Chapter 7

Tony watched and gritted his teeth as the fat man moved in front of Pepper, knelt down and gently ran a finger through her hair, twisting it round his fingers, making the lock curl. Tony made his face remain blank. Pepper closed her eyes as his hand moved to her face and he pawed her cheek, again gently, before pulling the gag away from her mouth. He stood back up, stepped away, and Razza moved in to stand behind her, the threat clear. Razza did as the fat man had, and stroked Pepper's hair from behind, the act making Pepper's eyes leak with tears again, despite how hard she tried to keep them in, to be strong, it was impossible – she was terrified, and this act of gentleness only increased her terror.

Razza remained where he was as he spoke to Tony, twirling pieces of hair now between both of his hands as he spoke.

"Mr Stark…" he said in a patronising manner. "Would you believe that I was commissioned to assassinate you?"

Tony raised an eyebrow at this. He was surprised. He had to respond – he had to try and keep the attention on himself. "Well, I hate to tell you this, but by making Yinsen keep me alive, you kinda did the opposite."

Razza nodded. "Yes, I did." He continued to play with Peppers hair as the tension became almost unbearable for the two captives; Razza was clearly enjoying his position of power. "When we found you in the desert after the attack, the plan was to finish you off, collect my payment. But I recognised you instantly. I realised just how valuable you were, and could be to me, alive."

He signed dramatically before continuing. "My men wanted to kill the woman, but I could see a use in her. She fought us, she was trying to help you, trying to save you – I could see instantly what she would do to protect you, and I can only assume you would do the same for her."

Pepper looked down at the floor, almost embarrassed by Razza's story, and her actions from when the men had taken them. Tony swallowed hard, and then looked up at Razza. He tried to feign indifference.

"That's good to know. When we get back, I'll give her a pay rise. Her duties are usually to pick up my dry cleaning and make sure my coffee arrives at the right temperature, but it's good to see that my staff can show initiative."

Pepper looked up at him, and she looked – hurt. She stared at him silently. Although her face didn't change, and she was still trembling with fear, Tony could feel the hurt his words caused, he felt like her eyes were burning holes into him. He kept his focus on Razza, trying to block Pepper out, while willing her to understand what he was doing, and why he was doing it. He was trying to protect her, he didn't want to hurt her.

"Is that so?" Razza looked intrigued.

"I'm afraid so." Tony cocked his head up to the ceiling, looking as though he was thinking hard. "Oh, I forgot, she also takes the trash out for me on a Tuesday morning." He looked over at Pepper, she was still staring at him blankly. "Don't you? Or was it the last one who did that for me, I can never keep up."

Razza laughed, then moved to rest both hands on Peppers shoulders as though all three of them were in on the joke. "You are a funny man, Mr Stark. But we shall waste no more time. I will make it simple for you. I want you to build the bomb. I will hurt your girlfriend, until you build the bomb. Do you understand?"

Again Tony fought to keep the fear and guilt and panic and anger from his face. He brought the mask of indifference back. "Firstly," he said, cocky again, "she isn't my girlfriend. If you know anything about me, you know I go for blond bimbos only. Certainly not red heads."

Tony felt he could actually feel the sting of his words as they hit Pepper, but he continued to hope she understood what he was trying to do. Razza motioned to the fat man who looked impatient. Seeing the nod he licked his lips and moved over to Pepper. Razza smirked at Tony, ready to call his bluff as the fat man pulled his arm back and slapped Pepper across the face, hard. Her head whipped to the side from the force and she cried out in pain. Tony sat up in the chair, pulling his arms against the rope, making it cut deeper into his skin.

"Hey," Tony said, anger coursing through him, before he remembered what he had to do. He tried to cool himself down. Forced himself to look at Razza and only Razza: ignore Pepper, ignore the fat man, he's just the lackey. It was hard, he was furious. Block it out. "Come on man, I don't want to sleep with her, doesn't mean I like to see a man hit a woman."

