A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry for the posting delay. As many of you will have noticed, the website has been suffering some issues the past few days. But here is the next chapter for you all, so enjoy.

Ruby had easily slipped into the routine of working on searching for her father all day, being forced to get some rest by Rhodey, and then sneaking back after getting SWAIN to send him on a wild goose chase. She was determined to find her father, and after the days turned into weeks, her determination grew.

"Ruby, you have got to stop this." Rhodey told her, coming into the darkened room and seeing her sitting at the desk. "You don't eat, you hardly sleep. You're shutting yourself out from everything, Ruby, and it needs to stop."

"It stops when I find him. It stops when I have my dad back, and not before." Ruby mumbled, her eyes constantly fixed on the screen and seriously hurting her. Her head was always hurting, her eyes always sore from staring at a screen constantly.

Rhodey didn't know what else to do, he had been pleading with her for days, but she just wouldn't listen. He had tried to get her sedated, but she fought back and no one would go near her any more. "Ruby, please."

"Not until I find him." He knew that was going to be her response, it was always her response. No matter what he tried, or how much he threatened to drag her kicking and screaming, she never stopped trying to find Tony.

"Will you at least have something to eat? You're wasting away here, Ruby." He wasn't holding out much hope that she was going to listen, that she was going to say yes.

"Coffee, black with six sugars. That's all I need." She said, typing away furiously on the keyboard and letting her eyes flick from one screen to the other. She wasn't giving up, she wasn't going to stop. Her mind was only focused on finding her father, and she knew she was making herself sick, but Ruby just didn't care any more. She had only just found her father, they still had so much to do together, she wasn't going to let him down.

Rhodey let out a sigh and walked away from her, going and getting her coffee, thankful that she was at least taking the sugar in it to keep her blood sugar up. As he went, he bumped into Goldstein, who had a worried look on his face as well. "I take it she still isn't eating?" He asked, having been keeping a close eye on Ruby himself.

Rhodes shook his head at the man. "No, she's still refusing to do anything apart from search for Stark. I can't get through to her, no one can. She's turned into a shell, and I don't know what to do anymore to get her to break out of it." It was clear from his tone that he was seriously worried about her. "I'm tempted to contact Miss Potts, inform her that Ruby is here and send her back to Malibu."

Agent Goldstein knew that Ruby would fight that, he knew that she would need to be knocked out for them to get her to go anywhere. What he also knew was that there were a lot of people who were counting on her. "Sir, may I make a suggestion?" He said, having his own little plan to get Ruby to sort herself out. "Miss Matthews-Stark is clearly set on finding her father. She won't move from where she is. Calling Miss Potts and sending her back isn't going to stop her. At least here, you can still keep an eye on her, and her progress. What happens when she does find him if she is in Malibu? How long is it going to take for her to get all the information to you so that you can go get Stark?"

James Rhodes raised an eyebrow at the man. "So, you're confident that she is going to find him then?"

"I've seen her working, she's determined and isn't going to give up, Sir." Goldstein replied, a slight smile on his face. "She is a Stark after all."

Rhodey nodded at him, knowing that he really was right. "Keep an eye on her till I get back." He told him, before walking off to get that coffee that Ruby had asked for.

Agent Goldstein pulled out his phone as he made his way to the control room and to Ruby. The moment he reached her, she held out her hand, already expecting him to show up. She placed the phone against her ear, resting it between her face and shoulder so that she could keep on working.

"I hear you are making yourself ill, Agent Matthews." Director Fury called in her ear, not even bothering to say hello.

"I'm busy. What do you want?"

The man on the other end sighed. "How is the search going?"

"Slow, but I'm making progress. I've eliminated several areas, narrowed it down to only a few. He's going to show up soon, I just know he is." Ruby told him, starting to drift off into her own little world. All she could think about was how much time it was going to take him to finish the armour, to complete the plan and finally escape. She knew it would be soon, she knew that if he was working then it would all be over soon and he would be back.

