𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐮𝐧

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Rose Hill, Tennessee

Tony's POV

 
          THERE WAS DARKNESS for a long time after crashing into the ocean, and for a moment he felt relaxed. It was the first time in almost three days that he had slept soundly.

But then a distant voice, a robotic but recognizable one, spoke out. Attempting to rouse him from his dazed state. Was it already time to get out of bed? That was a bummer; he needed to sleep more.

"Sir?" JARVIS questions, his voice distant. Alarms blare in an attempt to bring Tony to consciousness. "Sir!"

"All right, kill the alarm. I got it," Tony said, groggily.

"That's the emergency alert triggered by the power dropping below five percent," JARVIS informs him, "It's also the alarm for Miss Stark's GPS tracker alarm."

That woke Tony right away, it was as if he had been zapped, "What!? Why? Is she okay?" he looked outside from his helmet and his eyes widened, "It's snowing, right? Where are we, upstate?" Tony asks.

"She is fine, sir, as is Mrs. Stark. As far as I could tell, they were both still in New York. Your daughter wished to know where you are." JARVIS informed him. "We are five miles outside of Rose Hill, Tennessee."

"Why?! Jarvis? Not my idea! What are we doing here?! This is thousands of miles away! I gotta get Charlie! I gotta get Pepper! I gotta..." he began stammering, the scene of his house exploding and being recorded by helicopters coming to his mind.

Shit, what if Charlotte saw everything on television and thought he was dead?

"I prepared a flight plan. This was the location," JARVIS replies, sounding confused.

"Who asked you?!" he exclaimed, "Open the suit," Tony orders.

"I...I think I may be malfunctioning, sir..." JARVIS slurs out.

First, he needed to find a way to communicate with Pepper and tell her that he was alive; to tell Charlotte also - and also, apologize, of course. Then he needed to find a warm place where he could get food and fix his suit to get back and go after the Mandarin.

That was a two-part plan, now all he had to do was walk five miles in the snow to Rose Hill.

It took him twenty minutes of walking by the side of the road while dragging the suit with a make-shift rope before he was able to find a small convenience store called 'Texaco' by Rose Hill's entrance.

Tony couldn't stop shivering, and the cold was hitting him because he was only wearing a t-shirt, but when he saw a phone booth, his blood quickly warmed up, and he summoned the energy to enter and make the call.

He pulled his suit harder through the snow, approaching it, and after leaving it behind him, he quickly grabbed a poncho from the store's red Indian statue and dressed it to keep his body warm.

Tony scooped up the suit's ropes and pulled it over to a neighboring phone booth, where he sat it down and keyed in a code on the numbers before placing the phone on his ear.

"Stark secure server now transferring to all known receivers," A synthetic female voice states.

"Pepper, it's me." He sighed before speaking.

"I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time," Tony quickly says, going directly to the point, "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, its Christmas time and the rabbits is too big. Done. Sorry. And I'm sorry in advance because I can't come home yet. I need to find this guy. You and Charlotte gotta stay safe, that's all I know. Please tell her and Em that I'm alive."

He lowered the receiver from his ear and pressed it to his forehead as he sighed deeply. His head felt heavy and his eyes stung as they watered in the icy winds.

"I love you both, so much. I'll see you soon."

Tony then hung up. He couldn't trust himself if he kept talking, he might've told Pepper where he actually was.

All he knew was that Charlotte could stop mourning him. He went away from the booth, dragging the suit behind him, and discovered a lonely house with a pretty large shed attached, away from the surrounding neighborhood - the ideal hiding place.

Tony approached the shed and heaved the suit in front of the wooden doors, then he grabbed the ax that was leaning against the shed's walls and swung it at the suit, breaking the door's locker and causing it to fall as well. The door had been left open.

Tony frowned at the suit for a time before removing his poncho and tossing the ax into the trash. He checked around the streets, exhausted and cold, to make sure no one had seen him break in, then inspected the space within the shed, wiping beads of sweat from his brow, to make sure no one was inside.

