Chapter 10

"Up for a little trip, Jarvis?"

"If it is with you, Sir, always."

With the last light of dawn, Iron Man flew high into the sky of Malibu.

A few lights lit up on his screen, showing him the flight path, weather conditions, wind speeds, and crossing aircraft. Tony ignored the messages. For the first time in days, he felt free.

He was enjoying the flight, passing cities, meadows, forests and rivers. Tony activated the speed and flew off. The new armor was better than the old one and flew even more agile and smooth. Hours passed with the sea stretching out below him. The east came closer and closer. First Tony ignored a call from Pepper, then one from Romanoff, and an hour later another one from Rhodey.

When he arrived in Afghanistan, a sense of looming fear replaced the feeling of freedom. Now Desert stretched out below him which made him even more uncomfortable. But he had a mission. And he didn't want it to be more difficult than it had to be. Flying to the city, searching for the Ten Rings, destroying them. That's all he had to do.

He slowed down and told Jarvis not to put any more calls through when Phil Coulson's number also flashed in front of him.

And then he saw it, the city.

Gulmira.

Tony immediately noticed that not much had changed in this town.

Soldiers drove through the streets in transport trucks, most of the houses were destroyed and some of the little boys were already holding a machine gun in their hands and patrolling the streets together with the soldiers. And in the middle of everything, Iron Man landed noisily on the street.

All heads turned to face him. For a moment, there was dead silence. Then an incredible storm of bullets burst upon him. Even though he was in the safety of his armor, he could feel every one of the harder bullets denting the gold-titanium alloy. It seemed like nearly everyone here had a weapon.

Tony reached out a hand and fired with his repulsor. He hit a wall, which shattered loudly. Large pieces of wall flew through the air for meters.

A warning...

Dense clouds of smoke rose up in the air. Three armed men ran toward him, screaming loudly. Tony finished off two of them with projectiles from his shoulder plate. The third made it to Tony and fired wildly at him with his machine gun. With a jerking motion, Tony hit his head and knocked him out. When he turned around, he just saw two tanks driving to him before their missiles flew towards him as well.

"Jarvis, shield up!" he yelled just in time.

Two small bullets released from the front of Tony's suit, shot forward, and then released a large electromagnetic shield. The tanks' missiles slammed into the shield and exploded with a deafening bang. The blast wave knocked Tony off his feet. He activated the repulsor on his feet and landed safely a few meters away, while the road in front of him had been completely blown away.

More shots from long-range weapons hit next to him, but Tony used his targeting and now in turn fired missiles at the tanks. Both exploded with a great ball of flame.

But something else flew through the air – to be precise toward him.

Suddenly he felt as if hundreds of volts were coursing through his body. Tony heard himself screaming in pain. The armor's signals cut out one by one, and it went dark. Tony could no longer see anything.

"Jarvis? What's going on?"

But Jarvis seemed to be shut down, too. Damn it! He had no other choice. He had to remove his helmet to see anything.

Only with great difficulty did he manage to raise his hand to his helmet - without power he got almost no support from the armor, and it was very clear now how heavy it was.

Tony yanked the helmet down. First thing he saw was that smoke still obscured the battlefield. But then he noticed a little girl standing directly to his right and pointing a gun at his head. Tony's right glove, fortunately still in front of his head, shielded three shots.

His gaze quickly slid down to himself. And sure enough, there was something, stuck to his leg. A small circular device, flashing red. With his left hand, he grabbed the device and pulled as hard as he could.

The thing seemed to be magnetic, but Tony gritted his teeth and removed it with all his strength. Instantly, the feeling of electricity in his body disappeared and Jarvis seemed to gradually come back to life. Tony's muscles continued to twitch painfully.

More soldiers were running to him, so Tony quickly put his helmet back on as shots hit him again. Enraged, he snatched the gun out of the girl's hand next to him and crushed it with no effort.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" he remarked dryly.

In the corner of his eye, Tony saw two more of the little magnets flying toward him.

"Full power to the boots!" he yelled to Jarvis and flew up.

The magnets followed - and they were fast. He flew higher and higher, breaking through the cloud cover and feverishly thinking about how to get rid of them. He didn't want to be exposed to that much electricity again. But wait, if these nasty little things were so into magnetism, they should get some.

"Jarvis, loosen the glove on my left hand and polarize it as much as possible!"

"Copy that, Sir."

Tony whirled around and saw the magnets coming close. He took aim and threw his glove right in the middle of the two things. It worked. Instead of continuing to chase him, they flew in a dive after the falling glove.

