starkingenuity | Why Can't We Be Friends?

"See, I really appreciate this actually." The scotch it good, the company is interesting and he's got a gun training on the back of his head. It makes him smile because Tony Stark isn't always in his right mind. Danger is a turn on. It means he's not bored and likely not alone. Both of these things are the utter bane of his existence.

He smiles at the shorter but equally impressively dressed man. Irish. Snarky. He gets that it's pretty rare to get a meeting like this.

"The invitation, I mean." By invitation, he really means kidnapping. Oh well. "But you know I can't do what you want. Stark Industries is out of the weapon's biz."

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From:

dontbeobvious

"There's a 4% chance you'll do as we want and I think to get you into that area, we'd have to do something really extreme that would push you to your lowest," which wouldn't happen but it made sense to go extreme. Jim pulled his bag up and dumped it onto Tonys chest, having a rummage for what he could find to use of Tony's picked body part.

Though it wasn't technically what they wanted, he could work with it. Pulling out the lighter he always travelled with, he tossed it to Moran.

"See how many hairs you can burn off using just the lighter and...." he rummaged around before pulling out a receipt from their coffees earlier. "This piece of paper."

Removing the bag, he sat back with a curious look. This would be good.

"You can change your mind on the body part any time in the first five minutes."

From:

starkingenuity

"Do you think it's going to take you five minutes to burn the hair out of my nose?" He's not afraid...not completely. He knows it will hurt but the damage won't be severe. Muscus membranes tend to heal, quickly. Anything else would be insane right now.

He'll think about it later. If they give him a choice.

Tony slips to the end of the bed and defiantly lifts his head. "There's a few difficult ones in there, Jim. I kept thinking about waxing-- What do you think?"

Moran thinks their hostage is as nuts as Jim is.

From:

dontbeobvious

Jim didn't waste any time, he set fire to the receipt and thrust it up towards Tonys nose, twirling it on the outside as he tried to remove all the hairs as neatly as he could, his fingers occasionally hitting the skin around the nose. It was quite fun actually. His other hand ended up clasped in Tonys hair as he kept him steady, working away to remove it all.

Humming playfully to himself, he didn't pull back till he was sure he'd gotten most of them. blowing out the blacken piece of paper, he offered a second receipt to Moran.

"Do the other one, darling? It's a forest up there."

Tony was brave and wreckless, of course he'd be stubborn at things like this. But it was easy to break men like that, they were less likely to beg for help which means they were more likely to be pushed to their physical and mental limits.

"I get to pick the next body part, I've got a good one in store!"

From:

starkingenuity

"The idea of going up another dude's nose is not my idea of a good time." Tony's eyes have watered and he keeps swallowing but other than that, he's really handling things pretty well, even with the blackened edges of nostrils he's sporting.

He makes an exaggerated sigh and crumples up the receipt. "It'll be faster with just the lighter."

Tony doesn't quite yelp, but he moves like he might just be about to. Good. He likes having the man afraid of him. It's probably why Jim likes him too. Moran can share in their favorite pastime.

He flicks the lighter and the flame, as it nears Tony, flickers with each breath before the man closes his eyes. The smell of singed flesh outweighs the hair, but at least it's done with.

Moran flings the lighter over his shoulder and shrugs.

From:

dontbeobvious

Jim laughed and eyed the fallen lighter with amusement. Shame he didn't keep that on the bed, he fancied a cigarette now. He blamed Tony, the smell of the mans burnt flesh made him think of his early days, back when he was a smoker and he had to be around for most business interactions.

"He's not a very mighty super hero," Moriarty complained as he hopped off the bed and fiddled around with the pre-loaded ipod they'd been given by the hotel. All boring modern rubbish but every now and again, he found something that sparked his interest. Slipping it into the dock, he turned up the speakers and filled the room with the sound of Beethoven's ninth symphony second movement.

It was always wise to have music playing over things like this. If he did start crying out, they were in trouble.

"Break all his fingers on the left hand. If he cries out even once, break all the fingers on his right hand."

From:

starkingenuity

Well, 'trouble' is relevant only if there was no master sniper here. He'd not really a hands on guy, Moran, but if Moriarty wants it, Moriarty usually gets it after awhile.

