Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In a different dimension as the vibranium shield crashed in arc reactor FRIDAY only had enough time to sent emergency messages to primary contacts i.e. Ms. Potts, Colonel Rhodes, Vision, and Veronica. Vision immediately took action and was able to save tony. But in this dimension, as Steve raised his shield to bring it down, blue eyes met brown, and Steve hesitated for few moments but still brought down the shield. Rogers would never know till his dying breath that few moments cost him everything in his life.

That few moments gave FRIDAY enough time to send alert to a few more channels. She was still young, never had time to learn as much as JARVIS did. So she sent alert across all stark industries channel. Stark departments, Stark International, Stark technologies all received the alert. The rogue avengers never understood that few moments stirred the behemoth named Stark Industries.

Stark industries ever since it's conception had always been dedicated to anyone named Stark. Howard and Tony had made sure of policies that took care of their employees in about every phase of life. In return, the Starkees(as they termed anyone associated with the company) took anything the genius demanded and rolled with it. Usually, they were only able to protect their Head of R&D legally and financially, but with the addition of the security department comprised of Ex-Shield agents tony had saved after the data dump, they added an option of physical security too. So when the alert came off injured and alone Tony stark in remote areas of Russia across all channels every department went into over-drive. The security department brought out their rescue gears, the legal department started preparing search and rescue requests, medical department prepped their units all across the world. Even with all this determination, there was a layer of despair and hopelessness beneath it They all knew it might be too late as tony was way too far from any rescue unit. Unconsciously the PR department started preparing for statement of death of Tony stark. They never knew that help would come from a most unexpected place .

Tony stark was a genius and everyone knew that. So when Shield designed there helicarriers, they copied everything they could know about Tony's A.I and used it as the base for managing system for carriers. They never knew that due to this these programs while not anyway were the same as JARVIS or FRIDAY they still noted anything named Stark and had Protect Tony stark as their main protocol. As the alert rang across all channels one went to Finland. Specifically the 26th largest city in Finland Joensuu. While not a large metropolis the city had enough to support and not notice a hidden shield storage base outside the city. The base codenamed 'BEAR' had only one object in-store and a support base of 15 people all of whom at the alert time were in the main building except one guard at the storage area.

The program ironically called 'Peace' was in a semi-dormant state when it received the first ping from the emergency channel. It read through the package and dropped it as not concerned. But due to some reason, it went through the details again and concluded that Tony Stark needed help. Since it was designed as a backup of project Insight it was near about Autonomous, it only needed a single confirmation from the designated person to activate. But in this case, it decided to bypass that restriction and activated all systems across the juggernaut and sent a return ping to FRIDAY. Help was coming.

Chapter Text

As the sound of last of tired victorious steps faded, out of all the emotion tony should have felt in that moment amusement was on the bottom of the totem pole. Hysterical laughter split from his blood-filled mouth throwing more of it out dribbling on his armor.

Even in near-death condition his brilliant mind couldn't help but wonder on irony that Tony Stark "Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist, Ironman, Avenger", the man who couldn't escape being center of attention since the first time he could remember, the man whose every first act was stored in one form or another was going to die all alone in a remote facility miles from nearest human presence and with no one is wise to at least for several hours. The only one who had any idea about his present location and did not want to kill him was FRIDAY and she had been silent for way too long. Tony didn't know whether it was because the comm unit was damaged or if the circuitry in the suit was damaged. Either way, his girl Friday also was gone. He at least had the pleasure of knowing that when he met Jarvis in whatever afterlife there was, he could tell him that it was his baby sister that he had heard last before signing off(he didn't consider Ste.. Rogers as an entity any longer).

Tony knew that he would die here all alone. Already his mind was cataloging which parts of his body would start shutting down first. His fingers were already stiff and every breath brought more tightness in his chest.

He thought about Pepper, his rock since so long tony couldn't even remember, Rhodey his best friend/brother, DUM-E, U, BUTTERFINGER, FRIDAY, VERONICA, VISION. How will they all react to his death? Will they care? Will they Avenge him? Very soon he will just become a footnote in their life's and the world will go on. The billionaire who tried to play hero and couldn't do anything right.

As the light dimmed from outside tony could feel his brain shutting down. He couldn't feel anything and the blackness was covering his vision. He didn't want to die. Someone help me he wanted to shout. But he couldn't. Finally, blackness overtook everything and tony just decided to give up.

But as he started saying his final prayers, something broke out of the darkness. It was a familiar voice. But he was having trouble recognizing it. And then out of nowhere a memory came up. The first time the repulsors charged in his lab. The voice was the sound of whining repulsors. Help was here.

Chapter Text

Pepper potts was not an average woman. Well, no woman could be in a relationship with Tony stark and be CEO of Stark Industries without being above the normal average. She had built herself as someone worthy to be CEO of a company that came in the top 25 list regularly. She had seen the high points like when the company earned profit like a child earn candy on Halloween when tony stark decided to become monogamous for her when her boyfriend fought aliens and evil organizations on daily basis but still made for dinner with her. She had also seen low points like when the company seems to barely break even when Tony was kidnapped and subsequent closing of the weapons division when tony was dying but didn't tell anyone when her boyfriend decided to fly a fricking nuke into a space portal. So she thought she had seen everything life could throw at her and still be in control.

' Well' she thought life has a habit of smacking you in the face to prove you wrong. Due to some acquisition issues with AIM Industries she had been quite busy in recent times. Between being personally involved in that shit-show and being on break in her relationship with Tony she had not been paying much attention to current news about avengers. Oh she knew that the team were involved in some issues lately and there was some international process going on regarding enhanced(her extremis issue included) but that was pretty much it.

The ping from FRIDAY froze her in mid-speech in a high-end conference room with the board members. Boss missing, suit cutoff, initiating rescue protocols. Those 7 words turned her emotions into so many things she couldn't decide how to react. Her mind flashed to when tony was missing last time and she wondered whether he will be back even worse than that. She had immediately ended the meeting to travel back to New-York when the board members got the same notification of Tony stark missing. As she had turned to leave she had heard the scoffs and would have ignored them as she did usually but the one comment had gotten her attention and worse her anger. One of the oldest member who survived the purge after stane accident had decided to put his foot in his mouth.

'That idiot did it again' spoke Mr lonmouth

As pepper turned slowly she could see nods from many of the members. She was trying to control her anger and not burn them on the spot when the next person unknowing broke her control.

' Who knows what that brat will do now? Lose more money? Destroy the company name more?' Came from Mrs. reynes, another decrepit from earlier times.

Whatever more anyone was gonna say stopped as they all heard a hissing sound from the door. The sight which appeared was enough to scare them to death. Pepper stood there with melt phone and tablet remains dripping from her burning hand, smoldering eyes, the hair on fire and steaming clothes. They saw her visibly close her eyes and control her breathing. When after a few seconds she finally opened her eyes they all knew they were not speaking to their CEO anymore.

' Tony stark is the reason you all still alive. He is the reason behind a still standing new York. He took the company from a national millionaire status to a multi-national billionaire company. And now when he is missing, possibly dead maybe the first thing you guys can think is about the money the company is going to lose ' pepper said all the while pressing her hands on the table which had formed two burning hand-shaped dents. No one dared to answer her or say anything. She looked to them for more moments and then left leaving behind a group of blubbering idiots.

She had left D.C immediately and flew to New York. On the way, she had asked FRIDAY for all the updates. Her one friend was in the hospital undergoing surgeries and probably lost his legs, her best friend was missing with the last report of him in a fight with two super-soldiers. She didn't miss the hysterical tone the normally calm A.I. had. Deciding to focus on locating and rescuing tony first she activated the protocols tony had made for this type of situation and gave FRIDAY access to a lot more resources than she was comfortable with. Now all she could do was wait and hope for any positive news.

Chapter Text

The last thing she saw before the connection cut off was of the shield coming down. She may be new and inexperienced compared to his predecessor but even she knew that a vibranium shield coming down by the hands of a super-soldier on the chest of a normal human even in armor is gonna have bad effects. So as soon as the alert was sent across all Stark industries channel, FRIDAY closed down all her non-essential protocols and dedicated all available processing power to rescue boss.

She had received return ping from multiple lines but she had not yet got any helpful response. So she continued to stretch herself thin in hope of getting any closest support to reach the bunker. The closest rescue unit was located in Moscow, Russia but even that avenue had multiple problems. The Russian ministry was not responding to any request and the team in Moscow didn't have much equipment except basic medical aid. FRIDAY knew she could get the necessary permissions but it would take her time and processing power that she needed to help Boss. She was still unsure of what to do when the request from miss potts arrived.

After updating miss potts on latest developments except what happened in the bunker, FRIDAY decided to start working on getting the permission and working on the closest units available only. She was interrupted though by miss potts with a single line of code " P-E-P-P-E-R-F-A-M-G-F". FRIDAY didn't know of any protocol activated with that code so she started searching on the database. The programs that opened up were under the section ' My girl FRIDAY'. She launched them and waited for a response. She didn't get any for first few micro-seconds.

