Chapter 5

The moon reflected in the sea, turning the view into a sparkling ocean of lights. A lone seagull made its circles on the dark horizon, and the wind swirled Tony's hair slightly. He was standing on his balcony and listening to the rhythmic roar of the sea as it hit the rocks far below him. It was wonderfully calm and peaceful.

The billionaire glanced at his expensive watch. Almost four a.m. He was tired, but as long as he could go without sleep, he would stay awake. As long as he could stay away from dark, cold caves, he would do so. Tony thought about Pepper. In maybe five hours she would be here again. Just knowing she was in the house made him feel better, even if he knew he was often dismissive. It was better that way. He didn't want anything to happen to Pepper.

Tony leaned his forearms on the railing and enjoyed the silence. He was the only one in the house right now, something he usually hated, but sometimes was just soothing. A thick cloud moved along the sky and covered the moon.

"Mr. Stark," he suddenly heard Jarvis say. "My sensors are detecting several people around the property. They seem to be hacking into my system."

"WHAT?!"

Tony was transfixed to the spot for a moment. Then his mind began to race. The armor! He had to get into his suit right away!

"How many people, Jarvis?," he shouted as he ran through his house.

"Five men, identities unknown so far. Obviously armed."

Tony reached the living room.

"Sir, the men have -"

Jarvis' voice was interrupted.

"Jarvis?," Tony shouted, slowing his pace. "Jarvis!"

Was it actually possible that they had hacked his AI? No, it wasn't. No one could have done that...

Tony couldn't finish the thought, because at that very moment five men, dressed in black clothes and covered with dark masks, ran toward him. Unmistakably, they pointed guns at him. Tony stopped instantly. Panic spread through him. Without Jarvis, his armor wouldn't do him much good. All functions and sensors ran through Jarvis' system. Without the computer, his armor was just that: heavy and immobile.

"Freeze, Stark! Not - an - inch - further."

Tony didn't dare to move and watched as the men came closer, guns pointed at his head and heart. Instinctively, Tony raised his hands.

"Good to see you again, Stark."

One of the men stepped closer to him. Somehow it was a familiar voice... Tony felt as if electricity was running along his veins. That voice... he had heard it before - and he would never forget it.

"Did you miss me?"

Tony suspected a smirk under the mask. He was unable to say anything, let alone move. Fear paralyzed him. It couldn't be true… Raza?!

"I was honestly hoping for a more polite welcome."

Raza's dark voice echoed in Tony's head. The leader of the Ten Rings. The terrorists who had kidnapped and done all this cruelty to him - here in his home.

The men circled him with their guns still raised. Their hectic movements made Tony nervous. He feared getting shot at any moment.

"Tonight, you're going to die," Raza hissed, removing his mask.

Large scars marked one side of his face and bald head. Scars Tony had inflicted on him during his escape. The terrorist smiled, or at least the corners of his mouth moved, his eyes remained cold and emotionless. Tony said nothing and stared at Raza's face in shock. The nightmares suddenly seemed to mix with reality. How could the Ten Rings be here in front of him?

"You still have a little time left, Stark. You decide how much pain you want to put yourself through before you die."

Tony's mind went blank. There was no plan, no idea, no helpful thought on how to get himself out of this situation.

"We want Iron Man," Raza said calmly. "We want the armor. And you're going to hand it over to us." Raza now showed a genuine grin. "Maybe you can remember what happened last time when you wouldn't give us a weapon."

Tony remained silent. For a moment, the living room he was standing in just dissolved, and he slipped back into the cave, seeing the water trough in front of him and hearing men speaking in Arabic. Then he forced himself back to the present.

"Don't even try to play for time. Anyone who shows up here unexpectedly will be shot."

Tony forced himself to snort dismissively, even though he didn't feel like it at all. Then he lowered his hands.

"That's it? That was your whole show?," he asked, gesturing expansively at Raza and the men. "Is the genre of your show supposed to be comedy, satire maybe? Or more like fantasy, because it's absolutely absurd that you think I'm going to give you the ar-"

Without warning, Raza punched him full force in the stomach. Tony went down, gasping for air.

"You're going out on a limb right now, Stark."

Tony gasped and coughed as he braced himself on the floor with one hand and held his stomach with the other. "It may also be a drama because you guys definitely won't get -"

Immediately Tony was hit by a heavy kick to his head and sank all the way to the ground. With his hand he felt for his temple and clearly felt blood running along it. He scrambled to his feet, whereupon he was knocked back to the ground by another hit. Stars circled before Tony's eyes as he lay dazed on the ground. His head hurt badly.

Raza grabbed his left arm and lifted it slightly; Tony didn't resist, still gasping and trying to shake off the daze.

