"Man of Iron," Thor managed to spare a glance at him while swinging his hammer at a nearby alien, as they had formed a protective circle around Amora and Skurge, "Are you well?"

Tony was not well. His head was pounding, most likely from the minor concussion he was pretty sure Jarvis mentioned earlier. It was throbbing and the blinking lights on his helmet's HUD were not helping, but he continued fighting nonetheless. Every so often he could have sworn he heard someone calling his name, but it was so distant and quiet that he just chose to ignore it. So he may not have been well, but he was well enough.

"Just peachy, Thor." He aimed his repulsors at another pair of aliens, leaving a smoking hole through the center of their bodies as they fell to the ground, a gooey blue substance pooling around them; probably their version of blood.

One jumped on his back and began grabbing at his helmet, covering the eye slits and making it near impossible to see. He grabbed the hands covering his vision, pulling forward so the thing was thrown over his head. He finished it with a single blast and eventually found himself back to back with the God of Thunder, picking off the aliens one by one.

"This is great fun, friend Anthony, is it not?" Thor's voiced boomed from behind him, and the smile on his face was unmistakably full of glee. Tony just sighed, rising into the air a bit where he knew he had the better advantage.

"Yeah-" A piece of his armor raised on both shoulders, releasing at least 20 miniature missiles into the air, which in turn took out the remaining aliens that had formed a barrier around them, "what a blast."

By this point the other avengers had caught up to them, all aiming their weapons at Amora and Skurge, who frankly Tony had almost forgotten about. When he looked at her, he noticed she was staring back. Eye to eye…or well, eye to eye-slits. Her glare was cold and focused, sending a shiver through his spine, which immediately became his head, only it wasn't a shiver anymore. He landed on the ground, falling to his knees and clawing at the helmet.

"You alright buddy?" Clint eyed him with a worried expression as Tony removed his helmet, clutching his head in his hands. He was struggling, fighting something in his mind. He looked up for minute, making eye contact with Clint just as his brown eyes turned a sickly green, then a bright, clear blue.

"This has been a wonderful reunion, Avengers, but we really must be going now." She gave a wave and another evil smile, sparing Tony one last glance.

Clint angrily pulled back his bow, firing at the woman just as she disappeared into thin air, along with the executioner.

"GOD DAMNI-" The archer's yell of frustration was abruptly cut short as a metal hand wrapped around his neck. He found himself face to face with a very conflicted looking Tony Stark. He didn't put up a fight, barely even struggled as it became harder to breath; he knew his team would have his back, but he also knew what Tony was going through. He could see the man struggling and trying to comprehend why he couldn't control his own body behind the freshly colored blue eyes.

He was released from the grasp almost as quickly as it had happened. He fell to his knees, gasping for air, the sound of yelling voices slowly becoming clearer to his ears. He lifted his head only to see his entire team holding Tony down, Mjolnir resting on the chest plate of his armor. His arms and legs were pinned to the ground by Steve and Thor, while Natasha kneeled over him, trying to calm him down. She knew an almost sure way of how to fix him, considering her experience with Barton when he was being controlled by Loki, but didn't want to resort to that if she didn't need to. The hulk just stood off to the side, Bruce obviously trying to convince him to calm down from the inside.

"Stark, come on. You need to focus, calm down." Natasha was holding his head still, shaking him lightly as if it would snap him out of it. She received a deathly glare and return, and sighed as she brought her fist up. "I'm sorry, Tony," She gave him an apologetic look and quickly decked him in the face, instantly leaving him to spiral into unconsciousness. She gave a satisfied nod as the blue color of his eyes faded back into brown before closing. She stood, along with Steve and Thor, who retrieved his hammer off their team mate's chest. Hulk was just changing back into Banner as the situation died down.

"He is going to be so mad at me when he wakes up." Natasha smirked and wiped her brow, staring down at their comatose genius.

Steve gave her a sympathetic look before nodding to Thor, who slung Iron Man over his shoulder like it was nothing, carrying him onto the Quinjet. Steve helped Barton up, and Natasha assisted Bruce, leading them both onto the jet after Thor.

Tony remained unconscious the entire flight, and was lying on the medical bed on the jet. Bruce, now fully clothed and collected, was examining him, more specifically his head, considering he was still clad in the armor.

"Well?" Steve spoke up from where he was sitting behind Bruce, helping Natasha clean and bandage a cut on her face.

