Alright! I'm back home for the holidays! I also want to thank everyone who gave me their own little present in the form of financial support! (The link on my tumblr is fixed, though with what's going on with tumblr...eh). For Chanukah I also posted several chapters in my other fics, as well as some FT one shots, in case you didn't get any alerts. I'd be really happy if you could check them out!

Anyway, thank you guys so much! To celebrate, this is last of the Tony arc (for now. He's still totally gonna be in it, the chapters aren't going to be called Tony, Part... anymore).

Sorry it's a bit of a cliffy - next chapter should at least be up at the end of the week.

Enjoy!

Chapter Nine – Tony, Part Eight

Here's the thing.

Elle mentioned changing things for the better; creating a world that he'd be proud for Bucky and Steve to wake up to.

But Tony still wasn't sure what he thought about them.

He'd get over them eventually, he knew he'd have to.

But Bucky had killed his parents, and Steve was…Captain America.

He knew he was being a hypocrite. Tony didn't like it when other people judged him through association, or by rumors or things like that.

But when every word that came out of Howard's mouth had to do with Steve, it was hard to still remain neutral.

Tony had worshipped Steve, at first, but it didn't take him long before he realized he'd never measure up in his father's eyes. He'd started worrying about it after Howard didn't really do anything about building an engine when he was six; sending him off to boarding school a few years later only reinforced his suspicions. When he got into MIT, Howard barely huffed, and that was when Tony knew he wasn't worth it.

That was when he started rejecting Captain America; when he tore down the poster and refused to hear another word about him.

The only time after that…

Well, the only time when he could stand to learn about him was when he was hearing about Steve, not Captain America. He knew that his father was blind to just about anything concerning the Captain, but Aunt Peggy and the rest of his uncles; they could be relied on a bit more.

But Tony wasn't fixing the world for them and the thing is, he knew that Elle knew it too. She didn't say it outright, but this had just as much to do with making himself proud of something. When she talked about making them proud, she wasn't entirely talking about them; more the 'waking up' aspect.

Because if Tony woke up to a future that was a piece of shit like his life was now…well, he got what she was saying.

And the way that that resonated between them; well, that was another reason he trusted her so easily.

But not the main one.

It was her eyes.

Of all the things that Eleanor Rigby – Elle Dreyar – showed him, it was her eyes that shown with the truth.

And more than that; they didn't look at him with pity.

She looked at him with understanding, and when she had teared up earlier he hadn't been sure if she was crying for him or for herself.

Tony didn't think she knew, either.

He watched as she helpfully used her magic to clear things up, and was also talking about her guildmates, while 'suggesting' that he work on his plans for Stark Tower as she took care of things.

They'd fallen into a nice sort of camaraderie with Tony working and Elle supporting background noise, and he knew that he could get used to this.

It seemed like a good thing (though he wasn't quite sure yet).

Still, he liked Elle, and learning about her friends was pretty fun and entertaining (if not slightly alarming).

"Wait, Macbeth and Erigor went undercover in Hydra?" Tony asked, alarmed. "But they're a couple! They need to hide the fact that they're gay under the noses of Nazis!"

Elle nodded with a smile on her face. "Yep. And Erigor is going to love rubbing it in their face once they blow their cover. But it's fine. I'm confident in their abilities. As are they."

"Really?" Tony asked.

"Back in the other dimension – Fiore (that's the country we lived in), – jobs were organized by skill class. Originally it was standard guild mage, before moving up to S Class quests. Bigger reward, more danger. And then infamous quests that people haven't been able to complete for all the years they've been available. You could only take a quest based on what wizard class you were," she explained. "If you wanted to go on a quest above your level, you'd have to team up with someone on that level. All of us who died were S Class, or above."

"Why the letter S?" Tony asked.

She shrugged. "It's always been like that. And eventually, 'guild mage' was specified, too. There's D Class, then C, then B, then A. Followed by S, followed by SS, followed by the level of a Wizard Saint."

