Wow, thank you for the feedback for the first chapter! I'm glad people are liking this so far! This could become quite a long fic though for now, chapters will be shortish.

Chapter 2: Prognosis

Kneeling down beside the stricken man, Strange reached out for the Time Stone, releasing it from its place in Stark's Gauntlet. The stones, which had moved into place via the nanites in Stark's suit had shifted back to a neutral position allowing the Sorcerer to take possession of it.

The arc reactor was flickering in the chest piece of the suit. Stark was seconds from death. He didn't have much time.

"Tony…" Pepper tried to move forward again.

"Please. Let me," urged Strange. Placing the stone back into the Eye of Agamotto he wore around his neck, Strange twisted the stone, spinning it three times, focusing his magic upon Stark's failing body.

Stark's body went completely still, frozen, hard as anything, almost like ice, but without the effect of freezing.

"What did you do?" Pepper's voice broke through.

Strange shifted on his knees, his gaze directed at Stark's wife. "I've frozen his body in time. Whilst he is in this state he cannot die. His condition will not deteriorate but he doesn't have much longer to live. I can make no promises… You may still lose him."

With T'Challa's permission and Shuri's insistence, Stark's frozen body was taken via portal to Wakanda.

The portal took them straight to Shuri's lab where Stark's body was set upon an operating table in the middle of a theatre. Every Wakandan doctor and surgeon had been called in to assist, whilst junior doctors and nurses dealt with injuries from the other combatants on the field.

Outside the operating theatre waited Stark's family and friends for updates on his condition.

Keeping Stark frozen in time was putting a lot of toil on Strange's powers but if it meant saving the man's life…What mattered was giving Stark a fighting chance. His injuries were severe, fatal… Perhaps even to a point where it would be impossible to bring him back from them, no matter how hard they tried.

But Stark had just saved the entire universe with his selfless actions.

Surely the universe owed him this one thing? This one chance to live? The universe couldn't be that cruel.

Could it?

He was taken out of his thoughts by one of the surgeons who were prepping themselves for surgery. "Will you be staying?"

Strange nodded. "I'm the one keeping him alive at the moment." He looked down at his dusty and blood-stained clothes. "I'll get into scrubs. I have to remain here if we have any chance of saving Tony Stark."

Pepper was trembling in her seat. Rhodey sat next to her, an arm wrapped around her shoulders in comfort. Her face was still streaked with tears. She'd removed her armour but now they waited outside the medical unit for any news. Pepper hadn't spoken since Tony had been taken inside. They didn't know how long it had been since they'd been sitting there either.

"Morgan."

Rhodey glanced at Pepper. "She'll be fine."

"She needs to be here. I promised her I wouldn't be too long. I was just going to help –" she choked. "What if… what if I have to tell her?"

Rhodey squeezed her hands. "You won't."

"You heard him. Tony could still…" She couldn't bring herself to say the word.

"They're doing everything they can, Pep." Rhodey pulled her into a hug. "You should try to sleep."

Pepper shook her head. "No. Not while I don't know. I can't." Her eyes were fixed on the door in front of them.

"They're going to be a while yet," said a female voice, coming from the opposite direction.

Pepper raised her head from Rhodey's shoulder. Shuri, T'Challa's sister was walking along the corridor towards them.

"I've seen the initial report. His injuries are severe. He's in surgery right now. It could be hours before we hear more. Please, rest. You all need it," advised Shuri, gently.

"Not while my husband is dying!" Pepper swallowed, ignoring the voice. "I won't be able to sleep not knowing!"

Shuri inclined her head. "Very well. Would you like anything? A drink?"

"No."

"Water would be good," requested Rhodey, "even if we do not drink it and blankets. It is a bit chilly waiting here." He didn't need to add that Pepper was not going to move from her spot.

"I will arrange for water and blankets," replied Shuri. "If you need anything, the guards at the end of the corridor will contact me."

"Thank you," said Rhodey.

They were soon joined by Steve, Thor, Bruce, Clint and Peter Parker. Pepper had dozed off in that time, despite her insistence in not wanting to. She was exhausted.

"The others are waiting for news," said Steve quietly. "We told them what we've been doing the last five years… How we got everyone back. How Tony won the war…" He bowed his head. "I once accused him of never being able to lay down on the wire and make the sacrifice play…" His shoulders shrunk. "But Tony's been doing it for years… The nuke, Ultron, Thanos on Titan… And now… this…"

"You always misjudged him, Steve," said Rhodey quietly. "Only a few of us ever knew the real Tony. You judged him on his past, not on what he had become. Afghanistan changed him in more ways than one. Every experience he had made him different, more open. He started off completely selfish, big-headed and full of himself, but in the end… He showed you what he is truly capable of. He could still die. There is no guarantee he can be saved."

"We all did," murmured Clint. "I thought he'd betrayed us when we were in the Raft… I accused him of breaking us."

Rhodey winced. Tony had told him what Clint had said to him. Those words had hurt. Clint had been laying the blame of Rhodey's spine injury at Tony's feet, ignoring the fact that if Steve had tried to settle the Accords diplomatically rather than fight against them, none of this would have happened. He chose not to bite back. Now wasn't the time. "I thought you'd go home to your family, Clint."