"Well then, you better keep working. And try not to make yourself too ill, Agent Matthews, you'll be no good to anyone if you do that."

"Understood." Ruby said, before passing the phone back to Goldstein and getting back to her work.

"Sir, she isn't eating or sleeping still." He told his other boss. "Took out three medics when they tried to sedate her to get her to rest. No one will even think of going near her now. Colonel Rhodes is thinking of calling in Potts. And sending her home."

"You need to make sure she stays put. She is one of the most headstrong and stubborn Agents we have, nothing is going to stop her from completing her mission." Fury told him, before swiftly ending the call.

Goldstein just stood there watching Ruby, waiting for Rhodes to come back. He was amazed with how easily she had been able to hack into anything and everything she needed, she hadn't even asked him to get her clearance for anything. He had seen her hack into the military, into SHIELD, and into NASA, just to name a few. She had done it so quickly and with no problems at all. He was now able to understand why she was one of Fury's top Agents, and just how smart she really was.

"Can I get you anything, Miss Matthews-Stark? Something to eat, maybe?" He asked her, hoping that she would actually eat something, even just a sandwich.

"Some silence would be nice." Ruby mumbled, as she clicked on a satellite feed and enlarged it on the screen. There was something about the area that she was looking at that seemed familiar to her, and it was just drawing her in. She couldn't explain it, she didn't want to, she just wanted to find her father.

Her eyes stayed locked on the screen for a few more minutes, before she saw an explosion happen close to the mountains. Ruby's eyes widened, and she was quick to take action. "JARVIS…"

"Already processing, Miss Matthews-Stark." The AI replied, knowing that she was going to ask him to try and get a closer look at it, to find out exactly what that explosion was and what had caused it.

"SWAIN, scan that area, you know what you're looking for." Ruby cried, watching as JARVIS managed to zoom in. What she saw made her hold her breath. Things were being blown up, rockets, crates of weapons that she recognised and knew.

"Miss Matthews, I have located the source."

Ruby was trying her hardest not to smile, and not to cry either. "Follow it, it's going to crash, I want to know the exact location. Determine the flight path, now."

While she had been busy conversing with JARVIS and SWAIN, Rhodey had returned with her coffee. "Ruby, what's happened?" He asked her, slightly concerned with the way she was speaking and focused on a single screen.

She didn't answer him, as SWAIN replied in her ear. "I have a landing location, Miss Matthews." He told her, before a set of coordinates came up on the screen.

'He did it. The idiot actually did it." Ruby whispered to herself, unable to believe what she had seen and what was happening.

"What is it, Ruby?" Rhodey asked her, still none the wiser as to what was going on. "Who did it?"

Ruby turned and faced the man. "My dad. He escaped. I know where he is." She told him, the tears brimming in her eyes. "We need to go and get him, now." She said, writing down the coordinates that SWAIN had given her and rushing past her Uncle Rhodey.

The man just stood there shocked, still processing what Ruby had told him. He was only brought back down to reality when she grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him along with her. "Ruby, are you sure? You have to be completely sure about this." He told her, letting her lead him towards one of the choppers.

"I am. We need to go."

Within minutes they were sitting in the chopper, making their way out to the location that Ruby had given them. She knew her father would be wandering the desert, trying to find some form of civilisation and help. She knew he wouldn't just sit there and wait to be rescued.

The trip seemed to drag on forever, the minutes ticking by slowly. Ruby was getting anxious, just wanting to get to Tony as quickly as she could. She had no idea what state he was going to be in, but she would bet her life that he had some injuries, especially from the crash landing he had made.

"Ruby, come on, we're going on foot now." Rhodey told her, as they landed a short distance away, ready to go and meet Tony Stark. She just nodded at him and followed him out, ready to run the moment she would see her father.

And she didn't have to wait long to start running. As they were coming over a sandy hill, she heard his voice, she heard him calling out. The moment she saw him, he fell to his knees, clearly exhausted and ready for a nice glass of whisky.

