Authors Note: Hey guys sorry I'm so late with this. I had this chapter ready for a few weeks now but I had no time to post because of how hectic things have been for me recently. I hope you enjoy this double update :)
No copyright infringement intended...
All Movie Scenes used here belong to Marvel Studios and their respective owners, I'm not out to profit from this work.
I made it purely for enjoyment purposes.
Answers to your reviews *~*~*
afedrigo- thank you! :) I'm glad you enjoyed my last update. I hope you like this one too!
Guest (cerezo 14) -
Guest- Thank you! :)
GenderqueerWriter- Thank you! My Beta also helped a lot with that :) I'm glad you enjoyed how I portrayed Peter and Tony's father son bond. Yup I think those two along with Bruce and Tony would be the most distrustful of her. I'm glad you think I portrayed Steve well :)) Bruce and Thor will certainly be popping up more prominently in these next few chapters. YES! That is exactly what I thought of Natasha too. Her and Tony do have a lot of similarities and they are each mysterious and have their own parts of their personality based on wearing a Mask (Mask and Widow.) I personally saw Widow as a misk of Natasha's Mask and Angry - did you get that? :) It is hard to balance all the characters out so sometimes I do try to prioritise which characters opinions could use more focus according to the events. Tony and Rhodey are definitely my BROTP :D Yes I did and I loved this review :)
"Okay," looking a little reluctant Yinsen nonetheless turned to the ventilator, "First, we run a test on your breathing, so I'll turn off the machine's pressure and you'll be left to breathe on your own. If you manage alright I'll take you off the ventilator tomorrow. And remember; breathe with your abdomen."
The automatic rush of air in and out of Tony's lungs stops.
The team watch with a tremor of fear as Tony's chest falls disturbingly still. His eyes are clamped shut, fingers twisting in the mattress, his chest twitching uselessly.
"Turn it back on!" Peter cried, looking ready to dash over and do it himself.
"No, give him another moment," Thor's rumbling timbre replied as he stepped closer to the boy. He was sure Anthony would accomplish this task even if his other friends all looked as worried as the spider boy.
Tony's chest hitched, he tried to force his lungs to perform the movement but his body refused to meet even that simple command as his reduced lungs seemed to just flutter, only drawing in pitiful amounts of oxygen. His hands dug into the mattress as he tried desperately, struggling for the air his body was starting to scream for. His throat twitched around the tube in reflex.
Yinsen's hand having been hovering over the dial as he looked between his patient and the screen with his oxygen stats now flicked the dial back on. He sighed as Tony slumped into the bed with the renewed whooshing of the machine.
Tony weakly slapped a fist against the bed, his arms trembled from the tense grip he'd had. Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes at the frustration of failing something as simple as breathing.
Steve blows out a harsh breath, appreciating for the first time since he had first received the serum just how much wider his lung capacity was now in comparison to his pre serum self and Tony.
Peter relaxs, calming now that Tony had oxygen again.
Thor slumped a little then straightened again. 'Friend Anthony may have stumbled at this challenge but I know he will succeed eventually.'
"Calm down Stark, I know it's frustrating but you'll get there. Just give yourself time to heal, we might've been too hasty in trying this today," Yinsen soothed as he patted Tony's shoulder. "We'll try again soon."
Tony shrugged his hand off in a fit of pique, not wanting useless comfort that now just felt demeaning. 'We don't have the time! How long until these bastards decide they're sick of waiting? How long until they decide I should be healed and rip this thing from my throat?' He glares at Yinsen trying to get his point across.
It's a reminder that Tony may be healing, but danger is a constant presence in this place and Tony was in a very vulnerable state. Bucky, Rhodey, Nat, Clint and Sam exchanged fearful looks. Their horror stories, their own experiences and Tony's showed just how impatient and brutal terrorists could be and Tony was in no condition to be able to defend himself if - or more likely when - it proved necessary.
"We'll try again tomorrow," was all Yinsen could offer him, his own face showing worry.
The scene blurred slightly around them and when it settled they found themselves in a very similar scene; Tony's second pressure test which went only slightly better than the previous one.
