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The Asset looked around the new home his soul mate had taken him to.
Decadent and spacious with large windows on the ground floor to overlook the ocean below.
And in Malibu.
“What do you think?” Tony spread out his arms and walked through the living room backwards as he showed off the place.
“How are its defenses?” The Asset asked.
Tony huffed and crossed his arms over his chest like he was angry, but his eyes sparkled in a manner that told the Asset that Tony was delighted. “One track mind you have there, don’t you?”
“The tower was safe, and you had allies there to protect you should its defenses fail,” The Asset argued. “I assume this is equally safe, if not more.”
Tony briskly marched up to the Asset and squeezed his shoulders. “I promise you it is. Besides, now we get a break from Steve and his disapproving face.”
The Asset did his best not to scowl. He still was not fond of the Captain. The Captain was what the Asset assumed most considered “nice”, but the Captain always looked at the Asset like he expected more—like he wanted more. Nonetheless, the Asset had ignored the looks for the most part, but every now and then, something in his chest would twinge with annoyance. He did not like the reaction.
“You still with me, buddy?” Tony asked, taking a step back.
The Asset reached for Tony’s wrist and gently drew his soul mate to him. “I will follow you wherever you wish to go.”
Worry flashed across Tony’s face, and he slipped his wrist out from the Asset’s hold. “You know, maybe such blind devotion isn’t such a good thing? You almost make me feel like a cult leader.”
“You need more than one follower for a cult.”
Tony blinked in surprise. “Did you just crack a joke?”
The Asset strolled past Tony to examine the house more thoroughly.
“You did, didn’t you?” Tony accused, tailing the Asset.
“I was not programmed for humor.”
“Neither was JARVIS and look how he turned out.”
“My wit could never match yours, sir,” The voice from the ceiling answered.
“I don’t like the windows,” the Asset said. “Makes for easy entry and attack.”
“Well, they’d need to be flying over the ocean for that to happen,” Tony said as if his enemies couldn’t possibly come by some form of aircraft.
The Asset level Tony with a look.
Tony sighed and his shoulders drooped. “This is only temporary. We’ll be back at the tower in no time. Can you put up with the windows until then?”
The Asset still didn’t like the windows, but he had not lied when he said he would follow Tony anywhere his soul mate desired, so he nodded.
“Excellent! Let me show you the lab here! You’ll love it.”
Something haunted Tony’s dreams.
The Asset had learned that particular truth before Tony had moved them to Malibu. He’d suspected that the reason for the move had been because the dreams were slowly leaking out into the real world.
The Asset had felt the telltale tingle that his soul mate was suffering and had accepted Tony’s pain without question, only for his lungs to burn and his throat to feel as if it had been sealed shut. He’d run to Tony, only to find his soul mate kneeled on the floor and pale.
The Asset had reached for Tony. He had been batted away, and the Asset would normally accept such physical rejection, except Tony had kept trembling, and the Asset would not leave his soul mate in distress. He’d held Tony until the man stopped shaking.
The number of times that had happened had been few before their move, but now that they were in Malibu, the Asset saw the behavior more and more. He worried for his soul mate, but he did not know what to do to cure his soul mate of these nightmares that plagued him during the day.
He also saw that his soul mate was building an army of metal suits.
At first the Asset was apprehensive; so many suits could only mean a large battle was coming. However, the hours tinkering in the workshop and the number of armors his soul mate created seemed to bring Tony unbridled joy. The Asset approved of this, so he joined Tony in his workshop. Sometimes he just sat and watched as Tony worked, and other times he practiced his combat skills. Tony had even designed a few battle dummies for the Asset, which were greatly appreciated.
The only person who did not seem happy with this new routine was the woman known as Pepper Potts.
The Asset had mixed feelings about her. She brought Tony joy, but she also reprimanded him for doing things he loved.
It was a complex relationship that the Asset couldn’t begin to understand, but as long as Tony was happy overall, he wouldn’t interfere.
Although, as Tony proceeded to test out the Mark Forty-Two on Pepper, even the Asset questioned the wisdom of Tony’s actions. He was not the least surprised when the woman marched down the stairs into the workshop.
“This is a new level of lame, even for you,” Pepper said. Her gaze darted to the Asset. “Good evening, James.”
The Asset grunted in greeting and continued his push ups.
Pepper pursed her lips, appearing as if she wanted to say more, but didn’t know what else to say. So instead, she turned her attention back to Tony.
“You had dinner without me,” Pepper accused.
“To be fair, he,” Tony nodded at the Asset, “was hungry, and I didn’t know if you were having drinks with Aldrich Killian.”
Ah, yes. Killian. Tony had received a phone call earlier from a man who had mentioned a Killian.
“Aldrich Killian? What, are you checking up on me?”
Tony denied the accusation.
Pepper did not believe him for a moment. She accused Tony of spying, something that made the Asset inwardly chuckle. He had no doubt that his soul mate could be quite the spy when motivated, but Tony generally lacked the subtleness required for spying.
Pepper headed back up the stairs.
“I’m a piping hot mess,” Tony called after her.
Pepper stopped and turned toward Tony.
Tony flailed and gestured to Pepper and the Asset. “Nothing’s been the same since New York.
“Oh really? Well, I didn’t notice that, at all.” Pepper glanced at the Asset then tore her gaze away. She glanced down at the floor, the only hint of shame on her face.
“You experience things and then they’re over and you still can’t explain ’em? Gods, aliens, other dimensions. I…I’m just a man in a can. The only reason I haven’t cracked up is probably because…” Tony trailed off and peered at the Asset from the corner of his eye. He shook his head and refocused his attention on Pepper. “I can’t sleep. I do what I know; I tinker. But threat is imminent, and I have to protect the people I care about; the people I can’t live without. That’s you, my soul mate, and the team. My suits, they’re uh…
“Machines,” Pepper spoke sympathetically.
“But they’re a part of me.”
Pepper shook her head. “A distraction.”
