BREAK OUT AND LET OUT

Time was starting to run out and they were bottle-necking it to get things done on time. Tony hammered away, bending a piece of metal into shape. He dumped it into the water, letting it cool off before pulling it out. He walked over to Abel's desk and set it down right in front of her while it was still steaming. Abel looked up and saw a mask with two eye holes and three-pieces cut out for the mouth.

She nodded her head. "Let's get started then."

Tony wrapped his knuckles up and tape and got his jacket back on. Abel quickly grabbed the leather gloves and opened them up for him to slip his hands through, wrapped his neck in a brace, and placed a thick metal chest plate over him.

"Can you move?" Abel asked as she adjusted the suit.

"Yeah." Tony clenched his hand.

"Repeat it to me."

"41 steps straight ahead. Then 16 steps. That's from the door, fork right, 33 steps, turn right."

"Okay." Abel then suddenly looked up when the slid on the door was open up.

"Bamlett! Bamlett! Stark!" Someone barked at them from the other side of the door.

"Say something. Say something back to him." Tony quickly urged her.

She casually called back to the person. "Yes?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "That's what you decided to use?"

"You said anything." She countered. "Besides..." She looked to the door and saw her makeshift bomb attached to the door. "It doesn't matter anyway." The words left her mouth as they opened the door, triggering the bomb. Abel quickly looked away from the light and fierce fire, her eardrums rattling and the ground shaking beneath her.

"How'd it work?" Tony asked, unable to turn around to look because of the armor.

Abel looked back to the door...and saw that it was blown away. She stuck out her bottom lip and nodded her head. "Quite well."

"Initialize the power sequence. Sweetheart. Now."

"I know." She dropped the drill and turned to a computer behind her and began to type into it. She looked at the screen and saw a bar. "Progress bar's up." She called back and clicked 'I' then 'Enter'. "We're loading."

"Alright. Get over here and button me up." Tony called back to her.

"Right." She turned back to Tony and continued to screw in the pieces. She looked to the door when the sound of footsteps and people talking reached her ears. "They're coming." Her voice was a slight panic.

"Abel. Hey. Make sure the checkpoints are clear before you follow me out, okay?" Tony told her, but the voices caught Abel's attention.

Abel bit down on her lip and looked back to the progress bar was only half up. Abel stopped what she was doing suddenly and gave a sigh and looked towards the door, then back at Tony. "We don't have the time... I'll go buy you some." Her voice caught him off guard. It was that softness again. Like she was a completely different person. A voice that doesn't fit in a situation. A voice that is just so calm and comfortable.

"Abel! Hey! Stick to the plan!" Tony tried to call to her as she walked by him and out the door. "Abel!"

Abel walked passed the blown-up doors and down the tunnels. She was forced to stop though when she was faced down with armed men pointing their guns at her.

She just stood there with a calm look on her face that wasn't afraid at all. "I can't let you go any further." She claimed. Slowly, Abel took off her old coat and dropped it to the ground. She lifted her hands and cracked her knuckles. "I am so sorry about this."

The tunnels echoed out with chilling and desperate screams with gunshots, loud cracking and booming sounds that made the walls shake.

Abel grabbed the walls and made her way down them. She limped as her dressed started to stain from the blood dripping down her body. She grabbed the wall with her bleeding hands and pushed her way around the corner and was met with the barrel of many guns and the leader stand in front of her.

The leader looked at the state she was in and held her strange and calm gaze. "What are you?" He couldn't help to notice that his voice shook.

Abel only gave a weak smile and leaned her hand against the cold wall. "Something you can never hope to imagine."

The guards made it to the room at last and slowly walked in with a great deal of caution, for they didn't know where Tony was. They stiffened when sounds were heard in the dark room. A man turned his head when he saw a glowing light and was suddenly shoved across the room in seconds. The guards opened fire into the room with no sight of what they were hitting or if they were hitting anything at all. Once they stopped firing, one of them looked back at the other but was greeted when a giant suit of armor that came out of nowhere and shoved the guards of the way. The last one fired at the armor, but the bullets didn't even pierce the metal. Tony made his way in the heavy suit of armor as the bullets rained down upon him with no effect. One by one the guards fell to the strength of the suit.

