When Clint found Tony, he was sitting on the floor in the lab; the room was dark and silent, with only the glow of his phone illuminating it. It felt intrusive for him to be there, but the team was worried, and he had drawn the short stick so he had to do it or face the consequences of ridicule. He felt bad for the guy though; Stark could be a complete ass with a penchant for egomaniacal behavior, but even he didn't deserve this. No one did.
"We'll find her, Tony," Clint whispered, holding his position at the door. He heard Tony clear his throat and a small sniffle, but was otherwise silent. "We all want you to know that we won't stop until we do."
Tony took a deep and shaky breath, tears threatening to flow at any moment, though he was too angry to allow them. He squeezed his eyes shut and a low growl grew in his chest until it became a scream that startled Clint enough for him to back away. Sitting just on the other side of the door, Steve lowered his head into his hands and sighed with regret when Tony's phone shattered against the glass.
~~~
Today, Tony sat at the head of the jet, preparing for flight and the mission at hand. It was the first mission that would bring him to face Hydra since the day you were taken by them; even though it had been nearly a year, he didn't feel ready and likely never would until you were returned to him. He absentmindedly flipped switches and pushed buttons, thankful that FRIDAY would be sure that he didn't mess it up too terribly.
"Hey, you ready for this?"
Tony sighed and looked back at Bruce, shaking his head slightly as he considered his response. "Nope. But what the hell, can't get any worse than this, right?" His friend reached down and put a supportive hand on his shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze.
"Be careful, Tony. Let's not tempt fate here, alright?"
~~~
"Listen, I don't want to hurt you, okay?" Tony landed hard on his back, knocking the wind from his chest for a moment. "Ugh," he panted, trying to catch his breath, "lucky hit. Let's quit while we're ahead, yeah?"
He smirked and raised his arm out sharply, a movement that struck a cord in you as something you had seen before, knowing that he was calling his suit to him. You leapt forward and intercepted the gauntlet and smiled as it secured itself to your own hand rather than his. You aimed the repulsor towards him, curious as to why he suddenly looked so shocked and so pale.
"How did you do that?" he whispered. "There's only one other person who can do that."
Taking his chances against his own weapon, he reached forward to try to remove your mask, but you anticipated this and took a step away. Not taking this for an answer, he grabbed your arm and twisted it enough to get a firm grasp on the gauntlet as you fired, blasting a large hole in the floor that took you both falling three stories to the hard ground below.
~~~
"Stark!" Natasha yelled as she was peering over the edge of the massive opening, trying to see if he was moving, or even breathing for that matter. "Guys, Tony's down, I need backup!" Hearing a few harsh coughs from below, she relaxed a bit knowing that he wasn't dead, but still anxious to get him out and to safety as the floor creaked beneath her.
Clint slowly crawled to her side, trying to keep his weight from cracking the floor any further. "Holy shit, Nat. How are we gonna do this? We don't know how bad he's hurt." He paused for a few seconds to look at you, confused at what he was seeing; or what he thought he was seeing.
"Nat, I kinda hope I'm wrong...but is that her?"
She squinted to see clearer through the dust that was still hanging in the air from your fall. Her eyes widened at the realization that she was looking at Tony and the daughter that he had so traumatically lost to Hydra, both lying motionless and unreachable three stories below.
"Steve, we need you in here now."
~~~
The commotion above brought you back to consciousness, coughing the dust from your lungs and shaking the stabbing pain from your head. You reached up to touch a trickle of blood that was running down your face and gasped when you realized your mask was gone. Slowly, you turned to look at the man next to you who was now awake and sitting against the wall; he was still pale, staring at you with tears spilling from eyes that were filled with confusion and pain.
"Are you hurt?" he asked quietly.
"Um...I think my leg might be broken, and I've got one hell of a headache." You looked at him cautiously, not really sure why he would care. Your fight is what got you here, and if given the chance, you likely would have killed him. He had no reason to be concerned for you and should be glad for your incapacitation. "Why?"
"Because I was worried."
