The next afternoon, Laura walked into her large office and sighed.

She was tired.

Running a large tech company was more time consuming than she thought it would be.

She and Tony had just come back from D.C. yesterday where he quickly retired back to his house.

Leaving her alone to run his company once again.

She looked over to Tony's belongings by the corner of the room and shook her head.

She couldn't even get him to take his stuff out after months later that was against her wall by the double doors.

One item that looked like a table or large model of something with a drape covering it.

She walked around her desk and took off her black suit jacket.

She tossed it on her chair and sank back into it.

On the desk itself was three monitors and her gravitational swinging sticks model that swung in front of her.

She checked the time on her watch and groaned, seeing "2:15" on the analog clockface.

She had just finished with the live stream for the release of the Stark lineup of products.

A phone, tablet, TV's, computers, computer chips, SOS software for their products including an App Store.

All in house.

The stream itself was watched by millions and was a huge PR booster for the company.

Her phone rang and she saw it said "Unknown Number" on the caller ID.

"I need a new number…" she muttered, the spam calls themselves never seeming to end.

She dug for her briefcase in her bag to bring out a stack of paperwork.

Adding to the piles covering her large desk.

"Joy, 10-K, quarterly earnings calls, Q2 board meeting prep… offshore wind farm contracts all for me…"


"Wake up. Daddy's home." Tony greeted JARVIS by his setup.

"Welcome home, sir. Congratulations on the opening ceremonies. They were such a success, as was your Senate hearing with Ms. Watson. And may I say how refreshing it is to finally see you in a video with your clothing on, sir." JARVIS joked and he laughed.

"How many ounce a day of this gobbledegook am I supposed to drink?" he asked while drinking a green smoothie from a glass.

"We are up to 80 ounces a day to counteract the symptoms, sir." JARVIS answered.

"Blood toxicity, 24%. It appears that the continued use of the Iron Man suit is accelerating your condition. Another core has been depleted." he warned and Tony took out a core that was rusted out and smoking.

"God, they're running out quick." he winced while pulling up his shirt, seeing the veins flowing from it across his chest.

"I have run simulations on every known element, and none can serve as a viable replacement for the palladium core." JARVIS said while Tony inserted a new core into his chest.

"You are running out of both time and options. Unfortunately, the device that's keeping you alive is also killing you." JARVIS warned.

"Ms. Potts is approaching. I recommend that you inform her and Ms. Watson…" JARVIS began to suggest but he interrupted him.

"Mute." he said as Pepper let herself into the shop.

"Is this a joke? What are you thinking?" she demanded angrily while walking up to him.

"What?" he asked confused.

"What are you thinking?" she asked again.

"Hey, I'm thinking I'm busy. And you're angry about something. Do you have the sniffles? I don't want to get sick." he dismissed while getting up.

He began walking around, messing with the holographics as she followed him.

"Did you just donate…" she began but her interrupted her.

"Keep your business!"

"…our entire modern art collection to the…" she continued.

"Boy Scouts of America." he finished.

"…Boy Scouts of America?" she asked unamused.

"Yes. It is a worthwhile organization. I didn't physically check the crates but, basically, yes. And it's not "our" collection, it's my collection. No offence." he argued.

"No, you know what? I think I'm actually entitled to say "our" collection considering the time that I put in, over 10 years, curating that." she countered.

"It was a tax write-off. I needed that." he ended the argument.

"You know, there's only about 8,011 things that I really need to talk to you about. You've left Laura all alone to run your company…" she began.

"Yeah and she's fine. She's doing great. The product lineup, profits and the stock price is up… the expo…" he complimented.

"The Expo is a gigantic waste of time." she stated.

"Do you and Watson go over lines with each other when you argue with me?" he joked.

"No Tony…" she tried getting him to focus but he picked up a piece of art leaning against the wall.

"Wow. Look at that. That's modern art. That's going up." he grinned.

"You've got to be kidding." Pepper said without amusement.

"Let's move onto another subject." he said while hopping onto the counter to take down an art piece.

"No, no, no, no. You are not taking down the Barnett Newman and hanging that up." she pleaded.

"I'm not taking it down. I'm just replacing it with this." he swapped it with the Iron Man poster.

"Ok, but my point is Laura is overwhelmed but she's too stubborn to admit it. She needs help!" Pepper pointed out.

"Then help her out." he suggested.

"Yeah, I'm trying too but you…" she began but he put his hand up.

"Excellent idea. I just figured it out. You run the company." he proposed.

"Tony, that's not…" she argued but he sighed.

"Pepper, I need you to run the company. Well, stop trying to do it and do it." he tried again.

"You will not give me the information…" she ignored him.

"I'm not asking you to try…" he continued.

"…in order to…"

"I'm asking you to physically do it. You're not listening to me!" he tried once more.

"No, you are not listening to me!" she snapped back.

"I'm trying to make you CEO! Why won't you let me?" he shouted, shocking her.

