Careful For What You Wish For

When they flipped the small switch on the battery, Isabella felt a searing jolt course through her entire body. She only had on a lacy black bra and panties and they had thrown water all over her. She was wet and the small room was hot and damp. They had jumper cables connected to a thick sponge and she was tied securely to a wood and rubber chair. The man that held a small tool that held the cables leads wore a rubber smock and gloves. He was an older man, balding with gray and white hair on the sides of his head. Obvious Afgani and he was doing his work almost without any emotion. Isabella was a CIA agent and she had been hot on the trail of several caches of illegal weapons that were being shipped to Kaldahar in Afganistan. With a small troop of special forces they had all been ambushed by an ultra violent militant group called the Pawhlawan. They were supposed to meet up with one of the buyers who wanted out of the country but instead their small convoy was hit and she was the only survivor.

“You will tell us who told the CIA of our camps,” the old man said in broken english. Two others were in the room in all black, with dark gray hajeebs on their heads. Younger men who licked their lips in hopes that the older man didn’t hurt her to much. She was pulled through a larger building past several men and boxes and boxes of weapons and ammunition. She had no idea they were right on top of the Pawhlawan’s main encampment. She knew it now but they were certainly going to torture her, rape her and then kill her in some, horrible way. As eht old man shrugged and shifted to touch her abdomen with that sponge she tried to writhe out of the chair. ANything to avoid the surge of pain that was coming. Once he touched her with the porous, yellow sponge all of her muscles and joints locked up painfully. She couldn’t even scream as her jaw was clamped shut. The pain was excruciating, more than she had ever experienced before. She had been trained for this but her training was candle to the sun compared to what was happening right then. Finally he pulled the sponge away. As he did she looked around frantically for something, any way to escape. To her horror she saw a band of rolled out leather on the table behind the old man. On it were stainless steel instruments of torture.

“Perhaps if I can’t get your tongue to move, I’ll take some of your teeth,” He said with an almost evil grin. He set the sponge on a small stand then shifted and picked up a small instrument she knew was designed to pull teeth.

Isabella struggled to remain conscious. Her entire body hurt like nothing she had ever felt before. The pain was excruciating, but she wasn't even able to scream out. She was a well trained CIA operative, but nothing had prepared her for this kind of situation. She was alone, unarmed, and surrounded. She was tied to the chair and had long since lost the strength to even struggle against her bonds, though her wrists were cut and bleeding from her attempts. Isabella was terrified. Though she had known that they were walking into a dangerous situation she had never expected this. She knew she was going to die and all she could think about was how she would never get to talk to her parents or brother again.

She shook her head and her face took on a look of resolve that told the old man that he wasn't going to get the information from her.

The old man nodded and the two men shouldered their weapons and grabbed onto her. One grabbed her jaw and painfully forced it open as the old man moved up and she felt the sudden pressure of something pulling at one of her molars. She struggled and tried to shake them off but they held her to tightly. A sudden sharp pain hit her as she felt her tooth pulling loose. Agony coursed up and down her spine as she felt it slowly being pulled up and out of her mouth. As he pulled it out he purposely showed it to her and in her shock and anger she spat blood into the old man’s face. She recalled the sound of movement then all went black as something struck her head.

She was groggy when she finally came awake and the same old man was there sitting on the desk in front of her. “Ah, you’re awake...good, good, we can begin again,” he said. There were 2 new men in the room with her. They both had longer beards and they gave her angry looks as if they’d just assume shoot her than look at her.

“Who told you about out camps?” He asked again. “You’re going to die either way, you can choose how that death comes,” he said. Isabella wasn’t just beautiful, she was gorgeous with large, dark eyes, long, dark hair that looked like silk in the moonlight. Nice full lips and her body was a mix of curves and muscle in all the right places. They were going to pick her apart piece by piece and she knew in her heart that eventually she would break. “Hmm, I think maybe if I take one of your eyes,” he said with a grin then turned toward the desk and picked up a very nasty looking tool with a hooked end on it. She knew what it was for. He’d get it up under her eye then pull it out by the nerve. They were going to take her apart but it could all end if she just told them what they wanted to know. It didn’t help that they had a mirror nearby. So she would see herself as they tore her body to pieces.

Isabella had fought and fought for this mission. She had worked hard to get where she was and she had spent many late nights, and even lost her boyfriend in the process. She had given everything to get the lead on this and now she was going to be tortured to death.

