Here's another one. I'll be posting a Doctor Who one tomorrow for everyone, but let me know what you think of this one!


I resisted the urge to scowl as I shifted a little in my seat, gaze settled determinedly out the window of the Humvee and completely ignoring the man seated to my right as "Back in Black" by AC/DC pumped through the speakers. How did I get assigned this job again? I wondered, questioning if the others in the squad stuck in this vehicle were thinking the same. Ice rattled in the Scotch glass the man held beside me and I forced my eyes closed to take a steadying breath. Does he not even realize what sort of situation he's in? Or does he just not care? I opened my eyes, emerald eyes sharp as they skimmed the desert laid out beyond the vehicle in search of anything off. A flash of light off a sniper's scope, the glare of the sun off a turban, smoke from a fire, or something far more dangerous. Anything could happen out here, and he's drinking in broad daylight in a suit as though this is just another escort to some party of his.

I inhaled deeply and let it out in another soft sigh, ignoring the look the man sent me over the top of his sunglasses. Oh, wait. That's right. I got assigned this bogus job of escort and bodyguard while he's here because the commander said, "You don't give a shit about him or his fame, and you can handle his level of stupidity better than my best soldiers. You're in." I mentally scoffed. Never again. I'll stop after this, so long as I can get the job in California now that I've got the degree and experience needed. Between the higher-ups believing this is the best job I could get and what I've done for the country thus far, I'd say they owe it to me to let me leave this place with a bronze star and never bother me again for this shit. I scratched my neck idly, running over the dark ink tattooed into my skin for a moment as I remembered the demonstration we'd been shown just before this.

And what a demonstration it was. Yet another reason why I should leave. Protecting the peace is one thing, decimating an area that size with no thought to collateral damage is another. My gaze finally shifted to the goateed man on my left. And with him in charge of weapons manufacturing, the Jericho won't be the end of it. It'll be the start.

"I feel like you're driving me to court-martial. This is crazy," Tony Stark finally complained after Jimmy shot him yet another uneasy glance. "What did I do? I feel like you're gonna pull over and snuff me. What? You're not allowed to talk? Hey, Forest."

"We can talk, sir," the man responded, but it didn't help deal with the billionaire's complaints.

"Oh, I see. So, it's personal?"

"No, you intimidate them," our driver, Ramirez, replied, making me snort. "Most of them."

"Good God, you're a woman," he blurted out and I, again, had to resist the urge to make a comment or push the man out of the vehicle to walk the rest of the way. "I honestly… I couldn't have called that. I mean, I'd apologize, but isn't that what we're going for here? I thought of you as a soldier first."

"I'm an airman," she replied, not rising to his bait as I shot a dark look at Jimmy and Pratt who had started to smirk—quickly stopping when their gazes met mine.

"But you have, actually, excellent bone structure there. I'm kinda… having a hard time not looking at you now, is that weird?"

Even she couldn't help but chuckle at that with the others and I begrudgingly relaxed a bit. It'll do them good, at least. Need all the joy you can get out here. Tony seemed to agree.

"Come on. It's okay. Laugh." He smiled, nudging me and earning a roll of my eyes. "Now, hold on. You too? Wow. Surrounded by women and I didn't even know!"

"Relax, Captain," Ramirez hummed, glancing at me in the rear-view mirror. "You're free to enjoy the ride too, you know."

Tony let out a whistle. "Captain, huh? Impressive."

"I've been busy," I hummed, willing to satisfy that much of his curiosity as I relaxed some more.

Ramirez is right. This is as much of an escort for him as it is for me. The road's been mapped out beforehand and the surrounding areas are clear. I almost sighed again as my eyes drifted back to the window. I've been uptight for too long. Going home will be a change. I idly listened as Pratt asked Tony about some modeling job before Jimmy finally gathered enough confidence to ask for a picture with the man himself. Like most soldiers when handed a celebrity.

"Yeah, peace. I love peace. I'd be out of a job with peace," Tony commented, making me frown lightly, reminding me why I didn't care for the man.

Then, there was a blast and my heart twisted in my chest as Ramirez pulled the Humvee to a stop. The one in front had exploded and my hand went right for my weapon as she shouted.

"Contact! Contact left!"

"What's going on?" Tony questioned, eyes wide with fear and I began barking orders.

"Get out on the right! If they have anti-tank rounds, we won't be safe in the vehicle!" I snapped, grabbing Tony and pushing his head down. "Stark, you stay low with me, got it!"

"Yeah!" He choked out as I shifted so Jimmy could move out the door beside me.

"Use the car as cover! Be as small of a target as possible! Duck when you need to reload or if bullets are too close!" I commanded, earning nods before Ramirez went down. "Shit," I spat, ears ringing with the gunfire but knowing my main priority was the civilian tucked against my side.

Jimmy made the mistake of moving too far into the open and a large bang had me shove Tony out of the car and into the dirt. My heart ached as Pratt's helmet was hit, knocking him down and I swallowed back the bile that rose in my throat as he was added to the list of others seared in my mind.

"Stark, do everything I say, understand?" I said sharply, earning a shaky nod from the man as I wrapped my arm around his back and moved him in front of me, searching the desert for better cover. "On three, run for the big boulder there, got it? I'm right behind you. One, two, three!"

