His head hurt worse than it had in a long time, leading him to believe that he had the worst hang over in a decade, possibly his life if the way the world around him rocked though his eyes were closed. He felt hot and cold at the same time, his limbs were shaking, and his thoughts were as foggy because his head just would not stop pounding. Hangovers were the worst.
Wait. Tony hadn't gotten drunk in almost five years. He still drank sometimes but he quit drinking to get drunk after that one Night, the Night they no longer spoke about – ever. Nothing would have made him break his streak because nothing would have been more important than the memory of the Morning After that Night. Nothing. So, not hung over.
Drugged.
Once his mind had settled on that thought, Tony knew it was true and the rest of his memory came surging back as if it had been waiting for that one word to trigger it. Agent John Ryan had knocked on the door and told him Agent needed to see him. He left Steve in the room to wait for Thor to return with Emmy and went with Agent Ryan. They were near the top deck of the helicarrier when Tony had to stop to cough. Before he could straighten, something pricked his neck and everything turned hazy quickly. Then he woke up with a head pounding, not hangover.
"Daddy?" came the soft whimper from several feet away.
Tony's eyes shot open and despite everything, he managed to catalog his surroundings in a flash. A cage, fairly good sized, was holding him, with glass walls thick enough to contain the Hulk and clearly a speaker system if he was able to hear outside of the room. He wasn't bound but there wasn't anything for him to play with either, which was annoying but not exactly surprising. Whoever these guys were, they were learning.
Then his eyes fell on Emmy, two feet outside of his cage in her own smaller one, one made out of metal.
"Emmy," breathed Tony, stumbling over to the wall closest to his daughter and pressing his hands against it in a vain attempt to get closer. "Ducky, are you okay?"
Emmy cocked her head to the side in that way that meant she didn't understand what he wanted.
"Are you okay?" asked Tony again, this time signing the words as well, glad he had taken the time to learn sign language when he discovered that Clint was mostly deaf.
Emmy nodded but made the sign for 'want' – which was one of Tony's favorite to do because he liked making inverted grabby hands – and then pointed at Tony, her lower lip going out in a pout.
"I know, Ducky," said Tony, tapping his temple as he spoke. "I'm sorry. I'll get you soon. I promise."
"I wouldn't make a promise you can't keep," said Agent Ryan, pushing out of the shadows.
"Look, let us both go and I promise I will kill you quickly," said Tony, standing up but leaning against the wall, trying to make it look casual as his legs shook under him.
"Again with the promises you just can't keep, Tony," laughed Ryan. "You don't get it, do you? I have the power here, not you."
"Your choice," shrugged Tony. "I was only offering the easy way out. If you want a slow and painful death, that's fine by me. Better, actually, because that's what I want for you as well."
"Then if I let you go you'd just kill me slowly and I'm not that stupid."
"Yeah, you clearly are because I wasn't talking about me. I would have killed you quickly. Now, though, I'm not going to stop my family from killing you in whatever way they wish and trust me when I say they are the most creative little bastards I've ever met. Trust me."
"Captain America is too virtuous to do anything like that."
"Normally I'd agree with you but I've also seen him angry. It's a beautiful thing, all righteous rage and freezing blue eyes and bulging muscles. But I digress. I was thinking more of the three master assassins I'm sure you've pissed off, the enormous green rage monster, and the god you've now earned on your tail. Not to mention Agent. I'm pretty sure he has a soft spot for me somewhere in that suit."
"You're mighty chatty for a man in a cage meant for something a lot stronger than you."
"What can I say, this isn't my first rodeo. You are one of the duller captors."
"Then how about I make this more interesting?"
Ryan unlocked Emmy's cage and pulled the cowering out by a bruising grip on her arm. Emmy froze, allowing Ryan to drag her to the front of the cage. Tony heard a sickening snap half a moment after Emmy began to flail unexpectedly. Ryan tossed Emmy to the ground when she got a good kick in. Instantly, Emmy ran to the keypad and jumped, punching in the numbers she had seen the mean man put in when he brought them here two hours before. It took two jumps but the door slid open just as Ryan regained his feet. Emmy ran inside to Tony when Ryan lunged at her. He hit the keypad, causing the door to close again, trapping father and daughter in.
"Daddy," sobbed Emmy.
Tony sat down, leaning against the glass wall, and pulled Emmy in close, both breathing hard.
"You little bitch," growled Ryan. "Fine. Be that way. Now instead of having the brat watch you drown, she'll get to drown with you."
Ryan hit another button and water began to fall in from the center of the ceiling at the rate of a garden hose.
"I'm going to go see about that group of idiots you call a family," said Ryan. "They won't find you alive because they won't make it that far."
With that, Ryan left the room.
"Daddy," bawled Emmy. "Daddy."
"I've got you, Em," said Tony softly, rocking Emmy, forcing down his panic at seeing his daughter in the hands of that man and from the water slowly filling the enclosure. "I'm right here. Daddy's right here. It's okay. It's okay."
Tony looked around the room, listening beyond the sound of running water and his crying girl in hopes of hearing something – anything – that would mean the Avengers were coming for them. But there was nothing. They were utterly alone and Tony couldn't see a way out. His mind was like a burning building in the center of a hurricane, chaotic, trapped, and doomed to end in destruction one way or the other. And none of that stopped the steadily falling water.
*Feedback welcome. Always- Ari