Sorry, I've been having some technical difficulties so I'm getting this to y'all super late. I had to end up rewriting this chapter. I hope you like this one and more about Emily and what she's working on to help her daughter in the next chapter!

Melody looked to the street behind them as they walked forward, on their way to the blast zone. If there was one thing she learned from SHIELD in the past nine months, it was that if you were doing something illegal or secretive, someone was always watching. It didn't matter if you couldn't see them, but someone was always there. Nick Fury taught her that one. "The sandwich was fair," Tony spoke to Harley. "The spring was a little rusty, the rest of the materials…I'll make do." She gave one look back as they were getting ready to round the corner, making Tony roll his eyes. "Please stop that." He spoke as quickly as he could manage. "You're making me nervous."

"Someone has to check our back." Melody taunted as she made the full turn into the dead end that would lead all the way to the blast zone. She immediately stopped once she saw all the lit candles, picture, flowers and various other items left for morning. It hit her pretty hard once she saw it. Innocent people had died here and it was just so the Mandarin could prove a point.

"Oh, and by the way, when you said your sister had a watch." Melody finally turned around to look back at the two boys, noticing Tony picking up his sleeve. "I was hoping for something a little more adult than that."

Harley began laughing as Melody gave Tony a tight smile while turning around when he got right next to her as he put his arm around her shoulders. "She's six!" He exclaimed as they walked forward together, making a line. "Anyway, it's limited edition." Harley looked up at the two superheroes with an excited gaze. "When can we talk about New York?"

Melody shook her head, not expecting that question to come up so randomly, but he was a kid. A very curious kid at that. "Maybe never." Tony answered for him. "Relax about it."

"What about the Avengers?" He asked excitedly as he moved closer to Melody, hoping to coax her into telling him. "Can we talk about them?"

She sighed while putting her hand on his mop of brown hair. "Maybe later."

"Hey, kid," Tony spoke, pushing his hand out in front of him, moving him away from Melody as she gave him a sorry smile. "Give us some space."

Melody looked around, feeling sadder close up. Tony did the same, but it was more of an analyzation. "What's the official story here?" Melody asked while moving to sit down next to Harley, right on the edge of the rubble. She turned to look to him with a serious face, wanting to let him know what she was listening to him, remembering what it was like to be a smart kid. Mostly, she remembered the not listening since she was "just a kid". "What happened?"

Harley looked to Melody, but then back to the explosion, feeling the same sadness the whole town felt about the tragedy. "I guess this guy named Chad Davis used to live roundabouts. He won a bunch of medals in the Army. Then one day, folks said he went crazy and made, you know…a bomb." He whispered the word as if it was bad and they couldn't blame him. "Then he blew himself up right here."

Tony continued standing behind the two, looking around at the rubble. "Six people died, right?" Tony asked, beginning to walk around it, causing Melody to give him a confused face.

"Yeah." Harley spoke.

"Including Chad Davis?" Harley nodded again and that's when Melody started looking where Tony was looking, noticing that there were only five shadows on the wall. "Yeah, it doesn't make sense."

Harley looked to him with a confused face as he sat down, making Harley in the middle. "Think about it." Melody spoke as she nudged him, but Harley couldn't get over the fact that the superhero he had the biggest crush on had just touched him and was talking to him. "Six dead, but only five shadows."

Harley looked back to the shadows, a shrug resting on his shoulders. "People say these shadows are like the mark of souls going to Heaven except the bomb guy. He went to Hell on the account of he didn't get a shadow." He finally let his shrug happen before looking back to the rubble. "That's why there's only five."

"You buy that?" Tony asked while chewing on his thumb, something he had picked up from his father when he was thinking and kind of became a habit for the whole family.

"That's what everybody says." Harley spoke with another shrug, not really knowing what to think. The three of them let that sit for a moment, but Harley really only had one question on his mind. "You know what this crater reminds me of?" He spoke with a smile growing on his face.

"No idea." Tony spoke as soon as he was done with his sentence. "And I don't care."

"That big wormhole." Harley spoke while throwing his hands up, just thinking about what it looked like on TV. "In New York." He looked to them, hoping they would be as excited as he was, but Melody was shifting around, uncomfortable with the topic being brought up while Tony put his hands on his forehead. "Does it remind you guys?"

