Almost thirty minutes later, I had calmed down enough to breathe properly—going through the motions I'd learned back when my father was still alive—and grabbing the first-aid kit for my cut-up arm. I hadn't had a panic attack this bad in years—not since the BAR exam—and the fact that Tony's disappearance had caused it made my blood boil and my heart ache. We'd become friends, I realized. Somehow, in that week I'd stuck around, he was no longer my boss and I genuinely feared for his life when I'd had a nightmare of him flying off in his suit to Gulmira and getting shot down by a tank in his attempt to get revenge. The thing was, I hadn't felt this close to someone in ages. It was new, and not entirely wanted. If I had a panic attack to this extent every time something dangerous happened, I knew I would die early. If he'd just told me though. Given me a warning or asked first or something. I dragged a hand down my face as I sank back into his desk chair, feeling tired and weary as the hours ticked by. Tony finally made his reappearance around 6:45 am, and I was not happy with what I saw.
His landing was shaky at best and the suit he wore was riddled with dents and bullet holes. My heart leaped up into my throat and threatened another attack, but I was more angry now than worried. He was alive, but what he'd recklessly done was going to haunt me for ages unless I took care of it right here, right now.
"Right, Jarvis? Let's get this off and remind me to call back Jess in a few hours."
"About that, sir…"
"A few hours?" I said shortly, making him whip around in shock—his comment only adding to my anger towards him.
"Jess, what are you doing here?" He asked, brows furrowing. "How did you get in?"
I ignored his questions, getting up and stalking forward. "I call you at three in the morning, panicked as all get out, and you think you can hang up on me and not call me back for four-plus hours and everything will be okay? Like I just went, 'Oh, he must be fine if he hung up and didn't answer my questions. He was only shouting over the noise in the background that proved he was definitely in trouble. I'll just go back to fucking sleep'!"
"Look, it's fine! I came back, didn't I? And I planned on calling you back."
I cracked a sickly-sweet smile. "Do me a favor. Take off the helmet."
"…All right." He reached up and took it off, only for my fist to slam into his nose, making him stumble back. "Agh! What the hell, Jess!"
"I thought you were going to die!" I shouted back, silencing him as he finally got a good look at me.
My tousled hair, tired eyes and quivering fists all screaming that I hadn't had a wink of sleep out of my worry over him. He didn't quite understand it though.
"If you're worried about your job—"
"Dear God, you're such a—" I sucked in a breath through my teeth, bringing a hand to my head. "I don't give a shit about my job. You idiot, all I cared about was you!"
"What for? You knew about the suit."
"I knew you had a partial suit and that you had specs up for the full thing. I didn't know it was finished. I didn't know the casing was bulletproof and apparently tank and airplane proof. Hell, you haven't talked to me at all since you confronted Obadiah at that stupid party! So how was I supposed to know what tests you finished or, or that you were so frustrated about Gulmira that you decided to just fly down there like bloody Superman to save the day!"
He frowned, getting annoyed and shouting in return. "What would you have me do then, huh! Tell you so you can what? Try and stop me? Whine about how unsafe it is and yaddy yaddy yadda? I made this suit, so I could help people! I made it to escape that hell hole in Afghanistan, come back here and make a difference! That's why I stopped my company making weapons! That's why I flew out there to help those people who were suffering because of my naïvety! You want me to stop that?"
"I want you to fucking call first!" I snapped back, cringing as my stomach twisted painfully and I clutched at my shirt. "Christ, I knew you were stupid, but God damn."
His hunched shoulders relaxed slightly as I turned my back to him, making for his chair. "What?"
I sighed heavily. "I just wanted a warning. Wanted to know that your suit was fully functional and safe enough to go out there and make a difference. God, you had me so fucking worried."
He blinked, confused. "Why?"
I shot him an annoyed look. "I'm your friend, Tony. Don't know if you see it that way or not and I don't know how you managed to get me to see it that way, but I am. So, you're stuck with me. Got it?"
He took a second to let those words register before he nodded. "All right. Friends with my lawyer. Could be worse."
I glared. "Shut up, or this lawyer is going to break your nose this time."
He twitched, wiping under his nose with a grimace at the blood that had finally stopped dripping onto his suit. "Nice punch."
"Took kung fu lessons in college," I grumbled out bitterly, though my fist throbbed under the bandages. "Now, get out of that suit before Pepper and I have to pry you out of it with a crowbar. And don't think we won't."
He grunted, stepping onto a platform as robot arms came down to try and remove it, but they were having some trouble.
"Hey! Ow! Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. Hey!"
"It's a tight fit, sir," Jarvis replied as the arms struggled to pull the metal off. "Sir, the more you struggle, the more this is going to hurt."
"Be gentle. This is my first time," he joked, shooting me a smile that I didn't return. "I designed this to come off, so—Hey. I really should be able to—"
"Please try not to move, sir."
"What's going on here?"
Tony looked behind me, but I'd heard the heels coming down the stairs before he did—Pepper now standing in the lab.
"Let's face it. This is not the worst thing you've caught me doing," Tony admitted as she gaped.
