Here's chapter 7 guys! I was able to update early, hooray! I hope you guys enjoy it, it's a longer one! Trigger warning: Violence and Death.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Avengers.
Afghanistan - The Cave - One day later
A day later after the arc reactor successfully placed in, Tony spent the majority of the night, sketching on several pieces of paper. Once the sun rose, Tony walked over to his work table, placing the papers down on it. "This is how we're going to get of here," Tony said as he looked at the paper, Yinsen walking over. "What is it?*" Yinsen asked Tony, glancing over at him. "Flatten them out and look,*" Tony said to Yinsen, flattening the papers, to reveal a blueprint of a suit of armor. "Impressive*," Yinsen would say, sounding absolutely amazed. "Yeah," Tony would say with a quick nod.
A few hours later
"Good roll, good roll," Yinsen would say, as the two were sitting at the table, playing a quick board game, taking a break from working. "You know," Tony began as he passed the dice over to Yinsen, "you still haven't told me where you're from.*" Yinsen grabbed them from Tony, absentmindedly rolling the game pieces. He spoke up, "I am from Gulmira, it's a small village." Tony gave a nod, retrieving the dice from the table and casting them once more. "It's actually very nice place," Yinsen said with a soft smile. "Do you have a family Yinsen?"
"Yes, and I will see them once we get out of here," Yinsen said with a nod, before asking Tony a similar question. "What about you Stark? Do you have a family?"
Tony looked over towards Yinsen, before giving a nod. "Yes. I have an adopted son that me and my girlfriend raise," Tony said to Yinsen. "You have an adopted son? What is his name?" Yinsen asked Tony. "His name is Draco," Tony said to Yinsen, watching the man roll the dice, "I know, it isn't a common name. When we adopted him, he already had a name, and we did not want to change his name." Yinsen gave a nod, understanding. "No no, his name sounds unique Stark, he sounds like a great kid," Yinsen said sincerely, handing the dice over to Tony. Tony placed the dice down, not rolling it. "He is a great kid, he's fantastic with technology for his age. I just hope he's doing okay right now, with me being gone," Tony would say with a sigh, before Yinsen spoke up again. "How old is he, Stark?" "He will be turning nine on June 5th," Tony answered the question, looking over at him. "He is still pretty young Stark- he probably isn't taking it well," Yinsen explained to Tony, with a small frown. Tony sighed, before saying, "That's what I was assuming. But he still has Pepper with him, I at least hope she is giving him support." He was sure that Pepper was there for Draco, Pepper cared for and loved Draco as much as he did. He just really hoped that she was able to help him out, especially in this situation. "I am sure that she is doing everything she can to help him get through this," Yinsen would reassure Stark, with a nod.
Penthouse - June 5th, 2008
"Come on Draco, please get ready," Draco could hear his mother speak outside of his room, knocking on his door, "Uncle Stane and Uncle Happy will be arriving in roughly two hours." Draco let out a sigh, getting up from his bed, and beginning to get dressed. Today was his birthday, he was turning nine years old today. He knew that he should be happy, and that he should be excited to see his two uncles today. But, he just did not feel up to it. It has been ten days since his dad has gone missing. And in those ten days, Draco's attitude just got worse, and the boy found himself rarely smiling. He just wanted his dad to come home, he didn't want anything else for his birthday. But he had a feeling that his father wouldn't be returning home today. Once he was done getting dressed, Draco walked out of his room and headed for the kitchen, where his mother was cooking up dinner.
As he walked in, he saw Pepper look over towards him. She stopped cooking for a moment, the food she was cooking needed to sit anyway, and lowered herself down to Draco, so he could see her at his level. "Thank you for getting ready Draco," She said with a soft smile, looking towards her son. Draco simply gave a nod, before Pepper spoke up again. "And Draco, please try to be on your best behavior today. Try to be happy, you know that your father would want you to be." Draco knew she was right, Tony would want him to be happy. He knew that his father wouldn't want to see Draco this upset. "Okay," He said with a weak smile, "I'll try my best." Pepper smiled at his response, before kissing her son on the forehead. "Thank you. Now go run along, they'll be arriving in about two hours." Draco quickly nodded before leaving the kitchen, heading down to the workshop where he could be by himself until they arrived.
