[REWRITTEN] You Chose The Wrong Side

You are probably wondering how could the great, awesome, and unbelievably handsome Tony Stark, or as people prefer to call him, The Invincible Iron Man got into this screwed-up situation.

Well, it's actually not that long story.

The Avengers made mistakes, innocent died, and people lost their trust in them. Then Lagos came and The World s Leaders decided enough was enough and an international agreement concluded among 117 countries was officially signed off. The Sokovia Accords would regulate the activity of the Superhuman community, as well as put The Avengers under the supervision of The UN panel. All members of the Avengers were given two choices. Sign and you could continue operating as an Avenger under the jurisdiction of the UN, or you could simply retire from the superhero business and enjoy a normal life.

Tony himself decided to support The Accords, along with Rhodey, The Vision, Natasha, and the new King of Wakanda, T'Challa, while Steve and Sam decided to outright refuse without actually reading the document, or fully understanding its importance. Instead, they decided that it would be a good idea to go and fight with the special forces of Romania, who were there to apprehend The Winder Soldier or kill him if he refused to cooperate, and it ended up with the good old Captain America, along with his two sidekicks and The Black Panther himself dropping a bridge on innocent civilians.

Another sign that they needed oversight.

But then it got even better. There was this Zemo guy who seemingly wanted to free other Winter Soldiers, who, unlike Barnes, volunteered for the whole experiment, and even enjoyed killing people. Steve decided that it would be a good idea to drag Wanda, who has been in deep water after Lagos and was in danger of being deported to a Country that wanted her head on a silver pattern. Clint, who was retired and on vacation with his family, and a stupid awkward Guy with a Suit that strongly remembered something Aunt Janet used to tell Tony as a bedtime story before she died.

In the end, it ended up in a big fight among The Avengers, and most of Team Cap got captured, and imprisoned on Raft by Thaddeus Ross.

Romanoff unsurprisingly changed sides and allowed Steve and Barnes to get away, and later told Tony that they, who were on the side of the law played their cards wrong. She also told him that he should watch his back, while his Best Friend got injured during this conflict and was in surgery with a broken spine. So let's say that Tony lost all interest in helping her sort her problems out and let her disappear.

Tony then learned that The Winder Soldiers were actually real and went to Raft to talk with his teammates, who weren't nice at all, but since they are still teammates and some would say, family. He already made some arrangements that would get them out of the super-secret underwater prison within a few weeks, months at the top. After some convincing Sam told Tony where Steve and Barnes were headed and Tony went there as a friend, truly aware that he was breaking The Accords by not informing Ross or anyone of his destination. He was ready to help out his friend and solve the whole brainwashed cyborg problem later.

But then the truth came out.

Zemo never planned to release The Winter Soldiers and he killed them all in their cryo-sleep as soon as he got there. Zemo's family died in Sokovia and his endgame was to see an Empire fall. The Avengers being the said Empire.

He played really spooky camera footage from the date Tony's parents died and to Tony's inner shock, it wasn't a car accident like he believed it was. The Winter Soldier bashed his Fathers head until his Father was nothing more than a bloodied pulp and choked his mother to death. Tony isn't a stupid guy. He saw the way Steve reacted and he saw no visible reaction or surprise that his friend, Howard Stark, who searched for him for almost 70 years died at The Winter Soldier's hand.

He knew.

At that moment, Steve stopped being Steve to Tony and became Rogers.

Tony housed Rogers and his sorry ass for years and asked for nothing in return. Rogers even had the audacity to bash Tony for not telling The Team, except Bruce, anything about Ultron, while he was lying about something like this.

So, Tony did the only thing any human would do. He snapped and lashed out. All three of them fought, two on one, but Tony simply didn't care. He could've killed them with one good aimed slash of his lasers, but he didn't want them dead. He wanted to see them both bleed, feel hurt just like he was.

But he simply wasn't going to win that way. Mark 46 was just a prototype and wasn't designed for hand-to-hand combat. Plus, Mr. Sometimes my teammates don’t tell me things, and his Cyborg friend weren't pulling their punches, so at one point when Barnes tried to rip The Arc Reactor out of his chest, Tony also stopped holding back and released the Unibeam, completely destroying the metal arm that killed his Father.

