"As usual, there is a great woman behind every idiot." – John Lennon

The machines in Tony's garage were still running the test two days later. We had not received results from any of them yet, and we were both extremely anxious to get the results back from the Gas- chromatography mass spectrometer. It was especially worrying me to hold onto that sample too. I didn't even want to know what would happen if the government found out we had a sample of the deadly outbreak in our freezer.

"Is that alright, Andrea?" Judy repeated. "Huh?" I said, turning my desk chair towards her. "Are you alright?" She asked, shooting me a concerned look. "Sorry, just a lot on my mind." Which, was true. Judy smiled. "I could imagine. But you really need to be off towards the lab to pick up the paperwork from team 6, alright?" I gave a nod and got up out of my office chair. "Then you need to come back here and change for lunch with the ACC." Darn! The lunch! I completely forgot!

"Don't worry, I already have your outfit here, along with your shoes. The reps will be here in twenty minutes." My hand grasped the doorknob and yanked it open. "Judy, you're a lifesaver!" She laughed and I shut the door behind me.

I tried to keep my pace at a walking one as I headed to the labs. Getting all suited up for some paperwork would just be a waste of gloves and everything, so I called them up to the front of the lab so I could meet with them.

"And that's basically it!" The head of the team ended. They explained how this trial was different than the others and that the chemical may have other capabilities that we should study. "Great work!" I flipped though the stack of papers they had given me. "I'm impressed that you guys thought to use the biochemical for a different purpose and then went ahead and tested it. That saves everyone here so we don't have to create a new team and all of those hoops. Go ahead and run trials on this then, like this one here in my hand. Can't wait to see what you come up with!"

After saying good-bye I rushed back to my office. People looked at me funny as I shuffled down the hallway, but I was in a hurry. I really did have to look nice for lunch. A lunch I completely forgot about. I opened the door to my office and saw Judy with my clothes. "Thanks!" Grabbing them, I headed into the bathroom in the back of my office.

I traded my comfy pants and blouse in for a nice pencil skirt and a blazer with a white shirt underneath. Slipping my feet out of the flats I had on, I pulled on some turquoise heels. The necklace pulled it all together.

I scampered out of the bathroom and tucked my other outfit in one of my desk drawers. Cramming the drawer closed, I sat back in my office chair. Pulling the paperwork I just received out, I began to review it. The door to my office opened and I assumed it was Judy.

"Hey, would you mind refilling team 6's project. They are no longer working with a vesicant chemical, but a choking/pulmonary one. Theirs became more harsh to the replicated repertory test and they would like to change classification in order to run more test."

"Oh okay. Are you sure you don't want to keep it vesicant? That sounds more dangerous than choking/pulmonary." My head jolted up and I blinked a few times. "Tony?" He stood before me, picking my nameplate off my desk. His hair was gelled and he was in a classic black suit with a black skinny tie.
"Hey." He said simply, smirking at me. "What are you doing here?" I asked, still surprised to see him standing in front of my desk. I realized Judy was in the corner, analyzing her clipboard intently. "Uh, I believe we have a very important meeting with the American Chemical Company today."

I didn't know that he would show up for that though. Tony never shows up for anything. At all. I mean, he's missed awards, business meetings, board meetings, you name it (besides a party), and he's probably missed it recently.

"I didn't know you would be here." I said in my surprised voice. "So, uh," Tony replied, raising his hand to his chin. "Are you glad to see me or not? Because I'm getting a few mixed readings here."

I let out a laugh. "Of course I'm glad to see you!" Finally Tony cracked a smile. "Of course! Stupid question!" Shaking my head at his arrogance, I stood up out of my chair. "Well, are the reps outside the office?" I asked. Tony shrugged. "No clue."

Rolling my eyes I passed him and opened up the door. Two men in suits were coming down the hallway. "From the American Chemical Company?" I questioned as they neared. "Yes, m'am." One replied. I took a step out into the hallway. "Hello! I'm Andrea Carheart, head of the Chemical Research and Development department here at Stark Industies."

