I absolutely promised myself I would never write an OC story since they're so rarely read, but eh, I guess things happen, right? Pre-movie. By a lot. And Tony's a little OOC...I think. Relatively plot-less. More of a character study than anything else. Also, does anyone know how old Tony Stark is is supposed to be? I always imagined around thirty five or thirty six.

Also, there's this really big time skip between the second to last part and the last part. Just saying that in advance.

Disclaimer: Don't own.

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I.

"Oh, goddammit."

The woman catches Tony Stark by surprise as he rounds the corner to the restroom hallway, trying to sneak away from all the kids who want autographs and the science nerds who want to spew ideas at him because they're stupid enough to think that he and they are anywhere near the same level. There are a lot of things Tony hates, and giving speeches at conventions sits right up top, not far below long winded press conferences. The woman at the end of the hall has a paper towel in one hand, trying to wipe off a stain. She's moderately hot, he's bored out of his mind, and he's never cared much about having a quick fuck in a public place as long as there's somewhere to hide because, well -

Well, even he's not that bad.

"Need some help?" he asks, heading over, hands in his pocket.

She shakes her head, not looking up, scrubbing furiously at the bright red stain. Some kid's fault, he assumes. Everything about the woman screams teacher or parental chaperon. It's the blue flats and loose white dress that does it. "Unless you have another dress on standby or cleaning super powers, then no, not particularly. But thanks anyway."

"They sell sweaters right outside," he points out.

"I spent my money on the drinks," she answers an throws the towel away before finally looking up. "You - Holy shit." Her face colors red. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" she says. "I didn't - um, I - Well, damn, I sound like an idiot. Did -"

About half the women he meets have this reaction, and he shuts her up with a smile. He says, "Don't worry about it," before sticking out his hand. "Tony Stark."

"I know," she says, shaking his hand. "I mean - oh god, I sound so - Shoshanna Schneck, but people call me Shanna. Not that - nevermind."

Now that he can actually see the girl - Shoshanna's - face, he verifies his first impression of her being only moderately attractive. Her hair is short and dark brown, her eyes pretty much the same color, on the small side of average in terms of height, a pair of angled black glasses sliding down her narrow nose. But at the moment the water and spilled drink are making her white blouse stick to her body and he can see that she must be a teacher because hell if any parent has a figure like that. Then again, a teacher shouldn't either.

He runs his fingers through his hair and takes another glance at the giant red stain. No way she's hiding that one. "Wait here," he says, "I'll get you a sweater."

She blinks owlishly. "What?"

With a single-shoulder shrug, he answers, "You said you need a sweater."

"You don't have to," she says quickly. "I'll just -"

"Hey, I'm Tony Stark," he says, cutting her off. "Trust me, a it's no big deal."

After a moment, she nods. "Sure," she says. "Okay. Um, I'll stay here, I guess. This is stain is just - god, today is horrible. Sorry, um - yeah, I'll just wait right here."

He isn't sure why he's buying some random chick a sweater, but he supposes that he's so damn bored that he might as well. He leaves her in the hallway near the girl's restroom and heads to the booth directly at the end, cutting the short line. Someone objects loudly, but hell if he cares. There are sweaters with pandas on the back, having something to do with biological research and an out-of-place save the animals fundraiser. He picks a red and yellow one because even he can tell that green and yellow are just...no (Pepper would be proud).

"That one," he says, pointing past the acne-faced boy manning the booth. One of the good things about having a company ready for him is that he had a chance to miss out on the whole demeaning job stage of life. The boy nods dumbly, mouth a little open in surprise, and pulls it down as Tony gets his wallet from his pocket. "How much?"

"Free," the guy answers, and Tony isn't shocked. "I love your work, Mr. Stark. How'd you think of using green energy to power your business?"

"Because I'm brilliant," he says, not caring how bored he sounds. He slips his wallet away and takes the sweater from him. "Thanks, kid."

As he walks away, the boy calls out, "Any time, Mr. Stark!" a little too eagerly. When he reenters the hallway, Shanna sighs in relief.

Taking the sweater offered, she says, "Thank you. I - sorry."

Women apologize too much about everything. "No problem," he says as she pulls it on. "I guessed you were a small. Hope it fits."

It's guy sizes and even though it's a small, it's baggy. She looks like a cheerleader putting on her boyfriend's jacket, minus the panda bear. She repeats, "Thank you, Mr. Stark."

"Just Tony's fine." Mr. Stark makes him sound too much like his father. "So what're you doing here? You don't look like the science type...no offense."

Shanna smiles. "None taken," she answers. "And you're right, I'm awful. No, I'm a high school history teacher, but my school has off today and my sister couldn't make it, so I'm stuck as a chaperon for my niece."

So he was right on both accounts. "The stain's because of a kid?"

"Fifth graders aren't known for their poise. There's a reason I teach juniors and seniors."

Since Tony hates everyone below college graduate age, and most people over it too, he gets it. "How'd you get away from a whole gaggle of ten-year-olds?" he asks. He should get coffee. Now that he's talking to her, he can tell that she's a little too panicky at the moment to be woo-able.

