Guys! I. AM. BACK! Thanks for being patient, but I've been so busy with school, but I'm almost done since finals are not that far away from my future. So lucky for you, the spring semester is practically over and I am ready to write much more for this story during the summer! Ever since I saw the Avengers 2 movie, oh my god...don't even...just don't even get me started. Let's just say I fangasmed SO MANY times. I'm seriously excited for what Marvel has in store for the infinity stones. If you haven't already, GO SEE AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON! It's so fucking worth your time. I'm not even joking here. With that being said, I'm going to continue the story for I now currently have the inspiration for it. I'll figure out if I'm going to incorporate Captain America: The Winter Soldier into this fanfic, but I'll see where this takes me after I'm finished with Iron Man 3. I am so pumped for when I finally get into the Avengers 2 movie...I am going to have a lot of fun with this story.

Just breathe, think, breathe and think. Those are the only two things you need to do right now, Tyra. You can do this.

I glanced around while also trying to appear unconscious, I had my head down so that my hair draped over my face.

There's gotta be something around here that can get me out of here.

My eyes darted around frantically as I kept my head low, knowing there were cameras installed into the room.

That guy Isaac...Isaac McCone...I thought he'd told me he was gonna help Pepper and I escape. Well where the hell is he now?!

My eyes widened as I came to a conclusion of my own. Perhaps, Isaac was waiting for me. He needs me to do something so that maybe, just maybe, he'd have the excuse he needed to come in here and unlock me from this fucking thing. The only tricky part was figuring out how to get their attention. What could I do to get them to come in here and release me from this thing? What could I do to get their attention?

God damn it...that heart rate monitor is making it hard to fucking think here...WAIT! THAT'S IT!

I glanced down at the cords attached to my body that connected to the heart rate monitor. If I just made my heart rate monitor go flat, I could pretend that I'm dead. That would be excuse enough to unlock me from this thing. I knew from previous experiences in hospitals that the default alarm on a heart monitor is 50. With concentration and really slow breathing, I could get it below 50 and make the alarm go off.

Maybe I should just hold my breath? It might help considerably...

Just relax the body and go completely limp, slow the breathing, and perhaps you'll be dead in no time. I kept wondering how Bruce would do this, considering relaxation techniques were his area of expertise given the Hulk inside him.

Just...slow the breathing, close your eyes...

I wasn't sure how long I kept repeating the process, but finally, within five minutes, I had succeeded. It didn't take long for people to come barging in and surround me.

"I need her out of this damn thing, people!" Isaac shouted.

Multiple guards rushed over as one of them quickly handed Isaac the key to unlock me from the contraption holding me. I fell limp into Isaac's arms and he lowered me to the floor carefully.

Now it's time to kick some ass and get the fuck out of here.

Finally, I step into action, my eyes flying open as I grab the nearest guard by his neck and using my newly found strength to throw him as if he was a ragdoll. The other guards made a mad dash for their guns, but suddenly, they all fall to the floor when they themselves are shot. I look at Isaac in complete surprise as he holds a gun he grabbed from a guard nearby. Isaac drops the gun as if the object burned him, and he gave me a surprised but relieved smile. For some reason, he reminded me of Bruce Banner in that moment.

"It's about time, Miss Stark. I didn't think you would catch on." Isaac finally spoke.

I miss Bruce...I'll need to give him a call when this is over. I've been thinking about him too much lately. Maybe it's because I still feel guilt from when I threw a wine bottle at him? Oh I dunno...

"How did you manage to lower your heart rate like that?" He asked curiously.

"I'll tell you all about it later, we have to move now. They probably already sent in reinforcements." I told him.

Quickly, we both ran down the hallway after exiting the room. We both froze as we heard commotion from outside the building, thinking that there were more guards being sent our way, but after hearing multiple explosions through the surprisingly thin walls, which practically shook the building, we could tell it was something else entirely.

Is...is dad here? Did he manage to locate us?

"Where did you say Pepper was?" I asked.

