Ch 33 Harley Keener

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"So I'm guessing Mandarin took credit for that too." Scott said.

"He did." Tony said.

The Mandarin interrupted another broadcast, saying how fortune cookies looked and sounded Chinese but were actually an American invention so they were hollow and full of lies and left a bad taste in the mouth.

"That is incorrect info." Sam said, "They were made by a Chinese immigrant."

"David Jung." Tony supplied and everyone nodded.

Mandarin said his disciples had destroyed the Chinse Theatre and that this season of terror was drawing to a close but the big one was coming- The President's graduation.

"I know he is a faker and all that, but that imagery is still some disturbing shit." Jessica said.

"Considering where he is getting his funding from, not a surprise." Frank told her.

Happy, now in a coma, lay in the hospital wing as a female doctor set everything up. Tony was there and asked her to leave the TV on as Downtown Abbey was playing and it was his favorite show as he thought it elegant. She agreed.

"He even woke up to that show." Pepper remembered.

"Yup. I knew he would." Tony said.

He also told her that Happy wanted everyone to wear their badges so to make sure everyone did as his men wouldn't let anyone in without them anyway.

No one commented as they were all engrossed by the scene going on before their eyes. One of the rare cases of Tony showing empathy like that.

Outside, several reporters stood, waiting for Tony Stark to hear his reaction to the latest attack.

"Why do they always clamor up like that?" Luke wondered.

"It's their job." Matt said simply as he had more empathy for them than others due to Karen being a reporter.

As Tony walked out, all of them started asking him questions. As Tony walked to his car, a male reporter asked when someone was going to kill the guy.

"Shouldn't have asked that." Rhodes said.

Tony turned to them and said, "Is that what you want? Here's a little holiday greeting I've been wanting to send to the Mandarin. I just didn't know how to phrase it until now. My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward. So I've decided that you just died, pal. I'm gonna come get the body. There's no politics here. It's just good old-fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon, it's just you and me. And on the off chance you're a man, here's my home address. 10880 Malibu Point. I'll leave the door unlocked." He then asked the reporter, "That's what you wanted, right?" He took the man's phone and threw it at a wall, breaking it as the other reporters gasped. "Bill me." He said before sitting in his car as it was driven off.

"Okay, I want to know one thing." Natasha said, "Are you really brave, or really stupid, or both?"

"Both." Pepper said.

"You just gave your home address to a terrorist." Aunt May said.

"I know why you did that." Steve said, "You were in a highly emotional state. But what if Aldrich had actually decided to take up your offer."

"And trust me. A guy like him would have come prepared." Logan said and Tony paled.

"You're right. It was stupid." Tony agreed before turning to Pepper, "All it did was put you and me in danger. And I don't want to repeat that mistake."

"I know you won't." Pepper said as she stroked his cheek.

Later, Tony was in his house as Jarvis compiled the Mandarin database for him drawn from SHIELD, FBI and CIA headquarters. With the holographic technology, Tony and Jarvis managed to reconstruct the crime scene.

"Whoa!" Peter said in awe, "That is great technology."

"You want to fight crime on the streets, kid?" Elektra asked as he turned to her, "Stop relying on tech."

"She's got a point." Benjamin agreed, "We are not Mr. Stark. We should rely more on ourselves than technology."

"So you don't like the suits I made or something?" Tony asked.

"It's not that." Benjamin said, "It's just that I got over-addicted to it for a while so I decided to take a break and make my own suit to do stuff. And I realize that is better for me. Tech-based suits are best for big threats like the Chitauri."

Tony nodded, deep in thought. He cared for Peter and only wanted what was best for him. But he should also let Peter have a say in what he wants. Because an overuse of tech-based stuff might not be good for someone like Peter.

"You're right." Tony agreed, "I shouldn't push you too much towards tech, kid. Otherwise you won't be able to do much without it."

