Chapter 20:

Day in the life of a Terrorist

In Gulmira, terrorists were kicking in doors and pulling people out of their homes. The people being persecuted were shouting for the lives of their loved ones being taken, but nothing they said or did would convince the terrorists to free them. Many were taken out before the town and executed when they tried to fight back, while others were loaded into the back of vans for transport.

This was their largest move against the populace and they wanted complete domination, complete control. They planned to achieve this supremacy through a show of force with weapons created by Stark Industries. They just hadn't expected said industry, or at least the owner of the industry, to make them rue the day they were born.

Where the people were gathered, a sound much like that of a missile was suddenly heard. Terrorists everywhere froze and stared up in the sky as a red and gold projectile came their way. Shouts were heard as people ran, afraid they would be killed, but as it drew closer, it slowed and landed, head bowed and kneeling with its fist against the ground. Suddenly it looked up and everyone was taken aback. It looked to be a robot or android of some kind, but most notably, it was in the form of a man.

Hostages were suddenly grabbed as the robot stood and began firing, taking out the terrorists as they ran. He then turned to where the hostages were being held by the vans and found himself with a situation. He could try firing and risk hurting the hostages, or he could try something a little different. Either way was a risk. It wasn't like he had done this with live people before.

"Extremis," he spoke internally, "lock onto targets."

He watched on his hub as the various targets were locked as they shouted out orders for him to stand down or they will kill their hostages.

"Fire!" he demanded.

The bullets he let loose hit every target and the people cheered. Smiling, he stormed the house and grabbed the terrorist's leader; he had noticed him run and hide about the time he landed. The man tried to fight his hold, but could do nothing against the might of the machine. He was dragged into town square and dropped before the feet of the people standing around.

"He's all yours."

With those words, he turned and blasted back into the sky, people cheering beneath him. His adrenaline spiked when he felt, rather than saw a missile suddenly slam into him. It tossed him into a nearby building and slammed his encased body through the multiple surfaces before striking the ground, unable to go any further. He knew he would have bruises, but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind as he stood back up and burst out, targeting the stark missiles before they could hit him again.

He locked on and took his shot. Another rocket from a handheld launcher slammed into him and he hit the ground again rolling. Grimacing, he stood and began making his way back through town just as a large explosion occurred behind him. He smirked, knowing those missiles were gone for good.

As he took off flying and circled the compound, he fired on the various snipers he found. Once Tony was certain the area was clear, he saluted the people watching him and blasted into the air. He needed to get further away, because he could hear the jets.

America had arrived.

"Headquarters, target is in sight."

Tony veered to the right as the jet fired to the left. He rolled and then veered back to the left as another jet came up on the right. As both opened fire, he dropped back leaving them firing into empty air. He took a dive and went underneath the jet on his right, hoping to hitch a ride.

"HQ, we have lost sight of the target."

"Bogie on my tail! Radar shows he's on me!"

"No sign of bogie."

"ATTNETION, BOGIE ON THE BOTTOM OF YOUR JET, RAPTOR 2. RAPTOR 1, FIRE! THAT's AN ORDER"

"It…it looks like a man, HQ."

"FIRE!"

The first jet opened up on him and Tony dove and rolled as the bullets struck the second jet.

"HQ, I'm going down! Repeat, going down. Shots fired and the engine has been struck. Bailing out!"

Tony evaded the first jet as he watched the second spiral down in a tunnel of smoke. He held his breath as the cockpit blew open and the pilot ejected, his seat shooting him up into the air before it began to quickly drop.

"No sign of chute, HQ. I repeat, no sign of Raptor 2 chute opening."

"RAPTOR 2 REPORT!"

"Unable to open chute. Problem with the deployment. Latch is stuck. Repeat, latch is stuck."

Tony sighed and dove as he headed straight for the falling soldier. Said soldier was staring at him with a gaping, fearful expression as the other raptor closed in, but didn't fire. No doubt they were worried they would shoot the pilot instead and they were probably right.

