Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. Only my OC, Agent Clarissa Melanie Connors, and her story line belongs to me.

~0~ = little break

*First Month*

The first month was the worst. I had dealt with losing people that I was close to, people like Clint or Natasha. I've dealt with them being kidnaped and shot at and what not but they were trained for that. I trained them for that, I was with them through their most difficult missions and was practically their extraction team. This thing with Tony being kidnaped and possibly hurt completely blindsided me. I wasn't in any way prepared for this, at all.

I've been trying not to act the way I did when I lost Steve. I tried not to shut myself down and block everyone out. Pepper has been so very supportive though I can tell it's starting to hit her too. Even though she tries to cover it up with makeup, I can see the redness of her eyes and cheeks, but she puts on a strong front.

Nick's been helping as well, tries to distract me with missions and attempts to drown me in paperwork that's 'important' and 'must be done'. It has helped, even Steve in my dreams helps me and he coaxes me to not stop my life because of a bump on the road. He's been telling me how I shouldn't give up hope but still go on with my day to day things.

I went to Stark Industries with Pepper to check up on things there. It was also my way of helping Pepper in return of all the help she gave me. Obadiah was handling things around the company, but I still chose to check in. She's done so much for me especially with Tony, I can't believe it's been 17 years since she's been with us.

*Flashback*

"Tony!" I yelled throughout the house.

I groaned when he didn't hear me. We were supposed to be on our way to Stark Industries, but Tony was being stubborn.

"JARVIS please tell Tony that if he doesn't get his ass up here I'm going to drag him myself and cut him off for a month," I told JARVIS heatedly.

"Of course, Ms. Clara."

It only took Tony 2 minutes to run up next to me. I gave him a glare and straightened him out.

"You are going to make us late for your interviews," I said to him, smoothing out the lapels of his suit.

He rolled his eyes at me and groaned.

"Why can't you handle it, Rissa? Or better yet, just cancel the entire thing and stay in Stark Industries," Tony proposed, "Just because I'm becoming CEO doesn't mean you have to leave entirely. You can be my assistant!"

I gave him a look and scoffed.

"Do you really think I would wait on you hand and foot? Think again baby boy. You need a personal assistant and I am going to supervise all the interviews just to make sure you have... a clear mind with these people," I smirked at him and Tony childishly stuck out his tongue at me.

"Alright, let's hit the road,"

~0~

The interview process took very long. There were 15 possible candidates and they were all the same, just trying to get it on with Tony. I feel like my eyes are going to fall out by the many times I've rolled them.

"How many more are there?" Tony groaned, feeling restless as I was probably.

He was hanging upside down on his armrest.

"Darling, don't do that. All the blood will rush to your head," I chastised him, reading over the last candidate's file.

"And there's only one more so please, bear with it?" I pleaded.

Tony stood up from his chair and walked over to the tray of alcohol I kept around the office and poured himself a drink, declining when he offered me some.

"Do we have to interview this person? I mean, I think I'm going to go with Evelyn. You remember her? Brunette, blue eyes, great legs?" Tony joked.

How could I not remember her? She was wearing the shortest pencil skirt known to man!

I looked at Tony, "I was going more for Chris, you remember him right? Brunet, nice beard, impeccable taste in suits?" I joked back.

Chris was the only male candidate in the whole list. I was all for him once I realized the other women's goals for this job. Being Tony's personal assistant would mean they would be with him practically 24/7. Of course I did a more thorough background check on all the candidates before we interviewed them just to be on the sure side of things.

"Just, get the last one in here so we can go home," Tony waved me off.

The woman walked in through the door was very elegant and had a determined look on her face. She was very young and very beautiful. She gracefully sat down on the chair and folded her hands in her lap, ready to answer my questions.

"Good afternoon, Miss... Potts," I greeted her, looking at her file.

She gave both Tony and I polite smiles before greeting us too.

"It says here you're already an intern in Stark Industries, is that correct?" I asked her, seeing Tony raise at eyebrow at that.

"Yes, ma'am, that's correct, and please call me Pepper," She told me politely.

"So what made you want to be an assistant, my assistant no less?" Tony asked her.

"Well, the opportunity came up for me to show that I'm a very hard working person and I am an intern here so I know the ways of the company. Plus getting paid is good too," Pepper joked making me laugh behind my hand.

"How long have you been an intern here?" Tony asked.

"About a year and a half now."

