Iron Confusion - chapter 1
Iron Confusion
Fandom - Marvel
Rating - pg13/R
Pairings - Vladimir Kravinoff/Tony Stark, Other/Tony Stark
Warnings - Severe AU. Blood, some torture.
Summary - Tony suffers a Heart Attack and finds himself in an alternate dimension where the bad guys are the good guys and the good guys are no longer the good guys!
Chapter 1 - Boxing Lessons
“Come on Boss, you can do it,” Happy said with a large smile on his face. It was hard to make out his words around the mouth guard he wore, but Tony caught the sentiment anyway. He was breathing hard. Their work outs weren’t a walk in the park; but his body wanted to go into a coughing fit and Tony didn’t like that feeling. He tried to suppress it as he lent against the ropes of his private boxing ring.
Happy was jumping back and forth on the balls of his feet. He was a professional and he never took for granted that his ‘enemy’ may have a rather clever trick up their tights. Tony refused to wear tights, however.
Once he felt the urge to cough up a lung recede. He straightened and replaced his own mouth guard. Now they circled. These lessons went a long way. Not only for his own personal protection, but Iron Man needed to at least look as if he were a trained body guard. Appearances are everything after all.
Tony ducked a swing and came back up with one of his own. He missed by a second as Happy lunged to the right and took him out seamlessly. Tony landed on his back, jarring his head a bit as he hit the mat hard.
He blinked. The room around him was turning slowly. He groaned as he rolled away from Happy and started coughing. The fit that had wanted to be let free several seconds before wasn’t going to be defeated. Happy was there in a second. Removing the mouth guard and Tony’s mitts; he had a water bottle at the ready as well.
The coughing receded long enough for Tony to take a long swig from the water bottle; “Are you all right?” Happy asked. He hadn’t thought the move would hurt Tony. They were working on dirty moves - after all - Tony could be killed if someone wanted him dead.
“No…I…” and he was coughing again. His chest felt tight. He tried to gasp through the coughing and the pain. He tired to say something. Happy was on his cell and Tony was out cold.
- * -
“He’s had a heart attack, Mr. Kravinoff,” the Doctor said. Vladimir Kravinoff stood tall, his back ram rod straight. His lion pelt belted across his back, the head a rather grisly reminder of the sort of violence this man was capable of. Doctor Hogan wasn’t afraid though. He’d dealt with the man and his Lover for a considerable amount of time now.
“How bad is he?” Vladimir asked, his voice strong and low, but it held a sheen of worry. Tony Stark had only been his Lover for a short time - however, Vladimir found that he felt protective over the younger man. It wasn’t that Tony couldn’t care for himself, it was the fact that his former…Vladimir couldn’t think of the man without growling.
Dr. Hogan didn’t back down, because he knew that Vladimir wasn’t growling at him; “He’ll be awake in a few seconds, why don’t you go sit with him?” and then he turned and walked away, “I’m going to run a few more tests, just to make sure,” and with that he turned the corner of the Hospital Wing and was gone.
The underground complex of Stark Enterprises had been built as a hid out for Vladimir and his ‘team mates’ who had found themselves the other side of the law. Captain America, the Fantastic Four and other ‘Superheroes’ where now able to terrorize the world without anyone to stop them. Add to that the fact that Tony had once been a long time Lover to Captain America. Tony never talked about why he left Steve Rogers. He had helped Vladimir escape from the masked super villain and in return Vladimir had given the young man a place to sleep, clean clothing and some food.
Tony then suggested that he and some of his trusted ‘allies’ seek shelter in the underground bunker that Tony had built in the middle of Death Valley, California. It worked. Tony all ready had a medical staff - the only human of the bunch being Happy Hogan. A former heavyweight boxing champion turned Doctor, just for fun.
The bland grey walls and bulb lighting made his surroundings dank. The bunker was not meant for a lasting tenure as a hide out. He was the only bit of colour in the hallway. Vladimir sighed and turned to enter the room where Tony lay, sleeping.
