CHAPTER FOUR


Summary: When Hermione's contract with SHIELD is sold to Stark Industries and she's traded like she's prized cattle, she is far from pleased. But then, she meets the notorious man for herself and she finds herself thinking that perhaps, it wasn't all that bad a trade.

Disclaimer: All original characters and canon events belong to J.K. Rowling and Marvel. Non-canon events and characters are my own. I am not making any profit from posting this fanfic. Characters are likely to be OOC. This takes place after Iron Man 2, and I will be taking liberties with the timeline/ canon events. Rated for language, violence and sexual content.

Q&A

CallaRose4ever – This will carry through to Avengers, but I don't plan on it going any further than that, not unless I can figure out a way to fit so many developments with Iron Man, Spiderman and the Avengers in to a couple of chapters, as I really don't want this one to become a novel-length fic like the rest of my works.

TimeRose – Yes, Tony and Pepper did date in this, but are no longer together.

Fairytalebliss182 – That is going to be a fun chapter to write.

I'm A Sucker For Love Stories – Possibly, but then she wouldn't be able to guilt-trip him.

Meldz – Yes, she will tell him about her projects in the future. And yes, I believe it's called Occam's Razor.

Chupeechan – Pepper will make an appearance but she won't be a main character or feature.

Erica18 - Morgan Stark will not appear as Hermione and Tony's daughter.


Page count: 9


The following Monday, as the sky grew dark and the Tower quiet as all employees left for the evening, Hermione stepped out of the lift and said,

"Jarvis, has Tony eaten recently?"

"Mr. Stark has not eaten since yesterday evening, he has been in his work station all day. I believe he has made a breakthrough with one of his projects."

"Thanks, Jarvis," she replied, purposely striding towards Tony's work station, the door sliding open.

Stopping in the doorway, she leaned against the wall, her arms folding over her chest, seeing Tony hunched over at a workbench, Hermione noting that his movements were slower than usual, sluggish. He was exhausted.

"Tony," she called, having to raise her voice to draw his attention.

He lifted his head and looked at her over his shoulder, blinking slowly, his expression tired and confused.

"Granger? I haven't heard from you all day, any problems?"

"No, everything's been fine. I thought I'd check on you, seeing as you've been quieter than usual."

"Quiet?" He tipped his head.

"Hmmm, no annoying calls and interruptions and no unexpected visits. Jarvis has told me you haven't left here all day; apparently you've made a breakthrough."

His eyes lit up in excitement and his mouth pulled into a smile as he swivelled on his stool to better face her. "I'm working on a way for my suit to withstand high pressured environments, and I should have a prototype by Wednesday."

"That's great, now, take a break."

"What?" His expression fell.

"A break, Tony," she repeated. "Self-care. You're always harping on at me about how I need to take better care of myself, I think it's time you practice what you preach. Jarvis said you haven't eaten today, at all, so, I bought dinner." She held the brown paper bag up as evidence, seeing his eyes dart to it.

"You bought me dinner?" He questioned slowly, seeming to be having trouble digesting the news.

"Yes, I bought you dinner," she confirmed. "Why are you so surprised by this? You never had a woman buy you dinner before?" She arched an eyebrow.

"No, I don't think so," he admitted. "Billionaire," he shrugged his shoulders, as if that was the only explanation he needed to give.

"So they expect you to pay? That's awful," her brow furrowed. "Never mind, well, dinner is served. I ordered from Emma's."

"You went out in that?" He tipped his head to the right, gesturing towards the downpour of rain that pelted against the windows and had been for hours. She wouldn't be surprised if there was some flooding.

"No, I had it delivered."

"They don't deliver," he pointed out.

"I know, so I called ahead and tipped a taxi driver extra to pick it up and bring it here," she shrugged.

"It's only a few blocks away," his mouth twitched in amusement.

"I'm not going out in that, I'm so tiny I'd be swept away," she argued and he snorted. "Come on, your cheeseburgers are getting cold."

She pushed away from the wall and stepped out of the way, allowing Tony to walk ahead so he might choose if they ate in the kitchen or on the couch.

"How'd you know I like cheeseburgers?"

"Doesn't everyone?" She arched an eyebrow. "Besides, not only have I noticed a large amount of fast-food wrappers in the bin, mostly cheeseburgers, I might've asked Happy," she admitted.

He led them straight to the couch and whilst he took a seat and switched on the TV, she set the paper bag on the table and removed the food containers and the milkshakes, chocolate for Tony and strawberry for herself.

