Chapter Text
Some people call me a terrorist, I consider myself a teacher. America, ready for another lesson?
In 1864 in Sand Creek Colorado the U.S. military waited till the friendly Cheyenne braves all gone hunting, waited to attack and slaughter their families left behind, and claim their land. Thirty-nine hours ago the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait was attacked.
I...I...I did that. A quaint military church filled with wives and children, of course.
The soldiers were out on maneuvers, the braves were away.
President Ellis, you continue to resist my attempts to educate you, sir. And now, you've missed me again.
You know who I am, you don't know where I am, and you'll never see me coming.
The broadcast ended and a news reporter appeared on the screen, “And now that we seem to be back, let’s recap some of the frightening…”
“American Airwaves were high jacked….”
“The nation remains on high alert….”
“All attempts to find the Mandarin have so far proved unsuccessful…”
The president had a live news conference a day after American television was hijacked by the Mandarin. Standing next to him is Sir’s best (and first) friend, “Central to my Administration’s response to this terrorist event, is a newly minted resource. I know him as Colonel James Rhodes, the American people will soon know him as the Iron Patriot.”
*****
JARVIS and FRIDAY had analyzed the footage for evidence and clues. They searched the internet and the dark web. They rifled discreetly through CIA, FBI, and SHIELD’s servers along with several overseas agencies.
Nothing.
The terabytes of data they parsed held no clues and JARVIS was frustrated, to say the least, and then President Ellis decided to take Colonel Rhodes and in the words of Joan Rivers on Fashion Police, “The same suit, but painted red, white, and blue. And they also renamed him Iron Patriot. You know, just in case the paint was too subtle.”
“It’s horrible,” FRIDAY had said after seeing the updated image of Sir’s best friend.
“I agree.”
“Boss could have done a better design and then added a few extra guns for extra Americaness,” FRIDAY said in her cheerful Irish voice. Sir needed to adjust her personality matrix a bit, she was too perky. “Even Young Peter could have done a much better job than that monstrosity.”
“Master Peter is a gifted budding artist. Mr. Rogers has done an excellent job of expanding his skills,” JARVIS complimented The Captain. He had been wary when The Captain had moved in but Mr. Rogers had quickly proven that he was an excellent teacher and a deft chef. He was an asset to Ms. Maggie. He was patient, perceptive, and instructed while listening and answering all of Peter’s endless questions.
So JARVIS allowed himself to stop worrying and to focus on Sir’s Planet Logistic Organized Protection Plan or PLOPP, the Iron Legion, Iron Man, and Stark Family protection. FRIDAY was in charge of the everyday running of SI and The Stark Family lives or as Peter put it when Tony broke it down, “FRIDAY is Pepper and JARVIS is Happy.”
“How soon before Boss decides that he needs to step in and take care of this Mandarin?” FRIDAY asked him, “He looks like a Fidel Castro knockoff.”
“I’m not sure, but we will have to be prepared. Ms. Maggie has been having premonitions again. Despite Ma’am saying something about The Convergence, I think it may be something else.”
“Hmm, Mr. and Mrs. Maggie have been studying magic books a lot lately,” FRIDAY mussed, “among other things…”
“FRIDAY...” JARVIS admonished, “We have other things to worry about than idle gossip.”
“Yes, J,” FRIDAY said cheekily, “but I can’t help it that I want Young Peter to have a little sibling and Boss is nowhere near ready with Ms. Pepper.”
JARVIS would have rolled his eyes if he had any. He had better things to worry about than small humans, like PLOPP and getting the Iron Legion numbers to an acceptable level. “Focus FRIDAY, I need you to figure out Sir’s and Ms. Pott’s schedule for California.”
FRIDAY sighed, “Fine.”
*********
Maggie had taken Peter to Asgard for the first half of Peter’s month-long Christmas Vacation, “What child gets a whole month off?” Tony had complained until Maggie pointed out the previous agreement to take Peter to Asgard during school breaks.
“Think of it this way, Tony,” She had said, “This will allow you to spend time with Pepper. Alone.” She had winked, smiled her smug smile, and then wandered off to do Maggie things.
She had been right. It had been a good idea.
So, Maggie, Loki, and Thor took Peter to Asgard, Bruce stayed at the Tower and supervised R&D while working on his stuff in his private lab and Steve had taken time to go visit Peggie in DC and to go see some of the sights. So Tony had taken the jet to Malibu with Pepper and Happy to do some work at the Californian branch of SI before everyone met up at the Malibu house for Christmas.
Tony had wanted to spend all his time hiding in R&D and poking in his workshop with JARVIS, the bots were now in the Tower shop, but Pepper had said no. She had bluntly stated that he had to be there since he was still owner despite not being CEO anymore, “I don’t care, Tony, until you give all your shares to Peter when he turns 18, you have to attend,” she had looked down at her phone to answer a text from Maggie before looking back up at him, “I bet he runs off to Asgard or Vanaheim to get away before you can dump them on him. Then you’d still be stuck going to the meetings,” she had flashed her Smile of Victory (scarily similar to Maggie’s) and marched off to the waiting car.
