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Chapter Eight.

To mark the event, Allie was wearing a heels and she felt never had a more grave error been made before. Not that she couldn't walk in them, she wasn't totally incompetent, but the idea of standing around all day in them… it wasn't inviting.

The car was beginning to grow stuffy and the traffic outside barely made it through the car, dulled and muffled and separate from this small world of Allie, her phone and Stark, the crooning of the stereo filling the silence as they drifted off into their own thoughts; she had felt awkward in the silence at first, unsure if she should say something or strike up a conversation but the anxiety fuelled part of her brain forbade her, warning her of potentially making everything even more awkward. Allie knew it was all in her head as Stark didn't seem all too bothered at the lack of talk between the two, leaning against the side of the car, elbow propped up against the handle of the door with fingers pressed to his mouth, knee bouncing and giving way whatever outward appearance of coolness he attempted to adopt.

Just as Allie had made more of an effort with her appearance, he had too; when they had met at the Compound, she stopped herself from blinking more than once at the sight of him cleaned up, hair shorter and beard shaped, cropped close and his mop of curls tamed and no longer a mess around him. The suit he wore was spotless, pressed and smoothed with no creases; he looked little less like a dirtied, boyish mechanic and more like the business man she was used to seeing splashed on the front of magazines and tabloids. Allie didn't think Tony Stark could actually scrub up well (he was handsome already as it was) but she felt that, without all the grease and oil and ratty shirts worn down due to years of wear and tear, he definitely looked better. Despite the more put together appearance, Allie knew that, beneath the glasses he wore, there would be purple and violet smudges, splashes of indigo hanging beneath his eyes.

Allie unwrapped a hand that clutched her phone and tentatively reached up to touch the ends of her hair, freshly washed before being subject to a curling iron. The back of her neck felt warm and her fringe was hooked firmly behind her ear out of habit but Allie had made sure to not bring a hair for she knew if she had, the tresses would be wrapped up and away from her face – and she wasn't about to hide forty-five minutes of hard work that resulted in an aching arm from the angle she had to hold it at. Allie opted for black as a safe colour theme for her outfit, the plain outfit consisting of a black pencil skirt, a white button up shirt and a black blazer. The heels weren't so high that she felt she would need help getting out of the car or up a set of stairs, but if she had to spend hours in them, she was pretty sure she might end up planting into a plate of cheese to ease the pain of her feet.

Allie was immensely relieved that Stark had decided to use a driver to bring the both of them to the location rather than the two arriving separately as Allie had worried about it immensely to a startling degree; she didn't want to show up and stand outside waiting for him in the cold for God knows how long and then end up being removed from the premises just as he arrived. Maybe he would have done that, just to screw with her.

Allie flickered a narrowed gaze at said man at the thought passed through her mind but he paid no heed to Allie or her actions; his focus seemed intent on what was ever outside the tinted windows of the car, hidden beneath the glasses that threw the reflection of the passing city back out.

The silence, which had made her nervous, was now a comforting thing; at least then they could both save their energy for chatting and mingling with the crowd, though more so him than her. Her eyes fell to his bouncing knee, the light tapping of the back of his shoe hitting the carpeted floor of the car as it jittered, unable to contain whatever nervousness Stark was trying to contain; maybe he was nervous in front of crowds, or just disliked being near them. If either, Allie was sympathetic as she knew what it felt like to be in either situation; the memory of her panic attacks came to the forefront of her mind before Allie promptly squashed them down, not wanting to be plagued with the unpleasant reminders of her youth. It had been over two years since her last one, an unexpectant one that had taken a hold of her, and she wanted to break the record by shooting for three years without a suffering from one.

"We're here," Stark announced just as the car began to rumble to a slow pace, tires crunching and biting on the tarmac beneath, pulling Allie from her thoughts and blinking herself back into reality, realising that she had not yet torn her eyes away from Stark from her before thrown narrowed glance. Her gaze flickered down to her phone, locking the screen and placing it in the barely big enough pocket of her blazer as Stark took the glasses from his face, hooking them in place at the hem of the breast pocket on his jacket. Allie's previous assumption had been correct and it looked like Stark had little sleep during the night. Had she known, she would have made the suggestion of cancelling but had a feeling that he wouldn't have accepted. "Great."

His voice carried no joking tone and Allie couldn't help but passing him a worried glance from where she sat on the other side of the seat, opposite ends with an arms space between them; Allie was regretting not making the suggestion of cancelling at last minute as his face seemed to be dragged down with uninterest and something akin to apprehension. Unsure of what to say, Allie instead opted to latch her bottom lip firmly between her teeth, not really caring if she was smudging the mauve lipstick she was wearing atop of it.

Stark took a deep breath, as if psyching himself up, before unbuckled the seatbelt, letting it slither back into its holding place while reaching for the handle before a thought popped in Allie's head, hand quickly crossing the distance between them and touched his bicep lightly to gain his attention.

"Wait," she said, interrupting his movement and Stark turned back to her, not yet letting go of his grip on the car door handle but leaning back into the leather seat as Allie unbuckled her own seatbelt so as to not inhibit her movement as she once more dug out her phone, unlocking her phone to pull up her note pad, the glow of the screen the brightest thing compared to the weak sunlight that barely managed to filter through the tinted windows. "Maybe we should go over some things."

"What's there to go over?" he sighed but his hand fell from the handle and he shifted in his seat, sitting straighter and relaxing slightly as Allie cast him a glance through the corner of her eye. "I show my face, crack some witty one-liner's and dole out the cash if need be. That's basically it, right?"

He ended the sentence with a cocked eyebrow and Allie turned herself fully away from the screen of her phone, turning her body so as to face him more and give him all of her focus as she weighed his words in her mind, before giving a nod in agreement and pocketing her phone once more, slipping it back into her pocket and praying it wouldn't slip out and crack on the ground beneath. "Well… if you want to break it down like that."

