[That night]

Steve and I sat together at the dinner Tony planned in honor of me joining him at Stark Industries. We had our hands clasped together beneath the table. I looked at him and he returned the stare, smiling blue eyes glittering in the light of the dining room. Tony stood up and cleared his throat. "Well, if you two are quite done ogling each other…"

Steve flashed him a smile that said "you only wishit was you", to which Tony smiled back "you're an ass." I laughed slightly. "To the newest addition to the collection of treasures here at Stark Industries, Rori!"

I took a deep breath, knowing my whole life was going to change from that moment on, and I was ready to face it with everything I had.

It was a few months later. I had moved out of my apartment and into Stark Tower. Steve left his apartment to join me. Larissa grew attached to Steve quickly, and didn't mind me dating him. She really liked him, and even more when we told her about him being Captain America. She met the other Avengers, and found friendship in them. They would baby-sit when Steve and I would go out. I was fairly happy.

I smiled as Larissa was running around the room trying to catch Steve. He stopped, turned around, and caught her. She yelped in surprise, then laughed loudly when he tossed her onto the couch and started to tickle her. He leaned over and kissed me. Larissa made a "yuck" noise, and prompted him to kiss her on the forehead a few times. She got out of his grip and ran off giggling. He sat on the couch next to me and wrapped his arm around my waist. I leaned my head on his shoulder. "I am so happy school is over…no more papers…"

"Did you resign?"

"Yeah…the paperwork will be filed by Friday…I have 3 more days to change my mind."

"You're getting paid close to nothing with them…I know you love the kids, but maybe you can find a tutoring job so you don't stress yourself out so much…"

I nodded against his shoulder. "Rori, look at me…"

I lifted my head and turned it in his direction. He was smiling, and his beautiful blue eyes were smiling with him, so I knew it was real. I smiled back. "You're right, Steve…I'm just stubborn."

"I know…" He kissed me softly. "Oh…" He pulled back fast and threw his hand into his pocket. My eyebrow raised slightly. He pulled out a long, flat box. "Happy 3 month anniversary."

He handed me the box, and I opened it. Inside were dog tags, one with my name on it. "I know you've become attached to wearing dog tags, so I went out and made you some…And look…" He took the dog tags in his hand. "I put one of mine on here for you…" He grabbed the dog tags that were hidden beneath his shirt. "And put one of yours on mine."

I smiled, and jumped forward to hug him. "Thank you, Steve…"

He kissed my ear softly. "You're welcome…"

I leaned back and unhooked the chain to place it around my neck. Once secured, the dog tags jingled together happily. Larissa ran out and jumped onto the back of the couch. "Mama! Can I go get what you got him? Please!"

"Use the cart it's in, don't take it out."

"Okay, mama!" She ran off to her bedroom.

"You hid it in her room? Clever."

I flashed a mischievous smile. "I think you'll like it a lot…"

Larissa was pushing a cart down the hall. "It's heavy, mama!"

I got up and grabbed the handle. "I got it, Lissa…"

She ran over and jumped into Steve's lap. I pushed the cart in front of the couch. "It's huge!"

Larissa giggled.

"Help me unwrap this thing, Lissa!"

"Okay!" She jumped down and started to unwrap one side. They broke into a box that held another box. Steve stared at it a moment, and broke into the other one. Another box. "You're kidding me…come on, Rori!"

I laughed. "There is something in there, just keep going."

He groaned loudly but smiling, and broke into the box. He hadn't imagined what would be inside. "You'd never believe how many places I went to find that…"

Without any effort at all, he pulled out a 1940's movie projector. There were dozens of old World War II film canisters. He picked them up and read their titles. He smiled and looked at me. "How did you find this?"

"I found an ad for one on the internet…I thought you might like it."

"I love it…It's what I grew up with. Does it work?"

"I was told it does, but do you want to try it?"

He nodded.

I could feel myself drifting in and out of sleep that night. Steve and I occupied separate rooms, he staying on the Avengers floor and I having a floor of my own in Stark Tower. The reason for this was to keep a clean image for Larissa. Living together when unmarried, in the opinion of my mother-in-law, would put the wrong impression on Larissa, and Steve and I both agreed that marriage wasn't the best at that time. But that night, Steve and I had fallen asleep together after going through a few old movies on the projector.

I had to finally give up on trying to put myself back to sleep. I got up slowly and as gentle as possible. I went to the kitchen to grab myself a glass of water. I heard foot steps walking to the kitchen, and I froze. The swinging door opened. "Are you alright?"

I breathed out and my shoulders relaxed. "Yup…just fine."

Steve walked into the room, one arm stretched over his head as he yawned. "Scared ya, huh?"

"Just a little bit…only had a small heart attack…"

He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. "I'm sorry…I'll be sure to make my presence known next time…"

"Thank you…"

He kissed my forehead then stepped back. "I will be back…later. I have some running to do…"

I looked at the clock. "Huh…Already that time, hm?"