“Maybe.”
Pepper turned to the Asset for help. “Please tell me you’ve at least tried to get him to rest? To take a break? You’re his soul mate. You must be worried about him.”
The Asset stopped in his push ups and scrutinized his soul mate. Tony was tired, but he didn’t look it. He needed rest, but he had pushed himself far more in the past. When Tony would go to lay his head down, every time he’d wake with a pounding heart. The Asset not only knew because Tony’s heart would beat so fast it would cause the man pain, but also because of the many nights the Asset had been awake to hear his soul mate’s whimpers in his sleep.
The Asset took a cross-legged pose on the floor. “If it makes Tony happy and makes him feels safe, then I see nothing wrong.”
Pepper gaped. “You see nothing wrong with him working himself to death?”
The Asset clenched his fist. “That will not happen.” He cast a warning glare Tony’s way.
Tony held up his hands defensively. “Whatever you say.”
Pepper scoffed and continued up the stairs. “I’m taking a shower.”
“Does that mean you’re staying over?” Tony asked.
“That had been the original plan for tonight, but like dinner, that can always change.”
Tony winced at the jab as Pepper disappeared from view.
“I never was very good at sleepovers.”
The Asset cocked his head to the side.
“You have to know about sleepovers,” Tony said, incredulity creeping into his voice.
“With your reputation, I thought you were a master of sleepovers.”
Tony was stunned silent for a moment. A second later, he was bent over with laughter. “Oh god! Why am I laughing so hard? That wasn’t even that funny.” He wiped a tear from his eye, even as he kept laughing. “Damn it. I really do need sleep if I’m still laughing over such a lame joke.”
The Asset smiled softly, pleased to have brought his soul mate so much joy.
The Asset felt the tingle in his chest that told him Tony’s heart was beating far too fast, and when he ventured out into the hall, he could hear Tony tossing and turning in his bedroom.
The Asset padded down the dark hallway and entered Tony’s room.
Tony had stopped tossing and had curled up into a tiny ball and was whimpering.
The Asset squared his shoulders and marched over to the bed; it wasn’t the first time the Asset had awaken Tony from his troublesome slumbers.
The Asset touched Tony’s shoulder and gently shook him, not wanting to harm his soul mate anymore.
Tony’s whimpers increased in volume.
The Asset frowned and tried again, only to release Tony and drop down into a crouch as one of the Iron Man suit’s attempted to grab him.
The Asset swept the armor’s leg and punched it in the chest with his left arm. The chest groaned upon impact and the armor backpedaled. The missiles on its shoulder popped out and aimed at the Asset.
“No, stop! Abort protective procedure,” Tony shouted at the armor.
The armor ceased fighting and waited for orders.
The Asset’s hand drifted toward his knife. Tony wouldn’t let the armor attack him, but the Asset knew enough about protocols to know that there were ways to override them.
He’d overridden his after all.
Once Tony sent the armor away and it was gone from the room, the Asset relaxed.
Tony groaned and covered his face with his hands. “Sorry.”
The Asset nodded in acceptance.
“It’s programmed to respond to my heart rate and breathing patterns, along with any rise in adrenaline and many other bodily functions that indicate a high level of distress. I could go into the high science of it, but I wouldn’t want to bore you.”
Tony was shaking.
The Asset sat on the edge of the bed. “Tell me.”
Tony chuckled, the sound slightly bitter. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“I like hearing your voice.”
“I like hearing my voice too, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to subject you to boredom.”
The Asset shrugged. “Worse things than boredom.”
Tony grimaced. “Okay, you don’t get to say that, because it is way too close to the truth for you and it makes me feel things that I really cannot handle right now.”
The Asset nodded in deference.
There was a moment of silence.
Tony clenched his blankets, his hands still quaking. “Why haven’t you left yet?”
The Asset looked pointedly at Tony’s hands.
Tony scowled and shoved his hands under the blankets. “You don’t have to pity me.”
Tony had misunderstood. Not surprising. Tony was like the Asset; he didn’t always understand emotions.
The Asset reached out and touched Tony’s elbow. “You are my soul mate.”
“I had no idea.”
The Asset squeezed Tony’s elbow. “You are my soul mate. I cannot pity you.”
Tony scoffed. “That’s a load of bullshit.”
The Asset did not falter.
Slowly, Tony’s eyes widened with realization. “You’re serious?”
“I’d like to stay,” he answered instead.
“Here? As in my room?”
The Asset nodded. “I will guard you.”
Tony shook his head.
His trembling had almost stopped though.
“Fine. Sure. Knock yourself out.” He flipped open the blankets and patted the spot next to him. “Plenty of room.”
The Asset frowned. “I had intended to guard you from a better location.”
Tony scoffed. “What? Like at the side of my bed?”
The Asset did not contradict Tony.
Tony cursed. He grabbed a pillow and threw it at the Asset. “Sorry, pal. If you want to guard me then you have to do it from my bed. And I don’t mean you sit on the edge of it or something like that. I mean, classic romcom scenario that will result in the two of us spooning each other by morning. Understood?”
The Asset’s brow pinched. “Not entirely, but enough.” The Asset discarded his shoes and removed his weapons. He set his guns and knives on the nightstand closest to him then joined Tony in bed. He threw the covers over himself and looked around the room from his new angle.
He startled when Tony rolled over and flung his arm around the Asset’s waist.
“By the way, you are also my human pillow, understood?”
All the tremors had vanished from Tony.
The Asset touched the arm around his waist and squeezed it, silently communicating his willingness to be a human pillow for his soul mate.
Tony had woken up that morning feeling fantastic.
That was until he got the news that his former driver and still friend Happy was stuck in a hospital after an explosion had nearly killed him.
Tony was pissed, hurt, and scared, and he couldn’t be around James or Pepper just then. Both of them would try to offer him comfort and he didn’t want that now. He just wanted to feel pissed.
