(Soleil's POV)
Unfortunately, trouble seemed to find them even in the holidays. After Tony had manage to catch Soleil and get her on the couch, they ended up catching up on some much needed cuddle time and making out for longer than they could recall.
But as soon as they turned on the TV, the first thing that popped up is a terrorist called Mandarin who is supposedly apart of the Ten Rings. He spoke about giving America a lesson, how they slaughtered the wife and children of the Cheyenne's Braves in 1864. Before he went on to admit that they had bombed a church full of wife and children of the military's Braves, just 39 hours ago.
Mandarin was calling out President Ellis by the end of it, leaving Soleil and Tony both frowning. They were back on the clock with their wounds only haphazardly stitched back together, and the first course of action; was to meet up with Rhodey.
sss
"And now that we seem to be back, let's recap some of the frightening..." Pat Kiernan of NY 1 HD spoke before the TV switched to another news channel.
"American Airwaves were highjacked..." Good Morning America.
Megan Henderson from KTLA 5 News spoke. "The nation remains on high alert..."
"All attempts to find the Mandarin have so far proved unsuccessful..." MSNBC news anchor starting speaking before the camera changed to the view the outside of White house, panning in with a view of the Christmas tree before switching to the press conference.
President Ellis stood on a podium addressing the reporters and cameras in front of him. "Central to my Administration's response to this terrorist event, is a newly minted resource. I know him as Colonel James Rhodes, the American people will soon know him as the Iron Patriot."
The 'Iron Patriot' walked out; Rhodey in the Mark II suit that has gotten revamped once again, this time with red, white, and blue colouration.
The channel changes again to Bill Maher talking about the 'subject' on his show. "And how is President Ellis responding? By taking the guy they call War Machine and giving him a paint job."
Next up was; Joan Rivers on The Fashion Police. "Same suit, but painted red, white, and blue. Look at That. And they also renamed him Iron Patriot. You know, just in case the paint was too subtle."
Rhodey, Tony and her were seated at a table in a sports bar watching the TV. Tony was cringing, Soleil had hid a snort in her hand and Rhodey was unamused.
"It tested well with focus groups, alright?" Rhodey explained.
Tony turns to Rhodey, and with a mocking and gruff voice he spoke. "I am Iron Patriot..."
"Listen-" Rhodey started off.
"It sucks." Tony shrugged and smirked seeing Soleil giggle.
"War Machine was a little too aggressive, alright? This sends a better message." Rhodey further explained.
"Sure, it does~. Personally, I think you're trying to steal Captain America's look." Soleil snickered. "I think there is only room for one America's 'Golden boy'. Then again, you look more like the flag bearer~!"
"Really, Sol." Rhodey groaned while Tony laughed.
Soleil smirked at their reactions before checking the time on her phone. "Okay, I have a meeting to go to later. So, let's get to the point."
Which was true, Pepper had called for her yesterday to come in for a meeting scheduled today. Pepper originally was the one that was supposed to be attending it, but she wanted Soleil to come in but never said why.
Either way Soleil had her formal attire in the car to change into later but for now she was wearing a denim outfit. Boyfriend jeans, denim strapless tub top, a printed jeans jacket with words throughout it. Some dark blue Jordan 1s, a pair of blue tinted Chanel glasses and her braids down.
Tony had also worn relatively casual wear; with a low collared black long sleeve shirt that he had rolled up to his elbows, dark blue jeans, and some black sneakers. He also wore dark red tinted sunglasses.
Tony nodded to what Soleil said. "So, what's really going on? With Mandarin."
They both looked towards Rhodey who just sipped on his water for a long moment.
"Seriously, can we talk about this guy?" Tony grew impatient, ripping his glasses off dramatically before leaning in close to Rhodey. Soleil did the same, scooting over on the circular bench to Rhodey's other side.
"It's classified information." Rhodey looked around cautiously -quickly without drawing attention- before looking between the two of them and lowering his voice. "..Okay, there have been nine bombings."
"Nine." Soleil and Tony whispered in unison.
"The public only knows about three. Here's the thing, nobody can ID a device. There's no bomb casings." Rhodey stated.
"You know I can help, just ask. I got a ton of new tech, I got a prehensile, I got a...I got a new bomb disposal. Catches explosions mid-air." Tony listed off and avoided Soleil's narrowing gaze at him.