Two hours passed by quickly, due to Draco not watching the clock. The boy found himself concentrated on a project that his father left out, deciding he would try to finish it for him. But as he was working, J.A.R.V.I.S. decided to speak up. "Draco, your mother is calling you upstairs. Your Uncle Stane and Uncle Happy have arrived." Draco let out a sigh, before putting down his tools and walking to the door of the workshop. "Okay J.A.R.V.I.S.," The boy would say, before leaving the workshop and heading up the stairs.
As he headed up the stairs, he saw his two uncles and his mother, waiting for him. Draco first looked over towards Uncle Happy, who had a smile on his face. "Hey there kiddo," his Uncle Happy said, walking over to the boy, "Happy birthday Draco!" "Thanks," Draco responded, trying to keep a smile on his face, but his smile wasn't that strong. Uncle Stane was the next one to walk over, looking down towards the boy. "Happy birthday Draco," Uncle Stane said, placing his hand onto Draco's shoulder, "Are you feeling better since the last time we spoke?" Draco didn't respond to his uncle- he was still angry at Uncle Stane. Draco was about to answer, but Pepper quickly spoke up, feeling like the conversation was about to turn south very quickly. "How about we go to the kitchen and have dinner? We can talk at the table," She said with a soft smile, grabbing their attention. Uncle Stane nodded, speaking up, "That sounds like a good idea Pepper." Pepper then lead them into the kitchen, heading over to the dinner table. At the dinner table, four plates were out with forks, knives, and napkins. On the plates were steak, baked potato, and green beans.
They all sat themselves down at the table, before they began to eat. As Uncle Stane was cutting his steak, he decided to speak up again. "So Draco, you weren't able to answer me before. How have you been feeling since the last time we spoke?" Draco put down his fork for a moment, before looking over towards his uncle. "Fine," Draco answered his question, trying his best to sound like he was in a good mood. "Really?" Uncle Stane would say as he put a piece of steak into his mouth, "I'm surprised that you're handling this situation well, since the last time I saw you, you weren't doing so well." "Yes," Draco would quickly respond, his voice beginning to sound a bit frustrated, "I am fine." He wasn't taking the situation well in actuality; he was spending his birthday without his father, who has been missing for ten days. If his mother didn't ask him to try to be on his best behavior, who knows how he would be reacting to his uncle right now. After that, Draco focused on eating his dinner, not speaking to his Uncle Stane. Instead, he decided to listen to his mother's and Uncle Happy's conversation.
As soon as dinner was over, his mother and two uncles quickly cleaned up the table and washed all the dishes. Once they were done, Pepper pulled out a cake, which was chocolate flavored with vanilla icing. She brought the cake over to him, placing the cake in front of him. The cake had candles on it that read 'Happy Birthday', and they were all lit. Uncle Happy turned off the lights in the kitchen, before the three began to sing Happy Birthday. He listened to them sing, looking at the candles on the cake. Once they were done, he blew the candles out in two tries.
Uncle Happy then pulled out the candles from the cake, before cutting it into pieces. Uncle Happy passed him a piece, before handing a piece to Pepper and to Stane before grabbing a piece for himself. Once everyone got a piece, Draco began to eat his slice, not feeling too hungry for the cake. After taking a few bites, Draco put his slice of cake to the side, waiting for his mother and his two uncles to finish up.
Once they were finished, Pepper brought in the presents. As she walked in, Draco looked over towards the presents. There were only three presents, one from her, one from Uncle Stane, and one from Uncle Happy. She placed the gifts in front of him, and Draco reached out for Uncle Stane's gift first. He ripped the wrapping paper off of the gift, to see a Pokemon Platinum game inside."Thanks Uncle Stane," The boy would say with a nod, putting the game to the side, before grabbing Uncle Happy's present. He quickly opened the next gift, to see another video game. The video game was Kingdom Hearts 2, which came out in 2007, but Draco never got the chance to play the game."Thanks," He said with a weak smile, before moving on to the next gift.
When he opened the next gift, it was simply a movie that he saw in theaters last year with his parents. The movie was Ratatouille, which actually was a great movie. "Thanks Mom," He said with a quick nod. "You're welcome," She said with a soft smile, looking over towards his son. This can't be the last gift, I'm sure they found Dad, and are just trying to surprise me, The boy thought to himself, as he glanced over towards the kitchen entrance. Draco kept on glancing over towards the entrance while his uncles and mother talked, silently hoping for his father to surprise him. But with every minute that passed, Draco knew that his father wasn't going to walk through that door and surprise him.
