Iron Man 3
"Who the hell are you, and how did you get my number?" My voice is stern as I answer my phone in front of La Sagrada Familia. I look around discretely, trying to see if anything is not ordinary.
"I hacked your phone; I need your help."
"Stark." I sigh and lean against a wall in exasperation.
"Ding! Ding! Ding! You got it right." I roll my eyes and begin walking toward a coffee shop.
"I'm hanging up now."
"NO! WAIT! PLEASE!"
"What, Stark? I am on vacation. I know you don't take them, but I do, and you are currently interrupting my vacation."
"I know. I'm sorry; I will make it up to you."
"I am sure you will, and it will be amazing. Now, what do you want?" I sit at the table and order a coffee and a pastry while Tony talks.
"Have you seen the news lately?" Tony asks me in a semi-urgent tone.
"No, I am on VACATION. I don't worry myself about what dumb people are doing."
"Fair enough. Listen, my house in Malibu was blown up."
"Shocker." I said in a dull voice, "Who did you piss off this time?"
"Rude. Have you ever heard of the Mandarin?"
"No, but I feel you are going to tell me that it is not a mandarin orange or the language."
"He's a terrorist; he tried killing Happy, Pepper, and me." My interest peaks when I hear the word 'terrorist.'
"Where are you now?" I ask, and I get up from my chair, get onto my bike, and start heading home. The call is transferring to an earpiece I have in my ear, and begin to drive my motorcycle.
"Tennessee. I just called Pepper to let her know where I am and that I am alive."
"All right? That's not weird, give me 6 hours and I will be there. Why don't you fly home?"
"The suit is too damaged right now. I recruited a 6-year-old or something like that to help me." I snort in amusement, grab my suitcase, and walk out of my house. I text Nat, "Quinjet now, from Spain to Tennessee."
"Cleared, ready when you are." I head to the airport and get on the plane; the pilots nod to me, talking to Tony.
"A six-year-old? All right, I am on the plane now, be there soon. Don't be dying in the time it takes me to travel. If you die, I'm going to be pissed."
"Why? You'll miss me?" Tony asks in a teasing tone.
"No, 'cause you would waste my time for nothing, and with you dead, I can't get the favor you owe me now."
"Fair enough, Nikolina. Thank you."
"Yeah yeah. Bye, Tony." I hang up the phone and lean my head back against the wall. The sound of the engine humming me to sleep. I wake up about 2 hours later and pull out my phone; I pull up the news to see why Tony needs my help. I have a long list of articles, ranging all over the board.
"Tony Stark Presumed Dead."
"Mandarin at Large, No Stark."
"Stark threatens Mandarin."
"Stark house destroyed by a missile."
Well, shit. Tony, you fucked up big time. When the plane lands, I get up from my seat, walk off the ramp, and to the car waiting for me. I get in and drive toward Rose Hill, Tennessee. I drive towards a small town and see people running around like headless chickens. I get out of my car, and then there is an explosion in a small store; I duck behind my car and grab my gun from the waistband of my jeans. I run towards the blast and move people to safety. As I do, I see Tony walking out of the store and tossing the door to something away from him.
There is a loud creaking sound, and I look over to see an orange man heating a water tower with his bare hands. Huh. His hands grip the hot metal and force it down, causing the water tower to fall to one side; the tower crashes into a building spilling all the water and rushing towards Tony, who is lying on the ground, trapped under debris. I start to run over to Tony when I see the guy grab a kid and sit down in front of Tony. I hide under some rubble and pull out my gun, ready to fire if necessary. Tony and the kid seem to have a small conversation when the kid's hand shoots out, and a blinding white light is released.
I duck my head to protect my eyes, and when I look up, I see the man has let the kid go and has fallen over. I get up and run towards Tony when one of his handpieces rises and shoots the man in the face. Tony sighs and looks around, finally spotting me; I walk over to the guy and check his pulse, my gun ready to fire if he moves. He doesn't; I place my hand back into the waistband of my pants and walk over to Tony. I bend my knees and lift the metal, pinning him; he gets his foot out, stands up, and faces me.