"We had gone to the extra trouble of pulverizing a mall in L.A. to lure you there, instead you spent the evening at a party. How disappointing. I guess I overestimated you, Stark."

"The disappointment for you won't end here," Tony pressed out.

With a jerking motion, Raza yanked his arm, which he had been holding, around.

Tony cried out loudly in pain, knowing immediately that the shoulder was dislocated. He writhed on the floor and had to grit his teeth to keep him from screaming further. If he didn't somehow manage to get into his suit, he was doomed.

"I warned you," Raza said in a calm voice.

"Goddammit!," Tony exclaimed grudgingly. His head was spinning, and he was struggling with staying conscious.

"If you want to die with your other arm unharmed, I advise you to cooperate now," the leader growled in a menacing voice. "Or we can wait here for your pretty assistant, maybe she can help us better?"

"No...," Tony groaned, narrowing his eyes. Not Pepper...

"Get a grip, Man of Steel," Raza called with a sneer, then spoke briefly in Arabic to his men.

In response, four hands grabbed Tony under the armpits and pulled him up. Tony swayed dangerously, so someone had to hold him upright.

"Without... Jarvis...," Tony gasped as his knees threatened to give way. There was a wavering in his field of vision. "Without Jarvis... the... workshop, where the suit is, can't be opened..."

Raza stood motionless for a moment, then answered even more quietly and calmly.

"I don't believe you, Stark. Stop trying to play us for fools. Either play along or die right now. We'll find a way to get the armor even with you being dead as a doornail."

Tony swallowed; he had to improvise somehow.

"A code," Tony muttered, leaning forward slightly. "I have to enter a code..."

The terrorists nudged him forward. "Then go ahead!"

Tony took as much time as he could – which was also necessary due to his injuries. If he didn't think of something, he was done. Pain numbed his senses. Only with difficulty and very carefully did he make it down the stairs. With each jolt he thought he could feel both his head and his arm shattering into more and more pieces.

"The code, Stark!," Raza shouted at him more impatiently, while one of the men pressed his gun barrel against the back of his head.

Tony had no choice. He began entering the code. Meanwhile, the fear of an impending disaster overrode his pain. His eyes fell on the desk. There it was. His cell phone. If he could manage to get to the cell phone unnoticed for a moment, he might be able to reboot Jarvis.

The door opened and the terrorists entered with tension, as if they were waiting for a trap. The Iron Man armors stood there side by side against the wall. The newest model ready for immediate use. Raza let out a gurgling laugh as he approached them.

Tony pretended he could no longer stand - which wasn't that wrong - and dragged himself to his desk chair. One of the terrorists shouted something in the foreign language Tony remembered so well and raised a victory fist.

Tony propped his right hand on the desk and pretended to be incapacitated by his injuries, breathing deeply in and out with his eyes closed.

While the terrorists were talking in Arabic, he grabbed the cell phone and began to search under the table - without changing his position too much - for the virus the terrorists had apparently used to shut Jarvis down. He had a program for that, of course. Getting Jarvis running afterwards was just a breeze. Numbers appeared on the cell phone screen and rattled off at breathtaking speed. It was only going to take another moment.

One of the terrorists destroyed the glass behind which the Iron Man armors were stored.

"Alright, grab the armor and kill Stark!," Raza shouted, apparently extra intelligible to Tony, grinning diabolically.

"Hey!," yelled one of the terrorists, who had turned to look at him.

He seemed to have noticed that Tony was doing something under the table. With his gun raised, he strode quickly toward him. Raza shouted instructions to him in Arabic. Suddenly there was a dangerous hectic. It was now or never.

"LIGHTS OFF, JARVIS!," Tony yelled, throwing himself under the desk.

It became pitch black, but in the place where he had been sitting a moment ago, the bullets of the gun struck with a spark.

Again, Raza roared, and the other men joined in. Tony continued to crawl on the floor. The suit. It was all that could save him now. He pressed his hand over the arc reactor so the light wouldn't reveal his position. He could hear the others running, but they saw as little as he did. Unlike them, however, he knew exactly where to go. Using the cell phone, he gave Jarvis the order to get the armor ready.

Tony reached the platform. With great difficulty, he managed to stand up. Then he felt his second skin being put on. The familiar sounds of the system powering up calmed him somewhat, then the reactor shone brightly into the darkness.

Now it was the terrorists who were dealing with panic. Tony raised his right arm and fired at the terrorists who were already fleeing the workshop. He caught one of them, the others grabbed his body and dragged him after them. Three bullets struck his armor in return.

