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Chapter 6 - Intruder at the Mansion

Tony walked, hand in hand, with Pepper through the busy space hanger.

"And this, you're going to love." He told her.

She laughed, "You with a ship. I can't even believe it."

"Poltious was adding something to it when I left last night. Plus, I put something to it that you will like. Something you are familiar with." He winked at her.

She smiled at him. They stopped under a ship and he pointed up towards it. "This is it."

She looked up. "What have you decided to call her?"

"I thought about….Yinsen. What do you think?"

Pepper knew he was talking about the man who he had spent his time in captivity with who had been killed when they were escaping. She smiled and nodded her head. She told him quietly. "I think that's perfect. Yes."

They heard someone whistle from across the noisy hanger. Lartius and Poltious were riding on a small speeder with four men. It stopped and they all got off of the floating speeder. Lartius seemed to be having a terrible time with his balance.

Tony turned and smiled at them. "Well, this looks like trouble. You two, together."

Lartius and Poltious walked up to him, Poltious laughing at nothing. "Oh, we haven't even gotten started yet."

Lartius looked back at him and laughed. "Indeed." He looked at Pepper and bowed clumsily and nearly fell onto the floor, "Ma'am."

Pepper smiled, "You should come to see us on Earth. Or Terra, rather."

Poltious rolled his neck around and pointed his finger to make a point. "But. They don't like outsiders, so, ring first and I'll bring you in. Alright?"

Lartius laughed and nodded his head. "Yes, sir!"

Tony looked at them curiously, "I have the feeling that I missed a good party."

Poltious pointed at Tony's chest. "That you did. And you have to drive home." It was oblivious he was drunk as he turned and embraced Lartius. "My old friend. I will see you soon."

Lartius laughed and nearly fell down when Poltious let him go and stumbled up the gang plank. Tony watched him stagger. "A really good party."

Lartius kissed Pepper's cheek. "Take care of Tony and I'll see you soon. If you need me for anything, you only have to ask, Pepper. I'm so very pleased to have been able to serve my friend, and keep you safe. Please, let me know if I can ever been of any assistance to you. I am your humble servant. As you will always remember, I am…" He held up two fingers as he looked down and hiccupped.

She smiled back at Tony and mouthed, "He's trashed."

Tony chuckled. "Lartius. I'll be in touch."

Lartius stood up right and swayed. "My dear friend. Have a safe trip home. Until next time. Tell your Soli, to keep up the great work. He is my youngest Quauhtin yet!" He embraced Tony and pat his back. When he let him go, two of his men had to help him back on the speeder. Tony laughed as he watched them leave. He turned to Pepper and they walked into the ship together.

"Am I that bad?" He asked her.

"Oh, you have been. Yes." She nodded.

Once inside, he pressed a button on the side to close the gang plank. "Do we have everyone?"

Lewis sat on the round bench at the table. He already had the controller in his hand and was playing Super Mario Bros. His leg was bandaged up and he had it stretched out on the bench. "Yep! Do you need help?"

"I have it." He told him.

Licis climbed out from the bottom storage and closed the hatch. "Your suit is secure. Let's hope we don't need it."

Tony nodded as he walked over to the control room, "That's always what we hope."

Pepper stood looking around. "This is….really….."

He looked back at her and smiled, "Yep. Really is."

Licis joined Lewis and Poltious on the bench. Poltious pointed up at the screen. "What is this? I want a go on it next."

Tony and Pepper went into the control room. Tony clicked a series of buttons and smiled at Pepper who sat beside of him in the only other chair. She looked around in awe. They seemed to be rather high up as she looked out of the window down at the busy hanger that was a buzz of activity below. She smiled when she spotted Lartius, sitting on the speeder, waving to them.

She looked back at Tony who was looking at screens and clicking buttons. She noticed he still wore the ring she had put on his finger. "Tony. That ring."

He looked at his left hand. "Damn thing is stuck."

She sighed, "I knew I shouldn't have put that there."

He looked back at her. "It's fine. I figure something out." He leaned over and kissed her lips quickly, "Jarvis. You there, man?"

Jarvis' familiar voice spoke. "Welcome aboard, sir."