Razza nodded before the fat man reached out and slapped her again, harder this time, making her lip split. Pepper cried out again at the impact, but remained silent after. She was determined to stay silent, she wasn't going to give them anything – not the terrorists, and not Tony. Razza smiled at Tony. "Do you need another incentive?"

Tony stared back at the man, his face void of emotion. He couldn't trust himself to speak. He wanted to kill Razza and his men, take Pepper away, explain to her what he was trying to do, and that he didn't mean any of those words spoken here. But he was still powerless and tied to the damn chair and he had to play this horrific scene out.

Razza took Tony's lack of response as further defiance. He nodded at the fat man a third time. He wasted no time, and quickly turned to Pepper again, this time his hand turned into a fist and Tony felt his face burn and his insides churn as he watched the bearded overweight man punch her full on in the face. Her chair toppled back, but Razza stopped it from falling over completely. Pepper let out a strange "ooof" sound as the fist connected, but again said nothing afterwards, just blinked her eyes to clear the black spots away, her head involuntarily lolling on her chest as she did so. After a minute the pain in her face began to throb. Pepper was scared, the punch hurt – really hurt – and surely it was just the start. She was unable to stop the tears from welling in her eyes, or the sob that broke from her body despite her best efforts to hold it in.

Tony tried not to react to the hit, tried not to let the pure horror and desperation of his situation flash across his face. He stared down at the floor, then the battery, just poking out from beneath his chair, as he composed himself, before looking back at Razza.

Look at Razza. Look at Razza. Don't look at her. Not her. Do not look at Pepper. Razza. Look at him. Look okay. Look calm. Look happy. Look relieved. Look scared. The whole world thinks you are a selfish bastard; it shouldn't be too hard to convince them of this. Look at Razza. Pepper! No – Eyes on Razza. I'm sorry. I'm so – Razza, look at him.' I'm going to kill you first, then the fat man.' Pepper – oh God, Pepper.

Razza watched as Tony stared at him, his face a mix of emotions that Razza couldn't read. The fat man moved over to Tony, stood by him and cracked his knuckles threateningly.

Tony tried to think of something to say, but he couldn't. He couldn't open his mouth and not scream at the man and plead with him to let Pepper go and give them his word that he would build the Jericho right now, hell, he'd build the man two. He could hear Pepper crying quietly, spluttering as though she was trying to keep it in, but failing, and suddenly Tony was terrified – how far were they going to take this? What would they do before they believed him?

Tony looked at Razza, ignoring the hitter who cracked his knuckles again. Razza seemed to be enjoying himself. Tony wracked his brains for what to do - act scared, he thought, yes. Hell it wasn't acting – it was real, he was terrified, he just had to make them believe that the fear he felt for Pepper was for actually for himself.

The fat man leant down, gently fingered one of the wires that led into the bandages that covered Tony's chest. Tony held his breath, too stiff to move, scared the man was going to yank the wire out. Then what would happen? Would his heart just stop? He didn't know.

"Would you prefer it if we were hitting you, instead?" Razza's tone was soft, Tony almost didn't hear him from where he stood, just five feet away, but it still made Tony's stomach churn.

Tony looked down at the hand touching the cables, genuinely afraid of how to respond. He shook his head slightly, closing his eyes. The fat man's hand was suddenly on his chin, grabbing it, hard. "Open your eyes. Keep them open, watch what you are doing to her. Shut them again and I'll spoon her eyes out!" His voice was rough, his accent strong and his breath stank. Tony decided not to comment on any of those things.

Instead he opened his eyes, having no doubt that they would follow through on the threat. He watched as the fat man released his chin and stalked back over to Pepper. Again Tony refused to look at Pepper directly, though he was sure she would be looking at him. The fat man stood before her, hand made into a fist, holding the pose ready to strike, tormenting her. He could see her fear and he was enjoying it, feeding off it, the sick bastard. "I am sorry to damage such a pretty face," he said, causing Razza to laugh cruelly again, "but it is not my fault – blame your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend." It was true, but Peppers voice was cold, so cold, it hurt Tony. He hoped this was a sign that she understood, though he still couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye.

