The plane landed and Laura stormed over to her car.

She put her case in the frunk and slammed the driver door angrily.

She sighed as she took a minute to decompress.

She checked her phone and saw it was blown up with missed calls, texts and saw "Private Number" on top of the notifications.

"Guess the secrets out now." she muttered as she called her mom.

"Hey m…" she began but was interrupted.

"What the hell were you thinking! Making your own suit! Fighting that man! Are you insane!" she screamed loudly while Laura pulled her phone away from her ear.

"I kinda saved the day…" she said annoyed but her dad interrupted her.

"Don't you dare start Laura. I saw that thing whip you are you hurt?" he asked concerned.

"I'm fine. The suit was built to take the damage. And yes I will start. None of this is my fault. Tony was the one…" she said while clenching the steering wheel tightly, but her mom interrupted her.

"That's not the point Laura. This isn't a game." she argued.

"I never said it wasn't! I wasn't planning on doing what I did but I did it because it was the right thing to do. I'll tell you the same thing I told Tony. It's my suit. My design. My engineering. Nobody is taking it from me and that's final." she said through her teeth.

"I'm happy you're ok but this discussion isn't over." her mom hanged up.

"Fine!" she drove away angrily.

The next night, Laura was at her setup with holographics projected above her desk of Vanko's chest piece while JARVIS researched him for her.

It was strange she thought.

Tony's behavior in Monaco.

Even for him his behavior had been erratic.

"Query complete Ms. Anton Vanko was a Soviet physicist who defected to the United States in 1963. However, he was accused of espionage and was deported in 1967. His son, Ivan, who is also a physicist, was convicted of selling Soviet-era weapons grade plutonium to Pakistan, and served 15 years in Kopeisk prison. No further records exist." he explained as she sighed while leaning back in her chair.

"There's something I'm missing, and I swear it's right in front of me." she pinched her nose in frustration.

"Ms. they're reports coming out of Monaco that Anton Vanko has been killed in a botched jail break." JARVIS told her.

"Jail break?" she asked confused.

"Yes, the police are saying he was killed in an explosion." he clarified.

"Well I guess that's that then."

Meanwhile, Tony was in his workshop, sitting in his hot rod doing the same as Rhodey walked in.

"Tony, you gotta get upstairs and get on top of this situation right now. Listen. I've been on the phone with the National Guard all day, trying to talk them out of rolling tanks up the PCH, knocking down your front door and taking these. They're gonna take your suits, Tony, ok? They're sick of the games. You said nobody else would possess this technology for 20 years. Well, guess what? Somebody else had it yesterday. Not including her. And who knows the amount of trouble Laura is in right now. She really caught everyone off-guard with that mess in Monaco, ok. It's not theoretical anymore. Are you listening to me? Are you ok?" he asked a sick looking Tony.

"Let's go." he opened up the door and stumbled out.

"Hey, man. Hey, hey! You all right?" he asked with worry.

"Yeah, I should get to my desk." Rhodey helped him up and over to it.

"See that cigar box?" Tony asked about it on the desk.

"Yeah." he opened it and took one of the cores.

"It's palladium." he explained as he opened his arc and removed the smoking core.

"Is that supposed to be smoking?" Rhodey asked concerned.

"If you must know, it's neutron damage. It's from the reactor wall." he explained as he took it out and Rhodey grabbed it.

"You had this in your body? And how about the high-tech crossword puzzle on your neck?" he asked about the veins on his neck.

"Road rash. Thank you." he replaced the arc and began drinking the smoothie as Rhodey stared at him.

"What are you looking at?" Tony asked annoyed.

"I'm looking at you. You wanna do this whole lone gunslinger act and it's unnecessary. You don't have to do this alone. Laura and I are here for you." he reassured him.

"You know, I wish I could believe that. I really do. But you've gotta trust me. Contrary to popular belief, I know exactly what I'm doing."

The next night, Laura changed into a black sleeveless dress in her bedroom for Tony's birthday party.

She drove up to his house, bypassed the line of cars in his driveway, and parked in the workshop.

She walked up the stairs as "California Love" played, and she spotted Pepper.

"Hey Pepper! Great minds think alike." she joked about a similar looking dress she was wearing, and she smiled faintly.

Laura frowned, seeing the look on her face.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

They walked over to the living room and saw Tony DJing at the booth, visibly drunk in front of the cheering crowd.

"You've got to be kidding me." Laura narrowed her eyes at him.

She saw the look on Pepper's face and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Later, they were still watching Tony DJing as Rhodey walked in.

"Hey Rhodey welcome to this super fun party!" Laura said angrily sarcastically as he raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to get some air." Pepper began to walk out.

"What's wrong?" he asked, and they walked over to the living room.

"I don't know what to do." she sighed.

"You gotta be kidding me." Rhodey said as Tony stumbled over into a shelf.

"That's it, I'm making…" he began to walk out but Pepper stopped him.

"No, no, no. Don't call anyone." she pleaded.

"Pepper. This is ridiculous. I just stuck my neck out for this guy." he pointed at him.

"I know. I know. I get it. I'm gonna handle it, okay Just let me handle it." Pepper began to walk over to him.

"Handle it. Or I'm gonna have to." he crossed his arms.

"And he said I couldn't have a suit." Laura said while crossing her arms.

