So the story isn't as extra long as I'd hoped. I have good reason. Two words. Root Canal. So sadly, I spent most of my birthday high as a kite and didn't get to enjoy it as much I'd have liked. But anyway, I'm hoping to see Prince of Persia sometime this evening so even though, I looked like I've been punched in the jaw, as dark as it'll be in the theater, no one will know. Anyway, read, review, and hope that you enjoy it!
Oh yes, and another thing! Please review because I'm debating on whether or not I should incorporate IronMan 2...
The suit was almost completed as were the specs for a new reactor he was making. If his math was correct, Mach 2 was not the reactor that would survive the long haul. He was certain that the paladium materials used for the arc reactor were burning out and causing damaging effects.
However, that was not the point.
The point was that upon completing his portable suit, getting to and from Virginia would be something that would take an hour tops. His and Mina's relationship would no longer be in the "long distance phase". If he wanted to see her, he would see her, no more three thousand miles of space to mock them. He pulled up a computer application of the suit, watching once more, how the pieces would separate and conjoin into a lighter application of the original suit. He had begun with calculating the weight of the metals he'd used, a good bit of math, that. Then afterwards, he and Jarvis worked together to make the metal more "malleable". So in other words, he created a portable suit, invented a new brand of metal, and was going on a sixteen hour stretch of no sleep, for a girl.
He was thorougly fucked.
Pepper walked in just as he leaned back into his chair. He pressed his palms to his eyes, groaning loudly. He was more than positive that she had something to say. However, with an extreme lack of coffee, shower or bedrest he wasn't positive he wanted to hear it.
"It's seven in the morning, Tony."
"I know what time it is Pepper. Just woke up early."
"You're in the same clothes you were yesterday, y'know the ones you were wearing when I was yelling at you?"
"That right?"
Tony hunched forward once more, looking over the design. He was having a little trouble with the springs that initiated the suitcase to suit action.
"Jarvis, lights please."
The lights turned up encased the workshop with light at which Tony sighed. He knew a losing battle when he saw one. He turned his chair and looked at Pepper. She was in a skirt suit, a soft grey color and an emerald frilled shirt showed invitingly underneath. He was looking at her, from her manicured toes, her shapely legs, her pert breasts, to the top of her soft red hair and felt nothing. There had always been that twinge of desire when he had first met Pepper, then the full on crush and now there was nothing? He wanted to feel that jolt of lust, anything to convince himself that he wasn't completely insane.
"Tony, what is going on with you? I've seen you,having one of your...episodes, I even have names for them, but this is crazy. You haven't eaten, you haven't slept, bathed, but I can't figure out is the reason why."
"I just got a little distracted, I'm fine Miss Potts."
He had snapped at her and the retreating look in her eyes, showed how she felt about that. Tony instantly felt awful. She was a friend, more than a friend really. She knew him better than he knew himself and had stood by him when he had been a colossal ass. She deserved some semblance of an answer, even if he still didn't know what that was quite yet.
"I dunno, Pep. I just...I'm Ironman, I'm the great Tony Stark. I can do whatever I want, anything, with this- this here," Tony said gesturing to his suit on the far wall," I can change the world, do something with my life. But-I can't. See, I'm not making any sense, that look on your face? More proof that I am not getting through at all."
"You love her, Tony, don't you?"
"Love? Who?"
"The girl, Tony, Jesus. Isn't it obvious? Even I can see you're not acting normal. Now, are you listening?"
Tony nodded before yawning so hard his jaw cracked. He rubbed the aching part of his face and glanced back at Pepper. He really didn't want her to be right, not because he was afraid...well, okay, maybe it was that more than anything else.
"I'm listening," he finally muttered.
"What you need is to go to bed, sleep for at least eight hours, get cleaned up and get the hell back to Virginia. This isn't working for you, this is certainly not working for her, and not surprisingly it isn't working for me."
"Pepper?"
"Yeah?"
"How'd I ever find you?"
"Easy, you looked for the most attractive woman in the room and then hired her on the spot. You just weren't betting on the fact that she wasn't a complete bubblehead. So anyway, I'm off."
"Off?"
"Yes, in fact," and Tony saw a slight blush rise to Pepper's cheeks, "to breakfast, with Jim. After our little "talk" about you he asked me out to breakfast."
"Seriously? Well, he's certainly not gonna get any action at the breakfast table."
