Authors Note: Just a quick note to say, there might be some slight inaccuracies with the medical aspects, some of it is altered so it fits more with the plot line etc, plus it's easier to simplify certain things to keep the story following. Most visitors from a country with English as their second language is Germany so Danke schön Germany and thanks everyone and stuff.
With a reluctance he hid with humour to the others, Tony took over the 'mosquito project.' It's not like the man didn't like a challenge and it wasn't that fear was ever considered when it came to anything Tony did, that was something he'd learnt to supress a long time ago, but he was completely and utterly freaked out. In all honesty, he didn't know what it was exactly that was causing it. Maybe it was that he didn't like the idea that Bruce, the steady handed, organised perfectionist and utter genius in the medical field had been left so helpless and vulnerable by those disease carrying murderers.
Tony didn't bother arguing back when he was appointed; he just tried to make some form of joke about the situation- anything to lighten the mood. The second the Avengers had gathered some form of sense and made their way back to Stark Towers, Tony was put in charge and told to finish the project… and fast. The others had left urgently for the hospital, apart from Steve, who had held back to look Tony in the eye and ask if he wanted to go. Tony had shaken his head, forced a grin upon his face, made some sarcastic comment about hospitals and turned on his heel to the workshop without a glance backwards.
It had partly been true, for Tony did hate hospitals and this was something he made no secret of, but it was also because the last person he wanted to see right now was Bruce. Well not Bruce himself, but the marks on his skin, the injury, the pain, the suffering. He didn't like the idea of seeing that, driving back home and waltzing into the lab to face the very thing that had caused it like nothing was wrong.
"Jarvis, I'm not in the reading mood and I don't have the time, so sum up Bruce's notes and progress for me whilst I set some of this up. Dummy, see those boxes, move them away from that rubble from that wall, put them here, no, ok you're not-ok. I swear to- yeah that'll do."
Tony's workshop was nearly completely destroyed; that was nothing new. Countless experiments had left him with demolished walls, smashed windows, broken cars… but the Hulk had done his damage. Luckily, the mosquitoes that had escaped from one of the many specialised containers had left with Bruce, following him like a pack of wolves about to attack and there was no trace of any roaming mosquitoes in the lab, Tony had had Jarvis scope the place before he'd even set foot in there.
Nonetheless, the lab had been hit pretty hard. Computers were smashed and the ground even caved in at one point and a colossal part of one of the back walls sported a hulk-shaped crater that he must have fallen into to squat off the attack. Natasha had said the Hulk had looked more distressed than usual, if that was possible, so it was probable the bites had taken its toll on the Hulk for a few moments and left him disorientated.
"It seems, Sir, that Dr Banner was making considerable progress with the project before the incident. I have research records of a Plasmodium falciparum parasite and it seems he was not only looking into tablet prevention but he was in the progress of completing an antidote substance."
"Antidote? As in a medicine kit on steroids?"
"Dr Banner was creating an injection."
"Check your records again Jarvis, you can't get a malaria injection."
"I am sure you are aware sir that my records are always accurate."
Jarvis brought up holographic diagrams of Banner's medical research and if Jarvis was a real person he would be grinning at Tony like Clint right about now- told you motherfucker. There were pages of almost illegible scribbled notes he must have scanned into the system after Tony had protested about his paperwork. Tony scanned the text for some understanding, an explanation, a- loop hole. Perfect! Dr. Bruce Banner you genius you, I swear to god…
According to Bruce's research, not only was the malaria a Plasmodium falciparum parasite, a.k.a in 'Rogers speak' a more dangerous and deadlier form of the disease, it was also a genetically modified version. This made a hell of lot more sense. Bruce had said at the meeting something was not quite right, that there was something he just couldn't quite put his finger on…
Great, prevention, antidote, injection,modification- Tony's mind raced in circles, waves metaphorically connecting through pathways, digging into the deepest parts of brain, searching for answers, Modificat- that leaves one more question.
Who the fuck has been messing with these mosquitoes?
It had been intentional then, S.H.I.E.L.D and it's no shortage of enemies had caused some biological ass wipe to fuck around with insects and The Avengers had been caught up in the backlash of it all. Damn it, I will say it now and I will say it a thousand more times, I am sick of S.H.I.E.L.D and their bullshit.
Ok, but what these assholes didn't realise is that Bruce, our knight in emerald armour, has used their little 'modification' to break through the artificial viruses and use it as a membrane, therefore making a workable antidote and Banner I swear to god you're giving me the biggest science boner right now.