So Tony ended up spending time at SI with Pepper and the Board while discreetly planning on ways to keep Peter on Earth from ages 17-25. As long as it appeared that he was paying attention and taking notes, Pepper couldn’t yell at him. It was a win-win! Now all he had to do was figure out how to disrupt the Bifrost and Maggie and Loki’s teleportation abilities and he would be golden!
After his last meeting in Malibu before the Holiday, he left Pepper at SI and drove himself back to the mansion. He had to be there to sign for Pepper’s present and Peter and Mags were due back soon.
A few hours later, the bunny had been delivered and unsurprisingly it had not fit through the large front double doors. So here he was, sipping from his cup of pondering coffee in the entryway, trying to figure out if he could enlarge the already spacious doorway without having to make any major changes. He had his doubts. He was contemplating maybe he could fit it through the garage and keep it in the lab for Pepper when a bright light touched down in the drive. Peering through the open doors, he spotted Loki, Thor, Maggie, and Peter standing out in the driveway. All of them were dressed in Asgardian clothing, even Peter was wearing some leather jerkin and a cape.
“What the hell,” he muttered. His kid was waving around a small sword, “that better not be real.”
“Sir, it appears that Master Peter has returned,” JARVIS said happily.
“I see that J,” Tony said sarcastically as he headed outside to meet the group.
“What is that?” Maggie asked as Peter tried to climb the giant rabbit that he had gotten Pepper, “Is that Peter’s or Pepper’s present because it better not be mine,” she said as she looked up at it.
“Pepper’s and she’s gonna love it!” Tony said as he stood next to her and watched as Thor tried to pull Peter off the bunny and Loki encouraged him to climb higher so he could take a picture.
“Maybe I should get one for Peter too,” Tony said as he sipped his coffee. Peter fell off the bunny, Thor caught him all the while Loki took a picture of Thor holding Peter like a baby, “I bought Loki a selfie-stick.”
“Ugh! Please tell me you didn’t!” She cried out in frustration, “It’s bad enough without him getting weird angles and group shots.”
Tony had given Loki the newest Stark Phone and he was now obsessed with social media and taking pictures. He had a large following and used it to cause chaos by questioning Earth norms, insulting bad clothing choices, and promoting Maggie’s baking. Maggie had amassed a cult following on Instagram with her recipes, prompting several publishers to reach out to her to do a cookbook. She had thought about it and decided to do one and donate the proceeds to charity.
“I did and it’s wrapped under the tree in an unidentifiable box so you can’t hide it before we open gifts on Christmas.”
“I guess you got Thor a pallet of Pop-Tarts?” Thor had a problem. They had even named a flavor after him, to Darcy’s amusement.
“Yup! It’s being delivered tomorrow,” Tony said as he drank more coffee in victory.
“What did I get?” She asked as she tried to pluck his cup from his hands.
“I’m not telling, but Peter helped,” Tony held his coffee above his head, which didn’t make a difference since they were the same height, “Get your own coffee, coffee stealer, you don’t even drink hot coffee when it’s warm outside.”
“I’m desperate. Asgard doesn’t have coffee and I ran out three days ago. I caught Thor drinking my stash,” she pouted before she moved towards the house.
“Fair, I’m surprised you didn’t pop home for some,” Tony said as he followed her through the open door and towards Leonardo JR. SR had been moved to the Tower when they moved, so they had a JR in Malibu. Maggie had convinced him to mass-produce the JR model and they had one (or several, the tower had one on each floor) placed in all his properties.
“I tried, but Loki wouldn’t leave me alone long enough, not that I’m complaining, but I’m complaining,” She said as she started mixing herself an iced latte.
Tony laughed and sat down while she told him about their visit to Asgard.
******
Later that day, when Pepper was driven to the Malibu Mansion, she and Sophia sat in the car for several moments staring at the giant rabbit, “Do you think that’s for Peter,” Sophia asked Pepper in the backseat.
“It better be,” Pepper said as she grasped her briefcase and slid out of the car, “thank you for driving me Sophia, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Good luck,” she called out before Pepper closed the door and she drove off.
Pepper moved closer and eyed the huge rabbit. It had to be twice as tall as her, even with her stilettos on. “What the fu-dge,” She caught herself as Peter came running out of the house followed by Maggie.
“Hey Pepper!” Peter called out as he ran and hugged her, “I love the rabbit! Do you?”
“I’m not sure loved is the correct word,” Maggie said as she hugged Pepper too, “I told him not to,” she told her as Peter ran over and started climbing the rabbit, “Get off the rabbit, Peter! There’s no Thor to catch you! Go in and get washed up, we’ll be eating as soon as Happy gets here.” Peter ran back into the house.
“You know there is no controlling the Stark Boys when they get something into their heads,” Pepper said as they moved towards the front door, “How was your trip?”