"Are those bullet holes?" She gasped.
"It's a long story."
"It's really not," I argued, drawing her attention to me. "Basically, he went to get rid of the weapons Obadiah sent to a town in Afghanistan using his flying suit, which he's been making for a few months and apparently perfected the last week without telling us."
"You knew about this?"
"Ah, my bloody nose? That was her," Tony informed, grimacing as a chunk of the suit came off. "Finally."
Pepper looked to me. "You hit him?"
"He ran off to his potential death. I called, he hung up on me. It wasn't like I was going to go back to sleep while in the middle of a panic attack. So, I broke in and punched him in the face. I'd say I owe you a new window, but I'm not paying for it after this stunt."
Pepper noticed the bandages then and gasped, taking my arm gently. "Oh my God, Jess! Your arm!"
"What?" Tony questioned, having not noticed it as he stepped out of the last of his suit.
"What happened?" Pepper asked, and I gave her a disgruntled frown, still upset with Tony despite having calmed down about the whole thing.
"Broke. A. Window."
"Let me see," Tony stepped over, taking my arm from her and peeling away the bandages as I attempted to jerk my arm away.
"Oi! You're not allowed to worry about me, you ungrateful little—"
His grip tightened on my elbow, stopping me from pulling back my arm as his eyes caught mine seriously. "Please."
I begrudgingly relaxed, letting him remove the bandages and look over the cuts and dark bruising on my knuckles. He brushed his fingers over my knuckles, surprisingly gentle, before releasing me.
"Jarvis, call over a doctor. Her injuries need to be cleaned properly and some of the cuts might need stitches. I'll cover the costs," he said before I could stop him.
"T-Tony, I don't need—"
"You're right," he stopped me, turning away. "I'm an idiot."
"Wha—"
"So, I expect you to stick around and help me the next few days at least, to ensure my suit is up to your standards."
"My stand—Tony, I don't know the first thing about—"
He turned, a brow raised. "You're going back on what you said?"
"What? No, I just—"
"Then, it's settled. Pepper will drop by your home to get what you need, and I'll see you in a few moments once you've met with the doctor." He waved. "Have fun."
Oh, you ripe little piece of—
Tony had dismantled a good chunk of his suit in order to work out getting the right fit, preventing him from getting stuck once more. His gaze shifted over to Jess when a piece clattered to the ground, but the woman didn't stir, having fallen asleep some time ago while working through the specs he'd given her his last flight. He hadn't realized how badly he had been stressing her out until now, and guilt swam in his stomach before he cleared his throat and turned back to his work—just as Pepper came down the stairs.
"Hey, you busy?" He asked her, making sure he hadn't disturbed Jess. "You mind if I send you on an errand? My usual go-to passed out an hour ago."
"Uh, sure."
"I need you to go to my office and hack into my mainframe, and you're going to retrieve all the recent shipping manifests," he said, picking up a case and handing her a USB drive from inside it. "This is a lock chip. This'll get you in. It's probably under Executive files. If not, they put it on a ghost drive, in which case you need to look for the lowest numeric heading."
"And what do you plan to do with this information if I bring it back here?" She asked, eyeing him and he sighed softly.
This would be so much easier if it was Jess. "Same drill. They've been dealing under the table, and I'm going to stop them. I'm going to find my weapons and destroy them."
"Tony, you know that I would help you with anything, but I cannot help you if you're going to start all of this again."
He bristled, having hoped she'd understand as easily as Jess did. "There is nothing except this. There's no art opening. There is no benefit. There's nothing to sign. There is the next mission and nothing else."
"Is that so?" She tossed the lock chip onto the desk, turning away. "Well, then, I quit."
"You stood by my side all these years while I reaped the benefits of destruction. And now that I'm trying to protect the people that I put in harm's way, you're going to walk out? Even Jess—"
"You're going to kill yourself, Tony," she cut him off, trying to get him to understand. "I'm not going to be a part of it."
He sank into a chair. "I shouldn't be alive unless it was for a reason. I'm not crazy, Pepper. I just finally know what I have to do. And I know in my heart that it's right."
"And Jess? She's just letting you do this?"
He sighed, looking over at the woman as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I think she knows she can't stop me, so instead, she's trying to help."
"Help you run off to your death? Don't lie to me, Tony. You saw her! You rushed off and she broke into your home to make sure you were okay! You're really going to put her through that again? Put me through that?"
"She gets it!" He snapped, forcing himself to calm down. "She understands that I'm trying to do something good to make up for everything I've been ignoring. She's not helping me die, she's making sure I make it through this. I'm sorry if I thought you'd be willing to do the same."
Pepper sighed softly, returning to the desk and picking up the lock chip. "You're all I have too, you know. You and Jess."
She left, leaving him with that and he sighed again, only to jump when Jess spoke.
"You shouldn't be so hard on her."
"Jesus. A little warning would be nice," he complained as Jess rolled her eyes and stretched her arms above her head.