"Did Bruce find out what this modification even did?"
"He muttered about 'speeding up the malaria symptoms' and 'increasing the intelligence of the mosquitoes' a few times, Sir."
"Did he say anything else?"
"Nothing, sir."
"And how far did he get with all of this?"
"He managed to complete the tablets which are stored away in the box behind you. You'll find he labelled them accordingly and placed them all in separate containers."
His organisation is sickening.
"And this miraculous antidote…?"
"Almost completed Sir, I could bring up his experimental notes to assist you in your completion?"
"Yeah."
Apparently, even if you are the Avengers, it's still a battle and a half to visit someone in a hospital.
"Remind me again why we didn't send Bruce to the S.H.I.E.L.D hospitals, they may be assholes there too but at least the nurses are hotter-"
Natasha shot Clint such a glare that if looks could kill…
He shut up then but she answered him anyway, "Because this is the only hospital in all of New York that treats Malaria and S.H.I.E.L.D are completely overrun."
Steve was staying silent, he'd stayed silent the entire journey, and when they had arrived, and when Clint had been 'personally offended' by the Hospital car parking toll, which had resulted in a 10 minute argument, which Natasha had ended abruptly. He'd greeted Thor, who had been sent to a waiting room when Bruce had been taken away and had spent the past 5 minutes trying to get a Mars Bar from one of the vending machines, but then he returned to his overwhelming silence.
"You okay Rogers?" Natasha asked, her voice remained neutral but when she stopped to look at him, her face softened.
"I have to agree with Stark when it comes to hospitals, I'm not a fan," he admitted honestly.
"Can't say I disagree," she smiled at him reassuringly.
"Excuse me, may I enquire where Mr Banner is allocated," Thor questioned a nurse, he smiled at her but his voice was slightly shaky, he hadn't exactly had positive experiences at hospitals either.
The nurse was visually overwhelmed with the 4 international superheroes stood in front of her, they were, of course, still in their 'battle suits' and Thor was still carrying Mjolnir, but she looked down at her clipboard and as professionally as she could manage, she led them to the correct room.
"So, Jarvis, I'm curious. What happened with Bruce and these mosquitoes?"
"Mr Banner was dissecting a mosquito when some seemed to escape from their container. Mr Banner was stung several times and he began to transform, smashing the container where the rest of those particular mosquitoes had been held. They attacked him and that's when he left sir."
Those containers were secure, hell I ordered them. Bruce would never leave them slightly open so they could escape. He's a lot more careful than that.
"Show me the footage."
Tony watched in silence at the holographic screen, the scene unfolding before him was exactly how Jarvis had described, several mosquitoes escape, Bruce gets bit, starts to hulk, smashes container, the rest from the container escape and attack..
Wait.
"Jarvis, rewind to when the first mosquitoes escape, slow it down to 10 frames."
Tony watched intently and the slowed down footage confirmed his theory. Bruce hadn't left the container open, someone had opened it. It was almost unnoticeable to the human eye but clear as day when watched frame by frame, the container lid slides slightly back and opens, as if someone-
Loki.
Bruce's bites were not looking any better, granted it had been about an hour and a half but they can all hope, but at least he was awake. Not fully alert, but awake. Awake enough for the others to see the panic and pain plastered across his face.
"Please tell the nurses I need to go," he muttered from the bed the second Natasha, Clint, Thor and Steve walked through the door.
"I've told you, Mr Banner, you are no way fit to the leave in this condition," the nurse, who was beside him messing with machinery and writing things down on a clipboard, mumbled without turning around.
"My condition and the condition of this hospital is about to get a whole lot worse."
"Breathe, Bruce, you can fight this," Natasha uttered, no louder than a whisper.
"It's not like I have a choice Natasha. This, whatever this is exactly, is going to escalate a lot quicker than any regular malaria. Right now they're just bites but we're looking at symptoms occurring after a matter of hours instead of days. The other guy doesn't like illness, trust me, and I won't be able to control it when it strikes."
"Ok, right, no disrespect mam but Mr Banner really does need to leave," Steve spoke up politely.
"I'm afraid his release is unauthorised."
"Look, do you know who he is? Your hospital will be destroyed. No offence Bruce," Clint stated.
"None taken, I've been saying it myself," Bruce looked at the adamant nurse, "Please let me leave. I can assure you it will cure itself but I need to go."
"You are not in a fit enough condition," the nurse repeated but she glanced nervously at the man on the bed who she was sure was turning the slightest shade of green and headed for the door, "I'll be right back."
