It was hard to breathe after being slammed into full speed by a car, especially when that car was hurled at him by a super soldier. Tony slid across the ground, incredibly thankful for the protection that his armor offered but still winded.

"Mr. Stark!" Tony heard Peter Parker's voice before the boy came into view, hovering above him with worry. "Are you alright, Mr. Stark?!"

Tony forced himself to sit up carefully, and he started to respond to Peter before he spotted another vehicle being thrown in their direction.

Iron Man grabbed the kid and jetted upward as quickly as he could manage, narrowly avoiding being hit again.

"Whoa!"

"What's going on, kid?!" Tony demanded with a swear, flying up higher to attempt to get out of range of the mad-man.

"I... I don't know Mr. Stark!" He stammered, swallowing hard. "I tried to reason with him, but I couldn't! He wasn't listening to anything that I said! It was almost like he didn't hear me, or if he did me talking just made him more... mad."

"How'd you come across him to start with?" Tony all but hissed at the boy, trying to quell the anxiety turning into a lead weight inside his chest.

"I was heading home, and he attacked me. I didn't start it, honest!" Peter tried.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y, scan Mr. Parker for injuries," Tony growled.

"Scanning," the A.I complied, and after a beat of silence it continued, "detecting multiple abrasions and contusions, and two hairline fractures of the right femur and wrist."

It was difficult for Tony to bite back the swear that was on the tip of his tongue, but he managed to do so. "Peter, why didn't you call me?! Before you took on the Vulture?!"

"I tried!" Peter's tone was desperate, "I had Ned call Happy, but Happy didn't think it was important, I guess."

"Happy didn't think..." Tony trailed.

"Mr. Stark, look out!" Peter's sudden scream alarmed Tony more than he wanted to admit and as he glanced down, he realized that the man beneath them had taken to throwing other things now.

Such as the manhole cover that caused the repulsors on his left foot to explode. He lost momentum and balance and found himself tumbling back down towards the earth with the kid in his arms. As quickly as he could he shifted to shield the kid and prepared to take full impact to his back, and he wasn't disappointed as he hit the ground. The air was knocked from his lungs in a rush, and he could feel the ringing in his ears as his headache came back full force.

The kid seemed a little winded, but otherwise alright. Tony was vaguely aware that Peter was calling his name, but he found it hard to concentrate with blackness threatening to consume him. It snaked around his consciousness and called him towards the sweet embrace of nothingness, but he remembered suddenly, jarringly, that he couldn't give in yet. Peter Parker was still in danger, and the kid would never be able to beat the super soldier by himself.

Drawing himself back to the present, Tony sat up with some amount of difficulty.

"Are you okay?!" Peter asked, and the tone of his voice oozed fear.

"I'm fine, I'm alright," Tony responded with a wheezing breath, forcing air into his lungs again. He shoved Peter aside with more force than he intended, looking past him at the man. "Get out of here, Peter! Get home!"

"Mr. Stark, you need help!"

"You don't have a suit, I'm not risking it!" Tony yelled, jumping to his feet and firing a shot from his repulsion cannon at the deranged lunatic in front of him.

"But, Tony!"

"Did I stutter? Go home, kid!" Tony growled and fired again when the super soldier dodged his first shot.

This blast didn't miss, but to Tony's horror, it didn't even seem to phase the man who stalked closer to him like a cat about to attack its prey. Tony's mind went into overdrive as he tried in vain to figure out what to do, especially since he could no longer fly. Nevertheless, he walked towards the man, firing more blasts in hopes to stun him, and preparing to engage him in hand to hand.

He jetted forward before the man could pick up the car he was reaching for and slammed his iron wrapped fist directly into the man's jaw.

A swear escaped Tony's lips when the man barely flinched, he barely looked as if Iron Man had hit him at all, and for a moment Tony had to hand it to Ross, his super soldiers were incredibly strong.

The thought quickly left his mind when the man grabbed him and hurled him almost twenty feet away, however, and Tony reminded himself Ross wasn't worth complimenting for creating these utter psychopaths. He slammed into the ground and grimaced, any healing that had happened over the past week was definitely undone, and his head pounded angrily at the abuse he was currently taking. He groaned deeply, squeezing his eyes shut and wishing that he had some back-up this time around.

With difficulty, he pulled himself back to his feet ready to engage again but found that a scream tore from his throat when he saw that Peter was being held up by the throat by the man.

Peter was squirming against the man's grasp, his hands clutching and prying desperately at the one wrapped tightly around his throat, cutting off his air supply.

"Let him go!" Tony growled, blasting forward aggressively again, firing with as much power as possible at the man's head, careful to avoid Peter.