His hair was a mess; he needed to trim his goatee. But Vladimir liked the facial hair, he liked Tony’s smile. He liked the way the man could be narcotic at times - self conscious at others. He was rebounding, Vladimir knew it. He shouldn’t have entered into a relationship with the younger man. Not until Tony had gotten over whatever it was he had had with Steve Rogers.
However, he didn’t want to give up holding Tony at night, they would talk about the newest invention; the defeat that was always handed to them and near deaths. This newest attack was nothing new, however, Tony suffered a heat attack during the fighting and Vladimir had to rely on Barracuda, Death Watch, Death-Stalker, Conquest, and King Cobra to cover his back while he made off with Iron Man.
It was quiet now, the rest had returned from what they reported as a “Tie” with the Fantastic Four and Captain America. They were all in the lounge room, doing whatever they did during their down time. Vladimir sat down in the only chair allotted to the room. Tony lay on the prison style cot attached to the wall. The machines beeped as life stats crawled across their sleek, updated screens. The Ark-Reactor was the brightest source of light the room had. Vladimir pulled up the thick cotton blanket. It was cold; he could feel it through his own armor.
Tony moved, gasped and shot straight into a sitting position. He groaned in pain and he went to cradle his head. Vladimir intercepted and pushed his Lover back to the bed; “Lay still,” though half-growled his voice was soft and low.
“Where…what…who are you?” Tony finally finished his thought. He blinked around. He didn’t know where he was nor did he know that the man sitting next to him was his Lover of only five months.
“Tony, you don’t remember me?”
“No,” the other shook his head.
“Are you sure?”
“How do you know me?” Tony asked.
“Never mind that, do you know what happened?” Vladimir asked. Maybe Tony was having a fit of amnesia because of the combined force of the Thing and Captain America punching him in the head - from two angles - at the same time.
“I was with Happy, my bodyguard, he was teaching me some boxing techniques when I had a coughing fit and blacked out,” Tony replied, not entirely sure if he should tell that much detail.
“You also had a heart attack,” Vladimir replied; he stroked way ward strands of hair out of Tony’s deep brown eyes. Tony furrowed his brows but otherwise didn’t move.
“So, you don’t know me and you don’t know where you are or the battle?”
“No, I’ve no idea,” Tony bit back, slightly irritated. Vladimir let it go. For now.
“Than I shall inform you,” he sat back, a hard look on his face, “You are Tony Stark, you used to be allied with the Avengers, until they decided that ruling the planet would be a good idea. You left your former Lover, Steve Rogers, and lived homeless for some short time before you saved my life. After we met, you had myself and a few of my very close friends find refuge in the under ground bunker no one but you and your Doctor knew the existence of,” Vladimir said. Tony blinked up at him.
“My name is Vladimir Kravinoff, and we’re in a relationship,” why he felt the need to say such a lame thing was beyond him. Tony, however, didn’t think it at all lame. In fact, he seemed to panic.
“Are you kidding me?” his eyes had gone wide and his heart beat had gone sky high. The beeping from the machine went fast and furious. Tony was shaking, from fear or something else, Vladimir didn’t know.
“No, Tony…” he restrained the young man when Tony took a swipe at him. He held both wrists in one hand as he hit the panic button on the side of the bed. A red light went off and an alarm. It’d call Doctor Hogan back promptly, along with their team mates. Tony, however, didn’t know that he was being helped - though Vladimir thought it was more like hindering - “Let me go!”
“Tony!” Vladimir yelled above the alarm, “I want to help you; you suffered a concussion and a heart attack!”
Tony wasn’t listening; he was fighting as well as he could. Dr. Hogan made it into the room before Conquest or King Cobra. He straddled Tony to keep from getting kicked in the most painful place. In his hands was a syringe.
“Keep him down!” Hogan yelled, and then he jabbed the needle into Tony’s side. He inserted the medication and then slowly pulled out the needle. They only had to wait fifteen seconds before the drugs started to take affect. Tony lost the will to fight and then to even be conscious. He lapsed back into the darkness against his will.
