"Jarvis, has Tony gone to bed yet?" I asked, tentative. I don't think my voice has ever been so quiet, and my voice has been quiet a great deal of my life.
"Yes, madam. His body went into hibernation sequence exactly fifteen minutes ago." Jarvis reported. I quietly patted over to my door, dipping my feet into a pair of shabby tennis shoes and taking my keys. "Shall I awaken Mr. Stark?"
"No, Jarvis, just open the doors to Stark mansion when I get there." I told him, rushing outside, clutching my keys, in a hurry so I wouldn't change my mind. And it was a good idea to because when I stepped up to the mansion, as beautiful as I remembered it, the door opened to show a dark hallway and Tony nowhere in sight. I crept in cautiously, biting my lips as I slipped my shoes off. Tony usually slept in the main bedroom, where he could see out over the ocean, and yet he could go out into the hallway and into the living room to the workshop from there.
When I reached the bedroom the door was closed and I really considered turning around, but I wouldn't be able to sleep without his arms around me. I mean, that's okay isn't it? We would do this when I was little all the time, or when we were little. I opened the door quietly and made sure to guide it with my hands so I didn't wake Tony. I could just barely see him. My sweater covered up my own arc reactor's shine well, but Tony must not have put a shirt on because it was shining over the window-wall. I tiptoed over to him, but he was facing the wall and I had to move farther over so that I could see if he was awake now.
He looked so peaceful. He was just facing the wall, and his legs were straight out but one of his arms were across the pillow opposite of him, and his other one was lightly held over his reactor. I flushed as I saw his peaceful face, finally getting some rest. I shouldn't be here. He needed his rest and I didn't want to interrupt his sleep. How long had it been since he had slept? I was so selfish to think that-
"Anna?" Tony's gruff voice interrupted my thoughts and I jumped as his bleary brown eyes found my own green ones. I smiled sheepishly, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks and I shuffled in my spot. He looked at me for a moment before he pulled back his covers, showing me his sweat pants, and that sweet line of hair that made a trail to heaven. I gulped and moved forward, taking the invitation and moved myself into his embrace. I put my face to his chest, right above the arc reactor and curled my arms up so that I could stick them to his toned, but scared chest. My legs were wrapped with Tony's as he placed one arm around me, flattening his back against the bed so I could be wrapped in his arms.
My cheeks were still flushed as I drifted slowly to sleep, enjoying the warmth and security that radiated off of Tony. His minty breath on my cheek and the coiled power held in his arms as they tightened around me, the feel of his legs entangled in mine as if we did this every night.
The morning was clear when I woke up, the sun was being shaded by Jarvis' automatic settings. I'd rolled over some time during the night and as I began to arrive back into the land of the living I yawned, realizing that I was not in my bed. I flushed as an arm was placed around me. I didn't have to conjure up what happened last night. I'm in Tony's bed. Well, at least one of my dreams has finally come true.
Slowly I turned over to cautiously eye Tony. My heart melted in response. Tony's sleeping face was almost as gorgeous as his waking face. All the lines that Howard, Pepper, Obadiah, Rhodey, the company, his partying years, and everything had put on his young face disappear when he's asleep and for once he looks so innocent, as if nothing can bring him down because he's a little slice of Eden.
His arm was thrown hap hazardously around my waist, keeping my back to his chest and the other was laid out in front of me. Our legs were still together, one of his between mine and I flushed when I realized that I had been curled to fit in to the grove of Tony's chest. The pressure of the arc reactor so familiar to my skin. Tony was fast asleep, which was abnormal seeing as he was usually up and in the workshop around the time I awaken to work out. I guess Afghanistan really messed up our time clocks.
Slowly, so as not to awaken Tony I tried to slip out of his grasp, so that maybe I could go home and get some different clothes. My attempt was for not when instead of Tony's grip loosening, his grip tightened and he muttered into my shoulder, tucking his face into the grove between my shoulder and neck.
I think I just went into cardiac arrest, despite the arc reactor. Tony's grip shuffled for a moment before I felt, felt, his eyebrow furrow and then his head poked up. I grinned at his sleepy expression, but it turned alert when he glanced from the outside view to my face.
"Morning, Anna." Tony greeted. I loved how his voice was so gruff when he woke up, like sleep was still calling to him. I wanted nothing more to close the small gap between our faces and press my lips to his.
"Good Morning, Tony." I answered. "Can I get up?" I teased, glancing at his arm around my waist. He rolled his eyes and released me, unfortunately but I needed to use the restroom, and get up.
