Chapter 12

Good Samaritan Hospital

"Pepper?" Tony's eyes looked to meet Pepper's. She attempted to sit up and get out of the bed but a sharp pain and Tony stopped her. He gently pushed on her shoulders lowering back down.

"It's okay. Try not to move."

"Where's Phoenix?"

"I don't know but I'm going to find out."

"I gave her my watch…"

"Ah Pep…"

"Tony I gave her my watch! Why haven't you found her?"

"Pepper your watch was in your pocket when I found you and Rhodey."

"But I saw her put it on."

"And you mustn't have seen her take it off."

There was a slight pause as Pepper attempted to take everything in.

"Tony I'm so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. Okay? Nothing." He said attempting to make Pepper stop panicking. "What do you remember?"

Pepper told him everything. The fake pizza guy, the fight and Frank Thomas. All of it.

"Then she whispered something to me after I called you."

"What did she say?"

"It didn't make sense but she told me to put my phone on the ground and cover my head."

"And then?"

"Everything went black."

"Why is that kid always so cryptic?"

"Remind you of anyone?"

Tony edged the corner of his mouth up and down. He looked like he hadn't slept in a while.

"How's James?"

"He's fine. He was awake a couple of hours ago."

"So they left Rhodey and me at his place and took Phoenix. Why?"

"They didn't leave you at his place, Pep." Tony looked genuinely stunned. "I found you and Rhodey nearly two days ago. You were both in the back of a van that was travelling down a highway near LAX. You don't remember?"

Pepper shook her head. "No. Not at all."

"Pepper I left you at Rhodes' on Sunday night."

"And?"

"Pep its Wednesday."

Location unknown

The room was filling gushing water and now it was almost up to the bottom of her knees. Phoenix saw a green light in the corner of the room but decided to take no notice of it. Wood splintered as Phoenix snapped her palms down. She struggled, pushed and pulled until at least one of her arms was free before freeing the other and her legs. Although she still had no idea how she was going to get out, she needed to see if Pepper's phone would still work or at least stand up before the water was too high.

She pulled her shoe free and extracted the device. Soaking wet and not working at all. How helpful. She took the battery and SIM card out and slowly tried to dry the phone out with her shirt. Yes, the screen was cracked and obviously wouldn't work very well but she just needed to make one call. Phoenix then went to clean out the SIM card when she realized the magnetic strip had almost completely rubbed off.

Plan B then. She cleaned up the battery and charged it on her pant and called 112. All cell phones even without a SIM card can call 221 however they would then be untraceable. Once again, not very helpful.

"112 what is your emergency?" She had a thick Indian accent.

"I'm stuck in a room that has four almost solid steel walls and a hatch on the roof as an opening. There's water flooding through a small square in the walls and the rooms starting to flood."

"What is your name please?"

She considered this for a moment.

"Phoenix Marcs but I'm Tony Stark's daughter… " She stopped. Who was going to believe she was Tony's daughter?

"Miss Marcs, is this a real emergency?"

She looked down. The water was up to her thy.

"YES! Okay! All you have to do is find my Dad, tell him what I've told you so he can find me before I drown."

The urgency in her voice made it obvious she wasn't lying. Then the hatch started opening.

"Mam, what's going on?"

"Oh this can't be good."

Frank Thomas appeared as the hatch opened. "C'mon kid. We haven't got all day it's going to flood in there soon."

She hated this. Oh my God she really hated this but she didn't have a choice.

"I'll call you back. Find my Dad."

She climbed the ladder and grabbed onto his arm. When she was pulled out and the hatched closed she noticed men with semi-automatic machine guns surrounded her. Perfect, just perfect.

Thomas grabbed her collar and pulled her to her feet. "How I've missed you, kid."

Good Samaritan Hospital

"Tony who's that?"

Pepper looked outside the door to see armed officers watching the door.

"I called S.H.I.E.L.D. They're on protection detail as well as trying to find Phoenix."

"And why aren't you trying to find Phoenix?"

"I have three separate world wide programs looking for her through cameras, cell phones, Internet. Everything. It's the same technology we used to find Loki."

"Stark!"

Director Fury walked at a concerning rate through the door.

"Have you found her?"

"Not in so many…"
"HAVE YOU FOUND HER?" He rose to his feet faster then lightning.

"No. She managed to call 112. Whatever phone she was using didn't have a SIM card."

Tony sat back down slowly head in hands.

"What did she say?"

"Here, you can listen for yourself." With that Fury handed him a small phone-like device and whispered the word play hesitantly.

Tony heard it. All of it. The fear etched into his daughter's voice terrified him. He had to find her. He'd known her now for a couple of months but he knew he needed her. She needed him too.

He looked across at Pepper and she was crying. Even Rhodes had awoken to hear her yelling and was now lying in his bed hopelessly.

"I'm sorry, Stark. We're still working."

With that Tony upped and left. He was going to bring her home himself.

Location unknown

"I'm sorry. I was angry at myself and I took it out on you."

Phoenix was now strapped to a pole in a thick tent. Outside had been so dessert like, her eyes were still hurting and dust was still in her hair.

"Angry at yourself?" Phoenix almost screamed. "Why the hell would you be angry at yourself? You did your job. You fooled my Mum and then killed her. That seems more like a mission accomplished for someone like you."

Thomas slapped her and the sting echoed around her face.

"My orders weren't to kill her! They were to hurt her to prove I wasn't getting too close."

"Oh so you just accidently killed her then?" Phoenix asked sarcastically.

"Yes."

"Because that makes it so much better!"

"Well I guess the leader was right about me getting to close because I drank every night after that…"

"I'd noticed." Phoenix mumbled.

"When I hit you it was my way of hurting myself."

"Because that's healthy."

"Would you stop with the sarcasm or I may be tempted to hit you again. You should feel special. I cared about you enough to feel pain when I hurt you."

"Yes that makes me feel so much better..."

"I made a deal with the leader…"

"His names Raza."

"I'm aware. Anyway my deal allows me to take you after he's done scaring Stark and we can be a family again."

"A family? When were we ever a family? Oh that's right, never!"

Pain stitched into her other cheek.

"Your scared I understand. But I'm a changed man now. I'm not going to hurt you."

"You just did for the second time in five minutes!" Phoenix said warily.

"Don't you get it? We can be happy."

"You're such an idiot sometimes." Phoenix was tearing up.

"Why would he let me go? More importantly why would he let you go? You failed him three times…"

"Four actually. I misplaced your friends."

Phoenix breathed a sigh of relief. The one bit of good news she'd heard in what felt like an age. Her plan had worked.

"So you've failed him four times. You know his safe houses. His crimes. You're a loose end now. He's not going to let you just walk away."

"I made a deal so he wouldn't kill you and we could be a family."

"Well I'm sorry but I recommend you run away as fast as possible and don't stop because having you alive only poses a threat or at least an inconvenience for him. Either way…"

Raza appeared through the tent opening with two guards at his shoulders.

"I thought the girl was meant to be in the water system."

"The water system was overflowing. One of the pipes ruptured."

"It was ruptured on purpose."

"We have a deal."

"Not anymore. Gentlemen." Raza turned and one of the two guards took out a pistol and shot Thomas.

Phoenix was breathing heavily and her eyes were filling.

"Let's go talk to Stark."

EXTRA LONG CHAPTER BECAUSE OF THE WAIT. PLEASE REVIEW