"I was doing fine in the streets before your tech, Mr. Stark." Peter said, "I think I will do just fine. But like the other me said, the tech-based suit is good for big stuff."

Tony commented how Mandarin was a name of an ancient Chinese war mantle which meant "advisor to the king." Jarvis told him the heat from the blast was in excess of 3000 degrees Celsius and any subjects within a 12.5 mile radius were vaporized instantly. No bomb parts were found in a 3 mile radius of the Chinese Theatre. Tony looked at the virtual unconscious body of Happy and wondered when a bomb was not a bomb.

"When it is a cover for an experiment gone wrong." Bruce said.

Tony then managed to find the virtual dog tags and asked if there were any military victims but Jarvis said there weren't according to public records. Tony asked to bring up the thermogenic signatures again and factor in 3000 degrees. Jarvis managed to plot the last 12 months of thermogenic occurrences so Tony asked him to take away all the ones that were Mandarin attacks, which Jarvis did. Tony then saw Rosehill Tennessee still looked like a Mandarin attack and asked Jarvis if it was one of his but Jarvis said it predated any known Mandarin attack.

"Because it is covered up really well." Clint said.

An image of Sergeant Chad Davis appeared as Jarvis said the incident was the usage of a bomb to assist in a suicide.

Frank winced at the scene, reminded of Lewis Wilson. The situations were different as Davis had been injected with Extremis but the wording in this scene made it sound exactly the same.

Tony said the heat signatures were remarkably similar and asked Jarvis to create a flight plan for Tennessee as he shut the holograph off but then the doorbell rang and Tony commented how they were supposed to be on total security lockdown but Jarvis said there was only so much that could be done after Tony had given the world's press his home address.

"I tried my best." Vision said.

"We know you did." Wanda told him.

"Just proves how much of an idiot you are, Stark." Fury said.

"You speak one more time, I'm going to walk over to your couch and throw up on your eyepatch." Tony said as everyone glared at Fury, who simply sighed.

"You're a smart man, Fury. So I hope you know when to not open your mouth." Odinson told him.

Maya Hansen knocked on the door and it opened as Tony in his suit told her to stop where she was and jokingly asked if she was the Mandarin. Maya chuckled at how he didn't remember and Tony said he didn't remember what he had for breakfast. Jarvis reminded him that he had gluten-free waffles.

"I wonder what he'd do without you." Rhodes said to Vision.

"I won't get half as far as I have." Tony said.

Maya said she needed to be alone with him somewhere that wasn't here.

"I know she isn't asking you out or anything, but that is some poor wording." Scott said.

"I know right!" Tony said.

Tony said he would normally go for that sort of thing but now he was in a committed relationship. That was when Pepper threw down two bags and walking down, asked if anyone was there. Tony introduced Maya to her and she chuckled at the fact that Tony did remember her.

"You're a troll, you know that?" Natasha asked as everyone chuckled.

Tony jokingly asked her if a 12 year old kid was waiting for him in the car and she joked that the kid was 13.

Everyone chuckled.

"She almost got you there." Loki said.

Maya said she needed his help. Tony asked the reason and she said she had read the papers and didn't think Tony would last the week. Pepper said she wasn't expecting guests or ex-girlfriends but Tony corrected that it was a one-night thing and was a great one. Pepper told Maya she had saved herself a world of pain, offending Tony.

"Really, I'm that bad?" Tony asked.

"You are." Pepper and Rhodes said simultaneously.

"There are always chances of improvement." Trish said.

Pepper said they needed to go out of town but Tony refused. Pepper said normal people behaved like that as Maya saw the big bunny and asked if that was normal, to which Pepper said it sadly was. Tony yelled it was a big bunny and to relax about it while Pepper told him to calm down. He said he had gotten it for her and she hadn't even told him she liked it. She said she didn't.

"A dress or a small soft toy would have sufficed." Pepper said.

"To be honest, a big bunny is over the top even for you." Sam told him.

