A/N: Ok so this is my first Iron Man story which for those who know my work, this could seem pretty random since I usually write SPN stories. Those who are familiar with my stories may recognize my OC who I just adore, and so I thought I would test her out in the Marvel universe. But I've had idea about an Iron Man/ Avengers story, that will probably be an AU. And the continuation of this story will be dependent on reader reception. So you guys like it, let me know... you don't well, I'll get back to my others stories. Let me know.

(Story is being edited so it doesn't look like it was written by a third grader.)

READ IT. ENJOY IT. REVIEW IT.


Marlo's café, was the epitome of a dump, but there was no doubt that Marlo's made the best cup of coffee in all of New York. At least in Katie's opinion. The first day she moved to New York all she had was twenty bucks and a dream. She just had the feeling that wouldn't be enough to make it in the big apple. And so she found herself at Marlo's draining her sorrows in one of the best cappuccinos ever when she spotted the help wanted sign on the counter. It was fate. And so three months later, here she was , standing behind the counter of Marlo's awaiting her next customer.

"Stupid son of a-!" she heard her boss yell from his office in the back. She gave an apologetic smile to the few customers there, before going to check out the problem. As she assumed it was her boss Raul Martines, Cuban native, who came to New York to live the American dream. That dream just didn't happen to include computers. He was in the middle of some Spanish swearing when he turned to see her in the doorway. "This stupid machine's not working" He whacked it again.

"Yeah, I don't think hitting it will help any Raul" Katie said walking over. "What's going on?"

"I'm trying to enter the payroll, but a box popped up and then another and then—"

"Alright, calm down" Katie replied. "I don't know much about computers, but maybe—" she walked over reading over the message on the screen. "Oh" Raul watched as his barista typed in a few keys before turning to him. "There, that should do it" she smiled. "No more hitting" she heard the sound of the counter bell and was off to tend to the customer.

And this was pretty much how her days went. Serving customers, playing referee between Raul and any computerized object, and then sweeping up before leaving.

Walking down the streets of New York, Katie often pondered the twists and turns of her life. But now her life was nice and quiet. Boring even, and she loved it. She arrived at her apartment ignoring the whistles of the shifty loiterers that always stood outside of her building. Apartment 4B. Even her address was boring. To her it was perfect. For so long she wished for boring, and now she finally had it, and she wasn't going to let anything stand in her way of keeping it. She walked into her apartment immediately greeted by her fat cat.

"Oh, Mr. Pickles" she cooed picking up the feline. Life before New York didn't allow her to have pets, but now she could. "How was your day?" she closed her door, before latching all six locks on the door. To anyone outside looking in it looked as if she were paranoid, but to her she was just being cautious. She typed in a code in the security system by the door before turning and walking into her apartment. It was small and the noise from the outside always got in, but it had four walls which was all she could hope for at its price. The building wasn't flashy, and the neighborhood never drew too much attention. She needed a hole to hide in and she'd found it. Pressing a kiss to Mr. Pickles head, Katie headed down the hall of her apartment, and walked into bedroom. This is where she spent most of her time, but not in the way one would believe. She sat Mr. Pickles down on the floor, before turning to her computer… actually computers. So maybe she did know something about computers. Katie sat down in front of her many monitors, tying in a few keys she watched as they all turned on, each showing something different. There were a few of the outside of the building They were security cameras she hooked up when she moved in. The others were the halls of the building, while the rest just played news from around the world. Mr. Pickles jumped up onto her leg and she scratched the top of his head.

"What is going on in the world today Mr. P?" she mumbled to her cat when the face of someone she'd come to recognize shown on her screen.

"And today on E-News, The one, the only, Billionaire, Playboy, and recently announced Iron Man Aka Tony Stark, tells us about what its like to be him" the correspondent says as a picture of said playboy pops up. "Tony has recently made news with is top of the line Stark Firewall , one he claims is impenetrable. Companies around the world have been hounding the scientist, but he has decided to keep the program solely at Stark Industries" the clip changes to Stark on some red carpet event.

"Mr. Stark, we've heard that your Firewall is practically bullet proof." the reporter says. "Have you had any hackers attempting to get through?"

"Many have tried, all have failed" Stark replied his condescending smirk in place. "But I'm not surprised, I mean I did create it."

"What an ass" Katie muttered, but the words impenetrable, and bullet proof did seem to catch her attention. She just shook it off, before standing to her feet and heading to take a shower.

