Author's Note & Warnings: This story takes up right where Thermobiosis left, but should also work as a stand-alone. It's a rather weird one, though. There'll be lots of medical content in the following chapters, some of which I wouldn't recommend to the most squeamish, and which is entirely based on obsessive online research - I've got nothing to do with the medical field. This is an entirely gen/friendship story, so no romance here. Also, there's no "back to status quo by the end of the fic" guarantee, either. Permanent things will happen, so you could say that this goes AU. This is unbeta'd, too. And I'm ESL. And smoking is bad for your health. Don't say you haven't been warned.


techno-

Technology, especially its impact or implications.

[Greek tekhnē, art, craft.]

-biosis

A mode of life.

[Greek biōsis, mode of life.]


1.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Gah. How was he supposed to sleep? The heart monitor was driving him nuts. Not that he hadn't listened to that sound often enough before this, but the sound was such a huge cliche that it almost made him expect he was about to flatline any second.

Tony sat up and turned the volume down. There. Better.

Rhodey was already snoring in the bed next to his, but Tony had too much on his mind. They were both in the hospital due to an explosion at Stark Industries two days ago. Tony was convinced it had been sabotage. He was still waiting for any news from his people who were investigating it, but that didn't keep him from speculating. Who would've wanted to blow up his assembly plant? What were they after, when they hadn't even contacted him or left any kind of a note?

He lay in his bed, eyes closed but all awake, for what felt like at least an hour.

Just when he had finally drifted to a light sleep, footsteps entering the room dragged him to wakefulness again. Most likely it was a night nurse, coming to check on them.

The steps didn't stop at Rhodey's bed, which was closer to the door, but continued straight to Tony's. To his disappointment, it wasn't a pretty girl, but a man, one that he hadn't seen before. Ash-colored hair, medium height, medium build, about Tony's age - definitely not a very interesting-looking person. He turned on the bedside lamp, and closed the privacy curtains around Tony's bed.

"Hey, you're new," Tony greeted him, to let him know that he was awake.

"Well, not exactly," the man - definitely a nurse, not a doctor, since he wasn't wearing a lab coat but scrubs - answered casually. "I've been around a few years. I'm Dan. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Stark." As he spoke, he produced a syringe from his pocket and injected the contents into Tony's IV.

"What was that for?" Tony asked.

"Just some antibiotics. There may be some passing side-effects, but that's nothing you need to worry about," Dan said, and glanced at his wristwatch.

Something about the situation struck Tony as slightly odd, but maybe he was just being paranoid, thanks to spending the last hour or so thinking about explosions and sabotage. Then again, maybe he wasn't. He was starting to feel a weird tingling in his limbs, something that he was prepared to bet wasn't a "side-effect of antibiotics".

Tony opened his mouth to protest, but Dan placed a hand over it before he got a word out.

"Everything's looking all right, I'm sure you'll be good as new in no time. Maybe they'll even discharge you tomorrow," Dan said, his voice cheerful and loud enough to cover Tony's attempts to mumble something past the palm covering half his face.

Tony knew Rhodey was sleeping right next to him, and Happy was standing guard outside the door. All he had to do was make enough noise to catch their attention - but he didn't seem to be getting there. As he tried to struggle against the unexpected assault, he realized he couldn't move his hands or feet anymore. His frantic attempts lead to nothing but a few weak twitches. The feeling was horribly familiar. He could almost see Obadiah Stane standing over him, holding the arc reactor...

Dan took his hand off Tony's mouth, but Tony couldn't make a sound anymore.

"There's just one more thing I need to do before I leave you alone," Dan said, his tone unchanged. He leaned closer, lifted aside the sheets, and opened Tony's hospital gown to reveal his chest. He took a moment to study the arc reactor, looking at it so closely that his face almost touched it, tracking its edges with long, thin fingers. Then, he grabbed the rim and twisted. He picked the wrong direction first, clearly trying to figure out how the mechanism worked. Of course, the next thing he tried was the right direction. He pulled the device out with a soft click, and unplugged it.

