Exhaustion pulled Tony quickly into sleep despite everything cluttering his mind. His dreams were fragmented and nonsensical and vanished as soon as he opened his eyes. Friday continued playing the bombastic music that served as his wakeup call until he was out of bed and headed for the shower, though he wasn't fully awake until he'd stood under the spray of water for several minutes.

What he wore didn't matter, so he paid little attention as he got dressed. He took his meds and replied to Pepper's last messages from the night before, then checked the reminder from Dr. Mann. It was just as well he wasn't allowed to eat, he wasn't sure he could. He hadn't even been this nervous before the surgery to remove the arc reactor.

He arrived at the car just before Sam. "I'm on the wheel, if you don't mind," he said, already opening the driver's door.

"You know how to get there?"

"Friday does."

Neither of them spoke again until they were on the road. Sam broke the silence. "All of your vehicles can pilot themselves except for your cars. Why?"

"Friday could drive any of the cars if I wanted her to," Tony said, keeping his eyes on his mirrors and the road despite the conspicuous lack of any other traffic.

"I'm talking about systems built in. There are no driverless cars in your world and that seems weird, especially since S.H.I.E.L.D. had them."

"I know. I had a hand in programming them."

"But you don't trust them?"

"I like to drive," he said with a shrug.

"So which one is harder to program, a quinjet or a car?"

His reply was immediate. "A car. You're more limited in how you can respond to obstacles."

The discussion lasted for the duration of the drive and into the hospital, and continued after they were escorted to a room and Tony changed into the hospital gown. The topic wandered from self-piloting vehicles to the difference between AIs like Jarvis and Friday and AIs like Ultron. Sam didn't fully grasp the distinction, and none of the ways Tony tried to explain it helped.

Then a transport nurse arrived to take him for his tests, and he no longer cared to pursue the topic. As his bed was pushed past Sam, Tony said, "Thanks for the distraction."

"You caught on, huh?" Sam said with a grin, falling into step just behind the head of the bed.

"You realize I usually talk a lot, right? The strange part is having someone seem interested in what I'm saying."

"I'm interested when you're improving my gear."

"You and everyone else. We should talk about that. I'm sure there's more we can do."

"I think we're both available right after this."

"Plenty of time," Tony agreed, frowning as the bed arrived at the testing room. "Here goes nothing," he sighed.

The process was the same as before, with electrodes and things injected in uncomfortable places. This time, though, he was still feeling fine as they wheeled him away, so perhaps he wasn't going to lose the next few days to illness. That seemed promising.

Once he'd been returned to his room and the various nursing types had left, he looked toward Sam, who was standing against the wall just inside the door where he could see both the hallway and Tony. "So, lay it on me. What else would you like your gear to do?"

Sam had a few thoughts about firepower on Redwing and improving the display of data from the scanners; Tony listened and took notes on his phone, occasionally interjecting with a thought or an objection. The amount of weaponry was dictated by the size and required maneuverability of the drone, so there was only so much that could be done. Displays, however, could always be tweaked.

"What about range?" Tony asked abruptly. "Do we need to boost the signal on the communications?"

"I haven't had any problems, but I usually don't send it far. I'll have to check when we get back."

"Let me know." Tony lapsed into silence as he finished his notes, then allowed his arms fall to the bed. It was dreadfully tiring to hold his arms up to see the screen, but he was still on the 'lie flat until they allow you to sit up' portion of his post-test regimen.

A nurse came in to check on him, and he rested his eyes for a while after that, mentally experimenting on Redwing's systems, then switching gears to review his other project. He was meditating on the finer points of wiring metal to act like fingers when he realized the answer to his earlier conundrum. "Barnes," he said aloud even before opening his eyes.

"What?"

Tony looked over at Sam. "You've met Barnes, right? Seen him as both the Winter Soldier and-" He hesitated to call him a regular person. "And not?" he finished.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"That's the difference. Friday and Jarvis act based on programming and adapt to situations based on that programming, like the Soldier. Barnes when he's not being all brainwashed has the capability for independent thought, for deciding whether to follow orders or disobey them. Like Ultron."