"Well, Widow definitely gave him a good punch. He has a minor concussion, but Jarvis says he got it from Amora, not Natasha, though he'll definitely have some bruising from that." Bruce turned to look at the Captain as he spoke, lending a reassuring nod. "From what I can tell, he'll be fine. There may be small injuries beneath his armor, but nothing life threatening."

Steve nodded just as he finished patching up Natasha. She thanked him and left to the cockpit, taking a seat in the co-pilot chair next to Clint.

"Just set him on the couch, Thor. Jarvis?"

"Yes, Doctor Banner?"

"Is there any way you can remove the armor?" Bruce fiddled with the Iron Man helmet in his hands that Tony removed earlier, setting it on the coffee table with a clink.

"Of course, though I would ask that you help Sir return to the couch once it is removed."

"Return to the co-" Bruce's question is cut off as the armor activates by Jarvis's influence, standing up with Tony still wearing it. The pieces begin to disassemble from around the genius's body, the far wall of the common living room opening up.

Steve watches with complete and utter disbelief on his face as the armor, now reassembled without Tony inside, flies to the opening and deactivates. He looks back at the unconscious billionaire being laid back onto the couch by Thor as the wall closes up.

"Sometimes you really forget how much of a genius this guy really is," Clint comments, smirking at the look on Steve's face.

Steve replies with a nod as he collects himself, grabbing a blanket and tossing it over their team member.

"Jarvis, keep an eye on his vitals and let me know if there's any problems."

"Will do, Doctor."

Clint glanced around the room at his team; they were all dirty and looked completely exhausted. His stomach gave a low growl, and all eyes turned to look at him. "Uh, take out anyone?"

"Chinese, please." Natasha gave a very slight smile and walked out of the room to go get cleaned up.

"The usual, I presume?" The AI chimed in from out of nowhere.

"Yes please." Clint replied, and the rest of the team nodded, heading to the elevator behind Natasha, leaving Tony to sleep on the couch.

When Steve, Clint, Thor, and Bruce returned to the common floor, Natasha was sitting on the couch next to Tony, dressed in sweatpants and T-shirt, reading a book.

"Someone looks comfortable," Clint said as he slid next to her, taking up the rest of the space on the couch. The others were about to take their seats on the other sofa when Jarvis spoke up again.

"All of your food has arrived and is waiting for you in the lobby."

The three men stood, Steve looking expectantly at Clint, who just shrugged.

"I just sat down. You guys can carry the food righ- ow!" He turned to look at Natasha, who had just cuffed the back of his head.

"Go help them." She glanced up at him from her book, and immediately he stood, ushering the others into the elevator.

Once the lift doors closed, the room was peaceful and quiet, the only noise being the genius's low breathing and the hum of his arc reactor; it wasn't by any means loud, but it was definitely audible if you listened. She set her book aside and began to study him as he…"slept." There were fresh bruises forming where she had punched him, and there were tired bags under his eyes, just like this morning. She realized that he still hadn't slept much, if at all, since then, and that this was probably the first time he's actually been asleep in 3 or 4 days. It was nice to see him finally getting rest, even if the circumstances of why he's asleep aren't by choice.

The silence didn't last long, and was soon broken as the other avengers emerged from the elevator, carrying bags and bags of Chinese food.

"We come baring a feast fit for celebration of victory!" Thor's voice echoed through the room, and Natasha stood from the couch, following them into the kitchen.

"Anthony…" The voice echoed through his mind as he became aware of his surroundings.

"Hello, Stark. It's nice to see you again." A woman appeared in front of him, though she seemed…transparent. He brought out his hand to touch her, trying to test his observation, but she disappeared, leaving his name to echo and bounce of the walls of his brain once again.

"What is this? Who…"

"Who am I?" There was a snicker, and the woman reappeared, accompanied by her green aura, "How hard did that little red head hit you?"

Red head? Did she mean Widow? That's right… he vaguely remembers her knocking him out. He couldn't remember why though. "She hit me?"

"So clueless," the woman strode up to him, teasingly running her fingers along his jaw, "Perhaps this will jog your memory?" She began to lean in for a kiss, and all of a sudden the memories came rushing back to him. No. Amora could not kiss him; he wouldn't let her. He shoved her off, staggering back a few steps as she disappeared in a green fog.

"We'll meet again," Her voice echoed again in his head, getting louder and louder as if it were getting closer. He felt claustrophobic, like his mind was closing in around him. He was drifting into complete darkness. He hates the dark. It's always cold when it's dark; cold and wet.

Suddenly his back collides with a liquid surface; it stung for a moment, and soon enough he began sinking. It was black, but he could still see bubbles of air rising to the surface from his lungs.

