"Alright, after this we've got to get you back to Malibu for your meeting with the board." Olive was typing things out on her phone, marking things down in Tony's calendar while she walked him to his set to give his weapons demonstration. He looked down at her as they walked and without saying a word, snatched the phone from her hands. She protested and tried to grab it back with no luck, feeling like a little kid in a school yard trying to get her phone where Tony held it up too high for her to reach.

"How are your eyes? They've got to be awful after looking at this screen all day."

"Well, it is the job that you gave me, Mr. Stark."

"Well, you need a vacation."

Olive's mouth dropped wide open as he tossed the phone into a glass of water sitting on a table nearby, just before approaching the setup where he was to give his speech. She pulled the phone back out as fast as she could, hoping to save it but it was no use. It wouldn't even turn on. Her shoulders slumped and she glared daggers at him as he adjusted his suit and smirked at her with a wink before stepping up to the front of the crowd to begin his presentation. Rhodes joined her to watch, and all she could do was smile and shake her head.

"Did he prepare this presentation at all?" Rhodes asked her.

Olive chuckled, "Tony Stark? Prepared? Since when?"

"Is it better to be feared or respected?" Tony started, causing a hush to come over the crowd in front of him, including Olive and Rhodes, "I say, is it too much to ask for both? With that in mind, I humbly present the crown jewel of Stark Industries' Freedom Line. The first missile system to incorporate our proprietary repulsor technology. They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That's how Dad did it. That's how America does it. And it's worked out pretty well so far. Find an excuse to let one of these off the chain, and I personally guarantee you the bad guys won't even want to come out of their caves."

He cued the demonstration and everyone turned their attention to the new weapon. There were already coordinates preset so that it would land where there was no one in sight and after a few seconds, it took off, putting off a remarkable display of explosions and complete destruction. Tony waited a few moments, timing it perfectly before speaking again, "For your consideration, the Jericho."

Where the missile landed several miles behind him, he held out his arms in presentation, the blast reaching the crowd, blowing off their hats and almost knocking Tony over. When the stir settled down applause followed and Tony stepped down from the spotlight, starting for one of the trunks full of alcohol and making a sarcastic comment about offering a box with every purchase. He toasted to peace and Olive rolled her eyes, jogging to catch up with him.

"Shouldn't you be sweeping me off my feet to some fancy meeting or press conference or something?" he remarked.

"I dunno. My phone has some water damage." She replied smugly, "And I thought I heard someone say I was on vacation."

Tony smirked and peered at her out of the corner of his eye, sliding his phone open when it started ringing. Obadiah's face showed up on the screen.

"Obie, what are you doing up?" Tony said, handing his drink to Olive.

"I couldn't sleep till I found out how it went. How'd it go?" Obadiah explained. It was the middle of the night back in Malibu and he was lying in bed without a shirt, obviously ready to get some sleep but wanting to make sure things were okay with Tony and the company, just like he always did.

"It went great. Looks like it's gonna be an early Christmas."

"Hey! Way to go, my boy! I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Why aren't you wearing those pajamas I got you?"

"Good night, Tony."

Tony closed his phone screen and slid into the Humvee that would take him back to his plane, closing the door before Olive could get in with him. She protested just as Rhodey joined them.

"I'm sorry, this is the 'fun-vee.'" Tony toyed, "The 'hum-drum-vee' is back there."

Olive looked at him, rolled her eyes and started back for the other vehicle. Rhodey simply shook his head, "Nice job."

The Humvee took off and Rhodey jogged back to the vehicle where one of the other soldiers helped Olive into her seat and he climbed in after her, closing the door just as they took off. It was quiet for a minute and Rhodey watched Olive out of the corner of his eye. She no longer had her phone, so she couldn't get any work done and was forced to sit and enjoy the scenery. He chuckled and shook his head.

"Why do we put up with him?" he said. Olive smirked, but didn't say anything at first, so he continued, "I mean, he has absolutely no respect for us at all. Don't get me wrong, he'll have your back in a heartbeat, but still, just no respect."

"Because he wouldn't even be able to tie his own shoes without us." Olive mumbled. Rhodey looked at her and she had the biggest grin on her face, her eyes portraying nothing but complete adoration for the man. He thought about how she didn't have anyone but Tony and Pepper, her entire life revolved around this man and this company. Tony may treat them with little to no respect, but she had all the respect in the world for him, even if he did piss her off most of the time.

