Disclaimer:I do not own anything pertaining to Marvel Comics or Iron Man, or anything else related to this material of which I written about. All rights are reserved by the original owners.
Author's Note: Finally a longer chapter! I've got so much that still has to happen in this story, and I'm quietly freaking out about fitting it all into place. This chapter has a very important and much anticipated development – hope you like it!
Chapter 7 – He Just Wants You To Be Happy
This wasn't exactly the way Julia anticipated spending her morning, but it wasn't that bad either. Sometime last night she had mentioned wanting to take a swim in Tony's pool – something that she'd wanted to do since she first saw it – yet had no bathing suit to wear. He, of course, replied that she didn't have to have one. After talking it over, Tony commissioned a shopping expedition and put his assistant in charge of it all. Thus, Julia found herself in the backseat of the Rolls Royce with Pepper Potts beside her taking notes while talking on a cell phone.
After twenty minutes of non-stop calls, Virginia finally put the device away and took a deep breath. "It never ends," she stated.
"I'm sorry if this is interrupting your schedule," Julia offered; she did feel a little guilty for this impromptu trip.
"Don't worry about it – I'm used to Tony's spontaneity, and believe me this is nothing when compared with some of the curveballs he's thrown me. He keeps me on my toes."
"He really does value your advice though."
She looked skeptical, and her tone had more than a hint of sarcasm. "Really?"
"Yes. For example, he said that he always has you check his clothing before buying it. He said you've got sound judgment about virtually everything."
"Oh… well…"
Julia noticed her cheeks turn a light shade of pink; Pepper had a pleasant expression as she gazed off into space.
About an hour later they arrived at Beverly Hills and the Rolls didn't look one bit out of place; however, Julia felt like she'd stepped into another world, one full of wealthy, beautiful people.
"Maybe I should have dressed up a bit…" she said in a low voice, glancing down her loose-fitting jeans and t-shirt.
"You look fine," Virginia replied in a reassuring manner. "I can guarantee that you'll see several women in sweatpants before we're finished here – designer sweatpants, but sweatpants nonetheless."
Julia couldn't even imagine Ms. Potts dressed so casually; Pepper was always so polished and professional.
Happy looked over his shoulder at them. "Have fun in there. I'm going to get something to eat."
Pepper led the way into a modern lingerie boutique with a French name, Eres. She spoke softly to a woman working there, who showed them to the swimsuit area of the store.
"Alright," the red-head addressed Julia, "take your pick. Tony said that you should have at least two, so get whatever you want."
She blinked several times and gazed about. The interior was bright, uncomplicated, and the displays were tastefully arranged. How on earth was she going to choose? Julia had never enjoyed shopping or malls or so-called "girly" things. If there was something that she had to buy, she went and got it without much fuss or browsing or expense. Shopping like this was way out of her comfort zone; she realized just how valuable her younger sister could be in a situation like this.
"I really don't know where to begin," she finally confessed.
Pepper motioned to a saleswoman who came over quickly with a smile on her face. "My friend would like to get some bathing suits."
"I don't know what style would be best for my, um, shape." Julia felt so uncomfortable, but tried to stay cool.
The woman eyed her carefully. "You appear to have an hourglass figure, but you also look quite athletic. Might I suggest something like this, or possibly this?"
It took a while, but after taking several items to a change room, Julia examined herself in a mirror. The deep pink, one-piece suit didn't seem like something she would have chosen, but she liked how it looked on her. Taking it off and putting it aside, she tried on a couple others before finding another one that she felt really good about. It was a black bikini that hugged her body just the right way, yet wasn't skimpy. That made two – time to check out. Julia changed and gathered the two swimsuits that she'd selected. The tiny price tag caught her eye. She stifled a gasp and rapidly checked the price on the other. Both were over three hundred dollars.
There was a knock at the door and Pepper's voice could be heard. "Hey, is everything alright?"
She opened the door and stared at her. "This place is expensive…" Julia whispered.
Virginia looked slightly taken aback; she was clutching several lingerie items of her own.
"I really don't need a luxury European bathing suit."
"Tony told me to take you to the best place, somewhere that I would shop, and this is it."
"But… I can't accept something like this!"
There was a sympathetic sigh from the other woman. "This is what Tony is like – he buys things for people. Even before Afghanistan he was the same way; though perhaps in a more roundabout manner. The point is, he knows that he's well-off and he's not afraid of spending money. Tony is extravagant, but he's also generous. When he wants to do something for someone, he goes all out. When he asked me to take you shopping today, he wanted you to be completely satisfied. He doesn't have any ulterior motives; he just wants you to be happy."
Julia paused and considered this information. It was true. Since they had returned home from overseas, she had seen first-hand that willingness to give and to share. "You're right, Virginia. Sorry."
"Don't worry about it. Let's buy this stuff!"
Arriving at Stark's house an hour later, the women found Tony and Yinsen lounging at a table in the middle of lunch. It looked like his chef was in today, since the meal was not something that the two of them could have just whipped up.
"Well, how did it go?" Tony asked with a grin.
"It was fine," Pepper replied.
