Holly POV

Holly was almost startled when a shadow was cast over her desk but before she automatically went on the defense, she smelled a cologne that identified the visitor. The mix of sandalwood and soap said it was Steve. She pulled off the headphones she'd been wearing and looked up to find him with an amused look on his face.

"What?"

"How loud do you have your music that you didn't hear me knocking or calling you? I was getting concerned. It's a good thing you don't lock your door, I would have broken it down." He waved at the paperwork on her desk. "What are you working on anyway?"

"Going over student papers. Sometimes I wish I was back in California, would make it easier for these kids to get help in person. I swear they don't pay attention to the lectures because it's a hologram. Get their asses to pay attention if I threw a knife through their damn cell phone. Use a damn EMP and wipe out all the stupid things."

Since she'd decided to give living in NY a chance, both for herself and the various people who'd expressed their desire to have her there, she'd managed to keep teaching her classes thanks to Stark technology. Her lecture hall was especially outfitted with holoprojectors and receievers. Not only did her students see her as a hologram, she saw the entire classroom as well. Her office hours were done the same way.

"Kids not paying attention in school is an age old problem. I'll admit I got in trouble a few times when I got caught drawing when I should have been paying attention."
Holly made a mock gasping sound. "Oh the deliquent truth is revealed! Someone call the Smithsonian! The legend has been tarnished!"

He rolled his eyes. He was more than used to her teasing. "Anyway, it's getting late. I'm taking you out for dinner."

That was a surprise. Steve wasn't usually so direct and often beat around the bush. They'd gotten to be rather good friends in the last few weeks and she enjoyed the time they spent together. It was fun to hear Dum Dum's old stories from a different point of view, often with Steve sighing and denying completely Dum Dum's version. Apparently her uncle was a fan of embellishment. "You are?"

"Yep. Come on, Jarvis told me you haven't eaten since this morning, so we're going out."

She sighed. It was like having Big Brother watching, except in her case it was more like AI Nephew. "Thanks a lot Jarvis! Snitch!"

"You do have that in common with sir, Holly. Contrary to both of your beliefs, food is a necessity for you." The AI answered. "Enjoy your dinner."
At least the AI had her best interests at heart.

The server led them back to a dining area that was more private, immediately recognizing Steve and even more, the $50 that was passed to him. Sadly Steve had much to learn about subtly, though she was rather impressed with how generous the tip was. Of course, Steve was very sympathetic to what it was like to be a server or a bar tender or in his day, a paper boy. He'd expressed more than once his frustration and sadness that in this day and age there was still poverty.

"Surprise!"

Holly was mildly startled and confused at the group of people who'd jumped out at her as they entered the room. Somehow she hadn't immediately gone for her staff or knife, thankfully. It wasn't exactly the best thing to do with someone who was an expert at close quarters hand to hand combat. "Huh?"

"Christ, she's more like you than I thought, Stark!" Natasha cursed. "Holly, it's your birthday! Did you forget again?"

She blinked and came to the realization that it was indeed her 35th birthday. "Oh. Whoops."

"Whoops she says!" Clint said, coming from behind her. "Happy birthday, granny." He came around and gave her a big hug that took her off her feet before he put her down and just swayed back and forth with his head on her shoulder and probably a goofy smile on his face.

"Kiss my ass, Katniss!" She cursed, smacking him on the ass. "You are how much older than me? You aren't even a year from 40!"

"Sorry Hot Lips, today, even Rogers can make old jokes. Too bad Thor isn't here to do it. He's like hundreds of years old or some shit."

"Where is Thor? Didn't we send him a message so he could be here?" Pepper asked, smacking Clint away so she could give Holly a birthday hug. Clint had also scared Pepper more than once with his sudden appearances normally tailored to scare Tony.

"Yeah, Sif answered. I guess there's some trouble going on with one of the other realms. He sent a gift though via the Bifrost." Bruce spoke up.

"You guys really didn't need to do all of this, honest." She turned to Steve. "And you, I'm shocked at how you didn't give anything away!"

Steve grinned proudly. "I did pretty well didn't I? I've been practicing for a week. Helps that you forgot it was your birthday. How do you do even do that?"

She shrugged. "Doesn't seem a big deal, that's all."

"Not a big deal!" Tony shouted, coming from nowhere, throwing his hands in the air. "I remember the day you were born! I remember holding you for the very first time!"

"Oh jesus. Shut up Tony!" She groaned, hating when Tony got both loud and nostalgic in front of other people. It was easier to dismiss when he was drinking. But damn, this was a sober nostalgic Tony. She was doomed.

