Sorry for the lack of update yesterday folks, I was out pretty much all day and then had to ready myself for a night of Rock Band awesomeness. Hope this makes up for it. Stretched about two thousand words more than I thought!

Also, I have no idea on the culture regarding nicknames in the Middle East, I just thought it was a sweet idea and it wouldn't leave me alone.

Pepper's journey was, once again, a lot worse once she was away from Tony. After being dragged out of the room and down the hall, she was pretty much thrown into her own, smaller room, her guard following her in and slamming the door. Back home, Pepper was known to everyone as someone who wouldn't take any bullshit from anyone, she'd always stand her ground, and never one to disappoint, she didn't waste any time before trying to dodge around the guard, bringing her knee up to his crotch as he tried to grab her. She thought she'd gotten the upper hand when she heard a small 'oof', but quickly realised he'd stopped her knee inches from its target and had kept hold of it. He pushed her backwards and she stumbled back into the wall of her cell with a thud, the wind knocked out of her. The guard was on her in an instant, his face pressed close to hers and a dangerous look in his eyes, and she understood precisely why she'd been kept alive and taken along with Tony. She was bait.

She'd braced herself for whatever it was her guard was going to do, but the static of his walkie-talkie interrupted him, and she breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he was going to be called away. She was dead wrong. She heard the unmistakable voice of their 'host' on the other end of the line and watched as the man in front of her left the line open but stowed the walkie back on his belt. Her confusion didn't last long, however, because all of a sudden she'd been spun around and was facing the wall, letting out a small sob in the process as one of her arms was pulled back behind her. Her attacker mumbled something in her ear and then barked at her, yanking her arm at an impossible angle, and she screamed. Pepper Potts never screamed. She yelled, sure, but she wasn't so girly that she needed to scream, but whatever the man had done to her arm caused the worst pain she'd ever felt to course through her entire body, not only the limb he was holding. He'd bent her wrist up and was pressing on her elbow from the wrong direction, ensuring the perfect method to shatter the bone if he continued applying pressure like he was. She kept screaming, in too much pain to even cry, when suddenly it was over. He'd released her arm and she sank to the floor, cradling her throbbing arm to her chest and barely registering the guard walking out of the room.

Tony had spent the last hour doing nothing but pacing, which wasn't easy considering he had to lug the battery around the entire time. His mind was working overtime, wondering what exactly they'd done to Pepper to get her to make those horrifying noises, wondering where she was now and praying she was ok. He'd just completed his ninety-third lap of his dismal surroundings when a shout came from the doorway and the heavy bolts on the other side slid back, the door itself creaking open. An older man wearing a smart but filthy suit, thick spectacles and sporting Friar Tuck style hair entered, hands behind his head, followed by a lone gunman with the rifle to his back. Once the man was far enough in, the gunman jabbed the gun into his back, causing him to stumble and fall to the floor, before backing out and the door was closed once more. Tony stared at the man, not even bothering to help him up. He had no idea if the guy was there to help or hinder him, and he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to find out. The man struggled to his feet and dusted himself off, once he was upright, smiling awkwardly.

"They don't have many standards on manners, do they?" he sighed, speaking with a slight Middle Eastern accent and walking towards Tony, who involuntarily stepped back. The older man smiled kindly. "Don't worry, Mr Stark. My name is Ho Yinsen, I'm here to help."

A weight immediately lifted from Tony's shoulders and he sighed with relief. "Are...are you military? Special Ops? Feds?"

Yinsen stared at Tony and then laughed awkwardly, shaking his head and scratching the back of his head. "You misunderstand me. I'm here to help you build the missile."

The weight that had vanished came thundering back, slamming into Tony's guy and knocking the little hope he had left out of him. He felt his legs give way and he sank onto the dingy bed, carefully laying the battery down on the floor before putting his head in his hands. They were lost. No one was coming for them. They were going to die here, and worse than all that was the feeling that everything that was happening to Pepper was all his fault. He'd dragged her out here, and now she was paying the price for his petulance and stubbornness.

Yinsen felt decidedly out of place. He'd been part of the Ten Rings for longer than he could remember, though not by choice, and he knew what the man in front of him was going through. There was a time when Yinsen had first been taken when he thought he'd be rescued, but the reality was that this was where he would die. No one would come for him, no one would come for Tony either. They were too well hidden amongst the elements, not to mention the rabbit warren of caves and tunnels within the mountains surrounding them. Even if escaping was an option, it would take months to learn all the potential passageways out of the mountain.