"Have you been drinking?" she managed to ask.

"Chlorophyll. I hereby irrevocably appoint you chairman and CEO of Stark Industries effective immediately. Yeah, done deal. Okay? I've actually given this a fair amount of thought, believe it or not." he said as DUM-E brought a tray with two glasses of champagne to them.

"As you said, Watson is both doing my job and hers. So why not make you CEO? I've actually given this a fair amount of thought, believe it or not. Doing a bit of headhunting, so to speak, trying to figure out who a worthy successor would be. And then I realized it's you. It's always been you." he said and gave her a glass who was still in shock.

"I don't know what to think." she managed to say.

"Don't think, drink. There you go." the two toasted their glasses and drank their champagne.


After another long day at the office, Laura walked into her house from her garage and turned on her lights in the kitchen.

It was past ten at night and she was exhausted.

Laura had moved into her house and made it her own.

Filling it with furniture, placing expensive artwork on the walls that Pepper had picked out for her and filled the bookshelves with all of her books and the ones she bought but had no time to read.

The large house itself was empty.

And silent.

With it just being her but she preferred it that way.

The neighborhood was quiet and was nearly halfway between Tony's house and Stark Industries.

She placed her bag on one of the barstools by the island and walked over to her drinks table.

After pouring herself a glass of bourbon she headed for the living room and slumped onto the couch.

She took off her prosthetics and planted them on the rug in front of her.

She turned the TV mounted above the fireplace on to "Bloomberg", downed her drink but only lasted a few minutes before her eyes closed.


The next morning, Laura was in Tony's gym, boxing with Happy.

Her old MIT t shirt was covered in sweats with her prosthetics covering her sweatpants.

Wearing boxing gloves and a headguard.

"Protect Ya Neck" was blasting from the speakers

They were having another one of their workouts that she began shortly after Tony's revealing himself as Iron Man.

Involving weight lifting, self-defense, and boxing in the ring.

They had shown results.

She blocked a one two punch from him with her arms and punched him back in the headguard, harder than she meant too.

"Hey!" he shouted.

"Sorry. Guess I don't know my own strength." she joked.

"That's called dirty boxing." he said unamused.

"Relax. Now c'mon.." she put up her fists again and the two continued to fight.

Tony walked in, seeing the scene and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

She sighed and turned around.

"Working out." she crossed her arms.

"You're working out?" he asked surprised.

"Yeah Tony. I mean Happy how long have we been doing this?" she asked him.

"Five months." he shrugged his shoulders.

"So let me get this straight..." he began while walking up to her and she frowned.

"Cars, the rap music and now you're working out. Are you sure you aren't having a mid life crisis?" he joked.

"Careful..." she warned about him making fun of her working out.

"The notary's here! Can you please come sign the transfer paperwork?" Pepper announced, getting their attention.

"Hey Pepper! Congrats on the promotion!" Laura said excitedly.

"Oh thank you Laura…" she began but looked up, seeing her in the ring.

"What?" she frowned.

"No. It's just…" she began but she sighed.

"Why is me working out so hard to believe!" she exclaimed and Pepper smiled faintly.

The notary, a woman with red hair in getting everyone's attention.

Laura looked her up and down with her green eyes.

She was strikingly beautiful, she noticed.

And that she looked around the same height that she was.

Maybe an inch taller.

She also noticed her arms that looked much stronger than hers and she frowned.

She flexed her arm muscle, seeing it made no difference and sighed.

"Months of working out for nothing." she muttered under her breath.

The notary locked eyes with her dark ones and she stiffened under her intense gaze.

She held her chin up but after she glanced down at her legs she walked over to Pepper to hand her a clipboard with forms to sign.

"I need you to initial each box." she told Pepper who began to sign them.

"What's your name, lady?" Tony asked her.

"Rushman. Natalie Rushman."

"Hey, Watson wanna give her a lesson?" he asked her while smiling.

"What! I'm not gonna beat up some woman I don't even know…" she crossed her arms.

"No. You're not gonna ask…" Pepper agreed but he interrupted her.

"If it pleases the court, which it does." he smirked.

"It's not a problem." Natalie reassured them.

"I'm sorry. He's very eccentric." Pepper apologized.

Happy stepped out of the ring while Laura pinched her nose, unamused with the situation.

She opened her eyes, feeling Natalie's gaze upon her as she slipped into the ring.

Pepper sat down which Tony sat in the same chair, staring at her.

Pepper looked up from her phone, feeling his stare.

"What?"

"Who is she?" he asked about Natalie.

"She is from legal. And she is potentially a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you keep ogling her like that." Pepper warned.

"I need a new assistant, boss." he proposed.

"Yes, and I've got three excellent potential candidates. They're lined up and ready to meet you." she replied.

"I don't have time to meet. I need someone now. I feel like it's her." he added.

"No, it's no." Pepper sighed.

