INFERNO │ Marvel

3 - Rose Hill, Tennessee

Amelia was barely conscious when Tony pulled her from the water. He himself had fallen unconscious shortly after, and she was keeping a weak grip on the back of the suit as it flew to god knows where. Slowly, she was recovering from the attack, but the bullet in her shoulder still needed to be removed before her regenerative abilities made her flesh begin to heal over it. Eventually, she had gathered the strength to ignite her wings and fly beside the suit rather than on it.

"Ames!" she heard Tony yell after a while and she almost fell out of the sky in shock. "Suit's almost out of power! I'm going down!"

"Shit!" she cursed and moved on top of the suit, wrapping her arms around his midsection and straining to keep him in the air, but even she wasn't strong enough to hold up the whole thing. They both plummeted down to the ground, Amelia landing a little more gracefully than her brother. She took a seat beside him as he pulled off his mask.

"It's snowing, right? Where are we, upstate?" Tony asked his AI.

"We're five miles outside of Rose Hills, Tennessee," he responded.

"Why? JARVIS!" Tony yelled. "Not my idea! What are we doing here? This is thousands of miles away, I gotta get Pepper, I gotta...!"

"I prepared a flight plan. This was the location."

Tony narrowed his eyes at his sister.

"Don't look at me," she defended. "I just followed."

"Open the suit," he commanded.

"I... I think I may be malfunctioning, sir."

"Open eject," he said again, and JARVIS did as told, the suit opening from the front. Tony sat up. "That's brisk. Maybe I'll just cosy back up for a bit."

"I actually think I need to sleep now, sir," JARVIS said before the suit lost power.

"Jarvis. Jarvis? Don't leave me, buddy," Tony tried to call out but to no avail. JARVIS was no longer with them.

"The one time I didn't wear my own suit," Amelia scoffed. "We need to find shelter. And something to get this damn bullet out."

"You were hit?"

She pulled at her dark clothing to reveal the bullet wound. The bleeding had stopped, but she could still feel the bullet moving whenever she did. Tony sighed. When she noticed his shivering, she lit a small fire in her palm and held it between them.

"It's kind of ironic that I've got pyrokinesis, yet I still get cold," she joked, though it didn't lighten the mood. The two had just lost their home, and no doubt Pepper thought they were both dead. She sighed. "Let's get a move on. I'll take the suit."

With that, they set off, walking down the road they had fallen near. Amelia lugged the suit behind her with her enhanced strength, despite the ache in her shoulder. A sombre yet comfortable silence had fallen between the siblings. Eventually, they reached a gas station. Amelia sat on the ground with the suit while Tony entered a phone booth after taking a poncho for himself to stay warm.

"Stark Secure Server: Now transferring to all known receivers."

"Pepper, it's me," he spoke into the phone. "Amy's here with me. She's ok. I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So first off, I'm so sorry I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again. Also, it's Christmas time, the rabbit's too big. Done. Sorry. And I'm sorry in advance because... we can't come home yet. We need to find this guy. You gotta stay safe. That's all I know. I just stole a poncho from a wooden Indian."

Amelia let out a sad laugh as Tony exited the phone box and offered her his hand. They were tired, both mentally and physically. When she went to take the suit again, he stopped her and dragged it himself, her following behind.