She says, "The teacher took over so I get this off," and zips up the sweater halfway. With her figure hidden, she appears even plainer than before, and way more than most women he ends up in bed with. "Okay. I better get back or Aileen'll complain to my sister. I was great meeting you, Mi - Tony. Um, bye."

"You too," he says and lets her walk away a little before turning and asking, "So what're you doing tonight?"

Then she turns too, facing him, brown eyes wide with surprise. So maybe he changed his mind pretty quickly, but he tends to do that a lot. "N-nothing," she says. "Just heading home. Why?"

"Well," he says, leaning against the wall, "tomorrow's Saturday and there's this small Irish bar downtown. We can meet up if won't be too tired from the devil children."

For a moment, there's nothing. Then, "Sure! Do you mean the Irish Rose on Wall Street?"

"No, the other one," he says. She nods. Either she lives in New York or somewhere close because that's pretty obscure. "Great. Show up around eight-ish if you want to meet."

The smile on her face is bordering on enthusiastic, but she doesn't give any overly cheerful outburst, which is good. Few things are more of a turnoff. "Yeah," she says and nods again. "Sounds good. Um, I better get back, but I'll see you later."

"See'ya."

Before she fully turns away, he catches a hesitation in her smile, and thinks that she must be pretty smart. Not many women realize he might stand them up. And because she does, he decides he won't because surprise is a pretty good look for her.

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II.

The exasperated way her sister looks at her has remained the same ever since they were kids, and Shoshanna likes it about as much now as she did back then. "Aw, come on, Penny," she says as she pulls on a pair of her nicer jeans, not wanting to seem too dressed up, but not wanting to look casual either, "it's Tony Stark."

Penny sighs and rolls her eyes. "We haven't had Shabbat together in like a year, Shanna," she says, "and Tal was looking forward to it. And he might not even show up. You read the tabloids in the dentist's office too, so don't pretend that you haven't heard what he's like."

"Like People is anything to go off of." But this is as much to reassure herself as it is to reassure her sister, so she keeps the worry out of her face. "We'll do it next week, okay? I'll cancel practice so I can make it by sundown."

"Are you allowed to do that two weeks in a row?"

She shrugs. "I have tenure," she says, which is enough of an answer. "And I won't cancel, just leave it for the assistant coach to take over for a day." Penny doesn't say anything, but the look is enough to get her meaning across. With a groan, Shanna adds, "Okay, so it isn't really the best thing to do, especially since it looks like the boys are going to States so I have to think up a new routine, but I really want to take this chance because it's not exactly like guys are lining up at the door for me and it's - well, you know."

After a moment of looking her up and down, Penny finally says, "Okay. Fine. But if he hasn't shown up within half an hour, you're texting me and coming straight back here. And you're making it up to Tal next week, understand?"

Despite both being adults, her sister's protective streak hasn't died. She turns around again, facing the full length mirror on her sister's door. Dark jeans, another pair of flats, white t-shirt, and the sweater he got her earlier that goes surprisingly well with the outfit. So much for wearing this tomorrow. "Is it tacky for me to wear this?" she asks, indicating the panda sweater. "I mean, I can wear that denim jacket I left your closet..."

"You look beautiful," says Penny, standing and slipping an arm around her shoulders. She's a little taller than Shoshanna (who's five two), though they were the same height before the back surgery, "and anyone who says otherwise is an idiot."

Compliments have always made her uncomfortable over the past few years and just because this one came from a family member doesn't make it any less awkward. "Thanks," she mumbles, pushing her glasses up her nose. "I better head out. If I wait any longer, it'll move from fashionably late to seriously late."

"I'll go tell Tal," her sister says, giving her a little hug. "Go have fun, Shanna. And make sure to mention it in front of Chris on Monday."

"I -"

But Penny is already gone, off to tell her daughter that the aunt she loves is disappointing her again, and leaves her alone with her reflection.

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III.

For the first time ever, Tony's the first one to show up for a date, or whatever this is. He orders a drink and waits at the bar, and had shooed two people away from the seat next to him when Shanna enters. She's wearing the sweater she got him, and after a moment of scanning the room, she finds him.

"Hi," she says when she comes over, sitting on the stool he saved for her (another first). "How was the rest of your day?"

"Boring," he answers. "So I'm taking it you survived the field trip?"

With a laugh bordering on nervous, she says, "Barely. Fifth grade is the age when girls figure out the art of being bitchy and when guys stay about as immature as before but think they're cool."

He raised his hand to signal to the bartender to come over. "My fifth grade teacher was a dick," he says. "Made all my classmates look like the nicest people in the world."

"Mine's the one who got me interested in history." This conversation is dull and from the look on her face, she knows it too.

The bartender asks, "What can I get for you?"

"Just a glass of pina grigio, please," she answers. When the guy's gone, she glances sideways to Tony. "Yeah, I'm not much of a drinker." It's also the cheapest on the menu, he notices, and he has a feeling it's more that than anything else. She adds, "So how long're you here?"

