"I don't know how you would react, but I was hoping you could take over the job of watching her. You know the basics of course, but I'm hoping that you could watch her… for now,"

"I think I can handle it sir. I know much more than the basics, I've been here longer than almost anyone, but yes, I will watch her…. Sir,"

Glancing over at the young girl she was just assigned to watch, this new woman let out a sigh. Technically, she wasn't a woman per say, but a 'young lady,' however strongly she disagreed with the statement.

Her hair was long, and well taken care of, she really did love her hair. Though she would take the statement to the grave; it was one thing that her and her mother had in common, they always said she looked like her. A small smile graced her lips at the thought. She loved her mother dearly, and being recognized as such was the best complement anyone could give her.

Crossing the length of her room, she sat quietly on her bed, staring off in to the vast caverns of the window, lost in the oppressions that were ever present in her mind. She fiddled gently with a locket that she had securely clasped around her neck. Once again a smile graced her lovely, but fierce and strong features.

They all said she got that from her father. That was the most insulting comment given to her by anyone, though she couldn't deny the resemblance. Quickly she shut the door to her emotions that was somehow blown wide open.

A grunt and shuffling of sheets beside her pulled her out of any thoughts pertaining to herself and her stupid history…

A small weak voice with a twang of hoarseness spoke out into the silent room; it bounced off the walls with fervor.

"So you decided to journey to the land of the conscious once more?" She was sarcastic, but gentle. She had been new once, had found her world crashing down around her with hours; well more like weeks, but she was only conscious for a few hours…

"Who… I….. What happened? Where's Allison? Where am I?What about my dad?! How long has it been since the attack!? What happened?! Who was it!? is everyone okay!? I mean, the smoke was chocking, and I couldn't see anything but I just, I don't understand! Everything was fine…" she finally lost her voice as tears started to stream down her face, her expression turning from horror to sadness to worry to confusion, but the ending emotion that shone on her face was the most expected; devastation.

"Its going to be okay, I'm Avynna, can you tell me your name?" her face was calm as she examined the girl before her. She looked shaken, scared, and frightened.

"Pe…Pepper… Pepper Potts," shaking, the voice that came from her didn't fit the personality Avynna imagined.

"Do you remember what happened Pepper?" her voice was soothing to the ringing that was consuming the ginger haired girls mind.

"Yes…." Not trusting her voice, the sentence hung in the air. Shifting slightly, Avynna looked sadly at what she saw. The brokenness was nothing new, but it just didn't fit on her face. She had read her file, given to her by superiors, but she never imagined the polar opposite to be what she found.

"Are you hungry?" yes and no questions would be the only ones answered at the moment, Pepper's company knew, but they were still hard to ground out. So a simply nod answered it affectively.

Time had escaped Tony as he continued to stare at the computer screen before him. He saw the lights, the codes, the information, but it didn't register like it use to. He wanted to scream. He wanted to obliterate something, anything. Death becoming was what entered his mind; a path of destruction. But he knew better…

Or did he?

His anger had always been there. After his father's disappearance; the crash, the new life, the hate radiated, but in small quantities, not a consuming fire of rage.

Not like now.

He had changed the codes on the lab doors, Rhodey couldn't get in if he tried. Not that he would risk the verbal abuse he was so pleasantly accustomed to. But his heart was heavy for his friend's well being, the sadness, the denial, it was all understandable. So was the anger. But this temper was more powerful than anything that had come into his life yet. The hatred was frightening.

"Base located. Proceeding sweep," the computer chirped. Alerting the organizer it had found the base Pepper had been staying at. They said it was in Fiji, but there were over thirty bases stationed in the country, and hundreds of ships in the bays along the coast, she could have been in anyone of them.

Having connections was one thing the youngest Stark was thankful for beyond all measure. His father had created, almost from scratch, the militaries systems. The firewalls, safety protocols, everything. He knew them like the back of his hand.

"Check saved video files," his mind was elsewhere; looking over the schematics for a new and improved Iron Man suit. It was stealthier, easily undetectable by most new age radars, and would be good for undercover missions. Investigating, and tracking down who, or whomever did this to his Pepper.

There it was again, the, his attached to her name. It was a habit that seemed too have developed out of nowhere. He had never use to before the events of the last month. And they were probably to blame for it.

"Video stopped mid attack. Interference caused total decomposition of feed, Downloading saved file now," Tony's head snapped up, and anger boiled inside of him. Why didn't he realize it would be damaged?

Where was his head at lately?!

The footage was downloading at an excruciatingly slow rate; the small bar moving gradually ever few seconds.

