If he dared to think about it, it was hilariously obvious. Hilarious in a hurl-yourself-off-the-nearest-cliff sort of way. He really, really should have seen it coming. Why didn't he see it coming?
Tony Stark knocked back the rest of his drink and vaguely gestured towards the bar tender for another. He was thinking about how damn bored he was, and how idle moments like these were supposed to be the beginnings of great stories. So I was sitting at the bar in this shitty club, right, just minding my own business, when suddenly...But the truth was, he hadn't seen any action in weeks. They'd cleaned up a few super-human tussles, obliterated some enemies, done some damage control after a bunch of aliens made a huge mess over Jane Foster and some red thing that Tony hadn't bothered to read about, and after that, nothing. The Avengers had become The Overly Prepared Mall Cops. Since he was living in Stark Tower's penthouse full-time now, New York's night life was getting used and abused by the restless billionaire. There was only so much he could do in the lab with Bruce, who had unofficially moved in (because Science) and they were running out of weird ass ways to accidentally blow things up. He needed a fight, or a project, or just a damn good distraction.
"Let me help you with that," a voice rolled sweetly beside him. So sweet, in fact, that Tony was momentarily paralyzed as a hand with long, delicate fingers snatched his new drink from under his nose. He turned in time to see the owner of that voice tilt the glass back and swallow it in one go. Which was kind of bad-ass, considering it was straight vodka on the rocks. And considering the mouth that swallowed it belonged to the most strikingly beautiful woman Tony had ever laid eyes on. And Tony Stark had seen an impressive amount of beautiful women.
"Thief," he growled, unable to control his eyes as they danced up and down, up and down...
The woman just smiled, her eyes pulling into wicked amusement. "Anthony Stark, the Iron Man," she said. "To think I would find you here."
"What's wrong with here? Here is good. Here is...uh...I forget the name of this place, to be honest. Maybe you know somewhere better we could go?" He flashed a smile, the kind that usually worked when his attempts to be smooth fell short.
She raised her eyebrows and held that smug smile as she tapped on the bar and ordered two more drinks, long silken black hair falling over her harshly angled shoulders. Did a woman just come on to him, and buy him a drink? This just felt dirty. She was staring intensely at him as she took another long drink, as if for courage, eyes never leaving his.
"So do you wanna dance, nameless sexy woman?" he blurted.
She laughed, and it was like a flock of songbirds breaking out of a cage and fluttering into the sky. And Tony was so, totally getting laid tonight. "Chloe," she whispered close to his ear, after only a moment's hesitation, like it was a treasured secret. He then led her to the middle of the floor, where they seamlessly melted into the mass of flushed faces and gyrating bodies, where they explored each other's movements and matched their breaths and didn't utter another word until they had collapsed laughing into the back of a cab and Tony threw some bills at the driver without bothering to decide if they were ones or hundreds.
"So. You excited to see Stark Tower?" Tony was suddenly stricken with a case of Everything Is Hilarious. Fortunately, Chloe seemed to have caught it as well.
"Is it as big as they say it is?" she demanded with mocking desperation, before cracking up and letting her forehead drop to his shoulder. It felt strangely familiar, comfortable. They leaned heavily into each other as the cab jerked around corners, making its way through the muffled noises and jarring lights of 1 A.M. in the city outside. When she tilted her head up again, they were a breath apart, and damn if those weren't the most fantastic green eyes Tony had ever seen, it was almost as if they were glowing up at him, but no, it was just the neon city lights reflected, everything beautiful captured, and then her lips were against his. Tony fell into the kiss like he'd been waiting for it his entire life, and Chloe's eyebrows pulled together as if she really had been desperate for the contact. Their mouths moved languidly, twisting and dragging and letting out the tiniest gasps for air. Chloe's hands were all over him, like she had been starving to know what it felt like, and she finally tangled trembling fingers in his hair, as if somehow, beneath all the posturing and cocky flirting, she was still afraid. Tony couldn't remember ever feeling so incredible.
His mind was spinning even faster as they stumbled into the elevator, stealing kisses and pretending to drag each other along in a fit of passion, and both finding it satirically hilarious. By the time they reached the penthouse floor, they were half undressed already. Later, Chloe moaned and whimpered like a virgin, but a virgin who definitely knew what she was doing. And just as she came undone in his arms, those bright eyes fluttered shut and her smug little sideways grin faltered-just for a moment-into a look of pure and reverent satisfaction. And Tony-well, Tony was proud he lasted more than five minutes with her. So all in all it had been a pretty good night.
Tony really, really should have known.
When the room settled into the quiet symphony of their rushed breaths and slowing heartbeats, the glow of morning was just sliding between the blinds. It was dim enough to provide courage, anonymity even; but with the combination of the arc reactor pulsing steady blue and the slitted window light, the two found it easy to study each other's faces without fear. Chloe was wickedly lovely, pale and soft but sharp at the same time. But he was more intrigued with the way she had politely not said a word about the glowing metal circle embedded in his chest, and the way she was still reverently gazing at him, even after their violent affair had run its course.
"What're you lookin' at, honey?" He murmured, managing to pull that fantastic smirk back onto her mouth. Ah, Tony, such a charmer.
"I just don't want to forget," she answered, almost solemnly. Well, shit. Tony started to panic. What if things were getting...emotional?
"Don't tell me you have a hundred magazine cut outs of my face on your wall back home or something," he teased. She laughed lightly and turned away. "I think you would like it if I did. But no. I've only been...vaguely curious about you."
