[Tony registered it. There's a fraction of a second where Tony could see the back swing and he knew what was coming. It wasn't a lot of time, but it was enough that if he reacted immediately he might have a chance to dive out of the way. He didn't react. Joker swung and Tony set his stance. The impact was enough to make him stagger and push him back a step, but he could feel the recoil when Joker's hand connected too.

It was hard to tell what hurt more. his jaw or the fact that Joker was willing to bust his knuckles on Tony's face. It always hurt when people he came to think of as friends finally decided to take that step. It was coming--he always had it coming--but it still hurt.

And apparently he'd split his lip too.]

If it was that hopeless than you should have cut your losses.

[He was holding his ground. God knew why anymore. It wasn't like he believed that he'd won anything. But once Tony committed it was too late to pull back. Still, his voice was low, hopefully hiding that he was getting hoarse.]

We pulled a few more innocent people out of the fire, and if you didn't think I could do that, then none of you should have backed me in the first place. You knew who you were dealing with when you signed on to work with me.

[He dropped his gaze. Joker seemed to know more about him than he was comfortable with sharing. It never really came up, but there were comments, little details that were all too familiar. Right now, that just served to remind him that his chest hurt.]

And don't give me that bullshit about leaving no man behind. They were being left behind. No one was going back for them.