This Guy Again? (November 1990)

Malia was in love with James. She knew it deep into the very essence of her spirit. James made her incredibly happy and she could tell that he truly cared about her. There was still a very strong sexual energy to their relationship, but more than that now there was a deeper...more spiritual connection. It was true that they hadn't known each other very long, but there was no one else that Malia saw herself spending her life with.

She and James were apart of the Avengers team, as they were now officially called, but they did not live in the Tower. Malia continued to work at her veterinary practice and James continued to act as CEO of Stark Industries. They each always carried their comm link though in case something should happen and the others needed to get in touch with them. Malia had all but moved in with James. She spent most nights there with him and they had been casually discussing her officially moving in with him. They learned from Tony about what was going on with him, but as of yet he and Bruce had not come up with a solution. Isabella was becoming increasingly worried and upset, though she did her best to hide it from Tony. Malia did what she could to help Isabella. She greatly respected Isabella and looked up to her as a teammate and leader.

It was Saturday and Malia had the day off. She and James were still in bed and were kissing. Malia tried to get up so she could get dressed, but James pulled her back down and kissed her again. She laughed and smiled and pulled back to look at him. "We need to get up."

The time James had spent with Malia was not a long time. But they were together alot and though she was younger than he, erh spirit that inhabited her and her Intelligence more than made up for that. She was smart, wise and strong. She had a strength of spirit that washed over him each time he was with her. Though he had never told her so he loved Malia and wanted to share his life with her. She had told him about Nanyehi and how the Nature Spirit was always with her in the guise of a Forest Wolf. That part was kind of odd, especially knowing that this Nanyehi was always there watching over them but James just rolled with it.

It was rare that they both were able to sleep in on a Saturday. They had gone out dancing again and then they came back to his place for a drink and then a night of making love. Malia was incredibly beautiful with large, dark eyes and dark olive skin that was in contrast to his very dark flesh. He knew as well that they should get up but seeing her in her nakedness he just couldn’t seem to get enough of her. He pulled her down then flipped her gently and shifted to be half way on top of her again. Her long, dark hair, it was very long, down to her waist was spread out underneath her and framed her face. He kissed her and felt her lips kiss his back. She was smiling up at him and her eyes had the loving light in them. And desire for him as well. “I...I love you Malia,” James said and then leaned his head down and kissed her once more. It had taken alot for him to say what he said. He didn’t expect her to reciprocate the words but he finally got them out. From this moment on she’d know how he felt about her. He felt her arms wrap around his neck and also felt her legs shift apart for him. Getting up out of bed was not going to happen just yet.

Tony made love to Isabella. It was still fairly early and this time she was on top of him. Her breasts felt fuller now and he often liked to fondle them when she was on top. But as she moved be felt warm water drip onto his face. Isabella was crying though trying not to. She paused in what she was doing and looked away from him as she wiped her face.

“Oh babe,” He said as he shifted her off of him. She laid down onto her back and it seemed the harder she fought it, the more tears rolled down her cheeks. Tony kissed her and tasted the salt from her tears. “Isabella, I’ll find it, I know I will,” He said as he tried to reassure her. Her eyes shifted down to the deep purple veins that were not all around his arc reactor in his chest. Just seeing them seemed to make it all worse. She was having a baby and losing a husband all at the same time.

After making love yet again, Malia and James finally got up. They were due at the Tower that morning for a team meeting. They showered together and then began to get dressed. James' words of love were just ringing in Malia's ears. Her heart felt full of love and happiness and hearing him say those words had meant everything to her. She couldn't stop smiling and after James had finished getting dressed she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him and looked up into his eyes.

"I love you too James."

Every week that passed without them finding a cure was pure torture for Isabella. She had been desperately trying to hide her fears and remain strong for Tony, but this morning she finally just broke down. She curled up against her husband as the warm tears continued to roll down her cheeks. She didn't say anything in response, but just let Tony hold her. Then, she felt Serena kicking. She took Tony's hand and placed it over the spot and felt her kick against his hand.

"She's feisty."