Maya then pointed at the monitor and asked if they needed to worry about it.

"You do." Hope said.

A missile hit the window at that very moment and exploded, sending the three of them flying back.

"Oh no!" Rhodes said.

"Oh boy!" Sam said at the same time.

"This is why you don't give terrorists your address." Logan said.

Tony mentally called the Mark 42 and it assembled around Pepper just before she fell, saving her.

"That kids, is the definition of irony." Jessica said and everyone chuckled.

"The very suit that attacked you a day ago is now saving your life." Trish said.

Helicopters flew up to the area, Savin sitting in one of them. Pepper saved Tony from falling debris and the two tried to escape the area as Tony saw a barely conscious Maya. He asked Pepper to take her and go as the ground between them broke. Pepper complied and picking up Maya, ran towards a window and tried to fire a repulsor but it didn't work. When she lowered her hand, the repulsor suddenly worked and the two were launched out, crashing through the window.

"Damn!" Scott said.

"That is one prematurely used suit." Steve said.

"You're not wrong." Tony told him.

"But it was necessary." Steve told him.

Tony ran around in the house, avoiding all the falling debris as the house fell apart on top of him. Pepper called out to him from outside. Jarvis told Tony that Pepper was clear of the structure so he called his suit back. It disassembled from around Pepper and as Tony was crawling in his house to avoid gunfire, assembled around him. He stood up and asked Jarvis about the flight power. Jarvis said he was working on it as the suit was still a prototype. It was only at 22% power currently.

"Still, better than no suit." Bucky said.

Tony tried to fire a missile at one helicopter but it was offline. The firing continued as the house fell apart and Tony fell around until he fired a repulsor at some debris and it crashed through the window, hitting a helicopter and taking it down.

"Score!" Rhodes and Sam said at the same time.

The helicopters still continued firing as Jarvis told Tony his suit wasn't combat ready. Tony took out a small piece from the arm and throwing it at a helicopter, fired a repulsor, causing an explosion that destroyed the helicopter. Pepper watched as the helicopter crashed right in front of Tony, sending him back as he hung on for dear life. Tony was thrown around and he saw as Dum-E and U were blown to bits.

"No!" Wanda said, having grown attached to the two bots due to the recordings.

Tony saw his suits getting blown up too.

"Oh my God!" Bruce said.

"This is getting worse and worse by the moment." Thor said.

Tony was finally thrown from the house as it started crashing into the water. Eventually, falling pieces of his house fell into the water along with him as Pepper walked up to the edge and called out to him in despair.

Tony and Pepper held each other's hands for comfort.

Tony started sinking in the suit as Jarvis asked him to take a deep breath and detached the gauntlet from his hand. The gauntlet then grabbed Tony's hand and started pulling him up.

"That is a really nice suit." Natasha said.

Jarvis said the flight power was restored and as the gauntlet reattached itself, the suit flew off with Tony inside it just as the helicopter left.

"At least you're out of there in one piece." Wanda told him, "Though your house is gone."

"Fortunately, that was the only thing I lost that day." Tony agreed.

An unspecified amount of time later, Tony was woken up by Jarvis and a beeping sound as Tony told him to kill the alarm but Jarvis told him that was the emergency alert triggered by the power dropping below 5%. A stag looked up and ran off as a screaming Tony crashed and flew through some trees, crashing through them too before falling in the snow.

"Ouch!" Aunt May said.

"So, how badly were you hurt?" Steve asked, cringing.

"Not that bad." Tony said, "Though my face hurt. And my arm."

"I think your face and arm always get hurt." Pepper said.

"Especially the arm." Rhodes reminded him.

"Good point." Tony agreed.

"Don't know what I'd do without my arm." Clint said.

Tony took off his visor and noted the snow, asking Jarvis where they were. Jarvis said they were 5 miles outside Rose Hill, Tennessee, shocking Tony who said it wasn't his idea as he needed to get Pepper. Jarvis said a flight plan had been prepared and this was the location. Tony asked Jarvis to open the suit.

