Chapter 2: The jig is up, Tony's got to tell them what's happening. The only problem is he's got no idea what exactly is going on. It's now up to the team to try and find out this mystery sickness before something Tony finally snaps.

Author's Note: Thank you to all the people following and the reviews! It really made my day! Here's the second installment of the fic! Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers or the characters affiliated with Marvel.

"I uh..." He pushed himself up from the bed into a sitting position, wincing a little bit as he felt the aches in his muscles; which, given the circumstances he wasn't surprised about. Gaining a small amount of height he felt significantly better - it didn't seem like he was entirely at their mercy now that he wasn't lying down. "I have no idea," he continued honestly.

"Tony, this isn't fu-" Steve began as he folded his arms and took a step closer to the man, unimpressed by his response. There it was again, it seemed that they were temporarily on a first name basis.

"You know," Tony interjected, voice heightened slightly. Seriously, why didn't people believe him? He was a relatively honest man. Just because he had a history of keeping things to himself... okay, that may have been it. "It may be hard to believe, I knowit shocks even me but sometimes I have no idea what's going on."

The team didn't look like they believed him. Sighing he leant forward slightly. "Look, what do you want me to say? I've done every test, both physical and psychological, and there's been nothing." At least, nothing he was willing to share with them. Nightmares? Please, he had his pride - even if they were clawing into his conscious world. If they knew... he would not be allowed to live it down.

"No, no, I don't think that's it," Bruce said, hands wringing each other as he took a step forward, gaining the attention of their little circle. "There's something more, isn't there?" He asked, a curious but concerned look in his eyes. Crap, this was what Tony was afraid of. He mentally wondered why real-life abort buttons didn't exist for moments like these.

"Yeah, Banner's right, if you needed to run tests then there has to be something strange going on," Steve nodded.

"Aye! 'Tis most strange, my friend, to bring up such information if it was not of great importance!" Thor agreed. "Tell us, what plagues your mind?"

Tony gave them a look, staying silent. The two assassins looked at each other before Natasha spoke. "Mr Stark is exhibiting his normal quote 'lone gunslinger mentality' unquote," she informed them. Her eyebrows quirked up as she looked over at the man, head inclining ever so slightly.

Tony shot her a cool look. "Never should have hired you," he said to her.

"Never should have fallen for it," she answered back, her lips curling slightly into a small smile that made Clint grin. "But it's okay, Stark, it's not like you're the only one. Now, are you going to tell us what's going on, or am I going to have to use my Russian-learnt charms?" There was a challenging look in her eyes that Tony didn't like.

Tony held eye contact with the femme fatale for a brief moment before looking away to search for the closest tablet. Terrifying, this woman was absolutely terrifying. Ideally, he wished he was in his workshop, but he wasn't about to let the entire team go down there so easily. Banner perhaps, the others - no way. Things would get taken or broken, and Dummy would probably (somehow) short-circuit from being overwhelmed by the presence of more than two organics.

"JARVIS, hit the lights."

"Shall I project the view on the eastern wall, Sir?"

"Why not?" Tony responded, the tablet suddenly switching to the usual JARVIS-blue. Symbols on the screen began to quickly change from the simple qwerty-keyboard to mathematical symbols and shorthand that Tony normally used in his workshop - this was better, much better. He began to type, looking at the giant windows. The view of Manhattan disappearing as it began to change into a somewhat simplified and friendlier 'oh, you're not a genius too?' version of Tony's workshop-interface. The man smirked slightly, able to see the awe in their faces - especially Steve's - he never got tired of that look in people's eyes. Yes, he was an attention seeking narcissist, he wasn't going to deny it.

He leant back on the headboard of the bed and clicked his fingers. Immediately the files began to spread across the screen. "As you can see, perfectly normal," he said to them, getting relaxed. "JARVIS has run the tests, and I put my utmost faith in his abilities."

"As always, Sir, your confidence warms my circuitry."

"Please tell me you're not flirting with a machine, Stark," Barton inquired, frowning and slightly disturbed.

"I refuse to dignify that question with an answer," he replied, smirking and folding his arms, glancing briefly at the command board. "Anyways, back to business."