"I mean it. She's not like me, you know. You and I have both had a taste of how bad the world can be, but she doesn't get that. She just sees a foolhardy, rich moron flying off trying to be a hero without knowing what he's doing and putting his life at risk."
He went back to work, pretending to ignore her.
"Which is what I think too, honestly."
He shot her a small glare as she cracked a smile.
"But, you and I have learned that sometimes, the only one we can depend on to save us is ourselves. We know how terrible that is and those people out there are helpless without someone to intervene. You being that someone is scary, that's all. I feel it too, and I would love to just chain you to the ground and tear your suit apart, but I know that's not gonna happen. Both, because you're stubborn and if you don't do it, who will?"
"You study philosophy too?" He quipped, and Jess threw a screw at his head, earning a smile.
"Don't make fun of me. I'm just saying that you shouldn't be so harsh when she's just worried about you."
"And you're not?"
"I am, but I'm handling it differently. I'm attempting to help keep you safe by improving your suit. She was trying to help keep you safe by stopping you from going. What else is she supposed to do?"
"You're too nice to her."
"You're not nice enough to her."
He cracked a smile and nodded to the stairs. "You hungry?"
"Starving. You going to order in?"
"Depends. Chinese or pizza?"
"Chinese, definitely. Do you want me to—"
"No, no. I'll do it. I'm pretty much finished anyway. Double-check that the schematics for the deicing is right. It's already applied, but I can make some minor adjustments if needed."
"Will do."
He dropped a bit of metal into her front shirt pocket, making her raise a brow. "Souvenir."
She lifted it out and let out a belt of laughter at the miniature mask he'd made out of boredom. "God, you really are a narcissist!"
"Uh, a 'you're welcome' would be appreciated," he teased, making for the stairs.
"Oh, yeah. 'Cause I'm grateful for having a little bit of your likeness hanging out in my pocket. God, it's like a terrible Barbie Halloween mask!"
He rolled his eyes but couldn't help the smile on his face at hearing her laugh. It was the first true laugh he'd heard from her and a sense of pride welled up in him at the fact that he'd done that. Once he'd reached the living room, he paused, hearing a phone going off. Curious, he looked around before finding his phone under a couch cushion. He checked the ID and answered it when he saw it was Pepper, only for his body to go rigid and his voice to fail him.
"Tony? Tony, are you there? Jess?"
The phone was taken from him as hands gently laid him back onto the couch.
"Breathe," a voice instructed, sending fear and anger running through him when he recognized Obadiah. "Easy, easy. You remember this one, right?" He purred, showing Tony the device he'd used. "It's a shame the government didn't approve it. There's so many applications for causing short-term paralysis."
Obadiah came around the couch, moving Tony's face as he took out his earplugs.
"Ah, Tony. When I ordered a hit on you, I was worried that I was killing the golden goose," Obadiah admitted, opening a case nearby and pulling out a device as Tony fought against the paralysis.
Obadiah pressed it to the chest piece he had, jerking Tony's body and making him grunt in pain as it burned through his shirt and yanked the chest piece out of him.
"But, you see, it was just fate that you survived that. You had one last golden egg to give." Obadiah smiled, hovering over him. "Do you really think that just because you have an idea, it belongs to you? Your father, he helped give us the atomic bomb. Now, what kind of world would it be today if he was as selfish as you?"
Unable to respond, or spit in the man's face as he wanted, Tony was forced to just lay there as Obadiah eyed the chest piece and jerked the wires out of his chest, leaving him gasping for a second.
"Oh, it's beautiful. Tony, this is your Ninth Symphony. What a masterpiece. Look at that." Obadiah joined him on the couch. "This is your legacy. A new generation of weapons with this at its heart. Weapons that will help steer the world back on course, put the balance of power in our hands. The right hands." Obadiah chuckled, opening his case and putting the piece in. "I wish you could see my prototype. It's not as, uh… Well, not as conservative as yours. Too bad you had to involve Pepper in this. I would have preferred that she lived."
He got up and started to leave, when footsteps came up the stairs, sending a trill of fear through Tony's heart. No. No, Jess. Go back. Don't come up here! Jess! Don't!
"Tony? I think the deicing system could use a little—" Jess stopped at the head of the stairs, eyes going wide as she spotted his pale, unmoving body and Obadiah, who sighed. "What… What the hell did you do?"
Obadiah sighed. "See, now you? I never really liked you. Far too nosey for your own good."
"Excuse me?" Jess snapped, teeth bared in a snarl as Tony tried to get her to leave, looking at the stairs, at the case in Obadiah's hands and back at the stairs.
"Michael was easier to take care of. I was just hoping they'd put another idiot in his place," Obadiah huffed. "Instead, I got stuck dealing with you."
"What's in the case? The hell did you do?" Jess pressed, stepping forward threateningly.
"Nothing you'll need to worry about," Obadiah smiled, sickly sweet before he turned and whipped the gun out of his pocket.
Jess didn't have time to react before it went off, hitting her in the chest and causing a pained grunt to escape Tony when she crumpled to the floor.
