I managed to find Harley down an alleyway close by. He was hiding from Chad. He distracted him from actually killing one of us.
"Sorry I didn't stop him from shooting you." Harley apologized for the third time. I rolled my eyes at the boy.
"It's okay Harley. I'm fine. It's just a scratch." I reassured him. I handled worse, I thought to myself.
"Are you going to help Tony? I'm fine here. He probably needs more help then I do." He looked down the alleyway. We were hiding behind a big pile of trash. It smelled awful man...
"I think he-."A loud explosion down the street cut me off. It came from the direction Dad was in. My eyes widened and I stood up. "-does need my help. Stay here." I looked down to Harley. He nodded. I made myself invisible and ran in the direction of the smoke. I ignored the pain in my leg as I ran. I saw the same store Dad went in, but it had fire and smoke coming from the inside. I looked up and Scar face was on the electrical lines. I grimaced at the sight.
I ran to the back of the Store. I saw Dad run into the trees. I followed after him. I looked up and the water tower was about to fall. Chad stood at the bottom. I ran faster and caught up to Dad. He noticed me. I looked up and the water tower was falling now. I lifted my hands to stop it, but I was hit with a fire ball. I flew a few feet away. I groaned in pain as I landed on my bad leg. My eyes widened as the tower hit the ground. Water and metal flying everywhere. I used my magic to put a shield around me. A big piece of metal bounced off the barrier. The water rushed past. Oh shit! I looked around for dad. I could see him. After the water stopped. I stood up slowly and looked around for Dad.
"I'm so sorry Mr.Stark!" I heard a struggling Harley yell. I looked to my right and Chad was sitting in a chair with Harley on his lap.
"Oh no, what I think he was trying to say was, I want my god damn file." Chad smirked as held Harley.
"It's not your fault kid. Remember what I told you about bullies?" Dad reminded him. Harley had this look of realization. What? Harley used the thing Dad gave him earlier. What was it again? I wasn't listening. Chad let Harley go as he fell back in his chair. Harley ran away.
"You like that west world? That's the thing about smart guys, they always cover our ass." He pointed his secret blaster at Chad and blasted him in the face. He fell to the ground. I ran to Dad and helped lift the metal bar with my magic. Dad threw the blaster away because it was biting his hand. I walked over to Chad and grabbed his car keys from his pocket. I threw them to Dad and we walked towards the street.
__________
"Your welcome." Harley exclaimed as he walked up to us. Dad looked down at him.
"For what? Did I miss something?" Dad asked the 12 year old. Harley rolled his eyes. I took the file from Dad's hands. I flipped through the pages quickly.
"Me saving your life." Harley pointing to himself then to Dad. We walked along side us as we made our way to Chad's car.
"Yeah. A, saved you first. B... thanks, sort of. And C, if you do someone a solid to be a yutz. Just play it cool." Dad unlocked the car and I walked to the passenger side. I opened the door, and slowly got in. My leg is killing me!
"Unlike you." Harley spoke up before Dad could get in. I leaned my head in pain as I moved my leg to get comfortable. I bit my lip slightly. "Admit it. You need me. We're connected." I smiled out the window to the boy.
"What I need from you is to go home, be with your mom, keep your trap shut, and guard the suits. Stay connected to the telephone because if I call, you better pick up. Okay? Do you fee that?" Dad patted Harley's shoulder. "We're done here. Move out the way or I'm gonna run you over."
Harley stepped back a bit as Dad got in the car. Dad started the car, but Harley didn't move. Dad rolled down the window and looked at him. I sat the file on the dash.
"I'm sorry kid. You did good." Dad smiled softly at him.
"So you're just going to leave me here, like my dad." Harley stared at Dad. I unwrapped my wound and cringed. My jacket was covered in blood.
"...yeah." Dad nodded. "Wait, your guilt tripping me aren't you?" Dad realized. I smiled out his window to Harley.
"See ya again soon Harley! You did great!" I smiled at him. He just gave me puppy eyes.
"I'm cold." He snuggled into his coat with a pout.
"...aw..." I whispered to myself. Dad gave me a 'really' look. I shrugged. He's adorable!
"I can tell. You wanna know how I can tell... because we're connected." Dad drove away. I looked in the glove compartment and saw some paper towels. I looked around for a water bottle or something. I found a half empty bottle in the back seat. I got the paper towels wet and lightly cleaned the blood off. "You okay?"
"Yea I'm fine. I just need to clean it up. I don't think I need stitches." I reassured him with a smile. He nodded.
"We can stop somewhere to get some supply's. We just had to get as far away from there as fast as we could. That blast didn't kill him. He's gonna be pissed though." Dad stated. I nodded.
"What are we gonna do now?" I asked Dad. He looked down the dark road thoughtfully. His hands tightened on the steering wheel. He sighed as he rubbed his forehead in frustration. I cleaned my hands and just patted them dry on my shirt. I grabbed the file and started to look through it. I flipped through the pages.
"Wait." Dad spoke up. I looked over to him. He grabbed a page and looked at MIA. He flipped it over. AIM? He shook his head in disbelief and gave me the page back.
"What is it?" I questioned. He pointed to the three letters.
"AIM. I know what that is... and I know who runs it. Take a look." He continued driving. Take a look? What does that mean? Oh! I looked inside his head. A flashback from... 1999. Killian? Maya? I pulled out of his mind.
"Killian wanted Maya to work for her. What if she is working for Killian now?" I gasped. "She's with Pepper. I couldn't get a good read on her... her mind was blocked by something. I had this bad feeling about her." Dad's eyes widened slightly at the thought of Pepper in the hands of Killian and knowing the things he can do. He pulled out Harley's mom's phone and started to dial a number. Harley let us take her phone and he would just use the land line. I know this isn't such a great idea, but it works I guess. He put the phone on speaker. After a few rings, the person picked up.
"Hello." Rhodey answered. I grinned at the sound of his voice.
"Remember a chick straddling you and you look up, and suddenly she was glowing from the inside out." Dad looked through the papers. "Kinda like a bright orange."
"Yeah, I had that. Who is this?" He asked confused.
"It's us Rhodey. It's not like a terrorist can kill us that easily." I shrugged nonchalantly. Dad rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, hey pal. Anyway, last time I went missing, if I remember correctly, you came looking for me. What are you doing?" Dad asked him. Rhodey pauses for a moment.
"Uh, little knock and talk. Making friends in Pakistan. What you two doing?" He replied.
"Your big redesign, your big brand, that was AIM right?" Dad questioned.
"Yeah..." Rhodey sounded confused, but went with it, like always. Dad crumpled the paper up and threw it into the back seat.
"I'm gonna find a heavy duty comm sat, I need your log in." Dad told him.
"It's the same as it's always been, Warmachine68."
"And password please." Dad spoke nicely. He said please.
"Well, I gotta change it every time you hack in Tony." Hack? I chuckled.
"It's not the 80's, nobody says hack anymore. Gimme your log in." Rhodes paused for a minute. I smirked.
"...Warmachine rocks with an X all caps..." he sighed. Dad and I laughed at the password. I heard a fake chuckle from Rhodes. "Yeah ok..."
"That is... so much better then Iron Patriot." Dad stated. I gasped in surprise as Dad did a quick u-turn. I looked at the sign we are passing from the second time.
Miss. Chattanooga
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