Draco found himself getting out of his seat, before mumbling just loud enough for his mother and uncles to hear him, "I'll be right back." Draco didn't bother to wait for a response from any of the three. He walked out of the kitchen, and headed to the bathroom. As he entered the bathroom, he closed the door behind him. Draco put his hands onto the sink, beginning to feel tears in his eyes. He couldn't hide his emotions anymore from his mother and his two uncles. It felt horrible to not have his father by his side, especially considering what day it was. He couldn't pretend to act happy around them anymore, he had to get these feelings off of his chest. He looked up towards the mirror, staring right at his reflection when tears began to roll down his cheeks.
Pepper, Uncle Stane, and Uncle Happy sat at the table, waiting for Draco to return. "Draco has been gone for awhile," Pepper said as she began to sit up from her seat, "I'm going to check on him." "No Pepper," Uncle Stane intervened, quickly sitting up from his seat. "Let me check on him." Pepper quickly shook her head, beginning to refuse. "No Obediah, I would prefer it if I checked on him-" "Pepper, I insist," Uncle Stane cut her off, before walking out of the kitchen. He walked up to the bathroom door, before knocking. "Draco, are you in there?"
Draco froze at the sudden knock, and hearing his Uncle Stane speak up. "Go away," Draco responded to his uncle, hoping Uncle Stane would take the hint that he wanted to be left alone. But his Uncle Stane ignored his wishes. "Draco, you've been in here for a while now," He heard his uncle speak on the other side, "What's the matter?" Not giving Draco a chance to respond, his Uncle Stane quickly opened the door.
When Stane opened the door, he automatically saw Draco, with tears rolling down his cheeks. He knew it, he knew that Draco was lying when he said he was feeling fine back at the dinner table. He knew that Draco didn't improve at all from the last time, maybe he got even worse. Stane was about to speak up and say something, but Draco beat him to it.
"I said, leave me alone!" Draco yelled at Uncle Stane, the mirror shattering as soon as he let out his emotions. Uncle Stane jumped back with surprise at the shattering of the mirror, but Draco wasn't bothered by it. He was used to these accidents by now, they seemed to happen whenever he showed a great amount of emotion.
Uncle Stane jumped back at the shattering mirror- he was not expecting that to happen. He was expecting Draco to break down and probably yell at him, but he was not expecting that mirror to shatter. There is something wrong with Draco, The man would think to himself, he is not a normal kid. He stood there in shock for a moment as he watched Draco walk out of the bathroom, walking right past Stane and heading back to the kitchen. Uncle Stane walked back to the kitchen after Draco, reminding himself to look up what just happened later.
Afghanistan - The Cave - August 17th, 2008
For three whole months, Tony and Yinsen worked on making that suit of armor. They managed to make it look like they were working on the Jericho, because there were cameras inside the cave, the Ten Rings were keeping a close eye on them.
As the Ten Rings members watched them work, they couldn't help it but feel suspicious. As they watched them on screen, Tony seemed to be trying something on. And what he was trying on was a hunk of metal, which did not look like the Jericho. The man who was in charge, known as Raza, sat up and signaled his men to follow him. He led his men to the cave where Stark and Yinsen were in, before knocking on the metal door and barging in. The two men inside quickly stopped what they were doing, putting their hands behind their heads. He noticed that both men seemed tense, so he decided to speak up. "Relax.*" The two became less tense, but they were carefully looking over towards him. "The bow and arrow once was the pinnacle of weapons technology,*" Raza began to talk, as he walked over to Tony, "It allowed the great Genghis Khan to rule from the Pacific to the Ukraine.*"
"An empire twice the size of Alexander the Great and four times the size of the Roman Empire,*" Raza continued to talk, as he slowly walked over to the men's work table. "But today, whoever holds the latest Stark weapons rules these lands. And soon, it will be my turn,*" He said, as he grabbed hold of the blueprints of the suit of armor. He glanced down at the blueprint, before looking over towards Yinsen.
He walked over to Yinsen, beginning to talk in a foreign language that Tony didn't understand. Raza's men made Yinsen go onto his knees, and Raza grabbed hold of a metal prong, picking up a red hot stone. He began to yell out in this foreign language, and Yinsen began to yell back, Tony only catching the word 'Jericho' as Yinsen yelled. It took Tony a second to realize what was happening, they were going to burn Yinsen! "What do you want? A delivery date?*" Tony spoke up, taking a step forward. All of the men, besides Raza, stepped forward with their hands out, yelling out in a foreign language, probably telling Tony to stop. Raza slowly looked over towards Tony, looking away from Yinsen. "I need him alive, he's my assistant," Tony said to Raza, watching the man drop the red hot stone. Raza then placed the prongs on the work table, before beginning to walk out of the cave. "You have until tomorrow to complete my missile," Raza said coldly, before walking out of the cave with his men.