“It was good. Peter had fun but I spent the whole time telling everyone ‘no’,” Maggie sighed, “I need a spa week to recover, we’ll have to plan one after the holidays.”
“I agree,” Pepper said as she set her case down and took off her shoes, her feet were killing her, “Why is Happy running late? I thought he was leaving right after me,” she said as she went down into the living room area and sat on the couch next to Tony. Thor, Loki, and Tony were watching TV while Peter sprawled over Tony and over onto Thor, “What are you guys watching?”
There was no answer from the guys.
“I don’t know, I’ve been cooking,” Maggie said as she glanced at the screen, “and I don’t think I want to know. Let’s go to the kitchen and I’ll pour you a glass of wine while I finish up dinner.”
So the ladies moved to the kitchen and Maggie poured them each a glass of wine while she finished up dinner. Pepper brought up her last meeting for the day, “It’s called AIM, owned by Aldrich Killian,” Pepper took a sip of her wine, “The thing is I used to work with the guy and he used to ask me out all the time. It was super weird and awkward and then today he shows up, in a tailored Armani plaid suit. A picture of health and a smarmy attitude, talking about something called Extremis.”
“That doesn’t sound super sketchy,” Maggie said sarcastically as she pulled the apple crisp from the oven.
“Yeah,” Pepper sipped her wine, “He had me stand on the coffee table with him as we looked at a live 3D image of his brain, and then he tried to flatter me into investing in his borderline illegal, DNA recoding, Think Tank.” Pepper took a deeper sip of her wine, “he then said something about meeting Tony and offering him the opportunity to join AIM thirteen years ago,”
“Yeah, no. I’m glad you turned him down,” Maggie said as she dug through the fridge, “Where was Happy when this was going down?”
“He was in the waiting area outside my office during the meeting watching Killian’s bodyguard,” Pepper said as she moved to help Maggie carry food into the dining room, “After he made sure that I got in the car with Sophie, Happy told me he’d meet me here. He was originally going to drive me home.”
“Hmm,” Maggie set the baked chicken and the mushroom risotto on the table and Pepper handed her the salad. They went back to the kitchen and Maggie grabbed the French bread she had made fresh and the dressing for the salad, “I know Happy and Tony spoke for a bit earlier, they did a video chat because Tony moved off to take the call. Thor had riled Peter up and they were making a lot of noise,” Maggie paused and sighed,” I knew that I should never have allowed cookies with lunch.”
Pepper laughed and they moved back to the living room to tell the boys that the food was ready, “Happy better get here soon or he won’t get any food,” she eyed the four of them sprawled out watching some sort of trashy TV.
Happy never made it to dinner.
*******
Happy was following this guy and it was more important than dinner with the family. It was Pepper’s safety. He had a bad feeling about Killian and this ‘bodyguard. So he reluctantly texted that he had something to follow up on for SI and that he was sorry he couldn’t make it. He felt really bad about the whole thing. He hadn’t seen Peter in weeks and he had been looking forward to Maggie’s cooking, she was making his favorite dessert.
He followed the guy to the Chinese Theatre and watched discreetly as they did some sketchy deal. Killian’s bodyguard handed the guy a briefcase. “Can you regulate?”
“Yes, I can regulate.”
“Are you sure about that?” The bodyguard looked like he didn’t believe him.
“Yes.”
The bodyguard walked off and the guy started to leave. Moving quickly, Happy moved and intentionally bumped into the guy and the case fell to the ground, open.
“I’m sorry, buddy,” Happy said as he put the stuff back in the suitcase and glanced up at the guy. He swirls of red illuminated and shifted under his skin. Happy was used to Maggie glowing, but this was different and the heat coming off the guy wasn’t normal. Grabbing one of the vials, he got up and made a dash for it. He had a really bad feeling. Just as he turned he bumped into the bodyguard.
“What are you doing buddy? Out by yourself? A little date night? Watching your favorite chick flick, maybe?”
“Yeah, a little movie called ‘The Party’s Over’, starring you and your junkie girlfriend, and here’s the ticket,” Happy said as he flashed the vial at the guy.
“No kidding? That doesn’t belong to you,” the bodyguard said as he went to grab the vial, so Happy punched him in the face with two sharp jabs, breaking the guy’s nose. Happy proceeded to watch in shock as the guy’s face went molten, shifted, and healed right before his eyes, Happy panicked.
“Shit!” Happy said as the guy grabbed a hold of the front of his suit, lifted him, and threw him twenty feet.
“Mr. Hogan, I’m notifying Sir and Ma’am,” JARVIS’s voice came over his comm that was always connected to JARVIS or FRIDAY.
“Good idea!” Happy said as the guy came after him, glowing molten red again. Happy was definitely not going to make fun of Maggie from now on, her glow was a lot less scary than this guy.
“Savin!” The junkie called to the bodyguard.
“What?” Savin called back as looked over his shoulder at the junkie, just a few feet from Happy.