They fled from the room and tried to lock the door behind Tony, but the door suddenly started to get pounded on from the suit of armor on the other side. The door slowly started to cave in as he smashed against the metal, again and again, shaking the whole thing before it burst open, knocking down a guard in the process as the rest ran away from the armor. Tony came around the side and knocked out another terrorist, but got his hand stuck in the wall by accident. He yanked at it a few times but it didn't come out. One terrorist, in particular, came up to Tony and shot at the helmet, but it bounced off and hit him. Tony looked down for a second before finally yanking his arm out of the wall.

Tony continued on down the dark and moldy tunnels where there was very little light. He stomped around the corner and saw Abel sprawled against the wall with her body covered in bullet wounds and blood. He felt his heart stop stone cold in his chest as he looked upon the pale sight. "Abel!" He called to her in terror.

Her weak eyes widen in panic and she quickly pointed ahead of herself. "Tony, no!"

The leader stood at the entrance of the cave and blasted a grenade launcher at him. Tony quickly moved his body out of the way as the graduate to fly right past him. Tony opened one of the compartments in his arm and launched a small missile at him, it missed him by an inch but hit the wall. The rocks broke off from the ceiling and slammed into the man and knocked him out.

Abel held her chest and breathed weakly. He looked up to Tony as he lifts his helmet up. "Tony..." She said mumbled.

"Abel. Come on sweetheart, we got to go. We got a plan. We're gonna stick to it." Tony said, looking down at her. Abel's body didn't look like it would move at all. She had a shot in her arm, two in her right leg, and one in her side.

Abel was only capable of laughing weakly with an even weaker smile that he just loved to see. "Don't worry about me, Tony. You need to get out of here more than anyone else. More than me..."

"Don't-" Tony shouted, stopping himself to catch his breath. "Don't say that. Don't you dare. I'm not leaving without you."

Abel's breathing became worn but she smiled strongly like always to him. "You will leave without me. I'm telling you too, and besides...I won't die so easily." She laughed weakly.

Tony shook his head. "No. What about your family. Your sisters." Tony was the left frozen as Abel lifted her cold hand to the side of his face. A touch that wasn't shaking and was so gentle. "Abel?"

Her eyes were warm and strong."It really really does please me to have been able to work with the great Tony Stark, but...will you do me a favor, Tony. Will you continue...to be great?" her hand dropped back to her side.

Tony bit his lip, reluctantly nodding his head. "Of course. Abel...Thank you for saving me."

Abel tilted her head, directly into his eyes. "You are welcome." She then looked to the exit where she saw the light that has been void from her life for months now. "I already told you...I will be just fine. I always am. Now go. You only have one chance."

Tony reached down and grabbed Abel by her hand and squeezed it through his leather gloves tightly, like an attempt to feel her warmth one last time before looking to the exit.

The guards waited outside the cave with their guns up and ready. Hearts raced as the loud footsteps got louder and louder, until he was finally seen, dressed in iron. A rain of fire was finally taken place. They emptied their magazines but the armor was still standing.

"My turn."

Flames came spewing out from the suit and across the camp. He set all their stolen Stark weapons and the guards ablaze. Determined to leave nothing left.

He made his way down the road, but he was suddenly hit by one of their powerful weapons that caused him to fall to his knees. The bullets never stopped, but the explosions from the arsenal started to go off because of his fire assault. Tony managed to get back to his feet and flip a switch on his arm reversing all the remaining power at his legs. Fire burst from his legs and shot up into the sky as quickly as he can right before the whole camp blew up. The power finally ran out in mid-air and be started to plummet to the ground, straight into the sand while the armor broke apart, but he was still alive.

Tony yanked the metal off his right arm and yanked the helmet off his head, finally meeting with the blinding sun, exhausted. "Not bad, Abel." Seeing that whole last bit was her idea, an idea that saved his life.

The sun was hot on his face despite it being covered by his jacket. He ventured through the sand without an end in sight, but only the sound of the helicopters above him.

"Hey!" He shouted at them, waving his hand up in the air to get their attention. He laughed and fell to his knees with his hand still up.

The military copter finally landed a few yards away from Tony as soldiers ran out to him, one of them being a good friend, James Rhodes

"How was the 'fun-wee'?" He mocked him with a grin on his face. He patted Tony on his shoulder. "Next time, you ride with me, okay?"