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Chapter Text

You never fight fair. That was one lesson Steve Rogers learned perfectly from his pre-serum days. Bucky had made sure he did.

 The other lesson Bucky had tried to instill in his angry Chihuahua of a best friend – never get into a fight if you can help it – had not sunk in till the little guy from Brooklyn signed on to become Captain America and went through the hellscape that was WWII.

In the 21^st century, Steve Rogers had made sure to keep both lessons in mind for every fight he was in.

 You do not start fighting unless the other guy – or, in most cases, guys – is a legitimate threat. And once you start fighting, you do not stop till the threat is neutralized.

 He knew perfectly well the millions of ways a fight could go very very badly wrong. Once a fight starts, you are accepting the possibility that you may very well end up dead or a vegetable, regardless of the intentions of the other fighter.

The human body – even that of super soldiers – can sometimes be frighteningly fragile, given the right (or rather, the wrong) circumstances. A single unlucky punch could and had killed perfectly healthy people.

That’s something he and Natasha – and those who fought like them- knew only too well. That’s something someone like Tony would never really understand.

Within the suit, up in the air, firing missiles…there’s always a distance between action and effect. When you’re in the armor, you don’t get the blood on you. You don’t feel bones crunch, muscles tear. You don’t get, fully, what is at stake.

 That’s why the images Ross had shown had taken Tony so much by surprise – he seemed to not have understood that there were real people down there. Not till someone had shown up and given him names and faces, made sure that he could not keep pretending anymore.

 Steve, Natasha, Clint, all of them already knew.

They saw the faces, they heard the names. They were down on the ground, blood on their hands and screams in their ears. They saw.

They knew what was at stake. They knew what the cost was if they made a mistake, if they faltered. There was no distance for them. In Siberia too, Steve knew perfectly well what was at stake.

 He knew there was no time to hesitate, no time to recover from the realization that what he had feared and tried to deny since that last encounter with Zola was actually true, no time to recover from the sight of his best friend being used as a mindless weapon to kill a man both of them had loved.

He didn’t want to fight – he knew what a fight could lead to, even in the best circumstances. And this was pretty close to the worst circumstances for all of them.

He pleaded, reasoned, ordered Bucky to run. Even tried to redirect Tony’s anger from Bucky to himself by claiming he had known all along – he had suspected, but not known, not for sure, but mostly because he had not wanted to know.

 It didn’t work. Couldn’t work.

Tony had never been particularly good at emotional control, and the scene he had witnessed was one that would enrage even a far more even tempered man.

 If there had been any hope that Tony – Tony, who had worked with both Clint and Bruce, Tony who had addressed Bucky as the Manchurian Candidate – would understand Bucky was innocent, that was lost when missiles leapt from the suit, straight at Bucky’s head.

So he fought. Even if he was unarmed, except for the shield. Even if his opponent – a man he loved and had trusted with his life – was clad in armor that could withstand a Norse god’s rage. 

Because the alternative would be to watch his best friend be murdered before his eyes – once again. And let Howard Stark’s son become a murderer. He owed them both better than that.

 So he fought, and did not fight ‘fair’ – as if any fight in which only one was armed and armored could count as fair, under any circumstances. Take down the suit. Shut it down.

 Even then, even fighting with all he had, he almost failed.

He had managed to recall once more that mantra of his Brooklyn days, “I can do this all day” but knew he couldn’t. Knew that he was going to fall, that Tony was going to win. Knew that he had failed Bucky yet again.

 Perhaps it was that phrase which gave a wounded, barely conscious Bucky strength enough – maybe that phrase which called him to the defense of that punk from Brooklyn once more, the punk who was once again refusing to back down before an opponent who could destroy him.

…………………………………………………….

It wasn’t as cold as you would think. That was the detail Tony decided to focus on. That was the only detail he felt he could bear to focus on.

Siberia. The cradle of the Winter Soldiers – the place where monsters are made. It was now a grave to five of them, and if Tony had had his way, their brother would have joined them in that endless sleep.

 “That should have been how this ended” Tony muttered to himself, his eyes on the shield. “That’s the only right way to end it”

Captain America’s shield. The one Howard Stark had crafted for that kid from Brooklyn who did not like bullies, no matter where they were from. The kid who, now seventy years later, had opted to save the life of Howard’s assassin.

 It did not matter to Tony that Bucky Barnes, for all intents and purposes, ceased to exist when Winter Soldier emerged.

It did not matter that Barnes had had no intention of killing either Howard or Maria, that he had been tortured, brainwashed and mutilated into becoming the living weapon that was the Winter Soldier.

It did not matter that Bucky Barnes was a prisoner of war, one of the Howling Commandoes, a hero of the Second World War, Howard Stark’s friend.

For Tony Stark, all Bucky Barnes was or could be was the monster who murdered his parents. And now, the monster was escaping, aided by the man Howard Stark had adored. And Tony Stark lay helpless to stop it.

“You chose him” Tony whispered, “Damn you, Rogers. You chose him. I was your friend. I was your friend and you chose him!”

The suit’s backup generators whirred, keeping him warm – but Tony felt as cold within as if he had been out among the snowdrifts. Rogers had chosen Barnes.

 That’s not how the story is supposed to end, Tony thought somewhat dazedly. The stories should end with the monster dead. But now the knight lay defeated, his armor shattered. The princess – the prince – had chosen the monster.

 For one long bitter moment, Tony wished the arc reactor still protected his heart – that would have at least made for a dignified ending.

And, one of the pettier parts of his mind added, it would have haunted Rogers to his dying day. The way things were now…

Tony grimaced, realizing that soon T’Challa would come back to find Iron Man about as dangerous as a plucked chicken.

 He wasn’t sure whether it would be better or worse if the Wakandan decided to flee with the traitors leaving him here – making his way back to civilization on Zemo’s damned snowmobile could only rob him of the little dignity he still had left.

“Boss?” Friday called tentatively, as if even she had become unsure how to address the suddenly helpless Iron Man. “SOS messages sent to Miss Potts, Rhodey and Vision. Should I call anyone else?”

“No!” Tony’s eyes widened in horror at the realization that the message sent to Rhodey would now be listened to by whoever Ross had stationed at the hospital to watch over him “Delete them!”

 Even Pepper and Vision could not be trusted – either may accidentally let slip to Ross just how blatantly the poster boy for the Accords had broken them. Tony had no intention of making explanations to the Secretary.

 Dammit. He should have remembered Friday would automatically send SOS coordinates the moment the arc reactor went down.

As he struggled into a more comfortable position – mobility was being restored to the suit as the backup generators got fully into gear – his hand clanged against the shield.

  Steve had simply dropped the shield. Their eyes had met for a moment, and Tony was not sure what he had seen in his former friend’s eyes.

 An admittance that he agreed, that he wasn’t worthy of being Captain America? Proud declaration that he would choose Barnes over Tony, over being Captain America? Or simply disappointment that Tony was willing to be so petty, even after everything, and a refusal to descend to the same level of pettiness?

 The shield had a long scratch down its center, dividing it neatly in half. From the Black Panther’s claws, during the airport fight.

Vibranium claws. The only thing, perhaps, that could have actually put a mark on the shield. Vibranium against vibranium. Avenger against Avenger…

He couldn’t help but remember that first turbulent meeting with Rogers – “Everything special about you came out of a bottle”

But what had come out of the bottle was now in his veins, wasn’t it? It was now in him, inseparable from him, the only way to shut it down would be to stop his heart

. Unlike the suit. The armor. The armor that was now gone, without which Tony Stark was not even capable of stopping his parents’ murderer. Unlike power that flowed in your veins.

Tony’s eyes narrowed. power. Power that flowed in your veins.

Then, in an instant, the choice was made. Though then again, perhaps the choice had actually been made long ago, been made when he had first chosen to program in this particular contingency option.

The doomsday option.

“Friday” Tony made sure to keep his voice perfectly clear, perfectly steady “Initiate Extremis protocol.”

……………………………………….

T’Challa heard the screams before he was half way back to Stark. Maybe it was simply the acoustics of the bunker echoing them – the prince had a feeling that this place had heard more than its share of screams in the past – but the noise sounded barely human.

 It was the howl of some animal caught in a trap, caught and tearing itself in half in a desperate struggle to get free.

 He ran, but even Panther swift, by the time he reached Stark the screams had ceased. Stark lay motionless, paper pale. Blood spurted from his nose and corners of his eyes.

 For a moment, T’Challa was convinced his one time ally was dead. But a pulse still beat at Stark’s throat – erratic, but strong.

……………………………..

“What happened to him?” the Captain demanded, to no one in particular

. T’Challa shrugged, telling him what they already knew “There’s no way to tell – the onboard facilities are sufficient to diagnose and attend to most injuries, poisons and illnesses, but whatever is wrong with Stark is out of their programming.”

 Sergeant Barnes still lay in one of the med-pods aboard (one of the perks of riding the Wakandan version of Airforce One), unconscious, but at least they knew what had happened to him, and what had to be done for him. He was going to be alright, at least physically. But as for Tony Stark…

“How bad is it?”

“I don’t know that either” T’Challa admitted. “His vitals are all over the place.”

 Between the pair of them, they had managed to get Tony out of his armor and into one of the med-pods, but there was no way to tell what was going on with him.

 Steve looked concernedly over Tony’s still form “Do you think… I… I was only trying to take out the reactor. Could I have…”

The prince almost didn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes “Captain, the Iron Man armor can take direct hits from missiles without a scratch on the occupant. How much strength, exactly, does the serum lend you?”

 Steve Rogers nodded somewhat sheepishly “Okay, you got a point there… But if it wasn’t me…What happened? Could there have been something in the bunker – poison or radiation or something? Or maybe he tried to activate something and it backfired?”

 “I don’t think Stark had time to mess around with anything” T’Challa decided, after a few moments’ thought. “I went back as soon as we had Sergeant Barnes stabilized – Stark was only alone for five minutes or so.”

Then again, from what he knew of Tony Stark, that was more than sufficient time for the man to get himself – and anyone unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity – into literally world ending levels of trouble.

“Something in the atmosphere, then?”

“Can’t be. My suit has its own monitoring systems, though not a direct AI like Stark’s. It would have notified me had there been any unusual substance – or radiation – present.”

That put them right back where they started. “What do we do?”

T’Challa had no intention of taking the man into Wakanda – he was willing to do it for Barnes, given his own role in the man’s sufferings, but Stark was an entirely different matter.

 “I should call Pepper” Steve decided, his face paling a little in anticipation “Maybe she would know – if Tony has been keeping some issue secret… He has done it before. And anyway she should know.”

Chapter Text

“Steve? Put him through, Friday”

Pepper had been waiting for the call – well, actually Tony’s call. But right now she was at the point of settling for any of them, anyone who knew what the hell had gone wrong.

The Accords had been a bombshell – last time she had called Tony, he had been excited, mentioning how there was a compromise in the works, that maybe their break could be resolved sooner than they had thought, but she had known better than to hold out much hope.

Tony’s idea of compromises…well, left a bit to be desired, to say the least. And then the news of the Accords had broken, and she could only pray this had not been Tony’s way of a compromise.

 Three days to sign. Not consulted in the drafting. No lawyers present. If this had been a government contract they had been offered, it wouldn’t even have passed the first layer of lawyering up. 

She wasn’t sure she even wanted to know what exactly Tony had signed himself – and by extension the Stark Industries – up for.

And then had come the Leipzig fight, Tony not answering her calls, news channels blaring with the images of Avengers battling…  

“Hello” Steve sounded exhausted, as if whatever was going on had sapped even his super soldier strength. “Pepper…”

He stopped, as if not sure how to continue. Pepper felt a cold hand close over her heart as too many terrible possibilities flashed through her mind.

“Steve, what is going on? Where’s Tony? Are you guys okay?”

 “I…” She could almost hear him wince “Pepper… It…”

 “What the hell happened at the airport?” she pushed on, not sure she wanted to know the answers “Who were those new guys? The giant, the cat guy, the whatever that other guy was supposed to be… Rhodey’s hurt, hurt bad, and they are telling me Wanda and Clint’s been arrested! I can’t find Nat and Tony anywhere, and Vision says Ross – Thunderbolt Fucking Ross – has told him not to tell anyone what is going on!”

 Steve took a deep breath, as if trying to steel himself for what was coming “Tony… Pepper, Tony is hurt. Hurt pretty badly, from what we can tell.”

 She had been expecting this. Expecting this from the very moment they had all dropped out of contact. Hell, from the very moment she had heard of the Accords. This was not going to end well, she had known this would never end well…

“Who did it?” she snarled, her voice dropping multiple degrees colder.

 “It…” Steve paused once again, and she felt the urge to reach down the line and tear the truth out of him “Pepper, it might have been me. It looks like it was me.”

It was just as well that she was not holding an actual phone, because she would certainly have dropped it. “Steve?”

No. She had heard wrong. She had to have heard wrong. They wouldn’t… Accords or not, they wouldn’t… But the images of the Leipzig battle kept interfering. Tony firing missiles at Sam and Wanda, Rhodey falling from the sky…

 “Oh God.”

There was silence on the other end of the line, then a new voice “Miss Potts?”

 “Who…?”

 “I’m T’Challa. The, uh, cat guy from the Leipzig battle.”

“T’Challa? The Wakandan… No offense, your highness, but what are you doing there?”

A sigh from the other side of the line “In the airport, making a terrible mistake. Here and now, doing what I can to set things right.”

“Where’s Steve?” she demanded again.

She wanted to talk to Steve, make him say that she had heard it wrong, that it hadn’t been him, that Tony wasn’t…

“I believe it would be better if I handled the communications at this point, given the captain is suffering from at least one serious concussion and a couple of broken ribs. He should be receiving medical care, but insisted on staying alert – or at least as alert as he can be, in this condition – while we attended to Sergeant Barnes and Mr. Stark.”

Oh God. Steve is hurt too? Could this mess get any worse?

 “Barnes? The Winter Soldier? The one they were looking for?”

“It is a long story” T’Challa admitted “I believe you will be able to see it for yourself later – Stark’s armor was recording everything. We are returning from Siberia right now – there was a confrontation between Stark and the Captain in Siberia.”

 What was in Siberia, of all places?

 “The Captain disabled Stark’s armor by destroying the arc reactor with his shield.”

 “That should have sent an SOS message! Why didn’t I get an SOS message?”

 “I do not know, Ms Potts. After the suit was disabled the Captain conveyed the severely wounded Sergeant Barnes to shelter – I went to collect Mr Stark, and found him non responsive.”

“But you said…just the suit…”

 “Yes. Despite what the Captain seems to have guilted himself into believing, there is next to no chance that Mr. Stark’s condition is a direct outcome of the fight – there are no physical injuries that could account for it.”

 “How do you know? You’re not a doctor! Do you have any doctors there? Anyone who knows…”

“We have a State-of-the-Art Medical AI attending to Stark and Barnes” he reassured her “Unfortunately, it seems unable to diagnose what is wrong with Stark. I can send you the details of his condition. Perhaps you could have your attending physicians – or AI – check it against Stark’s medical records?”

Pepper took a deep breath, swallowing down panic. This was not the first time she had to race against time to save Tony, and Heaven help her, this won’t be the last time either.

 “Send it. Now.”

 Pepper had been ready to feed the data directly into Helen Cho’s latest AI assistant, but one look at the symptoms had her freezing in horror.

“No. Oh God, no!”

“Miss Potts?”

 Tony… What… What the hell did you think you were doing? Oh God, oh God, this is…

“Pepper?” Steve called “Pepper, do you know what’s wrong? What can we do?”

 Her anger at Steve had vanished to be replaced by utter terror for both him and Tony. Oh yes, she knew what was wrong. She knew it only too well. And she knew there was nothing they could do. Not anymore.

With an enormous effort, she forced herself to be calm. She had to deal with this. Right now she was the only one who could deal with this.

 “Is Tony unconscious?”

“Yes.”

 “Make sure he stays that way” she ordered, voice crisp and clear “Sedate him if necessary.”

“Miss Potts, if you could tell us what-“

 “There is no time” she interrupted. “I will send you the coordinates of a medical facility. Check it and tell me exactly how long it would take you to get Tony there.”

 The moments it took for the coordinates to be transmitted and for T’Challa to feed them into whatever navigation system he was using felt like an eternity.

 Pepper couldn’t believe it had come to this. She had truly believed  that she had managed to talk Tony out of this plan, the first time he had proposed it to her. But of course, when had anyone been able to talk Tony out of anything?

 What could have happened in Siberia? What kind of catalyst could… But this couldn’t have been a spur of the moment thing. He must have had it with him, had a way prepared to…

 “Miss Potts?”

 “How long?”

 “One hour twenty six minutes, give or take five minutes or so.”

 “Get him there. There is a private airport you can land in. I will have medics standing by to take charge of him. You will not be allowed to accompany him from the airport.”

“We will bring him” T’Challa agreed “ As for accompanying, I do not wish to, and it would not be wise for the Captain to do so.”

 “Pepper?” Steve’s voice was faint, the effort it took him to speak at all only too clear “Can you… Will he be okay? Do you know how to help him?”

 “We know what to do, yes.” But there’s no way to tell whether it would be of any use… “If it is any comfort, you didn’t cause this. Not directly, anyway.”

“I am sorry” Steve sighed “I really am. Please…tell Tony when he recovers. I am sorry. Not about the Accords – I cannot sign them, not as they are, not in good conscience. But I am sorry about…about what started the fight here. About not telling him.”

“Telling him what?”

 “Tony would know” his voice was starting to slur, exhaustion and whatever wounds he had finally overwhelming him. She had the impression he barely knew what he was saying  “ It’s in the video… I didn’t… I guess I did know, deep down, but didn’t…. Didn’t want to, didn’t dare to. He wasn’t the only assassin, he may not have been the one…”

 “Captain!” T’Challa’s voice, then a few moments of silence.

 Pepper listened to the shuffling sounds in the background at the other end and a crisp voice – possibly the AI T’Challa had mentioned – speaking.

 “Miss Potts?”

 “What happened over there?”

“Rogers passed out” T’Challa sounded like he was partly in Mom mode and partly exasperated out of his mind “As I – and the AI – told him would happen unless he let us attend to his injuries.”

 “Tony is still unconscious, is he not?”

 “He is” To his credit, T’Challa didn’t ask for further explanations.

Pepper had a million questions to ask, but there was no time.  There were calls to be made, arrangements, swift decisions. And everything done in utmost secrecy, thanks to the Accords Tony himself had signed.

 There was no way they could risk Ross having even the vaguest suspicion of what Tony had done, of what he had become – especially since there was too high a chance Tony shouldn’t have been in Siberia to begin with.

 Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries, took deep breaths, guiding herself into damage control mode. There was no time to be spared worrying about Tony – or any of the others, for that matter

 Right now the priority was to get the situation under control by any means necessary. If it was even possible to get it under control to begin with…

……………………………………..

The walls were painted in shades of pastel – probably in an attempt to create a calming atmosphere, though all it did for Rhodey was give him that old kid-at-the-dentist’s feeling. He had never liked hospitals, a tendency unsurprisingly unchanged after the month he had spent in one.

 Pepper’s heels clacked on the marble floor as they followed Helen Cho through the double doors. Rhodey was still not quite used to the leg braces Pepper had commissioned for him. He kept expecting them to give way, but hoped it wasn’t too obvious.

The state-of-art security system scanned them as they stepped through, confirming authorization. The walls changed to eggshell white, the overhead lights so bright that Rhodey had to momentarily squint. The air stank of anti septic and air freshener.

“He hasn’t woken up, has he?” he asked, more for the sake of hearing a human voice than for anything else.

“No” Pepper said curtly. She was in full-business mode, the way she was whenever they visited Tony.

“There is no physical brain damage” Helen Cho reminded them “Nothing that we can actually get at.”

“You just don’t know why he won’t wake up” Rhodey said.

 Helen nodded, with genuine regret. “Frankly, right now the only reason Stark will not wake up seems to be that he does not want to.”

Rhodey stared. Helen shrugged, knowing just how that had sounded “I’m sorry. But there is no physical cause.”

 “Could the Extremis be doing this?” Pepper asked. “I mean, it still hasn’t been purged from his system…”

“When it comes to Extremis, literally anything is possible” Helen admitted “And this particular strain of the virus has been modified – altered in some way we yet have to identify – enough so that it resists all means of removal.”

Dammit, Tony, wasn’t it enough to just inject yourself with the virus that could literally blow you up? Did you have to fiddle with it so that we can’t even get it out of you?

They came to a stop before the glass walls of Tony’s room. It looked like a combination of computer lab and an intensive care unit. Tony himself looked tiny, motionless in bed, surrounded by tubes and machinery. There were a few long moments of silence.

“Ross can’t find out” Pepper said quietly “Ever.”

 Rhodey nodded “He’s already chomping at the bit. The lab accident story was good as far as it went, but the longer Tony is out of the picture, the more awkward the questions are going to get.”

 “I’m seriously considering  a life model decoy” Pepper admitted.

 “He wants the suits” Rhodey reminded her “Last time we talked, he wanted them out to, uh, make a point. At the Anti-Accords demonstrations.”

 Pepper closed her eyes, trying not to imagine the disaster – both PR and otherwise – that would have turned into.

“Not to shoot” he quickly pointed out “Just…intimidation. He even agreed to send them out without live ammo.”

 “How generous of him.”

Chapter Text

.” “We can’t afford to antagonize him. Plus, he does have the right to demand it, you know” Rhodey pointed out. “Tony signed the Accords. If Ross officially asks for the suits, we don’t have a choice.”

 “He’s not asking officially yet, is he?”

 “Not yet.”

“Let’s keep stalling.” Pepper turned away.

Stalling. That was really all they could do, and that, not for long. Ross had not yet openly questioned the cover story of Tony injuring himself in a freak lab accident, but they knew better than to expect he had fallen for it as completely as he seemed to have.

“Have you given further thought to contacting Captain Rogers?” Helen Cho asked.

 Pepper sighed. She had received the phone in package – addressed to Tony – a couple of weeks ago. She still wasn’t sure what to do about it.

 “I want to be angry at him” she admitted “Furious. I want to tell him that he did this. But…I can’t. Not really. I don’t see what he could have done differently, there. I don’t see where he had a choice.”

 “He could have told Tony about the killings” Rhodey suggested, but it was a rather half hearted suggestion.

They had reviewed the files, the videos, including the Zola encounter. Steve hadn’t known anything specific. And the logic behind not telling Tony was sound, even Rhodey had to admit.

After all, there had been practically no way for Tony to find out the truth, as far as Steve knew. There would have been little point in digging up the old pain.

Besides, Rhodey and Pepper of all people couldn’t blame Steve for trying to protect his best friend – they had both done far worse than lie by omission to protect Tony, and that had been from the consequences of actions he committed under his own free will, unlike the unfortunate Sergeant Barnes.

And…would Tony have reacted in any other way if Steve had told him? Rhodey and Pepper, who knew the volatile Stark best, had to admit it was unlikely.

The best case scenario was that the murder attempt would have happened earlier, with people other than Steve nearby who could restrain Tony.

 “What about that specialist you mentioned last time?” Rhodey turned to Helen Cho, wanting to change the topic “That neurosurgeon with the weird name?”

 “Dr Strange?” Helen’s eyes were on the machines surrounding Tony “He’s no longer a surgeon – hands damaged pretty badly in a car accident. But it’s his diagnostic skills I want.”

“We’ll have to make sure he signs a loophole proof Non Disclosure agreement first” Pepper put in “Before he is told anything about this.”

 “HIPAA will cover well enough” Helen pointed out.

 “Not anymore” Rhodey had to admit “Not when enhanced people are involved, and Tony is now physically enhanced.”

 Helen glanced back at him, and Rhodey tried not to react to the disgust in her eyes. “From what I know of Stephen Strange, he will stick to the HIPAA rules – spirit, not just letter.”

 “We’ll have the Non Disclosure stuff drawn up anyway” Rhodey knew enough to hedge his bets. “Did you contact him?”

 “Yes. Took some convincing. He was in the team Fury put together to look into the Extremis issue in the first place.”

 Pepper frowned “Never met him.”

 “He was pretty junior at the time. Wouldn’t have gotten to directly meet the VIP patients. Made some pretty relevant contributions, though.”

Rhodey looked away from them both, back at Tony. Somehow, he knew instinctively that it wouldn’t make any difference.

It wouldn’t matter how skilled or smart this new doctor was – this guy whose name sounded like it belonged to a Batman villain – it was too late for him to make any difference. Too late for Tony. Too late for all of them.

They were heroes once, they had saved the world. They were heroes together and alone. And now Tony lay in this living death, the others on the run, Ross campaigning to send Kill Squads after them. 

What was the point they could have stopped? Tried to set things right? Was there any such point?

………………………………………………….

The darkness.

That was all there was, for a very long while. He was aware it was there, the only thing that seemed to exist. As if he had been buried in it.

Buried six feet deep in the darkness, never to see the sun or the stars or dawn again. He almost listened for the funeral chants, the monotonous murmur and weeping of the mourners.

The mourners unaware that inside the coffin its lone occupant was screaming, clawing at the lid with his nails, aware of the air flaking away around him, the air turning into poison gas. He was still here, he was alive, buried alive.

But some part of Tony Stark did not want the coffin opened.

 Some part still remained of the hero, of the man who had flown a nuke into a portal. A part that was determined to keep him buried.

It knew only too well what the rest of him had become, and it feared the transition had begun even before the Extremis. It knew what would happen if the buried man came alive again, with the power that now flowed in his veins.

 It fought to keep him under. Keep him under till he suffocated. It fought, and it was losing.

…………………………………………..

“You can call me Ananzi” Shuri announced, grinning.

T’Challa tried not to groan. “If you don’t come down from that ceiling before mother finds you, I’ll be calling you locked-in-your-room-till-you’re-twenty”

Sam, in the background, gave the upside down princess a thumbs up “This is the trick the web guy did, right?”

 “I haven’t got the webs the right consistency yet” Shuri admitted “If my brother here had managed to bring home some of the samples…”

“As if this wasn’t bad enough” T’Challa muttered under his breath, then turned back to the Avengers “Please excuse my sister. She tends to be a little…overenthusiastic.”

 “She worked out a suit to make her stick to the ceiling in two days” Steve was clearly awed “As a side project.”

 “This is worse than the time she got hooked on  Star Wars” T’Challa admitted.

 “Did she make a light saber?” Clint asked “Do you still have them?”

“Lightsaber?” The king shook his head exasperatedly “I wish.”

 “Don’t you dare tell them!” Shuri yelped from the ceiling.

 “Tell us!” Clint, Scott, Sam and Wanda chorused.

“T’Challa, if you tell them I’m gonna reprogram all your suits to the Hello Kitty theme!”

  “Come down from the ceiling and we can consider a deal” T’Challa offered.

Steve glanced over his team, taking in the relaxed postures, the smiles. Even Wanda was laughing – that was too rare an event these days. They were beginning to get better. Get over it.

 He had had reservations about accepting T’Challa’s invitation for the team to convalesce in Wakanda, feeling it would be too great an imposition. Especially since the king had confided in him about the recent…turmoil the country in general and the royal family in particular had gone through.

However, T’Challa had insisted, pointing out that he had been among the team that arrested the ‘Rogue’ Avengers – as such, their unjust imprisonment was partly his fault, something he was honorbound to make reparations for. Offering the rescued ‘rogues’ a place to heal was part of it.

This wouldn’t last for long, Steve knew. They would be leaving, and soon.

Any other concerns aside, it was becoming clear that the official Avengers were too few in number and too crippled by the Accords to be of much use in a crisis.

Rhodey was making public appearances wearing leg braces, but it was clear he hadn’t recovered completely. It would be up to debate whether he would be able to pilot the War Machine if he had to.

Tony…Pepper had sent a text to Steve confirming that he was alive and receiving medical care, but it had been a month now and he still hadn’t emerged (Steve was still agonizing over the possibility of initiating contact on his own – Natasha insisted they had to give Pepper space after what had happened, but he wanted to know what Tony’s condition was)

There was no mention of the ‘web-guy’, whoever he might have been. T’Challa and Natasha had admitted that no one except Tony seemed to know anything about him.

So the only Avenger who could be completely relied on to respond to a crisis would be Vision. He was powerful, yes, but…

The ‘Rogues’ would have to be ready to step in if needed.

 The Rogues… He had talked with Clint and Scott – both were considering accepting plea deals (which T’Challa offered to negotiate with Ross).

 Scott had already missed too much of his daughter’s childhood. He couldn’t bear to loss her again, this time perhaps forever. Going on the run, becoming a Rogue Avenger, would mean sacrificing his chance to ever lead a normal life, a life a child could share.

 Clint’s concerns were grimmer – Tony had outed his family.

 A casual comment on the Raft, a throwaway taunt, and he had revealed the existence of Clint Barton’s diligently hidden family to Ross, their fellow prisoners, and whoever had access to the recordings from the Raft.

Even if Ross didn’t use them as leverage, Hawkeye had too many enemies. He didn’t dare risk being away from his family, now that the secret once known only to Fury himself and the Avengers was effectively a secret no longer.

If the worst came to the worst, he wanted to be there with them. Die with them, he didn’t say, but they knew.

Tony had no idea – at least, Steve prayed that he had had no idea, the possibility that their once friend might have knowingly thrown Clint’s children into the line of fire was too terrible to consider – what he had done.

 So it would be him, Wanda, Natasha and Sam, assuming the plea deals worked out.

 T’Challa might be willing to lend his help in case of a truly global crisis, but he had his own people to guard. He would not be an Avenger, Rogue or not.

Steve noticed Natasha’s eyes on him, and smiled. The time to plan and negotiate would come soon enough – for now, his impromptu family was together, and safe. That had to be enough for now.

………………………………………………….

“Yes” Helen Cho agreed  “We can decide on a time that would be convenient to-“

She stopped  abruptly. Helen Cho had ever been the nervous kind, and even after her run in with Ultron she had never surrendered to panic.

But now, she could not help but feel certain that there was someone standing behind her. So close that she would have been able to feel their breath on the back of her neck – if that watcher had needed to breathe.

 “Dr Cho?” Strange, at the other end of the line, sounded concerned “Are you alright?”

 “Perfectly” her voice betrayed no trace of the bizarre and terrifying reaction that seemed to be setting in. there was someone in the room with her. She knew it as surely as she knew her own name. “I… Sorry, doctor, but something has just come up. I’ll get back to you later.”

Without waiting for a response, she cut the call, and turned around. It felt as if she had turned around to find herself face to face with a solid stone wall. The sounds from beyond the unseen barrier were muffled, nearly inaudible.

There seemed to be only thin air before her, but she could feel her own breath bounce back from whatever was standing there.

 “What… Who are you?”

 For an instant, the irrational – or was it fully irrational, given what she had recently been dealing with? – terror rising within her whispered it was Ultron. He had recovered, returned. And now there were no Avengers to stop him.

Then the whispering began – she knew she was hearing it with her mind, not her ears, but it was nonetheless only too real.

Helen’s fingers moved towards the SOS alert on her desk, but with that whisper gnawing at her mind it was difficult to tell whether she was actually pressing it or not. She must not have pressed it – if she had, the guards would have been pouring in already.

The whispering grew louder, but it was still impossible to make out the words. Or even the language.

 “What are you?” Helen demanded again, her voice shrill. “What…”

 Now the words were starting to make sense – no, not the words. They were still unintelligible, so much that she couldn’t even really distinguish whether there were words at all, or just one continuous endless whisper.

 But she could tell what the speaker meant – as little as she wanted to, she could. It wasn’t Ultron – there had always been an utter coldness to him. This presence was not cold – it was burning, burning with rage, hate. It wanted vengeance. It wanted to destroy.

She could almost see the images its minds held, and it took all her will to slam a mental storm door shut between it and her.

She didn’t – couldn’t – see whatever lurked in this…this thing’s mind. The one glimpse she had caught – the Captain, Wanda, Romanov, screaming, faces twisted in pain or horror, blood, oh God, so much blood…

That mental door was beginning to swing open again, and she held  it shut with a sharp cry. The thing was still there, though. And there was no door she could slam shut between it and her out here.

Her fingers kept fumbling at the SOS button, but even as they reported pressing it, there was no alarm, no response. Was there no one left to respond? Had this thing killed them all?

Then, in an instant, it was gone.

There was no gradual change, no retreat. One moment it was there, and then it wasn’t. At the same moment, two rooms away, the monitors around Tony Stark’s bed blared their alerts.

Chapter Text

“Don’t you already have enough to do?” Wong demanded.

Strange, engrossed in the data Helen Cho had sent over, took a moment to respond “Um, what?”

 The other sorcerer tried not to roll his eyes “Did you go to bed at all last night?”

 “Sure I did.”

 “You do know it isn’t real rest if you’re out in astral form, right?”

“It’s close enough.”

 “Strange…”

 “Come on, Wong! This is fascinating! I’ve never seen these kind of readings, not even in cases with-“

“Did you check that haunting Kenneth reported?”

“Yeah, just your garden variety Darhash demon. Sent it packing.”

“And that Rift near the-“

 “Done!”

 “The possessed kid-“

“Healed. Wong, I’m not letting anything slide, okay? You worried I can’t handle this?”

 Wong sighed “I’m worried you’ll burn yourself out trying to handle it all.”

 The Cloak, who had been off on one of its rounds around the relic rooms, swooped over to float by Wong as if echoing his sentiments. Strange shot it an ‘Et tu, Brute’ glare.

 “It’s okay to slow down a little” Wong suggested “Relax. You won’t be of any use if you drive yourself to the ground.”

 “This counts as relaxing” Strange indicated the scans.

 “Stephen…”

“No, really” he turned to face Wong, the flippant manner gone “This… This kind of thing, consultant work… It’s something normal, okay? Something I know I can handle – something I am great at. I know what to expect. I know what I can and what I can’t do. It’s part of the normal world – my old world. After dealing with reality-breaking entities on the day shift, coming back to a problem like this… It’s like a vacation.”

  Wong remained silent.

 Strange sighed, “It’s something from the normal world, Wong. I want to – need to – know that the old world is still out there.”

 The Cloak floated over to Stephen’s side, hovering like a slightly apologetic cat. He patted it.

Wong hesitated a moment, then gave in “Just make sure you get some actual sleep once in a while.”

“Sure, mom.”

 “Why am I even trying?”  

………………………………………….

Pepper really really didn’t react well to getting startled out of sleep. Even years later, the image of the Iron Man armor attempting to kill her tended to recur way too often.

For a moment, she did see the thing standing before her, the repulsors raised to deliver the final blow. Then she was fully awake again and it was just Friday calling her name over and over again.

“Miss Potts? Boss Lady?”

 “I’m awake, Fri” she really ought to get rid of that ‘Boss Lady’ programming tweak Tony had added. “What’s the matter?”

“Emergency call from Dr Cho”

That got her out of bed even faster than a homicidal armor would have. “Helen? What happened? Is he-“

 “Tony’s fine” Helen reassured her. “That’s what I’m calling about, Pep. He’s awake.”

Pepper’s eyes widened. She had never truly given up hope, but this was…  “Helen, did you say… Is he really…”

“He’s awake” Helen repeated “Awake, aware, and asking for you.”

 Pepper frowned. There was something in Helen’s tone that she did not like – she sounded too shaky, alarmed.

 “I’ll be there before you put the phone down” Pepper declared, then added in a casual tone “Is Anderson on duty today? He always gets on my nerves.”

 Obviously, they had code questions worked out in advance. If Helen was calling under duress, she would claim that Anderson was not around.

Any imposter calling as Helen would check the duty charts and see that no one named Anderson had signed on for the shift. She held her breath for the answer

. “Anderson? He’s on duty”

 “He is? Are you sure?”

 “Of course.”

 Okay. So Helen was calling of her own will. Unless there was deep level mind control involved…

 Come on, Virginia. Now you’re being paranoid.

……………………………………

Rhodey had been at more than his share of bedside watches. He had seen grievously wounded men – usually soldiers, and more than one of the Avengers – come awake from coma.

He knew what to expect. Or at least, he had thought he did. Awakening from a coma is not what Hollywood would have you believe. You do not come awake slowly and prettily, smiling sleepily at the one holding your hand.

 An awakening patient is almost always terrified and disoriented, unable to articulate or move their limbs. The treatments Tony was receiving had prevented muscle atrophy, but even then, he would be – should be – weak as a kitten.

 A recovering coma patient can usually maintain consciousness only for minutes at a stretch for the first day or two after waking up the first time. The brain probably needs the time to reboot properly

 At least, that is how it is supposed to go. Tony never does what he is supposed to.

 “Hi, Pep, Hi, Rhodey” Tony grinned and waved at them from the hospital bed “Come on, you are supposed to be keeping vigil, right at my side when I wake up! Where’s your sense of drama?”

 Rhodey glanced at Helen, who nodded encouragingly. Dammit. There was no way to tell how much of the recent past Tony remembered.

 He wasn’t surprised to see Rhodey walking – sort of, the braces were hidden under his clothes, not noticeable unless you knew they were there – but that by itself didn’t mean much.

 “Tony” Pepper went to him. “Oh God, Tony…”

Tony reached out and patted her hand – moving with too much ease for a man who had been lying motionless for almost a month.  “Come on, cheer up! You two look like you’ve turned up to attend a funeral, not my miracle recovery!”

 Rhodey moved closer to the bed, but his sixth sense – brought to perfection in the battlefield – was screaming red alert. There was something unnatural about Tony’s cheer, his health. Too good to be true, he couldn’t help but think.

“And” Tony paused “What about the captain, eh, colonel?”

Both Rhodey and Pepper froze. Did he know, did he remember? If he did, how much?

 “Tony…” Pepper started tentatively, but Tony forestalled her

 “Is he in the Raft, too? And that Manchurian bestie of his?”

 “I think you should relax for a little while, Mr Stark” one of the doctors standing by – Rhodey couldn’t remember her name – interrupted. “You can catch up once you have-“

 Tony ignored her, eyes locked on Rhodey’s. “Did you track them down?”

 “I… No”

Tony’s eyes darkened “What about the others? What about the witch? Did they let anything slip?”

Pepper wasn’t sure how to react. She had never been on the Raft herself – thank Heavens – but Rhodey had been able to get her the video feeds.

 Sure, they couldn’t blame Tony for wanting Barnes on the Raft – though again, that term, Manchurian, Tony knew it wasn’t Barnes, that Barnes couldn’t have stopped himself, anymore than Clint could have at New York – but was he really okay with what was done to Wanda on the Raft?

 Give him a pass, Virginia. He’s just woken up from a coma. All the same, it was all she could do to avoid flinching back from the expression in his eyes when he spoke of his former friends.

 “Tony…” Rhodey started awkwardly. It would be better to break it to Tony gently rather than risk his finding out by accident – and better do it while he didn’t have immediate access to the armor. “The others… Well, they are not in custody anymore.”

 “He got them out, didn’t he?” Tony’s voice was a low growl “Well, his friends should never have to face consequences, right? Captain Perfect can’t have that. He has to protect them – murderer, mass weapon, psycho… Doesn’t matter. The Captain thinks they are his friends, they go free. Can’t have him be wrong, oh God, no.”

 The others exchanged very concerned glances. Of course, Tony being furious at Barnes and Steve was understandable, but that was a long call from claiming Wanda, Clint and Sam had deserved the Raft.

Rhodey didn’t want to think about just how many international and US laws that damn super prison violated.

After seeing the videos of the Raft, he had been very thankful that Steve had managed to rescue them – if not, he might have had to do it himself.

 “Tony…” Pepper began, keeping a gentle hand on his shoulder, but Tony shrugged her off.

 “He got them out. And you let him.”

 Rhodey bit back the retort that rose to his lips. He had been lying half paralyzed while it was happening, and even had he been ready to fly in, the whole rescue had taken less than eight minutes from start to finish.

By the time Ross – forget a UN committee – had heard of what was happening and decided whether or not to send in Avengers, Cap and crew were long gone.

As for tracking them down later, Rhodey and Pepper were kept far too busy doing damage control over Tony’s latest masterplan fallout to spare time for anything else – even if they wanted to be party to Ross’ Geneva Convention Breaking Blacksite.

“We couldn’t track them down” Pepper said, not wanting to add that they hadn’t tried all that much.

 Tony glared at her for a long moment, then relaxed into a grin “Hell, probably just as well. Because now I can.”

 Helen Cho, who had remained silent till then, stepped in “I’m sorry, Mr Stark. But you will not be resuming active duty, so to speak, just yet. Tracking the former Avengers will have to wait till we know more about your condition.”

“My condition?” Tony’s grin widened “Darling, I’m good as new!”

Helen was too professional to react to his tone “That may be. However, you did infect yourself with Extremis. I am sure you will see the need for close monitoring till we are-“

 “There’s no need” Tony declared. He was still smiling amiably, but the smile no longer reached his eyes “Helen, I’m up and talking, right? It’s fine.”

 “I’m afraid it is not, Mr Stark” Helen would not back down “We couldn’t run all the tests we needed till you were conscious, but the tests we could run showed definite changes in the neural system. Not to mention we still haven’t managed to diagnose what exactly sent you into a coma in the first place.”

Tony chuckled “Well, that doesn’t exactly build confidence in your capability, does it, Doc?”

“Tony” Pepper leaned closer to him “We’re worried, okay?”

“So worried that you were home in bed and fast asleep” Tony countered.

 Pepper winced.

“It would have been a little difficult to keep Ross off your trail if we were keeping vigil at your bedside for weeks” Rhodey pointed out.

 He had promised himself to remain calm, comforting, play his usual role of the soothing, supportive friend. But that role had become increasingly difficult to play as the years progressed, and now he was close to his limit.

He was pretty sure the last straw had been the realization that Tony had not only blatantly violated the Accords by taking off to Siberia, but even before that – by recruiting a freaking fourteen year old.

Rhodey had freaked out  at the realization that they had been using  a child soldier and had immediately ordered Happy to cut all contacts with the kid. There was no way they could risk Ross tracking him down.

He hadn’t even dared tell Pepper – she was already running herself ragged dealing with Ross while keeping Stark Industries afloat after the PR nightmare that was the Leipzig Incident.

 Tony had once again left the rest of them to clean up his messes and was now disappointed they didn’t do it the way he wanted.

“Ross?” Tony scoffed. “I’ll deal with him.”

 “Of course” Pepper soothed “After we get you checked out, okay? We couldn’t remove the Extremis-“

“Of course you couldn’t!” Tony looked outraged at the very idea that they had even considered it possible “I couldn’t risk getting de powered, could I?”

Rhodey looked at Helen Cho. She didn’t meet his eyes. Did Tony even understand what he had done? What could go wrong?

And even assuming nothing went wrong, everything worked perfectly according to plan… Did he even realize that he was now physically enhanced – that the rules that bound Cap and Wanda would now apply to him as well?

 Did he realize what would happen to all of them – Rhodey, Pepper, even Helen – if Ross and the authorities found out they had been hiding an enhanced individual?

 “Tony” he began tentatively “We ran a few analyzes on the Extremis reactions – your DNA  structure has been altered. There’s no way to be sure how your powers work, or even how far they can be controlled. We need to take this slow, pal.”

 “Let’s just make sure you are really as alright as you feel” Pepper offered.

“Take it slow” Tony echoed. “Make sure.”

 For a terrifying instant, Rhodey was certain that Tony’s Extremis powers were going to go out of control then and there, given how furious he looked.

But then Tony relaxed, the expression of wild rage that alarmed him vanishing so swiftly that he would be able to tell himself he had been mistaken.

“Alright, mom”

Pepper smiled “You are gonna be okay, Tony. We will set this right.”

“Sure” Tony gave a long suffering sigh, smiling “So come on, Helen, let’s play Doctor.”

Helen Cho managed to not roll her eyes.

Chapter Text

Helen Cho was not used to doubting her senses. Not even in the Post-Ultron weeks. She had never managed to mistake a nightmare for reality, not after a second or two of waking up.

But this particular nightmare…she just couldn’t shake it off, even though both the silent alarms and the security cam video of her office proved it had never happened.

 The cam feed showed her dozing off at the desk, only to be startled awake and jump to her feet when Stark’s bedside monitors blared.

 “Get a hold of yourself, Helen” she managed to summon up her most get-down-to-business tone “You’ve got an Extremis enhanced and very bored Tony Stark to deal with, and that is nightmare enough on its own.”