After searching through the channels, he'd settled on what looked to be a comedy film and when he leaned back into the cushions and propped his feet up on the glass coffee table, she handed him his food along with the ketchup packets. Settling back and making herself comfortable, she reached for her own food and they ate in silence, their eyes locked on the TV.

With their food eaten and the containers discarded, Hermione turned her eyes to Tony, seeing him half-lying and half-propped up, his head being supported by his fist.

"What?" He asked, barely sparing her a glance but feeling her stare.

"Why'd you pay me so much money?" She finally asked.

He rolled his eyes, reached for the remote, paused the TV and then looked to her.

"It's too much, far too much," she protested. "That's more than most earn annually."

"Do you know how many hours you worked last month?" He asked curiously.

"I don't keep track," she admitted. "I worked twelve hour shifts when at SHIELD, usually five to six days a week, unless I was sent out into the field. It's why I had numerous assistants, so they could alternate shift patterns to keep up with the hours I worked."

"You know you're only human, right?" He arched an eyebrow. "You keep going this way and you'll burn yourself out, even if you do enjoy the work... Jarvis, help the lady out," he instructed.

"Dr. Granger, records show that over the previous month, you spent two hundred and seven hours, thirteen minutes and forty-five seconds in your lab," answered Jarvis.

"That's not including the time taken out for breaks or the time you've been up here with me, and even with the three weekends I forced you to stay away from the Tower, you've still clocked more hours than any other member of staff," said Tony. "Stark Industries has thousands of employees and the total average of hours clocked across the board monthly is one hundred and seventy-three. That puts you thirty-three hours above average. You've clocked more hours than Pepper and she's the damn CEO, and even she has a life. She takes time for herself and that's something you need to do."

"And despite the high volume of employees, and despite my lack of understanding on what it is you actually do, you are one of the most qualified people in my employment, second only to myself... In fact, you might actually have more qualifications than I do, and I'm a certified genius."

"And so humble, too," she quipped and he snorted at her. "And I understand that I work exceptionally long hours and that this is classed as the private sector and any wage I receive is likely to be more than my previous government salary, but I wasn't expecting that much. Imagine the bloody tax!"

He snorted. "I'll pay you double if you tell me how you turned me blue without paint or genetically altering my DNA, and without touching me."

"No," she said firmly.

He pouted. "Fine, but anyway, as I said, don't go spreading the word about your wage, I can't be done with the uproar and striking."

"Should I expect a similar amount at the end of this month?"

"Minimum," he agreed. "Forty grand's nothing to me, I make approximately six hundred thousand dollars an hour," he shrugged.

She choked. She physically choked.

~000~000~000~

Two weeks later, Hermione wasn't certain how it had happened. Honestly, she had no clue and she hadn't seen it coming either. But in the two weeks that had passed since that Monday evening impromptu dinner and movie session with Tony, things had changed.

Before, he'd been her boss and she, his employee, nothing more. Well, maybe it was a little more, she admitted. After all, who argued and had a three week long prank war with their billionaire boss without getting fired? But since that Monday evening, her relationship with Tony was more than professional, more than boss and employee. She could safely say, they were friends. Honest to God friends.

When she'd first received the news that she was being shipped off to work for Tony Stark, she could admit that she hadn't been pleased, not in the least. And whilst he was the type of man she'd been expecting, he wasn't at the same time. Did that make sense?

He was arrogant and annoying, very annoying, and he was a certifiable genius which sometimes made it hard to communicate with him. He was everything she'd read him to be. But then he was also funny (even if he was sometimes annoying with it) and he had a big heart, one he'd carefully hidden and built walls around. She knew, she'd done it herself after being betrayed and hurt one too many times over the years. He cracked jokes and used humour and arrogance to hide his pain and betrayal. But there was more to Tony Stark, things that people didn't see unless they were as observant as she was, things that he kept hidden and things that could only be seen by spending long periods of time around him, something she'd been doing recently.

And honestly, he was a good friend. Given her career with SHIELD, she admittedly kept to herself and she'd always struggled socially and because of that, she hadn't made many friends. With her move to Manhattan and Stark Industries, she worked even longer hours, didn't have assistants to converse with (only Jarvis and he was a remarkable conversationalist she'd come to realise) and she lived out of a hotel, still not having had any luck in finding something more permanent. But Tony, he was a good friend, something that had taken her some time to realise.

He was a combination of George and Harry. He had George's ingenious way of thinking and his mischievous, chaotic energy, but then he possessed Harry's calming presence, his contemplative nature and quiet, even if Tony was one of the loudest people she'd met. And those qualities, they reminded her of those she'd left behind, they drew her closer to him.

