Thank you for your very passionate reviews; i've tried to implement as much as i could that was requested, and more is on the way :) This is a slighlty longer chapter than the previous ones, hope that's ok!

I rose early the next morning. It was more than difficult to sleep with the horror of the dreams which chased me. There was nothing that I wanted more than to sleep beside Pepper for as long as time permitted. But as it were, darkness was not a friend of mine. I dreamt all night about dying. That wasn't the worst of it, it was the method in which I met my demise, a collection of scenarios ranging from being killed back in the cave with Yinsen, or being killed by the War Machine when he was being controlled by Vanko. But the most recent, most terrifying way in which I met my end was a bomb which destroyed the Malibu mansion along with Pepper and me in it. I woke in a cold sweat. I sat at the foot of the bed looking down at the floor. Peppers arms found their way around my waist.

'Come back to bed.' She whispered in my ear.

I turned to face her; she finally looked as though she had gotten a good night sleep. I knotted my fingers through her hair and pulled her into a kiss. It was the most phenomenal experience of my life; she was my saviour in so many ways. She pulled back to look at me, a smile crept across her face. I knew she felt the same. I smiled back at her.

'I've got some work to do, I love you.' I whispered in her ear, embracing her once more.

'It's only six.' She said trying to pull me back into bed.

'I know but Banner is going to be here in a few hours, I thought I would get started before he gets here.'

'Oh, I didn't know he was in New York.' She sat up beside me.

I shook my head, 'he wasn't. I asked him to come.'

She smiled, 'good, you'll have company; I've got some meetings I need to supervise.'

I spent the remainder of the morning pulling apart the Hot Rod and examining the engine, it was one of those things I found incredibly soothing, no matter what the day threw at me, coming down here and working on this car made me forget.

Happy announced that Bruce had arrived; I made my way down to the foyer to meet them. Bruce and Happy walked up through the dozens of business men, a small crowd had formed to watch his arrival, no doubt a few Hulk fans, and probably one or two people who disliked the whole Avengers team.

I laughed at his awkwardness; I made my way down to them, 'need some saving there, Banner?'

Happy looked as amused as I was, we shook hands and made our way through the crowd which was now taking photos of us as we walked.

'Just another day in the life of Tony Stark.' Happy announced to Bruce.

He nodded, 'I imagined so.' Bruce laughed.

'Is Pepper ready boss?' Happy asked walking toward the elevator with us.

I shrugged. 'She will be soon, I presume.'

Happy nodded and made his way to the top floor while Bruce and I made our way to the workshop.

'I like the café you've got going on down there, a little Stark ego at work?' Bruce asked with a grin.

The doors opened up to the workshop, I laughed, 'you know it.'

I walked over to my desk; I pulled up a chair for Bruce. He sat down beside me; he put his glasses on and took to looking over the files I had brought up earlier.

'Gama radiation?' he questioned me.

'Just research, I'm looking for something to supress some symptoms, something powerful enough.' I explained. I retrieved a folder from the drawer underneath my desk and handed him some hard copies of a few articles I had gotten from S.H.I.E.L.D the last time I was there.

He nodded taking them from me, 'ok, but you're going to have to be more specific, I'm assuming you need something chemical otherwise you wouldn't have called me.' He flicked through the documents.

I nodded, pulling up the rest of the articles I had been reading the night before. 'I called you because I trust you, and you're the only person, aside from me, who is crazy enough to try experimental treatments on themselves.' I said truthfully.

'Well, yes, in that case you've called the right person.' He laughed nervously. 'You're not planning on Hulking up are you?'

I laughed, 'no, of course not, that's your specialty big man.' I pulled up the last three months of data relating to my condition and swiped them over to his screen for easier viewing.

He looked at the data intently, he sat silently for minutes observing and calculating, he furrowed his brow, finally looking up at me. 'Whose file is this?'

I knew he was good, he confirmed Jarvis' idea that he could help me. Without even telling him he knew exactly what we were dealing with, just not with whom.

I leaned back in my chair, 'it's a severe condition, the cerebral cortex is failing, this person has less-'

He cut me off, '-than three months, who is it?' The conversation was no longer light hearted.

Of course I had to tell him, there was no way he could help without knowing all the facts, I didn't work without knowing all the facts, I sighed, 'it's me, my data.' I said simply.

I remained focused on the screens; I could feel his eyes on me.

'Tony,' he began.

