18. Chapter

Tony!

There was chaos brewing around him, but for Tony, the world narrowed down to the melting terminal where one FRIDAY Stark used to preside. It had all her data. Tony's throat constricted. Not again. He already lost a kid. He couldn't lose another one. JARVIS…

Hey, get up! We've got to move!

The pipe weighing him down to the floor was lightened slightly by another person. Together, with Tony's enhanced strength, the pressure on his back was removed. A grip on his arm, pulling him up.

"Friday," Tony muttered. He drew away from whoever had him, raising a helpless hand towards the terminal.

Come on! Whatever the water was wasn't enough. The ship is still being damaged! Are you listening to me? Snap out of it! Let's go!

Hard force on his chest. A shove? Someone tried to shove him…

The blurred figure in front of him was pushed away by another one.

Stop it, Greer! Like you would be any better if someone you loved died!

Died.

Tony caught that word. Was FRIDAY... dead?

Hey, Tony, can you hear me?

There were hands on his shoulders, large and warm. A face filled his vision, cutting his line of sight to the terminal. Lips were moving, but try as he might, Tony could not make out the words through the ringing in his ears.

D*** it! He has blood coming out of his ears! Is this a concussion, or is he in shock? Is it both? What do I do?

Bacta - it fixes pretty much anything, right? Catch!

The person - blond, tall. Kristoff? - made a quick, calculated movement, like he was snatching something out of the air. There was a semi-familiar prick on the back of his neck. Injection.

Moments later, Tony could feel familiar heat rushing through his veins, Extremis consuming the bacta and racing to bring him back to peak condition. The word started clearing up and the fog lifted from his head.

Tony. What's done is done. We need you right now.

The hands on his shoulders shook him roughly but gently, if there was such a thing. It served the purpose of fully snapping Tony out of the remnants of his daze. Brown eyes sharpened, darting around the destroyed bridge and taking in the aftermath.

Two fully-suited Rodians were on the bridge. Of the two, one of them was prone on the ground, pinned by various metal bits, while the other one was frantically trying to lift the metal sheets off of him. Tony could see two of the Aleenas huddled on a newly-formed ledge. Charell was in the space between the floors, suited in decontamination slacks and gingerly trying to climb to the Aleenas with minimal contact of slime to her unprotected hands.

Tony's gaze snapped back to Kristoff's, and the blond man's relief showed plainly on his face. "You back with us?" Kristoff asked. He held up a hand. "How many fingers am I holding up?" "One. Your middle finger. Are you trying to tell me something?"

"Just making sure," Kristoff answered, slapping him on the back. He froze when Tony flinched away. "Er… Is this something I have to be worried about?"

"I got hit by the ceiling," Tony deadpanned. "Of course there's some leftover bruises." Except there weren't. Extremis had turned its attention on his more minor injuries after the major one was taken care of.

Tony's automatic reaction was guilt – he lied to a teammate. Then logic took over. His mind kicked into overdrive, abuzz with questions. Why did he lie? Was it an automatic response? Tony really hoped he did not become a compulsive liar. He might not be sure if Kristoff was trustworthy yet, but the man hasn't proven himself untrustworthy.

But why did he flinch? Likely a conditioned response in response to years of putdown, in addition to physical confrontation with a man that held a physical similarity. Or something like that. He studied tech and engineering. Those things were easy, unlike human beings.

Forcibly shutting down that thought process, Tony turned to the problem at hand. There would be more time for introspection later. His crew needed him now.

The entire thought process, enhanced by Extremis, had taken him less than two seconds.

"What now, sir?" Kristoff asked. Tony looked sharply at the blond man, unsure if he put emphasis on the last word due to disrespect or some other underlying reason. A moment later, he rebuked himself for having such thoughts.

"Dang it, not again," Tony muttered, using both arms to sweep slime off of the main terminal. FRIDAY's terminal. "You're not in here, right, Fri?" Rivers of the substance were pushed off of the terminal's flat surface, oozing down the side. Right on cue, the terminal hissed and sparked weakly. FRIDAY remained unresponsive. "If anyone gets into contact with Friday, tell her to contact the nearest planet, find the nearest shuttle passing by, anything. We need to get off the ship. It's now-" A death trap, Tony finished in his head. "-unable to transport us."

