Bella pushed the door open as quietly as possible.
Tony muttered and twitched in his sleep.
"Tony? Are you okay?" asked Bella.
No response.
"Tony?" She walked over to the bed and gave him a gentle shake.
A pair of metal arms grabbed her from behind, pulling her away. Bella shrieked.
Tony jerked awake, eyes wide. "Deactivate!" he yelled.
The suit that had grabbed her collapsed in pieces.
Bella and Tony stared at each other for a moment.
"It's not supposed to do that," said Tony, slowly, staring at the pieces on the ground. "I must have called it in my sleep."
Bella swallowed. "JARVIS said something was wrong."
"No, no, everything's fine," said Tony. His gaze remained fixed on the pieces of metal.
Bella didn't know what to do. Tony had experienced nightmares before, but she never knew how to respond or what to say.
"Should I clean them up?" she asked, gesturing to the remnants of the suit.
"No, no. I can. Where's your suit, Izzy?"
"It's in my room."
"I want you to have it with you at all times. With the Mandarin on the loose, you can't be too careful."
Was that what his dream had been about? It didn't matter. Bella nodded. "I'll get it now."
"You know what? I'm actually going down to the workshop. Make sure this doesn't happen again. Do you want to meet me down there?"
Bella nodded. She needed sleep, but this was more important. "I'll just be a minute."
Bella found her Iron Man suit in suitcase form next to the bed. It wasn't the suit she'd fought against aliens with in New York – no, that was almost an antique now. This one still carried her signature colors, as well as her signature weapons – the repulsors which had inspired her name, Silver Shield. However, it now came with a few other weapons. Blades, scanners, improved strength, and even more powerful repulsors.
She scooped it up and carried it down to the workshop.
Tony was seated at a table, prying out a sensor with a knife. Blood dripped down his arm.
"Tony! What are you doing?" yelled Bella. She dropped her suitcase, ran over to Tony, and ripped the knife out of his hand. "Have you gone crazy?"
"Jury's out on that one."
"Tony, I'm serious. This is going too far. You don't sleep, you don't eat, you don't do anything except work on the suits."
"I'm fine."
Bella put the knife down and knelt to retrieve the first aid kit from under the table. "Repeating a statement does not make said statement true. You need help. You're having panic attacks and nightmares. You know, talking through with someone might –"
"I wish you'd leave this alone, I'm fine."
What would happen if she wasn't here? If no one was keeping an eye on him? She dreaded to think about it. "Tony, I will not sit by and let you just keep on like this. It's not healthy." She pulled out bandages. "I can talk to –"
"I'm fine!" yelled Tony.
Bella couldn't remember Tony yelling at her, or ever raising his voice even slightly. Ever. Not once in her life. She took a step backwards.
"Okay" she said, setting down the bandages on the table. "If you insist. Good night, Tony."
Bella walked out of the workshop and made it to her bedroom before the tears came, pouring down her face.
000000000
Tony wanted to kick himself.
He'd yelled at Izzy.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. He bandaged up the place where he'd been trying to pry a sensor out of. For a genius, he could be very dumb.
He wanted to go, tell her he was sorry now they'd both had time to cool off.
"JARVIS, where's Izzy?"
A pause. "She has told me she wishes to be undisturbed for the moment."
The TV screen flared and the Mandarin appeared, seated at a table with fortune cookies on it.
"Chinese fortune cookies," said the Mandarin. "They look Chinese. They sound Chinese. But they are actually American. Which is why they're hollow, full of lies, and leave a bad taste in your mouth. Turn your attention to another Chinese knockoff."
On the screen appeared the Chinese Theater.
It exploded.
Tony's stomach twisted. He switched the TV off. "JARVIS? Get me a suit."
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Bella stretched out on the bed.
"Barton, I don't know what to do," she said. "I just don't know."
"He doesn't seem to want anything to do with S.H.I.E.L.D.," said Barton. "We can't directly help him without making the problem worse."
"I don't really what I should do. I've already tried Pepper. And Happy. And Rhodey. And those are really the only people who could get through to him."
"Is there anything I could do to help?"
"I don't know. I just… needed to talk about it. Thank you for listening. Problem is, there's still no solution."
"If I come up with anything, I'll let you know. But what about you? Didn't New York scare you at all?"
"It wasn't my first time in a war – I saw plenty of fighting before I met Tony. New York was just my first time fighting and being able to do anything to help. Yes, I have nightmares – nightmares about Tony not surviving the fall. But it's just nightmares on top of all the old ones. I'm not worried about myself, I'm used to it."
"If there's anything I can do, let me know."
"Thanks." She hated to bring this to anyone, but she was getting desperate and didn't know what else to do. "Goodbye. JARVIS, end call. Where's Tony?"
"Mr. Stark is currently at the Chinese theater, which was just blown up by the Mandarin. Mr. Hogan seems to have been inside at the time."
"What?"