"Sure, sure." Tony muttered, digging his head into the pillow when I rose up and started towards the door to the hallway. "Where are you going?" He called in a whiny voice. I snorted even as my flushed cheeks got even hotter. Did he want me to stay with him? I wanted to stay with him but I didn't know if my heart could take it.
He isn't yours.
"I'm going home, jeez, Tony I don't have any clothes here." I complained, turning around in the doorway, resting my back on it. I laughed when he sat up and his hair was almost flat on one side, but going everywhere on the other.
"You look fine in those clothes. We should work on the suit anyways." Tony fabricated. Silently I looked him over. Why did he want me to stay? I'm a little confused as to Tony's sudden attachment to me but I shrugged it off. Tony and I had just got out of a life threatening situation; I guess he would be attached to me for that. I just wish it was for me being me, but I've long since realized that Tony wouldn't love me, at least not the way I wanted to. I suppose he probably loved me the way a best friend would love another best friend.
"All right, I'll stay here, but I'm not going out in these clothes." I warned, moving out of the door, making a pit stop at the bathroom before heading to the kitchen. When I arrived Jarvis already had a cup of my favorite tea waiting there.
"Mr. Stark wished to inform you that he has taken residence in the workshop and would like for you to join him." Jarvis told me and then paused. "Ms. Potts has arrived. Should I let her in?" I sipped my tea, sighing in bliss.
"Yes, tell her that Tony and I are engaged in something important downstairs and are not to be disturbed." I told Jarvis, taking a cup of still hot coffee downstairs for Tony. If I'm guessing right he'll have already drunk his first cup by the time I had brushed my teeth, with a borrowed brush, and will be wanting another. And true, when I arrived downstairs he was already started on the hover table, uploading the suit's diagram to the hologram.
I walked over, sitting the cup down and picking up his empty one. I put it into the sink in the corner and took a moment to bask in the feeling of being back in the lab, where I could work better than in the caves. How much could I possibly miss this life? I snuck back over to Tony, holding my tea in front of me. I warmed my palms with it, sighing as I sat down on a rolling chair.
"Pepper's upstairs." I informed Tony as he switched the hologram over to the arc reactor presentation. I reached out and took the wires in the base, spreading out the diagram so that I could switch them out. "Jarvis, make note to coat the wires around them inside the arc reactor instead of outside." I said.
"Why is she upstairs?" Tony asked, looking at me and then at the reactor, fixing what was made in a cave and making it better. Instead of spare parts it would have its own parts.
"I think she's trying to contain the situation we've made, and thought it would be better that she was here in case we wanted to say something." I told him, glancing over the hologram. "If we connect the wire directly to the base then we'll be able to run the suit without actually having to connect the reactor to the suit by wires. We can use suction to connect them." I told him. He nodded, putting it up.
"I've started Jarvis on the parts already and I have all of the necessary things here." Tony told me, eyeing the reactor. "As long as we get that wire off of the socket wall we should be fine." Tony said, looking for my conformation. I grinned at him, still kind of stuck in content laziness.
"So. Let's get to work on your suit." I told him, shuffling the files on the edge of the table, swiping the files over to the one he had open earlier. "First of all we need to work on what weapons we want in it because that fire will not work." I told him.
"Agreed, but they have to be compact because I'm not going to walk around with that much weight. It was hard to balance out and to move in." Tony told me, taking a long pull from his coffee.
"Okay, we can make it out of an alloy then, so it's light enough to move in." I nodded but Tony's eyebrows furrowed. "What?" I asked him, raising my own eyebrows.
"I think we could use just a basic steel to make it light weight." Tony argued. It took us twenty minutes for us to decide what to do and I'm still not sure about it. There were a lot of choices to make when making this. We would have to be sure about it because if we get up into the sky and we can't fly or something happens, we'll die. I don't particularly want Tony to die. We were deep into discussion about possibly finding something different to use then palladium to stabilize the arc reactor when I finished my cup. Tony immediately grabbed the cup and stood up.
"I'm going to get some more coffee anyways." Tony muttered, going out the door. I rolled my eyes, going back to the hologram. Frowning at it I opened a new folder up, hesitating. First I made the shell that Tony had and tried to fit myself into it. I had to proportion it correctly. When Tony came back down stairs he seemed annoyed.
"What is it?" I questioned, taking my drink from his hand and sipping it.
"Pepper has to talk to you." Tony muttered, grimacing as he started working on my outline, fixing things that I'd messed up. "Says it's important."
"All right, and why are you mad?" I asked him, questioning. He started pouting at me, frowning.
"We're supposed to be bonding…" He whined. "Not working on the company."
