Tony and Rhodey make it to the wharf where Killian has taken Pepper and the President by nightfall, then they get off the boat and climb up to the main level. They're armed only with guns.

They quickly hide behind some equipment before moving forward.

"You're not gonna freak out on me, right?" Rhodey asks.

"I hope not," Tony replies.

They make their way to the large, blue scaffolding area — where Killian and his hostages probably are. He has people driving around, setting things up. There's a camera filming the President, who's tied up high in the air in the Iron Patriot suit over a tank of oil. Tony sees none of this, as Rhodey was the one who peaked out. "He's strung up over the oil tanker," he says. "They're gonna light him up, man."

Tony sighs. "Viking funeral. Public execution."

"Yeah, death by oil."

When they get an opening, they run for it and scramble up the steps towards the President, thankfully not being seen.

Then, over the PA system, a voice says, "Broadcast will commence shortly. Take final positions."

"ls your gun up?" Rhodey asks as they get closer.

Tony raises it. "Yep. What do I do?"

"Stay on my six, cover high, and don't shoot me in the back."

Tony nods once. "Six, high, back. Got it."

A bullet ricochets off the scaffolding in front of Rhodey, and they both begin firing, ducking for cover when they need to. There's too many of them, and they have better weapons.

Tony takes one more shot before he and Rhodey duck behind a box of equipment.

"You see that?" Tony says. "Nailed it."

"Yeah, you really killed the glass," Rhodey replies. Tony had shot a flood light, though he only broke the glass protecting the bulb.

"You think I was aiming for the bulb? You can't hit a bulb at this distance."

Rhodey rises quickly, shoots the bulb, then ducks back down in a matter of a seconds. He gives Tony a pointed look. Before he can respond, though, the PA kicks on again. "All personnel, we have hostiles on east unit 12."

Tony takes the magazine out of his gun, then looks at Rhodey. "I'm out. Give me-"

"You got extra magazines. They're not universal, Tony."

"I know what I'm doing, I make this stuff," Tony replies. "Give me another one. One of yours."

"I don't have one that fits that gun."

"You've got, like, five of them." He turns, going to stand. "Here's what I'm going to do. Save my spot. Ready?" He rises, then immediately sinks back down again.

"What'd you see?" Rhodey asks.

"Too fast. Nothing." He takes a deep breath before trying again. "Here we go." He takes a longer look and sees some of Killian's people going along the scaffolding in search of him and Rhodey. He sits back down again. "Three guys, one girl, all armed."

He and Rhodey rise, guns raised, to find a multitude of people aiming guns at them. A few of them are glowing orange.

"I would kill for some armour right now," Rhodey says.

"You're right. We need backup," Tony replies.

"Yeah, a bunch."

"You know what?" Tony says, figuring it's about time. Rhodey looks at him, confused, so he nods to a small white dot that keeps getting bigger in the sky.

"Is that-?" Rhodey starts.

"Yep."

More appear. "Are those-?"

"Yeah." Multiple Iron Man suits come racing towards them, fully powered and fully armored. They stop outside the scaffolding, hovering in the air in a circle. Tony pats Rhodey's shoulder. "Merry Christmas, buddy." Then, he addresses someone else. "Jarvis, target EXTREMIS heat signatures. Disable with extreme prejudice."

"Yes, sir," Jarvis replies. The suits look around, locking onto targets.

Tony steps forward. "What are you waiting for? It's Christmas." He spreads his arms. "Give 'em their just desserts."

The suits dive down, heading for their targets and taking them all out as quickly as possible. Some manage to tear pieces off of a suit and send it flying to the ground, where it hits, then explodes. The scaffolding shakes, the foundation breaking.

"Jarvis, get Igor to steady this thing," Tony says.

A large, bulky suit runs over and gets under a piece of the foundation and raises it, steadying everything.

"This is how you've been managing your down time, huh?" Rhodey says.

Tony shrugs. "Everybody needs a hobby. Oh, and I made Grace one, too. Programmed a new AI and everything- well, almost," he corrects. "She still needs some work."

They watch as the suits fly around, taking out their targets.

"Heartbreaker, help Red Snapper out, will you?" Tony says to one of the suits. One of Killian's men is on top of it.

