(WARNINGS: animal abuse, violence)

One step, two steps, three steps, four

One step, two steps, three steps more

How many fucking steps does it take to get to the God damn door!

Corvin would admit she was not having the best of times at the moment. Being ditched at the party by Tony stung like a motherfucker, and her side and tail ached like something was either sprained or broken. And she was grumpy about it.

The party had cleared out, and Corvin had moved to leave as well, not wanting to be trapped in the place after hours.

She made her way outside, the large stair entrance still holding a few late stragglers leaving. Dipping to the side, Corvin disappeared into the shadows along the side of the building.

An hour or so later had Corvin questioning if she was still in Malibu. She didn't recognize a damn thing. She remembered the drive taking a bit, but she wasn't paying attention to where they were going. She hadn't thought she had to.

The cat plopped her butt down on the sidewalk, along some random street that was brightly lit.

Corvin was so frustrated! She was hurt, emotionally and physically. A part of herself tried to reason why Tony had left her there. Vague memories of bad news and shady weapons deals drifted through her head. It had been a less important scene in the movie so she didn't remember it perfectly.

She wished she was home, sitting with Tony through whatever crisis he was going though at the moment. Instead she was stuck on the sidewalk, dodging feet and huffing like she ran up 30 flights of stairs.

She hoped someone would pick her up soon. She had a GPS in her collar for a reason, how long would it take for one of them to find her?

What if he left her?

No no, bad intrusive thought, BEGONE!

What if he decided she wasn't worth the effort?

She was rational, she knew he wouldn't, but anxiety plagued her gut like a swarm of bees, stinging along the edges and making her dizzy.

"Woah! A cat!"

Hands picked her up, clenching along her hurt sides. Corvin wiggled in the hold, hissing as she was brought up to a person's chest.

"Paul, put it down! It might claw you."

"Na, look at the vest. It's a service cat."

"Which means you're not supposed to touch it, dumbass!"

A man and a woman, both dressed well and smelling like cigarette smoke and leather. The man was holding her, his features round and young. Baby fat clung to his cheeks and squinted bright eyes as he smiled at her. The lady was taller, looking slightly older than her male companion, with sterner features and pursed lips.

Corvin hissed again, wiggling as her side throbbed in protest.

"Where do you think their owner is?" Paul asked.

"Probably somewhere nearby, now put it down."

"But what if they're lost! We can't leave them here!" The lady sighed.

"Check the collar, Paul."

"Oh, right." arms jostled her around, causing her to yelp. Fingers fiddled with the collar around her neck, looking for an address. "Damn, this is one tricked out collar, do you think those gems are real?"

"Probably not, who puts real gems on a cat collar?"

"Tony Stark."

"Yeah, probably he's pretty loaded-"

"No, Felicity," Paul turned the collar so the woman could see what was engraved on the inside.

'Licorice Stick: Service Animal to Tony Stark. Please call this number-'

"Well damn."

Paul whipped out his phone, typing in the number while holding Corvin under one arm.

Maybe if she clawed him, he'd let her go? She yowled, kicking out her back feet as the position squished her sides.

This was fucked up, fuck these humans and their fucking grabby ass hands! Fuck humans in general! Fuck everything and fuck all things-

"Hello, we have a cat here, the collar said to call this number?" Corvin was too busy yowling her hatred into the universe to hear the reply. Her wiggles only caused Paul to squeeze harder, making her rips push in painfully.

Corvin never thought she'd get to that hissy-spit stage, but here she was, rumbling and hissing, trying to scratch the shit out of some idiot that didn't know how to hold cats.

"Damn this thing is feral-"

"Paul put it down!"

"But what if it runs off before the man gets here!"

"Paul-!"

Corvin finally got her teeth around something and bit down, causing the human to yelp and let her go.

"Shit! That fucking thing bit me!" Paul yelled, his foot kicking out in a knee jerk reaction as she landed.

The foot landed square on her side, sending her in the air and a few feet away.

"Ah shit-!"

Corvin ran away from the stupid humans and their big meaty hands and loud irritating voices.

She stopped not long after, agitated and tired. Her butt plopped down in an ally, a seemingly recurring spot for her. She was grouchy and frustrated. Ever have those times where you're upset and every little thing seems to suck to the point you start tearing up, even though on a normal day it would be fine? Yeah, that was her right now. Granted, normal days don't include getting kicked and manhandled by some assholes four times her size, but meh… semantics.

It was after about an hour of sitting there, stewing over the universe, that heavy footsteps were heard. A form blocked the light from the streetlamps and Corvin looked up at the newcomer.

Happy was a welcome sight.

The man bent down and scooped her up, earning a loud yelp from her as her side was jostled. He paused at the sound, a loud huff coming from him.

"Let's get you checked out."

