Deep in the Nevada desert in a ghost town called Rhyolite, Pepper, Emma and Jamie were tied up in the old railroad station. On one end of the room, Pepper and Emma were seated on rickety chairs tied back to back. Emma's knee had turned a deep shade of black purple from where she had been hit with the butt of the rifle and her cheek was equally as dark from where they had slapped her. Pepper was considerable better off since she only suffered some minor bruising from where they had been thrown and a small split in her lip. Jamie was on the floor on the other side of the room, tied to another post. He kept fading in and out of consciousness due to the amount of blood he had lost from the wound in his leg. The blood had dried and clotted with the leg of his pants and the black eye he had received had swollen his left eye shut.

As long as they didn't struggle too much, the kidnappers largely left the three of them alone. There were small slits in the windows to allow some light in so they could tell that at least when a day had passed but there wasn't much more after that.

As soon as James Rhodes heard what had happened at the benefit, first from the classified report that one Captain James Stark, USAF was kidnapped and then on the eleven o'clock news, he floored his truck from Edwards to Tony's mansion. He knew exactly what his best friend was going to do and he had to stop him before he did something incredibly stupid.

Rhodey pulled up into the driveway and was practically out of the vehicle before it was totally parked. Jarvis was kind enough to open the door for him since he was in enough of a rush to not bother with trivial things like opening doors.

"Tony!" he called out at the top of his lungs as he instinctually headed down to the garage.

No sooner he got within view of the doors, Rhodey saw the robots already suiting Tony up as Iron Man.

"Tony! You have to stop." Rhodey shouted at the top of his lungs to get his friend's attention.

"Why in hell would I do that?" Tony snapped back. "They took my family and I am going to get them back."

"Not like this you're not." Rhodey countered.

"It has worked before." Tony responded.

"But that was with disorganized animals," Rhodey insisted. "That is one thing these people were not. I have seen the security tapes, Tony, and I am telling you these people had a plan. They knew when and how to hit. They used unmarked SUVs that looked like Suburbans but no one is really sure and they used several so you don't know who went where. You don't even know where they are. Now, if you go in there half cocked and guns blazing, not only will you get hurt but so will they. We have to have a plan of attack this time. Ready, fire, aim will not cut it."

Tony fell silent for a moment and then gave Jarvis a small signal to reverse the robots to remove his armor. "I don't do anything half cocked." He protested.

"I know and that is the problem." Rhodey said as he ushered Tony to the couch once he was free of the suit. "I know you hate this but you will need to listen to me this time." He reasoned with his friend.

"Sir? I am sorry to interrupt but Mr. Roosevelt and Ms. Sebastiano have returned." Jarvis interjected.

"Lock the garage down and tint the windows. I don't want them down here now." Tony snapped.

"Of course sir." Jarvis replied smoothly as he quickly followed his master's orders.

Rhodey put a hand on Tony's shoulder. "I'll go talk to them. Promise me you're not going anywhere."

"I promise I am not going anywhere." Tony said flatly as he leaned back against the couch in despair.

Since he said he promised, Rhodey trusted Tony to keep his word and he headed upstairs to greet David and Marina.

Marina was helping David to the couch with his newly slinged arm and setting Emma's purse and phone on the table as Rhodey ascended from the garage.

"General Rhodes, this is a surprise." Marina exclaimed as she greeted him and David offered his hand to shake. "How did you get here? There is so much press out there. They just swarmed the grounds as soon as things broke."

"I didn't think they would get here so quick." Rhodey sighed. "I guess I am going to need to make a statement about the situation."

"With all due respect, General, I would like to make the statement." David spoke up. "I have plenty of experience with press conferences and I am fully capable of taking care of this."

Rhodey was a little surprised but inwardly relieved because that freed him up to keep Tony grounded. "That would be greatly appreciated, David. Keep it short and not too many details since this both a civilian and military matter."

"I have liasoned with the JAG before so I think I can manage it. Just give me a few minutes to prepare a statement and we'll be in business." David said as he got up from the couch and grabbed a piece of paper with his free hand to start mapping things out.

"Is there anything I can do, General Rhodes?" Marina asked.