Clearly she has been missing out on a lot more than Tony's new prehensile suit, and she could only wonder how much more she had missed.
I don't even know what Mark number that suit is. Soleil inaudibly groaned as she raised her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"When's the last time either of you got a good night's sleep?" Rhodey asked.
"Einstein slept three hours a year. Look what he did?" Tony pointed out.
"Ha!" Soleil laughed dryly. "Who needs sleep~? Never heard of it, basically a stranger."
Rhodey frowned at he both of them. "People are concerned about you two. I'm concerned about about you two."
Tony was only one to take offence to that. "You're gonna come at me like that?"
"No. No, look, I'm not trying to be a dic..." Rhodey trailed off with a slight wince when Soleil pinched his side as a little girl approached their table. "..tator.
"Do you mind signing my drawing?" The little girl asked as she placed the paper down on the table. Soleil noticed the little boy beside the girl; presuming it was her little brother, so she wave at him.
"If Richard doesn't mind." Tony said before looking back at Rhodey. "You alright with this, Dick?"
Rhodey just laughed off Tony's nickname -insult-. "Yeah, fine with me."
The little boy waved back and shyly approached. "You're sunbeam, right?"
"I am." Soleil said and made her ear pop out, twitching from left to right.
"You're my favourite." The boy smiled as he looked at her ears.
"Aw~! Thank you, that's very sweet." Soleil smiled.
Tony's lips twitched upwards at the sight of Soleil's interaction with the boy before he looked at the drawing of himself in his Iron Man suit that the girl has drawn.
Tony looked towards the girl. "What's your name?"
"Erin." The girl answered.
Tony did a quick nod before he looked at the boy who had moved to stand beside him now. "I loved you in A Christmas Story, by the way."
While Tony began signing the drawing, Soleil turned to Rhodey and spoke mentally. "Continue talking, I'll broadcast it between the three of us."
Rhodey nodded and continued on, mentally. "Listen, the Pentagon is scared. After what happened in New York... aliens, come on. They need to look strong. Stopping the Mandarin is priority, but it's not..."
Tony cut him off. "It's not superhero business. We get it."
"No, it's not, quite frankly." Rhodey nodded his head. "It's American business."
"We understand, Rhodey." Soleil smiled softly, there was nothing they could do. Nor did the military wanted them to do, so they could leave it at that for now.
What Soleil turned her attention to now; was the slight tremble in Tony's right hand as he held the crayon to sign Erin's drawing.
"That's why I said-" Tony seemed to choke on his words as the crayon broke in his hand. "I...got it."
Suddenly Tony started to get paler and he soon placed his hand on his face, closing his eyes as he let out a breath.
"Are you okay?" Rhodey asked, -speaking normally-.
"Sweetheart?" Soleil stood slightly and leaned over the table to take Tony's hand in her's, she could not help but look at Erin's drawing as well. But what was written there made her bite her bottom lip with worry; 'Erin, Help me!!'
"I broke the crayon." Tony stated.
"Are you okay, Mr. Stark?" Erin asked, but did not receive an answer.
(Tony's POV)
Tony felt his breathing begin to pick up, but he did not why. Or maybe he did, though he did not really want to blame it on the girl's drawing of him flying into the portal.
"Take it easy. Tony..." Rhodey's voice was muffled to the point that he could barely hear it.
Tony inhales sharply as the world seems to narrow around him. But for some reason; out of anyone else, the little boy's voice seems to break through to him in a whisper. "How did you get out of the wormhole?"
Tony gasped and yanked his hand out of Soleil's hold as he stoop up, chair screeching across the floor behind him. He glanced at the boy and whispered so quietly that his words were barely audible. "What did you say?"
But he did not stick around to hear an answer. He needed to go and he needed to go now.
"Wait a minute! Tony!" Rhodey called out somewhere behind.
"Tony! Tony!" Soleil called out to him as well, closer but not exactly behind him either. Both of them following him out the bar.
Rhodey tried again. "Tony!"
"Sorry." Tony apologized as he bumped into people on the way out, going down the front steps toward his Iron Man suit parked outside. "Have to— check on the suit...make sure.....okay."