"One less thorn in my side," Obadiah grumbled, pocketing the weapon and making to leave. "Shame too. If she hadn't started working for you, she might have had a career ahead of her."
The door closed behind him and Tony fought, struggling against the paralysis as his gaze latched onto Jess on the ground and the red he could see crawling up her shirt. Just as he managed to get himself off the couch though, there was a cough and a groan. Hope filled him as Jess grimaced in pain and brought a hand up to her chest.
"S-Son of a-a bitch," she cursed, rolling carefully onto her side and managing to push herself upright with the help of the wall.
She spotted him then and she attempted to rush over, crying out in pain and hitting her knees onto the floor near him.
"F-Fuck, that's… G-God, remind me to s-shoot him later."
"J-Jess," he choked out, reaching a hand up to the red blossoming on her shirt in disbelief until she flinched back.
"D-Don't touch it. I think y-your stupid mini-mask h-has stuck itself to my chest." She looked over him, fingers touching his empty centerpiece. "Christ. W-What can I do?"
"L-Lab."
"Okay. Okay. Here, let me help—Ngh!" She grimaced while trying to help him onto his feet, the dark stain on her shirt getting darker as he tried to push her off. "O-Okay. C-Can't carry you. What do you need?"
He tapped the centerpiece and she frowned.
"You have an extra?"
He nodded with a cringe, and she hastily tried to make for the stairs.
"R-Right. Find the extra. Got it."
She stumbled down the stairs, a hand wrapped around the fabric of her shirt as pain laced through her body and she quickly stepped through the broken glass to get into the lab. Once in, her gaze looked over the mess and she groaned.
"Extra chest piece in the messiest lab I've ever been in."
There was a chirp then, and her eyes went over to Dum-E as it held up a glass case with the gift Pepper had brought for Tony.
"Oh, my God. Dum-E, you're the best!" She grinned, earning a pleased whir from the robot as she took the case and smashed it, breaking it open to get the extra chest piece out of it. "I'll tell Tony to be nicer to you, I swear!"
She scrambled back upstairs, tripping with a curse on the last step, but pushing past the pain to get to Tony, who had sunk back down to the floor. She crawled over to him and grabbed the wired ends of the chest piece before sticking her hand down the center of Tony's chest. Once it was connected, she pulled her hand out and put the device back in, lightly patting Tony's face as a car pulled up outside.
"Come on, come on. Tony, tell me this is working."
Tony sucked in a deep breath, coughing a little and opening his eyes, grabbing Jess's shirt desperately. "Pepper…"
Jess nodded, looking around. "I-I'll call her."
The door opened then, and Rhode rushed in, spotting the two of them and running over.
"Tony! You two okay? Jess, you're bleeding."
Jess didn't know the man well but pushed off his concern. "W-Where's Pepper?"
"She's fine. She's with five agents."
"Coulson," Jess blinked, surprised. "Suppose he's somewhat useful."
"They're about to arrest Obadiah."
"Or not," she muttered. "Obadiah took his chest piece. He has a suit."
"A what?"
"I'll call her," Jess said, getting up, only to cringe and double over as Rhodes caught her.
"Whoa. You shouldn't be moving. What did he do to you?"
"Shot me. I'm fine," Jess pushed him off, making for the phone.
"Shot you? Christ, Tony. Where'd you get this one?"
Tony cracked a small smile as he was helped onto his feet. "I'd be dead without her."
"Don't praise me yet," Jess complained, ringing up Pepper. "If they're already at the labs, we're going to need you moving. I can't work the suit, especially not like this."
"Why do you keep talking about a suit?" Rhodes questioned again, and Jess sighed.
"Just get him downstairs and grab the medkit. I'm going to need it."
The phone was finally picked up and I let out a sigh of relief.
"Pepper? Pepper, please tell me you're not at Stark Industries."
"Jess? Oh, my God, are you okay? Is Tony okay? He wasn't picking up! And—"
"Pepper, where are you!" I shouted into the phone. "Because you need to get out of there if you're at Stark Industries! Obadiah attacked us, took Tony's chest piece. He has a suit, Pepper! All the agents in the world won't stop him!"
"Oh, God. Okay. Okay, I'll go. Is he okay? Are you and Tony all right?"
"Fine. He used your gift, but I don't think it's as effective as the new one." I grunted, working my way back down the stairs. "I'm going to try and help him from the lab while Rhodes goes to deal with the military. Tony should make it to Stark Industries in time to try and help, but this is going to be a fight. Obadiah has lost it. He doesn't care about anything other than power right now and putting him in a suit? We're asking for a lot of trouble. Now, I need to go. I need to get a hold of someone and get a line up to Tony. Try to get back here if you can. I could use an extra set of hands."
I hung up before she could argue, sagging against the wall as Tony flew out of the unrepaired hole in the ceiling and Rhodes looked to me. He hurried over, helping me to the desk chair I gestured to and I waved towards a box near the back.
"Med kit."
"On it."
I panted heavily, unbuttoning the buttons to my shirt carefully as I spoke to him. "H-How good are you at first aid?"
"Depends. You said you were shot?"