"I've never met anyone as smart and passionate about their work as Mr. Stark, but bless him, poor Tony wouldn't know how to brush his teeth without us." She added. Rhodey considered her words and he had to admit he agreed with her. But a scoff from his mouth caught her attention and he waved his hands to apologize.

"Sorry, no, I completely agree. But to be fair, he'd probably build a couple dozen machines to do all that work for him."

Olive smiled, and she was about to reply with a sarcastic comment but a loud explosion stopped her. The Humvee came to a screeching halt and Rhodey put his arm out in front of her to stop her from injuring herself. All the soldiers started shouting and grabbing hold of their weapons, jumping out of the vehicle only to be shot down as soon as their boots hit the sand. Olive gasped, covering her mouth in shock.

"Get down!" Rhodey pushed her head down, shouting orders at the few still alive and trying to get a handle on the situation. He started for the door to get out and Olive screamed at him, begging him to not go out there and he stopped. He grabbed her face in an attempt to comfort her, "Stay put, I'll be right back."

He slammed the door shut and Olive was suddenly alone, and at first she felt nothing but blinding fear. She worked in PR, she didn't know the first thing about survival or guns. She barely knew anything about her own car. She could feel the panic rise in her throat and the tears started to build up in her eyes, and then she thought about Tony and wondered if he was alive; or maybe if that explosion was his Humvee. She knew she probably should listen to Rhodey and stay where she was, but she couldn't sit there and wonder if Tony was okay. She took a deep breath and slipped out of the Humvee, staying low for a moment and observing her surroundings. There were bodies everywhere, and a lot of shouting and gunshots, explosions every few seconds. Her heart was pounding and her whole body shook with fear. She could feel tears streaming down her face but she tried not to let that stop her, looking around frantically for Tony's car. At first there was so much smoke and sand she was afraid she'd never find it, but then she saw him. She watched him jump out of the car and look around. It took her a moment to find her voice, but just as Tony took off for cover she called out for him, but there was no way he could hear her. She saw him dive behind a huge rock, just missing several shots being fired at him. She suddenly didn't care what was happening around her, she just knew she had to get to him and she kicked off her heels and made a break for it, running as fast as she could. The sand hindered her speed and made her muscles work ten times harder but she fought it, getting to him just as a large missile landed right next to him. She was only a few feet away, and he had his phone in his hand, assumingly calling for help, but he stopped at the sight of a very familiar logo on the side of the weapon. Olive's heart dropped. This was not happening.

"Tony!" she started for him and he looked up at his name. There was a split second where her brain registered a bit of surprise when the first thing he did was hold out his hand to her, but she had no time to react. She pulled him up off the ground and tried to pull them both away from the bomb, but it was too late. It detonated and threw them both back several feet into the sand. After a moment Olive caught her breath back, taking in a deep, painful gulp of air. That's all she could feel, pain. Pain everywhere as she tried to determine if she was dead or dying. She turned to look at Tony as the blood started pooling on her chest and stomach. He was pulling at his shirt, and with one look at her, he reached out to her, but the pain was so great, she lost consciousness before she could reach for him.

Tony could only remember bits and pieces of what happened when he woke up. Pain, panic, yelling, dizziness, darkness, languages he didn't understand, the smell of metal he assumed was blood. When he did finally wake, the first thing he did was figure out whether he was alive or dead. When he tried to move his legs and fingers and decided they were working properly, he noticed something in his nose that suddenly made it uncomfortable to breathe right. He reached for his face, yanking the tape from his nose and pulling at the tube till he was free, his face distorting in discomfort. He turned his head to the side and saw what he could assume was a cup of water in the darkness and suddenly realized how thirsty he was. Testing his motor skills, he reached for the cup on the table, but it was no use. His depth perception was completely out of whack and he knocked the cup to the floor. That's when he saw him. There was a man, shaving his face in a tiny, dirt covered mirror a few feet away. Unsure if he was friend or foe, Tony tried very quietly to roll over, but he was stopped by several cords and wires pulling at his chest, moving whatever he was attached to and making a loud scrapping noise, grabbing the attention of the man across the room. Tony cursed under his breath.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man said, looking at him through the mirror. Tony furrowed his eyebrows and turned over, suddenly noticing the wires that were attached to a car battery were also attached to his chest. Panic set in as he felt a hard chunk of metal settled right under his collar bone and he pulled the bandages from his chest, revealing a circular metal piece implanted in his chest. His skin around it was red and irritated, deciding whether or not to accept the implant. He felt his pulse race and his breathing quicken as fear and panic started to take over, his mind running rampant with questions and concerns and blinding fear. He followed the wires to the battery again and sat up, trying to ignore the pain in his abs whenever he moved and the man stopped him, "Don't move too much, I don't want you to pull her wires out."

