Tony ate the turkey sandwich that Martha set before him without much resistance. He also dutifully drank the bottle of water that she served with it and didn't put up a fight when she shooed him off to shower. It isn't to say that he wasn't perfectly capable of taking care of himself. But, admittedly, there were times when his focus on work took precedence over tasks like sleeping and eating. He supposed that was a trait he had inherited from Howard.
Now that he was bathed and fed, the full weight of his exhaustion hit him. When he returned to his bedroom, Martha had changed into his Black Sabbath t-shirt and was pacing back and forth with her cellphone pressed to her ear.
"No, nothing is wrong, mum. I just wanted to call you early because have some things I need to take care of tonight. No, it isn't for work." She scoffed quietly. "No, it's not a date either." Tony cleared his throat gently and Martha turned her eyes his way. "Mum, I've gotta go. Mmhmm. I'll ring you tomorrow. Yea. I know. I love you too. Bye." She ended her call and set her phone aside. "Sorry. I didn't want to be interrupted."
"I take it your mother doesn't know about our little arrangement," Tony said as he moved over to the bed and pulled the covers back.
Martha let out a mirthless laugh. "No, if my mum knew about our little arrangement, she'd be on the first flight over from London to interrogate you about your intentions and give you a good slap if you said the wrong thing."
"My intentions are pure," Tony replied once they both were in bed. "Well mostly pure."
Martha huffed as they wrapped their arms around each other. "You're incorrigible."
"You don't seem to mind."
"Perhaps, I'm just desensitized at this point," Martha suggested.
"Maybe." Tony shrugged. "Or…maybe on some level you actually like the attention."
She shrugged as well. "Maybe I do."
Tony was a flirt by nature. Another trait he got from his father. Most of the things he said were harmless, but he did on occasion wonder if he was making Martha uncomfortable. "You'd say something if I ever offended you, right?"
"Bloody right I would," Martha assured him. "And you'd get a slap as well."
"Wouldn't be the first time." Tony looked down at her hands, taking one into his own and inspecting her fingers. She had a gentle touch, every bit the healing hands one would expect from a doctor. "I don't think I ever properly thanked you for coming to my rescue," he told her quietly.
"That was the whole point of this whole arrangement wasn't it?"
"I guess I've just grown accustomed to being the one doing the rescuing," Tony joked.
Martha laced her fingers with his and gave his hand a light squeeze. "Even heroes need saving sometimes."
Tony chuckled softly. "You're definitely my hero, Martha Jones."
"All in a day's work," Martha retorted as she pulled her hand away from his and gave his cheek a gentle caress. "Now get some sleep."
Tony relaxed into a comfortable position with Martha snuggled up close to him. Once he closed his eyes, his exhaustion hit him like a blow from Mjolnir being wielded by the Hulk. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep and with sleep came another dream.
His recurring nightmare about the Battle of New York was replaced by images of Greenwich. The scene played out like it did on the screen when he watched it earlier, except this time Tony decided to do something. But he couldn't do anything. He wasn't Iron Man. Not anymore. He had destroyed his armors and walked away. Anything that happened now…anyone that died when he could have stepped in…it was all on him.
Tony sat up bolt straight. His head was pounding and he was soaking from head to toe. 'It was only a dream,' he reminded himself mentally.
"Tony?" Martha's voice broke through the haze and he turned to see her next to him, her face contorted in confusion and her eyes full of concern.
"I'm alright," he croaked, feeling nothing of the sort.
Martha narrowed her eyes and he instantly knew that she didn't believe that for a second, but she didn't fight him. She gave a simple nod and slipped out of bed. "Go wash up. I'll strip the sheets."
It was only then that Tony registered that isn't sweat he felt on his skin. He had wet the bed. He couldn't remember anything like that ever happening in his entire life and the first time it did it had to be when he wasn't alone. Feeling chastened and demoralized, he pulled himself up and skulked off to the bathroom.
Tony stripped out of his clothes and stepped into the shower. As he stood beneath the water, he mentally tried to reestablish some semblance of control over his life. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine the Rubik's cube.
Left alone with his thoughts, Tony lost all track of time. The only indicator he had was the coolness of the water pounding against his flesh and the pruning of his skin. Otherwise, he had no way of knowing how long he'd been standing there. However much time passed, it must have been long enough to send up a red flag because suddenly the water was off and Martha was escorting him over to the tub where a warm bath was waiting.
Tony remained quiet while she cleaned him up, dried him off and helped him into a fresh pair of pajamas. With anyone else, it might have made him feel pathetic and infantile, but Martha just had a way about her that made it easy to let down his guard. She set him up in one of the guest rooms and then disappeared to clean herself up.
When Martha returned wearing one of his MIT t-shirts, Tony briefly considered making a crude joke about some people being willing to pay big money to get pissed on by a billionaire, but instead he just looked at her with apologetic eyes and said, "That's never happened to me before."
"I worked as an emergency doctor once upon a time," she reminded him as she slipped beneath the covers. "So between that and the more…unique alien physiologies, I've been covered in worse things than urine."
Tony stared at her in awe before managing a weak smile. "I really shouldn't find that sexy. I'm not sure what that says about me."
"That you're feeling better, hopefully."
Tony wasn't feeling 100% yet, but he was happy that he didn't have to go it alone. He rolled onto his side and nodded. "Yea, thanks to you. Twice in one day."
