Okay guys, here's the second chapter. Thank you so much for reviews and views, I want you guys to know that I appreciate each view and review I get, they keep me going! Hope this chapter live up to your expectations and that you want to read the next one to!
"Dear God, what is this? What are we going to do?" Steve ran across the whole apartment with Tony in his arms, trying to figure out what was happening.
"Would you at least stand still for a moment? I'm sure it has something to do with this thing." Natasha help up the car battery in front of Steve and he sighed.
"Well... Tony's the genius here, I don't get a crap of what that's supposed to be."
Steve sighed once more, starting to get afraid that he wouldn't come up with something and that Tony would die in his arms. Then Tony pointed at something in the corner of the apartment, a stair. Steve and Nathalie exchanged looks and then they raced towards it and made their way downstairs.
"Of course, that thought didn't even pass my mind." Steve mumbled.
They were standing in Tony's workshop, and the place was filled with screens, tools and gadgets Steve and Natasha had never seen before. There had to be something in there. Natasha put down the car battery, causing Tony to whimper softly. Steve reacted fast and put Tony down on the floor too, leaning him against a desk. He gave him one last, worried look and then he started looking for something they could use together with Natasha. There had to be something, just a little gadget that would stop the pain or fix whatever was wrong. Tony was the smartest guy Steve knew, if he didn't have a thing they could use, no one had. The only thing was... none of them knew what the problem was, so all this looking around wasn't really of any use. Steve stopped and looked at Natasha as he shrugged and frowned. She let her hand rush through her red, wavy hair before her glance went to Tony. He wasn't there anymore! Natasha's eyes widened as she scanned the room, and she gave a sigh of relief when she saw him crawling on the floor. She walked with quick steps towards him and squatted down next to him as he continued to crawl. Where are you going? She thought. She saw Tony's eyes, they were focused on something in the other end of the room. There was a lot of scrap back there, but Natasha thought she knew what he wanted.
"Steve! Get that battery charger back there!" she yelled as he turned around and searched for it from where he stood. "That's what you need, am I right?" she asked.
Tony made a small nod and then closed his eyes. Everything was going to be all right, this was going to be fixed, and he would survive. Steve also squatted down next to Tony and started fumbling with the cables. He was extremely stressed and his hands shook really badly, but after a few seconds the extra cables were hooked up to Tony's car battery and Steve put the plug in an outlet. A little hum came out of the charger and Tony took a deep breath, finally it didn't hurt anymore. Both Steve and Natasha could see that Tony's pale skin started getting more colour, that he wasn't shivering anymore and that he finally relaxed. Steve sat down on the floor and allowed himself to relax too, but Natasha stood up as she saw a bunch of men and women dressed in white running down the stairs with Happy and Pepper right behind them.
"He's okay!" Natasha yelled and held up a deprecating hand.
"I'm okay" Tony mumbled, mostly to reassure himself.
The ambulance people didn't mind about any of them and headed straight towards their "patient".
"DON'T touch me" Tony said slowly, sitting up and supporting himself at Steve.
"Please Tony, just let them-" Pepper rushed over to him and spoke to him with a soft and begging voice.
She tried to not care about what she now was certain were a car battery and the fact that it was hooked up to Tony somehow. And it didn't really make it better that there was now an extra set of cables attached to it.
"I need time to think, to figure this out, I understand just as much of this as you guys do, and these doctors of yours won't do it any better."
"But Tony, what if-"
"What if what? If I die? It's okay now, I'm better already." He set up a fake smile and clenched to Steve's shoulder as a flow of exhaustion hit him.
"Are you sure, Tony?" Steve gave him a concerned look, but it vanished quickly when he saw the warning look Tony gave him.
"Just... get them out of here." Tony closed his eyes again and released the firm grip from Steve's shoulder.
When everyone had finally left without to much of an explanation, even Pepper, Tony started the researching, why was the car battery crucial for whether he was living or not? There was no shrapnel, so what was it then?
His workshop had come to live, Jarvis was online, there was some AC/DC music in the background and all the screens where flashing with the latest news, weather, pictures of the hot rod and the progress of the Stark Tower's restoration. It was great being back in the shop, Tony hadn't had much to do down there for the latest weeks when he wasn't planning on making a new suit, so being back was definitely great.
"Hey Jarvis, I need for you to scan this thing." He tapped at the electromagnet. "And with scanning, I mean all the way down, I need to know what's going on in there"
"Very well, Sir" Jarvis replied.
A blue light passed Tony's body and pictures of his heart came up on the screens.
"What the hell is that?" Tony said quietly, sitting down in his chair and watching one specific screen.
"There seems to be rings made of an unknown, metallic material surrounding anterior and posterior vena cava, the pulmonary veins and arteries and aorta. They're attached to wires which come from the electromagnet. Without power they will shrink and press all that lays between them together, this will make it impossible for the heart to transfer blood, which means that-"
"I know what that means, Jarvis"
Tony silently watched the animation on the screen, which showed him what would happen if the rings closed and the heart stopped pumping blood, and shivered. He put his elbows on the table and laid his face in his hands. Harlan had said to him that if he was him, he wouldn't even think of removing the electromagnet, replacing it with an arc reactor, yes, but not removing it, and now he understood. One thing was clear to him at this point though...