"I was malfunctioning." Vision said.

"I know." Tony said.

Jarvis said he was malfunctioning as the suit came off. Tony sat up and took deep breaths, saying it was brisk and he needed to cosy back up but Jarvis said he needed to sleep and the suit powered down as Tony asked Jarvis not to leave him but it was too late.

"I get it. Don't overuse the battery." Tony said.

"This was the test of your life, man." Rhodes said, "Having to fight without your suits. And you did great."

"Thanks pal." Tony said.

Tony carried the suit through the snow, stopping to steal a poncho from a wooden Indian before he called Pepper through a secure Stark server outside a place called 'Texaco', apologizing for putting her in harm's way, saying it was stupid and selfish and won't happen again. He then apologized for the big bunny and finally apologized in advance as he couldn't come home and needed to find the Mandarin. He also told her he had stolen a poncho from a wooden Indian.

Almost everyone found their eyes a little wet at Tony's display of affection and were also amused by his way of showing it.

Pepper simply smiled at Tony as the two held hands.

Tony carried the suit through the snow again, eventually finding a work shop where he put it next to him on a couch and relaxed. That was when a kid arrived and pointed a potato gun at him. Tony said it was good but it would diminish his FPS, until the kid fired at a glass bottle, destroying it. Tony was impressed but said now Harley was out of ammo.

"That is a badass kid." Sam said.

"Harley Keener." Tony said, "Nice kid. And smart."

Harley asked what was on Tony's chest and he said it was an electromagnet and he should know as he had a box full of them. Harley asked what it powered and Tony moved out of the way to reveal his suit as Harley gasped in awe. He asked if it was Iron Man and Tony said technically he was. Harley told him he was dead technically as he gave him the newspaper which had a headline of him presumed dead.

"He is already looking like a younger version of you." Rhodes said.

"Duh." Tony said.

Harley asked what had happened to the suit and Tony said he'll fix it. Harley asked if he'd do it like a mechanic and he agreed. Harley started about what he would do if he was building Iron Man and War Machine, though Tony corrected that it was Iron Patriot now, which Harley found way cooler but Tony disagreed.

"No, it's not." Rhodes agreed with Tony.

"Iron Patriot sucks." Scott agreed too.

"Thanks man." Rhodes said.

Harley said he would have added the retro-reflective panels to make it stealth mode, impressing Tony who agreed it was a good idea.

"Smart, snarky." Natasha said.

Harley accidentally broke the suit's finger and Tony asked him to leave it alone before telling him he'd fix it. Tony then asked him who was home. Harley said his mom had left for the diner and his dad had gone to 7-11 to get scratchers but he had probably won as that was 6 years ago. Stark said dads left and there was no need to be a pussy about it.

Tony felt everyone's glares boring into him.

"Dude, what the hell?" Rhodes asked, "That is a horrible thing to say to a kid."

Aunt May said, "If you ever talk to Peter like that, I will-"

And she ended it there, leaving Tony thinking about the countless implications.

"You have every right to be upset about how your father treated you." Matt said, "But you have no right to be so callous to a child because of that."

"You're right." Tony said, feeling shame for what he had said to Harley, "I was a dick to that kid. It's a miracle he still helped me after that." [1]

"We're here to learn from our mistakes after all." Pepper said gently.

Tony told Harley he needed a laptop, a digital watch, a cell phone, a pneumatic actuator from Harley's bazooka, a map of town, a big spring and a tuna fish sandwich. Harley asked what was in it for him and Tony said salvation, asking him the name of the kid who bullied him at school, as he recognized the signs of a kid who is bullied. He then gave Harley a small flash grenade from his suit, telling him it discouraged bullying and was non-lethal, only to cover one's ass. Harley accepted it and decided to help Tony, finally introducing himself as Harley Keener as Tony called himself the mechanic. He then asked Harley about his sandwich again.