"Oh right! This way!" He ran in front of me, leading the way to Pepper.

Another round of explosions shook the building so much that the hallway behind us was gone as the structure collapsed. Isaac turned around to see if I was still behind him, his eyes wide from fear.

"I don't think we'll make it!" He shouted worriedly.

I ran up with him and grabbed his arm, pulling him along with me.

"We'll make it! Let's go!" I replied.

We turned several corners before Isaac came to a stop and pointed to one particular door at the end of the hallway.

"I can't go any further, Miss Stark. If Ms. Potts is still there, Killian is likely to be there too." Isaac lowered his voice. "He thinks of you and Ms. Potts as his trophies...he's a mad man."

"Isaac. You've done enough for me. I'll help you find your daughter, just try to get out of here safely. Please." I pleaded.

"If I do happen to make it out of here, I'll be in Washington DC. Go to the Lincoln memorial at noon in a week's time, I'll come to you. If I'm not alive, save my daughter." Isaac told me.

Another explosion shook the building.

"GO! I'll see you later Miss Stark!" Isaac pushed me in the direction of Pepper.

I looked back at Isaac and gave him a nod, silently thanking him before going to the door at the end of the hallway. By the time I looked back a second time, Isaac was long gone. I stopped at the door, hearing a familiar voice.

Pepper.

"If you think he's gonna help you. He's not." Pepper said.

"Having you and Tyra here, it's not just to motivate Tony Stark. It's um...well it's more embarrassing than that. You're both here as my um..."

"Trophies." Pepper finished.

After hearing enough, I kicked down the door using a lot of my strength. Pepper and Killian looked at me in surprise, not expecting me to show up.

"Tyra! Get out of here!" Pepper yelled at me.

I glanced back at Pepper feeling so relieved that she didn't die from Extremis.

Pepper was probably the only thing keeping me going at this point.

I had a mission, save Pepper and the president, get out alive. I loved Pepper more than anything, but if Fury knew I did nothing to save the president, I'd might as well be dead. I still had a job to do. Pepper and my dad always came first, but my job was my second priority.

"Hey, Aldrich...I was just thinking about you." I glared at him. "You're not having fun without me, are you? That's just rude." I punched Killian in the face.

Killian stumbled back from the punch looking rather stunned, but then smirked at me after flexing his jaw.

"Tyra. I was wondering if you would get here in time." He grinned.

"So you knew I was going to escape again?" I smirked. "You complete and utter asshat. Jeez...just when I thought I figured you out." I spoke sarcastically.

Aldrich's smug grin faltered for a brief second, unsure of what to make of me and my attitude.

"Just like you knew I'd be coming for Pepper, I knew that you would be here with her." I smiled. "It's funny how that works. When you think you're one step ahead of me, I'm two steps ahead of you."

Pepper's eyes widened as she stared at me in surprise.

"My dad's here already, and knowing him, he's got back up in the form of Iron Man armored suits."

I take a threatening step closer to him.

"You see, he might try to put you in prison and let you rot, but I'm not letting that happen."

"Oh really?" Killian raised a skeptical eyebrow. "And what are you proposing exactly?"

"You're not leaving here alive tonight." I cracked my knuckles. "But let's face it, you're not gonna go down so easily. You might think you have the advantage of Extremis on your side, but I've been two assassins and you also used Extremis on me. Plus, I'm not entirely human as I've been learning."

Killian takes another step back as I take another step towards him, and I crack my neck very loudly.

"Tyra..." Pepper gasped as she stared at me with wide eyes.

"You threatened my family, Aldrich." I lowered my voice dangerously. "And you're going to learn what happens when you act like a pure dumbass. Starting with the first lesson: Never underestimate me."

