then lay back down on his bed. He shut his eyes and I could see his body shaking. "Tony, I'm sorry." James said.

He opened his eyes again, tears flooding out of them. He pushed himself up and sat on the side of the bed. "It was HYDRA wasn't it." he said.

"Yeah. It was HYDRA." I said and he stood up. "Apart from her clothes, there was only one item on her." I showed him a small plastic bag containing the engagement ring he gave to her only a few days ago.

"I never got the chance to marry her." he said quietly, walking away from me and the bag. "We were going to do it once this was all over. We were going to do it small like she always wanted. I wanted a big wedding, but I was going to go along with Pepper this one time. This wedding was going to be hers. I was going to watch her walk down the aisle…" he continued, tears falling from his chin onto his t-shirt. "and read her the vows I had already prepared months before. My dearest Pepper...you are my everything…" he began, walking towards the windows.

"Life without you would not be living and I hope for both of our sakes that we get to live our lives to the full. I had them prepared last year. I should've gotten engaged to her then. Maybe none of this wouldn't have happened. We would be living on a remote island somewhere without a care in the world." He looked out at the city. "I didn't have the chance to marry her...or have kids with her...or grow old with her…"

"Tony…" Steve started. "it may be hard to deal with right now but-"

"NO!" he shouted, breaking slowly. "NOT PEPPER! Anyone but Pepper. She was the one who was supposed to live longer than I was, so that I wouldn't have a moment without her."

Tony walked back towards us, took the bag off of me and took out the ring. He turned it in his fingers before putting it in his pocket. "Do you know what happened when we were there? They were taking all of the agents down. I told Pepper to stick with me, because she would be safe. I should've told her to run. They came for us, shooting everything in site, but they left me. I know why they left me. They wanted to see me suffer." he said, spitting out the words between his teeth.

"They grabbed her whilst I was being restrained by two of their agents. The pulled out a knife and pushed it against her neck." he told us. "She screamed and started sobbing. I told her that everything would be fine that she would be okay...but she wasn't. The man holding the knife to her neck said 'The month is over' and then slit her throat. She was gagging blood on the floor and I couldn't do anything about it." he sobbed. "They let me go, merciful enough to let me hold her in her last moments...and then she died. They said 'There are no prisoners with HYDRA. Only order.' I kissed her on the head and then they punched me in the face, knocking me out. They left me unconscious next to my dead fiancee."

He picked up a glass contained and threw it across the room, nearly hitting Jane in the process. "Why has this happened to me? Just kill me." he said calmly, but then looked up to the sky and shouted "JUST KILL ME! Kill me and save her. I want it that way!"

He shook his head and wiped the tears from his face. "Anyone but Pepper. Take Widow instead of Pepper. Take Thor instead of Pepper. Take Fury instead of Pepper - he's died too many fucking times already! Just take someone else and bring her back to me!" he shouted and I walked over to him.

"Tony, listen to me. Nothing is going to bring her back. You may get upset about it, but you can't let it control you."

"Shut up!" he shouted and me. He held up a medical knife and Betty gasped. "What do I have to do? Kill you? Kill all of you?" he asked, waving the knife around frantically.

"Just put the knife down and we can talk okay?" I said, putting my hands up. He threw the knife on the floor.

"She was my everything." he said, looking at the floor. "She was all I had. I have you but what's the fucking point of that if I don't have her. She was part of me." he whispered.

"We understand." Sam said.

"NO YOU DON'T! NONE OF YOU DO!" he shouted.

"We lost Pepper too." Clint said, his gaze still remaining on the floor.

"So what? You lost Pepper too. So fucking what!?" he shouted. "It's like you losing Natasha! Fucking imagine that."

He picked up the knife and came towards me. He walked past me, at least I think he did, until he grabbed my arm and held a knife to my neck. "HOW DO YOU FUCKING LIKE IT!?" he screamed and I could feel a small amount of blood pouring down my neck.

"You really think you are going to kill her?" Clint asked neutrally. He still hadn't moved. Tony pressed the knife a little harder into my neck, but after a few seconds he released me and I moved away from him immediately. He dropped the knife on the floor and took a few steps back, halting when he hit the wall behind him.

"How am I supposed to live without her? She's how I live. She gave me a purpose in life. She made me realise what I am here for and helped me through everything. I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for her. I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for her...maybe I should just be dead." he said, gazing at the floor. "Maybe I should join her…"

"Don't be stupid Tony." James said.

"No...that's what I'm meant to do." he said, smiling slightly as he pushed himself off of the wall. "I am meant to join her so we can live together."

"Tony…" Maria warned, stepping a little closer to him.