Tony's chest belled out slightly with effort as his healing lungs struggled to inflate themselves. But this time Tony managed a slight, stuttering intake of air.
It was a cruel reminder for Steve and a shock to everyone else how something so simple - so essential - that they all managed easily and took for granted was for some an incredibly difficult task. It was an eye opening experience.
Rhodey could only pray that it had got easier for Tony.
Even though Tony had started to take a stuttering intake of air, it was still far from the outcome Yinsen needed to completely remove the ventilator. Tony's breathing was too shallow and irregular.
Yinsen gradually turned up the pressure until Tony's stats were back in a normal range and eases the effort Tony's lungs had exerted to gain a fraction of his needed oxygen. The aid of the machine would work with and support Tony's lungs and hopefully strengthen them to a point they wouldn't need the assistance any longer.
"You're getting there Stark, it won't be too much longer and the tube can come out. Just give your lungs the time they need, they've suffered a lot of trauma."
Yinsen sounded pleased about his improvement but Tony again shrugged off Yinsen's platitudes, trying to slap away the hand that was reaching out to his shoulder. He knew he wasn't being fair to the man but his frustration - and fear - at his reliance on the ventilator was souring his mood and with no other way to vent Yinsen was the unfortunate target.
"Unfortunately true." Bucky clicked his tongue and glanced at Steve, whose eyes had brightened in hope. "I don't remember everything just enough to know that you were no peach when you were sick either."
"What is it with you and fruits with stones in, man? When Steve first found you, you were looking at plums." Sam aims a teasing smile at Bucky who shrugs in response.
"It's a 1940s Brooklyn thing." Steve smirks before his smile falls upon glancing back to Tony, "Bucky used to bring me back nice fruits like that as a treat to cheer me up when I was ill. Even when I wasn't nice to him." Steve looks to Bucky who appears to be drinking this in like it was new information - perhaps it was. That thought upset Steve more than he thought it would.
This obviously showed on his face because Bucky then claps his shoulder. "Looks like I owe Stark a basket of fruits then."
Shakily smiling in return, Steve nods although he can't help the jealousy curling in his chest. 'But that was our thing.'
Two days later Yinsen once again performed the test, with much higher hopes; Tony had been triggering the ventilator quite well on his own.
The pressure in the machine once again disappeared and Tony felt his lungs stutter as the mechanical inflation died. His lungs struggled to find a rhythm to compensate for the loss and his oxygen levels began to drop.
Yinsen watched the stats wearily, muttering a traditional prayer to Allah that Tony doesn't hear, ready to dial it back up if they drop to a dangerous level.
Bruce silently murmurs the words with Yinsen despite not being Muslim himself; he had picked up quite a lot on his travels including the Islamic prayer for the sick.
Despite being an atheist he drew comfort from mouthing the familiar prayer for Tony who he considered to be his best friend.
Tony's stats teeter dangerously, then he finally finds a comfortable rhythm and starts to take shallow, even breaths that gradually come easier with each try.
Thor lets out a small smile at this achievement which he finds all of his comrades share, even the Witch of Scarlet which he can't help but be surprised by.
'It is a good sign that she is purging herself of her unjust poisonous hatred.'
Upon looking to Friend Natasha he finds a concealed look of fear that this is all friend Anthony has achieved so far.
"Come on, Stark." Natasha murmurs anxiously, she wishes that his progress would speed up. 'Those terrorists seem particularly impatient, it's not going to be long before they try something drastic.' The Widow warns in the back of her mind, Natasha glances at the cave door; she'd already been keeping one eye on it at all times but now she moved, placing herself between the door and Tony careful to keep both in sight. It left her on the outer edges of the group and she knew she couldn't really stop anyone coming through the door but it made her made her feel slightly less useless as she watched Tony struggle to breath.
His chest ached with each expansion, muscles still recovering from the surgery now having to work once more. Tony could feel each twinge and pull of the throbbing muscles but his stats steadily rose.
Yinsen sighed in relief.
Tony was too focused on his breathing to pay much attention to Yinsen rattling off his oxygen stats but did hear that Yinsen wasn't willing to take out the tube yet.