"Uh huh, this coming from a man that's never actually dated a woman," Pepper said smirking. "Good morning, Mr. Stark."
"Mornin'," he waved as she nearly skipped out the door.
Tony wondered if that was what Rhodey did for her, if admitting to the feeling rather than ignoring it, had brought on her happiness.
His head tilted back as another ungodly yawn split his face. He would think about it more, maybe in about eight hours or so.
...
Tony was grateful that Pepper had forced him to bed. Looking on the other side of eight and a half hours sleep, things were certainly better. Tony got out of bed, feet swinging to the side.
First things first, shower and then a quick shave. If he was going to go see Mina he wanted to look as if he did these things regularly. He was sure that she'd feel guilty if she had any idea what she was doing to him. Tony pattered off to the bathroom, his feet slapping against the marble tile.
As he moved to the shower, he glanced at the mirror.
"Ugh, Pepper," he sighed. But then he smiled. How many people could write shower backwards on the forehead of their boss and not get fired?
...
After the plane flight in which Tony had paced for at least an hour and a half, Tony drove back to the house. He had gotten a rental again, but briefly thought about having his own car sent over. He'd ask if Pepper could arrange that, when he returned. The drive was only a blessed twenty minutes this time around and it was probably because it was five in the morning on a Saturday. He hadn't exactly thought much through when he'd gotten on the plane, it wouldn't have mattered either way.
He drove by the house and stopped his car, simply looking at the structure. It completely blew his mind that inside that home there was an actual woman that he wanted. He didn't want her just for sex, in fact, he was celibate since he met her. It wasn't for lack of trying, oh no, definitely not. The simple reason was that when he went to a party, went to a club, even managed to get himself completely drunk, there was no woman that appealed to him. There was no end to the line of women that had thrown themselves at him since he'd announced that he was Ironman, but he couldn't even feign interest. He gave the house one last glance before returning to the hotel he'd booked the last time.
...
Twelve in the afternoon seemed like a much more sensible time to be knocking on someone's door. Of course, Tony couldn't be tempted to wait that long and was back at Mina's place around nine. He pressed the doorbell firmly and waited.
"Tony?" Tony looked up into Jax's face, which currently had a slice of toast by the teeth. Jax somehow managed to tilt his head back and chew down the slice, without the use of his hands. Tony watched the display with both amazement and a hint of disgust.
"Hi," the teen grumbled as he swallowed down the slice.
"Hey, please tell me that Mina's home."
"Well, yeah, but she got off work maybe...what? Two hours ago? She't kinda knocked out right now."
"Oh, alright, um-"
"Tony, your being weird, get in the house, grab some breakfast and we'll go from there, huh?"
"Yeah, sounds great," Tony said a small smile on his face. In truth, he'd been hoping that Mina would be awake so he could try to explain what he was suddenly feeling for her. Having her being asleep sort of took away the steam for that plan. He was sure that hours from now he wouldn't be feeling so courageous and lose sight of what he intended to say.
He followed behind Jax into the kitchen. Hannah was making breakfast at the stove, the other brothers seated at the table.
"Hey, Stark," she said without turning around.
"How'd you know it was me?"
"No one comes over this early, and no one else I know of is completely in love with my sister at the moment. Anyway, you hungry?"
Tony walked over to the stove to see what Hannah was making. She was making eggs in one pan and frying bacon in another. She handled the two pans expertly as she also eyed the hot cocoa she was preparing. She spared him a quick glance before flipping the bacon over.
"You don't look so hot."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, you look like you're itchin' t' do something really stupid. Trust me, got three brothers that get that look all the time."
"I don't appreciate that remark," Jax said loudly from the table.
"Whatever," Hannah shot back, " anyway, she was workin' at the pharmacy. I hate the fact that it's 24 hours, she gets home at, like, five in the morning sometimes and this is after getting out of the restaurant. She'll be completely useless to you until about four or so."
"Is it that bad all the time? Does she do two jobs in one day?"
"Sometimes three," Jax piped in, " she just doesn't know when to quit, y'know? She wants what's best for us but at the same she's completely ignoring herself."
All of them stopped chattering and looked up towards the ceiling. Tony raised a brow at the unified action wondering what had prompted the weird movement.
Footsteps.
They moved slowly down the stairs and echoed through the hallway.
God, even when she was just waking up she managed to look sexy.
