Tony made a conscious effort to give Martha the space she needed. He had already pissed her off with distance. He didn't want to make matters worse by suddenly being too clingy. Any attempts he made to win her favor would at least have to wait until the weekend when her sister returned to England.

In the meantime, Tony made good on his promise to submit Tish's resume to Pepper. He was pleasantly surprised to learn that she had the perfect credentials. She had earned a BA in media and communications from Goldsmiths University of London as well as a MA in public relations. And a position within the office of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was definitely impressive too. Tony was willing to overlook the fact that said prime minister turned out to be a renegade Time Lord that only hired Tish to get to Martha and the Doctor. A job was still a job and at least he wouldn't be accused of simple nepotism.

With Tish squared away, that left Tony with time to think about Martha and how he could make amends. He had to play this right. He was already on thin ice. One false move and everything they built could crumble to pieces. So how could he show her how much she meant to him?

His first inclination was to get her a gift. Throwing money at his problems was yet another tendency Tony had inherited from Howard, whose parenting style typically involved showering his son with presents in lieu of genuine affection. But Martha had made it clear, on more than one occasion, that she couldn't be bought, which meant that he would have to think of something that held meaning.

What did he know about Martha that he could use to prove that he wasn't taking this situation lightly? What did she love? What meant the most to her? What was something that only he could give her? Something that would represent the, hopefully, unbroken bond they shared.

The answer came to him all of a sudden. He was surprised he hadn't thought of it straight away, but he knew it was something Martha would love. Now he just had to pull it off.

The plan took longer than expected. Tony wasn't aware there were so many hoops he would have to jump through to get her present. So a little over a week later, he arranged to have it delivered to Martha's apartment. He thought about bringing it to her himself. Part of him wanted to see the look on her face when she received it, but he thought it better to give her a wide berth. When Martha was ready, she'd come to him.

Tony was in his workroom when the long awaited moment came.

"Sir?" J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted him in the middle of assembling his Mark XLIII prototype.

"Not now, J.A.R.V.I.S."

"You requested that I alert you if anyone attempts to activate their security clearance to the penthouse," the AI continued.

Tony lifted his head from his work. "And?"

"Dr. Jones is here."

Tony stood up from his workbench. Grabbing his empty coffee mug, he made his way upstairs under the pretense of a caffeine pick-me-up as opposed to the truth, which was that he was dying to see Martha again. He found her in the kitchen, standing next to the sink and filling a bowl with water. She set it on the ground next to a two month old Great Dane puppy that was solid black except for patches of white on its nose, chest and paws.

"I see you got your present," he said as he proceeded to refill his coffee mug.

Martha looked up from her crouched position. "You bought me a dog?" she asked, though the question somehow seemed like an accusation.

"Well I wanted to get you a dragon," Tony replied casually.

Martha scoffed. "I know you're rich, but I doubt even you could swing that."

"Have you ever heard of Smaug giganteus?" he asked, turning to face her. "It's the scientific name for sungazers. They're also called giant dragon lizards and they're one of eight southern African lizards that make up the genus Smaug. I don't think I need to tell you what inspired that name. Anyway, their conservation status is vulnerable so I made a donation to the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums' sungazer conservation project in your name and got that little guy instead," he added with a nod towards the puppy. "I almost went with a cat because of the one you found in college, but let's face it…cats are assholes. Lovable? Sure, but definitely assholes and you've already got a lovable asshole in your life," he insisted gesturing to himself. "So I didn't think you really needed another one."

Martha exhaled sharply. "You can't buy somebody else a dog without their knowledge."

"It's definitely a complicated process," Tony agreed into his cup. Martha rolled her eyes. "What? You don't like him?"

"I do like him," Martha replied scratching the puppy between the ears.

"Good. His name is Bohr as in Niels, which is fitting because he was a great Dane too."

"Whether I like Bohr or not is beside the point," Martha continued. "You can't just force someone into being held responsible for another living creature."