"Can I see what you bought?" There was a mischievous tone in his voice.
"No, you may not."
"Julia?"
"I'm going for a swim, so you'll have to look out a window or something."
Yinsen entered into the conversation; "Are either of you hungry?"
"No, thanks. Happy picked up some lunch for us while we were in the city." Pepper checked her smart phone. "Tony, you do remember that Obadiah is coming by later?"
"Yes," he sighed. "I hope that he's not going to be all gloom and doom again."
"Well, you'll have to prepare yourself for it in case he mentions stocks."
Julia excused herself and went to her room to change. She was a little nervous about everyone seeing her in either swimsuit, but decided to conquer whatever fears she harboured by wearing the black bikini first. Wrapping a bathrobe around herself, she quickly snuck down to the floor of the house that she could easily access the pool. There were towels waiting by the door and she took one with her when she stepped outside.
It was quite hot out there. Julia realized that she hadn't been outside much since she'd returned home; maybe another subconscious holdover from being in a cave for three months. Depositing both towel and robe onto a nearby reclining chair, she positioned herself at the deep end of the pool and stared into the calm blue water below. Without thinking too much about it, she dove in. There was that familiar sound of the water breaking as she went below the surface, then the muffled quiet of being completely immersed. The water itself was a perfect temperature between warm and cool, just comfortable without being frigid or like a bath.
She came to the surface and inhaled deeply, tasting the air that was mildly salty due to the proximity to the ocean. This was how she had imagined it would be like. After treading water a moment, she let herself sink down and opened her eyes to the aqua world, feeling a sense of freedom.
Julia swam for a while. It was only when she was floating on her back that she noticed a figure watching from a deck above. Shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun, she recognized Tony; he had both arms on the railing and was gazing down intently.
"Looking good!" he hollered, and waved a hand.
She smiled back, but it quickly faded from her face when she noticed someone else approach the end of the deck.
As before, he was formally dressed in a shirt and tie, only this time with sunglasses. Obadiah Stane peered at her, then waved.
Julia acknowledged him, then swam to the nearest ladder to get out of the pool. She wasn't much for tanning, but did feel like lying out in the sun for a bit, even though she wasn't completely relaxed with her audience of two. They appeared to be deep in conversation; maybe about her. She speculated as to how that discussion would go – given Tony's history with women, and that Mr. Stane had already seen her in the house – and it wasn't going to be the greatest for her own reputation.
"So, who is this girl, Tony?"
"She's not just some girl, Obi; she's a friend of mine."
"I'm sure she is…"
"What was that? Sarcasm? Are you doubting whether or not I have female friends?"
"Not at all. It's just that the 'friends' I've seen generally don't live in and aren't around for over a day or two."
"Well, this is different."
"Yes, very. Not a supermodel, not an actress, not a waitress, but air force. Are we playing a different field here?"
"You don't even know how I met her; she could be Rhodey's sister for all you know."
"If Rhodey had a sister."
"Whatever. It doesn't matter, she's staying here as my guest."
"What was her name… Ramirez? You've given her a lot of access to the place. I mean, access to the shop? Or does she just deliver drinks?"
Tony glared in response.
"It's alright pal. Whatever makes you happy." Even though Stane's sunglasses concealed his eyes, the way he was eyeing the woman's form was unmistakable. "And she's certainly enough to keep anyone happy. But we've got business to discuss… Who's that?"
Tony followed his gaze and turned around to see Yinsen walking around inside the house. "Another friend of mine. Yinsen! I'd like you to meet someone."
The doctor stepped out onto the desk and leaned on his cane.
"This is my mentor, Obadiah Stane, and this is Yinsen, an extremely talented surgeon."
"Pleasure to meet you," Stane said as they shook hands. "Would I be correct in thanking you for keeping Tony alive in Afghanistan?"
"Perhaps, but it was Stark's own will to live that kept him going."
"Yes, that and some nice hardware. Had you ever done anything like that before?"
"Install electrical devices into people's chests? Yes."
"Well, I think you could definitely pioneer a new field of medicine with that knowledge."
"There are always new things to learn. If you would excuse me, I must do some walking for my leg."
The men watched him leave, then resumed talking.
"You keep your doctor in-house?"
"When he's on vacation."
"I'm aware of the official reports, Tony. Yinsen and Ramirez were both in that cave with you."
"Then why the third degree with all those questions?"
"I just wanted to see how you'd react," he said with a deep chuckle. "Seriously though, it's nice that you can have them here. I'll admit, I've never known you to be so hospitable."
"After you've shared an experience like that, you're not going to be the same person as before."
"I think I'm finally understanding a little more about you and your new direction." The older man clapped him on the back and smiled.
"I hope that you put some sunscreen on before lying out to bake."
Julia opened her eyes to see Yinsen approaching. "No, actually I forgot to."
He held out a bottle to her and she began applying it.
"That one is mineral based, so it should work right away. Perhaps I should put some on as well," he murmured, glancing at his forearms; the rest of his sleeves were rolled up.
"You need some vitamin D – you'll be fine if you sit out here five minutes."