That night Katie lie in bed ignoring that familiar itch in the tips of her fingers. She had to remind herself of the quiet and the boring life she finally had. Giving into that itch could just ruin things. Especially if the bringers of her noisy life ever found her.

The next day, Katie found herself staring up to the cracked ceiling of the café, her mind already thinking up algorithms to penetrate Stark's firewall. She shook her head, standing up straight before going to find something to distract herself.

Mid-day, it was time for Katie's lunch break, which she usually spent at the sandwich shop down the street from the café. She sat reading her book when the sound from the shops television caught her attention.

"If you're just tuning in, we just received word that two unidentified people have been arrested for attempting to hack Tony Stark's new Firewall" the news reporter announced. "Both are in custody"

Katie shook her head as she brought her book back up to read. Why couldn't she go anywhere without hearing about Tony Stark and this damn firewall.

"Stark's CEO, Ms. Virginia Potts, announced earlier that she and all of Stark industries are glad the perpetrators were caught, and glad their program is living up to its name. She also hopes this will dissuade all futures hackers from trying to access their files"

That night, Katie sat in her apartment sitting in front of her monitors, her fingers tapping furiously on the desk. Even now she's trying to talk herself out of doing what she so wanted to do. Not that she needed to access Stark files, but the moment she first saw it announced it seemed like a challenge. And one of her biggest flaws was that she could never turn down a challenge.

"You're not doing this" Katie muttered to herself as she stood to her feet. She turned her back to the computers, the only sign of her past life. "You can't do this" her fingers twitched at her side as she looked over her shoulder to the monitor. Their pull was too great, and before she could talk herself out of it, she was already sitting at her desk typing away.

Tony Stark stood in his work shop, tinkering away with his Iron suit when suddenly an alarm began blaring. He lifted his head and turned to his monitors in confusion.

"JARVIS?" Tony said lifting his head as he spoke to his AI. "What's happening?"

"It would seem sir someone is attempting to hack my system" JARVIS replied. Tony walked over to the monitor as JARVIS showed him where in his program the infiltration was taking place.

"Not again" Tony muttered propping a hand under his chin. "When will people learn—"

"Sir, the hacker has already broken threw the first security algorithm and is already working on the next" JARVIS informed his creator.

"Really?" Tony asked more intrigued than worried. Ever since they announced the program, they had people trying to hack it, all failing, never making it past the first firewall. That was the basis of his creation. He created the ultimate firewall by creating a program that held an unlimited amount of firewalls. The program was perfect, seeing as getting to the main frame would be next to impossible. But the fact that someone had found a away through one of the firewalls was actually kind of impressive. "JARVIS, can you track our new friend?"

"I have already attempted sir, but this particular hacker has hidden themselves behind an equally impressive firewall" JARVIS informed.

"Ooh, a challenge" Tony hummed before cracking his knuckles. "I accept" he began typing away to figure out who dare try and beat his program.

Katie smiled when she saw the attempt to hack her firewall. She knew there was a chance of her being found out, which is why she never broke into any system without precautions.

"It won't work Starkie" she sang as she continued typing. She had already made it through one of the firewalls, only to be hit with another one. "What did you do here?"

Tony cursed as he continued typing. This person was good. Kind of better than good. Every attempt to get past their firewall was blocked.

"JARVIS, I'm going to come at this from the front, you try to back" Tony ordered standing from his chair and moving to his holographic computer. He cracked his neck before lifting his hands and began working away.

Katie tilted her head when she noticed repetitive breaches coming at her firewalls. She expected he'd give it all he'd got, but she didn't know all he had might work. It would seem Mr. Stark wasn't all looks. There was now a time stamp and if she didn't finish soon, her quiet life was going to get a whole lot louder.

"Alright, so one firewall only brings up another, how did you—" a smile crossed Katie lips as a metaphorical light bulb seemed to shine above her head. "You son of bitch, you twisted the Rosemont theory" she shook her head as she thought about it. It made perfect sense. The theory twisted and altered could create program that actually didn't create a new firewall, just altering its sequence, making it seem like a new one. With a few more clicks of her keyboard, soon the word s "Welcome to Stark Industries" appeared on her screen.

"Sir" JARVIS called. "It seems they have figured it out" Tony already knew that the moment the breach to Stark Industries main frame appeared on the holograph.

"What are they doing, stealing files, programs, what?" Tony demanded angrily looking for the hackers next move, but nothing seemed to be happening.