"Technically until noon," he says, "but it's a personal plane, so I'm not exactly constrained to time. Do you live here?"

She shakes her head. "Jersey," she says. "Middle of nowhere, Jersey, I should say."

"Haven't been to Jersey in a while," he says, trying to remember the last time. He comes up blank, but thinks it had something to do with a museum. Or a college. Whatever, he was probably drunk at the time anyway.

"Considering that there's nothing to do," she says, sipping her wine, "I don't blame you. At least I live an hour from here, or I'd have nothing to do when I finished grading."

I've never been on a date with a teacher, he thinks. Normally it's photographers or journalists or someone along those lines because women usually approach him rather than the other way around. "You drove an hour to get here?"

Again, she shakes her head. "My sister lives uptown. Anyway, so what's inventing like?"

They go in circles of padding conversation for a while before the subject changes and by the end of the night her number's in his phone and he has her pressed against the wall brick wall of the Japanese place next door. In the end, it starts to rain and she catches a cab to go home and this is the first time in a long while that he's been on a date that he's enjoyed.

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IV.

Shoshanna's phone vibrates during her lunch break Monday afternoon as she sits in the teacher's lounge. When she pulls it out, she sees that it's a text from Tony, replying to the one she sent the night before. Despite herself, she smiles brightly and types back her message maybe a little too quickly. Her sister's advice to her as a kid was to never make herself too available but since Friday she seems to be failing miserably.

"Oh, I know that look," says Janet as she eats her noodle soup. "Who's the lucky guy, Shanna?"

Chris, who shares the lunch break with her for the fifth year in a row, looks over the top of his book, attempting to be subtle. As casually as she can manage, she answers, "Tony Stark."

A shocked silence falls. Then Chris says, "You're kidding, right?" She shakes her head and he puts his book down. "Fine. Where'd you meet him?"

"The science convention," she says. "You know, that field trip I subbed for my sister on?"

"So the two of you went on a date?" says Janet.

"Well, I wouldn't call it a date," she answers. "All we did was go to a -"

Chris cuts her off with, "I wouldn't have pegged you as a person to date a catalysis for war. Besides, didn't your Politics and Government class discuss the moral standing of Stark Industries at length?"

Before she can answer, her phone goes off again. stuck in a press conference, it reads. "It's not like I'm dating a politician," she says, trying to bite back her instinctive defensive response and failing miserably. She's always defensive around him. She texts back, poor soul. boring, or tedious? "Anyway, bell's about to ring and I have a study hall to get to."

"See you in the meeting," says Janet, sending a weak glare at their colleague. Chris goes back to his book and says nothing. "Good luck with Stark, Shanna."

"Thanks," she says, standing. Her cell phone vibrates again and she leaves the room with her fingers flying across the screen.

She forgets to say goodbye.

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V.

Some time within the last two weeks, Tony's phone inbox ends up filled with messages from Shanna, and his sent box is just as bad. Considering that he rarely keeps in contact with girls, this is something new.

On Tuesday at the end of October, he asks Pepper, "Do I have anything on the east coast coming up?"

Over the edge of his phone, he sees his assistant pause. "You have nothing until the middle of November," she answers and resumes walking. "You can continue working on whatever you think of for a while without interruption."

"Hm." He opens her latest text sent three hours. After answering, he says, "I feel like spending Halloween in New York."

"Why?"

He shrugs. "Because I do. I'll talk to you later, I'm going to call Rhodey."

As he exits the room, he misses the miserable look on Pepper's face.

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VI.

Tony stumbles out of the shower just as Shoshanna finishes making their coffee. His hair's wet and sticking out at all angles and she can't imagine hers looks much better. She hasn't stayed in a suite since her prom weekend nearly twelve years earlier, and it's considerably nicer than she remembers, though that isn't saying much. Her memory of those three days is blurry from cheap rum and secondhand highs.

"Took you long enough," she says, handing him his coffee, and he kisses her good morning.

With a yawn, he says, "You wake up too fucking early, Shanna."

"I'm a teacher, remember?" The kitchen table is little and square and she sits across from him, hands on either side of her mug. Outside it's flurrying and it's only November first. "I'm pretty much programmed to be out of the house by six."

"Sucks to be you." He runs his fingers through his hair, making it even messier. "My shirt looks good on you."

The clothes she wore are too thin for this weather, so she threw on one of his button downs after her shower. "It's also very comfy," she answers, and glances at the clock on the microwave. "I'll give it back before I leave."

He shakes his head. "Keep it," he says.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

She looks down at her coffee. "What time do you leave?" she asks. Instead of answering, he shrugs. "I have to go in time to grade papers. You called me in the middle."

"Sorry about that," he says. "It was a spur of the moment decision."

"The distraction was worth it. Want to go out to breakfast?"

"Are you willing to risk a run-in with any adventurous journalists?"