"We need to get to work." He said by way of alleviating the tension. "They want you to compile a list of materials you will need as well as supplies and-"

"I want Pepper." Tony interrupted, looking up and staring Yinsen dead in the eye. "I won't do a thing until Pepper's back here. Unharmed."

Yinsen sighed, amused slightly by the man's stubbornness. Most men would have caved and gotten on with the task at hand, but he could see that Tony Stark was not most men. He nodded and pulled a small pad and pen out of his waistcoat pocket. "I will ask them when they come back, but for now, we need to create a list to give them, or they won't compromise. Trust me."

Tone snorted and slumped back against the wall, his cocky attitude having come back once he realised Yinsen wasn't a threat. "Oh yeah? Why exactly should I trust you?"

"Maybe because I'm the reason you're still alive." Yinsen said, raising an eyebrow and pointing at the magnet in Tony's chest with his pen. "I'm the one who performed surgery on you and implanted the magnet in your chest. Using your own research, I might add."

"Technically it's Reed Richards' research." Tony muttered, finding the older man more curious by the second. Did he know who he was to a greater extent than their captives?

"Well, yes." Agreed Yinsen. "But Richards' theory was only brought to light by your technology. If it wasn't for you, the surgery could never have been performed."

Tony smiled a little. "Finally, a fan." He chuckled. "You know, you look familiar. Have we met before?"

Yinsen nodded, stowing the notepad and pen away and grabbing an upturned bucket to sit on. "We have, however you were exceptionally drunk at the time. You were leading a lecture, I'm surprised you made it through it if I'm quite honest."

Tony snorted, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, well, you only live once, right?"

Yinsen smiled widely and nodded towards the magnet again. "I think you've just proved that wrong."

Pepper had finally managed to sleep, at least for a short while and only because she was too exhausted to do anything else. She woke with a start when her door slammed shut again, looking around with wide eyes and swallowing harshly when her gaze finally settled on the boy – he couldn't have been older than sixteen – before her. He was tall, scruffy looking in every sense of the word, and though he didn't have a gun, she was still wary. He was, however, carrying a tray, and Pepper could smell more of that awful stew stuff than had been brought to her the previous day. The same day? She couldn't tell any more. The days and hours were blending into one. She wasn't even sure how long they'd been there. The boy stepped forward, and Pepper noticed he looked very nervous. He bent and laid the tray of food at her feet and then backed away into the corner, watching her. Pepper didn't move a muscle, but her manners kicked in before she could think and she mumbled a thank you.

"You're welcome." Said the boy, his accent heavy.

Pepper stared at him. "You speak English?" the boy nodded and Pepper felt a small wave of relief wash over her for some reason. "Can you help me?"

The boy shook his head, chewing on his lip. "I'm a prisoner too." He whispered. "They killed my parents and brought me here when I was twelve. But I'm not like them. I hate them."

Pepper nodded quickly, not wanting the boy to think she was offended by him just because he was forced to do their bidding. "It's ok. I hate them too. What's your name?"

"Asim." Mumbled the boy. "What's yours?"

"Pepper." Said Pepper, smiling at the look on Asim's face. "Do you think my name's funny?"

Asim nodded. "I've never heard a name like it before. You're mother named you that?"

Pepper shook her head, finding that talking to Asim was making her feel calmer than she had in days. "No, my mother named me Virginia, but Tony, the man that was brought in with me? He calls me Pepper."

Asim blushed at this and smiled shyly. "Where I come from, if a man calls a woman by a name that no one else does, that means she is his. That he would like to marry her."

Now it was Pepper's turn to blush and she ducked her head, fighting to keep the smile off her face. Obviously, she wasn't unaware of Tony's affections towards her, but she'd never really thought it stretched beyond what it was, a longing for a certain portion of her anatomy, and she wasn't going to deny that she often had the exact same feelings for him, but that was also coupled by romantic feelings, and these were the ones that had gotten her where she was now, locked in a cave talking to a ragamuffin with a still very painful arm. The problem was, she wasn't sure that Tony didn't feel the same. She remembered him struggling against the man holding him down when she was dragged away, and although part of it was most definitely spur of the moment heroics – she was the only thing he had in the entire place that connected him back home and if he lost her, he lost the outside world – he'd seemed so determined to get to her, to fight for her...the thought sent a shiver down her spine. She finally looked up at Asim and saw the boy was still smirking.

"Are you hungry?"

