Why what's this? An update perhaps? Hmmm this is interesting! :) Not really, but YAY I updated something! I wasn't sure if I was going to finish it or not by the end of the weekend! Especially with a paper to write...Anyways! I think you guys will like this chapter. I think there's LOTS of answers to some of the questions you may be asking. After all, I am trying to finish this story up!

Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own IMAA, and guess what, neither do you. (Totally saw that somewhere here on FF, had to use it!) :D

There was one word to describe how he felt at that moment. One word summed up all of the mixed and jumbled feelings and thoughts that were going through his mind. It wasn't exactly of positive word either, and it didn't really change or help anything that was going on.

Useless.

He felt completely useless. Inadequate, unserviceable, hopeless. In all, those all meant: useless. Which was exactly how he felt. He couldn't anything whatsoever to help, to do something of use, to no longer be useless.

The only thing he could do was sit there, doing all that he could not to get in the way. All he could do was sit and watch as his best friends suffered.

He sat between two beds, layered in soft, silky red sheets. A dresser with delicate looking décor atop of it sat between the two beds, looking unused but recently cleaned. Even the rug looked as fancy as ever, looking like it came from topnotch suppliers.

In the two beds, lay his two best friends. The two best friends that he was incapable of helping. He nothing more than useless to them, and that's why it hurt so much.

Tony, the friend or 'brother', laid on the bed to his left, where he'd been for days on end since he was stabbed. His unconsciousness was supposedly from the stab, but knowing how he was when he was…acting, it wasn't all from the stab at all.

Pepper, the other friend, laid on the opposite bed to his right. She hadn't been there quite so long, but before she was there, she'd been locked and chained to a table for days. And it was still unknown what had truly happened to her.

Just thinking about how he could help, made his head spin. He wanted to help. He wanted to be able to do something more than just sit there hoping for a miracle; waiting for that moment when one, preferably both, open their eyes. But he didn't know what to do. He didn't know what was wrong. He couldn't possibly know how to help them and what they needed to be helped.

The sole person who was responsible for this whole thing wasn't speaking. He wasn't saying a word that was helpful. All he said was crazy stuff about them being too late, and that they'd never be able to save them. Whatever that meant, it didn't sound nice and they believed otherwise.

As useless as he felt, he wasn't about to give up on his friends, on his family.

Never.

…

His eyes felt weak and heavy, but he managed to open them. His eyes instantly realized that something wasn't right about the room he was in. The ceiling was off, it wasn't familiar. It couldn't possibly be a hospital ceiling, and it was most certainly not his own ceiling from his room.

He felt tired. Numb. So very tired.

He soon found his eyes drooping once more, removing all thoughts from his mind, shoving them all through the darkness he was seeing.

…

He couldn't move. That's the first thing that came to his mind. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move. Not a single limb, not a single muscle. He felt weighed down by invisible chains he couldn't even feel.

It was white. That was the second thing he noticed. The room was pure white, so white it was hurting his eyes just looking at it. The white didn't end either. Not that he could notice. It seemed to go on and on in an area that just kept on expanding.

His mind was still foggy, but he was starting to get more feeling back. No longer was he numb, no longer could he not feel the pain. It was like a burning web of pain, wound tightly around his neck and shoulders, stretching just below his shoulder blades. His lower legs being in that web as well. The pain was searing and there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't find his voice, he couldn't move, he couldn't even reason with himself on how the pain started.

Before he could make any inferences on what it could have been, his eyelids began to droop. They became heavier and heavier and soon he was no longer able to fight the inevitable rest that overcame him.

…

There was countless times he woke up in that white room. He lost count of how long he was in there, not that he had been counting in the first place. He focused more on his inability to move, inability to stop the pain, and most of all, his inability to think of how he got there.

It could have been days, weeks, and possibly even months since he's been in there. And the most he could remember was the first day he woke up in that room and nothing in between. Nor could he bring himself to remember anything before the first day.

He'd already forgotten his name, his family, where he lived. He faintly remembered two people, but they too were quickly fading from his mind. Almost as if his memory was being rewound back before he met them at a slow and steady pace. As unclear as his mind was, he knew that he couldn't let that memory go away. He couldn't let himself forget them. He already let himself forget his name, his mom, his dad, his family, his home. He couldn't let himself forget the last bit he still had.

Eventually, after was seemed like days or even weeks, they too were forgotten.

…

"She's waking up!"

Rhodey twisted in the chair he was sitting in. "Really?"

He'd just returned from finally getting something to eat only minutes ago. Howard had been sitting in there for about an hour before he came back in. Howard had pulled up a chair of his own to watch over his son and occasionally check on Pepper. And after Rhodey returned Howard took notice to the redhead's eyes, which were slowly opening.

Howard just nodded in response as he leaned towards Pepper's bed. "Pepper?"

She groaned, forcing herself into a half-sitting half-lying position. "Howard?"

She yawned and stretched, blinking her tired eyes. She took a moment to glance around the room, to take in her surroundings.

"How are you feeling?" Rhodey asked, finally feeling as if he could do something.

"Tired." The redhead absentmindedly responded, scratching her head as her gaze fixated on the bed across from her. Tony.

"He's fine." Rhodey found himself saying. "Just needs his rest."

She didn't say anything, but instead she pulled the covers away from herself. Fully sitting up, she moved to get up and off the bed.

"Are you sure that's smart?" Howard questioned.

"I'm fine." She said, her tone still groggy.

