Pain. Blinding pain was the first thing Tony became aware of. Next came the nauseating stench of week old garbage, sickeningly sweet as it rotted in the hot sun.
Tony felt his stomach roll, and he cracked his eyes open to escape, when he was assaulted with the bright sun overhead. It spiked his nausea to unbearable levels, so he quickly shut his eyes and pressed his hands into his face, blocking the light and most of the offensive smell.
After a few minutes, the pounding in his head lessened to a point where he could open his eyes without feeling like he was staring into the face of Jesus himself.
He pushed himself off the ground with difficulty and took in his surroundings. What he saw didn't make him feel any better. He was laying in a garbage filled alley, 50 feet from a busy street full of honking cars and people rushing by.
Did I get mugged?
Staggering to his feet, he checked his pockets to see if his phone and wallet were still there.
To his relief, his belongings were still there. Unlocking his phone, Tony skimmed through his contacts until he found Pepper's name. If someone knew what happened to him, it would be her. She seemed to always know what he was up to before he truly did himself.
Listening to the phone ring, he was met, not with a concerned Pepper like he expected, but an angry one instead.
"What do you want Tony? I told you I needed some space. Calling me over and over isn't going to help anyone here."
Confused, Tony could only manage to say, "Pepper?"
There was a short pause before she responded, her angry tone shifted to something softer, a tinge of concern around the edges.
"Tony? What's wrong?"
It felt like everything was jumbled; the ability to process everything happening was almost nonexistent.
"I…I don't know. Everything's distorted. I don't… I don't know where I am."
Any concern she might have felt flew out the window as Tony heard her give an angry sigh.
"Have you been drinking again? I swear Tony, this is why I left. You need to get your act together. Call me if you ever figure things out and are ready to have an adult conversation."
The line went dead leaving behind stunned silence. Sure he had been drinking more lately, but Pepper had never left, had she?
With nothing else left to do, Tony walked out of the alley and onto the busy street. Thankfully, he recognized the area as it was a place he had been many times. The bustling streets of downtown New York were unforgettable.
He walked down the street blindly, not knowing where to go, until he spotted a cab coming down the street.
Impulse took over as he hailed down a cab and climbed inside. Settling into the seat, the driver glanced at him through the rear view mirror.
"Where to, sir?"
Mumbling the first address that came to mind, Tony slumped onto the worn leather seats as he rubbed his still aching temples.
He needed some form of painkiller- and fast.
He rubbed his blurry eyes, an attempt to make the world stop dancing around him, before he glanced out the window aimlessly.
For a minute, nothing seemed out of place, but then his brain caught up to speed and sent a spike of adrenaline through his body.
Why were there so many people? The streets, so normally desolate and run down, were strewn with people and cars. Everywhere Tony looked there was no space void of life. It looked exactly like New York before the snap. But that wasn't possible. Time travel wasn't something they were able to do as of yet.
I'm dreaming. I have to be dreaming.
But something told Tony that this was very real and that thought scared him more than anything.
He shut his eyes, willing his body to take deep breaths. He could feel a panic attack form on the edge of his mind, threatening to consume him whole. He hadn't felt like that since right after the battle of New York…
"Hey, buddy! You okay? We arrived three minutes ago."
Startled, Tony's eyes whipped open to see his taxi driver regarding him with concern. Looking outside, he saw that they had indeed stopped.
"Uh, sorry. L-long night. Here." Pulling a wad of cash out of his wallet, Tony thrust it into the cab driver's hands before hastily exiting the cab.
"Hey! This is way too much man!"
"Keep the change."
Shutting the door before the driver could say anything else, the billionaire's vision began to tunnel as he walked up the familiar path of the house in front of him. He could get help here.
As if in a trance, Tony knocked on the door and waited as he heard shuffling inside before the door swung open revealing the one man Tony could always rely on in his times of need.
"Tony? What are you doing here? I thought you had that important presentation at MIT today."
He barely registered the question as his world crumbled around him.
"Rhodey," he whispered, feeling like he was about to pass out, "where are your leg braces?"
To be continued!