Three fractured ribs and two broken tail vertebrae was the verdict at the late night vet. The part of her tail closest to her butt had a brace on it and her side was bandaged.

"Boss is gonna have a fit when he hears this," Happy said as he lugged her cat carrier to the car. She didn't protest getting into the carrier when the vet pulled it out, happy to rest her feet. The ride back was smooth and she was released once inside the house. Happy placed her new medicines on the counter.

"Hey Jarvis, boss still gone?"

"That is correct, Mr Hogan." came the reply from the ceiling. Well, shit. Corvin had almost forgotten about what Tony was doing right now. The fight with the Ten Rings in that one small town she forgot the name of.

'I think it starts with a G or a B.' she thought as she went into Tony's room and to the massive cat tree. Climbing slowly onto one of the lower branches, Corvin went into the main hovel in the trunk and laid down.

She fell asleep quickly, happy to put the night behind her.

Corvin woke up to the feeling of fingers gliding along her fur. She pulled her head up with a small 'merp,' her eyes going all squinty with sleep.

Tony looked like shit, with more bruises covering his face and what she could see of his neck. Vague memories of the movies reminded her that he had been shot from the sky at one point, and she doubted his tech was at the stage where he was completely protected from that.

Roll a D6 for fall damage, Tony.

"Hey there, sweet thing." Tony murmured, kneeling next to her perch, his movements slow and pained. "I heard the verdict, you might rival me for most busted night at this point."

Doubtful.

Corvin sat up, a low grunt leaving her chest as her side throbbed.

"J, when did she last have her medication?" Tony asked.

"6 hours ago, Sir. She is due for another injection within the hour."

"Alright, come on, baby gal. Lets get you all drugged up." Tony carefully scooped her up, letting her crawl into his arms and supporting her back feet.

His brace was gone, had been gone for a few days now but Tony still winced when he moved it a certain way.

They got to the kitchen and Tony sat her on the counter before getting to the little paper bag on the marble surface. He pulled out a baggie of syringes before moving to the fridge and pulling out a little glass bottle filled with clear liquid. Reading out the instructions, Tony measured the pain medication into the syringe before putting back the bottle. He tapped out the bubbles before moving over to her.

"Alrighty, Licorice Stick, please dont move. Neither of us are going to like this." He said slowly. He pulled at her scruff, gathering up the extra skin and carefully injected the pain meds into the space under the skin. Corvin stayed still, not wanting to lodge the needle anywhere by jolting.

Slowly, the ache in her side and tail faded away. Corvin felt like she could breathe easy again. Doing a quick stretch, she then moved to the side of the counter.

Tony placed the used syringe into a special bin for sharps that the vet had provided. Fingers carted through her fur as he stood back at the counter, his eyes slowly glazing over.

"Last night was awful, Licorice. I'm so sorry I left you behind," he whispered, "I have no real excuse… I just…" he looked down at her, his eyes wide and lost.

"I was given some bad information. Some of my weapons had been sold under the table by Obadia. I had- God I had confronted him and he admitted to it and he was the one that filed the injunction against me. Fuck, it was all just so shitty, Licorice." one hand rubbed at his eyes while the other continued to stroke through her fur. "I went out and destroyed the weapons. I took my suit and flew it over. They were killing women and children, separating families, taking their dads to who knows where and they were doing it using my weapons."

She made a low 'murh' sound, pressing her head against his chest.

"But I promise, I'll never leave you like that again, baby." he said softly as he looked at the brace on her tail.

Corvin's anger the night before had faded away to a dull throb, the care Tony was showing her soothing away the sharp edges of hurt she had felt. She knew this man, had watched him in movies and read about him in stories and comics. She lived with him for a month now, or was it two? Her awareness of time was wonky, but it was long enough that she had an understanding of Tony and his motives. He was a good sort, one rarely found. He cared so deeply and wholly that it was hard not to get sucked into the vortex. His love was hard to earn, but damn, once you had it you had it.

Corvin didn't expect to be one of them, at least not so soon. She wasn't sure how she felt about being so entirely loved by him in such a short time, it felt like running a marathon where you were teleported to the finish line while the others still had to run. Like cutting the line to the front on Black Friday after showing three hours late. It felt like she cheated, but it was hard to care when Tony was so kind to her.

She let out more soft hums and purts as she leaned into Tony's touch, his nails script-scratching along her spine in a delightful way. Her heart melted and she let the stressful night roll off her back like nothing.

"Thanks, baby." Tony said, his voice sounding thick as she butted her head against his.

They were good.

Two weeks later, Stane broke in and stole Tony's arc reactor from his chest.

Corvin had been recovering, taking things slow and sticking to the house rather than going out to town. She had been feeling anxiety like crazy ever since that night, not knowing when the whole Stane thing would happen.

Pepper gave Tony the box with his old arc reactor in it a few days after the crap night, and after that happened Corvin had been a ball of nerves, looking this way and that for any sign of Stane.

