Ring! Ring! The distinct sound of a personalized vintage ringtone could be heard blaring from a cell phone. He knew who was calling without even looking at the name, "Marie?"

"Where is he, Phil, I know you know." Lucy whispered urgently into the phone. She was currently deep undercover on a mission in the Middle East.

"Afghanistan." He answered immediately, "We believe the Ten Rings kidnapped him; but Director Fury won't let me pursue it. We're not authorized for foreign ops." Coulson paused as a secretary signaled to him, "I need to go, I've got a meeting with Stane."

Silence spoke heavily from the other end, "I know my godson, Phil." Lucy gritted through her teeth, "He may be an ass, but he wouldn't sell out his country. He couldn't anyway, he doesn't know enough. He doesn't know what I do." Footsteps echoed behind her and she finished urgently, "I need to go. Tell Fury I expect to be updated. And get the Army on the phone, they owe me a favor." Then the line went dead.

Phil sighed and tucked the phone back into his pocket. Standing up he thanked the secretary, and proceeded to his meeting.

-permafrost-

"You know Rupert." Lucy yelled over the whirling of the helicopter. "I'm kind of impressed he lasted this long."

James Rhodes grinned tiredly at his friend, "So am I Marie, so am I."

The aircraft flew over the sand dune, kicking up particles of the irritating substance everywhere. They landed on a flatter part of the terrain in front of a dark figure that fell to his knees waving his arms. Rhodey and Lucy jumped out and fought through the slippery ground, coming to a stop in front of him.

"How was the 'fun-vee'?" Rhodes sarcastically asked his friend. Tony just smiled in relief. "Next time you ride with me ok?" James finished pulling him in for a one armed hug.

"Next time," Lucy scolded as she took her godson in for a hug as well, "listen to me when I tell you not to go somewhere will you?"

Tony laughed into her shoulder, "Nice to see you too, Arie."

-permafrost-

The airplane bringing the trio back to the states pulled up to an emotional Virginia 'Pepper' Potts and Harold 'Happy' Hogan. Lucy helped Tony down the ramp of the plane with Rhodey following after them.

"Watch your step." Rhodey called out.

"I got it." Tony rolled his eyes. Then, spotting the gurney he scoffed, "Are you kidding me with this? Get rid of that?"

Lucy nodded to the paramedics, "It's ok, I'm a doctor."

"Hmm. Your eyes are red." Tony remarked as they stopped in front of Pepper. "A few tears for your long lost boss?"

"Tears of joy." Pepper smiled, "I hate job hunting."

"Yeah, vacation's over." Tony limped over to the car.

"Hey, Ginger." Lucy greeted her godson's personal assistant.

Pepper gave her a tight hug, "It's been a long time, Arie."

"Where to, sir?" Happy questioned from the driver's seat.

"Take us to the hospital, please, Happy." Pepper began.

Tony interrupted, "No."

"No?" the red headed woman stared incredulously at him, "Tony, you have to go to the hospital."

"No is a complete answer." He wisecracked.

"The doctor has to look at you."

"I don't have to do anything. Besides, Arie, here is a doctor and she already looked at me."

Lucy gave him an unamused look from the front seat. "I'm not a real doctor, Eddie."

Tony shrugged, "You know just as much. Listen, I've been in captivity for three months. There are two things I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger, and the other…"

"That's enough of that." Pepper shook her head, closing her eyes.

"Is not what you think. I want you to call for a press conference, now."

"Call for a press conference?"

"Yeah. Hogan, drive."

"What on earth for?"

"Cheeseburger first."

Lucy just laughed at their bickering, like an old married couple. Out of view of Tony and Pepper who continued to squabble in the back, she shared a conspiratorial grin with Happy.

-permafrost-

Flashes from the press flickered, unendingly as the crowd settled down to hear Tony speak.

"Phil." Lucy greeted as she sidled up to her old friend. They were standing in the very back, observing as the press conference sat down on the floor to appease the eccentric billionaire. "Do I need to ask why you're here?"

"Marie." He nodded still watching the frenzy of paparazzi, "Fury sent me. We need to debrief him."

"Hmm. He doesn't believe me, does he?" She kept her face stoic.

"It's not that." Coulson tried to console her, "We just need to make absolutely sure, he isn't working for them."

