Lab Emergency (December 1990)

Both Tony and Bruce Banner both had been spending a copious amount of hours trying to figure out why the collector coils were not holding a charge as soon as the Beta Radiation catalyst was initiated. There shouldn’t be any kind of feedback at all but in each reactor the bleed off became so severe that the coils burned themselves out. Beta Radiation was fairly volatile but when suspended in an Argon matrix it was safe as long as the argon remained above the irradiated gases that they used to prime the coils. Tony had built a containment system but they were going through the delivery cylinders so fast that he just moved the system closer to them so they didn’t have to keep going into the freezer for each one. The containment unit was about the size of a cube refrigerator about 6 cubic feet. It had a lid that opened up on hinges like a top loading freezer and inside were 12 cylinders that he removed with tongs and placed them into the metal holder that sat right above the mini Arc Reactor they were working on. Once they opened the coils and turned on the reactor they’d release the gas and the coils would soak up the Beta Radiation. The holder and reactor were in a small protected containment unit of its own on the lab table in front and the containment cube was behind them. Once he was done with the cylinder he removed it from the holder and placed it back into the small freezer containment unit. What Tony hadn’t noticed though was that one of the casters on the stand that held the cylinders wasn’t stable at all. He also hadn’t noticed that the residual radiation in the spent cylinders had begun to corrode some of the new cylinders and tainting the Argon gas with Beta Radiation particles.

Tonight like most nights he was in the lab and tonight was supposed to be his and Isabella’s date night. As late in her pregnancy as she was she sometimes got very sensitive about how much time he spent with her. Her insecurities about how she looked were probably no different than any other woman’s but when Tony spent too much time away like this she sometimes took it personally as if she thought he didn’t want to see her like this. Her concerns were far from the truth however. Tony found Isabella extremely sexy in her pregnancy and usually their date nights ended in having sex. Tony wore a black, rubber smock and he was analyzing the readings from the latest application of radiation when he saw her come into the lab out of the corner of his eye.

Finding out she was finally pregnant had been one of the happiest moments in Isabella's life. She and Tony had been thrilled and they had immediately started redesigning one of the guestrooms into a nursery. It wasn't until she was past her first trimester that an official announcement regarding her pregnancy was made. Reporters and photographers started hounding them even more, wanting to get pictures of the mother-to-be. Isabella, as always, remained gracious and poised and she never missed an event she was scheduled to attend.

When she was five months pregnant they found out the baby was a girl and that thrilled Tony and Isabella even more. They had both been wanting a girl and Tony had even already picked out a name for her...Serena. They kept the sex of the baby from the public, though those close to them knew.

For the most part, Isabella's pregnancy was going well. She experienced most things that other mothers-to-be experienced...morning sickness, heartburn, frequent urination. However, it was her appearance that she seemed to be struggling with the most. She knew that Tony had loved the way her body loved pre-pregnancy. Now, she looked completely different and her self-esteem and confidence was taking a hit...especially now that she was 7 months pregnant.

Isabella and Tony had a date night planned. Tony was supposed to be taking her to this new restaurant that no one could get reservations to...well anyone that wasn't Tony Stark. Isabella was dressed up and ready to go. She had taken extra time in doing her makeup and hair as it made her feel better about herself. She had put on the perfume she knew Tony loved and was wearing the earrings and necklace he had bought her for her last birthday. However, as their reservation time drew closer she noticed that Tony wasn't getting dressed. She sighed and walked down to the lab where she knew he was working with Bruce. She walked in and saw what he was working on so she was careful.

"Tony, our reservation is in half an hour."

Tony was writing down the readings as Isabella spoke. “Ok, I’ll be right there babe, Happy can get us there in 20,” he said as he shifted to stand up. Once he untied and removed the rubber smock she saw he was already dressed. With a light gray sport coat, salmon colored button down shirt unbuttoned just enough so she could see some of his chest hair and matching light gray slacks with brown shoes. He needed to put on his watch and jewelry but other then that he looked pretty ready to go. He bent down once more to write but when he heard her make a noise of displeasure he dropped his pen and straightened.

“Ok, lets go,” he said as he stepped toward the exit. Ofcourse she couldn’t move as fast as he could. “Well come on, now you’re holding us up,” he said quickly in his usual fashion of trying to diffuse his own inadequacies. He didn’t say anything about how she looked yet and barely even looked at her as clearly his mind was still on what he was working on.

Isabella was trying to remain patient with Tony. They had made these reservations two months ago and he had been looking forward to going as much as she had. However, now that it came down to it he clearly wanted to remain here in his lab tonight working. She knew he would go, but he wouldn't be happy and he would sit there continuing to work in his head instead of actually being there with her. It also bothered her that he hadn't mentioned anything about the way she looked. She had put a lot of time and effort into it tonight for him, but he didn't even notice.

She finally just shook her head and didn't move. "You clearly would rather be here working," she said in an irritated voice. "I'm not going to sit there at dinner with you still working in your head...not after the amount of time and effort I put in to getting ready."

When he started to argue with her and took a few steps towards her she took a step back from him. She didn't notice the containment unit on a rolling shelving unit behind her until she backed into it...

