Author's Note

So It's been a while…. Oops.

I wrote this chapter to cover some well needed medical talk; the wait will not be as long next time, promise! Enjoy.

Fragility

Chapter 4

Bruce Banner pinched the bridge of his nose resignedly in a dismal attempt to rid himself of the feeling of an oncoming stress headache. He sighed as he glanced over at his lifeless lab partner sprawled out across a small gurney, surrounded by masses of medical apparatus and a handful doctors fussing over him incessantly.

Ever since they'd moved the billionaire to one of S.H.I.E.L.D's top medical facilities the physicist could feel the tension building inside of him. They'd barely been aboard for an hour and it almost felt as if the medical staff were deliberately trying to aggravate him. He felt like a balloon being pumped with air, stretched to its limits until it was about to burst.

'Hey, what are doing?!'

Bruce caught sight of one of the nurses hovering around the arc reactor in Tony's chest, her hands were touching it too close for comfort, and he could almost see the hidden temptation in her eyes to unscrew the object from his sternum.

'Don't touch that,' he snapped.

The woman stepped back nervously; the doctor could feel everyone else's eyes on him.

'That goes for the rest of you too,' he glared at the assortment of young doctors around him; they were too curious for their own good.

'But Dr Banner, perhaps this is the underlying source of the problem, if we could examine it-'

'No.' The doctors send him a questioning glance.

'While I am in this room no one touches the reactor, understand? Focus on getting the tests done, Tony Stark is your patient, not some sort of science experiment for you to ogle at.'

Everyone in the room nodded stiffly before continuing with their work. Banner could see the annoyance on their faces, just because he wasn't a medical doctor didn't mean he was completely clueless about medicine. After all he'd spent most of his life travelling around poorer parts of the world, his knowledge was self-taught.

The doctor may only be recognised as a trained physicist but he wasn't going to let S.H.I.E.L.D's doctor's act recklessly, not when Tony's health was declining so worryingly.

Bruce squinted at the heart rate monitor beeping away in the corner; there was still no change.

The large numbers of people in the small room were starting to make Banner nervous, too many pairs of hands fiddling with different equipment were too many for him to keep track of. He was starting to regret making the phone call to Nick Fury.

His eyes wandered over to the billionaire beside him, who lay still, pale and unmoving. The various needles and machines hooked up to him made him look so weak and vulnerable; Stark was usually so full of life, it seemed so wrong for him to look sickly, wheezing in a hospital bed. Bruce frowned as he checked his temperature again.

103.9 F.

The mechanics brow was furrowed in discomfort, it seemed impossible but he looked paler as every minute passed. Perhaps it was the white of the bed sheets illuminating his skin; or at least the physicist hoped so.

'Someone get me 30mg of Codeine, I want to see the X-Rays too.'

Bruce wasn't by any means qualified physician, but he was no stranger to illness. Fury had insisted he step back and let and let the staff do their work but he refused. He knew little about Tony Stark, but he did know how much he hated hospitals, there was no way he was going to leave him on his own in a room full of strangers.

Not until he knew exactly what was wrong with him.

'I said 30 not 60, are you trying to kill him through negligence?' he growled.

'Doctor Banner I understand your concern for your friend, but that is the recommended dose for someone experiencing chest pain and breathing difficulties,' the man frowned, 'I am a qualified practitioner I know what I'm doing.'

Bruce had to fight the urge to punch the man in the face; for a man with anger issues his patience was truly being tested.

'Well then Doctor, I suggest you re-read Mr Starks notes, because if you are as qualified as you say you are then you would know that 60mg of Codeine is an unsuitable dose for a man with an underlying heart condition,' Banner hissed.

Clenching his fists by his sides he repressed the green creeping into his vision.

'Go and do something useful like change the I.V., I don't care who's in charge around here, anything you give him gets approved by me first.'

He fought the urge to snatch the X-Ray results when they were handed to him. He pulled his glasses from his top pocket and pushed them up his face as he held the opaque photograph up to the light. He squinted at the black and white photograph, frowning when he spotted a light shadow over one of Tony's lungs.