"Jarvis, we're back at start, we need to make a new arc reactor without palladium, and god I'm hungry!" a smirk passed Tony's face as he grabbed the car battery and ran upstairs. "Pepper, are you hungry?" he asked as he did his "snap-clap" thing.
He saw Pepper sitting curled up in the sofa, watching television while her head rested in her hand. She was worried, without doubt, but did she know about the electromagnet? He checked his shirt, yep, still buttoned, nobody could have noticed it, only the cables. He knew he actually had to tell her all about it, but not how. He could sit down with her now and tell, or he could wait, just a little bit longer, either way would be hard. Tony took two bowls out of a closet and found some cereals. He kept an eye with Pepper, she looked a bit distant but gorgeous as always, she was probably just baffled by the recent events. Tony walked slowly upon her and sat down next to her, giving her one of the bowls.
"You didn't give me an answer, but I assumed you were hungry." Tony started eating as if it was several days ago since the last time. Wait... it was, actually.
"Thank you." was everything Pepper managed to get out of her throat.
"Hey, it's okay, I'm alive right? How can anything possibly be better then?" Tony did a brave attempt in cheering her up, but she remained silent.
Shit! What was he going to do? Just sit there in total silence, or go downstairs and start making the arc reactor? None of the two were appealing to him right now, he was exhausted and wanted to sleep, but honestly, he was terrified of the thought that the nightmares might be back. Workshop it was.
"Hey Pepper, mind giving me a hand down here? Like literarily?"
Pepper got dragged out of her sleep by Tony's soft and playful voice into her ear, and she giggled satisfied, that dirty little kid. She was about to turn around and lay her hand on his fit stomach when she realized that the voice came from her earpiece. She gave her watch a fast glance, what? 4am?, what was wrong with him? She was to kind to even consider going downstairs, but Pepper hauled herself angrily out of the soft, warm bed and shuffled down to the workshop. She yawned and groaned loudly to make sure Tony got it, but when she saw him she suddenly felt much more awake. She was sure that she was only inches from fainting when she saw the chunk of metal at Tony's heart, and the fact that it was hooked up to the car battery too. Her legs brought her reluctantly towards the chair Tony was sitting in, and she was scared to death of the thought of what might meet her. Tony must have seen the look on her face because he started laughing.
"You expected something whole different when I asked for your hand, didn't you?" he said laughing, and his mouth turned into a huge grin.
"I-I, well this wasn't it at least" Pepper didn't take her eyes off the electromagnet for one second, everything was just a joke to him.
"I know I should have told you right away, but I just didn't want to disappoint you, to let you know that it's back" he held up the arc reactor in front of her "And now I need your help, though I perfectly understand-"
"I told you to never ask me to do something like this again, remember?" Pepper was frustrated and afraid, she didn't know what to think about that the arc reactor was actualy back, so she yelled, and she regretted it at once.
"And then I told you that I don't have anyone else than you, remember?" Tony raised one eyebrow and looked expectantly on Pepper who let out a short sigh. "What you need to do is rip out the electromagnet and the cobber wire, and then you put in the arc reactor and fasten it to the base plate, just like last time. But!" he held a finger to the sky. "You need to be as fast as fucking possible, because I can only live without it for about thirty seconds."
Thanks, Tony. She thought to herself, knowing that there actually was a time limit only made things worse. She didn't want to, she wholeheartedly didn't want to do this, what if she made him suffer, or even worse... killed him!
"Cap could do it, or maybe even Natasha" Pepper gave him one last, begging look.
"Listen, Pepper, I trust you and I know that you can do this. Now, would you? I'm getting tired of dragging that square of metal around and it would be really nice to just get over with it" Tony replied hastily.
"Okay" she said hesitantly.
"Okay? Great, let's go then!" he clasped his hands together and rubbed them.
Pepper closed her eyes and took a deep breath before Tony handed her the arc reactor. She laid it down at the table next to them and prepared herself for ripping out the piece of metal from his chest. She drew one final breath as she quickly pulled it out and replaced it with the arc reactor in one movement. Tony held up his hands as if to defend himself.
"What was the time? Seriously, I didn't even get to react to what you did." Pepper giggled at his movement and what he said.
He had that effect on her, on everyone. He didn't have to say or do much, he just was like that. He could make someone who was going through hell feel like they were in heaven only by smiling. Pepper thought it was the best quality Tony had, but also the worst. He could fake a smile or a sarcastic sentence so well that no one would ever notice that he was lying or having a hard time or something, but Pepper would always be able to tell, she had known him for such a long time. Something was bothering him, but she let it be, maybe he would tell her eventually.
"Now you follow me upstairs, and then you come under the sheets with me." Pepper whispered into Tony's ear while she let her hand run through his soft, dark hair.
"Sure, no problem!" Tony jumped down on the floor and followed Pepper who held his hand.
