A/N: This chapter follows Alessandra's POV again and contains her second meeting with Tony. Because this fic is entirely based on their friendship (with the obstacles surrounding it), I'll add chapters with Tony's POV, Pepper's, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s and a few others. Thank you to everyone who viewed, followed, and especially to my lone reviewer! That made me write an extra long third chapter for you all.

Without further ado, here's a drunk Tony and a vaguely amused Alessandra.

Enjoy!

-E

Disclaimer: I do not own Tony, any established Marvel Characters, the Iron Man 2 plot line, or S.H.I.E.L.D! Alessandra, Amanda and Rhonda are all mine.

Chapter 2

October 31, 2009

In the days following her run in with Tony Stark, Alessandra hardly had any time to think about their encounter. Being far too busy, she wrote him off as a one-time thing.

She had been driving down PCH thinking about the night before when she was rear ended by a car nearly as ragged as her own. Behind the wheel was a girl around her age with bright pink streaks through her blonde hair and an incredible amount of piercings.

Hmm, maybe I should get a piercing. Haven't done that yet.

Pulling over, Alessandra got out of her hand-me-down 1970 Rebel Station Wagon (Why fix what isn't broken? Her Nonna had said when she gave her the car) and assessed the damage. Just like an old Nokia, there wasn't a scratch on her. The person who rear ended her hopped out of her car and ran at Alessandra frantically.

"I'm so sorry," the girl spoke loudly. "This morning has been complete crap and I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. First, my land lady decided to raise the price of rent- which is kinda ridiculous considering the shit hole I live in - and then because I had to listen to her rant about the housing market, I am going to be so late to work!"

"Hey, don't worry about it. No harm done. See?" Alessandra tried to placate the frazzled girl. She knew exactly how bad days went.

"Oh, Thank god," the girl breathed out. "I don't even know what I would have done if your car had been totaled."

With a small smile, Alessandra shrugged and added, "I hope your day gets better," before making her way towards the front of her car.

"Wait!" The pink haired girl was peeking into the backseat of Alessandra's station wagon. "Do you live in your car or something?"

What is it with Californians? Are they not born with filters?

"Umm… no," Alessandra lied. She didn't really need some stranger knowing about her life as a rubber tramp. "I just moved here and my housing arrangements kinda fell through."

The pink haired girl's head snapped up and she exclaimed, "Are you serious? That's great!"

"Excuse me?" Alessandra couldn't help but be a little offended.

"Oh, no I mean, it's great that you're looking for somewhere to live because I could use a roommate, not because you're basically homeless."

"Oh," was all Alessandra could say. She didn't even know if she wanted to stay in California. Traveling around had given her adventure, something she had never known before. Settling down and actually paying rent on a place was a big step.

"Please, please, please? It'll be great. The rent will be super cheap since there are two of us and I could even help you get a job at the coffee shop!" Pink girl was outright begging now. "I've been working double shifts because the last guy we hired turned out to be crazy."

That's reassuring, Alessandra thought drily. What the hell, I've never had a job before. Might as well give it a shot.

"Sure, sounds good." A loud squeal left the other girl's mouth and Alessandra found herself swept up in a hug. "Wow, you're very… enthusiastic." After that, Alessandra found herself being led to a homey-looking coffee shop that boasted their all organic coffee drinks.

The days went by quickly as she worked from 4pm till closing every other day, moved her few belongings into a two bedroom apartment overlooking a leather goods retailer, and went for walks along the beach when her roommate was home. No offense to Amanda, the pierced girl had a surprisingly mundane name, but her rambling monologues were exhausting to listen to. Instead, she found herself exploring the seaside city she found herself in. It was loud and chaotic in a way Las Vegas could never be. There were no brightly lit casinos or strip clubs every few miles along the highway, but the roar of the ocean and the swarms of rich folk shopping all day long created just as much noise.

It was Halloween night, five days after her first meeting with Tony Stark when he fell into her lap. Literally. She had been on her way home late at night after her shift when she heard loud music pumping out of a mansion. Walking past the gates of the enormous house, she was able to see what looked like hundreds of people dressed up in costumes. There were your typical Mean Girls worshippers (skimpy costumes, anyone?), those who went the traumatizing route (did he really need that much fake blood?), and those who didn't dress up at all (too cool or too rich, take your pick). Ducking her head, Alessandra began walking faster to avoid the atmosphere all together. Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough.

A loud voice rang out from her right, "I AM IRON MAN!"

She whipped her head towards the voice, only to see the great Tony Stark sitting on the ground next to a bush and giggling madly to himself. He looked absolutely smashed. His costume was torn and stained with – oh for god's sake, what even is that? – and his wig was on backwards. Despite his appearance, he was laughing loudly and seemed to be in a good enough mood.