"That's manipulative." Tony spoke while looking to him. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Are they coming back?" Harley asked seriously while looking over to Melody. She opened her mouth, but she quickly realized she had no idea if they were coming back or not. "The aliens?"

"Maybe." She spoke instantly, not wanting to hear that word ever again. "Can you stop?"

Harley continued to sit there, not knowing what to say to either of them. "Remember when I told you that I have an anxiety issue?" Tony asked as he looked over to Harley.

"Does this subject make you edgy?"

"Yeah." Melody spoke while pulling her knees to her chest. "A little bit." That's when Tony realized how bad she was affected by just a few words too. "Can I just catch my breath for a second?"

"Are there bad guys in Rose Hill?" Harley asked while looking over to Melody. She shook her head and put her finger out, telling him to wait a moment so he looked over to Tony. "Do you need a plastic bag to breathe into?"

Tony was breathing out of his teeth while Melody put her head between her knees, not sure what else to do to catch her breath. "Do either of you have medication?" He asked while looking back and forth between them.

"No." Tony spoke.

"Do you need to be on it?" Harley asked, continuing to look back and forth, not sure which one was going to answer next.

"Probably." Melody gasped out.

"Do you have PTSD?"

"I don't think so." Tony spoke while shaking his head, but he knew it was probably the exact opposite.

He looked back to Melody, putting his hand on her shoulder, causing her to look back up. "Are you going completely mental?" Her breath just got quicker as she looked around. That's when she began to realize how totally insane all of this is. "I can stop. Do you want me to stop?" She just continued to sit there, Tony finally realizing the Melody also had an anxiety issue because of New York. "Do you want me – "

"Remember when I said to stop doing that?!" Melody screamed while turning to look right at him. "I swear to God, you're gonna freak me out." She continued to look at Harley as he just slightly let his tongue slip out of his mouth. That's when she remembered she was putting her trust into a ten year old.

She let out a whine as she stood up – Tony and Harley standing up along with her – looking back and forth at the two, not knowing what to say or do. That's when she took off in the other direction. Almost as if it was her mother coming back into her life all over again.

She had to get home. She had to get to Clint. All of this was just ridiculous. She couldn't just stand idly by anymore. "You did it!" Tony yelled as he pushed Harley back before running after Melody. "You happy?"

"What did I say?!" Harley yelled as he ran after the two.

Tony was picking up on her speed, catching up to her just as she was about to round the corner into the street. He grabbed her by the waist, pulling her back into the alley some before she fell on her knees, Tony falling along with her. Melody just sat there on her knees, breathing in heavily as Tony moved to face her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Melody," He spoke in the best assuring voice he could manage. "You're all right, okay? I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

"I don't know that." Melody cried out while looking to him with tears spilling out of her eyes. Tony had time to yell at her, get everything off of his chest, but now it was Melody's turn and she wasn't going to let a missile stop her this time. "You left me once. How do I know you're not gonna leave me again?" She shook her head at him. "Everyone has left me." Tears were streaming down her face as she talked because this wasn't just what happened with her and Tony catching up with her, this was everything. Years of hurt. "Mom, Dad, Clint." She looked up at him, practically shaking. "You're the one person I thought was never going to leave me." She shook her head and turned away, finding herself not able to look at him anymore. "And you left."

Tony just sat there, having no idea how to comfort her. She was a big girl, he knew that and he had accepted that, but he forgot that she needed him to treat her like a little girl sometimes. "Melody," Tony spoke, trying his best to keep his voice steady. "I am never going to leave your side." Tony couldn't help the guilt he was feeling. It was impossible to get away from after she said something like that. "Not again."

Melody let out shallow breaths, feeling herself finally getting back to normal. She turned around to face Tony, wiping away some of her tears, making Tony feel even worse. "I love you." She mumbled before throwing her arms around his neck.

"I love you too." He spoke in a relieved voice at the fact that she came back to him so quickly. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him, never wanting to let go ever again. He really was blessed.

"What the hell was that?" Harley asked, causing them to both break out of the hug to look at him.

Tony looked up at the kid, knowing the perfect thing to do. He picked up some snow and threw it at him, nailing him right in the face. "Your fault." Tony told him, causing Melody to give him a disapproving glace, but she still held a smile on her face, remembering what he had told her. "You spazzed her out."

