EMERALD

My entire body felt numb as I headed in a taxi towards the hospital. Guilt continued to rain down on my shoulders the longer I sat there, and I began itching in my own seat to combat the internal pain. If Happy was lost to the world today, that would be on me.

I hadn't even noticed I was staring at the small television screen in the back of the taxi until the screen showed those familiar rainbow lines again, signaling tampering with the news station. That could only mean one thing.

Practically punching the volume button on the tiny screen, my eyes were glued to the blurred screen as the Mandarin appeared once again. My jaw immediately clenched, waiting to hear his inevitable words. I know I had promised Tony that I would take it easy when it came to this new terrorist, but I wasn't sure how much strength I had left to hold myself back.

"Here's the true story about fortune cookies," he stated matter-of-factly. "They look Chinese, they sound Chinese, but they're actually an American invention which is why they're hollow, full of lies, and leave a bad taste in your mouth." He paused, looking directly at the camera. "My disciples just destroyed another cheap American knockoff, the Chinese theatre. Mr. President, I know this must be frustrating, but this season of terror is coming to a close. And don't worry, the big one is coming."

As the screen switched to black, indicating the end of the Mandarin's broadcast, I ran my fingers through my hair desperately. I had no idea what to do next.

"Shit," I swore loudly, kicking the hard door of the taxi in frustration.

The driver glanced over his shoulder towards me nervously for a second before he took in his surroundings. I hadn't even noticed how close we were to the hospital at this point.

"You said the main entrance?" the driver questioned.

I raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah."

"I'm not sure that's going to be possible," he observed, pointing to the largest crowd of reporters I had seen in a long time.

Heaving a sigh, I knew there was only one way in or out of this place. I had no other choice. To be honest, I still felt distracted from the message the Mandarin had just given. It was the only thing on my mind.

"I have to get inside somehow," I finally said, passing a wad of cash over the front of the seat to the driver. "I'm used to the spotlight by now, anyway."

I barely had one foot out of the taxi before the first reporter spotted me, flashing his camera directly in my face. "It's Emerald Maitland!" he exclaimed, earning the attention of the rest of the reporters and cameramen scattered in the front of the hospital.

Soon, they were all screaming my name to try and earn my attention. It wasn't working. Holding my hand over my eyes, I tried to block out the flashes of the camera and focus on getting through them to the front door of the hospital. A part of me wondered who they were waiting for, but then again, if they got word that Happy Hogan was taken here, someone famous was bound to show up.

"How are you holding up?" one of the reporters asked, shoving a microphone in my face.

I squinted throughout the flashes. "I'm just trying to see my friend, please," I begged, trying my hardest not to completely shove them all aside.

"What is your reaction to the Mandarin's latest attack?"

"What are you going to do about this?"

"How do you feel now that your friend is a victim of the attack?"

I almost made it past them all when I heard the last question clear as day. Freezing in my tracks, I slowly turned around, a glare plain on my face. The inconsiderate interrogations were done here.

"How do I feel?" I responded, my teeth mashing against each other. "My friend is possibly dying in there, and you're seriously asking me how I feel?"

I took a deep breath, trying to calm the rage that was boiling in my stomach before I snapped.

"When is someone just going to kill this guy?" another reporter asked before I could get a handle on myself.

That was the end of that.

I let out another exhale before I stepped closer to the reporters, away from my intended location. "I'm only going to say this once, so you all better get it straight," I said. "Dear Mandarin, my name is Emerald Maitland, and I'm not afraid of you. I know that you're a coward. I know that you're hiding behind that television screen. I know that if you weren't so damn annoying, I would have taken you out by now." I paused for a second, letting my words sink in. "There's no politics anymore. It's just good old-fashioned revenge. I don't care what the world thinks of me anymore, and I don't care what the world thinks of you either. Forget the Pentagon, forget the White House, now it's just you and me. And on the off chance that you are a man, here's where I live. 10880 Malibu Point. I'll leave the door unlocked."