"Clear Tony's schedule and keep the coffee coming. We will need it." Rhodey said as he turned for the garage.

Marina nodded and quickly pulled up Pepper's laptop and a cell phone to start clearing out the next few days.

When Rhodey came back down into the garage, Jarvis allowed him to enter but had not prepared him for what he would see. Tony was still sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. When he looked up at Rhodey, there was no hiding his bloodshot pained eyes before he turned away.

"Don't you dare do this." Rhodey told him.

"Do what?" Tony said thickly as he sniffed.

"Blame yourself for all of this. This is not your fault."

"I am not blaming myself." Tony lied.

"Yes you are because I know that look. I had the same look when I lost you." Rhodey stated. "We will get them back."

"Sir? I believe you should see this." Jarvis said as he turned on the television. As the screen brightened, an image of David in a dark suit just outside of the mansion came into focus.

"What is he doing?" Tony asked as he turned up the volume.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of the Stark family, I have a statement to read and I will be taking no questions at this time. Due to the tragic events that occurred this evening, the Stark family is cooperating fully and working diligently with the police, FBI and military police to quickly resolve this situation and bring this to a safe resolution. Out of respect and consideration, the family would appreciate some privacy in light of the dire circumstances. Any further inquiries should be directed to the Stark Industries Public Relations department. Thank you." David said in a cool, calm and refined manner.

Just as he was stepping off the podium, a voice called out a question.

"Do you really expect us to believe that?" Christine Everheart called out. "Isn't this just some blatant cover up for another Iron Man cover story?"

David turned around like he wasn't fazed by the irritating blond at all. "You may believe what you want, miss, but if any false or derogatory statements are printed, I assure you that you will find yourself faced with the biggest lawsuit that you have ever seen. Mark my words that both Stark Industries and the family will collect damages of unimaginable amounts. Now, excuse me and good night." He finished before walking back into the house.

Tony clicked off the TV and was actually speechless for a moment. The statement David had produced was impressive and Tony now truly understood what Emma saw in this tall, lanky, shy and seemingly nerdy guy.

By the time the sun had filled the living room on the second day; three laptops had been set up in the living room with various cell phones, monitoring all possible situations. David had everything from PR routed to him to sort through. Marina was keeping tabs on the dailies and damage control. Rhodey had the military control center routed through his with a little help from Jarvis since he knew if he left, Tony would be off doing something stupid really quickly.

While mission control had taken over upstairs, an overly tired and excessively caffeinated Tony had spent the combined total of three hours on the phone with LAPD, the FBI and the MPs giving his recounts and getting more and more aggravated with their idiocy and lack of progress. Why hadn't there been a ransom request? Why hadn't Jamie's homing beacon been activated? Were they all together or separated? Why did Rhodey have to watch over him like he was going to break or go off on a hunt for blood? All of these questions were driving Tony closer to his breaking point. He silently kept eying a small locked drawer in his desk with only one thing inside of it…a key…the key to his liquor cabinet that he had locked years ago.

Tony got up from his couch and tried to push that thought out of his head as he walked over to his armor. He seemed to be methodically examining it to make sure it was ready for a moments notice.

"The suit is running at optimum capability, sir." Jarvis interjected. "You have made sure of that."

"I know but this is more important than usual." Tony replied as he walked away from the armor and sat down in front of his hot rod. "Put the music on, Jarvis…hard and loud." He requested as he started to work on the engine. As heavy metal and hard rock started to blast through the sound system, an unwritten but clearly understood rule was enacted. Unless it was a matter of life or death or something needed Tony's attention immediately, or you were Pepper, do not disturb.

As the sun moved across the cracks in the ceiling, a harsh cough came from Jamie as his skin was pale and glistened with sweat.

"Mom?" he rasped out.

"What is it, Jamie?" Pepper called back with concern as she heard the harshness of her son's unused voice.

"When is Dad getting here?"

"I couldn't tell you." Pepper said sadly.

"You mean…you haven't called him?" Jamie asked incredulously.

"How can we?" Pepper sighed.

"My reactor…" Jamie said as he slipped into unconsciousness again.

"His reactor?" Pepper asked Emma.

"I can't believe I forgot about that," Emma scolded herself.