"Isn't this an xkcd comic?" Banner asked, unable to hide a smile as he walked over to an image titled 'Radiation Dose Chart'. It displayed a series of red, green and orange squares highlighting approximate radiation doses.

"Maybe, but it does highlight my point," Tony argued. He looked at the mildly confused faces of the rest of his team. Ah, that's right. He had to put this into normal-people-speak. "Alright, seeing as no one wants to do their homework..." He made a sweeping motion and all sorts of scientific papers disappeared from view. "Quick summary. I'm thinking whatever's going on has something to do with gamma radiation."

"These are the average exposure rates of normalpeople, subject to background slash natural radiation is around 3-4 millisieverts. For a better understanding, refer to xkcd." He swiped the screen of the tablet and continued. "These are the exposure rates for people who regularly fly both domestically and internationally, approximately 20 millisieverts ... and here," he slid the graph aside onto another, "are our exposure rates. Excluding Bruce, we're not too bad given our day job." The graphs showed a bar for each member of the Avengers Initiative, with Bruce, Thor and himself having the highest rates of exposure.

"Thor, obviously travelling from realm to realm has a significantly high exposure given all that cosmic radiation he's subject to, Banner … self explanatory, and … me." The other files moved to the side-bar, Tony's own statistics taking up most of the screen. He placed the tablet on the bedside table, his free hand tapping on his arc reactor. "So what do you think?" He asked Banner.

"I'm going to need to run my own tests. Can you send me your data?" Banner asked, putting his glasses on and looking intensely at the images before him. He turned slightly to look at Tony. "No offense, Tony, but not telling us really wasn't your best idea."

"Sorry, Bruce, can't help it. I'm the king of bad ideas, remember?" he replied with a weak smile. "And come down to the workshop, I've got plenty more stuff there. Hard-copy data."

Bruce couldn't help but chuckle, smiling a little. "Again I don't mean to offend you Tony, but … you should leave gamma radiation research to the specialists. I'll collect my own data."

"Ouch. Is that a smirk? You're smirking, aren't you? Bruce, I'm shocked! I thought we were friends."

The physicist raised his arms defensively. "Hey, as impressive as your correlations are, this isn't your field of expertise. You stick to advanced circuitry and orbital dynamics, I'll stick to nuclear physics and sub-atomic particles."

"And we'll meet in the middle when engineering and particle physics want to hold hands. Alright, point, I'll let you have that." Tony nodded, flashing another smile - bigger this time. He felt a tiny bit better, Bruce had that kind of effect.

"Well, let me just get my lab ready, we need to get this done as quick as we can," Banner quickly said, nodding at Tony before turning and leaving.

"I'll be there soon, honey," he said, earning an amused look from the man before he disappeared through the doors. Tony turned his attention at the remaining Avengers, "Well, I guess family meeting's over."

"Aye! I shall take my leave! There are duties to be performed in Asgard regarding my brother!" Thor boomed as he walked towards the bedridden man and clapped a hand on his shoulder. Oh yeah, the man had his own problems to deal with. "My friend, I hope this ailment is cured quickly! For you, the Man of Iron, are a worthy warrior!" He raised his arm, gesturing his farewell to them all before leaving.

"Stark." Clint said.

Tony, scowled slightly, half out of bed. Turning to look at the three Avengers teammates, he was surprised. They looked both curious and wary of him. That was different.

"We've reason to believe you've been compromised," Natasha informed him, her lips pursing tight and an icy facade setting on her face, though the concern never really left her eyes. Aww, she cared,Tony thought.

"And what gave you that idea?" He asked, testing his legs and twisting his torso left and right before getting up. Despite the fact he had gotten knocked out, he received minimum damage. Excellent! The vibranium plating was totally worth it! Speaking of which ...

"Oh, and uh, don't suppose my armor or any part of that bot was salvageable?" Tony inquired, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. He mentally began to determine how exactly he would approach dissecting the mother-bot JARVIS hadn't been able to completely analyse its properties and abilities, after all ...

"Tony, this isn't funny." Steve did not look amused as he said it, his voice slightly louder and sharp. "You can think about the suit and the robot later. Right now we need to know what's going on."

"You know, you may have noticed I practically had a building on me? And I had a concussion?"

