A/N: Thanks for the love! You have no idea what it means to mean (you probably hear that a lot but holy crap I mean it from the bottom of my heart) that you guys read, follow, and review. Shout out to SunnyDay64 for asking questions and continuing to stay interested despite my long messages! This chapter is a bit heavier at the end but you get Tony's POV, so YAY. Hopefully it'll help you see where he's at now in our story.

I never intended this story to be raunchy by my brain is remarkably like Tony's, so there you go. You'll be getting incredibly crude jokes. Whoops.

-E

Disclaimer: I do not own Tony, any established Marvel Characters, the Iron Man 2 plot line, or S.H.I.E.L.D! Alessandra, Amanda and Rhonda are all mine.

Chapter 3

They got through the entire second half of the song before dissolving into loud laughter. She had expected to be kicked out but surprisingly Rhonda only smiled and hummed along as she delivered everyone's orders.

"Hell no! Wind It Up is definitely the catchiest," Alessandra argued.

"I-I don't even know how to feel about that. Obviously you're wrong, Rich Girl is the best."

"You're biased! It doesn't count."

"Yes. Yes I am." Tony deadpanned.

As they continued to argue their favorite Gwen Stefani songs, Alessandra couldn't help but think about everything she had ever heard about the billionaire. Tabloids called him an arrogant, drunken, merchant of death before his captivity in Afghanistan and a crazy, drunken, hippie after his return. Honestly, he seemed like a bit of both. From what she could see he was arrogant, crazy and most definitely drunk, but despite all of that being true, he was so much more. He was hilarious (despite most of his jokes being at her expense), he was a genius (even completely drunk he used words she'd never heard of), he had killer taste in music (his Halloween costume was Angus Young for god's sake!), and even knowing that she was a complete stranger, he treated her like a friend would (of course he might just be like that to everyone). Something about singing Hollaback Girl together in a semi-crowded diner shook away all she had thought she'd known about him. Don't get her wrong, she was still a bit wary of the guy (anyone with the nickname Merchant of Death should not be fucked with) but she knew she could get away with relaxing a little around him.

Her thoughts and their argument broke up when her phone rang. Confused, who would call in the middle of the night?, Alessandra pulled her prepaid phone out of her pocket. Before she had the chance to answer it, the phone was snatched out of her hand and Tony was speaking.

"Hello! Girls phone, Tony speaking." Pushing Alessandra away as she tried to grab the phone, Tony continued, "Will you please tell this psycho that Rich Girl is the best Gwen Stefani song after Hollaback Girl? She is deluded."

Nodding a little at whatever was said on the other end, Tony opened his mouth to speak. Instead of words, a loud cry of pain exited the billionaire's mouth. Alessandra, seeing no other option, had kicked him in the shin. Hard.

Satisfied, she plucked the phone off the table where it had fallen and said, "Sorry, who is this?"

Laughter rang out from the other end, "Who is that?" Amanda. "Is that your boyfriend? Oh my gosh I didn't know you were seeing anyone! Way to inform your friend, roomie!" Alessandra tried to cut off Amanda's rambling but couldn't get a word in. "Anyway, it works out perfectly because I need the house for the night."

"What? Why?" At this point, Tony had squeezed into her side of the booth and pressed his ear up to the other side of her phone. Wow this guy has boundary issues.

"This guy I've been sorta seeing is coming over and it'd be totally awkward if you were here, ya know? Totally not into threesomes." At the last sentence, Alessandra choked and Tony collapsed into laughter.

"Threesome?!"

"I know, totally weird right? Anyway, since you have this Tony guy you can stay at his place! Problem solved."

Trying to save the conversation, Alessandra rushed out, "He's not my-!"

"Oh, he's here! I'll see you at work, roomie!" Amanda hung up the phone and all Alessandra could do was stare at it in shock.

She just got kicked out of her house because her roommate was hooking up with her 'sorta boyfriend.' Things like that happened in movies, not real life! Well, she didn't really know. In elementary school she had friends and knew all about proper friend etiquette. 1. Don't steal your friends toys. 2. Share crayons with them if you want them to share with you. 3. Don't hog the paste. Simple!

In middle school she had learned not to tell on her classmates if she saw them doing something wrong. (Something about middle school turned people into delinquents. No joke. Cheating on tests, lying to teachers, gossiping viciously, getting into fights, stealing other peoples stuff, etc.) Of course, near the end of her 8th grade year, she had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma for the first time, so that is essentially where her experience in social situations ended.

