Disclaimer: I do not own "Iron Man: The Animated Series" or its characters. They are property of Marvel Comics and the Walt Disney Company.
"Just Hold Me"
By TwilightSparkle3562
There were times when a man, any ordinary man, would feel so conflicted about his emotions. There has always been that one girl in my life who makes such an impact on me, but that impact sadly never lasts forever, no matter how hard I try to make my relationships work. Whitney Frost was a woman whom I once loved dearly and unlike any poor soul, had no one to turn to except herself.
Everything that had just transpired here in Cairo, Egypt was done out of pain and obsession. She wanted me to get back together with her by any means necessary, even going so far as to torture the woman whom I care about deeply nowadays, Julia Carpenter, my second-in-command and my Chief Operating Officer of Stark Enterprises.
But, those feelings died, a long time ago like I said to her. Now with the sun having set on the Egyptian landscape, with it also was any feelings or respect I had for Whitney.
Now the big question was, will my ever growing love for Julia go the same path?
"This meant so much to Whitney," I said to myself quietly as I picked up a piece of her Madam Masque mask from the Egyptian soil. "I feel sorry for her."
"Did you really love her, Tony?" asked Julia, my Chief Operating Officer of my company, Stark Enterprises.
"What?" I asked, turning around to see Julia standing next to me, who had changed out of her Spider Woman costume and back into her blue business suit. "A long time ago."
"You're a hard man to figure, Tony," she remarked, walking over towards me. "You've risked your life a hundred times over, but you'll never risk your heart."
Did she really just say that to me? Was this really a sign of things to come? This was coming out of the mouth of a woman whom I only married to hide from the Mandarin and his goons. Our relationship was platonic and professional or so it seemed to be.
"You mean…our engagement?" I asked, a look of confusion befalling on my face.
"I mean, your cold lonely life Tony," Julia sighed, taking the piece of the mask and throwing it away. "I feel sorry for her too."
Now, things were getting to be more and more awkward for the both of us. How could Julia, someone whom Whitney had tortured to get to me, feel sorry for her? Seeing Julia being tortured with electricity was one of the more sickening feelings I had ever had. But, I got to say, it could have been a lot worse than it already was. This is a woman who had always been loyal to me, even in tough times such as when Force Works disbanded because of me.
"Julia…" I started to say, only for her to silence me.
"Save it boss," she interrupted, clutching my folded hands and leaning towards me. "Just hold me."
Did she really just say that to me? She wanted me to hold her? Could this be someone whom I was destined to be together with? Could our so called "wedding" have been a sign of things to come? So much was going through my mind at that moment that I couldn't keep track of it.
…
Nevertheless, we simply stood there for several minutes, not letting go of each other. Eventually, it was time to leave. However, I couldn't sleep that night.
"Tony," I heard my other good friend, Jim Rhodes, say as he walked into my Cairo office. "You still up?"
"Yeah," I sighed, looking at a picture of Julia that had been taken after her promotion to COO. "Can't really sleep right now. Mind's been racing."
"What are you looking at?"
"This."
I handed Rhody the picture of Julia and for a moment he just stood there in confusion.
"What about this picture, Tony?" he asked. "It's just a pictures of Chuckles after you promoted her to COO, isn't it?"
"That's just it," I answered, sighing heavily. "Jim, I think Julia and I are falling in love with each other."
"For real or…?"
"For real. Julia and I…well…I think we are destined to be together. Even though I broke her heart after the fake wedding, she still feels like we could have a future together."
"Well, look at it this way, Tony," Jim said, handing me Julia's picture back. "You and Julia, well every time I look at the both of you together, I sometimes say to myself that you are in fact, destined to be together. In fact, the way I see it, you both have quite a lot in common. I mean, you both have had bad boyfriends and girlfriends in the past and it seems like God wants you both to be together."
"But, it's not God's decision, it's ours, Jim."
"I get that Tony, but sooner or later, you're going to have to accept it. Julia has picked up her feelings for you and she has picked up your feelings for her."
I've always considered Jim to be the voice of reason in our friendship and perhaps that was another reason to why he chose to stay with me along with Julia.
"Anyways, get some sleep, Ton," he said, yawning as he walked out of my office. "We've got a long flight home tomorrow."
…
Watching Jim leave, I got up and prepared to take his suggestion to heart. But, I took the picture of Julia with me.
"Maybe he's right about one thing, Julia," I whispered to the picture of her. "That we truly are destined to be together, despite all that has happened between us. One day, we may confess our feelings, but God will set up that moment, I suppose."
With those words, I left my office and headed back to the hotel, knowing very well that Julia and I had taken the first step towards having a serious future together.
…
THE END