"Your eyes glowed," Clint interjected before Steve could say anything. "It was only for a fraction of a moment, but they glowed."

Tony's eyes widened, slightly disturbed about what Clint had just said. Judging by the alarmed looks on Steve and even Natasha's faces, he wasn't the only one. The short silence between them all was enough for him to collect himself. He raised a brow. "Wait, are you serious?" Shaking his head, he began to walk over to them. "Look, I don't know what you saw, and ..." he scratched the back of his head briefly, "at this point, we don't know what's going on. But whatever it is, at this current point in time, it's really nothing. I haven't had any performance issues." He smirked a little at the slight roll of Natasha's eyes. "I'm fine," he reassured them.

There was another pause before he continued. "You know we were in building rubble, right? Loose electric cables flying everywhere, my slightly busted-up suit - it's a trick of the light. Refraction, reflection, optics in general. And let's be honest here, would you guys really want some physics 101 to explain why my eyes were, in fact, not glowing? You've got better things to do. I'vegot better things to do."

Barton scowled and Tony shrugged. They didn't look like they were convinced. Still, Tony had to try. He hated the whole 'being serious' thing. Not to mention the looks they were giving him. He was starting to feel a bit guilty - and Tony feeling guilty usually ended up in him trying to fix problems whilst disregarding the dangers it would put him in. "Look, trust me on this. I know what I'm doing." Another pause. "Now, if you don't mind …" he motioned to the door. "This isn't exactly helping with the recovery process."

Although none of them seemed all too happy with the decision, they left, glancing sideways at him before disappearing. Barton was pissed (which was a given, Tony did just insult his vision), Natasha looked like she was dissecting his soul with her eyes, and Steve … well ... he looked a bit like a kicked puppy. Tony felt the niggle of his conscience telling him to be nicer to Cap, before a voice shattered through his thoughts.

"What a shame, and here I thought you were going to tell them all about our little secret." The shadows began to dance strangely in the light. He swung around, as they slowly began to coalesce and take form.

Tony stiffened, his eyes flickered in the shadow's direction before he looked away. 'This isn't happening. This isn't happening,'he repeated in his mind. Scrunching his face, he pinched the bridge of his nose. "God, I must have hit my head hard," he mumbled.

"You know, try as you might, you can't win this little game." The thing smiled creepily, the white grin contrasting with its body. It floated in the air and landed softly on a nearby bench. The creature rested its head in the palm of its hands, the grin widening as it spoke, its voice eerie. "After all, I'm in this sorry excuse for a grapefruit you call your head, Tony. Been here for a while, and my, oh my, isn't it interesting."

Tony clenched his jaw, his hands had already balled into fists, and his nails dug into the palm of his hands so hard he wouldn't be surprised if he'd broken the skin. He staggered slightly as images pierced his mind. His father. The alcohol. Afghanistan. Stane. Palladium poisoning. The images began to get more intense, as if he was pulled into the memories themselves.

It cackled. "How long are you going to keep this up? You know this little barrier, this resistance, is futile. I see the cracks … it's only a matter of time bef-"

"Tony?"

He heard something fall and shatter to the ground. Tony's head snapped up and he turned to the voice. Banner frowned slightly. "You alright?" He asked.

Blinking rapidly, Tony realised he was supporting himself using the bench. "Yeah," he managed to say, his voice slightly strained as he pushed himself up. His eyes trailing to the pieces of glass on the floor, the little ornament beyond repair. "Legs aren't working as of yet. Give it time, though." Fixing himself up and walking towards Banner, he forced a smile. "Let's get this over and done with."

"I should go talk to him," Steve decided out loud as he wrapped up the remaining pizza and placed it on the bench. Yes, pizza again - it seemed to be a growing tradition among the Avengers crew to celebrate victory with fast food.

"Not to undermine your authority, Captain, but I don't think that's a good idea," Natasha commented before resting her elbows on the table and leaning forward, picking olives off Clint's pizza and popping them into her mouth. "Trust me when I say this, but your methods won't work on him." Glancing up at Steve and seeing the surprised look on his face, she continued. "Not only does Stark hold his cards close to his chest, he hides some in his sleeves. Putting it simply, when facing Stark, not only do you have to be good at poker, but you have to be excellentat catching a cheat." Natasha took a paper towel and wiped her fingers before standing up, maintaining her calm voice. "He'll lie, he'll use any sleight of hand he knows to distract you from the truth … and distinguishing between truth and showmanship isn't part of your specific skill set."

