Tony
Tony sat on a sofa in his Malibu house. He couldn't move, Stane had used the sonic taser, a prototype Tony had made some years ago. The mentor Tony had loved (no, he would never admit that, not even in his dreams!) and trusted reached for the arc reactor. Tony felt the pressure in his chest getting lighter when the traitor drew out the bright little merchandise.
Stane lowered his face close to Tony's almost like he was kissing him and smiled like death.
- Too bad you told Pepper. I had to kill her too.
Tony felt like dying already.
Stane stood up – just to jerk uncontrollably and fall down on the floor.
Darcy stood behind him a taser (once again a toy made by Tony) in her hand and smiled victoriously. She took the arc reactor from unconscious Stane's hand and put it back into Tony's chest. Tony tried to move, but his lips and throat were all he could do.
- P--pepper?
- Pepper is not dead. She's with Phil, Darcy said like it was the most self-evident fact in the world.
She helped him up and they walked slowly (he leaned on her) down to the stairs to his workshop.
He was in a cave in Afghanistan. His hands were tied behind his back. His head was bent down into a large bowl of water. He couldn't breathe. His head was deep in the water and if he breathed he would drown. The ten rings would kill him anyway. If he survived and did what his capturers wanted, he would be killed after the task was done.
He held his breath anyway.
There was no way out. Except --- the suit. Right that moment, his lungs burning and eyes full of water, he invented the idea of Mark One.
This time his capturers didn't lift his head up.
He heard the shooting. Hands around his head, back, neck and shoulders let go. Hands clad of liquid metal lift his up.
Mark 51 covering bold curves that could only belong to Darcy, hovered in front of him.
- Tony, are you all right? The faceplate had an excellent sound system, it didn't change her voice at all.
- Did I get the time machine work, didn't I?
- No, Tony, you're dreaming.
His hands were tied again, but now he was standing and in Aldrich Killian's secret laboratory. Maya Hansen lied on the floor after Killian had hit her. He was showing them a live hologram show about Pepper being injected with the deadly virus. Tony saw Maya rising slowly. Killian was so mesmerized of the burning Pepper, Maya could move out of Killian's sight, behind the table.
She couldn't go far. He realized one of his captives had moved, he saw her and pointed her with a gun. He couldn' fire, though. He couldn't move.
Darcy stood behind him clad in a black leather suit like Natasha, a sonic taser in her hand.
- Everything is fine, Tony, everything is fine.
Nothing was fine. Everything was ruined. Tony had lost his mind and the suit had tried to attack Pepper and she had left the bedroom and there was nothing he could do, she was going to leave him, too. He walked after her into the dark kitchen. It was never really dark now when he had the reactor in his chest.
She stood next to the kitchen table.
- Pepper, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. There was nothing else to say. There was nothing else to do.
- Tony... Her voice was different.
- I will change. I stop making suits. I will be better.
- No, you don't. Don't say that. You don't want to stop making them. I don't want you to stop making them. It was like an order.
Darcy sat on the kitchen chair and ate pop tarts. She was wearing his boxers and his favorite t-shirt which was totally ruined but looked awesome on her. It wasn't dark anymore, it was morning or midday or afternoon. He walked to her and touched her hair.
- And you're perfect the way you are, she whispered.
Tony woke. Darcy lied next to him, her face almost facing him on the same pillow. Her eyes were closed and she breathed slowly, but he could read her well enough to know she was just pretending to be asleep. He touched her hair tenderly and whispered:
- You are absolutely perfect too.