"Wizard Saint?" Tony asked, alarmed.

Elle nodded. "Generally, a guild is lucky if they have four or five S Class wizards. But I screwed a lot of things up and pushed people a lot harder. It caused a type of Ripple effect, and in the end, we all ended up a lot stronger for it. All of us who died were S Class or above. It was during a trial to move people in S Class up to SS. They could partner with someone, but that person had to be S Class, and couldn't be a nominee. Their partner also couldn't be below, and it couldn't be above. The ones who were already SS Class helped test the others. Things like that."

"And the Wizard Saint?" Tony asked, still focusing on that.

As he watched her, Tony noticed her eyes go out of focus, as if she was remembering something. "Originally, they were just called the Ten Wizard Saints; the ten most powerful people on the continent. Not Fiore, which was our country, but the entire continent, which is called Ishgar. And while there are still only ten 'official' Wizard Saints by the council, it's generally acknowledged that our guild has at least seven members who could contend for a spot. Though only some of those members actually have a spot."

"Seven?" Tony nearly choked. "Out of ten?"

She smirked. "We're not all official. But the third most powerful Wizard Saint was actually one of the founders of Fairy Tail. Warrod still has his guild mark, too. So technically eight."

He considered the implications of what she had said earlier. "So wait, how many of the people who died during the trials were considered some of the saints?"

"Five on the skill level, though only four were official," she answered, sighing. "The two that stayed behind were watching their kids. And Warrod's retired, so…"

"Wait…" Tony stared at her. "Are you telling me that in a group of kids from fifteen to twenty-seven, five of you are considered some of the strongest people on your continent?"

"Four," she corrected softly. "Our guild master was also monitoring the trials. And he decided, when we died, that he would wait. So he's back up there, resting in the library. Finally having some peace from his brats." She smiled fondly, as if she was talking about something entirely unrelated to her guildmaster basically chilling in heaven. "He was Laxus's and Jellal's grandfather. Well, and kinda Cana's. Weird family tree, remember?"

"I remember," Tony murmured, his eyes returning to the Stark Tower hologram.

So maybe it was weird that he trusted her so easily. Maybe she was right when she said it was a side effect of the poisoning.

But something about her screamed sincerity, and God, was Tony tired. And maybe that was a side effect of the poisoning (or maybe something worse) but he was kind of okay with throwing care to the wind. Elle and her group were a risk, but a risk he think would end up fine. (Plus, if she and they were risks, he highly doubted he could stop them from destroying or taking over the world if she wanted to). And unless Elle was the best actress he'd ever met, she actually cared about him, and God, he wanted that.

He wanted her.

Not in that way (she was married, and he did have limits despite was gossip rags said) but she was so nice, she was snarky, she was brilliant.

And she cared.

He could probably count the people who actually cared for his wellbeing on two hands. Even including Elle.

She was honest, she was open, and people don't do that, but maybe that's what made it work.

In fact…

Tony side eyed her as she shuffled through her cards, looking for something (what, he had no idea).

"Hey, Elle," he said softly.

Now wasn't the time for nicknames.

…Besides, he could only think of so many witchy or wizard nicknames, so he was probably going to put most of them on hold until he met the rest of the group.

Though Elle would have to make do with 'Sabrina'.

"Yeah?" she asked, looking up.

"Why did you have so many friends in your second life but not your first?" Tony asked.

Inwardly, he winced. Wow, so much for sensitivity.

But she smiled at him, as if she was guessing what he was thinking. "Maybe in the future, if you ask something like that, you tell the person ahead of time that it might be a difficult subject matter? Give them some sort of warning?"

Tony nodded, slightly ashamed (not that he let it show on his face).

"But yeah, I can answer," she said, breathing out air through her teeth. She settled down on the couch and Tony sat next to her, bringing over the hologram so he could play with it. Elle seemed unbothered by his multitasking, by his need to always have his hand moving, and it just made it even better.