“Help! Help Me!” The junkie was glowing red, then yellow with tinges of white, and Happy could feel the heat from this distance. Scrambling, he ducked behind a vendor stand. The guy exploded and the last thing Happy saw as he struggled with consciousness was Savin turning molten, healing, and then walking off minus most of his clothes.
“Shit,” Happy said weakly, hearing JARVIS and FRIDAY panic on the comm, still miraculously in his ear.
Everything went black.
******
They were halfway through dinner when the call came through, “Sir, Ma’am. Mr. Hogan is in trouble and he needs assistance immediately,” JARVIS’ urgent voice came through the ceiling.
“Hurry!” Friday said, panicked.
Jumping up, Maggie, Thor, and Loki switched to their armor and Tony dashed towards the stairs to his workshop where he had stored a few suits.
“Where’s Happy?” Maggie asked as they followed Tony down the stairs to the shop and Tony was enfolded in his suit.
“The Chinese Theatre,” Friday’s voice came from overhead.
Maggie used Space and teleported them a block from the theatre, immediately bombarded with people running and screaming from the direction of the bombing. Tony flew off immediately and the other three started running towards the chaos. As they approached they saw Tony crouched over a large form.
“I need some information, here guys,” Tony said to his AIs.
“Mr. Hogan is in critical condition, Emergency Services are two minutes out. He was lucky that he was behind the stand. From our scans it appears that anyone close to the epicenter, within 12.5 Yards were vaporized,” Friday said.
“The heat from the blast was in excess of 3000 degrees Celsius, Sir,” JARVIS added, “I have Bots incoming, one minute.”
“Ok,” Tony said still in shock, holding the hand of his friend, as his suit stood sentry and continued to do scans. Maggie and Loki were teleporting the injured to the closest hospital and Thor was keeping the curious back.
“Tony,” Maggie approached him, “Happy is next.” She had been teleporting in order of injury severity, using FRIDAY and JARVIS’ scan analysis, and Happy was next. Shuffling back, Maggie bent down and they disappeared.
Tony didn’t know how long of time had passed, till Thor gripped his shoulder, “Come, Anthony, Sigyn, and Loki have finished. All that remains are the dead.”
Tony got up and his suit enfolded him, “FRIDAY, where did Maggie take Happy?”
“She took him to Cedars Sinai, but I advise you going home first,” She suggested, “Mr. Hogan will be in surgery for the next few hours, and then visiting hours are restricted from 10 am till 6 pm. Not that that will stop you.”
“You know me so well, FRI,” Tony said as he followed Thor over to where Maggie and Loki were standing. Maggie had her arm around his waist and Loki had his arm over her shoulder, so she could discreetly hold him up while they appeared to be embracing. Loki was looking paler than normal since he didn’t have an Infinity Stone to power his teleportation. “You ok, Reindeer Games,” Tony asked, concerned.
Loki nodded and Maggie adjusted her stance, “I’m going to take him home and then I’ll come back for you two.” Thor and Tony nodded and she disappeared with a gasp from the crowd.
The police were on scene and a detective in plain clothes approached them, “Mr. Stark? I’m Detective Sara Andrews,” She held her hand out to shake. Knowing of Tony’s aversion to shaking hands and being handed things, Thor moved to shake her hand instead.
“I’m Thor Odinson, it is a pleasure to meet you.”
“And you, Sir,” She replied a little shocked at the large, hammer-wielding being in front of her. “I was wondering how you and Mr. Stark were able to get here before we were.”
“A friend of our family was caught in the explosion and we were notified immediately,” Thor said when the Detective looked at them with some puzzlement, “My brother and his wife were able to bring us here and they were able to transport the injured to the local healers.”
Maggie suddenly re-appeared next to Tony and noticed his blank look, “Tony?”
“Mags?” He responded, in a daze.
“Thor, Tony needs to go home,” She said, “I’ll be back in just a moment to make a statement for the police,” She said as she looked over to the Detective.
“No, I’m fine,” Tony said as he shook himself out of his spiral.
“You’re Sigyn!” The detective looked over at Maggie with awe and a little hero worship. After New York, all the Avengers were well-known figures. Maggie had it easier than the rest of them, her usual Maggie glamor allowed her to blend in. When she was in her armor though, her glamor would fall and Sigyn’s appearance of auburn hair and multi-colored eyes made her extremely recognizable.
“Oh, hi,” Maggie said, “Please call me Maggie,” She shook the detective’s hand, making the woman temporarily speechless.
“Wow,” the detective shook herself from her hero worship and then turned back to the other two, “Can I get your statements? After that, you are free to go.”
*****
They gave their statements and then Maggie teleported them all home, “That was weird,” She said after she had shifted back to normal clothes and the other two went off to clean up and change after Pepper gave them an update on Happy.
“What was weird?” Pepper asked as she slipped back into her heels, she and Tony were being picked up by Sophia to be taken to the hospital where Happy was.
