updating before I'm off to play LEGO Marvel superheroes *shot*

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC Jackie Walker

Chapter IX

In Which the Mandaring Turns Out to Be a Disappoinment

"Careful there, it's a limited edition. Hey, uh… Pony tail Express. What's the mileage count between Tennessee and Miami?"

"Eight hundred and thirty-two miles."

"Very nice."

"I'm good like that. Can you, uh… Stop that?"

"Break it, you bought it! … Okay, that wasn't mine to give away. That belongs to my friend's sister, and that's why I'm gonna kill you first."

"What're you gonna do to me?"

"You'll see."

"You're zip tied to a bed."

"Trust me, you're gonna be in a puddle of blood on the ground in five, four, three… Come on! Two…"

"How did we get this shit?"

"Alright, I'm gonna give you a chance to escape. Put down your weapons, tie yourselves to those chairs, I'll let you live. In five, four… BANG!"

"Wow. That was…"

"You should be gone by now, you should have already been gone."

"I am just beyond terrifies."

"Here it comes. Three, four…"

"Shut up."

"Five, four, three, two, one! Told ya."

oOoOoOo

You know what I could use right now? Some running shoes. A simple pair of running shoes, just for the next few hours. Really, I knew that running with flip flops was hard, but try running wearing some slippers. TARDIS slippers nonetheless. It belonged to my ever growing Doctor Who collection – a gift from my fellow schoolmate Whovian Sarah – and they were just so goddamn comfortable.

Point was, there was no way I was going to throw them away in an unknown place just because two bald headed gorillas were chasing after my ass. Because really, if I get caught now, I won't be able to see the sunlight ever again.

"Stop running, you little brat!" They shouted.

Uh huh, I'm totally gonna do that now. Not a chance. At the next corner I turned right, hoping there was an exit that lead me to the outside world, but was only disappointed by the sight of a long corridor.

Primus, just how many long corridors were there in this cursed place?

And how the hell did a useless piece of rock ended up in my jeans pocket? I clearly don't remember having seen it be-

No wait, I have seen it before. Before I woke up in this goddamne place. I saw it along with some other things. I furrowed my eyebrows, trying hard to recall anything while making sure I wasn't slowing down.

Multitasking in a life death situation seemed like a dumb idea. But I was doing it anyway, because well, I can.

Hm okay, lemme see… I had a really weird dream, and there was this stone floating mid air, curiosity got the better of me so I touched it. Shifted space and ended up somewhere else. I think it was a room with big glass window, and someone else was there…

Loki was there. Reading a book.

That sudden realization made me stop running, and in no time the two guards caught me and pushed me against a wall. I winced as my back made contact with the cold concrete wall.

One of the guard sneered triumphal down at me. "I'll teach you a lesson for running away!"

Great, thinking of Loki only brought me more trouble. He was so not worth it. Thanks for nothing, God of Mischief. Maybe you could try to hex the guards or make them change their mind to save my sorry ass? Sad thing I don't even know if seeing Loki was real or just a dream. But then again, I do have this weird stone now… If it was the same stone.

The hold on my arms got tighter, to the point where it began to hurt. I closed my eyes in fear and waited for the impact of a punch or something similar like that. But right in that moment, an announcement started through the whole building, making the guard stop doing whatever they were going to do.

"All personnel, Stark is loose and somewhere in the compound. Repeat: Stark is loose and somewhere in the compound."

Well that was good news for me once.

I noticed the two guards were looking at each other hesitantly. Probably wondering whether they should beat the shit out of me or go after Tony Stark. It was their job to make sure no prisoners were escaping. Guessing that those two were more brawn than brain I tried my luck.

"You know, if I were you two, I'd go after Stark rather than waste my time bullying a sixteen years old teenager who can barely throw a punch because let's face it, that's pathetic." I pointed out, trying my best to sound cool and calm, like I didn't care about the situation I was in.

Both guards were now staring at me with a confused face expression, but I still carried on: "See, obviously Stark has got a better chance of escaping than me, so technically if you managed to catch him, you'll most likely get a reward or I don't know, a promotion. Point is, he's more worth it."

