"He's doing what?!" Steve shouted.
On the other side of the video call, Happy Hogan calmly pulled the phone away from his face and repeated, "Getting the arc reactor removed."
"I thought the shrapnel was too close to his heart to retrieve."
"Technology has changed a lot in the last five years. He found someone in South Korea who believes she can do it." Happy then frowned, causing Steve's insides to run cold.
"What's wrong?"
"Dr. Cho thinks the surgery is going to take quite a toll on Tony's body. His heart will be used to the extra juice, so it might have problems adjusting. Plus, he needs to regrow ribs, connective tissue, muscles, and skin. He's going to be down for a while."
Steve's stomach knotted with concern but he forced himself to speak calmly. "What do you need me to do?"
"Tony doesn't do sick well," Happy replied. "I might need some reinforcements to keep him occupied while he recovers."
"Sure thing," Steve said, waiting for the other shoe to drop. That ask was far too simple to be what was concerning Happy.
Sure enough, the Head of Security continued, "Plus, I'm worried someone is going to try to take advantage of Tony in this state. Fury's sending some guards, but I trust them about as far as I can throw them. It'd be nice to have some extra muscle around."
That made more sense. If Tony was going to be as sick as Dr. Cho expected, he would be vulnerable to the worst scenarios Steve was now imagining. "I'm there," he said without hesitation. "When's the surgery?"
"The 18th. But they're flying to Seoul on the 16th for prep."
That was only a few days from now. Steve tried to recall if he had any work for SHIELD on his calendar—not that that would deter him, just so he knew to reschedule it—and came up empty. Him going was logistics at this point; he had more than enough sick days to cover the surgery and the post-op care, no matter how long they took.
"I'll send you the arrangements," Happy said, pulling Steve back to the present, "plus the floor plans, security layouts, and everything else we have on the hospital. We're taking his private plane from the airstrip, 8 AM on the 16th."
"I'll be there."
And if Steve wasn't mistaken, Happy looked incredibly relieved.
"It's good to see you, Steve," Pepper said as Steve climbed aboard the plane. She must have been told Steve had arrived since she met him just inside the door, arms held wide. Steve hugged her back then turned to Tony, who was slouched on a long, very expensive looking couch, just behind what looked like a stripper pole.
"So you're really doing it?" he asked, taking a seat on the opposite couch.
"Seems so."
Tony looked somewhat uncertain, for reasons Steve only understood after reading the massive amount of paperwork Happy had sent over. What Dr. Helen Cho was attempting to do was nothing short of extraordinary. After using electromagnets to help locate and remove the shrapnel, she would be removing the arc reactor and using what she called The Cradle to help rebuild the missing bones, muscle, and skin. For three days, Tony was going to need to stay in what was essentially quarantine, until the hole in his chest was closed. It wasn't necessarily a positive note, but Tony would be medically sedated throughout the entire procedure to speed the healing process, so he wouldn't be aware of the fact that no one could be in the same room as him.
It was a very serious procedure with very serious risks, but Happy had assured Steve that Tony and Pepper had weighed and considered a multitude of options before settling on Dr. Cho. Steve was nothing but supportive, especially since this implied Tony would regain some lung function back and would make him less susceptible to common illnesses.
"Just let me know if there's anything I can do," was all Steve said as he settled further into the couch.
Pepper laughed as she sat down next to Tony. "Believe me, Steve. He will. Tony is one of the worst patients I have ever seen."
"That's categorically untrue," Tony interjected, whirling around to face his girlfriend. "You're literally sitting across from Mr. I'm-not-hurt-it's-just-a-bullet-wound Rogers."
Pepper looked between both of them, paused to consider, then nodded. "I stand by my case."
Tony pulled a face, looking simultaneously hurt and disappointed. Steve had known Tony long enough though to know that both emotions were in too high saturations to be genuine.
In lieu of a response, Pepper just leaned in for a quick kiss. "It's what makes you, you." When she pulled away, Tony was still scowling, though he was struggling to keep it from morphing into a smile.
He was saved by JARVIS, who announced that Colonel Rhodes was arriving. Not two seconds later, there was the familiar clank of the armor landing before War Machine appeared in the doorway. The suit walked to the corner then peeled open to allow Rhodey to step out. His face was wrought with concern, but before he could speak, Tony held up his hand.
"Don't. You know I'm not good at the emotional stuff."
Rhodey nodded then changed tactics. "I'm happy for you, man," he said as he sat down beside Tony.
A flight attendant scurried over and asked for their drink orders. Tony had just opened his mouth when Pepper and Rhodey, just a beat shy of unison, said, "No sake!"
Tony glared at the two of them but neither backed down. "Water is fine," he then grumbled. "Sparkling. Lemon and a lime."