Heartbreaker tries, but someone else comes along and attacks it, so Red Snapper's head is ripped off and it crashes into a crate and explodes. The building above it is heavily damaged.

Thankfully, a suit lands and opens, letting Tony get into it. "Nice timing."

Rhodey stands. "Oh, yeah. That's awesome. Give me a suit, okay?" He spreads his arms.

"Oh, I'm sorry, they're only coded to me," Tony replies.

"What does that mean?"

"I got you covered."

Tony orders Jarvis to send another suit down to carry Rhodey to the President. Meanwhile, Tony is focused on another mission.

Pepper.

"Sir, I've located Ms Potts," Jarvis says.

"About time," Tony replies. Jarvis directs him to her location.

He finds her inside the damaged building, half-covered in debris. Her eyes are closed. His heart clenches as he raises some large metal off of her.

She wakes up. "Stop! Put it down! Put it down, put it down!"

Tony quickly does as she says, then pops his helmet open. "See what happens when you hang out with my ex-girlfriends?" He holds a hand out to her.

She shakes her head, crying a little. "You're such a jerk."

"Yep. We'll talk about it over dinner," Tony replies. He reaches out to her, and she reaches for him. She's in pain. She's injured.

"Where's Grace?" she asks softly.

"She's safe," Tony replies. "And I need you to be, too, so you gotta reach."

They both stretch to the best of their abilities, their fingers touching, then Tony pushes himself even more and grasps her hand. A small wave of relief washes over him.

But then a glowing orange hand pops up through the debris next to him and grabs onto the blaster in Tony's chest, throwing him off.

Killian stands, then looks at Pepper. "Is this guy bothering you?" He runs over to Tony, who's on the ground, and stands over him. "Don't get up." He touches the armor with a glowing finger, slowly heating up the suit. "Is it hot in there? Stuck? Do you feel a little stuck? Like a little turtle, cooking in his little turtle suit?"

"Tony," Pepper says weakly.

"She's watching," Killian reminds him. "I think you should close your eyes." But Tony doesn't. "Close your eyes. You don't want to see this." He moves to hit Tony — to knock him out — but then a blade pops out of the wrist of Tony's suit, and he cuts Killian's hand off.

Killian falls over in pain as his burning, severed hand begins to melt through the metal it landed on.

"Yeah, you take a minute," Tony says.

The weakening metal falls through and a hole opens in the floor, and Pepper falls through it, landing in the claw of a machine below.

Tony jumps up, getting out of the suit, running for Pepper. But the claw begins to move, and she's swept away from him. He runs out, trying to follow it. More of Killian's men run at him, but he just keeps going, jumping over railings and running for her.

He sees her hanging on for dear life and runs until he can't even feel his legs beneath him. "Jarvis, give me a suit right now!"

As he continues to run, ignoring all of the chaos around him, a suit appears in front of him, open and ready. He goes to jump into it, but at the last second, it's shot away.

He lands on a walkway, but gets up immediately and continues running. "Oh, come on!"

He sees the claw, which is now stopped, and doesn't hesitate in jumping onto the platform in front of it. When he lands, he hears Rhodey's voice in his earpiece. "The President is secure, Tony. I'm clearing the area."

"Nice work," he replies, immediately focusing on Pepper again. He climbs the ladder to get to her, getting as high as he can. But he still can't reach her. She's screaming — terrified.

"Pep, I got you," he says. "Relax, I got you." She reaches for him, tears streaming down her face. He knows there's only one way to save her. "Just look at me!" he shouts. "Honey, I can't reach any further, and you can't stay there, alright?! You've got to let go! You've got to let go! I'll catch you, I promise!"

She looks at him, quiet now, and her eyes are filled with trust. She's going to let to go, and he will catch her. She knows that. He's Tony, and no matter how impossible it seems, if he says he'll do it, he will.

She starts to let go.

The claw jolts, sending her tumbling out of it, flipping, too far away from the platform. Too far away from Tony.

He reaches for her, and their fingers brush for the smallest instant, but it's not enough. He couldn't grab onto her.

She falls right past him, hurtling towards the ground.

In that instant, his heart stops. "NO!" He can only watch in horror as she disappears into the raging fire burning under her.

Just like that.

Just like that, she's gone.