Tony smiled. “Ofcourse she is, she’s your daughter,” He said as he kissed her again. He traced a finger down the side of her damp cheek. “I’m not giving up Isabella. I’ll find it and I will see our daughter grow up. And you get gray hair when she begins looking at boys,” he said then raised an eyebrow. “Oh, wait, that will be me,” He said with a grin. Her chuckle was encouraging and smiled back at her. “Now there we go, I need your smiles right now,” Tony said. “And your body too,” He whispered and then proceeded to show her just how much.

After they showered and dressed she knew Tony would be working in the lab today again. He spent most of each day down there now as he continued to look for the missing element he needed. He stood at the kitchen table and sipped his coffee as he read the newspaper. Isabella hated it when he did that and her irritated sigh was all he needed and he unconsciously shifted and sat down.

James and Malia were in the Rolls Royce sedan. He knew she liked this car alot so when he was coming with him somewhere he usually drove it. It had a unique, deep red almost violet color on the outside and a pearlescent champagne colored leather interior. Nan ofcourse sat in the backseat. James wore black pants and a blue silk shirt under a thin, black leather jacket. Suddenly Nanyehi’s ears perked up.

“Malia! Protect yourself!” She warned. Just up the road James thought he saw...someone standing in the middle of the lane he was on the bridge. His apartment was in Manhattan and he had to take the bridge to get to the tower. “Who the hell?” James began.

Malia sat in the passenger seat of the Rolls. She loved that car and so James always took it whenever she was riding with him. The radio was on and the news was playing softly in the background as they headed onto the bridge. In the distance she could see the Tower gleaming in the morning sunlight. She was proud that she was working there and was apart of the Avengers team. She felt they could do some real good in the world.

Suddenly, she heard Nanyehi speak up and tell her to protect herself. She looked ahead and saw the man on the bridge. She knew immediately that it was the Mandarin. Instinctively, she summoned the spirit of a turtle with its body pulled into the shell.

James narrowed his eyes as he saw the Mandarin. He could sense that Malia had done something because her body shifted oddly. He sped up to hopefully ram the Mandarin with the car. Unfortunately just before he struck him the car was lifted up into the air. The sudden stop made James jerk forward and his head hit the steering wheel. Air bags went off but he still hit hard. Malia was constrained by her seatbelt but the airbag and her Turtle carapace protected her from pretty much all damage. But then the car was tossed off of the bridge…

The impact of the water was nearly like the car landing on pavement. The car was fairly durable but even from that impact windows had broken and water began to rush in almost immediately. James was unconscious as water quickly filled up the inside of the car. The water was freezing cold and as the water rose James’s arms rose up lifelessly. And then they were fully submerged as the car continued to plummet into the dark depths of the East River.

Everyone’s Comm badges went off as they sat at the Kitchen table. They all looked at one another for a moment and then it was a mad dash…

Steve ran to his apartments and began to get into his uniform. Bruce moved to the helipad and began trying to summon his large, green alter ego as Tony and isabella ran down into the lab. Isabella moved into her interface and began attaching everything to herself and Tony began to get into his suit. The hulk leaped off of the helipad and began making his way to the bridge where the emergency beacon was. The band on his wrist expanded to allow for the increased girth. Tony set up his suit so Steve could piggy back on him. He opened the ceiling just as Steve rushed toward him. After Steve mounted Tony they were off and through the opening into the morning air. Isabella’s suit was hot on their heels and indeed she flew past them and kept on accelerating.

The Mandarin began to freeze cars, burn them, turn them into meat grinders like he had before. People began to exit their cars that tried to attack them and it was like a kicked ant hill with all of the people who ran for their lives.

Everything happened so quickly that Malia barely had time to realize what was happening before they were in the water. The impact was hard and immediately the windows shattered and water began to flood into the car. Malia gasped at how cold the water was and she looked over and panicked when she saw James was unconscious, not only that but the impact of the car hitting the water had mangled the Rolls. James was trapped and she would need to get him free somehow. She tried to remain as calm as she could under the circumstances and summoned the spirits of both a gorilla and a fish. It was unusual for her to summon two animal spirits but she needed the gorilla’s strength and the ability of a fish to breathe in water. She knew that would drain her own energy even quicker but there was no other option. She used the gorilla’s pure strength to rip back the pieces of metal. She worked as quickly as she could because James would drown if he remained in the water too long. Once she had James free she released the gorilla spirit but kept the fish spirit. She grabbed ahold of James and began to head up to the surface. Before she hit the surface she summoned the spirit of a Newfoundland dog and began to paddle through the cold water towards the shore. Thankfully due to the Newfoundland’s thick, water resistant coat she wasn’t cold but she knew if James remained in the water too long he would become hypothermic. She managed to get him out of the water and she immediately began to roll him over and hit him on the back to get the water out of his lungs. She was extremely weak due to the multiple animal spirits she had summoned but she forced herself to remain conscious.

