First and foremost, yes. I finally decided to write a second chapter. I originally conceived this story as a one-shot with a cliffhanger. Over the past several months, I began to toy with the idea that I might actually be able to add more to it. In the time since I originally posted the first chapter, 'Iron Man 3', 'Thor: The Dark World', the third season of 'Sherlock', and 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' have all been released, slightly changing the subject matter a bit. I have yet to see the new CA since it has yet to start showing in theaters in the US, so I have yet to determine if the events that take place in it will have an impact on this story. Thank you all for being so patient. I hope it was worth the wait.

Tony grabbed his cell phone as he got out of bed, pulling a blanket over his shoulders. "Any luck yet, Jarvis?"

"Still working, sir," Jarvis replied.

"C'mon, c'mon," Tony mumbled, listening to the dial tone dully ring. He didn't have time to wait around, not today.

"You're up a little early for a Monday, aren't you?" asked the voice on the other side.

"Rhodey!" said Tony, "How soon do you think you can be in New York?"

"Probably in a couple hours, I'm in DC now," said the colonel. "What's up?"

"Just get here as soon as you can. I can't talk about it over the phone."

"Okay, man, I will. I'll try to be there by 1400 hours."

"Thanks." Tony ended the call and walked into the kitchen. His next call was much more straightforward.

"Happy," he said, pulling a piece of leftover pizza from the refrigerator.

"Yeah, boss?"

"Bring Pepper home."

"But it's 8 in the morning."

"Happy, something is happening and I'll explain when you guys get here. Bring her back to New York now."

"Will do."

Tony sat down at the table and took a bite of the cold pizza. The sooner he could assure that everybody would be safe, the better. Pepper, Bruce, and Steve, he thought. Tony shook his head. Steve Rogers wasn't exactly who Tony would consider his best friend, but he'd just seen the captain at a recent visit to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters the day before. Maybe that's why he said his name to the Irish creep.

"Jarvis, have I ever pissed off the IRA?"

"Not that I'm aware of, sir."

"And I thought everybody loved me," Tony said, tapping the screen on his phone. He waited as the dial tone ringed. And ringed. And ringed.

"Hi, this is Doctor Bruce Banner. I'm unable to take your call at this present time, but leave a message and I will get back to you."

"Hey, Bruce, it's Tony. Listen, if you could call me back as soon as you can, that would be great." He ended the call. Bruce wasn't great at keeping his phone on him; sometimes he wouldn't call back for days. However, Tony wasn't going to be okay with that today. His mind went to their last conversation. Where had Bruce said he was going to go?

Oh, that's right. He was going to visit Betty.

After the battle of New York, he and Pepper had decided to help their jolly green giant of a friend live a better life. He was one of the heroes of the world, and he deserved to be happy. A few phone calls happened, and Betty and Bruce were finally reunited after years spent apart. Pepper tried to keep him away from the reunion, but Tony couldn't help spying a bit with the use of hidden cameras. Not many words were said. The scientists just held each other for a very long time. Over the past year they grew closer, though they never moved in together. Bruce had said it was for Betty's safety; he was still being trailed by some people with very violent motives. Like my new Irish friend, thought Tony. Betty still lived in West Virginia, and the couple owned a small cabin in the woods that they occasionally retreated to when they had the chances.

"You! Shook me allll night long!"

Tony jumped at the sound of his ring tone. Pepper was calling.

"Now I know you're probably mad at me-"

"Tony, what is going on?" Pepper asked. "Happy just told me that he's bringing me to New York?"

"Sweetheart, listen-"

"I was about to go into a meeting with the World Health Organization."

"I know, but Pepper, you're in danger."

Silence. "What?"

"You're in danger and I need to get you back here so I know you're safe. Pepper, I'll explain everything when you get back to Stark Tower, I promise."

"Okay," said Pepper. "I'll see you in a few hours."

"Love you."

"I love you too."

One more phone call to make, and this was probably going to be his least favorite. Tony sighed and tapped 'send'.

"Mr. Stark, I wasn't expecting to hear from you," said the squeaky clean voice of a Boy Scout.

"Morning, Captain," Tony replied. "Listen, talk to Fury and tell him that you need to go into hiding for a bit."

"Wait, what?"

"I received a threatening message today, and if I don't go along with the orders, you'll probably be dead. Not surprising since it's pretty uncommon for a man of your age to be as active as you are. What are you now, 95?"

"I don't think now's the time to be joking about this. Who sent the message?"

"No clue, working on figuring that out."

"Have you talked to SHIELD? I'm sure they could help you trace the origin."

"No, I haven't yet," Tony said, scratching his forehead. "Just talk to Fury or Hill about going underground for a bit. I'm sure SHIELD has all sorts of places for you to hide out."

"I'll get on that right away, but you understand that I'll have to alert them about this, right?"

"I know, but-" Tony stopped. "Don't."

"What?"

"Don't tell anybody outside of Fury or Hill."

"Tony, that's ridiculous."

"I have no idea who this guy is, but he overwrote Jarvis. I don't know if he's working alone or if he has help. He might have infiltrated SHIELD, we don't know."

"What happened?"

Tony told the captain about the mysterious phone call he had received and the threats that were made. He was surprised to find that this conversation was much easier than he had expected, yet it also was the longest of the morning.

"Dr. Banner?" asked Steve. "Well, whoever is threatening you clearly didn't do their research. You can't kill him."

It didn't happen that often, but Tony felt utterly stupid. "Right."

"You didn't think of that earlier, did you?"

"No, no, I knew that," Tony said, a little too quickly.

"Sure. Anyways, I'll discuss the matter Commander Fury as soon as I can and tell you what I've learned."

"Sounds good. Don't strain yourself."

"Very funny."

"Jarvis!" Tony asked as he ended the call. "What news have you got for me?"

"I have determined that the threat originated in England, but I have not been able to narrow it down any further than that."

"Keep up the good work, buddy," Tony said with a look at the clock. Noon. Rhodey would be arriving in two hours. He scrolled through his contacts and found Betty's name. Now, if Bruce and Betty were like any other couple, he could assume that they were in bed together, fooling around. However, Bruce and Betty weren't an ordinary couple due to one of them becoming a giant green man with anger issues whenever his heart rate sped up a little too fast. Since New York, Bruce had been able to go without incident, but he was still incredibly cautious, leading to a somewhat chaste relationship with Betty. Tony felt like he could safely assume that they were available to talk if he called.

"This is the voicemail of Dr. Elizabeth Ross. If this is school matter, please call my office number at (901)-555-3201. Otherwise leave a message after the beep."

"Betty, it's Tony. If you or Bruce could call me back as soon as possible, that would be terrific." Tony shrugged the blanket off of his shoulders as he called Bruce again.

There wasn't an answer.

"Hey, Tony again. Call me back."

If it wasn't for the threats hanging over his head, Tony wouldn't have been so worried. It was probably nothing, and Bruce or Betty would call when he was taking a shower. They'd get back to him. Two more hours until Rhodey showed up. In another few hours, Pepper and Happy would join them.

Tony just didn't like the silence that filled the apartment. He walked to the bathroom and leaned against the door frame. "Jarvis, play some tunes for me, would you?"

"The shower playmix, sir?"

"The shower playmix."

Tony spent the next thirty minutes creating a plan to the sounds of heavy metal.