Tony noticed her odd behavior but chalked it up to the meds making her a little disoriented. To be honest, they were. She got sum gud drugs. She'd space the fuck out for about an hour after taking them. She wasn't sure if that was normal, but, as a cat, who the hell knew what was normal anymore.

Corvin's anxiety rose with every passing day, to the point she never left Tony's side after the first week passed. She was on his ass like white on rice and had no plans on moving it. Tony soaked in the attention like a dehydrated sponge, giving her many pats and wiggled fingers in her direction.

It was exactly two weeks after when shit happened. The day started with Tony having a deep conversation with Pepper, needing her to hack the SI servers from his office with a USB that he gave her. They had a spirited discussion, in which Pepper quit and was rehired within a 3 minute period. It ended with her agreeing to do it, and Corvin knew this was the day.

Anxiety lit a fire in her chest and quickened her breathing, her heart hammering as she tried to decide what to do.

Attack Stane? He was a lot larger than her, and, as a cat, she couldn't do the damage needed to take his ass down. Scratching the shit out of him would be super satisfying, but not enough to stop him from hurting Tony.

She could warn Tony, but she couldn't think of a way for that to work. There were no keyboards or conveniently open scrabble games she could knock down.

Best she could do was get Tony the old arc reactor as soon as possible. She knew that he'd make it down to the workshop, and that Dummy would give him the case. Maybe she could drag it up the stairs or to the elevator? Get it to him sooner so he was less physically damaged from the shrapnel ripping through his arteries.

Plan in mind she waited, her body lit up like pins and needles. As soon as it hit dusk, Corvin left Tony's side and moved to the workshop.

She passed the bots, Dummy, You, and Butterfingers, to get to the counter where the case sat, the arc reactor shining brightly behind the glass. Corvin jumped up onto the table, a twinge in her side telling her that her medication was wearing off. Without an ounce of hesitation, she knocked that shit to the ground in true cat-fashion.

The fact that Jarvis did not say or respond was very telling. Stane was in the building.

Not wasting a moment, she moved down to the ground, carefully avoiding the glass. Sharp little teeth bit into the lining around the outer edge of the reactor as she picked it up carefully and moved to the stairs. She was going to use the elevator, but how the hell would she get to the button?

Thankfully, Tony's prodigal spending paid off. The cat tree installation also extended down to the workshop and she was able to parkour her way up to the living area.

Said living area where Stane was currently standing over Tony, his arc reactor in hand.

Corvin would forever curse this moment. Forever and ever. The one moment that she needed stealth, her paws silent on the floor and her breathing low and quiet. That one moment she needed to wait for Stane to leave so she could bring the reactor to Tony. At that moment she fucked up.

And dropped the fucking reactor on the floor.

The sound of a heavy metal hitting wood did not go unnoticed by Stane or Tony, who couldnt move, but shifted his eyes over with no small amount of panic.

Stane saw the second reactor on the floor in front of her. "Now where did that come from?" Stane said, his eyes looking at her, greed and malice churning in their depths.

Shit.

Corvin picked the reactor up and dashed away, Stane's heavy footfalls not far behind her. The thunks of his feet boomed in her ears like a sounding war drum, but even that was almost drowned out by the sound of her own heart hammering in her chest as she tried to escape.

She fucked up, she fucked up.

The metal hurt her mouth, the reactor was hot and heavy, burning her lips as she ran. That was probably why Tony took it out, an unstable prototype and all that. She could feel the electricity in the air around the device, practically tasting the tingly vibes of positive electrons permeating the air like she was in a Glade commercial.

She was panicking, running through the house, trying to shake Stane off, but also make her way back to Tony and give him the reactor. Up and down through the rooms and halls, dodging kicks and grabbing hands. Her side was starting to really hurt, slowing her down, and she could feel her teeth slipping on the reactor. She clenched her jaw tighter, praying to whoever would listen that she could do this.

But the universe just didn't want to work with her today.

It was as she was rounding the bend back to the living room than Stane dove for her, grabbing a fistful of her tail and yanking. Corvin screeched in pain, dropping the reactor and flailing as Stane picked her up by the tail.

It fucking hurt, holy shit.

Corvin slashed out with her claws, yowling in pain as her delicate tail took the brunt of her weight. She was able to get a few slices in, taking vindictive pleasure at the scratches and raised red lines she was able to leave on his arms and collar. But Stane was a bastard and hardly heistated as he used her own fucking tail to swing her out and smash her into the the floor.

Her head collided with the floor first, stunning her. Her front right leg had been angled to the floor and hit as well. The pain was an awful, mind-numbing thing that left her on the floor, completely motionless even as Stane stepped over her and picked up the reactor she had been trying so desperately to keep away from him.

With a satisfied humm, Stane turned to the door

And left with both reactors.