The Hulk arrived first and he bounded up to The Mandarin. The Mandarin tried to hold him back but the Hulk was too strong and battered down his shield. He punched the Mandarin but do to his amazing Martial Arts abilities he used the hulks strength against him. The hulk was flipped in mid air by his wrist and launched off the bridge into the river. “Isabella, I don’t see James or Malia, please find them!” Tony said.

Tony and Steve landed near The Mandarin just as the Hulk was launched. Steve jumped off of him and rolled then attacked. First with his shield and then with his fist. The mandarin easily sidestepped the shield and easily blocked his punch. He then struck Steve three times in quick succession before he could get his shield up to block. Steve was kicked into an abandoned car then sagged down into the pavement as he held his side. Tony hit the Mandarin with his Repulsor beam then used an Area effect rocket near his feet. The Mandarin dodged but was partially caught in the blast. He landed hard but got back to his feet. His cloak was smoldering and he ripped it off of him.

Isabella found them easily, her drone was designed to fly right at the beacon. She landed and saw that they were both laid out onto the beach near the river. Malia seemed to still be conscious but James...he didn’t seem to be moving. His legs bled from several places, especially his right one that looked like it was broken in several places.

Isabella had used the drone now a couple of times and had gotten used to it. She found James and Malia’s homing beacons and was relieved to see that they were at least together. She quickly headed that way and flew across the river where she saw them on the embankment. She could immediately see that they were both in bad shape, but James was worse off. She landed and quickly began a medical assessment on James.

“Jarvis, I need a complete list of injuries and I need paramedics dispatched.”

“Diagnostics are running Mrs. Stark and Medical personnel are en route,” Jarvis said. He began to list James’s Injuries. Broken cheek bone, major concussion, lacerations on his arms, lacerations on his back, broken right pelvic bone, broken right femur and broken tibia, multiple places, broken left femur. Possible nerve damage in his upper right leg. The list went on and on and her drone prepared a clotting agent so at least she could curtail the bleeding. She could set the fractures now while he was still unconscious. She had never seen injuries like his right leg before and the likelihood he would ever walk again was not certain.

“Why’d you leave last time? You think we’re in a Chinese Karate film?” Tony said. “These people have done nothing to you, killing them brings you nothing,” He said. “Oh, but it does. Each one that I kill is another pin prick into your heart Tony Stark,” he said.

Frank knew something was happening on the bridge and he had to drive between cars to keep moving…

“Well you’re not going to get away with this!” Steve said and came at him again. At the same time Tony did as well. The Mandarin used his molecular rearranging ring on Captain America’s shield. It began to warp but the ring didn’t appear to be able to do what the Mandarin wanted. He could not know that the shield was not an earth element and so the ring could not do anything to it. Steve had not slowed down though and as The Mandarin blocked the impact sent him flying back into several burned out cars. Tony launched another missile just as the HULK bounded back up onto the Bridge. The Mandarin was in mid air when the Hulk snatched him up and drove him into the roof of a large SUV. he then pounded on the Mandarin several more times for good measure.

Horror filled Isabella’s heart as she heard the extensive list of injuries James had sustained. She could see the worry in Malia’s reared filled eyes and she did her best to remain calm. From her drone she could hear the sirens in the distance. She did her best to stabilize James until the paramedics arrived.

“He’s going to be alright,” she told Malia in an effort to reassure her.

When the paramedics arrived and moved James into the ambulance Isabella contacted Tony. “Tony, James is in bad shape. He’s being transported to the hospital. How are you guys?”

The Hulk stepped back as the Mandarin slowly sat up. He was bleeding from the nose and mouth and from a dozen other places. He slid down into his feet then staggered back against the vehicle but Tony gave him no chance to use his rings again. He dropped down then attached metallic bracers to the man’s hands. As soon as he activated them, metal covers expanded over his hands and a powerful magnet forced his wrists together.

