Chapter 5: Chapter Five

Tony's suit slid over him mid stride just a half minute out from the library, the red and gold sparking some excited screams from bystanders. He didn't give them a chance to pull cameras before taking off, back propulsors opening up and blasting him off in a blur. He blinked a few times in the suit, shaking off the g's as the specialized suits internal calibration started compensating for, adjusting the experienced inertia with internal force fields. As much as Stark did his best training his body after that second event in the desert, he still wasn't much better at handling higher g forces than a normal human.

That made fighting super-human threats in a personal set of exo-armor inconvenient and dangerous. So he fixed it. The current suit on him, the Mark2 Speed, was built for stress testing said inertial compensators, and as a consequence could go really, really fast with a hell of an acceleration, stop, and quick turn. Considering the location Jarvis was pining Obadiah at, a good few kilometers off shore, speed was most definitely a necessity. 

Stark was over the water in under a minute flat, holographic display on the inside of his visor showing the current status of the suit and an optimal flight path to the Grey Sky container ship. 'This v0.16 passed all basic stress tests I could throw at it, and the preliminary dummy testing without an issue.' A brief memory of what happened to the first few dummy's he tested the internal force fields on flashed through his mind. 'Let's hope I don't become pulp due to an unforeseen error. Out of the testing grounds and into the shit hole, I suppose.' 

Two minutes later and he was still a minute out from the ship, but he could see the smoke and fire of the massive hauler already- as well as several smaller speed boats magnified on the display. 

!ALERT! [Emergency on subject ( Pepper Stark ) activated]
[Sending suit platoon to engage in emergency evac & assistance]

Tony flinched, dropping a hundred feet diagonally before recovering. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, mind whirling.

"Orders, sir?" Jarvis asked. Tony's eyes snapped open. The emergency measures have long since been set to automatic activation without the input of anyone else. But he could override or provide additional orders. If it were a few years ago, he'd turn around. Especially since his wife was pregnant with his child. This was likely the intention of his enemies, the timing was too coincidental. Play on his ego, his hero complex, his selfishness and superiority, to ignore the container ship and go back for Pepper like a white knight. 

But Tony long came to terms with the fact he simply couldn't be everywhere. He built legions of suits and armors to mitigate that, putting contingency after contingency in place to mitigate any threat he could think of. Advanced his tech further and further. But at the end of the day, Stark was one man, and while others may not share his exact genius, that did not mean they were all incompetent. He glanced to the side, a monitor on the display setup to show Pepper and their unborn child's vitals. It didn't show location, just in case an enemy got access to the relay server. But no EMP or even dimensional interference could stop the connection of the implant he'd worked with Reed Richards to create. It was showing healthy for both, if elevated in stress. 

He turned his eyes, now hard, back to the front and the approaching container ship. "Continue per normal. If complications arise, double the normal response." Tony ordered, voice cold with steel. His wife may not be a fighter by any means, but she wasn't a damsel either. Natasha was with her, and with all the protections he put in place, he'd trust their combined competence to survive and overcome. But if Pepper got hurt...

His display painted all units it could scan on and around the Container ship, the A.I marking expected friendlies and enemies different colors. Not a perfect recognition software, but good enough for a basis. A good portion of the ship was damaged, several containers on fire or having fallen into the ocean. The bridge of the ship was missing all glass and covered in burns, likely hit with a few missiles. Iron Monger was on the deck in all his giant blue metal glory, hauling Stark Industries marked containers to the side for the slightly smaller ship to pick up with a crane as several Ten Rings thugs stood on standby. Bulging muscles covered in black ninja armor, sporting long curved machetes and simple assault rifles retrofitted to their larger frames. A brief scan of the giant suit flashed in Tony's visor, causing him to snort. 'Designed to counter Iron Man suits four generations back, with some extra beef and armor on top.' The scan was likely imperfect, with even Tony unable to grasp all the details with a glance. But he'd dropped the habit of underestimating his enemies. One of the few mistakes he made twice after his first stunt in the desert. 