"Well, you've had a lot of alone time with me, Tony." I teased him, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "Why don't you just brand me and stick me with the rest of the sheep." I commented, moving out of the lab and jogging up the stairs. I was hungry anyways.
"Hey, Anna." Pepper greeted as I came into the room. I was distracted from her as I saw the T.V. something telling of how Stark & Vinci was a sinking ship, telling all of the let downs that were going to happen because of what we did. I didn't see what the big deal was really. Stark & Vinci had more promise than just working out weapons deals. We had plenty to work with.
"What's up, Pepper?" I asked, raising my eyebrow when she handed me the phone.
"They want to talk to you about the annual Maria Stark Foundation celebration. It's been pretty underfunded without you and they want you to work it out, and to decorate." She told me. I took the phone, going into the kitchen with it on my shoulder.
"Hello?" I questioned.
"Good noon." The jolly voice of Stan Martinez greeted me. He was always the one I went to when I was throwing any kind of celebration. Everybody wanted to work with him. He went to school with me, and he was five years older than me, but oh well. He is one of the very few people who hadn't looked at me in distain. He hadn't hung out with me, but he'd liked me well enough. "It's so good to find out that you escaped fine and dandy."
"Thanks Stan." I grinned, picking out a pot for water to boil in for some soup, managing to pick up the phone that I'd been balancing between my shoulder and my head. I balanced myself on the island with my back, concentrating on the phone call for now. "I heard you wanted to speak with me?"
"Yes, what were your plans for the Maria Stark Ball? It's happening in a couple of weeks' time and I've done all I can by myself. I had planned to wait for three days because that was how long it would take. It will take place in the Vinci Villa on main street." He instructed and I smirked at the phone as he listed off all the kinds of things he was telling me about it.
"Okay, okay." I told him, slowing him down as he went on about the drapery and from what agency he had hired the handlers. "Fax the information over to me. I've actually got some time and I'll look it over, and change anything I don't like, but Stan you know I always love what you have planned out." I chuckled and half smiled.
"I know. I just like to make sure you like it." He confessed. "I'll fax it to your house."
"Um, Tony's house actually." I told him, pouring the ready soup into a bowl. I'd been up here maybe an hour listening to him go on about this ball. I'd barely paid attention because I knew that he was going to be great. His parties were always wonderful and because he preferred me, my parties were the talk of the town, or so I'm told.
"Oh….Is there something I should know?" Stan teased me. I snorted and started to pour some soup for Tony into a bowl. Lord knows he wouldn't cook anything for himself and if he did it would be a microwaved meal at best. I switched goodbyes with Stan, giving him a promise to tell him what I thought about his plans later.
"No. We're just working. I'm not even sure that we'll be coming to this ball." I told him, moving past Pepper who was watching another stock's show that was bad mouthing our company. I admit that had another company done this then I probably would have sold my stocks, but they'd be pissed when we came back with bigger and better projects and they couldn't claim any money.
As I opened the door to the office my jaw dropped and I almost spilled the bowls of soup I was carrying. Tony, in the time that I'd been gone had managed to turn a side of the lab into what was almost medical like in appearance. He had a chair out that had him leaning back in it and he had a towel in his lap for what I'm guessing would be the discharge in his chest. I grimaced as I stepped closer, setting down both bowls of soup.
I came closer to Tony, peering at his arc reactor. He was shirtless and I would have flushed and admired his chest, again, but I was a little concerned when I saw the purple edge around it.
"Hey, let me see your hands." Tony said. I held them up, and used one to take hold of the arc reactor in his hands.
"Is this one for you?" I asked needlessly. He'd switched into a pair of sweatpants like mine but light blue.
"Yeah, yours is over there." Tony said, pointing to a glass covering on his table. I took a step, outstretching my hand and picking it up.
"Jeez, did you just decide to put it in yourself?" I asked him, referring to the arc reactor he had had in his hands. He snorted.
"Well you were taking a long time…but no." Tony told me, taking my own arc reactor. I pursed my lips and eyed him critically. "Your hands are small enough to reach in and connect it to the base plate."
"What about the magnet? Don't we need to take it out?" I questioned. I'd thought that without it the discharge would just continue to build up.
"I was going to try and build you up to that." Tony said, looking very amused with me. I rolled my eyes and tentatively clicked his arc reactor out of place, pulling it out after taking a break. I hesitated right before doing so, fully.
"I don't know if I should be the one doing this…." I whispered, frowning.
"…I wouldn't want anyone else doing it." Tony told me, lifting my chin so that I was forced to look at him. I frowned. "I don't have anyone else." A smile lifted my lips. My heart felt light and yet it squeezed as Tony admitted this. It wasn't true really, Tony had Pepper and Rhodes but it was nice to know that he thought I was the only one he could trust with this, and I felt the same. Tony was my everything, as horrible as that is. If he were to have died in Afghanistan I don't think I would have ever recovered from losing him.
