Meanwhile everyone's Tv's and radios are interrupted, as a Mandarin transmission is on them once again with everyone seeing them. "Mr. Vice President, I think you should see this" an employee told him getting his attention.

"Oh god, not again. Is the President getting this" he asked?

On Air Force One the president is watching surrounded by officials "Mr. President. Only two lessons remain, and I intend to finish this before Christmas morning. Meet Thomas Richards" the Mandarin said while pointing a gun at him on the floor. "Good strong name. Good strong job. Thomas, here, is an accountant for the Roxxon Oil Corporation" as Thomas sobs. "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" the Mandarin said. "No" Thomas yelled! "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 said as there was silence!

"How did he hack my phone" Ellis asked looking at the contact?

"We can't allow terrorists to dictate..." the official interrupted.

"I have to make this call" Ellis told him.

"I'd strongly advise against that" the official repeated.

"This is the right thing to do" Ellis said calling the number as the Mandarin's phone was heard ringing as everyone watched silently, but he shot Thomas in the head anyway as gasps from the audiences were heard.

"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" he said ending the transmission. "Tell Rhodes, find this lunatic right now" Ellis yelled!

"Sir, we tracked the broadcast signal. We have a possible point of origin in Pakistan and the Patriot is ready to strike" the official told him. "Right now," Ellis yelled!


Driving down the road with Tony after hearing the transmission on the radio "So…" Tony asked but Laura interrupted?

"I don't wanna talk about it" Laura said quickly.

"Uh… I was going to ask about the spear" Tony asked pointing at the handle in the cup holder between them?

"As I said I will neither confirm nor deny anything" Laura said grabbing it putting it in her seat.

"Here go through these files" Tony said throwing the folder on her lap. "You're not going to sleep anyway" he added as he began calling someone.

"Thanks for the reminder" Laura said while rolling her eyes and noticed Tony calling someone on the infotainment system. "And who are you calling" Laura asked?

Meanwhile in Pakistan Rhodey blasted through a building pointing his gun at a man and receives a call as they both hear the phone ring "Uh… give me a minute. Hello" Rhodey asked?

"You ever have a chick straddling you and you look up and suddenly she's glowing from the inside out, kind of a bright orange" Tony asked?

"Yeah, I've had that. Who is this" Rhodey answered confused?

"Gross, both of you, just gross" Laura spoke up unamused.

"Laura" Rhodey asked in shock?

"And me pal" Tony spoke up as Rhodey smiled in his helmet. "Now, last time I went missing, if I remember correctly, you came looking for me" Tony told him.

"Hey, I helped" Laura interrupted dramatically as Tony shushed her.

"What are you doing" Tony asked?

"A little knock and talk, making friends in Pakistan. What are you doing" Rhodey asked but Laura interrupted bouncing on her seat excitedly?

"Oh, oh did you shoot the terrorists with patriotic confetti like the 4th of July Iron Patriot" Laura yelled while crossing her arms looking smug as Tony laughed. "And that's another one liner" Laura finished.

"I'm busy Laura…" Rhodey said annoyed.

"Your redesign, your big re brand, that was AIM, right" Tony asked?

"AIM" Laura asked?

"Yeah why" Rhodey asked?

"I'm gonna find a heavy-duty comm sat right now, I need your login" Tony said.

"It's the same as it's always been, "WarMachine68" Rhodey told him.

"And password, please" Tony asked?

"Well, look, I gotta change it every time you hack in, Tony" Rhodey answered annoyed.

"It's not the '80s, nobody says hack anymore. Give me your login" Tony asked and Rhodey sighed.

"WARMACHINEROX" with an "X," all caps" as the man laughed and Rhodey pointed his gun at him while Laura laughed hysterically.

"This is the best day of my life" Laura yelled while laughing with tears in her eyes as Tony laughed!

"Oh… that is so much better than Iron Patriot" Tony said while turning around. "Yeah yeah…" Rhodey said hanging up.


Tony and Laura pull up to a beauty pageant and a "judge" gives a woman a perfect 10 as Tony gave Laura a hat and puts on as well as they sneak into a camera van. Laura points at the hardware getting Tony's attention "That ain't gonna cut it" Tony told her as they heard the door open.

