A Supremely Bright Idea
By Sinead

Author's Note: Midterms are over, I did decently well, and thankfully the muse for this is still running. I'll be working on it as long as I can, provided that I don't lose the idea. Chapter four is halfway done, still thinking about where I'm going with this as far as what the characters' long-term goals are.

Chapter Three

.o.

"Ow. Ow. Ow."

"Hold still . . . you still have dirt in the wound."

"Yinsen, you . . . ow!"

His face was set in a grim line as he cleaned out the wound on her jaw. She had been punched with enough force that it broke the skin in three places, knocked her out, and she had to lie on the ground with dirt getting into her wound for ten minutes while Raza repeatedly demanded why Tony was insulting him by ignoring the girl. Tony only replied that he wanted to get the work done, and his focus couldn't be shifted for another three days at least. He had come to the unpleasant realization about what women go through monthly, but didn't make mention of it, which his mentor and life-saver had praised him for. But he knew that they had to extend the time by even days before anything was forced upon the girl.

She wasn't a girl, though. The woman. Damnit!

Said genius was currently beating himself up internally about Becky's injury. Yinsen looked up at the man who was sulking, lying on his cot and facing the wall. Once finished, bandaging her jaw as best as he could, he looked to her, and saw that the Rebeckah was watching the billionaire as well. Standing, she walked over to the cot, using as many handholds as possible. Her equilibrium was not quite up to par, but she wouldn't accept any help from the old man in walking, getting from one place to another.

It isn't pride, he noted, seeing how she paused before sitting on the cot by Tony's hip. It's sheer determination and will to overcome. And it's not from her own soul. Unlike Tony, Yinsen was up early enough to see her praying, worshiping God quietly while in the bathroom area, the place that was considered a "do not enter if someone's here" for privacy. He smiled, memories of younger days, of his wife doing the same. Only the language and format of the prayers were two different things. His own religion was formal, and this young woman's was more at ease yet at the same time strictly respectable of God.

He watched as she reached down, pressing on Tony's left shoulder to turn him from studying the stone wall and to face her. The left side of her face was swollen, starting to discolor. He opened his mouth, but she cut him off. "Don't apologize. If you interfered, they would have killed you." Even her words were lightly slurred with the onset of swelling. But she was alert, and all in her right mind. "Shove over. If you're going to mope on the cot, at least do me the favor of letting me rest beside you. The room's spinning again."

Silently, the man did so, but was shocked when she got her way between his arm and ribcage, resting her head on his chest. Hell, Yinsen was shocked. Tony blinked, then muttered, "Should I let you get hit more often if I get this result?"

She put her hand on the center of his chest to retort, but both froze at the contact. She looked down at her hand, seeing a light between her fingers through the fabric that was stretching over an odd circle. "What . . . ?"

Stark moved her hand, unbuttoning his shirt down past the reactor, showing it to her, scared of showing it to her. She blinked once, then met his gaze. He whispered, "Explanation now or later?"

"Now," Yinsen commanded. "I don't care if she lies down, or where she lies down, but I don't want her falling asleep in case of a mild concussion. I don't have any medical equipment here and can't double-check."

"You suck. I want to sleep," came the angry mutter.

"You'll thank me when you do sleep, and wake up the next morning, young lady."

She didn't reply, causing Tony to chuckle. "How about I back up a few months, and let you know what they want me to build them?"

"I guess anything is good as long as you keep me awake and thinking. Just leave out your womanizing exploits. I'm not here to listen to Penthouse Letters firsthand."

"Wow, good little Christian girl like you knows about such things?"

"I worked in a bookstore. Let's leave it at that."

"Doing what?"

"Magazines. Men's Interest is the pits. I hated shelving in it."

"Not your kind of educational need?"

"Try that I don't find women attractive, and the majority of them were half silicon, so what's the point of looking at Barbie Bimbo, Life-Size Edition all day long? A natural, real woman has flaws that endear her to the man who really loves her. Furthermore, why go for what the world sees as perfect when natural beauty is so much more rare and it's twice as satisfying to look at someone who is comfortable in the skin they were born in, looking just like what they were meant to without any surgery to 'correct' flaws that are beautiful?"

"Wow. You are straight as an arrow."

"Heckyes. What's this about what they want you to build?"

And with that, Tony was effectively steered towards the always-fun subject of blowing crap up.

.o.

Return to the present day. Tony saw this young lady almost as a younger sister that really made his life at turns bright and happy or excruciating when she got on his case about one subject or another that he really didn't feel like talking about. She nagged, she pressured him, and when he gave in and broke one day, yelling at her, seeing her not even flinch or any walls go up in her eyes, he realized that she had been guiding him all along, reading his emotions and his soul like an open book. She didn't give him what he wanted, but gave him what he needed, and that was someone to be able to yell at without any guilt at hurting them. He couldn't yell at Yinsen, since the man saved his life. He couldn't deal with the idea of hurting the man that brought him back from the dead.

But Rebeckah was perfect at taking his emotions into hand. She had the ease of someone who had done that many times before, knowing what buttons to press and the amount of pressure to hit them with.

As he stared at her in shock, she smiled, reaching up to tug on the goatee that was starting to get out of hand again. "Don't bottle your emotions up so much. They'll hurt you in the end."