He bolted forward, slipping on the sand in his shoes and diving behind the rock as I did much the same. I didn't dare risk using it as cover for gunfire just yet, wishing I'd brought my sniper instead of the automatic rifle I had. Focus. Priority is getting him out of here. My eyes ran over the vehicles left, wincing. Four cars. One in front, team is down. Second, gone in the initial explosion. The third was ours. Fourth is barely holding on. We're outmanned and outgunned. Only option is running, but there's no cover. There was beeping as Tony had pulled out his phone before something flew overhead and we both stared at the missile now tucked into the sand beside us. We had seconds.

I grabbed Tony around the front, trying to haul him back over the rock just as it went off. Shrapnel scattered as we were thrown back and my head rang as darkness encroached on my vision. Tony was still tucked under my arm, but I could feel the warmth through his shirt and Kevlar. He'd still gotten hit. I'd gotten hit. I tried to move, to grunt or anything, but the pain was immense. I was forced to close my eyes, unable to keep them open in the blinding sun or the agony that swept through me as Tony moved and pawed at his shirt briefly.

My eyes opened slightly when I was rolled off him, sending a new wave of pain through me, but I couldn't speak, couldn't move. Blurred shapes passed overhead, and I heard dragging. Time had passed, I realized. People had come, but they were taking Tony, not me. I wanted to show them I was alive, but when hints of garbled Urdu and Arabic came to my ears, I felt my body go cold. These weren't Army medics. They were the people who'd attacked us, and they were taking Tony.

Before I could attempt to even think about stopping them though, the world went dark once more. Then, it came back with slightly more clarity than before. I was lying on the back of something that bobbed and moved slowly. I wanted to push myself off, shifting a bit, but it felt like I was tied down. I tried to get my right arm to move—do anything—but nothing happened, and I slipped back into the dark again only to wake up to pain.

Everything hurt like someone was cutting into me and arms held me down as a soft voice murmured in Urdu. Something was pressed to my face then, smothering me in a sweet smell and lulling me back into shadows. When I woke again, the pain was still present but had dulled somewhat and the brightness of the sun was gone to be replaced with the sight of a roof of some type. I tried to reach up and pull my hair away from my face, but when I lifted my arm, pain shot through me and I groaned. Then, I paled, feeling a cold chill run through me as I realized that I hadn't been able to touch my face and that the hand I should have been holding up was gone.

Bandages were wrapped around the end of my arm just above where my elbow would have been, had the whole appendage been there. It was gone though, and my breath hitched as I used my left hand to push myself upright, despite the pain it sent through my body. My back burned and my head ached, but the longer I stared at what was left of my right arm, the sicker I felt. Then, a figure appeared in the doorway and I snapped my head up, ready to try and fight if needed, but it was just a woman wrapped in cloth and holding a bowl of water with a rag.

"W-Where am I?" I croaked out in accented Urdu—something I'd taken care to learn while stationed here should we need to talk to the native people.

She murmured something about resting, but I shook my head, grabbing her arm before hastily letting her go, knowing I was scaring her by doing so.

"Please… What… What happened?"

She fidgeted, looking over her shoulder as a man stepped in, making me stiffen. Thankfully, she greeted him as her brother, and I relaxed slightly as he spoke in battered English.

"Your truck was ambushed," he explained and when I blinked, I remembered the blasts, the gunfire, and tackling Tony to the ground.

"Why am I here?"

He scoffed. "Saved you. Bad choice, but I did."

I hesitated but begrudgingly nodded in thanks, realizing a few things at once. "My arm?"

"Metal," he answered, showing me a bloody bowl nearby that held bits of shrapnel and what looked like barbs. "Crawling through you. Would have reach heart, so doctor took arm."

I bit back the anger that flared at his shrug of nonchalance. Calm down. You'd be dead if they left you; if they didn't help.

"Why did you help me?"

He shrugged. "Went for scraps to sell. Shouldn't have helped. If caught, we're all dead."

"Then, why?" I pressed, sagging a bit as my strength wavered and the pain swelled.

"Dunno. Maybe you stop them. Maybe you run. It was… whim."

I scoffed, allowing his sister to help lay me back down as I turned my eyes to him. "There was a man with me."

"I saw no man."

I knew he wouldn't have, but I continued. "I will find him. Will you help me?"

His gaze sharpened. "I will not put my sister in danger."

I cracked a smile at that, glad to see some fight in the man who'd obviously been oppressed by the terrorists who'd attacked us. "Just help me find them, and I will make sure they're gone."

He scoffed. "Big promises for woman," he spat, turning away, but pausing in the door. "You best hide that while here. Some things worse than dying."

Cheery fellow, I mused, sighing in relief as his sister dabbed at my dirty and sweaty face with a wet cloth. Now, I just need to find Stark.


It took me a month to heal from the damages done by the blast. Thankfully, infection hadn't settled in for long and I was up and on my feet by the second week. The missile that had hit us was one that made me glad I had been mostly covered by the rock I was trying to haul Tony behind. On the other hand, it made me worried that he hadn't survived. No. He must have. If they took him, then they wanted a ransom. They wanted him alive and would keep him that way in order to get what they wanted. Or so I told myself every chance I could. On the downside, the psychological damage done to me wouldn't be so easy to fix.

