It was a rare occurrence in his life, but Tony was speechless for a moment. He sort of just looked over his shoulder until it became too painful to do so, and when he turned back around he was grimacing. "Rhodey," he finally managed, forcing himself to sound far more chipper than he felt. "How's it… uh… how's it going?" He waited for a reply, and he didn't have to turn around to know that the other man was just staring at the back of his head. He could tell.

Rhodey cautiously stepped into the office, his gaze flicking to Pepper for a moment. He raised his eyebrows in question, but she merely looked at him, her eyes still seeming watery. "Tony." He said again, calmer this time, though he sounded… off. Strained.

Tony could hardly take this shit anymore. They were treating him like was glass, fragile and if he was dropped, he'd break and there would be no picking up the pieces. Well, that wasn't true. Tony could damn well take hard news, amnesiatic or not. "Really, guys, you kind of suck at poker faces."

He heard Pepper take a shuddering breath, and felt guilty at the harsh intone his voice carried.

"We were waiting for Steve to give the go on telling you. We weren't sure if you know, you were ready." she said softly. "Tony, you have to understand-"

"I understand fine." Tony snapped. "Lemme guess. You couldn't handle my way of living. I get that, too stressful; so you go after...Rhodey."

"Hey, buddy; you're the one who broke up with her." An angry edge had formed on Rhodey, and that just fuelled Tony. He got to his feet far too fast for his wounded body to handle, but he bit down his pain and got in Rhodey's face. With his head swimming and his body throbbing in protest, Tony doubted he looked any more menacing than he felt. "Back off, Tony."

"Why don't I call Steve before you do anything you regret, Tony?" Whatever emotions Pepper had been battling earlier, they were replaced by a professional calm. Her hand was reaching towards the phone.

"No, dammit!" Tony barely registered he was shouting. "Steve doesn't own me. He's sure as hell not responsible for me. Maybe that's how it was before, but not now."

"Can't we just-"

Tony didn't give the man a chance to finish. He stormed past Rhodey and once again ignored the looks from his employees. He needed to get out. He couldn't go home, not with JARVIS on watch...so he started walking to the only place where he could be alone in his sorrows: the old pub that was empty almost all the time. No reporters, no pestering fans...just him, the alcohol, and the bad music in the background. He slid past the ever-ending crowd of people on the streets, head down and set for one destination. He felt a little groggy. He couldn't remember when he'd last slept, really…over a day ago, maybe?

Tony ordered himself a drink right off the bat when he arrived at the pub. Screw the fact that you're not supposed to mix alcohol with meds- he'd done it before, right? He'd just do it again. He would be fine and he wouldn't have to listen to anyone's nagging because the "team" or whatever were off dealing with some… nuclear shit or whatever. Right. He knocked back his drink before he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. Christ. What now? Scowling, he snatched it from his pocket. "What?!"

"Uh…"

Oh. It was Steve. Wasn't he supposed to be off saving the world and all that?

"What do you want, Captain?" he spat the last word out a lot harsher that intended, but he didn't dare apologize for it. Nope.

"I just got a call from Happy that you decided to run an errand?" Steve didn't sound the least bit hurt, but he sounded very apprehensive.

Instead of replying, he downed more of his drink.

"Did you talk to Pepper?"

Tony snorted. "Yeah, that was a mistake. A little warning would have been nice."

"Warning...? Oh, no, Tony what did you find out?"

"You mean other than the fact that I single handedly ruined my fucking life? Nothing much." his own voice sounded odd to him, like it was overly cheerful and depressing at the same time. He remembered it as his drunken voice. But he'd only had 2 drinks; why did he feel drunk now? Maybe it had something to do with the meds...

"Tony, where the hell are you?" Steve's patience was clearly running short.

"Hmm, why's it matter so much?" Tony replied, holding a hand up to get another drink. He looked down at the drink for a moment, head swimming, and he blinked a few times.

"Tony…" Steve just sounded so, so frustrated now.

"What?"

"Are you… are you drunk?" There was a pause and then a muffled curse, before Steve let out a breath. "What the hell?"

"I'd say that its a very Tony-like thing to do," Tony drawled. "How's the whole nuclear threat thing going? Great I assume."

"Tony, go find Happy." Steve said, dead serious. "Actually, don't move. Where are you?"

"Not the boss of me." He felt really dizzy now. And sleepy. Still, though, the whiskey felt really good right now.

"Just please tell me you didn't take any medication within the last 3 hours."

