Buried
"Boss, there I just picked up a life signature in the basement," Friday spoke just as Tony was turning to leave the Hydra wearhouse.
"I thought we got everyone," Tony grumbled. The mission had been a rescue mission to free slaves that Hydra had been keeping.
"Sensors indicate-"
"I'm on it! I'm on it!" Tony interrupted the AI. He was not happy about having to go back to the disgusting creepy ass basement. It gave him shivers thinking about it. That was where they did their experiments.
"Stark? We are supposed to be clearing out. What's taking so long?" Steve's voice came over the comms.
"I gotta go back. We missed someone," Tony explained as he made his way to the entrance of the basement.
"Alright, but hurry it up. I don't like the thought of any of us being in there alone."
Tony gulped as he opened the door.
"Trust me Cap, I don't like the idea of going back in that basement either. I am not going to linger."
He opened the door and made his way down the stairs. Every step he took filled him with more and more dread and gloom. The air was thick and rank with the smell of death, and decay. Somehow the horrible rotten stench had made its way through his helmet.
"Gah, I hate this place," He grumbled, "Alright Fri where is our strangler?"
"Far corner," The AI replied. Tony made his way through the shelves and tables of horrible tools that had probably been used as torture implements. He tried to ignore the stains on the floor that were almost definitely blood stains. Tony finally made it through the maze of shelves to the corner that Friday had directed him to.
"What the hell Friday? There is no one here!" Tony spat. This was no good.
"To you're left boss."
Tony turned to find two green glowing eyes gleaming out at him from a dark shelf. He took a startled step back and raised a gauntlet then he realized that it was a kitten. He lowered his hand, and stepped closer. The cat shrank back.
"No, no, it's okay buddy, I'm nice!" Tony chuckled a little, and took off his helmet so the kitten could see his face. He almost puked as the full force of the smell of the basement hit him like a punch in the gut. The light from his arc reactor lit the corner just enough so Tony could still see, "See I'm a human."
The kitten sniffed at the hand he had extended. It's black fur was dirty and unkept, and he could see the poor things ribs. Hydra had crossed a line on this one. Tony was about to grab the cat when multiple deafening booms shook the building.
"STARK GET OUT!!!"
Tony didn't have time to react before a shock wave slammed him against the wall, and the whole sealing came crashing down.
The human smelled of blood and sweat. The kitten didn't like it. He climbed his way through the rocks to the human. The human had smelled nice. Now he didn't. The kitten approached the man who was lying unconscious, but hopefully not dead, next to a wall. He didn't smell dead. The kitten climbed next to his head. Blood was slipping in a slow trickle from a cut on the side of his head.
"wake up!" he mewed at the man. He didn't move. The kitten lashed his tiny tail and began licking his cheek. He stopped after a few seconds. Human blood was no good. To strong. To metalic. He would need to wake him up some other way. Rubbing on him! That would work. The kitten set to work rubbing his body along the the man's face in a desperate attempt to wake him up. He hissed in annoyance as the human still didn't react. He flattened his ears, and put his paws on the man's face. This would work. He began neading the man's face with his tiny baby claws. Not enough to do more damage, just enough to wake him up.
"Agh... c'mmon..." The man mumbled and lifted a hand in an attempt to shoo him away. The kitten didn't back down. He needed the man to wake up all the way. The kitten mewed loudly and rubbed his head on the man, "Alright buddy... Imup..."
The kitten sat back and watched the man slowly snap out of his haze. He slowly tried to sit up, but flopped back with a cry of pain. It took the kitten a second to realize what was wrong. Then he saw it. How had missed the massive piece of concrete laying across his abdomen? That was problem.
It took Tony a few seconds, after his attempt to sit up, to realize that there was a huge slab of cement crushing him. It actually explained quite a lot, like how hard it was to breath.
"Mrrrow," The kitten mewed and gave him lick on the cheek.
"Thanks bud..." He managed to cough. The crushing weight on top of him was getting to be to much to bare. He needed to get it off, and he needed to do it without accidently shovinging it onto his legs.
"Alright cat... out of the way. You don't need to be getting crushed..." Tony scooted the cat away from him, and reached his hands under the cement slab. The suit would help manage the weight. He pushed up on the slab, every muscle in his body flexing and tightening with the strain. Pain exploded through his body, like something was being tugged out of him. Every instinct told him to stop. To drop the cement. To scream. He didn't. He continued lifting with every ounce of strength he had.