This time, Tony couldn't even gasp. Instead, he felt his breathing grow weaker and slower despite the overwhelming panic filling his mind. His heart was pounding madly beneath the empty socket in his chest, but he'd been helpful enough to mute the EKG monitor himself, so there was no way anyone would hear anything out of the ordinary.

"That wasn't too bad, now, was it?" Dan asked, as he pocketed the arc reactor. His face was blank and emotionless, no grin of triumph, no wicked sneer, nothing. He pulled the covers all the way up to Tony's chin.

"Good night, Mr. Stark," Dan said, and closed Tony's eyelids.

Tony heard him open the curtains around the bed and walk away in perfectly unhurried, inconspicuous steps.

He was already starting to feel the intense pain of the shrapnel pressing against his heart. How long had he lasted the last time? Ten minutes? Fifteen? This time, the shrapnel was even closer, and he wouldn't have as long.

The only question was, which would kill him first, the shrapnel or the paralysis. His chest was barely rising anymore. Even though he was starting to feel lightheaded from the lack of oxygen, there was nothing he could do to get more air.

His body was shutting down around him, and he was perfectly conscious and able to feel it all.

God, the pain!

This had to be a nightmare.


Happy was tired.

Maybe he should've called in someone else from Tony's security team. There had been no need for him to be the one doing the night shift, but he had chosen to do it anyway. He hadn't been able to sleep a whole lot last night, so he had taken a long nap during the day, and he had figured he could just as well stay here overnight and make himself useful.

The night was as uneventful as they ever were. Rhodey and Tony talked for some time before falling silent and going to sleep. After that, nothing happened, until at around ten to one, when a male nurse showed up. Happy nodded and grunted a greeting to him, and he smiled in return.

The nurse stayed in the room for about five minutes. Happy heard him have short conversation with Tony. The few words he could make out sounded like the typical small talk.

"Everything all right in there?" Happy asked the nurse once he left the room.

"Yes, everything's just fine," he answered, and walked away.

It struck Happy as slightly strange that the nurse didn't visit any of the other rooms, but walked straight to the end of the corridor and around the corner, out of sight.

Happy stood up and entered Rhodey and Tony's room. Everything looked perfectly normal, both men were sound asleep. Still, Happy had a hunch, a nagging feeling, that something wasn't the way it was supposed to be.

He could hear Rhodey snoring peacefully, and the nurse had only talked to Tony. He walked over to Tony's bed.

At a quick glance, Tony seemed to be sleeping, too, but he was awfully silent - Happy had heard the racket he could make when he had passed out, drunk. He turned on the light and looked more closely.

Tony's lips were bluish, and he was barely breathing. Happy pressed the call button instantly, several times, and shouted for help, just to be sure. He heard Rhodey shift in the next bed, and mumble a sleepy "What's going on?"

That was a really good question - what the hell had happened here? Had the nurse poisoned Tony? He looked at the heart monitor screen. Not that he could understand half of the stuff, but he could see that the pulse rate was absurdly fast.

Happy looked at Tony again, and felt a sneaking suspicion that sent a chill down his spine. He lifted the covers. Tony's upper body was bare - and the arc reactor was gone.

"Someone took the arc reactor," Happy answered Rhodey.

He had already wasted too much time. There wasn't much the doctors could do if Tony didn't get the device back. He dashed out of the room, almost running into the nurse who had come to see what the problem was, and around the corner, where the suspicious male nurse had gone. It lead to a long corridor, and Happy could just see a glimpse of a scrub-clad figure disappearing through the glass doors at the far end.

He ran as fast as he could, and was able to keep the nurse in sight. Happy was actually gaining in on him, since he was just walking at a casual pace. Unfortunately, once Happy got too close, the nurse noticed him, and started running as well. That left no room for guessing, he really was the bad guy here.