'I want a C.T scan ready now,'

There was a loud crash as a test tube was dropped somewhere over the other side of the room causing Bruce to flinch. He was a bag of nerves; the sight of the rest of the team crowded around the transparent viewing glass did little to ease the tension. He read through Tony's vitals again, forcing himself to hold back a cry of frustration as a migraine hit him with full force.

It was going to be a long night.

It felt like hours had passed since the avengers watched Dr Banner disappear with Tony Stark behind closed doors. The group sat together in silence, slouching in uncomfortable cheap plastic chairs as they glazed idly through the frosted glass, watching staff come and go.

They all felt so helpless on the other side of the glass.

Eventually when the brown haired scientist emerged they all jumped to their feet, Steve was the first one to speak.

'Doctor Banner how is he-' the blond's words were cut short when he took in the appearance of the other man.

He remained silent as he dragged himself forwards and collapse wearily onto the nearest empty chair and leaned back against the wall. His shirt was rumpled and creased; and dark shadows rested under his eyes, he rubbed them with the back of his hands tiredly as he pocketed his glasses.

'Doctor Banner?' Natasha piped up, urging the man to speak.

'It's -' he sighed, running a hand through his dishevelled grey hair.

'It's not good.'

There was a nervous pause before he continued speaking.

'His lungs are inflamed, It's possible that he's suffering from the early stages of pneumonia.'

Barton frowned at the seriousness of his tone.

'Now you know what it is, you can cure it right?'

Bruce let out a hollow laugh that seemed to echo down the deserted corridor.

'I wish it was that simple,' he smiled wearily.

Steve stepped closer to glass, squinting at Starks unmoving form.

'Just how bad is Doctor Banner?' concern was evident in his tone.

'It's still early days; it's difficult to say,' he breathed, tapping his fingers on his knee absentmindedly as he spoke. 'Just because it looks like pneumonia doesn't mean it is, it could be any other number of things but we're still waiting for the test results to come back so I can't be sure.'

'I'll try and get hold of Pepper again, she should be here,' Natasha pushed herself from her seat, 'Call me if there are any changes.'

There was an eerie silence as the team sat huddled together, listening to Natasha's footsteps echoing down the long corridor.

'Friend Stark is a strong warrior,' the demi god's strong voice echoed in the small space, 'I know nothing of this pneumonia you speak of, but I know he is a strong man.'

'Thor's right, Starks a strong fighter, he'll pull through,' Rogers spoke with confidence, 'his chances are good right?'

'Normally most healthy people make a full recovery from pneumonia,' Bruce began, pinching the bridge of his nose 'But with Tony…'

'Afghanistan right?' Clint commented, his eyes drawn to the faint light that was barely visible through the bed sheets.

'The arc reactor complicates things,' Bruce spoke, he stood from his seat tiredly, pulling out a translucent sheet from the folder in his lap and holding it to the light; the three men crowded round to peer at the black and white X-Ray.

'Tony has a very weak immune system and we virtually have no health records to work with, the only ones we do have are after the reactor was fitted so we have nothing to compare it to; we know nothing about it or the effect it's having on Tony's body, especially now he's sick.'

'Is it possible friend Stark caught illness from one of our S.H.I.E.L.D brothers?' the demi god asked thoughtfully.

'It's a possibility, any other healthy person would just contract a cold, but his immune system can't fight it.'

'My god,' Rogers gasped, he never realised how vulnerable Tony was.

The scientist lifted a finger to trace around the photograph of Starks ribs, well what was left of them. Steve and Clint cringed at the sight of the large hole in his chest, Thor stared on in disbelief.

'I thought the reactor was keeping him alive, are you saying it could be making things worse?' Steve asked

'That's the thing I don't know, we are working in the dark here Steve, all we know is that Tony had a large portion of his ribs removed just to make the reactor fit, he's missing half of his sternum,' he emphasised, wincing at the state of his chest.

