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dark tony stark au 2008 - to - 2013 ( will deviate from canonical film events ) NOW AVAILABLE ON AO3
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warnings character death and torture, blood and gore, human experimentation, mind-control, dark themes, course language & more
synopsis
tony stark had never been afraid of death, having had many run-ins with her in both the present and past before. from the routine kidnappings for ransom as a child, to the few times a terrorist made attacks against his name. no, tony stark wasn't afraid of death, but he was afraid of living. afraid of failing to do better, to be better. yinsen had told him not to waste his life many years ago in that cave, but what was the point of living if you were actively stopping others?
he used to know who he was- a genius, a billionaire, a man with shitty luck at poker. now he was simply a means to an end, a very bloody and painful end. tony stark was living in a constant state of limbo without knowing who he was, as his handlers could not hope to contain him if he did, and who he ought to be.
he was a weapon in the hands of the wrong sort. a gun fully loaded and pointed at a target he didn't know more than the basics of. he knew their name, he knew their routines, but he didn't know why they had to die. even if he did know though, it wouldn't change the outcome. he was the gun that his handler pointed in the proper direction. he was the finger behind the trigger, the last thing his target's saw as the light left their eyes.
sometimes they cried out, loud, teary eyed and obnoxious with their sobs. others tried to bargain, offering him money, safety, sometimes even a home. and some just accepted the cards they'd been dealt-, and those were by far the worst. his hands were covered in blood, dripping in their thick warmth as he struggled to breathe over the guilt of it. that was wrong too though, weapons aren't meant to feel. weapons aren't meant to weep at the blood they spill, the lives they take.