"Actually sir, they seem to be gone" JARVIS said and Tony furrowed his brow in confusion. "Nothing seems to have been tampered with"

"Who hacks into one of the most sought after frames, and takes nothing?" Tony muttered to himself. It didn't make sense. His company held some of the most advanced technology in the world, much of it isn't even on the market yet. Their main frame was a gold mine. So who would break in and take absolutely nothing. " They didn't want anything" he said bringing a hand to his chin. He smirked before turning around. "JARVIS I want you to pull out the big guns and see if our friend left any prints behind, I want to find them"

Katie smiled reaching forward and switching off her system before standing to her feet to get ready for bed.

The next morning everything seemed right with the world again. After finally scratching that nagging itch, she could finally get back to her nice boring life. Or so she hoped.

She'd been refilling one of the coffee filters when she heard the sound of the bell behind her.

"I'll be with you in a minute" she called over her shoulder. Once she was finished she turned, and nearly stumbled back at the sight of two NYPD officers standing in front of her. One thing you don't want to see the day after hacking a billion dollar company are the police. She took a deep breath before smiling widely and taking a step forward. "What can I get for you officers?" The officers looked at her for a moment before looking to the item board behind her.

"Two black coffees" one of the officers said. Katie smiled and gave a nod.

"Coming right up" Katie replied before turning to get their orders. After that, the day seemed to go off without any more hitches. People came in, she gave them their coffee and then they left.

"Don't you have a life chica" Raul asked as he watched Katie wiping down the table. She looked over to him and smiled. "You're young, pretty, and I know you're smart, what are you doing in this dump?"

"I like this dump" she replied with shrug. "Plus, compared to my past, this is actually a step up" she looked back down to the tables. "I think this is me happy"

She walked toward her apartment thinking of what she'd said. Was she happy? She thought so. This life, this new life, was all she ever wanted, but she didn't know if she would go as far as saying she was happy. Though, the night before, hacking that system, she was almost giddy. There was no feeling compared to diving into the ultimate puzzle and coming out victorious.

Katie stepped inside of her apartment, flipping on the light, and stopping. Something seemed off. She closed the door behind her slowly. She stepped quietly to the desk next to her door, reaching under and grabbing the gun she had tapped underneath. She couldn't help but feel that the further she stepped the louder her life got. She needed to turn around and runaway. There was nothing here she couldn't replace. An impeccably sent message could wipe everything from her computers in an instant, but another flaw of Katie's was her curiosity. She'd been careful, treaded lightly. She was by definition the wind, so who possibly could've found her. Katie pushed open the door to her bed room and to her surprise there was someone sitting at her desk. He swiveled around to face her.

"You're a chick" he said.

"And you're Tony Stark" Katie replied slipping her gun behind her, and stuffing it in her pants. "You broke into my apartment"

"You broke into my company" he replied standing to his feet. "How did you do that by the way?" she watched him closely as he took steps toward her. "Don't get me wrong I'm totally angered that you threatened the security of my company, my employees, and my clients, but then there's that part of me who really interested in the how, so tell me or I call the police and you spend an awful long time being felt up by some chick named big Sue" He stepped in front of her, his eyes traveling over her petite frame. "So tell me" she looked up to the man, before moving around him to the window and peeking out. There was no signs of a police presence. He would be pompous enough to show up here alone.

"You're an idiot" she said turning back to him. "You came here alone"

"Sure I did" Tony replied sarcastically. "Let's just say I have a code word and once that word is spoken—"

"Stop talking please" she interrupted already annoyed by his voice. "You're here alone, which one is stupid, because I could be some crazy psycho killer who likes chopping annoying rich guys into a million pieces"

"Well I'm Iron man and you're just some computer geek whose really good at hacking into advanced firewalls" Tony replied walking over to her. "Tell me how you did it"

"Magicians never reveal their secrets, Mr. Stark" Katie replied walking around him, not liking being trapped between him and the wall. "Look, I didn't see anything, I didn't download anything, and I won't hack your system again, so sleep well knowing that everything your father worked for is safe"

"My father—"

"Yes your father, a real genius, you know the man whose probably rolling around in his grave every time a picture of his son falling over drunk with a bunch of models shows up on the cover of some rag magazine" Katie replies turning and walking out of the room.

"Certainly a lot of opinion for someone I just met" Tony replied following after her.

"Well you get my opinion when you break into my apartment" Katie said turning back to him. "Now leave" she turned back around walking to a closet, and grabbing a duffel bag,

"Going somewhere?" Tony asked, but this time she didn't reply. "You don't have to run, I won't—" she turned to him. "I think we can make a deal"

"A deal?" Katie asked dropping the bag on the floor and crossing her arms over her chest. "What kind of deal Mr. Stark?"