"Kind of. Idiot Tony gave me a gift before I went up there. A metal mask like his suit. I-It caught the bullet, but—Ngh!" I cursed repeatedly under my breath as I pulled my shirt away and tugged lightly at the undershirt that was around the twisted bit of metal now half-embedded in my chest. "God, if this leaves a stupid mask-faced scar, I'm going to fucking murder him."
Rhodes hurried over and grimaced at the sight, opening the first aid kit and looking hesitant. "I-I don't think I should be the one doing this. What about a doctor?"
"No time, and I really don't want to have to try and explain this right now. Just tell me what you need."
"Well, uh, I don't know how deep this goes."
"J-Jarvis? Can you multitask?"
"Of course, Miss Jess. How may I assist?"
I leaned my head back against the seat, closing my eyes. "Diagnostics scan. How screwed am I because of this metal? What can Rhodes do to get it out?"
A blue beam ran over me and Jarvis hummed. "Diagnostics. Blood pressure is a little low, but stable. No major arteries have been damaged, though your Pulmonary vein is dangerously close to a broken rib. You have also cracked ribs one and three, and significant bruising and bleeding."
"How deep is the metal?"
"You should be able to pull it out safely, without risk of puncturing the lung, however, it has warped around the broken section of rib as well. You may need to use a scalpel."
My eyes went to Rhodes, who was eyeing the injury uneasily. "Can you do that? Otherwise, I'm stuck like this until this is all over."
He shook his head, confidently. "No. I can do it. I've removed bullets before. This is just slightly bigger."
He rolled up a towel nearby, placing it between my teeth as he put on gloves and grabbed a scalpel.
"Ready?"
I nodded and clenched my eyes shut. As ready as I'll ever be.
Jess panted, covered in sweat as she spat out the towel, looking over at the bloodied mangled piece of metal Rhode had removed and wincing as he dabbed alcohol over the stitched injury.
"Sorry," he apologized. "I think this is the best I can do. I really need to go though, before the military blows Tony out of the sky."
"Go, go." She waved him off, grimacing as she reached out for her shirt and he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I'll bandage you up first."
She grunted. "Jarvis? How am I?"
"You'll live, Miss Jess. With the broken portion of the rib removed, there is nothing endangering your lung or pulmonary vein. Your blood pressure is low, however. I recommend a possible blood transfusion as soon as—"
"Can't. Tony needs help." She sat up as Rhode finished applying thick bandaged to her shoulder. "T-Thanks, Rhodes."
"My pleasure," he answered, nodding to the car. "I'm heading out. Keep an eye on him for me until I get there."
"I'll do my best." Jess pulled on her button-up, leaving it open but feeling a little exposed without it as a chill went down her spine. "Definitely blood loss. Jarvis, is there any way you can connect me to Tony and give me some sort of audio and visual connection down here? I want to stay updated and help him out as much as I can, so I'll need specs of his suit too."
"Of course, Miss Jess. Connecting you to Mr. Stark. Bringing up diagnostics of Mark III."
"And get me what you can on Obadiah's suit and the chest piece he stole."
"On it. There is a Bluetooth headset in the box on your right. I will connect you to Mr. Stark through it."
"Thanks a million, Jarvis." She picked up the Bluetooth and put it on. "Tony? You there?"
"Jess? How did you—"
"Don't ask stupid questions," Jess complained, grunting as she adjusted her position in the chair. "You at Stark Industries yet? I told Pepper to get away from there, but I don't know how deep into it she was. I might not have made it in time."
"It's fine. I'll be there in less than a minute. You doing okay?"
"I'm not the one who lost my chest piece and am stuck working with the old model."
"Good point. Jarvis, how do you think the Mark I chest piece is going to hold up?"
"The suit's at forty-eight percent and falling, sir. That chest piece was never designed for sustained flight."
"Keep us posted, Jarvis," Jess muttered. "So, you've got limited air time, limited power too, I'm guessing."
"Yes. I could blow a car away before, but the power in this thing barely pushes it aside."
Jess glanced over at the dented blue sports car in the back. "Yeah, I can see that." She grimaced again, gripping her shirt. "Christ. You got any alcohol down here?"
"Glass cabinet behind the filing cabinet. You sure you're okay? You were shot."
"Rhodes got your mini-me out of my chest along with a bit of broken rib," she informed him, getting up slowly and going to the liquor cabinet. "I've been better."
"Scans indicate significant blood loss, low blood pressure, and serious bruising on and around the impact sight along with two fractured ribs."
"Jarvis, you snitch."
"Apologies, Miss Jess. I assumed him knowing now would keep him focused."
"I thought you said he was an intelligent AI, not a nagging mother-in-law."
"If we could remain focused? Thanks," Tony huffed. "Coming up on Stark Industries now. Pepper's in her car, but scanners indicate Obadiah is pushing through the concrete. I'm going in."
"I'll look up weaknesses on his suit since you apparently have schematics."
"It was based on the one I made in the cave. Might be the same one, actually, with some added bits. Keep me posted, Jess. I'm counting on you."
