Chapter 10.1

Tony hurried down to the workshop in a blind panic, scattering bits and pieces of unfinished machinery and paperwork, as he dashed over to the computer banks and booted up the main assembling programme.

"Is something wrong, Sir?"

"Get the suit ready, Jarvis." Tearing off his shirt Tony headed into the small bath-room and dressed in the protective under layers and plimsolls he wore under the Iron Man suit. Making his way over to the test area, the black tiled part of the floor, he stood and waited. Nothing happened. "Jarvis!"

"I regret to inform you that there hasn't been time to run a full diagnostics on the modifications you and Mr Holmes have devised for the new armour. There is no guarantee—"

"I don't care! Suit me up!"

"But sir—"

"Do it!"

The floor split open, from the darkness many robotic arm sprang up. The plate in front of Tony rose and he stepped into the waiting metal boots. The arms moved around his body encasing him in the red and gold armour. The sections were bolted and locked down tight. He tried moving his arms and the suit's servos motors whirled, the improved amour for the suit flexed easily at the joints. He smiled in approval. A single robotic arm came up from behind his head and secured the final touch—his mask— with well-rehearsed moves. Tony flipped down the front of the mask and powered up the suit, the shiny chest piece glowed to its fullest, the smaller units in his palms flickered and the masks' eyes shone with white light. After downloading the preferred programmes needed for the mission Iron Man stepped off the platform and made his way to the under-ground entrance of the workshop.

Outside in the open he fired up his jet boots and took off into the night sky. Below him many people saw him pass and yelled to get his attention, and as much as he'd love to sign autographs and so on, Iron Man shot up into a vast bank of clouds disappearing for view and levelled out again.

"Sir, a call has just been made by Agent Chloe and I've been able to trace it by doing an I.D and voice check from the CCTV. I also have all the details pertaining to Agent Chloe and I think there's something you should know,"

"Put them on-screen." As the co-ordinates for the call popped up on his heads-up display, a secondary screen appeared with all the information on Agent Chloe, Tony quickly read the info, blinked and then frowned spying something that made this trip a little more dangerous. "You have gotta be kidding me…"

Sherlock sat next to the mysterious Chloe. He had used the time wisely to deduce that she was the same girl that had been to see him at the fund raiser. What gave her away was the small splash of blue paint on her handbag, her hesitancy and shifty behaviour before she answered his question.

They had been driving for hours now. Once they had left the house they bundled him into a black car with tinted windows. Along the way another two cars, at least, had joined them. By the lack of sound of other traffic they were going along a deserted road, which made alarm bells start to ring in his head.

Chloe checked a small device in her lap and glanced over at him. "Nearly there, Mr Holmes. It will all be over soon." A sickening smile flickered across her lips. "For you, anyway." The car rolled to a gentle stop. "Let's go, Holmes."

They had arrived in an abandoned warehouse complex somewhere way off the map. Sherlock was roughly handled inside, looking around he saw that the space had been industrious at some point: there were old relics of machinery dotted here and there. But it was what was piled up in one corner that really got his attention- stacked high were wooden crates in all sizes; on the sides the words: STARK INDUSTRIES were painted. He was pushed forward and led to the middle of the warehouse where a couple of chairs were waiting in the centre of a ring of spot lights. Chloe sat in one and motioned to Sherlock to take the other. The guards stood around them, guns at the ready in case he ran for it.

"Does Tony know you have some of his weapons?"

Chloe giggled, "He's Tony now? Oh, that's so sweet! And no he doesn't. My argument is with you not him."

Brain working quickly, he folded his arms and chose his words very carefully. "Have I done something to cross you?"

"You could say that." Reaching into her purse she withdrew a tiny handgun and pointed it at his face. "Let me enlighten you. You see, Sherlock," Her face twisted with a sneer that was somehow familiar to him. "It's like this: Tony Stark is descended from you. Correct?" Sherlock nodded. "Good. Next question: Who, in your eyes, was your biggest rival and had the most influence over your career? "

Sherlock was silent. He studied the young lady, at the gun in her hand: the end had been sawn off. It too looked very familiar. "I don't know."

With a snarl she got up and whipped him across the cheek with her free hand. "LAIR!" She spat. "You know, full well, who I'm talking about. Playtime is over, Mr Holmes. Now…Say his name."

Sherlock cupped his sore jaw, bit his lip and shook his head.