"So you're saying you're playing a game to get inside his head?" Steve asked, looking uneasy.

"I've done it before," Natasha replied, her expression cool for a brief moment. "But no." Her lips pursed slightly before they quirked into a small smile as the rest of her facial features softened. "That won't be the case this time...I'll be able to get through to him."

Looking a little relieved, Steve nodded, taking the plate of pizza and extending it to Natasha. "Well, if you do get through to him, thanks. And uh...here, give this to him. I doubt he'll come out of his workshop for a while." Natasha cast a knowing look at his direction, smiling before taking the plate and turning to leave.

Clint smirked, eyeing the exchange and Natasha's reaction with intrigue. "Ohhh, I was wondering why you kept saving food, given your ridiculous metabolism and everything. But … I see."

Stave raised a brow. "... See what?" He asked.

Getting up from his seat, he patted Steve's shoulder. "Don't worry Cap, your secret's safe with me."

Mystified, Steve watched Barton as he skipped out of the room... "Wait, what?!"

Finished with my woman 'cause she couldn't help me with my mind

People think I'm insane because I'm frowning all the time

All day long I think of things but nothing seems to satisfy

Think I'll lose my mind if I don't find something to pacify

Can you help me occupy my brain? Oh yeah!

I need someone to show me the things in life that I can't find

I can't see the things that make true happiness I must b-

"Sir."

"First you, then Pepper, then Rhodey - really, when are people going to listen to me? I don't like it when people turn off my music," Tony mumbled, his eyes remaining on the salvaged parts of 'The Mother'. "Ugh, this is tragic. Dummy, move up. Up."

"Sir, someone seems to be overriding my protocols."

Stopping and putting down his soldering iron, Tony looked to the door of his workshop. "Ms. Romanoff."

"Mr. Stark."

"Why is it that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents make it their own personal mission to break into my house? You know it gives JARVIS a headache," he huffed, attempting to focus on the tech at hand. "Dummy, you're ... no, Dummy. Stop." Casting a glance back at the assassin, he noticed that she was unfortunately not in a gaming mood. Arms folded, eyes looking directly at him and in an immovable stance - yeah, she wasn't going anywhere. "Can I help you with something?"

"You know, for someone trying to stop everyone from worrying, you're really doing a lousy job." Ah, so very Natasha, getting straight to the point.

"...Let me guess, Cap sent you?" He asked, putting a gentle hand on the robot and pushing it aside. Dummy whirred affectionately, its arm sliding against his hand as if it were a pet wanting human contact.

"He didn't have to, but … he's worried about you, Stark, we all are."

He felt her presence beside him and the man couldn't help but tense just a little in surprise. Tony had always found it amazing -not to mention slightly terrifying- how light she was on her feet. Especially in heels. Because really, how was it that she could do that all the time and in heels. Unlike Pepper, who he could hear a mile away.

"You all really need to find something better to do th-"

"Seriously? You're really going to try to play this game with me?" she cut in, gaining his full attention once more. He felt the proverbial flames of her rage lick at his feet. But they dissipated as quickly as they appeared. Tony's grip on the soldering iron tightened slightly as he attempted to avert his gaze again.

"You might not trust me as far as you can throw me, but believe it or not, Tony, I'm trying to help you." Natasha's lips pursed slightly, the way they seemed to do whenever she was talking about or approaching a rather delicate situation. "I've … had similar experiences to what you're going through."

"What? Higher-than-normal levels of exposure to gamma radiation?"

"Being compromised. To be without control of something you should have, to be unmade...having something, someone take your brain out and play, pull you out and put something else back in..." There was a slight stiffness in her voice, as if the woman were wrestling with the memories of her own demons. "It ... happens with the job," she continued, her features hardening slightly before she looked at him again, pursed her lips slightly and smiled. "But the good thing is, thankfully with a team like this, you're not alone Tony. And I'm not just saying that."

