A/N: Sorry for the wait! I've been busy with a life that I'm so glad I have! I'm in a play (and it's so much fun by the way), but it's gonna take up some time writing stories so there will be delays. Sorry about that too! I hope this and the following chapters make up for it!

I became conscious but I didn't open my eyes. I felt warm fuzziness around me and a familiar feathery softness at the back of my head. I remembered I didn't walk to my bed last night…

I shifted my position and felt my lower back peel off the leather.

I opened my eyes immediately and found myself staring at the back of the tan leather couch. I looked around; I was still in Tony's workshop. I could see the daylight from the windows reflect off the TV screen and shine on the ceiling.

I glanced down and saw a fleece blanket that covered me entirely.

Did Tony do that? I thought beginning to smile. Aw, that's so nice…

I pushed myself further up my pillow so I was in a sitting position while my legs still stayed stretched out on the couch. I groaned sleepily as I did so.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," I heard Tony greet from behind me.

I twisted in my seat to see him applying metallic armor to cover the wiring on a boot.

"Hey," I greeted in return. "How much did you get done?"

"This is the last of the finishing touches," he replied. "I told ya I'd get more done."

"The second testing is scheduled for what time?"

"When I'm ready," he responded simply and glanced up at me.

I grinned in silent laughter. I hesitated and then asked, "Did you…?" I lifted up my blanket in indication. "Get this for me?"

He glanced at what I was holding and looked back down at his work again, no expression on his face; he was embarrassed.

He shrugged and said quietly, "Yeah…"

I dropped the blanket back down while I watched him and had to ask, "Why are you so flustered?" I was grinning widely.

"I'm not flustered—"

"No, you just don't want to admit that you care about me too!"

Tony sighed and replied in falsetto, "'I'm not going to pretend I don't care'."

"That doesn't count!" I exclaimed, still smiling at his resistance and failed attempt at mimicking me. "You quoted me!" Usually I would have said something about his imitation of my voice, but I figured if I changed the subject, he would jump on it to get the last one out of the way.

He looked me full in the face. "Cara, you're asking a lot—"

"No I'm not! You're just too stubborn to say it!"

"Don't make me do it right now—"

"Tony Stark, you are whining!" I burst into laughter.

"I am not whining!" Tony started to laugh too and said, "I liked you a lot better when you were sleeping."

"You are so stubborn!" I said in amused exasperation. "Fine! Just tell me when you're ready. Oh!" I exclaimed as I recalled. "What about how you feel about Pepper? You're stalling on that too!"

"Well I actually told you last night but you were knocked out so that's your own fault that you didn't hear it."

"What?!" I cried. "That's not fair!"

"Oh contraire," he replied. "It is in fact fair since you said I could say it when I was ready and I was conveniently ready when you were sleeping."

I sighed indignantly.

He smirked as he said authoritatively, "Go take a shower."

"I'm going, I'm going," I muttered, still frustrated. I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders and put my pillow under my arm.

"Hurry up 'cause I'm almost done," Tony ordered as he turned back to his stabilizers.

"Alright, fine, but don't start without me."

"I better see you running."

"What?"

"Three," he counted down.

Getting that he'll start testing without me if he doesn't see me running, I sprinted to the door and opened it, but my blanket got caught as it shut. I swore silently and typed the access code in while Tony held up two fingers and mouthed, "Two."

I yanked the door open and pulled my blanket in to me, jogging up the steps as my blanket flew behind me like a cape. I pulled it closer because I knew I must look stupid with it blowing, and glanced back at Tony while I could see him from the steps. He had an index finger held up while he was laughing behind his teeth and mouthed, "One."

I took that tiny second to stick my tongue out and run the rest of the steps; my last glimpse was him in full-blown laughter.

I stepped out of the bathroom, my hands and scalp raw from my super speedy scrubbing, and my body devoid of any dead skin cells, courtesy of the high powered scrubber that I had turned on without realizing how immense the intensity of the jets would be; it had felt like I was being crushed on all sides by a waterfall.

I ran down the open steps and saw Pepper sitting on the couch, working on her laptop.

As I got on the last step, I addressed her speedily, "HiPepperbyePepper!"

I only saw her look up in surprise and puzzlement before I was halfway down the steps to the workshop.

I breathed in relief; Tony was snapping on the last stabilizer on his arm over his protective form-fitting suit that prevented the metal from hurting him.

I typed the access code and strode in toward his computer chair in the wrap-around desk.

Tony only glanced at me and only said, "Don't talk," as he walked to the black grid and turned around so I could see his face, but the main reason was the camera robot was placed more toward where I was seated.