Before Tony got to him, he saw the same manhole cover that had destroyed his repulsor boot flying through the air and slamming into the super soldiers head, enraging him farther as he threw Peter Parker aside like a rag doll.

Tony scrambled to catch the boy and managed to do so before he slammed into the ground. He looked up and felt relief, oddly enough, when he saw Captain America taking on the wild barbaric man. Their movements so quick they became blurred to him, or maybe that was the concussion.

Steve surged forward, throwing punches at the man who was unphased by the ones that hit him and dodged more than he took. A scowl crossed the Captain's face as he took another swing and the other super soldier gripped his arm and forced him to his knees.

Grimacing, Steve glanced up and swiped a kick at the man's legs, taking him down in a quick swoop. His heart was beginning to race at the thought of how strong this man was, and how weak he currently felt, but he knew that Tony had to be the same, all considered. He rolled his shoulders slightly, placing himself in a defensive position and waited for the next attack, wishing that he had his shield.

The super soldier leaped back to his feet before Steve had time to register the action, and the punch that hit him directly in the face left him stumbling backward and seeing stars.

Barely having time to recover Steve lunged forward again, throwing blows at every vulnerable area he could think of, but to no avail. The soldier was good at dodging, better at blocking, and seemed to feel little to no pain.

Another blow sent Steve reeling back and landing on his back, winded. The soldier leaped on top of him, pinning him to the ground, and began punching him repeatedly in the face.

Steve groaned, throwing up his arms to attempt to shield his face, but the man jumped up and kicked him in the head, causing his ears to start ringing.

"Rogers! Get up!" He heard Tony bark at him and tried to force himself up, but the man kicked him in his side, knocking him back to the ground.

I feel so weak, why do I feel so weak? The thought flashed through Steve's mind, becoming muddled with the alarms screaming that he was in a bad situation.

The man went to throw another blow when his arm was jerked back, being restrained by what looked to be spider web, and Steve registered that the kid had entered the fight once again.

The distraction gave him enough time to leap to his feet and hit the man in the chin, dazing him only slightly, but Steve would take what he could get as he tried to trip him again, throwing another blow at his temple.

He felt before he saw the man grab his arm, and he heard the sickening pop as it was twisted out of its socket. He yelled as agony ripped through his shoulder, and he tried to jerk away from the source of it instinctively.

A flash from a repulsor blast erupted next to him, which knocked him free. He stumbled away a bit, grimacing as he tried to pull his shoulder back and pop it into its proper place.

It seemed like nothing would slow the soldier down, however, and before Steve had time to blink the man was back on him, throwing blows at him more savagely than he had been before. The angrier the man became, the more violently he fought back.

Another blow had Steve right back on the ground, trying to hold the man off to the best of his abilities, he heard Tony yelling at him and Peter Parker yelling at Tony.

Then the world seemed to freeze for a moment, and then the blows stopped falling. Steve heard the sound of the man before him retching before the soldier lurched forward and landed limply and with a sickening thud next to Steve.

Breathing deeply and blinking, slowly Steve stood up and stared at the limp form beside him, confusion building in his chest as his eyes swept the area for Tony and the kid. They both practically appeared at his side, with Tony looking more worried than Steve was used to seeing, at least directed towards him. "Cap, you alright? What happened?"

"Why'd he collapse like that!?" The kid chimed in, his voice sounding shrill.

"I..." Steve stammered as Tony helped him to his feet, "I don't know, I didn't do anything, it wasn't one of you?"

"No, it wasn't," Tony responded, retracting his helmet with confusion in his voice as he stooped down next to the other soldier, rolling him on to his back to get a good look at him. A swear escaped his lips and as he gasped a little.

"... He's dead..."

Steve was startled as he looked down at the man and also knelt next to him, pressing his fingers against his neck. "You're right," he breathed.

"Why? What happened? Did someone shoot him or something?" Peter blinked, moving a little closer to get a better look at the situation before him. "Whoa, look at his eyes, was he sick?

Tony glanced and noticed the yellowing around his eyes, and now that he took the time to look at him, the man looked positively ill.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y, scan him," Tony mumbled.

There was silence for a moment before F.R.I.D.A.Y announced, "no sign of a gunshot wound or external contributing injuries. He appears to have suffered a subdural hematoma, and was in complete organ failure."

"What?" Tony gasped, blinking slowly. "Why? What caused that?"

"Unknown, boss," the voice sounded apologetic.

"He was strong, he packed a wallop, and then he just drops dead?" The uncertainty in Steve's tone caused Tony to glance over at the man and shrug his shoulder.

The billionaire schooled his features, forcing himself to appear more collected and calm than he felt. "Oh well, one less of them for us to have to deal with, at least," he sighed, rubbing his throbbing head.

"But Tony, it doesn't make any sense," Steve pressed, and Tony suddenly remembered that the man shouldn't be here, to begin with.

