Helloo! Finally have the next chapter done, was nice to get back to writing after using all my free time figuring out medical plan, blech. Anyway, enjoy! Also, just curious, is everyone else's adds from just about anything already covering Christmas promotions? First day of November and they instantly switched for me.

SHOUT OUTS!:

NerdyNonNativeNarnian

It was so perfect, I just had too. Thank you. I have to say, if anything has cracked me up a lot with this story, its everyone's readily acceptance of the name changes for the Red Death and Bewilderbeast. I added/changed them for the story to give it more lore depth but so many people use those new names in the comments it warms my heart 3

ALPHA02FURY97

XD yeah, sorry about that, I really thought I sent it to you...obviously not. He will be in this story, do not fear! Just not quite yet.

WeAreNumberOne

Yeah, it was about time the MCU got a more major twist. And the headache it will also bring me XD
Thanks. I get why they did it the way they did in the movie, time constraints, but I don't have those-or at least not as much-so I make it a bit more real to the audience.

CHSHiccstrid

Thanks you! :D

AidenJacksonSmithDSBB

Pretty much

Journal 2, Entry 45: "Iron Man 3 Part 4"

Hiccup watched his people as he wandered New Berk, people all over the island giving their dragons goodbye hugs as they prepared to depart for hatching season. A flock of wild dragons gathered overhead, blocking out the sun. However, he was well accustomed to this sight and ignored it, turning to Loki. "So, when do you leave?"

"Two days." Loki said, sticking to his Chosen's side like glue. "Rogers will be accompanying me, however, I am surprised he is not having Romanov come along as well. Especially for my 'first mission'."

Hiccup chuckled, Loki mirroring it. If only Fury knew what Loki's first mission with proto-SHIELD was…

A woman with brown hair ran into their path, her uneasy expression ruining their lighthearted moment. "Chief, Folke contacted us through the emergency channel."

Hiccup's forehead furled, any number of situations running through his thoughts. "What happened?"

She hesitated before saying, "It's Tony. The Mandarin attacked his Malibu home...he's been declared dead."

Tony groaned as consciousness painfully returned. As his body tried waking up, his back quickly grew tired of being laid on…had he fallen asleep on the lab floor? That was a new one. Usually he at least made it to the couch or just crashed in the desk chair. He tried to roll over and off his complaining back, but he couldn't move.

His closed eyes pinched, daylight finally reaching the cones in wincing eyes. Good Thor, how much did I drink last night…Ugh, Pepper's gonna kill me…if my head doesn't first. He tried to bring a hand up to rub his throbbing skull, confused all the more—he hadn't had a headache this bad since his early days of MIT.

His arm didn't want to move and he didn't question it—that required far too much brain power at the moment. "J-" He rasped, "close the blinds."

A shadow descended over him and he sighed in relief.

"I wouldn't relax just yet, Mr. Stark."

Who the—Tony managed to crack an eye open and frown at the strange man standing above him. He did look familiar, though he couldn't place why. "Security breach." He quipped before his brain caught up with logic. "How'd you get into the lab?"

The man smirked and knelt. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Tony squinted before looking the man in the eyes, confused. "Two."

He nodded and stood. "Well, at least you're not too concussed."

Tony frowned. "Wha-? Why would I be-?" He tried to sit up but could only lift his head. With a confused sound, he looked down along his body. He was in his suit. Well, that explains the soreness. His eyes narrowed as he looked closer at his chest then down at his gloved hands.

There was a metal band covering his chest and each wrist, and he wager his legs too, pressing him flush against the floor. Giving another experimental tug proved that he'd need the suit's help to free himself.

A woman's voice called from the front of the helicopter but Tony didn't understand a word she said. Nor what the man standing over him responded in turn. He smirked again at Tony before stepping out of view and he didn't feel like craning his neck to track him.

"JARVIS?" He whispered.

"I am here, sir." JARVIS said quietly in his ear.