When he realized he was alone, he nodded to himself and leaned down to heave the suit upward and onto a nearby sofa while grunting.

"Let's get you comfy..." Tony whispers softly as he takes the seat next to the suit and moves the suit's arms to rest it against the armchair.

Then, the two had a seemingly staring contest as the helmet was positioned like he was staring at Tony, "You happy now?" he sarcastically asks before using his fingers to move the helmet so it was staring ahead instead of him. He rested against the sofa and took a moment to breathe and think better about his situation.

He had been incredibly stupid and selfish.

Letting his emotions and fears get in the way of the safety of the ones he loved made him feel like shit – he was just thankful that his wife and daughter were not there.

And that woman Maya?

Even though she was from way in his past, before he had even met Pepper, she still could've been an innocent casualty that he would've caused if he didn't keep his mouth shut. What if Charlotte had been with him? He closed his eyes painfully, hoping that Pepper had gotten the message and was warning his daughter about his fate.

Instead of wallowing on his mistakes, he decided to open his eyes and get to work. He got up from the sofa and walked over to the nearby workstation, turning the lamp linked to it.

Tony sat down on the stand and took out a plier to begin removing the loose micro-repeater implants from his skin. After removing the first one, Tony noticed a brisk movement out of the corner of his eye near the shed's entrance, ignoring the painful ache.

"Freeze!" a boy states with a mild scared but cautious expression, "Don't move," he orders while aiming a seemingly toy gun at him.

Tony raises his arms in surrender, his expression guarded, "You got me. Nice potato gun," he quickly compliments, "Barrels a little long. Between that and the wide gauge, its gonna diminish your FPS," he quickly informs the boy.

To prove to Tony that the barrel was good enough to hit him, the boy simply stares at him with a dubious face before aiming and firing a vase on the top shelf of a nearby wall. He gives him a smirk.

"And now you're out of ammo," the genius deadpans as he drops his arms down.

Still, the boy didn't stop aiming the gun at him, "What's that thing on your chest?" he asked, referring to the blue circle shining through the shirt.

"It's an electromagnet," Tony responded, "You should know, you got a box of them right here," he added.

"What does it power?"

Tony paused for a time before standing and stepping to the side, displaying the suit by pointing the lamp towards the sofa. The boy grins and tosses his potato gun to the ground as he stares in awe at the suit, which he instantly recognizes.

"Oh my God!" he exclaims excitedly, "That... That's..." calming down, he walks closer to Tony, "Is that Iron Man?" the sandy-haired kid asks.

"Technically I am," Tony retorts.

As he pulls a wrapped newspaper from his backpack and delivers it to Tony, the boy's face softens somewhat. As he walks past the genius to approach the suit, he remarks, "Technically, you're dead."

Tony opens the newspaper to see his face on the front cover with the words 'MANDARIN ATTACK: STARK PRESUMED DEAD' labeled. He scowled at it, "Valid point," he told the kid as he thought about Charlotte reading this.

"What happened to him?" the boy asked as he sat next to the suit, touching its helmet and inspecting all of it.

"Life. I built him. I take care of him," he paused as he threw the newspaper to the workstation with a frown, "I'll fix him," Tony added, now more determined than ever. He needed to get back to his daughter fast.

"Like a mechanic?" the boy presumed, playing with the helmet.

"Yeah."

He nodded and returned his attention back to the suit and begins, "Hm If I was building Iron Man and War Machine–"

"It's Iron Patriot now," Tony interrupted.

"That's way cooler!" the boy says with amazement.

Tony purses his lips and gives the kid a look, "No it's not."

"Anyways, I would have added in, um, the retro..."

"Retro-reflective panels?" Tony supplies, finishing his sentence.

"To make him stealth mode!" the sandy-haired boy finishes, smiling and nodding.

Tony instantly knew this kid was smarter than he looked, he was starting to like him.

But he had to admit that the kid seeing a total stranger in his shed and not calling for help was a little disconcerting; this kid shouldn't be to trustworthy, but Tony was grateful that the kid hadn't ran, as he now had someone that could help him.

