Three days.
That's how long it takes for hope to die. That's how long it takes for hearts to break. For heroes to fall. For a world to mourn. That's how long it takes to accept that those who gave their all are lost forever.
Three days before, Rainbow Dash had flown into space, pushed herself to her limits and beyond, and obliterated the Skrull armada, leaving only the greatly depleted force on Earth to fight to survive. She had vanished after, no trace found from the Earth based scanners that remained. It had been a matter of hours before the last of the Skrull were either killed or captured. Ultron had then immediately made his way into space, where he burned through his power supply with solar enhancement trying to track down any trace of Rainbow Dash...but he crashed into the ocean, where he was retrieved by a fishing scow that wasn't even aware of what had happened except for confusion over the equatorial aurora borealis, without even finding a clear trace of her magic. The boat was still on its way back to shore with the inactive android stored in the hold
Three days before, Rainbow Dash had been declared legally dead. The Avengers mourned the loss of one of their own.
Thor had made a pyre for her, setting it afloat upon the ocean waves, sitting at the edge of the shore as he watched it float away, burning slowly. He had remained there in vigil since, wondering where her spirit may have gone.
Captain America went through the motions of his training, keeping himself in shape. But the spark was gone. Those who had known him then saw the same empty gaze he had given everyone when he'd first learned just how much time he'd slept through after waking from being frozen in time.
Hulk had withdrawn completely, vanishing into Bruce Banner, blaming himself for Rainbow's flight into space and her subsequent apparent demise. Bruce didn't talk much, as it took him the full three days to get used to controlling his body again after being a trapped observer for over a decade. He barely knew how to talk with people anymore...not to mention he wasn't exactly pleased with Hulk's dressing habits the past decade and a half.
Zuki had climbed up the Empire State Building, wrapping his body around it as he climbed. Reaching the peak, he had raised his head to the sky. By day, he remained staring up in silent vigil. At night, however, he roared at the moon, his voice consumed with pain, a sorrowful howl to the uncaring void of the empty new moon. No one had slept as he howled his grief.
Pepper struggled to keep the company going through her own and Tony's grief, taking care of the day to day tasks, trying to bury herself in that to hold back the sorrow. However, it did little to help, and she could frequently be found weeping into the paperwork.
Tony was the worst off. He sat in his lab, staring around at the defunct machinery, drinking whatever he could get his hands on without having to go outside. JARVIS had attempted to convince him to take better care of himself, but Tony had either ignored the AI or shouted angrily at him in a drunken rage until JARVIS had disengaged his higher thought functions until the alcohol had run its course through Tony's systems. The only thing Tony still paid attention to was the alerts to recharge his arclight, and even that he only did when he was near passed out and unmoving.
When left to his own devices, he sank over whatever bottle he was currently drinking from, muttering Rainbow's name over and over under his breath. He was plainly a broken man.
Three days. That's how long it takes for a world to end. That's how long it takes...to build a lifeline.
On the morning of the third day after Rainbow's funeral, Tony opened his eyes blearily to a sun filled morning. He couldn't stop an angry frown. Where did the sun get off shining so brightly with Rainbow dead?
Feeling a pang from that thought, he scrambled around in the empty bottles scattered around his lab, trying to find one that was full. He didn't want to face the pain. He couldn't face it. However, he also couldn't find a bottle that wasn't empty.
As he staggered around, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. He was a mess. Dirty, beer soaked, unshaven...he looked like something a cat would refuse to drag in. He could easily imagine Rainbow's expression if she saw him like this...
Holding his head in the sink, he let cold water run over it, numbing his whole head. He didn't want to think about Rainbow. He'd lost her, and there was nothing he could do about that now. But as he looked around the lab, he was haunted by her spirit.
The blue blur zipping around, knocking things over. "Sowwy," she had said, her first word to him before she'd called him Daddy.
Hulk hurling her through the window as they discovered the Sonic Rainboom. "Again! Again!"
Her apology for arranging to have Thor crash his proposal to Pepper in an attempt to make him enough of a man that Pepper would accept him. Tony couldn't stop the laugh that came there.
