Taken

Chapter 4

Steve POV:

"Tony!" Steve gasped as he watched his friend topple to the ground.

"I'm fine." Came the disgruntled reply, "just need to...catch my breath."

Bruce gave him a strange look, but said nothing as the guards readied their weapons once more. "Get moving!" one snapped, pressing his gun deeper into Clint's chest. The look he received was absolutely murderous, though Clint refrained from killing him. Possibly because he knew he was hopelessly outnumbered, and would be most likely killed if he tried to pick a fight. The guards stiffly ushered them out of the cage and down a hallway. Steve could see the two ex-assassins creating mental maps in their heads, in hopes of escape, while Tony was counting the number of guards and rooms. He sighed inwardly, "What the hell is happening?" Steve wondered, "Where are they taking us?" His questions were quickly halted, however, when they came to a sudden stop, before being roughly thrown into a slightly colder concrete room. "What have we gotten ourselves into?" He was contemplating trying to fight their way out, when Bruce approached him quietly. "Tony needs help." He whispered.

Tony POV:

"Shit that hurts!" Tony screamed inside his head, then said out loud; "I'm fine." He took a shuddering breath, desperately trying to suck air into his suddenly empty lungs and added, "just need to... catch my breath." A quick glance at his chest told him everything he needed to know. The gun hadn't had bullets in it (obviously) and his Arc Reactor was suddenly not lit up, which could only mean one thing- the gun had fired off an EMP, or Electro Magnetic Pulse. This EMP had shut off his Arc Reactor, meaning he had about two hours to live before the shrapnel killed him. Another quick glance in Bruce's direction told him he knew what had happened too. "Not good." As the soldiers marched them on, Tony could feel the effects of the shrapnel more and more. His chest hurt like hell, and it was becoming harder and more uncomfortable to breathe. His lungs were starting to feel wet, with what Tony could only assume was his own blood. He decided to instead focus on the guards and room numbers. Maybe if he could figure out some kind of algorithm he could designate the best escape route. He continued to walk, even though his body screamed for rest. Until, at last, they reached their designation- a small, cold, concrete cell. "Perfect." He thought, "Just what I need."

Bruce POV:

He watched silently as the soldier raised his gun and fired into Tony's chest. Immediately, Bruce knew what had happened, the gun had fired an EMP blast into his chest- rendering his Arc Reactor useless. Bruce knew that meant Tony had two hours to live, at most. He caught Tony glance at him out of the corner of his eye and knew Tony had read the grim look on his face perfectly. Bruce also knew that Tony wasn't going to tell anyone that he was dying, and that it was now up to Bruce to save him. "Stubborn idiot!" he thought, "Why does he have to be so stupid?" Knowing full well that they probably wouldn't escape before Tony's time was up, he contemplated telling Steve. Maybe he would be able to get a hold of one of their guns; with it Bruce would be able to reverse the effects on the Arc Reactor. Before he had to find a way to get past the soldiers to the front where Steve was, they stopped, and were quickly marched into another room. The guards shoved them through the door, and slammed it behind them. Bruce peered through the dark, searching for the super soldier, finally he found his mark. Bruce snuck up behind him and whispered, "Tony needs help."

Steve POV:

"Tony needs help." Bruce whispered.

Steve whipped his head around, "What do you mean? Is he hurt?"

The scientist put up a hand to slow him, "He'll be alright for..." he looked down to check his watch, "one hour and forty-three minutes. Then he'll die."

He said it with such a straight face, Steve could barely believe him. "What do you mean, he seems fine." Steve asked.

"Did you see when the guard fired at his chest?' Bruce asked.