Hollow Scars 32
Title: Hollow Scars
Chapter: 32 Preparations
Author: Me
Disclaimer: Iron Man and the movie-verse including all of its characters do NOT belong to me, but to Marvel and all its glory. Though, Scarlett Damien does belong to me.
Comic: Iron Man
Pairing/Characters: Tony Stark/Scarlett Damien, Pepper, Rhodey, Happy
Rating: M
Author's Note: I write long chapters! I mean not excessively crazy long but long enough! I'm the sort of writer who likes to think of their stories as novels and so I aspire to give readers what they would expect upon purchasing a book. I average around 13-15 pages a chapter, but sometimes I've got less and sometimes more! I hope you can look past the length and the time it may take to read and give it a shot. I promise quality work.
“…Tony, are you still there?” The annoying hissing in Tony’s ear startled him awake from his temporary stupor. A blow to the head had been more than enough to knock him unconscious. In his mind’s eye he saw the horrible zombie-like creature that had mindlessly come lumbering toward him in the abandoned area surrounding the MedCo building. What had he been thinking giving himself up so easily and going in there without his Mark armor? The zombie-Erick-monster wouldn’t have stood a chance against his repulsors.
The answer was that he hadn’t been thinking very much at all, he supposed. As previously stated on numerous occasions Tony Stark had a tendency to over think things which was why he often acted on impulse. It kept his mind from dwelling unnecessarily on things of little importance. Unfortunately, this also landed him into more trouble than he could remember if asked to make a list of all the troubles he had suffered. Truth be told, Tony couldn’t even remember how much trouble it had gotten him into in the last month nonetheless overall so the question would’ve been fruitless.
But this particular instance outside of Moscow certainly topped the list, at least for that particular month.
Vision still blurred thanks to the blow he’d taken to the head, Tony wanted to reach up and rub his eyes but found that his arms were rather stuck, shackled behind his back. At least he guessed they were held by shackles, judging by the metal that was rubbing against his wrists and making them raw already. Blinking his eyes again in an attempt to clear his vision, he heard the static in his earpiece that had woken him up and tried once more to shake his head in an attempt to make it stop. Shaking had worked for a second but soon the sound was cutting out again. Maybe there was something in the walls of the building that was preventing his signal from getting through properly.
Then Tony reconsidered. There was no way that MedCo could beat his technology; it just wasn’t possible! Arrogance was practically Tony’s middle name (though it was truly Edward) but half of what he was arrogant about (and he would argue far more than half if asked) he had good reason to be. Technology was an extension of Tony’s genius, practically. It was no longer something that he worked with or advanced, not since he’d donned the metallic suit and became Iron Man. Now it was part of him and Tony had gone to great lengths to take care of every part of him, including his technology.
No, something must have been wrong with the earpiece after the struggle. If he could get to the small and easily concealed piece of machinery to fix it then he could communicate with Rhodey but that was proving far more difficult than he would have liked it to be considering that his hands were bound behind his back and his feet were bound to the legs of a chair that was bolted in place on the linoleum floor.
Ignoring the static that tickled his sinuses and made him shiver, Tony took in his surroundings since his vision had finally focused. He was being held in an insulated concrete room where the walls were painted white but had faded to an unpleasant gray. The linoleum floor had once been white to match the paint but the grout between the false tiles was tinged with pink and brown. All that Tony could think to have made that color could’ve been blood and he really didn’t like the idea of that. Hopefully it wasn’t Scarlett’s blood. That would’ve been the worst thing to happen that day so far and a great many terrible things had happened that particular day. Had Mikhail tortured her like he’d promised he would? Somehow Tony had no doubt that he had.
So much for coming to her rescue like a white knight, anyway. At this rate by the time he got to her she’d be dead.
“Stop it, right there, Tony.” He muttered to himself though he wished Jarvis was there to reassure him that Miss Damien’s familiar heat signature was somewhere nearby but the earpiece merely continued to buzz hopelessly.
“Tony… you? Can’t… static.” Rhodey’s voice cut in and out of his earpiece with random words that even Tony Stark’s genius couldn’t string together into a proper sentence.
“Rhodes?” Still, as annoying as the buzzing was, if he could at least sort of hear Rhodey and that was better than hearing no one at all. Talking to someone else could keep his mind occupied for the time being. It gave him further hope that he would still be able to call the Mark VII to his aid at some point. He hadn’t anticipated having to manage escape without it so he had to hold onto that hope that he could still get to it. Tony was more than capable of protecting himself in physical confrontation but he wasn’t confident the way that he was when he was in the suit and that was ultimately his downfall.
It was difficult for him to admit but he knew it was the truth. The suit had become a safety net in the last two years and without it, Tony felt much like a child without his favorite blanket. Tony tilted his head to the side as the earpiece buzzed again annoyingly, making his ear itch. Leaning his head to the side to reach his shoulder, Tony rubbed his ear against his greased up t-shirt and tried to relieve the itch he felt but it was no use.
“Tony? Tony, can you hear me?” Rhodey’s voice came through far clearer and the annoying buzzing finally stopped though the itch remained.
“Rhodey?” Tony popped his head back up but was met with the annoying hissing once more. “Damnit, come on…” Tony grunted, leaning to itch his ear again and was surprised when the static interference faded again and Rhodey’s voice made it through the earpiece without getting garbled up by whatever had broken in his earpiece.
“Tony, Tony, are you there? I thought I heard you for a second… Damnit Jarvis can you get him back online…?”
“Really? Really, this is how things are going to happen right now? Son of a…” Tony grumbled when he realized that he had to lean his head against his shoulder to make any communication possible with Rhodey, Sergei, or Jarvis.
“Tony? Thank god! I’m almost there. I need to know what you want me to do when I get there. You’ll never believe what…” Elated, Rhodey was practically laughing through the earpiece.
“Calm down, Rhodes.” Tony tried to wiggle his head to the side and find a more comfortable way to compress the earpiece but knew that he would have to sacrifice comfort for communication. Tony was not used to making sacrifices of any kind so this was asking very much of him. “Something in the earpiece broke. I’m going to have to get a better look at it but it seems when I squish it, it works fine.”
“I’ve never seen a piece of machinery that you can’t fix, bro.”
“Bro? Really?”
“I’m nervous, throw me a bone here, Tony. I’ve been trying to get your attention for an hour almost.” Rhodey chuckled, relieved to hear that Tony had retained his sense of humor. Surely with the amount of sarcasm in his voice, he couldn’t have been in too much trouble.
“I’m going to continue to harass you about this when I have proper time. Look, my hands are in some kind of cuffs or something bound between this… horrible uncomfortable chair that should be banned, but I’m going to have to pick my way out of those before I can get to the earpiece which means I have to hunch down like Quasimodo if you want to talk to me. What did the people who made those chairs in Afghanistan make these too?” Rhodey laughed on the other end of the earpiece and Tony pouted. He did not quite see the same humor in his situation that Rhodey seemed to.