Her words definitely had an effect on him, unpleasant at first, reverberating through his body in large waves. But as the oscillations began to get smaller and smaller, the hope she was giving him seemed to somehow fortify into something ... solid. Something he could hold on to.

"I-"

"Tony, you know better than to lie to me."

"…Point," he said, turning to the broken circuit boards and scraps of metal on his workbench, only to realise he was suffering from poor damping. An engineer's worst nightmare - trembling hands. Well, this wasn't going to work anymore.Looking briefly back at Natasha, he'd have to give her kudos for being so patient. After all, she was still here and despite everything he was saying - she still hadn't wrapped those thighs around his neck and killed or knocked him out. Then again a part of him wouldn't really have an issue with that, except for the whole pain thing. And possibly Dummy having a freak out.

It was then he noticed the look in her eyes. That look - one he was very familiar with and one that he didn't like at all. It was like she was some kind of computer virus, burrowing into his systems in a lucrative manner, finding any kind of crevice in his system to get in and steal information. He had to disrupt her internal servers.

"Alright, stop. Seriously I feel like you're doing some kind of DDOS attack on me," he said, raisings his hands up defensively.

"You're the one making me the villain here, Tony," Natasha replied gently. "I'm telling you that you don't have to do this alone and I know what it's like, we - the team,know what it's like and we just want to help you." She paused again, letting the words sink in once more. "You just have to let us. Trust me, it's easier for you and I if you cooperate and I don't have to resort to other methods."

"You're terrifying sometimes, you know that?"

"So you've said, a lot."

Tony sighed, he didn't need to run any more mental algorithms to know he'd lost. "So," Tony, being Tony and not freaking out over serious health complications, continued. "What would you do? If you know ... you were experiencing ..." He paused slightly, hesitating - but Natasha seemed to understand. "Some form of minor post-traumatic-stress, nightmares and whatnot?" Ah, shit. Did he really just blurt that out?

"Nightmares?" Natasha repeated, eyebrow raised.

He stiffened a little, slightly in shock. "Did I say nightmares? I didn't mean that, I meant, well, you know, general results and symptoms of PTSD," Tony replied, feeling rather uncomfortable in the fact he was having some kind of heart to heart with Natasha. This was on a whole new level of weird. Then again, she was an Avenger. So he didn't exactly have to worry about her running off to tell Fury that he'd gone a little bit nuts. "So how do you ..." He frowned a little, thinking of an appropriate word. "Cope?"

"I find stable things in my life, and focus on those," she answered. "I go to the shooting range with Clint, spar, do things in places where I feel nothing can go wrong."

"You do any ballet?" He dared ask, unable to smile a little. If these were 'stable things' in her life, well, the woman was nuts, but he had to appreciate her.

"That's classified information, Mr Stark. And using your own words, you don't have the clearance." She responded, smiling a little at him, that slight cold and calculating assassin look flickering momentarily from her eyes. Well, at least he tried. "But," she shrugged slightly. "Go see Pepper, see Colonel Rhodes, do something with people that care about you and just don't focus on yourself for once."

"You're asking for a lot."

"I'm not asking for the impossible." Natasha shrugged again, smiling again.

"... Thanks," he said honestly, feeling a little surprised that he did in fact feel a little bit better - even if the whole process was unnerving. Gravity didn't seem like it was over 3Gs now.

"No problem. I've got your back, I want to be confident in knowing you've got mine. I'd rather not have my success rate drop because somebody on the team is doing something self-destructive." She smirked a little.

"Oh, ouch. But hey, I'm Tony Stark, you need to factor in that I'm a special kind of variable in the equation. Recalibrate your statistics."

Natasha smiled, amused before she started to walk to the exit of his workshop. "I don't recalibrate my statistics for anyone, Stark. Oh, and please, play nice with the Captain, we wouldn't want Coulson to come over here, upset that his hero's being bullied by you."

"You know me, Romanoff, I never play nice. But you do have a point, I wouldn't put it past him to actually taser me. Seriously, what is with S.H.I.E.L.D. and hiring people on the brink of aggression?"

"Goodbye, Mr. Stark, and remember, we're here for you, whether you like it or not."

