A rough push sent him out in the middle of the road. He stood there for a brief second before he flew two meters forward and landed hard on the ground. He could hear people screaming somewhere far away, and then he passed out.

Tony caught his breath when he woke up, only to find his legs tied tightly together and his arms bound up to each side of the table he was lying on. His shirt and jacket was gone, leaving him with only his jeans and shoes. Sweat dripped down the side of his face and his whole body was shaking. He tried to take in the surroundings, but his head was aching and his vision was all blurry. He could see that both walls and roof were white and that there was a large, sharp light faced towards him. There wasn't anybody but him in there, and he felt awfully helpless. The pain ached through the whole of his body as he remembered what had actually happened. Why was he here? Was this an operation room? Why was he tied up then? Wouldn't anybody come in soon? The whole setting seemed suspicious. He tried to turn around his head to find the door, but his neck was hurting so bad.

"I can't believe it, I honestly can't believe my own two eyes, Tony Stark in my OR? It's just way too good to be true."

Tony wasn't sure where the voice came from or who it was directed to, but he took a shot.

"Me neither." The words barely made it up his throat. Hs mouth was dry and his throat was soar.

Suddenly the legs of a chair screeched against the floor and a man sat down on it next to Tony. He was dressed in normal clothes and it didn't look like he belonged to a hospital staff. It looked like he was in his early thirties, short cut hair, tall, good looks… a bit like Tony himself. His expression was calm and relaxed as he started explaining.

"My name is Harlan, and I'm a physicist, doctor and big fan of yours."

Great, another physicist.

"I don't know if you remember, but you got hit by a car. Lucky for you, it was me who hit you, so I could transport you right into my OR. I'm going to do a little surgery on you, as I'm not completely…" He hesitated. "Satisfied with how you look now."

Tony started to get a bit unsecure about what was happening, this didn't sound too good. He was the one who ran him down? And what was wrong with his looks? Hopefully he meant the fact that his whole body was broken and full of bruises. Tony swallowed hard with the little spit that was left in his mouth and took a deep breath as his body started shaking even more. Harlan suddenly took a hard grip around Tony's upper arm and looked deeply into his eyes.

"I am, I mean was, your biggest fan… Iron Man's biggest fan. You were the one thing that kept me thinking that there are good people out there. When you chose to remove the shrapnel and take that arc reactor out of your chest, my world kind of fell a bit apart. Therefore…"

He dragged a table with wheels on towards them, on it was a car battery and a circular metal thing that was way too familiar. An electromagnet. Tony's eyes widened a thousand times and his heart sank to the ground of hell. His whole body went numb as he understood that this man had no good intentions. He didn't even get to think before Harlan dragged a sharp knife out of his pocket.

Pepper sat motionless in the soft sofa at the Stark Tower. The TV was on, but Pepper didn't hear or see anything of what was going on at it. She looked at her watch, 8 pm, it had almost been a day since she came home and realized Tony had left. The sound of the elevator opening made Pepper jerk around, but she was disappointed to see that it wasn't Tony.

"Hey! Thought I'd just stop by to see how you guys were doing, I haven't heard from you in a while." Happy smiled a bit concerned at Pepper, probably because she looked so sad.

"Well… Tony left the apartment last night, and he hasn't come back yet. He didn't tell me where he was going, or that he was going out at all. When I came home from the meeting he was just… gone, and I've got no idea where he is or when he's coming back. I have called about a thousand times, but he doesn't answer. Should I be worried Happy?" Pepper gave him a hopeful glance.

"Oh, you know how Tony is. He goes out, disappears for a few days and then he comes back like nothing ever happened."

"But that was when he was Iron Man, when he had missions and work to do for Fury."

"Then he's probably at some conference, or a party, getting drunk-"

"Then I would be with him, Happy." Pepper stared at him. "Should I worry?" She said slowly, afraid that she would get the answer she didn't want.

"Listen, give him some space, some time to just find himself. This is the first time he's actually allowed to calm down a bit since Afghanistan. Maybe he just had to work out a few things. I'm sure he's going to walk out of that elevator any minute." Happy looked at Pepper, waiting for her to give that accepting nod. When she did, he continued. "In the meantime, is there anything I can do for you?"

" I'm going to kill you!" Tony snapped at Harlan.

He desperately tried to break free from the ropes that held him strapped to the table. Even more sweat ran down the side of his head, and anxiety threatened with invading his body.

"Let's analyze a bit… I have lots of sharp tools, while you're tied up to a table. It doesn't really seem reasonable that you're going to kill me."