Rolling his shoulders in an attempt to find a comfortable position Tony grunted in annoyance but somehow managed to move his wrists closer together. There were no tools available for him to pick the lock with but he might have been able to break them anyway if he could figure out how they were put together. Tony had made his way out of handcuffs a number of times for a series of reasons, and hoped that his after-hours extracurricular activities would at last benefit him in a completely different kind of way.
“When I get there what do you want me to do? It won’t be long now.” Rhodey cleared his throat once the fit of laughter had ceased. Tony had always been a pro when it came to clearing the tense air in a bad situation and this wasn’t any different. “I’ve got backup on the way. S.H.I.E.L.D. is on their way, they’ve cleared troops with the Russian government, god only knows how Agent Coulson pulled that off but…”
“S.H.I.E.L.D. sent troops in? I had a feeling they knew more about what was going on here than they let on. I should’ve contacted Coulson ages ago but I’ve been sort of preoccupied the last few days.” Tony murmured and closed one of his eyes to focus on the handcuffs that bound him. They were far sturdier than any he’d ever encountered. Even when he’d been held captive by the terrorists in Afghanistan he hadn’t been bound the way he was now. MedCo obviously wasn’t going to take any chances when dealing with Tony Stark and it was about time they started treating him more like a threat and less like a nuisance. Though he supposed he would’ve preferred if they had underestimated him just one more time.
“Well, they’ve apparently been on MedCo’s tail ever since your girl caused that explosion down south in Africa.”
“I’ve got so many innuendos and so little time.” Tony muttered as he continued to struggle against his bonds. Rhodey chuckled again.
“Stop it, how am I supposed to keep taking this seriously if you keep joking around like that?”
“The real question is how are you not taking this seriously? I mean, you’re usually Captain serious. Why am I in charge of the seriousness? I hate it, Rhodey.”
“That’s Lieutenant Colonel serious to you.”
“My bad, I always get the military ranks all confused and you know how little I actually care.” Tony rolled his eyes and then relaxed his arms and let out a deep and heavy sigh of frustration. “I can’t get these damn handcuffs off.”
“Tony, try to take it easy okay?” Rhodey was glad that Tony kept breaking the tension, but he wasn’t so sure it was as good a thing as he felt it was. Tony was in serious trouble and he hoped he realized that.
“Says the guy who isn’t tied to a chair.”
“You never answered my question. You’re really good at avoiding uncomfortable ones but this is important.”
“I mostly did that because you won’t like my answer,” said Tony while he tried again to get his way out of the handcuffs in vain. Maybe they really were shackles. They were made out of far thicker material than the standard issue handcuffs that were used in the United States. But who the hell used shackles anymore? This wasn’t a medieval torture chamber in some fairy tale it was a prison cell outside of Moscow. Did they even make shackles anymore? Was there a shackle business outside of those made for movies and those who took Dungeons and Dragons very seriously?
“Tony,” groaned Rhodey in disapproval. “Why not? Why won’t you let me storm the prison? That seems like the only logical thing to do.”
“It’s not a prison, first of all, I just happen to be in a prison cell. Get your facts straight Rhodey. From what I saw on the blueprints it… it looks a lot like a factory… or a hospital. There are medical wings and computer cubicles and then horrible underground operating rooms and prison cells, one that I’m being kept in.”
“You can’t keep avoiding the question. I’m finding it less and less funny.”
“I’m not, I’m just… my thoughts are kind of everywhere right now. I’m uncomfortable and itchy… it’s all bad for thinking.” Tony grumbled as he continued, developing a crick in his neck from having sat hunched over for so long. “I need you to hold back when you get here which I’m sure will be any minute, right?”
“Why would I hold back though? Tony, do you hear how stupid you sound?”
“How many times have you said that and been horribly wrong about how stupid I am? We could check the IQ tests again and see which one of us is the genius here, if you like. I’m pretty sure the six doctorates on my wall at home would argue with you.”
“You’re not acting much like a genius right now. We have a real chance at stopping MedCo right now but you want me to hold back and give them time to realize what you’re up to?” There was suddenly a great amount of noise from Rhodey’s end of the line and Tony could only guess that meant one thing. His friend arrived on the scene and was weighing his decisions. S.H.I.E.L.D. would likely be arriving right after him and it would only be a matter of time before Rhodey couldn’t keep them from storming the gate. After his argument with Scott, Tony knew in his heart that if the military rushed in guns blazing then he would kill Scarlett so that no one else could have her. It may have sounded crazy and irrational but Scott was the definition of crazy and irrational.
“I’ve got a bad feeling.” Tony wasn’t sure how to explain his line of thinking to Rhodey and he was damn tired of getting a responsibility speech from his friend. Why was Rhodey even arguing with him about it? He knew what they were doing was the right thing to do, even if it wasn’t the smartest thing to do.
Hadn’t Rhodey been harassing him for years about his moral compass? Now that it was finally on the level the argument had changed into something else entirely.
“About what?”
“About what would happen to Scarlett if you stormed in here and if I summoned my suit. I need to… I need to find her first and then you can set the place on fire for all I care.” He heard Rhodey’s annoyed groan but didn’t care what he was thinking. Tony’s head and heart weren’t in the wrong place. This was about Scarlett whether he wanted it to be or not. It had always been about Scarlett and while she may have hated that and he hated it too, that was the truth. MedCo and Scarlett were in the midst of an all out war and the body count was growing with each battle. Tony didn’t see a way she could win without someone by her side.
“Tony.”
“Don’t,” positively exasperated after arguing while trying to free himself sitting in an odd position, Tony managed to silence his friend with the tone of his voice. “I’ve got to play hero for just a little longer and then you can send in the cavalry.”
“It’s just me out here for the time being anyway. If I came in then they’d kill you and they’d kill Scarlett. You’re right about that. But when S.H.I.E.L.D. gets here with backup Tony, I’m sending them in. I don’t care who you have in there and who’s tied up where… this has to end. Someone’s going to wind up dead and I don’t want it to be you.”
“I know, Rhodes.” Tony continued at the handcuffs on his wrists, his fingers becoming raw from the effort.
“Wait…” Rhodey lost his breath as he spoke. Something must have been going on wherever he’d landed. Was MedCo waiting for backup to arrive for Tony? Could they have been that clever?
“What? What’s going on?” Tony couldn’t take many more surprises at this rate. His blood pressure was already through the roof. There was a shuffling sound outside of his door and it was making him increasingly nervous. Was someone listening to him or was someone waiting to enter? Or maybe he was being paranoid and it was just a guard there left to keep an eye on him. Either way, it was setting Tony’s anxiety off and his heart beat faster behind the arc reactor in his chest.
“They’re evacuating… Tony, there are people being led out of the facility. I can’t tell if they’re your guys or if they’re… if they’re actually ordering an evacuation because they know there are intruders.” Rhodey was quieter than before, as though he didn’t want anyone to overhear their conversation.
