The two drive back to the Ben's house. They park and enter the barn, where Peter was lying on the couch with a PSP in his hand. He jumps to his feet upon seeing them.

"What happened to you guys?!" he asks in bewilderment at the wet, ripped clothes and bruised faces.

"We went to a party. It blew," Brie says humorously. Tony grins tiredly as she heads to check on her charging suit, and Tony heads to check on his. Still a work in progress, but hers was ready.

"I wired in the center to this battery, cause the other one ran out. I also replaced this because, well," Peter waves a scorched piece of metal aside. Tony nods at him, putting in a few tweaks as well.
"Nice work, kid," he smiles, causing Peter to beam in excitement.

Tony turns to Brie, who was gulping down a bottle of water, having discarded the coat and was in her tank. "Hey," he calls, furrowing his eyebrows in concern and approaching her.

She eyes him in confusion as he reaches his hand out to her face. Her eyes widen at him, and heart flutters happily, something she found both amusing and silly. His finger collides with the side of her head, and she winces.

"You're bleeding," Tony states worriedly.
"Ugh. Really?" she asks tiredly.
"Well, it's not ketchup," Tony smirks. She glares playfully. His eyes then soften on her. "Come here."

Tony leads her to the desk behind them, where she left the aid-kit. He pulls out a cloth and wets it.

Brie's mind pays little attention to what he's doing, though her heart was mildly distracted by his presence.

Her thoughts involuntarily fall back to what she'd seen in the file. Her heart weighs down in her chest.

Her sister.

Where was she?

What had they done to her?

Had they turned her into one of them?

Or worse…

While cleaning her cut in silence, Tony notes her distant, teary eyes. "Hey," he calls worriedly. She shuts her eyes and sniffs back tears. Tony discards the cloth, and places his thumb on her jaw, pushing her to face him.

She refuses to lock eyes with his. Tony gulps knowingly, eyeing her sympathetically. "I know what you're thinking. What's going on in your mind right now, you can't let it get to you," he tells. Her face scrunches as if in pain.
"…What if-" Tony shakes his head quickly, cupping her face between his palms to lock eyes with hers intently.
"No. No. No 'what if's. Just now. And right now, we're going after your sister…Nothing else," he says slowly.
"How?" Brie rolls her eyes, sniffing again. Tony smirks.
"I'll call in a favor." She furrows her eyebrows at him. "Just trust me…Now smile," he requests softly.

The way he spoke did indeed spread a smile across her sad eyes as if gratefully, and admirably. Tony's heart skips a beat at seeing her smile this closely, for the first time.

His mind jumps back, and Tony releases her hold. He grabs a phone from off the desk as Peter watches them curiously from behind Tony's suit.

The Stark dials a familiar number. "Hey, Rhodes. It's Tony….Yeah. Surprise. I'm not. Hey, your redesign, your big rebrand, that was AIM, right?" he asks the person on the other line. Brie widens her eyes attentively at the last statement.

Tony turns to her and gives her a winning look. He rushes to her computer and sits on the chair opposite it, taps a few keys as she hurries to stand beside him. "I'm gonna need your login...And password, please…It's not the eighties. Nobody says 'hack' anymore. Give me your login," Tony demands tiredly.

Upon reluctantly giving up the password, Tony laughs out at it, typing it in and causing Brie to smirk upon seeing it. 'WAR MACHINE ROX'

"That is, so much better than 'Iron Patriot'," Tony tells him in amusement. "Okay. Thanks man," he last says, hanging up.

And alas, they were in the system.

Scouring through the many files of AIM, Tony opens up a folder of videos. The two watch, along with Peter who had come to join, what seemed to be interviews with many people, including the lady that attacked them. Only, back them, it seemed, she was missing an arm. It was soon found that Aldrich himself was conducting the interviews.

Killian then explained that the volunteers were humanity's next evolution, something unnervingly concerning.

Tony clicked on the folder marked 'Project Extremis' he opens it to find what seemed to be an experiment underway, with the volunteers from the previous videos.

Killian's workers strapped the people into separate, stand-up beds, injecting them with a substance that made their skin glow a bright, threatening orange.

Their eyes go wide. They watch Brandt's arm literally grow back out of ashes, but the camera then switches to the screams of the man beside her, and Killian yelling to get the rest out before an explosion went off, ending the video.

A moment passes as the three take in the sight.

"…So this stuff doesn't always work. Its faulty," Tony nods understandingly.
"But he found a buyer anyways. The Mandarin…Son of a bitch," Brie utters furiously.

