Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Requested by TheGoldenTrioLivesOn

Chapter One

"We'll go in through the window."

"It's twenty stores up, Ray."

"It's the only way in without getting caught, okay?"

"No, but we might end up falling to our deaths. Shit man, is it even worth it?"

"'Is it worth it?' Didn't you see how much he's paying us for this? And it's so simple."

"Oh, so you've done something like this before then."

"Well, I've stolen a necklace from some bird before; it can't be that much different."

"Yes, those are the words I needed to gather my confidence in this endeavour."

"Just shut up and pass me that rope. The boss wants this done today."

DahliaGriffithswalked through the sliding glass door that lead to the laboratory that Tony had reconstructed four floors below the living space, especially designed for the Avengers. As she expected, the large space was covered in a blanket of silence, only the small tinkling of metals together breaking through. She paused at the entrance, a fond smile on her face as she examined the two men, completely absorbed by their research.

Tony Stark was using the holo-projector to analyse the upgrades he was doing on the Iron Man suit. He would mutter thoughtfully to himself, the words too low to pick out, before slicing his hand across the hologram, removing one aspect of the design or zooming in for a more detailed view of another. A few work tables back was Bruce Banner, his head dipped so low that she could have guessed he was asleep at his desk (again), but she knew him better than that and really he was reading, completely absorbed in, the details of those scientist reports, probably another bio-chemistry topic, he was so fond of.

It was a familiar scene, and one she had walked down to view for less than a week, and neither seemed to have moved even an inch each time. And that was why she was done there.

"Alright, playtime is over," she announced.

Tony barely glanced away from his 3D designs, and Bruce managed to tear his eyes away from the collection of papers to peer at his girlfriend with confusion. "Huh?"

"I'm not sure whether you two have any concept of time while you're down here, but it's been 96 hours since you two hid yourself in the lab, and you haven't come up for air once," Dahlia explained, sweeping across the room so she could wrap her arms around Bruce's neck, leaning comfortably against his back.

"It's been four days, really?" Bruce sounded surprised.

"Yes, and we're missing you in the world away from acids and test tubes," She nudged the shell of his ear with her nose, "So I was elected to get you both outside. We're going to the new Nando's they built on 7th – did you know that Natasha hasn't even tried it yet, and she's been in America for nearly eight years now? I swear Clint nearly fainted in disbelief."

"Nando's does sound good," Bruce admitted, one hand drifting to his stomach, "I'm starving."

"And that's what you get for becoming a hermit for the last few days," Dahlia stated without much sympathy. The scientist flushed pink, a sheepish smile on his face. She grinned at him before glancing over to his fellow lab mate, "Tony, finish up. It's time to come up for some air."

"I don't think so, Flash. The specs for Mark XII are nearly done – I have just a few more tweaks here and there, maybe increase the energy capacity by adding another generator…"

"JARVIS, if you would be so kind," Dahlia interrupted with mock sweetness.

"It would be my pleasure, Miss Griffiths," the polite, English voice responded, before the hologram blinked out of existence.

Tony stared for a moment, hand landing hard on the edge of the table in an attempt to reactive the machinery. When it failed, he tilted his head up. "JARVIS reactivate the holo-projector – and the specs have better be saved!"

"I'm sorry sir, but override 6798 has been sequenced,"

Dahlia looked smug. "Pepper told me that one two days ago. Thought it might be useful if you didn't come willingly."

Override 6798 – all clearance to laboratory equipment suspended for six hours. Tony sighed and once again cursed himself for adding in that clause to the program. That's what he got for listening to Pepper during the installation – he was sure it was part of her contract somewhere.

"Nando's, did you say? Yes, definitely up for eating some chicken – I think I might have their chicken burger, medium spice of course, and frozen yoghurt – they should still have that, right? Yes, I want a chicken burger and frozen yoghurt…better make that two frozen yoghurts actually, watermelon and raspberry flavours if they have any…"

"I'm sure Dahlia and Bruce can bring your order back for you," Pepper's voice filtered into the conversation, "Because you are going to bed."