I lifted my hands in a sort of surrender and said with my eyes and expression, "Okay! I won't!"

Tony ignored me as usual and began, "Day eleven, test thirty seven…"

Test thirty-seven?! I thought in shock. Where the heck was I?!

"…configuration two point oh. For lack of a better option, Dummy is still on fire safety"—he looked at the robot with the douser set behind him—"if you douse me again and I'm not on fire I'm donating you to city college."

The robot bowed pitifully.

"Just gonna start off with one percent thrust capacity in three, two, one."

Tony lifted about two feet off the ground while the palms of the stabilizers glowed and were aflame. He stayed suspended in midair for a few seconds then fell back to the ground stumbling.

I watched with fascination the entire time. That is way better than a jetpack, I thought.

Tony looked behind at the robot, which was pointing its douser directly at him. "Please don't follow me around with it either 'cause I feel like I'm going to catch on fire spontaneously."

Dummy bowed its douser again. "Just stand down until something happens and then come in."

He turned to face forward. "Again at two point five. Three, two, one."

This time he elevated about five feet off the ground and with a slightly higher intensity of flame. He flew awkwardly, apparently not familiar with being that high up with nothing for protection. His hands were held at an angle that pushed him backward towards his cars. The flames were dangerously close to the metal.

"Okay, this is where I don't want to be," Tony said. "Not the car, not the car."

He tried to glide away from his very expensive modes of transportation but ended up flying over one car to another until he was almost to the other side of the room. Papers started to fly up and away from there places on the tables, fluttering from the rush of air produced by the stabilizers.

I only sat transfixed, seeing as he was about going to crash into the wall. I wanted to yell, "Use your hand stabilizers!" but I kept my mouth shut obediently.

Almost as if he'd heard me, he was brought back to his senses and held up his hands to face the wall, slowly coming to a stop at the sudden change in direction and pushed backwards toward his take-off spot on the black grid. He steadied himself over it and slowly descended until he killed the power and landed firmly with a clank from his heavy gold-titanium stabilizer boots.

Tony took a quick breath of slight relief and turned around to find Dummy lifting its douser to him.

"Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!" he said loudly to prevent from being sprayed.

That robot appeared very ashamed as it pointed its douser to the ground yet again.

"You can fly," I said softly, still in amazement.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "I can fly."

"You're going to have to work on it a little though; you're very awkward flying."

"I thought that would've gone better," Tony muttered as he walked over to the half-cleared tables to take off the flying machinery.

"I mean you didn't crash, which is what I thought was gonna happen. Did you expect to be an expert the second try?"

He didn't answer, but seemed to have his full concentration on removing the stabilizers.

"Your ego is huge," I commented with a grin.

He turned to face me. "You just love picking on me don't you?"

"It's true then?"

Silence.

"To me, that says 'yes'," I remarked.

He walked toward the door and opened it.

"You have a knack for ignoring me you know," I continued to comment.

Without a glance in my direction, he was up the steps and out of sight.

I smiled to myself as I spun in the chair, making quick glances around the room.

I stopped my motion as I looked around the workshop more closely. There were so many different things in here, and this would probably be my only chance to examine some of his personal belongings.

I stood up and walked around to desk to the cars. They attracted me like a moth to a porch light now that they had my full attention.

All of them were beautiful and much more than your average sports cars. These were instruments built for speed and to make the driver look a lot hotter than they actually were—which Tony doesn't really need help with.

The hot rod was parked at the far right, its engine completed. This was a classic Ford Roadster from the thirties with the best paint job you could probably give it, and it looked good. I personally wasn't into classics as old as this Ford, (and I'm more of GM girl,) but this model made me like Ford and the thirties' cars a lot more.

The Tesla Roadster next to it was far more modern—more modern than the present to be precise. This was still a concept car, and an electrical-powered one. It reminded me of an upgraded Porsche, with great hood scoops, like the car next to it.

The Saleen S7 is one of my favorites. This is one of those cars that would blow you backwards in less than five seconds because of its high horsepower of 720. Its body is long with amazing "gills" and air intake along with…oh it's so hard to describe! It's just like a world renowned painting or sculpture; sometimes you can't explain its beauty.

The Shelby Cobra from the sixties is fantastic car with lots of muscle. The sixties were Ford's heydays. This particular model was one of the more famous for its great looks and astounding speed. This car is a collector's item now and would go for a lot of cash at an auction. I wonder how Tony got his hands on one…

The Audi R8 was the last one in the line of autos. This was one of Audi's top models because of its eye-attracting body and speed. But another thing about this model was that it had class and a luxurious aura like most European cars. Audi somehow keeps it in its models, and so I have much respect for this esteemed company.