His chaos against her calm, his loudness against her quiet, his outlandish ideas against her practicality, it helped to build a quick and fast friendship. He forced her to go home when the evenings grew late and she often pulled him from his work, forcing him to eat, both taking the time to remind the other about maintaining their health. Their conversations were also interesting, even if he spoke for hours on a subject Hermione hadn't the foggiest about or had no hope for understanding given her own background. And though he did often touch on the subject of her work, he didn't press when she was hesitant to answer, something that she appreciated.

And it was little things like that, the little signs of consideration that had Hermione's trust in him growing. Trust that would soon lead to her being comfortable enough to reveal the truth about herself, and she couldn't wait for his reaction given how adamant he was about the inexistence of magic and witches.

"UNO!"

"Damn it!" Grumbled Tony, throwing his remaining cards onto the pile in a huff.

"Haha! You suck, Stark!"

"Oh, very mature," he folded his arms.

"Say's the man pouting like a child."

"I'm not pouting," he argued.

"Tell that to the lip jutting out," she said smugly, sniggering when he scowled and deliberately drew his bottom lip between his teeth to stop him from pouting.

"Seriously, it's Friday night, what're you doing here with me playing Uno and Goldfish? Go home, put on a party frock and get yourself to the club."

This was a common occurrence between them. More often than not, they'd have dinner together, watch a movie or find themselves arguing as they played board or card games before she took her leave late into the night, only to return to the Tower in the early morning and the process repeated itself.

That Friday, the Tower was empty but for herself, Tony and the men that manned the guard station, acting as another security measure despite all the others that were in place. With it being Friday, the Tower always emptied quicker of its occupants than any other weekday, and after it had grown dark she'd headed to the floor above where she and Tony had ordered Chinese and watched a movie on the TV before the cards were brought out.

"Trying to get rid of me?" She tipped her head. "Honestly, is it so hard to believe that I like being around you? Even if you are the most annoying genius in the world?"

"I resent that," he lifted his chin and she sniggered. "But at least you recognise my brilliance."

"I'm not the partying type of girl..."

"You? No, I don't believe that," he interrupted sarcastically and in response, she threw a pretzel at him. He simply opened his mouth, caught it and winked at her scowl of annoyance as he began chewing.

"I don't enjoy large crowds of people, I haven't since I was little, but even more so since... Well, it doesn't matter," she cleared her throat, seeing his curiously furrowed brow at her choosing that moment to hesitate. "I much prefer quiet nights like this," she shrugged. "And I'm having just as much fun kicking your arse at a card game than I would be getting drunk in a claustrophobic, stinky, sweaty club where strangers might try to feel me up."

"You're not kicking my arse," he argued, speaking in an overly dramatic and mocking British accent.

"I've fourteen wins to your big fat doughnut of a zero, and we've only been playing for an hour," she pointed out.

He narrowed his eyes. "That's it, I'm bringing out the big guns," he warned.

He collected the Uno cards into a neat deck before setting them on the table and he reached for the playing cards, giving them a good shuffle.

"Poker."

"I'm great at poker," she replied confidently.

"We'll see," he shrugged, shifting to get more comfortable and as they faced each other on the couch, their legs crossed and pulled up onto the cushions, he dealt the cards on the cushion that separated them.

"How the Hell?!" He cried. Hermione smiled smugly and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "You're cheating!" He pointed an accusing finger, almost an hour after he'd dealt the first hand and in that time, he'd won only three hands.

"I am not," she said indignantly. "It's not my fault you're rubbish. If we were playing for money, I'd have bankrupted you by now. I suggest you stay away from the casinos, with luck like yours it's bound to rub off on other people. You're the black plague of bad luck."

"Take that back!"

"No, it's the truth. You think I'm cheating? Let's try something else, blackjack? I'll deal," she held her hand out expectantly.

"No way am I letting you deal," he scoffed.

She rolled her eyes but didn't argue further, watching in amusement as he gave the deck a good shuffle so there was no possible way she could cheat. As he did that, she was briefly distracted by the ring tone of her phone, a phone she very rarely used but always kept on her person for cases of emergency. A phone that was only programmed with two contacts; Harry and Nick Fury.

Frowning in concern, expecting the caller to be Harry given that she and SHIELD were no longer on speaking terms, she was quick to dig it from her handbag, seeing Tony's curious expression as he paused in his shuffling of the cards.

As she drew back with the old flip phone, one of the only pieces of technology that didn't blow up in her face and could be used for short periods of time without doing so, she flipped it open and pressed it against her ear.

"Granger," said Nick Fury, not giving her the time to reply, "What took you so damn long, I don't have all day?" He said gruffly. "We have a situation."