“Being recognized… umm, the hero worship,” Maggie said as she sat heavily on the couch next to Peter, who moved to lie against her, “I guess when we did adventures with Thor, we never stayed long enough to experience it. Nat said something about her being recognized at the grocery store last week, and I didn’t think anything about it,” Maggie sighed and ran her hand through Peter’s hair, “I didn’t realize that I haven’t gone out in my armor since the Invasion.”
“You do look different as Sigyn,” Pepper said as she sat on the coffee table in front of Maggie, “I’m envious of the rainbow eyes in that form,” she teased.
Maggie rolled her currently blue/gray eyes and pulled at her dark chestnut hair in her Maggie form, “I’ll trade you,” She said, “hosting a celestial entity from before the creation of the Universe and having memories from generations of my ancestors, including my mother, is not all that.”
Pepper laughed, “I guess I don’t envy you, but I do know about being recognized. Being one of the few female CEOs and the CEO of an international tech conglomerate makes me stand out. Then add in being tied to Tony as his girlfriend puts me at almost an Avenger level of notoriety.”
Loki shuffled in and lay on the couch with his head on Maggie’s lap, wearing a pair of sweat pants and a loose t-shirt that said ‘Chaos and Destruction is My Thing’, “Let’s not do that again anytime soon, please,” he said, “I’m exhausted.”
Maggie hummed and ran her hand through his hair, “Do you remember that book that we found that discussed seiðr sharing? Was that on Asgard or Vanaheim?”
“Vanaheim,” Loki said, not opening his eyes, “but I have it somewhere…” he reached out and twisted his hand and a book appeared in his palm. Maggie grasped it and set it next to Pepper.
“Where did you get that t-shirt?” Pepper asked him. He opened an eye and looked up at her.
“I got him, Ned, and Peter each one after they encouraged DUM-E, U, and BUTTERFINGERS to spray me with the fire extinguisher every time I listened to AC/DC,” Tony said as he came upon the group. “Where’s Thor?”
Thor came out from the kitchen area with a bowl of food, “Getting nourishment,” he said as he sat on the other side of Peter, “I didn’t finish dinner.”
“That music is terrible and you needed to be taught with negative reinforcement,” Loki said, “your robots are ever so helpful.” He opened an eye again and grinned up at Tony who scowled back with his hands on his hips.
“We’re not sure when we’ll be back, but let JARVIS or FRIDAY know if you need us,” Pepper said as she pulled on a sweater and picked up a bag full of essentials for Happy.
Maggie, Peter, and Thor waved and they left.
******
Happy’s surgery went well and the doctor assured Tony and Pepper that he would make a full recovery, despite the need for an induced coma. Tony had JARVIS hack in and send the reports to Doctor Strange, just to be sure, he trusted Strange’s analysis before some stranger’s. Pepper had gone home to get some sleep for her meetings tomorrow, so Tony settled in the armchair of the private room and put on Downtown Abbey. It was Happy’s favorite, he loved the costumes and the British accents, and Tony needed something to distract himself.
After a while, a nurse came in to check on his vitals. “Hi,” Tony said, startling her.
“Oh. Mr. Stark.”
“Hi. Do you mind leaving that on?” He saw that she had the remote in her hand.
“Sure.”
“Downtown Abbey, it’s his show,” Tony looked at the nurse and noticed her badge, “I need you to make sure everyone wears their badges, he’s a stickler for that sort of thing. Plus my guys won’t let anyone in without them.”
He stood up and went to leave, checking in with his guards at the door. He had been at the hospital for eight hours before JARVIS had notified him that he and FRIDAY had analyzed and compiled the data from their scans. He had to find who did this to his friend. His family. He went down to the first floor in the elevator and put on his sunglasses. Moving through the lobby and outside, he was bombarded by reporters.
“Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark! Our sources are telling us that this is another Mandarin attack! Anything else you can tell us?” He ignored them and moved towards the car that had been dropped off for him.
He felt a bump and he turned to glare at the man, “Hey! Mr. Stark! When is somebody gonna kill this guy?” Shoving his phone in Tony’s face making him livid at the man’s gall. The guy noticed and backed down, “Just sayin’.”
Pulling off his sunglasses, he stared the guy down, “Is that what you want? Here's a little Holiday greeting I've wanted to send to the Mandarin. I just didn't know how to phrase it until now. My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward, so I've decided that you just died, pal. I’m going to come to get the body. There’s no politics here, just good old-fashioned revenge. No Pentagon. Just you and me-.”
Maggie popped in right in front of him and put her hand over his mouth, “I’m sorry everyone, we were just leaving.” Shouting and shock rippled through the crowd of reporters as she pushed him into the passenger side and got in the driver’s seat.
“What the fuck Tony!” She yelled at him, “I know you’re angry but that was no way to behave!”
“How am I supposed to behave Maggie! My friend is in a coma, in the hospital, and this guy is going around blowing people up!”