"You're gorgeous, how have I missed a face like yours?" Tony flirted, once again I rolled my eyes at his antics.

"Um, well, thank you, Mr. Stark, but I'm just another intern. I'm supposed to be invisible so I guess I'm doing my job right if you haven't noticed me," Pepper blushed slightly at the compliment.

Huh, humble. First time today, the rest of the women flirted back when Tony did. I like her.

"How about we talk about business elsewhere, dinner perhaps?" Tony asked with a wolfish grin on his face.

Pepper stared at him cooly before answering.

"Mr. Stark, if we must talk business I believe the perfect place would be right here. Why waste time right?" Pepper rejected him.

Tony all but dropped his mouth making laugh.

"I like you, Pepper, you're hired. You can start Monday if you'd like," I told her with a smile, ignoring Tony's outrageous cry of my name.

Pepper looked shocked. She immediately stood up and shook my hand wildly, thanking me profusely. After she left Tony looked at me with exasperation all over his face.

"Are you serious?"

"Don't worry sugar, she'll be good for you I promise,"

~0~

I walked into Tony's office, well it was my office too when I was CEO myself. Of course it had been Howard's before mine. I remember how shocked I was when I found out he'd put the company in my name on his will. It was still technically half mine, of course, Tony gets the other half.

When Howard and I told the world about me, about how I couldn't age normally and couldn't die technically, the entire world was at a shock. I think Howard almost killed the population of America when he said that if anything were to happen to him, I would immediately gain control of the company. I argued with him (privately of course) and said it wasn't right for me to get the company when it should be for his child, (in this case, Tony) but he said that I would just own half of it and I could step down as CEO whenever I want as long as I pick a trustworthy successor.

Of course my first thought of who would be to succeed me was Obadiah considering he and Howard were close friends and worked with each other. But as time went on, we realized that Tony, like his dad, was a genius. I just had to wait for the right time, but then the accident happened. It was a dark time, just like now.

"Clara, are you alright?"

I looked up at the sound of the voice. Pepper was standing near me, a concerned look on her face. I gave her a forced smile.

"Yeah, yeah just thinking," I lied, sort of.

"The board members want to see you," She informed me.

"The board? Did they say why?" I questioned, but Pepper just shrugged her shoulders, confused as I was.

"You can just wait in the car if you want. I'll just be a moment."

I left the office and headed straight to the conference room. I was greeted with twelve older men, including Obadiah who made up the members of the board.

"Gentlemen, what's with the surprise meeting?" I asked them, sitting at the head of the table.

"Ms. Connors, we were just discussing how we're are going to need to find someone to fill the spot as CEO," John Cartwright spoke up.

"Yes, we all agreed that a company as large as Stark Industries can't run as well without a CEO," Henry Nichols added.

I looked down the table giving all of them cold stares.

"I understand your concerns for the company gentlemen, but let me ask you this. Why are you all talking as if Tony won't come back?"

A brave soul answered my question although he looked like he was about to shit his pants when I turned to look at him.

"W-With all due respect, Ms. Connors, but a month has passed already, and we can't neglect the jobs the CEO is supposed to do."

"What they're trying to say is, Clarissa, we just need to find someone to cover up for Tony until he comes back," Obadiah explained, "Now I would be glad to step up and do the job-"

"No," I cut him off, "I still own half the company, therefore I will resume being CEO until Tony gets back. I want all details of our shipments before they go out and anything we order I want to see before we get them understood?"

All the board members nodded their heads slowly. I pushed my chair out before standing up and walking towards the door.

"Have a good day, gentlemen," I said before leaving.

~0~

*Second Month*

I was trying to tidy Tony's workshop to keep me busy. It's been almost two months and I was beginning to be restless. I've recently just got back to the country after leaving for a few days, doing my own searching. Clint, Natasha, and I went out a few miles out from Kunar, where Tony was last seen. So far we found nothing. Maria also found a few suspicious orders from Stark Industries sent to Afghanistan so we checked out that location as well but it seemed as if they moved camps before we got there. What makes it even more frustrating is that Phil can't find anything about the Ten Rings' location. It makes me want to pull out all my hair! Now I have to keep myself busy of else I just might do that, or worse.

As I cleaned, I found a box full of old film reels. I assumed they were all Howard's. They were all labeled and while looking through the box, a title caught my eye; Captain America and the Howling Commandos. This brought back memories.

