Music blared as Tony worked on building a portable arc reactor. The work was slower than he remembered mainly due to having to drag the battery around with him wherever he went and the lousy way he felt. His body burned from the previous days injuries and his mind kept wondering leaving him often staring into nothing until he snapped back into reality.
Most thoughts went back to his days with Yinsen in that vile cave. The smallest memories seemed magnified bringing back the feelings of thick damp air in his lungs and the stench of sweat was overpowering. He almost caught himself calling to his old doctor to pass him a wrench.
Working seemed to be the only thing to help. Putting his mind deep into the gears of what he was building helped him begin to feel like a human again. Even Dummy seemed less irritating than normal. Of course when he thought that the stupid bot knocked into a worktable sending wrenches tumbling to the ground.
"Unbelievable." Tony sighed wiping grease off his hands with a towel before walking over to the robot arm. "I swear I'm going to dismantle you and rebuild you as a coat rack."
Bending over slightly Tony went to pick up the fallen tools when a burst of pain shot across his chest. The battery slid out of his hand as he reached for his chest making it smash to the ground. Just as he was about to follow Dummy grabbed his arm lowering him gently to the floor.
The mechanics eyes closed as he focused on his breathing and racing heart. After a few minutes he started noticing how cold he felt and the sweat the slid down his face was cool as well. Wearily he opened his eyes to see the battery that lay in a thousand pieces next to him.
"Jarvis." He whimpered barely able to raise his voice. The pieces of shrapnel were moving through his chest and putting his body into shock.
"Sir your vitals have dropped significantly." His AI had a note of concern in his robotic voice. " has been alerted and is on his way."
"Tony!" Bruce yelled over the music Tony had almost forgotten had been playing. The doctor quickly turned off the music and went to where Tony leaned against the leg of a worktable.
"Honestly I've been in worse situations. Ask Pepper." He would have smiled if he wasn't in so much pain.
"Yeah I'm sure she has many stories to tell." He placed two fingers and Tony's neck and felt his pulse for a minute before scowling. "Why couldn't you just stay in bed."
A list of innuendos traveled through Tony's mind but all that came out was a thick cough. Time was running out and he knew it without the electromagnet the shrapnel was going to reach his heart in a manner of minutes. With a weak hand he pointed towards his desk at the nearly finished reactor. His voice was gone but Bruce didn't need to be told before he ran over to the table.
Bruce wasn't a mechanic like Tony but he did understand the science of it. Luckily the reactor itself was built and operating the rest was just wiring. He connected wires as quickly as possible his hands didn't shake as it wasn't his first time in a stressful situation. Finishing in record time Bruce brought the reactor back to his friend who looked paler than he had when he had been shot. The remaining wires for the battery was stripped off quickly and replaced with new ones.
Immediately Tony began to feel better. He was still feeling weak and useless but at least he knew that there was something worthwhile stopping the metal shards from killing him. The pain in his chest was still deafening though and consumed him.
"Tony, tell me what's wrong." Bruce was responded with Tony putting a weak hand over the whole in his chest. Quickly a painkiller was injected into Tony's neck and relief waved over him. "Better?"
It took effort to find his voice again and when he did it was scratchy like he hadn't drank water in weeks. "Was that a needle or were you stabbing me with a screwdriver. Don't ask how I know what that feels like. Spring break with engineers can get pretty intense after the first five jello shots."
"Tony." The doctor said with a wry smile; happy that his friend was making jokes. At least he hoped that was a joke. "You're rambling."
The mechanic looked around confusion appearing on his face. "Where's the rest of the free loaders. I thought when Jarvis called you would all come running."
"Sorry to hurt your ego but I'm the only one who could. The rest of the group is at S.H.I.E.L.D filling Fury in since we got interrupted the last time. They brought Melissa, the women who shot you, with them."
"And you didn't go?"
"No cause I knew you would do some stupid stunt and end up ripping your stitches out but what you achieved was even stupider. So congratulations." Bruce stood up before holding a hand out for Tony. Slowly the billionaire pulled himself up to his feet leaning heavily on the table behind him. "What did you do to the reactor by the way?"
In his hands Bruce held the glowing device that looked like a long black cuff with blue coils of energy. "I made it portable." Tony put briefly before ripping off what was left of his shirt after Bruce had torn a hole into the middle of it. There were three straps on Tony's right arm. One sitting on the shoulder, another just above the elbow, and the last in the middle of his forearm. He slipped the arc reactor over his wrist and clamping it on so it didn't twist of slide and threaded the wires through each of the straps that held them tightly against the side of his arm.
"Impressive." remarked at the design that would keep the reactor close but not in the way like carrying the battery had been. It was designed perfectly so it didn't have to be as big as it needed to be or smaller than was safe. "What's your plans for the loose wires?"
He held up a finger to silence the curious doctor before pressing a button on the reactor making tubing come out of were the wires were connected to the metal cuff to the were it connected to the magnet. Tony smiled like a child after winning the science show. "Admit it that's pretty cool."
(A/N) Hey look I can end things without being tragic! If you don't quite get how the reactor looks just imagine a black and blue bracelet with a thin flexible cord running up his arm and to his chest. See you guys Monday and Happy Valentines Day but if you are like me and dislike this holiday discount candy day is on Sunday.