'I remember Fury showing me the report,' Barton continued to stare at the x-ray as he spoke. 'Sawing through his ribs with no anaesthetic, fuck can you imagine?' he swore, suddenly feeling nauseous.

'That sounds barbaric,' Rogers muttered, suddenly feeling helpless and angry.

Bruce tucked the X-Ray back into his folder of notes before glancing at Tony's form through the frosty glass.

'The reactors what's keeping him alive but its constricting his lungs, I-' the physicist sighed tiredly, 'I'm going to see if I can connect to Jarvis and have him talk me through the reactor while we wait for the test results, I need to understand exactly what we're dealing with here.'

'I'm sure you'll find something doc, I just wish there was something we could do to help,' Clint sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

'I'm not even a qualified doctor, I doubt I'll be any use at all,' Banner rambled and started cleaning his glasses, a habit he'd picked up when he was stressed; he was starting to crumble under the pressure. 'I mean what if I miss something or I-'

'Doctor Banner,' Steve interrupted the doctor midsentence and rested a hand on the man's shoulder reassuringly.

'You're a genius, if anyone can help Stark, it's you,'

'Cap's right,' Barton nodded in agreement.

'No pressure then…' he forced a small smile and ran a hand through his short, tussled hair.

'Have more faith in yourself Doctor,' Thor thumped him on the back.

'You guys should probably get some sleep,' Banner blinked at his wristwatch wearily.

3:35am.

'What about you doc?' Barton raised a brow at the doctors dishevelled state.

'I have things to do, besides I'm not sure I could sleep right now anyway; the other guys pretty wired,' he confessed, twitching anxiously as he watched another nurse enter Starks room.

'I'll call you when I know more,' he promised, strolling towards Tony's room.

'Don't overwork yourself,' Steve called as the physicist slipped through the clear doors, leaving the super soldier, the archer and the demi god alone.

'I'm going to talk to Fury and fill him in, I'll meet you guys back at the tower,' Steve promised, Barton and Thor nodded in understanding, watching his back as he retreated towards to opposite end of the corridor.

The remaining two took one last glance at Starks still figure, reassured to see Bruce hovering around the man's bed.

'Friend Stark will be fine, I am sure of it.'

Clint sighed as they turned and made their way into the elevator, leaving their sick teammate behind.

'I hope your right.'

The first thing that Tony became aware of as he lifted slowly from the depths of sleep was an uncomfortable tightness is his chest. He let out a groan of discomfort, wincing at the scratchiness in his throat.

His throat tickled with the urge to cough but he simply couldn't find the energy, instead he lay still, wheezing small lungful's of air and trying to ignore the unpleasant feeling of sweat on his brow.

'Tony?'

The billionaire opened his eyes only to close them again as they were assaulted by a bright light. He squinted heavily, trying to make sense of the blurred shapes and noises around him.

Everything was a horrible shade of white and too bright for his delicate senses.

'Tony can you hear me?'

Stark frowned, someone was calling his name. He opened his mouth to answer only to find that he couldn't get his words out, they were almost stuck in his throat. He groaned but he couldn't even here himself over the sound of hissing coming from something resting on his face, blowing out cool air. Even from the small uneven breaths he took the fresh air provided pleasant relief but it left him confused. He didn't remember asking Jarvis to change to turn up the oxygen levels.

He winced when a loud noise echoed loudly in his ears, what on earth was that irritating beeping sound?

Suddenly a pair of cold fingers were resting gently against the pulse of his neck, Tony blinked away the blurriness and looked up to see a familiar looking head of fuzzy brown hair.

'Br-bruce?' he wheezed, the effort of talking rewarded him with a hammering pain to his chest. Suddenly it was like all the air on the earth had been taken away; he coughed and spluttered, gasping painfully, it felt like his lungs were being squeezed tightly.

'Tony relax, breathe slowly.'

After a few exhausting minutes he managed to catch his breath, he lay against the plump pillows propping him up, panting woozily.