"That was a short visit. Are you guys leaving already?," Tony asked, now confident and superior. "Jarvis. Lights."

The workshop was lit as ordered - and Tony immediately realized something was wrong. Black dots swam around in front of his eyes, a static had invaded his ears.

"Sir," Jarvis' voice reported. "I'm registering a concussion. You're about to pass out."

"You don't say," Tony gasped, stumbling.

He had to pull himself together, he couldn't let them get away. Slowly, he walked up the stairs, but couldn't see the men anywhere.

"I recommend calling 911," Jarvis said insistently.

"Where are the terrorists?," Tony asked, ignoring the remark. He had to hang in there.

"Already outside the building. Sir... You - "

"Okay. Get me out of the suit."

He realized he couldn't possibly hold out any longer. There was no point. Jarvis opened the armor and Tony stepped out of it. He immediately dropped to his knees.

"Sir, I'm going to call a doctor -"

"No, I'm not giving you permission for that."

He didn't want a doctor and he didn't want to go to a hospital. He just needed to rest for a minute. His heart was beating up to his throat, cold sweat was forming on his forehead, and some blood was still pulsing from his forehead wound.

"Mr. Stark," Jarvis said, almost forcefully this time. "May I at least inform Miss Potts?"

"No... ," Tony muttered as he fell.

He couldn't put Pepper in danger. What if the men were still in the vicinity?

Then everything became dark around him.

The alarm clock rang, Pepper groped for it with her eyes closed, but missed. Finally, she gave up and reluctantly sat up to turn it off. Six a.m. Disgusting six a.m. She wondered why she was even getting up so early when Tony sometimes didn't go to bed until this time. Pepper sighed and braced herself. After a quick shower, she felt significantly more awake. She read a few emails and text messages that had come in overnight, while running the news on the side and drinking a smoothie. There was nothing out of the ordinary. The economy continued to stabilize, the war in Afghanistan still wasn't over, some kids had robbed a gas station, the new Batman movie had hit theaters - and Stark Industries' stock continued to fall. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Briskly, she grabbed her smartphone and laptop and left her apartment. In her Audi, she made her way to Tony's mansion, stopping for a coffee to go on the way as usual and continuing to listen to news that may or may not be important.

When she arrived, she spotted Happy leaning against the apparently freshly cleaned Rolls Royce, reading the paper. Pepper turned off the car and got out. Happy greeted her with a smile and folded up the newspaper.

"Good morning", Pepper said. "Is Tony up yet?"

"I don't know. Yesterday he said that he wanted to leave as early as possible, get a new cylinder head for his R8. But well..." Happy raised his eyebrows meaningfully. "Who knows how long he was in the workshop yesterday."

Pepper nodded. "So you haven't been in yet?"

"Nah. But I'll join if you go in. Maybe he just forgot."

"I don't think so", she said, smiling about the imagination of Tony forgetting something.

It was much more likely that he had changed his mind. Sometimes she also got the impression that he just liked to keep others waiting. Together, the two entered the house.

"Jarvis, where is he?", Pepper asked, sipping her coffee and grimacing. It tasted atrocious; she would definitely stop somewhere else next time.

"In the living room, Miss Potts", Jarvis gave tersely as information.

She gave Happy a surprised look.

"Up already, then. Or still..."

They entered the living room.

"Tony, are you there?", she called, setting down her stuff on one of the end tables.

"Shit...", Happy muttered.

"What?", Pepper asked, turning to face him.

Happy just stared straight ahead.

"What?," she asked again, then followed his gaze.

An icy fist was closing around her heart, and she let out a sharp scream. Tony was lying face down on the floor. His head was surrounded by deep red, dried blood.

"My God", she breathed, slapping her hands over her mouth.

Happy rushed to Tony and bent over him. Pepper followed after coaxing her legs to move. Very carefully, Happy turned his boss over and felt for his pulse with his index and middle fingers.

"He ... seems to be okay", Happy said with little conviction.

Pepper's stomach turned. Tony looked terrible. His entire face was covered in dried blood, which had apparently leaked from a cut above his right eye. The eye itself didn't look any better, it was deep blue and badly swollen.

"Oh, God..." Pepper shuddered. "Jarvis, what's wrong with him?" She couldn't understand why Jarvis hadn't called for help. "What happened? Why haven't you contacted anyone?"

"Terrorists broke in tonight", the computer explained. "They cracked my security system - I am inconsolable. Despite multiple warnings, I was forbidden to contact anyone, including medical assistance and you. If his condition had been life-threatening, I would have overridden that prohibition, Miss Potts."

"What?", Pepper exclaimed. "Terrorists?! But... how..."

"Boss?", Happy shouted, slapping Tony on the face. "Boss!"