“There isn’t going to be a third time Mandarin. This movie doesn’t end with a fight to the death. I’ve called SHIELD and their coming to take,”...He began and then he and Steve jumped back as a rocket struck The Mandarin in the chest. The man exploded into bloody pieces. Frank lowered his launcher and then got back into his van. He backed up and started away from the scene.

From where Isabella was all she saw was a huge explosion that rocked the bridge just after she asked her question.

Isabella heard and saw the explosion at the scene on the bridge and she was so startled that she jumped. Serena could sense her mother’s worry and began to kick and move in Isabella’s womb. Isabella barely noticed that though. She gasped and quickly tried to reach Tony again.

“Tony?! I need you to answer me right now and tell me you’re alright!”

Tony breathed hard from the fighting and from the close call with the missile. “We’re all right, Jarvis where’d that missile come from?” Tony asked quickly. Jarvise turned the Satellite camera down onto the bridge but with so many cars that moved around there, so many heat blooms form exhausts and the like he could not pinpoint where it had come from. “Impossible to determine Mr. Stark,” He said.

“I had him Isabella...I had him then someone just blew him up!” Tony said angrily over the comms. Isabella had a likely culprit though. That had Frank’s handy work written all over it. The moment The Mandarin started to hurt innocent people she should have known Frank would be out there looking for him. “We’re trying to gather up his rings...but there’s not much left…” Tony said. Steve looked for them as well and they found several of them but not all.

Isabella was able to set and apply splints onto his legs. She used her suits spray on disinfecting bandages for the larger wounds just as one ambulance drove up to them. Others were trying to make their way onto the bridge from both directions. The Hulk helped a lot by moving cars, trucks and buses around so they could get to the wounded and dying. James and Malia were taken to the SHIELD hospital and SHIELD agents were on the bridge and began their investigation as they collected the pieces of The Mandarin that were left.

---------------------

24 hours later.

Tony, Steve, Isabella and Malia were in the SHIELD waiting room and Doctor Richard Donelly, one of the best Orthopedic surgeons in New York came out to speak to them. He was still in his blue surgical clothes and his eyes looked exhausted. He wasn’t always working for SHIELD and had often helped the CIA in the past with their investigations. Isabella knew him professionally and even attended a dinner with him and his wife.

He smiled at Isabella. “Ah, Isabella Cor...oh, well, You’re a Stark now, aren’t you? Its very good to see you again,” he said as he looked at everyone. “James is out of surgery but I will be honest and tell you that he is in pretty bad shape. He has a pretty serious concussion but I think he’ll recover from that on his own. The right leg though...we put some pins in, repaired the pelvic bone and the left leg break but uhhh,” he began than saw the look on Malia’s face as if he was about to deliver her a personal blow. He cleared his throat and moved on.

“It’s bad, really bad, nerve damage, I can’t say if he will ever be able to use the leg again,” he said sadly. He hated giving people bad news. ‘I’m...sorry...I did everything I could,” he said.

Malia didn’t leave the hospital that night, even though Isabella tried to get her to go home and get some rest. However, she couldn’t blame her for not leaving. Had she been in her shoes it would have taken an entire army to get her out. All she could do was just sit with Malia and comfort her as best she could while they waited for any news about James’ condition.

Isabella knew it had been Frank that had killed the Mandarin. She knew both Steve and Tony were angry that he had been killed instead of facing justice, but Isabella couldn’t bring herself to tell Tony it had been him.

Finally, the doctor came out and it turned out that Isabella knew him. It was Dr. Donelly. Isabella knew him from her time at the CIA when he had assisted with investigations. She could tell just from the look on his face that it wasn’t going to be good news...at all. She reached out and took Malia’s hand and squeezed it as Richard began to tell them that James’ left leg had sustained major nerve damage. Malia looked down as she fought back tears. She then slowly looked up and at the doctor.

“May I see him?”

The doctor looked at Isabella. When she gave a slight nod Richard looked back at Malia. “Ofcourse, he’s still sedated but you can see him. He should come off the vent tomorrow afternoon,” he said.

