WARNING: SPOILERS!!! ~A Watty's 2019 Submission!

Saved for The Iron Child

Tony entered the abandoned police station from the exit, his suit ready, but his face mask was open. He looked around quietly, keeping his eye out for any sign of Aria.

"Kid? Where are you?" He whispered, moving as softly as he could through the dark halls. Boarded up rooms lined the walls as his metal feet clicked softly on the tiled floors, dirty with age. He couldn't see a way for her to have been hidden anywhere.

Until he reached the back office and went through to the cells. There she was. There were only two cells, one of them having bars that were torn apart, the other with her inside. She was lying on her side, a cloth wrapped around her eyes. She appeared to be sleeping, but he wasn't sure. "Kid! Kid, wake up!" He whispered, but she didn't even move. She lay perfectly on her back with her arms on her side. He knew she couldn't have been sleeping then, considering the fact she normally lay like a rag doll that someone just threw and left there for the rest of time. "Kid!" He got louder, and she began moving around.

"Hm?" She groaned, lifting her hand and rubbing her forehead, sounding confused. "Ohh, god. My head hurts."

"Hang on, kid. I'm coming!" He kept yanking on the bars as hard as he could, thinking that they should just tear off with how old they were, but they didn't budge. Not a single inch. Not even a creak.

"What's going on?" She asked, looking around wildly.

"Hang on, kid!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Came a low voice, and Tony stopped, turning around to face the man. This man was lean, with long sleeves wrapped around muscular arms. He had dark hair slicked back and shiny, with brown eyes and a round face with a little bit of facial hair. He walked with obvious respect for himself, and he looked as though he had already won. "You might disturb her slumber. Makes the process so much more painful."

"What process?" Tony asked loudly, and as though on cue she let out a scream of pain, and he ran back to the bars. "What are you doing to her?"

"Apparatus." Was what the man said with a smirk, and she began to whimper.

"No." She brought her hands to her head, covering her ears.

"Male."

"NO!!" She screamed as loud as she could, kicking her legs and making as much noise as she could, Tony having to cover his own ears as the man grew louder as well.

"STYLISH!" He called, and she panted and sobbed, her noise weakening, like something, was stopping her.

"No more! Father!" She cried out, Tony shaking the bars.

"I'm coming, kid!"

"Evident." Then, all was silent. Her hands went down to her sides, and she pulled herself up smoothly, almost robotically. She wasn't screaming anymore, and she seemed fine, but something was wrong.

Tony pulled at the bars one more time until they finally snapped, and he ran to her.

"Kid?" He faced her, her eyes still covered by the blindfold. He went to remove it, but her body seemed to move with full autonomy as she grabbed his wrist, and pinned him to the ground, before getting back on her feet and looking in the man's direction as he came forward.

"Father." She said, her voice monotone, giving off no emotion as the man caressed her cheek.

"My child. You have returned to me."

"Father?" Tony felt his heart shatter hearing that, and the man just chuckled.

"You really think that she just lived out her days as an orphan?" He asked Tony, not even looking at him. He was completely enamored with Aria. "That's all she can remember."

"What do you mean?" He just shrugged.

"A child's memory is the easiest thing to toy with, especially with how easily we forget things." He looked down at Tony. "You see, you may have been the cause of her birth, but she was never your child. I raised Aria to be the woman she is today."

"What do you mean you raised her?" The man laughed.

"Ever wonder why Aria's latest memory of being a child was when her mother was killed? It was because I made it so.

"I found her cowering beneath her bed, sick and frightful. She looked to me, and all I could see was the fear of a confused child."

""Where's my momma?" She asked me, and I couldn't help but smile at such childhood innocence.

""Your mother has sadly passed away," I told her. "But don't worry. I am here to take care of you."

"I took her in, and I raised her as my own. Trained her to be the assassin she was always destined to be.

"And once she was perfect, I sent her to find you." He looked to Tony, who stared back with a puzzled expression.

"Why me? Why would you train a child to be an assassin?"

"What child doesn't want to be like her father?" The man asked quizzically, sauntering over to Tony. "Because of you and those Avengers of yours, I lost my own child. My daughter would have been sixteen years old today, would it not have been for the destruction you caused the day that your Ultron attacked." Tony felt his heart pound. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew he hadn't been able to save everyone that day. "At first, I had thought of taking away what Ultron had become. Your good friend, Vision. But the moment I found your daughter, I knew she'd be the perfect child to take my daughter's place, and destroy you once and for all!" Tony tilted his head each way, popping his neck.

"Love to see you try." The man stepped aside, smirking, and looked to Aria, who faced forward, almost completely still.

"Aria. Attack Iron Man." Tony felt the blood drain from his face.

"Yes, Father." She said, holding out her arms, her suit coming and attaching to her arms, her legs coming next as her fitted suit wrapped around her body. For the first time, Tony was intimidated by her. Especially with the guns, he could hear firing up at her sides and raising to face him. "Die, Iron Man!" He threw his mask back on and ran to the side as she shot at him, her arm following him as he moved around the room. He didn't know what to do! He didn't want to shoot at her, but he didn't know how to stop her otherwise!

"Kid, come on! It's me! It's me, it's Tony!" She tilted her head at that.

"Tony?" He panted before the man snapped his fingers, and she went back to shooting at him. "Die!"

He ran around the room, using his own lasers to fire at her shots, careful to make sure they weren't aimed at her."Aria, snap out of it!" He shouted.

"Die!" She shouted again, and she kept shooting at him. He studied her movements and realized that she would pause between shots. She only shot with each step his loud feet would make. She couldn't see where she was shooting, so she had to listen! He looked down and knew that what he was about to do was extremely stupid and could get him killed. 

He removed just the feet of his suit and took off his shoes, leaving him in only socks. He then moved softly through the room, watching her as she cocked her head around, listening for him. "Where are you?!" She screamed with fury, but he stayed silent until he reached her. He reached up, going to take the blindfold off, but she wasn't dumb. "Get away!" She shoved him away, aiming her gun back at him as he was knocked to the floor with a grunt. She shot out a flare, and out of habit, he aimed one right back at it, the flares meeting and exploding in the air. They were closer to her, and she screamed as she went flying back, the blindfold disintegrating from her eyes, just as Cap, Natasha, and Clint entered, Clint shooting at the man, who had a gun aimed at Tony. The arrow went through the gun and stuck to the wall.

"Don't even think about it," he growled, poising another arrow at the man, who was furious.

"You all need to leave, now!" He shouted. "This a family matter! Doesn't concern you!" 

"Then why are you here?" Cap demanded, pushing him against the wall. "You're no family."

Tony didn't pay any attention. He ran to Aria, cradling her in his arms. "Friday!" 

"She's alive and breathing! Emergency services are on their way!" The bot already knew what he was going to ask of her, and he was never more grateful.