Rhodey and Tony sat at a table in a small diner, catching up after their long time apart. They were discussing the Mandarin, which Tony kept bugging Rhodey about.

"Im not trying to be a dick-" Rhodey started, but paused when a little girl and an even smaller boy walked up to the table. "-Tator" he finished, pretending thats what he was planning on saying all along.

"Do you mind signing my drawing?" the girl asked, holding a peice of paper out to Tony.

"If Richard doesnt mind" Tony played along. Rhodey laughed and shook his head.

"You alright with this, Dick?" When Rhodey simply remplied with a 'yeah', Tony turned to the girl.

"Whats your name?"

"Erin" the girl replied. Tony looked down at the drawing. It was a pictured of him in the Iron Man suit, flying over Stark Tower with a nuke on his back, towards the big portal in the sky. He felt his stomach twist slightly. He looked up at the little boy next to Erin, who he presumed to be Erin's little brother.

"I loved you in A Christmas Story, by the way" he said. The boy could be the identical twin to the boy in the movie. Tony turned back to the drawing and started writing 'Help Me Erin'. Rhodey continued their conversation.

"Listen, the pentagon is scared. After New York... aliens? Come on. We need to look strong. Stopping the mandarin is priority, but its- its not-"

"Its not superhero business" Tony finished for him, still working on the drawing. He was getting frustrated. Suddenly everything was about New York.

"No" Rhodey agreed.

"I get it."

"Its American business."

"Thats what I said, its-" Tony started, then paused and covered his face with his hands.

"Are you okay?" asked Rhodey, taking in the scene.

"I broke the crayon" said Tony, stating the obvious. What was happening?

"Are you okay, Mr. Stark?" asked Erin. Her drawing had just been destroyed.

"Take it easy, Tony" said Rhodey, but Tony payed no attention to that, because what happened next set him off.

"How did you get out of the worm hole?" the little boy whispered into his ear. That was it. Tony stood up and pushed away from the table. He was breathing heavy. His heart felt like it was going to explode. His stomach was in knots. His eyes were wide.

"Tony" said Rhodey, worry clear in his voice. Tony turned and tried to run out of the diner, but it ended up as more of quick walk. He was slowed down by the amount of people, but he pushed through them towards the door. Muttering the occasional 'sorry' and 'I need to check on my suit', he made it outside.

"Tony!" he heard Rhodey yell, just before the door closed behind him. The Iron Man suit arrived on the sidewalk infront of the diner, and opened up. Tony walked straight into it, and it closed around him. He fell to his knees. He was starting to calm down a bit.

"Check the heart" he ordered Jarvis. "Check the- the- check the- is the brain?" he questioned, confused as to what was happening.

"No sign of cardiac anomily or unusal brain activity" Jarvis reported.

"Okay, so I was poisoned?"

"My diagnosis is that you have experienced an extreme anxiety attack" said Jarvis. That was the last thing Tony expected to hear.

"Me?" he asked, flabberghasted. The tapping on his helmet ended his conversation with Jarvis.

"Come on man, this isnt a good look. Open up." It was Rhodey. He was kneeling on the groun infront of Tony. Getting out of the suit was the last thing Tony wanted to do.

"Sorry, I gotta split" he said quickly before standing up and blasting into the sky.