A/N: Hey everyone. Sorry it's been so long but everything seems to be happening at once. My birthday was the first weekend of October and then two days later my grandmother passed away from, you guessed it, cancer. I originally wrote this story to deal with my feels about her being diagnosed and now it's become so much more important. I don't know if I'll be able to update regularly (funeral, midterms, etc.) but I'll try not to wait another month.

Check out the poll on my profile about this story and review as much as you want. Thanks.

-E

Chapter 8

November 18, 2009

"Incredible."

"Hey! You would have done the same thing! It was the perfect opportunity to make a pagan joke. I just didn't think she would be so serious about it."

Alessandra shrugged and ignored the incredulous look Tony sent her.

As he made a move to open the door, she pulled him back. "Wait. Won't don't you need a hat and some sunglasses or something?"

"What are you talking about now, Beelzebub?"

At his joke, all she did was scoff. "You're famous. Don't the paparazzi stalk you when you go to the grocery store?"

"Right…" He glanced around as if the solution to their problem would just appear.

She shook her head and pulled off her baseball cap. "Here, wear this."

He glanced down at the hat before looking at the top of her head. "You don't have lice do you?" He sent her a smirk before shoving it on and exiting the car.

Shopping with Tony was either a great decision or the worst. There was no in-between. When they had walked into the store, Tony pushing the cart in front of him, he had declared that they would go through every single aisle and make sure you grab more popcorn with butter. He just took complete charge of everything; not even asking before throwing things in the cart. He dragged her along as he thoroughly cleaned out the store.

"Are you trying to feed an army? You realize that only Amanda and I live there right?"

He glanced back at her before going back to contemplating different types of noodle. "I know, but pasta sounds delicious and I can't cook."

"I thought I told you not to get used to Suzie Homemaker." Her voice was light, letting him know that she wasn't really arguing.

"I've never really followed directions well."

Alessandra only sighed and followed him around like a lost puppy. It was probably better to just accept it now. Tony was a steamroller when he wanted to be, she had learned that particular lesson the night they met.

When they had finally made it through the last aisle, Alessandra glanced down. It was incredible how much was stuffed into one grocery cart.

"Tony, that has to be a couple hundred dollars worth of food. I can't afford that!"

"Chill, pipsqueak. It's on me."

Her head snapped up to meet his and instantly began shaking it. "Not a chance. You are not paying for my food."

"Ugh." He rolled his eyes and turned to face her. "Are you one of those feminist chicks who hates it when other people doing things for them? Because I gotta say, that's super annoying."

"No I don't hate when people do things for me, but shelling out several hundred dollars for food is a completely different thing. I can't put you out like that."

"Did you forget, I'm a billionaire! Buying groceries is not going to make me bankrupt."

She had actually forgotten that he was richer than God. Standing in the middle of a Ralph's wearing a wrinkled band t-shirt, jeans and an old baseball cap made him look almost normal. Of course, the expensive Rolex destroyed the image. Regardless of how much money he had, she couldn't let him do that.

"It doesn't matter. I'll pay for it."

Tony shook his head and continued to the check-out. "Nope. And let's face it, I'll probably eat most of this anyway."

Now that actually made her pause. She didn't really eat all that much and Amanda was rarely home to eat full meals. Tony had already made himself at home in her apartment and seemed to be sticking around for a while…

"Fine. But never again." Her voice was firm and left no room for arguments.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Al."

"Al?" She asked this as she walked toward where a teenager was bagging her items. Grabbing a bag she began to help.

Tony had a strange look on his face as he watched her. "Yeah. Alessandra is way too long. Al is better."

Alessa considered that for a moment before shrugging. He had called her pipsqueak or kid since they met so she wouldn't complain.

It was then that the middle-aged cashier gasped loudly. Tony had just handed her his debit card.

"Are you-? Oh My God! You're Tony Stark!" Al didn't think she could have said that louder than she did.

"Nope. Not him. Just the same name. Happens all the time." He pulled the cap lower on his head and shot Alessandra a look that clearly said oh shit.

At that point, cell phones were out and people began to crowd around. Nobody really believed him; his comment only drawing more attention to the pair. At this point, their bags were tucked in the cart and the receipt was just printed. Not one person had asked about the girl who was clearly with the billionaire but Tony knew it was just a matter of time before they did.

As the cashier handed back his card and the receipt, Tony grabbed Alessa's arm and pulled her toward the front entrance, cart getting pushed in front of them. She ducked her head and hoped that nobody got a good picture of her. It wasn't that she was camera shy but being female and getting seen with an infamous playboy would lead to a lot of questions. Questions she was sure neither of them wanted to answer. Their friendship was strictly theirs, not anyone else's. It was weird, new and entirely personal.

Practically running toward the Audi, Tony popped the trunk and they threw everything in before the hoard people followed. Alessandra could see people taking pictures at the store entrance as they hopped into the car and Tony peeled away.

"You really should have thought about the license plate thing before you got them on every single car."

"Yeah, didn't think about it." She only hummed a bit in return and sat back against the seat.