Tony dropped as well. These bastards had designed weapons specifically to fight him. He no longer had any doubt that he was in the right place. This could only be the work of the Ten Rings. And they had obviously been expecting him.

As he broke through the cloud cover again, a huge projectile hit him completely unexpected in his side and exploded. Tony crashed uncontrollably, dispersing a few of the people who had apparently been waiting for him. He hit the ground hard.

The men were already opening fire on him again, preventing Tony from even getting to his feet.

"Jaaaaarvis!" he shouted, looking for help, while a whole volley was pounding into him.

Jarvis immediately understood and detonated a grenade right at the armor. He saw a ball of fire rise before he was hurled into a ruin, struck by the force of his own weapon, but for the men near him it had been death.

Iron Man scrambled to his feet, rubble and rocks crumbling from his armor. It must look terrifying as he stepped out of the ruin with no apparent damage (except more dents), as if nothing had happened. Most of the soldiers began to flee.

Tony was furious. Iron Man raised his arm. Let no one escape.

But nothing happened.

"Sir," Jarvis reported. "No more power for the repulsor. The armor is badly damaged."

"Shit!" Tony roared, striding on.

One of the terrorists was lying on the ground, covered in blood, but alive - still.

"Where's Raza?" Tony asked, bending ominously over him.

The terrorist just groaned and looked at him. Tony grabbed his neck and squeezed him tightly with his hand.

"Where is he? Where is Raza?!"

But the terrorist only yelled at him in Arabic, which Tony did not understand. So he let go of him and looked at the mess he had made. Half the city seemed to be in ruins.

"There is a large amount of weapons being stored in that large building on your right," Jarvis informed him.

"Understood."

Tony targeted the building and sent off one of the last missiles he had left. The explosion was gigantic. Walls blasted through the air and the remaining weapons inside the building burned brightly. At least he had been able to destroy those.

"Sir, I have some bad news. The armor is running out of power, your reactor appears to have been damaged," Jarvis said.

"My… What?!" Tony hissed in sudden panic.

His reactor?! Without it, his heart would stop...

"I suggest you return home right away... before you can't make it."

Oh no... no, no, no.

Tony took one last look at the terrorist, lying badly injured in front of him, then rose and set off.

"Try to find out what's wrong with the reactor and keep me updated," Tony said, trying not to think about what would happen if it died…

"My calculations are already running."

Pepper didn't want to calm down at all. Tony wasn't taking her calls, and Jarvis had informed her that Tony had arrived in Afghanistan before apparently blocking all further calls.

Her stomach danced a tango, and she couldn't stand still anymore. Too many hours had passed - without any sign of life from him.

"I'm sure nothing happened to him," Rhodey said for the hundredth time now.

She had called him because, as a colonel of the U.S. Air Force, he might have heard something, but no go. At least he had come to stand by her. Pepper was infinitely grateful to him. What if he had figured out where Raza was? Or the entire terror ring? Could he handle all of them alone?

"I'm sure nothing happened to him," Rhodey repeated, staring out the window with his hands in his pockets. Pepper knew he was scanning the sky for a sign. However, there was nothing. And Jarvis was no good either.

Why didn't Tony call and tell them where he was? Why didn't he take the fucking calls?! Was he in a fight, was he hurt, was he already somewhere else?

Pepper had tried to convince herself that everything was fine for a long time. That he was in this high-tech armor and knew what he was doing. But the fact that he had found out the Ten Rings were in Gulmira, and they were more dangerous than they might have imagined months ago, was as hard to ignore as that horrible smudge on the windowpane that one of the cleaners must have left.

Pepper didn't quite understand herself why she was so afraid. It hadn't been the first time Tony had flown to Afghanistan. In the few months after his public announcement of being Iron Man, he had been there constantly. He had broken up battles, tracked and gradually destroyed his weapons that were still scattered everywhere, liberated civilians from high-risk areas, and taken out terrorists of all kinds. The situation in Afghanistan and in other countries as well, had improved significantly, thanks to Iron Man. This was also one of the reasons that the government couldn't shoot down, it was one of the reasons why people celebrated him so much and even wanted him to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. But it was also one of the reasons why such great hopes and demands were suddenly being pinned on him.

However, something was different since Raza had appeared here in his house. Something about it worried Pepper so much that she couldn't think clearly anymore. She trusted in Tony's abilities. And yet, she didn't have a good feeling.

Pepper glanced at Rhodey, who had now averted his eyes from the window and was also beginning to pace. He seemed troubled, too, although there was no reason for that. Or was it?

