AN: Alright, I have to apologize to everyone for how slow I've been updating. I'm very, very sorry. You might have seen my note before on my profile explaining my disappearance, but if not, here's why it took so long: I'm in the process of writing an original, full-length novel. Yay!

Anyhow, updates will be few and far between, but I'll try and get one out for Christmas as a present to all my wonderful readers :) Btw, thank you to everyone who has reviewed and/or favorited/added this story to their alerts. You guys make my day!

Thank you for sticking with me through all this, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Nine

Just a Chill

. . .

He loved to watch them run around like the mindless fools they were. All of them.

Seeing them absolutely terrified was oh so satisfying, and the way they cracked and crumpled was so very entertaining. He simply hung up a threat above their heads and instantly they all begun to get nervous. He made a move as to cut it, let it fall. They went numb with absolute fear. At any moment, if he so desired, he could let loose the threat and they would die. The power which came from that knowledge was stronger than any other.

They were the puppets; he, their master.

Down below, things were so unorganized. The spineless creatures (The ones who were aware, of course. The others would soon sorely regret that they had forgotten…) under S.H.E.I.L.D. scurried this way and that, pretending they would find him, telling the others things would be alright. How little they knew…

A structure built of separate parts was built to appear strong and intimidating. Its appearance was horribly misleading. But he wasn't the imbecile; he knew that the structure needed to be comprised of only one part. Relying on other factors, especially such weak ones, lead to an easy destruction, one much easier than one caused by taking them all on at once.

And that was exactly what he would do—pull each support away until the pitiful animals collapsed.

Being the master, he took pleasure in the knowledge that he could make any one of them suffer, depending on his inclination. All of them humiliated and wounded him; a mistake they would all learn to regret immensely.

He would make them beg.

The two assassins at first seemed like wonderful prey. The one with fiery hair—so many secrets, such a strong desire to be loved, such a craving for forgiveness, so scared of being uncovered… And of course, one couldn't forget the bowman. After the archer's service, he knew everything about him. It was clear the mortal was still scared of the things he saw and did.

Both of the lovers would be so fun to break; to have them turn on each other and then tear their selves apart for doing so…

The horrendous green giant would pay especially for what he had done to him as well. The puppet master was well aware of his past, and just like the fiery haired woman's, he knew how to slowly exploit it to make the monster/man of science try to end his life once again. That would be very enjoyable.

Then came the Captain, the leader. Crumpling him would be a delightful example. It would show the others exactly what would happen and weaken them considerably, no doubt. The Captain was lost, vulnerable, pining for a woman that he had let escape from him. He knew things such as that were very affective, and he longed to see such a proud, confident man break.

The puppet master's brother—no. He was an entirely different problem.

The man of iron, however, oh his arrogance enough was a strong enough reason to rein vengeance upon him. He was so cocky and full of himself, completely unaware that underneath the sorcery he had created, he was just a mere fool. Fools were so easy to manipulate.

But then the master peered into his mind, and was gleefully surprised to find a rather large amount of pain and fear, all locked away. Not to mention, there was also a strong sentimental attraction to a lovely woman, who also possessed orange hair. So much torture, suffering and guilt lay inside his head, so many memories…

The man of iron would be the first to fall.

So far, it had been pleasurably entertaining to pull the trigger and watch the pressure build. At last, though, cracks were beginning to take shape. All he needed now was a little push; something to start him on path to ultimate destruction.

He would make all of them watch. He would make the iron man plead for death. He would get his revenge.

Loki couldn't suppress a catlike grin from tugging at the corners of his lips.

When Tony's eyes opened once again, he was met with a near blinding white glow. It took him a long moment to realize it came from the windows of his bedroom, which JARVIS must've opened for some reason. A warm lay close to him and even without knowing what it was, it brought him instant comfort.

Soon, he was able to identify what—or rather who it was. His arms were wrapped around Pepper's skinny waist and her hands where on top of his, his face buried in her red hair. She had her back pressed up against his chest slightly, the arc reactor giving her t-shirt the effect of looking as if it was glowing. The billionaire's enjoyment of the closeness kept him from daring to move.

Something reassured him that things had to be alright at the moment, for he felt at peace (if only a little). Still, it was rather odd to see that he had waken up calmly, something he had almost forgotten was possible. Moments ago, he was simply sleeping, and all he saw was just darkness. It was almost too good to be true—and having Pepper by his side guaranteed that. It just had to be, right?

Alright, now he was officially a loon. Why? The whole "perfect-ness" of everything wasn't realistic. It would surely disappear and be replaced with something terrifying, wouldn't it? That seemed to be the pattern anyways.

The sensation he was so familiar with—panic—it returned without hesitation.

First, it started with his pulse, which then affected his breathing, and somehow, started to get his legs to pain him. (He really wanted painkiller. Falling out of the bed last night wasn't so forgiving to his broken limbs.)

"Sir, your heart pressure has increased t—" The AI's voice came over the speakers too loudly, even if his voice sounded concerned. And just like that, the moment was completely and totally shattered.

As Pepper made a confused and sleepy sounding noise, Tony sat up on one elbow. His voice gave away everything, "I know, JARVIS! I want a security scan of the whole building and vicinity, stat. Got it?"

The CEO turned over to look at her frantic boyfriend, worry etched all over her expression. "What's going on?"

"I believe you're being… um, unreasonable, sir," JARVIS informed him, almost too human-like for a computerized butler. Why was it that this was the time the iron man began to notice?

