Innocent Bystander | T. Stark ✔️

sixteen ▼ a defeat

Silence weighed heavy on the mansion. Juliet found herself standing in the hall, unsure what to do. If she let herself dwell on whether Tony was hurt or worse, she wouldn't be able to cope. She needed to distract herself.

The nurse followed what felt like a gut reaction and went to the lab. She rummaged through Tony's equipment that lay scattered across the table tops to find what she wanted and went to work absently making slides to peer at through her microscope.

The satisfaction to her overactive mind was only temporary; she was acutely aware of the way her thoughts seemed to be coming faster and faster with less and less hope as time passed.

"Hey, Jarvis," she said, eyes on the ceiling.

"Yes, Miss Ward?"

"How are you today?"

"I am a program, Miss Ward. I have never the experienced the emotions required to answer such a question."

"Yeah, that seems logical." Juliet bit her lip. "Is he ok?"

"Mr. Stark is well. He is still in route to his destination."

Heaving a sigh, the nurse rubbed her temples. He wasn't even there yet and she was already on the edge of a breakdown.

She knew close to nothing about the Mandarin and that made everything worse. Lack of fact left room for assumptions that made her increasingly worried. Whoever this man was, he was crazy and lost enough to think loosing a virus on the world was a sound act.

Standing from her stool, Juliet shook out her hands at her sides. "Jarvis?"

"Yes, Miss Ward?"

The nurse hesitated. She needed to confide in someone, to get out of her own head. "I'm terrified, Jarvis." She pushed aside the fact that she was about to confide in a program about her problems. It somehow felt natural since Jarvis was such a large part of Tony. "I've always been an anxious person. I probably always will be, but I had it under control before I came here. I could live my life.

"But, just my luck, I went and fell for someone who comes from a totally different world. I can't not worry about him while he's off saving the planet, but it feels like the fear is going to cripple me from the inside. I don't know how to live in a reality with super soldiers and gods."

The words poured from her as she stood in the middle of the empty room. Her chest ached, her mind raced, and her head spun. Sudden exhaustion sank deep into her bones. Saying the words made it all real and she knew she needed to decide how she truly felt. She would never ask Tony to change who he was, to leave the way of life he had chosen. He cared too deeply to ever truly turn his head to the threats on the world. Juliet either had to take him as he was, or not at all.

"But I want to." She finished the thought, voice unwavering. Peace of mind filled her.

She truly believed that she was where she was supposed to be, and that she wouldn't be alone even if her life was turning into something she never imagined it would.

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Tony watched the estate grow closer and closer. It didn't seem like much, but he knew he needed to stay alert.

He expected his entrance to be met with some kind of opposition. A command to turn back, a line of grunts with weapons trained on him. Instead he made a uncontested landing in a deserted courtyard near the front of the property. The silence of his surroundings thundered in his ears.

"Give me a scan on the place, Jarvis. Top to bottom." He said.

"Thermal readings have detected one presence, sir."

Jarvis finished just as a man entered the courtyard. He had long, dark hair and piercing eyes that didn't waver from Tony.

"Better late than never," Tony mumbled, squaring his shoulders as his helmet retracted.

"You will not find what you seek here, Tony Stark."

The man stopped at the opposite edge of the courtyard. He looked unnervingly calm despite the intruder in his home. The Mandarin crossed his arms over his chest and the sun caught on the rings that decorated each of his fingers.

"That's a shame. I think I'll still stick around for a minute if that's alright with you."

A menacing grin flashed across the Mandarin's face. "I do not have the time for your games, boy. A glorious future is calling and I intend to answer. So, I propose two options," he said, voice dropping lower. "You choose to stay out of my way, or I make sure you do myself."

Tony was taken by surprise when the man waited only a split second to make his first move. He raised a hand and as one of his rings began to glow, a paralyzing sound met Tony's ears, immobilizing him until it stopped. His ears ached with a stabbing pain.

Tony's helmet returned to mask his face as the Mandarin crossed the space between them in the blink of an eye. He punched and kicked faster than Tony's split conscious could react to. The force behind the attacks was enough to leave dents in the armor.

A pulse from Tony's gauntlet sent the Mandarin flying backwards, giving him enough time to gather focus. The Mandarin stood only to have his feet kicked out from under him again. Tony grabbed the front of his opponents shirt as his thrusters propelled him into the air.

"Where's the missile?" He demanded, lingering in the air, a long fall above the ground.

The Mandarin grinned. "Far from here."

Glancing down to see another one of the Mandarin's rings begin to glow, Tony felt himself tense. An searing feeling coursed down his body, leaving him paralyzed. He watched, unable to move as a blast of pressure from the Mandarin's palm slammed into him and sent to the ground.

Tony pushed himself up from the ground as soon as he regained feeling in his limbs. The man was standing over him. He looked unharmed and even satisfied while Tony's entire body screamed in pain. Even his mind felt frail.

An invisible force lifted Tony and pinned him to the wall of the courtyard. The pressure on his chest that held him above the ground felt as if it would crush him. He could feel hot blood dripping from his ears, the crying of his bones beneath the force.

The Mandarin approached him. Tony didn't know what else this man was capable of, but he knew he was living his last moments if he didn't react.

Black spots danced in front of his eyes as he managed to lift a hand against the force pinning him. A blast from his gauntlets knocked the Mandarin back and the pressure against him was relieved enough for him to escape with a powerful thrust from his boots. Tony gained altitude as fast as he could. A blanket of total blackness fell over his surroundings.

"Set course for the mansion," he ordered.

As the suit took over, piloting him through the darkness he had no doubt came from the Mandarin, Tony gulped down air into his aching lungs. His vision blurred and a constant beat throbbed against his skull.

He was only barely aware of the voice of Jarvis asking him to stay awake as his consciousness slipped away.

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there is now a book in my profile called Red & Gold that will be filled Juliet and Tony one shots. go check it out!

thank you for reading!