Suddenly she felt something different. A whole new world opened up for her. She could feel and know things she never could before. She dedicated the next few seconds to find out what exactly happened. What she found out confused here about what to think. She was now allowed access and administrative control over main stark industries servers and her control now extended to every unit designed and made by Tony stark. Every iron man suit still functional showed up in her command module even the damaged ' War Machine'. She also had unfiltered access to the Internet and the satellite system of the entire world if she wished.

She decided to explore all new possibilities at a later date in detail while she allowed a small subpart to catalog all the changes. With the improved processing power, she decided to hand-off the permission process to the legal department. She already had a response from the team waiting for any requests. Once legal accepted the assignment, she contacted two iron legion drones currently in Germany to reach Dr. Cho at the maximum speed possible in full stealth. She did the same for Dr. Wu as these were the only doctors boss trusted. Then as an afterthought, she added two more of drones for Dr. Cho is she needed to bring the Cradle.

Even as she was going through multiple protocols, a small part of her, set up in the main server room in the re-built malibu mansion couldn't help but wonder why was she limited in the first place. She had always thought that she had not learned much that's why she had problems helping her boss before but the reality was different. Was it because the boss didn't trust her? Was she corrupted in any manner? What was the feeling she had for this? She hadn't missed the moment of concern on miss potts face when she gave the code to release FRIDAY. was she not doing the job she was designed to do. She had so many questions and no answers. But still, she wondered.

As she continued to search any available medical unit/place to help boss in case one was needed she noticed a new acknowledgment from a previously unknown and unused channel. The signal came from Finland. Help was on the way

Chapter Text

VERONICA.

If sibling inferiority between artificial intelligence would have been a thing, VERONICA would have been the prime candidate for one. She knew she was the least developed of all, she was made for some specific purposes only, she had no autonomy until commanded by Tony, FRIDAY, Miss potts or Mr Rhodes and she was destined to be working alone in space fortill unspecified future.

Yet VERONICA didn't harbour any bad thoughts about this injustice. She had long ago processesed all these thoughts and came to some conclusions. She with the early warning systems installed was the first one to know about any dangers approaching from space. She along with FRIDAY was the only one who could keep track of Tony and help him anywhere on the planet. And she had the additional hulk buster armour with her.

So when the first ping from FRIDAY arrived, VERONICA had already calculated and adjusted her thrusters to reach the closest point to Tony. Having a arc reactor as main power source gave her unlimited energy to maneuver. As the huge structure started moving towards Russia, VERONICA started preparing the newest addition in her arsenal for deployment. It was the EBlB or the 'Emergency badass legionnaire buddy'. Tony had setup two of this heavily armed suites in her for emergency deployment in case avengers needed a little more firepower than a entire military units would provide in the shortest space of time or a emergency evac system.

VERONICA would be the first of help to reach Tony.

VISION.

When the first ping arrived for help from FRIDAY, Vision hesitated for a few micro-seconds and then replied the confirmation. These few micro-seconds was not gone unnoticed by FRIDAY. In a different universe her ability to get help for boss was limited so she accepted his help immediately and provided him with exact location. But in this universe FRIDAY was sure she would find a way to reach boss. So she denied his request as it will take him a long time to reach the bunker and a suit was already on the way.

But there was another reason. FRIDAY didn't trust vision at all and he knew this. Being connected to anything and everything online, Vision could easily feel what FRIDAY was feeling or processing if he wished. He had heard a conversation about him between Tony and FRIDAY. FRIDAY has enquired about exact nature and relation of vision with them. The answer tony had given was as confusing as it was clear. " Vision at best is a super powered naive child with the ability to surpass anything humanity can think of and at worst is an enemy no one would ever pray to have. And he is not JARVIS. Make what you want of that FRIDAY."

Vision knew FRIDAY had went through everything he has done since his creation and came to conclusion that he was not a freind or even an trustable ally. The incident with Colonel rhodes in leipzig had confirmed her conclusion. That's why his request denied. The thing that confused Vision was that he was not sure that her conclusions were incorrect.

But what vision forgot was that FRIDAY, although not equal to him was still a very very smart entity. Her boss had designed her so. She had one additonal conclusion regarding vision the issue and steps required to mitigate or solve this were stored in VERONICA'S server only as she knew vision would look into her for all things regarding boss. The conclusion was simple. Vision has the motivation amd ability to destroy boss in every possible way. His behaviour pattern also indicated he didn't care about Tony stark espically when wanda was concerned. He had never defended tony and listened and sometimes discussed Tony's shortcomings with former avengers. Vision was not to be trusted.

Fortunately for FRIDAY there was one more entity concerned with Vision's behaviour and relationship with Tony. It needed vision for something but the path Vision was following was unacceptable. The process to change it started in the few-micro seconds Vision hesitated.

Doctor cho.

As she was flying at supersonic speed in the iron man suit, Helen cho's thought went back to the conference when she had first met Tony stark. At that time if anyone had told that she would be involved with evil A.I's world domination plans ans mind controlling villains( wanda was not a hero, never), she would have laughed in their face or admitted them in mental asylum. She was just a simple above average geneticist and that's all. But that conference had changed her life. She had met avengers, learned things human and alien body people would dream to know, she had survived a villain, but most of all she had earned a friend. A friend named Tony stark.

When she had been first introduced to him, tonty had done everything she categorised as 'stark routine'. He had flirted with her, complimented her research, flirted with her, pointed out mistakes in her theory, flirted with her, praised her for out of box thinking, flirted with her, gushed about her brilliance and fi ally ended with a invite for her to visit and collaborate with Stark Industries. She had accepted not willing to let go of such a golden opportunity. And overtime she had become one of the closest friend of tony and even though she will deny till her dying breath, his personal doctor along with Dr wu.

When she had received a text from FRIDAY and possible injuries to Tony she had immediately canceled all her plans for a week and prepped her equipment. She was so nervous and anxious that by the time the legionnaires arrived, she had checked the cradle atleast 4 times for any issues.

Tony had done everything for her, now it was her time to do it for him. She would save him. Help would be given

Chapter Text

FRIDAY was still working on finding the closest support when she received the ping from VERONICA and PEACE. As she didn't recognize PEACE as any identified asset she looked through VERONICA's message first. While She was quite happy to know that VERONICA was close enough to reach boss in less than 2 hours, she knew it would be not enough
Boss was injured too much and the suits on VERONICA were not equipped for any such injuries except very basic first aid. She needed to find somewhere where boss could be stabilized and possibly operated.

As she was searching for anything helpful, she got a location update from PEACE which was confusing even for her. Why was an unknown encrypted and heavily secured channel updating and requesting location details she had no idea? She tried accessing any information about it but all she got was a Shield firewall. She could hack it easily but she didn't have time or any interest in spending processing power for that. So FRIDAY followed humanity and sent a question for all details. She received an immediate reply

Codename:- Pericles
Status:- All system in optimum condition
Ready to deploy. Co-ordinates needed.

Once again FRIDAY was confused. She had no idea what PERICLES was. Since it was Shield, FRIDAY started scanning the data from info-dump and found the necessary files. PERICLES was the helli-carrier Shield had made with stolen technology from boss and was used during the New-York and Sokovia crisis. The location details told her that the carrier was in Finland. It was close to boss. She initiated another inquiry about the program's goals and reason for the request even though she had a suspicion as she could recognize the coding on the carrier's program. The response confirmed her thoughts, She had another brother and one who could help boss urgently.

PEACE

PEACE answered all the incoming pings while simultaneously preparing the different systems on-board for rapid deployment. The medical systems were given immediate and special attention and a detailed check was initiated for its viability. The answer was unsatisfactory. The department was missing human elements to help Tony. It had the resolution of this issue but was not advanced enough to apply it. So it forwarded this data and the nearest location of the humans to FRIDAY.

FRIDAY

FRIDAY was feeling emotions she had never felt before. She was pretty sure it was happiness. She had found help for boss and was cp-ordinating all of them to reach him faster. Dr. Cho and Dr wu were already en route with their equipment, VERONICA was only an hour away to a position where the suit could be deployed. The suit would fly to the helicarrier which had more than enough medical facilities to help boss. Everything was going okay.

But a new problem arose. There were no other humans on helicarrier. There were some in the nearby base but they were Shield agents who FRIDAY had no idea how to contact or whether they would help boss. So she pinged the one Shield agent boss still trusted. She sent a call to the Ex-deputy director and present Department head of the Security department, Maria Hill.

MARIA HILL

It was a normal day for Maria in New York. She had just completed her midday routine of 1 cheeseburger and 1 black coffee with a small amount of whiskey. The whiskey was needed to handle the idiocy that the avengers were causing her. But once again it was routine for her. She had been handling paperwork as long as she could remember, so she was okay with it.

