I panted heavily, struggling with the exertion of fighting for so long, even in the suit. I-I really need to work out more. I grunted when I was clipped by a missile from one of the Navy drones, shaking my head with a growl.

"Oh, bad move, buddy."

"Reboot complete. You got your best friend back, Tony," Natasha said through our comms and I blasted yet another drone away from someone in the crowd.

"G-Great and all. Mind shutting down the rest of the drones while you're at it? Still having a bit of trouble here!"

"I'll do what I can. Well done with the new chest piece. I'm reading significantly higher output and your vitals all look promising."

"Yes, for the moment I'm not dying," Tony replied. "Thank you."

"Yeah, we can all flirt a little later!" I hissed, as a missile slammed into my side. "I enjoy a little exercise, but I've not done combat training in ages! Could use a little help, if we're all done chit-chatting!"

"What do you mean, you're not dying? Did you just say you're not dying?" Pepper interjected, making me groan as I wrestled with a drone only to roll over as its companions fired a shot off, destroying it for me.

"Is that you, Pepper? Uh, no. I'm not. Not anymore."

"W-What's going on?"

"I was going to tell you. I didn't want to alarm you."

"You were gonna tell me? You really were dying? Jess, you didn't say anything either!"

"You didn't let me," Tony tried to argue.

"Why didn't you two tell me that!"

"I was gonna make you an omelet and tell you."

"We couldn't find the right time to say it and now isn't the best time either!" I cut in. "The drones are flying off!"

"You've got incoming, Tony. Looks like the fight's coming to you," Natasha explained as I clung to one of the Air Force drones that fought to get rid of me as it flew.

"Great. Pepper?" Tony started.

"Are you okay now?" She asked, still hung up on the whole dying thing.

"He's fine! We worked it out!" I cut in, wrapping an arm around the head of the drone.

"I'm fine," Tony agreed. "Don't be mad. I will formally apologize—"

"I am mad!"

"—when we're not fending off a Hammeroid attack."

"Fine."

"We could have been in Venice."

"Oh, please," Pepper and I both replied.

Now that the arguing on the comms was done, I could focus more on what was happening with me. Problem was, I had taken down the drone I was on, only to get shot across the sky by another. I skipped across the ground and landed heavily in some sort of decorative garden, groaning as my helmet flipped open to reveal a worried-looking Rhodes and Tony.

"You lot… are so dead when this is over," I snapped, accepting the hand up with a grimace. "My back is killing me and the bickering over the comms while I'm trying to fight an army is not helping."

"I'll buy you a drink after."

I shot Tony a look. "You better do a whole lot more than that."

"Is that a challenge?" He purred, making Rhodes groan.

"Could we not? I'm right here."

"And? I think you deserve it after taking the suit and adding to this whole mess," I huffed.

"I'm sorry, okay? But please don't drag me into the middle of this."

There was a hum then and we turned to see a drone landing nearby followed by a number of others. We had a small look around before our helmets slid back down, and the drones moved. Tony and I used our blasters while Rhodes used his guns, slowly taking down each drone that tried to approach us. Tony dodged a missile, using one of his newer weapons to destroy the three drones that had attacked him.

"See that?"

"Yeah, yeah. Nice," Rhodes complimented, making me roll my eyes as I shoved Tony's head down to avoid another missile that I caught and threw back at the drone.

"Pay attention fellas. Save the big dick contest for later."

"Rhodey, Jess," Tony called when the drones had started encircling us up close. "Get down."

We did and Tony swung his arms around, using laser cutters to destroy the lot.

"Wow. I think you should lead with that next time," Rhodey replied.

"Yeah, sorry boss. I can only use it once. It's a one-off."

"Poor time to use it," I muttered, earning a look.

"Excuse me?"

"In case you haven't noticed, we don't know where Vanko is. If Natasha made it to his controls, that means he bailed. And sorry to say this, but he doesn't seem like the kind of guy to just run off with his tail between his legs. I wouldn't doubt the fact that he had a suit of his own."

Natasha herself came in over the comms then. "Jess is right. You've got one more drone incoming. This one looks different. The repulsor signature is significantly higher."

I glanced over at Tony and Rhodes. "You just used your big gun on the small fry. Hope you have something up your sleeve for the big boss."

Said man dropped down a second later, his helmet sliding away to reveal a pleased-looking Ivan Vanko.

"Good to be back."

"Oh, this ain't gonna be good," Rhodes muttered as Vanko let out his electric whips. "I've got something special for this guy. I'm gonna bust his bunker with the Ex-Wife."

"With the what?"

Rhodes stepped forward as I shot Tony a look.

"He's wrong. This is gonna be good."

Tony snorted as Rhodes shot a bullet that bounced harmlessly off Vanko's armored suit. "Hammer tech?"

