𝐀 𝐅𝐄𝐖 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑, the plane finally landed at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. The group managed to stumble off the plane mostly in one piece, many now wearing shades to mask the oncoming hangover.

Tony approached the decorated general and extended his hand in greeting. "General."

"Welcome, Mr. Stark," the General greeted him. "We look forward to your weapons presentation."

"Thanks." Tony nodded his head and continued down the line, shaking each soldier's hand.

"And again, we're invisible," Lydia coughed under her breath.

Ephraim nodded his head in agreement and crossed his arms as he added sarcastically, "I mean it's not like we're the scientists who helped develop the weapon."

"Change your name to Stark," Alex suggested, "You might have better luck."

Hollyn laughed and shook her head. "Au contraire, it's all about the target audience. In this line of business, the negotiations with the military are left up to the men."

"That," Julie nodded in agreement before adding a contradiction of her own, "or the press are only interested in the wild child antics associated with the Stark name."

Hollyn shrugged, but didn't deny the statement. Tony stepped up onto a raised platform before the crowd of soldiers and cleared his throat to gain their attention.

"Is it better to be feared or respected?" He paused for effect. "I say, is it too much to ask for both? With that in mind, I humbly present the crown jewel of Stark Industries' Freedom Line."

"Humbly." Alex scoffed under his breath and rolled his eyes.

"It's the first missile system to incorporate our proprietary repulsor technology. They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire." Tony shook his head. "I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That's how Dad did it. That's how America does it. And it's worked out pretty well so far."

"Does he always have to bring up Dad?" Hollyn leaned in toward Julie and whispered.

"It's his schtick," Julie shrugged, but kept her tone of voice low, "Though I do agree it's gotten old."

"Find an excuse to let one of these off the chain, and I personally guarantee you the bad guys won't even want to come out of their caves." Tony raised his hands to signal the missile launch. "For your consideration, the Jericho."

The missiles hit the abandoned mountain range behind him, and exploded in an array of red and orange. A large gust of wind and dust blew through the crowd, and Tony barely managed to keep his balance as he stumbled forward.

"Must he always be so flamboyant?" Alex frowned.

"What's wrong with a little flair, Potts?" Hollyn asked, jokingly as she mocked her brother's pose. "The theatrics are part of what keeps us in business."

"Doesn't mean he couldn't dial it down a notch... or five," Alex retorted.

"Sort of hard when he's always intoxicated," Ephraim chuckled and gestured toward Tony who had opened a cooler.

"I'll be throwing one of these in with every purchase of 500 million or more. To peace!" Tony cheered, but was interrupted as his phone rang.

Tony answered the device, and Stane's voice came over the video chat, "Tony."

"Obie, what are you doing up?" Tony asked.

"I swear he talks to Tony more than us," Ephraim looked over at Lydia, "and we're his kids."

"I couldn't sleep till I found out how it went," Stane said then asked, "How'd it go?"

"It went great," Tony replied, "Looks like it's gonna be an early Christmas."

"Hey! Way to go, my boy!" Stane cheered. "I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Why aren't you wearing those pajamas I got you?" Tony asked.

"Good night, Tony."

Tony hung up the call as he entered the military vehicle while Rhodey approached. "Hey, Tony."

Tony stopped him before he could climb in. "I'm sorry, this is the "fun-vee." The "hum-drum-vee" is back there."

Rhodey rolled his eyes at the comment, but complimented him anyway, "Nice job."

Tony offered a mock salute. "See you back at base."

════════ ⋆★⋆ ════════

Alex had been less than thrilled when he learned that he'd be riding with Tony. Thankfully, he didn't give much of a fight as he understood it was within his contract as Stark Industries Head of Security. Honestly, the thought of having a familiar face watching over Tony just put Julie at ease, even if they'd only be riding in the military vehicles for a few hours.

Julie, Lydia, and Hollyn sat in the back of their vehicle while Ephraim sat up in the passenger seat beside the driver. AC/DC's "Back in Black" blared from the radio on the ground. When Hollyn had asked to change the station, the driver shook his head and explained that the radio in each vehicle was connected to the same frequency.

However, before another suggestion could be made, the vehicle at the front of the line exploded. The sound of gunfire was overwhelming, but so was the view of soldiers being gunned down the second they left their vehicle. The same happened to their driver.

"Stay down!" Julie instructed.

"We're sitting ducks," Ephraim noted the obvious.

The car just in front of them was riddled with bullets as a machine gun from the top of the ridge was fired. Julie's eyes flashed back and forth between the three still alive in her own vehicle and the chance that someone had survived in the vehicle ahead of them. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves before acting on instinct.

"Stay here," Julie instructed calmly as she opened the door.

"What are you doing?!" Hollyn asked hysterically.

Julie didn't answer. Instead, she slammed the car door behind her, dropped to the ground, and rolled underneath the vehicle to shield herself from any oncoming gunfire. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, drifting over the bodies littered across her line of view. It would all come down to timing. She carefully inched forward on her arms toward the underside of the car ahead of her. Once safe, she took a deep breath and rolled out from under the car, revealing the handgun she kept concealed beneath her blazer. She took down the closest threats before quickly getting in the vehicle.

She paled at the pool of blood already formed on the floor of the humvee. It didn't help when she realized that said blood belonged to Alex, whose uniform clung to his skin where he'd been shot. However, he was the only one in the car. Alex's lip twitched, providing momentary relief that he was at least alive for the time being.

"Alex?" Julie pressed her hands against as many of his wounds as she could to stop the bleeding. "Alex, you need to stay with me. You're going to be alright."

Alex's lips twitched again and she could've swore that he murmured something.

"Alex?"

"Tony..." Alex groaned and his finger twitched toward the window.

Julie caught the slight movement and her eyes drifted toward the window where she watched a foot dive behind a large boulder. Before she could make any decisions, flames erupted all around them as a series of explosives went off. Smoke filled the air and her head pounded. As her eyes fluttered, Julie pressed the homing beacon on the side of her watch before collapsing unconscious.