Arriving back at her apartment, Al made sure Mrs. Evans wasn't around before letting Tony get out of the car. The last thing she needed was the old bat giving her disapproving looks for keeping the 'prostitute' around.

They grabbed the bags (Tony bought way too much food) and set them all on the kitchen island before locking the door. When everything was set down, Tony took a seat the bar where he had eaten breakfast and just watched her put everything away.

As she cleaned up the kitchen, Tony began mumbling to himself. Alessa couldn't make out exactly what he was saying but she could tell he was irritated by something. It was only when he jumped up and began pacing that she spoke up.

"What?"

Tony paused in his pacing for a moment before continuing. "What?"

"What's your problem?" she said, leaning over the island to get a better look at his face.

"Nothing you could help with." The way he said it was dismissive and even a little rude, but Alessandra knew he was just bothered by something.

"Try me."

Her voice was nothing but determined. She helped him with his break-in problem (if you could really call it helping) and listened to his Afghanistan story so she figured maybe she could help him with this.

He took a long, analyzing look before sighing and running his hands through his hair. "I'm looking for a way to make the Iron Man suit portable. You know, with the probability of someone attacking me and all. I've tried everything I can think of but with the weight of the armor, not to mention trying to reduce the size of various components without taking away from their functionality, it's practically impossible."

By the end of his mini-rant, his voice had risen and the frustration was clear in his eyes. This is probably why he showed up yesterday, to get his mind off of it, she thought. Before she could speak, he continued.

"I'm an engineering genius; you would think I could come up with something practical and discreet to carry my Iron Man suit in."

Alessandra didn't really know how to help at this point. She had never been interested in engineering and the most knowledge she had was from the few months she spent in high school physics. Instead of answering, she nodded her head and just watched as he resumed his pacing all while mumbling under his breath.

He seemed to be really upset about this. Alessa could understand that though. He was worried about something like Stane happening again. Someone close to him betraying him, or someone trying to catch him off guard in public. Creating a portable Iron Man suit was the next logical step, in her opinion. Batman always carried around his batarang's and even Superman carried around his suit in…

"Hey, what about a suitcase?"

At this, he halted his steps and just stared at her. Taking this as her cue to explain, she did.

"Like Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent. They were superheroes but they also had side jobs. And you're a CEO, it's not outside the realm of possibility for you to be carrying a suitcase around."

With that said, she stopped. Okay, so maybe her idea was mainly grounded in fiction, but based on what she had read, this was the man who had created stuff straight out of science fiction novels. Most of her mind was trying to explain the logic of what she had just suggested, but the other part was reeling over how cool it would be to have a suit-suitcase. It was so comic book she could scream.

Tony's sudden motion broke her out of her thoughts. He had resumed his pacing and he was mumbling as if he were a million miles away. She was half-tempted to have Mrs. Evans come perform that exorcism she's always talking about. He didn't actually say anything to her so she figured her idea was stupid and went back to cleaning up.

A minute later he was rummaging through one of her cabinets and telling her to grab his keys. She did as asked and handed them to him. He had the box of Nutter Butter's (who knew he had a secret love of peanut butter?) in his other hand and was headed for the door without so much as a goodbye.

"Uh, see ya." She threw him a small wave when he turned around.

"What? No, you're coming with me. Let's go." He said this all as if she were stupid.

"Go where?"

"My lab. We'll be pulling an all-nighter because I think I know how to make this work."

"Oh, well that's great but I have work in the morning."

He was still looking at her like he was stupid. "So? Bring your work clothes and I'll drop you off in the morning."

She hesitated but went to grab her black polo and a fresh pair of jeans anyway. She stuffed them in an old tote bag before throwing in some toiletries and then grabbed her large knitted blanket before heading to the front door.

Alessandra wasn't sure what she could do to help but figured he needed a soundboard to bounce ideas off of. And maybe she wanted to prove her mad scientist theory as well.

Driving up to 10880 Malibu Point was surreal. She had never really been one for opulence but there was definitely something incredible about seeing the place. It was painted white and had a ridiculous number of windows. It kind of reminded her of the Millennium Falcon, except way classier and with a swimming pool. Despite her awe, it was exactly the kind of place she imagined him living in.

They drove straight passed the front door and down a ramp that headed underground. She was about to ask if this was where Chewbacca lived, when she caught sight of their destination. It was Tony's lab. She knew that's what it was immediately, not because of the mountains of tools and equipment littering every surface, but by the various Iron Man suits lining the far wall. They were absolutely beautiful.

The minute she felt the car turn off, she was out and striding towards the suits. Alessandra had seen pictures of him wearing one online but seeing them in person was something completely different. The red and gold paint glittered under the florescent lights and the silver one nearly blinded her. Each one was different and the hole in their chest plates glowed exactly like Tony's Arc Reactor. She walked along the wall examining each one closely, cataloging their differences and struggling to keep her jaw from dropping at every new one she came across. The amount of artistry involved was beyond anything Van Gogh could cook up.

Turning to face the inventor, she saw that he was standing only a few feet behind her. His eyes were examining her face carefully and Alessandra almost slapped herself at how she had reacted to the suits. She was some stranger he had brought into his lab, a place that was probably sacred to the engineer, and the first thing she had done was examine them like she was casing the joint. She didn't blame him for looking a little wary.