"C'mere!" He growled playfully, grabbing her around the waist and swinging her into his arms to land a razz on her neck in retribution for the pushing. She giggled. Tony blinked. "Heh. You giggle like a two year old!"

But at the onset of tickles attacking her sides, she couldn't reply in anything but squeaks. Rolling his eyes and walking over with dinner, Yinsen broke it up like any good father, handing them plates and telling them to behave themselves at the "dinner table." Becka ended up sitting on the floor, leaning against Tony's leg while shoving the gruel into her mouth. "So smutbag here decided to hack my phone."

"Says the girl sitting against my leg. Be glad that I hacked it, okay? Their tech is good, but you need the programs they locked up."

"I'll pull my passport out again and show you my age again."

"Please do! I've only got my own mind to go on for imagery on female anatomy!"

"What, my boy-chest will get you hot, now? Wow. The depths that the great Tony Stark has fallen to."

They bantered for another few moments before a small, very tiny beep went off. All three froze before the young woman ran to the "bathroom" and rummaged through her false bosom for the satellite phone. Pulling it out, she read the text out loud in a soft tone. "DOD on way, have locate via satphone. No stupid stuff. ETA 5 days." Replacing the phone, she walked out and took her seat again, sighing. "We don't have five days."

Tony's entire being seemed to be drawn inwards. "No, we don't."

"So what's the plan, genius?"

"We do something stupid. That's how it always works. Time to start planning the exit strategy." Only his posture changed, and Anthony Stark went into a full planning mode, only to be interrupted by Raza, who almost literally threw the door open on Tony and Becky face-to-face in a soft, angry conversation about distances and directions. They looked at him, shocked for all of a half-second before they straightened, hands behind their heads.

The tribal warlord sneered at them, walking closer in his normal predatory fashion. The motion caused Rebeckah to shrink back slightly, trying to get behind Tony. Yinsen stood behind the pair, breathing softly, as scared as he could be, and for once, showing it. Raza smiled humorlessly. "Tony Stark . . . I gave you the gift of this beautiful young woman, and you are squandering it."

"There are two very good reasons behind keeping myself off of her."

"Distraction from what work I have given you?" the snake-like voice murmured dangerously.

Rebeckah sighed. "I've had my monthly bleeding."

Raza lifted a lip in disgust. "A very good reason to consider her untouchable. And the second?"

"Bad manners." Tony was gaining a little confidence. "It's been ingrained in me since college: No sex while the roommate's home."

Raza looked past them at Yinsen, considering something for a long moment. Shrugging amicably, but all three prisoners saw it for what it was: a façade. "Regardless, if you and she do not enjoy each other within the next three days, I will take her back."

He swept out, and the moment the door closed, Rebeckah sank to the floor, shaking. Tony looked to Yinsen, who mimed that the man should talk with her. He gathered the plates and moved to wash them, putting the food back into the pan for later, studiously ignoring the pair. During Yinsen's movements, Tony sat on the floor, pulling the young woman onto his lap and holding her against him, strong arms wrapping around her, holding her close to him as he rocked her back and forth gently. "You're scared."

She fingered a ring on one hand, then murmured, "I made the decision not to have intercourse with anyone until I was married to them. That decision was made back when I was fourteen. I didn't want to give away what rightfully belongs to the man that I'm going to be with for the rest of my life."

"That's why you're scared."

"I don't know you, I don't know anything about you," she murmured, trembling lightly. "I don't know what to do, I don't . . . I don't want to have sex!"

Sighing, the man continued to rock the young woman, tucking her head under his and resting his chin upon her head as she cried silently. He didn't know what to say to this situation, so he kept quiet for a long time, until he found what he thought were the right words. "I don't want to be with you, either. Damn. I mean that I don't like this predicament, and while I'm not saying that you're ugly, which you're not and you're actually more beautiful than most of the women I've been with, I don't want to press your boundaries. But neither of us were given much choice in this." Drawing in a deep breath, calming his racing mind, he whispered fiercely, "I would much rather respect you and your body and treat you like a lady than have you be forced against your will and be hurt by the men out there."

He wasn't prepared for the fresh flow of tears and her thin arms to wrap around his torso, but went with it anyway, still talking. Rambling. "I respect you so much for your choices, your decisions, and the way that you're wired to help people personally. My old life, I wouldn't have wanted anything to do with you, but now I'm able to appreciate every nuance. You've already helped us so much, and I'm seriously happy that you understand us. So—"

Tony's ramble was stopped as the woman giggled softly. "Shut up, Tony."

"Do you want me to let you go?"

"No. Do you know what the five love languages are?"

His mind shot back through the years before nodding. "Vaguely."

The young woman sighed, settling against him again. "Mine's physical touch."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"I now have an excuse to hold you. That's cool."

Neither were prepared for the blanket that Yinsen wrapped around them both before taking a seat on the stool beside them, reading Rebeckah's face easily and nodding at the decision made. The gentle man reached over and pushed her hair away from her eyes. This was a good lesson for both of them. Tony was learning how to protect someone, and she was learning how to trust that person protecting her.

This was a very good lesson indeed.