"Baby, let yourself go;
'cause part of you hides,
And I know the hunger inside of you's strong.
You can only hold back the river so long.
Oh, you don't have to go it alone."
-The Fray, "Run for Your Life."
"Hey, Pai," a weak voice called from the doorway of the room, and Paisley's stomach nearly pitched. Impossible. She was so grievous, she must've been imagining…
Paisley gave a glance to Steve, seeing that he was just as shocked as she was. The Ten Ring's men lay about the floor, out cold, or groaning in pain. They'd been taken out by him. Paisley felt a wave of tears coming as she launched herself at full force in to his Iron Man suit. "Oh my God," she murmured, trying her best to bury her face in the cool metal. "Is it really you?"
Her voice was a broken sob, and Tony felt a twinge of guilt at leaving her for that month. It wasn't like he could help it; he distinctly remembered doing it to save her life. He'd take a month long coma with memory loss to being there without her any day. "It's me, it's me," he rocked her back and forth, cradling her head carefully with the gauntlets. "Shh, it's okay. I'm here."
Paisley took a step back to look him over, and Tony lifted the helmet completely off his head. She felt a wave of relief at his slightly pale, yet normal face. His facial hair was a bit more flecked with gray, but it was all right. He was here. He was awake. "How?" She asked, by this time, hyperventilating. Steve walked over, still watching him warily. He put a firm hand on her shoulder, wanting to hear the answer as well.
"I'm sure we'll find out soon. We need to report back to Fury."
Tony sighed, shooting the Captain a small glare for his intrusion on their grand reuniting. "Yeah, give us a minute, American Pie."
Steve raised a brow at the glare and nickname, noting Tony's defensive tone. Hadn't they gotten over that months ago? "Look, I don't mean to intrude." Did he? Steve shook the thought out of his head. "Just… you can have a minute after debriefing."
Before Tony could object, Paisley spoke. "He's right." She wiped at her eyes, trying to calm her breathing. Her chest hurt from all of the crying she'd done in about a minute's time, and she could barely breathe. An enormous weight had just been lifted off of her now that he was back, with her.
The billionaire gave a guarded look to Steve, but nodded. He slipped his helmet back on, taking Paisley by the waist. Though it hadn't felt like a month that he was gone, it felt like he'd been longer than that without her. Tony was just glad that she hadn't moved on, as silly as that was. Had she have moved on and found someone else, she'd probably be in a lot less pain than she was in right now. But now she was happy, he was happy, and that was all that mattered. Humans were selfish creatures. "Natasha and, uh, Clint, piloted a Quinjet out, that's how I got here. They'll take us back to New York."
Paisley nodded, pleased that Clint was back from Russia, Tony was awake, and she and Steve had gotten out alive. "Let's go," she leaned on Tony a bit for support, holding on to make sure it wasn't all just a dream.
They exited a deserted hotel, winds barraging them upon exit. They were met by and eerie emptiness in the parking lot, which was filled by the quinjet in less than ten seconds. Steve went back to retrieve his and Paisley's bags from, he said, "our room." To this, Tony turned and gave him a slight glare before Paisley rushed to the jet, and he followed.
The door was brought down, and a tired Clint Barton poked his head around. Paisley smiled weakly and gave him a large hug; it was too bad Tony didn't remember him – he seemed like a good guy. He was probably a good friend to him as well. Steve returned moments later with their bags, and as soon as the rain started, they were off. Paisley breathed yet another long sigh of relief, leaning back against his armor and falling asleep.
Most of the ride was filled with small frowns from Tony to Steve, who was almost clueless as to why the billionaire was in such a foul mood towards him. After a good while of this harsh tension, Natasha looked back at them from the co-pilot's seat. "Captain, I wouldn't get too stressed over it. He just can't remember. He thinks you two are still fighting and showing each other up."
Steve's brow furrowed in realization as he looked to Tony, whose face held an almost dark expression, filled with frustration. He pulled Paisley closer, and Steve could tell he still remembered her. Maybe she was all he remembered. The thought struck him, sending waves of sympathy through his core. He'd never let go of her, if that was the case. And Tony knew that he didn't intend to.
When they arrived back at the headquarters, Nick Fury was there to greet them. The sky was brighter than it had been in Jordan; Steve nearly winced at the sun upon exiting. Paisley, still asleep, was carried in by Tony. She hadn't slept that well with him in a coma; it was almost as if this was some sort of cathartic release for her. She no longer had to worry. Tony was safe. Tony was back where he was supposed to be; right next to her.
She stirred, and Tony set her down. They were inside now, following behind the director to his office. "Glad to see you're awake, Agent." Fury commented from in front of them, and she yawned.
"Glad to be awake, sir." Steve gave her an encouraging look; though it wasn't as spirited of a reply as it would have been a month ago, it was easy to see that with about an hour of Tony back, she was regaining some spunk. She had a little more fight.