"You wouldn't have to take care of him alone," Tony insisted. He set his coffee aside. "I was thinking of a shared custody arrangement with alternating weeks. Assuming, of course, that we resume our usual weekend arrangement. We'd need to work out the holiday details though."

"Oh now you care about the details?" Martha asked in exasperation as she stood up straight. "Because it might have behooved you to note that the building I was living in had a strict no pet policy."

Tony ran a hand through his hair. "I can't help but notice the use of past tense just then."

"That's because one of my neighbors saw Bohr in the hallway and reported me to the landlord. I've been bloody evicted, you prat!"

"Okay…yeah…that's definitely on me," Tony said awkwardly.

Martha huffed, though it was a decidedly unamused sound. "You bloody think so?"

"I'm usually so detail oriented," he commented as he stroked his goatee. "There is a silver lining though. He's a little guy now, but Bohr is gonna get big quicker than Bruce Banner during a hissy fit. You need a larger place."

"I don't bloody need you buying me a blooming place to stay," Martha protested irritably.

"So I won't." Tony shrugged. "Stay here. Free of charge."

"What?" Martha's eyes went wide. "You want me to move in?"

"You've stayed here plenty of times already and I've got more than enough room. Plus, Bohr is just a baby." He knelt down to rub the dog's belly. "He needs to see his mommy and daddy getting along. Take it from me, childhood traumas stay with you for life."

Martha closed her eyes and shook her head. "You manipulative arsehole."

"I'll take the charge," Tony said. "I'm guilt tripping you. Plain and simple. But I also know you well enough to know that you have no problem walking out of here with Bohr right now and telling me to 'go screw myself' or some colorful British colloquial equivalent. And you'd be well within your rights if you do because…" He scoffed softly as he rose to his feet. "I'm a human disaster zone. I try to do the right thing, but I usually end up making things worse before they get better. And you deserve so much more than to be dragged back into the shit storm I call my life, but I guess I'm just selfish because I still want you around. I miss you, Doc. I need you in my life."

Martha opened her eyes. "Are you done?"

Tony sighed in defeat. "Yea."

"Good." Martha let out a sigh of her own. "Because I missed you as well."

The corner of Tony's mouth turned upward. "You did?"

"Oi, don't go getting a big head, tin man. I'm still extremely cross with you." Martha folded her arms across her chest. "You kissed my bloody sister!"

"I still maintain that she kissed me first."

"That's what Tish said, but the fact remains that you kissed her back," Martha retorted fiercely. "And do I need to remind you about your hand being on her bum?"

"I was kind of hoping you wouldn't," Tony confessed with a wince.

"Well don't you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Look…I fucked up." Tony exhaled sharply and ran a rough hand through his hair. "There we were on the couch, talking about you, and suddenly Tish was kissing me. Before I knew it, all these feelings were bubbling to the surface. Then, in the latest in a long line of bad decisions, I kissed her back. But you gotta know, Martha, it may have been her lips on mine, but it was you that was on my mind the whole time," he insisted. "I've known for a while that you're more than just a friend to me, but in that moment…I was finally willing to admit to myself just how much more you were."

Martha raised a brow at his declaration. "So what you're saying is that you projected your feelings for me onto my sister's lips and arse?"

"Essentially," Tony answered. "But can we stop talking about her ass? Don't get me wrong. It's a perfectly nice ass. Maybe not as good as yours, but still as far as asses go it's a pretty great ass. I mean I don't know if it's the genes or what, but I'm honestly a bit reluctant to meet your mother at this point."

Martha looked skyward and took a cleansing breath. "Please stop talking."

"Good idea." Tony nodded quickly. "So…" he began a moment later in an attempt to broach the subject of living together carefully. "Will you move in with us?"

Martha was quiet for a long while before she spoke and the silence plagued Tony to his very core because he wasn't sure what to expect when she opened her mouth again. "Yes," she answered finally, easing his fears that he had lost her forever. "But only because it's such short notice that I doubt I could get a decent place. I need my own space though. We can't share a bed while I'm still sorting through my feelings for you."