"Reasonable has never been a part of my vocabulary."

A silence filled the room for a brief second before the tip of the knife was placed at Tony's chest. He breathed slowly, staring challenging into Harlans eyes, and he got the exact same glance back. He wasn't going to let this happen, not one more time, when he actually could fight it. He was millimeters away from going back to the fate he once had been forced to deal with. He loved being Iron Man… Tony was Iron Man and Iron Man was Tony, but he didn't want to be Iron Man like this. Sleepless nights, always being afraid that the arc reactor would kill him, hurt everyone around him. Pepper. What was he going to tell her, or more important… how? What if…?

"I'll give you anything, everything, you'll ever need. Just don't do this. If you really were a big fan of mine, you'd want me to be happy, right? I'm not going to be happy with that… thing in-"

" It's not a thing, it's an arc reactor." Harlan looked seriously down at Tony.

"That contraption is killing me, Harlan, I can't live with it." He was frustrated now, desperate, angry even.

"If you can't live with it mentally, that's not my problem. I know that you can live with it physically. You're just a man inside of a little shell, and as long as that shell can keep doing what it once did, that's more than enough for me. I said that Iron Man-"

"Anything, I'll give you anything for whatever quantity." Tony's eyes had softened, they were filled with hope and sadness. His last trick.

A strange feeling suddenly rushed through Tony's body. It was as if he was dragged into a whole different dimension, it felt like he was melting away. He was cold, numb and dizzy. Tony was miles away from the present, not understanding anything. The roof was spinning and everything blurred out. Shivers went down his back when he was finally dragged back to reality, and he let out an enormous scream. The scar from where the arc reactor had once been was now split up uninhibitedly. Tony tried to breathe normally, but he was only human, and he panicked. He wanted to say something, to stop it, but the pain was overwhelming. A huge amount of blood ran everywhere, and Tony screamed once more. It was so surreal, how could people do this?

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot!" Harlan said in a high pitched, sarcastic voice.

In an instant there were a mask surrounding Tonys mouth and nose, forcing him to breathe slowly. Bit by bit his whole body started relaxing and he felt sleepy. His eyes closed gradually, and then he passed out.

Tony sat up groggily on the table, hands tied on his back and his shirt was on again, buttoned firmly. He bent slightly forward and moaned as pain ripped through his chest and bounced in his temples. He swallowed hard as he jumped unsteadily down on the floor and fell, dragging the car battery with him.

"You're nothing without that suit, you're just a useless little man." Harlan's voice started Tony, and he got back up on his feet.

"You've got no idea what I'm capable of doing with my own strength." Tony stood with his back facing Harlan, but he set up the most spiteful face he could, gritting his teeth.

Without even getting the chance to resist, Tony found his eyes covered with some piece of cloth. His heart rate increased immediately, what wasn't he supposed to see? He felt a slight push forward and almost stumbled down to the ground again, but he regained balance and started walking in front of Harlan who held the battery.

"We'll see about that"

The harsh whisper made Tony shudder as he continued walking. He could hear several locks being opened and suddenly they were outside where a crisp winter air hit Tony and made him wince. He was thrown into a car, and just seconds later the wheels screeched and they drove away. Tony leaned his head against the window, breathing heavily. Why, why, why? He was having the time of his life, he had finally been able to relax for the first time since Afghanistan, and now he had gone and had to go through the same hell once more? He really wanted to just sink into his own little bubble and remain silent and in his own thoughts for the rest of his life. Problem was… he was Tony Stark, and Tony Stark didn't do things like that. What was he going to do then? He had no idea what to do when, or if, he was released. Tony started to feel dizzy again, his heart was still racing, he was still breathing heavily and he just couldn't seem to relax. Everything was hurting, and he wanted to just slip away into sleep, but he didn't dare to. He could now hear many cars passing them in great speed and understood that they had just reached the highway. He tried to knock on the window, but of course no one would hear him, the little knock he managed to make barely made it into his own ears. He was getting weaker and weaker and he seriously started to get afraid he would die, that was how much it hurt. He managed to just grit his teeth and try to breathe steady and quietly, but it was hard.

"Unless you're going to make that arc reactor within the next couple of hours, I would consider recharging that battery. I didn't really take a fully loaded one."

Harlan's voice broke the silence, the weird thing was that it sounded like he honestly wanted to help. But Tony wasn't naïve, he had always been a bit more aware after everything that happened with Obadiah. Harlan had definitely chosen to not fully charge the car battery before he did the surgery, so that Tony would be in much more pain than he had expected. He didn't even think the car battery was necessary, that it was just to scare him, what was it needed for?

