Chapter 9

In a few swimming strokes, Happy was by his bosses' side, who made no move to surface. Happy grabbed his shoulders and then swam back to the water surface. Quickly he brought them both to the edge of the pool, careful to keep Stark's head above water.

He climbed out and then pulled his boss out of the water. Panting loudly and dripping of water, they both sat outside in front of the pool. Stark beside him, on his knees and supporting himself with his hands, was gasping and coughing heavily, but Happy wondered about only one thing. Drunk or not ... had Tony not been able to or had he not wanted to?

"Mr. Stark, are you all right?," he asked in dismay, getting into a crouching position and positioning a hand on Stark's shoulders.

"Happy," Tony said, raising his head. "Thanks... I..."

Stark had to cough again. His eyes were widened, he looked almost panicked at Happy.

What was wrong with him? Even at the funeral he had seemed strange to him. Had the encounter with the boy's mother thrown him off track like that? Or was it that horrific explosion in Griffith Park that he had survived only harmed?

Happy helped him to stand up, but Stark immediately threatened to sway and fall again, so Happy stretched an arm to him as a precaution. Then he hesitated; what now?

Happy decided it was best to take Tony inside. He put his arm around his waist, then they walked to the patio door, which was still open, and slipped inside.

"How are you feeling?," Happy asked as he deposited Tony on the couch, who collapsed onto it like a wet sack.

"I'm fine," Tony answered indistinctly, barely catching his breath.

"Boss?"

"Happy, can you... stay here with me for a minute?"

"Um... of course," Happy replied.

He sat down with him, puzzled for a moment. Tony sounded... was it scared? His chest was rising and falling way too fast. And he seemed to be struggling with some invisible force in his head that Happy didn't understand.

Happy observed Stark for a while as he tried to digest his own fright. This could have ended differently... He couldn't understand why Stark hadn't just swum back up. He had just lain in that pool and not even moved. What if Happy had actually gone home?

"Boss... what's going on?," Happy tried again.

But Stark just shook his head and held a hand to his chest where the arc reactor shone brightly. Patiently, Happy waited until he couldn't take it anymore.

"Tony," he said, emphatically this time and letting the professional "Mr. Stark"-thing drop. "Why didn't you swim back to the water surface?"

"I... I don't know...," Tony replied shortly.

"You don't know?," Happy asked unbelievingly.

When Stark again didn't respond, impatience finally won inside of Happy.

"Didn't you want to?" he asked freely. "Didn't you want to get out at all?"

Finally Tony looked at him, but with a surprised impression. At the same moment, Happy felt relief. No, that's not what this was about. He almost felt a little foolish to have suspected any such intentions in Stark.

"What?," Tony asked, looking at Happy uncomprehendingly. "Yes, of course I wanted to. I... I couldn't make it."

"Why not?"

Stark shrugged, his breathing seemed to slow, and he removed his hand from his chest. Apparently, he had regained his composure.

"I don't know," he then repeated, but Happy thought he could see he was hiding something from him. "I just drank too much. Didn't know where the surface was anymore."

Happy could sense that this was the end of the subject and that he couldn't push Stark any further now if he wanted to continue to live in peace. Stark stood up and swayed again, but Happy suppressed the impulse to hold him again.

"Better we get out of these wet clothes. And you can call it a day now, Happy. Really. Go home."

Unsteadily, Tony headed toward the bedroom before stopping.

"Not a word of this to Pepper," he said firmly.

Then he continued walking, stopping once more at the foot of the stairs.

"And Happy? Thanks…"

For a while Happy stared at the stairs where Stark had disappeared. Then he went to his car and got a change of clothes, which he always had with him, before going back into the house. While he was changing in the bathroom, he tried not to think too much about what just had happened. But it was admittedly quite difficult for him. If he hadn't stayed longer out of some premonition, Stark might have drowned...

Had he really just been too drunk? Or had it been something else? Stark had looked almost panicked when he had fished him out of the pool. What had happened in there?

