My name is AnnaMarie Collins. This is my story. Stick around; I guarantee this will not be like anything you've ever read before. There are so many places where I could start, but I suppose this is as good as any. When he showed up.

Prologue

Don't open your eyes, Anna, I told myself. All it would take was a flutter of my eyelashes before they all jumped on me.

Oh, God. Who decided to make it so cold? I gritted my teeth, being careful to keep my lips shut and struggling to make my breathing normal. The metal surface underneath my exposed back was definitely not helping. Neither was the paper-thin hospital gown I was dressed in.

Now that I was almost conscious- as conscious as I could hope to get in this land of tortures- I could feel the pain. It wasn't a sudden flare. It took some time for my nerves to awaken and send messages to my brain. Messages like, Hey. Your feet feel like they're on fire. And, Just thought I should let you know, your legs literally feel like melted candle wax. As well as, They've got IVs and needles in almost every exposed inch of your arms.

I couldn't help it. I started trembling.

"Oh, good. You're awake."

The slimy voice made my eyes snap open wide. One of the monsters dressed in a crisp lab coat with a surgical mask donned over his face leaned over me. Terror surged over me, as my heart kicked into overdrive, hammering against my bruised ribs. And I only knew that because the beeping that signifies my heartbeat was now beeping erratically.

Tears welled in my eyes, but nothing spilled over my swollen eyelids. I had long since given up the macho guy act. They had not only broken my body, but had also broken my spirit. I was no longer ashamed to cry in front of them. Tears do nothing to these demons.

I tried to wrestle against the restraints that were holding my wrists, ankles, and waist down, but my body wasn't responding to my commands. It was sluggish at best, and all I managed to do was make my arm twitch.

"Come on. The Boss wants you to dress in normal clothes for another test."

I whimpered, closing my eyes and not moving. Not like I could've moved; I was in far too much pain for that. As the Lab Rat started unhooking my restraints, I started thinking about my family. I have no clue how long it's been since I was taken from them; it feels like months, though I'm sure it's just been a couple of weeks. Were they still looking for their missing daughter/sister, or have they given up?

"You could help me out, you know," the Lab Rat muttered as he pulled me off the examining table. Inside my mind, I envisioned myself slugging him in the face. I felt a little better as he wrapped an arm around me and started walking. I had absolutely no strength to walk, so I just let my feet drag against the floor and my head hang down low.

I was transported to a room where someone grabbed at my gown, roughly pulling it off. I cried out in pain as my limbs were jerked around as a T-shirt was jerked over my head and a pair of jeans rubbed against my raw and stretched flesh. But I didn't struggle. I was completely limp as they yanked me around like I was a doll. Struggling only makes the pain worse. And my limbs weren't listening to me, anyways.

Finally, I was pushed into a chair. For the first time since I had left the examining table, I opened my eyes. I was sitting in what I labeled as The Torture Room. I whimpered and immediately bit my lip afterwards, cursing myself in my head as blood trickled inside my mouth.

"Good morning, AnnaMarie. How are you feeling?"

Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. The Boss. Yesterday they had said I would get a day off! At least, I think it was yesterday… I had no way of telling time in this place.

"Pain," I croaked. My throat was raw and scratchy from endless, constant screaming while they performed their "experiments" on me. I had meant to say 'I'm in pain', but it didn't quite get past my chapped and swollen lips.

"Good, good," The Boss drawled. I looked up and saw him standing before me, scribbling something down on a clipboard. As always, I couldn't see his face (it was covered with a surgical mask and a cap was around his hair). "Okay. We're going to submerge your hand in water, and I want you to try and use your powers immediately afterwards, okay?"

All the color drained from my face as my body started trembling again. My heart began to thud loudly against my ribs as the panic emerged and took over my mind. I tried to stand, but pain shot through my legs so I ended up just sort of slipping out of the chair. I started to slither away, adrenaline pumping through my waterlogged veins. Come on Anna, MOVE! I told myself, but my body was not moving with the swiftness it normally possesses. It took no time for someone to scoop me up and stick me in a different chair. I feebly fought as they strapped restraints, holding me in place.

Tears streamed down my face as they rolled over the table with the tank of water on top of it. So innocent looking, but so very deadly.

"No, please," I cried, my voice breaking as one of the multiple Lab Rats grabbed my wrist. He submerged it halfway up to my elbow in the water.