So he went to the hospital and simultaneously watched over Happy while he marinated himself in all his fury.
For one brief moment in the hospital he held his phone in his hand and contemplated calling Rhodey or Steve. He wanted his best friend and the Avengers to back him up on his plans for Mandarin.
His brain quickly crossed out those options.
Getting either involved would be too political (plus, when Mandarin had started making the news circuit, Rhodey had been quick to ask Tony not to get involved).
This wasn’t politics; this was good ole fashion revenge, which was exactly what Tony said to the media when he stepped out of the hospital and they hounded him for answers.
When he returned to the Malibu house, Pepper was fuming. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
Tony flinched. “No, but this Mandarin guy—”
“Was behind nine attacks according to Rhodey,” Pepper interrupted. “And he is now responsible for ten. Tony,” Pepper’s voice took on a pleading tone. “You may be Iron Man, but that doesn’t mean you are indestructible.” Her expression hardened. “And it certainly doesn’t mean you should invite trouble. You’ve seen exactly what kind of damage Mandarin has done.”
“Exactly!” Tony said. “I’ve seen it, and I’m going to put a stop to it.”
“No, you are going to get yourself killed along with James, or did you not stop to think about the fact that he lives with you? You just put your soul mate in danger.”
Guilt rammed into Tony hard, but a persistent voice in the back of his head told him that James would be safe. James was practically unstoppable as far as Tony was concerned. He’d gleaned enough from the file Hydra and SHIELD had had on James to know just how much James had been put through for the last seventy years. James would be safe.
Tony hoped.
“Steve and the others have been calling too, I hope you know. No one is happy about this. You’re also lucky that James hasn’t seen the news yet. Imagine how he’ll react when he learns that your life is in danger.”
“Tony’s life is in danger?” James’ deep voice cut through Tony and Pepper’s conversation.
Tony internally groaned while he outwardly sent Pepper a dirty look. “I’m fine. Perfectly safe.”
Pepper smiled bright and faced James, who was emerging from the workshop looking a tad sweaty. “James, there is a terrorist targeting Tony now.”
“Pepper!” Tony exclaimed.
“Someone is targeting you?” James demanded to know. He marched up to Tony. He had Tony slightly pinned to the wall; he sometimes forgot what was considered rude/seen as intimidating.
Meanwhile, Pepper had sneaked off to the second floor to do lord knew what, but it probably wasn’t anything good.
Tony squared his shoulders and met James’ furious look with one of ambivalence. “It’s just some crazy old coot named Mandarin.”
“He’s threatening you.” James’ voice went ice cold.
Tony sighed and patted James’ bicep. “Calm down, tiger. I got it under control.”
James scowled.
Tony smiled. “What? Don’t trust me?”
“No.”
Tony blinked having not expected the answer.
James grumbled. He wrapped his hand behind Tony’s neck and pulled Tony’s head toward his.
Tony sharply sucked in a lungful of air. It looked like James was about to kiss him. Tony had no idea if that was a good or a bad thing. James was his soul mate, but there were still so many—
James pressed their foreheads together.
Oh. That was nice too.
James closed his eyes and breathed in deep. “I don’t trust you not to hurt yourself. I have forty years worth of knowledge to back up my worry.”
Tony huffed. “I can say the same about you.”
The smallest smile curled James’ lips. “Then we are in agreement. We must stay together and protect each other.” James raised his head, and his lips brushed across Tony’s forehead. “Moya dusha. ”
James pulled away.
Tony gaped. “Did you just...?”
James smirked.
“Are you sure you weren’t sent to kill me?”
“If I was, it will be the sweetest death I have ever given someone.”
The circuits in Tony’s brain overloaded. “I have no idea whether what you just said is sweet or creepy.”
James just smiled and held out his hand. “Together?”
Tony eyed James’ hand before taking it in his own. “Together.”
“Together” had lasted less than an hour.
He and James had gone down to his workshop and with the help of JARVIS they' tried to uncover what had happened to Happy at the Chinese Theater where the explosion had occured.
Tony had just gotten a lead when the doorbell rang and someone drove up the driveway. After scolding JARVIS for letting someone in—they were in lock down and had a hundred paparazzi tracking his every move—Tony and James hurried up to the ground floor to meet their guest.
It was Maya Hansen: a beautiful and intelligent woman. Also, clearly a desperate woman if she was contacting Tony over a decade after their one night stand in Bern.
Tony was trying to make sense of it all when Pepper started throwing suitcases down from the second floor.
James eyes flickered between Maya and the dangerous baggage being hurled from above, assessing which was a greater threat.
Soon the baggage threat was gone though, and Pepper joined them on the ground floor, demanding that they all leave and go somewhere safe.
Maya agreed full-heartedly with this plan.
Tony ignored her and tried to talk reason into Pepper.
That’s when Maya pointed out the heavily armed helicopters flying across the ocean toward his home.
Tony barely had time to react before he was being tackled and covered by James.
The first blast hit, sending everyone and everything flying.
Tony flicked his arm in a motion that would summon his latest suit and send it toward Pepper.
Tony hit the ground hard with James on top of him.
James recovered fast. He jumped into a crouch and pulled out his gun.
Tony groaned and tried to push himself up to take in the damage of his home and make sure Pepper and Maya were safe.
The ceiling crumbled above.
James was once again on top of Tony, and Tony’s heart lurched. James might be a super soldier, but even he could suffer serious damage if the ceiling fell on him.
Tony sucked in a sharp breath as the chunk of ceiling fell, only for him and James to be protected by the armor, or really: Pepper.
“I got you,” she said.
“I got you first,” Tony respond.
James and him were back on their feet, but the house was shaking and falling apart.
Tony shouted for Pepper to get Maya, who still lay unconscious as the floor literally tore apart between him and Pepper.
Pepper hesitated.
James grabbed Tony’s arm. “I got him. Go!”
Pepper nodded and went after Maya.