"Yeah…" He opened the kitchen door for me and let me walk out. "Try to get some more sleep, okay?"

I walked to the living room and laid on the couch. "I will try…it's very unlikely it will happen."

He bent over the back of the couch to stare into my eyes. "Just try."

"I said I would." I smiled and pulled his face down. "You can trust me."

He kissed me then stood back up straight. He pointed to me as he walked to the door. "You better…or I'll make Tony give you the day off…"

"That sounds more like a reward than a punishment…"

"And I will sit on you until you do fall asleep."

"You're threatening me?" I smirked. "Challenge accepted."

He rolled his eyes and opened the door. "Good night, Rori…"

[7:00 AM]

I woke with a start when there was a loud knock on the front door. I looked around for a moment, when the knocking came again. I got up and walked up to the door, opening it as soon as I had made it there. Pepper stood on the other side. "Mrs. Owens…I'm sorry to have bothered you…"

"It's…fine."

"But Tony would like to see you…"

"Oh…I'll be there in a few minutes…"

She nodded slightly, then walked away. I closed the door and quickly changed.

I made my way down the hall and typed in a pass code to Tony's workroom. I walked inside. "You wanted me?"

He hopped out of one of his cars. "Rori! Yes…" He strolled over quickly, wiping his hands on a grease stained towel. "What do you know about cars?"

"Not much…but I can learn fast."

"Good, good…" He took my arm and pulled me toward the car he was working on. "I need your help, since Pepper needed to be working…"

"I guess this is what I'm here for, since I'm your personal assistant."

He used his foot to pull out a creeper for him to lay on when underneath the car. He got down and laid on his back on it. "Just hand me some tools when I need them…your hands might get dirty."

"I'm not too worried about that, Tony…I can handle a little grease compared to what I'm being paid to do it."

He rolled underneath the car and laughed. I looked inside the hood and could see him below. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing…I'm modifying it…I want it to look street legal, but make it race car fast."

"I see…"

"Sir, I have completed the engine modifications…would you like me to pull them up on a screen?"

"Send it to my phone, I can't see through the car."

"Yes, sir."

He pulled out his phone and stared at the components. "I like it…more horsepower, without making the engine bigger…I need the wrench I placed on the ground next to the tire, Rori…"

I bent down and picked it up, then placed it in the hand that appeared from beneath the car to retrieve it. "Thanks…"

"Mhm…So, Tony…next to having a very expensive train set, you now need the Hot Wheels cars to finish it off?"

"Precisely…I love how your mind works, Rori…you're almost as sarcastic as I am…"

"I've had practice…"

"Plenty, as far as I can tell…You must hold it in well when you're around Steve."

"I try…sometimes it slips out, but I think he's heard enough of it from you to know that what I say in that area is totally ignorable."

"Shit!"

He pushed himself out from underneath the car and grabbed his towel. "What happened?"

"I cut myself…damnit, that hurts." He looked at it, then got up from the creeper. I walked to his desk and grabbed a first aid kit. He washed his hand off, wincing slightly. I put medicated cream on a cotton swab and dabbed it lightly on the gash on the top of his hand. He stared at me the entire time. I wrapped his hand. "There…" I placed the things back in the kit and threw out everything else. "Rori, I want to ask you a personal question, if you don't mind."

"Uh…sure."

"If you weren't dating Steve…would you ever consider me?"

I felt my heart jump in my chest. I looked into his eyes. "I-uh…don't really know how to respond to that…"

"It's a simple yes or no question, Rori…" He got closer. I backed up slightly, and almost tripped over his chair. He grabbed my arm and pulled me forward. I crashed against his chest. "Tony…"

He lifted my head, his hand under my chin. "I'm not asking you to cheat, or anything absurd like that, Rori…I'm just asking."

I thought about it for a moment. "If I knew you without Steve, yes."

He half smiled and let me go. "You're a good person, Rori…"

"You are too, Tony…you just don't see it."

He shook his head. "You think? Rori, I've done a whole lot in my life time that I sometimes wish I didn't…I wake up screaming from antagonizing nightmares with no way to validate that I'm not already living in hell!" He walked up to the cases where the different Iron Man suits were held. "Iron Man was made to help my own guilt…I'm trying to fix what has already been done…It can't be done, Rori…So, I find it hard to believe that I'm a good person."

I stared at my hands sadly. I walked up to him and grabbed his hands. "Look, Tony…"

I placed my hand next to his. "What differences do you see?"

He stared at them both. "Rori, I don't really get-"

"You use your hands to work…to do things. They're calloused. You have done so much since you changed your view on the world to help it…You may have blood on your hands, but you're doing everything in your power to change it. Sure, it's done and you can't fix it. But you can prevent these things from happening in the future…Tony, the past may bite, but from what I know about you, I know you can kick it right back in the ass."

Hmm I dunno, what do you think? A little jealous Tony?