"Neither do I." I muttered, softly. It was so strange to have Tony be sentimental. Usually it was me being this way and I felt kind of out of sorts, and my cheeks were flushing even more than usual. They already flush when Tony is around as is. I must look like a bright turnip. To distract me from this conversation I slipped a hand in, pulling the old arc reactor out by its wiring. As soon as the main part of the reactor was out I reached in, scrunching up my nose at the feeling.
"Ewwww." I muttered, pulling out the copper.
"It's just discharge." Tony rolled his eyes, leaning his head back. I rolled my eyes as well, secretly eyeing his muscled chest. Even when we'd been in Afghanistan just the day before yesterday, Tony still managed to look ruggedly delicious.
"Yeah, I know but it's covering my hand, which is inside your chest." I told him, pulling out the copper wire carefully.
"You know it won't hurt you." Tony grinned at me.
"You know I could kill you right now." I threatened, mock glaring at him. Tony stuck his lip out in another pout but I rolled my eyes, sighing before eyeing him. "It's going to hurt for a second." I warned him.
"Yeah, I know Anna." Tony started to sass me so I yanked on it. The machines went off and Tony jumped a little bit. I took that moment to grin and start fitting in the new reactor, taking my time, knowing that he wasn't going to die right now if I got it in quick and ready. When I connected the wires to the base, in the discharge by the way, Tony's reaction was immediate. He took a deep breath, blinking a few times.
"There, that wasn't so bad." I cheeked, stepping back from him, picking my own up from his lap. Its blue shine was almost hypnotizing, and it was brighter than the one in my chest, probably because the energy that had been funneled into it was higher than what we had funneled into the arc reactor we built in a cave. I let him push the reactor into place, clicking it into its casing. I fiddled with my own new arc reactor, making sure it had been correctly assembled but like everything Jarvis did, it was perfect. Tony disconnected the monitors from his chest and jumped down, kind of, from the chair.
"Okay, my hands aren't…small enough to…" Tony motioned to my own chest. I rolled my eyes, climbing onto the chair and frowning. I tugged my sweater over my shoulder but hesitated. Tony's eyes were locked onto my arms and I flushed.
"Do you mind?" I asked him, raising both my eyebrows when he grinned at me.
"No." Tony snorted and looked away. Already anticipating from my scowl that I was going to tell him to turn around he just followed through with it before I said it. Even though I had been in worse problems with him before, I didn't feel right. It had been in severe situations, the last time that I'd stripped my top off in front of him. To do it now, I felt like I'd be crossing one of those lines of friends. So now while Tony was gravitating back to the hologram, I took my shirt off and started clicking off of the arc reactor. As the wires tugged, I flinched and took a deep breath before taking it out, tugging lightly.
I could already feel the shift in my chest so I didn't hesitate to reach inside my chest and find the wire. Unable to see the wire, I flinched and made a noise as the wire hit the sides of my chest cavity. To my surprise, when my vision started blurring, Tony's hands took over, grabbing the wire and yanking out the arc reactor. His hands disappeared for a second and there was a noise but I was focusing on breathing. Already my body had become accustomed to functioning with the arc reactor to support it.
Before I knew it what I could see of a set of welding tongs were inside my chest, yanking out the magnet, and then quickly, and with a little fumbling, replacing the arc reactor. As soon as the wires were clicked into place I sighed in relief. My feelings were coming back. My toes, which had stopped working, were now communicating. I looked up into the calculating eyes of Tony who was trying to guess if I was better and it worked.
"That could have gone better." I noted, sitting up, using a towel to wipe off the discharge on my chest and on my fingers. Then I realized that Tony could see the scars, the ones I'd received so recently.
"We must have forgotten about the mass to…ratio…" Tony muttered to himself halfway through his sentence. I rolled my eyes, keeping the towel over my chest discreetly.
"Don't worry about it for now. It just means we've got more power then I really need in the reactor, it shouldn't affect the way it works." I told him, tugging my shirt on awkwardly over the towel, tugging it out once I had my sweater on over it. "Come on, I brought down some soup." I motioned to the soup and Tony eyed it in hunger. I'd bet he was just fighting it off because he wanted to work. While he was in no way as horrible as I was, he had lost a few pounds in Afghanistan.
"Chicken flavored ramen?" Tony was so amused as he slurped up the noodles. I grinned around my own food.