"We'll give it a couple of days to play it safe. If there's no further issues with your breathing in that time I'll take it out."
"You're starting to get better, Tones." Rhodey spoke up softly. "Focus on that."
"Yeah, I wish I could tell Stark that he does get better and he does get out." Scott states sadly. "There was rumours of what happened over there but I never personally thought that he had to overcome quite this much."
"Me too. I can't believe that after this he also somehow becomes Iron Man and busts himself out of there!" Peter whispers sounding amazed.
It has been two weeks since the second surgery and two days since the last breathing test. Tony's breathing had improved slightly then stayed steady and as Yinsen had promised the tube was about to come out.
Though first Yinsen ran through the now standard checks, asking Tony if there was any abnormal pain and what his pain level was. Tony claimed it was holding steady at 4.
Bruce shakes his head knowing it was a bold faced lie meant to soothe the other man. Yinsen doesn't look like he believed it either but nodded anyway.
"Are you ready then?"
Tony nodded his head as much as he was able and gave a thumbs up. The tube was still a disturbance but not as painful as it had been at first.
Yinsen removed his pillow to tilt his head back slightly and his throat muscles woke screaming, and he has to fight to quell his gag reflex.
'Wow I thought I'd lost that long ago.'
His throat was shrieking in pain, heaving, almost retching as the tube began sliding out. He could feel the scraping and sliding as it's slowly pulled up his dry throat.
Suddenly, it's out and Yinsen was pulling away the tape on his cheek - it stung slightly as part of his scraggly beard was pulled away with it.
Steve's cheek spasms in sympathy and he strokes the area where his beard once was.'That was never a nice way to get facial hair removed.' He had chosen to get a beard as part of a ploy by Tony to get the rogues more subconsciously likeable to the public by changing their appearance in some way for a short time, only being allowed to gradually change it back once their individual popularity had gone up. The only catch was that they had to pay for this change themselves. Wanda had been almost spitting that she was left with no way of changing the fact that her dark roots were now reaching her shoulders. 'It really was wrong of Tony to be petty enough to draw funding away from Wanda when she needed it the most… no doubt we'll see why he did that here.'
Steve was ripped from those thoughts when he felt the ghost feeling of Tony's throat twitching and swallowing around the sudden emptiness.
Tony started coughing violently, his sandpaper throat rubbed raw by the tube. Each cough lanced down to his chest, stealing his breath and setting his ribs grinding into the titanium as his chest heaved with wracking coughs. Each one splits his chest in half, stars burst behind his screwed shut eyes, tears running down his cheeks. He tried to turn onto his side and curl around the pain but any movement just made it worse and if he wasn't coughing he'd be sobbing.
Peter exhaled shakily, seeing his mentor in such a distraught state really made him want to reach through the memory and hug him tightly after busting him from that cave himself.
"No wonder he's crying. Look at that thing! It's huge!" Clint exclaims upon seeing the breathing tube.
"Breathing tubes generally are." Bruce ground out, the Hulk bubbles protectively from where he was restrained under his skin, fear for his friend made him irritable and even less tolerant to Clint pointing out the obvious than usual.
Tony stopped moving and lay very still as the coughing began to subside. He flinched when something was pressed against his face.
After a moment he realises it brings cool, soothing air that eased the coughing and made breathing easier.
He gulped the air in greedily, in an unnatural rhythm of short, shallow breaths.
Wanda recognises the jagged movement of his chest as that he'd usually make when he was diving head first into an anxiety attack.
Each one of Tony's breaths sent a dagger through his chest and abdominal muscles. Yinsen set the oxygen as high as he could and told Tony to rest.
Tony was all too happy to comply and drifted into a fitful sleep.
Thor swelled with pride - and sorrow - for his friend -remembering the pain he'd felt from the first surgery that had brought him to his knees - who even now was in continual torment. He'd always respected his Shield Brother but now he was seeing how strong he truly was. 'I am unsure I could have faced such tortures as bravely as the Man of Iron, nor with such determination!'
