Kazakhstan (August 1995)

Isabella couldn’t sleep. Her body was exhausted but she was too scared to sleep. She didn’t know what theses men might do and she needed to be ready for them.

She didn’t know how many hours passed when suddenly the door opened and two men came in. They were armed and they forced her to stand up. She watched as they jerked Tony upright and then slapped him across the face.

“Hey! Leave him alone!” Isabella demanded as she stepped closer to Tony.

Isabella was hit with the butt of a sub-machine gun in her injured shoulder then the men left again. Tony groaned as he tried to get a grip on the pain he felt right then. When he was standing he had gotten a loot around the room. He saw what was all around them. Parts of weapons. They wanted him to make the Jericho missile? How could he do that with the god damn car battery attached to him. That and his chest hurt like a thousand bees stung him constantly. This was not doable like this and as he looked at the missiles nearby, his mind began to work. An electro magnet. He needed a power source more powerful than a simple electro magnet. As he the pieces began to cascade through his mind it came to him.

His mind envisioned a reactor powered by the palladium in those missile casings. What could he do with that? He wondered as his mind began to envision a schematic. He could see it in his mind. He could envision its design and how to build it. "Palladium," He said as he thought about it,

Isabella yelled out in pain as she was struck in her injured shoulder. She fought back tears and watched as the men left. She rubbed her shoulder as she looked over to see Tony stand up and look around the room. She knew Tony well enough to know when his mind was working and she could see it working now. However, she was surprised by what he said.

“Palladium? What do you need that for?”

Tony had hold of his battery as he stepped up to Isabella. "Will you come and sit? I'm trying to apologize damnit," he said as he took hold of her good arm. They both knew now to stand up when those men came into their room. he tried to usher her toward the bed.

Isabella sighed, but let Tony lead her over to the bed. She sat down and glanced at him as a few tears came to her eyes. She was trying to be strong, but cracks were forming in her tough exterior. "If your aim was to hurt me Tony you succeeded."

Tony frowned at her and then reached in and pulled out the small amulet to the necklace. "And what were you doing with this?" Tony asked. "So we were trying to remind one another of our pain. But, why is that? is it because we're over it or because we're not?" Tony asked but before she could speak he put his hand up.

"But we need to shelve this for later. We're in trouble Isabella. If I make the missile, they'll kill us both. And If I don't, they'll kill us," Tony said. "But first things first, I need to get this god damn battery off of me," Tony said. "How bad are you hurt? Can you help me work?" he asked.

Isabella sighed and glanced at Tony when he called her out about the necklace. He was right of course, if only partially. She looked over at the parts for the missile and hated to think that they would have to build the damn thing.

"I'll be fine. I can help you work. Can you tell me now why you need Palladium?"

"I need to be able to move around freely, I can't do that with...this," he said as he touched the car battery and decidedly did not answer her question right then. "I need paper and something to write with," he said. When she found the thin sketching paper Tony began to draw. Page after page he drew and it took longer than he would have liked. He could feel Isabella pacing behind him and becoming more and more agitated. Finally he was done.

"We need to open up those missile casings," he said all of a sudden as he stood up. "We need the palladium for the miniature arc reactor we're going to build," he said. When she just seemed to look at him Tony sighed. he didn't have alot of patience normally and being where they were and being in the state he was in he had even less. He gestured for her to come take a look. He placed the drawings just off center of one another in a small stack. Separately they looked like drawings of some kind of missile launcher. Together like this though, it looked like some kind of battle suit.

"This reactor could power the tiny magnet keeping the shrapnel from my heart probably forever or something really big for a little while," he said.

Isabella paced impatiently back and forth behind Tony as he used the sketching pad to draw...something. She began to get hot so she removed the top part of her fatigues. Underneath she was wearing a short sleeved black tee-shirt. She hated feeling useless, and, at the moment, she felt useless. Finally, Tony finished drawing and began to talk about opening up the missile casing to take out the palladium. When he mentioned a miniature arc reactor she just blinked at him. She didn't understand what the hell he was talking about. He gestured for her to come over and take a look at what he had drawn. Looking down at the sheets of paper it looked like drawings for the Jericho missile. However, he then moved the sheets slightly off center from one another and it transformed into something else all together. It looked like a giant suit of metal. She listened to what Tony said and she glanced at the missile parts and then looked back at him.

"What do you need me to do?"

Tony did not answer her question and he turned to look at her and his face looked decidedly sad. "I left you once Isabella, I'm not certain I can do it again," he said trying to just get this all out before he lost his courage. "I gave up on us before even giving it all a try," he admitted. "This whole mess is all my fault. And I think you were right about the weapons," he said as he nodded to the missile casing with 'Stark Industries' all over them. "I don't know how its happening but I guess it doesn't really matter right now. There is only enough materials here to make one suit," he said.

Isabella was quiet as she listened to Tony. She sighed a little and looked away and then looked back at him. “I know there’s only enough materials to make one suit. I’ve accepted that I’m not going to make it out of here Tony and that’s ok. My job is to protect you and get you out of here and that’s what I’m going to do...because I love you Tony. I’ve never stopped loving you.”