Ten
I lay in bed half awake. My brain trying to process through the mind numbing sex from the night before. I stretched my aching muscles to once again find an empty bed. I panicked. With no Jarvis to tell me what who was in the apartment, I tried to get out of bed. I stumbled and fell on the tangled sheets.
"Ow! Damnit, Jarvis! What time is it?" At least I still had Jarvis on my phone.
"Sir, it is 10:30 in the morning." Jarvis sounded far away. I grabbed my boxers off the floor and hopped along the floor trying to put them on. I quickly found myself alone. More panicking. Did S.H.I.E.L.D. take her in suspicion of what happened last night? Did something else horrible happen?
I found the phone on the bathroom counter, with a dozen missed calls. All from S.H.I.E.L.D. Under my phone was a folded letter. It was labeled 'Tony' in elegant handwriting. I took it back to the bed to open it.
"Dearest Tony, I am sorry for having to leave you again. I did not want to end up back in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody again. I will be seeing you soon. XXX." It was signed with a single letter 'L' with much flourish.
I sighed. At least S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't have her, I wouldn't have forgiven them for taking her again. I showered, examining the large hickey on my throat. It would be difficult to hide that one. I also examined the cuts and scratches along my back. I smiled at the thought. I was lost for a moment, thinking of her. Her soft skin, ample breasts, her full lips on my skin. A knock on the door jolted me back to reality. I wrapped a towel around my waist. Natasha burst in the door and swatted me with a paper.
"Good morning, playboy. Sleep well?" She sarcastically quipped.
"Well, good morning to you as well. I sure hope that isn't a touch of a hangover I heard, now is it?"
"Get dressed, we have work to do. I don't know if you read the papers, but we have an explosion to look into." She had an attitude this morning. I opened the paper to my own surprised face and naked ass. The headline read 'Ironman Rescued from Elevator with New Fling'.
The second story was the apparent bombing of the New York stock exchange.
"I don't work for S.H.I.E.L.D. I have my own company to run. I'm sorry if it looks like I left have a little fun, but I really didn't feel good and we really were trapped. I made the best of a situation and Thor and Bruce rescued us after it was secured." I tried to explain. She snorted and left the room. There was nothing more I could say, it was the truth. I wasn't trying to blow off my Avengers duty.
Sighing at the thought, I got dressed. I was about to leave when something shiny out of the corner on my eye. On the dresser was a necklace. Thin gold chain with a small charm on it. I saw 'L' wearing last night, she must have forgot it. I looked at the small charm, two snakes intertwined. It wasn't like the snakes from the the medical emblem. They were tangled in figure eight. Interesting. I pocketed it, she said she'd be seeing me soon.