Bella had only been to a hospital before once in her life.
She hadn't really missed it.
She stepped into Happy's room. He lay on the bed, unconscious but alive.
"Tony?" she called. She'd been hoping to meet him there.
"Are you Miss Stark?" asked a woman, a nurse. "Mr. Stark was just here a minute ago."
Bella cast a glance at Happy. She had to talk to Tony, to tell him she was sorry about earlier.
"Thank you," she said to the woman, and headed back toward the entrance, gripping her suitcase.
She made it to the front in time to see Tony get swarmed by reporters on the way to his car. She hesitated at the door.
Tony suddenly spun around to face a camera.
"Here's a little holiday greeting I've been wanting to send to The Mandarin, I just didn't know how to phrase until now. My name is Tony Stark, and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward, so I've decided you just died pal. I'm going to come get the body. You're not a man. You're nothing more than a maniac. There's no politics here, just good old fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon, it's just you and me. Now on the off chance that you are a man, here's my home address: 10880 Malibu Point, 90265. I'll leave the door unlocked."
Tony jumped into the car and pulled away.
Bella slipped out of sight before any reporters could see her.
It wasn't that he'd given his address to the Mandarin. If anyone actually wanted to find his house, it wouldn't be that hard. Challenging him to a fight, however… not one of Tony's brighter moments.
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Bella arrived home, landing on the roof and coming downstairs in time to hear the doorbell ring.
She glanced at the door. It wasn't the Mandarin, unless he had somehow turned into a woman.
Bella walked toward the door cautiously. "JARVIS, run a check, please."
"Already done, Miss Stark. The person standing at the door does not appear to be carrying weapons of any sort."
Tony brushed past her. "There you are, Izzy."
He walked to the door and opened it, letting the woman in.
"You're not the Mandarin."
"No. Remember me?"
Tony stared for a moment.
The woman looked hurt.
"Don't take it personally, I don't remember what I had for breakfast this morning."
"Gluten free waffles, Sir," offered JARVIS.
"I'm Maya Hansen," said the woman.
"Good to meet you, Miss Hanson," said Bella, stepping forward and extending a hand. "I'm Bella Stark."
"I'm in a stable relationship now, if that why you're here," said Tony.
"No, it's not why I'm here." Miss Hanson looked Bella up and down. "So… Miss Stark. It's good to meet you. I hear a lot about you, you being Silver Shield now and all."
"It was time to pick out a name," said Bella with a shrug.
Two bags dropped in front of Tony.
"You're leaving," announced Pepper from the ledge above.
She came down to meet them.
"Who's this?"
"Maya Hanson," said Tony.
"Well, I'm sorry, Miss Hanson, but we're leaving. Now."
"Wait, when was this decided?"
"When you gave your address to a terrorist. Bella, I've got your clothes packed up and already in the car. Let's go."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"Yes you are."
The two started bickering, voices rising.
"Is that normal?" asked Miss Hanson, pointing toward the giant pink rabbit, which Tony had brought inside.
"Sadly, in this house, yes," replied Pepper, then returned to arguing with Tony.
"And should we be worried about this?" asked Miss Hanson, pointing toward the helicopters hovering outside.
Something came straight toward them from the helicopters.
Bella instinctively dove under a table.
Glass shattered. Bella screamed.
A moment later, she was out from under the table, scrambling for her suit. Her fingers closed around the handle and she activated it.
The Iron Man suit was pulling Miss Hanson upright.
"Get out, Izzy!" yelled Tony from several feet away.
If Tony wasn't in the suit, who was?
The visor flipped up, revealing Pepper's face. "Bella, he's right, you need to get out of here."
The helicopters fired again.
A gap started growing in the floor.
"Get them out!" he yelled at Pepper.
Pepper started pulling Miss Hanson toward the door. "Bella, come on!"
The helicopters fired again.
Tony shoved Bella toward the gap.
"Don't make me freeze your suit again!"
Bella opened her mouth to respond, but the ground under her feet shifted and she screamed instead.
Tony held out a hand. For a moment, nothing. Then his suit was arranging itself on him.
Bella blasted through the glass and opened fire on the helicopters.
Something heavy slammed into her chest, sending her flying backwards. Bella gasped, slamming into the house and dropping like a rock toward the water.
"JARVIS!"
No response. Did the helicopters have something that jammed it?
She slammed into something hard. For a moment, everything blurred.
"Izzy!" yelled Tony.
And everything went black.