"Hey J? Does Tony have an old projector somewhere?"

"I believe Mr. Stark keeps it in that cabinet at the bottom shelf over there."

A light shone at a metal cabinet at the far end of the workshop. I opened the cabinet and looked through the bottom shelf and just like JARVIS said, there it was. It took me a while to set up the projector as I was so used to the more advanced technology we have now, but I managed. I propped it up so it would face the clear white wall of the shop and grabbed myself a chair, waiting for the film to begin.

It was the few missions the Commandos went to, but I didn't, seeing as I was more needed at the base than with them. I remember being happy that a film crew went with them during these times so I would be able to see the mission as well. Steve and Bucky were complaining about it to me the minute they came back, saying how they were infiltrating in on their jobs as was very bothersome.

The familiar sound of the rattling film echoed throughout the empty room. The light from the projector started flickering as the film started. It showed a black and white picture of the Howling Commandos as well as Steve in action. Oh, Steve. It's been decades since I've seen him move like this, occasionally I would see him in the little pictures I have of him and in my dreams, but seeing him in action was always breathtaking to me. He moved so gracefully and naturally like he's been taught everything he's done before. I know he spent time in the gym with Bucky to prepare himself for the war but still.

My favorite part came on and it made me tear up. Steve was telling the men where to go and where to attack from. It seemed like they were on a truck or something, a map in front of them. Steve was pointing his arm in different directions and the other one was holding his compass. The camera man, I assumed saw something in his compass and decided to zoom in on it. On the lid of the compass was a picture of me in it. It was the one from a newspaper article that Steve cut out from. He noticed the camera pointed towards his compass and promptly shut it, giving the camera an irritated frown. I didn't stop teasing him about it for weeks but when he said it made him feel better knowing I was with him all the time, I almost snogged him right there, but I kept my composure.

The film slowly ended and I was left sitting in a pitch black room before I told JARVIS to turn the lights on. Perhaps watching this film wasn't the best thing to do under the circumstances considering it only made me feel worse and yearned for another person; Steve. Sighing heavily, I stood up from my chair and went upstairs to my room.

"JARVIS, I'm gonna need a day to myself. Reroute all calls to Pepper or Nick, depending on who the caller is. No one is to disturb me until I say so," I ordered JARVIS.

"Understood Ms. Clara, I hope you feel better by tomorrow," JARVIS replied.

"So do I JARVIS, so do I."

~0~

*Third Month*

By the middle of the third month, we were finally getting somewhere. Phil got an alert of some movement from the Ten Rings near the Registan Desert. Immediately sending out a team of agents to survey the place, I told Rhodey to command a search party of his own somewhere near the place. I stayed in Malibu with Pepper, both of us anxious to hear some news. A few hours later, I get a call from Rhodey.

"Clara, we got him."

Those words were like music to my ears. I let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank god. Is he alright? Is he hurt badly? Where are you guys now?" I rambled.

"He's fine Clara, just asleep from all the exhaustion. We're on our way to the base, probably half an hour tops," Rhodey informed me.

"Alright, good. I'll tell Pepper and we'll meet you there. Thank you, for finding him Rhodey," I thanked him before hanging up.

"JARVIS is Pepper still here?" I asked.

"Yes, Ms. Clara. Miss Potts is currently in the lounge area."

"Thanks, J."

I hurriedly walked to where Pepper was, excited to tell her the good news.

"Pepper! They found him! Rhodey found him!" I exclaimed happily, shedding a few tears.

"Rhodey said they're gonna be at the base in half an hour, that should be enough time for you to freshen up right?"

Pepper nodded and wiped her face.

"I'll call Happy to have him bring the car out. I'll meet you outside in 15," I told her before going to my room to grab my purse and redo my makeup.

"Pepper let's go!" I yelled throughout the house.

The faint sound of heels clicking on the floor became stronger as Pepper came. Once I saw her I immediately headed towards the car. Happy already had the door open for us. Pepper and I quickly hopped in.

"Happy step on it! Go through red lights I don't care, get to the base as fast as you can," I ordered him.

He nodded at me from the rearview mirror and the car jerked to life. I watched the outside world fly by as my leg bounced anxiously. Soon enough Happy parked the car at the tarmac, a waiting ambulance was parked near us. He advised us to stay inside until the jet landed, but I couldn't do that.

