Chapter 28

When Rhodey and Pepper rushed into the bedroom, they found an upset Tony. He had his eyes wide open and was tossing and turning in his bed.

"I refuse!" he yelled.

Rhodey and Pepper gave each other a quick look, then stepped closer to him.

"Yinsen, tell them I am not going to build the missile!"

Rhodey was deeply troubled. Tony wasn't asleep, he was awake - and apparently seeing things that weren't here. He put a hand on Tony's chest.

"No! Tell them I refuse!"

"Tony..." Rhodey said gently. "Tony, come to yourself."

He increased his pressure on Tony's chest, but if anything, this seemed to upset Tony even more.

"No! Don't!" he cried out. "Let go of me!"

Rhodey quickly withdrew his hand.

"What's wrong with him?" Pepper shouted in a high-pitched voice.

"He's hallucinating..." Rhodey said, now starting to sweat himself.

Tony got tangled in the blanket, which obviously freaked him out completely. He screamed and desperately tried to free himself.

"Mr. Stark's body temperature is too high," Jarvis said over Tony's screaming. "He should be cooled down."

"Should I get wet towels?" Pepper asked with little conviction.

The way Tony was struggling and balking right now, that didn't seem to be an option.

"Let's put him in a cold bath for a minute. Can you run lukewarm water in the tub, Pepper?" Rhodey asked. "I'll try to get Tony out of bed in the meantime."

"Yes," Pepper responded and stormed off.

Rhodey pulled on Tony's blanket and tried to loosen it without touching him. After two minutes of wrestling with the blanket, he was finally able to free Tony from it.

"I'm going to take you to the bathroom now, okay?" Rhodey called loudly, touching Tony very gently.

As he hoisted him out of bed, Tony protested, but was too weak to really fight back. Better hurry before things got worse. Straining, he dragged Tony to the bathroom. Pepper rushed to help and together they managed to carry him to the tub. Pepper started to nibble at Tony's shirt, but Rhodey held her back.

"It doesn't matter now. We'll just put him in like this."

Rhodey was scared. He didn't know if they were doing the right thing, and Tony's hallucination worried him deeply. They needed to bring his fever down quickly now.

Carefully, he held Tony's upper body while Pepper lifted his legs and slowly lowered them into the half-filled tub. Rhodey then did the same with his upper body. Instantly Tony quieted down, but Rhodey didn't breathe a sigh of relief just yet. It seemed more like Tony was unaware of what was going on but was very much aware that something had changed in his environment. Rhodey didn't know why, but it seemed to him like the calm before the storm.

"Tony?" he asked gently. "Can you hear me?"

Tony didn't answer. He sat in the tub with his mouth slightly open, staring wide-eyed ahead.

"Pepper, let's get some cold water in there now."

"I will," Pepper replied, standing uncertainly next to the bathtub, now letting in ice cold water.

The two waited tensely as the water rose. Finally, Pepper turned off the faucet, held two fingers in, and then nodded.

Rhodey looked at Tony and could literally see his facial features changing as if in slow motion. Slowly, Tony opened his eyes as wide as they would go, and his mouth was open in a silent scream.

Something is wrong, Rhodey was thinking, just before Tony actually started screaming.

"No! Not again! Please don't!"

Tony was lashing out, water sloshing over the edge of the tub. Apparently, he tried to find his footing, but his hands grasped at nothing. Panicked, Rhodey reached for him, but Tony batted his hands away and as a result unintentionally dunked his head under the water for a moment. When he resurfaced, the last bits of sanity seemed to leave him.

"NO!" he yelled in complete agony. "Please don't! I'll build it! I'll do it! But stop this! I can't do it anymore! Please!"

Tony screamed his head off. He screamed for Yinsen, he pleaded, he desperately tried to get himself out of the water. His eyes were fixed on several points around him, as if there were actually people standing there.

"Oh God!" Pepper gasped. "We've got to get him out of there! Now!"

Rhodey and Pepper reached for Tony at the same time, but he flailed wildly, still screaming and pleading.