"How did you find me?" he questions me as he looks me over.
"Oh, that was easy; I just followed the trail of destruction and stupidity."
"Rude. Thanks for coming."
"Yes, it is rude, but it is true, and you owe me. Big. By the way, orange glowy guy? What is that all about? What are we even going up against, Tony?"
"We are going against the Mandarin. I need to figure out where he is and how he is changing these people."
I look at him out of the corner of my eye and sigh; Tony bends down and picks up a file. Tony begins to flip through the data and is about to hand it to me when a kid walks up wrapped in a blanket.
"You're welcome." I look at the little boy in confusion; what is he even doing here? I look at Tony with an eyebrow raised.
"For what? Did I miss something?" Tony questions the boy while walking over to a waiting car.
"Me saving your life." The little boy brags; he still hasn't seen me yet, which I mean is no surprise.
"Yeah, A. Saved you first. B. Thanks, sort of, and C. if you do someone a solid, don't be a yutz, all right, play it cool. Otherwise, you come off as grandiose." Tony tells the kid while unlocking the car.
"Unlike you. Admit it; you need me. We're connected." The boy teases, looking over Tony's shoulder, and his eyes widen when they find me. "Is that 'The Shadow'?!" the boy yells enthusiastically. I look at him and smirk while getting to the passenger side door.
"What I need is for you to go home, be with your mom, keep your trap shut, guard the suit, and stay connected to the telephones. If I call you, better pick up. Okay? Can you feel that? We're done here. Move out of the way, or I'm going to run you over. Bye, kid." Tony gets in the car and starts it after the long speech he just gave; he hands me the file before looking back at the boy.
"I'm sorry, kid. You did well." sighs Tony; I pull out my phone and begin searching for information on The Mandarin.
"So now you're just gonna leave me here like my dad?" The little boy asks Tony, and my head peers around the side of Tony's head to look at the boy. I raise my eyebrow, smirk, and lean back, chuckling lightly.
"Yeah, wait, you're guilt-tripping me, aren't you?" Tony looks at me and lightly gestures to the kid, and I shrug my shoulders.
"I'm cold," The boy says in a small, timid voice, trying to convince Tony.
"I can tell, you know how I can tell, 'cause we're connected." With those words falling out of Tony's mouth, he presses his foot down on the gas pedal, and we sail down the road. With the kid left in the snow, I look at Tony and ask,
"Well, you got me here now; what do you want me to do?"
"I want you to use your high-tech phone and get off Pinterest and find me an address."
I look at him with a bored expression, "Uh-huh, you want to tell me what you hope this address will lead you to?"
"Really?" I looked at him as he drove and smiled; he looked over at me and gave me a sly grin.
Tony and I drive down a long road; when he opens the folder and looks at the paper, he sighs and hands it to me. I flip one sheet over to the side as I read another one. I see Tony lean against the car door, looking stressed and tired while mumbling about Happy; he glances over at the pack I am reading again and then does a double take. I look over to Tony in confusion,
"What?" I ask, trouble lacing my tone,
"Hand me that sheet," he says, and I hand him the one that has M.I.A. written on it, he looks at it before flipping it over, and the letters spell out A.I.M. He looks at it and then glances out the window in disbelief.
"Call Rhodey" I pull out my phone, pull up Rhodes' phone number, and press the call button. As it rings, I put the call on speaker so we both can hear what is being spoken.
"Hello," Rhodey says into the phone, "You even have a chick straddling you, and you look up, and suddenly she's glowing from the inside out, kind of bright orange?" I look at Tony in disbelief but stay quiet, not wanting to alert Rhodey that I am there.
"Yeah, I've had that. Who is this?" I roll my eyes at the conversation and wonder if it is too late to return to Spain. "It's me, pal." Tony says, "Now, last time I went missing, if I remember correctly, you came looking for me. What are you doing?"
"A little knock-and-talk, making friends in Pakistan. What are you, dong?" Rhodes asks Tony, still oblivious that I am there.
"Your redesign, your big re-brand that was A.I.M., right?"
