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.
"Yeah." Steve replied, "But when nothing happened I figured it was just a scare tactic."
"It wasn't." Bruce said solemnly, "The gun fired off an EMP, or Electro Magnetic Pulse. This pulse disrupted the current Tony's Arc Reactor uses to keep him alive. In more simple terms, the gun shut off his Arc Reactor, the shrapnel will reach his heart in, one hour and-" another check of his watch, "forty-one minutes."
"So that's it?" Steve asked, "We can't do anything?"
"Unless we get a hold of one of those guns, there's nothing we can do." Bruce agreed sadly. "Either we have to get a gun to reverse the polarity, or they have to shoot him."
"Why hasn't he told us?" Steve wondered out loud.
"When does he tell you about anything?" Bruce scoffed quietly.
"What?" Steve asked sharply. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing." Bruce replied shaking his head, "Never mind."
"No, tell me- what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Steve whispered angrily, he was growing frustrated. "Why can't he just tell me?" he thought, "What's going on with Tony?"
"No okay? Just, just no." Bruce said, equally frustrated, as he walked away.
Bruce POV:
"That's Tony's stuff to tell, not mine." he thought as he stalked away. "Why can't he understand that?" he was about to walk over to Tony to demand that he told the rest of team so they could come up with a way to fix it, but he didn't get a chance. The door swung open as he was about to reach Tony, and the other four Avengers sprang to their feet.
"What the hell's going on?" Clint shouted angrily as he jumped up.
The six men didn't reply, and instead one simply raised their gun and, once again, fired at Tony. He doubled over with a cry of pain and as much as Bruce hated them hurting his friend, he couldn't hold back the sigh of relief that passed through his lips. His Arc Reactor was up and working again. Steve started towards Tony to try to help him, but one of the men shoved his gun in Steve's face. "Back away." He growled. Steve slowly obliged.
"Thanks." Tony gasped sarcastically as he stood back up. "I'm fine." He told his friends.
"Great." The man in the doorway said, clapping his hands together. "Let's go."
"Hold up." Tony shot back, regaining his composure. "I'm not going anywhere with you until you hold up your end of the deal."
"Which was?" the man asked with false innocence.
"You let them go you lying bastard." Tony nearly shouted.
"No need to be rude." The man said stepping into the light, "Long time no see."
"Justin Hammer." Tony smirked, "Come to get embarrassed again?"
"As I remember it, my tech was better than yours." Hammer replied.
"Then I guess you remember wrong." Tony snapped, "Because my suit beat yours."
"We'll see about that." Hammer stated. "Let's go." He motioned to one of the guards, who stashed is weapon and pulled out a bigger, much more real gun. "Now!"
Tony simply stood there, staring down the barrel of a gun, "No."
"What-what the hell do you mean no?" Hammer asked, "I have a gun!"
"And I don't care." Tony stated, "We had a deal, now either you let them go, or I walk."
"You'd really just leave them here?" Hammer questioned.
"You'd really let me walk?" Tony countered.
Justin laughed, "Nope. But I'd do this." He nodded at the guard with his gun trained on Tony, and he flipped it around, and smashed it into his temple.
"Tony!" Bruce yelled as he watched his friend crash the ground for a third time.
Steve turned his attention towards Justin, "What the hell is wrong with you? He's trying to help us!"
"I don't want him to help you." Hammer replied simply. He turned to the guard that hit Tony, "Come on, let's go." The guard grabbed Tony roughly by his arm and yanked him to his feet.
"Let's go." He growled roughly as he pulled him closer to the door.
Tony looked back and saw Natasha first, "Get them out!" he mouthed. She gave him a curt nod as he was pulled out the door.
Natasha turned to the stunned Avengers, "Come on." She whispered, "We have to find a way out."
"No." Clint said, standing up. It was the first thing he'd said since they were taken to the second room. "We're not leaving without him."
Natasha turned to face him, "Did I say we were?"
"Well-well I mean," Clint started, "You didn't say you weren't."
"We're not any good to him while we're still in here." She specified, "We get out, then find Tony. Okay?"
Clint nodded, "Okay."
They turned to the rest of their team, "What's the plan?" Steve asked.
"I figured you had one." Clint said.
"Yes, Clint. In the two minutes I had while you and Widow were talking I came up with a foolproof plan two break five people out of one of the most secure compounds in the world." Steve answered sarcastically.
"Well I didn't know!" Clint argued, "You've done it before!"
Steve rolled his eyes, "When? When have I done this before?"
Before Clint could respond, Natasha broke in. "Guys, the plan?"
"Well we could..." Steve started.
"If we just..." Clint continued.
"Or we could just break out through the door." Bruce stated obviously.
Natasha pointed to him, "Hey guys? Guys?" she tried to get the attention of the two arguing heroes who were growing increasingly louder. "Hey- Shut up!" she yelled finally. Clint and Steve turned to look at her, surprised. She sighed, "Listen to Bruce." The three of them turned to where the scientist was standing moments ago.
"Where the hell did he go?" Clint asked.
"Over here!" Bruce yelled from the doorway. Three heads whipped around to look at the scientist, and gapped at what they saw. Bruce had two gun men, one on either side of him, both pressing guns into his head. "You know," he started, "two guns are really unnecessary, one bullet is enough to kill someone."
The guards ignored him, "Come on," the guard said, "Stark's ready, Hammer wants you." The other guard approached the Avengers, his gun trained on Natasha "All of you."
They lead the reluctant superheroes through a door in the back of the room they hadn't even noticed before.
"Where are we going?" Steve demanded, "What do you mean Tony's ready?" he had about a hundred more questions, but was cut off by the door slamming in their faces. This room was very different from the others they had been in. instead of being cold and dark this new room and brightly lit, and warm. One of the walls had a large piece of fabric stretched across it, almost like a screen. In front of it was four chairs, all made of metal. "What is this place?" Bruce asked aloud. "It almost looks like... a theatre?"
"I think it is." Natasha clarified, "Why?"
"Maybe he wants to show us his inventions." Clint laughed, "Show up Tony."
"This isn't a joke, Hawkeye." Steve said. "Tony could be in real trouble."
"Or we are." Natasha said as Hammer and two other men entered the room.
"Have a seat," Hammer said, "The show's about to begin."