The villain started taking odd turns on his way through the winding corridors and stairways of the hospital, obviously trying to trick Happy, but Happy was no stranger to games like this, and stayed on the trail. Without taking his eyes off his target, he got out his cell phone, and called Pepper. She had gone home to sleep, but he knew she would want to be here.

She answered him with a tired "Yes, Happy, what is it?"

"Someone's tried to kill Tony," Happy said plainly. "I'm following them right now."

"Kill him? Oh God, what happened? Is he all right?"

Happy really hadn't got time for a longer conversation, so he simply said, "I don't know. You better get over here," and hung up. He put away his phone, and pulled out his pistol.

He had been trying to maintain some sort of a general sense of where they were, and he was convinced that the last stairs they had descended had brought them to the ground floor. The villain opened a door to the left, and disappeared from view.

When Happy reached the door, he saw that the corridor it lead to was empty, with no sign of where the nurse might have gone - but there was a door to the right with an emergency exit sign. Happy went through it, and found himself nowhere near to the hospital entrance familiar to him, but in a concrete-covered, dimly lit area between several high buildings. There were a few trucks parked there, and dumpsters by the walls.

The villain was clearly headed for a van just some fifty yards away from him. Now that they were outside, and there was no one else anywhere in sight, Happy took aim and fired. His first shot missed, but the second hit his target square in the knee. The bad guy fell to the ground, and before he'd managed to even try to get up again, Happy had reached him and grabbed him in an armlock.

A lot sooner than Happy would've expected, the assassin got his bearings and reacted, using the element of surprise to wrench his way out of Happy's hold, and to reach for the gun. Hand-to-hand combat was what Happy was best at, being an ex-boxer. He dropped the gun, and kicked it away from them. His opponent didn't go for it, but instead, stuck to the close combat. He was experienced, too. Of course, the whole operation had been so smooth that Happy was sure the man had to be a professional.

They were evenly matched, and it seemed the fistfight could go on for a long time. Time was exactly what Happy didn't have. He had already spotted the recognizable shape of the arc reactor in the assassin's pocket, and he concentrated on getting his hands on it. He had to let his guard down to do that, and he took a few pretty bad blows, but he didn't let those slow him down. He was able to plunge his hand into the other man's pocket, and to grab the reactor.

Although Happy wanted nothing more than to capture this crook and to give him his due, that would take time, and there was always the possibility that he'd lose the fight. Tony had already been without the reactor for far too many minutes. With one final punch and a push, Happy separated himself from his opponent, and started running back towards the emergency exit.

He had almost reached the door, when he heard a bang, and a sharp pain tore through his right side. His knees went weak, but he bit his teeth together and was able to stay upright. He couldn't stop, not now. With one hand pressed against his bleeding side, the other clutching the arc reactor, he kept going, no longer running, but at least he was still moving.

He reached the door. He wasn't entirely sure of his location, but a few turns took him to a familiar-looking corridor, and from there, he could find his way to the main entrance.

The lobby was almost empty. Happy made it to the information desk, and set the arc reactor on the counter.

The bored-looking woman behind the desk looked up, and did a double take. "Sir? Sit down and take it easy, I'm calling the trauma team," she said, already reaching for the phone.

"No, no," Happy said quickly, leaning on the desk to stay on his feet. "You've got to get this device to Tony Stark right now, or he's going to die," he motioned at the reactor.

The woman eyed him suspiciously. Right, Happy could see how this might look odd, a man who'd obviously been beaten and shot showing up with some weird gizmo, telling them to take it to Mr. Stark.

"Call his room. They'll vouch for me," he added.

She was still frowning, but she made the call, and in less than a minute, she had given the arc reactor to a hospital worker, who headed towards Tony's room, taking running steps.

Happy let go of the counter and sank to the floor, one hand still pressed over his side, which hurt like hell. His shirt was soaked in blood.

He'd done all he could. He could only hope he'd been fast enough.