"You're still in trouble but at least thanks for laying low." Rhodey reminded her.

"I did nothing wrong and I regret nothing." she shrugged her shoulders.

"You know, the question I get asked most often is, Tony, how do you go to the bathroom in the suit? Just like that." he joked into the mic and the crowd cheered while Pepper walked up to him.

"Does this guy know how to throw a party or what?" she faked smile and the crowd cheered loudly.

"I love you." Tony murmured into the mic.

"Unbelievable! Thank you so much. Tony, we all thank you so much for such a wonderful night. And we're gonna say good night now, and thank you all for coming." she tried dismissing the booing crowd and Laura and Rhodey nodded in agreement.

"No, no, no, we can't … Wait, wait, wait. We didn't have the cake. We didn't blow out the candles." he pleaded.

"You're out of control, ok? Trust me on this, ok?" she asked firmly.

"You're out of control gorgeous." he ignored her.

"It's time to go to bed. It's time." she tried again.

"Give me another smooch." Tony leaned into her.

"You're not going to be happy about this." Pepper leaned away from him.

"Come on, you know you want to." he smiled.

"You just peed in the suit." she said grossed out.

"I know. It has a filtration system." he explained.

"It's not sexy." she shook her head.

"You could drink that water." he muttered.

"Just send everybody home, ok? It's time to." she ended the argument.

"If you say so." he agreed.

"Ok. I'll take this, you take that." she took the bottle from his hand and gave him the mic.

"Pepper Potts." a few people clapped awkwardly.

"She's right. The party's over. Then again, the party was over for me, like, an hour and a half ago. The after party starts in 15 minutes. And if anybody, Pepper, doesn't like it, there's the door." he shot a blast at the glass by the stairs, shattering it.

"That's it!" Laura's anger snapped while the crowd cheered.

She ran down the stairs, let herself into the workshop, got her suit out of her frunk and suited up.

She began walking upstairs as Rhodey was walking down them.

"What are you doing?" he blocked her with his arm.

"Ending this!" she shoved him aside.

Drunk women were throwing things for him to shoot as one got one to throw a watermelon.

"I think she wants the Gallagher!" Tony yelled as his chest piece armed.

"I'm only going to give you one warning!" Laura silenced them.

"Get the hell out of here!" her helmet came on and everyone speed walked out of their quickly.

"Shut this down Tony! The party's over!" she demanded as Rhodey walked up in one of the spare suits.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

"I could ask you the same question. I've got this handled." she hissed.

"Really? You do?" Tony laughed.

"I said shut it down!" Laura yelled.

"Goldstein?" Tony asked the DJ.

"Yes, Mr. Stark?" he got up from hiding behind the booth.

"Give me a phat beat to beat my friends asses to." he laughed as "Another One Bites the Dust" came on and the DJ ran out of there as Laura grabbed Tony by the shoulders.

"I won't repeat myself. Get out of the suit." she said firmly.

Tony smirked as his faceguard came on and he flew backwards, taking Laura through the glass, sauna, as she crashed on the floor in the gym, sliding on the floor as Tony landed gracefully.

"Now, put that thing back where found it before someone gets hurt." he began walking away but Laura threw a weight at the back of his head, venting years of built up frustration with him.

She smirked as he turned around as she threw another one, but he dodged it as it shattered a glass door.

"Really?" he picked up a deadlift and smashed her through the ring and up against the wall while she attempted to swing a punch as Rhodey got between them.

"Guys stop this." he pleaded.

"Sorry pale but Iron Man doesn't need a side kick." he said while hovering over to them.

"Side, kick, this." he repeatedly hit him with a weight and sent him through the ceiling.

He landed on his back as Laura flew up through the hole.

"Tony you can't win against the both of us. End this now!" she demanded.

"Natalie!" Pepper demanded in the living room below.

"Yes, Ms. Potts." she sped walked over to her.

"Don't you Ms. Potts" me! I'm on to you. You know what? Ever since you came here…" she accused as Tony and Laura crashed through the ceiling right by them.

"Pepper!" Happy got her out of the house and Nat sped walked out of there.

Laura and Tony continued to exchange blows in the face and Rhodey tried to break up the fight.

He grabbed her by the arm and threw her into the piano but Rhodey ripped the sink out which threw him into the fire place.

He got up, taking a piece of the chimney with him as he saw the party goers taking pictures and recording the fight with their phones.

He screamed at them and they ran away quickly.

Laura got up as Tony put up his hand.

"Put you hand down." Rhodey warned as he put his up as well.

"You think you got what it takes to wear that suit?" he taunted.

"Tony we don't have to do this." Laura begged while putting her hand up.

"You wanna be Black Bird take the shot!" he demanded.

"Put it down!" Rhodey ordered while they're stabilizers armed.

"You gonna take a shot?" Tony didn't back down.

"Put it down!" Laura yelled as the target on her HUD encircled her eye.

"No!" the three blasts were sent at each other as they met in the middle, creating a large explosion.

The blast knocked all of them down as it sent a plume of smoke out the window as a table went over the cliff side.

Laura clenched her aching head while on her back as Rhodey offered a hand.

She took it as he helped her up as she sighed, seeing the mess they caused.

She looked back at Tony and saw him look over at her.

She just shook her head in disappointment and her and Rhodey took off in opposite directions, leaving him behind.