Perhaps it was the state that Pepper was in, or the shit that I've gone through over the past several years, but it was like something inside of me snapped. Before, I wouldn't have even suggested that I would be able kill anyone out of cold blood. Because up until now, I'd never kill people no matter how evil they might be. But now? I wanted to see Aldrich dead, he hurt Pepper and almost killed my father. Aldrich Killian had crossed a line, and there was no forgiveness here, no hope in saving this man. I didn't want to see him go to jail only for him to probably break out and try to kill my family all over again. There would be no second chances with Killian, I had to end his life tonight.

But would killing Killian bring me down that road of never return?

It was almost hard to make this decision, to take a human life, but Killian isn't all that human anymore. Killian had killed innocent people, used others for his own sick gain and for what? To get revenge on my dad all those years ago? To prove he's better than the great Tony Stark?

It's all bullshit.

Killian noticed the anger and total seriousness in my eyes, in my facial expression, and I could see a flicker of fear deep down. Killian quickly recovered and began smirking again, as if everything I'd said just now was purely a sick joke.

"Aw...so Tony has his daughter fighting his battles for him? That's so sweet." Killian chuckled.

He's trying to make me angrier, but it's really a pathetic attempt on his part.

"I can fight my own battles, thank you very much. So, Killian, you regretting your choices right about now?" I smiled threateningly.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see a faint red glow on my skin, realizing that Extremis was beginning to kick in. Killian notices this as well, getting into a fighting stance before his skin begins to glow red as well.

Let the games begin.

Tony's POV

Earlier...

It was simple, or at least my version of simple. Get to the Mandarin (possibly kill him), save Tyra and Pepper, and destroy any traces of Extremis before the night is over. Getting past the guards was surprisingly not all that difficult, and in fact, it was, dare I say, easy to outsmart them. My thoughts drift back to that young boy, Riley, who had not only got my head on straight, but had given me hope I thought was long gone.

I'll have to thank the kid later...

I built a few weapons, easy to make (at least for me), and used them to basically take down every single guard in sight at the Mandarin's hide out of choice. Why in Miami? I'd never know. But there was something fishy about this whole thing to begin with.

Why was Killian working for the Mandarin anyway? Or was it the other way around?

I continued walking, getting rid of the weapons I had recently used before taking a gun off of a unconscious guard, and made my way down the hallway. After glancing at a bunch of computer monitors I came across, which had previous images and videos of the Mandarin on them, I knew I was at the right place.

What the hell was this place? A movie set?

Finally finding a bedroom of sorts, I saw a figure lying underneath the covers. My breathing grew rapid as I became nervous, and I approached the bed slowly. After taking a deep breath, I finally threw the covers off, exposing two women underneath.

Not the Mandarin...

There was a small commotion coming from the bathroom nearby. After seeing how nervous the ladies were (most likely because of the gun I was aiming right at them), I shushed them and hid as I wait to make the next move.

"Well. I wouldn't go there for 20 minutes." A man laughed.

Wait...is that an...English accent?

"Now, which one of you is Vanessa?" He grinned.

"That's me." One of the girls raised her hand nervously.

"Ah! Nessie!" He tossed her something.

"Did you know that fortune cookies aren't even Chinese?" He asked her.

"There's some guy over here..." One of the women mumbled.

I began making my way out of my hiding spot, gun raised and ready to shoot.

"They're made by Americans based off of some Japanese recipe!" He finished.

"Hey!" I spoke up.

The 'Mandarin' raised his hands up, his expression full of worry when he saw the gun.

"Bloody hell, bloody hell." He uttered fearfully.

"Don't move." I ordered.

"I'm not moving. You want something? Take it! Although the guns are fake because those wankers wouldn't trust me with the real ones." He sputtered out.

Wait...

"What?" I gave him a look of confusion.

THIS is the Mandarin? There's no way...stunt double maybe?

"Hey! Do you fancy, either of the birds?" He gestured to the women.

"Heard enough." I cocked the gun. "You're not him. The Mandarin, the real guy. Where?" I asked him. "Where's the Mandarin?! Where is he?!" I shouted angrily.

The guy grew scared and started running from me.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! He's here! He's here, but he's not here!" He stumbled into a chair.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"It's complicated. Hey! It's complicated!" He rambled.

