I drove up to our home and blinked at the large, oversized rabbit sitting in the drive. I walked up to it, prodded it with a finger and then promptly stuffed my face into its soft belly. Is it bad that I don't actually mind that he got me something so ginormously stupid? I sighed softly and stepped away, moving to head into the house knowing that there was no possible way to drag the large rabbit in with me.

"Hey, Tony. Sorry, I'm late. What's with the… Oh." I paused, looking at the Iron Man suit seated on the couch waiting for me. "Really? Are you seriously doing this right now?"

"What?" The suit questioned, standing up and heading over as I dropped my bag on the table.

"What suit is that anyway? Mark 37?"

"Uh, close, actually. 42."

I rolled my eyes, trying not to be too upset with Tony at the moment, but feeling unable to help letting my bitterness show. Between what happened at work and him doing this on our first actual date night in months, and my mood was quickly slipping.

"Any reason you're wearing it now when we're supposed to be having a nice night in?" I asked, removing my shoes and dragging a hand through my hair. Need a shower.

"You know, it's always a little pinchy in the gooey bag at first, so…"

"You're such a moron," I smiled, unable to help it with his goofing off.

"Well, hey. Did you see your Christmas present?"

"Hard not to," I teased him. "Though, if you had made it maybe way smaller, I might have liked it a bit more. Hard to enjoy it if it's too big to fit in the house."

"That's actually a good point. I've got a team of guys coming tomorrow. They're gonna blow out that wall."

I snorted, picking up some fan drawings of Iron Man on the table and looking through them. "Tony, just get me a smaller one and sell that. It's much easier than paying hundreds of dollars to blow out a wall."

"All right. So, tense? Good day? Huh?"

"Tense is an accurate term for it," I replied, stiffening slightly when his hands landed on my shoulders until they began to massage the knots forming in my back.

"Ooh, shoulder's a little knotty. Naughty girl"

"Shut up," I lightly chided.

"So, I don't want to harp on this, but did you like the custom rabbit?"

"Yes, Tony, I did," I informed him. "Though again… smaller?"

"I'll remember that next time."

I got up as his hands slipped away, stepping around the chair and sliding up to the suit, knowing what was going on from the start. Tony didn't just wear his suit around the house because he wanted to. We'd made the rule for a reason. So, I thought I'd tease him just a bit.

"So, when are we going to start this little date night, hm?" I asked, lightly tapping the side of the helmet. "Can't do anything while you're still suited up."

"Huh, dammit, no can do," he said, tapping his chin. "You want to just kiss it on the… the facial slit?"

"Not really," I replied. "No fun if there's no response. It's fine though. I'll just head down to the garage, dig up a crowbar and pry you out of there."

"Crowbar, yeah," Tony murmured as I slipped past him. "E-Except there's been an uh, uh, a radiation leak."

"Sure, there has," I countered, easily bounding downstairs with a plan in mind to chuck the first piece of metal I could at the man who was most definitely not in the suit following after me.

"At least let me get you, like a hazmat suit. A Geiger counter or something like that," Tony said, doing pullups with a hologram in front of his face as I stepped into the lab. "Busted."

"Are you done?" I asked, giving him a look as I folded my arms over my chest.

"Sorry."

I lightly pushed away the plate Dum-E offered me with food. "You ate without me on the one night we'd finally managed to get together?"

"He was just—"

"I don't want to be served by your suit, Tony."

"Well, yeah. I just mean we were hosting you while I finished up a little work."

I dragged a hand down my tired face. "Tony, if you didn't want to do this—"

"I did!" He argued. "Really. I-I just miscalculated the time it was going to take me to finish up some things. And yes, I had a quick bite. I didn't know if you were coming home, or you were having drinks with Aldrich Killian."

As if I couldn't get any more frustrated with him.

"Excuse me?" I questioned, ignoring the way his suit looked at me accusingly. "Are you spying on me at work now?"

"Happy was concerned, and Pepper, apparently."

"Pepper was concerned because we haven't actually been a couple in months. Happy was concerned because Aldrich is a sketchy person with an even sketchier bodyguard," I said sharply, before waving at him and turning around. "You know what? Forget it. You're obviously busy and apparently don't trust me. So, I'm going to bed. Enjoy your work."

"Hold on. Come on. Jess. Hey! I admit it! My fault. Sorry."