At that moment, Rogers completely lost it and went berserk, not caring if his punches were lethal or not. Realizing this Tony let Friday finally take control of the fight and after a few seconds, Rogers was at his knees, desperately trying to make Tony understand that Barnes was his friend, not caring that his same friend murdered his Parents. Brainwashed or not, it was him. It was his face, his hands.

But Tony still wasn't going to kill them, so he gave Rogers a chance to stand down, but Rogers didn't take it, so Tony was finally going to knock him out, but then Barnes recovered and distracted Tony for long enough for Steve to toss him to the ground and beat him to a bloody pulp with the shield Tony's Father made.

Rogers was going to take his head clean off, Tony saw it in his eyes the moment Rogers raised that shield above his head. His eyes were mad, clouded with rage, but at the last moment, he changed trajectory and destroyed The Arc Reactor, making Tony unable to move. Then he picked up Barnes, dropped the shield, and simply left. Not glancing back even once.

Okay, so it wasn't a short story after all.

So now, Tony was stranded in an abandoned ex-Hydra bunker in the middle of a cold, injured, and without any way of calling home for help. Awesome. Tony wondered for a few minutes if Rogers was going to come back for him, but seeing as that didn't happen for at least two hours, he lost all hope.

The Sound Of Silence was probably even worse torment than the coldness Tony felt over his whole body. Trying to keep himself busy, he did a quick mental check-up for his injuries and the results were to put it simply: not good.

Unsurprisingly, artificial sternum and vibranium shields don’t like each other very much and Tony was 98% sure that his sternum was shattered. His breathing got a lot worse and that meant only one thing: lungs damage. He also could feel a few of his ribs were broken, but what concerned him the most was the numb feeling around his heart which probably meant that some parts of the damaged sternum broke off and are currently scratching around his heart.

Seeing the condition he was in and the pain growing more and more unbearable. Tony Stark did the one thing he swore he would never do again.

He closed his eyes and simply gave up.

****

Two Months Later:

When a panicking Friday contacted them, Vision and Rhodey were in the middle of a heart-to-heart conversation because Vision was feeling a lot of guilt for accidentally causing Rhodey s injury. Friday quickly told them in short that she lost contact with Mark 46 and that Tony might be in danger.

At that moment, Rhodey saw something snap in Vision's eyes, as the Android immediately blasted out of the Hospital, not caring if he created a really large hole in the roof, and flew to Siberia to retrieve Creator/Father?

Anyway, it doesn't matter.

Rhodey will never forget those 3 tormenting hours of his life, not knowing if his best friend is even alive. It felt worse than torture. When Tony got kidnapped in 2010, Rhodey never stopped looking for him, but now, he couldn't even stand on his own legs and felt completely useless. He is sure that he would win the prize for the fastest wheelchair in the whole of America, with the speed he demonstrated when the phone finally ringed and Vision informed him about Tony's condition.

Rhodey won't lie. He cried when he heard that his best friend is alive thanks to only life support systems and in a deep coma. He also cried along with Happy and Pepper, when Tony was finally brought back to America and put under the super care of Dr. Helen Cho and her Cradle 2.0.

For the whole two months, Tony didn't show any signs of waking up and his heart stopped beating more times than Rhodey can even count.  Tony went through several surgeries but Helen is afraid that even if he would woke up, he would never be the same, or could function like any other human being.

She even talked about the possibility of putting The Arc Reactor back inside.

That's why Rhodey is currently shaking with fear. He is afraid of what Helen is going to tell them because he knows that Tony's condition didn't get any better from his yesterday's night visit. And if Helen called him there, it means that she wants to do something drastic.

"Rhodey, Vis." Helen greeted with a small sad smile on her face. "I'm glad you could make it so quickly."

"Mom." Vision nodded with a warm smile, which Helen returned, while also looking pleased with him calling her that.

"Helen." Rhodey greeted back, looking at Tony's sleeping form with a pained expression, before shifting his eyes towards the brunette doctor. "How is he?"

Helen Cho is a brilliant Doctor, Friend, Mother of an Android, Scientist, and a beautiful woman, but her poker face sucked. Her face is easy to read, Rhodey already knew what she is about to say even before she says it.

"It's only getting worse, Rhodey..." Helen answered right away with a pained voice that would make even children cry. She avoided eye contact with them, as she gently ran her fingers on top of the Cradle. "I don’t believe he is gonna make it past this night…”

Vision loudly sucked for a breath and Rhodey was for once glad, that he was sitting on that stupid wheelchair because if he didn't, he would for sure fall backward right now.