Hermione leaned back into the armrest of the couch. "And you're telling me this because...?" She prompted. "I no longer work for you, not since you sold me to the highest bidder."

"Still salty, I see," he replied.

"You bet your arse I am. You sold me like I was a bloody prized cow, not a human being. We had a contract, an agreement and your people broke it. The big boss wasn't happy when he discovered the news, and no, I didn't tattle on you, you're not the only one with eyes and ears everywhere. It took me days to convince him not to start a damn political war because I don't have the time or energy for it, and I hate being caught in the middle between you. The whole point of the treaty was that I work for you, not someone else, especially without my prior knowledge or agreement."

"What're you complaining about? You've got benefits, healthcare, a pay rise," he listed.

"I don't give a toss about that, Fury, you know that. I don't need the money and I don't need the health care benefits, I'm a bloody doctor! I'm hurt that you felt you could treat me as though I'm less than human, I've had people doing that for the majority of my life and I've had to fight for my place in society, for the right to live and exist. I never expected such behaviour from you."

He grumbled something she didn't understand before sighing. "Look, can we argue about this later? I need your help with this."

"Why should I? And don't you dare use the line 'it's for the greater good'. I'm sick of hearing that shit."

"I'm asking for your help. Not ordering you, asking, and if you do this, I'll owe. You'll be out of the country for a few days."

"I don't know, Fury, I no longer work for you, it's up to my new boss if I can have time off."

"Granger..." He growled in warning.

Hermione rolled her eyes before covering the speaker with her hand and looking to Tony's arched eyebrow, the billionaire being highly intrigued by what he'd heard on her side of things.

"It seems my previous employer requires my immediate assistance," she began. "He wants to know if you'll be kind enough to grant me a period of leave."

"Jarvis," said Tony, "How many hours has Granger clocked so far this month?"

Hermione glared at him.

"Dr. Granger has achieved a total of one hundred and six hours, thirty-seven minutes and fourteen seconds in the last ten days."

"Is that so?" He mused, his mouth tugging into a smirk when Hermione's glare hardened. "Granger, I thought we'd agreed that you'd be working fewer hours so you might take better care of yourself. Shame on you," he chided.

"Say no, say no," she mouthed.

"Take as much time as you need," he smiled innocently.

"I'm going to murder you," she hissed, her eyes flashing before she took a calming breath and uncovered the speaker. "Location?" She questioned, brightening her tone.

"I see you two haven't killed each other yet," he commented.

"There's still time," she promised, giving Tony the finger as he smirked at her, something thought brought forth sniggers.

"There'll be a car waiting for you outside of Stark Tower in seven minutes. All details will be given once you're air born."

The line cut off and Hermione scoffed before snapping her phone shut. "Goodbye to you, too," she snarked.

Sighing, she unfolded her legs and set her feet on the ground, reaching for her shoes and slipping them on.

"There were a few interesting details in that conversation," Tony commented lightly.

"Later, I have to go, thanks for nothing."

"You're welcome," he grinned. She scowled at him. "Now you have the opportunity to poke Fury in the eye, as you'd sworn to do."

"Not likely, he rarely comes on expeditions."

"So, what's the deal?" He asked nosily.

"I don't know," she shrugged, reaching for her coat and slipping it on. "That's the thing with SHIELD, they're annoyingly secretive."

"If you won't tell me I'll just hack into their systems again," he threatened.

"Go for it," she encouraged. "But I have no idea what's going on and won't until I'm debriefed, and hacking into SHIELD would be a waste of your time. Whenever I'm involved in an expedition or project, it's always kept from the system." She stood to her feet, lifted her handbag and set her phone inside. "I'll see you, hopefully in a few days, I can't stand being around those secretive, emotionless prats for too long. Take care of yourself whilst I'm gone."

"I take care of myself just fine," he protested.

Looking him dead in the eye, she said, "Jarvis, make sure he eats at least two meals a day, even if you have to bar him from his work station."

"Yes, Dr. Granger," replied the AI.

"I don't need looking after," Tony argued.

"Sir, I must agree with Dr. Granger. You do have a tendency of not ensuring your health when distracted with your work."

"Great, the Brits are banding together," Tony grumbled.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Try not to miss me when I'm gone."

"And why would I miss you?" He folded his arms over his chest.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm your best friend."

"No, you're not."

She arched an eyebrow. "Best British friend?"

"Nope."

"Jarvis doesn't count," she rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'm your best female British friend," she settled on, taking her leave for the lift.

As she stepped inside, she heard Tony say, "Jarvis, track her movements by any means necessary. Keep an eye on her and warn me should anything happen."

"Yes, Sir."

Hermione smiled to herself.

He did care.