"It is?" I raised my eyebrow, quickly losing patience.

"It's complicated." He repeated.

"Uncomplicate it. Ladies, out." I told the women. "Get out of the bed and get in the bathroom."

The two girls quickly went into the bathroom, leaving the two of us alone. The fake started crawling away and I shot the spot on the floor next to him, causing him to exclaim in fear as he quickly gets back into the chair again.

"My name's Trevor. Trevor Slattery." He spluttered fearfully.

"What are you?" I glared at Trevor. "What are you, a decoy? You're a double right?"

"What? You mean an understudy? Absolutely not." He looked offended.

I raised the gun at his face.

"Don't hurt the face! I'm an actor!" He raised his hands defensively.

"You've got a minute to live, fill it with words." I nearly growled.

"It's just a role. 'The Mandarin' see, it's not real." He told me.

"Then how did you get here, Trevor?"

I came closer as he backed up into his seat.

"Well, I, um, had a little problem with, um, substances. And I ended up doing things, no two ways about it, in the street, that a man shouldn't do- -"

"Next?" I raised my voice angrily.

Trevor sputtered again nervously, quickly continuing where he left off.

"Then, they approached me, about the role, and they knew about the drugs."

"What did they say? Did they get you off of them?" I grew confused.

"They said, they'd give me more." He replied. "They gave me things! They gave me this palace. They gave me plastic surgery. They gave me things."

Suddenly, as if by Clockwerk, he began snoring as his eyes slid shut.

"Did you just nod off?!" I shouted.

I kicked at his feet and he began talking again where he left off.

"No! And a lovely speedboat! And the thing was, he needed someone to take credit for some 'accidental' explosions." He finished explaining.

"HE?" I grew frustrated, already knowing the answer to who he was talking about. "Killian?"

"Killian." He repeated.

"He created you?"

"He created me." He nodded.

"A custom-made terror threat."

"Yes! Yes! His think tank thinked it up!" Trevor got up from his spot to get a beer. "The pathology of a serial killer. The manipulation of Western iconography. Ready for another lesson?" He got into his Mandarin role. "Blah, blah, blah!"

Trevor offered me a beer.

"No." I shook my head.

"Of course, it was my performance that brought the Mandarin to life." Trevor continued.

"Your performance? Where people died?" I gave him a look of disbelief.

"No they didn't." He simply replied. "Look around you. The costumes, green screen. Honestly, I wasn't on location for half this stuff. And when I was, it was movie magic, love."

"I'm sorry, but I got a best friend who's in a coma and he might not wake up. So you're gonna have to answer for that." I glared at him as I stood up from my spot. "You're still going down pal."

Trevor was giving me a look, a weird one, almost as if he wasn't really looking at me.

"You unders- -"

Shit. Someone's behind me.

I blacked out before I could do anything.

"Alright Trevor, how much did you tell him?"

"I didn't say anything." Trevor smiled nervously.

"Nothing?" He stared at Trevor. "You have the panic button for a reason."

"I panicked, but then I handled it." Trevor grinned as he opened a can of beer.

FLASH!

I couldn't believe it, but at the same time, I could. After Killian confronted me, it all made sense mostly. I mean, Killian was insane, that much was certain. But it was because of the demons I created, that caused Killian to become this desperate guy who hungered for power and wasn't afraid to kill innocents in the process.

Like Maya Hanson...

I kept thinking back to that moment, but I knew I had to keep moving. They stole the Iron Patriot armor and were planning to kill the President, and on live national television. Rhodey and I also had to stop Killian, and save Tyra and Pepper.

No pressure right?

Normal POV

Tony and Rhodey approached their destination, guns ready to go and fire.

"You're not gonna freak out on me are you?" Rhodey asked worriedly.

"I hope not." Tony replied.

Rhodey moved first, trying to get a lay out of the situation, but what Rhodey had found was far more terrifying. The president was trapped in the Iron Patriot armor, suspended and hanging in the air, his arms spread wide Jesus Christ style, as he awaited for his death to be viewed for all to see on live national television.

