The Mark I (October 1995)

Tony's face was a mask of disbelief. Not by what she said, he loved her as well. He knew that much. But the prospect of leaving without her made his insides twist. He began to shake his head but felt her hand on his arm. Tony was many things but he was not a person that denied the truth. And Isabella had spoken the truth. He was conscious of the cameras watching them and he pushed her back a step.

"Then lets get to work," he said gruffly as he nodded toward the cameras.

He unscrewed the end of the casing with a powered screw driver. "Careful...slowly....slowly," he said as they carefully removed the guts of the missile. Once they had it free Tony removed the small clip near the end of the housing with a pair of needle nose pliers. "Ok, toss the rest of that," he said as he held up the tiny piece of palladium. "This is palladium," he said. "Now, we need to repeat this with the others," he said.

While she did that he built the dirt casting and made the form he'd use to make the palladium ring. They were hot, dirty, tired, thirsty and hungry but neither of them stopped or took a break. Tony had created a small forge and he and Isabella stoked up the heat to it and he used the large tongs they had to move the molding into position. He had Isabella shift the forge basin that held all of their melted palladium.

"Careful...careful, we only get one shot at this," Tony said as Isabella slowly tilted the basin. The molten palladium poured into the mold and very little had dribbled over the side. "Good, good," he said as the palladium began to harden almost immediately. After an hour Tony carefully removed the ring of palladium with the needle nosed pliers and held it up. He smiled at the ring and then to Isabella.

The next few days he welded and began to assemble the arc reactor. "Careful," He said to Isabella. They had argued twice already over how condescending he had been with her. That and he had called her useless once. When she refused to help him he had had to apologize to get her back.

Finally it was ready and he shifted his hand over the reactor to test it. It lit up in a pale, blue glow and he smiled at it. He could hardly believe he succeeded in making it. He coached Isabella in how to take out the old magnet and install the arc reactor inside his chest. She was hesitant and he constantly reminded her of haste but her smooth, steady hands managed to insert it and activate it. Tony tossed the car battery aside and got up off of the bed. He was liberated from the battery and now could really get to work. And so they did...

Isabella did what she could to help Tony build the mini arc reactor. Isabella was intelligent, but Tony was the genius, particularly when it came to science and engineering. The situation they were in was horrific and both of their stress levels were maxed out. This caused them to argue, but Isabella drew the line at being called "useless" and it took an apology from Tony to get her to help him again.

Finally, the arc reactor was ready and Isabella carefully placed it in Tony's chest. Isabella did not let Tony badger her into going any faster than she wanted to. This was his life after all and she wasn't going to take any chances. It slipped in and glowed blue. Once they knew it was working correctly they began to work on the suit.

One day, Isabella did not know how many days had passed since they had been captured, several of the men walked into the room. They said nothing, but they suddenly grabbed Isabella and pulled her from the room. She could hear Tony yelling at them behind her, but that didn't stop them. A while later Tony would hear the door lock disengage and Isabella was shoved back into the room. The men had a knowing smirk on their faces. Isabella's clothes were disheveled and her face was pale. She was trembling and there were a few unshed tears in her eyes. Isabella didn't need to tell him what they had done to her. It was painfully obvious.

Tony rushed over to her as they opened the door and tossed Isabella back into the room. "God damn you!" he yelled at them as he took Isabella into his arms. "I'm so sorry..." he said softly as he tried to figure out how to help her. He guessed that they had raped her and he would never know how many. Thinking of it made him sick to his stomach. Thinking of it made anger rise up hot and quick inside of him. A fury of hatred that sank down into his bones. He picked her up and carried her over to the bed and laid her down gently. He did turn though to look at the cameras. And his face took on a very dangerous look. A determined, angry look. he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered but he had to get back to work. he had to, there just wasn't any time! With a new sense of determination he got back to work. He began to forge and form the various pieces of the armor. He took off his jacket as he worked furiously on the battle suit. Each blow of his hammer was him using it against them. They had defiled Isabella! And they were using his weapons to hurt and kill innocent people! For his part in it all he would take responsibility for what had happened. For those hurt and killed and for Isabella.

Abu Bakar had been patient. He wasn't stupid and whatever Tony was building he wasn't certain if it was the missiles he wanted. He decided they needed to make it plain that he was serious in his threat. He commanded his men to accompany him.

