Disclaimer: I do not own General Hospital, nor Ironman. This are for amusement only, and nothing else.

Summary: "You find things that matter and you hold onto them. You hold onto the so tight, and you don't let go. No matter what."

Pairings: Tony Stark/Elizabeth Webber, mentions of past relationship

Timeline: 2009, set directly after the Avengers

Need to Know: It's before Lucky and Liz reconciled.

Inspiration: I've been doing at lot of X-Men/General Hospital stories lately, but I wanted to do something a little different. I found an old picture of the original Cameron, and noted that he looked like he could have played RDJ's son. That was where this plot bunny was born, so I hope you all enjoy it.

Inspired by the songs:

"Take Your Time" by Sam Smith

"Dust to Dust" by the Civil Wars

"Two Ships" by Stephanie Lynn

The Things That Matter

By ThroughtheMirrorDarkly

CHAPTER ONE of TWO

2009

The Battle of New York was won.

So naturally the Avengers celebrated…by eating shawarma.

They sat around a circular table, in the middle of a half destroyed restaurant where the owner was valiantly trying to sweep up the impossible mess. No one said anything. Either they had nothing good to say, or they were too exhausted to speak. It was strangely awkward, though Tony didn't really care. He was used to the awkward. It explained half of his life, and he chewed on the piece of the meat wrap which was called shawarma. He had wondered what shawarma was, and can he say that he very disappointed? Oh, the food was good, but he had been hoping for something stranger than this.

"Sir?" Jarvis's voice interrupted the silence.

"Go Jarvis," Tony said, nonchalantly.

"I have a call, sir. It's from Miss Webber. She sounded quite distressed. Young Cameron is in the hospital-"

"Cameron is in the hospital?" Tony stood up, immediately alarmed. The other Avengers all paused, and looked at him with varying degrees of curiosity.

"Yes, sir. From the information I gathered, the situation is quite dire. It appears that someone named Trevor Lansing has released a toxin within the hospital and Lucky Spencer, the boys father in law brought him into the building along with Miss Webber's youngest Jake," Jarvis informed him, and if an AI could sound concerned, then Jarvis was concerned.

"That son of bitch," Tony nearly shouted. "That son of a bitch!"

"Stark, what is going on?" Steve was the first to ask. He had never seen Stark lose his cool, not like this. This was different than on the SHIELD carrier. This was pure rage, and it startled the captain.

"I have to go," Tony said, a frantic edge to his voice as he walked around the group. "I have to go."

"Go where?" Clint asked, rising out of his seat. "What is going on Stark? Who is Cameron Webber?"

"My son," Tony bit out, and shoved on his helmet. He had managed to get the face plant back into place at it had been ripped off by the Hulk. Without another word, Ironman flew off up into the sky and headed towards Port Charles as fast as he could.

2003

It didn't start off as love. Not even love at first sight.

It started off as understanding. An understanding between two people who had been through too much, and held so much deep inside keeping the world at bay with smiles that no one bother to take the time to see were fake. I walked into this bar, looking for a good scotch to burn away the memories and that's when I saw her. This beautifully flawed woman sitting alone by herself trying to drown away her memory. God only knows what the hell she saw in me.

Tony Stark was none for being good at many things. Being a genius, a playboy, a philanthropist and he was very good at these things. He was even better at driving people away. Hiding his problems because sarcastic and witty and cutting them down with his tongue. He never let anyone see beneath the mask, see down to his heart because then they would see too much.

Being alone was easier than doing that.

He sipped on his scotch, letting it burn down the back of his throat. He was here for one thing, to drink himself into oblivion to forget the dull feeling inside of him. The weight of his name upon his shoulders, a burden that no one would understand because they thought him lucky. They didn't see the trapped look in his eyes, they didn't see the man who hid behind the smirk, or the scandals. They saw one fragment of Tony Stark, but they would never see the real man inside.

He ran his dark eyes across the small town bar. He looked decidedly out of place with his Armani suit and his designer sunglass. He was determined as he finished his scotch, and gestured for the bartender to pour him another, to lose him the alcohol and preferably someone else. That's when he saw her sitting at the other end of the bar nursing a beer.

She was a slight thing, with long brunette hair that cascaded down her back in waves and porcelain skin. She was beautiful, model quality type of woman, but there was something in the way she held herself. A defeated look about her that echoed the feeling inside of him, and the next thing he knew, he was on his feet and walked over towards her. He took a seat beside her, and sat there for a several moments of silence.

"So…what are you running from?" Tony inquired, curiously. He liked knowing things, and he'd really like to know this woman right here. He wanted something to take him mind of the pain of losing Pepper, and he could see the same need to forget pain in the way she held herself.

She arched a brow at him. "I'm not running anywhere. Just sitting," came back the very short reply. Her hand tightened around the bottle of beer, a nervous quiver in her finger tips.

