AN: This goes along with the story 'Tony's Heart' which is also a sequel to 'When Loki Spoke the Truth.' You don't have to read them to understand this story but it helps to understand how everyone got together. I hope you enjoy.

Tony let his head rest on his counter top with a huge sigh. Pepper was forcing him to go to another company meeting which also meant that he had to wear a suit and tie and he wasn't allowed to arrive in his Iron Man suit. It also meant that she hadn't let him have anything to drink in the past ten hours. He probably would have stayed like that until he was forced to leave except he heard a laugh come from the doorway. Tony looked up to see a chuckling Steve, also in suit and tie.

"You just keep laughing," muttered Tony. "Besides, don't you have to go to one of those S.H.E.I.L.D meetings anyway?"

"Yes, but I'm going there by choice," said Steve with a smile as he came over and gave Tony a quick kiss on the cheek. "What are you still doing here though?"

"Waiting for Happy, why?"

"Well, let's just say he's been waiting outside for about thirty minutes," replied Steve with another laugh as Tony jumped up and grabbed his briefcase. He quickly said bye to Steve as he rushed to a probably now irritated Happy, though Tony doubted that he would ever admit that.

"Morning Mr. Stark," said Happy as he held open the door.

"Morning, sorry for keeping you waiting Happy."

"No problem Mr. Stark."

Tony decided to mess around on his phone, see what's happening in the world, while he was taken to the meeting. It should have taken about forty-five minutes to get to the place but they stopped after only about fifteen minutes. Confused, Tony looked towards the door as it was opened by Happy.

"What . . . oh."

"Sorry Mr. Stark."

"It's alright," said Tony softly as he looked past Happy to the gun pointed at his head.

"Get out of the car Mr. Stark," said the man holding the gun. He wore a simple black suit and had dark eyes and dark hair. "If you don't follow every command I give you things could get . . . messy to say the least."

The way the man said 'messy' and smiled sent chills down Tony's spine but he kept a cool composure and slowly got out of the car. The man motioned for him to walk towards a limo that was blocking his own car from leaving the alleyway that they were currently parked in.

"Promise you won't hurt Happy," Tony said simply. It wasn't a question.

"I won't kill him."

Just as Tony was slowly walking towards the car he heard a cry of pain and spun around to see Happy on the ground, unconscious.

"You said you wouldn't hurt him!"

"No Mr. Stark, I said I wouldn't kill him. Now, get in the car," replied the man with cold detachment.

Tony finally moved once again, giving one last glance at Happy as he got into the car. He wasn't sure what he was expecting but he certainly wasn't ready for what met him. A man, if that's what you could call him, sat at the far end of the limo. He was attached to what seemed like an adult car seat and his body was contorted in ways that looked pretty painful. He had barely any hair left and one of his eyes were light blue while the other was a dark brown. A young woman, in a business suit, sat next to him holding what looked like a phone.

"Tony Stark," croaked the man. His voice was low and sounded like saliva filled it. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, the pleasure would be all mine if I just knew who I was addressing."

"My name is Merick Smith. You probably haven't heard of me. I was once a general in the army, though."

"Once? What could have made you quit because it seems to me that your career looked so promising," said Tony sarcastically.

"You are just as quick tongued as they say," replied the man with a laugh that was more like a wheeze. "But enough with the small talk. There is something I need you to build me."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that but I must tell you I'm not very easy to work with and I normally don't accept jobs from strange men."

"I think you will this one."

"You seem pretty sure of yourself. However, I must sadly decline."

"I don't think you will."

"And why is that?"

"Because if you do I'll kill every single one of your friends."

Tony froze up immediately on the inside but was able to keep a calm expression. "Friends?" he asked. "You obviously don't know me as well as you think. I don't have any friends."

"Yes you do or have you forgotten them? Personally I'm still surprised that you've gotten so friendly with that god who nearly destroyed New York last year."

"How the hell do you know Loki's here?" yelled Tony, all composure completely gone now.

"I have my source," said Merick with a smirk. "And I almost forgot, as far as killing friends go, that includes Steve Rogers, your lover."

Tony was practically rigid. How could this man know about Steve, not even Nick Fury knew that. He was about ready to start yelling again when the woman suddenly said, "Sir, we've broken through the last firewall."

"Excellent let me see it," he said as the woman held the phone up to his face. "Hmm, click on the file that says 'emotions.'"

Firewall? What had they just hacked into and why would there be a file that said emotions in it? How were they getting their information? Tony didn't know any of the answers to these questions and was livid now.

"Interesting," murmured the man. "Under 'happiness' it says; when Tony isn't in trouble, when I'm able to read a book, when I'm working on a project with Tony, when Tony is happy. He seems very fond of you Mr. Stark."

"Who?" asked Tony as he clenched his hands together and ground his teeth.

"Who? I'm surprised you haven't realized yet. Oh, look at this 'fear' just popped up. Under it, it says; how I feel right now. Hear that Tony? Your poor AI is actually afraid."

And suddenly everything came into perfect clarity, how they had gotten such information that could only come from someone extremely close to Tony and now it made since why they had said firewall and a file named 'emotions.'

They had hacked Jarvis.