Chapter Forty Four

"I've compiled a Mandarin database for you, sir. Drawn from SHIELD, FBI and CIA intercepts. Initiating virtual crime scene reconstruction."

After returning to the lab from their incident at the hospital, Ada wasted no time in hacking into SHIELD's database to uncover whatever files were hidden revolving around the Mandarin. Most of it had been encrypted, but, luckily, Jarvis was able to figure it out and create a new file that Tony could easily read.

The news was on in the background. Ada had kept the television on in the attempt of keeping peace with the media. Though, that attempt had ended in miserable failure as she saw the stories that were currently trending. Most of them involved Tony giving away his home address. A few revolved around her relationship with Steve, to which Tony nearly gagged in disgust. Ada had to keep reminding him that it was just the media trying to portray things out of proportion.

"You do realize that you've just painted a huge target on the back of your head?" she quipped as she sat perched on a desk with her legs swinging back and forth. Tony threw her an incredulous look as he studied the holographic display of the crime scene. "Pepper's going to kill you, if the Mandarin doesn't."

"As of right now, Pepper's the least of my worries," he snorted in grim amusement, shaking his head while keeping an eye on the victims that were caught in the explosion.

It was a gruesome sight. Ada's heart wrenched with pity as she saw the looks of horror written across their faces when they tried getting away. She knew she, Happy and a couple of others were the lucky few who got away mostly unscathed. Quite a few people had been killed during the explosion, while others still would live with the scars that would forever haunt them.

"I'll remember that the next time you two are arguing." Tony just stuck his tongue out at her, and she almost laughed at his reaction.

She had to admit, it did feel good to have something to laugh about. It seemed that lately, there wasn't much happiness in the world. Between the battle of New York and now this, life was constantly throwing some kind of curveball that made it difficult to continue on.

"Okay, what do we have, here? His name is an ancient Chinese war mantra, meaning 'Adviser to the king'." He paused and looked in Ada's direction. She merely shrugged, having already figured that much after reading through the files Fury left her. They may not have been much, but, when she pieced it together with the files from the CIA and FBI, it suddenly turned into a much bigger case. "South American insurgency tactics; talks like a Baptist preacher. There's a lot of pageantry going on, here… lots of theater."

"You're making it sound as if he staged the whole thing," Ada said after hopping off the table and reaching the hologram.

"Wouldn't be surprised if that's what happened," he quipped. He threw her a knowing look before returning to his work. "The guy clearly has an ego and was demanding everyone's attention after hacking into the national broadcasting network."

"Which means he wants a bigger audience," she concluded.

One nod was all it took for Ada to realize that the Mandarin was a bigger threat than anyone suspected.

She eyed the hologram thoughtfully as Tony rubbed his chin and did the same. He was trying to figure out the hidden message behind the Mandarin's attacks. If he could piece together the reason behind said attacks, and figure in why there were no bomb casings, she knew he could find the Mandarin, himself.

"The heat blast was an excess of three thousand degrees Celsius," Jarvis informed them, "Any subject within twelve point five yards would have been vaporized."

Once again, a shiver swept through Ada when she realized just how close she had been to dying while there. She had to silently thank her powers that had saved both her life as well as Happy's. Despite the fact that he had suffered from serious injuries and was now in a coma, he could have met the same fate as the rest of the victims.

"Seems like there weren't any bomb parts found in the area, either," she remarked, frowning at the thought.

"That would be correct, Ma'am."

Ada frowned as she realized there was more going on than meets the eye. The fact that these people had gotten away with no bomb casings left her wondering how that was physically possible. After seeing the eerie, almost sickly red glow in their hands and faces, it made her realize that they were using themselves as bombs. She knew it wouldn't take long for Tony to reach the same conclusion.

"Talk to me, Happy," Tony said after eyeing the hologram warily. He'd been studying the scene for what felt like hours, now. Ada rose an eyebrow as she noticed Happy was looking in one direction in particular. Despite the fact that she had blocked out the worst of the heat, he still suffered the worst blow. She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully when she noticed with a start that he had been pointing to what looked like dog tags draped along the ground nearby, "When is a bomb not a bomb?"

"Any military victims?" Ada asked when she realized there might have been a connection between the bombs and the military.