Tony automatically reached for his earpiece, only to fall short when he remembered that the kriffing fungus was strictly metal-eating. Tony had a moment of hysteria - that must have been what happened to Kristoff's earpiece and Kovlo's eyelets. "Is everyone okay?" Tony asked loudly, looking up the hole.

"What happened to Friday?" Galee asked, looking inches from tears. "I didn't finish explaining why she shouldn't wear hot pink and red together!" She let out a strangled wail.

"She's fine," Tony reassured the near-human, a bit baffled about why the two colors did not go well together when they were just a shade off. He was half convinced that Galee was serious. The other part of him thought that Galee was trying to distract herself from the critical situation. "My girl is smart. She'd see the danger and get out. I'm sure she's holed up in the HoloNet somewhere. We'll find her." He shook his head, letting some neutralized slime fall harmlessly off and joining the pool on the floor.

"You're not melting," Kristoff said blankly, looking at the blob.

Tony clapped his hands. "A true genius," he said sarcastically, eyes darting around to catalogue the damage. It was not good. There had not been enough compounds to create more solution, and parts of the ship were still melting.

Tony spotted figure prone on the ground, half-hidden by a broken panel. He made his way to the motionless Rodian, identifying him as Shoragg. Tony began cutting parts of Shoragg's decontamination suit away, finding a pulse on his neck.

"You're covered in the goo," Kristoff pointed out, stepping out of the way so that Greer could rush the floating stretcher to Shoragg. "The very acidic goo that's literally eating our spaceship."

Crouched beside Shoragg, Tony took several moments of their rapidly diminishing time to stare at Kristoff, though his hands did not pause from binding whatever wounds he could see. "You, Galee, and Kovlo were all completely coated with this stuff when you came back from your mission. As we can clearly see, you guys are whole and hale." Tony glanced to were Kovlo was groaning on the floor across the room. "Well, mostly hale," he amended, watching as Suffee led Fix-it towards the bridge, then thought better of bringing a robot into a room filled with metal-eating fungus. Instead, they waited for Greer to bring Shoragg to them.

Staring at his hand, Kristoff muttered, "Right…"

"It's actually a rare, metal-eating fungus, by the way," Tony said, realizing it was a good idea to inform his team what they were up against.

"This thing that nearly killed us is mold?" Charell asked incredulously, nudging the Aleenas to safety. She wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"Yep. Seeing that we, as organic beings, are not made of metal, we are not melting. The ship, however, is another story. Everyone to the escape pods," Tony ordered. When they looked at him, stunned, Tony added defensively, "I didn't have enough bantha milk to make more!"

"No one is blaming you, Tony. Everyone get ready to move out to the pods," Suffee said crisply.

"Why did we have twenty gallons of bantha milk, anyways?"

"Hey don't diss the milk. It's good stuff," Kristoff claimed.

"Are you sure this stuff is harmless?" Charell asked warily.

"On second thought, we're all going to decontamination first. I don't want the fungus eating the escape pods while we're in it. That would be bad."

"I didn't touch it," Charell claimed.

"You're still going into decontamination," Tony said blithely. "The solution I used? One of the active ingredients is sulfur. It happens to be very acidic. You don't want it on you. Trust me."

Charell gave him an alarmed look and all but ran out of the room, presumably towards the decontamination room. Watching her go, Suffee commented, "None of you seem particularly worried about Tony's repeated insistence that the ship is going down."

"Tony's not panicking," Greer pointed out. He peered over at Tony. "Unless he starts running to the pods, I'm not leaving. This ship is my home."

"Oh, for heaven's- Look, we're not abandoning it forever. She's a sturdy starship, the best of the best. She just needs some repairs and she'll be up and ready to go in no just have to make sure we live long enough to make the repairs."