"Will do."
Tony tackled Obadiah through the ground and unfortunately out onto the freeway. Once they pulled to a stop, Obadiah was the first to recover, grabbing a car full of screaming kids and their mother, raising it up to crush Tony.
"I love this suit!"
"Put them down," Tony ordered as Jess's voice cracked into his ear.
"He won't listen. He's lost it, Tony. No concern for anyone other than himself."
He figured as much, knowing for certain when Obadiah scoffed.
"Collateral damage, Tony."
Tony lowered his hands, knowing that he didn't have enough power for significant blasts from both. "Divert power to chest RT."
Tony shot the blast at Obadiah, knocking him back and giving him the chance to grab the car before anyone inside it was hurt.
"Power reduced to nineteen percent," Jarvis chimed in.
Seeing as the family was panicking though, the woman stepped on the gas and soon dragged Tony partially down the freeway before he lost his grip and rolled under the car. Obadiah rushed over, using what little thrusters he had to get close to Tony as he struggled to stand. A motorcyclist tried to drive by, but Obadiah grabbed it—launching the biker off—and slammed it into Tony.
"Jess, we need to get civilians out of here! I can't fight and protect them!"
"Already on it! I called Christine. She's alerted the authorities who are on their way and she will be taping from a distance to ensure that Obadiah is imprisoned for this."
"Yeah, not concerned so much about the media at the moment," he grunted as Obadiah picked him up and threw him down.
"For thirty years, I've been holding you up," he shouted, slamming a foot into Tony's gut and making sparks fly. "I've built this company from nothing! And nothing is going to stand in my way."
Tony was thrown into a bus and Obadiah pulled out a missile.
"Least of all, you."
"Anything? Jess! Give me something!" He called out as he flipped through the air from the explosion.
"I'm trying! His propulsion systems aren't as good and—Oh my God. Maybe… but you have limited flight time."
"Tell me, Jess."
"He doesn't have deicing features. No flaps, no chemical, electro-magnetic anything. If you can get him up high enough, he'll freeze and—"
"And will come crashing back down," Tony realized, stopping his decent and hovering as Obadiah chuckled.
"Impressive! You've upgraded your armor. I've made some upgrades of my own!"
The bulky metal suit shifted, pushing itself into the air as well.
"Sir, it appears as though his suit can fly," Jarvis replied.
"Duly noted. Take me to maximum altitude."
"With only fifteen percent power, the odds of reaching that height are—"
"I know the math! Do it!" He shouted, turning and flying up into the sky with Obadiah on his heels.
"Thirteen percent power, sir."
"Climb! Jess, you see any way to fix this if it goes sideways?"
"I'm looking! I'm looking! Which deicing system did you install?"
"All of them!"
"God, overcompensating much?"
"Jess!"
"Right, right. Not the time. You're just making me nervous! Either I have a panic attack, or I make fun of your small pen—"
"I swear to God, Jess. If you finish that sentence, I'm taking away your birthday gift."
"What?"
"Find something!"
"Eleven percent," Jarvis chimed.
"Keep going!"
"Seven percent power."
"Just leave it on the screen. Quit telling me!"
Then, Obadiah grabbed his ankle and pulled him down—the two of them still climbing upward.
"Save your thrusters, Tony! Let him pull you up higher!" Jess called out as he did so, struggling in the grip of the behemoth iron suit.
"You had a great idea, Tony," Obadiah complimented, "but my suit is way more advanced in every way!"
"How'd you solve the icing problem?" Tony asked, making him pause as the suit turned off.
"Icing problem?"
"Might want to look into it."
He hit the top of the suit and sent him flying down, just as he started to fall as well, barely landing on his own feet with some of his reserved energy.
"Two percent. We are now running on emergency backup power."
"Get ahold of Pepper. See if she's still in the area."
"She is," Jess replied. "You apparently installed a tracker on her phone. Rude and illegal if she didn't consent, which I doubt she did. She's just outside Stark Industries."
"Perfect. Connect me, Jarvis." He landed haphazardly on the roof. "Potts?"
"Tony! Oh my God, are you okay?"
"I'm almost out of power," he admitted, taking off a gauntlet. "I've got to get out of this thing. I'll be right there."
"Tony! His suit is activated again!"
He whipped around just as Obadiah landed behind him.
"Nice try."
Tony reached up to try and blast him.
"No power!" Jess reminded him, and he looked at his bare hand with a grimace as a metal fist sent him flying back. "Don't try to fight! He's a bulky tank, not some stick like you!"
"Gee, thanks, but I don't know what else to do, Jess! You need to give me something!"
He threw himself back at Obadiah, punching it ineffectively before he was grabbed and squeezed around the middle, making sparks fly and metal dig into his spine.
"Weapons status?"
"Repulsors offline. Missiles offline."
"Flares!"
Flares came out, blinding Obadiah enough that he let Tony go, but he needed a plan.
"Jess, this isn't working," he breathed out, keeping quiet to avoid Obadiah's detection.
"You're on top of Stark Industries. What's in there that can help you?"