“Damnit, these handcuffs are way harder to pick than the ones Scarlett used…” Tony cursed again seemingly ignoring Rhodey’s comment.
“Did you hear me, Tony?”
“Yeah, they’re probably my guys. There are no sirens going off in here okay? Not yet at least. I know we likely don’t have much time before they’re in lockdown mode or they start evacuating but… if people are fleeing then it’s likely my guys bringing out prisoners or important folks. Let me know if you see Scarlett, okay?”
“I don’t know what Scarlett looks like, Tony, because someone refuses to send me a picture.”
“Because you can’t have her, she’s mine!” Tony laughed but then froze when he heard sounds of scraping outside of his cell again. There was definitely someone on the other side, he knew he wasn’t that paranoid. Hopefully they couldn’t hear him through the heavy door that kept him imprisoned within the cell. “Don’t come in until I say so. Or try not to.”
“I’m not going to miss the chance to take down these people, Tony.”
“It’s not going to mean anything if Scarlett’s dead, Rhodey!” He countered and Rhodey silenced on the other end of the line. “If they get away now we will find them again and there will be other chances to stop them but I’m not going to get them now at the expense of her life or mine. Some things are worth the risks, Rhodey, you taught me that.” Those were the last words Tony said to Rhodey before the door to his cell opened. He’d made little to no progress on the handcuffs behind his back and he had a feeling he wouldn’t get the chance when he saw who had walked through the door.
A bulky Russian man, wearing a dark expression on his long thick face with bags under his eyes walked into the room with two men behind him. The men stood on either side of the door to guard it and said nothing but Mikhail looked triumphant. Rhodey was no longer in his ear, there wasn’t even the sound of buzzing coming from the damaged earpiece anymore now that Tony had sat upright.
Mikhail didn’t say a word, but he did drag in a cart behind him and wheeled it so that it was set next to Tony. Walking around the chair he made sure the bonds were tight in place and that Tony wasn’t going to be able to move anywhere. On the cart was a machine that Tony recognized and his heart immediately went into his throat. It was a battery. Not just a regular battery but more like a powerful generator. Attached to it were several electrodes. On the shelves of the cart were several other unpleasant looking devices that were obviously also used for torture.
Instantly Tony knew what the point of this exercise was. It wasn’t to cause him pain, though that would be the ultimate result. Mikhail wanted Tony to know that when they’d talked about what Scarlett was going to go through on his way to Moscow, Mikhail had been very serious about the plans to torture her. If this was what they had in store for him he could only imagine what they’d had in store for Scarlett. And if she knew that he was being held captive too it would only be worse.
Mikhail was damn good at his job. Just by pushing a cart into the room he’d managed to scare the living hell out of Tony so badly that he’d forgotten to breathe and ended up coughing and gagging for oxygen. There was little emotion on the Russian man’s face and he hummed while he worked. There was a pair of sheers that he grabbed off of the cart, they were either rusted or covered in blood; Tony preferred to think that they were rusted. And he was glad that was the decision he’d made because soon the sheers were cutting through his shirt and his undershirt and leaving his stomach and chest exposed.
For a long moment Mikhail stared at the arc reactor in wonder. Tony panicked. What if Mikhail took the thing out? He’d die. He’d die a horrible painful death as tiny bits of shrapnel made their way into his heart. Then he’d choke to death slowly. On his own blood, he would choke to death and he’d never save Scarlett, marry her, have kids, or even have sex again. These things usually didn’t pass through his thoughts but they sure were now and Tony had to grit his teeth to keep any of the panic and emotion from reading all over his face.
Surely Mikhail could sense his fear, but there was no way he would know just how terrified he’d made Tony with those few simple motions. He couldn’t have possibly known about Tony’s tendency to over think his every action. Mikhail tapped the reactor but didn’t tug at it or make any attempts to pull it out and for that Tony was thankful. But what came next was just as terrifying as the concept of it being removed.
The electrodes on the cart were attached to him, one to his reactor, and the other two on his stomach. Tony didn’t want to correct Mikhail on where to put the electrodes but was thankful only one of them was touching the reactor that was inside of his body. It caused enough irritation in his chest without their being an electrical current passing through it. No one seemed to stop to think how uncomfortable it was to have an electromagnet inside his chest, but Tony had learned to deal with it and now it wasn’t so bad.
“I don’t believe that I have introduced myself properly yet, Mr. Stark.” Mikhail finally broke the tense quiet. “My name is Mikhail.”
“I’d say nice to meet you but… ya know, circumstance and all that.” Tony couldn’t help himself, though his voice quavered and betrayed his air of confidence.
“I cannot decide if it was noble of you to sacrifice yourself for her or just plain stupid.” He walked behind Tony’s chair, his hands neatly behind his back as he paced. Clearly he was biding time to set Tony’s nerves on edge and unfortunately it was working pretty well. Tony was nervous as hell and wished that if he was going to be tortured, Mikhail would get it over with already.
“I’m hoping a little bit of both or that it will at least get me a few brownie points.” Tony tried not to act nervous but he was sure his voice was a few octaves higher than it usually was, though if Mikhail didn’t know much about him then it might not be the biggest tell for him. But he had the feeling that Mikhail was well versed in torture and interrogation and that he knew exactly what Tony was thinking and how he was feeling despite his snarky retort.
“I see why she likes you,” laughed Mikhail, clicking his tongue with amusement. For some reason Tony got the distinct feeling that he wasn’t smiling despite his obvious amusement. What did that mean by that anyway? Was that a compliment or an insult? It didn’t really matter, but Tony was thankful to think about anything other than Scarlett’s torture or the electrodes on his body.
“You told me you’d let her go if we did this.”
“That was a lie.” Mikhail shrugged as though it were nothing, walking in front of Tony once again. “But you knew that, didn’t you? That’s why you tried to plan a break in to save her. That didn’t go very well for you, now did it? Weren’t anticipating Erick, were we?”
“What the hell is wrong with that guy?” Tony widened his eyes and for once his distraction was genuine and he was curious. “I mean, no offense or anything, but the only time I’ve seen anything like that before is in a horror film and not a good horror film… I mean, not a bad one either but…” Tony drifted off when Mikhail grabbed his throat and shoved his head back against the chair.
“He was my friend.” Mikhail growled and for the first time Tony could see genuine emotion in the older man’s eyes. He practically spat at Tony as he spoke and Tony knew he had hit a nerve. “Scarlett shot him between the eyes… in cold blood.” Tony hadn’t known that or had he? Hadn’t Scarlett mentioned some nasty business that had happened during her escape? He couldn’t remember, the stories were starting to blur together. The last month had been far too intense for his liking. Desperately he thought of taking Scarlett to Paris and getting away from it all for just a little while. Reality was turning into a curse but even if he only ever got a week to spend with her drama free it would be worth the fight.