“How come she listened to you and not me?” Tony whined as James tugged him in the opposite direction and tried to get them out through a side door.
Debris fell in front of their path.
James whirled and glared at the windows where the helicopters flew outside ominously. “I hate those windows.”
“Sir, Ms. Potts is secure,” JARVIS voice came over the house speakers.
Perfect.
Tony summoned the Mark Forty-Two from Pepper.
From then on it was chaos. The suit wasn’t fully powered and Tony had to use physics and ingenuity to take out one of the copters. James managed to do his sniper thing at one point and shoot one of the pilots from the window.
That didn’t stop the house from crumbling apart and Tony from plummeting into the ocean.
Tony was distantly aware of James jumping in after him, but panic clouded Tony’s mind from full comprehension. There was a cord wrapped around his throat, cutting off his air supply and his suit was filling with water. He was simultaneously trapped in space and drowning in a cave in Afghanistan.
He was going to die and he’d done nothing to protect the ones he loved.
Tony stopped breathing.
James face hovered over the helmet and he moved like he was tugging on something.
Finally, the cord around Tony’s neck released.
But the suit was still filling with water.
Tony wanted to scream, but he couldn’t.
Instead he tried to swim toward the surface, only to see more debris falling toward him and James, who was trying to help him up to the surface.
Tony shoved James away, sparing his soul mate the brunt of the falling debris.
Tony hit the bottom of the ocean.
He really was going to die.
Suddenly JARVIS’ voice was in his ear and telling him to take a deep breath. One of his gauntlets was missing, except it wasn’t. His gauntlet had flown off his hand and was pulling him out from the pile of rubble.
He flew out from under the fallen building and zoomed out of the water and into the sky.
He fell unconscious.
When Tony awoke again it was to find himself in Tennessee.
Alone.
He didn’t even have JARVIS.
Tony’s chest ached, but he pushed onward to find a place to lay low and rebuild and repair his armor.
He stumbled across a pay phone—who even knew pay phones still existed—and sent a message to his personal server for James and Pepper.
Tony winced at the thought of James, and touched his left shoulder. He’d long ago stopped taking on James shoulder pain, but now that they were separated, he took on that pain again. He liked it—as twisted to some as that may sound. He liked feeling James’ pain because it told him James was alive.
James probably felt the same way, because every single cut and bruise on Tony’s body was painless. He should have been sore and aching, yet he felt perfect physically.
“Pepper. …Soul Mate. It's me. I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time, so... first off. I'm so sorry I put both of you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again. And I'm sorry in advance because... I can't come home yet.”
Oh god. Pepper and James were probably going to kill him for that.
“I need to find this guy,” Tony said hastily. “Both of you need to stay safe. That's all I know. Also, I just stole a poncho from a wooden Indian. It’s already a little damp from the snow and smells, but I’m warm and safe. Don’t worry about me.”
The Asset listened to Tony’s message again, and once again he felt his pulse pick up its pace. His fist and jaw clenched.
He was furious.
He was angry at his soul mate. His soul mate was out there alone, and hadn’t called him for help, but to lie and say he was safe. Until the men responsible for the attack on the Malibu house were dealt with, Tony was not safe.
“I can’t believe it,” Pepper said through tears of relief. “He really is alive.”
“Don’t say that,” The Asset told her.
Pepper straightened in surprise.
The Asset looked around the rubble of Tony’s home. “Enemies could be anywhere.” His gaze landed on the Botanist who had visited Tony prior to the attack. “Why did she come here?” he asked.
Pepper followed his gaze. “You think she had something to do with this attack? She was in the blast. She could have died.”
“She knows something.”
Pepper opened her mouth to argue, but then shut it. She scrutinized Maya. “Then we need to figure out what she knows.”
“We need to find him.”
Pepper frowned and bit her bottom lip. “I want to find him too, but I don’t know how, and if he is planning something…”
The Asset clenched the Iron Man helmet in his hands. “Then I will help him. Befriend the botanist. I’ll find him.”
“I’m surprised you trust me with this,” The Widow said over the phone. Keyboard keys clicked as she typed.
“I don’t. You’re my only option,” the Asset answered.
The Widow’s typing paused. “I will inform the others, you know. They’ll want to know he is well.”
“Just don’t send anyone after him. Protecting and retrieving him is my mission,” he said.
“We could help.”
“Not if he requires the world to think he is gone. All of you stand out too much.”
“I can blend in.”
“You’re not needed.”
“And you are?” There was a hint of challenge in the Widow’s voice. She was testing him and trying to get information out of him. On the surface the information she wanted would seem small and inconsequential to most; however, the Asset knew better. She was a manipulator and a tactician. Any information he gave would eventually be used against him.
“Trace where the phone call came from, Widow.”
Tony strolled around the hardware store, mentally checking off each item on his shopping list. Nothing like plotting the demise of an evil organization to help one forget about one’s most recent panic attack.
Yup, he was going to kick Mandarin and AIM’s collective asses once he—
Tony gasped as he was grabbed, spun around, and pinned to a wall of drill bits.
Blue eyes pierced Tony with a glare that came accompanied with a scowl.
Tony’s heart fluttered at James’ familiar face hidden under a ratty, old Veterans cap. James had forgone his tactical gear and was in his civvies. Still, James was so close Tony could feel that the man was not unarmed.
“You,” Tony barely got the word out, before his face was being cupped by one metal hand and one flesh hand as those same blue eyes roved his face.
“I’m fine,” Tony said numbly, still in shock to see James before him. “How’d you find me?”
James’ metal thumb stroked the laceration across Tony’s nose.
Tony flinched and grimaced at the sting that was gone a second later.
Just as fast as the sting disappeared, James arms were wrapped tightly around Tony. James slumped against Tony’s smaller frame and rested his head on Tony’s shoulder.
James breathed in deep and Tony squirmed. James’ actions felt intimate and Tony was indecisive about whether or not it was a good thing.