"Wait, why are you here?" Tony demanded, staring at the super soldier who took on the guilty demeanor of a kid with his hand in the cookie jar.

"I overheard the others talking about what happened, and I couldn't leave you out here alone to deal with it," Steve muttered.

Tony blinked, torn between feeling touched that the man would come at all, and annoyed that he would risk everything just to do it. Not to mention the small inkling of gratitude in his chest at the knowledge that without Captain America butting in, he had previously been fighting a losing battle.

"Well," Tony started, unsure how to continue his sentence. He felt a loss for words, it felt strange, and he wasn't sure that he liked the feeling.

"I'm glad you're both alright," Steve offered, swallowing hard, and Tony noticed sweat dotting the man's forehead. "You are both alright?"

He glanced over at Peter, taking in the kid's appearance now that he had a second to breathe. Tony felt relieved that other than looking a little banged up, Peter looked mostly unharmed, a weight that he didn't know was sitting in his chest as heavy as lead lifted, and he nodded slightly. "I think we're both good, are we good kid?" He questioned.

"Oh, yeah, I'm good," Peter breathed, offering a slight grin, "I'm good!"

"Are you good, Cap?" Tony asked, turning his attention back to the man before him, brow furrowing. "Because I've gotta say, you're not looking so hot right now."

Steve blinked, tilting his head lightly, and looking a little confused.

More concern began to build in Iron Man's chest as he stared at the original super soldier in front of him and he began to realize exactly how sick the man looked. Not only was his features gaunt, but he had a fevered looking glaze starting to appear in his eyes.

"Are you getting sick, Cap?" Tony frowned.

"Sick?" Steve sounded a little startled at the thought. "I... I don't know, am I?" He muttered.

"Hey, Cap," Tony took a step towards him, noticing the man beginning to sway a little.

"Mr. Stark, what's wrong with him?" Even Peter sounded alarmed.

"I don't..."

Tony wasn't able to finish his sentence before the man before he swayed once more and fell forward, landing on his knees as his breaths became more labored.

"Cap!" Tony quickly moved forward, sliding on to his knees in front of the man, bracing him by the shoulders to keep him in an upright position. He had to fight down his own nausea from the sudden movement and force himself to focus on the situation at hand. "Hey, Cap, stay with me, what's going on here?"

"I don't know, Tony, I don't feel right," Steve murmured, slumping forward and seeming to fall into unconsciousness.

"Cap?!" Tony yelled, alarmed. "Hey, Cap?! Rogers? Stay with me! Steve?!"

Nothing stirred the soldier in front of him, and fear gripped Tony's heart. "Hey, kid, hold him upright while I get my suit off!" Tony commanded, and Peter dropped to his side to help.

Tony stepped out of his suit and dropped back to Steve's side, pulling off the mask covering his face and brushing back his now sweat soaked bangs from his face. "Hey, Steve? Wake up, come on," Tony breathed, flinching as he noticed how heat seemed to be radiating off the man in front of him.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y, what's his temperature?!"

"Core temperature 104.4 and climbing, boss."

Tony swore again and shook his head, growling, "alright Peter, can you help me get him home? I need your help, kid."

Peter eagerly agreed, and Tony quickly called the Compound for a ride as he and Peter hefted the no longer lucid super soldier to his feet. "Hey, I need someone to come get us, stat alright? I need you guys here like yesterday," he barked into the phone.

Tony wasn't sure what was happening to the man, but as his heart rate began to pick up and the pounding in his head grew worse, his gut told him it was bad. He could only hope that they could manage to get him back to the Compound without anyone seeing him, and then maybe his doctors would have some answers.

At least he certainly hoped that they did.

Authors Note:

Guess who's back, back again.

Bet you didn't expect me to update so soon, now did you? Well, I didn't either, I was just feeling particularly inspired, plus I wanted to make up for all the lost time!

As for this chapter, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it, I've always felt sloppy at writing fight scenes so I hope that it came out alright! I also tried a new way of writing this chapter by using Grammarly and doing most of the editing as I wrote instead of at the end in an attempt to avoid some grammar issues I usually have. I know that this isn't conventional but since I have so much trouble with grammar it felt helpful to do it this way instead of struggling to figure out what actually needed fixing when I was done. I hope that it worked and didn't just leave the writing feeling stiffer than usual, I did my best, but let me know either way!

I'm sure the next chapter won't be out nearly so quick, but I'll try not to take months since I'm leaving this on something of a cliffhanger, we'll see how that goes. ;)

Anyway, thank you to everyone for all the new followers and favs! Not to mention thanks to Trekkiehood for all of your reviews, not going to lie it really motivated me to chat with you, I appreciate your support! =D