"Ah, you're probably right." The doctor looked up toward the two men standing on the deck. "I was just introduced to Mr. Obadiah Stane."
"Really? How was that?"
"Fine, I suppose."
She also gazed at them. "I don't think he's too thrilled with our presence here."
"I agree with you. Though it must seem rather unusual for a man of Tony Stark's status and reputation to suddenly have guests, considering that his guests usually come in the form of inebriated socialites and party-goers."
"Yeah…"
"And don't forget, the rest of the world believes that he is either on the verge of a breakdown, or suffering from post-traumatic stress, or both. That press conference…" he sighed, "His heart is in the right place, that's what matters."
They were both quiet for a moment before Julia spoke again. "I think I'm going to take another swim, and then I'll come inside."
"Alright." Yinsen stood with a bit of difficultly, though he tried not to show it.
"How are you feeling today?"
"A little stiff; I think I did too much work the other day. Tony has arranged for some physiotherapy sessions for me to attend, starting tomorrow."
"Well, you probably need it."
He sighed. "I know… He's even arranged for sessions with a counselor."
"And you'll be going to those as well?"
"Yes. Though I can't convince him to see one, and he really should. He has the rest of us being taken care of."
"My counseling is through the air force."
Yinsen smiled a bit. "And Tony Stark is paying for it, along with a specialist."
"Are you sure? How do you know?"
"Something was said in passing when he was getting everything set up. He wanted to make sure that we were both getting the best care possible."
"Oh… wow…"
"Don't mention it to him – he doesn't want the recognition."
"No, of course…"
Julia sat there staring into the pool. It was astonishing how Tony had looked after every little detail for them. She remembered a conversation that the three of them had had in the cave; Tony didn't have a family to return to, whereas she and Yinsen did – or at least Yinsen said he did. Julia realized that Tony was treating them like he would family, making the two of them his family.
By the time Julia walked into the workshop later that afternoon, Tony and Yinsen were already hard at work. Stane had left not too long ago, and the atmosphere seemed to relax. She knew that his presence stressed out Tony because it reminded him of the responsibilities that loomed outside of his tranquil home.
"Hey, are you finally here to help?" he called out jokingly. "You ditch us to go shopping and then lounge poolside…"
"Thanks Tony."
"Don't mention it."
"So, what are we working on right now?"
Yinsen answered that question. "We're finishing up the exterior and armoured plating; actually, it's in the finally manufacturing stage and it should be completed by this evening."
"That fast? Wow!"
"Most of the designs were already discussed and drawn up while we were doing the rest of the suit, so it didn't take that long to put all of that together," Tony explained. "My only concern is that all of the pieces fit together properly, I mean, I have to be able to get in and out of the suit easily. I want to do some tests on the full thing after dinner."
"Sounds good." Julia strolled over to one of the worktables where another rocket boot was under construction. "This looks like the beginnings of another suit."
"The Mark III. Everything we've learned from the Mark II is going into this, and it should be ready in half the time. The Mark II is a prototype, kind of."
"You've got quite the assembly line going here." She turned around and was a little startled by Tony, who was standing close with a strange expression on his face.
"What?" she asked slowly, a little suspicious. A quick look at Yinsen didn't enlighten her – he just sat there with a faint smile.
"Hold out your hands and close your eyes," Tony instructed her.
She did so with no visible hesitation. Julia felt him place a small, weighty object in her hands. It seemed slightly warm.
"Ok."
Opening her eyes, she stared at what rested in her palms – glowing a familiar blue, the arc reactor looked like a futuristic gem. "For the Mark III? I thought you would power it yourself."
"Yes, but this one's for you," he spoke quietly.
"What? I don't understand."
Yinsen stood from his place at the workbench; behind him was another pair of gauntlets already in progress. "We are also creating another suit for you to wear."
"For me…?" Her jaw dropped, she was completely speechless.
"It's like this," Tony finally started to explain, "I wanted Rhodey to be a part of this project – he's air force, and he would love this – but that didn't really work out. He'll probably come around later, but anyways, you and Yinsen are the only other people who know about the suits. And I realized that having someone else in the air with me would be just as important. And I know you are more than capable of handling this, and you deserve it."
"But this is… this is…"
"Huge? I know. Maybe it's too much all at once, but I really think that you should have your own suit. Don't think of it as a job, more like a hobby."
Julia laughed, still astonished. "My gosh, what can I say to this? Yes! This is incredible!" He grinned and she threw her arms around him, then she embraced Yinsen as well. "I can't believe you were secretly working on this."
"Well, you've been out of the house quite a bit in the past couple days, so naturally we had the time," the doctor replied.
"So are you going to have a suit as well?"
"No, no – my place is on the ground."
"There is a catch," Tony added. "You'll have to do a lot of the building yourself. We've got all of the plans and the robots, and you worked on the first one, so it shouldn't be that hard."
"Thank you Tony, this is amazing."
He looked almost bashful. "You're welcome."
A/N: The moment you're finished writing a review, please check out "Shinjitsu No Uta (Song of Truth)" by xoxoMyRealityIsFiction – it's an awesome Iron Man story that you're going to love. Go there, as in now!