But Happy couldn't make sense of things. And he was actually far from thrilled about not telling Pepper either.

Happy sighed and made his way to the car for the second time. This time, to drive home for real.

What very few people knew was that Tony was incredibly sensitive and emotional. He almost never showed that side, preferring to play the arrogant, hardened, strong playboy, but Happy knew better. He saw Stark even after his "show" was over, he had a comprehensive insight into his "after hours". And this Tony Stark was like everyone else, a person with weaknesses and sore points, with problems and unpleasant sides.

When Tony awoke the next day, the first thing he felt was anxiety. The thoughts about last night frightened him. He couldn't really understand what actually had happened last night. He had fallen into that pool, yes. But then the memory of the torture in Afghanistan had crept into his head and paralyzed him so much that he hadn't been able to move. How was something like that possible? The dull gurgling of the water around him, the blurred vision, and the fact of not being able to breathe underwater had been enough to instantly transport him back into those memories.

Tony's anxiety increased by this complete loss of control. He liked being in control, very much in fact. That there was apparently something going on in his mind that was taking that control away from him, even if only for a moment, was terrifying.

Tony sat up in his bed and reached into the drawer of his nightstand. He dug out two ibuprofen, washed them down with some water, and hoped the hangover headache would go away quickly.

If he hadn't been drinking so much, he wouldn't have fallen into the pool. If Happy hadn't stayed there, he might have drowned. If the Ten Rings hadn't kidnapped him back then, those memories wouldn't have paralyzed him even if he'd fallen into the pool.

Could, if, might, should, would, maybe, maybe not. There was no point in thinking about what would have happened if. All that had happened. And Tony saw it as anything but negative. Afghanistan had awakened him. Because of what he went through, he now could see more clearly. Namely, he wanted to do something else with his life. That's why he had created Iron Man and that's how thousands of possibilities had arisen.

Possibilities. Didn't he have the possibility to do something? The Ten Rings had waylaid him twice now since he'd been back in America. Couldn't he turn the tables? Couldn't he ambush the terrorists and end it once and for all? Then maybe these memories would lose power, maybe this panic would go away, and the nightmares, maybe he would be able to sleep again and focus on completely different things.

Excitement arose in Tony, and he jumped out of bed, which he immediately regretted. He still could fell the injuries from the explosion very clearly. His head was better by now, but the broken ribs made themself noticed with every rash movement and his shoulder was still not free of pain.

"Jarvis, we need to do some research," Tony said and, now careful in his movements, quickly got dressed.

"I'm all ears," Jarvis replied.

"We need to find out where the Ten Rings are," Tony said, hurrying down the stairs, straight into his workshop.

He activated a database and had it holographically displayed.

"They could be in America, close by. Or they might not. We should also search in Afghanistan. I want you to go through everything you can find, scan all news and reports of terrorist activity in the last few months."

"I'll get right on it," Jarvis returned redundantly.

"And here...," Tony said, tapping a file in mid-air. "Is the CIA's database... I think we can sneak in and make use of it. Hack into it. I'm sure they won't mind."

"Oh, surely not," Jarvis said, sounding like he was smirking.

Tony thought for a moment, then opened another program and searched for S.H.I.E.L.D.

"And they... won't mind, too, I'm sure. Jarvis, can you find a way into the S.H.I.E.L.D. database? It might be harder than getting into CIA."

"I'll see what I can do, Sir."

"Very good."

Full of euphoria, Tony stared at the data rattling off at breakneck speed, all of which might have something to do with the Ten Rings. If there was anything striking about it, Jarvis would certainly figure it out.

Pepper was exhausted and completely overtired when she arrived back in Malibu at noon. It had been anything but easy in front of the committee; they in fact had not been particularly thrilled that Tony had not appeared in person. However, they had to accept the medical certificate about his injuries. In addition, he had written a public statement describing his Iron Man armor and had also given them a two-hundred and forty-six pages manual on the technical details of his armor, which the committee could pore over for years now.