As soon as I saw the jet, I immediately got out of the car, Pepper following my actions. We both covered our eyes to shield them away from the dust. I heard a sniffle once the jet landed and I turned my head towards Pepper who was crying again.

I rubbed my hand behind her back comfortingly.

"C'mon Pepper, we can't inflate his ego anymore his head would burst," I joked eliciting a watery laugh from her.

The drop zone of the jet opened to reveal Tony in a suit looking worse for wear than usual. I noticed he had his right arm in a sling, I willed myself not to cry trying to take my own advice. Rhodey assisted Tony down the ramp as the paramedics rolled in a gurney to him.

"Are you kidding me with this? Get rid of them," Tony scoffed at the gurney, but Rhodey did as he said.

He walked towards us and as soon as he was close enough, I almost tackled him in an embrace, still wary about the arm in the sling. Well, there goes my advice of staying cool.

"You are never leaving the house without a leash, do you understand me?" I playfully kid.

Tony laughed at me, but he still embraced me as tight as I embraced him. I placed my hands on his face, assessing if he had any more injuries besides his arm. He had a few cuts and scratched on his face but nothing too serious.

"Oh, you had me so worried, baby boy," I whispered in his ear.

Tony gave me another tight squeeze before releasing me. He turned to Pepper looking at her critically.

"Your eyes are red and puffy, a few tears for your long lost boss?" Tony mocked, but Pepper ignored it, rolling her eyes.

"Tears of joy, I hate job hunting," She stated, obviously joking.

"Yeah vacation's over," Tony said playfully.

I playfully smacked him in the chest, but my hand hit something hard, not hard like bone, but hard like metal. Tony didn't seem to have noticed so I ignored it for now and decided to ask about it in the car. I looped my arm through his good one, leading him to the car. Pepper took the front seat, leaving me and Tony in the back so it wouldn't be a cramped.

"Where to, sir?" Happy asked, turned around in his seat.

"The hospital please, Happy," Pepper interjected.

"No."

Pepper turned back from her seat as well, a confused look on her face.

"No? W-What do you mean no?"

"No is a complete answer," Tony reasoned.

"Tony, listen to Pepper, a doctor has to look at you-" Tony cut me off

"I don't have to do anything. I've been in captivity for three months, there are two things I want. I want an American cheeseburger and second-"

This time, Pepper cut him off, and if she didn't I would have. I looked at him disappointedly.

"That's enough."

"No, Rissa, Pepper it's not what you think. Pepper I want you to call for a press conference now."

Pepper glanced at me, silently asking if I knew what he was up to, but I was just as lost as she was.

"A press conference? What on earth for?" Pepper asked him but was ignored.

"Hogan drive, cheeseburger first."

"What's on your chest Tony?" I asked as soon as it was silent.

Pepper turned from her seat once again, my question gaining her attention.

"You felt it didn't you? Earlier when you smacked me." He didn't deny that there was something on his chest.

"What is it?" I asked again.

"Don't freak out okay?" Tony warned me before he started to unbutton his shirt.

My eyes widened as I covered my mouth, I heard a gasp that I can assume only came from Pepper.

"Is that what I think it is?" I breathed out.

"If what you're thinking is a miniaturized arc reactor, then yeah it's exactly what you're thinking," Tony said nonchalantly.

I wrapped my arms around him as if hugging him is the only way to solve this problem.

"Oh, my baby boy. What happened to you out there?" I said in his ear.

"They had my weapons, Rissa, they had weapons that had my name printed on the side," He disclosed to me.

"Ironically, it was also the one that blew up next to me, this here," He tapped the arc reactor in his chest, "is what's keeping the shrapnel away from my heart."

I eyed the glowing thing in his chest.

"Please tell me you're making a better version of that back home... Need I remind you that you did create that in a cave," I clarified.

"Yes, Rissa, I'm making a new one."

Happy went through a Burger King drive-through and ordered 3 cheeseburgers for Tony. He ate one of them so fast it looked like he just inhaled the thing. We slowly rolled up to Stark Industries where there were already swarms of reporters waiting for Tony's arrival. At the front of the reporters was Obadiah who greeted Tony with open arms.

"Hey! Tony!" He said as he hugged Tony

Obadiah leaned close to his ear, but I still heard him say, "I thought we were gonna met up at the hospital?"

"No, I'm fine," Tony assured him before greeting the press.

Obadiah looked at me and gave me a fake looking smile.

"Obadiah," I greeted him with a nod which he returned before turning back to the press to follow Tony inside.