"I was," answered the archer, "but Laura told me to stay. It's all over the news that everyone is back. It's chaotic out there. I want to see her and the kids… I sort of told her what happened. She's realised she disappeared and came back. As did all the kids. But Stark…no, Tony, is one of us. I need to be here. Nat would want me to be here too."

"I think Tony would appreciate you being here, Clint," said Rhodey sadly. "I just hope he makes it."

"He will," said Bruce quietly. "He has to."

It was nearly seven hours before Doctor Strange emerged from the operating theatre, a sombre expression on his face. He looked tired, exhausted even. His hands were trembling.

"I thought you would all be waiting," he said quietly.

"Tony?" Pepper asked quietly. There was fear in her face.

"He is still alive, in critical condition," confirmed Stephen Strange. "Using all six Infinity Stones severely burnt his right side. His chest and shoulder were most affected. We had to carry out repairs to his aorta into and out of his heart to keep blood flow going to his heart. I only lifted the spell I laid on him after that repair had been carried out. His face has burn damage. We've cleaned the area but further surgery will be required to repair the skin. The right leg has sustained a small amount of burn damage. His right lung has failed, all three lobes are burned. We are looking at possibly having to carry out a transplant but we are going to look at options to attempt to regenerate it with cells from his left lung. His right kidney remains undamaged. His liver has been half-destroyed. We hope the liver may regenerate by itself. His right arm where most of the damage was taken…" Strange hesitated before continuing, "We've had to amputate. The arm had been destroyed by the use of the stones. The bone had melted inside it and the blood vessels were ruptured. There was no way to save his arm. He is not breathing on his own and remains in a coma."

A sob erupted from Pepper's throat. Rhodey rubbed her back.

"What's the prognosis?" asked Rhodey.

"Until he is able to breathe on his own, the prognosis is not good. He is stable for now. If I hadn't frozen him on the battlefield… he would have died. He was bleeding into his chest cavity with the aorta damage. If Stark pulls through he will have a long road ahead of him. The next twenty-four hours are critical. If, in a few days, he remains stable we will have to consider a lung transplant, unless the Wakandan medicine is able to perform a miracle and heal some of the damage to his right lung. We've done all we can for now. The rest is up to him."

Pepper sniffed, wiping away the tears. "Can… can I see him?"

"Yes, you may."

Pepper walked into the room where Tony lay in bed, kept sedated in a coma. She had wanted to come in on her own. He was covered with wires, several machines aligned around his bed, beeping away, taking constant measurements of his heart, blood pressure and feeding him drugs to keep his body going. The right side of his face was covered in bandages, hiding the gruesome injury he had sustained from using the stones.

He was fully intubated with a machine helping him to breathe.

Tony's remaining arm lay on the bed, outside of the covers, his wedding ring gleaming on his ring finger. His right arm had two cannulas inserted, each for their own purposes for nutrition and drugs. There was also a cannula in his throat, inserted into his jugular vein.

He looked so small, wrapped up in tubes and wires. So pale and completely unaware of what was happening to him.

Pepper reached out and curled her fingers into his left hand. Tears welled up in her eyes.

She'd given him permission to go. She hadn't needed to. They'd been lucky. They'd built a quiet life together. This was never supposed to happen. Rogers had come with their time-travel idea and Tony had to try. He'd tried to move on, yet she'd seen him over the five years mourn for Peter. Even after Morgan had been born, Pepper had already made up her mind that if a solution was discovered that needed Tony to help bring everyone back, she wouldn't stop him. He suffered, as did everyone else in the world that had lost someone. She would support him.

She didn't regret it, even now looking at her husband in the hospital bed. Tony wouldn't have been able to rest.

She had known she might lose him by letting him go.

Stroking his hand, she leaned across and kissed him on the left side of his face.

"Please don't go," she whispered. The tears trailed down her cheeks. "I love you, Tony. We need you. We both need you."

To be continued...

Please let me know what you think!

I honestly don't know if it is possible for Strange to freeze people in time but creative liberty... The Time Stone has lots of different powers.

Tony's various injuries are quite extensive. For him to die so quickly on the battlefield hints at a lot of internal damage. I also think a lot of his vital organs would be ruined. Since the heart is on the left side of the chest it remains unaffected but it was his aorta which was partially burned would be a big problem. He has one lung which is ruined beyond repair (possibly) and having had a kidney transplant myself when I was 18 I know quite a lot about transplants in general so for Tony to potentially require a lung transplant isn't out of the ordinary. It is a potential idea I may follow up... I don't think Tony's recovery will be easy in any way. I want to make this realistic as possible and not hand-wave Tony's injuries away with magic or Wakandan technology. I want to explore what the real consequences could be in a situation like this.

Tony losing an arm... Judging by the way he looked in the film and the way his face was burnt and bloody I believe the only likelihood would be amputation. Especially since it seems Hulk's arm is severely damaged too and he only survived because he already has experience with Gamma Radiation.

Morgan will eventually make her appearance but her dad is too unwell for her to see him.

I aim to try to update weekly.

Until next time,

the-writer1988