"Does anyone know what system we are in? How do we find the closest habitable planet?" Suffee challenged. "We are running out of time."

"Um, about that?" Kristoff said with a caution that had Tony glancing over.

"Yeah, now would be a good time to ask your buddy to come and pick us up," Tony said agreeably. Kristoff froze, looking like a deer caught in headlights. "Yeah, I knew about that," Tony said, patting Kristoff on the back sympathetically while internally preening with pride. "His shields are good. It's just that my sensors are better."

"Uh, what?" Greer asked.

"Kristoff's bestie has been tailing us - yes, Kristy, I knew he was following us for the last couple of… well, you know. The Y-not has been specially equipped by me. Sensors, weapons, and some extra goodies. She hasn't come across a cloaking device she can't sense," Tony said with pride, stroking the wall of the ship fondly. He received disturbed looks in response.

"Please tell me there isn't another AI specifically for the ship," Suffee muttered.

"I'd say that was bragging, but every word is true," Kristoff said at the same time. "Took the words right out of my mouth," Tony agreed. Suffee's eyes sharpened on Tony, glancing between him and Kristoff. Catching sight of where Suffee was looking, Galee's face broke into a smile.

The near-human was about to say something, when Greer asked, "So no one's worried that someone's been following us for who knows how long?" There was an awkward moment of silence where the rest of the crew looked amongst each other. "Right. Okay," Greer muttered defeatedly.

"I'll go… call him, I guess," Kristoff said, looking up the hole. "I'll be in my room with my StarkPad. How long do we have?"

"I put some extra shielding on the outside of the Y-not, which will buy us some time. Still, we should get out of here within the next thirty minutes, just to be safe," Tony estimated. Kristoff made a two-fingered peace sign - must have been taking culture lessons from FRIDAY - and headed to the doorway. "Decontaminate before touching my beautiful tech!" Tony shouted after him. Still holding up his hand, Kristoff lowered his pointer finger and strolled out of the room, one finger still in the air.

The rest of the crew ran to gather what items they valued most, while Tony sat on the pilot's seat, watching the stars until a starship burst out of hyperspace several hundred meters away. It was obviously built for speed, with enough modifications to denote it as owned by a smuggler or bounty hunter, the scourges of society. It was much like the Y-not in that regard.

"The Black Fist," Tony read the blocky script aloud. It was an odd name. Black was a color of mourning, death, and evil. Fist denoted control and violence. Neither was something Tony automatically connected with Fett. Mourning his planet, maybe? And controlling… actually, Tony had nothing. Fett was probably a good leader, not a control freak that led through violence. At least, Tony hoped he was. The name wasn't very reassuring, though, and Tony fought really hard not to second-guess his decision to trust Kristoff.

One of the consoles sparked weakly and beeped as it picked up a transmission. Tony did not bother trying to receive it; the speakers were already melted past the point of no return.

Standing up, Tony stalked the halls of the Y-not, knocking on the doors and stopping everyone he could see to quietly instruct them down to escape bay. Finding Kristoff in his cabin, Tony asked, "Did you tell him…?"

"Yeah, he's going to lock onto our ship." Kristoff glanced over at Tony. "He's not happy he has to help us. And he's really not happy that you knew he was there."

"You told him?" Tony asked, surprised.

Kristoff bit his lip. "Was I not supposed to?"

Tony thought about it. "I trust your judgement," he said, finally. Because Kristoff was not Steve Rogers and should not be treated as such. Because the only way to find out if someone would betray you is to give them a chance to. Because Tony was willing to give him that chance.

-Insert Quote HereThe first thing Tony thought when he saw Jango 'Kriffing' Fett was that he looked good. In an entirely objective medical standpoint, of course. The bags under his eyes were less prominent than before. He had filled out a bit more and looked less ragged and stressed, overall.

Physically, he was doing better. Mentally and emotionally?

Before, the man had seemed brittle. Strong and stoic, yes, but easily shattered if you knew how to hit him, just like Tony himself was. Now, there was some steel in his eyes and he stood taller. The last few months had been good on him. Tony wished he could say the same for himself.

