Rise of the Mandarin- Chapter Sixteen
AUTHOR'S NOTE: OH…MY…GOD! After a three month absence, I AM BACK BABY! WHOO! Man, I gotta tell you guys, it's been quite a three months. I won't bore you with all of the details, but most of you know that I had to take a break because my computer had some issues. Well, after I got my computer back, my mom informs me that we're moving across town. Wonderful. I wasn't happy with the timing, but let's just say that after a year, I now have DSL and am no longer limited to 5 GB of data usage per month. Anyway, I'm back! For good this time! So I'm gonna shut up now and let you guys read. This one is a little shorter than my usual length, but I felt I left it off in a good spot (cliff hanger! Whoo!) Anyway, shutting up now. Read and review!
Rise of the Mandarin
Chapter Sixteen
Tony carefully walked down the stairs wearing nothing but his boxers. His legs were a little wobbly this morning, and they were with good reason. He reached the bottom stair and walked towards the kitchen, hearing something sizzle on the stove as he did so. Running a hand through his messy hair, he stopped in his tracks in the middle of the door frame when he saw her standing in front of the stove.
Watching her walk out of the bedroom with his shirt on was nothing compared to the sight in front of him.
Her hair was done up in a messy bun, exposing the back of her neck to him, begging him to kiss it. His gaze traveled down and locked on her bare legs. Those combined with his blue shirt was enough to drive him insane. 'Tony, you are hitting that,' he told himself as he looked her up and down. He wanted nothing more than to walk up behind her and wrap his arms around her. 'Wait you idiot, you can,' he yelled at himself. He walked over to her and stood behind her. He placed his hands on her hips and slowly pulled the shirt up while touching her skin. Once the shirt was high enough he wrapped his arms around her stomach and pressed his chest into her back, and began softly kissing the back of her neck.
"Somebody is in a very good mood this morning," she said with a soft giggle.
"Mmhmm," Tony mumbled against her neck. He leaned forward and placed a kiss behind her ear, then laid his chin on her shoulder. Pepper poured some more batter onto the frying pan, then placed the bowl back down on the counter and placed her hands on top of his.
"Yeah it was a very nice reason, wasn't it?" she asked him, trying to keep from laughing. Tony narrowed his eyebrows.
"Just nice? That's all it was?" he asked, sounding a little hurt. Pepper rolled her eyes and picked up the spatula, and carefully flipped the pancake over.
"Tony, I was trying to keep my answer low key so that maybe later we could, I don't know... do it again?" she said, then glanced over her shoulder at him. Tony smiled when he saw her cheeks flush pink.
"You little minx," he said with a soft swat to her bottom. Pepper jumped in surprise, feeling his hand on her butt.
"Ooh, Tony," she began, turning her head to look at him, but Tony leaned down and captured her lips with his.
"Yep," he said against her mouth. "Still turns me on when you say it."
"Oh, Lord," she grunted as she pulled her mouth away and picked up the pancake with the spatula. "Move back a little," she said to him as she scooted back and opened the oven door. She bent over slightly and placed it on the pile of pancakes that were staying warm in the oven.
"You know, this should be the next position we try," he said as he placed his hands on her hips and pressed his groin into her butt. Pepper stood up quickly with a soft squeak escaping her lips. Pepper turned and saw him grinning like the Cheshire cat.
"You know what, it's your turn," she said handing the spatula to him. Tony looked from her to the spatula as the grin disappeared from his face.
"Um, Pep, I don't know," he began as he took it from her.
"I'm going to show you," she said to him as she moved to stand behind him and wrapped one of her arms around his stomach and kissed the space between his shoulder blades. "Alright, now pick up the cup with the batter and pour some into the frying pan," she instructed. Tony nervously held his breath as he picked up the cup and began to pour the batter. "Alright, I think that's enough," she said once there was a good sized pancake on the pan. "And it is okay to breathe, you know?" she said, giggling at how tense he was. Tony let out a long, deep breath and narrowed his eyes towards her.
"Okay, what now?" he asked her. Pepper placed both of her hands flat on his stomach and rested her chin on his shoulder.
"We wait for that side to get done," she said.
"How will you know when it's done?" he asked. She just had to smile; he was so cute when he was asking questions.
"The edges won't look wet anymore, they'll look dry; or you can slowly lift the edge of it and see if it's done or not."
"Which would you do?" he asked her.