Everyone chuckled.

Outside the destroyed house, police, firemen and reporters had assembled, doing their usual job as Pepper stood there too. She picked up a broken helmet and touched it with her head, only to realize it was beeping. She put it around her head and when the retinal scan was verified, Tony's apology began playing. The very sound of his voice was enough to make Pepper smile happily as happy tears escaped her eyes.

Everyone smiled at the scene, knowing how relieved Pepper would have felt.

Later, Pepper drove Maya away, asking her why she was in the house. Maya said she thought her boss was working for the Mandarin and they needed to get someplace safe.

"He is the Mandarin." Tony said as Benjamin and Logan exchanged a look with Matt, Elektra, Frank, Jessica, Luke and Trish, knowing that he wasn't.

Pepper was confused until Maya told her she was actually a biological DNA coder running a team of 40 out of a privately funded think tank, not a botanist as Tony had described. Pepper asked if her boss had a name and Maya said it was Aldrich Killian. Pepper looked at her in shock.

"Busted." Hope said.

Aldrich was on the phone as Savin told him they had taken the house down but there was no sign of a body. Aldrich said the master was about to record and cutting the call, told his men not to make eye contact unless they wanted to get shot in the face. The Mandarin prepared himself and arrived at the location, ready to record.

"Stealing Aldrich's glory all over again." Tony said dryly.

Tony and Harley walked together as Tony said the sandwich was fair but the spring was a little rusty, though he'd make do with the rest of the raw materials. He then said he was hoping for something a little more adult when Harley had mentioned his sister had a watch. Turned out Tony was wearing a 'Dora the Explorer' watch.

Everybody laughed as Tony held his face in his hands and shook his head, "Someone shoot me."

"That is a nice watch." Peter said with laughs as everyone continued laughing at Tony who looked embarrassed.

Harley said she was only six and it was a limited edition.

"Inquire about age next time. Got it." Tony said.

"It's limited edition. You should be happy." Pepper joked and everyone laughed again as Tony looked offended.

Harley asked if they could talk about New York or the Avengers but Tony said they couldn't, asking the kid to give him space. The two stopped in front of the place where Chad Davis had blown himself up. Tony asked the official story and Harley said Chad Davis had won some medals in the army but had gone crazy one day and blown himself up. Tony remembered that six people had died but there were only five ash-imprints. Harley said that according to people, the shadows were marks of people going to Heaven except Chad as he had blown himself up and gone to Hell.

"When I call something superstitious, trust me, it is." Matt said, "And this is."

Tony asked if he bought that and Harley said that was what people said.

"People can be wrong." T'Challa said.

Harley then said the crater reminded him of New York, asking Tony several questions about it too, including if he had PTSD, though Tony denied it.

"Except you do." Logan said.

Eventually, he managed to give Tony an anxiety attack as he got up and staggered near a pole, laying down as Harley looked at him in concern. That was when two kids arrived on quad bikes and stopped them near Harley, spreading snow over him. One of them, who was his bully, EJ, asked him if Tony was his boyfriend.

"The bullies." Natasha realized.

Harley said it was Tony Stark but Tony needed to keep a low profile so he covered his head with his cap as EJ said Tony Stark was dead and the two drove off, once again spreading snow on Harley.

"Poor kid and poor you." Frank said to Tony.

Tony recovered and threw a snowball at Harley, telling him it was his fault before asking him where Mrs. Davis was. Harley said she was where she always is and Tony said now he was being helpful.

"That's better." Clint said.

Tony later walked towards a bar and bumped into a red-haired woman accidentally, making her drop her wallet. He picked it up and returned it to her, complimenting her hairstyle. She complimented his watch and he proudly said it was limited edition. She walked off, telling him to have a good evening.

"Her." Tony snarled.