Sure, she had seen Mean Girls and The Breakfast Club (Madison thought they would cheer her up. They didn't.) but they were just movies! Weren't they supposed to be exaggerated and unrealistic?

Apparently not, she thought wryly. With a sigh, Alessandra accepted the fact that she wouldn't be getting sleep anytime soon.

"Roomate but a sock on the door?" Tony asked with a laugh.

Nodding her head at him she didn't expect any of what happened next.

"Awesome! Now we have the rest of the night."

Alessandra's eyebrows shot up. Was he making a move on her?

Apparently her thoughts were written all over her face because he laughed harder. "Oh, god no. Not that I wouldn't, but you know getting kidnapped by terrorists kinda gives you a new outlook on things. And I really don't want a repeat of Vanity Fair." He stopped laughing and looked closer at her. "Besides, what are you fifteen?"

She would be insulted if it weren't a completely understandable assumption. Wearing a plain black polo, black hoodie, and khaki colored pants-work uniforms sucked!-did nothing to help Alessandra look her age. Being 18 years old and dying hadn't given her a lot of options appearance wise. She hadn't ever learned how to put on more than mascara, she didn't wear heels or dresses, and she had lost a bit of weight since leaving the hospital, shrinking her boobs immensely. Overall, she looked young. The only redeeming quality she had was her height. Thank goodness she was tall.

"No. I'm 18." Being a famous billionaire and all she figured she would know if he were a criminal or not. Her age wasn't exactly stalking material either so she felt no problem being honest about it.

"Oh good, you're legal."

"Good?" Again, was he hitting on her?

"Yeah, if we get arrested I'm not going down alone." This statement was said so matter-of-factly that questions popped up from every corner of her mind.

Voicing one, she asked, "Is that a problem with you? Getting arrested, I mean?"

"Meh, sometimes. It depends on my mood." Shrugging, Tony began to climb out of the booth. "Let's bounce, pipsqueak."

"You realize that I'm 5'8" right?" She asked, amused.

"Potato, potato." He said both words exactly the same way, making her laugh outright.

Dropping a $50 from Tony's wallet on the table for the bill, plus Rhonda's pain and suffering (they weren't the best singers), she followed Tony outside.

The first thing she saw upon exiting the diner was Tony stripping out of his costume. "Ugh," he groaned, "this wig is so hot. And this jacket. Christ, it's a sauna out here!" Considering the fact that it was barely 70 degrees and they were on the coast, Alessandra mentally called bullshit.

As he began to unbuckle his pants, her hands shot out to stop him. "Woah, woah, woah! That is definitely something I don't need to see."

"You sure about that?" He added an eyebrow waggle to his already suggestive smile.

As hard as she tried, Alessandra couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out at his arrogance. "Yeah, I'm sure." She chuckled a minute before an thought came to her. "But I do have an idea. Let's go."

Without waiting for a reply, she pulled his keys out of her pocket and hopped into the driver's side of the Audi. He wasn't fit to drive and she knew he wouldn't really care. Waiting until he was slumped into the passenger seat, she buckled him in and pulled out onto the highway.

They drove for a few minutes in complete silence. It wasn't as uncomfortable as Alessandra thought it would be. As someone who had undressed in front of a new nurse every day and even had help showering until she was 16 -IV's are a bitch to shower with- she had known her fair share of award situations. What had surprised her was how comfortable Tony seemed to be in the silence.

She glanced over at him and saw that he was staring out the window with a stormy look on his face. Instantly, Alessandra wanted to know what had him looking like that. Of course, it could have been anything. From what she knew, he had been orphaned when he was only a year older than her, he had been held captive in Afghanistan for three months only a short time ago and he had been in that huge battle at Stark Industries. Alessandra was someone who had faced a lot in her short time alive, but even then she was hesitant to compare their lives. He had spent time as a prisoner to terrorists, which she figured must have been like her time in the hospital only way worse and he was an orphan, just like she was. They had a lot in common, something that made her nervous. She didn't know if she wanted to be around someone who was just like her.

"There were no cheeseburgers."

At his abrupt comment, Alessandra glanced at Tony again. "What?"

"In Afghanistan. They didn't have cheeseburgers."