Tony reached out, hurrying to reach him before the man got any closer to the ground. With true effort, he grabbed ahold of the manual deployment that was lodged and pulled it with the strength of his machine and Extremis both. The man shot into the air as the chute opened and Tony heave a sigh of relief to see him okay and on his way down safely.

"Chute is open. Repeat, chute is open. Bogie seemed to… have opened it."

"SAY AGAIN RAPTOR 1?"

"Target opened chute, HQ."

Tony chuckled as the radio went silent. He had no doubt they were perplexed by him, but he used this to his advantage and dove, dropping under the trees and out of sight in the forest below. He kept low and went at minimal power in an effort to be lost by their radars.

"I have lost target, repeat I have lost target."

"HEAD BACK TO HQ RAPTOR 1."

"Acknowledged. Raptor 1 heading back."

"RAPTOR 2, HOLD POSITION FOR PICKUP."

"Raptor 2 acknowledged. Holding position sir."

Tony chuckled. "Alright Extremis. Let's head home."

Acknowledged sir…

"Cheeky thing," Tony rolled his eyes, but an amused grin stayed spread across his expression.

I live to amuse, sir…

Tony laughed outright as he headed towards home, the flight relaxing. As he drew closer however, his merriment faded. Smoke wafted from the roof of his mansion and his eyes widened. 'Jarvis…' he thought and blasted his way to the back entrance. As the suit was removed by his robots, he hurried up his secret lab entrance and through his bedroom. Smoke was thick in the halls and as he struggled not to choke, he called out the best he could.

"Jarvis?!"

Nothing.

"Jarvis?! Can you hear me?!"

He made his way to each room, but not a sound was heard, nor a sign of life found. He moved hurriedly down the stairs where the smoke was the thickest. "J-Jarvis?"

Tony had just stumbled into the living room, the entire place now up in flames, when he spotted his faithful butler laying by the windows. "EDWIN!"

He ran to him, his face streaked with soot as he dropped to his knees and rolled the man gently onto his back. Tony stared, nearly unseeing at the red splattered across his friend's chest, a knife imbedded in his gut.

"J-Jarvis… JARVIS!" he screamed.

Tears slid down his face as he buried his head in his butl-no, his grandfather's neck. There was no pulse.

"Tony?!" a voice shouted behind him.

Tony recognized it, but he couldn't bring himself to shout back. He couldn't bring himself to move. He couldn't bring himself to do anything.

Young master, shall I take over…

Tony didn't respond. He couldn't. All his thoughts were on the man lying unmoving, unbreathing before him.

"Tony!" the voice shouted again, this time much closer.

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, but he made no move to dislodge himself from the corpse.

"Tony," the voice coughed, "We need to get you out of here. The house is burning down. Tony?"

Young master…

Tony leaned back, his red eyes obvious as he clenched his friend's shirt in his hands. He didn't move, but the hands now lightly holding him didn't try to forcibly remove him. Instead, he felt the person behind him slowly sit down beside him.

"I know you want to stay with him, but we have to get out of here. I promise, you will have your time to mourn, but Tony… you can't mourn the life of a good man if you don't survive to carry on his legacy."

Tony blinked. The smoke was making his eyes burn, but he barely felt it. No doubt Extremis had a hand in this, but his mind was completely caught up in the words being told to him, rather than the science behind his own pain.

"Clint…" he whispered and turned, burying his head in the man's chest. He had let Jarvis die. How… Why…

Clint held him close before nodding to the firemen hanging back. They hurried forward and swept up the body of Edwin Jarvis before Clint turned back to the young boy in his arms. He carefully picked the teenager up and moved towards the door. He took one last look at the burning interior before following the firemen outside, the house groaning as its upstairs began to collapse inward.

As soon as Clint had passed the threshold, Natasha, Steve, Bruce, and Thor were surrounding him, their eyes worried, but no one made a move to take the child as Clint carried him to the ambulance. The medical personnel merely stood at the ready. Clint continued to cradle the teen, rocking ever so slightly. Tony was silent. He wasn't crying. He wasn't screaming. He wasn't moving.

