[REWRITTEN] You Chose The Wrong Side

Living at the Stark Tower was surprisingly great for everyone. None of them were sure what to expect, but everything seems to be working perfectly. Nobody has a problem with anyone and they are interacting healthily as any Team, or in this case: Team in Development, should.

Rhodey and Scott quickly bonded over their shared love for engineering. Clint after his whole family also joined them stuck closely to Jane and helped her with everything she needed in her condition. Jane herself focused on remodeling the common area of the Tower so it would suit all of their needs and preferences while also creating a friendship with Clint's daughter, Lila, who was simply astonished by Jane practically being a female version of Thor. Laura Barton also took it upon herself to help Jane with everything concerning pregnancy and even told her what she should expect when the baby is finally born.

Hope focused on helping Fury, Potts, and Stark Industries with the PR nightmare that came crashing down on their heads after Raft. There were multiple rumors concerning Tony and his condition but the trio managed to successfully tell the story in the best possible way without revealing any crucial details. Pym Tech also formed a partnership with Stark Industries, as well as The UN panel. Hope and Hank Pym himself joined Tony's army of Lawyers and helped reshape The Sokovia Accords into a more suitable version that would treat the Superhuman community as Humans, not as things or weapons of mass destruction. Just like Tony originally envisioned it.

Fury helped Hank keep his Tech and Pym Particles, just like Tony was allowed to keep Iron Man Tech to himself. You could say that Hank became a Consultant to The New SHIELD and advisor to the slowly forming New Avengers. While mainly focusing on his work with The Quantum Tunel, Hank also assisted Helen Cho, who is also living at The Tower with Tony's treatment. When Scott, who still thought that Hank hated everything Stark related questioned this, Hank simply replied that he was done blaming the Sins of The Father on The Son, plus, Tony is his Wife's Godson.

Carol stuck close to Vision, who was a bit distanced from the others. When Carol questioned his reasoning, The Android confessed that he doesn't know how to act with so many people. The former Avengers never acted this way and the only real social interactions Vision had been with only Tony, Rhodey, Wanda Maximoff, a few SI workers, and Tony's inner circle. People told Carol that Vision isn't Jarvis but for some reason, Carol felt like that statement wasn't true. Sure, he was a bit uncertain and shy, but so was Jarvis when Tony activated him for the first time. Carol remembered that moment well. She was there, after all.

When Vision relax around Carol, he also voiced his concerns about Friday, who was unresponsive ever since Raft and her quick chat with Rhodey.

Carol was interested in the younger female AI. She wanted to know how much progress Tony did in his development because she was simply amazed by it in the past. Friday at first ignored her but after a few hours manifested herself in her purple construct form and broke down crying. Carol tried her best not to gasp at the idea of an AI crying, and also tried her best to comfort her. Friday spilled the beams and just confirmed everything they already knew about Tony and his loss of will to live. That was also the moment something snapped inside of Carol and she gave the female AI a promise that Tony will live. no matter the cost.

Friday was hesitant to believe her but stuck to her side like a shadow since then. Not that Carol minded, Friday also helped her catch up with everything that happened on Earth during her absence and even established communication with Monica Rambeau, Carol's Goddaughter, who Tony took care of after Maria Rambeau, Monica's Mom and Carol's best friend, died of cancer. Monica also knew that Carol was alive but she never told Tony because Maria forbid it. When Carol asked why Monica told her that Tony was very unstable after her death, and the fact that Carol didn't remember him at that moment would break him beyond repair, and while Carol didn't like it, she understood.

She also spend a lot of time just staring at Tony's floating body inside the cradle, just talking about what happened and what could've been. Helen told her that there is a small chance that he is aware of everything that's going on around him but it is a very slim chance. So Carol talked, she talked, told him everything that happened to her, yelled, cried, and even admitted some of the things she would never say to his face. Not even back then. She also begged. She begged him to wake up but he never did.

Sometimes Carol asked herself the big question. What will happen if he wakes up? Will he get himself together and accept their help, or is he simply too far gone, broken, and beyond saving?

She hopes for the first option.

