Iron Heart (sequel to Iron Will)

Chapter Twenty Four: Chalk Outline

Tony's POV

        We create our own demons.

        The first thing I heard was the blast, the second was Jet's scream of pure pain. That was soon followed by Steve's screams and Bucky's rapid reports. There was a bomb that exploded, and from the reads on Jet's suit, it was full of radiation. Bruce and I were the first to offer to go in after her, followed by Reindeer Games, Legolas, and Shakespeare. Coulson did nothing more than tell us good luck and send us on our way. I suited up in the new suit that Jet helped me develop and took off, not waiting around for anyone else.

        Arriving on the scene feels like arriving at a funeral. The rubble smokes, fires sprouting up all around. A familiar figure waves a shiny arm to me. I drop next to Bucky and look at the frail figure in his arms. It's Liza.
        "Get her to S.H.I.E.L.D. and get her to safety," I command him.
        "Don't you need to know where Jet is?" he asks.
        "I have a tracker that can find her. Take care of your girl, Barnes," I tell him. He looks out to the rubble.
        "I- I'm sorry I didn't know that, I'm sorry," he says, tripping over his words. 
        "It's okay Bucky-"
        "I would have saved her if I knew..."
        "I know, we all would have. Just, get Liza safe, it's what Jet would want." He looks back over the rubble and then back to me. I urge him on and he nods and runs off, Liza in his arms. "J.A.R.V.I.S., find me my daughter," I yell. I fly over the rubble, looking for either the familiar shine of her suit or her straight, black hair.
        "The suit has been located sir, but there is no sign of a heart beat from Miss Stark," J.A.R.V.I.S. reports.
        "This is no time for jokes, J.A.R.V.I.S.," I reply.
        "I'm not joking sir, I cannot find any vitals for Miss Stark." I go numb.
        "There's- there's gotta be a miss calculation, you're not searching hard enough-"
        "Miss Stark is gone sir." My chest tightens, the familiar feeling of an anxiety attack greeting me. I force myself to breathe deeply.
        "No she isn't, she's a fighter. My baby girl wouldn't break a promise, I know she wouldn't. Drop me down by the suit."
        "Beginning your decent now." I swallow the lump in my throat as I land on top of a rubble mound.
        "Get the suit off me," I spit.
        "Sir the levels of rad-"
        "GET THE SUIT OFF ME! I don't care about the damn levels of radiation."  The suit peels off and into a cube. I toss it in my hands like a tennis ball and stare at it, her cursive letters of JAS entwining with my scrawled AES. Anger rushes through me, and before I know it, I'm chucking the cube away from me. I wipe the tears from my face and look at the rubble around me. A shine of red, white, and blue catches my eye. I run over to it and manage to pull the shield from the rubble. A soft cough emits from the place where I pulled the shield. I lift up a piece of the rock and see a pair of blue eyes looking to me weakly.
        "Alright, up and at em' Capsical," I say to Steve, "you've already had your 70 year nap." I grab his hand and pull him from the rubble. He coughs loudly, his face covered in black dirt.
        "Where's... Jet..." he asks in a raspy voice, looking over the rubble around us.
        "Still trying to figure that out. J.A.R.V.I.S. found the suit, somewhere over there, but he has no vitals for Jet," I explain.
        "Why not just have him suit her up and fly her to us?" he asks, obviously ignoring the 'no vitals' part of my comment.
        "For once, you actually have a good idea. J.A.R.V.I.S.? Suit Jet up for me," I command.         
        "I can try sir, but there is no promises that we will be able to extract Miss Stark's body from the rubble," he tells me.
        "Just do it. It's our best shot." The sound of gaining energy cuts through the silence. Slowly pieces of the suit break free from the rubble, flying over to one area. We chase after the suit and watch as it tries to break though the rubble. One hand piece manages to latch onto her, her hand now adorned with the bright blue beam of light. Steve and I grab her hand and pull back as hard as we can. More suit latches onto her, protecting her bones as we pull. I look to Steve and nod. We give one last tug, her whole body becoming exposed. The suit wraps her up and makes her stand.
        "Fly her over to the car," I tell J.A.R.V.I.S. I watch the suit fly up into the air and land next to her car. I start walking over but feel Steve's hand grab my shoulder. I look back to him, grabbing his arm to support him. He coughs again loudly and stumbles when he walks. "What got into you, frozen fossil?"
        "Sir, there are large amounts of radiation in the air. According to Mr. Rogers' vitals, his body is starting to be affected by the radiation, very negatively," J.A.R.V.I.S. explains. I watch as Clint's car pulls up next to Jet's.         
        "Tony..." Steve pleads. He falls behind me, kicking up a patch of dust.
        "Clint! I need you to catch Jet when she comes out of the suit, okay?" I yell. He nods. "Alright J.A.R.V.I.S., get Steve in Jet's suit, start purifying his air and removing the radiation from his body." I watch the suit peel off of Jet and fly over to Steve. It latches around him and flies him over where Jet and Clint are. I suit up myself to keep from getting radiation poisoning. I mentally thank Jet for reminding me that radiation is also a threat to the suits and to add something to them in order to stop myself from getting poisoned. I fly over to where Steve and Jet lay. My breath stops in my throat once I realize the condition that Jet is in.