Chapter Forty One
She had been sitting on her bed when it happened. Just a day after Tony's successful experiment with the suit, she had been trying to get everything together for Christmas shopping. Last minute lists were spread across the bed, along with the secret Santa list she'd received from her coworkers at SHIELD.
With the Big Bang Theory running in the background, Ada had kept herself distracted until hearing an odd signal. She froze on the spot when the screen flickered, and it changed from the show to something far more terrifying.
Her heart nearly skipped a beat as she recognized the sign as something similar to the one used by the Ten Rings. The Ten Rings was the organization responsible for kidnapping Tony, and causing so much bloodshed across the Middle East. The worst part of it was, Stark Industries had been shipping weapons to them when Obadiah was in charge. She knew now that he had been part of the Ten Rings, and he played a large role in Tony's kidnapping.
"Dad?" Her hands were shaking as she called him, but, no response followed.
Her heart sank even further when the camera moved to show a group of people kneeling before it with their hands cropped over their heads. Not for the first time, Ada flinched when she saw the real terror written across their faces. It only got worse when the same man from the pictures of the files SHIELD sent her walked into view.
It wasn't until he appeared on the screen that Tony finally arrived. Ada glanced over her shoulder after noticing him leaning against her doorway with his arms crossed. The frown written across his face only added to her worry – they'd only just begun recovering from the battle of Manhattan, the last thing they needed was more drama.
"Some people call me a terrorist, I consider myself a teacher," he began. Guns were pointed towards the screen, along with the sound of shots being fired. Ada couldn't help but flinch at the all-too familiar sound. "America, ready for another lesson? In 1864 in Sand Creek Colorado the U.S. military waited till the friendly Cheyenne braves all gone hunting, waited to attack and slaughter their families left behind, and claim their land."
A shiver swept through Ada as she recalled that history lesson. It had been a bloody battle, and one that left a bitter reminder in the hearts of the natives that they were no longer welcome on their own land. Not for the first time, Ada found herself realizing how similar their stories were to that of her own people.
She finally stood up as she reached Tony's side, feeling her heart race with dread as she stared at the screen helplessly. It was like watching a scene in slow-motion. Because they had no warning, there wasn't any chance in helping those innocent people.
"Thirty-nine hours ago, the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait was attacked. I… I… I did that. A quaint military church filled with wives and children, of course. The soldiers were out on maneuver, the braves were away." In seconds a video of a bomb exploding was shown. "President Ellis you continue to resist my attempts to educate you, sir."
Educate my ass, Ada silently retorted. She knew what bastards like the Mandarin were like. He wouldn't hesitate to continue hurting innocent people unless something was done about it.
"And now, you've missed me again. You know who I am, you don't know where I am, and you'll never see me coming."
Another shiver swept through her when the screen returned back to the Big Bang Theory. Ada immediately reached for the remote and switched over to the news, only to find the live feed panicking. Reporters were already jumping into action trying to figure out who the man was, and why he'd committed such a horrific crime.
"Dad, tell me you know who that bastard is?" she asked, hoping Tony of all people would have an answer to the million dollar question.
Tony's face went pale, though, and Ada felt her heart racing even more when she realized that he was staring at nothing in particular. Instead of answering, Tony regained his composure and finally left without another word.
Ada frowned at his sudden change in behavior. She was ready to follow him when her phone suddenly went off. She shook her head before answering it, already guessing that SHIELD tried tracking the Mandarin down once more, only to fail miserably.
"We lost him."
Ada rose an eyebrow at the sound of Maria Hill's voice. She had gotten used to hearing Fury on the other end. She should have known that SHIELD would be keeping her posted on the Mandarin and his whereabouts. Though she wasn't surprised to find out that they hadn't been able to track him down after he hacked into the satellites. Something told her that with the kind of technology they had, he would return with something even worse.
"I kind of figured that after the way the reporters reacted," she replied after glancing at the television screen. "Any idea on what or who we're dealing with?"
She knew that people would panic. It was inevitable, especially with the holidays so close.
"We've already got an investigation team on pursuit," Maria replied without missing a beat, though, Ada didn't miss the doubt in her voice. As confident as she tried making herself sound, it was obvious even she had no idea what to expect from the Mandarin. Or, if he was even the real threat they needed to worry about, "The boss wants you to keep an eye on Stark, though. There might be a connection, but, we're not sure, yet."
"Alright," Ada murmured, knowing that if Tony was somehow connected with the Mandarin, then he needed to get his act together.
He almost looked as if he was panicking, she thought after looking back at his reaction to the video. For one thing, Tony rarely panicked unless the circumstances called for it. For another, he was usually one of the most confident, arrogant and egotistical people she knew.
Something was bothering Tony, and Ada planned on finding out what that something was.