She ran as fast as she could, Rhodey close behind her. "Dad!" She screamed, quickly closing the distance between them. "Oh my God, dad!" She yelled, before finally reaching him and throwing her arms around him. The moment she did, she let the tears fall. She had been holding them back ever since she had left SHEILD, she had promised herself that she wouldn't cry any more, that Agents didn't cry. But she didn't care now, she had completed her mission, she had found her father, and he was alive.

"Ruby. Oh, Ruby, you're okay. Thank God, you're okay." Tony whispered to her, wrapping his arms around her tightly and holding her close. "God, I thought they had killed you. I was so scared they had hurt you." Ruby didn't say anything as she tried to hold back the sob that was working its way up her throat. "Jesus, Ruby. What did they do to you? Did they hurt you? Are you okay?"

"I missed you." She managed to whisper to him, just as Rhodey arrived at the pair.

"How was the fun-vee?" He asked, chuckling a little. "Next time you ride with me, okay?" Rhodey told him. "Both of you. No arguments." He said, before hugging the pair that was already embraced on the ground. "Come on, let's get the pair of you out of here. You look like you could use a drink."

Tony couldn't help but chuckle a little at the comment as well. "Everything's okay, Ruby. We're both going to be okay." Tony told her, as she stayed latched onto him as they walked back to the chopper that had landed for them. "Hey, when we get home, how about a movie marathon? Whatever you want to watch? We can order pizza, and just pig out on the couch for a few days. What do you say?"

Ruby just nodded at him, trying to control her sobbing and shaking. She knew what was happening, she was going into minor shock at actually finding him, and she knew that her body wasn't going to be able to take it.

"And hey, you know that pony you always wanted? You can have it. And the kittens, you can have those too." Tony told her, glad to have his daughter back. He hadn't been sure of what had happened to her, and he certainly hadn't expected her to be part of the rescue party. "You want a puppy? You can one of those as well. Anything you want, Ruby."

"I… I don't want anything. I just wanted you back."

Tony didn't really know what to say to that. All he had wanted was to get out of that cave and find his daughter. He had been so worried about her, about the things that they could have done to her. He couldn't even begin to explain how relieved he was to know that she was okay, to have her there with him. There were so many things he wanted to ask her, to know about, but he knew it could wait. Just having his daughter there with him was enough for now.

The moment they were back at base, medics were pouncing on Tony, having been ordered to check him over and make sure everything was okay. They tried to pull Ruby away from him, but there was no way she was going to let go of the grip she had on her father, so they reluctantly let her stay with him.

"Ruby, what happened? Did they do anything to you?" Tony asked her once more, doing his best to ignore the flocking medics. He just wanted her to answer him, to tell him what had happened once she had been woken up and dragged from the cell in the cave. She had hardly said a word to him, or to anyone else.

Once again she didn't answer him, she just kept on clinging to him, as if she were afraid he was going to just disappear if she so much as blinked. "She won't tell you." A familiar voice called, as Rhodey came into view. "I've been asking her the same question since we found her, but she won't answer."

"Found her? Where… where did you find her?" Tony asked, looking at his daughter and seeing that her eyes had clouded over, like she was in her own little world.

"She was found by one of the patrols at a small town. When she got there she was in a bad way, punctured lung, broken ribs, barely able to stand on her own, from what I heard." He informed his best friend, watching as his eyes widened at the words coming from his mouth. "The woman who found her patched her up best she could. She knew that a patrol would be coming soon and looked after her until we arrived."

Tony felt an aching in his chest, knowing only small details of what his daughter had been through since the last time he had seen her. She had been put through so much, and she hadn't deserved any of it. His daughter had been caught in the crossfire, because he was Tony Stark, and she was his daughter. Now he could completely understand why Jasmine had kept her a secret, why no one knew that Tony Stark had a daughter, she just didn't want her to get hurt.