At the apology, I stopped on the stairs, giving him an expression that said if he was suddenly pulling my leg, I wasn't about to deal with it.

"I'm a piping hot mess."

I hesitated, eyeing the way he crossed his arms over his chest defensively and shifted his weight back and forth on his feet. Finally, he was talking to me properly, so I started back down the stairs as he continued.

"It's been going on for a while. I haven't said anything. Nothing's been the same since New York."

"You think I don't know that?" I questioned him, starting to lower my hackles as well. "Tony, I was there, remember?"

"I know. It's just… You experience things and then they're over, and you still can't explain them. Gods, aliens, other dimensions. I'm just a man in a can. The only reason I haven't cracked up is probably because of you. Which is great. I love you. I'm lucky. But honey, I can't sleep," he explained, heading over. "You go to bed, I come down here. I do what I know. I tinker. I…" He sank down onto a rolling cart with a sigh. "Threat is imminent, and I have to protect the one thing that I can't live without. That's you. And my suits, they're… uh…"

"Tony, I know," I muttered, feeling just as tired as he was.

"They're part of me."

I sighed softly, heading over and draping my arms over his shoulders as I leaned my forehead against his and closed my eyes. "You're an idiot."

"Um, not quite the response I was looking for."

"Shut up," I muttered.

"Okay. Shutting up."

I shook my head slightly with a small mirthful smile as I pulled back and gave him a sad look. "Do you honestly think I've been sleeping?"

"Well, you come home and head right to bed, so I assumed—"

"You saw me yesterday. Look at me now. Do I look well-rested to you?"

He hesitated, eyes scanning my exhausted features as I lightly removed the contraption he had on his head.

"I've been having nightmares," I admitted, watching his reaction. "Of New York, of the aliens and getting trapped in that black void while you tumble down to Earth because I couldn't do anything to help."

"Jess you helped plenty," he argued.

"No, I didn't. Everyone there was fighting, and all I did was fight with a computer," I countered. "You and the Avengers… You might be people who are hurting just like any other humans on Earth, but you all have a way to fight back and I don't. Even with your suit, I don't have the skills needed to be anything more than just another possible casualty."

Tony grabbed my arms, voice stern. "You are not a casualty. You were amazing that day and you helped us so much."

I only wished I could believe him.

"I'm having dreams of him too," I murmured, voice a breathy whisper and feeling Tony's arms go tense.

"He's gone, Jess."

I shook my head, tapping my temple. "Not in here, he's not. And I know that I shouldn't listen to anything he says, but when I think about New York… When I imagine what would have happened if I had changed something. If my mere presence there could have gotten you killed because of, of some divine intervention or because you got distracted by me, I don't know—"

"Jess, what are you talking about?" He questioned, me not having even realized what had tumbled out of my mouth while baring my feelings to him.

"I-I just… God, Tony, if you get hurt because of me… I don't know what I'd do."

"That's exactly my problem, Jess. Don't you see? I'm doing this because I want to keep you safe," he urged.

"And I want to help you in any way I can in order to keep you safe, but I can't keep getting pushed to the sidelines like in New York. I won't be able to handle it if something happens to you because I was too inexperienced or too unprepared to try and stop it. Not that I want to become a super-powered Avenger or anything, but… I don't want to just be the computer geek stuck in a tower watching everything around me burn because I'm incapable of helping. And that's what I am in these nightmares. I'm watching you die, watching myself get attacked by my father because I couldn't stand up for myself or do anything to stop it." Tears began to well up in my eyes, though I pawed at my face desperately in a vain attempt to stop them and hide my miserable expression from Tony. "I can't be useless again. I-If I have to go through that again, I-I…"

"Hey, now. Hey. Sh," he shushed me, lightly grabbing my hands and kissing me lightly on the forehead. "I won't let that happen. I promise. Starting from now on, I'm going to help you help me, okay? No more hiding you away. It's… It's not what I want by any means, but I'm willing to push that aside for now. If I can't be there, I don't want you defenseless either. I'll show you what I know. Get you set up with a training regimen, maybe call in Natasha for some spars or something, okay?" He brushed away some stray tears. "How long have you been having the nightmares?"

"Since New York," I murmured. "I didn't want to tell you. I knew you were trying to work out your own issues. I-I assumed that's what you were doing, anyway, holed up down here."

