Tony drove over to Edwards Air Force Base and parked inside a hangar.

He got Laura's wheelchair, which was collapsible and helped her into it.

They saw Rhodey talking to a group of pilots on the other side and walked over to him.

"The future of air combat. Is it manned or unmanned? I'll tell you, in my experience, no unmanned aerial vehicle will ever trump a pilot's instinct, his insight, that ability to look into a situation beyond the obvious and discern its outcome, or a pilot's judgment." he told them.

"Colonel? Why not a pilot without the plane?" Tony got their attention.

"Look who fell out of the sky. Ms. Laura Watson and Mr. Tony Stark." he introduced them.

The soldiers crowded around them and particularly shook Laura's hand, them, along with the whole world knowing what she went through.

She smiled and shook their hands back.

"Speaking of manned or unmanned, you gotta get him to tell you about the time he guessed wrong at spring break. Just remember that, spring break, 1987. That lovely lady you woke up with." Tony joked and Laura smirked, knowing the joke.

"Don't do that!" Rhodey pleaded.

"What was his name?" she asked while smiling.

"Don't do that." he continued to plead.

"Was it Ivan?" Tony joked.

"Don't do that. They'll believe it." he asked firmly.

"Ok."

"Give us a couple minutes, you guys." Rhodey asked them and the group walked away.

"How have you been Laura?" he asked while hugging her.

"I've been alright. I'm up and moving at least." she smiled.

"I'm surprised by that." he replied.

"Why?" she frowned.

"I swear, I didn't expect to see you up so soon. It's only been a day." he clarified.

"We're doing a little better than walking." she hinted.

"Really?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah. Rhodey, the two of us are working on something big. I came to talk to you. I want you to be a part of it." Tony offered.

"You're about to make a whole lot of people around here real happy, 'cause that little stunt at the press conference, that was a doozy." Rhodey chuckled.

"This is not for the military. I'm not... It's different." he tried explaining.

"What? You're a humanitarian now or something?" Rhodey asked unamused.

"Rhodey trust us. This could be huge…" Laura tried to explain but he put his hand up, stopping her.

"What you need is time to get your mind right. The both of you do." he said seriously and she sighed, admitting defeat.

"It's nice seeing you, guys." he smiled at them and walked off.

"So, what now?" Laura asked Tony as they headed back to his car.

"Now we get to work."


"JARVIS, you up?" Tony asked as the two headed over to his setup.

"For you, sir, always." he confirmed.

"Open up project file, Mark ll." he asked.

"Shall I store this on the Stark Industries Central Database?" JARVIS offered.

"Actually, I don't know who to trust right now. Till further notice, why don't we just keep everything on my private server?" he asked as he moved a graphic of it over to the holotable.

"Smart." Laura commented.

"I don't want this winding up in the wrong hands. Maybe in mine, it can actually do some good."


The two spent the week working hard on their projects, hardly ever leaving the workshop.

Surviving on take out food.

Pepper herself still didn't move out of her apartment.

Helping her re adjust to her injuries and life back in America after her captivity.

Sleep had eluded Laura.

And when she did sleep it was plagued with nightmares.

Of her time in the cave.

Them escaping.

Her killing her captors.

She still had the occasional anxiety attack which she deduced was from PTSD but she was able to "Go to the bathroom" so Tony wouldn't know and suffer in silence.

So she distracted herself with work on her prosthetic legs.

She was currently wielding the ankle together at the workbench with her left hand carefully with Dum-E holding it for her within his claws.

Tony was on the other side of it, wielding one of the suit boots together.

"Now Dum-E I need you to remain absolutely still. I'm kinda down an arm at the moment." she asked kindly.

"I swear you like him and JARVIS more than most people." Tony joked.

"People annoy me. They don't." she shrugged her shoulders while smiling.


Tony had finished the boots for the suit and assembled them around his feet.

He backed up to the center of the workshop, getting ready for a test flight.

Laura watched on by the bench while Dum-E recorded him.

