Disclaimer:I do not own anything pertaining to Marvel Comics or Iron Man, or anything else related to this material of which I written about. All rights are reserved by the original owners.
Author's Note: Ok, so I've been on hiatus for ages. Real-life drama is so not fun… Anyhow, in my absence from story-writing I've discovered the fighting system known as Krav Maga, which helped a lot in writing this chapter (as you'll soon see). You'll most likely want to scan the previous chapter (or the whole story) but I'll give you an intro: Stark and Ramirez have just returned from fighting the Ten Rings in Gulmira. Tony has an argument with Pepper. Julia has a bit of a breakdown due to her post-traumatic stress disorder…
Chapter 12 – View From the Floor
Julia had no idea where she was when she woke up the next morning. Her head was on a pillow and a blanket covered her, but she most definitely was not in a bed. A horizontal viewpoint showed a white floor and rich, wood cabinetry. Julia struggled to sit up, feeling incredibly sore, and noticed that her hand was bandaged. Now the surroundings were looking familiar – the bathroom.
"Ah, you're awake. You're no doubt aching, but sleeping on a hard floor will do that to your body." Yinsen stood in the doorway, smiling slightly.
"Good morning. W-what happened?"
"Good afternoon; it's twelve-thirty. Last night I came by your room to check on you – I was concerned how you would be after yesterday – and I found you half-asleep on the floor, bleeding, and surrounded by glass. So, I cleaned up, treated your hand, and made you as comfortable as possible since I couldn't move you. Perhaps you're the one who should be telling me what happened."
Julia got to her feet with a loud groan. "I'll be fine; I was just a little shaken up I guess."
"Hmm…" the doctor mumbled. "Well, I should go see if Tony's awake yet; he didn't have the best sleep either."
She glanced over, alarmed. "Is he alright?"
"No worse than you are." Yinsen gave her a pointed look, then left.
Julia turned on the tap to draw a bath; there was no way she was setting foot outside that room without doing something about her tight muscles.
Tony was unusually somber and particularly focused on their work later that afternoon. He was wasting no time in making modifications and necessary repairs to the suits. They didn't talk much, neither was the workshop filled with the pounding bass of rock music. Finally, Tony broke the silence.
"This is the only way to change things."
She wasn't sure where he was going with this line of thought.
"I can't go after Obadiah with lawyers and legalities – it would take forever in court and it wouldn't stop the fact that the weapons are already out there."
"What do you plan to do about it then?" Yinsen asked.
"The suits – use them to destroy all those armaments. They're powerful, and we can go anywhere with them."
"Stane will find out eventually."
"But by then there won't be anything he can do. I have to do this, there's no one else who can."
That evening a distraction came in the form of Virginia Potts, tip-toeing into the darkened workshop towards Tony's desk. She eyed the Mark III like it was an armed warhead he was working on.
"Hey, you busy?" he asked. "You mind if I send you on an errand? I need you to go to my office and hack into the mainframe; you're going to retrieve all recent shipping manifests." He handed her a secure USB drive. "This will get you in. It's probably under executive files. If not, they put it on a ghost drive, in which case you'd need to look for the lowest numeric heading."
Pepper's tone was low when she finally responded. "And what do you plan to do with this information if I bring it back here?"
"Same drill. They've been dealing under the table; I'm going to stop them. I'm going to find my weapons and destroy them."
"Tony, you know that I would help you with anything, but I cannot help you if you're going to start all of this again."
"There is nothing except this," his voice became loud and hard, "there is no art opening, there is no benefit, there is nothing to sign – there is the next mission and nothing else."
"Is that so? Well then I quit!" She tossed the flash drive back onto his desk and started to walk away.
"You stood by my side all these years while I reaped the benefits of destruction, and now that I'm trying to protect the people I put in harm's way, you're going to walk out?"
Julia and Yinsen watched the exchange with bated breath. In that moment Tony Stark was facing the man he really was, even though it wasn't a pretty picture.
"You're going to kill yourself, Tony. I'm not going to be a part of it," Pepper told him.
Tony slumped into a chair, suddenly sounding tired. "I shouldn't be alive… unless it was for a reason. I'm not crazy, Pepper, I just finally know what I have to do, and I know in my heart… that it's right."
Pepper sighed heavily and picked up the flash drive. "You're all I have too, you know," she said softly.
She left the shop and Tony swiveled in his chair to face Julia and Yinsen. "Well, I guess we should get finished. We'll probably have to leave when she gets back."
Just when Julia thought she couldn't possibly feel more pride in Stark, he would go and do something amazing that made her respect him all the more.
"I'm hungry. Maybe we should eat something."
