Aubrey sat in the dark room, bags hanging under her eyes as she held her face in her hands. She had lost track of how long she had spent in that room, tinkering away at whatever weapon Raza placed in front of her. Had it been weeks or months? Months or years? It all blurred together. Every day, she had the same battle with herself of whether she should stop helping him, but without fail, she always did what he wanted.

It was a vicious cycle, and it was slowly killing her from the inside out.

"It's not healthy for you to keep doing this," Yinsen had told her gently one night, as she laid in bed, unable to sleep.

Aubrey's eyes were glazed over, her arms hugging at her body as cold sweat ran down her face. Her body was starting to waste away, partially from the small portions of food they gave her, but mostly because of the chronic stress eating away at her flesh. She knew that something had to change, but the problem was that Aubrey had no idea how to change.

"I can't stop," she whispered quietly. There was such a long silence following her words, that she had assumed Yinsen had decided to drop the conversation. When she looked up at him, his eyes were clouded as he stared at the wall. It was like he was reliving his own life behind those faded eyes, but Aubrey could not see what it was.

"You always have a choice."

Aubrey rolled over, forcing her eyes to close and hope that sleep would come to her. But all she could see was the blood spilled by her hands. Every night was like this, and it was equally as horrifying every time she tried to sleep. She thought - hoped even - that one day she would just grow to be desensitized to the horrors of what she was doing, but after countless nights in that room, it never got better. Aubrey wasn't sure whether it made her a good person for being sick to her stomach at the thought of the destruction she caused, or a horrible person for continuing to build Raza's weapons regardless.

She had a feeling most people would agree with the latter.

Aubrey tossed and turned for the rest of the night, as she usually did. She slept in segments, where once she finally managed to drift off, she would be woken a few hours later by the nightmares that plagued her. The process would repeat itself three times before she was finally woken for the last time by Ho rising. That was her usual routine, at least. But today, Raza had different plans in mind.

Aubrey was woken that morning by the feeling of something hard slamming into her temple. She toppled out of bed, unable to catch herself before she hit the dirty ground. The world spun around her; everything she saw was in double. She saw two Yinsen's sitting up in bed, their hands up in the air. She saw six men, instead of three, all pointing their guns at her. And she saw two Raza's, right before the butt of his gun made contact with her face again.

"You think you can trick me, little girl?" Raza roared. He grabbed Aubrey by her hair, yanking her up. She was trying to focus on anything, but the two hits to her head made her vision spin. It reminded her of when she rode the merry-go-round at the carnival as a little kid. In her confused state, the memory made her giggle, which only enraged Raza even more. "You think this is funny? I'll give you something to laugh about."

He dropped Aubrey's hair, and seconds later, his foot connected with her stomach. And again. Then her chest, legs, hands, and face. Every inch of skin was marked by Raza's boots, and blood streamed from Aubrey's lips and nose.

It wasn't until one of Raza's men yelled something out to Raza that he finally forced himself to stop. He turned around, pacing back and forth in the small room to release his anger in a way that wasn't murdering the young woman. "I know what you did," he hissed. "Our plan to attack Ghanzi was flawless. Everything was as it should be, until we fired our first missile. I assume you know what happened."

Aubrey didn't answer, she merely coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Raza went on, turning away as he told the story, knowing that if he looked at Aubrey, he would surely kill her. "The missile did not detonate. The army was on my men in minutes. Nineteen soldiers, taken from the Ten Rings, because of you. I know you made sure the missile would not detonate. You killed my men. You cannot fool me, Aubrey Howell." His voice was venom, dripping from his tongue. He came to crouch next to Aubrey, his dark eyes glaring into her light ones. "I should kill you right now."

Aubrey let out a whimper, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. If death was coming, she didn't want the last thing she saw to be Raza's cruel face.

"I'll give you one last chance," Raza decided, straightening up. "You double production in the next two weeks and I'll let you live."