"Humm, I took the little blue pills. They work wonders, you know?" Tony chuckled drowsily before he took another drink. "And I think…I need another one. I think-"

"No," Steve's voice was firm. "Don't you dare take anymore pills, understand? You can't- Tony? Don't drink anymore either."

"Not the boss of me, remember?" Tony retorted as he swayed in his seat. "You… are not. So shut up."

"Listen to me, Tony. JARVIS is tracking you and Happy is ready to come and get you when he locates you from the GPS on your phone." Steve sounded genuinely worried.

Ignoring Steve's request, Tony took yet another swig of his drink. As the bitter liquid ran down his throat, however, he gagged suddenly as his chest constricted in protest. His ribs. Again. They were really starting to be a pain in the ass. Then he started coughing...and couldn't find the breath to stop.

"Tony?" Steve sounded panicked now. "Tony!" God, what was going on? He should have known that he couldn't come on this mission- leaving Tony alone had been a bad idea. Damn Fury and his insistence that Iron Man would be fine. "Listen to me. Breathe. Breathe, dammit!"

Tony just couldn't stop coughing. His arm clutched at his torso, which felt like it was on fire because of his ribs. "Trying-" he managed to wheeze before another round of coughing began.

Steve was literally on the verge of a panic attack. They were in Tokyo now, and were awaiting orders to infiltrate the HYDRA facility, but just wanting to get home to Tony was becoming a much more serious priority. He could hear Tony coughing over the phone, his breath coming out in stilted gasps, and right when Steve was about to blow, Happy's voice was suddenly in his ear.

"I got him."

"Did he stop coughing?" Steve asked anxiously.

"Yeah, mostly 'cause he's half out of it."

"Get him to the hospital." Steve told him, biting his bottom lip.

"No! No...hospitals." Tony's voice was weak and hoarse. "Please...no."

Steve sighed shakily, thinking. If all went well with the mission, he could be back at the Tower by evening in 2 days. Who would take care of Tony? Happy? He didn't have any medical experience. Then it hit him. Surely if Fury was aware of Tony's situation, he'd let Bruce be flown back to New York. Steve would feel much better about Bruce watching Tony than a random doctor. "Drive him home, please. If he gets worse, call me immediately. I'll get back to you."

"Of course."

Steve let out a sigh when Happy hung up the phone, and for a moment, all he could do was stand there. He pressed his own phone to his chest and took a few steadying breaths, before turning around, looking back at the rest of the team. They were chatting with each other, but when they saw him turn around, their expressions became curious and they looked to him. "Tony is an idiot."

Clint snorted. "Well, duh, Cap."

Steve glared at him for a second and then looked to Banner, his eyes wide. "So, uhm, Bruce?" he swallowed, mind still racing on the fact that he would need to call Fury here, soon. "I'm going to ask you for a favor, and I'm going to need you to say yes."

2 hours later, Steve watched with a heavy heart as Bruce boarded a second quinjet to rendezvous with Stark Tower. Convincing Bruce hadn't been a problem; he wasn't too keen on letting the Hulk manage a controlled invasion in what was supposed to be a "quiet" mission, yet Fury was a whole different story.

He must've argued with the director at least a half an hour to let the doctor go home and take care of Tony, who had gotten himself sick out of his own stupidity because they left him alone. Finally Fury relented, grudgingly so, and as much Steve wanted to push to let himself go too, he decided not to push anymore buttons.

"What happened, anyway? You've been rambling about him being sick and all, but you didn't explain how." Clint studied him questioningly.

Steve let out a long, slow breath as he looked towards Clint. "Tony decided it would be a good idea to mix alcohol with his medication." He looked extremely tired now- he was just so worried- and he rubbed a hand over his face. "Idiot."

"Can't say I'm surprised," Clint muttered, though he was shaking his head slightly. "Tony is definitely an idiot though. I won't disagree with that. But… Hey, Bruce is going to be there now, so try not to worry too much. You know he won't let Tony do anything else stupid."

"That's not the whole story, is it?" Natasha said skeptically. "Something made Tony freak out."

The super solider uncomfortable readjusted his shield, wanting more than anything to run off into battle to let off some steam. Usually he dreaded it, but these days... "He found out about Pepper being engaged to Rhodey."

"Wasn't Rhodey his best friend?" Clint asked, frowning.

"Yeah. They're still friends, anyway...just not as close. Though I doubt they're in good terms in Tony's mind now." Steve explained.

Thor poked his head out from the cockpit door. "We are ready to intercept, my friends. I feel that this should be an easy mission, yes?"

"I hope it's just quick." Steve muttered under his breath as the doors opened.