Look who's back! So sorry for the wait !

As usual, Laurel's my super Beta whom I adore. Thanks girl!

SITS chapter 15:

She dreams of him. Of course, she does. Yet, every night, what should only be an expected occurrence becomes a strange phenomenon. She talks to her doctor about them, thinking maybe the sleeping pills or any of the medications she's taking are the cause. He gave her a vague answer, made of "it's always possible", and "very little research" and her favorite: "Have you talked to your psychiatrist about them?"

She hasn't. Not yet. The dreams are hers. She keeps them hidden like a prized possession, under lock and key, something only she knows about and no one else can touch or taint. It's his voice she hears. And it's her name he calls. What difference would it make to tell her psychiatrist about it? Surely the woman she sits in front of every Tuesdays and Fridays knows already. Or at least strongly suspects.

It's a game Pepper unwillingly plays. Cat and mouse. Policemen and robbers. Doctor and patient:

"And how is your sleep?"

"Not great".

"Do you dream?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to talk about them?"

"No."

The woman scribbles something Pepper can easily guess: "patient unresponsive to certain questions. Displays passive-aggressive tendencies." Pepper feels like a child refusing to tell her mother where she's hidden the car keys because she doesn't want to go to school. The need to scream rushes to the surface during each session, but she doesn't let anything slip. She keeps the mask on, its veneer not quite intact but it'll do, for now. Instead, she smiles and says: "See you in a few days, doctor."

At night, she lays awake in her bed, in anticipation and in fear of what she's going to dream about. Of whom she's going to dream about. Sleep comes and so does he, with his smile, his cocky attitude, his warmth even. The first few nights she dreamt of him, that's all it was. Slivers of memories in no particular order. The night they met, the last dinner they had together, their embraces, their fights, and everything in between. Sounds and scents she thought she'd forgotten. The sense of dread comes later. Just before she wakes up, screaming and crying.

But a week or so after the dreams with Tony begin, they start to change. The memories transform into inaccurate copies of themselves. Like a game of differences, or those strange, deforming mirrors you see in fairs. They meet in Paris instead of Tokyo. His eyes are blue instead of brown. The dreams grow stranger and so do the differences. Sometimes, it's like they're not the same people anymore, as if she was seeing roads not taken. In one of them, she loathes him with a passion and he uses it against her as they have sex in an elevator. When she steps out, they're back in the cave in Afghanistan and he tells her he regrets ever meeting her before a hole appears in his chest. She sees him bleed out in front of her as she witnesses him dying, unable to move.

In another one, she's his PA and she doesn't go to Afghanistan. She waits for him and he never comes back. And when they ask her to throw a rose on his empty coffin, she falls in it and the lid closes over her. No one hears her screams. Not in the dream and not in her bedroom, where she ultimately wakes up, gasping for air.

XXX

Yinsen tells him he talks in his sleep. Not much, fractions of sentences, incoherent mumblings, nothing embarrassing. Not that Tony sleeps a lot. The stress of their situation, the constant pain in his chest and the low temperature of the cave prevent him from getting any rest. Also, there's the fact that Tony prefers to work on his armor rather than waste one minute on something so pointless.

Yinsen pesters him about it; he needs to recuperate and sleep is one way to do that.

"How are you going to operate it if you can't even stand on your own?"

Tony dismisses it with a wave of a hand.

"The power from the arc reactor will send my adrenaline running high anyway, no need to overdo it."

Yinsen then mumbles something about "Americans" and "hero complexes" which Tony has to admit, is not completely wrong. The matter gets dropped and they move on to the next task.

Truth is, Tony suspected he might have been talking in his sleep. His dreams – his nightmares – are full of her. He's almost certain Yinsen is being kind in qualifying his sleep talking of "incoherent mumbling". Because as soon as his eyes are closed, it's her he sees. And it's her name he repeats over and over, to the point of screaming. However, that's not what drives him crazy. It's the silence. That awful, heart-ripping silence that his cries are met with. Every. Single. Time. Not knowing what happened to her is bringing him to the brink of madness, he thinks. What if he never hears her voice again? What if he never sees her again? What if they –

He tries to stop himself from thinking it but his mind conjures up image after image, the next always more disturbing than the last. He slams his fist on the table and with the other hand, tries to grab his chest where his heart is but feels the hard heat of the arc reactor instead. He can sense Yinsen's gaze on him but the scientist remains silent. Tony takes a deep breath, which still feels odd with the metal in his chest but doesn't hurt as much anymore. He waits for his heart rate to slow down and returns to the archaic computer in front of him. He has some coding to do, armor to finish and a group of terrorists to annihilate. Then he'll find Pepper if it's the last thing he does.

