A slightly longer chapter for all of you! Thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed and favourited and followed, you make me happy :) I hope this chapter does not disappoint. I liked this one cause I got to put my student nurse face on :) You'll see what I mean. Now I need to sleep because it's 01:33am and I have an early morning tomorrow.

Please review! They are like brown paper packages tied up with string :)


After the horror of being forced into their past, Tony and Natasha were asleep, exhausted, curled up protectively around one another. Their teammates could hear their soft, level breathing in their ear, a welcome change from the screaming they'd heard before.

'Do you think we should tell them?' Steve asked Bruce, looking worried.

Bruce shook his head. 'No,' he said. 'It's none of our business, we shouldn't mention it to either of them.'

'We saw their dreams, Bruce,' Steve whispered. 'I saw my old friend lying dead in the front of a car, I saw Natasha being ripped away from her family.'

'We don't say anything,' Clint said in their ears. 'Bruce is right, it's none of our business.' There was a pause, then he said: 'I'm apologising in advance in case any of you see my nightmares, and I'd appreciate it if no-one mentions it afterwards.'

'You got it, Clint,' Steve said.

Bruce nodded. 'I won't say a word,' he said.

Clint looked over at Thor who nodded at him. 'You have my word, friend Hawk,' he said, nodding at him.

They were both jerked out of their talk by twin screams from their two until-recently-asleep teammates.

'Guys?' Steve said, frantically. 'You okay?'

Tony stared at Natasha, chest heaving, a look of horror on his face. Natasha stared right back at him.

'Guys!' Clint yelled from the comm on the floor.

'I just saw…' Natasha said, slowly.

Tony looked down at his shackled hands. 'I'm sorry I saw that,' he whispered, sounding slightly hysterical. The meaning behind his words was clear, he wasn't wishing he hadn't see it, he was apologising for intruding on Natasha's memories, even if it was accidental.

'It's not your fault,' Natasha said.

'GUYS!' Bruce yelled.

Natasha picked the comm up and angrily shoved it into her ear. 'You bastards!' she yelled. The comm immediately went silent. 'You saw our… our… our nightmares! Our memories!'

'We just had this discussion,' Clint said. 'We weren't going to say anything.'

'How did you know?' Steve asked, at least having the courtesy to sound guilty.

'Cause I just saw Tony's and Tony just saw mine,' Natasha said, closing her eyes, a tear trickling down her cheek.

She looked over at Tony and saw that he was trying to hide his face from her, one hand making his hair even messier to avoid eye contact. Natasha crawled over to him and lifted his chin up. Tears were trickling down his face, on Tony- who was usually so arrogant and so sure of himself and so confident- it looked wrong, and Natasha felt deep anger towards Sergot for making her cocky, confident, strong teammate break down like this in front of her.

Natasha covered her comm with one hand. 'It's okay,' she whispered.

Tony gave her a half-hearted attempt at a smile and she hugged him. He stiffened under her touch, obviously confused by her sudden affection, but suddenly hugged her back tightly.

'I'm sorry, Natasha and Tony,' Thor said, quietly.

'It's okay, Thor,' Tony said, borrowing the comm from Natasha. 'It's not your fault.'

'Guys, if you see mine, don't bring it up, okay?' Clint said.

'Of course,' Tony said. Natasha nodded and Tony didn't bother telling Clint, the archer knew his partner well enough to know she'd respect his wishes.

XxXxXxX

'Dr Sergot,' Fury said, hands on hips and glaring at the soon to be ex-doctor in front of him.

He'd been caught trying to escape via one of the escape pods, which launched its occupant into the water below, but the SHIELD agents had caught up to him before he'd had the chance to hit the eject button. One side of his face was bright red from where Pepper and marched right up to him and slapped him.

Fury smirked at the memory and Sergot looked down at his shoes. 'What the hell did you think you were doing?' Fury asked, glaring at him.