His eyes widened. "The arc reactor. Potts?"
"Tony!"
"We're going to have to overload the reactor and blast the roof."
"Well, how are you going to do that?"
"You're going to do it," he said, explaining quickly. "Go up to the console, open up all the circuits. When I get clear of the roof, I'll let you know. You're going to hit the master bypass button. It's going to fry everything up here."
"Okay. I'm going in now."
"Make sure you wait until I clear the roof. I'll buy you some time," he said, sneaking away as Obadiah headed over to check if he was there. "Jess? Give me some weaknesses."
"On it. There should be a gap around the neck. The old design left a lot of open crevices where wires are exposed. Pull some out?"
"Will do." He rushed in behind Obadiah, jumping on his back and reaching into a large crevice. "These look important," he mused, ripping out the man's optical controls and targeting systems.
Obadiah struggled but was able to grab a hold of him and throw him across the roof—keeping his helmet and opening up a portion of the behemoth to see.
"I never had a taste for this sort of thing, but I must admit, I'm deeply enjoying the suit." He crushed Tony's helmet and tossed it to him. "You finally outdid yourself, Tony. You would have made your father proud."
"It's ready, Tony. Get off the roof," Pepper called out, but he didn't respond as Obadiah shot at him, sending him through the glass and dangling into the building. "Tony!"
"How ironic, Tony. Trying to rid the world of weapons, you gave it its best one ever."
"Pepper!" He called out, being ignored by Obadiah.
"And now, I'm gonna kill you with it."
He launched a missile that just missed him.
"You ripped out my targeting system."
"Time to hit the button!" Tony called down, but Pepper hesitated.
"You told me not to!"
"Hold still, you little prick."
Another missile missed.
"Just do it!"
"You'll die!"
"Push it!" He shouted, dangling from one arm now as a third missile flew overhead.
She did, ducking out of the building as a massive flare flew up and knocked Tony aside, before passing through Obadiah and into the sky. Lightning streaked across the clouds and half the city lost its power as Obadiah toppled over and into the arc reactor, destroying it.
"—ny. Tony! Oi, you better not be dead! Tony!"
Tony's chest piece flickered before lighting up again, drawing him into consciousness. "Jess… would you stop yelling in my ear?"
"You little… God, if you tried to die on me again, I swear, I'll never pay for that window I broke."
"Noted," he mumbled, shifting a bit with a groan. "Power?"
"Gone. I don't know how your little chest piece snuck through that blast, but you're alive. And I hope you know, I'm draining your liquor cabinet. Too much stress for one week."
"Save some for me."
"Get your ass home and maybe I will. Doctor's already on his way here. Jarvis has him on speed dial."
Tony snorted. "All right. And Jess?"
"What?"
"Thank you. For… you know."
"Yeah, whatever. But if this is going to be a normal thing, I seriously need a raise."
He cracked a smile, getting up and making his way down from the roof, touching the earpiece in his ear as he smiled at a relieved Pepper. "How about dinner?"
"That's… not exactly a raise."
"Dinner and a raise then. Better?"
"You're impossible."
"Hey, I think dinner with the infamous Tony Stark is far better than a measly old check," he grunted as he slipped into Pepper's car. "I'll throw in a car too. Maybe a room at my place."
"Tony."
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
A news broadcast played in Tony's office, Rhodes making up yet another story about what had happened the previous night at Stark Industries. Tony sat reading the paper as Pepper dabbed some concealer to his face to hide his injuries.
"She still not here?" He asked, raising a brow at Pepper, who smiled in amusement.
"She left the hospital only a moment ago. You should be glad she even agreed to show up here instead of resting at home as she wanted."
"I promised her a present, and dinner. She didn't want the dinner though."
Pepper rolled her eyes. "She's not like the others, Tony. She won't be swayed by a smiling face and fancy presents."
"Eh. Doesn't mean I can't try." He shrugged, glancing over his paper. "I honestly think it's due to him."
Agent Coulson ignored the jab as Tony returned his gaze to the article he was reading.
"'Iron Man.' That's kind of catchy. It's got a nice ring to it." He winced as Pepper removed a butterfly stitch from his nose. "I mean, it's not technically accurate. The suit's a gold-titanium alloy, but it's kind of evocative, the imagery, anyway."
"Christine wrote that one," a voice said from the doorway, a tired-looking Jess stepping in with a small smile. "Told her to keep your name out of it, so she came up with that instead."
"About time you showed up."
Jess ignored Tony's jab and looked to Pepper. "Hey, Pepper. Coulson."
Agent Coulson frowned but attempted to be civil. "How's the shoulder?"
"Sore but let me shoot you and see how you like it."
"How bad is it?" Pepper asked.
"Not bad enough that they needed to keep me, though I'll be missing a part of my second rib the rest of my life," Jess sighed, sinking down into a chair at the desk and tugging at the tie around her throat. "Why am I here again?"
"Emotional support," Tony replied, making her shoot him a glance.
"You mean protecting you from lawsuits."