God he felt awful.

He craned his head slightly, glancing around the room until he met Banners gaze.

'Did I get hit by a bus?' he slurred slowly, Bruce forced a small smile.

'You wish.'

Starks gaze wondered around the room, he didn't recognise it at all.

Bruce seemed to see his confusion.

'You're in one of S.H.I.E.L.D's medical facilities,' he explained, pulling a stethoscope from around his neck he pressed it against Tony's chest; Stark fought the urge to wince at the coldness of the metal. He let out another cough and Banner pulled away, wincing at the noise coming from the other man's lungs.

'Do you remember how you got here?'

Stark furrowed his brows in thought; the last thing he remembered was falling asleep on the couch. He had a nightmare, an unpleasant reminder of his past, the next thing he knew he was awake and drowning out of water, with loud panicking voices hissing frantically in his ear.

'I knew you weren't telling me something.'

Fuck.

He couldn't hide it anymore, the game was up; guess he really was sick after all.

'Where's everyone?' he rasped, remembering Steve's worried face right before he passed out.

'I told them to get some sleep,' Bruce spoke softly as he fiddled with a drip bag beside Tony's bedside, 'But it wouldn't surprise me if Steve's still wandering around here somewhere.'

Only when the mechanics eyes followed the wire coming from the bag did he notice the large needle embedded into the crook of his arm; ouch.

'You nearly gave me a heart attack you know that?' the physicist sighed, placing a clipboard down on the bedside table.

'Better luck next time,' he joked, his speech slurred, he pulled a face at the unpleasant stale medical taste the air was leaving in his mouth. He inched his hand closer to his face with the intent of lifting it off when Bruce's hand slapped it away.

'Don't even think about it.'

'I could really use a stiff drink right now,' he panted, speaking so quietly that Bruce barely heard his words.

Stark huffed when a plastic cup of water was offered to him.

'Not really what I had in mind,' he wheezed, resting the mask beneath his chin as he took a small sip of water, he let out a sigh at the pleasant coolness it provided his sore throat. He rested the cup on the table before his body began to shake with more coughs.

He winced at the pain radiating from his chest, his body felt bruised and uncomfortable; he let out a pitiful groan.

'I'm guessing all that coughing is making the reactor aggravate your lungs,' the scientist winced sympathetically; he couldn't even imagine what it felt like to have a large piece of metal irritating your chest. 'Sorry, I didn't really want to give you anything stronger then codeine, I haven't had a chance to speak with Jarvis yet, I wasn't sure of the dosage.'

'I want all of the good stuff baby,' he whined, scowling when Bruce slid the oxygen mask back onto his face.

'I'll see what I can do,' Bruce promised, resting a hand on the other man's shoulder, 'in the meantime you should get some sleep, you look awful.'

'I- I'm not staying here,' Tony rasped drowsily, helplessly trying to push himself out of bed but Bruce gently eased him back down.

'There's no way I'm letting you out of that bed, Pepper would kill me.'

'I w-won't tell anyone,'

'Tony you're sick and you're not going anywhere until we know exactly what's wrong with you, I swear to god I will duct tape you to that bed if I have to,' the doctor sent him a stern look.

'Kinky,' he murmured breathlessly.

Bruce rolled his eyes, by now he was used to Tony's joking defence mechanism.

'Get some sleep Tony,' he smiled 'Doctor's orders.'

Reluctantly Tony did. As much as he hated lying beneath itchy, cheap hospital sheets he couldn't find the energy to move. Each one of his limbs felt heavy, even if he got up when Bruce's back was turned he doubted he would make it past the door. He cursed mentally; it was at times like this Jarvis would be helpful in making an escape plan.

The last thing he saw as his eyes flickered shut before he surrendered to the strong arms of sleep was Bruce's worried face looking down on him.

As he lay against the warm pillows wheezing breathlessly he allowed his eyes to close for a moment. He would just take a short nap, he promised himself; a few hours of sleep and he would be fit enough fly home.

Or so he hoped.