Chapter 4

After we shoved our way through the paparazzi and dad threatened the terrorist, we got into our cars and drove to my dad's house. The ride wasn't bad, but we were all pretty anxious about what happened to Happy and the fact that now the Mandarin has our address. So we parked and gathered into the house. We said hi to Pepper and then went into the shop. Of course, it's been upgraded, tech wise, but it looked relatively the same.

'I've complied a Mandarin database for you, sir, drawn from S.H.I.E.L.D., FBI, and CIA intercepts. Initiating virtual crime scene reconstruction.' JARVIS said.

Dad carried a holographic space in front of us. "Okay. What have we got here?"

I listened as my dad started mumbling different facts about the Mandarin. He forgot about showing us what happened to Happy, but I'll let it go. Since, you know, he threatened a terrorist!

'The heat from the blast was in excess of 3,000 degrees Ceksius.' JARVIS explained as three holographic victims appeared. 'Any subject within 12.5 yards were vaporized instantly.' As he said that the holograms vaporized.

"No bomb parts found in a three-mile radius of the Chinese Theatre?" Dad asked JARVIS.

'No, sir.'

"Talk to me, Happy."

This got my attention as a hologram of Happy appeared in front of us. He was laying on the ground with holographic rubble around him. Lines came from his eyes and index finger, both meeting at a source some feet away. Dad walked over and brought the object over. He brought up that many of the victims were in the military before.

"Any military victims?" I asked.

'Not according to public record, Bailey.'

"Bring up the thermogenic signatures again." Donnie piped in.

"Factor in 3,000 degrees." I added.

'The Oracle cloud has completed analysis. Accessing satellites and plotting the last 12 months of thermogenic occurrences now.'

The area in front of us became a map of the country and in different spots an orange bar rose above the marked area.

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

A majority of the locations disappeared. None of them were hot enough other than the one in Tennessee.

"That. Are you sure that's not one of his?" Dad asked JARVIS.

'It predates any known Mandarin attack. The incident was the use of a bomb to assist a suicide.'

"Bring her around."

The description of the incident hovered towards us and dad studied it.

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

"That's two military guys, dad." I told him. "There's gotta be some sort of program they're getting sucked into."

He shook his head. "Just a coincident." He then spoke to JARVIS. "Have you ever been to Tennessee, JARVIS?"

'Creating a flight plan for Tennessee.'

With the swiping motion of dad's arms the hologram disappeared, then the doorbell rang.

"Are we still on ding-dong?" I asked kind of scared.

"No, we're supposed to be on total," He hit the table, "security lock down. Come on, I threatened a terrorist. Who is that?"

'There's only so much I could do, sir. When you give the world's press your home address.'

As dad went for the door, I turned towards the guys to make sure they had their bracelets on, and they did, so we joined dad upstairs. He was already in Mark…um…I lost count I think this one is forty-two. Dad motioned for us to stand back as he met our surprise "guest".

"Right there is fine." There was a long pause. "You're not the Mandarin. Are you? Are you?"

"You don't remember me." It was a woman, but that voice…

I peeked around the corner. A woman around average height with long brown hair and brown eyes was smiling at dad.

"Don't take it personally. I don't remember what I had for breakfast."

'Gluten-free waffles, sir.'

My memory snapped into overdrive as dad and the woman talked. I knew this woman, she's my mom.

"Okay, look, I need to be alone with you, someplace not here." Suddenly her eyes were on me.

"Mom?"

She stormed up to dad and whispered to him angrily.

"She's visiting, things have been rough around here." Dad answered, but then his voice dropped. "You should say something to her."

I shook my head. "What's there to say?" My stare turned cold as I snapped at her. "What are you doing here?"

She completely ignored me. "Tony, it's urgent."

I watched as dad walked away explaining how he was in a "stable relationship" as Pepper's bags dropped from the second floor.

"Tony? Is somebody there?" Pepper asked.

I felt Donnie's hand wrap around mine and led me towards the others.

"Yeah, it's Maya Hansen." Dad answered. "Old Botanist pal."

"Bailey's mother?" Pepper asked.

"Uh, y-yeah." Dad stuttered.

Dad and Maya spoke together in quiet voices as I glanced over at Pepper who was taking in the whole situation. Then she waltz over to Dad and Maya as they reminisced about dad's old "habits".

"You saved yourself a world of pain." Pepper said before turning to dad. "We're going out of town."

"Okay, we've been through this. Nope." Dad argued.

"Yep!" Pepper countered.

"The man says no."

"Immediately and indefinitely." Pepper was fired up now.

"Honey…"

"Great idea. Let's go." Maya said.

Then everyone started arguing so I pulled away from Donnie to go sit on the couch to watch the news report. Raph and Leo stayed close to Pepper and dad in case they tried to fight, and Mike and Don stayed with me. I rolled my eyes as dad shouted about the giant bunny he bought for Pepper was normal, but I stood up when the house was on the news. "Stark Issues Threat" was running along the bottom of the screen and the news feed zoomed in on a missile heading straight for the house!

"Dad!" I screamed as the missile made contact with the house. We were all knocked off of our feet, thrown in every which way like damn ragdolls. Donnie's arms wrapped around me as I landed on him, but he changed back to his turtle form and landed on his carapace. Pepper was in Mark Forty-two and Maya was in Leo's arms. I shook my head.

"Move! I'm right behind you!" Dad shouted to Pepper before running to me and Don. "Get her outside and away from here!"

"Dad, no!" I tried pulling away from Donnie, who was back in his human form. "I'm not leaving you!"

"Stop stopping." He said. "Go!"

Donnie picked me up over his shoulder and bolted out of the house. My eyes were glued on my dad as he struggled to get around. Once we were all outside, a part of the roof caved in. More missiles hit the house and Mark forty-two flew off of Pepper and into the house. One helicopter went down and then another, but the second went right into the house.

"Daddy!" I screamed as I tried to pull free from Donnie's grasp. "We gotta help him!"

It was too late the house was gone and my dad was inside. I tore away from Donnie and followed Pepper towards the edge. Skidding to a stop I looked over. My fists clenched in anger as I pathetically started throwing rocks at the escaping helicopter.

"Bailey! Bailey!" I heard Mikey and the others shouting my name.

I spun around and shouted. "What?"

"You have to calm down." Mikey told me.

My gaze snapped to Maya and I stomped up to her. "Are you happy?" My lip trembled. "You took everything away from me!" I shoved her. "That's all you freaking care about is yourself! I don't want to see you every again!" I pushed her again and screamed. "Leave!"

She backed up a few steps, but didn't leave. I shook my head and turned back to the destroyed home. Walking forward a few steps, I went down to my knees and sobbed. My heart wrenched and my breath caught. I heard the guys walk up to me and Donnie put his arms around me. My hands grasped his arms tightly as I shook. I glanced over to Pepper who's head snapped in the direction of the emergency sirens approaching. She then walked over to me with two Iron Man helmets.

"They're blinking." She sniffled.

I quickly grabbed the helmet and pulled it on. 'Stark Secure Server. Retinal scan verified.'

'Bailey, honey, I'm okay. I've got a lot to make up for and not enough time to do it. So first off, I'm sorry I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again. You're not gonna want to hear this, but I can't come home yet. When I do get back, I'm done pushing people I care about away. So, when this is all over, everything is going to change. I promise, baby girl, we'll be the family we were supposed to be.' He blew into the phone. 'I'm calling from a payphone and I'm running out of time. I love you.' The call ended.

I pulled the helmet off and held it close to me. "I love you, daddy."

A/N: Sorry I know, many feelz here. Xp