"I'll keep that in mind, Ms. Romanoff." His eyes glanced briefly at a shadow that darted by his peripherals before he focused on watching the woman leave. As soon as she was gone, he put down his screwdriver, his hands tingling from the excessive force he was using on pushing it into his palms. "Pepper. Pepper and Rhodey. JARVIS, get them on the line."

Natasha's advice did not fall on deaf ears, and the rest of the team seemed to know to lay off asking him too many questions. He'd have to upgrade Natasha's living conditions after that (not that they weren't spectacular already).

The only problem with it was that Rhodey and Pepper had their own lives to live. Which was cool, they'd already said a number of times that he wasn't the centre of their universe. Tony didn't mind, and they didn't really know why or how it happened, but dinner on Fridays had somehow become a thing, give or take business meetings and missions overseas - and if they were busy, well, he always hung out with Steve. The good news was that it did seem to kind of work - and Tony took advantage of it heavily, regardless of how exhausted he could be.

The bad news was, well, unfortunately it didn't last for all that long.

Tony was sitting with Rhodey and Pepper at a small pizza joint in Manhattan. It was a hole-in-a-wall kind of place, good food, good vibes, very quiet. The fact that Tony booked the place just for them meant there weren't many people bothering them for an autograph or a picture with Tony Stark, none actually - this place was awesome. It was nice, and Tony loved the pizza and the company.

"You know Tony, you really need to fix your diet," Pepper said, seemingly comfortable regardless of her business attire and heels. She still managed to look graceful and a little bit adorable as she cut a piece of pizza, struggling slightly with the epic amounts of cheese.

"I do not see you complaining at all," Tony retorted, grinning as he poured himself more wine. "Besides, look, there's … onions and olives on this. I'll have you know that coffee is a food group, and pizza is a vegetable."

Rhodey laughed, he looked like he definitely needed a wind-down. The poor man looked exhausted from his adventures as War Machine. "I dunno, Tony, you keep eating like this, you probably won't be able to pass physical and be Iron Man."

"Not gonna happen, I usually get yanked out of the workshop and go sparring with Cap."

"And by sparring you mean getting your ass kicked?" Rhodey asks, amused at the idea. He glanced over at Pepper, who hid a small smile with a napkin.

"Hey!" Tony didn't look all too amused.

"Look, I'm just saying, he's a super soldier and Captain America," the other man said defensively, though still not wiping the grin off his face.

"Undermine my physical prowess again, Rhodey, and I won't let you visit him. I know you're a fanboy. Don't lie to me, we were roomies back in the MIT days. I saw your collection."

"Which was only overshadowed by yours, Tony." Rhodey smirked. Tony tossed him an incredulous look. "I have no idea what you're talking about," He responded, focusing on the task at hand: refuel.

"Oh c'mon. The Captain America wallpaper, the box where you kept all your tools. The 'asshole' jar."

"Asshole jar?" Pepper looked curious. "Do I want to know?" She asked. "Or is this one of those boys will be boys, I don't want to know what you two got up to in college kinds of things?"

"It's not that bad, see, if ever Tony was an ass-" Rhodey began, before being interrupted by a slightly offended (but entertained) engineer.

"If ever any of us were-"

"But it was mainly you."

"Point."

"Anyways, if anyone of us did something that we thought was...a bad move. We'd put money in the jar - a Captain America jar." Rhodey explained.

"And you had to do it, or else face Cap giving you that judgemental stare that screamed freedom and the American way." Tony laughed, looking over at Rhodey and Pepper who were giving him looks. "Oh what, come on, I was what? Seventeen?"

Pepper shook her head. "And now you're living with the man himself."

"Well, Rogers and the rest of the 'team'," Tony corrected. "Two master assassins, a giant green rage monster slash genius at nuclear physics and occasionally a Norse thunder God. You'd think Stark Tower would have exploded by now."

"It hasn't?" Pepper asked, looking slightly surprised. Tony and explosives seemed to go hand in hand. The idea of it not didn't compute. In fact, the idea of the Avengers going domestic was difficult to picture.

"Well..." Tony paused. "There are at points, you know, minor issues involving collateral damage. Bruce hulking out, said Asgardian making his thundery appearance, us ... generally on movie night." He chuckled again before pinching the bridge of his nose. God, he really should have slept a bit more, or at least taken some aspirin with his coffee. The little twinge in the back of his head getting a bit more difficult to ignore.