For the next half hour or so, they shared the stew Asim had brought in with him, talking a little about the caves, the men that worked in them and the organisation that was holding them captive. Asim told her they called themselves the Ten Rings, and also informed her the man she had the pleasure of meeting a few hours ago wasn't actually the leader.

"He's the head of his pack." Asim said, scraping his grubby fingers around the edge of the nearly empty bowl. "But he has a boss man. I see him sometimes, he's not a nice man, but he's not even the leader of the Ten Rings."

Pepper was about to ask who was, when the door opened again and the pack leader walked through the door. Pepper found that now she knew he wasn't the big bad, she was able to stand a little straighter around him. He looked at her, and then to Asim, scowling.

"Asim! Get back down to the kitchen, you rat!" he barked, making the poor boy jump a foot in the air and scurry past him, yelping as the leader stuck out a leg and tripped him, laughing cruelly. "Mr Stark has requested your presence." He said once Asim had left, stepping forward a little and holding a length of rope. "Apparently you're a little feistier than you led us to believe." He said with a smirk, grabbing her hands roughly and binding them together with the rope before tugging her out of the cell.

Things had progressed a little in Tony's cave. Yinsen had managed to convince him that it was in his and Pepper's best interests to, at least for now, go along with what their captors demanded. Tony could only agree, he didn't want to be the cause of any more pain to Pepper, and although he'd made a long list of parts and equipment he needed to start building the Jericho, he found his mind wondering more and more to the thought of Pepper. He hoped she was ok.

It seemed someone was reading his mind, because not five seconds later the door was thrown open and Pepper was shoved inside, hands still bound and barely keeping on her feet at she stumbled forwards. Tony was quickly out of his seat to catch her, barely suppressing a sob of relief at the sight of her. He managed to undo the tight knots binding her wrists together and once she was free, he cupped her cheeks and stared into her eyes. She didn't look that much more roughed up, but he'd heard her scream and he needed to be sure. "Are you ok?" he asked softly. After a moment she nodded, eyes tearing up slightly, and Tony pulled her into a hug, burying his face in her neck. "I'm so sorry I dragged you into this." He mumbled. "I never should have made you come with me."

Pepper hugged him back tightly, relieved to be back with him, to know he was okay, but his words hit her hard and she swallowed harshly.

"This is –not- your fault." She said firmly against his ear, forcing him to hear her. "I knew working for you wouldn't exactly be a walk in the park, so..." she pulled back a little and framed his face with her hands, gazing into his eyes. "It's going to be okay, Tony. It will."

She had a knack of being able to reassure him, she'd always been able to do it, not that he often needed reassuring as cocky as he was, but the conviction behind her words hit home and he nodded slightly. He didn't feel any less guilty, but knowing she wasn't blaming him for any of this made him feel a tiny bit better. Not to mention the fact that she was right there, her hands on his cheeks and her breath mingling with his, his own hitching slightly.

And then pain. Immense pain, ripping through his chest and causing him to buckle, doubling over and gasping for breath, feeling like a thousand razors were jamming into his lungs with every attempt. Pepper gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, terrified and at a loss as to what to do and how to help him, but Yinsen was already at Tony's side, helping him over to the huge metal boxes she'd seen when she'd first been shoved into the cave.

"Wh-what's wrong with him?" Pepper asked, voice bordering on hysteria, suddenly realising she didn't even know the man at Tony's side and if he was indeed helping and not killing Tony. "Who are you?"

Yinsen was too busy to answer her straight away, hooking the an extra set of cables from the battery up to one of the metal boxes and twiddling a dial on it before flicking a switch and giving it a hefty kick. Immediately, the box started to rattle and shudder, whirring into life. Tony drew a deep, ragged breath and then slumped against it, visibly relaxing as his breathing grew easier. Pepper crouched down at his side and smoothed his hair back, soothing him as best she could.

"The thing in his chest, the electro-magnet, it needs charging to be able to work properly." Yinsen said, adjusting another dial before stepping back and watching Tony as he 'recharged'. "It needs to be charged for about three hours at least once a week. My name is Yinsen, by the way. I'm the doctor who put the device in his chest."

Pepper swallowed, her hands shaking as they threaded through Tony's hair. "Why did you do that in the first place?"

"Long story, Potts." Tony mumbled, cracking an eye open. "Don't worry though, I'm alright. I'll recharge, then we can get to work and get the hell out of here."

Pepper frowned. "Get to work? Doing what exactly? Have you got an escape plan?"

Tony shook his head and groaned softly as a small surge ran through the battery. "N-no, they want me to build them something. A missile."