Breaking fingers is a good torture device. He knows it. He's used it before. It's not elegant and he's not as good at it as say, Mitchell or Barger is but he'll do in a pinch.

His breaks aren't that clean, though. He doesn't just pop knuckles out. He snaps them.

It's not as satisfying as a bullet. But watching Stark swallow his pain?

That's pretty remarkable.

After the third finger, there comes a huff. "Does that count as a crying out?"

From:

dontbeobvious

"No, don't be harsh, we want a proper noise. A whimper, a scream, a cry or a yelp. Any little pained noise," Moriarty said, just to make it fair. After all, Moran did some poor work snapping the mans fingers, it wasn't clean and it would be lucky if he got full function back to them. Hmming slightly, Moriarty flopped backwards, his mind ticking away, deep in thought.

It was interesting how composed Tony could keep but then he had a history of this sort of thing, they could hardly beat out shrapnel in the heart.

"You know, if those don't get sorted in 24 hours, it's going to drastically reduce the use of your fingers? Won't be much of an engineer. Or a piano player."

Not that Tony cared about that, huh?

From:

starkingenuity

"I guess that means no weapons." It takes him several very long seconds to get that out there, right between the ring and pinkie finger getting mauled. But at least he doesn't scream. His right hand is free and fine and-- And he's fucked no matter what. He knows that. "Besides, we both know that you're going to kill me."

He's sweating profusely.His nose is burned. He's already been injured and hung over the bathroom rail.

He really doesn't have an delusions by this point. Just a vague hope that there's enough of him left for Steve Rogers or Clint Barton to save when they come.

From:

dontbeobvious

Jim climbed up onto the bed and removed his tie, making sure it was strong material before he hooked it around the top of the spinning ceiling fan. He held the device still, ignoring the racket it made at it's forced stop as he tightened the ties grip and made sure it was hanging on. Letting go, the fan twirled once more and the tie hung off it. Turning to Tony, he smirked darkly.

"Go back to building weapons or I'm going to make that your noose. And it won't end cleanly. You'll choke, it won't snap your neck and it'll take a while. You'll probably feel yourself stop breathing, your eyes burning with pain, it's not pretty," Jim informed him as he crouched on the end of the bed and crawled closer to Tony, clambering up him much like a lapdancer would do for a bigger tip.

Leaning down, he smiled and patted Tonys face.

"Death or go back to your old ways. Pick? I know what I'd do," he leaned down and whispered in Tonys ear, it was strangely intimate but that was Jim all over, he seemed nearly affectionate but it couldn't be more wrong. "I'd rather die, wouldn't you?"

Why would anyone give up when they'd gotten so far?

From:

starkingenuity

"Mmm... That won't hold my weight and you know it," Tony says, stray tears slipping down his cheeks. Pain is a terrible thing but he can compartmentalize. More or less. Somethings are just impossible to work with.

Moran, actually, is thinking the same thing. "Why would you even say that?" he grunted, wiping his hands on his pants as Tony cradles his hand against his chest, gingerly.

"Shh, now," Tony says. "The adults are speaking."

Making Moran annoyed at him is his new favorite pastime, Tony decides.

From:

dontbeobvious

It was a metaphor... did no one gets dramatics? Heaving a very loud sigh, he gave Moran that look. The look that clearly said 'I'm acting here, stop being a prick'. No one understood the brilliance of a little prop work, he dropped down and put his head on Tonys chest, his hand reaching out to feel the device that replaced his heart. "I think hanging is too impersonal but choking always has that sort of hands on intimacy, doesn't it? I strangled my first boyfriend, it was perfection. It's fine, he was a prick anyway. Slept around and all that rubbish, i didn't care but in that moment we shared, I owned him."

He sounded almost yearning as he said that, he didn't discuss his past often but when he knew someone wasn't going to live, he was comfortable doing it. Slipping his hand into his jacket pocket, he rolled off the man and as his hand came out, so did a crude little pen knife he usually used for opening post.

Flicking it open, he studied the blade before looking at Tony.

"What would it take to change your mind? I know I never will but if there was something out there that could, what would it be? Enlighten me before I break you."