It was only then that he noticed the slight accent in her voice, the unfamiliar dialect that was musical and practiced, like she was trying not to let it show. A moment passed quietly between them as he continued to watch her profile. She seemed conflicted.
"You're not from around here," he said.
"No." The way she was studying the ceiling, she might have been frantically searching for the answer written there.
"And you're not gonna tell me anything else are you."
"No." But the smile was back. "Don't you like me more this way? Not knowing?"
"Who says I like you?"
Fluidly, she stretched out on top of him and kissed him deeply. It felt like goodbye. It sort of hurt. Looking down at him, face a mask of apathy, she said, "I know how this works, Anthony. I can leave right now, spare us both the awkward morning after routine."
He held her gaze. "Technically it's already morning." Then he pulled her into another kiss, and moments later he felt her breathing lengthen into a steady rhythm, and Chloe pulled her limbs into herself until she became very small, as if instinctual. That was the last thing Tony remembered before waking up in the late afternoon, arms still wrapped around the most beautiful woman he'd ever met. He let himself drift off again, and then woke suddenly to JARVIS blaring out reminders and news.
"...an internet conference with India at 3pm, which is in half an hour, Sir. Shall I alert-"
"Mute!" He chucked a pillow at the ceiling for good measure. Chloe was no where to be seen. He swallowed hard and rubbed a hand roughly over his face to snap himself out of the momentary sadness he felt at that realization. Tony dragged himself out of bed, and into the shower. When he got out, he stared at his reflection for a few minutes, trying to decide if he was ill, or still drunk, or what. Maybe she'd drugged him. Because this totally didn't make any sense. But he totally had to find her again.
He had about seven hundred missed calls, which he deleted, and sent out a mass email that he was incredibly sick and to cancel all his whatevers for the rest of the day. Pepper responded with something in all caps, which he deleted. When he sat back in his chair in the lab, Dummy handed him a cup of coffee.
"Thanks, buddy. JARVIS, where's Bruce today?" he asked distractedly.
"Doctor Banner is at his book singing today, Sir." Oh, right. The good doctor had published that book, and how he was forced to spend a whole day listening to creepy fans gush about how it changed their lives. Honestly, if his next book wasn't about meditation and balancing one's chakra, Tony would be really surprised. Also, he'd like to read that. He could use a little balance in his own life.
He waved his computers to life and tried to think, tried to poke at some of his latest green energy projects, but all he could think about were green eyes dancing with wicked amusement, and the way she sighed and held on to him, and that silky voice saying "vaguely curious." He ended up googling "Chloe" absent-mindedly, which returned some very not-safe-for-work results, and the etymology of the name.
Blooming; verdant; new and green.
He laughed out loud. How god damn appropriate. He remembered she had even worn a green dress, tight and flattering and the exact shade of her eyes. She had to do that on purpose.
And then he got a ridiculous idea. For a woman that self conscious, that concerned with her own mystery, there was no way it wouldn't work. He downed his coffee, ran a hand through his hair a few times, and then headed for his favourite sports car. "Where to, Sir?" JARVIS's voice came through the GPS as he fired up the engine. "Let's go visit Bruce," he answered.
Driving through the city was frustrating and way too slow for Tony, but he was getting used to it, as much as one could. He almost chickened out, but he force himself to keep on careening forward and not think about it too much. That was his style, after all.
"Tony, what are you doing here."
He knew. How did Banner always know when he was up to something? Had to be some kind of radioactive intuition shit going on. "Just thought I'd stop by, you know, support your cause, all that." He tried not to let his eyes flick around searching for press too obviously. But subtly wasn't really his game. He cleared his throat, dramatically removed his sunglasses (it was cloudy outside, but fuck it) and flashed a smile at someone holding a news camera. Ah, perfect. He pretended to be uninterested, turning back to Banner.
"So, lots of fans here for "My Life As A Hulk, huh."
"That's not what it's called, Tony."
"Uh huh. You gonna sign my copy of 'I Can Rage Monster, So Can You?'"
Bruce sighed heavily, but Tony could see the amusement at the corners of his eyes. "Mr. Stark! Hey, Tony!" The cameraman was making his way through the crowd of bookstore patrons and Banner fans, already waving the microphone expectantly towards Tony. He waltzed over obligingly, ignoring Bruce's suspicious glare as he signed another book and got swept up in a conversation with a very science-y looking woman.
"What are your thoughts on Doctor Banner's first book?" the reporter prompted.
Tony slung an arm around the doctor, interrupting his conversation and awkwardly jerking him into the shot. "You know, I think it's just great. Really captures the scientific spirit and human psyche and all that good stuff. So I guess I'd say, to anyone out there who knows me, or happened to, uh, meet me once, you should trust my opinion on this. Brucey's book is just brilliant, very green. Lots of green happening. I really liked it. It was great. If I had a chance to uh, read it again, that would be totally great, ya know? It was like meeting a perfect stranger and then it was over and man, what a great book. Everyone should read it. Twice."
Bruce and the reporter blinked at Stark a few times, trying to decide if he was insane or drunk or just, well, Tony Stark. They apparently decided on the latter.
Tony grinned charmingly and added, "I'll be here all day!"
"Tony," Bruce said later, all patience and poise, "Tell me you did not just use my book release as a way to reconnect with some girl you hooked up with last night."
"Wow, it really is nice to know a real genius. Think I could borrow a copy of 'Are You There God? It's Me Hulk'? I'd love to read it sometime."
"You're an asshole."
"Love you too, dear. See you for dinner."