On her way to Malibu, Ana decided to check the Stark Secure Server to see if her dad had any messages for them. He must have reached Tennessee by now.

Indeed, he had left a message. "Pepper, Ana, it's me… I've got a lot of apologies to make, and not a lot of time, so first off. I'm sorry I put you girls in harm's way. That was selfish, and stupid, and it won't happen again. Also, it's Christmas time. The rabbit's too big. Done. Sorry. And I'm sorry in advance because… I can't come home. I need to find this guy. You gotta stay safe. Take care of each other. That's all. I just stole a poncho from a wooden Indian."

If only he had given Ana a hint about what he wanted her to do with her suit. Yeah, he wanted her to protect Pepper, but he needed protection, too. According to the Mandarin database JARVIS had sent her, he was there to investigate what was supposed to be a suicide bombing, but if someone recognized him…

When she arrived, she found Pepper standing on the edge of the cliff, holding an Iron Man helmet in her hands. She smiled when she saw Ana. "I found something in this," she whispered.

"I know. I got it, too."

"So, we're… good, right?"

"Of course."

They hugged each other. Ana used this opportunity to plant a bug on her. She didn't notice it.

"I loved this place," Ana huffed.

Pepper gave her shoulders a gentle, affectionate squeeze. "I know, honey. But we can't stay here. Come on, let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know. To a hotel, maybe?"

"With Hansen?"

"Ana, please…"

"You go ahead, then. I'll catch up."

"You heard Tony. We should stick together. It's still dangerous out there."

"I don't want to hang out with one of Dad's exes. It's weird."

"Yeah, tell me about it," she smiled a tense smile at Hansen, who was now approaching them.

"You must be Ana Stark," she said.

"And you must be Maya Hansen."

"I'm so sorry about what happened." Hansen rubbed Ana's upper arm, trying to imitate Pepper's affection, at least until Ana pulled herself back. She didn't like being touched by strangers.

"Thanks," she said coldly, and turned to kiss Pepper's cheek. "I'll see you later."

Ana returned to her car and drove away from the what had remained of the Malibu Mansion. Seeing the destruction with her own eyes had made it even worse. But she couldn't start mourning for her lost childhood. Not until everyone was safe.

…

I should have packed a scalpel, she thought, as she cut her left upper arm open with a pocket knife. She had been right to be suspicious of Maya.

"Miss, I recommend mild electrocution," JARVIS said. "It would be less painful than this."

"I don't want to kill the tracker, J. I want you to hijack the signal. Make it look like I'm going to Las Vegas. Or, San Francisco, I don't know."

Finally, she saw the device. With a pair of tweezers, she pulled it out. Now it was time to clean and stitch the wound.

"I did as you asked," JARVIS reported. "Whoever is monitoring this signal, will think you're going to San Francisco as we speak."

"Great. How is Dad?"

"I have no updates. The suit is offline."

"So, he's on his own, then…"

"May I ask what your actual plan is?"

Why did JARVIS keep asking this question? If she needed him to do something, she would let him know. He was supposed to know that.

"Wait until Pepper's alone, call her and tell her about the tracker. If that's not enough to convince her to get the hell away from Maya, I don't know what is."

She was also listening in on Pepper and Maya's conversation in the meantime. They were on their way to the hotel, and Hansen was telling Pepper about her research, Extremis, funded by Aldrich Killian. According to Maya, his boss was working for the Mandarin.

But if Maya wanted redemption for herself, why would she plant a tracker on Ana? Ana didn't believe a single word that came out of that bitch's mouth. This whole thing was a trap.

She was almost done stitching the wound when she heard the footsteps. Naturally, she snatched the gun on the dash, and prepared to start the car. The doors were already locked. Someone tapped on the glass. "Hello, Ana."

You gotta be kidding me…

The woman who was smiling at her was no one other than Natasha Romanoff. Still, using the X-ray scanners on her tablet, she scanned the woman's face to make sure it was really her. If AIM had been dabbling with nanotech, it wouldn't be a stretch to say they had nanomasks at their disposal to feign identities. But this one was really the Black Widow herself. Fury must have sent her. Ana unlocked the door and let her into the car.

"How did you find me?" She was on a hill overlooking a private beach. The area was quite secluded, away from the main road.

"It's what I do… What happened to your arm?"

"I had to remove a tracker. Damn, isn't that the oldest trick in the spy book?"

"Who put it on you?"

"Maya Hansen."

She seemed familiar with the name.

"The joke's on her," Ana continued, tapping on the wireless headphone in her ear. "I have my own tracker on Pepper."

"Impressive." It wasn't clear if she was serious, or just messing with her.

"Thanks," Ana said dryly.

"What about Tony?"

"I don't know where he is," she lied, even though she knew Romanoff wasn't going to buy it.

At least she pretended like she had. "We can't stay here. And you should ditch the car."

She had a point. The Lamborghini wasn't exactly helping her keep a low profile. "Do you have a ride?"

"A van. Come on, let's go save your mom."