"No, I guess not," the big man said, before moving in to strike again. Before he did so Pepper lifted her foot, brought the stiletto heel of her shoe down on his foot with all of her strength. The man yelled as the heel sunk into the material of his boot, crushing against the skin of his foot, cutting skin and bruising bone. Tony watched, mouth open in shock and awe, then fear, as he realised they would retaliate.

The big man roared in pain again, leant over, rubbed his foot, then jumped up and shook it about in the air, before moving over to Pepper and throwing both hands around her neck. He began to squeeze and choke her as he continued to rage.

"I'll kill you for that you Western whore!"

He continue to squeeze, Pepper was red in the face, jerking about in the chair as she tried to break free.

"No! Stop! Please, stop! Don't! Let go of her, let go, you're killing her!" Tony realised that the desperate pleading was voice was his own, but he didn't care, he had to make them stop. Razza watched, calmly enjoying the show for a minute, before finally muttering something to the man that Tony couldn't hear. The two argued for a minute before Pepper was released, she coughed desperately for air, leaning forward in the chair as far as her restraints permitted, her face bright red.

Tony finally looked Pepper in the eye; she looked terrified as she caught her breath, but also – angry. She stared at him while she drank in the air, still glaring, and Tony couldn't tell if she genuinely believed he would happily sacrifice her to save himself. Probably did, he realised, she probably thought he was a self-saving coward, like everybody else would believe. He looked at her, the dirty clothes and dishevelled hair looked so out of place on somebody who was usually so preened and… perfect. Her lip was split, her left eye was swollen, and would soon be black, and bruising was already visible on her neck. Tony clenched his fists, feeling his nails bite into his palms as he tried to channel his rage. He stared at Razza and muttered his silent mantra: I am going to kill you all. He knew this was his fault – his fault for bringing her on the trip, his fault for not building the bomb, his fault for being such a jerk that somebody had paid a terrorist cell to assassinate him in the first place.

The big guy leant over Pepper, a murderous look on his face, and Tony tensed, scared of what the man was going to do. He leaned down, grabbing Peppers feet roughly, and pulled both shoes off, before throwing them against the wall in anger. One of the shoes bounced back and he kicked it away, still raging.

"This is a waste of time!" He yelled, furious. He pointed at Tony as he spoke, spittle flying from his mouth. "She is a waste of time. He is clearly a coward and will not help her! We will see how long you last yourself, you pitiful coward!" The fat man screamed in his face.

He turned back to Pepper, roughly shoving the gag back in place. "Now it's your turn to watch."

The fat man began to speak to Razza again, they had switched language, and Tony could only assume he was getting permission to swap prisoners, to start on him. Please. Razza was clearly the leader. He was nodding his head at something; the fat man was speaking quickly, moving his arms as he spoke. Please, Tony thought, please.

Pepper looked over at Tony. He was sat straight in his chair, staring at the two men to her side, and he looked – relieved. Though the man was leaving her alone, she didn't feel any better – she was hurt and tired and now these animals were going to hurt Tony and they were both probably going to die in the end anyway and – oh God – why was this happening to them?

Razza's voice broke the silence. He stepped away from Pepper, finally, and slowly approached Tony as he spoke. "So, Mr Stark. You are happy to allow a woman to be hurt in place of yourself. You are a coward – an American coward. This really is your last chance – save yourself some misery and just build us the bomb."

"Get real," Tony grunted, hatred in his eyes, "you f*cking scumbag."

The fat man cracked his knuckles as he had earlier. Razza moved to the side, now stood between Pepper and his chair, probably wanting a better view as the fat man worked.

"First, let's even things up." The fat man turned to Pepper to make sure she was watching before sending a powerful punch into his captives face. Tony's head was whipped back from the impact, his eyes slamming shut from the force of the blow. Jesus. He sat back up straight, spat out a mouthful of blood, trying his best to ignore the blow. Shit, it hurt – the fat man was strong. Pepper was tough too, he realised, if she had taken the same force without blacking out. Tony looked back up at the big man and, smiled, showing his bloody teeth.