Before Tony had realized it someone had flipped the switch on the generator and his whole body convulsed. The metal of the reactor burned his flesh and the reactor ran hot, almost as hot as it had when he’d made love to Scarlett. Tony tried not to bite his tongue and to keep control of his body but between the handcuffs and the metallic bonds on his feet, he was suffering. Every nerve in his body was crying out in pain and he couldn’t escape screaming in misery as the electricity passed through his body.
Then all at once it stopped and Tony gasped for breath greedily. The reactor was still burning, overloaded with energy from the added boost the electricity had given it. Thankfully it hadn’t given out and it was prepared for ten times that voltage if need be, but it certainly hadn’t been good for his heart, that was for sure.
“I’m sure that it wasn’t in cold blood, you were holding her hostage if you remember… you forced her hand.” Tony gasped for breath and gritted his teeth then stomped his foot against the ground the best he could behind his bonds. “Son of a bitch! That hurt!” He could hear the static in his ears again and hoped that Rhodey would know to keep his mouth shut. Tony needed that earpiece to stay in his ear and not to break any further or be found by Mikhail. Though it was possible that the current that had passed through him had already destroyed the electronic device hidden in his ear and he was worrying for nothing. Mikhail punched Tony hard in the stomach and Tony gagged and coughed in response but couldn’t hunch over the way his body wanted to.
“She left him for dead in that damned explosion she caused when she was supposed to be building for us! Left him for me to find, maimed and dead, his body broken! So I brought him back! Brought him back as half the man he was but with a stronger body so he could still do some good.”
“I knew that thing was a zombie.” Tony mumbled and his stomach ached from the rings that Mikhail wore on his right hand when he’d punched him.
“It was my friend. And he had a mind of his own until that bitch… do you know what she did? I sent him down there to take care of her and get revenge… So she could see what she had done and… she set him on fire.”
“That explains a lot more.” Tony tightened his lips together until they turned white and nodded his head slightly. “He certainly did look like a burn victim… bacon I might say.” Tony winced, preparing to be punched and exhaled in relief when Mikhail didn’t bother. The older man walked away from him and Tony stared wide eyed ahead of him and mentally coached himself for the next hit, the next electrical charge. How the hell was he going to get to Scarlett in this condition?
He wasn’t. Rhodey had been right. There was no chance for him to save her this way. Tony was going to end up dead at this rate before he managed to get out of his handcuffs or shackles; whatever they turned out to be.
“My partner thought it would be a good investment to have two geniuses but I have no interest in your talents. I’m guessing you know that though.”
“Hey,” pouted Tony, though he knew he shouldn’t have been objecting. His ego was a very precious thing and he was used to it being stroked, not belittled. Tony was starting to understand why Scarlett wouldn’t feel safe until Mikhail and MedCo were off of her back. The lengths he had gone through to get her were astounding.
“No, you are very intelligent Mr. Stark but you would be just as much trouble as she is and you are damaged beyond repair. There is no use for you here.” He knew that Mikhail was referring to the arc reactor again. It wasn’t likely that any experiments would work on Tony. He’d probably die on the table before they could accomplish anything worthwhile. But Scarlett was relatively healthy, at least in comparison to him. The worst that had happened to her was the chemical spill she’d had on her leg the month prior and that had long healed up. Though he suspected she was probably still getting over whatever sickness she’d come down with and Tony still hoped that it wasn’t something MedCo had designed. He was starting to think that maybe she really had been infected with something or other. After all, Mikhail was turning out to be just as psychotic as Scott was so why shouldn’t Tony believe that he’d managed to poison her over the weeks past?
“Yeah, I know. The arc reactor is too much of a hassle for you and you’re not making it any better either. If you didn’t want me then why make the deal with me in the first place?” Tony was finally catching his breath, but his stomach was churning. Mikhail turned in a rage and smashed his hand hard across Tony’s face in a slap. The rings on his hand cut open the flesh at Tony’s cheekbone and he winced but bit his lip to stifle the hiss that threatened to escape. Mikhail wasn’t going to get the satisfaction of hearing his pain, at least as much as Tony could control.
“To use against her.” Mikhail narrowed his eyes at Tony and then turned on the generator again, resulting in another gargled scream from Tony who convulsed in his chair. It was just enough electricity to cause him pain but not enough to kill him or destroy any of his faculties. Tony was only going to suffer from it, nothing worse, though he wasn’t sure how fortunate that was for him. “If she had just followed along with our plans like that son of a bitch boyfriend had promised she would then it wouldn’t have come to this! Our whole plot had to change because of her! Because of her suddenly deciding to be a good guy! Oh she will suffer. Do you know how she will suffer, Tony Stark?” Mikhail cut the power again but grabbed Tony’s neck and squeezed tightly.
“Shut up.” Tony growled through gritted teeth. His fingers and toes had gone numb and he was sure that the shackles were leaving burns on his wrists but he wasn’t going to give up, not yet. The more Mikhail talked, the more determined Tony was to find his way out with Scarlett and to leave this whole life behind.
“I’m going to cut her open tomorrow. I could just as easily take away her free will… she would never be able to object but I won’t do that, not quite yet. Do you know why?” Tony gritted his teeth and stared at the ceiling, trying to gather his breath again. He wasn’t sure how much of the electrocution he could take before the arc reactor burst or something worse. “I want her to know that she’s lost and horribly. I want her to beg me to kill her… and I want her to know that I took you from her. She will know that it is her fault that you ended up here.”
“No, I made my own decisions and wound up here by my own devices.”
“Because of her.”
“Because of me.” Tony gritted his teeth as Mikhail smacked him hard in the face again and then again.
“Perhaps we will see how you feel about that by the time we’re done. I can’t wait to see the look on her face when I tell her what she’s done.” Mikhail gritted his teeth.
“This wasn’t part of the deal, Mikhail.” Tony whispered, his body growing weaker. He could hear the buzzing in his ear again. Nothing was going according to plan. He’d never be able to save Scarlett in this much pain. And somehow he knew she would never forgive herself for what had been done to him even if he didn’t blame her in the least. Tony should’ve never left his suit. He should’ve never told Rhodey to wait.
His plan was falling apart in front of him and come morning he would have to watch whatever torture was in store for the woman he potentially had wanted to spend the rest of his life with. There wasn’t much worse Tony could think of than being unable to save the one person who had changed his entire lease on life. The things he would miss out on were haunting him in the back of his thoughts.
“I don’t care.” Mikhail stepped away from Tony, releasing his grip on the man’s neck and then flipped the switch on the generator again. He watched Tony’s body twitch and the arc reactor in his chest glow brighter and brighter with a wicked smile on his face.
All Tony could think about was pain and when he closed his eyes he swore he could see Scarlett fading away from him. Maybe Tony shouldn’t have underestimated Scott and he knew now that definitely shouldn’t have underestimated Mikhail.
