Of course, doing my usual, an update before bed! Though it might as well be this one! Haven't seen this one in a while, so I thought you'd guys would enjoy this! After all I did leave it at a bad spot...If you thought that cliffhanger was bad...Then you're probably not going to enjoy what I have in store for you this time...Mwahahahahaha!
...Okay. Disclaimer: Imaa is...yeah, you know the rest.
No matter how many times they tried reasoning with him, he never stopped moving. He continued to push on almost as if they hadn't even said anything. They really didn't want to use any physical force on him, especially in the state he was in, but he wasn't giving them much choice. If he went on like this, he might as well be trying to kill himself.
By the time Tony reached the stairs where everything went down, they finally decided they couldn't allow him to go on any more. His wounds were opening. They could see the blood seeping through the bandages they wrapped around him.
"Tony, stop!" Howard commanded, using the tone a father would to stop their child from misbehaving. "You're going to hurt yourself even more."
Howard had his hand wrapped tightly around Tony's arm, so he could feel it as his son tensed under his grasp. Tony looked down, hiding his eyes.
"Go back to the room and rest, Rhodey will stay with you." Howard stated. "Let me go look for Pepper."
Rhodey glanced at Howard then at Tony, who was physically shaking. He could tell Tony wasn't in a very healthy mental state right now, and Howard looked pretty close to losing it himself. Rhodey wouldn't blame him. After all, from what they could tell, Tony was pretty darn traumatized and might as well not remember them. Being the father, it must be horrible to watch his son go through such a thing.
"Please." Howard finished after a long pause.
Tony lifted his head, eyes flickering back and forth as if in deep thought. He looked like he was speed reading through a children's book. Line after line. He moved as if he was trying to politely shrug off Howard's hand. Howard's hand remained.
Silence lingered in the air, waiting for some kind of response from Tony. The air was really tense, as if it could be cut with scissors.
Moments seemed like forever until Tony finally decided to respond. Only he didn't really say anything. He just pushed Howard's hand away, and marched his way down the stairs, looking as if it was really hard not to say something. Maybe he just didn't want to hurt their feelings by saying something.
Howard debated following his son, or staying and watching for when Sim wakes up. He probably shouldn't leave him alone, saying if he escaped there's no telling what he would do. After what happened earlier, Howard didn't feel too comfortable leaving the man out of his sight.
"Rhodey you follow him, I'm not leaving Sim alone." Howard said, giving his son more glance before he patted Rhodey on the back, trusting him with his son.
Tony and Rhodey walked silently side by side. With Rhodey trying to remain calm when Tony seemed ready for freak out. At first he tried asking questions, but Tony shut him down a bit roughly. Rhodey could tell he hadn't meant it, but it still hurt.
Rhodey didn't even question him when they exited the mansion all together. Through the back door though. Tony both seemed like he knew the place by heart, but he also looked as if he was lost. He checked almost every door before they left the hallway that led to the back door.
It was when they walked into a decent sized shed, which seemed a bit too nicely cared for, that he wanted to ask questions. But when he looked at Tony's face, he seemed equally confused and lost. Tony must not have been there before, but then why lead him there?
He softly and carefully placed a hand on Tony's shoulder. "Tony…what is this place?"
Tony blinked a few times, roughly. It looked like he was having trouble thinking clearly or something. Or like he was trying to remember something. It didn't even seem as if he had heard him.
Tony walked towards the corner of the front room of the nicely cared for shed, which had a back room. He looked at a few things on the shelf, before knocking them all down, in a clatter.
"Tony!" Rhodey said shocked. But he didn't move. Tony looked both winded and panicked. Rhodey knew it was best to keep his distance. He was smart enough to know when someone was over the edge. Those people didn't usually have the best of temper.
When Tony finally moved away from the corner, where it was now cluttered with broken glass, metal, and a couple small boxes. There was a poster on the wall. Well…there was until Tony ripped it down. After Tony messily and loudly knocked over one of the shelves, Rhodey was ready to step in before Tony destroyed the place.
"Tony, stop this isn't…" Rhodey began, but his voice trailed off as soon as he noticed Tony pulling up the dark green carpet. He was looking for something. He changed his train of thought. "What are you looking for?"
Tony looked at him, almost startled by the words. But responded anyways. "A doorway, or a…uh…passage way…" At least his voice was getting a little bit better, but it still seemed too croaky and rough.
Rhodey understood what Tony was trying to do, and decided to help him. They found nothing in the room, so they moved on to the back room. Which was poorly kept compared to the front room. The wood on the walls was coming apart and the place looked like it hadn't been used in ages, guessing from the cobwebs and dust.
