A/N: This chapter's quite short and kind of filler, but it broke off nicely here so I went with it.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Marvel, Disney, and all of those people still own them...
It didn't make sense to Steve. After the injections, neither Bossman nor his crew did anything. Bossman just sat in the chair again, next to Steve, smile still in place.
Tony fought for control but Steve could tell the pain from his chest and hand were drowning him. And because of the sleep inhibitor, he couldn't escape the pain in the world of unconsciousness either.
"You know, Captain, I've been wondering - and I wish I would have thought about this earlier - but, the arc reactor in Stark's chest. Do you think it's painful on a daily basis?" The lunatic turned to look at Steve for his answer.
Maybe it was the drugs, but Steve couldn't see where the man was going with his question. Bossman must have noticed the confusion on his face.
"Think about it, Cap - you don't mind that I call you Cap, do you?" Steve glared at him. "Cap, that piece of technology sits right over his sternum and based on the reactor I saw when I toured his factory many, many years ago, I would assume that it's not exactly flat. Which means, a good chunk of that thing is actually inside his chest cavity. Get where I'm going yet?" Bossman glanced over again. Steve remained angry. "No? Well, I assume they had to crack his sternum and maybe remove some ribs to get that thing in there. Couldn't have felt good, by the way. Anyway, so there this hunk of metal sits in a spot designated for a pretty big piece of bone. Do you think on a daily basis, it hurts for him just to breathe? I would guess it would. I would also hazard a guess that his lung capacity has been diminished by it as well - what with not being able to fully expand his lungs or anything. OH! I wonder if that makes him more susceptible to sicknesses like pneumonia or bronchitis. And to think, I could have gotten my answer if I had administered the drug before I let my boys at him." He huffed out a displeased breath. "Poor foresight on my part. But, what do you do?"
"Yyyou're psssychotic."
"I prefer misunderstood." Bossman rose to his feet. "Do me a favor, Captain. Watch over him for me." The demonic smile was back as Bossman went over to the chains and loosened them from their spot on the wall. Abruptly, Tony fell to the ground, chains falling on top of him. Steve cringed at the pained yell that tore from Tony's lips as his arm hit the floor.
Once again, the four henchmen surrounded Tony and took turns kicking and punching his already-abused body.
They hadn't. Chosen wisely, that is.
Bruce and JARVIS had ranked each of the five locations in probability of holding their friends based on location, owner, and distance from the abduction site.
They hadn't been in Montreal and now, three days since their friends had been taken, they could cross Kentucky off their list as well.
Bruce poured over the data he and JARVIS had collected. There were three more high probability locations, but he wanted to make sure he hadn't made a mistake like he'd already done twice today. His friends needed him and he'd already let them down twice. Time was of the essence. He refused to fail them again.