All violence in this chapter happens in the background. No detail is given.

Chapter 3

August 15 1975

Two more seizures in the past months and still no ecplanation. Every test and scan we've taken has shown no kind of change at all. My son's brain for all appearences remains the same. Nothing has changed. There's been nothing physical either. No inhanced strength just the strength that comes with being an active five year old.

I'm considering hiring a trainer for Tony. Someone to help him build up the strength in his arms and legsand to keep his body healthy. Along with the seizures it seems as if his immune systum has lost strength. Not much but enough that he's gotten the last two illnesses that have been carried into the house by various workers.

Getting into physical shape should also help his immune system get to where it should be. Not only that but I'm hoping that continued physical activity may trigger the physical effects that we desire. While smart my son will need every ounce of strength acalable to him if he's to take up Steve's mantel.

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Tony shivered in the early December air as he hid behind one of the dumpsters in the nearest alley. He could hear the sounds of a fight in the street that he'd just vacated. It was Jarvis against three big men who looked like they'd stepped out of one of his comic books. Tony knew better however. These men were nothing like the stupid thugs from his comic books. These men were dangerous and they meant to take him away.

They meant to take him away and make his dad pay money for his return. Tony knew how kidnappings worked. e'd seen them on TV and read about them in his books and he wanted nothing to do with it. There was only onething keeping him from running as far and as fast as his legs could carry him. And that thing was the brick wall that lined the end of the alley.

It was too high for Tony to climb without some sort of help and there wasn't a ladder or even a garbage can anywhere near the wallfor him to climb up. So he was stuck behind the dumpster waiting for whomever wonthe fight to come and get him. Tony wasn't stupid enough to think that his hiding place was the best either. All they'd have to do would be check behind the bumpster and they'd find him.

The only plus side to his hiding spot was that he'd be hard to reach and unless he came out on his own they'd have to move the dumpster to get him. Tony had no intention of moving anywhere unless it was Jarvis that called his name. Gradually the sounds of fighting stopped all together and Tony waited crouched in his hidingplace for Jarvis to come and get him. Only Jarvis never came. The voice that Tony had been hearing for as long as he could remember never called him out of hiding.

Tony cringed and pushed himself against the wall beside him. It was all that he could do and even then it still wasn't enough.

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Howard snarled as he storme through the front door of the mansion. Peple filled that front hall and the noisewas almost defening. "Where's Jarvis." Howard demanded as Maria darted up to him her face pale with worry.

"He's in the living room. Anna is cleaning the cuts on his face." Howard made a sharp turn and barged into the living room. Jarvis was sitting on one of the couches nest to his wife just like Maria had said. Anna was rubbing some sort of ointment over a nasty cut on the man's forehead. "What happened Edwin?" Howard asked his voice a bit softer upon taking the pained look on the other man's face.

"They came out of no where Sir. We were just getting back in the car when one of them pulled me away and threw me to the ground. I told Anthony to run the very second I realized what was happening." Jarvis pulled away fromhis wife's prodding fingers so that he could burry his face in his hands. "I couldn't stop themfrom taking him."

Howard sighed. He'd known that something like this could happen. He'd always known that this could happen and he couldn't be mad at the man that had tried so hard to protect his son. It wasn't Jarvis's fault that Tony had been taken. While skilled at fighting Jarvis could only do so much against multiple foes. A three against one fight against men twice his size was a fight that Jarvis had beendoomed to loose fromthe start. The man was just lucky that Tony's captors hadn't felt the need to put a bullet in the butler's brain.

"It's allright Jarvis. I know just who to call to help find Tony."

oOo oOo oOo

He was hiding under the bed. Not a very original idea and it wouldn't stop the men who'd taken him fromfinding him but it made Tony feel better. Made him feel safer in a situation that was so far from safe it was like trying to touch the moon. The men who had taken him hadn't hurt him any more than they'd been forced to when Tony had struggled and even though he'd broken one man's nose they'd been much kinder to him than he'd thought they'd be.

The room he was in was warm and clean and even had a small bathroom. The floor was covered in carpet that smelled old but looked clean and the bed had thick blankets and a plush pillow. There were even several books sitting on a smallplastic picnic table.

So while Tony's current situation wasn't very desierable it could have been a lot worse. The man who had left him in the room had even promised to bring himsomething warmto eat and drink after they'dcontacted his dad. Tony had a feeling that, that man inparticular hadn't wanted to do this. He looked stressed and worried and he kept picking at his clothes. It was a habbit that Tonyhimself partook in whenever he was really nervous. It was a bad habbit that he had yet to break.

