Chapter Text
"Any way Bruce would be willing to help?" Clint asked.
Toni shook her head silently, her eyes never straying from the glass through which they were watching Rhodey, drugged for immediate surgery. "Bruce is off-planet," she said, her voice still shaking with barely suppressed anger. "Two months after I first found him, the signal from the jet disappeared. I went to the site to investigate. They weren't there, but there were markings all over the ground, really similar to when Thor comes and goes."
"Shit," Clint muttered. He was still reeling from Natasha's move: letting Cap and Barnes get away. True, he'd been expecting it, but it was still a shock. At least he'd had the forethought to subdue her on the quinjet, so she wouldn't try to escape after landing. She was in custody with the rest.
"FRIDAY just showed me something." Toni tapped her watch and holograms popped up. Clint watched with pursed lips as FRIDAY explained how the actual psychologist had been replaced by a member of Sokovian intelligence, and the bomber in Vienna had been dressed up to look like Barnes.
"What now?" Toni sighed, looking up at him in question.
Clint didn't pause too long to consider. "We talk to them, see if Wilson or the new guy can tell us something. Where are they being held anyway?" God, it felt odd saying 'held' in reference to his former teammates.
Toni cringed, like she didn't like her own answer. "Ross has them in the Raft."
Well, shit.
"You know, when Hank Pym told me to never trust a Stark, I don't think even he expected you to throw your own teammates and a stranger into a place like this."
"First of all, who are you?" Toni shot at the new guy, completely ignoring his affronted expression.
"Second," Clint continued. "We didn't know they'd put you in here, this place is for the crazies. But as far as jail goes, well..." He shrugged. "That's where people who break the laws go. And you guys broke a lot of them."
They stopped in front of Wanda's cell. The redhead looked shell-shocked and unresponsive. If Ross was involved, which he was, she was probably heavily sedated. Both of them held back a shudder when they saw the shock collar around her neck.
No wonder Toni had wanted to keep her at the Compound, Clint thought grimly.
Finally, they moved to Sam's cell. The ex-paramilitary turned to face them, his face sporting a burn mark from where Toni had blasted him. "How's Rhodes?" He asked, guilt colouring his voice.
Toni flinched minutely and Clint discreetly placed a hand at the small of her back. "They're transporting him to Columbia Medical, so..." She shook herself and, before Sam could say anything, she took out her phone and tapped a few keys, then looked up at him again. "I've just knocked out the A of their AV," she told him with a hint of smugness, though fake. She proceeded to tell him what they'd learned from Friday, ending with, "Sam, I was wrong. But Cap needs help right now, and you know it."
Sam sighed and told them about the Winter Soldiers in Siberia, while Clint and Toni listened in attentive silence. When he was finished, he looked at her for a long while. "I've told you everything," he started, quietly. "But now you have to promise you'll go alone. As a friend."
Toni paused and smiled bitterly. "Should be easy enough," she bit out. "After all, I was his fiance."
Sam shifted, suddenly looking guilty. "Um... Was?"
"Sharon Carter was following my orders when she arrived to give you your equipment."
Sam paled. "You... I mean... You know... You know."
Toni turned away without responding and Clint muttered, "Yeah, she knows, Wilson."
They were about to walk out when the one person who Clint had been trying to ignore, suddenly stood up and strode towards the glass of her cell. "Are you going to let us out of here or not, Stark?"
Toni turned towards her reluctantly. "No, Romanoff, I'm not," she said. "You let them go and this is the consequence. I couldn't do anything about this if I wanted to."
Natasha sneered. "Can't or won't? This is just your goddamn ego speaking again-"
Clint stepped in front of her, cutting off her view of Toni. Natasha faltered immediately.
"Clint-"
"I expected better from you," he cut her off, cold but sad. "I thought you'd changed."
His oldest friend looked stricken but before she could change his mind, Clint turned on his heel, grabbing Toni's arm on the way and pulling her out with him.
"Now?" Clint asked, taking his eyes away from the control wheel of the jet to face her.
Toni shrugged. "I'm going to Siberia. Cap is gonna need help."
Clint noticed how she was very carefully avoiding saying the name Steve. "Okay, give me the coordinates-"
"No."
"Toni," he sighed, exasperated.
"Rhodey shouldn't wake up alone," she told him. "Pepper and Happy won't arrive till tomorrow evening and Vision is feeling way too guilty to be any support. You have to stay."
