Chapter Text
Tonys first reaction to seeing one of his missiles land next to him is a definite ‘Oh FUCK’. His second is to reach behind his back as if he had something [a cape] capable of lessening the explosion impact upon his body.
…
He has always been a genius. He knows it. Everyone (except Father) knows it. But even his raw talent isn’t enough to explain just how weird his instincts are. Sure, some of them could easily be connected to the way he grew up - if only they actually begun as answers to the situations he encountered instead of immediate gut reactions that somehow perfectly fit what he needed.
For all his genius, a 4-year-old has no business just knowing how to optimize his bodyweight distribution to not make the floorboards creak when sneaking around at night. He remembers being a little kid and sneaking through the shadows of his home for no other reason then knowing if he really tried, no one would be able to see him.
Every teenager is adrenaline hungry – he daydreamt of leaping from skyscrapers since he could remember as if the hights were calling out to him. He would see a gymnastics stunt and start breaking down how to recreate the move as if he would ever be interested in sports.
That one time in college when a creep tried to follow him to the dorms from a club he was at with Rhodey. He not only realised immediately, but Rhodes didn’t at all until Tony pointed the guy out.
How on every public occasion he has this need to act big, act fake which started at his big social debut when he was 6 and also include an act ignorant, aloof, make them discard you just enough to keep the upper hand.
Or how even an inkling of a mystery has him grabbing on a metaphorical corkboard.
In his 40 years of life, he has reached for a weapon that isn’t – was never [is supposed to be] – there all of 5 times. That is 5 unexplainable times too many. This though is the first time he could feel the phantom sensation of a cape on his back and a mask on his face as adrenaline filled his blood in a deafening rush accompanied by a stop thinking and act.
For some reason that has him reaching for the imaginary cape as if a cape even could ever do something to protect somebody from a missile exploding some 5 feet from them. That makes it 6 times, now, that he’s reached for something that has never existed. He still has no idea what it could mean.
…
He doesn’t start gasping for air and wildly grasping at the wires attached to his chest the second he feels himself start to weak up. There is a buzz filling up his head – danger – attack – unknown assailant – injuries – kidnapping - moved multiple times – unknown location – analyse. So he keeps his breathing even, strains his ears and stays still for a minute.
There’s someone close to him, fiddling with what sounds like metal wires. He opens his eyes and looks in the direction of the sound. The wires the guy is adjusting are connecting a car battery to his chest. His chest that seems a lot worse of then what bits he can remember since seeing his name in the cruellest twist of irony he could imagine.
Reality finally registers and he starts to panic like a normal person would - gasping for air and wildly grasping at the wires attached to his chest. The guy stops him.
…
Yinsen, the guy that connected an electromagnet to his chest to save his life, explains the injuries he sustained from the missile – mainly the shrapnel stuck in his body. [That’s what the cape’s supposed to prevent!] He also knows the name of the terrorist group that attacked and kidnapped him – the Ten Rings. [They’re new. He should use this as a recon opportunity. (What the fuck)]
The terrorists make threats and demands which Yinsen translates to the best of his abilities as the collective base speaks some dozen languages. Meanwhile Tony’s brain keeps trying to decipher what they’re commanding at him on his own as if he’s ever spoken something besides English and titbits of Italian – attention snapping especially fast to what he is 90% sure to be Arabic [even though there is no way any of them speak in a familiar accent].
They want him to work for them. Say they just need one Jericho. They will kill him no matter what he does. They will kill him no matter what he does. Clean and simple. No ransom demands. Low chances someone will hear of him still being alive.
Except it all doesn’t fully add up in his head ‘cuz he can bet on his already threatened life that they filmed a proof of life or capture or something and he can’t stop questioning for who? Their big boss behind everything? Someone working with them but not here? Whoever told them where the demonstration would be?
Was it even worth it contemplating what could very well be a figment of hope his fear addled mind made up in during the initial pain filled fog from when they first dragged him here. Why would there be any evidence of him surviving when they want him dead? Probably to confirm he’s in a working condition for as long as they need him – this dump is referred to as a base, there must be other big contacts on the outside.
…
Tony was so beyond miserable he just didn’t feel anything anymore. What was the point? They were going to kill him. They were using his weapons. They knew the location of a top-secret military demonstration and where to find him. His life depends on a car battery powered magnet stuck to his chest by rusty wires.
There was a quiet voice in his head insisting he survived worse. That he can escape and make things right. The idea occurred to him sometime after realizing the whole base is stocked to the full of his weapons. Someone was selling behind his back and a bunch of thugs were using his name to terrorize people. It bothers him a bit too much for someone who was born to a legacy of war profiteering. It's not like the type of stuff he makes would be used to rescue kittens or something but- [His name is supposed to mean hope] these are just innocent civilians. [He swore to protect with his life.]
The weapons he made were supposed to aid his country the way his fathers did in the WW2. He never would've thought even in his wildest dreams that his inventions were powering terrorist cells. The merchant of death. That name makes his stomach roll even though he was barley given food since being kidnapped. How could he miss this [He was supposed to be better. Always in control. What would B-]
...
Yinsen inspires something in him. Like a lone spark finally caching inside a discarded furnace and bursting into flame. It couth on with more power than he thought it could as if there was more fuel in the furnace than the few loose ideas he came across while captured. New [old] resolve flares to life as Tony vows to fix his mistakes. But for that, he needs to live. To escape.
He needs to rid himself of the clunky battery first. Well, the best time to achieve the impossible is life and death situations and he works fast under pressure. It also just happens he has the perfect old project to perfect.
...
Having the arc reactor constantly glowing from his chest is something. Not having to carry a car battery around all the time is a relief.
He throws himself into planning immediately, not having the time to revel in the small freedom when he’s still stuck in a cave. Guessing at what materials they would have here, figuring out what he needs for his developing crazy plan and doing his best to seem like he’s constructing a missile is hard. He makes it work though, for a moment he even doesn’t hate that this are his weapons all over the base because just by looking at them he knows exactly what parts make them up and what he has to work with.
Yinsen is not only the only reason he didn’t succumb to his injuries, his only form of navigation in this chaos and his ultimate life guru but also the only reason he can accomplish something even remotely complicated in this Rao forsaken cave. From the moment Tony decided he would escape he was going to bring Yinsen with him, but as time passes there’s a second plan in the back of his head on how to help Yinsen find his family and finance them a better life somewhere safe. At this point he owes Yinsen his life multiple times over while this life of his, full of misgivings as it is, is the reason such a good man is stuck in this hell. He will start fixing his mistakes by stopping weapons development in his company, but the next thing on his list is paying Yinsen back for everything.
Tony will free them both. He will spend the rest of his life repenting for the innocent slaughtered by his name. He will find a way to repay Yinsen’s kindness in the face of a man responsible for so much pain done to him and the world.
...
Hiding an almost fully formed 2m suit of armour is, unsurprisingly harder than masking its construction as a missile assembly. They work faster with every done step as anxiety becomes a tangible thing. It’s almost done now, their only chance. Tony will make it work no matter what. He has to. [He can’t wait to touch the sky.]
All that’s left is the final assembly/suit up and system upload. They have some hour and a half before the battle for their lives begins. Tony has never before felt like the numbness of a last charge preparation would come naturally to him but as his thoughts settle and focus sharpens with every passing minute he finds it a familiar release. Once again, he must achieve the impossible. [He will fly again.]