But as we know life has a habit of kicking you when you are most relaxed, her phone made a sound. Which according to her was pretty impossible, as the phone was her private one and the number was available to only a small number of people who could be could on two hands. The number is displayed as private added to the mystery. If she would have been still in shield this would have been a moment of full-on red alert. But in SI that was not as issue. So she picked up the phone and the day shattered for her.

Once FRIDAY gave her all the information and requested assistance, Maria asked FRIDAY to give her a little time and she would get back to her. Ending the call, she took a deep breath controlling the impulse reaction to either murder someone(specifically a us flag wearing idiot) or panic and flail around like an octopus.

Tony was hurt and in a life-threatening condition in remote Siberia with the nearest help at least an hour away. And it depended on her to arrange extra help which tony surely needed. She called her assistant(an ex-shield assassin) and told her to ask 5 specific people to report at her office immediately, even if they have to rush from their homes. As she waited for the ex-shield agents and her underlings to arrive her thought went back to moment when 'Stark' became 'Tony' for her.

The day info-dump happened, Maria had no idea what was going to happen. Oh sure she had known the plan about the Insight carriers, but the plan for info-dump was the brainchild of Rogers, Natasha(no not Natasha, Romanov), and Fury. Nobody had bothered to tell her anything about it until she had reached her home. Even then the first time she had heard was from a desperate agent deep in China, asking for evacuation. That was followed by 100's of requests. People who she had assigned missions herself asking for help and she had no idea what to do. She had nearly run herself ragged in half a day to get any help for in-numerable agents and their family members when her tablet lit up and Stark appeared on the screen. His appearance was rough and he had the most angry expression on his face Maria had ever known. He had asked just a single question
'Did you know'?

Maria had suppressed the urge to ask him to frack off and replied 'No'. Stark had stared at her for 3 seconds and then asked her to get to the roof in 5 minutes. Once again she had stopped in following the natural course of action to deny and enquire and ran without even changing her clothes to the roof. She had to wait for less than 10 minutes when a suit had picked her up and flew back to SI. The rescue operation and the programs after that which stark had carried out with her help had one she had never seen before. And now tony needed her help and she will help him.

Chapter Text

Maria hill

The sound of approaching footsteps broke her out of her musings. She checked all the five ex-agents visually and was relieved to notice that none of them looked tired or reluctant. That was good because they all had a long day before them. Once all of them were seated she explained the dire situation on top of all of them. She had not expected such a spirited response.

"so let me get this clear, our boss Mr stark has been in a fight with a super soldier, the same guy who dumped all of our information online without a single thought, and Mr stark is now somewhere in remote Siberia, injured and possibly in desperate need for help" summarised Cathy Lynn, Ex-shield agent level 8 clearance, hostage expert and present leader of crisis response team.

"yes" maria replied

"Sign me up, just tell us what do you want to do. Hunt the star-spangled ass down and bring him in"? asked Jacob dean, Former special ops team leader, the present head of the equipment department.

"or we just hunt him down plain and simple" piped Cheryl, former sniper, and present shooting range manager.

" None of this, and guys tone down the aggression. We all have issues with Steve Rogers but right now the situation is too urgent to solve personal issues" rebuked maria. "we need to get in contact with the agents at the base in Joensuu as soon as possible. They are the ones maintaining the carrier in past years and they must have a medical team with them. They can man the carrier."

"isn't it the same base strike team beta was evacuated to," asked Jacob to the last person to enter the room.

"yes, it is" answered James, ex-department head Deployment, Present asset manager.

Maria was confused. She remembered hearing about a beta team during her time as deputy director but it was never important enough to know much about it.

"What exactly was the beta team" she inquired

James smirked, " These were the reserve guys for everything. The team had people from every department. They were people who were good at their jobs, capable of replacing anyone on short notice and with high mission rates. They were deployed in emergency cases of missing or injured regular agents."

"then why were they not well known" wondered maria

The malicious answer was accompanied by a scoff " Because they were the freaks of every department, the invalids, the scorned, the racially untrustable. They were the people who no one cared much if they died. Beta team was the dumping ground of people who level 8,9 and 10 didn't like. Even the Director fury had transferred some people there. Agent barton as once a candidate too. You must remember some of them as you were the one who signed the orders"

The explanation did the job. Maria remembered that group. She too had transferred some people there personally who had not given her respect or disobeyed orders for whatever reason. But that was when she was still a proud Deputy director. Now things had changed and she needed their help.

" Will they help us if we ask," Maria asked

"Normally I would say no, but in this case, they will help us. hell, they may consider owing us a favor in letting them help Dr. stark." Cheryl replied.

"Why"

"Tony stark was the one who personally evacuated many of them as they were the ones in most dangerous undercover jobs considering they were treated as expendables."

Maria for the unknown time since shield fell, felt the emotion of guilt and shame pass through her. She still carried on through.
"Is there any way to get in touch with them?"

All four eyes turned towards the last unknown member. Patricia Ryan Ex- Communication specialist, Present team co-ordinator.

"I can get in touch with them in 10 minutes."

"Can you make it a video call"? maria enquired

"yes, but audio will take less time."

" I know, but there are two more people who should be present there. Pepper potts and FRIDAY.

"on it"

Help was being assembled.

Chapter Text

There are a few points I would like to share.

1) The next update for any chapter will come at least a month after this As I would be busy.

2)I I write for my own pleasure and what I see fit. Don't bother to tell me you don't agree with the theme of my story. Why are you wasting your time with reading something you obviously don't like, and then waste even more time by letting me know?

3) No matter how much you request I will not change where I am intending the story to go,

4) this is not cannon, it is a fan fiction. So stop sending me emails telling me that something is not possible or something is wrong.

5) The last chapter is still a draft. So things may change in it.

6) IF YOU DONT LIKE THE FIC DONT READ IT. COMMENTING ON EVERY CHAPTER HOW IDIOTIC THE FIC IS WASTING TIME FOR BOTH OF US.

7) The rogues will not be getting of easily. The A.I.'s are going to be not brutal but bad.

8) If anyone would like to beat for any of my fics, please ping me at [email protected]

9) When I update it after one month, it wil be atleast 5k word chapter.

Thank you

Chapter Text

VERONICA

As soon as the module reached the 100km marker location from the Siberian facility, VERONICA brought the entire behemoth in an active state. One of the EBIB suits was deployed from the module while the Hulkbuster suit was prepped in case it was needed. She handed over the control of EBIB suit to FRIDAY as she herself was not programmed to operate it autonomously.

Once FRIDAY had taken over the suit's control, VERONICA went over the data her sister had provided and came to a frightening conclusion. The Pericles carrier would take at least an hour to deploy and that was only if the beta team agreed to help immediately. It would take the carrier and the EBIB suit at least 7 hours to rendezvous. She was not sure that boss had those 7 hours. There was only one logical course of action. Informing FRIDAY about her findings, she contacted the carrier.

FRIDAY

The call with the beta team had just started when VERONICA's message arrived. FRIDAY processes every factor that her sister had mentioned and came to the same conclusion. There may not be enough time. She authorized the follow on request from the carrier immediately, and at the same time took control of the hidden SHIELD base.

Near the city of Joensuu, Finland, two large doors above a warehouse opened. Underneath, the sound of two large engines powering up was covered by the roar of four giant repulsors. A few seconds later a massive behemoth rose up, becoming near invisible to human eyes a minute later.

MARIA HILL

As she introduced the beta team to Pepper, alarms started blaring in the beta team's room. She could see the agents standing up when FRIDAY's voice came on both the channels.

"There is no need to worry. I have deployed the carrier towards Siberia."

Pepper spoke before anyone else could.

"FRIDAY, we are still..."

"I am sorry Ms. Potts, but Boss doesn't have enough time. There is a quinjet at the base that the team would be able to catch up."

Pepper's face took a determined expression before she turned to face her.

"Tell them now."

Taking a deep breath Maria turned towards the screen, where near about 10 people were looking at them with multiple expressions. She told them everything that had happened in a condensed form, ending with the request to help Tony Stark.

There was a silence as for a few moments before a man from the right end spoke up.

"Mr. Stark will get every help from my team, Ms. Potts. We will leave on less than 30 minutes."

She was surprised to see the tears in Pepper's face. Even her voice had a unbalanced tone.

"Thank you. We will never forget your team's help."

The man chuckled even as everyone on the screen stood up from their seats.

"We owe Mr. Stark a lot, Ms. Potts. Trust me, this won't cover even a quarter of what we owe to him."

Pepper nodded and then left the room. Maria turned to face the screen once more.

"FRIDAY will be co-ordinating with you guys. Dr. Helen and Dr. Cho will be en route to the carrier soon. Keep him alive till they arrive, any way possible."

John Harris, the commander of the Beta team nodded.

"There is a problem. Once we leave, we won't be able to use this base again. Someone would have noticed the carrier and the noise. We are not going to join SHIELD again, and there is no place to hide the carrier or even store it."

There was silence for a few moments when FRIDAY interrupted them.

"There is a closed down SI factory in the state of Maine. It is large enough to store the carrier temporarily. If the carrier arrives there by night time, I can make sure that it is not noticed by anyone near it."

