And one time Tony definitely did not want to die.

"No! Get the hell away from me! Get the hell away from me!" He shot off a repulsor blast, but it took a toll on his body. With only a barely charged arm of his suit, he didn't stand much of a chance against the ten huge… what the hell were these guys, anyways? Kidnappers? Assassins? S.H.I.E.L.D. agents?

It didn't matter. All that really mattered right now was Bruce was drugged, Steve was bleeding, and there were a bunch of guys between them and safety.

Where the hell were the others when you need them?!

He turned and blasted at another of the ten guys before dropping down to his hands and swinging his legs, knocking two onto the ground before flipping back up and slamming his mechanized fist into the face of another.

That was a bad move. He'd exposed his back to three others, and every single one of them had a gun. Steve was too busy trying to help Bruce to notice, so he wasn't able to block with his shield… so the bullets that sunk into Tony's skin had absolutely no resistance.

He fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes, eyes wide in shock, no noise coming from his mouth. He couldn't scream, his throat had clenched up from the pain and he was barely able to get a breath in, much less let a noise out. He clenched his eyes shut and told himself to push through the pain. He had friends to defend. He was not going to die. Not when Bruce and Steve were in danger.

"Tony!" Bruce shouted, trying to move to him. His muscles clenched up and he curled up on himself, the Hulk aching to get out, but unable even if Bruce wanted him to.

The billionaire chuckled internally at his own thoughts. They weren't going to kill Bruce and Steve. They had only incapacitated them before attacking him. They wanted Iron Man dead.

They weren't going to get it.

He pulled himself to his feet and held up his armored hand again, sending a blast that knocked him back towards Steve and Bruce. The doctor immediately grabbed him and held him steady, for which Tony was extremely grateful. It was be very painful to land on Captain America's shield with his injuries…

"Have at thee, villains!"

The sound of Thor's voice was the last thing Tony heard before blacking out.

"Tony?"

The billionaire's eyes fluttered open, greeted by the sight of Doctor Bruce Banner.

"Bruce…" He smiled, "How'd I do?"

"You saved our lives." Steve told him from somewhere out of his field of vision, "How do you feel?"

"Perfect. I'm okay. In fact, I just-"

Bruce stopped him from sitting up with a hand to his chest, "Tony, we pulled seventeen bullets out of you. Trust me, I know, I helped. You aren't going anywhere until I clear you. Not Clint, not Thor, not JARVIS, definitely not you, but me."

"Seventeen?"

"Natasha's putting them on a necklace and hanging them on one of your Iron Man displays. I think the Mark V… not sure."

"That's nice… I might wear it some time." He chuckled for a second before curling slightly in pain, "Oh… bad idea…"

"Just imagine if you'd actually sat up." Steve stood, appearing on Tony's right, "I'll go tell the others that you're awake."

"For now… I think… I think I'm gonna take a nap. That cool with you? Yeah…"

Bruce smiled, "Sleep all you want, Tony."

Tony chuckled, "Bruce?"

"Yes?"

"You can stop stroking the Arc Reactor…"

"Oh! Sorry!" Bruce pulled his hand back, "I didn't…"

"When I get better… I'll let you look at it. I'll take it out and show you how it works. Can't go for too long, though. It's keeping me alive, after all."

Bruce chuckled, "And we like you alive, Tony. We really do."

Tony decided to sleep on the question as to whether Bruce meant 'we' as in the Avengers… or 'we' as in Bruce and Hulk.

Sorry it took a while to post, but here it is! I hope you liked it!

Thanks to: TheOtherGuyHulk, .rain, LoViNgXtWiLiGhTxoxo, WhokilledCockRobin, reckless is a wreck, Demon Enma, and Horizon Gus Watson for reviewing!

To everyone who did not review: You are all not very nice people. You would let Tony die?! D8

Here, if you review this chapter, you'll not only save Tony's life, but the Hulk will tap dance with Steve. Who doesn't want to see Hulk and Steve tap dancing together? I think it'd be adorable.