𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐊, 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐀

TONY

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For every step forward, Tony felt his very essence leave him. Life wasn't as grateful to take it all at once but gradually made him lose touch the very thing he was proud of himself for. His genius. They could take away his spirit, his character, try and dupe everything he was known for but his intellect? It was a cut above the rest.

Every time he made a stop-over in a country, he went down to simplifying the suit. Making it more accessible for his deteriorating abilities. He had to force himself to spell out everything he looked at, getting down to vowels and the alphabets. In the meantime, he had connected the Starkdrive 000 to his portable drive and continued to download his conscious. He had to keep it intact. Osborn had already tried to close in him in Bayeux and he was not taking any more chances.

Get in the suit, keep moving.

There was a frightening time in a lowkey motel in the outskirts of Seoul when the wire short-circuited and he saw his life flash between his eyes. He struggled to hold on to something worth remembering - Rhodey, his time in the Afghan cave, Yinsen, Pepper's hair - anything that could lead him up to the memories of the present. Rhodey, Happy, Pepper, Howard, Maria, Elle, baby. It had become a mantra in his head. JARVIS, DUM-E, U, Butterfingers, Cap, Peter, Hill.

That was all he needed. The link - find the link. Find your memories. He kept planning. Kept a million thoughts in his head, trying to go over it from time to time. And just as he glid over the Russian Federation, he felt like he had forgotten something. 

'Cap, Hill, Nat, Fury, Banner,' he murmured. 'Legolas? Who?'

'Clint Barton, sir. From the Avengers Initiative.'

'Right, the Avengers,' he mused quietly. 'Uh, okay. From the top.'

'It's the thirty-second time that we have gone over this. Observations only.'

'Ignored,' he stated curtly. 'Rhodey, Happy, Pepper, Howard, Maria, Elle, DUM-E, U, Butterfingers—shit!'

JARVIS simply murmured back to him. 'The baby, sir.'

He hung his neck, feeling his forehead leaning against the headgear. 'Thanks, buddy.'

But the thoughts still keep flooding out. And he was making no effort to catch them, save for some he deemed too important. Like, to remind himself to keep running. That the first time he met Rhodey was in college. His first kiss with Elle was in the workshop. The workshop was in the basement. The basement with DUM-E and U. Rhodey, Happy, Pepper, Howard, Maria, Elle, baby.

The process of deleting his mind one brain cell at a time required a power-source only his repulsor-powered armours could provide. With every slow deletion he conducted, he lost his complexity and sophistication. A degree in his mind had been lowered. He had to trip backwards in his development history; the most painful thing that he had to witness since seeing Elle brain-dead.

Simpler systems were all he could manage now. All these systems keep him alive and he felt the need to laugh out loud. He had produced state-of-the-art weapon systems since the dawn of time and in the process of it, he had forged the most destructive weaponry known to man. Iron Man, himself. 

And he knew one day, the armour was going to be the death of him.

Once he reached the bunker Hill had sent him on morse-code about, he stopped and scanned the surrounding. The chilly winds carried snow trails and bit into his armour. If it weren't for the thermal systems he had configured, he would have to freeze his nips off. Through the massive concrete door that was thrown open to a long, hollow tunnel, he spotted a Jeep Wrangler and two figures communicating rapidly against it. The golden glow was too little for him to make out their faces.

'Took your own damn time.'

Hill, he remembered. Maria Hill, SHIELD's deputy director. Short hair, small eyes - yes, that was her. He felt his helmet retract to the back of his head, nodding at her.

'Hill,' he said. His eyes slinked to the red-haired woman in the jeep, her green eyes narrowed on him. She had her hair in a braid and a snug, catsuit, somehow sparking up memory at the back of his head. He felt the need to the cough up a sarcastic reply.

'Who's the grown-up Annie over there?'

'Tony,' Hill started sceptically. 'That's Nat.'