"It's the best kind." I told him, bumping my shoulder against his and then swallowed. "So, Mister master inventor, what are we going to do about the actual flight?" I asked him, eating a little too fast. It was nice to have any kind of food I want to eat at any time.
"I was thinking that we could contact Rhodes." Tony told me, around his food. I grinned and used a napkin to wipe away a drop of the soup that had landed on the side of my cheek. I didn't like the idea. I was suspicious of both Obadiah and Pepper, but it was still possible that Rhodes was an enemy but the more I thought of it, the Rhodes I knew wouldn't do that. He wouldn't be so disloyal, and especially without at least trying to argue with us over it first. Plus, he's part of the military. He's bent on making sure that we are protected from terrorist, so why would he sell our weapons to them.
I was still cautious but…that's probably because I wanted Tony to myself. I'm not going to lie, at least to myself. Selfishly, I wanted to keep Tony to myself, to hide him away down here where I could be with him whenever I wanted to. That would be all the time of course. Going without Tony, or sharing him after so long without having to, would be hard.
"That would be a good idea." I said, nodding and setting down my empty bowl. "He's got more expertise in this then we do. Plus, I don't imagine I'd enjoy scrapping you off the sidewalk when you wreck the suit." I teased him. He scowled at me and it was too adorable on his face to really affect me. I flicked his ear as I passed him to sit down at the hover table. "You know, we should work on incorporating the holograms into the entire room." I told him, swiveling around to look at him.
I jumped when I realized he was right behind me, grinning.
"Don't do that!" I said in exasperation, backing away a little, willing my cheeks not to flush from being so close to him. How funny that I was so frustrated by being so close with him now when I'd just had my hand in his chest like it was nothing, and he couldn't die if I didn't do anything right. He grinned crookedly and my breath hitched and my eyes flickered down to his perfect lips. With his signature facial hair framing them again they seemed to almost mesmerize me. Then I realized that he was talking to me.
"-today." He finished. I stared at him for a second and he seemed eager. Slowly I nodded, hoping I didn't just agree to something that I was going to regret. He grinned larger at me. "You've got no idea what I just said, do you?" He laughed when my head ducked. "Where do you go when you space out like that?" He asked me, leaning against the table.
"Different places." I said, not willing to tell him about how easily he could control me since I'm almost positive that he knew. I wasn't exactly subtle about it. I might have been at one point but now, not so much. Now I would have to work at getting back to where I was in making sure that he didn't know I loved him more than just a friend.
"I was saying that I was going to go to talk to Rhodes, do you want to come with me?" Tony asked again, picking up a rag and beginning to wipe at his skin, because he'd somehow gotten some discharge on him from my chest.
"Nope. I'm not going out in public wearing this." I paused, watching him and when he turned around I admired the view of his backside. It left a smirk on my lips but I wiped it away when he turned back with a new rag in his hand for me. I grinned and used it to wipe away anything that was on me, frowning when I found some oil on my hands. "I should probably go back to my own house and get dressed."
Tony froze for a second and his face became unreadable, and I worried that maybe something in the arc reactor had messed up, but the hum from my own spoke otherwise. It must be fine because mine was working just fine. "Why don't you bring some clothes over, and you can spend the night so that we can work constantly." Tony tried his hardest to be casual, motioning dummy to his desk.
"What? For how long?" I asked him, not understanding.
"What, you don't want to see my beautiful face?" Tony sassed, turning back to me but not looking me in the eye. He only did that when he was self-conscious, which is almost never. How strange. Tony must have been drinking because it's almost never that he's like this with me. Maybe I'm just being weird but Tony is acting just as weird.
"Stop kidding yourself, my face is the only one that's beautiful in this room." I joked, trying not to show my confusion to badly. "But I'll come back with a few changes because I want to get the suits done." I told him, giving in because that's just what I do when Tony asks me for something. Because he's Tony and I'm Anna.
"All right, we'll meet back up here then?" Tony questioned, still not looking me in the face. My eyebrows, of their own accord, met together and then I threw my hands out in frustration. What could I do? Sometimes I don't even get Tony. It's a miracle that I understand him half the time. I can chalk that up to being around him so long.
"Yeah, bye." I said, a little late as Tony was already shuffling upstairs, to get dressed I suppose. I rolled my eyes and just decided to give up on him for a little while. So instead I walked to my car but hesitated as I passed by Tony's old arc reactor. Cautiously and wavering between decisions I decided to grab it as well. I could make him something from it, to remind him. He needed reminding that I was here for him. As I drove back to my place I tried to think of something to make out of it. It was just as quiet and lonely as when I left it except now the pool was open. For some odd reason I couldn't help but to stare at it. The waters were crystal clear and looked so inviting.