"Pepper's not my mom." The idea of calling Pepper "mom" made her uneasy. Not that Ana didn't wish Pepper were her actual mom, but it just felt like it might be asking for too much. Not everybody wanted to be a parent.

Romanoff smiled, but didn't say anything.

…

"Why did Fury send you?"

"You're a valuable asset."

At least she hadn't denied the fact that it was Fury who had sent her. "Does he still think I'll work for him one day?"

"He's not such a terrible boss, you know. I've had worse."

Ana knew Romanoff had a dark past, with that Black Widow academy in Russia and all. Everybody did. Truth to be told, Ana didn't dig too much into it. Deep down, she feared she might start feeling sympathy for her if she did. Perhaps Romanoff knew that, too, and was using it against her.

"Just to be clear, I only accepted your help because Pepper's life is at stake."

"Relax… I'm not playing any mind games with you."

"Hold on!" Ana cried upon hearing something on the earphone, and put the sound on the tablet's speaker so that Romanoff, too, could hear whatever was happening.

Pepper and Maya were in a hotel room now, the latter pretending like she regretted the choices she had made. She hadn't left Pepper alone for even a moment, so Ana hadn't been able to call her. Now, they had been interrupted by room service. Pepper had gone to answer the door, but then something must have happened, because Pepper had screamed in horror.

"MAYA, RUN!"

"Hi, Pepper," a man said.

"So, you want to tell me why you were at Stark's mansion last night?" the man asked.

"I'm trying to fix this thing. I didn't know you and the Master were going to blow the place up!"

"Oh, I see, so you were trying to save Stark… when he threatened us."

"I told you, Killian, we can use him."

"Pepper, Pepper, Pepper…" Pepper sounded like she was fighting back, but Killian was merely annoyed by her efforts.

"Look, if you want to launch product next year, I need Stark. He just lacked a decent incentive, now he has one."

You assholes…

"Where's the girl?" Killian asked.

"Who?"

"Stark's daughter."

"In San Francisco."

"What's in San Francisco?"

"I don't know. She came to see her after the attack, barely looked at me. She didn't want to come with us. But I managed to put the tracker on her."

"Is that true, Pepper?"

"Go to hell!"

"Come on, Pepper… That girl is nothing to you."

"'That girl' is my daughter. And I'll never help you find her."

Daughter. Pepper had called her daughter. "You can't possibly be that naive. Do you know what I think? I think if Tony had to make a choice between you and her, he'd choose her. So, why do you care?"

"I don't know what she's up to. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Don't waste your breath."

No one spoke after that. The noises gave Ana the impression that they took Pepper to a vehicle. Her signal was moving fast, which meant that she was being transported.

Romanoff accelerated the van. "We can catch up with them!"

No, we can't. Not in time.

"I have a suit," Ana blurted out. The surest way to get Pepper back was to use the suit.

"What?" There were very few things that could surprise a seasoned spy like her, Ana thought. This was apparently one of them.

"I have a suit. I can use it."

"I thought you were—"

"Afraid of heights? Yeah. That's the thing. I don't have to put it on. Pull into an alley, somewhere out of sight…"

To her surprise, Romanoff did so. She believed Ana could pull this off, then. Funny, because even Ana didn't believe in herself. She was scared of failure. Of making things worse. Of responsibility. Life was easier when her dad and Pepper made all the difficult calls. It was easier just to sit back and criticize them. She really was the worst. No wonder she didn't have any friends.

But she had promised herself that she would never feel this helpless again. And Pepper considered her a daughter… This wasn't even a choice.

Also, there was the fact that Killian had sounded just a tad concerned while asking about Ana. Perhaps he was right to be worried. Perhaps Ana was a force to be reckoned with, after all. There was something flattering about being seen as a threat by the bad guy.

"JARVIS?"

"The suit is ready to be sent after Ms. Potts."

"Good. You initiate the take-off, while I prepare the headset. Maintain the cloaking mode."

"As you wish, miss."

"Your suit has a cloaking mode?" Romanoff asked, intrigued.

"Yeah. Go ahead, tell Fury."

"Can I see what you're doing?"

"The last thing I need right now is audience."

"Ana, come on. Don't be so damn stubborn. Have you ever done anything like this before?"

"No," she admitted.

"Then let me help. You said it yourself. Pepper's life is at stake."

"Fine…" Ana put on the headset, and projected the HUD onto the tablet, so that Romanoff could watch, too. "Okay… JARVIS, how much time do I have before we reach Pepper?"

"Five minutes."

"I got five minutes to get used to this thing. Awesome… Let me take over."

"All yours."

JARVIS switched off the auto-pilot. Now, Ana was fully in control of the suit. It was just like an extremely realistic video game. Except, she didn't remember when was the last time she had played a video game. She sucked at gaming anyway. Slow reflexes. Even after all that self-defense training with her dad, Rhodey, and Happy, she hadn't improved much.

"Miss Stark?"

"Yes, JARVIS?"

"You can do this. I'll be with you at every step."

"Thanks." Knowing that JARVIS was with her helped. Being a program, he was a lot less likely to make mistakes.

