A/N: Sorry for the delay, I had my first round of exams this week. Anyway, I'm glad you liked Alessandra's friends. Most of them are based on actual people so that was fun. The idea of Amanda and Tony meeting and having their little competition was ElysiumPhoenix's idea, so kudos for that. Of course, our dirty brains came up with the innuendos. (I had a few more but decided to keep it cleaner than it was.) Enjoy!

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, Rhonda, Adam, Sophia, Johnny, Benz and Fitzgerald are all mine.

Chapter 6

November 17, 2009

Tony POV

The morning of November 17th started out badly for Tony Stark. He had been up most of the night trying to solve his suit portability problem. The suit was far too bulky to be carted around, so he had tried to create a robot (similar to Dum-E and Butterfingers) to follow him around and morph into the suit when needed. Unfortunately, that plan didn't actually pan out. After three more hours of tinkering around with various ideas, he passed out on his desk from exhaustion, only to get four hours of fitful sleep. Dreams filled of Stane and other faceless villains filled his head, leaving him gasping for breath as he woke. Glancing over at the clock he saw that it was only 10:00am. Considering he hadn't slept in two days, he thought four hours was pretty good. Shaken up, he began working on the designs again, only to realize that he had run out of coffee and his brain refused to function properly without the sweet nectar.

Putting down his blowtorch (because it totally helps to set things on fire when you're frustrated), he decided to call Pepper.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. call Pepper."

"Sir, you might wish to know-," J.A.R.V.I.S. was cut off by an irritated Tony.

"Call Pepper now, J."

If AI's could convey sarcasm in their voices, Tony would swear that's exactly what was happening. "Of course, sir."

A minute of silence echoed through the lab as Tony waited for Pepper to pick up the phone. He couldn't help but be short-tempered by now. He hadn't slept for longer than 3 hours a night in the past week and had lived solely on an alcohol infused caffeine high. It wasn't the healthiest arrangement but Tony was more than paranoid about the possibility of another attack. He'd only gone out as Iron Man a few times in the last month and that had been to test his new suits flight capabilities.

Pepper's voice echoed around the room as she answered the phone.

"Hello, Tony."

"Pep. I need coffee." He knew he was snapping by now but he couldn't really bring himself to care.

"You sound tired. Have you gotten any sleep since I left?"

"Yeah, of course. But I need coffee like yesterday." Hearing strange voices on the other side of the phone he asked, "Where are you?"

"Shanghai."

Dead silence permeated the air at her answer. Tony didn't really think he had heard her right.

"What? When did you go to Shanghai? Why are you in Shanghai? Shanghai?" His response was stuttered, allowing Pepper to hear how confused he was.

"Yes Tony, Shanghai. I got here two days ago. A week after you had me cancel your appointments and take your place at this investors meeting." Her tone was measured and filled with forced patience. It was common for Tony to forget what he considered 'unimportant' details.

"What? No. I need you here. I need you to get me coffee. I thought that was the point of having an assistant."

"I told you that you were needed here but you refused and kept muttering about something being 'too heavy.' You told me to go instead. So, I'm here doing your job. Would you rather be here?"

He grimaced for a moment before responding. "Ugh. God no. Just come home, I need you here."

Muttering sounded from the other end of the phone as he finished his sentence and then Pepper was back speaking hurriedly. "Tony, I have to go. The Chinese investors just got here. Good luck."

"Wait no, I need-," the dial tone sounded as she hung up.

Making a sound of frustration, Tony demanded that J.A.R.V.I.S. look up the nearest coffee shop that doesn't taste like ass. Irritably, he stood from his slouched position and headed up the stairs, mumbling the entire way. He was a billionaire for god's sake and he had to go get his own coffee! He knew he shouldn't have let Happy take the week off. Honestly, he figured Pepper would be around to get him important things such as this. And now, he had to go out of his way to get it himself. Tony began to think more about his failed designs as he stepped into the shower, distracting him enough not to notice getting dressed or hopping into one of his cars.

The sound of J.A.R.V.I.S. speaking through his navigation system shook him out of his annoyed thoughts. Following the directions, he pulled into the parking lot of a coffee house five minutes later and couldn't help but let out a small snort at what he saw. The name of the place J had picked was 'Java the Hutt', no doubt chosen because of the obvious nerd pun. It looked like there weren't many people there, thank god, which wasn't entirely unexpected seeing as it was 10:30am and everyone would be at work.

