All righty, and we're back for another chapter! .. This one's a bit shorter than the last few, and I apologize for that.
A quick note concerning a smaller note I already have in the text: the town of Al-Hazim I made up simply for the purposes of that specific part of the story. If that town happens to really exist, my apologies. lol.
And another note concerning the arc reactor in Stark's chest: As I was writing this chapter, I realized that I didnt do a whole lot of Stark's point of view in order to really progress and let in whats happening in the world of "Iron Man". Related to that, I realized that surely, with Lilly and Tony's relationship being the way it is, she would have realized the giant glowing blue thing in the center of his chest. But alas, either she's blind or just ignorant, becuase she doesnt know about it. lol. My bad :P. So, for sake of my mistake, let's say, that Lilly has not seen Stark in the nude faints at the thought or without a shirt, etc etc. And as slightly unbelievable as that is, I know and I apologize. Once again, my bad x.X
But I do believe that that is all, and so, if that is the case, read on!
Lilly opened her eyes the next morning and immediately smiled to herself, gently touching a finger to her lips. The memories of the night before had never been far off, as Stark had been whom she had dreamt about that night. She lay in bed on her back, staring up at the ceiling as she ran her kiss with Stark through her mind for the hundredth time since it happened. She could still remember the musky and spicy scent of his cologne when he kissed her and the way his fingers had entwined themselves in her hair as he pulled her towards him. Lilly gave a contented sigh. In the midst of her reminiscing, the exorcist theme sounded from her nightstand. Grabbing her cell phone from the nightstand and glancing at the caller ID, she saw it was Rose and immediately knew what she wanted.
"Hey, Rose," she answered the phone.
"Spill the details, NOW!" Rose commanded. Lilly laughed.
"Good morning to you too, Rose," she said.
"Did you kiss him?" Rose instead asked, blatantly ignoring Lilly's words.
"Hold your horses, let me tell you what happened," Lilly said quickly before Rose continued to grill her. Rose kept her mouth shut long enough for Lilly to quickly tell her the events of last night. But when she told her about the kiss, Rose squealed with glee, loud enough that Lilly had to hold the phone away from her ear for a moment.
"How old are you again, Rose?" Lilly asked in a mock patronizing tone.
"Old enough to have a career but young enough to still squeal like a 13 year old girl when the occasion calls for it!" Rose exclaimed, chuckling. The two friends chatted for a while longer, going from Lilly's date the night before, to things like work and mundane, everyday life. Finally Rose said she had to go and so they hung up. Soon after their conversation ended, and still smiling to herself, Lilly got out of bed and got ready for the day.
The weeks went by and Lilly and Stark saw plenty of each other during those weeks, usually just meeting up with each other to grab some coffee as Lilly's schedule was generally very busy. Though, they had found time to go out for dinner a few times during those weeks. And with each passing day and date, their relationship grew and Lilly found herself caring more and more for Stark. Stark opened up almost entirely to her. The only thing he did not speak so much about was what exactly happened while he had been held captive in Afghanistan for those three months. Lilly knew that it was sure to be a touchy subject, so she never pressed and decided that she would let him tell her everything when he was ready.
Lilly hummed happily to herself as she sauntered down the hallway to her office one morning, about two weeks after her first date with Stark. She fished her office keys out of her bag, unlocking the door, then letting herself in.
"You keep your desk incredibly tidy," a male voice said in its normal, quiet and quick manner of speaking from Lilly's desk.
"Holy-" she exclaimed, jumping out of surprise. Stark laughed and Lilly shot him a withering look, but then couldn't hold it, and so she broke out into laughter along with him. After setting down her purse and bag on a chair, she walked over to Stark who was still seated at the chair behind her desk, a coy smile playing on her lips. She placed both hands on his shoulders for support and sat down sideways in his lap, her hands running down his chest then back up to loop around his neck. Stark smiled lazily, his eyes flicking down to Lilly's lips then back up to her eyes, as one hand found her waist, and the other rubbing up and down her thigh, toying every now and then with the hem of her skirt.
"I thought I told you not to scare me like that," Lilly whispered seductively against his lips, her fingers toying with a curled lock of hair at the base of his skull. The hand Stark was running up and down her thigh, crept a few inches up under her skirt and trailed up and down the inside of her thigh with a feather-light touch. Lilly bit her bottom lip at the sensation.