"That's all I've got to do." he said, walking towards the table. It had a bunch of sharp implements on it.

"JARVIS, containment cell." Steve ordered and a light came around Tony. He stopped himself before he would've crashed into the wall of the cell. It had a radius of about a metre and stretched up to the ceiling.

He looked down at the floor. "Damn it, I can't override a containment cell if I'm in it." He slowly pulled his head up to us. "I just want to be with her. Is that too much to ask?"

"Not like this. This is wrong." Steve said, walking up to the shield surrounding Tony.

Tony charged towards him, but hit the side of the containment cell. He stumbled back slightly, but was determined. He kept hitting the sides of it with his fists, the cell making electronic wooshes of noise when he tried. "People die everyday."

"But we need you." I debated. He stopped smashing against the wall, leant against it and slid down to the floor.

"Yeah?...well I need Pepper." he said. He got up and stared at me. "She was meant to become one of us...I had already talked to Cap about it and everything. She just needed to try on the suit and then she would've been more protected…"

"You did everything you could to try and save h-" Thor began, but Tony interrupted.

"BUT I DIDN'T!" Stark shouted. "I didn't bring my suit, because I didn't think it would be necessary...I thought the death threat was all a joke. Look what has happened now…"

"This is not your fault." Jane said.

"But it is. I didn't protect her enough….I never have…"

"Yeah...you should've protected her better." Clint said. He still hadn't moved from that chair and I was getting worried. I had never seen him like this.

"Barton..." Thor warned. "This isn't helping him."

"He's right though. She was my responsibility. She shouldn't have died in there with me. Not this young. I should've protected her until we were old with a house and kids and a dog and little photo frames of all our memories." he punched his fist against the containment wall, which made his hand bleed a little, probably from the friction. "I mean...who's going to tell her parents? We were meant to meet for lunch next week to celebrate the engagement. How am I supposed to face them?" He turned to face Rhodey. "James? Will you…"

"I'll call them now. It's better for them to find out from a phone call instead of a newspaper." Rhodey said, picking up his phone. He dialed the number, nodded to us and walked out of the room to take the call.

"I can't believe that she's dead." he whispered, exhaling a shakey breath. The tears were becoming more frequent and I knew that we just had to wait this out instead of take action. We all did. "She is meant to be my best friend, my soul mate…and they took her." he said, anger building in his tone.

"They fucking took her!" he shouted, his breathing increasing by the minute. "They took her…" he said. "They took her...the person who knows me better than anyone and they just...took her...and I couldn't stop them. Something as small as a knife is capable of all that pain…"

Tony went into his pocket and pulled out the engagement ring that was Pepper's. He stared at it, analysing all the detail of it. I remembered that on the inside of the ring was the word 'forever yours'. She was everything to Tony. Someone he could talk to whatever mood he was in. He placed it on the inside edge of his cell and said "It's a dead woman's ring. I can't...I can't do it." He took his off and placed it next to the one that Pepper would have been wearing. Rhodey entered the room again, but Tony hardly noticed. He nodded to us, informing us that he had told Pepper's parents.

"I could talk to her about anything. Any topic, any time. Whether I was happy or sad, she would always be there. When I was upset, she wouldn't talk for a while...she would just listen to me...and what I had to say about whatever I was upset about. She was always kind like that. When I stopped talking, she used to just hold me and tell me that everything was going to be fine. She always said the right things. And I couldn't save her." he said. I could see now that his whole t-shirt was stained with his tears and we couldn't do anything about it. He needed to do this.

He looked up at all of us. "Why couldn't I have just saved her?" He turned to Steve who was already looking at Tony.

"What is it?" Steve asked after a long silence between them.

"It's funny isn't it." Tony laughed slightly.

"What is?"

"Didn't you see Bucky months ago?" Tony asked, even though he knew the answer was yes. "You could've killed him…"

"Stark…" Sam said, warning him. He knew what was going to happen. We all did.

"You could've killed him then and maybe this wouldn't have happened…" he said, laughing. "Maybe she wouldn't have been dead if you hadn't had been such a Goddamn coward."

"Stop it Tony." Maria said, wrapping her arm around Steve's arm. "Just stop it."

"No! She's fucking dead Maria! I may be to blame, but he is too. He let this happen." he said, his body starting to shake again.

"Alright Tony. It's alright." Steve said.

"NO IT'S NOT!" he screamed, his hands going around his head. He locked them round the back of his head and crouched down on the floor. He stood up slowly and pointed at Steve. "You've still got her haven't you? You've still got your girl." Tony turned to Maria. "Maybe she should die? That way Pepper will come back. She will replace you."