…
"And, how is President Ellis responding? By taking the guy they call the 'War Machine', and giving him a paint job."
An image of the newly painted War Machine was shown on the television screen. Ada couldn't help but giggle at the face Tony made when he saw the new paint job. He would never openly admit that he wasn't a fan of red white and blue because it was the costume Steve used. To make matters worse, he never gave the President approval on changing the suit's name or giving it a new paint job. The suit had been given to Rhodes after the whole Vanko incident. And since Rhodes worked with the military and the President, she should have known that he would try to change the color scheme to appease the public.
"It's the same suit, but, painted red, white and blue. Look at that. And, they also renamed it Iron Patriot. You know, just in case the paint was too subtle."
By now, Ada was struggling to maintain a straight face as Tony buried his face into his hands and groaned in frustration. She knew how much Tony hated the new suit. Rhodes had already warned them that the suit had been changed due to the public's view on it. About the only reason he hadn't argued over the fact that they changed the suit and its name was because the President had signed off on it.
"It tested well with focus groups, alright?" Rhodes sighed with a shake of his head, hoping to alleviate whatever concerns Tony had on the newly designed suit.
"Better the focus groups than the public," Ada muttered under her breath.
She ignored the incredulous look Rhodes gave her as she took a sip of her water, smirking a little as she caught Tony glaring at them both. Tony never approved of her speaking out in the public, even though she often did when they were at home. Rhodes just shook his head in grim amusement when he noticed the rising tension between them. After finding out that the War Machine had gone through such a change, she wasn't surprised with how annoyed Tony was.
"I am Iron Patriot," Tony said.
Ada merely shrugged at the mocking of his tone, which was also dripping with sarcasm. He'd made it perfectly clear how much he hated the new design with his facial expression.
"Listen, War Machine was a little too aggressive, alright? This sends a better message," Rhodes tried reprimanding him.
"By telling the public that you're willing to change your suit just to appease the crowd?" Ada almost snorted at the ridiculous thought. "Since when did the 'Iron Patriot' become the President's new toy?"
"Since we realized how many threats there are to the public," Rhodes snapped without missing a beat.
He was doing a good job at hiding his exasperation, though Ada could see that he was getting frustrated.
"So, you wanna tell me what's really going on?" Tony pressed after shaking his head at their argument, "With the Mandarin?" Ada chewed the bottom of her lip at the mention of the Mandarin. Truthfully, neither of them were willing to admit that what they saw on the feed had terrified them. SHIELD was doing their best to hunt the Mandarin down, but, it seemed like as soon as a possible lead showed up, it vanished. "Seriously, can we talk about this guy?"
Tony's voice dropped to a whisper, and, Ada suddenly understood why when she noticed a few patrons were looking in their direction. Some were anxious about the Mandarin getting caught. Others were more concerned over the fact that this had become a favorite spot for them to meet and discuss the issue at hand. Either way, Ada knew that talking about sensitive information out in public was never a good idea.
"It's classified information, Tony," Rhodes reminded him with a sigh of frustration.
"Because that's ever kept him from snooping," Ada scoffed after crossing her arms.
After seeing the way Tony behaved over sensitive information that was meant to be kept secret, she knew better than to tell him anything. Sometimes, silence was better than giving a flat-out answer. Especially when Tony was involved.
"Okay… there have been nine bombings," Rhodes finally conceded when he realized Tony wasn't going to drop the subject.
That was enough for Ada's stomach to lurch with realization.
Nine bombings within the last couple of weeks were worse than she could have imagined. If the Mandarin was involved with them, which she suspected was the case, then they needed to take care of him sooner rather than later.
"Nine," Tony repeated, his voice dropping to a whisper as he rubbed the temple of his forehead.
"How the hell was he able to get away with nine bombings?" Ada asked, narrowing her eyes at the horrifying thought.
"That's what we're trying to figure out," Rhodes explained as he leaned against the back of his seat, "The public only knows about three so far. The problem is, we can't ID any device. There's no bomb casings."
Ada furrowed her brows together in confusion. How were they able to cause a bomb to explode if there weren't any casings? The whole thing didn't make any sense. She doubted anyone could just walk away without leaving something behind for them to pick up.
"You know, I can help; all you have to do is just ask. I've got a ton of tech, I've got a prehensile, I've got a… I've got a bomb disposal," Tony spouted out. Ada merely rose an eyebrow at that. Tony was just trying to get some kind of knowledge as to what was going on with the Mandarin and the connection he had with the explosions. Whatever the case, she knew his tech could only do so much. "It catches explosions mid-air."
Rhodes just looked at Tony skeptically. Even if he managed to get Tony involved, the odds of them finding the Mandarin were slim. Ada found herself string at the table self-consciously as she thought of getting SHIELD involved. She doubted Tony would thank her anytime soon if she did just that.