Soul mates. There were so many romantic ideas about soul mates, and while a really close friendship was possible, the more time Tony spent with James the more he questioned if friendship was what the connection between them was supposed to be. There was a certain intensity to their relationship that felt too powerful to be just friendship.
It felt like there was a string or wire between them that had been tightened to the point of almost snapping and slowly they were being pushed toward the center of that wire where they would eventually collide in an explosion.
Tony just had no idea what kind of explosion it would be.
James lifted his head from Tony’s shoulder. He kept one arm wrapped around Tony while he brought the other up to cup Tony’s cheek once again.
James closed his eyes and lowered his forehead onto Tony’s. “Moya dusha.”
There it was again: My soul.
The words resonated deeply with Tony, and he couldn’t stop himself from finally encircling James’ shoulders and pulling his soul mate into a claustrophobic embrace.
“You took my pain. You knew I was alive,” Tony murmured.
The Asset nodded and ran his hand up Tony’s back in a soothing manner. “Alive, but not safe.”
“I’m Iron Man. Technically that means I am never safe. Someone always wants to kick my ass. However, I was as safe as I can be, considering who I am.”
“I wasn’t there to keep you safe,” James mumbled.
“Again, I’m Iron Man. I can keep myself safe.”
James shook his head, his forehead rubbing Tony’s. Strands of his brown hair brushed the corners of Tony’s mouth. “Not from everything, not from the nightmares.”
Tony gestured to the cart of supplies behind James. “Well, that’s kind of what that was for.”
James frowned and turned around. His confused gaze returned to Tony.
“Long story, but it turns out AIM and Mandarin are connected and I am going to go kick Mandarin’s ass. Wanna help me?”
“How does defeating Mandarin stop the nightmares?”
“It doesn’t. It’s just a distraction.”
James nodded sagely and eyed the cart. “You’ll need more explosives.”
Tony might have fallen a little bit in love with James right then.
Breaking into the Mandarin’s base of operations in Florida had been ridiculously easy, especially with James by his side.
James truly was a fearsome assassin. He strolled up to the compound and before Tony had finished taking out three guards, James had cleared the entire area.
He even held the door open for Tony as Tony strolled inside.
Together they took out the guards inside the building until they reached the Mandarin’s bedchamber.
They were surprised to find two young women in the Mandarin’s bed. Tony was about to ask the ladies questions, when James grabbed him by the back of the shirt and hauled Tony behind the bed’s headrest.
A toilet flushed from somewhere in the room and a small, bearded man, who looked like the Mandarin waltzed out from what had to be the bathroom.
Tony frowned as he listened to the man talk.
He didn’t sound like the Mandarin.
The two women in the bed tried to tell the “Mandarin” about Tony and James, but the Mandarin talked over them.
That’s when James stepped out from behind the bed and aimed at gun right at the Mandarin’s head.
“Don’t shoot.” The Mandarin held up his hands to show he was unarmed.
Tony stepped out from behind the bed. “Where’s the Mandarin?” Tony demanded to know.
This guy couldn’t be the real Mandarin. He lacked confidence and his accent was wrong.
“Well, you see, he’s here, but he isn’t.”
Tony scrunched his face.
James shot off a bullet that skimmed the man’s cheek.
The man panicked and dropped to his knees. He clutched his cheek and hissed in pain.
“Hey, excuse you,” Tony said to James. “This is kind of personal. I’d like to do the threatening.”
“You ask questions. I threaten,” James said.
“How about you show the lovely ladies to the bathroom and lock them inside? Lord knows we don’t need them running off to find the one guard we missed.”
James expression hardened and the finger on his trigger tightened.
Tony stared James down.
James scowled and aimed his gun at the two ladies. “You heard him.”
The ladies cried out in fear, but did as told, and hurried to the bathroom with James behind them.
That’s when the Mandarin tried to crawl away.
Tony shot at him, stopping the man from retreating. “What are you? A look a like?”
“No, no.” The man denied. He then quickly explained that he was just an actor hired to say a few lines here and there, and that he did it all for drugs, sex, and alcohol.
And of course, who was the supplier of all his vices? Aldrich Killian: creator and of AIM.
Tony was just about done with Trevor (aka the Mandarin) when someone attacked him from behind and everything went black.
The Asset’s first instinct was to attack and subdue the man who’d attack his soul mate, but he held back and shushed the scantily clad women who hid in the bathroom with him.
The man who’d attacked Tony was just a peon, as was the Mandarin. They needed to find the person in charge, and they weren’t going to be able to do that if the Asset killed off their one lead.
The Asset listened to the Mandarin and the new man’s conversation, waiting to see if the Mandarin would give away the Asset’s location.
The Mandarin said nothing. He guzzled his cheap beer as Tony was taken away from the room.
The Asset waited until the Mandarin was alone before he emerged from the bathroom.
“Ah, see, I kept your secret. So no hurting me or the fine young ladies. I may not make the smartest decisions in life, but since you took out all my guards I realized—”
The Asset punched the Mandarin in the face, knocking him out unconscious. He couldn’t use a bullet to silence the man without drawing attention and any form of strangulation would take too long. So a punch to the face would just have to do.
The Asset hauled the Mandarin up by the back of his shirt and threw him into the bathroom with the women. “Any of you talk; I will come back and kill you. You’ve already seen what I can do.”
The two women nodded.
The Asset huffed.
Time to track down his soul mate and find the man responsible for putting Tony in danger in the first place.
Tony woke up tied to a bed frame that had been hung on some bleak and dreary wall—really did all mad men and villains just purchase from the same retailer or something? Because it could not be a coincidence just how drab the place was.
“It's just like old times, huh?” Maya’s voice grabbed Tony’s attention.
Tony looked around the room, feigning disinterest in the woman who was sitting at a lab table and trying to make nice-nice with him. “Oh, yeah. With zip ties. It's a ball.”
“It wasn't my idea.”
“Okay. So you took Killian's card.”
