Iron Woman - (Fem Iron man X Pepper)

Chapter 35 - Harley

"Ma'am! Ma'am!"

"Alright, kill the alarm. I got it." I say as I open my eyes, hearing alarms around me.

"That's the emergency alert triggered by the power dropping below five percent." I look around to see I'm falling. I scream out out as I crash into the road and roll through a small forest.

I try to catch my breath as I take my faceplate off. "It's snowing, right? Where are we, upstate?" I ask.

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

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

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

"Who asked you? Open the suit." I say angrily.

"I...I think I may be malfunctioning, ma'am."

"Open it J." I say as the suit opens, I sit up and shiver. "That's brisk!" I take some snow and rub on my injections in my arm as they were burning. "Maybe I'll just cozy back up for a bit."

"I actually think I need to sleep now, ma'am."

"Jarvis. Jarvis? Don't leave me, buddy." I say sadly.  I hook the suit up and start to drag it thought the snow.

Soon I find a small station and take off a Poncho from a wooden Indian. I go into the phone booth and hook it up,  "Stark Secure Server: Now transferring to all known receivers."

"Pepper, it's me. 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...I can't come home yet. I need to find this guy. You gotta stay safe. That's all I know. I just stole a poncho from a wooden Indian....I don't know what's next....I love you Pepper. Always."

I end the call and start dragging my suit until I find a small garage. I find a crowbar and break the lock, dragging the suit in to sit on the small couch. I tiredly sit next to it. "Let's get you comfy....You happy now?"

I sigh as I turn on a small work light and take some pliers, trying to fix the small chip in my arm.

"Freeze! Don't move." A kid says from the doorway, pointing a small potato gun.

"You got me. Nice potato gun. Barrel's a little long. Between that and the wide gauge, it's gonna diminish your FPS." The boy points his gun at a glass on a shelf and shoots at it, breaking the glass. "And now you're out of ammo."

"What's that thing on your chest?" He points.

"It's a electromagnet. You should know, you've got a box of them right here." I point.

"What does it power?" I stand and point the small desk light at my suit.  "Oh my God!" The boy drops his toy gun and takes a step towards me. "Oh my god! That... that's... Is that Iron Woman?"

"Technically, I am." I shrug.

"Technically, you're dead." he gives me a newspaper which has my picture with the headline 'Mandarin Attack: Stark presumed dead'

"A valid point." I nod.

"What happened to her?" The boy sits next to my suit.

"Life. I built her, I take care of her, I'll fix her." I throw the newspaper aside.

"Like a mechanic?"

"Yeah." I nod.

"Oh. If I was building Iron Woman and War Machine-"

"It's Iron Patriot now." I interrupt.

"That's way cooler!"

"No, it's not." I shake my head.

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

"Retroreflective panels?" I ask.

"To make her stealth mode."

"You want a stealth mode?" I ask.

"Cool, right?"

"That's actually a good idea. Maybe I'll build one." I nod.

As he touches the suit, the kid accidentally snaps off one of its fingers. "Oops!"

"Not a good idea! What are you doing? You're gonna break her finger? She's in pain, she's been injured. Leave her alone." I point.

"S...Sorry."

"Are you? Don't worry about it, I'll fix it. So, uh, who's home?" I ask.

"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."

"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." I point.

"What's in it for me?"

"Salvation. What's his name?" I ask.

"Who?"

"The kid that bullies you at school, what's his name?" I ask.

"How'd you know that?"

"I got just the thing." I open a compartment on the suit and take 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." I nod as the kid reaches out to take it, but I pull my hand away and move the object around. "Deal? Deal? What'd you say?" I ask.

"Deal."

"Deal?" I give it to him. "What's you're name?" I ask.

"Harley. And you're..."

"The mechanic. Y/N.......You know what keeps going through my head? Where's my sandwich?" I ask.