XXX

Sitting in the mess, picking at his food, Agent Coulson is perplexed. Now, that's not something that happens to him a lot. He's actually always prided himself that not much could perturb him these days. He knows too much and he's seen more than he'll ever be able to understand. Most of the time, he feels as if maybe he's not supposed to understand everything and he's made his peace with that. And Fury likes him all the better for it. Well, at least as much as Fury is able to like someone. But let's not digress.

Coulson returns to the file in front of him. Fury just gave him new intel on Ms. Potts, Colonel Rhodes and Tony Stark. Those three have certainly been busy these past few years. That's not what's bothering him.

As far as he's concerned, they're clean. None of them seem involved in anything illegal. Ms. Potts doesn't have a criminal record, and all her travels and business deals have been investigated and cleared.

Colonel Rhodes has all the making of an American hero and Stark… well, he probably isn't going to be voted Man of the Year anytime soon but his weapons are the best the military has seen since Howard Stark. And Fury wants him back so he can make more. At least that's the official version. Coulson suspects that Stark being Howard's son also weighed in the decision. Coulson wonders, not for the first time, if he could try to bribe Fury with a good bottle of whiskey so he'd tell stories about SHIELD's notorious founder…

But back to the investigation. Coulson is hitting a wall, so to speak. How did the terrorist know Stark's exact whereabouts? Was there a leak? A mole? And where had it come from? The Air Force? Stark Industries? One of the private contractors? Someone from the Afghan Embassy? Nothing stood out. Whoever had leaked information, they didn't leave any trace. It bothers Coulson to no end. Either the perpetrators had been very lucky – which Coulson highly doubts – or there was something more to Stark's disappearance than just an arm's race between Afghan terrorist cells.

He re-reads Miss Potts' account of the events. Her ordeal had been short, thankfully, and her recollection of the chain of events clear enough that she had been able to sit with a sketch artist and work on several portraits. The first one was the leader's, but nothing in any international agencies database had panned out. The man is a ghost. And the name of his "organization", the Ten Rings, didn't set off any alarms. So either they didn't reveal their real name or they were a new player, which, for the area, is almost a weekly occurrence. The second portrait had also been one of her captors, a bearded man with a heavier countenance whom Miss Potts had described as a sort of right-hand man. Again, no luck in any of the databases. The number of men present at the encampment also remains a mystery. Miss Potts said more than 30 but that's hardly anything to go on…

However, the most interesting piece of information collected from Miss Potts's testimony isn't about her captors but about the other man present with her and Stark in the cell. A Prof. Yinsen, a doctor and engineer from a small village in Afghanistan. Miss Potts described him as another captive although he could have been someone working for the terrorists. But he had looked into the story Yinsen had told her and everything checked out. The man is who he said he is and his village had been destroyed a couple of months before Stark's abduction by an unknown group of assailants. That and the fact he probably saved Stark's life by operating on him – if one could call anything done in a cave "operating"- is enough for Coulson to assuage most of the doubts he has about the man. At least until he can talk to him directly.

The gruesome details of said operation also put a timer on things. In another report, the medical team at SHIELD stated their alarming concerns as to Mr. Stark's state of health as it was described by Miss Potts. They fear he will not survive long without surgical intervention by medical professionals. Especially if the car battery to which he is hooked up runs out and is not replaced by something more… viable. Coulson notes the medical team did not venture to name what could be an acceptable alternative for the car battery as they were not able to judge the level of severity of Mr. Stark's injuries.

Coulson sighs. He has turned the problem in his head over and over, read the reports so many times that he could probably recite them in his sleep… Something about Tony Stark's abduction doesn't add up. Where's the ransom demand? Surely his captors would have tried to extort money from someone, even if they don't intend to send him back. It's the first time a terrorist cell has been so quiet after pulling something so big as kidnapping a billionaire. No contact with any news outlet, no video on the internet showing off their "prize". Not a peep.

Maria Hill sits in front of him, accompanied by Melinda May.