His chest constricts, shock taking over every ounce of his body. He feels like he's about to hurl. His ears ring. He tries to swallow, but he can't. Tears begin to prick his eyes as his brain catches up, fully realizing what just happened.

Pepper is dead.

He looks away, closing his eyes. Pepper is dead, and it's his fault. He didn't catch her like he said he would. He sinks to the ground.

What is he going to tell Grace? Not only will she hate him forever, but she'll be devastated. Indefinitely. The only mom she ever really had is gone, and it's her stupid father's fault.

Shakily, Tony gets up, trying not to hurl, and climbs back up onto the walkway. But he sees Killian at the other end of it.

"A shame," he says. "I would've caught her."

And those words — those four little words — instantly fill Tony with rage.

If wasn't for Killian, Pepper wouldn't've even been here. If it wasn't for Killian, Maya would still be alive. If it wasn't for Killian, his house wouldn't've been destroyed. If it wasn't for Killian, Happy wouldn't be in a coma. Grace's face wouldn't be in the media. She wouldn't've been in danger. He would've taken her, too, had Maya not given her the chance to escape.

He runs at Killian, and Killian runs at him.

Killian jumps, going to attack Tony with his newly-repaired hand. Tony drops, sliding under him, then gets to his feet. An open suit is waiting for him, and he steps into it.

He turns, punching Killian across the face with everything in him. Killian fights back, but he's no match for Tony's rage.

He punches and blasts senselessly, then grabs Killian by the back of the neck and holds him against the railing. It sizzles as Killian's hands heat up.

He pulls back, ripping part of the arm off Tony's suit. Tony just goes back in for another punch. Killian punches back, though it hurts him. He runs at Tony, pushing him through the railing and onto the walkway below. He jumps onto Tony, going to punch him.

"Eject," Tony says.

He shoots out of the bottom of the suit, falling towards the ground. Jarvis catches him with another suit, and he flies back up, grabbing Killian along the way. They land on the roof, and Tony blasts at him over and over again, though he dodges.

He takes swings at Tony, damaging the suit a little. Tony throws him against some rigging and goes to blast him again, but he dodges. Tony turns and tries again, but Killian grabs his hand by the wrist and moves it away. Tony falls back, catching himself with the back of the suit.

Tony fights with everything he has, but so does Killian. He rips the leg off Tony's suit and begins to hit him with it, but Tony just continues fight.

And then Killian gets him on his knees, holding one of his hands, burning it as he continues to heat up. The suit beings to malfunction.

"Well, here we are on the roof," Killian says. His other hands glows bright orange and begins to swing down, so Tony ejects again and falls back onto the platform below as Killian slices through the suit.

Killian looks down at him, but then they both look up at a light in the sky. It's getting closer.

"Mark 42, inbound," Jarvis says.

"The prodigal son returns," Tony says. He gets up onto one knee, arm outstretched behind him. The suit flies closer, heading right toward him.

Then, it hits a railing and crumbles into pieces on the platform.

Killian raises a brow, and Tony rolls his eyes. "Whatever."

But Killian changes the subject. "You really didn't deserve her, Tony. It's a pity. I was so close to having her perfect." He jumps down, ready to finish the fight.

Tony backs up. "Okay, okay, wait, wait, wait! Slow down! Slow down!" Killian stops, so he continues. "You're right. I don't deserve her. Here's where you're wrong: She was already perfect."

Tony sends the pieces flying towards Killian, causing them to attach onto him as the full suit.

"Jarvis," Tony says, "do me a favour and blow Mark 42."

Killian screams as the helmet attaches and Tony runs, making a quick escape. Behind him, the suit explodes, taking the scaffolding down with it. Tony jumps, and a suit comes to catch him, but it's only pieces. He has no flight power.

He hangs onto a railing on the edge of a large platform, which tilts down. He's close enough to the ground, so he lets go, catching himself a little with the blaster on the bottom of the single foot piece he has on.

He lands on the ground, laying there as flaming debris fall around him. It's too risky for him to move, the platform over him being the only thing shielding him. The entire ground is burning around him.

Pieces of a suit fall down, a helmet landing right-side up in the flames. It's Mark 42. Tony waits, but when the helmet pops out, there's no head inside.

And yet there's creaking in the flames. It could just be the metal melting.

But it could also be Killian.

And, sure enough, he rises from the flames.