They reached the office, and Fury looked to the assassins, giving them orders. With a quick nod, they left, giving the other three members of their team a warm yet fortified look. Next, the Director turned to Tony. "Mr. Stark, why don't you go take off the suit? I need to talk to Agent Reynolds and Captain Rogers for a moment about their mission." With a nod, he gave Paisley a small smile, which she returned. It was their turn, now that Stark had left. "So, I'd assume that was a complete failure."
Steve and Paisley exchanged uncomfortable looks, her iron façade springing back up like a yo-yo. "It was a trap." She said quickly. "They knew exactly who we were as soon as we showed up. I heard voices talking inside the doors to the deal, and we went over. It'd been some sort of automated thing, but we didn't realize it until there were guns pointed our way."
Fury had an expression of deep thought as he listened to the blonde agent speak. So it had been a trap. They were in danger. Loki had woken Tony up to save them – er, Agent Reynolds, from the line of fire. The woman owed him a debt because of her renewed sight, and as far as he could tell, Loki intended to cash in on it. They'd have to be on guard, even more so than usual. "Anything that we could use to either track down the head, or better, Schmidt?"
"Actually," Steve interjected, looking to Paisley for back-up, "yes. They mentioned someone named 'the great Khan,' and I'm pretty sure that's their leader. They mentioned the idea that Schmidt could be associated with their leader as well." Fury nodded, leaning over his desk to jot down the name Steve had given him. He'd have Romanoff and Barton get right on that.
The Director looked out of his office windows in the direction of the room with Stark's suits. He frowned, watching the area for him. "Before Mr. Stark returns…" he started, gaining Reynolds' full attention. "I'd like to warn you both on the fact that he has some significant memory loss, mostly since the start of the Loki incident." Steve, knowing this already, nodded. Paisley, however, paled. She looked like she was going to be sick.
"What doesn't he-" At that moment, the door opened, and Tony walked back in. "remember?" A flash of hurt crossed his handsome features, and she turned to face him, a bit pained. Fury gave them a look as if to say 'why don't you ask him?'
Tony cleared his throat, scratching at his tousled hair. "I'm not exactly sure what I don't remember, honestly. Though, there've been people I've forgotten…" He looked to Fury for assistance, and the man motioned for them to all sit down. It wasn't in his job descriptions to be a therapist for 'superheroes,' but this was a special occasion.
The self-entitled genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist pulled Paisley in to a leather chair with him, leaving Steve one for himself. She was more terrified than anything that he'd forgotten things about her; though he appeared not to have, that could've just been Fury telling him to 'be affectionate with the blonde. You're intimate, and she'd break down if you didn't remember her.' He kissed the top of her head in a calming manner, though he himself was a bit emotionally frayed.
Fury clasped his hands together, surveying the group. "Mr. Stark, as I was saying, has forgotten a good portion of the Avengers Initiative. The first thing we noticed was his forgetting the death of Agent Coulson. Then, we could tell he didn't remember certain members of the group; Thor, Dr. Banner, and Agent Barton mostly. He didn't remember anything about Agent Romanoff after her investigations of him in 2010. What he remembers about you, Captain, is almost very selective; he only remembers fighting with you on numerous occasions. However, he remembers Agent Reynolds very well. Actually, almost everything about her."
Paisley looked to Tony with a thankful look. He smiled in return as Fury continued. "He remembers very little of what happened during the Roxxon incident; mainly what deals with Agent Reynolds. He remembers the explosion. That's about it, am I correct?"
"As far as we know," Tony nodded.
The cold Director sighed. "Well, I'd be damned if that wasn't all for a reason. Mr. Stark, why don't you recount the tale of your… awakening."
Tony grimaced slightly, thinking of all the bad things Fury had said about the one who woke him up. Tony wondered how truly awful he could have been for wanting to protect one of the most important people in Tony's life… he cleared his throat, playing with the fabric of Paisley's shirt. She shivered a bit at his feather touch, but he ignored it. "Well, it was almost like one of those Inception dream sequences. I was in this white room area, and I saw someone go down a hall. I followed them, and eventually got to the end of the hall. They were tall, really nice eyes, odd get-up…"
"Loki," Fury told them. Steve and Paisley looked almost shocked.
Tony continued. "Yeah, him. After that, he basically told me to wake up, because someone who owed him a debt was in danger – Paisley. Then, I woke up, and here we are."
Paisley fidgeted a bit, frowning. "So Loki called you to go save me from getting my head blown off by terrorists?"
Before Tony could reply, Fury nodded. "Yes. We also believe that he either restored or got rid of some of Mr. Stark's memories upon awakening. We're not exactly sure which; that would depend on exactly what he originally remembered upon waking up, though we won't be able to find that out now." The blonde almost looked like she'd be sick. Was it selfish to be happy that he remembered her? Even though it was virtually only her, he remembered her. That would hurt Banner and Thor, it probably hurt Clint and Steve a bit, too. It probably hurt Tony himself. But he remembered her. "Anyway," Fury sighed resignedly, "that's all for today, folks. Go get some rest. We get back to work on the Ten Rings tomorrow."
