Tony wakes up alone, which already adds to his horrible mood.
Getting out of bed was a struggle from the dizziness that makes his head spin. His breaths are harsh and are followed with a rattle that vibrates through his chest. Tony feels ready to collapse on the spot, but the blaring alarm that comes from down the hall forces him to keep moving.
He looks on his phone on the Avengers groupchat to see a mission alert for robotic dogs that are biting people in the streets of downtown Manhattan. Tony rolls his eyes at the idiocy of the world.
He can hear the bustle on the floor below him as his teammates rush to grab their gear and start up the helicarrier. After a lot of swaying, Tony makes it to the hall where his emergency suit is- there's no way he would be able to make it to the workshop at this rate.
"Sir, I was instructed to keep you resting in your room. The Avengers do not require your assistance today," Jarvis says.
"We are a team, Jarvis. I can't leave them on their own," Tony frowns.
"But you are si-"
"I am not sick Jarvis! It is just a cold. Besides, a mission is more important."
Moving the suit from inside is agony on his fatigued bones and he can feel the arc reactor burning through his chest when the suit powers on. It hurts, but he has a job to do.
Tony stops on the way to the helicarrier as his knees weaken and his breath gets caught. He bends over, leaning against the wall, trying to will away the black spots that cross his vision.
"Jarvis, up the oxygen. And take control of the joints will you?" Tony coughs out.
"Sir, I do not advise-" Jarvis starts, wearily.
"Just do it Jarvis!" Tony scolds.
After a moment, which was Jarvis' silent sigh, the suit starts moving again and Tony relaxes. In addition, Tony is relieved at the salty taste on his tongue from the increase of oxygen.
Tony notices on the HUD that the helicarrier has already left so he coordinates his flight plan to fly him over to Soho.
When Tony lands, his tracker tells him his teammates are near Washington Square Park, so he decides to start destroying the dogs here and meet them halfway.
The metallic dogs are worse than Tony thought- they can climb buildings and can run faster than the fastest greyhound. Tony heard on the com that SHIELD had already captured the mastermind behind the project but something went wrong in the schematics and the engineer could not get the dogs to power off. Which Tony is not surprised at- being a genius isn't for everyone.
Luckily, Tony was able to shoot them down with a few repulsor shots but the hard part was just catching them. There were about 50 running up and down the street Tony was on. He was having trouble keeping up with the ones that had the clever idea of climbing the sides of buildings and balconies, but he could only imagine how much the rest of the team were struggling without flight.
"Sir, it is proving detrimental to keep up the extra supply of oxygen while utilizing the repulsor beams which use up a large amount of energy. The arc reactor is weakening significantly," Jarvis announces as Tony blew off the head of one of the pouncing hounds.
Tony frowns, "Show power percent." Tony grumbles at the 76%. He should have sucked it up and gone downstairs to get one of his battle suits instead of chickening out and using the emergency one.
"How many more mutts from here to Bleeker Street?"
"34 sir," Jarvis responds.
"Has Steve figured out I left yet?" Tony asks, shooting another robot.
"No, they are primarily occupied on the mission. It seems Black Widow's guns and Hawkeye's arrows are doing less than minimal damage to the robotic animals. They are struggling to keep the robotic dogs from attacking civilians," Jarvis reports.
"Okay, keep the power bar on the HUD as well as the remaining robot count. Let's try to finish this up," Tony sighs. His head is pounding and he would love a warm bath.
Tony keeps shooting the dogs but notices how quickly the power is draining. 28 left. "Turn off the extra oxygen Jarvis."
"I would not advise that action, sir. Your oxygen levels are decreasing with prolonged use of the arc reactor. In addition, your temperature has increased to just below 100 degrees fahrenheit. If I may, I believe you should leave the rest of the mission to the remaining Avengers and go back home to rest."
"Jarvis, you said yourself the team is struggling. I can't go home and rest knowing they could get hurt. Besides, I only have a few-" Tony is interrupted by a powerful cough that shakes his body. If it weren't for Jarvis controlling the joints, he would have fell over.