"The chicken's that bad, Coulson?" Hill asks.

Coulson's head shoots up. Is it two o'clock already?

Coulson puts his plate away. "The chicken's always bad. This is turkey. At least, I think it is. How was training?"

Melinda chuckles. "The new recruits from the Academy are greener than last year's. It's going to be difficult to pick out which ones aren't going to fail miserably on their first mission."

"Or break their coccyx." Maria adds. They all wince at the memory.

"Speaking of things not going your way, why do you look like you're about to suffer from brain damage?" May asks.

Tactful as ever, Coulson thinks fondly. "Probably because I am." he replies. "There's something weird about the Stark abduction and I can't figure what."

"Spill." Maria says between two mouthfuls.

Coulson apprises them of the situation and tells them about his shaky theories. "It just doesn't add up. And it's been bothering me for weeks. Any ideas?"

They stay silent for some time and just when Coulson is about to thank them for listening, May makes a suggestion: "Are you 100% sure that there's been no ransom demand?"

Coulson is about to reply in the affirmative when a new theory forms in his mind. Could it be?

"I think you broke him." Hills says.

Coulson shots up from his chair. "You're a genius, Melinda."

"Tell me something I don't know." She replies.

But Coulson's already gone, on his way to verify his new theory.

Hill looks at May: "Should we be worried?"

Melinda has one of her rare smiles: "Oh, definitely."

XXX

Aurelia sits in her bed, completely bored out of her mind. It seems she's exchanged one cell for another, even if this one is far more comfortable and less nerve-wracking. Although, she'll say this about the young men and women who "guarded" her: they were all very nice to her. They'd probably never had a prisoner like her before. She could tell one of them, a young man from Texas, was completely disconcerted by her presence. He also kept calling her "Ma'am" instead of "prisoner". Bless his heart. She should probably send him something nice to say thank you.

It gives her something else to think about while she's stuck in bed. The doctor, as well as John, Casey, and Annalise, agreed that she should be on bed rest for at least a month so that she could recuperate from her ordeal. Truth be told, she slept through the first day and most of the second. Military prisons have dreadful beds and her back made her suffer every time she'd tried to sleep on hers. It's now been two weeks and the doctor refuses to listen to the fact that she feels absolutely fine. She just wants to step out of her bedroom, go downstairs and take in the sun for a little while. Surely that's not too much to ask? It's not like she's asking to leave the house. She can't anyway, not with her still being on house arrest until the charges have been dismissed.

Also, she wants to talk to Virginia. She hasn't seen her since the day she got out. The poor girl seemed even worst off than her, running everywhere to get her out of prison and trying to find her man. But Annalise has taken the phone out of her bedroom so she wouldn't be disturbed, and while she appreciates the thought, she'd like it back now, thank you very much. She calls out for the maid who appears immediately.

"Get me my phone, please."

"Of course, ma'am"

Five minutes later, the phone is ringing and Pepper answers:

"Aurelia? Is everything alright?"

Aurelia chuckles: "Why does everyone feel the need to ask me this question? I'm fine, dear. Don't worry about me. I'm in bed, being coddled like a five-year-old with a tummy ache. How are you?"

"I'm fine."

"Virginia…"

She hears Pepper's hesitation.

"It's been more than two months. I… I don't know that I can handle it any longer."

Just the fact that Pepper confessed her distress so easily has Aurelia worried. She must really be at the end of her tether, she thinks.

"Oh, dear. Why didn't you call sooner?"

"You were recuperating. You just got out of prison. And that's on me. I didn't want to be any more of a burden."

The last thing Aurelia wants is to upset Pepper but sometimes, it's the only way to get through to her:

"You will get that stupid assumption out of your head right now, Virginia. I may not be as young as I used to be, but I'm still perfectly capable of making my own decisions. I did what I did knowing what would happen. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Even if it meant never getting out of prison. Do you hear me Virginia?"

There's a silence on the line and for a second, Aurelia wonders if she went too far.

"I do." Her voice chokes on a sob.

The next twenty minutes of the call are spent with Pepper crying on the phone while Aurelia reassures her, telling her that they'll do everything they can to get Tony back, that they won't give up until he's back. That if there are two people meant to find each other, it's them.

