Code?
On the quinjet, Bucky was extremely close to throwing himself off the jet, parachute or not. He didn’t want to go with the Rogues and had actively fought Steve as he forced his friend onto the plane. Without his arm and the sharp pain that remained in his shoulder, he was no match for the angry Captain.
He sat in the back of the jet, trying to tune out the angry gossip the team spewed about Tony.
“Bucky said something about Howard and then he just got mad and started shooting at us,” Steve told the group.
“That dude has got problems,” Clint said.
“And now Bucky has no arm!” Steve growled.
“I can’t believe he would do something like that,” Natasha said. “I thought he was better than that.”
“I can! We may have been fooled by him once, but remember Ultron? He hasn’t changed. Even before we knew him he was selling weapons and profiting off of people’s pain,” Clint snarled.
Wanda’s lip curled. “He killed my parents,” she growled. “His injury changes nothing. He is the same angry playboy he was before.”
“Why is James sulking?” Clint asked, now noticing the silent super soldier.
“Tony had convinced him he was nice. He thought they were friends. He feels betrayed,” Steve supplied, trying to get his Starkphone to work.
James rolled his eyes and turned further away from the Rogues, he felt betrayed but not by the man they were talking about.
“Hey, join the club. We’ve all been betrayed by Stark before. I even apologized to him not too long ago, I thought he had changed. Even Laura convinced me he was good! He fools everyone,” Clint said to him.
James didn’t respond, prompting a shrug from Clint who just continued to rant. James tuned him out and looked over at Scott, who sat silently. He was extremely tense and focused on his shoes the whole ride. If James was not concerned about plotting ways to escape, he might have asked him what was wrong.
Steve sat on the bench next to him. “Listen Buc- James. I know you think Tony is nice, but he isn’t. We know him. He is not a good guy. You’ve gotten to see this fake nice side of him because he can’t walk and stuff, but that’s just an act,” Steve said softly.
James looked his friend in the eye. His thoughts were all jumbled and his emotions were even worse. Looking at Steve though, he could tell that his friend believed what he said- that Stark was a cruel man. Maybe he’s right? Maybe it was all an act. He didn’t really know the guy.
“We have to tell the public before Stark does. He’s going to lie and twist things around,” Clint said from the front.
Steve froze. He knew if Tony told the world what happened, the truth, the public might start to hate him. There’s no way of knowing what Tony will say, he could make up fake stories and have his AI make fake recordings. Tony was known for exaggerating things. He could turn the whole world against the Rogues. He couldn’t let that happen. He was Captain America. He couldn’t let the people lose their faith in him. “That’s a good idea,” Steve jumped up. “Nat can you record me?”
Natasha grabbed the phone, turning on the camera and pointing it towards Steve.
“Hello everyone, it’s Captain America. Just a few minutes ago, Bucky and I were attacked by Tony Stark. He beat us up and blasted off Bucky’s arm. There’s no telling what else he might do, he’s dangerous,” Steve said.
Natasha stopped recording when she realized Steve was finished after the brief statement. It was horribly short and sounded impromptu, but it was Captain America- the public likely wouldn’t care about any imperfections.
“That was good, Steve,” Clint said from the front. “And we are approaching Wakanda by the way.”
The team looked out at the vast forest of trees waiting for the city to appear. The team stumbled when the barrier pushed them back and caused the quinjet to jolt.
“Why didn’t T’Challa open the barrier? Doesn't he know we are coming?” Clint said.
“No,” Steve said sheepishly. “I couldn’t figure out how to text him. But it doesn’t matter, he’s our friend, he’ll let us stay.” The truth was, he did honestly try to text T’Challa, but he figured explaining in person was better- at least it would be less likely for him to reject them.
Natasha frowned, but stayed quiet.
After a few minutes of them hovering, the barrier suddenly opened on its own and Clint flew in.
“See? Steve smiled.
Clint flew the jet into the large city and landed on the hanger. With their suitcases in hand, the team stepped out, only to be met with over a hundred guards surrounding them with weapons and the King nowhere to be found.
--------------------------------------------------------
Back in the U.S. things were going crazy. Every TV station was replaying Steve’s video on repeat. People were confused, scared, and angry. Every social media page was full of gossip on the topic. Some people said it was fake, some said it was real, but the majority were feeling one thing- hate for Tony Stark.
While the whole world gossiped about him, the man in question slept on, unaware of it all.
“A coma?” Rhodey yelled in the doctor’s face.
“Yes, we have no idea when he will wake up. He sustained a severe head injury which is what caused his seizure. In addition, we believe he has injured his spinal cord again so we are currently performing a CT scan on him now,” The doctor reported.
