Nerissa stayed home for three more days before she decided that she couldn't just sit in her apartment like a bump on a log. On the afternoon of the third day she got dressed in a long sleeve cable knit sweater and a pair of loose black jeans and headed over to her boss's house for the first time that wasn't for work.
"Tony!" Nerissa called as she walked into her boss's dark house when there was no response she pressed a button on a control panel on the wall, "J.A.R.V.I.S, where's Tony?"
"He is in the basement, Ms. Winters," J.A.R.V.I.S replied in his programmed British accent, "Would you like me to notify him that you are here?"
Nerissa replied, "No it's fine. I could use a little exercise on the stairs."
"As you wish, Ms. Winters," J.A.R.V.I.S replied, "It is nice to see you alive and well."
Nerissa couldn't help but laugh at his choice of words, "J.A.R.V.I.S you're an AI you can't see anything."
"Not in the typical way that you do but I can see plenty," J.A.R.V.I.S answered.
"You looked into my medical records didn't you," Nerissa accused.
"They are on the Stark Industries mainframe," J.A.R.V.I.S said, "It is not like I hacked in."
Nerissa sighed, "Tony put you up to it."
"Yes," J.A.R.V.I.S replied, "He wanted to make sure that the doctors didn't miss anything during your examination."
"Did they?" Nerissa asked curious now.
"No, everything came back normal. The only thing they're concerned about is the potential of medical setbacks caused by the various infections you had."
"I knew that. They told me before I left the hospital," Nerissa replied, "I'm going down to the basement now."
Nerissa began carefully down the stairs. Taking her time, because her leg muscles were still a little weak from lack of use and injury. She made it down a majority of the steps, but when she reached the fifth to last step her ankle rolled and she slid down the remaining stairs on her back.
Nerissa groaned in pain, as her body came to rest at the bottom of the staircase. She sat up carefully, knowing that she had to have ripped open a few of her scabs and stitches.
"Riss!" Tony said rushing over to where she lay at the bottom of the steps, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Nerissa muttered taking a few deep breaths.
"Did you break anything? Hit your head? Rip open anything?" Tony asked helping her stand up.
"No, no, and yes," Nerissa replied through gritted teeth, "You have a first aid kit?"
"Yeah, let me help you," Tony said offering her support
"Thanks," Nerissa gritted out while she gingerly walked towards the sitting area. After taking a seat she removed her sweater, "Think you could put some gauze over them?"
"Yeah," Tony said grabbing the kit out of a cabinet, 'What did you do?"
"My ankle rolled as I took a step and I slid down the rest of them," Nerissa replied her voice strained.
"Damn girl," Tony said examining the damage to her back, "I knew they beat you up but I never saw the full extent of it."
Nerissa suddenly became very self-conscious about her scars and healing wounds, "Just hurry up."
After a few more minutes Tony had bandaged her up and Nerissa had put her sweater back on, "Thanks, Tony. I'm such a klutz."
"No problem," Tony replied washing his hands, "How have you been?"
"Fine," Nerissa replied, "Henry has been keeping an eye on me, but something tells me you already knew that."
"Would I have someone spy on my favorite assistant?" Tony feigned innocence, "I would never do such a thing."
"Yes, you would," Nerissa shot back lightly, "You don't have to."
"I know I don't but I worry," Tony said, "It's my fault that you got hurt. Pepper didn't want me to take you with me but I insisted. I should never have taken you over there."
"Is that what you think?" Nerissa replied, "That I got hurt because I went there?"
"Duh," Tony replied, "Regardless of the fact that you are a highly trained assassin, I didn't know that when I decided to take you. I took you as my 21-year-old assistant who barely knows how to walk and chew bubble gum at the same time."
"I hate to break it to you Stark, but I would have gone whether or not you wanted me to," Nerissa informed him.
Tony stopped, "What?"
"I would have gone regardless," Nerissa said taking a deep breath, "I was hired to protect you."
"You mentioned that in the desert," Tony replied.
"I did?" Nerissa asked shocked to hear this revelation.
"Yeah, it was when you thought you were going to die after the jeep broke down," Tony recalled, "You told me you were hired by an anonymous party that had heard there was a threat on my life."
Nerissa wasn't sure how to respond, "Well, then there goes the entire speech I'd prepared to break the news to you."
"You really don't remember?" Tony asked.
"No," Nerissa shook her head, "I don't remember much about our escape other than Yinsen dying, getting into a fight and being stabbed, and trying to follow you in the jeep."
"Huh, well you could maybe answer one question I have," Tony told her.
"What is it?" Nerissa asked.
"Why were you hired?" Tony asked, "You're so young to be doing something like this."
"Really? You're going to say that my age is what disqualifies me for a job like this? Do you not remember all the stories I told you about my past as the Black Hand?" Nerissa asked, "I am one of the most deadly assassins in recent history and you want to say that I'm too young to do this? Really?"
"Yeah, I get that you're not really the same as others your age. That doesn't change the fact that you're only 21 years old," Tony explained.
"I'm actually not 21," Nerissa replied folding her arms across her chest, "I'm 22. My employer fudged my age a bit to make my story more believable."
"Still that's only a year," Tony insisted, "Couldn't they have hired someone more… someone more disposable."
"I'm disposable to my employer," Nerissa muttered.
"Not to me you're not," Tony said, "You've come to be like the little sister I never had. The little sister I always wanted. If someone else taking this job would have meant that we never met but you wouldn't have had to go through all this I'd gladly take the other person. No-one, no matter their past, should have to go through what you did over there."