As he walked through the door, making sure to keep his sunglasses on, he took in the shop. The walls were a soft mint green color, the chairs were all different styles and the tables were dark brown. There was a large bookshelf in the corner that looked like it was stuffed to the brim with old paperback novels and a few college aged kids were standing around reading the descriptions. At the front counter, a girl no older than 22 sat reading what looked like a romance novel—seriously a pirate? She had light blonde hair and pink streaks, which offset the incredible amount of piercings she had stuck through her face. Tony had never understood why kids mutilated their faces for fun of all things but hey, he had a flashlight in his chest, who was he to judge.

Approaching the counter he tried to get the girl's attention, "Hey. Wake up Blondie. Or is it Pinky? I'm never really sure what to refer to with multiple hair colors. Do you prefer Blondie or Pinky?"

His words came out fast and blunt, something that often had people confused. He was surprised when the girl only smiled a little and replied.

"How about Amanda?" It was then that she gestured to her name tag, which was in plain view.

"Right, Amanda. Listen I need your largest, strongest, blackest coffee, espresso, whatever you got." He glanced at the sizes on the counter, "You know what, just give me a bucket."

For the second time today, Amanda surprised him.

She raised a pierced eyebrow and said, "You like 'em big, strong, and black?"

Ha. He knew what she was doing. This girl had spunk! Unable to help himself he replied in the sleaziest voice he could muster.

"Yes, although I wouldn't say no to flat white with a few shots of cream." His comment was followed by a long look that scanned her body. As his eyes reached her face, he could see a large smile threatening to emerge.

"I'm sure," she said drily. "Would you like any of our hot and sticky buns today?"

At this, Tony was the one who had to hold back a smile. He'd never actually met someone so blunt and crude before, besides himself of course. It was hilarious and she had successfully distracted him from his Iron Man dilemma.

"Is it a flat rate or do you charge by the hour?"

His comment had finally gotten her huge smile to emerge and she shook her head at him before going to make his drink. He couldn't help but let a smug smirk cross his features. Nobody was as good as he was at the fine art of Innuendo (capital 'I' totally necessary). He watched her putter around behind the counter before she came back with a coffee drink the size of a Big Gulp.

At his raised eyebrows she gave a small shrug. "It was my idea. Most of the patrons are college students and finals can be a bitch."

Remembering back to his own MIT days, he made a noise of agreement.

Amanda spoke up again, "Will that be cash or card?" He pulled out a shiny silver card, making her eyebrows shoot up and look incredulously back at him. Yeah, he was rich.

Pointing to the card reader near the register, another smile lit up her face. "Strip down, facing me."

This time his face scrunched up as he thought of something to reply with, only to come up empty. Huh. He, the great Tony Stark, had been bested by a girl with more holes in her face than Swiss cheese. Touché.

"Do you work on commission?"

She busted up laughing at that. Her laugh was so loud and genuine that Tony couldn't help but let a small smile cross his face. It had been a while since he had made anyone genuinely laugh. Usually he got dirty looks and skeptical faces, even the occasional sarcastic chuckle from Pepper. Contrary to popular belief, his jokes were not all that appreciated by his colleges and fellow rich people. Although, now that he thought about it, that girl he had met at the beach had laughed at his jokes. What was her name again?

Just as he was pondering this, the barista spoke. "Oh man, my roommate would love you. She always gets a kick out of dirty jokes. Although, when I made one about threesomes, I think I broke her."

Roommate, huh? "Your friend hates threesome jokes? No fun. Those are the best."

"Nah, I just think Alessandra wasn't expecting it. She was with some guy. I could hear him laughing over the phone."

At the mention of her roommate's name, Tony had a flash of Halloween night. He couldn't remember all the details the next morning but he did remember a phone conversation about threesomes that had him gasping for breath. Kind of random, but pre-Afghanistan Tony would have jumped at the chance.

"That's a long name." He looked at her for a moment before deciding to just ask, "Is she tall, skinny, dark-haired, and makes you want to call her pipsqueak?"

Amanda's eyes almost popped out of her head, "OMG yeah! Do you know her?"

"I was 'some guy laughing over the phone.'"

She smiled slightly before it quickly turned into a scowl. "Aren't you a little too old to be messing around with an 18-year-old?" Her voice was suspicious and had a hard edge to it.

Hands in the air, the universal sign for surrender, he shook his head violently. "God no. We were eating cheeseburgers at a diner when you called!" At her skeptical look he sighed, dropped his hands and spoke again.

"She found me throwing up in some dudes front yard, took my car keys and wallet, drove me to the diner, sobered me up a little, and then took me to the beach. The water was freezing but there was no hanky panky going on. Jesus Christ, I have some morals."

