"No." Steve thought, "No he can't go through all that, put us through all that and just die. No, it won't happen. Tony Stark will not die. Will he?" Out loud he asked, "Where is the helicarrier?"
"There's an open field barely a quarter of a mile from here." Fury responded, "I parked her there."
Steve nodded as he took off, the rest of his team on his heels. "Do you think he'll be okay?" He asked Bruce quietly as they were walking.
Bruce shrugged, "I don't know. I haven't seen what happened yet so I can't declare anything." Looking at the terrified face his friend was desperately trying to hide he added, "I think he'll be okay. He's a survivor, he has to be."
"Yeah." Steve whispered, "What about the rest of us?"
"What do you mean?" Clint said, jumping in on the conversation.
"Just that," Steve started, "I don't really see how we can go back to the team we were before this."
"Me either." Natasha said, joining in. "But... maybe it doesn't have to be a bad thing."
"And which part of this exactly isn't bad?" Steve snapped at her, "I'm sorry." He added quickly, "This just doesn't seem like something that we can get past that easily."
"I agree." Natasha said softly, "It's going to be a change, but change doesn't always have to be bad. We know all the things he's been hiding from us- now we've got a clean slate, we can start over."
"Start what over?" Steve asked, "We weren't really even a team before. What will we be now?"
"Closer." Bruce stated, "If we weren't really a team before- we diffidently are one now. We need to trust each other, and now we can."
Steve just shook his head, "That may work for you all, but all I can think about is how Tony was brought up like that in my name."
"Your name Steve." Natasha emphasized, "Not you. You didn't hurt him- Howard did. And he doesn't hate you for it."
Steve nodded slowly, "I just can't believe he doesn't hate me." He said slowly.
"Because he knows you." Clint said, "No one who knows you could hate you Cap." He threw an arm over the larger man's shoulders with a smile and they walked that way for a few minutes. "We're here." He stated, grin vanishing from his face as he thought of what they could be told as they entered the aircraft.
"Where's the medical bay?" Steve asked Natasha as they walked into the helicarrier.
"It's down this hallway and to the left." Natasha told them as she directed them through a large group of black clad figures. True to her words, as they walked through the double doors the setting drastically changed. The walls were white, and everything was lit brightly. It almost looked like a normal hospital with the hard plastic chairs in the corner and the disinfectant smell in the air.
Steve approached a man walking through the room carrying a clipboard. "Excuse me?" He asked, "Do you know anything about Tony Stark being brought in?"
The man nodded, "He was brought into the O.R about ten minutes ago. You can wait over there." He said, pointing to the cluster of chairs in the corner. "It'll probably be a while; he looked pretty damn messed up."
"Thank you." Steve responded, before walking back to the other Avengers. "Over here." He told them, herding them over to the hard chairs. "It might be a while."
After a few minutes of arguing over who would get coffee, Bruce left for beverages and the others settled down- each becoming lost in their own thoughts by the time Bruce returned with their drinks.
Everyone was silent as the coffee was handed out. The only movements were nods of thanks as the drinks exchanged hands. Each hero was lost in themselves, each thinking about Tony- what was happening to him, what they had learned, or simply moments in their past when everything wasn't ruined.
"What could they have done to him?" Steve wondered, "Did Hammer really hate him so much he would kill him?" "No!" He whispered out loud. Clint shot him a silent glare, a way of saying 'shut up' without words. "He's not dead." Steve continued in his head, "If he were dead, they would tell us, we would know- right?" he continued the conversation in his head for the next few hours, like a song on loop.
Meanwhile, Natasha was lost in her own thoughts. "How could I not know what he did, how he lived?" she wondered, "I'm supposed to know these things. I should be able to tell those things from a single glance- how did he hide his past so well?" She was torn between amazement and fear. Amazement because Tony had been able to fool, not only her, but also Clint. And fear for her friend's life, she didn't know what had happened to him, and it scared her. "No- wait." She thought, "I shouldn't be scared, I don't feel fear- I shouldn't." and yet here she was, scared for the person she hadn't even known long, her friend, her teammate's life. She shook her head, "I haven't even known him all that long, so why do I care for him so much?" She asked herself the question many times, and yet- she always knew the answer. It was because of the Battle of New York. Since she had seen him fly the nuke into the portal, risk his life- and loose it, if only temporarily- to protect everyone. "Cap was wrong." Was the only conclusion she could come up with. "He was dead wrong. No one's worth ten of Tony. No one even comes close."