"Okay," Melody spoke, giving Tony an annoyed tone, but Harley was just smiling back and forth at the two. He could feel the tension between the two from earlier, but now, it was simply resolved. "Back to business." She looked over to Harley, noticing the smile he was trying to wipe off his face. "Chad Davis…does he have any relatives around? Mom maybe? Mrs. Davis? Where is she?"

"Where she always is." Harley spoke with a slight shrug.

"See," Tony spoke, making a hand gesture towards Harley. "Now you're being helpful."


The two walked down the street, Melody in her red baseball cap, green army jacket and a white t-shirt with black quarter sleeves on. They were trying to keep their heads low in fear that they would be recognized especially since they both had one of the most popular faces in the country.

With it close to Christmas time, the streets were flooded with people Christmas shopping and being with friends before the hectic life of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. With all of that, they could blend in with no problem

That's when Tony ran into a woman with a choppy haircut, her fiery red hair to match. She had a scar along her cheek and her eyes were a deep brown. When Melody turned around to see who it was who had dropped something from Tony's crash into her, she felt her stomach drop. She noticed her. This was someone she had seen walking around, following them earlier. "You dropped this," Tony spoke while handing her some kind of wallet.

Tony couldn't stop staring at the scars on her face the closer she got, but Melody couldn't stop staring her down. "Nice haircut." She spoke in that way only girls could. What they were saying was polite, but the tone was very much a bitch tone. "It suits you."

She gave Melody a nasty look, realizing what she was doing and realizing that she knew who she was. "Nice watch." She spoke as she looked down to Tony's wrist.

"Limited edition." Tony defended while showing it off.

"Oh," She spoke with a flirty smile towards Melody. "I don't doubt it." Melody rolled her eyes while looking back and forth between the two, hating the flirting that was going on with the enemy. The redhead's gaze went back to Melody, giving her another nasty look before saying, "Have a good evening."

Melody nodded at her while looking her up and down. She didn't know what she was going to do to them, but she knew it was going to be in a short amount of time.

Tony and Melody ducked into the bar, Melody putting her hands in her pockets and looking straight forward. "She was following us a while back. That means the Mandarin's people are here and we've got about a minute tops to get our information and get out before we're attacked." Tony began to look behind him, but Melody nudged him. "Don't turn around!"

He gave her an insane look, remembering the woman again, but Melody continued her gaze forward, not trying to alert any suspicion if others were watching them. "How do you know that?"

She gave Tony a sarcastic smile with a bit of a shrug. "That's what's happened since 'SHIELD is all I've become'."

Tony rolled his eyes at the mention of their fight back in Malibu while putting his hand on the small of her back to guide her forward in the crowd of the rowdy drunk.

They found a woman at a table all to herself, sipping on a drink and letting dog tags float right above the surface of the table. They looked to each other, Tony quickly ordering drinks for the two before they walked over to Mrs. Davis.

"Mrs. Davis," Tony spoke, causing her to look up as he placed his drink down on the table. "Mid if I join you?"

She just had so much hurt in her eyes, Melody and Tony both obviously seeing that any amount of movement was paining while knowing her son was taken from this world. "Free country." She spoke with a shrug as Tony took in a deep sigh. He didn't know what he would do if he lost Melody like that.

"That it is." Melody spoke, sitting in the chair closest to Mrs. Davis as Tony sat in the one across from her.

Tony took off his cap as Melody shrugged out of her jacket while crossing her arms on the table, ready to listen. "Alright," Mrs. Davis spoke while looking back and forth at the two. "Where would you like to start?"

They could imagine how much she had been torn apart since her son had killed innocents too. She probably got family members running up to curse her and her son. That's what they thought had hurt her the most. Not just that her son was dead, but how it happened and who it affected.

"We just want to say sorry for you loss." Tony spoke simply with a shrug, sharing a glance with Melody before looking back to her.

"And," Melody spoke, giving Tony the same glance he had just given her. "We want to know what you think happened."

She stared at Melody for a few extra moments, causing her to pick up a file Melody had been eyeing ever since they sat down. "I brought your damn file, bitch." Melody blinked a couple of times, definitely not expecting that reaction as she slid it to her. "Take it and go." She brought her drink to her lips again as Melody began sifting through the file. "Whatever was in here, he wanted no part of it."

