Iron Wolf

Chapter 13~ Responsible

Melody's POV

"Miss, wake up," JARVIS said in the suit, sending light shocks through my body to wake me up. I opened my eyes and looked around. Nothing was familiar.

"JARVIS, where are we?"

"I'll explain everything in a minute, Miss Stark. But I have to wake up your father first."

"Alright," I said, still trying to figure out what was happening. Was it snowing? Where were we, upstate?

"Sir. Sir!" JARVIS yelled at dad.

"Alright, kill the alarm. I got it," Dad groaned.

"That's the emergency alert triggered by the power dropping below five percent," JARVIS replied.

"It's snowing, right? Where are we, upstate?" Dad asked, noticing the snow. Great minds.

"We're five miles outside of Rose Hills, Tennessee," JARVIS told us and I gasped.

"What do you mean we are in Tennessee?!" I yelled, completely confused.

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

"I prepared a flight plan. This was the location," JARVIS answered.

"Who asked you? Open the suit," Dad ordered.

"I...I think I may be malfunctioning, sir."

"Open eject," Dad commanded. The suit opened and he sat up. "That's brisk! Maybe I'll just cozy back up for a bit," Dad said, trying to get back in the suit.

"I actually think I need to sleep now, sir," JARVIS said as the suit lost power.

"Jarvis. Jarvis? Don't leave me, buddy.," Dad said but JARVIS didn't wake up in either of our suits.

"I think we're on our own, Dad," I said, hugging him and casting a small spell to help warm him up.

"I think so too, Tails. Welp, we should try finding civilization and a phone so I can call Pepper so she knows we're alive. And so she knows we have a job to do here," Dad said, and I nodded.

"Let's get walking then," I replied as we dragged our suits to a petrol station. Dad dropped his suit, while I laid it down gently, and called Pepper.

"Stark Secure Server: Now transferring to all known receivers," The automated voice said.

"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..." Dad trailed off.

"Come on, Dad. Let's find you somewhere warm," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm more worried about you, Tails."

"Why are you worried about me? My main powerset is literally making fire. You're the 100% Human here. You're the one who could get hypothermia. I thrive in the cold," I said, casting another spell to keep him warm as he shivered.

"Don't remind me of my mortality," He groaned as we set off again, finding an abandoned-looking farmhouse. Dad placed his suit on a couch and sits next to it, and I followed suit.

"Let's get you comfy," Dad said, fiddling with his suit. "You happy now?"

"Freeze! Don't move," A little boy said, armed with a nice looking 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," Dad said and the boy pointed his gun at a glass on a shelf and shot at it, breaking the glass.

"And now you're out of ammo," I said.

"What's that thing on your chest?" The boy asked dad.

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

"What does it power? Oh my God! Oh my god! That... that's... Is that Iron Man? And Iron Wolf?" The boy changed topics.

"Technically, we are," Dad said and I shook my head, smiling.

"Dad, do you always have to be a douche?" I asked.

"Technically, you're dead," The boy said, handing us a newspaper.

"A valid point," Dad agreed.

"I never believe someone's dead until I can see a body. And even then, I need to old a vital organ in my hand to really believe they are no longer living," I told the boy.

"Another valid, yet gross, point," Dad commented.

"What happened to him?" The boy asked.

"Life. I built him, I take care of him, I'll fix him."

"Like a mechanic?"

"Yeah. You could say that," I replied.

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

"It's Iron Patriot now," I informed him.

"That's way cooler!"

"No, it's not," Dad deflected.

"Anyways, I would have added in um... the retro..." The boy trailed off, forgetting the word.

"Retroreflective panels?" Dad asked.

"To make him stealth mode," The boy grinned.

"You want a stealth mode?"

"Cool, right?"

"That's actually a good idea. Maybe I'll build one," I said and Dad nodded in agreement.

"Oops!" The boy said as he snapped Iron Man's finger off.

"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," Dad said.

"S...Sorry," The boy apologized.

"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... I guess he won, 'cause that was six years ago," The boy answered.

"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," Dad ordered.

"My dad didn't leave," I pointed out.

"Another valid point. You are on a roll, Tails."

"What's in it for me?" The boy asked.

"Salvation. What's his name?" Dad asked and I narrowed my brows. What the Hell was he talking about?

"Who?"

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

"How'd you know that?" The kid asked, amazed.

"I got just the thing. 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. Deal? Deal? What'd you say?" Dad asked, holding the device just far enough away that the boy couldn't take it from him.

"Deal."

"Deal? What's you're name?"

"Harley. And you're..."

"The mechanic. Tony. And this is Melody. You know what keeps going through my head? Where's my sandwich?"

"Seriously, Dad?" I asked even though I should know better. Even in Tennessee, Tony Stark demanded excellent service.