Sorry to everyone who has been waiting for another Morgan Stark story. But finally, here it is! This story is how Morgan's mother and Tony met. If you havn't read my first story, you can still read this one first. Up to you.
So sorry again and please review.

Disclaimer: I do not in any way own IronMan or any of the characters other than Morgan, Clare and Natalia.

CHAPTER 1

Clare

I don't want to go tonight. I hate parties, they just aint my thing. I don't like drinking until I puke and can't walk straight. I like to have control over my actions and to be able to remember everything that happens during the night. When I'm drunk, I can't do those things.

I'd only ever gotten drunk once. Pretty sad considering I'm 23. Most people were drunk at 16. But I don't care because that one time I actually got drunk till I couldn't see straight was horrible. I hated it and regretted ever taking that first sip of wine.

But Natalia had asked me to go tonight and I felt guilty if I said no, especially since we'd been best friends since we were 13. I rarely said no to her. Plus she begged me to attend this high class shindig or whatever it was. Apparently there was a handsome billionaire she was trying to snag. I had a feeling I knew who this billionaire was. Tony Stark. Just thinking about him made me frown. I'd never really met him but I'd heard he had a bit of a reputation with women. I wished Natalia would stop wasting her time trying to chase him but when she had her mind set, she wasn't about to go and change it.

I'd seen the billionaire at a few parties I had (reluctantly) attended. This was because they had been 'business' parties. Both my parents work at Stark Industries and they had insisted on dragging me to some of the parties that had been held over the years. So I'd seen Tony Stark here and there but he'd never seen me (too busy chatting up women) but I didn't care. I felt kinda sorry for the guy, I mean, he lost both his parents in that horrible car accident. But from the way he acted, you'd think he'd forgotten about it.

I'd read that he'd taken over his family's company again, after that Obadiah Stane guy took care of it when his parents passed. So far it seemed like he was doing a good job, but only time could tell.

So because of Natalia, I was standing in my mirror, trying to make myself look half descent. It wasn't that I was an ugly woman, because I'm not. I stand at just over five foot six, my round face is softened by my blonde hair that naturally fell into waves that framed my face and finished just past my shoulder blades, I had piercing blue eyes that looked like the blue of the ocean, plump pink lips, not to mention my slim figure. But everyone had their off days, and my day was today.

With a defeated sigh, I pulled out my favourite midnight blue dress (it hugged my figure perfectly and brought out my eyes even more, a guaranteed way to boost my confidence)and stepped into it, slipping it up over my body. It was a simple blue strapless dress with some beading around the edges at the bottom. I sat down in front of my small vanity table I recently acquired at a second hand store. It was a deep mahogany shade and had a few draws and a medium sized mirror to see yourself in. I loved it.

So I plopped myself down on the little stool and began putting on some light makeup. I never like seeing those types of girls where it's piled on a mile thick so I always kept it light and natural. After that I began braiding my fringe, pulling it and the rest of my hair into a loose, messy bun. I slipped in a few 'diamonds' to make it sparkle. I smiled to my reflection in the mirror. That's when I spotted the nasty bruise around my wrist. I cringed at the memory of how I received it. I pushed back a few tears that threatened to fall and picked up a silver, chunky bracelet. It was just the right size to cover up the purple skin.

I took a few deep breaths to steady myself. I almost felt like backing out but at that exact moment Natalia's voice echoed throughout out little one story flat. We had moved in together 2 years ago after I'd finished my Journalism courses at University. Natalia was still doing her medical degree at UCLA . I really wanted to get my own place but since Natalia was still at Uni, it was hard for her to support herself.

"Are you ready yet?" She popped her head around the corner with a small grin playing on her features.

I took one more deep breath before standing up from my stool and grinning to my room mate. "Yep,"

Natalia stepped into the room, and spun on the spot to show off her new aqua green dress. She looked amazing, as always. Natalia was about 3 inches shorter than me (but with the heels she was wearing, tonight she was about 3 inches taller than me), she had chestnut brown hair that had been cut recently into a bob that ended just above her shoulders, her brilliant green eyes always reminded me of the forest and like myself, she was naturally thin.