Tony took a step in her direction. "So you do have feelings for me?"

Martha pursed her lips. "You know, for a genius you certainly are slow on the uptake."

"Since when?"

"I don't know." Martha shrugged. "London? Maybe before, but there was definitely a spark that night."

"So you felt it too?"

"Kind of hard not to feel it. I guess your seduction plan worked."

"I wasn't actively trying to seduce you," Tony replied. Martha huffed, this time sounding like she had so many times before. Tony couldn't help smiling. He had missed the sound. "Okay, so maybe I was trying to seduce you a little bit, but I didn't think anything would actually come of it. Mostly, I just wanted to make you happy after all the shit you went through with the Master coming back."

"You did make me happy, Tony," Martha said softly. "It was what I needed. You were what I needed." She exhaled sharply. "Then I woke up and you were gone. No note. No call. Nothing. Do you have any idea of how it made me feel?" she asked, but her expression said it all. There was pain behind her eyes and he was the cause of it. "I was gutted and when I finally saw you again you were all tangled up in my sister."

"I had a dream about you…about us. A damn good one," he explained, closing his eyes briefly to relive the fantasy. "It felt so real." He opened his eyes as he ran his hand through his hair again. "But when I woke up…I realized it was just a dream and that nothing had changed. Except everything had changed."

"And you didn't think I could handle that? After all we've been through already?" Martha demanded angrily. "You're one of my best friends. I've told you things I've never told anyone! I trusted you and I thought you trusted me as well."

Tony closed the gap between them while fighting the urge to touch her. "I do trust you."

Martha let out a mirthless laugh. "But not with your heart apparently."

"I trust you with everything that I have," Tony insisted. "It's me that I don't trust. You joked before about breaking my heart, but if anyone was going to get hurt it was going to be you."

"Ugh, you absolute bellend!" she yelled as her right hand shot up.

Tony was sure that she was going to slap him and he braced himself for impact. He had been struck by many women over the years and his father even before that. More often than not, he felt as though he deserved it. Now especially.

But she didn't hit him.

Instead, Martha balled her hand into a fist and dropped it to her side. "I watched the world burn and die all around me and I survived. So the fact that you think my heart needs protection from you is frankly pretty damn insulting."

Tony dropped his gaze. Somehow, he didn't feel like he deserved to look her in the eyes. Probably because he knew she was right. Just like Pepper had been right when they had a similar conversation so long ago. "I'm sorry."

"Damn right you are," Martha retorted. She reached out to lift his chin so she could look him in the eyes. "So you better rack that beautiful brain of yours to think of ways to make it up to me."

Tony stared at her in confusion. "What?"

"You heard me," Martha said quickly. "You love your grand gestures. Well I expect one. A damn good one. Preferably something that doesn't involve you snogging any more of my blood relations or doing something daft like getting me fired on top of rendering me homeless." She paused briefly. "And I want another date. A proper one this time."

Tony shook his head in disbelief. "I don't understand."

"It's your penitence for doubting me and for doubting yourself," Martha answered, moving her hand from his chin to his cheek. "You're a good man, Tony Stark. I just hope I live to see the day when you believe that as well."

"Martha…"

"I'm not letting you push me away again, alright?" She stroked his cheek. "Win or lose, I still care about you and I'm not going to abandon you. All I ask is that you don't ever lie to me and don't you dare try to spare my feelings again. Do you understand that?"

"Starting to," Tony replied.

"Good." Martha slipped her hand behind his neck and brought his head down so she could press a kiss to his forehead.

Tony glanced down into Martha's eyes as her fingertips stroked the nape of his neck. "Yea." He rested his forehead against hers like he did when they were dancing in his hotel. Their noses to brush against one another and he felt a strong desire to kiss her.

"I need to go back and pack up my flat."

"Do you want me to…?"

"No. There's not that much I want to take. But I'll be back later and then we can talk some more, yea?" Tony nodded slowly. "Now go grab a mop or something," she advised as she pulled back and she turned towards the door. "Our son just pissed on the floor."