Sitting down against a table, he let his memory range back, trying to hold back the grief by remembering the good times. Her excited grin, her struggles when she'd first made her own powered armor, how proud she was of her success in training.
Daddy...hey Daddy, look at me!...Did you see that Daddy?...Daddy...Daddy...
He couldn't hold the tears back as they flowed. It was almost as though he could still hear her voice.
"Dad...Dad...Dad, can you hear me..."
It took Tony several moments to realize that voice wasn't coming from his own mind, but from JARVIS' communications array, interrupted by static.
"Dad...please respond...I can't boost it anymore..."
Tony brought his hand down on the comms, opening the signal, desperate hope racing into him. "Rainbow? Rainbow is that you? JARVIS, boost the signal!"
"...attempting," JARVIS intoned, the activity rebooting his higher thought processes.
"Dad!" Rainbow's voice from the other end as communication established was filled with desperate relief. "Thank god I made it through! I thought...I thought I'd be stuck here forever..."
"Rainbow, where are you?" Tony demanded. "Wherever it is, I'll come get you!"
"I...I'm on the moon," Rainbow gasped out, her breath heavy. "The shockwave blasted me back here. I...I kinda owe an apology to Neil Armstrong...and the American government. I crashed into his footprints and the flag...and I had to cannibalize the module they left behind to boost the signal."
"JARVIS, prep the Mark S!" Tony ordered.
"Affirmative," JARVIS agreed, calling up the armor model built for space flight.
To pass the time till the armor was ready, Tony kept talking to Rainbow. "It's been three days Rainbow," he managed to say jovially. "What took you so long?" he teased.
"Sunlight to magic to oxygen...isn't as efficient as it could be," Rainbow gasped out, her breathing labored. "Every eight hours I slept under the sun, I only generated enough spare oxygen and power to get back to the module, work for about an hour, and get back into the sunlight to recharge again." Rainbow got quiet for a time. "Daddy, can you come pick me up? I...I don't think I'll be able to make more than a couple more hours of oxygen..."
Tony made a split second decision. "Rainbow, pull the booster to the edge of the sun side of the moon and get yourself in direct sunlight. I'll be up there to get you soon, and I'll need you to be able to hear directions, and there might not be much time to work with."
"Okay Daddy..." Rainbow replied weakly. "...see you soon..." The communication broke into static.
"JARVIS?" Tony called out.
"The Mark S is prepared," JARVIS replied. "Due to the absent satellite network, I will be unable to communicate with you once you're in space, so I've uploaded ARMIS directly into the suit."
"Get me Nick Fury!" Tony ordered, plugging himself in to get as much arclight charge as he could before he had to fly.
"Tony?" Nick's voice came from the comms. "Are you finally talking to-"
"Rainbow's alive!" Tony interrupted. "I just got a communication from her! She's on the moon! I promised her I'd pick her up! Tell me you've got a space craft of some sort to get me there." Tony waited expectantly.
The silence dashed his hopes. "Tony...I'm sorry. The Skrull were very efficient in their infiltration. Every space worthy vessel on the entire planet was scuttled in the first wave of the assault."
"What about their ships?" Tony pleaded. "Surely one of them could get me up there?"
"Every space worthy Skrull ship was obliterated by that Rainbow Blast," Nick replied. "Even their aircraft are defunct. They set them to self destruct rather than let us profit from their failure."
"Nick, there must be something!" Tony begged. "She's up there waiting for me...I promised her..."
Nick sighed. "I'm sorry, Tony. But nothing we've got will get you to space and back. Short of launching yourself up and hoping you survive reentry, there's no way to get to her."
Tony was silent for a time. "Then that's just what I'll do. Talk to you when I get back, Nick."
"Tony, what-" Tony cut off the communications.
"Tony, I can't recommend this course of action," JARVIS cautioned. "Your arclight is only at 45% capacity, and the Mark S is designed for controlled space flight, not speed or surviving reentry. There is a 75% chance this venture will prove fatal to you, a 15% chance you'll even make it to Rainbow in time, and 8% of that chance indicates Rainbow would not survive the return trip."
