afterglow - tony stark

45

"Tony!" she said frantically as she got up in the suit.

"Go! I'm right behind you," he said and she got Maya who was unconscious on the ground. But more missiles were sent towards the house and part of the ceiling caved in, blocking Tony from following. She looked back at him in worry.

"Get her," Tony stated. "I'm gonna find a way around."

She quickly did as told, knowing that Tony could take the suit back once she did so. She got outside and she looked back at the crumbling house in fear.

Suddenly, the pieces of the suit left her and flew into the house. Eira looked towards the helicopters that were firing in anger and she jutted her hand out. Wind pushed one helicopter into another and they both went up in flames as they exploded in the air.

She got distracted as the house started to teeter towards the side of the cliff where the ocean was and she screamed, "Tony!"

One of the helicopters flew over towards her and started to fire bullets. She jumped behind one of the pieces of debris before the helicopter had a piano thrown at it and it blew up.

The piano came from inside the house and she breathed a slight sigh of relief. Then a small projectile was thrown at another helicopter before repulsors made it explode into the plane.

But then the house started to fall into the ocean from all the missiles and explosions it took. She didn't see Tony flying out and she started to panic as the house fell into the ocean.

She quickly ran to the side of the cliff where the house once stood as she looked down below. She didn't see him come up as debris kept falling into the water and the helicopters started to leave like they'd won.

She was about to jump into the water as she could breath there but she was grabbed by Maya, "Are you crazy? There is still debris falling everywhere. You'll only get yourself hurt."

As she had turned to Maya, she had missed the suit that Tony was in flying out of the water and into the clouds. She looked back down at the water with tears in her eyes at the possibility that he was gone.

_____

It was hours later and there were a whole bunch of people at the house. Some were clearing the debris and some were divers that hadn't found anyone yet.

She had been crying for a bit as she walked through the debris before she found a helmet of one of his Iron Man suits. She thought for a moment before she put it on and she could hear his voice as he left a message.

"Snowflake, I'm hoping you get this. First off, I'm sorry I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again. And I'm really hoping you're still gonna marry me when I get home which brings me to the next part..." Tony said. "I can't come home yet. I need to find this guy. You gotta stay safe. That's all I know. I love you."

"I love you, too," she whispered before she took the helmet off.

She sniffled before she looked back through the chaos at Maya Hansen who had shown up out of the blue. She squinted her eyes before she walked up to the woman quickly and grabbed her, "You're coming with me."

_____

Eira couldn't obviously stay at a house that was no longer there. So she drove to a hotel and she interrogated Maya on the way.

"Why did you come to the house today to speak to Tony?" Eira questioned.

Maya took a deep breath as she pretended to be nervous, "I think that my boss is working for the Mandarin."

"Who is your boss?"

"Aldrich Killian."

Aldrich? The guy she met at Stark Industries. Things started to add up as she parked outside a hotel. She got out as she asked another question in the darkened parking lot. "How did you get mixed up in all this exactly?"

"I sold my research to his think tank," Maya explained as she got out of the car before she gained a guilty look. "I'm really sorry."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," she smiled slightly but Maya gained an even guiltier look and she realized the woman wasn't apologizing for selling her research. She was apologizing for the ambush that she planned.

Eira started to frown before she heard a familiar voice from behind her, "Hi, Eira."

She turned her head to find Aldrich Killian and he pushed his hand out towards her. A blast of fire raced out towards her and hit her, sending her flying several feet into a wall. She wasn't burnt but she hit her head and she was knocked unconscious.

AN: I feel like Eira seems weak this chapter but her biggest weakness is surprise; when she gets surprised and ambushed there's not much she can do