Tony's pov

"I'm here dad." I hear whispered behind me. Turning in the ruble, I crane my neck to see Claire unconscious in the sand behind me. She was cloaked in blood and her dress was charred at the edges.

Quickly pulling myself from my place in the sand, I move over to her and turn her over. Her eyes were closed, but there was a soft movement on her chest which reassured me. "We made it." I whispered and pulled her up and began stumbling along in the sand with her in my arms.

We made it out...well Yinsen didn't. I wish there was something I could have done... I should have gotten him out. I didn't keep my promise. Damn it, not the time to think of this. I have to get Claire home. We got away from those people, but we are not safe yet.

Suddenly Claire started stirring and as she opened her eyes I smiled down at her. "Hey sweetie. How are you feeling?" she squirmed a little but then registered where she was. "What happened?" I looked down confused.

"What do you mean what happened? We escaped but we have to walk to get out of this place." I mumbled out at the end of my sentence.

She squirmed again so I set her down gently. I watched as she thought about everything and her eyes glazed over for a second as she realized our situation. "Oh... I thought that was a dream." She whispered.

We stood there in silence for a bit before she looked up at me. She's crying?! I quickly pull her to me in a tight hug. No, my baby is crying...I wish Pepper was here, she's better at comfort than me. "So that really happened... Yinsen... Mary... they didn't make it." I looked down at her confused about who Mary was, but didn't ask.

Best not to make this worst. "Yinsen planned it from the beginning Claire. His family had died years ago and now he is with them." I tried to comfort her, but honestly it was hard to think of it myself. Especially with her crying here. "Oh... well at least he is happy." She sniffled and pulled away to wipe her face with her dirty sleeves.

"So the suit worked? I saw your crash landing... smooth work there." She said with a dry chuckle. I just smiled at her attempt to lift the mood. "Thanks, I was going with style, but I guess style was not going with me." She rolled her eyes and stood up. "Come on, we have to get out of this sun." I nodded and stood with her.

She grabbed my hand and began leading me off in the sand. We had walking for what seemed like hours and the sun was going down as we had stayed in silence in our journey. "Claire?" she glanced over to me. "Yeah dad?" I gulped down some air before speaking. "I had the suit...and Yinsen...but how did you get out?" I asked.

I know that asking her this might make her upset, but it's been on my mind. I barely escaped alive. She had nothing...I thought she was killed when that shot rang out which is why Yinsen and I put the plan in action.

But if she was alive and I didn't know to help her...how did she escape? "Um well... I" she began stuttering as her pace stopped. "It's hard to explain and I'd really rather not say right now." She mumbled out tears filling her eyes. I realized what I had done and instantly regretted asking her.

"I'm sorry baby girl. I shouldn't have asked." I said pulling her to me. She sniffled into my chest before pulling back. "How's the arc reactor doing?" I glanced down at the cold light in my chest and sighed. "It's running good." She nodded and pulled back to the hug. "Hey why don't we stop for the night?" she nodded and we sat down under a boulder.

We sat for a while with her in my arms as the night continued on. Suddenly she pulled away eyes wide as she starred into the dark around us. "Is everything alright?" I whispered. She jumped up from the ground and continued starring into the dark. What is going on? "Claire?"

"There's something out there... It's watching us." She whispered. I instantly shot up now alerted by her words. "Where? I can't see anything." I whispered. "There, on the hill. It's coming closer." I tried to see what she was looking at, but the only thing I could see were the stars, her and the closest 5 feet illuminated by my arc reactor.

"I can't see it." I murmured. I slowly walked up behind her and wrapped my arm around her protectively pushing her behind me. "Shh it's... talking." I silenced and strained my ears to hear what she was talking about. That's when I heard it. A low growling sound from before us in the shadows.

"You live here? What do you mean... do you know the way out of this place?" Claire whispered from behind me. I turned to her confused when another growl came from the shadows. "Please, we will leave, but please let us stay just tonight... we have nowhere else to go." Is she talking to the growling?

What is going on?! There was another growl when suddenly from the shadows emerged a large coyote pack of 5 or 6 with what seemed to be the leader in the front. "Yes I understand you, I understand all of you. I'm not sure why or how but I do." Claire stood straighter and moved to be ahead of me.

I tried reaching out to pull her in but she continued walking closer until she was knelt before the coyotes. "If I help him, you will let me and my father stay the night?" the coyote lowered its head and rubbed the ground.

"Okay then, I'm Claire, this is my father Tony... he... he can't understand you guys though." Claire spoke to the coyotes while gently taking ones paw into her hand. "It's hard to see... dad could you come closer... I need your light." My eyes widened as I glanced at the wild animals surrounding my daughter. "It's okay, they won't bite. They promise."

"Right...okay." I said unsurely. I walked forward and knelt beside Claire as she used the light from the arc reactor to see the coyote's paw properly. There sticking out of it was a piece of bloody metal scrap. "Poor thing." Claire murmured. She looked up at the coyote sadly. "I'm sorry but this is going to hurt." She whispered.

The coyote lowered its head and Claire moved her hand to hover over the scrap before quickly pulling it from the paw. The coyote whimpered and cried out but didn't attack like I thought it would. "Are you okay?" Claire asked concern lacing her voice. The coyote limped back over to her and sat with its paw out again surprising me.

"Okay, that should be it. Keep it clean and don't be using it if at all possible. It should heal soon as it's not that big." Claire said finishing her examination of the paw. I starred at her in amazement while she spoke with the wild animals. My daughter can talk with wild life. Okay...