Chapter: 32 Preparations
Author: Me
Disclaimer: Iron Man and the movie-verse including all of its characters do NOT belong to me, but to Marvel and all its glory. Though, Scarlett Damien does belong to me.
Comic: Iron Man
Pairing/Characters: Tony Stark/Scarlett Damien, Pepper, Rhodey, Happy
Rating: M
Author's Note: I write long chapters! I mean not excessively crazy long but long enough! I'm the sort of writer who likes to think of their stories as novels and so I aspire to give readers what they would expect upon purchasing a book. I average around 13-15 pages a chapter, but sometimes I've got less and sometimes more! I hope you can look past the length and the time it may take to read and give it a shot. I promise quality work.
“…Tony, are you still there?” The annoying hissing in Tony’s ear startled him awake from his temporary stupor. A blow to the head had been more than enough to knock him unconscious. In his mind’s eye he saw the horrible zombie-like creature that had mindlessly come lumbering toward him in the abandoned area surrounding the MedCo building. What had he been thinking giving himself up so easily and going in there without his Mark armor? The zombie-Erick-monster wouldn’t have stood a chance against his repulsors.
The answer was that he hadn’t been thinking very much at all, he supposed. As previously stated on numerous occasions Tony Stark had a tendency to over think things which was why he often acted on impulse. It kept his mind from dwelling unnecessarily on things of little importance. Unfortunately, this also landed him into more trouble than he could remember if asked to make a list of all the troubles he had suffered. Truth be told, Tony couldn’t even remember how much trouble it had gotten him into in the last month nonetheless overall so the question would’ve been fruitless.
But this particular instance outside of Moscow certainly topped the list, at least for that particular month.
Vision still blurred thanks to the blow he’d taken to the head, Tony wanted to reach up and rub his eyes but found that his arms were rather stuck, shackled behind his back. At least he guessed they were held by shackles, judging by the metal that was rubbing against his wrists and making them raw already. Blinking his eyes again in an attempt to clear his vision, he heard the static in his earpiece that had woken him up and tried once more to shake his head in an attempt to make it stop. Shaking had worked for a second but soon the sound was cutting out again. Maybe there was something in the walls of the building that was preventing his signal from getting through properly.
Then Tony reconsidered. There was no way that MedCo could beat his technology; it just wasn’t possible! Arrogance was practically Tony’s middle name (though it was truly Edward) but half of what he was arrogant about (and he would argue far more than half if asked) he had good reason to be. Technology was an extension of Tony’s genius, practically. It was no longer something that he worked with or advanced, not since he’d donned the metallic suit and became Iron Man. Now it was part of him and Tony had gone to great lengths to take care of every part of him, including his technology.
No, something must have been wrong with the earpiece after the struggle. If he could get to the small and easily concealed piece of machinery to fix it then he could communicate with Rhodey but that was proving far more difficult than he would have liked it to be considering that his hands were bound behind his back and his feet were bound to the legs of a chair that was bolted in place on the linoleum floor.
Ignoring the static that tickled his sinuses and made him shiver, Tony took in his surroundings since his vision had finally focused. He was being held in an insulated concrete room where the walls were painted white but had faded to an unpleasant gray. The linoleum floor had once been white to match the paint but the grout between the false tiles was tinged with pink and brown. All that Tony could think to have made that color could’ve been blood and he really didn’t like the idea of that. Hopefully it wasn’t Scarlett’s blood. That would’ve been the worst thing to happen that day so far and a great many terrible things had happened that particular day. Had Mikhail tortured her like he’d promised he would? Somehow Tony had no doubt that he had.
So much for coming to her rescue like a white knight, anyway. At this rate by the time he got to her she’d be dead.
“Stop it, right there, Tony.” He muttered to himself though he wished Jarvis was there to reassure him that Miss Damien’s familiar heat signature was somewhere nearby but the earpiece merely continued to buzz hopelessly.
“Tony… you? Can’t… static.” Rhodey’s voice cut in and out of his earpiece with random words that even Tony Stark’s genius couldn’t string together into a proper sentence.
“Rhodes?” Still, as annoying as the buzzing was, if he could at least sort of hear Rhodey and that was better than hearing no one at all. Talking to someone else could keep his mind occupied for the time being. It gave him further hope that he would still be able to call the Mark VII to his aid at some point. He hadn’t anticipated having to manage escape without it so he had to hold onto that hope that he could still get to it. Tony was more than capable of protecting himself in physical confrontation but he wasn’t confident the way that he was when he was in the suit and that was ultimately his downfall.
It was difficult for him to admit but he knew it was the truth. The suit had become a safety net in the last two years and without it, Tony felt much like a child without his favorite blanket. Tony tilted his head to the side as the earpiece buzzed again annoyingly, making his ear itch. Leaning his head to the side to reach his shoulder, Tony rubbed his ear against his greased up t-shirt and tried to relieve the itch he felt but it was no use.
“Tony? Tony, can you hear me?” Rhodey’s voice came through far clearer and the annoying buzzing finally stopped though the itch remained.
“Rhodey?” Tony popped his head back up but was met with the annoying hissing once more. “Damnit, come on…” Tony grunted, leaning to itch his ear again and was surprised when the static interference faded again and Rhodey’s voice made it through the earpiece without getting garbled up by whatever had broken in his earpiece.
“Tony, Tony, are you there? I thought I heard you for a second… Damnit Jarvis can you get him back online…?”
“Really? Really, this is how things are going to happen right now? Son of a…” Tony grumbled when he realized that he had to lean his head against his shoulder to make any communication possible with Rhodey, Sergei, or Jarvis.
“Tony? Thank god! I’m almost there. I need to know what you want me to do when I get there. You’ll never believe what…” Elated, Rhodey was practically laughing through the earpiece.
“Calm down, Rhodes.” Tony tried to wiggle his head to the side and find a more comfortable way to compress the earpiece but knew that he would have to sacrifice comfort for communication. Tony was not used to making sacrifices of any kind so this was asking very much of him. “Something in the earpiece broke. I’m going to have to get a better look at it but it seems when I squish it, it works fine.”
“I’ve never seen a piece of machinery that you can’t fix, bro.”
“Bro? Really?”
“I’m nervous, throw me a bone here, Tony. I’ve been trying to get your attention for an hour almost.” Rhodey chuckled, relieved to hear that Tony had retained his sense of humor. Surely with the amount of sarcasm in his voice, he couldn’t have been in too much trouble.
“I’m going to continue to harass you about this when I have proper time. Look, my hands are in some kind of cuffs or something bound between this… horrible uncomfortable chair that should be banned, but I’m going to have to pick my way out of those before I can get to the earpiece which means I have to hunch down like Quasimodo if you want to talk to me. What did the people who made those chairs in Afghanistan make these too?” Rhodey laughed on the other end of the earpiece and Tony pouted. He did not quite see the same humor in his situation that Rhodey seemed to.