In truth most of the time Tony was only half into what he was doing. His mind worked almost constantly and that included even when he was having sex. It was just how his brain was wired and Isabella knew this full well. Right now however obviously she wanted his full attention and wasn’t getting it right then and had become angry. At the angle and distance he was at he couldn’t see what exactly had happened. The stand toppled and metal cylinders crashed onto the floor behind Isabella. Almost immediately she was bathed in a yellow gas before Tony could take another step toward her.

“Isabella!” He cried but the safety glass at the front of the lab came down before he could get to her. At first he shouldered and pounded upon it but it wasn’t going to break. He knew that but seeing her on the floor made him panic.

“Sir, there is a dangerous chemical in the lab, I’m venting it now,” jarvis said moments later. Tony was already putting in the code to open the glass and he didn’t care if he became irradiated or not. His FAMILY was inside and he was outside fumbling wiht a stupid code! His mistyped it again and it flashed red. The venting system kicked up full force and the emergency sprinklers went on as well to remove any residual contamination. Finally Tony got the code right and and the glass came up. He rushed in to find Isabella unconscious on the floor. She was soaking wet and her flesh had a yellow caste to it. He didn’t waste time he picked her up and ran with her to the medical bay. He had just put in their first biobed but it hadn’t even fully been tested yet. He laid her down onto it and it suddenly came to life and began diagnosing her.

The bed’s screens and lights turned on and its large arm moved. She was alive but her heart rate wasn’t stable. “Sir, she has ingested a good deal of Argon gas, please initiate the oxygen mask,” Jarvis said and a small panel opened and presented him with one. He removed it in a rush and placed it over her face and wrapped the band around the back of her head. Oxygen began to flow into her lungs immediately.

“The Beta radiation in her system has a low penetration yield however do to the amount that she came into contact with her body is absorbing a dangerously high dose. “Jarvis, the baby, how is the baby?” Tony asked. “The fetus appears to be absorbing the radiation at twice the rate that Isabella is,” Jarvis said but didn’t say if that was good or bad. All Tony could do is wait...and pray.

Isabella remained unconscious for the next several hours. Her heart rate remained unstable for a while before finally stabilizing. Tony left the oxygen mask on her as a precaution and an IV was inserted to keep her fluids up. Bruce was informed about what happened and quickly came down to the medical suite. All they could do though was wait for her to wake up.

After three hours she began to regain consciousness. She moved a little on the bio bed, which Bruce pointed out to Tony. Then, her eyes began to flutter open.

Tony hadn’t hardly moved since he laid her down in the bed. Bruce had been back and forth but there was little anyone could do right then. No one knew much about Beta Radiation poisoning or Argon gas poisoning. Not even SHIELD. Jarvis had been feeding them updates and it was becoming clear that the baby seemed much more in danger than Isabella was because oddly the baby was absorbing the radiation. When they saw their eyes open Tony was over her and had a hold of her hand.

“Isabella? Isabella?” He said. “I’m here baby, I’m here,” Tony said softly.

Isabella blinked up at Tony as his face came into focus. She struggled to remember what had happened, but then it all came back to her. She was terrified and she pulled off the oxygen mask and looked at him.

“Is the baby ok?!”

Tony hadn’t expected her to start with that and he looked over at the monitor that held the baby’s lifesigns. She was struggling and had a weak heartbeat but she was still alive. His eyes shifted back to Isabella’s. “She’s fine, she’s going to be fine,” he lied. He really had no idea if Serena was going to pull through or not and if she did, was she going to be deformed or have some other issue? He had been careless and he almost lost his family because of it.

“I’m so sorry Isabella,” he said as he kissed her hand and she’d feel his tears on her knuckles as he rubbed her hand on his face. For now it was just the two of them. “You absorbed alot of beta radiation…” he said but didn’t say anything more.

Isabella was clearly upset, but she could see that Tony was upset too. She didn’t know if she could believe Tony when he said Serena was going to be fine. Tears filled her eyes as she looked at Tony.

“I don’t care about me. I care about my baby.”

Tony was faced with either letting Isabella get more and more upset or to tell her the truth so there was nothing unknown between them. Isabella getting upset wasn’t going to help the baby at all.

“Serena,” It was odd using their daughter’s name even before she was born but there it was. “She’s...absorbed most of the radiation. Her heartbeat is very weak,” he said finally as if he had to drag the words out. “Jarvis said it wasn’t a lethal dose for an adult,” Tony said carefully. “It’s just to early to tell,” he said as he brushed her hair back.

Hearing what Tony said about their daughter having absorbed most of the radiation did little to calm Isabella down. She felt tears start streaming down her cheeks as she placed the blame of what had happened on her shoulders.

“I should have just left you alone and not come into the lab.”

“Please don’t say that, it’s not your fault,” Tony said as he looked at her. “You had every right to be upset with me. I was just being...obsessive and careless. This is my fault Isabella, no one else's,” he said, feeling his stomach clench. He felt sick. This was happening because he was a selfish man. He could have set this aside. What was he in such a hurry for? He didn’t know. He just ‘gets’ into something and doesn’t like to stop until he’s figured it all out.