"Clearly you're waiting for someone else." Tony spoke, still angry that she had just called Melody a bitch. "Supposed to meet somebody here?"

"Yeah." She spoke in a kind of guilty voice.

That's when Tony looked over the file, finding other people listed on it. One of the names was Taggart, J. That's when he remembered the dog tags that were found at the Chinese Theater.

Tony calmly closed the file, taking Melody by surprise, wondering what he saw that she didn't. "Mrs. Davis," He spoke calmly, moving closer to get a better look at her. "Your son didn't kill himself. I guarantee you, he didn't kill anyone."

She looked back and forth at the two with wide eyes, not understanding what he was talking about, but what he said did give her hope. "What?" She whispered out.

"Someone used him." Melody spoke with a nod, deciding Tony had just figured something out that had confirmed her suspicions. That's when it all hit her. Aldrich and Zeke showed her and Pepper something that could make humans into weapons…but if they overheat or in reacts differently, they blow up. "As a weapon." She spoke that part almost to herself, all of it just finally kicking in.

Mrs. Davis moved her hand forward, placing it on Melody's, looking her straight in the eye, remembering the woman's voice, but realizing it just wasn't as soft as Melody's. "You're not the person who called me after all, are you?"

Melody opened her mouth, about to speak, but she was interrupted by a badge slamming onto the table. They all jumped, looking up the owner just to see the redhead all over again. Melody let out an annoyed sigh while leaning into the chair. "Told you one minute tops."

"Actually, Mrs. Davis," The redhead spoke after cutting Melody a dirty look. "I'm the one who called you."

She looked to Tony, giving him a slight smile as Tony looked down at the badge in confusion, realizing that this is what he gave her when he bumped into her. Suddenly, she grabbed him by the wrist, slamming him down on the table while pulling out her handcuffs. "Dad!" Melody screamed out as she stood up. She couldn't help calling him "dad" sometimes. It would just slip out. Especially when she was scared.

"What the hell is going on here?" The sheriff asked as Melody quickly picked up the dog tags and stuffed them in her jacket pocket before the redhead could even think about it.

The two girls shared a dirty look before the redhead turned back to the sheriff. "It's called an arrest." She spoke as she picked Tony up, cuffing the other wrist before throwing him down on the ground.

Melody looked to her, taking everything in her not to slap the shit out of her right here and right now. She moved to Tony, helping him sit up and making sure he was all right. The redhead continued chatting with the sheriff as Melody checked Tony out. "Are you okay?"

"The file." He whispered into her ear.

Melody turned around to look at Mrs. Davis, giving her a nod. Mrs. Davis took the file and slid it under the door that led into the kitchen.

The redhead's hand began to glow orange, Melody's mouth dropping, realizing that her speculations were right. This was Extremis. She slammed the red hot badge into the sheriff's face, sending everyone into a frenzy before she reached her other hand, plunging it into his gut. Melody had to look away, hearing shots getting fired by her. She turned to Tony, knowing they needed a plan. "Distract her, lead her away. I'll get the file. We'll meet back up after."

"But Melody." Tony started, only worried about what was going to happen to her.

"Just listen to me for once in your life." Melody spoke while locking eye contact with him.

He sighed, thinking of his mother's eyes in that moment. He had to listen to her. She was the expert on this stuff. He had to give her the wheel. He jumped up, looking over to her and running to the other side of the bar to lead her away from Melody. "Hey," He yelled out at the readhead. "Hot wings!" She looked to him, giving him a hateful stare as Melody stayed on the floor, trying not to be seen by her. "You want a party? You and me! Let's go!"

Tony ran out as she followed with a slow walk. Melody crawled over and with all the insanity going on, she found Mrs. Davis, standing her to her feet. "You've got to get out of here." Melody demanded while pushing her forward. "Go!" Mrs. Davis ran out the door and Melody picked up her Army jacket before darting into the kitchen, only thought on getting the file.


Tony ran outside to find Savin, the security guard accompanying Killian and Zeke at Stark Industries, stepping out of a town car with hot coffee in his hand. He gave Tony a smile, throwing his coffee up in cheers as his eyes began to glow orange just like the redhead.

Tony turned around quickly, trying to find someplace else to hide as Savin pulled out a gun. He aimed it right at Tony and it would have been a perfect shot if Harley wouldn't have thrown a snowball at him. Savin turned around to see Harley peeking out from behind a pole, making it up in his mind that he was going after him next.

