Tony didn't immediately get in contact with Martha. Instead, he waited a few days to see how his sleeping pattern development. There was still a struggle, not as bad as before their night together, but enough so that he took it upon himself to initiate another meeting.

"Hello?" Martha answered her phone on the third ring.

"Dr. Jones? I was wondering if I could schedule another appointment with you," Tony joked.

Martha made a huffing sound on her end of the line. Tony noticed that she did that whenever he made a joke or something. It was like she wanted to laugh but refused to give him the satisfaction. "I suppose I can squeeze you in," she replied.

"Are you free tonight?"

"Yea. Just give me a few and I'll be right over."

"I'm actually not at home," Tony informed her. "How about we try your place this time?"

"Mine?" Martha repeated hesitantly. "Alright…I reckon we could use my flat," she conceded a moment later. "Do you need the address?"

"I can find my way," Tony insisted, ending the call as he knocked on her front door.

Tony heard the sound of frantic shuffling before Martha opened the door wearing a loose fitting shirt that hung off one shoulder and a pair of cotton shorts. "You're a bit of a stalker, aren't you?"

"No comment," Tony answered as he stepped over the threshold into her tiny studio apartment. It was essentially a kitchen/living room combo with a bed thrown in the middle and, despite the mad dash that occurred just before she opened the door, it was pretty immaculate. "Well this is…cozy."

"Is that billionaire speak for minuscule?" she quipped while she closed the door behind him.

"I've been held prisoner in Afghani caves bigger than this place."

"Well not all of us have the luxury of having our names on a skyscraper," Martha retorted. "Manhattan is expensive and I'm on a budget."

"You need money? I could pay your rent if you ever decide to upgrade to adult sized accommodations," Tony told her. "Better yet, you want your name on a building? How about we put it on the lease? I've been told women like that sort of thing. Real estate is the gift that keeps on giving."

Martha quirked a brow at his offer. "I thought you were here to be my cuddle buddy not my sugar daddy."

Tony cracked a smile. "Just something to keep in mind in case you find yourself with a sudden craving for something sweet."

"If I do, I'll grab a candy bar."

Tony laughed outright. "Alright, no sugar for you, Doc," he conceded. "So how have you been?"

"Okay I guess," Martha answered with a shrug. "And you?"

"No nightmares, but sleep doesn't come easy."

"Well you're welcome to stay as long as you like," Martha offered. "Assuming you can make peace with my humble accommodations."

"Size aside, it beats the cave," Tony reasoned as he removed his jacket and laid it across the back of one of her kitchen chairs. "And fortunately for us, cuddling doesn't require a lot of space," he pointed out before taking a seat on the edge of her bed.

"True enough," Martha replied. She took his coat and hung it up near the door. "I'm not quite ready for bed just yet, but please make yourself at home." She crossed over to the kitchenette and switched her electric kettle on. "I was just about to fix myself a cuppa. Would you like one? Or I could get you something else, if you prefer. Just nothing alcoholic. I'm not sure I've completely recovered from last time."

"Tea is fine," Tony assured her.

"Do you like Earl Grey?" Martha questioned while setting out two mugs. "If not, I might have some chamomile lying about." She rose up on her tiptoes and snatched a canister from the top shelf.

"Whatever you're having. When in Rome and all," Tony answered distractedly as he took in his surroundings.

Martha nodded and took two tea bags from the canister, dropping one into each cup. "Earl Grey it is."

Tony picked up a frame from her bedside table and studied the image of Martha and another woman. "Friend of yours?" he asked, turning the frame her way.

"Hmm?" Martha glanced over her shoulder to see what he was talking about. "Oh. No, that's my older sister, Tish."

Tony looked at the photo again. "She's cute."

"She'd say the feeling is mutual," Martha told him with a hint of a smile. "You're her celebrity crush."

"Well she's definitely got good taste. Maybe I'm curling up with the wrong sister," he joked while putting the frame back in its place.

"I never said that you weren't attractive. You can be attracted to someone without wanting to sleep with them. Don't you have any female friends?"

Tony considered her question. "Yea…no…maybe?"

Martha huffed and returned her attention to the tea, picking up the kettle and filling both their mugs with hot water. "That sounded convincing."

"Present company excluded, my closest female friend also used to be my girlfriend so I don't know if that counts."

Martha turned towards him and reached for the sugar on the table. "Were you friends with her before you started dating?"

"Yes."

"And are you still friends now?"

"More or less." Tony shrugged. "I mean she still runs my company and she hasn't staged a coup d'état yet so that's a plus, right?" he reasoned.

"Is she the one that 'ambushed' you?" she asked, complete with air quotes.

"It was a group effort with Rhodey."

"Well then…" Martha began as she delivered his tea to him. "She definitely sounds like a good friend to me."

Tony took his tea and stared down into his mug. "She's something alright."