"I've grown up used to these types of things," Stark revealed, giving a wave of his hand along with the words as he once more propped his elbow up on the ledge on the car door, cheek resting against his closed hand. "It's nothing that I can't handle."

Allie almost wanted to refute his words, taking in his jittering leg, the unease in his words and how exhausted he look – while others might not see it, she could see how bogged down he was, the endless nights of not sleeping taking their toll on him. Once more, Allie felt guilt at dragging him to this damned thing, despite her good intentions. Maybe she had asked too much of him and he only played along so as to stop her badgering him and annoying him. Allie gave a hum at his words, turning her gaze outwards to the world awaiting them from outside of the car and the size of the crowd and the amount of people lingering about genuinely surprised her; her past theory of Stark feeling an edginess in front of crowds came to the front of her mind again and she felt that concern once more.

Her own palms felt somewhat slick, a flush running through her as her heart picked up in her chest, thoughts of embarrassment, of humiliation running through her mind. Allie could barely eat her breakfast that morning at the looming threat of doing something mortifying was searing itself into her brain, all possible scenarios her brain managed to concoct making her stomach tie itself into knots and tangles. Her discomfort must have found itself onto her features for when she pulled herself back from the window and her thoughts, Stark was staring at her with something she might have thought to be nearly concern in his eyes.

"Is it something you can handle?" he asked and Allie swallowed, trying to not make a show as she subtly shifted in her seat, going to fix the skirt that sat just above her knee so that she could wipe the inside of her hands.

"Uh, pardon?" Allie all but squeaked and suppressed a wince. She knew she could handle come what may, but that still didn't mean her brain knew that too. It was an irrational fear, one that she would have to master if she wanted to stick by Stark's side throughout the ten months. Stark gave a half hearted shrug, taking his hand from his cheek and lacing his fingers together, one hand dangling awkwardly from where his elbow was resting.

"There's gonna be a lot of people there," he told her, clicking his tongue as if the thought was equally as unsatisfactory for him as it was for her, maybe even more so. Then, after letting out a huff, his lips finally took on the first smile that didn't appear forced Allie had seen that morning, or rather a ghost of one. "And with great crowds, there's always going to be an asshole or two."

A breathy laugh left Allie, letting her shoulders drop and easing the tension in them as she relaxed into her seat, glad at the attempt of humour he made as it did lift some of her worry, even if only a small bit. "I'm pretty sure I can handle myself."

"Oh, there's no doubt about that," Stark quickly agreed, making another laugh leave Allie, the older man turning himself to mimic Allie's position so as to divert more of his attention to her. Allie wasn't quite sure if they were stalling, consciously or unconsciously, but she didn't find herself minding all that much. Plus, they weren't totally late and they had a while to kill before the first bidding would even take place. "Quite frankly, I'm both frightened and intrigued to see you mingle with all these asshats."

"Elegant word choice," Allie snorted, feeling all the more comfortable and less wound up at the prospect of what awaited her for the day ahead. Stark gave her a wink, the crinkles along his eyes more pronounced as his grin grew wider, more natural. It distracted her from the lingering bruises of fatigue that lay beneath his eyes, though not by much.

"I am an unrecognised poet of my time," he stated, letting a heartfelt sigh hang on the end of huis words and Allie gave a sympathetic nod.

"Maybe next time we can go to a slam poetry festival and you can show off your talent."

"I wouldn't want to upstage all those poor, reckless college students," he rebutted and Allie gave a snort.

"I don't think we'd have to worry about that," was her reply and he cast her a look of fake hurt but ceased to give a comment back, instead electing to turn his focus back to the people milling outside the car, as if hesitant to leave the small, safe bubble they were in. The engine of the car continued to hum and purr as the driver – some greying man Allie had never met – waited for them to exit patiently. Allie wasn't sure if she should be the one to move out first, nearly making that decision before, instead, deciding to let him make the first move, allowing him time to sort through whatever was running through his head.

Allie turned her gaze outwards through her own window that face the street, catching sight of the traffic that seemed to jam the city, engines coughing along the late morning rush as it was early hours still.

"Ugh, great."

His words tore Allie's attention back to him but Stark had his eyes firmly locked outside, face scrunching into one of disgust and distaste. Allie's eyebrows locked together in puzzlement at his words and reaction. "What?"

"See her?" Stark said as he motioned for her to slide closer, placing a finger on the window as he scooted closer into the side of the car to give Allie room. Hesitant, Allie moved slowly across the leather seat and tried to peer outside the window but, at the angle she was at as well as the fact she was without her glasses, made it hard to see the object of Stark's disgust.

Leaning forward, Allie moved in closer so that she and Stark were bumping hips, legs brushing up against one another as she tried to spot what he was looking at, eyes squinting until she could just about pick out his Waldo, his finger pointed at her attire from the angle Allie was sitting at as she sat back, widening her eyes to ease the twinge in them at straining her vision to see better, looking to Stark and feeling somewhat entertained at how he seemed to be mumbling unknown curses beneath his breath. "The old woman in the bright green velvet coat?"

"She's an old witch," he hissed, jabbing his finger at the glass once more as if to make his point, or perhaps wishing that it was the old woman in place of the window instead. "Quite surprised she hasn't dropped dead with how old she is."

A spout of laughter left Allie suddenly and she reached up to clap a hand over her lips, unsure if she should be horrified at his words or at the fact she actually laughed at him. "Mr. Stark!"

"She probably kills dalmatians for her terrible coats," he joked and Allie shook her head at his insults, releasing her hand from its lock on her lips.

"Don't put the image of puppies dying in my head," Allie groaned, not quite wanting her morning ruined with such thoughts. Stark gave the glass one more anger filled jab before sitting back in his seat, glare following the old woman as she made her way inside as if to burn holes through the quite frankly God awful coat she had on her back. Allie didn't even have her glasses but even she could see from this distance that someone would either have to be awfully confident or have an awful fashion sense. Stark gave a grunt as the woman disappeared into the building but kept his eyes trained on the doors.