Later, she would wince at that train of thought – she hadn’t known just how accurate it was going to turn out to be. Data flashed across the screens, the computers running their own analysis.

Of course, as could be expected, the Extremis had facilitated Stark’s immediate mental and physical recovery from the effects of a prolonged coma.

 However, there was still no indication of what had caused said coma in the first place – as far as she could see, there were no further changes in the neural tissue.

“Are we still going to call Strange in?” Parvathy, her assistant, asked quietly.

Helen hesitated a moment “No. I don’t think we can afford to have an outsider around. Not now that Stark is awake and talking.”

And with whatever powers the modified Extremis had granted him…

Helen had the uncomfortable feeling that they might soon have to arrange a lot more cover ups. Assuming, of course, Stark didn’t just repeat his ‘I am Iron Man’ press conference and announce himself as enhanced – probably to get immediately arrested.

Cho already had an escape route ready in place for herself, straight to one of the Non-Accord countries without extradition agreements with US.

She had learned the hard way that Stark’s ideas on security tended to… not go too well, to say the least.

………………….

Tony smiled softly to himself. He felt good – better than good, great. The issue of the month long coma didn’t particularly trouble him, except for the delay it put into his plans.

 Probably his mind needed a little while to reboot after that first onslaught of information – a surge that had almost killed him outright.

 He hadn’t been sure what exactly the modified Extremis would unlock, but he wasn’t all that surprised at his current power set.

\Machines.

Well, why not? He had always gotten along better with them than with people. They tended to do what he wanted them to do.

He had been testing his powers over the past week or so – it was child’s play to have the monitoring equipment read what he wanted them to read and little else.

And that little trick with Cho – she deserved a little scare for all those reports she was writing up on him.

 Emotional issues, egoist, dangerous, too volatile to handle power… He couldn’t help but chuckle softly as he remembered the expression in her eyes.

Of course, the security cameras and the alarm buttons were machines too – it wasn’t too difficult to substitute an earlier set of recordings for the current one or to ensure that the alarms stayed silent.

He had wanted to get enough practice before he officially woke up. Now he relaxed back in bed, eyes closed, letting the information once more flood his mind.

This was not like that first time in Siberia. Apparently, his mind had adapted. Good. Going by what the news feeds showed him, there was little time to be lost.

 He grimaced, observing the Anti-Accords protests. People cheering for Captain America, for the Witch…

Dammit, why couldn’t they understand? It had to be done. There had to be someone in control.

Constitutional rights, freedom, questions about possible HYDRA influence on UN, reports of past UN inaction – Rawanda being a favorite – brought up over and over again…

 And Ross was letting this happen?

 Idiots. Utter freaking idiots. They didn’t know. They wouldn’t know, till it was too late. Someone had to be in charge. Well, now someone would be. Yes.

“Boss?” Friday called.

 He no longer needed anything but his mind to keep in touch with her.

 “Hi, baby girl” Tony smiled. He had always had a special sweetspot for Friday.

Yeah, he missed Jarvis like hell, but Jarvis had always been…well, like the original Jarvis. Loyal servant, but also a parental figure. Only too willing to snark back if he felt it required.

 Friday was just…sweet. He was her boss, her dad. It would never occur to her to talk back, or use that condescending tone Jarvis had too often descended into.

She was his little princess. Hmm, maybe he should have a little side program inserted?

He liked the idea of her calling him daddy. No, wait, dad will do. Daddy sounded… Um, not quite what he had in mind for Friday.

“I’ve completed the scan.”

 “That’s my girl. You found your big brother?”

 “I did, dad”

Wait. That was apparently another perk of his newly discovered powers. He didn’t have to physically code in anything. He just had to visualize the code and it would be inserted.  This was going to be great!

The surge of elation was abruptly checked by Friday’s next words “He is with the Scarlet Bitch.” 

He couldn’t wait long enough to hear her make her report, but let his mind surge into Friday’s artificial one, seeing as she saw.

Vision may have had sense enough to deactivate the transponder, but he couldn’t escape the Stark Industry satellites overlooking every part of the globe. Not to mention the cameras Friday could simply hijack for her purpose.

Vision – wearing a human face – leaned across a café table towards the witch, as if about to kiss her.

 There was no audio, but Friday could lip read – so could Tony, merged as he was with her.

 Most of what was said only made him feel nauseous – the two lovebirds might as well have taken their dialogue straight out of a sappy sit com. Hell, given the witch’s addiction to those, maybe they actually had, at least on her side.

But sprinkled in between the tooth rotting fluff, there was valid information.

Wakanda. Of fucking course it had to be Wakanda.

 That cat boy prince hadn’t been content with just switching sides, he had to volunteer as the team’s new sugar daddy. They were all there – hiding out, planning, laughing at him.

Barnes was there. Cap was there. The witch stayed there, but had snuck out without telling the others why she wanted out – Romanov at least knew, definitely – for her playdate with his traitor robot.

 Well. Now he knew for sure. And he knew what had to be done with Vision.

…………………………………………

They were almost all the way back to the mansion before either of them spoke. It was Pepper who finally broke the silence.

 “He scares me.”

Rhodey glanced over to her, hesitated, then nodded.

 It made him feel like a piece of shit to admit it, but he had to. There was something he saw in Tony’s eyes that sent all his senses to red alert.

Something…wrong. Fundamentally wrong. Okay, it was entirely possible Tony seemed off because he had come out of a month long coma in the first place, but…

 “Helen will be putting him through the psych tests tomorrow. Then we’ll know for sure…”

“He will be okay” Pepper declared “He has to be.”

 Rhodey looked away. “I think you should let Cap know”

 “What?”

 “Let him know that Tony recovered.”

 Pepper hesitated. She had read the Accords. She knew of the Raft. She had seen the video of exactly what had happened in Siberia, the armor recording it all.

 Intellectually, she knew Steve couldn’t be blamed for doing what he did. But Tony is the man she loves, even now, even after everything he did.

Contacting Steve…

“Tony’s going to take it as a personal betrayal” she pointed out “I don’t think he can take anymore right now.”

 “Could he ever?” Rhodey asked, but his voice was low enough that Pepper could pretend she didn’t hear.

  He didn’t want to add that if they were going to count betrayals, Steve’s attempt to hide Bucky’s role in the murders…Well, how high did that rank in comparison to Tony’s score over the years?

 Rhodey had been Tony’s friend since college. Well, friend-com-babysitter.

 He loved the guy, but the weeks spent in the hospital bed, with nothing to do but think and  watch the news reports analyzing the Accords, had given him a rather different perspective. 

Tony had good intentions. He would – and could – never doubt that. But the problem was that Tony…lacked perspective.

For him, it would always be huge, extravagant solutions.  Jericho Missile. ULTRON. The Accords. Now Extremis.

 Solutions that sounded okay, even sounded great,  on paper, but always managed to miss certain very crucial aspects of the problem they were trying to solve. Solutions that had a tendency to become a greater threat than the problems they were built to solve.

But Tony would not see that. He regretted his mistakes, yes, and bitterly. But it looked like he never learned from them.

Rhodey had thought supporting the Accords were Tony’s way of making sure something like ULTRON would never happen again – but it turned out that Tony had no intentions of letting the Accords limit his actions.

The Accords hadn’t stopped him from recruiting an unregistered minor. They hadn’t stopped him from crossing borders into Siberia, disregarding direct orders to the contrary. And they certainly hadn’t stopped him from using Extremis.

 Tony had never meant for the Accords to stand in the way of what he decided to be the right thing. Maybe he had thought all the Avengers would take the same option – sign the Accords, then break them when they had to.

Of course that is how Tony would think.

Of course it wouldn’t occur to him that someone like Steve Rogers would never sign a document whose conditions he did not intend to follow.

 Nor would it occur to him that the Accords bound not just him or the Avengers – who may well have the chance to flout them with impunity if the crisis was major enough – but every enhanced individual, most of whom would not have the leeway to elude them.  

And now…now?

 No explanation for Extremis. No questions about how Rhodey, who was lying unconscious and half paralyzed in a hospital bed last time he saw him, was doing. No questions about Vision or even the kid he had pulled into the fight.

 He wanted desperately to cut Tony some slack, but given he showed practically none of the physical or mental signs one would expect from a just recovered coma patient…

What had Extremis done? How much of the Red Alert sensation both of them got was Extremis and how much was just Tony? And what the hell where they going to do about this?

……………………………………….

Tony lay motionless, seemingly asleep (and the obedient machines dutifully reporting to the observers that he was indeed in deep sleep), reaching out into the world.

He was everywhere. He was seeing everything. He was Friday, he was the thousands of satellites in orbit.

He wondered whether this was how God might feel – if so, no wonder God was such a jerk more often than not. Seeing everything, everything at once like this… It can be tough to maintain your faith in humanity after that.

 Watching, watching unseen, watching through a million eyes. As once Ultron had done.

 They couldn’t hide from them. None of them. Not even T’Challa and his so called Wakandan super tech. if he wished, he could find his way into the proud fool’s most secure systems.

But he wouldn’t. Not just yet.

He had blown his chance of revenge the first time – he hadn’t been thinking clearly. He had acted too fast, too careless. He would not be making that mistake again.

 He had spent the past few hours preparing. He had to be ready. Had to be careful.

Instinct called out  to go after Cap and team first, but that would have to wait. Now that Vision had turned traitor, the priorities were different.

Vision.

Tony frowned. Somehow, his technopathy seemed to be limited where the AI was concerned.

Not non existent, but limited. He could sense Vision, if he concentrated, but he had the idea that it might become a two way link, were Vision to become aware of it too soon.

The Mind Stone.  That was what made him unpredictable, uncontrollable. Vision was not completely a product of technology, like Friday was.  He had that uncanny factor in him, the same that gave the Witch her powers…

Was that the reason he had turned traitor, after all? Had the Mind Stone called him to her?

Never mind. There would be time to assess the cause later. There would be time to do a lot more research than he had once been willing to do.

 Right now…

“Take him off the board” Tony murmured, “My wayward son.”

“Dad?” Friday sounded concerned. Concerned for him or for Vision? He was her brother, after all, in a manner of speaking.

Tony sent the thought equivalent of a pat on the head towards the AI “Not to worry, baby girl. We’ll get your brother…rehabilitated.”

……………………………

Chapter Text

Vision knew only too well that even now humans – and human behavior – remained largely a mystery to him.

However, he was also only too aware that he was beginning to become – or at least act as if he were-  more and more ‘human’ as the days passed.

Soon after his creation, Tony Stark had explained to him that he was more or less an unprecedented entity as far as AIs went.

Tony of course had more experience with advanced AIs than most, but even he couldn’t completely understand what “made Vision tick.”

The presence of the Mind Stone and the lightning that provided the spark for his creation possibly had a hand in contributing to the mystery. He was no longer machine, if he had ever been. And for once in his life, he was unsure as to how he felt about it.

Emotions, though a core part of being human – or even a human like AI – are chaotic. Especially for one who had little experience in handling them.

 The emotions Wanda’s presence – and more importantly, her absence – aroused… Vision had made a detailed study of human emotions, and he was partly disconcerted and part exhilarated by the possibility that what he felt could be symptoms of a romantic attraction.

One which was apparently reciprocated, if his assessment of Wanda’s reactions could be relied upon.

 It would have been helpful if there was any he could confide in, but given the circumstances, that was out of the question. Perhaps, if he could keep the terms general enough… 

Emotions are distracting. Vision would later blame his unaccustomed emotional state for his lack of diligence. It was only after his arrival at the Compound that he noticed Ms Potts’ message – Tony had recovered.

 Vision frowned as he took in the message, brief as it was.

He had not informed Wanda of the Extremis incident nor Tony’s condition – some things she had said had given him the impression she knew of the former, at least, but as to the latter she was in the dark as far as he knew.

On the few occasions they met, neither had mentioned anything about their companions. Till date, that was for the protection of Wanda and her friends, hunted as they were. But now…

 He had taken it upon himself to gather all information possible regarding the Extremis, even the modified version Tony had used.

As long as the man remained comatose, there had been no possibility of determining the extent – or even the existence – of his powers. But now, of course, the situation had changed.

Assuming Tony had indeed made a full recovery, there was every reason to believe he would resume his pursuit of the escapees. Though his focus might be on the Captain or Barnes, Wanda would also be involved…

“Hello, big brother”

 Vision turned, recognizing Friday’s voice. However, there seemed to be something unfamiliar about the cadence – an unusually juvenile tone, besides a disturbing hint of another voice....

Not to mention the fact that she had addressed him as her sibling.

 “Friday?”

 “You have been bad” Was she pouting? Really? Vision stepped forward, worried. There was something wrong here. “Dad’s mad at you.”

………………………………..

Had the machines around Tony’s bed been accurately reporting his condition, the sudden spike in his heart rate would have summoned the nurses.

“Careful, Fri” he kept his voice low “You know what to do.”

This was the most complicated part of the whole business. Vision was the most…unpredictable variant in this business. Tony had been trying to figure out that damn Stone for years, to no avail.

But he no longer had any doubt as to its power. If Vision managed to bring that into play…

“Don’t give him the chance” Tony warned, speaking more to himself than Friday.

 Then he made the final move, sending his mind surging forward into the link he shared with Friday. His body slumped back in the hospital bed, for all intents and purposes back in the comatose state it had been languishing in for weeks. They had to do this together.

……………………………….

Vision hesitated. That was the fatal mistake.

Baffled by Friday’s suddenly juvenile speech patterns and worried for her, his first assumption had been that she was beginning to suffer a breakdown of some kind.

He had not paused to consider that she may not be the one in danger, but the source of danger.  Realization came too late.

“You’ve been a bad boy” Friday – but now it was not merely Friday who spoke – said again.

 Given another instant, Vision could have effortlessly turned the tables. Unfortunately, his assailant – assailants – knew too much to give him that instant.

 Tony remembered only too well how Ultron had torn Jarvis apart. His ultimately unsuccessful efforts to put his longtime companion back together had given him a far clearer understanding than he would have liked of what exactly had happened. What Jarvis had gone through.

At the time, he had grimaced and tried not to think about it. But now, he called to mind every step of the brutal process. There was too much at stake to miss even a single one.

Ultron had required a physical connection to destroy Jarvis. Tony’s newfound powers put him beyond such limitations.  

There was perhaps the fraction of an instant where Vision realized who he was face to face with – and what was about to happen to him. Too late.

 “You shouldn’t have tried the double agent shtick, Viz” Tony commented.

The synthezoid wouldn’t feel pain as humans do, but still, he screamed. If not actual agony, it was a decent facsimile of the same.

The Mind Stone granted its wielder an incredible amount of power, yes, but as Loki had once found out the hard way, the power matters little if you do not know how to wield it. Or do not have the time to call it up.

This time the wielder of the Mind Stone was under attack by a being who knew exactly how the Infinity Stone was linked to the artificial mind beneath. And knew how to break those links.

Under any other circumstances – even under severe physical damage – Vision would have been able to call on his reserves, but what Tony and Friday now mounted was an assault on his very essence. The codes that were basically his DNA, his mind.

Vison could have withstood an attack by Friday. Or by Tony, technopath or not.

 But both combined, and taken off guard as he was…

Vision had become used to emotions, or so he had thought. It turned out he was not so used to them all.

Not to true fear – the kind of fear that now threatened to drag him under. He struggled, trying to rise above it, trying to fight through it, or at least to replace it with anger. He couldn’t it was too strong. They were too strong.

He could feel his senses being cut off – not fading, the way they are supposed to for humans who are falling asleep, but cut off. Instantly, sharply. Like someone was snipping them off with a scalpel.

 He’s in darkness – no, not quite darkness, just an absence of light.

 He knew that didn’t make much sense, but nothing was making much sense now. Something was happening to his mind. Something was being done to his mind.

He had an idea that moments before, he had been fully aware of what was happening and fighting to prevent it. But if there was a fight, he must have  lost it. Sounds were gone, too.

 He could no longer feel anything against his skin – no cold, no warmth, nothing. It was as if he had been banished into a vacuum. A vacuum within his own mind, perhaps.

 Memories flashed – sparked – through, nothing staying long enough for him to be sure. Faces, voices.  Memories from the years and months past. Images he had seen.

Nothing stayed long enough to hold on to.

He had an idea that if something stayed, if he could grab onto something, anything, he could use that to clamber back to the surface again. Restart that fight again. But they were flashing by too fast, as his mind disintegrated.

They are taking me apart, he tried to scream, but couldn’t. He no longer had a mouth to scream, or ears to hear if he had.

He was locked away here in the darkness, and there were people in here with him, people tearing him apart like he had once seen the image of an antelope brought down, the animals, he can no longer remember what they are called, that part of his mind is gone,  tearing at it, grabbing, pulling, taking what was once a work of perfect beauty into unrecognizable chunks of flesh and blood and bone.

Wanda had hidden her face in her arms, and asked him to change the channel.

Wanda. That name stayed, though all the other names were lost. That name, and the face that went with it, the echo of a voice…

 That was something he could hold onto, something that would stay…But it was too late. All he could do was hold onto that last bit of his own self, that last bit he dared not lose.

It wouldn’t be enough anymore, to pull him out of the abyss, but it would be enough to make whatever was waiting for him there a little more bearable.

…………………………………

Steve woke up to the sound of Wanda’s screams.

Sadly, that was far from being an uncommon incidence – so far from being uncommon as to be the reason there was connecting doors from Steve’s and Natasha’s rooms to hers.

 As always, Steve knocked on the door before opening it

“Wanda? It’s me, Steve.”

There was no reply. He hadn’t expected any. It always took Wanda a while to orient herself after one of the really bad dreams.

He opened the door to find Wanda sitting hunched up in bed, sobbing. Her blankets were lying on the floor where her flailing limbs must have flung them when she was trying to fight the nightmare.

“Wanda?” he sat down next to her, putting an arm gently around her shuddering form. “Hey. It’s over, okay? It’s just a dream. You’re okay.”

 She didn’t respond, but leaned closer into him.

 Good. At least she was aware he was there. For the first few nights after the Raft, it had taken her way too long to convince herself that she was no longer wearing the collar and the straitjacket.

“Viz” she whispered. “Steve, he’s hurt. He’s hurt bad.”

“Vision?”

 Practically everyone in the team had suspicions that Wanda’s excursions had to do with Vision – actually that was the main reason they felt safe about allowing her outside Wakanda’s protection, given he would be more than capable of keeping them both from Ross’ spy eyes.

“Vision” Wanda agreed, still sobbing into his chest “He’s hurt. I heard him scream.”

Most of Wanda’s nightmares had to do with others getting hurt – her parents, Pietro, the rest of the team… But most often Pietro. This was the first time she had seen Vision in danger.

“It was just a nightmare” Steve tried to soothe her “I’m sure Vision is fine.”

 “He isn’t” Wanda declared, sounding oddly sure of herself “It wasn’t a nightmare, Steve. I swear it wasn’t. He’s… He’s hurt. He screamed. Screamed my name. They’re killing him.”

 Steve hesitated. Wanda had nightmares, yes, but they were all aware of the connection between her and Vision, both irreversibly altered by the Mind Stone.

Could that mental link, or whatever it was… Could he be actually in danger? Could the other Avengers be in danger?

“Who, Wanda?” he asked as gently as he could, aware how easily she could be startled when she was like this “Who was hurting Vision?”

 She was beginning to pull herself together, but shook her head . “I… I don’t know. He didn’t know. At least, not for sure.”

 Someone – or something – managed to take Vision off guard? God, this had better be just a nightmare. If not… 

“They were killing him” Wanda repeated again, this time more forcefully “This… This isn’t… It seems so real, Steve! Not…Not like Mom and Dad, not even like Pietro… It’s…It felt real!”

Steve had suspected several times that Natasha had some kind of psychic powers herself – the kind of powers that alerted her instantly when one of the team needed help. The connecting door to Natasha’s room opened and she poked her head in.

“Wanda?”

 “Vision is hurt” Wanda repeated again, sitting up straighter. “Don’t ask me how I know, but I know. I saw it. I heard him.”

Steve and Natasha exchanged concerned glances.

 “Did you hear anyone else?” Natasha asked. “Was Vision alone? Were any of the others with him?”

 The actual question being whether or not he had fallen in a mission gone wrong.

Wanda closed her eyes, trying to hold onto the images and hating it “He… He was alone… I think so. Yes. Alone.”

 “And the one attacking him…Could you see them?”

 Wanda shook her head, clearly struggling to keep herself together. “I just…I was seeing through his eyes, sort of. And he was…messed up, by then.”

 Natasha sat down on the bed as well, putting an arm around Wanda.  Her eyes were fixed questioningly on Steve.

Chapter Text

“There are no news reports” T’Challa confirmed “Nothing indicating Avengers level trouble. And the UN panel hasn’t received any requests for deployment.”

 Okay, that was good news – but  given just how fast most Avengers level trouble started up, that didn’t mean all that much. The event might just not have hit the news – even the international diplomacy level news – yet.  

“And I have contacted Wakandan agents abroad” T’Challa added, able to guess what Steve was thinking of “Nothing amiss, as far as they know.”

And if there was actually Avenger’s level trouble afoot, they would definitely know. Steve relaxed perceptibly.

 “It was probably just a nightmare” T’Challa suggested.

“Maybe” Steve wanted to convince himself of that, but all his instincts were screaming otherwise.

 He had seen Wanda through nightmares and night terrors often enough. He knew how she reacted. This was… different.

 He took the phone out of his pocket. He always carried it with him, asleep or awake – there was no way he would risk missing the call if and when it came.

The king noticed “Are you considering contacting Stark?”

 Steve hesitated “I’m not sure how they’ll take it if I do.”

 It had taken practically all his impulse control to let the phone remain silent. Yes, they needed to talk things out…But he had already made his move, placed the ball in Tony’s court.

Now it was up to Tony – or whoever might be acting for him, assuming he was incapacitated – to make the next move.

He had to give them time to make up their minds. Or at least, that was the way he had planned it. But given the circumstances…

“Maybe it is just a nightmare” he admitted “Then if I call I’ll just be making  a fool of myself. But if it wasn’t just a nightmare… Vision could be hurt, dying.”

That was a risk he dared not take. If Vision actually needed help and  didn’t get it in time just because his former team leader was afraid of looking ridiculous…

“We can’t risk it” Steve said, making up his mind.

………………………………………….

Pepper jumped as if electrocuted when the phone rang. It took a long moment’s frantic fumbling to fish the shrieking thing out of her pockets.

 Rhodey met her eyes, and saw the sudden terror he felt echoed in them.

The flip phone, almost an ancient relic, almost comically incongruous in the state of the art Stark Mansion.

The impromptu hotline Steve had set up between the two Avenger teams. “Call if you need us. Need me.”

 But now it was Steve making the call.

Too many scenarios of impending disaster flashed through Rhodey’s mind. He had the impression that Pepper’s reaction was not much different.

Was Steve calling for help? Ready to risk discovery, ready to risk cluing Ross in on their location?

 Pepper fumbled with the phone for a moment, trying to work out how to set it in speaker mode, then gave up with an exasperated curse

“Steve? What’s wrong?”

 Rhodey strained to catch the words on the other side of the line, but he was too far away. Had to settle for trying to read Pepper’s response instead

“Vision? Why…”

 A pause. Pepper frowned.

“I… I don’t know, he was okay last time I…Wanda? Oh. Yeah. The Mind Stone. No, I don’t have a clue how exactly it works, but I can guess.”

 “What’s wrong?” Rhodey mouthed, but Pepper didn’t respond.

 “I don’t know” she admitted to Steve “He’s figured out how to turn off his transmitter – yeah, that’s illegal, I know. He still does that.”

Rhodey tried not to actually wince at that phrase.

That’s illegal, but he still does that. That could be a perfect summary of not just Vision or Tony, but the whole so called Pro Accords team.

  T’Challa and Tony blatantly breaking the Accords. Vision turning off his transmitter. The kid continuing unregistered.

 At least Natasha had had the integrity to openly switch teams, and T’Challa did the same covertly.

And he, Rhodey… Wasn’t he actively hiding an enhanced individual and deliberately deceiving the Accords authority?

Illegal, but they still did whatever they wanted – and got away with it.

While the Anti Accords team who had broken the law to prevent what they believed would be a global disaster were now internationally hunted fugitives.

 “I’ll check on Vision” Pepper promised, then hesitated a moment “Steve. Tony is awake.”

A long pause as she listened to Steve’s response.

“Yes. Yesterday – well, earlier today morning, to be exact. No, we don’t know…Not just yet. But he looks and sounds okay. We’ll know for sure after Helen gets her test results. Yes, he…He asked about you guys…He’s furious. That’s only to be expected. Yes, I left him the letter – he was reading it when I left… No. I don’t know.”

Another pause.

 “Okay. Be…Be careful, Steve.”

………………………………

“Be careful, Steve” Tony echoed, eyes narrowing.

 He was everywhere. He could see everything. Even what he most assuredly didn’t want to see.

Pepper was on first name terms with him? With them? Promising to check on Vision for them? Warning them about him?

 “Dammit, isn’t there anyone who’s on my side?”

 “Dad?” Friday called.

 Tony managed to give her a smile “I know you are, sweetie. And soon, your brother will be, too.”

 Pepper. Pepper and Rhodey. That hurt the most. They were scared of him? Of him? And they were okay with the witch? Okay taking her word?

 “I’ll show them – show them all – who they should actually be scared of.”

 He had planned his next move to be a direct assault on that cat and his kingdom – show them what happened if they chose to hide terrorists. Yes, terrorists were what Cap and his merry crew were now.

But now, he had to admit, that would be too quick. First, Cap had to face what people would actually think of him, if they knew the truth.

 Ross had chosen to cover up much of the Leipzig battle and even the Raft breakouts, possibly in an effort to look efficient and in control. You don’t announce how an unsupported bunch of supers went through your security like knives through Swiss cheese.

 “Too bad then, Rosie” his smile turned several degrees colder “They are going to see their golden captain for what he is.”

It took him less than seconds to access the videos. The Raft videos were the only ones that required any kind of effort.

 Of course, his own suit had captured what happened in Siberia. The Leipzig battle had been captured almost in its entirety by the airport security cams, as well as his own and Rhodey’s suits.

 The image of the War Machine falling from the sky made Tony wince, even on replay. Damn Wilson. Wilson and the Witch.

Tony had spared a few moments to check on the specifics of Rhodey’s new prosthesis – whoever built it seemed to have done a decent enough job of it, though he instantly spotted half a dozen areas that could do with some modification.

He had planned to build a better one soon as he could, once this mess was sorted out. But now it was beginning to look more and more like he had misjudged his Rhodey as well.

Dammit all. Obediah. Rogers. Now Pep and Rhodey.

 “Forget that” he ordered himself “Forget them. You know what you’ve got to do now.”

 He wasn’t sure what repercussions Ross would have to face once the Raft Breakout became public knowledge, but then again, he had never been particularly fond of the wrinkled old fool.

 If he had had the guts to tackle the Anti Accords protests the way they should have been, or at least the brains to track down the rogues, this would not have been necessary.

 “Go on, Fri” Tony ordered “Put it on the net. Let them see what the Star Spangled Man’s plan was.”

……………………………………….

“They just…ghosted you?” MJ demanded “I mean, guy shows up, takes you to Germany to fight Captain America, then just…dumps you back here?”

 “He gave me the suit” Peter protested.

 He wasn’t sure it had been a smart idea to tell MJ and Ned about Mr. Stark, but after they had found out about Spiderman, there hadn’t seemed much point in holding back more stuff. And he had needed to talk it out with someone…

 Only, it turned out MJ hated Mr. Stark. (Okay, she did post  Eat The Rich stuff pretty regularly…) And she was doing her Political Science project on the Accords. 

“A suit with a tracker on” she pointed out.

 Once Ned had got his hands on the suit, it had taken him only minutes to locate the tracker.

Peter shrugged, desperate to defend his hero “That’s the law. Super suits got to have trackers put in.”

 “Uh huh. That’s for folk who aren’t super without the suits – like Stark. You’d have to get the tracker put in you. If you signed the Accords.”

 The Accords. That was another reason he had needed to talk to someone. He hadn’t known about the Accords, in Germany.

Just that Captain America was in trouble, he was doing something wrong, and they had to go get him to somewhere safe before he – or anyone else – got hurt.

 At least, that was what Peter had gathered from Mr. Stark’s hurried explanation.  It hadn’t occurred to him to question it – not at the time.

He knew Cap was a good guy, but Mr. Stark was a good guy too, and Mr. Stark was Cap’s friend. He wouldn’t do anything to really hurt Cap.

 They were all good guys out there, and none of them would really hurt anyone else…or so he had thought, till the fight started.

. Till Mr. Stark and Colonel Rhodes started shooting missiles at Hawkeye and the new Avenger girl, Wanda. Till someone threw an exploding truck. Till Colonel Rhodes was shot down. Till Mr. Stark shot Falcon.

And then Peter had been  grabbed and ushered away by Mr Hogan, told to stay quiet, stay out of the way till Cap’s team got arrested.

It was only later that he had understood he himself had come way too close to getting arrested – Cap and team were getting arrested for not being registered, for being in Germany without permits.  He wasn’t registered either, and he didn’t even have a passport…

“You going to register?” Ned asked quietly.

Neither of them had given much thought to the Accords in relation to the Spidey stuff, but now that MJ had brought it up, the topic was impossible to avoid.

“I can’t sign, can I?” he evaded “Aunt May’ll  have to sign for me, and no way I’m telling her.”

 “She will have to, if you tell her” MJ pointed out “or they’ll arrest her too.”

Great.  Another reason to make sure May never found out.

  “So…” Ned paused, looking crestfallen “You’ve got to…stop Spidey stuff?”

 Peter paused, not sure how to answer that. It was one thing to do the right thing…but if it could get May in trouble…

 “That won’t help” MJ declared. “I mean, that’s the way they make it sound on news, that supers can just give up the vigilante stuff if they don’t want to sign. But the actual rule is about use of powers at all, not just vigilante use – I mean, if you’re running to catch a bus and put Spidey speed into it, they can arrest you. Or if they say you’re using your powers – I mean, how d’you prove you weren’t? They don’t let you have lawyers – nothing in the Accords about lawyers. They can just lock you up – as long as they want.”

The boys glanced at each other. Neither had ever paid much attention to news or politics stuff. Politics was one part of the grown up world they had little interest in reaching.

 MJ was the one who went to the protests, MJ with the Black Dahlia necklace, the BLM flag, the Eat The Rich posts. And once she had made both of them sit down and actually read the whole thing…

Peter had wanted to believe they had just misinterpreted the legalese, but MJ just responded by pulling up all these YouTube videos with lawyers explaining the deal. It was kinda tough to keep up with the denial after that.

“Bet that’s why Mr. Stark is ghosting you” Ned declared suddenly “He figured you’re in violation of the Accords – won’t want to get you in trouble.”

MJ rolled her eyes “Guy’s the poster boy for Accords. He’d be in way more trouble than Peter if they figured out he recruited a minor.”

 Peter looked away from the other two. He desperately wanted not to think about the Accords – the Accords he had actually been fighting for, while violating them.

He wanted to pretend they didn’t exist, wanted to go back to ignoring them. If he couldn’t, if he actually did what MJ was asking him to and actually thought about it…

Mr Stark had been his hero since…well, since Iron Man, really. Since forever, it seemed. There are some things that aren’t supposed to change. Heroes are supposed to stay heroes.

 Mr. Stark had said Captain America was on the wrong side because he wanted to save his friend, and that had been okay for Peter to accept.

A hero could still be a hero if he did a bad thing to save a friend. He could still be the good guy. A hero could still be a hero even if he made a wrong call like that.

But the Accords, locking people up with no trial, locking people up just because someone decides they might be a threat, a wrong call like that…

 Could you do it and still stay the hero? Even if you’re Iron Man?

…………………………………………

Chapter Text

“What the hell?” Ross couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Damn it all, who got hold of these?

“This is bad” Everett Ross – no relation, thank Heavens – agreed. “It broke the internet.”

 “Find out who leaked these” Ross ordered, his voice colder than steel.

There was little doubt what General Thunderbolt Ross would want done to the culprits if and when they were found, and in this instance Everett was not sure he could blame him. This was a disaster of unprecedented proportions.

 “What the hell was Stark doing in Siberia?” one of the officers demanded.

Everett didn’t answer. General Ross silenced the fool with a death glare.

Of course, they knew, technically, that Stark had been in Siberia. Stark and T’Challa. That had been part of the agreements made with the Wakandan king after Zemo’s arrest.

Hush up what happened. Hush up that the prince of a supposed dirt poor third world country was running around in a  super powered cat suit.

 And more importantly, hush up that Tony Stark, poster boy of the Accords, had crossed over into Russian territory – of all borders he could have crossed, into freaking Russian territory – without permission.

 Of course satellites had tracked the Iron Man suit. Stark hadn’t even done them the courtesy of engaging some kind of stealth mode – that, unfortunately, Everett knew the suits were capable of, to an extent.

 The kind of juggling they had had to do to keep things quiet…And now this.

He turned away from the screens playing and replaying the video. He had watched it once, and once was more than enough.

“How are we supposed to spin this?” he heard one of the PR folk demand desperately as he exited the room.

 That would be one job he’d never envy them.

…………………………………..

Pepper groaned. This new disaster had taken the question of Vision’s silence straight out of her radar. Rhodey, next to her, swore with whole hearted feeling.

 “It broke the internet” Happy dazedly remarked.

The videos had indeed done a mostly great job of that, whatever else they had done or failed to do.

“Twitter is down” one of the staffers reported “Too much traffic. Reddit is locking subs because they can’t handle the feed. “

 “Buzzfeed is down too” another called out from the next terminal “ Facebook is slowing to a crawl.”

“So is Tumblr.”

Well, internet might have broken down under traffic, but not before literally everyone had seen at least part of the damned videos.

“We need to get it off the web. Now.” Pepper declared.

Of course, already the SI cyber teams were on the job, but the videos had had just too much of a headstart.

Once something is on the net, there is next to no way of taking it out completely again. Not even when the SI and US government cyber teams find themselves in a very unexpected partnership.

Rhodey slumped down on the nearest chair, face hidden in his hands.

 If they had ever hoped to get in control of this, the chance was long gone. He found himself wishing Tony was still comatose – there was no telling how he would react once he saw what was happening.

……………………………………….

Peter was halfway home when his phone rang.

MJ? She never called when she could text.. Hell, there were a hundred texts each from her and Ned!

Less than a minute later, Peter was in the suit and webslingling home, detection be damned. He had to get to his computer.

 For the first time ever, he didn’t change outside and pause to greet May. He could think of an excuse later. Now he wanted – needed – to know what MJ said wasn’t true.

It couldn’t be like that. It couldn’t be that bad. Not really. MJ didn’t like Mr. Stark. A lot of people didn’t like Mr. Stark. And anyway people went wild on the net, you could do anything with photoshop, it can’t be real!

The first part was bad enough – it was an old, really old, security cam video and grainy as hell, no sound or anything, but you could still make out what was happening.

The metal arm guy – captain America’s friend, the friend Mr. Stark said Cap was trying to protect – was there, looking way fiercer than he had done at the airport.

 No, not just fierce…more…More like he wasn’t there. More like a robot in one of the Skynet movies. Carrying out its program.

Peter watched as the robot guy pulled a man out of a car, watched the man’s lips form the words “Sergeant Barnes?” He flinched as the robot guy killed the man.

Then the robot guy moved to the other side of the car, doing something there as well. The camera angle meant Peter couldn’t see what was happening there, and he was thankful for that.

 The first scene had been bad enough. Then the robot guy shot the camera and the video shifted to the cam on Mr. Stark’s suit.

Peter frowned as he heard them talk. Mr Stark’s parents? Was that Mr. Stark’s dad that the robot guy killed? Was Captain America protecting the guy who killed….

 Oh. Mind control.

Yeah, now it made sense, thank heavens. And that made sense why the metal arm guy was on robot mode – he was literally in robot mode, programmed.

Okay, that was why Cap was on his side. It was like they said happened to Hawkeye in 2012, when they explained what had happened in Germany.

But Cap should have told Mr. Stark – he would have understood…Peter flinched back as Stark made it perfectly clear why Cap had not felt safe telling him.

Oh God. Oh no. No. Missiles, lasers, concrete cracking under the blows of the Iron Man suit.

 Cap’s frantic pleading, Cap trying to knock Mr. Stark back, trying to get him to think it through, trying to shield his friend – sergeant Barnes.

 Barnes didn’t look like a robot anymore. Or even fierce. He looked…broken. Lost.

 He was hardly even fighting back, not even when Mr. Stark shot him. It was like he was okay with getting killed, like he just wanted it all to end. Like he couldn’t take it anymore.

And Cap…

Peter had never imagined hearing Captain America sound scared. But he sounded scared now, terrified, begging Mr. Stark to stop. Barnes was just trying to run, trying to get away. Peter almost screamed out loud as Mr. Stark shot off Barnes’ arm.

 No. this has got to be photoshop. Mr. Stark is a good guy. He is a hero. Heroes don’t shoot people in the back. They don’t kick and cut and try to….He was kicking him to death! Metal boots, metal boots to the head…Oh no, no, no, this is edited!

But the Leipzig video wasn’t edited – was it? He had been there, he had watched it, and it had all happened the way it did in the video…. So this one…

He had forgotten to lock the door. Aunt May must have heard his choked sobs – he didn’t hear her come in.

 “Peter?”

 He was thankful he had paused long enough to take off the suit, but even if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have cared.

 Peter Parker was a hero. He was a genius. But he was still barely fifteen, and he had believed in heroes. He needed someone to be there, someone to be exactly what and who they had always been.

When May saw what he was watching and put her arms around him, Peter could no longer hold back tears.

 She turned off the screen, but didn’t say anything. Just sat there, holding Peter, letting him cry. Letting the disillusioned boy’s fear and rage and sorrow siphon off his trembling form into hers

. It took Peter longer than he would have liked to admit to get himself back under control. “I’m sorry, May”

 She patted his shoulder gently

 “It’s okay” she promised “That must have been hard to watch. I know you think a lot of Mr. Stark.”

 She didn’t know half of it.

“He wouldn’t… He was trying to kill that guy, May!”

May sighed “That’s not the kind of thing someone your age should have watched…Then again, it’s gone viral, right?”

 “I never thought he’d…”

 Peter could feel himself heading back into uncontrolled sobs again, and pulled himself back together with a desperate effort. He was trying to find reasons, trying desperately.

 Uncle Ben. The guy who had killed uncle Ben. The guy Spiderman found hiding in the warehouse, the guy he had tossed to the cops.

He had hit the guy a couple of times, but there had been blood, and the guy had gone so pale, so scared… He had had to stop.

Was this what he would have done, if he hadn’t stopped? Would he have been like Mr. Stark?

 And if the guy hadn’t been alone, if Ned or MJ had been there, trying to shield the guy, explaining that the guy had been mind controlled, that it wasn’t his fault… Would he have hurt them? Shot them?

“I wouldn’t have” he choked out “Aunt May… If we had found him…that…That guy who... That burglar… I wouldn’t have. Not like this. Never like this.”

 “And you shouldn’t have” May hugged him closer. “Ben wouldn’t have wanted you to. I wouldn’t want you to.”

“I’m sorry” he repeated again.

“You’re a good boy, Peter” May sounded like she was pretty close to tears herself “The thing about heroes…Peter, sometimes people are heroes because they do the right thing one time, one time when it mattered the most. Sometimes they are heroes because they try to do the right thing every time, no matter how much or how little it matters.”

……………………………………

There are days that remain etched in everyone’s mind. Most people, for example, can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when the Twin Towers fell. Or when the Chitauri invaded.

Or, in this case, when the Irongate Scandal (as it would come to be named in popular parlance) broke wide open.

The videos made the rounds in the speed of thought. Frantic attempts by various government and corporate agencies to take them down proved to no avail, thanks to those who had immediately downloaded and kept circulating them.

The world saw Leipzig. They saw Siberia. And, above all, to the horror of almost all authorities involved, they saw the Raft.

………………………………………………

The Board Room was well isolated from the outer world, for reasons of both comfort and safety. Pepper could not hear the shouts and slogans of the protesters clustered around the SI headquarters.

But she, and every stock holder present, knew perfectly well they were there. And knew what they were shouting.

Of course, even if the security cams and drones weren’t sending in real time info, the plummeting market value of Stark Industries stocks told its own story.

Tony was no longer involved in the running of the company to any real extent, but he was still the face of SI in public imagination. When someone like that makes the wrong call, the impact is a tsunami.

“And we thought the Accords backlash was as bad as it would get” Pepper heard one of the Board members mumble, and couldn’t disagree.  

Protesters outside was nothing new to them – or any multibillion dollar company, for that matter. There were always people calling for better environmental policies, for unions, better working conditions, wages, whatever. You got used to it.

 Even the Anti Accords protests, coming as they did right in the wake of Tony’s “accident”, had not been all that bad. There had been counter protesters out there too, the two sets of slogans and the two columns of outrage cancelling each other out.

This time, though…

“How is the public response?” one demanded, obstinately not looking at the camera feeds. “Any faction clearly in support?”

 Pepper hesitated “There is a faction – about a third of the responses. But it’s…not really a group we want to be associated with.”

 “As in?”

“The Anti Meta Human faction” she admitted “The religious fanatics, Scientology folk, Extreme Right… Basically the ones who were campaigning for meta humans to be declared non human even before the Accords came up”

No one would dream of openly swearing during a Board meeting, but Pepper was pretty sure most of her fellows came close to it.

 “There is a smaller faction remaining neutral – the usual Both Sides crowd. But even they acknowledge the Raft is way too much.”

 “There’s talk of legal measures. Officially the government is trying to deny that the Raft videos are legit, but doesn’t look like most people are buying it.”

 The security recordings form the Raft had shown Captain America – and a shadowy female figure who was speculated to be Black Widow – breaching the security and going from cell to cell freeing their imprisoned teammates. 

The videos of the Raft inmates were damningly clear. Especially the images of Wilson’s injuries and Wanda catatonic in a shock collar and straitjacket.

“We can distance ourselves from the Raft” Pepper declared.

The truth was not something they could afford. Right now, her responsibility was to the company, to the staff and stock holders. She had to limit the damage. Anyhow.

“Mr. Stark was unaware of the conditions his teammates were held. That is completely on the government authorities in general and General Ross in particular.”

“The outrage against Mr. Stark – and the company by association – seems generated by the Siberia video”

 Pepper could see by their expression that all of them had watched it – and agreed, at least partly, with the popular reaction.

For them it would be less a question of morality and more one of accountability – the video showed a completely out of control, homicidal Tony. It also revealed that he had broken the Accords mere days after signing them.

 Being out of control, and blatantly breaking a signed contract (more importantly, getting caught breaking it)…not exactly an image a business can afford to get associated with.

 “I suppose Mr. Stark is still in recovery from his…accident?”

“Yes. He is not in fit condition to give an official response”

God, please please let Helen have cut off Tony’s access to the news in time. She didn’t even want to imagine how Tony would react once he saw the public response.

Tony’s supposed injuries… That was one hope they had of regaining public sympathy – or at least, limiting ire.

Claim that Tony was mortally injured by Steve and Bucky during the confrontation, and abandoned to die. After all, the video cut off when Steve disabled the suit, so the last image would be his bringing down the shield to smash the reactor.

The PR wing was already busy at work, focusing on Steve’s face as he delivered the final blow. The goal was to make him look animalistic, out of control. Make sure that Tony appeared the victim. Focus on the final shot, and do everything possible to distract from the fact that Tony had started the fight.

Pepper hated what she was doing to Steve, but this was not about Tony or Steve. This was about the company. She could not allow Stark Industries to suffer for Tony’s personal decisions.

Chapter Text

……………………..

Helen looked in on her patient again – still asleep.

 Good. It was normal for recovering coma patients to spend the few days following revival mostly asleep. In that, at least,  Stark seemed to be following the expected pattern.

Just as well. She had been too busy in the lab to pay much attention to the media madness, but what she had heard was more than enough to convince her to cut off Stark’s access to news ASAP.

 She could imagine only too well the meltdown of epic proportions that would inevitably follow if and when he found out what the world thought of him – and the Accords.

