Steel Meets Iron

Chapter 9

Raven knew that Tony was Iron Man, a superhero, that was either on the telly, the internet or in the papers and magazines. She had seen the suit and was awed at it been inches from the nose. She never saw Tony in it though, she had seen him wearing it on telly when she had been Ireland but never in person. A vast difference. She never thought she would, like how adults hid away when they spoke of serious things or sent you out the room. She imagined he would fly off and return without the suit on like when Marshall would throw off his coat and unbutton his buttons half way before he came to her after work. Even Pepper did it, she would put down folders and take off her heels the minute she came home. Raven pictured that Tony's job would be an unaddressable pink elephant in the room. Never to be spoken off. Just like Marshall and his job. Never ask, never question.

One morning she came down and saw the Tony in the suit. At first she thought someone had moved the suit upstairs from the lab but then she saw Tony's head and the helmet on the kitchen counter. The suit sort of reminded her of the Cybermen on Doctor Who, especially the helmet with it's apathetic eyes. It made robotic sounds with each movement it made, just like a Cyberman. Although his looked more like a copycat of a body, with loud colors. It made the suit not as intimidating.

Pepper was fussing over Tony, holding his face and kissing him on the mouth. Instead of making a dash back to her room she turned her face away. It seemed different. The house was quieter and serious. She remembered a feeling like this, whenever something bad happened or was about to, it felt like this and she became afraid. What had happened as she slept?

"Hey!" Tony smiled at her. "There's my other girl." When she got to him he lifted her up with his metal covered hands. "I was about to come up there and check on you." He gave her a kiss on her cheek.

"Where are you going?" She asked him. He was cold under her hands and he smelt of metal. He seemed taller, not wider but thicker somehow. Different.

"Oh," he rolled his shoulders nonchalantly, "I've got to help out Fury with some things. Nothing Iron Man can't handle."

She had almost forgotten the news coverage of the New York invasion. They had shown it for weeks after it had happened, the children at her old school were enthralled with the fighting and so was she. She had forgotten that he was there fighting and how destroyed the city had looked afterward. She didn't feel so excited about it now.

"Is it going to be like last time?" She bit on her finger. "When the city got all... broken up. And it was on the news for weeks?"

Tony sat her on the counter, he was still smiling but not as widely as he normally did. "It's not going to be like that at all. This one is nothing compared to that," he assured her.

"So you'll be okay?" She chewed on her knuckles. "You'll come back, won't you?"

His smile was gone and she held her breath for a moment. "I swear to you that I will always come back." He kissed her forehead. "Now, can you stop trying to eat your arm?" His smile came back and she pulled her hand from her mouth.

"Sorry." Auntie Irene always told her it was unsightly.

She noticed the helmet was beside her. She picked it up, it was heavy and cold, staring back at her without any sympathy or emotion. Unable to look at any longer she handed it to him. Tony held it her hands and gave her another kiss on her head.

"Don't worry alright?" He took the helmet. "I'll be back before you know it and we'll watch a movie together. You, me and Pepper, sound good?" She nodded. "Don't cry Rae, I'll be fine."

She nodded rubbing her eyes unable to squawk a single word. She and Pepper saw him off on the balcony, she watched him fly off waving to them as he zoomed away, she waved too. She waved until she couldn't see the flare of his rockets and threw herself on Pepper gripping her legs tightly hoping that if she held on hard enough she wouldn't cry. The burning wall behind her eyes wouldn't break and she wouldn't cry but she ended up in tears anyways.