She knew that a lot of people who worked for the army wore dog tags to show which branch they'd worked, and to show that they were part of the military at some point. If they were from the military, it was likely that they were distributing some kind of drug and using those people as some kind of test subject.

"Not according to the public records, Ma'am," Jarvis replied.

"Bring up the thermogenic signatures again, factor in three thousand degrees."

"The oracle cloud has completed analysis. Accessing satellites and plotting the last twelve months of thermogenic occurrence now."

She watched with fascination as Tony pulled apart what was left from the attack. He managed to piece together what had happened and who was the reason behind it in seconds. Not for the first time, she was fascinated with the way Tony always managed to make technology look even better than it already was. Most of the tech he had in his lab wasn't even available to the public.

"Take away everywhere that there's been a Mandarin attack." Tony started pulling away files that weren't included in the Mandarin's attack. Then, he stopped at one that had happened recently in Rosehill, Tennessee. "That. You sure that's not one of his?" He eyed the structure curiously.

"It predates any known Mandarin attack. The incident was the use of a bomb to assist a suicide," Jarvis explained.

"Bring it around." Ada eyed the scans curiously when she noticed there was more to the attack in Tennessee. Most of the files were recent. She frowned after realizing that two of the victims in the attack had been from the military. "That's two military guys. Jarvis, you ever been to Tennessee?"

Tennessee… it seemed like such a random location for an attack. Though, if it predated any Mandarin incidents, Ada could see why it was so random. Something in the back of her mind told her that the Mandarin had some kind of connection with the military and these bombings. If that was the case, then, Tennessee might be their best bet in finding their answers.

"Creating a flight plan for Tennessee."

"Exactly what are you planning on telling Pepper when you suddenly leave?" Ada asked, crossing her arms in annoyance when she realized that Tony had left her out, again.

She knew Pepper wouldn't be happy. Lately, all they ever seemed to do was argue. If things kept going the way they were, she couldn't shake off the feeling that Pepper would decide to leave Tony. Not that she couldn't necessarily blame Pepper for that notion.

The real problem was, Tony could barely function on his own without their help. Ada suspected he would never get the proper amount of sleep he did without a friendly reminder from either of them. Or, eat properly for that matter.

"I haven't thought of that, yet," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly as he glanced at her. "Actually, you can tell her when I'm gone. Makes things easier for everyone."

"Do you seriously expect me to tell Pepper that you just upped and left during the holidays?" she snapped, suddenly wishing she could smack the sheepish smirk that followed, "Dad, she's your girlfriend! For God's sake, why not start treating her that way?"

And, you're not keeping me from this, she added silently. The fact that Happy had been targeted during the attack made her want to take the Mandarin down now more than ever. The asshole deserved to pay for his crimes, in more ways than one.

Tony opened his mouth, ready to argue when he was interrupted by the doorbell. Ada rose an eyebrow at the noise.

Since when did we have a doorbell? she wondered.

They were still on lock down after Tony had given away their location without thinking of the consequences. She knew that anyone could have tracked them down, and, it would have ended in disaster for everyone if they did just that.

"Are we still at 'ding-dong'?" Tony asked incredulously as he led the way up the stairs to the main living room, "Come on, I threatened a terrorist. Who is it?"

He paused as they reached one of the security monitors that showed whoever was standing at the front entrance. Ada crossed her arms once more. At least they had the decency to ring the doorbell rather than tear it down without warning.

"There's only so much I can do when you give the world your home address," Jarvis replied.

Ada frowned when an image of a woman who looked to be in her high thirties appeared on the screen. With short brunette hair and brown eyes, she seemed irritated with waiting for an answer. She glanced at Tony self-consciously when she noticed he'd been staring at the image, as well.

He quickly got into the Iron Man suit and reached the main entrance, opening the door just to raise his arm and aim the repulser at the intruder.

"Right there's fine," he started just as she began walking inside. "You're not the Mandarin, are you? Are you?" he repeated as the brunette looked at him in confusion, before rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"You don't remember me," she let out a quiet huff before looking at Ada warily. Her shoulders were tense as she studied the woman curiously. It was obvious Tony had had a fling with this woman, though, that was likely before he finally got his act together. "Why does that not surprise me?"