A bald guy was standing in another corner, but the cruel man was standing beside him, looking at me with real anger. Like I'd just told him that all of my weapons had been fake. What I really noticed, however, is the vat of water in front of me. It wasn't like the one they'd used before, the pitiful excuse for torture. Now it was filled with dirty, horrible smelling water.
And they were pushing me towards it.
"Build the weapons!" Yinsen was shouting, or translating. I screamed right before they thrust my head into that disgusting water, that I was sure blood was all in. Now, as I held my breath, I understood why Tony was wet. They had tried this on him, but it had not worked.
And now they were using me.
I couldn't breath, everything was horribly pressuring. I couldn't think, as all oxygen left my brain and the world spun. Then the disgusting bastards pulled me up again, only to let me get two breaths in before they pushed me back under. I screamed into the water, being able to make no sense of anything. Where was the floor? The top of the vat? Where was all of this water coming from? Again they pulled me up. I gasped for breathes, only getting one in before I was in again. Then the electromagnet short circuited, all of that shrapnel took a tentative move towards my heart. I screamed again into the water.
I shuttered and scurried away from my pool, opting to forget about it for a while. I would deal with the memory later. Once inside my house, and Jarvis had updated me to the amount of work I know had I sighed. First things first, I actually got ready for the day. Before Afghanistan I would have been up already and would have been dressed probably hours ago. As I went to my closet, in my bedroom, my feet stopped me in front of my muscle room. The weights beckoned me. Oh how long had it been since I worked out?
Logically I knew working out in this condition wasn't good for me. So I forced myself to carry on, picking an outfit with light origins. I didn't want to wear anything that was uncomfortable because the likely hood of me doing anything that was not messy was very unlikely. So I picked out a cream colored shirt with a black baseball cap, and black skinny jeans. Shuffling back into my room, paperwork already in hand I couldn't help to think of how good, and bad it felt. Why was I just falling back into what I was doing? I hated being CEO.
This was a complete revelation. I'd never hated it before. If I thought about it though, it wasn't so much a hate for the position but I've been breed for this position my entire life. Being a genius at a young age, my parents didn't show me the affection that I wanted unless I did something amazing. I'd always strived to please them. Where are they now? Who am I trying to impress now? With these fancy clothes and working my ass off?
But I can't throw it away. The company would go to ruin, because Tony sure as hell can't take care of it. In the end nothing changes, I still have to be the CEO and I still have to work for something I've already achieved. The only thing that might have changed is my perception of it.
"Miss Vinci," Jarvis interrupted my thoughts, and the paperwork for the shutdown that I was currently working absently through. "There is a note in the docks that states you wished to be reminded to get a hold of Strategic Homeland…" Before he is even finished I wave him away with mutters, sitting down my paperwork to shuffle through for something.
"Jarvis, connect me to the number for them. I believe we still have one?" I questioned absently. "If we don't, hack it." It felt absently pleasing to know that I can just have Jarvis do that. I was no longer captive, I'm in control again. I found the sheet I was looking for, the last update that they sent me. As Jarvis took a second to hack through the system, trying to get me to the leader, I looked it over. The accounts seemed fine but this wasn't a spying agency for nothing. It amazed me, the overview he'd given me of some of the missions. It was very technical, because he didn't think I read them but it interested me. I do have a good education, a lot of it, so it was easy to maneuver through what I had time to, of the reports.
"Hacking achieved." Jarvis told me, and my screen on my computer desk popped up. I eyed it and grinned when I realized that it was a video. He'd hacked in and managed to get me a view of the director himself. I barely recognized him. He was standing in front of some kind of controls; I could just see a meeting table behind him. He obviously didn't realize that Jarvis had managed to hack into the system because there was no recognition or anything on his face.
Although with how scarred it is that didn't surprise me. His face was scared, and as tall as he was he was also bulky, too much muscle kind of bulky. His black clothes were very generic, but he had belts and I could guess that some of the bulk might have been armor. What I loved about his outfit, and was his best feature was the trench coat. I don't know what it is but it just makes people look heroic. Although it was my favorite, it was not the most noticeable. On his head, bald, was an eye-patch. I remember the statement. It had been a bland but still horrific mission gone wrong. He's completely missing the eye under that eye-patch.
"Shall I patch you in?" Jarvis asked me. I stared at the screen, frowning.
"No. Go ahead and get all the information you can off the computers and save it into another top secret file. Then up their security so that it's only the creator that can get through it." I told him, getting up from my chair. "Thank you Jarvis." I told him, flicking through my file. "Keep up the video feed."