I went up close to each one, careful not to touch any. I would be the last person caught leaving a fingerprint on one of these.

After I admired all of Tony's cars, I had a look around his desks, walking slowly past each one so I had a good look at their surfaces cluttered with paperwork, strange mechanisms, and old half-filled coffee mugs that had most likely been sitting there for days.

I was at the tables in the back looking at the shelves stacked with miscellaneous pieces of junk and scrap metal, walking further away from the glass walls.

As I reached the back wall, I came upon an old sketching desk that hadn't appeared to be touched in an extremely long time. It was littered with newspaper clippings. Some articles were even on the wall above it.

I switched on a desk lamp nearby since the area surrounding was a little dim and sifted through the clippings, staring at the pictures printed on them.

The pictures on the desk were of him when he was a teen prodigy with him doing things not even a middle-aged scientist and engineer could have achieved like building a robot or engine, or writing a very complex equation on a chalkboard. The articles stated that he graduated from college when he was seventeen along with other impossible accomplishments, and about inheriting the business from his father, Howard Stark.

I searched for mention of my mother, but there no to little information about her. Who would want to examine at normality when her brother is a genius and plainly more interesting?

I threw down the articles angrily and glanced at the pictures placed on the wall. There was a picture of just Tony and his dad and others with Obadiah and his mother. Then I saw one of only Tony and my mom. They were young—my mom looked thirteen and Tony a year older—and happy with their arms on each other's shoulders. A tri-board was behind them that seemed to be a science experiment with a blue first-place ribbon pinned on it. They each had a hand on a trophy.

Then a thought came to me: They had worked on it together…

I couldn't turn away from the picture, for it was clear that they had worked together and were treating each other equally. It was pure proof that had loved each other. What had made my mom cut off all communication with him?

I finally turned my back on the picture to find myself face-to-face with Tony.

"Holy--!" I exclaimed, backing up in to desk, making it wobble. "How long have you been standing there?"

"What are you doing?"

"Can you answer my question first please?"

"No. What were doing over here?"

"I was just looking around," I explained truthfully. "I had nothing else to do while I was waiting for you. Sorry, I didn't know I was trespassing."

"What were you looking at?"

That caught me by surprise. I thought he was going to get hostile, but he only seemed curious.

"…The picture of you and my mom," I said softly after a pause.

He glanced beyond me to the photo on the wall.

He looked back at me and said, "It's okay. I'm not mad."

"I know."

"Then why do you look like a martyr?"

"Oh," I muttered as I felt my ears grow warm. "I didn't know I looked that way."

"Well now you know you're not gonna die so stop looking so chastised. This is your house too. I expected you knew that by now."

"Well, yeah but this is still your workshop."

"And I gave you permission to be down here and that means 'everywhere'. Not just one part of it and the other is forbidden."

"Oh, well, thanks for clearing that up," I muttered sincerely.

"Good God, Cara, you're not in trouble!" Tony said. Apparently I still looked like my execution was at hand. "I wouldn't punish you for something like going to this specific corner, but I would punish you for putting on my suit."

"Understandable." I started to walk past him, but he held me back with his hand.

"Why are you acting all feeble and…weak?"

"I just thought I would get in trouble. I'm fine now." I smiled to convince him and made another attempt to get away from interrogation, but he held steady.

"No. There's something else going on. What is it?"

I hesitated. I didn't feel like having this conversation. At the back of my mind, I tried to think up a lie, but knew deep down that it was pointless; he's like a human lie detector.

"It's just my mom," I managed. "Why did she run away? It couldn't have been that bad. And why did she just avoid contact with you and her own mom? Why would she be that afraid of her past to lose everything and start over? I mean seeing that"—I indicated the picture—"and reading the letter she left after she died, it's like it doesn't fit. Now I can't ask her about it because she's gone. I wish I would have known before, but she was too afraid to tell me anything when she was alive." Tears started to well up in my eyes. "It was just cruel of her to leave me like this without giving me a clue."

That's when the tears overflowed. I covered my face with my hands.

"Come on." Tony guided me to the couch. I sat down without taking my hands off of my eyes. Tony walked to the kitchenette and came back with a Kleenex box and a cup of ice water.

I mumbled a "thanks" and used a tissue to dry my face as he sat down next to me.

We sat in silence except for the horn-like sound my nose made when I blew into the Kleenex.

Then he said, "Not trying to be insensitive but when I asked what was wrong, I didn't expect a speech. Or tears," he added.