Finishing my lame explanation with an awkward grin, I prayed to God they would go. But my grin faltered slightly I saw they were still gazing at each other with a calculating look.

That's it, I was officially doomed, they were going to take me straight to the laboratory.

Before I could even finish that thought, they did let go of met. It came so unexpected I slumped down onto the floor rather ungracefully.

"You," Bald head #1 warned "stay where you are and don't run away. We will catch you."

I meekly nodded my head. He glared at me for a last time before indicating with his two fingers that he'll be watching me, and then stalked away with his partner.

Even though they already disappeared behind the corner, I kept sitting there like a tiny mouse, lost in thoughts.

I cannot believe that actually worked. Jesus, what would have happened to me if it wasn't that case? I'd rather not think about it, though it slowly dawned on me just how close I was about to get swept off to the lab. I didn't want that.

As I sat there, I suddenly remembered that I was still clutching that stone. Opening my hand, I inspected it carefully. It wasn't glowing anymore. In fact, now it had that dull blue color, the warmness was slowing fading away, due being exposed to the cold air. The stone was shaped in a pyramid form. Supposedly it was a piece of Tesseract – which was my hypothesis – who the hell broke off one corner? And how come it was in my dream and now here in reality? There were simply too many unanswered questions. I should save them for later and get out of here first.

The hallway was empty and silent. I found that weird since not even three minutes ago it was announced that Tony escaped. Shouldn't there be now people running around? Eh, better get up now and find Pepper and an escape route.

Oh God, I wonder how Pepper was. Probably a lot worse than I. I haven't seen her for such a long time and receiving letters from her weren't enough. She was like a big sister and/or aunt to me. But sometimes she was worrying too much. I think Tony and I owe her a lot since he always drags me into dangerous things and that just makes her go worried.

Standing up slowly, I put the stone back into my jeans pocket and reached out my arm to lean on the wall, making sure I wasn't going to collapse again.

Now that I was finally alone I realized that I was still out of breath, panting heavily. My heart was beating wildly against my rip case, suddenly I felt like go outside and just walk around in jeans and tank top.

Taking a deep breath, I decided it was time to move one and find a way out. But before I could even take two steps forward, I heard footsteps. That automatically made me freeze on spot. Realizing they were heading into my direction, I quickly leaned against the wall, trying my best to become one with it. I also shut my eyes tightly. It was a stupid move, just because I couldn't see anything didn't mean they couldn't see me.

Please don't see me, please don't see me, please don't see me…

"… Miss Walker?" A rather confused and surprise voice asked.

Wondering who had the decency not to attack me I opened my eyes and looked around. To my left stood Colonel James Rhodes. He looked pretty much beaten up. Not that I was looking any better.

"Uh, Colonel James Rhodes?" I uttered in an equal surprised tone.

Naturally I knew him from the movie Iron Man 2 before I ended up here in the MARVEL universe. I quite liked him a lot, I think he was a good friend of Tony. Though in 'real life', I've only met him twice. Once when Tony invited me to bungee jumping and another time when I went skydiving with them. I didn't talk much to him though. I mean, what's a girl like me supposed to say to a Colonel?

So imagine my surprise when I saw him here too. So, lemme see, Killian was out for Tony, he kidnapped his girlfriend, his friend the Colonel and well, me. Although I doubt he knew Tony and I were friends.

The Colonel looked at me from head to toe, and then finally asked: "Did you get kidnapped too?"

I nodded at his question and added: "So did Pepper and Tony. "

At that his face morphed into anger and worry, his fist clenched together.

"You don't happen to know how to get out of here, do you?" I tried to change the subject.

That got his attention again. "Uh yeah, I passed the exit, but there were a lot of guards, so I decided to take the longer way."

"Then lead the way." I told him, which he did.

He waited for me to catch up, but not before taking a criticizing look at my choice of shoes.

I'm never going to wear TARDIS slippers ever again.

oOoOoOo

"Coulson, I have successfully located the whereabout of Walker."

"Good job, Skye."

"Looks like Tony Stark is there too!"

"Don't get all too excited. If you join SHIELD, you'd have much more opportunity to meet Mr. Stark, although he's not the most pleasant man in the world."