Aubrey coughed up another mouthful of blood, unable to answer him. I'll let you live. Raza made it sound merciful, like he was a benevolent God giving her the ultimate gift. But as Aubrey stared at her own blood splattered on the floor, she wondered if it was a gift or a curse.

Raza nodded to his men, and they lowered their guns, all turning to make their way to the door. Raza followed, but before he disappeared from the room, he paused, glancing over his shoulder at the girl crumpled on the floor. "I suggest you start working. Soon enough, I won't need you anymore."

Once the last man was out of the room, Yinsen dropped down to Aubrey's side, using a rag to soak up the blood covering her face. He was whispering something under his breath as he assessed her wounds. He carefully prodded Aubrey's body, feeling for any broken bones or signs of internal injury. For the most part, she was lucky. She would live, but it would be a painful recovery. She let out a weak groan as he helped pull her up.

"I hate him," she whispered as Yinsen helped her to her feet.

"I know."

Leaning heavily of the doctor, Aubrey limped towards her cot in the corner of the room. He gently lowered onto the mattress, as she let out more whimpers from the stabbing pain in her abdomen. Aubrey let her head hit the pillow, the world spinning around her every time she blinked. Yinsen recovered the damp cloth, pressing it gently to her face to clean up the blood.

She whispered again, so quiet that she was not sure that Yinsen had even heard. "I'm going to kill him."

There was a long silence that filled the room, the only sound being the sound of Yinsen wringing out the damp cloth into a bucket. Aubrey had assumed he hadn't heard. But just as Yinsen stood to let Aubrey rest, she heard him whisper under his breath, "I know."

Yinsen told her that she needed at least one week of bedrest before she could start working again. But they both knew that wasn't possible.

Instead, the next day Aubrey was sat at her work bench, trying to keep her hands steady as she tinkered with the weapons. Her head was pounding, and her eyes were nearly swollen shut, but she kept working. She didn't have a choice. Each time she her body told her to give up, she imagined how brutal and painful Raza would make her death. She knew, deep in her gut, that he wouldn't waste a single bullet on her. He'd do something so much worse.

So Aubrey found a new way to cope with the pain. Every time she felt a sharp stabbing in her ribs, or nearly passed out when she stood, she fantasized on inflicting the same damage onto Raza. She imagined slamming her fists into his face, again and again, until his skull was caved in and he was nothing more than a bloodied mess lying on the floor. She imagined him pleading for her to stop as she ripped his teeth out, one by one. She imagined the sick satisfaction of setting his body on fire as he screamed.

Aubrey wanted to kill him so desperately. She knew it wasn't a healthy way for a twenty year old girl to cope, but it was the only hope she could grasp on to. But at the end of the day, it was nothing more than a fantasy. But the fantasy continued for the next two weeks, and while her pain was starting to dull, the images of Raza's bloodied body on the ground only grew more vivid.

Thankfully, Raza hadn't returned to their room since his attack. Aubrey had doubled production as promised, making sure every missile was perfect before turning them to the men who brought her food. Every time they did, she would still have a terrible dread build in her gut, as she imagined what would happen to her if she turned in a faulty weapon. She couldn't let that happen - not again.

Aubrey was sitting at her work bench as used when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching the door. Aubrey recoiled, raising her hands and instantly backing to stand next to Yinsen. Images of her broken body lying on the floor of the room flashed through her mind. This was it. This time, they would put a bullet through her skull and leave her to rot.

The men stormed the room, pointing their guns at Aubrey and Ho's heads, forcing them onto the ground. Raza entered last, dragging something - or someone - behind him like a limp rag doll. Aubrey only caught a glimpse of the man before Raza tossed him on the ground. He had a burlap sack over his head, and his hands were tied behind his back. Despite this, there was something about the man that looked familiar.

The man wasn't moving and Aubrey wasn't even sure if he was alive. She could see the front of his shirt was shredded, and blood was staining the once white fabric. She didn't have to look closely to see the hole in his chest.

