It had been about a week since she moved in with Tony. Her boredom seemed to slow down time as each day seemed to inch by at a snail's pace. As she suspected no one has bothered to threaten Tony's life. She honestly wished that something would happen so she'd have something to do. Tony had been spending all of his time down in his workshop and Pepper had been kept busy responding to the press and running various errands for Tony. She had been alone for most of her stay, and though she would never admit it to anybody, she felt lonely and disconnected. On the battlefield she was always with someone. Even if she never really talked to her recruits on a personal level they were still physically there. Their presence was enough to remind her that she wasn't totally alone. In her current standing, the only real constant had been Jarvis. And though he proved to be an exceptional conversationalist she still longed for some sort of human contact. Whenever the need becomes too great she'd think back to her most recent conversation with the Colonel.

She had followed Tony on one of his trips to the air force base. He had business to discuss with Colonel Rhodes, but not without throwing a few quips in his direction first. They had a quick back and forth which ended in Tony being chided by her superior. "Let me talk to you for a minute," the Colonel said as he pulled her aside. They walked off at a safe distance where Tony couldn't hear them then he asked, "Do you have any idea what he's up to?"

"He said he was working on something he started when he was captured," she admitted. Rhodey raised a brow at this. "Um, the thing in his chest, he made a new one of those."

"Oh, so you know about that, huh?"

"I do now. Why didn't you tell me about that sooner instead of making me find out the hard way? He made me stick my hand in there and everything."

"I'm sorry, in all the excitement it just sort of slipped my mind. Wait, you did what? Never mind, I don't want to know. Just tell me, how is everything over there? You doing okay?"

"Well, I haven't killed him yet if that tells you anything."

"Listen, I know this is the last thing you want to be doing, and I get that. But you're the only one who can do this."

"With all due respect, Sir, anyone could do this job. Out of all the men and women stationed here, you could have chose anyone."

"And yet I chose you. I have faith in you, okay? You can do this." She was taken aback by this. It wasn't technically praise, more so they were helpful words of encouragement, and yet she felt proud. It was the first time she'd heard such words since coming home to America. His words helped her stay grounded, and she vowed to never let him down.

Now she found herself on the couch reading the morning newspaper, replaying that conversation over and over in her head as she once again found herself completely alone. Those words he spoke to her, for some reason they made her distant feelings seem worth while.

Suddenly she was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of a loud bang coming from Tony's workshop. "Shit," she muttered. Thinking the worst she got to her feet and bolted for the stairs. She peered through the glass pane as she punched in the passcode but saw no trace of him. When she finally got the door opened she called out to him as she rushed inside.

"Over here," he called back to her. She spun around to find him picking himself off the ground. "You promised you wouldn't come in here unless I needed you. So what are you doing in here?"

"I'm making sure you didn't kill yourself. I heard a crash," she explained.

"Well, as you can see, I'm alive. You can go now," he said.

"Oh my God, you're bleeding," she said, taking note of the gash on his forehead.

"It's just a scratch. Don't worry about it," he said as he pulled his feet out of the thrusters he had previously been testing.

"What the hell are those?" she asked, pointing to the machinery at his feet.

"They're thrusters."

"Well, what are they for?"

He looked up at her with a criticizing glare. "For flying," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Whatever," she said, exasperated. "Just sit down. Where do you keep your first aid kit?"

"I told you it's just a scratch," he said as he hobbled over to his desk to sit.

"Really?" she said incredulously. "Because it looks like you're bleeding profusely."

"No, it's fine. See?" he said as he flopped down in his chair. He grabbed a dirty rag off the top of his desk and pressed it against his bleeding forehead.

"Don't do that!" she exclaimed as she rushed to his side, grabbing his wrist and moving it away from his face. She did't realize what she was doing until she felt his skin on hers. Her breath hitched as they made eye contact and she hoped he didn't notice. "It'll get infected," she said in a softer tone.

He was quiet for a moment until he finally spoke again. "In that cabinet over there, bottom drawer."

She blinked at this. "What?"

"That's where you'll find the first aid kit."

"Oh."

That's how she found herself tending to Tony's injury. She could feel herself blush as she held his chin in one hand and cleaned his wound with the other. He watched her intently and she pretended not to notice. An awkward silence settled between the two until Tony finally decided to speak up. "You know, your job is to protect me, not coddle me," he said.

"I know that," she said as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

"Then why are you doing this?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said in a flustered tone. "The Colonel is always saying that I need to learn compassion. Maybe I'm just trying to take his advice seriously."

"How's that working out for you?" he asked.

"I don't know. You tell me," she said, finally looking him in the eye. He shrugged his eyebrows and rolled his eyes in response. Trying to hide her smile, she said, "Yeah, I think so, too."

After she was done cleaning and bandaging his injury she cleaned up and put the first aid kit back where she found it. "Sorry for, uh, interrupting whatever you were doing," she said awkwardly as she was closing the cabinet. "I'll go now."

Before she could walk out the door he called out to her. When she turned around he said, "Would you mind not telling anyone what you saw down here?"

"That should be easy considering I have no idea what it is you're making," she said. "What about Pepper, though?"

"She'll figure it out on her own. Don't worry about her," he said.

"Yeah, okay. And in return could you not tell anyone that I, uh . . ." Her sentence trailed off as she gesticulated back and forth at each other.

"It's a deal," he said. "Now get out."

"Right," she said as she turned and walked out the door. She cursed herself as she ascended the stairs. "Stupid," she muttered, "I'm so stupid." Tony, picking up on her embarrassment, watched her as she walked away, snorting out a chuckle as the door closed behind her. He thought that now he knew how to get to her that he could make a game out of making her flustered. But for the time being there was too much work to be done, so he peeled the bandage from his forehead, throwing it in the garbage as he returned to his work.