"NRAAGHAA!!!" Tony growled and managed to shoved the cement away. He sat panting with small shallow breaths. Something hot and wet was running down his abdomen under the suit. He glanced over at the slab of cement that had been pinning him down; two pieces of rebar were sticking out of the part that had been on top of him. He squinted at them, the light from his arc reactor illuminated them enough for him to make out the blood dripping from the their dull rusty ends. He stared at them in a haze of confusion. Why was there blood? Whose blood was that?
It was his blood... His blood was slowly dripping out of two puncture holes in suit. Dizziness hit him like a wave and he flopped on his back. Something warm and rough lapped against the side of his face.
"Mrrow!" The kitten mewed loudly in his ear, and then went back to licking him.
Stay awake! The kitten willed the man to stay awake. He liked the human. He wanted him to live, and that wasn't going to happen unless they could get out of here, and they could only get out of here if he stayed awake.
"Alright cat... gimme a sec..." The man moaned quietly. He knew that if he gave the guy the chance to pass out he most likely would not wake up again. The smell of blood was getting stronger by the second.
"No stay awake!" The kitten growled and nipped the man's ear. He was pretty sure the human couldn't understand him, but the nip would surely get the message across.
"Mmkay... fine..." The human murmured and opened his eyes slowly, "Immawake..."
The man sat up slowly letting out a soft cry of pain as he did so. He took in small short gasps, and sat still for a minute with his hand clutching his abdomen.
Tony squeezed his eyes shut and fought back the new wave of dizziness that pushing itself into his mind.
"Mrrow!" The cat bumped its head against his armored hand. Tony sighed, and as he did so the blood slipped out a little thinker under the suit.
Shallow breaths... Take shallow breaths.
"Alright cat, wanna see something cool?" Tony asked weakly. The small black cat tilted its head questioningly, "I'll take that as a yes..."
Tony sucked in and opened his suit. He stifled a cry of pain as small pieces of jagged metal scrapped along his abdomen. The cat moved closer to him and gave him a reassuring lick on his now bare hand.
"Thanks bud..." Tony mustered a smile, "I can't just be calling you "cat" now can I?"
The kitten mewed in agreement.
"How about Midget?" Tony knew the name was very unoriginal, but he honestly couldn't force his mind to come up with something better.
The kitten let out a purr of approval.
"Alright then Midget, you're gonna have to wait just a little bit longer to get out of here..." Tony struggled with his words. Hot blood ran in between his fingers, "I gotta slow down this bleeding."
The cat sat down and tucked his tail around his paws. The name really was fitting. He was tiny.
The human had given him a name. The human was officially his human. The human being his ment that it was now Midget's job to take care of him, and keep him safe.
Midget watched as his human slowly pulled his shirt off, and tied it around his bleeding abdomen. He didn't think that it would really help much, but it was probably better than nothing.
"Alright Midge got any idea how to get out of here?"
Midget surveyed the area around them, and flattened his ears in disappointment. They seemed pretty trapped. There was a lot of rubble around them, and above them. He wasn't sure if there was a way to get his human out. His human was far too big to fit through many of the small spaces. He also wasn't sure if the man had the strength and energy to make it to the surface.
It had been three hours since the building had come down, and there was still no word from Stark.
"Rogers!" Steve flinched at the angry bark that sounded behind him, "What the hell did you fuck up?"
Steve took a deep breath and turned to face Tony's angry girl friend who had apparently just arrived.
"Hello Pepper," Steve tried to muster a smile, but his effort fell flat, and he melted a little under Pepper's sweltering glare.
"What. Happened?" The woman demanded, "And why is he still in there?"
"Hydra set the building to collapse, and Tony went back for someone we missed," Steve explained as best he could. He had a feeling that if Stark hadn't found his own way out yet, he wouldn't. He wasn't even sure if the golden avenger had survived the building collapse.
"Why don't you have him out yet?" Pepper snapped.
"We don't know where he is, and moving the rubble is dangerous, and could end up doing more damage."
Pepper crossed her arms and turned her glare to the massive pile of rubble. He knew that she knew the same thing he did. It would take days to uncover all of the rubble, and by then would it even be worth it?
"We have to get him out..." The woman's voice was now soft and frightened, instead of sheathing. Steve sighed and rested a hand reassuringly on her shoulder.
"We will. Tony will be fine."