"Oh, you think you are strong, but I will knock this fighting spirit out of you, trust me." He swung for Tony again, this time Tony shifted in his chair, twisting to the left, and the fist glanced of his shoulder this time, the impact still forceful, but not nearly as painful as if it had hit its intended target.

"You're calling me a coward," Tony yelled, still furious from Pepper's treatment, "you're the one hitting women, attacking somebody who can't fight back – you're just pathetic. If either if you had half a brain cell between you then you'd realise that the pay out from the insurance company would be enough that you could buy yourself ten Jericho's and safe yourself a lot of trouble!"

The fat man rose to the challenge. He pulled out a knife and cut away the two rope bindings that held Tony to the chair. Tony's breath was coming in fast as he realised what was happening – adrenalin was coursing through his veins. He was surprised the man was going to let him out of the chair – of course, in his weakened state, attached to a car battery, there was probably little damage Tony could do – but still, he told himself sternly, make this count.

"Come, Stark, you want a fair fight. You have it. Get up. Fight back. Let's see how long it lasts."

Tony's eyes flickered around the room, hoping for some kind of way out – something, anything, that could help – this could be his one chance to get Pepper out. Free of the chair, he kicked it away, then leant down and hefted the battery up, tucking it beneath his left arm. "Fair fight, sure," he muttered. He wasn't going to risk getting disconnected, but it was going to be a huge hindrance.

The fat man smiled cockily as he watched Tony pick up the car battery. He took a step closer to Tony, and the two men began to circle each other. Tony desperately wanted to attack the man, to jump on him and beat him to death with his bare hands, but he knew he had to wait. His attacker lurched forwards, his fist swinging out, and Tony stepped backwards, before going in with his only free hand, a managing to punch him on the side of the head. It wasn't a powerful blow, but it was something. He stepped away quickly again as the fat guy charged in again, now angry and rushing. This time Tony didn't wait as expected, and when the big man stepped towards him, Tony kicked out, his foot connecting with the man's knee, hitting the joint, making the big guy yelp. He stumbled backwards for a moment, his knee struggling to support him, and Tony stepped in again, this time bringing his entire weight down with him as he stomped on the mans damaged foot. The big guy couldn't help but wail, he literally growled in agony as his foot was further injured, and fell down onto one knee to cradle it, shouting and huffing and breathing heavily. Tony moved in, ready to finish the man off, but before he could something slammed into the back of his head, dropping him to the floor instantly.

Tony lay still on the floor, his head buzzing as he tried to piece together what had happened? Razza. Of course - they wouldn't let him win. He looked up, saw Razza towering over him, gun in hand, and Tony guessed that was the object that had slammed into the back of his head, dropping him. The defeated fat man had climbed back to his feet and stood, hands on his hips, looking suitably mortified but also, unfortunately, furious, as he glowered down at Tony.

"Fair fight huh," Tony repeated, before clawing the battery to him, and using is as a stepping stone to push himself up from the floor. Before he was on his knees the fat man sprung forwards, his foot slamming into Tony's back, forcing him back to the floor. Tony couldn't help but cry out as his chest and the surgical wound impacted with the concrete floor.

Suddenly Tony was exhausted, he could literally feel his energy drain away from his body. Shit, he thought grimly to himself, as he felt the tremors in his chest grow stronger. His head was throbbing from the earlier blow, his arms and legs felt weak, the adrenalin that had pumped through him earlier effectively used up.

"Get up." Razza spoke this time, staring down at Tony's still form, though Tony didn't move. "Get up, now."

Tony opened his eyes, looked up to Razza. Behind him he could see Pepper, she was pulling against her bonds, her face streaked with blood and tears – she looked – hysterical. Tony realised that the muffled sound he had heard was her, shouting into the gag. He was glad he couldn't hear her.

His shoes scuffed against the smooth concrete floor as Tony tried to find something to help leverage himself up. Realising his legs were shaking too much, he used his arms to slowly push himself up from the floor. Razza watched him as he struggled, and then, when the captive was half way up, he nodded to the fat man on his left who took great pleasure in, once again, lashing out. He used his boot again, this time connecting with the side of Tony's face, his ear taking the brunt of it. Tony managed to hold an arm out to break his fall before he was flat out on the concrete once again, coughing and breathing in deep haggard breaths as he fought against the pain. His ears were ringing, as a result of the blow, Tony realised, and he almost didn't head Razza issuing the same command as before. "Get up."

