Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 22 of Iron Maiden. I want to thank those who have left reviews for this story. It truly does mean a lot to me. I finally figured out a pairing for this story. But I'm not going to reveal just yet. I want to surprise you guys with who the pairing will be. I hope that you guys continue to enjoy this story. I hope that you guys enjoy this next update. Without further ado Chapter 22. ENJOY!

Chapter 22

Abigail sat with Pepper in the booths as Tony tried to talk to them. Abigail shook her head lightly knowing what her brother was trying to do.

"Mr Stark, could we pick up now where we left off? Mr Stark. Please." Senator Stern said getting a little frustrated of what Tony was doing.

Tony turned his attention back to Senator Stern. "Yes dear?"

Abigail pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head lightly. She should've known that her brother was going to be a bit of a pain in the ass.

"Can I have your attention?"

"Absolutely."

"Do you or do you not possess a specialized weapon?"

"I do not."

"You do not?"

"I do not. Well, it depends on how you define the word weapon."

"The Iron Man weapon. And now the Iron Maiden weapon."

Abigail tried not to groan at what was being said. She knew that the Senator thought that Tony had a weapon when it really wasn't a weapon. It was just a suit of armor that he wore and helped the country with their troubles.

"My device does not fit that description." Tony defended knowing that his sister was probably seething in her seat.

"Well… How would you describe it?"

"I would describe it by defining it as what it is, Senator."

"As?"

"It's a high-tech prosthesis. That is… That is… That's actually the most apt description I can make of it."

"It's a weapon. It's a weapon, Mr Stark."

"Please, if your priority was actually the well-being of the American citizen…"

"My priority is to get the Iron Man weapon turned over to the people of the United States of America." Senator Stern said getting a little irritated with the whole thing of Tony being polite in handing over the Iron Man weapon.

"Well, you can forget it. I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one. To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over myself which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending or what state you're in. You can't have it."

"Look, I'm no expert…"

"In prostitution? Of course not. You're a senator. Come on."

Abigail looked down with a groan as people laughed around them.

Tony waved his hand back to Pepper and Abigail and saw that they weren't too impressed with what he had said. He mouthed to her no? And she shook her head at his antics.

"I'm no expert in weapons. We have somebody here who is an expert on weapons. I'd now like to call Justin Hammer, our current primary weapons contractor."

Abigail's head shot up seeing Justin Hammer coming into the room. She inwardly groaned of how this man supposedly thought that he was the big shit compared to the two Starks. She couldn't believe that the Military actually had gone with a moron.

"Let the record reflect that I observed Mr Hammer entering the chamber, and I am wondering if and when any actual expert will also be in attendance."

"Absolutely. I'm no expert. I defer to you, Anthony. You're the wonder boy." Justin Hammer said as he sat down in his chair. "Senator, if I may. I may well not be an expert, but you know who was the expert? Your dad. Howard Stark. Really a father to us all, and to the military-industrial age. Let's just be clear, he was no flower child. He was a lion. We all know why we're here. In the last six months, Anthony Stark has created a sword with untold possibilities. And yet, he insists it's a shield. He asks us to trust him as we cower behind it. I wish I were comforted, Anthony, I really do. I'd love to leave my door unlocked when I leave the house, but this ain't Canada. You know, we live in a world of grave threats, threats that Mr Stark will not always be able to foresee. Thank you. God bless Iron Man. God bless America."

"That is well said Mr Hammer. The committee would now like to invite Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes to the chamber." Senator Stern said looking up.

"Rhodey? What?" Tony questioned as he turned. As Rhodey walked into the room he got up to his feet to greet him. "Hey, buddy. I didn't expect to see you here."

"Look, it's me, I'm here. Deal with it. Let's move on." Rhodey said, looking at his friend.

"I just…"

"Drop it."

"All right, I'll drop it."

"I have before me a complete report on the Iron Man weapon, compiled by Colonel Rhodes. And, Colonel, for the record, can you please read page 57, paragraph four?" Senator Stern said as he looked at Rhodey.

"You're requesting that I read specific selections from my report, Senator?"

"Yes, sir."

Abigail narrowed her eyes at the Senator. Of course he would make a big deal about this whole thing.

"It was my understanding that I was going to be testifying in a much more comprehensive and detailed manner." Rhodey said looking up at the Senator surprised that he was even having him just do just this.

"I understand. A lot of things have changed today. So if you could just read…"

"You do understand that reading a single paragraph out of context does not reflect the summary of my final…"

"Just read it, Colonel. I do. Thank you."