"What's going on?" Aubrey croaked. Raza merely smirked at the question and turned to Ho.

"You're a doctor," he stated coldly, jerking his head to the man lying on the floor. "Fix him."

Raza turned, nodding his head at his men before he disappeared out of the door. One of the men, the only one without a gun, rushed forward and placed a large red toolbox on the floor. It looked like the box Aubery's dad carried around whenever he had to fix up a leaky pipe or the engine of the family car. The man pointed to the box, yelling something out before retreating from the room with the rest of the men.

Once the door was firmly closed, Aubrey knelt over box, clicking open the locks and opening it up. It was nothing like she expected. Instead of tools, there was an array of surgical equipment, disinfectant, and bandages. Aubrey pushed the box to Yinsen, who immediately starting rummaging through the equipment and pulling out the silver tools. He was muttering to himself as he did. "Need to disinfect the room... not sterile... no anasthesia..."

Aubrey's eyes flitted to the shiny metal in the box. She carefully picked up a scalpel, glancing at her reflection on the end. Even from the distorted image, she could see the cuts and bruises still covering her face. She twisted the scalpel in her hand, admiring the sharpness of the metal. It would be so easy...

"Aubrey, I need that," Ho said gently. A flicker of worry crossed his face, as if he could tell what the girl was thinking. "We do not have much time. If we do not hurry, the man could die."

"He'll die in here anyway, even if we do manage to save him," Aubrey said, her voice devoid of emotion. She glanced over at Yinsen, her cold eyes contrasting his warm ones. "I'm right and you know it. Even if we save him, he's going to be subjected to the same torture. Is it worth it?"

"What are you saying?"

Aubrey held up the scalpel. "We can use these, Yinsen! We have weapons now, why not use them against Raza? When he comes back, we can stab him and-"

"We will be killed in seconds," Yinsen finished. "Even if we survive, they will not just let us walk free once Raza is down. I know you want to get out of here but this is not the way to do it."

"Do you even want to leave?" she yelled, slamming the scalpel down. "Don't you have a family, Yinsen? Don't you want to see them? We've been in here for months and you don't even seem to want to leave! If we don't make a move, we'll never get out of here. I can't keep doing this. I can't. And now that we finally have a way out, you don't even seem to want to take it."

Yinsen stared at her with sad eyes, slowly shaking his head. She wanted him to do something - to yell, to scream, to cry - but he just stared at her with those pitying eyes. "This isn't the way, Aubrey."

His voice was quiet, broken almost, in a way that Aubrey would never understand.

"Oh, I understand perfectly," Aubrey hissed. She made no move as Yinsen gently picked up the scalpel. She knew that he was right; even if they managed to kill Raza, it did not guarantee their escape. It was a stupid plan, but it was the only one she had. She could finally live out her sick fantasy of putting Raza through a fraction of the pain he had caused her.

"Aubrey..." She ignored Yinsen's voice as he called to her from the other side of the room. She didn't want to hear his wise words at that moment. It wasn't until he called again, a new urgency in his voice, that she finally looked over. "Aubrey!"

Yinsen had pulled the sack off from the man's head, revealing a head of brown hair, plastered to pale skin. His head was rolled to the side, pointing directly at her. Tony Stark.

"Holy shit," Aubrey breathed. She clambered over to Yinsen's side, blinking to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Had Raza given her a head injury?

"Holy shit, indeed."

This had to be some kind of mistake. Her own kidnapping was a fluke - being in the wrong place at the wrong time - but Tony Stark... were they targeting weapons engineers? Or had they always planned to take Tony and they somehow ended up with Aubrey on mistake? There were too many questions, with a million possible solutions. But it all boiled down to one constant question.

What the hell was going on?

"Aubrey, he needs help!"