I'd already had to deal with nightmares of war before this, but now I had the guilt that I could have done something more. Both, for Tony and the squad who'd been with us. Sleep became harder and harder to get, but I'd managed to keep in shape and used the exercise to tire myself before collapsing in bed in exhaustion.

And yes. I should have contacted the army once I was capable, but I felt responsible for this. I knew if I went to them, they'd ship me off first thing. I was useless to them with only one arm, after all, and they would prevent me from searching for Tony. I wasn't about to let that happen, so as soon as I was able, I began to work.

Abas and his sister Jamilah helped me gain back some semblance of life after that. I dressed in Abas's spare clothes and worked under him in his search for scrap to sell. He began to appreciate my help once he saw I was capable of fixing some of the damaged items we'd haul back in. He also helped me get back in shape and we would often fight in the back of the house to help me improve now that I was missing a limb. Said fights proved beneficial when I happened to upset someone I'd bumped into who claimed to be a part of one of the smaller chains of the terrorist organization in the area.

Needless to say, I knew I would have to leave them once I'd started that fight and won. So, I'd bought my own clothes, smearing dirt on my face to hide what little femininity there was, and took the binoculars I'd repaired, to set off towards the apparent drop-off point for Tony's weapons that were being smuggled in. Abas stopped me before I went, handing me over a blade he'd made and a goat-skin water container, and I thanked him and his sister for their help then set off into the desert.

It took almost another two weeks to get to the site where the weapons were and two following weeks to sneak into the group unnoticed. It was harder than it sounded to go unnoticed when you were missing an arm, but I worked just as hard as the others hauling crates around, so no one really took any mind. It wasn't until partway through that month that I finally caught sight of Tony for the first time. He was a bit beat up and carrying a battery but seemed more upset than anything as he was spoken to by their leader. Then, I heard what they wanted.

A Jericho missile? Christ. Tony was taken back into a cave near the sight and I slowly began to work up a plan to get closer to him and to come up with some way to get him out of the center of a terrorist group. It wasn't hard once Tony decided that he needed a lab to be built and I was one of the men dragged in to help set it up. There was too much work to be done though, and I had no chance to speak with him with Abu Bakaar always being close by. I did, however, discover that Tony had a companion with him that he seemed on friendly terms with. Meaning there are two people I have to get out now.

I grunted, lifting another heavy crate and moving it before a man with a gun hurried over and spoke to me in Urdu. Abu Bakaar wanted to see me. I followed the man and greeted Abu as politely as I could, despite every fiber of my being screaming for me to just take the knife wrapped around my calf and kill him for what he'd done. He smiled, pleased about something then began to ask me various questions. I answered as best I could, the lies of my backstory I'd made up coming easily to me and I was rather surprised to get the invitation to join the Ten Rings. Or at least serve under him and be offered a weapon and a chance to get closer to Tony's position.

I wasn't stupid. I knew that while Abu appeared to be the leader of this terrorist cell, he didn't have the brains to come up with something as complex as this. He was too money-motivated. That, and I'd seen the man who hovered up on the cliffs nearby, watching like a vulture. But despite this fact, I knew better than to turn my back on an opportunity like this. I accepted and was moved up the ranks, earning a Colt M4A1 and being moved into watching the security cameras at night.

It was interesting, watching Tony at work in his lab and despite his work with Yinsen—his new friend—I could tell they were up to something. I did what I could to give them a heads-up as to when I was behind the camera, though I wasn't sure if they understood that the occasional double-tap on the door meant that I was shifting from guarding to monitoring. They definitely seemed to catch on though, easing up on their tricks to hide what they were doing while I was watching. I couldn't help but be confused though when I noticed whatever Tony had started making caused his chest to glow. I brushed it off, for now, mentioning it to Abu when he questioned it and blowing it off as some kind of light for them to see. He believed me, surprisingly enough, but then began to question the design of what they were making after that.

I was brought into the room with him, a group of men, and the leader himself when they went to question Tony, feeling uncertainty in my stomach. There were too many people for us to handle, even with my weapons and training. I had no way of getting either of the two men out of here today. Not like this, so I could only hope they hadn't discovered what Tony was up to and killed him for it.

"Relax," the leader—Raza—told Tony before he approached him and lightly pulled aside his shirt to reveal the glowing metal in the center of his chest.

It must be something to keep him alive. I don't know how he would have survived the shrapnel in his chest without major surgery, and you wouldn't get that here.

"The bow and arrow once was the pinnacle of weapons technology," Raza mused, wandering the room. "It allowed Genghis Khan to rule from the Pacific to the Ukraine. An empire twice the size of Alexander the Great and four times the size of the Roman Empire. But today, whoever holds the latest Stark weapons rules these lands. And soon, it will be my turn."

He spoke to Yinsen then, drawing my eyes to him as Tony looked between the two in confusion at the language change.

"Why have you failed me?"

"We are working. Diligently," Yinsen replied and Raza turned to him in suspicion.

"I let you live. This is how you repay me?"

"It's very complex," Yinsen shrugged. "He's trying very hard."

