Tony's eyes opened slowly although they remained unfocused, his lids desperately clinging together wanting to stay sealed. It was when he was greeted with a sharp agonizing pain did he force his eyes to see. There was this dull ache that intensified with every breath.

The wound pulsed along to his heart beat. He flexed against it as the feeling shot across his abdomen like wild fire, too intense for him to bear. He bit his tongue stifling his cries. His mind was clouded and he could feel himself on the verge of passing out again. Then suddenly he was swarmed by numerous doctors who only upset his confusion.

His head pounded and his body was hot and burning against the sheets. His body jolted when he felt a strangers hand touch him, he quickly realized where he was and he couldn't decide whether the nightmare was actually over. However he would allow them to stick him with whatever needle they so desired, anything to kill the pain.

Tony groaned as one of the men pulled the blanket away although silently he thanked him. He was burning up, "fever" one of the men mentioned before tearing away the sheets. Tony's side was bleeding again the white cloth stained. A new sense of urgency ran through them as they picked up the pace. Steve could only step back and watched as several men worked around each other with fluid movement. One of them carefully cut away the cloth holding the binding together.

One of the men removed the pad covering the wound, his body still sensitive to touch. The bruising has gotten considerably worse now covering his entire left side, across his abdomen up to his armpit in a deep unforgiving purple. "Hold him."

Complying with his orders one of the nurses held Tony's arm down across his body rolling him onto his right side. He seethed although there was nothing he could do to stop it.

His head spun and the world around him slowed. His pupils dilated as his pulse calmed, lulled by the chemicals coursing through his veins. He was facing the window and he could make out a familiar tuff of blond behind the men in scrubs. He blinked slowly seeing the worry in the other's eyes before he shifted his sight to a blank space. He concentrated only on breathing.

He ignored the sting of his side as they cleaned the incision, he was afraid what it looked like and he didn't even want to know. By the feel of it he knew it wasn't pretty. It would make for a long recovery. The man examining him noticed the binding was pulled from his earlier ordeal and needed to be fixed. Tony wasn't happy about that; luckily he had enough painkillers in his system to ignore the threading of the needle to his bruised flesh.

Steve felt useless standing idly to the side while the professionals did their thing. He eyed his friend coping with his fate. He does manage to catch a glimpse of the arc reactor imbedded in his chest; although vague he could see the scar tissue coiled around it. Given the bulk of the device he couldn't imagine it sunk into someone's sternum. It was set deeper than he thought possible. From the other model it was of pretty considerate size and the fact that it was near flush with his chest spoke volumes.

Tony looked so defeated. His eyes fixated out the window as they stuck him over again with the needle tugging his flesh tight again. Within minutes his wound was resealed, it was clotting so at least the bleeding has stopped. With assistance they rebound his incision tight with clean bandages. Carefully they rolled him back onto his back his brows taught in discomfort but still managing.

"There's no infection, its common to run a fever after serious trauma to the body, especially after a blood transfusion. Your bodies very weak, but the wound is clean and bound tight so long as you don't move around too much." He talked to Tony in a quite knowledgeable voice, explaining his condition on layman's terms meaning not to worry. He'd had enough to worry about what's one more on the pile. Tony starred at the doctor hearing every word but to his drug induced state it came delayed. He nodded slightly showing he understood.

"Monitor his systems and keep a close eye on him. Make sure his temperature doesn't spike." The doctor said as he exchanged the near empty blood bag and saline solution with a fresh ones. Most of the people crowding the room dissipated as the situation deescalated. With his patient in stable condition he brought over some water in a cup with a straw, given the look of Tony's chapped lips he could tell the poor man was parched. It was greatly appreciated as he nearly emptied the cup, the doctor leaving him with a fresh one before stepping out himself.

"Someone will be checking on you within the hour. Just get some rest." With that he disappeared through the door.

