Again, sorry for the wait. However, I did get you a double upload. Enjoy!

Emma and Natasha got back from their forced shopping trip in the late afternoon. When they got to the top floor, they were faced with an angry Fury yelling at Tony, who was relaxing on a couch.

"-could slip away! If she'd gone with anyone but Romanoff, I'd have her brought back in chains! We can't have that kid loose in the city!" Fury's rant continued.

"Ah, but you never told us why. We don't know anything about her but what she's told us. We don't have a reason to keep her locked up. Besides," Tony continued, his relaxed attitude vanishing. "she can't do much with that thing on her wrist. I thought that was beneath you, Nicky."

"It's a necessary precaution. She's dangerous."

"But is she the criminal you made us think she is?"

"She has no allegiances, we can't let a risk like her walk free!"

"So you kidnap her and block her powers, insuring that she goes bad."

"As interesting as this is," Emma interrupted, "I'd rather not stand here all day." Both men jumped and turned toward the elevator.

"Romanoff! How long have you been here?" Fury barked.

"Approximately 41 seconds, sir." Natasha said with an arched eyebrow.

"I believe that's your cue to leave." Tony smiled, waving toward the elevator. Fury went to the elevator, pressed a button, and left.

"He actually left. That's new." Tony said. Then, turning to Emma, he continued. "So you never did anything?"

The girl gave a sad smile. "I deserved everything I got. Just, in a different way than they see it. Excuse me." With that, Emma turned and left the room.


She was lying on her bed, trying not to remember and failing. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Glad for the distraction, Emma got up and opened it. She wasn't too surprised to see Tony. She was, however, a bit startled when he grabbed her arm and started pulling.

"What are you doing?" Tony didn't answer. "Where are we going?" Still no answer. "Jarvis, what's he doing?"

"My apologies, Sir has ordered me not to tell you. I believe he wishes it to be a surprise." the AI responded, sounding amused at his master's antics. With no available escape or answer, Emma allowed herself to be dragged along.

A few minutes later she was sitting in Tony's workshop, watching him look for something. when he found it, it didn't look like much. In fact, it looked like…

"A laser pointer? That's what you brought me down here for?"

"This isn't a laser pointer, it's a laser."

"Okay, that's pretty cool." Emma admitted. "What does it have to do with me?"

"We're gonna get that thing off your wrist."

It took a second for that to sink in. When it did, Emma's eyes widened. "Seriously?! I'm gonna have it off?"

"Yeah, let's get started!"

"Wait, the laser's gonna superheat the metal. Do you have a protective cuff?"

Tony frowned. "No, I didn't think of that." The two sat for a moment, then Emma spoke.

"Let's do it." Before Tony could protest (and she could see he dearly wanted to) she continued. "I want this thing off. Please, you have no idea how this thing feels. Besides, once it's off my healing factor will start coming back. I'll be better in no time, and not just my wrist. My hands, my shoulder, everything will start healing faster." By the end, she was practically begging.

Tony sighed. "Okay. I'll do it on one condition: You let me call Bruce down here as soon as we're done."

Emma grinned. "Deal. Now let's get this thing off."