The suit's back opens up for him and when he enters it closed around Tony before he collapses, taking a knee.
"Check the heart, check the...check the...is it the brain?" Tony listed off to Jarvis.
"No sign of cardiac anomaly or unusual brain activity." Jarvis announced.
Tony looked over the diagrams displaying on his HUD, still breathing heavily. "Okay, so I was poisoned?"
"My diagnosis is that you've experienced a severe anxiety attack."
"Me?" Tony said, disbelieving.
(Soleil's POV)
Soleil and Rhodey kneeled down beside and in front of Tony, respectively. Rhodey knocked a few times on the helmet, while people from the bar started to gather around them.
"Come on, man. This isn't a good look, open up." Rhodey said looking at the crowd then back at Tony.
"Sorry, I gotta split." Tony pushed Rhodey away, while Soleil stood up and moved away as Iron Man straightened up.
"Tony, please." Soleil tried one last time, for something.
"I'm sorry." Tony said before his boosters kicking in and he flew off.
The crowd around them started murmuring about what just happened, and Soleil pulled Rhodey aside. "Look-"
"Aren't you going to go after him?" Rhodey questioned.
"No." Soleil saw the immediately disapproval from Rhodey. "Let me finish! If Iron Man leaving like that is 'not a good look' than Sunbeam chasing after him will make it worst."
"I...." Rhodey trailed off realizing that she was right. "You're right, sorry. I'm just.."
"Concerned." Soleil nodded. "I am too. He's had a panic attack before and I helped him through it. But I think it was too traumatic of an experience that he does not even remember it, or at least chooses not to. But this was definitely an anxiety attack. It was a lot slower, the build up I mean."
"You know a lot about this." Rhodey said with a sad smile.
"I've had my own experiences with it for most of my life. It's nothing new to me." Soleil shrugged. "There's no point going after him right now, when I know he'll shun me away."
"He's been doing that a lot, hasn't he."
"He has."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Yeah, me too." Soleil sighed. "I have to go."
"Sure." Rhodey said and kissed her cheek. Soleil smiled and began reaching for her card, when Rhodey shook his head. "This one's on me. For leaving you two in the dark for so long."
"Thank you." Soleil's smile brightened slightly as she kissed his cheek and gave him a quick hug before walking away towards her BMW I8. She sent a quick text to Pepper before she pulled away.
~~~
Lion Queen;
I'm on my way.
Peppermint;
Great.
See you soon.
~~~
Thanks to the tinted windows, Soleil managed to change in the car. She kept her hair down -put her ears away- but changed into a body suit with gold buckles on the front of the straps, black high waisted dress pants, a black blazer with gold detailing, some black Louboutin 4 inch pumps and a Chanel bag.
Stepping out of her car and closing the door, Soleil locked it before she made her way to the entrance of Stark Industries. Everyone moved out of her way as they saw her walking in and wished her a 'good afternoon', while also beginning to scurry around when the saw the head of security coming down the hallway as well.
"Badge. Badge. Badge." Happy called out as he met her in the middle of the entrance. He stopped in front of her and with a smile he tapped at his chest. "Hello, badge."
"Hello to you too, Happy." Soleil smiled as she rolled her eyes and pulled out her badge from her purse.
"I was just kidding, but I didn't think you would actually have your badge on you." Happy laughed softly as he turned and started to walk beside her.
"I mean I'm no Tony, even though I own half this industry. I appreciate the work you do with keeping the high level of protection and security for our staff, and especially our CEO." Soleil smiled.
"Thank you." Happy beamed at her words before he looked at a group of men and tapped his chest again. "Badge, guys. I put a memo on the toilet, come on."
"Okay. You're not serious." Soleil spoke mentally, holding back a snicker.
"What?! That way, they can't forget. Everyone uses the restroom." Happy pointed out.
"Then who set up the memo in the ladies's room?"
"I d-....I'm still working on that." Happy chuckled hesitantly.
"Sure you are, Hogan." Soleil smirked as they entered the elevator and went up toward the office area. As the doors opened again, Happy spoke.
"Oh! I had this idea. You know how Tony has all those suits now, right?"
"Yeah. I've lost count after 20." Soleil nodded as she stepped out of the elevator.
"Well, since he's got them in his basement, they're wearing party hats. This is an asset that we can put to use." Happy stated.