_ * _
Piet whistled softly. “What went wrong?” he asked. His slight Spaniard drawl echoed throughout the room. It was always soothing to hear him speak in the quiet times. He was dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a t-shirt. His short black hair was in a pony at the nape of his neck. Bridget stood next to him. Also dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt with her long hair were pulled into a braid.
“Tony doesn’t know what happened, I think he was also concussed during the fight,” Vladimir said. He shook his head.
“Why did he fight you? He never fights against you,” Piet observed. In their five month stay in the bunker, they had gotten to know each other rather well. The oddest behavior among them was the fact that Tony always let Vladimir take the lead and he never, ever argued.
“That’s because Bastard America trained him not to question orders, especially when given,” Bridget supplied.
“We don’t know that is true,” Vladimir shot back.
“It explains a lot, and even though I’m no wiz at computer geekery like Stark here, I do know what I saw on that vid,” she huffed.
“What vid?” Piet asked. This was the first time Bridget had brought it up.
“I saw it once, when I was playing around with the computers here, I saw Bastard America punish Stark for something….” She shrugged, “It was encrypted and I couldn’t see much,”
“Hmmmm…” Vladimir turned to the now resting Tony. He was being unhooked from the machines by Dr. Hogan.
“He’ll recover, but if we don’t contain him he may very well lead the ‘superheroes’ to this location and then where will we be?” he turned to Vladimir.
“I don’t know if this is a relapse to a time when he wasn’t with you-know-who, or if something else is going on, I do know this though…” he held up a finger, “This reminds me of times when he’s had an episode and fainted, he always woke up in a panic and he always had to be sedated,” and then he left the room.
“What does Hogan know that he isn’t telling us?” Piet asked as he closed the door.
“I don’t know,” Bridget sighed and stretched, “So, does that mean we have to tie him down?”
“Maybe we should, just in case he wakes and no one is here to monitor him,” Piet nodded in agreement.
“Jarvis,” Vladimir called out.
“Yes, sir?” the IM replied from hidden speakers.
“Initiate program TSP,” Vladimir replied. There was a sudden change in light and the room was a soft blue before returning to the normal dank lighting.
“Very good sir,” Jarvis said, “Is there anything else?”
“Alert us when Tony wakes,” Vladimir said. Jarvis accepted the order.
Someone had thought of such an extreme possibility of having to restrain someone to the cot. Under the steel bed were heavy buckles of black fiber. Vladimir had no doubts that it would hold his Lover until such a time as Tony was released. He wasn’t going to risk the ultimate demise at the hands of his enemies just because Tony had no idea what was going on and had some weird sense of loyalty to his Abuser. Maybe this set back was a good thing in the long run. If Tony had forgotten all the ‘training’ than maybe Vladimir could have that relationship he always wanted. Well, he could hope.
Once the three were done, Vladimir tossed the blanket over Tony once again. He didn’t want him to be cold.
“Piet, Bridget, when Tony wakens…be frank with him. I don’t think it will do to sugar coat the situation,” he said. His Russian Accent making its way through. Piet knew this to mean that Vladimir was worried, and not only because Tony went crazy.
“Sure,” they muttered at the same time. Then he and Bridget left the hospital room. Vladimir lent down and kissed Tony softly on the lips before he too left. The door sealed behind him and the room went dark.
_*_
Steve Rogers, Peter Parker, Reed and Sue Richards along with Johnny and Grim - made it back to Freedom Tower in record time. Their swift battle with the rag-tag team of Vladimir’s hadn’t lasted long but it didn’t come to a satisfying end. Steve felt cheated. He felt angry and he wanted to kill something.
Tony…his Tony…
He shouldn’t have let Tony walk out that day. In a fit of newly found independence, Tony had told Steve to go and suck himself before running away. Steve had looked high and low for his errant Lover…but wasn’t able to find him.
He had caught a fleeting glance of Tony when he had pulled Vladimir from the fray of another battle. Vladimir had been injured, Steve was sure of that. However, he had lost their trail early on in his searches and hadn’t seen hide nor hair (no pun intended) of either man.