“There is nothing that can be done?” Vision whispered with a hopeful expression on his face. "Anything?"

“Not with the standard procedures." Helen hesitantly and calculatingly said, and both Rhodey and Vision froze as soon as those words left her mouth. "The shrapnels from his artificial sternum are already poking at his heart and they are just too small to be removed like before. With every breath Tony takes, they are just getting closer and closer to their target." She then took a deep breath and continued. "The only chance he's got is to burn them out from inside."

Rhodey felt his head spinning as he ran his hand through his hair. "You are talking about Extremis." He whispered, only knowing he was right.

“It’s pretty much his only hope…” Helen concluded, biting her lip. "I know that he never wanted this. I know that he was proud of being only human, but he will die without Extremis..."

"What about the side effects?" Vision asked, tilting his head to the side to get a better look at Tony

"Tony stabilized Extremis with my and Bruce's help back in 2012 when we cured Pepper and used a small dose to keep him out of danger when he removed the Arc." Helen responded, looking slightly nostalgic. "He is in no danger of blowing up if that's what you are asking."

“Fuck…” Rhodey whispered under his breath, looking at Tony with an apologetic look. It's the only way. He turned back to Helen with a determined look. "Do it."

****

The experience of being in a coma was an interesting one. Tony could hear bits and pieces of what was happening around him, but it was like a dream that he couldn’t wake up from.

It wasn’t all bad. It was like he had a whole other life in there. He wasn’t Iron Man, his parents were alive and healthy and even Edwin Jarvis and Ana Jarvis were here. AI Jarvis, U, and Butterfingers were also alive and there was even a good version of Ultron. For the first time in a very long time, Tony felt truly happy and at peace.

Tony loved Pepper, he really did, but some people use to come to the conclusion that Pepper is the first true love of Tony’s life, which simply isn't true. He had many serious relationships before Pepper. There was Sunset Bain, who shouldn't really count because she was just using him, but Tony did love her so he counts her. Then there were Whitney Stane, Emma Frost, Bethany Cabe, and Carol Danvers.

Among all of these girls, Carol was a special case. She wasn't born into a rich family like Emma or Whitney. Instead, she was an ordinary girl who wasn't perfect by any chance, but despite not being rich, she never tried to use him for his money or family name.

She simply didn't care about those things.

They met at MIT through their shared connection to Rhodey, and they hated each other at the first sight. Carol was a girl who at the first sight followed the rules and had no fun at all. Tony on the other hand was the exact opposite. He was a smartass who was too smart for his own luck and broke every rule he could just because he simply could and wouldn't face any consequences because he was the heir of The Great Howard Stark.

But then they got to know each other a bit more. Tony wasn't just a brat who cared only about himself. He genuinely was a kind boy who just put on a big act because he was simply taught to act that way. He also suffered from depression, something that he was desperately trying to hide from the outside world. Carol on the other hand in reality wasn't the rule follower as she made herself to be and could have a lot of fun when she wanted, but she also had a serious problem, that Tony recognized from his Father. Alcoholism.

They became each other anchors. She was there to hold him whenever he fell into his depression and He was there to look out for her whenever she wanted to grab a bottle and drink herself to the next week. This supportive friendship later developed into something more and they soon started to date, and despite their problems, they were happy together.

They were so happy in fact, that they were going to get married, but before they could actually start to plan their wedding, Carol's plane crashed and she died and he broke down. Guilt was eating him alive because the plan Carol flew was the newest Stark Jet that Tony personally designed, and after an empty casket was buried in the ground, he did the only thing that reminded him of her. He turned to Alcohol and later Drugs to comfort and quickly build up strong addiction that took him years to wear off.

In his weakened state, lying on his death bed, he dreamed about what his life could’ve been with her. He can practically hear her laughter and see the bright smile she had when he finally kneeled and proposed.

He hears her calling him home and then she is being ripped away from him.

Again...

****

When Tony opened his eyes, it was only darkness around him, but for some reason, he could see his surroundings perfectly. He realized that he was inside the Cradle very quickly and immediately activated the manual release from inside. He doesn't have claustrophobia but he doesn't feel like being in so tight spaces right now.