"If you have to go halfway around the world again, then you should definitely eat."
It had been an hour and a half since Pepper left for the Stark Industries offices, and they had finished with the suit modifications.
"Let's eat something then," Tony insisted.
"I really should give my family a fast call; I said I'd phone tonight."
"I can get started in the kitchen," Yinsen offered.
"Okay, I'll be up in a minute," Tony replied.
Julia and Yinsen took the elevator upstairs, giving him a chance to say something.
"Are you sure that you're up to going off on another mission so soon?"
She shrugged. "Probably not, but if he's going then I'm going."
"I can empathize with Ms. Potts – I don't want him doing this either."
"If we go as a team, we can handle just about anything. Heck, Tony could do it all on his own."
"He probably could… Just be careful, alright?"
There was concern etched on his face, fear deep in his eyes. He suddenly reminded Julia of when she parted from her parents when she left for Afghanistan. It struck her that Yinsen had very few people dear to him left in the world; she and Tony were basically all he had.
Julia went to her room and was about to dial the number to her family's home when she glimpsed a figure at her doorway. "Yinsen? Are you alright?"
The doctor walked in quickly, face ashen. "Obadiah Stane is here."
"What? Are you sure?"
"While I was in the kitchen I saw a car drive up to the house."
"Did he see you?"
"No, I don't think so. I hadn't turned on the lights; just the low lights are on."
"Okay, okay…" Her mind raced, trying to process the information and come up with a logical plan of action. "He's got to know that something's up – maybe he ran into Pepper when she was at the offices. Jarvis, display the cameras around the entryway."
One of the large windowpanes tinted and a screen appeared showing the security camera footage. A black Bentley Continental GT V8 sat quietly before the house, and Stane had just opened the door to Stark's mansion. As they watched, he paused and looked back outside, and a man jogged up to meet him.
"Is that…?" Yinsen started.
"Marius Dellinger," Julia confirmed. "This is bad." She touched the interface and found a shot of the driveway – Dellinger's grey BMW X6 was parked away from the house and off the pavement.
"What do we do?"
"Warn Tony, activate security procedures, then disarm Stane and Dellinger." She paged the workshop, but there was no immediate answer. "Come on, Tony!" she muttered.
The interface abruptly froze mid-call. Julia tapped the glass several times but nothing happened. "Jarvis? Jarvis?"
There was no response. She and Yinsen stared at each other.
"They've disabled the security – we won't be able to lock down the house."
Julia's voice hardened into a commanding tone. "I'm going to need a gun. Do you know where Tony would keep one?"
"A gun… maybe… wait, he has a couple on display in his office. I seem to recall him mentioning once that he also kept one in a drawer."
"Okay. Yinsen, find somewhere to hide."
"You must contact Tony; don't confront them alone."
"Right now I don't have a choice. That's why I need you to be safe, someplace they won't find you. And don't come out until I come for you."
The doctor rubbed his fingertips across his forehead. "Alright. But please, be careful! I cannot stress this enough."
Yinsen left her room and went to find a secure spot to conceal himself, while Julia went out in the opposite direction, padding down the hallway to Stark's office. In the desk drawers the organizational hand of Virginia Potts had everything in its place, weapon included. Tucked into a leather case was an average-looking revolver. Tony probably never thought that he would have to use it, Julia grimly pondered as she inserted the ammunition clip. With an all-too-familiar click, she checked that it was properly loaded and inhaled deeply. Hopefully by now Tony would realize that something was wrong.
Julia snuck down the hallway towards the living room – since it was the middle of the house, it was most likely that someone would be there. A barely audible noise put her on alert. Following the sound, she crouched down inside a doorway to listen.
"What a masterpiece – look at that!" Obadiah's deep, powerful voice spoke softly to Tony; she strained to hear what was being said. "This is your legacy – a new generation of weapons with this at its heart. Weapons that will help steer the world back on course, put the balance of power back in our hands, the right hands. I wish you could see my prototype; it's not as… not as conservative as yours." There was the sound of movement and then he spoke a little louder; "Too bad you had to involve Pepper in this – I would have preferred that she live."
Julia tensed. Did Pepper get caught trying to get that information? In any case, there wasn't anything that she could do about it right now. She was more concerned by the one-sided conversation she had overheard between Stane and Tony. It was unlike Tony to say nothing – something must have happened to him.