"I guess she meant 'horrible evening.'" Rhodes said.

Tony then walked into the bar where people were having fun. He found Mrs. Davis who was sitting alone. Tony asked if he could join her and she joked it was a free country. He sat down and apologized for her loss, asking her what she thought had happened. She put a file on the table and told him to take it and go. Tony realized she was waiting for someone else as he read the file and saw that Chad worked with someone called Jack Taggart.

"The guy who exploded in front of Happy." Steve recognized him.

Tony assured Mrs. Davis her son hadn't killed himself or anyone else but had been used as a weapon, surprising her. She realized he wasn't the one who had called her and the red-haired woman from before slammed her badge into the table, telling him she had. She suddenly grabbed Tony in a hold to arrest him as Tony discreetly took the dog tags of Chad that Mrs. Davis had.

"This is not good at all." Jessica said.

"Nope." Tony said.

The woman, whose name was Ellen Brandt, put cuffs on Tony as the sheriff asked her what she was doing. She introduced herself as a Homeland agent but the sheriff didn't buy it. Mrs. Davis threw the file into a corner as Brandt's hand glowed, shocking Tony. She put the badge on the sheriff's face, burning it as he screamed and the others ran off. She then took his gun and shot another cop and him as everyone continued running. Tony ran out, jokingly asking if she wanted a party. He then saw Savin getting out of his car and ran the other way but Harley threw a snowball at Savin, distracting him.

"Oh shit!" Sam said.

"These people." Rhodes snarled.

Tony hid behind a car, jokingly asking a man if it was crazy and he agreed. Tony ran towards a window of the bar and crashed through it. A man tried to fire at Brandt but she snatched his gun and fired at Tony who jumped to hide behind the counter, still cuffed. He turned left but saw Brandt was already there. She picked him up and elbowed him. Tony tried to attack but she flipped him to the ground. He tried to roll away but she grabbed his hand and pinned him to a wall. The two grabbed each other as she glowed and Tony eventually leapt and grabbing her in a chokehold with his cuffs, held her against the counter, trying to choke her. She laughed as her neck glowed and Tony used that to burn through the cuffs as he backed off and threw them down.

"Smart." Steve said.

"That's Stark for you." Natasha said.

Tony then kicked some fuel at her along with the still glowing cuffs, igniting the flames. He then started setting up the microwave as Brandt walked through the flames, burning herself up. "You walked right into this one. I've dated hotter chicks than you." Tony joked.

Everyone laughed at Tony's wit.

"Now that is what I call the pun-master." Sam said.

A burning Ellen walked through the doors, now on fire. "That's all you got?" She hissed, "A cheap trick and a cheesy one-liner?" Tony exposed some gas and said, "Sweetheart, that could be the name of my autobiography." With that, he ran out as Brandt noticed Davis' dog tags inside the microwave. Tony hid behind an ice machine as an explosion erupted. Tony then walked out, noticing people running in fear and Brandt dead between some wires on a pole.

"Creepy." Peter said.

"Smart way to beat your opponents." Hope said.

"At least you had a point about being nothing without my suit." Benjamin said.

Tony suddenly saw the water tower shaking and realized Savin was using his Extremis powers to bring it down. He then saw EJ and his friend riding their quad bikes and ran to the fence, jumping on the other side, telling them to run off as the water tower was coming down. EJ tried but the water tower collapsed first, spreading a huge quantity of water all around, though Tony managed to save himself by holding onto a fence. He realized his foot was trapped under some debris and called out to EJ, before Savin arrived holding Harley hostage.

"Oh no!" Clint snarled angrily, thinking of ways to kill Savin.

"Coward!" Steve spat.

Harley apologized to Tony as Savin put him down and demanded the file and Tony assured him it wasn't his fault, asking him to remember what he had been told about bullies.

"Nice lesson about bullies, Tony." Steve said in an impressed tone, knowing what was about to happen.