Pepper lay with her back against Tony while he held around her stomach, using the other hand to massage her head. He was still exhausted, but having the arc reactor at place was definitely something else, it gave him more energy. Even if he wanted to sleep, he couldn't do it, he was too afraid, and he didn't want to bother Pepper with anything, at least not right now. She was so peaceful asleep, and so beautiful, Tony thought of how lucky he was to have her, and that she couldn't be taken for granted. He sighed quietly and closed his eyes, but pictures of his own chest split open and bleeding and the awful feeling of falling down from the sky made him open them quickly again. No, he couldn't sleep, absolutely not, and he didn't want to either. All of this thinking didn't lead anywhere, so why stay in bed at all? The clock was 6am, so in an hour he'd by up anyways. He carefully lifted his arm away from Pepper's stomach and stopped massaging her head, and then he slipped silently out of the bed and walked down to the workshop. He snapped once and then all screens, lights and gadgets came to life. This was where he belonged, it always felt good being down there and tinker. Now that everything was silent and things had finally calmed down, he had the opportunity to make a plan. A plan of attack, or as he liked to say: he had a plan... attack!
"Jarvis, I know it's early, but I need a manipulative sketch of the mark 42" Tony said.
"I'm on the case Sir" Jarvis' voice made Tony relax, he was the sound of the workshop.
Tony made himself a cup of coffee and started to delete and add parts to the suit. The mark 42 was a great suit, but only a prototype, he had to actually finish it this time, and of course upgrade it and make it better. Tony hadn't ever removed the chips from inside his arm, so he would still be able to command the suit the way he had done before he destroyed it, that was at least a start. He still had he software too, he just needed the suit.
"Well, we've got no time to lose, so let's go!" Tony snapped his fingers once more and music filled the whole room as he started making the suit.
"Sir, Miss Potts is approaching, it's highly recommended that you-"
"For god sake Jarvis, hide everything and mute!" Tony yelled stressed back at him.
The suit stood on a platform that went underground and disappeared, every screen went black, sketches and other information vanished and Tony pretended to just make himself another cup of coffee as he saw Pepper walking down the stairs and enter her code to the workshop. She was fully dressed in her black heels and pencil skirt, walking with quick steps towards Tony.
"It's seven am, you must've been up early, or what?" Pepper raised an eyebrow and Tony understood that she wasn't fully asleep when he left the bed.
"Yeah, I never really got to that sleeping part" he set up childish smile.
"Tony, you have to tell me if there is a problem" suddenly her voice was filled with worry.
"Yeah, you know that's really not my style" Tony started cleaning up the place, trying to avoid eye contact, while Pepper followed after him.
"You never tell me anything, like the electromagnet, how do you expect for me to react to that?" Tony stopped and looked at her.
"I don't expect for you to react, say or do anything, I-"
"Is that so? I thought I was a little bit better than that" Pepper looked seriously hurt.
"No no no, I didn't mean it like that Pepper. Just, I know that it wasn't fair not telling you, and it's okay if you're disappointed-"
"You leave one night, then you're gone for two days, and then you come back almost dead and with that thing in your chest again! I thought you wanted it to be gone!" Pepper almost cried now, she didn't mean for it to get like this.
"Hey, that's not fair at all" Tony's voice suddenly got more serious. "I left because I got a message from you, telling me to meet you at central park, but that I had to walk there. So I did, and then I got hit by a car. I woke up again tied up to a table, and all of a sudden a man starts digging into me with a knife, and he makes sure I am awake so that I can feel it and see it. He puts a mask over my face so that I fall asleep and when I wake up that fucking chunk of metal is back in my chest" Tony noticed that his voice had raised and that he now practically yelled at Pepper who stood left speechless. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"I'm the one who's sorry, I shouldn't have said anything before-"
"It's okay then, leave it be, we're going to figure this out. I just have to go and kick some ass first, and then-"
"What?" Pepper stopped him, her voice still shaking.
"What what?" Tony realized the big mistake he had just done, he had almost said that he was going back as Iron Man, he could still save this.
"Tony, what are you planning on?" fear was lying under her voice.
"Nothing, I didn't mean like-"
"Jarvis, let me know everything Tony has done down here today" Pepper didn't move her glance away from Tony who stood there with raised eyebrows, waiting for her to fail.
"As you wish Madame" Jarvis replied and turned on every screen and the room once again got filled with information and sketches of his suits.
Slowly the almost finished mark 42 raised up from the floor, leaving Pepper totally shocked.
"What? Jarvis, I made you, and then you do this to me? Thank you for the cooperation buddy" Tony tried to sound disappointed, to make Pepper laugh, but she just stood there with her mouth open. "Ta-da?" Tony opened up his arms and set up a fake smile, without succeeding.
"You've got a meeting 2 pm at Stark Industries, be there" Was everything she said, and then she left the room.
Yeah boo, hiss, I promise to fix them, just give it some time. Thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate it. Remember to review and tell me what you like/didn't like, it's what keeps me going. Another chapter will be up soon, once again: Thank you!