anxiety // tony stark.

nightmares.

tony was terrified. he was in a very secluded area in afghanistan, locked in a cave as a victim once more. the many days and horrid experiences from being held captive flashed before his closed eyelids. he saw everything going too quickly, but too slowly simultaneously. the dark, damp, and musty air made tony choke. he couldn't get oxygen into his lungs.

he watched yensin die in front of him. he watched the bullets flying rapidly at him. the loud noises, the screaming, the hot licks of the flames against his improvised suit he had made from scraps. tony could feel the unbearable heat, hear the pings of bullets against the titanium. he couldn't breathe.

bang!

tony shot up from his bed in a panic. he automatically flung himself into a ball, prepared to be greeted by being beaten by an afghanistan soldier or dozens of pullets piercing through his skin. he was drenched in sweat, his hair sticking up. tony ran his clammy hands over it and slicked his hair back. he was shaking so hard it looked more like spasms. his throat was closed and he couldn't get enough oxygen, even though he was gasping for air. everything was hot and unbearable. his heart rapidly raced right against his eardrums.

he quickly went to stand up and get out from his heavy duvets, but was hit with orthostatic hypotension and vertigo. his eyesight darkened and the room span around him. he fell to the floor with a loud cluttering noise. he automatically threw his hands over his head as his breath caught in his throat. he laid there on the floor for a while, panting and staring at the hardwood flooring. he eventually got up and got some water, splashing his face quickly to get rid of the sweat.

tony changed into a fresh set of clothes and walked down to his lab. he sits down in his office chair and pulls up to the desk.

"talk to me jarvis. what time is it?" tony asked, his voice tired.

"three twenty two a.m, sir. another late night, sir?" jarvis was quick to respond. tony rubbed his tired eyes.

"yeah, I guess you could say that. it's been a hell of a night."

"you seem to have recently suffered from a severe anxiety attack. you are a little dehydrated and your blood sugar is on the up side of low. did you have another night terror, sir?"

"when do I not, jarvis?" tony sighed and pulled up the exoskeleton for his newest project.

"would you like me to calculate the percentage?"

"no, jarvis."

"okay, sir."

tony worked himself over the sunrise. he tinkered and overdid everything, double checking everything (even though his math was always right) and making one thing after another. he did not stop until he had to get ready for a press conference. he got a shower to scrub off the feeling of the terrorists touching him in afghanistan and strode off to get on the jet, face blank with nobody knowing how tony was really doing.