"Don't even think about it." Steve said, stepping in front of Maria. At any other point in time, we would ask if he was joking but we could all tell that he wasn't.

"JARVIS, point a ceiling gun at her." Tony ordered. He may not be able to get out of the containment cell if he's in it, but he controls JARVIS.

"Are you crazy?" Steve shouted.

"Sir, please don't make me do this." he said, but the gun was already being brought out.

"Take aim." he shouted.

"STOP!" Betty screamed.

"This isn't right." Bruce said.

"Please…" Maria said, Steve in front of her.

"Remove the containment cell." James shouted and started running towards where Tony was, but before he could get there Tony said "Fire."

We all moved out of the way as the shot was fired in Maria's direction. It was only one gun so fortunately Steve was infront of her, protecting her with his shield, before anything bad could hit her. The beam of light sent them backwards into the wall behind them.

"JARVIS, override 184395. Do not allow Tony to make any more orders." James said, getting up off of Tony and moving out of the way..
"Override accepted." JARVIS replied.

"Now, put him in a containment cell." he added and JARVIS followed orders.

I pushed myself off the floor as everybody else got up also. There was a big dent in the wall from where Maria and Steve had been pushed backwards to. I walked over with the team and saw the couple on the floor. Steve's shield was in his hand protecting their faces, but they didn't seem to be moving. As I took the shield out of the way of Steve's face, he woke up. His eyes fluttered open and he turned to Maria. "Ria?" he asked, checking her pulse. "Thank God." he whispered and turned to us. "She's alive."

We exhaled as Steve tried to wake her up. As he was doing that, we turned back to Tony who was leaning against his cell wall. "What the hell were you thinking?" Clint asked. He had a strong relationship with Hill as well as Potts.

"I need her back." Tony said, pulling his knees up. "I need her back with me. Any way possible."

"Well we can't get her back." he said. "She's dead and it's your fault. You need to accept that and move on." Clint added.

"Clint, I don't think it's entirely his fault." Jane said.

"It is." Tony said, getting up slowly. "It's my fault. It's all my fault."

Maria gasped for air and sat up quickly. She glared at Tony and walked over to him as fast as she could with the injuries that she had. "What the hell do you think you were doing? You tried to kill me!"

"I'm sorry." he whispered and she was about to start ranting again, but she could see in his face that he meant it. He was truly sorry.

"Okay." she said and stepped back. "Just don't try it again."

"I won't." he whispered. He looked up to the ceiling and said "Just bring her back…"

"BRING HER BACK!" he shouted towards the ceiling. We stood around him, staring at him, and thought...how did he become like this? I felt a tear glide down my face and I shut my eyes. I heard him as he started hitting the side of the cell and repeating the same thing. "BRING HER BACK! BRING HER BACK! BRING HER BACK!" He kept smashing against it, completely breaking down. He was crying and screaming and hitting the wall. "BRING HER BACK TO ME! JUST BRING HER BACK!"

"JARVIS?" Rhodey called quietly as Tony continued.

"Yes, Mr. Rhodes."

"Allow me to enter the containment cell."

"Authorisation allowed."

James passed through the cell and crouched down next to Tony. His hands were bruised from hitting the cell so hard and so many times. He kept hitting it and screaming until Rhodey stopped his hands. Tony thrashed around for a bit before stopping. He looked up at Rhodes.
"She's left me." Tony said, his voice breaking up at certain points.

"I know...I know…" James replied and gave Tony a hug, allowing him to cry on his shoulder. I sat down on a nearby chair and watched the scene. "I know." James said again and cried along with Tony. We all did.

Tony. Tony Stark. That name was written in the every street, every country. His face everywhere, his company everywhere and his life everywhere. I never thought I would see a man so broken down inside and out. How am I meant to react to this? What do I say to him? I'm sorry? I wish I could've saved her? It's all my fault? People say that it's natural to cry about death. They say that having the courage to bare your emotions makes you stronger somehow. Am I meant to ask what I can do for him? Apparently that is supposed to help. I don't see how. He's lost everything. He's lost the one person that he loves and I can't bare to hurt him even more. Tony may not have been kindest, but he always cared for Pepper. They were always there for each other. I don't know how he feels. How is a Black Widow like me meant to understand how a normal person like him feels about this. I've never been hurt badly...not emotionally anyway. I was mainly this upset, because of Pepper, but also because Tony was killing inside. I can understand why he wants to die.

Please review this chapter. I know it dragged on for a bit, but I wanted to convey all of his emotions in one big chapter. I thought that this was the best way to do it. So emotional! I know this is a shorted chapter compared to the others but I wanted to leave it the way it is.