A/N: Hey y'all! Sorry to keep you waiting with this story, but I've just kept forgetting to update. But here it is!

(So I have two more chapters currently written, I just keep forgetting to publish them! Sorry!)

Updated 4/28- Hey, I made a few other changes, like changing Jarvis to Friday and adding in Vision, just a bit. Again, this is for the sake of the story, so sorry if it causes any cofusion.

Chapter 3

I woke up, and in my half sleep delirium, it took me a moment to remember where I was. As I looked around the room I was in, I pinched myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I wasn't. Everything began to come back to me, and I winced internally as I thought it all. Regardless, I got out of bed and headed for the kitchen.

"Good morning, Miss. Hayes." The AI's voice made me jump before I recalled her existence.

"Good morning Friday. What time is it?"
"It is 10:26 in the morning, Miss Hayes."

I froze. No wonder I felt so refreshed. I hadn't actually slept that long in ages. But it wasn't like I could do anything, so I just continued on my way to the kitchen.

The kitchen wasn't huge, but it was really nice and quite cute. I rooted through the cupboards and fridge before deciding on peanut butter toast for my late breakfast.

As I waited for the bread to toast, I was struck with another thought.

"Friday?"

"Yes?"

"What's the wifi password?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that question. You'll have to go see Mr. Stark for that."

I ate my toast quickly and got dressed in leggings and a hoodie. I didn't know what Stark's workshop would be like, so I went ahead and put on my Converse. I went ahead and grabbed my computer as well as my phone, just so that both could be connected. Friday had gone ahead and notified Stark of my intended visit. I took a breath and prepared myself for an encounter with a fourth Avenger in the past 24 hours.

Friday had the elevator move once I was inside, and it swiftly took me down. I was quite certain that Stark's workshop was underground, and judging by the amount of time it took me to travel, I figured I was right. The soft ding from the elevator doors noted me the short trip was done, and I stepped out into a long hallway.

One wall of the hallway was all glass, and I could see through enough to tell it was Stark's workshop and it was huge. There were glass doors with some sort of scanner next to it, although, the more I thought about it, the more I doubted the walls and door were glass.

I stood, waiting to be noticed. After a good few minutes, Stark turned around and, upon noticing me, got up from the bench he was sitting on and walked over to the doors I was waiting at. He input a code into a pad on his side of the doors and they slid open with a quiet hiss. Stark held out his arms and broke into a wide grin.

"Welcome to Tony's funhouse! Please, call me Tony, I won't be dealing with any of that Mr. Stark bullcrap. And you must be the infamous Stephanie Hayes. What can I do for you?"

I shook my head, trying desperately to take in this madman. "Oh, I just want the wifi password." I held out my phone to him, rather shocked when he snatched it out of my hand.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? An iPhone… 5S? And a MacBook? Someone seems a bit partial to Apple, oh well." He took my computer from me and set it with my phone on a small table. "What's your favorite color?"

I stared at him in shock before shaking my head at the absurdness of his question. "Blue. Like, a bright sky blue specifically."

He nodded. "Okay, that'll do. So do me a favor and come back in an hour."

"What about my stuff?" I asked.

"Don't worry. An hour won't kill you."

I shot him a sidelong glance and headed back to my room.

About an hour later, I found myself heading back down to Tony's workshop. I really had no clue what to expect, but it definitely wasn't what happened.

"Tony, I can't accept these." I stated. I tried to hand the phone and computer back to him, back he shook his head and held up his hands.

"I don't like being handed things. You already accepted them when you took them from me. The computer is my newest design for a two-in-one tablet computer and the phone is one of the newer models of the StarkPhone. You'll find all the Avengers' numbers in there, and yours has been put in theirs automatically. Also, I was able to transfer your game data over, all though it was a pain, though that Best Fiends progress was too good to delete. You're welcome."

I stared at the arrogant genius billionaire playboy philanthropist standing in front of me. I shook my head in disbelief.

"I honestly don't know what to say, other than thank you. Wow."