James had bandages over most of his head and all over his body. His left leg was slightly bent at the knee in a cast as well as his right. He had a breathing tube down his throat and the machines peeped and pumped and kept him alive while his body came out of the heavy sedation. Nan sat on the floor and looked at Malia. She didn’t say it but Malia would know what she was thinking. She had warned her of this. Malia had important works to be about. She had to add her life’s experiences to Nanyehi’s spirit and carry those onto her offspring or another in her family that she chose. Nanyehi had experienced alot of death in the generations that she had been witness to. None of them had been pleasant but Malia was too young for this. To throw her heart into someone like this. Malia had a nurturing soul, she did not need to be bound into caring for a single, lame wolf. The thought fluttered across their bond like a thin branch caught in the wind. Nan had such a pragmatic view of the world. She understood love but could never truly know it like a human did. When a wolf in the pack became injured and unable to fight, the pack left it to die or to fend for itself. And so she thought the same for James.

“We should go Malia. You can find another mate,” She said softly.

Malia slowly got up and stepped into the room. Seeing James as he was brought fresh tears to her eyes and shattered her heart. She knew James well enough to know that the news he was going to receive was going to break him. He wasn’t going to be able to care for himself easily. He was going to need help...someone to take care of him. Her decision was already made before Nanyehi spoke.

“No,” she said firmly. “I’m not going anywhere. I love him and I’m going to be here when he wakes up and I’m going to take care of him.”

The love Malia held for James bloomed into the bond between herself and Nanyehi. There was a profound sense of loss as well but her love was what really shined bright. Nanyehi knew she might as well be talking to a wall as change Malia’s mind. In truth Nanyehi was right. If Malia intended on this she should give the bond to another but Nanyehi liked Malia and didn’t want that to happen. ‘So then he will remain in the den with the pups and we shall hunt for him’ Nanyehi said. She was ofcourse referring to them having children and beyond.

Tony drank a full swallow of Scotch then poured himself another. James was his best friend next to Isabella. The Mandarin was after Tony, not james and so isabella would see the massive weight of guilt settle over her husband. As if he didn’t have a heavy enough burden to carry as it was. Tony raced against time to find the element that would replace the palladium. Judging by the amount she saw him drink he wasn’t going to find it tonight. Tony had laid off of drinking a great deal at her urging but all of that work she had put into him might all be shot to hell now. And then he threw his glass into the wall.Steve just tilted to the side casually as the glass flew by him.

Steve had just gotten a beer and was just sitting quietly. Bruce was in the lab analyzing the rings The Mandarin wore. They had just made the Avengers and already it felt as if it were being ripped apart. Steve stood up. "Ok Tony, James got a raw deal but we still have each other as we dont know if he can get over his injury either. We need to remain positive until we have a reason not to," Steve said. Tony just looked at him and Isabella knew that look. "Ya know Steve, I think I liked you better when you were a Cap-sickle," Tony said and ignored Isabella's warning. Steve just looked at him a moment. "I've lost more anyone can lose Tony and I am still not ready to give up, either should you," Steve said then stepped away to his room.

Malia didn’t say anything in response to Nanyehi. She just walked over and sat down next to James. She reached out and took his hand into her own and then brought it up to her face. She closed her eyes as she breathed in his scent. She wasn’t going to leave him. She would remain by his side through thick and thin.

Isabella sighed as she watched her husband pour himself another shot of scotch. She wanted to tell him to stop, but she knew it was useless. James was one of Tony’s closest friends and she knew Tony felt guilty about what had happened to him. Isabella looked over at Steve when he finally spoke up. Tony was drunk or close to it and Isabella could tell he was not got say something nice. What he said to Steve caused Isabella to become angry and she looked at Tony after Steve left.

“Tony, despite what you believe this was not your fault. James is alive. That’s what matters right now. We can deal with the rest when it comes. I know you are upset, but that doesn’t give you a right to be a complete ass.”

She sighed and walked after Steve. “Steve, he’s drunk and upset. I know that is no excuse for his behavior but I hope you can at least understand. He didn’t mean what he said.”

Steve heard what Isabella said and he turned when he reached his door as he opened it. “Good night, Isabella,” was all he said and he slowly shut the door in her face. Isabella heard glass rattle and saw Tony fill up another glass with scotch. “Well you won’t have to put up with me for much longer,” He murmured, though loud enough for her to hear as he left the glass and took the crystal decanter with him and moved toward their bedroom.

