Chapter Text
Two long months. That’s how long it had been since “the Civil War.”
Two months since Steve had freed his team from the Raft and exposed General Ross as a crooked and corrupt criminal. The public’s outrage at Ross’s misdeeds and the way he had abused the Accords had caused a massive movement to abandon the Accords. The UN had become so pressured by the people that they had at last conceded.
With the Sokovia Accords disbanded and Ross in jail, the world had hailed Steve’s team as “heroes fighting against injustice” and “true freedom fighters.” The Avengers were restored and once again able to go back to saving the world. The team returned to the Compound ready to restore justice, although Scott opted to go back to San Francisco.
Steve knew he should feel happy. After all, they had won. Things were almost exactly the way they used to be- except that now they had two problems.
One of them was Bucky. Steve had wanted nothing more than to take his best friend out of cryo-freeze as soon as they’d gotten back to the Compound. Unfortunately, Bucky had made it clear that he didn’t want to be woken up until there was a way for his triggers to be removed.
Which brought him to the second problem- Tony Stark. When the team realized that they didn’t know where Tony was, Steve had directed them to Siberia. There SHIELD agents found an unconscious Tony Stark, half-frozen to death. Steve had felt a tiny pang of regret when he saw how bruised and battered Tony was, but he had no regrets about the fight. He wouldn’t have had to resort to such extreme measures if Tony just realized it wasn’t Bucky’s fault. While a medical team was working to nurse Tony back to health Nick Fury had pulled Steve and his team aside to talk to them.
“Now that Stark is back we have to discuss what to do with him.” Fury’s mouth was set in a grim line and his eyes were hard and cold. “Even though Stark is a pain in the ass he’s powerful, smart, and most importantly dangerous. We can’t let him go out there and start stirring up trouble for us.”
Steve, Natasha, Clint, and Wanda all nodded in agreement while Sam looked slightly skeptical.
“What are you saying?” Sam said cautiously, eyeing Fury.
“I’m saying that we have to make sure he can’t mess things up this time,” Fury said slowly. “Hill and I have been formulating… a plan.”
“What is it?” Steve asked.
“We keep Stark with us. He tends to let his mouth run and we can’t let him bring the Accords back. He’s far too influential,” Fury said. “The only way we can control him is by keeping him out of the public eye.”
“You want to imprison him.” Sam’s eyebrows were creased and arms crossed. “SHIELD doesn’t have the jurisdiction to do that. It's illegal.”
“It’s not illegal if no one knows about it,” Fury retorted. “Do you have a better idea?” Sam was silent.
“Well I think it’s a great idea,” Wanda sneered. “Lock Stark up like he locked us up. Treat him like the criminal he is.” Clint nodded at her words.
“It’s a good plan on paper but are you forgetting who we’re talking about? The same Tony Stark who annihilated the Ten Rings and built Iron Man in a damn cave,” Sam said, voice rising.
“It’s all taken care of,” Fury stated. “He’ll be under 24/7 supervision by agents and given nothing but a bed and bathroom. He won’t be able to do anything without us catching it. Is that enough for you?” Sam still looked unconvinced but gave a resigned sigh.
“Where will you keep him?” Steve asked.
“We have a cell ready for him at the Compound. We’ve already begun construction on a SHIELD wing in the building. Stark wouldn’t let us in before but he doesn’t exactly have a say in it now does he?” Steve thought he could see a hint of a smirk on the director’s face but it disappeared just as quickly as it came.
“A cell at the Compound? Isn’t it dangerous to have him so close to us?” Natasha asked.
“On the contrary, it’s the best place to keep him. Who better to stop him from escaping than the Avengers?” Fury’s logic checked out and Steve slowly nodded. After everything that had happened, there was really no way they could trust Tony anymore. This was the only solution. The conversation had ended there and they had all gone back to the Compound.
And that was how it had been for the last two months. Tony was kept in the basement of the Compound, his cell constantly monitored by SHIELD and Steve’s team. In those two months, he hadn’t said a single word to anyone.
