She's Gone {Avengers}

Tony Stark: The Billionaire's Princess

Ava gazed out of the window. In truth, she was sat cross-legged on the windowseat, her light green eyes transfixed by the view out of the huge window of one of her rooms in Stark Tower, a sheet of figures abandoned in her lap. In her mind, she was soaring in the baby blue, cloudless sky.

A melodic, robotic voice jolted her out of her reverie. "Mrs Stark?"

"... Sorry? I mean, yes, JARVIS." It had been a couple of months and she still wasn't used to her new surname. She still wasn't used to being Tony Stark's wife; she still hadn't gotten over her surprise when he'd asked her to marry him, the thought still overwhelming, but the extravagant ring on her finger reminding her that this wasn't just a dream.

"Mr Stark is requesting your presence, Mrs Stark."

She sighed, her daydream long faded away, spinning through the air like sycamore seeds on the wind. "Tell him I'll be right there."

Still, it wasn't as if she didn't want to see him, on the contrary she skipped down the stairs like a child, as light as a fairy. She went through the fingerprint recognition and called, "Tony?" Her voice was high and sweet like a bird's call.

Tony grinned at her from across his lab/playroom, his arms smeared with grease and oil. "Princess! Wait until you see this."

She danced across the room - her "walk" so light and graceful it could hardly be named as such - and looked at some kind of new invention. "What is it?"

"This, princess, is my latest and greatest new defense mechanism, which almost certainly works!" He smiled proudly and pulled her close, ignored the fact that his oily hands were staining her light grey top and white jeans. What a day to wear white jeans. "Okay, stand over there."

Tony backed away and Ava took one step back when there was a bright light and a searing pain. She crumpled to the floor.

"Ava!" In an instant, he was at her side, pressing his hands over her wound, but his hands were soon dripping red. "I swear I didn't know it would do that - Ava - JARVIS! JARVIS, what do I do?"

"I'm afraid there's nothing you can do, sir." His mechanical voice was infuriatingly calm. "She has lost too much blood to survive."

"Don't be stupid, JARVIS! Tell me what to do!" He was in a panic, hands frantically busy with nothing, brushing a stray lock of blonde hair out of her face. "You can't - Ava - can you hear me? - Ava!"

"I - I can hear you," she whispered, adding in a small voice, "Am I dying?"

"No, no you're not." Trying to persuade himself more than her. "I won't let you." He was reluctant to accept the truth - that he might be Iron Man, but even he couldn't stop death.

"Tony?" Her voice getting weaker, barely a breath now, blood and oil forever staining those white jeans.

"Princess?" His brown eyes darted up to hers with a childish quality, a child pleading for hope.

"I-I love you, Tony Stark," she managed to say, and then she closed her eyes with a last, shuddering breath.

"No, no, no, no, no," he said, eyes horrified, tears beginning to run down his face. "I didn't - Ava - what have I done - what have I done?"

A defense mechanism! He'd lost Ava Stark over a defense mechanism! He needed one for this; a defense from the agony that was blazing through him now. The horrible emptiness - no Ava - a world without Ava - a life without his princess!

Trembling fingers traced her cheek. "I love you too, Ava Stark."

  He'd just killed his wife.

*

There was no escape from the nightmares now.

Tony Stark talked in his sleep. It was almost always the same. "I'll do it! I'll do whatever you say, don't, don't please! Ava!" Then jolting awake, instantly twisting over to look at the other side of the bed, but it was cold and empty.

Except, unlike in his dream, it wasn't people who wanted him to make weapons. Or Loki. Or Ultron. Or Hydra. He had killed her.

He sat on the edge of the bed, head in his hands. The loss of Ava was like a painful ache inside of him that never left. Tony Stark always hid his emotions, except from Ava, who always listened patiently as ranted about SHIELD, or whatever else was bothering him, pacing up and down. Then she would calm him down, talking about something else - the weather, just something ordinary like that - and then she would give him a hug and all was right with the world again. But now there was no-one and it was eating him up from the inside.

He got out, walking downstairs, Tony's battle-scarred face weary. He hadn't slept properly since Ava's death. He poured himself a glass of something appropriately alcoholic and downed it. Then refilled. Then downed it. Then refilled.

"Stark?" It was Banner, yawning, who was staying in a guest room, "working with Tony on a project that needed his full attention". Everyone knew full well that Tony wasn't capable of working on a project. Everyone knew full well that Tony was slowly dying.

"Banner." He barely paused from his drinking to talk.

Bruce eyed the stuff he was drinking. "I'm pretty sure that much isn't strictly safe, Tony."

"Good." The comebacks were all gone - that had been the first clue he was dying - the expression blank.

"Stark -"

Tony pointed vaguely in Bruce's general direction, hand wobbling slightly. "I'm leaving. You're... Staying right there."

Bruce sighed as the other man attempted to walk off. There was nothing anyone could do to save Tony, unless they could bring back his wife from the dead. Who knew such a fluttering fairy of a girl could change Tony so much? First making him ten times more respectable, respectable enough to marry her - and then crushing him like this. He shivered at the thought of his own love dying, and what that might do to him.

He sighed again as he realised Tony had taken the alcohol with him. He might be used to it, but someday he was going to kill himself.

Bruce had no idea that he just had, and not with the alcohol.

So... That ending was pretty dark. Oops. Sorry.

Yep, no I'm not. That's kind of the point of these.

Anyway, I AM sorry that this is so bad and everyone's so OOC. Hopefully it will get better. Bear in mind that as Bruce says, Ava changed him, so he might not be quite the same as the Tony Stark we all know and love/hate.

Hope you currently hate me for what I've done to the Avengers. Again, kind of the point, sorry not sorry.

Who shall I crush the heart of next? I'm thinking I'm definitely doing: Steve, Clint, Bucky, Pietro, and Loki (come on. If you know me, you knew Loki was going to turn up somewhere). If you guys have any other suggestions, let me know.