For a second, there was the bliss of no pain. But then the agony of burning flesh tore through my body. I could think of nothing else but my hand burning in the tank. A scream ripped out of my throat as I watched the flesh underwater burn away, pulling apart from itself. I struggled as violently as I could, given renewed strength from the adrenaline coursing through me. But still, I was no match for two of the Lab Rats because of my weakened state. I could think of nothing else but the excruciating pain that threatened to kill me.

The wall exploded.

The world shifted as my chair flew across the room, knocking over the table and a couple of the Lab Rats. Instant relief flooded through my arm as my hand started to immediately heal itself. If there wasn't water inside my body, my hand would be as good as new within a few seconds. But seeing as there was, the water prevented the burnt skin from completely healing, leaving it raw and tender to the touch.

My head knocked against the ground, and I saw stars as the room started whirling. Big chunks of debris flew around, smacking the chair and sometimes my leg or my arm. Dust clouded the air, and I wanted to cough, but I couldn't make myself.

Something warm and sticky trickled down into my eye. I blinked hard, trying to see through the blood. Everything was blurry and moving too fast, but was that a blur of red I saw? Or is that just the blood? Is the red thing fighting? There was obviously a fight going on, even though I could hardly hear it. Am I bleeding out of my ear? No, eyes stay open. Stay awake!

My eyes fluttered open as the red blob leaned over me. I shrank back, still trapped by my restraints. My head was throbbing. Hopefully it'll kill me fast. The blood from my head was pouring steadily now, completely blocking vision from my right eye. Did it just grab my hand? No, it… broke the chair?

When I completely woke up, I saw the sky. I smiled, feeling the wind blow through my tangled mess of hair. I hadn't seen the sky since I was kidnapped. I felt so free.

But what was pressing against my side? And what was underneath me? I turned to the right and saw a man-sized red and gold machine with glowing blue eyes carrying me bridal-style.

I shrieked in surprise, struggling out of its arms. I rolled to the left and was immediately accompanied by the dizzying sensation of free-falling.

My body crashed onto the ground, a cry of pain ripping from my throat. I rolled a little before finally coming to a stop. Every inch of my body seemed bruised, cut, or bleeding, or any combination of the three. I didn't have the will or the strength to flip myself over. Instead, I took slight comfort in the warm dirt pressing against my cheek.

Something whizzed above my head before smashing down beside me. I'm guessing the red guy. A hard hand grabbed my waist and gently turned my over so I was staring up at the sky.

A middle-aged man appeared in my line of vision, leaning over me. Unlike before, his face was exposed, but it was surrounded my red metal. He was looking down at me with a horrified expression.

Finally, my brain caught up with everything that just happened. I was being tortured before this guy busted through the wall. I fell over and knocked my head, falling unconscious, but not before I saw him fight the Lab Rats and The Boss. He broke the chair, yanking me out of my restraints and must've picked me up and flew away with me. So he saved me. The man encased in an iron suit saved me.

Wait… Man in iron…

I coughed, my throat feeling like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing against each other. "Iron Man?" I whispered.

He exhaled in relief. "Oh, good you're alive. Fury would not have been happy if you had died."

Why did Iron Man save me? Who was Fury? What happened to the Lab Rats? How did he find me? What was going to happen next?

So many questions were buzzing in my head, causing it to ache miserably. I winced. "Ouch," I muttered, shutting my eyes.

"You look rough," Iron Man stated.

I snorted, a small smile coming on my face.

"Good, you can laugh. Progress!" he chimed. I opened my eyes to see him smiling at me.

"What's your name?" I croaked quietly.

His jaw dropped. "Are you kidding? Please tell me you're kidding." When he saw that I wasn't kidding, he sighed and shook his head. "Poor girl. I'm Tony Stark!"

"Oh… hi," I breathed, shutting my eyes again. I concentrated on breathing normally, trying to calm myself down. Obviously, Iron Man is a superhero, not a villain. Plus, he just saved me. So why would he kill me now? He was obviously okay to trust.

He chuckled under his breath. "You're AnnaMarie, right?"

I nodded. "Mhmm." I didn't bother to ask how he knew me. Right now, it didn't matter.

"Alright, AnnaMarie. You're not going to fall out of my arms this time, will you?" he asked.

I shook my head as he slipped an arm under my back and the other under my knees. "You can call me Anna," I managed to whisper before I fell back into unconsciousness.