"No, but he's a genius! What happened to that one agent of yours anyway? What was his name, Roberto Spencer?"

"He is still very young, it was a mistake of SHIELD's part to let him take the job. I certainly hope the ties between him and Walker will be fixed though."

"Why? Because originally she was supposed to recruited as an SHIELD agent?"

"That is none of your business and classified, Skye."

"Just asking. I want to meet that girl though."

"You will. Send the coordinates over to Agent May, we will pick her up now."

oOoOoOo

I never realized how warm it was inside the warehouse until I actually stepped out of it. And there I have been complaining that Killian was probably too avaricious to turn up all the heaters. Or Extremis soldiers simply didn't needed one, which would be really unfair.

You know how in movies and TV series it always looked so cool to make your way through lots of guards, trying to hide in plain sight and not get caught, and then ambush them in the right time? This is so much harder in reality. Especially if you have this constant fear in your chest of being caught again. It wasn't helping that James Rhodes was doing the body guarding job. I was glad I was being protected more or less, but I did feel worthless for not being able to do anything at all.

Perhaps I should really reconsider Natasha's offer to teach me some badass moves.

Just when Rhodes finished knocking out a guard, we hear the sound of an Iron man costume flying high up into the air and away. Following the noise I first thought it'd be Tony, but then I saw the armor wasn't the usual red metallic color, it was more painted in the America flag style.

Pointing at the armor, I looked at Colonel Rhodes with a raised eyebrow: "Shouldn't you be in that costume?"

"Well, not anymore" He replied frustrated and helplessly.

I bit my lower lip, having a sinking feeling of who in that costume was. Staring at the unconscious guard, I spotted something square in his pocket. Without thinking twice I reached into it and tool out the guard's phone.

Then I turned to the Colonel and inquired: "Do you know any numbers we could call beside KFC?"

He nodded and pressed few buttons, waiting impatiently for that other person at the end of the phone to pick up.

"Tony…" He said into the phone and converses with him about the current situation. I heard him telling Tony what happened, and I think my name was mentioned a couple of times too.

Whatever, I have lost the ability to listen to what other people were saying. All I want was food and sleep. And after that maybe figuring out what was up with that stone and what to do with it. Maybe call Bertie and tell him everything that happe-

No wait, not possible anymore. The sudden through of Bertie made me heart clench. Biting my lower lip, I forced myself to forget what I just thought, but the more I tried the sadder I felt.

Wow, I never knew his 'bertrayla' was going to hurt me this much. Considering the fact I didn't know him for that too long. Not even full six months.

After Rhodes finished the phone call, he smashed it onto the ground into tiny pieces and said: "We need to go the main house, wherever that is."

Unimpressed I pointed at something behind the trees. It was a big fancy mansion with a huge swimming pool. Like how can someone miss this piece of beauty, just because there was this warehouse standing next to it, separated by some trees?

"Is he there?"

"Yeah, there's something he needs to show us."

Jogging to the main house didn't took us too long, that was the easy part. I noticed there weren't that many guards. What I did notice where all the ladies inside walking around. Really pretty ladies with a to-kill body that even made Miranda Kerr look meh. But the thought of Killian having so many woman around himself made me really scared and uneasy. I wonder why he had hired so many wanna-be models to walk around.

… Actually, no, I didn't want to know. Maybe that was just his hobby. Pimping around and stuff like that. I shouldn't even think about it, it will just damage my brain further.

We moved forward. Hidden behind a bush – or rather what was left of the bush since it was winter – we slowly approached the big window door. Immediately we leaned against the mansion wall, holding our breath and counted to ten. After we were sure there weren't any guards inside or around, Rhodes turned to me with a serious look, telling me to stay right there where I was.

"Excuse me." I pointed out rather offended "But you do realize that we are still moving on enemy territory?"

"One, no one says 'enemy territory', that's only something hardcore gamers do. Two, what I am about to do could possibly risk your life and I do not want to be the one to tell Tony about it." Colonel James Rhodes explained rather lamely. So much about taking responsibilities.

