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.

Sorry! I hope this mega long double update makes up for all the weeks in silence :)


Yinsen was worried Tony was going to pull the new stitches.

After the last appearance of the Ten Rings Yinsen had planned to ease up on therapy for a few days until the stitches and the reopened incisions were all a little less raw. Apparently Stark had other ideas and refused to listen to any of Yinsen's advice as he pushed himself even further.

Tony was now sitting up in bed with feet on the floor - and he'd refused all help, instead leveraging himself up inch by inch.

He was pale, shaking and breathing shallowly - he had removed the oxygen mask along with the nasogastric tube, IV's and sensors - but there was a look in his eye that kept Yinsen from interfering. He wasn't sure if it was determination or spite - or was it fear? - but Stark had decided he was going to walk today.

Yinsen thought the man was insane.

"I'm surprised it's taken this long for him to try," Rhodey said in equal parts exasperated and fond. "Tony is an awful patient. Always trying to subvert his doctors and they all end up hating him."

His smile dropped. "I guess that shows just how awful he felt."

He didn't think Tony was in anyway ready to start walking, even before their captors had paid them a generous visit. Yinsen was both impressed and annoyed at Stark's stubbornness.

'I just redid those stitches, if I have to do them again only two days later… He's even more bull headed than Junayd!'

Clint only just managed to stifle a laugh at this; his brother Barney was much the same, he used to adore his stubborn tough older brother.

That was before he betrayed him and told the circus owner about his relationship with Laura (who at the time was a gymnast and a knife juggler from one of the rival circuses).

He had narrowly escaped being knifed by one of his fellow performers, however he knew that was nothing compared to what the Boss, Mr Grosso, would to him if he found him.

Clint had no choice but to run with Laura and to hire out his talents to whoever paid the highest. 'That was all Barneys fault, the bastard… but was it Stark's similarities to him that made it hard to build anything more than a tentative friendship? ...Probably partly, yes.'

Yinsen understood the motivation behind Stark's stubbornness; the frustration at being helpless and fear at the same thing. It was the only reason he hadn't put a stop this already.

"After what they just did, isn't it reckless to try to walk now?" Scott frowns. He had thought that the treatment those terrorists had subjected Stark to had meant that they would have to watch him go through physical therapy again. He was glad that wasn't the case.

Bruce bit his lip anxiously. "Well I wouldn't advise it that's for sure. But that's Tony for you."

Tony had a tight grip on a stack of boxes as he began to leverage himself to his feet. He grunted as he stood slightly stooped, keeping one hand on the box for balance and the other wrapped around his chest.

Gaping, Peter's eyes flick over Tony. 'Oh god, Mr Stark is standing like an old man.'

Yinsen reached his hand out in an offer of assistance but Tony slapped it away and ground out, "no, I can do this."

He watched carefully ready to intervene if Stark should fall as he started to take one shuffling step forward.

"Come on you can do it." Steve murmurs under his breath. "Come on Tony."

Tony took three small, trembling steps up to the corner of the box. His fingers tapped a nervous beat on the edge box as he forced himself to stand straighter and then let go. He pushed off from the box and took one step forward before his knees buckled.

With quick movements Yinsen caught him under the arms, he slung one of Tony's arms over his shoulders and guided him back to the bed.

Tony made no protest as Yinsen got him back in the bed and placed the oxygen mask back on his face to ease his ragged breathing.

"Do you want the IV back in for the morphine?"

Tony shook his head, reaching up to take the mask off, "don't need it... No drugs."

Perplexed, Thor's eyes flick to the doctor and then back to his friend. "Why is friend Anthony refusing the aid that he so desperately needs?"

"It is my belief Mr Odinson that Mr Stark feels that he doesn't feel he deserves to be alleviated from the pain." Vision intones softly.

Bruce's eyes widen in horror. 'But that makes Tony sound like a self harmer. Oh God.'

Yinsen was tempted to ignore him.

"Yes, ignore him!" Peter pleaded the memory version of the Doctor.

Seeing the man's other arm wrapped tightly around his chest, had heightened his resolve to do this before Tony pointedly dropped it back to the bed.

Yinsen avoided rolling his eyes at the stubbornness as he reaffixed the mask.

Tony ripped it off again. "I need to start work Doc."

"Tony for goodness sake!" Steve hissed in what Tony had dubbed 'his Captain America' voice.

"You can't cast metal yet Stark. Don't be a fool,"

Tony shook his head, "pen. Paper. Need to… draw plans."

Yinsen gave him a stern glare as he again replaced the mask. "If I get you something to draw on will you keep the mask on?"

Tony gave him two thumbs up before pointing to the paper.

