It took the better part of two days and calling in a handful of specialists from the city, but Bruce had completed his evaluation of Tony's condition and had called the team into the conference room for a meeting to discuss his findings. Each of you filed in slowly until each chair was filled, but the silence in the room hung heavily as you waited; Steve took the seat next to yours rather than at the head of the table as he usually would, reserving that spot for the doctor, and so that he could keep a hold on your hand while you received whatever news he had, good or bad.

Tony had taken the chair to your other side, but rather than taking your hand or so much as looking in your direction, he was staring straight ahead at the large glass screen that was now illuminated with two images; on the left was his healthy brain from before the mission that left him with the image of the brain on the right. They didn't match, and that alone had him even more terrified than he was before.

"Dad, you okay?"

"Always."

"Has Bruce told you anything yet?"

"Nope," he sighed, finally glancing towards you, "I'm as in the dark as you are. It has to be bad, right? I mean, my brain should look the same if it wasn't bad, don't you think?"

"Let's just wait to hear what he has to say, okay?" you smiled gently, reaching over and taking his hand if he wasn't going to take the initiative himself. "We're all here for you, no matter what, remember that."

"I know, sweetheart."

The last few stragglers of Peter and Wade filed in and took a stand along the wall, keeping out of the way, but Wade had clearly chosen a spot to keep you in his sights. He had been worried about you since Tony was found, though he wouldn't make any move towards you unless you asked for help; it was Steve's place to offer comfort, and he would be a friend when you called on him to be there. This environment wasn't his and he felt out of place, just waiting until the moment came when he could be dismissed to go back to his own life and away from the team that he had no real love for.

"Okay, thanks for coming in, everyone," Bruce began. "Tony asked that you all be here when he receives the results of his brain scan, which you can see here on the screen behind me. After working with the top neurologists in New York, we think we have at least the most likely answer. We may never know the exact reason for the changes that we're seeing, but we're feeling secure that we have it."

Tony's hand squeezed tightly over yours, a slight tremor in it radiating up his arm when he took a shaky breath and held it as he listened to his friend give him news that could very easy be about to ruin his career and life as an Avenger. Even so, there was no one that he trusted more to ruin him than Bruce Banner.

"On the left, we have Tony's healthy brain, in a scan taken six months ago during a routine exam."

"Why do you routinely scan his brain?" Natasha asked, her eyes intently focused on the images.

"We want to make sure that there are no long-term effects to wearing the helmet on such a consistent basis. Purely a precaution," he answered readily, turning back to the pictures. "On the right, we have his brain after the accident. You can see that there are several areas that are hazy and muted, where the ridges aren't as defined as in other areas. I believe that Tony suffered a high voltage shock when FRIDAY shorted out and killed the power to the suit; Tony took a strong surge from the arc reactor before he fell, but luckily, the points that were hit weren't any of his vital control centers for breathing, cardiac function, movement, things like that."

"So will it get better," Steve added quietly, looking to his friend and reluctant father-in-law, "or are the changes permanent?"

"There's a widespread synaptic delay, causing his memory loss and word-searching problems. Even things such as simple math are a challenge right now because the neurons in the brain are sluggish when they try to communicate." Bruce set his tablet on the table and removed his glasses, bringing the edge of his white lab coat up to clean the lenses as he continued. "We think that with time, therapy, and education, this can be reversed. We can give mediations to try to speed up the repair process in the synapses, but ultimately, using the brain and challenging its function will make the greatest strides."

"That's good news, Dad," you smiled gently, "it sounds like it's not permanent." All he could do was smile back and squeeze your hand again in agreement before releasing it, his brain working on processing what he was hearing. You pushed your chair back slightly and waved Peter over to you, standing to meet him so that you could talk to him at the door and in private.

"I need your help, Pete. I need to know if you're up for helping me fix FRIDAY."

"Are you serious? That's some really advanced tech, (Y/N). Without Mr. Stark..."

"He's not even close to an option, and I need FRIDAY responding so I can ask her what really happened before Dad's fall. I need to make sure that both the suit and the system were secure and there was no sabotage or foul play going on. How about if you just check it out with me, and if you decide that it's too much, I won't ask questions if you leave."