"Oh my god." Rhodey mumbled softly. "He's strung up over the oil tanker. They're gonna light him up, man."

"Viking funeral. Public execution." Tony realized.

"Yeah, death by oil." Rhodey clarified.

The two moved in closer and thankfully weren't detected yet.

That was a good sign so far, right?

"Broadcast will commence shortly. Take final positions."

Tony and Rhodey glanced at one another, a look of worry on their faces. There wasn't much time left, they had to hurry.

"Is your gun up?" Rhodey asked.

Tony quickly put his gun up.

"Yep. What do I do?" He asked.

"Stay on my six, cover high, and don't shoot me in the back." Rhodey told him.

"Six, high, back. All right." Tony nodded.

It wasn't long after until they were being fired at.

Killian grinned evilly at me before opening his mouth wide and breathing fire at me. Luckily I dodged it in time, while sliding down the floor and kicked at Killian's legs, causing him to fall on his back.

"You breathe fire now? What the shit?!" I gave him a look of disbelief. "I wanna do that!"

Killian gave me a look of confusion before quickly getting back up and proceeding to attack me again. His moves were growing more predictable. I relaxed my body as Natasha had once taught me to do, and became almost fluid in my movements like a ballerina, graceful and quick in my attacks. Killian was becoming more irritable as he noticed how fast I was, and also at how hard I could hit him. None of his attacks were hitting me thus far. I knew better than to get cocky though, otherwise my cockiness would jinx it.

"This is getting old, Killian." I smirked.

Killian glared at me and finally managed to lay one punch on my jaw. It hurt like hell that was for sure.

Damn, I think he broke my jaw.

"You 'roke 'y 'aw." I slurred.

"What was that, darling? I couldn't quite understand you." Killian smiled smugly. "Oh come on, we shouldn't be fighting. Why not join me? You would be such a wonderful queen." Killian walked towards me.

Queen? What the fuck was this? The medieval times? Ha.

I could feel that tingling sensation in my jaw, knowing that Extremis was working, and in seconds my jaw was fully healed. Pepper seemed surprised as I gave Killian a smile and walked towards him, as if I was actually considering this. Pepper could tell I was a bit unhinged at this point, knowing I was becoming more unpredictable by the second the longer Extremis influenced me.

"You're right, babe. What was I thinking?" I winked at Killian.

Killian also seemed surprised for a brief second before he grew pleased with my response. Aldrich wrapped an arm around my waist pulling me closer towards him.

"I knew I'd be able to knock some sense into you. At least you're smarter than your father, huh?" He leaned in towards me.

"Yeah...I guess I am smarter, huh?" I giggled.

"Tyra! What the hell are you thinking?! You would betray your father and I like this?!" Pepper shouted worriedly.

I opened my mouth as Killian continued to lean in for a kiss and suddenly, I let out a huge breath of fire onto his face. He pulled back screaming and holding his face as it was practically melted.

"Shit! I'm so sorry, sweetheart! Let me help you!" I grinned.

I ran over to him and used a huge amount of my strength and elbowed Killian's back, hearing a sickening crunch as he fell to the floor.

Take that, you bastard.

I jumped up in the air with my fist raised and landed a big punch on Killians back, feeling part of my fist going inside of his body from the impact. Killian fell limp to the floor in mere seconds. I quickly looked back at Pepper, moving to her quickly and almost nonchalantly as if I hadn't just killed someone.

"Tyra...did you just...kill him?" Pepper looked scared, afraid of me.

"He's better off dead, Pepper. As long as he's alive, he'd only go after you and my father. I couldn't let that happen, it was my job to bring down the Mandarin anyway, and technically, Aldrich Killian was the Mandarin." I said.

"You don't feel anything...at all?" Pepper's voice grew softer. "You just killed a man, Tyra."

