Hello to my wonderful buddies out there. Thanks for the 46 reviews, 71 favs and 123 follows :)I hope all of you are truly enjoying this story and hope to hear more from you guys!

I apologise for the decrease in productivity for the last few days. This chapter is shorter than my expectations (I know its 2550+ words, but I wanted even more :3 ) and I'll try to update faster okie? I really want to know what you guys think of this story.

Disclaimer: Marvel owns IRON MAN, AVENGERS, and all the characters below.

By the time Loki had reached Tony, Tony had freed himself from the metal mess and gotten an ice pack to rub on the bruise which started forming on his head.

"Tony!"

"Yes dear?" Tony smiled innocently.

"You just interrupted me at the worst possible time!" He yelled, face changing from an innocent to an angry parent like expression.

"I'm sorry…" Tony shifted his gaze away as he faked the most sincere expression.

"You just want to watch the movie right?"

"Yes." He sighed.

"I'll call you back soon, okay?"

"Fine."

"I have my eyes on you." Loki raised his voice 'threateningly'.

"Huh." Tony replied nonchalantly. "I'm going to wait for the pizza to arrive."

"Don't you dare watch the next few scenes okay Stark?"

"No promises!" Tony called out as he left Loki and went to the first floor to get his pizza.

Loki shook his head in displeasure and disappeared in a flash of light.

"Let's resume the movie shall we?" Loki asked, reappearing.

There were several hums of agreement from the group. "Jarvis?"

"Loading sir."

"Visionary. Genius." Magazine covers slipped in onto the screen as a person narrated.

They stared, confused, at the screen.

"American Patriot."

Clint fake-coughed, the ladies glared back.

"Even from an early age, the son of legendary weapons developer Howard Stark stole the spotlight with his briliant and unique mind."

"At age four, he built his first circuit board. At age six, his first engine."

"He was that smart?" Bruce stared open mouthed at the screen.

"He looks so cute!" Clint piped up.

"And yet look at how he looks now. So worn out and tired. If I didn't know better, I'd say he's in his fifties." Rhodey mouthed to Pepper who silently agreed.

"Howards Stark's lifelong friend and ally, Obadiah Stane, steps in to help fill the gap left by the legendary founder, until age 21, the prodical son returns and is appointed the new CEO of Stark Industries."

"Who's Obadiah Stane?" Steve asked as Clint questioned, "Who's the bald head?"

Before Natasha could open her mouth to answer, Loki answered, "You'll find out in the movie."
"With the key to the kingdom, Tony ushers in a new era for his father's legacy, creating smarter weapons, advanced robotics, satellite targeting. Today, Tony Stark has changed the face of the weapons industry by ensuring freedom and protecting America and her interests around the globe.." The camera zoomed out.

"A game show?" Clint asked, eyebrows raised.

There were many people in the auditorium clapping. The screen showed a man in a suit standing at the podium, talking to the crowd.

"That's supposed to be you?"

Rhodey nodded.

"As liaison to Stark Industries, I've had the unique privilege of serving with a real patriot-" Clint coughed again. Rhodey glared, "Not my words." and got slapped on the arm by Pepper. "He's my friend and he is my great mentor. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honour to present this year's Apogee Award to Mr. Tony Stark. Tony?"

"Stark no show?" Steve asked, not surprised. Bruce glanced over to him.

Rhodey looked around slightly, glancing at Obadiah who shook his head slightly before rising and walking forward instead.

"Thank you Colonel."
"Thanks for the save." Rhodey mutters before handing the award over and walking off stage.

"Its beautiful, thank you. Thank you all very much. This is wonderful."

"Well I'm not Tony Stark." He says and the crowd laughs.

"Lame…" Clint mutters under his breath.

"But if I were Tony, I would tell you how honored I feel and what a joy it is to receive this very prestigious award…Tony, you know, the best thing about tony is also the worst thing. He's always working."

Phil looked at Pepper and Rhodey with raised eyebrows, the duo shrugged in return.

The scene changed, Tony in Vegas throwing dice on a gambling table, smirking as his sunglass covered eyes watch where they fall.

"Work it! Come on!" Tony shouted, looking at the dice as the man from before walks through the crowd.

"You are unbelievable."

"Oh, no! Did they rope you into this?" Tony sighed, throwing the dice again.

"Nobody roped me into anything!"

"I'm so sorry." Tony apologizes, although the man ignores him and continues on.

"But they told me that if I presented you with an award, you'd be deeply honored."

"Oh course I'd be deeply honored. And it's you, that's great." Tony responds, eyes grazing over a women to his right and almost completely ignoring the man.

"So, when do we do it?"

"It's right here. Here you go." The man glares as he hands over the award, Tony picks it up in surprise, weighing it in his hand.

"There it is. That was easy…I'm so sorry." He apologizes again, although the other man is still upset.

"Why is Tony apologising?" Bruce asks. "I thought he never does that?"

"Err…." Rhodey stammered but found himself with no answer.

