Title: Protect My Heart

Author: Erik-in-CT

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Stephanie Meyer or Marvel Comics, and not myself.

Bella sat with her face hidden behind the menu of the restaurant, feigning indecision. In reality, she was attempting to shield herself until the flush in her cheeks died down. She was sitting in one of the fanciest restaurants she had ever been in, across from one of the most intriguing men she had ever met. A man who was currently watching her with that damned smirk that seemed to never leave his lips. How did she always manage to end up at awkward dinners with men way out of her league? Eventually the waiter returned, and she had to give up her shield. Trying for an indifferent expression, she set the menu down and ordered the simplist pasta dish she could find, along with a side salad.

"So Bella," Tony said, forcing her to look up at him. "Are you looking forward to your time here in Los Angeles?"

"Yes, of course," Bella said, her hands fidgeting under the table. "I'm very grateful for the chance to study and learn more about the technological field."

"Yes, or course," he repeated, mimicking her tone of voice. When she glared at him, he simply chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "Relax," he said. "You're so tense, you look like you're made of concrete."

"I'm sorry," Bella said with a smile. "I guess I'm just kinda nervous. I'm not really used to this."

"Dinner?"

"You know what I mean," she responded as she laughed.

"Ah, there we go! She laughs." Tony said as he took a sip of the scotch he had ordered. "Now that we've cracked your shell a little bit Bella, we can really get dirty."

Bella's cheeks flared red again, and she turned her face downward.

"Now that is amusing," Tony said as he laughed. "You really flush easily,don't you?" When Bella didn't respond, he continued anyway. "Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself."

After composing herself (again!) Bella took a drink of her soda and turned back to him. "There's not really much to tell," she said. "I just finished my junior year of high school. I live with my dad, who's chief of police back home. My mom and stepdad live down in Florida. And I build computers for fun."

"And do quite a job of it, from what I've seen so far," Tony replied. "And of course, that's why you're here!" He swept his arms out to the side, as if encompassing the whole of the city in his grasp. "I'm very interested to talk with you a little more in detail about your computer actually. I was very intrigued when you mentioned that your system is an artificial intelligence. How did you develop your programming for it?"

"For Twain? Well...I did a lot of reading, kinda self taught myself how to write programs. And I spent just about all my free time on it. You're more than welcome to look over my coding. I would be honored to get your input, Mr. Stark...Tony," she ammended after a mocking glare from the man across the table.

"You taught yourself? That's pretty impressive stuff to learn for someone your age."

"I was surprised that I was able to catch on to it as easily as I did. But I really enjoy it."

"Well, that's what really counts. I look forward to seeing how well you fare at Stark Industries. Someone with your creativity should fit in very well."

The conversation at that point became a little more sparse as their dinner arrived. As they ate, Bella continued to answer random questions that Tony threw at her about her particular interests in the tech field, or how she solved certain programming problems, or some other such questions. The longer they talked, the more comfortable Bella began to feel around him, and she soon found herself smiling and laughing openly at his witty humor, and responding shyly to his smiles and flirtatious comments.

By the time that dinner was finished, and they were sitting in the car on their way back to Bella's apartment, she felt more at ease with her new boss. Friendly, even. The imposing image she had had of him at first had died down, and she felt like she had a little better idea of what Tony was like in reality.

Tony found he was actually really enjoying the company of this young girl that he had the fortune of meeting. She was more mature than her 18 years would suggest, and when he was finally able to draw her out of her discomfort, she was very pleasant company. And wicked smart to boot. He was definately very interested to see what she could do with the resources he could offer her at Stark Industries.

They were chatting pleasantly in the car while Happy was driving them back to the complex when he felt a tightness in his chest that he had begun to recognize as problems with the reactor that was keeping him alive. It was a problem he was looking into, but had come up short on so far. His discomfort must have shown on his face, because Bella stopped talking, and was looking at him with a concerned expression.

"Are you alright, Tony?" Bella asked, leaning towards him slightly.

He tried to play it off with a lopsided grin and a shrug of his shoulders. "It's nothing, just an old injury that's acting up." Unfortunately his nonchalance was belied by the fact that his body jerked suddenly, and he slumped over as he felt the reactor begin to give out.

"Tony!" Bella cried as she moved across the seat to him, helping him lean back in the seat. "Mr. Hogan," she cried out to the driver in the front seat, "something's wrong with Tony!"

Tony mumbled something, and Bella leaned closer to him, to try and make out his words. "Home," he said again, trying to make himself understood. "Need to get to my workshop..."

"Boss?" he heard Happy from the front seat.

"He said he needs to get to his workshop," Bella said to Happy, and Tony felt the speed in the car pick up as Happy began weaving quickly through the traffic.

"Be there in 10 minutes," Happy said as he raced down the road.

Bella was doing her best not to panic. What had been a surprisingly fun evening had suddenly turned very serious. She wasn't sure what was wrong with Tony, but she could tell he was in pretty bad shape. And it had happened so suddenly. As they raced down the winding highway along the coast towards his home, Bella did the best she could to keep him awake and aware. He kept mumbling something, but she wasn't able to make it all out. Something about reactors and cores and replacing something. She had expressed the thought that they should be taking him to a hospital, but she was overruled by both driver and sick man.

After what seemed like ages, they pulled off the highway and were racing up a cliffside road towards one of the biggest houses Bella had ever seen.

"We're almost there Tony, hang on just a little longer," she said to the man leaning heavily against her shoulder. He mumbled something again, but Bella didn't hear him. Finally they pulled to a stop in front of the house, and Happy jumped out of the car, racing around to help Bella get Tony out of the car and into the house. Luckily Happy seemed to know where they needed to go, and he guided them through the house and down a curved staircase.

"Jarvis! We need some help here," Happy called as they passed through a glass door and into the main workshop. If she had been paying attention, Bella would have been impressed by the room they had ended up in, but at the moment her entire concern was focused on the man she was helping into a chair by a large desk. She wondered for a moment who Happy was talking to, but they she heard a soft, accented voice from nearby.

"What happened?" Jarvis (presumably) asked, as Bella leaned Tony back in the chair.

"He said something about replacing a reactor or something like that?" Bella responded as she looked around for the body attached to the voice. She found noone, but didn't think about it, as Tony raised a shaky arm to point towards a wooden box sitting on the other end of the desk. Grabbing it up, she opened it and found what looked like several pieces of a silverish metal encased in protecting foam. She carefully took one out and turned back to Tony.

She nearly dropped the square of metal when she saw him. He had pulled open his shirt to reveal a large metal disc implanted in his chest. As she watched, he twisted it and pulled it out, leaving a hole large enough to fit her whole hand inside. As he pulled it out, she noticed the piece he had removed was smoking, and a piece of rusted and burnt looking metal protruded from the backside. He pulled it out and threw it down onto the desk, and reached for the piece she was holding. When she handed it over to him, he put it in the vacant spot, and watched as it was drawn inside. They he pushed the disc back into the hole in his chest, twisting it back into place with a soft click.

Whatever it was, it seemed to do the trick, as Tony gave a gasp and a cough, then straightened up in the chair.

"What in the hell was that?" Bella asked as she stared down at him.

Author's Note:

This week has been absolutely crazy. Moving into a new house, and all the fun stuff that goes with it (painting, putting in new flooring, looking for new furniture, packing, etc...). So in apology for the shortness of the last chapter, I bring you a long chapter with a little drama thrown in there. Yay! Updates should continue right on time every week.

Thanks to everyone for the great responses! Please continue to read and review! Comments and quesetions always welcome!

Love you all!