Disclaimer: They aren't mine…I'm only borrowing them…except Harper. She's mine.

Please R&R. Show some love. Help me improve. BE CONSTRUCTIVE, NOT DESTRUCTIVE. Thanks ;)

Author's Note: I am really happy with how smoothly this is going and because of all the favorites, I've decided to post two chapters today. I'm touched that you all like my story. It's a little slow right now, but I promise it will get more fast paced.

Thank Yous: Soooo many feels! Thank yous go out to new followers : Lati08, Beshineshi, katie93319, and Shedaisies. Thanks so much for wanting to read my story folks.

Enjoy!

Starksassemblyrequired

Song for Ch. 2: Heart's A Mess by Gotye

Chapter 2: Occupy Your Mind

Harper walked down the long hallway toward the lab she knew to be at the end. She was smart enough to put her files away in her briefcase before heading down toward the lab. So, with her coffee in one hand, her briefcase tucked under her arm and her palm pilot in the other hand, Harper punched in the security code to the lab.

"Good morning, Miss Moore." Jarvis greeted, a certain warmth in the AI's tone.

"Good morning, Jarvis. Is he busy?" She heard something that may have been welding, but she wasn't sure.

"Yes, Miss Moore. He is making restorations to one of his suits." Jarvis provided the information freely, his tone somewhat exasperated.

Harper followed the sound of welding until she reached the sight of a slightly sweaty Tony. She stood back, unnoticed, her eyes tracing the lines of his back, the dips of his shoulders and the sweat staining his wife beater. She smiled slightly to herself, her eyes trained on his every move.

Pick apart the pieces of your heart, and let me peer inside

Harper had taken this job with the hopes of doing something better for herself. For almost three years she worked as a paralegal for a small firm run by morons. She wasn't happy and when she got that magical phone call from her old friend from high school, Pepper, she was only too eager to take the job. Granted she didn't know she was essentially taking a babysitting position for a spoiled brat, but it was well worth it.

She had come to like Tony. He was a good guy, even if he was a bit selfish, but on occasion he showed a caring side to his roommates at the Tower and to herself as well. He was definitely not her type, and after being witness to a lot of the stunts he pulled recently, she didn't think he ever could be. But that had changed.

Two months in to working for the team, Harper had begun to realize just how attracted she was to the inventor. It had started as her noticing small things, the fleck of gold in one of his eyes, the small almost invisible scar on his left temple. Soon, she started getting goosebumps when their arms brushed one another, or her stomach would flutter whenever he smiled her way.

Let me in, where only your thoughts have been

She maintained a professional outlook on their relationship, even though all she wanted to do at times was kiss him stupid. She knew she wasn't his type. He liked leggy, slender red heads, not short, slightly chubby blonds with thick glasses, high expectations and even higher IQ's. Harper wasn't unattractive in any means, but she wasn't the type Tony went for and she had accepted that. She may not be able to show her attraction for him, but she could certainly look out for his best interests, especially since most of the time he was too side tracked by a pretty face, a pretty piece of technology or a pretty bottle to look after himself.

Tony finally turned off his torch and lifted his face gear, turning to smirk at her.

"Watching me?" Tony said, sitting up straight on his rolling stool and wiping his hands on a rag beside him. "That's not creepy at all, you know."

"Well, I didn't want to just walk up behind you and startle you. I don't feel like going up in flames, Tony. That doesn't sound like a good time." Harper raised a perfectly styled eyebrow and gave Tony a look.

He chuckled lightly and made a face at her, one that clearly said "hardy har har." He rolled towards her, scooting slowly closer, his eyes fixed on hers. "I can think of something that sounds like a good time, Harpsichord." Harper stood frozen to the spot, her mind racing, visions of kissing him running through her thoughts as he came ever so nearer... until he called her that name.

"Goddamn it, Tony, what have I told you about calling me that!" Annoyance flooded her expression as she put her palm pilot in the pocket of her briefcase and her briefcase on the floor. She put her coffee on a clean table and shook her head. "You know it pisses me off."

"Why do you think I keep doing it?" Tony snarked. "You know I can't help but get a rise out of you. It makes my day so much better."

Let me occupy your mind, as you do mine.

After a moment, Harper's expression changed. " You said you'd had another nightmare last night."

He sobered immediately, his expression somber and haunted. Instead of replying verbally, he nodded.

"How bad was this one compared to the others?" Harper leaned back against the table her coffee was on, her eyes intent on him.

For a moment, Tony didn't answer but she saw the strain it had put on him to remember the nightmares. His eyes had become somewhat shadowed over, his face slowly paling.

"I could feel it." Tony started, his voice quiet. "The weight on my chest, the lack of air in my lungs. I could feel it all over again and I was terrified. I woke up in the dark. I woke up alone and in the dark and I was terrified." He shuddered, his eyes on the ground in front of him. "I keep thinking 'What if this is the dream and I won't wake up next time. What if next time I don't hear the roar of the Other Guy and open my eyes?'"

Harper walked to Tony and knelt in front of him, not at all worried about getting her skirt dirty. She placed both of her hands on his face, cupping his cheeks, bringing his face up so his eyes would meet hers. "None of that is going to happen. You are alive and you're awake. This isn't a dream. This is reality, Tony and in this reality, you're okay." When he nodded, she smiled reassuringly.

"Thanks, Harper." Tony muttered, one of his hands coming up to rest on one of hers on his face. "This is why we keep you."

"We need to get you a nightlight." She joked, standing and pulling away. She wasn't as comfortable with the contact as she seemed, and for now she had reached a limit. She didn't want to risk a miscommunication between herself and Tony.

"What am I? Six?" Tony scoffed, before rolling back to his station and picking up his welding torch once more.

"Have fun!" Harper laughed as she picked up her briefcase and coffee cup, making her way back out of the lab.

"Hey!" She stopped and turned around, looking at Tony with a smirk.

"What?"

"Can you bring me a sandwich?" He gave her his best impersonation of a puppy as she rolled her eyes and walked away. "Please?!"

The closing of the lab door was his answer.