Kunar Province, Afghanistan
Tony Stark was riding in a convoy of military vehicles driving through the Afghan desert. He was holding a tumbler of whisky with 3 airmen.
"I feel like you're driving me to a court-martial" Tony said but got nothing but silence. "This is crazy. What did I do?" he asked them. Again nothing. "I feel like you're going to pull over and snuff me." he said but they continued to ignore him. "What, you're not allowed to talk?" he asked looking at the soldier next to him. "Hey, Forrest!"
"We can talk, sir." Forrest told him.
"Oh, I see. So it's personal?" Tony asked him.
"No, you intimidate them." The driver told him, revealing that the driver was a woman.
"Good God, you're a woman. I honestly... I couldn't have called that. I mean, I'd apologize, but isn't that what we're going for here?"Tony asked making the airmen smile. "I thought of you as a soldier first."
"I'm an airman." she told him.
"You have, actually, excellent bone structure there... I'm kind of having a hard time not looking at you now... Is that weird?"Tony asked, trying to lighten the mood. It worked since he got everyone to laugh. "Come on, it's okay, laugh."
"Sir, I have a question to ask." the front passenger told him.
"Yes, please" Tony said.
"Is it true you went 12 for 12 with last year's Maxim cover models?" the passenger asked.
"That is an excellent question. Yes and no. March and I had a scheduling conflict, but fortunately, the Christmas cover was twins." Tony told him. "Anything else?" Forrest raised his hand. "You're kidding me with the hand up, right?"
"Is it cool if I take a picture with you?" Forrest asked him.
"Yes. It's very cool." Tony told him. Forrest handed his camera to the passenger as Tony and Forrest leaned in."All right." "I don't want to see this on your MySpace page." Forrest gave a peace sign. "Please, no gang signs." Forrest lowered his hand. "No, throw it up. I'm kidding. Yeah, peace. I love peace. I'd be out of a job with peace." Forrest threw up the peace sign again and they waited for the picture.
"Come on. Hurry up. Just click it. Don't change any settings. Just click it." Suddenly an explosion blew up a vehicle in front of their Humvee.
"What's going on?" Tony asked frantically.
"Contact left!" The driver yelled.
"What have we got!?" Tony asked. The driver left the Humvee and was immediately shot.
"Jimmy, stay with Stark!" The passenger ordered.
"Stay down!" Forrest ordered.
"Yeah." Tony agreed, ducking. The passenger got out of the vehicle and was shot.
"Son of a bitch!" Forrest was about to leave the vehicle when Tony stopped him.
"Wait, wait, wait! Give me a gun!" Tony ordered.
"Stay here!" Forrest ordered and left the vehicle before being shot in the head.
"Whoa!" Tony scrambled from the Humvee as bullets and missiles flew around him and the soldiers around him were shot and killed. He dove behind a rock to hide and tried to make a phone call when a small rocket landed next to him. On it he saw what would help change everything: a Stark Industries Logo. The rocket then exploded and threw Tony threw the air. When he landed he opened his shirt and found blood covering the body armor he had been wearing before passing out.
When he came to he was surrounded by armed kidnappers who were making a video of him. He tried to move and found himself tied to a chair, battered, confused, and his chest was swathed in bandages. Beside him was a masked man reading from a prepared speech in another language. If he mad it out of this alive his sister was going to kill him.
Las Vegas, 36 Hours Earlier
I sat at a reception in a crowded ball room at Caesar's Palace. I wore a simple blue dress, well as simple as a dress can be for a Stark. My hair was done in an elegant bun and I wore dark Tanzanite earrings and a teardrop Tanzanite necklace, both of which Tony gave me. There were pictures of Tony on the walls and old newspaper and magazine cuttings of my brother's life was being shown a large screen. Tony was getting awarded tonight so everything was important to these people.