Though they aren't anything serious (and, truthfully, even seeing him again was a bit of surprise), she has thought about this. Getting into a relationship or anything similar with Tony is almost on equal ground with doing the same thing with a movie star, or famous musician. Media attention is inevitable. "Yeah," she answers. "The Flame's right down the street if you want to go there."

"Is the food good?"

"Yes."

"Then lets go."

They eat breakfast and spend the rest of the day together and later it takes her until two in the morning to finish the grading. The exhaustion come Monday is worth it.

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VII.

"I was a cheerleader in high school," Shanna tells him Thanksgiving weekend. They're sitting on his deck in California, playing a card game and she's keeping up with him surprisingly well. "Captain, actually, come senior year. And now I coach it."

Tony dated two cheerleaders back in high school, and though one of his first impressions was that she looks like one, it still comes as a surprise. She's too quiet, too embarrassed by attention. "So that's why it's so hard to meet up?" She nods, and puts down three Aces. Her luck with cards seems to be stealing his because there's nothing he can do with the ones in his hands. "I played basketball. Hated it."

She looks at him, confused. "If you hated it, then why do it?"

"Because it was better than our football team and easy to show off," he answers, and Shanna rolls her eyes. "What made you cheer?"

"Honestly?" she says. "I wanted to be popular, had taken dance for eleven years before entering high school, and I figured I was coordinated and fit enough to try out. And it worked, obviously. Stupid, right?"

"Are you seriously asking me this?" She laughs. "Yeah, thought so."

For a while, neither of them talk and instead concentrate on the game. Tony isn't used to silence when someone else is around, and doesn't feel entirely comfortable with it, but stays quiet all the same. The ocean below is loud even over the sounds of the city not far away. He has a fire going in the fire pit he never uses and in retrospect, he's out here far too rarely.

Eventually, Shanna asks, "Do you have any meetings or anything the week between Christmas and New Year's?"

"Not that I know of," he answers, burning her twos with his and effectively winning the round by twenty points. "Why? Want me to spend Christmas with the family or something?"

Though he says it sarcastically, all he can think is, Please no, please no, plea -

"With a name like Shoshanna Schneck, do you really think I celebrate Christmas?"

Oh the thank fucking god. Tony doesn't know how to meet relatives, a skill never fully cultivated since he never met any of his own. "Point taken," he says. "You have off, though, right?"

She nods. "Half day December twenty-third until January second." After a moment of hesitation, she adds, "I was wondering if you wanted to spend it together. Or at least some of it."

This is the first time she's been direct. Normally she makes half an offer and he follows her through on it, or springs on an invite at the last moment. "Sure," he answers and wonders if she's his girlfriend by this point. Then he wonders if he finds this a problem and decides he doesn't. "Where? Here, your place, or go somewhere?"

"Go somewhere?"

"You know," he says, "Europe or something."

"Well," she answers, "I've never been to Europe...or anywhere outside the east coast, really. Right now's the furthest I've ever been from Jersey. So, if we go to Europe, it's your choice where."

As someone who spent his childhood just about everywhere, he can't imagine staying so close to home. "How does Crete sound?"

"If you want."

The smile on her face is small as she looks down again and they finish their game without talking.

.

VIII.

Shoshanna stands in front of the mirror in the teacher's lounge, trying to clip back her uncooperative bangs. It's December 23rd, all her classes are finished and she should be on her way to New York to meet Tony by now. Her suit case is packed already and in the backseat of her car, filled with clothes suitable for the southern Greek weather and even though by this point he's seen her right after she's woken up or stepping out of the shower, she still wants to look her best. When the door opens, she barely notices.

"Did you always use this much effort when you were going out with me?"

The clip nearly falls out of her hand and she turns around, surprised. Chris is leaning against the doorway, arms crossed. "No," she answers and finally fixes in the hairpiece properly. "I have to go."

He steps aside and she exits, trying not to seem skiddish. They don't mention anything around their colleagues and they rarely see each other alone, and she tries to tell herself that getting shaken by the small exchange is perfectly rational. And even five years later, she is a terrible liar.

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IX.

They stay in an apartment rather than a luxury resort and spend most of their first day down at the beach. Since it's winter, the weather isn't perfect, but it's better than California and considerably better than New Jersey. The night of Christmas is slightly cold and they sit on the sand with a blanket around their shoulders. Tony isn't a romantic, and it seems like she isn't either, but by this point he's decided to just go with it.

"I have a present for you," she says and pulls something small from the pocket of her hoodie. "It's obviously not as nice as a trip of Greece, but I hope you like it anyway."

He tears off the paper, ignoring the paper cut he gets in the process. Inside is a digital camera. She says, "I tried from like November to about a week ago trying to think of what to get you, but after I came up blank I realized we didn't have any pictures together and I know you probably have one of those, but -"

"I like it," he says, and means it. He doesn't normally take pictures of anything other than blueprints as backups and that camera is handmade. And considering that she's his first real girlfriend since his freshman year of college, a picture or two that doesn't come from the paparazzi is probably a good thing. He turns it on and holds it at arm's length, the lens facing them, and he feels nineteen rather than twenty-nine. "Smile."