"Forgot about what?" Pepper asked with a little more force.

"The homing beacon on the back of his reactor. Dad put it on there as another safety precaution since he knows how big you are on them." Emma stated. "I can turn it on if they would just untie us for a few moments."

"How long do you need?" Pepper asked as she started to come up with a plan to get them out of here.

In the course of triaging emails and phone messages and sorting through a literal two tons of questions from PR, not one of the three brains up in the living room had noticed that it was past seven o'clock and no one had eaten a thing since the night before until Rhodey's stomach let out a very loud and uncharacteristically rude growl. To his credit, he tried to blame David for it.

"I guess I can whip up something." Marina said as she got up from the couch and started perusing the pantry and fridge. "Does Mr. Stark like Italian food?"

"It's his favorite." Rhodey replied.

"Well, that answers where Jamie got it from." Marina commented. "Think he would be hungry?"

Rhodey thought about it for a moment. "Hungry…yes. Able to eat…to be determined." He stated. "And I wish you luck on your mission if you would like to try."

"I accept this challenge and I strive to prove you wrong." Marina stated as she attacked the kitchen.

Not more than a half an hour later as David and Rhodey were already tucking into the food she had made, Marina was descending into the garage with a full plate of chicken, penne and veggies sautéed in marinara sauce and a bottle of soda to try to tempt Tony into eating.

Some time ago, Tony had allowed Jarvis to unlock the door since he had regained a bit of his self-control. He was so absorbed in rebuilding the engine of the hot rod that he never even noticed that Marina had turned his music down when she silently entered. He may not have noticed her at all except the downright sinfully delicious smell of what she was carrying hit his nose and made his hunger more apparent than Rhodey's was.

"I figured you would be hungry." Marina said sweetly as she handed the plate to Tony. "General Rhodes didn't want me to disturb you but Mrs. Stark would kill me personally if I let you go to hell in a hand basket because she wasn't here."

"Rhodey is just looking out for me," Tony said in between bites as he damn near attacked the pasta in front of him. "And if you're bringing me stuff this good, I give you permission to tell him to go to hell."

Marina smiled at the compliment. "I thought you would like that. Jamie devours it three plates at a time." She said as a little sadness slipped into her voice when she thought about Jamie.

"Jamie is a fighter…hell all three of them are." Tony stated, trying to reassure her. "They will not go down quietly and if I have anything to say about it, we are getting to them before they go down at all."

Marina smiled weakly at his words as she looked up at Tony. "I know that. I have already seen that. I just want to keep the 'what ifs' out of my head and it isn't always easy."

Tony set his empty plate down on his desk and rubbed his eyes tiredly. It was no secret that he was physically and mentally exhausted by this but he was forcing himself awake by staying active so they could leave as soon as they knew.

"Mr. Stark, why don't you go upstairs for a little while and rest?" Marina suggested.

"There isn't time for that." Tony replied quickly as he forced himself back to work.

"I am not saying sleep even though that would do you a world of good right now." Marina corrected. "I am just suggesting walking away from all of this, take a hot shower or soak in your hot tub and let your body relax. You're pushing too hard. I have seen Jamie do this until he nearly collapses. How can you be there for them if you are in this state?"

Tony thought about it for a moment. She did have a point…just like Pepper. "Let me just finish up what I was working on…" Tony conceded.

"Very well, Mr. Stark." Marina answered with a smile as she picked up his plate and headed back upstairs.

Not more than fifteen minutes later, while Marina was cleaning up the dishes and David and Rhodey were discussing the finer points which had the better food – New York or Philadelphia, Tony quietly slipped through the living room and headed upstairs. His soft footsteps were quickly followed by the sound of a closing door and the shower being turned on.

Marina smiled to herself as she loaded the dishwasher but did not start it just yet. "Jarvis? Please let me know if Mr. Stark actually gets some sleep."

"Of course, Ms. Sebastiano."

Rhodey caught was Jarvis had said and turned to Marina with a look of shock on his face. "How the hell did you manage to do that?"

"I appealed to reason. I put it into his head that he can't help his family if he's unconscious." Marina said. "Mrs. Stark told me that trick."