"I'd wait a few seconds for the sides to not look so wet, then I'd flip it. Stop being so self-conscience, I'm here helping you so relax a little, okay?" Tony rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"It's my first time, okay? Give me a break if I'm a little tense." Pepper snorted.
"Anyway, the sides look done to me so you can flip it now."
"Okay, so like this?" He asked as he placed the corner of the spatula next to the pancake.
"No," she said gently as she placed her hand on top of his and guided the spatula to the pancake. "You want to get the entire front edge underneath it, that way it'll be easier to flip onto the pan." Tony smiled as she placed her hand on top of his, and guided the spatula underneath the pancake. With a swift motion, the spatula slid under it, and quickly flipped it to the other side. "See, now that wasn't so hard, was it?" she asked as they heard it sizzle. Tony rolled his eyes and shook his head. Pepper grinned at his reaction. "So I take it you want to do another one?"
"No, I don't want to do another one. It's your turn to be making me breakfast," Tony said as he tried to switch places with her.
"Wait a sec, you're not done with that one," she said. Tony groaned.
"What do I have to do to it now?" he whined.
"You have to put it in the oven with the others," she said with a soft smile. Tony huffed and scooped the pancake up like Pepper had showed him with the spatula. He opened the oven door and bent over slightly to place it on the cookie sheet with the rest, but then he felt light prickling on each of his butt cheeks. The sensation made him shudder and jump away. He turned and saw laughing. "Somebody has a tickly butt," she said with a mischievous grin plastered on her face. Tony carefully sat the spatula down on the counter and looked at her with a serious look.
"You wanna play," he said while holding up his hands as if they were claws. "Then let's play," he finished with a wicked smile. Pepper became horrified as she began to back up slowly.
"Tony, no!" she said firmly.
"You better start running, Potts, 'cause when my hands get a hold of you, they're not gonna stop," he said in his best sinister villain voice. Pepper let out a squeal and bolted from the kitchen. With an evil laugh Tony ran after her. And the chase was on.
The room was dark, and Iron Maiden's mask laid on the table. She stood hutched over the bathroom sink, the blood still gushing out of her nose. She repeatedly cupped her hands and rinsed the blood from her nose. She dropped her hands, and watched as the red water flowed down the sink. The small sink was splattered with red droplets, and more came as she spit out the blood that had gotten into her mouth. Rage could not describe what she was feeling right now. Here she was, hovering over a sink like she was dying, and it was because of that woman. It was her fault for the reason why she was here in the first place. She grabbed some toilet paper and began wiping her face.
'She's going to pay for this,' Maiden thought as she stuffed toilet paper up her nostrils in order to stop the bleeding. Suddenly, her phone began to ring. She grunted loudly, knowing exactly who it was. She picked her phone up, and without a word, answered it.
"You've disappointed me, Maiden," the Mandarin said softly into the phone. "You let her get away. Not only that, you've failed to locate the ring."
"Master, this is just a minor set-back," Iron Maiden began to explain, sounding nervous.
"Maiden, I don't think you understand the severity of the situation," he growled at her. "Not only have you failed to locate the ring, you've lost the woman. I'm running out of patience, Maiden." Iron Maiden straightened up, and spoke confidently into the phone,
"Master," she began. "I swear to you, you will have the ring in your hands before the sun sets tonight. You have my word."
"I'm holding you to that. If not, you know what will happen." Maiden swallowed nervously.
"Yes, Master."
"Get to work. Locate the woman, and bring me my ring."
Back in the kitchen, Tony sat at the table inhaling his first round of pancakes. Pepper stood there for a moment, watching him down the first half of his food.
"You know what? I'll just bring the whole cookie sheet over and you can just eat as many as you want," Pepper said, walking back to the stove to retrieve the cookie sheet full of pancakes.
"Good idea," Tony said with a mouthful. Pepper returned with the pan and placed it on the table. She took the seat beside Tony and took a couple of pancakes for herself. As she poured the syrup, Tony reached for more. "Babe, these are really good," he said to her. She grinned at him.
"Well, it helps if you're hungry." As she took a bite, Tony reached down underneath the table, grabbed her legs, and brought them up to rest in his lap. He pulled slightly on her, and brought her closer. She leaned into him and pressed her lips to his.
"And I'm hungry for more," he whispered to her. Pepper pulled back and looked at him.