Moving away from the reporters once more, I reveled in their shocked expressions. My words were harsh, but they were true. I was done playing the civil servant.

Laughing, I shook my head towards the cameras. "That's what you all wanted to hear, right?" I said dryly before I turned my back on them and finally headed inside the hospital.

I practically broke the door to Happy's room as I tossed it carelessly, taking in the satisfying bang it made as it hit the wall. My eyes landed on a comatose Happy first before I saw the other figure sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the room. I let out a sigh of relief as I made my way over to Tony's side, enveloping him in a large hug.

"Thank god," I whispered against his shoulder, resting my head there for several seconds.

I could feel Tony relax in my arms, another sign that he felt the same burden I did. "I didn't know if you were coming," he said.

I pulled away, shaking my head as I snuck another glance towards Happy. "This is all my fault," I observed softly.

"Don't blame yourself for this," he replied. "The Mandarin did this."

"I told Happy to follow a lead on Aldrich," I responded. "I pushed him away, Tony. He was probably there because of me."

I let one hand rest on top of Happy's for a moment, letting a single tear slip from my eye socket before I gathered myself together. I had bigger problems to take care of, including the fact that I had the audacity to put myself on worldwide news.

"Don't do this to yourself."

Clearly, Tony had no idea.

"I did something else," I said slowly, biting my lip. I had no idea what his reaction was going to be when I told him that I just gave the world our address.

Tony frowned slightly, eluding to the thought that just raced through my mind. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

I glanced up towards the television in Happy's room, noticing that it wasn't on any news station. Grabbing the clicker, I flicked through the channels until I settled on one that showed a mute video of me talking to the reporters. I looked insane. To be fair, I felt the same way.

"…And that was live from outside the Los Angeles General Hospital where we just heard from Emerald Maitland who sounded like she just threatened the Mandarin himself…" the reporter was saying, causing me to wince again.

"Em, what did you do?" came Tony's concerned voice from behind me.

Turning around slowly, I dared to look into his eyes. To my surprise, however, no irritation was showing there. Instead, all I saw was clear distress. I wasn't sure which one was worse.

"I lost it, Tony," I said. "I'm sick and tired of waiting around for this psychopath. I told him to take me one on one."

He sighed deeply, shaking his head. "Have you lost your mind?" he questioned softly.

The answer was most certainly yes, but I was too stubborn to admit that.

"Maybe!" I retorted, throwing my hands in the air. "But I'm done with being useless. We're superheroes, right? It's our job to save the world, no matter the threat."

Tony's small nod in my direction was enough. He knew deep down that I was right. "I love you, Em, I really do," he said, closing the distance between us and taking my hands in his. "I love that you want to protect the world. I do too, so you are crazy to think that I'm going to let you tackle this terrorist alone." He glanced back at Happy laying on the bed with another sigh. "He's my friend too."

"I don't want you to get roped into this," I protested, but he only squeezed my hands tighter.

A small smirk appeared across his lips a second later as he responded, "I would love to get roped into anything with you."

Making a face, I pulled away from him with a tiny laugh. "That sounded too sexual, moment's over," I commented, hating the way we were joking about a very serious situation. The laugh faded into a small smile as I glanced up at Tony again. How did I ever think I was going to be able to do this without him?

"We have to do something," I added a second later.

Tony's tiny smile was plenty to keep me going from now. I loved that lopsided smirk of his. "We will," he promised. "We will, Em."

Somehow, I still didn't feel convinced that everything was going to turn out fine. As it turned out, I was right.

A/N:Wow I haven't updated this story in a min, I'm so sorry. I saw Endgame on Thursday and IT WRECKED MY LIFE. It was the perfect movie, and I'm still crying about it. If anyone wants to discuss, feel free to DM me, I have so many IDEAS. Until then, enjoy the chapter - we'll be back to our regularly programmed Wednesday/Saturday updates next week.