Tony's insomnia kicked in, but he had no where to go to cure it. Steve had an arm over his face and a hand on his stomach, one leg off the edge off the bed and the other with his knee bent and his foot braced firmly on the bed. He was a very quiet, heavy sleeper. Tony liked that. If his insomnia acted up, such as he was suffering then, he could get up and not disturb the sleeping blonde. He was working through blueprints on his laptop computer, touching the screen to make adjustments to his work. He heard the bed creak. He looked over and Steve had just rolled onto his side, both legs on the bed. He looked back at his laptop. Steve groaned and turned over again. He didn't think much of it until Steve started to mumble. He turned to look. His back was turned from him, but he looked tense. "Steve…"
He got up and walked across a soft carpet, and then onto the tile floor to the side of the bed Steve was on. His mumbling was more distinct then. "Nn…no…d-don't…"
"Steve…"
"I-I didn't…" His face was wet with sweat, his eyebrows furrowed like he was angry, or in pain. Tony went to touch him when he cried out like he was shot. Tony jumped. Steve rolled over and his head hit the ground with a loud thud. His muscles were inducing spasms like he was having a seizure. Tony sat on top of him and pinned his arms down. "Steve!"
"Get off me! Get off!" He was still very well asleep.
"Steve, wake up damnit!"
The super-soldier's eyes snapped open and he jolted up, slamming his head into Tony's chest. Tony wrapped his arms around him to reassure him that he was safe. Steve's chest moved rapidly with his breaths. He unwrapped his arms from around Steve and held his head out at arms length. "Are you okay?"
He could only nod. "Everything is fine, Steve…"
"Did I…wake you?"
"No…I've been awake…"
"Really…?" Steve wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "What time is it?"
"About 3 in the morning…"
"Gee, really?"
Tony kissed his forehead. "Sounded pretty intense…"
Steve didn't respond. His blue eyes were out of focus. "Steve? Hey, Steve…"
He gave him a slight shake. His focus returned and he flinched away. "Steve…what the hell?"
"S-sorry…I-uh…" He tried to get up but Tony pinned him down. "T-Tony…"
"Tell me what's wrong…"
"N-nothing…"
"You're stuttering! Obviously there's something wrong…Tell me!"
"Stop yelling at me!" Steve snapped. Tony reflexively put his arms up to protect himself. Steve didn't lash out at him. He lowered his arms and looked. Steve had lost focus again, staring up at the ceiling, but seeing nothing. He took Steve's head again into his hands. It was extremely wet. He pulled a hand away to look at it. It was illuminated by his Arc Reactor slightly, but could see it wasn't sweat. He jolted up quickly and turned on a lamp. Blood stained his hand. He wiped it onto his pants, not really caring about the mark it made. He grabbed the towel Steve had draped over the back of a chair and went back to his side. He lifted his head gently and placed the towel there, placing as much pressure as possible. "Steve…respond to me, Steve…this should be hurting you…"
Steve made no such attempt. He looked into his eyes, which were glossy. "Damnit, Steve…"
There was a knock at the door. "Is everything alright in there, Mr. Stark?"
"No! Call an ambulance! And quickly!"
The sound of keys and the lock clicking open was heard, and then the door opened. The manager walked in quickly, phone in hand. "What happened?"
"No questions, just hurry! He's losing blood fast!"
Five minutes later, the sound of Ambulance sirens drew people from their rooms to see what had happened. Tony's anxiety levels skyrocketed as he watched Steve be put in the back of the ambulance. "Do you want to ride with him?"
"…N-no…I need to drive my car."
The EMT nodded, then jumped into the back, and closed the doors. Tony quickly gathered their things, put on a long sleeve shirt and jacket, and tossed everything into the car. The time display was bright in the dark. He sped down the street trailing the ambulance.
At the hospital, he paced around in the hall. The doors at the end of the hall flew open. Pepper, and the Avengers strolled down the hall quick. "What happened!"
"What happened? I thought I told you what happened?"
"The real story, Tony."
"That was the real story! He fell off the bed."
Clint grimaced when he thought about how hard of a fall it had to have been. Tony continued to pace. "You think I had something to do with it? I love him too much! I would never, ever in the world think about doing something to him like that!"
"I didn't blame you, Tony…"
"Then why don't you believe me?" He stopped walking and held his hands out to his sides. "Hm? He had a nightmare, he spazzed out and fell to the floor. It was a tile floor, mind you…"
Bruce stepped forward. "Tony, you look like hell…"
"Thanks, Brucie…just what I needed to hear!" He turned around and started to pace again. The doctor stepped into the hallway. "Mr. Stark…"
Tony turned mid-stride. "Yes?"
The doctor noticed all the people, then looked back at Tony. "Come with me…"
Tony walked with the doctor into the room. "He's fine, right?"
"There wasn't any significant damage done…a slight bruise to his brain…that's why his focus was so fuzzy."
"What about the spasms?"
"Just a pinched nerve…It's a good thing he has a hard head or it could have been a lot worse…His focus may fade in and out for a couple of days, but he should be fine. We patched up his head. He's asleep now, but it shouldn't be long before he wakes up…"
Tony sighed in relief, and then grew tired. The anxiety was lifted and all that was left was an aching body. The doctor took him into Steve's room. "There's the couch there…try to get some sleep, Mr. Stark."
"Yeah…"
The doctor left and closed the door. Tony molded into the couch and fell asleep quickly, and had a dreamless sleep.
He awoke to a petite nurse staring down at him. "Are you feeling well, Mr. Stark?"
He sat up slowly, trying to remember where he was, and if he was hung over. "Uh…yeah."
"Would you like something to eat?"
