The One That Got Away

Chapter 11 – Forgiveness

The next time Abigail woke up she was alone, her blanket tucked tightly around her. She debated on sleeping in but upon hearing the sound of machines from the workshop, she decided that getting up would be the best option. She took a shower, got dressed and headed downstairs, arriving to find Tony putting the pieces of the flight stabilizer together. As she stepped inside, the only sounds in the workshop were Tony's working and Abigail's cane, so Tony looked up at her feigning disinterest before turning his attention back to the glove.

"How's the… whatever I hit?"

Abigail was confused for a moment before she remembered getting slugged in the breast, her shoulder immediately shifting to try to find the bruised area. She found it. Her hand came up to cup her breast, shifting it to the side before peaking down her shirt to find a nasty purple smudge.

"Having fun?"

Abigail looked up to find Tony watching her.

"You nailed me good-"

"Now we agreed not to have any funny business,"

She rolled her eyes and looked back down her shirt. "I meant the bruise,"

Tony was silent for a whole thirty second before returning to his work, making Abigail let go of herself to look up at him. He looked like a little boy that knew he'd done something wrong and was getting ready for the biggest spanking he would ever get in his life. He looked guilty.

"Sorry about that,"

"It's fine, Tony," she assured him. "My fault for sleeping with you… but whatever it takes to get you to sleep is what I'm going to do. You need sleep and you need to resettle into your life,"

Tony didn't say anything to that, just kept his eyes on his work, leaving Abigail to go to work on his systems. But by the end of the day, Tony had distracted her from what she was supposed to be doing and the two were talking about nearly anything and everything as he worked on the repulsers. They even had an entire conversation- more like an argument- about how many Robins there were (Tony thought there were five Robins but Abigail was sure there were three boy Robins and a girl) before Jarvis ended it for them. Apparently there were four boys and a girl Robin if you didn't include AU story arcs.

Tony was almost finished with his first repulser when Pepper came down the stairs with a box wrapped in brown paper, two cups of coffee and a magazine.

"I've been buzzing you. Didn't you hear the intercom?"

"Yeah, everything's- What?"

"Obadiah's upstairs. What would you like me to-?"

"Great. We'll be right up," Tony nodded, lifting the arm that was wearing the flight stabilizer and pressing the 'go' button, making Abigail stand up from her seat and take a step back.

"I thought you said you were done making weapons,"

"I am. This is a flight stabilizer. It's completely harmless," The build of energy sent Tony flying backwards, landing on the ground with a thud that left both women staring at him in shock, Abigail recovering first as Tony sat up. "I didn't expect that,"

"You're never expecting that," Abigail murmured with a snort.

Tony glared at her.

Together, Abigail and Tony got him out of the harness and flight stabilizer before he tried to force her to come upstairs with him. Abigail just gave him a look that told him 'bite me'. So he didn't fight her on it. Even though Obadiah had been a father figure to him ever since his father had died and had helped him with his company for the past twenty years, Tony knew that Abigail hated the man. He really didn't blame her despite his soft spot for the man.

So Abigail sat back in Tony's favorite leather chair and waited for him to come back, listening as the voices from upstairs carried down to her. Sometimes she wondered if it was purely the hate that he uncle had instilled in her that made her not like Obadiah Stane. When she was a teen he hadn't been such a bad guy, in fact she'd respected him for being such a role model for Tony. But then again, CEOs and other powerful people typically creeped her out.

Abigail sat and waited as she listened to Tony's footsteps descend toward her, crossing her arms over her chest as he appeared, two three pieces of pizza in his hand. He dialed in and handed her one before walking back over to the repulser. She stared down at the triangle skeptically, debating whether to make the small leap of forgiveness towards Obadiah that eating the pizza would mean.

"Abs. It's just pizza,"

She looked up at Tony in surprise, finding him with his arm in his repulser and his eyes on her, an eyebrow arched. She ducked her head and hesitantly took a bite, a voice in the back of her head telling her that her Uncle Rick would be furious at her right now… not that he wouldn't be furious that she was currently living and sharing a bed with Tony Stark. But the pizza was delicious and in no time it was gone and Tony had finished both of his and his flight stabilizer, trying to sneak around her to start on the next one.

"Nuh uh," she chastised, watching as he arched an eyebrow at her as he turned. "It's your bedtime. You've finished one job, you can start the next one tomorrow,"

"When did you become my mother?"

Abigail smiled. "You're a little confused; Jarvis is your mother, I'm your nagging wife,"

Tony seemed thoughtful for a long moment before he smiled. "I like the sound of that,"

She dropped her eyes, a blush making her cheeks tingling as she stood up, headed towards the elevator with Tony only a few steps behind her.