"Shit!" Rhodey cursed, then he got into the tub with one leg and leaned down to Tony. After a short fight, he finally managed to grab Tony under the armpits and pull him up. Quick-witted, Pepper grabbed his legs at that moment and with a quick jerk they lifted Tony off the tub and onto the floor, then let him go. He was still struggling against invisible forces - then he blacked out. With fear-filled looks, Rhodey and Pepper looked down at him. Pepper dropped to her knees beside Tony and took his face in her hands.

"Tony! Tony, wake up!" She spoke loudly to him several times.

"Pepper?" Tony finally asked and blinked, visibly confused. "But...?" He looked around irritably and frantically. "But where...?"

"Are you okay?"

"What's... what happened?" Tony retorted, touching his wet shirt.

"You were hallucinating, Tony..." Pepper said worriedly. "And you had some kind of flashback I suppose...of...of your captivity?"

"I – yes. I guess," Tony said, still distraught.

"We carried you into the tub of cold water because your fever got too high and you were hallucinating," Rhodey explained.

"Oh," Tony said, looking caught.

"I see," Pepper said wanly.

"I don't," Rhodey said slowly.

Pepper rose, then looked sadly at Rhodey. "You know he was tortured there. Well... the torture consisted of pushing him under water over and over until he thought he was going to drown…"

"Oh," Rhodey now made as well, and looked down at Tony almost shocked.

He had never known what it had been. Hearing it now made it figuratively tangible. Now he understood why Tony had reacted that way when they had let him into the bathtub.

"Are you alright?" Rhodey asked, striving to make his voice sound calm which didn't work that well.

"Honestly, no…" Tony muttered, his voice shaking. "I never took a bath again after… you know. I'm sorry. I should have told you."

"Don't worry… You need to get out of those wet clothes first," Pepper said businesslike, helping Tony take off his shirt.

"No, I really should have told you," Tony insisted. "And it's important to know that touching my shoulders… well, that it triggers flashbacks as well. It reminds me of the tight grips when they pushed me underwater. So… try… not to do that… Please?"

"God…" Rhodey said quietly. "I mean, of course. We will be careful."

Pepper wrapped Tony in a large towel. Then Rhodey placed himself directly behind him so he could lean his back against his legs to stay upright. Tony's body literally trembled. They weren't in this position for long.

"I'm going to be sick again," Tony said plaintively, holding his stomach.

Pepper went off quickly and returned instantly with the bucket, which was faster than hoisting Tony to the toilet. Just in time, she placed the bucket in front of him. After he was done, Tony sank backwards onto the tiles, seeming to have no strength left.

"Everything hurts," he said, croaking. "Especially my head."

Rhodey and Pepper exchanged another worried look.

"This is not gonna work," Rhodey thought loudly. "Jarvis, isn't there… any medication?"

"There is, Colonel", Jarvis answered immediately. "First and foremost, benzodiazepines are the treatment of choice due to their sedative, muscle relaxant, and anti-epileptic seizure properties. They reduce withdrawal symptoms and possible complications. You can't get them without prescription, though. Then there is the anticonvulsant carbamazepine, which prevents withdrawal seizures. It is sometimes administered in combination with the antihyperkinetic tiapride, which counteracts vegetative withdrawal symptoms such as tremor, sweating and restlessness. Also: Metoclopramide, a medication for nausea and vomiting, it dampens the activity of the vomiting center in the brain, which in this case would not be so bad if my opinion counts for anything. But you need prescriptions."

"Then we have to get those," Rhodey said and got a bit angry. "You two should have thought of that before starting all this. Why didn't you prepare?"

Pepper looked at him caught and guilty. Rhodey quickly swallowed his anger because it wasn't helpful in any way now.

"Tony, you can still go to rehab," he then said and realized how tired and overtaxed he was. "We can't do this like that."

"No," Tony said, grabbing his obviously aching forehead. "No... I feel already better. It's fine. It's getting better now."

Pepper watched Rhodey sighing in frustration. And he was right, this could not go on. The withdrawal was too severe, the symptoms too heavy. All of this could get worse; they were still at the beginning of the process. Pepper was about to call it off and take Tony to the hospital – if he wanted or not. She didn't see them being able to do that without medication and psychological support. On the other hand, she felt she would be gambling away Tony's trust if she did that now. He would not forgive her for that. Maybe he would throw everything overboard and start drinking again. She certainly didn't want that to happen.