"As always. Hey, you do a good job, and I'll give you your present early."
Jess rolled her eyes as Agent Coulson passed some blue notecards to Tony.
"Here's your alibi."
"Okay."
"You were on your yacht."
"Yeah."
"We have port papers that put you in Avalon all night and sworn statements from fifty of your guests."
"See, I was thinking maybe we should say it was just Jess, Pepper and I alone on the island."
Pepper ripped off another butterfly bandage by his eyebrow, earning a small wince.
"Or just Jess and me."
"Not gonna happen," Jess huffed, rubbing lightly at her shoulder with her bandaged hand.
"That's what happened," Coulson pressed.
"All right."
"Just read it word for word."
Tony flipped through the cards. "There's nothing about Stane here."
"That's being handled. He's on vacation. Small aircraft have such a poor safety record."
Jess scoffed. "Sloppy."
Coulson glared, but Tony agreed.
"What about the whole cover story that it's a bodyguard? He's my… I mean, is that… That is kind of flimsy, don't you think?"
"This isn't my first rodeo, Mr. Stark."
"Says the man who was called out by a lawyer just because his name was too long to be real." Jess winced as she pulled out a set of gloves and slipped them on carefully to hide the bandages on her hand.
"Just stick to the official statement, and soon, this will all be behind you. You've got… ninety seconds."
He went to leave, and Pepper stopped him to thank him; Jess eyeing his back until he was gone.
"You're not going to do a thing he said, are you?"
"Hm? What's that?" Tony asked though a spark of mischief lay in his gaze, making her sigh.
"You're starting to be too much work for me, you know."
"Says the woman who's playing hard to get."
"All right," Pepper called out, drawing their eyes to her. "If you two are done flirting. Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"
"I wasn't flirting," Jess huffed, earning a raised brow from Pepper as she helped Tony into his suit jacket.
"You know," Tony cut in. "It's actually not that bad. Even I don't think I'm Iron Man."
"You're not Iron Man," Pepper said, earning a snort from Jess.
"Yeah, he is."
Tony agreed. "Am so."
"You're not." Pepper looked at Jess. "Don't encourage him."
She waved Pepper off. "Oh, let him do what he wants. You don't actually expect him to just save the day once, do you? With his ego?"
Pepper hesitated. "Good point. I'd like you to though."
Tony's lip twitched up. "All right, suit yourself."
Jess raised a brow though, as he went on.
"You know, if I were Iron Man, I'd have this girlfriend who knew my true identity. She'd be a wreck, 'cause she'd always be worrying that I was going to die, yet so proud of the man I'd become. She'd be wildly conflicted, which would only make her more crazy about me."
Jess stood, approaching him. "Do I look crazy about you?"
"Well," Tony smirked, taking a step into her personal space with a slight tilt of his head. "You did become such great friends with Jarvis that you were able to save me before."
"That makes me smart, not crazy."
"You can be smart and crazy."
"What, like you?"
Pepper smiled, patting Tony's shoulder and stepping out to let them have their moment, though he didn't look away from Jess.
"No, seeing as we're so obviously talking about you."
"Obviously, huh?" Jess snorted, adjusting his tie. "Tell you what. I'll do dinner, but it's got to be after my shoulder is healed up, there will be no after-dinner anything, and I expect you to let me help you on that suit whenever I feel like it."
"Well, how could I say no to that?" He smirked, starting to lean in, but she stopped him with a hand grabbing his jaw, making him wince at the bruise she was touching. "Ow."
"Ninety seconds is up. You've got a speech to fail at making."
He wrinkled his nose as she let him go and slid past him. "Not even a little one? I'll make it quick."
"No, Tony."
"I'll buy you a car," he offered, bounding after her. "No, two cars and a shiny new office right next to mine."
"Not interested."
"All right then," he said so suddenly that she tuned with furrowed brows, only for him to sneak in a kiss on the cheek with a grin. "Gotcha."
Her ears flamed red and she slapped his arm in annoyance as he laughed. "Ass!"
He was still grinning even as he took his place behind the podium in the next room with her at his side. "Been a while since I was in front of you," he chirped to the media, catching sight of Christine in the front row, which made his smile falter slightly. "I figure I'll stick to the cards this time. There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftops—"
Christine, of course, raised her hand and cut him off. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, but do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared despite the fact that you—"
Jess, I thought you took care of her, he mentally complained, shooting a glance at Jess by his side, who looked a little exasperated, but unable to help a small smile. Annoyance flickered through him, and he cut Christine off in return.
"I know that it's confusing. It is one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations, or insinuate that I'm a superhero."
"I never said you were a superhero," she countered.
"Didn't? Well, good, because that would be outlandish and, uh, fantastic," he hummed, suddenly beginning to like the idea. "I'm just not the hero type, clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely public…"
Rhodes leaned towards him, hissing in his ear. "Just stick to the cards, man."
"Yeah, okay." Tony lifted the cards. "The truth is…" Then, his resolve gave in. "I am Iron Man."
Jess sighed as the entire crowd of media stood up. "Here we go."