"Okay, if you're sure."

"I'm hungry."

Harriet, who must have been walking pass the door when Pepper said that, walked in.

"I can make you something to eat, Miss." The woman offered.

Pepper nodded. "That sounds nice."

Harriet bowed her head slightly as she walked out of the room.

Pepper's stomach growled. "It really does sound nice."

…

He stood face to face with a man. A man with faded brown hair and grey eyes. He looked like he was in his middle ages. He was dressed to the brim in fancy clothing.

The man smiled at him. "I'm so glad you're with us."

He gave the man a confused look. "What?"

"You were quite hurt." The man said giving him a 'serious' nod. "In fact, you were pretty much dead!

"But, lucky for you, I was there to save you!" The man said cheerfully. "So that's not very important."

He was having difficulty understanding what the man was talking about. Or how a near death experience wasn't important. Obviously, it should be something to worry about, but here this man was, telling him that it wasn't important.

The man gave a hearty laugh. "Where are my manners? Let me introduce myself. My name is Sir Sim Stanley."

He didn't know how to respond. He didn't know his name, let alone who he was entirely. Who he was related to, what he did, what color his eyes were, or even who his friends were. What was he supposed to introduce himself as?

"Forget your name?" Questioned the man. "Don't worry, my friend, I already know yours."

"What is it?"

"Annie."

"Annie?"

Strange name.

"Yeah, your name is Annie, and you are my friend."

"My friend?"

"Yes, I am your friend, Annie."

…

"Why am I wearing a dress?" He asked, looking at the mirror.

"Because that's what women do." Sir Sim Stanley, or Sim, said.

"But…"

"Don't question me Annie!" Sim snapped.

'Annie' looking down at the dress. It was frilly and fancy, pink and black. Not to mention the shoes were totally killing his feet.

"I have to walk around in this?"

Instead of answering Annie's question, Sim stood behind her, waving a maid servant away. "Keep your back straight and shoulders back. And what did I say about your voice? It's not feminine at all!"

Coughing, Annie apologized. "I'm sorry, is this better?"

"A bit."

…

He had his first…attack a few days later. Coughing and choking on nothing more than air. Coughed and choked to the point where he was spitting up blood and passing out. He was out for a good two days before he was well enough to do as he was told.

Sim said it had something to do with the accident that almost took his life. Telling him to expect it to be a constant issue. So after a while, he got used to it. Almost to the point where he could almost see them coming.

The other maids and servants came to know his situation and helped him out. Harriet, the cook, made him food when he was ill. Even when Sim told her that she shouldn't. An older woman, probably older than Sim, cared for him every time he had one of the attacks. Her name was Judy. Another girl, Ellen, helped her change into clean clothes on the occasions that he could hardly move. And she brought him books to read.

At some point, the attacks became more frequent. The amount of attacks a day ranged from three to four. Sim became annoyed with his 'attitude' and 'slacking off' that he was starting to seem less and less nice to him. As if he let him down in some way.

After a while, Sim must have been fed up with Annie's 'excuses' and started beating on him for being incompetent. That was when he decided to place him as his personal servant instead of a general 'housekeeper'. So he could keep a closer eye on him.

…

"Tony!" Pepper said, practically bouncing in the chair she was sitting in.

His eyes opened all of the way. Unlike Pepper, he didn't seem so out of it, but instead more alert.

"Sim?"

The two in the room, Howard and Pepper, looked confused. "No," Pepper said. "It's me, Pepper."

Tony shook his head as if to clear it. "Oh, duh. Sorry."

Pepper shrugged. "It's alright."

He sat up quickly almost looking as if he forgot something important. "Pepper!"

"Yeah, it's me. I'm Pepper." Pepper said.

"You okay?"

"I'm feeling fine, Tony."

He studied her for a moment, decided for himself if she looked fine. She looked great as far as looks go, but she looked like she just woke up.

"I just woke up, if that's what you're wondering. Only ten minutes ago—about. Rhodey went to get a book to read."

Tony sighed and sat back. She wasn't repeating anything and she didn't seem so…lost and confused. That was good.

He looked at his hands. One was wrapped up in bandages, to best cover his broken fingers. The pain in his side subsided to just a dull ache and the cut on his face was healing up enough so it didn't need the bandages over his eye anymore.

"Tony."

He looked over at his dad's serous face. "Hmm?"

"I know you just woke up," his dad started. "But, do you have any idea how to get home?"

Tony looked away, feeling his heartbeat pick up. Home. He could hardly remember where home was. Let alone how he got to this place in the first place.

"Home." He whispered out. "I-I have no idea…"

Okay, I hope this chapter did what it was supposed to. ANSWER QUESTIONS! Not all of them, but hopefully most, if not some. Not too bad of a cliffy this time, right?

Fun Fact: I am currently addicted to Animal Crossing! I CANNOT stop playing that game! Too bad it runs on real time...

To cut things short, I'm going to go ahead and start the shoutouts/replies!

Firework471: They woke up! :D So, hopefully that made you happy! :) Thanks for the review!

MissPotts27: Don't worry for too long! There's still more to go! As little or much as that is. :P And sorry if I took too long to update!

PercyJacksonLover14: Ha, let the battle of the cliffhangers begin! :D I swear, that's exactly what's happening between us! And hey, have you forgiven me at all yet?

That's about it! Review and tell me what you though of this chapter! I'm 'dying' to know!

Hugs and Love, SilverPedals!