A/N: So, I'm sorry it's been a while since I updated, I've been busy. I was just doing all kinds of things last week and I started up at the local college here yesterday, so I didn't have time to write then, but since class got out early today, I was able to put together this chapter for you guys. An enormous thanks to everyone that reviewed, it always brightens my day when I get reviews so please leave plenty more! Just a quick warning for this chapter, there is a bit of Pepper whump towards the end of this chapter. Enjoy!

Pepper moved her head around, trying to work all the kinks out of her neck. She hadn't slept on such a hard surface since she was a child and had gone camping with a friend, but had forgotten her sleeping bag. At least then she'd had a blanket, but in the basement, she had nothing.

After she had learned of Matthew's identity, he stopped wearing a mask, but the other two people kept theirs on, though the woman who had filmed the tape sounded eerily familiar. Pepper just couldn't place the voice. The other man was a mystery, though, but Pepper had heard him called both 'Michael' and 'bro' so she could only assume that the man was very close to Matthew. How she wasn't sure of yet, but she planned on finding out.

As the door to her room opened, Pepper looked up, finding Matthew watching her worriedly from the doorway. He had come in to check on her several times in the past hour, starting just after he had brought her the 'dinner' he had prepared for her. The cup of soup that had been placed in front of her had long since gone cold and as hungry as she was, her were tied. Literally. The idiot had failed to untie her so she could eat. Matthew frowned at her now, hazel eyes turning sad. "Going hungry won't solve anything, Virginia. You need to eat."

Pepper shot her captor a glare. "Are you kidding me? I can't eat because you won't untie me. It's hard eating with hands, you know."

Matthew looked conflicted, leaving for a moment, carefully closing the door behind himself, and returning with another tray, looking considerably brighter. "You're allowed to be untied to eat, but I have to stay with you. Michael won't allow anything other. I brought mine too so we could have supper together."

Pepper fought the urge to roll her eyes and stood, turning to be untied. There were a few things she had remembered about the reporter. For one, he'd asked her out several times, all of which she'd said no to. He'd once gotten in a fight with another reporter that had written a bad article on her and it resulted in his being arrested. If she remembered correctly, he was still on parole.

Sitting back down, Pepper massaged her wrists, trying to get some feeling back into her hands and wincing at how raw her skin was from the rough rope. Matthew sat across from her, brushing some black hair from his face. "Sorry about that. I didn't want to have to tie you up, but after that stunt you pulled yesterday, I had no choice. Mike wasn't big on the idea of letting you sit free in here in the first place and you trying to escape only made it so he's completely against the idea."
Pepper frowned, staring at her soup and stirring it around with the spoon she was given before taking a sip, trying not to wrinkle her nose in distaste. Matthew must have caught the look because he chuckled. "Yeah, I know. Steen was the one who made it. Her cooking skills aren't exactly up to par. She tries, but she doesn't exactly succeed."

Pepper looked Matthew in the eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

Matthew's brow wrinkled in confusion. "Doing what?"

"Why did you take me? Why ransom me? What was the point of all this? You had to have had a reason."

Matthew frowned, pushing away his bowl. "Mike won't be happy if I tell you and Steen would be really, really mad."

"You kidnapped me and hit me; I think I deserve to know why I'm here."

"I did not hit you! That was Michael! I would never hurt you!"

Pepper kept her gaze steady. "Once you get your money, your cohorts are going to kill me. I've seen your face; you've told me your names. You know this won't end well. They're going to kill me and there will be nothing you can do about it."

"I won't let you die! They won't hurt you. I won't let them."

Pepper tamped down the urge to roll her eyes once more. "Why are you doing this?"

Matthew jumped to his feet, pacing the room. "It wasn't supposed to be like this. We just wanted to be set. Our parents weren't rich; we lived in roach and rat infested apartments. We didn't want that, but after I got arrested, it started up again. We didn't have enough money and we don't want to live like that! Plus, Mike has Steen now and she likes nice things. You don't get nice things on a cop's salary."

Pepper nodded. "They don't pay them half as much as they should."