Amanda gazed at him through narrowed eyes for a second before fond smile crept on to her face.

"Yeah that sounds like her. She probably held your hair too. Such a girl scout."

He nodded his head a bit before grabbing his extra large coffee and turning to leave the shop. Amanda's voice stopped him.

"Hey!" As he turned back she continued. "Do me a favor. Alessandra's been kinda down recently, not really sure why. You should go talk to her, maybe make some jokes and hang out. She seemed happy when you dropped her off last time."

That was something Tony had never expected to hear. This random barista was asking her to go annoy her roommate and cheer her up. He'd never been good at cheering people up, at least, not intentionally. Yeah, he could annoy someone into submission (Rhodey), or talk circles around a subject until all that was left was fond exasperation (Pepper), but he hadn't actually perfected the art of 'cheer'. What even was 'cheer'? But as his brain began to slide back to his lab, the problems surrounding the Iron Man suit only weighed him down. He really really didn't want to go back and fail another attempt at adapting the suit. Tony was loath to admit it, but he genuinely enjoyed hanging around the pipsqueak. She didn't shut his fun down and she even laughed at all his jokes, something he was still a bit skeptical about.

Not really coming up with any excuses, he shrugged and approached the counter again.

"Yeah, sure. I got nothing else to do." Amanda looked surprised for a minute before she scrambled to grab a pen and paper.

"Here's the address. I better see her in a good mood when I get home tonight. The kid's bummin' me out."

"No promises."

With that, he strut out of Java the Hutt and hopped into his convertible. It was an impulse decision really, but he was Tony Stark. He does what he wants and right now, he wanted to ignore his problem for as long as possible. If that involved going to see his favorite pipsqueak, he wouldn't complain about it.

Alessandra POV

Alessandra had been sitting on her bed knitting a scarf and watching movies for the past twenty-four hours straight when the doorbell rang. She had gotten through two chick flicks, four comedies, three action films, one horror movie, and half a season of her favorite sitcom at that point. It was exactly what she had done for the past two weeks—when she wasn't at work—but somehow it never got old. She hadn't been feeling well enough to eat much lately and the comfort of television and her arts and crafts kept her occupied.

After going bowling with Amanda and her group of friends, she had realized that maybe making more attachments wasn't a good thing. For the second time in the last six months she had forgotten that she was dying. It was exhilarating. But when she did remember, it made the experience ten times worse. Why would she become friends with these people if she wouldn't be around long enough to enjoy their presence? I mean, yeah, she had a few years to go at least, but what were three or four years in the grand scheme of things? She could hang out with Amanda and Sophia, go to concerts with Adam and Johnny, shop for polka dot pants with Fitzgerald and watch movies with Benz for a few years, but at the end of that time she would disappear when the symptoms became too much. Just slip away quietly and die alone in some random town far away from everyone she had ever gotten to know.

Because they didn't deserve to see her wilt away in a haze of pain. Just hanging out with them for a few hours had given her a pretty good idea of how amazing these people were. They were intelligent, artistic, creative and accepting, traits she adored in people. They didn't deserve for her to gain their trust and love, only to die a short while later. So, she decided that she would spend her last few years as a mere acquaintance; someone they had hung out with once and was just their friend's roommate. Nothing more.

Unfortunately, her plan was already failing. Amanda had given Sophia and Johnny her phone number—which inevitably meant that everyone had it—and they had tried to invite her out all morning. Worse yet, Amanda had made it her personal mission to get her out of her bedroom and socializing despite Alessandra's protests. It almost seemed futile, but she knew that they would get tired of her ignoring them eventually. She just had to hold strong and keep her silence.

Of course, just as she reminded herself of that, the person at the door had knocked. Loudly.

Muttering under her breath, she grabbed the blanket she had been laid on top of, wrapped it around her shoulders and made for the front door.

Her mouth dropped open in surprised at the sight of Tony Stark standing on her front steps.

When she didn't say anything, Tony took the opportunity to push his way into the apartment. "Finally, you took a while."

"Tony? What are you doing here?"

"Ran into your roommate at that nerdy coffee shop and decided to see where you lived. It's not much." He turned to face her and continued. "Are you sick? You look sick."

It was only then that she noticed the giant coffee drink in his hand. She stood there in silence trying to comprehend the situation before rolling her eyes and deciding to accept the weird change of events. From what little time Alessandra spent with him, she could tell he was a strange guy, prone to random bouts of insanity and offensive (read as: hilarious) comments.