At this, Pepper laughed. Both Tony and Yinsen stared at her, but she couldn't help it. Tony Stark, contracted weapons supplier to the DoD and every branch of the United States Military, was expected to build the terrorists a weapon? It was ludicrous. "You're not going to, though. Right?" she asked, expecting a resounding no. When no answer came, she stopped laughing and just stared right back at him. "Tony...you can't!" she snapped at him. "The things they can do with that missile far outweigh anything they can do to us in here."

It was at this point that Tony realised just how much shit he was in. Clearly she hadn't gathered, and they hadn't told her, that she was the punching bag for his disobedience. If he said no, she'd take the brunt of their displeasure, and though it'd been physical violence this last time, he wasn't so sure they'd keep to that particular theme.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." He said gruffly, closing his eyes and feeling more exhausted by the second.

Pepper shook her head in disbelief. "Tony...you never do as you're told, this is a really shitty time to start!" when her attempt at humour failed, she set her jaw and simply glared at him. "Look, I know that you think you're very important, and most of the time I might be inclined to agree with you, but there are innocent lives you'd be taking if you built that missile. One person's death- whether it's mine or yours or both- is a small price to pay to save them."

He knew exactly what she was thinking the moment she spoke. She thought he was being selfish, a scared little boy, when that simply wasn't the case. He didn't really care what they did to him. They needed him alive in order to do this, it was her he was scared for. They'd already blown him up, beaten him and shoved a giant magnet in his chest, but when he heard her scream he felt like his whole world was collapsing around him, and he'd do anything if it meant he never had to hear her make that sound again, even if it meant he became a terrorist.

But luckily, he'd spent the last twenty or so years playing up on his asshattery – he was quite the Olympian – and so if it was asshole Tony she wanted, asshole Tony is what she would get. "I'm not going to just sit here while they torture us to death, Pepper." He growled. "How many rescue teams have come through here for us? None. No one cares, they're gonna leave us here to rot."

If looks could kill, he was pretty sure even the electro-magnet wouldn't have brought him back from the one Pepper was giving him. He almost crumbled, but managed to hold his ground. Barely.

"Tony Stark." Pepper said slowly. Dangerously. "You've been called a genius your entire life, and it's about damn time you lived up to it and found us a way out of here, because if you built that missile, I'll..." she paused and swallowed, making him believe she meant her next words. "I'll let them do what they want to me. I'll hand myself over. Do you hear me?"

And so Tony was stuck. He was literally between a rock and a hard place. If he didn't build the Jericho, they would take her, but if he did, she'd let them take her without a fight. Damned if he did and damned if he didn't. He stared her down for a few seconds before working his jaw, too angry to continue arguing with her. "Fine. You wanna play hero? We'll play hero." And with that he turned away from her. He was acting like a prick, but it wasn't like she wasn't used to it.

Pepper felt a small surge of relief, even if he was being a child about it. He had to see that doing as they were demanding simply wasn't an option. Too many people would die at their hands if he did build the missile, and she couldn't live with herself if that happened. Feeling that Tony probably wanted to be on his own, she got up and went to sit by the fire that Yinsen had set up a short while ago, sitting on the sandy floor and leaning against the trough. She tried to listen as Tony and Yinsen talked about this and that, mainly about the procedure they'd gone through to implant the magnet, but she found her eyes growing heavy. She felt a hell of a lot safer now that she was back with Tony, even if he couldn't move properly and the other guys had guns. She drifted quickly, lulled by the sound of Tony's voice.

She'd been right when she said Tony never listened, and true to form he hadn't started. As soon as he saw Pepper was asleep, he and Yinsen started talking specifics of the missile, going over their lists and planning where to set up, as well as Tony's ideas for a portable magnet while he was working – carrying a battery wasn't exactly convenient when you needed both pairs of hands. They both decided that the chest piece was probably priority, and using some parts that had already been brought in, they set to work making it.

It was hours before Tony completed it. He was fairly certain, going from his body clock, that it was nearly daybreak, and he needed to get some sleep or he'd be useless the next day. Yinsen had dozed off a while back after checking and re-checking their specs for Tony's brand new Arc Reactor in his chest. It was already working a lot better than the battery had been, the power output alone almost a hundred time stronger, not to mention it would never need re-charging. Struggling to his feet, he stretched, his spine popping obnoxiously, and made his way over to the bed, grabbing one of the blankets off the end of it and laying it out on the floor before slumping down onto it, draping his arm over his eyes and closing them.

"I hope you don't think you're sleeping there." Tony smiled a little as Pepper's voice came out of the darkness, hushed so not to wake Yinsen.