"Sir-"
"Jarvis, just keep going."
"Sir-"
"Mute!" Tony yells, hoarse.
Tony can feel the strain on his body as it rushes to keep moving. His lungs burn harshly and he is now gasping.
"Jarvis, charge up the energy explosion." Tony figures if he can get all the dogs in one shot, he can go home sooner. "Charge to 400 in order to reach the radius of the next three blocks." The short delay in the HUD's information shows Jarvis' silent anger but Tony just huffs.
"Everyone get down!" Tony shouts into the com.
He hears a loud "TONY?!" from his husband before everyone is knocked off their feets by the blast.
In the moments after, Tony only recalls a flashing red light on his HUD before everything starts to darken. He can't remember if its the arc's power or his own vision that went black, but after a few screams and the large impact of his suit hitting the ground, he knew no more.
Two pairs of knees dive to the ground next to the still suit.
"Tony, Tony! Jarvis open the helmet!" Bruce yells, still zipping closed his emergency set of pants.
Without a word, Jarvis opens up the helmet.
"Vitals, Jarvis," Bruce commands, already testing Tony's eyes.
"Temperature 103 degrees Fahrenheit, Oxygen level 82, Heart Rate is 164 bpm and rising," Jarvis reports.
Bruce frowns at Tony's bluish lips. "He's showing signs of cyanosis. Some call an-"
"Already did," Nastaha interrupts, sitting down next to Bruce.
"Tony baby, wake up!" Steve cries, pushing Tony's hair out of his face.
"His oxygen levels are way too low," Bruce mutters. "Jarvis, can you increase the oxygen in the suit?"
"The suit's power is too low. The backup power is going to run out in a few seconds," Jarvis responds.
As he reports, they can all hear the loud whoosh as the suit powers down.
"Get the latches," Bruce commands Steve. "What's the ETA on that ambulance?"
"Two minutes," Natasha says, helping Steve with the suit's latches.
Clint runs over after hanging up on the phone. "Fury is meeting us at the hospital."
"That can't be good," Nastaha mutters.
They slide Tony out of the suit. He slowly comes aware as his head is put in someone's lap. Tony jerks up.
"Calm down baby, calm down," Steve shushes.
"Can't breathe, can't-" Tony gasps. He raises his hand to pound on his chest but Natasha stops him before he can. She rubs his hand softly to try to get him to calm down.
Tony squirms in confusion. "I don't...Where?"
"It's okay Tones. Calm down, deep breaths" Steve says softly, leaning into Tony's vision.
"S'eve?" Tony cries. "S'eve, I can't-" Tony is interrupted by harsh coughs.
"Deep breaths Tony, it's okay," Bruce says, lifting Tony's head to help his airway.
All of a sudden, Tony's eyes roll to the back of his head and he starts seizing.
"Shit!" Bruce curses. "Move the armor so he doesn't hurt himself!"
Tony's fingers curl as his body clenches and unclenches. His legs cross and bend at the knees while his upper half jerks back and forth. Steve wants to yell and cry at the same time as he hears Tony grunt for air.
Bruce tries to wipe the foam that spills from Tony's mouth while trying to keep him on his side. Tony flails and shifts so violently that Clint has to help him hold Tony's legs. Natasha runs over to the approaching ambulance to guide them over.
The paramedics arrive just as Tony's seizure settles down.
Still grunting, Tony's body stops shaking but lays stiff. Steve runs his finger through his hair as Tony starts whining. "It's okay baby, you'll be okay, it's over," Steve says softly, his heart still beating out of his chest. Tony simply lays panting as his body involuntarily starts coughing.
The paramedics immediately rip open Tony's shirt to start attaching pads and wires. They put an oxygen mask on him before inserting an IV.
"Anthony Stark, 45 years old, breathing problems and sudden loss of consciousness. He just came out of a two minute seizure and has not regained consciousness. He has a history of lung and heart problems and has had a cough for a few days now. Tony has no allergies to medication and was previously treated at SHIELD medical center," Bruce relays to the paramedics as he steps back.