"Nice to see you again, Fett," Tony greeted him.

"Likewise, Stark," Fett returned neutrally. The Mandalorian looked over Tony quickly, eyes locking on the inventor's hidden weapons with surprising skill. To his credit, Fett did not balk at the amount of weapons the Y-nauts were bringing onto his ship. Neither did he demand they remove them. It took guts and was very telling of the relationship Fett had with Kristoff.

One arm pressed against the bandage on his abdomen, Suffee stared at Fett, then pointedly looked at Tony and, once he was sure he had Tony's attention, directed his gaze to a broken chain on the floor. Slave chains. Tony eyed the bloodstains on the flooring and the scorch marks on the walls. It did explain the suspicious ship name, though; Fett must have forcibly taken the ship from slavers. Tony shook his head and Suffee relaxed.

"Well, everyone be sure to thank Fett for his timely rescue. He-"

Tony was interrupted when Bai-Gon and Quinton chorused in monotone voices, "Thank you, Fett."

Everyone looked to Fett, but the bounty hunter did not acknowledge the mocking thanks in any way.

"As I was saying, he's sort of been following us, but that's okay. He's an ally and we will most likely have to repay him in some way at a future time." Tony turned to Fett. "That said, what kind of help can we expect from you? Drop-us-off-at-the-closest-spaceport help? Or here-are-some-supplies-go-fix-your-ship-and-get-off-mine help?"

If Tony had been any further away from the other man, or if he had not been paying as close attention as he was, Tony would have missed the split second where Fett glanced in Kristoff's direction before he answered. Valiantly, Tony resisted the urge to facepalm and tell the Mandalorian that he was a grown up and to make his own dang decisions. "Whatever you need," Fett answered, seemingly unconcerned.

-Insert Quote HereEveryone gathered in the largest room, perched on crates and squeezed into corners. Even the little kids were there, playing quietly in the corner. Shoragg's mysterious wife was with them in Shoragg's place, the male Rodian in urgent condition in The Black Fist's rough equivalence of a med bay, glancing up when Tony walked in. Tony was surprised to note that there were actually fourteen Aleenas on the ship, not the six he thought there were. He felt ashamed that he had not taken the time to meet every one of his crewmates. For the first time ever, the entire crew was in one room. They looked expectantly at Tony as he sat down, their stares a more heavy presence than reporters at an SI press conference.

"Glad to see everyone here, for once. You all tried your best getting out of my meetings, but when Fett suggests one, you're all here," Tony said dryly. "Okay, first of all, I owe you an apology, Kristy," Tony told Kristoff.

"You can start by not calling me 'Kristy,'" Kristoff said, sulking.

"Kristine, I haven't been the best teammate, and I know I can be difficult to work with once I got an idea in my head."

"Yeah, you are," Kristoff agreed, grumbling at the nickname but conceding defeat. Tony looked at him expectantly. "Fine. Yeah. I forgive you."

"Which brings me to my next point. I've worked solo. I've worked in teams. I've played consultant, tech support, and business leader. I have even led my fair share of research groups. What I haven't done is be a team leader in a group as… active as this one. I will make mistakes. That's why I need you all to be active in the day-to-day running of the team." Tony took a deep breath before continuing. "I know I haven't been a good leader. I've been shut in the workshop. A few of you still feel intimidated by me." His eyes darted to Kovlo. "I'd like to let you know that my doors are always open. You don't have to be afraid. I don't retaliate for differences of opinion. I can't promise that I'll always abate your concerns, but I can promise that I'll take them into consideration."

"It's fine. It's just the kriffing caste system," Kovlo answered quietly.

Tony continued, "I value each and every one of you. You're all equal in my eyes. 'Cept for Suffee. And Kristina, I guess."

At that, Suffee startled, jerking and looking at him in askance, a hurt look on his face that was quickly masked. Kristoff, on the other hand, leaned back with his arms crossed, an eyebrow raised. Tony got the general impression that the ex-smuggler knew exactly what was going to happen. Tony could almost feel the uptick in tension and rushed to diffuse it.