Tony, Tony, Tony, where are you? Pepper walked back and forth in their apartment, keeping an eye on the elevator. Her shorts were all wet after her drying her palms on them all the time, and her, or actually Tony's, T-shirt were also starting to get wet as she continued biting it all the time. The clock had passed ten pm, which meant that it had gone over two days since Tony left. She couldn't sleep, couldn't eat and couldn't call anyone. She waited for her phone to call all the time, for him to call. She jolted when her cell phone finally made that ringtone which meant Tony called. Pepper lunged for the sofa and grabbed the phone.

"Tony! Are you okay?" Her heart was running wild and she could hear the beats herself."I would absolutely consider getting my ass to the entrance of the Stark Tower, I think there are someone who wants to see you there."

A frown passed Pepper's face as she heard the unfamiliar male voice, but she did as she was told and ran to the elevator as fast as she could. It was as if the elevator used ten times as long as normal getting down to the entrance. Thousands of questions managed to go through Peppers mind on her way down, and she started to get frightened about what she was going to meet downstairs. When she was finally down on the main floor she sprinted on her bare feet towards the door, only to catch a glimpse of a blue sports car with dark-tinted windows driving away from the place. Then she saw the dreadful nightmare she had been afraid of. Tony was on the ground, clenching to his jacket while he desperately tried to crawl towards the door. His eyes were covered with a bandana and his hands were tied on his back with a coarse rope. Pepper yelled his name as she hurried over to him. Masses of people started to pile up around them when Pepper sat down next to Tony, shivering from the crisp air. She started with loosening the ropes and taking his jacket, carefully wrapping it around him. Then she untied the bandana, staggering a bit backwards when she saw Tony's bloodshot eyes, filled with pain and despair.

"Anyone who hears this, I need help down at the entrance." Pepper half said half cried into her earpiece.

She tried quiet and gentle to get Tony up on his feet, but at the same time as she heard a screeching noise Tony screamed so that the masses of people backed away and gasped. Why didn't anyone help? Didn't they see he needed help? Tears started streaming down Peppers face as she realized she wouldn't be able to move him, and no one would help her. Suddenly Happy, Steve and Natasha were at the place. Steve gave Pepper a terrified look as he froze by the door, but he shook it off and in a blink he was at Tony's side, gently lifting him up. Pepper backed off and covered her face as Tony moaned, closing his eyes tightly and gritting his teeth.

"What's wrong?" Steve looked overly confused and concerned.

"Look!" Natasha said and pointed at the car battery.

Everyone around them turned their heads against it. Natasha picked it up, causing Tony to sigh as part of the tension left his body. Both Natasha and Steve rushed for the elevator and disappeared into it together with Tony.

Pepper was left speechless in the chilly winter air together with a more or less shocked Happy. Reporters and paparazzi started to work their way through the hordes of shaken people and approached upon Pepper. Some of the reporters stopped to talk with the witnesses and others where just staring at their surroundings, trying to get a grip of what they were actually doing there. Happy finally shook off whatever was going through his mind and escorted Pepper inside before any of the microphones reached her. A whole lot of guards stormed outside and pushed the reporters away. Where were they a couple of minutes ago? Happy thought to himself. Pepper was freezing cold so he lent her his jacket. He stopped once inside and placed himself in front of her, taking a firm grip around her shoulders and trying to get eye contact.

"Hey…" Happy waited for her to react. "Are you okay?"

Pepper shook her head slowly, a bit uncertain of what she was answering to. So much had happened over the last, what… thirty minutes? Deep inside her she had hoped that Tony would return maybe a little bit drunk, but at least healthy and unharmed. Her worst nightmare had come to life, Tony coming home barely alive. And what was that car battery? Was it just her own mind playing her a trick, or was it actually linked to Tony? No, it wasn't possible… Happy pushed her into the elevator and Pepper thought that it went just as slowly this time.

"Have- ehh, have you called for an ambulance?" Pepper scratched her forehead and looked down at her toes.

"I'm on the case" Happy said, smiling reassuring at her.

Okay, sooo... don't be to harsh! This is my first fanfic ever, and I really really really hope you guys who read it liked it. All of this is based on the Marvel movies and some research i've done on the internet. There will be another chapter, and then maybe another one and another one after that. I don't know. Anyways, review, tell me what you liked and what you didn't like. Thank you!