Amii's slumber was disturbed. Her dreams were weird, she saw Tony – when they were kids, then teens, at college…she saw flashbacks of their conversations after his return from Afghanistan and her subconscious mind showed her things that she had not registered before – a look here, a comment there. She woke up. It was dark outside, and she had no idea how long she had been asleep, but she felt really hungry, and her injuries didn't hurt as much.
As she lay in bed, her mind delved on Tony…how he had always been there when she needed someone, his uncanny ability to make her smile, his intelligence and his wit and with him there was never a dull moment. No matter how strenuous the task was or how stressed they were, Tony always found a way to keep things fun and make her smile. He never took himself seriously and given the kind of high stakes work they did it was great to have a lab partner who kept her from getting too serious. She thought of earlier that day (or was it yesterday?) the look in Tony's eyes when he'd been tending to her, it was more than just concern…and a couple of times it had seemed that he'd wanted to say something to her but had stopped himself. Amii got up and went to the bathroom. She turned on the shower and stood under the hot stream, letting it wash over her, clearing her thoughts.
She realized that something inside him had changed and it was not just because of the arc reactor in his chest. He no longer partied or went out with whichever girl caught his fancy, and she knew that he had been sober ever since he got back. She realized that his behavior around her had been different for a while now. She had always brushed off his attention as Tony was a hopeless flirt, and she had never taken all those times she caught him staring at her seriously. But thinking about it now as she stood under a hot shower, she heard his voice "Stay away from MY girl", the tenderness with which he'd treated her, his anger at her anguish…and she realized that there might be a deeper significance to his actions.
"J.A.R.V.I.S… has Tony ever said anything about how he feels about me?" she asked. "Well, Ms. Singh, I am not at liberty to disclose anything to you as Mr. Stark has threatened to dismantle me if I do". "Well, J.A.R.V.I.S, if you don't tell me then I will. So, what do you say…are you going to tell me or not?" "Hmmm…Well, technically I cannot tell you how he feels, but he never said anything about him telling it himself" said J.A.R.V.I.S and he replayed a recording of Tony standing by the chamber looking at her and his words "the woman I love" took Amii aback! She had no idea that that's how he felt about her – though he did flirt with her – and with every other woman in the room – that was quintessentially Tony. But she had never imagined that maybe his comments were serious – but then she wasn't paying much attention anyways since she tended to get totally lost in her work and of late her mind had been more on Charles than on Tony.
Amii turned the shower off, wiped the steam from the mirrors and looked at her reflection. She thought back to their childhood, the rivalry at school that had turned into a reluctant friendship based on mutual respect when they realized they could accomplish much more if they worked together. The tragedies that united them, their on-off meetings at college when they would compare their work or seek advice on projects. Tony's offer to work at Stark Industries and the aftermath of his decision to shut down the weapons division. Tony's request for her to work with him on the Iron Man suits and the many nights they spent solving one conundrum after another as they improved upon Tony's initial design. The comfortable silences they could share as each worked on their own part of the projects, the way they could be their own true self around each other…and as these thoughts rushed through her mind, she realized that somewhere inside she loved Tony too – maybe had loved him for a long time though she never expressed it. "J.A.R.V.I.S, where is Tony?" she asked, pulling on her clothes. "Mr. Stark is in the workshop" said J.A.R.V.I.S. "Can you play my favorite song from my playlist 22 when I walk into the workshop, J.A.R.V.I.S?" "Yes, ma'am".
Amii walked barefoot to the workshop, Tony did not hear her coming as he was concentrating on the schematics of his latest improvements to the arc reactor. Nothing Else Matters by Metallica was playing loudly on the speakers
"Never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words I don't just say
And nothing else matters
Trust I seek, and I find in you
Everyday for us something new
Open mind for a different view
And nothing else matters"
Amii knew that Tony's choice of music reflected how he felt at that time, "Now, J.A.R.V.I.S" she whispered as she used her code to unlock the door. Metallica was cut-off mid-song and Lionel Richie and Diana Ross began crooning Endless Love on the speakers "J.A.R.V.I.S, is this your idea of a joke? You know I don't like to have my music interrupted" Tony said crossly as he looked up. "It's not J.A.R.V.I.S and it's not a joke" said Amii, walking up to him, "this is how I feel…how I have probably felt for a long time, but never realized it till now".
"My love
There's only you in my life
The only thing that's right
My first love
You're every breath I take
You're every step I make
And I
I want to share
All my love with you
No one else will do
And your eyes (your eyes, your eyes)
They tell me how much you care
Oh, yes
You'll always be
My endless love"
Amii walked up to Tony, put her arms around his neck and kissed him. "I love you, Tony Stark, and the last couple of days have reminded me that life is unpredictable and if I don't say this now, I know I will regret it all my life. So…I love you, Tony, and…". Amii was cut off mid-sentence as Tony pulled her closer and kissed her…a kiss full of urgency, untold emotions, a mix of love, fear, relief…a kiss that left her breathless. "I love you too, Amii, I always have…from the day you walked into 8th grade science lab and sat next to me. I lost my way somewhere down the line and I know I have done a lot of things that you did not approve of, but the thought that I might lose you, just made me realize just how much you mean to me" Tony said his eyes filling up "If something had happened to you…you are the only family I've got" he kissed her again and pulled her close.