“I took his money,” her tone indicated that there was a difference, which perhaps in her eyes there was.
“And here you are 13 years later,” Tony said, unperturbed, “in a dungeon.”
“No.”
“Yeah.”
“No, you're in a dungeon. I'm free to go.”
“Yeah?” Tony shook his head.
Maya stood, rubbing her head in frustration as she tried to get Tony to see her perspective. “A lot has happened, Tony. But I'm close. Extremis is practically stabilized.”
Rage boiled up in Tony. “I'm telling you it isn't,” He shouted. “I'm on the street. People are going bang. They're painting the walls. Maya, you're kidding yourself.”
“Then help me fix it.” She held up a nametag with the words “You know who I am” scrawled across it. She then flipped it over to reveal a simple formula on it, similar to one she had shown him thirteen years ago when they had met, but with slight alterations.
“Did I do that?”
“Yes.”
Tony shook his head. “I remember the night, not the morning.” Realization hit Tony. “Is this what you've been chasing around?”
Maya turned crestfallen. “You don't remember?”
Tony internally cursed. Of course all this mess had started because of some misguided notion of good doing. And in a perfect world where extremis wouldn’t be used and abused to create an army for some evil genius, extremis could be do a lot of good. As it was though, right now Tony had shove down all of the positive possibilities extremis presented and focus on the here and now—on getting through to Maya.
“I can't help you.” He remembered when he thought he’d been saving when really he’d been burning it down just like every douchebag out there too self-centered or too self-serving to care. It was why he knew he couldn’t be the one to make the decision for Maya to change her ways. “You used to have a moral psychology. You used to have ideals. You wanted to help people. Now look at you.”
She had to see how far she had fallen. That while her goals might be pure, the methods and channels she was going through to achieve said goals wasn’t right.
And that changing—becoming a better person—would give her a better life.
“I wake up everyday knowing that I have a team that supports me. I have a soul mate, who I don’t always understand, but who is always there for me.”
“You have a soul mate?” Maya asked softly in disbelief.
“Get me out of here. Come on.”
“You know what my old man used to say to me?” Killian’s voice descended from the staircase.
Tony lifted his head in time to see Killian swagger down the stairs in his expensive white suit and slicked back hair, looking as pleased as some smart aleck kid who’d sassed their teacher and had gotten away with it. Tony would know; he was that kid.
“One of his favorite of many sayings...” Killian droned on, “‘The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.’”
Tony had to keep himself from eye rolling. “You're not still pissed off about the Switzerland thing, are you?”
“How can I be pissed at you, Tony?” Killian asked innocently and genuinely.
The sincerity threw Tony, enough for him to quell his anger toward Killian and listen to the man’s long and grandiose speech about desperation and his near suicide attempt that led into an even longer speech about anonymity, which was fine and dandy, but really this was such a long and trite answer to Tony’s simple question.
Then Killian mad the dumbass move of pulling up a hologram of Pepper strapped into one of the machine’s Tony had seen in the videos of AIM’s experiments. She was already glowing orange due to extremis.
“Now, this is live.” Killian pointed at the hologram. “I'm not sure if you can tell, but at this moment the body is trying to decide whether to accept extremis or just give up. And if it gives up, I have to say, the detonation is quite spectacular.”
Tony clenched his jaw, trying hard to shove down the rage and panic that churned inside him as he watched Pepper’s agonized face before him. She was pleading—shouting at her captors, and in so much pain.
Tony wished he could take it away just like he could James’.
“But until that point,” Killian said, “it's really just a lot of pain.”
Killian grinned from the table where he’d perched himself during his spiel. He turned off the projection and set down the remote to the hologram. He marched over to Tony, gleeful as a kid just given ten pounds of candy.
He seized Tony’s throat. His eyes shining with wicked delight as Tony choked. “We haven’t even—”
The sound of a gun being fired rang out.
Killian’s eyes widened and he stumbled backward as blood dripped down the back of his head to his neck, spilling onto his shoulder.
Tony gasped for air as Maya stood stunned, her hand frozen in place over something on the lab table.
Another gunshot rang out and Tony’s followed the noise to its source as Killian fell.
James was crouched on the ledge of one of the windows high up near the ceiling.
Maya rushed toward Tony, and James raised his gun as if to shoot, but he didn’t pull the trigger.
Maya muttered curses under her breath as she cut the zip ties strapping Tony to the metal bed frame.
Tony sagged as his bindings came undone and his feet hit the ground. He massaged his wrists and grimaced at the red marks that had cut into his skin. He couldn’t feel any pain, which meant James was taking it all for him.
A thunk alerted Tony to James jump and landing from the window.
James frowned at Killian’s body, studying it as he approached Tony and Maya. He held his gun close to his body, his hand hovering near the trigger as he eyed Killian’s carcass.
James eyes widened and suddenly he was aiming the gun at Killian again.
Maya and Tony jumped as James shot two more bullets into the man’s skull.
“I think he’s dead,” Tony shouted. He flicked his hands, summoning the Mark Forty-Two suit. Killian might be dead, but that didn’t mean there weren’t a bunch of other gunmen wandering around the property.
“His heart was still beating,” James stated. He holstered his gun and took out his knife. He crouched over Killian and raised the blade.
“Whoa! Whoa!” Tony threw up his hands to halt James.
“Oh god!” Maya appeared torn between looking away and watching on in fascination.
James scowled. “He’s not dying. I have to destroy the entire brain.”
Tony flicked his wrists again, trying to get his armor to come to him. His armor should have been repaired by now; what was taking so long for it to appear? “Listen, I agree. If he’s healing then we need to end him, but you think you could wait a few seconds while the scientists here come up with a way that will destroy all brain tissue while not turning this into gory horror movie? I have enough nightmares as it is.”
James thrust the blade into Killian’s skull. “Hurry up then.”
Tony nodded and turned to Maya. “Please tell me you have acid or something in this lab.”
Maya shook her head. “This is crazy.”