The door creaked as the locks were shifted open. Tony heard them at the door and got up quickly. He noticed Isabella was still laying down and moved to her. "Get up! Get up Isabella!" he said urgently though he saw her flinch and shift as if whatever or whomever was coming through the door was coming for her...again. He helped her up though as Abu and his men entered. He smiled at Isabella. A knowing smile and that alone made Tony clench his fists and glare at him.

Isabella has once been a strong, confident beautiful woman. But now...now she felt like a beaten dog. She was broken. The sparkle in her eyes had been replaced by a distant, haunted look.

She flinched at Tony’s touch and that alone broke her heart even more. She just laid there listening to the sound of his hammering. She tried to block out the memory of what they had done to her, but every time she closed her eyes she relived it.

She heard the door open, and her heart began to beat hard and fast in her chest as fear threatened to over take her. Were they coming for her again? Tony had to pull her up onto her feet and she stood next to him. She didn’t look at Abu...she couldn’t.

Abu looked them over and moved around the room. Tony did not look at him and kept his eyes forward. “For years my people have been fighting. Fighting for freedom and their own identity. Those with the most and more powerful weapons were the ones that decided the freedoms of everyone else. Now it’s my turn,” he said as two of his men moved and brought one of the metal chairs and set it down on the floor.

“You will help me in this Tony Stark,” he said and two of his men moved forward and grabbed hold of Isabella. She fought with them but they overpowered her and they forced her to kneel in the chair facing backward. They kept hold of her as other of his men came up to her and reached around and began to undo her belt. Tony’s eyes grew large at what was happening and he couldn’t let them do this to her...again.

“So what do you want, a sooner delivery date? What?” He asked and Abu held up his hand. The men stopped what they were doing but Isabella’s belt had been unbuckled and her pants had been half pulled down to her hips.  “You will finish the Jericho missile tomorrow,” he said. “Or this...woman will wish you had,” he threatened. Up to this point Tony knew they still thought her just a soldier. If he left, he needed to at least, ensure they wouldn’t hurt her after he was gone.

“This is Agent Corsetti, she’s a CIA agent,” Tony said. This seemed to spark Anu’s interest immediately. And he smiled. “Interesting,” he said as his eyes looked at her in a predatory light. He stepped up and put his hand on her bottom and she felt him touch her flesh on the middle of her back.

“Tomorrow Mr. Stark. I have a lot of men who would like to meet...Agent Corsetti,” he said and removed his hand. Isabella was let go and they backed away and closed the door behind them and relocated it.

Isabella tried not to panic as the men grabbed her and pulled her forward. She was forced to kneel on one of the chairs. As she felt one of the men start to undo her belt buckle she felt pure panic rise up within her. She could hear the desperation in Tony’s voice as he tried to figure out what the men wanted. However, it wasn’t until Tony told them she was a CIA agent that they stopped what they were doing.

She felt Abu’s hand on her bottom and just his touch made her feel nauseous. After the men left she pulled back up her pants with trembling hands. She took a few moments to steady herself and took a few deep breaths before looking at Tony.

“Let’s get back to work.”

Together Tony and Isabella worked into the night. Early the next morning they decided to boobytrap the door and go ahead with their plan. Tony argues about Isabella getting into the suit bit she would not hear of it. They put up a blind so they couldn’t see what they were doing. They had a computer and Tony had written a program to augment the suit.

“Hurry!” He said to her for the tenth time. “Their going to come!” He said urgently. “Hit I enter them button me up,” he said. Just as she began though they heard someone at the door.

“Fuck!” Tony snapped as Isabella worked furiously to seal him in the suit. The computer said 35% as the two guards began to complain about the door they couldn’t open. “Hurry...hurry!” Tony said. 65%. And then the door exploded outward.

“Oh shit…” Tony said.

Isabella would not get into the suit. Between the two of them Tony was more important and it was her duty to protect him. Isabella was not expecting to make it out alive. Before Tony got into the suit, Isabella took off his necklace and put it around his neck. She then kissed him softly before looking into his eyes.

“When you get home, I want you to be the one to tell my parents about me. I don’t want a stranger to do it.”

She made Tony agree, before she began to help him get into the suit. She hit the Enter button, but they began to run out of time. Isabella looked at Tony.

“I’ll buy you some time,” she told him as she looked into his eyes. “I love you Tony.”

"This isn't over...we're not over Isabella. I will come back for you. I promise," he said as she kissed him. "And I love you too," he said and to his surprise, he knew that he did.

He could not stop her as she stepped away from him. But it wasn't long before he heard shooting and panic settled into his mind. Had they killed her? Anger mixed with despair filled his heart as the program terminated...