"I guess you finally got over on his iron determination," David stated which received a sharp look from Rhodey. "I would have to say that even heroism has its limits to how much a body can take."

Rhodey eyed David up and down at his choice of words and then looked at his computer screen and braced himself. The old cat was out of the bag again.

It was well past nightfall when Pepper started to put the wheels in motion to get them out of this hell hole. In the two days that they had been held captive, they were only released to use the bathroom which was barely more than an outhouse but it would give a few precious moments of freedom for them to act. Pepper asked to be allowed to use the 'facilities' when one of the goons came in before they vanished for the night. The thug untied her from Emma and roughly forced her out of the room.

Once Emma heard the coast was clear, she limped over to Jamie's semi-conscious form. She expertly undid the arc reactor and flipped the switch on the back and then replaced it and limped back to the chair before anyone came back, sealing their rescue.

By the early darkened hours of the morning, the mansion had finally fallen silent. Rhodey and David had both crashed in the armchairs that they had been sitting in while Marina had stretched out on the couch. The only thing that had showed a sign of life was a small blinking blue dot on a screen that had popped up on Rhodey's computer. The blinking and beeping was enough to wake Marina out of the light sleep she had fallen into. She rubbed her eyes and tried to focus on the small dot and soon her heart flew into her throat.

"General! Wake up! I think there is something you should see." Marina called, startling Rhodey awake.

He stumbled out of the chair to look at the screen. He saw the blinking blue dot in a place called Rhyolite, Nevada. "We've got them." He whispered before running up the stairs to get Tony.

As Rhodey bolted up the stairs, the lights came on and David awoke to find people a great deal happier. "I am guessing we have a positive development."

"We found them. They're in Nevada." Marina screamed as Tony came flying down the stairs in a t-shirt and sweats.

A huge smile lit up Tony's face when he saw that blue dot. He knew exactly what it was…the beacon on Jamie's reactor…which Emma had to turn on…so Pepper had to provide interference. All three were together. He quickly grabbed the keys to Jamie's Viper and threw them to Marina.

"You two meet us there. Take two cars and wait at the airport. If any immediate medical treatment is necessary, take them to Desert Springs Hospital in Vegas. After that, it's back to California. Questions? No? Good." Tony rattled off quickly as he ordered Jarvis to lock down the house after they had left and he and Rhodey started for the garage, followed by Marina and David.

Just as the robots were starting to put the armor on Iron Man and War Machine on their respective human components, David and Marina got the whole truth.

"Well, I figured the Iron Man connection but not the War Machine one," David said as he jumped into his Escalade and roared out of the garage.

"Now this definitely explains Jamie's version. I thought his was an original." Marina commented with a bit of awe as she unlocked Jamie's Viper.

"This is the original." Tony said with a smirk as he took off, followed quickly by Rhodey. Marina peeled out as soon as Iron Man and War Machine were just two lights in the sky heading east.

As Iron Man and War Machine closed in on the ghost town, Jarvis started to use infrared scanning to find out which building they were being held in.

"Sir, all three are in the railroad station with seemingly heavy reinforcements."

"Heavy reinforcements? I laugh. Looks like some real ghosts will be joining this town." Tony said sarcastically. "Plan of attack, Rhodey?"

"I recommend a snatch and grab. We get Pepper and the twins and deal with any resistance afterwards." Rhodey stated. "Let's not stir the hornets' nest if we don't have to."

"How do you plan on getting in without stirring the nest as you put it?" Tony chimed back.

"Well, Pepper told me you like making skylights…"

Tony laughed at the jab at his early landing attempts. "And that skylight looks great in my living room." He shot back as he used the flight stabilizers and blew a hole in the ceiling just far enough away from Pepper and the twins.

As the dust cleared, Tony and Rhodey could see what condition they were in. Rhodey went over to free Jamie while Tony took care of Pepper and Emma.

"What took you so long?" Pepper teased as she hugged her metal encased husband.

"Jarvis got lost." Tony shot back as he broke through the ropes, realizing a problem. "We have an issue."

As soon as the words left Tony's mouth, Rhodey understood the issue. "Three rescuees and two rescuers?"