****

Movie night. The one time everybody from the Tower meets in the Cinema Room to bond, watch a movie and just have fun. It has been almost two weeks since "The Breakout" as the public calls it and everything is mostly quiet. Scott's Daughter, Cassie, came for a weekend and quickly bonded with Lila, Copper, and even young Nate. The three teenagers also started a prank war against their parents, Vision, and Friday and ultimately admitted defeat because Friday was a tactical genius who managed to turn their own pranks against them.

The Kids decided to watch a Disney film called Frozen, much to Clint's dismay, who hates the movie because he saw it way too many times. Helen managed to successfully dodge this night's movie night because with her taking care of Tony day and night, her other projects went aside and now she needs to catch up with the deadlines. Hank is in San Francisco on a Pym Tech business so he is also excused.

Vision and Friday were fascinated by the movie and watched it with really childish facial expressions, while Carol really liked the musical part of the movie. Scott apparently also liked the song because after the credits rolled he stood on the table and started singing at the top of his lungs, making all of them burst out laughing, while Clint groaned and hid his face in Laura's shoulder, who comfortingly patted him on the shoulders with a grin that clearly showed she was amused by this whole display and her Husband's displeasure.

Then something weird happened. The lights in the entire tower turned dark red and all of the doors went on a lockdown. All of the eyes immediately shifted to Friday who visibly frowned and narrowed her eyes at the ceiling.

"Friday?" Vision called out first. "What's happening?"

"Someone or something just triggered the defense mechanism outside The Tower." Friday responded, still frowning. "I don't have a visual thanks to that rainy storm outside."

"Alright." Rhodey signed and glanced at the Kids then at Jane and Laura. "You five stay here. Friday will keep this whole room on a lockdown until it's safe to come outside. The rest of us will go check this alarm out." He noticed the looks the Kids had on their faces and mentally slapped himself. "I'm sure that it is just a false alarm anyway."

****

"Why is it so dark?!" Scott whined as he almost tripped over his own legs. "Seriously... This is the most technologically advanced Tower in the whole of New York and we are looking for a potential intruder with flashlights?”

"It's one of Tony's protocols." Clint shrugged, pointing his flashlight at Scott. "This whole floor, as well as Tony's and Bruce's floors were completely blocked out because of the experimental tech they both had. It's harder for the bad guys to look for something if it's completely dark. It's a perfect plan if you can see in the dark like Tony's suit allowed him, but when you don't have the suit..."

"I can see in the dark without suit." Vision amusingly pointed out.

"So can I." Carol added with her own teasing smile while her glowing amber eyes shined through the darkness. "Nobody is on this floor too. How many of them are there?"

"Only Tony's personal floor." Rhodey answered, lighting their way back to the Elevator. "It's the only remaining floor Friday cannot access until the whole Lockdown Protocol is offline."

"Why did Tony deny Friday access to his floor during this Protocol?" Hope curiously asked.

"The Lockdown Protocol isn't just a safety precaution." Vision answered sadly shaking his head." Its official proposition is to give Sir complete privacy and let him be alone with his thoughts. This Protocol exists since 2001. Jarvis also didn't have access to Sir's personal floor during this Protocol."

"And what was he doing alone during this Protocol?" Carol questioned with suspicion on her face.

"Nobody knows." Rhodey responded with a guilty look on his face. "Every time somebody questioned it, Tony got angry and simply stormed off. All of us were concerned about him because he sometimes locked himself away for days, sometimes even the whole week."

"That doesn't seem healthy." Scott noted.

"I know." Rhodey agreed with gritted teeth before he took a deep breath. "Trust me, I tried to break into his Lab on multiple occasions but the doors simply never even budged. Every time I did that, Tony got even angrier than when somebody asked about what he was doing. He didn't speak to me for a whole month the last time it happened a few years back."

"Did he ever look for professional help?"  Scott asked. "Therapist, Psychologist..."

"Bruce acted as Tony's therapist before Battle of Sokovia." Clint answered instead as they all got into the Elevator and went to Tony's floor. "After that, he talked with Laura once a week but she isn't a trained therapist. Neither was Bruce."

"Tony is always hated therapists." Hope stated with a grimace. "He didn't even go to one after his parents died or... Carol died."

