Guest Review Responses

Paula: Omfg what the what ? Interesting chapter but dang it's been weeks you own us another one soon love ,hope all is better and everyone's well xx – I SURE DO! Hope this one makes up for it :D

Chapter 21

No sooner than the initial shock wore off, Tony slammed his left fist against his chest, prompting the suit to cover every inch of him, much to the curiosity and astonishment of the spectators nearby. No one had seen or heard any indication of an ongoing altercation lead by the armored heroes, let alone of Rescue, so her sudden impairment made no sense to any them; least of all to the redhead's worried-sick boyfriend.

"Somerset," Iron Man said in his disguised voice, his HUD predicting for him the detrimental traffic conditions the ambulance would face en route.

"We'll be there," Rhodey replied in an equally somber tone, knowing exactly what the inventor was about to do. He then grabbed Samantha's wrist and pulled her with him towards the sidewalk as swiftly as possible to get out of Tony's way.

Before the brunette was given the opportunity to ask or say anything about what was happening, she watched in amazement as Tony Stark – Iron Man – flew towards the direction of the ambulance that was yet to make much headway; it was just a block away. He picked it up by taking a firm grasp of the roof, and then effortlessly flew it out of the traffic jam it had been stuck in. Somerset Memorial was the closest hospital to the Tomorrow Academy. Yet, it would not matter if it were just a block down the street if traffic kept the emergency vehicle from moving at all.

Reading about Iron Man, or watching clips of his heroic antics on television, was one thing. Seeing him in action was a completely different animal in and of itself. She would not admit it aloud, but Tony's reaction of just now had scared her. Literally scared her. The look on his face before the armor had covered his entire being had been one of utmost determination, profound concern, and poorly contained rage. Even though the fire in his eyes had not been aimed directly at her, she had felt the unsettling ripple effects of an upset Iron Man.

He's doing this for Pepper, Samantha gnawed her bottom lip, not at all fighting or complaining about Rhodey's tight and forced grip on hers on the way to the bus stop. He's doing this because something bad happened to her!

To her. Something awful had come to pass to her sister. Her sister's lifewas in peril. And she had not even reacted to it all – or at least not in the way she knew she should have.

Pepper, the young woman's body began to tremble; the situation at hand replaying in her head and finally dawning on her. Oh, my gosh! Pepper!

What the heck had just happened to her?

She had appeared to be fine this morning, and all throughout the day. She and Tony had been texting back and forth for the past ten minutes, while they had all waited for her arrival. It just did not make any sense that the ginger would suddenly lose consciousness. It made no sense at all that she would just suddenly drop dead.

No, Samantha closed her eyes and shook her head. She's not dead. She's not dead!

Then again, not breathing was typically a preceding step towards death.

"Come on!" Rhodey jerked the brunette inside the bus, with him practically throwing the tokens at the driver to pay both their fares.

"Rhodey," she locked eyes with the young man sitting next to her, fear finally taking hold of her.

"She's gonna be OK," Rhodey replied, though he was not sure who he was trying to convince: himself, the brunette, or both.

"Yeah," she hung her head and stared at her lap, and then felt Rhodey's arm surround her shoulders before he spoke once again.

"She's gonna be alright. She always is."

Not sure what else to say, the younger Potts sister just nodded along.

xxxXXXxxx

He deposited the ambulance by the entrance of the hospital. He then returned his feet to the ground and retracted his armor. A few nurses and a doctor were already waiting for them by the entrance to the emergency room area, as were a couple of security guards. Tony knew that the guards were there to try to stop him from following the staff to wherever they took Pepper to care for her, but he already knew that everyone there had another thing coming if they expected him to just be quiet and wait outside.

"Female, Caucasian, late teens, was found unresponsive by a hall monitor on the floor at school."

"She's eighteen," Tony clarified, walking just a couple of paces behind the medical party.

"Any signs of trauma?" one doctor asked while a nurse began preparing Pepper's arm for an IV line.

"None. Witnesses said she just fell without warning," one paramedic replied.

"She was fine this morning," Tony interjected, but his words appeared to be interesting to no one.

"Known medical conditions?"

"None!" Tony exclaimed; yet, once again, no one seemed to be paying attention to him.

"Any illegal substances? Possible overdose?"

