Chapter 6
It was a whole day later, deep into the night, when JARVIS’ voice broke through a dead sleep and into Peggy's dreams, demanding her attention.
“I’m awake,” she grunted, throwing off the blankets from off the top of her head, rubbing fretfully at her eyes. Immediately she threw her other hand to the opposite side of the bed, empty and cold. Right…Steve was on a mission…
Heart in her throat, Peggy sat upright in bed, glancing at the digital clock beside her photo of Steve. It read 3 AM. “I’m awake, Mr. Jarvis, what is it?”
The AI that Stark had installed into her home sounded apologetic at having intruded on her slumbers. “I’m sorry, Miss Carter, but I have an urgent phone call from Miss Potts for you. I didn’t want to wake you, but given the nature of…”
“Nature…what’s wrong? Is Tony all right?” In her sleep fogged state, she flailed.
“Mr. Stark is fine, but there has been an attack.”
Running shaking fingers through her sleep mussed hair, she tried to desperately grab on to something level-headed. “Put Miss Potts through.”
It took several seconds, but Pepper Potts’ quavering voice finally sounded in the darkness. “Peggy?”
“Peggy,” she returned, groggily. “What is…”
“There was a bomb,” the other woman stuttered out. “In Hollywood, at the Chinese Theater, the Hollywood and Highland shopping center. Peggy…it is bad.”
Peggy didn’t know the place really, but she did understand what a bomb in a busy shopping area in Hollywood would do, and suddenly she was wide awake. “A bomb…”
“No one has said anything, but…it looks like one of those Mandarin ones.” Her voice was shaking, breathy, stammering in a way that the calm, cool, collected head of Stark Industries rarely ever was. “People are dead, a lot of people. Happy…he was there…he was hit, but not dead, but it’s bad…”
It took Peggy several seconds to understand that she was speaking not of Stark, but of his former bodyguard and driver, Happy Hogan. “Pepper, Tony is all right, correct?”
“Yeah,” she breathed, taking an audible deep breath. “I’m not making much sense, I know. Tony is fine, I mean, as fine as he could be with all of this. We were at home, in bed. Tony hasn’t been sleeping and…anyway, it happened right in front of the Chinese Theater, blew out everything around it, all the way across the street. Happy had been there following up on something for Tony. I don’t know what, but…how he survived…”
“Mr. Jarvis,” Peggy intoned as Pepper drifted off. “Please turn on the lights and the news coverage on the television.”
The lights in her room flickered on as she placed her feet into the warm slippers by her bed, grabbing her robe to wrap around herself. The air was cool, not uncomfortable, as she made her way out of her room to the main area of the flat where the large screen television was already glowing, news coverage live on the scene in Los Angeles. The area Pepper spoke of was indeed smoldering, as fire trucks desperately worked to put out the flames and LAPD and emergency ringed the entire area, their flashing lights blinking eerily in the darkness. The bar of information on the bottom of the screen said nothing more than what Pepper had already told her, that there was a suspected explosion in front of the historic movie palace, that it was unknown the number of dead and injured, and that there were questions as to who it was that planted it, though already the news was positing the name “Mandarin” without any hard claims.
It looked like a nightmare.
“When did this happen,” Peggy breathed out loud, knowing that the sound system Tony had set up would pick it up for Pepper on the other end of the line.
“A couple of hours ago.” There were tears in Pepper’s voice. “The place was still full of shoppers and tourists. Christmas, you know.”
She did know. “Is the FBI involved in any way? The CIA?”
“I suppose,” Pepper replied, sniffing softly. “You said your niece is working the case, right? That’s what Tony said.”
“She’s working the Mandarin case, yes.” She didn’t point out to the clearly distraught Pepper that this hadn’t been tied to him just yet. “Has he claimed this as one of his?”
