You wake wrapped in the arms of your fiancé, the only light in the room being the glowing arc reactor that you've nuzzled your head into. Tony is sleeping soundly at your side, which makes you smile. When you first moved in to Stark Tower Tony used to have severe night terrors, but not anymore. He claimed it was because he subconsciously knew you were in bed with him and that he didn't want to hurt you, but you think he just feels more secure and needed now than he had in the past. You're thinking about this as he gently runs is hand down the nightgown he had picked out for you when you'd last gone shopping. It was sheer and rose colored, decorated with a silk ribbon under the bust and lace side panels that hung just a little lower than the gown itself. Tony opens his eyes and grunts, a smile forming broadly on his handsome face.

"Good morning, angel." He pulls the metallic colored bed spread up closer to your chin, fearing that you are cold and pulls you tighter against his chest.

"What time is it, JARVIS?"

"It is 8:00 AM, sir." Tony sighs, resting his forehead against yours and pushing his bottom lip out in a pout. Tony hated getting up early in the mornings, and he knew that you did too, but today was important and neither one of you could afford to sleep in. He tangles his hands into your [your hair color] locks, his eyes never leaving yours though he squinted harshly as JARVIS turned the lights on.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" His voice was full of concern and it warmed your heart. Tony's Avenger friends had decided that any wife of Iron Man was going to need a little combat training, just in case, and Steve Rogers had offered to come over bright and early. Tony wanted you to be safe more than anything in the entire world, but he wasn't so sure about you going up against Rogers. You smile.

"Don't worry so much. He might knock me around a little, but honestly, it's for my own good." Tony chewed on his lip for a moment, as if unsure about what he was feeling.

"If he hurts you, I'll kick his Star Spangled ass." You rolled your eyes, sitting up and pulling out of his embrace. A look of dissatisfaction crosses Tony's face and he grabs your waist, sliding you back onto the bed possessively.

"And just where do you think you're going?" You playfully elbow him in the ribs and he half laughs half groans, releasing you reluctantly and following you with his eyes as you approach the master bath.

"If you must know, I'm going to take a shower." A seductive grin creeps onto his features and you purposely begin to undress before you quite make it out of his line of vision.

"Not alone, I hope." He purrs, sauntering into the room behind you and locking the door. He begins to undress slowly, watching you do the same, your eyes never leaving his molten chocolate brown pools. A silence follows as you admire each other's naked bodies. Not an awkward or uncomfortable silence, but a respectful quietness as you drink in every beautiful aspect of one another. Tony turns the shower on, refusing to break the intense eye contact he is sharing with you, even as he steps into the tub and underneath the scalding water. He extends his hand to you, which you happily take.

"Not too hot, is it, baby?" You shake your head no, pulling the curtain back as you did so. You love a blistering hot shower. Do you know what you love more than a blistering hot shower? A blistering hot Tony; and as the two of you stood, his body sopping wet and his arc reactor acting as a gentle candle in the dark room you just couldn't help yourself. You pulled him into a searing kiss, tugging at his dark hair hard as he moaned into your mouth.

"I've been dirty…" You utter against his lips, feeling the smirk that curled around your own.

"Then allow me to cleanse you." Tony grabbed a bar of soap from the side of the tub and began to tenderly massage it into your breasts. Your eyes roll into the back of your head, it feels wonderful. While he does this you instruct him to close his eyes as you begin to softly run shampoo through his hair. He hums in pleasure at the feel of your nails kneading his scalp as he moves the bar of soap from your breasts and begins to head further south. It was while you were both wrapped up in a world so intimate and all your own, that JARVIS's voice forced you back into reality.

"Master Stark, Steven Rogers is at the door. Shall I send him up?" Tony cursed, quickly rinsing the suds from his hair.

"Yeah, might as well." You dejectedly exit the shower and quickly run to find clothes suitable to train in. You throw on a black sports bra and a matching pair of shorts, glancing across the bedroom to sneak a peak of what Tony would be wearing today. He opted out of a shirt and pulled on a pair of black slacks, noticing your gaze and walking up behind you.

"I won't let him hurt you." His voice is gentle, but there is a stern, protective edge, and you laugh softly at him.

"It's okay, Tony. I know you won't." He takes you by the hand and leads you into the foyer where he is sure Steve is already waiting by now. When you get there, a tall man fills your vision, taller than your fiancé, but nowhere near as hot. The man you perceive as Steve has tidy blonde hair, a cleanly shaven face, and bulking muscles threatening to rip the tight white T-shirt he sported. Tony nodded curtly at him and Steve fought the laugh that was rising in his throat.

"Do the two of you always go out of your way to match?" Tony places his hand on the small of your back and rolls his deep brown eyes, nodding his head toward the elevator.

"Shut up, Rogers. We're going this way." The three of you step into the small glass elevator and head down to a little subsection of the suit, walking to the third door on your left and watching in intense interest as Tony typed a password into a padlock on the door.

"What's the password?" You whisper, a smirk immediately twisting Tony's features.

"Same as the password to get into every locked room in this suite. 5/4/12." You just kind of stand there, breathless for a moment and Tony just smiles, a look of sheer confusion crossing Steve's face, who hadn't heard a word either of you said. May 4th, 2012, that was the night Tony had asked you to be his girlfriend after you had spent the previous six months helping him get over Pepper. You couldn't believe it had been three years.

"Um…are we just gonna stand here?" Steve piped up, ruining the moment. Tony sighed and gave a slight nod, opening the door and leaning in to whisper in your ear.

"Welcome to secret room number two." You laugh, looking around in wonder at the new sight before you. It was such a beautiful room to be filled with such dull equipment. There were stain glass windows on every wall and it was painted a lovely shade of violet, but the room had been filled with punching bags and work out mats.