There was only so much one could say when given a situation like this. It took me more than two weeks to accept it and begin trying to find solutions.

'It's the Extremis, it's not as,' I rubbed my temple, I hated saying it aloud, 'well not as flawless as I thought it would be. I made a mistake in the calculations.' I admitted.

He shook his head, 'no, I don't think you made a mistake, the extremis is working perfectly, but the human brain just can't sustain something like this.' He explained.

I nodded, 'not for long periods of time anyway.' I slumped back in my chair, 'I've looked into everything, and it's not something I can reverse, or switch off.'

'We'll find something.' Bruce said finally. 'We will.'

I offered a weak smile, 'that's why we're here.'

'Firstly I need to know everything, as much as you can tell me, I'll draw up some ideas, run a few tests alongside yours and we'll see what we're dealing with.' He brought up a new screen, he was eager to start this project, and I was happy to have him. I had no energy left to hit any more brick walls, I sat up, ready to offer any answers he needed.

'What symptoms are you currently experiencing?' He asked.

'The blackouts have been happening more frequently, they usually last between two to three minutes, when I regain consciousness I feel exceedingly exhausted.' I stopped to give him some time to note everything down. 'Over the last few weeks I've been finding it hard to stay focussed, my vision gets dim around the edges before I black out, there have been frequent nose bleeds, I don't know how much blood I lose each time, but enough that it weakens me.'

'How long has that been happening?' Bruce asked looking at me intently.

'Four weeks.'

He nodded, 'what about the fatigue?'

I leaned back in my chair, 'only recently, last five or so days, I feel that the condition is worsening much faster than I had anticipated.'

'It sounds like it, what have you tried to do so far?' Bruce asked. He brought up the results of the last three months of tests I had done.

'I've tried flushing my system and getting incredibly drunk, which doesn't take much these days, thanks to this.' I said with a smirk.

'Always looking for the bright side.' He laughed.

'Indeed.' I nodded.

'Well, what did you have in mind?' Bruce looked at me.

I brought up the articles on gamma radiation and several on palladium. I swiped them over to his screen. 'Gamma radiation was my first thought, mainly because of its resilience against other elements. But then I reconsidered and looked into palladium.' I swiped more theories on palladium over to Bruce's screen.

'Isn't palladium what nearly killed you from your original reactor core?' Bruce looked over the files.

'Yes.' I said.

'I know what you're thinking, but it's not worth it.' Bruce said looking at me searchingly.

I nodded, I leaned my elbows on the desk rubbing my face, I looked back at Bruce, 'that's all I've got, whatever we do will be definitive.'

'It won't resolve anything, it will kill you.' Bruce said without hesitation.

I felt frustration creeping into me, 'I'm not looking for a cure, I'm looking for time.' I heard myself shout. I said more than I needed to. I immediately regretted it.

'Time?' Bruce clued in straight away, 'Tony, what are you talking about, time for what?'

I stood up, I was definitely losing it. I had never slipped up like that, 'time to finish everything.'

'What aren't you telling me about this condition?' Bruce turned side on to look at me.

'There's no way to cure it, it's too late.' I said simply.

'Why is it too late?' Bruce questioned me.

I brought up the data from the last three months; I pulled up a graph within the file, I brought Bruce's attention to a dramatic decline on the lower part of the graph. 'That is my brain activity.' I pointed to a blue line, 'this is the extremis.' I pointed to the green line, Bruce examined the results, he rubbed his temple. 'It's overtaking your brain activity.' He said simply.

I nodded, 'there's no turning this back, I just need to slow it down.' I said quietly. 'I need more time.'

Bruce sat speechlessly, he looked over and over the results, flicking between the screens, pulling up the articles I had collected. He bowed his head, 'we'll figure something out.'

He clapped my knee, 'we're the two smartest people in America, we'll figure something out.' He said passionately.

I laughed, 'I'm counting on it.'

We looked back at the screens before us. We sat silently looking at all the data, my life. I felt pang of guilt clutch at my chest; Pepper didn't know the half of it, and despite what Bruce thought, he didn't either. Eventually it would all come out, and I can only hope that one day they would forgive me, but for now I had to focus on figuring this out.

So to finish this chapter off, i would like to say to the angst lovers, more is on the way, with a strong focus on Pepperony, i would like to see her reaction to some of his suffering, so it will be angsty, it will be dark! Hope you're all ok with that!