Tony gave an agonized groan.

"Thank God!"

A tiny particle crumbled from Pepper's stone in her heart.

"Tony! Are you all right?"

"Wonderful, thank you... ", Tony replied sarcastically, eyes closed.

"We have to take him to the hospital", Pepper told Happy.

"No...", Tony muttered. "No hospital."

"Tony, what are you talking? You're barely conscious! You're injured!"

"No, I am conscious, everything's fine", Tony said, opening his healthy eye a bit.

Pepper stifled a comment. She knew of Tony's heavy dislike of hospitals. But his injuries needed attention.

"Mr. Stark has a concussion, but I cannot detect any life-threatening swelling of the brain", Jarvis said. "However, the laceration should be stitched, and his shoulder is dislocated."

"Happy can fix the arm", Tony said immediately.

"Are you crazy?", Pepper called, upset.

"You've already been near my heart with your hands in my chest, Pepper. Surely Happy can handle a shoulder?"

"Boss", Happy said nervously. "I can't... I don't even know how."

"Jarvis will tell you what to do."

"What if it goes wrong?", Happy asked, looking nervously at Pepper.

"Wait, you're not seriously thinking about this, are you?", Pepper shouted angrily. Were they both losing their minds now?

"Hogan... do it... or you're fired."

Pepper rolled her eyes. She hated that side of Tony but tried to reassure herself that Tony usually knew what he was doing. Happy took a deep breath.

"Okay. What do I have to do?" he asked.

Pepper groaned and turned away.

"The tissue is already too swollen to do it slowly", Jarvis explained. "So, the most important part is to pull the arm in a jerky, upward slant."

"All right", Happy said, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. "Ok..."

He frowned and stood up. With an uneasy feeling, Pepper looked at Tony, who lay on the floor with his face contorted in pain and his eyes now closed again. She watched as Happy placed his foot in Tony's armpit and then very gently took his arm in both hands.

"Mr. Stark...", Happy warned, and Pepper groaned again.

With a powerful tug, he pulled his arm up. Tony let out a short but loud cry, then turned on his side and buried his face in his healthy hand.

"Did it work?", Happy asked nervously.

"Jarvis?", Pepper relayed the question.

"It worked."

Happy blew out a gush of air in relief.

"But what about the cut?", Pepper asked, taking Tony's hand away from his face for a closer look at the wound.

But before anyone could say anything about it, Jarvis came forward with another announcement.

"Agent Coulson and Agent Romanoff from S.H.I.E.L.D. have just entered the property. Shall I let them in, Sir?"

"Who's Romanoff?", Tony asked.

"Hard for a playboy to remember that many women?"

Tony immediately recognized the pretty Russian woman as she entered the room next to Coulson, both coming closer. She wore a skin-tight suit and carried a belt with two guns that made Tony a little nervous.

"Uh, Jarvis, did I tell you to let them in already?", Tony asked, sitting up in pain.

"My apologies, Sir. I thought it'd be a good idea, and I was sure you'd feel the same way."

"Mr. Stark", Coulson said pleasantly. "We got message that you had a visit from the Ten Rings tonight."

"From the Ten Rings?!", Pepper and Happy exclaimed simultaneously.

"How do you -", began Tony, but stopped and winced at another wave of pain in his head.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has its sources", Coulson replied with a smile. "How bad is it? Natasha?"

Agent Romanoff leaned down toward Tony, the neckline of her suit wide open.

"Eyes on my face, Stark", she said, touching his shoulder and head. Over her shoulder, Tony saw Pepper rolling her eyes again.

"Oh, does it hurt?", Romanoff asked impassively as Tony winced again at her touch. "Doesn't look too bad. Who fixed the arm?"

"I did!", Happy said immediately, looking a bit satisfied with himself and grinning at the agent.

"Wow, what a great job you did there. And who are you? His nanny?", she remarked with a dry sidelong glance at Happy, who immediately lowered his gaze to the floor in embarrassment.

"I can sew up that wound", she told Coulson. "The rest will heal by itself."

Coulson nodded slightly, still making a polite expression.

"Can you stand up?", Romanoff asked, now turning back to Tony, and looking at him challengingly.

"With a little help from you, Natasha, I'm sure I can", Tony said, returning the look.

Romanoff was stronger than she looked. She swung an arm around Tony and helped him up with almost no effort. She led him to his couch and set him down there. Then she picked up a small bag and lowered herself almost provocatively onto Tony's lap. Tony couldn't help but grin. This agent was obviously trying to provoke him by any means necessary. Carefully, she began to clean his temple with a cloth and disinfectant, washing away the dried blood all over his face.