'If I wasn't already grey…'


Wanda could feel Tony's hand tremble over the board and paper in his lap. He tightened his grip on the pencil and tried to make his mind think straight. He needed these plans, but also had to hide what they actually were and scattering the designs meant they had to be even more exact.

'I need to do this, I can't keep mucking around.'

'You need to get better first, Stark. You can't be impatient with yourself.' She thinks.

Tony needed to get out of this place and figure out what was happening with his weapons.

Twitching, Wanda internally grimaced at that, she hated every reminder that he hadn't known what was going on. She loathed that slimy feeling inside of her that happened each time.

'I need these plans first.'

Normally Tony knew he could draw plans in his sleep but he was losing focus and the sharp pains in his chest were getting worse as the last dose of morphine was wearing off.

'Arrogant in his talents.' Wanda rolls her eyes. 'As well as foolishly prideful. I was not wrong about that it seems. Just take the drugs, Stark.'

Nonetheless Tony just grit his teeth and started drawing the next segment. The pain had gotten worse since his captors last visit, being thrown to the floor straight onto the reactor had been agony. However, it served to remind him the power they had over him and that they could make that pain worse at any moment.

They could kill him at any moment.

He knew he was pushing himself too far in response, but right now he didn't give a damn about his bodies limit's.

'I can't just lie around being useless anymore.'

Wanda could understand this, once she had gotten injected with her powers she had wanted to get out and kill Stark immediately upon feeling the unleashed power in her mind and under her skin.

Not to just sit around and take time to hone them - however she'd known it was necessary in order to truly pull Stark's psyche apart and kill him.

'Yinsen has a family to get home to and I need to fix my mess before it got anymore people killed. Something in my company has gone very wrong and I need to root out the cause.'

That slimy, sinking unpleasantness coiled in her gut again. 'So the drive was not selfish in nature… Of course it wasn't, I keep jumping to conclusions even when I should know better now. When I do know better. Stark has always seemed to care more for others well being than his own - which is why my vision at the base worked so well in making him self destruct.'

Wanda knew what Stark was like now, she knew he wasn't thinking of himself here, but she kept trying to find that angle that she could use to justify her actions even just a little. Stark could be abrasive and rude but it wasn't enough to ease that slimy feeling. It wasn't enough to ease her guilt.

'Why can't the man just be more flawed? This would be so much easier and I could just carry on hating him.'

Her train of thought was broken off when she felt Stark shift, trying to relieve the pain.

Another spike of agony caused him to hiss and spots to dance at the edge of his vision. He saw Yinsen look up from where he was but waved the doctor away.

Tony gripped the pencil tighter and continued drawing.

The lines came out wrong, his hand trembling to much to create the clean lines he needed. He shook his head and flexed his hand, he just needed to work through the pain. He deserved the pain.

'You can do this Stark, it's just a little chest twinge. They just dropped you on some rock and burst your stitches. They'll probably do it again or worse. There are people out there dying because of your weapons while you've been reclining on a bed for three weeks!'

The thin pencil snapped in his fist.

Wanda looked at the pieces in shock, she knew that by this point she would have sought rest if she was in Stark's position. Something warmed inside of her at Stark's vehemence and determination for trying to stop more people from ending up like herself and the doctor.

Yinsen walks over, seeing both the shattered shards of the pencil and Stark's distress. "Are you alright Stark?"

He looked away from Yinsen, glaring at the fire instead. "'M fine!" He ground out beneath the mask.

"No you're not Stark, you're clearly in pain." Tony hadn't even realized he'd hunched over as far as he had or that his arms were again wrapped around his chest. "You need morphine."

Tony shook his head - that shouldn't make him so dizzy - he needed to work, not take more drugs. He would not be stuck useless on a bed anymore when he needed to get out of here and fix his mistakes.

'I can't be helpless anymore.'

It was still a startlingly strange thought to the witch. She'd never thought he'd understood what pain or hopelessness was like, living a life of a privilege as he had.

It was another similarity she saw to herself and another way she was wrong. Wanda hated it.

Yinsen sighed. "Well you're not going to be able to work if you're in so much pain you're trembling like this and can't even sit up straight. I'll give you smaller doses, enough to help you work and I'll help you walk some more tomorrow, maybe even get you sitting at the table to draw your plans, hmm?"

Wanda felt herself internally smiling at the Doctor's idea. It was a smart play to offer a compromise that would allow Stark to accomplish what he wanted while also ensuring he got what he needed. She hoped this would lead to a better, quicker recovery. She wanted to get out of this place.

'If it gets me off this damn bed for more than a couple of minutes then hell yes.'

He nodded his head, focusing on conserving the breath that he seemed to be getting far too little of.

Yinsen hovered over him, checking the chest tubes and drainage bags.

Tony ignored the pain as Yinsen gently pressed down on the sides of his chest where the tubes had been slid into his pleural cavity.

