Maybe redemption has stories to tell

Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell

Where can you run to escape from yourself?

Where you gonna go? Where you gonna go?

Salvation is here

—Dare You to Move by Switchfoot

“Tony, you are the CEO of one of the top weapons companies in the world. You can’t keep doing things like this.”

“You mean the top weapons company in the world.” 

Pepper huffed and rolled her eyes. Tony’s hands twitched and all he wanted to do was to pull her into his arms and bury his head in her hair that always smelled like ‘Chanel’s Number 5’ and something that indescribable Pepper. It was on the tip of Tony’s tongue to just spill all of his secrets and just like always, let her help him carry the burden. 

All Tony ever did was hold her back. He wouldn’t do that to her again. He loved her too much. Tony swallowed around the lump in his throat and looked away. 

“That will be all, Ms. Potts.”

There was a beat of silence, and his resolve would crumble the moment he saw her face. 

“Yes, Mr. Stark,” she replied stiffly. Tony waited for the telltale sound of her heels retreating. He looked around his lab. Banks of monitors everywhere, long tables full of discarded tools, scrap metal, and old moldy coffee cups. 

And in the silence, he could almost hear Jarvis judging him. He scoffed as he walked around the lab. Dum-e came wheeling towards him, his wheels squeaking against the linoleum. It had only been days since Tony had last seen him, stashed carefully away in the corner of the lab in Avengers tower. 

“Look at this, all this mess,” Tony playfully slapped Dum-e on the side of the claw. “You have been slacking on the job.” 

Dum-e gave a long sad beep, and Tony felt his lips quirk into a ghost of a smile. Tony nudged it on the side of its claw. “Get going.” Tony ordered, softly. Dum-e tapped him back on the shoulder and then scurried away. 

After the bombing, Tony painstakingly pieced his bot back together. It hadn’t been enough. Dum-e’s quirky personality had been irrevocably broken, and his oldest companion had just become an obedient machine and another casualty to Tony’s own hubris.

“Are you quite alright, sir?” Jarvis finally asked. 

“I’m fine,” Tony said, his voice rough. His eyes stung with unshed tears.

“Okay, it's time to get to work.” 

The monitors flickered to life and they’re waiting for him like a specter from his nightmares was the Jericho. He stepped back, his heart pounding in his chest. Tony swallowed around the lump in his throat. This was the last weapon that he ever made. This weapon had been the catalyst for so many things.

“Lock it down, Jarvis.” 

“Sir?” Jarvis asked, concerned. 

“You heard me, Jay,” Tony said, his voice hard. “Lockdown protocol: Code Alpha Sigma Theta 2684715.” 

“Affirmative.” 

The windows of the workshop went dark, and the keypad flickered from blue to red. 

“From this point on I want everything saved onto one of my private encrypted servers,” Tony said. Tony’s smile was sharp as a knife as he closed down the schematics and slid in a flash drive. “It’s time to take this show on the road.” 

***

It took a while to convince Jarvis not to call Pepper or Rhody, even with his lockdown code in place. Jarvis was rightfully concerned that he was experiencing some type of mental breakdown, but after he explained to him that there was a traitor high in the ranks of S.I,and that his life was in danger. Jarvis put his reservations aside and reluctantly complied with Tony’s orders. 

In the following five hours, Tony tried to make all the preparations to carry out his plan. He wasn’t able to get everything that needed to get done within such a brief time span, but his time was almost up. 

Tony picked up his hair clippers, took a long look at this reflection. 

He couldn’t quite wrap his mind around how damn young he looked. Only his eyes gave away his true age.

Tony turned on the clippers, the buzz echoing in his bathroom. He ran a smooth, steady hand over his hair. Black clumps fell onto the floor. In a short while, all that was left was the short-cropped dark brown hair.

Next, Tony turned the clippers to his beard. Cutting it all off and then using one of his electric razors to cut the tiny remaining hairs. He got dressed in a pair of his old beat-up jeans, a white t-shirt, and over it was a flannel shirt. Finally, Tony put on a pair of thick Black oversized eyeglasses. Tony turned to look in the mirror. 

A stranger looked back at him. 

Instead of Tony Stark's typical mustache, expensive haircut, and bespoke suits was a man that looked like a sweet-faced grad student. 

“Sir, Mr. Hogan is here.” 

There was a beat of silence and the familiar jubilant tones of Happy echoed through the bathroom,“You ready, Boss? Where’s your stuff?” 

“In my bedroom,” Tony replied, “Hey, Happy how about a race?” 

“You were supposed to be in the air 20 minutes ago.” 

Tony smirked, “Oh, come on don’t be a spoilsport! Are you afraid I’ll beat you?” 

There was a beat of silence and a loud sigh. 

“Okay, you are on!” 

“Take my stuff to the car, and I’ll meet you out front.” 

Happy easily agreed. Tony took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and said, “Showtime.” 

Tony grabbed his leather duffle bag and made a beeline for his white Audi R8. Inside there was a replica of Tony and the scenario was so surreal. Tony waved a hand through it and the hologram flickered for a moment before resetting. 

“Jarvis, are you good with the plan?.” 

“Indeed, sir,” Jarvis said, his voice dripping with disapproval, but he didn’t question. 

The hologram put its hand on the steering wheel. 

He took a step back and waved the car away. The car started and Tony watched as the car drove out of the lab and out of the long driveway. Tony watched the retreating vehicle and then put on his Bluetooth headset. 

“Jay, you read?” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“How is it going up there? “

“Everything has gone to plan and Mr. Hogan remains unaware of the ruse.” 

“Good,” Tony said, and with a duffle bag in hand, Tony made his way to the back of his lap. He stopped in front of a tarp and pulled it away to reveal a 1960 Black and silver Triumph Bonneville that he found in a junkyard and had built from the frame up. He had planned for it to be a gift for Rhodey’s birthday. His best friend had always had an obsession with motorcycles or anything that was fast and dangerous. 

Tony gave a silent apology to Rhodey before he strapped his duffle on the back of the bicycle and got on the bike. He pulled on a matching black helmet, flipped down the visor. 

“Look after Dum-e while I’m gone,” Tony said, and then gave the last few directions to Jarvis. Then Tony started up the bike. It came to life with a roar and with a grim smile, Tony drove away

***

Just off of interstate 5, Tony pulled into a small run-down gas station. He took off his helmet and sat it on his seat. With a sigh, Tony went inside and up to the counter. The gas station attendant’s eyes were firmly on his subpar iPhone. 

Tony coughed, and the attendant looked up and went right back to his phone. “What can I get you?” the other man asked, distractedly. 

“Number 2 Unleaded.”

He quickly took out his wallet and the attendant finally put his phone away to ring him up. 

“I’m sorry about that, man,” the attendant shrugged, “Kind of distracted with the news.” 

“Huh, it’s that bad?” 

The attendant's eyes grew wide. “You haven’t heard? Tony Stark just died in a car crash.” 

To Be Continued….