Tony made sure to be on Steve's floor bright and early the next day, to see Steve off before his trip. He made a big show of letting everyone know he was going to be busy in his lab all day and to not disturb him unless it was completely necessary. Steve was giving him weird looks, but Tony just shrugged him off. Celia looked as neutral as ever, which made him even more suspicious. He was used to being over the top and in your face, but he could also pull off a little subterfuge if needed.

He pretended to go to his lab, but really went down to a hidden spot in the lobby, waiting to see if Celia was going to leave. Tony thought about having Jarvis send him an alert, but he thought that might be too much of an invasion of privacy. If he was wrong in his suspicions, Celia might not trust being in the tower after that, knowing she might always be monitored. They all were really, to a certain degree, but Tony didn't usually use the information unless there was no other option.

Sure enough, about twenty minutes after Steve left, Celia was walking out the front door. Tony waited a few moments before following her out, wanting to see where she was going without being seen. If she was just going to the store or something, he'd never do anything like this again. If she was meeting a boyfriend, he wouldn't like it, but he wouldn't kick up a fuss. It was her right to have a personal life, but he'd make sure to get that new bed and maybe renew the efforts of talking her into her own floor. If this was something else, he'd just have to figure it out from there.

Celia was walking north at a leisurely pace, like she hadn't a care in the world. Why did Tony have to overhear that phone conversation? He could just be blissfully ignorant, setting something on fire in his lab. But he had, and his curious personality wouldn't let him rest until he got to the bottom of everything. Trusting his instincts had gotten him far in life and he wasn't about to stop now.

They continued on for about ten blocks, with Celia just going forward in a straight line. There were a few moments that got a little tricky, when Tony had to cross the street, but luckily the foot traffic stayed pretty dense and he was able to blend in with the crowd. When she finally turned a corner he got a little excited, thinking they might finally be close to their destination. He sped up a little, not wanting to lose her, but when he went around the bend she was nowhere to be found. Tony frantically looked around, trying to find where Celia could've gone. There wasn't a door to this building where he was and no alleys to duck into. It was like she'd disappeared.

"Fancy meeting you here," a voice murmured right next to his ear. Tony jumped, whipping around to face a smirking Celia.

"What a coincidence!" Tony chuckled, covering up his shock with a tight smile. "I was just out on a walk. Such a beautiful day." He started walking in the direction they'd been going, knowing she wasn't going to buy his story, but sticking to it with tenacity.

"And you just so happened to be going the same way as me," Celia remarked, matching his stride.

"Well, if you recall, you snuck up behind me, hence you were following moi," Tony huffed.

"How much longer are we going to keep this up?" Celia asked, sounding exasperated.

"Keep what up?"

"Fine. See you later," Celia sighed, preparing to cut across traffic to create some distance. Tony grabbed her arm before she could hop off the curb, groaning from the turn of events.

"So, maybe I was following you," Tony admitted reluctantly, pulling her to stand under an empty awning.

"You don't say!" Celia gasped with a patronizing lilt. "You probably should've sent Natasha."

"I was pretty good though, right? Were you surprised when you noticed me?" Tony asked, hopefully. Natasha was always bragging about being the best spy. This wasn't really helping his cause, since he'd been found out, but he thought he did okay.

"I clocked you in the lobby."

"Bullshit."

"Sitting in the chair with the newspaper."

"How did you know?"

"It was so obvious that I can't even be that angry about it. I'm just embarrassed for you."

"You're exaggerating."

"Look, I've been a lot more observant of my surroundings these days, for obvious reasons. After being ambushed by Natasha, Shield, Fury-"

"Fury? When was that?"

"I'll explain later. The point is, you're caught. And now that we've gotten that out of the way, you can tell me why you were tailing me in the first place," Celia said, cocking her hands on her hips.

"Boredom?" Tony offered.

"I'll be moving my stuff out of the tower tonight," Celia sneered, resuming her walk at an agitated pace.

"Wait!" Tony groaned, trotting forward to catch up, then walking alongside her. "Don't be so overdramatic."

"So I'm supposed to be okay with having no privacy? Do you keep track of everyone like this, or am I just special?"

"Well, I know practically every detail of Steve's trip, if that makes you feel any better."

"Not really."

"I may have heard part of your phone call yesterday and it made me a little worried, so I decided to follow you to make sure I was wrong to be suspicious," Tony admitted hesitantly.

"Of course you did," Celia sighed, slowing her pace down a bit.

"I'm sorry, it's just-"

"You don't trust me," Celia shrugged.

"Well-"

"It's okay, I don't trust you either. I'm just a bit better at minding my own business evidently," Celia chuckled. "Can you just ask me next time instead of doing all this?"