Aubrey's eyes shot down to the gaping wound on Tony's chest. She almost threw up at the sight of it. Shrapnel stuck out of his chest, right where his heart was. She had no idea how he was alive - one wrong move at the shards of shrapnel would pierce his heart. Aubrey then glanced over at Yinsen, who was clearing off the table that Aubrey used to make weapons.

"What do we do?" She was holding her hands up, too scared of touching Tony in fear of somehow killing him. She spared occasional looks to Yinsen, who seemed calm as he prepared the room for surgery. There was more in the toolkit than Aubrey had realized - too invested in the potential for weapons to see the IV bags, small bottles of medicine, and surgical cloths.

"We save him."

Aubrey and Yinsen loaded Tony onto her work bench, frantically setting up rough surgical room. For the next six hours, Aubrey's head was spinning as she rushed around, trying to do everything Yinsen asked of her. She suctioned blood, handed off different tools, and tried her best to not accidentally kill the billionaire lying on her work bench. Every so often, Tony would wake up screaming, thrashing around as Yinsen and Aubrey held him down. It would only ever last a few seconds before he would pass out again.

Occasionally, Aubrey would have to bang on the door and scream at their captor's for more equipment. An oxygen tank, blood bags, and other equipment she had never heard of. Every time, the men would return within 15 minutes with whatever she had asked. It made Aubrey realized just how much power the Ten Rings had. Who had provided them with all this medical equipment? And why?

"Aubrey." Her head snapped to Yinsen's direction, as he used tweezers to carefully pluck out pieces of shrapnel from Tony's chest. "In the chest in the corner, I want you to grab the small box in the bottom."

She nodded once before turning and rushing to the other side of the room, where an old chest sat, a thin layer of dust over it. When she opened it, she saw that it was mainly filled with papers and scraps of metal. But at the very bottom, just as Yinsen had said, was a small cardboard box. It was heavier than she thought it'd be when she lifted it out. Whatever it was, she was terrified of dropping the small box as she carefully brought it to Yinsen. He glanced over once before saying, "Take it out. Carefully."

Aubrey reached in, her fingers touching cold metal. When she pulled it out, she could see it was... actually she had no idea what it was. It looked like a ball of metal, with the metal wrapped intricately into the shape of an orb. "What is it?" Aubrey asked, holding it out.

"An electromagnet. There is no possibility that I can get the shrapnel out without puncturing his heart. The magnet will hold the shrapnel in place, to prevent it from migrating to his heart," Yinsen explained. "Now, I need you to disinfect it before placing it in his chest."

Aubrey gaped, looking from Yinsen, to the electromagnet in his hand, and down to the massive hole in Tony Stark's chest. There was a large, sloppy hole in his sternum, just large enough to place the magnet in. "You're kidding."

"Aubrey." Yinsen's voice was stern, and he didn't have to say anything else to let Aubrey know that he was dead serious. "There should be something else in the box. It should look almost like a tin can."

She glanced back into the box in her other hand to see a smooth, metal cylinder. "I put the tin can in his chest and then the magnet?" she clarified. Yinsen nodded quickly.

Aubrey disinfected both the metal canister and then the electromagnet. She stepped over to the bench, trying to hold her bile back as she looked into the wound. She swore she could see Tony's beating heart under all of the blood and shrapnel - but she quickly decided it was not a good idea to look longer. "How should I...?"

"Carefully, and slowly," Yinsen ordered. "I'll be here to make sure you aren't pushing the shrapnel deeper into his chest. It should be a snug fit but... it should work." He scared her with how often he said 'should.' Because 'should' wasn't very comforting when it meant the other option was killing one of the world's most powerful men. Glancing once more at Yinsen, Aubrey held the metal canister over Tony's chest. She aligned it with the hole in his sternum, slowly lowering down until it touched bone.

"Do it."

