Chapter 52: Attention grabbing

Chapter 52: Attention grabbing

I woke up slowly the next morning, my room already brightly lit from my window. I had clearly slept much later than I usually did. That was to be expected though, seeing as I was up so late waiting for

I bolted upright in bed and looked around, realizing that I was supposed to pick Ema up when she arrived at Los Angeles, which would have happened hours ago. I picked up the phone and called her anxiously.

"Ema! Are you alright? Why didn't you call me to pick you up?"

"Carson, relax. Nothing is wrong." She assured me. "You needed your sleep, you were up late last night. I just spent a few hours hiding."

"You really didn't have to do that." I asked, rolling my eyes."How long have you been waiting?"

"Not long enough for it to be a real problem." She assured me. "You know I don't get bored. Waiting like this is different for me than it is for real Alive people."

"You are alive Ema, it's just a different type of alive." I said, before letting out a long breath. "But fine, I see your point. Is the landing pad ready for me?"

"Yes, it's all clear."

I hung up and traveled to my companion, suddenly standing in a small, heavily bushed area tucked up against a hill. I looked around for a moment before looking back at Ema, who was smiling at me.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"There is a trail that goes to a parking lot just through that thicket." She answered, pointing off to the side. "It's like a two minute walk. From the parking lot it's a fifteen minute drive to the city outskirts."

"Right, that's plenty good enough for now." I said with a smile. "Want to drive around for a bit while we talk about our next step or?"

"Well, we could, but you should probably get dressed first." She pointed out, prompting me to look down and see I was still in my pajamas.

"Ah, right. Well come on." I said, holding out my hand and traveling us back to the apartment. I collapsed back into the couch while Ema left her exosuit.

"So We have a pad in Los Angeles Where does Stark live in California again?"

"Tony Stark lives in Malibu, California." She answered, floating over to the laptop and bringing up a picture of a rather impressive mansion. "We have no way of knowing if he will be home but"

"Alright honestly I can't think of a better idea than knocking on the front gate." I said, shaking my head. "It's going to be hinky as hell but it beats trying to get an appointment through Stark Industries."

"Why?"

"Do you really think he will just let us in?" Ema asked skeptically.

"Nope Not without someone vouching for us." I said, tapping my chin. "What are the chances that Shield has had some sort of contact with him before?"

"Probably pretty high. Are you going to call Fury?"

"No, Fury has way too much on his plate, Clint is still 'recovering' from his injury and Natasha Well I don't want her thinking she has to help me if she wants me to help her. Which just really leaves Coulson."

I pulled out my phone and dialed Coulson's number, waiting for it to ring. After a few moments it clicked.

"Maker? What is it?" He asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no everythings fine. I just had a question. I know you guys are incredibly busy but has Shield interacted with Tony Stark at all? And if so, would you assuring him that I'm the real deal mean anything to him?"

"...Why do you want to talk to Tony?" He asked, suddenly very focused.

"Hehas resources that I would find extremely useful." I said vaguely.

I had put one of the secure phones, now a temporary security camera, up on the roof of the tent, tucked against one of the support bars. It was partially hidden while still having a full view of the interior.

"It's good, I can see most of the and some of the area outside." She answered as I came out to join her.

"Great, let's go."

We traveled to Los Angeles and made our way through the city, driving most of the way in my civilian truck before changing to the super truck to avoid gathering too much attention. It took us just under a half hour to finally arrive at the mansion.

"You know This is just about the least comic book thing we have done since I got here." I pointed out as we drove. "I mean we made an appointment to visit Tony Stark. We didn't show up on his front porch out of the blue or start off fighting each other only to work together to fight off the real bad guy. We just made an appointment."

"Well we haven't met them yet." Ema pointed out, smirking as I cursed.

"Fuck you're right! Alright keep your eyes open."

Despite tempting Murphy, we made it to Stark's mansion just fine, stopping at the front gate, a terminal along the wall lighting up as we pulled in. I rolled down the window and leaned out a bit.

"Good day sir, How may I help you?" Said a voice from the terminal. It had a slight mechanical twinge but otherwise sounded like a British butler.

"Hello, my name is Maker, Ms Potts may have mentioned we were coming?"

"Ah yes, you are expected. Let me open the gate. Please pull up, you may park alongside Ms. Potts vehicle. Oh and the first left is the helicopter pad, please drive past it."

"Will do, thank you!"

The gate unlocked and swung open and I pulled up the long driveway. The landscaping was immaculate and the house itself, which was already partially visible but was completely revealed as we drove closer, was futuristic and stylish, all clean curved lines, concrete and glass. We parked and hopped out of the truck, leaving it uncarded for the first time in a while.

As Ema walked around I pulled my leather jacket straight and let out a long breath. I had decided to go as non threatening as possible, which meant leaving my guns out of my outfit. My undeployed armor was still on under my jacket though, and I still had my utility belt and holsters, they were just empty. Ema forwent her normal armored look and instead went for a more smooth and sleek style. It was still green though, and her "skin" was still very much blue.

We walked around to the front door, again all glass. While we were looking for a doorbell the door opened for us. Ema and I shared a look and I gestured forward.

"Ladies first."

We walked into the mansion, stopping just a dozen or so feet in, stepping down a single marble step. We barely had time to notice that some recent repair work was just being finished when a tall red headed woman turned a corner and greeted us.

"Hello? You must be-oh my gosh." She started, only to stumble over her words when she noticed Ema's very much not human coloration. "Umm You must be M-maker and Emerald?"

"That's right, it's nice to meet you Ms Potts." I said, stepping forward with my hand out. My movement seemed to shock her out of confusion and she took the last few steps to me, shaking my hand. "I apologize for the alias, I'm not quiet at the point where I'm ready to throw my name out."

"It's alright, I wish Tony had put a bit more thought into admitting he was Iron Man." She said, now shaking Ema's hand. "He is downstairs in his workshop. I should warn you, he Well he is being extra Tony today."

Pepper led us around to another set of stairs, leading us down into a little glass walled off area. We came out in a large workshop, with a row of cars on the far side and a lot of tech in between. This area also looked like it had undergone recent construction. There was a lot of stuff in wooden boxes, looking ready to be carted off. Pepper put her hand on a panel and pressed in a code before pushing the door open.

"Tony? Maker and Emerald are here."

"One second!" Said a voice, causing all three of us to turn and look. A pair of legs stuck out from under a car, before the person they were attached to rolled out on a creeper. "Alright, who is this and what do I have to say to get them to leave? I'm in-"

The sentence died in his mouth as he looked at us. He was of average height and build, had short dark brown hair and a mustache and goatee. He looked at us for a moment, his mouth open just long enough to know he was stunned before he closed it.

"Alright, I'll admit it." He said, wiping his hands with a greasy towel. "I wasn't expecting that. Did we forget to pay the heating bill? Pepper, maybe find a blanket for her?"

"I'm sorry." Ema said, looking between Tony and Pepper. "I know my looks are a bit shocking. I'll switch to something a bit less abnormal."

I couldn't help but chuckle as Ema's exosuit melted, forming down to its default state, a large metal cube. Pepper yelped and took an involuntary step back as I noted that her teardrop shaped flight pack was still attached to one side of the cube. She pulled off of her mount with a flourishing swoop, flying in the air around the workshop before settling into her usual place, right above my shoulder, floating and bobbing slightly.

"Right that's a lot less abnormal." Tony said, having watched her flight with wide eyes before focusing on both of us. "Alright kid. You got my attention."