So, I got a prompt from an anon on my tumblr, man-without-a-heart. And this happened.

Prompt: Tony is involved in a serious car accident or an accident with one of his suits and he survives, but he has permanent damage to his brain or spine.

The battle didn't look like it would ever end. They weren't doing too well, either. Comm lines went dead a good twenty minutes ago. A few minutes before that Natasha had headed into the danger zone, and no one knew what happened to her. Hawkeye had run out of arrows. Hulk was on a rampage in the wrong part of town. Thor and the Captain were taking a huge beating on the ground, and he was playing cat and mouse around the buildings, almost crashing a good ten times.

Weaving around corners and through parking decks at break neck speed was a precarious thing to do, even when you were a genius who could split your attention a million different ways.

It wasn't him that caused the building to collapse atop him and his followers. He'd shot through a window, bracing himself for the repetitive impact to come. Jarvis did not even have ample time to warn Tony. There was just a boom and then several tons came crashing down on him.

—-

They say that you'll never die in a dream; you wake up right before you actually die. If that were so, why had he not woken up?

It was the same thing, over and over and over again. The rush of adrenaline. A loud crash. Then, torturously slow, the world fell on top of him. Smeared his body to the ground like a bug under a shoe.

And not once did he wake up.

—-

Nothing was the same anymore.

For the past three weeks, the Avengers had seemingly taken up a permanent residency in the SHIELD medical ward. Originally, there were three occupied beds and three worried friends huddled nearby. Gradually, though, it had become just five solemn figures surrounding one bed. There was not much any of them could do but watch as Tony drifted on the edge of death and hope he made it out alive.

—-

"D-damn it," A soft voice croaked, startling the five well avengers to awaken. "Thought maybe… There'd be a golden palace, or somethin', in Heaven. Not you guys."

"God isn't taking you from us yet, Stark." The captain said with a relieved smile, patting the other's shoulder. He turned to the others who were all just as happy, chattering softly. "I'll go get a doctor. You guys stay here." Make sure he doesn't die.

Steve left the room as Bruce was helping Tony take a drink, shutting the door softly. He leant against the wall, shaking a bit and worried about what would come next. When would anyone tell Tony about the aftermath of the battle? Who would do it? Him? Fury? Some random doctor?

Who would crush Tony's soul?

Everyone was ushered from the room when the doctor returned. Tony lay there as patiently as he could, not able to move much anyway because of parts of his body still casted. The doctor, instead of holding some cliche clipboard, held a tablet in her hands, flipping through notes and other such information on Tony's condition. Her mouth was a thin line on her already unhappy face as she spoke.

"You're lucky we were able to keep you alive, ." She said, looking up from the tablet. "It took nothing short of a miracle. But-"

"I've made it out of worse." The engineer inserted quickly into the conversation.

"-we have some… troubling news."

That got his attention. "Troubling news? What? Is my suit busted 'beyond repair'? I can fix that."

"There was… Extensive damage done to your spinal chord when the building collapsed." The doctor spoke cautiously, every word being absorbed by the genius and he couldn't think straight, head and heart pounding. "We did what we could; you may even be able to do more. But… For now, we can put you in physical therapy to help you regain the use of your legs."

"… Get the fuck out."

This caught the physician off guard, eyes widening. "Excuse me?"

Tony's voice was firmer this time, eyes dangerously dark. "Get. The fuck. Out." She exited then with a reprimanding look, leaving the man to his lonesome until his teammates- his ex-teammates should return.

They came back and he already had blueprints drawn up to solve his 'problem'.