A similar conversation buzzed in the back of Steve's head, so real, he almost looked around for Dr. Erskine. Instead, he smiled, thanked the doctor again for the chance he had been given, and prayed that Tony's surgery would have the same outcome.
When Helen removed the final bit of shrapnel, Steve took what felt like the first breath since arriving in Seoul. Beside him, Pepper and Rhodey hugged with tears welling in both their eyes. Happy stood stoically, watching as Helen swapped instruments and began to suture the wounds. Still, Steve could see relief in the set of his posture.
Tony was moved to a private recovery ward, where the four of them were allowed to wait with him until he woke up since the arc reactor was still in its place.
He was disoriented but burst into a happy, lopsided smile when Pepper told him the news. He quickly fell back asleep, and this cycle was repeated a few more times over the next few hours until the last of the anesthesia wore off.
Tony was decently conscious for the rest of the night, though he spent an inordinate amount of time staring at the vial that contained the shrapnel. Occasionally, he'd shake it and watch the small bits shift around. When Pepper asked him what he was thinking about, he spat out a quick, "Nothing," then dropped the vial onto the plastic rolling table.
She smiled wanly and kept rubbing her hand up and down his arm. For his own health and safety, it was the last human contact Tony was going to get until the hole in his chest no longer existed.
"Do you need anything for the next few days?" Happy asked as he pulled up his tablet. "I already got you—"
"Hap, we've been over this at least three times," Tony interrupted with only a slight slur.
It was at least six by Steve's count but he wasn't about to correct the drugged-up inventor.
"I have everything I could need for a month's stay. It's gonna be fine," he said, smiling tiredly up at Pepper.
Sensing Tony was close to drifting off again, Happy suggested watching the latest episode of Downtown Abbey. Though everyone agreed, no one was watching closely enough to follow the plot. Happy was consulting his tablet and Rhodey and Pepper were alternating checking on Tony, who was doing more sleeping than watching. Steve only knew this because he was intermittently checking on Tony as well.
When 8:30 rolled around, Seo-yun, the wing nurse, kicked them all out for the night. Steve and Happy crossed the hallway to their room, which had been outfitted as a mobile security base complete with uplink to the security cams, while Rhodey and Pepper left for a near-by hotel. Rhodey had wanted to alternate watches with Steve and Happy, but they all knew he would have the most success in caring for Pepper during this trying time.
Two of Fury's guards, who had arrived this afternoon via SHIELD quinjet, held position outside Tony's door; their teammates were staked out on the main level and in the security office. After checking both the legitimacy of both their badges and calling Fury to confirm, Happy read the two on-duty guards the riot act, to which they both replied, "yes, sir."
While Happy sorted them out, Steve slid behind the wall of screens in the room across the hall and asked JARVIS for the latest updates. It was quiet, and if all went well, it would stay that way. Only the four of them, Fury, and Helen and her team knew that Tony was in Seoul undergoing surgery, but Steve didn't have high hopes that that would remain a secret for long.
If luck was on their side though, Tony would be on his way to fully recovered before anyone else found out.
Thankfully, the night passed without major incident and, bright and early the next morning, Tony was prepped for the first round of the Cradle.
"Stop looking at me like that," he scowled at all of them as Seo-yun finished the final rounds of tests. "It feels like my own funeral."
Pepper forced a watery smile onto her face. She didn't say anything though and just bent down to kiss his cheek. "Good luck," she whispered though it was loud enough for the room to hear.
Rhodey and Happy shook Tony's hand, their silence filled with more meaning than any words could convey.
"Any advice on regrowing massive amount of bone and other important squishy stuff?" Tony then asked, turning to face Steve. To the untrained eye, he was as calm and collected as someone in a hospital bed could be. But Steve could see the flicker of his eyes around the room and the soft twitch of his mouth, indicating he wasn't as confident in this whole procedure as he'd led the rest of his family to believe.
Steve grinned. "You'll be happy when it's over." He reached out and grabbed Tony's hand, squeezing it slightly. "We'll be here when you get out."
Tony just bit down on his lip and nodded.
"Time to go," Seo-yun said as she kicked off the brakes to his bed and began pushing him out of the room. "You all can wait down the hallway. We'll be sure to share any updates."
As Tony was wheeled away, Steve called out, "And Tony Stark's heart grew three sizes that day."
Tony raised the hand with the IV in it above the headboard and flipped him the bird.
Tony's operation was finished in two days, not three, but just as Helen had predicted, he was weak as a kitten. He needed help with even the most basic functions and oscillated between being happy he was on his way to a recovery and angry that his body wasn't working the way he wanted.