"When I died in my first life, it was several years from now," she announced. "So I don't necessarily remember when certain things happened. But I know there was some sort of dating test thing with relationships. And that, from a psychological perspective, people would have a very deep connection if they bore their soul to one another. And I think…I wasn't able to do that in my first life. I wasn't willing to take the leap of faith, to give up my vulnerability first when I didn't know what would attack me. Not after my time in the orphanage, where it was generally seen as 'each man for themselves'. But in the Fairy Tail universe…I knew the characters. Even if they didn't do it themselves, they've been very vulnerable around me, and I already understand and connect with them. So it was okay for me to take that leap and reach out to them; it would make the relationship two sided. Slowly, through the last universe, I learned a bit more about making friends with people I know nothing about, but it's always easier for me if I already know a lot about them. Which also makes it easier for me to bear my soul to them in return."

Tony contemplated Elle's words. He could see and understand why that would make a difference. But he felt like it put him in an odd spot. On the one hand, he didn't have to tell her anything specifically, because she's already seen it all. On the other hand, he would've preferred to pick and choose what others knew about him.

But it was too late for that, and if Elle really saw something that she thought made him want to be her friend, then maybe he wasn't as much of a monster as he thought.

Aloud, he said, "Let's go shopping."

Elle stopped and looked at him. "What?"

"Let's go shopping!" Tony said excitedly. "Come on! You need clothes, right?"

"Well…technically."

"Then let's go!" Tony said enthusiastically. "Come on!"

She stared at him. "I pick where we shop. I don't care about stupidly amazing suits and stuff you wear. If I need fancy clothes eventually you can pick it out when we get to that point. For now I just want comfortable shit. Let's go to Kohl's, or Target. Or Kmart. Is there Kmart in California?"

"Oh come on!" Tony whined.

"I am not a doll," Elle said, her hands going to her hips. "If you want someone to dress up, give it some time, you'll get a few people. And a large majority of the guild's guys are a hot mess when it comes to wardrobes. So you can have fun then."

"You don't want to dress up and get all fancy?" Tony asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course, I want to; sometimes. Not a lot. This is Malibu, I need shorts and tank tops. If you want to dress me all up in fancy clothes for something important, like a charity ball (you do those, right?) then that would be different."

"Yes, I do do those, and I will be dressing you up," Tony said.

Elle shrugged. "Fine, but I'm fucking with the people there. Gotta get my kicks in somehow." She snickered, and Tony didn't know if he was supposed to be an adult and berate her, or encourage her.

Yeah, just because he was a superhero didn't mean he had to be an adult. He was totally going to encourage her.

"I've got no problem with that," Tony said. "But if you're going to be my PA and I need to suffer through those, so do you."

"That's fine," she said. "But I'm still not getting fancy clothes today."

It took me awhile to get Tony to agree to let me wear normal clothes, but he finally accepted and let me teleport him to the nearest Target, during which he spent most of the time recording the teleportation on his phone and talking to JARVIS about stats.

"You know," I said, searching through some clothes. "Wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap is not a real disguise. If anything, you look like Tony Stark going to a baseball game. That's it."

"Eh," Tony's carefree voice drifted over to me, and I could practically hear the shrug in his voice.

"Tony, have you ever even been in a department store?" I asked him incredulously, pulling out of the clothes. Tony stared at me, where he had been caught playing with a bathing suit red handed.

A girl's bathing suit.

"Why is there a bikini on your head?" I asked him, sighing.

Tony opened his mouth and closed it. "I don't…know."

"Dear god, you haven't been in a department store," I muttered, snatching it off his head and shoving it back into the pile. I grabbed his hand and patted his pocket with it.

"What are you doing?" Tony asked, his eyes following my movements.

"Reminding you that you have a phone," I said, rolling my eyes. "And that you've complained about the amount of work you have earlier."

Tony grumbled and pulled out the phone, pulling up the hologram for Stark Tower.