"I remember," Tony started, coughing as they searched. "The first…the first night I woke up here."
Tony hadn't finished what he started to say for a while, and Rhodey didn't push it. He hadn't expected Tony to really talk to him. He seemed too crazed in finding that door.
"I hadn't remembered how I got here…" Tony paused in order to push the desk that was collecting dust in the center of the room. "Sim told me that…that he'd saved me."
Rhodey's blood went cold at the mention of Sim.
Tony coughed, then continued. "He said he'd found m-me, ready to die somewhere…he wouldn't say. Said it wasn't important…"
Rhodey paused his searching. That wasn't important?
"The first…few w-weeks, were a haze…I couldn't remember m-my name, or who I was before." Tony stopped his searching completely, his eyes glossed over as if stuck in a memory. Probably was. "All I remembered was a white room…*cough*…W-when I first came out of the room, I couldn't remember anything. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember a…a thing."
It was getting harder and harder for Rhodey to listen without losing his anger. He was ready to march out of there, and go beat the living hell out of Sim.
"Not even my name." Tony paused, coughing heavily into his hand. "He convinced me that my…my name was A-Annie…and he dressed me up…"
Now Rhodey was having a horrible time keeping his temper. Sim lied to Tony, telling him that his name was Annie? Forced him to dress up like a woman? Then make him his servant?
"I hadn't ev-even questioned his…the reasoning's that he did it." Tony's hand gripped the edge on the desk. "He made me…learn how to…how to speak like a woman, t-to change my voice…"
"Tony." Rhodey finally spoke, using that brotherly tone her used to use with Tony.
He couldn't take anymore. Anymore, would drive himself over the edge. He highly doubted that he'd be able to stop himself from turning around to got beat Sim to death.
But he didn't only do it to help himself.
Tony looked just about ready to have a complete melt down. He was bringing back bad memories, and Rhodey could tell Tony didn't want to talk about them. It must have been more instinct than anything.
Tony looked at him, blinking madly as if he was just woken up. "Rhodey?"
Rhodey froze. Tony's been saying his name a lot, as Annie, of course, so there was no doubt that he knew his name, but the way he said it. The tone of voice he used was different. As if he was just realizing something. Just remembering.
Rhodey decided it wasn't best to waste any more time. He wanted to talk, and get reacquainted with his best friend, with his brother, but he knew they were running on time. Tony said they might already be too late…
He placed a comforting hand on Tony's shoulder. He nodded, hoping Tony would see his silent resolve.
Tony smiled ever so slightly, and nodded back. Returning the room the silence.
Pepper pulled against invisible chains. She wanted to move. She wanted to sit up. To sit up and move, was all that she wanted, but she couldn't get even that. She hated the silence the room had. The brightness of the white that surrounded her.
She hated it.
It was a prison.
It kept her prison for who knows how long. She hated it.
She wanted to scream to the nothingness, but her throat was dry and she couldn't find her voice. Her legs received pins and needles every time she tried to move them, and her arms felt numb from pulled at the invisible chains.
In almost an instant, she became relaxed and calm, and drowsy. She panicked. She couldn't fall asleep! Not again! No! What was happening!
Come on! Pe….what? What was that? Was that supposed to be her name? But what was it? What was her name?
She couldn't think no more on the matter, the darkness took over.
I can name one person who's not going to be so happy with me about this...XD Mwahahahaha! I'm am the master of EVIL! Bow down to me! Mwhahaha*chokes* yeah...no more evil laughing for me. Just kidding, please don't bow to me... ^^"
Fun Fact: I have a crazy fear about school buses...Probably because the last time I had to ride them, the conditions were awful! Seats were missing and shredded, and not to mention CROWDED, and when I was in kindergarten, I had to sit on some creepy goth 8th graders lap, because they lacked space. I was tiny, so the 8th grader seemed like a giant to me.
Okay you guys, I've officially creeped myself out! The entire time I wrote this, I was listening to Resident Evil's Main Theme by Marilyn Manson...O.O you gotta listen to it.
And before I do Replies, I must say that this story is probably one of the first to ever go OFFICIALLY like planned! I didn't make no drastic change to my own plot in this one. So far, I've seemed to keep to my original Plot! :D
REPLIES!
Firework471: Thanks! Here you go! Now on to the next...
PercyJacksonLover14: Has your mind exploded yet? Should I be worried? Am I evil enough yet? And Mwahahaha! I shall never let your mind rest!...At least not yet...*looks away*
Guest: Bingo, At least I hope so! ;) And THANKS! :D
Looking forward to you're reviews! :D
Hugs and Love, SilverPedals!