𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐒,

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐀 𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐒

TONY

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When Tony felt the wires pierce through the nape of his neck, he almost didn't feel lonely anymore. He had himself, ultimately. He had his conscience being torn out of him for the sake of the heroism. Only he wasn't going to give up or give in to the affliction as a whole. Sooner or later, just not now. His mother had told him he was a fighter no matter how twig-like he was when he was younger, it took him a month to realize that she meant in his heart. He knew what was right and what was wrong - there was no between. 

He thought he could no longer be startled when a certain redhead walked in on when he was recalibrating, her jaw clanging open in an animated gesture. She took in the unfolded scene in front of her, blinking at the wired-up machine and panels that ran scans of his brain. He was audacious enough to raise his hand for a wave.

Pepper Potts was loved by Tony just because of her zero tolerance to bullshit. Which was exactly why he knew was the sole and only heir to Stark International while he focused on maintaining the arrays to Iron Man and the Avengers. And to see Pepper speechless was to see armageddon in your very eyes. Now that she was all settled in, she just raised her hands in surrender with a mere shake of her head.

'I'm saying nothing. This all seems very... devastating.'

'Thank you,' he nodded, ignoring her vote of sarcasm. 'Status rep?'

'Happy's with Rhodey in the Queens unit,' she shared to the best of her knowledge. 'Osborn's retrofitting any sort of Iron Man tech HAMMER has seized. As in, he tried to ambush your workshop and failed.'

'He wants to publically arrest you with all his circumstantial evidence,' Adam filled in, shutting down a working panel and facing Tony. 'It's all over the media. Happy's your head of security so there's a word for his arrest, too.'

He swallowed hard. 'Where's Elle?'

'The kill switch you operated months ago took a toll on HAMMER systems so he's countering for his loss,' Pepper added, efficiently dodging Tony's question. Instantly, he felt a tough breath leave him. 'Stark Industries is now on cruise control, Tony. He liquidated the parts of the company which were making money after Stane's attacks. It's an efficient way to lower payroll for the staff.'

Tony simpered at the chaotic turn of events. He had expected so the surprise didn't hit him as hard. 'So, even the rats have gotten off the ship.'

'Metaphorically,' Pepper shrugged with a sigh, 'yeah, we're restrained to a skeletal level staff.'

'With an exception to me.'

Maria Hill was strong enough to stroll into unchecked quarters and could practically make anyone fall into line with just the snatch of her gaze. She was clad in casuals, something different what Tony was used to seeing her and shot her a smirk. Maybe it was the fact that she lost her post as Deputy director after the infiltration. Or that SHIELD was down to just Tony, Fury and Hill—which were both equally humouring.

'Vacation mode, Maria?' Tony teased lightly. 'Pacific's got great spots.'

'Lucky me,' the raven muttered, rolling her eyes and taking Pepper's flank. She shot a busied Adam a quick nod before turning to a wired-up Tony with a glare. 'What've you become?'

'More on that later,' he waved off before pointedly looking at Maria. 'You're going to Texas.'

'Yee-haw,' she said, uninterested. 'What for?'

He reached to the back of his head unhooking the wire with a careful pull. Adam's hand flew to his aid after swatting Tony's away, ejecting the wires and allowing them to coil back into their former positions. Tony felt a crick starting to form at the back of his neck, rubbing the metallic portion of the inset on his nape and feeling a hot wetness slide over his fingertips. 

'I left something and I need you to grab it for me,' he said, erecting his elbows on his thighs for finding comfort. 'A hard drive in a Stark subsidiary. Get to Austin state, break-in, find the terminal, plug the jump drive in and zip out.'

Maria cocked a brow. 'Is it a good idea for us to split and go bonkers?'

Tony tried not to care about how that seemed like such an Elle thing to say. She was the first thing he wanted to ask Pepper about in his status report but obviously, things took a different turn. He swallowed down the questions for later. 

'I think going bonkers is imperative,' he mused. 'The jump drive, when you have it—I want you to deliver it to someone.'

'What am I, your courier?'

'I'm serious, Hill,' he said, tersely. 'Get the drive, find Steve and give it to him.'

'Steve,' she repeated, 'Steve as in—'

'Rogers, yep.'

'That's it? Find Cap, give it to him?'

'Easy peasy. Find Natasha, find Cap.'

'Okay, what is this? Some sort of post-war superhero reunion?'

'Hill, Nat could lead you straight to him,' he replied, exasperated.

'But, what the hell is on that drive?'

'Nothing that concerns anything, just this and that. You're resourceful,' he reassured her with a grin, 'you can pretty much pull this off like a badass.'

'And you don't have a, what, an Avengers decoder string or something?' She scoffed at him. 'Like an email address or oh, a secret handshake?'

'Obviously,' he shrugged, 'it's [email protected] and, make sure you make yourself untraceable before sending him an e-greeting.'

'Now you're making jokes, Stark?

'It's that or we can collectively start to cry about our imminent deaths,' he stated simply, holding back a laugh.

'Tony,' Pepper scolded, finding it hard not cut in. 'Must you be a pessimist?'

'I've got no choice, Pep. I like to see into the future which is why I have all of this already figured out,' he said, raking a hand through his hair. 'All I have to do, now, is run like hell.'

A stormy silence descended over the chamber, Adam's low murmur of calculation and Maria's bored grunt were the only sounds accompanying them. Tony's eyes narrowed on his former assistant who chewed on her lip nervously and it didn't take a mind reader to know something went wrong.

'What is it?'

'There's,' Pepper sucked in a breath, looked at Maria for a backup who simply rolled her neck in irritation. So much for being the other woman in the room. 'There's something you should know.'

'Okay...?'

'It's Elle,' she replied awkwardly and Tony felt his heartbeats pick up the pace. He forced the monotone of his face to stay unyielding. Stay focused, he told himself. 'I don't know, I mean. How do I—'

'Don't stall on me. What happened to her?'

Tony knew the situation was under control after he had activated one of his armours in the cellars to vouch for Elle's safety. He knew there was nothing that could have gone wrong. His armours were safe; reduced to nothing. He felt the slight twinge of regret for not leaving any part of legacy behind. Stick to the plan, he had to remind himself. His kid. His first kid and he was not going to be there. He had to shake himself out of it, warning himself to wake up before it was too late.

'Save your breath, Potts,' Maria replied for her, taking a confident step forward. She looked at Tony in the eye, unafraid to share this piece of news. She could take a hit for the team, she decided. 

'Eleanor's gone, Tony,' she said in a convincing voice. 'MIA for the last twenty-four hours.'

∞

[ wait WHAT THE FUCK - ]

edited.