The team settled around the ambulance, each in thought and each there as a silent support. They had gotten the call about the Stark Mansion nearly fifteen minutes ago. They hadn't wasted even a second in getting there.

Fury walked up a few moments later. His heart was heavy and his face showed the despair he felt at having seen the body of his old friend. His eyes locked on the teen in Clint's arms.

Tony, as though sensing the gaze, turned his head and locked eyes with the man. At first, nothing happened, and then slowly, Tony climbed his way out of his friends embrace and launched himself at the one eyed man. Fury caught him and knelt as he embraced his young charge. Unlike with Clint, Tony couldn't hold himself back in his godfather's arms. He slowly began to tremble and then all control he had slipped as he began to cry. His heartbreaking sobs had everyone standing there silent, their heads lowered in respect of the man who died and who seems to have been dearly loved.

They stayed this way for several more minutes before Fury finally stood, picking the child up in the process.

"I'm heading back to base. Report back when you can. I want to know what happened here."

The others nodded as Fury turned and went to the car. Coulson opened the door for him as he slipped inside, still cradling the child to his chest, the boy's tears sliding down his neck and into the collar of his jacket.

"I want to see my mama," he heard Tony whisper.

Fury snapped his gaze to Coulson who was sitting in the passenger seat, waiting orders.

"Take us to Mercy Hospital."

Coulson gave a nod and directed the driver on where to go as Tony curled further into the man's embrace. Nothing was said as the car pulled up in front of the old state hospital. Fury merely got out, the boy still in his arms and started through the automatic doors. If anyone thought it strange for the gruff, leather wearing dark skinned man with one eye to come through with a teenage boy in his arms, they didn't say anything. Looks were thrown his way, but no one made a move to stop or question them. Fury would have ignored them anyways.

Fury knew exactly where he was going as he walked the halls. He entered the elevator and pushed the fifth floor button before stepping back and allowing others to enter with him. Those that did said nothing, but they stared now and again, obvious concern and curiosity in their gaze.

As soon as the doors opened, he stepped out and made his way to the ICU.

"Mary Gray's room?" he asked a nurse.

The woman glanced at Tony with concern, but pointed them on to the room without asking, for which Fury was grateful. As he approached, he was a bit stunned by all the machines she was hooked up to. He knew Mary Gray was dying, he just hadn't fully realized she was that bad off yet.

The woman, sitting up in bed, her eyes closed, opened them when Fury walked into the room. She eyed him for a moment, taking in the large, dangerous looking man with a dark haired teen, before she suddenly sat a bit straighter, recognition in her eyes.

"T-Tony?"

Tony who had been nearly asleep and not at all caring where the director was taking him, suddenly lifted his head from his godfathers shoulder at the familiar warm voice.

"Mama?" he turned, his eyes widening as he took her in.

She smiled, but she could see the tears lining his face and her heart broke for the child she had come to love and think of as her own. "Oh, Tony…"

Tony bolted from Fury before the man could stop him and nearly pounced on the dying woman. Mary Gray however didn't seem hurt at all by the action and instead tightened her hold on the teen as his fingers bit into her skin. She could feel his hurt and in turn, her own grief for the child rose.

She met the eyes of the man who had brought her, her son and smiled. "Thank you."

Fury stiffened. "Tony requested it. That is the only reason."

She nodded in understanding before turning her attention back to the teen.

"Tony, my tony…"

"Mama, he's dead. Jarvis is dead."

Mary didn't know exactly who this Jarvis was, but she could tell he had been important to her son and that was all that mattered.

"I'm so sorry, baby."

Fury stepped out, giving the mother and son some space. While he didn't trust her, considering she had been one of the teen's kidnappers, he noted she was currently in very bad condition and he highly doubted she could or even would, do anything to Tony.

"Director Fury?"

He looked up and noted Hill standing there, her eyes on the boy and his mother within the glass room.

"How is he?"

"In shock. Anything?"

"According to the medics, Edwin Jarvis was stabbed in the stomach with a kitchen steak knife. No prints were found on the handle however. We believe they were wiped down before a fire was set in the living room."