"We talked about this. Excuse me, sir. I don't know who" the man said as both of them turn around as the man stared at them in shock.

"Shh…" Tony said shushing him.

"Mom, I need to call you back. Something magical is happening" the man said hanging up.

"Tony Stark is in my van" the man said failing to control his excitement.

"Keep it down" Laura said through her teeth.

"Tony Stark is in my van" the man said again!

"No, he's not" Tony told him.

"I knew you were still alive! And Laura Watson you're great as well don't get me wrong..." the man said closing the door. "Oh, wow. Can I just say, sir..." the man rambled.

"Yep" Tony answered annoyed.

"I am your biggest fan" he continued.

"Ok First, is this your van? Is anyone else gonna come in" Tony asked him?

"No, no, no just us" the man answered.

"Great. What's your name" Tony asked?

"Gary".

"Gary" Tony asked?

"Can I just say" Gary asked?

"What do you want" Tony asked?

"Yeah. I don't know if you can tell, but I have, like, patterned my whole look after you" Gary said taking off his hate. "My hair's a little..." Gary continued.

"Wow" Laura murmured.

"It's fine" Tony said annoyed.

"It's not right, 'cause there's no product in it" Gary continued.

"Right" Tony sighed

"I don't want to make things awkward for you, but I do have to show you..." Gary said taking off his jacket "Boom" Gary said showing a really bad tattoo.

"This day can't get any better it just can't" Laura whispered while trying to keep a straight face.

"A Hispanic Scott Baio" Tony replied unamused.

"I'm sorry. Is that me" Tony asked?

"Yeah It's... I mean... I had them do it off a doll that I made, so it's not like it's off a picture. So, it's a little bit" Gary rambled as Laura was really trying to keep a straight face.

"Gary. Listen to me, okay? I don't want to clip your wings, here. We're both a little over-excited. I got an issue. We" Tony said while gesturing at Laura. "Are chasing bad guys. I'm trying to grab a little something from some hard crypt data files. I don't have enough juice. I need you to jump on the roof..." Tony explained. "Right" Gary nodded? "Re calibrate the lSDNs. Pump it up by about 40%. Got it. All right it's a mission" Tony finished.

"Yeah" Gary nodded.

"Tony needs Gary" Tony said.

"And Gary needs Tony" Gary interrupted but Tony shushed him.

"To be quiet about it go" as Gary nodded and closed the door.

"I'll never let you live this down" Laura said smiling as Tony rolled his eyes. Moments later they got the files they needed, and both begin watching the videos showing the failed trials of the injections as the tests failed and Laura looked on wide eyed. "What the…" Laura said in shock as they see the explosion. "That wasn't a bomb" Tony told her. "It was a misfire" Laura added, and Tony nodded.

"That's why they didn't find a buyer they sold it to the Mandarin" Tony finished, and Laura nodded.


Meanwhile in a hotel room "What happened" Pepper asked Maya?

"Fun fact. Before he built rockets for the Nazis, the idealistic Wernher von Braun dreamed of space travel. He stargazed. Do you know what he said when the first V-2 hit London? The rocket performed perfectly. It just landed on the wrong planet. See, we all begin wide eyed. Pure science. And then the ego steps in, the obsession. And you look up, you're a long way from shore" Maya told Pepper on the bed.

"You can't be too hard on yourself, Maya. I mean, you gave your research to a think tank" Pepper tried reassuring her.

"Yeah, but Killian built that think tank on military contracts" Maya countered.

"That's exactly what we used to do. So, don't judge yourself" Pepper said as Maya nodded.

"Thank you, Pepper. I really appreciate that" Maya said as Killian barged through the door grabbing Pepper.

"Maya Run" Pepper yelled as Maya walked over to him!

"So, you want to tell me why you were at Stark's mansion last night" Killian asked?

"I'm trying to fix this thing. I didn't know you and the master were gonna blow the place up" Maya replied annoyed.

"Oh, I see. So, you were trying to save Stark when he threatened us" Killian asked?

"I've told you, Killian, we can use him. And Watson is a free be at this point!

