The Fall Of The Empire (April 2000)

“The Secret Empire has been operating out of this Office building for years most likely, Phil Coulson said. “It would have been preferable to capture The Mandarin and not just Mr. Lane,” He said. “Will your agent...uh, Miss Blackwell be alright?” Steve Rogers asked. He was in his newest suit that Tony had designed. There was very little red in it these days. Kate Blackwell was being loaded into an ambulance nearby. She had fought them but Steve had managed to choke her out with Logan’s help. His cheek was badly bruised and he felt as if he had bruises everywhere. She had fought hard to repel them but Logan had broken her right arm and that gave Steve the opening he needed.

Dozens of police and firemen were already there along with the FBI and SHIELD agents who were trying to make sense of the carnage. The building was a wreck and there were several men and women wounded as well as dead. The Mandarin had used them as human shields. Isabella had hesitated and had been hit hard by some kind of energy blast. It was an Illusion created by the Mastermind but because they believed it existed, it certainly didn’t feel like just an illusion. It was a canon. Her suit held though it had thrown her fairly far. She was out of her suit and sitting on one of the gurneys as paramedics looked her over. Smoke still billowed out above the building though the Fire Department had gotten the flames out. They were still going through it now however, to ensure there were no more hotspots. Several bodies were covered by white sheets or black plastic here and there around the parking lot and there was a massing group of civilians that had gathered to gauk. The police held them back though and the FBI were trying to get answers from everyone.

Doctor Strange had already departed and Logan stood on some of the rubble as he looked in the direction that they had last seen the Mandarin. He had wanted to kill him but as usual, he managed to get away. Campbell Lane, aka, the mastermind had not gotten away. The Mandarin had sacrificed him as well to affect his escape. As a Result the man drooled and his eyes held no expression or emotion as he lay on one of the gurneys. He was catatonic and unable to respond to anyone. Tony was still in his suit though his face mask was flipped up.

“She’s got very low blood pressure Mr. Stark,” One of the paramedics said. Isabella looked pale but she smiled at Tony when he looked at her. “We’re going to take her in for observation ok?” He told him. They had said the same to Isabella a bit ago. Tony came up to her.

“You really like to make me worry, don’t you?” He said as he put his gauntleted hand on her cheek. The hit was a very violent one but luckily Tony’s new suit modifications had softened the blow. Otherwise she could very well be dead.

Kate was fading in and out of consciousness. Her head throbbed and a sharp pain shot up her right arm every time she tried to move it. She saw Phil's face as he walked over and looked at her. He touched her face and she thought she heard him tell her she was going to be alright, but then everything went black. 

Kate Blackwell had been an upcoming SHIELD agent. Both of her parents had also worked for SHIELD, but they had died during a mission when she was 16. Kate had been trained to be a pilot and flew fighter jets, but was also trained in hand to hand field combat. Phil had taken her under his wing after her parents had died and had trained her himself. It had been during a mission that Mandarin had gotten a hold of Kate and he had used Mastermind to control her. Kate had been fully aware of everything she had been doing the past two years, but she had been unable to stop herself. They had forced her to fight and to give them inside information about SHIELD and the Avengers. However, now that Mastermind's control of her was broken no one really knew if there would be any permanent affects. They would just have to wait and see.

Isabella had been feeling strange the past three days. Something just felt...off, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She told herself she was just tired...overworked and needed some rest. However, hesitating during the fight had not been like her and it had nearly cost her her life. Thankfully, Tony's new suit modifications had helped her survive. 

As the paramedics looked her over she began to feel weak and shaky. She didn't argue with the paramedic when he told her she needed to go to the hospital. She forced a small smile at Tony when he walked over, although he would be able to tell something was wrong. "It's our thing. You worry about me...and I worry about you. I'll be fine."

"I'll meet you there," Tony said. He didn't like how pale she looked. The paramedics put her into the truck and Tony hit the auto return on her suit and it took off into the air to head back to the tower. Steve had seen Logan. He just stood there like a statue. "Is...everything alright?" He asked. Logan had taken Ava's leaving to go be with Frank hard. He had since gotten over it but since then he had a darkness that seemed to hover over him. He was more...violent and impatient with those that they fought. And it took alot from everyone to keep on level-headed. "He'll be back. You should have let me kill him while I had the chance," Logan spat as he unwrapped a new cigar he had in his pocket. He also had a new suit. It was almost all black now. He lit the cigar and took a few puffs from it before he turned and headed down off of the rubble he had been standing on.

Two hours later...