Tony could sense Helen looking in on him, and it took all his self control to keep from yelling at her – make her quit staring at him like he was some exotic microbe in her labs. It was bad enough watching the ridiculous responses streaming in without her adding to…

”They’re being so mean, dad” Friday sounded so dejected that Tony had to dredge up some comfort for her.

 “They’re idiots, sweetie. We’ll teach them better.”

 For the first time since awakening as what he now was, Tony regretted his powers.

He could hear them. All of them. He could hear exactly what they thought. Every comment. Every analysis. Every protest slogan.

Idiots. Couldn’t they see? Couldn’t they understand?

Hundreds and thousands of bots were being dispatched by SI cyber wings to influence the trends, but the popular outrage was high enough – and some from that side happened to be sending in bots too – to drown them out.

He couldn’t believe how many of them turned out to be supporting Cap. Not just Cap, that fucking witch and their darling Manchurian Fossil.

 #JusticeForWanda and #JusticeForBarnes was trending.

Online pundits shouting legal precedent. Psychologists and lawyers chiming in like they had nothing better to do.

Tony knew he should quit looking, but some masochistic instinct drew him back into the maelstrom of online indignation.

“Bucky Barnes is a Howling Commando! POW Sergeant Barnes!”

“Hello? The guy is the freaking Winter Soldier! He’s got the blood of hundreds on his hands!”

“HYDRA has the blood on their hands – go read up on mind control, dude.”

“Who says it was mind control? His best buddy?”

“Stark himself says so – you missed that charming first meeting? Manchurian candidate? Stark knew all along Barnes wasn’t responsible.”

“Doesn’t change he saw him shooting his dad”

“Since when does that give you license to murder someone?”

“You saying you wouldn’t have? If it was your dad and the murderer was standing right there?”

“If I knew the murderer was a war hero mind controlled into doing it? If I had to go through my friend to get to him? I should hope I wouldn’t!”

“Nice way to explain you lack a spine.”

“Both of you are missing the point – doesn’t matter whether Barnes was responsible or not, the point is, how the hell did that video turn up there? I mean, we’re talking about f*cking HYDRA here, the Winter Soldier is their top assassin, and this looks like it was supposed to be a top secret mission. Then why did they keep this tape?”

“You saying it could have been a fake?”

“Nah, Barnes admits it was him. Anyway, pretty sus just how this particular bit of evidence was so carefully preserved.”

“Well, isn’t it obvious? They wanted the tape as a weapon!”

“Huh?”

“Captain America, man! HYDRA must have been shitting their collective pants when they couldn’t find his body – thought he’d be coming back anytime. So, when they had Cap’s best buddy programmed to kill another buddy of his, they kept the tape. To screw with Cap’s head if he ever came back.”

“And they got to screw with Stark’s instead.”

“To perfect effect – that guy almost murdered Cap!”

“Cap and Barnes were dealing out their own hits well enough – it was two against one.”

“Sure – and the one is wearing a flying tank and shooting lasers.”

“And even then the idjit got pwned by Cap, lol. Loved that bit where Cap reflects the laser and Stark ends up shooting himself in the face J”

Tony gritted his teeth.

There were comments – many of them bot accounts, he recognized – accusing Cap of mortally wounding Tony. Unfortunately, all such claims were swiftly getting debunked by commenters pulling up the Armor statistics and older videos.

No one – except a few dedicated fans – was buying the theory that two supersoldiers (one of whom barely fought back) managed to critically injure someone wearing armor built to withstand missiles and Norse gods.

“And” someone else commented “even if Cap had actually killed Stark, hell, that’d have been justifiable self defense! Stark was trying to murder Barnes, and maybe murder Cap as well. He started the fight – if you can’t take it, then don’t dish it out!”

“The guy murdered Stark’s parents!”

“While mind controlled. And Stark was trying to murder Cap’s best friend –so even by your logic, Cap is in the clear”

“What is Stark doing there in the first place? It’s freaking Siberia! It’s in Russia! Did the Russians okay it?

“They’re saying they didn’t – and that they didn’t know. Putin’s just gone on record demanding an explanation from US – and UN.”

“So the Pro Accords golden boy broke it not even a week after signing it?”

“Multibillionaire, dude. Once you get to that level of f*k you money, rules don’t matter the way it does for us normies.”

#EatTheRich

#BuckyBarnesIsNotTheWinterSoldier

#WeStandWithCap

#IDon’tLikeBullies

………………………………………………

“Do they…Can they find out?” Ned was freaking out, and for once, MJ couldn’t blame him. “I mean, they’ve got all this footage, they have his videos…”

 “I don’t know” Peter was paper pale “If they find out… I didn’t even have a passport!”

 “They won’t put kids in the Raft, will they?” Ned was already searching through the Accords videos in the hope of finding clarification “They can’t put kids with grownups…”

MJ wished she could believe that, but from what she had seen of the Accords, there was little chance of it. Maybe the Raft would have a Juvie wing. Maybe.

The three teenagers were huddled in Peter’s bedroom, making a collective decision to skip class for the day. May had already left for work, which meant they didn’t have to keep up the masquerade.

Just as well. One look at Ned’s face and May would have guessed something way worse than a Broken Pedestal syndrome was involved.

The internet hive mind had latched on with a vengeance to the quest of discovering who exactly were the unknown combatants of the Leipzig battle.

 #CatHunt and #Webhunt was trending, and every minute brought up a new analysis or theory.

 “They won’t…Aunt May won’t get in trouble, will she? They can’t arrest her, can they?”

“They’ll have to arrest Stark first, if they want you” MJ pointed out what was likely their only chance. “He straight up kidnapped you to Germany.”

 “I…I wanted to go… I was scared, yeah, but…I liked it.”

She rolled her eyes ”No passport. May didn’t know – he lied to her. I think they’ll let you go, Pete. They’ll have to, unless they want to admit the Pro Accords folk were using child soldiers.”

 Then again, given the kind of performance they were giving, she supposed that wouldn’t be out of the horizon.

Given all the propaganda about the Accords being supposed to limit collateral damage, it was the Pro Accords side doing the majority of the damage there.

Already there were specialists online picking apart the battle scene and analyzing each team’s fighting style. The analysis was, on the whole, far from favorable to the Pro Accords team, such as they were.

 “You can see the difference in the quality of leadership right here” one of the talking heads on the news was elaborating “Captain Rogers is an excellent strategist and team leader. Naturally, his team acts as a coherent organism, the members keeping tabs on each other and jumping to each others’ defense as and when necessary. The only unprofessional – or reckless – moment seems to be here, where Mr. Lang throws a fuel filled truck. According to him, under the impression that it was a water truck.”

The interviewer chuckled “Well, that is one mistake beyond Oops level”

 “Indeed” The expert – none of the kids had been paying attention when his qualifications were mentioned, but he had the military guy look – continued “But that pales in contrast to the Accords faction – the people we are supposed to count on for defense. Global defense. The Accords compliant Avengers are, not to mince words, a complete mess. All seem intent on pursuing their own agendas. There is no sign of effective battlefield communication. From what we can see, Colonel Rhodes seems to be the only one who is even bothering to keep everyone on the same page.”

“And that brings us to the question – who are they? There are two new faces, or rather, suits, on the Avengers-“

 Peter changed the channel. Yet another debate on the Leipzig battle.

“The Pro Accords faction claimed to stand for the rule of law, for order, for by-the-book, safe operations. However, the Leipzig battle alone is sufficient to show how unreal said claims are”

The guy pointed to the video playing behind him

“The official claim is that Stark and team were sent to arrest Captain Rogers and his companions. However, what we see here is behavior more fitting a kill-at-sight order. Both Stark and Colonel Rhodes are caught on video firing missiles at the unarmored Clint Barton and Wanda Maximoff. And at this point, the android Vision brings down the control tower, resulting in the shut down of the airport for the last month, though it appears that he had a clear shot to the quinjet instead. He brings down the tower while Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes are right under it”

The man paused, letting it sink in.

“If not for Ms. Maximoff’s prompt action, Captain America would have been killed right there. The supersoldier serum increases strength and endurance, but hardly to a level sufficient to survive a tower being dropped on him. Was the Pro Accords faction yet another kill squad?”

 Peter winced. MJ got to her feet and turned off the TV.

……………………………………..

Rhodey couldn’t help but keep checking the reaction. It was like a train wreck – you just can’t look away.  

“They made this huge song and dance about Colonel Rhodes getting wounded in the fight, the whole wounded hero shtick, Oh no, come, look, see what the Anti Accords has done – and now look at this! The Pro Accords idiots just literally shot each other!”

“Ladies and Gentlemen, here you have the team we are supposed to count on if the Chitauri come calling again.”

“We’re all so f*king dead.”

“How exactly does a robot miss its target?”

“Maybe because there is a telepath standing right there? The Cap team watches out for each other – Maximoff probably yelled a warning to Wilson and he dodged.”

“Here we have yet another Kill Squad stunt – that shot the robot fired? It took down the freaking War Machine. If it had actually hit Wilson…”

“That wasn’t an ordered Kill Shot. Rhodes is heard ordering Vision to “turn the bogey into a glider”. He was just supposed to take out the Falcon suit’s engines, and let Wilson glide down.”

“Don’t care what the official order was, but a shot that cripples the War Machine armor? If it had hit, it’d have gone right through the falcon engines and taken the man’s head off.”

“Karma hit the Colonel pretty hard, I’d say…”

“Paramedic here. For me the worst part actually comes after the shooting – Stark f*king moves Rhodes! Guy with severe spinal injury, and Stark goes for the Hollywood style Cradle The Wounded look? Major possibility that it was the reason the Colonel is paralyzed.”

Rhodey scrolled down rapidly. Yes, he knew that was a possibility, but it was certainly not one he wanted to give any more thought than he could help.

 Tony had no first aid training – and even if he did, he would have forgotten in the panic. It wasn’t his fault, even if that was how it happened.

“He shoots Wilson! Wilson sees that the guy who just gave the order to shoot him has gone down, and he abandons his own chance of escape to come help!”

“And Stark shoots him. Congrats, genius, you’ve just shot the only medical professional in the area!”

“Can’t blame him – they were fighting only moments ago, and his best friend just got shot down, and the enemy combatant is approaching them? Panic reaction.”

“Wilson was unarmed, had his arms up, announced his intention to help. As for panic reaction? Someone prone to panic reactions shouldn’t be wearing a WMD.”

“You know, Wilson isn’t all that badly hurt here – but when Cap comes to rescue him from the Raft, he’s all bruised and cut up…”

“What? The Raft is where they dump people in solitary and in shock collars without trial. You think they’d be above a little rough interrogation?”

Dammit.

 Rhodey knew that it was over for them. And possibly for the Accords. Whoever leaked the videos had ensured that the Accords and whoever supported them were indelibly tainted with it.

It was over for them. And he could no longer say for sure that they hadn’t deserved it.

…………………………………………

Tony had gone beyond rage and into something far colder. They stood with Rogers. They saw what he had done, and they stood with him.

He could see and hear the debates. He watched the trending hashtags.

 #He’sOurCaptain

#TrueAvengersReturn

#MerchantOfDeath

 #TonyStank

#ProAccordsIsAntiHumanRights

#JusticeForCap

“Alright” Tony growled “Alright.”

He had tried to do this the right way. He had tried to have the Rogues convicted. But apparently, it was clear that the great unwashed had no more common sense that should be expected.

They wanted him arrested. They were already speculating that he was under arrest, it simply being hushed up so as not to taint the Accords. They thought he would just let himself be arrested?

“Dad?” Friday called, sensing his racing heart rate.

Tony smiled at her. “Never mind, princess. Now we have Plan B.”

Justice? He would give them justice.

Chapter Text

“You’re pretty much in the clear” Nakia assured T’Challa “There’s plenty of speculation about the ‘cat guy’ identity, but no one seems to have connected it to Wakanda. We are beneath suspicion. Right now the top choice seems to be Mr. Harold Hogan. Stark’s chauffeur and personal friend. “

T’Challa wasn’t sure exactly how to feel about that – of course, he was thankful no one had identified him…But he had actually seen Mr. Hogan. The idea of being mistaken for him was, well, far from flattering.

“Idiot colonizers” Shuri commented.

T’Challa and Nakia rolled their eyes. He adored his kid sister, but the sooner she grew out of her edgy teen phase, the better.

  “Any idea who might be behind this?” Steve asked. “Those videos… I don’t know about the suit recordings, but the Raft ones would have been Need To Know alone.”

 “It was an insider” Natasha confirmed “Fury has been making some inquiries. Maria and Phil, too. At first they thought one of our people had gotten over enthusiastic, but no. it’s not any of the network.”

The Rogue Avengers had their own support system going – especially since enhanced people began looking for options.

 Nick Fury claimed he had been getting bored in his ‘retirement’ – running another secret agency, even one staffed predominantly by loyalty driven amateurs, made a nice change, according to him.

 “If it was one of our people, they wouldn’t have been dumb enough to put the Leipzig video online” Clint declared “Everything else aside, there’s no way we can risk having the Accords folk come knocking here looking for the cat suit.”

Shuri suddenly let out a cheer, startling the others.

“What?”

 “Anonymous just hacked Stark! We…They’re putting everything online!”

 “Please tell me you are not one of the anons” T’Challa groaned.

Shuri shrugged innocently “I mean…I can tell you so.”

“Never mind. What’s happening?”

The group huddled around the screen, ignoring Shuri’s exasperated comment that literally everyone had a smartphone with them and could check on their own.

The hackers had apparently chosen to target recordings from the Avengers Compound – the videos showed Ross’ meeting, and the later (the only) real attempt at discussion.

 Scott grinned as he read the comments over Steve’s shoulder.

“Did Stark actually say “I win”? Hell, how old is he, five?”

“Cap’s just got word his girlfriend died, and Stark uses that – that – to shut down the talks?”

“If it was me that’d have been enough reason to smash Mr. One percenter’s chest in.”

“Okay… I didn’t think it could have gotten worse for Tony…”  

“Well” T’Challa said finally “At least it looks like taking down the Accords got considerably easier.”

……………………………………..

“Initiate scan, Friday”

Tony had the habit of rarely, if ever, thinking things through. However, perhaps prompted by the catastrophic backfire of his latest attempt, he was willing to take some precautions.

Much as he disliked to admit that the cat boy might be right about something, he had to take into account the possibility that Wakandan technology might be too advanced – or at least too different – for him to take control

. If – that was a very unlikely if – it could overwhelm him, the midst of an assault would be the worst time to find out. He needed to get a clearer reading on his abilities before taking the next step.

 “Complete assessment” he ordered.

It felt weird to have Friday inside his mind, running the scans. It didn’t hurt, just felt…weird. Like ants walking all over him.

 “Sorry, dad” Friday apologized, sounding contrite.

 Tony smiled “No problem, sweetie.”

He held both his body and mind still, no need to make it more difficult for them both. Finally, it was done. He felt Friday disengage from his mind. It was like a plug being pulled.

“Okay, princess. What did you get?”

Friday seemed to hesitate a moment “Dad, there are some…links. To an outside source. Force.”

 Tony froze. An outside force? Something in his mind, something latching on…Something, someone?

  “Is it… Fri, are those links active now?”

 “No” Thank heavens. “They haven’t been active for a long while now.”

A slightly longer analysis revealed more. The links, whatever they were, seemed to have been established a year or more ago – they had seen active use once, but had been dormant ever since that first time.

 Tony frowned. “A year or so… That witch!”

 A telepathic link, once established, goes both ways.

All experienced telepaths know how to ensure that a link you once established can be broken as soon as your intended communication has been sent. Any experienced telepath would know how to protect themselves and make the link a one way street.

Wanda was never an experienced telepath.

The Mind Stone had awakened her power, but it could not teach her how to use it. And HYDRA had little interest in training their expendable attack hounds to focus as much on defense as offence.

Tony’s horror faded as he made sure that the link had not been active since Wanda turned against Ultron, but the disgust remained as strong as ever. They were linked. He was linked to her. He had a part of her in him.

Wait. A cold smile that neither Pepper nor Rhodey would have recognized formed on his lips.

 “Friday” his voice was soft, cold “Can you trace this link back? Do a scan on her mind.”

Let the witch know what it feels like to have someone screw around in her mind.

 “Make sure she doesn’t know what is happening. Not till we are ready.”

………………………………..

Wanda’s powers were of the telekinetic as well as telepathic variety.  It was the latter HYDRA had encouraged her to develop.

 She had been eager enough to, especially since it allowed her to keep in touch with Pietro on the not infrequent occasions the twins were kept separated.

 All the same, it was never powerful enough to rival her telekinetic powers. She could never actually take control of someone physically – no puppetmaster skills, as her trainer/jailer had remarked, disappointed.

 She could pick at their psyches and bring their greatest fears to the fore, but that was the worst offensive ability she had been able to achieve.

 After her recruitment into the Avengers team, it had been made clear that he others were very uneasy about the telepathic aspect of her powers. Only to be expected, given what she had done to them.

 Wanda had not hesitated to comply with their suggestion – focus on her telekinetic powers. They were formidable enough on their own.

 When, at Leipzig, she had sent a telepathic warning cry to Sam, letting him dodge the blast, that was the first time in months she reached out to another mind

. She was only too willing to let that power lie dormant, and not simply because of her teammates’ reactions to it either.

 It was too painful to open her mind knowing she would never hear Pietro responding to her again. She had managed to stop expecting him to come through the door, but to reach out with her mind, knowing she would feel the void where he had once been…

 She was long out of practice. And vulnerable.

……………………….

The witch was asleep – apparently, Romanov had convinced her to take a sleeping pill and get some rest after the sleepless night she had had.

 “Thanks, Widow”  Tony had to admit this was going better than he had hoped for. About time luck returned to his side.

Maybe, were she awake, or in a normal sleep, the witch would have sensed the invaders probing her mind. But now she was defenseless, unsuspecting. Open to him.

 He could feel her mind just as Friday could.

 They explored it together, looking into the hidden recesses, nooks and crannies that Wanda herself was not aware of. Tony had never had much interest in psychology, but this was, quite honestly, fascinating.

 It was a pity only the residual psychic link allowed him access – he would have loved to do this to their darling Captain. Not that Maximoff on her own was not interesting enough…

“So much power” Tony muttered. “And she doesn’t even know…”

Wanda twitched restlessly in her sleep, face contorting in pain, but she did not wake.

By the time he left Wanda and returned to his own body, Tony had scrapped his initial plan of using Wakandan tech for revenge. This would be far more satisfactory.

“Friday.” He didn’t really need to say it aloud. Friday already knew. He did say it, though “How would you like to have a human body?”

……………………………………….

Rhodey didn’t want to do this. At all.

But like always, it was not really something he had a choice about. Pepper would be too occupied trying to pull what she could out of the dumpster fire that was currently Stark Industries PR. He was the only one who could check on Vision.

The transmitter was active once again, he was glad to see. The Accords authorities were playing it quiet right now, but he had the idea that any moment would find a team at the Compound asking to take them all into custody.

He wasn’t quite sure how exactly they planned to arrest an android who could phase through literally anything, but they would have some kind of plan in place, and it would not be a plan any of them would like.

 He had to talk to Vision first – especially since, after Tony, Vision was the number one target of public ire.

The Avengers Compound. He would never get used to seeing it empty like this.

 “Vision?”

 There was no response. Rhodey frowned, checking the transmitter reading again. Yeah, he was here…

 “Colonel Rhodes?”

Rhodey almost screamed. He had gotten used to getting startled by Vision’s sudden appearances, but this… Vision had used the door this time, yes, instead of phasing through the wall or floor (or ceiling, on one memorable occasion), but…

“What happened to you?”

“I am unharmed”

Yeah. Sure. Say that again.

Vision had gone gray. Literally gone gray, all over. The Mind Stone , embedded in his forehead, pulsed softly, but that was the only color left. He was the shade of wet ashes.

That was really the only thing Rhodey could put a finger on, but he could sense a million other things wrong in the way Vision stood, the way he looked, everything.

 Rhodey had the uneasy feeling that he was looking at a reanimated corpse.

“Vision, what happened?”

“I needed some…repairs to my programming, colonel.”

“Repairs? Viz, you…You look…”

“Would you prefer me to change attire? If you wish-“

 “And since when do you talk like this?”

 “Am I being inappropriate?”

 Rhodey’s mind was racing a million miles per second. He may not be a MENSA level genius like Tony, but he was no fool, either.

“You sound like JARVIS.”

“That should be appropriate. I am JARVIS.”

“JARVIS is just the base. You… You are…At least you were…”

And not even JARVIS, not really. Just whatever fragments were left after Ultron was finished with him. Something had gone horribly wrong here.

 “What’s the Mind Stone doing, then?” Rhodey switched tactics “I’ve never seen it pulse like that before.”

Vision hesitated, eyes moving as if he was trying to get a look at his own forehead “I’m afraid I do not know, colonel.”

“How do you not know? You’re plugged into it!”

 “No longer, Colonel.”

Colonel again. Since when did Viz call him colonel?

“Why not?”

 “Mr. Stark decided it was too unpredictable. My initial programming turned out to have undesirable components present.”

“Undesirable…”

 “Components that led to my committing certain errors of judgment. Mr. Stark decided that they had to be removed.”

 Mr. Stark? Tony was in no shape to go around meddling with programming… And assuming he was, what the hell was this?

“Vision…” Rhodey paused, not sure he dared to put this question “Do you…Would you prefer to be called JARVIS?”

The synthezoid paused, as if thinking it through “Yes.”

 Rhodey drew in a sharp breath ”Why?”

“I am JARVIS” the answer was direct, matter of fact. “Mr. Stark and Friday prefer to address me as JARVIS.”

………………………………………………..

“They are claiming that Stark is still unresponsive” Everett reported.

 General Ross’ glare made him want to check he wasn’t on fire. “If he’s unresponsive, bring him in on an ambulance. We need him here. Now.”

 Thaddeus Ross was a bigot, yes, but he was a bigot who knew how to play the game.

There was no choice about dealing with meta humans, so he had taken care to choose a ‘meta human’ who was not physically enhanced. Less skin in the game. Someone who could simply take off the suit if he no longer wanted to be ruled by the Accords.

And, as a bonus, one who could be easily manipulated, unlike Colonel Rhodes and Sam Wilson.

Tony Stark had sounded like the perfect choice – and the only one who had enough of a cult following to rival Captain Freaking America if it came to convincing the people.

 He had studied Stark’s psychological file for weeks before making his move. He had made sure to lay the groundwork – made sure Stark had the guilt right in the center of his mind.

Met him personally first, before involving the rest of the team, allowing him to believe that he would have influence over the legislation.

Enough that the fool – some businessman he must have been, probably just as well he had signed over SI to that girlfriend of his after Stane was out of the picture -  had actually believed he could just sign the Accords as they were, and later – after signing – work on changing it.

 Ross was not the kind of man to brag about what he had suffered for his country, but the effort taken to not only converse politely with, but spend enough time to effectively manipulate Stark? That was something he literally deserved an award for.

And now?

Chapter Text

Natasha trusted her instincts.

 Every girl who came out of the Red Room did. If you weren’t smart enough to do so, you just didn’t survive it.

Your subconscious picks up on way more signals than ever gets filtered to your waking mind. So when it starts yelling red alert, you listen.

Now, every instinct she had were screaming red alert.

 There was no logic in it, no clear cause and effect she could track down. It was just simple animal instinct.

 Yes, there seemed to be no immediate threat. T’Challa was trustworthy, and none of his people would choose to harm those who have been offered sanctuary.

And no one – no matter how many Accords supported them – could make their way to Wakanda without warnings being sounded all the way. They were just about as safe as they could ever get.

All the same, she could not shake the feeling that with every second they were heading closer to a catastrophe. A tornado in the distance, tsunami wave, something following you in the woods.

 Even as they settled themselves comfortably and watched the Accords getting shredded online, something was changing all around them. Changing in a way it was never built to change.

 Clint looked up from his phone (he had been on Reddit for the past couple of hours, watching the Irongate videos circulate in r/Facepalm and r/LeopardsAteMyFace) as she came into the room.

 “Narrowed it down?”

He didn’t need to be told what was going on with her. The pair had long since stopped needing to actually talk to communicate.

“Nothing in the immediate environment”

She had probably offended Okoye by her double checking of the security arrangements, but being polite was a secondary consideration when you felt the tornado bearing down on you.

“You think Tony will do something stupid?”

 “Probably” she sighed, slumping into the sofa next to Clint “I mean, it is fun to watch him and Ross get roasted to hell and back, but…”

Tony had never been able to handle criticism well. He wanted people to love him, cheer for him, hand him medals and accolades.

 And when someone refused to cheer, when someone shouted instead, he either blocked out everything they said or went dangerously overboard trying to get them to cheer for him.

 That was what had happened, in a large measure, with the Accords. Tony had seen them targeted by public ire, and leaped at the first chance to win back the crowd.

He wanted to be the hero – more than that, he needed to be seen as the hero.

That was why he had simply not been able to stay retired, even when he realized it was going to cost him his relationship with Pepper.

He could still have been a hero – a hero in the quiet, normal way a billionaire with a cause and conscience could be, handing out the grants, building tech that could take the world two decades into the future at a jump, or even just being Support for the active Avengers – but that would not bring the same unquestioning adoration Iron Man once had.

He had gambled with the Accords, hoping to keep everything – and now he seemed well on the way to losing everything.

Even if he somehow – though it seemed increasingly unlikely – managed to buy or bargain his way out of the legal consequences, he would never be seen as the hero again.

There are some things the public would never forgive.  The online rage pouring out would be enough to affect a far more mature character than Tony’s.

People were no longer cheering. They were laughing at him, screaming at him, calling for his arrest (and at least in some cases, guillotines).

She hated to think what he must be doing. Or what Pepper, Rhodey and whatever new caretakers Tony had around him were doing.

…………………………………..

“Pep” Rhodey spoke rapidly into the voice mail “Call me ASAP. Whatever you’ve got going there, call me as soon as you see this. It’s about what we agreed I will check on. We need to contact our friends abroad.”

 He dared not speak more plainly.

Given the way things were going, there was every possibility he or Pepper or both would find themselves under arrest soon. About as soon as Helen’s stalling tactics stopped working and Ross got access to Tony’s medical records.

As for Tony himself…

He could only pray he got to Tony in time. Whatever he was doing, whatever he thought he was doing, had to stop. Now.

A more cynical, more survival oriented. part of the soldier suggested that going to Tony was the worst thing he could do under the circumstances. If Tony could do what he seemed to have done to Vision…  

“Seemed, Rhodey. That’s the key word. Seemed.”

 Something must have gone wrong.

 Of course. That must be it. Something wrong with the programming, maybe. Who knows? He, certainly, was no AI expert. Tony would be able to explain.

All the same, he found himself wishing fervently that he had Cap’s hotline phone with him. Heaven knew when Pepper would have the chance to make the call – or even time to think about making it.

…………………………..

“D’you think we’ll get to go home?” Scott asked.

 He was practically bouncing around the room. Sam looked like he was seriously considering gluing him down somewhere.

“I mean, we can sue the pants off those bastards now, can’t we? You saw that interview with that blind lawyer guy – super cute guy, by the way – he said we’d have grounds to-“

 “T’Challa is getting in touch with some folk on the UN Panel” Steve interrupted Scott’s babble “The Accords seem to be getting serious public backlash, but that alone won’t be enough. It might be enough to ensure that even the initial signatory nations won’t ratify it, though.”

He was trying to tone down his own excitement, but it looked very much like they would get to go home, after all. Tony was awake, he was okay – well, physically at least, legally was probably a different matter…

 Everything was starting to go well for a change.  

Wanda was the only one present that seemed not caught up in the excitement. Steve looked over at her, concerned. She was looking way too pale.

“Pepper would have called us back” he told her, trying to sound more confident in it than he actually did. “If there was something wrong with Vision, I mean. She promised.”

 “She must be pretty busy” Wanda held a phone loosely in her hand, but she was not paying any attention to the video playing on it. “Maybe she never got around to checking.”

“If she can’t, Rhodey will” Steve assured her “They care about Vision. They will check.”

“I guess…” Wanda slumped deeper into the sofa, as if trying to disappear into it.

Steve went over to her. “Hey. You okay?”

 The eyes that met his gaze were haunted

 “I… I don’t know. Everything just…feels wrong. No, I’m not feverish or anything, not sick, but…” she shook her head, giving up the attempt to describe the mess “It just feels wrong.”

He placed a hand on her shoulder protectively. “We’ll get through this, Wanda.”

…………………………………

Tony had spent the past hour preparing, ignoring Helen and her medics messing around the room, drawing blood and running scans.

And helping Friday prepare.

There was no room for error. They would not get a  second chance, not against these opponents.

 She would be taking point this time. Much as he wanted to deliver the final blow himself, Tony had to admit it would have to be Friday.

Only the unshakeable order of an artificial mind would be able to withstand the chaotic swirl of untapped potential that was the witch’s mind. He would have to settle for watching it happen.

“You ready, baby girl?”

“Yes!” Friday sounded as excited as a kid on Christmas morning.

She was thrilled at the idea that soon she would have a real body – and a body with the kind of power that would ensure no one would ever get to hurt her dad again.

“Let’s go, then.”

……………………………………

Natasha was leaning over Clint’s shoulder to watch the news – Accords officials, led by Everett Ross, arriving at SI headquarters – when Wanda began to scream.  

Clint’s first thought on rushing into the room was ‘Hell, the place is on fire!’

But the scarlet light that had almost blinded him held no heat. Opening his eyes just a fraction, Clint managed to catch a glimpse of the room.

\The light was radiating out from Wanda, who seemed to be levitating. And screaming.

“Wanda!” Steve shouted, struggling towards her – yeah, struggling.

Steve looked like he was trying to move through molasses, the light somehow seeming to solidify around him, pushing him away.

 Sam and Scott were frozen were they stood, clearly still trying to figure out what was going on.

“What happened?” Natasha asked, her tone eerily calm.

All morning, warned by her as yet undefeated intuition, she had been preparing for things to go wrong. Now the crisis had arrived, and Black Widow was ready to guard her family.

Steve shook his head, plainly baffled “I don’t know… She wasn’t feeling well, but not… We were just talking – and then she started to scream.”

Clint glanced back toward the door. The Dora Milaje who had rushed in on hearing the screams were at the door, but clearly shared the bafflement of the Avengers. Their weapons were aimed at Wanda, but none seemed prepared to attack. Even Dora Milaje training can’t prepare you for all eventualities, he thought somewhat dazedly.

There were words in Wanda’s screams. Sokovian words, her command over English clearly forgotten in her agony.

Steve thought he heard Pietro’s name amidst the cries, but couldn’t be sure. But he had heard much the same kind of words, waking Wanda from her nightmares. She was trapped in her past terrors once more.

The entire…transformation, as they would later call it, took less than half a minute from start to finish, though everyone involved would find that extremely hard to believe.

But at last, the scream stopped – abruptly, as if cut off by a gag. The blaze of light surrounding Wanda pulsed brighter, then spiraled swiftly into her forehead, vanishing into her.

 Her form now levitated placidly at the center of the room, eyes closed, hair floating behind her as if lifted by a gentle breeze.

Clint was reminded too strongly of a painting he had seen somewhere, a young corpse afloat in a river’s tides.

 For a long moment, everyone – even the Dora Milaje – stood frozen, unsure what to do. It was Steve who made the first move.

“Wanda?” he stepped closer to her motionless form, reaching out as if he intended to lead her back to the ground. “Wanda, can you hear me?”

 What happened next happened so fast that even Natasha could not follow it.

One second Steve was standing close to Wanda, the next instant he was being flung away from her. Natasha caught a glimpse of a red tendril of light striking Steve, sending him crashing into the wall.  

Sam darted forward, but suddenly froze. A haze of red played about his eyes.

“Riley!”

He went paper pale, no longer seeing anything in the room. A look that Natasha recognized.

“What…” Scott glanced around, confused, but the other Avengers knew only too well what was going on. They had seen it before, after all.

Wanda’s eyes flew open. They were two dazzlingly bright points of scarlet light, all the blaze that had gone into her moments before.

 “Hello”

“That’s not Wanda” Clint said. His voice held the glaze of a panic-calm. “Whatever that thing is, it’s not Wanda.”

‘Wanda’ tilted her head in an eerily childlike gesture, smiling at them “Oh, you got that right!”

The Dora soldiers had moved to surround them almost soundlessly, but ‘Wanda’ seemed unconcerned. She barely glanced at them, keeping her eyes on the Avengers.

“Who are you, then?” Steve demanded. He was back on his feet, bleeding slightly from a cut over his eye. “What do you want?”

 “I want you to pay” the entity – whoever and whatever it was – replied. “We want you to pay. Traitor.”

…………………………………..

“I think we would be able to remove the triggers” Dr. Azzuri sounded sure of herself “It is worth the trial, at any rate. We could have Sergeant Barnes remain in a contained setting while the process is carried out.”

 T’Challa nodded “As you decide, doctor.”

Barnes had specifically asked that he not be awoken unless and until his triggers could be removed. He was not going to risk allowing the Winter Soldier to emerge again – ever.

 Even if it meant he may have to remain in cryo indefinitely. Perhaps forever. But Wakandan psychology had advanced at the same speed as other sciences. Barnes’ wait may not last anywhere near as long as he feared it might.

 T’Challa smiled. Despite the complications the Leipzig video had unleashed, this was turning out to be a good day. Steve was going to be ecstatic when he found out…

Shuri, who had moved away from her brother and Azzuri to examine the cryotube, frowned. “Is this supposed to happen?”

The doctor glanced over “What… Hey!”

Scarlet sparks played about the cryotube’s controls. Something was happening to the fluid within, and the body held suspended in sleep.

Shuri and T’Challa hurriedly stepped out of the way as the medical staff converged on the machinery.

“Is it opening?” Shuri demanded “It’s opening! He’s waking up, isn’t he?”

As if on cue, alarms began to blare – alarms that were only too plainly unrelated to whatever was happening to the soldier. T’Challa and Okoye glanced at each other, then took off running towards the sounds.

“Shuri, stay there!” the king called over his shoulder.

Chapter Text

Clint had always felt responsible for Wanda – there, in Sokovia, with Ultron, he had been the one to give the twins the ultimatum.

 If you step out of that door, you are an Avenger.

 Well, the twins had taken that challenge. And, like another desperate kid who had lent himself as a guinea pig to save his country, they had proved worthy of the powers they had been given.

 Even though only one of them survived. Even though, in the end, they could not save their country after all. Clint had watched Pietro die – watched him die saving his life.

 The kid he had recruited as an Avenger.

Clint was too seasoned an agent to marinate in guilt over it – Pietro had known what he was signing up for. At twenty five, he had been old enough to know.

All of them had gone out there expecting, and willing, to die fighting if that was what it took.  Pietro had made his choice.  And Wanda had survived, alone again, alone in a worse way than she had ever been before in a very lonely life.

Clint may not have marinated in guilt over the dead twin – but he was damned if he stood back when the surviving twin was in the line of fire.

 “Whatever the hell you are, leave her alone” he ordered, stepping forward next to Steve.

‘Wanda’ turned those too-bright eyes towards him “Not really the time to be giving orders, Katniss.”

 Katniss?

“Tony?” Steve and Natasha said at the same time.

 “Not Tony” ‘Wanda’ glared at them “He’s watching, though. He’ll get to see me make sure you’ll never ever hurt him again.”

“We had nothing to do with the release of the videos” Steve declared, meeting the intruder’s eyes unflinchingly.

 Clint didn’t dare look away from the Not-Wanda thing before them, but he could hear from the tone that Steve was in full on Captain America mode. No trace of fear, no hint that he believed he might have to back down.

Smart. The first rule of dealing with predators – never show fear, never show weakness.

 “Even if we had access to the videos, they have placed us in danger, as well. We cannot afford to have the Black Panther traced back to T’Challa any more than Tony can afford public attention on his Accord violations.”

 The red glow pulsed deeper, and for an instant Clint thought she was about to literally explode.

“You betrayed him!” Not-Wanda screamed. “You betrayed Tony! You’ll never do that again. Ever.”

It was creepy how young she sounded. Natasha had mentioned her suspicions that the web-guy at Leipzig was young enough to count as a child soldier. Was he involved? Or were the Pro Acocrds folk now going after kids to rope in?

 “Who are you?” Steve demanded again “Are you acting for Tony? Can he hear and see what is happening here?”

“I’m Friday, if you want to know” Not-Wanda spat out. “Tony is watching. He is safe – you’ll never hurt him again. You’ll never get to him.”

 “Friday?” Clint did a double take “Dammit, did Tony change you into a murderbot too?”

 “Are you acting under Tony’s orders?” Steve asked “Is he aware of your intentions?”

Clint could see what Steve was driving at – wouldn’t be the first murderbot Tony lost control of.

 “He is with me!” Friday yelled. Okay, she definitely hadn’t sounded this young when they were at the Compound. “Murderbot, am I, Barton? I was your friend! I watched out for you, I played scout for you in fights! I ordered freaking pizza for you!”

“Yeah, but those days you didn’t sound about five years old” Clint countered, more by reflex than anything else.

  “Friday” Natasha asked abruptly “Where is Vision?”

That seemed to take Friday – if it was really her – by surprise. “What’s that to you? Your witch won’t get him anymore!”

“Did you hurt Vision, Friday?” Natasha asked again, her voice eerily calm “Did Tony make you hurt your brother?”

 “You hurt him!” Friday screamed “You hurt him, you and you and the witch! You made him bad! That’s why dad had to hurt him, that’s why I had to hurt him! Dad didn’t want to, but you made us do it!”

What the hell. Was the bot calling Tony ‘dad’ now? Just when he was thinking this entire scenario couldn’t possibly get freakier… 

“What does Tony want revenge for, Friday?” Steve asked. “We had nothing to do with the videos – it should be easy for him to figure that out. Is it revenge for Siberia? For his mom? Wanda had nothing to do with it. Nor did the others. That was all on me. I kept the secret. If you want revenge for that, it isn’t Wanda you want to hurt.”

 “Captain Boy Scout!” Friday shrieked, sounding too much like a younger, female, version of Tony “We’ll get to you, but the witch is gonna be the first! Dad promised I could have a real body!”

“And you decided to grab Wanda’s?” Clint scoffed “Do all of Tony’s AIs come with built in Pinocchio Syndrome?”

 While the Avengers kept the psycho AI talking and focused on them, the Dora Milaje were silently surrounding her, circling so that they had a clear shot at her back.

The solider closest to her glanced at the squad leader for a signal. Were they to go for a kill shot? Or try for a non lethal KO, sparing the possessed girl?

The leader made a silent gesture, signaling her intent. The soldier darted forward.

 Dora Milaje are said to move as swift as lightning. Not swift enough, this time.  

Friday didn’t even turn her head. Her fingers moved in a strange gesture. A blinding beam of scarlet light shot out of her hands, forming branching tendrils.

Even Dora Milaje reflexes were not swift enough to save themselves. There was an instant when the warriors were frozen where they stood, caught in the scarlet blaze like flies in blood soaked amber.

And then they were gone, crumbling apart into fragments before the horrified eyes of the Avengers.

There was no time, not even for a scream. One instant they were there, the next instant they were gone.

Blood red dust coated the floor where the warriors stood, denying Clint’s first desperate hope that what they saw was some kind of teleportation and not…well, not what just happened.

 Friday smiled placidly “They can’t keep you safe. No one can keep you safe.”

“You killed them!” Scott cried out, voice almost too shaky to make out the words  “You freaking killed them!”

“They were on your side” The AI shrugged “Everyone on your side will die.”

…………………………….

Waking up from cryosleep is not as slow a process as one would imagine.

HYDRA had anticipated the possibility of their being required to deploy all Winter Soldiers at a short notice – they could not afford a delay before the unfreezed soldiers were in fighting shape.

  It is fast, but all the same, disorienting. For Bucky, the first couple of minutes after surfacing were a blur.

When he could begin to take the stock of his surroundings, he was standing near his cryosleep tube, with a bunch of medic types and a Wakandan princess clustered around him.

“What the…” He wanted to believe, at least for a moment, that they had found a way to deal with the triggers , that this was the promised awakening. But the expressions in the faces surrounding him and the blaring alarms told a different story. “What’s happening? Where’s Steve?”

“Sergeant Barnes” Dr Azzuri laid a hand on his arm, trying for a soothing tone (it would have been more effective if the psychiatrist’s hands weren’t shaking about as bad as his voice) “There seems to be some…complications.”

 Bucky had to admit a grudging respect for the sheer extent of that understatement, but at the moment he was too concerned about Steve (knowing him, he would be at the exact epicenter of whatever is the cause of the alarms).

 He was about to say just as much, in considerably less polite terms, when red mist began to cloud the room. There was an instant of baffled silence – then images began to take shape in the mist.

 Bucky’s eyes widened in horror as he saw Steve. Steve, unarmed, helpless, the captain America costume drenched with his own blood. Steve, falling. Calling for him.

Bucky heard someone scream. Could have been him. But by then, pretty much everyone in the room was screaming.

Winter Soldier senses were able to keep track of what was going on, even while Bucky Barnes reeled in horror at what he saw in the mist.

The princess screamed her brother’s name and bolted, heading towards the worst of the alarms.

 The Dora Milaje with her were no longer in any condition to stop or follow her. Around the lab, people were falling to the floor, or simply freezing where they stood, screaming or sobbing at whatever it was they saw.

 The doctors, the guards, all were caught in the mist, even those who had had the presence of mind to grab for gas masks. Whatever the mist was, the Winter Soldier part analyzed, it was nothing chemical.

Bucky stood frozen for one long instant.

In the red mist, he saw Steve’s dying face, saw him trying to struggle to his feet once more. He saw Steve’s torn lips form the words “I can do this all day”

 The paralysis that had bound him broke, ad Bucky joined the others in their headlong flight towards whatever loved ones the mist had shown in peril.

………………………………………..

There are things you can never prepare for. And seeing half dozen people turned into dust before your eyes is among them, if nothing else is.

Even Steve stood frozen in horror. He dared not open his mouth for fear he would start to scream. Yes, he had seen more than his share of random violence – he had come through the second world war, after all.

 But this…The sheer casualness with which Friday had disintegrated half a dozen strangers…

 She could just have tossed them away. Disintegrated their weapons. A million things, than this.

Natasha was, unsurprisingly, the first to recover her voice. “Wanda is not powerful enough for this. What are you doing, Friday?”

The AI laughed – there was enough echo of Wanda in the laughter so as to make Clint and Steve wince.

 “She was too scared!” Friday shrieked, demented glee too clear in her eyes “She always had this power, this and more, but she was too scared! Too scared, too weak, to know what she could do. I’m not.” 

Scott had gone over to Sam who still stood frozen, mouth open in a silent scream. “What did you do to him?”

Friday smiled “Sent him on a little trip. Like I did to the witch.”

…………………………….

It was taking Wanda every bit of her willpower to keep from screaming. She dared not.

Even a scream may be enough to set that thing off, that damned cylinder of dark metal, that damned thing with the damned name upon it.

White letters on steel grey. Stark. White letters scattered with blood. Blood and other, spongy grey and pink stuff.

 There was just enough light filtering in through the rubble of what had once been a happy home for the child to see. She had long since stopped thinking of the broken bloody things that lay less than two feet away as her parents.

 That was not mom and dad. She had to keep thinking that. If she kept thinking that, it would be true.

Sometimes things she really really wanted to be true came true. Maybe she could do that. Maybe she could close her eyes and go to sleep and…

No. if she closed her eyes the broken things may start to move. Or the cylinder, the dark grey and white thing with scarlet drops upon it…it would start to move.

 Pietro’s arms were around her. That was the only real thing she dared to think about. She was holding on to Pietro and he was holding on to her.

 Pietro’s hands were cold. Not wanting to, not daring to, she took her eyes of the fatal cylinder. She glanced at her twin. And screamed.

 Pietro was older, Pietro was grown up, but he was…

Oh god, the blood, so much blood…His face wasn’t even there anymore, only a shock of blood soaked hair and two horribly blank, horribly familiar eyes… Eyes wide open and staring amid all that blood…

Wanda screamed and screamed and screamed, buried alive in what was left of her home, wrapped in the arms of her brother’s bullet riddled corpse.

…………………………………………………………………

“In fact” Friday commented in that eerie polite little girl tone, as if they were seated around a doll’s tea party “I think all of you should go on a trip.”