"Marius, I'm certain that the so-called guests are still here. Find them. I can't afford to have loose ends. Tony won't be going anywhere. I've got a tight schedule to keep, so I'll just have to leave you to it…"
Stane might have left the premises, but the odds had not gotten any better. Marius Dellinger's credentials as an executive assistant hadn't mentioned advanced combat training as one of his skills. She had no idea what she was going up against. Julia ducked further back into the shadows as Dellinger stalked off to search for her in the darken house. She prayed that Yinsen was well-hidden. Though Tony was somehow incapacitated in the next room, it could be a plot of Dellinger's to lure her out into the open. She would have to risk leaving him for now so that she could get to the assassin first.
Moving stealthily across the smooth floors, Marius had disappeared; she couldn't hear him or see any sign of his presence. Not good, Julia said to herself as her hands gripped the revolver. The lighting was on the lowest, most minimal setting, meaning that he could be hiding anywhere. There was the slightest scent lingering in the air – a man's cologne or aftershave. Before she could make a decision on which direction to follow, she heard a click directly behind her right ear.
Dellinger's words were measured; "You aren't the only one who knows this house, Ramirez. Drop it."
The gun clattered to the floor.
"Now put your hands on top of your head. Slowly."
Julia started raising her arms, knowing that he'd be expecting movement, but then she whipped around so that she deflected his aim to the outside of her body, and simultaneously yanked Dellinger's arm forward. With his stance off-balance, she twisted the gun out of his hand and got it trained on his torso.
"Alright Dellinger, turn around and put your hands on your head."
She had to get out of this confined area and check on Tony – might as well move this scene back out to the living room. First though, she had to pick up the other handgun. Slowly squatting down, Julia only momentarily flicked her gaze downward to grasp the weapon. The next thing she knew, Dellinger had kicked her shooting arm to the side and his fist was about to make contact with her face. Her quick reflexes allowed her to jerk her head back, but not before the blow glanced off her jaw, knocking her backwards. Rolling with the punch, Julia scissored his legs out from under him, bringing him down to her level. As he lunged to regain his handgun, she – holding her own – scrambled up just enough to jump out of the way and behind some cover. A volley of bullets followed her, tearing into the surrounding walls. They exchanged gunfire; the muzzle fire illuminated the place with sharp flashes of light. The blank clicking sound that Julia's gun made the next time she went to fire told her that she'd spent her entire clip of ammunition. She grit her teeth – time to change tactics.
Staying silent and out of sight, she waited for Dellinger to advance. He was probably expecting an ambush. Tightly gripping a statuette from a display shelf, Julia smashed it across the back of his neck in a backhand swipe. When he began to spin around she was ready to wrench the gun from his hand; he being too dazed to formulate a better counter-attack. This time Julia hurled the gun towards the nearest window. He shook off the blow and pushed her face-first into a wall; a quick turn of the head saved her from getting her nose broken. Dellinger had her collar and forearm clenched in his hands, and used the leverage to hurl her across the room, sending her sliding into a coffee table.
"I didn't think you would go down easy," he spoke as he walked toward her, she still getting back on her feet. "I was hoping you'd put up a fight, Ramirez."
"Well you're going to get one," she growled in return.
She was ready when Dellinger made the first move – his arm shot out in a punch that could have taken down another man. Taking a step toward him to close the space, she was able to deflect the attack, though just barely, with her arm at an oblique angle. Simultaneously, she thrust her other fist into his neck. Dellinger wheezed and spluttered, giving Julia enough time to get in some elbow and knee strikes. He was bent over, trying to shield his body from her repeated attacks, when he returned to the offence by bowling her over in a tackle. She wasn't prepared for something like that, and his size and weight immediately took her off balance. The moment he had her on the floor he tried to pin her down by sitting on her midsection, but she was able to make him table out by thrusting her hips upward. Grabbing his left arm and twisting his body downward, Julia flipped him over and came to be in the position he had tried for, this time smashing an elbow into his face before jumping back and getting clear of him.
Dellinger got to his feet, blood streaming from his mouth and his eyes showing a renewed ferocity. The flash of metal in his hand was a game changer; he allowed himself a smug expression as she eyed the four-inch boot knife. As a rule, knife-fights did not end well. He lashed out, Julia leapt backward, and he steadily advanced. Getting slashed was a bad prospect already, but getting stabbed would almost certainly mean a fatal wound. She already knew she wasn't going to get out of this unscathed; at this point she was more concerned with limiting the damage.
When her backside brushed against a chair, she realized that they were in the dining room – an area full of defensive objects. Hoisting up a chair, she held it like she was trying to keep a lion at bay. Dellinger tried swiping around it, then stabbing, but when both methods failed he simply grabbed a hold of the chair legs and forced her back into a buffet. He rammed the knife at her but she twisted the impromptu shield and sent the blade into the wall next to her. Julia hurled the chair towards him and he threw it to the side. He changed the way he was holding the knife to a reverse-grip and attacked with a guttural cry, trying to slash her apart. Julia started throwing anything she could grab, trying to keep the distance between them.
