The Unknown Variable

Hey, y'all. ;)

(6/29/13) Beta'd, but for some reason the format is messed up...Sorry!

Zippidi Dooda Zippidi Aye. My, oh my I don't own any…e...thing so don't bother me!

The doors burst open and about eight goons walked in along with the heavy set man whom we had talked to before. The Ten Rings lined the walk way, their guns in their arms, as a bald man walked in obviously their leader.

The expression on his face sent shivers down my spine and I couldn't help but shift closer to Tony. With my powers shorted out because of my failing core, if something happened, I would be useless.

He eyed Yinsen, who was standing on the other side of the work space, his hands behind his head, and Tony and I copied his actions.

He looked over at Tony and I could feel him stiffen as the bald man said in an accented voice, "Relax."

Tony slowly put his hands down, his face black of emotion but suspicion in his eyes. I also followed Tony's move, sliding my arms down, then behind my back.
I moved closer behind Tony as the man walked forward and moved his shirt to get a better look at the Arc Reactor. Tony watched his movements' carefully, a level of distrust hidden in his eyes.

"The bow and arrow," the man started, still staring at Tony's chest "once was the pinnacle of weapons technology."

'Great, just what we needed, a bad guy speech.' I thought to myself even though my throat was tight with fear and my heart was beating quickly, making it harder for my core to regain its full power.

I let out a breath I hadn't known I had been holding when the guy walked away from Tony and to the other side of the room.

"It allowed the great Genghis Khan," I wondered who that was, "to rule from the Pacific to the Ukraine." He continued while examining some pieces of equipment lying on the table.

Tony shifted nervously, showing his true fear for a moment before his mask slipped back in place.

"An empire twice the size of Alexander the Great," he said as he walked back over towards us. "and four times the size of the Roman Empire." He eyed the Arc in Tony's chest while speaking. Tony watched him carefully, and moved slightly to block me from view.

"But today," Bald picked up the sheets of parchment paper that held the layered drawings of Tony's suit. I silently prayed that he wasn't smart enough to flatten them out, or we would be doomed, which thankfully he wasn't.

"Whoever holds the latest Stark weapons," there was the gibe at Tony I was waiting for.

Tony looked over at Yinsen, clearing his throat quietly, trying to hold back a comment. Yinsen made a discreet motion to wait and I briefly touched his arm, only to pull back a moment later.

I saw Tony's eyes flicker to me for a moment, and I was perplexed by the look he sent me. It wasn't one I could decipher.

"rules these lands." Bald stated, putting the plans down, and I let out a breath of relief that the plans had not been discovered. "and soon, it will be my turn."

The words caused shivers to race down my spine; I didn't like the look in his eye at all. The way he was looking at Tony, and the small glance he gave to me, made me want to fry him right then and there.

He stood in front of Tony, looking him straight in the eyes, but spoke in another language, obviously to Yinsen.

Yinsen was quick to reply, though from his fidgeting stance I knew this wasn't good.

Bald continued to speak to Yinsen, in a dangerous tone as he walked towards him. Tony and I both watched with fear as he closed in on Yinsen. Yinsen replied to whatever the bald man was saying, and I was praying that nothing would happen to him.

The bald man ordered something in his native tongue and one of his goons, who was wearing an idiotic yellow hat, shoved Yinsen to his knees. Tony and I shared a small worried glance as we watched in silence; I didn't know what to do that wouldn't make the situation worse.

My breath caught as, while still talking, the bald man pulled a coal out of the fireplace with large metal tongs.

He said something short, and unable to hold his tongue while Yinsen was in danger, Tony said, "What does he want?"

I gripped his arm, trying to silently tell him to be careful, but he shook my hand off and ignored me. Yinsen's eyes were closed as one of the goons turned his head with his hand and brought it down on the wielding bench.

I knew that they were threatening him, and so did Tony. Personally, I was surprised that he managed to keep mostly quiet for so long. I had to bite my tongue from saying anything myself.

Yinsen started saying something desperately and we instantly recognized the word Jericho while the coal was being brought closer to his face.