"Yeah…"

"I got this."

Tony shot out small missiles, but they too bounced off harmlessly and Vanko moved forward with his whips, swinging them in a way I recognized.

"He's a fan of that move," I muttered. "He'll hit directly ahead."

Sure enough, Vanko did and we dodged out of the way. Rhodes tried using his guns, but they were useless and Vanko sliced right through them. Tony tried to fly up, but I grabbed his ankle, pulling him back and out of the way of one of the whips.

"Bad idea. Flying gives him a wide opening to wrap the whips around you. Did you not learn anything from fighting him before?"

"Well, what do you advise then!" Tony complained as we all dodged more attacks.

"Think!" I snapped back. "Remember how he fought before and remember what additions were made to the drones we just used. He's going to use all of that. He's not talented in martial arts though, just your typical fisticuffs from prison. Even when fighting us with the drones, he wasn't using a well-thought-out, pre-planned form of action, just jumping in headfirst with heavy hits. Look out!"

We both ducked, but Vanko had already pinned Rhodes underfoot and got me around the waist, pulling me back into his hand that grabbed me around the neck.

"Jess!"

Tony was caught as well by his whip, leaving the man smirking as he squeezed my suit, making the screens flicker with red alerts.

"T-Tony. I've got an idea!" I choked out, wincing as I felt the metal of the suit beginning to warp under Vanko's hand. "Put your hand up!"

He knew what I was talking about and hesitated. "But you—"

"Will be fine! J-Just do it!"

He nodded, looking to Rhodes. "You heard her, Rhodes. You wanna be a hero?"

"What?"

"I could really use a sidekick. Put your hand up!"

"But Jess—"

"Do it!" I bit out, starting to see spots in my vision.

"I'm ready! Go, go, go!" Rhodes shouted and my vision went from black to a blinding white as their blasts connected and threw us apart.

"Jess! Jess, are you all right?" Tony questioned, patting the partially destroyed suit and grimacing when her helmet flipped open to reveal her as unconscious with some blood and grime streaked across her face. "Jarvis, diagnostics? Give me life signs."

A steady pulse flickered across his screen and he let out a sigh of relief as Jarvis spoke.

"Lifelines are stable, though the suit needs repair and signs indicate possible head, neck, and back trauma among various bruising. None life-threatening."

Tony picked Jess up, settling her on his back before giving Vanko a dark look. The man just smirked though.

"You lose."

He glanced at Rhodes, confused as to what the Russian meant, only for his suit and all the drones to begin beeping with red lights forming on their chest pieces.

"All these drones are rigged to blow. We gotta get out of here, man." Rhodes said.

"Pepper?" Tony remembered, looking to Rhodes, who nodded.

"I'm on it. You take care of Jess."

"Thank you."

"Hey, you owe me one."

"Yeah. Meet me on the nearest skyscraper?"

"On it."

They flew off and Tony landed quickly, setting Jess down on the ground as his own suit sparked and he pulled off his malfunctioning helmet. Jess groaned then, beginning to stir and he hastily moved to her side, stopping her from sitting up.

"Whoa, there. Take it easy. How's the neck?"

She opened her mouth, but winced and began to cough, unable to speak without pain a and making Tony grimace as well when he saw a hint of the dark bruises beginning to form on her throat along with blood from where the suit had been crushed.

"Right. Don't talk then. Um, first thing's first, I suppose. Vanko rigged himself and the drones with bombs. They just went off and Rhodes is grabbing Pepper since I had to carry you here."

Just as he said that Rhodes landed with a squirming Pepper, who was quick to push out of his arms and get her feet placed firmly back on the ground.

"Oh, my God! I can't take this anymore."

"You can't?" Tony questioned.

"I can't take this."

"What are you—Look at me!" He argued, showing his torn-up suit. "Look at Jess!"

"My body, literally, cannot handle the stress. I never know if you're gonna kill yourself or, or, or wreck the whole company."

"I think I did okay!"

An explosion went off as Pepper shook her head.

"I quit. I'm resigning. That's it."

"What did you just say? You're done? That's surprising." He shook his head, changing his mind. "No, it's not surprising. I get it. Y-You don't have to make any excuses."

"I-I-I'm not making any excuses."

"Well, you actually were just making excuses, but you don't have to."

"No, I wasn't making an excuse. Because I'm actually very justified—"

"Listen. Hey, hey. You deserve better."

"Well…"

"You've taken such good care of me," Tony muttered softly. "I've been in a tough spot, but you got me through it and brought Jess into my life, so… Right?"

"Thank you," Pepper replied.

"Yeah."

"Thank you for understanding."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's, uh… Let's talk clean-up."

"I'll handle the transition," Pepper offered. "It'll be smooth."

"Okay, what about the press? Because you only had the job for a week. That's gonna seem—"

Jess clapped her hands, drawing his attention to her.