Not knowing how to respond, she kept silent, only glancing over at the billionaire every few seconds as she drove towards their destination. Why would he bring that up? Yes, she had been thinking about it, and yes, she was curious, but she would never in a million years have brought it up. Alessandra had figured that was just something you avoided like that plague around Tony.

TONY POV

Pulling up at the beach where they had first met, pipsqueak turned the engine off and left the keys in the ignition. Tony made no move to exit the car; he was too wrapped up in his thoughts of Afghanistan. It had been hell complete with fire and brimstone. One minute he had been joking around with America's finest and the next minute he had been staring down a missile, a missile with his name on it. How was that for poetic?

Growing up with Howard Stark and the weapon making industry, he had never truly understood the negative press his family got. Howard had fought against the Nazi's and won! He was building incredible feats of engineering and providing the United States with its greatest defense (and let's be honest, offense). Tony had been raised to believe that what their family was doing deserved praise, but not everyone felt that way. They were idiots, he had thought, only idiots didn't understand that the Stark's were this countries savior.

Of course, they had advanced more than weaponry. Their medical advancements were revolutionary, not that he had ever been particularly interested. It was a section of the company that he had never had an active hand in. He was an engineer, not a doctor. Weapons are what he was bred to do and weapons are what he excelled at. The medical division of SI was full of the best researchers and scientists in the world and that was enough for Tony. He checked in with them every once in a while (when Pepper demanded it), and went on his merry way blowing stuff up in his labs. Even their intelli-crops were revolutionary! They had save millions of lives and the numbers never lied. Tony Stark was a savior, goddamn it, and if anyone thought differently, they were idiots.

He had believed all of that until earlier this year. There was nothing better than the feeling he got when one of his weapons demonstrations went off without a hitch. The military had put in one of the largest orders he had ever received for the new Jericho and he had a class of cold scotch in his hand. How much better could life get? That is, it was great before fire rained down from the sky and he had an electromagnet shoved into his chest. Spending three months in Afghanistan had opened his eyes in a way he never thought was possible. There were his weapons. All of them sitting cozy in the hands of terrorists.

When Raza had demanded that he make the Jericho and he was tortured for refusing, he had thought that was the worst he would ever feel. It had to be the worst thing that would ever happen to him. Unfortunately, he was wrong again. After he had blown up the Ten Rings camp and returned to America, he had found out that it was Obie who betrayed him. Someone he had grown up with and considered family had been selling his weapons to terrorists and had even had him tortured. It was the kind of pain Tony didn't know he was capable of feeling. Again, he thought that he had hit rock bottom. But again, he was wrong. Seeing Gulmira, Yinsen's home, taken over by the Ten Rings using his weapons had torn his heart right out of his chest. He had done that. Tony Stark, the world's "goddamn savior" had never been so confused and horrified by anything in his life. When people talked about what he was doing as war profiteering, he had laughed them off as idiots. Of course he didn't love war. Tony wasn't so ignorant as to believe that people weren't dying, but he had been trying to advance weaponry for the United States; the same country that boasted freedom and equality for all. That should have been enough, right?

And yes, perhaps he is lying to himself. He had always been an arrogant son of a bitch, but he didn't think he was actually so careless. Tony shook the thought away, of course he had been! The Billionaire Playboy image hadn't just been an image. He was truly an asshole. One of the largest the world had ever seen. And if he were being vindictive, he could have blamed Howard for all of it; the weapons, the attitude, the arrogant complex he developed at an early age, but he wasn't feeling vindictive. Not tonight. Tonight it was only bitter sadness that he was feeling.

He had told a perfect stranger that Afghanistan didn't have any cheeseburgers. Who does that? This girl, someone he knew absolutely nothing about, had held his head as he barfed in some dudes lawn, driven him passed out drunk to a diner in order to sober him up a little, and didn't even get upset when he made several jokes at her expense. It was strange… and also liberating. Tony was used to being surrounded by Pepper, Rhodey, Obie, and the bots. They had known him long before he decided to shut down the weapons manufacturing division of SI, they had seen him through his drunken playboy ways, and they had loved him for it.