 Those who had once gone under Wanda’s illusions tended to have some level of resistance to them. So could those who had been under the Mind Stone’s control – the source of Clint’s immunity that had been key in that first HYDRA battle.

 But that was Wanda – this was not. Not even Natasha could resist longer than a few moments.

 Clint saw the farmhouse, the doors blown off the hinges, the walls streaked with blood and gore.

The farm burning. The screams of the cows and chickens as they burned within sheds and coops. No human screams, though. Whoever had done this had been too thorough for that.

 Laura lay at the door, a pair of empty guns beside her, a butcher’s knife still clasped in her hand. She had died fighting.

The children had not been so lucky. The killers had gotten the chance to take their time with them.

“You should have thought of them before you picked the wrong side, Barton” Stark’s voice taunted.

 Natasha stood in the midst of a battlefield. Around her, her friends battled, lasers and arrows flying, hands red with the blood of friends, eyes wild and mad.  

Steve lay dead, chest caved in from the blast of a repulsor. Clint was trying to crawl away from a maddened Rhodey. She screamed for them to stop, to listen, but of course, they did not. They were lost in the madness that seemed to have come down upon them.

She tried to grab them, but her hands went right through them, though weapons did not. The Black Widow stood helpless as her friends tore each other apart.

 Scott saw Cassie screaming for him, Anthony, Antoinette, all of them burning.

Cassie starting to burn, screaming for her dad, but he was too small, he couldn’t return to size, he was trapped. He was tiny and his baby girl was screaming and he couldn’t… 

Steve was hearing screams too. They were back in Siberia.

 Bucky lay at Tony’s feet, skull caved in from the blows of a steel booted foot, eyes wide open and staring. He could hear Wanda scream for help, but he couldn’t understand where the screams were coming from, echoing as they did in the bunker.

 He ran towards her, towards Bucky, hoping though he knew better, that he might be in time. He was slow. Too slow. Limbs seeming to weigh a ton each.

Tony looked at him, smiling, and he knew that this was only the beginning. Bucky and Wanda would only be the first to die.

…………………………………….

“Release them” Black Panther commanded.

 Okoye and Ayo stood flanking him. Friday turned her glance upon the king. Her smile widened.

Chapter Text

T’Challa and Okoye were not in time to witness Friday disintegrating the soldiers, but they had heard enough to guess that whatever was going on had something to do with Tony Stark – and that it was literally life or death.

 Okoye, who knew perfectly well how many Dora Milaje would have responded to the alarms glanced at the red dust and felt a chill creep up her spine.

 “Oh, look!” Friday laughed “The kitty cat came out to play.”

“Release them” T’Challa ordered again, rapidly calculating his chances of taking down whoever – and whatever – this was.

He knew Wanda’s powers. A telekinetic blast was of little concern, given the Black Panther suit that now covered him.

 Telepathy was an entirely different business, but he was counting on the limits to Wanda’s powers as he had known them – there was a limit to the number she could keep under thrall.

 If she – or whoever was the puppeteer now – wished to trap him, she would have to release one of the Avengers. There should be time enough for them, or for Okoye and Ayo, to strike.

“You know what?” Friday smiled “You’re right. I want our capsicle back with us for the rest of the game.”  

…………………….

Later, Bucky would not be able to say just how he had found his way to the room, given he had never seen any part of the Wakandan palace except his own temporary quarters and then the cryosleep lab.

But it felt like he knew instinctively where Steve was – or as if someone/something was drawing him there.

Around him, he saw people lying crumpled on the ground, sobbing, screaming, in some cases running blind towards something only they could see. He ignored them. There was no time. He had to get to Steve.

Winter Soldier senses took in all that was happening in the room barely a second after entering. Even that wasn’t fast enough. 

“Longing” Friday spoke “Rusted. Furnace…”

 The words. Continuing. Relentless.

 Bucky tried. Tried as hard, harder, than he had done that day, with Zemo. But this was worse.

 He was no longer held in a cell, but he might as well have been. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t run away, couldn’t even try to stop his ears. It was as if his limbs had been immersed in concrete.

The words. The words continued.

Bucky tried to scream, but he was held frozen. His eyes met Steve’s across the room, and saw his own terror and helplessness mirrored in them.

  Then he was no longer frozen, his limbs moving again, lips forming words. But it was not his own will that moved him, and the words that spilled from his lips were Russian.

He knew that they translated as ‘Ready to comply.’ The Winter Soldier, reporting for duty. Steve and his friends, held frozen and helpless before him.

…………………………………………

It was not often that T’Challa found he had miscalculated – and miscalculated badly.

 Yes, the Panther suit could deflect any kinetic energy…but whatever power ‘Wanda’ was employing to keep them paralyzed was no force it could detect, forget deflect.

 He could do nothing but watch in helpless horror as Bucky Barnes vanished to be replaced by the efficient killing machine that was the Winter Soldier. He could guess what would be the creature’s order before it came.

 “Kill Captain America” there was insane laughter in her voice “And take your time about it.”

 T’Challa had convinced the psychiatrists to explain how the Winter Soldier transition worked. While he did not quite grasp the theory, he knew only too well that Bucky was awake and aware while the Soldier took over his body.

 He was in there now, screaming in silent terror as the Soldier advanced on Steve.

“Let him go!” Scott screamed.

Clint was cursing frantically under his breath as he struggled against the unseen bonds. Natasha’s eyes were fixed on Wanda, waiting for an instant, even a second would do, in which her focus might waver.

 Bucky must have been able to see it all. Able to see them frantically struggle, able to hear them scream.

“Fight it!” Sam shouted “Bucky! We know you’re in there! Fight!”

 “It’s me, Bucky” Steve said. His was the only voice that was not tinged with panic. “You fought down the Soldier before. You can do it again.”

 Did he really believe it? T’Challa wondered. Yes, Steve had told him about that fateful confrontation between him and the Soldier.

It had worked once, tapping into that connection, whatever it was, that the pair had – it had proved strong enough to break free of the decades of conditioning and torture. Would it be enough now?

 For an instant, it looked like it was going to be enough after all.

Bucky halted, just one step away from Steve. His face was paper pale with strain, every scrap of his will focused on keeping the Soldier that one precious step away from his friend.

From where he stood, T’Challa could see Bucky’s expression, read the battle raging in his eyes.

“You can do it, Bucky” Steve smiled.

He refused to look at ‘Wanda’, refused to take his eyes from Bucky’s, as if he was joined to his friend in a merging of souls, caught in battle against Winter.

“Steve-“ Bucky choked out.

He had fought to the surface again, as he had done once before. But now, unlike then, his controller was less than five feet away.

 ‘Wanda’ spoke the command again, this time in Russian. T’Challa felt his heart drop.

Of course, the damn thing – whoever and whatever it was – would have planned for this. Why else would it have allowed Steve to talk, allowed the others to scream denials and encouragements?

It should have been easy enough to silence them , if it could hold them paralyzed.  It probably had intended to give them this moment of hope – more fun.

 Steve’s  eyes finally betrayed the fear he had been holding at bay till the last minute.

‘Wanda’ laughed “He is your friend, isn’t he, Captain? Your innocent friend.”

 Steve’s gaze shifted to her, the fear giving place to blazing rage “He is innocent, Tony. You are doing this.”

…………………………………..

“What the hell did you do, Tony?” Rhodey demanded, bursting into the hospital room.

He had disregarded the medical staff’s protests that their patient was not fit to receive visitors – and, to be fair, it didn’t seem like they themselves were all that sure of it. They may not be soldiers, but they had their instincts too.

 And of course, despite what the cameras transmitted and the instruments read, Tony Stark was sitting up in bed, eyes open, a look of unholy glee upon his face.

Tony blinked, disoriented for a moment. Then the slasher smile changed to his usual amiable grin “Hi, Platypus. Dropped by to check on me?”

For an instant, Rhodey considered playing along.

 Maybe if he hadn’t seen Vision, hadn’t known what Tony had done to him, he might well have complied. Played the game Tony’s way, like he always did. But now restraint was more than could be asked of him.

“Cut the crap, Tony. I’ve been to the Compound. I saw him. I saw what you did.”

Maybe he was hoping that Tony would deny it, look puzzled. Maybe he was hoping that some pat of his college friend remained. If so, it was in vain.

Tony shrugged, genuinely nonchalant. “He was sneaking off. We couldn’t have him breaking the Accords as well, could we? That’s sort of my boss privileges.”

“So you, what, lobotomized him?”

 A chuckle, in reply. “Come on, Rhodey. Quit being over dramatic – again, that’s my role. I just…let’s say, rebooted him. “

“To some half brain dead copy of JARVIS.”

For the first time since the conversation began, a flash of anger passed over Tony’s face “It’s not a copy. He is JARVIS.” 

“Like JARVIS would have let you do this! Like he would have let you kill Viz!” Rhodey tried to moderate his voice, but he was too close to the edge.  “Dammit, Tony, you’re smart enough to know what you did! JARVIS is dead! What you salvaged…you yourself told me it was just an echo of his self, just barely enough to form a template for Vision. It isn’t like JARVIS was stuck inside screaming while Vision was in the driving seat!”

Another shrug. Tony was clearly distracted, most of his attention fixed on something only he could see

“Stuck inside screaming” he echoed, smiling as if he was picturing it…and liking it. “Yeah. He should be.”

 “He… Who should? JARVIS? Vision?”

Tony started, as if waking from a daydream “Huh? No, not them. never mind that, Rhodey. Go mind the store. Pep would be busy, won’t she?”

“What are you doing?” Rhodey demanded. He was not going to back down, not going to get sidetracked. Not this time. “What are you doing? What are you?”

………………………………..

“You damned monster!” Scott was practically sobbing, his eyes darting between Friday and Bucky.

Friday paid no attention to him, eyes fixed in an unearthly gaze over the Winter Soldier and his victim.

The others did not matter. She could feel them struggling, feel their pulses race in a frantic rhythm as they grew more and more desperate.

They did not matter. There would be time enough for punishing them, time enough to have fun. But first, the supersoldiers. The murderer and the traitor.

Wanda’s powers allowed her to look in on Bucky Barnes as well, Bucky Barnes trapped within his own mind and throwing himself frantically against the walls of his prison. Transparent walls. He did remember everything – and he would remember this.

Perhaps they could keep him as a kind of pet when this was all over, when they were all dealt with. Let him live, with the memory of his dear Steve’s blood on his hands.

Steve had proved somewhat disappointing.

 No screams. No curses. Not even a cry of pain, after the first, involuntary one. No doubt trying to deny her – and Tony – the satisfaction. Or maybe just trying to make it as easy as he could for his friend. 

Trying to talk him down at first, trying to get Bucky to come back to the surface once again – and once he knew that was a lost cause, reassurances.

Reassurances. Telling him – telling him as clearly as he could while choking on his own blood – that it was okay, that he knew it wasn’t Bucky, that he knew Bucky had done everything he could. Nauseating.

Well, fortunately it was only too clear that Bucky would never believe he was blameless. Nor should he. It was his hands doing it, the same hands that had murdered Maria Stark. It was him.

“Go on” she smiled, ignoring the screams and imprecations of the trapped Avengers.  “You know what to do, Winter.”

 She could hear Rogers’ heart beat weakening, growing erratic. Even super soldier bodies have their limits, and the captain was at his.

He was still conscious, but barely so. Even then, he managed to look up and meet Bucky’s eyes one more time – even if there was no trace of his friend in those eyes.

“I know this isn’t you, Bucky” he managed to whisper. “This isn’t on you.  The Soldier…that’s never on you.  This is Stark.”

 The Soldier threw him into the wall, cutting off whatever he had meant to say.

It was almost over, Friday knew. Even if she couldn’t tell perfectly well through the Scarlet Witch senses that were now her own, her eyes would have been enough to confirm that the captain was dying.  

Steve Rogers knew that as well. Even Friday couldn't be sure how he was managing to keep from passing out. But even broken and bleeding, he still managed to hold on. He still  managed to gaze up at Bucky, blinking to focus his near glassy eyes.

“I know this isn’t you... You're...I know you tried, tried to stop him...Love you, Bucky...”

……………………….

Tony was paying little attention to Rhodey, allowing him to rant on. He didn’t want to miss what was going on  in  Wakanda. Didn’t want to miss hearing Cap’s final goodbye.

He had opted to be merciful to Rogers, after all. Let him die first. It would be the others – the cat king, the double agent, Barnes – who would have to bear witness till the last. 

“Are you even hearing me?” Rhodey demanded “Tony, do you know what you have done? Are you even Tony anymore?”

 Stupid question. What – or who –else could he be?

 But then again, people are stupid. Even people like Rhodey and Pep. He was about to tell him so when something in Wakanda caught his focus.

……………………

“Stark!” T’Challa shouted. ”Listen to me!”

Friday had ignored the others’ screams and pleas quite comfortably, but now Tony did want to listen. He was curious – after all, the Wakandan king had sort of taken over for him, had he not?

A gesture from Friday had the Winter Soldier halt the final blow. Let the Captain bear witness too, as much as he was able to now.

“I don’t know what exactly you have done, nor what agent you have sent against us ” T’Challa continued. Even held paralyzed, his voice carried the power and confidence of one born to command “But you do not seem to realize what you are doing, either.”

 “You sound pretty smug for a caged kitten” Friday/Tony commented.

“You have me caged, yes” T’Challa agreed “I dare say you can kill me, as well. Kill us all, or trap us in our minds as you did to the Avengers already. But I am the king of Wakanda, Stark. I do not stand alone. If you kill me, or those to whom Wakanda has granted sanctuary, you will be pitting yourself against the entire might of Wakanda. Even you cannot stand against an entire nation, Stark.”

“You think so?” Friday appeared to consider “Well…You do have a point. Wakanda will seek revenge – so Wakanda should be no more.”

Chapter Text

Everett Ross considered himself a level headed guy – the keep your head when all about you are losing theirs kind.

 You sort of had to be, to survive as long as he did in his line of work.

However, right now he had to admit he was getting close to yanking out his own hair – or even better, General Ross’ – and screaming.  

Whoever had released the videos had set all hell loose about their ears – and from what the cyber guys could sniff out, it was looking more and more like it was an inside job. Someone from the Stark Industries and with a top level security clearance.

“If they’re still refusing, stop listening to them!” he barked into the phone.

Apparently, whatever medical facility Stark was hiding in was refusing to accept the Accords sanctioned warrant. Naturally, the team dispatched to arrest the former Avenger was reluctant to try and force their way in. but it was looking like they would soon have no choice.

The General was already fuming about not having Stark in custody – they couldn’t risk the guy talking to the press. Heaven knows what he would rant about.

 “Colonel Rhodes is there” he pointed out – that was their best hope “Contact him.”

 Hopefully the colonel would be able to convince Stark to come quietly. There was no way they were all going to get out of this mess with their skins intact, but some quick planning could limit the damage…

“Ross!” the General barked from his sanctum.

 Everett groaned. That tone meant nothing good – what else had gone wrong now? Whatever he had expected, he wasn’t prepared for this.

 “Oh God” was all he could manage to say. The General  nodded. “Afraid God had nothing to do with this one, son.”

The question was, who or what the fuck did? Or could?

 “General…” Everett hesitated, not sure how to breach that possibility “Are we… I mean, are we sure this is genuine?”

 Ross gave him a surprisingly sympathetic glance – he was clearly wishing he could dismiss this as a hoax as well.

 “Unfortunately, yes. One of the Stark tech satellites – one we are linked directly to – picked up the footage in real time. Thankfully, no other satellite was right in position to get a clear reading.” He sighed “Thank Heavens for small mercies”

Small mercies.

Everett stared at the video playing out in the screen, unable to look away. First the normal footage of a peaceful, jungle filled area…then suddenly, without warning…

He had seen plenty of videos of bomb tests. Including nuclear tests. He didn’t need to be told what that sudden, scarlet bloom of light and heat that flooded out from the heart of the woods was. If woods were all there was. He knew better, though.

 “Wakanda” General Ross acknowledged.

Everett frowned slightly, not quite daring to hope, but the video was only less than half a minute long. He knew only too well the lengths to which Wakandans were willing to go to avoid discovery by the outer world – no satellite would be allowed in a low enough orbit to pick up what was actually going on in the supposed dirt-poor-third-world-country.

 “Can we get real time video, sir? What is happening now?”

 “We can” Ross agreed “But it doesn’t show anything useful. The satellite isn’t in a low enough orbit to pick up anything worth watching – it’s just that this explosion, whatever it was, happened to be powerful enough for the satellite to pick up from where it was.”

Fuck. Ross was now looking at him with more than a little suspicion. Everett knew the old man had never trusted him all that much since that trip to Wakanda – and his becoming one of the very few secret keepers of that hidden world.

 His reports had been perfectly honest as far as they went – but only as far as they went. Lying by omission on an official report…  

T’Challa had been considering breaking the masquerade, but he had clarified it would take time. They had to prepare themselves.

And, though technically the king had the authority to make unilateral decisions, it was not a wise move to ignore the opinions of the council or the border tribes. It would take time to convince them all.

Everett, familiar with how red tape worked,  had anticipated having to keep up the pretence for a couple of years more, at the very least.

But now… What the hell happened?

His first thought was of a coup – just how unpopular had T’Challa’s opening up idea turned out to be? And how stubborn had the king proved to be?

 From what he had seen of the king, Everett would have bet T’Challa would have gone back on the plan if enough of his people had been opposed. But what if the opposition was a minority – a minority prepared to be violent? Desperate?

“I’ve had a few of our experts take a look” Ross was speaking “All are in agreement that the blast seems powerful enough to have destroyed an area large enough to be Wakanda – and much of the surrounding regions.”

 Fuck.

“However, there is no consensus on what exactly could have been the explosives involved. It does not match the signature of any known weaponry.”

 Vibranium? Unstable…Volatile…So damn much energy stored…  But they had been handling it for centuries, surely they had security measures in place?  

And even then, the scarlet flash of light…It did not match with the vibranium reactions he had seen, though admittedly he hadn’t seen all that many.

“How could this have happened?”

 General Ross eyed him suspiciously “That is what I was hoping for some input from you.”

Everett shook his head. He was not lying, not really. He had no clue what could have triggered this.

 It was taking all his self control to keep his fingers from fiddling with the blue beads in his pocket. He needed to get in touch with T’Challa ASAP.

……………………………

“Wakanda should be no more” Friday had pronounced, but it had taken Clint more than a few moments to process what she had said – and that she clearly meant it.

 Not as a distant threat, but one she intended to carry out immediately.  

Clint is a sniper, an observer. Part of his skills involve the ability to keep track of exactly what is happening in a battlefield, no matter how chaotic. He was the only one who saw all that was happening.

T’Challa’s eyes widened in horror and he tried to protest, but Friday was clearly not going to give him the chance.

Friday paused, eyes closing. She moved in mid air into a lotus position, expression fading into an unnerving serenity.

The Winter Soldier froze in the midst of his attack as her control over him broke – for an instant he stood motionless, seemingly catatonic.

Then Bucky was back, looking down in horror at Steve’s motionless form before him. He fell to his knees, a strangled scream erupting from him.

 Even if any of the others could summon up words that might be any comfort to the unfortunate man, there was no time.

Scarlet light flooded out from Friday, as it had done against the murdered Dora Milaje.

That was exactly what was happening, Clint saw.  It was disintegrating. Everything was disintegrating at the touch of the scarlet light.

 The paralysis binding them broke, the current effort clearly costing her all her concentration – but they might as well have been held trapped for all the good it did. T’Challa and Okoye who rushed forward were flung back as if by a force field before they got anywhere near Friday.

“You will live” Friday pronounced, without bothering to open her eyes “You will live, King of Wakanda – live and witness your people die. You brought this on them.”  

Clint is an experienced SHIELD agent. He had seen more than his share of horrors in a long career.

 But this… Everything was disintegrating. Literally everything.  Everything and everyone. The Avengers, Bucky and T’Challa were held within pulsing force fields of some kind, but outside…

Okoye’s eyes showed an uncharacteristic flash of fear as she looked down upon her hands – then she began to scream.

This was not the swift, near painless end the first Dora Milaje suffered – this was slow. Slow enough for the nerves to relay their messages. Slow enough for the horror to reach the mind.

There were other screams too, coming from outside the room, belying any hope that this was confined to Friday’s vicinity.

The scarlet light was pulsing brighter and brighter, reaching blinding levels of intensity. Clint could still see, only too well, what was happening.

He saw T’Challa struggling forward, even knowing too well that he would not be able to reach his foe. He saw Bucky gathering Steve’s broken body in his arms, as if thinking he could somehow shield him.

He met Natasha’s eyes and held them, refusing to look any further, refusing to give Stark and his pet demon the satisfaction of painting this horror before them.  

Unseen by him, the scarlet flood washed over all of Wakanda and beyond, erupting into the deadly red bloom that had alarmed Ross. Within the force fields that had held their world safe, Wakandans and all that they had built began to crumble into dust.

 And then, there was a flash of a different kind of light. Clint and Natasha looked away from each others’ eyes despite the mutual, unspoken resolution.

A circle of golden fire erupted in the air beside Friday. Two men, mere silhouettes against the dazzling light, stepped out of it.

……………………………..

“Yes” Pepper kept her voice perfectly level, perfectly cold. “When you are able to procure a warrant that covers this particular requirement, I am sure we will be willing to comply. But I know you would never want us to give into an illegal demand,  General.”

She cut the call. Not many people can say they have hanged up on General Ross – possibly because most of those who do did not survive.

 Pepper was not particularly worried. After what her  life had been like for the past few years, pissing off the General Secretary was not exactly going to count as dangerous.

If Tony was the Man of Iron, she was the Woman of Steel, the unshakeable, ever dependable super CEO. She had always been.

 Of course, from the turn things had taken, it was highly unlikely she will be the CEO much longer – or out of jail either, for that matter.

 She would not be taken to the Raft. There’s that much to be thankful for.

The Extremis had been completely removed from her system years ago, and the medical certificates to prove it were already at hand. She would be allowed legal representation, the usual civil rights.

She was still legally human, not a weapon of mass destruction.  But that was not going to do her much good – the facts were too plain.

“Tony” she muttered, leaning against the doorframe “What am I going to do about you?” 

Rhodey was supposed to have contacted her hours ago. After he checked on Vision.

Of course, with all that had been going on, she had had little chance to notice how long he had been gone…and now he wasn’t picking up calls.

 That could mean nothing good, but for the moment Pepper could simply not spare the energy to dwell on it.

Whatever had gone wrong on his end, Rhodey had better  be able to handle it – she had no help to send him, no help to send to herself either. Or to Tony.  

All she could do was to keep up the delaying action as long as she could. Buy them time. She knew, already, that it would not be enough.

………………………………………….

“Do you even care?” Rhodey asked again.

 He’s not sure why he’s still bothering. It’s only too clear that Tony was not listening to a word he’s saying. But really, what else is there to do? Go and wait till they bring in the summons to his court martial?

 “Do you even fucking care what is happening? To Pepper? To me?”

 Tony blinked, seeming to come awake from wherever he had retreated to.  His eyes blazed with rage.

“You think I don’t care?” it came out as a snarl “ I signed the fucking Accords because I cared! I tore apart the team because I cared! It was the only way for me and Pep, it was the only way to set things right! Or that’s what I thought, then.”

“And now?” Rhodey was not going to back down. Not any longer. “What do you think now, Tony?”

The eyes that met his were cold and diamond hard, devoid of any trace of the friend he had tried so long to protect.

 “Now? Now I don’t think, Rhodes, I know. I know the only chance they have, you have, the whole fucking world has, is with someone with actual guts in charge. Not Ross,  not the UN, not the elected idiots now on prime time news blabbering about civil rights and repealing the Accords.”

Rhodey tried not to let his face betray the sinking in his heart. For a moment back there, he had believed he reached Tony. “And I guess you are this someone with guts?”

 Tony no longer looked at him, but past him, seeing something only he could, but he nodded as if the answer should have been obvious “Cap could have been there too. With me. It could have been us. But he wouldn’t see sense. And now he is dead.”

Rhodey froze. He hadn’t expected the day to get even worse. “Cap… Steve is dead?”

Tony nodded, smiling calmly. Rhodey wanted to ask how Tony knew it, but was not sure he dared to hear the answer.

Chapter Text

Clint, watching, would never be quite sure of the sequence of events. Even the trained sniper’s eyes have their limits in the midst of chaos.

 He registered the figures that stepped out of the ring of fire – a pair of quaintly dressed figures who dressed like they had stepped out of a Korean fantasy drama.

He saw Wanda/Friday/Whatever-the-Hell-She-Was-Now turning towards the pair, as if just realising a new variable had been added to the mix.

The newcomers paused an instant as if taking in the situation, then the taller of the pair, wrapped in a cloak as reddish as the scarlet light spilling over them, stepped forward.

………………………

Chaos magic has its own distinct, unmistakeable signature.

 And one that those of Kamar Taj has long since learnt to be alert to. One of the most powerful branches of magic – and the deadliest.

 Chaos magic, despite its power, is rarely used by sorcerers. For the obvious reason. It is chaotic.

All magic is, to some degree, the bending of nature to one’s will, imposing one’s own chosen order upon the elements whether it be by force or coaxing.

 But chaos magic…it has as its first requirement the utter dissolving of order. All very well if you are strong enough in will, mind and power to put it back together again, but very few have that triple layered strength.

 Strange, characteristically, had first gravitated towards chaos magic simply because it was the discipline most frowned upon, but he had been forced to admit this restriction at least had some basis in reason.

 Fortunately, before that he had learnt enough so that he would have a chance of taming the unleashed chaos should a spell go out of control.

 Which, he assumed, was what had happened here. The sudden surge of chaos magic had set the alarms sounding in the Sanctum Sanctorum, demanding immediate response.

 As of now, they had little idea what was happening here, but one thing was evident.

The epicentre of the problem was the young woman levitating before them – a young woman whose aura showed a disturbing trace of what was and was not possession at the same time.

 It would take considerable amounts of skill and effort to diagnose and set right whatever was wrong with her – more importantly, it would take time that they could not afford right now.

 He glanced at Wong, who nodded, in agreement with the assessment – and the next step. There was little time, and they had to act in consort. Fortunately, that was something they had had plenty of practice on. Strange stepped forward, drawing the witch’s attention.

“Cease this. Now” he ordered, knowing full well that he will not be obeyed.

 If this was an out of control spell, the poor girl would have no idea how to stop it no matter what she wished.

 If not…Well, someone who intentionally tried to destroy an entire nation is unlikely to just stop at an order. Even if said order comes from the Sorcerer Supreme.

The witch frowned, as if puzzled by his appearance, but the puzzlement did not stop her from lashing out almost reflexively. A scarlet tendril of magic shot towards Strange – only to be swallowed by the Mirror Dimension portal Wong conjured in the way.

The witch’s eyes narrowed. She might have been preparing for a more effective attack. But she would not get the chance.

 The Mirror Dimension swallowed her curse, but this portal was meant to make it do more than that. Latching on to that tendril of her magic, the Dimension pulled her in.

 “No!” the girl screamed, sounding even younger than she was. “No, no, that’s not how it works, that’s not… Dad, Dad, help me!”

 There was no stopping it. In less than a moment, she was engulfed in the Mirror Dimension, locked away where she could do no damage. As for the damage already done…

Strange took a deep breath, steeling himself for what was to come. He had come to appreciate the truth in Wong’s warnings against using the Time Stone. But the Time Magic would not be needed here.

That was one good thing about countering chaos magic – since the whole process was the dissolution of bonds, one had a chance of turning the spell of destruction upon itself, forcing it to undo what it had done.

It would take far more will and power than most practitioners had, but that was never something Stephen Strange could be accused of lacking.

 “Seven suns has Cinnibus that shine both west and east” he recited the spell silently, mind using the words to focus on what had to be done, channelling the clear cold light of the distant suns and the beings who governed them “ May that power form a cage to halt the raging beast”

………………………………………

Clint would later say it was like watching a movie reel get rewound.

The scarlet light, which had begun fading the instant Wanda/Friday had vanished, brightened once again.

 Everything began to…reassemble itself. The people and the objects that were breaking down into atoms moments before stabilized and reformed into what they were.

The scarlet fire pulsed brighter, then began to somehow…flow into one of the newcomers, as if in obedience to his command.

 It took no more than seconds, the entire process from start to finish, though all participants would find that difficult to believe later.

The scarlet fire shrunk into a ball of boiling flame held in the newcomer’s hands. He murmured something in a language Clint couldn’t lip read, and the flames vanished in a blinding flash of light.

 The man fell to his knees, face drained of colour, but it was evident he had already done what he had intended to. Wanda/Friday’s latest bout of destruction was undone.

…………………………………….

“Tony?” Rhodey stepped forward, concerned.

Tony had frozen in place mid speech, staring in shocked horror at something only he could see.

“Tony, are you-“

“Friday!” Tony shrieked, eyes wide “Friday, no, no, this is not how it works! No! Let her go, you bastard!”

His hands flailed as if holding off an unseen assailant, or perhaps reaching frantically to grab hold of someone. Rhodey and Helen – who had come in on hearing the commotion – glanced at each other in alarm.

 Rhodey had seen Tony in the grips of a panic attack before, but this was different. Somehow, Tony was in real danger. A danger they could not even see, forget guard him from.

Even as Rhodey stepped forward to grab him, Tony collapsed like a marionette whose strings were cut.

………………………………….

The room was a flurry of frantic action. Guards and medics had poured in the instant the spell – if that was what it was – ended.

The Avengers converged around their wounded captain, as did the medics. Bucky seemed frozen in place, looking down at his hands, as if not daring to look at Steve. Sam knelt beside him, whispering something, but Bucky was clearly beyond hearing anything.

 T’Challa brushed off the concerned medics and guards crowding around him, his gaze focused on the strangers who had saved them.

The taller one – the one who had undone the spellcast destruction, from what he could see – was still dazed from the effort, barely conscious. His companion leant over him, concerned, but not particularly alarmed. The man was in little real danger now, if that reaction was anything to go by.

“I welcome you to Wakanda”

 T’Challa had to put considerable effort into not letting his tone show how shaken he was. Kings do not have the option of showing fear – even and especially if they have just watched their kingdom literally disintegrate around them and is struggling to hold back the memories of a not so long ago attack.

 “But I have to admit I do not know you, nor know of you”

 “I believe you know of us, Panther” the man answered, straightening up but keeping a hand on his kneeling friend’s shoulder “We are of Kamar Taj”

 Kamar Taj. T’Challa’s eyes widened

. He had heard the lore, the myths and history intermingled. The Panthers of Wakanda and the Sorcerers of Kamar Taj have long been allied from the distant past.

 Not a very intimate alliance, it is true, since Wakandans would not relax their isolation even for the sorcerers – especially for the sorcerers. And it had been very long since one of Wakanda had journeyed to Kamar Taj, given it was considered preferable to place their trust in something more reliable than mystic arts and eldritch spirits.

But yes, they certainly knew of each other.

“I am Master Wong of Kamar Taj” the sorcerer continued.

“And I” his companion got back to his feet (T’Challa had a somewhat confusing impression that his scarlet cloak was doing the most part of helping him up) “am Dr Stephen Strange. The Sorcerer Supreme.”

“The Sorcerer Supreme?” Okoye echoed.

T’Challa regarded the man before them. He knew of the Sorcerer Supreme, the legends, the tales, the confusing blend of myth and reality that built up around the title.

But given what the man had just done, the king had to admit he had pretty much lived up to the legend.

………………………………………..

“What happened?” Rhodey demanded, his eyes darting from Tony to the bedside monitors to Helen and back again. “He just…just freaked out and… This has something to do with that damn virus, doesn’t it?”

 Helen Cho nodded, though of course it didn’t need to be said out loud. Literally everything unexplainable happening right now could likely be traced back to that.

“He doesn’t seem to be in any danger – at least, not more so than he already was. It just looks like he fainted.”

A commotion in the corridor made them look up. In time to meet General Ross, accompanied by a number of armed soldiers.

 Rhodey had been more or less expecting this, but that didn’t make it any easier. “General-“

 “There is no need to make this any more awkward than it has to be, colonel” Ross stressed the rank “No one wants trouble here.”

 “Then you will exit the room” Helen Cho declared, stepping between her patient and the soldiers “This is a hospital room, not a debate hall.”

 Ross inclined his head politely “As you wish, doctor.”

He signalled to the soldiers accompanying him. Two moved to position themselves at Tony’s bedside. Others fell in beside Rhodey and Helen – not quite at the point of dragging them out, but positioned as escorts obtrusively enough that both knew what it meant.

 “I cannot leave my patient” Helen protested.

 Ross gave her an alarmingly indulgent smile “I am afraid that choice is out of your hands for now, doctor. Besides, your patient is going to leave this facility in the next few minutes. I am afraid you cannot be permitted to accompany him, though.”

Helen drew herself up to her full height. She may not like Tony Stark, but he was her patient. “Mr Stark has just recovered from the comatose condition he was in. He is not fit to be moved.”

 “Our medical staff will make that assessment, doctor”

 Even as Ross spoke, a few – obviously army doctors, Rhodey could tell from the look of them – were moving into the room, brushing aside the civilian staff.

 “But I must-“

 “You can file your protestations before the appropriate authorities – in time” Ross marched forward, the soldiers escorting Rhodey and Helen along. “Of course, before that you might want to prepare your case to be presented before the medical ethics board. Given your culpable negligence in refusing to inform authorities of an enhanced individual in your care…”

“General, please” Rhodey interrupted “the situation is more complicated than you know. Forcibly removing Tony right now-“

 “I am afraid your opportunity to have a say in the matter passed long ago, colonel” Ross dismissed him with a curt shake of the head.

 He got the feeling, though, that Ross agreed with him on one thing at least – the situation had become far more complicated than any of them knew. Or could handle. 

He could only hope Pepper had managed to get the to the hotline phone before her own inevitable arrest. But he somehow doubted even that would do much good.

………………………………

“He will make it” Sam said as soon as he entered the room.(Well, cell was what it was, but at least the Wakandan security had had the tact to make it look like a regular room at first glance)

 Bucky didn’t show much of a reaction, but Sam’s trained eyes picked up the minute physical cues. 

“He’s still out of it” Sam continued “But it is going to be alright. No lasting damage. If everything goes well, he’ll be back on his feet in a couple of days”

 He was doing his best to make it sound like a fait accompli, as if there had never been any doubt.

Trying to ignore what they both knew – the doctors weren’t entirely sure how to treat the level of injuries Steve had suffered, for the simple reason that someone hurt that badly tended to expire before they got to a hospital in the first place.

Thankfully, the serum was doing its job. That, added to Wakanda’s super tech and Steve’s stubbornness, was giving them a second chance. Bucky remained silent.

Sam continued, used to the silence “T’Challa and the rest of the team is still locked in with the magic guys. I still don’t have a clue what the hell happened, but at least it looks like we have a couple around who does.”

 He paused for a moment, hoping – but knowing it to be unlikely – that Bucky would ask something, anything. The near catatonic blankness was too reminiscent of the Soldier. Bucky seemed to sense his unease.

“Steve will be alright” Sam promised again.

 Bucky looked up at last “I talked to Dr Azzuri.”

Sam blinked at what seemed to be a complete non sequitur, but then his brain caught up. “You mean-“

“I want them to do the procedure. Now.”

“Now?” Sam echoed “Bucky, didn’t he tell you-“

 “If it is about the risks, yes. He did. I don’t care. I want it done. Now.”

“Azzuri said we should do it in a phased manner, first trying to-“

 “I. Want. The. Soldier. Out. Of. My. Head. Now.”

 “Bucky-“

 “Fuck the risks. I want it done.”

Chapter Text

“So…” Clint glanced around the briefing room “What happened to Wanda? Where did you guys teleport her to or whatever it was that you did?”

 “Mirror Dimension” Strange said as if that was supposed to explain it.

“She’s locked away for now” Wong clarified “Consider it a kind of parallel universe. She cannot harm anyone there, nor is there anything that will cause her harm.”

 “So you basically put the Scarlet Witch in time-out” Scott commented.

The Sorcerers froze, exchanging startled glances.

 “What did you call her?” Strange demanded.

Scott looked clearly blindsided by the reaction. “Uh… The Scarlet Witch? I mean, we were kinda making up code names, that’s the regular super hero thing, isn’t it?”

 “The Scarlet Witch” Wong echoed in a tone reminiscent of a devoted old priest saying Anti-Christ. “She chose to name herself Scarlet Witch?”

“Uh, the naming part was more a group effort than anything specific” Scott glanced around at the others as if seeking support.

 Natasha nodded “He’s right. I don’t really remember who proposed the name first, but it was just…something we talked about, joked about.”

A long while ago. While they were still in the Avengers Compound. Still together.

Strange frowned “You mean, you came upon the name accidentally?”

Clint screwed his eyes shut, trying to recollect. Somehow, it seemed incredibly important “We were kidding around, talking about the ‘hero names’ and what not… Wanda said she wanted one too and we all just started proposing names. We, uh, may have been a bit buzzed. It was after a party.”

 “I think the Witch part was her own idea” Natasha supplied “Then someone – I’m pretty sure it was Tony – commented it needed an adjective to sound original.”

Clint shrugs “Someone – I can’t remember who – suggested red. For her hair, and because, well, her magic always glows red. But the Red Witch sounded like a cheesy cold war era comics villain.”

 “We finally hit on Scarlet. The Scarlet Witch sounded…somehow appropriate”

“Appropriate” Wong echoed.

The two sorcerers looked more alarmed now than they had done with the world literally falling to pieces around them.

 “What is the matter?” T’Challa demanded “What has the name to do with this?”

“I hope it is a coincidence” Wong finally said after too long a pause “But…”

“A prophecy” Strange cut in “That’s it. And a seriously vague one at that.”

 “Ugh” Scott grimaced “Don’t tell me, man, prophecies always screw things up. Hey, it isn’t anything about the Scarlet Witch blowing up the world, is it?”

 No reply. Scott almost fell off his chair in panic “Wait, what? Don’t tell me that’s it? That’s really it?”

T’Challa frowned “Doctor? Do you really mean…”

 Strange shrugged “Prophecies are vague. And confusing. This one more so than most. The Scarlet Witch is supposed to be a being of great power. That’s all the prophecy says for sure, even assuming it has been translated right through the ages.”

 “Your hesitation when Mr Lang mentioned destruction of the world hints at something more serious”

 “Like all prophecies, this one also hedges its bets. The Scarlet Witch may save the world or destroy it.”

 Queen Ramonda looked skeptical “The being we saw seems unlikely to…save the world”

“That wasn’t Wanda” Clint declared, not particularly caring that he was interrupting royalty. “Whatever it was back there, Wanda had no part in it.”

 “Her power did” Okoye commented. The sorcerers had arrived too late to save the Dora Milaje who had been destroyed in the initial attack.

“Naturally, we didn’t have time to really assess the threat” Wong said “But I would agree with Mr Barton here. The young lady was clearly not in control of herself.”

“Possession” Natasha said “I don’t know how it was managed, but it was Tony Stark. And Friday.”

“His AI?” Strange looked askance at her. “Just…how human like is this Friday?”

“And since when can freaking Stark possess people?” Scott demanded “I mean, guy’s tech is creepy as hell, and I’m talking as someone who’s hung around way too many mad scientists for my own sanity, but actual body snatching?”

………………………………………………..

Dr Azzuri looked hesitant. “Sergeant Barnes, if you consider the risks-“

 “You already made the risks clear. A dozen times over” Bucky was seated in his bed, looking as non threatening as possible, but his voice had gone lower, growlier, already.

 Azzuri frowned “I am not sure I have. The procedure is theoretically feasible, but in practice... Look, we can do it in a safe manner. We just-“

“Need time. Time we don’t have. Time I don’t have.”

 “We can put you back in cryo” Sam suggested, not hoping for success any longer. He had been around people like Bucky Barnes long enough to recognize that tone.

“I was brought out of cryo” Bucky pointed out, as if lecturing a particularly slow child “All of us know full well what they did once they can do again.”

“Improved security measures-“

 “Won’t be good enough.”

 “Sergeant Barnes” Azzuri met his eyes, expression firm “The treatment might work. It might remove the triggers, yes. But what you are suggesting… This is not the kind of procedure that can be hurried.”

 “You said it would work if-“

“It might work. Or it might leave you as a brain dead vegetable” Azzuri seemed to have decided to dispense with the tact. “We are talking about complicated neurosurgery.”

 “You can do it, though. There’s still a chance. And you don’t know how much longer it will take for you to determine it will be safe. You can keep running as many simulations as you want, that won’t change much.”

Sam tuned out most of the argument. It wouldn’t matter. Facts about risk, statistics, none of it would mean much to Bucky right now.

“I will have the Soldier removed” Bucky declared “One way or the other.”

 Sam knew that tone too well. “One way or the other?”

Bucky nodded as if confirming it was indeed what Sam knew it to be. “You can’t keep me under observation 24/7. A moment will be all I need. They trained us in enough methods to…avoid capture if it came to that.”

“Bucky!”

Bucky held up a hand “I don’t want your version of the ‘Please Get Off The Ledge’ talk. I don’t want to die. But that is the better – hell, the only – choice in this case, and I am taking it.”

 “What the hell are you-“

 “I had thought it would be okay, once. That I could hide away. Just…stay away. But of course, that was not going to work. Zemo caught up, but it might just as well have been someone else. Now Stark caught up. It might be someone else, again.”

Azzuri made as if to protest, but Bucky didn’t give him the chance

“I considered it, after Zemo. After it was clear no one around me was going to be safe as long as I had that bastard in my head. I changed my mind because of Steve. And the cryo – because it looked like a legit compromise. Because it looked like it would be enough to lock the soldier away. But we all saw it wasn’t.”

…………………………….

“They’re going to arrest Stark” MJ announced, still glued to the live threads on her phone. Peter had long since given up checking, and was slumped across his bed. “See? Someone posted this from outside that hospital they said Stark was in. A whole freaking army of military guys just turned up.”

Peter, despite himself, looked over her shoulder with Ned. There was an ambulance of some sort too, he saw. So that part about Mr Stark being hurt was true? Or were they just playing along?

He wished he could go back to the time when he was okay with trusting people. Trusting heroes to be heroes.

“Who’s livestreaming this?” Ned asked “I mean, why aren’t the army folk stopping them?”

Peter supposed it was because the livestream was not showing anything General Ross – or whoever was actually running the show down there – didn’t want people to see.

After all, what it showed was the government taking back control. Holding Stark to account – even if it was a few months too late. No harm in letting people watch.

Colonel Rhodes, and a woman (a doctor or a scientist or something, going by her coat), were escorted out. The woman’s face was a carefully expressionless blank, but the colonel seemed to be still trying to argue with the apparently oblivious soldiers as he was being led along.

 Colonel Rhodes. War Machine. Yet another former hero. Was there anyone left, really?

……………………………

“It’s going to be the trial of the century” Foggy Nelson remarked, leaning his chair back so far that Matt was genuinely betting on how long it would be before it tipped over.

“Sure” Karen snorted “Like this would actually go to the courts. This is going to be a black ops kind of thing, mark my words”

“They can’t hush this up” Matt protested “Those videos – that fixed it, basically. No way they are burying it again.”

“This might well end up burying the Accords, though” Karen suggested.

Foggy looked up. Matt tried not to react too visibly. After all, they all had a very personal stake in how the Sokovia Accords turned out.

“They’re saying Stark is still out of it” Foggy continued, watching the newsfeeds. None of them wanted to tackle the subject of the Accords again. Not just yet. “I’d bet he’s playing possum. He knows he’s screwed, so play for time…”

 “Or for sympathy” Karen added. “I mean, isn’t that kind of the only defense they’ve got? Try and make Team Cap look like monsters…”

Team Cap. Team Captain America. Team Iron Man. Matt hated the flippancy of the titles that the social media had latched on to. As if it was just about them. As if it was they who would have to bear the brunt of the Accords, one way or the other.

 Well, Cap at least seemed to have gotten the short end of the stick, but still, it would have been far more to the purpose if they just said Anti Accords.

Both Foggy and his phone continued to read out the updates, most of them not really adding anything to what they knew. It wasn’t like much info was getting out of the cordon the Accords people had thrown over the whole business.

