Twisted Fates | ironstrange (Book 1)

Nepal

Tony Stark sitting in a commercial plane in one of the least expensive seats was definitely a sight to see. The man in question, however, chose to ignore the odd glances he received and instead focused on the fidget toy he had bought at the airport gift shop to keep him busy.

Why? Because he was scared. Not just scared: terrified. His condition had worsened in the few hours he had been traveling, therefore most strenuous movement hurt and he was on a plane that was about to take him farther than he's ever been before, besides Afghanistan.

But the best part? The cherry on top? He was helpless. He had already made his decisions, no going back. All he could do was sit in the seats that were a little more comfortable than he'd like to admit, play with his toys, take more painkillers and blood thinners and all the other medicine he had been prescribed, and pray that this 'Kamar-Taj' would help.

So in summary, Tony Stark was indeed, terrified, clutching the arms rests of his seat as the plane jerked into motion and began it's ascent into the sky.

A few minutes after Tony had calmed himself down, the plane reached cruising altitude, the seatbelt sign turned off, and Tony finally allowed himself to relax and let the low hum of the plane's engine lull him to sleep.

~

Ten hours later, Tony woke up with a scream. Clutching his reactor tightly, covered in a cold sweat, and hot tears running down his face, he ignored the nasty looks the other passengers shot him. He didn't care, they wouldn't understand that the nightmares were getting worse. He hadn't even had nightmares in a few days -they were few and far between- but each was worse then the last.

Gulping in deep breaths, Tony tried to forget his dream. Tears were still wet of his cheeks but Tony didn't really care as a sudden wave of panic washed over him. Knowing it was a panic attack, Tony tried to keep it at bay but in hindsight, trying to forget a bad dream and warding off an oncoming panic attack at the same time was really not the best idea.

About a minute passed and Tony still couldn't calm himself down. Instead, he was pulled back into reality by a warm hand on his shoulder. His breath hitching, Tony tried to focus on the man in front of him as the stranger walked him through various breathing exercises until the billionaire was calm.

Breathing reaching a steadier pace, Tony was able to focus and take in the features of his rescuer.

Bright blue eyes hid behind dark sunglasses, belonging to an older man with short, graying hair, and sporting a matching mustache.

"There we go, sonny. Breathe." Tony nodded, focusing on his breathing once more until he had fully calmed and could hold a decent conversation with the man in front of him. "That was a bad one- are you okay, son?" Tony shook his head.

"'m cold." Was all he could say, exhaustion taking over ever part of his body.

The man frowned before nodding in understanding and removing the blanket on his lap, laying it over Tony instead and tucking it in at the sides.

Tony began to shiver, the adrenaline wearing off, his forehead drenched in a cold sweat. He felt the man grab his shoulders and burry his head in the older man's side. It seemed the man had no limit on personal space, but at the moment, Tony really didn't care. He instinctively felt his tense muscles relax slightly when he felt a warm and gentle hand rubbing his back, much like his mother used to do.

Tony felt his eyes start to close slightly when he heard the old man's voice again. "What happened, sonny? That attack was harsh."

"Nightmare.." Tony whispered after a beat of hesitation. The man nodded softly, accepting the billionaire's answer.