"Yeah." Tony sighs in frustration, crumples the paper he is holding, and throws it down near my feet; I look down at the article as it rests on my toes, and I turn my head and glare at Tony, who smiles sheepishly at me. He carries on with his conversation with Rhodey. "I'm gonna find a heavy-duty comm sat right now; I need your log-in."
"It's the same as it's always been, "WarMachine68."
"And password, please." As Rhodey tells us the information to log in, I type it into my phone and I wait for the password.
"Well, look, I gotta change it every time you hack in, Tony." I look over at him with an eyebrow raised.
"It's not the '80s; nobody says "hack" anymore. Give me your log-in." Rhodey sighs, knowing that it is a lost battle
"WAR MACHINE ROX with an "X," all caps." I bite down on my fist to contain my laughter as my body shakes; I hear Tony bark out a laugh at it too. "Yeah, okay," Rhodey says in slight embarrassment.
"That is so much better than "Iron Patriot," Tony says in amusement while looking over at me as I nod my head agreeing with him.
Tony then stops on the brakes and turns the wheel into a hard left. I stay planted in my seat as the car swings around and the tires screech in protest. We take off, speeding down the road to the nearest town. Tony and I grab some T.V. gear and head to a newscasting truck. A man passes us while talking on the phone, and we look at him until he walks away from the van. Tony grabs the handle and hops inside when he is far enough away, and I follow him.
On the T.V.s in the van, they show a beauty pageant that is happening; I hit a button that mutes the sound that comes through the truck so that we can work in peace. Tony plugs in the cable he is holding and begins typing on the laptop. I lean on the back of Tony's chair, watching him work, when the truck door opens. Tony turns around, and I push off the end of his chair and turn and look at the man. I lean against the side of the van and watch this all unfold.
"Excuse me, sir. I don't know who... " the man begins to say when Tony holds a finger to his lips and shushes the man. The man's jaw drops in disbelief, and it looks like he will burst from excitement. "Mom, I need to call you back. Something magical is happening." The man says into the phone, and my eyebrows pull together, and I look at him strangely. He then looks over at me and slightly squeals; I shuffle to my right to get away from the man.
"Tony Stark and Nikolina Volkov are in my van." He says with much excitement in his voice.
"Shh. Keep it down." Tony says to the man.
"Tony Stark and Nikolina Volkov are in my van!"
"No, they're not," Tony says, trying to keep the man quiet and not give away our cover, and I stand there ready to knock the man out, if necessary or not; he's creeping me out.
"I knew you were still alive!" the man said to Tony, turning to me. "You're even more gorgeous than I imagined." I slide behind Tony, trying to put as much distance between the man as possible and me.
"Come on in. Close the door." Tony whispers, and I groan silently in my head, not wanting to go near the man. The man stumbles and makes much noise as he climbs into the van very clumsily. He breathes out as he shuts the door, staring at us in awe.
"Oh, wow. Can I say, sir, ma'am..."
"Yep," Tony puts his head down in defeat and drops his hand away from his lips when he tries to silence the man again. The guy raises his hand to his head as a look of awe covers his face.
"I am your biggest fan." The guy said with much conviction in his voice. I sit silently, not wanting to interact with the fanboy.
"Okay. First, is this your van? Is anyone else gonna come in?" Tony questions the grown man.
"No, no, no. Just us." Wonderful. Hear the sarcasm.
"Great. What's your name?" Asks Tony, standing up and reaching to shake the man's hand.
"Gary." the man now known as Gary said in a breathless tone.
"Gary," Tony repeats. Gary slaps Tony's hand and says, "Oh, wow." I roll my eyes but stay right where I am. Tony continues to talk with Gary. "Right, there is fine."
"Okay"
"Okay?" Tony asks while chuckling. "I get a lot of this; it's okay."
"Oh, good. Can I say?"
"What do you want? Yeah."
"I don't know if you can tell, but I have like patterned my look after you." As Gary admits this, he takes his hat off his head and runs his hands through his hair. I look at him weirdly, not seeing it but whatever. "My hair's a little..." Gary trails off when Tony cuts in.
"It's fine."