The shutter clicks and for a moment after he's blinded by the flash. Then he pulls it down and a clicks the button so the picture comes back to the small screen. It isn't perfect, but he never said he was a good photographer in the first place. Shanna's eyes look black.

"You're sending that to me when you get it on the computer," she says, pulling the blanket closer around them.

He answers, "Sure," before turning it off and slipping into his pocket. The waves crash against the sand and it sounds different than the ocean near his house, but maybe that's just his imagination. "Thanks."

She leans her head against his shoulder.

"You're welcome."

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X.

Only two weeks later, Shoshanna finds herself sitting on one of his desks as he works, grading free responses on a clipboard. He's next to her, graphing paper spread in front of him as he sketches designs for a new weapon he thought up the night before. Though he told her the name, it was all very technical sounding and mathematical and she forgot it almost as quickly as he said it. Considering that she never got above a C-plus in algebra and chemistry, it isn't too surprising.

Nearly four hours after they came into the basement, he throws his tenth piece of paper in the general direction of the trash and sits on the table top next to her. He asks, "How do you do it?"

Bewildered, she looks away from Mike Kerr's free response. "Do what?" she says.

He motions towards the paper. "All that grading," he answers. "I mean, high school brats are fucking idiots. Where do you get the patience?"

She shrugs. "I guess you just learn to deal with it after seven years. And my AP students aren't so bad, and two of my classes are AP - US and Euro."

"I still don't get it," he says and she smiles slightly, looking down again and tucking her hair behind her ear.

"That's because you're a math person," she says, and writes the final comment on Mike's free response. "And all teachers are bad at in the beginning - or at least I was. After I while it became formulaic. I can grade an essay in fifteen minutes. Less, if it's good enough. Since it's January and the end of the first semester, my US class pretty much has it down." She pauses, switching the paper in front of her. "It ends in nine school days, though. Then my Euro class starts."

He throws a bouncy ball she hadn't noticed before up in the air and catches it. Then he asks, "So what made you be a teacher?"

The question isn't personal, but it takes her a moment to say it anyway. "It's all I was good enough for," she answers. "I had an athletic scholarship for cheerleading, almost paying my whole tuition. Then the summer between my senior year and college, I went cliff jumping, fell wrong, and managed to get a herniated disk. The doctors fixed me, but I wasn't healed in time for school, lost my scholarship, and went to a state school instead. I sucked at everything but memorizing history, so I figured I might as well major in that. Helps that I'm good with people, I guess."

Now that he's not lost in thought, her concentration has slipped and she places her stack of ungraded papers behind her. He puts her arm around her waist and pulls against her against his side. "Which school?" he asks.

"William Paterson University."

"Never heard of it."

"Exactly."

Most of the time Shoshanna tries her hardest not to think about college because the constant thought that she could've gone to a better school, could've gotten a better job, could've not fucked around with boys, could've avoided that stupid on and off relationship left over from her senior year of high school. "So what were you planning on doing before the surgery?" he says, throwing the ball in the air again. She's not particularly used to questions, either.

"No idea," she answers honestly. "I contemplated working in a museum, or keep on cheering professionally. When I was really little, my only plan was to have a little girl like half the other girls my age. Obviously that didn't work out either." In a clumsy attempt to change the subject, she adds, "So what about you, Tony? Did you always want to work in your dad's company?"

"I guess," he says. "Cared more about the actual inventing than anything else. Being a CEO isn't as a good as people make it sound."

She goes to say something, then stops herself, hesitating. The thought's been weighing down in her mind since mid-way through their time in Europe. Finally, she managed to get out, "Hey, since we've been dating since September and going out since Halloween, do you think you could maybe come over for Passover?"

There's a second where his face loses expression, but it comes back a moment later. "That's in April, right?" he says, and she nods. "Sure. Just us or us and your folks?"

"No," she says. "You, my sister and my niece, and me. Both my parents are in a nursing home. I'm the little sister by fifteen years."

He nods, and for the first time since she's met him, he seems a little uncomfortable. Before she can tell him that she won't be offended if he doesn't make it, he says, "Yeah, I'll be there. But then you're coming to the gala that you gave me that non-answer about."

Oh god, that gala. When he asked, she purposely let it be vague out of embarrassment. Ever since college ended, and she turned into a bit of a recluse, she'd lost some of her extroverted social skills. But Tony didn't know that, and hopefully never needed to know that because he deserved more than a socially awkward ex-cheerleader for a girlfriend. She's just being selfish by this point and knows it.

"I don't have a dress," she says, though she knows it's a stupid excuse by this point. He gives her an exasperated look. With a sigh, she says, "Fine. What day?"

"May sixth," he answers. "A Friday night. If you want help, I can ask Pepper."

Shoshanna is an idiot in many aspects, and she might not know how to act around others anymore, but she can still read people pretty well. And though Tony doesn't notice Pepper's attraction (or maybe he does, and doesn't let on, which sounds like something he'd do), she does and she wants to avoid any potential tension. "I'll ask my sister," she says. "She'll make sure I look good."