"Exactly! But Mike loves Steen and wants to get her these nice things so he borrowed money from some not so nice people. The money we were going to get from you would be enough to cover all these things. We'd be able to do what we wanted and never have to work another day in our lives."

Pepper sighed. "That doesn't make it right."

"No, but it's what we wanted and we were tired of living differently."

Pepper pushed her tray away from herself. "I'm done."

Matthew nodded and took the two trays away after tying her up again.

Tony was sitting at a computer, typing as fast as he could without missing a key. Rhodey entered the room and watched with wide eyes for a moment. "What are you doing?"

"I'm working on a bug to get into the other system; the one that belongs to the people keeping Pepper. If I could somehow get the bug into their system, I could bring down whatever's blocking the signal and find Pepper."

"How would you get it onto their system?"

Tony grinned. "I was able to get onto their computer for a couple of seconds before the firewall knocked me out. I got their e-mail address. Typical Gmail account, nothing that can be traced, but I can attach the bug to an e-mail and make it from a private sender. When they open the message, it looks like spam, but the bug worms its way into the system and we can find Pepper."

Rhodey grinned. "It's genius, Tony."

Tony turned around with a grin. "Now, I need to find something to send that's spam-worthy. You got any ads on the enlargement of a certain part of the male anatomy? I get the feeling you'd have something like that in you inbox."

Rhodey glared, but signed into his e-mail anyhow. "Only if you promise to find a way to block this shit."

Tony was laughing too hard to reply.

Pepper could tell that something was wrong. She had been taken from the basement for a moment to use the restroom and had walked in on Michael and 'Steen' arguing about the money. Steen, who was still wearing her mask, was saying that Tony would have sent the money by now if he actually planned on paying, and Michael, who had failed to put on the mask, was asking her what she wanted to do.

Pepper had been hauled to the bathroom before she could hear anything more, but she thought she may have heard the word 'codes'. After being returned to her cell, Pepper fell into an uneasy sleep, only to be woken up by her wrists being untied a moment before she was shoved into a chair where her wrists were then tied to the arm rests and her ankles tied to the legs of the chair. Steen stood in front of her, her face still covered by the mask. "You're going to give me the codes to get into Stark Industries."

Pepper kept her gaze impassive. "I'm Mr. Stark's assistant. I don't know the codes, just what I need to get onto my own server."

"I refuse to believe it."

"You might want to. I don't know anything."

Michael sidled up alongside Steen and his fist flew forward, connecting with Pepper's nose, causing a disgusting crunch and making Pepper scream in pain as blood poured from her nose and dripped into her mouth. She spit, tears streaming down her face. Steen just stared. "Tell me the codes."

"I don't know them!"

Michael backhanded her. "Yes, you do."

"I don't!"

A punch to the stomach. "Tell me the codes and it stops."

Pepper gasped for air, coughing painfully as she tried to say what she wanted to. "You're going to have to write it down." When Steen had a pencil and paper, she nodded the Pepper. "Okay, u-o-y-w-e-r-c-s. Got that?" Steen nodded. "Now reverse it."

Steen's face contorted with rage and she waved her hand to Michael, who punched Pepper again, hard enough to knock over the chair. Pepper cried out as her side hit the ground, pain radiating from her arm, a snap echoing around the room. Pepper screamed in pain as it intensified when the chair was yanked back up and it seemed like Steen was going to ask again, but the door flew open and Matthew stood in the doorway, looking like he was about to kill someone when he saw Pepper's condition. He threw his brother and Steen into the hall and slammed the door shut behind them before cutting Pepper loose.

As soon as Pepper was out of the chair, her head started to go foggy and she fought to stay awake, but knew she was losing the battle. She remembered sobbing in pain as her arm was jostled as Matthew lifted her and after a bit of walking, set her on a soft surface. Then there was nothing but darkness.

When Pepper woke up sometime later, she found herself groaning as light assaulted her eyes, making her head throb, but looking around, she realized she was alone in the small room that she assumed was someone's bedroom. She also found that she was no longer tied up and there was a window in the room. A window that was open, letting the warm breeze blow in.