"Exactly," Tony agreed. He knew Jamie was in no condition to go on his own and Pepper had no way to. Tony regretfully looked at Emma. "Do you think you could handle your glider on your own?" he asked tentatively.

Emma thought about it, looked down at her blackened knee and then back at her father, nodding. "I think so. I just need to tape or brace my knee up and I can do it."

"Jarvis, send Emma's glider. What's the ETA?" Tony told his AI.

"Three minutes, sir."

"Thanks," Tony replied as he scanned the very sparse room. "So much for tape."

"I have an idea. I just need someone to hold me up." Emma stated as she leaned against Tony. Taking up the bottom of her dress, she ripped off a strip about three inches wide and long enough to go around her knee several times. She quickly wrapped it around as tight at it would go to stabilize her damaged knee, finishing just as her glider floated beside her. Emma winked at Tony as she popped up a few of her bombs, one smoke bomb and one gas bomb, from the board. "It will help to cover out exit."

"I am beginning to feel a little out brained here," Tony laughed as he gave Rhodey the signal to take Jamie out. "Emma, toss them and then go. We'll follow behind." He told her as he gathered Pepper close to him.

"Gotcha," Emma stated as she pressed the buttons on the bombs and then tossed them into the other room and took off for the skies with Tony on her tail as the room below filled with noxious fumes.

It was a short trip to the airport where Marina and David were waiting. No sooner all three had landed, Tony ordered Jamie into the Viper.

"David, take the keys from Marina and get him to the ER as fast as that thing can go." Tony called out to him as Pepper started to get to work on getting him out of his armor while Emma and Marina started on Rhodey.

"No worries. I'll meet you there," David called back as he jumped in the Viper and hit the gas.

"You had better be damn careful with my car, Roosevelt, or I will seriously dislodge your head from the rest of your body," Jamie in a weak but rough edged voice.

"How did you know this was your car without even opening your eyes?" David countered as the car was easily pushing eighty.

"I know the roar of an engine that I helped to upgrade. There's enough of my blood in this car to practically make it a relative."

Three days later, a sense of peaceful normalcy had returned to Malibu. Emma, with her knee propped up with several pillows and alternating heat and ice to soothe after physical therapy, had set herself up on the living room couch with a movie marathon of Moulin Rouge, A Life Less Ordinary, Strictly Ballroom, and Across the Universe. She called these flicks fabulous glimpses into a director's twisted mind. Jamie, trying to be macho, attempted to ditch his crutches as frequently as possible despite the large amounts of medication he was on for the infection he had acquired. He found ways around this by using the wheeled office chair in the garage to glide around his car and his armor to keep his hands busy. Both of them hadn't seen much of their parents since Pepper decided Tony needed a proper hero's thank you and neither Emma nor Jamie really wanted to deal with it.

When Tony and Pepper finally did decide to emerge from upstairs, Emma had to do her level best not to comment when they turned on the affection in public. It lasted all of thirty seconds.

"You two aren't tired yet? Rabbits can't go that long." Emma said with a laugh.

"I make rabbits jealous." Tony laughed in between each time he captured Pepper's lips.

"Ack…I did not need to hear that, Dad. Get a room or something."

"Good idea…we want this one…get out." Tony said.

"Ha ha…very funny." Emma deadpanned.

"I know. It was, wasn't it?" Tony said with a smile at first. "But I am serious. We don't want an audience."

"Oh really…make your daughter who is on crutches move. Nice one, Dad." Emma said sarcastically as she pulled herself to her feet with her crutches. "But if you have to be like this, Jarvis can set my movies up in the garage. I am sure Dummy and Butterfingers won't kick me out."

"Be careful with Dummy. He gets trigger happy." Tony laughed as Emma was actually taking him seriously.

"Mom! I can't believe you are letting him do this." Emma exclaimed.

"I'm not but he's running on endorphins and adrenaline so at the moment I am letting him run his course and then do damage control." Pepper laughed as Tony kissed her again.

"Well I hope damage control includes me because I will get you for this, Dad." Emma called as she stepped into the elevator. "Maybe I'll take the Audi out for a spin." She said as the door closed.

That snapped Tony back to reality. No one took his car. "Emma! Let's renegotiate…" he called out as he ran down the stairs after her.