"Well come on then! The sooner we get there, the sooner I can snag me some hunky billionaire!" Natalia was practically bouncing with anticipation. I hoped she wasn't just setting herself up for disappointment.

Like my own parents, Natalia's father worked at Stark Industries (her mum passed away last year), so she'd seen Tony for the first time a couple months ago at one of his parties. Instantly she was smitten and determined to make him hers. I wished her luck but knew it was a failure from the start. No one woman was going to tie Tony Stark down.

"Okay, okay! I'm ready, let's go!" I grabbed my small black purse from my small single sized bed and followed her out the door. Our flat was small but still...homey. The living room and kitchen were practically one room but I didn't mind (I was never much of a chef). Just to the back left of the living room were three doors. The left one was Natalia's room, the middle was our only bathroom and the right was my bedroom. That was it. Our small little flat. I'd tried to liven up the place a bit by putting up some colourful works of art on the grey walls but I don't think it did much. Of course, it would have been easy to just take the money our parents were offering us (working at Stark Industries was a well paid career) to buy a new and better place to live but we didn't want to begin our lives by using their money. We wanted to do it on our own, even if it meant working from the ground up.

I shut the door to my room, did the same to Natalia's room and followed her out the front door. We didn't really live in the safest part of Los Angeles so I always made sure to double check that I'd lock the door. We hailed down a cab easily and slid into the backseat. Natalia gave the guy the address while I tried to stop thinking about tonight. I would stay for a few hours but as soon as Natalia was distracted, I'd be gone. I know she didn't have a problem with this, because it wouldn't be the first time I'd done it. She kinda expected it now I guess. I'd be in the PJ's by the time she got home (IF she got home that night. I'd caught her sneaking back in the morning after a few times).

It took us about 20 minutes to reach the party, and in that time Natalia had not stopped talking about Tony Stark. She'd barley said two words to the guy and she was already gushing about him as if they'd been dating! It kinda annoyed me, and I could see the taxi driver was feeling the same way. As we pulled up outside and gave him his money, I knew he was glad to see us go. Well, Natalia as least.

As we began walking up the small red carpet that had been laid out, photographers (more like paparazzi) began clicking away at their cameras. The flashes were blinding but they didn't worry me. Once they figured out that we weren't really somebody, the photos would never make it to print.

We pulled out our tickets and ID's at the door for the big, burly security guy to check. After he checked the tickets were real and made sure our ID's were too, he swung open the door and let us pass. Immediately the music could be heard. They'd tried to make it sound classy but the hip hop rhythm could still be heard weaving through the song. High class parties like this was just another excuse for people to get drunk, including Natalia. I wanted to keep an eye out for her but that was always such a hard thing to do. As soon as we entered the room, he head was bobbing to the music while searching for the bar and no doubt for Tony Stark.

Her face fell slightly as she scanned the entire room and the man in question was no where to be seen. I thought I heard a small sigh escape her lips but in the next second she was smiling just was brightly as she had before he entered.

"Come on, let's go dance!" She began tugging on my hand, pulling me towards the dance floor but I was having none of that. I yanked my hand from her grasp before she got me any closer.

"I don't think so, you know I don't dance," I folded my hands across my chest. She looked into my eyes and began pouting. "Oh no, that look's not gunna work this time. You go ahead, have fun. I'll be by the bar,"

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders before weaving through the crowd to get through to the dance floor. I smiled slightly at her eagerness before I began weaving through the crowd in the opposite direction she had taken. It only took me a minute to see the bar, with a few people mingling around it. As I approached the bar, I noticed the bartender behind it was giving me a look. I know that look. It's the "Shit, she looks hot. Look at those boobs!" look. Since God had been generous in that department, I got those looks all the time.

"A mineral water thanks," I asked politely while trying to ignore the leering look in his eyes. He nodded his head and turned to fetch me my drink.

