Anxiety Attack

I am doing my very best to keep up with updating! School is just getting on my nerves you know… So anyhow… THIS IS ANOTHER ONE SHOT! Whoo!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but this story!

His thoughts swarmed around his encounter with Doom. The electricity, the pain, the torture; it haunted him, even in his sleep. Staying awake only made it worse, because it was all he thought about. Sleeping didn't help either. No medication helped.

It was on summer morning that it hit him like a ton of bricks. "Hey." Pepper walked in along with Rhodey. They both wore shorts. But Pepper was in a spaghetti tank and Rhodey in a shirt.

Tony smiled at them as they walked in. "Hey! Good news. Rhodey, war machine is fully updated. And Pepper? You're suit is almost updated. It has a couple more flaws." They didn't smile. Rhodey looked at Tony blankly, as did Pepper.

"What?" Tony asked. His hand twitched, a result of the anti-anxiety medicine he took.

"When did you sleep?" Pepper asked. She folded her arms across her chest. Tony didn't blink. He averted his attention and focused on his newly updated helmet.

"I did." He responded after a while.

"When?" It was Rhodey's turn. He came up to Tony and looked into his blank face.

"It's been a while."

"I can see that. How long is that 'while'?"

"Two to three days?" At that, Rhodey raised an eyebrow. Tony shifted nervously on his feet.

"Okay! Four to five days. Look I'm fine! Look at me!" Tony spread his arms. But unfortunately, his eye twitched, and just his luck, Rhodey and Pepper noticed.

"Your eye twitched, Tony." Pepper said. Her arms crossed across her chest. Her eyebrows raised high and stature stiff, Tony knew she was angry.

"Tony, you haven't slept properly since your encounter with-" Rhodey got interrupted.

"DON'T!" Tony shrieked. "Don't say his name! Please… don't… just don't say it!" His eyes widened in fear.

"What? Whose name? You mean Doom?" Pepper asked. She regretted it the instant the name escaped her lips.

Tony's face paled to a ghostly white. His eyes glazed over and his knees buckled.

Tony felt as though his heart stopped. His body burned like fire but his fingers felt like ice. It was painful. The burning sensation started from his stomach and spread uncomfortably through his body. His head was filled with a nauseating memory.

His ears buzzed. His throat constricted making it painfully hard to breathe. He could hear Pepper and Rhodey calling his name over and over again, but he couldn't respond or see them. All he could see were black spots.

Tony sunk to the ground, unable to stand or breathe. He felt an around his shoulder, and a hand on his chest. But when Tony opened his eyes, he could see Doom, walking towards him. But Doom would come in and out of view. He would flicker in and out of view.

The buzz didn't go away. The memory did fade either. "Breathe—I—Tony—so sorry—Breathe." He knew whose voice that belonged to, but it didn't help.

Tony saw Doom walk up to him, and then disappear again. Tony gagged, desperately trying to come back to reality. His hand grabbed for his workbench, something to ground him back to earth.

His other hand grabbed his chest. He was trying so hard to come back. But no matter what, his head couldn't clear. Suddenly, Doom was in front of him. His metallic hand was outstretched, reaching for Tony's body.

Tony scrambled back yelling for him to go away. "Rhodey—no—move—back! Needs—space." It was Pepper again. He felt her move away from him, and that scared him even more. But…

His head cleared. His breathing relaxed and came back to his normal. The buzzing in his ears calmed to a thud, and his racing heart settled.

"Tony you okay?" The thud cleared completely, and his vision cleared completely.

"I'm so sorry!" Pepper said. She kneeled in front of him and took his shaking shoulders. "I didn't think… I… I'm so sorry!"

Tony, still traumatized, shook his head. "It's okay. I'm fine. It's happened before. I've lost sleep…."

"Doom? That's why? Tony… he's dead. You know that more than I do. He got killed in an accident. S.H.I.E.L.D remember?" Rhodey asked. He also got in front of Tony.

"I… Yeah, I know. It's just so hard to forget. I… My heart, it just scares me so much. I'm—I'm so glad you guys are here…" Tony said with a smile.

It wasn't the last anxiety attack he had though….

Yes! This is the one shot I had in mind! Um… about my stories… hehehe… Sorry!

Okay… Well a lot of authors did it so I decided to do it myself!

I have a Pepperony contest going on! Actually I just started it! If you want to do it just PM me and I'll give you guys the details!

But here is the basic detail:

-In theme with Halloween or something around there.

- A one shot! Please no chapter stories! Just one shots.

- Duh, Pepperony included… (:

- No taking other people's ideas…. I'll make sure to check if I've heard of the story before.

- and finally… Keep it rated T and below….! I'll probably start a poll or whatever for more details of the contest! Thanks!