"I'm sorry, but do you want me to ask Tony to lend you his Iron Man suits to do..what exactly? Replace the entire janitorial staff?" Soleil raised a brow.
"What I'm saying is that the human element of Human Resources is our biggest point of vulnerability. We should start phasing it out immediately."
"What?"
"My reaction exactly." Pepper approached them with a smile. "Hey, Sol. Thanks for coming."
"You know I never mind helping out, with reason. Of course." Soleil smirked.
"Of course." Pepper sighed before looking to Happy. "Seriously, I thought we discuss this. The answer was a 'no'."
"But-" Happy started off.
"I'm sorry, Happy. It's a no from me as well. And I think Tony would have to agree with us, so it's a no across the board." Soleil patted Happy's shoulder before they continued to make their way to Soleil's office.
Happy just sighed, relenting to the unanimous decision before looking towards Bambi; who was seated at her desk. "Excuse me, Bambi."
"Did you just say that?" Pepper said, exasperatedly.
"Security." Happy tapped his badge on his chest, while Soleil held back a laugh.
"Happy?" Pepper called for his attention.
"Yes."
"Okay, I am thrilled that you're now the Head of Security, okay? It is the perfect position for you." Pepper started off.
"Thank you." Happy nodded in agreement.
"Give her a second." Soleil grinned.
Pepper did her best to keep the grin off her face. "However..."
Happy just continued to not listen to them. "I do appreciate it."
"Since you've taken the post..."
"You don't have to thank me."
"You're putting words in her mouth, Happy." Soleil sighed.
"We've had a rise in staff complaints of three hundred percent." Pepper explained.
Happy did not seem to understand what Pepper was saying. "Thank you."
A moment passed, before Pepper just shook her head. "That's not a compliment."
"That's not a compli...? It is a compliment!" Happy stated. "Clearly somebody's trying to hide something."
"I..." Pepper started off, but her assistant came up to them before she could continue.
"Excuse me."
"Yes?" Pepper said.
"Ms. Marcella, Ms. Potts. Your four o'clock is here." The assistant said.
"Thank you." Soleil and Pepper said in unison.
"Did you clear this four o'clock with me?" Happy narrowed his eyes at the assistant.
"Alright, Happy. That's enough." Soleil chided lightly.
Pepper nodded. "We'll talk about this later. But right now.. Soleil has to go deal with this very annoying thing."
"What?" Soleil raised a brow as she turned towards Pepper; who just motioned her towards her office.
"How so?" Happy asked.
"I used to work with him, and he used to ask me out all the time. So, it's a little awkward." Pepper explained.
"Meaning; you want me to do it, so he does not flirt with you. Is that right?" Soleil asked.
"Please~, Sol." Pepper clasped her hands together. "Just this once, for me. Think of it as an early Christmas present."
Soleil narrowed her eyes at her for a moment before relenting. "Fine. Just this once, Pep."
"Thank you, Sol. I mean honestly, I don't care what he presents. Just send him away as soon as possible." Pepper said before sauntering off to her own office.
Happy opened her office glass door and they stopped in the door frame. Soleil whispered to Happy. "I hope I don't regret this."
"I don't like the sound of this." Happy stated as they both stepped inside, and they see a man standing up and approaching them.
"Soleil." The man said happily, and Soleil had to hold back a groan.
Crap! Are you fucking me?! This is the same dude from the Gala who tried to sweep me off my feet. Still can't remember his name though. Soleil thought to herself as she plastered on a fake smile. "Hello, it is..."
The man seemed to be pretty eager to not actually notice that she had not remembered his name. "Killian. Aldrich Killian."
"Ah, yes. Mr. Killian." Soleil nodded.
"Please, call me Aldrich." Aldrich smiled.
"I prefer your last name. And please refer to me with mine, we are not friends." Soleil stated.
Aldrich seemed to pay her comment no mind as he moved on, looking her up and down. "You look great. You look really great."
Soleil held back a groan. "Please, let's refrain from the pleasantries."
Happy; who was still behind her, spoke. "Uh...you were supposed to be issued a security badge."
"Happy, it's okay." Soleil smiled at him. The sooner she can get this meeting started, the sooner it would be over.
