She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe what had just happened to her. All she could feel was pain; pain in her chest, pain in her head, pain all over her body, and there was a high pitched ringing in her ears, giving her the worst headache she could have ever imagined, disorienting her. She felt warm liquid pooling on her chest and stomach and she felt as if she was moving her hands to examine it but her body wasn't responding and all she could do was lull her head to the side. She caught a view of Tony, who was pulling his shirt open, looking just as confused and disoriented, revealing the bullet-proof vest she'd made him wear, now wishing she'd made herself wear one, too. He looked over at her, slowly reaching out to her with what she was sure was the same pain she was feeling. She started to respond, and that's when everything went black.

Las Vegas, 36 Hours Prior

Olive Bexley hurried down the hall of the hotel with her heels thudding on the fancy red carpeted floor and her eyes glued to the screen of her phone that her fingers were furiously typing away on. She hit send just as she reached the ballroom where the award ceremony was being held and snuck in as quietly as she could. There was a deep voice narrating the life story of her boss, Tony Stark but she wasn't listening. She'd heard it more times than she could count. She searched for a familiar face among the plethora of round tables that filled up the room and saw a big hand subtly waving her over from a few tables away. She gave a weak smile and slunk through the seated crowd to her seat by Obadiah Stan, rolling her eyes and looking utterly exhausted.

"Where is he?" Obadiah whispered. She gave him a look.

"I tried, but you know Tony. He does what he wants." She replied.

There was a roar of applause and the two gave each other knowing looks before putting their hands together for Tony. The narrator finished up the intro video and after another round of applause from the crowd a spotlight landed on the stage where Tony's best friend, Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes stood to present Tony with his award. If only he knew.

"As liaison to Stark Industries," he started, "I've had the unique privilege of serving with a real patriot. He is my friend and he is my great mentor. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to present this year's Apogee Award to Mr. Tony Stark."

The room erupted in cheers for Tony and Rhodey looked around for his best friend, landing on Olive and Obadiah, both of them shaking their heads. Rhodey gave the subtlest of looks so as not to alarm the crowd before Obadiah stood and started for the stage. He was the Stark family's longtime friend, ally, mentor, partner, you name it. He was always there for Tony, including standing in for him when he ditched award ceremonies.

"Thank you, Colonel. This is beautiful. Thank you. Thank you all very much. This is wonderful." Obadiah said, shaking Rhodes' hand and taking the trophy as the applause died down, "Well, I'm not Tony Stark." Que laughter, "But if I were Tony, I would tell you how honored I feel and what a joy it is to receive this very prestigious award. Tony, you know…The best thing about Tony is also the worst thing. He's always working."

Olive rolled her eyes and clapped at Obadiah's acceptance speech, giving him a half-hearted smile as he sat down. They finished up the closing ceremonies everyone stood to leave. Obadiah and Olive waited a few minutes for the crowd to dissipate and for Rhodey to join them before standing themselves. Olive was the first to stand, adjusting her long black dress before leaning towards Obadiah, "Nice save. Seems you've had a lot of practice."

Obadiah stood and gave her a hard smile, "It's not my first rodeo, Ms. Bexley."

"I know. I'm about to go find him and have a word with him." She sighed and gathered her belongings but Rhodey stopped her.

"I'll talk to him. You look exhausted, and you've got an early flight in the morning. Go get some rest."

She smiled and gave him her thanks, kissing him and Obadiah both on the cheek and bidding them a good night. She headed straight to her room, slipping out of her dress and into some shorts and a tee shirt, pulling her long auburn hair up on top of her head and crawling under the covers of her expensive hotel room bed. Her face was still made up and nothing was packed, but she didn't care. She was ready for the best sleep of her life. If only she'd known that was going to be the last good sleep she would get for a long time.

A/N: Hello! I've been gone for a long while, and I'm slowly working my way back into writing. This is something that's been on my mind for a while, and I've been toying with the idea for a long time. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Iron Man and all Marvel mentions belong to The Walt Disney Company as part of he Marvel Franchise.