'I needed someone to test my new drug on,' Sergot said. 'Who else better to do it than the Avengers? Six of the strongest, most formidable minds in the world.' He frowned. 'I was especially keen to see how Mr Stark would react, how is he, director?'

Fury raised an eyebrow. 'You thought he'd react differently?' he asked. 'Why?'

Sergot gave him a look. 'Isn't that obvious?' he said, smirking.

'You better wipe that smirk off your punk-ass face or I'm letting Miss Potts in again,' Fury informed him.

Sergot winched, obviously remembering the slap, not keen for that to happen again. For such a slim woman, Tony's headstrong girlfriend packed a wallop. 'I thought Mr Stark would react differently because of the Arc technology in his chest,' he said. 'I read his file, I know all about that new element and I was wondering if it would react with the drug.' He smirked, then remembered the director's threat and the smirk quickly vanished.

'I'm guessing that is what's happened?' he asked.

'What makes you say that?'

'Because you asked.'

Fury stared Sergot down. 'You are going to tell me how to wake them up or I am going to throw you off the helicarrier without an escape pod or even a lifejacket.'

Sergot smirked and this time the smirk stayed on his face. 'The "Dream Quarantine" was designed to be the world's greatest prison,' he said. 'You can't wake up from it from the outside or the inside.'

Fury leaned closer and glared at him. 'I don't believe that,' he said. 'Are you telling me you've just trapped my team in their own heads for the rest of their lives?'

'Yes, I am,' Sergot said. 'But don't worry, they won't suffer long. The drug is humane, instead of keeping them in the comatose state they're currently in for the rest of their lives, it causes heart failure, I wouldn't be surprised if they're not already showing signs of it, Mr Stark especially.'

'You and I,' Fury said slowly and dangerously, trying to keep himself from punching Sergot, 'have very different definitions of the word "humane".'

Sergot at least had the courtesy to look terrified.

'So what is currently happening in my team's heads right now?' Fury asked, in a tone which basically said tell-me-the-fuck-now.

'They'll be having flashbacks of times when they were most vulnerable, most afraid,' Sergot said. 'And the rest of the team will be able to see it.'

'You're telling me the Avengers, a group of six of the most dangerous people with the most grief-stricken, agony filled pasts whose files I have ever read, can see each other's nightmares?'

Sergot swallowed, suddenly wishing he was good at swimming. 'That's correct,' he said. 'But I arranged it so they're in groups of two, so they have someone with them to comfort them from the nightmares. They should also have radio contact with the other's via their comm unit, they won't be alone, and in the group of two, they can only see the other's nightmares if they fall asleep, if they stay awake they'll never see it.'

'How very humane of you,' Fury growled. 'Now you listen carefully, Dr Sergot. You designed that drug, so you better find a way to get them out of their minds because if I don't kill you…' he put his hands on the table in front of Sergot and grinned wickedly. '… you can bet your ass that Pepper Potts will.'

Sergot swallowed.

XxXxXxX

Tony suddenly felt dizzy and swayed slightly.

'Whoa, you okay?' Natasha asked, concerned.

'Wha…? Yeah I'm fine, I just feel a bit… weird,' Tony said, shaking his head to snap himself out of it.

'What's going on?' Steve's voice came over the comm.

'Tony nearly fainted on me,' Natasha replied. 'You look a bit pale, Stark.'

'I'm fine,' Tony said. 'I just felt like… I dunno what I just felt like, I didn't like it though.'

'Come on Iron Man stay focused,' Thor told him. 'We need a plan of escape.'

'Thor's right,' Steve said. 'Can anyone remember any specific about how this dream quarantine thing works.'

'Something about a neuro-inhibitor whatsit,' Tony said.

'That's real helpful,' Clint said. 'Anything else?'

'Shut up, Clint,' Natasha told her partner. 'What neuro-inhibitor whatsit?'

'I don't remember exactly,' Tony said. 'He mentioned something, something that attaches itself to something and pumps you full of something to keep you in the dream state.'