Tony furrowed his brow but then his eyes grew wide, praying to a god he didn't even believe in that it wasn't who he thought it was lying on another cot behind him. Part of him was afraid to turn around, scared to see her lying there unconscious, but he whipped his head around and threw his legs over his cot, kneeling down next to her. She hadn't come to yet, but she was breathing evenly with the same tube coming out of her nose. Tony's hands hovered over her, scared that his touch might make it worse but wanting to help. He felt a strange burning sensation in his heart and stomach, unable to place the exact feeling with so many running through his veins and making his blood boil and run cold at the same time. He let his fingers trace the circle that protruded from the bandages that covered Olive's chest, feeling the hard metal of the magnet that seemed to match his own and he looked between her and the man watching them, "What the hell did you do to us?"

"What I did? What I did is to save your lives." He chuckled. His Middle Eastern accent hinted at his origins through in his very well spoken English. Tony didn't trust him, but let him speak, "I removed all the shrapnel I could, but there's a lot left, and it's headed into your atrial septum. Here, want to see? I have a souvenir. Take a look."

He picked up a small jar and shook it, looking at the tiny pieces of metal in it and tossing at Tony, who caught it with quick reflexes and eyed him up and down. Gripping the jar, he glanced down at the metal in his chest and the man handed him a mirror before speaking again, "I've seen many wounds like that in my village. We call them the walking dead, because it takes about a week for the barbs to reach the vital organs."

"What is this?" Tony said.

"That is an electromagnet, hooked up to a car battery, and it's keeping the shrapnel from entering your heart, and your friend's heart as well."

Tony looked back at Olive; she had so many more bandages around her chest and waist than he did and his guilt was starting to make itself apparent. He was starting to put this huge puzzle together, making since of the situation they'd been put in, but he still had so many unanswered questions. Amidst all that he had a thought that made his blood run cold again.

"She made me wear it." He mumbled.

"What was that?" the man said, leaning in to hear him.

"She made me wear the vest, the bullet proof one." He repeated, "I didn't want to, I thought it was stupid and unnecessary, but she made me wear it anyway."

"Well then you need to worship the ground she walks on if she wakes up. That jacket quite possibly saved your life."

"If?"

"Well, she wasn't wearing the vest. She got a lot more shrapnel in her chest than you did. Like I said, I got most of it, but to say she was lucky is an understatement. She's holding steady, though. However, I should mention that you're both hooked up to the same battery seeing as we could only salvage one, and I'm not sure how much power that gives to each of you."

Tony sighed, looking down at the metal in his chest that matched hers and zipped up the jacket they had given him. He glanced back over at the man and suddenly noticed the camera in the far corner, to which the other guy followed his gaze and chuckled.

"That's right. Smile." He said, though Tony was not in the mood to smile. He had so many emotions he didn't know what to do with. He leaned back on his knees, watching Olive's chest rise and fall with each breath until his Cave-Mate broke the silence again, "We met once, you know, at a technical conference in Bern."

"I don't remember." Tony didn't take his eyes off of Olive, his mind working a mile a minute to figure out what the hell they were going to do.

"No, you wouldn't. If I had been that drunk, I wouldn't have been able to stand, much less give a lecture on integrated circuits."

"Where are we?" Tony wasn't interested in reliving the past. But before he could get his question answered, the peep hole in the big metal door at the other side of the cave slid open, making them both jump. Someone on the other side was shouting in a language Tony didn't understand and his Cave-Mate was suddenly in a much different, more demanding mood. He was yelling at him in a loud whisper, demanding that he stand up and Tony took one last glance at Olive before doing as he was told. His Cave-Mate took his elbow and stood next to him, and Tony made a sudden realization that he was a prisoner, too.

"Just do as I do." He said, "Put your hands up."