The same five words were repeated over and over again by both men; the burning coal slowly getting closer to Yinsen's terrified face.

Tony was no longer able to stand to the side. He stepped forward and said, "What do you want? A delivery date?"

Instantly all the goons trailed their guns on them and turned off the safeties with a click, motioning for him to stop.

"Geeze," I heard Tony mutter under his breath as he stopped and put his hands up slightly.

Bald's gaze tore off of Yinsen and over to my father, irritated that he had been interrupted.

Tony now looked like he was slightly regretting saying anything, if his uncertain gaze and fidgeting was anything to say, but he stood his ground and said, "I need him."

I knew that the small phrase held a lot of weight, showing just how much Yinsen had come to mean to him in the time that we had been here. "Good assistant." Tony added, trying to get his friend free.

Bald let the coal drop from the tongs in front of Yinsen's face. His face turned thoughtful for just a second before he snarled.

"You have until tomorrow to assemble my missile." He said, before turning towards me and motioning with his hand. "and for insurance that you deliver." He added on as the goons grabbed me with such speed that I didn't see it coming. "She's coming with us."

"Let go of me!" I snarled, my fear overpowering my logical side. I struggled to get free even though I knew it was useless, without my sparks, I was nothing.

Two men had to hold Tony back as he tried to grab me, "Let her go!" he snarled and I was surprised at the rage on his face. "We had a deal!" He hissed in Bald's face. My eyes widened in surprise at his statement, what was he talking about.

"Ah," Bald man said with a feral grin on his face, "Your little deal." He glanced over to me, and seeing the surprise on my face laughed harshly.

"Oh, you didn't even tell her?" he let out another bark of a laugh as dread flooded into my heart, just what kind of deal did my dad make with these people?

Tony glared at the man, ignoring my questioning look, and said, "Do whatever you want to me, just leave her alone!" My eyes widened in surprise at these words, I looked over at Yinsen and he was shocked, though also looked as if his questions had been answered.

He laughed harshly again, "The pathetic deal doesn't matter now anyway. My men have grown bored… she will provide some… entertainment for them." Cold hard dread shuttered through me at his words, I watched as Tony's eyes widened and a cold fury appeared in their dark depths.

"Don't you dare touch her!" he snarled trying to break free from the iron grip on his arms.

"Get my missile done by tomorrow… and you'll see the little girl again… alive. Maybe." He added on to the end, clearly enjoying the look of pure rage on Tony's face.

Even amongst the dread, a small spark of happiness flared. Maybe Tony didn't care for me as a daughter, but he did care enough to be tortured this whole time, just trying to protect me.

With a wave of dismissal they threw Tony to the ground and dragged me out by my shoulders, my struggles coming back full force. I didn't want to be here, and my mind couldn't help but spin all the possibilities of what they would do to me now that they had me.

"I'll be ok!" I shouted to Tony as he tried to get to his feet. I don't know why I tried to reassure my father, even though we both knew that I wouldn't be fine.

The door slammed shut, nearly silencing Tony's desperate shout of "PENNY!"

"Now," Bald's voice said, and my head spun around to see his face right next to mine, "the fun begins."

(I was going to cut it off here but I thought that it would be mean!)

I was in a dark room that was all I knew about where ever they had taken me. I was bound to a stiff wooden chair in the middle of the room, or what I believed to be the middle.

My chin lay against my chest and my breathing was labored. My bloody arms sent wave after wave of pain up into my brain.

Bald had said something to the others in their native tongue before leaving me alone with his goons. But not before giving me a smile that promised later pain.

They had descended on me with burning pokers, cigarettes, and cigars. They had tortured me slowly, pressing a lighted cigarette into the skin right above my wrist, before making their way up my arms, covering ever half inch or so, with burn marks.

The damp cave smelled strongly of burning flesh, and smoke. My eyes were squeezed shut against the pain, my tears having run dry long ago.

Everything was a pained blur, I knew there were at least three men, and I knew they laughed every time I bit back a scream.

My head was yanked back by my hair and my eyes snapped open, locking onto the blurry face of the man with the smoldering poker.

