3.

Stark Expo, 2013

Of course he would keep the Expo running. It was for the good of the future, wasn't it? And they sure needed it, after the Battle of New York and all.

The city had cleaned up pretty well, but scars from the battle were still present. There they would always linger.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Pepper asked him countless times. After New York, and, much more recently, all the business with the Mandarin, Tony had a lot of reasons to just cancel the Expo this year. But it was an annual event and a lot of people were counting on it, and he wasn't about to let them down.

"I'll just keep things low-key this year," he assured her. "I'll just do my speech, nothing big, nothing fancy, and then leave them to it."

"You don't have to do this, you know."

"Yeah, I do."

"Well, let me know if it all gets to be too much."

"Always looking out for me."

"Always."

The night was off to a pretty good start. Tony gave his speech and, although a thrilling experience as always, he was glad to sneak off backstage with a glass of champagne afterwards.

He was just heading to the top floor of the venue to the special VIP gala, when he got an alert from J.A.R.V.I.S.

"Hey J, what have you got for me? Something to make my night a little more exciting?"

"Perhaps. Did you by chance send and invitation to Ms. Konstantin?"

"No, why?"

"Well it appears that she's here - she's currently being confronted by security on the floor below us."

"Kass is here?"

"Yes, Sir."

Tony sighed. "When I said exciting, I didn't mean something like this. Fine, let's go see what's happening."

He stepped back onto the elevator and went down one floor, downing the rest of his champagne. Around the corner, he found them.

Kass had three security guards surrounding her. She was dressed in her usual stealth suit, kind of like Natasha's, but with more pieces and layers. Paired with her raven hair, she could easily slip around unseen.

"Pardon me, ladies and gentlemen," Tony interjected. "Is there a problem?"

"Tony!" Kass cried. "See, I know him, we're on a first name basis!" she told the guards. "Tell them!" she said, turning back to Tony.

"Sir, we caught her sneaking around. She doesn't have an entry ticket. We were just about to detain her in one of the boardrooms."

Tony was tempted to tell them he'd never seen this woman before. "That won't be necessary," he said instead. "She's with me."

"Mr. Stark-"

"It's really no trouble. Thank you for your services, but I'll handle things from here." He took Kass's arm and steered her away.

"I guess I owe you a 'thank you'," she admitted when they had left the guards. "Where are we going?"

"I'm going to detain you in the boardroom myself."

"What?!" She wrenched her arm from his grasp and stopped walking.

"You heard them, no ticket means no entry, which means you're breaking the rules." He collapsed into one of the leather chairs. "But you're good at that."

"Oh don't get smart with me-"

"In here."

"What?"

"In here-" He steered her into a large boardroom, not bothering to flick on the lights. "What are you doing here?"

"Investigating."

"Care to elaborate?"

"I think someone was trying to sabotage the show."

"Sabotage?"

"As in hack in and steal something, maybe cause some drama for the show."

"Why not just tell security?"

"Because your security doesn't like me. Happy doesn't trust me."

"Maybe he's got a point."

"I think him and Rhodey still think I'm a gold-digger." Tony looked like he was considering this. "So you think so low of me too, now?"

"I'm beginning to wonder."

She sighed. "How's he doing, Happy?"

"He's out of the hospital now."

"Oh, good."

"Yeah. But still, why did you have to show up?"

"Because I thought it might get personal."

"Meaning?"

"Another mercenary, someone I've crossed paths with before, done a job with. That would have been an awkward reunion."

"No more awkward than this." She rolled her eyes. "And?"

She shrugged. "Nothing. I scanned the perimeter, nothing. They must have sensed I was there or something and took off."

"Huh."

"Huh?"

"Huh? Well, now what? Your job here is done, you're free to leave. You'd better get going before I hand you back to security."

"Hey, I was looking out for you."

"Oh yeah? Were you?"

"Yes-"

"Finally."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"You left!" He jumped to his feet suddenly, startling her. "You vanished. You weren't there when I needed you."

Now she looked away. "No."

"When I needed you most."

"No..."

"You just took off."

"I know."

"And left me."

"I know. And that's what I'm used to. I don't usually stick around. I'm a mercenary, I do a job and then I leave."

"So that's all we were then? Another one of your 'jobs'?"

"Oh don't do that. You know that's not what it was-"

"But you still left."

"I couldn't bear to see you so broken, okay. I didn't know what to do, or how to help. You needed someone else, other than me. You needed someone better..."

"Better?"

"I figured you'd forget me pretty fast. Everyone does. I just disappear."

He scoffed. "Well, you're outta luck there. I can tell you, you left quite an impression."

