Steve was adamant that Tony was the strongest person he knew, but even strong people had to give in at some point.
He knew Tony was holding on so that they could have a good experience on the trip, but he didn't realize just how much he was holding until he couldn't be strong anymore.
"Please Bruce, please," Steve pleaded, tears shining in his eyes. He was holding a limp little boy in his arms that was shaking and pale. The boy's eyes were half-lidded and his forehead was creased in pain. Steve was holding his small hand, but the hand was completely lax.
"I can't, I can't give him anymore, i'm sorry," Bruce whimpered, running anxious hands through his hair for the billionth time. They were desperate to give the boy morphine to take away his pain but he had already had the maximum dosage.
"He's in pain, Bruce, we have to do something," Steve practically cried.
"M'okay, Cap'n," Tony rasped. "M'okay." His hand twitched in Steve's hand, and the supersoldier pressed a kiss to it.
"It's not okay, Tones. We'll make sure it doesn't hurt anymore okay?" Steve reassured the boy, not able to stop the tears from leaking.
Tony's lips twitched in a ghost of a smile. "Always h-hurts, s'ok."
Steve didn't get to respond before Tony was pulled into his fifth seizure of the night. Bruce practically pulled Steve off the bed as Tony's limbs flailed and his body shook. The scientist winced just thinking about the pain Tony was going through as his body betrayed him.
The seizure only lasted a few seconds before the small boy's body went limp again. The two men rearranged his arms and legs, turning him on his side in recovery position.
It wasn't long before small groans of pain started leaving Tony's mouth. Steve had the boy pulled against his chest and was rubbing small circles on his bony back. "You're okay baby boy, you're okay," Steve whispered.
"I'll call Nick and see if there's anything we can do," Bruce said wearily, walking out of the room.
Steve ran gentle fingers through Tony's short hair. "You're gonna be good as new in no time, Tony. We're gonna go home and play in the park. We can ride on my motorcycle, and go to the zoo. Have you been to the zoo before?" Steve didn't wait for the somewhat-unconscious boy to answer. "You're going to love it, Tones."
Steve froze as he heard a troubling whistling noise. "Tones? Tony?" Steve listened to the boy's struggling chest before his eyes widened. He recognized the sound from his asthmatic days. "Bruce! Bruce!"
The scientist came running into the room, phone still in hand. "He can't breathe," Steve said, panicking.
Bruce's eyes widened and he raced over to the bed. He listened to Tony's wheezy breathing and laid a light hand onto the boy's chest. He then rolled Tony over onto his back. With the boy in better view, there was no mistaking his quickly bluing lips.
"Sit him up, support him with your chest," Bruce instructed. Steve wasted no time to comply. The change in position did lessen the wheeze slightly, but Tony was still practically gasping for breath.
Bruce remembered the phone in his hand and pulled it to his ear. "How fast did you say they can get here?"
Steve was drawn from Bruce's phone conversation by a hand grasping his forearm. He looked down to see big nervous chocolate eyes staring back at him.
"Cap?" Tony rasped. "Wanna….go...'ome," he whimpered, pausing for breath.
"Don't worry, buddy. We're gonna get you home, just hang in there, okay?" Steve stuttered. He rubbed his thumb lightly over Tony's eyes to encourage him to rest.
Bruce walked over and replaced the boy's cannula with a full oxygen mask. "I'm going to get the others up- Nick is sending a jet with a medical team which will be here in 30. Shout if anything."
Steve nodded solemnly and watched as Bruce walked quickly out of the room to wake the others. He looked outside and noticed how dark it was- it had to be around 2am. He had been up with Tony since they arrived back at the hotel and therefore hadn't gotten a chance to close his eyes. Even so, he was wide awake with the concern that was coursing through him for the little boy in his arms.
The medical team arrived even faster than expected and were knocking loudly on their door 20 minutes later. Steve heard Bruce's footsteps before paramedics were storming the room.
Tony's eyes peeled open and he whimpered at the people surrounding the bed. "No...hos'al, no...hos'tal," Tony rasped.
"It's okay, buddy, they're here to help," Steve reassured the boy as the paramedics started reaching for Tony.
"Cap'n...wan' stay...Cap'n," Tony huffed.
Before Steve could respond, Tony was ripped from his arms and carried over to the stretcher, which took up most of the space in the room.