"As my co-captain, Suffee has just as much authority as me, and Krissy is our second-in-command. Or third. I'm not too sure on the numbering system."

"Oh," Suffee said quietly. "I was worried for a second."

"Not me. I was hoping for some juicy drama," Galee said disappointedly, ridding the last of the tension.

Turning point reached, Tony hesitated, eyes darting around the crowd to gauge their feelings. "And… I guess I should tell you everything. It's the only way you'll understand."

And Tony talked.

He spoke of the tiny, isolated planet that had not achieved prolonged space travel yet. He spoke of a hurting young man who did everything he could to drown out the pain inside. He told of a cave in a desert where he was cut open, his heart quite literally held bare. His pseudo-father's betrayal and the irony of having the very thing that saved him now poisoning him, it was all recounted. He focused more on the betrayals themselves, rather than the details. The Iron Man armor was regulated into a minor detail - a fancy prosthetic that was never completely described as more than a helpful tool. He promised himself to let them know... just not yet.

He started off with a firm voice and straight posture, but as the minutes ticked into hours, his voice grew hoarse and Tony stopped meeting their eyes as his failures were rehashed. The crew was held in disbelief as Tony explained the mechanics of the portal that brought aliens to his city. Many of the Y-nauts gave jerks of recognition when Tony went over Killigan and his flawed Extremis, the fire underneath Pepper's skin that nearly burnt her out. They debated about the lives lost to data spilled online.

Tony did not attempt to spare himself when they reached Ultron, but instead of the recriminations he was expecting, Galee threw herself into his arms in tears and the rest of the group was in various states of horror and sympathy. They had a short discussion about JARVIS and the mortality of AIs, Tony expressing his belief that FRIDAY was fine. Everyone seemed to be in disbelief when Tony sheepishly admitted he continued funding the Avengers even after he was all but forced to step down.

The media-coined 'Civil War' incident started off by receiving mixed results, seeing that half of the group, Fett included, considered laws as recommendations more than anything. As bounty hunters, borders only provided a mild deterrent and they reflexively chafed at being restrained. Of the group, only Suffee and, strangely enough, Galee seemed to approve of his stance on the Accords. They slowly grew thoughtful as the Accords became a mere footnote in the story.

When Tony revealed that Rogers had hidden his parents' murder from him, Kristoff let out a string of Huttese, while Hoviv muttered something that had his mother smacking him. Tony kept his head down and continued his recounting.

Lastly, Tony had touched upon Thanos and the threat upon his universe. He explained how he lured the majority Thanos' main forces to the ruins of Asgard, but was unable to trick the titan himself into joining the wild goose chase. He spoke of the casualties that resulted from Thanos' attack on Earth and the month-long war before the gauntlet was forcibly removed from Thanos.

"I had a choice," Tony muttered. "I could try to bring back those who died, or I could try to destroy the rest Thanos' forces. They were coming, you know. Even if we took care of Thanos, the rest of them were still pouring in from Asgard. I got cocky. I thought I could bring back everyone and still have enough to raze the Chitauri. I should have remembered that I tend to destroy things, rather than create." He laughed bitterly. "There's a reason they called me the Merchant of Death." He chanced a glance up, only to spot Gis, who seemed more impressed by the title than anything. Not the emotion Tony was looking for, but better than disgust.

With one last burst of energy, he explained his misunderstanding with Wanda, a misunderstanding that send him to a completely different universe. He ashamedly confessed his relief at not being on Earth for the final fight. "I knew we could take them. It would take time and casualties, but we could defeat them. But… I couldn't fight any more. I took one too many hits, lost one of the few people I had left, and when I came into this universe, I was a little shattered. Maybe I still am."

"So," Tony said, leaning back and crossing his arms protectively over his chest, "those are all my cards. This is me, raw and unedited. My thoughts, my motives, my secrets - everything. The dice is in your hands, now. What will you have of me?" The seconds trickled by, heightening Tony's anxiety. Gis pulled out a bouncy red ball and tossed it onto the floor, making a dull pounding noise that sounded louder in the silence.