Suddenly Dellinger closed the space and lashed out, slicing into Julia's shoulder. He smirked at the sight of the red line spreading out on her shirt. With a few more swipes he had delivered small cuts to her sides, and her sleeves were striped with blood. Thrusting out his arm like a fencer, Dellinger barely missed her abdomen. This time she caught his forearm and pulled him forward enough to put the knife into a large painting directly behind her, and put another elbow in his face. Blood flowed from his nose and over his bared teeth. The blow made him lose his grip on the knife, which fell to the floor, and Julia scrambled to get it. Dellinger's uppercut leveled her and he retrieved the weapon, but instead of stabbing her he clutched a fist of her hair and started dragging her out of the room. Dazed and seeing stars, Julia screamed in pain and desperately clawed at his hand to alleviate the strain on her scalp.
He pulled her to the living room and stopped right before the large wood table. From where she lay on the floor holding onto his wrist, Julia could just see Tony's white face and wide eyes staring at the scene as he sat motionless on the sofa.
"What did you do to him?" she muttered through clenched teeth.
"The credit goes to Obadiah – he is feeling the effects of short-term paralysis. Though in Stark's case, by the time he is able to move, he'll most likely be dead." As Dellinger spoke, Julia noticed the gaping hole in Tony's chest where the arc reactor should have been. The shards of metal were once again making their way to his heart. "But he'll still be plenty alive to watch me slit your throat."
Dellinger began slowly raising her up using his grip on her hair. She screamed in response and slammed an elbow into the back of his knee joint, causing his leg to instantly buckle. As gravity took him to the floor he released his clasp on her, and Julia got enough footing to launch herself upward and seize the hand holding the knife. She drove her nails into the soft tissue of his inner wrist, forcing him to reflexively open his fingers. While landing on top of him, Julia tossed the knife, it skittering away on the smooth floor.
Shoving her off, he clambered up for the weapon. She dashed after him and rammed shoulder-first into his back like a football player. Dellinger collided with the wall in the narrow hallway leading to the foyer. Julia leapt past, but he wrapped his arms around her midsection, stopping her in her tracks. Realizing she couldn't fight the pull, she tried to lash back with elbow strikes and clipped him enough to make him lose his balance and stumble backwards. He landed hard on his back with her right on top of him – this time there was no escaping.
Dellinger gave up on the knife, instead locking his arms around her neck. His large arm muscles were solid; there was no way she would be able to loosen them. The pressure was crushing her throat. A hold like that, a chokehold, was the most difficult to get out of, not to mention the most threatening as it would only take a few seconds to make her black out. She couldn't make a sound, she couldn't even inhale. Julia kicked her legs wildly and clawed at his arms and reached back for his face. This is it, this is how it ends, her mind whispered. Her vision was darkening into a tunnel.
She barely felt the sensation of something sharp in her thigh. Julia's fingers frantically grasped at the object. The sounds of the struggle were muffled by the sound of her pounding blood. Her hand closed upon the handle of Dellinger's knife – they had landed almost right on top of it. One last-ditch effort before she succumbed to the blackness. Julia plunged the blade all the way into Dellinger's leg.
The death grip was instantly loosened and blood flooded her jugular. On the edge of unconsciousness, she barely heard his scream. Her final move was kicking a foot on the floor and propelling her head into his jaw, slamming his head back into the floor and rendering them both dead to the world.
Hearing was the first sense that came back to her – the sounds of someone moving near her. Julia felt no pain, just an overwhelming grogginess like she was awakening from a deep sleep but unable to fully come out of the unconscious state. She struggled to open her eyes, yet could not focus her vision. Next, she was aware of a hand gently rubbing her shoulder.
"Julia, you're safe. I'm here, it's Yinsen. Just stay where you are."
Blinking and squinting, she finally got a better look at where she was; the sideways view and towering walls meant she was lying on the floor. She swallowed and tasted blood.
"Wh-where am I?" she rasped.
"We're in the hallway of Stark's house. I'm going to roll you onto your back and examine your eyes, alright?"
She currently lay on her left side in the recovery position with her arm stretched out, her left palm tucked under her cheek, and her left leg bent over the over one. Yinsen carefully moved her and shone a small bright light into her eyes.
"Well, you don't have a concussion, but you have quite a welt on the top of your head."
"Can I sit up?"
"Yes, but I'll help you. And don't make any sudden movements."