"Yes madam." Jarvis' voice sounded almost distracted. I kept silent, half smiling. Jarvis really was something I'd missed. He was almost human to me, and that felt nice. Taking my files on the agency, as I'd named it since I was reluctant to actually think of a name for it right now, I walked to my kitchen. Then I remembered.
"Pack me a bag for Tony's to. Make it for a week, with comfort clothes." I told Jarvis, putting down the files so I could ready my meal. While I did, I had Jarvis bring up a clear screen on the counter, off to the side so that I could cook, so that I could watch. He'd brought up some of the cameras in different places. On another screen I brought up a blue print of the helicarrier which was as of right now on the sea. Though I'd been surprised to realize that it flew as well as went under water. I didn't like that it relied on helicopter like blades because those can be destroyed if someone were to aim at them. Though the invisibility they had working on the bottom probably helped.
"All right, do you have the number of the Director yet?" I asked Jarvis, crunching on a few baked chips. I was mostly snacking and not making a meal as I overviewed the information I had around me.
"Yes madam." Jarvis replied and the number popped up on the side of my screen. I stored it, locking it to the side of the screen.
"Okay, Can you send me his file?" I asked, sipping some tea with peppermint in it. Jarvis silently searched through the banks of information that he was still receiving and picked out director Fury. Then he overrode, without being asked the leveling for the system so that I could read the blacked out stuff. Wow. He was very good, and an old veteran. I cruised through it, looking over everything and highlighting a few things for later. Basically I, or Jarvis, had gotten through the system and copied all of the information, the plans, the data, and everything.
"All right Jarvis, plug me into the Director." I said, putting down my tea and chomping on a chip, watching in amusement as the director frowned and picked up his cellphone. It wasn't as high-tech as Vinci phones, but it was standard, with caller ID. I'm sure he didn't know my number. He cast an uneasy eye around the command room, where he'd been going over something on the table with some chick that I'd looked up and was Agent Hill, his kind of second in command.
"Director Fury." He grunted and I raised an eyebrow when his almost sassy voice came through the speakers hidden in my kitchen. Swallowing I clicked something on screen so I could change the cameras to see his face.
"Hello, Director Fury. This is Annabella Vinci." I told him, watching his confusion grow, but he was very good in hiding it. He waved away Agent Hill, pointing at someone else who was on a screen. I realized he was telling the man controling the screen to track me. I poked the screen, overriding his system to send him on a wild goose chase.
"Miss Vinci. Haven't heard from you since my induction." Fury said, trying to keep me talking. I rolled my eyes, even as a red head, in what I was beginning to realize was the common blue uniform of the Agency appeared in the room as if called.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Been a little focused on Stark & Vinci for a while." I told him, pushing a few more keys when the guy got close to where Jarvis was sending him. It made me smirk when the red head, who was beautiful for a spy and reminded me of the Bonds movies, crouched down by the screen but still on the walkway.
"I've heard you've got your priorities straightened recently." Fury shot. I didn't react to his insult since I could see the people now scrambling to find me. Jarvis was silently, and without instructions, mixing up his signals. I preened in praise and pride.
"Oh you know, just a vacation. I've noticed that you've been lacking on the reports. Did you think I didn't read them?" I asked him, folding my arms on the counter, watching the mad scramble with laughing eyes, before I finally just stopped the mixed signals Jarvis was sending them on, leaving them to believe I was currently in Georgia.
"Well you haven't been interested before, don't see no reason why I should waste time." Fury stared at the screen with my supposed area marked on a map. I snorted, moving the screen around so I could see the red head. She was frowning at the screen, in skepticism and another man, with a bow in his hand, and a bandage on his arm was standing behind her in a different black uniform. I eyed them both. They seemed to realize that what was on the screen was wrong. I was right because she started clicking away on it. I pushed a few buttons, sending them off again.
"AH, that would be where you are wrong. I read all of them, I just put it on the back burner because you seemed to have a hold on it." I told him, scratching my chin. "You should stop looking. I'm not in Georgia. If you must know I'm at home." I told him, grinning when he froze, then put a hand up to stop the others. "I don't mean to be a bother. I just want to ask for you to supply some trainers." I paused. "In return I'm thinking of funding the agency. You know getting interested in it." I told him, resting my head on my shoulder. I was impressed, as I watched not the director, but the red head and the man were actually doing a pretty good job, though the man was just muttering things to the red head.
"And what makes you think that a spy agency wants to give you a trainer just so you can gain some weight and fight off a few fans." Fury argued, now getting down so he himself could try it. I chuckled over the phone, letting out a breathing sound after that, not unlike Tony but excuse me if I don't acknowledge that.