“No,” she whispered. She was silent for several seconds, then heaved a shuddering breath. “I don’t know, I’d been paying attention, how could I not? Ever since he started putting out those videos last summer…but I don’t know, I thought they were things that happened other places. He was hitting air bases and pharmaceutical companies, and…I didn’t think he’d hit a mall full of people. Why? What message did he want to send us? What did a bunch of innocent people have to do with any of this?”
Peggy wished she had an answer for that and found she didn’t. They rarely ever had anything to do with any of this, except for the fact they happened to live on the wrong side of a political or ideological divide. Instead, she redirected Pepper towards what lay at the heart of her concerns. “How is Happy?”
“He’s in critical condition here at Cedars.” Here at least Pepper found some grounding. “He looks as if he’s been through a high speed car accident; serious burns, contusions, fractures, internal injuries everywhere. They said the only reason he didn’t get killed on the spot was that he happened to be behind a concrete kiosk.”
Peggy didn’t know the man well, hardly at all. She had seen him around Stark over the years and knew that Stark had shifted his role from that of personal security towards overseeing security for Stark Industries. Beyond that she knew little else, save that he was endlessly loyal to Stark, and by extension, Pepper, and that he seemed an honest and good man, someone that Stark needed in his life. It seemed horribly unfair that he would be caught up in any of this, but then again, one could say that about any of the victims of the violence in the recent days, weeks, and months.
“What was he doing there? Do you know?” Peggy kept her question soft, sympathetic to Pepper’s emotional state.
“Tony said he was trying to play at being Natasha Romanoff,” Pepper said, her voice hitching in a woeful chuckle. “I don’t know, he…he had a vibe on some guy that was at the office today, he was security to someone I was having a meeting with. Happy…he gets weird vibes off of everyone, last week it was one of the interns working in accounting, and all the poor kid was doing was making a video for a class project. I don’t know how seriously Tony was taking it, but I guess he told Tony he was going to follow up on it.”
“Do you know who the man was?”
“Uhhh…no, not off hand. He was with Killian. I could ask the front desk. He had to sign in to get his badge. Stupid badges…I suppose they were good for something after all.”
“Killian? Is that who you were meeting with?”
“Yeah, Alderich Killian, he heads up a research group, called AIM. He stopped by today with a pitch, and I guess he had someone with him that Happy didn’t like.”
“And so he followed him all the way to a mall in Hollywood?” Peggy knew where the Stark Industries offices were in Los Angeles and they were nowhere close to the more famous tourist trap.
“None of it makes sense, I know.”
Peggy left off the questions, sensing that poor Pepper was at the end of her understanding and her self-control. “I’m sorry that you are going through this. Does he have family around?”
“A mother and sister out in Queens. I spoke to them both already. I’m flying them out here on a jet as soon as the FAA allows them to fly out of the city.”
It took Peggy a moment to realize with a terrorist attack on American soil coming so close after an attack on American military families overseas, they would be shutting down travel until they felt it was safe. As it was right before the holidays, this would be a nightmare. “Hopefully, it won’t be too long, and you can get them out here soon. How is Tony taking all of this?”
Pepper blew out a long woosh of air before answering. “He’s…beyond angry. The angriest I have ever seen him. I don’t know where he is at the moment. Happy’s in surgery, and he just stormed off. I hope he will be back soon.”
The idea of an angry Tony stalking the halls of Cedars Sinai, or worse, out in the streets somewhere, behind the wheel, left her feeling cold. “He wouldn’t do anything rash, would he?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted, quietly. “I didn’t know him when his parents died…”
“The anniversary was the day of the party,” Peggy muttered, her gut churning with worry.
“I know,” Pepper whispered. “He doesn’t talk about it, but I always keep it in the back of my head. This…Happy is one of his best friends, he’s been there for Tony nearly since his parents died. It’s Happy and Rhodes who have known him the longest, and if he lost either of them, he would…I don’t know what he would do.”
Peggy had to admit that was her quiet fear as well. “You forgot to include yourself on that list, you know.”
