Post by Stardrifter on Jun 17, 2014 20:28:31 GMT -5
by
Stardrifter
#1 - Point of No Return
New York City
Now
"Oh God...please..."
The electronically altered voice calls out in the night. Clear skies, save the red and golden armored hero known as Iron Man flying through the air. Limping would probably be a better term.
The repulsor rockets in Iron Man's feet and hands fire haphazardly, unable to maintain steady use all at the same time. It makes his flight path erratic. Clumsy. Painful.
"Not much...farther..." Iron Man's voice goes unheard, save for one.
"Sir, energy reserves are down to six percent," the voice with a proper British accent sounds inside his helmet. "Almost all of the armor's systems are damaged beyond repair. And your vital signs are fading."
Iron Man's left boot and right hand repulsors go out at the same time, causing a violent plunge for three seconds before they come back on. He winces in pain, resisting the urge to grasp his side, before finally stabilizing.
"I have enough to make it," he spits out through gritted teeth. His eyes stare off in the distance at Stark Tower, less than five miles away. "I just...have to make it..."
"I will call for an ambulance to-"
"No, Jarvis!" Iron Man interrupts. "No ambulance! No...nobody can know. Nobody..."
The edges of his eyesight starts to go dark and his voice trails off. The lights from the city below start to dim. His eyes slowly close as all thought drifts from his mind.
Suddenly his repulsors go out again, his head snapping back as he begins to free fall. The jolt forcing his eyes open, he scrambles in panic to restart his repulsors. Just as he sees the side of a building right in front of him, he gains power back and rises.
"Holy shit!"
"Sir you require medical attention." Jarvis chides in his ear. "Please allow me to..."
"I said no! I can't..."
Taking a deep breath, he tries to think calmly and logically. He needs help, that much is clear, but he can't let anyone know. He can't trust anyone. Only...
"Jarvis, contact Pepper Potts. Tell her...tell her to meet me on my balcony ASAP."
"As you wish."
In a minute that seems like an hour, Iron Man reaches the large, open balcony near the top of Stark Tower. His landing is less than graceful, his armored form crashing with a thud. He blacks out again, for how long he can't say, only to be awoken by a young redhaired woman kneeling over him.
"Iron Man?" Pepper says, her voice both confused and frightened. "Where...wait...TONY?!"
The sudden sound of motors causes her to jump back. Sparks fly when the front of the armor opens to reveal Tony Stark. His thin frame is covered in bruises. Blood gushes out of a wound on his right side.
"Oh my God!" Pepper yells, reaching in to help him out of the armor. It's a difficult task, but she manages to pry him out and roll him onto the balcony. "We have to get you to the hospital!"
"Fine," Tony manages to whisper. "Just...hide the armor. Tell 'em I was mugged or something."
"And what do I tell your father?" Pepper demands as she helps the teenage boy to his feet.
"Nothing," Tony says with a cold voice. "He can't know. He'd never understand."
LaGuardia Airport
1 Year Ago
"Tony!"
Tony tries to look over the crowd for the source of his name. He makes his way through to find his father's personal assistant, Pepper Potts, waving toward him. While the sight of Pepper would normally be enough to brighten his entire day, this time it darkens his mood.
"Tony over here!"
Taking a deep breath, Tony buries his feelings and places his trademark smile on his face. It's not hard, he's had plenty of practice by now. He adjusts his backpack and walks over.
Standing next to Pepper is a man in a black suit and black sunglasses holding a sign that reads, "Stark." He's large, though what was once pure muscle has softened over the years.
"Nice sign, Happy," Tony remarks with friendly snark. "I've only been gone a year. I still recognize you."
Harold Hogan, confirming the irony of his nickname, replies in a deadpan tone, "No, sir. Just being thorough." He places the sign under his arm and takes the bag off Tony's back.
Turning to Pepper, her warm smile and bubbling energy lightens the situation. "It's so good to see you!" She quickly leans in for a hug. Despite there only being a five year age difference between them, the nineteen year old girl still stands slightly taller than him. "You've grown a bit since I last saw you."
Tony groans inside at the comment, but doesn't betray it on his face. She still insists on treating him like a little kid. Like a little brother. Despite having grown up like him. "Were you expecting me to shrink instead?"
