Everything was black. Blurry. Cold.
"Sir!"
"Alright, kill the alarm. I got it," Tony groaned.
"That's the emergency alert triggered by the power dropping below five percent."
Tony snapped awake, to see he was flying roughly towards the snow at night. He fell and crashed into the ground in the middle of the forest.
When he did, he took off his face helmet as he laid on the ground, catching his breath. "It's snowing, right? Where are we, upstate?" Tony asked.
"We're five miles outside of Rose Hills, Tennessee."
"What?! Why?! Jarvis! Not my idea! What are we doing here?! This is thousands of miles away, I gotta get Pepper and Emma, I gotta-" Tony started.
"I prepared a flight plan. This was the location."
"Who asked you? Open the suit," Tony said.
"I...I think I may be malfunctioning, sir."
"Open eject," Tony said, then the suit opened up off Tony and he sat up. "That's a brisk!"
As Tony started to feel the cold weather, he shivered heavily. "Maybe I'll just cozy back up for a bit," Tony said.
"I actually think I need to sleep now, sir."
Then the suit lost power and Tony panicked. "Jarvis. Jarvis? Don't leave me, buddy," Tony said.
Malibu, California
Stark Mansion
The house, which was now surrounded by emergency rescue and news reporters, Emma stood alone, stained tears on her soft cheeks, looked out across the ocean while Pepper talked to rescue responders. Emma sighed heavily, thinking of how her home was gone. This was her only ever home. The home she's grown accustomed to. Home she grew up in. The home where her parents fell in love.
As she was looking out on the horizon in sadness, she looked around at all the disasters of her once home to find her stuffed bear. She picked it up, dusted the debris off of it, then held him tightly. "Oh, Bosco," Emma muttered, inhaling his scent of her once room.
As she let her heartbroken tears fill her teddy bear's fake soft fur, her watch started to beep. She looked at it suddenly, to see a message was blinking in red.
New message from: Daddy
blink
New message from: Daddy
blink
New message from: Daddy
Emma stared at her watch, in utter disbelief and confusion. Was he alive? Or was it just a message he left behind? She pressed her watch in caution and a recording played, which made Emma's heart burst into happiness and relief.
"Emma, it's me. Your dad. I've got a lot of apologies to make to both you and your mom, and not a lot of time. So first off, I'm so sorry I put you and your mom in harm's way. Not just now, but in New York too. That was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again. Also, it's Christmas time. I'll make it up to you. I promise. Done. And I'm sorry in advance because...I can't come home yet. I need to find this guy. You gotta stay safe. That's all I know. So stay with your mother, and don't come looking for me."
Emma's face was now written in determination.
"Also. I just stole a poncho from a wooden Indian."
The recording ended, and Emma looked back at her mom, to see she was still very busy. So she then pressed her watch again. "Veronica. Locate the Iron Man suit," Emma said.
"Yes, Miss Stark."
"And also...leave a message for my mom," Emma said.
"What would you like to say?"
"Mom. It's Emma. I'm sorry. I have to go find Daddy. But you just go with Miss Maya. I'll see you soon. I love you," Emma said.
"Location found."
"Where is my dad?" Emma asked.
"Rose Hills, Tennessee."
Emma huffed and smiled to when Tony said that she couldn't go with him there. "Well, Veronica. Looks like we're going to Tennessee," Emma said.
Rose Hills, Tennessee
Tony dragged the suit into an abandoned looking farmhouse, and he placed the suit on a couch and sat next to it. "Let's get you comfy," Tony said before he placed it's hand by its side. "You happy now?"
Later, as Tony tried to fix the micro-repeater implants in his arm, a boy jumped into the doorway and pointed his toy gun at Tony, who put his hands up in a joking manner. "Freeze! Don't move," the boy said.
"You got me. Nice potato gun. Barrel's a little long. Between that and the wide gauge, it's gonna diminish your FPS," Tony explained and the boy pointed his gun at a glass on a shelf, shot it, which broke the glass. "And now you're out of ammo."
"What's the thing on your chest?" the boy asked as Tony lowered his arms.
"It's an electromagnet. You should know, you've got a box of them right here," Tony said.
"What does it power?" the boy asked, and Tony leaned back, pointing the desk light at his suit sitting on the couch behind him.
"Oh my God!" The boy dropped his toy gun in awe then took a step towards Tony. "Oh my god! That...that's...Is that Iron Man?"