"Well, I can't let you go alone!" Clint argued. "Be honest with me, Tones, do you really trust Cap to not-"
"He wouldn't hurt me!" Toni interjected, uncertainty leaking into her voice as she recalled how the fight at the airport had gone. They'd pulled their punches, just as Toni had asked them to.
Steve obviously hadn't given his side the same orders.
"He already has hurt you," Clint pointed out. He wasn't just referring to the bruises she was sporting.
Toni forced a smile. "Well, this suit is more than capable of taking care of them."
"The suit is," Clint agreed. "But are you willing to let it?"
She didn't answer his question. "FRIDAY will inform you if I need assistance. If she tells you to prepare medical assistance, then I need you to call Dr Wu, Dr Christine Palmer and Dr Stephen Strange. You remember him?"
"Yeah," Clint nodded. "Wu knows everything, he's worked with you before. What about Palmer and Strange?"
"Christine is strictly need-to-know only. Stephen knows everything. So tell him the whole truth."
"Everything?"
"Everything."
Steve eyed the armour in undisguised suspicion. "Are you here to arrest us?"
"Well, if I did that," Toni shrugged. "I'd have to arrest myself too. I'm kind of going against the Accords by just being here."
Steve felt impalpable relief at the words. Toni had defied the Accords to help him. She saw he was right. They were going to be okay!
"It's good to see you, Toni!" He smiled. He stepped forward, intending to kiss her briefly. But the armour stepped back almost reflexively. "Toni?" Steve felt confusion at her gesture, mixed with a bit of guilt. Why would she back away from him? She couldn't possibly know about Sharon, right?
"Now's not the best time, Cap," Toni answered, sounding a little strangled. "We'll talk when we're out of here." Before Steve could protest, her eyes shifted to behind him. "Hey, Manchurian Candidate," she waved. Steve turned to see Bucky still aiming his rifle at her. "We're under a truce here. White flag? You can put that down."
Something dark began to unfurl in Steve's chest as Toni looked up from the computer screen and turned to Bucky. He anticipated her move and caught her elbow just as she stepped forward towards him.
"Toni," he begged and she paused. "It wasn't his fault. He had no choice."
"Did you know?" She asked in a harsh whisper, completely ignoring his words.
Steve hesitated, but a lie was already on the tip of his tongue. "I didn't know it was him-"
"DON'T BULLSHIT ME, ROGERS!" The yelled words echoed around in the small space. "Did. You. Know?" She repeated, low and furious.
Game over, Steve thought to himself grimly and braced himself. "Yes."
Toni turned away, but Steve couldn't bring himself to relax. He stayed tense.
But in spite of being ready for it, he failed to block the sudden punch Toni threw. As he struggled to get up (because dang it, metal hurt) (where did Toni learn to punch so hard?), he saw, with growing horror, Toni fighting Bucky. Both of them were battling recklessly and it would have been an elegant sight in training.
But this was real. This was real and Toni was going to kill Bucky and-
He leapt after her, grabbing the armour in a stranglehold. Stupid move. She wrestled him off easily and blasted the repulsor. Steve brought his shield up immediately, dimly registering that she wasn't firing at full power. Maybe there was still a chance?
"Toni, there's no point to this," he grit out as he ducked under her arm and backed away a bit. "This isn't going to change what happened."
"I don't care." Her voice was hard, cold and brittle, and Steve knew there was no hope left. "He killed Jarvis." She fired off another shot and as he rolled to dodge it, she surprised him by lifting in the air and kicking him hard in the face.
Steve gasped as he knelt on the ground. He could feel the blood dripping from his lips and teeth.
"Final warning," Toni snapped, her repulsors still aimed at him. "Stay down."
Steve stumbled to his feet, aware of Bucky sneaking right behind Toni. "I could do this all day."
Bucky was suddenly there and then it was almost easy. No matter how good she was, Toni couldn't fight off two super soldiers at once. They could do this. They could subdue her and-
Something changed. Steve had had her backed into the corner. He was repeatedly hitting the jaw of her mask, where he knew there was a slit that he could break into. If he could tear the mask off, she wouldn't have access to the display over her eyes that always aided her fight.
But then, she caught his fist.
She caught his fist and she forced it back and he dimly heard her say, "Let's kick his ass."