"And what are you going to do about it?" Stark whispered back huskily, his eyes now trained only on her lips. Instead of answering, Lilly leaned in and sensually pressed her lips against his, biting his lower lip and pulling away slightly with it between her teeth before releasing it. Stark smirked, his eyes dark with want. He opened his mouth to speak, some smart remark most likely, but Lilly instead cut him off by pressing her lips to his again, harder this time, pushing him back as she leaned into the kiss. Stark's smart response was now reduced to a quiet groan as he kissed her back, the hand on her inner thigh stopping its feathery ministrations and instead gripping it tightly.
"Hey, Lilly, I- WHOA!" Rose exclaimed as she burst into Lilly's office without warning. Lilly leapt to her feet, smoothing her hair and skirt at the same time, as she stared wide eyed at Rose, her mind racing for something to say. Stark didn't rise, but had enough sense to at least look chagrined as he straightened his shirt.
"Oh wow, I didn't realize that the colour of your ceiling is the same colour as the walls!" Rose said in an exaggerated manner as she stared intently at the ceiling, mortified at what she had just walked in on.
"Rose, you can look now," Lilly said with a sigh. Rose glanced over to the desk area, then seeing that it was okay to look, she lowered her head and turned towards the couple.
"I don't think you two have met formally. Rose this is Tony Stark. Tony, this is Rose Lee," Lilly said, introducing the two. Rose gave a small wave and mouthed the word "hi" as Tony also raised a hand in greeting.
"Um, yea, so, it really wasn't that important to begin with. Lilly, I'll talk to you later," Rose said quickly, ducking out of the room. As soon as the door closed Lilly rolled her eyes and turned back to Stark.
"I'm sorry. Rose has a really bad habit of doing that," she apologized. Stark chuckled and rose from the chair, kissing Lilly chastely on the lips. "So what are you doing here?"
"I was just in the neighbourhood and I thought I'd come surprise you before you started for the day," Stark said with a shrug, leaning back on her desk while facing her.
"Aw, how sweet! Tony Stark really does have a heart," Lilly gushed over exaggeratingly. Stark laughed and pulled her towards him by the waist, kissing her gently. Then he pulled away and cupped her face in his hand, his thumb stroking her cheek.
"Thanks to you," he said softly, looking Lilly straight in the eye. She smiled.
"Hey there, Rosalie," Lilly said, poking her head into Rose's office, and calling her affectionately by a combination of her first and last name.
"Oh my god, Lilly, I'm so sorry to have burst in on you like that this morning!" Rose immediately exclaimed, taking off her reading glasses from where she sat behind her desk. Lilly laughed.
"Hey, it's ok. I just wanted to say goodnight before I headed out," she said.
"All right. And hey, we need to go out for drinks sometime this week. I've barely seen you!" Rose called as Lilly turned to leave the room.
"All right. I'll give you a call later," Lilly said, then waved her goodbye to Rose before walking down the hallway towards to elevator and back towards her car.
Tony Stark sat down in his workshop on a couch facing a flat screen television that was mounted on the wall across from him. He was currently watching the news. He flexed his right hand, which was held out before him, encased in a mess of wires and metal; the metal forming a glove over his hand.
When he had arrived back from Afghanistan, he had sworn that he would stop developing weapons that would just be used to create more death and destruction. He had even announced his decision to change the priorities of Stark Industries during the press meeting he had called only hours after his plane had landed. Of course, the announcement had created an uproar and Obadiah had tried to talk him down, but Stark was adamant. Instead of continuing development on more weapons, he had started to improve upon his prototype of the iron suit he had made whilst in captivity on his own in his basement workshop. He had finally completed it, and was now just putting the finishing touches on some parts of it. Stark tightened a screw with the screwdriver he was holding, as he watched the current news story with a grim expression.
"It is a time of mourning in this small town of Al-Hazim ((A/N: not a real place)) as the people have come under attack and their town has been practically destroyed," the news woman reported from on site. Behind her, the people of the town trudged wearily past her, most of their belongings either packed up onto their backs or onto mules which they led behind them. Stark continued to watch, ceasing his repairs on the robotic arm for the moment. His eyebrows furrowed together and he frowned as a video was played of a building exploding as people were seen running screaming from it.
"As you can see behind me, the townspeople have taken up what belongings of theirs that have not been destroyed, and are taking to a temporary retreat in the nearby hills," the news-anchor reported once the camera was back on her. Stark had had enough. He stood slowly, but almost ominously, as he examined the console on his arm. His jaw set firmly, he held out his right arm and aimed at the nearest pane of glass. With a growl sounding deep in his throat, he let loose and fired a strong beam from the glove at the pane of glass, instantly shattering it, the force of the shot knocking him back a step. Momentarily amazed at the power he just released, Stark overcame the initial shock and replaced it with determination. Supporting his right arm with his other hand, he turned and shot off three more shots in succession; destroying a hanging industrial light and two more panes of glass.