Rolling my eyes in a dramatic manner, I shrugged my shoulders and unwillingly listened to what he said, and stayed there at the swimming pool. Soon the colonel disappeared behind the corner. And I was alone again.

It was dark and chilly outside, and somewhat snowy, I was really tempted to just waltz inside and sat down onto the carpet floor. Gosh, how much I envied those girls now, being able to sit in the warm mansion while I had to hide outside and wait for them.

Unfortunately sitting still and waiting around was never a strength of mine, thus I got bored after fifteen minutes. Maybe it was only ten, but to me it seemed like an eternity to me. Perhaps I should just walk around the mansion and do some sightseeing? But Rhodes did tell me to stay here…

Men, since when did I ever listen to what other people told me to do?

Carefully I looked around, checking no one was there, and then turned around the same corner Colonel James Rhodes did. The mansion continued to stretch afar, trees were planted at the sideway. If I was good at climbing it totally climb up that tree and jump into the open window. But alas I was not Connor Kenway.

So I guess I should just go to the main door and ring the bell.

Haha sure, like that's going to work

Seeing as standing here and glaring at the tree won't help me a lot I kept walking forward. The big front door came into my view. Just like I imagined, it was a fancy entry. Plants and marble statues decorated the pathway to the door, making it look the mansion belonged to some rich snob.

Conclusion: Aldrich Killian was a rich asshole.

The front porch was separated from the outside world by a giant gate. Either they had a that to make it look good or it was for security reasons. If it was the latter part, it did not look good because the gate was actually a tiny little bit open. That would mean someone walked in or walked out.

Well, maybe I was just being paranoid. But right now I wished I had listened to what Rhodes said and just stayed there at the swimming pool. Maybe it wasn't too late to turn back?

Yeah, I should go back now, enough exploring for one night.

Right in the moment when I turned my back away from the gate someone grabbed me from behind and put a hand over my mouth to muffle scream that was threatening to escape. Said person then proceed to drag me behind a bush and waited for me to cease my struggling. Since it was dark I couldn't really made out the face of the person, but whoever it was, it seemed like I didn't have to worry too much that it was one of the bad guys.

"Stop resisting, Miss Walker. I mean no harm to you." An unfamiliar voice offered.

I did recognize the SHIELD logo on the standard agent uniform, but not the person that was wearing it. It was an Asian woman in her late thirties. She wore a passive face expression, just like Natasha. Actually just like every well trained SHIELD agent.

When the agents was sure I wouldn't run away and scream loudly, she let go of me. I turned around to face her and asked who she was.

"I am Agent May with SHIELD. We have not met before, but I have heard few things about you." She introduced herself.

I cocked an eyebrow at what she said. "Oh, did you? I hope only nice things… Come to think of it, what are you doing here?"

"We managed to locate you, Agent Coulson send me to retrieve you and Stark."

"Coulson?" I repeated what she said, confused, but then I remembered that he was alive. The shock of my life. After realizing I wasn't in my own world anymore.

Oh man, I still need to tell the others about this!

"Tony's inside along with Colonel James Rhodes, said there was something he needed to show him." I told her and pouted slightly, offended that I wasn't invited to the party.

Agent May thought about what I said with a calculating look, and then gestured with her hands to follow, which I did. She walked to the giant door and with one strong kick, the door fell apart. With a confident look on her face that basically said she did this kind of thing on a regular basis the SHIELD agent waltzed in, while I still stood outside dumbfolded at what I just witnessed.

Realizing that she most likely wouldn't be waiting for me, I jogged up to her. With a pistol in the hand, she made her way to the stairs, checking the surroundings. But then the sound of glass being smashed from upstairs caught our attention and we quickly rushed up the stairs to see what happened.

With another kick Agent may opened another door, pistol ready to shoot whoever was standing in her way. At the same time Rhodes and Tony faced the door, Tony in his full armor and both hands pointed at us and Rhodes in a fighting stance. Two guards lied face down on the floor, and another guy who looked really familiar sat on the bed, looking like he was about to piss himself.

"Tony!" I yelled out loudly and stepped between the SHIELD agent and the two men, hoping to stop a sight. "She's a SHIELD agent, she's here to pick us up, I think."

