Kidnapped

Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Pepper peeked into the hallway, muttering angrily to herself under her breath. Rhodey had told her to wait five minutes after he left to take Tony and run in the opposite direction, but so immersed in caring for the fallen inventor's wounds, she had forgotten to keep track of time.

Should she risk it and go? Or should she wait and listen for some sort of commotion? She glanced at Tony, who she had carefully propped against the wall, and was further undecided. She knelt down beside him and checked his breathing, which was as close to stabilized as it had reached since she had found him. She might as well go now; after all, it wasn't as if he was getting any stronger.

She pulled Tony away from the wall by his shoulders, lifting him up and wrapping his arms behind her shoulder blades. His feet skimmed against the floor when she walked, and his slack arms kept slipping from her hands, but it would have to do. She tilted her head to look at his face, which was mere inches from her own, and gently brushed her lips across his forehead. Then she guided his limp body around the rubble left by War Machine and poked her head into the hall, taking a deep breath. She slipped her arm around Tony's waist to make sure he wouldn't slip from her arms and stepped into the hall.

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Rhodey cautiously rounded a corner, his arms up and repulsors blazing before he was assured no one was there and lowered them. He ran down the hallway, helmet twisting from side-to-side as he searched for the men he knew must be hiding somewhere. There was no way they hadn't located him by now, and they most likely had him under surveillance. Rhodey shivered, knowing these men could be anywhere, waiting for him to make a wrong move so they could bring him down. Worse yet, they had gained access to the armory, which meant they had the schematics of the War Machine armor...that showed every weakness of the armor. Although he had tweaked and updated the armor numerous times, the inventor just didn't have the time to bring War Machine up to the same speed as the Iron Man.

The buzzing of electricity caught his attention too late as thousands of volts of electricity shot into the neck of the armor, one of its most prominent weakness points. Rhodey yelled out in pain as the enormous shock ran up his spine, shorting out the armor's circuitries. The armor drained of energy and War Machine fell with a crash, splaying limply across the floor.

The two men responsible peeked out from a corner, one of them still holding the rectangular metallic device, smoke pouring thickly from the wires on the end. He dropped the machine, and they both hefted their assault rifles, cautiously approaching the prone figure of War Machine. One of them prodded the armor with the tip of his gun before kicking Rhodey on his side with his thick rubber boots. When the teen made no movement to indicate otherwise, they assumed they had successfully completed their mission to eliminate War Machine.

One of the men walked away a few feet, laying his gun against the wall as he pulled out his walkie-talkie with his back to his accomplice, who hovered over the still form of the downed hero. He relayed his success into the device, bragging about how easily he had taken the hero down, before cutting off as he heard his assistant cry out, grabbing his gun and whirling around. He was too late as Rhodey hit him across the side of the face with the shaft of the gun, the man sinking to his knees before falling on his face. The teen glared down at him, rubbing the blood off of his cheek from the other thug's struggle before turning on his heel and slinking down the hall, gun at his side as he left the useless husk of the armor behind.

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Pepper started as she felt Tony's head shift on her arm, a small moan escaping his lips. She stopped in a corner of the hall, gently laying Tony against the wall and kneeling in front of him as his eyes slightly opened, just enough to catch Pepper in his sights.

"Pep..." he whispered before he started to cough, tilting his head to where his chin touched his chest plate as he trying to halt the dizziness in his head. Pepper shushed him, sitting beside him and entwining her hand in his.

"Shh, don't say anything," she whispered, searching his expression as she squeezed his hand in her own. He ignored her, licking his dry and blood-crusted lips before trying again to speak.

"You-you are w-way too good to m-me," he said, trying to figure out how to put his thoughts into words. "I don't kn-know what I'd do without y-you."

"Aw, I know what you mean," Pepper smiled, "you're an awesome friend to me, too."

"No," Tony said, shaking his head. It was suddenly very important to him to make her understand what she meant to him, especially under these conditions when the threat of death loomed behind every corner. "Pe-Pep, I-" He noticed her shoulder, and he blinked, saying, "Y-you're hurt."

Pepper glanced at her wound, shaking it off. "Really, Tony, I can barely feel it by now. It's not as deep as it looks."

"They hu-hurt you." His electric blue eyes blazed with anger and he clenched his jaw, bitterness flaring as he realized he had failed to protect her. Pepper sighed and stood, helping him to hobble on his right leg until he leaned on her side, nearly completely being supported by her. As they started down the hallway again, out of all the things that crossed his mind, the one thought that stood out more prominently was the fact he had missed his chance to tell Pepper what he had been trying to say.