Finally, it was playing on the computer screen in front of him. Looking over the footage, he almost destroyed something right then and there. He saw something he should have expected, and yet it was still getting a horrid reaction out of him.

He saw Pepper's frightened face as the first explosion went off, hiding under her desk like most of the other students that occupied the room. She had been smiling, laughing with another girl not seconds before. Then the wall caved in, causing the room to react instantly; when out of the smoke emerged a figure. First all you could see was an outline, and then the metal suit came into view, along with the long metal arms he had implanted, from what he knew, years ago.

The feed turned into fuzzy snow.

He didn't know whether to be relived or angered that there was no sound.

His fist squeezed closed, his nails digging into his palm, causing crescent like dents in his skin.

An angered scream ripped through the silence. Why hadn't he known?

Getting out of his seat, he moved about the laboratory, pushing things off of the metal work desks, and kicking chairs in attempted to get out his anger. Fists collided with the wall until his breath was spent, and his chest heaved in anger.

Tears came from his eyes out of remorse, anger, rage, and a need for revenge.

Panting, his palms rested flat on the cement covering, his head resting on the pillar he was leaning against.

His mind raced with ideas, destinations, and painful endings for Mr. Fix. What if Pepper was really trying to ask him for help when she wanted to look up that old criminal? Why hadn't he listened? Pain was prominent in his chest as he felt a hand on his shoulder. How had Rhodey figured out the code?

"Come on man, there was nothing you could have done; you didn't know what she was going to say. You couldn't have known Fix would have gone after her again after so long," his voice was a way to calm him, but it only revved him up. He was right, he couldn't have known. So why the hell doesn't he do something about it now?

His legs carried him to the devise that cold find the criminal he sought.

Keys being pushed, screens lighting up, and information being found, Tony's eyes were trained to the monitor in front of him.

"Man, don't do something you'll regret," Rhodes was scared for his friend. He saw the cogs moving in his head, and he knew that something he did not approve of was going to happen fairly soon.

The explosion made the black man sitting at his hundred screens jerk his head at the loud noise that burst him out of his thoughts.

Before he could even make a move, a red clad hand reached up and tightened its hold on the mastermind's metal suit.

"Why did you send Whiplash to the base in Fiji?!" his voice was commanding and harsh. This caught the villain off guard. This 'superhero' wasn't one for rough interrogation, but he could sense the anger from him.

A smirk crossed his face; his electronic eye remained the same while his human side had a mischievous glint in it.

"Why so angry Iron Man?" he had heard of the desolation of the base, but had nothing to do with it, he knew who was killed. What was surprising was the fact it affected him so deeply. He had saved a certain red-head more than he expected, could she have been a personal friend of the famous idol?

"I asked you a question!" before he could respond with a snark comment, Iron Man threw him into one of the cement walls that held up the warehouse the nefarious unlawful man staked his claim in.

Again, the red and gold figure picked him up and shouted the question.

"Wouldn't you like to know," the anger that boiled inside of Tony threatened to come out as a burst of pain and anguish, instead, he settled for it to be directed at the person he was gripping. Flying up twenty feet, he flew down aimed towards the ground, Mr. Fix slammed into the pavement. Tony was careful to send pain through his body, but not knock him out; he couldn't give information if he was unconscious.

"I'll ask one more time, why did you destroy the base in Fiji?!" Tony's grip only intensified when the frightened and pained look on his enemy's face became clear.

"I said…" before he could ask again, Fix cut him off.

"I….I haven't seen Whiplash in months! He paid what he owed me and went freelance! I don't know who he's working for! I swear! Just…. Just put me down!" they had been up a hundred or higher feet when this took place. Looking hastily down at the small structure that used to be a good sized warehouse was a fearsome moment in the middle aged man's life.

Looking at him for a moment the genius contemplated if he was telling the truth. Deciding that he was, but still angry, Tony Stark/ Iron Man dropped the criminal to fall and land where ever he did.

Screams came from his lungs as the instigator fell to what he was sure to be his death.

"In other news, the nefarious villain was found barely alive today after what looks to be a fifty foot fall. People all over town are wondering what occurred earlier this evening…." Rhodey was out the door as fast as his legs could carry him. The news left on, and is bowl of cereal sat forgotten on the table in front of the TV screen. What had he done?

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to update, I kept starting the chapter then forgetting it was in here hahaha anyway… please review ;) and let me just say friends, this aint my first rodeo, so to speak, so I know what I'm doing, as hard as that is to believe, I have a many great twists and such for this story he he :) RnR