Chapter 35

It was dead silent. Tony blinked a few times until he could even open his eyes. Then he thought the world had turned upside down before he realized he was the one hanging upside down. Tony was disoriented. His head was throbbing, and he felt a sharp pain in his chest where the belt was almost cutting into his flesh. At first, he couldn't see where he was. He looked down. There were shards of glass in several dents. Dents from his car. Then Tony looked beside him. Pepper was also hanging in her seat, held only by the seatbelt, her arms hanging motionless. Blood was dripping gently from her head.

"Pepper..."

It was barely more than a whisper that Tony could manage. His head was pounding, surrounded by a loud tinnitus. Tony took a few moments to just breathe. Then he tried again.

"Pepper," he said in a mumble, still too soft.

But she seemed unconscious anyway. Tony fumbled aimlessly around where he thought the seat belt buckle was. His hands slowly felt their way forward as he continued to look worriedly at Pepper. Tony gritted his teeth and noticed a drop of blood dripping from his own forehead.

"Wake up..." Tony breathed again.

Then something to his left blinded him. Reluctantly, he looked away from Pepper and searched for the source of the light. Several lights were flashing. Still far away, but clearly in their direction.

Tony's mind worked slowly. Was help on the way? The two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had been right behind them the whole time. Were they coming to help? Tony looked at the lights that seemed to be buzzing towards him like fireflies. There were clearly more than two lights, more than two people, more than two agents... Then a gearwheel clicked into place and Tony's inner apparatus slowly began to turn again. Spikes flashed before his mind's eye. Just before he lost control of the car, something sharp had flashed across the road in front of him. Across the entire lane, to be exact. Some kind of... spike strip? The popping sound must have been the tires blowing out. But then... who...?

Tony's eyes were resting on the approaching flashlights. This wasn't an accident. This was a trap. Someone had planned this. Now much more frantic, Tony fumbled with his seatbelt, the damn thing was jammed.

"Come on!" Tony growled in a hotter voice.

Then it clicked quietly and Tony tumbled headfirst to the floor. Sharp pain in his head. It went dark around him again.

Tony heard his own breathing before he became aware of anything else. Dazed, he lifted his head. Above him, Pepper still hung in her seat. Tony tried to pull himself up to get her down as well, but he was so nauseous and dizzy that he couldn't. Still mentally slowed down, Tony looked out into the night. The lights were closer now. The lights contained a whole line of men dressed in black, wearing combat uniforms and carrying machine guns. Despite the underlying panic that rose in him at the sight, the numbness did not dissipate. Tony's head pounded and throbbed with pain and he simply couldn't think clearly. Then he could even hear voices coming closer and closer to the car. What now?

Tony closed his eyes for a moment and took a few deep breaths again. Then he forced himself to sit up a little, quickly reached for the glove compartment and opened it before sinking back to the ground. The contents of the glove compartment fell to the floor next to him. A portable hand repulsor - limited in charge and force, but still effective enough - and a smoke bomb. Tony quickly grabbed them and put them in his pants pocket. It wasn't much, but it might be the only rescue they had left.

There was not much time, Tony knew that. So he did what he saw as his only remaining option at that moment. He crawled to the other window, away from the lights. Out of the car. Escape. Retreat. Tony dragged himself two feet to the other window. He heard someone lean into the car behind him. Gripped by fear, Tony crawled forward. He heard the sound of shoes crunching on broken glass.

Tony's strained gasp turned into a short scream as he was grabbed by the feet and then pulled very roughly out of the car. Tony groaned as the glass cut into his body beneath him. With a final violent jerk, he was nearly thrown out of the car.

A short moment of silence. Everything hurt. Tony remained on his back, looking up at the cloudless, star-filled sky. In addition to the stars, he had a very good view of two machine guns trained on him. The people aiming them at him were masked and unidentifiable.

"Please..." Tony whispered desperately. "Please help... Help her."

The answer from one of the men was a blow to the face with the butt of his rifle. Blackness again.

Everything was blurry. Then the image sharpened, like an old slide projector. Tony had a clear view of the wrecked car lying on the roof. He could see the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents kneeling in front of it. Both had their hands clasped behind their heads and they looked terrified. Three of the masked men pointed guns at their heads.

"No..." Tony groaned, fighting the threat of losing consciousness again. "Don't..."