Unfortunately for Obadiah Stane, who expected Tony to glide down in a grand appearance if the egotistical fool didn't gallop back off to his newly wed wife, he hadn't actually met Stark in quite a few years. He didn't even get a chance to turn his large suit around as his sensors picked up an object quickly approaching before the object was RIGHT BEHIND HIM. The back of Iron Monger caved in, steel shrieking and sparking as the giant Iron Monger's frame was bent inward, feet briefly ripping through metal flooring before losing contact with the deck and the entire hulking, sparking mass was hurled off the side of the ship straight into the ocean. 

Tony didn't know if Obadiah survived the initial impact, and he frankly didn't care. His suit twirled around mid air, blue exhaust trailing his limbs and back and as he turned back to the container ship and aimed his hands at the various thugs on board, miniature missile ports opening on his back firing at the marked engines of the pirate ship as his propulsion blasters started sending magnetized bolts of electricity straight at the Ten Rings goons. More than strong enough to knock out a human, dialed up to deal with whatever crap the Mandarin enhanced them with. 

He started crunching data from his visor as he quickly knocked out several of the thugs- not even blinking as the successful explosions of the smaller ships engines caused plums of water to spike into the air. At least thirteen civilians injured in various states of distress. The controls for the ship are likely blown with the bridge- though I'd be surprised if there were no backups. Several people treading water. Those bunkered down in the ship can wait.' 

Iron Man started moving, blitzing down as he charted the most optimal course, carefully nabbing people out of the water and dropping them on the ship as he knocked out the thugs in passing. "Jarvis, how close is the medical suit?" Tony asked as he dropped the last person, shivering from the cold of the ocean and in shock, back on deck and immediately moved to free those likely trapped from the various explosions the Ten Rings hit the ship with. "Six minutes out sir." Jarvis replied, making Tony nod as he quickly lifted an entire burning container up from where it fell on another, trapping a deckhand who sought shelter between containers. Luckily the man didn't seem too injured.

Tony gave a nod to the man thanking him, blitzing up to the bridge portion of the ship, quickly scanning the interior. Four burnt corpses rested on the ground where they were flung in various states of wholeness. Broken electronics sparked and fizzled, several metal beams from the ceiling collapsed in the explosion. Tony flit over to the back of the room, quickly finding a woman trapped by a flung desk, forehead bleeding from a nasty gash, her black skin cut up from shattered glass. He quickly hefted the desk off her as he gave a more thorough scan. Luckily the head injury was mostly superficial if bleeding alot, and most of the cuts from glass were not deep. Her organs may be slightly damaged and four of her ribs were definitely broken from the impact, a concussion from the blastwave likely. The underside of his left arm popped open, a small nozzle appearing which he used to briefly spray the woman's gash and worst cuts, careful about moving her. 

He quickly stood up, cradling the woman. The worst of her bleeding  stopped with white-scab like coverings. He rechecked the scans of the ship. A few more people were under deck bunkering down, but did not seem trapped. He quickly adjusted to scanning the ship the Ten Rings were moving containers to. What few thugs and couple assassin's he picked up were in a mild panic- the assassins escaping on an emergency sub from what he could tell. The captain and actual crew of the ship seemed more like ordinary pirates from the scan, armed, but in a near complete state of panic. His mouth set into a line as he noticed several gesturing to the container ship with guns and arguing. He smoothly exited the bridge, quickly joining the grouped up civilians that were still in a mild state of shock. "Watch her please. I need to deal with the rest of the pirates."

A few nodded- some who were bunkered down earlier in a better state to reply than those who were thrown into the ocean and recovering from near drowning. Tony took off at an angle, orienting at the pirate ship while sending a deep scan into the ocean to check for Iron Monger. He'd rather not have the bastard ambush him from behind if he even survived. Though Tony doubted Obadiah could get the suit out of the water, what propulsion systems that giant hunk of metal had were likely blown or malfunctioning considering Stark made sure to hit the main power cord through the mech, hopefully tearing its connections apart. Its ability to hold back water was also in doubt, considering how warped and ruptured the ballistic alloy became on impact. 

The pirates and thugs didn't get a chance to react as Tony swooped in, electric bolts flying and knocking them down indiscriminately, leaving them having mild seizures on the floor while unconscious. There were a few people below deck as well, and the captain seemed to be on the bridge, panickily yelling at his subordinates. Several bullets flew by, slowed and diverted by the ambient force field of the Mark2 Speed, occasionally pinging off the armor without a mark. 