"Ah."

When no further response was forthcoming, Tony said, "Well, I thought it was a good comparison."

"It makes a lot of sense," Sam said.

"You don't sound convinced."

"At what point does a program cross the line into Ultron-level artificial intelligence?"

"If I could tell you that, I'd be even richer than I already am."

"So you don't know why Ultron happened?"

"Nope," he admitted freely. "Something to do with the gem in that scepter. Probably." Hopefully.

"Does it bother you?"

"What?"

"That you don't know."

"A little, but only because it means I'm don't know if I'm about to repeat the same mistake with something else. I'd rather not be known for causing the end of mankind." He spoke lightly, but that idea had haunted him since Ultron, and he'd directed his projects to being mind-based rather than machine-based because of it.

If the gem was the reason the Ultron program turned out so dramatically different than his hopes for it, then he didn't have to worry about accidentally creating another murder bot. If it wasn't . . . he should never create anything with the remotest chance of becoming sentient ever again.

For now, he was erring on the side of caution.

"If the human race ceases to exist, nobody will be around to know you were the cause."

"No humans will be around," Tony corrected. "Computers can have long memories."

Silence fell for a few minutes, then his phone began to vibrate. "Have I told you lately that you're my favorite doctor?" he said as he put it to his ear.

Dr. Mann laughed. "I take that to mean you aren't having a bad reaction to the contrast this time," she said warmly. "Good. Everything is going well?"

"It would be better if I could not be stuck flat on my back right now, but I've had worse."

"Yes, you have. Have you had any more of those episodes recently?"

"No, I have been free of any nearly-fainting spells."

"I suspected as much. Well, I have good news. I've seen today's scans and you are definitely on the road to recovery. I'm still going to have you restrict your activities for the full six weeks, but there are some things that you can start doing again as long as you promise to let me know if you have any problems. And I do mean any problems. I'll update your list by the end of the day."

"You are definitely my favorite doctor."

"Don't say that just yet. I'm also going to ask that you do a few things for me long-term, to try to keep this from happening again. One of those things is staying on the meds for a while, but another is talking to a therapist."

"I've already started," Tony said confidently. "I went yesterday."

"That's good, but you'll have to go more than once for it to count." She sounded amused.

"Details, details," he said dismissively. "Anything else?"

There wasn't, so he ended the call and relayed the good news to Sam, who said, "You do realize it's only been three weeks, right? You're still out of action for another three."

"I knew that," Tony said. He had known that, had said something about it the day before, but being confronted with the stark reality still took some of the wind out of his sails. It was going to be a long three weeks, if the past three were anything to go by.

He was allowed to leave after another two hours of waiting, and of course they made him sit in the wheelchair on the way out. Sam drove them back to the compound. Tony sat up front to make it seem less weird and soon remembered why he didn't like riding up front. Watching other people drive from that close made him edgy. He wanted to take over and do it right. Not that there was anything wrong with Sam's driving. It was just a peeve.

It was mid afternoon by the time they got back; the others had evidently split up after lunch and gone to do their own things, since no one was in the common areas. Sam went to find out what Natasha, Clint, and Wanda were doing in the training room. Tony considered joining Rhodey and Vision at the pool, but ultimately decided to check in with Steve in the office.

Steve was seated at the desk and staring meditatively through the glass screen in front of him. Tony leaned against the door jamb. "You have the look of someone who's spent far too long talking to meddling bureaucrats," he said casually.

Steve glanced up at him and had the decency to chuckle. "I talked to some folks at the U.N. while you were gone. A few of them don't seem to be pleased about dealing with me instead of you."

"They'll get over it," Tony said dismissively. "They weren't too happy to be dealing with me at first, either. Was this about the Accords or HYDRA?"

"A little of both. The next subcommittee meeting has been extended to four days to discuss our full revisions. The panel wants us to wait until after that meeting to take any action on our HYDRA leads since there is no immediate threat indicated in the intelligence."