As satisfying as it was making things explode, it only did so much for getting rid of his anger concerning the situation. He tore the console from his arm and tossed it onto a nearby worktable, barely caring what happened to it. He stalked over to his liquor stash and pulled out a bottle of scotch, completely foregoing a glass. He then walked back over to the couch, sat down, and started to drink directly from the bottle, his eyes trained on the television, glowering at it as the news channel continued to report about the destruction occurring in Afghanistan. Stark took another swig of the liquor, his eyes flicking to the finished suit which hung from cables across the room. He glared at it, already starting to feel the effects of the scotch, which caused the vision of the suit to blur. Frustrated, he turned back to the television and took a long draw from the bottle.
"I'm not strong enough," he muttered to himself, banishing the thought of using the suit from his mind. Taking another long drink from the bottle, Stark reached over and fumbled for his cell phone which was sitting on the coffee table before him. Flipping it open, he went down his contacts list, pressing wrong buttons intermittently from his tipsy, nearly drunk, state. He finally found the number he was looking for a pressed send.
"Hello?" came Lilly's sleepy voice from the other side.
"I need you," Stark slurred simply into the phone. There was a beat of silence from the other side.
"Tony, is everything ok?" Lilly asked worriedly, the sleepiness disappearing from her voice.
"I'm just not strong enough," he said instead, taking another sip of the scotch. "I'm just not strong enough to help. I need you here." His voice cracked at his last words and that spurred Lilly into action.
"Ok, Tony, listen to me. I'll be there in ten minutes, ok? Keep your phone with you and you call me if you need me before I get there," Lilly said slowly, speaking clearly and stressing the importance of her words to the pretty much drunk Stark.
"Ok," Stark mumbled into the phone. They both hung up, and Stark stayed in his position leaning back on the couch, his head leaning back on the head of the couch, the bottle of scotch clutched in his hand. He stared blankly at the television screen, no longer really registering anything the news was saying anymore. He took another sip, and closed his eyes, succumbing to the demons of the bottle and praying that Lilly got there soon.
Lilly sped down the highway towards Malibu. She had shed her pajamas and donned jeans and a simple white t shirt and gotten into her car all in record timing. As she drove towards Stark's house, seriously exceeding the speed limit, her heart was pounding in her chest. Lilly was almost afraid of what she was going to find when she got to his home. She had never heard him so down before and hearing him sound like that, scared the hell out of her.
Lilly turned down Stark's street, her tires squealing because of the speed at which she took the turn. Thankfully she had spent some time with Stark at his home during the past few weeks, and so she didn't have to worry about trying to get his address out of him in this state. Lilly finally arrived in front of his home, pulling into the circular driveway and finally putting her car into park in the driveway right in front of the front door. She exited her car, lightly jogging up to the front door and testing the doorknob. It was unlocked.
"Tony, you have to stop forgetting to lock your door," Lilly muttered to herself as she let herself into his house, closing the front door behind her. "Tony?" Lilly called out into the dark and empty house. She wandered from room to room, not finding him in the living room, the kitchen, or even his bedroom. Descending the stairs after searching for him in his bedroom, her eyes went to the staircase that continued down another floor to where she knew his workshop was. Lilly went and quickly descended those stairs, stopping dead when she reached the bottom and came across broken glass littering all around her. Looking up, she realized the source of the broken glass: two of the three panels of glass wall had been completely destroyed. Only the glass in the door remained un-shattered.
"Tony, are you in here?" Lilly called, sufficiently worried at this point. She stepped cautiously through the broken glass panes and into the workshop. Electricity popped to her right, and she glanced that way, seeing the destroyed light, hanging, now, only by a few wires and sending out sparks every now and then. As she came further into the room, she noticed the back of Stark's head leaning against the head of the couch.
"Tony?" Lilly said, walking quickly around the couch. Stark looked up at her from his lounged position on the couch, the bottle of scotch still held in his hand, but only a sip remained. He had drained the entire bottle.
"You came," Stark stated flatly, the relief evident, if not in his voice, definitely in his eyes.
"Of course I did," Lilly said, kneeling next to him on the couch and smoothing the hair away from his forehead, caressing his face. She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his forehead. She frowned as she watched him just stare blankly at the wall in front of him, not even looking at her anymore.
"Hey, let me have this," she said quietly, taking the scotch bottle from his hand and placing it on the table. When she sat back in the couch, Stark lay down and put his head in her lap without saying a word. Lilly sighed to herself, and stroked his hair, waiting for him to tell her what was wrong.