“Again? So he’ll lose all feeling in his legs now?” Rhodey asked, massaging his temples.
The doctor paused. “The damage looks like a cervical spinal injury, which is further up.”
“Which means…” Rhodey waved his hands, out of patience.
“Which means we could be looking at total paralysis from the neck down,” The doctor finished.
Rhodey looked ready to either punch the doctor or faint.
“We aren’t sure yet, there is quite a bit of swelling. We will not know his full range of motion until he wakes up. He also has severe injuries to his chest region. He’s on a ventilator right now and we plan to do surgery-”
“No, call Helen Cho,” Rhodey interrupts.
“Who is-”
“That’s Tony’s doctor. We want her to do the surgery and be in charge of his care,” Rhodey said firmly.
The doctor gulps but nods. “He’s in the ICU, floor 7 room 23.”
Rhodey immediately leaves, gathering Vision and Sam from the waiting room and walking to the elevator.
As they go, a nurse happens to turn the channel, gasping at the news.
--------------------------------------
Rhodey, Sam, and Vision sit in Tony's hospital room in silence. Rhodey stands up, pacing back in forth anxiously, mind a mess.
His phone keeps buzzing with texts and calls but he’s too worked up to check them. He finally loses his patience and pulls it out of his pocket, tossing it against the wall. The phone cracks and goes silent. Rhodey collapses on a chair.
“I believe it would be wise to consume some subsenance, Mr. Rhodes,” Vision says into the silence.
“You guys go ahead, I can’t even think about eating right now,” Rhodey says, head in hands.
Vision and Sam glance at each other. “We’ll be back then.” They both walk out and close the door.
When the door closes, Rhodey sighs and walks up to Tony’s bedside. He wanted to throw up just looking at him. His best friend was black and blue, covered in bandages and wires. He had a stiff neck brace that connected to one holding his back in place and his head was shaved unevenly with ugly stitches going from his ear to the top of his head. There was a huge tube thing that parted Tony’s chapped lips and went down his throat. He watched his friend’s chest move artificially.
“Why you, Tones?” Rhodey whispered. He picked up Tony’s pale hand and held it to his cheek.
“Rhodey, Vision has something he needs to tell you,” Sam said, coming back with a tray of food.
“Guys, I can’t think right now-”
“No,” Sam said. Rhodey noticed his wide eyes. “You need to hear this.”
“We have not had the ability to ask Mr.Stark about what occurred in the workshop, however, I did see the quinjet departing,” Vision says.
“I don’t need to ask Tony to know Captain fucking America did this. I saw his shield in the workshop. I just can’t even fucking think about that right now because my best friend is in the ICU and might die,” Rhodey snarls.
Vision and Sam sigh, sitting down in silence.
--------------------------------------
Even though she had felt intense guilt about it, Pepper had washed her hands of Tony Stark. She was done with laziness, she was done with the stress, and she was done with Iron Man.
She would be lying if there were times she wasn’t worried though. Like during the Accords fiasco. There were times when she would go to sleep at night with Tony on her mind, hoping he wasn’t stressing himself out too much, hoping he was taking care of himself.
These past few months have made her extremely anxious. Ever since the Accords have come out, there wasn’t much news about Tony. The news constantly reported about Ross and the Rogues, but not much of Tony besides a passing comment. But after word of the Rogue’s escape, the news about Tony suddenly stopped. Stark Industries suddenly went quiet, the stocks had dropped, and even Tony himself hasn’t been seen in public.
A while ago, she had messaged Rhodey and decided to stay out of it after a brief assurance of Tony’s wellbeing. She knew they hadn’t broken up on the happiest of terms, so she figured they were still angry with her. She did end up marrying one of Tony’s best friends, after all. Her and Happy both were isolated from Tony ever since the break up.
Deep down, she knows she should’ve tried harder to get in contact. She knows Tony depended on her greatly and would probably have had a hard time adjusting, but she tried so hard to just erase that part of her life. She never wanted to turn back.
But when she was sitting in her office, enjoying her lunch break with Happy, and the television turned to Steve’s slightly beat up face, something in her that she was sure was dead ignited in her again. She dropped her sandwich right on the floor and wasted no time in reaching for her phone.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
After what felt like hours of waiting, Dr. Cho walked in.
She took in the scene and went straight into doctor mode. “How long since the accident?”
“About three hours,” Sam supplied.
Dr. Cho sighed. “The tests came back and he is paralyzed from the neck down-”
“Fuck,” Rhodey cursed.