Pepper rolls her eyes and the two follow behind Happy. "So how was the flight?"
"Short. Flight attendant was cute. She asked for my autograph."
"And your number, I'm sure." When Tony nods, Pepper grabs his arm. "Didn't she realize you're underage?"
Tony grins and winks. "That doesn't stop them as much as you'd expect," he lies. Pepper shakes her head, whether she believes him or not he cannot say.
"I don't get why you insist on flying commercial. You have a private jet."
"All the interesting people are on commercial flights. Dad's employees are all...dull." Pepper swats at Tony over the joke, but he ducks aside, moving around a passerby, before moving back. "Present company excluded."
"Mmm hmm." Pepper's eyes narrow as she glares daggers at him.
"You too, Happy!" Tony shouts ahead of them. "You're the life of the party!"
"Of course, sir." Happy says as they reach the limo. He rushes over to hold the door open.
The two get inside, Tony sitting opposite Pepper. He opens the mini-fridge and grabs a Mountain Dew before pulling his phone out of his pocket to check his Facebook.
"Oh, what's that?" Pepper asks, adjusting her glasses as she peers at his phone. "Is that a Samsung?"
Tony smiles but doesn't look up. "No I made this myself. In my spare time."
"You made a phone?" Pepper asks, confused. "Why?"
Tony finishes typing something, laughing softly to himself, then looks up. "Oh it's more than just a phone. Say hello, Jarvis."
"Hello, Ms. Virginia Potts," Jarvis' voice comes from the cell phone.
Pepper's eyes widen in surprise. She quickly leaps over to sit next to Tony, grabbing his wrist to move the phone closer to her. "Is it just an interface? Don't tell me you created an A.I.?"
A wide smile spreads across Tony's face, both at her excitement and her closeness. Before he can respond, Jarvis does.
"I am in fact a fully functioning artificial intelligence," the phone says in an offended tone. "And I prefer the term 'he' instead of 'it,' thank you."
"This is amazing!" Pepper finally rips the phone from Tony's hand.
"Well we are in agreement on that, Ms. Virginia Potts."
"Just Pepper."
"Very well, Ms. Pepper."
"I might have overdone his manners subroutine." Tony reaches over to take the phone back and Pepper laughs.
"Are you planning to market it? I mean this could be huge! I'm sure your father..."
"Market it?" Tony interrupts. "No. No I just...Jarvis was just a diversion. I'd never...I just...I wanted someone to talk to."
"Is it that bad?" Pepper asks, biting her lip.
"No. No it's fine." Tony turns away to stare out the window.
"Tony, you're one of the youngest student ever at MIT. I know it's hard fitting in. I had the same problem at Harvard. Everyone treated me like a little kid...or worse."
Tony turns back, his smile back again. "Well everyone's nice to me. Not a bad word. Guess it's one of the benefits of being a rich man's kid. One of the few."
"Tony..."
"I mean did he even try to come pick me up himself? Did he have you write it in his itinerary and remind him, only for some business emergency to come up? Or was your coming always the plan?"
"Tony he..." Pepper goes to place a hand on Tony's when he suddenly jumps up and moves to the opposite side of the limo.
"You know I haven't even spoken to him in like six months?" Tony asks rhetorically. "Yeah, months. Last time I tried calling him he put me on hold for twenty minutes before I hung up."
"He's a busy man," Pepper whispers, unable to look Tony in the eye. She stares out the window, watching the traffic go by, until she sees a black SUV heading for them. "Oh my God!"
Before either can react, the SUV slams into the front passenger side of the limo. The car spins, sending Pepper and Tony tumbling across their seats. Pepper screams in panic, but Tony is able to grab her and pull her head into his chest.
Before the limo even stops moving, there's a second impact from the rear that jolts them forward. When the car finally stops moving, they don't even have time to recover before the door is thrown open.
"Get up!" a man in a full headed black mask shouts. "Get up now!"
Still in shock, Tony can only stare at the man in confusion. He doesn't even register the gun being waved in his face. It isn't until the man grabs a handful of his hair and yanks him up that he realizes what's going on.
"All right! All right!" Tony shouts, his voice cracking. "Just don't hurt us!"