"That's not going to stop me from trying," Tony growled. "Where's Hulk?"
"Dr. Banner is right outside," JARVIS replied as the Mark S was placed on Tony's form.
The space model of Iron Man armor was far bulkier than any other Iron Man suit, save the one he had designed years ago as an exosuit to the normal armors for fighting Hulk-type foes. It had a large air tank strapped to the back, and interlocked far more firmly than any other suit. It did not look fast, agile, or mobile, but it did look functional.
With the suit fully donned, Tony threw the door open. "Hulk!" he shouted.
Bruce glowered at him. "He's not talking," he grumbled. "And I'm finally used to walking again-"
"I don't have time for this!" Tony snarled. Grabbing the man by the arms, he shook him. "Hulk! Rainbow's alive! She needs us!"
Dr. Banner started to object, only for his face to go slack as his mind was shouldered aside, his body expanding into big, green, and sorrowful. "Pony...alive?" Hulk moaned, his voice on the brink of despair.
"She is!" Tony said firmly. "We need to get to the roof! And get Zuki there-whoa!"
As soon as Tony had given Hulk a direction, the green giant had seized hold of him and leapt for the window. He summoned Zuki with a bellow before scaling right up the side of the building to the roof.
Pepper was waiting for them there as Zuki began to ascend. "JARVIS said you heard from Rainbow?" she asked desperately.
"I'm on my way to pick her up," Tony replied.
Pepper bit her lip in worry. "You do have a plan, don't you?"
"Don't I always?" he asked, managing a rakish grin.
She stared up at him. "Come back in one piece," she said at last.
"I will," he promised. "And I'll bring Rainbow with me." He rested an armored hand on her belly. "Rainbow deserves to know her baby brother."
Pepper rested her hand over his. The pregnancy had been confirmed just before the invasion, and everyone had gathered when Rainbow'd called to let them know she'd be stopping by so they could tell her about it in person. "And our son deserves to know his father," she replied, squeezing his hand.
Tony pulled his wife into a deep, passionate kiss. They clung to each other, as though all her love and support could pass into him through that kiss, to sustain him in the darkness of space. After a time, Tony finally pulled back, then sealed his suit. "Hulk, Zuki, get me to the moon."
Nodding, Hulk picked him up and hopped into Zuki's spread claw. Gripping them gently, Zuki pulled his arm back and hurled them into the sky. As soon as they left that clawed grip, Hulk was spinning his wind up for the fateful throw. When he reached the peak of his momentum, he hurled Tony into the sky. Tony fired his thrusters to maximize his thrust, doing his best to maintain velocity.
As Tony exited the thermosphere, his thrusters cut themselves off. "What the?"
"Velocity is now at maximum," ARMIS informed him. "We cannot accelerate further until we enter the moon's gravity well. I am now managing thrusters to maximize the available remaining power. The arclight is down to a 30% charge."
"Right," Tony said as he felt the suit rattle from the speed. "How's suit integrity?"
"76% and holding," ARMIS replied.
"...it's not going to do well with G forces, is it?" Tony asked.
"With power diverted to maintain suit integrity, I estimate the ideal method of retrieving Rainbow will be to pick her up while slingshotting around the moon so as to maintain velocity for the return to Earth," ARMIS calculated. "You should survive the Gs we'll have to pull - mostly - if I redirect additional power to synthesize the anti-G field Rainbow generates when flying at high velocities."
"You can do that with this suit?" Tony demanded, shocked.
"...possibly. Estimated remaining power upon reaching the thermosphere, 5%."
"And how much power would I need to survive reentry?"
"...15%."
Tony groaned. "Well, hopefully Rainbow will be able to provide the difference." His gaze turned towards the moon, and he smiled. "She's already anticipating."
At the western pole of the moon, relative to Tony's perspective, a glimmering light that shone like a star signaled Rainbow's location.
"Correcting course," ARMIS informed, slightly altering their path with a brief thruster burst. "Disabling higher AS functions to conserve power."
Tony coasted in silence towards the moon, keeping his breathing slow to conserve oxygen.
Four hours later, the communications sparked with static. "Rainbow?" Tony said quickly.