"Tony Stark. Visionary. Genius. American patriot." the voice over said as a picture of Tony on the cover of Wired magazine was shown. "Even from an early age, the son of legendary weapons developer Howard Stark quickly stole the spotlight with his brilliant and unique mind. At age four, he built his first circuit board. At age six, his first engine. And at 17, he graduated summa cum laude from MIT." it said as magazine images of Tony from childhood through his teens were shown. "Then, the passing of a titan." A newspaper cutting of my father, Howard Stark, and my mother, Maria Stark, in December of 1991. The day of their death. I took a deep breath and drank from the wine glass in my hand. I was a Stark, and drinking alcohol was in our DNA. "Howard Stark's lifelong friend and ally, Obadiah Stane steps in to help fill the gap left by the legendary founder, until, at age 21, the prodigal son returns and is anointed the new CEO of Stark Industries. With the keys to the kingdom, Tony ushers in a new era for his father's legacy." A magazine article was shown of Tony and Obadiah together. "Creating smarter weapons, advanced robotics, satellite targeting. Today, Tony Stark has changed the face of the weapons industry by ensuring freedom and protecting America and her interests around the globe." it said as pictures of Stark Industries weapons were shown as well as Tony on the cover of Rolling Stones magazine. I smiled as our long time friend, Colonel James Rhodes, Rhodey as we called him, moved to the podium below the images.
"As liaison to Stark Industries, I've had the unique privilege of serving with a real patriot. He is my friend and he is my great mentor. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to present this year's Apogee Award to Mr Tony Stark." we all broke into applause and waited for Tony to move up to take the award. I started to look around and sighed. Tony wasn't seen. "Tony?" Obadiah, who was sitting next to me, started to stand but I put my hand on his arm stopping him and standing and going to Rhodey instead.
"Thank you, Colonel." I said with a smile on my face.
"Thanks for the save." he whispered to me and I nodded slightly. I'd been accepting awards for Tony for years now. I may be his baby sister, but I was also one of the only four people that man respected.
"This is a beautiful award. Thank you." I said, looking at Rhodey, who stood next to me, before looking at the audience again. "Thank you all very much. This is wonderful. Well, I'm obviously not my brother. I know my brother is very honored and receiving this very prestigious award, especially from a very close friend, is a joy. The best thing about Tony is also the worst thing about him, I'm afraid. He's always working on something to keep us all safe and bring us peace." I told them with a smile as they all applauded my speech. Knowing Tony, he'd be "working" on his gambling.
I walked into the casino with Rhodey and found Tony playing at a table surrounded by a throng of admirers.
"Work it!" Tony said throwing the dice. "Come on!" he turned to a brunette and flirting with her. "We should just stay till the morning. You are unbelievable." he turned and saw us behind him. "Oh, no! Did they rope you two into this?"
"Nobody roped us into anything!" Rhodey said angrily. "But they told me that if I presented you with an award, you'd be deeply honored."
"Of course I'd be deeply honored. And it's you, that's great. So when do we do it?" he asked Rhodey.
"We already did." I told him as Rhodey held up the award and gave it to him.
"It's right here. Here you go."
"There it is. That was easy... I'm so sorry." Tony told us.
"Yeah, it's okay." Rhodey told him.
"No, it's not. You had a place to be and you weren't there, again. Tony you can't keep doing you need to be more responsible." I told him, but he ignored me and.
"Wow! Would you look at that? That's something else. I don't have any of those floating around." Tony said handing the award to the woman and went back to the table.
"Don't you dare ignore me, Anthony Stark!" I almost shouted at him.
"I'm not ignoring you, Rose. I just want to enjoy my last night in America for a while." he told me and I rolled my eyes at him. "We're gonna let it ride! Give me a hand, will you?" Tony asked the woman, who blew on his dice. "Give me a little something-something." Tony held the dice up to me and I gave him a look, making him move onto Rhodey. "Okay, you, too."
"I don't blow on a man's dice." Rhodey told him. Tony and Rhodey argued silently before Rhodey knocked Tony's hand and the dice rolled.