“But I have been making advancements on the cradle and it might work-”
“Oh great,” Sam smiled, relieved.
“So he’ll be fixed? Be able to walk again?” Rhodey asked, breathless.
“Well no, the cradle can only fix spinal injuries in the first five hours they occur so his injury before the accident will still be the same. Even then, it’s not guaranteed to work completely. But another problem I noticed when I looked at his chest x-rays is many of his bones are broken and cracked. This means I will have to reconstruct his chest,” Dr. Cho said.
“But can you do that in less than two hours?” Sam asked, confused.
“No, that’s the problem. The cradle needs direct access to his back, but laying him on his stomach can do further damage to his chest. I can do a temporary chest surgery so that he will at least stay stable during the cradle process, but this will mean I won’t be able to do surgery on his chest for several weeks until it heals, this will probably leave him with chronic pain in the long run. Rhodey, as his medical proxy you need to decide what you want to do.”
Rhodey sighs, running a hand over his face. “So either fix his chest or fix his back? Fixing his chest will leave him paralyzed from the neck down, and fixing his back will leave him unable to breath and chronic pain?”
Dr. Cho nodded.
Sam and Vision stayed silent, glad they weren’t the one making the final decision.
Rhodey went through each option. He was essentially deciding if his friend would be paralyzed for life, or face a life full of pain. He looked at Tony’s silent figure. “Do the back surgery,” Rhodey sighed.
He hoped Tony didn’t hate him.
-----------------------------------------------------
“We’re T’Challa’s friends,” Steve pleaded.
The Wakandan guards had the team on their knees with their hands in the air. Two of the guards were going through their suitcases, throwing their clothes all over. Another two were climbing through the quinjet, searching for weapons.
“T’Challa is not expecting visitors today,” One of the women spoke up.
“But-” Steve started.
“Bring them to the cells,” She finished.
The team’s faces paled.
“Wait, can we talk to T’Challa? Please!” Steve yelled as one of the guards dragged him away.
“That is King T’Challa to you,” The woman snarled in her heavy accent.
Instead of bringing them to the palace, the guards dragged them to a smaller building adjacent to it. They went down several flights of stairs, Steve protesting the whole way, before being deposited in several dark cells.
Natasha and Clint were in one, Scott and James were in the other, with Steve and Wanda in the final cell that had slightly more enforcement than the others. With an order from their leader in their native tongue, most the guards left while two lingered to monitor the Rogues.
While Steve, Natasha, Wanda, and Clint yelled threats at the guards, Scott and James rolled their eyes at the group, both wishing they had jumped off the plane when they had gotten the chance.
-----------------------------------------------------
Arriving at the compound, Pepper was shocked at the mess on the lower floors. Clothes were everywhere, take-out boxes flooded the kitchen, and it smelled like...boy.
Moving downstairs and turning on the lights in Tony’s workshop, she froze at the scene. Tables were overturned, walls and floors were dented, and worse of all was the blood that covered the floor.
She watched Steve’s video but she honestly didn’t believe it. Even seeing the evidence, something in her told her there was more to the story.
“Friday? Where is Tony?” She asked, eyes wide and body frozen.
“Code?” Friday said flatly.
“Friday? It’s Pepper-” Pepper said in surprise.
“Code,” Friday said angrily.
“2Alpha641,” Pepper choked out.
Friday hesitated. “Boss is currently at Shield medical hospital in Doctor Cho’s Private Lab,” she said, sounding uncharacteristically mechanical.
“Okay, thanks,” Pepper says, unnerved.
She leaves quickly, meeting Happy in the lobby and going back to the car.
--------------------------------------------------
“So I put a splint in his chest that’s basically holding everything in place but also protecting his heart and lungs so they don’t get crushed or punctured until I can perform the surgery,” Dr. Cho told the group who were watching Tony in the cradle from the viewing room.
“How long does this take?” Rhodey asked, anxious.
“About another two hours, the spine is delicate so the machine has to work slowly,” Dr. Cho explains.
“And he’ll be back to before after this right? He’ll be able to move his body and feel everything?” Sam asked again.
“That’s what we are hoping for. He will still need to go through physical therapy like before, but he should be fine in a few months,” Dr. Cho responded.
“Can you explain his chest injury further?” Vision asks.
“You told me when you found him there was an indent in Tony’s chestplate and Captain America’s shield was nearby. It is obvious to assume Steve must have shoved the shield into the power source of the suit. So when the shield impacted Tony’s chest, the force behind it caused his bones and muscles to cave in. This caused his ribs and sternum to press inwards, putting pressure on Tony’s lungs and heart. The force broke several of his ribs and shattered his sternum in pieces. I will have to replace all of these bones with 3-D printed artificial ones,” Dr. Cho sighed.