"On his knees," Raza commanded, and I stepped forward to be one of the people to put Yinsen down, knowing I would be his only chance to get out of this alive should things turn out poorly. "You think I'm fool. I'll get the truth."

"We're both working," Yinsen repeated as Raza approached with a lump of hot coal.

"Open your mouth."

I swallowed thickly as Tony spoke up.

"What does he want?"

"You think I'm a fool?" Raza repeated, pushing Yinsen's head down and bringing the coal closer. "What's going on? Tell me the truth."

"He's building your Jericho," Yinsen pressed.

"What do you want, a delivery date?" Tony asked, taking a step forward but all the men lifted their weapons with a shout, stopping him.

Raza lifted his head and I spoke up, hating myself when I did but feeling the need to say something.

"We should leave him."

Raza's cold gaze snapped to me and his head tipped as he stepped forward, holding the coal up near my face and twisting it as he eyed it. "You think you know what's best then?"

"No, sir," I replied, forcing my pride to back down and lowering my gaze, and bowing my head slightly. "I simply think harming him will stop progress. Stark works because of him. Take him away, and Stark will stop."

Raza hummed. "What's your name?"

"Qaher," I murmured, and Raza nodded before speaking to the men holding Yinsen.

"Hold him."

Yinsen was released and I was brought to my knees, weapon taken, and hating that I spoke up. I should have just kept my mouth shut. They'll kill me for this. I only needed Tony, but I just had to go and be soft-hearted. My cloak was nudged aside, revealing my mostly missing limb and Raza sighed.

"You've already lost so much, Qaher. You'd do well to watch your tongue before you lose more. Now…" Raza knelt down facing me and holding up the coal just to my right. "If you scream, I'll kill them both and let you bake in the sun until the birds pick all the skin off your bones. Understand?"

"Yes," I breathed, allowing my gaze to flicker to Tony's for a brief moment before the coal pressed to my skin.

Not a sound escaped my lips until Raza was satisfied and the coal was finally dropped.

"You have until tomorrow to assemble my missile."

The tongs were thrown, and the men began to leave as Raza had them shut the door with me still kneeling on the ground. What trust I'd had in the group was gone, and now, I was just as much of a prisoner as Tony. I inhaled a shaky breath and let it out, hand twitching to paw at the burn now stretched over my right eyebrow, down my cheek, and across the side of my neck. The smell of my own burnt flesh made me sick to my stomach, but I was alive. At least, until tomorrow.

"Are you all right?"

I opened my left eye, keeping the other shut for now until I knew the extent of the damage, and looked back into the worried and uncertain eyes of Yinsen; noting that he'd spoken in Urdu and that Tony hadn't moved any closer with a frown of suspicion.

"I'll live," I muttered, pushing myself up carefully and accepting the helping hand of Yinsen as Tony scowled.

"Why did he do that? Is he stupid? Why are you helping him?"

I switched to English, giving Tony a look. "That's rather rude, considering I've spent the last few months trying to find you and just got half my face burnt to keep you two alive."

His mouth dropped open in shock before he closed it and grew confused. "What?"

"Sorry, do you have any alcohol?" I asked Yinsen, ignoring Tony for a moment. "My face really hurts, and I-I might be going into shock."

He nodded, hurrying to the other side of the lab and digging through some things as I tried to take a deep breath and hold it, then letting it out—doing what I could to keep calm. I'd dealt with shock before, and panic attacks and I knew now was not the time to deal with a full-blown attack.

"Who are you?" Tony demanded again as Yinsen returned with a cloth and some gritty water as well as a small glass of some sort of alcohol.

"Stark," he lightly scolded. "Let him rest for a moment."

"No. He said he was looking for me. He found me, Yinsen."

"And he just went through a great deal of pain for the both of us. I think he has the right to rest."

Tony looked ready to argue but begrudgingly stepped down as Yinsen asked to treat the burns. I had to bite down on the belt I pulled from my waistband as he scraped away the damaged tissue as carefully as he could—the alcohol helped only slightly. Then, I was bandaged up and allowed a second of respite to calm the tremors that had settled in my body from the pain. I felt bad for not answering Tony right away, but I did need that moment to sort things out and hope that they had a plan now that mine was pretty much gone. I turned my head to watch Tony pound away with a hammer on some parts before I finally spoke up.

"Do you have a plan?"

Tony paused, shooting me a glare before resuming and I sighed, pushing myself up and pulling the turban off my head. I ran my hand through my short, messily chopped hair—Abas wasn't the best hairdresser but was all I had to remove it—and I eyed him tiredly.

"Captain Katherine Summers, U.S. Army," I announced, watching as he stopped and stiffened. "I am… so sorry for not finding you until now."

"You're lying," he said softly.

"You played AC/DC in the Humvee, drank scotch on the rocks, and joked about Ramirez being a woman before we were attacked. I pulled you out of the vehicle, dragged you behind a rock, and when the missile landed, tried to haul you to the other side before it went off… unsuccessfully."

He still hadn't turned around, but I could tell he was listening. "How did you find me?"

I got up, moving as carefully as I could over to where his blueprints were and seeing what Raza didn't when I pressed the thin papers together.

"I was hauled out of the area by a villager scavenging for parts. He saved me on a whim."