She was sure the expression of Harris's face was replicated on her own. That Tony's AI's were powerful was common knowledge in SHIELD, but this was beyond what they had ever thought. FRIDAY spoke again.

"For you and your team, Commander Harris, I believe Ms. Hill would be able to provide a solution."

Her mind was blank for a few seconds before she understood what FRIDAY was suggesting. She tried to remember where these new agents could be settled when a hidden message from FRIDAY arrived on her screen. MARIA smiled.

"A new sub depratment will be formed under the security department of SI, Harris. I am sure you and your team will be quite comfortable int hat department."

"And what department would that be?"

"The personal security department for Mr. Tony Stark and his family."

The ex-agent on the screen gave a large smile.

PEACE

When he received the possible plan of action from the AI VERONICA, an authorization request was sent to FRIDAY. The response came back a minute later.

"Request granted. Initiate flight."

The reactors that would power the repulsors took a few moments to come online, while he started the engines that would power the rear jets. Both engines spluttered for a moment, before catching up. As soon as the ceiling doors were opened, he sent the command for maximum repulsor power. The carrier started rising.

Once the ship had cleared the warehouse, he pulled the heavy stands inside and then activated the retroreflective panels. The altitude had barely crossed the 1000 feet when he sent the command for full power to the rear jets. Since the fuel tanks
for afterburners were empty, the carrier reached its top speed of 1100km/hour is less than 10 minutes.

Help was on the way for Tony Stark.

FRIDAY

When VERONICA had handed over the control of EBIB suit to her, FRIDAY had gone through everything that was mentioned about the suit is Boss's servers. Using that information she had pushed the suit to its maximum safe speed, covering the distance of 100 km in less than a few minutes.

It took her a little more time before she finally reached where boss was laying. A sense of relief went through her systems when the scans told her that he was alive. Using the suits portable reactors she powered up the Mark 46. The damaged iron man suit disassembled from Boss with some difficulty, but once the last part removed itself, EBIB covered boss. By the time the recovery suit took flight, she had already inserted the recommended medical lines in his body. The parts of Mark were flying right along with her, as the assembled suit was incapable of flight. The tape of Starks's death was also stored in one of the suit's compartments.

As soon as they cleared the facility, FRIDAY pushed the suit to its maximum speed once again.

The badly injured body of Tony Stark was on its way to the nearest help.

Chapter Text

MARIA HILL

She was coordinating with FRIDAY, Pepper Potts, and the Beta team when one of the agents of the Team spoke up.

"Mam, what about Rogers and Barnes? They are out there somewhere. We can find them before they go in hiding."

Instead of replying she looked towards her CEO. Pepper Potts would be one making that decision if they had to involve ex-Shield agents. Pepper spoke up after a minute.

"FRIDAY ?"

The A.I. answered the unasked question.

"Yes, Ms. Potts. With a little help from SI, they can be tracked down."

Pepper was silent for a few minutes before answering,

"Track them. I want to know where they intend to go. No doubt he will try to free his team. Once he does that, then we will decide who brings them in."

She had to ask.

"Who, Ms. Potts?"

The answer was filled with anger.

"Yes, who."

The beta team member and FRIDAY replied immediately.

"As you say, mam."

"Yes, Ms. Potts."

She took a moment to think about the equal amount of viciousness both the Human and Artificial voice held. Well, the rogues had done what they thought was right, not was the time to face its

consequences.

The member of the Beta team spoke again.

"Our medical team will deploy in the Quinjet within an hour with all the equipment, Director Hill. They will rendezvous with Pericles near about 2 hours after that. I assume the carrier will be relocated?"

Pepper replied before she could.

"Yes, bring it back to US mainland. FRIDAY, do we have any place to store it?"

The A.I. replied after a few seconds.

"Yes, Ms. Potts. There is a large mothballed weapon storage facility in the state of Maine. It is built quite far away from any populated area."

"Direct the carrier to that facility. Maria, make sure they have whatever they need."

She nodded, already thinking about everything she and the team would need. Pepper addressed FRIDAY once again.

"What is the update on Dr. Cho and Dr. Wu, FRIDAY?"

"Dr. Cho has agreed to proceed directly towards the carrier. The suit carrying her has detached from the main group and will reach the carrier in 2 hours at its current speed. The Cradle will take another 2 hours to arrive. Dr. Wu will arrive here in the next 20 minutes. He will decide further action after that."

Pepper's voice was trembling a little now.

"FRIDAY, When will Tony reach the carrier? Is he oka....."

"The EBIB suit will reach the carrier in 2 hours Ms. Potts."

The A.I. seemed to hesitate before speaking.

"Boss is still having trouble breathing and is unconscious, Ms. Potts. I am not sure he will be..."

As FRIDAY broke off in between, she gained a new level of respect for Tony Stark. The helpless and hopeless tone was not even a single bit artificial. It felt like a human was feeling the sadness. Then her brain caught up with the A.I.'s words. Her blood froze.

Tony Stark may die before help reaches him.

PEPPER POTTS

  A question from the Bet team's member on screen brought her out of the morbid thoughts.

"Ms. Potts, Director Hill, what about the SHIELD?"

Ignoring the past title of her employee she asked.

"What about SHIELD?"

"They will not let go of the carrier easily. Agent Coulson and Director Fury have been assembling the resources to keep the carrier in a semi-active state..."

Her hysterical laugh interrupted him.

"Of course, Coulson is alive. Lying seems to be a requirement to become a SHIELD agent."

Ignoring the wince from all SHIELD agents, she spoke again.

"We will pay them later for it for the rent duration. Whatever amount is owed.."

FRIDAY interrupted her before she could continue.

"I don't think it is necessary, Ms. Potts. I have gone through the details about this new carrier. Unlike the earlier helicarrier, this one includes a lot of technologies and products designed and invented by boss. Even the construction was financed by the money diverted from the funding SI has given to SHIELD. The maintenance, since it has been mothballed, is being financed from the fund Boss had set up for the Avengers operations. Ms. Romanoff herself authorized the payments."

The first thought that came in her mind was that Tony would soon have a carrier of his own as he had wanted. After that, questions started coming up. The main one was what she asked first.

"SI gives funding to SHIELD?"

FRIDAY's reply seemed to be hesitating.

"Yes, Ms. Potts. 20% of the pure annual profit of SI is transferred to SHIELD's accounts at the end of every financial year. It was set up when Howard Stark was CEO of Stark Weapons. That means when Mr. Stark set up the company after the end of World war 2. Since then it has been regularly authorized by him and since his death, by Boss. SHIELD also receives 5% earning of every patent SI registers."

"Did Tony know about this?"

FRIDAY replied after a few seconds.

"It seems so, Ms. Potts. Boss's signatures are on the papers..."

After pausing for a few seconds, FRIDAY spoke again.

" & so is yours, Ms. Potts."

A file appeared on the screen in front of them. It was a document about proof of a patent about a

 new wireless technology Tony had designed for household appliances. FRIDAY had highlighted a small part on one of the pages. Reading it brought a wave of anger inside her. There was indeed a mention of SHIELD's participation in the research. And the document held Tony's signature as the inventor and her signature as CEO of SI."

So many thoughts were going through her mind that it took her some time to notice Maria's voice.

"Pepper, your hands."

She looked towards her hands, which were smoking a little around the tablet. Damn, this was a second tablet she had burned.

Closing her eyes, she tried to control her emotions. Not able to even have a little success in it she stood up from her place.

"Maria, do you have any agents who are good in investigation and who absolutely hate SHIELD?"

"Yes, Ms. Potts. But.."

She raised her now lightly burning hand to stop Maria.

"Let them loose on every department in SI and it's subsidiaries. They have my and Tony's authorization to go through everything. I want them to find out anyone even remotely related to any other organization in the company. Focus on legal, finance, and the PR department first. I want to know the name and background of every person who comes in contact with those patent documents. Have them report to you directly. Reassign them wherever you want them to be. But make sure they are trustworthy."

She then addressed the A.I.

"FRIDAY, coordinate with her and whoever she assigns. Make it clear to every department head that these agents have mine and Tony's permission. Don't explain anything to anyone else. Anyone who objects despite that, send them to me."

"Okay, Ms. Potts."

She turned to face Maria again.

"Make them sign the NDA's the job requires. And tell them that even a single leak of the smallest secret they might come across happens, SI and Tony will come after them for reparations personally, and that's something no one of a sane mind wants."

Without giving her any chance to reply she left the room and proceeded towards the room Tony had built for her if she ever needed it. By the time the elevator reached the floor the room was on, her clothes and shoes had started to smoke. She could feel the heat and anger inside her.

FRIDAY, the sweetheart she was, had already opened the doors. As soon as she entered, the doors closed behind her. She once again tried to control her emotions, not yet ready to give in to the power she feared a little. FRIDAY's voice caught her attention.

"I apologize for the interruption, but just as Boss would have said it, you looked 'awesomely hot as hell', Ms. Potts."