Tony relaxed a bit, at least he wasn't totally alone. He stayed silent for a moment, piecing together his memories. They were clear up until Maya yelled…then it all started merging together and became fuzzy at best. One memory, however, stuck out clearly. "Have you managed to contact uncle H?"

"Negative, sir. The damages inflicted make the previously slim chance of calling for help impossible. I've been doing what little repairs I can on the suit, but I am not a miracle worker."

Tony lay still, eyes closed, but smiling ruefully. "Ah, don't say that. Okay, how long was I out?"

"Difficult to fully determine, sir. After I rebooted, again, three hours and thirty-seven minutes."

Tony quietly huffed and focused on his surroundings; what was around that could possibly help him escape. The first thing he picked up on was the lack of a whirr, he could have sworn he saw a helicopter as he—JARVIS—tried to make a break from the water but the noise surrounding him now sounded more like a small jet engine. Huh, must have switched. His brows pinched in frustration. That just made figuring out where on Midgard he was all the trickier.

He tested the restraints again, trying to twist his arm to see if he could get at them with the laser—but to no avail. "What suit functions are operational?"

"Minimal. Rockets can deploy, but the guidance system is out. You would have to 'eye-ball it'."

Tony glanced around the plane hold with a frown before glancing down at the odd cuffs. "Better not risk that yet. If the plane goes down, I don't want to go down with it."

"Repulsors work, however, they will draw attention before we can build up enough power to break free of the restraints. They are surprisingly strong."

Tony smiled and almost laughed. "Tried that already, ey pal?"

He could have sworn the AI grumbled as it responded. "They shocked the suit again, though thankfully not enough to damage you."

Tony glared at the ceiling, it was a wonder his heart wasn't having palpitations from the constant shocks. "Well, it's the thought that counts."

They fell silent as he tried to come up with an escape plan. Some forty odd minutes passed before anything interesting happened, unfortunately not born of his own ruminations.

Chatter in that foreign language picked up again as feet shuffled around the hold, two stopping on either side of him. He cracked an eye before opening the other to stare at the Scandinavian and black man, holding onto straps bolted to the frame and purposefully ignoring him. And for the moment, that was fine by him. The thing that worried him was that they were paying attention to him now versus ignoring him throughout the flight; other than checking on him when he first woke up, they'd left him alone.

He already knew why, but as the plane jolted from touching down a breath later, his thoughts were confirmed. After they rolled to a stop, the men guarding him bent over and gripped his wrists and shoulders, the black man flicking his dagger around and turning it into a Taser—uncle H is not going to be pleased about that. "Twitch the suit one inch in a direction we don't like and I'll take it offline."

Tony glared at him but refused to acknowledge him otherwise. They must have taken that as confirmation enough as they released the restraints, but kept a firm hold on him, pushing or pulling him along in the direction they wanted. They exited the plane through a modified ramp; he was pretty sure those models don't come with loading ramps. But considering he was pretty sure he'd just been kidnapped by super soldiers, he was willing to bet they could easily modify something like that.

The dying rays of sun peeked over the trees of some deciduous forest before they shoved him across the lawn to a classical mansion. The air was still warm but far more humid than California…he'd guess somewhere down south. The inside of the grand house gave nothing away either, every wall a blank white, cream or tan.

The super soldiers guided him through hallways until they reached a foyer, the brown-haired leader stopping in front of the suit. "Out, and don't try anything either."

Tony glared at him, which he wholeheartedly returned, before relenting—he really didn't want to test these guys again. Not yet anyway. And certainly not while he had all five circling and watching his every move. "Open it up, JARVIS."

"But, sir." JARVIS protested.

"I'll be okay, J." Tony said, trying to sound confident but held little conviction. "Just lock it up as soon as I'm out."

The suit hissed as it opened to release him, Tony sword the gears turning sounded like a grumble from the AI. As he pulled himself out, the suit sealed just behind him, leaving no opening for others to try and squeeze in. Lastly, the mask fell with a loud snap-clunk!, the eyes glowing brightly—hatefully before dimming and shutting off.