"Are we staring her out with a little CQC?" Steve asked seriously, earning a raised eyebrow from you.

"What?" A ghost of a smile crossed Tony's face, though you could tell he still wasn't sure about this.

"Close quarters combat, baby. Now all that is is some blocking, punching, kicking, that kind of thing. We'll go slow, won't we Steve?" Tony said it soothingly to you, but the warning glare to Steve didn't go unnoticed. Steve gestured between the two of you with his hands.

"Why don't you two start then?" Tony shrugged and held both of his hands up to you, backing up a considerable distance before giving you directions.

"Well, fine. Here's what I want you to do for me, okay? I want you to throw every ounce of your strength into punching my hands. After I get a feel for your strength I'll teach you how to block." You nod and take a deep breath. You know Tony loves you no matter what, and that he doesn't expect brute skill out of you, but you're a little bit nervous. You decide to get a running start, smacking your fist into the palm of Tony's hand and doubling over in laughter after the weak impact.

"That was terrible." Tony chuckles adoringly and encourages you to try again with the other hand. You do, and this time you are able to get a little more force behind it.

"There you go, that's my girl. Now I want you to try it one more time and see if you can counter my block, alright? When I go in to grab your wrist I want you to come around swinging with the other one, and be sneaky about it otherwise I'll see it coming." You had no idea how he expected you to do this but you were determined to try, thinking out a little strategy before beginning. You swung with your right hook first, anticipating Tony's block but falling prey to it as well as the electricity of his skin against yours made your mind go blank. The next thing you knew he had both your wrists in a steel grip and had twirled you around so that your back was tight against his chest.

"You're dead." He purred, nipping at your neck playfully and earning the happy squeal that you just couldn't contain. Steve looked a little nauseas and rolled his bright blue eyes at you both.

"Okay, okay, I think I should take over from here, Romeo. You're distracting our student." Tony pouted but let you go, fighting the protective growl threatening to break loose as he watched Steve approach you.

"I'm going to take a few swings at you, okay? You're going to need to learn to either dodge me or block me. I'm not going to hit you, of course, so my blows are going to come fast and land soft. I think maybe instead of showing it to you, figuring it out on your feet may be more beneficial. You ready?" You nod, more than a little relieved knowing that a super solider wasn't really going to sock you in the face. Steve threw an upper cut towards your face and you attempted to replicate what Tony had shown you earlier, grabbing hold of his wrist and attempting to grab the other one, though you aren't strong enough to hold both of his arms back. You know he isn't using a lot of force with you, but he is still too strong, and his fist very gently knocks you in the jaw. You sigh.

"I suck." Steve was about to reply when there was a sudden unexpected voice at the door, causing all three of you too jump.

"You don't suck, they do. How do you expect to learn anything if they aren't even going to hit you? You can't take the easy road princess, combat doesn't work that way." It was Natasha Romanoff and Tony scowled slightly at her.

"Who invited you and how did you know to come down here?" A smug smile crept on to her face and her sea green eyes seemed to bore into Tony.

"I'm no amateur." Was all she said. She struts to your side and gives you a once over, as if judging whether or not you are beyond her help. After a moment she smiles fondly at you and extends her hand for you to shake.

"Agent Romanoff. I assume you're the lovely lady Tony never shuts up about." You blink at her, but she doesn't miss a beat, interjecting before you have a moment to form an intelligent reply.

"Put your fits up. I'll teach you to fight like a woman." Your blood runs cold, you are terrified of this woman, and you turn scared eyes to your fiancé. Natasha turns your head to face her once more before Tony has the chance to speak.

"You don't need any sort of permission from him, you're your own woman. Now come at me." You grumble to yourself that that is not the reason you looked at Tony, but you were hardly given the chance to get the sentence out before there was a numbness spreading through your cheek and your vision fades in and out for a moment. You retaliate, returning the blow although it wasn't nearly as forceful, and Natasha kicks your feet out from under you. You grab one of her heeled boots, jerking her balance out from under her. When she falls she lands on one arm and swings a leg around to kick you in the face. You attempt to block it, but she's too strong and you feel your bottom lip crack open. The taste of blood ought to make you want to stop, but it pisses you off. You stand, wiping your gushing lip on the back of your hand before successfully blocking Natasha's next swing, throwing every ounce of your body weight into a jab at Natasha's stomach. It is enough to actually knock the breath out of her, and she looks more than surprised, standing with a sly smirk on her face.

"See? She fought me a lot better than she did either of you. She's not very strong, but she's clever when she puts her mind to it. You're welcome." Tony didn't thank her, his eyes pouring over your now bruised and bleeding body. You couldn't tell if he was proud or upset or a weird mixture of both, but he was definitely too quiet as Steve and Natasha were shown out and you returned to your bedroom.

"Tony, darling, what's wrong?" You ask softly once the two of you are alone once more. His eyes are filled with so much emotion and it is clear to you that he is unsure of how to properly express it. He doesn't reply just yet, leading you into the bathroom and lifting you up onto the sink. He pulls out a first aid kit and pours some peroxide on a small cotton ball.

"This may sting a little." He very carefully dabs your lip and you whimper, his hands immediately flying into your hair in response.

"I don't like to see you in any pain." You lay a hand on one of his firm arms and nuzzle the side of your face into it gently.

"It's okay. I think she was right, the circumstance helped me gain a little edge." Tony leans his forehead against yours, his eyes glued to your own intensely.

"You don't need an edge. I'm strong enough to protect you." You lean in to kiss him, although you flinch at the pain that shoots through your lip.

"I know you are." A small silence followed before he finally cracked a smile.

"I'll admit though, watching you in that little cat fight was kind of hot." You burst into tearful laughter and wrap your arms around his neck, kiss him again, rougher this time in spite of the sting.

"There's my Tony."