The two men approached and shook my hand. "Wonderful to meet you, Miss Carheart." I flashed a smile at the two of them as I shook the other man's hand. "And it is great to finally meet you too. We do so much business that I honestly don't know what I would do without you!" They both were flattered and let out a laugh.

"And I'm Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries." Tony appeared out of nowhere from behind me. The two men stared at him with wide eyes. I pretended to wipe my nose in order to hide my growing smile. I would compare it to a fangirl meeting their favorite actor. "Mr. Stark …" One of them said, his voice fading off into nothing. The other was still very shocked. "I'm Tom Freeman, sir." He said, shaking Tony's hand. He looked like he just touched a ghost. "Layton Hilfigure." The other one said, hesitant to even touch Tony.

"W-we didn't expect you to appear at our meeting, Mr. Stark." Layton said, recovering from his star struck moment. "We just expected to meet with the lady." I was called. My arms crossed my chest and I popped my hip out to the side. My actions went unnoticed.

"Well, then I guess it's a pleasant surprise for you two then! I don't know why I would want to miss a meeting with my favorite company." My eyes rolled back into my head as Layton and Tom almost fainted. "Your favorite company?" One asked. "One of the favorites that I work with!" Tony assured.

There was all sorts of thanks coming from the two. "Come on, , we want to treat you to lunch!" Tom said, motioning to the exit. Layton and Tom excitedly walked in front of us. I clearly was left in the dust. Tony turned his head towards me with the biggest smirk ever."What company is this again?" He whispered into my ear. I shook my head. "Your favorite." I replied.

Tony frowned at my smart comment. "Aw, what's wrong? Is Andrea not getting any attention?" Making sure Tom and Layton were not looking, I swung my hand back and smacked Tony's arm. "Uh, ow!" He complained. My pace quickened to meet up with the two reps.

"This is our car, if you would like to ride in it with us." Tom stated, looking at Tony eagerly. "Thanks, but Miss Carheart and I will be taking my car." The two of them instantly looked at me. "Oh, yes, of course. Meet you at Fino's Italian Restaurant on 25th." Layton replied. Tony nodded, smiled, and waved as they got into their car.

"Maybe I should come to these sorts of things more often." Tony told me as we walked towards his Audi. "Oh pa-leeze! Those two guys were fangirling over you probably because your Iron Man. I mean, come on, they work for a chemical company. They're probably nerds." This put a little damper on Tony's ego. "Not only nerds love me, okay." He stressed as the two of us got in the car.

"Really? Then who loves you, Tony?" I asked as he put the keys in. Turning his gaze back to me, he smirked, lifting both of his hands in the air. "Everybody loves me, honey." I swatted him again as he pulled out of the parking lot. "You arrogant little-"

Tony interrupted my sentence. "If I think what you're going to say after that is right, you may not want to say little." I wanted to smack my head against the dash. "Come on," Tony said, looking over at me as we stopped at a light. "You've seen it. You know."

Oh brother. Some days, I don't know why we are still together. "You really are full of it, aren't you?" I heard him laugh. He sat up taller in his seat. Using the rear view mirror, he fixed the front of his hair. "You betcha!"

My head hit the back of the headrest and I decided I couldn't take him anymore. "Why are you really here? You miss stuff like this all the time." Tony shrugged, and kept his eyes on the road. "Oh, I don't know. Just thought it would be nice to see you at work." Then it all clicked in my mind.

"You're here," I began. "Because I was leaving work to go to lunch today. That means, I wouldn't have my ear piece in. I would be with total strangers at a restaurant. With other people, in public." My head turned towards him, waiting for his reply.

Tony remained silent for a minute. "Well, not exactly-" I interrupted him. "Tony." He took a deep breath. "Yeah, okay. Busted. But you never know." It was my turn to sigh. "Tony, I'm a big girl. I don't need you to babysit me like this! I know what happened is tough, and we both should be more cautious, but really!"