The Scandinavian tapped the suit in a few places before shaking his head. The leader nodded and gave Tony a quick but thorough pat down before snagging his arm, leading him down an adjacent stairwell with the bald man following.

"You people ever going to tell me why I'm here, or is it just Hydra's usual shenanigans?"

The leader's eyes narrowed at him but never slowed their pace. "So you know."

Tony rolled his eyes. "You weren't exactly subtle when you tried to kidnap Hakon."

A dark look passed through the man's eyes but he said nothing more, merely pausing at a bolted door before shoving the inventor inside. "You'll learn soon enough."

Tony stumbled but caught his footing before could eat the ground, turning at the clanking of the bolt closing. He stared at the door, listening as one pair of footsteps left and staying still for another minute but heard nothing else.

Shoulders falling with a huff, he gave the spare room a once over—a near bare cot and a lone lightbulb. His eyebrows rose at his current state; even the cave in Afghanistan had more going for it. This place truly was dismal. Sitting heavily on the cot that groaned loudly at his weight, he brought his hands up to his chin in thought.

*O*

Hiccup's blood turned to ice, and not in the comforting way, before he quickly patted his belt—his shoulders slumping heavily when he found no extra dagger. He shook his head, anger and determination replacing the panic, now draining from his eyes. "Get the non-stationed Changewings on the case and see if any of our plants have heard anything."

He stalked away, Loki catching up with him effortlessly. "And just what are you planning on doing, Liten Listig?"

Hiccup stopped, hands fisting so tight they would soon draw blood. "I left him alone once in the hands of terrorists…I'm not doing it again. The Archipelago doesn't need to hide anymore—I don't need to hide anymore."

Loki placed a gentle but reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I will assist you until I must leave for Fury's wild boar chase—and even then, if you need me, I will abandon his mission in a heartbeat."

A ghost of a smile tried to fight its way onto Hiccup's lips but gut clenching worry kept it at bay. "You're going to just abandon Steve like that?"

Loki rolled his eyes with a playfully mocking smile. "Of course not—I'll take him with me. I'm sure Tony would love to know that his brother will, in the blink of an eye, come to his rescue."

A short, broken laugh escaped Hiccup. "Loathe is more like it." Hiccup only stood still for a moment longer to better gather his thoughts before nodding. "I want to talk to Folke and get a better read on the situation."

Loki nodded solemnly, already plotting vengeance for once they found his kidnappers.

*O*

Killian turned with a smile as the lead super soldier entered the parlor. "You're back! I assume everything went according to plan?"

The man nodded. "Well enough—though your lead scientist was there. She very nearly ruined it."

Killian's smile dropped, saying lowly, "Was she now? I'd been wondering where she'd gone to. Is she alive?"

The man shrugged, eyes staring unnervingly at Killian. "Unknown, but likely."

Killian nodded, he'd deal with her later. "Then let's get the transmission ready. Don't want to leave my partner hanging."

The brown-haired man left and Killian smiled, wondering if he would be allowed to work alongside Hyse. He smirked. After all his help in bringing in their oldest asset and enemy—they'd have to let him. He nearly felt giddy at the idea.

*O*

Tony had no way of telling how much time passed in his cell—not that it mattered much to him. As long as he had enough time to plan, it was enough…which he had. It wasn't a foolproof plan by any stretch of the imagination—but it was better than nothing. However, he continued to sit quietly like a nice little prisoner—hoping they'd lower their guard, even if only just a fraction. But given the nature of his kidnappers, that wasn't likely. Oh well, call it energy conservation then.

He sat silently, glaring at the far wall, until he heard faint footsteps descending the stairs. Carefully standing so that the bed wouldn't squeak, he softly crossed the little room until he stood flush with the door, back pressed against the wall. He waited until the footsteps stopped in front of his cell door before flicking his arms about in a calculated maneuver, then silently drew his dagger.

