The sun scorched his back. The sand was everywhere, and the heat was unbearable. Tony wanted few things as much as he wanted to stop moving, but he couldn't stay here. He was still too close to the caves. No doubt some of his captors had survived the explosions, and Tony didn't wish to die. Not… not after everything. Not at their hands.

Heat. Sand. A step, and another.

It was unfortunate he had to leave the armor's remains behind, but he had little choice. Hopefully the desert wind would bury and scatter the pieces. Besides, they didn't have a power source for it. No use worrying about it now.

Step. Step. Shuffle. Heat.

Tony estimated he might be able to keep walking for a few more hours before collapsing. His only hope was that the army would send people to see what caused the explosion and they would spot him. The odds weren't even that bad, really. He knew he probably should've waited instead of wandering into the desert, but from the air it wouldn't make it that much more difficult to find anyway and the thought of not moving away from that place was too revolting to stomach.

Hope. Hope.

His burns and injuries were only an afterthought after the dry agony of his throat. He'd cough if he thought it would help anything. He needed water. He didn't think he was all that dehydrated yet, but it was only a matter of time. They hadn't given them much water in the cave, only enough to keep them functional. Tony knew humans could go for about three days without water under normal circumstances. He was pretty sure he wouldn't die before he was found.

He needed to keep walking. He needed to get out of the sun. He needed to not fall down because he didn't think he had the willpower to get up if he did.

He needed water.

Step. Step. Heat. Don't fall.

Had it been four hours? Five? It might've been more. Maybe it was less. He couldn't really tell, which was unusual and alarming. He would've given the matter the appropriate amount of worry if he wasn't so goddamn thirsty. And exhausted. Time wasn't the only thing he was losing track of - his mind was getting sluggish, and thoughts slipped away. Only the need to keep moving remained, overpowering the complaints of his body for now.

Heat. Step. St-

A few seconds of frantic flailing, a surprised grunt, and he tumbled down the dyne he'd been climbing.

After he and the sand both fell still Tony thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't had the energy to voice his alarm. Having sand in his mouth would've made him at least twice as miserable right now, and he was miserable enough as things stood. The very thought of fighting his way to a standing position from here made exhaustion weight on him like the bulky armor had while unpowered. He'd… close his eyes. Gather his willpower. Not for long, just for a moment-

"Aren't you in a sorry state. A genius billionaire escapes in a blaze of glory and dies of thirst in the desert. Shouldn't you be dying in some opulent and unique way to suit your opulent and unique life? Cross that, this is almost poetic."

Now, Tony Stark wouldn't be Tony Stark if he let anyone talk to him like that without a riposte – up to and including his own hallucinations. "Who said anything about dying? I'm catching my second wind right now." Tony's voice came out in a predictable rasp and it undermined his already weak backtalk that much more. Well, sue him, he'd earned a moment of weakness after the day he'd just had, and he could afford it.

The hallucination laughed at him and its shoes walked into view. They were expensive. This was getting ridiculous. "That's the spirit! Up you get, Stark, there's financial imbalance that still needs perpetuating." Were the expensive shoes guilting him for being rich? They were, weren't they. Unbelievable.

Tony turned enough to see the person towering over him. It was a thin man with slick black hair and a fine suit to go with his fancy shoes. He seemed irritatingly unconcerned with the desert heat. Entertaining a delusion probably wasn't a good idea, but Tony wasn't very worried about that right now. It was something to think about that wasn't scorching heat and sand. "It's nice of you to visit me like this and all, but do I know you?"

The man seemed condescendingly amused. His gaunt face was a good fit for condescension. "Ah, but of course, you wouldn't care enough to pay attention to my field. I am known as Raven Sable, the creator of nouvelle and various popular diets. In this case, however, you can call me Famine."

Tony stared at him for a while. "Great," he said weakly. "My hallucinations have consistent themes now. That's something, I guess."

Famine's laughter was thin and refined. "Oh, I am not a figment of your imagination, and neither was my sister. But I suppose it doesn't matter to me if you think that. It will be easier on your mortal brain, at least."

Tony could've argued for his brain's ability to handle things, but honestly, he wasn't up to arguing that point with someone who called him a mortal. "…All right. Famine. What's the occasion?" His voice still sounded rough, but the strangeness of the situation was successfully distracting him, at least. He was looking for small victories at this point.

The self-claimed Famine was taking leisurely steps around him, infuriatingly not sinking into the sand with every step. "I'm here to see the man of the hour, of course. War has always liked you and took the opportunity to meet you properly when the chance presented itself. You practically fell into her lap and she just couldn't resist herself. I can't claim I wasn't interested myself – you do not create opportunities for me quite the same way as you do for her, but we do move in the same circles, more or less. And here we are." He stopped and gave a very thin smile. "Hunger, thirst… the lines can blur, and I am very good at interpreting the rules to my benefit. Why not take this chance, meet you as you fall under my domain? You have just done an extraordinary thing, and I believe it is just the beginning. I have a feel for these kinds of things. That is, of course, if you do not die here."

The smile was wider now, sharper, hungrier. "And if you do die here… I would not complain. It would give me pleasure to claim your demise." Slowly, Famine's expression turned human again. Tony realised he had been shivering only when he stopped. "But that is up to you, right now. By all means, stay down. It would be easy. You wouldn't get up again, but what would you be losing, really?"

Well, now he couldn't, could he? Damn this thing for destroying the illusion Tony had created – that it wouldn't be such a bad thing to lie down here for a moment, he'd just catch his breath and get up soon…

But after being taunted like that he had little choice. He would find the strength to move and keep moving if only to be contrary to this mirage. He didn't want to die – he wanted to fix things. Do something good, instead of only creating destruction and then fading away. And Tony Stark was always contrary, wasn't he, and he had to maintain the image…

If he was doing this, he couldn't spare energy, not even for spitting in this thing's face. Not that he could, right now. Tony braced himself and slowly, so slowly, made himself stand up. Sand cascaded down his back. He found a footing, fixed his head covering, and pointedly didn't look at the thing standing next to him. It spoke anyway.

"I see. Whatever comes of you, I expect it will be interesting. Until we meet again, Tony Stark."

Tony couldn't tell if it was pleased or not that he'd stood up. He told himself he didn't care either way and started walking again. He'd watch his footing better from now on. It wouldn't be long now until he was found. It wasn't even that bad, really, if he just thought about something else…

Tony glanced back. Famine was still there, in the exact same spot. It was looking at him, its hands neatly folded behind its back, suit spotless and freshly pressed. The thin frame moved not an inch, and the shadow it cast was slightly too long, gaunt… reaching.

Tony kept moving. It took longer now before the need to look back became too great to ignore. The figure was gone. He didn't look back anymore.

Tony resolved to never look up Raven Sable. He could compartmentalize a lot, but even he wasn't sure what he'd do if he found out such a person truly existed. Better, just this once, to not think about it.

Still, he already knew he wouldn't completely forget about it. It would've been difficult, when this had been the first time he had truly felt and been driven by Famine.

AN

Shows up six years later with an unexpected update.

If you'd like to thank someone for this chapter existing... thank commentor Lilith_666 on AO3. I guess I just needed someone to poke me about this.