Tony Stark X Reader *COMPLETED #WATTYS2021

KILLIAN

*Tony's POV

I've been trying to free myself from the zip ties. 

"Okay." I said as I wriggle my wrist. Then, I saw a girl turned around and saw Maya.

"It's just like old times, huh?"

"Oh, yeah. With zip ties. It's a ball." I said.

"It wasn't my idea."

"Okay. So you took Killian's card."

"I took his money."

"And here you are 13 years later, in a dungeon."

"No."

"Yeah."

"No, you're in a dungeon. I'm free to go."

"Yeah?" Then, she sighed and went down and make my way near me.

"A lot has happened, Tony. But I'm close. Extremis is practically stabilized."

"I'm telling you it isn't." I shouted. But then, I lower my voice. "I'm on the street. People are going bang. They're painting the walls. Maya, you're kidding yourself."

"Then help me fix it." She said as she showed me a card with 'You know who I am' note. Then, she flipped it and saw equations written.

"Did I do that?" I asked.

"Yes."

"I remember the night, not the morning. Is this what you've been chasing around?"

"You don't remember?"

"I can't help you. You used to have a moral psychology. You used to have ideals. You wanted to help people. Now look at you. I get to wake up every morning with someone who still has their soul." I said as her eyes waters with tears. "Get me out of here. Come on." I said. Just then, she walked away as we heard a new voice. I looked at it and saw Aldrich Killian, going down the stairs while holding a briefcase.

"You know what my old man used to say to me? One of his favorite of many sayings... "The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."." Killian said.

"You're not still pissed off about the Switzerland thing, are you?" I said as he put the briefcase down the table and faced me.

"How can I be pissed at you, Tony? I'm here to thank you. You gave me the greatest gift that anybody's ever given me. Desperation. If you think back to Switzerland, you said you'd meet me on the rooftop, right? Well, for the first 20 minutes, I actually thought you'd show up. And the next hour... I considered taking that one-step shortcut to the lobby. If you know what I mean." He said as he walked near me.

"Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what happened to the first mouse."

"But as I looked out over that city, nobody knew I was there, nobody could see me, no one was even looking. I had a thought that would guide me for years to come. Anonymity, Tony. Thanks to you, it's been my mantra ever since. Right? You simply rule from behind the scenes. Because the second you give evil a face, a bin Laden, a Gaddafi, a Mandarin, you hand the people a target."

"You're something else." Then, he sat in a chair, in front of his suitcase and slowly opening the case.

"You have met him, I assume?"

"Yes. Sir Laurence Oblivier."

"I know he's a little over the top sometimes. It's not entirely my fault. He has a tenden... He's a stage actor. They say his Lear was the toast of Croydon, wherever that is. Anyway, the point is, ever since that big dude with the hammer fell out of the sky, subtlety has kind of had its day."