Steve groaned, or whined, he couldn't really tell which. Alright it was a whine, but it was a manly whine, because Captain America does not whine. He is all swing and punches, throw a hammer….no wait that was Thor. Great, now he was starting to think like Tony. Steve groaned (whined) again.

He was starting to lose it, he knew it. This had to be Stark's doing, there was no way that this wasn't his fault. Maybe Stark had finally succeeded in getting Steve drunk, an impossibility that Stark had been determined to overcome. Maybe it wasn't even Stark, Steve wouldn't put it past Thor to accidently bash Steve's head playing dog pile, who had taught Thor that anyway?

Steve shifted, realizing then that he was lying on his side on a very uncomfortable surface. Grumbling Steve attempted to extract his pinned arm from beneath him, taking longer than it should have to comprehend that his arms where in fact secured behind his back.

Ok, this isn't good, Steve took a deep breathe through his nose, wow this place stank! Cracking his eyes Steve waited for them to adjust so he could study his surroundings. Aaaand, lame surroundings, there was a wall, inches from his face; he had to cross his eyes to see the jagged rock that was protruding out towards his nose.

Groaning Steve pushed himself away from the wall - how long had his legs been bound? - rolling to his back. He held back a sharp gasp as his left hand took the full pressure of his weight. Yep something wrong there, but that's alright he'll be fine within a couple days. Rolling his head to the left Steve looked at the remainder of his surroundings.

"Stark?"

Tony Stark was sitting hunched over a metal table fiddling with something metallic. He looked awful, his face was pulled into tight signs of stress; his lips forming a firm, thin line, something Steve had learned that Tony was very upset or angry. And by the thinness of his mouth he was probably both. His clothes were worse. His jeans were filthy, and damp, why were they damp. And where did he get that coat, definitely a hundred levels below Starks usual style.

Tony hadn't heard Steve call out, too engrossed in whatever he was tinkering with. So Steve tried again.

"Stark!" Tony's head whipped around, relief briefly flitting through his eyes.

Setting down his metal toy Tony stood up, grabbing something off of the table to his left, and walked over to Steve.

Had Steve been paying attention to anything but Tony's face he would have been scared to see that the open jacket Tony wore had no tell tale signs of a glowing reactor peaking out behind the zippers.

Tony knelt next to Steve, taking Steve's face in his own hands and studying something on Steve's forehead. If Tony's poke and prod was anything to go by Steve had a nice sizeable black and blue bump.

"Ow." Steve grumbled, pointedly ignoring Tony's small smile, a smile that did not reach his eyes.

"Looks like you took a hit to the head Cap. Nothing major for you, you'll be up and shouting at me in no time." Tony said, but without his usual sarcastic tone and smirk. Something that scared the hell out of Steve, which was something because not a lot scared Captain America.

"Tony? Wha…what's going on?" Steve looked around, "Are we in a cave?" His eyes landed on the object Tony had lugged over with him, following wires up to Tony's chest, ending were his Arc Reactor should be, "Are, are you attached to a car battery?"

Tony's jaw stiffened, "Yeah." Nothing more, no witty comment, no sex joke. Scratch his previous thought, this scared the hell out of him.

Tony adjusted his legs so he wasn't looming over the horizontal Captain, then he helped Steve sit up. Steve was surprised that the usual strong hands that helped guide him to the wall were shaking.

Laying his head back against the rocky wall Steve noticed for the first time that Thor was sitting to his left, unconscious, Banner was to his right, also unconscious, next to him Natasha was also annoyingly unconscious. Barton surprisingly was awake, but he was blinking slowly, a faraway look in his eyes.

Tony had moved to Thor, using the inside of his grubby sleeves Tony wiped what must be an access of blood off of Thor's face. Who and what had hit Thor hard enough for that to happen? Tony was surprisingly gentle when it came cleaning the demi-god's bloodied forehead.

Steve waited until Tony sat back partially satisfied at his clean up. Then turning back to Steve, he put his hand on Steve's shoulder and looked him in the eyes. Steve almost looked away, Tony's eyes were haunted, his usual warm brown eyes were dark and frightening. Steve didn't see any anger, all he saw was terror, and desperation. And what was worse was Steve didn't believe that Tony was all there, his eyes only looking half at Steve, and half into the distance.

"You ok?" Steve blinked, typical Tony, Stark looked like someone had ripped out his soul and fed it to the dogs, and he was asking him if he was ok.

"Yeah, I'm ok, are you ok?"

Tony started, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Steve looked at him in disbelief. Tony didn't meet his eye.

"He's running on about a tenth of his usual power Cap. You're gonna have to be patient, his brain isn't answering what his body is telling him." Steve looked over at Barton, huh, he hadn't thought Barton was able to follow a conversation, let alone give one of his usual snarky comments.