"Don't take it personally," Tony snorted in response, almost smirking despite the situation they were in, "I don't even remember what I had for breakfast."

"Glutton free waffles," Ada reminded him without missing a beat.

She was the one who made them, after all. Tony was the one who insisted they start eating healthier diets, and for whatever reason, glutton free waffles had been on his mind at the time.

"Yeah, that's right," he said with a nod.

"Okay, look, I need to be alone with you. Some place that's not here; it's urgent," the woman said after regaining her composure.

That was enough for Ada to glare at her. After everything that had happened, she wasn't planning on trusting the woman right away. Besides, Tony was already in an unstable relationship with Pepper. If she took things out of context, it could only make the rift between them worse.

"Normally, I'd go for that sort of thing, but, I've got a daughter now, and I'm in a committed relationship with—" Tony was abruptly cut off when two bags suddenly fell to the floor beside them. Ada glanced at the stairs in surprise when she spotted Pepper heading down the stairs, looking more annoyed than usual, "It's with her."

"Tony, is someone here?" she asked after joining them.

Tony, luckily, was smart enough to step out of his suit just before she reached them. After the last fiasco with his suit, Ada couldn't blame him for wanting to avoid another fight with Pepper. He was already on thin ice as it was. The last thing he wanted was to make things worse.

"Yeah; it's Maya Hansen," he introduced her to the both of them. Ada just glared back as Maya crossed her arms and studied the two of them. "Old botanist buddy that I used to know, barely." Maya frowned when he called her a botanist. It was painfully obvious that Tony didn't even remember what Maya's main focus was, though, Ada wasn't entirely surprised by that. He wasn't even interested in the conversation, "Please don't tell me there's a twelve-year-old kid waiting in the car that I've never met."

Ada just rolled her eyes at Tony's last remark. After seeing the way he acted before adopting her, and even after, she knew that was a typical response to seeing an old 'friend'. Though, Ada couldn't necessarily blame Tony for feeling so worried. Pepper and Rhodes used to joke that he would one day find himself in such a situation where he was a father.

"He's thirteen," she replied with a knowing smirk. Tony's eyes went wide to the size of full moons. For a moment, it looked as if he was about to panic when Maya quickly mended the situation, "And, no. I need your help."

"Why would you need his help?" Ada asked, narrowing her eyes as she continued glaring at Maya suspiciously. "Who's to say you aren't working for the Mandarin?"

Maya finally looked at her critically. She knew Maya would have heard about her through the media. Whatever Maya thought of her, she didn't care. This woman had no right to automatically assume Tony needed her help, even if he did need some form of said help.

"And, you must be the famous Ada Stark," she remarked, ignoring her question. Ada's fists clenched with outrage as Maya smirked in amusement, "I've heard quite a lot about you over the last few weeks."

"Yeah? Did you hear that I can and will kick your ass if you cross the line?" she snapped.

Tony threw her a warning look, but, Ada ignored it and continued glaring at Maya. She may have put on a good show about wanting to help him, but, something told her not to trust this stranger.

"I've read the papers, Tony, and, frankly, I don't think you'll be able to last the week," Maya went on after looking back at him.

"I'll be fine," Tony reassured her.

"I'm sorry. With Happy in the hospital, I didn't think we were getting any house guests," Pepper apologized after realizing that Tony was trying to leave her out of their conversation.

Ada crossed her arms while shaking her head in disbelief. The tension them was becoming overwhelming. She knew things could escalate into a fight, and, Maya's presence certainly wasn't helping. The woman couldn't have chosen a worse time to randomly pay them a visit.

"No, I don't—"

"And, old girlfriends," Pepper cut Maya off before she could explain herself.

Just when it seemed like things couldn't get any worse, the two started bickering. Ada swallowed hard when she noticed that one of the security alarms were going off. She hadn't missed that Tony was ignoring the threat that was quickly imposing itself upon them.

"Guys," she tried intervening before the threat reached them.

"Do we need to worry about that?" Maya's voice finally seemed to catch their attention.

A bomb was headed in their direction. Ada's heart nearly skipped a beat when the mansion was suddenly hit, causing the ground to shake violently. Everything around them began exploding. Glass shattered around Ada, and she winced as a piece grazed her arm as she tried blocking the worst of the explosion.