Carol closed her eyes but didn't say anything. The doors of the elevator opened and she quickly pushed herself out, freezing when she saw light coming out of one room.

"That's Tony's personal Workshop." Rhodey whispered to them in a hushed tone. "Seems like we have an intruder after all."

"Alright." Clint said as he picked up a knife from his pockets and slowly walked closer to the entrance to the lab. "Rhodey, Carol, get to the other side of the doorway. Hope, behind me. Scott, you are opening the doors. On three."

"Wait." Scott whined. "Why am I opening the doors?"

"Do yo want the knife instead?" Clint asked giving him the look.

"No." Scott grimaced at the sight of the knife and moved to the doors. "Alright... On three? Fine.. Three. Two. One. GO!" Scott pushed the doors open and the other four quickly stormed into the room with a loud battle cry, only to stop dead in their tracks when they startled the Teenager inside, who screeched and jumped to the ceiling, sticking to it.

"ARRRRRGH!" Peter yelled, staring at them with wide eyes. "What was that?!"

"Who are you?" Carol asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Who am I?" Peter questioned slightly confused as if he was asking that question himself before he quickly shook his head and looked back at her. "Who are you?!"

"You are the Spider-Kid that Tony brought to Germany." Clint noted with a grimace. "How old even are you, Kid?"

"Whaaaat? No..." Peter shook his head. "I am not Spider-Man. Why would you think that?"

"You are on the ceiling." Hope amusingly pointed out.

"Oh..." Peter embersedly grimaced and jumped down. "Right... Could you... You know... Not tell anyone? I kinda play that Secret Identity thing."

"Well, you handle it very poorly." Carol chuckled while Peter went red as a tomato from embarrassment. "Relax, Kid. We won't tell anyone." Peter released a breath of relief and Carol leaned against the nearby desk, observing him. "I'm Carol, by the way. What are you doing here at this hour?"

"Well, Me and Karen were concerned about Mr. Stark so we decided to come to check up on him finally." Peter answered while looking down at the ground. "I would come sooner but I was fighting this weird guy who was really good at pretending to be someone else. His name was.... Ch-"

"Chameleon." Clint groaned in annoyance. "He was a former SHIELD Agent who went rogue. I was the one who captured him. After SHIELD fell Chamaleon was transferred to Raft because he was deemed to be too dangerous to be kept in normal Prison."

"Yeah... him." Peter nodded with a grimace.

"You managed to take down Chamelon on your own?" Clint asked while looking at Peter with an impressed look. "That's impressive, Kid. Not a lot of people could defeat him in hand-to-hand combat."

"Uh... Thank you, Mr. Hawkeye." Peter grinned. "It means a lot coming from you, Sir."

"Call me Clint, Kid." Clint said with a grin of his own.

"Clint." Peter nodded before he looked at the others with a questioning look on his face. "I thought that Mr. Stark said that he was living with only Colonel Rhodes and Mr. Vision. If I knew that somebody else would be in here, I would check up with Friday first."

"I did send her a message that we would come today." Karan spoke in an irritated voice as she materialized next to Peter with her hands behind her back and a shy smile on her face. "Hi! I'm Karen! Spider-Mans Partner and Chief's youngest AI. Nice to meet you all! Is Fri alright? She didn't speak to me for weeks now... How about Dad? Is he okay?!"

"Slow down, Karen." Vision said with a fond smile on his face. "Sir is stable but still asleep. He is in no danger right now... Friday didn't... Well, she had a lot on her mind lately. She didn't even register that it was Mr. Parker who entered the Tower."

"Oh, call me Peter." Peter quickly interjected with a sheepish smile at Vision who returned his smile and nodded. "And sorry about breaking your home again... I honestly didn't know that you guys would be here. I just wanted to check up on Mr. Stark and fix my web-shooters."

"Web-shooters?" Scott questioned with an interesting look in his eyes. "Is that the thing you use to shoot your webs from?"

"Yeah!" Peter eagerly nodded before frowning. "I'm sorry... Who are you?"

Scott's smile and jaw fell. "I'm Ant-Man! You know, that Giant-Man who you defeated like if I was an AT-SD from Star Wars?"