She was wearing men's pajama pants and a tank top that exposed her stomach. Her eyes were tired but her walk was still sexy and showcased just how lovely her hips were. She was scratching her head, her other hand around her waist. She looked around the room and finally her eyes caught his. She smiled softly and waved. He smiled back but at the same time the tired look in her eye made Tony's chest hurt. He wanted to lift her in his arms carry her back to bed and lay there with her until she fell asleep. She didn't deserve to look the way she did, to suffer so much.
"I smelled your cooking," she said, her voice a bit husky from sleep. She rubbed her cheek and yawned, her fatigue even more obvious. Hannah hmmed softly before nodding her head toward a chair. The two sisters glanced at each other, an understanding seeming to pass between them and then Mina sat down.
Tony sat down in an empty chair beside Joshua. The boy was kicking his legs listlessly, every once in awhile glancing at Mina. It was a strange atmosphere that Tony found himself in and he wasn't sure that he'd ever felt anything like it.
"Okay, you're all making me nervous. What's going on?"
"They don't like me workin' these kind of shifts."
"Do you like your shifts,"Tony said catching her eyes.
She looked down at her hands thoughtfully and then back at him. He knew that she hadn't lied to him about anything yet, in fact, she'd been straightforward about her entire life. Anything he'd asked she'd revealed to him, without even the thought of a lie. He liked that about her, though he couldn't say the same thing about himself.
"I don't have a choice. I'm not doing this because I enjoy it."
"Nobody's sayin' that Mina, it's just kinda scary when you can barely put the key in the lock gettin' home,"Hannah muttered as she began slamming the plates on the table. Mina growled and then shot an angry glare at Hannah. Another look was shared between the two of them, this one not so understanding.
"Well, until you can think of a way to get you all into college otherwise, then that's what I hafta do!"
"No, it's not!"
"The hell it isn't!"
"Mina!"
"Hannah," the older woman yelled before shoving her chair back and standing. They looked as if they were about to hit each other, their bodies were practically shaking from the effort of holding back. For a moment everything was silent and then Hannah delivered the final blow. "Mom wouldn't want you doing this to yourself Mina."
"You would," Mina snapped softly,"you would freaking say that. I'm going back to bed."
Mina edged around the table and went back the way she came. Tony watched as her arms hugged around herself and she got to the stairs. She sat down on the last stair, her head between her knees.
"You should go talk t' her," Maddie said simply as he ate a plate of waffles. Tony nodded and pushed back his own chair to join Mina. He sat on the stair just above hers, his side just brushing her shoulders. She didn't look up at him and so he settled for just rubbing her back softly. She looked up at him a startled look on her face.
"What?"
"We didn't scare you back there in the kitchen?"
"You should see me and Pepper fight," Tony offered a small smile on his face. Mina shifted so that her head rested against his knee. Tony's hand moved to her soft hair, his fingers running gently through her hair.
"She's just worried about you, I think."
"I know, it's just...I guess I hate scaring her. I have t' do this Tony, they need this."
"Yes, but...what do you need?"
"Another vacation."
"No, a better paying job."
She snorted skeptically before answering. "Oh yeah, with this economy, there are plenty of those floatin' around."
"Work for me."
"What? Okay, Tony, that's weird."
"No, hear me out. You're an artist, right? Paint for me. I'll choose the best paintings, find potential buyers, get you famous at least and then you can work on your own. If it makes you feel better I'll take a ten percent cut."
"You'd do this for me? Why?"
"Because you deserve better and...well, you already know I think you're hot, right?"
"Huh, well...well, I guess that solves a problem. Is it really that easy, though?"
"Babe, I'm Tony Stark, I built a robot. Have a little more faith, would you?"
She moved and then climbed so that her hands were on either side of his waist. She kissed him. Tony couldn't get over the fact that he was the one left swooning whenever they kissed. It was new not being the one in control. Her tongue traced over his mouth and he groaned softly, opening his mouth. Her tongue moved against his, graceful in his mouth, exploring him, making his pants a little more than uncomfortable to sit in. Did she know that she was doing that to him?
Footsteps. Oh, Christ, why?
They broke away and resumed their original position on the stairs.
"Grandmothers, shit! Nick Fury in a bikini, holy shi-"
"We're better now, come eat," Joshua asked gently.
"I'm better now too," Mina said patting Tony on the knee before she stood. Tony nodded for her to go ahead, he couldn't stand up just yet.