"If I recall correctly, I did ask you if you had plans today," Tony pointed out. Celia just hummed in acknowledgement, not expanding on that thought. "Will you just tell me if it's something illegal or not? I'd like to know if I need to have my lawyers on standby."

"Uh…"

"See! You hesitated!" Tony crowed.

"Define illegal."

"I feel so vindicated right now."

"You know I'm not- hold on," Celia cut off abruptly, darting into an alley. Tony followed, intrigued by what she was up to now. He didn't think she was trying to run away, but he could never be too sure. She ducked down next to a dumpster and Tony held back a bit, wanting to see what she was doing.

"What-"

"Hey there. What's your story?" Celia asked, rifling around in her bag.

"What's it to you?" a rough voice answered. Tony shifted to the side a bit, finally noticing a set of legs peeking out on the ground.

"Well, I've got $20 for you, no questions asked, and an extra $50 if you tell me a bit about yourself," Celia offered, flashing a few bills.

"What are you playing at?" the man growled. Tony really hoped this wasn't about to get physical. He didn't like fighting without his suit.

"No playing, see?" Celia said, setting down the $20 bill within the man's reach. He glared at her before snatching it up. "Now, you can either tell me to screw off or you can answer a couple questions. I won't be offended either way."

"Why?"

"I might be able to help you, but I have to know a bit before I know for sure."

"Ask away," the man grunted, flicking his eyes in Tony's direction briefly. He hoped the shade and sunglasses he was wearing concealed his identity a bit. The last thing he needed was a scandal involving him propositioning men in dark alleys.

"How'd you end up here?"

"Came back from war to find out there wasn't really a place for people like me anymore," he spat bitterly.

"Any criminal history?"

"A couple drunk and disorderlies, some loitering. Police don't always take kindly to people who don't have a place to go at night."

"I know what you mean, unfortunately," Celia sighed, rummaging around in her bag again. "Substance issues?"

"I never turn down a drink if I can get my hands on it," he mumbled, staring down at his shoes.

"I think that'll do it," Celia said, scribbling something on the back of a business card. She folded up the money and held it out between her fingers, along with the card.

"What's that? I'm not joining any weird church," the man grunted, taking the bounty anyways.

"Nothing like that," Celia snorted, shaking her head in amusement. "I've got a friend, Blue. He runs a motel upstate and keeps a few rooms open for veterans who are down on their luck. Now, you can go up there and stay for a few days, no questions asked, or you can talk to him and he can point you in the direction of some places that are hiring. Just tell him Cece sent you."

"And what if I don't want to do that?"

"That's up to you, but I'd say give it a shot. You never know what'll happen unless you take a chance," Celia said, standing up and straightening out the legs of her pants. "It's kind of a trek up there, so if you end up taking a cab or subway, just let Blue know. He'll reimburse you. And if you're not gonna use the card at all, try not to leave it somewhere where someone will find it. It's got my cell number on the back and I don't really want to be spammed, you know?"

"Why are you doing this? Is it some sort of scam?" the man wondered.

"Nah, just paying it forward," Celia shrugged, backing toward where Tony was standing. "Take care." Celia walked back to the sidewalk and continued her journey as if that side quest hadn't just happened.

"What was that?" Tony asked.

"Nothing, now as I was saying, you know I'm not going to do anything crazy. It's just not something I'm comfortable talking about yet. Maybe someday, but for now I hope you can respect that," Celia said, picking up where they'd left off in conversation.

"You're strange," Tony laughed.

"Am I?"

"Pretty odd."

"Hmm."

"Frustratingly mysterious."

"Perhaps."

"You're gonna give me heartburn. That could kill me, you know."

"Does that mean you're gonna let me go?" Celia asked, stopping on the side of a subway entrance.

"You're sure this won't end up being a PR nightmare for me to have to take care of?" Tony sighed.

"You won't be negatively affected at all, I promise." Tony grumbled under his breath and gestured for Celia to take her leave and go down into the subway.

"You'll be back tonight, right?" Tony called after her when she was halfway down.

"When's my curfew?" Celia joked.

"Tell D I said hi!" Tony shot back, feeling smug satisfaction at the little stutter in her step. Celia flipped him off and kept going, quickly being swallowed up by the crowd. Tony groaned, looking around for a cab to flag down. This hadn't gone like he wanted, but at least he felt a little bit better about whatever Celia might be up to. It probably wasn't anything bad, but he still wanted to know what it was. The fact that she wasn't acting nervous about it was a good thing, but she'd shown she was able to stay cool under pressure before. He would just have to see if Steve had any insight into what was going on when he got back from his trip.