Two loud shots pierced the silence of the night - then the sound of lifeless bodies hitting the ground. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were dead.

"No..." Tony repeated, trying to move, maybe even stand up, to get away somehow.

For a moment the image blurred once more before he saw the sky above him again. He felt himself being dragged across the dry grass. One of the men had grabbed his left leg, the other his right. Helplessly, he turned his head to the side, hoping to see Pepper somewhere. But he could barely make out anything. Black dots swam back and forth in front of his eyes like excited fish. Tony's head hit a lump on the ground. Darkness.

The next time Tony opened his eyes, he felt as if he had been unconscious for more than a few seconds. He looked at the dried grass where he was now lying on his stomach. Carefully and gently, he rolled onto his back and gasped. The pain was close to his chest. Tony slowly pulled up his shirt and looked down at himself. A dark blue-violet bruise stretched across his chest and stomach. The mark was also swollen. Tony pulled his head back and gritted his teeth. The pain in his upper body was only slightly worse than the pain in his head.

Only step by step could Tony shake off the dizziness. He sat up carefully and tried to keep from screaming. Then he looked around. A short distance away, his car was still on the roof and burning. Wait - burning? Had it been set on fire?

"Oh God..." Tony breathed. Pepper wasn't still in the car, was she?

Only then he noticed the people standing beside him. One of them was leaning slightly over a blonde woman.

"Pepper!" Tony yelled, pulling himself up.

He didn't know how he had managed to get to his feet and stagger the four steps forward. He fell to his knees in front of her.

Pepper was staring at him with panicked eyes. Her head was full of dark red blood and a few cuts. He probably didn't look any better himself. But the thing that scared him more was her leg. It certainly looked broken. Broken calf or shin, it certainly had a noticeable bend that didn't belong there.

"Shit," Tony muttered, touching her cheek gently. "Are you... is everything..."

Pepper shook her head slightly, then looked up terrified. The horror was reflected in her eyes.

Tony followed her gaze.

Right into Raza's face.

For a moment he thought he was hallucinating again, that he had lost himself in flashbacks again, that he had hit his head too hard. But then all the gearwheels in his head started moving, and the whole machine finally rolled.

The Ten Rings.

They had placed the spike strip on the road. They had probably been waiting all evening for him and Pepper to drive home from the press conference that had been announced days before. They had caused the accident. Of course, it was them.

Raza stared at him – straight-faced. Then Tony noticed the machine guns the other men had obviously been pointing at him all along. With a quick glance, Tony counted fifteen armed terrorists standing around him. He almost lost his breath as he realized how close to death they were. What were they waiting for? Tony could almost hear the guns firing and braced himself for the impact of the bullets.

"Here we go again, Stark," Raza finally broke his silence. "Keep your armor, all your weapons, your ideas, I don't care anymore. The Ten Rings are more than that. All that matters now is your death. And how I get to look into your eyes as you realize you're dying."

Tony felt his body begin to shake violently. Inconspicuously, he tried to put his hands into his pants pockets. It was the only way out, although he had no illusions - he couldn't take out fifteen men with one repulsor. Tony reached for the contents of the pocket anyway, while Raza followed his hand gesture suspiciously.

"Nah, Stark, you're not gonna do that. Hands above your head. Very slowly. And then stand up," Raza growled, then turned to his men. "If he pulls anything out of his pocket, shoot him immediately."

Tony didn't dare risk anything and so he did as he was told. He carefully put his hands over his head. Then he struggled to his feet and staggered for a moment. The nausea and dizziness were irrelevant now. He could feel his heart pounding violently when he realized there was nothing left he could do. They would die. Just like that.

"We have one last score to settle," Raza said, turning back to Tony and pointing for a moment at the scars that marked one side of his face. "Shall we get it over with?"

Tony didn't answer, he just stared back, not daring to move an inch. This was the end. But could there be any way to save Pepper? She had nothing to do with this war. She didn't deserve to die like this. She didn't deserve to be dragged into his shitshow. Could he negotiate with Raza? Ridiculous. Most likely Raza would kill her first, just to cause him some more pain before it was his turn.

"You know, I enjoyed myself so much watching you slowly break into pieces," Raza continued, not taking his eyes off Tony for a second. Every syllable spoke of concentrated hatred, it was almost physically palpable. "I didn't have to do anything, just sit back and watch you destroy yourself bit by bit. The beauty of it was how much time you took. It was as if you wanted to make the end especially attractive for me."

