so very sorry for the long wait. There's been waaay too much on - but now i have time, so i've finished writing these last few chapters. Hopefully all those patient people will enjoy them. :D

Enjo! and plz review


CHAPTER 4:

Tony felt the muscles in his back relax as he sped further away from the apartment. Knew this was a good idea. He felt like a great weight had been lifted, and nothing was pressing down on his mind or sending sharp pains into his chest. He checked the reactor quickly. The pulse had slowed down, now there was nothing but the normal blue light shining through his white t – shirt. His mind whirred at why it wasn't hurting now that he was away from that place. Maybe it's the lab. He quickly discarded that thought, it made zero sense. He'd been spending half his life in a lab and it hadn't affected anything so there was no reason why it should start now.

The wind whipped through the windows as the car tore through the track, reaching speeds over 200. Tony smiled in exhilaration and felt himself laugh. The sound felt surreal coming from his mouth. He hadn't been able to laugh like this for weeks. There was nothing more he liked than going fast, hence the Iron man suit.

He really should've been working on another improved version of his suit, but the damn rock had taken all his free time; not to mention the nightmares had given him a little gift of absolutely no sleep. Pepper had called him several times to remind him that he had an interview. But that was yesterday, and Tony had been distracted. Again. He sighed, running a hand through his thick hair. She'll understand…he was trying not to imagine how much of a scolding he'd be getting next time she came up. Whether or not anyone believed it, an angry, yelling Ms. Potts was something Tony was very afraid of. She could be really scary when she wanted – though he'd never admit that to her or anyone else. Even when he knew she'd never truly hurt him, the thought wasn't too comforting.

Tony blinked and narrowed his eyes, staring forward into the distance. There was a faint blurry building of some sort far off down the road, its metal roof projecting the glare of the sun. I hope they're in today... Tony's stomach clenched nervously and he shook his head at the sudden desire for his favourite pub to be open. This was getting ridiculous. He'd just had a drink...hadn't he? So why was he heading towards the lonely pub – when there was an even better one with more people in the city? It is because you want to be alone... something whispered into his head. The sudden voice startled Tony, and he slammed his foot down onto the brake, sending the Porsche into a wild spin.

"Gaaah!" he clenched his teeth together and braced himself for the jolt as the car bumped off the road and spun into the yellow fields. Corn tumbled into the seats and dry leaves smacked into his face, only making him more frustrated. The screech of the brakes ended abruptly and Tony felt the car jerk to a sudden stop, tipping sideways and then slamming back down. The rustle of leaves stilled, and the Porsche wheezed out a sound that reminded Tony of a hiccup before going dead.

His hands dropped from the wheel, landing limply by his sides as he unclenched his jaw and opened his eyes. The sudden movement caused dirt to fall into his eyes, escaping from his thick hair and spraying onto the white leather. As the shock wore off, Tony let his head fall forward onto the steering wheel.

"What the fuck just happened?" he murmured, letting his racing heart slow. What was wrong with him? First he was suffering from sleep deprivation, due to the ridiculous cloaked figure and now he couldn't drive and was stuck in a cornfield, all because a voice in his head had scared him shitless. And to top it all off, his beautiful red Porsche was probably completely destroyed. It's that rock. I swear it's that fucking rock –

"Um... Are – are you alright?" Tony jerked his head up and looked around blindly for a few seconds before his eyes fell on the figure of a girl. Her bright blue eyes regarded him thoughtfully, slightly concerned by his state. In her hands was a basket of freshly picked corn, which she lowered slowly and wiped her hands on the plain white apron she had tied around herself.

"Er – so...what exactly happened?" her voice was soft, careful. The wind gently ruffled her long blonde hair, pulling loose strands from the carefully tied bandana on her head. Tony leaned back into the seat, regarding her wearily. What the hell was he supposed to say? I was driving down this road to get a drink and a voice in my head which I think was because of this strange blue rock I found, distracted me so I hit the brake and ended up in your cornfield. Sorry. This raging beauty would think he was a nutcase.