"D-Dad?" Rainbow responded weakly. "Is that really you this time?"
"It's me, Rainbow," Tony promised. "Who else would it be?"
"I...I thought I heard you..." she stammered out. "You said...to light your way...but then you didn't respond..."
"I'm almost there, Rainbow," Tony promised. "But I can't stop. I'm going to slingshot myself around the moon to immediately head back to Earth. You're going to need to meet me mid flight as I pass over you-"
"Already run...the vectors," Rainbow replied. "I've got...just enough power to...gun my thrusters...to do so."
Tony winced. If Rainbow couldn't make up the difference for reentry...he'd think of something else when he got there. "I've got a lock on you now," he said, now picking up her armor's exact location. "I'm sending you my velocity and distance now."
"Got it!" Rainbow gasped. "I'm ready."
They couldn't afford a mistake. Luckily, they didn't make one. As Tony shot over, Rainbow launched herself from the moon's surface, angling herself to meet him when she'd gotten closer to his speed so catching her wouldn't slow him down. He snatched her into his arms as he started to curve around the moon, holding her tight to his chest.
"I gotcha, Skittles," he told her softly.
"Daa~aad," Rainbow whined weakly. "I haven't been Skittles...since I was six..."
"She is suffering from severe oxygen debt, amongst other things," ARMIS informed him.
"Transfer some of my oxygen into her suit," Tony commanded immediately. "There's an interface for that, right?"
"...her suit has provided one," ARMIS replied. "How much is to be transferred?"
"Half what's remaining," Tony replied without hesitation.
As the oxygen pumped into Rainbow's suit, she started to breathe easier. "Real air...is much better...than magic air," she gasped out.
"Well save it," Tony instructed. "It needs to last you all the way back to Earth."
Rainbow nodded, taking slow, shallow breaths as they flew on in silence.
As they approached the Earth, Tony spoke to ARMIS, keeping comms closed. "ARMIS, calculate a safe reentry path for us."
"...there isn't one," ARMIS replied after a time.
"What do you mean?" Tony demanded.
"Power reserves at 2%," ARMIS replied. "If power is redirected from suit integrity to correct course, the suit will fall apart from G Force stress. If course is not corrected, both suits will melt from the heat of reentry. Survival chances are zero."
Tony felt cold inside. "There's no way?"
"There is no way to correct course," ARMIS replied. "Rainbow's power reserves are less than 1%, and is completely claimed maintaining suit integrity and life support at less than minimum for survival. Neither of you has the power to course correct. Without some way to shield from the heat of reentry, you will both die."
Tony was silent for a time. "Will my oxygen tank provide enough shielding for me if I reenter back first?"
"...negative," ARMIS replied. "Well before you breach the atmospheric envelope, power reserves will be fully depleted, the suit and tank will have melted into your back, and you will be dead."
"Will I provide enough shielding for Rainbow if I do so?" Tony asked, his voice emotionless.
ARMIS was silent for a time. "...possibly."
Instantly, Tony spun himself around so he was approaching the Earth's atmosphere back first, Rainbow held protectively in his lap, shielded from all sides by his body, arms, legs, and head. "Rainbow."
"D-Dad?" Rainbow asked, shocked. "W-what are you doing?"
"Rainbow, after we clear reentry, I need you to kick off me and spread your wings," Tony instructed. "Once we're in the atmosphere, you need to slow your fall however you can."
"B-but what about you?" Rainbow demanded.
"I'll be fine," Tony lied. "Hulk'll catch me, and SHIELD'll patch me up. It won't be the first time."
"No you won't!" Rainbow argued. "I know the specs on that armor. It can't take the heat of reentry! You'll...you'll be dead before you reach the ground...I'll be kicking off your corpse...you're going to die..."
Tony sighed. "I will," he said calmly. "So you can live."
"Why?" Rainbow demanded in despair, her eyes locking on his through their masks. "Why do that?"
Tony smiled, and stroked her cheek comfortingly through her mask as the heat of reentry began to melt his air tank. "What father wouldn't?" he whispered lovingly.
To be continued...