Tony listened as the doctor told them what was going on with Isabella. They had first told them that she was pregnant. And if that wasn't a big enough hit, the doctor told them that she had a severe case of preemclampsia and that if she didn't abort the baby they both might not survive. He had given them options and then left them there to talk.

"If they really want to make something better, maybe they should work on birth control for Christ sake!" Tony said angrily. This news had completely unsettled him. He had sent his suit home and was just in his street clothes now. A black sweater, blue jeans and tennis shoes. He shifted to sit beside Isabella.

He had seen the initial news of her being pregnant. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. He had seen the doctors face though and knew there was more to it than that. Isabella had taken his hand and squeezed it in her excitement but then she saw both of their faces and asked what was wrong. He knew by her own expression that she wasn't completely convinced it was a lost cause. The doctor hadn't been specific as of the danger but he could guess what it might be.

Isabella was thrilled to discover she was pregnant. That explained so much and she couldn't believe she hadn't realized that she was pregnant. She had been rather distracted and busy lately though. She knew that pre-eclampsia could be extremely dangerous, but the thought of aborting her unborn child did not sit well with Isabella. She was hooked up to a BP monitor and Tony would be able to see that it was high. Isabella didn't look well, but she was trying to remain positive.

"There has got to be something else we can do..."

Tony let her talk for the moment but more and more doubt came into his head as he saw the readings. He was no doctor but he didn't like what he was seeing. "Well, he said we could get you on medication and best rest. We can try that but your blood pressure is extremely high. There...there might be too much damage babe. And I'm not willing to risk you like this," Tony said but then saw her look. "Hey, I'm with you, if we can fix it than we fix it ok?" Tony said with a smile and he gave her a kiss when she looked up at him. A few kisses.

The doctor agreed to try the bed rest and medication, but Isabella was to remain in the hospital. However, through the night her blood pressure continued to rise until it was at an extremely dangerous level. Isabella was in agonizing pain and was fading in and out of consciousness. The doctor spoke to Tony outside the room. "There is nothing more we can do. If we wait any longer Isabella will die. I need your permission to perform the abortion."

"Do it," Tony said without hesitation.

A few hours later...

Tony sat beside Isabella as he waited for her to regain consciousness. She was in the recovery room and hooked up to machines and IVs. Her heart rate was beeping away and they had a blood pressure cuff on her arm because they came in often to take it. Her color had returned but Tony worried how she was going to take what the doctor had told him. No more babies...He honestly had no issue with that but he knew Isabella might. He stood by the window and looked out over the parking lot. He knew they both needed a break. The three of them did. Serena was a handful and it had been a while since he and Isabella had any real alone time. He couldnt remember when they last went out on her Yacht. They'd have to remedy that.

Isabella's eyes slowly began to flutter open. She flinched against the harsh, fluorescent lights above her. She could hear the steady beeping of the heart rate monitor, but as her eyes adjusted and she looked around, she realized she was in a different room. She saw Tony standing over by the window and when he realized she was awake he quickly walked over to her.

"What happened?"

Tony smiled as he saw her eyes. Straight to the point of it. "You bottomed out. And I made the decision to remove the baby before you both died," Tony said plainly. There was nothing else he could have said. Straight to the point of it. He repeated in his head. "You're BP stabilized a while ago," He added in hopes it might lessen the blow.

Isabella said nothing for a while after Tony told her that they had to abort the baby. She felt a mixture of emotions swirling around inside of her. She had been excited about having another baby, but she knew there had been no other choice. She also had Serena and that was more than some people had.

"Well, we can always try for another baby..."

Tony cringed inwardly as he moved to sit down on the side of the bed. "That's...not going to happen. The doctor said that there was going to be so much scarring that the chances of us having another baby were very low," Tony said. But we do have Serena. And she's a handful all by herself," Tony said.

Isabella just looked at Tony for a few moments as her mind tried to comprehend everything he had just told her. She felt herself cracking and on the verge of tears, but she would not let them fall. She hated crying in front of Tony. Being the only woman on the Avenger's team meant that she needed to prove herself more than they did. As a result she rarely cried anymore...at least in front of anyone. Instead, she simply felt...numb. She nodded and looked down. "Yes...she is."

"Are ya hungry? I can get you something?" He said when she just looked at him he knew by how wet her eyes were that she was on the verge. "I'll...go see if anything looks appetizing," he said and moved to get up. "I love you Isabella, I love my family," Tony said and then he closed the door behind him. He knew she would not like it, if he saw her cry.