Rolling his shoulders in an attempt to find a comfortable position Tony grunted in annoyance but somehow managed to move his wrists closer together. There were no tools available for him to pick the lock with but he might have been able to break them anyway if he could figure out how they were put together. Tony had made his way out of handcuffs a number of times for a series of reasons, and hoped that his after-hours extracurricular activities would at last benefit him in a completely different kind of way.
“When I get there what do you want me to do? It won’t be long now.” Rhodey cleared his throat once the fit of laughter had ceased. Tony had always been a pro when it came to clearing the tense air in a bad situation and this wasn’t any different. “I’ve got backup on the way. S.H.I.E.L.D. is on their way, they’ve cleared troops with the Russian government, god only knows how Agent Coulson pulled that off but…”
“S.H.I.E.L.D. sent troops in? I had a feeling they knew more about what was going on here than they let on. I should’ve contacted Coulson ages ago but I’ve been sort of preoccupied the last few days.” Tony murmured and closed one of his eyes to focus on the handcuffs that bound him. They were far sturdier than any he’d ever encountered. Even when he’d been held captive by the terrorists in Afghanistan he hadn’t been bound the way he was now. MedCo obviously wasn’t going to take any chances when dealing with Tony Stark and it was about time they started treating him more like a threat and less like a nuisance. Though he supposed he would’ve preferred if they had underestimated him just one more time.
“Well, they’ve apparently been on MedCo’s tail ever since your girl caused that explosion down south in Africa.”
“I’ve got so many innuendos and so little time.” Tony muttered as he continued to struggle against his bonds. Rhodey chuckled again.
“Stop it, how am I supposed to keep taking this seriously if you keep joking around like that?”
“The real question is how are you not taking this seriously? I mean, you’re usually Captain serious. Why am I in charge of the seriousness? I hate it, Rhodey.”
“That’s Lieutenant Colonel serious to you.”
“My bad, I always get the military ranks all confused and you know how little I actually care.” Tony rolled his eyes and then relaxed his arms and let out a deep and heavy sigh of frustration. “I can’t get these damn handcuffs off.”
“Tony, try to take it easy okay?” Rhodey was glad that Tony kept breaking the tension, but he wasn’t so sure it was as good a thing as he felt it was. Tony was in serious trouble and he hoped he realized that.
“Says the guy who isn’t tied to a chair.”
“You never answered my question. You’re really good at avoiding uncomfortable ones but this is important.”
“I mostly did that because you won’t like my answer,” said Tony while he tried again to get his way out of the handcuffs in vain. Maybe they really were shackles. They were made out of far thicker material than the standard issue handcuffs that were used in the United States. But who the hell used shackles anymore? This wasn’t a medieval torture chamber in some fairy tale it was a prison cell outside of Moscow. Did they even make shackles anymore? Was there a shackle business outside of those made for movies and those who took Dungeons and Dragons very seriously?
“Tony,” groaned Rhodey in disapproval. “Why not? Why won’t you let me storm the prison? That seems like the only logical thing to do.”
“It’s not a prison, first of all, I just happen to be in a prison cell. Get your facts straight Rhodey. From what I saw on the blueprints it… it looks a lot like a factory… or a hospital. There are medical wings and computer cubicles and then horrible underground operating rooms and prison cells, one that I’m being kept in.”
“You can’t keep avoiding the question. I’m finding it less and less funny.”
“I’m not, I’m just… my thoughts are kind of everywhere right now. I’m uncomfortable and itchy… it’s all bad for thinking.” Tony grumbled as he continued, developing a crick in his neck from having sat hunched over for so long. “I need you to hold back when you get here which I’m sure will be any minute, right?”
“Why would I hold back though? Tony, do you hear how stupid you sound?”
“How many times have you said that and been horribly wrong about how stupid I am? We could check the IQ tests again and see which one of us is the genius here, if you like. I’m pretty sure the six doctorates on my wall at home would argue with you.”
“You’re not acting much like a genius right now. We have a real chance at stopping MedCo right now but you want me to hold back and give them time to realize what you’re up to?” There was suddenly a great amount of noise from Rhodey’s end of the line and Tony could only guess that meant one thing. His friend arrived on the scene and was weighing his decisions. S.H.I.E.L.D. would likely be arriving right after him and it would only be a matter of time before Rhodey couldn’t keep them from storming the gate. After his argument with Scott, Tony knew in his heart that if the military rushed in guns blazing then he would kill Scarlett so that no one else could have her. It may have sounded crazy and irrational but Scott was the definition of crazy and irrational.
“I’ve got a bad feeling.” Tony wasn’t sure how to explain his line of thinking to Rhodey and he was damn tired of getting a responsibility speech from his friend. Why was Rhodey even arguing with him about it? He knew what they were doing was the right thing to do, even if it wasn’t the smartest thing to do.
Hadn’t Rhodey been harassing him for years about his moral compass? Now that it was finally on the level the argument had changed into something else entirely.
“About what?”
“About what would happen to Scarlett if you stormed in here and if I summoned my suit. I need to… I need to find her first and then you can set the place on fire for all I care.” He heard Rhodey’s annoyed groan but didn’t care what he was thinking. Tony’s head and heart weren’t in the wrong place. This was about Scarlett whether he wanted it to be or not. It had always been about Scarlett and while she may have hated that and he hated it too, that was the truth. MedCo and Scarlett were in the midst of an all out war and the body count was growing with each battle. Tony didn’t see a way she could win without someone by her side.
“Tony.”
“Don’t,” positively exasperated after arguing while trying to free himself sitting in an odd position, Tony managed to silence his friend with the tone of his voice. “I’ve got to play hero for just a little longer and then you can send in the cavalry.”
“It’s just me out here for the time being anyway. If I came in then they’d kill you and they’d kill Scarlett. You’re right about that. But when S.H.I.E.L.D. gets here with backup Tony, I’m sending them in. I don’t care who you have in there and who’s tied up where… this has to end. Someone’s going to wind up dead and I don’t want it to be you.”
“I know, Rhodes.” Tony continued at the handcuffs on his wrists, his fingers becoming raw from the effort.
“Wait…” Rhodey lost his breath as he spoke. Something must have been going on wherever he’d landed. Was MedCo waiting for backup to arrive for Tony? Could they have been that clever?
“What? What’s going on?” Tony couldn’t take many more surprises at this rate. His blood pressure was already through the roof. There was a shuffling sound outside of his door and it was making him increasingly nervous. Was someone listening to him or was someone waiting to enter? Or maybe he was being paranoid and it was just a guard there left to keep an eye on him. Either way, it was setting Tony’s anxiety off and his heart beat faster behind the arc reactor in his chest.
“They’re evacuating… Tony, there are people being led out of the facility. I can’t tell if they’re your guys or if they’re… if they’re actually ordering an evacuation because they know there are intruders.” Rhodey was quieter than before, as though he didn’t want anyone to overhear their conversation.