I am independent. I really am. It drove my father, my teachers, and my ex-boyfriends crazy. But it's just part of me I can't help. I don't want to be that needy person, you know? I want people to rely on me, but I don't want to rely on anyone but myself.

Tony's demeanor became more serious. "Look, I lost my parents due to a car accident set up by a rival company." The headline of that tragic day's paper popped up in my head. I had forgotten that. Even though the ACC and Stark Industries were not really competitors, I could see where he was coming from.
"The America Chemical Company isn't going to kill me, Tony." He bit his lip and I placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm fine." I stressed. Tony shook his head though, and closed his eyes for a second longer than he should have. "I can't afford to lose you." He said at last.

I blinked a few times before his words sunk in. "I'm sure you could afford it. You have enough money to be able to." I don't know why I said it, because it was awful harsh. I wanted to take the words out of the air as soon as I said them. Sometimes we all speak before we really think about it.

Tony squeezed his shoulders up and swallowed loudly. He looked extremely uncomfortable. His eyes wandered down to his chest, a hand over his reactor. "The man who has everything… and nothing." He muttered. "What?" I asked, not sure what he just said. "Oh, just something I was told once." His smile was gone, the arrogant illusion faded away.

"Hey," I said, grabbing his arm. His head turned to face me, his eyes full of sadness. I gave him the biggest smile I could muster. "I love you."
Tony finally cracked and a smile appeared on his face. "I love you more." He replied, pulling up to the restaurant. "And it looks like we are here." It wasn't super busy as I thought it might be. The two reps stood outside the door, waiting for the two of us to arrive. "Better not keep the men waiting!" Tony said, jumping out of the car. "Here we go." I muttered and followed him out.

The two men waved as we approached. They bombarded Tony with greetings as I was pushed aside. That's alright though, I didn't mind not being the center of attention. To be honest, I didn't really like a lot of attention anyways. The waiter led us though the maze of tables to one sort of secluded from the rest of the guest. Tony pulled my chair out for me and I sat down. The look of admiration on the two men's faces only increased.

Menus were placed before us and Tony and the reps chatted. "We really admire you work, Mr. Stark. With weapons and with the Iron Man suits." Tom said the last phrase of his sentence quieter, like it was sacred. "Extremely impressive." Layton added. Tony just smiled bigger, his ego swelling with every compliment. "Thank you, thank you!"

I was tempted to crawl under the table or smack Tony out of it with my menu, but either of those options would be unacceptable. The waitress came around and we ordered drinks. Tom and Layton talked more about their company and how some of the chemical packaging and processing techniques worked. I was interested, but Tony was not. He was good at pretending though.

Tony's hand that was holding mine released it and ended up on my leg. I scooted my chair a bit closer to his. A small smile appeared on his face as he pretended to be interested in their conversation. A loud beep sounded and Tom and Layton stopped. "I'm so sorry! I'm afraid that's me." Tom said. Tony smiled. "Business is business." Tom nodded as he stood up. "We will be right back!" The two of them left Tony and I alone.

"I'm sure you will." I muttered as they scampered off and outside. Tony let out a laugh. "Now it's just the two of us." His hand squeezed my leg. "I was thinking." Oh no. Tony thinking isn't always a good thing. But it can be. "Oh?" I replied, leaning my head in towards his.

"That when all of this is over." He took a pause and lowered his voice. "I want to go home and take all of your clothes off." I nodded, pretending that he said something totally normal. "And then I want to carry up upstairs and take a nice…hot….bath." Tony paused between words. My head leaned in closer to his ear. "Why don't you march yourself upstairs, pull a mirror up to the side of the tub, and admire your arrogant little self."

Tony pulled his head away from me. He knew I was still a little upset about him being so difficult. He also wasn't use to rejection. I knew that it only made him try harder. Before he could think of a witty reply, the two men were back and asking Tony questions again. Our food showed up, but Tom and Layton seemed to take no notice of it.