The room was once again encompassed in silence. Tony felt like he was floating, they'd doped him up best they could before clearing out of here. At the moment he was mildly content just dealing with the dull lingering pain, still it was manageable. They'd taken the liberty of upping the dosage of pain killers along with a time release button to supply them when he needed it. What was shocking was Tony was never a substance person. He never cared for them, didn't really need them until after Afghanistan.

His chest would never be right, on a daily it would ache and if he breathes just a bit too deeply the metal rubs just enough against his rib cage that it sends jolts through his body. He'd built up quite the tolerance for pain. Only taking pills when it became too much to ignore. He didn't want to develop a dependency for them, although given the situation he's currently in he could only pray it would take the pain away. He hit the button when it lit up and within minutes he could actually say for the first time since his ordeal he felt pretty decent.

He allowed his head to sink into the pillow his body finally releasing the tension. He let out a shaky exhale as his eyes fixated on the ceiling. His breath evened. It was calm and quite when familiar face finally stepped out of the corner.

"How long have you been here?" Tony spoke up. He didn't even look over, he knew who was there. His voice was low and rasped from overuse; still it didn't strain him to speak. He'd almost forgotten how it felt. Steve hesitated, pulling up a chair.

"About an hour now, you were asleep when I came in."

Tony blinked lazily rolling his head to the side meeting Steve in the eyes. He concentrated on breathing, his lungs only working at a third of their compactly.

"Why'd you come back?" Tony spoke suddenly catching Steve off guard.

"I felt bad for leaving you here alone, even for the night." Tony scoffed inwardly 'oh wonderboy how noble of you.'

"It's not your fault." Tony said. Steve shifted his eyes to the floor idly tracking the tiles. He knew there wasn't anything more he could do but still it felt wrong sitting here. "I just…" Tony cut off whatever accuses Steve had in the chamber.

"This shit happens when you declare yourself a target to the entire world." He remembered doing that shortly after defeating Obadiah. It hasn't done him any favors. Now this, it's a harsh reminder of those out there only for themselves. He didn't regret a thing after all these things remind him of what's important, the reason why he wears the suit.

He refused to let this be his fate. Some two bit punk with a sad mistake for a missile won't be enough to keep Ironman down. Damned if it were enough to slow him down considerably. He'd recover, still there's no way of knowing when he'd be able to get back in action.

The doctor seemed to dance around that portion of his prognosis. Or perhaps it was just his overactive imagination. More often than not he was his own worst enemy. He hadn't brought it up but this was the longest he'd remind coherent enough to hold a conversation.

He seemed to nod off for a moment. Even though his body needed it he didn't want to sleep just yet.

"Does this make you my body guard?"

"If that makes you feel better, I thought you could use some company." Steve said as he pulled up his chair close to Tony and sat down interlocking his fingers.

"I've been in this situation before. I can handle this myself." If glances could materialize daggers Tony's would be slicing towards Steve. They were red and swollen from the strain. He didn't want to come across angry but he couldn't help it. The growing fatigue and fever made him easily aggravated and Steve just so happened to be the subject to receive this treatment. He didn't seem to mind.

"I know you can, but you shouldn't have too." There was a pause before Steve continued. "Look I know we didn't get along very well in the beginning but that doesn't mean I don't care what happens to you. No one should have to go through this alone."

Tony was silent. He didn't feel like arguing although he was usually one to instigate it. He promised himself he'd get better at that. Still it was nice to have somebody here with him. He closed his eyes, feeling the cool air kiss his feverish skin.

Steve assumed he'd nodded off again. Several minutes rolled in silence before he spoke up. "Thank you by the way. You cared enough to save my life."

The blond nodded. "Don't go making it a habit."

Tony smiled. He didn't intend to but these things had a way of following him.

He opened his eyes again lying on the ceiling fan idly spinning above him. He was still remembering bit from the day prior. With Steve's help he was sure he could fill the gaps in his memory. He didn't get a good look at the metal shard while he was bleeding out. His curiosity peaked.

"What was that thing?" Steve knew what he was implying. There weren't many things Tony's suits were vulnerable to. Things like this didn't happen by coincidence. He knew well enough someone had planted it.

