42: Gary needs Tony.

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"Man. Happy, Happy, Happy-" dad mutters repeatedly.

"It's not a bomb." I said cutting him off. The silence made me think back to the weird dream I had a few nights ago.

"Hmm?" Dad asks, not catching what I said.

"The bomb is not a bomb." Dad looks at me for a few seconds before focusing on the road.

"How do you know?" He asks.

"That night... I know it sounds crazy but the night that Happy... I was there, I saw that guy blow up, this one," I said pointing to his picture in the file. "He was glowing like them but he couldn't stop until he exploded right before my eyes." I shivered when I remembered what happened after, the guy with the raspy voice. Loki. I couldn't tell him about Loki, he could get another anxiety attack.
"Do you believe me?" I ask and dad sighs.

"I do. But we have to find out who is behind them." Dad states and I sigh in relief. He believed me, he didn't think I was crazy.

I open the file again and a sheet of paper flies out. I pick it up and move to return it when the light of the screen lights up the paper.

MIA.
Spelt backwards... AIM.

Shit.

I turn the paper around leaving it there for dad to see and he scoffs.

Dad pulls out the phone and I dial Rhodey's number. It was one of the three numbers Pepper made me know by heart growing up.

"Uh... Hang on a second. Hello?" His voice comes in.

"You ever have a chick straddling you and you look up and suddenly she's glowing from the inside out, kind of a bright orange?" Dad asks.

"Yeah, I've had that. Who is this?" He asks.

"You guys are weird." I quip.

"It's me, pal. Now, last time I went missing, if I remember correctly, you came looking for me. What are you doing?" Dad replies.

"A little knock-and-talk, making friends in Pakistan. What are you doing?" Rhodey replies.

"Your redesign, your big rebrand, that was AIM, right?" I ask going straight to the point.

"Yeah." He confirms.

"We're gonna find a heavy-duty comm sat right now, I need your login." Dad asks.

"It's the same as it's always been, 'WarMachine68.'" he replies.

"And password, please." I ask.

"Well, look, I gotta change it every time your dad hacks into it." He complains.

"It's not the '80s, nobody says 'hack' any more. Give me your login." Dad mocks and Rhodey sighs.

"'WAR MACHINE ROX' with an 'X,' all caps." Rhodey begrudgingly replies.

"That is so much better than 'Iron Patriot.'" dad replies laughing.

He suddenly drifts the car into a u-turn and I grab the dash.

"This is why I don't get in the car when you drive." I groaned out and he laughs as we drive off.

📂📄📂

I pull the hood closer to my face, coils of wire on my shoulder. We enter the nearest news van to us and I drop the wire in exhaustion.

Dad quickly sits in front of the computer and I stand behind him. He checks the connection speed and I groan when I see the results. I miss our house.

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