Innocent Bystander | T. Stark ✔️

twenty one ▼ a solution

Screens appeared and faded in front of Tony as Jarvis pulled on every thread he could to find information about the Mandarin. His mind was a clutter of pieces to a puzzle that were gradually falling into place.

He knew that the Mandarin had moved the missile and so far he had few leads on the new location. In the interest of not angering any high ranking officials or short tempered agents, he had opted to conduct his search without hacking into any databases. After hours of digging, he threw caution to the wind. With a written code and a command to Jarvis he was breaching databases around the world, instantaneously receiving information. Within a half hour he had a hit.

A single red dot lit on a map of the world. Zooming in on the projection with a flick of his fingers, Tony held his breath in anticipation. The

The dot lit a small portion of China. It was in the middle of a desert with no civilization for miles around. The satellites had picked up on the presence of the missile there, but he had no way of knowing if the Mandarin was there or not.

"Sir, I've found something on the Mandarin."

Tony leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples in a vain attempt to ward off the dull throb growing there. "What is it?"

"There are accounts buried deep by the Chinese government about ten rings of power found in The Valley of Spirits, an utterly uninhabited land. They did not originate on this planet and each ring possesses a different ability. When worn together their power is further enhanced."

The ache in the engineers head intensified. "What about when I fought him? Were there any unusual recordings from the suit?"

"Spikes in electrostatic activity were noted, sir."

Tony's mind began working in overtime; he flipped through any possibility of outwitting the Mandarin, weighing effectiveness and possible outcomes. His time was limited and there wasn't enough time in the world to take all of the precautions he should have, to run tests and assess. He could only do so much.

"Magnetic pulses from the gauntlets could disrupt the electrostatic reactions. Get a prototype going," Tony said as he pushed himself up from his seat, taking his phone with him.

He climbed the stairs and crossed the living room to the balcony, feeling the need for open air. He called Bruce, holding the phone to his ear as he went. Just before the last ring, Banner answered on the other line.

"Tony, I was about to call you. I have news."

"What is it?" He braced himself, finding no comfort in his friends' tone.

"Juliet's body isn't creating red blood cells anymore. On a smaller scale, I've seen this in cancer patients who undergo radiation. It destroys the stem cells and causes severe anemia."

"What are you saying, Bruce?"

"It's the arc reactor. The radiation has stopped the formation of stem cell and her condition...it's only getting worse."

Tony felt the weight of the words in his bones. It felt as if the guilt would crush him.

"I'm on my way."

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Several thick blankets were piled on top of Juliet, but they didn't seem to do anything to warm her shivering body. She hadn't moved from her bed since the afternoon before and she was slowly loosing track of time. Few things besides the aching weight of her limbs and the lethargic rate of her thoughts registered in her mind.

She did notice the familiar sound of Tony's voice outside her door.

Tony peaked through the crack in the door just enough to see her and his heart sank in his chest.

"What can you do?" He asked, looking to Bruce.

Doctor Banner scratched the back of his neck and looked towards Juliet's room, desperation coloring his eyes. "I've tried everything I can think of, read dozens of medical journals, made calls to the most intelligent people in medicine and gotten no where. There's only one thing I can think of that may have a chance of working."  

The engineer swallowed the lump in his throat. "What?"

"Extremis. If it has the healing capabilities it's said to and Juliet has the right gene sequence, it should solve everything."

A bolt of shock ran through Tony. He remembered taking Jules with him to the base when the extremis problem had first presented itself. He remembered the fear etched in her face as the chrysalis had shattered and his instinct to be there for her.

Now the extremis virus was the only thing standing between her and a slow death. There was no guarantee, no way of knowing the effects it would have on her. When he met her he never would have imagined that he would care for her as much as he did or that he would try to save her with the very thing they had tried to stop together. Or that he would be the reason she needed saving.

"Adjustments to the suit are complete, sir." The voice of Jarvis startled him from his thoughts.

Tony squeezed his eyes closed for a second, finding the calm to do what he needed to do. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"With extremis?" Exhausted hope bled through Bruce's voice.

Tony nodded. He had to do what he could.