Frustrated with his own weakness, he was more prone to lashing out at his friends instead of accepting their help. His body may have been failing him but his mind and tongue were anything but. Steve didn't take the harsh words personally—he knew he wasn't the most pleasant to be around while he was recovering either. Plus he had the joy of remembering what it felt like to have his own body betray him at every turn—and kept trying to help without explicitly helping. For example, if he offered to get something for Tony, the inventor would either say he no longer wanted it or try to get it himself when someone's back was turned. So Steve resorted to the same tricks Bucky and his mom had used when he was sick, by making sure the things Tony might want were accessible from the hospital bed.
The arguments diminished greatly after Steve put his plan in action (and looped in Happy, Rhodey and Pepper, who were already doing variations of it on their own). Tony either hadn't caught on to their scheme or didn't comment, which was just as well. He had plenty of other things to deal with.
The night before Tony was set to go home, Steve spelled Happy around ten and settled in for his watch. Across the hall, Tony was fast asleep, his heart monitor ticking softly but steadily.
Steve hadn't realized he'd drifted off until JARVIS woke him, and he blinked fuzzily at the monitors until his eyes focused. When he saw Tony shifting his legs off the side of the bed using the walker as leverage, Steve sprang from his seat, crossed the hallway in two strides, and pushed past the security guards to enter Tony's room.
"What are you doing?"
Tony didn't even look up from where he was trying to finagle the hospital booties onto his feet. "Walking. Gotta pass my test tomorrow." He had to walk twenty feet unassisted in order to be discharged.
Steve had no opposition to that in general, but the dark hallways with Tony's already shaky balance did not seem like a good combination. "Are you sure that's—"
"Yes."
"You're not allowed to be walking unsupervised."
"So then supervise me." Tony struggled to pull the bootie onto his foot, and when he failed yet again, he swore up a storm and kicked out his leg. "Help?"
He'd said it so softly Steve almost wasn't sure he'd heard correctly. He knew better than to make a big deal about it though so instead of commenting, he just quickly helped slide the footed bootie onto Tony's foot.
Tony didn't even bother trying the other side and just held out that leg too.
"Where are we going?" Steve asked once both booties were secured.
Tony shrugged and leveraged himself to his feet. That was when Steve realized Tony was no longer connected to his monitors that were still beeping happily in the background.
Tony must have seen that glance for he just grinned uneasily. "Don't ask?"
"I'm good with plausible deniability."
Tony relaxed slightly, grabbed the walker—thus avoiding a fight Steve had been ready to have—and eased himself out of the room. The guards moved to stop him but Steve quickly assured them Tony would be fine and that they weren't going far. They must have seen how Tony was struggling to walk even being supported by the walker, for they just situated themselves on opposite ends of the hallway and continued their watch.
With that settled, Steve easily caught up to Tony, then slowed so he was walking right by Tony's side. "Twenty feet, huh?"
"Might as well be a mile." At this short distance, Tony was already starting to sweat, and he was gripping the walker with white knuckles. As if sensing he was quickly losing strength, Tony stopped then stepped outside of the walker and held out his hand, which with bent elbow was a few inches away from the wall.
"What's twenty feet? Two doors down?"
"About that."
Tony nodded then set his jaw and took a shaky step forward. Knowing how important this was to Tony, Steve didn't rush in with assistance or offer platitudes; he just pushed the walker forward, making sure to stay by Tony's side.
Tony only made it about fifteen feet before he had to lean against the wall and support himself with the railing. He was breathing hard and his eyes had a glassy sheen to them. Steve wished he'd had the foresight to bring a glass of water since he couldn't leave Tony alone now.
"Do you want to keep going?" he asked after a moment.
Tony swallowed hard then nodded. Moving even slower than before, he shuffled the last few feet then practically collapsed against the walker.
"Do that tomorrow and you're home free," Steve said. He reached out to pat Tony's shoulder in congratulations but quickly realized that might come off as condescending. Instead, he pretended like he'd been meaning to cross his arms over his chest the whole time.
Wheezing, Tony nodded then hauled himself into a mostly upright position.
"Ready to go back?" Steve asked.
Tony nodded again but instead of using the walker, he stepped aside and returned to his spot by the wall.
"Are you sure?" Tony was struggling to balance while just standing there. It was the only objection Steve'd made the entire night and hoped he wouldn't face backlash for it.
Thankfully, Tony nodded a third time and inhaled deeply. "Gotta."
Seven achingly long minutes later, Tony all but fell into his bed. He downed at least two cups of water then dropped his head back against the pillow. When his heart rate had settled down into a normal range, he pulled the leads off a black box, which he then hid under his pillow, and reattached them to his chest.
"Well, that was exhausting," he deadpanned.