"Now what kind of gentleman would I be if I kicked a lady out of her bed?" he asked, removing his arm and opening his eyes to find Pepper sitting up and gazing at him. Or at his chest. She sank to her knees beside him and reached out for it, almost hypnotised by its blue glow.

"What's this?" she asked softly.

Tony swallowed, half watching her hand and half watching her face. She looked more beautiful than he'd ever seen her, bathed in the soft blue light. "It...it's an Arc Reactor. Like the one powering the factory." He mumbled.

Pepper's fingers traced around the smooth metal edges and she had a hard time believing he'd managed to create this out of absolutely nothing. She shook her head in amazement and her eyes caught his. "We can take turns in the bed. You've been working, I've been sleeping. It's only fair."

Tony snorted, shaking his head but still captivated by her. "If that's what we're basing this on, I think you've got about ten years of work over me." He chuckled softly. "Seriously, I'm fine here. I've slept in worse hotels."

She smiled at him, joining in his laughter. If she could have picked anyone to be kidnapped with, she would have picked Tony just based on his sense of humour. He had the ability to calm her down and make a joke out of anything, and though she always snubbed his innuendoes, she was grateful for them now. "Then we'll share the bed. Don't argue, we both need to rest to stay healthy. Come on."

He sighed. She really wasn't going to give up. He briefly wondered as he stood up what had happened to the old Tony Stark, the one who would have jumped into the bed without even asking, but he quickly brushed the thought from his mind. He wouldn't have ever done that to Pepper. He respected her too much. "Ok Potts, but no monkey business. I don't put out on the first date." He could still have a joke even if he respected her, right?

Pepper laughed softly and laid back down as Tony slid under the covers. The bed really was tiny, so much so that Tony promptly gave up on trying to form any kind of respectable barrier and simply slung his arm around her waist, his chest to her back. She snuggled deeper under the thin blankets but she was shivering. "How can it be so cold in the freaking desert?"

"It's mainly the lack of cloud cover." Tony supplied instantly, unable to stop himself. "Low humidity, no moisture around, that sort of thing. All the heat just rises back up...Jesus Pepper, you're freezing." He sat up again, unbuttoning what was left of the shirt he'd been wearing and tucked it around her thin frame, snuggling back up to her and pulling her back against his chest. "Sorry. About the Arc I mean. I know it's sticking out at an angle."

Pepper pretty much melted as soon as she realised he was giving her his shirt and she smiled widely, taking a deep breath, her head swimming at his scent. She shook her head at his comment and looked back over her shoulder at him, face mere inches from his. "Tony, you made this here, of all places- so what if it's sticking out at an angle? It's keeping you alive. That means everything to m-" she stammered, blushing slightly- get it together, Potts, "to us right now. You're the ticket out of here, remember?"

He opened his mouth, ready to jump on her slip up, but this was neither the time nor the place, and for once that meant something. He sighed softly and nodded, his goatee brushing against her ear. "Just don't want to make it any worse." He felt the tension she was carrying and gently brushed his fingers over her arm. "I'll keep you safe, I promise."

His words made her heart skip a beat, and that plus the sheer amount of heat he was exuding made her eyelids grow heavier with every passing second. "I know you will. I believe you."

As Pepper's breathing evened out, he tightened his arm around her and strained his ears. He could begin to hear movement and voices outside the cave, and he wanted to be fully awake and ready if anything happened. He wasn't about to let them take her again, not when he could now fight them if he had to. He might lose, but he'd make sure he didn't go easy. But clearly Pepper wasn't having any of it. She snapped out of her doze as he tightened his grip on her, and she realised he was forcing himself to stay awake. Without questioning it she lifted a hand to his cheek, tracing the bruising around his eyes from lack of sleep with a soft sigh. "You need to sleep, Tony," she told him, "I need you. I can't do this if you're sick."

He swallowed but didn't take his eyes off the door until he was sure whoever was outside it wasn't about to storm in. Tony relaxed a little when he felt Pepper's gentle fingertips on his cheek and he was suddenly overcome with exhaustion. His eyelids drooped a little and he hugged Pepper a little closer.

"Just five minutes." He mumbled as his eyes closed properly. "Gotta keep watch. Gotta...not taking you."

She blinked at him as he dropped off, her whole body warming- down to her toes, and not because of the blanket. He was worried about them taking her and he had said nothing about himself. Had she misjudged him?

She was halfway to figuring out that he'd been a stubborn asshole on her behalf when sleep overtook her once more.