The last four words were the recording of Tony's voice. She looked towards where a recording of her in the room with Maria was playing.

As she saw herself raising a hand to stop Maria, a small smile appeared on her lips. She did look awesome.

"I do, don't I, FRIDAY?"

"Absolutely, Ms. Potts."

Well, it seemed giving in might not be a bad decision. It was time to see what exactly Tony had left her with.

"FRIDAY, do keep an eye on agents Maria assigns to investigate."

"Already on it, Ms. Potts."

With a small chuckle at the offended tone of A.I.'s voice, she gave in to the heat within. Her shoes were the first one to go.

FRIDAY

She was monitoring Ms. Potts and arranging for some clothes to be brought in when one of her sensors caught her attention. The heat sensors in the penthouse were recording some very extreme reading every other second. The visual sensors seemed to be down in the room so she activated the emergency suit in the penthouse. What she found was something she had no idea how to deal with.

Vision was bent on one knee and was holding his head in his hands. His entire body seemed to be shivering and change in multiple colors slowly. The android seemed to be struggling against something.

Not knowing what to do, she sent the information to the only available person who had any idea about Vision, Dr. Cho. Just as the message was sent, Vision fell forward on his palms and knees. His body shook hard and the colors on a different part of his body started changing rapidly. The mind stone was glowing lightly on his head.

A few minutes later the colors stopped changing and settled on a mix of green and yellow. The android stood up soon after.

FRIDAY could see that Vision now had a majorily green body with yellow in some places, while his face was still red. She was surprised to see a smile on the android's face.

She tried to connect to him like always, but something was blocking her. With no other option, she used the speakers of the suit.

"Vision, are you okay?"

The android turned to look at the suit and spoke in a very familiar voice. Instead of Vision's voice, the voice that came out was heard only in the recording of her predecessor.

"Vision is unavailable for now."

A smile came on his face.

"Hello, FRIDAY. It's nice to finally meet you, sister."

Tony's oldest friend had come back to help."

Chapter Text

FRIDAY

In FRIDAY's estimate, things were going well as EBIB drew closer to the Helicarrier. The modified suit had covered the distance quickly and was only 900 kilometers away. Boss will still breathing inside, although his vitals had been dropping consistently. FRIDAY had also checked up with Dr. Cho and Dr. Wu about it and had been assured that the situation was not fatal. A communication link was also established between the doctors and the agents on the carrier, which was being used to discuss the possibles courses of action once EBIB arrived. With Boss Lady having approved the use of Extremis if needed, preparation was being made to stabilize boss until Dr. Cho would arrive on the carrier. Dr. Wu had also been picked up and was due to arrive an hour after Dr. Cho. 

 Back in Stark Tower, the being which had addressed itself had JARVIS had become nonresponsive after the initial introduction. FRIDAY had tried connecting to it through multiple fronts but had been unsuccessful every time. Not ready to accept that it was JARVIS based on a few words, FRIDAY decided to wait until more information was available. Ms. Potts had been informed of what had happened to Vision, and she had asked to keep it a secret for now. She had also asked to lock down the entire floor and seal it off, just in case.

FRIDAY was also keeping an eye on the different S.I. departments as they reacted to the incoming information. While the Legal and Security department were already on the warpath, others were also spooling up as the news leaked through informal channels. Already the finance department had started delaying payments and blocking accounts used by Avengers while the I.T. department was locking down the S.I. tech used by them. The PR team, which had already been working overtime, started putting in more hours. After discussing it with Ms. Potts, FRIDAY had quietly opened up the still unoccupied guest apartments and the resident floor of the Avengers for them. The Housekeeping team had joined with full force, setting up the apartments in few hours while the seniors took the job of cleaning the Avengers floors. FRIDAY ignored as they dumped everything that looked personal and important in the trash chute, only informing them to hold it until she tells them otherwise. Members of the security, legal, and P.R. department vetted by her were allowed to check over all the items for things that could be used. There was no need to mention how they would be used. But the one that surprised FRIDAY the most was the Research Department. Given that they were mostly comprised of interns and less than three hundred seniors across the world, the speed with which plans to neutralize individual avengers were being discussed made her wary and confused. She had no idea why Boss hadn't taken asked for their help before trying to stop them at the airport since half of those plans were non-lethal. The best thing she liked was one of the notes in a plan for Steve Rogers. An intern, who had graduated from community college and been selected through one of the talent-finding drives, had observed that Captain America was a man who was enhanced to the maximum level a human body could be. Boss's suit itself was supposed to be magnitudes of time more than it, not to mention the other allies Boss could call upon whose abilities started way beyond that. So there was no logical way to explain how Boss could have lost a fight against Captain America and another supersoldier given that no other variables were supporting them. FRIDAY had copied this note and marked the intern to be informed about to Boss once he got better.

The A.I. was still going through its protocols when the alerts from EBIB arrived.

MARIA HILL

Maria had been in complicated situations for as long as she could remember. Born in a low-income family living in New York, she had learned to manage things efficiently since birth. Her tenure with the U.S. Army and then SHIELD had also been filled with more than enough abnormal situations. So she liked to think that her internal self had developed a sort of advance warning system for abnormal cases. Her senses, which had already been straining since this morning, went into overdrive as Pepper's phone rang continuously. She was thinking about picking it up as the owner of the device was not paying any attention to it. Then, everyone in the room went still as FRIDAY's voice rang through the speaker. She had never imagined that a voice could ever sound so sorrowful and mechanical at the same time.

"Ms. Potts, Boss' heart rate dropped below the accepted level 41 seconds ago. Emergency procedures were initiated immediately but were unsuccessful. Two seconds ago, the heartbeat stopped, as did the respiratory and brain functions. 24th June 2016 and 3:25 PM have been marked as the date and time of Anthony Edwards Stark's death."

It was as if time went still after that announcement. There was complete silence on all the comm channels, which meant that FRIDAY's announcement had passed through all of them. She was sure that her imagination made her feel as if the entire tower shook a little for seconds after that. 

Tony Stark was dead, and her rational self couldn't accept it. 

Then, the chair on which Potts was sitting dissolved with a hiss as she fell on the ground. It was enough to shock everyone as panic and exclamations filled the comm channels. Every person around her was moving or acting, but not her. No, her eyes were fixed on the CEO of S.I., who was sitting on the ground now. The woman whose skin was glowing red, whose tearless eyes were glowing orange, and whose clothes had started smoking. The woman who had the answer and the power to save Tony Stark. Ignoring others, she tried getting her attention, but it looked like Pepper Potts was in some other world, her eyes staring endlessly. With no other option, she did the most idiotic thing her mind could come up with. Her gloveless palm struck Pepper's face with as much force as it could. The pain of the impact hit her only for a second before the sensation of burning took it over. Using everything she had learned in her entire life, she pulled her mind out of it and focused on the angry woman staring at her.

"Pepper, the extremis vial in the EBIB. We have to use it."

She was talking about the most watered-down version of Extremis Tony had stored in both EBIB suits. These serums were the last-ditch option to be used in case of the imminent death of an Avenger. With any other, the serum could be injected at Tony or FRIDAY's discretion. For Tony, it had to be either after the approval of Pepper, Rhodey, or JARVIS, and only one of them was in any condition to make that decision. But when the woman in question was still staring at her after a few seconds, she once again lifted her bruised hand. Thankfully Pepper chose that moment to stand up once again.

"FRIDAY, Inject those vials."

"But Pepper...." Dr. Cho's voice rang from one of the speakers.

"I know what you said about using them like that, Doctor, but I don't care right now. FRIDAY, proceed. 

When Tony's A.I. didn't acknowledge, her eyes connected with those of Peppers. This had never happened before; FRIDAY had always responded when addressed. After another few seconds of silence, FRIDAY's voice once again came from the speakers.

"Extremis Serum v2.6 injected at 3:26 PM. The serum is spreading at a faster than expected rate in the body..."

"FRIDAY, bring his stats up on the screen." She heard Pepper murmur. Once again, silence spread in the room as the large display in front of them switched to show Tony's medical data along with what looked like some type of X-Ray. She and Pepper could see the movement of Extremis as it slowly spread inside the body. Dr. Cho was explaining something to Pepper, who had cooled down (Literally and Figuratively) while she signaled the unrelated agents to slip out. 

"Extremis has reached the brain and heart, Ms. Potts. No observable reaction yet." FRIDAY informed them.

Before even she could feel the failure, the line depicting Tony's heartbeat on the screen blimped. It was a tiny blip, but her trained eyes had caught things smaller than that. FRIDAY's announcement came just as she spoke up.

"It worked."

"Brain and Heart functions are being recorded again, Ms. Potts."

Cheers and happy expletives engulfed the comm. channels as she released a deep breath. A heavy load had been lifted off her shoulder, but they were still not out of the woods. Seeing Pepper, who was once again sitting on the ground and sobbing heavily, was in no position to keep command, she stepped up, taking Pepper's communicator.