"Okay let's do this right. Start mark, half a meter, and back and center. Dum-E, look alive. You're on standby for fire safety. You, roll it. Okay. Activate hand controls. We're gonna start off nice and easy. We're gonna see if 10% thrust capacity achieves lift." he said while getting in a stance.

"10% isn't that overkill?" Laura asked concerned.

"Nah, it's fine. Live a little." he waved her off and gripped the controls in his hands.

"And three, two, one." he was immediately flung high backwards, hitting the ceiling behind him and landed hard on the concrete floor.

"Geez, are you okay?" Laura asked with worry while rolling over to him.

"I'm good. You good?" he asked nonchalantly while getting up.

"Told you ten percent was overkill." she crossed her arm.


Later that night, Laura was helping Tony put together the flight stabilizer around his wrist.

Pepper walked in, carrying a package and two cups of coffee.

"Up two. All right, set that." Tony told her and she nodded.

"I've been buzzing you. Did you hear the intercom?" Pepper asked them.

"Yeah, everything's… what?" Tony asked as the two ignored her.

"Obadiah's upstairs." she alerted.

"Great." he replied.

"What would you like me to tell him?" she asked.

"Great. We'll be right up." he answered.

"Okay. I thought you said you were done making weapons." she asked, seeing the flight stabilizer.

"It's not a weapon." Laura clarified.

"It is." she argued.

"This is a flight stabilizer. It's completely harmless." he said but accidentally fired it.

That flung him backwards, making a mess and Laura smiled, seeing how powerful it was.

She moved herself over to the elevator but Pepper walked over to her.

"How have you been doing Laura?" she asked while clenching her shoulder.

"Fine. Keeping busy." she said as the elevator doors open.

The two entered it and the doors closed.

"I ask because you really haven't left it lately." she stated with concern as they ascended.

"I'm working on something. We're working on something. You know how I am." she replied.

"Tony drives you back pretty late at night Laura. How have you been sleeping?" Pepper asked, knowing the possible answer.

"Pepper, I appreciate your concern. I really do. But I'm fine. I promise you." she reassured her.

The doors opened and Laura moved herself into the living room above.

Pepper sighed, knowing she didn't want to talk about it but chose not to push it anymore.


Laura heard the piano and saw Obie playing.

She then spotted a pizza box on the coffee table and moved her chair as fast as it would go over to it eagerly.

"Look at you! It brings me joy to see you recovering." Obie smiled at her.

"Thanks Obie. And thanks for brining pizza from New York. How did the board of directors meeting go?" she asked while taking a slice.

"There was a board of directors meeting?" Tony asked while walking from the stairs to join them, hearing them.

Obie sighed while getting off the bench as Pepper joined them.

Tony grabbed a slice as he scratched his head and sat down on the couch next to him.

"The board is claiming post traumatic stress. They're filing an injunction." he answered.

"An injunction? They can't do that." Laura argued with her mouth full.

"They can and they want to lock you out Tony." Obie warned.

"Why, 'cause the stocks dipped 40 points? We knew that was gonna happen." he argued.

"Fifty-six and a half." Laura corrected, having bought a large amount of shares over the years.

"It doesn't matter. We own the controlling interest in the company." he said annoyed and she frowned.

"Tony, the board has rights, too. They're making the case that you and your new direction isn't in the company's best interest." Obie tried explaining.

"'I'm being responsible! That's a new direction for me, for the company. I mean, me on the company's behalf being responsible for the way that... This is great." he grabbed the pizza box as Laura was reaching for another slice and began walking out.

"Oh, come on. Tony. Tony." Obie followed him.

Laura moved herself over to them while listening on silently.

"We'll be in the shop." Tony said while walking towards the stairs.

"Hey, hey! Hey, Tony. Listen. I'm trying to turn this thing around, but you gotta give me something. Something to pitch them. Let me have the engineers analyze that. You know, draw up some specs." Obie asked about his chest piece.

"No. No, absolutely not." he denied.

"It'll give me a bone to throw the boys in New York!" Obie tried again.

"This one stays with me. That's it, Obie. Forget it." he said firmly.

"All right, well, this stays with me, then." he took the pizza back.

"Go on, here, you can have a piece. Laura you can take two." he offered.