Jarvis didn't seem to mind it though. Jarvis said that Tony's picking let him know when Tony was feeling anious and that was a good thing because when Tony got really anxious he shook and sometimes instead of shaking he'd sieze. And Tony hated siexing. It hurt and left him feeling funny for days after. Not to mention that it scared everyone when he siezed and he hated that even more.

He didn't like it when he worried people and Tony knew that right now he was worrying everyone.

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Peggy Carter was awoman on amission and nothing was going to stand in her way. Tony Stark was her godson and the Devil take anyone stupid enough to think that they could keep him hidden from her. Her heels clicked on the wooden floor as she walked towards Howard's home office. She didn't bother knocking as she pushed open a heavy oak door and walked in. Several heads turned in her direction. before turning back towards their work. Sharp eyes took in Jarvis's battered face and the lines of worry etched into Maria's fair skin. "Peggy." Howard said as he got to his feet and moved to greet her."Howard. Any news?"

"None." Howard shook his head. "I expect that they'll be calling any time now to make their demands. It's just a metter of when. Where are the others?"

"Out looking at the scene of the crime of course."

"Your husband whould have been useful Peggy. His specialty is communications after all."

Peggy rolled her eyes and ignored Howard's harsh words. He was just worried and he had every right to be. She'd have been worried if it was her child that had been taken for ransom.

"We'll find Tony, Howard. Now if you don't mind I need to talk to Edwin." She didn't wait for Howard to respond before she walked over to where Jarvis and his wife were sitting. The pair looked even more worried than Howard did. Peggy offered the man a kind smile as she sat down in the chair that Anna had vacated after she'd finished cleaning her husband's face.

"I need you to tell me eveything Edwin and I do mean everything. Every detail no matter how big or small."

Jarvis's hand tightened around his wife's as he took a deep breath and began talking.

ooo

The men who had taken him were fighting. What exactly they were fighting about Tony didn't know but they sounded mad. The type of mad that his dad fired people over. The type of mad that made people hurt people.

Tony winced and tried to scoot further under the bad as the voices came closer to the room he was in. He knew that if they were as mad as he thought they were his hiding place wouldn'thelp him but it made him feel a little bit better. Not that Tony was feeling all that great to begin with. He'd missed taking his medicene and his hands were starting to shake and Tony had a feeling that it wouldn't just stop with his hands. The shakingwas making it hard to pick at his sleve not that there was much to pick at anymore. All the fuzzies on his shirt were almost gone.

The door to his room banged openseconds after the shouting was at it's loudest and Tony cringed and pressed himself as close to the wall as he could. It didn't stop the shouting man from reaching under and dragging him out by his foot and sling himup under his arm. Tony squirmed but wasn't able to free himself. The man had more muscle on himthan someof the men who worked for his dad doing hard labor.

"Your father doesn't seemto be willing to pay usfor your safe return."The man growled. "So we're going to give him a little incentive."

"Don't do this, Dick." The nervous man said as he stepped forward. "We don't have to hurt the boy to get our point across."

The man called Dick narrowed his eyes. "You don't understand. You don't know what it's like to have a member of your family go missing like my sister did."

"Your sister died of cancer and was cremated. She didn't want to have a funeral. Your family recieved all the paperwork. You even hired a lawyer and he said it was all lagitamite."

Dick shook his head and squeezed Tony tighter. "She wouldn't have done that. Stark did something. I know he did. She volentiered for some sort of project there and it killed her." Dick looked down at the frightened child under his arm. His eyes were filled withpain and for amoment Tony thought that maybe he didn't really want to be doingthis either.

"It's not too late. We can stilltake the kid back. All we'd have to do would be drop himoff down the street from the Police Station. No one would be the wiser."

Dick seemedto think about it for a moment before he shookhis head. "No, Stark needs to understand the pain he causes the people around him. If it takes us keeping his son then so be it. The rich bastard needs to be tought a lesson."

The nervous man sighed and shook his head. "At least let me carry the kid Dick. You're in no state of mind to watch over the kid and the last thing we need is for you to hurt him on accident." Dick seemed to think about it for amoment before he nodded and passed Tony over to the other man.

The nervous man sighed in relief as he took Tony and propped him against his hip. "Behave and nothing bad will happen okay."

Tony nodded. He knew whenhe could act out and when he couldn't and right now was oneof those times that he didn't need to cause trouble. Trouble now would only end with him getting hurt and he didn't want that. So he let the man hold him and went back to picking at the fuzzies that were left on his shirt. If he could just keep calm then everything would be okay.

Two hours later and things weren't okay. Things were very not okay. The men were fighting again and now the third had goined in. Tony knew that they were fighting over what to do with him. They'd called his father every hour on the hour since he'd been taken and every time they'd asked for money his dad had turned them downandhung up the phone.