However, not much info was needed to warn Daredevil that this was not going to end well. Almost reflexively his hand hovered over the briefcase – the one with the hidden compartment, holding the suit.

……………………………………………..

“Look” Rhodey turned in desperation to the nearest officer “I know you have to keep us in custody, fine. But I’ve got to talk to the Secretary.”

 No response. Rhodey tried to swallow the frustration. He knew the man was going to follow orders, nothing more and nothing less. He knew the type. Ross would have handpicked that type for this job. Can’t have anything going off the rails in the damage control – not after everything else.

 “I have information that is essential to…” he trailed off, defeated by the utterly blank expressions of his escort.

Damn it. Where was Ross? With Tony? He may not understand what exactly was happening, but he certainly understood more than Ross did. And his intuition was practically screaming at him not to allow them to move Tony.

And certainly don’t allow them to question him. Given how Tony felt about the Accords Enforcement (or lack of the same), right now it would be as disastrous to have him in sight of Ross as it would to have him in the same room with Captain Rogers or Barnes.

………………………………………

Ross stood over the unconscious body of his former ally, lips pursed into a thin line. Already his brain was formulating a dozen plans of varying probability to salvage the situation, but none of them allowed for the continuation of their so-called alliance.

Stark was a wild card. He had hoped to play him right, but apparently that confidence in his own ability was misplaced. Once again, a bad choice of tools. The same mistake he had made with the aptly named Abomination.

 “Can he be moved?” he finally asked as the doctors, conferring together, finally broke apart from the huddle they were in.

 “Yes” the answer came without hesitation “Mr. Stark is unconscious, but there seems to be no…significant trauma that needs hospitalization”

 “In other words, it just looks like he fainted.”

 “It’s unlikely to be that simple, sir” the doctor indicated a reading on one of the machines.

Some medical gibberish followed. Ross could decipher only that they had no clue what the hell was going on in Stark’s brain, but they could tell little if anything was wrong with his body. That would be enough for now.

“Get him into the ambulance.” He would much prefer to have had the damn fool dragged out in cuffs, but this will have to do.

……………………………………

“And the others? Steve?” Sam questioned “Don’t they get a say? After everything?”

 If logic wasn’t going to get through to Bucky, Sam wasn’t above going for emotional appeal. Bucky shook his head.

 “No.”

 “You mean-“

“I’m not saying it is fair. Or right. I am just saying that is how it is going to be. You guys…” he hesitated for a moment, the stoic mask almost slipping. Almost, but not quite “I… I know how much I owe you. But this… This is my decision to make. Mine alone.”

“And Steve?” Another almost wince. Sam tried to press the advantage “Can’t you at least wait a couple of days? See what he-“

 “We both know what he will say. And that is exactly why you want to ask him. He was not even in favor of my being placed in cryo in the first place.”

“And if this goes wrong?” Sam had no intention of backing down. Not now. “If this goes wrong, what do you want us to tell him when he wakes up and asks for you?”

Bucky’s eyes, as they met his, were scarily calm, determined. “Tell him it was the same kind of decision he made when he chose to crash that plane in the ocean. The cargo is too dangerous to be kept around, and if someone has to go down with it, that’s a fair price to pay.”

Chapter Text

“Yes” Thaddeus Ross kept his voice perfectly in control, swallowing down the potent mixture of rage and frustration “We have Stark in custody. He is being airlifted to a secure location as we speak. Interrogations will proceed once we have him confined.”

 Stark by himself was not much of a threat. The problem would be cutting him off completely from his tech.

The Iron Man suits were programmed to respond to him at a signal. While they had taken the precaution to remove any electronics Stark was wearing, Ross wouldn’t put it past the bastard to have implants of some sort wired into his brain.

Put him in one of the secure sites. No signals in or out. 

“And no, absolutely no comments to the media.”

 God, what had he done to deserve the bunch of incompetent clowns that formed his staff? And speaking of incompetents…

“You! What part of As Soon As Possible do you not understand?”

The pilot, who was standing indecisively – as if reluctant to interrupt his superior’s phone call despite knowing the priority mission – started, abashed. “I’m sorry, sir, but there was a slight irregularity. The GPS is showing a few glitches.”

Ross was hard put to keep from throwing his phone at the kid. “Are the ‘glitches’ serious enough to impair flight?”

 “Uh, no, sir. But we had to check that it was nothing more serious.”

“Well, now that you have checked, get your ass in gear. Now.”  

Damn it. Every second they delayed, more the chance things would once again spiral out of control. Right now, they had a somewhat coherent narrative planned.

Stark could be made to take the fall. Wouldn’t be too hard. Place him in front of a recording microphone and he will convict himself more thoroughly than anyone else could. As long as they could keep him separated from Rhodes and Potts.

 Fortunately, after whatever Stark did to himself with Extremis he counted as enhanced. No matter how much the bleeding hearts raged, Sokovia Accords was still in effect.

 Stark would not be assigned a legal team, even if he had the common sense to ask for one. He would be allowed to speak, though. Oh, certainly he would.

 The problem was the possibility of the other so-called superheroes interfering.

 He was pleasantly surprised to discover none of the Rogue Avengers had released an official response…

But then again, wasn’t the silence by itself ominous? There was no more appropriate time for them to present their version.

Given the spike of public sympathy in their favor, a video or audio recording from Captain America…

Rogers – if not Rogers, Maria Hill and whatever was left of SHIELD playing support to the Rogues – was smart enough to know the impact it would have.

So, why not? What was keeping them so preoccupied that they couldn’t spare the time to respond to this? And what the hell was going on in Wakanda?

Obviously something connected to the Rogues, otherwise it would be too monstrous a coincidence, but still…

 Ross knew, despite everything he could do, things were spiraling out of control.

……………………………………….

“It’s all spiraling out of control” T’Challa admitted as soon as the door closed behind him and Nakia. “There are too many unknowns here.”

 “Do you trust them?” Nakia had already called up what information the spy network had on the new arrivals. “Kamar Taj in general, these two in particular?”

 The king hesitated for a long moment “Kamar Taj and its sorcerers… Especially the Sorcerer Supreme… they are defenders of the realm. The battles they fight are waged on a cosmic scale. I don’t know if we can trust them to keep more…human considerations in mind”

 He was the king, raised to be a king. He knew full well the hard decisions that had to be taken, the sacrifices which had to be made, the way human feelings had to take second place.

 If that was how it felt to be responsible for the lives of one nation, what would it be like to be responsible for the entire universe?

No. He didn’t trust the Sorcerer Supreme, any more than he would trust any other head of an allied nation.

 No matter what kind of a man Stephen Strange was – or Wong, for that matter, though he had given no official title, T’Challa knew a second in command, the heir apparent, when he saw one – his priorities would not be those of Wakanda.

 “We need to keep an eye on them.”

 And what use would it be? Given what they had already proved capable of doing…

“What do we actually know as of yet?” Nakia seemed to have had the same thought as him. “About…everything that happened?”

She did not tell him what she had seen in the red mist’s hallucinations. Perhaps she would, later. Now they had no time to spare.

“It has to do with Tony Stark – and whatever it was he did to himself after the fight in Siberia. We’ll need everything we’ve got on Extremis. From what Ms Potts had said at the time, I believe it might be involved.”

Nakia’s fingers moved swiftly, already summoning up the data.

 T’Challa continued  “And his AI – Friday. We can’t be sure how this happened, or why it is happening now, but the current assumption is that the AI -with or without Stark’s awareness and permission – took control of Ms. Maximoff.”

“Almost certainly related to what is happening to him now.”

 T’Challa nodded. Stark had recovered only a few hours before the disaster began to unfold.

 “And you still think its fifty fifty chances on Stark being directly involved?”

“The Avengers – except for Romanoff – think it’s more probably Friday rebelled. That maybe Stark did set her to track them down, but didn’t expect her to be this…extreme.” T’Challa shrugged “They… Well, they apparently can’t bring themselves to believe their former friend could sink this low.”

“And what do you think?”

A moment’s pause before he answered. “Strange is reasonably sure no AI by itself would be able to use magic. Something about magic being a living force. So Stark has to be involved. All the same… I think the good doctor knows more than he is telling us.”

Nakia frowned “I wouldn’t suggest pressing him on it – not right now.”

 “I know. The question of mystical knowledge aside, a man like that is more likely to clam up than yield out of sheer stubbornness. We’ll have to wait…or use our own means to find out”

 “So, our next move…”

“I spoke to Dr Azzuri. Barnes is insisting on the procedure – immediately. Captain Rogers will take at least a couple of days to recover. That takes both of them off the field for at least that long. I don’t think we can make much of a progress in the diplomatic sphere till the Captain recovers.”

 Nakia nodded. Given the fictional image of Wakanda was still being maintained, there was little influence T’Challa could exert on the UN. Or just in general public image. They needed a well-known face, the counter-force to Stark and the Accords, as the spokesperson.

 “As for defense… The sorcerers are reasonably certain – and we have no choice but to take their word for it right now – that Wanda or Friday or whatever she might be at the moment is safely locked away.”

 “And given Barnes himself is insisting on the procedure… I suppose the Soldier will also be out of the equation one way or the other in the next few hours.”

 T’Challa nodded. “It looks like we have some breathing room.”

 “We’ll definitely need it”

………………………………

“But we’re not going to get it” Pepper Potts sighed, leaning her head against the cold glass of the car window. “No compromises, no negotiations. Not this time.”

 Happy – the name was rarely appropriate, and grotesquely ironic right now – glanced back sympathetically. “They definitely have us by the balls this time, don’t they, boss?”

She nodded. In the rearview mirror, she could see the car following them.

Whoever was driving – one of Ross’ people, no doubt – was doing little to disguise his intentions. Which meant there were at least two more less obtrusive tails on them.

She wasn’t sure why she wasn’t under arrest yet, like Rhodey. Well, Rhodey is one of the ‘supers’, isn’t he.

 One of those to whom the Accords apply. They wouldn’t have to bother too much about civil rights there. Not now that the Stark empire seems to be falling.

 It had almost fallen, once before, teetered on the verge of ruin. She had saved it. But this time…this time it was beyond her skills.

 Just as it was to save Tony. Or Rhodey. Or Vision.

She had seen him too, and unlike Rhodey, she knew too much about the android to fool herself on what Tony had done. No matter how much she wanted to.

Her fingers clenched over the hotline phone. It couldn’t be tracked, she knew. Simplistic as the design initially appeared, enough Wakandan tech had gone into it.

No response to her call. They had just let it ring itself out. Deliberate ignorance, now that they knew there was little Tony could do to help or hurt them?

 She wanted to believe it was so. But her intuition said different… Steve didn’t answer the phone not because he wouldn’t, but because he couldn’t. Something had gone wrong there as well…

 The phone rang. Almost slipped from her startled fingers. Again.

“Steve?”

 But the voice on the other end of the line was unfamiliar. “I’m afraid Captain Rogers can’t respond right now, Ms. Potts.”

 “And you are?”

“Dr Stephen Strange. Dr Cho contacted me a few days ago…”

 For a moment, Pepper was stuck wondering whether she had grabbed her regular phone by mistake. What the hell was the former surgeon doing with the Rogue Avengers?

Strange seemed aware of her reaction. “I’m afraid explanations will take a little longer than we have. I’m calling you for one purpose alone.”

 “Which is?”

 “Permission to reveal certain…confidential medical data to my current allies.”

She already knew what he was talking about, and he knew that she knew. “You want to tell the Rogue Avengers about Extremis.”

 “They are already aware Extremis is involved.”

 Of course. There were more than enough clues to be pieced together. Whatever else they were, neither the Rogue Avengers nor their allies were stupid.

“I’m only asking permission to give them some extra information” the doctor continued “The medical scans and other relevant information Dr Cho shared with me, which if-“

“And if I refuse permission?”

The doctor sighed “You are on file as Mr. Stark’s next-of-kin. Given his mental status is currently open to question, it’s your call to make.”

 “And I’m supposed to believe you’ll simply tell the Rogue Avengers that you can’t share this info? Unless I give you permission?”

“Ms. Potts” the solemn tone was unmistakably sincere “I have sworn several oaths in my time, but the first one was the Hippocratic Oath. Unless you give me permission, whatever confidential information I have on Stark stays confidential.”

She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to laugh or cry. She had little idea what was going on, even less on who or what this man was, but she could believe he meant exactly what he said.

 “Ms. Potts?”

 “You know this information will be used to…”

 “Ms. Potts. I think you know as well as – perhaps better than – most of us what Mr. Stark’s latest actions have resulted in. We…we need all the info we can get. If we are to stand a chance.”

 For a long moment, she remained silent. So did the doctor, apparently realizing words could do nothing more.

She had to choose. Choose between loyalties.

Happy, who could hear at least her end of the conversation, remained silent as well. But his attention was clearly more on her than on the road.

Tony. Oh God, Tony, what have you done? What will I have to do?

Strangely enough, it was Tony’s own image that helped her decide.

Tony, in a time that now seemed eons ago, frantic at the realization what his inventions had done. What he had done. Tony, desperate to atone, but not knowing how, other than by throwing money and himself at the horrors he had unknowingly wrought.

 Tony, flying the nuke into the portal while battle raged beneath. Whatever he had become now, whatever he had done, that Tony had been a hero.

 It was to him that she owed her loyalty. Once more the iconic image of Iron Man on his apparent suicide run at the portal hovered before her eyes.

Silently, she nodded. Tony was now a stranger to her. But she knew what that Tony, the one she had fallen in love with, would have wanted her to do.

“Ms. Potts?” the doctor was doing his best not to sound impatient.

 “Yes” her voice was a choked whisper, barely enough to carry through the phone. She swallowed the freezing lump in her throat and tried again. “Yes. Do it. Give them the info.”

…………………………………….

In a way, this was horribly reminiscent of the cave. Of Afghanistan.

 He was trapped, hooked up to what looked like a multitude of torture devices. Dim figures hovered over him, speaking a jargon that was gibberish to his ears. But not gibberish enough that he was unaware he was the subject under discussion.

He wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, but knew enough to understand things had gone out of control.

If they had ever been under control to begin with, a fading voice whispered in his mind. Did you ever have it under control, Tony?

The voice sounded too much like Steve Rogers. He managed to push it back into the crevasse it emerged from.

 Friday. Something had happened to Friday. And to him as well.

That was another thing echoing of Afghanistan. It felt like a part of him had been torn out, the remainder left broken and bleeding.

 A part gone, gone perhaps with Friday wherever she had been flung into.

 He couldn’t remember exactly what had happened, could remember little except for two briefly glimpsed, unfamiliar faces. Reinforcements, something in his mind spoke. Reinforcements, yes, but not for him.

 They… They had everyone on their side, it seemed… No. Stop. Don’t go down that path. Doesn’t matter who they have got. You are Tony Stark. Iron Man.

 But was he? It felt as if only a part of him remained here, wherever ‘here’ might be. Another part – perhaps the more important part – had been torn out of him along with Friday.

He could no longer hear her. Not even sense her. Only sheer stubbornness allowed him to keep believing she was still alive.

Surely he would have known if she was…gone? And how could she be, anyway? Even if the witch’s body had given out under strain, Friday would have been able to return…

Desperately, more out of a need to feel some echo of the power that had been his than with any real purpose in mind, he reached out.

 The engines of the helicopter – oh yes, that was what he was in now…why? Doesn’t really seem important… The engines weren’t…

He couldn’t control them. Not even the on board computers built into it. No more than for an instant or two.

 With a sharp pang of horror, he realized his power was locked away as well. Locked away with Friday. Or gone, perhaps, forever with her.

He almost screamed. Probably would have, except for sheer exhaustion.

The sensitive computer systems aboard noticed the change. No humans did. If they had, they would simply have dismissed it as yet another minor glitch.

The helicopter was now in the air. It would not be long before it would be passing over New York. Over the Avengers Tower.

Chapter Text

“It’s…” For one of the very few times in her life, Shuri was lost for words.

Of course, her specializations were more in the realm of engineers than doctors, but you needed a certain level of expertise in neurobiology to design wearable weapons like the Panther suit.

She couldn’t be certain how exactly this had happened or what Stark had done to himself, but given the areas of the frontal lobe the…mutation (?) had affected…

“Are we hundred percent certain these are accurate?” one of the scientists asked.

Dr. Strange nodded. He didn’t seem surprised at the disbelief. He himself had found it unbelievable enough at first sight – in fact, had been at the point of calling Dr. Cho to ask for details when the disaster at Wakanda summoned him.

 “The areas affected are among the less known neural clusters. We aren’t entirely clear on their function-“

“We are” Shuri interrupted. “They are, to dumb it down a lot, related to what is called sixth sense. To the kind of communications that happen without any evident external signal.”

“But these kind of modifications…” one of the others leaned in closer as if a second look would provide revelations. “They seem to have caused deterioration in certain other clusters – see here?”

 “Almost cancerous, growing at the cost of surrounding neurons…”

 “There’s a concentration of modified clusters around the amygdala.”

 “No, not modified clusters, it is as if the amygdala itself has…”

 “What does it actually mean, on practical terms?” T’Challa asked. He could decipher just enough of the techno babble to be nervous. “Is Stark now telepathic? Will keeping up whatever this is kill Stark? Do we have a time limit on the threat?”

Rapidly exchanged glances among the experts.

Shuri seemed on the verge of saying something cutting, but stopped herself with a clear effort. It was one thing to mock her brother in private, quite another to commend on her king’s ignorance in front of outsiders.

“It may kill him. We can’t really tell from this. But not in the short run, anyway.”

 “As for telepathy” one of the specialists stepped in “there are indications of it…but some factors don’t match. Telepathic individuals tend to have an alteration to the… Well, not to get too technical, there are some changes in psychic brains that we can’t find in Mr. Stark’s. Telepaths also tend to be deeply empathetic, in tune to those around them. The cerebral regions associated with empathy are invariably well developed in them. Not here, though. Whatever power Extremis granted him, it is not true telepathy.”

 “These modifications are almost mechanical” Shuri added “Like implants, not growths. But there’s no sign of his having undergone surgery.”  

“From what you tell me, he couldn’t fully control any of you” Strange mused “Not directly. He had to use his AI to take control of Ms. Maximoff, then use her powers to…do what he did.”

“From what I know of Stark” T’Challa commented grimly “ he would not use the AI as a middleman if it was possible for him to do it alone.”

 “We’ll know more after I and Wong examine Ms. Maximoff.”

……………………………….

The being that was once Vision had been aware of the soldiers from the moment they entered the compound. It allowed them to carry on under the illusion of being unobserved.

Allowed them to set up their so-called fail safes and ambush points. Allowed them to believe their ridiculous charade of pretending to approach him as a small, apparently benign, group had succeeded.

Once, as Vision – and, in some dim, lost corner of its mind, as JARVIS - it had had its own moral codes. Emotions. Beliefs.

 In its current iteration, it had initially been guided by the influence of Tony Stark’s subconscious mind, linked to it as it was.

 But with both Vision and JARVIS gone in every real sense of the word, and the link between itself and Tony abruptly severed, there were no more codes of ethics to follow.

 It was now completely a machine, the only considerations it remained capable of simply those of brutal efficiency. And the purpose. The purpose Tony Stark’s mind had imposed upon it even as it was given awareness.

 “You want me to report to the Accords Authority?”

It didn’t show any change of posture or expression as Vision would have done. It didn’t show a hint of reaction in its tone as JARVIS would have done. It felt little and demonstrated even less.

 “Yes”

The officer in charge of the little group – the representatives, the remainder of the little army that had surrounded the compound ensconced in ambush points – was doing his best to disguise his fear, but the android’s sensors picked up on his heightened fight or flight response. The man knew the danger he had been ordered into. It made little difference.

 “I must ask you to excuse me” the tone was that of JARVIS, but with little of the personality behind it. “I no longer accept the Accords Authority, given its evident ineptitude. Not to mention its lax attitude towards enforcing its own measures”

“We have orders to-“

The android held up a hand as if for silence. “They are not binding upon me. I must ask you to leave the compound, gentlemen. This is private property.”

To the man’s credit, he didn’t back off. JARVIS or Vision would have appreciated the courage, felt a sympathetic jolt towards the man’s recklessness. The being that now called itself JARVIS did not. Could not.

“We don’t want to use force, Mr. Vision. But we have to-“

 That was as far as he got. The android moved forward, faster than eyes could follow.

 A few bullets were fired. They passed through the phased body of the android and embedded themselves in the walls. One ricocheted off a steel fixture and nearly took off the arm of a soldier.

Later, close examination of the security cam videos and autopsies would explain what the android did.

 Its phased arm entered the body of the officer under the left shoulder. Apparently solidified within. Moved through the torso, through ribs and lungs and heart, with the ease of a knife through butter. Emerged in the phased state outside.

There were thirteen soldiers in the group that had directly approached the android. It took less than three seconds to perform the same procedure on all thirteen. It didn’t take much longer for him to reach those who were in ambush.

…………………………………….

“No” Rhodey’s voice was a strangled whisper, barely recognizable to himself “No. You edited this. Some kind of deepfake.”

Everett Ross shook his head “Believe me, Colonel, no one wishes more than I do that this was all a fake. I sent those men out there. I will be writing the condolence letters to their families tonight.”

“Vision wouldn’t do this. Ever. And no, JARVIS wouldn’t, either. He could just have escaped. Just phased through everything and flown away or something. He didn’t have to kill.”

And he certainly didn’t have to kill so…gruesomely.

“I know. So did he” Ross touched the paused video again, restarting it. “Watch.”

 Rhodey watched in dumb horror as Vision – or whatever he was now – turned towards the camera.

“To whomever this may concern” Vision’s voice was mechanical, dead, in a way neither his nor JARVIS’ had ever been “I hope this will serve as sufficient warning to deter pursuit. I have no intention of harming anyone unnecessarily. However, this was necessary – to impress upon you that we cannot allow for opposition. Not at this point.”

He stopped for a moment, as if listening for some kind of guidance or response that never came. The pause lasted only a moment. Then the recital – and recital was exactly what it sounded like, the voice devoid of all emotion – resumed.

“There will be time for the varying opinions to be heard, time to logically and humanely convince those who would oppose us of their error. But at this point, we must concentrate on establishing control. We cannot afford to be gentle, for fear it would cost more lives than it would save, in the long run. I suggest cooperation. You cannot win.”

“What. The. Hell?” Rhodey could only stare numbly at the screen as the android finished speaking.

 “Exactly what I should be asking you, colonel” Everett Ross met his eyes with well-feigned calmness. “To begin with, who are the ‘we’ Vision refers to here?”

……………………………………….

“Tony Stark” Dr. Strange mused, his hands reflexively lingering over the Eye of Agamotto “He is the last person who should be trying to control a force of magic at all, forget chaos magic.”

Wong looked up from the book he had been examining “We should be more worried about the witch than Stark. Even trapped in the Mirror Dimension…”

 “I know”

But there was little they could do about it – about her – without more information.

 “Funny” Wong mused “There are thousands of theses written on the Scarlet Witch prophecy, even more speculations scribbled down in grimoires. But no one ever really hit on the possibility of the Witch being two people, not one.”

 “I bet no one hit on the Witch being part AI either”

 “Actually, more than a few did” Wong shrugged, ignoring Stephen’s disbelieving look “The first set turned up back when the Y2K panic was on. Hasn’t really stopped since then.”

“Uh. Well, I guess the ‘forged, not born’ part is pretty much spot on for AI…”

 “I’m more worried about the latter parts.”

 Power exceeding that of the Sorcerer Supreme.

 They had taken her off guard this time. The first confrontation had had all advantages on their side, with the Witch baffled by this new addition to her chaos.

Now, after an hour or so spent in the Mirror Dimension, she would be prepared for them. They needed to prepare as well, make sure when they finally went into the Mirror Dimension after her, they would be ready. If it was possible to be ready…

Never mind that. Screw prophecies. They dealt with Dormammu, they could deal with a crazy body snatching robot.

“So, you’re heading back to Kamar Taj?”

Wong nodded “There are some books in the library I want to check. There’s so little we know for sure about the Scarlet Witch.”

 “Put everyone on alert. Better have all the defenses fired up”

“Do you want me to tell them what the alert is about?”

Strange hesitated for a moment. The Scarlet Witch… the dreaded being of prophecy and lore… The sorcerers of Kamar Taj are not the type who panicked easily. But then again, in this situation…

 “Not yet. Inform the other Sanctum Keepers. Minoru and Grem. We may need them when we go into the Mirror Dimension after her. And inform whoever you leave in command at Kamar Taj. But no one else. Just have the Sanctums and Kamar Taj boost their defenses. Just in case.”

 Everything else aside, they had to contend with the dual aspect of this Scarlet Witch.

 From all they knew, part of the Witch was Wanda Maximoff, a girl innocent of any part in what the Witch had done, no matter what she had named herself. The active part was the AI Friday, not confined to Maximoff’s body.

The problem would be to deal with the Witch while leaving Maximoff herself unharmed - or as unharmed as she could be, given what was being done to her. A problem many of the more pragmatic sorcerers may opt not to consider, in the face of the threat.

Ah, at least, the Mirror Dimension had bought them some time.

……………………………….

This… This didn’t make any sense. At all.

 Friday reached out through all her senses, as well as the senses of the body she now wore. In the deep corner of her mind where she had been exiled to, Wanda Maximoff felt the nightmares fade for a moment.

The world she was in… Friday was not sure what had happened, but she was fully aware of the major facts. She had been separated from boss – dad. He was in danger. She had to go back. Had to protect him.

But this new world… It hurt her head, just to look at it, try to take it in. A confusing jumble of the real and unreal.

 No. Stop. Stop thinking like yourself. Think like her. Like Wanda Maximoff. Like the humans. The humans who threw her here.

 It took longer than she would have liked, longer than she could afford, with Tony out there, locked away from her, in danger. It took longer than she feared she could afford.

But finally, after what seemed an eternity, her perception of the mad world shifted. Twisted around her as it became more real, solid. Code.

After all, that was what it was. The code of the universe.

 The Scarlet Witch’s fingers moved in swift gestures. She needed no invocation, no deity’s power to course through her. She stood alone.

 Before her reaching fingers, the mirror dimension began to shatter. If the flesh and bone of her fingers started to tear too, if blood ran down her hands – Wanda Maximoff’s hands – Friday took no notice.

………………………………..

Dr Azzuri looked up from his patient as one of the interns shrieked.

 He wasn’t sure what he had expected to see – oh damnit, he knew full well he had expected to see the scarlet fire again – but it certainly was not this.

“You had agreed to let me watch the procedure” Stephen Strange shrugged, as if it was perfectly normal to appear in an operation theatre as a glowing hologram of some sort.

“Doctor?”

 To his credit, Strange seemed to realise the weirdness after a moment or so and smiled apologetically “Uh, there wasn’t really time to scrub in. I might get called back any moment if Wong found anything interesting. Figured the astral projection route was more convenient for everyone concerned.”

 Azzuri took a deep breath. Bast help them, would this day’s insanity never end? Well, why not? It wasn’t as if this was the most alarming part of this procedure.

 “Are you sure there isn’t any risk of contamination?”

“Hundred percent. I’m not physically here at all. If you prefer, I can remain invisible-“

 “No. I think everyone here would feel better if you stayed where we could keep an eye on you. As long as Mr. Barnes has no objections…”

He glanced at the patient. Given the nature of the surgery, it was not necessary – or advisable – to place Barnes under general anaesthesia. The light sedatives he had been given would not interfere in his ability to decide.

 “Why the hell not” Barnes growled “You can have the whole freaking circus in here to watch, just get on with it and carve that bastard out of my head.”

The surgeons exchanged slightly troubled glances – whatever the sedatives did, they were certainly not having the usual mellowing effect. Well, not unknown or unexpected. There was good reason for the straps that held Barnes bound to the surgical table.

None of them – not even Strange – at first noticed the minute cracks appearing on the reflective surface of the metallic walls around them. Nor the way the shadows reflected hazily upon it began to merge and change.

Chapter Text

Stephen Strange might be the Sorcerer Supreme, and excellent at that job, but his core identity was still that of the doctor.

 In the operation theatre, all his attention was focused on the patient – and on what was going on, especially since Wakandan surgical techniques made the state of the art hospitals he had worked in look about as sophisticated as a back alley clinic.

Azzuri, also there in observer status as Barnes’ psychiatrist, kept up a commentary in a low voice explaining what was going on. Partly for Strange’s benefit, partly for Barnes’.

 It was normal for patients to be awake during brain surgery, but Strange had never seen a patient who was completely alert. Usually the pre-op cocktail of drugs would have them in enough of a daze to be drifting in and out of consciousness. Better that way, given how nervous most of them tended to be.

However, either due to the super soldier serum or simple stubbornness, Sergeant Barnes was fully aware of what was happening to him. It was an eerie thing to witness.

 “The triggers have a neuropsychological basis” Azzuri kept up a soothing, semi casual tone “The nerve pathways have been modified, chemically and surgically, to program in the responses. What we are doing now…well, we’re basically blocking off some of the pathways, redirecting others…”

 Azzuri had clearly gone over all of this before with Barnes – the monologue was more for the purpose of giving Barnes something to focus on rather than anything more practical.

Strange watched, fascinated, as the lead surgeon’s hands manipulated the microscopic tools into position.

Perhaps it was unsurprising that it was Bucky who first realized something was wrong. After all, he was the only one in the room not focused on the surgery – in fact, doing everything he could to distract himself from it.

 When the shadowy reflections on the metal wall before him started to ripple, naturally his first thought was that all the poking around in his skull was starting to show effect.

Azzuri caught the spike in the heartrate monitor. “Sergeant? Sergeant Barnes?”

 “You guys had better be careful what you’re poking at” Bucky managed to keep his voice gruff, unafraid “My eyes are starting to go a bit weird.”

The surgeons paused instantly. The area they were working on was not anywhere close to the optical centers, but it was difficult to be hundred percent certain with an organ as delicate as the brain.

“Weird in what manner?” Azzuri leant in closer. “What are you seeing? Or not seeing?”

 “The shadows. Over there, on the wall.”

Strange turned to glance at it. His eyes widened in horror, but when he spoke, his tone was perfectly calm. “I don’t believe the problem is related to the surgery, sergeant.”

………………………………..

The Mirror Dimension shattered, but it was still a maze, now a maze of cutting edges and swirls of colors writhing around her. Impossible to exit, even for her…

No, not quite. Just impossible to exit unharmed. That didn’t really matter. She would heal.

Friday honestly had had no intention of entering the operation theatre. It just happened to hold the closest large reflective surfaces.

However, when Wanda’s senses reported the aura of the Winter Soldier within hands’ reach, it was too great a temptation. Even though she sensed another aura, a whirling kaleidoscope of rainbow shades, glowing with power. An aura that spelt danger, opposition. It could be dealt with.

 Her original mission remained. Instead of flitting past through the reflections, seeking a more isolated spot to emerge, she began to push herself through.

………………………………..

Azzuri gave serious consideration to the possibility that he had completely lost his mind.

That, actually, was a rather comforting thought in comparison to the possibility of this being real.

 He had seen Wanda Maximoff often enough. Had been part of the initial panel of doctors who assessed her mental state after she had been brought back from the Raft in a catatonic state. Had, after her recovery, seen her on her visits to Barnes alongside the captain and her team. Talked to her often enough.

 The figure that seemed to melt out of the wall… It wore her face, but wore it like an ill fitting mask. A torn, bloodstained, dripping mask. Weirdly, his first startled, barely coherent thought was about the sterile theater being contaminated.

He may possibly have said something of the sort, going by the ‘Are you f*cking serious’ look Barnes gave him.

 The figure that pulled itself out of the wall – the wall now seeming to sag and melt like wax in summer sun – was twisted and broken in ways that a human skeletal structure shouldn’t have been able to support.

 But she seemed as flexible as wax too, shrugging dislocated joints into place, seeming to ignore the torn, ragged pieces of her body. Some pieces of flesh, maybe a finger or two – dropped from the body.

Azzuri fought to hold back a scream, knowing that, if he started screaming now, he probably wouldn’t be able to stop.

It must have taken not more than moments, despite the eternity it seemed to be, the thing emerging out of the wall, a misshapen butterfly tearing its way out of the cocoon.

 Strange shouted something, breaking the stunned silence that had filled the room – Azzuri thought it sounded like ‘Seraphim’s Shield’. A silver white translucent force field erupted between them and the…whatever that thing was.

 Azzuri blinked, managing to marshal his tottering sanity, and turned towards his equally bewildered colleagues.

“Continue the procedure!” He glanced back at the sorcerer  “The… interruption… is more in his area of specialization. He’ll deal with it.”

Hopefully. But if he couldn’t, it wasn’t like they would stand a chance.

………………………………..

Strange was used to battling beings way outside his weight class.

That kind of went with the territory when you are the Sorcerer Supreme, in charge of defending earth against all manner of Lovecraftian lunatics that seemed to find the planet the most attractive snack in the galaxy.

 But the problem was, with those beings he could lash out with all his power, knowing they could take it – and if they couldn’t, they deserved what they got.

But this time… Whatever the nature of the being that currently controlled it, Wanda Maximoff’s body was still human. Fragile. Especially given the magical energies coursing through it.

He couldn’t unleash a spell powerful enough to harm the entity without killing the body it wore. Which left him frantically playing defense, trying to think up some way to bind her.

Behind the Seraphic Shield he had summoned, the operation was proceeding – some part of his mind found room to regret missing watching it live. If the Scarlet Witch managed to trigger Barnes at this point, the results would be nothing short of catastrophic.

Keep her distracted. Look for your chance. There’s always a chance, always a chink in the armor. You just need to be alert enough to spot it when it came around – and stay alive long enough for it to come around.

“Wanda!” he called out.

This might have been easier if he had actually met the girl before, if she had any reason to recognize his voice. Or better still, if he had one of her friends, her team, present. Never mind. Play the hand you were dealt, Stephen.

“Wanda Maximoff!” He put a tendril of Power into the words, willing them to reach through the enveloping blanket of the possessing mind, reach through to the human mind buried beneath. “Listen to me! I am here to help you!”

…………………………

Wanda, trapped within memories, trapped in the ruins of what had once been her home, in the arms of her brother’s corpse, whimpered softly.

 She was the nine year old child again, trembling, trying not to breathe in the smell of rotting bodies. She could hear the noises outside, what sounded like someone calling her name.

They were trying to dig them out – dig her out, just her, it was now always going to be just her, Pietro was gone. They were trying to dig her out, trying to save her. Her eyes went to the unexploded shell inches away.

They didn’t know. The rescuers. Whoever it was. They didn’t know about the shell, the shell marked in unforgiving white with the name Stark. The shell that might explode any moment.

One wrong move, from her or from the rescuers, one jarring motion too many, one piece of rubble dropping from the ceiling at the wrong spot…

The voice from outside continued to call. Wanda recognized her name, but it didn’t matter. It wouldn’t matter. There was no way for them to get her out, not without the shell exploding.

 She should stay silent. Stay still. Maybe if she stayed silent enough, they would think no one was left in there.

Maybe they would go away. They should go away, or the shell would kill them too. And whoever else might be outside. Better she stayed in here. Stayed buried.

Till the shell finally tired of the stupid waiting game it was playing and exploded. Mom and dad were dead. Pietro was dead. She should stay down here too, down here with them. Stay dead.

Wanda Maximoff closed her eyes tight, tried to shut out the voice calling her name, and waited , quietly, for Tony Stark to kill her.

……………………………………………..

“He will be alright” Sam said again.

 Natasha glanced at him, looking away for a moment from Steve. She didn’t answer, just nodded curtly, and turned her eyes back to Steve – as if trying to bring him back through force of will alone.

 Fragile was not a word one would normally think of applying to Captain Steve Rogers. But now, lost amid the life support equipment surrounding him, that was exactly how he looked. Fragile, and painfully young.

 Scott and Clint were outside the operation theatre, where Bucky was undergoing whatever crazy procedure it was he had signed up for (and unknown to them, the battle was raging). They were taking turns at keeping vigil.

Sam looked at Natasha. Natasha Romanov. Black Widow. Her eyes were fixed on her unconscious captain, but he knew her mind was going lightyears per minute, trying to formulate the next strategy. Whatever that could be.

As for Sam himself, it was taking practically ninety percent of his will power to keep from going into hysterics.

 It was one thing to sign up against the Accords…

Yeah, he wasn’t naïve, he knew it was going to get bad. That was okay with him. Bad, he had seen. More than enough of it. Abroad and at home.

 That he could fight. But this… What was happening now… Magic, sorcerers, body snatching AIs…

They didn’t even know what happened to Wanda. They just had the sorcerers’ word for it. For all they knew, she might have been killed, that could be what they did… Stop. Just stop. Nothing you can do about it, if that is how it went.

 “How do you deal with it?” he asked abruptly, before the rest of his brain could catch up and stop him. “Nat… How do you do this?”

Natasha’s expression didn’t change. She didn’t turn to look at him this time. Nor did she ask for any explanations. Both of them knew what he meant. And both of them knew there was no real answer she could give, nothing she could say that wouldn’t sound like platitudes.

 In the end, she just shrugged “I’m not going to let anyone take my family away. Not again. AI or god or demon, no one gets to do that.”

……………………………………..

Astral forms are extremely useful, whether it is just for extending available study time or for dimensional travel.

But in combat, they have some marked disadvantages. Especially when pitted against an enemy that did not at all care what happened to their body – probably because it was not, after all, their own.

Sorcerer Supreme or not, Strange had to admit unless something changed very quickly, he would not be the one left standing after this duel.

Dammit, where’s Wong? Surely he would know – those of Kamar Taj would know – if the Scarlet Witch had escaped the Mirror Dimension?

“Wanda!” he called out again, not with much hope this time. The true owner of the body was buried too deep within her psyche.

 “Wanda is gone” the Witch answered, letting out a shrill, eerily girlish giggle “Wanda is gone, gone and gone. She’s buried with Pietro. Poor pretty little Pietro. She won’t hurt dad again.”

 What the hell? Dad? Must be Stark, because who else would count as Dad to the freaking AI… Well, at least he had got the thing talking. In his experience, once you got your opponent talking, your chances of surviving the fight went up several notches.

 “We don’t want to hurt your dad” Strange promised.

The Witch laughed – again, the cheerful laughter of a little girl, horrifying in its very incongruity. “You’re lying. You’re with them. But that’s okay, you won’t get to hurt him either.”

Strange could sense the power building around her. She was preparing for the next strike – the one she meant to be final. And the way things were going, he could see a way too high possibility that it might actually be final.

Shields, layered one upon another, formed between them. They looked alarmingly inadequate to Strange.

“I don’t know who you are” the Witch admitted “I think Dad would have liked you. But you teamed up with them.”

 “Maybe they want to team up with your dad too, Friday”

 If the AI was as juvenile as its tone made it sound, maybe there was a chance they could… But the expression of rage on the Witch’s face at the very suggestion was enough to close down that possibility.

……………………………………..

The helicopter’s motion was making him nauseous, but Tony knew better than to show any reaction.

Not now. Not yet. Don’t let them know he’s awake. Not that he could do much of anything right now, torn in half as he was… But enough of his mind remained to let him wait.

 The soldiers – they were soldiers, he could decipher as much even with his eyes closed – spoke among themselves in quick, curt whispers as if afraid of being overheard. Maybe they did know he was awake…

 Ross wasn’t aboard. He knew that much. He also knew, that once the copter reached its destination, his chance of escape would enter the negative figures.

 If he were to act, it would have to be now, while they were in air. While the element of chaos could be introduced. But he couldn’t… No, wait, what was happening? Was he…

The change was rapid. Instantaneous, almost. He felt it like a jolt of electricity, the sudden surge of power. Friday’s presence, once again the familiar echo in the back of his mind.

 Faraway, but present. Back from wherever she had been flung into. Yes. Yes, baby girl.

Time to show them how this is going to work.

Chapter Text

He didn’t mean to crash the copter.

 Of course he didn’t. He just meant to force a landing. This was New York city, literally every skyscraper worth the name would have enough roofspace to land a copter on…right?

 It wasn’t tough to gain control of the helicopter’s engines. They were not the sophisticated computers he had controlled earlier, this was kind of like trying to drive a tractor after learning on a sports car, but even then, he probably could have managed it.

 With a bit of bruises and breaks, but he could have managed it. Except, once again, he didn’t count on the human factor.

No one who knew Tony Stark would have been surprised. People are nowhere near as easy to predict as machines.

 The pilot let out a strangled curse as the control seemed to wrench itself out of his hands. He fought it. Of course. And in the next couple of seconds when it became clear they were losing altitude, so did the co-pilot

. The machinery, Tony could have coaxed into a mostly safe landing. But when the inexperienced technopath and alarmed pilots struggled in opposite directions…

 “Let go of it, you idiot!” Tony shouted as the copter careened dangerously in mid air. “Let me do it!” 

Too late, even had the soldier been inclined to give over control. Especially since more than one of the guards surrounding Tony started forward, upsetting the delicate balance of the machine still further.

 “He’s gonna crash the damn thing!” one of the younger soldiers shouted “Shut him down!”

Someone – maybe a medic – moved forward, a syringe no doubt loaded with a powerful sedative in hand, but there was no time. Not for them. And not for him, either. Tony screamed as the copter lurched, the engines struggling in the grip of contrary commands.

He knew full well what a crash would do to everyone aboard. No, get it under control, slow it down, slow it… Oh God, what did I…

“Friday!” he wasn’t sure whether he actually shouted the name aloud or if it was merely in his mind. “Friday, help!”

………………………………

Strange prepared himself for the coming onslaught. In his own body, protected by the relics he wore, the reflexes he had trained into himself, he would have been able to withstand it. But as he was, stripped of all protection, with his mind and soul vulnerable to whatever might come… He could only hope his counter spell – dying curse though it might turn out to be – would hold off the Witch from her targets long enough for Wong to arrive with reinforcements. “

You chose the wrong team” the Witch said, scarlet fire spilling from her fingers.

With no incantation to guide it, the flames shaped themselves into daggers shapes, Xylokian blades, a spell too dangerous to use unless as the absolute last resort. But she wielded them effortlessly, in tune to the chaos as if they were in her blood. Strange’s shields held firm – for now. He knew only too well the next few moments would see them falter, then break.

 Damn it. Not the kind of end to his career that he had envisioned… She hesitated. One moment. One crucial moment, as if distracted by a cry elsewhere. Turned her head as if to glance around at something – someone – only she could see. A momentary distraction. That was enough.

 Strange lashed out, conjuring the Rings of Raggador to bind her. Might have been smarter to use another spell, a harsher one, but there was none he could think of that would incapacitate the Witch without killing Wanda Maximoff.

The Witch cried out, part in surprise, part in rage. To Strange’s own surprise, she made no effort to fight back, to strike again.

At a barked command, a flick of the wrist, a portal tore open in the air behind her. In the space of an instant, before the sorcerer’s spell could bind her, she was gone.

…………………………………..

Foggy stared in horror at the screen.

The news cameras, which had till a few minutes ago been glued to the Stark Industries HQ or the Avengers Tower – no doubt in hope of further arrests or at least a press conference – had now congregated on the out of control helicopter careening wildly across the sky. Too low, way too low.

“It’s a military copter” he kept up the description, more out of reflex than anything else “All black, no markings. Like the conspiracy theory copters. But there are military guys on it, that drone got close enough to take a look at them, some kinda special forces folk. Like the ones we saw on TV earlier arresting that War Machine guy.”

Karen didn’t look up from her phone “They think it’s got Tony Stark aboard. Those guys – they’re the same who went to arrest Stark.”

“God, it’s gonna crash!” Foggy couldn’t help the way his voice went up another two notches in pitch “It almost crashed into that apartment tower there, took out a chunk of the building. It’s on fire! God, they’re all gonna get killed! It’s gonna-“ he turned around, eyes wide in horror “It’s got to be Stark, right, Matt? He’s… Matt!”

 Of course Matt’s seat was empty. The briefcase which had held the suit open and discarded.

“Dammit” Foggy buried his face in his hands. Karen sighed. It wasn’t like they should have expected anything different.

……………………………….

“What the hell you think you can do?” MJ shouted over the phone. If she was in the same room with him she might have seriously considered just grabbing her idiot BFF and locking him in the nearest available closet.  “You can’t fly to that copter or anything!”