"It'll get easier," Steve replied. Keenly sensing that Tony wanted some space, he asked, "You need anything?" to which Tony just shook his head.
"Okay then. See you in the morning," Steve said before walking out of Tony's room.
The next morning, Tony shuffled down the twenty feet without needing to stop, then flew through the remainder of his discharge tests with similar ease. Paperwork was signed, 'thank you's said to Helen and her team, and home care and follow-up instructions given.
"You will follow these," Helen said, tapping the sheet at the top of Tony's folder. "Or I will fly to New York and make you do them myself."
It was obvious to everyone that she meant it. Tony nodded somberly then held out his hand. "Thank you again," he said in barely more than a whisper.
"Take care of yourself, Tony," Helen replied warmly before leaving to tend to her other patients.
Tony, Steve, Happy, Pepper and Nurse Eun then headed up to the helipad where an SI jet that had been retrofitted with repulsor tech for a vertical takeoff just barely fit. Tony insisted on wheeling himself out of the elevator, much to Eun's chagrin, and tried walking the jet bridge on his own. He heard Eun cluck unhappily in the background but she let him walk over to the steps unassisted. She must have known he wasn't going to get far, and in hindsight, she was completely correct.
From the first step, Tony knew this was a huge mistake. Not one to quit though, he struggled up the second step, then the third. By that time, his lungs were aching and his knees were shaking so badly he was surprised he was still upright.
Only four more steps. He could do this...
He couldn't do it. His body was still far too worn out from the surgery. But he was not about to call for help.
He heard a noise beside him and rolled his head right to see Rhodey standing next to him. His pride hurt but his logic realizing he didn't have another choice, Tony allowed Rhodey to wrap an arm around his shoulders and take some of his weight. Intertwined, the two of them struggled up the last four stairs.
Once inside the jet, Tony plopped down on the couch, sweating bullets, and almost moaned with relief at the feel of the soft fabric surrounding him.
"Home, JARVIS," he grunted as he shifted to make himself more comfortable. "And step on it."
"Seconded," Pepper agreed. She handed Tony a bottle of greenish smoothie Helen had prescribed every four hours and took her seat beside him.
Tony scowled at the bottle, but at Pepper's look, popped off the cap, plugged his nose, and took a few long pulls. His love for Pepper had grown to an almost impossible height when she hadn't tried to stop him from walking up the jet bridge on his own, but he suspected he was going to get quite an earful from her once they were back home. That was at least fourteen hours away though, which made that future-Tony's problem. Current-Tony was just happy he no longer had a gaping hole in his chest.
Steve and Happy settled in the jet not long after, and after Captain Jones performed the pre-flight checks, they were airborne. It was only then that Tony noticed how worn out the two of them looked. Happy was pale and had bruise-like rings under his eyes; a decently strong wind could have probably blown him over. Steve looked slightly better but even he was looking frayed around the edges. Tony then looked over at Rhodey and Pepper, who were the most put-together of all of them, but still looked like they could use some interrupted sleep and a serious vacation.
"So, thanks," Tony said, apropos of nothing. "All of you. For everything you all did over the past week. I know I wasn't the nicest human, but I…" he swallowed hard as the words stuck in his throat. "…appreciate it. I really did appreciate it."
His four friends smiled warmly.
"You'd do the same for us," Pepper said.
"But with less bedside manner," Rhodey chimed in.
"I don't know about that. His bedside manner is actually pretty good." Steve looked up from the magazine he was perusing and shrugged. "Guess the rest of you just haven't earned that privilege yet."
Rhodey looked at Tony with mock affront. "You're holding out on us? You just met him a year ago and he already gets the warm and cuddlies from you?"
"Pepper is the only one who gets warm and cuddlies from me," Tony retorted as he turned to Rhodes and shot him a scathing look. "And for the record, I have a great bedside manner. You remember senior year when you drank so much during Halloweek that you missed your midterm? Who was it that called the school as your dad citing a family emergency, which allowed you to retake the midterm and get you a passing grade in the class?"
"I also recall you rubbing my back with a broom because you couldn't be in the same room as me."
"I was a sympathetic vomiter! You can't hold that against me."
"He stayed in the same bathroom as me until I could breathe again," Steve said, turning so Rhodey could see his shit-eating grin.
Rhodey shook his head sadly but the effect was belayed by the smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. "All those years of friendship."
Tony rolled his eyes, but allowed Rhodey to continue to air his fake grievances. Summer 1985 was the last one he remembered before he drifted off, surrounded by four of the people he hated the least in the world.
Up next: Steve gets in a car accident. In his concussed state, he only remembers one phone number.
Thanks for reading! Comments/reviews are greatly appreciated!