"Jarvis? How's Tony's body temperature?" she asked.

"Is still too high, Miss Potts. In addition, I'm noticing dehydration. His vitals are far from optimal."

"That's not going to work..." Pepper said firmly. "I'll contact Romanoff."

"Romanoff?" Rhodey asked confused.

"That's what we agreed to," Pepper explained curtly.

She wasn't sure if Tony had heard her, but she didn't care now. If not a hospital, at least S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Fine...," Rhodey agreed, just a touch less confused. "And I'll get something to cool down."

"Good idea."

Pepper left the bathroom as Rhodey walked past her and headed downstairs.

"Call Natasha Romanoff," she said, and Jarvis carried out the order without comment.

However, she did not answer. That couldn't be true, Pepper thought desperately. Why couldn't things go at least a little smoother? Then another thought occurred to her. Quickly she went outside and to the gates of the estate. One of the agents was standing guard there. S.H.I.E.L.D. simply had to help her now.

"We need your help!" Pepper said a bit out of breath.

However, the agent seemed to ignore her.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

The agent simply looked at her, but still didn't say anything.

"We have a situation here and this must be confidential. But Mr. Stark needs medication. Can you get them for us?"

Still no answer. So, Pepper got furious and stepped up very close to him, almost touching his nose in the process. "Are you deaf?!"

"I am not," the agent finally answered. "But I can't help you."

"Why not?"

"Look, I am not allowed to interact with you unless you're under attack."

"But… why? That's absolute bullshit."

"It's my orders. And I don't care about anything else. So please step back now, mam."

Pepper turned around and stroked her hair in frustration. What now? She pulled out her phone and dialed Romanoff's number again, but she didn't answer this time either. Frantically, Pepper scrolled through her phone and then got stuck on a name. Phil Coulson. She wasted no more time and dialed.

"Pepper, nice to hear from you. Is there a concern for your call?" Phil's voice, calm and friendly as always, immediately comforted her.

"Phil!" Pepper exclaimed almost a little too loudly. "There is indeed. And your incompetent agents are no help at all." She gave the agent an annoyed look.

"What is it?"

"Well... Tony is... I don't know how to put it. He's an alcoholic and-"

"Pepper, I already know that. I get regular reports. Just tell me what it's about."

"Okay... So, he's finally decided to stop drinking, but he's not going to rehab. And that's two days ago. We're here at his house, he's going through one hell of a withdrawal right now. He's just been throwing up for hours, Jarvis is worried about a lack of fluids, he's got a fever and panic attacks... and earlier he hallucinated and had a flashback. We need your help, we're really running on fumes here... He's very bad, we need medication, actually a doctor, I'm seriously considering just calling 911..."

"No, don't do that."

"What?"

"Don't call 911. You can't. You can't let that get out to the public."

"Now you're coming up with this, too! Is anyone ever concerned about his health condition?"

"Pepper, listen... Tony Stark and rehab - no problem; another celebrity lost in the depths of drugs, nothing spectacular. Iron Man and rehab - no way. He's got a lot of enemies."

"Enemies? You mean the Ten Rings?"

"Not just. There are very strange and dangerous things happening in the world. I'm not saying there's an immediate and concrete threat. I'm just saying that Iron Man makes himself vulnerable and attackable when this becomes known. And there are people who could take advantage of that. It's already unfortunate that Stark has kept such a low profile and only drawn attention to himself through some scandal."

"But this is about his health, about his life!"

"I understand you're upset. But I didn't say I'm not going to help you. Can you hold out for a few more hours?"

"I think so."

"Good. Don't leave the property, don't call a doctor unless it's really a matter of life and death. I'll try to get there as soon as I can."

"You? Yourself?"

"Yes. Our units are not currently stationed near you, as there have been no incidents for months. So, there is no one I could send who would be helpful. I'll get to you, it will take a few hours, though."

"Okay... Thank you, but please hurry."

"I will."