But that was also the problem. He was Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, war monger, Tony Stark, and they had loved him for it. That was more than he could have asked of anyone, but when he returned after having his eyes rudely shoved open wide, they had thought he was crazy. Rhodey hadn't even listened when he tried to explain Iron Man, Pepper had quit when he asked her to help him rid Stark weapons from the Middle East, and Obie? Obie wasn't even worth thinking about anymore. And okay, he understood that neither Rhodey or Pepper had been leaving him, not really, but it had hurt all the same. They didn't understand what he was trying to do. He wasn't some crazy vigilante who went around killing people. He was just a man trying to fix his mistakes before any more were made.

Maybe that was why he hadn't called Happy to come pick him up yet and maybe that was why he decided to stay here of all places; in the company of a teenage girl. She hadn't asked him any questions about Afghanistan or Iron Man, she hadn't expected anything from him that first day on the beach (yes, he did remember that, he was drunk not senile) and she was perfectly content to sit in silence. Something about the fact that he didn't even know her name was exhilarating. She no doubt knew who he was, which is why he hadn't bothered hiding it, but she was still a Nobody to him. She meant absolutely nothing to him.

And maybe that's why he decided to tell her everything.

Opening the door, he stepped out into the moonlight and sat on the hood of his Audi. It was silent for a few minutes before he heard the door open and close and a body recline next to him. They sat there, together in silence, taking in the salty air and sliver of moonlight they could see behind the clouds. Finally, Tony let out a small sigh, and began to talk.

"It wasn't only cheeseburgers. There were no toilets or showers or J.A.R.V.I.S." He started out with a tone full of nonchalance, knowing that he was failing to cover up the sadness he felt. "It was only a dry, dark cave full of dirt. There were flimsy little cots set up for me and Yinsen and we didn't get any real food, just some mashed up gunk."

Stopping, Tony thought about whether or not he should continue. The girl hadn't reacted at all, not even looking at him as he talked, but he was determined now. He had to get this all out.

"They tortured me." Her hand twitched. "They wanted me to build the missile I had been demonstrating; the Jericho. When I refused, they dunked my head in a bucket of water until my lungs were on fire. I thought I had died a few times, fuck, I wish I had. When I was unconscious they shoved an electromagnet in my chest. No anesthetic. But that wasn't even the worst of it." She was watching him now. He could feel her eyes on him as his own glazed over, but he didn't dare return the look. Looking at her would just ruin it. "They had killed Yinsen's family with my weapons, took control of whole cities and burned them to the ground. All because of Obadiah Stane. The man that had been like family to me."

Sighing, he finally turned to look at her. He knew he must have looked have crazed but it was her that was a shock. Anger, confusion, and a horrible understanding were written plainly on her slim face. What would she have understood? How could anyone possibly understand what he had been through? And the anger. Tony could tell that it wasn't directed at him, but seeing the amount of cold anger that burned through her features confused him. Why would she feel anger like that? Sure, he had been tortured but that couldn't possibly have made her seething mad, she didn't even know him.

Her voice broke through his confusion, "Is he dead?" Her tone was nothing but calm and measured, hiding the feelings splayed across her face.

"Who?" He knew exactly who she was asking about but he needed to think about how he would respond. The answer was a resounding yes, but would he give her the cover story S.H.I.E.L.D. had sold the world? Probably not, he had just told her more than anyone on the planet knew, Director Fury included. Nobody knew about Yinsen, his friend and the man that had kept him alive. Nobody had heard the details of his torture, as limited as they were, and nobody knew the extent of Stane's dealings. She deserved the truth, but more importantly, he deserved the right to tell it.

"Obadiah Stane. Is he alive?"

"No," he paused before adding, "he was the man in the other suit. I killed him." And just like that his shoulders felt freer than they had in months, years even. Tony didn't regret killing Obie, the bastard deserved everything he got, he only wondered how his silent companion would take the news of him being a murderer.

She turned her head towards the ocean and was silent for a long moment. Just when Tony was about to justify his actions, he heard it.

"Good."

And that was it, conversation over. He had confessed his sins before god and a stranger and it felt amazing. Sure, there was a lot left he had to do, and maybe more pain to endure, but right then, sitting on the beach with pipsqueak, he felt content.

He didn't know it then, but that feeling of contentment was something he had been longing for.

And it was something he would never let go of again. Not unless they pulled it from his cold dead hands.

A/N: There it is. Next chapter involves drunk skinny dipping. (Tony is a menace.) Don't worry, it'll pick up soon! We are right on track to follow the movie storyline. Drop me a line if you have comments, questions, or insults.