"Yes?" Happy seemed to notice her displeasure.
Soleil made her smile more genuine. "We're good."
"You sure?"
"Yes. Stand down."
"Okay. I'm gonna linger, right here."
"Thank you." Soleil nodded and turned around.
"Okay." Happy said once more as he closed the door slowly.
Soleil looked towards Aldrich as she made her way over to the couches set up in the middle of the office. She gestured for him to sit down as she spoke. "The floor is your's."
Aldrich seemed to actually take a hint this time, as he cleared his throat before he began speaking. "After years dodging the President's ban on "immoral biotech research", my think tank now has a little something in the pipeline. It's an idea we like to call Extremis. I'm gonna turn your lights down."
She watched as he put a device behind his left ear before he held up the remote to her office lights, how he got that she was not sure -but she would let it slide-. The lights dimmed but Soleil's eyes changed to their slitted pupils -involuntarily- and quickly adjusted to the darkening of the room.
Aldrich held up his other hand and shook it, where Soleil heard something metal rattling in the depths of his palms. He then open his hand so Soleil can visibly see that are small metal balls. "Regard the human brain."
Aldrich proceeds to throw the balls onto the coffee table. As they roll, they soon stop simultaneously and begin to project a 3d image into the room.
Soleil looks up at the image that cascades throughout the room, but in her peripheral; she sees the label 'AIM' pop up as well before it disappears from the projection.
"Uh...wait. Hold on, hold on. That's...that's the universe, my bad. But if I do that..." Aldrich presses a button on his projector's control, which changes the 3d image to show inside of the brain.
"That's the brain." Aldrich states and Soleil has to roll her eyes behind her -closed- lids before opening them to meet his gaze. "Strangely mimetic though, wouldn't you say?"
"Pretty interesting." Soleil would not put it pass him, it was pretty decent tech. But that was not what he was going for.
"Thanks, it's mine." Aldrich turned back to the image.
"Pardon?" Soleil raised a brow.
"This. You're inside my head. It's a..." Aldrich made a gesture to his ear, more specifically referring to something embedded inside his head that connected to the device. "It's a live feed. Come on up, I'll prove it to you."
He then rises from the couch and stands on the coffee table, which leaves Soleil dumbfounded for the lack of respect for her furniture. But she got over it as soon as it came, and stoop up from her seat.
"Come on." Aldrich held his hand out to her which she took and stepped onto the coffee table, and now; they were stand directly in the 3d image.
Aldrich lead her to stand in front of him before raising his arm up and gestured to his forearm. "Now, pinch my arm."
"What are you getting at? Sensory information from the body and how the brain receives it?" Soleil commented.
"Pretty close." Aldrich smiled and motioned to his arm again. "Come on, I can take it. Pinch me."
Soleil sighed before she pinched him and immediately something lights up in the 3d image of Aldrich's brain. Her eyes followed the light until they faded. "What was that?"
"It's the primary somatosensory cortex. It's the brain's pain centre. But this is what I wanted to show you." Aldrich places his hands on Soleil's shoulders, as she has to resist flipping him off her while he maneuvers her so that her back is facing him.
He presses another button and the image starts to change, zooming in as he moves the image with his hand.
"Now, Extremis harnesses our bioelectrical potential and it goes...here."
Soleil was now looking at an empty space in the brain, that she was assuming he would explain that everyone had it. But it did not matter, messing around with the brain was already a big red flag to her and him being so touchy-feely with her like they were pals, friends or something more; was the nail in the coffin.
"This is essentially an empty slot, and what this tells us is that our mind, our entire DNA in fact, is destined to be upgraded."
"Interesting." Soleil tried to make it sound as believably as possible.
(Other's POV)
Happy sits outside Soleil's office looking around, until he gets a call on his tablet. He answers the call and holds the tablet high so only his forehead and eyes end up being in frame.
"Hello?" Happy said.
-Is this forehead of Security?- Tony asked.
"What?" Happy furrowed his brow for a second before pressing on. "You know, look.. I got a real job. What do you want? I'm working, I got something going on here."
"What? Harassing interns?" Tony smiles at his own joke as he starts to descend the stairs into the lower part of his workshop.
