The searing pain sends him to the ground, but the shock is what keeps him there. Preparing to die and being so certain it'll happen, only for it to not-- well, it's jarring.
"Boss?" FRIDAY's voice bounces around to the echo in the garage. It's probably the ordeal Tony just went through, but he can't exactly tell her tone. It doesn't seem particularly good, though.
"Yeah, babygirl, I'm fine," he grunts. Tony pulls himself off the ground, winces and hisses in pain when his stabbed leg takes his weight.
Okay. Situation assessment. Firstly, Tony is so screwed. In hindsight, should he have expected the Solider to freak the fuck out and lash out? Yes. Hell, he even walked in there knowing it was likely, it's why they'd tied him down to begin with, but--
Well. It's not like he forgot. It just didn't seem all that important when Tony was the only person in reach. He'd examine that feeling later, except martyrdom and suicidal ideation are definitely not new, and when has Tony ever consciously examined his own feelings? Stark men are made of iron, after all.
(He can mock Howard for that until the day he dies, but Tony's uncomfortably aware with the fact that he internalized it and internalized it hard.)
It's not hard to guess where the Solider is heading. The only other person holding the keys to his imprisonment is alive and well, sitting like a duck in custody.
"Fri, deploy the nearest suit." Tony doesn't have time to spare. Unfortunately for his leg, that means the scalpel has got to go. Luckily he doesn't start bleeding out all over the floor, but it's still... pretty bad. He undoes his belt and starts doing up a tourniquet above the wound, but the fact FRIDAY hasn't responded yet makes him pause. "Fri?"
"Boss, I don't think it's advisable--"
"I've suited up in worse condition than this," Tony doesn't realize how harsh he sounds until it's already out of his mouth. Softer, he adds, "besides, I don't really have a choice. This is my mistake, and I need to fix it. I just have to make it to Zemo before he does."
Which seems completely doable, though apparently Tony not using his brain is a theme today.
"What about civilian casualties?"
"Civilian c--" The confusion and outrage was obvious, and he didn't even get a full sentence out.
"Boss," FRIDAY's definitely reprimanding him now. "Sergeant Barnes took you hostage, and could've-- almost-- killed you. It's highly likely he'll do the same to anyone else he perceives as an obstacle. Someone in his state is unpredictable at best, and dangerous at worst."
Oh.
Maybe it's because of Steve, but Tony had been operating under the assumption that when freed from Hydra programming, Barnes wouldn't willingly hurt anyone. Lashing out at Tony hadn't seemed so outlandish-- he'd told the man he knew the code words, after all. But when reframing it:
The Solider didn't kill Tony. Whether it was because Tony revealed his greatest weakness to him, or the Solider had some other sort of undefinable piece of logic to go on, didn't matter. What matters is what he does see-- or did, specifically for reflecting on the minutes prior-- Tony as.
An obstacle in the way of his freedom. That doesn't make Tony unique, that means every single unsuspecting citizen of New York who crossed the Soldier's path was now a target.
Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.
The only thing keeping the panic attack away was the need to get off his ass and move. He didn't have time to spiral, but regardless of outcome he surely would later. Thankfully FRIDAY got him a suit as requested, and he took off.
The Solider had taken one of Tony's cars, so FRIDAY was easily able to track it and put it on Iron Man's radar. There was no telling how long they had until he decided to ditch the car, though, and that was the truly scary part.
"FRIDAY, what kind of access do you have to the car?"
No response. He double checked and, yeah, she was online in the suit. So she was ignoring him.
Tony has been down this road before. Like her predecessor, FRIDAY only ignored him or directly disobeyed when she had reason to believe that the positives would outweigh the negatives, especially in matters regarding Tony's wellbeing or those he'd deemed as important.
Don't... let anyone hurt him. Please. ... Not a--not even a scratch.
Rapid fire conclusions: • Ordering that of her would certainly deem him as an important person, if the Solider falling under his care hadn't already. • The order didn't have any date or deadline to it, meaning she'd enact it until ordered otherwise or physically unable to. • If it was found he'd hurt innocent civilians, no one could stop the military or any superheroes currently under their purview from apprehending the Solider, and who knows what kind of harm that would entail. • FRIDAY is ultimately a machine, and therefore sometimes lacks nuance or purposefully avoids it. Tony hadn't specified that the harm includes emotional or mental wellbeing.