He cracked a small smile. "And you were right about that, but we should have still talked earlier. How's this? Dinner every night. You and me, no matter what. We'll do early morning training—"

I groaned a little, but he lightly tapped my chin.

"You wanted this, remember? And I need to work around your work schedule. So, early morning training with me. Then, dinner and relax time at night. No tinkering, just the two of us in bed, possibly not sleeping, but in a good way."

I slapped his shoulder lightly. "Tony."

"What? I've got to get something out of this too, you know." He smiled, kissing me lightly. "And we can get started now if you want."

"I need a shower," I countered, stepping back

"Okay," he said, sounding mildly disappointed and I rolled my eyes.

"That was an invitation, Tony."

He beamed a smile, getting up to follow me. "Better."

With both of us finally able to sleep, things seemed to be looking up, only for nightmares to crop back up again. I woke first, taking some comfort in knowing Tony was actually beside me and lightly curling towards him as I tried to drift back off again and push away the flashing images of destruction, screams, and the half-burned image of Tony lying in a junkyard-looking place of some kind. My comfort didn't last long though, before Tony jerked in his sleep, a sharp intake of breath alerting me that he was undoubtedly dealing with a nightmare of his own. Slowly, so as not to startle him, I pushed myself upright and gently nudged his shoulder.

"Tony. Tony, it's okay. It's only a nightmare," I murmured, knowing better than to be rough with anyone while they were caught in the traps of a dream like he was. "Tony, come on. Wake up. You're all right, I swear. I'm here, Tony. To—"

A startled yelp escaped me when a firm metal hand grabbed my wrist, twisting it away from him and pinning it painfully to the headboard.

"J-Jesus Christ!" I shouted, staring back at the Iron Man suit that was being subconsciously controlled and trying to calm my racing heart. "Tony! Tony, you waking up would be nice, right about now!" I called out, hoping the slight worried edge to my voice might get his attention as my other hand lightly slapped at his shoulder.

Thankfully, it did, and he whipped out of bed, seeing the suit and holding out his hands.

"Power down!"

The suit let me go, powering down and with a slice of his fingers, fell to the ground in pieces as I held my wrist and caught my breath. I turned on the lights, struggling to push away the image of my father hovering over me in much the same way the suit had as Tony panted himself.

"I must have called it in my sleep. That's… not supposed to happen. I'll recalibrate the sensors. Can we just… Just let me… Just let me catch my breath," he said as I sagged and ran a shaky hand through my hair to try and relax. "Jess? You all right?"

"J-J-Just need a minute," I said, voice cracking slightly.

"Jess, I'm really sorry. You know I didn't mean—"

"I know," I muttered, trying to give him a small smile of reassurance, though I doubted it did justice, considering the heartbroken expression on his face.

"Jess, I'm so sorry. I understand if you want to sleep downstairs. O-Or if you want me to—"

"No," I stopped him, placing a hand on his arm, much to his surprise. "You said it, didn't you? Nothing's been the same since New York. For either of us. I-It, um… might take me a bit to n-not see my father hovering over me like that—"

"Christ, Jess. I didn't—"

I squeezed his arm to stop him. "But, I understand. You were having a nightmare. You were just trying to protect yourself, and honestly, I would have done the same, though probably not with the suit. You still would've had a nice big bruise though, if you'd tried to wake me. I might not have much combat experience, but I have a mean right hook."

Still, he hesitated. "You're not upset?"

"No," I answered, leaning against his shoulder and closing my eyes. "I just want to go back to sleep. That's the most sleep I've gotten in months. I want to enjoy it while I can."

"It could happen again," he muttered, though not really arguing as we both began to lay back down on the bed in each other's arms.

"And you'll fix it in the morning," I grumbled, head resting on his chest. "Now, shut up and sleep. And if you start to dream about it again, just imagine me saving the day this time."

He let out a short chuckle. "I'll try that."

And just as it seemed that everything was beginning to go right in the world, the Mandarin struck again. This time, hurting someone close to Tony and I. Happy was unconscious and in the hospital, leaving more than just a few very angry people.