She walked right past him and back into her bedroom, hearing his footsteps following along behind her. Taking a cursory glance around the room, she made sure all of her undergarments were tucked away and none of her projects littered the floor. Good enough, she shrugged and hopped on to the bed.

Her room was relatively small with plain cream colored walls. She hadn't thought about the possibility of finding a new home when she left Vegas, so the room had spartan furnishings. A double sized bed was pushed up against the wall directly opposite the dresser with a small TV settled on top and next to her small bedside table. Sitting on top of the bedside table was a small framed photo of Alessandra and her Nonna. Aside from that, there was no indication that a teenager lived there. It was simple, but simple was something Alessa had come to appreciate after her time on the road.

"Have you even left this room in the last two weeks? It looks like you're nesting." Tony began to walk around and inspect the few trinkets she had from her road trip, before catching sight of the half knitted scarf and needles on the bed. "You knit? Definitely didn't expect that. No judgment though."

"Yeah, I sorta had a lot of time on my hands growing up. Are you going to sit or just snoop through my stuff? Either way, let me finish this episode."

It was only then Tony noticed that the TV was on and paused at the image of a man wearing a suit getting slapped across the face. Alessandra couldn't help but laugh at the interested look on his face before getting up and walking into the kitchen. She hadn't been able to eat much in the past few days but figured maybe a little coffee would be fine. Grabbing a mug from the cabinet and a bag of chips from the cupboard, she padded back to her room. Tony was reclined against the headboard with an arm behind his head and his coffee in the other.

Alessandra climbed on to the other side of the bed and leaned back next to Tony, arms nearly touching, and threw the bag of chips in his lap before reaching for the coffee in his hands. He seemed to already know what she was going for because the only thing he did was pop the top off and hand it over.

It was then that she begun to realize just how unspoken their relationship was. When they had first met, she had reclined on the hood of his car and he followed, accepting her silent offer to talk about whatever was bothering him. Next, when he had been too drunk to stand, he hadn't bothered questioning her intentions when she dragged him to his own car and drove to the diner (although, that could have been the alcohol). She had known when to speak and when to keep silent, hoping that she was reading him right (which she was).

It was all very comfortable and familiar, something she had only developed with her nonna after a few years of living together. Here they were, sharing coffee and watching TV like they had known each other their entire lives. Tony would occasionally ask a question, to which Alessandra would launch into a long explanation of the past three seasons, laugh at the antics of the characters, and even pour his coffee into her mug when it got low.

They had both loved the episode of the search for the best burger in New York City and had lost themselves in stories of their favorite foods (not that Alessandra could pronounce any of Tony's favorites). It became a game, name as many delicious foods as you can.

Tony won.

By a landslide.

Before either of them knew it, the sky was dark and Amanda was standing in the doorway.

"Well you two look cozy." Her voice was full of relief at the sight of Tony and Alessa laughing and talking about the characters.

Abruptly Alessandra's laughter cut off. The moment Tony had set foot into the apartment she had forgotten her plan to become a social leper. He was just so damn charismatic! It was like nothing mattered in the world but the next joke or adventure with him, something that actually annoyed her greatly. She had been a bit indifferent towards Amanda lately and that was what she needed to do with Tony. Neither of them would find out what she was hiding and if isolating herself was the answer, then that's what would happen.

"Oh. Hey."

Tony glanced between the two roommates with a calculating look on his face. She knew she was being obvious but she had never been the most tactful person in the world.

Amanda's smile dropped a little before springing back up. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

With that, she walked back out and the sound of a door closing could be heard across the hall.

"Okay so I'm sensing a little hostility here. Did she steal your makeup?" His voice was nonchalant and his eyes were focused on the screen but she knew he was paying rapt attention to her response.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." She glanced around awkwardly, wondering how to get the billionaire to leave. "Look, I'm getting kinda tired. I haven't really slept in days so…"

At this, he gave up all pretences and turned to face Alessandra. She fought to keep eye contact but wilted under his intense stare. It was almost as if he were reading her like a book.

"What happened?" His tone made it clear that his curiosity had peaked.

Not knowing what else to say she told the truth… well, the semi-truth. "I've never been good at social situations so it's easier to just keep to myself. Like I said, it's not a big deal. I just don't really know what to say to her.

She could tell he wasn't buying it but was thankful when he didn't do anything other than to point at the screen and say, "Come on, don't kick me out now. I want to see what happens!"

The duo watched another two episodes before falling asleep in a mess of popcorn covered sheets.

A/N: I don't really like how this chapter turned out but oh well. Thanks for reading!