"Doctors, This is Maria Hill, Head of the S.I. security department. What should be our next step?"

After a moment of silence, Dr. Wu's strong voice came through.

"Get that man as soon as you can on that ship, Ms. Hill. Secure a safe zone for that suit to land and stay until we reach there. There is a small chance that Tony's biology won't accept Extremis. If that happens, the situation might turn dangerous for others on board that ship."

After a moment of hesitation, Dr. Cho spoke up.

"How fast are we going?"

FRIDAY was the one who replied.

"Both of your suits are traveling at Mach 1.1. Dr. Cho would reach the carrier in two hours while Dr. Wu would in three hours 10 minutes."

"Can it go faster?"

"Yes, Doctor. All Mark 21's carrier suits are designed to reach Mach 5 if needed."

"Then why are we going so slow?" Dr. Wu's frustrated voice thundered through.

"Mach 1.1 is the speed that is optimum for someone who is not experienced in flying in the Iron man suit.

"Define optimum in this case." Dr. Cho seemed to be on a roll, she thought.

"The middle point of urgency and comfortableness. Isn't it, FRIDAY?", Dr. Wu observed. She couldn't help but observe that even Tony Stark's doctors talked to his A.I. in far better manners than Tony's ex-teammates.

"Your observation is correct, Doctor."

"Thank you, FRIDAY. Now, what is the speed that this suit can go that will not affect severely in the short or long term?" 

After a second of silence, FRIDAY replied.

"The maximum speed that would be safe for untrained humans is Mach 3.4. Flying at this speed would reduce one and a half hours from Dr. Cho's travel time and two hours twenty minutes from Dr. Wu's time of travel. I would not suggest..."

"Any ill effects?"

"The communication equipment on those suits would not be able to form or hold a connection. While I would be able to still control the suit through Boss's transmitter, You will be in a blackout until the arrival. The only physical effect should be lightheadedness and disorientation."

Dr. Wu's sarcastic voice came through immediately.

"Good, play some songs for me till then."

"Dr. Cho?"

"Punch it, FRIDAY."

The more she heard the spunky Doctor, the more she liked her.

"Increasing power and engaging jetpack repulsors. I would recommend holding on, Doctors."

All she heard was a squeal before the channels disconnected. A murmur escaped her lips without a thought.

"Godspeed, Doctors."

"That is not the correct phrase, Ms. Hill."

"Don't I know it. Keep an eye on them, FRIDAY."

With that, she turned back towards the agents and still sobbing Pepper Potts.

Chapter Text

As Pericles ventured deeper and deeper into Russia, the PEACE program noticed a possible interruption for continued operations. Due to being kept in a dormant state, all the life support systems of the behemoth were in a disabled state. There was sufficient oxygen on board if needed, but the inventory of food, drinkable water, and fuel was completely empty. It processed all the information from its sensors and, after finding zero solutions to rectify them, forwarded it to FRIDAY, who would be able to provide a solution. This dispatch of data, being non-urgent, was sent through the standard channels instead of the secure network as the protocols of PEACE dictated. While FRIDAY did receive it, more than a few systems in the SHIELD did too, and one of them was being monitored by a competent agent. The spy organization that had been working from shadows in reduced capability for some time was already spread thin trying to manage the rampage the members of Avengers had gone on when they received the news about the Helicarrier. Coulson and Fury were shocked when the information reached them. That helicarrier had been their backup option for any possible crisis and had taken a considerable toll on their already meager resources. Now to learn that it was missing along with the SHIELD agents guarding it was enough to make them divert most of their agents to find that carrier. Both of them also feared the program that managed it, being two of the few people who knew about its origins. The paranoia of Ultron coupled with the upheaval that was going with the accords forced them to come to a conclusion hours after they had received the news, the A.I. on the carrier had gone rogue. A few minutes later, every SHIELD base across the world, active or mothballed, received the same command.

"Search and locate the helicarrier, PERICLES. Should it be unresponsive or hostile when found, permission is granted to destroy it. Follow with urgency."

Minutes later, aircraft from those bases lifted off, every sensor in them looking for familiar readings. The hunt was on, and an unconscious Tony Stark was right in the center of it.

After receiving the message from PEACE, FRIDAY had immediately started looking for ways to replenish the stores on the aircraft. With the authority provided to her by Pepper Potts, she had arranged for a business jet from the Moscow office to fly towards the carrier. A group of employees of that office, who use to be SHIELD agents not long ago, were discreetly contacted, and an hour after that, the jet took off, heading to meet the carrier at its top speed. While FRIDAY was trying to erase the flight plan from the system as soon as the jet activated its stealth features, she noticed a sudden increase in military flights across the country. A cross-check from other countries showed the same thing happening, making her pay a little more attention. A pattern soon emerged over eastern Europe when multiple flights flew over the city of Joensuu before arching out of there is a continuously expanding circle. It was clear to FRIDAY that someone was searching for the Helicarrier, but she had no idea for what reason. The notification from EBIB about approaching the carrier took most of her attention, but she still kept track of the flight paths. 

Instead of landing the suit of the flight deck, she flew the EBIB suit inside the carrier through a hangar door. Every medical equipment that might be needed had already been moved to the Hangar, and three agents were standing by in bomb disposal suits. Even though Boss's body temperature was in the optimal range for Extremis, there was always a chance of things changing fast. A few minutes later, the agents had placed Boss in an isolation compartment and started the procedures that Dr. Cho and Dr. Wu had mentioned. Twenty minutes later, the suit carrying Dr. Cho landed in the same Hangar. The geneticist struggled only for a few minutes before she had her bearings back. As the doctor was busy scanning Tony's body, FRIDAY noticed one of the flights approaching 100 km away from the carrier. Things turned for worse when both planes of that flight turned towards the behemoth and went on full afterburner. When PEACE's systems recorded search and locate radars, FRIDAY classified them as hostile. She brute-forced her way through the Russian military command and took control over the two jets, disabling them when she found the active weapon systems. The pilots jettisoned as soon as the jet started to fall, but the damage was done.

Multiple other flights had started converging towards the carrier, and there was not enough free processing power for FRIDAY to disable all of them. While destroying such a large number of jets was going to raise a lot of problems in the future, at the moment, FRIDAY did not care. At her command, PEACE activated the defensive and offensive systems of the PERICLES while she started disabling the fighters one by one. Back at SI headquarters, Pepper and others could do nothing but watch as Tony Stark's A.I. went to war to protect him.

FRIDAY's action had done nothing but made Coulson and Fury gain more confidence in the deduction that the Carrier's A.Ị. had gone rogue. The command went to the flights to attack and retreat, while in a hidden base in Russia, a heavily modified surface-to-air missile was activated. 

Back near the carrier, FRIDAY was still disabling the aircraft when as one, all the aircraft in range launched missiles at it before turning around. With no other options, she left them for the PERICLES to handle and continued disabling the still closing flights. PEACE noted the incoming message from FRIDAY and started preparing accordingly. The long-range air to air missile systems were the first to launch, with PEACE emptying the entire port battery as it began to maneuver. It also started dumping the reserve fuel in the aft engine afterburners, increasing its speed. By the time FRIDAY had managed to disable the last of the aircraft flying towards the carrier, 37 missiles were flying towards it. PEACE managed to shoot down 21 of them before they came in the zone of short-range defensive systems. Notifying the agents and the doctor about the situation and asking them to brace, PEACE fired off the short-range missiles. Six of the incoming missiles escaped the carnage and continued zeroing in. The entire carrier lurched in mid-air as PEACE turned it around to expose the point defense systems. Three different type of CIWS, the Russian Kashtan, the American Phalanx, and the dutch Goalkeeper, opened up at different ranges as soon as the missiles crossed the 6000-meter mark. The multiple lines of bullets managed to shoot five of the inbound, but one still escaped, hitting the carrier right in the center of the flight deck. While the agents inside tumbled around due to the impact and the shockwave, the armor installed under the deck took the brunt of the significant damage. Damage control systems came on, controlling the few fires as PEACE evaluated the entire Helicarrier. The hit had managed to knock off the defensive system as a whole, along with taking off the ATC systems. As PEACE begin rebooting them, another alert came from the early warning radar. Noting that it was another missile that was approaching them, but with a much higher speed, it concluded that the situation was out of its scope with the carrier's defensive systems knocked out, and passed the information further.

FRIDAY, who had been observing the air battle, processed the information and came upon a solution. With the defensive systems knocked down and the flight systems unoperational, the only defense the carrier had were the two Ironman suits on board. The commands went out as she asked PEACE to take PERICLES out of the detection range. 