That last point was crucial.
Ross had given him permission to use the code words in a case of emergency. Permission for him was by extension, permission for FRIDAY. She was his AI-- even if he hadn't given her the code words, if anyone would find them out, FRIDAY would. She knew Tony didn't want to use them, but as established, she disobeyed what Tony wanted when it was for a good cause. Not hurting innocents? Yeah, definitely a good cause. Using the words was the only way to completely assure the Solider didn't get out of the car.
When the little red dot on the suit's UI stopped moving, Tony's stomach dropped out from under him, and he'd known she'd done it. FRIDAY had ordered the Solider to stay put.
"It's done, boss." Her voice was gentle in his ear. As much remorse as an AI could manage was present, but Tony had a feeling she probably wasn't all that sorry. Tony was, in every sense of the word, furious, but he couldn't deny it: she'd done the right thing. Tony only had himself to be mad at. He was the reason she'd ended up having to use the words.
The suit circled the car, landing by the driver's side door. Stock still with both hands still gripping the wheel in a death grip, was the Solider. The Solider's breathing was quick and unsteady, and those same wide, scared eyes flicked over to Tony as he lifted up the face plate. There wasn't much expectation to disappoint, but Tony's pretty sure he sees hurt and betrayal there.
"I'm sorry." Tony knows it's not going to do jackshit, but he still has to apologize. "She acted of her own discretion." He awkwardly pauses as he gets into the passenger side, suit and all, before continuing, "I did said I would come after you if you were planning on going back to your handler-- Fri just didn't want you to hurt anyone before I got here."
Thankfully he doesn't have to figure out how to move the Soldier out of the driver's seat-- this is one of the cars that FRIDAY can autopilot, and she directs them back towards the tower. Tony, a little bitterly, wonders why she didn't just do this first, but even locking the Soldier in the car couldn't stop him from breaking the windows or the guts or anything like that, and people will go to any lengths when they're desperate.
no subject
"Boss?" FRIDAY's voice bounces around to the echo in the garage. It's probably the ordeal Tony just went through, but he can't exactly tell her tone. It doesn't seem particularly good, though.
"Yeah, babygirl, I'm fine," he grunts. Tony pulls himself off the ground, winces and hisses in pain when his stabbed leg takes his weight.
Okay. Situation assessment. Firstly, Tony is so screwed. In hindsight, should he have expected the Solider to freak the fuck out and lash out? Yes. Hell, he even walked in there knowing it was likely, it's why they'd tied him down to begin with, but--
Well. It's not like he forgot. It just didn't seem all that important when Tony was the only person in reach. He'd examine that feeling later, except martyrdom and suicidal ideation are definitely not new, and when has Tony ever consciously examined his own feelings? Stark men are made of iron, after all.
(He can mock Howard for that until the day he dies, but Tony's uncomfortably aware with the fact that he internalized it and internalized it hard.)
It's not hard to guess where the Solider is heading. The only other person holding the keys to his imprisonment is alive and well, sitting like a duck in custody.
"Fri, deploy the nearest suit." Tony doesn't have time to spare. Unfortunately for his leg, that means the scalpel has got to go. Luckily he doesn't start bleeding out all over the floor, but it's still... pretty bad. He undoes his belt and starts doing up a tourniquet above the wound, but the fact FRIDAY hasn't responded yet makes him pause. "Fri?"
"Boss, I don't think it's advisable--"
"I've suited up in worse condition than this," Tony doesn't realize how harsh he sounds until it's already out of his mouth. Softer, he adds, "besides, I don't really have a choice. This is my mistake, and I need to fix it. I just have to make it to Zemo before he does."
Which seems completely doable, though apparently Tony not using his brain is a theme today.
"What about civilian casualties?"
"Civilian c--" The confusion and outrage was obvious, and he didn't even get a full sentence out.