Tony ducked behind a car, noticing that someone else was hiding behind it. He gave the man a slight nod, appreciating this second to catch his breath. "Crazy, huh?" He spoke in the most casual voice he could manage.

"Yeah." The man spoke with a simple nod, finding his cool with his hiding place, laying side by side with a car parallel parked by a curb.

Tony looked behind him, making sure he had a chance to get away before looking back to him. "Watch this." Tony ran forward, getting up the momentum before throwing himself through a bakery shop window with his back.


Melody ran out of the kitchen while tucking the file in the inside pocket of her jacket. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who was waiting for her. Now she knew this was Aldrich's work. Savin was waiting for her. "I knew you were beautiful the second I saw you walk up with Pepper Potts." He spoke as the two began circling each other. "It was an easy competition. Now I get why Zeke's been so obsessed with you." Melody clenched her teeth at the sound of his name, only growing to hate him even more. "So, I'll try not to mess that beautiful face up."

He tried to kick her, but she caught his foot with her own foot. He then dragged her down with him, the two crushing a table as they fell on top of it. Melody moved for his head, digging her nails into it as he screamed. She finally got on her knees, kneeing him in the head before getting up and taking that time for his recovery to run out through the front door.

Savin sat up slightly and looked off in the direction she had run to. He chuckled slightly looking at his empty syringe. He knew she wouldn't notice what he had done with all that adrenaline pumping through her. Extremis was pumping through her body and she probably still had no clue.


Tony had stood up from his crash, but when he stood up, he saw that the redhead had obtained a gun. She cocked the gun back as he ran, ducking behind the front register just as the gun went off. He hurried, hiding at the edge of the corner before turning around to run back to the kitchen, but when he turned around, she was right there.

She grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to stand up before throwing him into a wall. She punched him in the face, causing him to bend down from the impact. She then grabbed him by the arm, flipping him over. He could feel his head throbbing from that hit he took, but he got back up, managing to get his cuffs on her neck just as she began to turn orange to burn the metal away.

He fell back before shaking what was left of the cuffs off. Tony reached for the oil nearby, throwing it forward so it created a path before kicking the cuffs into it, sparking a fire.

Melody threw the back door to the bakery open, immediately seeing the fire and then Tony. She looked to him, knowing just what to do. She pulled the gas line on the stove, pulled the dog tags from her jacket pocket and turned the microwave on. "You walked right into this one." Tony spoke as she pulled him up from the ground, the two standing close to each other while backing up. "I've dated hotter chicks than you."

She burst through the door to get into the kitchen, the two jumping back slightly, knowing he could kill them in a minute. "That's all you got?" She asked, getting closer to the two while Melody tugged on Tony's sleeve, knowing they had to get out of there right now. "A cheap trick and a cheesy one liner?"

"Sweetheart," Tony spoke quickly while the two backed up through the door. "That could be the name of my autobiography."

They hurried out of the kitchen, stopping in the back hallway. Tony grabbed Melody, pulling her down to hide behind an ice box, pulling out the door as a form of protection right as the place exploded.

Melody felt this automatic ringing in her ear and she was stunned for a moment. She began to move in slow motion it felt like. She stood up with Tony following right behind her to get out, but she immediately lost her balance, finding herself falling forward, only having her hands to catch her. She straightened herself out, Tony following even closer behind from the fall she had just experienced. This time, when trying to walk, her legs felt like rubber so she fell back. Tony caught her back about mid waist and used his other arm to scoop up her legs.

He didn't know what was wrong with her, but he knew that she needed help. Melody had this burning sensation all throughout her body, it felt like she was burning from the inside out. "It hurts." She moaned out to Tony who was looking around, trying to find help for her. All he found was the redhead hanging from one of the power lines. "It burns."

He then heard bolts coming undone and when he looked up, he saw the legs of the water tower turning that hot orange. Tony looked down at Melody, knowing she needed medical attention, but at the same time, he had to keep her safe from all of these guys. He ran as fast as he could, slowly bringing her to the ground next to chain link fence. He got right next to her, putting one of her hands on the fence and the other in his hand. "Hold on." He told her intensely. "Just like how I didn't let go of your hand in Malibu, you're not gonna let go of mine here." She nodded before letting out a few groans, completely breaking his heart, wishing there was something he could do to fix her. Tony looked up quickly, just in time to see the dome of the water tower fall. He shut his eyes and held onto Melody as tight as he could.