"But the shrapnel—"

"Was only in my arm, thanks to that boulder. From there, it was almost easy. The missile was from your company. I got help and asked around until I found where the weapons are coming in. I snuck into the group and started hauling boxes until they had me driving trucks in. From there, I stayed in this area and finally spotted you." I set the blueprints down, finally catching his gaze from over the table. "I meant to help you get out, but you made friends and I doubted you would leave without him."

"Did you bring back up?"

I shook my head, eye shifting to the metal he'd been working on. "No. If I'd gone back, they would have sidelined me and gotten nowhere. Not that I had any way of contacting them anyway."

"You don't know that," he said sharply. "You don't know that they would have gotten nowhere."

"They haven't found you yet, have they?" I countered; voice chilly. "They know where you were taken, but even if they had the connection to your weapons being used, don't you think whoever's helping to get them here would change how they do it? One person can go unnoticed. The American Army cannot."

He went quiet, frowning down at his work before sighing. "Thank you, anyway, I guess. For coming after me."

I nodded, not saying what was running in my mind about how I blamed myself for this and how my guilt was what sent me after him when I could've just gone home and left the army like I wanted. Instead, I'm locked in a cave half-blind, missing an arm, and waiting for my death tomorrow unless we find a way out of the center of a terrorist camp in the middle of nowhere.

"So, do you want to help, or not?"

I lifted my gaze to see Tony begrudgingly nodding to another sheet of metal nearby.

"Might as well help. Can't waste any more time. What are you good at other than shooting people then, Katherine?"

I winced. "Kat's fine, and… well, technically I'm an engineering mechanic. I'm used to working on Humvees, tanks, and army vehicles, but I dabble. I was looking into robotics when I got out after this."

"Oh, then you're gonna love this."

I cracked a small smirk. "Only if it gets us out of here."


Tony hadn't known what to think when Katherine had first shown up, and even less now that she was willing to work on his suit with him for the final twenty-four hours. No one in that cave slept that night and before long, he was just about set up in his suit before they heard someone shouting through the sliding gap in the door.

"Say something to him," Tony hissed, knowing he was mostly shielded from both them and the camera in the corner.

"He's speaking Hungarian. I don't—"

Kat sighed and stepped away, heading for the door and speaking with the man shouting behind it—being careful to keep out of the blast range.

"How come she can speak it, but you can't?" Tony hissed under his breath and Yinsen shot him a look.

"You know her better than I do."

"I hardly know her. She was just someone in the convoy."

And that's really all she was. He didn't understand why she'd chased him down so far, or why she'd been willing to risk herself for him in that bombing or even the previous day when she allowed Raza to burn her face. She was an enigma he didn't understand, and he hoped that perhaps after this mess he might have the chance.

"They're breaking in," Kat informed them, grabbing something from off the table just out of sight as an explosion went off and knocked the two men back.

"How'd that work?" Tony asked, curious and Yinsen eyed the two dead men.

"Oh, my goodness. It worked, all right."

"That's what I do."

"Let me finish this."

"Kat? What you up to?" She'd disappeared from his sight but heard her calling out.

"Taking their guns. Yinsen."

A weapon was handed off and Yinsen grimaced at it as it was set on the table by the computer while he started the power sequence.

"They're coming," Kat called out, positioning herself around the corner of the doorway and somehow managing to arm the weapon with her one hand.

"Make sure the checkpoints are clear before you two follow me out, okay?" Tony ordered, silently wondering if Kat would listen to him when she was the soldier here.

"We need more time," Yinsen muttered. "Hey. I'm gonna go buy you some time."

"Stick to the plan," Tony urged, and even Kat's eyes widened when the man went running past her down the corridor, firing shots to distract them. "Yinsen!"

"Tony, focus on what you need to do!" Kat snapped. "I'll go after him."

"Don't! Kat, don't you dare!" He spat a curse though, knowing she hadn't listened judging by the gunshots going off further away. He could only hope they hadn't made a mistake.

The power went out as soon as the download was complete and men shouted their way towards his room, making his heart sink. No. Don't think about it. They're fine. These are just people who got through another way. Two men moved further in, cautiously, only to get thrown across the room. Guns went off, but nothing happened, and Tony took the chance to move out, knocking out the guards and heading further into the corridor. It was almost too easy to get through the people left—their guns not even making dents in the armor. Even when he was shut in, it only took a few punches to knock the metal door off its hinges. His arm only got stuck once in the wall, then he was moving again. A moment later and he found Yinsen.

"Yinsen!"

"Watch out," Yinsen called weakly and Tony leaned back before firing a shot at Raza who'd tried to hit him with a grenade launcher.

"Stark," Yinsen murmured, and Tony lifted his helmet, refusing to believe the man was dying.

"Come on. We gotta go. Move for me, come on. We got a plan. We're gonna stick to it."

"This was always the plan, Stark," Yinsen breathed.

"Come on. You've gotta go see your family. Get up."

"My family is dead," Yinsen revealed. "I'm going to see them now, Stark… It's okay. I want this… I want this."

"Thank you for saving me," Tony said quietly.

"Don't waste it. Don't waste your life."

Yinsen passed away and Tony stepped out of the cave in determination, getting shot at by multiple people before everyone stopped.

"My turn."

