Tony’s eyes are momentarily dazzled by the light, which is so much brighter than he remembers and he automatically attributes it to not having been in real darkness since Afghanistan. Hearing Bruce’s voice, he turns to him, eyes so squinted they’re almost closed.

“The reactor isn’t working. I don’t know how long it’s been dead. But I’ve got—Usually I’ve got about twenty minutes.” Inside, he’s panicking. He doesn’t know what to do and he doesn’t want to die. More than that, he doesn’t want to kill everyone else by tampering too much with the reactor. Outwardly, his voice is mostly steady, though the words come slightly faster than usual.

“I need you to—You have to take it. The Hulk needs to take it away and destroy it. I’m not going to get very far on my own. After about ten minutes I have trouble walking, I can’t be in the middle of town when I die if it goes off. They said they rigged it to blow but I don't know and I can't take the chance that they're lying.”