"I don't have the strength to help people," Stark finally said, his words muffled from his position in Lilly's lap.
"What do you mean you don't have the strength?" Lilly asked, leaning down so she could hear him better. Instead, he sat up and looked at her, running a hand down his face tiredly.
"There are so many out there who need help, and I can't do anything about it. I don't even have the strength to keep even myself alive," Tony said slowly, eventually getting all the words out in a coherent sentence. Lilly looked at him, her eyes widened slightly with mild alarm at his words.
"Tony, honey, I really don't understand what you're talking about. You're starting to scare me a little," Lilly whispered. Stark didn't speak, but grabbed her hand and held it against his chest. Instead of touching soft, warm flesh, her fingers hit hard metal.
"What …" she trailed off, recoiling and looking at Stark, highly confused. Stark just stared at her, still not speaking, and Lilly hesitantly glanced down at his chest where she had felt metal instead of skin. Slowly, she reached over and began to pull his shirt up, Stark simply adjusting slightly so she could lift his shirt, his eyes never leaving her face. With a gasp, she stopped when she reached apparently what he wanted to show her. Embedded in the center of his chest was a glowing, blue sphere.
"What is that?" Lilly exclaimed, a bit louder than she had intended. She was shocked at what she was looking at, and hesitantly touched her fingers to it, watching it flare up briefly at her touch.
"I should have died months ago. This is what's keeping me alive," Stark explained slowly, tapping the glowing sphere as he closely watched Lilly's reaction. She was still staring at it, almost entranced by the clear, blue light that shown from it, and she traced a finger slowly around the outer edge of it where metal met skin. "I can't even rely on me to save me. I have to rely on this." A tear escaped down Stark's cheek and Lilly realized that he was crying. Her heart was breaking as she watched Tony Stark break down in front of her; the demons owned him for the night.
"Come here," Lilly whispered, pulling Stark to her tightly, and holding him, as he cried silently. Lilly didn't know how long they stayed in that position, she sitting sideways on the couch with Stark's face buried against the crook of her neck. She pressed a soft kiss to the side of his head, rubbing his back as she held him.
"Let's get you to bed. It's late," she whispered into his ear finally, when she felt that he was a bit calmer. Lilly released him, and he pulled back, his eyes red-rimmed and utterly mournful. It almost broke her heart a second just looking at him. Lilly stood, and held Stark's hands as she pulled him to his feet, steadying him as he staggered for a moment. Then, with him leaning his near full weight against her, she maneuvered him up two flights of stairs to his bedroom. Sitting him on the side of his bed, she knelt down and took off his shoes, tossing them to the side. Then she stood and bent down, pulling his shirt up over his head and tossed that along in the same direction as his shoes.
"Stand up for a second," she whispered to him, helping him stand. He held onto her shoulders for support as she undid his belt. Their eyes met as she was slipping it out of his belt loops, and her movements slowed and stopped as Stark bent towards her. Their lips met softly, only brushing against each other's with feather-light touches. When Lilly pulled away, she saw the haziness in Stark's eyes and knew he would pass out at any moment. So she finished undressing him by removing his pants, leaving him only in his boxers, and ushered him into bed, pulling the sheet up to his chest once he was lying down.
"Stay with me," Stark whispered, holding on tightly to her hand when she made a move to leave the room. Lilly looked down at him, his eyes half lidded with drunkenness and tiredness, but the grip on her arm like steel and the desire for her to stay apparent in his voice.
"All right," she whispered back. She stepped out of her shoes, emptied her pockets onto his nightstand, and then crawled into bed next to Stark, pulling the covers over her body. She snuggled close to him, pressing a kiss to the side of his head as she held him close to her. He was passed out almost immediately after that and began to snore lightly. Lilly watched him as he slept, a frown still darkening her features. She was still confused by what he had been talking about, and after seeing the glowing sphere set in his chest, she was even more confused. Thinking about the orb, made her glance down at it where it flowed steadily from its place. She touched a finger to it, marveling at its mere existence in that place. She sighed softly and promised to ask Stark about all of it in the morning once he was sober.
"Goodnight," she whispered, then closed her eyes and passed out shortly after Stark.
yay for dramatics. I was hoping to make that last scene a lot more dramatic than it came out, but shrug oh well. Just didnt happen that way. Not much to say after this, but I will say that there is an important author's note after this chapter that I strongly suggest you read, especially if this story is listed on your alerts or favourites.
But besides that, thank you all to those of you who have been reviewing, its awesome to know some of you love it! And to keep on with tradition; you all know the drill. Push that pretty little button down there and tell me what you think !