Tony kisses her and slides off the table.

"You'll look great," he says.

.

XI.

Midway through March, Tony has another one of those science conventions in Boston. His speech is supposed to be no more than five minutes (something he finds agreeable), but he's obligated to stay at least a few hours longer. So, to cut off the worst part of the boredom, he calls up Shanna, despite it being Monday. But it's a delayed opening for her school the next day because of some New Jersey standardized test thing, and she agrees. According to her, a three and a half hour drive wasn't all that bad. Though she isn't there right away, he finds a few minutes after his speech is over.

"Why is the convention this late?" she asks when they reach each other. It's nearly seven thirty at night and while he isn't tired, he supposes that she is.

With a shrug, he answers, "Like hell if I know. But it's definitely convenient. You're staying the night, right?"

"Yeah," she says. "Considering that this ends at eleven, I'd probably leave around eleven thirty and that means I'd get home at three thirty if I'm lucky. Sure, tomorrow I'll have to leave around five, but it sounds better than driving eight hours today."

"What time does your first class start again?" he says.

"Ten."

"I'll fly you," he says. "Take an unplanned layover in Newark around nine. Will that give you enough time?" She nods. "Okay. So listen, do -"

He's broken off by a flash from a camera coming from their right. When he looks over, there's a photographer and a journalist with a tape recorder standing there. The journalist's smile is unnervingly wide. "Mr. Stark," she says immediately before either Tony or Shanna can react, "do you - who is this?"

The two exchange a look before he answers, "This is my girlfriend."

"Your -?"

Shanna holds out her hand and smiles. "I'm Shoshanna," she says, leaving out her last name. "Nice to meet you."

"Samantha Lane with Time magazine," the reporter says, accepting the handshake. "Do you mind if I ask you a few a questions?"

"We -"

"How long have you two been going out?"

Though Tony was about to say that, no, she couldn't because they were about to head out, journalists don't know when to quit. He answers, "September," and watches the surprise flit across her face. Six months is a record for him, especially with no one finding out.

"Where did you meet?"

"A science convention," Shanna answers. "Now we really need to -"

"What do you do for a living, Miss Shoshanna? Photographer, journalist, act -"

"I'm a teacher."

"What? Where?"

Since he doesn't want the news to be able to find his girlfriend too easily, he intervenes before she can freeze up and answer. He says, "Look, we really need to be leaving, Samantha, so before you ask, yes, we are serious, no, we don't live together, and yes, the new medical technology created by Stark Industries will be released to the public next week. It's been nice talking to you."

"I -"

They leave before she can finish, and though the problem hasn't been averted at least it's been delayed. For now, that's enough.

.

XII.

Shoshanna enters her first block class two days later to find all her students crowded around Megan's desk, speaking rapidly over each other. Meggie is the current head cheerleader and her automatic assumption is that she bought in cupcakes again because there's no other reason for an entire class surrounding her without the lure of school. She places her bag on the swivel chair behind her desk, unnoticed, and calls for attention. And since they're an AP class, they listen without much of a fight.

"What's going on?" she asks when everyone's back in their seats, shooting looks and self-satisfied smiles and each other from all across the room. There are no cupcakes on Meggie's desk, just a -

Well, damn.

After a moment of horrible awkwardness, Meggie blurts out, "Why didn't you tell us you were dating Tony Stark?"

She holds up the flipped open Vanity Fair, and on the glossed page is a candid picture of the two of them in the parking lot of the Boston convention, his arm around her shoulders, faces turned to each other, and she looks like she's in mid-laugh. The picture must be photo-shopped as hell, because she looks prettier than she really is and even if they aren't in love (or at least she thinks as much) they certainly look it.

Stark and His Girlfriend, the headline read, Hottest New Couple?

"Whoever the journalist is, she really seems to like you," Ashley, another senior cheerleader, says, smiling with something that looks almost like pride. "Seriously, Meggie -"

Before she can say anything, Meggie reads, "'Whoever this girl is, she seems really sweet,' Samantha Lane of Vanity Fair says. 'They make a really cute couple. I wish she'd told us her last name, but it was hard enough looking up the spelling for Shoshanna - hope I got it -'"

Shoshanna can feel that her face is flushed. "Okay, Meggie, that's enough," she says. "May I have the magazine, please?" Her student hands it over and she puts it down on her desk, praying that no one's put it on facebook yet. "Now," she added. "I'm going to have to ask you not to put this online anywhere, okay? And we're starting on the French Revolution today, so let's focus on that."

She proceeds to teach and pretends not to notice that her class is chattering like a bunch of academic students, and by the time the bell rings, she's so relieved it almost hurts.

.

XIII.

April sixth comes by faster than Tony is entirely comfortable with. Shanna picks him up from JFK where Rhodey always flies him, and they spend the short car ride in a nervous silence. When she puts the car in park at her sister's street and cuts the engine, she says, "You're okay with this, right, Tony?"

"Yeah," he answers, and pushes open the car door. The apartment building is identical to most in uptown Manhattan.