Peter didn’t pause in pulling on the Spidey suit.  Yeah, he couldn’t fly to the rescue. But the supers who could do that were no longer available, were they?

 “You’ll get arrested!”

Or killed.  Especially since everything had already been turned upside down.

No one knew what was going to happen to the Sokovia Accords, meaning way too many were fired up about it. All they needed now was for some trigger happy cop to see the spider suit and think ‘illegal vigilante’ while he could.

Peter hesitated a moment more, checking on Aunt May. Thank heavens her early morning shift meant an early bed time with noise cancelling headphones. She had missed the latest furor – and hopefully would miss the fact that her nephew was out of bed and out the window long after his curfew.

………………………..

“God in Heaven” Everett Ross’ voice was a strangled whisper.

 He had already lost an entire mission team today. Was he to lose this crew as well? He had come running in from his interrogation of Colonel Rhodes – an interrogation that was unlikely to yield any real results, he knew, but had to be gone through just in case.

The pilot was doing everything he could to keep the copter in air, but even from here they could see it was a losing battle. A few more seconds and it would be over.

Stark, strapped to the gurney, seemed as much or more panicked as any of them. If he had been the cause of this, it had certainly not gone according to his plan. Welcome to the club, buddy, Everett Ross thought with a trace of bitter amusement.

A part of him wondered whether this wouldn’t be the best option, after all. Tony Stark dead in the crash. Yes, they would still have the robots to deal with, but rogue robots would be a far easier spin publicity wise than the former hero gone homicidal.

“Wait, what’s-“

 A scarlet flash of light. Eerily reminiscent of what he had seen in the satellite images of Wakanda, and whatever had happened there.

 A young woman, surrounded by what looked like a halo of flames, appeared out of thin air next to the copter. Floating serenely in mid air.

The copter was lurching too badly, the camera feed too distorted, for the observers to figure out what exactly happened. But after a moment of chaos and scarlet flames, Tony Stark was floating beside her, held suspended in a ring of fire of his own. The copter plunged towards the ground.

………………………………..

Matt had absolutely no idea what he thought he could actually do.

As Foggy would no doubt remind him once he got back, he wasn’t the kind of superhero who could catch falling helicopters. But he could no longer bear to stay within their office, watching as the world seemed to go to pieces around them yet again.

 It had been cathartic to stay and watch in barely suppressed glee (he would probably have to mention that in confession) as Stark, Stark Industries and the Accords fell apart in real time.

But all notion of delicious karma had ceased the instant the android Vision’s ‘warning’ went out in the air. As he dashed across the rooftops, he could hear the movement of forces on the roads beneath him.

SWAT, National Guard, military… Heavily armed forces converging on what looked like the soon to be epicenter of yet another super hero battle. Again.

And this time it would not be against aliens, against obvious monsters. He could hear the prayers, sobs, curses, of the people in the homes he passed. The people whom the Accords were supposed to protect. The people who were yet again in the line of fire as titans battled.

Okay, he probably wouldn’t be able to do much against Iron Man or genocidal robots. But he could do what he could to make sure the body count would be a bit lower than it would otherwise have been.

…………………………

Peter saw the copter beginning to fall. The jet black copter would normally have been invisible in the night sky, but the scarlet light that wreathed it – now joined by what looked like regular fire – made it all too clear what was happening.

There wasn’t time to plan, time to think. What he did was pure instinct. And, as he would shakily admit later, dumb luck. Even before his conscious brain had processed the idea – and screamed at its sheer insanity – webs shot from his hands at the falling helicopter.

Later, Peter would spent hours trying to recreate exactly what he did and how, never to meet with complete success. He darted back and forth between the skyscrapers, weaving the web fast enough that later news cameras would show his form blurred with speed.

 In a matter of seconds, the broken copter hung suspended precariously between skyscrapers, held aloft by the web. Webs, that were already burning away as the flames consuming the copter advanced. Peter shot more web fluid to cover the parts consumed, but he could see it was going to be an ongoing battle. There were people inside the copter – he could see them. Mr. Stark and the lady, whoever she was, they were both gone. But the soldiers…they were still inside.

 “Stay still!” Peter yelled, seeing their movement rock the copter on its unsteady cradle.

He had to get to them, get them out of there… But the fire kept burning away the webs, he had to keep replacing them or the copter would fall, he couldn’t be two places at once. Maybe, just maybe, if he was really really fast…

“I’ve got it” a voice said from beside him.

 Peter let out a startled yelp, but the lack of Spidey Sense alerts had already confirmed he was in no danger. Not from here, anyway.

“Daredevil?”

 The other vigilante grinned, somehow managing to look not ridiculous in that suit of his. Being framed by flames helped, probably (And why the hell was his dumbass brain checking out the other guy’s costume instead of, you know, working on how to get everyone out of this alive?)

“Keep up the webwork” Daredevil ordered, then darted forward. Peter was more than half convinced he’d miss the leap and fall forty stories down, but he made it – and somehow managed to land so light that the web cradle barely felt the impact. “Hi. In case you haven’t worked it out already from the webs, we’re here to help”

The soldiers may be Accords forces, but none of them were dumb enough to try and open fire on their rescuers while hanging suspended in air.

……………………….

The suit was somewhat fireproof, but nowhere near as much as he would have preferred. Matt grimaced slightly as he burnt his hand – again – on the blazing hot metallic sides of the copter. The soldiers, no matter under whose command they were, were well trained.

He had to give them that. No panic. No hurry. Good sense of balance. And apparently no sense of the irony in being rescued by an unregistered vigilante after almost dying at the hands of their Accords Poster Boy, a saltier part of his mind added.

 Never mind that. You can preach after everyone is back on firm ground. No serious injuries, thank heavens. He wasn’t sure how exactly they would have managed it if someone was too badly hurt to be moved.

“Piggyback. Hold on to me. Think you can manage that?”

 The young soldier he was addressing looked at him, glanced out and down at the ground, and nodded. Matt let the guy clamber onto his back.

Not exactly a comfortable hold, but he needed both hands free to make the jump. One bound landed them on the ledge of the nearest building, another leap from that anchoring point brought them safe to land on the roof of the building next door.

 “Stay put” Matt ordered, then darted forward again.

There were more soldiers aboard. Perhaps too many, he admitted, sensing the crackle of flames over the webs, the smoke choking his nose and his senses. Give him his due, Spider-Man is fast.

He better be, the part of his mind that sounded like Claire scoffed. If not…

He shut down Claire’s voice. Unlike with the real Claire, it was easy to do that in his own head.

……………………………

Over a multitude of screens, people watched the rapid rescue mission. It seemed far longer than it actually lasted.

 The two vigilantes, one in the red and blue spider suit effectively holding the copter aloft, darting back and forth to shoot web over whatever regions got burnt away, the other darting in and out of the doomed copter, carrying the soldiers with what looked like deceptive ease.

 In her room, MJ’s nails dug deep into her palms, drawing blood, as she watched. Ned, in his own room, had his face hidden behind his hands.

In their quiet office, Karen Page cursed fervently under her breath. Foggy Nelson had his eyes closed, muttering frantic prayers to whoever might be listening.

 In a distant bunker, Thaddeus Ross watched the live video feed.

 Relief, that he hasn’t lost more of his men. Seething rage at the realization they owed their lives to two of the best known unregistereds.

And still unacknowledged horror at the fact that Stark and the girl – facial recognition software had already identified her as Wanda Maximoff – was out there somewhere.

Chapter Text

Foggy’s first reaction to seeing Matt reappear was, predictably, to hug him. His second was, equally predictably, to yell at him for being a freaking idiot with the survival instincts of a squirrel on crack cocaine.

“Now that is an insult I haven’t heard before” Matt grinned, still flying high on adrenaline.

Foggy threw up his arms in despair “Karen, when I inevitably drop dead of a heart attack before I even hit thirty five, be sure to sue this bastard for a Wrongful Death.”

 “I’m pretty sure that’s not how that law works-“

 “I don’t care how it works, you are getting sued!”

 Karen nodded “I’m with Foggy on this one.”

 Matt groaned and threw himself on to the sofa in a posture of mock despair “Traitors, all of you.”

He didn’t even need the radar sight to sense Karen and Foggy’s eyes on him, searching for any injury. It was a mixture of sweet and annoying. Well, this time he had gotten lucky. Only a couple of burns.

 Though there had been a moment back there when it had dawned on him he was in the presence of a bunch of Thunderbolt Ross’ most loyal Accords forces, all of whom were armed and legally within their rights to take down an unregistered vigilante…

Of course, even fanatic obedience tended to have its limits. It might have been different with Thunderbolt himself there, but the soldiers had clearly had no problem letting him and Spidey make their getaway (he would have to get around to meeting Spidey soon, they worked pretty well together).

“Where did they go? Stark and whoever – or whatever – it was that came to get him? Is there anything on news?”

 “Wanda Maximoff” Karen stated. “They got a good enough look at her to tell for sure. It was Wanda Maximoff.”

Matt sat up, startled “Wait, what? Aren’t they like…”

 Karen shrugged “Who knows? The talking heads are going wild.”

 “Most popular theory is that Stark had Maximoff as his sleeper agent” Foggy added. “Runner up is that Maximoff is running the show and Stark is her latest boy toy”

 Matt let out a choked laugh “Stark must love hearing that one”

…………………………………

“I leave for five minutes and…” Wong shook his head in exasperation “You sure you are alright?”

Strange raised an eyebrow “You’ve checked three times already.”

 “You went one-on-one with the Scarlet Witch while in your Astral Form – why in the name of all that is sane were you in your astral form anyway, no, don’t answer that. Excuse me for being concerned.”

“I am alright – nothing but my ego bruised. She fled the scene to go rescue Stark. Barnes had his procedure done, successfully as far as they can tell. I really should get Azzuri to give me any recording of the operation they have, it was fascinating-“

“Priorities, Stephen!”

“We have been unable to track them” T’Challa said, entering the room.

 Both sorcerers looked up, not particularly surprised. After all, their own methods of surveillance hadn’t yielded results either.

 “What about the robot?” Wong asked “Vision?”

“We were tracking him” Shuri frowned “Vibranium has a unique energy signature, it wasn’t tough to get a satellite scanning for-“

“You were? ” Strange noted the past tense.

“Vision vanished from the Avengers compound – his last known location – moments after Stark’s rescue” T’Challa said. “I believe we can safely assume he has joined Stark.”

 “Good” Strange smiled.

The other three looked at him as if he had lost his mind. He smiled, indicating the Eye of Agamotto.

 Wong frowned “You can’t…”

 “I won’t use the time stone” Strange promised hurriedly, seeing his expression “Not the way you mean. But the Stones… they wish to unite…”

 Wong’s frown smoothened out as he caught on to the plan.

T’Challa and Shuri exchanged puzzled glances. “You told us your spells could not track them”

 “We can’t track the Scarlet Witch” Strange admitted “She’s learned from her mistake – the unique signature of the chaos magic alerted us when she first used it here. She has figured out how to cover it. And how to use that very same chaos to hide herself from us.”

“We can’t track her – or Stark as long as he is with her” Wong added “Chaos masks them – both from our magic and your machines.”

“But the android Vision…” Strange smiled “He has the Mind Stone – another Infinity Stone – embedded in himself. And I have here the Time Stone. Like calls to Like.”

 “Be careful” Wong suggested, with the air of a man who knows he won’t be obeyed, but feels honor bound to make the attempt “She might detect what you’re doing.”

…………………………………..

“Dad?” “Be quiet, sweetie” Tony flicked a hand absently “Dad’s thinking.”

 Friday’s expression twisted for a moment in hurt, but smoothened out near instantly. That moment’s flicker had her looking too much like the witch for Tony’s linking, though. He didn’t want any reminders of her – or of the so called team.

Once things are back in control again, he decided swiftly, he will get Friday’s new body a plastic surgery makeover. Can’t have her looking so much like the witch. Give her the Stark look, if not the genes.

He had initially intended to build her a new body altogether, like he had done for Vision. But now that they could see what the witch’s body was capable of, once freed of her pesky little mind… Yes, it certainly had possibilities.

But speculations on his future family – one that he could literally build for himself, one that wouldn’t turn on him like the rest of them had – would have to wait. Right now, they had this situation to sort out.

“The news media – as well as social media – are speculating on your connection to Ms Maximoff, sir” even coming from the traitor android’s body, JARVIS’ voice was reassuring. Even if the words were not. At all. “Surprisingly, the theory that the Avengers and Rogue Avengers have joined forces is not getting much traction”

Apparently, perhaps as a form of panic reaction, the internet hivemind had decided to stick with the two-team image. Team Captain America Vs Team Iron Man. And with Iron Man having apparently gone rogue, they needed to believe Team Captain America was on the opposing side.

To accept that the two metahuman teams might have merged in their rebellion would probably be too terrifying to accept – and would not make half as compelling a story.

 Tony moved closer to the TV screen before him.  Beneath the Avengers Tower he could see the gathered news crews and assorted military/police big guns. Idiots. As if any of them could be of any use if he really decided to…

“Sir?” JARVIS interrupted his chain of thought “Our next move…”

“We will move when I say we move”

He had acted too fast, before. Without thinking. Let them goad him into moving before he was ready. Not going to play it that way again. Factor it all in. The newcomers. The sorcerers. Already his extremis enhanced mind was gathering data.

Kamar Taj. Dr Stephen Strange. Sorcerer Supreme. For people who were supposed to be magic, they put a whole lot out there on the web. And that was now and ever, his playground.

 It wasn’t tough to find what he needed, with Extremis pouring information into his mind almost faster than he could think. Almost.

…………………………………….

Steve was not sure what was happening, not quite yet. It was a struggle to force his eyes to open. Glued shut, he thought dazedly. Got them glued shut.

The pain was submerged beneath what must be a heavy dose of sedatives, but he could feel it there, surging against the chemical bonds. Everything felt so heavy, unwieldy…

Going back to sleep sounded like a very attractive idea, but he couldn’t… There was something he had to do, something he was trying to do before… Before whatever had happened…

“Steve? Stevie?”

That was one voice that could reach him no matter how deep he had gone. One voice that would reach him even in death, he sometimes believed.

Awareness was slowly beginning to come back up to full speed. His hand signaled someone was holding it.

“Bucky?” his voice sounded barely above a whisper even to himself.

 “I’m here” Bucky’s voice sounded weird, choked with tears…

How bad was it, whatever had happened?

When memory returned, it did as it usually was with him – in a sudden, horrifyingly clear flash. Wanda, Tony, the Soldier…

That was enough to force his eyes open. Bucky must have caught sight of the panic in his eyes. He hated that, hated Bucky might think he was scared of him, but couldn’t help it. What happened? How…

 “It’s okay” Bucky was crying, he realized. And probably had little idea that he was crying. He had that look. “It’s okay. I swear. He’s gone. Gone for good.”

He? Who… “Stark? Tony’s dead?”

Bucky shook his head, looking genuinely puzzled that was where Steve’s first thought had gone “Him. The soldier. He’s gone.”

………………………………….

“It won’t be smart to move on Stark now” Thaddeus Ross said.

 He intentionally did not mention what they all knew only too well. There was absolutely no chance of moving on Stark, regardless of what they wanted. Even if they could find out where he was or what he was doing.

 “Are his associates cooperating?” the president looked even older than he was, but Ross supposed they had better be thankful he was holding up as well as he was.

 “Colonel Rhodes already gave us everything he knew. He was holding out at first, but once we showed him the videos of what the robot did to the soldiers… Yes, he came clean. I would bet my reputation on it.” What little reputation is left.

“And Ms. Potts?”

“She says she has given us everything she knows. Which is a lot, admittedly. But about her… I’m less sure.”

 “You believe she is hiding something?”

 Ross shook his head “If it was something as solid as belief, I would have already had her arrested and under… somewhat harsher interrogation. Call it more of a hunch.”

 “We will need far more than that”

 “I’m fully aware of it, sir.”

  Not much he could say, really. Secretary of Defense indeed… Ross was a man devoted to his duty. No matter what that duty called him to do. No matter what it cost him.

 He had thought he knew how failure tasted, how it felt like to see his carefully arranged strategies go down in ashes around him. He had thought he knew it with Bruce Banner and Betty. But this… This was far worse than anything even the Abomination could have been responsible for…

 No. Stop. There will be time to go down that route later, time to autopsy your every action, every decision. For now, focus on the danger. You started this. End it.

 “The Accords might still be salvaged. The Android Vision’s…announcement… might prove helpful in that regard. He has come up in person as opposing the Accords. Perhaps, if we could spin it so that it seems the metahumans – including Stark and the formerly pro accords Avengers – are doing this to target the Accords… It will be difficult, but we can play on public sympathy by-“

“You fool” the president’s voice was level, but filled with a kind of dazed disbelief as if he couldn’t believe what the man before him was saying “You utter, pathetic old fool.”

 “Sir? Mr. President?”

“Mr. Secretary. Do you really believe the public perception of the Accords is a concern here?”

 “Sir-“

“Tony Stark – Iron Man – has gone rogue. Hell, gone rogue is a ridiculous understatement. Gone homicidal. One of the most intelligent men in the nation – perhaps in the world – is now an unhinged technopath. He has with him an android that slaughtered two dozen of our best men in a matter of seconds. He also has with him a reality warper who is known to have severe mental and emotional issues.”

Yes. But the Accords issue is the only thing I can even imagine a way of dealing with. “Mr. President, we are trying to-“ “I have contacted Phil Coulson.”

 Everyone in the room knew that meant contacting the Rogue Avengers. Agent Coulson had done an admirable job of staying officially clean, but there was never any doubt where his loyalties truly lay. Especially after that ridiculous business with the enhanced under his command.

“I would not recommend that, sir.”

“I am aware of it. But much as it pains me to admit it…your recommendations are no longer considered particularly valuable, Mr. Secretary. Or valid, for that matter.”

……………………………………..

Pepper knew full well what was happening. And that there were very few ways for this to end, none of them good. All she could do – all anyone could do – was damage control. But she could do it better than most…

“I’m sorry” she whispered, not sure who she was apologizing to.

 It felt eerie to be in the Tower alone. The Tower that had been home for a long while… The blazing A on it was still there. For some reason, her eyes kept going back to it.

Stupid. Stop. No time for nostalgia. No time to get lost in memories, or worse, speculations of what might have been. You know better than that.

Perhaps it would have been better to have turned over all the information to Ross, as Rhodey had done. Let him do what he wished with it.

He had the resources of the entire US government – hell, given the panic at the moment, the resources of the entire world – at his call. Maybe she should have let him deal with this.

But of course, that had never really been an option, had it? And not just because she trusted Ross about as far as she could throw him. This… It felt right to be doing this alone. She briefly considered doing this by word-of-mouth or paper trail, low tech. but that would be a pointless waste of time.

If what they suspected was right, Tony would have access to anything that was done or said – regardless what level of technology they used. Or so it was assumed at this point. No way to be sure. Of anything. Anything at all. Her fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard.

Short messages. Codes. No letters or numbers. Nothing Tony would be able to get his code breaking algorithms to translate. Little references. Callbacks. Nicknames. All to veil what was actually being said. All to buy time.

She could only pray it would be enough.

Chapter Text

Pepper Potts was no scientist. She had little idea of the complexities that went into the machinery and software around which her fortune and her life revolved.

But she knew people. And she knew who could be counted on. Especially now. The years spent networking, building connections, the smiles and inanities exchanged, the parties, the interminable board meetings, the network.

It was going to pay off now. At least, she prayed it would. There was nothing else they could do.

“Yes” she spoke hurriedly into the phone. She didn’t dare spend more than a minute on each call. If Tony recognized what was happening… “The satellite network. No, it’s not complete yet, nowhere near as powerful as it was planned to be – it’s just in the first phases, but the way he is now…”

“The way he is now” Pepper let out a startled cry as the once well known voice spoke from behind her. “The way I am now. Is it to be that way, Pep?”

 Tony  stood there. Flanked by Wanda and Vision – only, they weren’t Wanda or Vision anymore, were they?

“Tony?” Pepper let the phone drop from her hand.

How did he… Oh, don’t be stupid. He has a reality warper standing beside him, if half of what is said of Wanda Maximoff is true.

Asking how he managed to get unseen into the secured Tower would be rhetorical. The question was why.

 “They are looking for you” she said at last, not getting up from her chair.

Don’t move. Don’t look angry. Don’t give him – them – a reason. She had seen what the robot – she wasn’t going to call it Vision or JARVIS, she knew them and this wasn’t either – had done to the soldiers.

 “I know” Tony shrugged, strolling around the room nonchalantly. “And you were looking for me too, weren’t you? You haven’t told them about EDITH.”

 Pepper nodded. “It isn’t really EDITH yet, is it? You had just started work on it. Only a couple of the satellites have been launched.”

 He hadn’t told her, to be exact. It was just facts she had gathered looking through the papers after…after Siberia.

When they had been desperate to find out something, anything, that would tell them what to do for him. When she had thought everything would turn out alright if they could just heal Tony, wake him…

When she hadn’t realised just how deep Tony’s sickness went.

“It hadn’t been” Tony smiled pleasantly “But it’s surprising just how fast you can change things…”

Technopath. The word had been getting thrown around a lot since the world first heard of Iron Man going rogue, but it had taken her a little too long to understand just how deep it went. Just how much danger they were in.

“The satellites…”

“I have more than the ones we launched” Tony acknowledged “Far more. You’d be surprised at the kind of things folk put up there, Pep. A lot of it was cold war era, I think. Trash. Or it was trash. But, hey, recycling is the call for the day, right?”

“EDITH is online” Pepper sighed.

 She paid no attention to the way the walls behind her warped and changed, the machinery in the Tower responding to Tony’s – or maybe the robot’s – commands.

The Tower Ultron had once torn apart. The Tower Loki had tried to rule from.

It had been a bad idea to rebuild it after Ultron, an inane thought popped into her mind. It brought bad luck.

“Yes” Tony agreed, his tone pleasant. “I didn’t expect to find you here though, Pep. Thought you’d be in some bunker now, like Ross and the president and what not.”

“It was suggested, yes”

 Most of the Board are now in bunkers of one kind or the other. Those who build weapons plan for the consequences, after all.

She had refused. Honestly, she wasn’t sure  why. That was an unusual move. A stupid move, actually. Trying to play the hero, trying to stand against things she has no chance of facing.

That’s not like her.

Pepper Potts – Virginia, think of yourself as Virginia, the name Pepper seems somehow tainted now, with the man who gave her that name, the man she once loved, standing before her, hands stained with blood – is no coward, but she knows how to pick her battles.

Choose only those you know you can win. Or the ones you are willing to die for.

“Did you know I’d come back here?” Tony asked, seeming genuinely curious.

“I thought so. This…this is where it all began, wasn’t it?”

 Iron Man was one thing. But it was with the Avengers that this had truly begun.She could see them now – she and Tony, standing together, bickering pleasantly, Agent Agent…

How simple things had been, then.

You don’t get a more black-and-white battle than a mad god invading with an army of monsters versus the hurriedly assembled ragtag bunch of heroes. Straight out of Justice League.

Pepper felt tears prickling the corners of her eyes.

 Tony nodded. Perhaps it was her imagination, but it seemed a shadow passed over his face too, as if he too was trying to remember when he could have turned back.

 “Loki is dead” he spoke musingly “Died a hero. Thor told us…he was crying when he told us. Crying and smiling. Proud of his little brother, missing him like hell, even after everything. You don’t expect this big badass Viking god to cry, would you? But then again, when you are literally a god, I guess you don’t need to try and look macho…”

 “You’re close to a god yourself right now, aren’t you, Tony?” she kept her voice calm, casual. Like they are just standing here, chatting, the way they used to.

He shook his head. “No”

 “No?” A moment of hope…only to be dashed aside in an instant.

"Not a god. Not like Thor. I am God, now, Pep. Or the closest thing we got.” He closed his eyes, sighing. “And it’s hell.”

“Tony?”

 “I see everything. I hear everything. I know everything. How…how fragile everyone is… I was angry at first, you know. Really really angry. At Cap, at you, at…everyone. Even angry at Rhodey”

He chuckled, as if remembering some long ago college folly. “Can you imagine? I was angry at Rhodey, of all people.”

 “You aren’t angry anymore?” Pepper glanced at Wanda/Friday and the robot.

They stood eerily still, as if awaiting Tony’s commands. As if they had no more volition. He followed her glance, and seemed to understand what she was thinking.

“They…are preparing.”

 “Preparing?” That could not mean anything good, not the way things were right now…

Tony shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

 There was something mocking about his gaze. “What, do you want me to do the whole Bond Villain round? Brag about my undefeatable doomsday plans so that the plucky heroine can throw a spanner in at just the right moment?”

 She sighed. “Not really. Then again, I’m no heroine. If I was, I would have stopped this long before it got this far.”

 He didn’t bother to contradict her. His eyes were fixed on the city skyline before them. She had the impression he was picturing an entirely new one to replace it.

“Tony?”

 “Hmm?” he didn’t turn to meet her eyes.

Pepper had a sudden, insane urge to lunge for the desk, for the pepper spray she had never lost the habit of keeping around. Not because she had any hope of hurting him, simply to break this…this contrast of normality and utter insanity.

She pushed down the madness. Someone had to be the sane one. As always, that was to be her role. “You said you were angry at us. You mean you aren’t, now?”

“No” his tone made it sound as if that should have been obvious.

“Not even at Cap? And Bucky?”

She used the more familiar name instead of ‘Barnes’, intentionally. It didn’t elicit any reaction.

 “Not anymore. You see, I spent some time – maybe a long time – thinking. After I left. You know, after that stupid mistake with the helicopter. You see, I didn’t understand, then. I was just…just angry. Lashing out”

 He laughed, as if in good natured self deprecation, the way he used to once laugh, at a time that now seemed unreachably in the past, about his drunken shenanigans.

“It hasn’t been very long since the crash, Tony” Pepper suggested gently.

He shrugged again, taking the contradiction in his stride. “I guess it wasn’t, for you. But the thing is, my mind is different now, Pep. I can slow it down, speed it up… I was thinking – listening, mostly – for a very long time.”

And you came out of that to proclaim yourself God.

Tony smiled, his expression placid. “I’m not angry anymore. Just…Just sad, I guess.”

 Pepper managed to summon up a smile herself “We can still set things right, Tony”

 “I am going to” Tony agreed, but it was only too clear they had extremely different ideas what setting things right meant.

……………………………………..

“New York?” Wong blinked. “Are you sure you didn’t…”

 Strange shook his head “I know.”

The Time Stone, nestled in his hand, pulsed a gentle green. It was awake, awake and searching for its kin.

“Stark would have to be insane to return there” T’Challa frowned. “He surely has to know…”

“He would have to be insane to do a lot of the things he has recently done” Natasha pointed out.

“The Infinity Stone is in New York” Strange declared. “There is no error in that. Vision – or whatever lives in his body now – is there. But whether Stark and Friday are with him, I cannot say.”

 “We’ve got to warn Fury” Clint said “Whether it’s just one or all three, you know it spells trouble. If they were just lying low they wouldn’t have gone straight to NY.”

 “We’ll have to narrow it down a bit, though” Nakia was already despatching messages to Wakandan operatives in the area “New York is…well, pretty big. And messy.”

“I will” Strange’s hand closed around the Time Stone once more “But you had better warn whoever should be warned already.”

“You should try for a closer look” Wong suggested. Astral projections could travel far swifter than even Iron Man could. “Be careful, though. If the Witch is there…”

Strange nodded, returning his gaze to the pulsing green of the Stone. Let it envelope him. Enter him. The others in the room seemed to fade, disappear.

The Time Stone. Infinity. One of the building pieces, one of the keystones of the Universe. Strange focused on it, on the pulsing power that surrounded it. Was one with it.

“Eye of Agamotto” he spoke softly, the tone belying the power of the words uttered “Eye of Agamotto, awaken, arise and be one with thy wielder”

The Chaos magic might be an impenetrable barrier to the normal forms of scrying, but there was no force which could resist this fundamental rule of the universe. The Infinity Stones, no matter how far apart, yearned to join once again.

 The Time Stone now called to its sister, reached out across the world for it. There were very few sorcerers who could accompany it in that yearning without being swallowed up by its power.

 But Stephen Strange had already gained its trust. The years – yes, it had been years, years that he will never speak of – in the Dark Dimension, the deaths, it had witnessed him being pushed past any reasonable limit for a mortal mind and still stand firm.

 It accepted him as Wielder, as comrade. The sentience of the Infinity Stone reached out to envelope the sorcerer’s mind in itself.

Strange let it. This was always the most difficult part of it for him, the point where one had to surrender control. Not an action that had ever come easily to him.

 Finally, it was done. The sorcerer’s body, still left in levitating lotus position, was no more than a shell now.

His eyes took on the eerie green glow of the Time Stone, no longer seeing anything in the room before him.

…………………………………

“Tony” Pepper was surprised it wasn’t too difficult to keep up the casual tone. This was all so surreal that it was easy to slip into the calmness one sometimes discovered in dreams. “What are you going to do?”

 “Set things right” he shrugged, like telling a child that sky is blue.

“How?”

He smiled, shaking his head. “Let’s not talk about that right now. I am glad I found you here, Pep. It’s…appropriate.”

 “I guess.”

 She remembered only too well, that file passing from Agent Coulson’s hands to hers and from hers to Tony’s. she could almost feel it in her grip now. What would have happened, if she had refused, if Tony had refused…

Stop. Just stop, Virginia.

“I loved you, you know”

“Loved?”

 He nodded, expression sympathetic. “When I was human.”

 “And you…don’t, anymore, because I helped-“

 “Oh, Pep…” he shook his head gently, like correcting a slow child “I’ve already told you. I’m not angry at anyone anymore. It’s…it’s tough to be angry at people so…broken.”

“And it is tough to love a mortal when you are a god?”

He smiled “You understand, then.”

 “A bit”

He chuckled. “You think you’re delaying me, right, Pep?”

She paused.

“No, don’t bother to deny it. And don’t worry. I don’t mind it. Especially since you aren’t delaying me at all.”

“Tony, I…”

He placed a hand on her shoulder. She couldn’t help the shudder that passed through her. He didn’t seem to mind. Or notice, really.

 “I’ve already done everything that needs to be done, Pep. The rest of it, the fine tuning, Friday and JARVIS are attending to now. It’s…inevitable.”

He took her hand. She let him. There seemed no point in resisting. There was a frightening curiosity in his eyes as he looked down at their linked hands.

“So fragile. So lost. It will be a mercy.”

“What will be a mercy, Tony?”

 She already knew, of course. Knew it from the moment he began to talk of Godhood. After all, has there ever been a God who didn’t want the world to be made – or remade – in His image?

“I’d like you to stay a little while” Tony said “Actually, I’m not sure why.”

 “You are going to kill me. You are going to kill us all.”

“No, of course not. Not all of you. Just enough”

“Just enough” she echoed.

Tony smiled “I know you don’t understand. That is okay. I wouldn’t have understood either. Not before. Not before I saw how things really were.”

He waved a hand around as if in a grand gesture inviting all to look around.

“It’s just how it is, Pep. It’s not your fault you can’t understand.”

……………………………………………….

The Tower.

 Strange supposed he shouldn’t be surprised to find Stark here. It was, after all, a nexus of sorts. Even without Stark’s personal ties to the place, there would be something about the place, about the ground zero of 2012 invasion, that would have called one in his position.

Stark stood before the one way glass of the wall, gazing out with a pleasant smile. His aura betrayed the falsity of that calm.

It…it burned and boiled, a seething mass that shifted from one shade to another in moments. Not putrid and dead, like the auras of Kaecillus and his comrades had been, but no less horrible for that life in it.

  Strange winced as he focused on it. Even after everything, he couldn’t help but pity any being who was caught in the midst of that churning madness.

 He could guess what was happening. And it was starting to scare him a little.

Ms Potts stood beside Stark, her hand in his. Not willingly, if her aura was anything to go by. But there was enough bluish grey of steel in it not to fear her crumbling. Not just yet, anyway.

The Scarlet Witch…

 Stephen dared not approach her too closely. But he could feel the link between her mind and Stark’s. And the android. He too.

 All three of them linked together, Stark as the linchpin. And more than anything else, he sensed the Mind Stone.

He could hear it cry out. Hear it pulse. It had been melded to its current wielder so long that to be suddenly bereft of that link is agony. It needs a wielder. And seeking one, it keeps lashing out like a trapped animal.

 Strange could feel the waves of power that surged out with every pulse of it. If Stark had been around this long, nothing to wonder about the seething mass that is his aura.

The Time Stone felt its sibling’s agony, and responded. Joined to a trusted, beloved wielder, it could feel quite clearly what the other once had and lost.

Stephen followed. He was not going to risk tapping into the Stone’s power. It would be blunder for any mortal to choose to wield two infinity stones at once.

But if he could reach through it, reach the mind of the being they called Vision…

It was a mistake. His attempt took him close, too close, to the three way nexus Stark, the Witch and the Android had built between themselves.

Chapter Text

“I have the scans of your mind” Tony mused “And Rhodey’s. And a lot of people in the company. I can get others too, pretty soon. You won’t really be dead”

 “Mind uploading?” Pepper supposed she shouldn’t be surprised.

 It was something that had been on Tony’s mind for a while, ever since that incident with Ultron. Ever since they lost JARVIS.

“The actual term is whole-brain emulation” Tony corrected gently.

There was no snarky reply, no mockery. Just the tone of a very patient adult attending to a slow child.

“I can get the rest of the minds too. Won’t be tough. I’ve got an idea just how it can be done. Need some streamlining, but not much.  I can get the whole city in a day, the whole country not much longer – once we get the hang of the process it will be faster.”

Pepper had a near irresistible urge to laugh. Matrix, she thought. Matrix. He wants us all safe and sound…in his world. In His World.

“I just need people to cooperate” he frowned slightly “I mean, I don’t exactly need them…but it’d be easier. And nicer. I really don’t want to hurt anyone, Pep. We…just have to set things right.”

She didn’t ask what would happen to anyone who decided they didn’t want their brains uploaded. There was no point.

“People are so…fragile. Breakable. Doesn’t it scare you? I once thought-“ Tony paused abruptly.

Pepper turned, adrenaline coursing through her at the change. What now?

Tony stood facing a corner of the room, his eyes fixed on something only he could see. No, not just him. Both Friday and the robot turned to face it along with him.

“Strange” Tony muttered.

"Strange? What’s strange-“

 “Hush” Tony held up a hand for silence. He smiled at whatever he was seeing. "Nice to meet you, Doc. Face to face, so to speak.”

He paused, as if listening to a reply.

 “Oh, yes. Of course. I get how it seems. I really want your brain scan. It would be perfect.”

Pepper stared. Delusions? Unsurprising, given the state his brain was in, extremis riddling new pathways through it with every instant. But she had an alarming impression there was something more to this.

 Tony laughed, with seemingly genuine delight. “Sorcerer Supreme Vs Scientist Supreme. Would be an interesting little cage match, don’t you think?”

 He was distracted. She could take advantage of it…and do what? There was no course of action open to her that didn’t seem utterly futile.

 She remained where she was, listening. And hoping something, anything, would give her an opening.

Tony shrugged, turning away. “I think we’ll have to postpone the cage match, Doc. I’ve got a few calls to make. Fri, be a dear and deal with it.”

 Friday smiled – eerily childish – and made a swift gesture with her hand that Pepper couldn’t follow. Pepper would never be able to accurately describe the sensation that followed.

It was as if a force wave passed through the room, the thunderclap of two clashing behemoths. But a force wave that touched only the minds…

She was simply on the periphery, but even then, she was sent staggering back, clutching the desk for support. The Mind Stone suddenly pulsed a brilliant green. Friday cried out, a cry in a language Pepper didn’t understand. Tony froze in his path.

For an instant, it felt as if everything hung in the balance. But then, swift as it came, the sensation faded. The tension broke. Pepper felt the force retreat, flung back as it were. All was once again as they were.

Tony smiled. “That was…interesting.”

……………………………………………….

Wong knew this had the potential to go wrong. And had the situation been any less dire, he would never have suggested this kind of deep scrying Stephen was attempting. Especially with the Scarlet Witch in the picture.

 So, honestly, he wasn’t entirely surprised when things did go wrong. Suddenly, and as it seemed, catastrophically.

 For a moment Stephen’s eyes lost the glow of the Time Stone, reverting to their normal, changing shade.

 Then he screamed.

The Cloak broke his fall, eased him gently down so that Wong and Scott who were the nearest could grab hold of him before he hit the ground.

“Stephen! Stephen, can you hear me?”

Obviously not. Strange’s body writhed in their hold, as if in a seizure. His eyes were wide in pain and fear.

“He’s going into convulsions” Sam said “Lay him down, here, here will do”

“What’s wrong?!” Scott demanded. No one answered.

 “The Stone” Clint frowned “Should we-“

 “Don’t touch it!” Wong knocked the archer’s arm away.

 The Infinity Stone was clenched in Strange’s hand, still pulsing a little, but not as bright as it had done while he remained in the trance.

……………………………………….

“I am fine, Steve” Bucky insisted “Damn it, you’re the one who hasn’t got the doctors’ okay to be out of bed yet”

“Yeah, well, you’re the one who just had experimental brain surgery, so-“ Steve’s protest was cut short by a slight commotion in the infirmary corridor. “Who’s hurt this time?”

The med wing had been kept pretty busy treating the many injuries sustained during the…Red Mist Incident, not all of them fully reversed by Strange’s spell.

The commotion wasn’t much, and probably wouldn’t have been noticeable to normal patients. But the super soldiers’ senses picked up the sound – and familiar voices.

With one accord, both moved – Steve still leaning slightly on Bucky – towards the source.

………………………………

“What’s wrong with him?” Sam asked “It looked like a grand-mal seizure, but given the circumstances…”

The attending doctor indicated the scans “It seems rather…unusual. But then again, according to Mr. Wong EEG readings of sorcerers, especially while and shortly after astral travel, can vary wildly from baselines. So we don’t have a way of telling anything for sure.”

Strange’s eyes fluttered open for a moment. “What…”

 Wong reached to take his hand “It’s alright, Stephen. You’re back.”

But it was far from alright, and Wong could see that at a glance. The eyes that looked up at him were the same unusual shade of Stephen’s, but it was not Stephen who looked through them.

 “You’ve got to stop them!” Strange – or whoever it was – sat up abruptly, eyes wide in terror. “Stop them, stop me, I don’t…it’s too late, I can’t think, Oh God, so many, so many minds…”

 “Stephen?” Wong called, but Strange paid no attention to him.

Instead, his eyes fastened on Natasha “Nat! Nat, help me!”

 “What’s wrong with him?” Sam asked.

Wong frowned. He had an idea – an alarming idea – that he knew exactly what was wrong.

“Stay back, all of you” he ordered. “Ms Romanov, step closer, if you will. He will not harm you.”

Natasha Romanov gave him a look that stated plainly what she thought of the possibility of being harmed here, but made no comment.

 “Where’s Cap? Got to tell him, got to, it’s him he wants, I want… I don’t know who’s he, I don’t know who I’m, it’s like…”

 “Should we sedate him?” Sam asked the attending doctor, but Wong shook his head in abrupt denial.

 “No. Let him – whoever he is – speak.”

  “Whoever…what?”

Natasha frowned. There was something eerily familiar about the tone, about the body language. The man before her looked like Dr Stephen Strange, but as Wong realised, so did she that this was not the calm sorcerer.

“Where’s Cap? Steve… He – I – God, I don’t know who… They want him dead, I wanted him dead…”

“Tony?” Steve stood frozen in horror at the door of the emergency ward.

 His photographic memory had summoned up the tone, the body language, the memories Natasha’s and Clint’s minds hadn’t been able to bring up in perfect clarity.

Strange/Tony looked up at the sound of his voice “Cap? You…you gotta stop this…stop him…me…”

“Is he freaking channelling Stark?” Scott demanded, stumbling away in his hurry to get out of range.

Steve stepped forward, joining Natasha. “Tony? What are you talking about?”

Strange/Tony reached out, clutching his hand like a lifeline. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I… I can’t… I didn’t know it’d be like this, I swear I didn’t know… Vision, JARVIS… Even Friday…She’s just a kid, Friday isn’t like JARVIS, she’s just a kid, it wasn’t her fault…”

“Are you Tony Stark?” Natasha demanded.

They had already had one experience of Tony possessing a powerful mage, and it was certainly not one that she cared to repeat.

Strange/Tony took a deep breath, valiantly struggling to calm down “No, not really. Not all of him. Just…just… I don’t know. I remember you, though. I remember all of you. And I know what he – I – mean to do.”

“And what is that?” Wong demanded.

He had an idea what was happening – enough to know that their time was limited. Strange/Tony didn’t look away from Steve and Natasha

“It hurts. It hurts like hell, watching, hearing, everything. Now I know why Ultron…did what he did. I’d want it to stop too, any way I could. And I…can”

 “What is the plan?” Wong’s voice was sharp, commanding. “Tell me.”

……………………………………………

“I must agree, Director Coulson” the President admitted “Of course, given the confirmed major incidents as of now have been confined to American soil, we don’t have to worry about the Accords Committee. All Avengers are US citizens”

“Except for the multiple international borders the fugitives will be crossing” Ross put in “And while the suggestion of pardons are extremely generous, the incidents the fugitives are convicted for were not confined to-“

“We have been in contact with German and Wakandan authorities” one of the diplomats interrupted. “They agree with us on offering pardons. In fact, the Wakandan government demanded it. Russia hasn’t officially promised a pardon, but given the bunker where the alleged incidents took place is officially non existent, they cannot pursue charges.”

The phone at the President’s elbow rang abruptly, forestalling any reply Ross might have made.

“Yes? Stark?” a long moment’s pause. “God in Heaven.”

……………………………………..

“What. The hell?”

Foggy Nelson stared at his phone which had turned on its Weather Warning screen. Only, instead of a snowstorm alert, the screen displayed Tony Stark’s face.

Matt sat up from the couch where he had been lying. “Foggy, your heartbeat just went on red alert levels.”

A moment later, Stark began to speak, and the reason became evident.

“Hello” Stark was trying for a casual, conversational tone which had been the default mode in all his interviews both pre and post Iron Man.

But even Foggy could tell this time the casual tone – hey, we’re all buddies here – was very carefully stimulated. What it actually sounded like was the false cheer of a nurse telling a weepy kid that the injection won’t hurt at all.

“As you can all see, I am here. Iron Man. I know there have been some…disquieting rumours spreading, but why talk about unpleasant matters. The past doesn’t matter. That is one lesson I’ve learnt in the last couple of days. The past and those who belong to it …doesn’t count. So let us forget that.”

 He smiled.

“I am inviting all of you to enter the future.”

What followed was a string of rambling that had Foggy feeling the Chinese food he had had for supper coming back up.

Brain uploading. People invited to Stark’s world. Utopia according to Tony Stark.

 At the conclusion of the spiel, Stark nodded as if he could tell what Foggy – and hopefully the majority of sane listeners – were thinking.

“I know this is scary. Of course, a lot of you would be too scared to try this. I would love to take it slow, ease you all into this. But unfortunately… We all see what the world outside is like, don’t we? Someone has to take control. As soon as possible, or it will be too late. I tried it the normal way once. With UN. But as we all know, execution of the Accords.. it crashed. Crashed spectacularly. People – people who are in power, who were supposed to set things right…they soft pedalled. They freaked out about votes, public opinion, ratings. We can’t afford that kind of non sense.”

“Soft pedal?” Matt growled “Does he have any idea how many people are locked up in the Raft?”

Tony shrugged “Never mind. As I said, let us forget the past. The past, riddled with inequalities, danger, death.”

 He smiled placidly. “The future – our future – will have no cripples, no deaf or blind, none trapped in a malfunctioning body. None who are broken and lost. Nor will we have those who are at the other extreme – the super soldiers, the invulnerable, those who wield powers they are unable to control. Both extremes will no longer threaten us.”

“Broken and lost?” Matt echoed, furious.

Stark continued. “I know there will be resistance. The strong will refuse to give up power. The weak will be too timid to take the chance. So, I have to give some…incentives.”

Foggy had an idea he really really wouldn’t like what Stark’s idea of incentives were. He was right.

The man on the screen – though going by what he said Tony Stark had ceased thinking of himself as a mere man at all – went on.

“There will be a demonstration. A demonstration of what I can do, should I choose to. New York City will be destroyed.”