When the water cleared, they realized they were caught up in the framework of the actual tower. Melody's leg was stuck along with Tony's foot. Melody felt that water drenching her as one of the best feelings. It was so cold, but once it passed, she felt the burning all over again. She let out more groans, feeling herself become dry in seconds from all the heat passing through her body.

Tony used one of the spare parts that fell of the framework to try to get his foot loose, but he was interrupted by the voice of the little boy. "Let me go!"

"Help me." Savin imitated with Harley thrown over his shoulder. The two looked to him, feeling hopeless, not knowing what to do next. "Help me." Savin laughed slightly, moving Harley so he was right over Savin's heart. "Anyway," Tony continued trying to get his foot free, knowing he had to do anything to protect Harley. "What would you like for Christmas?" He asked Harley with a sick smile.

"Mr. Stark, Miss. Barnes, I am so sorry." Harley pleaded, still squirming all around to try and get free.

"No," Savin spoke as his eyes began to glow orange. That's when Melody realized what was happening. They had this fiery mass in their body…and now, so did she. "I think what he was trying to say is, 'I want my goddamn file'."

"It's not your fault, kid." Tony spoke while shaking his head, becoming even more worried at the sight of Savin's hand glowing orange right on Harley's chest. "Remember what Mel told you about bullies?"

Melody gave him a hopeful look, knowing that if she couldn't make it out of this town alive, she needed Harley to. His eyes grew wide, the realization hitting him instantly. Melody nodded her head at him and with a smile on his face, he blew the harmless missile off in his face.

Savin fell back while dropping Harley, giving him a chance to run off as far as he could from all of this. "You like that, West World?!" Tony yelled once Harley got free. "That's the thing about smart guys." Tony spoke once Savin stood up. "We always cover our ass." He quickly pulled a thruster out of his sleeve, aiming it right at Savin, sending a blast at him, knocking him down.

Tony studied him, realizing he wasn't moving and he realized that with these guys, you couldn't tell if they were dead or knocked out. Tony and Melody weren't going to stay long enough to find out. Tony quickly got his foot out free and then got Melody's leg out, but she was still moaning.

He began to walk off with her in his arms, but stopped once simple movement was hurting her. "It burns!" She yelled as he slowly and carefully placed her down on the snow, hoping it would help. She looked to Tony, giving the most pained face he had ever seen from her. "Tony." She moaned.

"I know, baby." He whispered as he unzipped her jacket, guessing just like she had what she was going on. He pulled her sleeves all the way up, seeing the orange travel up through her veins and all the way inside her shirt. She let out an even bigger scream than before, bringing pain to Tony's entire heart, worried that this…thing going up to her heart would actually kill her. "No!" He screamed as her scream went on. She was in pain and he couldn't fix it. "I don't know what to do!" He finally yelled out panicked.

That's when it all stopped. Her screams. Her pain. All of it was just gone. Tony and Melody sat there for a moment, just looking at each other, not knowing what to do. "What the hell was that?" Melody asked as slowly as possible.

Tony looked to her, not sure what to tell her at all. "I thought…that thing…"

"Yeah." Melody spoke with a shrug, knowing Tony couldn't put this into words. "So did I, but it just stopped."

Tony moved forward, about to touch her arm, but she jerked it back. "I'll burn you!"

"Just," He spoke in a calming voice, but she still gave him a look of doubt. "Let me try this out." She looked down at her arm, letting out deep worried breaths. "Think about it as best as you can."

"Trust me," Melody scoffed out. "I'll never forget that pain."

Tony moved forward as Melody stayed focused on her arm and the pain she had felt, but when Tony touched her arm, nothing happened. Melody looked up at him, confusion all over her face, not even feeling an ounce of it left. She thought she would feel stronger or weaker or something, but she didn't feel different at all. Tony touched her arm again, this time for longer, but still, nothing happened.

"This is bizarre." Melody spoke while shaking her head rapidly, not knowing what to think about any of this.

"Agreed." Tony spoke as he continued looking at her. "But I came close to something like this once."

Melody looked up at him eagerly. "So do I still have it in me?"