From:

starkingenuity

Moran stands silently, off to the side. He's never heard that one before, and when Tony reaches up to stroke Jim's hair -- probably out of some sort of personal amusement and little more -- he nearly shoots Tony Stark dead, then and there. But Jim moves into his line of fire, and Sebastian knows that what Tony said was true.

Moran is a genius, but he's not on par with these two.

He's here for backup, as a pet, to do the heavy lifting, but this is a meeting of the minds more than bodies.

And Tony seems to be considering it very hard, the answer to Moriarty's question.

"If you could threaten to take away who I am, what I'm able to do, my very mind--. But yanno, that'd defeat the purpose really. Neuter me and no more anything."

From:

dontbeobvious

"But that sounds so much more fun."

To destroy Tony Stark and only leave some empty shell behind for everyone to find and be stuck with. Not a great genius inventor but some zombie instead, a shadow of what he'd once been. And constant reminder that the man they loved hadn't died, he'd be trapped with them and they could do nothing about it. Jim smiled at the thought.

"You know, that's not a impossible task. Of course he remove what you are would mean you wouldn't be making weapons but who's to day you wouldn't be remove and someone else would out bid that women you gave control to. You know, the one who is only there because you said so? She really has no qualifications," and there was no way of denying that. But it would be such a shame to waste such genius.

But then... "Would be no great loss, you never were as god a your father. Let the legacy die now? Not a bad idea."

From:

starkingenuity

"Boy, is it lucky that being compared to my father doesn't send me into a rage," Tony says with a mock sincerity that causes Sebastian, in the corner, to laugh.

"What?" he shrugs when the other two glance at him. "Oh c'mon, that's funny." He snatches the lighter and burns the end of a cigarette. He has needs. They ate. Watched Glee and Big Bang Theory and he's overdo for a cigarette damn it!

Tony shakes his head at Jim, despite the pain he's in. "I don't really want to be your creepy love slave with a lobotomy."

From:

dontbeobvious

"Why would you be a love slave? You'd just be a lobotomised puppet. And I'd give you back, I'm sure your friends would adore the burden that is a slobbering waste of space," he grinned darkly before hopping off the bed and moving closer to Moran and giving him a stern look. "You were quitting, remember? everything we own smells of smoke because of you. Don't make me practise lobotomy on you."

And he probably would, it wouldn't be the first time his men had lost their lives so Jim Moriarty could practise something. Oh so many lives lost to bombs.

Turning back to Tony, he huffed slightly as if he didn't know what to do. So many options, so little interest in actually doing it.

"I'm losing interest in you... that's annoying."

From:

starkingenuity

"Annoying? I don't know. I like the breaks. Go roll up a newspaper for the puppy."

"I am not the puppy!" Moran roared, but he'd already removed the cigarette from his mouth and-- Oh, let's face it. Jim commanded, Moran almost always did.

So. Getting to Moran seemed to be the way to get to Jim too. Or at least it could be a distraction. Tony grinned. "Kinda looks that way to me. You're pussy-whipped."

Too much annoyance, not enough Big Bang.

Psychopaths need down time too. Snubbing the cigarette on Stark's face will give him a lot of sanity back, he's sure.

From:

dontbeobvious

"Moran," Jim said in a warning tone as he moved closer and grabbed the mans hand, jerking him away. The purposeful taunting of Moran? Yeah, he saw it. And his companion rarely had a great method of dealing with his anger so he decided to go about this his own way. "I think we should go for a ride."

He finally knew what he wanted to do to Tony and he really was eager to get ride of him now. He wasn't going to do what they wanted and he was causing fuss.

No more games.

"Stick him in the boot. If he tries to run or mouths off, shoot his toes off."

From:

starkingenuity

Moran has that look like he's going to shoot Tony's toes of whether he mouths off or not. At least getting the Avenger into the car isn't as difficult as one might expect. He's limping, there are burn marks on his face and his hand is turning purple from the breaks but the one time that they meet someone in the hall way, Tony just plays off drunk.

Moran doesn't understand that at first until he realizes that Tony is martyring himself for everyone else.

God. He hates him.

Shoving Tony into the trunk is easy when he gets in willingly and Sebastian slides into the driver's seat and slams the door, staring at Jim with dark eyes.

"We should kill him."