As soon as Raza and his men left the cave, Tony and Yinsen got to work. They were working for three months on this suit of armor, but now they had to have it complete by tomorrow. If they didn't have this suit complete, there wasn't a chance they were going to survive. They spent the entire night creating it, making sure it would be ready in time.
Next day, August 18th, 2008
They could hear voices outside of the cave, banging on the doors, probably demanding them to open up. Tony was wearing the suit of armor, and a laptop was attached to it. Yinsen was at the laptop, frantically trying to figure out how to power up Tony's suit. "Did you initialize the power sequence?"
"Yes."
"Press Function 11. Tell me when a progress bar pops up."
"Okay, it's up."
"Press control I*," Tony began to explain to Yinsen, who quickly pressed the keys on the keyboard. "Alright, what's next?" Yinsen asked, Tony quickly responding. "I, enter, I, enter,*" Tony said, watching Yinsen do exactly what he said. "Now come over here and button me up.*" Tony said to Yinsen, who nodded and came over to Tony, helping him. As Yinsen was helping him, the bangs at the door got louder. "Just get it done,*" Tony said, as the voices at the door kept getting louder. "Make sure the checkpoints are clear before you follow me out, okay?*" Tony quickly added, as he glanced over towards Yensin. Yinsen stopped for a moment, before looking over towards Tony. "We need more time,*" Yinsen said to Tony, before walking away from Tony and grabbing a gun. "Stark, I am going to give you more time," Yinsen told him, before exiting the cave, beginning to shoot the gun at the walls and ceiling, hoping to grab the other men's attention.
"Stick to the plan!*" Tony yelled out to Yensin, before his suit was completely charged up. As soon as his suit charged up, the men sent to investigate stumble upon the remnants of the shattered door. The leader of the group, the first to recover but is still nervous, sends one of his men to look around inside. Tony fell silent as the man wandered around the cave. The man walked near Tony, unaware that he was there due to the darkness in the cave. Tony began to move, the man quickly whirling around to face Tony. Tony quickly threw a punch at the man, sending him flying back into the cave. As a result, the men at the entrance all began to shoot, not having a perfect aim. They were shooting everywhere in the cave. They all suddenly stopped when nothing happened, and one of the men looked over towards the others. He began to speak in a foreign language, but was cut off when Tony smacked him into the wall. The other two men began to panic, but Tony quickly knocked one of them into the opposite wall. The one he didn't hit yet stood in the middle, aiming his weapon at Tony and beginning to shoot. However, the bullets bounced off his armor, just causing some tiny dents. Tony began to walk up to the man, who was still shooting despite the bullets bouncing off, and punched the man to the ground.
Once they were knocked out, Tony began to walk forward. As he walked forward, other men were shooting at him, the bullets bouncing off his armor. As he was walking, two men came running up to him, yelling. He was able to knock them both out, knocking one down to the ground, and sending the other one flying. As he continued to walk, one more man came running at him, but like the others, he hit the man with his armor.
After that, Tony was walking out of the cave, the men this time running away from him. As they were running away from him, one man turned around, and began to shoot at him, walking backwards. But as he did this, the other men he was with closed the door he was suppose to enter. He quickly began to yell out in a language he didn't understand, probably demanding them to open the door and let him in. The man quickly dropped his weapon and began to bang at the door, looking back at Tony as he got closer.
The man's yelling eventually quieted down, and the men on the other side waited for the door to open, aiming their weapons at the door. There was a sudden bang at the door, leaving a dent. The men slowly began to back away, as the banging at the door did not stop. One of the men began to speak in a language, before running off with his men when Tony finally made the door open up. The door flew forward, falling onto the ground where the men previously stood.
As Tony began to continue to walk forward, Tony attempted to hit another man, but the man dodged his attack. As a result, Tony got his armor stuck into the rock wall. As he struggled to get his arm out, one man ran back to Tony, aiming his weapon at Tony. He attempted to shoot him with his gun. But the bullet bounced off, hitting the man, causing him to drop to the ground. After that, Tony looked over towards the man, before pulling his arm out and continuing to walk.