Tony like to think that his dad wasn't paying because he was on his way to get him. His dad was smart enought to track where the phone calls were coming from. Not only that but he'd fought Nazi's with Captain America and there was no way that a bunch of low lifes like the men who had taken him could keep his dad from rescuing him.

There was a small part of Tony however that worried that his dad wasn't paying the ransum because he didn't want Tony anymore. Sure Tony was smart but other than that he didn't really have anything else to brag about. He wasn't tall and he wasn't strong or fast. The shots that were supposed to make him like Captain America hadn't worked and Tony was certain that it was because he wasn't good enough. How could he be just like Captain America when he wasn't anything like Steve Rogers?

"Maybe we should just kill the brat." The third man said as he turned to look at Tony. His eyes weredark and mean looking and they worried Tony far more than Dick or the nervous man did. Tony curled intohimself and squeezed his eyes shut as the third man walked over. "I mean what good is this little runt to a man like Stark? I'd have dumped the kid after he was born if this was my son."

"He's supposed to be just as smart as his old man." Dick said, "Tough I'm begining to doubt that. He hasn't even tried to escape yet."

Tony hadn't and for a good reson. It was December and the temature at night was close to freezing. Tony hadn't been dressed for that kind of weather when he'd been taken and he was even less prepared for the cold since the men had taken his coat, mittens, and shoes. Not only that but Tony didn't know where they were. Why would he leave and rsik getting lost in the cold when he might have been in the middle of knowwhere?

"What say you brat? Why haven't you tried to escape?"

Tony glanced up at the man kneeling infront of him. He looked even meaner up close than he had when he'd been on the other side of the room.

"Not stupid. I'd freeze if I went outside like this."

The man laughed at his response. "That's very true brat. That's why I had them take your things. I'm tempted to let you go just so I can see how far you get."

Tony gulped. The man sounded serious and the last thing Tony wanted was to be stuck outside in the cold.

"Don't do that Joe. Don't torment the kid. He didn't do anything wrong. It's not his fault that his father's an asswhole who won't pay the ransom." The nervous man said as he walked towards them.

Joe snorted and turned to look at the other man. Tony still didn't know his name and he hadn't bothered asking. He doubted that Dick and Joe were the other men's real names and he doubted that the nervous man would give him his read name either. He'd just have to wait and see if either ofthe others said it.

"Why not? He could use a little toughing up. It'd be just like old times only this time Granddad wouldn't be standing in the house snearing at us from the window."

The nervus man tensed for a second before shaking his head. "We did this because Dick wanted to know what really happened to his sister. Instead of asking for information when we call all you ask for is money."

"He's gotta point you know?" Dick growled. "This whole thing has gone all screwy because you couldn't keep your greed in check."

It didn't take much for Joe to pull away from Tony and storm over to where Dick was standing. The two men scowled at eachother and seconds later they were fighting again. The nervous man placed himself infront of Tony as if afraid that his couleages would turn towards him in their anger. Tony hoped that they didn't.

When it became clear that the Dick and Joe weren't going to inclide the two of them in their spat the nervous man turned anround and crouched down infront of Tony.

"I'm sorry that we took you. Dick's been my best friend for years and I couldn"t let him do this alone. Joe just kinda forced himself into the whole thing."

Tony blinked his eyes wide with surprise. He hadn't expected any of the men that had taken him to apologize for it. "When can I go home?" He asked feeling brave enough to talk to the man infront of him.

"I don't know. Things didn't turn out like we had planned and now things are difficult. I'm going to try and get you back toy our parents soon though. It'll be better if you leave soon."

"Better for him maybe but not better for us."

Both Tony and the nervous man turned so that they were looking at Joe. The man stood before them fists bloodied and arms crossed. He look every bit as mean as Tony thought he was. "Do I need to have a talk with you too Tom? Because we can do that and it'll go the same way my talk with Dick went."

Tony winced and tried to peek around the men standing infront of him. He couldn't see Dick and he wasn't sure if he was worried or thankful for that. Something told him that Dickwas worse off then Tony like to think. While the man had taken him away from Jarvis he could understnad why and Tony hoped that he wasn't hurt too badly. Joe on the other hand Tony wouldn't have felt bad for if a semitruck ran him over with all eighteen wheels.

Joe he didn't like one bit. Joe scared him in a way that he couldn't explain. Joe made him want to run and hide and stay put and hope he was being good enough to not draw attenton to himself.

Tom winced as Joe reached out and touched his shirt. "I'm going to take Tony boy into another room and we're going to have a talk." Joe said his voice calm and his face blank."And while I do that you're going to take Dick and get him cleaned up because in the next half hour were going to give Howard Stark one last call and if he doesn't answer we're going to kill his kid and dump him in the river."

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This is all I have for the time being. Sorry. Maybe the rest of the kidnapping will click into the preper places in my head soon.