She acted upon sheer instinct, forming a barricade of whatever cement lay around her. The biggest challenge was making sure the mansion didn't slide down the cliff. She was determined to make sure that everyone got out alive before it could slide down into the ocean.

"I've got you!"

Relief swept through Ada at the sound of Pepper's voice. Her teeth ground together as she focused on maintaining her powers, making sure that she kept the mansion from falling apart during the landslide. She'd already failed in keeping Happy safe from the Mandarin's attacks. She wasn't going to let the same thing happen to the rest of her family.

"I got you first. Like I said, we can't stay here," Tony replied.

Once she was sure Tony managed to get Pepper out of the debris, Ada cleared the barricade and started firing balls of fire at the helicopters surrounding the mansion. Most of them were just hovering there, but, a couple were firing shots at their intended targets.

"Ada, you need to get out of there!"

Pepper's shout made Ada flinch while she was throwing a piece of cement at one of the helicopters. Though it was a sloppy aim, the cement managed to hit one of the blades and cause it to lose balance.

"Pepper's right, Ada. I can't take down those helicopters with you there," Tony added.

Ada whirled around in time to see him standing nearby, crouching to the ground as he tried steadying himself. A gaping hole had appeared on the side of the mansion where the bomb hit. She could already feel the mansion slipping as she struggled to maintain control. Panic suddenly swept through her when she realized that she was the one responsible for it sliding down the cliff.

"I can't control it," she whispered, her voice shaken with dread as Tony's eyes widened with realization.

She barely had time to react when the Iron Man suit suddenly latched itself to her. The world around her was beginning to blur as the suit carried her away, despite her feeble attempts at helping. Seconds later, and the suit dropped her off near Pepper, who clung onto her as the suit disengaged.

Time suddenly felt as if it slowed down as Ada watched helplessly while Tony tried taking down the helicopters one by one. He managed to take down one with the suit, and quickly dodged another as it began firing bullets. He wasted no time in trying to destroy the second helicopter.

All she could do was gape at the horrifying scene when the second helicopter suddenly careened towards the falling mansion, colliding into it. The impact caused the building to collapse immediately, with Tony still inside it.

Ada felt her stomach drop with terror as she wrenched herself from Pepper's grip. She ran towards the ledge of the cliff, suddenly wishing that it had been her inside the mansion rather than him.

"Dad!"

Her heart sank even further when no response followed. Finally fed up with waiting, Ada jumped down into the ocean without hesitation. She could already hear Pepper's shouting from above as her body slammed into the water. Almost immediately, an icy cold gripped her body as she swam towards the debris.

Yet, that wasn't what shocked her the most. Ada's eyes widened in disbelief when she noticed a barrier forming around her. She was hardly aware at the time that her power over the water meant she could protect herself from drowning.

Shaking her head at the realization, Ada moved faster as she noticed a faint light in the inky darkness. She had no doubt that was from the Iron Man suit. It had to be.

Please let him be okay, she silently begged as she pushed further.

She managed to use the water to pull herself towards the suit that now became clearer. Once Ada reached the suit, she wrapped her arm around it protectively before pulling them both towards the surface. That was easier said than done, as she soon began to realize. Because his suit was so heavy, it made pulling the armor difficult due to the density of the water.

She had to move carefully to avoid causing further damage to the already cracked and dented suit. She had no doubt that he'd taken in water, and likely no longer had control over the suit. Unfortunately, that was when things had begun going wrong.

The surface had begun appearing when the air bubbles surrounding her began to fade. Just as she managed to reach the surface, she was gasping for air. Her lungs ached from holding her breath. A dull throbbing in the back of her head left her feeling dizzy as black spots appeared at the edge of her vision.

It wasn't until feeling a pair of arms wrap around her that she realized Tony had regained consciousness. Her heart was pounding in her chest as he flew out of the ocean and landed back on the cliff nearby. Before she could say anything, he flew away and left her standing there, trembling in disbelief.

Ada felt her stomach twist a little when she realized too late that he was gone. And, something in the back of her mind told her that he wouldn't be coming back, anytime soon.

AN: Hopefully the last part of this chapter wasn't too rushed... It's been ages since I've seen IM3... I really need to watch it again. Also, as you can plainly see from the chapter title, I'm terrible at naming chapters XD