Riiiiing Riiiing

"I don't believe it."

Tony Stark removed his welding mask, staring in disbelief at his phone, as his friends looked up from their own projects.

"What? Who is it? Oh, is it S.H.I.E.L.D.? Do they need you to fix something? If it is you have to take me along again. They didn't answer all my questions last time."

Riiiiing Riiiiing

"No... It's Stane."

"…"

"…"

Riiiiing Riiiiing

Rhodey gestured towards the phone. "Well? Are you going to answer it?"

Seconds dragged on as he continued to stare at the device in his hand. Finally he answered.

"What do you want Obadiah?"

"Stark! Listen, it's Whitney, she's gone mad and is after me again. She took down some guards and stole their weapons. I thought this was over. I thought you cured her."

Tony twisted his face in pure confusion. Stane's heavy breath and panicked but hush tone obviously gave away that he had been chased, but by Whitney again? It seemed impossible, unless…

"…It's a relapse."

"What?"

"This has to be a relapse. The ore from my heart monitor mustn't have been enough to clean her entire system."

"Then what should we do?"

He glanced over at Rhodey and Pepper, both who had gone quiet as they watched him on the phone. He wracked his brain for a solution, since getting more ore wasn't a current option.

"Maybe…maybe a trigger. Something familiar." There were risks, but it had to be worth it. "I'll be right over, just stay where you are." He didn't wait for a reply.

xXxXx

He was on a mission with a fair idea what he had to do. Stark tower was now mostly empty after the standard evacuation, save for a couple employees who stood strong by their desks. After Rhodey's suggestion he entered the building already armoured up to protect himself from any sort of surprise attack or trap, there was no real conformation on what was going on.
As he marched through the first level of the building his first objective was the security centre. He had minimal conflict with others, even when he saw Stane's personal bodyguard watching each of the screens. He just took one look at him and left the room. Tony's eyes scanned over each screen, until they rested on a set showing an upper level used mainly for storage, where Whitney was opening down each door one by one.

"What is she doing?" Looking to another set of cameras, he could see each and every door was open. She was looking for Obadiah, one room at a time. Tony shook his head, moving to the camera controls and shutting down power to all of them. With all the eyes in the building turned away, it was time to stop Whitney, hopefully without excessive force.

Reaching the stairwell he didn't waste any time flying up each flight, each door was locked with a keypad but Whitney obviously knew each and every code. He had to get to her before she got to Stane, before she did something she'd regret.
Finally he reached the level where the blond was working away at each door. He returned the armour to its back-pack form, believing that if Whitney could just get a look at his face she may remember and stop what she was doing.
He carefully inched around the corner, spying the girl looking through one of the rooms before moving to the last door. In her left hand was a weapon most likely stolen from one of the store rooms, her other hand began to move toward the keypad…

"Whitney! Whitney, it's me Tony, remember?" He put his hands up in an effort to show he meant no harm. She only slightly turned her head to the side to glace at him, hand hovering over the keypad. He took a step forward, holding a crouched defensive stand, and when she made no counter, he continued forward. He was barely a meter away when he spoke again.

"Look, it's alright. You're just confused. Let's just put down the weapon and-"

He froze, now staring down the barrel of the stolen gun. It was nothing fancy, just a basic live round hand gun, but without the suit on he was susceptible to any sort of weapon. He twitched.

"Whitne-"

He just barely registered the sound echoing around and down the corridor. Whitney's free hand moved back to type on the keypad.
Most of his mind had become shock, only a small part of sense and instinct activating extremis to protect him from further harm. As the last door slid open instinct continued on, flying his now armoured form into Whitney and right into the back wall of the room. Taking the gun from the unconscious girl, he turned to see Stane cowering by the wall closest to the door, wide-eyed with shock. He exited the room, barely muttering 'Watch her' to the man as he made his way to the roof. He ignored the buzz of the communication link, favouring to block everything but the navigation system. He needed to get back to his lab. Immediately.

xXxXxXx

…

Now away from everyone, he released a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. His whole chest shuddered with the action, and his trembling hands fumbled about as he tried to comprehend.

"C- computer, Run a full medical scan."

"Anylising…Scan complete. Wearer has been hit with a projectile discharged from a fire arm. No damage to internal organs detected, but projectile has become lodged within the wearer's spinal column, effectively and irreversibly disabling the wearer's legs. General bleeding is also severe. Immediate medical attention is suggested."

"Shiiiii-"

Throwing his head back he griped at his shirt, damp with the blood that had begun to pool. He screwed up his eyes in a desperate effort to move his feet, but all he got was a shot of pain climbing up his neck, a sarcastic mumble from his immobile legs.

After everything that had happened, he almost had to laugh out loud. The one thing he could think of at that moment was;

"I really shouldn't have gotten out of bed today."

AN: In the original Iron Man comics, Tony was once shot by an ex-girlfriend, causing him to become paralyzed. Aw Yeah. So I can take requests here if there's any events you want Tony to go through, just remember they have to be cannon to any other versions of Iron Man. I've got another comic based one and a movie based one planned.