Tony curled up on a sofa in the library. He felt confident that no one would think to look for him there. All he wanted to do was rest. He was going to close his eyes for a little while. He didn't want to think what he needed to do in order to sort things out with Pepper and Bruce. How to get out of this mess he got himself into. Before he knew it, he has fallen asleep, complete exhaustion overriding his restless mind.

The wormhole. All he could see was the giant wormhole in the sky. He knew what he had to do. He had to close it, no matter what. No matter the cost, the price, the devastation it would leave. That was the only way he could keep Pepper safe. She would understand. If only he could say goodbye. If only he could explain. The phone keep ringing and ringing. He could see the explosions around him, like hell's gate. He just reminded himself, he needed to stop it. He had to stop it. Or everyone he knew, loved, cared about would be dead and he'd be blaming himself for one more thing. And then there was just silence. Terrifying silence. He could not breathe. There was no oxygen. Just like being underwater, like the water torture in Afghanistan. Slowly drowning…

"Miss Potts, I am sorry to disturb you at such a late hour but I believe that sir requires some urgent assistance. His vital signs indicate that he is in a great deal of distress and he has been calling for you." Pepper put on the night light and slipped her bare feet into flip flops.

"Where is he, Jarvis?" She asked quickly, her whisper was sharp and concern had driven out any sleepy haze.

Upon entering the library, Pepper was immediately drawn to the dark figure on the sofa. She could hear Tony tossing and turning in his sleep.

"Not another nightmare..." She muttered under her breath, looking for a light switch. As she stumbled in the dark, she saw her surroundings becoming lighter, not too bright, but comfortable. "Thank you, Jarvis." She approached Tony carefully, not wanting to scare or distress him any further. "Tony, wake up. You're having a bad dream." She put her arm on his shoulder and shook him gently. She watched his eyes snap open. They were initially unfocused, darting around the room before they rested on her face.

"I tried to call. I wanted to explain. I'm sorry. I just mess everything up…" He explained in one breath and swallowed, trying to get his mind up to speed.

Pepper pressed her finger gently against Tony's lips. "It's okay. You don't have to explain anything. Just..try to relax, Tony." Pepper was acutely aware how quickly Tony was breathing. He was pale and covered in a cold sweat. She considered calling Bruce, but then reassured herself that this had happened before. Many times, in fact. But the initial fear she had at the state he was in every time woke from these nightmares made her wonder if she was doing all she could.

"It'll pass, Tony. It always does... It was just a nightmare. You're..." She yawned as she allowed herself to calm as well, knowing he was safe. "...safe now."


Tony really awoke in the bedroom. He had a vague recollection of Pepper coaxing him out of the library last night. Jarvis must have called her. Judging from the absence of Pepper and the bright light coming in through the window, Tony deduced that it was later in the day. It looked like he finally managed to get some sleep. 'Hey, maybe I'm finally getting somewhere.' Tony thought. Feeling slightly more optimistic, Tony made his way to the kitchen to be surrounded by the usual pandemonium.

Natasha and Clint were discussing something loudly, both gesticulating vividly. It was always hard to tell if they were at each other's throats or just engrossed in conversation. Bruce was oblivious to them both and completely immersed in his morning paper. Thor was messing around with the toaster to the best of his ability, and upon burning something as usual, yelled some words everyone had eventually agreed upon were some form of curse words native to his home planet.

Burning…That's when it hit him. The smell was overpowering. It was dragging him away from the safe, sunlit kitchen and to the dark places where he really did not want to go. Afghanistan, where children burned in fires made from his weapons.

"Man of Iron, will you join us? We are just about to break the fast with some of these delicious Pop Tarts." Thor paused and looked over Tony with a concerned eye, "Man of Iron, are you not well?" Tony was growing paler by the second right in front of his eyes.

The kitchen was friends were gone. New York was gone. He was back in Afghanistan. Right in the middle of the ambush. Gun fires, explosions, thick smoke all around him, squeezing its way into his nostrils, making it harder and harder to breathe. His chest ached. Was it just from the smoke inhalation? No, now there was blood. So much blood. He was injured. There were snippets of conversation reaching his ears. People were shouting in a harsh foreign language. He couldn't make sense of what was going on. All that registered was pain. Pain that made it impossible to breathe. Suffocating and overwhelming. Children burning, people dying, all because of him.

Bruce put his paper down and watched Tony over the rim of his glasses. He watched him stagger and fall to the floor as if in slow motion. It had happened before. It was not in itself alarming. Panic attacks are unpleasant as they may be, but are not life threatening. What he really did not like was Tony's color. He wasn't just pale; he was rapidly turning grey. His face was covered in sweat.

"Natasha, can you get my bag?" He moved quickly across the kitchen, his eyes glinting green. Everyone knew that this meant serious business. Bruce kneeled on the floor gently pressing on Tony's wrist to feel his pulse. He frowned and moved his hand towards Tony's neck. "Jarvis, what the hell is going on?" He could not find pulse in Tony's wrist and struggled to find the carotid one.

This meant his blood pressure must have been very low. He was hyperventilating, but there was unmistakable blue tinge of cyanosis to his lips. This was not adding up. Not to a panic attack, anyway.

"Tony is currently experiencing an episode of ventricular tachycardia. His heart rate is two hundred and twenty beats per minute, and his blood pressure is severely compromised at sixty-forty. In view of the considerable risk of further deterioration of this rhythm into ventricular fibrillation, which is not compatible with life, I think it would be appropriate to utilise the ID function of the reactor.

"Couldn't agree with you more, Jarvis. Please, go ahead." Bruce watched Tony's body jerk ever slightly. He felt his pulse again. It was slowing down and felt much stronger.

"Back to sinus rhythm. Should I call an ambulance, sir?"

Bruce considered that for a second. He knew from Tony's file that he had experienced episodes of VT before. There were triggered by abnormal conduction in the scar tissue within his heart muscle. They were more frequent in the initial couple of months after his heart surgery. If Yinsen managed to successfully manage them in a cave, they should be able to do so in the tower with all its technical back up. "No, I think it's alright, Jarvis. We're over the worst of it...I hope."

Natasha returned with Bruce's emergency bag. He rummaged through it and retrieved a portable oxygen cylinder. He slapped the mask on Tony's face and watched with some satisfaction as the color gradually improved in Tony's face. He placed Tony gently into a recovery position and turned to the others. "If he comes to before I come back, try not to ask too many questions. Reassure him, let him talk shop with Jarvis; he will be able to explain to him what went wrong with his ticker. I have to make a phone call."

Bruce fumbled around in his pocket, looking for a mobile phone - without success. "It's time to call in some favors. Any chance you can find out where the hell Dr. Sullivan is?"

"Would you like me to put you through, sir?"

"Efficient as usual." Bruce nodded in approval.

"Connecting you to Mariot Hotel in Stuttgart, Germany, Sir. The local time is three in the morning."

"Good."