Tony flashed a Cheshire Cat grin. "Don't mention it. Really don't. It'd ruin my reputation."

I shook my head and left the workshop. Just as I came out, the elevator doors opened to reveal a tall woman with light copper colored hair pulled into a neat bun. She wore a professional looking business suit with heels. She stepped out of the elevator and walked over to me.

"Hi! I'm Pepper. Pepper Potts. I don't really recognize you. Who are you?

She held her hand out for a shake, and I took it graciously. "I'm Stephanie Hayes, and wow, you're the CEO of Stark Industries."

She smiled. "Yes, that I am. And you're Stephanie. Well, it's nice to meet you. What are you doing down here?"

"I came to get the wifi password over an hour ago and Stark seemed adamant on making sure Apple technology didn't stay in here longer than it needed to." I held up the phone and computer tablet to prove my point.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Well, just consider it a compliment and a welcome present."

I laughed. "That I will. It was nice to meet you."

"Aw, you too. Just know I'm here if you ever need someone to talk to."

I smiled and stepped into the elevator. "Noted and thank you."

I spent the next couple hours fiddling with my new computer and phone. The phone is amazing and, yes, connected to the internet. It's in a pretty blue case and does still have all my data from my games. And I had to admit, it did run a lot smoother and just seem a lot better than my old iPhone. The computer-tablet was also really cool, with a blue keyboard and matching blue stylus. It was so small and sleek and did seem a good deal better than my Mac. After a good deal of messing about, I stood up to go make some dinner. I had eaten breakfast so late that I hadn't had lunch, so now it was half past five and I was starving.

I got up and went to the kitchen. I had Friday put on the Hamilton soundtrack as I put a pot of water on the stove to boil. I also took some chicken out of the fridge and prepared it to be cooked. Soon, the kitchen was full of delicious aromas of my cooking.

Just as I was taking my garlic bread out of the oven, someone spoke up, almost causing me to drop my bread.

"Well, you've just made yourself right at home, haven't you?" I turned to see Steve leaning against the doorframe with a comfortable grin on his face.

I shrugged. "I was hungry. Plus, I just really enjoy cooking."

Steve laughed. "Shall we eat then?"

I grinned and turned to get some plates and dish out the food. A few moments later we were sitting at the table. I watched as Steve took a bite and chewed, taking time to really taste the food.

"Mmm. Where did you learn to cook like this?" He said finally.

"My mom." I said, without thinking.

Steve must have noticed my abrupt shift in mood, because he set his fork down and looked at me. His expression seemed so open and willing to listen that I made the split-second decision to trust him.

"My parents are dead. I grew up in North Carolina, where I lived my entire life. I went to college and after I graduated, decided to go abroad with some of my mates from my college dorm. I spent a year and a half traveling across Europe and then came home. I went ahead and got a job. But then, not even six months later, my parents got into a fatal car accident. Being their only child, I inherited all their money, so I quit my job and moved to London. I pretty much cut off all my ties with people in North Carolina. This is my first time back in over two years."

I looked up at Steve and saw a variety of emotions across his face; shock, surprise, pity, and sorrow. I felt a bit embarrassed I had told all of this to a near stranger, but for some reason or another, I trusted him.

Steve cleared his throat. "I have to admit, I have no clue what to say to that. Anything I could say you've probably heard and don't want to hear any of it. But… I am glad you told me. It does help to get things like that out." He gave me an encouraging smile and I offered a small one in return.

After we finished eating, Steve and I decided to watch Zootopia. Yes, it is technically a kids movie, but we thought it would be a nice feel-good movie to watch. And boy, was it a good film. As it finished, I stood and gave Steve a smile before going to my room. And once again, as I curled up under the covers in what was probably the most comfortable bed I had ever slept in, sleep found me easily.

A/N: So, what'd you think? As you can probably tell, I like putting personal touches in my stories, like my obsession with Best Fiends and Hamilton. And Zootopia is actually a really good movie (it was also the only one I had on my mind at the time).