Ironman 3 (Charlotte Stark)

Ch. 5 The Mechanics

"Stark Secure Server: Now transferring to all known receivers."

"Pepper, it's us. 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...We can't come home yet." Tony starts to say into the phone.

"We need to find this guy. You gotta stay safe. That's all we know." I chime in. And then we hang up the phone and head to a shop. There's a couple of wooden Indians with ponchos on them. I grab the ponchos off of them for warmth. "We just stole ponchos from wooden Indians."

We drag the suits to an abandoned looking farmhouse, placing them on a couch and sitting next to them.

"Let's get you comfy." Tony says to his suit. He places its hand by its side. "You happy now?" As Tony and I try to fix the micro-repeater implants in the suits arms,  a boy stands by the doorway and points his toy gun at us.

"Freeze! Don't move."

"You got us. Nice potato gun." I tell him.

"Barrel's a little long. Between that and the wide gauge, it's gonna diminish your FPS." Tony adds.

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." I tell him.

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

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

"What does it power?" Tony stands and points the desk light at his suit sitting on the couch behind him. "Oh my God!" The boy drops his toy gun and takes a step towards him. "That...that's... Is that Iron Man? And what's the other one for?"

"Technically, I am." Tony refers to himself. "And that's my sisters suit I made her."

"Technically, you're both dead." He gives Tony and I a newspaper which has our picture with the headline Mandarin Attack: Starks presumed dead.

"Love that for us." I say annoyed.

"A valid point."

"What happened to them?" The boy refers to the suits as he sits on the couch.

"Life. I built them, I take care of them, I'll fix them." Tony states.

"And I help." I add.

"Like mechanics?"

"Yeah. Sure." I answer.

"Oh. If I was building Iron Man and War Machine..." The boy starts but Tony cuts him off.

"It's Iron Patriot now."

"That's way cooler!"

"No, it's not."

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

"Retroreflective panels?" I finish his sentence.

"To make him stealth mode."

"You want a stealth mode?" I ask.

"Cool, right?"

"That's actually a good idea. Maybe we'll build one." Tony says, turning to me.

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

"Not a good idea! What are you doing? You're gonna break his finger? He's in pain, he's been injured. Leave him alone." Tony whines.

"Tony, chill out he's just a kid."

"Sorry." The boy looks up at Tony and gives him puppy dog eyes.

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

"Well, my mom already left for the diner and dad went to 7-Eleven to get scratchers. I guess he won, 'cause that was six years ago."

"Mm. Which happens, dads leave, sisters leave." He looks at me and I roll my eyes. "No need to be a pussy about it."

"Tony!" I yell and smack his arm. "You really need to work on showing sympathy."

"Leave me alone, you know I have issues."

"I also know that you need to learn how to deal with them yourself, and not take it out on everyone else."

"Here's what we 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." Tony says to the boy.

"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?"

"How'd you know that?"

"Because you're a smart kid and the dumber ones like to pick on smart kids." I explain.

"I got just the thing." Tony says as he opens a compartment on the suit and takes 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." The boy reaches out to take it, but Tony pulls his hand away. "Deal? Deal? What'd you say?"

"Deal."

"What's you're name?" I ask him.

"Harley. And you guys are..."

"The mechanics. Tony and Charlotte." Tony looks at Harley for a moment. "You know what keeps going through my head? Where's my sandwich?" I roll my eyes at my idiotic brother.