"How do I spell your name, Natalie?" Tony spoke up while she and Laura were still in the ring.

"R-U-S-H-M-A-N." she answered.

"What, are you gonna google her now?" Pepper asked annoyed as he brought up her profile on the screen on the glass table next to them.

"I thought I was ogling her. Wow. Very, very impressive individual…" he said while scrolling through her photos.

"She's fluent in French, Italian, Russian, Latin. Who speaks Latin?" he asked her.

"No one speaks Latin. It's a dead language." she answered.

"Did you model in Tokyo? 'Cause she modelled in Tokyo." he joked while scrolling through her model photos.

"Well…"

"I need her. She's got everything that I need." he told her.


Laura and Natalie were both over hearing their conversation and Laura just shook her head.

"I'm sorry about him." she apologized.

"It's not a problem." she reassured her.

"So, uh have you boxed before?" Laura asked her.

"I have yes." Natalie nodded.

"Well… I've been at it for a while. I could teach you a thing or two. Do you know how to block a punch?" she said confidentially.

"Yes I do." she answered.

"Really…" Laura suddenly swung her fist at her but Natalie gripped it painfully, flipped her over her head and slammed her down on the floor on her back.

"Oh my God! Laura!" Pepper gasped as she groaned and Tony got up.

"Ow!" she winced as her head slammed down on the ring.

Natalie instantly wrapped her legs around her neck, pinning her to the ground with one quick move as she tried freeing herself from her grasp but her grip tightened.

"Okay, I get it! I get it! Uncle! Uncle!" she cried out while tapping herself out.

Natalie released her and got up smoothly in one quick swoop.

"That's what I'm talking about." Tony joked while going over to ring the bell.

"Yeah Ill just stay here on the ground forever. Thanks." Laura groaned while staring up at the ceiling.

"It looks like I need a new bodyguard." Tony joked to Happy.

"Ha ha" he rolled his eyes.

Natalie offered a hand to Laura who took it and helped her up.

"Thanks." she said while readjusting her glasses.

She and Natalie stepped out of the ring and Natalie approached Tony.

"I need your impression." she asked him.

"You have a quiet reserve. I don't know, you have an old soul…." he rambled but Laura interrupted him.

"Really, Tony?" she rolled her eyes.

"I meant your fingerprint." Natalie clarified.

"Right." he began fingerprinting the forms from Pepper.

"So, how are we doing?" Pepper asked him.

"Great. Just wrapping up here. Hey. You're the boss." he joked.

"Are you okay Laura?" Pepper asked with worry.

"I've been through worse boss." she joked and she smiled.

"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" Natalie asked him.

"No." he replied.

"Yes, that will be all, Ms. Rushman. Thank you very much." Pepper answered for him.

"Here I'll walk you out. I need to begin packing for my vacation anyway." Laura offered Natalie.

"Can I get a ride? I rode up here with Ms. Potts and I need to drop these forms off." Natalie asked her.

"Yeah of course." she nodded. The two walked out while Tony and Pepper watched them leave.

"I want one."

"No."


Laura was driving Natalie back to Stark Industries down the freeway, stuck in bumper to bumper traffic.

She clicked the paddle behind the steering wheel while slowing down but her mind was elsewhere.

She couldn't place her finger on it but there was something off about Natalie.

She looked over to her who looked composed.

Staring ahead at the five lanes of traffic.

Maybe it was just her paranoia.

It had gotten worse since her kidnapping.

"Thank you for the ride…" Natalie thanked her.

"It's not a problem, Ms. Rushman." she said.

"So that was quiet the move back there…" she stated suspiciously.

"I know some self defense moves. They're useful." Natalie replied and Laura smiled faintly.

"Uh huh… it's just I've been working out for months now and you just discredited all my work on trying to get in shape." she joked.

"Those moves are simple. Perhaps you need a new trainer." Natalie suggested.

"Apparently so. So you're from legal right?" she asked.

"Yes. I was tasked to help with the transition." she answered.

"It's just I've been in legal nonstop to help out with the fight the government from getting Tony's suit's and I don't think I've ever seen you there…" she said suspiciously.

"I was in the New York office until recently. And then Mr. Stark appointed Ms. Potts to become the new CEO where I was asked to help with the transfer paperwork." she explained.

"That makes sense I guess…" she said but she couldn't still shake off that feeling that something was off about her.

But then again she was suspicious about everyone and everything and didn't trust anyone since her kidnapping.

The rest of the ride was mostly quiet with small talk through the heavy traffic until Laura eventually pulled up to the main building on the Stark campus.

"Thank you for the ride Laura. It was nice to meet you." Natalie said while getting out of her car.

"Like wise." she nodded while Natalie grabbed her bag from the floor and stepped out.

Natalie closed the door and she watched her walk inside the office building.

"At least I have my vacation this weekend."


Beachgirl25: Thank you for the review. I always liked Laura's and Tony's relationship.