Then it was reversed. Steve felt himself move into a useless defence as Toni landed blow after blow. Bucky, who'd been hanging back, confident that Steve could handle it, joined in again, but by then Steve was on the floor again and... And...
Steve's mind went blank. Toni, backed into a wall again with Bucky pressing against her chest and shoulders, raised her arm. Steve saw it happening in slow motion. He wanted to yell at Bucky to get away, but too late: Toni fired and Bucky was blown back and his arm- his whole metal arm-was lying ten feet away.
With a furious roar, he pushed off the ground. A monster in him that he didn't even know existed came to life and within seconds, he had Toni pinned to the ground, her helmet torn off and his shield raised.
Toni raised her arms in a half-hearted defense and he prepared to drive the shield into the exposed space above the neck of the armour.
But then he caught her eye. She looked resigned. And that made Steve angrier. She didn't deserve to die. She needed to live, so she could feel the gravity of her mistakes. So she could understand how wrong and how selfish and how stupid she'd been.
He drove the shield into her chest. The arc reactor flickered and died.
Silence fell. The only sound was of three people breathing.
Toni was still staring at Steve.
Looking at those big, brown doe eyes, Steve felt unexpected remorse. This was Toni. Cold, narcissistic and temperamental, but still kind, smart and generous.
In those long seconds, Steve realized something. He'd been trying to find Peggy in her, but he'd failed. He'd known it was a lost cause within two months of their relationship, but he'd stayed. He'd stayed, because... Becausenhe'd liked her for real. And then, he'd loved her. He loved her.
And he was realising it too late.
"Steve."
The sound of his name woke him. Swallowing his regret, he lifted off of Toni. He could feel her eyes on him as he helped Bucky up. As he walked away, he waited for her to say something, to have the last word.
"That shield doesn't belong to you. My father made that shield."
Steve let the shield drop without a word. It pained him, but Toni deserved that much.
"Starks are made of iron. Caring too much about too many people is rusting that iron," Howard had growled at her, drunk and angry.
"Love doesn't solve anything, figlia mia," Maria had whispered to her in a drugged haze.
"To have someone's love is both a curse and a blessing, sweetheart. It makes you both stronger and weaker," Jarvis had told her with a smile, as she fell asleep to his hand carding through her hair.
"You care too much, darling. Too much like me. I hope it doesn't destroy you like it almost destroyed me," aunt Peggy had said fondly, albeit sad.
Toni squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep the memories at bay, trying to ignore the icy tears dripping down either side of her face. They'd been right. All of them. She'd never thought love, of all things, would be the death of her.
But then, she'd never thought she'd find love either. Least of all in the form of a man who wasn't even supposed to be alive. A man who'd been everything she couldn't be. A man who, in the end, had turned out to be a lie in himself.
And now here she was, because she'd loved the wrong man. Because in the end, after he'd broken every ounce of trust she'd had, she still loved him. Loved him too much to truly fight him.
Steve Rogers. Captain America. Truthful, virtuous and a true patriot.
Liar, traitor and an international criminal.
All for one man.
"I know people with none of that worth ten of you."
The memory of the hate-filled words was enough to bring out a choked sob, her breath turning to mist.
She was going to die here. Of that, Toni was sure. She'd defied death so many times. Not this one. The arc reactor was caved in, the suit dead. She would have been able to move it if she hadn't been injured, but her body was broken almost as badly as in Afghanistan.
She could feel a stabbing in her chest. Broken ribs, in plural. She'd lost blood. There was probably a crack in her jaw. The arc reactor was digging into her sternum. There were several more broken bones. The cold was setting in too and the metal wasn't helping. Even if she survived, she'd lose her fingers, maybe a few toes.
She didn't want to survive.
The epiphany wasn't a big deal. Her desires had no role to play anymore.
FRIDAY (her daughter in ever way that counted, but Toni hadn't treated her right, had limited her like she'd never limited JARVIS) was disconnected.
Clint (at least, he was safe, she'd kept her promise to Laura, she'd done something right) was the only one who knew where she was and while FRIDAY would have alerted him, there was no way he could get to her in time.
Pepper (light of her life, Toni wasn't joking when she called her that, she was going to be so worried, maybe after she was gone, she wouldn't have to stress anymore) was pregnant (she'd never get to see her second godchild (and Peter, she'd never get to tell him the truth)). Happy (did he know how much he meant to her, how grateful she was to have him?), couldn't leave her.