It was infuriating. Steve had gone down to his cell several times to try and talk to Tony, to rebuild their bridges and get him to cooperate. But he had stubbornly refused to even look at Steve. Fury said not to worry about it but Steve couldn’t stop thinking about the way Tony spitefully glared at anyone who came near him. He had to find a way to get through to him.
Despite all their differences, Tony was still his friend. He just wished Tony would listen to him. Whether they wanted to admit it or not, the team needed Tony. They’d been struggling with only the Falcon as their air support and the gear SHIELD provided was subpar at best.
SHIELD was willing to give him some resources to build new armor and arrows for the team but Tony had simply shaken his head when the idea was proposed to him.
These silent rejections did not help team morale. Tensions were high in the Compound with Steve’s team barely scraping through some of their missions. Sam had offered the idea of bringing Rhodes or Vision in to help but no one had seen the colonel ever since he had mysteriously escaped from the hospital where he was held at. Vision had also seemingly dropped off the face of the planet which Wanda was furious about.
Fury had thrown a fit when none of his agents could find Rhodes. Having Rhodes out there was worrisome and everyone was on edge after that. Clint had pointed out that because Rhodes was paralyzed he couldn’t really do anything, but just having the threat of a vengeful War Machine was stressful.
Not to mention the news was still full of speculations and theories of where Iron Man was. The Avengers had put out a message to the press revealing how Iron Man had worked with General Ross and let them be held in The Raft. As expected the public was outraged at this betrayal. Steve had been quick to tell them that they had the situation under control and were taking care of it.
This had reassured the public for a month, but eventually, people started asking questions. Where is Tony Stark? Is he a danger to the people? What are the Avengers doing to stop him?
Steve had dodged these questions with a string of vague answers that Hill had told him to use, but they hadn’t satisfied the press. Speculations had been fueled by the press release Pepper Potts had put out a month ago. Stark Industries was no longer backing the Avengers Initiative, leaving SHIELD to scramble for more money to support their missions. Natasha and Hill had tried to visit Pepper but hadn’t been able to get past the security in the lobby of Stark Industries.
Two long months of having to deal with all these roadblocks and hurdles.
Two whole months without Bucky by his side.
Two months of Tony’s ego ruining everything for them.
If he could just get Tony to talk to him it would all be fixed. He had to fix this. Because he didn’t know what he would do if things didn’t get better.
***
Two months. That was how long Tony had been stuck in this godforsaken cell. Nothing but four gray walls, one impenetrable steel door, and a tiny bathroom. Oh and the “hidden” cameras.
Two months of constantly being watched and god did it give him the creeps. He hated the idea of people just staring at him, studying his every move.
Two months of having to put up with Fury’s angry demands, Hill’s exasperated looks, and Steve’s Roger’s pleas for him to listen. Tony knew they wanted him to make their gear, to be their obedient mechanic like before but he wasn’t going to do it. He was not going to allow himself to be bullied and guilted into working for people that hated him.
God, he missed his lab though. He missed creating and working with his bots. He missed FRIDAY’s voice, missed his Rhodey, he missed Pepper’s smile, he missed boxing with Happy. What he wouldn’t give to break out of this hell hole and punch Fury in his smug face.
Honestly Tony knew that he could’ve gotten out of this cell much earlier. The only reason he hadn’t left was that his body was still in the healing process. His limbs were stiff and some days it was hard to walk around. Plus his chest was still sore from Siberia. Turns out that getting hit with Captain America’s vibranium shield was not fun. He met with a doctor every week where they always tried to get him to talk with them. But Tony refused to break.
He’d started exercising in the bathroom, the only place where he knew there weren’t any cameras. If there’s one thing he knew about Fury, it’s that the man was no Peeping Tom. He started out slowly, doing basic stretches. He then started to force himself to do push-ups and planks and run in place. Little by little, Tony’s body has gradually loosened up.
And after two months of this training regimen, Tony finally felt ready. Despite SHIELD’s best efforts Tony had managed to get in contact with some friends on the outside. Turns out even though SHIELD had gotten rid of HYDRA, they still had some traitorous agents on the inside. Together they had formulated a plan that Tony knew would work.
In less than 24 hours this plan would be set into motion.
In less than 24 hours he would finally feel the sun on his face again.
In less than 24 hours he would finally have his revenge.