"I am currently working in the chemical department though." I interjected. "You know, on the latest biochemical weapons in the country." The two men looked at me momentarily. "Oh, why yes, that is very good." Layton said. "Good idea for Stark Industries to become involved in chemical weaponry." Tom added, looking back at Tony.

"It was my idea to make her the head of the department." Tony said, taking a sip of the water that was already on the table for us. "What an ingenious idea." Layton said quickly. "But the weapons are still Stark Industries strong suit." Tom nodded in agreement.

"She does have a lot of good work out." Tony added, taking a bite of his food. "Of course," Tom said, "But the woman's work is still inferior to yours, Mr. Stark."

I almost choked. Using my napkin, I blotted the corners of my mouth. My eyes burned though Tom's head. Was it because I was a woman that my work is inferior, or because I was being compared to Tony the Almighty here? That was not made clear, and so I continued my death glare.

Tony though, reacted cool. He let out a laugh and gave a nod of agreement. A smile was upon his face. "Why yes, of course!" My eyes shifted over to him. "Did I mention that this is my girlfriend?" Tony added oh so casually.

Tom and Layton looked up at me as I gave them an artificial smile. Their eyes became wide and they seemed to shrink back in their chairs. They, the Tony-worshipers, just made fun of the incredible Tony Stark's (who loves women) girlfriend (the first real one since Pepper, too), in front of Tony Stark himself. They were mortified. Tom's mouth opened, but nothing came out.

Tony turned his head towards me and raised his eyebrows. Slowly his lips curled into another smile. "A bath you say?" I mouthed behind my napkin. Quickly he gave a nod and his smile grew.

"So," Tony said to Tom, "Let's talk business." Whilst Tom and Tony discussed business, Layton and I talked chemicals. I underestimated this guys smarts, probably because he was in awe of Tony. He knew his stuff, and I was glad to talk chemistry with someone.

"Dessert?" Our waitress asked us as she came back around. I shook my head no and the others did too. The Italian dishes filled all of us up and dessert didn't sound good right now. "Here's the bill when you're ready." Layton snatched it up off the table and stuck his credit card in it. There was a small sticker on the front, and I assumed it was a credit card for his work.

"Thank you for such a wonderful evening!" I told them as we all walked towards the exit. Tom and Layton were still looking at Tony though. "You're welcome." Tom replied quickly. "Mr. Stark," He continued. "It was a pleasure to meet such a fantastic man like you." Tony pretended to be humble. "Oh well, it's not every day I get to work with people like you." I pursed my lips as they bought his charade. "Well, thanks boys. There's just one more thing I'd like to say before we go."

The two men looked up at Tony with a child's curiosity in their eyes. "Stark Industries," He said, looking at Tom and then at Layton. "Appreciates you." I rolled my eyes as the two men smiled and held onto Tony's comment. With a wink, he was out the door, me following close behind.

"Stark Industries appreciates you? Nice, Tony. You didn't even know what company they worked for!" I was half amused, half frustrated with him. Their star struck behavior was rather entertaining. I guess I just don't really see Tony as a widely know celebrity and more as a normal person. Well, sort of normal person. More normal than others see him.

"Well, you do, don't you?" He asked me. I nodded and got in the car. We really did need that company on our side too, and if Tony hadn't sold it well, it could have ended differently. That was one advantage, I suppose.

"Yeah yeah." I peered out the window before turning my head back to face him. "Didn't you have some plans or something?" I whispered. Tony put on a fake frown. "Yeah, you wanted me to go upstairs and bathe all by myself." He pouted. The corners of his mouth twitched, unable to fake a frown anymore. Tony smiled and looked forward.

"Or you know," He said, eyes back on me. "We could keep each other company." I smile in return. "Drive, Tony." I answered, telling him what he needed to know. His smile grew and he took us home.