𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄 || 𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐊

𝟐𝟓.

The sound of the alarm from Tony's suit awakens him from his unconsciousness. "Sir?" Jarvis says as the alarm blared. "Sir!" Tony groans. "All right, kill the alarm. I got it." he tells Jarvis.

"That's the emergency alert triggered by the power dropping below 5%." Jarvis informs.

"Oh." The alarm starts beeping intensely as the suit starts heading toward the ground and Tony ends up screaming while he hits a car, ricocheting off the ground, through trees and landing in the middle of the snow.

"It's snowing, right? Where are we, upstate?" Tony asks Jarvis who replied: "We are five miles outside of Rose Hill, Tennessee."

"Why? Jarvis. Not my idea. What're we doing here? This is thousands of miles away! I gotta get Y/N, I gotta get Pepper. I gotta..."

"I prepared a flight plan. This was the location." Jarvis informs him. "Who asked you? Open the suit." Tony states. "I... I think I may be malfunctioning, sir."

"Open it, J." Tony says again and Jarvis opens the suit causing Tony to shudder as he sat up due to the cold environment. "That's brisk."

He grabs something from the ground and puts it against his wrist before speaking "Maybe, I'll just cozy back up for-" Tony then gets interrupted by Jarvis. "I actually think I need to sleep now, sir." the suit then powers down.

"Jarvis. Jarvis? Don't leave me buddy."

Finally coming to the conclusion that his armor was pretty much toast for the time being, Tony decided to trek through the snow the only thing visible was the light from his chest reactor and the light from the moon as it shined down on him. He finally stops at a TEXACO station where he lets go off his suit and walks over to the statue that had a poncho on it.

Tony goes into the phone booth and makes a phone call. "Y/N, it's me. I know you're probably wondering why I'm calling you and not Pepper. I just wanted you to know that 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, of all people in harm's way. I know you can defend yourself, trust me, I've seen it. That was selfish and stupid, and it won't happen again. Also, it's Christmastime and be sure to let Pepper know 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 and Pepper gotta stay safe, that's all I know. I just stole a poncho from a wooden Indian."

Tony treks again through the snow with his suit, eventually he comes up to a cabin that was most likely vacant. He uses a crowbar to open the door and his suit falls to the ground, inside the cabin.
Moving further inside, Tony removes the poncho and he places his suit on the couch before he sits down beside it.

"Let's get you comfy." he says out loud to his suit as he adjusts it.

"You happy now?"

After a while, Tony sits at the desk that was in the room and he starts to remove shards from his arm before a little boy enters with a toy gun.

"Freeze! Don't move." the child says.

"You got me. Nice potato gun. Barrel's a little long. Between that and the wide gage it's gonna diminish your FPS." Tony tells him as he held up his hands and the boy shoots the gun at a glass on a shelf which ends up breaking it.

"And now you're out of ammo."

"What's that thing on your chest." the little boy asks. "It's an electromagnet. You should know, you got a box of them right here." Tony replies.

"What does it power?"

Tony shines the light on his suit and moves out of the way so the younger boy could get a better look. "Woah, oh my God. That... That's... is that Iron Man?"

"Technically, I am." Tony responds.

"Technically, you're dead." the boy says handing Tony the newspaper. "Valid point."

"What happened to him?" the boy asks. "Life. I built him. I take care of him. I'll fix him." Tony says. "Like a mechanic?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm. If I was building Iron Man and War Machine..." the kid starts to say. "It's "Iron Patriot" now." Tony adds. "That's way cooler."

"No, it's not."

"Anyways, I would have added in, um, the retro..." the younger boy says. "Retro-reflective panels?" Tony says suggestively. "To make him stealth mode."

"You want a stealth mode?"

"Cool, right?"

"That's actually a good idea. Maybe I'll build one." Tony says and the kid removes one of the fingers on the suit. "Not a good idea."

"Oops."

"What are you doing? You're gonna break his finger? He's in pain. He's been injured. Leave him alone." Tony slightly scolds.  "Sorry."

"Are you? Don't worry about it, I'll fix it." Tony assures and after a moment of silence he spoke again. "So, uh, who's home?"

"Well, my mom already left for the diner and Dad went to the 7-11 to get scratchers. I guess he won because that was six years ago." the younger boy says. "Hmm. 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 the town, a big spring and a tuna fish sandwich." Tony lists.

"What's in it for me?"

"Salvation. What's his name?" Tony asks.

"Who?"

"The kid that bullies you at school. What's his name?" Tony says. "How'd you know that?"

"I got just the thing." Tony walks over to the suit and something ejects from it as a compartment comes open. "This is a piñata for a cricket. I'm kidding. This is 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. Deal? Deal? What do you say?" Tony says.

"Deal." the kid responds.

"Deal?"

"What's your name?"

"Harley. And you're..." Harley replies examining what Tony had given him. "The mechanic. Tony. You know what keeps going through my head?

"Where's my sandwich?"