"I'm flattered." She shook her head. "I couldn't face it, face you in that state, and it hurt to see you so upset, and so hurt yourself. So I left, instead of facing it. It was a cowardly move..." She sighed. "And I've had to suffer through the guilt of it all. And then I heard about the Mandarin, your house getting blown up, and you disappearing and I freaked out. I couldn't find you. But then I heard about the Expo and for once was so glad for this big flashy show cause I knew you were okay."

"Just okay, though. Better now than before."

"Good, I'm glad."

"Yeah." He sat back down.

There was a beat of silence. "I'm sorry, Tony." He said nothing. She sighed. "I guess I'll go then. And I won't come back again."

"Promise?"

This stung. "Promise."

He said nothing else, and so she headed for the door.

She had just stepped out of the room when he cried, "Wait!" She turned back around. "D-don't go. I don't really want that."

"Neither do I."

He rubbed a hand over his face.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She sat down next to him.

"Getting there, yeah. Just trying to figure out the best way to move forward, you know."

"And I'd like to help. I really like you, Tony. I just don't know what to do with that. I'm not used to sticking around, let alone feeling this way for someone..."

"Stay, please."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"Alright, I'll stay. For a while, at least. Until I get bored."

"It's impossible to get bored around me."

"This is true."

He took her hand, kissing her knuckles. "Come on, there's something I want to show you."

"What?"

"The grand finale of the show."

"Okay..."

He led her up onto the rooftop patio of the building. "Hey J.A.R.V.I.S.?"

"Yes, Sir?"

"You know what to do."

"The Clean Slate Protocol?"

"That's the one. I want everyone to see this."

"You're certain, Sir?"

Tony hesitated. "You know what, screw it, it's New Years."

"Very well, Sir."

Tony put an arm around Kass's shoulders, pulling her close to him. She watched as one of his suits flew into the air above the building, gasping and jumping a little when the suit burst into flames, clearly intentional, but still surprising.

Another suit shot into the air, only to be exploded too. One by one, each suit burst apart in the night sky, like fireworks almost.

"What do you think so far? You like it."

She turned to face them, jaw agape in utter shock. Then she promptly punched his arm. "What the hell?! What are you doing?!"

"The Clean Slate Protocol-"

"What happened to 'I am Iron Man'?!"

"I am Iron Man!'

"Exactly!"

"Yeah, exactly! What-" She couldn't believe what he was doing. "I don't understand-"

"We start with something pure, something exciting, then come the mistakes, the compromises. We create our own demons. I got the shrapnel out of my chest, got rid of the arc reactor-" He took her hand, lifting it to rest on his chest. Indeed, she felt no arc reactor beneath his shirt. Just the steady beat of his heart. "So, I guess if I wrap this up, tie it with a bow, whatever, my armour was never a distraction, never a hobby. It was a cocoon. And now, I'm a changed man. They can take away my house, all my tricks and toys, but one thing they can't take away: I am Iron Man. With or without the armour."

She stared up at him. "W-wow. I wasn't expecting a full speech..."

"Yeah, guess that's what it's come to."

"Wow... This is big."

"Yeah."

"I'm really impressed, and proud of you."

"New beginning, clean slate. And New Year. Happy New Year, Ms. Konstantin."

"Happy New Year, Tony."

The last of the suits had burst apart, leaving the sky dark and still.

Kass leaned forward and captured his lips with her own, so utterly glad that he hadn't wanted her to leave and never come back. Tony eagerly returned her kiss.

"Tony!" Suddenly, the door burst open, and Pepper raced onto the patio, Rhodey close behind. "Tony - oh, excuse me..."

"What are you doing?" asked Rhodey.

"Uh, we're having a moment."

"No, with that!" Pepper gestured to the sky.

"Oh, you mean that. Well, I'm a changed man. I don't need all that to still be Iron Man."

"Well you could have at least told us you were planning that!"

"Surprise?"

Pepper heaved a heavy sigh and rubbed her temples. "Ugh, we'll discuss this further tomorrow. I'm too tired to deal with this tonight. Kass, keep and eye on him."

"Will do, Ms. Potts."

Pepper headed off. Rhodey continued to stare at the two. "She invited?" he asked, pointing to Kass.

"Not technically no."

"She's my special guest of honour," said Tony.

"Alright. The VIP group are asking where you are."

"Tell them I'm busy."

"Alright. Stay out of trouble you two."

"We'll try. You never know with us two."

"Yeah, that's what I mean." With that, Rhodey left them.

"He's right, we're a chaotic duo," Kass admitted. "We're going to be okay though, right?"

"No, you're in a relationship with me, nothing's going to be okay."

She laughed. "We're going to be just fine."

Whew, that was longer than I thought it would be! :) But I'm happy with the direction it went.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)