He used the flame throwers on his arm to destroy every piece of weaponry he could, ignoring the people getting killed along with it. Then, came the machine guns and he was knocked down to his knees before there was a cry of pain and one gun stopped. Then went another, and another. He couldn't see who was doing it, vaguely remembering that Kat might have still been alive in there somewhere. But then his weapons began to go off from the fires he'd set, sending men running in fear and forcing him to use the thrusters to get out of the area. He screamed once they were off, leaving him in a free-fall until he hit a sand dune not too far off and the armor came apart.

He was free.


I followed the trajectory of Tony's suit, grabbing a few scraps of things from the camp he destroyed, knowing he'd need it since he was determined to walk the rest of the way through the desert. I tried to be quick, hoping to catch up to him and get us both out of this hell hole before someone came to catch us again. It meant I alternated between walking and running across the sands—which wasn't good in any case, much less in the shape I was now in—and soon, I could see him. I came up behind him panting and out of breath, slapping a hand across his back and startling him.

"Kat!"

"Y-You complete… ass," I breathed, doubled over a bit as sweat dripped off my nose and onto the sand below.

"You're alive!"

"W-Wouldn't have been, if I wasn't smart enough t-to get space between me and flammable missiles," I spat, shooting him a glare that he winced at.

"Right. I didn't think… Sorry?"

I scoffed, chuckling a little before shaking my head and throwing him the tattered remains of someone's scarf. "Cover yourself up. You'll sweat, but you'll die far later than if your skin was exposed."

He wrinkled his nose at my bluntness but did as I said before I tossed him a goat-skin pouch with water, making his eyes widen in shock.

"Sip, don't guzzle," I warned, knowing it would be hard for him not to down the whole thing in one go as I eyed the horizon with a hand shading my brow.

I can't see a village from here or a road. Our best bet would be… I pointed out to where I could see the barest hint of vegetation.

"That way," I told him, waving off the offered goat-skin for him to hang onto. "It's our best bet for some form of civilization or water. We better start walking."

He nodded and we headed off, myself being sure not to let him see the hint of red that had stained my left thigh. We walked for what felt like days before Tony began to stumble. I grabbed him, resisting the urge to hiss in pain at the added weight as I stopped him and encouraged more water drinking. I checked to make sure he wasn't getting too dehydrated, forcing myself to ignore my own parched throat, throbbing thigh, stinging burns on my face, or the way my exposed skin felt like it was on fire. Just as we stopped though, there was a thundering rumble and two helicopters flew overhead.

Tony released me as I sighed in relief, him waving his hands and hollering until he sank into the sand. Men hurried over with their guns raised and I stumbled over as well as Colonel Rhodes rushed forward.

"How was the fun-vee?" Rhodey teased, making Tony chuckle in relief. "Next time, you ride with me, okay?"

The two hugged and then his eyes went to me as I managed a small, weak salute.

"C-Captain Katherine Summers," I introduced. "Apologies for…" I cleared my scratchy throat. "…not reporting until now."

He stood up and reached out, lightly tugging my hand away from my forehead and then leaning forward and pulling me into an embrace as well. "Thank you for bringing him back."

A hint of anger welled over me for a second, but I pushed it aside as he released me and brought us back to the helicopter. He was Tony's friend, not mine. I'd saved a man who'd return home and be greeted with tears and hugs of relief. I'd be thanked, treated, and then sent on my way to return home myself without a single soul to watch me step off the plane.

He'd return home to comfort.

I'd return home to ghosts.

And for a second, it made me bitter and regret what I'd done. All the things I'd lost helping someone who wouldn't give a damn. But then, I pushed it aside like I'd been doing with everything since that Humvee ride through the desert. Since I'd made my first kill. Since I'd joined the Army… Since I saw my best friend take a leap off the top of the high school. I would push it all aside to deal with later because I couldn't handle it right now. Not when I needed to keep pretending that I was okay.

We both ended up getting seen by medics at the nearest military base where I was scolded for not taking the necessary precautions to protect my skin from the desert heat. For ignoring the fact that a bullet was in my leg and cauterizing the wound to stop the bleeding wouldn't change anything. For not following protocol and running off on my own to bring back a civilian—no matter how rich and famous he was. I was dismissed with as clean of a bill of health as I was going to get, leaning on crutches and making to get into the vehicle that would drop me off at the airport:

A Humvee, which sent a tendril of ice down my spine the closer I got.

My commander had informed me that I would not be getting any recognition for what I'd done in return for not getting prison time for desertion; instead, having it put on record as a dishonorable discharge now that I was leaving the service. Not that I did it for the recognition, but it still feels… sour to save someone I felt responsible for and get scolded for it instead of praised.

"Oi! Where are you going?"

I turned at the shout, eyeing Tony in his wheelchair as Rhodey pushed him along and glancing back at the Humvee. "I'm leaving. I was discharged."

"Not in that, you're not," he scoffed, nodding towards the sleek black car behind it as he rolled up to it. "Get in."

I thought about resisting, but he didn't seem the type to take that well. And I'll take anything over the Humvee. I carefully settled in the car as he was as well and Rhodey joined us. The ride was awkwardly silent until Tony broke it sometime after we were flying home on the plane.