He smiled evilly as he pressed the red end of the poker deep into my collarbone. They were slowly making their way down onto my chest, my bloody, burned arms taken enough damage.

I could no longer hold in the scream of pain that passed my lips, and I heard the men laugh with pleasure as I gave in to the pain. I knew that they could be doing much worse, but I couldn't focus on that semi horrifying, semi happy thought.

More and more hot shooting spots of pain appeared on the top part of my chest; they hadn't gotten down to any… sensitive… areas yet but I knew it was about time.

My Arc was even spiking and dropping in power, more than before, the waves of pain being delivered through the Palladium powered nerves causing it to flare.

My eyes widened as the poker was placed right over my Arc, the thin skin like film still covering it, but as soon as the poker touched the fake skin, it would light and reveal my weakness to everyone. Not to mention the fact that the poker could seriously damage it more.

Just as they were about to expose my Arc, the door burst open and another man came running in. He yelled something at the others and they looked at me before untying me, throwing me to the ground, taking the chair, and leaving.

I laid there in the dust, my mind muddled with pain. I just wanted it to go away.

My breath came in rasps every few seconds, my vision slowly faded as my consciousness fled from the painful horror that was reality.

I awoke to a painful start as someone grabbed me by my hair and shoved me up against the stone wall.

My eyes flashed open to see Bald a mere inches from my face. My blood matted red hair in his fist, and his other hand gripped my arm painfully. There was a hungry look in his dark, cold eyes that sent off about a 'hundred different warning bells in my mind.

I tried to struggle against his iron grasp, but he shifted his body slightly, so now I was pinned between the wall and his body. I tried to banish the horrific thoughts that my mind was bringing up, but it was no use. With my core barely functioning, there was nothing I could do.

"Such a pretty face," Bald said and I could feel his breath on my face. He released my arm, which I tried to hit him with but he snatched it and with a quick twist, I felt my arm snap in two.

I tasted blood as I bit my tongue to stop myself from screaming.

"Such a waste," He stated, running his figure down my jaw line. I glared at him, jerking my face out of his grasp and spitting my blood in his face.

He growled and I didn't see his hand coming until it collided with my face. Bald let me fall to the ground as he wiped my blood off.

"Little bitch." He kicked me in the ribs, causing me to gasp and moan in pain. My one good arm clutched my side, trying to protect my damaged ribs.

I couldn't tell if they were broken or just bruised, I didn't know how to tell, but I was definitely able to tell when I was flipped over onto my back, the motion making my broken arm and ribs flare.

A lone tear fell from my eye as I felt Bald lean down close to my face once more. He said something in his own tongue, and I just glared weakly at him.

My arc was fluttering, dying for a second before coming back alive for another moment before fading again. Having spent most of my life on the thin line between life and death, I could feel it creeping towards me.

His body pressed against mine, but I was too tired and my mind was too blinded with pain to struggle even though my very instincts screamed for me to do so. My vision blurred into a faint whirl of colors as my Arc gave another shuttering leap trying to stay alive. I vaguely registered one foreign hand traveling higher beneath my shirt against my skin, while the other one traveled lower into the large shorts sending shivers up my spine, until there was a flash and he was thrown off of me.

My ears were filled with a sound of a thousand whispers, wild hissing like millions of people whispering at the same time, and though I thought I imagined it, a soft but furious voice mixed within the hissing, the words piercing the pain filled fog for just a flicker of a moment.

"She is mine!"

The painful fog rolled back in and the hissings and whispered words were forgotten from my mind.

I could hear Bald crash into the wall, but I didn't care, nothing mattered anymore, not the pain, not the hissing, not even Tony. I could feel myself fading and for once, I didn't try to hold on.

Just as I thought my sight was fading for the last time, and I could feel my core falling silent and still, it all came crashing back in one colorful, painful, electrifying flash.

Hehe, yeah, I know I'm mean but hey! I didn't cut if off up there! You all can elaborate on how far that went… it was vague for a reason. Most of the story is planned out in my mind.

Thanks for everything, all of you wonderful people! Thanks Expecto Prongs for Beta'ing.

'till next time,
Cp