"What makes you think that I would feel any different just because you have that thing in your chest?" Amii said, poking the arc reactor which was glowing faintly beneath Tony's t-shirt "You are more of a man than anyone I have met, and nothing can ever change that. And what do you mean it's poisoning you?" she added. "Who told you that?" Tony asked "J.A.R.V.I.S I'm going to kill you". "It wasn't J.A.R.V.I.S, it was you…and whatever it is, we can fix it together, like we always do. You are they only constant in my life, and nothing is ever going to change that, I won't let it." She said and kissed Tony again. She sighed as the kiss deepened and their tongues intertwined…his kiss made her insides melt, she realized how strong Tony was when he lifted her up in his arms and she locked her legs around his waist and ran her fingers through his hair. Tony carried her out of the garage and up the stairs, their kiss intensifying with each step…Tony started to nibble her neck and it made her gasp as goosebumps ran down her spine. "Ouch…easy on the ribs there, lover-boy", she said as he hugged her a little tighter. "Oops…sorry, I promise to be careful…you apparently are damaged goods", Tony teased, and she responded by biting his ear. She heard him sigh and felt his body shiver at her bite and she turned the bite into a nibble that had him moaning.
They stopped randomly to remove their clothing and somehow made it to he bedroom without tripping on the stairs or falling over the furniture. Amii knew from Tony's enormous popularity with women (and his 'experiences') that he wasn't all talk and now, as his tongue moved over her neck and collar bone, it felt incredible. It was a little odd too, touching Tony this way…she'd seen him every day for as long as she could remember and had never imagined being in this situation. As he undressed she noticed his muscles – he had been working out hard after he became Iron Man. She also noticed multiple scars and bruises which were just beginning to fade. She ran her hands through his hair as his mouth trailed down her neck. He felt her shiver and looked up into her eyes "Is this okay? Do you like it?" he muttered, his voice low and breathless, and his eyes darker than usual. She gasped "Yes" as he began teasing her nipples with his tongue. Amii felt waves of pleasure wash down her as Tony began planting kisses around her navel. She groaned when his hands moved down to her thighs and he eased down her panties and gently parted her legs— Amii thought "he is so freaking good at this."
She felt his fingers stroking the inside of her thigh and felt his breath on her clitoris…his tongue executing heretofore unknown maneuvers all around her most sensitive area, licking and sucking. He was teasing her and it was making her heart fill up with a kind of pleasure she had never experienced before (not that she had as much experience with men as Tony had with women) and she moaned as he would not give her what she wanted, and then she felt him breathing her in and felt his teeth graze her skin, ever so lightly, as he found the perfect spot. That did it and she sucked in her breath as she came hard…her whole body shuddered, and she moaned "Oh my God, Tony…aaaahhh" as he slid a finger inside her and went straight for her g-spot, making her orgasm go on and on.
Tony moved up to kiss her again and she tasted herself on his tongue and she sighed as his fingers twirled around her nipples. She felt him, hard against her as he gently entered her, determined to prolong the pleasure. She, however, was having a hard time taking it slow and she ground her hips against him and he groaned and closed his eyes. Amii realized that Tony was as into this as she was and that gave her courage to prop herself up on her elbows and kiss his neck, his chest…she ran her hands over the arc reactor in his chest. In that moment she saw weird red markings around the reactor and was going to say something when Tony plunged into her and she couldn't do anything more but give in to the insane pleasure that she was feeling. She made a mental note to ask Tony about it later as he leaned down to kiss her…she swallowed his next groan as she covered his mouth with hers and he continued moving in and out in a random but tantalizingly sexy pattern. She arched her back as he sped up, and a few minutes and quite a few mind-numbingly amazing thrusts later, she was coming again, her back arched, screaming up at the ceiling as he pressed hard into her, his fingers digging into her hips as he pulled her closer…he grunted and sighed as after a few more thrusts he came too. Her own hands gripped his shoulders as the aftershocks continued to rack her, the light of the arc reactor still visible as an afterimage when she closed her eyes feeling as if her heart will burst with joy…she felt complete, insanely content.
She ran a hand through his hair as he lay down beside her, his face pressed into the crook of her neck and he said "I love you, Amii, I don't know why I never said this before, but now I can't stop myself…hell, I don't want to stop saying it…I love you." "I love you too, Tony" she said back as he looked into her eyes and they both smiled at the sweaty mess they'd been reduced to. "Whoa, that was something, wasn't it! I ahd no idea you were a mistress of seduction! As soon as we can move, I think we should do that again." "Right," Amii said "That was too good to be true, it could have been a fluke of chemistry. Further testing is needed to see if we can…duplicate those results. But, for now, my hypothesis is that…experimenting with our newfound physical chemistry is going to result in our not getting out of bed for a while." "Ooh, I love it when you get all sciency, Dr. Singh" he laughed. Amii laughed, "I don't want to move right now, but we may need to…uh, recharge and refuel…before we restart testing". "Agreed," said Tony as he pulled her into his arms and snuggled up next to her. Within moments they were both asleep.