Innocent Bystander | T. Stark ✔️

twenty three ▼ a decision

Juliet was in bed when Tony got to the Tower. She hadn't seen a mirror in two days, but she knew she looked as awful as she felt. And despite everything, she felt self conscious about the fact that she was in sweats and that her hair was in a sloppy knot on top of her head.

"Hey, Jules," he said, a soft smile turning up his lips. He came to sit next to her on the edge of the bed and took her hand in his. He had to keep himself from flinching at how frail and cold her fingers felt.

"You stopped the missile?"

Tony nodded. "Frodo put up a pretty good fight but yes, it's over."

She sighed, relieved and even proud as she looked up at him. But she found none of her own relief in his own own eyes.

"You know that Bruce is trying to find a way to help you. We're looking everywhere and if there was a better way we would use it but..." Tony ran a hand through his hair. "We have a sample of extremis. If you want it, we think it could cure you."

Juliet remembered seeing the extremis chrysalis and what had come from it. Seeing that woman so unbridled and out of her mind had shaken her. The idea of those thing happening to her was even more rattling.

"I...I don't know. What if I don't have the right gene code? What if it makes me go insane?"

"It's risky, but we don't have anything else," Tony said.

"I can't decide right away, I need time to think." She whispered, feeling her throat tighten.

Tony shifted to wrap his arm around her, bringing her close. "Whatever you need, sweetheart."

Hot tears stung her eyes and she kept her face close to him, hoping that he wouldn't see. She was so tired and anxious that she only wanted to sleep, not make decisions.

So she did. It wasn't a conscious choice as much as it was an inability to hold her eyes open any longer. Her escape into a dreamless sleep brought her peace and focus. When she woke up she found that she even had enough energy to walk around rather than keep to her room.

Tony gave her a brief tour of the Tower, saying it might help take her mind off things. There were laboratories, gyms, and dining halls that looked like they belonged in a castle.

As they rode up in the elevator, fingers intertwined between them, Tony tapped a rhythm on the back of her hand with his thumb. It seemed to be a habit of his. His hands were always moving, particularly when he was in deep thought.

There was a soft ding as the doors slid open at the very top floor. As the creator of the Tower, Tony had claimed the penthouse for himself. "It's hard to find any quiet time on the lower floors when Rogers is always hitting something and Thor likes to break things," he'd explained.

The penthouse was decorated very similarly to the mansion in California. It was comforting in a way because it felt like home.

Juliet moved to the window and her breath caught in her throat. The view of the sun beginning to dip below the New York skyline was beautiful, like something from a painting. It was far better than the side of a bank building that took up the window view in her room.

Tony pulled a chair next to the window for her. "Are you cold? Hot? Hungry?" He asked as her knelt down beside where she now sat. Bruce had explained that without proper blood flow her body couldn't regulate its internal temperatures as it should.

"I feel like I'm on Hoth," she said, sinking further into her chair.

Tony found himself laughing. "How come I didn't know you liked Star Wars?"

She shrugged, her ashen lips turning up into a soft smile. "You never asked."

As Tony searched the room for blankets he noticed just what a short time he had known Juliet. They had been through so much together yet he didn't know so many things about her. The phantom weight on his heart seemed to double.

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"How are you doing?"

Bruce sat across the counter from Tony, watching him with knowing eyes.

The engineer shrugged his shoulders. "I've never been a patient person."

"I honestly thought you would be encouraging her to go with extremis. Maybe even forcing it. You've changed, Tony."

"If it was my choice I would give it to her. Anything to keep her alive no matter what comes after. I can deal with the consequences, I always have. But I know that won't work. It has to be her choice even if it means I loose her."

Tony spent the rest of the day in the penthouse with her, bringing her blankets and food and keeping her company. He did his best to keep her spirits high.

That evening, Juliet came to a decision.

"I want to try extremis." She whispered. Despite her frail appearance, she looked sure of her choice.

Bruce was in action shortly after. He prepped his equipment, double checked and triple checked his research. Juliet would be put under anesthesia, injected with a dose of the virus, and then they could only wait. Of all of it the waiting sounded the most painful to her.

The nurse lay in her bed, propped up by pillows. Bruce stood one side of her, starting the IV for her anesthesia while Tony stood on the other her. She began to feel weightless and her vision started to blur as the sedative did it's job.

Tony knelt down, coming to her eye level. She couldn't be sure if the misty glaze over his eyes was a product of the drugstore flowing through her or something else. His voice was barely audible when he spoke.

"I want to say that I know you'll come out of this alright, but both of us know that would be a lie. It's terrible but it's reality. And if this is my last chance to say it... I love you, Jules."

The edges of her vision were turning dark. She was fading fast.

With her last second of consciousness she smiled. "I love you, Tony."

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