I facepalmed. "Tony, what is the point of trying to go incognito if you're going to use technology only Tony Stark has access to? Don't you have a stencil or something?"

"Stylus," Tony corrected. He grumbled and collapsed the hologram, pulling out a stylus and drawing on the screen.

I continued to walk through the aisles, tugging Tony along while Tony grabbed some shirts he saw out of the corner of his eye.

He held up a shirt for me.

I rolled my eyes when I read it and threw it in the basket, trying to hide a smile.

"Why didn't you grab a cart?" Tony asked.

"I still have some clothes in my requip space," I said. "So I don't need to get as much things as you probably think. Besides, I'll pick out undergarments with Pepper or something."

"Pepper is best at shoes," Tony told me.

"I know, because you practically beg her forgiveness in shoes," I pointed out. "But I don't need heels."

"You don't?" Tony asked.

"Tony, I'm taller than you," I said, bending down and grabbing some shorts.

"No, you're not," Tony said, straightening up as I stood up again and threw them in the basket.

I spared him a glance and noticed he was around 5'9'' now, causing me to stop and stare at him. "OH MY GOD, do you really put heels on your shoes?"

Tony sniffed and crossed his arms. "They're platforms."

"You do!" I said, laughing. "I know you have them in your Iron Man suit, but your regular shoes, too?"

"Heels were made for men first, anyway," Tony muttered.

I laughed again. "Anyway, I don't need heels. I don't need to be any taller, and they make me unsteady. Action movies like to make it impressive that a girl can fight in heels, and it is impressive, and could also function as a good weapon, but it's a lot easier to kick ass without it holding you back. And I keep all my important shoes in my requip space anyway, so it doesn't matter anyway."

I grabbed a bathing suit, because that was one thing I didn't have, and then reviewed what was in the basket. "I'm done," I told him.

"Fancy clothes?" he asked.

"Tony," I sighed.

"Look, if you're going to follow me around as a PA you'll probably need to look somewhat professional."

"I'm not dying my hair," I said immediately. After the first time I appeared back in the library with my hair still purple, even though it was original brown, I realized how much of it had become my identity, and I wasn't giving it up.

Tony shrugged. "Fine, but you need to put it up."

"It won't fit in a bun," I warned him, rolling my eyes and heading towards some blouses.

"Then use a ponytail," he said, grabbing my arm. "And I'll call my tailor, you don't need to get those shirts."

I sighed and let him drag me to the checkout, where I took him to the self-scanner so he wouldn't attract as much attention.

"Why are these so slow?" Tony asked, tapping the machine as I scanned more things.

"Because they weren't made by you. Didn't we go over this?" I asked him as I scanned the next item.

Tony looked at the machine dubiously, then back at me. "What, you really think I should make these?"

I snorted. "They'd be at the bottom of the list, and like...only if you really want to. Though I could totally see you do it out of annoyance. But I wasn't kidding when I said you make things better. Like, I'm pretty sure there are bullet trains in Japan that go, like…200 miles an hour. I'm just saying, Tony, if you even just recreated one version of everything, it'd be ten times better, and that's without you even trying."

Tony was quiet as I finished scanning, and he handed me his card, which I quickly put in.

"You're good at this," he said as I put the card down on the machine for him to swipe it off of, so he didn't have to take it from my hand.

"I just know what I'm doing," I said, picking up the bags. "Help me carry them outside."

"What, are we gonna carry them back?" Tony asked, grabbing the remaining bags and exiting the store.

"Of course not," I said, taking the bags from them and requipping them. "I have Spatial Magic, remember? Requip and Teleportation."

"Wow, you could steal things easily," Tony muttered.

I glared at him. "I'm not a klepto!"

"I didn't say you were," he said, following me as we walked to the grocery store next door.

I blushed, before straightening as I sensed something.

Tony jumped when a noise came out of nowhere, but I was already on alert.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Let's find out," I murmured, already moving forward.