"He gives a sincere apology to only those whom he trusts or respects." Pepper filled in.

"How do you know Tony trusts Rhodey?"

Pepper was about to say something but Loki cut her to it. "Rhodey was offered to take part in Project: Ironman."

Rhodey stared at Loki before understanding what he meant. "You'll find out later in the movie guys, just wait and watch."

"Yeah, it's okay." The Rhodey sighs, rolling his eyes.

"Okay Jarvis, time skip. To 12 hours later." Loki interrupted.

The team looked at Loki suspiciously.

"You wouldn't want to know why." Pepper and Rhodey knew why but chose to keep quiet.

Jarvis fast forward the movie to the scene where Tony is standing in the lab.

"Tony's lab, for those who don't know." Loki teased.

"How many does he have?"

"Give me an exploded view."

"The compression in cylinder three appears to be low."

"Log that." Tony reports to Jarvis, spinning the hologram around to see if there was any imminent problem.

Pepper clicks a few buttons, activating the glass door just as JARVIS lowers the music volume, walking straight towards Tony who looks up and quickly looks down again.

"I'm gonna' try again, right now."

"Please don't turn down my music." Tony whined, looking up with pleading eyes in which Pepper refused to cave into.

"I'll keep you posted. You are supposed to be halfway around the world right now." Pepper scolds, and Tony shifts, moving to sit on the wheel of the car he was previously working on.

"How'd she take it?"

"Like a champ."

"Why are you trying to hustle me out of here?" Tony sighs, seeing how his position in the situation wasn't loosening up any more.

"Your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago."

"He stayed back in his lab to work on his car instead of travelling half way round the world." Steve stated, shocked. He saw Bruce shaking his head at the corner of his eye.

"That's funny, I thought with it being my plane and all, that it would just wait for me to get there."

"Tony, I need to speak to you about a couple things before I get you out of the door."

"Doesn't it kind of defeat the whole purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?"

"Got a point there." Clint muttered thoughtfully, getting a few glares. "What? Its your own plane, its supposed to wait for you to get there right?"

"Try being a billionaire before you comment on the life of one." Natasha shot at Clint on behalf of Tony's two good friends.

"Larry called. He's got another buyer for the Jackson Pollock in the wings. Do you want it? Yes, or no?"

"Is it a good representation of his spring period?"

"No. The Springs was actually the neighborhood in East Hampton, where he lived and worked, not 'Spring' like the season."

"So?" He asked, looking up with one eyebrow rose towards his hairline.

"I think it's a fair example. I think it's incredibly overpriced." She offered, knowing the latter half of her statement would be the selling point.

"I need it." He demands directly after she finished talking, he rises, whipping his hands on a nearby rag and starts walking.

"But it. Store it." He continues as she flips the paper, reading the next issue.

"Okay. The MIT commencement speech-"

"Is in June. Please, don't harangue me about stuff that's way, way down."

"I'm surprised he knew it was in June." Rhodey tells Pepper, "I didn't expect him to remember any of his speeches."

"They're haranguing me, so I'm gonna' say yes."

"Deflect it and absorb it. Don't transmit it back to me."

"Famous words..." Clint remarked, amused at the familiarity.

"I need you to sign this before you get on the plane."

"What are you trying to get rid of me for? What, you got plans?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"I don't like it when you have plans."

"I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday."

"It's your birthday?"

"Yes."

"I knew that. Already?"

"Yeah, isn't that strange? It's the same day as last year." Pepper shot back.

"Ooh, burn." Natasha said slyly.

"Get yourself something nice from me."

"I already did."

"And?"

"It was very nice."

"Yeah?"

"Very tasteful. Thank you, Mr. Stark."

"You're welcome, Miss Potts."

Time skips and, a fast Audi R8 is seen speeding across a sandy road. Music blasting loudly from its speakers. A black car follows desperately, trying to catch up to the sports car ahead.

After a while, the Audi pulls into an airport, Tony just opening his door when the black car follows, sliding to a stop.

"You're good. I thought I lost you back there." Tony smirks, standing up and showing off a leather jacket. Happy gets out and smiles, taking luggages out of the black car's trunk.

"You did, sir. I had to cut across Mulholland."

"I got you, I got you." Tony nodded turning and walking towards the awaiting craft. He frowns, once he see's Rhodey with a frown at the top of the stairs.

"What's wrong with you? What?"

"Three hours."

"I got caught doing a piece for Vanity Fair." Tony dumped an excuse.

Pepper shook her head and got herself to smile.

"For three hours. For three hours you got me standing here."

"Waiting on you now. Let's go. Come on." Tony grins, slipping past Rhodey who follows in, allowing the plane door to close in preparation for take off.

"How do you put up with him?" Steve asked, frowning at the screen. Rhodey shakes his head with a smile.

Once the plane takes off, it shows Rhodey reading something while Tony spins in his seat, looking at his friend across from him.

"What you reading, platypus?"

"Let's skip this." Loki says, out of respect for Rhodey.