"Good afternoon, Miss Schneck," says the old doorman as they enter, eyeing Tony distrustfully. Shanna mumbles back a hello and presses the up button for the elevator. It comes a moment later.

"So," he says as she pushes the button for the sixth floor, "this is just your sister's family, right?"

With a nod she says, "Yeah. My sister and her daughter. I don't have a brother-in-law, though, just so you know in advance. They divorced two years ago. I probably should've said that before."

He shrugs. "Well, you mentioned it now." The elevator stops, doors opening with a clang, and they exit. The hallway is done in entirely neutral colors and reminds him more of a business hotel than of the interior of an apartment building. Shanna knocks on a door diagonal to the elevator. From inside comes the hurried sound of footsteps and the door swing open.

Inside is a little girl who doesn't look a thing like his girlfriend, though the woman who appears behind her is like a blonde, forty-four-year-old carbon copy. The girl throws her arms around her, and Shanna laughs, ruffling her hair.

"Good to see you too, Tal," she says, smiling softly. "Now can you let Tony and me in please?"

"Sorry!" says her niece and lets her go. "Mommy, should I go set the table?"

Shanna's sister nods before shooting a glance his way, sticking out her hand. "I'm Penina," she says, "Shanna's older sister, but I suppose you know that. My daughter's Tal. Call me Penny. Nice to meet you."

"Tony Stark," he says. "Nice to meet you too."

Next to him, Tal is tugging on Shanna's hand. "Can we move this inside?" she says, letting her niece drag her past the doorway. Penny laughs and enters too, and Tony follows, feeling awkward. He's not used to being around family that actually like each other.

"Have you ever been to a Passover seder before?" Penny asks him as Tal makes Shanna set the table with her. She sends him an apologetic smile before disappearing into the living room area. For a Manhattan apartment, this one's pretty big. He shakes his head. "Didn't think so. Don't worry, we're reformed, so, we're pretty laid back. We'll keep the Hebrew to a minimum this year."

"You speak Hebrew?"

"My ex-husband was from Israel," she explains, "and Shanna and I had to learn it when we were kids anyway. She forgot most of it, but can still read it."

Tony can speak five languages, and admittedly none as interesting as Hebrew - except maybe Japanese, but that's a given considering that he works with technology. "Ever been there?" he asks, and realizes that he really needs to brush up on his small talk skills. She shakes her head. "It's nice. You should go."

"You've -" She starts, then cuts herself off and turns to the kitchen, "Hey, Shanna! Why didn't you tell me your boyfriend'd been to Israel?"

Shanna comes around the wall, holding a bottle of white wine. "Because he didn't tell me," she answers. "Now, can we please sit down? I'm starving and want to get the seder over with. Oh, and Tony, we use the kid's version, so it won't take, like, an hour or anything."

He wouldn't have minded if it did. "Works for me," he answers and she smiles before turning around. The air condition vent is loudly blowing out cold air, making her purple skirt sway to the side.

.

XIV.

The gala is Chicago, and Shanna changes into her dress ten minutes before they're supposed to leave. Tony helps her zip it up the side. It's white with one strap, made of a somewhat coarse material with a slit up the side that helps her not look so short. It looks an awful lot like her prom dress though a thousand times fancier and she wonders if that's where Penny got the idea. Her sister refused to let her shop on her own.

"You look amazing," Tony tells her and gives her a kiss on the back of her neck. "Thanks for coming, by the way. Normally I hate these."

She turns around and smiles nervously, though she supposes she should be used to this by now. "Can't let you fall for any other beautiful girl, can I?" she says, and he snickers. His cell phone vibrates. "We need to leave?"

"Yeah," he says and she grabs his hand, holding tightly.

The limousine is driven by Rhodey, who tries to include her in the conversation but she's so nervous that he fails miserably. Luckily, the drive is only ten minutes so the awkward level doesn't stray to high, but it's enough that she's pretty sure he'll never think of her as normal. Maybe.

"You haven't met Pepper yet, have you?" Tony asks as they step outside. He brushes off about four journalists, leading her through the crowd. She attracts several stares, and thinks that she must look even less than one of his usual dates than she thought.

For some reason, she takes that as a compliment.

As they enter, a voice calls out, "Tony!"

The two of them turn, and she's greeted by the sight of Obadiah Stane and Pepper Potts coming towards them. Tony lets go of her, and gives Stane that man-hug thing that she'll never understand before glancing at Pepper. "Hey! I didn't know you were showing up. Why didn't you tell me?"

Pepper looks gorgeous and Shoshanna feels even more second-rate than before. "I thought I'd make it a surprise," she answers. "And you haven't introduced me to your girlfriend yet. It's been months."

"She's right, Tony," Stane says with a shrug. "You've been holding out on us."

"Right." He steps back and puts his arm around her again. "This is Shoshanna Schneck. Shanna, this is Pepper Potts and Obadiah Stane."