Nat. Natasha Romanoff. Redhead, shifty eyes and kind of a smartass. Agent at SHIELD. Lethal assassin yet loyal friend; the Black Widow. Of course, he knew her. She was on his side.

'Hey, Nat,' he waved to her to which she shot him a smile. It was friendly and that was all that mattered. He had no discrepancies with her. He could not handle them right now. 'Good to see you.'

'How've you been, Stark?' 

Her voice was firm, stubborn, leaving no holes barred. A recollection came to him; a situation where had acted like a complete idiot and she had threatened to hang by his balls in the same collected tone.

'Pretty standard. Et tu?'

'Trying to track Cap with this one,' Natasha jerked her chin toward Maria. 'This better be worth whatever you're playing at.'

'Hang on, why am I here?'

'Tell me what's on the drive,' Hill spoke up. Her face gave off nothing but suspicion as she waved the jumpdrive marked X under his nose. 'I damn near lost my life trying to get this from Texas.'

What drive, he asked himself. He had asked her to retrieve a drive, he managed to revive but he couldn't figure out what was on it. It felt like someone had put a wall up in his brain, blocking him from reaching out to the information.

'Can I be honest with you?' He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. After he was offered silence by the two agents, he sighed. 'I really can't remember.'

'You are asking to be kicked in the nuts—'

'Tony,' Natasha cut in, jumping off the vehicle and approaching him in a collected gait. Her eyes were concerned as he nodded at him. 'What's going on with you?'

'I just want to know what I told her,' he looked at Maria for a glance, 'otherwise, everything's fine.'

'What you told me? ' Maria scoffed. 'This isn't a game, Stark.'

'Nat, listen to me,' he took a step forward, his eyes pleading. 'I'm okay, honestly. If I need the drive to go to someone, just do it. For the sake of all of us.'

'I understand, Tony,' she said, her voice comforting and voice soft. 'Trust me, you don't sound like you're in your right mind.'

'I have to keep moving.'

'Come with us,' she suggested, having none of that. 'We'll find Steve and keep you covered. At least you have back up. You can't do this alone.'

Steve. Steve Rogers. Cap. Blonde, built, beautiful. He saved the world a long time ago. Became capsicle. Joined the Avengers. The accords broke them apart. 

'I'm sorry, Nat but I have to drop out of this one,' he said, a sad smile on his face. 'Can't stay long either. So you get to Steve, decode the string and buzz in.'

'Tony—'

'Please.'

She was still doubtful when she nodded in acceptance. If Tony Stark was not mincing his words, that meant that there was something way bigger than a few words to talk about. 

'Okay.'

'Okay,' he nodded. 'Any word from Elle?'

Maria had her lips set to a firm line, shaking her head. 'Still MIA. We caught her around the Washington area. Swiped it clean yet, no trace.'

Damn it.

'Are you sure you're going to be okay without us?' Nat coerced with a sigh. 

'Absolutely,' he grinned at her. 'I am Iron Man, right?'

∞

𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐋

ELEANOR

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'How are we looking, doc?'

The genius surgeon leaned in close to the ultrasound scans, shutting his eyes in what seemed like equal parts hesitation and exhaustion. I got anxious.

'You should know it's been a long time since I've analyzed an ultrasound,' Stephen said, doubtfully. 'Cranial injury? I can deal with that but... this is another life.'

I was quick to retort with a small laugh. 'Is it breaking the rules that have given you the willies? I know we are ninety feet under the Hudson but that's the only way Osborn can't track me.'

'Elle, I have been inside the moment between moments. I have seen quantum possibilities,' he shared with a faltering smile on his face and immediately lilting mine. 'I think I can handle a simple scan after years of residency at a Presbyterian Hospital.'

It was weird to see Stephen Strange devoid of the burgundy cloak that helped him levitate and the occult-ish Indian kurtas that he wore on usual days. His striking eyes were judicious as she scanned the glossy material repeatedly. In some ways, Stephen reminded me of Tony. Maybe it was the facial hair or the fact that he had the look on his face as if he were the knower of everything. 