"Aww man, why?" Clint whines, disregarding who he was whining to.

"Because I say so."

"How long do we have till Tony comes back?" Rhodey asks asks.

"Quite little." He says as Jarvis fasts the movie to the point where the plane lands in Afghanistan.

"General."

"Welcome, Mr. Stark. We look forward to your weapons presentation."

"Thanks."

"Just like that?" The Golden Boy of America asks.

"If you're surprised by these little things, you're up for even bigger shockers Rogers." Loki commented with distaste.

Tony is standing in front of everyone, while all military men are below him, looking up and waiting.

"Is it better to be feared, or respected?" Tony asks, looking out while the wind brushes his hair gently.

"Is it just me, or does Tony never go out without his sunglasses?" Bruce interrupted, breaking everyone out of their trains of thoughts.

"Glad you noticed, you should save that question for Tony or Loki." Pepper answered dryly, faking a smile. Bruce noticed she seemed troubled.

"I say, is it too much to ask for both? With that in mind, I humbly present the crown jewel of Stark Industries' Freedom Line. It's the first missile system to incorporate our proprietary repulsor technology."

"Eh, what?" Steve asked, confused by what he just heard, however Bruce and the assassins perked up at the scene.

"They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon; you only have to fire once. That's how Dad did it. That's how America does it, and it's worked out pretty well so far. Find an excuse to let one of these off the chain, and I personally guarantee you the bad guys won't even want to come out of their caves."

"Does anyone think this is going to be more of a...horror movie or something like that?" Clint asked, not liking the tone of the speakers and characters.

"Scared Barton?" Phil muses.

"No, I've seen worse… this movie seems odd…"

"Don't worry, you'll survive." Loki told him, after moment he added, "barely." Clint shot a glare at him. Loki glared back. My, did I mention how much these two hated each other's guts? Especially since Clint didn't get over the brainwashing incident.

"For your consideration, the Jericho."

The missile blasts into the air, detached into many more and spiraled down before it hit the mountain and exploded.

"I'll be throwing one of these in with every purchase of 500 Million or more." He reaches over and pulls a drink out of a cooler, holding it high in the air for an invisible toast.

"To peace!" He smirked, flipping out his phone and seeing a picture of Obadiah.

"Tony."

"Obie, what are you doing up?"

Thor was getting too confused with the Midgardian slang but he chose to remain quiet.

"I couldn't sleep till I found out how it went. How'd it go?"

"It went great. Looks like it's gonna' be an early Christmas."

"Hey! Way to go, my boy! I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Sick twisted evil nobody." Rhodey muttered under his breath as Pepper squeezed his hands in worry.

"Why aren't you wearing those pajamas I got you?" Tony smirked, looking cheekily into his phone while Obadiah rolled his eyes.

"Good night, Tony." Tony walks over to a car and sat in, window rolling down.

"Hey, Tony." Rhodey walks over, giving a slight nod to his friend.

"I'm sorry; this is the 'fun-vee' The 'hum-drum-vee' is back there." Tony points behind and hides a smile, Rhodey gives a nod.

"If only he didn't get inside that jeep."

"Nice job. See you back at base." Tony nods, sipping on his drink he brought with him.

"Its that scene isn't it?" Bruce asked in worry.

GORE ALERT FOR YOUNGSTERS!

Then the scene changed, cars driving before exploding, causing the image to become shaky.

Clint cusses, slapping hands over his ears as everyone else does.

The camera starts shaking before a dull place is shown, whispers and yells in the background as Tony is seen on the bench yelling. They seemed to be removing shrapnel from his chest while he was awake. After a few moments of agony he quietens down. The screen is now upside down.

A cloth is put over his mouth and removed. And Tony doesn't move anymore, mouth open, breathing raggedly as the screen turns black.

"What just happened?" Steve breathed a shaky breath, inhaling and exhaling while gripping the arm chair tightly.

Pepper and Rhodey were too horrified to start tearing up. They were just civilians, wait, Tony IS a civilian TOO.

"Tony...lived through a horror movie…" Bruce gasped, trying to calm the Other Guy inside him.

"Its about to get worse." Loki stated nonchalantly, as if he wasn't bothered by the scene in front of him.

Thor remained silent, looking between his brother and his screen. He couldn't bear to see whenever his brother got punished, but this… this was inhumane! Did all mortals hurt each other likewise?

Clint and Tasha turned to each other, eyes speaking for themselves. Phil was in his own world, thinking of whether he should get up and leave.

This is going to be a horror movie afternoon... and they were so going to get Loki to pay for what he forced them to do.

Tony however, was open mouthed at the screen, throat gone dry, frozen on spot.

Oh, Reindeer Games is sooooo gonna face MY wrath for showing this on the silver screen! He fumed.

I warned you all of the gore, in case anyone can't take it. I skipped suggestive scenes, etcetera, etcetera and I will include the Avenger's perspectives even more in the upcoming chapters!

This story will have quite a number of chapters. Okie?

-thewriterstory
15 Dec