"Well, if you see her coming – and with her awful fashion sense, you most likely will – make sure to point her in a different direction from me," he instructed and his voice seemed sharp, bitterness sizzling through his words and dripping from his tongue, making Allie tilt her head at the tone, unused to hearing him sound quite so cold and – dare she say – ruthless. Allie, too, looked to the outside and bit her lip before turning back to Stark, reaching to fiddle with the buttons of her blazer.

"You know her?" Allie asked, instantly regretting the words as they came out from her mouth; it wasn't her place to probe him with such personal questions and she wondered if he might snap at her to mind her own business or to not pry into his private life – she was only his assistant after all. But Stark didn't do any of that; he gave tsk and let out a deep breath, one that had been building up in him for some time as he locked eyes with her, seeming indifferent.

"I used to," he revealed, the previous bitterness and coolness that had carried his previous words gone, sharpness dulled as he, too, began to fiddle with the buttons on his jacket, slipping it from its holdings before placing it back again. His bouncing leg was beginning to cease its movement and he didn't appear as uneasy as before. Maybe a moment to breathe, to think, was all he needed rather than pushing him out the door and they still had a lot of time left before they passed the realm of being fashionably late and into being just plain late. "Old family friend, I guess you could say."

"Could say, but it wouldn't be the truth," Allie muttered and nodded to her words, a wry smile on his face in agreement before he reached a free hand up to tap the side of his nose.

"You catch on quick," Stark stated jokingly but it felt forced, as if he wanted to retain the air of breeziness from moments before but the spirit wasn't quite the same, wasn't quite recaptured. "No such things as friends and loyalty in this kind of world that we're stepping into."

Allie frowned at his words shaped into a lament, but said so indifferently as if he was used to it. Concerned, Allie dropped all sense of joking from before and stared at him, trying to find the right reply to say. The bags beneath his eyes seemed heavier, shoulders dropped as he lay back into the seat of the chair, looking ready to fall asleep as Allie sat beside him, further up on the lip of the seat and back straight; their legs were pressed side by side, hips up against one another and Allie hadn't realised how close they were until she tried to face him completely, only a small space being available from how slumped her was back in the chair and how far up on the edge of the seat she was. "It sounds like a lonely world."

Her words felt far too deep and thought provoking for a time like this, or a conversation like this. Allie felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment at what she said and felt like laughing at herself or perhaps slapping her forehead; she would have preferred the former because in that way, at least she wouldn't have to worry about messing up her make up. Stark mulled over what she had just said before lifting his shoulders and brushing past Allie's words.

"The food is better than most places through," Stark stated casually, resuming fiddling with the button of his jacket once more, slipping it in and out of place in swift motions. "So I guess that makes it bearable."

The easy change in subject was something Allie felt grateful for and nodded enthusiastically, reaching up to brush the escaped strands of hair back behind her hair, hooking them in place before a thought popped into her head as she took her phone from her pocket once more to pull up her digital note pad. "Oh and, before we go in, just remember that you have a dinner reservation for later this evening,"

Stark sharpened his gaze at her as Allie looked up and she felt confused by his reaction, his fiddling ceasing for a moment. "Reservation for what?"

"You just…" Allie began, hands dropping as she felt a watery, foolish panic flood through her at the prospect of doing something she shouldn't have done. His face didn't change and Allie racked her brain, trying to find proof that he had told her to make the reservation in the first place, that she hadn't been tricked and her mind decided to make her do it all on a whim. A splutter left her as she tried to explain herself. "You told me to make one, I didn't – "

"Just kidding," Stark grinned and that previous panic drained from her instantly, face dropping and feeling unamused at being the butt end of his antics, scowling as he clapped her gently on the shoulder. "I'm meeting someone, an old friend. Don't get worked up about it."

"Alright, well, we better get going," Allie said, steal in her words and, had she the courage, she might have cursed him for his teasing and jokes but, instead, Allie grunted quietly and placed her phone into her jacket pocket once more, resisting the urge to give him a smack for getting her all worked up and worried about making a mistake.

Allie moved back to the other end of the seat, the heat from the side of her leg rapidly leaving her as she shuffled into her previous spot, ready to grasp the handle and push the door open before she glanced a look over her shoulder, seeing that Stark had not yet moved to do the same. His leg had picked up its jittery pace once more, even quicker than before, and his fingers were twisting the button on his jacket, slipping it out, in, turning it. That previous worry Allie had felt resurfaced and she dropped her hand from the handle, looking to him and pursing her lips, the object of her concern completely lost in his thoughts. Her voice was soft, gentler than her usual steady tone as she spoke to gain his attention, moving closer to him but retaining some space for the both of them. She thought to reach out and touch his arm but decided against it. "Mr. Stark?"

He didn't start at her voice but his movement stopped for the briefest of moments before starting up again, not caring to turn back to her as he replied. "Yeah?"

"Aren't you going to go inside?" Allie kept that same tone as before, adopting it as her concern grew, leaning slightly forward on the seat to put herself in his line of vision, latching onto his eyes and Stark was impassive, as if unaware that his current state was a cause for concern. Was it anxiety? Dread? Did he just not want to be here, or was there an underlining reason that Allie would have to dig out and pick apart? He gave her a reassuring smile that didn't reassure her at all.

"Of course," Stark chirped back at her, straightening his back and tugging at his tie, the material appearing more scarlet red in the dark lighting and Allie didn't feel her apprehension ease off as Stark reached out and opening his door, a burst of fresh air bursting in, a wave rushing over Allie and cooling down her warm cheeks. Stark heaved a deep breath, not caring for the smell of the city all that much as he put a foot out the door. "I just wanted another moment judging what everyone's wearing. Feeling quite the Joan Rivers today."

Allie moved back along the seat and opened up her own door, grateful for the coolness of August once more, glad that the hot weather was turning into something she could find to be bearable. Checking that she had everything, Allie closed her door and made her way around to wear Stark stood, fiddling with the cuffs of his shirt sleeve, tugging it down and straightening to buttons. Allie thought to maybe let it go, but wanted to make sure, to give him at least another chance to say that he didn't want to be there. "Sir, are you okay?"