“Damnit, these handcuffs are way harder to pick than the ones Scarlett used…” Tony cursed again seemingly ignoring Rhodey’s comment.
“Did you hear me, Tony?”
“Yeah, they’re probably my guys. There are no sirens going off in here okay? Not yet at least. I know we likely don’t have much time before they’re in lockdown mode or they start evacuating but… if people are fleeing then it’s likely my guys bringing out prisoners or important folks. Let me know if you see Scarlett, okay?”
“I don’t know what Scarlett looks like, Tony, because someone refuses to send me a picture.”
“Because you can’t have her, she’s mine!” Tony laughed but then froze when he heard sounds of scraping outside of his cell again. There was definitely someone on the other side, he knew he wasn’t that paranoid. Hopefully they couldn’t hear him through the heavy door that kept him imprisoned within the cell. “Don’t come in until I say so. Or try not to.”
“I’m not going to miss the chance to take down these people, Tony.”
“It’s not going to mean anything if Scarlett’s dead, Rhodey!” He countered and Rhodey silenced on the other end of the line. “If they get away now we will find them again and there will be other chances to stop them but I’m not going to get them now at the expense of her life or mine. Some things are worth the risks, Rhodey, you taught me that.” Those were the last words Tony said to Rhodey before the door to his cell opened. He’d made little to no progress on the handcuffs behind his back and he had a feeling he wouldn’t get the chance when he saw who had walked through the door.
A bulky Russian man, wearing a dark expression on his long thick face with bags under his eyes walked into the room with two men behind him. The men stood on either side of the door to guard it and said nothing but Mikhail looked triumphant. Rhodey was no longer in his ear, there wasn’t even the sound of buzzing coming from the damaged earpiece anymore now that Tony had sat upright.
Mikhail didn’t say a word, but he did drag in a cart behind him and wheeled it so that it was set next to Tony. Walking around the chair he made sure the bonds were tight in place and that Tony wasn’t going to be able to move anywhere. On the cart was a machine that Tony recognized and his heart immediately went into his throat. It was a battery. Not just a regular battery but more like a powerful generator. Attached to it were several electrodes. On the shelves of the cart were several other unpleasant looking devices that were obviously also used for torture.
Instantly Tony knew what the point of this exercise was. It wasn’t to cause him pain, though that would be the ultimate result. Mikhail wanted Tony to know that when they’d talked about what Scarlett was going to go through on his way to Moscow, Mikhail had been very serious about the plans to torture her. If this was what they had in store for him he could only imagine what they’d had in store for Scarlett. And if she knew that he was being held captive too it would only be worse.
Mikhail was damn good at his job. Just by pushing a cart into the room he’d managed to scare the living hell out of Tony so badly that he’d forgotten to breathe and ended up coughing and gagging for oxygen. There was little emotion on the Russian man’s face and he hummed while he worked. There was a pair of sheers that he grabbed off of the cart, they were either rusted or covered in blood; Tony preferred to think that they were rusted. And he was glad that was the decision he’d made because soon the sheers were cutting through his shirt and his undershirt and leaving his stomach and chest exposed.
For a long moment Mikhail stared at the arc reactor in wonder. Tony panicked. What if Mikhail took the thing out? He’d die. He’d die a horrible painful death as tiny bits of shrapnel made their way into his heart. Then he’d choke to death slowly. On his own blood, he would choke to death and he’d never save Scarlett, marry her, have kids, or even have sex again. These things usually didn’t pass through his thoughts but they sure were now and Tony had to grit his teeth to keep any of the panic and emotion from reading all over his face.
Surely Mikhail could sense his fear, but there was no way he would know just how terrified he’d made Tony with those few simple motions. He couldn’t have possibly known about Tony’s tendency to over think his every action. Mikhail tapped the reactor but didn’t tug at it or make any attempts to pull it out and for that Tony was thankful. But what came next was just as terrifying as the concept of it being removed.
The electrodes on the cart were attached to him, one to his reactor, and the other two on his stomach. Tony didn’t want to correct Mikhail on where to put the electrodes but was thankful only one of them was touching the reactor that was inside of his body. It caused enough irritation in his chest without their being an electrical current passing through it. No one seemed to stop to think how uncomfortable it was to have an electromagnet inside his chest, but Tony had learned to deal with it and now it wasn’t so bad.
“I don’t believe that I have introduced myself properly yet, Mr. Stark.” Mikhail finally broke the tense quiet. “My name is Mikhail.”
“I’d say nice to meet you but… ya know, circumstance and all that.” Tony couldn’t help himself, though his voice quavered and betrayed his air of confidence.
“I cannot decide if it was noble of you to sacrifice yourself for her or just plain stupid.” He walked behind Tony’s chair, his hands neatly behind his back as he paced. Clearly he was biding time to set Tony’s nerves on edge and unfortunately it was working pretty well. Tony was nervous as hell and wished that if he was going to be tortured, Mikhail would get it over with already.
“I’m hoping a little bit of both or that it will at least get me a few brownie points.” Tony tried not to act nervous but he was sure his voice was a few octaves higher than it usually was, though if Mikhail didn’t know much about him then it might not be the biggest tell for him. But he had the feeling that Mikhail was well versed in torture and interrogation and that he knew exactly what Tony was thinking and how he was feeling despite his snarky retort.
“I see why she likes you,” laughed Mikhail, clicking his tongue with amusement. For some reason Tony got the distinct feeling that he wasn’t smiling despite his obvious amusement. What did that mean by that anyway? Was that a compliment or an insult? It didn’t really matter, but Tony was thankful to think about anything other than Scarlett’s torture or the electrodes on his body.
“You told me you’d let her go if we did this.”
“That was a lie.” Mikhail shrugged as though it were nothing, walking in front of Tony once again. “But you knew that, didn’t you? That’s why you tried to plan a break in to save her. That didn’t go very well for you, now did it? Weren’t anticipating Erick, were we?”
“What the hell is wrong with that guy?” Tony widened his eyes and for once his distraction was genuine and he was curious. “I mean, no offense or anything, but the only time I’ve seen anything like that before is in a horror film and not a good horror film… I mean, not a bad one either but…” Tony drifted off when Mikhail grabbed his throat and shoved his head back against the chair.
“He was my friend.” Mikhail growled and for the first time Tony could see genuine emotion in the older man’s eyes. He practically spat at Tony as he spoke and Tony knew he had hit a nerve. “Scarlett shot him between the eyes… in cold blood.” Tony hadn’t known that or had he? Hadn’t Scarlett mentioned some nasty business that had happened during her escape? He couldn’t remember, the stories were starting to blur together. The last month had been far too intense for his liking. Desperately he thought of taking Scarlett to Paris and getting away from it all for just a little while. Reality was turning into a curse but even if he only ever got a week to spend with her drama free it would be worth the fight.