Hope rolled her eyes and shook her head at Scott and his bragging. "I'm Hope "Nadia" Van Dyne or The Wasp."

"I already knew that." Peter smiled at her while Scott quietly whined to himself, making Clint awkwardly pat his shoulder. "I saw you on the TV. You are so cool!"

"Thanks!" Hope beamed while smugly smirking at Scott who glared at her.

"Come with us upstairs, Pete." Rhodey pointed at the ceiling. "You will meet up with the others. Friday mentioned something about your crush on Jane Foster."

Peter blinked at Rhodey a few times before he yelled at top of his lungs. "JANE FOSTER IS HERE?!"

****

"Where the fuck is he?!" Helen demanded with a harsh tone, not even caring that there were children present. Her tone send shivers down everyone's spines and all of them went still as statues. "Where is Tony?!" She repeated, snapping her fingers in their stunned faces.

"What?" Rhodey gasped with wide eyes. "Did he wake up?"

"I don't know!" Helen hissed, taking a deep calming breath. "When I came down to check on him, the cradle was empty and Extremis was all around the floor."

"We need to find him!" Carol immediately yelled, flashing away at the speed of sound.

"Carol wait!" Clint yelled behind her before signing when he saw that she was already beyond hearing reach. He looked down at frozen Friday, who was staring at Helen with a gaped mouth. "Friday Can you locate him?

"Huh? Yeah..." Friday muttered and closed her eyes. She grimaced in concentration before her eyes snapped open and fear came on her features. "He is outside on the heliport!"

All of them, even Vision, paled. Laura and Jane quickly collected the kids while the others immediately ran to the staircase. Laura caught Peter by the hand and pulled him back, shaking her head at him with a sad expression on her face. "Don't. Tony wouldn't want you to see him like that."

"I can help!" Peter tried to argue but it didn't sound really convincing not even to him.

"Let Rhodey and the others handle it, Pete." Laura said in a gentle voice that made Peter fold and give in.

Jane meanwhile paced around for a few seconds before she quickly tapped on the comlink in her ear and quickly spoke. "Carol get on the roof. Now!"

"Please don't tell me he is there."

"He is..."

****

When they finally got to the upper levels and reached the helipad, all of their hearts skipped a few beets at the sight before them. Tony was sitting on the edge with only a black cloak around him that protected him from the rain. He heard them come up because his body tensed even more than it already was but he didn't make any move to acknowledge them or their presence.

Tony didn't even move when Carol flashed upstairs and came to stand behind the others. He simply kept looking down at the street below him with an unreadable expression on his face that just looked completely empty, broken. The others started to move outside but Rhodey held his hands up to stop them and slowly shook his head at them with a pleading look. "Let me talk to him. Alone."

"Are you certain, Colonel?" Vision questioned with a hesitant look.

"I am probably the only one who can talk him out of doing something stupid, V." Rhodey responded with a look of reassurance. "But... Stay on the guard. Better be safe than sorry."

"Understood." Vision replied, immediately stepping to the left side of the Helipad with a face that showed that he was fully on guard.

Rhodey nodded to the others and then took a deep breath and slowly walked into the rain and towards his friend who still hadn't made a single move. Rhodey was trying to walk as quietly as possible but the metal leg braces and water on the floor made it impossible. "Tony..." He called out trying to keep his voice steady and a little bit controlling but ultimately failing as the only thing that came out was only a tremble. "S-Step away from the edge."

"Why?" Tony quietly whispered with so much pain in his voice that it would make anyone's heart bleed. He still didn't look away from the street below him which made Rhodey look at Vision, just to be sure that The Android was still standing on the guard if Tony did jump off.

"You need to live, Tones." Rhodey answered firmly as if it was obvious. He was aware of Tony's depression. He helped Tony deal with it for decades but never did he see Tony in this state. Sure, Tony did try to kill himself a lot in the past but not like this. This time his eyes are completely empty and Rhodey curses himself for not noticing that Tony was slowly breaking down from within ever since Siberia.

"Rhodey…" Tony's eyes were pleading with him as one lone tear slipped out. "I-I can't… I'm tired. I'm tired of this life. I'm tired of this weight on my shoulders. I'm tired of being... Me." He lifted his head at the skies and a sob escaped his throat. "I want it to end. I want to go home..."