In the darkness that took her Isabella had dreamt. She could hear the ocean and could feel the sea spray on her face. She was giggling as she ran after her older brother. The sun was just starting to set. Her little legs couldn't move as quickly as his and he stopped and turned and grinned at her before picking her up and spinning her around in the air. There was no pain...only happiness.

Her head ached as her eyes slowly fluttered open. She could feel a large bump on the back of her head from whatever they had struck her with and her hair felt matted from dried blood. She could still taste the metallic coppery blood in her mouth from where they had pulled out her molar. She was determined not to break...she wouldn't let them break her. She would die, but she would never tell them what they wanted to know. Isabella had sacrificed so much to get this mission and now she was going to die for it. However, she would not let them think because she was a woman that they would be able to easily break her.

She looked over as the old man picked up a horrific looking metal tool with a hook on the end. She knew in an instant what it was designed for and a new wave of terror came over her. She kept her mouth shut though and silently prayed that there was someone out there who might help her.

As he moved up to her the others in the room began to speak in the odd dialect that she could not get the whole of. Only bits and pieces. They were angry that he was going to mar her face. It appeared though that he argued back but then relented then one of the other men came toward her and began fondling her left breast. Obviously they were going to rape her then get to the gruesome task of ruining her face. However as he tugged on her bra there were shouts from the other room and gunfire in the distance. The two men suddenly ran from the room and an explosion rocked the whole compound. Men screamed in pain while others fired their weapons. More explosions and the old man began to look agitated. She heard them fighting back but as the moments drew on more and more explosions rocked the compound.

“Well, it appears we are out of time my dear,” he said and drew from the table a wide, bladed scalpel and she knew why. He was going to cut her throat before he left. As he drew close to her though she heard shooting right there in the hallway next to the room she was in. men shouted and she heard an odd, high pitched sound and then the sound of something going through the thin walls. The compound was falling apart and dust fluttered down from the ceiling above her and made her cough. Just as the old man drew the blade to her throat she heard that high-pitched sound again and the old man appeared to look up into the hall, gasp and then he was flung backward, into the wall and out into the dirt through the whole his body had made. Dust and sand made her cough even more and she felt the sudden increase of heat into the dark room. Something moved in her peripheral vision, something gold and red and metallic.

It had taken tony weeks to locate this camp. After his capture and subsequent escape he was determined to track down every missile, every bullet that his company had illegal sold. He used micro missiles for their SAMs and the one tank they had then went to his repulsor beams for whomever was left. He wanted to search the entire camp and he had come under heavy fire as he found his way into these inner rooms of the stronghold. He made short work of the men here and as he reached the end of the hall he saw her. They had a woman tied to a chair and an old man was about to cut her throat. In a moment he blasted the old man with his repulsor beam in his right palm then stepped into the room.The woman was covered in sweat and grime and barely able to hold up her head.

Tony had his helmet retracted to expose his face and he shifted to take her chin and lift up her face.

“Hey...lady, you ok? I don’t know what you’re doing here or who you are but I’m pretty certain that you weren’t all playing strip poker in here,” he said jokingly. There was movement out in the hall and he shifted quickly and blasted the man that leveled his ak-47 rifle at them. The man went flying back through the wall. “I mean, I assume being tied up wasn’t your idea?” he said then saw the look she gave him.

“Well just give me a minute,” he said and from his finger a small, sharp blade protruded and he began to cut her free from the chair.

Isabella was trembling. She had never been as close to death as she had been that day. She knew though that she owed this man her life. She knew the moment she looked over and saw the helmet who it was. Tony Stark. The very man whose weapons she was now trying to track down. She had seen Tony on television before giving interviews but the tv screen did not do him justice. He was incredibly handsome and just as suave as she had heard about.

She felt him cut her binds and she was able to pull her wrists free. They were bloody and raw from where the rope had cut into them. She tried to stand up, but was weak from the torture they had put her through and she almost collapsed into his arms. She felt exposed being just in her bra and panties, but had no idea where her clothes were. "I'm Isabella Corsetti, a CIA operative. I was sent here to look for illegal weapons that were being shipped to Kaldahar."