Bruce watched the woman leave and then looked at the full length window to the left of him and his view of New York, he could easily smash through it and escape as the other guy but he wanted to get out of the city before changing.
And then he had an idea. A stupid idea. A stupid idea that could probably work.
"Thor, I can't believe I'm asking this but how strong are you?
"I don't understand Banner?"
"How strong, would you be able to," he paused for a second awkwardly, "lift me?"
"Most likely?"
Natasha caught on straight away, "You'll have to be quick."
Then Steve, "Thor, light the skies up."
Then Clint, "Ok this is going to be the coolest thing I have seen all week."
"Tony?"
Steve's voiced echoed, he couldn't see Tony through the glass doors into the workshop but he entered the code and walked in. He just assumed he was round a corner, trying to find something, and didn't expect an answer.
Steve took a step towards the main workstation in the centre of the room, scanning the destroyed room intently when he noticed something on the floor behind Tony's desk chair.
Tony.
He was by his side in seconds, checking his pulse and with his hand on his face, turning Tony's head to see his face. He was breathing but barely seemed conscious.
"Tony, talk to me, Tony please," Steve's voice was breaking up.
Then he saw them, one of his shirt sleeves was rolled up and bites were etched across his olive skin.
"No, no, Tony talk to me," Steve screamed in his face whilst fumbling his hands under Tony's shaking body and lifting him into his arms in one swift motion.
Tony mumbled something that sounded like Cap and his eyes twitched.
"I'm here, I'm here, I'm taking you to the hospital."
aatee hosspitul
"You're not the only one. Keep talking to me, come on."
hosspitul- no- anturddoh
"I don't understand."
an-tteee-dooht
"An-ti-dote? Antidote! Where is it?"
Steve stopped dead at the door of the workshop. Tony flopped one arm over Steve's shoulder.
ovrr der
Steve span around and his eyes darted to every piece of equipment on the worktop until he saw the needles. Without hesitation, he scooped them all up, put them in a plastic bag and turned back towards the door.
No- car.
Steve had never driven one of Starks cars in his life but this really wasn't a time to be indecisive.
The hospital staff were certainly not prepared for a super human man dressed in patriotic colours carrying a visually ill, shaking and oily messy bundle of a man in his arms, to burst through the door. So they could have been forgiven to stop dead in their tracks for a good few seconds, before Steve, who had lost all sense of his usually so polite manner, was speaking a lot louder than normal.
"He's been bit pretty badly. He needs medical attention." Images of snow flashed, a slippery grasp, and falling, so quickly, reaching out, Bucky gone.
The urgency in his voice snapped the nurses out of their shock and everything sprang into action and within 10 minutes Tony was in a hospital bed surrounded by organised medical chaos. And all Steve could do was pace outside the room impatiently until someone told him he could see him.
I am losing another best friend. Not again. Not like this. This isn't happening again. Please.
Please.
Reaching out to Tony, grasping onto his body, frantically checking his unnervingly slowed pulse, his shaking body…
"Steve," the voice snapped him out of his head and his blurred vision focused on a flash of auburn. Natasha.
"How's he holding up?" Steve turned towards the noise and shook his head to focus properly on a man shorter than himself with his arrows still fixed on his back.
There was a moment of thick silence because Steve mumbled, "They haven't told me anything yet." There was another pause, "Where's Bruce and Thor?"
"We'll tell you later."
"You can go in."
Steve nearly ran to the door and Natasha and Clint followed almost as quickly.
It's impossible not to see; Tony looks awful. Worse than Bruce did, worse than anything any of them have ever seen. Only his face is showing but they could only imagine the state of his skin under the covers. He's pale yet flustered, his eyes are black, his hair is even more tousled than usual, beads of sweat are clogging all over his face, he's shaking violently and most obviously, he has an oxygen mask across his nose and mouth.
Even though he's a complete mess, something flickers deep in his eyes as he sees his teammates and Steve has to smile because Tony is fighting this like the stubborn little asshole that he is.
Through ragged breaths Tony says something under the oxygen mask and his mouth twitches into a smile.
"Didn't quite catch that," Steve focuses directly on that smile, nothing else.
Tony grabs the mask with a shaky hand and pulls it off slightly and Steve just about hears him gasp, "I'm lying here dying and you're stood there laughing, some patron saint of America you are."
And Steve should be telling him off for taking off his mask but he looks at his best friend, laying there in front of him, and he can't help but smile because Tony Stark is the most patronising, sarcastic little son of a bitch he has ever met.