Man in a Can: Tony Stark (PTSD Recovery)

Chapter Six: Back to the MedLab

***NO ENDGAME SPOILERS (don't worry, I've seen the movie but I won't write any spoilers. Please don't spoil it for anyone. Thank you!!)***
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   Oxygen-starved and slipping in and out of consciousness, Tony was set on a medical stretcher.

   Tony was clutching his iron man helmet like a precious infant in his arms.

   Pepper clicked a button on the side of her mask, worried eyes trailing over her fiancés failing body. He weighed a fraction of what he should, and it was plain to see that his body was shutting down. She could trace the bones under sickly skin, his muscles beginning to atrophy. His breathing came in short, shallow breaths; his pulse was alarmingly slow.

She placed a mask over his face. "Tony, I need you to take a breath for me. Okay, honey? Just breathe. I'll be here when you wake up. I love you."

   The nurses called down to the base took the stretcher into a hospital room, Pepper close at their heels.
Pepper.. was all Tony could think. He recognized that voice. Locked inside his mind, drifting off into oblivion, the voice sounded angelic to his tired ears. Pepper..

   There was no simple way to describe his love for his fiancée. He didn't have the vocabulary to describe how deeply his heart had fallen for her.

   "Hang on, you stubborn bastard. We've got you. Nothing's going to happen to you."
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   Grief-stricken, Pepper rubbed at her weary eyes, shuffling into the MedLab, adorned in silk pajamas and Tony's robe - a comforting smell to her - and her favorite pair of fluffy slippers. She clutched her cell phone, fingers tracing her lips in anxiousness and running through her bedhead hair.

   She was rarely seen unprofessional, but today she looked like a wild raccoon - perhaps Rocket - had decided to nest in her hair.

"What happened to him?" Came a soft and quiet voice from behind.

Pepper turned, and was surprised to find Loki there.

Pepper frowned. "Must have gotten hit in space. He's busted up real bad. Another fight, knowing him."

"But what was the helmet for?" Loki asked.

"Transmission."

Thor stepped up next to his brother. "He was listening to her message through that helmet. I think.. perhaps he has been convinced that his destiny is death, and he wanted to be with you when he passed."

Pepper's eyes stung, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. The thought of Tony being in the ship, dying alone, with only the sound of her voice on an old crackling video message to comfort him in his final moments. And when I drift off.. I'll dream of you. It's always you..

   "Peter's.. well, not even I could bring a smile upon that young man's face," Loki said. "My brother and I were hoping you knew if.. if he was going to live.."

   Pepper's eyes creased at the sides, lips pursed. "I'll check in on him."

   "Thank you," the two said, politely leaving her alone, left to argue over who got the last pop tart.

   Pepper wrapped her icy cold fingers around the door handle, her hands trembling and slightly sweaty.

She stepped into the dim room. A pale Tony lay sleeping in the bed, Stephen, Bruce, Steve, and Natasha by his side.