“Fuck Rogers,” Rhodey cursed. “Fuck him and his shitty ass team.”
No one disagreed with the fuming man. They all nodded silently and turned back to the fragile man inside the cradle, praying for his recovery.
-----------------------------------------
The UN was in chaos. Each one of their countries were panicking with the news of Tony Stark going Rogue. They had called an emergency meeting to discuss the dilemma and debate what to do about it. Several countries flew in on the fastest jets possible, or joined the conference via hologram.
In the large meeting room, the representatives were all yelling at each other, arguing over their opinions of the whole issue. Finally, the moderator banged on the table.
“Listen, you were all called here for an emergency meeting due to the public reaction of the video Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, uploaded several hours ago,” the moderator started. “For those who have not seen it, we will play it twice and we hope everyone can stay silent until the video is over.”
A large screen was rolled out in the center of the hall and they spent two minutes watching the shaky video of Captain America’s speech. Many eyes widened and some scoffed. The lights turned back up when they finished. People immediately started muttering to their neighbors.
“Now, several things I would like to mention before our open debate begins. The video was tested by technicians and it is authentic. We have reached out to Steve Rogers and Tony Stark, neither have answered our calls or summons. We even reached out to their seconds, Natasha Romanoff and James Rhodes respectively, and we still have not received any answer. A team was sent out to the compound and it seems no one is there. From the video we can conclude that Steve Rogers was on a plane and most likely not on U.S soil anymore, but where- we do not know. We have no idea where Tony Stark is at all. With this information in mind, we may begin,” The moderator says.
“Lies! Why should we trust the Captain? He did not support the Accords in the first place, he could just be causing trouble,” the German representative yelled in his heavy accent.
“He signed them in the end! He has not caused any trouble since,” the United Kingdom representative supplied.
“Tony Stark has been known to be rash and get angry at times. I called him once about making a weapon for my troops and after telling me he no longer manufactures explosives he called me a ‘dumbass’ and I believe he told me to uh ‘eat ass’, whatever that means,” The French representative accounted, confused.
A few representatives coughed into their shirts.
“I do not care if he attacked the Captain or not. All I know is the public believes he did. And the public are looking to us to do something about it. If both parties refuse to respond to our summons, we must do something to calm the public,” says the Austrian representative.
“He’s right, they are our responsibility and it will look badly on us and the Accords if we refuse to act. James Barnes has not yet signed the Accords therefore he is recognized as a civilian. If Tony Stark did blast off his arm then he is in violation of the Sokovia Accords Amendment 5 paragraph 3,” the Italian representative says.
“Amendment 5 paragraph 3 states ‘Any enhanced individuals who use their powers to break the law (including those who take part in extralegal vigilante activities), or are otherwise deemed to be a threat to the safety of the general public, may be detained indefinitely without trial’,” the moderator reads.
“But we have no proof!” The German representative yells. “I do not trust that Captain.”
“Yes, but the public needs us to act now. If the Avengers do not want to speak up for themselves, then it is up to us to calm the public,” the Italian representative responds.
“Motion to end the open debate and start the vote?” the moderator asks when everyone is silent in thought.
------------------------------------------------
In a small apartment in Queens, Peter Parker sits with his Aunt on the sofa, each holding their breath as they watch the news.
“Anthony Stark, known as Iron Man, will be detained indefinitely without trial following the United Nations council meeting that took place just minutes ago,” the news reporter said into the camera.
Peter jumps up, pacing in front of the television. “I know he didn’t do this! Mr. Stark would never hurt someone else unless he needed to!”
May sighed, “Sit down, Peter. We don’t know all the facts.” She appreciated her nephew’s enthusiasm, but she only met Mr.Stark twice- to explain Peter’s grant, and to pick Peter up for said grant. She barely knew the man.
“I don’t need the facts. I know Mr. Stark wouldn’t do something like that!” Peter yells. “I need to do something.” May barely has time to react as Peter burst out the door, heading for the subway.
Peter pauses when he gets outside the building. “Siri, where is the Avengers compound?”
--------------------------------------------------
Pepper and Happy burst into Shield Medical Center after almost 30 minutes of background checks and security clearings.
“I’m Pepper Potts and i’m looking for Tony Stark’s room?” Pepper asks the receptionist, out of breath.
The woman sighs dramatically, pulling out a stack of paperwork. “Have you cleared-”
“Pepper?”