"You're good at what you do, that's something we over at Stark Industries could use" Tony said taking a step toward her. "Plus we have all of the best toys, you'd just wet yourself if you took a look at our R&D department"

"I hack into your baby and now you're offering me a job?" Katie asked. She could already hear the noise coming into her life the longer this conversation went on.

"No, I'm offering you a job because you hacked my baby" Tony replied. "I worked for days to perfect to Rosemont theory to create that firewall"

"If it makes you feel any better, the chances that anyone else will hack your system is really low" Katie replied with a shrug. "Hell you add some pieces of string I've been working on and it truly will be impenetrable."

"Is that a yes?" Tony asked and Katie looked over to him with a smiled and just shook her head.

"What do you know about me Mr. Stark?" Katie asked and he shrugged. "Let me guess, nothing. And that doesn't throw up a bunch of red flags. I am a ghost and I need to stay that way. Working for you doesn't do that, and so I'm leaving" she picked up her bag and headed for the door.

"I don't think you want to be ghost" Tony said and she stopped. "The moment you broke down that first firewall, you revived yourself" she turned back to him. "Fine you're running from someone, you need to hide, then fine, I'll help you—"

"I don't need your help Mr. Stark" Katie interrupted. "I'm fine with the way things are, you interrupted my quiet and now I have to find it somewhere else" she looked down to her watch. "And if you'll excuse me, you're really noisy and that amount of noise draws attention, attention I can't afford to have" She turned around just as Mr. Pickles strode into her path. She stepped forward picking him up into her arms. "I'm sorry Mr. P, I screwed up and now I have go and I have to leave you" she placed a kiss on the cat's head, before releasing him onto the floor. She glanced over her shoulder to the one man she really didn't need standing in her living room. "I was serious before, your company is safe, your people are safe, hurting you or your company was not my intentions"

"And what were your intentions?" Tony asked.

"You shouldn't have called it impenetrable" she said with an accusing finger. "You created the challenge and I couldn't turn it down, now I won and have to deal with the consequences." She turned back to the door, opening it only to take a couple of steps back. "So you didn't come alone"

"Nope" Tony replied. "Colonel Rhodes, meet—" he turned to Katie. "You know I didn't catch your name"

"Katie" she replied taking a step back, her eyes on the colonel in front of her. She'd seen him before on television and knew he wouldn't make a getaway easy. "And I just want to leave"

"That's not going to happen" Rhodes replied before looking over to Tony. "So this is her, the woman who hacked you system?"

"Yep" Tony replied and with a nod Rhodes took out his phone. "Wait!" Katie looked over to him. "Ok, so Rhodes has been bugging me to call the cops, which I would do if I didn't meet you and wasn't completely intrigued, which isn't easy to do, trust me"

"Tony—"

"One sec Rhodey" Tony said holding up a hand. "It's a job, one where you don't have to sneak around to do what you obviously love" he pointed toward her bedroom. "I mean the tech you have it's impressive, not something you would have if you really wanted a quiet life"

"You're saying I want the excitement?" Katie asked shaking her head.

"I'm saying there's a reason you hacked into my system, me Tony freaking Stark" Tony replied. "C'mon you had to know it wouldn't be that easy, that there would be backlash" he walked over to her. "You wanted the backlash"

"Tony if this woman did hack your computer, there's no telling what she's capable of" Rhodes said and Katie turned back to him. "She could be a threat to national security. We need to figure out who she is and—"

"That gets me put in computers right?" she asked already knowing the answer. She couldn't afford to show up in any file at all. Because when that happened, the dogs chasing her would have her. She looked around the colonel to the door, awaiting the perfect opportunity to make a run for it. Tony watched her closely knowing what she was thinking. He slipped his cell phone from his pocket.

"Hey over here!" he said and both Rhodes and Katie turned to him just as a flash shined in front of her.

"Did you just—"

"I'm sure I'll figure out who you are once I get this on every bandwidth out there" Tony said smiling down to the picture. He looked back up to the glare the woman was sending him. "So about that job offer…"


A/N: So there you have it. I think it's could be a one shot, but definitely has the possibility if a multi-chapter story. I mean there are still a couple of questions that still could be answered. I guess it's up to the readers.

PS: For readers of my SPN stories don't hate me for posting this when I haven't finished my other stories. I will I promise, but I move where inspiration sways me.