"Navy is on their way, sir." Jarvis spoke up, causing Tony to nod. "The suits?" 

"Medical suit is still a minute out. Security suits inbound in half."

Tony nodded again, taking a deep breath as he quickly flew up to the smaller ships bridge, not giving the captain a chance to speak as he shot down both the man and his first mate. With the majority of pirates and thugs knocked out, he took a breath and flew back up into the air, spotting the security suits as they flew down, Jarvis piloting them to secure the knocked out criminals with spools of wire.

Iron Monger was located, the suit sparking on the floor of the ocean. A life scan came back, causing Tony to frown and dive. Obadiah Stane was alive. Tony wouldn't have minded if the bastard died before the cleanup finished. But... Tony sighed, glancing at his wife's vitals. Calm and stable. Guess Obadiah gets to live. Luckily his suits were made to be waterproof. Be kinda lame if some idiot with a hose could take him out... 

He hit the chest of Iron Monger feet first, force fields assuring his grip on the metal. There was surprising resistance in the water, the power draw of the force fields ramping up. He'd have to investigate a solution for that. Digging his hands into a crease of the metal, Tony pulled, his propulsors glinting as he adjusted his torque, exo-muscles of the suit straining as metal warped, bubbles escaped, and water rushed in. He heard Obadiah's chokes muffled through the water, not caring as he proceeded to pull the balding twat from his armor before shooting towards the surface. Luckily the ocean here was only a few hundred feet deep, making the journey a short one. He broke the surface, Obadiah- now unconscious- gripped in one hand and quickly handed off to a security suit, the bulkier hollow armor quickly stripping the man of his clothes and tying him up with metal cords. 

Stark turned away, taking a deep breath as he started shooting back towards the city. "Jarvis, what is Pepper and Natasha's status..."

(A/n: Hopefully this entire sequence was alright. Haven't really written much action (or anything) in a while.)

 

>>>  Back with Pepper 

She came down right in front of the emergency entrance to the Stark-sponsored hospital. The red and white mech suit drawing stares, more so with the small blood-covered girl clutched in its arms. Natasha in a slimmer black and red suit of armor followed quickly behind, the body guard's suit far more streamlined for combat than Pepper's somewhat oddly shaped suit that had several circular protrusions on all four limbs, chest and back- powerful forcefield projectors. 

The receptionist that Pepper marched up to stared wide eyed at the armor, "Get me an emergency operation room." Pepper snapped, "Before the coagulants decay and she bleeds to death." 

"Right away, Ma'am!" The man replied, recognizing the voice of Pepper Stark and quickly grabbing the mic while typing in his keyboard, "Operating room 5 is available at the moment. I'll have some surgeons there shortly." He gestured to a nurse who was quickly jogging up, "Jackson, guide these people to Op 5." The boy nodded, quickly gesturing to the two intimidating suits of armor to follow. The receptionist quickly talking into the mic as the two armored women walked by. Luckily, being a high end hospital they were used to dealing with high-profile individuals. Though said individuals rarely showed up ready to go to war.

Pepper strode through the corridors, worriedly cradling the unconscious girl in her arms. She had already called Dr. Octavia, who was thankfully on her way after hearing about the situation. The intelligent woman being the personal surgeon of the Starks for a few years now, once dorming with Pepper way back in college. 

"Please place the patient on the table." Jackson said, opening the large doors to the sterile white and grey operating room. "You'll have to exit and stay in the waiting room, please." The stressed nurse said, hoping to not be lashed at. Dealing with stressed, panicking relatives was one thing. Dealing with said relatives in power armor was another. 

Luckily Pepper just nodded at him, quickly leaving and stepping beside Natasha. Several people hurriedly passed, Dr Octavia's blonde hair quickly being tied up into a scrunchy as she passed by Pepper with a nod, stepping into the operating room with confidence. Pepper nearly sagged in relief at the timely arrival of her friend, and more languidly followed behind Jackson to the waiting room, Natasha stepping just behind, the heavy armors making surprisingly little noise on the tiled floor. 