"Thanks Obie." she took two eagerly and Tony took one.

"You mind if I come down there and see what you're doing?" he asked Tony one last time as he walked down the stairs.

"Good night, Obie."

"I'll keep an eye on him." Laura offered.

"I knew I can always count on you."


Over the course of the next week, the two continued to hold themselves in the workshop.

Laura had completed her prosthetics and they were currently being painted by JARVIS.

Tony, meanwhile was wearing both his suit boots and flight stabilizers.

He was in the center of his workshop, preparing for another flight test. Laura was watching on in her chair by the workbench.

"Day 11, test 37, configuration 2.0. For lack of a better option, Dum-E is still on fire safety. If you douse me again, and I'm not on fire, I'm donating you to a city college." he insulted Dum-E.

"Just ignore him Dum-E. You're doing a great job." Laura complimented him.

He bobbed his clawed head up and down at her and he rolled his eyes.

"All right, nice and easy. Seriously, just gonna start off with 1% thrust capacity." he said while giving Laura a look who smiled smugly.

"And three, two, one." the thrusters ignited and he began hovering above the concrete floor.

"That is awesome!" Laura said in awe.

"Not bad right?" he smirked and landed back down.

"And again, let's bring it up to 2.5. Three, two, one." he ignited the thrusters and flew higher and more unstable off the floor.

Laura went wide eyed, seeing how powerful they were as he flew backwards towards his row of sports cars.

"Okay, this is where I don't want to be! Not the car, not the car!" he cringed.

"Not the F1!" Laura winces as he flew low overhead over it.

"Table!" he shouted.

She ducked her head just in time as he flew over her and the workbench.

"Geez." she said.

"Could be worse! Could be worse! We're fine! Okay." he reversed his course and hovered above the platform.

He slammed down while Dum-E followed him with the fire extinguisher.

"No!" both he and Laura put their hands up and he stood down.

"Yeah, I can fly."


Later that night, a pair of robotic arms assembled the rest of the Mark ll suit pieces around Tony as he prepared for his test flight.

"JARVIS, are you there?" he asked as his face guard came on.

"At your service, sir." he confirmed inside his helmet.

"Engage Heads Up Display." he asked.

"Check." JARVIS said as the blue graphics appeared on his HUD.

"Import all preferences from home interface."

"Will do, sir."

"All right, what do you say?" he asked.

"I have indeed been uploaded, sir.. We're online and ready." JARVIS announced.

"Good job with the interface. Super smooth." Tony complimented Laura.

"I knew that computer science degree would come in handy." she smirked.

"Can we start the virtual walk-around?" he asked JARVIS.

"Importing preferences and calibrating virtual environment."

"Do a check on control surfaces." he asked.

"As you wish." the rest of the suit pieces were fastened and assembled into place and Laura watch don in awe at the Mark ll in its glory.

"Test complete. Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics." JARVIS began but he interrupted him.

"Yeah. Tell you what. Do a weather and ATC check. Start listening in on ground control."

"Tony this isn't a good idea." Laura warned, knowing what he wanted to do.

"Watson! Sometimes you got to run before you can walk." he ignored her.

"I'm not sure if that's supposed to be life advice directed at me, the paralyzed girl, but whatever. JARVIS just make sure he doesn't crash into a 767 or an elementary school." she asked sarcastically.

"I will, Ms." he offered sarcastically.

She smiled Tony rolled his eyes.

"Ready? In three, two, one." the thruster ignited and he flew fast out of the entrance of the workshop.

"Wow." Laura whispered to herself in amazement.


An alarm went off, getting her attention.

A platform was raised to her side from beneath the floor, revealing her finished prosthetics.

She had them custom built for her height and painted them matte black.

They were slender so they would fit tightly around her pants or jeans and would be concealed underneath whatever dress she would be wearing for any occasion.

They were also lightweight because she made them out of carbon fiber.

They were truly state of the art.

She rolled over to them and grabbed one.

She pressed a hidden button by the hip of it and the front of it opened up.

She used her other arm to push herself up by the armrest of her chair and used her other arm to grab her hip.