Pepper starts to get up, trying to prevent being manhandled as well, only to find the door slammed shut in her face. "Tony!"
Once outside, the masked man wraps his meaty forearm around Ton'y neck, easily dragging him along as he heads toward the black SUV. At least a dozen other masked men with assault rifles cover the area. Out of the corner of his eye, Tony sees Happy lying on the ground and two of the masked men reeling in pain.
When they reach the SUV, the man throws Tony inside. Waiting for him is another man with a white cloth in his hand. The wet cloth clamps down over Tony's mouth and nose, sending him to sleep.
Paparazzi and legitimate reporters alike swarm around the entrance to Stark Tower like flies. Building security is more than adequate to the task of keeping them at bay, nevertheless the NYPD was dispatched to keep tempers from escalating the situation.
After pulling up in his unmarked black SUV, Special Agent James Rhodes of SHIELD curses under his breath. Any chance to keep the abduction secret is gone. It's going to be a media circus. He hates the media.
Rubbing a hand over his dark, bald head, Rhodes takes a deep breath before jumping out of the vehicle. The media quickly take notice of the imposing man in a black suit and tie and shove microphones in his face.
"Colonel Rhodes!" a reporter shouts, using his public title. "Are there any suspects?"
"Colonel Rhodes! Do you know where he's been taken?"
"Was this an American kidnapping or a terrorist attack?"
Rhodes doesn't answer, he simply stares ahead, his eyes hidden by his black sunglasses, and slowly makes his way through the crowd. He does takes note of the questions. At least the press appears to have no information beyond the kidnapping itself.
When he's closer to the building, Stark security and police officers step in to keep the press back, allowing Rhodes to get into the building quicker. Once inside it doesn't take him long to reach the elevator and make his way to Howard Stark's office.
Howard's office is organized chaos. A dozen people from various organizations are spread out across the room, sitting at laptops or talking on cell phones. Various assistants shuffle in and out on errands.
The 110" Samsung television on the wall is broken up into multiple newscasts. On the opposite wall, to the side of Howard's bar, is a large, transparent screen showing a map of the U.S. and numerous notes about the situation. At the far end of the office, Howard himself paces back and forth behind his desk, shouting into a cell phone.
"...can tell the board that this won't affect the Jericho deal!" Howard shouts, violently ripping the tie off his neck. "This is a personal matter that will be dealt with decisively. The shareholders have nothing to fear, I will be at the meeting tomorrow!"
The phone lands on the desk with a thud. Howard stops pacing, placing a hand on his hip and rubbing his mustache in frustration. He looks up in time to see Rhodes reach his desk.
"Rhodey!" Howard shouts in relief. He walks around his desk to greet the man. The old friends share a brief hug.
"I'm sorry about Tony. I..."
"I know," Howard interrupts. "Where've you been? I've been putting out fires all morning and none of these government lackeys seem to have any idea what they're doing!"
A number of people look up at that comment, but they keep their opinions to themselves and go back to work.
"I was in D.C. when it happened. I went to the hospital first," Rhodes says softly to Howard, putting his arm around the other man's shoulders and walking them over to the huge window overlooking the city. "I wanted to question Pepper and Hogan myself."
"And did..." Howard begins before stopping. "Are they okay?"
"Hogan has a fractured wrist and some bruises. He put up a fight, but they were in such a hurry they didn't take the time to kill him. Pepper has some scrapes but is otherwise fine."
"Good, I need her back here," Howard muses. He leans back around and shouts, "Janice! Call Pepper and tell her I expect her back here when they release her!" Turning back, Howard asks, "Did they tell you anything? What's this about?"
Rhodes bites his tongue, runs a hand over his goatee, and turns to address the room. "For those of you unaware, I am Special Agent James Rhodes." His voice instantly grabs the attention of the room. A glare gets the various calls put on hold. "I am now in charge of this situation."
"Beg your pardon," one of the braver FBI agents says, "but you're just a SHIELD liaison for Stark. This is a federal matter and the FBI will..."
"This became a SHIELD matter the moment I walked in this building," Rhodes barks, moving to tower over the FBI agent. "If any of you have a problem with that, you're free to leave."
The FBI agent protests again, "You can't just come in here..."