In the waiting room, after being assured by the nurse that Jasmine would be alright, Pepper nearly sagged in her armor. The chairs, while plush and large, were not meant to take the wait of the suits. With a click the suit folded apart at the front, parts sliding around Pepper as she stepped out of it and collapsed into the nearest chair, one hand rubbing her face and the other her abdomen. Natasha silently exited her Widow Armor, leaving the suit's A.I to stand and guard as she moved to sit next to her friend and provide emotional support. 

Thoughts whirled through Pepper's head at a million miles an hour. Hormones raged, quick cravings coming and going. At least she hasn't thrown up, morning sickness is a chore to deal with. More so when it is no longer morning. Natasha bumped her shoulder into hers, causing Pepper to lightly lean on the woman, sighing. 

"She saved my life." Pepper muttered. Natasha nodded.

"She saved my child's life." Pepper muttered again, eyes closing. 

You are reading story Warped Causality at novel35.com

They sat in silence for a few minutes, interrupted by a chiming tone coming from Pepper's Bastion Armor. "Pepper?" Tony's voice asked from the suit, laced with worry. 

Pepper smiled with relief, "Hey Tony."

"Jarvis says you're at Arc Dawn Hospital. Are you alright?" 

"Yes. I'm alright... But Jasmine..." Pepper had to stop the burst of tears from coming out, internally frustrated at her own unstable emotional state. Stupid pregnancy. "Jasmine took the shot aimed at my heart. What's left of her left arm is going to have to be amputated. Dr Octavia is operating on her now."

"She saved my life Tony." Pepper babbled, Natasha holding her steady. "Whatever round that sniper fired went through the glass of the building like it was a cheap, commercial pane. My under armor... my under armor probably wouldn't have stopped it." She ended softly. "It hit Jasmine's arm straight on. She had just came up to me and told me she had a bad feeling, and I decided to give her a hug. Somehow... Somehow she felt the attack coming, I don't know, her arm shot out. She was between the bullet and me, it hit her palm straight on, I think. It mulched most of her arm Tony. Mulched." Tears were coming down Pepper's cheeks.

A few seconds passed in silence. Tony breathed deeply. "It's gonna be alright. I'm nearly there." He said calmly, the bastion of his voice calming Pepper down slightly. 

A few more seconds passed. "We're adopting." Pepper suddenly said.

"What?" Natasha could feel Tony blinking in surprise through his voice.

"We're adopting." Pepper repeated, steel in her voice. 

"Hon-" "We're adopting, Tony. I am not letting a girl who just saved my goddamned life be thrown into an orphanage like her fucking sad excuse of relatives tossed her in the streets! So call your bloody lawyers on the way and get them to work! Actually, no I'll call them- you just get here." "Pepp-" "And pick me up ice cream too, maybe chocolate..." Pepper nearly drooled at the sudden craving.

It felt like Tony raised his arms in surrender. "I'll be there." He finally said, sounding more exhausted all of a sudden, cutting the connection after Pepper quickly told him she loved him and dismissed him, starting to have Jarvis call up several lawyers and look up adoption experts.

Natasha felt he'd likely be rubbing the bridge of his nose through his armor if he was able. She couldn't blame him, her eyebrow was still quirked. But getting in the way of angry momma Pepper seemed ill advised at the moment. Well. Either way it looked like the Starks were getting an extra, unexpected child, she thought in amusement, continuing to rub Pepper's back in an attempt to quietly calm down the currently frantic and determined woman.

 

>>> A bit later 

Dr, Octavia wiped the sweat from her brow as she exited the emergency surgery room. While the room itself is kept at a cool temperature, the stress of cutting into someone and patching them up always leaves her sweaty. This time it being a young child didn't help matters much. A frown crosses the woman's face. 'That round we pulled from what little was left of her humerus was odd. I'll have to show it to Stark and get his input on it. Definitely a Weird metal.' 

(A/n: There are more particles than normal in this universe, and some replace the functions of normal particles in ordinary matter, thus giving these materials odd properties- these are known as Weird Matter in universe (Think badassium))

Her mind flitted from the metal back to the girl. 'Signs of malnutrition, neglect, and severe physical abuse as well.' She knew the girl wasn't the Starks, their first child was still on the way. 'I'll have to ask Pepper about her. And likely have to go into court to testify against the girl's shitty parents in the near future.' 