I opened up my purse and grabbed some of the notes I'd pushed in there but as he returned with my glass, he set it in front of me with a wink. "On the house,"

I gave him what I hoped was a polite smile (it felt more like a grimace to me), before turning on my heel and walking away. I only went a few meters away from the bar, leaning against the wall. I didn't want to sit at one of the tables (it made me feel alone to be sitting by myself), somehow standing among the crowd made me feel less lonely. I spotted Natalia through the crowd and waved with my free hand. She waved back before inclining her head at the gorgeous man she was dancing with, already. Hopefully that meant she'd forgotten about that Tony Stark.

I had to admit, I was envious about how easily Natalia could pick up men. I got the looks and was approached by men but either they all seemed like the one-night-stand type or they were just plain drunk. Not my idea of a date.

I took a few sips from my glass as my body began swaying slightly to the music. Just as I began wondering if I should go out there and dance with Natalia, someone spoke from beside me. I jumped slightly because I hadn't seen anyone approach me.

"Well, hello beautiful," It was a male voice and sounded smooth.

I turned my head to see someone I never though I would see standing beside me. Tony Stark. Shit.

"Hi." I said curtly, looking away from him back to the crowd. I spotted Natalia again and desperately hoped she wouldn't look this way. If she saw me even standing beside Tony Stark, she would go ballistic.

"Why is someone as pretty as yourself standing here alone?" He grinned at me as I looked back at him. He was resting against the wall as I was.

"Because I don't want to dance," I hoped my rude and brief answer was enough to make him see I wasn't interested and buzz off.

His grin got even bigger (if that was possible) and he slid closer to me. I had to admit as I stared at him, he was quite...handsome. And sexy. Quickly, I shook my head. I shouldn't be thinking like that.

"How about if you dance with me?"

"No thanks," I took another sip of my mineral water and angled my body so I was facing slightly away from him.

There was a silence between us as I tried to look anywhere but his face. I kept my eyes glued on a dancing couple but that soon was lost as he moved away from the wall and stood in front of me. I could tell he wasn't trying to be intimidating or dominating, he was simply curious.

"What is your name?" He asked me gently, looking straight into my eyes. Geez, people would have looked away by now but he kept his gaze squarely on me and my ocean blue eyes.

I sighed. I guess it couldn't hurt if I told him my name. "Clare Adams"

"I'm-"

I cut him off before the words had even left his lips.

"Anthony Stark. I know,"

He beamed at me. Why wasn't he leaving? Surely he would have seen he wasn't going to get anywhere with me. Why hadn't he already left to find an easier target?

"You can call me Tony. Would you be interested in going out to dinner some time?" He was trying to be a gentleman but it wasn't working on me.

With a exasperated sigh, I pushed myself up off the wall and turned my body so I was only inches away from him. "No, I am not interested in going out to dinner with you. Go find some other floozy to pick up,"

I placed my half empty glass on a nearby table and stalked away, leaving a shocked Tony Stark behind me. I resisted the urge to look over my shoulder to catch a glimpse of his face.

I had to admit, I felt kind of bad at the way I spoke to him. I was normally never that rude but his playboy ways were widely known I wasn't about to become just another notch on his bedpost. I wasn't that girl.

I wound my way through the increasing crowd until I saw Natalia sitting at one of the tables by the dance floor alone. With a sigh of relief, I approached her quickly and sat down in the empty chair next to her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Natalia was looking at me intently. I hadn't realised I was showing any emotion on my face.

I groaned slightly and sunk further into the chair. "Nothing,"

She looked over me once again but I gave her a look that said 'Drop it'. I tried not to look angry but for some strange reason, that's how I felt. And for the same strange reason, I was angry at Natalia. If Natalia hadn't been so set on Tony Stark, I could have...talked to him. I wouldn't have actually done anything with him but it was nice to dream. But no, Natalia would kill me if she even knew I'd talked to him. If I'd even looked at him! So now I was sitting there angry, staring at all the dancing couple, when I could have been one of them, dancing with Tony Stark.