"What do you mean?" Kristoff asked after a long moment that was broken only by the thump of Gis's ball. He made a grab for it but missed, sending it rolling under Greer's chair.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Tony said with false easiness, distracted by the Greer picking up the ball and glancing calculatingly in Gis's direction. "I'll accept anything you guys want. If you think I should be demoted and put Suffee down as captain, I do it. If you think I'm a liability and kick me off the team, I'll go. You guys can keep the ship. I'll be okay on my own. If you want me regulated to tech sup-" He paused to lean his torso to the right to avoid Gis's red ball being lobbed at him.

"We aren't like your old team, captain," Greer said grouchily. "We aren't going to reap the benefits of being on your team without you actually being on the team."

A small smile made its way onto Tony's face before he could stop it, and a spark of hope flickered to life in his chest. Tony immediately tried to squash it - Greer was just one person. He was glad to have Greer's support, but his fate still hinged on the rest of the team.

"That explains a lot," Suffee muttered. "I think you are a good person. A bit reckless, at times, but you mean well." He stomped on the ball before it could roll past him, steadfastly ignoring Gis's attempt to get it back.

"This isn't a joke, right?" Kristoff asked. Bai-Gon smacked the back of his head, ducking Kristoff's retaliating punch.

"I'm fine with it. He's the same irrelevant, slightly unstable person he was-" Bai-Gon checked his StarkPhone for the time. "-two and a half hours ago." He kicked Suffee's foot away, snatched Gis's ball, and lobbed it at Tony, who avoided it with a neat sidestep. Suffee gave Bai-Gon a nasty look for it, which the man guiltily avoided.

"I think it makes you mysterious," Galee said dreamily.

Tony spotted the flirtation before she could ramp it up. "I have a girlfriend. And I'm twice your age," Tony told her flatly. "So, no objections?" He cast a glance around. He spotted a raised hand. "This isn't a classroom. Just talk."

"I have so many questions," Hoviv announced. "Can I be captain? Can I get fire-powers? I want a giant shield, too!"

-Insert Quote HereAs he split off from the rest of the group, Tony noticed that he had a shadow. "You get this gist of what I said, Gis?" Tony asked, realizing that FRIDAY was no longer there to be able to translate what he said to Dosh.

"Know Basssic," Gis hissed, arms crossed. He turned his head away for a moment, then faced Tony head-on. "Ssspider can fight. Gis'tik Kal Tos strong, can fight!" He looked pleadingly at Tony.

"Yeah, well… Peter is different. He- I-" Tony groaned in frustration, putting his hand over his face. "Gis, I'm your… well, I'm responsible for you now. I know that you can fight and defend yourself, but- I mean… how do you think I'd feel if you got hurt?"

Gis turned his head away.

Tony reached up and patted him on the head. "Just… please think about it, 'kay? I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened. I've already lost a couple kids. The rest of them are stuck in another universe, and Friday's who-knows-where. I can't lose you too."

Gis merely looked at him, dark eyes glittering in the dim lighting of Fett's ill-gotten ship.

Reaching the cabin he was assigned, Tony noticed that his StarkPad had thrity-one separate messages. Tony pressed play. A hologram of Prestor popped up. He looked very annoyed. " \Tony are you telling me that you had colored holograms and decided not to sell them?" Prestor demanded. "Forgive my tactlessness and political incorrectness, but Tony… you are the most ridiculous, idiotic man I have ever had the honor of meeting." With that said, the prerecorded message shut off.

Right. The most this universe had were glitchy, staticy blue ones. Tony thought back to the holograms he showed Prestor during their last meeting, realizing that they were all in blocked colors.

"Wow. I am an idiot. Friday, get on that. We need patents, bl-" Tony stopped. "Nevermind," he said to the empty air. He pressed the next one. It was a short message from… Paramexor? Tony opened it.

::Do not take the bounty. Trap.::