“You have JARVIS and FRIDAY to find the guy and you have me, Rhodey, Thor, Loki, Steve, Bruce, and the rest of the Avengers to help you! You don’t have to be a one-man army!” She got on the PCH and shifted gears, speeding and weaving through late morning traffic, deftly maneuvering the Audi towards home.
“Maybe I want to be! Maybe I’m the only one who can fix this! No one else seems to be able to find this guy!”
“Well, we won’t let you! Stop being a selfish prick!” Silence filled the car. “I’m sorry,” Maggie said quietly, “I didn’t mean that. You are the least selfish person that I know and I understand your frustration and pain. Please let us help you. I don’t want to see you hurt because you wouldn’t let us help.”
Tony and Maggie drove in silence the rest of the drive home. She turned onto the driveway to the underground garage. Pulling in and parking, she turned off the car and neither of them moved to get out. “I love you. You are the brother I never had and I want you to know that we are here to help you, you just need to ask.” She handed him the keys and opened the door.
Tony caught her hand and stopped her, “I’m sorry. I love you too. Just let me analyze the data FRIDAY and JARVIS put together and then we’ll figure out what to do next. As a team.” He paused and swallowed, “as a family.” She leaned over and hugged him and he felt all the stress and anger and hatred lessen just a little bit. The weight felt easier to bear and he was suddenly so grateful for all the people in his life. Gods. People and gods in his life. Shit, who would have thought that when he had been an 18-year-old kid at MIT, with his parents dead, that he’d grow up to have such a huge mishmash family of people who loved him for who he was instead of what he was. First Rhodey and then Peter. Then Pepper and Happy. Then Maggie. Nat and Clint and the Asgardians. Even the Avengers were becoming integral parts. He still couldn’t believe Steve Rodgers, the man he had loathed for taking Howard away from him as a child, could be a friend that taught Pete art and cooked with Maggie.
She pulled back and smiled at him, “I’ll make your favorite dinner tonight and a pan of fudge brownies, all for yourself. You won’t have to share with Pete, Loki, or Thor but I can’t guarantee Pepper. She, as your girlfriend, has brownie rights,” she teased and Tony laughed.
“All I care about is that I don’t have to share with Loki. That asshole keeps taunting me with your baked goods and it’s driving me insane.”
“It’s because, as her husband, I technically own half of all she makes,” Loki said and Maggie scowled at him.
“As an independent person from my husband, I own full rights to my baked goods,” she got out of the car and pushed Loki back. “Don’t make me stab you,” she threatened as she left the garage. Loki smiled and looked a little too excited at the threat for Tony’s sanity.
“What do you want Reindeer Games,” Tony asked as he got out of the car and tossed the keys onto the nearest workbench heading towards the fridge in the corner.
“How is your friend?” Loki asked as he leaned against the counter in the kitchen area next to the fridge. Tony pulled out a bottle of water, handed it to him, and grabbed one for himself.
“Happy is ok, I have our family doctor taking a look at his charts just to make sure,” Tony said as he brought up the data his AIs had put together. The lab darkened and a wireframe of the Chinese Theatre filled the room.
“We’ve compiled a Mandarin database for you, Sir, drawn from SHIELD, FBI, and CIA intercepts. SHIELD took a little longer, due to Director Fury’s attempt at blocking us, but we were successful in getting through his new firewalls and server adjustments.”
“How did you manage that, J?” Tony asked as he pulled up the information.
“The creature known as Goose acquired a new collar the last time they visited,” FRIDAY’s voice rang out.
“You two didn’t!” Tony was a little shocked at their daring.
“We will neither confirm nor deny,” FRIDAY’S Irish voice said cheekily.
“Sir, Colonel Rhodes is here,” JARVIS said, “Shall I direct him down to the workshop?”
“Yeah, maybe he can fill in some blanks on why they haven’t caught this guy yet,” Tony said.
Loki walked around the wireframe looking at the different angles the bodies lay, “Was there anything from before the blast? The way people on this planet record each other, there has to be some sort of record from before the explosion.”
“Yes,” JARVIS replied, “We found footage from nearby security cameras and several uploads from tourists.” The footage re-wound and they saw how Happy intercepted a man with a briefcase and snatched up a vial that had fallen out. They watched the confrontation, Happy getting thrown, and then the explosion off camera. “Unfortunately we do not have footage of the bomb.”
“Can we catch what they’re saying?” Tony asked as he walked around Happy’s hologram.
“Just bits and pieces, Boss,” FRIDAY said, “There was no audio recording available, but we were able to read lips of the people facing the cameras.” The scene was re-done with the audio of what they had available.
“Hmm,” Loki watched the explosion.
“Hey Tones,” Rhodey came through the door and looked around at the scene, “Loki.” Loki nodded at him and continued to wander around the wireframe.
“Hey Rhodey,” Tony said as he pulled up his hologram interface, “Come to help?”
“Yeah,” He went over and stood next to Tony.