"I don't know everything that happened back there; but I know, there's more than meets the eye and it's not what Fury thinks." Lucy stared at her godson, trying to convince herself he was still alive and standing in front of her. "Besides, there are other forces at work here that I can't quite place my finger on. It's been bothering me for sometime now."

"I'll keep you posted." Phil remarked.

"In other news," Lucy turned to face him. "I'm in town for a bit, it's been awhile since we hung out. Lets go to the symphony." She looked back up at the stage as the photographers and reporters stood up shouting questions at the newly recovered genius, "There's a show I want to see. They're a group from Oregon, I heard the cellists are especially amazing."

"Sounds nice. When?"

"I'll keep you posted." Lucy repeated with a grin, walking away to find her troublesome godson.

-permafrost-

Anthony Edward Stark was like a son to her. Not biologically of course, but his biological parents were dead now. She was the only family he had left, and vice versa. He was a bright kid, still is actually. A kid that is. Bright? He could be… most of the time his actions seemed to imply otherwise.

He caught on quickly that she didn't age like a normal human would and asked her why his Aunt Arie didn't change like he did. So she told him of her past. As a child would, he thought it was a cool story, full of action and adventure. But they didn't mention it much. As he got older and they got closer to looking the same age, he stopped referring to her as 'Aunt' but still retained the affectionate 'Arie'. It was a wonderful experience watching him grow up. Like raising the child she could never picture herself having, not with out her partner. And he looked up to her as a mentor, a cherished member of his family.

She taught Eddie everything she could. His young impressionable mind was a dry sponge, soaking up every bit of knowledge she could impart to him. But she wasn't around much. He had is own parents, and she had missions to complete. Missions she never told him of, not really. Lucy and Howard didn't want to tell him about SHIELD, for his own protection. But he knew bits and pieces. He knew she was an agent of sorts, and that she traveled for her work, sometimes leaving for months without contact. But she always checked up on him and brought back gifts from her journeys.

Lucy didn't worry about him too much though; she had Ginger to watch over him in her stead. Eddie hadn't taken the process of finding his new personal assistant as seriously as he should have, obviously. Leaving Lucy to the task, she rifled through the applicants until she met the genuine character of Pepper Potts. That sort of sincerity she hadn't come across in a long time. Eventually, Tony and Lucy both formed strong attachments to the red headed woman, slowly integrating her into their little family. The same had been for Rupert. After a long time friendship with Tony, Lucy began to see James Rupert Rhodes as a sort of nephew as well, and their family grew.

-permafrost-

"He's all yours." Tony instructed dryly as he left the destroyed village. He had just finished saving what was left of the town from terrorists with his new suite when he was hit midflight from a shot by a tank. Shaking off the debris from his fall he stood up slowly blew up the enemy tank and demolished the Jericho missiles. Then proceeded to be on his way.

Meanwhile at the Edwards Air Force Base in California…

"What the hell was that?"

"Are we cleared to go in there?"

"No, they were using human shields. We never got the green light."

"Put me through to State. They're going to be all over this."

"Get those monitors up!"

"We got a bogey!"

"Wasn't Air Force."

"We got the CIA on the line?"

"I've got Langley on the line. They want to know if it's us."

"No, it definitely was not us, sir."

"It wasn't Navy."

"Wasn't Marines."

"I need answers! Can I please get eyes on target?"

"Negative, negative. Cannot identify."

"Get me Colonel Rhodes from Weapons Development down here now!"

"We ran an ID check and cross-referenced with all known data bases. We have nothing."

Rhodey stared at the information, puzzled, "Any high altitude surveillance in the region?"

"We go an AWAC and a Global Hawk in the area."

"So this thing just appeared out of nowhere?" Rhodey asked, incredulously. "How come it didn't show up on radar?"

"Got a minimal radar cross-section, sir."

"Is it stealth?"

"No, sir, it's tiny. We think it's an unmanned aerial vehicle."

"Colonel, what are we dealing with here?"

"Let me make a call." Rhodes sighed.

"Hello?"

"Tony?"

"Who's this?"

"It's Rhodes. I've got you on a call with Arie."

"Nice to hear from you Rupert." Lucy greeted as she got out of the car and walked up to Tony's Malibu mansion. "Where are you Eddie? I'm at your house, thought we could grab a dinner."