Before she could get a word out, he was striding over the desk in the desk in the center of the lab and talking quickly to himself.

Only, he wasn't really speaking to himself—something that became clear when a voice responded. The voice sounded like the same one that had come from Tony's cell phone back during their first meeting. She just stood there in silence; watching the master at work. There were now holograms floating around Tony and she would be lying if she said she were surprised. After everything she had seen and heard since meeting the billionaire, holographic computer screens were to be expected. Not that her mind wasn't blown. She was still considering nicknaming the place 'Falcon'.

She tuned out Tony's rambling and the disembodied voice's responses as she walked around the lab. There were things everything. Alessandra couldn't really tell you what any of them were but she knew instinctively not to touch them. He was an engineer and logic said that most of these instruments were dangerous.

The whole place was fascinating.

It was like standing inside Tony's brain. It was chaotic but organized at the same time and despite the monochrome décor, it was surprisingly warm. Like being home. Everything is exactly as she expected it to be, right down to the robot puttering around in the opposite corner. She could tell that Tony spent a lot of time there and she hadn't seen the rest of the house, but somehow Alessa knew this place was unique. She loved every single bit of it.

But it also left her incredibly confused. Tony was a rich guy, someone who probably had a million and one trust issues after the Stane incident. Why would he bring her here? She was completely ignorant in the area of engineering (and most sciences really) and would be no help at all. If this place was Tony's home, his favorite place in the world, why was she allowed in?

Glancing over, she decided to ask him. "Why am I here?"

Her voice rang out loudly in the quiet lab, making him look back at her from across the room. His face was a mask, one she hadn't really seen before. He must have registered her assessing look and threw on a lazy smile.

"Are we talking existentially? Because people have asked that question for years. Maybe you should ask a priest. Or a philosopher." He was deflecting and not really doing a good job of it.

"No, really." His mask was back in place and his shoulders straightened a bit. "Why am I here? You don't know me and yet you've invited me into your lab, a place I'm almost positive only a handful of people get to see. Why?"

"I don't know."

His answer sounded sincere but she didn't think it was entirely truthful.

"Of course you know. You're a certified genius—in more ways than one—you don't do anything without thinking about every consequence or outcome."

"Most journalists would disagree with you."

She rolled her eyes at that. "Yeah, well, I said you were a genius, not that you made the best decisions." He snorted at her response. "This place is important to you and you let in a random teenage girl you've had contact with for about three days."

Tony turned back towards the desk and began fiddling with a screwdriver before he spoke.

"I trust you." He kept his back turned towards her as he continued and if she hadn't known that he was emotionally constipated, she would have thought he was lying. "You saw me puking in some dudes front yard and dragged me half unconscious to my car just to sober me up. You didn't steal my keys or money or car. You sang Gwen Stefani with me in a diner in the middle of the night and you weren't even drunk."

His words were coming faster now and she could hear his incredulity.

"When we first met on the beach, I ranted at you for who knows how long and you just sat there and took it. You let me tell you about Afghanistan and Stane—which was probably a bad idea—and you didn't tell anyone about it. I expected it to be written on the cover of every magazine the next morning, but there was nothing. It showed you were trustworthy.

"I was irritated and pissed off about not finding a solution to the suit problem, so I went to get coffee, only to find your roommate there. She told me your address and for some reason I showed up. We watched TV for hours, something I haven't done since I was a kid, and I-I actually had fun. "

Turning to her, Tony had another new look on his face.

"You confuse me."

Alessandra simply stood there with a patient face as he rambled. She didn't know how she confused him but she felt like asking would make him shut down. He obviously felt uncomfortable speaking about his feelings (or whatever this was) so she just let him continue.

"As far as I can tell, there is absolutely nothing special about you."

She would be offended but she kind of understood was he was getting at. She didn't have an extraordinary IQ, no special talents that she knew of and not much money to her name. She was Plain Jane, someone a billionaire like Tony should have written off as a 'nobody'.

Seeing that she wasn't mad, he continued. "You're not different from anyone else and yet you confuse me. I actually spend time thinking about how weird you are and I don't do that for just anyone. So, I figured why not keep her around."

"Well," she didn't really know what to say to that so she decided to be honest. "You confuse me too. So, I guess we both have puzzles to solve."

Alessandra shrugged her shoulders and laughed, destroying the tension in the room. Tony gave her one more assessing look before he gave a sharp nod and turned back to his project.

"What do you have for me J.A.R.V.I.S.?"

"Based on your initial calculations and my configurations, the Iron Man suitcase seems promising, sir. I believe it will work."

"It'll work." His voice was equal parts relieved and excited.

"Yes, sir. I believe it will."

"So… I did good?" Alessandra couldn't keep the slightly smug smile off her face as she spoke.

"No need to gloat, Al. I would have come up with it eventually."

Her smile only grew wider.

A/N: This chapter was much longer than anticipated so I cut it in half. You'll get the rest on the next update. I'm going to start speeding things up since you now have an established friendship. Hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to vote on my profile.