"Sure, sure…whatever you have…"
She smiled slightly. "Mr. Rogers awoke a while ago and asked for breakfast…he noticed you were asleep and asked me to bring you something when you awoke…He also asked if we drugged you."
Tony chuckled, despite him remembering the night's occurrences. "Thank you…"
She left the room and closed the door. Tony got up and walked up to the bed. He placed a hand gently on Steve's arm. "Tony…"
Tony breathed in loudly. "Steve…"
Steve opened his eyes. "You were asleep…did they drug you or something?"
"No…I got here, found out you were okay and kind of...passed out."
He saw relief wash over Steve's face. "I'm glad…"
"How do you feel?"
"Okay…the pain medication is doing well."
"Not yet it's not…"
Steve turned his head to the side to look at him in curiosity. "Why do you say?"
"You're not mental yet."
"What does that mean?"
"When the medication is really working, it makes you feel like you're high. You see things, or pretty much lose your mind."
"Oh…"
"I give it a few more minutes…"
The nurse brought him a tray. "Here you are, Mr. Stark…Would you like anything Mr. Rogers?"
"No thank you…"
She left again. Tony sat on the couch and dug into the hospital version of French toast and sausage links. In the midst of eating, he looked up to see Steve staring at his own hand. And so it begins…poor Steve. He decided to have a little fun. He set the tray aside and went up to the bed. "Whatcha got there, Steve?"
"…I…I don't know…but it moves!"
"It's your hand, Steve…See, I have one too."
Steve took hold of Tony's hand, and realized he had another one of his own. "There's two!"
"I have two as well…" He held up his other hand. Steve stared in astonishment. Tony was inwardly on the floor laughing. "Do you want to see something cool?"
"Yes!"
Tony took his hand back and turned it so the back was facing Steve. "Watch closely." He bent his thumb over so it looked like it was gone. Steve's face turned to terror. "WHERE IS IT! WHERE DID IT GO!"
He grabbed Tony's hand and stared where the thumb used to be, never turning the hand over to look. "PUT IT BACK!"
Tony moved his thumb back and Steve smiled. "Oh…okay, good…"
He patted Steve on the head. "You poor, mental soul."
There was a knock on the door. Steve looked at it wildly. "IT MADE NOISE!"
"Come in!"
It opened and on cue, the crew waltzed in. Steve started to laugh. "THEY WALKED THROUGH THE THING!"
"Pain meds?" Bruce asked.
"Big time…"
They all assembled around the bed. "HELLO PEOPLES THAT WALKED THROUGH THE PORTAL THING…"
Clint turned around and laughed. Natasha slapped his arm. "Hi, Steve…"
"WHUUUT? MY NAME IS STEVE? STEEEVEEE…"
She face palmed. Bruce kept his composure. "How much did they give him?"
"I have no clue…"
Steve started to bounce on the bed, and started to click random buttons on the TV remote. "It's a start…he's using the TV correctly."
The channels flipped left and right. Tony grabbed the remote and flipped back a channel where footage of the night before was being played. Steve stared at the screen. His face looked serious, for all of about five seconds. "HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE BOX UP THERE?"
"I climbed…" He kept his eyes on the screen, frowning deeply. The others watched it too. Steve smashed his elbow against the table and flipped out. "FFFUUUCCKK…"
Tony lost his total composure and started to laugh. It was the first time he'd ever heard him say the word, out loud, and quite the meaning of loud. Clint was laughing too. Natasha and Bruce were staring at him. "MY ELBOW…SHIT…THAT FUCKING HURT. SSSHIIT."
"Wow Captain, never knew you had it in ya," Clint said.
"AAAHHH MY FUCKING-" Tony covered Steve's mouth with his hand.
"Shhh…stop yelling, Steve…or they'll sedate you…"
Steve licked Tony's hand. "EW! Steve!"
The blonde had a large grin on his face. "FU-"
Tony covered his mouth again. "You're a sonofabitch, you know that?"
He broke between Tony's fingers with his tongue. Tony jerked it away and wiped it on his pants. "That's disgusting, Steve…"
"…HOLY SH-"
Tony stopped him with his mouth. The others turned away. The little nurse walked in and stood staring, head to the side like "Awwwww that's so cute!" and then left. Tony pulled away. Steve remained silent. "Better?"
"Mhm…thanks, Tony."
"Do you have your own mind back?"
"I think so…"
"Good."
The others turned back. "How much did they put you on, Steve?"
"Not sure…the dosage is up there somewhere…"
Clint and Natasha presented him with Hershey's Kisses. "Something sugary for you…it might help."
"Hey…thanks."
Natasha looked at Tony. "So, are you still going to go off on some adventure somewhere?"
"It depends if Steve's up to it…"
Steve looked up from the bag of Kisses. "That's right! I'm sorry, Tony! Your trip…"
"Don't be sorry, it wasn't your fault…"
"I don't mind if you still want to go somewhere…I'll be more careful where I land next time."
"I won't let the floor be tile next time…"
Steve smiled, and then his face went blank. Clint and Natasha looked at Tony. He frowned. "He said this will happen for a few days…lose focus…He'll be in and out all the time…"
"Shouldn't you bring him home, then? He could get violent…"
"He won't…it's just losing his focus…"
Steve laid his head back and placed an arm over his eyes. Tony sat on the edge of the bed and took Steve's free hand, stroking that back of it with his thumb. "Tony…I still want to go with you…anywhere you want…"
"We will, Steve…as soon as you can leave the hospital…"
The doctor walked in. "Which is soon…Today, actually."
"Really?"
"He's fine…We'll send you with some pain killers incase he needs them, but other than that…He's good to go."
Tony looked at Steve and smiled.