Tony quirked an eyebrow. “Lady, you invented a serum that makes people explode if not stabilized correctly. I think this,” he gestured to Killian and James, “is nothing compared to that.”
Maya took a deep breath and nodded. “I think I have something.”
Maya went of to her lab and riffled through her vials of chemicals, only to stop. “Promise you’ll help me stabilize extremis, and I’ll help you get rid of him,” Maya said.
Tony scowled. “You’re not serious.”
“He’s the only stable test subject I have. If I let you kill him—”
The windows above shattered as one gauntlet and boot from the Mark Forty-Two crashed into the room.
Maya whirled and Tony braced himself as the armor came at him.
The gauntlet pummeled Maya in the face as it zoomed past her to get to Tony.
Tony twirled and twisted his body to ensure the pieces of armor attached to him appropriately.
Maya lay unconscious on the floor.
“Well… that’s one way to get rid of a problem.” He hurried to the lab table. A quick glance at the chemicals available told him exactly what he needed to melt Killian’s brain until nothing was left.
He plucked out the vials and rushed to James’ side.
He grit his teeth when just short of James more of his armor came in. Shoving the vials at James, Tony took a step back to put some space between him and James to avoid what had happened to Maya.
Tony caught the helmet in the air and slid it onto his head.
“JARVIS?”
“Good afternoon, sir. Sorry for the delay. There was an unexpected barricade.”
Tony grinned. “That’s my baby.”
“Sir,” JARVIS’ voice was filled with exasperation. “Such nicknames are highly inappropriate right now, especially since it appears James is currently melting the brains of one Aldrich Killian.”
Tony blinked as JARVIS had the armor zoom in on what James was doing. “You started without me?”
James took a step back as the combination of chemicals began to quickly erode Killian’s skull.
James watched with intent as the chemicals did their job.
Tony’s insides squirmed. He was all for Killian dying, but James’ intensity was really disturbing. “Okay, I know horror movie 101 says we need to stay and make sure he is actually dead, but we also need to go save Pepper, so…”
James eyed Tony. He unholstered his gun and nodded toward the exit. “Go. I’ll make sure he dies.”
Tony faltered. “You sure?”
James nodded.
Tony didn’t need any more confirmation. Pepper was in danger and he wasn’t going to leave her alone to suffer any longer than she had to.
Tony got quite the surprise though when in the middle of interrogating one of the guards for Pepper’s location, Rhodey came stumbling out from one of the rooms covered in sweat and breathing heavily. He held a gun in his hand.
“Please tell me you have another suit?” Rhodey asked Tony.
“What happened to yours?”
“Some douchebag overheated it. Sounds like he’s going to repair it though. You know, since he wants to take it for a spin and all.”
“How sweet.” Tony opened a small hatch on his suit and pulled out a flash grenade. “Same asshole captured Pepper.”
James huffed out a laugh. “Great. I’ll go get my suit, you go save Pepper.”
“Readings indicate that the War Machine armor is one floor directly above us, sir,” JARVIS said.
“Huh.” Tony aimed his repulsor at the ceiling. “I guess giving you short cut wouldn’t hurt.” Tony blasted the ceiling, as Rhodey hid under cover.
Two minutes later, Rhodey had his War Machine armor back, and the two of them took down AIM agents left and right. There were a few close calls due to exploding bodies, but eventually the two of them made it down to the lab where Pepper was being kept.
What happened in the lab was a blur to Tony. Seeing Pepper strapped into a machine against her will and in pain was completely different from seeing a hologram of it. He saw red, and he blasted people mercilessly.
It wasn’t until every single lab coat was dead or unconscious that he carefully extracted her from the machine.
Pepper clung to him as she gasped and hissed in pain.
“Get this thing out of me,” Pepper squeezed the arm of his armor.
The metal sizzled and melted under her touch.
Tony cursed as he had JARVIS scan Pepper’s body.
“I’m working on it, Pep, but I’m going to need you to be strong.”
“Be strong?” Rhodey repeated. “Pepper’s already strong,” Rhodey said, injecting cheer into his voice. “You can do anything, Pepper.”
Pepper chuckled hysterically as tears dripped down her face.
“Sir, I may have found a solution to Ms. Potts current predicament, but it will take hours to produce the serum, in which time Ms. Potts symptoms should die down. Since such a serum will be untested I recommend—”
“Not good enough, JARVIS,” Tony said. “I need something now.”
Tony’s entire backside tingled as one of the walls exploded in a shower of debris with James acting as a human wrecking ball.
“Shit!” Tony rushed to James’ side, opening himself up to the pain, only to stop as it paralyzed him.
His heartbeat skyrocketed and he scrambled to reach the fallen soldier.
James didn’t even groan as he pushed himself up and aimed his gun at the hole in the wall.
Tony followed James’ gun to the Killian.
Tony swallowed bile at the man’s half melted face and maniac grin.
Killian opened his mouth, flames gathering inside.
Tony threw himself in front of James.
Pepper screamed and launched herself at Killian.
Tony watched in shock as Pepper kicked Killian’s ass.
Rhodey appeared just as stunned too, because he remained crouched on the ground right next to where Pepper had been moments before.
In two minutes—with the help of some lab equipment that she’d picked up and used against Killian—Pepper obliterated the man.
Tony gaped.
Pepper huffed, her chest heaving. “That was really violent.” She took another deep breath. “I also feel a lot better now. What was that you were saying about being a hot piping mess?”
“I think you have me beat,” Tony said.
James pushed on Tony’s shoulder, urging Tony off him.
Instead, Tony grabbed hold of James' shoulder and did a full examination. He slowly opened himself up to James’ pain, taking it in small amounts until he had what he gauged as half of it.
Rhodey flopped on the ground. “How did I get wrapped up in this mess?” His faceplate opened and looked at James. “Rhodey, by the way. Tony has mentioned you in passing, but I think this is the first time we’ve met.”
James grunted his agreement.