In the corner of the room, Tony sees an Iron Man suit, guarding him in a sleeping mode. He knows for sure that he didn't build this suit, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out who did build it. Friday always looked out for him ever since her reactivation during the Ultron incident.  When he finally asked her about it, she simply replied "Who else would look after you then if not me?" The smugness in her voice made him feel really proud, and ever since that moment, Tony treated Friday as if she was a real human being.

The Suit is almost the exact replica of the Mark 46, just repainted with mostly meaning grey that covered most of its plating under the chest plate and on arms and legs. Tony has to swallow the urge to throw up when he remembered the fate of his beautiful piece of art which was Mark 46, but he actually likes this design a bit more.

Maybe it's time to abandon the iconic Red and Gold color scheme.

There is a moment of silence as Tony just stared at the Armor when suddenly, he felt a small shift in the air, and a young girl, not older than 20 appeared in front of him out of thin air. The girl has short dark hair that go barely below her shoulders and bright purple eyes. Scratch that. Her entire figure is glowing with bright purple light which makes Tony realize that she is a hologram.

But that realization didn't stop him from releasing a totally unmanly scream at her sudden appearance, which made the girl burst out laughing like crazy.

Tony's left eyes twitched in annoyance as he stared at her with a frown on his face. "What the fuck? Who the hell are you?!"

The girl froze and just blinked at him with a confused facial expression before a realization hit her face and she facepalmed with a soft giggle. “You know how to hurt girl’s feelings, Boss.” She pouted with a familiar Irish accent and Tony's heart skipped a beat.

“Friday?!”

Friday nodded and smirked, motioning fingers at her hair. "Told you I am not a redhead."

Tony has a sudden flashback back to their conversation on board his helicopter before he went to Siberia. He suppressed a flinch at the thought of Siberia and took in her appearance and realized that Friday actually looked a lot like a younger version of  Ana Jarvis, which is kinda ironic, considering Friday was modeled after Ana.

Maybe that's from where Friday got her overprotectiveness over him.

"No. You clearly aren't a redhead." Tony chuckled, leaning his back against the cradle's frame. He studied every single move Friday made and his curiosity got better of him. "How are you even doing this, Baby Girl?"

“It’s a small combination of manipulating lights and holograms." Friday answered his question with a proud and smug look that reminded Tony of the way his younger self looked when he won that stupid college competition with Dum-E. "I thought it was time for a bigger upgrade."

And the nostalgia strikes again because these were the exact same words Tony told to Edwin Jarvis when he build U.

God... Tony hates nostalgia...

"I like it." Tony said with a soft smile, tilting his head to the side. "It suits you." Friday's expression only brightened while he pointed at the Iron Man armor in the corner of the room. "I also what you have done with the suit. I like the way the grey makes it look more mean and menacing."

"I'm happy you like it." Friday concluded and sheepishly scratched the back of her head. In that moment, Tony could see concern hidden behind her bright smile and it made him frown again.

“Fri. I feel fine, Baby girl.” He called out, trying to sound as much convincing as he possibly at that moment could. "I am fine. You don't need to worry about me." He then forced a smirk on his face "That's my job."

"Are you really fine?" Friday hesitantly asked, biting her lower lip while Tony started mentally panicking that she saw through his mask. "I mean... You surely already know what we had to do to keep you alive. You should be feeling it as we speak."

Tony frowned in confusion. "What do you-" He suddenly stopped in mid-sentence and thought this whole situation over again. He somewhat knows what his injuries were in Siberia and there is no possible way he recovered after that beating. He can also feel a weird farm feeling inside his chest and that's when the realization hits him. "No..."

"We had to." Friday quickly said, looking at him with a sad and apologetic expression as he quickly grabbed a mirror and brought it to his face. "There was no other way..."

Tony looked at his reflection and sadly closed his eyes. The bags and wrinkles from his face are completely gone, just as his grey hair. He looks almost exactly like he did when he just came out of college. When he opened his eyes again they were glowing orange. “How long was I out?” He asked with a whisper, not taking his eyes from his reflection in the mirror.

Friday hesitated before answering him with a soft, quiet voice. “Two months...”

Tony threw the mirror into the fall and it shattered on the impact, while smoke come running out of his hands, and his eyes glowed even brighter than before, but this time with only rage, anger, hurt, and betrayal.

"Rogers."