She pushed open the door to the waiting room where Pepper was staying "-and please keep me updated on the situation." "Will do Mrs. Stark." Pepper ended the call with a beep, leaning back into Natasha and rubbing her forehead.

Octavia grinned at the sight of her friend. "Pregnancy treating you well~?" She asked in sing-song. Pepper glared at her. "No! I am hungry, emotional, tired, excited, and uncalmable. The hell do you think?" 

The doctor cackled at her old friend. "That's what you get for liking men! They put a parasite in your womb and expect you to deal with it!"

Pepper huffed and rolled her eyes. "Right, lesbians for the win. Sure." She took a breath and focused on Octavia, the playful mood draining and replaced with worry. "How's Jasmine?"

Octavia frowned. "She'll live, miraculously. Considering what little remained of her arm when I got to her, the somatic blood shock should have caused several of her organs to be damaged and fail. Somehow that didn't occur, thankfully, but I did have to amputate the entirety of her left arm and take apart her shoulder- her entire collarbone got dislocated and her shoulder plate has cracks in it. That's not even talking about all the burst blood vessels across that quarter of the girl's torso." Octavia sighed, then smirked wryly, "She's gonna look like part eggplant for a few months most likely."

Pepper nodded, Natasha rubbing the woman's back. Octavia barely noticed the bodyguard at first. 'Freaky woman. Though attractive. Very attractive. When you notice her anyway.' Unfortunately, all of Octavia's attempts to get into the hot bodyguards pants had failed. 'Woe is me.' 

"What about other damages?" Pepper asked, Octavia snapping back from her failed seductions. The doctor frowned in disgust, "You better help me put whoever the hell were her guardians in jail. Get me some fancy lawyers or something. From what little I pulled out of her all the bones had traces of bruising, and the poor girl's skin is covered in discolorations from beatings. And that's not even mentioning the scars." Octavia's face twisted further and further, "Screw the lawyer's, actually. If you could just get me in a black room with them and a body disposal site afterward that'd be much appreciated." The doctor growled. She'd seen cases of child abuse before, not that it ever didn't make her pissed, but the beatings the girl received were ridiculously thorough. 

Pepper grimaced. "I agree on principle. Just got off the phone with a lawyer who I have looking into international adoption, as well as getting the fucks incarcerated." She snarled, "The stupid fucks left on their flight back to Britain this morning from what Jarvis uncovered, abandoning the girl here, across the fucking ocean." 

Octavia took a deep breath at that, eyes flashing with hate. She knew damn well what it's like to be abandoned. At least her sad excuse for parents didn't beat her. Her mind locked onto another portion of Pepper's sentence.

"You're adopting!?" Octavia's eyes glimmered at Pepper's nod, "I call being godmother!" 

Pepper looked at her strangely. "I don't think that's how adop-" "I call being godmother~!" Octavia sang, eyes sparkling. Pepper shook her head in amusement. "I'll have to talk to Tony about it." "Boo~" Octavia stuck her tongue out. "Screw the whiny man-child, the god-mother position is mine!" 

Natasha snorted in amusement. Pepper shook her head at her friends' antics. "How long til Jasmine wakes up?" She asked, ending the discussion.

Octavia frowned again. "With how malnutritioned she is? No idea. We've got her on a drip for nutrients at the moment, she definitely needs it, but add that on top of the shock? We're hoping she doesn't go into a short coma." 

Pepper sighed, rubbing her eyes that suddenly wanted to water. "Hopefully it doesn't take too long, though I have no idea how she'll react to waking up in a hospital." 

The doctor nodded. "We had her moved to a recovery room. I'm actually here to bring you to it. Just keep in mind she can't be moved quickly at the moment and needs to stay calm- so no crushing hugs, unfortunately. I do not want the fresh grafting to tear." Octavia eyed the emotional, pregnant woman with a stern glare, "So control yourself, got it?" 

Pepper nodded, standing up followed by Natasha, the two intimidating sets of armor following right behind the small procession of women. Pepper's mind strayed to her new daughter. 'I wonder when her birthday is?'