Book One - Part One: Dark Knight

Chapter Six

Tony wakes to the cot moving, he frowns and looks to Elena still attached to him but not asleep next to him, instead she is straining to pull the cot. He leans up slightly.

"What are you doing?" he asks her, she startles slightly and then schools her expression.

"You felt cold" she answers. "I was moving the cot closer to the furnace" she admits and looks away. "I was trying to anyway" she leans up and sits on the cot, Tony shifts till he sits next to her. "I thought about what you said" she whispers. "About how, in here, we're all that we have...."

"Yeah" he whispers back brushing his fingers against hers.

"You're right" she agrees, they both sit there in silence, listening to the sound of the furnace crackling, she turns to him slightly after a few moments. "I kind of remember the first time I saw you too" she start, he raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah?" she nods.

"But it wasn't the same day" he frowns at her. "It was the day of your parent's funeral a few months before, me and my parents were stood at the back. I remember getting bored and I wandered off, slipping through the crowds of people, I ended up in one of the trees stealing from a magpie's stash" Tony raises an eyebrow. ".....and then I saw you, stood there with your head down, you looked so upset" she looks to him. "I snuck back into the crowd, and I slipped a plastic army man from the bird's nest into your pocket"

"That was you?" he asks, she nods.

"I was six and I thought it would cheer you up" she defends slightly, he smiles and nods.

"It did. I still have it" he admits no louder then a whispers. She doesn't hear him.

"And that speech you made, it's something I'll never forget it"

"I don't even remember it" he tells her.

"Well I do...It was the first time I'd ever seen my father cry" she admits to him. "For a while I thought you must have had some kind of superpower, some kind of mutant" he smirks a little. "You know, magical powers to make people cry" she shakes her head. "It wasn't till I was older that I understood it was your words and not your mind" He looks down a little to find he's now holding her hand, fingers laced together.

"My sister is a mutant so it could have been possible" he offers, she smirks a little.

"Your sister's a mutant?" she asks, he nods.

"Yeah, turns invisible, it's pretty cool actually" he offers.

"I don't remember your sister" she whispers.

"No, she wasn't at the funeral" Tony counters. "Howard, he....he made it clear that she wasn't welcome" she looks to him sadly.

"Because she was a mutant?" she asks, he nods and looks to her before clearing his throat.

"Where did you want this bed?" he asks standing, Elena recognises the need to change the subject so she joins him, standing and pointing to the furnace across the room. "Yes, you're right, it would be better over there, the fung shui is all off in this room" they share a look before Tony helps her move the cot.

................

It's hard not to get used to Tony's presence, considering he is right there next to her all the time, constantly at her elbow. Sleeping side by side. Eating side by side. He even spent an hour whistling show tunes in her ear to try and cheer her up, or himself, or both. Probably a little of both. Tony sits cross legged on the cot, Elena against his side, the two of them wrapped in an Army surplus blanket, the furnace warming them. Tony's fingers spin Elena's bat ring on her finger, giving him something to do seen as he's decided that they are not building the Jericho missile. Honestly Elena's never built a weapon of mass destruction before, she knows how to, but she's never actually built one, so she's not in a hurry to add that to the done list. She tucks herself closer to him and yawns slightly, he looks down at her and adjusts his hold on her hand.

"You sleepy?" he asks, she nods against his arm. "Here. Lie down" he turns and they both lay down, adjusting for the best comfort level. They have to sleep curled up, it's the only comfortable position, his arm with the cuff under her neck and her cuffed arm is her top arm, spooning, they spoon. He flings his free arm around her waist and tucks himself into her back. "You good?" he asks, she hums a little and nods. "Good" he mumbles setting his head down. They both settle comfortable wrapped around one another, sharing warmth and space. Tony doesn't normally get this far with a girl. Sleeping next to them more then once, but he supposes it's kind of nice. Comforting.

..................

Another day, another load of nothing. Elena is starting to loose track of how long they've been in here. She curls her arm around herself as her stomach rumbles. Tony glances to her but doesn't call her on it, it won't help any of them, he just tucks the blanket around her tighter before going back to threading his fingers through her hair, as much as he can. Yinsen approaches them, they both look tired, sick, hungry.

"I'm sure they're looking for you both, but they will never find you here" Yinsen offers, "That car battery is running out...and they won't turn on the generator till you start to work" Tony and Elena both remain silent. Tony strokes Elena's hair as she rests. "You don't like what you saw out there, did you? I didn't like it either when those weapons destroyed my village. What you just saw, that's your legacy; your life's work in the hands of these murderers. Is that how you want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark? Or are you going to try to do something about it?"

"Why should I do anything, they're either going to kill us or I'm going to die in a week anyway" Tony answers as Elena shivers against him.

"Then this is a very important week for you" Yinsen adds, Tony stops playing with Elena's hair and they share a look, she sits up.

"Tony" she whispers.

"Yeah" he agrees a little.

"No" she argues and then smirks. "I think I have an idea" she admits, he raises an eyebrow.

"Well...don't hold out on me now, Sweetheart" he teases weakly.

..................

The lights come on as the generator is started. Abu is flanked by Ahmed and several Guards. He watches as Omar refuels the generator, then walks the gas can to a 'cage', housing a fuel drum, and locks that down too.

"Okay, here's what we need..." Tony stands, barking what he needs done while more of Abu's Guards carry in missiles and materials. Yinsen follows, translating as Tony assesses his work area. "S-Category missiles. Lot 7043. The S-30 explosive tritonal. And a dozen of the S-76. Mortars: M-Category #1, 4, 8, 20, and 60. M229's, I need eleven of these. Mines: the pre-90s AP 5s and AP 16s" Yinsen translates for them. Abu's men dart about. "...this area free of clutter, with good light. I want it at 12 o'clock to the door to avoid logjams. We need welding gear -- acetelyene or propane, helmets, a soldering set-up with goggles, and smelting cups. Three full sets of precision tools" Abu getting exasperated by the never-ending list. "Finally, I want: three pairs of tube socks, white, a toothbrush, protein powder, spices, sugar, five pounds of tea, a hairbrush, cards" Tony thinks. "And a washing machine. Top load" Abu's eye bulge. He gets in Tony's face and shouts in Arabic. "Must have everything. Great Satan make big boom-kill for powerful Abu Bakar. Big boom-kill" Tony snarks back, Elena bites the inside of her lip to stop her from smirking. "And we're going to need both sets of hands" Tony raises his and Elena's handcuffed wrists.