"She's done nothing but look for you, Tony." His best friend told him. "Day and night, she's been here, just looking for you, trying to work out where you were. God know what she was hacking into, but she just didn't care. All she wanted to do was find you."

Tony looked over at his daughter once more. Her eyes were closed now, and it almost looked as if she had fallen asleep. "Well, she is a Stark. She's got the brains, and the determination to do anything."

Rhodey couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Yeah, and the stubbornness of both you and Jasmine. She has hardly eaten or slept since we found her. We tried to get her sedated, it didn't end well." Tony just gave him a questioning look. "She's a lot tougher than she looked. Scared all the medical team, in the end they were too scared to even try to get near her with a needle."

A few hours later, once the medics were satisfied with Tony's condition, he was laying down on one of the beds, his daughter wrapped up in his arms. She had hardly let go of him, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let go of her either. "Everything's okay now, Ruby. Everything's gonna be just fine." He whispered to her, know that she was already sound asleep.

He was worried about her, about how much weight the medics told him she had lost, about how little sleep she had been getting. She had only been back at the base for a short time, from what he could work out, there was a whole week missing from where she was taken away from him and to where she was found. Tony needed to know what had happened to her during that time, he needed to know what those men had done to her.

But right now, he was content to just let her sleep. They were both alive, that was really all that he could ask for, for them to be alive and finally out of that cave. Although there was something he needed to tell her, something that would upset her. Yinsen didn't make it, and he didn't know if he had the heart to really tell her that.

There was a light knocking at the door, and it opened just a crack. "Hey, everything okay, Tony?" Rhodey asked, having had to get back to work an inform everyone of the progress Ruby had made, ad the fact that they had found Tony.

"Yeah, it's good." Tony replied, still holding onto Ruby tightly. "Did you let Liam know?"

Rhodey nodded at him as he stepped further into the room. "Oh yeah, he was not happy that she had been here and we didn't tell him. He's threatened to come out here and pick her up himself."

Tony couldn't help but laugh softly. Liam really was a good friend to his daughter, it was clear to see that he cared about her a lot. "I think that if he had known, he would have been here already. He's protective of his best friend."

"How are you doing really, Tony?"

He let out a sigh, not really wanting to talk about it all. He just wanted to get passed it all and get his daughter back home. That was his main priority, getting her home and making sure that she is safe. "I was scared when I was in there. Not for me, but for Ruby. She got caught up in all of this, Rhodey, and she shouldn't have. I should have listened to Pepper, made her stay home."

"I don't think that would have helped. She knew what she was looking for, we didn't. Without her, it may have taken even longer to find you. Without Ruby, we may not have found you." Rhodey told him, wanting him to know how much of his rescue was down to her.

"Well, she is what has kept me alive, Rhodey. She came up with the idea for this." He said, tapping the arc reactor. "She helped to make it. And then, she came up with the escape plan. It was all down to her. Rhodey, it was like she was some super secret agent or something, you know? I mean, she had guns on her, Rhodey. Guns! Where the hell did she even get them from?"

Rhodey could see that Tony was starting to get a little worked up now, and he knew that he needed to calm him down. "Hey, hey, come one, Tony. None of that matters right now, okay? You're back, and Ruby is safe. You just concentrate on how you're going to talk your way out of this one with Pepper."

At that Tony let out a groan. "Ruby has already told me that Miss Potts is likely to slap me. And do you know what? She's probably right."

"Get some sleep, Tony. I'll have you both back in California in no time." Rhodey said, before leaving the room.

Tony just lay there, in the darkness with Ruby still sleeping soundly in his arms. While he had still been in that cave, he had started having nightmares. His mind kept playing out so many different scenarios of what had happened to Ruby. Now he knew how she felt when she was having a nightmare. But hopefully now they would stop, because she was there, and she was alive.

It was a few hours later when Ruby finally began to stir. She didn't really know how long she had been sleeping for, but she knew there were things that she needed to do. She had to carefully slip out of the bed, and try not to wake her father up in the process. It didn't actually prove to be too hard, since he was completely out of it.

