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Breaking You Down
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Pepper Potts stepped out onto the wide, open porch that overlooked the bay-side. The phone was out and in her hand, dialing even as she came to a pause at the railing. Nothing looked out of place even here. The wind was cool against her forehead and for just a moment she closed her eyes, listening to the brief ring on the line.
'Hello?' The voice that answered didn't seem surprised by the call. Her eyes opened again.
"Jim?" Pepper questioned. Although there was no doubt it was the officer. "We need you to come over as soon as possible. I think something might have happened last night and Mr. Stark is looking for some answers."
The assistant made a point to use the formal address, but the Colonel didn't seem to pick up on the detail.
'I knew I shouldn't have left him.'
She spun back to face the house, hand to head in frustration, "You left him?"
'He had too much to drink and it was starting to show. I told him to go home, but you know how he gets.'
Pepper took a breath, she did know. She looked into the house through the glass doors. Tony always had liked things to be easily accessible to the public eye. "Did you see who he went home with?"
'What? No. Damnit, I told him to go home alone.'There was nothing staged about his anger. Lying had never come easy to the man.
"Was there anyone that he seemed to take interest in at the party? Somewhere to start looking at least?"
'That's the thing, he didn't take notice at all. The daughter of Lou Jia was there, Mae. If he wanted to try for anything it would have been her, but I didn't see them together for more than a few minutes.'
"A few minutes is all it takes," Pepper commented bitterly.
'Is he all right?'
As she spoke the creature found its opportunity. The mechanical legs crawled around the side of the building, settling onto the rail. It wasn't large, the size of a rather fat rat, with a tail like a scorpion that curled in anticipation.
"Jarvis is down," she started to explain. "Whoever was here got into the system…"
'That's impossible,' Rhodes interrupted.
The creature skittered closer but Pepper never heard the mild 'tinking' of metal on concrete.
"Apparently not," she sighed. The machine made a final stretch for her exposed leg. "Tony is working on it now. But I think you should still come. He's going to want to hear the answers from you, even if you don't have…"
The tail darted out with a prick that made her wince with a short cry, pulling the phone from her ear. Pepper looked down, immediately crushing the machine with her heel. What appeared to be its head shattered easily and it stilled, parts cracked and scattered. She wanted to call for help, offer some sign of warning, but her tongue had gone numb. Her legs went weak and she fell to the ground.
'Pepper?'
The phone had clattered onto the concrete, open, and only the sound of Rhodey's voice could be heard in the air.
'Pepper!?'
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"Come on!" Tony whispered to the computer as he tried a new code. He had hoped he had finally broken through, but instead the screens all turned black.
"No…" Tony struggled to figure out where he had gone wrong, what he could do to get them back up. Nothing was working. "No, no, no!"
Before he hit the board in his frustration, all screens flicked back up and he froze. It took a moment for the light to die down to something visible, but when it did a familiar face sat smiling back at him from every monitor.
Mae Jia.
"Mr. Tony Stark, what a pleasure to see you," Her cherry lips curved with amusement. "Well, in spirit at least. It would have been foolish for me to leave a transmission for you to trace. I had this scheduled to play when my trap has been activated. It's amazing what technology can produce these days when you have the right people."
Tony went back to the controls, trying to regain authority, but nothing responded.
"I did enjoy your speech. The one on the Iron Man, you remember?"
It was impossible not to. He realized now what a mistake a few words could make.
"But I'm not contacting you to hand out compliments. I'm working in a timeframe. You understand how that is, don't you Mr. Stark?" The repeated statement made him tighten his lips in anger. "After all, if you do not get things done in the time I am providing, your Virginia Potts will be dead within a matter of days."
Tony paused and his eyes widened at the implication. He was on his feet in seconds. She clearly anticipated the move.
"I wouldn't run off to find her," Mae explained quickly and he stopped. "She has time yet, but this message will play only once."
Her smile fell and her eyes darkened to reflect his own.
"What you need to understand, is one: I have the antidote. Two: I know you are the Iron Man, so we'll not have any of these games you are trying to play. And lastly," She paused again looking much like a Cheshire cat. "You will die by the time this is all over. You can not escape that fate and it will only matter how many lives you will drag into the dirt with you."
He couldn't look at her. Last night she had done something. It had to have been the drink. It was the only opportunity. But there hadn't been enough time.
"It's a great feeling, isn't it? To put on that suit, you made yourself responsible. A far cry from your playboy days."
It was a time he wanted to put far behind him.
"We'll start this off slow. You take your little girl down to the hospital, make sure she is nice and cozy so you can get your mind straight, and then you show up at 35 Westerly and we discuss what the next plans are. I'll expect you there by eight tonight."
He looked at his watch. Eleven thirty-seven. The pause lasted longer than Tony would have liked.
"I'm sure I don't have to remind you to come alone."
The screens flickered as her face vanished and the familiar desktop reappeared. His head turned upstairs.
"Pepper?!" Tony yelled, following her steps out the broken passage and up the stairs. His body screamed with panic, looking around the empty rooms. Where would she…
He saw the opened door to the porch and his heart jumped to his throat when he saw her prone body.
"Pepper!" He ran, dropping to her side and pulling her into his arms. She was cold, but breathing. Red veins ran up one leg, those delicate legs he had often admired in silence. He followed them down and saw the broken creature.
'Pepper!' A voice cried from the fallen phone. Tony turned to the sound and reached out quickly.
"Hello!"
'Tony?'
"Rhodey, I need an ambulance here, now!"
'What…?'
"Here! Now!"
He didn't leave any room for arguing, sliding the phone closed with a snap and cradling the woman in his arms.
"Damnit," Tony cursed with trembling fingers. She was so cold. "I'm sorry, Pepper." His voice dropped to hardly a whisper. "I'm sorry."
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A.N.- So, I'm thinking this is a good pattern. I get 5 or more reviews and then update. Hm…what do you all think?
So…shrubbery, let me see if I understand what you are saying: I should shorten the chapters even more and update twice a day?! --jking-- I wouldn't be that mean to you all. But I think you might have read my mind a little bit for what was coming up next.
I, for one, am having a blast writing this. Very refreshing. I think you all are enjoying it just about as much, so, yay!
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