"I've already told you, I don't want to join your super secret boy band," said Tony as he sat down at a booth inside the restaurant.

"I seem to recall you like doing everything for yourself. How's that working out for you?" said the man, who Tony had introduced as Director Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. The name was vaguely familiar to Bella, but she wasn't sure where from. She was immediately wary – there were many organizations which would love to get their hands on Bella.

Tony grumbled something as Bella slid in next to him. "I don't want to get off the wrong foot, do I look at the patch or the eye?"

Bella stifled a groan.

"Sorry, I'm not sure if you're real," he continued.

"I am very real," replied the director, looking annoyed. "I'm the realest person you're ever going to meet."

"Just my luck."

"Where's the staff here?" asked Bella.

The director didn't answer, but he gazed at Tony's neck. "That's not looking too good."

For the first time, Bella saw strange black marks on Tony's neck. "What is that?" she asked.

"Uh… that's what I was going to tell you about," said Tony. "Palladium, as it turns out, is poisonous, especially if you have it inside your body."

"What?" yelled Bella, turning her full attention to Tony. "You're dying and you didn't tell anyone?"

"Well, I was planning to tell you at some point…"

"We've secured the perimeter but I don't think we should hold it for too much longer," said a familiar voice.

Bella turned to see a familiar red haired woman walking toward them.

"What's going on?" asked Bella.

"You're fired," said Tony.

"That's not up to you," said Natalie, seating herself across from Bella.

"Tony, I want you to meet Agent Romanoff," said Director Fury.

"I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. shadow, I was tasked to you by Director Fury."

"I suggest you apologize," said Mr. Stark.

"Sorry," said Bella. "I'm just over my limit of shocking discoveries that can be made in thirty seconds. I can only handle about one. So, Tony's dying from his arc reactor. And Natalie is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent."

"Yes, that's right," said Natalie.

"You've been very busy," said Director Fury to Tony. "You made your girl your CEO, you're giving away all your stuff, you let your friend fly away with your suit. If I didn't know better –"

"You don't know better, I didn't give it to him, he took it."

"Whoa, what? You're Iron Man and he just took it?"

Bella stood up. "I'm just going to try to think for a moment. I'll just be over in the corner."

She stood up and walked to the other side of the building and sat down at another table.

Tony was dying? What? Why hadn't he told anyone? Why hadn't he told her? Was that why he'd been acting the way he was?

And Natalie was a secret agent. What? Why was she spying on them?

"Are you okay?"

It was Natalie.

"I'm fine," said Bella. "I just had a rather unpleasant surprise, is all."

"You have become a problem," said Director Fury to Tony on the other side of the room, "a problem I have to deal with! Contrary to your belief, you are not the centre of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the south west region to deal with!"

"What does S.H.I.E.L.D. stand for?" asked Bella, not knowing what else to say to Natalie.

"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division."

"That's quite a mouthful."

"If I had a nickel for every time I heard that," muttered Natalie, no, Agent Romanoff.

"Is your name Natalie?"

She didn't reply, but instead pulled a box out from under the table, filling a needle with something.

"What is that?"

"Lithium dioxide. You like chemistry, you know what that is?"

Bella nodded. The substance was hardly a cure for palladium poisoning, but it would ease the symptoms.

Natalie – Bella had decided to call her that until she knew what her real first name was – walked over to Tony and shot the needle into the side of his neck.

Tony yelped. "Ah! Are you going to steal my kidney and sell it? Could you please not do anything awful for five seconds? What did you just do to me?"

"What did we just do for you?" corrected Director Fury. "That's lithium dioxide, it's going to take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work."

"Give me a couple boxes of that and I'll be right as rain," said Tony.

"It's not a cure," said Natalie. "It just abates the symptoms."

"Doesn't look like it's going to be an easy fix," said Director Fury.

"Trust me, I'm good at this stuff. I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium, I've tried every combination, every permeation of every known element."

"Well I'm here to tell you that you haven't tried them all," said Director Fury.

Bella stood up and walked across to them.

"You got any ideas, Izzy?" asked Tony.

Bella shook her head, trying to look as if it was a question to which there could only be one answer. As if, really, she wasn't capable of coming up with an answer. Not that she had one right now, but she was capable of it at least. "Sorry. I wish." She wasn't interested in telling anyone from the government about her past just yet.

000000000

Bella went down to the workshop to see how much damage it had taken the night before while Tony talked more with Director Fury. It was in surprisingly good condition compared to the rest of the house.

She went to inspect the suits on the wall. Tony had dropped off the one he had been wearing before he went to continue his conversation with the man wearing the eye patch, but the silver one his opponent had been wearing the night before was missing.

The door swung open.

"Tony?" said Bella, turning around.

It wasn't Tony. It was a man she'd never seen before. She jumped. So far as she knew, the only people Tony permitted in here were Pepper, Rhodey, and herself. "If you're looking for Tony, he's not here."

"I'm not, I'm just checking something," he replied.

"Are you with S.H.I.E.L.D?"

He nodded. "Agent Phil Coulson. It's nice to meet you, Miss Stark. I mean, I've sort of met you before. I watched you while you were sleeping. I mean, I was present. While you were unconscious. From your head injury. What were you doing with the Ten Rings?"

Bella stiffened. Somehow, she doubted she'd be able to dodge around the question.

I never thought I'd say this… but I'm not posting again until I get at least two more reviews. Because I hate going for chapter after chapter and having no idea what people think about what I've written. Suggestions, questions, and comments are welcomed.