Tony leveled his gaze at Barton, he opened his mouth to respond, but then shut it with a clack. Tony then rose, picking up his car battery and headed back towards his table that had been swathed in lights.

Steve looked at Barton, who looked back with concern. "What no comment, come on Stark I left that wide open for you."

Tony looked up again, miniscule smile stretching his tightened muscles. But as quickly as it had come, it was gone again. Instead Tony glanced back down at the tool in his hand - a screwdriver Steve realized - twirling it between his fingers.

"More like a thousandth. The Arc Reactor was made to power the suit, and to keep my heart from getting ripped to shreds by shrapnel. It's a muli-tasker." Tony let out a breath. "A car battery has nowhere near enough power to do either of those things." Tony gave a sharp laugh. "Why do you think I built the Arc Reactor in the first place?"

Tony rubbed his face, feeling the slight growth of extra stubble. He took in a shaky breath, and let it shudder out. Tony closed his eyes, "I….I.," Tony stopped, and leaned over to put his head in his hands.

Barton stood up – why isn't his feet secured together with inch thick rope? – and shuffled towards Tony. His arms were behind him, a combination of rope and metal pinning his arms to the side of his body. Barton stood next to Stark and looked at the device that Tony had left on the table.

Jerking his chin towards the table Barton gave Stark a slight kick, dislodging his elbows from his knees, "Mind tellin' me what that piece of junk is."

Tony looked at the device. Since Steve was on the floor he had to strain his neck to even see the damn thing.

"It's a….uh, a missile." Barton blanched, stumbling back, staring at it.

"What the hell!" Steve was just a little relieved when he saw Tony actually smile.

"Relax Bird Brain, if it's not in the metallic cylinder there's no boom." And there was Tony's classic sarcasm. But as quickly as Tony was back he was gone again. "It's just one of the necessary inside guts of a missile, a Stark Industries missile," Tony's jaw tightened in anger, "didn't know those were still lying around."

Steve shifted, a tense silence fell over the three conscious men. Steve watched Tony as he turned back to the table, picking up the metal object and looking over it. He wasn't really doing anything really, just rotating it around and looking at it.

Steve shifted again, he was very uncomfortable. "Hey Tony, could possibly free a guy from some very inconvenient accessories." His attempt at humor was not successful, all he got was a look from both Tony and Barton, "What?"

Tony made a wild gesture, "You're lucky I was able to negotiate the removal of the gags. Besides Barton and Natasha kind of blew the whole let the group of superheroes run around a cave unrestrained."

Steve raised an eyebrow and looked at Clint. He huffed, "I wasn't going to sit back as a friend was being attacked, you didn't hear the sounds you were making Tony, Nat and I got out and we went on the defensive." Clint ignored the glare Tony sent him, "When that son of a bitch pulled out your reactor," Barton paused, his face just a shade paler, "Tony, I never want to see that face again. You were dying Tony, and you knew it. The only reason that bastard is still able to walk is because Nat went down and they put a gun to your head."

Steve looked over at Natasha, he couldn't see any injuries, but then again half her body was obscured by Banner. "Is she ok?" Steve asked.

Barton nodded, "Yeah they just hit her with the butt of the gun. She went down pretty quick. The wound only bled a little. Tony was able to patch her up best he could" Barton still looked concern. Steve was inclined to feel the same.

Tony gave a dark chuckle, "I think she was damn lucky."

Steve turned shocked, "She was injured Tony, how is that lucky?" Barton huffed in agreement.

"They could have shot and killed her." Silence followed, "Agent Romanov is many things, but I doubt she is fast enough to dodge a bullet shot at point blank range. You should feel content that they decided on smacking her instead of shooting her."

"And the fact that they did spare my life means that they want to keep us all alive for the time being." All three men jumped when Natasha spoke. She had pushed herself into a seated position without any of them noticing. "However, Tony, I think we can allow the Captain the decency to stretch his legs."

Tony stared at her for a moment, then gave a short nod. Reaching to the side he grabbed a short one inch knife, then stood to go over to the still uncomfortable Captain, except he forgot to grab the battery and the wires tugged at his chest stopping Tony in his tracks.

Steve could tell he was trying very, very hard to keep his emotions under control. His jaw was working back and forth and he was flashing between emotions faster than Thor could eat a box of Pop Tarts.

Grabbing the battery Tony made his way over to Steve, and began working on sawing through the bindings on Steve's ankles. His hands were shaking so he continued to slip and slide while sawing. Tony adjusted his grip, only to have the knife slip and cut his left hand.

"Shit!" Tony clenched his hand, blood welled between his fingers. He shook his head took a breath and continued to work at Steve's bonds, slower this time.