"You?"

She glared and he held up his hands in surrender.

"Right. Yes. You're very persuasive. I was just wondering about the throat thing."

She rolled her eyes and Rhodes cleared his throat.

"Listen. My car got taken out in the explosion, so I'm gonna have to hang on to your suit for a minute, okay?"

Tony and Jess exchanged a look.

"Not okay. Not okay with that," he said, helping Jess back up onto her feet.

"Wasn't a question," he replied, knowing they were messing with him and giving Pepper a look. "Need a lift?"

She nodded, not entirely comfortable flying again, but preferring that over being the third wheel between Jess and Tony.

"See you both tomorrow."

Tony and Jess waved and once they flew off, Tony raised a brow at Jess.

"Your suit's a bit compromised."

She shot him a look that had him smiling.

"Did it work well for your first go?"

She tipped her hand side-to-side, gesturing a so-so.

"Feel free to let me know so I make the adjustments for your suit. Although, if you're going to be helping me like that, you're going to need to work on that combat training."

Jess punched his arm, earning a chuckle as he helped her onto his back.

"Hang on."

Tony sat at a desk in a guarded warehouse, barely giving the holograms playing press releases a glance as he slid a folder near him labeled "Avengers Initiative: Preliminary Report." Before he could take a peak, a hand pressed it back onto the table, drawing his gaze up to Fury.

"I don't think I want you looking at that," he said, settling into the seat across from Tony. "I'm not sure it pertains to you anymore. Now this, on the other hand, is Agent Romanoff's assessment of you. Read it."

Tony took the offered file, eyeing it. "Uh, 'Personality overview: Mr. Stark displays compulsive behavior.'" He looked to Fury as he nodded. "In my own defense, that was last week… 'Prone to self-destructive tendencies.' I was dying. I mean, please. And aren't we all?"

Fury didn't look remotely convinced by his arguments.

"'Textbook narcissism'?" Tony questioned, but gave one look to Fury and gave in on that one. "Agreed. Okay, here it is. Uh, 'Recruitment assessment for Avenger Initiative. Iron Man? Yes.' I gotta think about it."

"Read on," Fury pressed, and he begrudgingly did.

"'Tony Stark not… not recommended'? That doesn't make any sense. How can you approve me but not approve me? I've got a new ticker. I'm trying to do right, uh, by, uh, Pepper and even better with Jess. I'm in a stable relationship."

Fury got up and moved to his side of the table, sitting on the edge. "Which leads us to believe at this juncture we'd only like to use you as a consultant."

Tony thought for a second before standing up and offering his hand, which Fury took only for Tony to eye him. "You can't afford me." He started to leave, only to pause. "Then again, I will waive my customary retainer in exchange for a couple of small favors."

Fury shifted, uncertain.

"Rhodey and I are being honored in Washington and we need a presenter."

"I'll see what I can do." Fury paused. "Not Jess? I do believe she was involved in assisting with the whole… Vanto thing."

"Well, she wanted to keep out of it. Something about potential lawsuits in the making. And favor number two." Tony eyed him seriously. "I want Jess to join with me."

Fury snorted and Tony bristled.

"What? She not good enough for your little superhuman boy band?"

"Quite the opposite, actually," Fury replied, pulling a page from Tony's file. "If you'd kept reading, you would have noticed the add-on Agent Romanoff tacked on. 'If considered for temporary or consultant position, it is best to include his lawyer and current partner, Jess Norris. While sometimes swayed to help Mr. Stark regardless of consequence, she has more control over his actions than most and is highly intelligent… more than capable of being added to the Avenger Initiative without superhuman capabilities.'"

Tony blinked, rather surprised by the high praise, considering how Natasha and Jess had butt heads. "Well, then. I suppose that's settled. She'll be thrilled, I'm sure."

Fury raised a brow. "Will she?"

"No. Probably not, but she'll come around."

Fury shook his head with a small smile. "I look forward to working with you both."

"Yeah, no you don't."

"It is my honor to be here today to present these distinguished awards to Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes and Mr. Tony Stark, who is, of course, a national treasure," Senator Stern bit out, resisting the urge to strangle the man who'd somehow managed to drag him out to give him an award. He stepped forward to pin the badge onto Rhodes' suit. "Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel, for such an exceptionally distinguished performance. You deserve this," he said honestly.

"Thank you, sir."

He then moved over to Tony. "Mr. Stark. Thank you for such an exceptionally distinguished performance. You deserve this." And he proceeded to "accidentally" jab Tony with the pin. "Oh, sorry. Funny how annoying a little prick can be, isn't it? Let's get a photo."

Tony had started to think his plan to embarrass the senator was a bad move, but a quick glance into the crowd to see Jess clapping and shaking her head with suppressed laughter made it all worth it.