Abigail, like the night before, had tried going to sleep with her back to Tony but she eventually found herself using him as a pillow, his nightmares forcing her to take action a couple times during the night. This time, instead of getting punched in the breast, she got elbowed in the side which thoroughly woke her up, the wound from the attack three months ago still feeling fresh. The bullet wound wasn't one she thought of often since it was usually her knee that bothered her but right now that wound felt as fresh as the day she woke up with it. She was awake for a while after that, resting against Tony's side watching him sleep, her eyes observing him carefully.

He looked peaceful at the moment, not dreaming. His face, which was usually making some sort of face (sarcastic, mock-surprised, focused, etc.) was currently a blank slate of peacefulness. She set her chin on his shoulder and took a deep breath in through her nose, the smell of Tony filling her nose with man and distant memories.

Abigail wasn't smiling like an idiot like she thought she would have been. Sex might have felt good but it felt her also feeling tired and a little grossed out. Not to mention that she would need to change her sheets before her uncle got home, thanks to Tony.

"I don't know how I felt about that,"

Tony shrugged beside. "I wouldn't write it off,"

She could help but laugh at that, only to frown a second later. "It's everywhere,"

"Ew,"

"What? It's your stuff, not mine,"

"Definitely using a condom next time,"

"Duh,"

Tony helped her clean up the evidence of what they'd done for the first time together before she went to take a shower. Getting clean had never felt so good until that day, feeling the sweat and everything rush off of her with the water. It was only when she heard the shower curtain get pulled back that she knew that she wasn't alone.

"Tony," she frowned, unable to glare at him with the water in her eyes. "I'm trying to get clean. Not to mention my Uncle is going to be home-"

"He left a message saying he's going to be late," Tony said in her ear, his naked body pressing up against her back as his arms snaked around her waist.

She instantly felt hot despite their previous go at sex. She knew that it could and would get better with practice… she just didn't want to do it in the shower… where she took a shower every morning before school. She already was going to have those memories when she got out of bed every morning and got into it every night. However, as his hands skimmed over her body, her mind started short circuiting as her breath started coming out in huffs.

She could smell him even through the clean scent of the hot water. It was a mixture of musky sweat that every boy smelled a little like, his cologne that he used and oil. When she'd first got a whiff of him it had been an odd mix of scents that had interested her. Now it turned her on.

Abigail rolled away from him until her back was to him again, frowning at the memory. He still smelled mostly the same except the sweat of teen had turned into the musk of man that was better hidden by a different type of cologne. And the oil smell was still there, no matter how hard he might try to hide it from her.

"Check points…"

Abigail frowned, turning over carefully so that she wasn't touching him. His eyebrows were drawn together as if he were thinking hard about something or upset. She knew it was the beginning of a night terror but she knew she'd have to let it play out more before she had any chance of waking him up.

"Yensin… Yensin, stick to the plan!"

She winced, her knee brushing against his hand as she fought not to wake him. But he seemed to be calming down again, his body going slack against the sheets. She watched him for another moment as his face turned towards her, his eyebrows still drawn together.

"… don't waste it… Abby… Abby?"

Abigail was up in a second, a hands on his shoulder. "Tony? I'm here…"

That seemed the wrong thing to do as Tony frowned, his eyebrows furrowing as his shoulder stiffened beneath her touch. "No," he hissed, shaking his head. "No!" Tony suddenly started thrashing around, more violent than ever, nearly hitting Abigail again as he fought. "No! Get out of here! You can't! NO! ABIGAIL!" Tony suddenly sat up like a shot, his eyes wide as he began to hyperventilate. In response, Abigail wrapped her arms around his middle and tucked her head into his chest despite the hard metal of the reactor. She held him tightly, closing her eyes tightly as she listened to his speeding heart gallop beneath her ear. It took a long few minutes before she felt Tony's heart began to slow as her moved, a hand appearing in her hair. Then she was pulled back as he relaxed back against the bed, bringing Abigail down with him, petting her head with a heavy hand.

The two stayed like that for ten minutes in silence, just holding each other and breathing.

"Who's Yensin?" Abigail finally asked hesitantly, her voice slightly muffled by his shirt. "You don't have to-"

"He was with me when the Ten Rings held me. He helped me get through it, helped me make the suit, helped me see things… he saved me,"

"What happened to him?"

Tony was silent for a long time and Abigail was sure that she'd overstepped, content just to remain silent until Tony fell back asleep. But then Tony spoke. "He was killed,"

"… I'm sorry,"

"He went running out of our cell firing… he was trying to buy me time and it got him killed. I suppose that was what he wanted. His family was already all dead… He shouldn't have taken on all of them alone. He should've waited. He should've…"

"Sometimes there is no way out, Tony,"

"Right," Tony scoffed.

"It was what he wanted and it saved you. You can't be mad at him for that,"

"I'm not…"

"But you're wondering if you could have saved him," she finished for him. "Tony… sometimes people don't want to be saved,"