She moved her leg inside it and plopped back down in her seat.

She pressed the button and the prosthetic closed tightly around her leg.

"Geez, that's tight." she winced, feeling it.

She struggled to repeat the same process but managed to get the other prosthetic on her.

She took a deep breath, grabbed both arm rests and used her shaking arms to slowly lift herself upwards.

The prosthetics were awkward feeling, but they seemed to be working.

However, she was hesitant to let go of the chair.

She was afraid to fail.

A loud crash was heard, scaring her as she saw Tony crash through the ceiling and onto the cobra, crushing it.

"Geez, are you okay?" she rushed over to her but fell.

She used her hands to catch herself on the concrete floor, getting his attention.

He peaked his head over to her as she lifted herself up and rushed over to him.

She grabbed his suit arm and helped him up while he looked her over up and down.

"What?" she frowned.

"You're walking." he smiled.

"I am?" she asked but looked back to her chair where she came from.

She dropped her mouth, just realizing that.

"I walked! Tony I walked!" she shouted while hugging him. He took his face guard and hugged her back.

"Not bad Watson."

She looked up to the hole in the ceiling and frowned, realizing something.

"Did you crash through the grand piano?" she asked.

"Apparently." he shrugged off and she frowned, it being her favorite part of the house.

"So how did the test flight go?" she asked curiously.

"Handled like a dream. Broke the SR-71 record." he said casually.

"You what? You went 85,000 feet?" she said dumfounded and he smirked.

"Sometimes I forget how much of a nerd you are since you know that by heart." he joked.

"I've told you countless times the SR-71 Blackbird is my favorite thing that flies." she reminded him.

"Until this right?" he asked confidentially.

"Possibly."


After the arms struggled to get the suit pieces off of him, Laura grabbed an ice pack for him from the freezer.

He placed it on his shoulder and began going over notes of the test flight at his setup.

"Notes. Main transducer feels sluggish at plus 40 altitude. Hull pressurization is problematic. I'm thinking icing is the probable factor." he said sarcastically.

"A very astute observation, sir. Perhaps, if you intend to visit other planets, we should improve the exosystems." JARVIS joked.

"My thoughts exactly JARVIS." Laura joked back while standing next to Tony.

"Connect to the sys. co. Have it reconfigure the shell metals. Use the gold titanium alloy from the seraphim tactical satellite. That should ensure a fuselage integrity while maintaining power-to-weight ratio. Got it?" he suggested.

"Yes. Shall I render using proposed specifications?" JARVIS offered.

"Thrill me." Laura looked up to the TV to see a news reporter talking about the annual Fire Fighters gala.

She turned up the volume with the remote, getting Tony's attention.

"Tonight's red-hot red carpet is right here at the Disney Concert Hall, where Tony Stark's third annual benefit for the Firefighter's Family Fund has become the place to be for L.A.'s high society."

"JARVIS, we get an invite for that?" Tony asked.

"Ms. Watson received one but she declined the invitation." he said and Tony tilted his head towards her.

"What? You know I hate those things in the best of times and I wasn't going to show up only to be pitied upon." she scowled.

"The render is complete." JARVIS announced.

The two looked over the Mark lll on the monitor revealing the gold painted suit

"A little ostentatious, don't you think?" Tony argued.

"What was I thinking? "You're usually so discreet." JARVIS joked and Laura smiled.

"Tell you what. Throw a little hot-rod red in there." he suggested, eyeing his hot rod.

"Very low profile." she rolled her eyes.

"The render is complete." JARVIS said, revealing the gold and hot rod red painted design.

"Hey, I like it. Fabricate it. Paint it."

"Commencing automated assembly. Estimated completion time is five hours." JARVIS confirmed.

"C'mon, we should go to the gala. Test out the new legs. I'll even give you a lift." Tony offered Laura who frowned.

"Fine but don't expect me to enjoy it or be your date."

"Deal." he joked back.

She walked over to the R8, that alone being a workout for her, but he spotted a wrapped package on his desk, saying "From Pepper" on the top.

He opened it, revealing the Mark l chest piece in a glass case with "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart" engraved around it.