Gripping the blankets closely with clammy fingers, Tony swiftly tried to take in the entire room as he spoke. "Just do it. Now."

"Of course, sir."

A thin, soft and warm hand rested on his arm. "Tony, look at me. Please—deep breaths. Tony, calm down, it's alright." Pepper's blue orbs were staring up into his own, widened with alarm that she was trying to conceal, herself. The worry was for his own sake, he knew it. He hated making her all distraught for his sake.

Trying to prevent her from doing so, the genius did as he was instructed to. In through the nose, out through the mouth—or is it vice versa? Does it matter? No, shut up. Just get that look off her face, do it for her…

"I have found no threats, sir. The entire building is either sleeping, guarded, or both. Our systems are clear as well. There is no cause for alarm," JARVIS promptly interrupted his actual attempts at breathing correctly, the distraction being enough to snap his concentration.

Then suddenly, he lost all the control he was trying to hold; over his mind, body and voice. Something had to be wrong. It just had to. He wasn't safe anymore, but more importantly, Pepper wasn't safe.

Something had to be wrong.

"YES THERE IS!" Tony shouted up at the speakers, breaking away from Pepper's soothing touch in order to wildly glance around. His chest was rising and falling again, his hands clenching into fists. "THERE… there has to be…"

Ice suddenly shot up the base of his spine to the nape of his neck. Something sliced through his thoughts, something that made him shudder violently. "You'll never be able to find me. But I'm here. I'm coming…"

It was the voice. It had never left.

"TONY! Tony, calm down!" Pepper's voice had risen, just as his. No sooner as she had spoken then her gentle arms pulled the man into a tight embrace, one hand stroking through his hair tenderly. She rocked him back and forth, for he had let his body go completely slack. "Shhhh… Shhh… It's ok. It's alright, Tony."

Shaking his head, he withdrew from the hug and took her smaller hands within his larger, calloused ones. Still breathing ragged breaths, the billionaire pressed his forehead to the red head's. In an uncharacteristically rattled voice, he looked right into her eyes, "You keep saying that, but it really isn't. I know you don't mean it, but… Oh God, things are anything but alright."

"I don't understand," The Stark Industry's CEO bit her lower lip, looking as if she desperately wished she did.

"I'm—I'm crazy, Peps." Though he had said something similar many times before, it never was so serious, so scared. "I'm nuts, bonkers, insane, mad, cracked…" His words decreased in volume until they were less than a whisper.

Her brows lowered in growing trouble, "What happened down there, Tony? In the cave—"

"It's not a cave," Tony corrected as if on reflex.

"It doesn't matter. What happened?" Pepper persisted, her voice some combination of comforting and commanding.

He leaned in closer, fingers shaking but continuing to cling to his girlfriend's. His volume dropped, but his intensity gathered considerably. Then, just like every performance he had ever seen of an actor at the beginning of a horror movie, he said between trembling breaths, "There was a voice there—when I was awake, in my dreams, and even now. Just now, Peps! It did horrible things to you… to Yinsen, to me…"

Yes, it sounded just as mental out loud as he thought it would. Perhaps more.

Her lips parted slightly. As his words sunk in through the thick air, she only blinked. It was clear that she was trying to find for the proper thing to say as she searched his face. He found he couldn't really blame her for her reaction, though.

At long last, she said something. "We'll… we'll get Bruce to… just make sure everything's alright," Pepper said in the most reassuring voice she could draw up. Pulling a hand away to put upon the man's shoulder, she continued, "I'm sure it's just in your head—post traumatic stress or something, right? I didn't hear anything, and JARVIS said there weren't any threats to worry about."

"No, it doesn't make sense. It isn't my thoughts—I don't know how I know that, but I'm certain of it…" He murmured, bringing his head to rest on her shoulder.

The woman rubbed circles on his back slowly, hugging him again with her free arm. "Um… um, just try to calm down for me, alright? I'm sure getting all upset like this isn't good for your recovery—"

"Screw recovery…" He mumbled into her T-shirt.

"You won't say that when you want to go back in the suit," she pointed out briefly before returning to what she was saying. "Besides, Agent Barton, Natalie—I mean Agent Romanoff, Steve, Bruce—they're all here to protect us. They'll help you, I'm sure."

"We both know that they won't be able to do anything to stand in my way…"

Tony immediately stiffened, each word hitting him with a blow. There was no escaping, was there?

Pepper felt this, he could tell, as well as the way his grasp around her waist tightened, and the way he took a sharp intake of breath. She didn't say anything, though. Trying to remain steady, she continued to stroke his hair and rub his back, hushing him tenderly. And the billionaire let her.

After a long moment, Tony's body began to slouch, and his hold loosened.

The CEO felt an unnatural chill blow through the room as she turned her head up to the speakers on the ceiling. "Um, JARVIS?" She called out softly, not to wake the sleeping iron man.

The AI seemed to understand, "Yes, Ms. Potts?"

"Contact Bruce, please?"

"Right away, Ms. Potts."

"And could you up the temperature in the room please?"

"The temperature has remained constant this whole time, Ms. Potts."

Again, updates will be very slow. My apologies. But expect one for Christmas, if not sooner.

You know how you could make me update sooner? If you could just leave a review, perhaps...? That would make me very happy. Thank you in advance!

Back to writing my real novel, haha... Bye! :)