"But the end never came," Tony said, holding his gaze.

"That's right," Raza said, nodding. "The end is coming now."

There was no emotion in the monster's voice. Raza nodded to the man next to him, who then unlocked his gun and pressed it to Tony's forehead.

"TONY!" he heard Pepper scream in desperation. "No! Please don't! Tony!"

Tony quickly looked at Pepper one last time, then he closed his eyes and tried to accept what was about to happen.

The next moment, there was a deafening bang that reverberated. Tony opened his eyes again. The terrorist with the raised gun buckled as if something heavy had hit him in the back, then collapsed. Blood spurted from a wound in his temple. A gunshot wound.

Then more shots rang out as everyone ducked. Some of the terrorists sprinted to hide behind their cars, others threw themselves flat on the ground. Tony's head whirled around. Despite the confusion, Tony made out movement on the distant street. Men and women in black uniforms were running toward the area. Snipers had already cleverly positioned themselves and opened fire on the remaining attackers.

Tony could feel the situation changing. With a sudden flash of clarity, he decided to take advantage of the confusion. He grabbed the smoke bomb from his pocket and threw it into the crowd. The rising smoke obscured his vision and Tony quickly pulled his shirt over his nose as he leaned down to Pepper who looked at him with her eyes wide open.

"Tony!" she hissed. "What –"

"Try to hold your breath for a moment!" Tony interrupted her. "I'm getting us out of the smoke."

The pain in his body made him hesitate for a moment, but then he grabbed Pepper by the shoulders, pulled her with him and hurried backwards. Pepper screamed and whimpered, her leg must have hurt like hell as she was dragged across the ground.

After a few yards, the smoke cleared a bit. Tony looked behind him and saw none other than Phil Coulson standing there with a gun. He looked calm as ever as he waved Tony over. Exhausted, Tony stopped in front of Coulson and let go of Pepper, who was still groaning and holding her leg.

"Pepper… You…" Tony said, almost unable to watch her suffer.

He realized that he was still trembling and barely able to process what was happening. Maybe he was going into shock - or maybe he was already in shock. Pepper's horror however was clearly written all over her face. She wasn't able to say anything at all.

"You`ll be fine!" Coulson quickly said, kneeling next to her. "Try to stay calm, we'll take care of this situation. You're going to get out of here."

Tony had a lot of questions for Coulson, but there was no time for that now. Through the smoke, he could see that the fighting was still going on. Numerous shots were fired, screams echoed through the night, and lifeless bodies were already piling up on the grass.

"Stay down," Coulson instructed him, but Tony chose to ignore him. "We'll get to the cars and head back to the city. S.H.I.E.L.D. is sending more people to help, but we need to get out of here first."

Coulson had barely finished speaking when Tony saw Raza emerge from the turmoil, walk leisurely and calmly toward an agent - and then shot him in the head - the agent's head tilted to the side, a trickle of blood running down his forehead. A shot at Raza in return narrowly missed him. He ducked, disappeared back into the crowd, and one moment later Tony could see him running across the grass - obviously on the run.

Tony felt as if time stood still for a moment while he made a solitary decision. He put the repulsor over his right hand and then looked Pepper straight in the eye - with what he hoped was an apologetic expression. And Pepper understood. Tony took up the chase.

"No, Tony!" Pepper shouted, reaching for him, but to no avail. "Phil, don't let him -"

"Stark!" he heard Coulson yell as well.

Tony paid no attention to the shots that flew across the area. He didn't care if he was hit or not. It was now or never. He could end it here and now or continue to live like that forever. Always in danger, always threatened by the Ten Rings. No, this had to end. He would not let Raza escape, no matter what the cost - even if he had to pay with his life. The fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. had shown up here was his chance. The tide had turned.

Tony paid no attention to the shouts of the others to stop or come back, or to the figures lying on the ground staring into nothingness. Raza had a head start and didn't seem to waste any time. He moved farther and farther away. Tony reflexively ducked as a projectile passed close over his head. He ignored the subsequent calls of his name. There was only one target left.

Tony mobilized every ounce of strength in his body and put it all into this sprint. Ignoring the pain, he followed Raza. They ran into the darkness of the night, away from the lights, away from the smoke, away from the screams of people fighting. Tony ran like he had never run in his life. Despite his injuries, he felt himself literally flying across the grass, driven by the urge to finally put an end to this monster in front of him. Now the time had come. He wanted to inflict the same pain on this man that he had inflicted on him. He wanted revenge. He wanted to make Raza suffer.

