(A/N) Just did my chemistry final and I'm pretty confident on it, but lets hope I actually did as well as I thought I did.
" ." Melissa called opening the container door letting in a blinding stream of light. She carried a tray of food with her filled with what looked like a small loaf of bread and an apple. "Can't have you dying on me."
"You know if you didn't want me to die you probably shouldn't have shot me." Tony pointed out not being able to control his sarcasm. Something that if he survived this he would have to work on. "And if you think that I'm going to let you feed me like an infant than you're wrong."
"That's what this is for." She held up a metallic cuff that was connected to a larger leather one. Confidently she went over to her prisoner and attached the metal end to the arm of the chair and wrapped the leather one around his wrist as tightly as possible before removing the old restraint. Taking a few steps back she showed Tony a controller that held two buttons.
With the press of one button a green light was activated and Tony could pull his hand just the right amount away from the arm of his chair for him to be able to feed himself. The cord that connected his arm to the chair was thick and durable something that wouldn't be broken without some heavy duty equipment. With another button click the light snapped red and pulled the cord back into the metal contraption along with his wrist. A not pleasant experience since it brought his wrist down hard enough to make him think it was broken.
Melissa sat the tray of food on his lap and took a few steps back before letting his arm free again. She watched carefully as he picked up and inspected the apple before setting it back on the tray.
"This ain't the first time I've been kidnapped sweetheart. It's also not the first time I've been drugged before, why do you think I got a bodyguard?" He flipped the tray off his lap letting it clatter on the floor.
Melissa's jaw tensed. "You'll starve."
"I'll take my chances." He leaned back in his chair smugly watching they way she tried to hide her frustration from him.
"Alright," she said pulling a long black rod from her waistband instead of a pistol. Flicking a switch at the base of it the rod crackled with electricity. "Straight to dessert than."
The cord pulled Tony's wrist back to the chair making him defenseless. Trying to put on a brave face as she neared him, the thoughts of being electrocuted again was very unappealing to him.
"I've faced worse than you." Tony snarled at her. "I've seen things that I doubt I can ever come to peace with. And I met two gods and destroyed an alien army not two days ago. I made it this far, and you will not be the end of me."
To say shocked would be understating what she was after his speech. She had seen Tony Stark in interviews and he was always joking and carefree, even when he went against the Senate. "You may have battled gods and demons and I may be small fish compared to them, but do you know what else I am?" Her face was mere inches away from his, neither of them flinched or even blinked. "I'm the one with the cattle prod."
This electricity was different it was more precise. Before it had been all over his body, but this was confined making it worse and better at the same time. Though the pain wasn't everywhere it was focused and intense. It burned his skin on contact and made his hands close into fists so tightly he felt blood drip down from closed fist.
It ended quickly, but the short moment of pain left him breathing heavily. Before he could even shake the weariness from his mind it struck him again this time on his left shoulder. Instinctively he tried to move away from the weapon but it followed him and only pushed him harder into the chair.
This time when it ended he was so weak that he fell forward in his chair. If he had not been tied to it he would have fallen. "Bitch," he mumbled.
Melissa laughed evilly. "That's all you can think of? I wish I was sorry to say but we have only started."
Steve Rogers stared out of the large window in the bridge. No one bothered him since no one was brave enough to confront the twitchy soldier who was waiting for Natasha's global search to finish. Which is why the sound of heeled shoes clicking behind him made the captain think that it was someone with good news, but when he turned around he saw Pepper.
Her eyes were red from tears but angry at the same making the calm way she talked unnerving. "Hope I'm not intruding."
"Not at all." Steve gave her a warm smile and she joined him at staring at the cloudy sky.
"It's funny how I keep imagining that I'm going to see him fly past the window in that stupid suit." She laughed at the thought.
Steve nodded his understanding. "His father would have been proud to see what he's accomplished."
Pepper let out another humorless chuckle. "Maybe the Howard you knew would. If he were alive I doubt he would do much more than tell Tony what was wrong with it."
"I'm sorry, I don't understand."
"There are a lot of things about Tony that people don't understand. Especially when it comes to Howard. Tony's dad was obsessed in with his work so he wasn't really there for him." Pepper explained to the best of her ability.
"The Howard I knew was dedicated but he would never leave his son for his work. He was kind'; I mean he treated me like a son," suddenly he understood.
"He couldn't let you go." Pepper looked at the soldier like he was an artifact. "Tony doesn't talk about his past much; now you know why."
Steve was silent for a while. He found it hard to believe that the man who had been one of his closest friends would neglect his son trying to find him. "I guess that explains why he doesn't like me much."
A lot was made clear about Tony in that moment. Why he was seemed angry with Steve when they met as well as being so short tempered. It made a lot of arguments they had clearer. " , can I ask you something?"
"Only if you call me by my first name. Only stuck up people in suits call me ."
Steve grinned; Tony was a lucky man, he thought to himself. "Pepper, what happened to him in Afghanistan?"
Her smile fell. "I'm assuming you read Tony's file."
"I did, but what happened was missing." He explained. After coming to Steve had a moment where he tried to figure out what had happened to all of his old friends. Seeing that Howard had died was hard, but when he saw he had a son Steve got a hold of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s file on him. Much to his surprise much of what happened when he was taken was either missing or redacted.
"It's not missing," Pepper explained, "he never told anyone. Not the full story at least. All that I know about what happened was from what he told me."
"And what did he tell you." He pushed. "Please he's part of my team."
Sighing she continued. "They wanted him to make a weapon for them and he refused. He was tortured. How exactly he didn't say, but he was terrified of water for so long that I assume he was water boarded." She cleared her throat that was thick with emotion before she continued. "Eventually he gave in, but instead of making the missile he made mark one of the iron man suit and escaped. The rest is history."
It was a lot to take in, and think of the man who had seemed so eccentric going through so much. "He never said anything about that."
Pepper smiled a bit. "That sounds like him."
"Steve," Agent Hill called from the other end of the bridge. "We've got something."