Nightmare
It was dark and there was a really ugly smell of sweet and gunpowder all around him. There was also this very cold, familiar feeing, that Tony never wanted to feel again. He tried to move his hands, but his legs and arms were tied up, and it was only then when he realized he is lying on something…
An operating table.
NoNoNoNo...
This couldn't be happening again. He was just at his Penthouse after came back from The Moon Base, he couldn’t be in that Cave. Not again.
Oh please, not again…
Tony screamed, but only inside his head. It didn't matter since no one would come to help him, anyway. He tried to free himself even though he knew it was pointless. He was trapped and there was no way to escape.
A pair of heavy footsteps echos in the distance and Tony immediately knows who they belong too… Raza.
NoPleaseNoPleaseNo!
Tony somehow managed to calm his panicked breathing, thinking he heard something other than his own terrorized moaning. "Who's there?" He demanded into the blackness, his voice shaking.
He was sure he heard something. There was someone in the room with him. If he was even in a room. He didn't know. He couldn't tell.
Why was it so fucking dark?
“Show yourself!" Tony screamed, frantically looking around him in hopes of spotting at least the smallest movement, as sweat stung his eyes and might have mixed with his desperate tears.
There it was again. That weird sound…
"Damnit!" Tony screamed, angrily yet clearly afraid. "What the fuck do you want from me?!"
“Maybe it's just my imagination…” Tony thought. “Oh God, please let it be my imagination…”
Tony hears that sound again, but this time he recognizes it. Somebody is filling up a barrel with water.. Oh God, not that. Anything but that. Please…
"No.." Tony breathed, desperately trying to free himself again. "No!"
Suddenly, Tony could make out a figure in front of him, thanks to the bright blue light, coming from the device that the man was holding.
The Arc Reactor.
Obadiah…
“Please no…” Tony cries out, looking at the big hole in his chest with panic. Obadiah hands the Arc Reactor to Ultron Prime, who crushes it and lets it fall to the ground, while Rogers and the others just watch, not even trying to help him, no matter how much he begs.
“Boss.”
Tony then felt a hand on his arm and he couldn't stop shaking.
“Boss, wake up!"
Tony gasped and flew off the bed as he woke up from his nightmare and landed on his back at the floor, groaning in pain. He shifted himself into a sitting position and leaned his back against his bed, squeezing his eyes shut, and hoping to will the panic away.
“Boss, you okay?” Friday hesitantly asked, hovering above him in her purple holographic form, concern on her face and in her voice.
Tony’s head snapped to the side, where Friday was standing, nervously flickering with her fingers. “Something that she probably picked up from Wanda.” Tony thinks to himself, as they continue to stare at each other, while he is still sitting on the floor, trying to calm down his breathe.
Something about the way Friday looks at him forced Tony to take a deep calming breath, and for the first time since she woke him up, he focuses and manages to give her a small smile, that he hopes doesn’t look like a broken grimace. “What’s up, baby girl?”
Friday slowly kneeled next to him, carefully observing his form. She knew that he suffered from severe PTSD, but it was a few months since he had his last panic episode. Her Creator/Father was covered in sweat, and looked completely terrified. Even now, despite him clearly trying to hide it, Friday can see a small winces in his shoulders, and it breaks her heart..
Friday pulls her hand to touch his shoulder, but as soon as she got within his reach, Tony pulled her into his lap, wrapping his hands around her holographic body, as if his life depended on it. Figuring out that it was helping him calm down, and it felt really nice to her too, Friday curled up to him, her head tucked under his chin, while he grabbed her hand and gave her a soft squeeze.
For a few minutes, they set in comfortable silence, both silently lost in their own thoughts, but also grateful for the ability to be able to touch and feel each other. Tony also mentally claps himself for creating the Endo Sym Armor again, as without it, none of this would be possible.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Friday asked, shifting her body so she was practically lying in his lap.
“It was about Afghanistan.” Tony responds in single sentence, looking away from her, but giving her enough to understand his inner struggle.
Wanting to make him think about something else, Friday grins and leans to his cheek, giving him a small kiss and whispering. “Happy birthday Old Man.”
Tony gasped, his jaw falling open. “Excuse me?! I’m not even 30!”
“You are 40.” Friday said in amusement, rolling her eyes.
“Not biologically.” Tony countered, giving her a smug smirk, making her mentally praise herself, as she sees he is back to himself again.
“Whatever makes you feel better Boss.” Friday muttered, shaking her head, before snapping her fingers, making a holographic list open in front of them. “Everything should be fully set up for your party. Mr. Hogan collected all of the bands, including AC/DC yesterday, and they finished the podium at the field this morning.”
“What about the fireworks?” Tony asked, his eyes sparking with mischief.
“I took care of that part personally.” Friday responds, mirroring his smirk, before grimacing. “Ms. Potts won’t be able to make it, but she sends her best wishes and asked us, and i quote. “Just don’t burn down the whole city.” I told her that we will make sure, that at least half of New York is still standing tomorrow.”
Tony laughs, with an amused expression on his face. “Don’t make a promise if you know you can’t keep it.”
Friday snorts, standing up and holding her hand out to him. “Shall we?”
“We shall.” Tony takes her hand and gives her a grateful smile. “Thank you for-“
“What are Daughters for?” Friday cuts in with a smirk, before her Avatar vanishes, as Tony just stares at the place she stood with a dropped jaw, thinking about what she just said, and only returning to the real world, when her playful voice rings from the speakers in his room. “Move your ass Old Man, people are waiting for you!”