"JARVIS seems quite fond of you," Romanoff said.

Ana chuckled. "The feeling is mutual. Computers are good company."

"Unlike humans?"

"Please, I can't be distracted right now."

"Okay, okay…"

"Miss, we're closing in."

Indeed they were. Ana focused on the car ahead. She could see Pepper. She was lying unconscious in the backseat. She was the only one in the car, other than the driver. Killian and Maya were nowhere to be seen. It didn't matter. The mission was to save Pepper. She was going to grab Pepper and leave. With JARVIS help, she aligned the suit with the trunk and landed on it, caving a visible dent, although the armor itself was still invisible. A second later, people were shooting at her. Damn. It appeared the car behind this one belonged to Killian's goons as well. And the driver was trying to shake her off. The car was wildly swaying from one side to the other, but JARVIS had taken care of that already, by latching the boots to the surface. She wasn't going anywhere until she wanted to.

"Disengage the stealth mode!" She didn't want the idiots to accidentally shoot Pepper, who, unlike Ana, was actually there and exposed to the bullets.

"Disengaged."

She thought of breaking the glass first, but that could injure Pepper. There wasn't much time to think. She ripped the roof off—it was as easy as tearing off a piece of paper—and threw it at the second car. The shooting stopped immediately. She scooped Pepper into her arms, and flew away.

Pepper's eyes were half-open now. Her hands were tied, but they were going to have to wait. "Tony," she mumbled, looking at the suit's faceplate.

"Wrong Stark. Guess again."

Her eyes widened. "Ana? What the hell?"

Ana let the helmet pop open to show her she wasn't really there.

"Since when you have your own suit?"

"Trust me, I didn't know until a few hours ago either."

Her eyes closed again. Killian must have sedated her quite heavily. But it didn't matter anymore. She was saved. Ana hadn't screwed it up.

…

Romanoff had a safe house in LA. They went there, and JARVIS brought Pepper. They met at the rooftop of the building. Pepper was still a bit disoriented by the time the suit put her down, but at least she could stand on her feet. She looked at Romanoff, then the dark blue suit with bronze highlights—Ana was glad that her dad remembered the joke—and finally, Ana.

"I should've listened to you," was the first thing she said. "You tried to warn me."

As soon as Ana cut the zip ties off, they hugged each other. "It's okay. Your mistake was to assume Maya was a decent human being like yourself."

Pepper pressed Ana's head against her chest, sighing in relief. "I get it now. Tony trusts you for a reason. You're good at… this. At seeing through things."

"That's because I'm not a decent human being myself."

"Ana! Don't say such things."

It was the truth. The fact that even Pepper was hesitant to let her know that she loved her like a daughter after all these years alone spoke volumes about what a cold-hearted, stoical bitch Ana Stark was.

"Speaking of, I know where Dad is," she said apologetically, knowing this was exactly the kind of thing had been bothering Pepper. "But I can't tell you. Now that you're safe, I have to go to him."

Pepper released her to be able to look her in the eye. "Are you sure?"

"What choice do I have, Pepper? He's out there, all alone, with one crappy dead suit. I'm the only backup he has."

"Just tell SHIELD what he is up to."

"I don't trust SHIELD either. But I trust Romanoff to protect you."

"Be careful, okay? I can't lose you. I can't lose either of you."

"You won't lose anybody. I'll bring him home, I promise."

"This is not one of your better ideas. You'll be in a suit, but you'll be totally defenseless while sedated," Romanoff reminded.

Ana turned to her. "The Mandarin is known to have hijacked airways before, which means I can't take a private jet unless I want it to be shot down from the sky. I can't fly commercial either. That would only put the other passengers at risk."

The redhead smiled meaningfully. "You have it in you, you know. No matter what you say."

She didn't ask what "it" was. She had a lot of things in her. Not all of them were good. "I'll handle things myself from here," she said instead. "You can go. Keep Pepper safe."

Pepper was still reluctant, but she left with Romanoff nevertheless. Ana waited until she was alone on the roof to don her not-so-secret-anymore suit. This was a moment she wanted to experience in private. This particular suit was more than just a suit. It was a token of her father's faith in her. The best part was, it was exactly a suit Ana would design herself. Invisible, quiet, light, and yet deadly. Sometimes people said the Starks shared a brain. Perhaps they were right.

JARVIS popped the suit open. "Are you ready, Miss Stark?"

"No. But, hey, I'm the girl who wants to go to the future to see if aliens will invade the planet. What's flying unconscious from LA to Tennessee, right?"

"I promise you'll have no recollection of this experience. By the time you're awake, you'll be on the ground."

"I don't care what Romanoff says. I trust you, JARVIS. Where exactly is Dad right now?"

"He's left Mark XLII at the Keener Residence, but he has a new phone now. I'm going to track its GPS to take you to him."

Just like boarding a plane, only much smaller, she thought, stepping into the suit. It closed around her. At least I don't have claustrophobia. That would be a lot harder to work around…

The last thing she felt before drifting off was the sting of the injectors.