"I know you, Virginia. And I've seen enough of Tony Stark to know that there aren't two people as stubborn and as driven as the two of you. You'll find each other again. You'll get through this. I feel it in my bones. This isn't the end of your story."

Virginia doesn't know what or who to believe anymore. But it's the first time she's felt any kind of hope since getting back to LA. She thinks of her therapy. That emptiness in the hollow of her heart after each session. After each dream. After each day without a call from SHIELD.

"Why don't you come and stay at the mansion for a few days? The boys and Annalise are driving me up the wall trying to keep me in bed all day. Come to the mansion and I'll send them away. I'll tell Annalise and John to go back to New York to be with her parents. She wants the baby to be born in New York anyway. Casey can go with them. How does that sound? Come and we'll keep each other company. You shouldn't be alone right now."

A few months ago, Virginia would have hated herself for such a display of weakness. She finds she doesn't care so much anymore.

She says yes. Her bags are packed thirty minutes after hanging up. Happy is at the door, ready to drive her to the Wanamaker mansion. She's not sure how she inherited Tony's driver in all the confusion, but she's grateful he's there. En route to Aurelia's, she remembers the days when she couldn't even fill out the emergency contact spaces in her HR forms. Now, she doesn't have enough space. Instead, there's a gap where Tony's name should be.

She prays to whatever gods happen to listen.

Please, please. Just tell me where he is.

XXX

Nothing happens. But Coulson is on a lead and he pulls on a thread which leads to secret accounts in the Cayman Islands, in Lichtenstein, in Panama. It goes back for years. Decades even. Shell corporations after shell corporations. He follows the money. He's got an inkling of where this is leading but he doesn't say anything, not yet. He wants proof and everything he's got so far is circumstantial. All the names are fake. All except for one: Maria Stark.

XXX

Nothing happens. That's what their captors think. Nothing out of the ordinary at least. Day in, day out, Tony and Yinsen appear to be working on the Jericho missiles. And day in, day out, they seem to be progressing toward… something.

XXX

Nothing happens. For weeks. But Pepper keeps searching for Tony and keeps praying to heathen gods. She's certain no one hears her. She doesn't care.

Or maybe someone does, up above, watching carefully over the Nine Realms and manipulates the events just a little bit. Heimdall knows Odin won't mind. Not after he tells him about the future he keeps envisioning.

XXX

Two things happen a few hours apart.

The first is a series of interconnected incidents that start in an underground base, somewhere in New Jersey: an alarm goes off. SHIELD HQ is no stranger to alarms going off but this one signals activity in a specific area of Afghanistan. The second alarm goes off in Germany. The third one in a military camp, somewhere outside of the province of Kandahar. But the strangest thing is that none of the radars actually show any activity. They're just pointing out one area, where nothing is happening. Command in DC calls them all and asks what the hell is happening. No one is able to answer. No one until Colonel Rhodes realizes that this is the area where Tony went missing. They wonder if it's a trap, but they hope maybe Stark has managed to reach out and show them where he is. It could explain why the German alarm went off at all. It's where the closest military hospital is and Tony could be asking for medical assistance. Command is reluctant to send men in such a dangerous area and into a potential trap, but Rhodes convinces them to let him head a rescue mission.

The second incident is a series of explosions and shots fired. Tony is moving toward the exit of the base, repeating the directions Yinsen gave him before he went out with a gun, trying to give Tony more time. He shoots ahead, trying to eliminate as many men as he can. He makes his way ahead until he finds Yinsen, lying on the ground, barely alive. The scientist tells him the truth about his family, how they all died in Gulmira, how he's going to join them.

"You have to find her, Stark. Find her and stop them."

He manages to tell him that he's glad he met him again before passing away. Tony feels the guilt eating at him and uses it to fuel his rage. He heads outside, the sun blinding him momentarily before he shoots everything and everyone to kingdom come.

XXX

No one knows what really happened that day. And after everything is said and done, a lot of people wondered how alarms went off hours before the second incident even happened. Because Tony Stark certainly wasn't the one to trigger those alarms.

(One day, maybe, Heimdall will tell the tale of the day Asgard interfered in human affairs)

But for now, he's just made it out of the terrorists' encampment, his armor is blown to bits and he's lost somewhere in the desert. That's when he hears it. The sound of aircrafts and somewhere in all the confusion, her voice rings out over the noise of engines and turbines:

"Tony!"


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