Taking a deep breath, Aubrey pushed against the metal, gritting her teeth as she heard the bone scraping against metal. Once it was firmly in, Aubrey let out a sigh of relief. "I think I-"

"NO!" Aubrey leapt back as Tony jolted, screaming out. He grasped at his chest, almost ripping the metal out before Yinsen reacted first, grabbing both arms and forcing him down. Aubrey followed suit, grabbing Tony's shoulders to prevent him from moving. He was still screaming - these loud shrill, gut-wrenching screams as his face screwed up in agony.

"Aubrey, the magnet!" Yinsen yelled. "He'll force the shrapnel deeper! You need to do it now."

Aubrey grabbed the magnet from the bench, pinning Tony down with her elbows as she held it over him. She could feel his chest rising and falling quickly - too quickly - as she tried to steady herself over his chest. A long wire dangled from the electromagnet, and she could see at the bottom of the canister where it was supposed to attach. She angled the wire, before slowly lowering the magnet down. Just as Tony passed out once more, the magnet clicked into place.

She fell back, letting out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "I did it."

But Yinsen didn't take the time to celebrate. He was holding two wires - one blue, one red - that were attached to a car battery. Aubrey's eyes widened when she realized what was happening. "What the f-"

Yinsen clipped the wire's to the magnet lodged in Tony's chest, Aubrey could see the sparks, and then Tony's body jolted. He fell still, as both Aubrey and Yinsen stared at him, as if waiting for him to do something. "Is he... dead?"

"No," Yinsen let out a breath, shaking his head. "He is alive. But only time will tell whether the shrapnel migrates to his heart."

Aubrey stared down at Tony's motionless body. With his wounds, he should have been dead. It was a miracle that he had even made it onto the workbench, let alone through the surgery where she shoved a chunk of metal into his chest. And even if they had managed to save him now, would he still be standing in a week, if the magnet failed and the shrapnel pieced his heart?

But as she stared down at him, she couldn't help but hope that Tony somehow managed to pull through. As selfish as it was, she would no longer have to carry the burden of Raza's missiles alone.

When Tony Stark was eight, he and a friend had snuck into a 'haunted' house. He had tried to stay calm, spewing out his typical sarcastic comments, and making fun of his friend who was pleading to leave. He was secretly terrified of the dark house, but of course he didn't want his best friend to know that. So he kept going further into the house as he reminded himself that ghosts weren't real.

As it turned out, ghosts weren't what he was supposed to be scared of - it was the worn down staircase that hadn't been maintained in the twenty years since people last lived in the house. The second Tony's foot came down on the step, it broke under him, and he went flying down the stairs, breaking most of the boards in the process. He had landed hard on his ankle, yelling out as he heard a pop.

Tony hadn't been able to walk, let alone drag himself up a broken staircase. His friend - Johnny or Timmy or something - had gone to get help, leaving Tony alone in the haunted house. For the next hour, Tony laid in the darkness, hearing the tree branches scratching against the window, and the wind howling through the old pipes. He was sure that every terrifying noise was from a murderer, who specifically targeted rich, genius kids with a smart mouth.

In all his life - even though he would never admit it - that was the most scared Tony Stark had ever felt.

Until he woke up in a cave, hooked up to a car battery. He knew then, that this would forever be the most terrifying moment of his life.

As he clutched his chest, trying to figure out what the hell had been done to him, the two strangers in the room watched him. A man, with a mild amusement in his eyes. And a girl - who couldn't have been much older than a teenager - who looked like she was one touch away from falling apart completely. She watched silently as Tony struggled to free himself from the battery, while the man gently warned him not to.

Tony ripped at the bandages on his chest, feeling his lungs growing tighter and his head spinning as he saw the metal in his chest. "What'd you do to me?" he gasped.