"Never better," Stark reassured her, sucking in a deep breath as he turned to give an inclination of the head to the driver, waving him off and leaving them alone on the pavement. Allie eyed him from where she stood, the height of her heels bringing them nearly to the same level but he still managed to retain some inches above her.

"I'll make sure to be close by in case you need anything," Allie offered, voice low and making sure she was heard as Stark gave a nod, as if pleased with the suggestion.

"Good," he said, walking towards the building, Allie moving quickly to keep up pace with him, glad that she had been sensible in her choice of shoes and that at least they were easy to walk in, not causing her to worry about falling face first into the tarmac. "I'll need you to stick close in case someone tries to rope me in on a conversation I don't want part of."

"Maybe we should have a signal," Allie said aloud. "Like, cough twice and blink once,"

"But what if I need to cough anyways?"

"Then hoot like an owl."

"That'll be inconspicuous."

"Or frighten people off so they won't want to talk to you," she offered, Allie pausing in her steps at the same time he did with the older man turning to face her, not caring for the crowd that was making their way around the two to get inside.

"You know Ms. Lawrence," Stark said, turning to face her and there was a grin splitting across his face, a flash of straight white teeth as he reached into his breast pocket once, taking a hold of his glasses and slipping them on, allowing Allie to catch a colour stained reflection of herself. "I take back everything bad I've ever said about you; you're quite the revolutionary."

"Wait," Allie asked as Stark began to walk ahead of her, confused and befuddled. "You've said bad stuff about me?"


White was everywhere; the floors, the walls, the ceilings, the lights; it was all so bright and Allie pitied the poor soul who would have to clean the place of all and any smudges and dirt tracks. Though Allie supposed the blankness of the place, void of anything to distract the eye, made the paintings and artwork stand out more, scattered throughout the place on walls and easels. People were milling around the place in small groups, clutching glasses of champagne despite the early morning or nibbling on the delicate cheeses that were not as nice as they appeared – Stark had barely managed to stifle a laugh at seeing Allie's face scrunch up in disgust as the taste hit her and she all but chugged down more than a litre of water to rid the lingering traces of the finger food.

The two had separated not too long ago, her employer taking it upon himself to mingle with the crowd who were throwing glances at him. Allie reassured him once more she would be close by in case he would need anything and she might have given him a pat on the back from the look on his face at the prospect of socialising.

True to her word, Allie lingered near Stark, keeping a distance and allowing herself to take in the décor while also keeping the man in her line of sight, watching him slip into small talk rather easily than what she expected, talking to one guest and then another with ease, gathering a small group of people who sought to talk with Tony Stark himself. The worry of before ceased and Allie found herself giving a sigh of relief at how effortlessly Stark managed to intermingle and began to give her attention to what was around her, taking in the sights of what lay on the walls in bundles.

For the most part, there were few that looked to be in good shape, torn or with curling edges, black burned curves crawling across the canvas. Allie was never one for artwork, could never really see the appeal of it and found it hard to find a deeper meaning in the splashes of colours that formed nonsensical shapes. She supposed her lack of creativity wouldn't be appreciated around the gallery and never lingered at one painting for too long, not wanting to invite anyone to start up a conversation with her.

It appeared that people seemed to be more interested in conversation than for what they originally invited for and Allie didn't really blame; she had no interest in art, no interest in painting or anything of the sort and soon found herself barely finding any of what she saw having an appeal to her, all very different but seeming the same to her in the end. She cast one more glance back to Stark but saw him in the middle of laughing, at his own joke or at another's, she couldn't tell, but gave a smile and a shake of her head and turned back to what she was doing previously, her heels clicking against the ground but not echoing as loudly as worried they might.

Allie's eyes moved over the walls and then she found darkness, a gaping black hole propped on the wall at an enormous size that she couldn't have fathomed, the width of the canvas being nearly the size if Allie stretched her arms out beside her. Allie paused in her footsteps, staring up at the oddity, trying to make sense of that she was seeing, squinting her eyes slightly as she followed the shape of it around the canvas, making out a circular shape and outside of it were splashes of navy, indigo, violet, dark colours akin to black but in each lighting were a different hue. It was large, consuming, not what she expected to see as it seemed to be relatively new and Allie thought she could even smell the paint from it but thought her mind to be playing tricks on her.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

The voice made Allie start and she turned to see an old woman beside her, admiring the painting with sharp blue eyes set in a pinched face, brown hair smoothed back to the nape of her neck. Allie blinked at the sight of her bright green velvet coat and Stark's previous words echoed in her mind and Allie gave a cough, clearing a way for her voice.

"Oh! Yes. I'm not one for art but looking at this…" She didn't really know what to say, what she could say because, looking at the artwork, it seemed that words couldn't be formulated to describe what it was meant to be. Her eyebrows knotted together, twitching at a memory and then the realisation hit her, of what it was, what it was meant to be, to represent. She could still see the tear in the sky in her mind and it turned her stomach upside down.

"The artist says it is to remind us of out mortality," the woman sighed, looking on uninterested at the painting as she reached up to smooth down her hair behind her ear, giving a blasé shrug. "Quite frankly, it looks horrendous."

"They're right," Allie said quickly, not quite put off by the woman's outward appearance and looked once more back at the painting with the new revelation in mind, trying to see an end to all the darkness that was piled on atop of the previous blank white background. She couldn't find any source of light within it, the artificial glow from the ceiling catching on the brush strokes, highlighting them as being short and hasty, making it appear like a swirling mess rather than just smooth as it had appeared upon first glance. "It's frightening to see so much darkness."

"Yes, well, anything sells, I suppose," the woman snorted and Allie turned to her, giving a polite smile before the other woman turned to her, giving her a thin lipped smile before extending a hand. "Mrs. Krüger."

