Apologies for not updating in so long! But here's the next chapter now :)

Tony came out of the hospital room, and I stood upright from where I'd been leaning on the wall in the hallway. He didn't say a word, just put on his dinky blue sunglasses and walked out.

"Hey, wait up!" I said, trotting after him. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"He's going to be fine," said Tony, but he didn't pause. He went right on walking, forcing me to keep up.

It had just come out of nowhere—a bomb had gone off in Los Angeles. Exact same conditions as the Mandarin attacks. Because of the lack of forensic evidence, nobody ever found out who was responsible, but they were barely able to rescue survivors.

Among them, Happy Hogan, the Stark Industries head of security and one of Tony's closest friends. I hadn't been able to stay in his room very long; seeing him in this state was too nerve-wracking. Pepper had gone to handle things at work surrounding the issue, leaving me with Tony at the hospital.

Inside, I was simmering. This was what happened when my uncle hid deep in his lab, tucked away from the world he was supposed to protect. Now a Mandarin blast hurt one of our friends?

We saw the crowd of reporters in front of the hospital doors, and my heart started to pound.

"Stay close to me, Iz," said Tony flatly as he pushed the doors open.

The wave of people that swarmed up to meet us was like a horde of bees, all clamoring from some sort of comment. I quickly pressed into Tony's side, trying to keep my head low. I hated being sixteen and short. We made it to Tony's car with some difficulty, and with some frustration I noticed that people were blocking the door to the front passenger seat. I squeezed the back door open instead, trying to ignore everyone.

"Mr. Stark!" called a reporter, and Tony stopped. I glanced at him, mentally begging can we get out of here?

"When is somebody gonna kill this guy?" the reporter continued. "Just saying."

"Is that what you want?" said Tony, and I knew we were doomed. He turned to face the crowd. "Here's a little holiday greeting I've been wanting to send to the Mandarin. I just didn't know how to phrase it till now. My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward, so I've decided that you just died, pal. I'm gonna come get the body."

"Tony, what are you doing?" I said in a hard, level undertone. This was going too far!

"Quiet, Iz," he said sharply, taking me completely by surprise. He kept on going. "There's no politics here; it's just good old-fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon; it's just you and me. And on the off-chance you're a man, here's my home address: 10880, Malibu Point. 90265. I'll leave the door unlocked." He grabbed the reporter's phone and tossed it aside. "That's what you wanted, right? Bill me. Iz, get in."

"Wait a second-"

"Get in."

Ringing with the shock of his tone, I pulled the door open and slid into the back seat as the crowd around us started clamoring for more. As soon as I was in, Tony hit the gas and we left the swarm of reporters in the dust. As soon as we'd made it to an empty road, I clambered into the front passenger seat.

"What was that?" I snapped. "Did you just throw away some guy's phone, threaten a terrorist, give him your home address and SHUT ME UP on national television? What is wrong with you?"

"Iz!-"

"No, you're not going to shut me up again! Someone has to tell you to stop doing crazy things!" I was close to blowing the roof of the car off. If I had my suit on, I would've. "Didn't you even think about Pepper? Or me? What about the things you can't live without? I thought you wanted to protect us!"

"You eavesdropped on us," Tony said accusingly.

"The hell I did! Does it matter? Do you even know what you've done?! You're under pressure, I get that—but this is THE LAST THING we need! Your condition will only get worse if you keep on insisting that you can—"

"Isabella, that's enough," said Tony sharply. "I did what I had to, okay? Nobody can find this guy. NOBODY. I had to go up there and call him out personally! There was no other choice!"

"You've just made us completely vulnerable," I said. "'The Mandarin.' Even the name is messed up, just like this entire charade! We don't have enough info! What happens if he does accept your challenge, huh? We're all screwed!"

"Nobody's going to get screwed," he said, keeping his eyes on the road. "Just trust me, Iz."

"Only if you trust me," I said helplessly, before looking away and not speaking again.