Sorry for the late update, but I've been out shopping all day and then I had to train one of my horses and I lost a little bit motivation. I am also sorry for this being only a short update, but better than nothing, right? Hope you'll enjoy it anyways, thank you for reading it!

Tony did the last adjustments to the suit before he stepped a bit away from it and did a gesture with his arms which made it come flying onto him. There was a good sensation flowing through him at the moment his helmet closed and he felt ready for everything, right before anxiety got to him.

"Let me out! Open up Jarvis!" He said stressed out under his breath.

Tony came crashing down to the floor as the suit opened up. He couldn't do it, what Harlan said about Tony just being a little man in a shell was correct, and Tony couldn't be in that shell. He felt trapped, locked up and unable to move, though he knew he was more able to move with the suit on than off. He had to try, for his own sake. Harlan had placed the electromagnet at his chest so that he could go back to being Iron Man, and then he had threatened him afterwards. What would happen if he didn't show up as Iron Man within the next few days? Would that affect Pepper? Tony got a flashback from when he was tied up in front of Killian and he showed him that awful hologram of Pepper being tortured with extremis, it was the worst feeling he'd ever had. He would never put Pepper in harm's way, not on purpose at least, he owed her that much. There was no reason for not trying once more, Tony wouldn't let himself be controlled by fear. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and did the gesture with his arms once more. When he opened his eyes, the helmet was once again closed, but this time it was okay, Tony felt that he could breathe and move, it was okay.

"Did you find the address Jarvis?" Tony asked as he checked that everything worked as it should by the information in front of him.

"Of course, Sir" Jarvis said with a sarcastic undertone.

"Ha-ha-ha, of course, let's get this thing up in the air, shall we?"

Tony positioned himself and then the whole front wall made of glass opened and he flied out with New York beneath him.

"Did you really think I wouldn't find you? What about giving me a fake name next time, oh... wait... there won't be a next time" Tony fired one of the repulsors right next to Harlan who sat on the floor and tried to get away from him.

"Wait, you don't understand, haven't they-" there was no point in trying to explain to him, he was furious and not sane.

"I think I understand very well, Harlan. Remember that I was actually awake long enough to observe a bit of the surgery" Tony spat back at him and fired once more, this time he hit, but Harlan didn't make any sound.

After a while, when the smoke disappeared, Tony could see Harlan's lifeless body in the corner of the very room he himself thought he was going to die in. What had he just done? This wasn't Tony, this wasn't Iron Man, he didn't do things like that. He didn't just go around and kill people he didn't like, he killed those who were a threat to the universe, because those guys were dangerous, this was something of a whole different dimension. Was he actually becoming a dangerous weapon? Once again he felt trapped in the suit, not able to move, breathe or do anything at all. It felt as if he was being strangled and he was really struggling to get air down in his lungs. What was happening to him? Wait, he knew exactly what was happening, he had felt the same way when he got those anxiety attacks right before Christmas. What was he going to do? Just breathe, really, just breathe. That little kid from Tennessee, that was what he had told him, but how could he just breathe when he didn't know how to? A thousand of questions and possible answers to them circled around Tony's head before he finally managed to open up the suit. He managed to stay on his feet this time, but shortly after he fell down, coughing and heaving for his breath. There was no way in hell he would go back into that suit this time.

"Ha- Happy... he has to... to... pick me up" Tony closed his eyes and clenched his jaws when he realized what he had actually asked for Jarvis to do.

"Sir, your heart rate is dangerously high and your lungs doesn't get enough air, taking the suit back home would be much faster" Jarvis actually sounded a bit nervous to Tony.

"To hell Jarvis, I can't. I... just... I can't" He yelled as he tried to focus on the breathing while he sat on the floor. "Just get him here and bring the suit back home" tears threatened with running down his face.

It didn't take much time before Happy's car was outside of the little house at Kings Point Road, he walked inside to pick up a more or less destroyed Tony and that was it. He didn't say anything or ask any questions, he just followed Jarvis' instructions on where to take him. When they finally arrived at the Stark Tower, Tony walked inside almost like a zombie, changed clothes, freshened up his looks and walked outside again to get transported to the meeting Pepper had told him not to miss. He was in no mood to sit for hours at a meeting, listening to things he found rather boring, but Tony was a master in putting on poker faces. There was just one thing to do: Smile, nod and then say no to whatever it was these people wanted. Tony sighed loudly before he reached for the door handle, but he got stopped by Happy's voice.

"Are you sure you're fine?" It had to come, it just had to.

"Honestly, no, not at all. I just don't want to disappoint Pepper by not showing up at this meeting, even though that is just what I want to do right now" Tony looked down at his feet, trying to avoid eye contact, afraid the tears wouldn't stay inside this time.

"If you're going to make this a short process I can wait outside" Happy tried to make it easier for Tony, but this really just made it worse.

"No, get back to the tower and talk to Pepper, I'll call for you when I need you. I really don't want to spend that much time around in the apartment right now" There was no problem for Happy to understand that there was something wrong, something wrong between them, and Tony wanted help from him.

This time Tony actually opened the door and stepped outside. He wrapped himself into the warm down jacket and headed for the entrance. The employees of Stark Industries had no problem seeing that something wasn't right. Tony was always so determined when he walked past them and his chin was up, but now his head hung low, his shoulders were raised and it was obvious that he wanted to get past them unseen though he tried to act as normal as possible. It wasn't abnormal for Tony to wear the sunglasses on inside, he often did that to get that extra touch to his "I'm the boss, show respect" image, but this time it was different. He didn't take off his sunglasses because he didn't want for them to see how worn out he actually was, his eyes were bloodshot from the lack of sleep which also caused dark rings to appear under his eyes. So much for trying to freshen up. When he reached the conference room he had been told the meeting was in, he wondered about why the blinds were down, but he pushed the door open. Tony got a bit baffled when he saw who were sitting around the table, and even more when two guys dressed in suits placed themselves in front of the door as Tony tried to turn around and get back out.

"Hope you're not in a hurry, because we have a few things we need to discuss" Tony turned back around and stared right into an eye-patch.

Once again, sorry for the short update, but I got really tired(the clock is probably much later here than where you are) and I think I finished it at a good place. And yeah, poor poor Tony, but I will fix this too, promise, he's going to kick some ass soon, just... be patient! Now review, it keeps my heart beating.