"It's not right 'cause there's no hair product in it." Gary continues and then puts his hat back on.
Tony replies with "Right." while looking down at his shoes before looking up.
"I don't want to make things awkward, but I do have to show you...Boom!" He lifts his arm, and Tony's face is tattooed on his left forearm. I bite my lips to keep from laughing and look down at the ground. The tattoo resembled Tony well enough, not really.
Tony looks at the tattoo and says to Gary, "A Hispanic Scott Baio." Gary chuckles, and my body shakes from laughter. "I'm sorry. Is that me?" Tony asks incredulously.
"Yeah. It's... I mean... I had them do it off a doll I made, so it's not like it's off a picture. So, it's a little bit..." Gary explains, and I grow terrified; he MADE a DOLL? Please tell me he doesn't have anything with me on it.
Tony rushes forward, grabs Gary by the arms, and begins talking to him. "Gary. Listen to me, okay? I don't want to clip your wings here. We're both a little over-excited. I got an issue. I'm chasing bad guys. I'm trying to grab a little something from some hard-crypt data files. I don't have enough juice. I need you to jump on the roof... Right? Re-calibrate the ISDNs. Pump it up by about 40%."
Gary nods like a little kid and agrees to help Tony. "Tony needs Gary," Tony said, and I raise my eyebrows, wondering if this is happening. "And Gary needs Tony." Gary said, and Tony intervenes, "Be quiet about it. Go."
Gary leaves the van and climbs onto the roof. Tony heads over to the chair and waits for the signal. He looks over at me, and I look at him, feeling slightly weird about the events that just happened; I go to open my mouth, but I just close, not having anything to say, and Tony shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders. We hear Gary bang on the door, signaling that he finished his "mission." Tony reaches up and knocks, and then begins typing. He enters Rhodey's log-in and password; I watch from behind Tony again and wait as a video starts. These videos have injuries; I see a girl being injected, and the man begins screaming in pain. Tony starts talking to himself about something I don't understand. Tony and I leave the van and take off to head to the car when Gary stops me.
"Miss Volkov?" I groan quietly to Tony, and we both turn around. I smile slightly and try to inch my way back.
"Yes?" I reply in my Russian accent, and I watch his flutter at the sound of my voice. I start feeling creeped out while Tony snickers lightly. I glare at him over my shoulder, and he stops.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure." I sigh through my nose, waiting to hear what he will ask me. Gary suddenly drops to one knee and pulls out a ring.
"Will you marry me?" Gary asks, and my mouth drops open; Tony is openly laughing now as I stare dumbstruck.
"Um. No? I don't even know you." I say as I back up, all while looking at Gary
"Oh, yeah. We are total strangers. It's just that when I saw you in New York... I even got your name tattooed on my chest." He pulled his collar down, and I see my name written right over his heart in a messy script.
"Righhhhtttt? Um, No, I won't marry you, Gary." I give him a closed-lip smile, grab Tony's wrist and pull him to the car. We get in, and Tony drives off.
"HAHAHA! That was amazing!" Tony cheers hard while driving, and I sit there, glaring at him.
"Never speak of this. No one will ever know. No one, Tony. I mean it."
"Uh-huh, sure," Tony said deviously, and I know he will tell everyone. Great. I pull out my phone and hand it to Tony; when he asks to use it, he types in a number, presses the call button, puts it on speaker, and gives it back to me.
"Harley, tell me what's happening. Give me a full report."
"Yeah, I'm still eating that candy. Do you want me to keep eating it?" Harley questions Tony.
"How much have you had?" Tony and I question together.
"Two or three bowls." I grimace and look over at Tony, waiting to hear what he will say.
"Can you still see straight?" My mouth falls open at that question. Really?
"Sort of." This kid is going to be sick, I think to myself.
"That means you're fine. Give me Jarvis. Jarvis, how are we?"
"It's totally fine, sir. I seem to do quite well for a stretch, and then at the end of the sentence, I say the wrong cranberry." My eyebrow pulls together in confusion, and I think about what he said while still looking at Tony. Tony looks over at me and shrugs his shoulders. "But, sir, you were right. Once I factored in available A.I.M. downlink facilities, I could pinpoint the Mandarin's
broadcast signal."