Tony knew what was going to happen, but he was also too stubborn to stay on the floor. He wanted to get up – he wanted to show them that he wasn't scared, wasn't beaten. In Pepper's presence he wanted even more to prove this – to them, to her, to himself – it took a lot more to hurt him than this. And, he thought afterwards, if he didn't get up – maybe they would go back to Pepper – something Tony couldn't risk. He had to get up.

They let him get to his feet this time, and he stood, teetering slightly, waiting to see what would happen. The fat man moved in, limping slightly, Tony noticed, and Tony couldn't help himself. "How's the foot?" Retaliation was immediate, as Tony expected, and a blow to the stomach was followed up with one to his face that knocked him back down. He hit the floor, yelping again, shuddering deep breaths through his battered body. It wasn't the hits, Tony thought, as he fought to catch his breath, it was the fall, he had to stay up. Before he could think any further, his minute of respite was over as he heard Razza's cruel voice demand once more. "Up."

The cycle continued. Tony took longer to get up each time, and seemed to hit the ground harder each time. They blows were alternated, sometimes a kick to the back, sometimes a fist to the face, sometimes the fat man would just kick his legs out from under him. How long had this been going on – hours? It felt like it. Tony lay still on the ground, after another punch to the face. His eyes were swollen, almost swollen shut, his lips felt like one giant crusted tear, his head throbbed and his chest – his chest was simply pain.

"Up."

This time, Tony gave in, ignored the command. The fat man moved over, used his boot to tip Tony over from his side, onto his back.

"I see you are conscious. Get up!"

Tony ignored them, his eyelashes fluttered slightly beneath the swollen, bloody skin. Pepper watched, in agony, as Razza continued his demands. She was mentally exhausted – the pain of watching Tony's prolonged beating hurting far worse than her own wounds. She had screamed into her gag, cried, pleaded, whispered – but none of it mattered. The men continued their assault – hurting him, goading him, testing him, hurting him… As Tony had uttered his defiant remarks, Pepper had shook her head, willing him to stop, as it only brought more punishment. But part of her felt better when he did it, it was Tony being Tony – being a bit of a jerk, refusing to back down, and it comforted her, to see he wasn't broken yet. Pepper just wished it would end, but how could it? The only way this was going to end was with their deaths, or their compliance in the murder of others – there was no way out.

"Come on, get up." The fat man taunted, "you're girl over their is watching. You don't want her to see you like this – get up," he goaded.

Tony ignored him. The fat man smiled, moved over to Pepper, took the soaked gag from her mouth. Pepper licked her lips, her throat was hoarse, her lips dry and chapped and her mouth ached from the gag. She looked up at the man, silently asking him why he had untied it.

"He won't listen to us. Maybe he will listen to you." Razza stood back, interested by his colleague's ploy.

Pepper shook her head, closed her mouth, she was not going to take part in their games.

"Tell your boyfriend to get up."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Pepper screamed, at the end of her tether. She really didn't think she could take any more.

"Tell him to get up, or I'll make it worse for him."

Pepper shook her head again, and the fat man stalked over to where Tony lay, on his back, his head lolling to one side as he laid dazed on the floor. "Tell. Him. To. Get. Up." Each words was enforced with a vicious kick to the man at his feet, two to the side, two to his arm, as Tony had rolled over to protect himself, the last more of a stomp than a kick as the man brought his boot down onto Tony's back. Tony heard himself cry out in pain, his own groans got louder with each kick. He was ashamed of himself, screaming in front of Pepper, but he really couldn't help it.

"Stop it!" Pepper screamed.

The fat man laughed, held his hands out, a gesture of innocence. "Then tell him to get up."

"Tony," Pepper whispered her voice cracking as she fought to control her emotions. "You need to get up. Please, get up."