Chloe leaned forward pressing the barrel of the gun against his temple. "His name. Say it. Now!"

The great detective took a shaky breath before mumbling, "Moriarty."

The smile that lit up her face was borderline insane. "Correct again, Holmes. My name, originally, was Chloe Andrews. But, after doing a school project on family trees, I discovered that I had a very special ancestor. I changed my name. I am now Chloe Moriarty."

Sherlock nodded, "Intriguing. A female Moriarty." He tilted his head a little. "Now, since I've been cooperative in answering your questions, maybe you'll be so kind as to answer mine." Moriarty lowered the gun, went back to her seat, sat and nodded. "Wonderful." He sat back, keeping her in his sights, and steepled his fingers together. "How did I not pick up on you sooner? No offence, my dear, but you reek of evil intent."

Chloe smirked, "Ironically, I followed your advice: 'The art of disguise is knowing how to hide in plain sight.' "

A frown. "I really must be more careful in the near future to who I lend advice to. OK, second question: How did you know I would end up here in this time?"

"Moriarty kept dairies of your rivalry. One entry claims that you disappeared for nearly two weeks. When you returned, you were sprouting such nonsense that you were temporary committed. As for finding the right time frame… I have friends who are experts at CCTV hacking. It seemed a little odd that two Tony Starks were in the house."

He nodded, "Hm. Indeed." He grinned clapping his hands together. "Well, so glad we could have this little talk. I really think I should be going."

She cocked the gun. "No. You see, I'm going to achieve something that Professor Jim Moriarty failed to do." The twisted smile was back. "I'm going to kill you."

Sherlock raised an amused brow. "Oh…I don't think so."

Suddenly there came a loud roaring sound of powerful jet engines from outside. The next second, the side of the building crashed inwards sending dust and debris everywhere. In the confusion Moriarty grabbed Sherlock by the collar of his shirt and dragged him behind some crates while some of her men started firing blindly into the fog only to be shot back by powerful energy bursts. One man got caught in the chest and went flying over their heads screaming his lungs out; he hit the wall opposite and went silent.

From their hiding place Sherlock chanced a look and his eyes nearly bugged out. He'd seen the inert amour in the workshop but to see it up close and moving was another thing all together. From the middle of the cloud, clad in gold and red metal, a lone figure strode forward with white eyes blazing and chest piece glowing brightly.

Moriarty's men, or what was left of them, started to advance towards Iron Man. The armoured hero raised his palms and took each of them out with précised shots. A small group had broken off and pried the lid off one of the crates, after dipping inside and sharing a smug grin they disappeared.

Iron Man scanned the area. Behind the mask Tony frowned spying his old weapons. Seemed that Stark Industries old second-in-command: the late Obadiah Stane had dealt under the table to Moriarty. As soon as he found Sherlock and got the hell out of here he would come back and personally terminate their contract.

The group that had opened the crate returned now armed with, Tony noticed with slight concern, a batch of prototype mini machine guns. The clips were loaded with specially coated bullets that could pierce armour. The pack moved to form a circle around him and took aim; one of them had a mini rocket launcher and fired. Iron Man managed to dodge the incoming rocket and calmingly retaliated with one of his own; needless to say the man didn't have a chance. Movement came from behind and he whirled around, palms up and ready to fire. What greeted him made Tony's eyes widened inside the helmet.

"Don't you dare move or I'll blow his brains out!" Chloe held Sherlock close to her and pressed the hand gun harder to Sherlock's temple. Iron Man wiggled his fingers and the RT units in his palms dimmed slightly. Chloe smiled. "Good boy."

"Let him go, Moriarty."

"No! You don't get it, do you? Kill Holmes, kill you. Kill Holmes and you, and your bloodied legacy, will never be born. I will be free to become the big shot in weapons development. A true genius… ME!"

"Enough of this." Iron Man raised his arm and fired several shiny discs. They soared off in different directions completely missing Moriarty and her men. Sherlock gaped at him in disbelief.

Moriarty giggled childishly, "Missed me!"

Behind the mask Tony smirked, "Funnily enough, I wasn't aiming at you. "A crate nearby split apart with an ear-splitting bang and burst into flames. The whole area suddenly shook as the sticky grenades, one of the improvements to his armoury, exploded one after the other. The raw power of the explosions caught Iron Man off guard knocking him back. Sherlock ducked as a burning piece of debris came flying in his direction, just missing him by inches. Moriarty screamed at her men to retreat, they ran towards the exits only to be caught in a wall of flame. Their screams of terror could hardly be heard over the roar of the fire. In the middle of the burning shell that was the warehouse, Iron Man staggered over to where Sherlock was laying. He crouched and gently shook his shoulder. "C'mon, Holmes. Up you get." Sherlock didn't stir, he tried again. "Sherlock?"