Clint was having similar thoughts as Natasha. "How could he not trust us enough to tell us?" he wondered, slightly hurt, "Does he really hate us that much? No, he can't! Bruce knows him better than all of us, and he said Tony doesn't hate us- at least, I hope not. But how did he get it past us? I mean Steve I understand, maybe even me, but Nat? How the hell did pull one over on Nat?!"
Bruce was the only one whose thoughts differed, as he already knew about Tony's past. All that was left for him to do was to hope, and to pray. "Please just let him be okay." He thought to no one in particular, he was willing to get help from anyone- he didn't care who it was. "Please," He repeated, "he's been through so much- just let him make it through this. Please!" he repeated his words continuously in his head until they all blended together.
Between the four Avengers continuous stream of prayers and questions, the time passed rather quickly, and before any of them knew it, Tony's doctor was standing in front of them. "Ahem." He said, clearing his throat to gather the team's attention, "I have information on your friend."
The speed the four heroes sprang to their feet was unheard of until that moment. "What happened, is he okay?" Steve asked frantically.
The doctor put his hand up to slow the soldier, "I believe he'll be okay." he started, "but the first twenty-four hours are crucial. We were able to reset his ribs and patch the hole in his lungs. However, he is unable to breathe by himself so he has a breathing tube." As he surveyed the looks of horror across the Avenger's faces he quickly added, "But it will be able to be removed in about a week. He also has some minor brain damage from the blows he sustained, so you have to go one at a time and be quiet, but you can visit him."
"Is he awake?" Clint demanded to know.
The doctor chuckled slightly under his breath, "No, it is highly unlikely he will wake up at all for the next few days. As long as he survives this one."
"What do you mean, 'survives this one'?" Natasha asked, worry clearly evident in her voice.
"I'll be blunt ma'am," the doctor started, "he crashed twice in surgery. With the amount of injuries he has sustained- I am surprised he is alive at all. There is significant damage to his left lung, and his heart might give out because of all the stress he's under."
"What about his Arc Reactor?" Bruce questioned, "You don't have it near anything that could cause it to malfunction right?"
The doctor nodded, "Yes, when the Avenger team was put together Director Fury made sure we were prepared to handle all injuries specific to your needs."
Bruce sighed, happy there had been precautions made, "Thank you."
The doctor offered another nod before saying, "You can visit him now, he's in room number 126."
"Thank you." Natasha said quietly before turning to the rest of her team. "Who's going first?" she asked.
Bruce raised his hand slightly before answering, "Steve should go first." He said quietly.
Clint nodded in agreement, "Yeah- Steve."
"Go." Was all Natasha managed as she motioned to the room, "He's waiting."
Steve laughed quietly, "I'm going." He told them with a smile before walking towards the door. He paused; hand on the doorknob, "What if he's awake?" He thought, "What if he tells me to get out?" he glanced back to look at his team.
'Go!' Natasha mouthed, motioning with her hands for him to enter.
Steve took a deep breath to calm his nerves, "The doctor said he won't be awake." He thought as he pushed the door open. He breathed a sigh of relief when he discovered the doctor's words were true. Tony was lying in the bed, hooked up to more beeping machines them Steve could count. As he got closer, Steve noticed how small he looked- and pale. He was almost as white as the sheets. His pale skin was broken in places; stitches on his right temple, a bandage on his left. Bruises littered his face- the obvious result of someone striking him repeatedly. Steve felt his blood boil at the thought of people hurting his friend, Howard, Hammer. He hated them both. He sat heavily in the hard chair next to Tony. Looking at him, he realized the bruises didn't end at his face. Tony's exposed torso was covered in splotches of color- different stages of bruising and healing. A large bandage also covered most of his left side, wrapping around his shoulder. Steve could only guess that that was where his lung had been punctured, and collapsed. He leaned back in his chair, the effects of the past two days catching up with him. Steve closed his eyes, and slowly fell asleep to the steady beeping of machines. The proof his friend was alive. "He'll be okay." Steve thought as he finally drifted off to sleep.