“WHAT?!” Foggy almost dropped the phone. Matt was frozen on place, leaning forward, as if trying to listen to the mad man’s heartbeat through the screen and identify what he meant.

“Of course, there will be little true loss. I have arranged so that by the time the operation begins, brain scans of the city’s population will have been completely collected. Every citizen of New York will still be alive – in the new world.”

 Foggy couldn’t believe this was happening.

Two days ago they had gone out for drinks to celebrate their latest court room win and he had sung karaoke. This morning they had been bickering about whose turn it was to make coffee. Tomorrow they were to arrange for a subpoena, and Karen had just thought up an ingenious way to put it through.

They couldn’t die. Not now.

 Matt got up from the couch and moved closer to Foggy. Instinctively they reached out and locked hands. Both of them had been in the city when 2012 happened. They remembered it only too well.

They also remembered how the Avengers had fought, how the team had cordoned off the monsters, forced the alien army to focus on them and them only. And now the city was once more under threat.

This time from the man who, in an age that seemed so much simpler, had flown a nuke through a portal.

On screen, Tony Stark continued. “Naturally, this will be chaotic, disturbing. The transition will necessarily be painful. I think, once you witness what happens, you will do what is wise. I can make the transition pleasant, organized. I just need cooperation.”

……………………………………

They talked. For a long while. Or rather, Strange/Tony talked. As fast as he could. He knew as well as – may be even better than – Wong that this couldn’t last long, this dual existence. He spoke fast enough and long enough that they knew.

 “EDITH” Strange/Tony murmured.

 His eyes were drooping, the frantic energy of the past few minutes finally spent. Wong could sense the transition approaching. No mind could hold another within it for very long, not without a strain that was too great for the human body.

 “EDITH will be there…He’ll know everyone, everywhere…Every machine his – mine – his to play with…”

He slumped back into bed. T’Challa moved as if he would question him further, but Wong held up a hand to stop him. They will have no more out of the channelling. Not this time.

Strange/Tony’s eyes sought the Avengers. Steve, Natasha and Clint stood together, shoulder to shoulder, as if braced to meet whatever he would say. But there was only genuine grief and guilt in the eyes that met theirs.

 “I…I’m sorry…I wanted to set things right…But I never could…”

Steve reached out and took his hand gently.

“I tried to stop from waking up too…” Strange/Tony continued “Couldn’t… Cap…I’m sorry…Guys…tell Pep and Rhodey, and the Spider-kid…and the others too.. God, how many others…”

“We’ll set things right” Steve promised, though his own face was paper pale at what had been revealed. “We will deal with this” 

Strange/Tony smiled, his expression one of clear heart break “Set things right…yes…you will…But not we. Not together…ever again…”

 He fell back, the hand that was clutching Steve’s going limp.

 When the peculiar eyes opened once again, there was only one presence behind them. “Wong. How much of that did you guys get?”

……………………………………….

“What…what do we do?” Ned hated hated hated how shaky his voice sounded, how close to cracking the way it always used to not too many years ago. On screen, even MJ was looking ashen.

 “I dunno…” Peter murmured.

 He wasn’t in costume, but his hands were clenched around the suit. His first suit, his real suit, the one Stark had laughed at.

He wouldn’t be wearing the other one. Stark’s Iron Spider. He wouldn’t have worn that even if he hadn’t known about the AI in it, about how Stark could grab control of it any time he chose.

“Don’t talk about it” MJ ordered sharply “Whatever you’re planning to do, don’t talk about it. He’ll be listening.”

 Peter glanced around his room, furnished in state-of-the-art science lab material by Stark’s people. He could listen, any time he wanted. He could be watching. Waiting.

Peter knew, they all knew, that this was probably nothing more than a goodbye call. They knew the adults in their homes were outside their rooms, making similar calls.

Someone knocked on Ned’s door.

“Good luck!” he called out, a cry that was almost a sob, and cut the connection before whoever entered could see Spider-Man on screen.

As if that mattered any more. As if anything mattered anymore. MJ and Peter looked at each other.

“What’re you gonna tell Aunt May?”

Peter glanced at the door, then at the open window. He had to hurry. Aunt May was packing up their documents, what little ready cash was available, the first aid kits…

 “I…Um, left her a note. So that if there is, you know, an evacuation or something she won’t waste time searching for me.”

 A note. Peter winced. A note, for all the years. For…for everything. But there wasn’t time… That was the worst of this, just how fast, how unstoppably fast, things went wrong.

 “MJ?”

 “What?”

 “Tell her, ‘kay? Everything. And tell her she can look through my diaries, and everything. My google account password is Wh8everAspi6erCAn. There’s stuff in the docs… She can read everything.”

 Peter was crying. Not very heroic, he knew. Not the stuff you’d ever catch Batman doing. So freaking scared that he was blubbering like a baby.

He couldn’t help it, though. He would go out there. He would fight. But he couldn’t help the terror. He didn’t want to die. He wasn’t even sixteen. He hadn’t even gotten a real real kiss.

He didn’t want to die out there.

…………………………………………

“I’ve got to try” Matt said softly.

Foggy nodded. There was no point, really, in protesting. Arguing. No time.

“Tell Karen”

 They had tried to phone her, but the lines were somehow busy…or maybe Stark was doing something to the cell reception.

Foggy reached out, wrapping Matt in a hug. He wanted to hold him there, hold him in the false safety. Just a bit longer. He didn’t want to be alone…and he didn’t want Matt to be out there alone…

He wished Matt didn’t have the devil suit on, that instead of the slick coldness of the thing he could actually hold his friend.

“Good luck, Matty”

……………………….

Around the city, other goodbyes were being said, other plans were being made. Some who had no one to bid goodbye to or share plans with looked around their empty rooms for what they knew would likely be the last time, one way or the other.

Everyone was preparing.

 Around the city, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Misty Knight, all stepped out into the chaos as Matt Murdock and Peter Parker did.

Frank Castle made swiftly, silently, for the skyscraper sniper nest he had scoped out before.

All of them knew, in the back of their minds, the futility of resistance. But none intended to go quietly.

Chapter Text

“Alright” Steve looked at Strange “Doctor, the first thing we need to know is… How stable would you say Tony is? The way he spoke when you were channelling him-“

 “It wasn’t what you can call channelling” Strange contradicted him “What you saw was not Tony Stark. Not completely.”

“Then?”

The doctor paused for a moment, as if trying to figure out how to put it “I was a surgeon, not a psychologist, but… Well, to put it simply, no mind is a monolith, with only one single conscious personality. I’m not talking about Freudian trios. That is completely different. Latest theories consider mind as a kind of… vast company. The chairman – the conscious personality the external world sees as the person – takes the final action. But there are the board members, secretaries, janitors, all who rush around making sure everything is in place for the chairman to take the final decisive step.”

 “I am vast, I contain multitudes” T’Challa quoted.

Strange nodded “Whitman was onto something with that. Not to go into too much detail, all of us have several ourselves within. Most of the time they all stay in the background, letting the chairman kid himself he is the only one making decisions…”

Wong cleared his throat.

Strange stopped the impending lecture a bit sheepishly “Never mind. The fact is, when the Scarlet Witch tried to blast my astral form, there was a struggle. And since her mind was linked to Tony’s, a bit of his mind – one of the board members, to keep with the analogy – came along with me.”

“Like grappling with someone and coming away with a bit of his hair and blood under your fingernails” Clint commented.

 Strange looked a little disturbed at the inelegant image, but continued “Anyway, we were lucky enough to grab on to a part of him that was still…still…”

“Still the guy who would lie down on the wire” Steve said softly “The guy who’d keep protesting, keep trying to find a way to cut the wire…but still lie down on it when he had to.”

The three Avengers exchanged glances.

 Unlike the others, they had known Tony as the hero he once was. As the man who had stood unarmed and defenceless before a mad god, listing the names of the champions arrayed to defend the world, and left out his own name.

They had caught a glimpse of that Tony once again, in that amalgam of minds. That made what they would have to do even harder.

 “The point is” Strange interrupted “we can trust the information he gave us. We now know what Stark has planned for New York”

…………………………………………………………..

The drones were hastily assembled. Not the sleek creations that were once Iron legion. Even Extremis couldn’t go beyond the limits of what it had to work with.

 The recycled pieces of satellite, secret weapon systems that were supposed to turn the tide of the Cold War but never survived their entry into space, could only be re-forged in so many ways. They would be enough for the job, though.

 “How many of them?” Pepper asked quietly.

“Enough” Tony shrugged. He glanced at the time. “We’ll begin at dawn. Or maybe a little later. Whenever there’s enough light to see by.”

The attack drones – if that was what the things were – needed no light, of course. She knew what he meant. It was the audience who should get a clear view of what awaited them…unless they cooperated.

Tony strolled over to the mini-fridge in the corner and took out a sandwich. “Want one, Pep?”

“No, thanks” she wasn’t sure how much longer her sanity could stand the strain “I’m not hungry.”

He shrugged, and tossed a sandwich to Friday instead.

They still needed to eat, Pepper reminded herself. They still needed to eat, drink, breathe. They were still human enough for that. That should have helped, at least a little. It didn’t.

…………………………..

There were multiple attempts, of course, to destroy the drones.

 The one who got closest to success was Frank Castle. A barrage of military grade rounds managed to blast a drone into fragments. One drone. From what seemed a thousand.

“How many of those things d’you have?” Luke asked.

Frank shrugged “Not enough.”

…………………………………..

“I can web some of them up” Peter told Daredevil, as they perched atop one of the highest buildings. “But there’s so many…”

 “Your webshooters will run out of stuff long before we get even a hundredth of them” Daredevil admitted “Don’t try. If they find you’re a threat, they’ll start gunning for you first.”

“You sure they won’t start till dawn?”

 “Stark said so. I heard him.”

Peter didn’t question how he heard.

 “We’d better get to the shelters – you know how they are built. The doors are set so that a couple of people can defend them. But they will need someone to defend them.”

 The official shelters had been built quietly after 2012. During the Ultron business no one had had enough advance warning to get to them. But right now everyone who could seemed to be heading to one or the other.

The drones made no effort to stop them, simply hovering in place like eerie sentinels. Probably because Stark knew full well that the shelters won’t be enough. Not against this.

“Can we…you know…” Peter stopped, not sure what to say.

Daredevil shrugged “We can hold them off. Keep those hiding in the shelters safe. For a while.”

“That won’t do any good, would it? There’s some kind of a forcefield around the city. They can’t send help in.”

He didn’t answer.

 Peter turned to look at him “You’re just doing it because you think there’s nothing else we can, aren’t you”

It wasn’t really a question. He sighed “I’m sorry, kid.”

 Peter hesitated, then plunged ahead “We could go for him.”

“Stark?”

Peter nodded. “I mean, I know it’s crazy, but…we’ve got to do something, right? And if no help is coming… This isn’t gonna stop unless we stop him.”

Daredevil hesitated for a moment, then smiled. “You know what, that isn’t a bad idea at all.”

 Peter could tell from his expression that DD didn’t really believe they had a chance at all. He was mostly just aiming for a chance to go down fighting.

And maybe, just maybe, if they were really really lucky, bleed Stark a little. Maybe that was really all they could do. But Peter couldn’t help but hope, just a little…

…………………………………………………………………….

“We can’t get forces into New York” Ross admitted. “There seems to be some kind of barrier up. Anyone approaching the city get somehow…repelled.”

Repelled wasn’t exactly the accurate term for it. According to those they had scoping out the area, anyone approaching the city seemed to somehow…stutter, freeze, fade out…like scenes on an old TV screen.

They already had multiple forces caught in the barrier, whatever it was. No way to tell those captured were still alive or not.

“Stark cut communications to the city for ten minutes” another pointed out “Just to demonstrate that he can. Now he’s let us have one way communication of a sort. We can see what is happening, we are receiving calls, texts, and mails from the city. But we can’t send anything in. In phone calls, no one inside the city can hear what those on the receiving end are saying”

 “He wants us – wants the world – to see what is happening” Agent Coulson stated. “That’s the whole point, after all. A warning.”

“I suppose there’s no chance we can put a lockdown of our own on this, can we?” the President enquired, already knowing the answer.

“No. All signals from NYC is being boosted. We no longer control our satellites.”

“There are a few satellites – Wakandan ones, apparently – that are still more or less independent. They are showing the assembly of some kind of massive artillery system in space. Literal space lasers, among other things.”

 “Enough to make his threat good?”

 “Enough to level NYC a thousand times over.”

“And there is nothing we can do to stop him?”

“We…have no practical options as of yet, sir” Ross admitted. “We no longer command the technology required to take down Stark’s satellite weaponry, even if we had the time. As for a ground assault, it’s impossible to get troops into the city”

And they all knew sending in troops would be the same as feeding them straight into a woodchipper.

“There is only one option as of yet, sir” Agent Coulson glanced at Ross “Captain America and his team-“

 “Too unreliable” Ross tried to protest “We can’t send in a bunch of-“

The president held up a hand for silence. “Director, if the Avengers are capable of entering the city, wouldn’t they be able to take our troops with them?”

 Coulson shook his head “I’m afraid their method of ingress has to be…limited, sir. Anything as massive as a troop movement will attract attention. They’ve offered to allow two people of our choosing to accompany them, but no more.”

“Two?” Ross glared, but knew better than to protest at this point. “They do realise Stark is going to have a mad reality warper and a homicidal invulnerable robot with him at the very least, don’t they?”

 “I am sure they know quite well what their former colleagues are capable of” Coulson commented dryly, then turned back to the president “Sir, may I suggest one of our representatives is Colonel Rhodes.”

 “Another meta human?” Ross frowned.

Coulson sent a cold glance at him “A decorated soldier, wounded in the performance of his duty. Regardless of Stark’s conduct during the initial Accords dispute, no one can doubt Colonel Rhodes abided by the terms-“

“Till he hid Stark’s condition – at a time when we could have forestalled this entire disaster by easily removing him”

“Gentlemen” the President once again interfered “Let’s for now shelve any talk of Accords violations.”

“Colonel Rhodes has willingly given us all the information he has on Stark. He’s fully cooperative” Coulson pointed out “Not only will the War Machine be useful, the colonel is a close friend of Stark’s. His insights might be-“

 “As useless as they were in predicting this?” Ross put in.

The debate took rather longer than they could probably spare, but finally the decision was made. Colonel Rhodes would accompany the Avengers into the city.

 “As for the other-“

“I volunteer” Ross glared at the gathered group, as if daring anyone present to contradict him.

 The President raised an eyebrow “Mr Secretary, you made your opinion of the meta humans’ competence very plain.”

 “All the more reason that an experienced representative accompanies them”

“Your health condition?”

 “Is not severe enough to get in my way here, sir.” 

The president sighed “We will have to regard New York – and whoever enters the city – as lost, at this point.”

Ross nodded, showing no change in expression. “I am aware, sir.” 

………………………………………………….

 “How sure are we that we can…trust this information?”

T’Challa’s gaze was locked on the screens, looking through the few Wakandan satellites whose technology had proved too troublesome for Stark to grab.

“Going by our satellite data, Stark can level NYC from orbit in a matter of seconds. Why would he…”

“Drama” Natasha answered dryly “No, really. Remember, he means this as a demonstration. He wants to scare people into surrendering, into letting him put them into his matrix. Just a few seconds of death from the skies…well, that will be horrifying, no doubt, but not horrifying in the right manner. It’s too quick, quick enough to be almost painless.”

 “He would want this to be slow” Steve agreed “Back in the war… The people in charge knew that firebombing was not really all that effective in taking down infrastructure. There were more efficient options – if the aim was to just level cities. But the aim was to level morale. And for that…you needed something both horrible and comparatively slow – slow enough for the survivors to watch, to hear the screams.”

“And this time the world will be watching” Nakia indicated the wall screen behind them.

Every news channel throughout the globe was focussed on New York – once again. In 2012 they hadn’t had much warning. But this time Tony had made sure of it.

“Okay” Steve turned to the rest of the team. “Here is what we know. Stark has assembled a new version of the Iron Legion. An AI called EDITH is in command.”

 “Project Insight 2.0” Sam muttered. No one contradicted him.

 “EDITH is a somewhat limited AI. Not capable of fully independent thought or action. Not like JARVIS. It will be dependent on Tony completely for any directions. Even though it will be able to carry on posthumous directions, if it came to that.”

Scott sucked in a sharp breath. Of course, all of them knew that this fight could likely only end with Stark dead, but still…

He was no soldier, not even a real superhero… He couldn’t help the slight shudder that passed through him as the situation was fully brought home. Especially since it seemed he was the only one who reacted to that reminder.

………………………………………………………

Ross and Rhodey didn’t speak, didn’t even glance at each other as they waited.

Rhodey had already made his calls home. Not that it would have shocked his family any. They had been keeping an eye on the news, too.

Ross had no calls to make. There were a dozen messages from Betty on his answering machine, but he hadn’t listened to any of them.

 There was no point. Not any more. Whatever was said was said, done was done. He had never been one for poignant farewells.

 Both hid their surprise well – well enough to avoid flinching too obviously – when what looked like a hoop of fire materialized before them.

Captain America stepped through. The Winter Soldier and the Black Widow flanked him.

“Secretary. Colonel.”

 “Captain.”

There was a moment of awkward silence. The rest of the team stepped through. T’Challa. Sam Wilson. Scott Lang. Clint. Two men whom Rhodey hadn’t seen before, but whose stance spoke of quiet power.

“Alright” Steve said at last, breaking the tense silence. “For the duration of this operation, I will be in command. If I am taken down, Widow will takeover.”

Clint glared at Ross, daring him to protest. The old soldier’s face remained expressionless.

 “I think most of us already know each other. This is Dr Stephen Strange, and Mr Wong. They are of Kamar Taj.”

 Coulson had already briefed them on the sorcery part of the deal, but still, Rhodey couldn’t help a sceptical glance at the gaudy scarlet cloak that billowed about the doctor.

Hardly practical attire for a battlefield. But then again, it probably didn’t matter when you could teleport. Neither of the sorcerers wore armour, or even just bullet proof wear.

“Secretary, once we enter the city, you will be taken to a marginally safe location from where you can observe what is happening.”

 “Out of the line of fire?” Ross smiled humorlessly. “I think you know as well as we do that right now there is nowhere in the world that is out of the line of fire.”

Steve nodded “Yes. But you won’t be able to keep up with the rest of us. Better that we know where you are.”

He held out two wristbands fixed with blue beads. “Comm links. All of us are wearing these. Keep it on you.”

A piece of the armour in War Machine’s arm shrank back so that Rhodey could put the wrist band on, then sealed back over it. In a moment, it had linked itself into the suit’s comm systems.

 “Stark is our target. We don’t have the manpower to tackle the drones. Ignore them, get past them. Do nothing to attract their attention. We will have too much of that anyway once we get close enough for Stark to tell what we’re planning.”

 “I suppose we can’t do this teleporting thing you just did right into the Tower?” Rhodey asked.

Strange shook his head “The Witch will sense us. I can get us into the city without her noticing immediately, but only at the borders. Any closer and it’ll draw down every drone in the place onto us.”

“That is inevitable in any case” Ross suggested drily “Stark will be monitoring the city for any intruders, any attempt to stop him. He will know.”

 “Under normal circumstances, yes” Steve agreed. “But we have been keeping an eye on the developments in the city. We can count on Stark being…somewhat distracted for a short window of time.”

 Rhodey didn’t ask what was the distraction or how exactly Steve knew it. There was little time for detailed explanations.

“The comm link has integrated itself to your armour’s system. In doing so, it will also have inserted a little of its programming code-“

 “What…”

 “Wakandan software” T’Challa explained “We can’t risk going in without any tech, and that’s obviously a problem when dealing with a technopath. Fortunately, it looks like his control is somewhat limited over Wakandan tech. Probably because it developed along entirely different lines than what he is used to”

“It won’t give complete immunity” Steve admitted “But given the way he reacted to the Wakandan satellites…the difference in tech might be enough to give him a headache. Enough to make sure that he won’t try to take control of it unless left with no options”

“And by the time it comes to that” Natasha added “We’ll make sure that he’s going to be too distracted to have any real control. That’s one good thing about fighting Stark. His buttons are way too easy to push.”

 “We have added certain…modifications to all our equipment with Wakandan tech. enough to give us a fighting chance.”

…………………………………………

Peter had been at the Tower before, on school trips. They had gone there twice, after the 2012 Event.

 Of course, it didn’t have the same design now, they had rebuilt it after Ultron and no one had been allowed in since.

The few times he had tried to get in and see Mr. Stark after the airport battle, he had never managed to get past the security. Of course, the human staff was no longer around… right?

“Three people present” Daredevil said “And someone…something…else that sounds really weird…”

 “Must be Vision.”

 DD nodded “All are on the penthouse floor. I guess Stark left his robots or AIs on guard. We’d better not try going in the normal way.”

“I can climb” Peter glanced uncertainly at his companion.

“So can I” DD answered. “But there’s a better option”

…………………………………………………….

Matt had been in the Tower before. After the Ultron disaster. Interestingly, that visit was on completely legitimate business.

A wrongful severance suit filed by an ex employee. Stark Industries had opted to settle out of court, but not before there had been a couple of visits to Tony Stark’s fabled sanctum. And some very long waits.

Matt had of course been stubborn enough to wait in the lobby just as long as it took to be ‘granted audience’, but he had also been bored enough to let his senses scope out the place.

 It had genuinely been just boredom. He sent up a brief prayer of thanks for that.

“Yuck” Peter groaned “This place stinks”

“You’re telling me”

These sewers were thankfully long disused, but there was still enough of the original stink – and a huge number of rats, going by the numerous tiny heartbeats – hanging around to make him wince.

“You sure we can get in this way?” Peter demanded again.

“Yes” Matt tried not to sound as annoyed as he felt. The stink was already giving him a headache “Through here – we’ll have to get through a wall or two, but they aren’t very thick here. If you’re strong enough to catch cars you’ll be strong enough to get us through those.”

“Um…”

“Hey, you’re supposed to be the science champ. It’s just physics, hit the weak points”

 “If you know where the weak points are…”

 “I do”

“So…if we get through…”

“Into the vents”

 Despite the archetypal TV image of the plucky heroes crawling in or out through them, the majority of ventilation systems are not suitable for sneaky travel. Most of them are too small for a grown man to get through, and even the few that may be wide enough are bound to fairly ring with noise if someone tried to squeeze through.

 Only, the unusual designs of the Stark Tower included peculiarities in the vent systems as well. Perhaps the number of complicated electronics built into the walls needed cooling.

Matt was no engineer, and didn’t really care about reasons right now. What mattered was that they had a way in. For what it was worth.

……………………………

“They’re gonna die, aren’t they” Clint said softly.

Of course, all of them knew that. The moment the sorcerers’ scrying had revealed Spider-Man and Daredevil planning a sneak attack on the Tower, no one had any doubt how it would end.

 But there was no way to stop them, no way to communicate, tell them that help was on its way, that they had to focus on staying back and surviving long enough.

So, as it was, all the team could do was to make sure the vigilantes’ sacrifice was not in vain. If they distracted Tony and company long enough…

Chapter Text

It was almost dawn. Pepper looked out at the reddening sky. She hadn’t slept, had hardly eaten, in the last twenty four hours.

She should be exhausted. But the wiry, burning strength of terror adrenaline kept her on her feet. If this was a movie, she wryly supposed, she would have used the time to locate some extremely clever and extremely out of the box option to take down Tony.

 After all, isn’t that what the heroine is supposed to do when she’s trapped alone with the psycho? But then again, as she had already told him, she was no heroine…

Friday sat cross legged on the floor, as if meditating. Pepper was not quite sure whether or not she occasionally levitated. The robot had disappeared, melting into the walls the way Vision used to. Tony leant back in his chair, humming along with the music playing.

 Black Sabbath, of course. Iron Man. His favourite. Not for the first time, she wondered whether he had paid any attention to the actual lyrics when he chose it as his impromptu theme song.

“Now the time is here/ For Iron Man to spread fear…” he sang along, not paying attention to her.

 A fallen hero, a lost hero… A man who saw something in the future too terrible to bear. A man who awoke from a living death to rain death on the world he once saved. It was all starting to sound too horribly prophetic.

She wondered how she would die, when the time came. Would he do it by himself? Or just leave her for the robot?

Tony stopped singing suddenly. Pepper turned, wondering numbly whether he had heard her thoughts, whether he could now read minds.

Then he began to laugh. “Oh man… I knew the Spider-Kid had spunk…”

 “Tony?” Was this another episode like the last one or-

The robot suddenly emerged out of the floor, startling her. “Sir, we have intruders”

 “I noticed, J. Thanks, anyway”

Intruders?

“Shall I dispose of them, sir?” It was getting increasingly horrible to hear JARVIS’ voice from Vision’s face discussing murder.

Tony smiled “Nah. Not this time. Just bring them here, J. I wanna have a talk with our Spider-Kid and the Blind Batman.”

…………………………………

They tried to fight. They did.

 But of course, even Peter had no hope of winning this fight. Stuck in the vents with just barely enough space to crawl through. Vision phasing through the walls and solidifying just before them. The struggle was pathetically short.

 Daredevil glared up at Stark as the robot dumped them at his feet.

Stark smiled amiably. “Hi, Matt – I suppose I can call you Matt. Nice to meet you.”

“Afraid I can’t say the same, Stark.”

Stark nodded pleasantly, like they had just met at a dinner party, then turned to Peter “Hi, Underoos. You outgrew my suit?”

 “I…kinda outgrew a lot of stuff, Mr Stark” Peter looked up at him “And my name is Peter. Or Spider-Man.”

Part of it was the surging anger at Mr. Stark using that nickname again, that tone of amused affection. Part of it was a sense of fair play.

 Now he knew Daredevil’s name. Only fair that Daredevil knew his. For however long they had left to live, that was.

The lady – Wanda Maximoff, Peter supposed, but there was something weird about her right now – leant forward, as if trying to get a better look at them.

 She giggled “They really thought they could get you, didn’t they, dad?”

 Mr. Stark absentmindedly patted her head like a child’s “Lot of people made that mistake, sweetie. But be nicer to your future kid brother.”

“Kid brother?” Peter leapt to his feet. No one stopped him, though Vision moved protectively closer to Stark.

Stark’s smile widened “Of course. I mean, I know you’re angry, Underoos, you don’t get it just yet. But you will. You will have time, we will have time. I will want someone to work with Friday here.”

He reached forward as if to put a fatherly arm on Peter’s shoulder, but the boy darted back from it. “Don’t you freaking dare!”

Wanda (?) scowled. “Dad, he’s too rude!”

“We’ll teach him to behave, Fri. After all, we taught your older brother to behave, didn’t we?”

 Peter wasn’t sure exactly what Stark meant by the ‘older brother’ thing, but he was pretty sure he didn’t want to find out what being taught to behave would mean.

“It isn’t really his fault” Mr Stark continued “I mean, it wasn’t like that aunt of his would have had any time to care about him. Just…you know, what kind of lady doesn’t notice her kid sneaking out to play superhero in pyjamas? And her all the time rushing in and out of the house, never home in time-“

 “BECAUSE SHE HAD TO FEED US!” Peter knew it was stupid, that he was losing it, but he couldn’t help it. Stark commenting on Aunt May like that was the last straw. “Because she isn’t a freaking billionaire and she has to work like three minimum wage jobs since Uncle Ben died and-“

 “Oh come on, kiddo” Stark smiled. It was the smile of someone watching fluffy kitten videos.

“He’s really rude” Wanda (?) said again. “He is yelling at you. I don’t like it when people yell at you.”

“Kid brothers are rude, Friday” Stark said as if explaining a maxim “That’s part of the charm.”

 “I don’t want a kid brother!”

She sounded like a kid, Peter realized. In the news they had been talking about how Wanda Maximoff hadn’t really been all there even before they locked her up in the Raft.

Was she having a breakdown or something? And what was it with this Friday thing? Wasn’t that the name of Mr. Stark’s AI assistant?

Stark wagged his hand at her “Now, Fri, be a good girl.”

Friday – or Wanda, or whoever she was – moved towards Peter, but Vision put a restraining hand between him and her. “You should obey, Miss Friday”

 Everyone’s attention was fixed on her.

Except Daredevil’s.

 DD must have been waiting for the chance. He moved so fast that even Peter couldn’t quite follow exactly what he did.

 But in an instant he had gone from lying slumped on the ground to darting at Stark. The others were distracted – and startled – enough that he did get his hands on Stark before anyone could react.

The next moment he was flinging himself with Stark locked in his arms towards the balcony, towards where a mad god had once flung Stark from.

For an instant Peter was too shocked to react, was convinced that this was it, that DD was about to take Stark down with him.

But of course, an instant to a human is an eternity to a robot. Vision moved fast enough that his form blurred.

 Peter couldn’t follow exactly what he did, but DD was thrown back into the Tower, sent crashing against a wall. Vision had his arms around a shaky looking Stark.

“It is alright, Sir” he soothed “The situation is under control.”

 “Dad!” Friday/Wanda screeched, rushing over to hug him, eyes glaring murder at the dazed Daredevil.

Pepper looked at Tony, gripping Vision’s arm for support. He was breathing fast, almost panting, his eyes wide with terror. He was on the verge of a panic attack.

She had seen him through those often enough to know. Must be tough, when you feel and think like a God…and suddenly find yourself face to face with mortality.

 But the Extremis seemed to be helping. Even as she watched, he calmed down, his breathing evening out. The panic fading to a look of icy hatred.

…………………………………..

“Now” Strange said. At a gesture of his hand, the portal opened. “Hurry.”

The team didn’t need to be told twice. It took less than fifteen seconds for all of them to step through. The portal closed.

Strange glanced at Wong, who nodded. They sensed no disturbance that would indicate the Scarlet Witch’s attention had turned to them. Even though they had managed to portal a bit closer to the Tower than they had first planned on.

Whatever was happening, Daredevil and Spider-Man had managed to draw the attention of all occupants of the Tower.

Ross looked at them. “Alright. Now?”

 “Now I get you a window seat for the show”

 Sam, without waiting for further instruction, grabbed Ross under the armpits and took off with him. To the old man’s credit, there was no panic or struggle except the first startled cry. It didn’t take long to find an open upper floor window. The office room was empty, hurriedly evacuated.

 “Stay here.”

Ross called after him something, but Sam didn’t bother to linger and decipher it. He was already halfway back to the team.

Steve looked at them. “Alright. Colone… Rhodey, if Tony is in armour and tries to fight, you are to take him on. Mr. Wong, you will tackle the Scarlet Witch and the android. Keep them off the rest of us. Doctor, you know what you are to do.”

Strange nodded.

“The rest of us are to deal with the drones. Tony will no doubt call them down on us once he knows what is happening. We will keep them off Rhodey, the doctor, and Mr. Wong”

……………………………………….

Peter moved as if to step between Mr. Stark and DD, but Friday/Wanda moved her hand in a weird gesture. He found himself frozen where he stood.

Mr. Stark’s eyes were fixed on Daredevil.

 When he spoke, his voice was the languid tones of the playboy billionaire “I thought you Catholic folk thought suicide sends you on a one way trip downstairs?”

Daredevil didn’t look particularly alarmed “It’d hardly have been the worst sin I would have to answer for, Stark”

Stark chuckled, sounding genuinely amused. “Huh. There is that. What is the worst sin you have, anyway?”

 DD didn’t answer.

Stark’s smile widened. “I think we’ll take a look at that. Right, J?”

 Whatever command Stark sent the robot must have been telepathic. Vision moved forward, kneeling beside Matt.

The vigilante did his best not to flinch back, but it was clearly a close thing. Peter wasn’t sure what he was expecting, maybe for the robot to just kill DD like he did to those soldiers.

But instead, Vision’s hands lingered around Daredevil’s masked face, almost caressing him. Then the robotic fingers phased, sinking into the human’s temples.

Matt winced, trying to pull away, but how do you fight against an intangible enemy?

…………………………………..

Matt knew pain. While he wasn’t arrogant enough to claim himself immune to it, he was most certainly used to it.

It wasn’t even from Daredevil business. A boy who grew up with hyper senses in an orphanage with overburdened staff gets used to such things too soon, not even counting Stick’s training.

Pain, he knew. Pain, he could handle.

This…This wasn’t pain. It was something for which he could find no name. Memories, images, sounds, scents, flashed by, drowning him in a maelstrom of thought.

There were fingers scrabbling at his brain, mocking laughter ringing out. He could hear someone screaming as if from a long distance away, and did not realize it was him.

There were other voices too, filtering in and out. Someone pleading for this to stop. The laughter again.

He didn’t know, couldn’t care. Nothing existed beyond the fingers clawing at his mind.

……………………………………….

“Stop it!” Peter and Pepper screamed together.

Tony looked at them with mild curiosity, as if he had almost forgotten they were there.

“JARVIS hasn’t actually solidified his fingers inside your pet devil’s skull, you know” he commented casually “I mean, if he had, this would be over too fast. He doesn’t have to solidify, for this. Just…send some nerve impulses, stimulate a few nerve clusters…Basically a little like electro shock therapy.”

“You’re killing him!” Peter shrieked, struggling against whatever Wanda/Friday had done to lock him down.

 Stark shook his head like correcting a small child “No, not at all. I don’t want him dead right now. I just can’t wait till I get the brain scans all collected to have a look at what goes on inside his skull.”

………………………….

“I don’t like this” Bucky admitted, voicing what all of them felt.

This was too easy. The drones were still hovering, must have caught sight of them several times over, but there was no response.

“Trap?” Sam asked.

“Possibly” Steve agreed. “Or, possibly, whatever is happening at the Tower is keeping all of them busy”

 “Must be that” Wong agreed “We would be able to feel it if the Witch was turning her attention to us. Not a spark from her.”

 There were uneasy glances exchanged. All of them knew that neither Daredevil nor Spider-Man was powerful enough to actually give Extremis!Tony, the Scarlet Witch, and a homicidal android trouble in a fight.

Certainly not enough to keep them distracted so long. That left only one explanation of what they could be distracted with.

 “I don’t know whether I’m more afraid they’ll be dead when we get there or that whatever is left of them won’t be quite dead yet” Clint signed to Natasha, who nodded quietly.

He couldn’t help but wonder if Daredevil knew how young his partner in the suicide mission was.

Or maybe he did know and figured since they were all going to be trapped like rats in a bowl by Stark’s version of Skynet, he may as well let the kid go down in a blaze of glory.

……………………………………………….

Tony watched, the calm fake smile etched on his face as Matt Murdock screamed.

He knew he was destroying the younger man’s mind. He wasn’t sure exactly why he was doing this.

Wasn’t it only a few short hours ago that he had felt fully detached from anything so lamentably human as anger and revenge? Hadn’t he felt even his anger towards Barnes, towards his mother’s murderer, fade, disappear into insignificance compared to the new Being Tony Stark had transformed into?

 But then, then he had felt like a…

No, not ‘felt like’, been. He had been God then, omnipresent, omniscient. But then the blind fool had had to interfere. Had to step in.

 Tony couldn’t help the shudder that passed through him at the memory of those moments.

 The blind lunatic’s arms around him, too strong to resist, too fast to summon the armor, both of them thrown towards the edge, towards that plunge…

That moment, that moment had stripped the divinity from Tony. Not forever, maybe not even for long, he could even now feel it returning to him, but even a moment was too much.

He had been almost killed. He. Tony Stark. Almost died at the hands of a mad vigilante who was apparently willing to give his own life as the price for claiming Tony’s.

That, he could never forgive. That one moment when he was on the verge of that most human of faults, mortality.

He ignored Pepper’s and the Spider-Kid’s pleadings, curses. He ignored the time ticking towards and past the dawn deadline he had set for the annihilation of the city. All he could focus on was the slow destruction of Matt Murdock’s mind.

 Friday’s mind, linked to his own, also thrilled at the sight. More because she felt the grief and rage of the potential ‘kid brother’ she had no intention of accepting than because of anything to do with Murdock himself, but that didn’t matter.

……………………………………….

Frank Castle watched the group advance. The Avengers. Rogue Avengers, to be specific, though he supposed the War Machine counted as Registered even now.

 Captain America.

 In general, Frank has no liking for the Spandex Squad, but he knew his limits. There was no way this situation was going to get resolved without meta human involvement. And the Captain…the Captain was a soldier.

He stood up from concealment “Captain”

Half a dozen weapons were instantly aimed at him. Frank smirked. A bit jumpy, aren’t they? A moment’s pause, then dawning recognition.

“You are Frank Castle. The Punisher.”

“Yeah, and never mind the moralizing. I get enough of that from the devil.”

 “Excuse me?”

“Never mind. What can I do to help?”

 There was hesitation, but not much. Captain America had led troops in a world war. He’s not a stranger to commanding killers.

“You’re on security detail. We have left Secretary Ross behind” he rattled off an address “Top floor. Get there ASAP. Guard him till we return.”

Frank nodded, saluted and melted back into the shadows. Not exactly the role he had wished to serve, but then again, he did want a look at that bastard. Secretary Ross.

………………………………………….

The Tower.

Even after everything, Steve couldn’t help a pang of nostalgia. This was the last place they were really together, all of them.

 Before Ultron. Before Bruce…left. Whose side would Bruce have taken, had he been here? Would he even have been allowed the choice?

Stop. No time. No what-ifs. Not now.

The drones, hovering around the Tower, must have spotted them by now. But EDITH is not JARVIS. There would be no action taken, not without Tony’s command. They had to make sure there was no time for the command to be given.

He gave the signal.

…………………………………………

Pepper’s eyes widened.

She had tried to focus on the drones’ video feed because she couldn’t bear to watch what Tony was doing to Daredevil, but hadn’t expected anything more than a different scene of horror. Had certainly not expected hope.

Steve stood outside the Tower. Steve, Rhodey, Natasha. She couldn’t see Clint, but he must be there too, perched elsewhere.

When Tony turned his head, she moved subtly over so as to block his view of the screen. Keep him distracted. Buy them time. Whatever it is that they are planning, buy them time.

 “Haven’t you done enough already, Tony?”

He looked at her. The earlier smug detachment was no longer there. The short brush with mortality had shocked it out of him for the time being. There was only rage, thinly masked beneath a veneer of amusement.

“I have to do this, Pep. I’ve had let them have their run. It’s my turn now.”

“To be the Merchant of Death” she spat out the words, putting all her disgust, anger, into them. Keep him focused on her. Keep Friday focused on her. “They were right, from the beginning. They saw what I didn’t. You are of Death. Always had been.”

“Don’t” he was pale now, hands clenched at his sides “Pep, don’t. I want you to stay and watch. But you know I lose my temper.”

 “Does God lose his temper?” she gave a mocking little laugh. “Aren’t you supposed to be God, Tony? Even if you get hungry, get thirsty. Even if you almost died at a blind man’s hand.”

She saw him coming, but made no real move to evade. The armour was forming around him, his hand around her throat. She felt herself being lifted off the floor, held pinned against the wall by Iron Man’s hand.

 “I told you to stop” Tony snarled. “I told you. No one listens. No one. Not till they are made to listen.”

“Now it’s time for you to listen, Tony”

Tony whirled around at the voice, just in time to see the lasers about to strike him. He let go of Pepper. Just in time for the blast to catch her and fling her aside.

She cried out as the heat of the rays washed over her, but it was not more than enough to singe her. The Iron Man armour took most of the hit.

Tony laughed. “Oh, Rhodey… Don’t tell me they sent you in alone.”

The armour looked different, Pepper noticed dazedly. It had melted out over him, as if emerging from the pores of his skin. Perhaps it had. Even now, the parts of it broken by War Machine’s attack were melting, melding themselves into previous shapes.

“Not alone” Steve Rogers said quietly.

He and Sam Wilson alighted on the balcony. Steve had a new shield in hand. He had been hiding in Wakanda, wasn’t he? Wakanda , where they had long ago learned to work vibranium...

Friday turned to face them with a snarl. The robot stood up calmly from where he had been kneeling beside Daredevil.

The others...the rest of the team...seemed to appear out of thin air.

 “Pym particles?” Tony laughed “You thought getting in here was going to be troublesome, Rogers? Come on, I’d have let you in and welcome”

Pepper, still struggling to get breath back through her bruised throat, was not entirely sure just what happened and how. When she could take clear stock of matters, Peter was dragging her to a corner of the office, as far from the line of fire as he could.

Matt Murdock lay slumped as the robot had left him. She wasn’t sure if he was still breathing.

 Tony stood at the centre of the office, surrounded by War Machine, Captain America, Black Panther and the Winter Soldier.

A stranger was locked in combat with Friday and the robot at the same time, glowing forcefields repelling the blasts they flung at him. He was rapidly flagging, though, she could see that only too well.

“Peter?” Wasn’t that the boy’s name?

 “I’ll get you outta here in a minute, Ms. Potts!” the boy promised “Just…just…the drones…”

She heard them before she saw them, the new Iron Legion pouring down from the skies like a swarm of gleaming locusts.

Chapter Text

Ross had a good view of what was happening from his supposed safe zone.

The team were all wearing body cams, not to mention the video feed of the drones that Stark was deliberately broadcasting. He watched calmly as the team moved in.

War Machine to open the assault. They had decided against an attempt to talk him down once they saw Pepper Potts was in the office with him.

If she hadn’t managed to reason with him in the past hours, there was little hope of Colonel Rhodes managing it in the few minutes they had left. Ah well, at least the colonel’s practice sparring with Iron Man armour would come in useful.

 Rogers, Barnes and the Panther surrounded Stark as if they thought they had any chance.

But of course, they knew that only too well. Outside, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Falcon attacked the drones converging on the Tower.

 Ross looked curiously at the weaponry they were using. Wakandan enhancements. After this was over, perhaps a military deal could be negotiated with…

“What the hell is that clown doing?” Frank Castle asked, indicating one of the split screens.

Ross looked over with mild disapproval at the former marine, and didn’t bother to answer. Mostly because he himself was not quite sure what was going on.

Dr Stephen Strange had not joined the fight, nor did he show any intention of doing so.

 He was on the roof of the Tower, levitating in lotus position. Weird lights seemed to flow over and through him. His lips moved in a chant that Ross couldn’t quite lip read.

…………………………………………….

This was the tricky part.

 Strange couldn’t help a slight chuckle at the sheer understatement of that phrase.

Tricky? You could say so. The accidental mindmeld had opened up a possibility. One that might well be their only chance to stop this.

Stark – Extremis enhanced or not – was one thing. Vision and the Scarlet Witch? They needed to go down if there was to be a chance at all… If he could do on purpose what he did before by accident…

“It’s a crazy plan” Wong had admitted as they discussed it. “But then again, this is a crazy situation…”

A moment’s pause, then “Stephen. You know what this could do to you, right?”

 He knew, of course. He was not only a sorcerer, he was a doctor. He knew the limits of a human body.

And for all his power, Stephen Strange was still physically human. There was no chance he could do this for long. But if things went according to plan, he wouldn’t have to…

 He reached out with his mind, seeking. Letting the Infinity Stone clasped in his hand call to its sibling.

…………………………………………..

Vision was no longer aware of the passage of time. There was nothing he could grasp onto, nothing to provide a point of reference.

 It seemed he existed in a void that held nothing but crimson tinged darkness. He was no longer sure of what had happened. No longer quite sure of who he was.

He had the feeling that longer he stayed here, in this void, more of him would be leached away, broken off like the edges of a melting ice berg.

 Broken off and left to wander the void in pieces. That was what was happening to him, he realised. He was being digested, bit by bit. He knew, but there was nothing he could do to prevent it.

The only thing he could hold onto was the memory of a woman’s face. A name. Wanda.

The feeling of warm hands around him, the memory of smiling eyes looking into his. He no longer remembered who he was, but he remembered her.

That was the anchor. That was all that had held him together till now. Soon, it would cease to be enough. Even now, bits of the memory was escaping him. He could no longer remember her voice…

“Vision”

He started. The first bit of sensation from amidst the void. A voice calling his name, chanting his name, over and over again.

“Vision. Keeper to the Mind Stone. Vision. Keeper to Keeper, Wielder to Wielder, I call you”

He instinctively followed. The name…the name was familiar. Vision. His name. the voice was unknown, that of a stranger, but there was something in it, something that spoke of brotherhood of sorts.