Before Tony had realized it someone had flipped the switch on the generator and his whole body convulsed. The metal of the reactor burned his flesh and the reactor ran hot, almost as hot as it had when he’d made love to Scarlett. Tony tried not to bite his tongue and to keep control of his body but between the handcuffs and the metallic bonds on his feet, he was suffering. Every nerve in his body was crying out in pain and he couldn’t escape screaming in misery as the electricity passed through his body.
Then all at once it stopped and Tony gasped for breath greedily. The reactor was still burning, overloaded with energy from the added boost the electricity had given it. Thankfully it hadn’t given out and it was prepared for ten times that voltage if need be, but it certainly hadn’t been good for his heart, that was for sure.
“I’m sure that it wasn’t in cold blood, you were holding her hostage if you remember… you forced her hand.” Tony gasped for breath and gritted his teeth then stomped his foot against the ground the best he could behind his bonds. “Son of a bitch! That hurt!” He could hear the static in his ears again and hoped that Rhodey would know to keep his mouth shut. Tony needed that earpiece to stay in his ear and not to break any further or be found by Mikhail. Though it was possible that the current that had passed through him had already destroyed the electronic device hidden in his ear and he was worrying for nothing. Mikhail punched Tony hard in the stomach and Tony gagged and coughed in response but couldn’t hunch over the way his body wanted to.
“She left him for dead in that damned explosion she caused when she was supposed to be building for us! Left him for me to find, maimed and dead, his body broken! So I brought him back! Brought him back as half the man he was but with a stronger body so he could still do some good.”
“I knew that thing was a zombie.” Tony mumbled and his stomach ached from the rings that Mikhail wore on his right hand when he’d punched him.
“It was my friend. And he had a mind of his own until that bitch… do you know what she did? I sent him down there to take care of her and get revenge… So she could see what she had done and… she set him on fire.”
“That explains a lot more.” Tony tightened his lips together until they turned white and nodded his head slightly. “He certainly did look like a burn victim… bacon I might say.” Tony winced, preparing to be punched and exhaled in relief when Mikhail didn’t bother. The older man walked away from him and Tony stared wide eyed ahead of him and mentally coached himself for the next hit, the next electrical charge. How the hell was he going to get to Scarlett in this condition?
He wasn’t. Rhodey had been right. There was no chance for him to save her this way. Tony was going to end up dead at this rate before he managed to get out of his handcuffs or shackles; whatever they turned out to be.
“My partner thought it would be a good investment to have two geniuses but I have no interest in your talents. I’m guessing you know that though.”
“Hey,” pouted Tony, though he knew he shouldn’t have been objecting. His ego was a very precious thing and he was used to it being stroked, not belittled. Tony was starting to understand why Scarlett wouldn’t feel safe until Mikhail and MedCo were off of her back. The lengths he had gone through to get her were astounding.
“No, you are very intelligent Mr. Stark but you would be just as much trouble as she is and you are damaged beyond repair. There is no use for you here.” He knew that Mikhail was referring to the arc reactor again. It wasn’t likely that any experiments would work on Tony. He’d probably die on the table before they could accomplish anything worthwhile. But Scarlett was relatively healthy, at least in comparison to him. The worst that had happened to her was the chemical spill she’d had on her leg the month prior and that had long healed up. Though he suspected she was probably still getting over whatever sickness she’d come down with and Tony still hoped that it wasn’t something MedCo had designed. He was starting to think that maybe she really had been infected with something or other. After all, Mikhail was turning out to be just as psychotic as Scott was so why shouldn’t Tony believe that he’d managed to poison her over the weeks past?
“Yeah, I know. The arc reactor is too much of a hassle for you and you’re not making it any better either. If you didn’t want me then why make the deal with me in the first place?” Tony was finally catching his breath, but his stomach was churning. Mikhail turned in a rage and smashed his hand hard across Tony’s face in a slap. The rings on his hand cut open the flesh at Tony’s cheekbone and he winced but bit his lip to stifle the hiss that threatened to escape. Mikhail wasn’t going to get the satisfaction of hearing his pain, at least as much as Tony could control.
“To use against her.” Mikhail narrowed his eyes at Tony and then turned on the generator again, resulting in another gargled scream from Tony who convulsed in his chair. It was just enough electricity to cause him pain but not enough to kill him or destroy any of his faculties. Tony was only going to suffer from it, nothing worse, though he wasn’t sure how fortunate that was for him. “If she had just followed along with our plans like that son of a bitch boyfriend had promised she would then it wouldn’t have come to this! Our whole plot had to change because of her! Because of her suddenly deciding to be a good guy! Oh she will suffer. Do you know how she will suffer, Tony Stark?” Mikhail cut the power again but grabbed Tony’s neck and squeezed tightly.
“Shut up.” Tony growled through gritted teeth. His fingers and toes had gone numb and he was sure that the shackles were leaving burns on his wrists but he wasn’t going to give up, not yet. The more Mikhail talked, the more determined Tony was to find his way out with Scarlett and to leave this whole life behind.
“I’m going to cut her open tomorrow. I could just as easily take away her free will… she would never be able to object but I won’t do that, not quite yet. Do you know why?” Tony gritted his teeth and stared at the ceiling, trying to gather his breath again. He wasn’t sure how much of the electrocution he could take before the arc reactor burst or something worse. “I want her to know that she’s lost and horribly. I want her to beg me to kill her… and I want her to know that I took you from her. She will know that it is her fault that you ended up here.”
“No, I made my own decisions and wound up here by my own devices.”
“Because of her.”
“Because of me.” Tony gritted his teeth as Mikhail smacked him hard in the face again and then again.
“Perhaps we will see how you feel about that by the time we’re done. I can’t wait to see the look on her face when I tell her what she’s done.” Mikhail gritted his teeth.
“This wasn’t part of the deal, Mikhail.” Tony whispered, his body growing weaker. He could hear the buzzing in his ear again. Nothing was going according to plan. He’d never be able to save Scarlett in this much pain. And somehow he knew she would never forgive herself for what had been done to him even if he didn’t blame her in the least. Tony should’ve never left his suit. He should’ve never told Rhodey to wait.
His plan was falling apart in front of him and come morning he would have to watch whatever torture was in store for the woman he potentially had wanted to spend the rest of his life with. There wasn’t much worse Tony could think of than being unable to save the one person who had changed his entire lease on life. The things he would miss out on were haunting him in the back of his thoughts.
“I don’t care.” Mikhail stepped away from Tony, releasing his grip on the man’s neck and then flipped the switch on the generator again. He watched Tony’s body twitch and the arc reactor in his chest glow brighter and brighter with a wicked smile on his face.
All Tony could think about was pain and when he closed his eyes he swore he could see Scarlett fading away from him. Maybe Tony shouldn’t have underestimated Scott and he knew now that definitely shouldn’t have underestimated Mikhail.