Alessandra stood there in the shadows thinking about what she should do. She had revealed herself to him that night on the beach but it hadn't exactly been an offer of friendship. He would be fine, she decided, he was a genius and his bodyguard would find him eventually.

Before she had even taken two steps away, the sound of retching filled the air. Shit. So close. Alessandra turned and jogged toward the billionaire as he vomited into the bush. She took off his hat and wig before throwing his tie over his shoulder to prevent vomit from getting on it. As a girl who had thrown up many times in her life, she was very familiar with what he was going through, and it was not pretty.

"Agh," he groaned as he finished retching and sat up straight again. Finally noticing her presence, he squinted at her and leaned into her personal space.

"Woah, back up buddy, you have seriously bad breath." She wrinkled her nose and watched him carefully. His eyes had gone a bit glassy. Just as she was about to ask if he was alright, Tony Stark passed out directly on her lap, knocking her from her kneeling position. Both of them sprawled on the ground, Alessandra grunted out a curse.

On the list of things that Alessandra thought would never happen, lying under a passed out Tony Stark had to be at the top. To be honest, she never thought she'd live in a place as affluent as Malibu, California either, so she guessed that this entire week should top the list.

Thinking over her options, Alessandra thought about what her grandmother would do. Her grandmother. It was times like this when she wanted nothing more than to curl up in her Nonna's arms and cry. She had been gone for five months and it still tore at Alessandra's insides. Luciana Costa was the strongest person she had ever known, and for her to die in a car accident… it just didn't seem right. None of it was right. Her being here, Tony Stark lying on top of her smelling like vomit, her cancer returning. It wasn't right! She was supposed to be living a happy and healthy life with her grandmother in Las Vegas!

A wave of anger washed over her. Looking up at the billionaire, Alessandra pushed him off roughly and struggled to her knees.

"Hey! Wake up!" She said loudly, only earning a soft grunt in return. "Stark! Up. Now" When nothing she said worked, Alessandra got an idea.

Well, here goes, she thought with a small smirk. She brought her hand down swiftly and slapped Tony across the face.

With a yell, he bolted up and groaned. "What the hell?" He slurred, obviously still drunk.

"Come on. Up you get." She said impatiently as she struggled to help the man to his feet. Her being only 100 lbs soaking wet made it almost impossible. "Help me out here, fatty!" Taking the hint, Tony took some of his weight off of her shoulders. "Thank god," she muttered before asking, "alright, where's your bodyguard or girlfriend or whoever?" He didn't reply. "Hey!" She tapped his cheek a few times, "do you want me to leave you here?"

"Nooo, I'm hungry!" He was still slurring as he slumped into Alessandra's small shoulder once more.

"Jesus Christ," she breathed out. Standing in the front yard of some random mansion wasn't going to get her home and into bed. She felt her anger slowly bleed away and exhaustion take over. She wanted nothing more than to take a hot bath and sleep.

Looking over at the billionaire, she threw out a mental fuck it and began digging through his pockets.

"Woah," he giggled, "buy me a drink first."

Shooting him a small exasperated smile, she mentally cheered when she found his keys. "Okay, now where's your car," she mumbled more to herself than to Tony.

He answered anyway, "Are you trying to rob me? Because you can't. I mean- I AM IRON MAN!" Tony said, dissolving into giggles again.

"Okay, ow." He had screamed right in her ear. Nice.

Choosing a random direction, Alessandra began walking, billionaire draped on one shoulder. She clicked the lock button on the keys for several minutes before hearing a beep.

Turning to where the noise came from, she spotted what looked like a custom Audi parked along the curb with STARK6 on the license plate.

Holy Shit.

Stumbling a small ways to the –beautiful- car, she unlocked the back door and heaved the man in. She slammed the door and went around, plopping into the driver's seat, breathing hard. This had to be the most exercise she's had in months.

Moving the seat up a few inches and adjusting the mirrors, she turned the car on and pulled away from the curb. "Okay," she said slowly, tapping on the steering wheel, "let's buy you a drink."

Driving around for a while, Alessandra thought about the first time she learned how to drive. It had been a few months after her sixteenth birthday and she was in remission. Given that she wouldn't be dying anytime soon, Alessandra had begged her Nonna to teach her to drive. When Nonna agreed, Alessandra had thrown her short hair up in a bandana and jumped in the car. It was surprisingly nice having her grandmother teach her. She was patient and understanding, (except for the u-turn mishap, but she never really counts that anyway) so much so that by the end of the day, Alessandra was a pro. She got her license six months later.