"There it is. Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes rolls! And..." We watched the dice come to a stop.
"Two craps. Line away." the dealer said.
"That's what happens." Rhodey told him.
"Worse things have happened. I think we're gonna be fine." Tony said.
"We will be." I told him.
"This is where I exit." Rhodey said.
"Deal him out." I told the dealer and he nodded to me.
"All right." Tony said. The dealer told him his winnings and I gave it to someone else to collect it for him and we all walked away.
"Tomorrow, don't be late." Rhodey reminded Tony.
"Yeah, you can count on it." Tony said but we all knew he was lying.
"I'm serious!" Rhodey called to us.
"I know, I know." Tony said as we all separated. "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. There you go." Tony gave the award to the actor playing a gladiator who looked at him confused.
"I'll have that back. Thank you." I said taking it back.
"I don't need it Rose." he told me.
"Rhodey presented this and I accepted it. I choose what happens to it." I told him.
"You say that every time." he complained.
"And it's the only reason you have all those trophies." I reminded him as Happy Hogan and a security detail walked out to the Rolls Royce.
"Mr Stark! Miss Stark!" I sighed at the woman's voice. "Excuse me, Mr Stark, Miss Stark! Christine Everhart, Vanity Fair magazine. Can I ask you a couple of questions?" sh asked us.
"She's cute." Happy whispered to Tony.
"Don't tell him that Happy." I said hitting him lightly.
"She's all right?" Tony whispered asking. I sighed as he turned to face her with a smile after Happy nodded to her. "Hi."
"Hi." she said with a smile.
"Yeah. Okay, go." Tony said pulling me with him as he walked to her. I offered her a false smile but she couldn't tell the difference.
"You've been called the da Vinci of our time. What do you say to that?" she asked us.
"Absolutely ridiculous. I don't paint. My sister paints." he said pointing to me. "Absolutely stunning work."
"Thank you." I said giving him a smile.
"And what do you say to your other nickname, ''The Merchant of Death''?" Christine asked him.
"That's not what he is." I told her.
"It's not bad..." he said and I gave him a look. "Let me guess. Berkeley?"
"Brown, actually." she told him.
"Well, Ms Brown. It's an imperfect world, but it's the only one we've got. I guarantee you, the day weapons are no longer needed to keep the peace, I'll start making bricks and beams for baby hospitals." he told her.
"Rehearse that much?" she asked him.
"Every night in front of the mirror before bedtime." he told her.
"I can see that." she said.
"I'd like to show you first-hand." he said, flirting with her. His usual reaction to a woman.
"All I want is a serious answer." she told him.
"Okay, here's serious. Our old man had a philosophy, ''Peace means having a bigger stick than the other guy.''" Tony told her.
"That's a great line coming from the guy selling the sticks." Christine said to him.
"My father helped defeat the Nazis. He worked on the Manhattan Project. A lot of people, including your professors at Brown, would call that being a hero." Tony told her.
"In fact, they did." I reminded her. There had been many magazine articles saying Howard Stark was a hero to not only our country but to it's people as well.
"A lot of people would also call that war profiteering." Christine told us.
"Tell us, do you plan to report on the millions we've saved by advancing medical technology or kept from starvation with our intelli-crops?" I asked her with a smile.
"All those breakthroughs, military funding, honey." Tony told her before going back to the car.
"You ever lose an hour of sleep your whole life?" she asked him.
"I'd be prepared to lose a few with you." he told her.
There were many nights I was glad my room was the complete opposite from Tony's. This was one of them. I sat in my room finishing my painting of the golden city. I had many paintings of this mysterious city in my room, in the house and in museums. I had sketches of a man with black hair and emerald green eyes. I knew nothing about his, his name, where he was from, nothing. He was gorgeous though, she did have to admit that. His eyes held mischief and knowledge, knowledge that couldn't be found here on Earth. But that kind of man and that kind of knowledge couldn't possibly exist, could it?