When I first met Stephen, it was way back in the past. We had met through mutual friends and it was a minute encounter that I had continued to remember until he was approached for the Avengers Initiative. We had spoken several times after and weren't as thick as thieves. 

Therefore, I was thoroughly surprised when he had accepted to meet me in this meagre, mobile clinic-van in the middle of the night for a doctor's appointment. Risking the protection of his sanctum sanctorum to help out a woman in a crisis.

'You have multi-sourced energy in you,' he pointed out, looking at me as if seeing through me. 'I picked it up using the Agamotto as soon as I met you. Did you know?'

'Yes,' I breathed out. The slow drum of the vehicle could've droned out my answer. 'Yes, I did.'

'Not that it is putting your body in an imbalance but it could be the cause of excessive nausea,' he said, suspiciously. 'What exactly have you been using the suit for?'

'You want examples?'

'Preferably.'

I sucked in a breath, ready to rant my way into this.

'I held up a stilt mansion music-school in an earthquake,' I ticked off my fingers, 'got a school bus unstuck, I recovered a mountaineer from an avalanche and I even stopped a few landslides.'

Stephen scratched his chin in thought, nodding along knowingly. 'Living up to Stark's name?'

'Heavens no,' I laughed genuinely at his absurd statement. 'I believe I'm having too much fun with the suit.'

He shrugged. 'While being two months pregnant. That has got to go down in history in some way.'

I put on a teasing smile. 'Are you judging me, Strange?'

'Absolutely,' he grinned, transferring the scans to me while doing so. He thumbed the corner of the glistening page, pointing to a small, haywire, grey-white blip between a harsh crisscrossing of swirls. I scrutinized it to the best of my ability, trying to make out anything that could make me recognize it.

'That's her.'

Her. We were having a girl. 

I glanced up at Stephen, not knowing how to feel. There were all sorts of emotions attacking me at once and none of them overpowered the dull void I had continued to harbour. Excitement? Hysteria? Doubt? I didn't know which to harness and provision on my face. I was only hoping this was normal to feel in my position. I couldn't make out my voice when I expressed. It had reduced to a croak, just a dull whisper.

'How can you tell?' 

'The nub theory,' he mentioned and when my eyes widened with curiosity, he waved it off. He looked flustered, even. 'You don't want to know the pharmaceutical details. Even if my eyes do deceive me, my magic doesn't.' 

As if reading my mind, he reached a hand out to touch mine. I snapped my gaze to our hands. The warmth was something I hadn't felt in a long time. I stared at it, long and hard.

'In the thousand dimensions I have been to, the constant creature that exists is the woman,' he explained with a grateful smile playing on his lips. 'It's natural to have fear, Elle. But don't weaken your resolve with fear.'

I nodded obediently, feeling somewhat better. 'Thank you.'

'Part of the job. And as for the mega-tonnage you have handled,' he mused, his voice a comic drawl, 'I believe your body has accepted the energy. It is running above spec and in fact, keeping you in great shape.'

I let out a tired laugh. 'I'm glad to have wasted your time then, Stephen.'

'No worries, Elle,' he said suavely. He looked at me with an acute expression. 'You will be needing my help soon.'

'Is this another one of your,' I air-quoted my words, 'quantum possibilities?'

'It won't happen if I tell you,' he stated ominously. 'But I will find you soon enough.'

Before I could quench my confusion, HELEN spoke up from the suit. Both Stephen and I turned toward the interruption. My helmet whirred and displayed a holographic two-dimensional image of the map of the Russian Federation. I blinked at it.

'Excuse me, Miss Preece, but I have detected some unusual repulsor pursuit over Russia.'

'Russia?' Stephen asked after reading the map. I could only nod along. 'That's odd, even for Tony.'

'Part of the job,' I smiled, using his words from before. 'Thank you for the impromptu check-up, Stephen.'

'Anytime,' he winked. 'Bleeker Street's the place.'

∞ 

edited!