That's it! The surface!

He followed the direction of the bubbles, frantically kicking and pushing himself upwards. He felt about ten times heavier, but he pushed on. He began nearing the top, his lungs nearly out of air as he struggled in the cold water.

'Tink.'

No. No, no this can't be right. He fell down this way, how could he be trapped? He began pounding his fists against the glass that was restricting his access to the surface. There was a sick green glow from above, and he could see his reflection staring back at him in the glass. Quickly it morphed into Amora, then Loki. They each gave him an evil smile, before the glass shattered into a million pieces.

There was a sharp pain in his chest as glass shards dug their way inside; it was a familiar feeling. He looked down, but there was no blood. A hole began to open in his bare chest, resembling the wormhole he had flown into in New York. The blue glow of the portal swirled around in his chest, leaving him with an agonizing ache, before it slowly turned into the arc reactor he had grown accustomed to seeing embedded in his body. There was a flash a bright white light, before he disappeared; completely swallowed by his thoughts.

The team (minus Tony) sat at the kitchen table, each munching away on their Chinese food, Clint occasionally throwing in a bad joke or two. Tony was still passed out on the couch, as he had been for the last hour or so. Fury had already called them before they started to eat, and they agreed to come in and discuss the incident that had occurred earlier tomorrow afternoon.

Though Stark rarely left his lab to eat meals with them, it was still oddly quiet and the atmosphere was tense. Clint's horrible attempts at humor were obviously forced, as well as Thor's laugh. Bruce was just purely exhausted, and was shoveling food into his mouth; the Hulk made him incredibly hungry. Natasha was quiet, as usual, but so was Steve, which was not so usual. He wasn't the easiest person to talk to, considering the difference in time thing, but he usually made attempts at making conversation. So to say the least, it was quite uncomfortable.

The awkward silence was soon broken though, as a blood curdling scream became audible from the living area. Bruce nearly jumped out of his seat, and had to take a moment to calm himself. They all eyed each other, running out of the kitchen area and into the living room.

"What the hell…?" Clint had to admit he had no idea what he was seeing, but for some reason it made him feel absolutely horrible.

Tony was kneeling on the floor beside the couch, one hand on the ground supporting his weight as he desperately tried to catch his breath, and the other was clutching his chest, just barely covering the arc reactor. His eyes were wide, his face was beaded with sweat, and he was mumbling panicked phrases between struggled breaths.

"Water…cold water…couldn't breathe….can't...can't breathe…"

"Stark? Hey, come on…snap out of it!" Steve slowly approached him, reaching his hand out to the genius.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Tony's voice was gruff but he yelled nonetheless, causing the super soldier to jump back in surprise. "Get away! You can't have it!" He was sitting now, lazily leaning on the couch for support, though his shoulders were still tense, and the hand that had been supporting his weight was now pressed to his forehead. "Blood…I got them all killed…I killed them…Yinsen…Oh god Yinsen…I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry…"

His words began to trail off into inaudible mumbling as Natasha approached him, the rest of the team remaining a considerable distance from the billionaire.

"Tony…Shh, it's okay. You're home now, you're safe." Her voice was so soothing it was almost motherly, and though it was obvious that the genius was still freaked to hell, he was noticeably beginning to calm down. He allowed her to wrap him in a loose hug, and followed her instructions when she told him to match her breathing.

In and out.

They had to be breathing together for at least ten minutes before Tony was settled down. His hand was still covering his reactor, but the attempt to hide it had become more of a nervous tapping, as if assuring himself it was still in place.

"Home…"

Natasha nodded, and Steve stepped closer now as Tony was brought back to reality.

"Tony…? Are you alright?"

The mechanic looked at Steve, and his face was, for a split second, a horrifying mixture of complete shame and helplessness. It made Steve, or anyone who looked at him at that moment, want to wrap him in a hug and tell him it was okay.

"M' fine…" His voice was tired, and he was undoubtedly exhausted from sleep deprivation.

Bruce approached now, gently placing a hand on his best friend's shoulder, "Come on, lets get you to bed."

The billionaire just nodded, too tired to even argue. His head was pounding and though he knew if he fell asleep again there would just be more nightmares, he didn't care. He allowed Banner to help him up, and support him as they walked towards the elevators, leaving the rest of the avengers alone in the living room, completely and utterly confused. Clint stepped towards Natasha once the lift doors pinged shut, looking at her for an explanation.

"Again. What the hell?"