Brie pushes Tony's chair back and settles onto his lap. "I-Okay," he reluctantly agrees, not totally against it whilst finding nowhere else to rest his hands but on her waist. Peter smirks.
"If I factor in available AIM downlink facilities, I can pinpoint the Mandarin's broadcast signal," she says. Tony widens his eyes at her impressively.

He leans forward to see for himself, holding her tightly by the waist. "Miami?" Brie utters in confusion.
"Florida?!" Tony asks as well.

A beep goes off repeatedly from Tony's suit. They furrow their eyebrows at it, all standing to approach it.

They circle around it. "Damn it!" Tony curses, eyeing the monitor. "It's not charging," he utters in frustration.

Brie's eyes widen.

If his armor wasn't ready, how would he go with her? How would he help without getting himself melted into a puddle?! What would he even fight with? Cause, rest-assured,

they were headed to a fight.

He couldn't. He couldn't come with her.

Tony notes the look in Brie's eyes, widening his fearfully. "Brie. No," he says carefully. She ignores him, and walks back to her own suit, readying it for departure.

Tony rushes after her as Peter realizes what was happening.

"Brie!" Tony blocks her path. She leans past him to pull a cord, having made up her mind. "You can't go alone! It's too dangerous!" he says.

Yes, it was. But it was even more dangerous for him. She would not have him come. She refused to risk his life. Brie eyed him intently, wondering why he was so goddamn gorgeous.

He'd hoped he'd gotten her attention alas.

"Just list-" Tony is cut off when the Smith crashes her lips onto his, robbing him of all words, and all thoughts.

She places one hand on his chest, slipping to hold his jaw as she kissed him as if needing-ly, and he did not resist.

Tony was no stranger to fervent kisses, a usual turn on. But there was a fire starting in his chest. His lips burnt against hers. He couldn't comprehend, but a part of him knew, she'd set something in him he'd never felt before.

He placed a hand on her waist to pull her closer.

A single tear slides down her cheek for she knows what she has to do, and he was making it so hard.

Tony feels metal clasp around his other arm on the pole behind.

His heart jumps.

He knows what she'd done, and he wished he'd seen it sooner. She pulls back. His eyes widen as he realized what had happened. He turns to his now cuffed hand, then snaps to her once more.

"I'm sorry," she whispers to him, eyes watering as she turned to her suit and climbed into it.
"Brie! No!" he calls after her, yanking furiously at his hand. Peter hurries to her as well.
"Brie! You can't just-" he starts.
"Yes! I can! And I'm going to," she last says, storming out into the cold despite the Stark's frantic pleas.

XXXXX

Twenty minutes pass with Peter attempting to deactivate the cuff on Tony's hand as the Stark continuously acted out. "What the hell is she thinking?! What, would she just waltz in by herself, take the Mandarin down?! She's gonna get herself killed!" the Stark exclaims frantically, running out of possible solutions with every passing minute.

Peter's heart races with every word. His eyes water evidently. Tony notes, and shuts up. He gulps down guilt. "…I'm sorry, kid…I didn't mean it," he tries. Peter shakes his head firmly.
"But you're right! What if she-" he inhales in panic, brushing a hand through his hair.
"Hey. Kid. Look at me," Tony demands. Peter does so reluctantly. "Nothing is going to happen to her," he tells firmly, hoping to believe it. Peter listens intently, needing to believe him. "She's tough, you know it," he smirks slightly, feeling his heart jump once more. "Okay? So I need you to clear up. Take a breath, and help me out of this cuff, kay pal?"

Slowly, Peter nods. He removes his glasses, wipes at his tears then wears them once more, and resumes tearing at the cuff with a screw driver.

Tony clears his throat, needing to change topic. "So, Brie's your aunt? Relative?" he asks casually, or as casual as he could be what with the mad concern he held within for the reckless Smith.
"Uhhh," Peter breathes to calm himself, playing along. "No. Aunt May met Beatrice at a hospital. They used to be nurses. They were good friends. Then I met Brie," he explains. Tony nods in interest.
"That's cool. You two seem like you get along pretty well."
"Yeah. Brie's awesome," Peter smiles, then his face falls in concern, so Tony tries again.
"So, you out here by yourself? Where're your parents?"
"…Umm, I'm here with my aunt and uncle…My parents are dead…"
"Oh…I'm sorry…What happened?"
"Plane crash…"
"…Mine died in a car accident," Tony offers. Peter locks eyes with his intently, smiling sympathetically at their state. Tony smiles back.

Then, it opens.

Peter and Tony's eyes widen. They laugh out, and quickly rush to their feet.

XXXXXXXXXX