"What are we talking about? Far East, Europe, North Africa, Iran, Pakistan, Syria? Where is it?" Tony interrogates Jarvis.
"Sir, it's in Miami." Miami?
"Did Jarvis just say Miami?" I question Tony.
"Okay, kid, I'm gonna have to walk you through rebooting Jarvis' speech drive but not right now. Harley, where is he? Just look on the screen and tell me."
"Um, it does say Miami, Florida."
"Okay, first things first, I need the armor. Where are we at with it?"
"Um, it's not charging." Tony stomps on the brakes, and my hands fly out and land on the dashboard in front of me, stopping me from flying through the windshield. Tony pulls off to the side of the road and starts panting heavily. He clenches his hand into a fist, and I look at him with worried but critical eyes.
"Sir, it is charging, but the power source is questionable. It may not succeed in revitalizing Mark 42," Jarvis tries to correct Harley's misunderstanding.
"What's questionable about electricity? All right? It's my suit, and I can't... I'm not gonna... I don't wanna..." Tony mumbles in an angry yet panicked tone. His breathing started getting heavier and shorter, and his sentences began cutting out. "Oh, God, not again." I unbuckle my seat belt and open my door. As I close the door, I see Tony open his car door and slide to the ground. I run around the front of the car and kneel in front of Tony. The kid, Harley, is talking to Tony, and Tony yells back at him. Tony is panting, and I place my hands on his knees and apply pressure.
"Tony, listen to me. You have a panic attack. I want you to look into my eyes and take deep breaths with me, all right? Tony?"
I make Tony look me in the eyes, and I take his hand and place it right over my heart. I keep my heart steady and take slow, deep breaths. He starts taking deep breaths with me, and then with his other hand, he grabs the car door handle. His breathing starts slowing down; he and I both ignore the kid, he and I sit there for a little bit, and he talks with Harley. Tony then stands up and looks over his shoulder; I stand behind him and keep my hand on his back. He gets back in the car, and I walk to my side and get in.
He waits a minute before putting on a baseball cap and starting the car. As he drives to the nearest hardware store, I ask him a question.
"How long have you had panic attacks, Tony?" I question him.
"Since New York. I don't sleep 'cause I am in the wormhole every time I do, and I can't take a breath." I take a deep breath through my nose and look out the window.
"Why didn't you tell any of us?"
"Who was I going to tell? Cap? Bruce? YOU?" He asks me while looking straight into my eyes.
"Just because I act heartless and cold doesn't mean I am. I would have helped you, Tony. You should know that. You are my family now."
"How could you have helped me, Lina? Have you had panic attacks?"
"Yes," I affirm his question in an emotionless tone. Tony looks over at me with wide eyes.
"When?"
"When I was a little girl. Before HYDRA broke me." I won't elaborate anymore, and Tony doesn't ask anymore.
We pull up to a hardware store, park, and get out. We walk into the store without the hoods up, and Tony starts grabbing specific tools and things; he throws them into a basket while I stand on the end and look at the stuff he is buying. I make Tony push me around the store while he grabs things and throws them into the basket; I remain quiet and let him do his job. We buy all the equipment and then drive to the nearest motel room; I take my bag inside and set it on the table while Tony tinkers away. I pull out my phone and start playing Candy Crush; I look up when he places a tube on the counter. I pull out a blanket and curl up and fall asleep. Tony ends up shaking me awake, and we get in the car. I insist on driving, so I get in the driver's seat and peel away.
We drive until we reach Miami, Florida.
Tony and I pull up to a big white mansion surrounded by trees with guards in front of it. We hide in the car, and Tony gets out the things he created while I check my weapons. Tony and I sneak into a tree, and I hand him the scope that would be on my gun. He uses it to count the guards and figure out a way in; we hop down from the tree and take a running leap at the wall; I hoist myself up and over it, as does Tony. We run across the lawn, head up the stairs, and see a guard. Tony swings a cord and pulls it, making the guy fall and hit the stairs; Tony runs up the stairs and uses a blowgun to catch another man in the neck. Tony runs up to the man and knees him; he turns around and then tasers a guy.