Tony smiles and prepares to go take long warm shower, before he starts to prepare for his birthday party. He silently hopes that everything will go well, but he has a feeling that something weird will happen.
And he isn’t sure if it will be good or bad…
****
“He isn’t here!” Steve growls into the phone, feeling frustrated and kicking a chair away from him.
“I know.” Sharon responds, sounding annoyed and slightly displeased about something Steve can’t figure out. “The CIA called in War Machine to help them with apprehending him. Barnes is currently in CIA custody.”
“And where is he locked up?” Steve demands, fear over Bucky dripping into his heart. If Bucky is with Rhodes, it’s only matter of time before Tony gets his hands on him…
“I will try to figure out, but your best option is to ask Rhodey himself.” Sharon replies before releasing a heavy sigh. “I will ask around but I don’t promise anything… Bye.”
Sharon hangs up, not waiting for Steve to even reply, making him growls again, as he taps on his comms peace. “Sam disengage. Bucky is not here. We need to call Rhodes, he knows where Bucky really is.”
“Roger that.” Sam responds, flying over the buildings towards their meeting point.
“Hang on Bucky… I’m coming…” Steve mutters, before somebody tackles him to the ground, making him grit his teeth and prepare for the fight, only to stop when he realizes who it is. “Nat?”
“I told you to stay away.” Natasha growls, not letting him go. “If you get involved you will cause only more problems for us!”
“It’s Bucky, Nat.” Steve responds, narrowing his eyes. “He is all I got. I am not abandoning him. I won’t let him rot in some prison for something he didn’t do!”
“Steve… use your head.” Natasha starts, using voice as if she was talking to a baby. “Tony already abandoned us. He won’t make all of your problems magically vanish as he did before. If you break even the smallest law, you will get prosecuted.”
“They will kill him.” Steve snaps, making Natasha sigh and get up.
“Rhodey won’t tell you where Barnes is.” Natasha says, as Steve moves towards the exit. “He is the classic soldier boy. Duty comes first. If you want to learn something from him, you need to go through Tony.”
“He abandoned us, you said it yourself.” Steve reminds her, shaking his head.
“I know, but we need to get him back on our side. We need Iron Man and Tony Stark more then you realize.” Natasha responds, giving him a hopeful and pleading look. “Tony is going to have a birthday party tonight. We weren’t invited of course, but I’m sure I can get us in.”
“Okay…” Steve mutters, giving in. “I just hope I won’t regret this later.”
****
“Colonel Rhodes.” Everett Ross greats with a respectful nod towards Rhodey, who is still wearing his armor, minus the helmet. “Thank you for your assistance. I don’t want to think about the number of my Agents who could’ve got injured in apprehending him.”
“I’m not really sure about that.” Rhodey responds, staring at the restrained Winter Soldier in the bulletproof cage. “He gave up without a fight after I told him who I am and that I didn’t want to hurt him, and that I’m not with Hydra.”
“Still, he bombed the UN.” Everett points out, also looking at Bucky now. “He is one of the most dangerous people on the planet. I don’t want to take any unnecessary risks with him.”
“Actually, I don’t believe he did.” Rhodey interjects, shaking his head. “I asked him why he did it and he was genuinely confused. He then told me that he was hiding in New York ever since SHIELD collapsed and left country only once, when Rogers was snooping around the city for him.”
“And you trust him?” Everett asked, looking curious about Rhodey’s opinion.
“Barnes is a former Hydra Assassin who was considered to be a myth, till Hydra was revealed. He might’ve been brainwashed, but the skill he gained over the years stayed. Even the capability of lying.” Rhodey starts, tilting his head towards the CIA Agent next to him. “I don’t trust him because I don’t have reason too, but I asked his neighbors and they confirmed his alibi. He didn’t do it.”
“So if he didn’t do it. Who did? And why make it look like Barnes did it?” Everett questions, now looking curious about the whole situation.
“I don’t know…” Rhodey shrugs, moving towards the exit. “Excuse me, but I have a birthday party to catch.”
In the shadows above them, Black Panther listens into their conversation with narrowed eyes under his mask, slipping away before anyone can notice him, while in his mind, he also questions the whole situation, that just seems to got a lot more complicated.
****
Ultron flies around Mars, trying to catch up to the strange alien flying ball, that he was trying to capture for 4 hours now. This strange droid flickered on his space scanners for about 2.7 seconds, until it vanished.
No Space scanners that aren’t Stark scanners would be able to detect it, and even Ultron thought it was just some glitch in the system, until it happened 4 more times.
Eventually, Ultron went to Mars himself, but every time he got close to the strange ball droid, it just increased speed and speeded away from him, making him groan in annoyance. He got so annoyed that he called in Iron Legion and created small perimeter around the planet, making the ball fly in circle, until he managed to calculate where it would be next, and finally shoot it down.
Ultron drops next to the now smoking ball droid, scanning it with every scanner he can, and silently feeling pleased about finally destroying, what Friday would surely call “his Nemesis” He figures out this little probe droid is Chitauri Origin and carries a series of protocols and interesting data and design of…
“Well, this isn’t good…” Ultron mutters to himself, as a large hologram appears in front of him.