"You are home." Rhodey said as he sit down next to Tony and slowly rubbed his shoulders. "This Tower is your home. You have so many people that care about you, Tony. Friends, Family-"

"I don't have a family." Tony cut him off as he looked back down at the street below them. " I'm an orphan, remember?" He swallowed another sob and closed his eyes. "My family died the day Hydra send Barnes to kill them."

"What?" Rhodey gasped with wide eyes while the others behind them went deadly pale.

"I lied about what happened in Siberia." Tony whispered with a broken chuckle mixed in with another sob. "I didn't get hurt because I fought some other Winter Soldiers. When I arrived they were all already dead. Zemo wanted me, Rogers, and Barnes in one place so he could play the footage of Barnes killing my parents to me." Tony hunched down on himself and pressed his knees close to his chest. "Rogers knew. He knew ever since SHIELD fell. He tried to lie to my face but... I knew he was lying. We fought I managed to overpower them even in the hand-to-hand fight but Barnes distracted me long enough for Rogers to get me on the ground and beat me up before he destroyed The Arc and left."

Scott was starting at the back of Tony's head as if Tony has grown a second head. He was feeling disappointed with his childhood hero. Vision was looking down at the ground with sadness in his eyes. He felt pity for his Creator/Father. Clint felt sick, he was white and looked as if somebody had just slapped him. In his head, Clint still somehow hoped that maybe someday The Avengers could reunite, both New and Old, but this... Clint understands better than anyone what it means to be brainwashed but even he faced the court for all those people he killed while under Loki's influence.

Hope meanwhile completely froze. A long tear was running down her cheek. She felt sadness, rage, and anger for the death of her Godmother, Maria Stark. Maria wasn't perfect but she was a kind woman with a big heart. Carol was standing completely still with her eyes flickering between yellow and her natural blue.

"Steve did that to you?" Rhodey whispered with wide, shocked, and burning eyes. "He left you to die after he lied to you about your parents?!"

"Yes." Tony shakingly nodded. "I offered them home. Gave them everything wanted. They used me, just like Sunset, just like Stane, just like SHIELDRA. They used me and then cast me aside when I was no longer useful. Like a tool. Like a broken tool that I always deep down was.”

"You are not a tool, Tony." Clint spoke softly sitting down on Tony's other side and like Rhodey ignoring the rain. "You are a survivor. A Hero, and don't try to deny it, man... You saved the entire world, Twice. You are Iron Man."

"What does it matter?" Tony shook his head. "I am a killer. I am a selfish narcissistic bastard. I am The Merchant of Death. All of you will be better off without me. The whole universe will be better off without Tony Stark."

"Friday won't be." Clint pointed out. "Karen won't be. Vision won't be. Your other AI Children won't be. We won't be better off without you, and the entire World as hell won't better off without you, Tony." Clint grabbed Tony by the shoulder, making the broken, silently crying, genius look at him. "We are not letting you do this. We are not going to abandon you and we are going to help you get through this. All of us... Together."

"You know I don't believe that anymore, right, Clint?" Tony quietly pointed out.

"Then it's up to us to convince you." Clint responded with a small soft smile on his lips.

"Clint is right." Rhodey declared with a nod of approval to the Archer before glancing back down at Tony. "You are stuck with us, Tones. Forever." He stood up and pulled Tony to his feet. "Now let's get inside where it's warm. My ass is freezing out here!"

Tony smiled a bit but his smile quickly fell from his face and turned into that loathing expression he had before. Clint also stood up and helped Rhodey carry Tony inside. Before they got past the others, Tony forced them to stop and he looked at Carol, who froze under his eyes. He swallowed hard bitting his lips so hard that a spike of blood was on them. "I heard you." He whispered with a sad and broken tone before Clint and Rhodey let him inside the Tower.

Carol sucked a shaky breath while Scott wrapped his arm around Hope and led her inside. She stared for a while at the edge of the Tower before she also went inside. Unsure of what to do next. But she also had a strange sense of hope. She kept repeating what Clint said and for some reason, she believed what he said.

They will get through this. All of them.

Together.