"Are you kidding me? She doesn't do drugs!" Tony snarled.

"Pupils are not dilated," the second paramedic said.

"Because she doesn't do drugs!" Tony snarled.

"Is she taking any medication?" this time, the doctor directed his question at the inventor himself.

"No. I don't think she is. No."

"Any known allergies?"

"Wasp stings and strawberries. Especially strawberries."

"What's the reaction? Do you know?"

"A skin rash. Sometimes hives," Tony replied. "But she wouldn't eat them. She knows they're bad for her."

"Where were you when she collapsed?"

"Outside. I was waiting for her to go home."

"Her place?"

"No. Mine."

"Your home?"

"Yes. It's Friday. It's what we do."

"You live with your father?"

"No," Tony shook his head. "I live alone."

After the inventor's response, everyone suddenly stopped their trek and narrowed their eyes at him.

"What?" Tony's head recoiled.

Instead of replying, the doctor and the guards exchanged a knowing look, which was then followed by Tony's hands being cuffed behind his back.

"Hey! HEY! What the…! What's going on?!"

"Call the police," the doctor ordered one of the guards before he faced a nurse. "And test our patient for possible predator drugs and signs of any recent sexual assault."

"WHAT? Drugs? Assault? Are you f– She's NOT breathing! Don't you see that? Would you just help her, please!"

"Keep him away from her," the doctor said sternly before he half-turned and then disappeared with everyone else behind the double doors that led to the back of the ER.

Tony screamed as he was being pulled away by the guards. He kicked, cursed and thrashed, but not even Extremis was able to give him the necessary strength to set himself free from the restrains that had been placed on him.

"I didn't hurt her! You have it all wrong! I would never hurt her! Let me go! Let me go see her!"

"Yeah, right. You just wanna cover up any sign that you slipped her something," one of the guards said before he reached for his radio. "This is Williams. Please call NYPD. We have a possible sexual assaulter on premise."

"Cover up… Slipped her… Are you crazy? I didn't… She… Let me GO!"

"In your dreams, rich boy," the second guard shoved Tony's face against a wall before he whispered his next words.

"No sign of trauma, allergies she knows to avoid, you waiting for her, ready to take her home right when she collapses, it's all pointing one direction. You drugged your girlfriend. So much for being a hero, huh?"

xxxXXXxxx

The only reason why he had not used Extremis or his armor to get himself out of the precarious situation he was in was because he did not want to make matters worse. He had not even called his father or Roberta to ask for help, mostly because he knew that he had done nothing wrong. He just had to wait for a little while longer while the last tests run on Pepper came back. As soon as he hacked into the laboratory database for her results and he found out what had actually happened to her – and he confirmed that she was alright – he would bring hell to everyone who had kept him from seeing her.

How could anyone think that he had tried to take advantage of her? How could anyone possibly imagine that he would hurt her?

Whatever had led the doctors and the guards to think they had caught him red-handed were nothing but idiots. They had made a massive leap over the canyon of logic to arrive at the conclusion that he was to blame for this. They were probably hoping to come across as heroes for having exposed a scandal that tarnished the image of a beloved hero. And he knew exactly what to do with people like them.

He lifted his gaze from the floor to stare at the door when it suddenly opened, and he narrowed his eyes at the two cops that had been holding him against his will in one of the small waiting rooms at the hospital, able to do so on the grounds that he was not under arrest for now, merely being detained for the time being. They had already questioned him, and had even played Good Cop/Bad Cop with him; but he never changed his tune. He had no reason to do so. He knew that he was not responsible for whatever had made Pepper stop breathing, hours ago. He had no idea what they were coming in here for yet again. He had nothing left to say to either of them.

"Here he is," one of the two officers said to a third person that came inside the room after them: Virgil Potts.

"Mr. Potts," Tony was on his feet in no time, noticeably surprised to see the man standing there. "Mr. Potts, I swear you to you, I'd never–"

Virgil stopped Tony's words by lifting his right palm towards him. He then took out his badge and showed it to the two officers in the room, visibly taking them aback.

"You a Fed?" one officer snarled, sounding betrayed. "You said you were the girl's father. You didn't tell us you're a Fed."

"She IS my daughter. You just didn't ask if I was Fed."

"Oh," one officer chuckled. "You want to beat the kid up for what he did to your little girl? Is that what it is? We get ya! We won't get in your way."