"So this was murder and arson?"

"Yes sir. Luckily it appears Anthony was not home at the time. We found no proof he had been anywhere around."

Fury nodded, curious then about the boy's side of the story. Still, he knew now was not the time to bring such a thing up. The kid was obviously in shock concerning Edwin's death and he needed time to digest.

"Possibility this was a random break in?"

"According to the police, there was evidence of a broken window in the living room, however…"

He gazed at his lieutenant. "What?"

"Sir, Mr. Jarvis was stabbed with a steak knife from the Stark kitchen. If this was a simple burglary, why would they go to the kitchen anyways? It was clear across the other side of the house. You had to pass the staircase to get there."

Fury narrowed his eyes.

"I think, sir, either someone had something in particular they wanted from the kitchen, which seems unlikely. Or… someone had already been in there at time of death."

"Possible inside job," Fury commented, "or they hid in the kitchen when Jarvis walked into the living room."

"Either way, sir. I don't think this was a random break in. I think someone had a reason for breaking in and Jarvis perhaps, walked in at the wrong time."

Fury nodded and glanced back at the boy, now sitting up and chatting with his mother, a Kleenex in hand.

"We need proof before giving the media or Tony any speculations we might have. Keep me informed, Agent."

"Sir," she nodded and left.

Fury sighed. Not only had this happened to Tony, but he had just gotten a call from the air force about a strange sighting in Gulmira that they wanted to discuss. Today was going to be a long day.

Tony was silent on the trip back to base. The hospital had looked him over before he left and gave him the clear. He had a few bruises across his body that looked from having taken a fall of some sort, but other than that, the kid was cleared to return home.

Tony really wanted to go back home. He needed to check over the suit and clean up his lab. He wanted to go back to how it all had been with Jarvis around, but he knew even if he did go back, the location wouldn't bring back the man. Jarvis was gone, dead, and he would never return. Never…

Tony cried silently. He kept his head turned away from Fury who was watching him with concern. The man said nothing, but Tony knew he wanted to. He was grateful he didn't. Words wouldn't help. He should have been there, he should protected him and now it was too late.

Tony sniffed and wiped his eyes before a surge of resolve came over him. "Take me to Stark tower."

Fury frowned. "Tony…"

"Now. I'm no longer your ward Fury. Take me there…please."

Nick sighed. "Do it Coulson."

Phil nodded and Tony relaxed. He stayed silent until they arrived.

"I can go in alone." He paused as he stood up from the car. "Thanks."

Fury gave a nod and handed him a number on a stray slip of paper. "Just in case."

Tony flashed him a small smile before taking the paper and turning to face the tower. Fury pulled away as Tony started inside.

"Mr. Stark!" Janet, the front desk lady called, hurrying to his side. "Are you okay, Mr. Stark? We just heard about the fire."

"I'm fine Janet, thank you. What floor is Happy on?"

"The kitchen sir, as always."

He gave her his thanks before heading down. He hadn't taken more than a couple steps inside the cafeteria when Happy slammed into him, his arms encircling his shoulders. Tony blinked before wrapping his own arms around the man and burying his face in the man's neck. They had become rather close since Afghanistan and he considered the man a close friend.

"H-He's dead…"

Happy nodded, his own eyes teary. "I know, Tony. Are you okay?"

Tony nodded. "I wasn't there," he said wiping his eyes, "I found him. The house was burning… he was stabbed."

Happy stiffened. "Stabbed?"

Tony nodded. "I don't know who did it or why. Happy… I need you."

Hogan knelt before his young employer. "Whatever you need, I'm at your disposal."

Tony smiled before his eyes flamed. He was angry. Very angry. "I need to go back to the house. Happy… will you take me?"

Hogan knew the area was probably closed off by police, but he felt a surge of protection for the teen and a sense of duty in place of the old man. "Whatever you need," he repeated.

Tony met his gaze. "Help me break into the Stark Mansion and I will explain everything."

Hogan gave a nod. "Then what are we waiting for?"

They walked out and didn't look back.