At that moment, they clearly heard something rumbling in the workshop.

Pepper and Rhodey froze and looked at each other.

Tony tripped over the chair in his workshop and stumbled to the floor. Breathing heavily, he ran his hands to his arc reactor. It was still intact but seemed to stop running for about a second at irregular intervals. And it felt the same way as it had months ago, when Obadiah had taken the reactor out of his chest. He was sweating and shaking violently, but he told himself the most important thing now was to stay calm and not stress his heart too much.

"You should take some fluids in the first place, Sir," Jarvis suggested.

Tony looked around. He could see an opened bottle of gin and of course he had a coffee machine down here, but there was no water in sight. With difficulty he heaved himself up and dragged himself to the elevator; the stairs would have been too strenuous.

He wondered if the shrapnel were already making its way to his heart. What if the reactor totally failed? The elevator started and Tony leaned his head against the cold wall. Last time he had had a spare - thanks to Pepper, but this time he could not fall back on it. Why didn't he think of making like hundred reactors as a replacement?

The door opened and Tony froze for a moment. Rhodey and Pepper were standing in the middle of the room in front of him. With horrified expressions they stared at him. Tony wasn't aroused to see them, now he had to deal with them as well.

"Tony, you…" Pepper began slowly, then suddenly looking at him almost in shock. "Wait… What happened?"

"Nothing," Tony said quickly, and walked out of the elevator.

He stumbled again, his legs threatening not to carry him anymore. Rhodey hurried to help as he had noticed his unsteadiness on his feet, but Tony slapped his hand away. He didn't want any help.

"Just a little out of breath," he explained at the exact moment his reactor flared unmistakably.

Tony squinted his eyes and held his breath.

"Tony!" Rhodey exclaimed in dismay. "What's wrong with the reactor?"

"Has misfires," Tony pressed out.

"Shit…" Rhodey said. "What happened? Tell us!"

"I was trying to find Raza," Tony said.

"And you found him," Rhodey stated with another glance at him. "You should sit down."

"No. But... his men. They obviously suspected I'd come eventually," Tony said, now holding onto Rhodey's shoulder to keep himself from collapsing. "They had developed weapons to fight me. I have to admit, I'm a little impressed."

"They knew you were coming?," Rhodey asked in amazement. "And why don't you sit down, for God's sake!"

"I guess Raza sees through me better than I thought," Tony said, ignoring his friend.

"But what about the reactor?," Pepper now asked, clearly sounding anxious.

Tony briefly described how that magnetic thing had hit him and felt like electricity running through his body.

"Do you think it was something like an electromagnetic pulse?" Rhodey asked, who, of course, had comprehensive knowledge about weapons.

Tony nodded. His knees were getting as soft as jelly. "Something like that. That thing crippled my armor until I removed it. Moreover, it apparently damaged my reactor in the process. I hope this is just a temporary malfunction."

Tony wiped his wet forehead with his sleeve. His hair stuck slick to his head. Then he had to pause for a moment as the reactor began to flicker. His heart began to race and his chest ached violently.

Pepper sucked in a sharp breath and slapped her hands over her mouth.

"Tony, the reactor…" she shouted, "It's not failing completely, but... does that mean the shrapnel can get closer to your heart?"

"The period of malfunction is not long enough - I think," Tony explained.

Rhodey gave him a stern look.

"...But it could be, of course…" Tony admitted. "Jarvis is checking what's going on right now."

Suddenly he felt an incredible twinge in his chest, and as his gaze slid there, he just saw the reactor flare up and then fail completely. For a moment, his sight went black, and he realized that Rhodey was holding him. His heart began to race to compensate for the reactor's failure, hurting so badly with each thump that Tony could hear himself screaming. Then his vision cleared, and the reactor lit up again. Rhodey held him upright with both arms.

"My God!," Pepper cried, staring at him in horror. Fear was clearly written on her face.

Tony allowed Rhodey to escort him to a chair after all, and settled down on it, completely exhausted.

"What can we do?," Pepper asked.

"Jarvis?" Tony relayed the question.

"My calculations are not yet complete, Sir," Jarvis said. "The reactor's failures are too irregular; they don't follow a precise pattern. So, I can only make an approximate prediction. The shrapnel are moving, though, that can be seen."

An ice-cold shiver ran down Tony's spine. The shrapnel are moving…

"My prognosis, supposing a steady pace, is 0.14966 centimeters that the shrapnel are approaching your heart per hour. Extrapolated over the next twelve hours, that would be 1.79588 centimeters. Consequently, not lethal."

