Rest
Midget stopped and turned around to make sure his human was still following him. The man was moving very slowly, and really didn't seem like he would make it much farther. He flattened his ears in frustration; they hadn't even made through the basement. The man pulled himself over a pillar of cement, and flopped down on the ground next to him. He coughed and closed his eyes.
"No." Midget mewed and lickked his cheek.
"Don't worry buddy I'm not going back to sleep," His human mumbled quietly, and stroked the back of Midget's head with a shaky and bloodied hand, "I just need a second..."
Midget decided to go scout a head while his human took a breather. He clawed his way up onto the next collapsed pillar of cement, only to discover that they were indeed trapped. The entrance to the stairs was buried in rubble. Midget knew he would be able to get through, but his human would not, and he was not leaving him. Anger prickling in his fur, Midget turned around and head back to his human.
The man didn't appear to have moved at all; he still lay on his back bringing in tiny shallow gasps. Midget could practically hear the struggle and pain in his every breath. He let out a mew of dismay at his human's worsening state.
"...hey bud... wheredyou go...?" His human coughed. His tone was dangerously low. Midget gave his bloody hand a lick, "you should get out of here..."
Midget flattened his tiny ears in disgust at the suggestion of him leaving.
"I'm not getting outa here without help..." The man choked out, "Go on pal... get outta here..."
Midget was offended that his human thought he would obey. He wasn't going anywhere. Midget climbed onto his chest and began licking his chin.
"Midge... you gotta....g.." He didn't finish his last plea for Midget to leave, before passing out. Midget tried biting his chin, and clawing him gently to wake him, but he didn't stir. He finally gave up and curled into a small ball protectively on his human's chest. He would wait there with him until someone found them.
"Steve we found him on the sensors!" Natasha shout as she ran toward Steve and Pepper.
"Where?" Pepper demanded.
"Near the stairwell leading to the basement," Natasha answered, "we're running through options, but there are about 100 tons of rock in between us and him so it could be a while"
Steve and Pepper followed Natasha back to where Clint had a computer set. A team of search and rescue professionals were already there going over possible ways to clear the rock without compromising the structure.
"See I told you we'd get him," Stave gave a Pepper a reassuring punch in the shoulder.
"We don't have him yet," Pepper replied, her voice was shaky and uncertain.
"Alright we have a plan, but it probably take a few hours to get all of the rock cleared, especially in the dark," One of the rescue guys informed them as they approached.
Midget stayed curled perfectly still on his human's chest, even as the ceiling creaked and groaned, threatening to collapse on them. His instincts told him he wasn't safe. They told him to run, to escape, to go far away, but he ignored them. He stayed where he was, and lay silently listening the faltering heartbeat of his human. Dust crumbled from above all around them; Midget just curled into a tighter ball and ignored the rattling and cashing sounds making their way to his ears from above. A wet hand brushed his fur and he perked up. His human was awake enough to stroke his fur.
"Thanks for sticking around..." His human whispered to him. The man's gentle stokes reassured Midget that he had made the right choice in staying, but after a long time the man's hand finally stopped stroking his fur, and just rested on his back shaking slightly. Midget nestled himself deeper under the hand and closed his eyes. He let out a faint yawn. He was very tired, maybe he would sleep too.
The heavy crash of stone woke Midget from his deep nap; his human's chest was still rising and falling weakly beneath him. Another loud crash echoed through the basement. Midget was tempted to go see what it was, but he didn't want to leave his weak vulnerable human alone. There were a few more muffled crashes and then loud voices, and beams of light filled the air. Help. Help had arrived. Someone climbed over one of the pillar of stone.
"I found him! He's over here!" the woman who shouted wreaked of fear and stress. She rushed over to them, "Tony! Baby!"
She ignored Midget as she examined him, "We're going to need something to carry him out on!"
More people rushed over and surrounded them. Midget closed his eyes, and let a pur. They were safe.
"Alright guys move him on the count of three."
"One, Two, Three," Midget had to dig his claws in a little to keep from slipping off, as they moved his human. The man's hand fell away as they moved him leaving Midget exposed.
"Someone grab that cat," A voice ordered, and before he knew what was happening a hand snatched him away from his human. He hissed and squirmed in dismay. He had been keeping him safe! He needed to stay with him! What if he woke back up and needed comforting? Midget tried desperately to reach behind him and claw who ever it was holding him by his scruff. He let out a loud yowl, and squirmed harder as he watched the people carry his human away.
"Chill out buddy," The person holding him tucked him up against their shoulder. Midget let out another angry growl and dug his claws into the person's shoulder, "Ow! Damn it! Can you not? I am going to take you to the hospital with me and then you can be back with Tony... Alright?"
Tony. So that was what his human was called. It was a good name.
Tony woke in a place that was most definitely not the collapsed wearhouse. He was in a soft bed with blankets tucked neatly over him. A machine beeped steadily next to his head... A hospital. He was in a hospital.
"Welcome back, sleepy head," Tony looked over to see Pepper smiling at him from her seat next to the bad. Pepper fluffed his hair lovingly, "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got crushed by a three ton slab of cement..." He joked half heartedly, even though that was exactly what had happened, "... How bad am I broken?"
Pepper sighed.
"That bad huh?"
"Not the worst that has been done to you. Broken ribs, two stab wounds in your gut..."
"Oh yeah... the rebars," Tony recounted hauling the pillar off his abdomen and also pulling out two rebars out at the same time. He shuddered remembering the pain.
"They said you got lucky. One of them almost got your liver," Pepper's tone darkened, "They also said that you almost bled to death... Tony what the hell were you thinking pulling those things out?"
"I honestly wasn't really thinking... They were attached to the pillar of cement and when I lifted it off, it pulled the metal out," Tony explained.
"Well I suppose I can't really blame you then," Pepper said with a fond smile. Her eyes darted briefly to the end of the bed, and for the first time Tony noticed the small black ball of fluff curled up on the end of the bed.
"They let the cat in!?"Tony sat up, or more attempter to sit up, but sharp pulling pain stopped him, and he sat back with a groan. Pepper laughed.
"Well they didn't let him in per say. Steve pulled him off of you as we were moving you to the ambulance. The little guy threw a horrible temper tantrum until he was safely back with you," Pepper explained smiling at the cat. She scooped Midget up in her hands and handed him to Tony, "There you go."
The tiny black kitten yawned and opened its eyes.
"Hey little guy," Tony cooed looking into his adorable green eyes. The kitten purred and rubbed his head on his chin. The cat already looked healthier than when they had been trapped. His fur was now clean and well kept. His ribs still showed but that would be easy to fix with a few good meals.
"Thanks for taking care of me in there," Tony whispered and kissed the top of the cat's head. Midget purred louder.