In which the mission begins
... Night one
Objective: Get Tony Stark to sleep.
Mission status: In progress
"Okay before we make any plans, Bruce is going to give us a briefing on what the full extent of what we are dealing with here," Steve gave Bruce an intro and then resigned himself to his seat. Bruce nodded somberly, and rolled up a giant whiteboard. The one they used for battle plans. Now was the perfect use for it.
"Thanks Steve," Bruce uncapped his marker, "The first very important thing that we need to remember is that Tony is smarter than all of us."
Bruce tossed each of them a file.
"Do not underestimate him just because he is sleep deprived and sick. While as of yesterday he seemed amicable, that doesn't mean he will stay that way. Before go any farther it is important I think that we understand his different levels of sleep deprived ness. Friday helped me with this," Bruce said expertly, "Level one sleep deprived Tony occurs usually when he has been 24 hours without sleep. He is usually agitated, drowsy and slow thinking. It is easiest to get him to sleep when he is in this stage. Phase two: when he has been 48 hours without sleep. At this point his drowsiness wears off. As does his irritability. This is usually the stage where he begins pretending everything is fine. Phase three: 72 hours without sleep. during this phase his intelligence, and inventiveness starts coming back. He starts getting hyper. Phase four is 96 hours without sleep. This is where things get bad. He gets more reckless with his inventiveness. Phase five: 120 hours without sleep Tony really starts to slip. His brain goes into inventive overdrive, and paranoia sets in. Finally there is phase six."
Everyone scooted a little closer in their seats as Bruce paused for dramatic effect.
"Phase six: I'll put it simply. Phase six is very bad. Like at that point he will probably be losing his grasp on reality."
"So we should have gotten him to bed like two days ago," Clint stated helpfully.
"Exactly. Once he reaches phase six the only option will be to sedate him. Even that will prove difficult," Bruce responded.
"So he is in between phase three and four right now?" Steve asked.
"yes so time is of the essence."
"So why don't we just sedate him now before everything goes to shit?" Nat asked.
"Because he might take it as hostile, and it is possible to set phases into action early, if we fail. It's too risky"
"Hey Mr. stark I think I going to bed now," Peter yawned.
Tony slumped his shoulders. He didn't want the kid to go to bed early.
"Alright, good night," Tony grumbled.
"You should to," Peter spoke hesitantly.
"Nah, I have work to do."
He had SO much work to do.
Peter frowned but didn't argue. The kid left the lab.
Tony poured himself a mug of coffee.
"Hey Tony."
Tony nearly jumped out of his skin.
"sorry," Bruce apologized, "The kid's worried about you. You should get some sleep."
"Nope. To busy."
Why was everyone obsessed with him sleeping?
"Tony, your sick. You don't need to add being sleep deprived to that."
Tony did feel like shit.
"That's what coffee is for."
"Tony..."
"No. I am not going to bed now. I have lab work, and then I have a shit ton of paper work."
"Tony all that can wait."
"Bruce if you are not going to be helpful please leave."
Tony was getting annoyed now.
He hated when people breathed down his neck, and tried to tell him what to do.
Bruce could sense the irritation prickling in his friend. He had a feeling he should quit pushing, and go to plan B.
Bruce didn't like plan B. He kept pushing hoping that he could still reason with his friend.
"Tony you aren't well."
The man stopped what he was doing.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
He should have gone with plan B.
Tony set down what he was working on and faced Bruce. His eyes had become cold and calculating.
Dangerous.
Tony clapped his hands twice. Two suits stepped out of their cases.
Tony turned back around.
"Since you apparently forgot where the door was, these two will show you the way out," Tony spoke coldly not even tossing a glance back at Bruce. He decided against protesting, and let the two suits drag him out of the lab. They tossed him down on the ground at the feet of The Avengers. The metal gaits that were meant to protect the lab in case of emergencies came crashing down.
Bruce flinched.
There was no way in now.
They all sat up late into the night and watched Tony work through the security camera feed.
The man stopped what he was doing and looked up at the camera.
He waved.
"Have fun watching nothing," the man smiled, picked up a gun and shot out the feed.
Bruce let an exasperated groan. He was in phase four, border line phase five.