The bolt slid and the door opened. The super soldier who escorted him down to this cell took half a step in and Tony lept, driving Hakon's dagger into the man's side. The man yelled in pain as the dagger slashed through his Kevlar padded side easily and stumbled back in shock. Tony nearly lost his hold on the dagger as the soldier reared back, dragging him out with him, but maintained his grip—yanking the blade out.

The other soldier whipped his head around at the cry of his partner, his hard trained instincts the only thing that saved him from the inventor's second attack; batting away the slashing knife and grabbing Tony's shoulder—slamming him into the wall.

Tony groaned as stars pockmarked his vision and slid down the wall, shaking the pain away.

Words in the unknown language cut short as the first man growled, "How'd he get that knife back?"

"He didn't have it on him when we-" The second man paused, tilting his head—listening.

Tony shifted, kicking the back of his knees. The bald man half-way collapsed, but the attack did little else except garnering the attention of both soldiers, turning murderous gazes to him. A crackling sound came from the bald man's hand as ice started forming around it—only to be hit from behind on the head and fall hard to the floor. The leader whipped his head around, hands leaving his wound to fight, only to curse and send a silvery blast at a rocketing piece of red armor.

Tony beamed, catching the flying pieces of armor as they came—blasting the bald man as soon as he had a gauntlet, but unfortunately, only catching him with half the blast as he spun to evade.

A vicious skirmish of repulsor whines, ice crackling and physical attacks ensued. Tony would raise a gauntleted hand to blast a soldier and they would evade, attacking him with their own magic mixed with physical combat. Tony either evaded the magical attacks or blocked the physical before retaliating with a punch followed by a repulsor—sometimes in the opposite order.

The leader blocked an oncoming kick from Tony, aimed at his injured side, with his magic—the silvery light wrapping around his boot and spinning him on his heel. Tony grinned before he stopped, being re-aimed and activated the boot's repulsor at the soldier's partner. Blasting the soldier in the thigh and flying backwards, he heard both curse but was already gone; the repulsor skidding him down the hallway enough to turn and fly up the staircase before they could pounce on him.

Unfortunately, their little spar drew attention, thankfully only the non-super soldier kind for the moment. He braced within his suit and flew straight through them. They flew back like bowling pins; he gave them no notice as he turned and shot out a lovely window.

Alarms blared throughout the mansion that Tony ignored, arcing higher into the blue sky. "JARVIS, I need a flight plan to—argh!"

The suit flickered as a silver blast engulfed them and sent them spinning so quickly Tony couldn't correct before they hit the ground. Tony could feel the suit stop but his world was dark, from the mask having no power or just having taken too much of a beating he didn't know and couldn't care as he fell unconscious after a brief struggle to keep it.

The suit's eye slits flickered back on a moment later. "Sir? Sir, a flight plan to where?"

The AI moved the suit's head when his maker did not respond, his vitals not showing promising results either. Cars spilled out of the mansion's gates and it wouldn't be more than a minute before they reached them. Making an executive decision, JARVIS took control of the suit and continued their retreat.

*O*

Killian smiled as the technicians confirmed their connection to the satellites.

His created Mandarin sauntered into the room, giving everything a once over before looking curiously at his employer. "Is Tony Stark really here?"

Killian tilted his head, eyebrows raising. "Is it a problem if he is?"

The Mandarin pursed his lips unsurely, looking far from the terrifying figure he poses as on screen. "Well…I don't really want to be on his bad side. I mean, he has a reputation after all…"

Killian's lips thinned, staring the man down hard. "And you want to be on mine even less."

The Mandarin took all of a second to mentally confirm the idea. "Very true! Where's my script?" He left Killian alone in search of his lines.

Killian rolled his eyes. He loved anonymity, but sometimes it was almost questionable if it was worth it—though it always is in the end. He turned his attention back to the screens before pointing at the set, having them move some pieces around.

Alarms abruptly blared throughout the mansion, all hands dropping their pieces and soldiers rushing out of the room—following their comrades in a mad rush despite not knowing what the cause for the commotion was.