"For the last time! I didn't–"

"It's OK, Tony," Virgil began, his eyes on the two officers before him. "Unlock the cuffs."

"What?"

"You heard me," Virgil glared at the cops.

"But he's Iron Man. He's easier to beat if he's cuffed."

"I'm not going to beat him. I'm here to take him with me."

"You're gonna arrest him?"

"No. I'm setting him free."

"No, you ain't. He's our suspect. Not yours."

"Oh, really?" Virgil flared his nostrils. "Where did you find the suspect?"

"Right here."

"And where did he commit the crime?"

"His home, presumably."

"Alright. Tony, where do you live?"

"Jersey, sir," the inventor replied.

"And where were you arrested?"

"Here. New York."

"So, it seems you crossed stated lines, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Tony smirked, finally catching on Virgil's trail of thought. "It appears that I did."

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong," Virgil turned to the officers, "But he didn't commit the alleged crime in your jurisdiction. Which means…"

"You have to let me go."

"No, we don't. We just have to transfer custody of you to Jersey to be arrested."

"But he's not wanted in Jersey. There's no APB or warrant for him."

"And the tests came back clear," Roberta Rhodes said, suddenly appearing by the door in all her attorney glory. "Ms. Potts was not assaulted or drugged. She just had an extreme reaction to known allergens."

"And who gave her the allergens?" one of the cops asked in a mocking tone, his eyes drilling holes in Tony.

"Why don't you find out and call me when you do," Virgil said with a scoff, his hand gesturing for Tony to be unshackled.

"Damn Feds," the second officer mumbled under his breath as he walked towards Tony to reluctantly remove the handcuffs. "All bought and paid for by the rich boy."

"Then you'll hate it when I see you in court," Tony's face was now inches from the officer, a look of disrespect and hate on his features and pose that made even Virgil Potts gulp.

"For what? We ain't done nothing wrong," the first officer spat.

"Roberta?" Tony spared the woman a glance.

"I'm afraid I'll need your names and your badge numbers, and your superior's contact information, too. Right now."

"But–"

"Gentlemen," Virgil began. "Please don't take up much of our family attorney's time."

Unwillingly, the two officers began to comply.

Knowing that the lawyer could handle the rest of the process by herself, Tony and Virgil exited the room. Tony's eyes then immediately looked towards the direction where he knew Pepper was being kept under observation, thanks to him hacking the check-in records of the reception, but he fought the urge to rush towards her just yet.

"Mr. Potts," the genius shook his head and faced the father. "I don't know what it is that you heard about me, but I didn't–"

"I know, Tony," Virgil smiled at the inventor. "I'm sorry I took so long to come get you."

"I don't care. I mean: thank you. Thank you very much. I just… Is she… Is Pepper gonna be alright?"

"Yes, she is. I can bring her home tonight, actually. But, don't take my word for it. Go see her. She's been asking about you."

"Thank you, Mr. Potts."

"Don't mention it. Just one thing, though: please don't tell her you were detained. I told her you were helping me clear things up with the doctors and the school. She's still a little bit weak. I didn't want to upset her. Rhodey and Samantha have been keeping her company since she woke up, an hour ago, but I don't know how much longer they can keep her from asking where you are."

"I won't say a thing to her. I just want to see her."

"Thanks, son."

Tony took a moment to look over Virgil's shoulder to see that Roberta was still talking to the officers, but he did not move. He was caught between wanting to run towards Pepper, and debating whether or not he had more to say to the man that had helped him escape. After nearly a minute of silence between them, Virgil chuckled, patted Tony's left shoulder, and then pointed towards his left side with the top of his head.

"Go, Tony. We're OK here."

He could tell that Tony was dying to go see his daughter, but that he was also torn between his need to be polite to the father of the girl he was dating. However, as soon as he assured the blue-eyed boy that he was free to go do what he was clearly desperate to do, he watched him speed his way towards and inside the hospital room where Pepper waited for him, both men completely unaware that the person responsible for his oldest daughter's mishap was already with her in the room.

A/N: I couldn't leave you, my Faithful Readers, with such a horrible cliffy, especially after you were all so patient with me and totally receptive to the most recent (and super late) update. I hope you enjoyed this little bit!