They all agreed, standing. They were about to leave when the Director caught them for one last thing. "Mr. Stark?" He called, and Tony turned.
"Hm?"
"You're hereby on a leave of absence from the Avengers Initiative, until you're in better shape. You've just woken up from a coma, I believe there are certain recuperative measures that should be taken." He responded, and Paisley bit her lip, watching Tony.
Oddly, he seemed completely okay with it. "Yeah, gotcha." The doors slid shut, and the three were out.
Steve gave the couple an awkward glance as he turned to them. Tony had Paisley close, and arm around her waist, all attention on her. Paisley wouldn't stop watching him; she was a worried, longing look that gave Steve just the slightest pangs of jealousy. He shouldn't be jealous. He nearly smacked himself for it, watching them. She'd been so distraught over his coma, this was only normal. She'd told Steve once that the last words she and Tony had exchanged were 'I love you,' and 'I love you, too.' He'd responded that he, too, hoped to hear that one day. She told him that he would, and had given him a pained, drunken smile. He hadn't forgotten that. Maybe the feelings were just his own way of protecting than notion. Maybe he'd grown to wish that Paisley would be the one to say that to him. He didn't exactly know.
"Well, I'm going to go back to my room." Steve scratched the back of his head, blushing lightly from the thought.
Tony nearly quipped something to the effect of 'don't wet the bed,' but Paisley spoke. "Goodnight, Steve." She gave him a smile, untangling her fingers from Tony's to give a wave as well.
The Captain vanished, and Tony looked to Paisley with an unreadable expression. "You two are close," he commented.
"He was the only one here for all of that month," she shrugged, giving him an apologetic look. "Don't be jealous. I'm so happy you're here."
The thought vanished from his mind at her words, and he leaned down to kiss her on the lips. Ah, how sweet it was. Her lips were soft, just as he remembered them to be. She felt a tremor through her whole body at the gesture, overwhelmed with many different emotions. Happiness. Bliss. Passion. Relief. Joy. Nervousness. Fear. She was afraid. Afraid that the next minute, he'd be gone again. As he pulled her flush against his body, she couldn't help but let out a strangled sob at the thought the something might happen to him again. She would never be able to go through with that. Never again.
Tony pulled away, leading her off to the side, away from the offices around them. "Hey, hey. What's wrong? Was I that bad?"
She shook her head, chin quivering. "Just… please, please don't leave me again. I know it wasn't up to you, but next time, please."
His eyes softened as he realized just how big of a toll it had all taken on her. He ran a hand along her arm, clasping her hand. "I promise, Pai. I'm so sorry." She hugged him in response, arms folding around his waist as she buried her face in his chest. "Let's go somewhere a bit more private, yeah? Where there aren't agents staring us down."
She nodded against him, and he looked down at the little tear marks where she had been. She led him to her room, shutting and locking the door behind them. She looked up at him with still watery eyes, smiling feebly. "It's just really good to have you back. I missed you so much… I even visited you every day."
He thought back to the voices, nodding. "I think I heard. I think my mind was trying to tell me something by letting me remember you – er, if it wasn't that Loki."
"How so?" She questioned him, fiddling with her hands.
He hummed, thinking. "Well, I remember you. I remember loving you; holding you in my arms at our weakest points… I remember myself, who I am, what I stand for, and the fact that I was absolutely, head over heels for you; and hell, I still am, despite it all. I'm not sure what I'm missing, but it isn't you." With that, he pulled her to him in an embrace, kissing the top of her head. "You cut your hair. I don't remember it this short… and you re-joined SHIELD. A lot's happened, huh?"
Paisley looked up, her arms around his neck as she nodded. "A lot."
He watched her aggrieved expression and wished he could change that around. "Pai…" his voice was almost broken, chilling her. "Can you help me remember?"
"Of course," she whispered. They were close.
He smiled, kissing her forehead, then her temple, then down to her lips. "You know," he whispered between kisses, his eyes filled with what she could see was desire. "Something's coming back to me all of a sudden."
"What is it?" She asked, his lips hovering torturously above hers.
He pulled her tighter, pressing his lips almost urgently to her own. His hands slipped below the hem of her shirt, and she nearly faltered, but kept on with it until he pulled away. "I believe we had a date."
And, they're officially reunited. I loved writing this chapter! Anyways, just to give y'all a heads-up, school is really kicking my ass right now. If my updates slow down for a bit, please know it's not me slacking on the writing. I have the PSAT, SAT, and ACT all coming up, and I need to hit the books. Also, none of you ever take AP Chemistry. It's hell on earth.
Anyway, thanks for the follows, reviews, and favorites! We're so, so close to one hundred reviews!:D Let's see if we can get there by next chapter?
-Caroline.