Rhodey nodded. “Tony said you were a man of few words.”
Pepper dropped to her knees. “Can we please go home now?”
Tony nodded. “Just let me hack into their files first, then we can go.”
“I’m also calling the president to let him know what happened and let him decide who the hell he wants to send in to clean up this mess,” Rhodey added.
Pepper took a deep breath. “Then we can go home?”
“Yes,” Tony said.
“I never thought I’d miss paperwork so much,” Pepper said.
“I’d say I know the feeling,” Tony started, “but I don’t.”
Diving into AIM’s files revealed that Killian had been working with the vice president of the US, which led to a huge media frenzy when word about it got out.
Despite JARVIS’ initial formula for a cure to extremis, the serum was flawed and it took a few more tries before Tony got the balance right and he felt secure injecting Pepper with it.
Now Tony was debating about whether to use what he had on extremis for himself.
Tony rubbed at the arc reactor. Today his skin felt extra stretched and tender.
James stopped in the middle of his push ups. He rose to his feet and went over to where Tony was tinkering in the workshop. For a moment he just stared at Tony, assessing Tony silently. He then slowly reached out and rested his palm on the arc reactor.
Tony shuddered. Even though he knew James would not rip out the reactor, there was still a part of him that always felt a tremor of fear whenever someone touched it. To quell that small voice of panic, though, Tony wrapped his hand around James’ wrist, giving himself a sense of control.
James’ thumb brushed the outer edges of the reactor under Tony’s shirt. “It is bothering you more today than usual.”
“Technically, it’s bothering you more, since you’re taking away any pain I feel.” Tony’s eyes flickered over James, envisioning the muscles and bones underneath his skin. “You’re doing well for someone who was thrown through a wall, I’ve noticed. Not even a sore muscle.”
James smirked. “Jealous?”
Tony scoffed. “Considering I’d take away that pain if you had it: no.”
“But you want to take away my pain, don’t you,” James stated. “You want balance.”
“So what if I do?” Tony scoffed.
James hands went to either side of Tony’s chest and curled around his shoulders. “There is something else on your mind though.” He glanced at Tony’s arc reactor then meaningfully met Tony’s gaze.
Tony couldn’t look James in the eye, so he picked up one of his smaller projects off the table and fiddled with it.
“I could get rid of it, you know? I don’t need a full injection of the extremis serum in order to get rid of the reactor. Just a small, weakened dose would be enough to ensure that I won’t die in the middle of open-heart surgery. It would also help fill in the hole in my chest.”
“Sounds like a good thing.”
Tony nodded. There was more to it than that, and based on James' patient and waiting gaze, Tony assumed his soul mate knew that too.
Getting rid of the arc reactor would eliminate many vulnerabilities; however, it also eliminated a common link between him and James.
It was strange and overly sentimental of him, but his arc reactor was much like James’ metal arm. It was something that had been forced upon him by others, something he’d grown dependent on despite its macabre origins. It was also a symbol of their shared experiences, and in a way, a constant link between them. Now that James took on the pain of his arm, Tony no longer received a constant feed of pain from James (although every now and then he did sneakily steal some of James’ shoulder pain). He did however, at least know James was alive and well because of the lack of pain in his chest.
Tony shook his head, clearing his thoughts and looking away.
James tucked his finger under Tony’s chin and guided Tony’s gaze back to him.
They were only inches apart, and all it would take for them to kiss would be for James to bend down or Tony to stand up from the stool.
Tony scrunched his face as confusion filled him. “What are we?”
James quirked an eyebrow. “Soul mates.”
Tony shook his head. He grabbed James’ hand in his and squeezed. “I mean what kind of soul mates? Are we just friends? Teammates? Or are we something more?”
“I’m whatever you want me to be.”
Tony was not going to comment on how unhealthy that response was (or how it sounded like a come on). He wasn’t even sure James would understand why it was unhealthy, even if Tony spent hours explaining agency and the difference between being open to something and wanting something.
Tony sighed. “I don’t even know what I want.”
“Do you want me?”
Tony rolled his eyes. “Didn’t I just answer that question?”
“Do you want me? Who I am? What I am?”
Tony blinked, a little thrown by the question.
James cupped Tony’s face and pressed their foreheads together. “I want you. I want Tony Stark. I want my soul mate. I want Iron Man. I want you. I don’t care how I have you, just so long as I do.”
Tony sputtered. “Okay, have you been reading Pepper’s romance novels?”
James just smiled.
Heat rose to Tony’s face and he internally cursed. Damn James and his ability to get Tony to blush. This conversation had gone too deep. “So you wouldn’t feel less connected if I got rid of the arc reactor?”
Shit! That was not how Tony had intended to phrase that question.
James smiled softly, slowly withdrawing his forehead from Tony’s, but not stepping away. “I already told you; I want you.”
“Yeah, but…” Tony gestured to their chests. “It’s going to be weird not always getting some kind of pain transfer going on.”
James squeezed Tony’s shoulder. “It still tingles, right?”
“Yeah.” Even though Tony had upgraded James arm so that the amount of pain was vastly lower than it was before, the weight of the metal still put some strain on James’ shoulder. He’d never be completely without pain, and therefore Tony always felt the tiniest tingle along his left shoulder.
James squeezed Tony’s shoulder tighter. “We’re always connected, but this serves as a constant reminder.”
Tony mulled over James’ response, touching his shoulder—his fingertips brushing James’. The tingling sensation might not be as strong as James’ actual pain, but it was still there; it was still a connection. “You’re right.”
James smiled and withdrew his hand.
He turned to go back to doing his push ups.
“I want you too,” Tony hollered at James, causing the super soldier to pause. Tony shrugged. “I don’t know in what way, but I do want you.”
James looked over his shoulder, the same soft smile on his face as before. He nodded and went back to his section of the lab.
Tony sighed and touched his arc reactor.
How was it that this soul mate stuff seemed equally simple and overly complex?