"Allison Lawrence," Allison greeted, taking the woman's cold hand in her own and giving it a firm shake before the two broke apart, Ms. Krüger casting her eyes up and down Allie's form quickly, as if it were something she was used to doing before giving a hum, though Allie didn't know if it was a positive or negative response to what she saw. Allie itched beneath the woman's sharp gaze and turned back to what she was staring at before, trying to tap into whatever creative vein that might be hidden in her mind to find any further deeper meaning to the painting rather than just it being an artwork comprising of dark colours and the promise of death.

"You know I wouldn't have believed Tony Stark was here if I hadn't seen him with my own eyes," Mrs. Krüger suddenly stated, Allie tearing her gaze away from what was on the wall to the other woman who was staring over at said man, Allie doing the same to see him quite happily chatting with other people as he had been before but now more people were being drawn into the conversation. "He draws quite the crowd."

Allie smiled at her words, nodding along to them as she watched him play the part of being one of this world that he had said he had detested before so naturally. "I guess he just has an enigmatic vibe."

"He's just like his father, you know," Mrs. Krüger suddenly stated out of the blue, making Allie blink at her words.

"You knew his dad?" she asked, unaware of how the woman was connected to the family, only that she had been a friend of them.

"Oh, yes," she nodded along to her words. "Very no nonsense type of man. Very cold, very business-like."

Allie's nose scrunched up, turning her eyes back to Stark as she watched him give another smile, trying to connect what the woman had said to what she say. Tony Stark was many things, but she couldn't really see him as being cold. "I don't know. Mr. Stark doesn't seem very cold."

"Don't let him fool you. I remember when he was a young boy," Mrs. Krüger snorted, taking on something that appeared to be a condescending tone to her voice, Allie's lips curving downwards at the woman as she spoke. "Such a handful; always crying and making a fuss. He used to hang off his mother. None of the other boys or girls liked to play with him because of how much he used to be quite the cry-baby. To be honest with you, I wouldn't blame them."

Allie frowned at the woman's words, not really caring for them and felt annoyance prickle at her, bristling at how uncaring Mrs. Krüger's words were towards Stark. Allie swallowed the words that were bubbling in her tongue and took a breath, trying to appear polite and civil despite the fact the other participant of the conversation most certainly was not attempting to do the same. "He was a child."

"A terrible child, too," snorted Mrs. Krüger, reaching up to fiddle with her dangling earring and Allie was aghast at what this woman was saying. Allie didn't presume to know Stark on any level besides their professional relationship, but the words this woman was saying were rubbing her the wrong way. Despite the subject of this woman's cold words being an adult man who could defend for himself, in the end she was talking about a child in such a terrible way and any person who did that was someone Allie didn't want to associate with. Stark had been right about there being an asshole or two with the size of the crowd. "My God, if his father were to see him now."

"I think Mr. Stark's father would be proud of his son. He's accomplished so much and done so much for people in and outside of America," Allie defended, gritting her teeth and saying her words through a clenched jaw that were coated with a fake niceness, trying to not appear overly rude. With a steely determination, Allie extended her hand and motioned towards the art on the wall. "This painting? It's based on what he lived. He's seen his own mortality, Ms. Krüger. He was ready to sacrifice his life for New York. I think Mr. Stark's father would be very proud of him."

At the end of Allie's words, she found her voice going soft, arm dropping to stare at the painting, the words of what she said hitting her with a truth she never recognised. Looking at it now, it seemed so much more frightening, ready to leap from the canvas to consume Allie and it tied her stomach in knots, wondering if this is what Stark saw, worrying if it was what kept him up at night. The other woman gave a huff, dropping her hand from where it was fiddling with her earring and shook her head, rolling her eyes and maintaining that cold, pinched look on her face. "One act doesn't wipe the slate clean."

"But it does help to outweigh mistakes," Allie insisted, finding that she was reaching a point where she couldn't really care whether not she was polite or not to the woman anymore. Her vile green coat was just as sickening as her personality. "Were you here during The Incident, Ms. Krüger?"

"Goodness, no. I hate staying in New York," Mrs. Krüger stated coolly. "My husband is only here on business."

"Well, I was. I was here when it all happened, but I thank God that I wasn't in the thick of the fight," Allie replied, voice stronger and cool, steel and ice that made the prickly blue eye of the other woman turn to her, narrowing as she picked up on Allie's less than polite tone. It spurred Allie on because she could feel a flame in her chest, at how unappreciative Mrs. Krüger was, at how apathetic she was at the fact that so many people could have died without Tony Stark being there. "And I also thank God every day that Tony Stark was here because if he hadn't been here, eighteen million people would be dead right now. I… I would be dead right now."

Allie paused and turned her gaze back towards the gaping Wormhole, a realisation hitting her full force and stealing the breath from her lungs, making her pause in her current growing antipathy towards the woman in the green coat. Something wrapped around her throat, a lump that felt too big for her throat forming as she turned her gaze to over the shoulder of Mrs. Krüger, eyes wide as she found Stark, found him talking but appearing more drained than before, the glasses still set on his nose because they hid the purple beneath his eyes. A feathery, soft and shaky exhale left Allie, moth like in a gentle fluttering as she was hit with the full force of understanding, and awareness of her previous prejudice built on lies and bloated rumours she had read on the internet.

It had never hit her how true it was, that without Tony Stark, she would be dead at that moment, she and millions other people would be nothing but ash and dirt, barely bones.

"You idolise what you've seen on the internet," Mrs. Krüger scoffed, no longer attempting to keep up whatever she thought was an appearance of politeness as she looked down at her nose at Allie and Allie shook her head, no longer wanting to waste the energy into disliking the woman.

"No," Allie refuted. "I respect what I've witnessed him doing."

"He never does anything for anyone else," the other woman warned, stepping closer so that Allie could smell her perfume as it rolled off in waves, strong and stinging Allie's nose to the point she thought she might sneeze. "Ask yourself why he's here if not to soak up the attention."

"Maybe I should be asking you why you're here, Ms. Krüger," Allie snapped back but taking on a sickly sweet tone, giving a faux smile of friendliness as she glowered at the woman through narrowed eyes. "If you're so readily to give him the attention he doesn't even want."

