REDONE ☾ Stark/Marvel

{ six }

"Pepper it's me. I have 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." The voice from inside the phone booth paused, making me look up. Tony was standing inside, having pulled on a warmer jacket he found on a mannequin outside this small store. I could see his breath condensing against the glass of the telephone booth, just another indicator of how cold it was out here. While Tony was in the booth, I had dug myself a small hole in the snow bank and snuggled up into it to try and escape the wind.

It was obviously very early in the morning, the sky was pure black with a slight blue tint, and the sky shone with stars, something I wasn't used to seeing back in Malibu due to all the light. That, along with the fact that we were standing basically in the middle of a snowy forest led me to believe that we were in the middle of nowhere, far, far away from home

Tony and I had been walking for quite a while now through the frozen forest, finally finding a road about 45 minutes ago and following it to this old gas station. The dead Iron Man suit was hooked onto a make shift cable Tony found, and had been dragged the entire way here. I was worried about Tony freezing to death out here, but with the amount of work to pull the suit along in the snow for that distance obviously made him work up a bit of a sweat. Meanwhile I, while I thought the wind sucked, wasn't all too bothered by the weather. Back in Malibu, my thick fur often led me to overheat easily, making me feel sick. But here, I felt just perfectly nice and cozy! Perks of being built for cold weather I guess..

"Also, it's Christmas time, the rabbit's too big. Done. I'm sorry." I had laid myself down next to the slumped over suit, my paws crossed slightly as my head rested down on them. My throat was parched and my tongue dry, I could really go for some water right about now...

Wait.. snow was water right?

I stuck my muzzle into the snow and took a bite out of the fluffy white stuff, it melting in my mouth and turning into water. My eyes widened and continued to eat more.

I'm a genius.

"And I'm sorry in advance because- I can't come home yet... I need to find this guy. Gotta stay safe, that's all I know. I just stole a poncho from a wooden indian.." He stopped talking and I raised my head, my ears flattening against my head. We couldn't go home? Not a moment later, Tony stepped back out of the phonebooth, having hung up the phone, and looked down at me.

"Come on, we gotta find someplace to fix him up." He lazily pointed at the suit, a soft whine escaping me. Tony sighed and leaned down onto one knee, a hand gently rubbing over my ears and down to under my chin. He looked me in the eyes and pursed his lips as if he were thinking.

"It's you and me now, okay? You gotta have my back in this." He told me, holding my head in his hands as his thumbs gently ran over my fur. I saw the sincerity in his eyes and I couldn't hold back the whine. I nudged forward and nuzzled him, letting him know I was there for him. He chuckled.

"We have to toughen you up Butterball." He rubbed my head, a smile growing on his face. His fingers hit a spot behind my ear that immediately had my tongue falling out happily and my back foot begin to twitch, kicking the ground. As soon as the leg moved though, a sharp pain shot up through my hip, making me yelp and jump back away from Tony's hand.

He saw the jump and looked at me, confused. Worry laced his face and his eyebrows came together.

"Rosa?" He asked, obviously trying to figure out why I jumped. I looked back towards my leg, catching sight of the fur on my back leg, just under my hip, ever so slightly beginning to turn red. Tony followed my gaze and moved around me so he was closer to my leg. He gently placed his hands around the wound and pushed the long fur away. A slice about 3 inches long ran down my leg, caused by the falling debris back when the house was falling apart. It wasn't deep, but it stung like hell.