"Technically, I am," Tony said.
"Technically, you're dead," the boy said before he gave Tony a newspaper which had Tony's picture with the headline: Mandarian Attack: Stark Presumed Dead.
"A valid point," Tony said as the boy sat next to the suit on the couch.
"What happened to him?" he asked, while checking the suit out and Tony turned to him.
"Life. I built him, I take care of him, I'll fix him," Tony said.
"Like a mechanic?" the boy asked.
"Yeah," Tony said.
"Oh. If I was building Iron Man and War Machine-" the boy started to say, but Tony cut in.
"It's Iron Patriot now," Tony said.
"That's way cooler!" the boy exclaimed excitedly.
"No, it's not," Tony said.
"Anyways, I would have added in um...the retro-" the boy started.
"Retroreflective panels?" Tony asked.
"To make him stealth mode," the boy said.
"You want a stealth mode?" Tony asked.
"Cool, right?" the boy asked.
"That's actually a good idea. Maybe I'll build one," Tony said.
As the boy touched the suit, he accidently snapped off one of its fingers. "Oops," he muttered, panic in his eyes.
"Not a good idea! What are you doing? You're gonna break his finger? He's in pain, he's been injured. Leave him alone," Tony said.
"S-Sorry," the boy stuttered.
"Are you?" Tony asked before looking at the boy's worried expression. "Don't worry about it, I'll fix it." The boy smiled and so did Tony. "So, uh, who's home?"
"Well, my mom already left for the diner and dad went to 7-Eleven to get scratchers. I...I guess he won, 'cause that was six years ago," the boy said with a frown at the end.
"Mm. Which happens, dads leave. No need to be a pussy about it. Here's what I need: a laptop, a digital watch, a cell phone, the pneumatic actuator from your bazooka over there, a map of town, a big spring, and a tuna fish sandwich," Tony listed but the boy just stared at him.
"What's in it for me?" he asked.
"Salvation. What's his name?" Tony asked.
"Who?" the boy asked.
"The kid that bullies you at school, what's his name?" Tony asked.
"How'd you know that?" the boy asked.
"I got just the thing," Tony said before he opened a compartment on the suit and took out a metal object. "This is a pinata for a cricket. I'm kidding. It's a very powerful weapon. Point it away from your face, press the button on top. It discourages bullying. Non-lethal, just to cover one's ass." The boy reached out to take it, but Tony pulled his hand away. "Deal? Deal? What'd you say?"
"Deal," the boy said.
"Deal?" Tony asked before he gave the object to the boy. "What's your name?"
"Harley Keener. And you're-" Harley started.
"The mechanic. Tony," Tony said before he stared at Harley for a moment. "You know what keeps going through my head? Where's my sandwich?"
Streets of Malibu
Later that night, Pepper was driving, with Maya in the passenger seat, but she had a worried look on. "Pepper," Maya said and Pepper looked at her. "What is it? Where's Emma?"
"She's...She's, with her dad," Pepper said, shaking in worry, looking back at the road.
"With her dad? What...What does that mean?" Maya asked.
"It doesn't matter," Pepper said before she heavily sighed. "Why were you at the house tonight? What was so important that you had to speak to Tony?"
"I think," Maya started, before pausing for a beat. "I think that my boss is working for the Mandarin. So if you still want to talk about it, I suggest that we get ourselves someplace safe."
"Your boss works for the Mandarin, you think? But Tony says you're a botanist, so-" Pepper started to say.
"That figures. What I actually am is a biological DNA coder running a team of forty out of a privately-funded think tank, but sure you can call me a botanist," Maya explained.
"This boss of yours, does he have a name?" Pepper asked.
"Yeah, Aldrich Killian," Maya said and Pepper looked at her in shock.
Unknown Location
Killian was sitting down, on the phone with Savin, holding a smirk on his face. "Well, we took the house down, sir..."
"Mmhmm," Killian hummed.
"But there's no sign of a body."
"I see," Killian said.
"No Stark."
"I have to go," Killian said before he rose from his seat, walking towards another room. "The Master is about to record and he's a little...Well, you know how he gets. Keep your appointment tonight and call me when it's done." Killian then hung up then walked into a room which had been set up as a set with all of Mandarin's props in place and a camera crew ready to record Mandarin's message. "Alright everybody. No talking and no eye contact, unless you wanna get shot in the face."
