Hey! I really hope you enjoy this. Just a reminder for those asking: I'm going to be updating this fic every two weeks on a Thursday. Any comments, suggestions or whatever are greatly appreciated. xxx

The scene cuts to Tony walking away with the file in his hand.

'So you got the file?' Vision commented.

'Course I did. I didn't go through all that for nothing.' Tony replied.

'You're welcome.' Harley says, catching Tony up.

'For what? Did I miss something?' Tony asks.

'Tony. You could at least have given the boy some credit.' Steve commented.

'I did, eventually.' Tony replied.

'Me, saving your life.' Harley answers.

'Yeah. A, I saved you first. B, thanks. Sort of. And C, if you do someone a solid, don't be a yutz. All right? Just play it cool. Otherwise you come off grandiose.' Tony tells him as he reaches the car and unlocks it.

'Like you don't?' Sam commented.

'Nope. I always play it cool.' Tony replied with a smirk.

'Unlike you? Admit it, you need me. We're connected.' Harley replies.

What I need is for you to go home, be with your mom, keep your trap shut, guard the suit, and stay connected to the telephone because if I call, you better pick up. Okay?'

'You can't ask that of a kid!' Steve protested.

'I promise I didn't ruin his life. Okay? Happy now?' Tony replied.

Can you feel that? We're done here. Move out of the way, or I'm gonna run you over.'

'Tony!' Steve protested.

'He's a smart kid. He knows I wouldn't actually run him over.' Tony replied.

'Bye, kid.' Tony gets into the car and revs the engine, 'I'm sorry, kid. You did good.' Tony says.

'So, now you're just gonna leave me here, like my dad?' Harley says, looking hurt.

'Someone knows how to turn on the guilt.' Rhodey commented, knowing the effect that would have had on Tony. Tony winced as he realised the implication of what the boy had said. He had been a little distracted at the time.

'Yeah. Wait, you're guilt-tripping me, aren't you?' Tony realises.

The others scoffed.

'To be fair. He probably is.' Sam commented.

'I'm cold.' Harley says, childishly, as he wraps his blanket around him.

'Correction. He definitely is.' Sam corrected himself.

'I can tell.' Tony says, mockingly, 'You know how I can tell? Because we're connected.' He then drives off.

Everyone burst out laughing. Even Tony cracked a smile.

'That was so mean, but I've got to admit it was funny.' Steve commented, a small grin on his face.

'I told ya. One liner king. Right here.' Tony responded.

'It was worth a shot.' Harley comments.

'See. It was all a guilt trip.' Tony added.

'He's still just a kid though. And he had just been threatened.' Steve commented.

The scene cuts to Savin lying on some rubble. His skin glows as his head wound heals. He then coughs and begins to get up groaning.

'How the hell did it heal that quickly?' Stephen Strange asked.

'Extremis is really clever.' Tony replied, sarcastically.

The scene cuts to an advert for a Christmas tree.

'Man. I hate these adverts.' Sam commented.

'You get this. It's affordable. It's gorgeous. It goes with any decor...' The announcer says.

Suddenly the screen is cut off by the Mandarin's sign.

'Wait. This was when he threatened the President. Right?' Clint asked.

'He what?' Steve asked.

'Do you even watch television?' Scott asked.

'I do…but we were on a mission at this point and I only got a verbal update on what happened afterwards.' Steve explained.

The scene cuts to a news broadcasting room where their screens are also being taken over by the Mandarin's sign.

'What the hell? How can he keep doing it?' Clint asked.

'It's not that difficult.' Tony replied.

'Could you do it?' Clint asked.

'Yep. Easy.' Tony replied.

'What happened to picture?' A woman asks.

'Go to override.' Another woman says.

'That's not something you can just override.' Tony said, shaking his head.

'How is this happening again?' another woman says as she enters the room.

The scene cuts to a flight control centre.

'Fine. Override to Los Angeles.' Another guy replies.

'That wouldn't work.' Tony muttered.

'I'm trying. There's nothing I can...' A woman replies.

The scene cuts to a bar and then back to the broadcasting room.

'Well, where is the feed coming from?' a woman asks

'I don't know, it's in all of our receivers and I...' A guy replies, 'The entire East Coast, the satellites are down.' She replies.

'The whole East Coast?' Steve commented, surprised.

'Yeah. That's easy. If I wanted to, I bet I could hack the airwaves across the whole of America.' Tony bragged.

'I'm sure you could. Shuri could do that easily.' T'Challa commented.

'Who's Shuri?' Tony asked.

'My little sister. She's a genius.' T'Challa replied.

'Sure.' Tony said, rolling his eyes.

'She once hacked your servers. She said it was easy.' T'Challa commented, with a grin.

'What!' Tony responded, with alarm. He immediately pulled out his phone and began looking into it. The others snickered.

'It's not just our station.' Another woman says.

'What about a backup manual?' A guy says.

The scene cuts to the Vice President, called Rodriguez, surrounded by a bunch of Aides.

'Isn't that the Vice President who got arrested?' Clint asked, and Tony nodded.

'We have an unauthorised broadcast cutting through...Mr Vice President, I think you should see this.' An Aide says as he looks up from a laptop.

'Oh, God, not again. Is the President getting this?' Rodriguez says as he looks at the screen showing the Mandarin sign.

'How many times did he do this? How did they keep letting him?' Steve asked.

'Quite a few times. They never figured out how to stop him.' Tony said, with a smirk.

The scene cuts to the President on a plane, surrounded by Aides, watching a screen with the Mandarin's sign on which soon cuts to the Mandarin himself.

'Mr President. Only two lessons remain. And I intend to finish this before Christmas morning.' He says.

The camera pans down to show that the Mandarin is holding a gun to a man in a suit.

'What did that guy do?' Steve asked, angrily.

'Nothing.' Tony replied, sighing.

'Meet Thomas Richards. Good strong name. Good strong job. Thomas, here, is an accountant for the Roxxon Oil Corporation. But I'm sure he's a really good guy. I'm going to shoot him in the head, live on your television in 30 seconds.' He threatens.

'No!' Thomas cries.

'That's a hell of a threat.' Steve commented, frowning.

'The number for this telephone is in your cell phone. Exciting, isn't it, imagining how it got there? America, if your president calls me in the next half-minute, Tom lives. Go!' The Mandarin orders.

The president looks at his phone and sees that a number has come up.

'How did he hack my phone?' The President asks.

'How do you hack a phone?' Thor questioned.

'Again. Not difficult.' Tony replied.

'We can't allow terrorists to dictate...' The Aide says.

'I have to make this call.' The President says.

'I'd strongly advise against that.' The Aide replies.

'This is the right thing to do.' The President says.

'Definitely is.' Steve agreed.

The president rings and it rings out on the television. The Mandarin shoots Tom.

'What?! But he used the phone!' Thor protested.

'I know. I guess he wanted to make a point.' Tony said, sighing.

'By killing someone.' Steve added, angrily.

'There's just one lesson left, President Ellis. So run away, hide, kiss your children goodbye. Because nothing, not your army, not your red, white and blue attack dog, can save YOU. I'll see you soon.' The Mandarin threatens.

'He did that just as a lesson?' Natasha questioned, angrily.

'Yeah.' Tony replied, sighing.

'Tell Rhodes, find this lunatic right now.' The President says.

'Please do. Tell me you got this guy' Thor said.

'Yeah. We did.' Tony assured him.

'Sir, we tracked the broadcast signal. We have a possible point of origin in Pakistan

and the Patriot is ready to strike.' A military Aide says.

'Right now?' The President asks.

'Yes, sir.' The Aide replies.

'Good.' Thor said, with a smirk.