As he continued to walk, Raza loaded his weapon, which was a mini-rocket launcher. He then walked to the entrance of the cave, waiting for Tony to arrive. Yinsen was at the side, laying on top of some bags. As Tony entered, the first thing he saw was Yinsen. "Yinsen*!" Tony yelled out as he began to walk over towards him, but Yinsen caught him off with a weak voice, "Watch out*!" Tony dodged a mini-rocket that was sent at him, the mini-rocket hitting the wall and exploding. Tony quickly raised his left arm to reveal his own missile on his armor. He quickly fired the missile, aiming it at Raza. He didn't hit Raza directly, but the missile hit the wall right next to him, exploding. Raza ducked for cover, but then got covered in a pile of rocks. Raza didn't get up, and Tony quickly went over to Yensin, taking the mask off for a moment. "Come on Yensin, we got to go," Tony said to his friend, "we have a plan. We have to stick to it!" Yensin let out a cough, as he spoke silently. "This was always the plan, Stark.*" "Come on Yensin, please get up. We have to get out of here so you can see your family again," Tony attempted to motivate Yensin, but the man didn't budge. "My family is dead,*" Yensin said with a cough, looking over towards Tony, "I am going to see them again." Tony began to speak up to protest, but Yensin cut him off. "I want this, Tony. It's okay. I want this," He said, continuing to sound weak, looking over at Tony. Tony looked over towards Yensin sadly, before speaking up, "Thanks for saving my life, Yensin." "Don't waste it, Stark. Don't waste your life, your son is waiting for you," Yensin said, before taking some deep breaths. Yensin stopped breathing, lying still. Tony let out a sigh, before putting on the mask again.
He walked out of the cave, to be greeted with a crowd of men, all holding weapons. They all began to shoot at him, the bullets bouncing off of his armor. Once the men stopped shooting, Tony spoke up. "My turn.*"
Tony had flamethrowers attached to his suit, and he immediately began to set everything on fire. The men were set on fire, the weapons they stole were set on fire. He began to walk down to where his other weapons were, continuing to set everything on fire, wanting to make sure the weapons they stole were destroyed. They were beginning to aim well, and were shooting at weak parts of his suit. As they continued to shoot, he quickly set more things on fire, causing a few explosions. But as he did this, men continued to shoot at him. It was then he decided it would be a good idea to get out of here. He looked over towards his left arm, where a red button was. He quickly pressed the red button, his suit ignited into the air. As he ignited into the air, the area he was held captive exploded, escaping just in time.
But his suit didn't stay in flight for long. As soon as he got high into the air, the suit quickly lost power in flight. Tony found himself crashing into a large pile of sand, which completely destroyed his suit. For a moment after crashing, Tony sat there for a moment, before yanking off the helmet. "Not bad,*" He mumbled to himself.
Tony then found himself walking through the desert with his shirt over his head, protecting himself from the sun. As he walked, two helicopters flew above him, grabbing Tony's attention. Tony began to yell out at them , waving his hand in the air. He fell to his knees as the helicopters landed, watching U.S. soldiers run over. Tony was greeted by his best friend, James Rhodes. Tony looked over at him and smiled, Rhodey quickly pulling Tony into a hug. "Next time you're riding with me, okay?" Rhodey said to him, before he and the other soldiers helped bring Tony into the helicopter.
Penthouse
Draco found himself down in his father's workshop, as usual. He was listening to AC/DC's 'Shoot for Thrill', working on another project Tony didn't get to finish. Draco was beginning to run out of projects to complete, completing almost every project Tony left behind back in May. As he was working on the project, the music suddenly stopped. Draco looked over his shoulder to see Pepper entering, with tears running down her cheeks. At first, Draco assumed he was going to get terrible news. But, she was smiling, she wouldn't smile if she had to deliver some bad news. "Draco, I have some great news for you," She began, with a smile. Draco quickly sat up, looking over at Pepper. "Yes Mom?" He said, beginning to sound excited, a tone he didn't express since May. "Your late birthday present has finally arrived at the airport," Pepper announced, gladly watching Draco's face turn to pure happiness.
If you noticed asterisks(*) in any lines, that means the line is from the original Iron Man movie. I do not own those lines! There are also lines from the original Iron Man script that I paraphrased! Like the last chapter, review! Tell me what you liked about this chapter, what you're excited for, etc!
Stay tuned, I'll probably update on Friday or Saturday!