"I don't…" Tony took a deep sigh, knowing there was no way he could get an answer for that question until he got her in a lab. "Know."

Melody looked up at him with wide eyes. "Well, if my immune system can fight off something that is designed to make you into a fiery demon, I think I'm like the freaking Virgin Mary or something." Tony pulled his mouth to the side, knowing she was the exact opposite of the Virgin Mary, but she did have a point. Something was going on in her body.

And it was something incredible. Melody looked down, shaking her head slightly, not knowing what to do in this moment. "Tony," She practically whispered out. "What if I become like one of them?"

He looked her up and down, knowing she was just as scared as he was if something was happening to her. "Hey," He spoke, picking her chin up to look him in the eye. "Remember what I said? I'm not going to let anything happen to you and I'm not gonna leave you. Not again." Melody nodded as Tony pulled her in for a hug. He rubbed her back in small circles, trying his best to comfort her. "We're gonna figure this out. I promise you." And Melody didn't think there was a truer promise Tony had ever made.


Tony and Melody began to hurry back to the town car that Savin had walked out of with the file in Melody's hands. They thought it was the least he could do since he tried to kill them. Especially since they had to play rock, paper, scissors to find out who was going to take the keys off his body. "You're welcome." They suddenly heard a few feet away from them.

They both turned over to look at Harley walking over to them with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. "For what?" Tony asked, half turning to him. "Did I miss something?"

"Me," Harley spoke excitedly while he hit Tony's arm, causing a smile on Melody's face. "Saving your life."

"A:" Tony spoke while putting his finger up. "Saved you first." Melody rolled her eyes at him, but continued to walk ahead with the smile on her face. "B: Thanks, sort of." He reached out for the file, wanting to begin looking through just like Melody had been doing. "And C: if you do someone a solid, don't be a yutz, alright? Just play it cool. Otherwise, you'll come off as a grandiose."

Melody moved to the passenger's side of the car while Tony moved to the driver's side, Harley still following excitedly. "Unlike you?" They both stopped as Tony opened the car door. He looked over to Melody, causing her to give a shrug before he looked back over at Harley. "Admit it," They both looked back to him, Melody's smile simply getting wider. She would kind of miss him. "You need me. We're connected."

Melody stifled a laugh as Tony moved forward, putting his baseball cap on Harley's head. "What I need is for you to go home, be with your mom, keep your trap shut, guard the suit and stay connected to the telephone because if one of us calls, you better pick up." He then looked up dramatically as Melody rolled her eyes before getting in the car. "Can you feel that?" He clapped his hand on Harley's shoulder, looking him right in the eye. "We're done here." He looked to where Harley was standing with sigh. "Move out of the way or I'll run you over. Bye kid."

He hopped in the car, leaving Harley just standing there. Melody's arms were crossed once Tony got inside. When he looked at her death glare, he knew what he had to do. He turned on the car and then slowly rolled down the window. He let out a half smile at the sight of Harley still standing there despite what Tony had just told him. He would kind of miss him too. "I'm sorry, kid. You did good."

"So now you're just gonna leave me here…like my dad?"

Melody's mouth dropped open, knowing exactly what this kid was doing. Tony put on his best thinking face before nodding. "Yeah. Wait, you're guilt tripping me, aren't you?"

He pulled his blanket in closer, giving his best puppy dog face. "I'm cold."

"I can tell." Tony spoke with a pout as he put the car into gear. "You want to know how I can tell. Because we're connected." With that, Tony sped off, leaving Harley still standing there. Melody let out a laugh as Tony continued to shake his head. "Why did we have to get help from a kid? I hate kids."

"He was probably the smartest person we had come across in that town…" She let Tony think it over, leaving him to shrug in agreement. "And you do not hate kids."

"But I do." He argued right back.

"You didn't hate me." She spoke while crossing her arms.

"That's different. You're you." She shook her head at him. "You're my daughter." He spoke suddenly, causing her to look over at him with wide eyes. She knew Tony felt about her that way, but he had never actually said it. He had never actually called her his daughter before. He wanted to avoid that term as much as possible since she already had a father, but she was so much more than a niece to him. He raised her. And she was his. No matter what the bloodwork said. "And I love you."

Aw! I wanted to end you guys on a sweet note to a long chapter. What do you think about this whole Extremis thing happening with Melody? Hope you enjoyed! See ya next time!