Why Tony had decided to save the enemy instead of staying in the safety of Freedom Tower was beyond Steve’s ability to understand. He loved Tony, that’s why he did what he did. The training was supposed to keep Tony safe.
It didn’t work and now he knew that something inside Tony had snapped and he needed Steve now more than ever; even if he didn’t know it.
He growled as he hopped out of the hover craft and marched down the short passage of stairs to the main living quarters. He entered the room he had shared with Tony, his things were still in residence and Steve would keep it that way. Tony would return, under duress or of his own free will, Steve didn’t much care which it was. Just as long as he was holding Tony again, it would be all right.
_*_
Tony awoke in a panic. He never liked blacking out and then coming awake in some strange place. He got a fleeting look at the ceiling as he sat up too fast. He got dizzy and went to cradle his head. The migraine making its first appearance; before contact was made, however, someone was pushing him down into the bed. It wasn’t a comfortable bed, and then it hit him…
He was in some sort of prison cell with a man with some scary looking armor and a lions head dangling off one shoulder was trying to sooth him. Tony didn’t know why. He didn’t know where he was nor why. He answered the questions though. He felt it was the only safe way to go about the situation.
“I was with Happy, my bodyguard, he was teaching me some boxing techniques when I had a coughing fit and blacked out,” Tony replied, he didn’t want to go into too much detail. He didn’t know this man, had never seen him, even. Though, a part of him - a very distant part said to trust the man. He punched that distant self for stupidity if no other reason.
“You also had a heart attack,” the Stranger said; he reached down and stroked way ward strands of hair out of Tony’s deep brown eyes. Tony furrowed his brows but otherwise didn’t move. Imposing, that was the first thought that came to mind with the Stranger bending over him.
“So, you don’t know me and you don’t know where you are or the battle?” the Stranger asked.
“No, I’ve no idea,” Tony bit back, irritated. How many times did he have to say it?
“Than I shall inform you,” Stranger sat back, a hard look on his face, “You are Tony Stark, and you used to be allied with the Avengers, until they decided that ruling the planet would be a good idea. You left your former Lover, Steve Rogers, and lived homeless for some short time before you saved my life. After we met, you had myself and a few of my very close friends find refuge in the under ground bunker no one but you and your Doctor knew the existence of,” Stranger said. Tony blinked up at him. He had been in love with Steve Rogers…? Was that even possible? He had to admit that there was certain…thing…but…no way!
Tony wasn’t going to believe it.
“My name is Vladimir Kravinoff, and we’re in a relationship,” Stranger felt the need to say. Tony bit his lip. Words wouldn’t come to him for a few seconds…he was…gay?
This whole thing was weird. How could he be gay when just a few hours before he was thinking about women? Especially Veronica Mars? The delicious little waitress at the coffee shop he’d stopped by on his way from work.
“Are you kidding me?” his eyes had gone wide and his heart beat had gone sky high. This wasn’t happening and he needed to get away. Now! He wasn’t a very good fighter, even with the boxing lessons. If he weren’t in a panic, Tony would have made it to the door. But he took the chance of swiping at Vladimir before thinking his plan through and found himself locked in a battle of strength. He wasn’t going to give up though. The sudden alarm made his shake and waver just a bit though.
What if he were beat for his fighting? Or worse? He wouldn’t think of it. Nope. He would not think of his short stint as a prisoner in Afghanistan. He would not think of the shrapnel in his chest. He wiggled as much as he could against Vladimir’s hold on him.
The sudden weight on his middle and thighs though - the appearance of Happy Hogan…in a Doctors lab coat, holding a needle…however…wasn’t what he wanted to see right then. Tony still struggled.
“Hold him down!” Happy yelled. Then he jabbed the needle into Tony’s side. He felt the initial pain and the feeling of the drugs being pushed into his blood stream. He groaned, and tried to fight it. But it wasn’t working and his body went lax in Vladimir’s grip and then, he was entering the blackness against his will.
What had gone wrong? - Were his last thoughts.