I didn't get as much writing done over Christmas as I'd hoped for. I managed to get ill which sucks.

Contains shoutout for RawrAnimeRocks It's been a while but I didn't forget you.


Max opened her eyes, the sparking had stopped. She was in a forest, the whips now looked like ninja wires. In front of her, holding the two wires to short circuit the justu, was Yuri. It was her memory.

"I've always been proud of you Max." Her old teacher told her. "You, Itachi and Hana were my favourite team." Max could feel her eyes watering.

"I made so many mistakes."

"You aren't the first. A shinobi's life is rarely simple with all the deception and betrayal. You're doing really well to keep afloat with such a tough life." Yuri smiled at her former student fondly. Then her face turned serious.

"You have choice to make. Right now you're at a fork. One path leads you to peace, no more worrying, pain or betrayal. But you won't be able to contact any of your friends. The other path is not as easy. It might even break you. But in taking this path you can continue to protect your friends and save the worlds." Max's lips twitch into a small smile,

"There isn't really a choice. I would never leave my friends completely." The proud smile was back on Yuri's face.

"I suspected as much. The other path would have been you choosing death. Maybe you should visit home more often." Max winced. It had been so long since she'd been back in Konoha, and it still hurt to think about it. "Thinks will not be easy with this path, you will need to go back eventually. Try not to let the actions of some keep you from your friends." Yuri was starting to fade from view. Max wanted to reach out but her arms were still bound. "I'm so very proud." Were Yuri's last words before she disappeared completely.

There was a rush of sound and light temporarily blinding her senses. She was back in Monaco. In front of her Iron Man stood, holding both whips, reminiscent of how Yuri had been holding them. The suit acted as a faraday cage, the electricity passing over the casing, leaving Tony safe inside. For the moment any way, the suit was sparking dangerously and probably couldn't handle too much more.

Max felt her rage building, the pale tendrils of power barely visible in the bright sun. She wasn't going to let someone else sacrifice themselves for her. The tendrils wrapped around the coils trapping up and pulled them apart, completely destroying them. They reached forward and one touched the whip guy's forehead causing him to collapse. She could practically see the look of confusion on Tony's face under the Iron Man helmet. The tendrils retracted into her leaving her with a drained feeling.

Miss Potts got out of the car that had taken the briefcase Iron Man suit to Tony and started fussing over the mechanic. Max took that as her cue to leave and started walking back to the other side of the track.

"We still on for that drink later?" She heard Tony call, his helmet had been moved away from his face. Max could see his emotions clearly, sadness, curiosity, and the smallest bit of hope. She smiled and nodded, getting a smile in return.


It wasn't long before Alex and Bond caught up with her. She was expecting the chewing out she got from Bond. Alex was far too used to her antics by now. After Bond's rant finished Max mentioned aborting the mission. It was a lost cause, people had tried this before and failed. The British secret service had no right to it. It had then led to a rant about loyalty in which Max told him her loyalty was not to England. Not the best situation Alex had ever had to sit through.

The sun was setting as Max made her way to the bar she had agreed to meet Tony at. She'd changing into a different dress, knowing she should try to continue with her cover and dress appropriately for the encounter. The dress was a deep purple with some silver highlights. She'd picked out some matching heels and was using her ninja skills to keep he balance and stop herself from breaking an ankle.

Bond hadn't look impressed when she left the yacht but Alex had given her an approving look and a thumbs up. The bar wasn't too crowded and it was easy to spot the billionaire and his sort of assistant. In the same way, it was easy for her to be noticed and she was beckoned over. She got the feeling she was heading for an interrogation.

They didn't stay in the bar long, Max was practically bundled into a car.

"Which agency?" Tony asked her. Max smirked and shook her head slightly, she should really have known, of course he would dig into her life. He probably knew more than any individual agency.

"MI5 at the moment." She saw no point lying. There was silence for a while, they probably hadn't been expecting her to be honest.

"I thought spies were supposed to be secretive?" Miss Potts murmured.

"Only to whom they are loyal. I've been a free agent for years. MI5 have been taking a few too many liberties around me for me to give a crap." Max explained, the way she saw it, first the Iron Man suit, next the source of her powers. She hadn't exactly been careful enough with them, someone was bound to notice.

"Sounds like the entire American government." Tony muttered. Max had to agree, she'd worked with them too. "So what are MI5 going to do now?"

"I said the mission was aborted. They can't touch me anyway, they've tried." It hadn't stopped her from going on missions that ranged from boring to suicidal. Tony leant forward in his seat and told the driver something.

It wasn't long before they were at a villa overlooking the sea. Tony had made a beeline for the drinks and soon everyone had something. Some crappy TV show had been put on and Max had a feeling this was going to be interesting. She took a sip of her drink, she could taste how expensive the vodka was. She joined Tony slouching on the sofa watching the huge TV in silence.

