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10
This was it, he was actually going to do it.
Tony had never considered himself one school or the other. He hadn’t lived by his timer but he also knew roughly how much time he had left. He’d worn a thick brown leather cuff around his wrist his entire life so the media wouldn’t get their greedy hands on this one thing – his soul mate or death was his own.
That was the thing about the timers – they either counted down to when you would die or they counted to when you would die. Both concepts were things Tony had struggled with. The idea of Fate was laughable to him, as if he had no control and some outside being was weaving webs with mortals lives, like said being had nothing better to do. If it was counting down to his death then Tony was fine with that because he had done some pretty stupid things.
And honestly, it was probably counting down to his death because Tony also didn’t believe in soul mates and if he did, he was sure he’d already met his platonic one in the form of James Rhodes back in college. So the timer could suck it, Tony Stark waited for no dumb wrist countdown to tell him when he could meet his soul mate – if soul mates existed.
9
The jet was twitching in the storm and Tony knew he should be focused on figuring out how to save everyone in the jet from the impending doom that would kill him most certainly but also probably everyone else. No one else seemed concerned, though, so their countdowns had either stopped when they met their soul mate or they were not counting down to their death like Tony’s was. Or perhaps Tony was going to die of something dull, like a heart attack or blood clot, and it just so happened that it would occur in this government jet flying with mostly strangers and one confirmed enemy.
Yeah, there was no way Tony was about to meet anyone knew, he was hurtling through the air in a pressurized metal plane with people he already met. It was a shame, really, if his count down had been just a little bit quicker he would have ended up with Captain America as his soul mate and wouldn’t that have made Howard just roll in his grave?
8
The plane shuddered again, this time with an accompanying thump! Overhead, it was almost as though someone had landed on the roof of the jet but that wasn’t possible because Rhodey was out of town and Tony was inside, so no one else had the capabilities to make that landing.
Shame, Tony really wanted to meet someone who could outshine him technologically speaking at least once in his life, more out of curiosity of what the future of technology held without him than anything else.
7
Everyone else was staring at the ceiling, which was dumb because the ceiling wasn’t glass and none of them had x-ray vision, so whatever had hit time – probably debris from the storm – was hidden firmly from view.
Tony almost made a snarky comment about the design of the jet but he stopped himself because did he really want his dying words to be something rude and scathing?
6
Who was he kidding, of course he wanted that. If he was going to die, he wanted to world to remember without a doubt that he was an asshole. So many people died and all their faults were instantly forgotten, their memory living on as if they were saints when really they hadn’t been anything more than mere mortals. John F. Kennedy had been just a man born the right family. Few of his political agendas would have passed if he hadn’t been killed. Queen Elizabeth often acted out of spite for her older half sister and father but all that was ignored since she died.
No, if Tony was going to go out, he wanted his last words to be sarcastic and leave the world remembering that he was not to be admired – remembered, but never admired.
5
Captain America looked nervous and Tony almost felt sorry for the kid. He was, after all, just a kid. Late twenties hardly counted as an adult, especially when a solid portion had been spent in a war or being cared for by his mother and best friend. Tony almost regretted poking fun at him for being old and frozen.
Almost.
4
Another thump sounded from outside their metal vehicle, this one sounding less debris like and more on purpose. Maybe they were being targeted. Maybe Loki had another trick up his sleeve and that’s why he had come so quietly. He was supposed to be some sort of demi god, surly he had a backup plan for if he was to get captured.
3
Then again, Loki was looking rather uncertain, so whoever it was hitting their jet might not be anyone’s friend. Loki had killed quite a few people since landing on earth – not that Tony was really in a position to judge but he was also a few seconds short of death – so practically anyone could be after him. And while Tony wasn’t exactly keen on protecting a murderer he was more keen on making sure everyone but him made it out of this thing alive.
2
No one was freaking out like they were about to die so unless they were all internalizing it like Tony, the billionaire had to assume that everyone still had something to live for, something to look forward to, so he took half a step towards the back entrance to the jet. It was creaking ominously and everyone else tensed for a fight.
Maybe Tony didn’t die a dull death like he’d predicted. Maybe he got to go out in a blaze of glory, or at least a blaze of some sort.
1
Tony took a deep breath, ready to embrace death like a friend – or maybe an enemy. It was rather difficult to tell considering how few friends Tony Stark actually had. Either way, it would all be over in less than a second so Tony figured it didn’t actually matter how he went, as long as he went alone. The door was falling open.
It was time.
0
Behind the landed the most beautiful man Tony had ever seen, red cape a bit overkill but whatever, striding forward and if Tony had to pick a way to die, this would be it.