Isabella just stood there for a long moment as anger, frustration, and tiredness came over her. Tears stung her eyes and she began to tremble as she held them back. Then, a feeling of determination came over her. She wiped away the tears from her face and then marched down to the lab where Brice was working. She walked in and looked at him.

“I need to help Tony. Please show me what I can do to help you find what he needs to survive.”

Bruce had been looking at the rings they had acquired from The Mandarin. He put them through the spectrometer and did another dozen different tests. Out of the 10 they only found 8 and he wasn’t about to put them on to see what they did. However after several hours of study he decided to destroy one to learn about it’s properties. Not preferable for him but he doubted it could really hurt him anyway. The one he destroyed let out a burst of cold but it didn’t appear to damage anything and eventually the temperature in the room came back to normal. It took one of Tony’s arc laser cutters to remove a small spec of the metal. He put it into the machine and Jarvis began the tests to determine what it actually was.

“Its Vibranium Doctor Banner, similar to that of Steve Rogers shield but not the alloy that includes Adamantium,” Jarvis said. Bruce looked up and removed his goggles when he heard Isabella. He thought a moment then smiled. “Well,” he said and tossed her his goggles then went and found another pair. “I’m going to add small amounts of radiation to this metal sample. I need you to compare it to the graph of palladium thats there on the monitor. The new graph will show up below that. If its close Jarvis will mark the points for us but I wont be able to see which one has the most unless I start and stop with each level. You can be my eyes ok?” Bruce asked. When she nodded he began.

“With these isotopes we can create different kinds of resonances with each metal. But so far the metals we’ve tried, no matter what we do has near enough of the matching points to even attempt a test,” he said. “Ok, here we go,” He said and he began alternating the resonances using the isotopes. Already Isabella thought that there were alot of similar points but Jarvis didn’t lock anything in yet. As Bruce continued though Jarvis locked in 4 and then 3 different points and then 2, and then 2 and 3. 6 and then 3 and 8. 5 and then 1 and 7. As Bruce continued 5 out of the 8 points were highlighted and after hours of her watching. The most she’d seen so far. That and the molecular structure of the metals looked very similar. But as he continued 5 went to 4 and then 3...As if Bruce was going the wrong way with whatever he was doing.

Isabella caught the goggles Bruce had tossed to her and put them on. She listened closely to his instructions and nodded in understanding at what he needed her to do. She was tired, but she was determined to do something to help Tony. She wasn't just going to sit around any longer watching him die. She couldn't.

She took a seat in front of the monitor and began to watch as the isotope points began to show. She watched the monitor for hours and slowly Jarvis began to lock in different points. She also began to see similarities in the molecular structure of the metals. But then the points began to decrease suddenly. She looked up at Bruce.

"The points are decreasing."

Bruce looked up from where he was as if what she just said made absolutely no sense. “Uh...ok…” He said confusedly than sat back down and began decreasing the amount of isotopes just as slowly as he added them.

At first nothing much was happening but after several minutes the points began to increase. 4...then 5...then 6. & and when they hit 8 the program locked them all in and the screen began to blink red and the word LOCKED came across the screen. When Isabella told Bruce what she saw Bruce raised up and snatched off his goggles. “So not along the standard metals...Vibranium…” He said half in thought and then his eyebrows drew up. “We’ve done it. Vibranium can be substituted for Palladium and vibranium has no toxic qualities,” Bruce said and a smile grew on his face. “Now we just need to find some…” Bruce said and thats when he winced. “I think I know who has some...a little, we only need a little but…” he began than almost looked sick. “I doubt SHIELD will give it up if they discover why we need it,” He said. “At least...not without something in trade,” Bruce said. “And I doubt a few more signatures for Phil is going to work this time either,” he added.

Isabella was ecstatic when she realized that they had done it...they had figured out what could replace the Palladium in Tony's arc reactor. Vibranium could do it. Tears of happiness and relief came to Isabella's eyes and she wanted to get up and go tell Tony the good news, but then she realized that they needed to figure out how to get their hands on some. When Bruce informed her that SHIELD had some she knew that they weren't just going to give it to them. She slowly then began to realize what Bruce was likely thinking.

"No, Bruce," she told him. "We're not handing you over to them. We'll figure something else out."