Pepper and Happy ushered me inside where we followed the crowd. We stood in a small press room, a podium was at the front of the room ready for Tony to use. Pepper and I stood near the back of the room, just to stay away from all the reporters.

"Happy, can you please guard the door? I know it seems silly but I think it'll help calm my nerves a bit," I asked him.

Happy waved me off, "No problem Ms. Connors."

Pepper and I watched as the reporters started settling down before someone familiar came into my eye line.

"Miss Potts?"

I turned to see Phil standing next to Pepper. My eyebrow rose as I looked at him and asked him a silent question of what he's doing here, but all I got was a secretive smile.

"Yes?" Pepper replied.

"Can I speak to you for a moment?" Phil inquired.

"Oh, I'm not part of the press conference, but it's about to begin right away."

"I'm not part of the press. I'm Agent Coulson of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," He held out a business card for Pepper who looked at him amusedly before accepting it.

"That's quite a mouthful," She joked.

"I bet they get that a lot," I commented, my voice full of amusement as I gave Phil a look.

"Yes we do, my boss makes me say the entire thing, I'm working on it," Phil explained to us.

"You know, we've already been approached by the DOD, the FBI, the CIA," Pepper stated but Phil interjected.

"We're a separate division with a more specific focus. We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape."

I raised an eyebrow in his direction, but he just shrugged.

"I'll put something in the book, shall I?" Pepper agreed, diverting her attention back to Tony as she stepped away from Phil and I.

"Debriefing him, huh," I said to him but still keeping my focus in front of me.

"Fury's idea obviously," Phil told me.

"Figured, didn't bother talking to me about it," I said annoyed.

"I'm sure he'll get an earful from you. He didn't want to tell you because he knew-"

"That I'd be against it, yeah I am, but you're right, he is going to get an earful from me."

I noticed Obadiah stand by the podium ready to start when he noticed Tony was sitting at the bottom of the podium, eating his burger.

"C-Can everyone just sit down," He asked the reporters, "that way I can still see you and it won't be as formal and..."

The reporters shared confused yet amused looks but still did as he asked.

"I better see what's he's up to," I said to Phil before leaving him and going next to Tony.

"Hey," He said quietly to Obadiah then turned to me and gave me a sweet smile.

Tony took the last bite of his burger before addressing the crowd.

"I never got to say goodbye to my dad," He began, startling me that he was actually talking about Howard.

"I never got to say goodbye to my father, There's questions that I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. lf he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels," He looked at me and all I could do was give him a sad smile and hold his hand.

"I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability."

Tony paused for a moment and that gave a reporter a chance to raise his hand timidly.

"Mr. Stark?"

"Hey Ben," Tony called on him, I'm not actually sure if his name was Ben.

"What happened over there?" He asked.

Tony abruptly stood up and made his way to the podium, I stood up as well and backed up at bit, back to Pepper but stayed standing.

"I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up," He took a pregnant pause, making me wonder what he was about to do.

"And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division-"

My jaw dropped as did Pepper's. The room turned into a frenzy as all the reporters rapidly began asking questions.

"-Until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be. What direction it should take, one that I'm comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well." Tony tried to continue but Obadiah was pushing him out of the way.

A security guard brought him over to us and we made away at the car where Happy was already waiting.

"Tony, honey, are you sure about this?" I asked him softly.

"Rissa, you weren't there. I already told you, they had my weapons. I don't know how they got there but if it means that I have to stop making weapons so they won't get their hands on them, I will," Tony said seriously, leaving no room for arguments.

"I'm proud of you, that wasn't an easy thing to do," I told him, caressing his cheek.

"Thanks, I won't let you down, Rissa."

"Oh, baby boy, you'll never let me down," I kissed his cheek softly before telling Happy to go.

AN: Sorry for the late update, but wow! 103 follows! I honestly wasn't expecting to get 100 so thank you so much! On a sadder note, this will be the last regular update. The rest of my updates will be surprises from now on because school takes up a lot of my time. Thanks for reading and those who reviewed, I'm glad you all are enjoying the story. I hope to see you soon! -E

As for the reviews:

-Thank you! And you're not being rude, I just thought that by me saying if you recognized anything to do with Marvel meant I didn't own it... so by you recognizing it is Agent Carter's lines mean I don't own it... idk how to really edit a disclaimer but if you're willing you can write something up for me!