'Great,' Clint said. 'Are you telling me I could have something stuck to my…'

'Clint! There are ladies present!' Steve told him.

'Yeah, but that lady is Tasha, OW!' There came a noise that sounded very much like someone hitting Clint.

'Do not be disrespectful to Agent Romanoff,' Thor told him.

'Alright alright,' Clint said. 'You were saying, Tony?'

'Um… right. He mentioned something, some kind of disk,' Tony said, subconsciously reaching for the back of his neck.

'Is it on the neck?' Natasha asked, noticing the movement.

Tony looked at her blankly. 'Sorry, Tasha?'

Natasha pointed at where his arm was. 'You just reached for your neck when you said that. Is that where it's attached?'

Tony pulled his arm away and looked at his hand.

'I don't know, I think… whoa…' he lurched to one side and Natasha caught him before he smacked his head on either the concrete wall or a skeleton.

'Tony, you look awful, what's wrong?' she said, frowning at her teammate.

'Guys, what's going on?' Bruce said. 'What's wrong with Tony?'

'I don't feel good,' Tony mumbled, eyes closing.

Natasha slapped him across the face. 'Don't zone out on me, Stark,' she said sternly. 'We need you, now what's wrong, tell me.'

'Whatever that compound is we're being injected with, it's not agreeing with me,' Tony said weakly.

'Compound, whoever said anything about a compound?' Natasha said, frowning.

'JARVIS said it,' Tony mumbled.

'JARVIS isn't here, Tony,' Bruce said. 'Natasha what's going on?'

'I don't know,' Natasha said. 'But he isn't looking too good, we need to find a way to get out of here now.'

'Hang in there, Tony,' Thor said. 'We need you.'

XxXxXxX

'It's not good news,' Fury said, walking back into the infirmary where the medics were busy with the team and Pepper was analysing Mr Clarkson's preliminary findings on her laptop, one hand protectively smoothing down her boyfriend's hot forehead.

'Why did I think you'd say that?' Pepper said, sighing and looking down at Tony.

'There isn't a way to get them out of it,' Fury said. 'At least that's what he says, personally I think he's talking bull. How's Clarkson doing?'

'He's still working on it, but hasn't found anything yet,' Pepper said, frowning at her laptop screen. 'Is that all the bad news?' she asked, getting the feeling there was more.

'I'm afraid it isn't,' Fury said, clarifying her beliefs. 'Sergot also said that the drug would cause heart failure in a matter of hours and would kill them. He also said that in Tony Stark's case, because of the Arc, he'd probably suffer the worst.'

Pepper paled and squeezed Tony's hand.

'They're already showing signs of it, sir,' one of the medics said, checking Natasha's blood pressure. 'Their heart rate and blood pressure are both on the unhealthy side of low, it would explain the blue tinge to their lips as well. Someone help me, we need oxygen masks on all of them, 15 litres of oxygen to start with.'

Two other medics rushed over and attached oxygen masks to their fallen team's faces. Pepper carried on stroking Tony's hair. He'd told her when he was sick once that it relaxed him and calmed him down.

Fury decided not to mention the nightmare part Sergot had told him about. Pepper was already stressed and he didn't want to worry her more.

'I need them hooked up to IV fluid,' the medic said. 'That should help to raise their blood pressure slightly. Someone find me a ECG machine.'

The team scrambled to do his bidding and Pepper called Clarkson and asked for an update.

'We've analysed the device, Miss Potts,' he told her. 'And it's been programmed to cause instant brain death if the device is removed. We're still trying to find a way to remove it, I'm sorry I can't be more positive.'

Pepper took a deep breath. 'It's okay,' she said. 'I know you're trying your best, but we only have a few hours before the drug it's administering causes heart failure.'

There was a pause, and then: 'You can count on us, Miss Potts. We'll think of something.'

'Thank you, Mr Clarkson,' Pepper said, closing her eyes and hanging up. She shook her head at Fury and Agent Hill lightly touched her on the shoulder in an unspoken sign of comfort.