When his legs were free Steve shifted to his knees, leaning against the wall to give him leverage to stand, he still felt a bit woozy but all together uninjured.

Tony was poking at the gash in his hand, "It looks ok, just a cut, should be fine." Somehow Steve got the impression that Tony hadn't said that to any of them.

Barton was over by Natasha now, kneeling down and checking what Steve assumed was her wound. Steve made his way towards Tony who was watching Natasha and Barton speak in low murmuring voices.

"Are the other two alright?" Steve's question seemed to startle Tony, causing him to jump slightly, Steve frowned.

"Uh, yeah, Thor took a hit to the head, I don't know if they gave him anything or not, I assume not but I have no way of knowing." Tony cleared his throat, "Banner's alright too, don't know what's wrong with him. He's got a broken leg though I think; I didn't even know that was possible." Tony paused, "I would guess both of them should wake soon.

Steve nodded, good, well not good, but at least they didn't seem permanently injured. It looked like all of them were a little worse for wear, but he had faith they could get through this.

"Tony," Steve felt Tony stiffen beside him, "are you alright?"

Tony was silent for half a second, half a second too long in Steve's opinion. "Yep, right as rain. I'm higher than a kite. I feel like running a marathon; although, I probably would keel over dead after the first mile." He gave a short laugh, "Sounds like fun."

"That's not exactly what I meant. I can guess what's going on here Stark, I wasn't born yesterday." Tony smiled at that one.

"No, no you definitely were not."

"Good, glad we both understand that. Now," Steve paused, "what exactly do they want?" Though Steve already had a good idea, he just wanted to hear it from Tony.

Tony hesitated, then looked at Steve in the eye for the first time since he had first come to stand by him. Tony opened his mouth. Closed it again, swallowed and opened again, ready to tell his Team leader everything.

He was interrupted as a small panel was shifted aside from the metal door on the far side of the room. A voice behind it barked an order, Steve didn't understand what was said but got the general gist.

He felt Tony gently push him, "Might want to go and stand at the wall Cap, they don't trust you. Go figure." Steve was about to protest but Tony gave one final shove.

As Steve stood at the wall two things came to his attention, one both Barton and Natasha were both kneeling with the backs to the wall – something he was quick to copy – and both seemed almost afraid, but not for themselves.

The other was Tony; he had automatically put his hands up and behind his head, eyes slightly shifted down, and head slightly bent. Steve recognized that pose, it was a pose of submission, he had seen it back in the 40's when he raided and freed the Prisoners of War, the pose that showed surrender to a higher authority.

That was a stance that was not meant for a man like Tony Stark.

And now Steve was scared too.

The man leading the group of men with guns said something, Tony seemed to understand because he hesitantly put his arms back down; however, he did not look the man directly in the eye.

The man turned towards Steve. There wasn't much to tell about the man. His skin was slightly darker, atonement to his heritage and many days in the sun. His beard was slightly peppered, but it suited the man. He had dark brown eyes, almost black, and he looked at Steve with a satisfied expression. Like he knew that this Captain America was helpless, and he could do anything he wanted to him. Steve didn't like him.

"Hello Captain Rogers," Steve jolted, he didn't expect this man to know perfect English, let alone know his name, "I welcome you. I have been looking forward to meeting you. But please, do not kneel, please stand up. Why don't you join your friend Stark over there." The man looked over at Barton and Natasha. He made no effort to invite them to stand, nor did they do so.

Steve awkwardly stood, his hands still behind his back, and he walked back over to Tony and stood close enough to him to show that he was not alone. Tony relaxed somewhat.

The man moved over to the table, picking up the metal object Tony had been holding. He fiddled with one of the spokes that lined the two ends of the device. Tony grunted, clearly not pleased with the man's inexpert explorations.

He set it back down. "So, what will you be needing?" Steve blinked, not quite sure what the man was asking.

Apparently Tony did though, "I don't believe I will need anything. Seeing as I will not be building a fucking thing for you."

That didn't go over well. Tony was automatically ripped away from Steve's side. Someone pushed Steve back towards the wall, avoiding the wall but stumbling into Barton instead.

Tony was on the ground with three men beating on him. Kicking, punching, and hitting him with their guns.

Barton was yelling, Natasha was kicking, and Thor was on his feet! Steve had never seen the God of Thunder so angry, remains of his ankle ropes were in a pile where he had been sitting.

"You will leave the Man of Iron alone ruthless Midgaurdians! You will free my friends from their bonds, and you will let us pass these rocky halls to allow us to return to our home unhurt."

Silence followed Thor's speech. Save for the ragged breathing coming from Tony's direction.

One brave soul reached down for the man, hauling him up, only to nearly drop him again when Tony screamed, which sent Thor into a frenzy. He rounded, giving the man who held Tony a look that would make Hulk quiver.