Pepper and Happy turn around to see Rhodey coming down a hallway. “Rhodey,” she smiles.
Rhodey doesn’t smile and stops several feet away from them. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to check on Tony,” she frowns.
“Why?” Rhodey says, face flat.
“Because I care-”
“Try that again,” Rhodey growls.
Pepper sighs. “I was worried about him. Have you seen the news?”
Rhodey frowns, a bad feeling erupting in his chest. “Wait, go back, how did you know Tony was in the hospital?”
Pepper pulls out her phone, showing Rhodey the video of Steve.
“Fuck!” Rhodey shouts, causing the people in the lobby to pause and stare at him. Rhodey takes no notice and pulls at his nonexistent hair.
“Come on,” he grumbles, walking swiftly down the hall and to the elevator.
When Pepper walks into Tony’s room, her body freezes in the doorway. They must be in the wrong room because there’s no way the small, frail, broken man on the bed is Tony Stark.
“What happened?” Happy chokes out, just as frozen.
“Steve Rogers happened,” Rhodey grunts, pacing again. “We weren't there for whatever fight happened, but it must have been bad. We don’t even know why they fought.”
“Who are they?” Sam asks, staring at Pepper and Happy.
“Ms. Potts is the former CEO of Stark Industries and Mr.Hogan is Mr.Stark’s former head of security,” Vision supplies.
“My name’s Pepper, but Tony, and now everyone, calls me Pepper.”
“And my name Harold, but Tony, and now everyone, calls me Happy.”
“My name’s Sam Wilson, known as the Falcon, I was originally recruited by Steve Rogers.”
“Can you show them the video news thing you showed me?” Rhodey says.
They both watch the video twice. At the end, Vision is quiet in thought and Sam looks as frustrated as Rhodey.
Suddenly, Pepper’s phone starts buzzing. “Shit,” she curses.
“What?” Everyone says at once.
Pepper is quiet for a few seconds as she reads the news update. “The UN announced they are detaining Tony. Now the public is going crazy, people are already sending him death threats,” Pepper reads.
“Fuck! I can’t focus on all this at once!” Rhodey yells, on the verge of a panic attack.
“That’s why we’re here. To help,” Pepper says.
“And so are we,” Sam says.
Rhodey sighs, running a hand over his face. “We have to fix this.”
-------------------------------------------------
Peter, finally arriving at the compound, was a little frightened at how empty and ghostly it seemed.
“Peter! Finally you’re here!” Friday said, relieved.
Peter jumped at hearing her voice. “Yes, I came because I saw that video Steve posted. I don’t believe what he said. I may not have known Mr.Stark for very long, but I know he isn’t dangerous. Heck, Steve dropped a crate onto my head, I think he’s the dangerous one!”
“Good, the video is not true,” Friday interrupted the rant. “Well not completely.”
“I knew it. But I came to find proof that he’s lying-”
“I already have it!” Friday says, “But I can’t do anything with it.”
“Why?!” Peter cries. “Do you know what they are going to do to Mr. Stark if we don’t show them he’s innocent? They said they are going to detain him! Mr. Stark can’t get arrested, then who’s going to save the world? Steve certainly won’t because-”
“I can’t do anything because I don’t have the permission to. I need either Boss’ access code, or an override code,” she says.
“How do I get those?” Peter asks.
“You need to go to Boss’ location and find Mr. Rhodes, his override code is at a high-enough access level to access the footage,” Friday instructs.
“Mr. Rhodes? I don’t know who that is. I didn’t really get a chance to meet everyone before I got to the airport. I mean Mr. Stark just brought me there and then woah we’re all fighting and-”
“This is James Rhodes. He is Boss’ best friend. He will be with Boss, I know it,” Friday says, showing a hologram visual of Rhodey.
“I can find him! But where is Mr.Stark?” Peter asks.
Friday is quiet for several seconds. “I cannot tell you their location without the override code, but you do not know it. If I break protocol and tell you their location, my system automatically shuts down due to the new ‘Ultron protocol’.”
“Well if you shut down, how will I be able to get the footage?” Peter asks, confused.
“You need to travel to the location, gather Mr. Rhodes, and bring him back here. He knows how to turn me back on. If he cannot, I have stored the footage in the special folder on the Stark database under “2S0T2R0”,” Friday says.
“That’s so hard to remember,” Peter groans.
“It has to be as non discoverable as possible. Now Boss is located at Shield Medical Center and Hospital in the ICU, hurry!” Friday says, breaking up towards the end.
Peter never ran faster in his life.