Mrs. Krüger's pale and hollow cheeks became flushed with a watered down, pale red colour that did little to help her complexion. "Why you – "

"Oh, sorry. I have to go. My boss is calling me over," Allie smiled, glancing over the woman's shoulder just in time to see Stark break away from his small audience and gesture to her. Mrs. Krüger followed Allie's line of sight, turning on the spot and whatever redness in her cheeks that had been there before, was now rushed away and she appeared pale, maybe even as green as her coat before turning back to Allie, mouth snapped shut and beady eyes wide. Allie still kept that fake, very customer service like smile on her face. "I would say it was a nice talk we had, but I'm afraid that I'd be lying."

Allie walked away without another glance to the woman, quite glad to be torn away from the conversation as Stark's eyes flickered back and forth between the two women, not bothering to hide his surprise at the two striking up an unlikely conversation. She drew nearer and, at being closer, Allie could Stark raise an eyebrow while attempting not to smirk at her obviously displeased face.

"So," he began, far too chirpy and amused as his hand unwound to hover behind her back, guiding her to the main hall where the auction was being held, making their way through the crowd and sticking together with their heads bent low so that their words could only be heard by the other. Allie glanced at him and saw his mouth twitching as the crowd filtered through, Stark's hand now pressed against her back, warm and reassuring her that she wouldn't get lost or pushed and jostled around. "How fast did that conversation deteriorate?"

"What do you mean?" Allie replied sweetly but her face still held onto the remnants of her distaste of the woman from before and Stark passed her a look, helping her through as they entered the large room, chairs that looked more expensive than anything she had ever sat on before lined up. Much like the rest of the building, the place was white and bright, not that easy on the eyes but Allie adjusted soon enough to it.

"Well, the old witch was looking quite red, if I do say so," he sniggered, not caring if anyone could hear his words. They made their way to the front row of chairs, the light touch of Stark's hand only leaving Allie's back when they got through the thick of the crowd and moved to sit down, each beside the other. "What did she say?"

"Just as you said," Allie grinned, smoothing out her skirt beneath her as she sat, Stark taking the seat beside her as Allie moved in closer, not wishing for any ears to pick up on the conversation. Stark copied her movement, an elbow resting on the arm rest with his hand dangling off of it, linked with the other as Allie rested her own arm on her own, the two bumping shoulders in their hushed whispers. "She probably skins dalmatians in her basement,"

"It wasn't an assumption," Stark retorted, voice equally mischievous. "Next week she'll be walking around in a new fur coat and no one will be able to find Lassie."

"You know," Allie replied after a moments deliberation as more people began to file into the rows behind them, glad that they had chosen the front row seats so she had enough leg room and wouldn't have to knock knees with anyone if she needed to leave to go to the bathroom. "I always wondered what did happen to Bambi's mother."

A laugh left him and he opened his mouth to reply but at that moment, an older man came up and greeted him, a tight smile beneath his rather large nose, hand thrusted out for a handshake. Stark complied, he and Allie breaking apart from one another as more people began to sit, an older couple claiming the two empty seats to Allie's left.

It wasn't long before the actual even began, the hosts of the event greeting the crowd and loading them with compliments of their kindness and generosity (which felicitated a scoff from Stark and Allie gave him a subtle, small hit to the arm, shaking her head in mock disapproving fashion). Allie quickly found herself bored, which made her feel quite guilty since she knew that feeling bored at a charity event to raise money for a children's hospital was not really a good thing. Stark was unhesitant in participating, often winning whenever he bid as no one would dare to go higher than him. It went on for some time, the crack of the gavel stirring her whenever she was lost in her thoughts, sinking into the elegant but surprisingly comfy chair with each passing second.

"You know," Stark whispered to her suddenly, making Allie turn her eyes towards him. "I know this is for charity and all, but is it bad that I already want this to be over?"

Allie gave a stifled, breathy laugh, feeling somewhat relieved that she hadn't been alone in feeling exactly like that. "It would just be too easy to slap the money on the table. Takes the thrill of it all away."

"Nothing like the thrill of seeing who can donate the most amount of money and effectively show they're the better person," Stark said with a roll of his eyes and Allie shook her head, pulling herself once more into a straighter seating position lest she might end up falling asleep where she sat.

Time ticked on by, the auctioneer's voice droning on and on to the point Allie managed to become so unfocused, she could barely hear it, the snap of the gavel doing little to draw her back in. Her mind wandered to thoughts of what she needed to do once they were done here, of the work she needed to sort through, the e-mails she needed to reply to and the calls she had to return. Allie was glad that she was kept busy and she hoped the work might be able to wake her up some but. Allie itched to take her phone out of her pocket to check the time but decided against it in case it might come off as rude.

Just then, the painting of before, the one that had been the only one to draw her in, was brought on the small, set stage, appearing much larger than before as it had been on the wall. The tiredness at the corner of Allie's eyes slunk away as she sat straighter, staring at it in a new light and admiring the way the light managed to catch on the chaos of the brush strokes; the auctioneer onstage cleared her voice, speaking louder to address the hall as she spoke about the history behind the piece, as if no one in the room could tell what it was about, or had never seen its likeness before on television or the internet, or in newspaper articles before. Allie, from the corner of her eye as she cast a glance around her, could see a few people dropping eyes or shifting in their seats.

Though none seemed to raise more cause for concern than Stark.

As Allie sat right once more in her chair she caught Stark shifting in his seat, the hand resting on his arm rest curling into a fist, his jaw clenching with a muscle jumping beneath the skin due to the strain he was putting on it. A sure sign of his extreme discomfort was the fact his leg began bouncing again, moving up and down so quickly his movements were blurred. Allie turned back to face the stage but it was his sudden, stilted breathing that drew her away from it once more. Allie watched Stark shuffle, other arm reaching up to place his fingers over his lips and, in doing so, she could see his hands were shaking, eyes sharp and narrowed as he stared at what he had seen before, a sheen on his forehead, breathing uneven. Quietly, Allie leaned in, but making sure to not get too into his personal space so as to allow him some room to think, to take in air.