'At least they're finally coming out.'

He hadn't protested the drainage tubes, knowing how important the were to drain out fluid and any effusions after the surgery but the tubes weren't pleasant. The incisions ached and he could feel the length of the tubes resting near his lungs and each subtle movement when he breathed.

Steve's face twitched in sympathy.

A stethoscope was pressed onto his chest as Yinsen checked his breathing again, listening for any signs that fluid may have entered his lungs. The cold metal almost made him flinch, the usual bandages covering his chest had been removed to give Yinsen better access to the drains.

When Yinsen leaned back the team got a clearer view of the scars and healing surgical incisions.

Rhodey's jaw dropped open at the sight that greeted him, now he got why when Tony changed the Arc in front of him he never lifted his shirt all the way up and turned away.

The extensive scarring was lit eerily by the bright glow of the reactor.

Tony tried not to look at his chest. He didn't want to see how torn up it looked now. He'd felt bile rise in his throat when Yinsen had removed all the bandages and gauze the first time and it didn't look any better now.

The vertical incision that ran along his sternum and was intersected by the arc reactor was still held together with black stitches. The stitches for the shrapnel wounds had been removed but the scars themselves were still red, appearing from small round marks to longer, jagged scars leaving his skin pitted and ridged.

Peter gave a little whine at the back of his throat.

Bucky let out an upset sigh whilst he absent mindedly traced the still raised scars sprawled across his shoulder and half of his chest.

There were two open incisions on the sides of his chest, the chest drains disappearing into them and sutured in place. The holes were big enough to slide a finger into, the skin around raw and puckered around the tubes.

"Those tubes are about the width of my finger and they're inside him!" Wanda murmurs. If she concentrated she could feel them, two long tubes pressed up around his lungs.

It was all terribly enhanced by the vivid, dark purple and green stains with slight swelling around the reactor. The hard impact with the ground courtesy of the Ten Rings had left dark discolored bruises and swelling.

"Those look nasty." Natasha scanned Tony's chest and prayed to a God that she didn't believe in that Tony had no surprise internal bleeding gathering in his chest cavity.

"And he got up and walked after they did this much damage?" Scott whispered as he gaped at the huge bruises that covered Tony's upper torso and the smaller finger shaped bruises that wrapped around his upper arms.

"He's one tough bastard alright," Sam whistled but his eyes remain dark.

Tony huffed, "can we just remove it please! You know before it clogs or leaks and I need another surgery that could kill me!" His words didn't come out quite so clear through the mask, but Yinsen was well versed in muffled speech.

"Could that happen?" Clint asked.

Nodding his head, Bruce replied softly, "chest tubes don't have the best safety record and complications are pretty common. Considering the environment they're in it's a miracle nothing's happened."

"Well your lungs are clear. There's been no sign of infection and fluid drainage has stopped. No sign of RBS. I think we're in the clear." Yinsen smiled at him.

"Yes!" Scott smiles and lets out a whoop. "Does that mean he's going to finally going to get better and build the suit?"

"Hopefully that's coming after this." Peter answers, antsy with nervous energy but a shaky smile springs to his lips and his eyes shine brightly. "So far all the signs are looking good."

'Thank god!'

Yinsen partially tapped down a piece of gauze above both tubes then clamped the tubes.

He placed a hand gently on the dressing, pressing lightly. A snip to the sutures unsecured the first tube. "Take a deep breath in," Yinsen said as he gripped the tube.

Tony gripped the sheets of the bed tightly as he took the deep breath.

"Guys this is going to -" Bruce is cut off mid warning when Yinsen swiftly and suddenly pulled the tube out.

Watching the nearly 12FR wide tube sliding quickly out of Tony's chest, the group gasps with Tony at the uncomfortable pulling sensation and the burning pain.

They stared at the several centimeters of wet and bloody tube that had been pulled from Tony's chest.

"I didn't realize it was that long…" Steve rubbed at the side of his chest to ease the slowly fading burning sensation.

Yinsen tapped the rest of the dressing down, a little blood, sluggishly staining the gauze. Tony grimaced at the pressure of Yinsen's hand on the wound. It felt raw from the tube being pulled out, his chest aching.

It still didn't compare to the rest of the ache in his chest and as the stinging died down the pain blended in with all his other aches and pains.

"I'll stitch that shortly. Are you ready for the second tube Stark?"

'Oh fuck not again…'

Yinsen set to work once more and the team felt the scene whirl around them.


Appearing healthier Tony took slow, steady steps, gripping Yinsen's arm as they walked around the room. He still wore an oxygen mask connected by a long tube to the oxygen concentrator, but was overwise free of any other wires and tubes.

He knew he wouldn't have been able to complete the circuit of the room without the extra oxygen.