Rhodey (oh, dear God, Rhodey, her brother, her best friend, she'd failed him, she'd gotten him paralyzed) was incapacitated.
Vision (she'd been unfair to him too, she'd kept him at arms length for no fault of his) was benched after the airport battle.
Stephen (he was going to be so mad at her, she'd promised him she'd never go where he couldn't reach her) was in Kamar-Taj.
Toni was going to die alone. It was what she deserved. After all, she'd failed Yinsen too.
Her body was starting to give up. Darkness was crawling in from the edges of her vision as her mind fought to save itself.
Her eyes slipped shut. There was a ringing in her ears, like alarm bells. Fitting.
Did it have to hurt, though? Steve had already betrayed her, lied to her, cheated on her, broken her heart, literally and figuratively. Shouldn't dying be some sort of reprieve?
Well. Maybe after she took her last breath, she'd be at peace. Clearing her mind with the ease of long practice, Toni tried to will her heart into stopping. No point in it beating anymore.
Clint tried to control his breathing. The cold Siberian air didn't make it easy.
Toni was barely breathing, her heart was beating sparsely and erratically. The medics were struggling to take her out of the armour and Clint found himself walking forward in slow motion, pressing at the emergency manual release points as FRIDAY instructed in his ear. What he saw under the armour made him choke on his own breath.
The metal suit fell away, but the arc reactor, splintered and dark, lay embedded deep in her chest. The under-suit was badly torn by the metal caving in on her and he could see the dark congealed blood all over her stomach and sides. Her fingers were a frosty blue. One look was enough to know that there was no way to save them. There was a long gash over her already bruised forehead. One of the medics was talking about shattered ribs and danger to the lungs. Not to mention what the reactor was doing to her heart.
The diagnosis? Toni was dying.
As they carefully- oh, so, so carefully- lifted Toni onto the gurney and began wheeling it towards the quinjet, Clint came to three conclusions:
1.) Laura was going to kill him. If Pepper, waiting back at the Compound, didn't get him first.
2.) Steve Rogers was a worthless man who left behind his injured teammate, friend, and fiance.
3.) He should have gone with Toni.
Stephen should have known something was wrong. The last text he'd gotten from Toni was telling him to leave without her for Kamar-Taj. After that... Nothing. Stephen always kept his phone switched off in Kamar-Taj. But, Toni, without fail, would remotely hack it and switch it on again.
How was it even possible to hack a switched off phone?
So anyway, the fact that he hadn't heard from her for two days was... Unsettling.
As his phone came to life, Stephen switched on the news. His voicemail alert chimed just as the screen showed footage of the Avengers battling... Each other?
Stephen watched closely and realized something had gone very wrong. He'd known about the Accords, thanks to Toni. He'd agreed with her that it was required, a necessity, and that the rest of the team would feel the same, especially Rogers. But apparently, they'd been wrong on both counts.
The team had split right down the middle, with Romanoff playing turncoat, some guy with shrinking/growing tech on Roger's team, and the king of Wakanda on Toni's side. Captain America had fought against the Accords. The battle took place in Leipzig. All the rogues except Rogers and Barnes had been captured and War Machine was injured.
Shit. Rhodes.
Trembling more than usual, Stephen opened the voicemail. A semi-familiar voice filtered through.
"Hey, Dr Strange. This is Clint Barton. I was, uh, Toni's PA once. Listen, Toni said to call you if FRIDAY reported trouble and she just did. So... Yeah, so Toni's hurt, apparently. We're on the way to retrieve her right now. If you could just reach the Compound in upstate New York as soon as you can... Okay, that's it. Thanks."
The message hadn't quite finished playing before Stephen opened a portal, not caring in the least who saw him. As Levi settled around his shoulders, he stepped through and found himself in the waiting room of the medical facility.
"Stephen!"
He turned in time to catch a newly pregnant woman in his arms, sobbing and shaking all over.
"She's dying, she's dying and they might not be able to save her! She's... Stephen, what do we do? Toni's dying!"
Slowly prying himself from Pepper's grip, he turned to a passing nurse. "Get me Dr Stark's file, please."
The nurse looked him over once. Then, seemingly deciding she'd seen stranger things while patching up superheroes, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir, if you're not authorized-"
"My name is Dr Stephen Strange," he cut her off coldly and watched her eyes widen in recognition. "Colonel Rhodes is recovering from surgery and Miss Potts is emotionally indisposed. In their absence, I am listed as Dr Stark's medical proxy. Get. Me. Her. File."