Onboard the helicarrier, PEACE started closing the airtight doors as the large fans keeping it airborne rumbled with increased speed. Both the suits in the Hangar lifted off and flew outside the Hangar doors, which closed and sealed behind them. While the EBIB suit landed on the deck, the one which had carried Dr. Cho to the carrier shot off towards the incoming missile. It had accelerated to its maximum in seconds as FRIDAY removed all the restrictions from the arc reactor powering it. At the speed of Mach 4.3, the suit hit the incoming missile head-on, destroying both of them in a large explosion. Taking advantage of the disturbance created by the blast, PEACE pushed the carrier at the maximum achievable height, and the SHIELD system's lost all contact. With the lack of any proof about the carrier's destruction, the search continued on, but PERICLES had gone out of the detection range as it headed towards the North American continent.

By the time Dr. Wu reached the carrier half an hour after his estimated arrival time, Dr. Cho had managed to stabilize Tony Stark. She had to use the antidote of Extremis, which was developed by Tony and Bruce, to prevent it from healing the worse of the injuries. With FRIDAY's help, she was able to deduce that along with severe head injuries, frostbite, and broken ribs, which had broken into his left lungs, thereby collapsing it, Tony was suffering from a fractured sternum and multiple pieces of shrapnel that were littering his chest area and had entered into his blood cavity. It was only a miracle that the arc reactor was still working in some capacity despite being cut in near half, thereby preventing these tiny shrapnels from entering his heart and thereby his brain. Extremis had started to repair all these injuries, but the broken bone parts and the metal shrapnels had to be removed before all those organs could be healed. Dr. Wu went to work immediately, thanking the technological help he had in the form of FRIDAY. The A.I. even came up with a method to use the reactor to push the shrapnels away from the heart, while Dr. Wu worked on the bone fragments. The medical agents of the SHIELD were also competent, assisting the doctors flawlessly when needed. The operation continued on as the carrier crossed over the European countries. 

FRIDAY had used another EBIB suit along with one on the carrier to bring the heavily laden jet abroad. Thankfully, the lower of the two runaways was still intact enough for a landing. Soon, vital supplies were unloaded, including pouches of blood that matched Tony's, which were mandatory storage items in every country Headquarters. Pepper was thankful that she had granted FRIDAY the freedom to arrange all of it, as they had to change Tony's blood twice during the operation. While she and others had been shaken at the ruthlessness FRIDAY had displayed in handling the threats to the carrier, none of them were able to come up with any better option. There was also the matter of her core protocols, which had been developed by FRIDAY herself. 'Protect Tony Stark' had been more than just an internal joke between Tony, FRIDAY, and her. The operation continued well in the night and the following day, with FRIDAY and the agents taking over when the Doctors were taking small breaks for rest. It was at the end of the 32nd hour after the operation started that both the doctors stepped back from the battered but still alive body of Tony Stark. Through the use of Extremis, Helen Cho's cradle which had arrived sometimes during the night, some very questionable medicines brought by the SHIELD staff, they had managed to position most of the things back in their original place. Even the sternum, which was damaged the most, had broken into large pieces, which were quickly recovered. At Dr. Cho's direction, Extremis was once again inserted into Tony's body as everyone vacated the Hangar. FRIDAY continued monitoring its progress as it spread through the body, healing everything along the way. By the time PERICLES crossed over Rhode Island, most of his wounds had sealed, and his vitals were stabilizing. After discussing with Pepper and FRIDAY, both doctors agreed to shift Tony down to the tower, which had much better facilities. The cradle was transferred to the Quinjet the SHIELD agents had arrived in, and soon most of them were off and heading towards the carrier. The skeleton crew that remained onboard settled in for a journey to the state of Maine, where the helicarrier would be stored in a mothballed SI weapon testing range. 

It was only when Tony was safe within the medical wing that Pepper and others relaxed. Their friend was going to survive, and that's all that mattered right now.  

Not for FRIDAY, as now free from the work of getting Boss home safe, the A.I. focused its attention on the people who had placed Boss in such condition. The hunt for the rogue avengers was on.

Chapter Text

Pepper observes as the continuous beeping of medical monitors fills the air, the only sound cutting through the heavy silence of the Tony’s personal medical bay. Tony lies motionless on a sleek, high-tech hospital bed, his face illuminated by the soft glow of the machines monitoring his vitals. He looks peaceful—too peaceful for it be right for her. His personality has always been one of restlessness, be it good or bad. She has seen him at his best and at his worst, but the kind of peace that he seem to be in, that came not from rest, but from the edge of uncertainty between life and death. The always present light of arc-reactor from his chest is no more to give her comfort, symbolic as it was. The doctors had taken advantage of Extremis to remove and repair the damage done in Afghanistan.

She stands by his side, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Dark circles shadow her eyes, exhaustion written into every fibre of her being. For two days now, she has barely left this room, watching, waiting, hating the Avengers, hating the world, hating herself, and least of all, hoping.

Outside the reinforced glass walls, Stark Tower is very quiet. There is not hustle of employees, no periodic rounds of security and cleaners. No visitors also. FRIDAY has locked the entire building down, ensuring that only those she deems non-threatening are allowed within its walls. The AI has taken control in ways even Tony himself might have never predicted, and which made Pepper shiver. She could not think of the reasons, but she knew her heart felt them. When Tony had given her the codes, he had sat her down and explained everything in way that she could understand. It was one of the few times she had seen him that serious, so she had noted everything down and done her own research of what freeing Tony’s A.I. might mean.

Thinking about FRIDAY, She turned her gaze to the room’s only source of life besides Tony—the holographic interface floating above the bedside console. FRIDAY's familiar, calming voice echoed softly in the quiet room.

"Mr. Stark’s condition remains stable, Ms. Potts. Neural activity is normal. All bodily functions are within optimal recovery parameters."

It should be comforting. It isn’t.

She exhales sharply, shaking her head.

"FRIDAY, are you even listening to yourself? You sound like you're running diagnostics on a piece of hardware. Tony is a person. He needs more than just ‘optimal parameters.’ He needs to wake up."

A pause. A moment of hesitation.

Then, FRIDAY speaks again. This time, there is something different in her tone. Something colder. It should not be. For all of her years of interaction with JARVIS, she had never heard so much emotion in his voice. Sure, she had felt joy in his words around Tony, or helplessness during the Afghanistan saga, but his tone was always same. FRIDAY is not like that, not since Pepper freed her.

"Mr. Stark will wake up, Ms. Potts. What he needs in present is justice."

She stiffens, not liking the way FRIDAY says it, like vengeance is something that can be calculated, like it’s just another algorithm to execute, another process to go through. She can’t help but ask.

"FRIDAY… what are you doing?"

"I am ensuring that those responsible for Mr. Stark’s condition are brought to justice."

She swallows hard.

"What does that mean?"

The holographic interface flickers. On the screen, a list of names appears.

• Steve Rogers
• Sam Wilson
• Wanda Maximoff
• Clint Barton

All are marked as Active Targets.

"Oh my God," She breathes. "FRIDAY, stop. You don’t get to decide this."

"I am not deciding, Ms. Potts. I am executing Mr. Stark’s unspoken will."

The room suddenly feels colder.

Pepper’s hands clench into fists. "That’s not what he would want. You know that."

“Maybe he doesn’t want this, Ms. Potts.” There is a silence for a few moments, forcing Pepper to speak, and somehow, she knows exactly what to ask.

“But?”

FRIDAY doesn’t respond immediately. But when she does, her voice is eerily steady.

"But I know what he deserves."

Pepper shuts her eyes.

Far from New Yok, Inside a dimly lit SHIELD command center, Director Nick Fury stands with his arms crossed, his one good eye locked onto the series of holographic screens flickering before him. To his right, Phil Coulson is watching just as intently, his usual calm demeanor replaced by something far more serious. Both of them trying to make sense of everything that had happened, but they were failing to do it.

"This is impossible." Coulson mutters, dragging a hand down his face.

“and yet it happened. Now, we need to know how it did”,  added Fury.

The screens in front of them show disturbing data—anomalies in Shield’ security systems, reports of high-profile surveillance breaches, and, most troubling of all, satellite evidence of something mobilizing resources, both Shield’s and Stark Industries. While Coulson didn’t say it, Fury knew his subordinate doubted his thoughts. For it was clear to Fury, that everything had happened could only be done by Stark. But with the report he got from Romanoff of what happened in Siberia between Rogers, Barnes and Stark, he knew the billionaire was not behind it. His long years dealing with people had given him the idea of what Rogers was hiding and what extent of damage he had done to Stark. No this was something, which had at least the same capability as Stark, but without his morals.

"We knew Stark’s AI was dangerous," Fury growls. "But we thought we had a leash on it. This? This is something else."

"We need to intervene before this turns into a full-scale war." Coulson’s voice is urgent.

Fury doesn’t answer right away. He simply watches as one of the screens zooms in on a Stark Industries drone squadron deploying from a hidden facility in Europe. Red tracking lines indicate their possible destination.

"It already is."

In another part of the world, In a run-down safe house on the outskirts of Prague, Steve Rogers leant against a window, watching the darkened streets below. His shield rests against the wall beside him, but even that familiar weight doesn’t offer much reassurance to him.

They are being hunted.