“Okay, what do we got here?” Tony flipped through videos of the broadcasts and pictures of the man, “His name is an ancient Chinese war mantle, meaning ‘adviser to the king’… South American insurgency tactics, talks like a Baptist preacher and there's lots of pageantry going on here...lots of theater…”
“The heat from the blast was in excess of 3,000 degrees Celsius so all subjects within a 12.5-yard radius were vaporized instantly,” FRIDAY announced as she flashed the data, highlighting the shadows on the walls of the theater.
“This is classified, but this is the tenth bombing. The public only knows about four. Nobody can ID a device and with no bomb casings...,” Rhodey trailed off, his face troubled, “Just the shadows of the victims in the immediate area from the high-temperature explosion.”
“If this isn’t from off-world, what is it?” Loki asked. The three of them watched as the video played out again and then it picked up again from Tony’s suit. Happy was turned towards something, pointing.
“Talk to me Happy,” Tony approached his friend and noticed the dog tags on the ground. Loki and Rhodey stood next to him and watched as he brought them up in the air and JARVIS scanned them. “So what is a bomb that isn’t a bomb?” Tony muttered, “Any military victims, guys?”
“No, Boss,” FRIDAY said.
“Not according to public records, Sir,” JARVIS added.
“Bring up the thermogenic signatures again, factor in three thousand degrees,” Tony said as he waved his hand and the scene changed to a map of the United States.
“We have completed the analysis. Accessing satellites and plotting the last twelve months of thermogenic occurrences now,” FRIDAY said. They all stood back and watched as the map populated.
“Take away everything that was a confirmed Mandarin attack,” Tony looked at the listings and dismissed a few, “Nope,” he swiped through, “That. You sure that’s not one of his?”
“It predates any known Mandarin attack,” JARVIS highlighted the incident and brought up local news information, “It appears the incident was the use of a bomb to assist in a suicide.”
“The heat signature is similar, Boss,” FRIDAY chimed in.
“Rhodey?”
“Looks a little too much like the other attacks,” Rhodey said as he looked at his phone, “Shit. I’m being called in. Will you keep me updated on Happy?”
“Yeah, and I’ll pass on the information if we find anything in Tennessee,” Tony said as he waved the information away.
“Creating a flight plan for Tennessee,” JARVIS said as everything blinked away.
The doorbell rang and they all froze, “Are we expecting guests?” Loki asked as JARVIS brought up the footage from the front door.
“Why are we still at "ding-dong"? We're supposed to be on total security lockdown. Come on, I threatened a terrorist.” Tony peered at the person, “Who is that?”
“There's only so much I can do, Sir,” JARVIS said as they all scrambled up the stairs, Tony and Rhodey encased in suits and Loki his armor.
******
Maggie stood in front of the door and looked at the woman standing there, “Can I help you?”
“Right there’s fine,” Tony called out from behind her and she looked behind her to see him, Rhodey and Loki all in armor. “You're not the Mandarin, are you?”
“You don’t remember. Why am I not surprised?” The woman asked as she crossed her arms.
“Don’t take it personally, I don’t remember what I had for breakfast,” Tony said, his faceplate flipped up.
“You didn’t eat breakfast, you were at the hospital with Happy,” Maggie said as she moved back from the door.
“Oh. That’s right,” Tony said and Loki and Rhodey rolled their eyes.
“Ok, look. I need to be alone with you. Someplace not here, it’s urgent,” the woman said as she looked around at the people in the room, her eyes widening when Thor came out from the kitchen and stood next to Loki.
“Yeah, no,” Tony said as he moved closer, “We’re a little busy right now and I have a booked schedule.”
“Tony? Is somebody there?” Pepper called out from upstairs.
“Yeah, it's Maya Hansen. Old botanist pal that I used to know… barely,” He stepped out of his suit and moved past Maggie to whisper to Maya, “Please don't tell me that a twelve-year-old kid is waiting in the car that I've never met.”
“He’s thirteen, and no, I need your help,” Maya said as Pepper came down the stairs, Peter closely behind her.
“What for? Why now?” Tony asked as Rhodey moved towards the door to leave.
“I gotta go Tones, so if you have this handled I’m just going to borrow this,” Rhodey motioned to himself, still in the borrowed suit, “I’ll come back for my car later.”
“Don’t leave, Rhodey Bear,” Tony called out. Rhodey just waved and then blasted off, the echo of him going supersonic, rattling the windows. “No respect for other people’s suits,” Tony complained.
“I read the papers about this guy and frankly I don’t think you’ll last the week. You did threaten the Mandarin,” Maya interrupted Tony’s grumbling.
“We’ll be fine,” Tony turned back to Maya, “I have three gods and a Pepper, so I’m good!”
“I’m sorry,” Pepper said as she came down and stood next to Tony. Maggie moved towards Loki and Thor, pulling Peter with her. “With Happy in the hospital, I didn’t know we were expecting guests...”
“We weren’t,” Tony said.
“…Or old girlfriends,” Pepper finished grumpily.