Then the Mandarin arrived with his entourage behind him.
"The Master is traveling."
The Mandarin took a seat and looked at Killian. "Well then. What are we waiting for?" The Mandarin asked.
Rose Hills, Tennessee
Tony and Harley walked in town that night. "The sandwich was fair, the spring was a little rusty, the rest of the materials, l made do. By the way, when you said your sister had a watch, I was kinda hoping for something a little more than that," Tony explained before he pulled his sleeve up and looked at the little girl's Dora watch he had on, causing Harley to laugh.
"She's six! Anyway, it's limited edition. When can we talk about New York?" Harley asked as they turned into an opening.
"Maybe never, relax about it," Tony said.
"What about The Avengers, can you talk about them?" Harley asked.
"I don't know, later. Hey kid, give me a little space," Tony said before they stopped and Tony looked at the remains of the local explosion site that Tony came to investigate. "What's the official story here? What happened?"
"I guess this guy named Chad Davis, used to live roundabouts, won a bunch of medals in the army. One day, folks said he went crazy and made, you know, a bomb. Then he blew himself up right here," Harley explained as Tony looked around at the remains.
"Six people died, right?" Tony asked.
"Yeah," Harley said.
"Including Chad Davis?" Tony asked.
"Yeah," Harley said as Tony kept looking around at the remains of the explosion site.
"Yeah. That doesn't make sense," Tony said before he sat next to Harley on the ground. "Think about it. Six dead, only five shadows."
"Yeah, people said these shadows are like the mark of souls gone to Heaven. Except the bomb guy, he went to Hell on account of he didn't get a shadow. That's why there's only five," Harley explained.
"Do you buy that?" Tony asked.
"That's what everyone says. You know what this crater reminds me of?" Harley asked.
"No idea. I'm not...I don't care," Tony said.
"That giant wormhole, in um...in New York. Does it remind you?" Harley asked.
"That's manipulative. I don't want to talk about it," Tony said.
"Are they coming back? The aliens?" Harley asked.
"Maybe. Can you stop? Remember when I told you, that I have an anxiety issue?" Tony said.
"Does this subject make you...make you edgy?" Harley asked.
"Yeah, a little bit. Can I just catch my breath for a second?" Tony asked.
"Are there bad guys in Rose Hills? Do you...do you need a plastic bag to breathe into? Do you have medication?" Harley asked.
"Nope," Tony said.
"Do you need to be on it?" Harley asked.
"Probably," Tony said.
"Do you have PTSD?" Harley asked.
"I don't think so," Tony said.
"Are you...are you going completely mental? I can stop, do you want me to stop? Do you want me to stop?" Harley asked.
"Remember when I said to stop doing that? I swear to God, you're going to freak me out!" Tony exclaimed, agitated, and he suddenly rose. "Ah man, you did it, didn't you? You happy now?"
"What did I say?" Harley asked but Tony started running off and Harley ran after him. "Hey, wait up! Wait, wait!" Tony stopped running, dropping to his knees, heavily breathing, when Harley caught up with him. "What the hell was that?"
Tony ignored him, putting his hand on his face, shaking heavily. But he was suddenly startled when he heard a simple voice. Running towards him. Saying his name.
"Daddy!"
Tony looked up and saw Emma running towards him, and he looked at her taken back, relieved, but mostly just taken back. "Emma?" Tony asked before Emma run into his arms, and hugged him. The touch of his compassionate and lovely daughter, brought him back, from whatever panic attack he was having.
"Who the hell is that?" Harley asked and the two Starks broke their hug, eyeing Harley.
"I'm his daughter," Emma said.
"She's my daughter," Tony said.
"Daughter? I didn't know Iron Man had a daughter," Harley said.
"No one does," Emma said.
"No one does," Tony said.
"Got it. No talking," Harley said but then Tony grabbed some snow and threw it in Harley's face.
"Your fault, you spazzed me out," Tony said before he looked back to Emma. "I told you to not come looking for me. To stay with your mother."
"I couldn't resist," Emma said and Tony softly scoffed.
"Of course you couldn't. How did you get here?" Tony asked and Emma smiled before she showed him her watch, and he stared at it in dumbfounded. "I so regret making that. Okay, back to business. Where were we? The guy who died...relatives? Mom? Mrs. Davis, where is she?"
"Where she always is," Harley said.
"See, now you're being helpful," Tony said.