"When's the last time you had a good night's sleep?" he asked, tilting his head to one side curiously.
A lump formed in the back of Ada's throat as she remembered what Jarvis had said. Something was up. While Tony rarely had proper sleep to begin with, this was an all-time record for him. He only didn't sleep when something was on his mind.
"Last time Jarvis checked was seventy-two hours, and that was three days ago," she answered before Tony could defend himself.
Rhodes' mouth hung open in disbelief as he looked between Tony and Ada. She hadn't missed the withering look Tony threw her. If he wasn't going to take proper care of himself, she sure as hell wasn't going to hold back on giving away sensitive information. Especially when it came to people who cared about him.
"Einstein slept three hours a year," Tony retorted, "Look what he did."
Running a hand through her hair, Ada knew that something had to be done about Tony's lack of sleep. She'd thought of asking Pepper for help. But, all that would do was form a rift between them. Pepper and Tony were already in a fragile relationship. The last thing Ada wanted to do was make it worse.
"Dad, you do realize that it's not only physically, but also mentally impossible to go without at least six hours of sleep a week, right?" she pointed out.
Tony just made a face at that, "Since when did you become a doctor?" he grumbled.
"She has a point, Tony," Rhodes put in hopefully.
The odds of getting through to him were slim, though. Ada could see an argument forming within his eyes before he even said anything. Tony was always defiant against anyone who tried ordering him around. When he thought he was right, and believed it, he would do everything he could to defy them.
"You're gonna come at me, like that?" he demanded after wrinkling his nose in annoyance.
Ada winced when he rose his voice a little louder, this time. She knew what he was trying to do. Cause a scene and catch the attention of any reporters that might have been there, at the time. She had no doubt they were interested in whatever stories they had to share about the Mandarin, or, the Avengers.
The problem with the press was, they always had to make things worse than they already were. They had done just that when she was working with Steve to get him acclimated to modern technology, and help him catch up on what he missed over the years. Of course, the Daily Bugle had to make the ridiculous claim that they were seeing each other. Both she and Steve were able to convince them otherwise, but, not without repercussions.
"No, no, no," Rhodes tried defending himself after pinching his nose in exasperation, "I'm not trying to be a dic…" He stopped himself short when Ada nudged him, gesturing to a couple of kids who approached the table with notebooks. She couldn't hide the small smile when he grinned like an idiot, hoping to deter them from what he had been about to say, "…tator."
The girl only giggled as she held out a picture of what looked like a drawling of Iron Man hovering in the sky. The boy standing behind her looked at all three of them as if he'd seen a ghost. Though, Ada could only imagine what was running through his mind at the moment as he looked between her and Tony.
"Would you please sign my drawling?" the girl asked after holding out a sheet of paper with the drawling.
"Only if my baby girl doesn't mind me showing off a little," Tony replied, flashing a coy smirk in Ada's direction.
She merely rolled her eyes as he took the drawling and a crayon the boy handed her. The girl was more fascinated with the ball of fire forming in the palm of Ada's hand. She didn't mind showing off for the kids, especially when she knew it was a rare opportunity to show them that people with powers weren't a threat.
Once she finally doused the flame with water, the girl's mouth formed into a warm smile, "You're the Phoenix, aren't you?" she asked curiously.
She couldn't hide the small smile that followed as she remembered Coulson giving her that nickname. It seemed as if the name stuck. Whether that was from SHIELD's influence or not, she would never know. She was just grateful it hadn't been something ridiculous.
"The one and only," she replied.
"Is it true that you can control all the elements?" the boy asked after looking at her curiously.
Ada eyed the boy in surprise after noticing he looked just like the kid from A Christmas Story. With the same glasses and hairstyle, he could have easily passed for the kid's twin brother. He must have been thinking the same thing, because he looked back down at the floor almost in embarrassment.
"Only when I need to control them," she assured him.
She glanced over her shoulder to where Tony was sitting, and eyed the picture curiously as he pulled out a crayon. Ada stiffened in surprise as she noticed that the picture bore an eerily similar resemblance to when Tony had nearly been sucked into a wormhole.
A shiver swept through her as she remembered how terrified she had been when she almost lost him. Though Tony had always promised he wouldn't leave her, she couldn't shake off the sense of dread that something terrible would happen to him.
"What's your name?" Tony asked after choosing a color to sign his name with.
"Erin," the girl replied.
Tony finally noticed the boy standing behind her, and he gave a slight smirk when he too reached the same conclusion Ada had.
"By the way, I loved you in, 'A Christmas Story'," he remarked.
The boy merely looked at him as if he'd heard that song and dance before. Not that Ada couldn't blame him. She suspected he got that all the time from strangers, and even school.