"I just did," Rhodes says slowly. "If you have a problem, take it up with your superiors. But if you're done nursing your pride, I'll get to my briefing!"
Rhodes looks over the room, waiting for any more objections. The only sound in the room is the various newscasts playing in the background.
"At 08:30 hours Anthony Stark's limousine was struck by another vehicle, his driver assaulted, and Tony was kidnapped. I was informed at 08:45 and at 09:30, SHIELD forces tracked the kidnappers to New York Harbor. We were too late to retrieve Tony, the the freighter already sailed.
"At 10:00 we located the freighter. Satellite surveillance shows an aircraft of unknown origin and configuration rendezvoused with the freighter for five minutes. The aircraft was undetectable before and after the rendezvous, so it's flight path is unknown.
"At 10:30 SHIELD forces took the freighter. Tony was, of course, gone but we were able to capture and interrogate a number of suspects."
Rhodes turns toward the map screen and takes a device out of his coat pocket. He points the small, remote control looking device and presses a button. The screen quickly changes to show a symbol. Ten interlocking rings form a circle with a Chinese character in the center.
"The Ten Rings. SHIELD Intelligence has little on this organization. From what we can tell it's fairly new, based out of somewhere in China, and it's members have a fanatical devotion to either the organization or it's leader."
"But what do they want?" Howard asks, sitting down in his chair behind his desk. He puts his face in his hands for a moment. "Is it just ransom?"
"No demands have been made yet," Rhodes answers. "I have Agents across the globe doing everything they can. The Ten Rings have just placed a bullseye on themselves. For now, all we can do is wait."
Sleep is restless. Dreamless. Sometimes there are voices just outside hearing. Sometimes lights passing. Sometimes he feels weightless and others heavy. Time has no meaning.
Eventually he starts to hear voices around him. At first they're just the distant ones from before. Then he begins to make out words. Not words he understands, but words. Soon after his body feels heavy and sore.
Finally his eyelids are forced open and light shined in each in turn. He blinks against the light. His attempt to raise a hand to block it ends when they don't respond to his thoughts. More voices surround him, this time spoken in anger. Before long he realizes it's Chinese.
When the light finally stops blinding him, Tony can make out a dark, stone ceiling above him. He must be in a cave of some kind. Tilting his head, an action that takes nearly all the strength he has, he sees a man standing over him.
There's more shouting before someone storms out of the room. The man standing over him, an elder Chinese man with a balding head, thin black and gray mustache, and large round glasses, looks down to find him awake.
"Can you hear me?" he asks, his English well spoken with barely any accent. Tony can only mumble a few sounds in response. "It's all right. They kept you drugged for quite a while. It's going to leave you weak for some time."
"D...drug?"
"Yes. To bring you here." The man goes back to examining him. He reaches up, Tony following his movements, and adjusts an IV bag. "It should be out of your system soon. You're taking a lot of fluid. Perhaps soon you can eat."
"Where am I?"
"We'll get to that later," the man says, taking his glasses off and wiping them on his dirty white t-shirt. "You're safe now. My name is Ho Yinsen."
Tony finally musters the strength to lift a hand up, rubbing his eyes and face. "What do you want from me?"
"Me?" Yinsen asks with a chuckle. "I want you to get better."
"N-No, I mean..."
"I know what you mean, Mr. Stark," Yinsen says, leaning over to look Tony in the eyes. "Unfortunately for the both of us, I am not your kidnapper. I am as much a prisoner as you. And what the Ten Rings want with you, I cannot say."
"Ten Rings?"
"The Ten Rings are this countries salvation!" a voice echoes across the cave. Tony looks up to see a figure standing in the mouth of the cave. "And soon mankind's salvation as well."
The man walks over to Tony. Unlike the ragtag outfits of the others around him, this man stands tall in an all black uniform. The only color is red trim on the sleeve cuffs and a line down the left side of the jacket from the collar. On the right breast, in red, is the symbol of the Ten Rings.
"What do you want with me?" Tony croaks out.
The man's face shows no emotion. He stares into Tony's eyes, making Tony want to sink into the ground and hide. "When you're well enough we travel. You're going to see the Mandarin."
-To Be Continued-