"Yeah. Because that's why I want it. Tell me, Director Fury have your computers found me yet? I'm telling you I'm at my house but I bet they've sent you many places by now." I told him, watching curiously as he tensed again before barking an order to someone else in a quiet, but forceful voice. "Here I am, just sitting here and I've managed to get information in my hands that could probably break your program sideways. I've only bothered with getting the files for the agency. Do I need to break in to something else next?" I teased him, working my own magic on the screen, managing to get my face on the screen that he was currently working at.
The red head and the other, with blonde or brown hair I wasn't sure, flanked him on both sides almost immediately but I didn't do anything more than shove another chip in my mouth as Jarvis brought up their names to the side of the screen. Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff.
"Hello." I said again, leaning my face onto my hand. I should probably get back to Tony's soon but I needed to set up some way for me to get better, and I'm not prepared to do it on my own. "Agent Barton, Agent Romanoff." I said, wiggling my fingers of my other hand at them. "I like your hair." I commented distractedly at Romanoff. She was staring at me, probably analyzing me. I'm half glad that I'd gotten dressed before this, and at least run a brush through my hair. Of course shoving food in my face probably didn't help my image exactly.
"How did you-" Agent Barton started but I grinned and Jarvis interrupted.
"Ma'am. I hate to interrupt your hacking of an agency you already own," Jarvis' voice tone never changed but the sarcasm was heard none the less. "But Mr. Stark would like a word with you." I snorted.
"Yeah, probably. Look, Fury." I addressed him now. "I'm not trying to move in and be director or anything. I'm just saying you need funding; you're barely functioning as is with it. I can get you funding but I'm not going to when I'm walking around as thin as a rail." I was sarcastic. "Get back to me." I cut the line of, and the video feed. I felt kind of bad for doing it the way I did, but the way I figure is that he wouldn't have done it if I hadn't proved myself. And what way would be better than to out spy a spy? Plus, they needed an upgrade in their systems.
I switched everything into hibernation before I answered Tony's call, crunching on a carrot. "Hello, Mr. Stark." I answered, in a kind of good mood for some odd reason.
"Anna." Tony deadpanned. I rolled my eyes.
"How'd it go? When should I expect Rhodes to show up?" I asked him, already walking out of the kitchen, preparing to make my way back to Tony's house. Tucking on a pair of green heels. My clothes were lose, but I noticed I wasn't as skinny as even just the night before. Eating whenever I could was really helping even being here only a day has helped. I mean, who knew the human body could gain weight this fast.
"You won't until I get my 'mind right'." Tony grumbled over the phone. I paused on my way out the door, suitcase already in hand and preparing to leave.
"What?" Why would he say that?
"Anna, I didn't even get the words out of my mouth before he said no. As soon as he knew it wasn't for the government he assumed I went humanitarian and told me to go get my mind right." Tony vented to me. "I thought he was my friend." He muttered crossly.
"He is Tony, it's just he's military first." I pushed my suitcase into the passenger seat of my Lamborghini, skimming my hands across my precious car in welcome. "Military people have been trained to think of the country first and us dropping out of the weapons contract is devastating. You have to think that Stark Industries was a weapons contractor before Vinci joined with them." I revved my engine before backing up and driving out of my driveway. JARVIS of course followed me with the call.
"…." Tony didn't say anything, which made me roll my eyes. He never could be straight with his feelings could he?
"I'll be there soon and then we can work on the technical stuff together. I've always been interested in flying anyways." I cut in, sighing. Of course I was going to have JARVIS bring up a beginners guide to flying because I didn't know a thing about it, really.
"No you haven't. But the sentiment is still there." Tony snorted. I turned a corner, stopping when a pedestrian walked in front of me.
"Well, you never know how much you like or hate something until you try it." I hummed instead of cursed when the pedestrian stopped in front of me and gawked. I smiled at him anyways and waved. He flushed and looked around him before scuttling off. I revved the engine instead of getting angry and zoomed off.
"Whatever you say, love muffin." Tony teased me. I laughed at him.
"Don't do anything stupid until I get there. Okay, sour grape?" I chuckled when he protested against the returned name. It felt good to be able to joke again, to like what I was doing.
Just as I began to get in Tony's drive I came up with an idea, off the top of my head for Tony's gift. I'd write something around the arc reactor so he'd remember that I was here for him. It wasn't too extravagant an idea, but it was sweet so maybe it would get through to him.
So what do you think? I was supposed to do something here, like tell you something but I'm so tired right now that I couldn't remember. I do know that I have to say sorry. I didn't finish writing the rest of the sequel like I planned. Turns out Real Life came calling and I had to get up and do stuff. Ugh, that stuff…..