Okay, okay, okay. Writers block has got me hard lately, not to mention the usual school/college and speech thing. But, I managed to pull something together for you guys to read and I hope that it's enough to keep up happy until my next update. :) Maybe...Hopefully...Oh and I feel I should mention, compared to my other stories this one has a lot more of "inner thoughts" so anything italicized (long sentences, obviously) are thoughts. Just to make that clear. :P

Disclaimer: IMAA doesn't belong to me. Simple as that.

After about what seemed like an eternity of wandering through strangely empty hallways, he couldn't remember where he came from. Which was unfortunate as he couldn't return back to his room and pretend that their so very precious captive hadn't just spent his afternoon investigating the premises. He supposed it hadn't mattered since there was really nothing to show for, even after all the space he swears he's covered. Most, if not all, of the rooms, were empty and the ones that weren't–he assumed they weren't empty–were the ones that happened to be locked. Besides, he was yet to find an exit, let alone any signs of life.

He paused as he felt yet another yawn overcome him and he rested against the wall sleepily. Though he knew it wasn't the time to sleep, especially not in some random hallway of the building he's being held captive in.

A ticking sound and the resulting throb in his head alerted him to the clock beside him.

Evidently they only stock in clocks and chairs, he thought to himself thinking back to the several clocks he's passed and the various chairs throughout the hallways. Ignoring the thought, he glanced up the aggravating ticking device.

3:05.

Judging by the sunlight peeking in through the small windows, it was 3: 05 in the afternoon, not morning. Rhodey and Pepper must be getting out of school right about now. His head shot up at the thought, eliciting a startled yelp of pain from himself as he cradled the bump on his head. Rhodey! There was no question that he was searching for him already. He probably already had a rescue plan in place! And Pepper! She must be so worried and angry. She'll likely be the one kicking all the butt when they bust in for his rescue.

He laughed at the thought but ended up have to swallow it back down in worry that he'd throw up what little food he could. The hunger growl of his stomach has grown mixed with nausea that had set in a while ago. Though it was manageable at the moment since he's no stranger to going a day without food. He's found himself so lost in his armor or some other project that he'll often forget about a thing called "food".

What am I doing here? He suddenly found himself wondering as he pushed himself off the wall. Scanning the area, he realized that he had only taken a break in his venture for an escape route. Shaking off the confusion, he started walking in whatever direction he was pretty sure he hadn't gone yet.

The suddenly sound of footsteps other than his froze him on the spot. He remembers hearing once that in cases of fear, most people have a "fight or flight" response, but he just instinctively froze. The footsteps grew louder and louder and were approaching him from the back, but with his hammering heart and churning stomach, he knew he would be too late if he turns around. Though, that didn't stop him from trying.

Almost immediately, the walls around him began swirling and twisting faster than his eyes could keep up with and his stomach finally lost its fight to keep its contents inside. All the while he just barely caught a glimpse of someone's silhouette before he was hunching towards the floor in another fit of gagging as apparently his stomach had no more to give.

He saw the hand before it covered his mouth, but couldn't respond fast enough.

Well, that smells interesting…

Catching one final, albeit very limited glance at his assailant, Tony couldn't help but imagine Pepper in the same shoes.

Pink would be prettier.

"Going to have a word with Tony?"

She groaned in annoyance as she pulled out her phone to see if maybe–just maybe–Tony had responded in the last two minutes or so. Of course not, she sighed. It wasn't like he already missed the whole school day anyway.

"Earth to Pepper."

She blinked and shook her head to clear them of the thoughts that were running through her mind. "Yeah, what? What happened?"

Rhodey sighed and rested a hand on her tense shoulder. "Pepper," he made sure he held her eyes with his before continuing. "Don't worry about it so much. I'm sure everything's fine."

"Worried?" Pepper wondered, almost surprised. Did she seem worried to him? "I'm not worried, I'm angry! He won't answer any of my calls or texts or emails."

A part of her knew that maybe she was overreacting to say that she was so angry. A part of her knew that Tony had a life that didn't always involve responding to her every call. A part of her even knew that she was more upset than infuriated. But she remembered how she felt that day only a week ago, how jittery and ecstatic she was, when she had realized that Tony–the Tony Stark–was asking her out on a date. Her. He had barely had to speak, or sputter out, the words out to her before she was bouncing excitedly on her toes in preparation to say yes–because what else would she say? She knew exactly what words he was trying to convey to her. Besides, she'd been waiting what seemed like ages to hear those words come from his mouth.

Which, in hindsight, was likely why she was so troubled–no, hurt. She held that date close to her heart, closer than she has held most of anything else in her life. She had really looked forward to that evening out with the boy she could really only describe as the boy of her dreams. Her hero. Literally and figuratively. Yet, he had left her alone on such an important night.

"He probably was busy and turned off his phone," Rhodey tried to assure her, breaking through her thoughts. "He's done that before. I wouldn't be surprised if his voicemail is full by now, anyway."

Pepper threw up her arms in a perfect example of her exasperated anger. "Exactly! I mean, what's with that? He's a genius and he even made his phone, couldn't he figure out how to make an infinite voicemail?"

Rhodey sighed in his own exasperation. "I'll tell you what. I'll go stop by his place and the lab to see if he's there and talk to him to see what's up. No need to guilt trip him or scare him half to death. I'm sure there's a valid reason as to why he didn't show up or call."

"You'll call me, right?" Pepper asked skeptically.

Rhodey nodded. "Of course. I'll let you know what the verdict is. You just head home and clear your head. Trust me, yelling at Tony right now isn't going to help anyone."