"Vibrainium and imbedded within it a homing device. Nat disabled it but it seems you were their target, Tony." He was currently staring up at the ceiling. He suspected as much. It wasn't a surprise, this was normal for him right? Target for missiles were the norm. He'd aggravated numerous crime syndicates before, survived 2 months in the desert. Yeah he'd be fine.

"Lovely," Tony sighed, his eyes heavy again.

"We'll find who did this." Steve was serious, but oddly Tony seemed to accept his fate. He assumed it was the drugs. He didn't care if they caught the culprit, there will always be someone else to take their place.

"Yeah" It was a tiny utterance still Steve caught it.

"You ok?" Rhetorical question of course, "Yea, I'll live." His eyes were dark and full of dread. The sting in his side was getting harder to ignore. "Worst part is I lost my buzz."

"Blood loss will do that to you." Steve recanted, still picking the dried blood from under his finger nails. Tony chuckled but it hurt too much to let out a genuine laugh. He set his hand over his side where they'd tightened his stitches.

Steve eyes rested on his arc reactor again, the constant light was blinding but still beautiful. He rubbed his chin doubting he'd ever fully understand the importance of that piece of tech. Still it fascinated him; the fact that he built it with scrapes in a cave was impressive.

Even though he found Tony's boorish ego overwhelming at times, he knew it was just the façade he hides behind. After everything he's heard, from what he's read about him. He was good at putting on a face. It was his coping mechanism. It's fair to say there's been a change. He has a cause.

He redirected that nuke without hesitation, it takes guts. These experiences will either make him or break him. Tony had his respect. He would make his father proud.

It was strange seeing him as the son of one of his good friends. Hell he was still having trouble seeing the future as the present. He's the spitting image; Tony likes to think they're nothing alike. They do have their own differences and there's no way he could know what he was like in the time he was asleep. There was no way he could've known Howard would be consumed by his obsession with finding him.

Tony's past childhood were always sour when regarding his father because in his mind he was always known as second. He seemed cold because of his work he was never around. Steve could've never known that the Jarvis for whom the AI is named for was once that person who practically raised Tony.

Of course that would have something to do with his success as an adult. He'd gotten over his selfishness towards his fathers. Although he still feels a bit hollow inside he understands.

"Hey I brought you some stuff." Steve rummaged through the bag finding his phone beneath some clothes he'd snagged last moment. Tony looked over as he handed it over. Steve set it in his hands and sat back down. Even though Tony was half out of it he had no trouble unlocking it and tapping rhythmically against the glass. Steve hadn't figured that one out yet. He didn't want to seem amazed but he kind of was.

It's been on silent, ah 7 missed calls from Pepper among several blocked which he could only assume was Fury. He wondered if he should call her back. Steve noticed he hesitated over the call back and spoke up. "Natasha did fill Pepper in briefly several hours ago, her flight lands at 8am."

He eyed the screen; even on the lowest setting the brightness stung his eyes. He shut it off setting it down at his side. "A few more hours won't hurt her."

He focused his breathing but the feeling was getting harder to ignore. The button had turned green on his dispenser. He pressed and within minutes he could feel his body go numb again. With all his trouble conveniently tucked away in the back of his mind he was able to find some peace at least for the moment.

"Sleep, she'll be here soon."

"I can't, I have a hard time."

"What do you mean?"

"If you want me to be honest, I feel like I'm just above water and there's weights tied to my ankles dragging me down. My chest feels like it's going to exposed under the pressure and every time I go to sleep I feel like I'm suffocating."

Steve was quiet. He remembered the meds he'd brought also. "Would any of these help?" He said before holding up one of the small orange bottles.

Tony cocked a brow. He figured it was worth a shot.

"Did you happen to grab Zoloft?"

He vaguely remembered it after a moment he produced another bottle. Tony visibly perked up. "How many" Steve asked casually. "Just one" it would be just enough to take the edge off, clear his mind. Maybe he could get some rest before Pepper came in a few hours.