"You sitting in a bar. Usually that a good sign that you're running from something," Tony commented, with a sardonic smile on his face. "Why do think that I am here? For the water down scotch?"

There was a small twitch of her lips. She regarded him those blue eyes of hers, and she relaxed a fraction in her chair. "I'm more of a beer girl," she held up her bottle slightly before she took a sip of it. "Elizabeth," she introduced herself.

"Tony," he smiled, charmingly.

"So what are you running from, Tony?" Elizabeth asked, lightly.

"Ah, cute," he pointed a finger at him. "But I'm not that easy. You want answer, you have to work for it."

Elizabeth gave him a reluctant smile. "And how do I earn it exactly?" She arched an eyebrow at him, after taking another sip of her beer.

Tony had a few thoughts, but he had a feeling this girl right this second would turn him down flat if he suggested them now. "You tell me three things that I would find surprising about you, and I will return the favor," Tony challenged, giving an over exaggerated waggle of his eyebrow.

Elizabeth tried to fight a smile, but she couldn't. She stared at him over the rim of her beer bottle, and leaned back in her seat languidly. She had for a moment thought about ending this little game, because she hadn't come to the bar looking for company. Friendly or otherwise, but there was something about this man right of front of her. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something there.

She straightened her spine, and had a challenge in her eyes that inexplicably pleased Tony. "I faked my death," she told him, her eyes narrowed ever so slightly to gauge his reaction.

Tony's eyebrow shot up. He wondered what story was there because there had to be a good one and at the same time, he was surprised. Usually he didn't care to learn more about his potential one night stands, but there was something about this woman. Maybe it was because when he looked into her eyes, it was like staring into a mirror. The same haunted quality lingered in her eyes. "Unusual hobby. I prefer the hobby of renewing my membership to the mile high club," he told her, with a smirk.

Elizabeth gave a startled laugh. It had been a long time since she actually really laughed. All the pain and anger she had been holding in slowly ebbed away. "And how often do you have to do that?" She inquired, with a half smirk.

"Oh, every chance I get," Tony's smirk broaden. "I would love to get a chance with you."

"Whoa, not so fast," Elizabeth placed a finger to his chest. "It takes a lot more than that to sweep me off my feet. Besides, I do believe we have a game to finish."

"We do," Tony nodded.

"Alright…" Elizabeth thought for a moment. Running her fingers through her brown locks, and then her eyes lit up when she thought of something. "Oh, I've drunk poison before."

"Not the healthiest of choices," Tony remarked, a wry look on his face.

"I didn't exactly have a choice," she sighed, heavily. She ran her fingers through her hair, feeling the buzz a lot stronger now that she was on third beer. "A friend was in danger, and there was a whole lot of drama. It's too big and complicated story, filled with a lot of emotional baggage. Not the kind of stuff I want to get into."

"Fair enough," Tony inclined his head. His brows scrunched together, and he tapped his chin thoughtfully. "When I was sixteen, I accidentally blew up my school bus."

"What?" Elizabeth's eyes went wide.

"Honestly it wasn't even my fault," Tony divulged, without a lick of shame in his voice as he shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant way. "My innovations on the bus engine were brilliant, and would have worked if Mr. Hart hadn't shown up during a very delicate stage in my work. It is not my fault that my ex-principal had little knowledge of the inner workings of science."

"Right." Her voice was filled with skepticism, but there was a good natured smile on her face. "Well, can't say I've ever blown anything up. Nearly been blown up, but never actually been the cause of one," Elizabeth had her hand over her mouth to hide her smile. She sat there for a long moment, and mulled over her third admission. There were several second spent in silence as she looked down into her beer bottle, her brows knotted together. "I've forgotten what it means to be happy."

Tony watched the somberness fall over her face, eclipsing the light in her eyes. "What do you mean?" He asked, his voice low and quiet. Even though he asked, he knew what her answer would be. He felt the exact same way.

"I've been afraid of doing to the things that made me happy, or the things that I truly wanted. I stopped fighting for them, and I deserved what I got," Elizabeth said, after taking the last sip of her beer. She set the bottle with a harsh clank against the top of the bar. "I got a man that was so obsessed with destroying his own brother, more than loving me. I got a man so sick that he held a pregnant woman so he could take her child to make up for the one that I lost. I didn't fight for the person I truly wanted to be with, and I settled for a monster instead."

Tony stared at for a long moment, and he felt an ache inside of his chest. It was an answering call to the hollow look inside her eyes as she stared blankly out at nothing. Before he could stop himself, he reached out with hand and cupped the side of his face. Her wide, blue expressive eyes flickered up to his face with a mute surprise and she stared at him like she had never seen anything like him before. "You know you never answered," Tony said, quietly. "What are you running from?"