Nodding thankfully, they lift Tony onto the stretcher before pushing him into the ambulance. Tony lays still throughout the entire process but still breaths harshly.
"I'm going with him," Steve calls to the team as he climbs inside the ambulance, "Don't let Fury past the waiting room."
The team nod and run off to the helicarrier.
"No one tells me anything!" Steve hears as he approaches the waiting room.
"Could you just give us a chance to explain?" Clint says in his gruff voice.
"No! For days one of my Avengers has been sick and no one decides to tell me! Just who is the boss here? No seriously, because I guess I can just pack up now…"
"It's not like that-"
"Let me just call Maria and tell her that I've been fired by my own workers! The kind of treatment I get here is insane!" Fury yells.
"That's enough Fury," Steve sighs.
"No, you better listen here-"
"No, you listen!" Steve yells. "My husband is in there fighting for his life and he doesn't need you blowing a gasket because we forgot- while we were SAVING HIS LIFE- to let you know. So be quiet so he can get some rest and we'll talk about it in the morning!"
Nick stares at Steve's red face before sighing and turning to leave, "Tomorrow" he says.
Steve nods before sagging into the rough hospital chair.
"He's stable," Steve says after noticing the team staring at him anxiously. "They got a big tube thing going into him and he's got a bunch of machines beeping around him." Steve frowns. His lack of medical terminology reminding him of his age.
"A ventilator then," Bruce corrects.
Steve nods, tiredly. "The doctors are still doing tests but they said we can go visit him in a few hours."
The team nod and start getting comfortable on the stiff hospital chairs.
"Anthony Stark?" the team hears as they all jerk awake.
Steve is the quickest and practically dives over to the doctor. "Is he okay? What's wrong with him?"
"He's...alive," the doctor says cryptically.
"Is he going to be okay?" Steve asks, growing more anxious.
"We don't know, . It seems his lungs are giving out. We can't find any other cause besides the pressure of his...occupation, as well as his medical history. We believe the stress of it all is what is causing him to become immunocompromised. The stress combined with his recent illness is causing his body to shut down. We will of course do some more tests, but please, prepare yourself. You can go see him now, he's in room 91C" The doctor walks away, leaving the group of Avengers in shock.
Steve's Adam's apple bobbs as he tries to hold in his tears that threaten to come pouring out. Silently, he starts walking towards the room his husband is occupying with three Avengers on his tail.
Steve's heart drops and he stands frozen in the doorway. Tony looks worse than he had earlier. His skin has a grey tint, he's covered with sweat, and there are twice the amount of machines surrounding him. He has wires that cross all over his hideous gown and large mask connected to a tube that dwarfs his face. The slow beeping of the heart monitor echoed Steve's steps as he approached the bed. He stared down at his husband for a moment before taking his hand.
Steve didn't even realize he was crying before a loud sob broke through his throat. Steve looked up to see the whole team surrounding the bed, each looking sorrowfully down at Tony. Steve gently caresses his husband's hand, getting even more worked up over how cold it was.
Suddenly, a small groan is heard followed by a few whimpers.
Steve smiles sadly as Tony's eyes open weakly. "Hey, baby."
Tony lazily takes in his surroundings. The team huddle closer to him. Tony's finger twitches in Steve's grasp.
"I'm here baby, I'm here," Steve whispers, covering Tony's small hand with both of his own.
Tony starts making choking noises. "Relax, Tony. It's helping you breathe," Bruce says softly.
Tony continues trying to make noises. "Don't try to talk baby, I know it hurts," Steve says worriedly.
Giving up, Tony's eyes gesture to his hand in Steve's palm. Looking over, Steve watches Tony's shaking finger draw a small heart on his palm.
Steve's tears fall full force this time. "I love you too baby, we all do. Now get better so you can come back to us," Steve smiles.
Tony lets out a sigh as his eyes close again.
Thanks for reading and pls review! See you next chapter!