Tony frowned as he listened to what she said and her good looks were not lost on him though she was quite a mess. “Well Isabella, would you mind if I carried you out of here? I’ve set charges all over the compound and in a few minutes it all go boom,” he said once again trying to make light of the situation. He chuckled then took hold of her. “See what I did there? I made it sound as if you had a choice,” he mused and then used his repulsor beam and destroyed the ceiling. After the debris stopped falling they lifted up out of the building and as he flew high above the compound the entire camp exploded in one, huge fireball. Just a few miles away he secured her some black cloth to cover herself and then they were off again. He landed on a naval ship, the very one she had launched her mission from the USS Shiloh, a naval Cruiser. Marines moved up to them and he let her go and once more exposed his face.

“Well, these men will make certain you get home...it was nice to meet you Isabella but maybe next time...definitely more lace,” he joked and smiled brightly at her. Before she could say anything though, even thank you he was gone.

Ever since Tony had met Isabella he had not been able to get her out of his mind. He wondered over and over if he had met her in different circumstances if there could be something between them. Tony had been with many women before but something was different this time.

Isabella was put on a helicopter and then a plane back to the states. She was given clothes to wear but she had reports to write and a job to do. She had a nice apartment in New York though part of it was paid for by her parents who had both been doctors and were now retired. Once she made it inside she moved up to her bar, turned over ad glass and poured a healthy amount of bourbon into it. As she went to grab up the glass though she saw how badly her hand shook. She had nearly been tortured, raped and murdered in a horrible way. In three long swallows the bourbon was gone and in anger she drew her hand back and threw the crystal glass. It shattered against the wall and she collapsed in a weeping mess.

Later she lounged in her bathtub. The hot water and steam worked the small kinks that had balled up in her muscles and there was dirt in dust in places she never knew could hold it. She had to get clean and she was done crying. She had a report to write and 8 men had died defending her. Sleep did not come…

At the office she was dressed in a gray skirt and blazer with a white blouse. Her superiors were drilling her about the mission and it was clear they were happy with out it played out but not about the obvious leak that cost the lives of 8 special forces soldiers. Terrance Jackson, the assistant deputy picked up his phone after it buzzed and then set it back down on the receiver. He looked at each man in turn then on Isabella. “We’re done here, and I expect your report on my desk by the end of the day,” He said in obvious irritation. However as they all began to leave he stopped her. “Not you,” he said as he pointed at her. Terrence was a large, black man with graying hair at his temples. He wore dark suits, usually brown and he was probably the most respected and decorated CIA agent that ever existed. He rarely gave praise and took a hard stance against incompetence. Clearly the loss of life was grievous but the destroyed cache of weapons was a win in his book. He just didn’t like the cost. As the others left a man came in in a dark gray, pin striped suit and gold framed sunglasses. It was Tony Stark. Terrence got up and his face suddenly changed. “Tony!” he said as if they were old friends and he shook Tony’s hand and even hugged him. Terrence never hugged anyone as far as she knew. Likely not even his mother.

“How’s it goin big guy, did you get those tickets I sent?” He said and Terrence smiled and nodded. “I did, I did, the wife really enjoyed the opera,” he said. “Well, you won fair and square,” he said and the two men seemed to forget she was there.

To get to where she was now had taken work...a lot of hard work. She had had to work twice as hard as a man just because she was a woman. She was tired of the wolf calls and crude comments. She wanted to be respected and taken seriously. And so she had worked her ass off. This job meant everything to her. She poured her entire life into it and had sacrificed so much, including her long time boyfriend whom she had thought she might marry one day. She took her job seriously and no one was harder on her than herself. Losing those 8 men weighed heavily on her mind and in her heart. She was prepared to take full responsibility for their deaths. She did not know were the leak had come from, but was determined to find out.

Somewhere deep in the back of her mind she also continued to think about Tony Stark, though she didn't know why. He was a playboy and womanizer and not at all the type of man she liked. However, there was something about him...perhaps it was because he had saved her life. She didn't think she would ever see him again and that was why she was so surprised when suddenly he walked into the room where she was sitting with Terrance. She was even more surprised by how Terrance reacted to seeing him. She had never seen Terrance smile before...or hug anyone before. He was as tough as they came and clearly they knew one another very well. She continued to sit there and waited for Tony to acknowledge her presence.

“We doin lunch later?” Tony asked and Terrence gestured at him playfully “You know it,” he said haughtily. “You alright?” Terrence asked as he headed toward the door and he glanced at Isabella then back to him. “Oh i'm good, I’ll cya in a few,” Tony said and waved him off. Terrence gestured again like before, smiled and left the room. Isabella thought she was on an episode of the twilight zone. Tony finally looked at her.