He heard Pepper and Rhodey breathe a quick sigh of relief.

"However," Jarvis added. "That's just a projection with the current data. If the intervals, at which your reactor fails, decrease, we must assume that the shrapnel will approach more rapidly. In addition to that, the problem is not just the heart. Far more concerning is that the shrapnel could damage other organs along the way. To my knowledge, one of the splinters could cut through the artery after 1.91836 centimeters, which would most likely be fatal. Also, it should not be ignored that the reactor could eventually fail completely, in which case -"

"Thank you, Jarvis," Tony said aloud to interrupt him.

He had heard enough. So, if he couldn't think of anything, he was going to die. Great...

"But what can we do?" Pepper asked again. "Tony, don't you have another reactor? Can't you simply exchange it?"

"I don't think the reactor is the problem," Jarvis said, and everyone looked up in surprise. "I've already checked it several times on the way home. It does not show any damage. The reactor is intact and should be working fine."

"I don't understand..." Tony muttered.

The reactor was intact? No damage? Then why was it misfiring? What's that supposed to mean? And wasn't the strangest part of this whole incident that Jarvis didn't know what was going on?

"Under no circumstances should you use the suit until we figure out a cause," Jarvis explained. "I will continue searching for the reason of the failures. However, if the reactor is down for an extended period, cardiac arrest will be a consequence. In that case, resuscitation would be necessary until it starts up again."

"You've got to be kidding me," Pepper whispered. "There's nothing else we can do?! But Tony... you must be able to do something?!"

Tony looked at his assistant. "I'm sorry, Pepper. I'll think of something."

Pepper slumped down in a chair, now as pale as Tony.

What was the reason for the misfires? Tony thought hard while Rhodey put a hand on his shoulder, looking down at him with concern.

That magnet had hit him on the suit. The armor had failed as a result, including shutting down Jarvis. What if Jarvis had been affected or infected again? What if he had been infected with some kind of virus that made it unfeasible for him to find the reason of the reactor failures? It was not impossible. Maybe it was wise to reboot Jarvis.

Tony's eyes fell on Pepper, who was watching him fearfully from her chair. He didn't want her to see him like this. He didn't want her to worry like this at all. He had to think of something, and he had to do it fast.

What else could have happened when the magnet had hit him?

It just didn't make any sense. When he had removed the thing, that electricity in his body had been gone and the armor had instantly worked again, as had Jarvis. Then why was it the reactor that was still affected by a malfunction, even though the thing was no longer attached to him? If only he had had the opportunity to take one of the magnets with him to examine it.

And suddenly, the scales fell from his eyes. Of course! He had removed the thing on the outside of his armor, so the armor and Jarvis had worked again. But what had happened inside his armor, to his body?

But just as he was about to speak his thoughts aloud, the reactor flickered again. This time the pain was more intense. Everything went dark. The idea of single splinters in his body moving toward his heart was frightening as hell. Tony clutched his chest again, trying not to pass out.

Pepper could hardly bear to watch Tony suffer like this. She watched as Rhodey held Tony again to keep him from sliding off the chair. With narrowed eyes, Tony was obviously suppressing cries of pain only with greatest effort. If they didn't find a solution, he would probably die. Those damn shrapnel! What daunting thoughts that they were still in Tony's body.

Pepper kneaded her hands like a dough. The next few hours would be hell for her. What could they do? Informing S.H.I.E.L.D. was the first thing that came to her mind. Maybe they knew a solution. Where had Romanoff disappeared to, anyway? After she had seen Tony's research down in the workshop, she had gone with a mixture of being annoyed and impressed, and without further explanation.

Suddenly, Pepper thought she heard a noise outside.

"Did you hear that?" she asked Rhodey.

But Rhodey just shook his head absentmindedly and looked at Tony's flickering reactor in bewilderment. Pepper stood up as she heard another dull bang.

None of the others seemed to have noticed anything, however. Were the agents out on the property making that noise? Or the staff? The gardeners?

Pepper slowly stepped to the window and peered out. But she could see nothing, no one seemed to be outside. She was about to turn around when another bang sounded. Pepper flinched, startled. Her eyes fell on Rhodey again, this time he must have heard something. And indeed - Rhodey was looking at her with a strange expression on his face. Pepper suddenly knew why.

That bang had sounded an awful lot like a gunshot.

For what seemed like an eternity, everything was perfectly still, while no one moved. Then a shadow lunged at her from behind.