With a grunt Sherlock placed both hands on his chest and shoved hard. Iron Man fell back and landed on his butt. Sherlock was on him in a matter of seconds landing punch after punch. "You…Complete… And…Utter…Moron!"

"OW! Hey…Cut…It…Out!" Tony shielded himself the best he could but Sherlock was determine to cause him damage. He grabbed Sherlock's wrists in a vain attempt to stop him. His shoulders started to shake. "Hey…You OK?"

"Am I OK? Of course I'm not bloody OK!" Sherlock pulled his wrists free and slumped where he was sitting on his hips. He looked around them and started counting things off with his fingers. "I've journeyed through time, I've been kidnapped, shot at and now I'm going to be roasted alive. Does that sound OK to you?"

"Well…" Iron Man started but Holmes cut him off.

"And to top it all off, I almost lost you." It meant to come out as a whisper but Tony heard it loud and clear.

Tony raised a gloved hand and softly cupped his cheek. "Let's go home."

It was in the early hours of the morning when Iron Man, with the shaken Holmes, arrived back to the work-shop. Tony set Sherlock down on the couch and booted up the monitors.

"Jarvis, you there?"

"Of course, sir."

Tony nodded. Flipping up the face of his mask he quickly sneaked a glance at Sherlock, and seeing him just sitting there in a daze, leaned closer to the screens. "How's your progress with that task I set you?"

"I have compiled all necessary data and sent it to Agent Coulson via a secured E-Mail."

"You did well, Jarvis."

"Will there be anything else, sir?"

"No. Good night, Jarvis."

"Good night, sir."

Powering up another terminal he typed in a security code and waited. After a quick muttered conversation, he looked over his shoulder and smiled reassuringly at Sherlock but it faltered when he saw how green he looked. Was he gonna puke? He crouched down in front of him and squeezed his knee.

Sherlock flinched at the touch and jerked away.

"Tony? Tony!"

Tony stood and turned to the sound of high-heels and was immediately enveloped in a warm hug from Pepper. He untangled himself and held her away at arms' length. He looked closely at her. He opened his mouth but Sherlock got there first,

"Eyes are red, been crying. Hair is dishevelled and there are traces of mud on her shoes. Ms Potts took a car but ran the last part. She was worried." He shrugged and got to his feet, "I think I'll turn in. Ms Potts. Mr Stark." He bayed them good-night and took to the stairs leading up to the rest of the house.

Pepper watched him go and then turned to Tony. "What happened? Why are you the Iron Man suit?"

Tony sighed deeply, "Sherlock was taken by a group impersonating S.H.I.E.L.D agents." He groaned. "They were good, really good. They had the right papers and everything. I couldn't see it but Sherlock did. And thank God he did!" He kicked a chair, sending it flying. "If I hadn't...Peps, they could have killed him."

"What! Why?"

Tony shrugged, "I don't know, I was busy blowing things up and taking out bad guys to find out. I thought Sherlock would be safe here for a while, but now because of this..."

Slowly it dawned on Pepper, " You're gonna send him home."

A sad look entered Tony's eyes, "I don't want to. But...Yeah." The computer behind him bleeped with an in-coming message. He opened it and nodded, "Director Fury has agreed a meeting. Oh, and as a bonus, he's taking care of the fire for me."

"Fire? What fire?" Tony shut down the monitors and she knew he wasn't going to share. At least not now anyway. Reverting to her old role, she squared her shoulders and lifted her head high. "What should I do?"

Tony glanced over her shoulder and then at her, his face softened. "I need you here, Pepper. He needs you here. I won't be long." Flipping down the face of the suit, Iron Man made his way to the underground entrance. Before leaving he nodded at her. "Stay safe." Pepper nodded in return and watched him go.

OK! That was twist, yeah? Bet you didn't see THAT coming.

The quote from Moriarty is from BBC's Sherlock.

Not sure about the Iron Man action, though. Might have to re-do it.

Hope you lot have got your smut glasses ready. 'Cause you'll need them. (Smirks.)

M.x