Martha sat next to him, clutching her mug with both hands. "You still love her," she said more as a statement than a question.

"More than I love myself apparently," Tony retorted. "Surprisingly."

"Oh, I don't know." Martha nudged him with her shoulder. "I reckon Iron Man has a heart after all."

Tony used his elbow to nudge her back. "Does that surprise you?"

"Not really." Martha sat her mug on the nightstand and scooted backwards to pull her legs up onto the bed. "I don't reckon people become superheroes without at least some regard for the lives of others."

Tony met her eyes. "I'm not sure I qualify as a hero."

"I imagine the people whose lives you've saved think otherwise."

"And the ones I've failed?" he challenged halfheartedly. "What about the people whose lives were ruined by technology I put in bad people's hands?"

Martha's brow creased with concern. "Your designs could have just as easily been used to keep peace as they could to start war."

"Not in the hands of terrorists."

"You never knowingly sold arms to them, did you?"

"No, but complacency is just as bad as selling to them outright and it doesn't absolve me of my guilt," he added seriously.

Martha sighed softly and placed a gentle hand on his forearm. "It's true that we must be held accountable for our actions in life, but it doesn't mean we should punish ourselves for things that are beyond our control, Tony."

Tony shifted his mug to one hand and ran the other through his hair in frustration. "It was my name…"

"Your name but not your will," Martha cut in as she squeezed his arm. "Even if you made bloody sure that your weapons were only placed in the hands of people you knew would use them solely for peacekeeping efforts, you would have no way of stopping some militant force if they were dead set on seizing control of those weapons."

Tony's mind flashed to the ambush on the convoy in Afghanistan following his demonstration of the Jericho missile. Soldiers had been killed all for the sake of the Ten Rings being able to get their hands on him and his tech. On some level, Tony knew that she was right about the attack being beyond his control, but realistically he knew that it was his inventions that led to that point.

Tony closed his eyes. He heaved a sigh and followed it with a huge gulp of tea, all while longing for something stronger than Earl Grey and preferably single malt. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Martha watching him with a tilted head. He knew he'd never get her to see things from his perspective so he thought it best to change the subject. "Is this the usual tone of your bedtime conversations?"

Martha managed a weak smile as she straightened up and pulled her hand away from his arm to reach for her cup. "Maybe I'm out of practice. I haven't had a need for any pillow chat in a while."

"Straight to business?" Tony joked into his cup. "I like that, but you shouldn't ignore the importance of foreplay."

Martha rolled her eyes. "There hasn't been any sort of play."

"I find it hard to believe that you don't have people fighting to share your bed."

"I never said they weren't," Martha retorted with a smirk.

Tony mirrored the expression. "Super selective?"

"Highly exclusive," she quipped into her tea. After drinking down a sizable gulp, she added, "After my last relationship ended, I reckon just wasn't ready for anything serious."

Tony shifted his position on the bed and angled his body towards hers, resting his mug on his knee. "Maybe you need something less than serious," he suggested.

"Still trying to get into my pants?"

"I doubt I'd fit them but I'm always willing to try new things."

Martha huffed. "How about we try to get some sleep?" she suggested, setting her mug down again. She stood up long enough turn the rest of the lights except her bedside lamps off and to pull back the covers.

Tony carried his cup over to the other side of the bed and set it down while he slipped off his shoes. Once they were both in bed, Tony was surprised to see Martha instantly cuddle up to him without missing a beat. Again, he found himself struck by how weird it should have been that their arrangement felt so natural to him. "So I was thinking…" he began after they settled into a comfortable position. "Maybe we should make this a more regular thing."

Martha met his eyes. "You mean like a standing appointment?"

"Yea," Tony confirmed with a nod. "Does that work for you?"

Martha took a moment to consider before responding with a nod of her own. "Alright. We can work the details out in the morning."

"You mean you'll still be here when I wake up?" Tony joked.

"It's my flat," Martha reminded him as she lowered her head and rested it against his shoulder. "Do you think I'll leave you to your own devices? One minute alone and you'll have one of my bras on your head while you try to defy the laws of science."

"Your bras are safe. I only wear them for ceremonial purposes," Tony retorted with smirk, catching the Weird Science reference. "Besides…I'm more of an ass man."

"Is that why you're so eager to spoon?"

"No," Tony insisted. He closed his eyes and rolled onto his back. He pulled Martha close, resting his hands at the small of her back. "It is a great ass though."

"You're a great arse," Martha retorted in a huff close to his ear. "And if you touch my bum and you'll get knifed."

Tony chuckled quietly. "I'm not saying I will, but if I did, it would be totally worth it."

Martha's knee struck a place that was dangerously close to his groin. "Shut up and go to sleep," she replied with an air of amusement.

"I'll be good," Tony promised.

"Good." Martha snuggled a touch closer, settling her head and hand against his chest. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he answered back before drifting off into a sound sleep with a smile on his face.