You were his wife in the 40's through thick and thin, sickness and health, richer or poorer, and through all of the twists of life. Even 70 years later you continued to love him, and stay by his side.
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"World government's are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census and it looks like Thanos did... He did exactly what he said he was gonna do. He wiped out 50% of all living creatures." Black Widow illustrated, the heroes all seated around the board room.
And, seated with them, a very weak, very feeble Iron Man. Who, in all truth should be camped within the ICU ward, but who insisted on not resting. Against my orders he was hellbent on being awake, being present.
The billionaire wore his tech glasses like a mask, shielding his eyes from his former comrades, teammates in battle. Placed in a wheelchair, hospital robe on, and tethered to an IV he sat, bowl of food and glass of water beside him.
"Where is he now, where?" The severely unwell, near death survivor brought to light.
"We don't know," Steve began, leaning against the mahogany table, arms crossed. "He just opened a portal and walked through."
"We've been hunting him for three weeks now. Deep Space scans and satellites and there's been no sign of him." Bruce added.
"Tony, you fought him." The Captain expressed, a bit too eager for answers regarding this very sensitive subject.
"No, I didn't. Who told you that?" The ailing Avenger jeered out. "He wiped my face with a planet while the kids birthday magician gave away his glowing green trinket. There's no fight, Rogers. Not with him."
"Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?" Steve was quick to urge, his need for details making his usual composure falter just the slightest.
"No, hate to break it to you, but he didn't," Tony snapped out at the spangled man who had fought by his side for so long but who had abandoned him on that day in the snow. A day I had seen first hand.
"And, by the way I saw this coming a few years back. You weren't there, Doc. Neither were you, truly phenomenal cosmic lady. But, let me tell you about it. I had a vision, I didn't want to believe it. Thought I was dreaming..."
"Tony, I need you to focus." Steve continued to press and pester, striking a nerve within the Iron Man, sending him whirling back to the past, to their falling out.
"And, I needed you. As in past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late, buddy." The malnourished billionaire commented.
Then, all of a sudden his patience seemed to snap like a piece of thread, the events of Ultron and the Civil War circling in his mind, gnawing in the pit of his stomach. The Iron Man had grown tired of being the only person who had warned them all, his former teammates of exactly what had happened, like he said it would and nothing would sew his mouth shut. Not anymore.
With all the strength he could muster in his feeble form Tony slammed his fist down onto the table, spilling the food from his bowl and sending his glass of water falling to the floor, shattering into hundreds of pieces as the glucose filled liquid dripped down into a puddle.
Shakily, he stood from his wheelchair and said all he needed to say.
"You know what I need? Anyone care to ask that? I need a shave and maybe a cheeseburger. And, I believe I remember telling all of you... Alive and otherwise that what we needed was a suit of armor around the world. Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not. That's what we needed," Tony continued to hash out, his words riddled with the anger he had for years now shoved down his throat, never saying them out loud.
But, now the cork was off. He minced his words with past hurt and leftover jaded feelings from no one heeding his warnings. The chip on the Iron Man's shoulder sharp enough to leave a cut.
"I said we'd lose. You said "we'll do that together too" And, guess what, Cap? We lost. And, you weren't there," Tony spat out at the soldier who he had such bad blood with as he ripped the IV directly out of the vein in his arm.
"But, hey. That's what we do, right? Our best work, after the fact? We're the "Avengers", yeah? The Avengers. Not the "Pre-vengers"?"
"Tony, sit back down." I demanded, grabbing hold of his frail form and trying to shove him back into his rightful place in the wheelchair but Tony just worked his way out of my clutches, stepping right up to Steve. Intent on saying all that went rampant through his mind.
"I got nothing for you, Cap. I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada," Tony choked out with venom packed words as he accused his once friend. "No trust. Liar."
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The Iron Man then tore off his aglow Arc Reactor from his chest and slammed it into the palm of Steve's hand. Ripping out his literal heart as his heated words coiled with poison, unbridled rage and residual hurt from years back.
"Here, take this. You find him. You put that on. You hide..." Tony sneered and I had had enough.
Retrieving a syringe out of my lab coat I quickly stuck Tony straight in the arm with it. With the sharp needle squeezing the anesthetic into his system I pushed the intro-muscular injection right into his deltoid muscle.
The drug working rapidly as it swam through his body and I watched as the Iron Man went cross eyed and fell back into my arms, knocked out cold.
"Propofol. Works like a charm." I said, caring about Tony's health far more than the remainder of his rant.