"Maybe later, after I've forgiven you for destroying your shirt," she said, turning back to her pancakes. Tony rolled his eyes.
"You know I can afford to buy like 100 more shirts like that," Tony said. Pepper narrowed her eyes at him and tried her best to feign she was angry with him, but he saw right through her. She still had his shirt on, however it was now backwards with the sleeves tied in the back so her chest would be covered from his sight. After he had caught her earlier, his excitement got the best of him and wound up ripping the shirt right off of her; sending the majority of the buttons flying across the room.
"Eat your breakfast," she commanded and turned back to her plate.
"You mean brunch," Tony corrected. Pepper turned and looked at him. "It's too early for lunch, and it's too late for breakfast." Pepper rolled her eyes.
"Alright, brunch, breakfast, whatever you want to call it, eat," she commanded. They sat in silence for a few moments, just eating. Tony looked up from his plate and eyed the ring that they found last night. He picked it up and carefully examined it. Pepper watched him as he inspected the object. "What do you think?" she asked him.
"Hmmm?" he mumbled, looking from the ring to her.
"What do you think about the ring? What do you think it's used for?" she clarified. He looked back to the ring and looked it over once again.
"JARVIS examined it last night. It's made up of two metals. Copper in the center, and silver on the top and bottom," he explained as he pointed to the specific types of metal on the ring. "Because it's made of those particular metals, it makes me think that it's meant to conduct an electric current because copper and silver are the best electricity conductors." Pepper nodded her head in understanding.
"Also, it's meant to fit on something because of the grooves on the inside of it; they're not there for decoration like these symbols," Tony explained.
"Do you know what those symbols mean?" she asked. Tony shook his head.
"No, I can't read Mandarin, unless you can," he said, grinning at her. Pepper snorted.
"I'm good, but I'm not that good." Tony laughed and placed the ring back on the table. "So what do you want to do about our appointment with SHIELD this afternoon?" He looked at her.
"I don't think it's necessary for both of us to go. To be honest, I don't want you leaving the house until that woman is caught." Pepper nodded. "If they want your statement, then they can come and get it."
"Are you gonna surrender the ring to them?" Pepper asked him.
"No, I don't think so."
"Why not? I mean, they're a government agency, Tony."
"Fury already has enough over my head, I don't need him to have one more thing, you know?" he said. Pepper nodded. "Besides, I think here is the best place for it. Nobody knows we have it, and what exactly are we gonna use it for, other than a weird looking piece of jewelry?" Pepper laughed at that. "I'm Iron Man, what do I need a little ring for?" he asked, trying to keep a straight face. Pepper smiled at him and turned back to her food. "One other thing, though," Tony began again, this time in a more serious tone.
"What is it?"
"I'm gonna have Fury pull Hammer's contact records from prison," he said. Her eyebrows narrowed in confusion.
"Justin Hammer? What does he have to do with anything?" she asked him, not believing this.
"Because Iron Maiden took you to one of his old factories outside of the city." Pepper's eyes widened.
"You're joking, right?"
"Babe, I wish I was. I thought you knew."
"I knew we were in a warehouse of some sort, I just didn't know which one." She paused a moment. "You honestly think Hammer is working with Iron Maiden and that guy who attacked you?"
"The Mandarin? Yes, if not working with them he's hired them."
"But Tony, do you honestly think he would try to pull something like that? From prison?"
"It can't be a coincidence, Pepper. Yeah, I would like to think that Hammer would be smart enough not to leave such an obvious trail like that, but I made the mistake of underestimating him last time, and we all know how that turned out."
"Well, for both of our sakes I hope you find something," she said.
"Yeah, me too."
Ming Yong slowly walked into the terminal of the airport at LAX. She needed to find the authorities, and she needed to find them fast. She walked to Customs, got her passport stamped, and continued on her way through the airport. She looked around, trying to find either the security desk, or an officer in uniform. She continued walking towards the baggage claim, that's when she spotted the security desk. She rode the escalator down and quickly walked to the desk.
The security guard noticed her pace and readied himself, just in case she tried anything. "Yes, ma'am, can I help you?"
"I need to talk to the police, FBI, someone about some information I have," she said frantically. He eyed her suspiciously and grabbed his radio beside him, ready to report what he thought would be another airplane bombing.
"What kind of information do you have?" he asked her.
"It's about the destruction of China, and possibly the world."