He could not help it.

The first time around, he thought it was natural. He'd just returned from being held in a cave for three months, and had just created Iron Man, so it was no wonder he was acting strangely for a while.

But once it got to the second, third, fourth time, he couldn't help but feel ridiculous.

Three months.

Month one - Captured by Ten Rings, tortured in order to convince him make weapons. Month two - Creating the Arc Reactor, planning escape from cave. Month three - Building Iron Man suit, Yinsen. Escape.

And then the cycle begins.

Month one - stopping all weapons manufacturing in Stark Industries, building Iron Man suit. Stane. Month two - locating all SI weapons still on Black Market, dealing with Iron Man reveal in the press. Month three - Upgrading the suits, making arc reactors the main power source in all SI buildings.

And the cycle begins again.

Month one - developing JARVIS, board meeting. Month two - business trip to Hong Kong, new Stark Phone. Month three - beginning of prosthetics development, Maria Stark Foundation.

And the cycle begins again.

One. Two. Three. Three months.

First month. Capture. Second month. Planning. Third month. Escape.

Third month. Escape.

Escape.

But this time, he can't escape, because there's nowhere to go, there's nothing to run from. This time it's in his head, and you can't escape your mind.

He measures it again. Three months. He's still alive.

He can't escape the thoughts. Who this time? Which person would die this time? First was Yinsen, then it was Stane, and god, so many others.

Because of him.

And the cycle continues. Three months. The thoughts continue. Which person now? Who would die now?

Again. And again. And again.

Capture, plan, escape.

Escape.

He doesn't escape.


A/N: Just a small fic I thought of at three am and spell checked to the best of my ability at that time. Please comment if you have the time, I'd love to hear what you think.