"You didn't tell me you'd been shot."

I glanced at my leg and back to him. "We were busy hiking through the desert."

"Yeah, on your shot leg."

"I was fine."

"No. You were pretending to be fine."

"I'm a soldier. I always pretend to be fine."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't."

I blinked slowly, mildly annoyed with him as I resisted the urge to throw him out of the plane. "Why did you make me come with you?"

He raised a brow. "Because I wanted you to."

"But why?"

He shrugged, wincing at the pain it sent through his arm that hung in a sling. "Felt like it. You did save my life, after all."

I scoffed, carefully leaning back in my seat. "You saved your own life. I just happened to be witness to it."

"You came after me," he countered. "Found me before anyone else did."

"And?"

"And… You didn't have to."

"My orders were to safely escort you from our main base to—"

"Like you care about orders," he scoffed.

"I do care about my orders."

"Please. If you cared, then you would have contacted the army and been well on your way home. Instead, you came after me. Just admit it. You're a fan."

Rhodey must have seen the anger that had managed to slip through at that comment and cleared his throat. "Right, Tony? Do you want anything to drink or—"

"What? No. Kat?"

"No."

"Rhodey, get her a drink."

I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes. Don't strangle him. There's no point in strangling the man you just found. You worked hard to get him home, even if no one appreciates you for it. Just tolerate him this far and then you won't have to worry about it again. A drink was set in front of me and I gave Rhodey an appreciative nod, more than grateful that it was just water.

"So, is there a Mr. Summers?"

"Tony," Rhodey hissed, giving me an apologetic look.

Seems this is just an everyday thing with Tony. "No," I answered simply, and Tony hummed.

"No man in the picture then? Who's getting you at the airport?"

I lifted my cold green eyes. "What's it matter to you?"

"Well, I need to know if my welcoming party's going to be overshadowed by sobbing parents or a boyfriend or, or girlfriend. Hey. I don't judge."

Go figure. "You've got nothing to worry about, Stark. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to try and get some sleep before we land."

I got up and moved to another seat further back in the plane, ignoring Tony's comment about being "touchy" and leaning my head against the window with a sigh. Only a few more hours…


The plane landed and Tony was soon wheeled out to where it would open up, giving the woman on her crutch beside him a glance. She was leaning rather heavily on the crutch, he noticed, but the moment the back of the plane began to open she seemed to straighten up. Much like him, she was putting on a performance. He too, stood from the wheelchair, hating that Rhodey had to steady him by the arm and continue holding him as they walked down to the asphalt. Kat seemed to have no such problems, or if she did, her poker face covered it well enough. As his eyes skimmed the people there to greet them, however, he recognized everyone—sans the military group who'd come for added protection. No one here was for the woman who'd come after him.

He waved off the paramedics who rolled over a stretcher, tugging his arm from Rhodey and hiding the pain that came with the action as he approached Pepper Potts, whose eyes were rimmed red from crying.

"Hm. Your eyes are red. Few tears for your long-lost boss?"

She smiled slightly in relief. "Tears of joy. I hate job hunting," she quipped back.

"Yeah. Vacation's over." He turned to the woman with the crutch. "Hey, Summers. Want a ride?"

She looked over at him cautiously; eyes always shielded, he noticed, never giving anything away. "I've got a cab."

Seriously? He questioned, wondering how the woman was getting away with having literally no one praising her or asking questions. "Get in."

She sighed heavily, giving in rather easily. He figured she understood that fighting him would be useless. He always gets what he wants… well, typically.

"Pepper, have you met Kat? No, never mind. Stupid question. Course you haven't. Kat, Pepper. Pepper, Kat. She's the one who saved me."

"I didn't save you," Kat grumbled, adamant about that for some reason he didn't understand.

"Found me before the army did," he challenged, wondering if they were going to have the same round-about argument they had in the plane.

Instead, she just got settled in the back seat of his car, glaring subtly when he moved in beside her and Pepper took the passenger seat.

"Where to, sir?" Happy asked from the driver's seat.

"Take us to the hospital, please, Happy," Pepper said, only for two rounds of "no" to come from the backseat.

Tony raised a brow at Kat, but she steadfastly ignored him.

"No? Tony, you have to go to the hospital."

"No is a complete answer," he argued, his voice overlapping with Pepper's.

"The doctor has to look at you."

"I don't have to do anything." He leaned over slightly to look at her. "I've been in captivity for three months. There are three things I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger." He smirked at Kat whose eyes closed in ecstasy at the thought of food. "I want to drag Kat around for a bit."

Her eyes snapped open and a frown settled on her face, but he kept going before she could argue.

"And the other—"

Pepper groaned, expecting that Tony would be wanting sex with the next woman he finds, or the one currently seated next to him.

"It's not what you think. I want you to call for a press conference now."

"Call for a press conference?" She gaped.

"Yeah."

"What on earth for?"

"Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first," he commanded the driver before looking to Kat. "Sorry. Did you want something else? Fried chicken? Poor imitation Mexican food? Real Mexican food?"

"Cheeseburger is fine," she replied, "but I would like to know what you meant by dragging me around for a bit. I'd like to go home." She paused then withholding a wince. "Or at least a hotel."

"You've got nowhere to go?" He questioned, rather surprised.