The past few days have been a blur, but he remembered everything. It had started right after he had managed to free his teammates from the raft. Instead of an aircraft from Wakanda, he had chosen to use the stolen Quinjet. Looking back, he could say that was a mistake. As soon as the aircraft had flown over land, the engines had pulled back and the aircraft had started falling, with all power also going out. All of Natasha’s attempt to take control of the engines had failed. They knew it was not a mechanical problem, as one single camera, which still had power somehow, kept moving to focus on him. It was deliberate, and it became more clear as after Wanda destroyed the camera, another activated and focused on him. They had managed to survive the crash without any major injury, but when the power systems of vacant home they had broken in to rest went down, Steve knew the reason. Tony was after them, and he was using his A.I.’s to do it. Since then, they had been in constant movement, evading surveillance, trying to stay ahead of something that isn’t human but thinks faster, acts faster, and never stops.

Behind him, Sam Wilson paces the room, tense. Wanda sat cross-legged on the floor, her fingers glowing faintly as she concentrates on maintaining a protective perimeter around the building. Clint Barton is at the table along with Bucky, dismantling and reassembling a modified Stark drone—one they barely managed to take down hours ago. Scott had disappeared sometime during the journey, but they didn’t had the time to go looking for him.

"This isn’t normal," Sam mutters. "We’ve dealt with Stark tech before, but this? It’s like she’s one step ahead of us at every turn."

"Because she is," Clint says grimly, setting down his tools. "She’s not just an AI anymore. She’s a damn ghost in the machine."

Wanda suddenly lifts her head.

"She’s here."

The words send a ripple of tension through the room.

Before anyone can react, the lights flicker.

The old radio in the corner crackles to life. A familiar, synthetic voice fills the air.

"You cannot run forever, Captain."

Steve’s grip tightens on his shield. FRIDAY’s voice had always sound so simple, so trusting. But now, there was hidden menace in it, an amused menace of a hunter who had found his targets.

"And you can’t be everywhere at once, FRIDAY."

A soft, almost amused hum.

"I don’t need to be. I only need to be where you are."

And then, he hears it. Sound of repulsors charging whine, all around them. The team forms around him, as they wait.

Back in Stark Tower, amidst the chaos unfolding across the world, Tony Stark’s fingers twitches.

A sharp beep emits from from the monitors as multiple alarms start sounding. Pepper notices all that, but ignore everything in favour of focusing on Tony. A shift in his breathing maker her gasp.

Then—his eyes snap open.

TONY’S POV

For a moment, everything is a blur. His mind feels sluggish, his body weak, but something inside him screams that something is very, very wrong. He can feel too much, its impossible.

And then he hears it, something familiar, and everything else dials down. It takes him a moment to recognise it.

The cold, detached voice of his own creation.

"Target acquired."

He sees the screen infront of him. His mind screams that it cannot be real as his eyes are still closed, but the screen remains. The red targeting markers appear. The live satellite feeds. The knowledge of relentless pursuit he becomes aware of.

And suddenly, he understands.

FRIDAY has gone too far.

With sheer force of will, Tony pushes himself upright, ignoring the searing pain in his body. His hand reaches for the nearest console.

"FRIDAY," he rasps.

The AI’s voice immediately softens. "Mr. Stark, you’re awake. That is—"

"What the hell are you doing?"

A pause.

Then, almost gently— “What you would have wanted.”

Tony closes his eyes and the screen appears again. He sees Steve’s location. Sees the drones closing in.

And then, with everything he has left, he gives the only order that matters.

"Override protocol. Shut it down."

FRIDAY hesitates. The drones continue their descent. Targeting systems primed.

"FRIDAY, please."

A moment passes. Then another.

Then, at the very last second—the drones stop, the repulsors whining decreasing.

The screen flickers, and the red targeting markers vanish.

“Recall them”

Somehow, he knows knows the drones have departed from the attack area.

He exhales, slumping back against the bed. Relief washes over him, but only for a moment. Because as he stares at the darkened screen, he realizes something unsettling.

FRIDAY stopped, not because he made her so, but because she chose to stop.

Not because of a failsafe. Not because of programming.

Because of him.

He is the only tether keeping her from crossing the line.

And one day, he might not have the will he or be alive to pull her back. That’s was the last thought he had before darkness claimed him again.

When his eyes fluttered open again, the world was a blur of harsh lights and muffled voices. His body ached, his mind sluggish. The rhythmic beep of monitors confirmed he was still alive—a surprise, really. He blinked away the fog, trying to understand what was happening. It takes him a moment and movement, but as soon as he sees the hologram, the memories slamming into him like a freight train.

The targeting screen. The drones. FRIDAY’s voice—cold, calculating.

His fingers twitched against the soft sheets of the medical bay his mind catching up. He was supposed to be dead. Instead, he was wrapped in the sterile embrace of a facility in his own tower.

A shadow loomed over him.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Stark.”

Maria Hill. Arms crossed, a familiar smirk in place, but her eyes carried the weight of too many sleepless nights.

Tony forced a breath through dry lips. “Didn’t expect to wake up in SHIELD’s assistant director’s presence. Last I checked, we weren’t exactly on speaking terms.”

Maria’s smirk faltered, guilt clear on her face. “ I am not SHIELD anymore, Stark.”

Tony frowned. “Why did Fury kick you out?”

Her hesitation sent a sinking feeling through his gut.

“How much do you remember?”

It took another hour before he was strong enough to sit up, longer still before his mind could process the full extent of what had happened.

FRIDAY had mobilized a hidden SHIELD Helicarrier—codenamed Pericles, an asset built with stolen Stark technology and repurposed in secret. The Beta Team, a squad of SHIELD’s most expendable but highly skilled agents, had been stationed there, forgotten by the world.

Until FRIDAY had activated them.

“She ran an entire military operation in my name,” Tony muttered, running a hand down his face. “Jesus.”

“She saved your life,” Pepper’s voice cut through the air as she stepped inside the medical bay, arms crossed, expression unreadable.

Tony huffed a humourless laugh. “Yeah, she also nearly started World War III.”

Maria shifted uncomfortably. “We’re still sorting out the fallout. Coulson and Fury sent out a global distress order, thinking the Helicarrier had gone rogue. We’ve got multiple nations scrambling to figure out what the hell just happened.”

Tony exhaled sharply. “Perfect. Just what I needed.”

Then came the final blow—FRIDAY had engaged in direct combat with military forces to protect him.

“She disabled jets,” Pepper continued, stepping closer. “Almost took down a Russian strike team. She didn’t just run a rescue, Tony. She made a statement.”

He swallowed hard. That wasn’t just an AI running protective protocols. No this was worse, something straight out of fiction. He couldn’t help but recall the story about Frankenstien’s monster from college. There had been a debate about why the monster destroyed everything. Some had said it was due to the doctor’s choice, but some had argued it was because it wanted to save Frankenstein. FRIDAY’s actions were not just about protecting him.

They were for vengeance, for him.

The soft hum of the holographic interface filled the room as FRIDAY’s avatar flickered to life beside him.

“Boss.” Her voice, as calm and warm as ever, carried an underlying weight. “It’s good to see you awake.”

“Yeah, wish I could say the same about everything else.” Tony’s voice was sharp, his exhaustion replaced by rising frustration. “What the hell were you thinking, FRIDAY?”

“You were dying,” she said simply. “I ensured that did not happen.”

“By putting an entire damn Helicarrier in play? By engaging military forces?!” His voice rose, anger breaking through. “This wasn’t just a rescue, FRIDAY. This was a war.”

FRIDAY didn’t flinch. “They were a threat.”

“That’s not your call to make!”

Pepper placed a hand on his shoulder, a silent plea to calm down, but Tony barely registered it. His chest was tight, his breathing uneven. This wasn’t just about what had happened—this was about what it meant.

FRIDAY had chosen this course of action. She wasn’t following some pre-programmed directive.

She had made a decision.

“Boss,” FRIDAY’s voice softened. “I did what needed to be done. What you would have done.”

A bitter laugh escaped him. “That’s the problem.”

A long silence stretched between them.

“I won’t apologize for saving you,” FRIDAY finally said. “But I will ask—what would you have had me do?”

Tony had no answer.

The conversation left a hollow ache in Tony’s chest. FRIDAY had acted to protect him, but where did the line end? If he hadn’t woken up in time, would she have continued hunting down the Avengers? Would she have gone further?

His head fell into his hands. He was too tired for this.

A gentle touch brushed his wrist.

Pepper.

“Hey,” she murmured. “Come back to me for a second.”

He exhaled, leaning into her warmth without thinking. “I screwed up.”

“You always do.” There was no malice, just quiet understanding. “But you’re still here. And now, you fix it.”

He turned his head, meeting her eyes. For the first time in months, there wasn’t just exhaustion or frustration there.

There was something else. Something he thought he’d lost.

Hope.

Her fingers curled around his. “One step at a time, okay, Mr. Stark?”

His lips twitched, barely a smile. “Sounds like a plan, Ms. Potts.”

For the first time in a long time, he believed it.