"Boss," FRIDAY's definitely reprimanding him now. "Sergeant Barnes took you hostage, and could've-- almost-- killed you. It's highly likely he'll do the same to anyone else he perceives as an obstacle. Someone in his state is unpredictable at best, and dangerous at worst."
Oh.
Maybe it's because of Steve, but Tony had been operating under the assumption that when freed from Hydra programming, Barnes wouldn't willingly hurt anyone. Lashing out at Tony hadn't seemed so outlandish-- he'd told the man he knew the code words, after all. But when reframing it:
The Solider didn't kill Tony. Whether it was because Tony revealed his greatest weakness to him, or the Solider had some other sort of undefinable piece of logic to go on, didn't matter. What matters is what he does see-- or did, specifically for reflecting on the minutes prior-- Tony as.
An obstacle in the way of his freedom. That doesn't make Tony unique, that means every single unsuspecting citizen of New York who crossed the Soldier's path was now a target.
Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.
The only thing keeping the panic attack away was the need to get off his ass and move. He didn't have time to spiral, but regardless of outcome he surely would later. Thankfully FRIDAY got him a suit as requested, and he took off.
The Solider had taken one of Tony's cars, so FRIDAY was easily able to track it and put it on Iron Man's radar. There was no telling how long they had until he decided to ditch the car, though, and that was the truly scary part.
"FRIDAY, what kind of access do you have to the car?"
No response. He double checked and, yeah, she was online in the suit. So she was ignoring him.
Tony has been down this road before. Like her predecessor, FRIDAY only ignored him or directly disobeyed when she had reason to believe that the positives would outweigh the negatives, especially in matters regarding Tony's wellbeing or those he'd deemed as important.
Don't... let anyone hurt him. Please. ... Not a--not even a scratch.
Rapid fire conclusions:
• Ordering that of her would certainly deem him as an important person, if the Solider falling under his care hadn't already.
• The order didn't have any date or deadline to it, meaning she'd enact it until ordered otherwise or physically unable to.
• If it was found he'd hurt innocent civilians, no one could stop the military or any superheroes currently under their purview from apprehending the Solider, and who knows what kind of harm that would entail.
• FRIDAY is ultimately a machine, and therefore sometimes lacks nuance or purposefully avoids it. Tony hadn't specified that the harm includes emotional or mental wellbeing.
That last point was crucial.
Ross had given him permission to use the code words in a case of emergency. Permission for him was by extension, permission for FRIDAY. She was his AI-- even if he hadn't given her the code words, if anyone would find them out, FRIDAY would. She knew Tony didn't want to use them, but as established, she disobeyed what Tony wanted when it was for a good cause. Not hurting innocents? Yeah, definitely a good cause. Using the words was the only way to completely assure the Solider didn't get out of the car.
When the little red dot on the suit's UI stopped moving, Tony's stomach dropped out from under him, and he'd known she'd done it. FRIDAY had ordered the Solider to stay put.
"It's done, boss." Her voice was gentle in his ear. As much remorse as an AI could manage was present, but Tony had a feeling she probably wasn't all that sorry. Tony was, in every sense of the word, furious, but he couldn't deny it: she'd done the right thing. Tony only had himself to be mad at. He was the reason she'd ended up having to use the words.
The suit circled the car, landing by the driver's side door. Stock still with both hands still gripping the wheel in a death grip, was the Solider. The Solider's breathing was quick and unsteady, and those same wide, scared eyes flicked over to Tony as he lifted up the face plate. There wasn't much expectation to disappoint, but Tony's pretty sure he sees hurt and betrayal there.
"I'm sorry." Tony knows it's not going to do jackshit, but he still has to apologize. "She acted of her own discretion." He awkwardly pauses as he gets into the passenger side, suit and all, before continuing, "I did said I would come after you if you were planning on going back to your handler-- Fri just didn't want you to hurt anyone before I got here."
Thankfully he doesn't have to figure out how to move the Soldier out of the driver's seat-- this is one of the cars that FRIDAY can autopilot, and she directs them back towards the tower. Tony, a little bitterly, wonders why she didn't just do this first, but even locking the Soldier in the car couldn't stop him from breaking the windows or the guts or anything like that, and people will go to any lengths when they're desperate.