The Mandarin shuffled nervously in place, constantly glancing at Killian and the lone remaining soldier. Finally, the alarm cut out and silence filled the air, but it was far from comforting. Shortly there-after, the female super soldier entered the filming studio with a grim scowl. "Stark escaped."

Shock was Killian's first wordless-thought, soon followed with begrudging respect, then fury. But none of this showed on his expressionless face bar a minute quirk down of his lips. "He, escaped?" He asked carefully, already he could feel Extremis rushing through his veins.

She didn't answer verbally, merely cocking her head, eyebrows pulled up. She may be assigned to work with him, but that did not mean she had to play his games.

Killian took a 'calming' breath. "And how did a perfectly normal human outsmart, attack and escape from an elite team of super soldiers?! All he had was a scrappy cot and a lightbulb!"

Anger simmered in her eyes. It was a good question. The only thing missing was that the normal godson of not-so-normal Hakon Hyse had also wounded two of their number in his escape. Their leader, particularly, was not pleased with this fact—having been the first to fall to him. "He had a knife."

Killian's head tilted down while his eyebrows rose. "A knife?" He turned to the actor giving the Mandarin life. "You heard a knife, right? That a knife took down a team of super soldiers?"

The actor, scared to death by both Killian and the lethal woman's glares, could only nod—praying that it wouldn't offend either.

The woman huffed, the murderous look never leaving her face. This was twice now that Tony had taken on and won against Hydra's soldiers. "Only one fell prey to his knife, though we are unsure how he slipped it by us."

Killian pinched the bridge of his eyes. "Even with Hydra's best, I'm surrounded by incompetents."

She scowled at him but said nothing…yet.

Killian's eyes hardened and stalked out of the room. "Alright, we're going to Plan B."

Hiccup stood at the broken cliff-side, the crumbled remains of the Malibu home, glaring at the rubble. He stretched his magic out but came up empty. Unlike Loki, he didn't have a mark to track Tony by. That's changing after this. I should have put a tracker on his dagger when I first made it. Stupid Hiccup.

He turned on his heel, away from the wreckage, Tor whining at his side. "We'll find him, bud."

Intertwining his fingers in the black fur, he reached out with his magic to teleport to the nearest branch when his communicator rang. Looking at the face, his face pinched at the unknown caller from outside the Archipelago…but his 'number' was only known to but a scant handful of people. His heart leapt at a thought as he quickly answered the call.

*O*

Tony came back to to darkness, only a faint light of the HUD…and someone yelling at him? He moaned as his protesting head was forced to adjust to the waking world. "Ung, cut the alarm."

"Sir, the suit has less than five percent power left."

That woke him up quickly—only for his shrapnel-less heart to launch into his throat as the snow covered road, two moving lights of what must be a car and a buck closed in fast. He tried to adjust his flight path, avoiding the car and buck, but shot into a forest—crashing into an innumerable amount of thin, skeletal trees before finally crashing to the ground.

He groaned as the suit finally came to a stop; the mask lifting and a cold substance drifted softly onto his face. "Is that snow?" He asked with little thought. "Where'd you take us…the Archipelago?"

"Yes, sir, it is. And no, we are five miles outside of Rosehill, Tennessee."

"Why?!" Tony demanded, laying perfectly still in the snowdrift. "JARVIS, not my idea! What are we doing here? Is Pepper alright!? Why wouldn't you take me to uncle H…or the Tower at the very least?!"

"I prepared a flight plan." JARVIS said simply, a little too happy. "This was the location."

Tony blinked, remembering however long ago it was that felt like only hours, his hunt for the Mandarin taking him to Tennessee. "J, that plan was scrapped when Hela accursed super soldiers attacked my home and kidnapped me."

JARVIS started to say something in return when the suit sparked again. "I-I-I'm believe I mi-might be m-m-malfunctioning, sir."

"Open and eject." Tony ordered before the suit could die. He sat up, only to realize his slight mistake. "Oh! Oh, that's brisk! Maybe I'll just cozy back up…"

"I actually think I need to sleep now, sir." The AI said before the suit fully powered down.