In the young man's defense he did not back down; he just shoved Tony in front of him as a human shield and stuck a gun to the back of his head. Tony seemed surprisingly complacent with his captor. He still held the car battery protectively against his chest.

"I suggest you take the nice man's hint Thor and back down. I'd rather not lose a friend today." Steve looked down and saw Bruce sitting upright and glaring at all the gun wielding men in the 'room', "but I also suggest you all listen to what my friend Thor just said. Back Off!" Banner had the smallest hints of jade swimming in his iris'.

Steve nudged him, he could feel Banner's arms shake as he tried to control his temper. It looked like he was losing.

Thor glanced back at Bruce, unsure what was going on in the scientists head.

It was at that time that Tony decided to join in the conversation. Shrugging off the man's grip on his arm and moving past and around Thor, Tony came to stand in the center of the room, the center of attention.

He leveled a glare at the man who had started it all. "Alright fine! I'll build the damn thing. But, I need three things first." A brief nod and Tony continued, "First, I need to know your name, I prefer to know who I am working for, and calling you 'The Man' in my head is getting tiresome."

"You may call me Baqi."

Tony gave a nod only half satisfied. "Second I need you to release my friends from their restraints." Tony raised a hand at the coming protest, "I don't care if you handcuff their hands in front of them, but when it comes time for them to do some of their own private business I rather hope you have a volunteer from one of your own friends because I sure as hell am not going to help them there. Besides, what are they going to do; we're all injured in some form or way, what they gonna do, bleed on you?"

Baqi hesitated, but then nodded. Looking at the man next to him he murmured something, sending the younger man out the door.

"Alright Stark, you got two. What is the third?"

Tony took a breath and licked his lips, "I need my Arc Reactor back."

"No." Tony blinked.

"Wow no hesitation. You're gonna need to stop and think about that for a minute."

Baqi shook his head, "No, I will not give you back the one item that powers one of your suits. We have made that mistake before, we will not make it again."

Tony shook his head, frustrated, "Well if you want me to build you anything I'm going to need the damn thing back."

"No."

Tony gritted his teeth. "Then I guess we don't have a deal."

"I would rethink that Stark."

"I can't rethink that, it's impossible."

"You are a smart man Mr. Stark, make it possible."

Tony squeezed his eyes shut, and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Look you don't understand. If I don't have the Arc Reactor I will be dead within the week."

Silence followed Tony's statement, Steve's eyes widened.

Baqi studied Tony's face, smiling slightly before turning around and heading towards the door. "Is that a yes?"

Baqi turned around, once again smiling, "No Mr. Stark. But, I have faith you can fix that little problem, seeing as you have done it before." The door shut with a clang behind him and his entourage. Silence fell.

"Well that was a pleasant conversation." Barton's voice broke the tension in the room, and Tony's brief show of defiance; he sagged into the nearest chair, face in his hand and staring at nothing.

"Not funny Barton. Tony come on, you need to tell us what is going on." Bruce said.

"That can wait. I would like to know why I was told to step down from those men. I am the heir to the Asgard throne, they stood no match."

"Yeah, give that one more try big guy," Barton said, "but this time don't use the wall as a crutch, it ruins your image."

"Stop it Clint," Natasha said.

"Thor I stopped your from hurting yourself further. While there is no doubt that we could easily make our way out it doesn't hide the fact that Tony was right, we are all injured in some way. I'd rather wait for the two days it will take for us to heal so we can be at one hundred percent." Bruce shifted, a pained expression crossed his face as he jostled his injured leg.

Thor opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Tony, "Easy big guy. Banner has a point, that posse we just saw was probably only a portion of those here. There are probably about three dozen more guys right outside that door." Tony paused, "They certainly made it clear that they don't make the same mistakes twice."

Tony shook his head, slapping his hands together Tony stood up, "Right! Good, let's get started." Tony marched over to the door and started pounding it, "Hey, if you guys would come on in I'm kind of missing some tools!" The panel slid back, a pair of eyes glared back. Harsh words caused Tony to take a couple steps back, his hands up in a mocking gesture. "Easy there, just need some supplies.

Tony turned around when he felt a hand land on his shoulder, it was Natasha. Tony blinked, she had gotten out of her restraints again, he smiled, Of course she did. His smile faded when she asked him.

"What do they want, missiles, guns?"

Tony shook his head and waved his hand, "No," he snorted, "Think Romanov, why go for the gold when you could have the Starkium." Tony shook his head and turned back to the door waiting for it to open, "No, they want suits, and I guess suits they'll get." The doors opened and Tony stepped forward.

"Hey! If you don't want me to keel over and die I suggest you listen to what I have to say!"