From:

dontbeobvious

"We're going to destroy him first. Don't you trust me?" Jim said, cocking his head to the side and smiling playfully. "Do we still have all the bombs set up? The back up plan in case one of us got caught? Well, they've just become plan A. Radio the boys and tell them to wait for my sign, the one we discussed. We're going to have some fun in Manhattan."

Giggling, he clambered into the back and got himself settled.

Tony wanted everyone to think of him as a hero, a protector, that's all he wanted. To be that good guy who could sacrifice himself and mean something. Being useless in a time of crisis? That would be a great send off.

Jim pulled out his phone and started to work, he had a lot to organise in a short space of time.

From:

starkingenuity

Moran liked where Jim went most of the time. His mind-- Insane, fractured, but the way it mended together in the end, the way it played on the threads that stitched it together, was absolutely beautiful. He put on the radio and headed to the rendezvous point for the original plan B.

New York would burn. Not for the first time, but this would be better than aliens and terrorists.

It's an inside job by a man without loyalties and the men with loyalties only to him.

He takes the eastern route to the jet and swings around to the passenger door to let Jim out. No one knew it was him. Their crew had no idea that this little runt was their boss. Moran's always loved that.

"New plan from Moriarty," Sebastian yells to the flight crew. "Gas us up!"

From:

dontbeobvious

"Make sure they wait for my signal. And I was thinking that Mr Stark would appreciate a good sight. But of course he won't be content with watching unless he's out there suffering for those people so I was thinking we could offer him that chance," he sat back and finished the final set ups to the automated devices that were set all over the place. The thing with his plans were that they were all done with perfect detail.

Only the best were involved and they did their jobs, they made every part work like a ticking watch.

And he had no worries his plans would work, he only ever worried about one thing and that was the target of his attacks being there to see it and hate every second.

"I say we go biblical on St Stark."

From:

starkingenuity

"Biblical?" Moran frowns lightly as he sits on the hood of the car. He know Tony can hear what they're talking about and that just makes it better in the long run. "Did you bring his suit? Are we dressing him up like an angel? I don't want to play Sodom and Gomorrah with him right now though. He's not my type."

No, really, he isn't. Moran'll fuck a lot of things but he draws the line at ungodly facial hair and too many muscles.

Tony bangs the top of the trunk twice and Sebastian grins up at Jim. He might not know the play but he's sure he's going to like it.

From:

dontbeobvious

Jim didn't say anything cause he didn't want to ruin the surprise for Tony. So he simply leaned back and stretched out his arms in a mock cross. He wanted to be a modern day Jesus then fine, he fed the poor and dazzled them with magic tricks, it was time to suffer. It seemed very fitting for a man like Stark.

"In the centre of the disaster zone. As his world goes crashing down, he'll be able to watch."

And do absolutely nothing. He knew those damn heroes would be there in seconds when the bomb went off, they could see their dear friend in the middle of chaos and know exactly who it was intended for. It was perfect. Then, of course, as soon as they got to Tony... he was going to let Moran handle it from there.

What? He could offer people false hope. "It'll be happening in five minutes, we don't want to be delayed."

From:

starkingenuity

"You're really sure?"

Moran sits glumly by the window, frowning as the helicopter takes off to put them a safe but still snipeable distance away. Tony Stark gets smaller and smaller, left on the roof of a building Jim has already determined will not be in any blast range.

"They can save him." But they won't. The Avengers will have their hands full and only one other of them could fly.

Jim kept track of when the alien was on Earth but intel suggested he might not be. Sebastian shoves an earpiece into his left ear and stands, ready to disembark as well when they hover closer to the ground.

"If you're sure Jim..."

From:

dontbeobvious

"They might. Who knows? That's the exciting part. Are they as good as I'm told or are they as useless as everyone else? Who knows?" Jim took a seat back and relaxed, watching Tony as he got smaller and it was harder to see his pain. Jim didn't care what happened to Tony now, he was more focused on the best part of the plan.

The bombing was what he was focused on now, the countdown was getting closer and he couldn't wait. When they got further enough away and Tony had chance to get used to how he was stuck, trapped in a mock cross position with the help of two daggers, he sent off a text to all his bombers.

Ten seconds exactly, he wanted detonation. He had timed it to go off in a circle, it should surround Stark entirely and detonate in the pattern of morse code SOS.

Like the Avengers could miss that one.