"How long has it been?" Natasha asks, "Stark appears healthier now, surely it can't be long until he escapes."

"Mr Stark has been in Afghanistan for almost two months at this point." The Being appears fading into existence, they snap their fingers sharply and pause the memory. "It has been a week between this memory and the last. His recovery was long and arduous. I know you are all itching to move on but think of the purpose of what I am showing you, three months is a very long time."

"Fuck…" Scott murmurs, that was one of the first times it had really sunk in for him. 'THREE MONTHS.' Judging by the colour Steve's face had gone it was the same for him too.

"Indeed." The Illuminate purses their lips and shoots them all a sharp reproachful look before leaving once more.

It still took far longer than he liked and a firm grip on Yinsen's arm to make the full walk around the room, but he finally managed it. So it was that he sat at his drawing table with a little bit of pride as he took the last few steps unaided.

Without any morphine.

The IV had been removed for the last time, just yesterday. He was glad to finally be off the drugs.

Although walking was harder Tony was determined to start work and to get out. Metal work was unfortunately still beyond him however he could draw and plan.

It was a relief to be working again. To have a way to get the buzzing thoughts in his head out and be constructive. His fingers had been itching for something to do for days. Not having an outlet for his thoughts had been maddening and his head had felt fit to burst.

'Having an intelligence like mine can be maddening. That's for sure… No wonder the mad scientist trope is a thing.'

Bruce smiled, "I would be offended but yeah Tony definitely has a point."


Tony fiddled with the nasal cannula that had replaced the oxygen mask. He didn't like the feel of the prongs in his nose and how they chafed but it rubbed less than the mask strap.

'He really is getting better.' Smiled Bruce, 'at least he isn't dependant on that mask anymore. It's only going to be a small amount of time before he won't need any aid at all.'

At least it did help when he was doing his morning walk around the cave.

He was now able to walk the full length of the cave without Yinsen's assistance which he took as a win. Even though the exercise left him winded.

"Well that's a small positive at least." Steve gave a genuine smile. He couldn't wait to see Tony escape, he hoped that despite the ghost of Yinsen that he had seen, that the Doctor could escape too.

Although after a short rest he was more than ready to start the day.

He took out the cannula as he called Yinsen over and started walking over to his work station. "Leave breakfast. It can wait a minute, I've got something you need to see."

Tony grabbed a stack of papers and gestured Yinsen over to the table. Putting the thin onion skin paper down and turning on a lamp he allowed Yinsen to rifle through the various diagrams. "This is our ticket out of here."

Thor had worked hard to school the anticipation that he had felt at seeing his friends feat of Midgardian magic and metal work. It came easier than many would have expected it to for the God however contrary to popular belief Loki wasn't the only Odinison apt at lying and acting.

"What is it?" Yinsen asked putting the papers back down.

"Flatten them out and look," responded Tony as he did just that. The thin paper had allowed Tony to hide his true plans, drawing seemingly random parts on different papers, but now each page revealed the full secret.

An Iron Man suit.

Scott whistled in amazement.

"Oh, wow. Impressive," Yinsen whispered in awe.

"Iron man…" Peter breathed, of course he had heard all about Mr Stark creating the Iron suit in a cave but it was different seeing him do it.

'You want me to be better than that? Really Mr Stark?'

A smile curved at Peter's lips as he felt his admiration for Tony rise even higher. 'You've set a pretty high bar.'

"Wait hang on… the metal looks pretty heavy. To be carrying all of that Stark must be pretty strong." Clint comments.

"He is." Natasha spoke up, a smile twitched at the corner of her mouth. "When I tried the gauntlet on that's what really struck me, it felt not unpleasantly heavy but strong enough for it to cause a strain. I can't imagine how heavy the full suit would be."

"I do not see the cause for amazement my comrades, Friend Anthony is not strong for a Midgardian... " Thor frowned in confusion.

"But he is Thor." Bruce answered, eyeing the God through narrowed eyes. "Most normal, healthy people wouldn't be able to carry that much metal on them-"

"There would've been at least a rudimentary hydraulics system to support part of the weight. Without one we couldn't even wear the current suits. And they're still pretty heavy fully assembled." Rhodey alternated his gaze between Bruce and Thor. "But he is stronger than most people. How could he not be? He's been working with heavy metal for practically all his life."

"But friend Steven and the Soldier of Winter can lift more than that… I believed that Jane, Selvig and Darcy were not warriors so they were unusually puny in comparison." Thors voice had become a low embarrassed rumble by the end upon noticing everyone's horrified eyes on him.

"No Thor, it's the other way around, most of us are abnormally strong." Bruce's eyes were as round as dish plates. "But Tony's abnormal strength is only present in his head you didn't know that before so… that's why you-" Bruce found his voice had been unnaturally silenced as the scene began to morph around them.