"You'd do the same for me." Martha smiled warmly. "Do you want to talk about it?" He shook his head silently. "Alright. Later then," she conceded and reached a hand out, cupping his cheek gently. "How about you try to sleep again, yea? If you like, I can pop down to the shops and get you something to help you sleep."
"Maybe in a bit," Tony answered, leaning into her palm and staring into her eyes. "Can we just stay like this for a while?"
"Of course." She rolled onto her back and bringing him in closer so he could lay his head against her chest while she caressed his back in a reassuring manner.
Tony closed his eyes. "I don't suppose I can get a lullaby out of you, can I?"
Martha laughed softly, jostling his head in the process. "Trust me. The sound of my singing will not bring you any sort of comfort."
"I don't know." Tony snaked an arm around her waist and sank into her embrace. "I've always found you to be very comfortable."
"Well I'm certainly not the cushiest of pillows, but I'm glad you're comfortable."
Tony opened one eye. "Your pillows are just fine," he insisted, closing his eye and nuzzling his face against the fabric of her shirt. "Along with the rest of you."
"Flirt," she accused with a quiet huff.
Tony felt her fingertips brush the nape of his neck. "Takes one to know one."
"No clue what you're on about," Martha objected mid yawn. Tony started to respond, but instead he remained silent and tried to allow his improved mood to shepherd him off to a decent sleep.
After a couple of hours, Martha was fast asleep with her arms wrapped protectively around Tony. Beneath his head, her chest rose and fell in the slow and steady rhythm of peaceful slumber. Tony, on the other hand, was wide awake. Despite his best efforts, sleep never came.
He gently moved her arms and slowly extracted himself from her embrace. Martha murmured irritably and rolled over onto her side without opening her eyes. Tony gently tucked the covers in around her before excusing himself to his lab.
He had been questioning his deciding to destroy his armors for a while and with the image of his most recent nightmare still plaguing him, Tony was more determined than ever to rebuild. "J.A.R.V.I.S., bring up the plans for the Mark XLIII."
Sometime later, Tony was in the middle of tweaking the autonomic prehensile propulsion technology from his previous Mark XLII armor when a pair of hands found his shoulders. "You weren't in bed when I woke up," Martha whispered near his ear. "I was worried."
"I had an idea I wanted to work on," Tony said, keeping his back to her but putting the armor piece in his hand to the side.
"You're tense," Martha commented as she began to massage his muscles gently. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Tony grunted quietly and rolled his shoulders. "Bad posture," he replied, straightening his back.
Martha stilled her hands on his shoulders. "Did you have another nightmare?"
Tony sighed heavily and dropped his head into his hands. "That would require me to sleep."
Martha ran a soothing hand up and down his back. "Do you want me to give you something? A mild over the counter sedative should do the trick."
"No. No drugs." He rubbed his temples. "I'm predisposed to addiction and I already have a hard enough time putting a bottle down. The last thing I need is to start popping pills."
"There's always melatonin," Martha suggested. "Or we could just tire you out the old fashioned way…physical exertion."
Tony spun his chair around to face her. "Come again?"
"Mind out of the gutter, tin man," Martha retorted with an amused expression. "It's like when I used to mind my niece Keisha for Leo and Shonara. We've just got to keep you moving until you're completely knackered." She took him by the hands and pulled him to his feet.
"Are we going back to bed?"
"You know we could spend time together outside of the bedroom."
"The last time I had this conversation there was a decidedly different flavor to it," Tony commented with quirked brow.
Martha rolled her eyes playfully. "I can only imagine."
"You don't have to," Tony countered with a wicked grin.
Martha pursed her lips for a moment before giving a quick nod. "Okay, let's get physical." She tugged him towards the door and up the stairs.
"Wait…what?" Tony managed to get out despite suddenly feeling speechless.
Martha waited until they reached the top of the landing before she stopped and faced him again. "You told me before that you liked to box with your mate Happy, yea? Well do you still have a ring in this place?" Tony nodded wordlessly. "Alright then. You and me. Let's go a couple of rounds," she suggested.
If the thought that she might have been interest in sex had thrown Tony for a loop, then hearing that it was a sparring match Martha was after had him just plain confused. "You want to box?"
Martha nodded. "Mmhmm."
"With me?"
Martha glanced around. "Do you see anyone else here?"
Tony pulled his hand away from her grasp and folded his arms. "You hate exercise."
"Yes, with a passion," Martha agreed.
"Then why?"
"For starters, exercise reduces stress hormones and stimulates the production of endorphins," Martha began, sounding very doctor like.
"And?" Tony prompted. He was sure he knew her well enough at this point to know that she wouldn't subject herself to something she hated on a whim even if it was good for him.
"And…" Martha continued with a slight smirk. "Once I've gone Lennox Lewis on your arse, then you'll owe me one and I plan to collect straight away," she vowed.
"Do I want to know?" Tony asked with a wince as he dropped his arms to his side.
"We're gonna binge watching something I like," Martha answered. "Something magical," she added as she wriggled her fingers in front of his face.
Tony closed his eyes and groaned. "God, you'd gonna force me to watch Harry Potter, aren't you?"
"People aren't forced into Harry Potter," Martha insisted defensively with a quick jab to his ribs. Tony grunted softly and opened his eyes. Maybe Martha wanting to box wasn't so unexpected after all. "People come around willingly," she continued. "As will you in due time…"
"Don't hold your breath," Tony muttered as she took him by the hand again and started walking.
Martha ignored his sidebar and kept talking. "Until then I have something else in mind. Winter is coming and I think it's time you've learned about the other Stark family, little wolf."