He waited for the first of them to come. Once they had he waited for his moment and then he attacked. His suit protected him from their small arms fire and it made him much stronger then he really was. He bashed them as they confronted him. He hist them with his massive arms and sent them running for their lives. "Isabella!" he cried but he never saw her.

He was face to face with Abu and he dodged to the side as Abu fired a bullistic grenade at him. He fired his own missile at him but it went wide and the rock ceiling caved in on him. he moved toward the exit. He was going to destroy everything! For the pain they caused him. For Isabella! As he exited the cave he used his flame throwers and began to burn everything including those that had remained to close. Men screamed in pain as the flames consumed them. But others began to fire at him including one man who fired a mounted weapon at him. Everything around Tony was on fire. All of the weapons, everything. If he didn't get out of here soon, he knew he'd be incinerated. He activated his boot rockets and his suit took off into the air just as the weapons exploded.

When Isabella woke she was someplace else. Not in a cave but where she was looked old. The ceiling of the room she was in wasn't healthy. She heard voices in another room, male voices but she couldn't quite understand what they were saying. She was clothed but her clothes were somewhat disheveled as if something 'could' have happened while she was unconscious. She was sore as well, all over and her hands and feet were tied. She was also gagged and she laid on her right side.

As Tony was walking through the sand dunes he would suddenly hear the sound of a helicopter. As he waved his arms the helicopter landed and Rhodey jumped out. He rushed over to Tony and embraced him.

“I’ve got you.”

Isabella’s eyes slowly opened. She was no longer in the cave, but she appeared to be in a room of an old building. She was alone, but she could hear male voices talking in another room. Her hands and feet were tied and she was gagged. She struggled a little, but she was too weak to really do anything. She hoped Tony had gotten out.

Tony was brought back to the army base and then, by his request, he was on the first flight back to the states. To New York. Even as he was on the plane there was a news report. Isabella was on video reading a typed up response where she said who she was and the name of the imprisoned terrorist that they wanted to exchange for her.

After her little performance she was taken to some kind of old bunker. It was carved out of the side of the mountain. However at least they unbound her arms and legs. She was given some food, flat bread and some kind of hummus and given water, though it was cold and a towel to wash up with. As she began to wash up she felt something in her front right pocket. When she pulled it out it looked like a small pitted fragment of palladium. The dregs that Tony had poured out of the molding after they had poured in enough to make the ring. Somehow he had slipped it into her pocket without her knowing. Nor did he say why but knowing Tony there was a reason for it.

There were three main guards to where she was being held and to her knowledge, she was the only prisoner. Out of the three, the eldest guard though kept on leering at her in a predatory way.

The CIA had had a meeting and Alonzo argued vehemently to conduct a search and rescue mission. There would be no exchanges, the US Government did not make such deals with terrorists.

Tony arrived safely back and Pepper Potts and Happy were both there to greet him upon his return. There was a call for him to hold a press conference but Tony refused and once he arrived back home he began the plans and designs for the Mark II. he would NOT leave Isabella to die. He would bring her back or die trying.

Isabella did not trust these people not to poison her food, but she was too hungry not to eat. She had lost weight since being held captive and was dehydrated. She knew the US Government and knew they weren't going to do the prisoner exchange. She could only hope that Tony had made it out safely.

As she was using the water to wash up, she felt something in her pocket. She reached in and pulled out what appeared to be a small, pitted fragment of palladium. She could only assume that Tony had put it into her pocket. She wasn't entirely certain why, but she knew Tony well enough to know that he had done it for a reason.

Pepper walked down to Tony's lab and found him working on the new suit. She was worried about him. There had been significant changes in him since his return to New York and she knew it must have to do with Isabella. "Tony, you need to stop this. You barely escaped with your life. You cannot return there. I'm very sorry about Agent Corsetti, but you cannot save her. You need to be resting and recovering from your ordeal."

Tony had lost alot of weight and he had seen a doctor briefly in the military base. He was given antibiotics but his entire being was thrust into making the Mark II. Isabella was alive and still being held. It was maddening to know she was there...alone. With people who were likely doing god knows what to her. Everything he ate or drank had no taste with her there and him here.

"She's alive Pepper. She's alive and its my fault she is there," Tony said as he initiated the new design for his arc reactor. "Manufacture of the new Arc Reactor will take 5 hours and 43 minutes sir," Jarvis said. He turned back to her. "And I want a meeting with the board. The board and with Obadiah," he said ominously.