Tony returned from the hospital after checking up on Happy and dealing with a hint of his anger towards the Mandarin by destroying a rather pushy reporter's phone. Jess was downstairs, settled on a chair and finally looking a bit more rested after the sleep they'd both gotten the night before—managing to sleep for a good few hours longer after Tony's suit problem.

"So? How is he?"

"Unconscious," Tony muttered, pulling on some gloves to work through the holographic images that Jess was compiling. "Not dead, but… not good."

Jess nodded solemnly, before throwing some files his way, knowing just how to distract him. "Jarvis and I have found as much as we could on this Mandarin guy, though there's not much to help us." She shot him a look then. "And I don't appreciate you giving the media our home address. Pepper saw what you did and put me on house arrest for today at the very least thanks to you."

"Sorry," he grumbled. "Let my anger get away from me."

"It's fine," she shrugged, looking back to her computer. "So long as you recognize it. And if I'm being honest, I might have very well have punched the guy if I were there, so you handled it better than me."

"Ooh, temper," he chided jokingly. "Wouldn't you get sued?"

She smirked. "Like I couldn't weasel my way out of a stupid lawsuit like that."

"Cheeky."

"Stubborn."

"And that's better how, exactly?"

"Shut up. Here's the crime scene," she offered, setting up the hologram so Tony could look it over, but he waved at her.

"Come on. You too."

Jess rolled her eyes but set her laptop aside and stood to join him in looking it over.

"Okay, what have we got here?"

"Not much concerning him," Jess explained, moving around some of the documents in front of them. "Name is some Chinese war mantel meaning 'advisor to the king,' so maybe there's someone above him? Or he's just serving a purpose to a metaphorical king."

"All right. And South American insurgency tactics. Talks like a Baptist preacher…"

"He's being theatrical," Jess concluded, and Tony nodded, rubbing the back of his head.

"That's what I thought. There's lots of pageantry going on here," he agreed, closing those tabs as Jarvis explained the data behind what happened in the explosion where Happy was hurt.

"The heat from the blast was in excessive 3,000 degrees Celsius. Any subject within 12.5 yards were vaporized instantly."

"No bomb parts found in a three-mile radius of the Chinese Theatre?" Tony questioned, remembering the other reports from the Mandarin's little escapades.

"No, sir."

"Talk to us, Happy," Tony muttered as the scene added Happy into the mix, exactly as he'd been found.

Immediately, Tony and Jess could see that Happy had been looking and reaching for something and, upon following the man's line of sight, Tony pulled up the spot and began to shift through the virtual rubble.

"When is a bomb not a bomb, Jess?" He asked.

"You mean, when does a bomb leave no evidence of being a bomb?" She questioned. "When it's organic material? Combusts with the rest of it, leaving no signs of a casing? But with that much excessive heat, how could one smuggle something like that in? It'd have to be huge or using science that's far too advanced."

She looked over his shoulder as he pulled up a set of dog tags that Happy'd been looking at. "Military tags? But there weren't any victims in the military at that sight."

Tony climbed up onto a cabinet to get a better view of things, offering Jess a hand up as well. "Bring up the thermogenic signatures again. Factor in 3,000 degrees."

"The Oracle cloud has completed analysis," Jarvis chimed in, showing a holographic map of the United States with bars showing where there'd been those signatures. "Accessing satellites and plotting the last twelve months of thermogenic occurrences now."

"Okay," Jess muttered, eyeing the map. "I'm a little confused where you're going with this now."

"Think, Jess. There was someone there who walked out of there. The tags show that much. And the only way they'd be able to get out of there alive is?"

"If they'd been through it before and knew how to get away."

"Exactly. Take away everywhere that there's been a Mandarin attack."

Jess's brows furrowed. "And you've lost me again."

"If he'd survived this attack, then he's survived the others. We need to find the point where he wouldn't have survived. The only way to find a ghost is to track down the body they left behind. That," he pointed to one of the signatures in Tennessee. Are you sure that's not one of his?"

"It predates any known Mandarin attacks," Jarvis replied, showing more information on the attack. "The incident was the use of a bomb to assist a suicide."

"Bring her around," Tony said, drawing the case over to look at it in more detail.

"The heat signature is remarkably similar. 3,000 degrees Celsius."

"That's two military guys," Tony muttered, eyeing the information.

"And that one guy looks familiar to me," Jess said, expression pinched. "I can't place it though."

"Ever been to Tennessee, Jess?"