It worked.
Stephen's heart clenched painfully as he read the extensive list of injuries. The arc reactor was risky to remove. They'd managed to set her broken bones, but they were too scared to fix her ribs without jostling the splintered sternum. They'd amputated seven fingers and three toes. Her already weak heart was in danger of stopping all together. Her body was just too damaged to carry on, to heal without a miracle.
Trembling, Stephen moved to the window, looking into the room where Toni lay hooked up to several machines and fluids. He couldn't see her face, but he had a feeling she would be looking peaceful.
A murderous rage filled him. Rogers. Rogers was the one who did this. He didn't have the full story. But there was no mistaking the inch-and-a-half long crack in the reactor. It perfectly matched a particular vibranium shield that had also been found near her, along with a metal arm.
Then, as fast as the anger came, it went. He was going to lose her, he realized. He was going to lose her more permanently than if she'd gotten married and he wasn't ready.
Stephen wasn't ready to lose her.
He suddenly became aware of somebody gently guiding him over to a chair. "Easy, buddy, can't have you collapsing too. Toni needs you now."
Right. Barton. Barton had steady hands on his shoulders as he knelt on the ground in front of his seat.
"Mr Barton," he mumbled softly.
"Just Clint. I'm guessing you're..." He waved a hand around vaguely, gesturing towards his getup. "Special? Not normal?"
He nodded. "Sorcerer Supreme."
"I don't even want to know," Clint muttered.
Dr Wu and Christine stepped out. Clint leapt to his feet nimbly, Happy followed suit. "Well?"
"It's bad news," Wu sighed. "There's nothing more we can do for her without removing the reactor and risking her heart."
Stephen found it was getting difficult to breathe.
"We can try waking her up," Christine continued softly. "We might not be able to, but we could try so that..." So they could say goodbye.
For a few minutes, they all stood in silence. Then an Irish voice spoke up. "If I may, sirs and madams, I believe I have a solution."
It was decided. Extremis 4.0 would bond with the nanites already in Toni's blood to fix the reactor, welding it into her body more permanently. It would work with the weak 3.0 she'd used before to heal her body once. Hypothetically.
The possible side effects were impossible to predict, since Toni would be the first user and it hadn't even been tested before. Pepper's stabilized 2.0 version was too different to compare.
Calculated chances of survival, according to FRIDAY, was 87.3 %. They'd all agreed it was more than enough. It was all prepped and ready to go. Pepper was in the middle of a press conference to alleviate the public's worries. They only had two questions: where was Steve Rogers and, more importantly, where was Toni Stark?
Pepper couldn't tell them everything; she barely knew what happened in that bunker. But there was nothing holding her back from releasing the medical diagnosis, along with the situational evidence found at the scene. It was enough to cause massive outcry.
Clint poured out his guilt and worry to Laura, who consoled him as well as she could over the phone.
Everett and Sharon threw themselves into clean-up, helping Pepper and getting the Barton's and Langs to safety, as per FRIDAY's pre-programmed instructions.
Rhodey was awake and grieving, all the while planning murder.
Happy was boxing, his mind buzzing with rage.
In Queens, Peter Parker felt his stomach drop down to his feet as he listened to the news reporter read out Miss Stark's injuries from the medical file released by Miss Potts. He was out of the window and swinging his way towards the Compound in full costume before the list was through. May knew he'd left, but she didn't stop him, her own insides twisted with worry.
In Rose Hill, Harley Keener watched the exact same news and snuck out of his house with all his pocket money, leaving a note for his dad, headed towards the bus station. His mind was running frantic circles with the same thought: Please don't be dead, don't leave me, Miss Stark, please, you promised, you can't die, please, Miss Stark, please!
Stephen sat down in a room just below the operating theatre, well aware that the most precious person in his world might never wake up again.
One floor above, Dr Wu injected a small, deceptively harmless vial of fiery orange liquid into Toni's arm, while Dr Palmer injected morphine into her other arm, hoping it would cancel out the pain the serum would put her through, but knowing it was in vain.
A moment passed. And a minute. Then Toni's body spasmed hard and she began to scream.
(WHY DOES IT FEEL LIKE I'M BURNING?)