"I'm sorry," I said behind a tissue.

"No it's completely fine," he explained. "I mean, I kinda know what you're going through."

I glanced at him, surprised. "You do?"

"Yeah. My parents died in a car crash before I inherited the company. I only had Obie after that. It's not easy losing your family."

"I…I had no idea," I stammered. "I'm so sorry."

"You didn't kill them. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"I know…but still."

We were quiet again as I sipped my water. I was calming down quickly.

I turned to him. "Thanks for your concern, Tony."

"Oh, yeah, no problem. Um…This might sound crazy but when you started to cry, I literally saw your soul start to bleed. It was weird. Is it just me?"

"My mom sometimes said stuff like that too. I never believed it. I thought she was just being poetic or something. She said she could see my soul with my eyes and stuff." I shrugged.

"Yeah I saw it in your eyes."

"You're kidding right?"

"No I'm not. I know it's probably hard to believe for you but this is one of those rare moments when I'm really being serious."

I shook my head disbelievingly.

"Fine. You can not believe me or your mother, but your eyes are very deep, like I can see into you. They're very beautiful."

I felt my face grow hot and I couldn't help but smile. "Thanks," I mumbled.

Another pause.

"Okay, time for bed." Tony stood up abruptly and walked to the door.

"Already?"

I stood up slowly and turned toward the windows behind me; it was indeed night time.

Wow, I thought. That was fast.

I spun back around to find Tony holding the door open while making a sweeping gesture for me to walk through.

"I thought you said not to expect anymore gentlemen-like acts like that!" I said.

"I didn't say I wouldn't actually do it, just don't expect me to hold it open for you all the time so you smack into the door or something."

"Your meanings are never very clear," I remarked, walking through the door with my water.

"Jarvis, lights off."

"Shutting down all lights," the AI replied.

The lights immediately started dimming and it was pitch black in there in less than a second.

As I got to the top of the steps I saw Pepper in the same spot as before: on the couch working on her laptop.

"Hi Pepper," I said, perplexed. "Did you move at all while we were down there?"

Pepper glanced up then around to see that it the stars were out. She jumped up.

"Oh my, time flies!" she said. "I'm almost done with your emails Mr. Stark."

"Pepper, go home," Tony said, exasperated. "Please, don't work up all night on those. You can do it tomorrow."

"I just have fifty more to check—"

"Fifty?!" I asked incredulously. "How much does he get per day?"

"I don't think there's a number large enough," she replied.

"Okay, now you're just over-exaggerating," Tony said. "Pepper, go home and get some rest."

"Just go to bed, both of you. I'll be done in twenty minutes."

"Pepper," I said. "You have bags under your eyes. I think you should get some sleep too."

"It's probably because ever since Tony's little charade at the press conference, I've had so much crap to deal with from the paparazzi and board members I'm losing sleep over it," Pepper said with spite.

"Then extra sleep will make you feel better!" I said. "Please, Pepper?"

"I told you, I'm almost done, I'll be out of here in twenty minutes. You're just stalling me now." I can tell she directed that at Tony.

Tony walked over and snapped the laptop closed before Pepper could retaliate. He snatched it from her grip, which got Pepper fired up.

"Give me back my laptop, Tony," she said seriously as she tried to reach for it behind him, but Tony kept it out of her grasp without ever taking his eyes off her.

"You're off-duty now Miss Potts," he said with a smirk.

"Tony, this is not funny!" Pepper said as she tried to grab it again. Tony lifted it above his head, making Pepper jump in her heels. As she reached up to grab it, she became in very close proximity with him; she was leaning on his stock-still body trying to get her laptop back. It looked like they were about to kiss.

Pepper figured it out and stepped back a few steps. Tony didn't put down her laptop a millimeter. He had his smirk still upon his lips.

"Fine, you win," Pepper said with an annoyed sigh. She grabbed her bag and strode to the front door quickly while her heels clacked loudly on the marble floor.

"Goodnight Miss Potts," Tony called to her.

She slammed the door in response.

I turned to him. "I think her hair was on fire."

"She's so hot when she's mad."

"Literally; I could feel the heat radiating from her. How can you make her that mad?"

"Years of practice," he replied simply.

"You're so vague," I commented.

"It takes too long to explain details. Now go to bed."

"And pushy," I added as I headed up the steps.

"Night."

"Aren't you going to bed too?"

"I'm finishing up the emails."

"Do you know how?"

"Who do you think taught Pepper how to organize my emails?"

"Right," I muttered. "Goodnight."

I climbed the rest of the steps.