“That I do NOT want to think about,” Pepper sniffed, loudly, her voice breaking. “He’s…he’s been building suits. He hasn’t been sleeping since New York, and he’s scared all the time, and he’s worried about something happening. I don’t know what he saw up there, Peggy, I don’t know what was on the other side of that portal, but he has been up at night, sneaking down to the lab and building suits. I don’t even know how many he has down there now, but that’s all he does anymore, just builds new ones. It’s like he is trying to build some sort of army of robot suits, all to protect…I don’t know, me, him, us, the world…whatever it is. He has some new one that is automated now, he doesn’t even need to be in it, and he had a nightmare tonight, and it triggered the suit…all I know is that I woke up to it nearly shooting me in the face.”
Pepper’s words were a torrent, spilling out across the phone and into Peggy’s living room, the truth of what Peggy and others had long suspected about Tony. It was a thousand times worse, however, as Peggy sat, her mouth dry and jaw open, staring blankly at the carnage on the screen, imagining the horror of waking up to that deadly, blue-white glow in your face and the whine of the repulsors in your ears. “Pepper…”
“It was an accident, and Tony was horrified, but…he was already on edge because of that. Now, this…”
Peggy shook herself, kick starting her brain as she scrubbed at her untidy hair. “What do you need from me?”
The other end of the line was silent for a long moment before Pepper spoke. “I know we still aren’t sure it was him, but, do you think you could call your niece and find out anything for us on if this was the Mandarin? Could you find out anything on it?”
Peggy frowned, trying to recall where Sharon was at the moment, whether she was in Kuwait still or back in the US. “I’ll see if I can find her and if she has any more she can say. I can’t promise anything.”
“I know, just…you were the only person I knew, outside of Rhodey, who might.”
Peggy pursed her lips, nodding. “Does he have any more information?”
“No, he was being pulled into a meeting when I called him, he said he would get a hold of me soon. I am guessing there might be something, but…”
But he might not be able to discuss it, Peggy mentally supplied. She sighed, heavily. “Let me start making calls and seeing what I can find out. I will let you know.”
“Thank you,” Pepper said, brokenly. “It’s something.”
“Right,” she returned, not sure what else she could say. “Just…make sure Tony doesn’t do anything foolish. I will find out what I can.”
With quiet assurances in regards to Stark, Pepper hung up, leaving Peggy to stare at the continuing news footage as now commentators appeared on the silent screen, she guessed to attempt to make sense of what happened. “Mr. Jarvis, could you call Sharon, please.”
“I assume on her personal cell phone number.”
“Yes, please,” Peggy replied, staring at the destruction; overturned cars, their glass blown out, a coffee shop across the street with its windows gone, its displays, tables, and chairs all leveled, a crying woman speaking to a microphone shoved into her face as she wiped at tears.
Sharon picked up on the last ring. “I already know!”
Peggy bit back a snort, hearing the frantic note in her niece’s voice. “Is it the Mandarin?”
Sharon was circumspect for a long moment before answering. “All signs seem to be pointing that way, yeah.”
Peggy released the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. “What happened?”
“Not sure on the details yet and I’m half a world away. They are still putting it out, so no one has even been on the ground yet to tally up the full extent, let alone the nature of the blast.”
Peggy swore, softly. “Stark’s friend, his former driver, was in that blast.”
That gave Sharon pause. “Jesus!”
“He survived, somehow. Pepper Potts just called and told me. He’s in surgery at the moment.”
“Right, so I am guessing Stark is going to want to stick his nose in this?”
Peggy hadn’t even thought that far ahead. “He hasn’t so far, but I am sure he will try. My hope is perhaps between Pepper and I, we can keep him at bay, but you know how he is.”
“The last thing I need in this is him being a hothead.”
“I know,” she assured her, quickly. “Are you taking point?”
