Whatever It Takes

Chapter Fifteen

If it weren't for the fact Emma could breathe, she would still think she were under water. Her body still felt like a weight dangling above the trees, and her entire being shivered against the cold night air rushing against her sopping suit. When she cracked her eyes open just barely, she saw her feet hanging loosely in the air that she soon started to feel pins and needles in as they gained feeling again. When she realized she was alive, she expected the same talons clutching her body from before, but around her torso she felt hands. As her hearing steadily returned, she heard the soft hum of what sounded like engines but not quite. Her heavy head picked up and looked to her savior while her finger tips felt that large metal hands clasped to her sides. Tony.

"Take it easy, Em," she heard his voice ring out from the suit. He started to angle his flight further upwards, eventally seating Emma gently on the top of a jungle gym in a barren park. Emma wrung pond water from her mask and watched it splash past the bars and drip to the ground. "Thanks for saving me," Emma said quietly, shaking a few more drops from her mask. "This thing is water-proof right? Cause I don't think I have this much rice. I don't even like rice." Tony couldn't help but chuckle, even though he was secretly swelled with worry. "Yeah, it's water-proof," he said, "actually, it's just about everything proof. And has this heater." As Emma was about to speak, she felt a pooling wave of comforting warmth over her. She could feel her suit starting to dry and left out a soft hum as she relaxed her body. "Thanks," she said again.

"You're welcome."

"So is that how you found me? A tracker or something? Cause I really didn't think I was going to make it-" as Emma spoke that last part, she started to regret it. Even though the Iron Man suit was permanently frowning, Emma felt the suit stature sag slightly as it hovered in front of her. Emma swung her legs a little, flicking her eyes to the ground before looking back at the suit. "Yeah, I put everything in your suit."

"I can tell," Emma smirked briefly, "the parachute probably would have gone a lot better if it weren't for the pond."

Tony pondered it for a moment. The fact that what he installed to save her had nearly killed her. "Before you scold me into eternity," started Emma, "this wasn't my idea."

"I know it wasn't," her father said. "Speaking of which, wheres-"

"EMMA!"

Emma's head snapped behind her where her brother darted towards the playground. Sweat beaded on his forehead and soaked into his mask. Emma stood, about to climb down when Peter leapt up to pull Emma into a tight bear hug. Her suit was still damp, but she wasn't shivering anymore. Her body wasn't heavy and her skin and muscles ached an ounce less. Overall, Peter's hug overruled any hurt or ache she currently felt. Peter finally let her go, holding her shoulder with one hand while tearing his mask off with another. "Are you okay? What happened, who was that guy-"

"What were you thinking?"

Peter was silenced as Tony seethed, maybe a little more than he meant to. He couldn't lie, he wasn't the happiest with the boy. Emma could have stayed out of it, but she wouldn't. He knew she wouldn't. And she never would have forgiven herself if it was Peter that nearly drowned. Emma was like Tony. And that terrified him.

Peter swallowed hard. If it weren't for the fact that he knew Tony was probably pissed about Emma nearly drowning, he probably wouldn't be so scared to answer. "The guy was obviously the source of the weapons, I had to take him down-"

"Take him down now, huh?" Tony sounded in disbelief and a little like he was talking to a child playing Super-Spy, "there are people who handle this sort of thing."

Peter raised a brow, "the Avengers?"

"No, no, no, this is a little below their pay grade."

Emma raised an eyebrow as the suit looked off into the distance and raised a hand at nothing. Next, it seemed to be holding an imaginary glass. Then, she remembered. "Wait, aren't you at a wedding or something?" Emma changed the subject. The suit looked back to her. "Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm not exactly... here right now." The suit's faceplate lifted to present a crowd of circuits and small lights. The real Tony stood amoungst a party of people celebrating and chatting happily, all dressed in traditional garb and surrounded by soft music. Tony folded his hands together, "you'd better thank God this place has WI-FI or your sister would have been in big trouble. Thank Ganesh while you're at it." Through his bout of humor, Tony spoke through gritted teeth. He didn't want to think of what could have happened hadn't he known Emma was in trouble.