“You alright Miss Corsetti, you certainly...smell better,” he said though it came out as an awkward joke. He was going to say that she looked better but he figured that would be to obvious. She was actually extremely sexy and he tried not to look at her legs in those high heels. “Thought I’d drop in and check up on ya,” he said as he looked into her eyes. He smiled his confident smile when she looked at him.

“So, this is...what you do, your job. Traveling to exotic places and get tied up,” he said and tried not to chuckle at himself. “Seems kinda dangerous but I know, gotta pay the bills,” He said offhanded. “I know a good dentist,” he said and pointed at his mouth. “You know, if you’re lookin,” he added quickly

Isabella watched Terrance as he left, leaving her alone with Mr. Stark. She had to force herself not to roll her eyes at his comment about her smelling better. He exuded confidence and from the way he was looking at her he was expecting more than just a thank you from her. She didn't move nor did she cross her arms over her chest defensively. She just sat there, with her own kind of confidence.

"Yes, this is my job Mr. Stark. Did I plan to get tied up, tortured and then almost raped and killed? No. Did I plan to have 8 men die trying to protect me? No. But I will tell you something. I am damn good at my job. You just caught me on a bad day. So, thank you for saving my life, but other than that I owe you nothing Mr. Stark. If you think I'm just going to be like every other woman you've encountered and all but fall into your bed you have another thing coming."

Tony put on an abashed look. Mostly fake but he was somewhat taken aback by her vapid responses. Obviously she was still upset to a degree. He might have gotten a better reception if he came at a later time. Maybe days. He liked her fiery spirit though. It was likely how she had gotten to where she was now.

“Well, I’m not certain where all the hostility is coming from,” he said with a smirk. He knew he could have that effect on some people. “But I was thinking just dinner

Isabella knew that in Tony's world there was probably no such thing as 'just dinner.' She refused to be just another one of his conquests...another notch in his bedpost. She shook her head, but did smile a little. "I don't believe there is any such thing as 'just dinner' in your world Mr. Stark so no thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me I have to get back to my report," she said as she got up and stepped past him. She didn't look back, but she could sense him watching her.

Tony was not so easily turned down. As she left he followed her out and came up beside her as she walked hastily down the hall. People that saw Tony paused in their conversations if they didn’t gauk openly as they passed them.

“Isabella, you seem to know what’s going to happen before I do. I’m just talking dinner and drinks. You know, some good food, keep it cas...it’s just dinner. We could, you know go over what happened, exchange notes...those were my companies weapons. We could...Discuss Obediah’s dealings, I mean...if you wanted to expand your case,” he said throwing out more than one carrot in the quick barrage of wit and words.

Isabella heard Tony come up beside her and she knew then that she wasn't going to be able to get rid of him that easily. She saw people looking at them and she sighed as she stopped in front of her office. She was about to say no again, but then thought about his offer of talking business and what had happened. She hesitated a moment and looked away from Tony before looking back at him. "Fine...just dinner and drinks."

Tony smiled and nodded. “Alright, pick you up at 8,” He said though she didn’t stand there for long. She sighed annoyedly then moved into her office and shut the door, almost in his face.

Isabella didn't ask Tony if he knew where she lived because she knew he had probably already figured that out. She sat down and began to work on her report again, but as she wrote out what happened flashes vivid memories came to the forefront of her mind. She closed her eyes for a moment to try and block out the sounds, sights, and smells. She could hear the screams of the 8 men as they were killed...she could feel the old man's hands on her as he tied her to the chair...she could taste the blood in her mouth. When she opened her eyes she realized her hands were trembling. She reached down into the bottom drawer of her desk and pulled out a bottle of bourbon and a glass. She filled it and shakily drank it down.

She managed to get through the rest of the day, though she remained hidden in her office. She left early to go home and get ready for dinner with Tony that night. She didn't know where he was going to take her, but knowing him it was going to be fancy. She pulled out a red cocktail dress and matching red, strappy high heels and put them on. The dress hugged her curves and showed off her legs, but was otherwise rather simple and not overly flashy. She fixed her makeup, but as she was fixing her hair she felt the bump on the back of her head from where one of the men had struck her. It still hurt and for a moment she felt like she might be sick. She leaned over the sink and drew in a few shaky breaths. Finally, she managed to calm herself enough to put on some gold earrings and a gold bracelet. She spritzed on some perfume and then poured herself another drink. She sipped it as she waited for Tony to arrive.