"I've been in the military since just out of high school, so no. Sold my small apartment when I left. No point in paying for something I wasn't going to use."

"Seriously? No friends to bunk with? Family?"

Her emerald eyes settled into a glare. "Even if I did, why would you care?"

"Well, you saved—"

"I didn't save you!" She finally snapped, earning a raised brow of surprise from him before she closed her eyes with a grimace and seemed to force herself to calm down. "I'm tired, okay? We don't know each other. We're not friends. So, just get me a damn cheeseburger or whatever and let me go."

Tony paused, eyeing her before smiling. "No."

She whipped around and he felt a little proud at surprising her. "W-What?"

"Nope," he repeated, popping the "p." "Pepper, see that her things are dropped off at the Malibu location for now until we get things settled."

"Sorry, what?" Kat repeated, looking between Pepper and Tony. "The Malibu, what?"

"And how's that press conference?"

"I've let the company know. Stane is getting everything sorted, but Tony I really don't think—"

"Shush. Cheeseburger, Hogan. No, make it three. Kat?"

"I-I don't—"

"Order, or you're going hungry."

"Three more," she finally blurted out. "No onions."

"See? Not so bad, is it?"

Yeah, he could definitely get her to crack her shell.


I rubbed at my face tiredly before climbing out of the vehicle, thanking Happy as he helped me out and offered my crutch. I blinked at the clapping and cheers but felt my shoulders sag as I realized it was for Tony returning to his work. Happy offered me the bag with the burgers, but I lifted my free stump of a hand and he winced with an apology. I waved him off and simply started after Tony as he spoke with a tall man in a suit. I didn't care for him immediately. His smile felt forced and his bald head and hooded eyes reminded me of Raza. I forced aside the impartial judgment and winced when we approached the stairs leading up to the front. Pepper started to pause, looking between me and Tony up ahead, but I waved her off after the man. She worked for Tony, not for me.

I don't even know why I got out of the car. I stumbled a bit on the steps, crutch clicking against a stair, and cringed in preparation for the impact of the ground, but it didn't come. I looked up in surprise to see Tony holding the upper part of my half-missing arm as Pepper hurried over and picked up my crutch.

"Careful there, butterfingers. Aren't you damaged enough?" Tony quipped and I pulled back the surprise on my face for a small scowl, taking the crutch from Pepper and working on getting myself up the final step. "Pepper, have them pave over one side of the steps into a ramp."

I frowned at Tony. "I'm not in a wheelchair, nor do I plan on coming back here."

He shrugged though, and I hated to admit my chest warmed slightly when Tony proceeded to keep his pace slow enough to walk with me beside him. It made me suspicious though. I couldn't understand what was going through his head right now, and when we reached the press, I fell back to stand with Pepper. I wasn't about to try and navigate the sea of reporters with a crutch.

"Miss Potts?"

I turned with Pepper towards the man in a suit who smiled politely.

"Can I speak with you for a moment?"

"I'm not part of the press conference, but it's about to begin right now," Pepper apologized.

"I'm not a reporter," he countered, and I frowned before he nodded to me. "I'd like to speak with you as well, Miss Summers. I'm Agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"That's quite a mouthful," Pepper mused, taking his card.

"I know. We're working on it."

"You know, we've been approached already by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA—"

"We're a separate division," he pressed. "We need to debrief Mr. Stark and Miss Summers about the circumstances of their escape."

"I have nothing to say," I replied shortly, earning nothing but his polite business smile.

"I'll put something in the book, shall I?" Pepper offered.

"Thank you, and we'd still like to speak with you, Miss Summers."

I glared. "I'm tired and don't even want to be here, much less speak with a government agent about something that I didn't want to be involved in."

"Yet, you went after Mr. Stark without bothering to inform your superiors," he countered, and my eyes went cold.

"I'm not speaking with you."

He just smiled again and walked off to join the rest of the people in the room as Tony asked for everyone to sit down—munching on his cheeseburger without a care, seated on the floor in front of the podium. Everyone sat except myself, who stayed in the back with my crutch, not willing to get down on the floor and have no way of getting back up without feeling a burn of shame as I was assisted. Rhodey knelt down to Pepper to ask something, but I was focused on the man of the hour as he cracked a brief smile at me, looking to Stane and saying something before he began to speak to the reporters.

"I never got to say goodbye to my father," he announced. "There's questions that I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels." He paused, eyes looking back to me then. "I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability."

What is he doing? I wondered as murmurs started and he greeted a reporter who asked what happened in Afghanistan. I blinked back visions of the Humvee in front of us exploding, of the gunfire, and the sight of one of Tony's missiles landing beside us before my mind clicked into gear screaming that I had to save him.

"I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up," he said, standing up and moving behind the podium. "And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International—"

The crowd of reporters stood with questions as Stane moved up to try and stop him.

"—until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be, what direction it should take, one that I'm comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well."

Stane moved him away from the podium and Tony headed through the crowd as Stane tried to redirect their attention.

"What we should take away from this is that Tony's back! And he's healthier than ever. We're going to have a little internal discussion and we'll get back to you with the follow-up."

"What are you doing?" I asked when he came up near me and cracked a small damaged smile.

"Paying you back."