"No."

"Creating a flight plan for Tennessee," Jarvis chimed in and Jess groaned.

"Really? I said we should go out of town to get away from work, not add more to it. Don't you think we're stressed enough?"

"Well, do you want to figure out this Mandarin deal or not?"

Jess went to reply, only for the doorbell to ring, drawing their attention to a car that had pulled up into the drive on the security feed.

"Not the Mandarin?"

"Could be."

"Please. What psychopathic villain would just drive up to the house and ring the bell?"

"The good kind? And Jarvis, are we still at ding-dong? We're supposed to be on total security lockdown," Tony complained, smacking the cabinet in emphasis. "Come on. I threatened a terrorist. Who is that?"

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

"That's what I told him," Jess huffed, accepting Tony's help down off the cabinet.

"Don't you two start teaming up against me again," Tony chided. "We've talked about that."

"And it's still not going to stop us," Jess smirked, kissing him lightly as they headed up the stairs and Tony put on his suit. "I'll get the bags."

"Love you."

"I'd say it back, except I know this is just because it's getting you out of packing your own bag."

"You do it better."

Jess chuckled and headed upstairs as Tony allowed the woman knocking at his glass front door inside, halting her.

"Right there's fine," he said, lifting his faceplate with a frown. "You're not the Mandarin, are you? Are you?"

The woman smiled with a bitter chuckle. "You don't remember. Why am I not surprised?"

"Don't take it personally. I don't remember what I had for breakfast. That's Jess's job."

"Gluten-free waffles!" Came a chime from just up the stairs.

"Thanks, Jess, but I was being rhetorical!" Tony called back, giving the woman in front of him a look. "Don't put that in a newspaper. I'll never hear the end of it."

"Okay, look. I need to be alone with you, someplace not here. It's urgent," the woman said, eyeing the glass windows uneasily.

"Normally, I'd go for that sort of thing, but now I'm in a committed relationship. It's—"

Two packed bags fell from the upper story, landing at his feet.

"—with her."

"Are you going to tell me who showed up?" Jess called out, heading back down the steps. "And don't look so shocked, I've started keeping bags set up for us when you decide to spontaneously travel. No packing required." She glanced at the woman standing by Tony—who'd shed his suit. "Hey."

"Uh, hey."

"Maya Hansen," Tony introduced. "Old botanist pal that I used to know, barely." Tony stepped over to Maya. "Please don't tell me there's a twelve-year-old kid waiting in the car that I've never met."

"He's thirteen," Maya countered, enjoying the shocked look on his face before stopping him. "No, I need your help."

"But what for? Why now?"

"Because I read the papers, and frankly, I don't think you'll last the week."

"I'll be fine."

Jess wandered over then, eyeing the two. "Sorry, we were on lockdown, didn't know we made exceptions for past… girlfriends, I'm assuming."

"She's not really—"

"No, not really. I-It was just one night." Maya tried to confirm with Tony.

"Yup."

Jess gave Tony a bland look. "Oh, yeah, 'cause that makes it better."

"It wasn't that great," Tony attempted to brush off, not wanting things between him and Jess to crumble after they just fixed things.

"Well, you saved yourself from dealing with this moron the rest of your life," Jess mused, giving Maya a look that said she was more than used to Tony's old girlfriends popping up now and again.

"What?"

"I'm sure," Maya chuckled.

"Shut up, Tony. You know I'm the only one capable of dealing with you. Now, is there anything else we need for going out of town? Or, well, anything else you need?"

"Did you pack the bunny?"

"What? No!" Jess huffed.

"I want you to pack it."

"Absolutely not."

"The man says yes—"

"And the woman, who has more sense than the man says no. Let's just grab our bags and go."

"Great idea," Maya said, reaching for the bags. "Let's go."

"I'm sorry, that's a terrible idea. Please don't touch our bags."

"Really?" Jess questioned Tony. "This is not how normal people behave."

"I can't protect you out there, Jess, so wouldn't it better to take the rabbit?" Tony urged as Jess rubbed at her temples, hating that this had become their secret code for the other Iron Man suit.

"Is, is that the rabbit?" Maya questioned, gesturing to the giant stuffed rabbit that had been moved inside the home. "Because that doesn't seem normal."

"Yeah, unfortunately," Jess said the same time Tony snapped.