Harley used the flash grenade on Savin, blinding him temporarily as he ran off. Stark then told Savin smart guys always covered their asses and fired a repulsor at him, sending him back.

Everyone clapped happily at the scene.

"Now that's what you get for holding a kid hostage." Frank snarled angrily at Savin, "Nice job, Stark."

Tony then pulled the debris off himself as Harley pulled EJ back up. With help from Tony and Mrs. Davis, they pulled EJ out of the water and put him on the ground as Mrs. Davis tried to perform CPR on him. Tony got an idea and slowly pulling out his Arc Reactor, shocked EJ, getting pushed back. He tried again and was pushed back again. But the third time, EJ's eyes snapped open and he coughed the water out as Harley and Mrs. Davis helped him up while Tony looked relieved.

Everyone's jaws gapped at Tony's act of selflessness.

"Proof that Tony Stark has a heart." Steve finally said in an impressed tone and everyone nodded.

"You're okay, Stark." Frank told him, equally impressed.

"You did the right thing, Tony." Pepper said as the two gazed into each other's eyes.

"You're a hero." Loki of all people said.

"A very good one at that." Wanda agreed. Everything she was seeing had made her see Stark in a new light. While he was still a little less than partially responsible for the bomb, he was a good man and would do anything to make up for it if he could. And that was enough.

"They're right." Rhodes said.

"Thanks guys." Tony smiled.

Tony suddenly started seizing due to the Arc Reactor being out of his body. As he fell down, Harley snatched the Arc Reactor from his grasp and managed to put it back inside, resuscitating Tony who patted Harley's head happily.

Everyone sighed in relief at the scene, smiles on their faces.

Tony then walked up to where Savin was lying and stole his car keys. Later, with the file in his hand, Tony walked off as Harley walked up to him saying "You're welcome." Tony wondered if he had missed something and Harley said he had saved his life. Tony said he had saved him first but still thanked him and asked him not to be a yutz as he would come off grandiose. Harley said Tony needed him as they were connected but Tony said he needed Harley to go home, be with his mom, guard the suit, and stay connected to the telephone. He then said they were done and got in the car, apologizing to Harley and saying he did good. Harley asked if he was going to leave him like his dad and Tony said he was, realizing he was guilt-tripping him. Harley childishly said he was cold and Tony mockingly said he could tell because they were connected and drove off as Harley said it was worth a shot.

Everyone chuckled at the witty banter between Tony and Harley.

"Kid's definitely a younger you." Luke said.

Savin's wounds healed and he woke up.

"Uh-oh." Hope said.

An advertisement was playing when the Ten Rings symbol appeared again. The Vice President also got the scene along with President Ellis in his plane. The Mandarin was there, saying only two lessons remained and this would be over before Christmas morning. The Mandarin showed a man called Thomas Richards, who was the accountant for Roxxon Oil Corporation, lying on the ground, sobbing.

"He is an actor too." Logan said about Richards, "For this scene."

He said if President Ellis called the telephone next to them in 30 seconds, he will spare Richards and that the number was in Ellis' phone. Ellis realized it was and asked how his phone had been hacked. In spite of being advised against it, Ellis called the Mandarin to save Richards' life, but he still shot him on the head, killing him as everyone watched the scene in horror.

"And then Richards got up and shook hands with the guy." Frank snorted angrily.

"Bunch of cons." Tony said.

The Mandarin said there was only one lesson left now so President Ellis better run and hide and kiss his children goodbye because nothing could save him. The broadcast ended as Ellis demanded everyone to ask Rhodes to find the lunatic right now. A military aide said the broadcast signal's possible point of origin was Pakistan and the Patriot was ready to strike. Ellis asked then to do it right now.

"The goal was to rattle the President. And it succeeded." Steve sighed.

"Really good actors." Tony snarled.

"Which cost him." Matt said cryptically about Slattery and everyone wondered what he was talking about.