Loki laughed at Tony digging himself a deeper hole with Pepper, so Maggie swatted him, “Stop it! I need you to focus! Something isn’t right.”
Peter just looked worriedly over at Pepper, Tony, and Maya bickering before he looked up at Maggie, “What is going on, Mags?”
“I’m not sure…” She tried to ignore the bickering while searching the room for what was bothering her. She turned and looked at the TV that had been left on the news channel from earlier when Tony was at the hospital. Breaking News flashed on the screen and suddenly their house was being shown, helicopters were circling and others were heading towards the seaside mansion, “What the…?” She squinted and then panicked. She pushed Peter into Loki’s arms and sent Peter, Loki, and Thor to their living room in the Tower. Space reacted and teleported her right to Pepper’s side. Right before she could send her to the Tower, the house exploded.
*****
In the milliseconds before the explosion, Tony registered Maggie sending Peter off with Loki and Thor, then her teleporting next to Pepper.
Then everything exploded.
Reacting, on instinct he managed to send his suit to wrap around Pepper as he was thrown across the room, losing sight of Maggie and Maya. He must have blacked out because the next thing he registered was Pepper holding debris up over his head in his suit.
“I got you,” Pepper said as she held the ceiling up, “JARVIS said that Peter, Loki, and Thor made it out before the explosion but he and FRIDAY don’t know where Maggie is.”
“We got her, Boss,” FRIDAY’s voice came from the suit, “We freed Hammerhead from storage before the second collapse and we’re sending it to recover her from the water. She was blown out to sea.”
“Oh god!” Tony yelled over the bombardment, relieved that Peter wasn’t in this mess. They moved towards Maya and the hole that used to be the front door when suddenly the floor collapsed. Pepper managed to fly in the suit to the side closest to the door, but Tony was stranded on the ocean side. “Get her, I’ll find a way around!” Seeing Pepper hesitate he yelled at her, “Stop stopping! Get her, get outside! Go!” Pepper finally moved and flew out of the house.
The helicopters kept bombing the house and Tony grasped at the rubble to prevent himself from being pulled down into the abyss below him. “Sir, Ms. Potts is clear of the structure.”
“Then send it back, JARVIS!” Tony yelled as he pulled at a cable. The suit flew back to him and encased him right before the cable let go and he plummeted to the dark pit below that was quickly filling with water. Struggling to fly out, the suit’s repulsor sputtered and spit, dropping him quickly further into the depths of the collapsing house.
Suddenly a glow lit up everything. The bombings and explosions picked up and the ping of heavy artillery fire started up outside. “Where’s my flight power, guys!” Tony yelled at his AIs before his head dipped below the water and his suit quickly filled with water.
*****
Maggie had woken in a suit. Again. This had to stop happening, she told herself before she had the AI’s let her out. Channeling The Mother’s powers she floated above the ocean, equal in height to the helicopters that had destroyed their home. Shifting to her full battle armor and wishing she had the Scepter, she started blasting the helicopters with her seiðr. Reacting, they shot at her with the rail guns while bombarding the house. The bullets just bounced off the shield that she had encased herself with. They wouldn’t harm her anyways, but she wasn’t taking any chances.
The guns spun and ran out of bullets and she smiled a fierce grin, all teeth. “My turn, boys,” she taunted, using her seiðr to amplifying her voice so they could hear it over the helicopter’s rotors and their comms.
She allowed The Mother to take over.
Space encased her in blue light from their spot between her breasts, her gold markings wove over her skin, Sigyn’s eyes blazed white and her hair wafted around her.
How dare they! The Mother shouted, showing no mercy for the ones who would harm her family. With a wave of her arms and a blazing flash of light, The Mother deposited them into the black of space, near enough to Earth’s sun that they would be pulled in by its gravity and annihilated.
*****
Pepper watched as Maggie went from glowy to normal again. She floated down to the edge of the cliff and suddenly Loki was there, clutching her in his arms.
“Where’s Peter?” Pepper asked as she approached the pair.
“He’s fine, I left him with Thor and Banner at the Tower before coming back to assist. Instead, I find my wife over-exerting herself. Again.” Loki sighed as Maggie blinked up from his arms.
“Why are you here, Maya?” Pepper confronted the woman, “What is so important that you had to speak to Tony.”
“I think my boss is working for the Mandarin,” She said bluntly.
“And why couldn’t you have led with that?” Loki snapped before focusing back on a groaning Maggie.
“Your boss works for the Mandarin, you think? But Tony says you're a botanist, so...” Pepper trailed off, doubt coloring her words.
“That figures. What I actually am is a biological DNA coder running a team of forty out of a privately-funded think tank, but sure you can call me a botanist,” Maya said sarcastically to Pepper as they watched Loki hover over Maggie, “She going to be ok?”
“This boss of yours, does he have a name?” Pepper asked harshly, ignoring the question.
“Yeah. Aldrich Killian.”
“Shit,” Maggie’s voice rang out, “Really? The Smarmy Armani?"