"Ah Watson keep forgetting about her" Killian said amused looking at Pepper struggling.

"Pepper Pepper Pepper" Killian said shaking his head.

"Ok, if we want to launch product next year, I need Stark. He just lacked a decent incentive. Now, he has one" Maya said nodding towards Pepper.


Meanwhile Rhodey storms into a factory expecting the Mandarin but sees a bunch of women in burka's staring at him. "Uh you're free now yes you're free… if you weren't before. Iron Patriot on the job" Rhodey nodded at the women leaving but one grabs his hand shaking it but the hand heats up pinning him on the ground.

"Savin? I've acquired the Patriot armor" the woman said through her mic

"If you want this suit, you're going to have to pry my cold dead body out of It" Rhodey said in his glitching out suit. "That's the plan colonel" the woman said taking off her burka.


"Harley, tell me what's happening. Give me a full report" Tony asked as Laura and him were back in the car?

"Yeah, I'm still eating that candy. Do you want me to keep eating it" Harley asked while eating it?

"How much have you had" Tony asked? "Two or three bowls" Harley answered.

"Told you the candy was a bad idea" Laura told Tony.

"Can you still see straight" Laura asked Harley speaking up?

"Sort of" Harley said casually.

"Uh..." Laura replied holding her finger up confused.

"That means your fine" Tony said waving his hand at Laura. "Give me Jarvis Jarvis, how are we" Tony asked?

"It's totally fine, sir. I seem to do quite well for a stretch, and then at the end of the sentence I say the wrong cranberry" Jarvis said, and Laura snorted.

"And, sir, you were right. Once I factored in available AIM downlink facilities, I was able to pinpoint the Mandarin's broadcast signal" Jarvis concluded.

"Jarvis… Jarvis Its me Laura What are we talking about Mid East, North Africa, Iran, Pakistan"?

"Actually Ms. It's in Miami" Jarvis told her.

"Not the terrorist hotspot I was expecting like last time…" Laura replied confused.

"Ok kid, I'm gonna have to walk you through rebooting Jarvis's speech drive, but not right now. Harley, where is he really? Just look on the screen and tell me where it is" Tony asked as Harley looked at the screen.

"It does say Miami, Florida" Harley answered.

"That can't be right" Laura said with eyebrows furrowed.

"First things first, I need the armor. Where are we at with it" Tony asked?

"Uh, it's not charging" Harley answered.

"Geez…" Laura said grabbing onto her seat as Tony slammed on the breaks while pulling over breathing heavy.

"Actually, sir, it is charging, but the power source is questionable. It may not succeed in revitalizing the Mark 42" Jarvis explained.

"What's questionable about electricity? All right? It's my suit, and I can't... I'm not gonna... I don't wanna" Tony rambled while stumbling out of the car having another attack as Laura rushed out over to Tony.

"Tony… it's me it ok" Laura said putting her hand on his shoulder who looked up at her.

"Are you having another attack? I didn't even mention New York" Harley asked?

"Harley" Laura yelled!

"Except there you just mentioned it! God, what am I gonna do" Tony said while panicking?

"Tony it's ok you're in Tennessee it's ok" Laura said reassuring him as Tony tried calming down.

"You're a mechanic right" Harley asked?

"Right" Tony nodded.

"You said so" Harley stated.

"Yes, I did" Tony repeated.

"Why don't you just build something" Harley asked?

"Thanks kid" Tony said getting up and into the car.

"Are you ok Tony" Laura asked concerned and he nodded.

"We're wrecks aren't we Tony" Laura said while sighing?

"Yeah… let's go shopping" Tony said driving away. Laura stayed in the car as Tony bought his supplies at the hardware store.

Later that night driving towards Miami "So we're taking our talents to South Beach huh" Laura joked.

"Apparently" Tony said looking at the Satellite Navigation on the screen.

"Should've brought a bikini" Laura said while looking back at Tony's box of supplies amused.

"Going Home Alone on this huh" Laura asked smiling.

"Yeah it's the best plan I got and enough with the pop culture references you're getting worse with them as you get older" Tony told her annoyed.

"First thanks for the compliment Kevin and I'll stick with my spear" Laura said grabbing it as Tony gave her a look.