She found herself nodding to his words in an odd mixture of understanding and resignation. Maybe Rhodey was right. That Tony had a perfectly good reason for missing their first date. It was pre-date jitters, somewhat like cold feet at a wedding. It was an Iron Man mission he was too wrapped up in to involve them in. It was an emergency family reunion. He was kidnapped. Each explanation she tried giving herself sounded more outrageous than the last. In the end, she had to accept Rhodey's advice and head home.

"Thanks, Rhodey," she said, finding that she couldn't think of anything else to say.

He felt absolutely, without a doubt miserable. Not only had he woken up to find that the room was practically below zero, but his head throbbed even more painfully than before and his stomach was beginning to become a little less ignorable. Not to mention it took him an uncomfortably long amount of time to realize or remember, where he was and what had happened. He feels like there was something big that he was forgetting. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to focus on anything other than his raging migraine.

The clock certainly wasn't helping.

It was around seven by the time his mind cleared up and he was able to move about freely again–or as freely as he could without stumbling out of balance. Though really there was nothing for him to do anyways so he sat and stared at the clock which caused him constant agony in the form of annoyance and sharp pains to his head.

Staring at the clock, he realized, had a similar effect to counting sheep. He realized this when suddenly the clock was approaching the eight o'clock mark and soon it read nine o'clock or so. With his periodic nodding off into sleep, he almost missed it.

A sound.

No, a footstep.

He almost ignored it at first. With his groggy mind still trying to realize that the rest of him was awake, his ears almost blended the ticking clock into the footsteps. It was the shadow the glided across the wall that alerted him to the presence of another person nearby. It was dark out, but somewhere out of view there was a street light giving him a little visual on the happenings of the outside world. Though until now, the outside world where he was held, was quite boring and barren.

Or so he thought.

Peeking out of the window that was just about eye level with him, he scanned the area with a purpose he hasn't felt since the first round of escape plans went through. A focus he hasn't been able to hold due to the stupid bump on his head–until now. It didn't take him long to catch the culprit, but judging by the amount he had to strain to make out his form, he was quite a distance away. But who cared?

Instantly, he was trying to open the window. Though unlike the luck he found earlier with the door, the window wouldn't budge.

"Hey!" he instinctively found himself shouting, despite the dilemma before him. "HEY!" No response. "HELP! Hey! You! HEY!"

He shouts and slams on the window with the hopes that the person will notice him. They became more panicked when he realized the person was stepping out of his vision. "NO! No, no, no, no, NO!" He slammed his fist against the window harshly, likely bruising his hand in the process. "Damn it!"

He removed himself from the window and slumped back in the one chair he was allowed in his resignation. Maybe he needs to try a different window...he had to wonder if the door would be unlocked as it was before. Certainly, it couldn't hurt to try.

The thought left his mind as soon as it came when he glanced towards the door. Because lying on the floor only a foot from the door and not much farther away from him, sat a steaming bowl of rice and a glass of water.

When did that get here?

Earlier That Evening

He wasn't suspicious when Tony hadn't returned home after his date last night. He was definitely worried, but mainly because his teenage son was out with a teenage girl and he hasn't heard from either of the two. It couldn't be helped that he played his parental card of jumping to some worrisome conclusions. He even wasn't all that concerned when he still hadn't seen him in the morning. After all, with himself still playing catch up at work, it wasn't entirely new to not see Tony ever morning. Though what finally concerned him, was the visit of his son's best friend.

"Is Tony in his room?" Rhodey asked when they finished exchanging pleasantries.

Howard could only shrug. He hasn't seen his son all day, so he couldn't give a straight answer. "You're free to go check."

He glanced at the clock as Rhodey excused himself to go find Tony. It was a little past 3:30, which would mean Rhodey came here straight from school. Which brought upon a question: Why wasn't Tony with him? Shaking the question from his mind, he situated himself back at the island counter to sip at his much-needed coffee as he pulled some paperwork towards him. He needed to get these done and prepared for the upcoming company meeting in a few days.

"I couldn't find him," Rhodey announced walking back through the kitchen. "Maybe he got caught up in his lab."

Howard set down the coffee cup and nodded. "That seems like him. I'd check there. Is it important that you talk to him? I can try calling him home."

Rhodey only sighed at the offer. "It's not too important. He just missed his date with Pepper last night and I told her I'd ask him why, but it's fine. I'll talk to him tomorrow. Good luck calling him, though. Pepper's been trying all day."

"Wait, what?" Howard directed all his attention to the teen before him.

"Tony didn't show up for his date with Pepper last night, and Pepper's not too happy about it," Rhodey reiterated.

It was this new string of information that completed the puzzle. A puzzle he wished he hadn't needed to solve. One that he doesn't wish to share with the boy in front of him or the girl that he doesn't doubt cares for Tony nearly as much as he himself had. All the basis of one thing: Tony would never miss their first date for the world.

The conclusion brought the, unfortunately, familiar feeling of dread to his gut.

Tony's been kidnapped.

So...how was it? I realized that I bounce around with the time so I'll try to write in the time shifts when necessary because sometimes things move back and forth in time...Other than that, what did you guys think of the chapter?

I can't think of a fun fact right now, so I'll fill it in with a book suggestion for you guys. How would you guys feel about that in place of the fun facts I can't think of?

Book Suggestion: Unwind by Neal Shusterman. I HIGHLY recommend this book. It's one of my favorites!

Hugs and Love, SilverPedals~! :P