"Sorry, hello?" Tony repeated.

"I said its Rhodes."

"Speak up, please."

"What in the hell is that noise?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm driving with the top down." Tony lied, and added to his aunt, "I'll be home soon Arie."

Rhodes shook his head and continued, "Yeah, well, I need both your help right now."

"It's funny how that works, huh?"

"Don't be rude Eddie." Lucy admonished him.

"Yeah, speaking of funny, we've got a weapons depot that was just blown up a few click from where you were being held captive."

"Well, that's a hot spot." Tony breathed out, "Sounds like someone stepped in and did your job for you, huh?"

"Why do you sound out of breath, Tony?" Rhodey examined suspiciously.

"I'm not, I was just jogging in the canyon."

"You're a horrible liar, Eddie." Lucy countered, entering the passcode to the house.

"I thought you were driving."

"Right, I was driving, to the canyon, where I'm going to jog."

"What about dinner?" Lucy pouted.

"We can go after my jog. How does sushi sound?"

"You sure you guys don't have any tech in that area I should know about?"

Lucy thought through her latest missions, "No, I keep all my stuff with me."

"Nope!" Tony responded quickly.

From the command center where Rhodes was standing someone yelled, "Bogey spotted! Whiplash, come in hot."

"Okay, good." Rhodes replied, "Cause I'm staring at one right now, and its about to be blown to kingdom come."

"That's my exit." And Tony disconnected from the other two.

Ring! Ring! "You hung up on me." Lucy accused. She was making her way down the stairs, down to Tony's personal lab.

"Yeah, well you're really not supposed to be talking on the phone while driving." Tony sardonically replied.

"Don't lie to me. You're not driving." She activated his desktop and studied his designs, "This doesn't have anything to do with the interesting plans I just found on your computer does it?" she hummed tapping her foot, tired of his games. "I'm redialing Rupert and you're going to tell him what's going on."

"You've got to be kidding me." Tony was falling through the air, tumbling around. He sighed, "Fine."

"Hello?"

"Hi Rupert, it's me again, Eddie has something to tell you."

"Hi, Rhodey, it's me."

"It's who?"

"I'm sorry, it is me." Tony groaned, "You asked, what you were asking about is me."

"No, see, this isn't a game." Rhodey mutter furiously into his phone, "You do not send civilian equipment into my active war zone. You understand that?"

"This is not a piece of equipment." Tony responded urgently, "I'm in it. It's a suite. It's me!"

Another officer from the command center turned to the Colonel, "Rhodey, you got anything for me?"

"On your belly! It looks like a man!" crackled out from the Whiplash communicator. "Shake him off! Roll! Roll!"

"I'm hit! I'm hit!"

"It's confirmed he has been hit."

"Punch out! Punch out!"

"Whiplash One Down."

"Whiplash Two, do you see a chute?"

"Negative! No chute, no chute!"

"My chute's jammed!"

"Sir, I've got a visual on the bogey."

"Whiplash Two, reengage. If you get a clear shot, you take it."

"Major we don't even know what we're shooting at." Rhodey said hesitantly, "Call off the Raptors."

"That thing just took out an F- inside a legal no fly zone. Whiplash Two, if you have a clear shot, take it!"

"You've been reengaged" JARVIS warned, "Execute evasive maneuver."

"Keep going!" Tony shouted.

"Good chute! Good chute!"

"Tony, you still there?"

"Hey, thanks." Tony said slightly out of breath.

"Oh my god you crazy son of a bitch."

"Watch your tongue, Rupert." Lucy reproached, still scrolling through the designs.

"Sorry." Rhodey laughed, "By the way, you owe me a plane. You know that right?"

Chuckling Tony scoffed, "Yeah, well, technically, he hit me. Now are you going to come by and see what I'm working on?"

"And you really should, Rupert. It's quite amazing if I do say so myself."

"No, no, no. The less I know the better." Rhodey shook his head, "Now, what am I supposed to tell the press?"

"Training exercise?" Lucy supplied.

"Isn't that the usual B.S."? Tony added, censoring himself for his aunt's sake.

"Hmm." Lucy agreed, "By the way let's get fondue. It's been awhile."