Isolated Incidents

Heartbeat

**Y'all, this is a shorter piece really just telling you where everyone is right now and getting the stories aligned. We're headed for the big showdown, and then the ending. Enjoy!** 

Yinsen was a good ally, one that Tony soon came to understand was a major part of why he was still alive. The idea to build an indestructible suit of metal to use to break out of the terror cell that had kept Tony and Yinsen hostage was unimaginable. It was a suicide mission. It was either going to be the end of both of them, or the only thing that kept them alive.

Tony fitted part of the reactor he was working on together, carefully sliding the palladium into place. If he could just-

The sound of heavy boots made Tony jump, then shove the reactor under some of the other parts they were using. So far, the terrorists hadn't figured out what they were doing with the spare parts, and that's what they wanted.

Yinsen caught Tony's eye from across the cave.

The men came in and gestured to the half-built missile in the center of the room. They barked out commands in a foreign language and Tony flinched a little. It was the same tone they used when they were putting Tony in the ice cold water, when they were draping his face in a damp towel, when they were-

Yinsen was talking.

The men gestured to Tony, and one of the other men moved to grab the battery attached to the clumsy piece in his chest. Tony followed along with the men - his only option besides following was the burning pain of those wires unplugging.

He knew it first-hand.

Yinsen gave Tony a pointed look as he passed out of the cave. He was going to work on the reactor more while Tony was out of the cave.

They were so close - just a few more tweaks to make sure it would connect easily, so they could bust out of here. Yinsen had done all the calculations on how long Tony could be "unplugged" and they were working on making the connections as simple as possible. According to Yinsen, with the other damages Tony had endured, he couldn't go longer than a half-minute without risking the shrapnel settling back into place and his lungs seizing with the pressure he'd feel.

They were so close. A few more adjustments, a bit of welding, 30 seconds, and then Tony and Yinsen would be free.

Tony pictured Peter's face and kept walking, his head down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The news broke on the Iron Man appearance late at night. Rhodey was still up - Peter had been fussy that night and kept chanting "story, story" before he finally settled enough to close his eyes. It had been a week since Rhodey was released to come home, and a good 17 days since he'd been found. And Tony...

Rhodey watched as the terrorist cell was blown to fire, the metal suit flying over the desert sands and then taking off into the clouds.

The news were reporting deaths and US military efforts to recover whatever body might still be there. It was no little known fact that Tony had been taken by those same terrorists weeks ago. There was worry that other Americans might have been taken as well, but there wasn't very good information from that side of the world around the different terrorist groups and where they were hiding. People went missing in the desert, and they were as good as gone.

Rhodey felt his leg twitch. Although he'd been lucky not to shatter the bone or knick the vessels, he had sustained some nerve damage, and the PT specialist said he might not ever get the phantom pains or the ghosting movements to go away.

The starvation and dehydration had exasperated the damage.

The medical report had already been sent to the ROTC administrator at MIT by the time Rhodey woke up, and just like that, his dream had fallen flat. His career was changed forever. He was suddenly reduced to a babysitter. 

Rhodey had to remind himself that Peter was not a job sometimes. Peter was family, and that was worth the pain and the heartbreak of losing his livelihood. It was worth it every day that Peter woke up in Rhodey's room and cried for his "Ro-hee".

Rhodey turned his head back to the television, where he was watching the military planes cut through the clouds, chasing the metal armor out of the desert.

It was him. It had to be Tony. No one else would be smart enough, let alone ballsy enough, to build something like that right under the nose of a terrorist cell. Watching as the suit disappeared into the distance, Rhodey finally breathed. Tony was coming home.

Peter started crying, and Rhodey rolled his neck. Tony was coming home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jarvis sat at the small table set in the corner of the kitchen. He had found some documents in Howard's study outlining the process of taking Obadiah Stane out of the business entirely. It was strange to begin with - Howard and Obie had been close their whole lives. Jarvis couldn't fathom a reason Howard would have had to kick Obie out. Jarvis had also found a few emails between them that seemed to be kicking off a fight. A big one.

Jarvis took a huff of air, running a tired hand down his face.

Howard and Maria had been so drunk. The autopsy had been clear that they were drunk before the time of death, but that was exactly what gave Jarvis pause. Maria would have never gotten that drunk on her own, she would have never gotten in the car drunk, she would have never come and taken Rhodey and Peter. She would have never done that.

So Jarvis was trying to piece it together. If Obie had found out that he was being cut out of the business, he would have been moved to a rage unparalleled. It wouldn't have been too outrageous to believe that he would get them drunk, send them out in the car... but Peter.

Peter and Rhodey.

Jarvis sighed. If Obie had wanted to take complete control of the company, he could have made it look like a horrible accident. If he'd gone out and grabbed Rhodey and Peter, crashed the car and put Howard and Maria in the seats, he might have-

But Tony... Tony had been taken by a terrorist cell, and that was an unstable variable Jarvis just didn't think Obie would have chanced.

Jarvis sat up with the sudden realization that it wasn't an unknown. It wasn't unstable. If Obie had been selling weapons under the table, especially to a terrorist group, it would have been grounds for Howard's kicking him out and premise for Tony's kidnapping.

Jarvis moved to the phone to call Rhodey, but just before his hand touched the receiver, the phone rang and Jarvis jumped.

It was Rhodey.

"Mister Rhdoes, I am so glad you called."

Rhodey gave a low chuckle. "It's good to hear from you, too. Have you seen the news today?"

"No," Jarvis started. "But I did want to let you know. I have an idea of-"

"Jarvis, Tony's alive, and I think he's coming home."

Jarvis' world spun, and then he just froze. If Tony was alive, Jarvis only had one job now. He had to keep Tony and Peter safe from Obie.