"Awh, Ma, do I have to?" Tony responded mockingly.

Pepper arched an eyebrow, as if just daring him to question her. "You haven't slept in a week, Tony."

"Have so, I slept on Sunday night –"Tony was prepared to argue.

"You haven't slept properly in a week," Pepper corrected herself, "You need to function on more than three hours sleep every two days."

"I'm fine," he assured persistently.

"You're going to sleep Tony, right now, in your own bed," she told him firmly.

"Why does Bruce get to go to Nando's?" Tony demanded childishly.

"Because I'm not Bruce's girlfriend, I'm yours. It's up to Dahlia whether or not Bruce gets to go get spicy chicken or not," Pepper replied easily.

Tony pouted. "Sorry guys, I've been grounded."

Dahlia laughed at her friend's behaviour. "Don't worry Tony; I'll make sure we bring you back a whole truck load of frozen yoghurt to make up for it."

"…Good," Stark mumbled, looking considerabley happier.

Dahlia took a step back and held out her hand. "Come on love, we've got to get going before Clint 'wastes away to nothing'," she quoted amused.

Bruce accepted her hand and allowed himself to be lead out of the lab. He clapped his friend on the shoulder as he passed. "Sleep well Tony."

"Remember my frozen yoghurt," Tony called after them.

Their footsteps faded into silence, and the billionaire turned his attention to the CEO of his company. She was busy tapping away on her StarkPad, probably reading over another set of employee contracts or spreadsheets from the finance department, her head bowed deeply over the luminous screen. She shifted slightly and Tony's lips quirked upwards. Pepper refused to let herself react to Tony on the best of occasions, so he couldn't help but love the moments when her will faltered, even if it was only in the slightest. Eventually, she sighed loudly and looked up from the tablet screen to pick her boyfriend with an exasperated look.

"Should you be in bed?" she arched an eyebrow.

Tony parted his arms widely. "I want a kiss first."

"A kiss, really, that's your condition," Pepper replied, amused, as she slinked closer, slipping into the space between his legs, allowing his arms to wrap around her and pull her firmly against his chest.

"Yup," he hummed, "I want a kiss."

"And then you'll go to bed?"

"Cross my heart," Tony mimicked the action over the glow of the arc reactor, a false mask of sincerity on his face. Still, Pepper obliged happily.

A distant crash startled Tony from his sleep. He'd always been a light sleeper, ever since he was a child, so it was to be expected. He blinked tiredly, and rubbed his eyes. Tilting his head, he could see the alarm clock that was silently ticking away on his bedside table. The digital numbers glared out at him in the darkness of the room.

17:00. He'd only been asleep for two hours.

There was another noise in the distant – footsteps, Tony guessed, as he recognised the clinging of shoes against his metal staircase. Was it the rest of the Avengers and co? It seemed a little early – the restaurant was at least half an hour away and with the combined efforts of Thor and Steve, it would be impossible for everyone to have finished eating in an hour.

His eyebrows furrowed. He knew Pepper was in her office – he had tried to convince her to return to bed with him, but she had just stared him down until he had slunk off to the master bedroom – Rhodey was never that loud when he came into the penthouse and Happy had the day off – some kind of family commitment, he thinks, not really sure. So who else could be in the penthouse? Who else had the clearance to be allowed access to his home facilities?

"JARVIS, whose has just entered the penthouse suite?"

No answer. Worry curled upwards from his stomach to settle heavily on his chest. JARVIS always replied to him. He was installed in every part of the Tower, in the mansion (even if Tony really didn't use it), in the Iron Man suit, in his phone and even in his cars – the best Sat Nav around – with specific instructions to always answer to him. It was how he was programmed. But now he wasn't. Why wasn't he?

Tony hurried out of bed, shrugging on a pair of pyjama pants that he never actually wore and was constantly left in a corner of the room, and an old t-shirt. He kept his phone in hand, fingers hovering over the emergency call button that had been added to automatically call each of the Avengers phones if there was a problem. He stepped out of his bedroom as quietly as possible, peering around the corridor. It was empty for the moment, but the sounds of clanging, of movement and footsteps, of murmured voice that he didn't recognise, were louder now, coming from just around the corner. He moved carefully, mindful of the creaks in the floorboards and the sound of heavy breathing as he neared.