"Can I take your plate?" the waitress asked, her voice a little bit odd as her hand reached towards Tony.

"Yeah, thank-" Tony froze, his eyes on the woman's hand. Spores sprouting from her skin as it slowly turned into a dark, navy blue. Don't look. Don't look at her face. He tried to tell himself, but there was no denying the pull as he slowly, seemingly unwillingly, turned his gaze towards her. His eyes trailed from her arm to her face. It was dark, with an oil-like sheen and covered in spores. Its eyes glowed golden, and its lips contorted into a sinister smile. "Aww, you were doing so well, but you know, you can't keep me away that easily, Tony,"he could sense it saying.

"Tony, are you okay?" Pepper asked. Her hand reached towards his, concerned, but Tony pulled away. Stumbling a little as he got up from his chair, he backed away. The effects of the hallucinations were accelerating by the second as the line between fiction and reality was slowly being erased.

"You know, I have a question for you, what makes you think that this is all real?" The thing asked him. "You know, I could just be making this all up. Rhodey, Pepper, they're just illusions, characters in this little game to make everything just that little bit more entertaining."

He wouldn't lie if he said that that had freaked him out or made him question what was happening at that point in time. He mentally swore.

Rhodey got up, the worried look on his face hardening as Pepper backed away from them. With his arm, he pushed the other woman behind him. "Tony, Tony, calm down," he said, his arms slightly raised, extended in front of his chest.

Tony couldn't think straight, his eyes focused on the the woman behind the Colonel. The grin hadn't left her face."Rhodey," Tony winced, pinching between his eyes again. The pain in his head pulsating. This was all getting to be too much.

"Tony. Put the knife down." He said more forcefully. His gaze turned slightly to Pepper before speaking, voice softer. "Pepper, get everyone out of here, slowly. No sudden movements."

Pepper nodded, her movements slow as she gestured to the men and women in the restaurant to head to the exit. Tony didn't care about them, his main focus was the thing. The thing Rhodey seemed to be protecting, followed, making Tony tense. No. It was not going to go with Pepper. He was not going to let Pepper get in any more danger than he already put her through. Whether she was real or not, he was going to protect her.

Tony lunged at the thing. Instinct had taken over. But he was met with a resisting force, tackled by Rhodey into the ground, crashing into the chair and table in the process. He heard a clang, the knife escaping from his grip from surprise. There were screams, hurried steps rushing out and War Machine yelling for them to get away, for Pepper to call the Avengers.

Tony struggled for a bit, the other man was strong. But unfortunately for him, Tony had been sparring with the Captain and Natasha. The Captain was stronger, heavier - he'd gotten used to that, and Natasha? Natasha was quicker. He had learnt through all those gruelling hours of being thrown, being punched and tasting dirt what an uneven fight was like. Rhodey was good, definitely better, but Tony had the element of surprise and knowledge from superior fighters.

In a swift movement he had gotten the better of the man, floored him with a combination of a move he learnt from the Captain, as well as using Rhodey's weight against him - Natasha's specialty. He heard Rhodey wheeze, but his mind was elsewhere. He had to find the woman. He made a run for it.

Steve bolted upright, hearing the frantic voice of Pepper. "Pepper! Calm down, what- what's going on?!" The groggy effects of just waking up dissipated instantaneously.

"It's, it's Tony! I- I don't know what happened. He just, one minute it was all fine, Rhodey, Tony and I having dinner and the next thing you know he's gone insane! He just, he grabbed a knife! What's been happening to him?! What's wrong with him?!" She shrieked.

"Did he hurt anyone?" Steve asked, feeling his chest tighten in fear.

"Rhodey, he knocked War Machine out, that's it. And then he just ran off! What is going on with him?!"

"Alright, I'm coming to find him. Don't worry, Pepper, I promise you this is all going to be alright. I'll find him, I'll take him home and we'll explain everything, I promise," he reassured her. "Just make sure all the civilians are alright."

Turning to look at the command board he began to speak. "JARVIS? Are you there?"

"Yes, Captain Rogers?" The AI replied.