The cool night air tore at his lungs as he closed the distance with each step.

"You coward!" Tony yelled, "Stand and fight!"

He had to try. Tony raised his right hand, took aim and charged his repulsor. A blast of plasma shot forward, hitting his opponent's left shoulder. Raza went down and rolled over, but was upright again immediately. In a flash, he had turned around, still on his knees, and pointed his gun at Tony who raised his hand as well.

"DON'T CALL ME A COWARD!" Raza yelled back.

A shot rang out and Tony fired back just in time. The bullet hit the energy beam just in front of Tony's head and exploded right in front of him. It knocked him off his feet backwards. Tony lay curled up in the pale grass, clutching the repulsor in his hand and gasping for breath. He felt the ground shake beneath his face, then settle as Raza moved away yard by yard, apparently having resumed his flight.

Tony let out an incomprehensible scream of rage and despair. He didn't care if he ran blindly into the next bullet. With determination he pulled himself up, staggered for a moment and stumbled forward, half blinded by exhaustion and pain. Raza himself had barely made any progress, the obviously bleeding injury to his shoulder clearly weakening him.

At that moment, he hated Raza as much as he hated him. The man in front of him had destroyed his life, he was the reason for his suffering over the past year. He had caused him too much pain - even today - to let him get away with it. Tony raised his hand and fired the repulsor again at Raza, who just managed to duck, but stumbled badly. Tony was only a few steps away from him now.

"NO, STARK! FUCK OFF! YOU WILL NOT MESS THIS UP!" Raza shouted and Tony could see his angry face clearly now.

Raza drew his gun and fired two shots at him. Tony blocked them again with the repulsor, but again he was thrown back by the force of the energy and hit the hard ground again. Raza slowly approached him and looked down at him. His scarred face stared down at him with hatred.

"That's enough!" he growled, raising his gun with difficulty to aim at Tony.

Tony was exhausted, everything hurt and he didn't want to move another millimeter. But once again he gathered every last piece of energy in his body and kicked Raza in the calves with his leg. It was enough to knock him off his feet. The gun flew out of Raza's hand. Tony didn't wait, but immediately pounced on his opponent. Hands and elbows were all over Tony's and Raza's faces. Muffled sounds, short cries of pain.

"STAAAAARK!" Raza screamed, now apparently blind with rage at not being able to get rid of Tony.

His face now seemed permanently disfigured, almost inhuman, as if distorted by madness. The two of them rolled across the floor, Tony's fist in Raza's face several times, his hand aching from the blows he was landing. Tony himself started to feel like he was losing his mind. Everything in him was screaming to hit this man and make him suffer.

He was over Raza now, pinning him to the ground and punching him several times in the head. Then - a kick to Tony's ribs. Tony gasped for air and let go. Raza kicked him roughly away. Then Tony was on his side, looking at the gun lying on the grass two feet away - and Raza's hands clutching the gun.

Tony struggled back to his feet as he watched Raza aim at him again and then fire. At the same time, he raised his hand again, aimed, and then released all the energy the repulsor had to offer. The shock wave threw Tony through the air. All oxygen was squeezed out of his lungs as he landed on his back, feeling as if his chest had been shattered.

Silence.

Tony breathed – and it hurt badly.

But he couldn't give up. Not now. One last time he forced himself to stand up. Everything around him was a blur. The repulsor was no longer usable, it was empty. Tony had discharged everything his invention had to offer, so he was without a weapon now.

Despite his blurry vision he identified Raza lying on the ground a few meters away from him. Tony stumbled towards the figure. At any moment he feared his legs would give in and his chest felt like his ribs had been cut into a thousand tiny pieces. Notwithstanding the increasing pain, Tony made it to the figure on the ground.

Raza eyes stared upward. But that was all. No more breath, no more sound, nothing. A gaping wound on his throat had probably caused the end. Raza seemed dead. Tony dropped to his knees and reached for Raza's neck. He could feel no pulse.

When Tony realized it was over, his body surrendered. He hit the ground uncontrollably, right next to Raza. Now that it was all over, he felt his consciousness fading again. His last thought before the lights went out for good was of Pepper. Hopefully nothing had happened to her.