After managing to sneak out of the bed, she had to sneak out of the room as well. She had just closed the door and was about to turn around when she felt someone's presence behind her. "Miss Matthews-Stark, are you going somewhere?" Agent Goldstein asked her.

"I need to make a call." She told him, holding out her hand, waiting for her to place his phone there so that she could make the call. With a sigh he pulled it out from his pocket and slapped it in her hand. "Thank you." Ruby replied, walking off down the corridor with the phone in her hand.

"Agent Matthews, I've been waiting for you to call." She heard Fury say, before she even had a chance to her the other end ringing.

"Mission accomplished, Director. Tony Stark has been found alive and well." Ruby told him quietly, wanting to make sure that no one overheard her phone call.

"Good job, Agent. And what of this doctor you told us about?" He asked, making Ruby's heart sink a little. She hadn't seen him, and her father hadn't said anything about him either, so she could only assume the worse.

"I don't believe he made it, Sir. There was no sign of him when we picked up Stark, and he hasn't said a word about him either." Ruby told him sadly. She really had liked the man, he had helped her and saved her fathers life, she just wished she could have saved his as well.

There was silence on the line for a few more moments. "Understood, Agent. Now, we will need to debrief both of you. I'll have Agent Coulson arrange to speak with both you and Stark at the same time, but I will be sending Romanoff and Barton to debrief you of this mission. There are still unanswered questions, Agent Matthews, and they need to be answer."

Ruby nodded a little, even though the man couldn't see her. "Of course, Director. We shall be heading back to California within the next 24 hours. Colonel Rhodes shall be accompanying us."

"Well then, safe trip home, Agent Matthews." Fury said. "And well done." He told her, before ending the call.

She walked back the way she had came, Agent Goldstein still standing by the door, awaiting her return. "Thank you, Agent Goldstein. For everything." Ruby whispered to him, handing him back his phone. All he could do was smile at her, knowing that no other words needed to be said.

Ruby opened the door, ready to head back to get a little more sleep before her father woke up and forced her to eat something. The moment it was open, she was almost knocked off her feet. "Jesus, Ruby. Where have you been?" Her father demanded, holding her shoulders tightly.

She looked at him nervously. "I… I had to go to the bathroom. I didn't want to wake you up."

Tony just enveloped her in a tight hug. "I thought you were gone, Ruby. I thought that it was a dream and that you weren't really here. I was scared." He admitted to her.

Ruby wrapped her arms around him as well, hugging him back. "But I am here, dad. You're stuck with me now, whether you like it or not." She managed to whisper to him. She could completely understand why he was scared, and worried. He had woken up and she hadn't been there, he had been waking up in the cave without her there, without knowing where she was and if she was okay. It was natural for that feeling to hang around for a while.

Even after she was out of the cave she was still having nightmares. And she knew they weren't going to stop any time soon, and neither would his. They both needed to get back home, to some form of normality, where they could feel safe. Ruby wanted to get back home, with her father, and pretend, just for a little while, that everything was fine. But everything wasn't fine, and she knew it never would be again. She was back with SHIELD, her father had shrapnel working its way into his heart every second of every day, only being stopped by the arc reactor. Nothing was every going to be the same, yet all Ruby longed for was to lounge on the couch with her father, eating popcorn and watching movies. That was what she was longing for, just one more night of being normal.

A/N: Well, I do hope you enjoyed the chapter, and the reunion of Tony and Ruby. There is a lot more to come, when they finally make it back home, but you're going to have to wait for that.

Thank you to everyone who reads this, and my other stories. My Doctor Who one was updated yesterday, but because of the issues, it didn't show up. So, if you do usually read it, go to my profile and check out the latest chapter.

Oh, and can I just say, thank you for all the reviews. I really do appreciate them, and I love them so much. So please, keep on reviewing!

Pippa.