The Great Escape
For a second, everyone in the cave was silent, goon numero uno in the front looking particularly dumbstruck. Then, the head idiot started to laugh, clapping him on the shoulder with a wide grin. That seemed to be the tipping point as the terrorists started to grin and chuckle ominously. Yinsen looked away. Only the years of training under the scrutiny of the public eye kept him from cringing, ashamed that he had disappointed Yinsen, even though he knew it was for a purpose. The faster he got out of this shithole, the faster he could blow this place up, the faster he could gut every single person here, the faster he could get home, and while it would never compare to days at the cabin and the lake with Pepper and Morgan, it was still home to him.
The terrorists brought him and Yinsen out to the center of the camp, and he shook hands with the head goon as they grinned wider than the media vultures that frequented The Avengers Stark Tower.
This time around, he was very careful to not react to the Stark Weapons they had, although with the judgmental glares he was getting from Yinsen, that was getting exceedingly difficult.
Everything was fine. He just had to remind himself over and over that this Yinsen didn’t know him, didn’t know the man he was/would be/wanted to be, this wasn’t his Yinsen.
He ordered the Ten Rings around, trying not to slip up and correct Yinsen when he made a slight mistake with parts that he needed. It would be fine.
His hands and arms ached from carrying around the battery everywhere, and his chest felt like it was made of tissue paper, tissue paper that was trying to support a 10 pound weight on top of it.
He drew out plans for an arc reactor he could make with the materials he had on instinct while his mind wandered. The process would be much faster this time since he wasn’t just working with scraps of an idea and lungs that refused to work properly because of the electromagnet and the water.
So, what has he established?
First off, he has memories that aren't his implanted in his brain, and isn’t that in itself a terrifying thought? If these memories are to be trusted, (which he’s still on the fence about) he was sent back by the Infinity Stones because something went to shit when he was gone. So, who sent him back? Why?
Strange.
Huh? What was strange? Were his thoughts strange, was he strange, was he doing something strange, come on, just tell him already, please, when someone tapped his shoulder. Tony jerked around and flailed a bit when the wires connecting his chest to the car battery tightened and twisted. He flinched, and groaned.
It was Yinsen.
Tony glanced around quickly, and sighed in relief. While he was working, the Ten Rings had apparently exited the premises, likely pleased that he wasn’t putting up a fight.
“Stark!” Oh, he’d zoned out a bit, hadn’t he.
“Stark, what are you thinking?” Yinsen hissed. “Are you not even going to try and defend your people? Do you want this to be your only legacy? Death?” He sounded so disappointed, and Tony turned away.
There's a short, awkward silence, and in a split second, Tony makes a decision.
“Look, you think I wasn’t affected by that?” He said in a hushed voice. He grabbed Yinsen shoulders, and stared him right in the eyes. “Those terrorists have my weapons, that means someone in my fucking company is double-dealing. It kills me to think about it, because I made those weapons to protect people. My best friend is in the military. I just wanted to keep him safe. I just wanted to keep people safe. ” And make my father proud, he doesn’t say, but hears all the same.
“I’m not building them a thing. But they don’t need to know that.”
Yinsen shifted back, and looked him over again. He looked slightly bashful, although Tony didn't understand why. That’s what he has had Pepper for.
“So, what are you building now?”
“I am so glad you asked.”
It took around two days for the materials he needed to arrive, but when they did, they came wholesale. Piles and piles of various tools fill the cave, and they're of a much higher quality than the last time he was here, probably because they didn't need to torture him to get to this point.
Yinsen is warmer this time, they're all a little more friendly, and Tony thinks Yinsen respects him a bit more nowadays.
The arc reactor was finished a few hours ago, and they prepared for another surgery. Yinsen just seemed impressed that he managed to pull this together so quickly - trying to keep the mood light, and Tony's ego properly inflated. He doesn't really like the word ego anymore, not that he can tell anyone why.
He doesn't say anything, but he's pretty sure that Yinsen knows that he's terrified. He knows that it's going to be painful without anesthetic. He doesn't want to be awake again. He doesn't want to wake with a hunk of poison in his chest. Last time, it was said by the few medical professionals he sought out that weren't scared away by the number of NDAs they had to sign, that it was a miracle he managed to survive in the cave in the first place. He doesn't know if his good fortune will repeat itself.
It turns out that he needn't have worried, since apart from the throb in his chest that never disappeared until after Extremis, he feels perfectly fine. He wondered if his pain tolerance from later years transferred into his younger body.
He'd tried to search his memories for more information about... well. Everything, but all he found was the word "Strange" repeating over and over and over again. Sometimes, he got flashes of colour, memories and feelings that weren't his, a slight tinge of something when he thinks about the sports car he ruined on his test flight of the suit, another when Yinsen told him about a multiverse theory one of his colleagues talked about 'that one time in Tibet.' Occasionally, a flash of green. (Doomed our reality, but I can fix this.)
Two months go by without a hitch as they design the first model of the Iron Man suit, and he forms a mental list of the things he needs to do once he gets out of here with Yinsen. He repeats it like a mantra. It's the wifi password. We're not savages.
We're going to get out of here, we're going to get out of here, we're going to get out of here. (For some reason, the loop come to bargain makes him feel nauseous too. He stops.)
There is less time for breaks and talking. Last time, they thought they broke him. This time, they didn't have to, so they're watching out for signs of rebellion.
He talked to Yinsen as much as possible without their captors thinking they're slacking off, and they talk about things. They have the same conversations about family that they did before, except this time, he says that he does have a family, but he doesn't know if he'll see them again. (Morgan, Morgan, Morgan) Because even at this point in the timeline, he does, doesn't he? He has Rhodey and Happy and Pepper and JARVIS, oh, how he misses JARVIS, and Yinsen looks a bit sad at that. Almost nostalgic. He knows why.
He can't let Yinsen die this time.
He takes more precautions this time, makes sure that the suit can carry two, makes a shield for Yinsen to carry. He suggested that Yinsen should fly the suit, but he refused immediately. He doesn't know why, but it's probably better that way since he has more practice.
In 2 months, 4 days, and 3 hours in captivity, they're ready to leave.
When Colonel James Rupert Rhodes finds Tony Stark three days later, he's alone.