There were three of them. Three huge, burly guys that he had grown accustomed to seeing outside night clubs or bars, usually to escort him rather violently to his car – or at least, they used to. Certainly, their place wasn't in his home. They each walked around the room, examining different corners of the main lobby. One guy – blond hair, brown eyes, tattooed cross on the inside of his wrist - picked up one of the photos that Dahlia had framed proudly of the Avengers at one of Tony's charity galas – everyone's first one, he remembers – and a sneer crossed his face.

"The Avengers," he spat out, "A bunch of freaks if you ask me."

"Well, we didn't," another – light brown hair, sunglasses indoors, military style boots – snapped, "And keep your voice down. We don't know who might be here. We just need to get what we need to, and then go. Remember what the boss said, don't draw attention to ourselves."

The last man – shoulder length brown hair, bandaged right hand, leather trench coat – snorted. "We're about to steal from Tony Stark – I don't think it's possible to not draw attention to ourselves."

The second man breathed heavily through his nose, closing his eyes briefly as if his two companions were far too annoying to cope with, and he wouldn't if he didn't have to. Eventually, he spoke once more. "Let's just…move on. Pan out and search for Tony Stark – and please, for the love of God, keep your mouths shut."

Tony's mind raced with the possibilities of what might happen next. He could see the two companions grumble loudly but oblige, picking a hallway and moving slowly along them, their heavy set footsteps fading. The man left behind muttered something under his breath, and turned towards Tony's vigilant point, moving closer.

Eyes wide, he thought about his opinions. The suit was his first option, as it always seems to be, but with JARVIS not answering to him and the three invaders blocking his path, it seemed incredibly unlikely that option would work. He could probably fight off the approaching man – he was smaller than the others, didn't look like he had much strength behind a punch, could take him out easily – but that would call on the other men, and Tony doubted he'd able to take on two men that size at the same time.

So he did the only thing he could, the only logical thing anyone would have done in that situation: he ran.

When JARVIS called through Steve's phone, they knew something had to be wrong. Although the man's voice remained polite and calm, as it always was, there was something about it, with the urgency that he demanded their attention. Something had happened.

"Captain, I have been disconnected from the mainframe of the Tower," his voice was clear through the speakers, "I can not longer get in contact with Mr. Stark."

"Disconnected? What do you mean 'disconnected'?" Steve wondered.

"I have been removed Captain. I cannot see or hear what is happening in Stark Tower at this moment," the AI responded.

"Tony would never do that to JARVIS. The AI is everywhere," Bruce explained.

"Something must be wrong," Natasha added firmly.

"We need to get back home, now," Steve stated firmly, immediately moving into Cap mode as Dahlia called it.

The elevator ride was too silent, filling the occupants with dread and fear of what they would find. The doors didn't open fast enough with they reached the penthouse, and they stepped out cautiously. The main lobby was empty, as it usualally was, but the hesitant approach to the living room revealed the chaos and the wreckage that they had all hoped they would never see.

Framed pictures were smashed on the floor, the photos ripped and crushed, surrounded by the glass. The cushions had been dragged off the sofas, on some the stuffing of the pillows was spilling out like a weeping wound. The coffee table had been knocked over and the mug of coffee that Clint had been drinking before they left was now cracked into two parts and its contents staining the carpet. Books scattered the floor; ornaments had fallen from their shelves, and one of the large windows that looked out across New York had been broken from the outside in.

And, lying in the centre of it all was Tony. He was shirtless, his drawstring trousers resting low on his hips. His skin was pale, the only colour coming from the red of cuts and the yellowness of the forming bruises. His chest shuddered weakly; his eyelids fluttered; his fingers twitched. The layer of sweat glistened in the overhead lights. It was glaringly obvious what was wrong, and it made the panic settle in and the utter terror for their friend.

The arc reactor was missing.