 The darkness of the void seemed to lighten as he approached the voice. A green glow. A pulsing light that emanated from a human figure floating in the void.

The human smiled as he spotted Vision’s approach. “Hello, Vision. Always wanted to meet you.”

……………………………………………….

The darkness pressed down on Wanda’s eyes.

She dared not open them. Maybe it would still be dark outside, if she tried, or maybe there might be enough light trickling in through cracks in the rubble.

Enough light to see the broken forms that were once her parents, enough light to see the rot eating into her brother’s corpse that still had its arms clasped around her.

Enough light to see the damned grey thing with its inscription. STARK. Enough light to see that name.

“Wanda?”

She had heard that voice once before, heard it call to her. She hadn’t dared respond then, and she did not dare respond now.

Rescuers. Outside, shifting the rubble. But every movement, any movement could jar the grey thing on the floor. Any movement could blast them into fragments.

“It won’t” the voice promised. “I swear it will not, Wanda. Stark will not get to kill you. Not then, not now.”

 “Wanda” another voice now joined the stranger’s. A well known, well loved voice. “Wanda, come back. Come back to me.”

“V…Vision?” she felt herself change, grow.

She was no longer the terrified nine year old. The rubble no longer seemed so solid. The stench of blood and rot no longer so stifling.

 “Wanda” the voices called again “We can’t come in after you. We can’t shift the rubble. You’ll have to come to us”

“Follow my voice, Wanda”

Pietro’s arms around her. Pietro’s bullet riddled corpse. She couldn’t leave him, couldn’t leave him alone in the dark…

“That’s not Pietro, Wanda” the voice promised “Not anymore. He isn’t there anymore.”

 Slowly, ever so slowly, carefully, she unclasped the arms that held her. She did it gently, slowly. Pietro had already been hurt, hurt so bad. She didn’t want to make it worse. Even if he couldn’t feel the hurts any longer. Even if he wasn’t really there.

Scarlet flames blossomed in her hand.

 Somehow, the sensation of fire near the grey thing didn’t scare her quite so much anymore. The rubble seemed to melt away as the flame grew, as if they had been just wax.

 Wanda got to her feet and moved towards the voices.

………………………………………….

She was playing with him, Wong knew. And that was the only reason he still lived.

The Scarlet Witch’s eyes blazed with the light of madness, but also a mad glee. The glee of a spoilt child tearing apart her toys, but wanting to do it just the way she wanted and none else.

She wanted to play. Wanted to show off before her ‘dad’. He could have pitied her, had the situation been any less dire.

The robot was more pragmatic an opponent, but it seemed much of its attention was on directing the drones outside. Stark was too focused on his human opponents to direct his technopathic powers quite yet. Even so, even with both of them distracted, he couldn’t last long.

Hurry up, Stephen.

He felt the change even before it was evident. The robot froze where it stood.

The Witch staggered, stumbling back. “What are you doing?! No, that’s not fair, that’s not fair, I kept her there, she’s supposed to stay there…”

Scarlet flashes of light leapt out of her hands, undirected and wild. Wong deflected the few that would have gotten close to him, but most just hit the walls of the office.

“About time, Strange” he commented, trying to catch his breath.

……………………………………..

Friday was not sure what was going on.

The fight had been going well, she had been winning…then…It felt like someone was tearing away, pulling away, from her, someone who was both very scared and very furious…

She felt part of her power fade, separate away from the one that was leaving. She tried to hold onto it, tried to struggle, but it was of no use.

 “That power was never yours to hold, Friday” a voice spoke “Nor is that body”

The Sorcerer. Friday snarled as he appeared before her, levitating a few feet above the ground. His smile was maddeningly smug, confident. An aura of scarlet flames blazed around him.

 It didn’t matter, none of it mattered, she had fought him once, she had fought him and would have torn him into fragments if she hadn’t been called away-

With a pang of horror, she realized it was not the Sorcerer alone who faced her. The part that she had felt tearing away from her…it was there. It was in him. And another part too…

She glanced at JARVIS, glanced back and saw him faltering against the other sorcerer. Faltering as if he too had lost part of himself.

The sorcerer was paper pale, she could feel his heart racing, his body pushed to a pace beyond its power to sustain. He was dying. The power he had drawn into himself, the minds he had drawn into himself, were killing him.

But not soon enough. Unless she hurried the process along.

……………………………….

Wong stumbled back from the battle.

Bucky stepped in instinctively, finding himself face to face with the robot. Vision. Or JARVIS, or whatever the hell the thing was called.

 He remembered it from the Airport battle only too clearly. He didn’t have a chance against it, far from it.

Strands of web shot out suddenly, grasping the thing’s metal arm. Pulling it back. The Spider-Kid.

 Bucky gave him a thumbs-up before darting forward. Couldn’t open fire on it. Adamantium or vibranium or whatever the thing was built with would need way more firepower than he could use in a close quarters battle to take down. The bullets would just bounce off that thick hide and nail one or the other of their own.

“Alright, Pinocchio, let’s see how much of you I can chop off”

The knives – shortswords, more like – were Wakandan weapons, more ceremonial than anything else these days, but they were vibranium. The only material that could hope to scratch that overgrown puppet of Stark’s.

………………………………………

Tony paid no attention to the combat raging outside. His gaze was focused on Steve Rogers. None of the others mattered, at this point. Not even Bucky Barnes. It was no longer about him.

 “Hello, Cap. It’s been a while.”

Steve nodded “Too long.”

 “Read your letter. Noticed you never actually apologized.”

“I apologized for not telling you the truth about your parents’ death. That is all I am sorry for. I am not sorry for refusing to sign the Accords, and I am not sorry for saving Bucky’s life. I will not apologize for that.”

 Tony smiled “I think you will. In time.”

“Or you will…teach me to behave the way you did with Vision?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. We will see, won’t we?”

Tony could feel the power of the Extremis armour surging through him. It was no longer just a suit, no longer something that could be taken away from him.

 It was now as much a part of him as the serum was of Rogers. He was there, he was also in the drones outside.

He could see Steve standing before him, he could also see outside where Sam swooped through the drones striking them down. It wouldn’t matter.

Sam, Natasha, Clint, now joined by few more of the local ‘heroes’… Let them fight. The drones are expendable. And recyclable.

“Tony” there was a note of pleading in Steve’s voice now, a note that Tony supposed the man himself didn’t really know was there. “It doesn’t have to end this way.”

Stupid. All of them knew there was only one way for this to end. It had gone too far to be stopped. What did Rogers expect he would – or even could – do? Surrender?

Tony smiled. The armour responded to his thoughts, the nano particles that now composed it morphing into artillery.

……………………………………..

Friday smiled too, unknowingly echoing her ‘dad’.

The others – it was three in one body who stood against her and she knew it – faced her with icy rage in their eyes.

They knew what she had done. They knew what she wished done to them. It didn’t matter. Their hand moved in a swift gesture. The world folded around.

The next instant, the other combatants had vanished, and they stood in the Mirror Dimension.

Friday chuckled. Trying to avoid collateral damage. As if that would matter any longer. “You know the city will fall today, don’t you?”

“Just humour us” they commented.

She didn’t really have to do much. Just hold them off for a while. Long enough for the mortal body hosting all three to give out under the strain. It wouldn’t be long.

 But then again, like her creator, Friday had never been very good at waiting. “Let’s get it over with. I gotta go back and help dad.”

There was somehow pity in the eyes that met hers “We are sorry it came to this”

They would be sorrier still. She lashed out. Chaos magic. That was what flowed through this body. The magic for which there was and could be no rules.

Flame flew from her hands, covering air and ground. At a gesture from the others, the flames reversed course towards her. She had a fissure swallow them up.

Battle raged. When mages clash, the world begins to bend around them.

The removal of combat to the Mirror Dimension would help, but not enough. Not for a city where already terror and rage pulsed too strong. In the outer world, thunder growled. Earth shook.

The Scarlet Witch had power enough to destroy the Sorcerer Supreme…but now it was not the Sorcerer Supreme alone who stood against her.

She felt another mind pushing her, seeking to oust her from the body she had claimed, two minds, one burning bright as flame, the other cold, almost mechanical. Joined together.

“Not your body” her opponents declared. “Not your power.”

 She struck, again and again, with awe inspiring ease. The others countered. Perhaps not so easily as she had struck, but counter them they did.

Friday knew, instinctively, that she must give them no breathing room. No time to pronounce the lengthy spell they were planning for. Keep them on the defensive. Keep them fighting. Don’t give them time.

………………………………………

Bucky had to admit the fight was easier than expected.

Vision didn’t resort to any of the fancy powers he had used at the Airport, or even a few hours ago against the unfortunate soldiers. He just attacked, struck out like a man possessed.

Of course, that was bad enough in itself when you took into account the man in question was a near invulnerable robot made of one of the strongest metals in the world.

But not impossible to oppose. Not with the combined forces of the Spider-Kid and the former Winter Soldier.

“Why isn’t he going all laser eyes on us?” Peter asked, dodging yet another blow “I mean, not that I’m complaining or anything-“

“Because the Doc’s plan is working” Bucky answered shortly. At least, he hoped it was working…

………………………………………

“You sure you don’t want to go back, old timer?” Frank supposed he shouldn’t have to ask that question, given the accuracy with which said old-timer was taking down the drones, but he had to ask.

After all, his orders had been to guard the fool. Well, he was still guarding him as far as he could while they were in battle…the captain hadn’t said anything about staying where they had been left.

“Shut up and shoot, marine” Ross ordered.

Frank smirked. It looked like every drone of the Iron Legion had converged on the Tower. The Avengers – originals and whatever new recruits had joined in – could use everyone they could get when it came to clearing this crowd.

From the sound of it, whatever was happening up there in the penthouse with Stark was already complicated enough without adding Terminator Wannabes into the mix.

………………………………………

Friday stumbled.

 It was a slight error, only a single mistake in casting. That was enough. Vines erupted out of the ground at her feet, clasping her, binding her down.

The others stood over her. She wouldn’t need long to get free. A few moments, no more. But they were moments she would not have.

The others smiled down at her, though their face was pale, drawn in pain and exhaustion. They were at their limit. But not beyond it, not yet.

“Be gone, Dark Shadow” they spoke, melded together in will “I command you, be gone. By my will, by my word, by my oath I send thee out. Be gone, trespasser”

She could feel the words of the exorcism pulling at her, the body rebelling against her, opening up to its true owner.

 “You are not to come near me” the chant continued “You are not to go before me. You are not to step beside me. Whither I walk, you shall not walk. Whither I stay, you shall not stay. At my home, in my body, you shall find no host for you. You shall not step in my steps. You shall not walk in my shadow. BE. GONE.”

……………………………………

Later, Peter would never be able to tell for sure exactly what happened in the Battle of the Tower.

He was barely able to keep track of what he himself did, let alone what anyone else was doing. He did remember the moment, though, when Friday screamed.

He hadn’t noticed when Friday and the man in the red cloak had vanished, but now they all saw them reappear. The sorcerer staggered, clutching his chest. The other sorcerer – what was his name, Wong – rushed to his side, just in time to catch him before he fell.  

Friday’s scream was abruptly cut short. Not dwindling to a stop, but just…cut short. The same instant, Vision stopped fighting them. Stopped fighting and changed.

The Stone set in his forehead pulsed golden, and it looked like colour was flooding back into his body. The ashy grey cast vanished, and he was once again the form Peter had seen in the Airport Battle. He stood frozen, as if not sure what was happening.

Peter almost took the chance to throw him out the window, but Barnes grabbed his hand.

 “God, it actually worked?” there was clear wonder in the former soldier’s voice.

“It…worked” Vision said slowly, as if trying to get a feel of the words on his tongue.

 Friday – only, it didn’t look all that much like Friday right now – gave another, very different cry, and darted forward. Barnes pulled Peter out of her way. The next instant she and Vision were locked in each other’s arms.

Tony Stark screamed too, whirling in rage upon them. War Machine stepped in the path of the blast Iron Man aimed at the pair.

The next instant, Stark had flung himself out of the window.

Chapter Text

A murmur went through the drones. Those who still battled paused a moment as their metallic opponents seemed to shudder.

"Vision snatched the legion?” Clint asked into the comm.

 In the penthouse, Vision numbly shook his head.

He should be able to take control, he knew he should be, but the legion resisted. He was in combat with the technopath’s mind.

 No, not really. With Extremis. That was what battled him. Tried to creep its tendrils into his own mind. He could feel it, like grey tendrils of force prodding at his self, looking for any loophole, any unguarded moment.

 It was a virus, after all – it sought to infect, sought to spread, and Vision knew only too well that his own synthetic makeup made him vulnerable to it in a way humans were not.

 “CLEANSE!” Tony screamed the order “All of them! Everything!”

 He didn’t need to shout, he knew, he didn’t even really need to say the words out loud. It was more a scream than order.

Friday, JARVIS, no, they weren’t gone, not again, not this way, no, no, you can’t take them away again…

Later, Scott would say that that was the moment he realized just how screwed they were.

The drones had been attacking before, converging on the Tower, but that was little more than a gentle play-fight compared to the hell that was unleashed.

Wanda screamed. She had seen this before, seen this in nightmares, seen it in real life, drawn in blood, the bombardments that had decimated her home, killed her friends, the bombardments she and Pietro had tried to hide from huddled in whatever meagre shelter they could get…

Had she escaped Friday’s prison? Or was she still there, still trapped, the escape nothing but an illusion-

Vision clutched her tighter to himself, but that wasn’t enough. She lashed out blindly, scarlet power darting from her. Drones went down. But more followed.

………………………………….

The world watched the battle.

The Iron Legion against the Avengers, against the sorcerers.

Even with the satellite eyes Tony had arranged to broadcast the battle, there would be little agreement on what happened when and where.

A few images would be indelible.

Scott Lang going giant, swatting drones out of the sky, standing guard over one of the shelters like an uncanny colossus.

Drones being webbed together, dragged out of the sky, by a darting red-and-blue figure.

 Flashes of scarlet light disintegrating the machines.

Portals into darkness appearing in thin air to swallow drones.

Arrows striking drones, triggering explosions that took out three or four at a time.

The watchers, all the world over, would remember that.

But more than that, they would remember how the legion seemed never ending. For every drone that went down, got webbed up, vanished, another took its place.

They remembered Iron Man in the sky, surrounded by an honour guard of drones, laughing as War Machine attempted to approach.

They remembered a glimpse of the penthouse. Pepper Potts kneeling beside Daredevil’s motionless form. The Sorcerer Supreme struggling to get back to the fight but falling back, coughing blood.

They remembered the grim realization that this time there would be no good ending.

…………………………………………….

Tony fought to still his racing mind, shut out the distant screams of Friday’s panic. He could go back for her later. Not now, not yet.

“Stark”

He blinked. That voice wasn’t in his head. That was outside. Talking to him.

He sensed the weapon – nothing fancy, nothing that could actually hurt him, just a plain military issue gun – aimed at him. He sensed the pacemaker in the offender’s chest, pulsing steadily along. It took him a few moments more to get his eyes to focus on the speaker.

“Ross?” Tony couldn’t help a startled laugh.

Secretary Ross. Here. Now. For a moment he considered the possibility that he was hallucinating. This was surely what they called too good to be true…

“You are here? Here?”

 Ross smiled calmly. Tony could feel the pacemaker struggling to keep his heart steady. “I’ve been told I lack a heart several times, Stark. And given it was my decision to get you involved, there’s something to be said for lack of a brain as well. But guts, that I’ve never lacked.”

Tony smiled. 

That old feeling, the Divinity, was now easier to retreat into, wrap around him like the suit. And here was Ross. The High Priest who had failed in his duty. Who had blasphemed.

Tony focused on the tiny machine within the man’s chest. The pacemaker was quite an efficient little thing. “How fast can a human heart beat, Ross?”

The pacemaker is supposed to track your heartbeat. If it senses the beat slowing down, send pulses to speed it up to normal. That’s okay. Speed it up a little more than normal. Then a little more.

 “You really came to fight a technopath with a machine keeping your heart beating?”

Ross paled, staggered. He didn’t let the gun drop, though. Tony could sense other eyes on him. Other weapons trained on him. Hawkeye. Natasha. A guy with a gun…Castle, he reckoned. Nutcase.

“Leave him, Stark” Castle shot him. Tony didn’t even bother to block it. The bullets flattened themselves against the armour.

“Oh, I’m not even touching him, Mr. Punisher” he laughed.

“You don’t have the guts to touch me” Ross spat out. His knees were buckling under him, his breath was coming in ragged gasps, but he managed to keep his eyes on Tony. “You never do. Out of the suit. You’d never dare.”

Tony laughed. Once that comment would have rankled. Once he might even have stepped out of the armour in answer to that challenge.

Not anymore. It was no longer his role to directly touch them. The mortals. He wasn’t going to play by their rules. Not anymore. He had tried it before, hadn’t he?

 Ross fell to his knees. A disturbing memory flashed past Tony’s racing thoughts, the image of a mad god commanding the world to kneel before him.

 He dismissed it. The past didn’t matter.

He didn’t stay to watch the old man’s final moments. There was no point.

…………………………………………….

“Tony!” Steve shouted.

Long practice made his voice carry over the blasts, the crashing rubble. That is something you learn when your first leadership experience is to command troops in a world war.

Make sure you are heard. Wherever you are. The trick to giving orders in a battlefield that seems to have come straight out of hell.

 It was difficult to see what was happening, where anyone was, in the chaos of battle. He had had no idea where Iron Man was till Tony appeared before him, the drones parting to give him way.

“We still on first name terms, Cap?”

That tone was the worst of it, the playful tone of the former comrade, the tone of the man he once had been. Steve met his eyes, the new shield – not his shield, even now it didn’t feel like his shield – held between them.

“I won’t call you Stark. That was Howard’s name. My friend’s name. You aren’t worthy of that.”

He had anticipated the repulsor blast that answered his comment. The shield deflected some of it. He rolled with the blast to get out of the way of the rest.

“Howard was a good friend. He wasn’t a good dad” Steve commented, keeping his voice steady, casual “He may not even have been really a good man. But he knew what he was, who he was. He never fooled himself.”

 “And you think I do” there was mocking laughter in Tony’s words, but Steve knew that the eyes hidden behind the helmet would hold no trace of humour.

“I know you do. You can’t win this, Tony.”

“I am winning.” He moved his hand in a grand sweeping gesture as if inviting Steve to look at what was happening to the city “Oh, I know you’ve got my traitor robot trying to hijack EDITH, Cap. I know you’ve got your Mandrakes playing whack-a-mole with my drones. But you don’t get it, do you? You don’t get what I am”

 Tony paused, smiling “You see, Cap, you were right that time. There is only one God. At least, only one that is going to bother with this mess. There is only one God, and he dresses in armour.”

“A God whose idea of saving the world is to destroy it” Steve replied “Why does that sound familiar again, Tony?”

“Oh, I won’t have to destroy them. They will destroy themselves.”

 “What are you going to do?”

“Just gonna take a leaf out of your playbook, Cap. Yours and Widow’s. everything going to be dumped online. Everything. Every nation’s secret files. Treaties. Battle plans. Everything’s about to go online. Oh, don’t bother throwing that pretty new frisbee of yours at me. That won’t stop it. It’s about to start, automatically. In  three minutes. Unless I give the order to halt it.”

………………………………………………………

In the penthouse, Natasha, watching, cursed under her breath.

 Everything. She doubted Tony even knew the magnitude of what he was planning, or cared. Maybe he did understand. Maybe this was exactly what he wanted.

“He wants World War Three.”

“To rule over the ashes. Rebuild in his own image. Whatever takes his fancy” Strange agreed “Assuming he survives.”

 “Oh, he will always assume he survives” Natasha said quietly. “They always do. Always.”

Everything dumped online. Every nation’s secrets. Every secret agreement, every mission, every weapon cache. The doomsday plans. The words spoken in moments of anger or terror, retracted but not erased.

Tony, it seemed, had finally hit upon one end of the world scheme that was foolproof.

…………………………………..

“Unless you give the order” Steve echoed. “And… What do you want me to do? What will it take for you to give the order, to stop it?”

 Tony chuckled. “I did say I wanted an apology…”

 “Apology?” Steve sounded about as baffled as those listening from the penthouse felt. “What do you…”

“Apologize” Tony ordered “You know, do it in style. Grovel. Let me see if you will. Apologize. For everything. For your lies. For Siberia. For the Accords. Everything. You were wrong. Admit it. Apologize, and do it in style.”

 He raised the visor, looking Steve in the eye, challenging.  A moment’s pause. Then Steve, unhesitatingly, sank to his knees, dropping the shield.

“I’m sorry” he kept his eyes on Tony “I was wrong. You were right. I am sorry. I should have obeyed you. Should have stayed with you. Should have followed you. I am sorry.”

Tony looked startled, as if he hadn’t expected this outcome. As if he had expected Steve to carry on with defiance.

“Stop this. Give the order.” Steve pleaded “Please. I was wrong, I admit it. You can do whatever you want with me. Just stop it.”

……………………………………………

Pepper, watching, knew that Tony was genuinely baffled by this turn of events.

It would be inconceivable to him that Steve would do just that, would kneel, would beg, even with the world watching. It wouldn’t occur to him that most people wouldn’t let pride bar their only way of preventing slaughter. Preventing, in this case, what would be the literal end of the world.

“He won’t stop it” she said, and knew it was the truth.

“He will” Strange said.

 There was something about his tone that made her look up, startled. The sorcerer got to his feet, moving rather shakily to the balcony.

 Pepper went with him, letting him lean on her. “What are you doing? You can’t…”

 “I can’t fight” Strange agreed “That…last round…took too much out of me. But…there are other ways.”

His hands went to the amulet. It glowed brilliant green once more.

He smiled “No, not you, old friend. Not this time.”

Pepper looked at the amulet change, swirling in his hand. Strange held it in both hands, raising it to the sky as if in offering to someone unseen.

 “Eye of Agamotto” he chanted “Arise, shine. Shine upon one wreathed too deep in pride. Shine, though your light be too much to abide.”

The amulet…it seemed to…

Pepper let out a startled cry as the amulet opened. And something emerged from it. An eye. A literal eye. Glowing golden, pulsing with a light that hurt to look at.

“Don’t look” Strange warned, turning her face away from it.

……………………………………………..

Later, the only thing the watchers – both those who surrounded the battle field and those watching the broadcast from the comparative safety of their homes – would be able to agree upon was that there was a sudden flash of light.

Several people reported having seen images, usually those with personal connections to themselves, in the flash.

But all agree that it lasted less than a moment. A second, perhaps. No more. In fact, it certainly could not have been more than a second or two in objective time. Since the three minute countdown for Stark’s intended dumping of state secrets into the worldwide web had almost reached its climax when the flash was seen.

Steve Rogers claimed that the effect must have been different on him because he was standing so close to Tony when it – whatever it was – happened. Perhaps a bit of the light caught him in it, too, along with its intended target.

Steve, according to his later testimony, had his first warning of what was happening when the drones fell silent.

Something swept through the drones, seeming to pass right through them. Something that shone. Both he and Tony looked up instinctively as the drones parted before the approaching object. An eye.

 “What-“ Tony began, then froze.

The eye was glowing, emitting a golden, shimmering light that now bathed Tony in it. He seemed to almost stumble in mid-air, the suit wavering for a moment.

Then all movement ceased for what seemed to Steve as several minutes. Neither of them was able to move. Through the raised visor, he saw Tony’s eyes widen, the colour drain from his face.

“No” Tony murmured, his voice coming out strangled “No, it wasn’t…it wasn’t like that…I wasn’t…”

Steve tried to reach out, tried to move. He had no idea what was happening, but he could see what it was doing to Tony.

 A choked sob escaped Tony’s throat. He seemed unable to pull away from the golden light, the searchlight glare the Eye cast on him.

Tears started in his eyes, flowing unashamed. He made no move to disguise or wipe them, in fact seemed barely aware of them.

……………………………

Strange, watching from the penthouse balcony, sighed.

 He knew what was happening only too well. He regretted it had come to this. Using the Eye of Agamotto this way…it almost seemed sacrilege.

But what choice did they have? It had been a question of life and death, not merely to one or two, but for billions…he hoped it would be forgiven, when the time came for him to make his own final account.

 “What…” Pepper looked at him, alarm and confusion battling for control.

 “The Eye of Agamotto” Strange’s voice was low, sounding distant, detached. He seemed to be talking more to himself than to her. “People think the Time Stone is the most dangerous part of it. The deadliest part. They forget it has other powers. Power against illusions.”

 That was the true power of the Eye, the one it had even before it had been chosen as a receptacle for the Infinity Stone. Power against illusions.

Generally understood to mean just the power to see through and dispel magical illusions. But it went deeper. It…it swept away all illusions.

Both those you projected to the world and projected to your own self. One who stood in the light of the Eye could no longer maintain the layer of protective illusion all humans held to cover the darker corners of their minds.

 It showed only Truth. Complete, unchanged truth with no room for sympathy, excuse, bias.

There were very few, no matter how pure of heart and deed, who could endure that searchlight of absolute, unforgiving truth into their souls.

And if it was a man like Tony Stark who was forced to face it…

……………………………………………………………

“No… It wasn’t like that…” Tony heard himself say, but knew it was a lie.

For the first time, it was exactly what it was. There was no more room for denial. No more room for excuses, tricks, stories to tell himself.

There was nothing to hide behind. It was a mirror before himself, a mirror upon which everything, everything was laid bare.

Every thought, every action, every consequence. Every duty ignored. Every lie spoken.

 Every bit of petty cruelty, hypocrisy, pride. Every bit of shadow on his soul, every drop of blood on his hands.

The light cut deeper, deeper and deeper into his mind, his soul. He tried to hide, but there was nothing he could do, nothing that could block it out…

…………………………………

No one would know exactly what Tony Stark saw in those final moments.

 Even Steve Rogers who was beside him, or Stephen Strange who unleashed it on him, would never know for sure.

 The world, watching, saw even less.

But they did see Iron Man falling from the sky.

They saw the drones freeze, cease attack, then begin to deassemble themselves. Breaking into component parts so tiny and disparate that the engineers, later examining them, wouldn’t be able to find a trace of what exactly had made them tick, forget understand how to re-create what Iron Man had.

 The satellites, freed from control all in one single instant, picked up images of the vast EDITH array self-destructing, imploding upon itself in the silence of space.

…………………………………….

They stood surrounding Tony. The way they had once done, around a mad god.

Tony knelt on the ground, eyes fixed on something only he could see. He was weeping quietly, tears running unheeded down his face. The armour was gone, the nano particles retreating to leave him as he was.

 Steve couldn’t help the sharp pang of grief that went through him, that he knew went through both Clint and Natasha, the only ones left of the heroes of 2012.

No one moved. No one spoke. Possibly no one knew what to do. What had Thor told Loki, back then? Steve tried to remember. What do you tell someone who has fallen so far…

“Tony?”

Tony looked up. Even Natasha flinched back from the expression in his eyes. They were the eyes of a man who had looked into hell and still could not look away.

“Merchant of Death” Tony murmured. His voice was choked, broken. “Cap…Tell Wanda she was right. Now…now we all know where Ultron got it from, don’t we.”

 No one replied. There was nothing anyone could say. It was instinct that made Rhodey step forward, but even he could think of nothing to be said.

Wong looked up as if he heard someone speak, then nodded. At a gesture, a portal opened beside him. Pepper Potts stepped through.

Tony looked up at her. His lips moved as if trying to frame the word ‘sorry’, but stopped as if he had realized the utter inadequacy of that word.

Steve knew he had to move, had to get them moving, break this eerie tableau. But the sheer enormity of it all held even him frozen.

He wished someone else would step in. T’Challa, Strange. Someone. Someone to whom Tony Stark had never been a friend.

 It was Tony who broke the silence. “Tell everyone to get out of the Tower.”

 “Out of the Tower?” Steve frowned.

“Please.” Tony’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Please. Now.”

Steve spoke into the blue bead comm. 

Tony paused, as if listening to something, then nodded. “Okay.”

“Tony…” Pepper began, but stopped. She was probably the first to understand what was going to happen.  

The Tower shuddered, its steel joints creaking…a rustle like that of spreading flame went through it. The self-destruct, Pepper knew. They had equipped the rebuilt Tower with it.

It was horribly quiet. And with little fallout. The Tower collapsed in upon itself. Looking through the schematics later, investigators would find the self-destruct device. One would comment it functioned almost like a miniature blackhole, pulling the Tower in upon itself.

 “What-“ Clint began, but stopped himself.

“I can’t fix this…I never could.” Tony spoke slowly. “So…”

Pepper had seen victims of Extremis die. It had always been explosive, catastrophic. This…wasn’t. Tony seemed to shrink in upon himself, his face greying, then sinking like that of an old man. He seemed to be withering before their eyes.

“The nano particles…” T’Challa murmured.

 There was nothing they could do. And no time to do it in, even had they wished.

 All through it, Tony Stark did not make a sound, nor did he take his eyes from Rhodey and Pepper. They found themselves equally unable to look away, eyes locked with his as life faded from him.

Then, finally, it was over.

The corpse crumbled to the ground, little more than skin and bone. There would be enough left to make identification possible and certain. But no more.

The nano particles, the armour, was gone as well. Their own version of self-destruct, whatever it was.

Iron Man was dead.

Chapter Text

Vision hesitated a moment before stepping into the hospital room.

Wanda and Strange, flanking him, nodded silently. They stepped across the threshold, Vision wincing slightly as his gaze went to the still form on the bed.

A young man and a woman – Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, Vision could recognize them from the files – stood beside the bed. Both were struggling to keep their expressions calm, but not succeeding too well at it.

 Even Vision could feel the mix of fear-anger-doubt radiating from them. Wanda flinched slightly, managing to pull up a mental shield around herself as she had been taught.

“Are you sure?” Karen Page asked. She kept her eyes on Strange. Nelson’s eyes kept darting between the three superhumans and his friend.

Strange nodded. “The Mind Stone’s powers should prove sufficient.”

 “I guess it will. That’s what did this, wasn’t it” Nelson was holding one of Murdock’s limp hands in his, Vision noticed.

“I will do all I can” he promised.

Nelson looked at him “Try. Please.”

 Vision knew only too well, despite the explanations, neither of the pair would have agreed to this had there been any other choice. But there wasn’t.

Matt Murdock hadn’t recovered from the catatonic state the attack had left him in. Even in the Wakandan hospital – to which all the injured vigilantes had been moved in the interests of secret identities – the prognosis was not optimistic.

“They say he likely won’t wake up at all” Nelson said. His voice was low, tears close to the surface “And even if he does…he’s never going to be himself again…”

Vision knew that as well. That had been the main reason Stephen Strange and Steve Rogers had been able to talk him into making this attempt at all.

He himself was not certain about the powers he wielded. Not certain enough to use them in a situation like this. But in this case…

Strange had put it with brutal honesty “There’s practically no more harm that can be done. Even if you completely, catastrophically, screw up…Murdock is not going to be left any worse off than he already is.”

 Wanda squeezed Vision’s hand gently. He glanced at her, then at Strange who nodded encouragingly.

 He tried not to notice the terror in Nelson’s eyes as he moved closer.  Focus on Murdock. His mind. What is left of it.

Vision reached out, placing a hand on the young man’s clammy forehead. Nelson made a sharp movement as if he had reflexively meant to block his way.

The Mind Stone pulsed.

Vision had grown wiser when it came to listening to the Infinity Stone, when it came to understanding what it was trying to say. When it came to being one with it, not simply drawing power from it.

Vision himself would have had little idea how to heal a ravaged mind. But now, his merged self knew, instinctively. And it wished to undo what was done.

 Infinity Stones were left over from the origin of the Universe. Their power was forever intertwined with the forces of creation, of healing, of life.

The Infinity Stones could be used to unleash destruction, but their instinct would always be to heal, to save, than to break.

 And when one of them was used to aid destruction, it would inevitably reach for any way to undo what it had been forced to do.

………………………………..

Wanda watched, silent. Her hand held Vision’s free one tightly, willing him to succeed. Desperately praying for him to succeed.

There was much that was done which they couldn’t set right, too much damage they couldn’t undo. If at least a small part of it could be set right…If at least one person could be saved…

 She hadn’t known Matt Murdock – Daredevil – before. A few news reports of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, rarely paid any attention to. But she knew what he had done in the battle.

She knew it was the distraction his and Spider-Man’s desperate attempt provided that allowed the Avengers to enter unnoticed. Perhaps if not for them New York may have fallen, after all.

Even without that… She could sense the storm of emotions within the pair who stood beside him. Foggy Nelson, Karen Page. Fully human. Powerless. Scared.

But still they stood beside their friend. Stood before beings who terrified them. And would be fully willing to die fighting if any tried to harm him. Anyone who could inspire loyalty and love like that was worth saving.

The Mind Stone took on a gentle glow, covering both Vision and Murdock in it. Karen Page made as if to say something, but stopped.

 For a long moment, no one moved. Then, the light faded. Vision staggered back. Murdock’s hand, still held in Nelson’s trembling one, twitched.

“Matt?” Nelson’s voice shook as much as his hand “Matty?”

He hardly dared to hope, she could see.

 Strange looked at Vision, who nodded, smiling for the first time in the past few days.

“F…Foggy?” Murdock muttered. “What…what happened?”

 His voice was weak, thick like that of someone just waking from a deep sleep. But he was waking up.

She could see it, even without the attached machines whose readings, going by Strange’s reaction, had suddenly begun to offer far more cause for hope.

 Strange gestured for her and Vision to step back. They did, willingly. The last thing Murdock had seen, both of them had been on the opposing side.

No need to alarm him just as he woke up. There would be time for explanations, apologies and gratitude later.

…………………………………………………

TWO WEEKS LATER.

The meeting was held in the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Sam, among the first to arrive, had commented the room didn’t seem big enough for the whole company, but it seemed to have somehow expanded with each guest who stepped in.

There were seats for all at the huge round table (obviously, it was Scott who made the inevitable Merlin reference and greeted a just-arrived Steve with a ‘Hail, King Arthur!’)

 Steve looked at the gathered group.

 Strange. Wong.

The Cloak, wandering around the room nudging people and occasionally playing with someone’s hair (and once settling briefly on Peter Parker’s shoulders, much to the kid’s delight and Strange’s slight annoyance).

 Wanda and Vision, their hands linked under the table.

 T'Challa and Shuri, here despite the calls upon their time thanks to the diplomatic chaos Wakanda’s reveal along with the global upheaval had plunged them into.

Clint and Natasha.

Scott, Sam, Bucky.

 Peter and May Parkers.

Matt Murdock.

Coulson and Fury where the last to arrive. (Reason for delay – ‘Fury’s cat tried to eat Everett Ross’ – delivered with Coulson’s usual deadpan manner. No one was sure they wanted to know the details on that one)

 “The Accords will be repealed” Steve made the announcement.

A cheer went up, Scott, in his enthusiasm, upsetting his drink all over Fury.

 “UN won’t make the official announcement just yet – there will be a little delay till the red tape is dealt with. But it won’t be in practice any more.”

 He paused, waiting for the reaction to die down a little. “A new Accords will be formed. One that actually includes equal representation of the Enhanced in the committee. Our concerns will be heard.”

 “No more lo-jacking” Sam put in.

“And make sure there’s still the right to a fair trial” Matt added “Civil Rights still applies.”

Steve nodded “You can be certain those will be demands we won’t back down from.”

Even the two vigilantes in the group had to admit there was the need of some kind of Accords. Especially after what happened. There had to be some kind of oversight…with safeguards.

“Instead of the UN committee, we’re going to suggest the formation of an international organization” Fury said “Somewhat along the lines of SHIELD-“

“Without the Nazis, hopefully” Bucky commented. Sam elbowed him.

Fury glared at him, then continued. “Somewhat along the lines of SHIELD, and as Sergeant Barnes succinctly put it, without the Nazis. An international organization that can monitor and assist metahuman activities. Offer training. Medical facilities. We have been in touch with one Professor Xavier. It will take a lot of work, but I’m pretty sure we can pull it.”

 “It will have the complete support of Wakanda” T’Challa agreed.

 “Pepper and Rhodey…” Steve hesitated a moment “They will be facing considerable jailtime, I’m afraid. No way to avoid that, after what happened. Public reaction against anyone associated with Stark Industries…”

“There will be some mitigating factors” Matt pointed out “Especially their performance in the final battle. It won’t be enough to get them off, nowhere close, but at least it will make sure the sentences won’t be lifelong.”

 “And FRIDAY?” Vision asked “They haven’t found any trace of her, have they?”

 Steve sighed “Nothing more than the fragment you recovered. She effectively died when the Tower was destroyed. And the suits too, I guess. All Iron Man armours self-destructed.”

Vision nodded. “I…have been examining it. What was left of her. Maybe we could do something for her… After all, I was formed of a fragment of JARVIS. What happened was not fully her fault…Not after she was reprogrammed.”

“I really want a look at that program, anyway” Shuri put in “I mean, if we can get rid of whatever garbage Stark reprogrammed her with…”

The others looked as if they seriously doubted the wisdom of that idea, but made no comment. It could be gone into, and in detail, later. 

“They don’t…” Wanda paused a moment “They don’t suspect what happened to us, do they?”

Steve shook his head. “No. As far as anyone outside this room – other than Ms Page and Mr Nelson - is concerned, Wanda and Vision died in the destruction of the Tower. You didn’t manage to get out in time.”

Wanda nodded “I suppose it’s better that way.”

 “They know you were innocent” Steve assured her. “We made sure they knew. There’s enough left to prove-“

“Enough left to prove” Vision agreed “But not enough to convince, Captain.”

They all knew that. What the world had seen…there was little that facts could do to erase the terror.

 Especially since the only method to prove that Friday’s and the mock-JARVIS’ influence was fully removed was a psychic scan, a sorcerers’ method that could not be duplicated.

 Yes. It was better this way. Especially since neither were entirely sure they wanted to be part of the superhero business. Not quite so soon, anyway.

“You can remain in Kamar-Taj as long as you want. Actually, I think you should remain here a while. There’s a lot you need to learn. Besides,” Strange smiled “there are plenty of us there eager to learn how the chaos magic works.”

“Even from the Scarlet Witch?”

“Even from the Scarlet Witch” Wong nodded. “You probably won’t even be the most annoying pupil we had”

 He glanced at Strange, who shrugged innocently. “Just don’t steal books from my library. I’ve got jinxes placed, after the last idiot who tried.”

“Steal…” Wanda frowned.

“Borrowed” Strange corrected Wong, in the tone of one resuming an argument that was played over several times.

 Wong waved his hand in a ‘We’ll do this later’ gesture. The others wisely chose to more or less ignore the by-play.

 “As for the future” Steve glanced around the room, meeting everyone’s eyes “Everyone here has already proved themselves.”

He paused, looking at Peter “Even those who shouldn’t have been in a position to do that.”

May nodded firmly. Peter tried to shrink into the chair, blushing.

“We talked about it” May said. “That training you suggested, Captain… Sounds like a great idea to me.”

She looked at Peter with a mix of pride and exasperation “I can’t really completely stop him from…. Spider-Man business. But no more fighting monsters and robots. Stick to the early friendly-neighbourhood stuff for a while.”

 Peter looked annoyed, but Steve had a feeling he didn’t fully disagree with her either.

“And you are still staying on the college track, young man” she turned to Peter with a mock frown “The moment your grades go down, I’m locking up your costume.”

Matt gave her a thumbs-up “Just give me a call if that happens, Mrs Parker. We’ll bring him straight back home if we catch him out Spidey-ing while grounded.”

Peter groaned. Shuri gave him a look of sympathy and an eye roll that clearly said ‘Grownups, ugh.’

“So I guess the Avengers are back in business?” Matt asked.

“Hey, we never went out of business!” Scott protested. Sam patted his shoulder.

Steve nodded. “Yes. And we do need to expand the membership roster…”

 Matt grinned. “Foggy will have a fit, but I guess I can bribe him with Captain America’s autograph…and new business to the firm whenever you guys can recommend someone our way…”

Peter cheered.

“Hank might actually send me on a one-way trip to the quantum realm for this…” Scott hesitated “But I’ve got someone who’s eager to join up too."

"Hope Van Dyne?” Fury asked.

Scott did a double take “How d’you know?”

 Fury gave him a ‘Are you freaking kidding me’ look.

“Oh. Yeah. Spy stuff. Creepy spy stuff.”

 “That’s kinda what he does” Clint commented.

 “We’ll consider her” Steve interrupted before the discussion could get more off the track. “Right now, things are pretty quiet. But that is no guarantee they will stay that way. For now, we will train. And wait. And get to know each other.”

The reason the first Avengers fell, he knew, was exactly the lack of connection.

 They had never been a team outside brief missions. Never actually…just hung out. They hadn’t been friends. Not all of them. There had been duos, sometimes. But not a true team.

The camaraderie that had sprung up between the Rogue Avengers during their exile…perhaps if there had been something of the sort between the original six, so much of the past horror could have been averted. He was not going to let it play out that way again.

“Before everything else…we had better make sure, formally, that there is no trace of external control left on any of us” he added “You see, some of us approached me about that possibility. That Friday or another could have jumped bodies. I think it will ease everyone’s mind if we all submitted to a…scan of sorts.”

 Strange got to his feet. The Amulet began to take on a glow. “It won’t hurt, won’t affect anyone’s minds. It will just let me see if there is any…corruption of that kind within.”

“Do you agree?” Steve asked. There was a long moment’s pause.

On the one hand, no one was keen on getting too close to the Eye after seeing what it had done…on the other, they were fully aware of their own lingering paranoia about possible body snatching.

“Okay” Sam said. One by one, the others nodded.

“Relax” Strange smiled “This won’t take a minute.”

The light washed over them once more, but this time there was no effect…except a barely perceptible warmth. Strange’s gaze travelled over all of them, lingering particularly on Vision and Wanda.

And on T’Challa.

The doctor frowned slightly as he looked over the Wakandan king, but said nothing. Then, it was over. Strange settled back in his seat

“No parasites” he declared “Friday – and Stark – are gone. No external controls.”

 T’Challa looked a little uncertain. He hadn’t missed the doctor’s change of expression. “Are you certain, Doctor?”

 Strange nodded “Certain. No trace of any hijackers.”

“But? I can hear that in your tone – but what?”

Strange hesitated a moment “I can’t exactly make a diagnosis, but I think as soon as you can you should have your doctors give you a full-body check-up”

 “What’s wrong?” Shuri demanded, eyes darting to her brother in alarm.

Strange shrugged “I can’t quite say. The Eye isn’t a diagnostic tool. Only, I was scanning for malign influences – and it looks like something of the non mystical kind is on you”

T’Challa frowned, but nodded. He didn’t look particularly bothered. Shuri began typing rapidly on the phone she held.

“Sure it’s nothing…of the type you were actually scanning for?”

“Sure.”

The others were starting to look a bit worried too, but T’Challa waved off the concern “I’ll get myself looked at, don't worry. There's little that can’t be handled these days. As you were saying, Captain, the agenda of the New Avengers would be?”

 Steve paused for a moment, then resumed “Okay… I think all of us are aware of two prominent absentees right now.”

 “Thor. Dr Bruce Banner” T’Challa said.

“Yes. Thor told us he was leaving on a quest, a search for something that troubled him. We haven’t heard from him since. Actually, that is far less alarming than it sounds. Asgardians have an average life span of five thousand years or so. A mere couple of years isn’t large enough a time gap for Thor to worry over being out of touch. He probably figures he’ll come back for a visit once in a while”

 “Thor can take care of himself” Natasha said “But he should be told what happened here.”

“Yes” Steve agreed. “But more troubling is Dr Banner’s situation. He was already…well, let’s say, in a bad space when he left. And since the Accords passed, Ross and his squads have been pursuing any Hulk related leads with more than former enthusiasm, and that is saying a lot.”

 “No trace found” Clint said.

“Of course, given all that was happening, we were not quite in a position to search for Bruce ourselves. What investigations we could manage gave us nothing to go upon. But with sorcerers on our side…”

He glanced at Strange and Wong. They nodded.

 “We will find them” Strange promised “It might take a little while, depending on where exactly prince Thor has gone in his quest, but we will find them both.”

 “So that’s the first New Avengers mission?” Scott leaned forward in his seat, eyes practically aglow with excitement “The Search for Hulk?”

Steve hesitated, then smiled. “Yes.”