Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel. Jake is mine, please don't steal him.

Gold. That was all he could see, gold rushing all around him, through him: swirling, throbbing, living gold. He was in the middle of a cascade of flowing gold, carried along faster than he could imagine. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. The only thing that existed was gold.

Tony opened his eyes. He was lying on the ground, looking up at a pure blue sky, with hardly a cloud in sight. He blinked, then sat up and looked around. And blinked again. He was in a kind of field, but it wasn't very flat. He seemed to be on the edge of a hill, but there were ridges and dips, and on one side of him, there was a large dip, that appeared to be some kind of stream bottom. The only trees he could see were there. But what caught him off guard was the cattle. There were cows grazing peacefully all around him, with calves frolicking around or lying down. And he had no idea where he was.

He let out his breath in a large sigh, and rubbed his forehead nervously. This was the last thing he had expected, and he was unprepared for it. No cell phone, no suit, and he hadn't told anyone what he was doing. Thankfully, Jarvis knew. Jarvis! Jarvis would be tracking the box—had it come through to the same place?

Urgently, Tony's eyes darted around. With a sigh of relief, he located the box, but immediately let out a groan as he saw a cow step on it. "No, no! You can't do that to my box!" he protested. "That's mine!" Rushing toward the cow, he waved his arms and was relieved to see the cow slowly amble away. He knelt by the box, avoiding the cactus on the ground, and gingerly examined it. It appeared that the cow had only dented it, and had done no real damage. So hopefully Jarvis would locate the signal soon and send someone to find him.

Just as he had thought that, he heard the sound of an engine from over the crest of the hill. He walked toward the crest, just as an ATV appeared at the top. A young man, no more than 20 years old, was driving the ATV. He was wearing a cowboy hat, and was dressed in a ragged, grease-stained, tan-colored coat and blue jeans. As he caught sight of Tony, his eyes widened in bewilderment. Driving over to Tony, he turned the ATV off, and approached Tony.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "You're an awful long way away from anywhere, I don't see a vehicle anywhere, and you're trespassing on our property. How'd you get out here anyway?"

Tony opened his mouth helplessly. "It's kind of a long story. However, I do not wish to trespass any longer than necessary. If you let me use your phone, I could call my people to come get me."

The young man's eyebrows raised. "Really, hm? Well, you can come with me, but you'll have to wait until I go home to use my phone."

Tony frowned, puzzled. "You don't have your phone with you? What sort of person doesn't take their phone with them when they go somewhere?"

The young man grinned. "I don't know, why don't you tell me?" His grin extended further as Tony's jaw dropped at the comeback. "Anyway, even if you did have a phone, it wouldn't work out here. There's no cell service." He laughed once more at Tony's astonished expression. "I'm Jake. It's nice to meet you…?"

Tony smiled and reached out his hand for a handshake. "I'm Tony. Nice to meet you as well."

Jake shook Tony's hand with a firm grip. "Well, I hope I'll be able to help you get in contact with your friends. You can come with me for now, and then I'll take you back to my home. We've got a landline, and fiber-optic internet, and you can call your friends from there. But first I've got to finish checking on the cows."

Tony nodded. "Okay, that's fine with me. So, uh," he gestured toward the cows, "what do you need to check on? They look fine to me."

Jake shrugged. "Just if they have enough feed, water, that sort of stuff." He motioned toward the ATV. "Well, I really can't stand and talk all day…I've gotta get my work done. You might as well hop on the four-wheeler and come along."

"You mean the ATV?"

"Yeah. But we call 'em four-wheelers." He stepped onto the…four-wheeler… and turned the key. The engine revved with slightly less than a roar. Jake motioned to Tony. "Well, come on, hop on!" he shouted over the noise.

Tony hesitated, then sat down on the back. "Aren't you not supposed to have passengers on these things?" he asked.

Jake laughed. "Yeah, but who cares?"

Tony grinned. He might get to enjoy the company of this Jake. "Well, sounds good to me, just don't kill me. I'd be a little angry if you killed me, and trust me, you don't want to see me angry. And I've got a friend that's worse."

"Okay. Hang on tight!" Jake responded with a laugh, and the ATV leaped into action.

All at once Tony remembered why he didn't let anyone else drive him anywhere. He did not like his life in the hands of anyone other than himself. And here he had let this…this kid… drive him around. But still, what choice did he have, he reasoned. He clutched his fingers harder around the edges of the seat and around his box and willed himself not to fall off the wildly careering vehicle.