Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 21 of Iron Maiden and the first chapter of Iron Man 2. Thank you to those who have kept up with this story. I'm trying my best to write this as quickly as I can so I can finish it as soon as I can. I hope that you guys enjoy this next part. Without further ado Chapter 21. ENJOY!

Chapter 21

Tony stood at the back of the airplane with Abigail right next to him. Both dawned in their respective suits. Tony looked over at his sister. "Ready to show the world Iron Maiden?"

Abigail took a deep breath. "About as ready as I can be Tony."

"270 at 30 knots. Holding steady at 15000 feet. You are clear for exfiltration over the drop zone."

Iron Man and Iron Maiden both jumped out of the airplane before Tony ended up hitting something on his way down, exploding it. The two of them landed on the stage with ease.

The suit dismantled off of his body, him smirking as he heard the crowd cheer.

The suit dismantled off of her body revealing a black dress that went to the knees. She let out a soft laugh as she heard her brother's name throughout the crowd. She knew that this was exactly what he had wanted in the short time that they had to plan this.

"Tony! Tony! Tony! Tony!"

Tony let out a chuckle grinning. "It's good to be back. You missed me?"

"Blow something up!" A man in the crowd shouted.

"I missed you too. Blow something up? I already did that. I want to announce a new Iron Man suit for my sister, Iron Maiden. I'm not saying that the world is enjoying its longest period of uninterrupted peace in years because of me. I'm not saying that from the ashes of captivity, never has a greater phoenix metaphor been personified in human history. I'm not saying that Uncle Sam can kick back on a lawn chair, sipping on an iced tea because I haven't come across anyone who's man enough to go toe-to-toe with me on my best day."

"I love you Tony!" A woman shouted.

Abigail covered her mouth as she tried not to laugh at how rowdy the crowd was becoming.

"Please, it's not about me. It's not about my sister, Abigail." He tried to continue as people continued to cheer his name. "It's not about you. It's not even about us. It's about legacy. It's about what we choose to leave behind for future generations. And that's why for the next year and for the first time since 1974, the best and brightest men and women of nations and corporations the world over will pool their resources, share their collective vision, to leave behind a brighter future. It's not about us. Therefore, what I'm saying, if I'm saying anything, is welcome back to the Stark Expo."

There was a loud cheer from the crowd.

"Making a special guest appearance from the great beyond to tell you what it's all about, please welcome our father, Howard." Abigail said, introducing the video clip that they had from the archives.

Tony walked with his sister off of the stage as the recording started.

"Everything is achievable through technology. Better living, robust health, and for the first time in human history, the possibility of world peace. So, from all of us here at Stark Industries, I would like to personally introduce you to the City of the Future. Technology holds infinite possibilities for mankind, and will one day rid society of all its ills. Soon technology will affect the way you live your life every day. No more tedious work, leaving more time for leisure activities and enjoying the sweet life. The Stark Expo. Welcome."

Abigail watched her brother in the corner doing something. She came over to where he had gone seeing that he was doing a test on his blood. Her eyes widened when she saw it said 19% on it. "Tony…"

Tony whirled around seeing his sister standing right there.

Abigail looked up at him with wide eyes. "What is this?" She questioned softly. "And don't lie to me."

"I…"

"Tony is it…" She pressed her hand firmly against his chest where the arc reactor was.

Tony swallowed the lump in his throat. "I can't pull the wool over your eyes can I?"

Abigail shook her head lightly. "No, you certainly can't. What is it… The 19% is that…"

"Blood toxicity." Tony said letting out a breath looping his arm around her leading her out of the backstage area.

"Tony you really should stop being Iron Man then if the Palladium is killing you." She said softly as they walked keeping her voice extremely low as they got closer to the public eye.

The two siblings met up with Happy.

"Make sure you join me…" Happy told the two of them. "All right, it's a zoo out there, watch out. Open up, let's go."

They passed through the crowd together with Happy on their side keeping them safe as he could.

"Hey, nice to see you. All right. Thank you. I remember you." Tony said, hamming it up for the people around them.

"Tony, Tony"

"Hey, hey."

"Call me." A woman said, passing her number to him.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey. Come on, come on."

Tony stopped for a moment to sign a photo of Iron Man. "Hello. It would be a pleasure."

"Okay."

Tony ruffed a small boy's hair that was wearing an Iron Man Mask. "See you buddy."

Happy led them to another man. "This is Larry."

"Hey, the oracle of Oracle. What a pleasure. Nice to see you."

Abigail shook her head lightly knowing that Tony was just trying to make small talk and make connections with everyone.

"Call me. Call me." Larry called out.

"Larry King." Abigail said as they continued to walk.

"Larry! Larry. Yes, my people, my people." Tony said with a smile.

"Come on, Tony. There we go."

They walked out the door leading to the parking lot.

"Very mellow." Tony mused.

"That wasn't so bad."

"No, it was perfect."

Abigail shook her head lightly. "Your perfect and my perfect are completely different things. That was a madhouse Tony."

"Eh you were fine Abs."

"Look what we got here, the new model." Happy said, walking towards the car that had a brown haired woman waiting outside of it.

"Hey, does she come with the car?"

"I certainly hope so. Hi." Happy said with a smile.

"Hi. And you are?" Tony questioned looking at the woman.

"Marshal." The woman replied.

"Irish. I like it."

"Pleased to meet you Tony."

"I'm on the wheel. Do you mind? Where are you from?"

"Bedford."

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you."

"Yeah? You found me. What are you up to later?"

Abigail jabbed her elbow into Tony's side.

"Serving subpoenas." She said holding out a letter.

Tony didn't move, not taking it. "Yikes."

Abigail let out a breath taking letter from the woman. " My brother doesn't like to be handed things."

"Yeah, I have a peeve."

"I got it. You are hereby ordered to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow morning at 9 am."

"Can I see a badge?"

"You wanna see the badge?"

"He likes the badge." Happy pointed out to the woman.

The Marshal showed him her badge. "You still like it?"

Tony got into the car after his sister got on the passenger side and Happy in the back. "Yep." He started the engine of the car. He looked at Happy in the rearview mirror. "How far are we from D.C.?"

"D.C.? 250 miles." Happy said looking up at his boss.

Tony put the car into gear and peeled out of the parking lot.

"Tony must you really do that?" Abigail questioned as the wind whipped around in the open car.

"Well we don't have much time to get to D.C."

Abigail rolled her eyes. "Let me guess it has to be Senator Stern again. He's barking up the wrong tree again." She said, shaking her head as she leaned back in her seat as Tony drove.

"Most likely meaning we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Of course."

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This is the end of Chapter 21. I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. I have a feeling that Tony wouldn't be able to keep the fact that he's dying from his sister. So I decided that it was best that he told her. I hope that this chapter wasn't too choppy. It's been a while since I've written a chapter for this story. I hope that I did alright with it. Please leave a review and let me know what you think of this chapter. Reviews help me keep going when it comes to writing. I hopefully will update next week with a brand new chapter. Until next time.