"Again...why?"
He coughed a bit and sat straighter, obviously causing him pain to do so as he grimaced and sucked in a deep breath that only made it worse. He clutched the side of his chest and bit his lip as the pain worsened. You pulled yourself towards him but he didn't try to back away as you might expect. Reaching out to him, you placed both hands on his chest and watched the movement as he breathed.
"What are you doing?"
"Shhh," you scolded, "just breathe. I'm watching for equal movement." You pulled yourself closer, your bodies close enough to touch now. He was far too injured to be a threat, so the proximity wasn't a worry. You rested your head against his chest to listen on one side and then the other, concerned with what you had heard. "Do you have a first aid kit up there?" you yelled to his friends above.
"(Y/N), you don't have to worry about me," he said with another cough.
Your head snapped towards him, your eyes full of surprise and bewilderment. "How do you know my name?" you asked.
"Hey, down there! Catch!" The kit dropped down to you as you caught it easily, quickly tearing it open to find any item to do the job you had likely only a few minutes to complete. You glanced up at Tony and back down to your hands, reaching out to rip his shirt open and bare his chest. "I need you to stay as still as you can, no matter how much this hurts. Can you do that?"
Tony nodded, watching you work with amazement in his expression. "Here," you said as you handed him a small wooden splint from the kit. "Bite down on this." You looked up to see his team above, watching you silently and intently, adding pressure onto an already delicate procedure that you had never done before and had only read about during training. You positioned your hands over the collapsing lung and looked at him, holding his eye contact as you inserted the needle into his chest.
"Breathe, Mr. Stark."
He visibly relaxed as the pressure released from his chest and his lung began to expand. You were still holding his gaze as you held your hands in place, studying his eyes and the hint of familiarity in them. They were soft, but very tired, like he had been through something that had broken him. The way he was looking at you made you uncomfortable, and you knew that there was something he was desperate to tell you.
"Tell me," you whispered.
"Thank you...for this. You didn't have to. You had no reason."
"I think I did. And I think you know what it is." You quickly removed the needle and put a piece of gauze over the wound; you still had yet to break eye contact even as you worked. You could feel tears in your eyes begin to build as you waited for him to say anything. "Tell me, Tony."
"You're my daughter."
As you sat stunned, he slowly reached into his pocket, grimacing with each movement, and pulled out his phone. After a few seconds he turned it towards you, revealing a picture of you with him, from what looked like a Christmas party with the Avengers. "Hydra took you from me, (Y/N). They brainwashed you, they trained you, and turned you against us...against me."
"I couldn't let you die," you mumbled to yourself, looking down at your trembling hands but searching your mind for any sign of truth. "I couldn't..."
"That's why my suit recognized you."
Tony looked up at the team, still watching silently as the scene played out. "We've been looking for you for a year, (Y/N). This isn't how I expected to find you," he paused, "but you know I need to ask you to come with us. We want to help you remember who you are."
"Are you crying?" Natasha whispered to Clint.
"Shut up," he sniffled. "Am not. You are."
You followed his gaze upward towards the group, hoping that you could find recognition in at least one of them. The redhead and the man next to her were familiar, but the larger blonde man rang something stronger within you. When your sight moved to the man with glasses, your head began to pound even more and your breath caught in your throat.
"Bruce," you gasped.
Tony finally allowed himself to smile, though still laced with a sense of sadness that you hadn't recognized him yet. "That's right. You've spent almost every day with him since you moved into the tower." He chuckled a bit as he reminisced for a moment, "you nerds are inseparable," he mumbled.
"You're always so jealous," you chuckled through your tears as you kept your eyes on the doctor, "trying to get me to learn to fly that damn suit. Nope, can't just go to dinner or a movie like a normal...family..." Your voice trailed off as you realized what you were saying, and that they were your words and feelings, not those programmed into you by Hydra. You looked at Tony and felt a sense of relief wash over you, knowing that you would be okay with his help.
"See?" Natasha smirked, "cognitive recalibration. Works every time."