Stringless (IronStrange)

Part 3

'Well, when you put it like that, it does sound a little ridiculous,' Tony laughed, falling forward onto his hands, the last of his adrenaline burning out, leaving him weak and shaking.

He was safe here.

Before Stephen even reached him, his nanobots were retreating into his arc reactor.

***

Stephen managed to catch the bleeding, beat up hero before he hit the ground, his Cloak flying in to assist. 'What the hell happened?' Stephen snapped, turning Tony over in his arms. The smaller man was mumbling, trying to hold his arm to his chest, his eyes unfocused.

Instinctively his fingers went to Tony's wrist to measure his pulse, startling as Tony whimpered in pain, snatching his hand back. He pressed his hand to Tony's forehead instead.

'Tony, you're running a fever, you shouldn't have fought in this condition,' Stephen reprimanded.

'Boss was injured in battle, he was insistent I bring him.'

Stephen looked up at his ceiling and then berated himself, knowing the AI wasn't up there.

'FRIDAY?'

'Yes, doctor.'

'I made it. I promised!' Tony suddenly spoke, sweat-soaked hand gripping into Stephan's robes.

'Doctor? Put the glasses on.'

Stephen did as asked, the AI's voice becoming clearer.

'He has a fracture to his left arm; multiple wounds and he is showing elevated cortisol levels.'

'How long has he been unwell?' Stephen held Tony's chin in his hand, tilting his head to gauge the severity of the gash on his cheek.

'About three days, sir.'

'Damn it, Tony! Why didn't you call me?'

'I made it, I'm here,' Tony mumbled, going heavy in his arms.

'You're alright,' Stephen paused for a moment, whispering the words into messy hair.

'Boss would have been unable to contact you. He has been in meetings with Secretary Ross.

'So, he's been working himself to collapse, and then the fight came out of nowhere?'

'That is correct.'

'Come on, Tony, up we go.' Careful of his injuries, Stephen got an arm under his legs and one around his back, lifting him easily. The Cloak lingered close by, hovering by Tony's back in case Stephen needed any assistance.

'FRIDAY?'

'Yes, doctor?'

'Why was Tony so insistent in coming here, has he been in contact with magic?'

'He didn't want to miss your meeting tonight, sir. You have clearance level thirty-four.'

Frowning, Stephen lay Tony back on his bed, stripping the grey undersuit off him. 'I'm not even sure what that means.' He waved the Cloak away, ignoring its sulk as it went to wait in the corner of the room.

'I was under the impression Miss Potts explained it adequately. It is a code word for those boss trusts the most, people he cares about.'

Stephen couldn't deal with those implications right now, too concerned with Tony's wounds.

'Thankfully a lot of this seems superficial, but I'll have to fix the arm.' He moved his hands, murmuring out spells and moving the disks over Tony's arm. 'The fracture will be easy to fix, but he's got some lingering nerve damage and muscle injury, has he had problems with this arm before?'