The doctor hauled her into a sitting position and she reeled from the rush of blood, feeling like she might pass out once more, her head throbbing in pain. When the dizziness passed, she looked up and saw Yinsen kneeling beside a man's body; he was tightening a piece of cloth tied around his thigh. Everything came back to her – that was Marius Dellinger, and they had just had a death-match.
"Is he still alive?"
"Would I be doing this if he weren't?" Yinsen quipped. "He's going to need medical attention for this leg wound though. Lucky for him, the knife missed the artery."
Julia's gaze caught the bloody knife lying nearby.
"I thought I told you to stay hidden," she said, remembering what she had told him earlier.
"And listen to the screams? Since when have I left you?"
Her heart rate quickened. "Tony. What about Tony?"
"Where is he?"
"In the living room. Help me up, we have to get to him-"
Both of them froze at the sound of footsteps around the corner by the door. A handgun appeared in Yinsen's grip, one he'd found on the floor, and he shakily pointed it in the direction it came from.
"Tony! Tony! Whoa!" Rhodey skid to a stop when he saw them and raised his hands. "You know me; Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes."
Yinsen lowered the weapon. "Why are you here?"
"Pepper called me and told be about Obadiah. What happened?"
Yinsen waved him over to help Julia get to her feet, and then she started explaining.
"Rhodes, you might recognize Marius Dellinger, Mr. Stane's executive assistant."
He took a closer look at the unconscious man on the floor. His battered and bloody face was a sharp contrast to his normally polished appearance, and his hands were cinched together with his own belt.
"Yes…"
"He is also Stane's personal mercenary."
Rhodes stared at him, completely incredulous, then turned back to her. "Where's Tony?"
"Hopefully still alive. He was in the living room."
Rhodes and Yinsen half-dragged her as they ran to the room and found it empty.
"He must be in the shop. You two take the elevator; I'll meet you down there. Tony!" he yelled again.
By the time she and the doctor stepped out of the elevator doors, Rhodey was assisting a very pale Tony Stark to his feet. Julia and Tony stared at each other a moment.
"The arc reactor…" she gasped.
"The old one that Pepper put in a case… she didn't incinerate it." They embraced each other, and she winced in pain when his arms tightened around her. He instantly let go and took a second look at her, this time noticing just how bloodstained her shirt was. Tony hugged her again; gingerly this time.
"Thank goodness you're alright," he whispered in her ear, his voice choking a bit with emotion. "Thank you for keeping Yinsen safe." After the brief exchange, Tony cleared his throat and turned to Rhodes. "Where's Pepper?"
"She's fine. She's with five agents; they're about to arrest Obadiah."
"That's not going to be enough," he replied.
"Wait, Tony. What are you thinking?" Yinsen demanded.
"Obadiah has a suit, and he has my arc reactor. Government agents with handguns won't stop him."
"You're in no condition to stop him-."
"He's going to kill Pepper."
"I'm going with you," Julia spoke up.
"You are still bleeding! I cannot let you-"
"If he's going, then I can too."
The doctor sighed heavily. "I know."
"Dellinger's still upstairs – we have to get him into custody," Julia said.
"And Stane disabled the security," Yinsen added.
Tony took charge of the situation. "Rhodey, get Dellinger to the authorities. I'll lock down the house. Yinsen, go with Rhodes, he'll take care of you."
Rhodes dashed back upstairs while Tony got the systems back online. A moment later he returned with a hard look on his face.
"He's gone."
"What?" Julia exclaimed. "He can't be! Jarvis, bring up the exterior cameras. His SUV was parked just off the driveway."
The four of them peered at the monitors searching for the vehicle but there was nothing to see.
"There's a lot of blood up there; it looks like he dragged himself out the front door," Rhodes commented.
"What about the knife? Yinsen, where did you put the knife?"
"In the front bathroom. I picked it up with a towel and set it on the counter just before we got in the elevator."
"I didn't see any tracks going that way. He's badly injured so it seems like he fled the moment he came to," Rhodes reassured her.
Tony got her attention. "Julia, we'll find him, I promise, but right now we have to go."
Running over to the staging area, Stark and Ramirez let the mechanical arms suit them up as Rhodey watched in amazement.
"That's the coolest thing I've ever seen!" he exclaimed.
"Not bad, huh?" Stark responded, foregoing a comment about how he could've had a suit of his own. "Let's do it." His wrecked car still sat off to the side after that test-flight incident, and he blasted it out of the way.
"You need me to do anything else?" the lieutenant colonel asked.
"Keep the skies clear." Tony rocketed through the hole in the ceiling.
Julia's helmet snapped down across her face and she shot skyward after him.
A/N: Please let me know what you thought of the fight scene! I re-wrote it like 5 or 6 times. Also, have you seen Avengers yet? Totally awesome!