I walk up the stairs like an average person would and follow Tony, he throws a Christmas ornament at the two other guys, and it explodes when one guy picks it up. Tony rolls in and shoots the other guy when he turns around. Tony drops a bomb into the pond the guy fell in and throws his gun into the bushes. I walk in front of Tony and pull out my two real firearms. We walk through the door, and two staircases greet us, we see a girl lying on the counter, and I hear another girl complain about it being hot. I roll my eyes and walk up behind the man. Tony electrocutes and throws him to the floor, where I shoot him in the knee.
Tony grabs the gun off the table and points it at the girl, who repeats his action with just her hand. I roll my eyes and walk into a hallway where I see a computer set up and art. I see a bed in the back corner and head over to it. Tony follows me, and as we get closer, I see some movement. I raise my gun, and Tony walks to the head of the bed and rips the covers off to reveal two girls in lingerie. I point my weapons at them, and they gasp out in shock and fear, I hear a toilet flush, and I hide behind a wall. A man walks out and begins talking in an English accent and starts laughing at a joke he made. I look at Tony in confusion, and he does the same to me; I shrug and cock my gun, ready to fire.
"HEY!" Tony walks out from behind the bed with his gun pointed at the guy. The guy raises his hands and starts saying, "Bloody Hell," repeatedly. I remain hidden just in case someone else comes in, and I hear the guy tell Tony that the guns are fake and some people don't trust him with a real one.
"Where? Where's the Mandarin? Where is he?!" Tony yells at the guy, who turns around and runs to sit in a chair.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He's here. He's here, but he's not here."
"What do you mean?" Tony questions
"It's complicated. Hey, it's complicated."
"It is."
"It's complicated. "
"Uncomplicate it. Ladies, out. Get out of bed. Get in the bathroom," Tony commands; the girls nod and run to the bathroom. They scream when they see me hiding, and the weird guy looks over as I walk out and stand next to Tony.
"You're The Shadow." the guy mutters in awe, and then he glances down at my hand, finally registering my guns and the stern look on my face and in my eyes. He gulps in fear and looks back at Tony. "Sit," Tony commands, heads towards the door, and shuts it behind the girls. The guy gets out of the car and crawls on the floor. Tony shoots the ground in front of the guy while I shoot near his sides. Three gunshots permeate the air, and the girls shriek in fear.
"My name is Trevor. Trevor Slattery." the guy says.
"What are you?" Tony and I demand at the same time in an icy cold voice. Tony continues interrogating the man, "What are you, a decoy? You're a second, right?" Tony comes and stands on my left in front of the man.
"What, you mean like an understudy? No, not." Trevor said. "Don't hurt the face! I'm an actor."
"You got a minute to live. Fill it with words." Tony moves closer to the man and points the gun directly in his face.
"It's just a role." Trevor confesses to Tony and me, "' The Mandarin,' see, it's not real."
Tony and Trevor continue talking while I move to the window to keep a lookout. I look over when I hear snoring; this dude fell asleep. Tony looks at me, and I shrug and fire my gun again. The guy jumped awake and continued talking with Tony. The guy stumbles over, grabs out three beers, and offers them to Tony and me; Tony waves him off from where he is sitting, and Trevor motions to me; I pick up one of my knives and throw it at the can. Trevor drops it out of fear, and the beer spills over the rug.
A guy creeps up behind Tony, and when Tony turns around, the guy knocks him out. He looks over at me, and I look down at Tony's unconscious body; I look up at the guy, and he starts to walk toward me. I make a force field and shove him into the opposite wall, his body then begins to glow bright orange, and he starts to run at me. I fire the guns I have in my hand, all while staying in my place. I unload both my clips into the guy, but it does only minimal damage. He smirks when he realizes that I am out of ammo.
He walks towards me when I pull out my knife and throw it. He is stunned when it gets stuck in the middle of his forehead. I need information, I realize, so I let the guy knock me out. My world goes black.