"Saved your life," the girl said, her voice hollow. She was hunched over something on a workbench, but Tony was too panicked to pay attention to what it was. She spared glances at Tony, trying to not look too interested but failing miserably. She seemed to be mirroring the man's calm expressions, but wasn't quite as committed. She looked hungry for something that only Tony could provide; it was what terrified him

"I'm going to need more answers than that," Tony spat out, trying to keep the same authoritative tone he used with people beneath him. He was now analyzing the machine on his chest, trying to figure out exactly what it was. Large chunks of metal protruded from his chest, all attached to a car battery. Was it a bomb? Was this some sick way to ensure that Tony doesn't try to escape? Were these people simply prison guards, there to clean up the mess if he did try something and he got blown to bits?

"You are a prisoner, Mr. Stark." The man said it so calmly, like he wasn't basically delivering Tony a death sentance. "That device strapped to you chest is the only thing keeping you alive right now, so I suggest that you do not try to remove it. It is not easy to perform surgery, let alone with very little access to medical supplies. Please do not make our jobs harder than they need to be."

Tony fell silent, trying to judge whether his words were a threat, or a the explanation that he had been demanding. He tried to stay calm - acting manic would only make things worse - as he tried to analyze his situation. After a few minutes, Tony realized that he was able to sit up, though it still caused him a great deal of pain. He couldn't help but let out a groan, causing the girl to watch him like a fox ready to pounce at any moment.

Keeping his voice even, he spoke. "So what, we've got a surgeon who attaches car batteries to people's chest and..." Tony trailed off, glancing over at the girl. "A teenager building missiles. Right."

The girl's eyes narrowed, almost looking offended. "You really don't know who I am?"

Did Tony know her? Usually the only women asking him that were one's that he had slept with and immediately forgotten. Was he really that cursed that he was stuck in a cave in the middle of nowhere with a one-night stand? This had to be a fever dream.

Tony stared on at her, trying to place her face when she said, "My name's Aubrey Howell."

"Aubrey... Aubrey Howell," Tony repeated, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the young woman. She looked familiar, but it took him a moment of staring before he could place it. When he realized who she was, he felt his stomach drop. The missing intern. After all this time, he'd been expecting to see her come back to SI with a dark tan and beads in her hair, but instead, all he saw was how much his ignorance hurt her. She was too thin, like her skin was hanging off her bones. Her face was yellow and green from fading bruises, and dried blood was crusted in her messy hair. "Your parents came to SI looking for you."

Aubrey's eyes widened, jolting towards Tony. Her tools dropped to the ground with a clang! but she didn't seem to notice. Tony flinched back, momentarily thinking she was about to attack until he realized that she was just a scared kid looking for answers. "They came looking for me? Did they say anything? Do the police have any leads... Jean knows about the weapons. If she told the police then they'll-"

"That was four months ago."

Aubrey stared at him, her face slowly falling. This girl, who had barely started her life, wanted nothing more than to go home but no one knew where to find her. They thought she was just some party girl, drinking her life away without bothering to check in with her family. They didn't know the truth, or where she was, or who took her. They didn't have anything that could bring her home. "I'm never leaving this place, am I?"

Tony just stared at her, with no words to comfort her. He had just gotten there; hell, he needed to be comforted himself. Aubrey turned, her face devoid of emotion, going back to the work bench where scraps of metal were laid out. Tony swallowed. "What are you doing?"

Aubrey didn't look up, but her eyes were glazed over, her mind disocciated from her actions. "They've kept me alive for a reason, Tony."

Tony didn't say anything, he just watched as she worked. Frail body, empty eyes; one more hit away from breaking completely.

Tony looked over to the man, who was watching the interaction from the corner of the room, his eyes filled with sympathy. It was only then that Tony was really hit with the reality of the situation. Three strangers, all taken from their lives for one reason or another, and now locked together in a cramped room. There were very few times when Tony felt hopeless, but this was one of them. These people, whoever they were and however they got here, were all he had.

They had seemed to come to terms with the fact that this cave would be their coffin, but Tony wasn't so sure. He was going to get out of that place, even if it meant burning everything down in the process.

A/N: I'm baaack! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and Tony's introduction to captivity. Let me know what you think and if there's anything you want to see more of in this fic :)