"JARVIS?" He called, looking back at the suit. He sighed at the sorry sight of it. Honestly looking at it, it was amazing it had flown from wherever south they were to Tennessee—though it was a bit disconcerting that the reason they crashed was due to a lack of power. This new arc reactor should have powered it easily.

It took a bit of time, time that he didn't really have, being dressed for Malibu winter and not a six-inch snow. But eventually, he did find a discarded chain by the roadside that he could use to drag the suit behind him. It was slow work made agony by his tired and battered body, but it at least kept his blood pumping hard against the freezing winds.

Finally, a gas station came into view. He dropped the chain and the suit fell a few inches to the ground just outside the building. Shivering up to the wooden Indian statue, he stole the Christmas-y blanket wrapped around its shoulders. A quick glance around gave the straightforward story of a closed shop…so not getting in to get the phone, or at least not legally. He was about to throw legality out the window when he spied a pay phone. Didn't know they still made those.

Inside, the phone booth was at least shielded from the wind which felt like a sauna to his wind frozen skin. He made quick work hot-wiring the phone, calling the first number to come to mind and praying he answered.

"Hello?"

"Uncle H!" Tony could have cried in relief.

"Tony!?" Hiccup did cry, sounding close to tears of relief himself. "Where are you?"

Tony glanced at the closed booth door, shivering at the thought of opening it to look around. "Not entirely sure…a few miles from Rosehill, Tennessee, at a gas station." He closed his eyes and frowned in concentration. "There's at least a few houses on the outskirts with the station…I'm going to see if one of them has an open shed. This phone booth is nice, but it's getting cold again."

There was a pause before Hiccup responded. "Okay, I'll be there shortly."

Tony grinned, his first smile in at least a day, tiredly resting his head against the frozen plastic glass. "I can't wait but, uh, can you bring a jacket?"

Hiccup laughed. "Sure thing, kiddo. Be there shortly."

The call disconnected, the payphone echoing its annoying ring, and he hung it up before frowning and taking the handset and dialing again. "Stark secure server. Now transferring to all known receivers…" The automated female voice began.

Pepper sat huddled on the hotel bed, an Iron Man mask sitting next to her and the soft, silvery dragon curled around her neck. On the other side of the bed, Maya sat against the headboard, staring up at the ceiling despondently. The room had remained silent since they checked in, but her thoughts were anything but quiet. "Why were you there?" She asked softly.

Maya's face pinched, regret sinking in deep as she continued to stare upwards. "I really was trying to warn him. I…" She took a deep breath before finally looking at Pepper again. "What happened…? Fun fact; before he built rockets for the Nazis, the idealistic Wernher von Braun dreamed of space travel. He stargazed. You know what he said when the first V2 hit London?"

Pepper tilted her head curiously but said nothing.

"The rocket performed perfectly." Maya smiled at a distant thought. "It just landed on the wrong planet. See, we all being wide eyed—pure science. Then the ego steps in, the obsession…then you look up, and you're a long way from shore. I ignored the signs until it was too late." Her head fell until her chin nearly rested on her chest.

Pepper wanted to say something but nothing came, her own heart aching over Tony…again. "So, did you create them?"

Maya smiled and laughed at the ludicrous idea. "Them, no. Heavens no. They were like that when Killian's partners brought them in, hoping I could fix them with my research."

"I guess you succeeded." Pepper said emotionlessly, leaning back on her arms to stare at the ceiling herself. The plush chirped at the movement and slid off her shoulders to her lap before curling up again.

"Yeah…" Maya rested her head on a propped up hand. Silence fell again between them before a soft, blinking light in the helmet Pepper brought with them caught her eye. "Is it supposed to be doing that?"

Pepper followed her gaze and frowned. "No…" She carefully picked up the helm and looked inside. Not knowing what else to do, she put it on. A light flashed across her eyes, taking a retinal scan, before playing a freshly recorded message.

Maya leaned forwards when Pepper finally took off the helmet, tears lightly streaming down her face. "Pepper?"

