"Please tell me Tony's not doing something embarrassing in there," I said, jerking a thumb to the closed cabin door aboard the speedboat. Rhodey laughed.

"He's not, but I'd still advise you to not go in there. He's got the Air Force One thing covered, though."

I fumed and sat down. "If I'd had my Chrome suit—"

"I know you're frustrated," Rhodey said patiently. "These guys took the Iron Patriot, too. It's a real pain but Tony's more than capable of handling this."

"Thirteen people fell out of a plane," I said skeptically. "He's just one guy. And he said it himself, his neurotransmitter control isn't perfect yet. What if the Mark 42 glitches mid-flight?" Air Force One had been blown to pieces by one of Killian's cronies, concealed within the stolen Iron Patriot, in an attempt to kidnap the president. In the process, everyone else onboard was falling to their deaths—with only one Iron Man to save them.

"He'll find a way," said Rhodey, but he looked worried.

Meanwhile, I kept an eye on Trevor, making sure he didn't fall out of the boat. He seemed less spaced-out now.

Rhodey must've gotten impatient, because the next thing I knew he'd yanked the door open and barked at my uncle. "Give me some good news, man."

"I think they all made it."

"Oh, thank God."

"Yeah, but I missed the President." I stood as the two of them walked onto the deck. Tony looked mentally exhausted.

"You couldn't save the President with the suit, how are we gonna save Pepper with nothing?" Rhodey demanded.

"Uh..." Tony said. "Say, JARVIS, is it that time?"

" The 'house party' protocol, sir?" JARVIS replied.

"Correct."

"What's that?" I said curiously, tugging on the back of Trevor's jacket to prevent him from falling out the side of the boat.

"Step two of the plan," Tony said.

"Okay," I said, shrugging. "I trust you with that, but we still have Trevor to worry about."

Tony grimaced. "Dammit." He leaned in closer to me and whispered "What if you kept an eye on him while we went to rescue Pepper? We could just lock him in the cabin—"

I held up a hand. "No. Absolutely not. I mean, great idea and everything, but that's not humane. Seriously."

We agreed that we didn't have time to drop Trevor off at the authorities AND get to the freighter Pepper was on before Killian put his plan into execution. A few stolen files from the Mandarin database(hacked by yours truly) confirmed Trevor's information. We had located Pepper, but she was still a long ways off.

"I got a simple solution," I said finally. "I can keep an eye on Trevor and still be available to you for backup. But it's gonna sound a little unorthodox."

Tony cocked his head. "Hit me."

"911, what is your emergency?"

"Hi! This is Isabella Stark speaking."

"…Isabella…Stark?"

"Yes. I'm located about 25 nautical miles off the pier, in a little yellow rubber raft."

"A what?"

"A rubber raft," I said, trying to steady the craft as it bobbed up and down on the grey waves. Sitting on the opposite side was Trevor, who was looking seasick. "I'm using a long-range satphone and I have the Mandarin with me."

The voice on the other end of the line went taut. "You have the Mandarin? Is this a hostage situation?"

"Well, yeah—but I'm not the hostage." I looked up at the setting sun. "Hurry, please. He's going to be sick."

Approximately fifteen minutes later, two speedboats arrived, slashing through the grey water like knives. The Coast Guard members aboard were heavily armed, and had a helicopter hovering overhead for backup. Boy, were they going to be disappointed.

I watched Trevor the whole time, never taking my eyes off him as they handcuffed him and got him onto one of the boats.

"I didn't do anything," he said. "I mean, I know some people who did. The kid'll tell ya. Won't you, Iz?"

"He's a fake," I said quickly. "The Mandarin's not real. This guy isn't responsible for anything."

"Miss Stark, please come with us now," one of the guardsmen told me. "We'll clear this up back at base."

"N-no…" I hung back and looked up at the darkening sky. Where is that thing? Tony had told me to wait here for the next step of our plan.

"We can't leave you out here," he said urgently. "Come on. What are you waiting for?"

The dim sky was suddenly lit up by a fast-moving streak of light. It would have been a shooting star if it weren't burning red and gold, and heading straight for me.

"Hold your fire!" I barked as the guardsmen lifted their weapons and Trevor jumped in surprise. I stood, trying to stay steady on the rubber boat as my first baby, my magnum opus, my Iron Girl armor came to a hovering stop in front of my and opened up.

"Here's my ride, gentlemen," I said coolly. "Thank you for everything."

The pieces slid and locked over me, and FRANNIE's voice came on as the HUD flickered into life.

"Welcome back, Miss Stark. You are currently using the Iron Girl MK 2 suit. The House Party Protocol is underway and ready for your remote control."

As I rose into the sky, several more Iron Men—different shapes, sizes, colors—flew past, all heading in a general direction.

"Whoa," I whispered. Tony, guess all those sleepless nights have paid off. I put my thrusters on full power and followed them.

We were really going to kick Killian's ass now.