Tony eyed him skeptically, but did as he was told, placing his hands behind his head, careful of the wires that connected him to Olive as three men walked in carrying large guns. One look at them and he started to panic.

"Those are my guns." He stammered, "How did they get my guns?"

"Do you understand me? Do as I do."

Tony kept his mouth shut, watching as a huge group of men came flooding in their cave prison, all of them carrying weapons with his name on them. A larger man with an eerily pleasant smile pushed through the crowd, speaking to them in the same language that Tony couldn't understand and holding a piece of paper that Tony couldn't make out. He waited for him to stop speaking so his Cave-Mate could translate.

"He says, 'Welcome, Tony Stark, the most famous mass murderer in the history of America.' He is honored."

The large man held out a photo for them to see, speaking again, but again Tony had no idea what he was saying and he couldn't make out the photo in the dark room. He looked towards his Cave-Mate.

"He wants you to build the missile." He explained, "The Jericho missile that you demonstrated. This one."

He was handed the photo for Tony to see and he glanced down at, but he didn't need the photo. He knew exactly what they were talking about and what they wanted. And there was no way he was giving it to them.

"I refuse."

There was a moment, just one fleeting moment of silence before a hectic chaos ensued. The men started grabbing for Tony, yanking him towards a small pool on the other side of the room, shouting and causing him as much pain and harm as the could manage, but he was still attached to the car battery, and therefore attached to the still unconscious Olive. Tony protested, kicking and hollering, trying to keep from pulling at the wires in his chest and Olive's, but the more he struggled, the harder they pulled, causing immense pain that shot through his body, initiating from his chest. His Cave Mate managed to get to Olive, grabbing the battery and attempting to keep the wires from getting tangled or pulled out from the both of them. Tony continued to fight, keeping an eye on their "doctor" as he tried to keep Olive still and shouting in the same language as their captures, but they weren't listening. All of the commotion and yelling and pulling at her chest eventually did wake her up, but it was not pretty. Tony watched her eyes pop open in a panic as she sucked in a huge, gaping, painful breath. She started screaming, clutching her chest where the men were dragging Tony away from her, pulling at the contraption that was keeping the two of them alive and connected. She was basically forced out of bed, their doctor managing to pull her breathing tube from her nose as carefully as he could before she got too far away. Tony felt the heat of his guilt and anger grow bigger and bigger the harder he fought and the more he watched Olive struggle to understand what was happening. She was looking around frantically, groping at her chest and trying to catch her breath. She was shaking and crying and screaming and their doctor went to her, but she backed away from him as far as she could before the wires connecting her to Tony stopped her and she yelped in pain, as did he, both of them still tremendously sore from their procedure and their eyes locked, panic obviously spreading over the both of them just before their captures dunked Tony's head under the water and held him there. He could vaguely make out Olive's terrified screams and when he was pulled out again he could just make out the Doctor holding her back through the water dripping in his eyes and then they dunked him again. This went on for what felt like hours, but was probably only several agonizing minutes.

When they decided he'd been punished enough they threw him on the ground, coughing and hacking up all the water in his lungs. Olive started for him but one of them grabbed her and forced all three of them to their feet, covering their heads with burlap sacks and shoving their car battery into Tony's hands, leading them through several long passages and turns and out of their prison cave and into the harsh desert sun. They ripped the sacks off their heads without a warning, shocking their eyes so that they were blinded for a moment. When they hesitated from blindness, one of them smacked the back of their heads and yelled at them in his language. They continued on, stopping in front of a tent full of boxes and guns and missiles, all with the Stark Industries logo on them. Tony and Olive were shocked and speechless. How on earth did this happen?"

"He wants to know what you think." Their doctor spoke, bringing them out of their stupor. Tony looked at him.

"I think you got a lot of my weapons."

"He says they have everything you need to build the Jericho missile." Their doctor translated, "He wants you to make the list of materials. He says for you to start working immediately, and when you're done, he will set you both free."

Their capture smiled when he finished talking, holding out his hand for Tony to shake, which Tony took reluctantly, grimacing, "No, he won't."

"No, he won't." The doctor agreed. Their capture let go of Tony's hand and as soon as he let it fall back to his side he felt someone else grab it instead. Looking over his shoulder, he found Olive pressed up against his side, gripping his hand in fear. He didn't hesitate to wrap his fingers around hers. Now, it was just the two of them; all they had now were each other, and he would make sure they both made it home alive.