"I can look," he hesitantly agreed, "but don't hold your breath on me having a clue about what I'm seeing."

~~~

"Stark, how you feeling?"

Tony looked up from his workstation in the lab at the sudden visitor, quickly dropping the tools from his hand to greet him. "Fury," he nodded, wiping his hands on his jeans, "they called you in too?"

"Not exactly, I'm just here as a deliveryman today," he smirked, turning around to lead two men into the room, each holding the end of a large crate that they set on the counter top with a loud bang. "I found a little something back at the old HQ that I thought you might be interested in. It might be good for you and (Y/N) to go through it all together."

"What is it?" Tony asked, removing the lid to begin his search before he knew what he was getting into, per his usual.

"Just some old stuff from SHIELD back in the day. There are a few things from Peggy Carter that Cap might want, and a bunch from Howard."

Tony took a step back with a scoff, dropping the lid back on the case angrily, "I don't want it, thanks anyway."

"It might help you jog the brain if you find anything that you could remember. It might be worth a shot to put the feelings aside to give it a try," Nick argued, though he stood steady. "You might just find out a few things about yourself that you didn't know before you battled a bug zapper."

"I know enough, and that there are things about my father that (Y/N) never needs to know. Take it back."

Nick's expression shifted just as quickly as Tony's attitude had, and his eyes saddened at the realization that the Tony Stark standing before him now was the same one that he had met years ago. The years of work it had taken to build a mutual trust and even a friendship of sorts had been all but erased away, and he feared that they may never be recovered. "I'm just trying to help," he said quietly, "I care about you, Tony."

"If that's true Nick, then you'll take it back."

~~~

Wade sat in the lab and waited while you and Peter opened up FRIDAY's mainframe and worked on unlocking the programming that could hopefully get her to talk to you, mindlessly playing with a few tools that had been scattered around the room, most likely during Tony's last visit. The two of you had been working for hours now, and the boredom was starting to wear thin.

"What does this do?" Wade asked, holding up something that looked extremely complicated and extremely breakable.

"No!" you snapped, rushing across the room to gently pull it from his hands. "Do you know how expensive that is? That's one-of-a-kind. Tony invented it himself."

"But what is it?"

"I don't know," you huffed, setting it gingerly on a table on the far side of the room, "but that doesn't mean that you can play with it."

"Hmm, fine," he muttered, lowering his head into his hand. He tapped his fingers against the table top slowly, speeding up his rhythm into a frantic pace, then shifting to slap his full hand, then joined by the other, before long creating a maddening pattern that had both you and Peter staring his way in annoyance. "(Y/N)," he whined, "I'm bored."

"So go bother someone else," Peter offered, "anyone else."

"Hey, (Y/N) wants me here, isn't that right?"

You turned back to Wade, already having returned to your work, glancing at him with a shrug and an apologetic smile, leaving him to gasp out a reply in his shock that the one person he thought that he could count on had his back. "Well..."

"Oh, bitch move, (Y/N)," he hissed, shaking his head. "Cold as fucking ice. But you know what, that's fine. I'll just go talk to Steve for a while. The old man could use a little enlightenment on his darling wifey."

"No! No, no, no, Wade," you argued, rushing to grab his arm before he could get away, "stay here! I'm sorry. Please...just stay here."

Now Peter's attention was pulled away as well, bringing him to stand at your side with a growing curiosity in his eyes as he watched you with your mutual friend. "Okay, why are you so desperate to keep him here? What's going on with you two?"

"She doesn't want me to spill certain information to her unbelievably sexy husband."

"What information?" Pete asked quickly, perking up with a wide grin towards you. "Does Wilson have blackmail on you? Oh, this is great! I always thought you were too perfect to have anything on you."

"Why the hell would you think that she's perfect?" Wade scoffed. "She's a fucking Stark and an Avenger, yuck. I mean, sure, she's really pretty, and she's too fucking smart for her own good, and there's that thing that she can do with her tongue-"

"Stop!" you barked. "That's plenty, Wade. Sit down and be quiet, please."