"Yes, this is normal!"

"It's very normal," Jess repeated.

"It's a big bunny. Relax about it!"

"Calm down," Jess groaned at Tony. "If you had just gotten me the smaller one—"

"I got this for you."

"And I get that but thinking about the trouble regarding the size of it would have been smart. Can we leave now?"

"Not without the rabbit!"

"Guys?" Maya called out then, stopping them from their little bickering match. "Can we, um…"

"What?" Tony asked, turning to see that she was looking at the news playing on one of the TVs.

"Do we need to worry about that?"

The image showed a helicopter's view of the home and a zoomed-in shot of some sort of missile heading right for the window. The group turned, seeing the missile just as it reached the living room, throwing them all back. Tony grimaced, but thinking on his feet, used the new upgrade of his suit to send it over to cover Jess. They all hit the wall—some harder than others—and for a split-second Tony blacked out, only to snap awake as adrenaline pumped through him, reminding him of the danger the three of them were in.

Three helicopters, armed with more weapons grew ever closer and Tony pushed himself upright slightly, glancing around to check on Maya, who was only unconscious. He then saw the ceiling about ready to collapse and braced for a hard hit to the head, only for the falling slab to bounce off his suit's metal plating and Jess to hover over him, lifting the face-plate with a glare.

"Saved you."

"I saved you first," he countered, earning an eye roll. "Like I said, we can't stay here and you're bringing the rabbit."

"God, can we drop that as the code word?"

More missiles flew in and Jess cursed, grabbing Tony to prevent him from getting more injured as they were thrown off their feet.

"You good?"

He nodded, pushing her. "Go, I'm right behind you!"

She rushed forward, but just as she got across the room, the floor between them fell through, leaving Tony stranded on one side and her on the other. She stopped, about ready to get the thrusters to work, only for him to wave her off.

"Get Maya. I'm going to find a way around."

"Take the suit then. You're going to need it more than me," Jess offered, but he shook his head.

"No. Stop stopping. Get her and get outside. You'll be too slow if you're carrying her without the suit. Go!"

Jess winced, but nodded, slipping the face-plate back over her head and rushing for Maya. She powered up the thrusters when she grabbed the woman and got her safely out of the building before looking back. Another missile had forced the portion of the house over the cliffside to buckle, hanging precariously over the edge.

"Tony," Jess breathed, fear coursing through her and locking her body in place.

Thankfully, before she could try and go after him herself, Jarvis gave Tony the go-ahead and he summoned the suit back to him.

"Come on, come on," Jess breathed, anxiously fidgeting and looking for signs that Tony was doing all right as the helicopters continued to fire.

"Can't you do anything?" Maya asked her as one helicopter was taken down.

"He didn't give me the same upgrade as this suit," Jess explained hastily, panic rising. "H-He's got these sensors in his arms that summon it to him. The suit I have is in the basement. I have no way of getting to it to help him. He was going to make me sensors but hadn't gotten far enough to get them working. I'm useless right now!" She bit out, hating the way her stomach twisted dangerously as a second helicopter was taken down and crashed into the building.

"Why isn't he flying out of there?"

"I-I don't know. The suit wasn't fully powered up when I tried to use it just now. I-I think it's still a prototype. I-It's not ready for this sort of thing yet. He's not working on full power." Jess cursed, rushing forward into the chaos that was the collapsing home and right for the edge of where the house had been hovering over the ocean. "Tony, you ass! I told you to include oxygen supplies!"

She was just shouting nonsense at the ocean, desperately looking for any sign he was okay, only to see nothing. Fear settled into her gut as her eyes scanned the water for what felt like hours until her gaze shifted down to the cracked helmet in her hands. She pressed it to her forehead, silently wishing for Tony to just suddenly appear and say it was all a joke. Only for a hand to grab hers and turn her around. She didn't resist, not having the energy to as she as drawn into a hug.

"Oh, my God, Jess. Is Tony okay? What happened?" Pepper asked, causing Jess to look over at her with the most empty-looking expression she'd ever seen. "Jess?"

"I-I think… he's gone."

"No. He can't be gone. He… H-He just can't be."

But Jess didn't say anything more, just stared listlessly at the helmet as Pepper began to tear up and held her good friend who'd quite possibly lost the love of her life.