"In self defense! He's almost killed me, and he almost killed you! And he got pretty close to killing my dad!" I argued. "Plus he was planning on having the president executed on television tonight! Speaking of which, I have to go save him too!"

I shut my eyes tightly, trying not to let the tears escape.

"I did it to save you and my dad. I hope you understand that." I lowered my voice.

"...I do..." Pepper told me.

I opened my eyes to see Pepper crying. I didn't know what else to do or say to reassure her, but I tried my very best to anyway

"I've gone through so much shit that a young woman shouldn't have to go through. I think I can handle it by now, Pepper. Killian was a bad man. I've already seen so many people die because of me. I'm so used to it by now and the sad thing is, I shouldn't have to be used to it, but I guess it comes with being a Stark. It's like my legacy, seeing people die because of me. What's one more dead man on my conscious?" My voice broke.

Pepper looked heartbroken, but after several seconds her eyes widened.

"TYRA NO!" She screamed.

I felt something pierce through me and I slowly looked down to see Aldrich's glowing red arm through my stomach.

And this is what happens when you don't check to see if the bad guy is actually dead.

"...I win." Aldrich growled from behind me.

His arm left my body and I dropped onto my knees, just frozen in complete shock.

"Well shit...I guess I didn't kill him, huh?" I gave Pepper a weak smile.

Pepper was practically shell shocked, but I was pretty shocked myself. I seriously couldn't believe I let Killian get the better of me.

I'm seriously going to die this time, aren't I? A hole through my body? There's no way I could survive that...

Normal POV

"God, I would kill for some armor right now." Rhodey grew annoyed.

"You're right, we need backup." Tony agreed.

"Yeah, a bunch." Rhodey sighed.

"You know what?"

Tony smiled smugly and looked towards the twinkling lights in the distance, coming closer.

"Is...is that?" Rhodey grew hopeful.

"Yup."

"Are those?"

"Yeah." Tony nodded in confirmation.

In seconds a lot of Iron Man armored suits came flying in and surrounded the entire compound.

"Merry Christmas, buddy." Tony patted Rhodey on the back. "Jarvis, target Extremis heat signatures. Disable with extreme prejudice." Tony spoke into his ear piece.

"Yes sir." All the Iron Man suits replied.

"What are you waiting for? It's Christmas." Tony stepped forward and spread his arms wide. "Take them to church!"

And just like that, all of the armored suits took action and began attacking their intended targets.

Now to save Pepper and Tyra.

I took deep breaths, hoping for Extremis to kick in and heal me, but I was being healed at such a slow rate while also bleeding out. I didn't know for sure if I was going to live at this rate, even with Extremis, because there's too much to heal.

"You should have just been a good girl, Tyra. It's such a shame...I really did like you."

Killian kicked me over to Pepper and my body slid until I was practically at her feet.

"Don't you touch her!" Pepper shouted furiously.

"You know, if you're gonna kill someone. Make sure they're dead, Tyra." Killian laughed.

"asdmdmdmmmmffff." I slurred.

"What was that, darling? I couldn't quite hear you." Killian leaned down and picked my head up using my hair.

I smirked and spit a huge wad of blood in his face. Killian grew angry and slammed my face down to the floor.

Fuck! That hurt...

"You know, you could learn a few manners. That was just rude."

Killian used his shirt to wipe the blood off of his face.

"You coul' also clean yerself up. Y' loo' like roadkill. Not ver' approp...riate when killin' yer guests. Y' pig..." I slurred.

Killian glared at me while grabbing a metal pipe from the other side of the room. After coming back over, he raised the pipe over his head standing above me, ready to kill me off for real. Pepper was crying and yelling, and at this point, I didn't care if I was going to die anymore. At least I wouldn't have to look at Killian's damn face. Before the pipe made impact with my face, a huge explosion hit the building, particularly, the part of the building we were at.

The explosion blew all of us away.

Hey guys! I had to do two parts to this, there was actually so much that I wrote down, that it wouldn't save! So part two and then end of Iron Man 3 is in the next chapter! I hope you like it!