Tony sighed. "Welcome to the U.N., home to clueless diplomatic types who wouldn't know a snake if it bit them in the ass."

"Last I checked, you advocated for being under their thumb."

"Because it's a thumb we can manipulate more easily than others. Would you rather be at Ross' beck and call instead?"

"I still think the best hands are our own."

"When you're in charge, that might be true. But the average Joe doesn't see that. They just see us waltzing into places, blowing shit up, and waltzing out again. Having the backing of an international body is necessary to keep doing what we do best. Otherwise we look like vigilantes who are no more law abiding than HYDRA."

Steve shook his head slowly. "It's hard to believe the world has come to this."

"A fair bit of that is thanks to your generation."

"So I'm told." Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, then took a deep breath. "Do you think we can find anything in the documents to make HYDRA seem more urgent?"

Tony shrugged. "We can have Vision to give them the once-over since apparently he can do that faster than my programs. I need to find out how he does that so I can try to duplicate it."

"All right, I'll ask him."

"What's the scoop on the meeting?"

"It'll start Monday and conclude Thursday of the week after next."

"Right. I'm still technically sidelined then, but maybe my restrictions will have loosened up a bit. I'm on the road to recovery, by the way. Three more weeks and this nonsense should be over." He pulled out his phone and checked the document from Dr. Mann, but it hadn't been updated yet. There was, however, a message from Pepper that she was available to talk for the next hour. "I'll check with the good doctor. I really think I should be there for this one."

"I am willing to go in your place again, but it would be better if you attend," Steve agreed.

"Both of us should be there. The revisions are our baby."

Steve smiled a bit at that. "I wouldn't go that far."

"Fine, have it your way. If there's nothing else, I need to go make a call."

He stepped into his bedroom, sinking onto his bed while the phone rang.

"Tony." Pepper's voice calmed something in him that he hadn't known was agitated.

"Hey Pep. It went well today."

"Good. You aren't sick this time?"

"Thankfully, no."

They chatted comfortably until Pepper had to go to a meeting. Tony remained seated on the bed while he checked the updated restrictions list from Dr. Mann. Arguing with diplomats remained in the forbidden section, so he sent a note to her, explaining the situation with the meeting.

When he'd finished, it was nearly time for everyone to start gathering for dinner. He was reluctant to go back downstairs, which he chalked up to too much togetherness time. He needed some space to breathe, needed some time to himself.

But for now, he had to show up or the others would be on him for missing the meal. They may not be fully a team in other respects, but they would all gang up on him in a heartbeat about something like that.

His absence would have been particularly noticeable, too, for the Bartons were off at some event at the public library. Apparently the kids had talked of nothing else for days, and Tony wondered how he kept managing to not see them. He'd almost think it was personal, except that they were kids and wouldn't think of something like that.

The outcome of that day's tests was a primary topic of conversation at the table, so he assured those present that he was on the mend. Sam and Rhodey were interested in the changes to his restrictions list, which was already displayed in place of the original; the primary difference Tony had noticed was the lifting of any restriction on his exercise regimen. He looked forward to getting back to normal in something.

Especially since his coffee consumption was still restricted to two cups a day. Such cruelty.

After dinner he was able to retreat to the workshop to put in several hours of work on his projects and he made some progress, though he still felt dull and uninspired. He couldn't remember if he'd mentioned that to Doc T, and while he was thinking about it he had Friday pull up her calendar. He wasn't sure what Steve was planning for team training times, though, so he didn't schedule anything. He didn't want to give the wrong impression by being absent from training now that he was allowed to participate.

Look at him trying to be a team player. It was a little ridiculous, the things he was willing to do to try to stitch the team back together.

These thoughts followed Tony to bed, and he brooded on his absurd attachment to these people who didn't always even like him. Many of them had proved false and yet he wanted their company, their approval. One-technically, two, though the other was on the other side of the world and he was more than okay with that-had even tried to kill him, but he was willing to put even that behind him for the sake of the team, for the sake of their unity in the face of whatever was coming next.

Because there was always something coming next.