The next morning he had put the new Arc Reactor inside of his chest. It was a significant upgrade than the first one and Jarvis was well under way in constructing the Mark II. He had done some preliminary testing of The rocket boots and gauntlets and he had a sizable lump on his head and an ache in his back because of it. He decided to make the board meeting a video conference.

With all the members there, Obadiah and Pepper included, Tony began to speak. "I've discovered evidence that someone in our company is double dealing under the table. Since I will likely never know who I am immediately suspending all weapons manufacturing for Stark Industries. Starting immediately. The whole board seemed to nearly have one, big collective heart attack. Obadiah stood up.

"Now Tony, lets just take a step back ok? You've obviously undergone an event, I think we all can see that," he said but Tony cut him off. "I own the patents on everything and I'm no longer building those patents. That is all I have to say on it," Tony said. "Tony, we will fight you on this," One of the board members said. "Then go ahead. I have evidence that our weapons are finding their way into the hands of the enemies of the US. We'll see how sympathetic everyone is when they hear about that," Tony said then switched off the view screen. Obadiah looked at Pepper with a dark, concerned look.

A couple hours later the Mark II was completed and Tony decided to take it out for a test run. Just hovering with the suit wasn't easy but he was anxious to get up into the sky. He took off quickly and before he could barely blink he was thrusting across the morning sky. Everything appeared to be working great. Great enough to go get Isabella. He landed back at the house and decided to have Jarvis make a few modifications, add weapons and ordinance and to paint it.

'I'm coming baby' he said to himself as he went to take a quick shower and get a little something to eat.

--------------------------------

Isabella was awakened by the creak of the metal jail door. It was very dark still but she suddenly felt someone's hands upon her. When she opened her eyes it was the older guard and he had put his hand over her mouth as he began to fondle her. There was another guard just outside the door and the old man was smart enough not to bring his weapon in with him. he had hard, calloused hands and he groped at her breasts painfully as he shifted to straddle her.

Isabella was only sleeping out of sheer exhaustion. As she slept, she dreamt of Tony. She dreamt of the dance they had gone to together at Phillips Academy. Tony wore a tux and she wore a nice dress. As they slow danced, Tony held her close and they rested their heads against one another. That had been the night she had fallen in love with him. It was a comforting dream, but she was suddenly awoken out of it by the sound of the metal door opening. She kept her eyes closed and hoped what she thought was about to happen wasn't going to. Then, she felt the old man's hands upon her. He put a hand over her mouth before she could scream out and she felt his hand begin to grope her. She felt herself begin to panic, but then slowly that panic was replaced by anger. She wasn't going to let his happen again! She pushed the old man off of her with strength she didn't know she still had. When he came at her again she hit him in the nose with heel of her hand. It broke immediately and began to bleed. He fell back and she grabbed her pillow from her bed and got on top of him and pushed the pillow down onto his face. He thrashed and tried to get her off of him, but she pinned down his arms with her legs. She put all of her weight onto her hands as tears of anger slipped down her cheeks. Slowly, the man stopped moving until he no longer moved at all.

The other guard was not able to get into the cell in time to stop her but when he did he used the butt of his rifle and bashed her in the side of the head and all went dark.

When Isabella woke up she tasted blood and she felt new bruises beyond how her held seemed to pound with each heartbeat. Several of her ribs were bruised as if he had kicked her after he bashed her in the head and knocked her out.

Tony had tuned his suits HUD to detect sources of Palladium. The palladium in his arc reactor would cause some interference but he'd still be given a direction to a new source if he was within a couple of kilometers. Isabella could be anywhere he knew but he would search the whole damn country if he had to.

Pepper Potts had her arms across her chest as she looked at him. "I love her Pepper, I can't leave her there like this," Tony said as he pulled a clean shirt over his head. "Well, will I be out of a job Tony? Has my boss gone completely crazy?" She asked. Tony thought about that a moment. "No, for the first time I don't think I am crazy," he said. "If I die, you'll have everything you need Pepper," Tony said. "And we'll talk about your job too," he said as he stepped onto the suit pad. The pieces of his new suit began to attach to him. Once everything was online he stepped back to the ceiling opening. "Don't wait up," he said and he took off quick and flew high up into the air.

Isabella groaned as her eyes slowly opened. Her head throbbed and there was a coppery taste of blood in her mouth. Her face ached and when she tried to move she winced in pain. Tears came to her eyes as she began to feel the last bit of willpower start to leave her. At this point, she wanted to die rather than continue being tortured like this. She had no idea what day or time it was, nor did she have any idea how long she had been held captive. Her mouth and lips felt dry and cracked and her hair was a dirty, matted mess. She curled up into a ball and then reached into her pocket and pulled out the fragmented piece of Palladium Tony had placed there. She held onto it because it was a piece of him and it was all she had left.