She smiles and hopes it doesn't look forced. She's never been so completely surrounded by strangers before, even in college. It was twenty minutes from her house and nearly everyone in her school went there. She'd never realized how little she branched out before.

"Nice to meet you," she says, holding out her hand. They shake. "I've heard so much about you."

Like most women, Shoshanna's intuition is in tune enough for her to see how little Pepper likes her. They're about the same in terms of awkwardness, but she has a feeling the other woman isn't typically this tense. From the way she looks at Tony, it doesn't take a genius to understand that there are some unspoken feelings there. And from the way Tony looks back, Shoshanna has to wonder if she's paranoid or really does have the worst luck in the world.

Stane says, "You've been holding out on us, Tony." Her boyfriend shrugs. "So, Shoshanna, how do you manage to put up with this one?"

"He's good at listening to people complain," she answers, and the man laughs. "It's true. After a day of grading, it's all you can do."

"I forgot you were a teacher," Pepper says, and Shoshanna just wants to get out of here. "History, right?" She nods. "Well, I think Stane and I have kept you too long enough. The cameramen are closing in."

Tony glances behind them. "Right. We'll see you later. Shanna, want to dance?"

Again, Shoshanna says, "Nice to meet you. And sure, Tony."

As it turns out, Tony isn't particularly good at dancing, and they spend two hours hidden away on the balcony as she teaches him, the music playing softly from inside.

.

XV.

"I dated my English teacher in high school."

Tony hadn't anticipated how quickly Shanna would get drunk, even though she told him ages ago that Ashkenazi Jews weren't known for being able to hold their alcohol. He assumed she was joking. In his own slightly tipsy state, he hadn't noticed. And of all the answers to the question, "So, what type of relationships does a cheerleader have?" that was probably the least expected.

"Seriously?"

Shanna nods. "Stupid, right? I mean, it just sort of...happened. Wasn't married at least." She's rambling, which he's never heard her do before. "Lasted a long time. Like, from my senior year until about five years ago. Chris is the main reason I went back to teach at my old school, you know? But we didn't tell anyone, though I told my sister who doesn't count, and it got really hard and all and I don't know, it just sort of fell apart. You're my first real boyfriend since him. God, I wasted such a long time on him."

"So is he reason you're -"

"I'm what?"

He shrugs and answers, "You know, quiet. Sad. Socially awkward."

"Yeah, pretty much. I mean, keeping a secret for that long and then having the guy back out commitment is kind of hard to deal with. He mentioned us getting engaged a few times." She giggles. "You should've seen his face when he saw the Vanity Fair article. It was like the best accidental revenge ever, right?"

Tony wasn't sure if he'd ever been used as revenge before, and he's pretty sure that he hates this Chris guy with a passion. And yeah, he thinks, that article probably was the best accident revenge ever. They just looked so damn happy. Shanna yawns and curls up against his side. "You know what, Tony?" she says. "I think I might be in love with you."

He freezes, unsure what to do, and by the time he manages to say, "I love you too," she's asleep against his side. He doubts she'll remember it by morning, anyway.

.

XVI.

It's February, and they've been dating now for a little under two and half years. Shoshanna wanted to believe that this might last forever, maybe even to engagement to marriage and children and anything else this relationship entailed. But as she sits on her bathroom floor, waiting for Tony to show up, she stares at the pregnancy test and knows she can't keep this up. From the landing, she hears the scrape of a key in the lock and the click of the door opening.

"Shanna?"

Quickly, she throws the test in the small trash can and bundles toilet paper on top and scrambles outside. "Hey," she says, meeting him at the landing and giving him a kiss hello. "Sorry, you caught me as I was getting dressed."

Shoshanna's always know that she isn't a good person, that she's flawed severely - and most notably, that she runs away when she scared. Maybe if she was a better person, she'd tell her boyfriend of two years that she was pregnant with their kid. Instead she says, "Tony, we have to talk."

Though she might know Tony well, she doesn't know what his reaction will be to this, and she's so damn scared of rejection she has to do it herself. She supposes that it doesn't help that she's been afraid of this for a while now because he might not realize it yet, but at least a small, untouchable part of him feels something for Pepper. It's been good, but she doesn't know if she can compete with that forever and with potentially life changing news, she doesn't think she's ready to watch this fall apart around her.

"What is it?"

So she tells him.

.

XVII.

"So she just broke up with you? No explanation?" Tony nods, and looks down, still trying to get his mind around what happened. "Well, what did she say?"

"She said it isn't working out, and that was it. I tried pressing her, and she started crying." He pauses. "Pepper, I dated her for over two years, and I've never seen her cry."

His friend sighs and sits down next to him. "I'm sorry, Tony," she says, "but I don't know what to say."

"Can you just...go get me a coffee or something?"

He more feels rather than sees her nod before she stands, heels clicking against the floor, and all he can do is wondering what the hell he did wrong.

.

I hope Tony isn't too OOC. D: Reviews are appreciated. =]

And the comment about Jews not being to hold their alcohol...that's unfortunately true. If enough people review, I might do a short second chapter with him meeting his kid years later.