Tony was breathing on his own and the ventilator was being pushed away; without the huge tubes of the machine hanging around Tony, he didn't look quite so frail anymore. He was still attached to a heart monitor, drainage tubes in his chest with their satchels hanging around his stomach, a nasogastric tube and now an oxygen mask, but now Tony looked like he was on the road to recovery. It couldn't come soon enough for everyone watching.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that Stark." Yinsen murmurs when Tony surfaces from his disturbed rest.
Even without the Doctor clarifying, they know he's referring to the removal of the breathing tube; both the ghost pain and seeing Tony in such a state hadn't been nice for any of them.
Tony managed an incline of his head but doesn't say anything in return, his eyes appear worryingly distant. Yinsen is about to say something else but Tony speaks.
"I know it's fine." Tony's jaw twitches slightly after he says this.
'I should be used to this by now.'
They could feel the strong heated embarrassment radiating off him despite how he was trying his hardest to repress it.
'For goodness sake he saw me crying. Me! Pathetic. You are meant to be a fucking Stark not some pussy with eyes like a leaky faucet… great now my internal voice has become Howard.'
Steve's face twitched a little, he still finds it hard to imagine that his old friend was ever that mean to his son. 'But I can't put it past him anymore… seeing what I have.'
"Can you move your left hand to your pocket for me?" Yinsen's question effectively pulls him straight out of his dark thoughts, he raises a quizzical eyebrow at the doctor before he does as he is instructed. The physical therapy had been helping and he'd been regaining movement slowly over the last week, his arms move easier; the muscles strengthening, and movement in his shoulders doesn't pain him as much as long as he's careful.
"Wait, what is that?" Tony is about to pull his hand out but Yinsen stopped him.
"Don't pull it out, just tell me what you feel."
Furrowing his eyebrows Tony concentrated on what he was feeling inside his pocket, "Is that...wood?"
Clint erupts into giggles at the euphemism and clutches his stomach. "Oh-oh my god. Is that wood? He is never ever living that down."
Peter is nearly as bad, just smothering his laughs with the back of his hand.
Natasha rolled her eyes at Clint's juvenile behavior. 'Really Clint? At least Spider-Man has the excuse of youth. Anyone can tell he's young by the sound of his voice.'
"It's small… there's rope attached? It feels like a pendant… or a necklace of some kind? Did you… you made this for me, didn't you?"
"I did Stark." Yinsen smiled briefly before his expression quickly falls whilst his tone darkens with guilt and his eyes flicker to Tony. "This is probably the worst birthday you have ever gone through, the least I could do is get you a gift. What do you think it is?"
"A bird of some kind? Thin and graceful, made for speed...I can't tell much more than that-"
"That's actually quite a lot." Winter let's out an impressed smile upon remembering that some of the red room students he had taught couldn't identify things so well. 'Of course those ones were quickly eliminated. Stark shows potential-' He had to forcefully cut himself off from going down that familiar thought trial. Some of the things Hydra had implanted into his brain were so deep that Stark had warned that even the best psychotherapy and BARF couldn't completely remove it all.
'I guess this was one of those things. I am curious to see what the Doctor has gifted Stark.'
"It is a Phoenix, Stark. I have to admit initially I thought you little more than a shallow playboy, however this experience has shown me that you are more than the drunk I met before. You are a good man, I only wish we had met properly under other circumstances. Now, I know it's not grand compared to the gifts you normally get given but it's the best I could do under the circumstances."
"It's more than I expected. In fact I can honestly say even just by feeling it, it's one of the best gifts I've ever been given. Yinsen I could kiss you right now."
Tony may have been trying to be funny but they could all feel his genuine surprise and thankfulness at the gift. They were surprised at how such a simple gift affected him, he was a billionaire used to extravagant, eccentric gifts and they had never thought he'd appreciate something so plebeian as a handmade trinket. It's why most of them had never bothered getting him gifts.
'Most people just give me expensive but meaningless things, I haven't gotten anything like this since Jarvis died.'
"Now, now. None of that." Yinsen grinned. "A thank you is enough."
The next few days are devoted to intensive therapy. Tony pushes himself more than he probably should, working himself to exhaustion to chase away the nightmares.
'I wish I was in my lab working until I crashed instead. That always helps, but I'm not in my lab and I can't even walk yet… pushing through the pain of therapy to exhaust myself will have to do.'