"You want stealth mode?" the genius asked the kid, impressed with his idea.

"Cool, right?" the kid states.

"That's actually a good idea. Maybe I'll build one," Tony says, genuinely thinking about it–Not a good idea!"

As Tony talks, the kid's curiosity about the suit led him to accidentally rip one of the suit's finger out, he flinched as it held it on his hand, "Oops" he mumbled.

"What are you doing? You're gonna break his finger? He's in pain. He's been injured. Leave him alone," Tony scolds as the kid looks up at him with his blue eyes looking apologetic.

"S-Sorry" he stammers out sheepishly.

"Are you?" Tony complains, raising his voice a little bit.

But when the kid gave him another look, this time indicating that he was clearly upset over breaking his finger, Tony quickly calmed himself; a father's patience was everything, and God knows Charlotte may have damaged a few items in his workshop that he could easily fix.

He never lost his patience with her so he needed to keep his cool with this boy, "Don't worry about it, I'll fix it," Tony quickly assured the kid, "So, uh, who's home?" he asked to change the subject.

"Well, my mom already left for the diner and dad went to seven-eleven to get scratchers. I guess he won because that was six years ago," the kid answers with a nonchalant tone.

Immediately, Tony frowned at that. He knew this kid didn't tell him this because he was looking for pity, Tony had a feeling that this boy was stronger than he looked.

He crossed his arms and stared at the kid with a serious expression, "Sorry to hear that, but it happens. Dads leave. No need to be a pussy about it," honestly, what Tony wanted to do was comfort the kid, he couldn't imagine his daughter growing up without him but he couldn't get attached to this boy, especially when he didn't have a father figure in his life, "Here's what I need," he began, again to change the uncomfortable subject.

The boy looked up and him and squinted his eyes.

"A laptop, a digital watch, a cell phone, the pneumatic actuator from your bazooka over there, a map of the town, a big spring and a tuna fish sandwich," Tony listed as the kid stared at him, mouth agape.

"What's in it for me?" the kid retorted, looking at the man with a smug expression.

Tony shrugged, "Salvation? What's his name?"

"Who?"

"The kid that bullies you at school. What's his name?" He didn't mean to sound so paternal when he asked that, but figures. If his daughter ever had a bully, Tony would've wanted to know about it to take care of it.

The boy looked at his own lap, ashamed, "How'd you know that?"

Tony approached his suit, "I got just the thing," from the back of the suit, a compartment opened and from inside, Tony pulled a small, silver object out of it, "This is a pinata for a cricket," he explained as he kneeled down to be at the same height as the kid, "I'm kidding. This is a very powerful weapon. Point it away from your face, press the button on top, it discourages bullying."

Tony noted that the kid seemed to be hesitant, this bullying really looked tough on him.

"Non-lethal, just to cover one's ass," Tony adds, offering him the silver object, "Deal? Deal? What do you say?" he continues, pulling the silver object away from the kid as he reaches out for it. While he felt sorry for the child, he wanted to know whether he agreed to the deal since he needed to go back as soon as possible.

"Deal," the kid states.

"Deal?" Tony nods, finally giving the object to the boy. Pretending to be casual, he leaned back while the kid inspected the object with curiosity, "What's your name?"

"Harley. And you're?" he queries, and Tony had to admit that having someone who didn't know who he was, was a change of fresh air. In a good way.

"The mechanic, Tony," he quickly said, "How old are you, by the way? You look too young to be carrying potato guns."

"I'm twelve."

Tony smiled, he couldn't help it, "I have a daughter your age."

Harley looked at him, interested, "Is she also a mechanic?"

"I think she might be better than me. And you know what keeps going through my head?" Tony paused for dramatization, "Where's my sandwich?"

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authors note

this chapter is really more of a filler, but i love the scenes between harley and tony!

(shameless self promotion incoming)

i also have published a new story that i would really appreciate it if you would check it out!

DANCING AFTER DEATH - a bucky barnes/oc set during first avenger and falcon and the winter soldier. i'm very excited about this one!