As Romanoff began filling a syringe with liquid, which she also pulled out of the small bag, Coulson strolled around the room with an interested look.

"How did Raza and his people manage to shut Jarvis down?," he asked.

"They probably found a hole in my security system", Jarvis admitted. "I can't explain how that could have happened, though. My investigation is still ongoing."

"The Ten Rings must have had something", Tony said. "It's impossible to shut Jarvis down."

Romanoff injected an anesthetic around his cut and then dug out a needle kit, which she carefully disinfected.

"So, what about the Ten Rings? I thought they no longer existed?", Pepper asked, watching very closely what the agent was doing to Tony with a suspicious look on her face.

"We did indeed assume that this terrorist group had disbanded, but by all appearances we were wrong," Coulson explained. "Many members were killed by Obadiah Stane's people after they failed to fulfill their contract. Stane wanted them to kill Tony, but they captured him instead to use him for themselves. Stane then cleaned up the mess. So it was only logical that we thought they had disbanded. After learning that Raza, their leader, was also among those killed, we put the matter to rest."

"Reliable sources," Pepper agreed with him angrily.

Tony felt a little flattered in the face of Pepper's emotionalism and concern for himself. Romanoff began to stitch his wound. Other than a feeling of pressure, Tony felt none of it.

"We're sorry," Coulson said, looking apologetically at Pepper. "Like I said, we were wrong."

Pepper snorted. "Tony could have died!"

"If there was more security around the house, they would have had a harder time. How come you had no security at the gates at all?"

"Why would I have security? I have the armor," Tony returned.

"Well, we're all smarter now," Coulson said.

"Don't move," Romanoff admonished Tony, saving the cheeky comment that was already on the tip of his tongue.

"Do you have any clues, then, as to the current whereabouts of the terrorists. Where did they go?" Happy asked anxiously.

"We don't know," Coulson replied. "But S.H.I.E.L.D. is on it."

"Well, sure. You're on it," Pepper hissed angrily.

Romanoff gave Pepper a quick look, then pressed a plaster over the stitched wound on Tony's forehead.

"Ow!" he complained.

The agent rose and resumed her place beside Coulson. "The shoulder should be cooled and then immobilized."

Tony nodded, but immediately regretted the move. His head hurt like hell.

"Well... Raza's not among the fallen," he said, carefully palpating his shoulder. "He was here. Raza was among the men who were here tonight."

"What? Now this is getting interesting..." Natasha said thoughtfully, and Coulson also seemed lost in thought for a moment.

"A couple of our agents will be guarding your house for the next while", Coulson said. "It's too dangerous to leave the armor alone."

"Excuse me? Alone?", Tony asked.

"The bodyguards you usually have posted at the entrance will be reinforced by our team."

"Thank you, but no, I don't need anyone -"

"Someone should definitely stay with Stark today. Just in case the concussion does cause more problems."

"Happy and I are here", Pepper confirmed immediately, already looking much more satisfied.

"Very good. Natasha will take charge here and supervise the installation of the safety precautions..."

"Wait a minute", Tony exclaimed.

"...to make sure everything is set up to the best standards."

"Do I get asked at all?", Tony raised his healthy hand.

"Natasha." Coulson looked at his agent. She nodded.

"Hello?!"

"I'm afraid I won't be able to stay. Director Fury needs me... elsewhere", Coulson explained further.

"I don't want anyone here!", Tony complained.

Finally, Coulson turned to him.

"That's not your decision, Mr. Stark."

"As far as I know, this is my house." He looked at Pepper playfully questioningly. "Or isn't it?"

"By revealing your identity, you've become a S.H.I.E.L.D. security issue."

"I don't want a bunch of idiots in my house."

"You don't have to worry about the competence of our people. Besides, especially Agent Romanoff knows how to make herself invisible. You won't even notice us."

"No! I will not allow -"

"Mr. Stark", Coulson interrupted him, showing a major emotion for the first time: a wrinkle deepening on his forehead. "Either you're going to work with us, or we're going to find other ways to make you cooperate. And believe me, that could turn out even more unpleasantly for you than a visit from terrorists."

Tony stared back angrily but felt unable to protest loudly. The concussion was getting more and more present to him. His gaze shifted from Coulson to Romanoff.

"Don't worry", she said when she noticed his gaze. "I'm not keen on spending my time with you either. You won't even notice I'm there. Besides, I won't always be able to be here. I also have clearly more important things to do than babysitting."

With these words she grinned maliciously at Happy, who turned away in a huff. Tony sighed and resigned himself to his fate.

"Wonderful, that settles everything," Coulson said blithely. "Get well and see you soon."