Rhodes leaned forward towards Tony, his expression impossible to make out. Ada glanced at him warily, fully aware that this had been something he wanted to keep to himself. The Mandarin was something that he wanted to handle on his own, and, to keep Tony away from as much as possible.
"Listen, the Pentagon is scared," he started when Tony started muttering under his breath, "After what happened in New York… aliens… come on." He paused to let this sink in, and, Ada found herself realizing why they wanted to prove they were strong enough to handle their own problems. Asking for help made them look weak. In the eyes of other nations, that made them vulnerable to further attacks. "They need to look strong. Stopping the Mandarin is top priority, but, it's not—"
"It's superhero business, I get it," dad cut him off.
"No, it's not, quite frankly," Rhodes began in a sharper tone. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when Ada noticed Tony's hands were trembling. She was about to say something, but Rhodes went on before Ada could intervene, sounding more frustrated than ever, "It's American business."
"That's why I said I… got it—" Tony stopped short when the crayon snapped in half.
Tony dropped the two pieces and placed his forehead in his hands. She knew that look from anywhere. As much as Tony tried denying it, there was something wrong with him. And, Ada realized with a start that it was more than just the Mandarin that was on his mind.
"Dad?" she asked, carefully putting a hand on his arm as she tried calming him down.
"Are you okay?" Rhodes asked when he too finally noticed something was wrong.
"I broke the crayon," Tony whispered, his voice shaken. Before either of them could respond, Tony wrenched his arm away from Ada's grip and stood up, "I've gotta go," he declared, glancing at Ada warily.
All she could do was sit there and watch in disbelief as he left them, heading for the Iron Man suit that waited nearby. She'd only seen reactions like that during her training with SHIELD. They'd warned her that due to some of the trauma that agents faced during missions, they'd return with post traumatic stress, or suffer from severe anxiety attacks.
"What the hell was that?" Rhodes asked once Tony was gone.
"That was a severe anxiety attack," Ada whispered back.
With a sigh of frustration, she quickly apologized to the kids who had been watching with stunned expressions. Even they couldn't explain what was going on with Tony. Though, Ada didn't expect them to. Once she'd done that, she reached Tony and found him perched on the steps, half-crouched in the Iron Man suit with his face buried in his hands.
Ada swallowed hard as she sat down beside him, suddenly wishing there was more she could do for him.
"Tony."
He hardly looked at her when she said his name. She rarely used his name unless she was pissed off with him. When he finally looked at her, she noticed the rims of his eyes were dark with worry and fear.
A crowd of people gathered around them after noticing something was wrong. When they finally realized who was sitting on the stairs, a few people pulled out their phones and began taking pictures. It wasn't until Rhodey stepped out and stopped them that they finally dispersed, though, a few had stayed behind to watch the scene unfold.
"Sorry, kid," he finally brushed her off after regaining his composure. "I've got unfinished business to attend to. Rhodey, take her home."
Ada's eyes narrowed in disbelief when he finally took off, leaving them behind. Rhodes shook his head in amazement when he realized that Tony had left her behind, not for the first time. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for the reporters to start bombarding them with questions the moment Tony was gone. She was relieved when Rhodes managed to push them out of the way, making a beeline for the car.
"Look, I may not be a genius like your dad, but something tells me there's more going on with him than you're letting on."
As if I'd tell you the truth, Ada silently argued. She was desperate to formulate an answer that would help alleviate whatever worries Rhodes had for Tony. The problem was, Ada didn't have an answer to the problem. Tony suffering from a severe anxiety attack wasn't necessarily unheard of, but, it was enough of a reminder that they needed to do something about it.
"I wish it was as easy as providing an answer," she shook her head, knowing that wouldn't help.
Besides, the last thing she wanted was to get inside Tony's head. She had no doubt psychiatrists would have a field day trying to unravel the mysteries that lay behind his subconscious.
"Whatever it is, it needs to be taken care of, quickly," Rhodes snapped after reaching a nice looking Chevy.
Ada frowned at that. For once, she fully agreed with Rhodes on that notion. One way or another, something needed to be done about Tony's problem. Otherwise, she had a feeling they would all pay the price.
AN: I have been going around making sure the timeline's were fixed. Didn't realize until it was pointed out in a review that the timelines were off, and could be confusing to some readers. Hopefully, I've fixed them all. If not, please let me know. I'm always looking for ways to improve the story's quality, so please don't be afraid to give some criticism (kind criticism, please). At any rate, big thanks to emajb89 and ImsebastianstanButter for reviewing!
emajb89 - Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it so much :D
ImsebastianstanButter - Thank you for pointing out those errors. I've already gone ahead and fixed them. When I first wrote this story, it was nearly three years ago, so unfortunately I might have skimmed over any mistakes that were made along the way.