"That really doesn't sound healthy." Sam states as he frowns then shrugs. "At least that means he's recovering faster physically at least." Sam frowns deeply. He sincerely hoped that Stark got help for his trauma after this; after his own trauma in Afghanistan with Riley's death the military had left him high and dry. So he had dealt with it by becoming a therapist to other traumatised Vets, that the higher up's had discarded like yesterday's trash. Admittedly Sam could see now that the lack of help given to him after Riley's death meant that he had assigned some of the blame for what happened to Stark. Riley had been shot down by a Stark made RPG and it was well known that the only thing that could get through Stark's Falcon gear was other Stark tech. Sam had been angry and hostile towards the man and chose to avoid him on his few visits to the compound. He had never found justifiable cause to give Stark a chance - it was something he deeply regretted now.
It's been almost three weeks since the surgery and Tony had regained almost all maneuverability in his arms, though the pectoral muscles still hurt when stretched to far and he hasn't managed to fully stretch his arms above his head.
'That hurts a lot.'
Yinsen isn't sure he'll ever be able to fully stretch without putting too much strain on the muscles.
Yinsen had moved on to getting him sitting up for short periods of time and moving his legs. It got a little easier every time and he might even be able to get himself out of bed in a week and stand.
Natasha couldn't help but wonder - and be a little amazed - that he never seemed to have any problems piloting the suit when it seemed now that he should barely be able to get into it. She was distracted from her thoughts when she heard a group of people trudging up to the door.
She spun towards the door and shouted a warning to the others.
Tony was resting from the latest session when the door flew open and a group of terrorists flooded into the cell in a scene reminiscent to their first appearance. They were all armed and looking frustrated and dangerous. Abu Bakaar was at their head, but there was nothing friendly in his face now.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Peter swore.
Everyone tensed, moving into stances that would let them quickly move into battle positions. Thor hefted his hammer and snarled while Vision hovered, his gem glowing brightly.
Even Wanda's hands began to burn red as everyone else's hands hovered over weapons. They all felt incredibly useless, knowing they were as tangible as ghosts.
"Please god, no," Rhodey was pale, terrified to see what they would do.
Yinsen raised his hands as usual but Tony just laid still. He hadn't seen any of the terrorists since before the operation and he wasn't sure why they were here now and looking as angry as they were.
'Guess they got impatient.'
"Why isn't he working?" Abu questioned loudly, "Get him up! On his feet!" he yelled to men behind him, gesturing to Tony. Two of them broke away at the order and stalked toward Tony.
"Halt! You will not take another step!" In a desperate hope Thor swung Mjolnir at their heads, the hammer passing harmlessly through as the two walked straight through the God.
"We can't do anything Thor, we can't even touch them." Steve said as he walked up to calm his teammate down, but it didn't change the fact that he could feel his own anger and helplessness bubbling under his skin too.
Tony blanched when two of the men stepped up to his bed. Yinsen tried to intervene and step between them, shouting in different languages that Tony was still healing and couldn't stand.
Abu wouldn't listen.
"He's had time to heal, he needs to start work now. Raza wants his missile and he's done being patient." Abu said in Dari.
Vision's gem flashes in anger.
The two thugs pushed Yinsen out of the way and another stepped up to restrain him. "This is not the time you promised! You said he would have longer!"
Peter tried to pull the two men off Tony as they striped away the oxygen mask and pulled the little sensors off him, but his hands grasp nothing. He shouts in frustration and launches a punch that is set to fly through them.
However his punch was caught by Bucky - Winter. "We can't do anything kid. We can't stop them. We're good as ghosts here." Peter noted Winter looked as frustrated as he was. "Just try to memorize their faces and when we get back we can track down any that might still be alive." Winter said with a dark look to the terrorists.
Tony tries to fight but his movements are too sluggish and weak and they grip his arms and pull him from the bed. The men ignored his howl and cries as they dragged him from the bed. The rough treatment and sudden movement jostled the reactor and ripped agony through his chest and Tony sagged between them.