The little dragon cooed, butting its head against her cheek. Pepper laughed wetly at it, giving the tiny had a little pat. "He's alive." Pepper choked with a relieved smile, getting up to find a tissue and holding Tony's last gift safely in her arms.

Maya sighed and leaned back against the headboard in relief before her forehead furrowed. "He got away?"

Pepper chuckled from the bathroom. "Yeah. Somehow." She came back and sat heavily on the bed, though her heart was much lighter. "He wants me to call Hakon's people, get somewhere safe and considering the last twenty-four hours, I'm seriously considering it." She paused and looked at Maya. "I think you should come with."

Her eyes widened. "What? No, I couldn't—I helped create something that just kidnapped Tony."

Pepper chuckled and stared at the Iron Man helmet. "And Tony helped create the guns and bombs that got him kidnapped in Afghanistan."

"Pepper, I-" Maya started in deep thought. Would they really let her in? She doubted it. But a knock at the door interrupted her thoughts.

Pepper glanced at the door and sent Maya a hopeful smile before getting up to collect their room service. She gave the man delivering the cart of food a grateful smile, opening the door further so he could come in unimpeded.

A shadow came over the man and in the next instant, a crack rang across the room, dropping him dead. Pepper bolted from the door, shouting, "Maya, run!" but didn't make it far before Killian caught her wrist, pinning her to the wall by her throat.

"Hi, Pepper." He said sweetly but with a grin that promised nothing good.

The plush dragon roared in outrage, but given its miniscule size, it hardly sounded intimidating. Killian shot it an intrigued look, titling his head curiously. He felt the soft creature crawl up his arm, perching on his wrist, and didn't quite know what to make of it until the thing sunk its fangs into his wrist!

Killian swatted it with a small cry, loosening his grip on Pepper but never losing it. It flew up for another attack, but Pepper snatched it out of the air, holding it tightly so he wouldn't damage it. He gave it a brief look before ignoring it, if Pepper's terrified eyes were anything to go by, she wouldn't be letting it go any time soon.

Maya had shot off the bed at Pepper's shout, glancing around for a quick exit, but the only door was blocked and the windows were closed. By the time she would get one open, she'd be dead five different ways. She froze as he pinned her with a look.

"Want to tell me why you were at Stark's mansion yesterday?"

Her face twisted into a scowl. "I'm trying to fix this mess. You and the Master have no idea what you're getting into with these people."

Killian tilted his head, shooting her a curious look. "Is that so?"

She glared, hatred settling into her eyes. "Or you do…and you just don't care." He grinned and she seethed. "I created Extremis to help people!"

"But you are helping people." He beamed, shooting Pepper an exasperated glance as she tried to smack his head for the remark, but was just out of reach.

"Not like this and you know that!" Maya spat.

Killian rolled his eyes, pulling Pepper away from the wall but pinning her to him while glancing at someone outside the door. "Get her to the car; she could still have some use."

He hissed as the dragon bit him again, his hand glowing dangerously. The plush hissed back at him with only the murderous gaze a dragon can create—no matter their size. Annoyed by his entire day now, he ripped the dragon away from Pepper, ignoring her cries as she reached out for it, and threw it across the room. It quickly reoriented itself, standing on the bed hissing with its wings spread wide.

Squawking mutely erupted from the Razorwhip as the Iron Man helm was slammed over it, Maya holding it firmly and staring down at the red and gold sadly as it thrashed about inside. Killian huffed in annoyance as it was finally dealt with and left.

Maya took a step back, breath hitching as the female super soldier stepped through. The woman didn't move, only glaring at her and briefly flicking her eyes to the door. Maya forced herself to release a breath and took a shaky step. She was leaving this room, willing or not. A worse leaden stone than before dropped in her stomach.

She abandoned the helmet with the trapped dragon plushie squawking furiously with a piteous glance before reluctantly leaving with the soldier close behind.

Alright, that's a wrap for the moment. Thanks to my beta ALPHA02FURY97 for his help. Leave your thoughts, I love hearing them and until next time!