Together with Romanoff, who had pretended to be a co-lawyer, she had been able to convince the government to let things go on as before. No one could say anything against the fact that the terrorists were unlikely to stop if he had to give up his suit. No, on the contrary, it would rather be a formidable threat. Iron Man would no longer be able to help anyone. Besides, there was public pressure on the government, because Iron Man was still a celebrated hero and had many advocates.

However, she had been most surprised by Romanoff. She had been genuinely affable, even friendly and forthcoming in parts. She also looked much less dangerous in her business outfit than in her skin-tight suit. She had been a great support to Pepper and had made good points.

After an extensive security check at the gates of the estate, the cab stopped, and Pepper got out. Eagerly, she entered the house and headed toward the workshop, assuming that Tony would spend most of his time there today as well. Once downstairs, she paused. Tony was obviously not screwing around with his armor. Rather, the entire room was filled with holograms of reports and data.

"What the -," she began.

"Oh, hey, Pep," Tony called out.

"Hey..."

Pepper slowly stepped further in and looked at the holograms. They appeared to be reports about the Ten Rings.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, just a little research."

"Little?"

Pepper walked up to Tony, who seemed quite engrossed in a file.

"It all worked out fine," Pepper said.

"What do you mean?," Tony asked.

"At the committee. In Washington... About your armor," she added, a little exasperated. It was probably another one of those moments when Tony couldn't be made to listen. She hated that.

"Oh. Yeah, sure. Good," he replied as if in confirmation to her.

"Good?"

"Very good. Thanks, Pepper."

Tony didn't even look up. She wasn't sure he'd understood what she'd said.

"I was thinking of shaving my head," she said.

"That's great."

"And I've been making out with Romanoff the whole time."

"Wonderful."

Pepper scowled at Tony. She had flown to Washington for him, developed a battle plan with Romanoff on the plane, and then sat in front of the committee two days in a row in this building arguing nonstop so he could keep his armor. And now this was how he thanked her? He wasn't even listening?

"Sir," Jarvis interrupted the brief silence, opening a new hologram in front of Tony. "I've managed to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D. after quite a few attempts. There are some reports on your abduction and how you must have managed to create Iron Man under these circumstances. Your activities as Iron Man are detailed, as is your entire career at Stark Industries. There is also data on Obadiah Stane, according to which he had been in loose contact with Raza for some time and sold weapons to the Ten Rings underhand before he ordered your assassination. However, concrete data on the Ten Rings are very sparse. According to the latest S.H.I.E.L.D. reports, there is still a base in Gulmira. You may remember being there before and taking Abu Bakaar down."

An image of a small town appeared in front of Tony, presumably showing Gulmira. He gazed thoughtfully at the picture.

"And what about America?," he then asked. "Shouldn't Raza be here in America?"

"He might be, yes. But all the research yielded no results on that. The location in Gulmira is the only clue I could find, Sir."

"Well, better than nothing..."

Pepper could literally feel tension going through Tony's body.

"Get that new armor ready, Jarvis!"

Tony jumped up and walked purposefully toward the platform.

"Tony!," Pepper shouted. "What are you going to do? You're not going to fly to Gulmira, are you?"

She again received no response from Tony.

"Tony!," she shouted even louder. "You're not even back in shape yet. And what about S.H.I.E.L.D.? Aren't you going to inform them first?"

"No time for that," Tony replied, and let Jarvis put on his armor.

Pepper wanted to stop him, she wanted to talk him out of it. But she knew it would make no sense. Tony Stark was Iron Man. She would have to get used to it. Especially to the fact that he put himself in mortal danger - again and again.

And then he was gone.

In his stead, Romanoff showed up at the workshop, completely out of breath.

"What's he up to?," she shouted, upset. "Stark hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D.! Where'd he go?"

Pepper was too perplexed to answer at first, while Romanoff looked at all the holograms still lighting up in the workshop.

"How did he do that?," she then muttered more to herself as the S.H.I.E.L.D. report appeared under her nose.