"Hey, wait! Where are you-" Steve started. The medical professionals had Tony strapped to about 10 pieces of equipment before they raced out the room, slamming the door in their wake.
As Steve jumped up to follow them, Bruce held the supersoldier back. Steve turned his confused- and quickly angering- gaze onto him. "They said there's not enough room on the jet for us to go with them."
Steve's stomach dropped. "What? But...but he can't go alone."
Bruce sighed, again running his hand through his thinning hair. "Nick said we should just take the flight we had already scheduled." He checked his watch. "Which will be here in about 8 hours."
"8 hours?!" Steve screeched.
"Yeah, Bruce. How are we supposed to go back to sleep knowing Tony was just rushed to the hospital?" Clint said.
Steve turned and noticed the rest of the team standing in the hallway. His eyes narrowed. "Well you guys were able to sleep pretty easily when he was in here not able to breathe."
Rhodey's face snarled and he stepped forward. "That's because neither of you woke us. You think we would have ignored something like that? Slept on if we knew Tony was hurting?" He shouted.
"He's always hurting!" Steve screamed, hands fisting in his hair.
"Well you're too busy hogging him and never letting us help!" Rhodey growled. "We love him too!"
"Boys!" Natasha shouted before Steve could respond. "Now is not the time to start turning on each other. Do you think Tony would have wanted that?"
Both of the men looked away guiltily.
"Now, let's work together. Someone should look up flights and see if there's any earlier ones. The rest of us need to pack up the room so we can get ready to go," Natasha said.
The group nodded and soon everyone got to work.
Steve didn't so much as 'pack his things' as throw anything he found into a suitcase then tried to jam it down. Since Bruce was still packing his own belongings, he was then tasked with packing Tony's things.
He picked up the boy's clothing and souvenirs with shaking hands before putting them carefully into the boy's bag. When Bruce found him, cuddling Tony's Captain America doll that had fallen onto the floor, he was in the middle of a panic attack.
Steve felt like his world was crashing down. Tony had been ripped from him so quickly he couldn't process his feelings. He didn't want to process his feelings. He wanted Tony, happy, healthy, and back in his arms. He wanted to see the boy smile and laugh and play and run. But there was a big part of him that was scared if he would ever see the boy again. What if this trip was the last time he would ever get to hold Tony? To see the boy smile up at him? To hear his voice? To see him live without a tube down his throat? To see him ali-
"Steve!" Bruce's voice broke through his thoughts. "You need to take deep breaths." Bruce guided Steve through some breathing techniques and after a while Steve's breaths evened out.
"I need to see him, Bruce. I need him," Steve whimpered.
Bruce frowned, unsure what to say, before he pulled Steve into a hug. Steve was too overwhelmed to even acknowledge Bruce's usual discomfort with touch.
"He's gonna be okay," Bruce said softly. "He's strong."
The reminder sent a chill down Steve's spine and he held onto it. Tony was strong, and he would get through this.
The plane ride was the longest hour Steve ever experienced. The whole team was anxious and scared. They took turns pacing the aisles and calling Nick, to which they received no response.
The second they landed, Steve and the team raced to the hospital as fast as they could. They had no idea what room Tony was in, but thankfully the nurse at the front desk was awe-struck by the Avengers and let them through.
They went up to the ICU but were stopped at the elevator doors and were guided to the waiting room. Inside, they found Nick hunched over in an uncomfortable chair in the corner.
They dashed over, and hearing footsteps, Nick quickly wiped the tears from his eye and looked up.
"Nick, what's going on? We don't know anything," Steve said.
Nick sighed and shifted in the chair. "I don't know much either. I haven't been allowed to see him, they've been working on him all this time. They said the tumors-" Nick's voice cracked and he paused. "The tumors are shutting his body down. They had to intubate him because the ones in his lungs are growing so fast. The medicine to stop, or at least delay, their growth apparently stopped working, which is why he got so bad so fast."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know-" Bruce started guiltily.
"It's not your fault. We didn't know. He wasn't even due for a scan until next week."
"What are they doing to him now?" Rhodey asked impatiently. "When did they say he's allowed visitors?"
"I'm not sure," Nick said. "The last they told me they were trying him on some new medicine."
"So I guess we're just waiting until the doctor comes back out?" Sam asked.
Nick nodded, sighing heavily.
Steve groaned and collapsed into a chair. This was going to be a long wait.