“For SHIELD I am. Now that there has been an attack on US soil, I think it’s getting taken out of Ross’ hands, he’s being sent back to Germany while they kick it up the chain at Langley. I do not relish whoever it is state side that the CIA is going to try foisting on me, so I’m trying to manage as much as I can on the SHIELD side before they figure out who to send.”
It was the sort of inter-agency tangle Peggy didn’t wish on anyone. “Did you have any idea that this might be a possibility?”
“We didn’t have any idea the other explosions would be a possibility. He doesn’t leave clues, doesn’t send notes or empty threats. All we have is random targets; bases, hospitals, MST in London, a mall in one of LA’s biggest tourist areas was not high on the list. This changes the game completely, and now the Pentagon is going to want to push for some sort of military response, and we don’t even know who the guy is.”
“A military response where?”
“Afghanistan, probably, since that’s the one place that is shown consistently in his videos. The Ten Rings organization he supposedly heads up is active there, or at least it was until Stark blew most of it to kingdom come. Honestly, it’s a dead end there, the Ten Rings stopped being active once Stark came out as Iron Man, but they are convinced there are boogeymen in the mountains and it is just the sort of excuse they need to push the military and the Afghan government to take military action, whether there is a purpose for it or not.”
The conversation with Rhodes the weekend before made much more sense. “I think they believe that they have their own Iron Man and can send him in to handle the dirty work.”
“Rhodes?” Sharon was always quick on her feet.
“Judging from what he told me.”
“I don’t know if that is better or worse, but he will be looking for a needle in a haystack. I’ve been working this case since London and I’ve found practically nothing but ancient myths and shady dead ends. The only definitive thing we have are those videos, and even those are likely production jobs. Rhodes could traipse through the entirety of Central Asia and not find him.”
“Meanwhile, more bombs go off, more people die.” How many people had been in front of that theater? It was a tourist trap, likely dozens. Hadn’t she just joked with Steve about going over the weekend? She had wanted to see the slabs of concrete with celebrity handprints in them, but he had preferred the museum. She shivered, thinking of other people out there that evening, families and tourists, people doing Christmas shopping, or seeing a film, or just making their way to work or home. In the blink of an eye, many of them were likely dead.
“Are you going out there, then?”
“I’m on the first military transport out of Kuwait. I stop off at Andrews sometime tomorrow afternoon, then I figure out how to get a ride out to Los Angeles when all the commercial lines are shut down.”
Peggy was already thinking ahead. “What if I met you in Maryland with a cleared quinjet willing to fly out out there?”
She was shanghaiing her niece, and she wasn't sorry about it.
“Peggy,” she grumbled, lightly.
“Hear me out!” Peggy was already quickly defending her idea. “You need to get out there, and now Stark has gotten involved in it, whether you like it or not. He’s my responsibility, and I’m one of the few people he will listen to.”
The exasperated exhale on the other end told her that Sharon was at least considering it. “This isn’t an Avengers level of involvement.”
“Whether it is or isn’t, Stark may make it that way, and you will much rather have me there than not.”
Peggy could hear something being tapped on the other end in rapid agitation, before Sharon sighed.
“And I’ll get Jake Jameson to fly it,” Peggy offered, sweetly, knowing Sharon would likely want to see him.
“That is just straight up underhanded!”
“I have been known to be so to get things done.”
“More to get what you want,” Sharon complained. “Fine, if they give you clearance, meet me at Andrews. Meanwhile, you get to think of a way I can tell Mom I’m not coming home for Christmas.”
“Unless we figure this out, neither of us will be there, so whatever we come up with better be good.” Peggy couldn’t help a small smile. Cynthia Carter was a force to be reckoned with, which made Peggy adore her, but it also made her equally fearful to disappoint her.
“I’ll keep you posted on when I will be heading out and if there are any new developments. I just hope Stark doesn’t do anything ridiculously rash before we get there.”
Peggy did as well, though, judging from his mood the weekend before, she had a feeling they wouldn't be so lucky.