Chapter 3

Tony wakes up and the world is strange. He's lying in bed, but it isn't his bed because the sheets feel rough and the blanket is thin and not at all right for snuggling. There are funny noises too: a wispy sound as though a machine were breathing, and a hum, and clicking, and whooshing. And there're fingers in Tony's hair, stroking gently like he's a cat, and Tony smiles because it feels good and because it's funny.

"Tony?" a low voice whispers, too low to be Mommy and too wrong to be Jarvis, and maybe it's his daddy; maybe his daddy isn't busy anymore and decided he likes Tony after all! Or maybe Tony is sick, and his daddy came to visit him like last time. He feels a little bit sick, because his body aches and his tummy is squirming, and the only warm part of his entire body is where the fingers are stroking his head.

"Daddy?" he says, and the fingers pause, just for a quick moment, and then start moving again. Tony opens his eyes, and it isn't Daddy at all, it's a stranger man with kind eyes. The stranger man smiles at him, and Tony thinks maybe he does know him, but doesn't know why.

And then all at once, he does.

"Mr. Phil!" Tony exclaims, and it's a bit scary to be waking up because all he remembers is telling his new friends they're going to live with him and eating some cookies, and then nothing at all, and he never goes from being awake to waking up without going to bed first. And he remembers that Mr. Phil is nice, but he's also a stranger, and Tony doesn't see Bruce or Clint or Steve or Natalia anywhere. Or his mommy or daddy or Jarvis.

"Shh," says Mr. Phil, and his fingers are gentle and nice, so maybe Mr. Phil isn't scary.

"Am I sick?" Tony asks, and he's really sleepy even though he just woke up, so that his eyes don't want to stay open no matter how big Tony makes them.

"Only a little bit," Mr. Phil says, and his voice is quiet and calm so it must be true. Tony wishes that he was more than a little bit sick, though, because that would mean that his mom and maybe his dad would come and see him. Jarvis always comes, but Jarvis isn't here, just Mr. Phil. Then Mr. Phil says, "Go back to sleep, Tony."

Tony doesn't think he's going to sleep, he doesn't want to, but the next time he opens his eyes Mr. Phil isn't there anymore. Instead, there's a stranger.

She's a very pretty stranger, though, and has red hair and she isn't looking at him because she's staring at a thin square black thing in her hands. She has a very intent, concentrating look on her face and her fingers glide over the object's surface, and there's something funny in her ear.

"No," she says out loud in a low, calm but serious voice, the sort Mommy gets when she really really wants Tony to do what she says. Tony freezes and wonders if he's being bad. Maybe he wasn't supposed to open his eyes? Or maybe the lady knew that Tony wants to get up and find his new friends and run away home. She isn't looking at Tony, though, she's still staring at the black thing in her hands.

"No," she says again to the black thing, "Jarvis, better order full sets for all five; we can always donate it all later when they change back."

Tony perks up a bit when he hears Jarvis's name, and then has to cover his mouth to hold inside giggles because the lady looks funny talking to the air when Jarvis isn't inside the room. But maybe she can hear him because of the thing in her ear? Maybe it's a really tiny radio, like the kind Tony plays expedition with. Sometimes Jarvis will play with him and answer radio but he isn't very good at the game because ne never remembers all the code words and sometimes he says he's under attack and asks Tony to come back and help him when what he means is that it's bath time or nap time or dinner time and that isn't fair. Even if Jarvis is really good at getting shot by bad guys and falling over and almost dying so Tony can rescue him.

"What?" says the lady, and then she turns her head and looks at Tony and smiles. "You're awake."

"Hello," says Tony, and then, "You're pretty. Is that a radio? Are you a cyborg? Where's Mr. Jarvis? What's your name?"

"Very awake," the lady says, still smiling, "My name's Pepper Potts. You can call me Pepper. And this…" She pulls the strange thing out of her ear, "Is a phone." Miss Pepper lets Tony take the ear phone. It doesn't have any wires at all and it's very tiny but it doesn't go inside his ear like it did for Miss Pepper. He holds it there instead but no one speaks and suddenly Tony realizes that he hasn't seen Jarvis or Mommy or Daddy for a really really really long time.

"Tony?"

"Where's Mr. Jarvis?" Tony asks the lady, because maybe Mommy and Daddy are busy but Jarvis always comes and besides, she was talking to him, he heard her. But Miss Pepper just stares at him with really large eyes and doesn't say anything and nobody is coming… "Tony? Calm down," and Tony's all alone, and he wants to go home and "Tony, breathe, Tony, shhh," and Miss Pepper isn't his mommy and Mr. Phil isn't his daddy, and maybe his friends went home without him, and Miss Pepper's arms are warm and she smells like flowers, but Jarvis never ever comes.

"Shhhhhh," says Miss Pepper. And then the door opens.

Tony looks up, his chest tight with hope, but it still isn't Jarvis or Mommy or Daddy. The person is far too small for that.

"St-steve?" Tony says, and Steve slides into the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Tony," Steve says, and, "Ma'am." He's squirming right by the door, looking down at his feet.