"Mr. Stark," Allie whispered but he didn't hear her, far too focused on what was ahead of him. Wondering if she should just leave him be, Allie pursed her lips and her hand found its way on his arm, the touch bringing his eyes flickering to her in an instant, unaware that of how undone he was becoming. "Are you okay?"

"What? Yes," he insisted, taking his fingers from his mouth and clearing his throat, attempting to appear less discomforted but it did little to ease Allie's worry. If anything, it made her concern for him grow. If he had seen himself, he would not have agreed with his own words. "Of course I am."

"Really? Because you're sweating – a lot," Allie replied, keeping her voice low and hoping no one would care too much to watch the two as they traded soft spoken words. Allie's eyes darted to the sheen on his forehead, to his hand near his mouth, biting her lip and making sure to tread carefully, not yet taking her hand back from his arm. "Your hands are shaking."

"It's nothing," Stark stressed once more, though she could hear how unsteady his voice was, a shaky exhale leaving him as he laced his hands together in order to still them. Allie removed her hand from his arm, not wanting to annoy him with the pitiful that was currently on her face. She knew what it was like to have someone stare at her like that and it frustrated her to no end. "I'm fine."

Allie decided against pressing him in case it might really set him off, casting one last concerned look to him before turning away, eyebrows locked together as she tried to rack her brain of something, anything to get them out of this situation. Allie knew the signs, could see them because she had went through them before; having an anxiety attack in the middle of a public place was not something anyone should have to go through, even if he might try to deny it. The level at which he was reacting to the traumatic sight of something he once had to experience was a cause for concern and Allie began to think of anything and everything to get him out of the situation.

Then, a light switch went off.

Allie made the move to stand, only getting to the edge of her seat before there was a soft grip on her arm and her eyes turned to Stark, blue eyes meeting wide-eyed brown.

"Where are you going?" he asked her, voice not as gruff as it was before and it seemed as if he was worried that she was going to leave him alone in the moment.

"I'm just going outside for a moment," Allie reassured, settling herself back down once more and placing her hand over his that was around her arm, trying to ease off some of that worry that was racking his body but Stark's eyes narrowed at her words, as if he thought her to be lying.

"Why?"

Allie raised an eyebrow. "I need the bathroom."

It was if the thought never appeared to him and Stark's face morphed into one of surprise, unwinding and slipping his hand from underneath Allie's at an amusingly fast pace. "Right."

"I'll only be a minute and I'll be back soon, okay?" Allie assured once more, before moving to stand and making her way out, not as bothered at the loudness of her heels clicking against the floor as she would have been. Out of the room, she felt like she could breathe, sucking in a large gulp of air as she found herself in where she had been previously, though all was empty and the walls were bare. Making her way from the opened doors to the auction room, Allie attempted to find the bathroom as her hand found her phone, unlocking it and sorting through her call log in order to find what she needed.

Spying the sign for the ladies' room, Allie ducked in, shoes echoing off the tiles as she checked quickly for anyone hiding in the stalls before tapping the call button, pressing it to her ear as she leaned against the counter, catching sight of her reflection and feeling relief to see that her hair was still smooth as well as her make up not melting off her face as it might have years beforehand during her teen years. The line rang out and Allie waited, heart in her throat as she prayed that her plan would work and that someone would pick up.

To her immense relief, she heard a click and a voice spoke through from the other end of the line, a sigh of relief leaving Allie.

"Hi. This is Allison Lawrence," Allie began, voice sweet and what she was used to speaking with when she had worked in customer service. She knew that being polite and nice would get her want she wanted faster and easier. "I made a call some time ago about making a reservation for Tony Stark. I was wondering if we can bump up a few hours? Say, in an hour?"


"That wasn't a minute," Stark hissed at Allie, though truth be told he didn't sound all that annoyed or pissed at her. Allie made to move back into her previous spot, taking notice of how he was restless, trying to contain whatever nervous energy in him with constant movement.

"Sorry," Allie explained as she sat back down in her chair once more beside Stark, phone secured in her pocket as Stark watched her movements with narrowed eyes, his previous fidgeting not stopping during the time she was gone. Her voice carried an apologetic tone as she tossed him a small smile. "Long line."

"God, does she ever shut up?" Stark muttered harshly, glaring hard at the auctioneer who seemed dead set on continuing to talk about the Wormhole piece as she had been before Allie had left to go to the bathroom minutes beforehand. Stark appeared to be even more agitated, glowering at what was in front of him as Allie settled into her seat one more, glad that she had taken it upon herself to make that call earlier.

"Soon. Probably," Allie replied, maintaining an air of being nonchalant, not wanting to appear overtly unnatural. Allie knew she was a bad liar and she attempted to appear as normal as she could as she reached into her phone, acting as if she had gotten a notification, bringing down the brightness of her screen as she continued in her actions for a moment before turning to the man beside her, bringing herself in close and dropping her voice. "Mr. Stark, we need to be going."

Stark turned to Allie, tearing his eyes from the artist on stage and his leg paused in its bouncing, hands stopping their fidgeting. "We do?"

"Your dinner reservation," Allie said pointedly but not so much so as to not give herself away completely. Stark stared, the look of confusion not something she'd ever seen before and Allie leaned in closer, dropping her voice to a whisper so as to not annoy the other attendees with her and Stark's constant chattering but loud enough for someone to actually hear so that if people did start talking about why he had left during the middle of the auction, at least someone could be there to explain in the form of gossip. "We can't leave your guest waiting."

"That isn't – " Stark began, looking at her strangely as Allie continued to be unhesitating in meeting his eyes and it seemed as if something in him clicked, a light switch to turn on the lightbulb above his head and a curve found its way across his lips, reaching up the straighten his tie before he moved to stand, not caring for the glances thrown their way. "Of course. I forgot. Let's go, shall we?"