Abigail gripped her hands tightly in anger. There was no way that this was going to end well. She had a feeling that she was going to have to report back to Fury and the rest of Shield. Something really hinky was going on here and she could tell. The sinking feeling in her chest was the same thing that she had gotten from Obadiah.

"Very well. "As he does not operate within any definable branch of government, Iron Man presents a potential threat to the security of both the nation and to her interests." I did, however, go on to summarize that the benefits of Iron Man far outweigh three liabilities and that it would be in our interest…"

"That's enough Colonel."

"…to fold Mr Stark…"

"That's enough."

"…into the existing chain of command, Senator."

"I'm not a joiner, but I'll consider the Secretary of Defence, if you ask nicely." Tony said looking up rather cheekily.

The crowd laughed at what was said.

Abigail let out a soft breath shaking her head lightly. Of course Tony was trying to play hard ball and trying smooth things over, but she knew that he would not willingly give up the Iron Man suit.

"We can amend the hours a little bit."

"I'd like to go on and show, if I may, the imagery that's connected to your report," Stern said looking at Rhodey.

"I believe it is somewhat premature to reveal these images to the general public at this time," Rhodey said looking up at the Senator.

"With all due respect, Colonel, I understand. And if you could just narrate those for us, we'd be very grateful. Let's have the images."

"Intelligence suggests that the devices seen in these photos are, in fact, attempts at making manned copies of Mr. Stark's suit. This has been corroborated by our allies and local intelligence on the ground…"

Abigail noticed that Tony was doing something on his own device.

"Indicating that these suits are quite possibly, at this moment, operational." Rhodey continued on.

"Hold on a second buddy. Let me see something here." Tony said as he set up his device to connect with the screen showing pictures. "Boy, I'm good. I commandeered your screens. I need them. Time for a little transparency. Now, let's see what's really going on."

"What is he doing?" Senator Stern questioned looking at his colleagues on the board.

"If you will direct your attention to said screens, I believe that's North Korea."

Abigail's lips quirked as she watched the suit that they had worked on falling over.

"Can you turn that off? Take it off." Senator Stern said, getting a little irritated.

Justin got to his feet.

"Iran."

Abigail shook her head lightly knowing what Tony was doing. He was trying to prove a point that none of the suits that any country made would not match up to the tech of his suit.

"No grave threat here. Is that Justin Hammer? How did Hammer get into the game? Justin, you're on TV. Focus up."

Suddenly the screen went dark.

"Wow. Yeah, I'd say most countries, five, or ten years away. Hammer Industries, twenty."

"I'd like to point out that that test pilot survived." Justin said as he went back to his seat.

"I think we're done is the point that he's making. I don't think there's any reason…" Senator Stern said, looking at Tony.

"The point is, you're welcome, I guess."

"For what?"

"Because I'm your nuclear deterrent. It's working. We're safe. America is secure. You want my property? You can't have it. But I did you a big favor." Tony stood up to his feet and turned to face the crowd. "I've successfully privatized world peace." Both his hands went up making peace signs.

Everyone stood up to their feet in surprise.

Abigail let out a breath as she got up to her feet.

"What more do you want? For now! I tried to play ball with these ass clowns."

"Fuck you, Mr. Stark. Fuck you, buddy. We're adjourned. We're adjourned for today." Senator Stern said angrily.

Tony slipped his sunglasses on. He moved towards his sister who was waiting for him in the aisle. "Okay." He said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"You've been a delight."

"My bond is with the people. And I will serve this great nation for the pleasure of myself. If there's one thing I've proven it's that you can count on me to pleasure myself."

Abigail shook her head as she walked with her brother out of the courtroom. She looked at her brother and decided to talk quietly to him. "You really don't want to take this seriously. Senator Stern is going to try and get his hands on your suit. And you're not worried about it."

"Look Abs I know you're worried, but they won't take it."

"But they will take it if you're dead." She snapped, narrowing her eyes at her brother. "Didn't think that far ahead did you?" She shook her head lightly. "You need to stop while you're ahead Tony…" She turned on her heels and walked away from her brother. Sometimes she wondered how smart Tony was that he could be so stupid. She could only hope that whatever happened with Tony it wouldn't get him killed.

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This is the end of Chapter 22. I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. I tried my best with trying to write this out. We got a little bit of sibling bonding. We're going to have more of this bonding through the story. I hope that it turned out well. Please leave a review and let me know what you think of this chapter. Reviews help me keep going when I write stories. I hope to have the next chapter up soon. Until next time.