Unimpressed, Iron Man growled out: "I told you not to contact SHIELD!".

I wanted to say something in my defense, but instead Agent May took my words: "She did not contact, SHIELS is monitoring her every move."

"Well, sucks for you." Tony commented and then pointed at the long bearded man "Do you know who that is?"

I shook my head, while Agent May remained silent. Well, the beard and face did look familiar, but I wasn't really sure if it was the person I was thinking of, because he simply lacked that terrorist aura.

Colonel James Rhodes sounded rather embarrassed when he revealed the identity of the man: "This is the Mandarin."

"I know, it's… It's… It's embarrassing." Tony added.

Yeah, this was indeed embarrassing. Now that they said that, I can see the resemblance, but without the guns and stages he simply looked like a… Wannabe street punk. And he reeked after cigarette smoke and alcohol.

The Mandarin got up from his bed and held out a hand for me and Agent May: "Hi, Trevor. Trevor… Slattery." As I kept staring at his opened hand, he sighed and continued: "I know, I'm shorter in person, bit small, everyone says that. But, um… Hey, if you're here to arrest me, uh… There are some people who I'd like to roll on. Immediately."

In less than ten seconds, the SHIELD agent grabbed Trevor Slattery's hand, kicked him in the stomach, and twisted his arm around. Finally she pushed him onto the ground and held him face down. I physically winded at the sigh before me, the whole arm-twisted-behind-its-back-thing looked like it really hurt. I'm so glad I wasn't in the fake Mandarin's position right now. Tony and Rhode's faced were priceless, obviously they were impressed by her, but maybe also a little bit wary. Iron Man quickly regained his composure and pointed one plasma shooter at him. "Tell me where Pepper is and maybe she'll stop hurting you. I can't promise you anything though because well, she's a SHIELD agent."

"Oh, I get it! Ow! That hurt! I get it! I get it!" Trevor cried out as Agent May twisted his arm further to prove Iron Man's point "I don't know about any Pepper, but I know about the plan."

Well, that worked out rather quickly. Normally people would play the stubborn head and not spill anything until they're basically tortured to death. But then again, this was just someone with alcohol problems who pretended to be the Mandarin, not some person with superpowers. Honestly, If I was in his situation, I'd also immediately tell them everything I knew just so the pain would stop. I was a fragile human after all.

Three minutes later, we had the plan Rhodes suit was stolen and they were planning to kidnap the president. Who was the current POTUS?

Oh right, NOT Obama. Some Ellis guy. Stupid MARVEL universe.

"What are we gonna do now?" I asked out loudly "I mean, we don't have a transport, unless SHIELD is willing to borrow us something."

Tony pointed at him and Rhodes: "We do have a transport, I'm sure out friend Travis will let us use his speed boat." Said person nodded meekly "About you, well, I believe Agent…"

"Agent May."

"Agent May is here to take you away."

I was disappointed that I couldn't go with him. And I think this was written all over my face, because for a moment Tony did look like he felt bad. But then I remembered the lecture I received from him in Rose Hill, and thought how true it was. If I come along on their men business, I'll just be in their way, because I couldn't do shit to save my life.

Agent May was standing at the doorway, waiting for me to finish the conversation with Tony. Letting out a deep sigh, I gave in and said: "Good luck and return safely with Pepper."

Tony smiled and patted my head. Then they left.

And I was left on SHIELD's care again.

oOoOoOo

"Hi."

"You think he's gonna help you… He won't."

"Having you here is not just to motivate Tony Stark, it's um… It's actually more embarrassing than that. You're here as my, um…"

"Trophy."

oOo

"Ever hear of an elephant graveyard? Well, two years ago, the elephant in the room was this scow."

"This is the Roxxon Norco."

"And of course you'll remember that when she spilled million gallon of crude off Pensacola, thanks to you, not one fat cat saw a day in court."

"What do you want from me?"

"Uh… Nothing , sir. I just needed a reason o kill you that would play well onTV. You see, I've moved on. I've found myself a new political parton, and at this time tomorrow, he'll have your job. String him up."