-Let me tell you something, you know what happened when I told people I was Iron Man's body guard? They would laugh in my face. At least Soleil had not come out as Sunbeam at that time, or else the humiliation would have been worst.-
Tony basically just laughs in Happy's face -through video call but still- as he continued down the steps.
-I had to leave while I still had a shred of dignity. Now I got a real job, I'm watching Pepper.-
"What's going on? Fill me in. What's Pepper got Sol up to?" Tony asked as he made it the wine cellar.
-For real?- Happy questioned.
"Yeah." Tony said as he inspected his collection.
-Alright, so she's meeting up with this scientist. Rich guy, handsome.-
"Right." Tony said, just to get a word in as he placed his device on a sealed crate of wine beside his single seater leather couch.
-I couldn't make his face at first, right? You know I'm good with faces.- Happy stated it, like it was a matter of fact.
"Oh, Yeah, yeah." Tony agreed, nonchalantly. "You're the best."
-Yeah. Well, so I run his credentials, I make him ..Aldrich Killian.- Happy explained while Tony watched the Mark XLII returning to its holding chamber in the level below him. After the suit went in; the Suits's chamber door closed up and Tony did a thumbs up before he readjusted the ice on his hand.
-We actually met the guy back in... where were we in '99? The science conference?- Happy continued on.
"Um..." Tony said as he sat down in the couch, turning the device to face him. "Switzerland."
Happy nodded. -Right, right. Exactly.-
"Killian? No, I don't remember that guy." Tony said as he picked up a wine glass and a bottle pouring some into the glass before he took a bite out of the apple slices he had set aside.
-Of course you don't. He's not a blond with a big rack. At first it was fine, they were talking business, but now it's like getting weird. He's showing her..- Happy looked away from the camera, and Tony could only assume it was in direction of Soleil's office. -..His big brain.-
"His what?" Tony raised a brow.
-Big brain, and she seems likes it. Here, let me show you. Hold on. See?- Happy moves to hold his tablet up and points it towards Soleil's glass office, where Aldrich and Soleil are standing close together on the coffee table watching the 3d image of the brain, but all Tony can see is Happy due the camera not being changed from front to back.
"Look at what? You watching them?" Tony pointed out. "Flip the screen and then we can get started."
-I'm not a tech genius like you. Just...just trust me, get down down here.-
"Flip the screen, then I can see what they're doing."
-I can't! I don't know how to flip the screen! Don't talk to me like that anymore. You're not my boss.-
While Happy was going off on him, Tony used his device to look up Aldrich and finds his photo. He skims the information that pops up but does nothing more before he swipes it away.
-Alright? I don't work for you. And I don't trust this guy. He's got another guy with him, he's shifty.- Happy explains.
"Relax." Tony stands up from his seat.
-Seriously?-
"I'm just asking you to secure the perimeter. Tell him to go out for a drink or something?"
-You know what? You should take more of an interest in what's going on here. This woman... this woman's the best thing that ever happened to you, and you...you're just ignoring her.- Happy furrowed his brows.
Tony knew that he had not been spending much time with Soleil as of late, he's admitted it to her himself. But he also knew she could handle this one alone, as she was perfectly capable of handling some guy who is most likely ass-kissing trying to get some funding from Stark Industries.
"A giant brain?" Tony asked for more of Happy's peace of mind than his own, as he made his way over to his refrigerated wine. Maybe I should tell Soleil that we should have a date night, tonight. Since our movie night was ruined. Yeah, that will be good. Order some dinner, wait here till she gets back..
-Yeah, there's a giant brain. There's a shifty character. I'm gonna follow this guy. I'm gonna run his plates and if it gets rough, so be it.- Happy said, playing it cool.
Tony pulled out a 50 year old Italian white wine. "I miss you, Happy."
-Yeah, I miss you too. But the way it used to be. Now you're off with the 'super-friends', I don't know what's going on with you anymore. At least Soleil still comes around often. ...The world's getting weird..-
"Hey, I...I'd hate to cut you off. Do you have your taser on you?" Tony cut him off.
-Why?-
"I think there's a gal in HR who's trying to steal some printer ink, you should probably go over there and zap her." Tony said as places his device in the wine fridge and closes it before walking off with Happy still on the line.
"Yeah, nice." Happy sighed, as he spent the next couple of minutes trying to hang up the call.