"Chickenshit."

"Miss (Y/N)?"

The three of you froze in place at the new voice in the room, you and Peter exchanging glances of shock that would quickly turn into temporary relief at hearing FRIDAY coming back to life around you. "FRIDAY," you replied with a sigh, "you're back."

"Yes, but I must ask you, if you will, is Mr. Stark alright?"

"FRIDAY, what's the last thing that you remember before the suit shut down?"

"Is he alright?" she repeated, in a strangely firm tone that set you on edge.

"Yes, other than some memory trouble after the jolt of electricity took him down. Do you know what happened to the suit, FRIDAY?"

There was a long silence after your question, and you grew nervous that she had shut her system down again when you weren't even sure how or why she had come back in the first place. Peter turned and was about to go back into the hardware when her voice filled the room once more. "Yes, miss, I do."

"Okay...can you tell me?"

"It was the only way," she answered, her voice quiet and sad, if her programming even allowed for it. Nonetheless, the tone was unmistakable. "I had to stop him."

"FRIDAY...what does that mean? Why did you have to stop Tony?" Wade joined in. He took a few steps towards you and took your arm, and it felt as if he were positioning himself to protect you. From what, you weren't sure, but it made a sick feeling swirl in your stomach that his senses were now on alert. "To save him from something...right?"

"Yes. To save him..." she answered slowly, "from...something. I'm programmed to protect Mr. Stark. I wouldn't harm him purposefully. Unless...he was a threat."

"Okay, this is all kinds of fucked up," Wade whispered to you, "and I want you out of here now."

~~~

Tony stood on the far side of his lab, staring at the large crate that Nick refused to take away, the name Stark painted on every side, taunting him and calling to him to dare to open it again. He considered calling Steve to have him go through it all to retrieve anything that he might want, then he'd take it out onto the compound lawn and torch the whole thing without another thought. The problem of it all was, he did have thoughts about it; he was becoming quickly obsessed with what the box might hold, and it was driving him mad.

"Son of a bitch," he groaned, slamming his fist against the cold steel of his workstation as he passed by. He grabbed the lid of the crate and paused, closing his eyes to take a deep breath in a futile attempt to calm himself, when all it did was piss him off that he was being so indecisive. It wasn't like him to be indecisive; he couldn't stand that his own convictions were failing him, and if Nick was right, maybe there was something here that could help him find them again. He also couldn't stand that his hands were shaking as they moved the items around in his search, and the sound of his racing heartbeat in his ears was maddening.

The first item that landed in his hand, even when he didn't purposefully reach for it, was an envelope bearing his name, in handwriting that sent a sickening chill down his spine. He turned it over slowly and ran his finger beneath the seal, the tearing of paper leaving a small cut behind on his skin. "Typical," he muttered, wiping the few drops of blood on his shirt. Before he could take the fragile paper from the envelope, Steve burst through the lab doors, his eyes full of panic and his grip strong as he grabbed Tony's arm to pull him away.

"Tony, we need to get you out of the building. Right now."

"Why? What the hell is going on?"

"It's FRIDAY," Steve panted, "something's gone wrong in her programming and it's not safe for you to be here until Pete and (Y/N) can figure it out. I need to get you to safety until they do."

"I'm not leaving if (Y/N) is here, Steve. If it's not safe for me, what if it isn't for her either? What if FRIDAY tries to stop her?"

Steve kept pulling on Tony's arm, despite the fight against him; Tony knew that he wasn't a match for the Captain's strength, but it didn't stop him from his efforts. "She's already trying, Tony. That's why it's imperative that you move. FRIDAY has them locked out of the mainframe so they can't get in to shut her down. (Y/N)'s pulled the reactors from your extra suits to keep them powered down, but just having you in the building could still be dangerous for you until we know what FRIDAY is trying to do."

"Rogers, I'm not-"

"Okay, yeah, we're done," Steve huffed, leaning down and grabbing Tony's legs, throwing him over his shoulder like a petulant child. "You're leaving whether you like it or not. (Y/N)'s orders."