"Um…I was driving…and I – I hit something on the road, and the car went wild." He looked regretfully around at the damaged cornfield, hoping that she would believe his story. "Sorry about your cornfield."

She smiled, running her eyes over the car and shaking her head. "That car suffered more damage than my cornfield. And you're pretty torn up as well. Do you want to come into the house so I can fix you up?"

Tony screwed up his eyebrows and reached up to angle the rear view mirror in his direction. His reflection gazed back at him, hair covered in dirt and clothes torn to shreds from the loose rocks. On his left cheek a series of shallow scratches were still bleeding, running down his neck and soaking his shirt. He winced as the shock dissipated and he was faced with the wave of stinging pain.

"Crap."

Tony winced as she placed the last bandage on his chest, pressing gently before taping it to his skin. He glanced at his reflection in the large oval mirror, frowning at his half – naked form. Everything was pretty much cleaned up, the grazes on his cheek had only been disinfected - there was nothing much anyone could do about those; but the larger cuts on his side and ribs had been bandaged and taken care of. His hair still had the odd grain of dirt embedded, but most of it had washed away when the girl had poured a bucketful of freezing water over his head. He hid a smile at the thought. She was some girl.

"So, what's your name?" she bit her lip, placing the dirty wipes into a trash bin and beginning to pack away her First – aid kit.

"Tony. Tony stark." He held out a hand, but quickly dropped it when her form froze at the name. She turned around slowly, blue eyes wide with awe and excitement. He felt a swell of smugness surg up from inside him.

"You don't happen to be – "

"Yeah I'm the Tony stark that owns that big tower you can see from this place." He pointed, smiling, at his new tower. She shook her head, turning back to him.

"But you are Iron man!" he shrugged, going for nonchalance. Though he was pretty pleased at her reaction, this was Tony stark here, and the only feeling he showed (if he could help it) was detached boredom.

"And your tower is destroyed…" she hid a smile at his scowl. "My name is Sarah."

"Well you can blame those inter – galactic aliens that almost destroyed our planet for that." Tony stood, shrugging on the blue shirt Sarah had given him. "What can I say? I had to save planet earth from Loki's rule – I had no choice but to sacrifice a tower." He smirked at her expression. "After all, I only have … 10 more where that came from."

"Those aliens…they destroyed half of New York City. But you saved us." She smiled up at him in awe. Tony smirked, shrugging one shoulder in a failed attempt at modesty.

"Well American Spandex boy helped a little, I suppose." He had to give it to Steve. Little American packed a pretty mean punch if he tried.

"Spandex?" Sarah raised an eyebrow. Tony half – smiled and held out a hand. "Thanks sweetie – "

Tony stumbled back as she threw herself at him, hugging him with all the strength of a girl in love. He looked down at her in confusion, feeling slightly exposed as she smiled up at him with her big blue eyes.

"Sorry, but I couldn't just let you leave without getting my part of the arrangement."

"Arrangement?" Tony blinked. Maybe he'd missed something, but he hadn't made any deals with the girl, not that he would mind kissing this beauty.

"Yeah. After all, it's not every day a farmer girl gets to help Iron man. So I couldn't let you leave without a hug." She smiled again, releasing him and pointing to the door. "Now you can leave. And that shirt cost $20."

Tony smiled at her as he turned around. "I don't have money."

"Don't give me bullshit. You're a zillionaire." He smiled to himself as she shouted from the window, turning around once to wave at her laughing figure. She really was a gem, but too young. He may be a playboy, but he wasn't a paedophile.

The road shimmered ahead of him as he started walking back the way he came. The Porsche was still stuck in the cornfield, and probably would be for a while, unless sweetie had an uncle she hadn't told him about. The thought brought a rare smile to his face. He didn't mind walking, but now he was wishing he hadn't driven quite so far.