Stark moved hastily, quicker than she would have ever thought to have seen him; she called the driver as Stark remained inside clearing up whatever business he needed to clear up with regards to payment and delivery before he joined her once more, all but sagging with relief as the car pulled up to Allie's amusement.

"God, I thought we would never leave," Stark groaned as he slid into the car at the same Allie did, both reclaiming their seats earlier on opposite ends of the car seat as they snapped shut each respective car door, cutting off the hustle and bustle of every day life. Allie silently agreed with Stark and wriggled her toes in her shoes; she was glad she had chosen practical ones because only now were they starting to nip and nibble at her poor feet, aching spots beneath the skin.

"The food wasn't half as good as you said it would be," Allie commented as she buckled herself in, already feeling the relief of sitting down and taking the wait off of her feet, stretching out her legs in front of her as her buckle snapped into place with a small click.

"I didn't say it was good just that it was better than most places," he emphasised, elicitating a laugh from Allie.

"Well," Allie quipped, reaching into her pocket to take out her phone, not looking forward to going through the miles upon miles long missed notifications that would await her as she adopted a lighter tone as she spoke, casting him a comforting smile, pleased that all had worked out. "At least the day was a success in many ways."

"You could say that. My pocket is lighter, I contributed to society," he said flippantly, making a point to pat the pockets of his pants at his words as Allie looked on, amused at his actions before he turned to her, a gleam in his eyes as he continued on. "And my dinner reservation is sooner than I originally set it."

"Yeah. They called when I was in the bathroom," Allie explained with a nonchalant shrug, pulling up her phone and sorting through e-mails so as to distract herself and to not show her face towards him lest he might pick up on her bluff. "Something about times and tables and everything so I just asked for the next available time."

"Thank you, Ms. Lawrence," Stark softly said, tearing Allie's concentration from her phone to him, stunned at the gentleness of his words and unexpectedly meeting his eyes, ensnared by them and neither seemed brave enough to look away but Stark gave a cough, shuffling in his seat and looking to the passing, blurred world outside and his voice was once more stronger, less feathery than what she was used to. "For not making the decision to cancel for different day. Come to think of it, I think I'm starting to die of starvation. I'll have to call my friend to tell him we're meeting up earlier. But thank you, nonetheless."

Allie dropped her gaze to her phone but not really focusing on what was on the screen, the light from the device in her hands doing little to hide the small, gentle smile that graced her lips, highlighting the rush of red that bloomed across her cheeks.

"You're welcome, Mr. Stark."


Hello, hello! Just before I get into my (IMPORTANT) A/N i'd like to answer a few of your reviews!


pinkeye: thank you! i hope that i managed to impress with this chapter as i have for others! as for allie meeting the other avengers, well, it will be a long while before any of that happens - maybe not that long! she doesn't meet the entire team until far, far, FAR into the story and i already have the first meeting planned out! and all I can say is that it's going to be a lot of fun to read as it will be to write. as for allie's skills with hacking, she has a long way to go until she's up to a high standard but there are a few scenes in the future that do show her improving and becoming better! thank you for reviewing and supporting this fic!

Guest: thank you so much! it's been a story that's been in my mind for a long while now (i've loved tony stark since the first iron man came out but that was way back before i even had internet or understood what fanfiction was) and i do try to put a lot of time and effort into this story until im satisfied with what i've written! thank you so much for supporting this fic and reviewing!

Rindo Seiren: ahh thank you! i'm so bad with editing chapters because i'm just so lazy and once i've written a chapter i dont like to look at it for some reason. as for allie and her prejudice, well that's starting to turn now! it never really hit her that without tony, she and everyone she knew and loved could be dead and if that doesnt gain some mad respect then i don't know what will. and boy oh boy will allie take up the mantle of tony stark's best defender. watch out all in universe anti-tony stans allie wont hesitate to fight anyone if they insult tony. thank you so much for reading and supporting this fic!

PrincessMagic: thank you so much! i hope that i managed to meet expectations with this (late) chapter! for me, this is the turnaround moment in their friendship and relationship because it makes allie let go of all previous prejudices and it makes tony realise that he can trust allie and that she can understand him more than he expected. these two kids are gonna be the death of me i s2g. thank you for continuing to love and support my fic!


i know i'm late but i have a good excuse! i was working more days last week and i was so tired i couldn't write. any time i don't upload on a tuesday, you can expect i'll upload by a wednesday. if it isn't uploaded tuesday or wednesday, then i will upload the following tuesday to keep it consistent. i also might be updating late next week because i get my final exam results next week and im sort of nervous to see what i get and i don't know if i'll be able to write or update for the following tuesday and the week after, but I will try!

also, i hoping to get this fic done within the year if i keep up with the weekly updates. i don't want to be writing during college because it'll get tricky and i'll end up abandoning the fic.

the good news is that i am taking a year's deferral from college mostly to keep working and save up money but also because i want to focus on my writing (if i get into my first course choice i will be able to do creative writing AND english but if i dont get enough points for my first course choice then i'll only be doing english with two other subjects).

i have another fic on a different site that i was hoping to get done by spring 2019 but it just isn't realistic to get it finished by then but with this fic, i might have it finished by summer 2019 or maybe even spring 2019 but it all depends on the number of chapters. I have the first 23 chapters planned out and i have a story outline that i'm trying to break down into chapters and what not so this story might just end up being over 40 chapters long, maybe even 50, it all depends really.

you know, the main thing i loved about im3 was that it showed tony suffering from anxiety and PTSD, that he was a hero who suffered with mental illness and it was something i could relate to and it made me love him even more. And it always annoyed me that they just didn't care to show him like that for the other movies. DAMN YOU JOSS WHEDON! MY BOY IS A MESS AND YOU PRY HIM RECOVERING SLOWLY BUT SURELY RATHER THAN RETCONNING HIS MENTAL ILLNESS FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS!

but anyway, enough of that now. once more sorry for this VERY UNEDITED chapter.

Thanks for reading!