"Hello, Steve," says Miss Pepper, "Did you come to see Tony?" Tony can hear the smile in her voice and Steve stops staring at the floor and smiles a very small, tiny smile.

"Yes, Ma'am. Mr. Phil was going to take us but…but he's busy and, and we were worried."

Tony pulls away from Miss Pepper, pulling himself towards the edge of the bed and Steve walks towards him, his smile widening. Steve isn't dressed in big person clothes anymore. His clothes are all white, like doctor clothes. Tony looks down and sees that he's also wearing white now, except Tony doesn't have pants like Steve does. The flashlight is still in his chest too; he can see its glow through the white.

"Are you alright, Tony?" Steve asks, his voice high pitched and warbly, "Mr. Phil said the medicine made you sick, and it was an accident, and he said you needed to sleep but he sounded really mad when he was talking to the other grownups, and they took Bruce away, and said it wasn't safe, and Clint thinks they're going to take us all away and hide us, but Mr. Phil promised you were alright, and Natalia won't speak English, but we all wanted to see you, so I came."

"I'm okay, Steve," Tony tells him, and he reaches out to pet Steve's hair because Steve looks scared and sad and not happy. Then Tony frowns, because Steve was talking a lot and Tony doesn't understand everything that's happened, but he does understand about stealing children. "Where's Bruce? Did they kidnap Bruce? Is he in the bad place? But he doesn't have my flashlight, and he'll be scared, and the kidnappers might come back!"

"I don't know!" Steve answers, still looking scared and unhappy, "He turned into a green monster and…oh…you were asleep then. But he did! He turned green and roared and threw the mean lady against a wall! And then someone shot him! But it was just a sleeping dart, not a bullet, and he was Bruce again, and they took him away and took you away and took the mean lady away, and Mr. Phil went with you and Bruce, and Natalia bit the man who tried to take her and kicked him in the…in…between the legs, and Clint tripped him, and I was really really sleepy, and they took us all to a room and gave us new clothes and let doctors look at us and asked a lot of questions. And I don't know where we are, and my mom's probably scared, and your mom will be too! And Clint said it's because the fairy gave us gifts and the gov…gover…govermen want them!"

"Hey," says Miss Pepper, "Hey, Steve, Tony, breathe." She has the stern Mommy voice again, so Tony tries to breathe in big gasping breaths, and Steve's a big boy but his face is all red and wet so maybe Tony isn't a baby when his eyes feel all stinging and wet because he's afraid and wants his new friends and his old family. Miss Pepper has gotten off the bed and has one hand on Steve's back and the other on Tony, and she keesp saying, "Hey, hey, hey."

"Mi-i-ss Pepp-er?" Tony gasps in choked breaths, "Whe-re-'s Momm-y and Daddy and Jarv-is?"

"A-re we go-ing h-ome?" Steve gasps out, and they both wait for Miss Pepper to answer.

"Tony," she says, "Steve," looking them each in the eye and her voice is very serious and calm, "This is going to be very hard for you to understand. We are going to be going home very soon, but it isn't going to be the home you remember. Your parents aren't going to be there. Because…"

The door swings open violently and a large man stand in the doorway. Steve yelps and dives under the bed, and the man says, "Found him, in Stark's room," while holding a hand over his cyborg ear telephone before he drops to his knees and reaches under the bed to grab Steve's ankle and then everything is happening really fast and loud. Miss Pepper is shouting, "What do you think you're doing!" and Steve is screaming, and Tony screams, "Don't touch my friend!" and Tony jumps on the man's back and grabs his hair and yanks.

The man shouts a very bad word, and suddenly his back twists so Tony almost falls off and his big hand grabs Tony really really hard so it hurts and Tony screams while the man growls, "Let go, Stark, you little f…" but then Miss Pepper hits him in the head with her black square thing and Steve comes out from under the bed and shouts, "Leave him alone, he's little!" and kicks the man right between the legs. The man drops Tony but his arm still hurts really bad and Tony can't stop crying even though he knows he's too big to cry because he isn't a baby.

Miss Pepper says to the man, "You, out, now." in a really extra firm and angry voice, and he's a lot bigger than her but he's also whimpering on the ground and she drags him to the door. Another man who has the same clothes as the first comes running up, but Miss Pepper glares at him and shuts the door so no one can come in. Steve puts his arms around Tony and says, "There, there, I won't let them hurt you." Tony tries to swallow his tears because he isn't a baby, but they get trapped in his throat and he starts coughing and he can't stop, not until he's sick all over the floor and Steve.

That's bad, Tony knows they're going to be angry because Tony is being a baby and making messes and crying, and maybe that's why his mommy and daddy and Jarvis don't want to come, because Tony is bad and they don't want him anymore. Or maybe he's been kidnapped already, and that's why he's alone, and kidnappers don't like it when you're sick and smelly and make messes and noise.

Miss Pepper doesn't shout at him though, and Steve doesn't let go and doesn't stop saying, "There, there, Tony," in a really not happy but not angry voice, and Miss Pepper gets down on her knees and says, "Shhh, Tony, you're alright, he's gone, look at me."