"I need to find Tony, there's been an incident. Can tell me where he is?"

"Unfortunately, Sir has asked to keep his location classified. You are not permitted with such information without reason."

"He's in danger, JARVIS," Steve said, mentally cursing.

There was a brief pause, the ring of light dancing as if to show Jarvis was processing the information.

"JARVIS, I know you've got your orders, but this is for Tony's safety. You have to help," the man pleaded.

Another pause.

"Primary function override: Subject: Location of Creating Unit Anthony E. Stark. Information being sent to your phone as we speak, Captain Rogers."

"Thank-you."

"Sir's safety is my primary concern, Captain Rogers," Jarvis put simply. "Whilst there are certain parameters I cannot cross, this is not one of them."

There was a beep and Steve looked at his phone. Tony and his location were presented on the map as two dots. Thankfully, he wasn't far. Quickly getting changed, he bolted.

"I'm Anthony Stark, Iron Man, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. I will not lose myself to these stupid hallucinations," he muttered, clutching his head. The sounds coming from his surroundings echoed, nearly bursting his ear drums. "I'm Anthony Stark, Iron man, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. I will not lose myself to these stupid hallucinations," he repeated. He was shaking. He felt sick. He almost … oh god, he didn't even want to think about it.

"Tony? Is … oh my god Tony!" Footsteps rushed towards him, the sound booming with every step. Tony scrunched his eyes.

"Get the fuck away from me," he growled.

"You're gonna have to do a lot better than that," the voice replied.

Tony felt strong hands gripping his shoulders, hesitating for a brief moment, he looked up. Relief washed over his face as he saw Steve. Confusion flashed in his eyes before he looked around. "Steve? What-what the hell are you doing here? How the hell did you find me?!"

The man smiled softly, showing Tony his phone, two lights blinking in their location. "I had a little help from JARVIS," he answered. "See Tony, I'm not entirely useless when it comes to technology," he added as he helped heave the man to his feet. Tony stumbled, his legs weak, but thankfully, the Captain caught him, his hands landing on Tony's shoulders first before they slid around, giving him a tight hug.

"Shit, Tony, you're freezing!"

"I'm fucked in the head," Tony managed to say, not caring that he was in fact hugging Captain America - well, Captain America was hugging him. "I'm so fucked in the head, Steve," he mumbled into the man's chest. The pause between them allowed for Tony's mind to go off into another tangent. Steve had good hugs. Rhodey had good hugs as well, but Rhodey wasn't there. Actually, he didn't know where anyone else was, apart from Steve. Steve was there and his hugs were just a little bit better.

"Tell me something I don't know," Steve said, trying to calm the man down.

Tony let out a little laugh. "You have no fucking idea, Rogers. I screwed up, badly. Fuck, I almost..."

"Tony, for once don't say anything. Just, come on, let's go back to Stark Tower. You need to calm down and we need to get this mess sorted out."

"I almost killed someone," Tony said, freezing, his voice serious as he looked away, pulling back from Steve.

"The woman, at the pizza place. Just, fuck, something happened and I thought she turned into...something and...if Rhodey wasn't there, if I hadn't gotten into that tussle. I don't know, hell, I don't how I even got here!"

"Tony, Tony you need to calm down."

"How can I calm down when I've almost killed someone?!" Tony cried out, trying to rip himself away. "Not a villain, not an alien, an innocent person! I-"

"But you didn't." He interrupted, voice firm as he held onto Tony tight on the shoulders, looking him straight in the eye. "You didn't, Tony," he repeated. "That's what matters now, that's what you have to focus on. That's what's important."

"And what if I did?" Tony dared ask. "What if I snap? Unintentionally. Go darkside?"

"I'll be there to stop you. Now come on, Stark Tower. Now."

"Wait! You promise?" Tony asked, jerking them both to a stop by grabbing onto Steve's arm.

"... Will it make you feel better?" Steve asked, looking slightly alarmed.

"Yes."

Steve hesitated. Whether Tony was in the right state of mind or not, this wasn't something he would easily agree to.

"Alright, Tony."

Author's Note: I'm a terrible human being I know. Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed it, please read and review I'd really like to know what you guys think :)!