Elizabeth drew in a shaky breath. "Everything," she whispered out. There was a split second of stillness where they stared at each other as if seeing each other for the first time, then she reached towards him. Her hand knotted into his thousand dollar suit, and she pulled him towards her. His lips crashed against her in a fierce battle, and his arms wrapped around her pulling her close.

The two of the left the bar together, and forgot their pain for a little while together.

Spinelli came to get a check up on his wounded foot, and was walking down the hallway with Maximista by his side when a blur of red and gold came flying up the stair case. It past them by with such force that it nearly knocked them over, and Maxie nearly screamed, "What the hell?"

Before the Jackal could begin to make a coherent response, the red and gold blur came back towards before it halted in the air. Spinelli thought he was going to die from pure joy and shock. He could not believe his eyes! Had the doctors given him some kind of hallucinogen by mistake? A quick glance at Maxie and her totally shocked face made him realize that he was indeed not having a hallucination.

The Ironman was really in front of him in all of his glory!

"I am not worthy!" Spinelli practically threw himself at Ironman's feet, but Maxie got him before he could make a complete fool of himself.

"Uh…right," Ironman pointed a finger at Spinelli. "Mental patient?"

"Overly enthusiastic fan," Maxie countered, hotly. While some things, like this, Spinelli did embarrassed her, she wasn't about to let someone make fun of him.

"Even worse," Ironman sighed. "I don't suppose you know where Elizabeth Webber is by any chance?" He asked, pointed to the left than to the right.

"The Maternal One?" Spinelli's head shot up as he broke out of his hero worship haze. "What would the Great Man of Iron needed with the Loyal Maternal One?"

Ironman stared, deadpanned. "You know what? I'll find her one my own," he said, after a pause. He lifted about a foot off the ground before he zoomed down the halfway and out of sight.

"B-but wait!" Spinelli broke free of Maxie's hold and raced down the hallway after the hero. "I haven't got a picture!"

"Spinelli!" Maxie looked at him with exasperation. "Ugh, why couldn't I have fallen in love with a semi sane guy?" She asked herself, before running as fast as she could in six in heels.

"I cannot believe that you could be this…this stupid!" Elizabeth Webber was completely furious. There were only a handful of times that she had been this furious in her life, and she glared heatedly up at her ex-husband. "How could you bring Cameron into this? How could bring Jake into this? Did it ever occur to you for one second that you should bring children into a place where people are dropping like flies?"

"Elizabeth, it isn't his fault," Sam was there to defend Lucky.

"You," Elizabeth pointed a threatening finger at the brunette, "do not get an opinion in this matter. You are just as bad as he is. This whole bio attack is because you two wanted to play Nancy Drew and brought the mob down on this place. There had been explosions, and gunfights, and innocent people dying. Did you two even stop to think about the repercussion of what you were doing? How could Mac even let this…" She caught the look on her ex's face, and she felt her stomach twist in disgust. "He doesn't know, does he? God, Lucky, when are you going to grow up and realize that you aren't a hero? That what you do has consequences?"

"Elizabeth," Lucky began.

"No. No, I don't want to hear it. I'm done hearing it," she said, shaking her head. It took everything in her not to hit him in that moment. "To hell with you, Lucky. Don't you ever come near by boys again. Ever."

"That's not fair, Elizabeth," Sam grabbed the brunette by her arm.

Elizabeth jerked her arm free. "My son…is in a hospital bed fighting for his life against something that has no known cure. You either suffer through it, or you die. I really don't care about what's fair right now, Sam," she told the other woman, her voice filled with bitterness and anger. "Especially not where it concerns either of you."

She marched off with her head held high, but her heart was breaking in her chest. She thought she could trust Lucky, she thought she could trust him to be responsible where the boys were concerned, but it was a fool's faith. Part of her had always known that Lucky wanted to play here, and that he would always end up paying the price for that. She never realized that she would have to pay it, too. How could she be so stupid? If she had let the past or sentimental get to her and stuck to her guns to keeping Lucky out of her life…this never would have happened.

She had repeated the same mistake, let herself forgive the people who screwed her over, and this time her baby was suffering for it. Angry tears pooled down her cheeks, and her hands curled into fists. With a loud shout, she slammed her fist into the wall once. Then again, and again, and again until all her fingers were numb. She was so caught up in the act that she barely hear the faint rush of wind and slight mechanical whirl.

"It would be a shame for a surgeon nurse to destroy her carrier over getting into a fight with a wall," came the familiar cocky voice that she had missed so dearly. The one that had became her rock, and confident then had abruptly disappeared from her life altogether.

She turned and found herself staring at Ironman. He planted his feet on the ground before he walked towards her, his face plate sliding upward revealing his face.

That's when Elizabeth slapped him.

END OF CHAPTER!

Hope you all enjoyed!

RRs are appreciated.