Then the door opens, and Steve lets go of Tony to jump in front of him with clinched fists. Tony has to lean over to see around him, his heart going thud thud thud in case it's the kidnappers come back, but it's a woman, and she has her hands lifted in the air and she says, "I surrender. At ease soldier. I'm a doctor; I just want to see if everyone is okay."

"Tony's sick," Steve tells her, "And the bad man hurt him and…and…and grownups aren't supposed to hurt little kids." And then he starts to cry, and Tony doesn't understand why because he doesn't think the bad man hurt Steve, but he does know that he doesn't want Steve to be sad or to cry.

"It's okay, Steve," Tony says, slowly pulling himself to his feet so he can give Steve a hug.

"You're right, Steve," Miss Pepper says in her calm stern voice, "He was bad, and he's going to be punished and he isn't coming back. You were very brave, both of you, and now Dr. Shaw is going to look at you both and she's going to take care of Tony and Tony's going to be just fine."

Dr. Shaw is nice and gives them new clothes and looks at Tony's arm with very gentle hands. Steve watches too, and that's good, because it's safer when Steve is watching, and Steve doesn't look sad or scared anymore. Then Tony's stomach is rumbling because it's breakfast time, but Steve says it's lunch time even though Tony thinks it should be morning because he just woke up only a little bit of time ago.

"It looks like it's just bruised," Dr. Shaw says to Miss Pepper after looking at Tony's arm, "But want to make sure it isn't broken." Miss Pepper looks really angry and her lips are all thin and maybe she's angry because Tony was bad and made the bad man grab him.

Then the door opens again and Tony and Steve jump but it's not a stranger or another bad grownup. It's Mr. Phil, and he's pushing a tray with one hand. He has to use one hand because the other arm is full.

"Bruce!" Tony exclaims, "Mr. Phil!"

"Tony!" says Bruce, "Steve!"

"We thought you might be hungry," says Mr. Phil, "And Bruce was worried." Mr. Phil is smiling, but his eyes look all over the room at where Tony was sick and no one cleaned it yet, and where Dr. Shaw is holding Tony's arm, and Steve sitting next to him to hold his hand, and the smile slides away. "What happened?"

Tony doesn't answer, because maybe Mr. Phil will be mad at him and not like him anymore and take Bruce away. Steve looks down at where his feet are dangling over the side of the bed. But Miss Potts smiles a very strange smile because she doesn't look happy. The smile is scary but it doesn't make Tony afraid.

"Steve came looking for Tony and your agent got a little…aggressive in trying to bring him back." Mr. Phil's expression was very strange and a bit scary.

"I'm sorry I ran away, Mr. Phil," Steve says, looking up from his feet at last, "I just wanted to see Tony. I…I shouldn't have kicked him but…but he was hurting Tony, and Tony's just little, and…" Steve looks like he's going to cry again, so Tony doesn't know whether to frown because he's not a little baby or to hug him again because Steve's sad. Mr. Phil strides into the room, pushing aside the tray and sets Bruce down on the bed with the two of them.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Steve," Mr. Phil tells him firmly, "You aren't in trouble."

Bruce crawls over the bed towards Tony and then stops when he's at the backs of Tony and Steve. Tony smiles at him, having to twist around to see him properly, and Bruce gives a very tiny smile back. Mr. Phil looks at Tony too, especially at the arm the doctor is looking at.

"I'll need an x-ray to see if it's broken or not," Dr. Shaw tells him like she told Miss Pepper, and Mr. Phil's mouth gets very thin.

"Can you watch them, Ms. Potts?" he asks Miss Pepper, "I have…business to take care of."

"Keep your agents out and we'll be just fine," Pepper answers, with the same funny scary smile on her face, "You're taking care of it?"

"I'm taking care of it," Mr Phil answers in a serious grown up voice that sounds a bit like he's very angry. Miss Pepper nods her head, still smiling.

"What about Clint and Natasha?" she asks when Mr. Phil starts to walk towards the door, "You might as well send them down, too."

"Of course, Ms. Potts. I'll be in to check on all of you later." And Mr. Phil marches out of the room.

Dr. Shaw takes Tony into another room and explains all about how x-rays take pictures inside his body, and his arm still hurts but Dr. Shaw looks at the pictures and says it isn't broken. Then he goes back to his room and all his new friends are there and they eat their breakfast lunch in the bed and that's funny because you aren't supposed to eat in bed but Miss Pepper and Dr Shaw both say its okay.

Mommy and Daddy still don't come, and neither does Jarvis. But maybe Tony isn't completely alone.

Author's Note: This fic so far is starting to feel like an excuse to beat up Tony…a baby Tony no less which makes it even worse. Apparently when I give my muse free rein with only a nudge in a general direction that I want the fic to go in, this is what it comes up with. On the plus side, I finally managed to complete the chapter and sort of know where I'm going with the next, even if the chapter came out a bit shorter than I was hoping. Well, I could probably extend it, but then chances are you'd all be waiting another week for the update, so…a bit shorter than the first two will have to do.