5.
Avengers Tower, New York, 2012
The party was over, everyone had gone home. It had all been a major success.
"Well done, J.A.R.V.I.S. I'd say that was a success."
"Thank you, Sir. Will that be all?"
"Yeah. I need a moment."
"Very well, Sir. Goodnight."
"Night, J.A.R.V.I.S."
Tony knew he lived a fairly lonely life - well, that had really changed in the last week, with the Avengers Initiative forming and all. Of course he had his friends and work pals, Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy (and J.A.R.V.I.S., of course) - he loved and appreciated them more than he showed, he knew. And, in their defence, he was a handful, he knew that much as well. And now there were his other work teammates, the Avengers. But he had no family left, just the family company. He was the only remaining Stark.
And for some reason, after this very social evening, this loneliness was hitting him hard. And yet, as he had told J.A.R.V.I.S., he needed some time to himself.
So shedding his suit jacket and champagne bottle in hand, Tony headed out onto the balcony. Being this high up over the city made his feet tingle with the thrill of it, and the bustling city at night was fairly calming, even if it seemed it would be the total opposite.
Tony poured himself a glass, swirling the drink around in the glass thoughtfully as he leaned against the railing overlooking the city, all aglow.
The movement at the side of his vision was so sudden and startled him so much he nearly dropped his glass, almost causing it to plunge about fifty floors downwards to the street below.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she said.
"It's okay, I've been a bit jumpy lately. Flying a nuke through a wormhole into space will do that to you."
"I can't imagine."
"Were you watching me?"
"Maybe."
"Checking me out from afar."
Kass smirked. "Still the avid flirt." She came to stand beside him. "You okay?"
"Yeah, just needed some time to myself."
"Ah, well then I'd better leave you-"
"No, no, I'm glad you're here. I've had my moment." Right now, the loneliness was rearing its head again. "I thought the party was over and that everyone was gone, but clearly, I was wrong. When did you come back?"
"I never left."
"So you've just been lurking around this whole time?"
"I told you, I'm trying to figure out the best way to break in. You're going to have to up your security, Stark."
"You've been out here alone?"
"No, I've had J.A.R.V.I.S. to talk to. Like I said, we're pals."
"Ah. Well, luckily for you, there was some champagne left - I'm amazed though, I really thought Thor cleaned me out. Want me to go get another glass?"
"I'd like that very much."
Soon they stood, glasses of champagne in hand, leaning against the railing and overlooking the nighttime wonder that was New York City after dark.
"I heard about Coulson," she said sadly, breaking the comfortable silence between them. "I liked that guy."
"Yeah, he was good." Tony sighed. "I guess we can't save everyone, but..."
"You wish you could."
"Yeah."
"You did your best."
"Yeah, I think so. I'm not really used to all this teamwork stuff."
"Yeah, that's pretty obvious," she chuckled.
"You know, the Avengers Initiative is in full swing, and we are now recruiting..."
"Thanks for the tempting offer but I don't think so. Not now, anyways. I'm not so good with that teamwork stuff either. Maybe we both need to work on that."
"Yeah."
"And Fury is still trying to recruit me for S.H.I.E.L.D."
"But with no success yet."
"Nope." She sipped her champagne. "So, what are your plans for tomorrow?"
"Not sure yet. Any business meetings I had scheduled have been postponed in the wake of the aliens attacking, I'll have to ask Pepper about that. And the Stark Relief Foundation is still working hard to help clean up the city."
"Those aliens sure made a hell of a mess, huh."
"Sure did. I tried to call you," he said suddenly. "When I had the nuke and was flying it up through the portal. I told J.A.R.V.I.S. to connect a call to you. I thought that was it. Where were you?"
"Madrid. I watched it all on TV. Nothing could have made me look away. Not even a phone call..." She looked up at him. "You really did scare me with that."
"I know, I scared myself."
Only the stars saw them both lean forward, lips meeting briefly and slightly awkwardly before both pulled away.
"Our first kiss," she remarked, slightly breathless.
"Yeah we actually had our first kiss, remember?" Of course, when she kissed him as a distraction at the 2010 Expo.
"Yeah but this was more romantic."
"Yeah, it was." They kissed again. "It's kind of weird, actually..."
"I thought it was nice, personally," he said.
"Okay, yeah, weird-nice."
"It's okay, right? Run it by me again-" They tried again.
"I think it's weird." The two broke apart and whirled around to see Rhodey standing there, hands jammed in his pockets and looking unimpressed. "You guys look like two seals fighting over a grape."
"That's weirdly specific..."
"You're kinda ruining our moment, here," Tony told him.
"Oh, I am, I'm sorry. To ruin the moment you're having with the thief who robbed you. Or did you forget about that already?"
"Forgave, didn't forget. I think you should get lost."
Rhodey just shook his head and left them.
"Maybe I should go-" She pulled away.
"Hey, hey, wait, I thought we were having a moment."
"Yeah but clearly your friends don't like me. I'm not going to come between you."
"Well, I mean, to be honest, in their defence, the way we met was kind of sketchy. But that's all in the past now, no hard feelings, right?"
"Nope."
"So can we continue our moment?"
She chuckled and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning into him.
"Think you might stick around for a little while?" he asked.
"Maybe. You might have succeeded in persuading me."
"Oh, I can be very persuasive."
She glanced upwards at him, raising her eyebrows. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, check this out-" He kissed her again. "See?"
"Oh yes, very persuasive." She kissed him back.
"What about you, you got any exciting plans tomorrow?"
"Depends. I was supposed to meet with the Wakandan Royalty-"
"Still not believing that one."
"-But plans change."
"They sure do. Hey J.A.R.V.I.S.?"
"Yes, Mr. Stark."
"Can we cancel all my meetings and scheduled appointments tomorrow, please and thank you."
"Yes, Sir. Although you know this will upset Ms. Potts, yes?"
"Yeah, most likely."
"What shall I tell her?"
"Tell her something came up."
"That's all?"
"Yeah, we'll spare her the rest of the details."
"You can spare me as well, Sir."
Kass couldn't help but throw back her head and laugh before kissing Tony again.
Yeah, maybe she'd be sticking around for a while this time.
But, unfortunately, she doesn't after Tony's PTSD starts flaring up, as we learned in chapter 3. I hope this timeline jumping isn't too confusing (I'm doing my best to follow it myself! ;)) Why do I constantly insist on making my stories so complicated?
As always, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)