Tony moaned and his eyes flickered slightly. Then the heart monitor alarm went off.

XxXxXxX

'Come on Tony, stay with me,' Natasha said, shaking her teammate's shoulders.

She'd turned the radio off for now, as she was becoming increasingly annoyed with the worried voices in her ear, she needed to concentrate.

'Tony, look at me,' Natasha ordered him.

Tony's eyes found hers but they were dull and unfocused, and kept rolling back in their sockets, his skin had also gone a worrying shade of grey and his lips were turning blue. 'My chest,' he moaned, clutching at it.

'Is it the Arc?' Natasha asked.

Tony nodded and flopped back against the wall. Natasha supported him and pulled his shirt up to get a good look at the Arc, which was turning from its reassuring warm blue to a worrying shade of green.

'My chest… hurts…' Tony wheezed. 'I can't… breathe…'

'Tony, listen to me,' Natasha said, pulling his top back down and slapping him again to get his attention. 'You are going to be fine, if you die on me, I will bring you back from the dead just so I can kill you myself. Now come on! You're a genius, you can get us out of this. You said you could hear JARVIS, can you hear what's going on outside of this quarantine?'

Tony shook himself and tried to get himself together. 'I think so,' he mumbled. 'I heard… something about a compound we were being injected with.'

'On the back of our necks,' Natasha said, trying to keep him awake and talking.

Tony nodded weakly. 'Something in it is affecting the Arc,' he said. 'It's reacting with the element.'

Natasha nodded. 'Okay,' she said. 'Just lie back and relax, but stay awake, we need you, okay?'

Tony nodded, making a visible effort to keep his eyes open and Natasha squeezed his arm reassuringly, then turned the radio back on, where her teammates were going nuts.

'Guys, shut up and listen,' she told them. 'We have a problem. Tony says he can hear what's going on outside the quarantine, he says he heard JARVIS tell someone that there's something on the back of our necks injecting us with some kind of drug. But the drug is reacting with the Arc and making him worse.'

'How is he now?' Bruce asked.

Natasha looked over at her teammate, who was leaning against the wall, breathing heavily and clutching his chest. He looked up at her and she saw his eyes were bright and determined.

'He's awake, but in a bad way. He said his chest hurt and he couldn't breathe. We need to get out of this,' Natasha said.

'Keep him upright, that'll keep his air way open,' Bruce said.

'If he can hear what's going on does that mean he could wake up?' Clint asked.

'He is right here,' Tony said, sounding a bit better, though still wheezing slightly. 'And no I can't, it's not even partial awareness, I just heard JARVIS.'

'What the hell is JARVIS doing on the helicarrier?' Bruce pointed out.

Tony considered, then grinned suddenly. 'JARVIS is installed on Pepper's phone,' he said.

'So Pepper's on the helicarrier? I thought you had a board meeting in NY?' Clint said.

'She must have come looking for me when I didn't turn up,' Tony said.

'I love that woman,' Natasha said, grinning.

'So we're relying on Pepper? That's just peachy,' Clint said.

They all knew he wasn't being sarcastic because they all knew Pepper would bend Heaven and Earth to save Tony.

'I guess we wait,' Bruce said.

XxXxXxX

'He's stabilised,' the medic said, looking down at Tony, confused. 'I don't understand how though. His heart was going crazy and suddenly…'

'Sergot mentioned that the team were separated into two,' Fury said, suddenly coming up with an idea. 'I'm guessing that whoever he's with calmed him down enough to relax.'

'And I'm guessing he's with Agent Romanoff,' Pepper said, looking over at Natasha, who's unconscious face had contorted turned into itself a look of concern.

'Then you don't have to worry,' Agent Hill said. 'Natasha will keep him calm even if it means knocking him out.'

'I know,' Pepper said. She looked down at Tony again who was lying still, and looking paler. 'I just hope it doesn't come to that.'


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