It didn't take long to find a retro looking diner off of PCH. Pulling into the parking lot and shutting off the engine, Alessandra turned to see Tony snoring across the backseat. Chuckling a little, she walked around the other side of the car and pulled Tony out. He was groaning, slapping her hands away, and calling her Pepper. Wow he's smashed. Why is he talking about pepper? Alessandra shoved his wig on and adjusted his tie before reaching hand in his back pocket and pulling out a nice leather wallet.

"Bingo!" She smiled widely, "Alright, let's go."

"Go? Go where? Where are we going?" She laughed a little at how confused he was.

Alessandra linked arms with Tony and made for the diner doors. "You, my good sir," she said shaking his wallet, "are going to treat us to a nice big dinner."

At the mention of dinner, Tony began to wake up more. "Oh man. Dinner! I want a cheeseburger. Can we get cheeseburgers?"

Smiling a little, she replied. "Yeah, I think we can do that."

In Tony's excitement, he flung open the doors and loudly announced that he wanted cheeseburgers, earning the pair several odd looks and a few cheers. Finding a booth near the bathrooms (for when Tony needed to puke again), they were only seated for a moment before the waitress was sliding two coffee mugs over. Tony dove at his and drained the cup before taking hers.

"He drunk?" She asked.

"Yes."

"He been barfing?"

"Yupp," Alessandra said, popping the 'p'.

"You both ordering burgers?"

"Yeah."

The waitress, whose name tag said Rhonda, watched the pair for a moment before nodding, "I'll bring some extra fries and coffee."

With a bright smile, Alessandra yelled out a thank you as the waitress retreated.

Turning her attention back to the man sitting across from her, she noticed that his glassy eyes were fixed on her. Goddamn, even drunk this man's stare is intimidating. Refusing to wilt under his gaze, she stared right back, an unreadable look on her face. He leaned in slowly, Alessandra copying his move, eyes squinting at her. Tilting his head right, and then left, he seemed to be analyzing her. Well, as much as he could while pissed drunk.

"I don't know you." He said with a finger pointed in her face.

Considering their one and only meeting had involved him ranting and her nodding, she thought that was an accurate depiction of their relationship. "Nope."

"And you held my hair as I vomited."

"Uh, yeah."

"And you carried me to my car."

"Well, no not re-," she stopped herself, "yeah."

"And you stole the keys to my car."

Technically she did take them from his pocket. "Yeah."

"And you put me in my own car, drove me to a diner, stole my wallet, and used it to buy burgers."

She ran through the events of the night before nodding, "sounds about right."

It was silent for a few more seconds before he shrugged, "Yeah, okay." Alessandra's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Wasn't he supposed to freak out, call the cops, and press charges for grand theft or something? Not that she honestly expected him to. He was Tony Stark for god's sake! He was known for his eccentric and often uncaring ways. In light of everything that had happened since she met him, maybe the tabloids weren't wrong about that.

Rhonda returned then with two plates overflowing with fries and a whopping burger. For once in a long time, Alessandra could feel her appetite returning. She didn't even remember the last time she had eaten anything other than the occasional bowl of soup. If there was anything she hated about having cancer more than actual death, it had to be not eating whatever she wanted. Sure, she could eat it, but when you spent the next hour vomiting it back up, it wasn't really worth the effort. When she decided not to go into treatment, Alessandra knew that she would get much worse before eventually kicking the bucket. But sitting there in a random Malibu diner at 2am with a drunk billionaire, she couldn't help but feel that this was as good as it could get. It was random, and weird, and absurd in every single way, but it was such the complete antithesis of her life in chemo that she felt truly happy. Maybe Tony was good for her, even the very little time they spent together.

"You're not eating." Tony's loud voice broke through her thoughts.

She had a wide smile on her face as she replied, "Just thinking." Taking a large bit of her bacon cheeseburger, Alessandra moaned. "So. Good."

"Ugh I know right? This shit is bananas."

At his Stefani reference, Alessandra hummed and pointed to him. "Best song. Seriously."

This admission had Tony full on singing Hollaback Girl. "OOH, THIS MY SHIT! THIS MY SHIT!"

Her first reaction, Oh my god Tony shut up!, was quickly overruled when Tony held out his make-shift ketchup microphone to her. She was the new and improved Alessandra King. Cancer had given her a new outlook on life, so she decided to go with the flow and say what the hell.

"LET ME HEAR YOU SAY, THIS SHIT IS BANANAS! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!"

A/N: Gwen Stefani is very important to a drunk Tony. Next chapter will feature some Tony POV so you can see what kind of place he is at right now. Keep in mind, this is only 2 months post Afghanistan and a few weeks post "I AM IRON MAN." It gets a bit angsty but it'll pick up again in Chapter 4.