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He opens his eyes to see blurry faces leaning over him.
The ceiling is moving and so is he.
His vision clears a little more and tony identifies the faces over him.
He sees the world through a thick veil of mist.
He tries to sit up but his hands and legs are strapped to the gurney he was lying on.
Tony panics. when he tries to move, pain flares in his abdomen and a frantic beeping comes from his side.
“Easy, easy,” someone says from above him. “Take it easy, tony.”
“’m fine,” he says.
Don’t let them take me again, he wants to say. don’t let them cut open my chest.
Someone sighs from his side.
“Why don’t you tell us you had an infected wound? getting hurt is not something that you can work through alone.”
Tony wants to disagree. he remembers letting his bots hold him as he applied sloppy bandages over bleeding gashes, all alone in his lab.
There is another memory that flashes in his mind.
Steve holding him as Bruce and Natasha cleaned his wound. thorn awkwardly holding bandages. clint taking his hand when he cries out in pain. him relaxing in those hands.
The same hands are on his body. he knows these hands.
He closes his eyes again.
When he wakes up next time, it is to Natasha sitting beside him. his mind is still blank, and his stomach throbs. tony shakes off the blanket and fumbles to tear open the bandages.
Someone grabs his hand and stops him. its Steve.
“Stay still, tony.” Bruce says. “Let me see.”
He carefully removes the bandage and peeks.
“Nothing too bad,” he comments. “The laceration was infected. its going to hurt, but you will be okay .”
“Its okay to say I’m not okay for once, tony.” Natasha whispers.” it doesn’t make you weak to show that you are human for once.”
Tony drifts.
He wakes up again to find all of his tam sitting around his bed. a couple of years before he wouldn’t let anyone see him so vulnerable, nor was there anyone to except pepper and Rhode to say in the hospital for him.
But he found this team on his way.
They started as a chemical rection that causes chaos and ended up as a family as united as they come.
Tony smiles as he watches the sleeping faces around him.