Tony had gone back to where it all began but his HUD had told him there was trouble in a town close to there. He flew there and found a Tank and men on the ground, harassing the people there. The tank fired at him and the shell hit him and bore him hard into the ground. He rose up and looked at the tank. His armor had held and he stood up. The tank fired again and he simply dodged and let the shell pass. Then he raised his arm and his micro tank buster rocker flew from him. It was a direct hit and he turned his back to it as it readied another shell. However before it could fire it exploded.

Tony arrived at the village and his HUD had picked up several of the men that had kept him and Isabella captive. He landed and began using his repulsor beams against them. They tried to hide behind hostages but his targeting systems targeted the hostiles and he launched a barrage that took them all out.

"I'm looking for a place they might take prisoners...can you help me?" Tony asked the people he just helped. None of them appeared to understand him save for an old man who paused to look in his direction. "There are the ruins," He said in a thick accent. "That way," He pointed and Tony took to the air again. "Thanks," He said and took off like a dart once more.

He flew for several miles and his HUD was taking in the roads that had been made by frequent travel. He just continued to follow in the same direction until he came across what looked like some ruins. He passed by them and continued in a spiral search pattern out from them. 'Oh god, Isabella...please be alive!' He said to himself. And then his HUD picked up on the Palladium. He could tell it was underground but not that far. He used his thermal imaging to find the entrance and he did find it but it was heavily guarded. He launched a barrage of missiles at it and the guards and soldiers that were there were blown in all different directions.

In her cell Isabella heard the muffled sound of explosions. That and dust and bits of rock dropped down here and there from the rock ceiling.

Isabella was slipping in and out of consciousness. She could hear the muffled sound of an explosion and bits of dust and rock dropped down around her. However, she was too weak to move and so she just laid there and slipped back into unconsciousness again. In her right hand she still held the Palladium fragment.

Tony was met by a considerable force but bullets were no match for the Mark II. He attacked them with repulsor beams and rockets and delved further inside the bunker. Men continued to fight but by now they knew they would not be able to hurt him. They began to flee now and he did not harry their escape. He was only there to find Isabella. He needed to find her, he had to find her and more and more he was concerned that they might kill her in their flight.

He searched every room and fought those that attacked him. He moved down the rocky passages, it was almost like a maze down there but he drew ever closer to the Palladium. When it appeared it was on the other side of a rock wall he knew he was close. He found his way into what looked like a small, makeshift prison. However he didn't see anyone in any of the cells, until he saw her half way down. He retracted his helmet. "Isbabella!" He cried and ran toward her. He bent the cell door and broke it from its hinges and tossed it aside. He fell down onto his knees and drew her up into his arms. She looked like she was dead and he thought he had been too late.

"No! I came back for you. I brought the necklace you gave me," he said as tears fell down his cheeks. He rocked her in his arms as the crushing despair of it all passed through him. Of all the people he knew in his life, why couldn't he just have this one? Was it too much to ask? He had everything and yet, without her, he felt as if he had nothing.

Isabella slowly became aware of the sound of crying. She felt herself being embraced and held against someone. Her eyes slowly opened and she began to believe she was hallucinating in her final moments as she saw Tony’s face above her.

“...Tony?” she said in barely more than a whisper before becoming unconscious again.

Tony's breath caught as he felt Isabella stir. She stirred and she spoke to him. So not dead! He knew she was fading quickly though and he picked her up into his arms. He used the augmented running speed of his suit and made it to the exit quickly. Once their he flew into the sky and headed straight for the Army Base. He told them he was coming with her and they informed him that they were ready to receive her. The moment he landed they came out with a cart and they took her quickly inside the medical tent to see what they could do for her. Hours passed as they filled her with fluids, gave her blood and bandaged her wounds. Tony waited in a chair next to her bed and he was so tired he decided to rest his hand on the edge of her bed. He had taken her hand in his and leaned his head up against it. He was exhausted from the recent events but didn't want to leave her for a moment.

It was well past midnight when Tony would feel Isabella’s hand move within his own. She groaned and then slowly her eyes began to open. She suddenly jerked and nearly fell out of bed out of fear when she didn’t know where she was. Her heart rate jumped up on the monitor. However, then her eyes saw Tony. She knew then that she was safe and she broke down and began to sob.