I took some deep breaths. This wasn't Natalia's fault. I was just looking for someone to blame. I should be glad that she fancied him. If not for that, I'd probably still be standing over there with Tony being flirted out of my mind. And people's self control can only last for so long.

"Where's that guy you were dancing with?" I asked Natalia. She was sitting with one leg crossed over the other, her foot tapping to the beat of the music.

"Oh, he said he was going to get us some drinks," She was smiling brightly. We both looked through the crowd and spotted the blonde haired hunk she had danced with. He was heading our way with two drinks in his hands. I watched as Natalia's hands flew to her hair to make sure it was still looking good.

I sighed and stood of from the chair. "Well, I'm heading home. I'm starting to get a headache,"

Natalia looked up at me with sad eyes. "Aw, you're leaving already? We didn't even get to hunt down the Starkster!"

I froze. After a few moments I forced myself to speak. "Sorry but I just really want to get home. Do you have your key?" She nodded her head. "Okay, I'll see you later,"

Natalia jumped out of her seat and pulled me into a hug, making sure not to crush her dress. The next second she had let me go and turned around because the hunky guy had reached the table. I spun on my heel and left the two of them.

I was walking as quickly as I could through the crowd. All I wanted to do was leave. As the door came into my view, a hand enclosed around my wrist and my breath caught in my throat. I thought it would be Tony Stark but as I turned around, I found my suspicions were wrong. It was a drunken stranger. A grin was evident on his face.

"Hey Babe. How 'bout coming home with me?" He released my wrist but put his arm around my waist. I could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Get your hands off me!" I tried to squirm out of his grasp but it was no use, he was holding me too tightly. It was starting to hurt. "Let me go!" The panic was clear in my voice.

I could feel his hand sliding down my back towards my backside. At the same time he was leaning in as if to kiss me. Suddenly a hand shot out of no where, grabbing the drunken man's wrist in a tight hold.

"Let her go now." I looked over to see who had spoken and grabbed the man. Tony Stark was standing there, his hand squeezing the man's wrist tight. Anger was written all over his face.

"Fine!" The man released my waist and moved to stand in front of Tony. "Let go of my wrist man,"

For a moment I thought Tony was going to hit the guy but after a second he removed his hand from the man and told him to leave immediately. His tone was not one to be messed with. The man gave him a glare before turning and walking through the doors.

Tony watched the guy go with a hateful look before gazing down at me, his look softening. "Are you alright?"

"Uh...yeah," Luckily the guy hadn't grabbed my already bruised wrist. That would have hurt like hell. "Thank you Tony. Umm...sorry if I was a bit rude to you earlier,"

Tony merely shrugged and smiled at me. His smile was amazing. "Don't worry about it."

Before he could offer another dinner again (I think I might have accepted if he did), I straightened my dress and looked up at him. "Well, I really have to be going. Thank you again Tony," I smiled warmly to him and turned to stroll out the open doors.

I half expected him to call me back or run after me but he didn't. I tried to stop myself from being disappointed. As I walked out into the chilly night air, I hoped the man inside had left and not lingered around waiting for me.

I hailed down a cab on the curb and was soon heading home. As I walked in the door, my phone inside my purse began buzzing. I sat on the couch and fished through my purse until I found my phone. I flipped it open and the caller ID read 'James'. Immediately I pushed the end call button and the phone stopped buzzing. James was the last person on Earth I wanted to talk to. I hoped I never saw his face ever again, bastard.

I retreated to my bedroom where I began talking out my hair. I let it fall down into waves and grabbed my favourite pink pyjamas from my bedside table draw. I moved to the bathroom where I changed and took off my makeup.

I emerged from the bathroom, double checked that I'd locked the front door and went to my bedroom. As I slipped down under the covers, I couldn't stop my brain from thinking about Tony Stark. Yes the man was handsome and charming but he was a player. But I couldn't stop thinking maybe I should have given him a chance? I told myself to stop thinking about him. By tomorrow morning he will have forgotten all about me and I will never see him again.