Tony heard the words filter through his mind, quietly hovering around the background of his focus, which was consumed by the pain that controlled his senses. He shook his head, still on his side, but he moved his arms, trying to move himself. He was exhausted – physically drained, but he had to try. He couldn't let Pepper get involved in this – they could turn on her.

"That's it, you're going great," Pepper encouraged as he made progress. Blood dropped from his mouth onto the floor as he tried to push himself up. Pepper watched him, feeling her stomach twist, feeling guilty, because she was making him get up, and when he got up, they were only going to hurt him again. Now they were using her, and she felt – she felt like a traitor.

It took a while, but he managed to slowly push himself up from the floor, trying to keep in the gasps of pain that came out as he moved. One eye had now swollen shut completely he realised, as he looked up at Razza, still managing to glare at the man through one swollen eye. Getting impatient, Razza grabbed Tony by the arm, trying to pull him up quicker. Tony took advantage of the proximity, and spat a mouthful of blood over Razza's jacket. Razza quickly let go, stepping back as Tony swayed on his knees, unsure if he should try to make it to his feet, or just lay back down. He looked satisfied as Razza pawed at the blood on his military jacket with his sleeve, a look of distaste on his face.

"You will pay for that you dog!"

Before Tony had time to process the threat, or indeed respond to it, still feeling sluggish and only semi-conscious, Razza himself lashed out, his boot his weapon of choice. Razza kicked out his foot with as much force as he could muster, and it landed squarely in the centre of the dirty blood speckled bandages wrapped around Tony' s chest, where the cables were connected.

Tony couldn't help the scream that came from his body as he fell to the floor, arms clutched around his chest as he tried to take in an agonising breath. He couldn't breathe, the pain was too much, spreading outwards and inwards to his very core with each breath he took. Tony rolled on the floor, onto his side, hoping that would make the pain stop, but it continued, stabbing motions, getting deeper each time his lungs drew in air. He felt his vision going, the room was getting darker. He was fading out, fading fast. Maybe that's a good idea, a small voice in the back of Tony's head suggested. But then he thought of Pepper, watching all of this – if he passed out now, she would be left alone with these men. No. No. Get up. Eyes open. Breathe. Get up. He could hear Pepper, over the rushing static in his ears, she was shouting at the men, telling him it was going to be okay. Before Tony could even open his eyes, never mind attempt getting up, Razza moved in, kicking him again, this time in the side. It wasn't the most powerful kick, but it was enough to send Tony crashing out into oblivion.

Pepper continued to scream obscenities at the men as anger raged through her. She bucked in the chair, almost knocking it over as she spat and swore and screamed at the men. Razza was tiring of the noise, tiring of the interrogation – they needed to make progress quicker.

He motioned to the two young guards who watched from the door.

"Take her back to her cell," Razza ordered. The two men descended on Pepper, their strength far outweighing hers as they released her from the chair and dragged her to the door. "No!" She screamed, realising that Tony was not going with her. "Leave him alone! Leave him alone!"

Pepper was dragged from the room. She twisted in the grip of her captors, getting a last look at Tony before the door was closed. He lay on his side, arms loosely held around his chest, still and pale and black and blue and splattered in blood and grime and sweat. The bandages that were wrapped around his chest, a poor substitute for a shirt in the cold room, had soaked through with blood.

As Pepper was thrown back into the cell, Yinsen quickly embraced her, made her sit by the fire and simply held has as she rocked back and forth in his arms, almost making herself sick with the sobs that wracked her body. Was she hysterical or delirious, Yinsen wondered? It didn't matter, he simply held her and tried to comfort her as her body exposed these heightened emotions. Pepper tried to stop herself, to control herself, and calm down, but she couldn't. She couldn't hold the emotions back, for now she realised, without doubt, that unless Tony caved in to their demands, they were going to kill him.

Sorry for the delay! In my defence, I had a holiday to enjoy, and then I had to re-write this chapter a couple of times as it wasn't right. Not sure this final version is very good, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. And, hey, it's my longest chapter yet

Thanks for reading, and as always, please, please review!