They can feel the stitches holding his chest together tear, several dark stains appear through the bandages and his shirt.
"NO!" Rhodey roars, he couldn't help but lunge towards the terrorists even though he knew he couldn't help.
The Hulk was trying to forcefully push into the forefront his mind and for once Bruce actually wished he could transform. He would have already if it was possible but whatever the Being had done prevented it even as the Hulk lurked at the corners of his consciousness and had him growling, low and dangerous.
Natasha stalked forward to stand unseen, right in front of Abu. Her eyes glinted dangerously in contrast to the almost sweet smile on her face. "I do hope you're not dead, so I can have the pleasure of killing you myself."
His screams broke into a low, long keen as he slipped to the edge of consciousness.
'Fuck, this is what I was afraid would happen,' Sam thought as he watched the scene play out.
"Monsters," Wanda hissed, her eyes and hands sparking red as she longed for a target. "I hope he made them pay."
"If not I will." Clint murmured as he fingered his bow.
He could hear Yinsen and Abu shouting as the arms supporting him disappeared and he was dropped to the ground. He only managed a small groan at the impact with the hard ground and tried to curl around his chest.
Tony hit the ground reactor first and they could feel it digging into his chest painfully and the burning pain in his chest.
"This is not good guys! They might really injure him like this!" Scott yelled, he had a hand pressed to his own chest where he could feel the phantom pain. 'Reactor first. Man, that's probably the worst way he could have fell. Shit.'
They gathered around him protectively now that the terrorists had re-joined the group at Abu's order. Natasha and Peter kneeling next to Tony as Rhodey stood in front of him, glaring viscously at any terrorist that moved.
Everyone else formed a circle around them, looking ready to kill anyone who took another step toward Tony.
Tony wasn't sure how much time passed before the shouting stopped and the terrorists left and Yinsen walked over to where he'd been dumped on the ground.
Rhodey jolted when Yinsen walked through him and both Scott and Peter shot him sympathetic looks. Something going through you in this state was never nice, be it a chair or a person.
Tony could hear the Doctor muttering in languages that his clouded brain couldn't decipher as Yinsen turned him over.
Tony's freakily blank eyes was one that Rhodes, Sam, Clint, Natasha and Bucky recognised as someone who had retreated into the depths of their own head to escape the pain that reality was treating them to.
Despite not knowing what Yinsen was saying he could guess from the angry tone that it was hissed swears, but weirdly he could also detect worry seeping into the other man's voice.
"Stark… are you with me?" Yinsen's question cuts through his muddled thoughts. "Stark!"
"Come on Tony, say something," Steve tried to prompt him.
Tony managed to nod, it was barely an incline of his head but he didn't trust himself to speak.
Rhodey, now kneeling next to Peter sighed in relief that Tony was aware and able to respond.
He knew without looking that several of his stitches had been torn and some of the blisters from the brand on his back had popped. He could feel the pus and his body's fluid from his back pool where the skin had been broken.
"We have to get you back on the bed. I'm going to lift you up, it'll hurt, but try to stay conscious. I'll need you to lift some of your weight for me."
Tony couldn't help the scream that tore itself from his throat as Yinsen began to lift him up, his hands dug themselves into an almost painful grip on the Doctor's arms.
Rhodey's hands hovered, wanting to help, but he didn't touch him, knowing his hands would only pass through his friend.
Tony leaned heavily on the doctor, his legs shook as he tried to support himself. His steps were barely shuffles.
Thankfully it was only a few steps back to the bed. He hissed as his back touched the mattress and the popped blisters, which he could feel weeping pus under the bandages were further aggravated before Yinsen rolled him onto his side.
They finally relaxed once Tony was back on the bed, except Natasha who was a furious shadow lurking by the door.
The oxygen mask was pressed back onto his face and he breathed in the cool air in relief. He sagged into the bed, arms wrapped around his bleeding chest an almost drifting into unconsciousness as Yinsen retrieved his supplies.
They watched the Doctor move his supplies over to where Tony lay and take out some surgery stitches and thread.
The memory began to change as Yinsen set to work, they could only hope that the Doctor guided Tony back to full health soon. Before the terrorists decided to act again.
