Time passed after the events in NYC and Erina was still by Tony's side but only as his bodyguard. She walked into his lab to find him continuing his tireless work to build an army of suits to protect the world.

"How's your project going?" she asked, her concern evident in her voice.

He looked up, "I'm almost done and once I am, there won't even be a need for me to be Iron Man."

"Not be Iron Man?" she asked, in surprise, "Is that what you want, or is that what Pepper wants?" she asked. She'd accepted that he'd chosen her at this point.

He shook his head, "You already know the answer to that question. I am just doing my best to please everyone."

"Why'd you give you address out today when you found out about a credible threat against your life?" she asked, changing the subject, "As your bodyguard, I would have advised against that and now, I am on high alert."

"Just didn't want you to get bored," he teased, "Plus, an attack will give me a chance to test these out," he confessed.

Erina nodded, "Ok, well I'll be back to check on you in a bit." She left to patrol the property for the eighth time that morning.

She walked back down to the lab around an hour later, to find Tony asleep on the desk. Erina wasn't aware Pepper had followed her as Erina moved to his side, placing a hand on his back.

"Tony, wake up," she whispered softly, "If you need to rest, you should do it in your bed," she soothed.

He woke and smiled as he saw her face, "Just a cat nap. I have to get back to work," he began to sit up just as Pepper made her presence known.

"How come your suit attacked me when I woke you but it leaves her untouched?" Pepper asked, her voice irritated.

Tony shrugged, "I couldn't tell you, but I have work to do if you want me to stop wearing my suit," he countered.

"I'm going to check the perimeter again," Erina interrupted to remove herself from the situation.

"That is your job," Pepper jabbed, "And don't think your acceptance of him as Iron Man will somehow win him over to you, do you understand?"

"Of course, ma'am," Erina replied as she left the lab.


"We're under attack!" Erina yelled as she raced into the living room where Pepper and Tony were arguing.

Tony immediately used his watch to put a suit on Pepper and get her out of the house, looking at Erina as they raced behind the couch to dodge the bullets spraying through the house's glass windows.

"I told you all this glass was gaudy," Erina admonished him as they backed up against the sofa.

Tony smirked, "I'll take that into account for the redesign, if we survive this. We need to escape."

Erina looked out at the attack coming from outside, "We need to get to the water. If we get out front, it'll put everyone out there in danger, and I guarantee this person has already taken out all of your vehicles."

"What are you thinking?" he asked, always fascinated watching her when she made plans and went through her process.

She reached for his hand, "We're going to race to the stairs and go down to the garage. From there, there is a secret opening where we can slide into the ocean and the attackers won't see us. Are you ready?" she asked.

Tony nodded as he followed her lead. Erina's plan went exactly as she planned and within moments they were in the ocean below the mansion.

"What now?" Tony asked as they began treading water as he noticed it wouldn't be long until the house come down on top of their location.

Erina didn't respond immediately as she began looking around for their next step, "Can you get a suit? You can get out of here if the suit can keep you under water long enough to get out of their range and then fly to safety."

"What about you?" he asked, rolling his eyes, "I didn't ask what I do next, but what we do next," his tone was condescending.

"I can channel the ability to hold my breath if you can hold on to me from inside your suit," she offered, her only option where she didn't stay behind and hope not to die by being crushed by his mansion.

He nodded, "I can make that happen," he summoned a suit and his tester attached itself to him. "This should be interesting," he mused as he pulled Erina into his arms.

She prepared the proper power and inhaled just as Tony took them under the water, speeding as fast and far away as possible before they shot from beneath the ocean's depths and took to the sky.

"Jarvis, take us to safety," Tony ordered as he looked at Erina to see she'd passed out from the length of time they'd been underwater, but she was alive.