Ok, this prom thing may have been done to death, sorry; it's the only way to make it like, the cutest idea ever!
Tony was in a big battle; one that he wasn't doing too well in. Iron Man was struggling to bring AIM to justice. They had been flying around town being bothersome when Tony was alerted they were downtown.
Suddenly, their aircraft's wing panel opened and a missile was preparing to fire. Before Iron Man could save himself, the missile was fired and Iron Man fell out of the skies. The AIM guys laughed and flew away in their aircraft. Iron Man landed solidly on the ground and didn't move.
"Warning; targeting systems failing. Communication systems, failing. Life support systems, failing." The armor warned. The missile had hit Tony hard, and it wasn't even that big. It was just about the size of his armored fist, but it was built for a strong and powerful, impact. It hit him in the chest, only an inch away from his heart. He was that close to have been dead instantly. He was lucky he had time to move at least that inch, or he would've been dead right now. And there were people in his life he just couldn't leave behind.
Iron Man tried to get up, tried to move, but was told not to. There were people around here trying to help him; but he couldn't tell who; then he heard a familiar voice.
"What did I tell you, Iron Man? The minute you screw up. You're lucky I'm not taking you down." Tony realized who was speaking to him. Nick Fury. He actually volunteered himself to help me; doesn't mean he's not a jerk. Tony thought.
At the armory, Rhodey was panicking to re-establish communications. Finally over-agitated, he pounded the keyboard at his chair.
"Communications back on." The armor chirped. Tony's voice was frail on the other end.
"Tony? Dude, what's happening? Tony? TONY!" Rhodey begged that Tony answered. Rhodey heard a weak groan from the other end.
"Tony?" Rhodey asked, hopefully.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine…" Tony answered, weakly and frailly.
"You don't sound ok." Pepper, eyes watering, spoke up.
"I am, I promise." Then the connection was lost.
They had no idea what was to happen next.
Fury placed Iron Man on a long table and his scientists examined his armor.
"If we're going to find out what's really wrong with this suit, we're going to have to take it off; and see what damage is done to the man within." Fury demanded. Tony had fallen asleep, not aware of what was going on around him.
The scientists found the way to remove the armor without damaging it. There was a button that said 'emergency removal' on it, located on the back of the neck. The armor started detaching itself in limbs; whole arms split apart and came off, whole legs did the same. A body with denim jeans, red stripe going down each pant leg, red sneakers, and a red t-shirt started to show. The helmet came off last. The face of a teenage boy with messy brown hair and blue eyes that appeared shocked them; but Fury didn't show any signs of shock.
"So Iron Man is Tony Stark, ehh?" He rubbed his chin in thought.
"Put that armor back together and start examining it in the lab." Fury ordered. They nodded and did as they were told.
"As for Stark…keep the boy here. Let him sleep, and when he wakes, we'll help him. For now, do a full-body scan for injuries." Fury ordered the remaining scientists. They nodded and went to work.
At the armory, Rhodey was trying to calm himself and Pepper down when his cell phone rang. It was Tony.
"Tony! Dude, are you ok? What happened, where are you?" Rhodey asked.
"Your friend is in the care of S.H.I.E.L.D. right now. If you wish to see him, you have thirty minutes to get to the helicarrier." Fury explained, and then hung up. He returned Tony's pod to Tony's lap and walked away.
Rhodey was dumbstruck. S.H.I.E.L.D. had him? How, why and since when?
"We have a half an hour to get to the helicarrier to see Tony. S.H.I.E.L.D. took him in." Rhodey explained to Pepper. He got up and walked out the door, Pepper following behind him.
Once they saw the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier waiting in a loading and unloading zone on the edge of town, they raced towards it and the ramp opened. They walked up it and into the helicarrier to see Nick Fury waiting patiently, arms folded behind his back.
"Follow me." Fury said, sounding rather impatient; like always. Fury led them to a table where they saw Tony laying. Not Iron Man, no. There was no armor on him.
"Where's the Iron Man armor?" Rhodey asked. He had the feeling they knew who Iron Man was.
"Relax, his armor is in our labs getting repaired. Iron Man is lucky we were there to save him." Fury explained. Rhodey got mad.
"LUCKY? HE COULD'VE TAKEN CARE OF HIMSELF!" Rhodey defended.
"THAT MISSILE was highly toxic and could've KILLED HIM if we hadn't swooped in!" Fury yelled back. Rhodey backed off. He knew he let his anger get the best of him. Pepper put her hand on his shoulder to help him cool off, then removed it a second later when she saw Tony laying there. He was still sleeping.
"When we took him in, he'd already fallen into a coma. We don't know how long he'll be in a coma, but we're transferring him to the hospital; as for his armor, we're leaving you in charge of taking it back to where it belongs." Fury explained. He led the two teenagers to the lab so they could pick up the armor. They turned it back to the black backpack that was easier to carry, and escorted the paramedics in the ambulance in the loading zone as they put Tony on a stretcher and into the ambulance.
"You two can ride in the ambulance with him." One of the paramedics explained. Rhodey nodded and stepped into the ambulance. He stood over Tony's stretcher, sitting in the middle of the ambulance. Pepper came in and sat down on a ledge on the other side of Tony. She just blankly stared at him for the whole ride. The ride was silent, and no one spoke. The paramedic sat a few feet away from Pepper and monitored Tony.
"Pepper?" Rhodey asked once they got to the hospital, and the stretcher with Tony on it was taken out. Pepper looked up, but didn't speak a word.
"Are you ok?" Rhodey asked, concerned. Pepper nodded her head while crossing her arms and rubbing them with her hands. She felt cold and broken, and afraid inside.
"You don't seem alright. Come here." Rhodey said. Pepper stood and walked over to Rhodey; they exited the ambulance and stood in the emergency entrance to the hospital. Rhodey outstretched his arms and Pepper fell into them. His hug was helpful to her but not enough. She still felt afraid and broken.
"He's going to be ok. Let's go." Rhodey led Pepper inside to where they took Tony into a hospital room. People in the hospital gasped in surprise that Tony Stark was hospitalized. They'd known he must be alive when Madame Masque went to the celebutante as him, but some still believed him to be dead.
They placed him in a hospital bed and attached him to several tubes for life support. He had his own room, but it wasn't all that big. Just enough room for a television, a single hospital bed and whatever else there is in a hospital room. Rhodey and Pepper pulled up their own seats and sat at Tony's bedside.
After ten minutes, Roberta came rushing into the room with a doctor. The doctor left the room to tend to other duties, and Rhodey stood.
"James, how did this happen?" Roberta asked, extremely worried.
"Mom…there's something we need to tell you." Rhodey started.
"Tony…is Iron Man." Rhodey explained. Roberta gasped and looked over to Tony. She had heard on the news in her office that Iron Man had been hit with a missile and had been taken into care of S.H.I.E.L.D. It was now good and bad to know that the man in the suit was Tony. She knew where he went off to so often now.
"Well, is he ok?" Roberta asked. She truly didn't know what else to say.
"He's in a coma." Rhodey explained.
I may have taken this idea from a few different shows or movies. I forgot where. But one was from watching the music video for the song The Reason, by Hoobastank, and making it more into an IMAA-sounding plot; and walla! I got this. Reiveww!