Pepper smiled, "You put Jarvis on this?"

Tony winked at her. "Makes it feel more….mine. Jarvis, where are we at in the queue?"

Jarvis replied, "King Lartius has pushed you to the front. Whenever you are ready sir. Your exit vector is go."

Tony mumbled, "Well, alright. Let's go."

Pepper watched as Tony flew the ship out of atmosphere and into space. He clicked in some numbers on a screen. He put his fingers over his lips as he looked at Pepper. "Shhh… I'll get them wound up." He shouted, "Terra is what? 449?"

Lewis, Licis and Poltious all groaned, "NO!" They said together.

Lewis asked, "Do I need to come up there?"

He laughed, "I'm good guys." He pressed a button, and they disappeared in a streak of light. XXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXX

Legate sat inside of the Tyler mansion's kitchen with Aemilius. They sat at the table, drinking tea and playing cards.

"I've never been good at this game." Aemilius groaned.

Legate shook his head and smiled. "You need to just practice. There's a technique to it."

He tossed down his cards, "Yeah….losing. Ugh."

Legate shuffled the cards. "Practice, my friend. It's like anything."

Aemilius shrugged his shoulders, "Nah. I'm good knowing that there are some things I'm just not good at." He picked up his and Legate's tea glasses and sat them in the sink.

Legate sat the cards down on the table. "Well, there are worse things."

Aemilius nodded. "Yeah. Thanks anyway, though. I appreciate you showing me that."

Legate stood up and slipped on his jacket. "I've not give up on you. I'm close, but I'm not there yet."

Aemilius grinned. "Close, huh?"

"There's this glimmer of hope that I have."

He laughed and shook his head. "Thanks, Legate."

"I'm going to look at the snow."

Aemilius shook his head and laughed. "Alright."

Legate laughed and walked outside into the dark gardens. The night was cold and seven inches of snow had already fallen. He zipped his jacket closed and rubbed his hands together. He could see his breath as he knelt down to feel of the fresh snow that had fallen. He smiled. This planet had such odd things for him to see and experience. Snow had to be his favorite. He held it in his hand and watched it melt. His hand ached from the cold. He touched it with his other hand and marveled at how it seemed to fall apart. Completely weightless, it was hard to believe it was even there.

He loved how peaceful everything around him was. The road, just meters outside of the gate, was quiet. He put his hands in his pockets and walked around the grounds of the mansion. The snow still fell and he loved the sound it made under his feet. He stopped once he reached the small shed where Pete held some of his inventions. He stood under the doorway and rubbed his hands together.

He saw a figure out of the corner of his eye dart around the back of the house.

He reached out to Aemilius. 'Are you out here?'

'No. Why?'

'Someone is. Check on the family.'

'Right.'

He relaxed and quickly separated himself from being in one place. He saw a glimpse of each corner of the house, the gate, the pool, the football goals, and the bench that sat in the garden under a tree. That's where he saw a man, dressed in black, opening a window. He concentrated on that scene and started to become solid there.

"Hey!" He shouted at the figure.

A man turned around and seeing Legate, he held out a gun and fired. The bullet went through Legate's form harmlessly. He wasn't solid yet. He walked towards the man, who stumbled backwards in fear as Legate got closer.

Legate tried to grab the man's shoulder, only for his hand to pass through it.

The man's eyes were huge. "What are you?"

Legate asked. "What are you doing here?"

The man fell on the ground, and then quickly got up. He held his hand out to Legate. "I was sent."

"By who?"

The man was frightened, "Don't hurt me. I just needed to get something out of Tyler's safe."

Legate put his hands on his hips, "There's nothing in there you need."

The man threw his fist and to Legate's surprise, he was solid enough that it hit him. The man, seeing that he could injure Legate, held the gun to his face.

Legate held up his hands. "Hey, man. I'm not going to hurt you. But we both know this is not where you need to be."

"He's an alien! And he's hiding even more! When that list comes out, we'll all know the truth!"

"List? What list?" Legate asked.

The man continued to point the gun at Legate's head. "You're probably one, too!"

Just as he said that, Aemilius tackled the man from behind. The gun fired and Legate fell to the ground.

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