"Nope! You were the tiniest baby in the hospital. And could you scream! Could nearly shatter glass with those tiny lungs!"

"Shut up."

"And you were so sweet and adorable, until it came time for the diaper change. Oh we loved to see you smile, until you smiled that smile."

Holly groaned as everyone chuckled, putting her hand to her head. "Nat, if you love me, knock him out, please? Hit him with a tranquilizer? Something?"

"Actually, Grannie, I'm enjoying this. The Adventures of Little Lady Skywalker and her Diaper of Despair." The Russian had a pleased look at the torture Holly was undergoing, a playful smirk on her lips.

"Sounds like the first of a series of Avengers children's books."

Holly looked up and saw someone she hadn't seen in way too long. "Rhodey!" She all but shoved Tony out of the way and hugged the Colonel. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Is that so, Captain Dugan?" An eyebrow rose. Rhodey hadn't been surprised at all when it had been revealed that she was an agent of SHIELD and held a rank in the army. He'd only been offended that she hadn't chosen the Air Force.

She grinned and snapped to attention, throwing a salute. "It's good to see you, Colonel Rhodes, sir!"

He let out a laugh, shaking his head. "I can't really call you Captain anymore, it'll get all confused with Rogers here." He put out his hand to Steve. "Nice to see you Cap."

"Colonel."

"No no no, this is Rhodey. Rhodey. Anyways, didn't the army make you a general while you were frozen or something?" Tony interjected, slapping his old friend on the back after sarcastically sounding out his old friend's name for Steve.

Steve shook his head. "Honorary rank. Brevet. Doesn't really count for anything."

"Plus General America doesn't have the same ring to it." Rhodey joked.

Holly was almost hesitant about opening the box from Tony from the look of almost childlike glee on his face. It was all he could do to keep from clapping and giggling it seemed like. But she trusted him, so she opened the box to discover a slim bracelet. Now she was confused. She reached into the box and took it out, feeling how light it was. "Vibranium bracelet?"

Tony grinned, the man was practically vibrating himself, he was that giddy. "Very good at knowing your elements, Sparks. But it's not just a bracelet. Stand up and put it on."

Quirking her eyebrow at him, she got up and was moved so she was out of the way of everyone else and the furniture and put the bracelet on. A quick look at the others had them with similar looks of confusion. "Okay, what is it like a mood bracelet?"

Tony smirked. "Jarvis, bring in the Mark 80."

From outside the room, pieces of armor flew in and attached themselves to her, making her gasp and fight against her instincts to drop to the ground and roll away. It was when the headpiece flew in and landed in her hands, that she was able to take a breath. Looking down at herself she saw she was wearing a suit of Iron Man armor that was similar to Tony's but was tan and brown, not gold and red. It was much more form fitting and less bulky looking, especially compared to the War Machine armor.

"Go ahead, put on the helmet!"

She took a breath and did so, giving it a moment to connect to the rest of the suit. She'd played around with parts of Tony's suit before so the information immediately coming at her from the readouts wasn't that overwhelming. She'd always gotten her hands on new Stark tech before most anyone else for her entire life, she was used to it.

"I thought you might like to see how your suit looks from another's point of view." Jarvis' voice spoke softly and no doubt just for her within the suit. An image came up showing her in the suit, an artificial arc reactor in the shape of a diamond in the center of her chest. "There is also an additional lightsaber that is part of the armor on your left leg, in addition to the repulsors in your gauntlets and boots."

"Ladies and Gentleman...and Barton, I give you, the Iron Jedi." Tony announced, grinning and waving his hands to her. "Dont' worry, I'm still going to be the only shell head in this group, but I get bored so easy and we talked about you having armor so, here it is. Thought I'd surprise you with it."

"I'm surprised." She moved around a bit, getting a feel for it. It didn't feel bulky, almost trim. A few more motions made her realize that it didn't limit her quite so much physically. "So it can do what you can do?"

"Yep."

"Including fly?"

"J, show her?"

She managed not to embarrass herself as the repulsors turned on, thankfully not at full strength and like she'd seen Tony do several times, she kept her feet flat and her hands at her sides for stability. "Okay, this is very cool."

Tony grinned. "Wanna go for a birthday flight around Manhattan?"

Holly spoke directly to Jarvis, turning off the suit speakers momentarily. "Jarvis, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Make sir try and catch us?"

"You are such a bright boy!"

"I do try."

Switching the speaker back on, she answered. "If you can catch us, old man!" to everyone else, as the suit rose and Jarvis mapped a safe route out of the building, she announced, "I'll be back in a minute!"