They didn't stay quiet for long. Max broke the silence with a comment on something stupid done on the show and from there they started their own running commentary. Neither had expected the night to descend into a heart to heart but knowing they had a kindred spirit felt nice. Both had something people wanted, had people nagging them and wanting them safe. They both also liked the good alcohol.


Back in the Hidden continents Itachi was meeting up with an old friend. Konoha was boring and he didn't really fancy another ridiculous assignment quite yet. Tsunade was trying to keep Itachi in the village. She could feel a shift of power coming and wanted her strongest assets where they would be useful.

"Is that a child?" Itachi asked, raising an eyebrow at the small bundle of fabric his friend was cradling. Deidara had asked to meet him in a small café in a neutral village. Itachi had naturally been early to scope out the area and was sat with a cup of tea.

"Yes, believe it or not you were one of these once." Deidara joked, Itachi looked scandalised for a few seconds before cracking a small barely visible smile. "It is mine. Do you remember Miyuki?" Deidara asked, lowering his voice and leaning in closer.

"She was that girl you kidnapped by accident." Deidara nodded. "Is she the mother?" Another nod.

"She's gone missing. I was visiting her, the place was wrecked and she was nowhere to be seen. Hideki was crying in a closet under a hasty genjutsu. It would be no easy feat to take her. I couldn't confirm it but I think she was a Tamahya."

"One of the clans wiped out by the massacres?" Itachi had paid as little attention during history as he could get away with. Max would always describe them in exaggerated gory detail later anyway.

"They obviously didn't do a good enough job back then, really shoddy work. But Miyuki was skilled, had she wanted to be a ninja, I doubt there is a single village who would turn her away with her talents."

"You think she was kidnapped for these skills?" A nod answered that question. "Do you want me to help find her?" Deidara looked a bit sheepish.

"Actually, I was wondering if you could look after Hideki while I looked for her. I can't take a child with me."

"You want me to baby sit?" Itachi seemed to be developing this twitch.

"You could ask Max, she's the only other person I would trust with my son."

"I'd have to find her first," Itachi grumbled, holding his arms out for the child, agreeing to this sort of mission. Deidara gave him a sympathetic look.

"She'll be back. Even if someone has to drag her back."


The sun woke Max, she scanned the surroundings. Nothing much had changed from last night other that the blanket covering her and a similar one covering her latest drinking buddy. The television was still muted and there were a few glasses on the table as well as a few empty pizza boxes.

Casting her memory back to last night she winced, she hadn't meant to share so much of her life, while technically she wasn't bound by most secrecy things, some things were safer not being known. In turn she had heard about Tony's life, it wasn't the best and he had told her how he wanted to make up for the weapons he used to make. He'd even told her he was dying. By that point they had both been a bit more than drunk and she'd told him death wasn't such a bad guy.

She groaned when she remembered showing him some of her skills, she'd made a small dragon out of fire. Tony had melted part of one of the glasses examining it.

After pancakes for breakfast Max shot of a quick text to Alex telling him to warn MI5 any more missions like this would not be tolerated. She knew she would probably get ignored but now she would have the right to say 'I told you so' when the next attempt failed in an embarrassing way.

Tony kindly dropped her off in Washington DC in his private jet, after getting drunk a few nights in a row. Max knew he had been dying to ask about her abilities but respectfully didn't. It would be like her asking about his suit. Max had been making phone calls during the day, something about security clearance. Tony didn't manage to hear enough of it and respected her too much to hack her calls.


Max found herself walking towards the familiar building of NCIS, Stark was tagging along, he had supplied the navy with weapons so could easily request a tour. Max was resorting to calling Stark by his last name, to avoid mental confusion with her brother. She wondered if this was a good idea, she vaguely remembered her brother being a bit of a fanboy over the Iron Man suit.

They were greeted at the reception by a guy who introduced himself as Director Vance. Max frowned a bit, last time she was hear Jenny was director. She would probably find out soon enough.

Up in the bull pen the team were obviously working hard. Max was stood there for a good while before anyone looked up and noticed her. She suspected Gibbs had noticed her the second she'd entered the building.

"What brings you to this neck of the woods?" her brother asked grinning.

"I'll tell you in MTAC." Max said, this earnt some raised eyebrows. She grinned and headed off, it was fun to leave people guessing. Behind her Vance motioned for DiNozzo to follow.

Inside the dark cinema-style room the tech guys were just sorting out the call as Max and her brother made themselves comfortable. Vance was overseeing the tech guys before leaving the room. Even his clearance wasn't high enough for this.

As soon as the connection was made the tech guys also left. Tony looked at his sister in confusion, then looked to the screen.

"Is this your brother?" General Landry asked. Max nodded. "You sure he can handle this clearance?" Max nodded again.

"He's been on multiple undercover and deep cover operations, he knows what shouldn't be shared." Max turned to her brother. "Do you believe in aliens?"


Life is still never dull for Max.

Back to Konoha next chapter. It's not exactly as she left it...