"I appreciate the sentiment, Tony, but I… I would never wish what happened to me upon another person. I know I'm strong enough to overcome it but I don't know who else is," Nerissa told him.
Tony fell silent for a minute but then asked, "So when this threat is gone you're going to leave?"
"I don't know yet," Nerissa replied honestly, "There are some things back home that I'd miss but I'm not sure if I could to face them after all of this."
"You have a family?" Tony asked slightly surprised.
"Yes, but I'm not sure if it's good for them if I go back," Nerissa replied tears springing to her eyes, "I'm poison to everyone I'm around."
Hearing her distress Tony immediately forgot his problems and focused on her, "You're not poison."
"I am, though," Nerissa whispered, "Everyone I love gets hurt by my past."
"I didn't," Tony told her trying to cheer her up.
"Maybe not by my past directly but it is my fault that you have that stupid glorified battery in your chest," Nerissa replied referring to the miniaturized arc reactor that was embedded in Tony's chest that served as the magnet that stopped the movement of irremovable shrapnel towards his heart.
"No it's not," Tony asserted, "It's the Ten Rings fault. If they hadn't dropped that missile I wouldn't need this thing keeping the shrapnel away from my heart."
"But if I hadn't let you get out of that Humvee you never would have been hurt in the first place and it was because of my own actions that we were captured in the first place!" Nerissa snapped then quieter she said, "It's all my fault."
Tony put his arm around her shoulders gently, "You can't blame everything on yourself, Riss. You're only one person."
"I know but I'm supposed to be better and more capable of taking down the bad guys than the average human," Nerissa whispered, "I'm the Black Hand."
"But that's not who you are anymore," Tony assured her, "You're Arissa Winters my highly intelligent assistant, who can kick some serious ass. Not that Ava person who was a cold-blooded killer."
"Ava Strinne," Nerissa whispered, "That was what my friends called me then, or at least they were as close to friends as an assassin can have."
"You're not her anymore," Tony repeated, "You're a different person now, a better person."
"Thanks, Tony," Nerissa said wiping tears from her eyes, "So, how's work coming on your new suit of armor?"
"Pretty good actually," Tony said walking over to his workstation, "Since I have more tools and technology here I was able to build an entirely new suit in just a few days rather than a few weeks. It's much more advanced than the first one."
Nerissa got up and followed him and examined the new suit of armor before her, "Wow, this is so much better."
The suit had been colored hot rod red and gold. It was much sleeker than the first suit Tony had made in the desert. This model was much more humanistic and was built to body specifications that were slightly larger than Tony himself so that Tony could fit comfortably in the suit and was able to move just like he would without it.
"With all of my toys here I was able to build it so that is much more streamlined and advanced in weaponry than the Mark I," Tony boasted.
"The Mark I?" Nerissa asked.
"Yeah, that's what I'm calling them. You know as I advance the models," Tony explained, "Like when they come out with a new phone and change the number or letter."
"I get it," Nerissa replied amused, "So this one is the Mark II?"
"Yep," Tony replied proud of his creation, "I can't wait to take it for a test flight."
"It flies?" Nerissa asked surprised, "I knew the Mark I flew but I didn't know that you could do that with a suit so small."
"Oh yeah," Tony said walking around the suit, "I used repulsor technology that's embedded in the hands and feet of the suit. They can also be used as weapons."
"Wow," Nerissa said, "When are you gonna take it out?"
Tony thought about it a second, "Now? I could use you back here keeping an eye on things."
Nerissa was stunned but soon a smile split her face, "Go suit up."
Tony grinned like a Cheshire cat and ran over to the suit and within minutes he shot out of the basement.
"Tony?" Nerissa said through the mic, "Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear," Tony yelled exhilarated, "This is so amazing! How does everything look?"
"Looks great," Nerissa replied fiddling with a few things on the computer, "Where are you at?"
"Above downtown," Tony said, "I just went by the Ferris wheel."
"Make sure that you don't spook anyone," Nerissa warned.
"I know," Tony replied, "I'm going to see how high I can take this thing."
"Be careful," Nerissa told him a minute later the feed from the suit cut off, "Tony? Tony. Tony! Is everything okay? Come in Tony!" Nerissa frantically began checking different monitors that may tell her what happened, "Dammit Tony…"
"Riss?" Tony said over the intercom out of breath.
"Tony!" Nerissa replied sitting up straight, "Are you okay? What happened?"
"Turns out if you go up high enough in the atmosphere ice will form on any surface available," Tony said breathing heavily.
"What happened?" Nerissa repeated still worried.
"A layer of ice formed on the suit and shut it down," Tony replied like it was no big deal.
"What?!" Nerissa screeched, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine," Tony replied waving off her worry, "I managed to power it back on before it crashed into the middle of a busy intersection."
"Tony," Nerissa groaned, "You need to come back now."
"I'm already here," Tony said, "I'm putting it down on the roof, then I'm gonna walk it in through the rooftop entrance." Nerissa sighed and sat back in the chair but leaped up in alarm and pulled her pistol from her waistband when something came crashing through the ceiling by the cars. She rushed over and found Tony laying on top of one of his sports cars still in the suit.
"What happened? Are you okay?" Nerissa asked.
"Fine," Tony sat up, "Turns out that the suit is too heavy for the roof if I don't put it down gently enough."
"You crashed through the roof and the living room?" Nerissa asked stunned.
"Yeah, I took out the piano too," Tony sighed.
"And you say that I'm the one that needs to be more careful," Nerissa teased.
"You are," Tony said walking over to the station that would remove the suit, "I just need to work on my landing skills."