Tony Fanfics

In the Company of Friends By Daylight

Tony Stark felt like crap.

Turning over onto his back, he let out a long, low groan and stretched out all his limbs, none of them coming close to the edges of his king sized bed. The mattress shifted beneath him, the soft, warm sheets pooling around his body.

It couldn't be morning, he thought. He didn't care what Jarvis said. He felt like he hadn't slept in a week. It couldn't be morning yet.

Slowly opening his eyes, he blinked. It was bright, too bright. Jarvis must have already removed the tint from the large windows that encompassed an entire wall of his bedroom. He groaned again this time turning on to his other side, curling into a ball, and placing a pillow over his head.

"Sir?"

He curled up tighter and pressed the pillow down against his ear.

"Sir?" the British voice repeated even louder than before.

"What, Jarvis?" Tony replied in resignation his voice muffled by the pillow.

"I would just like to remind you that if you do not get up in the next five minutes, I am authorized to use the special alarm."

Tony groaned again.

"The one with the mixture of car alarms, police sirens, church bells, various animals howling, and Agent Barton singing in the shower."

"Okay! Okay. I'm up."

He tossed the pillow away and pulled himself over to the side of the bed letting his legs gracelessly flop over the edge as he sat up.

The room began to spin. He put a hand to his head as he waited for it to stop. Had he been drinking last night? He felt like crap, but it didn't quite feel like a hangover. He let his bleary mind flow back to the day before. No, he hadn't been drunk. He remembered now. Captain Terrific had cut him off after he'd only had two. He'd even gotten to bed at a reasonable time, well, two in the morning, but for him that was extremely reasonable.

He felt exhausted, his limbs felt weak, and the arc reactor in his chest felt heavier than usual. Was he sick? He better not be sick. He hated being sick. Contrary to popular belief, Tony Stark did care very much about his health. He ate a lot of healthy food: greens and fruit, fibre and whole grains, antioxidants and omega fatty acids. He exercised regularly: boxing, swimming, lifting weights. He knew he needed that stuff if he wanted to keep his mind sharp and his body looking good. It was just sometimes other stuff got in the way, and for a while, he'd forget about things like eating, or sleeping, or anything outside what he was working on in his lab, and lately there seemed to be a lot of stuff he needed to work on in his lab. Of course, now days there was also usually someone around to remind him to eat and drag him screaming from the lab when he tried to ignore them.

Tony yawned and wiped at the grit in his eyes.

"Sir, your five minutes are almost up."

"Hey. No fair. I'm up, aren't I? I'm awake. My eyes are open."

"You're still on the bed."

Tony looked down and realized he was in fact still on the bed. Putting a hand on the bedside table, he pushed himself to his feet, and then was forced to hold the hand there as the room spun once more and darkness crept along the edges of his vision.

"Sir, do you require assistance?"

"No. No, Jarvis. I'm fine. I just need coffee."

Yes, coffee was what he needed. Coffee would make everything better. After a quick side trip to the bathroom, he began stumbling through corridors and stairwells in search of coffee, which is how he eventually found himself in the common kitchen one floor below.