After providing clearance and some playful banter with security, the black SUV was allowed inside the Stark Industries compound. Scarlett tuned out much of the conversation while she studied their destinations. The compound was gated. This was not the same Stark Industries high rise she'd seen in interviews and articles. There were signs every few feet along the massive fences that warned intruders of the risk of unapproved entry on private property.

There were a multitude of buildings within the complex, some with several floors, others only one. The buildings were distanced at great lengths from each other and there were no labels or directions on where to go. Clever planning on Stark Industries part. It'd be difficult to steal anything from them with this much to go through. Not that she had any dreams of espionage at this point.

Old habits really did die hard. If nothing else, at least she wasn't entirely broken.

"I did my first test flight around these buildings." Tony was giving her the tour so she tuned back in. "I figured that if I was going to destroy anything it might as well be something I own."

"I'm sure the employees here love that." Scoffing, Scarlett listened as Tony rattled off the tests he'd done there with pride. Even so, she tried to memorize where they were going. Scarlett didn't like not knowing where she was and how to get out if she needed to.

"Don't be silly. I ran my tests in the middle of the night when no one was around. Trust me, there was a learning curve." He smiled as if fond of the memory. "Adjusting to an unnatural way of moving is no simple process. Now it's like… another part of me." Tony slapped the back of the driver's seat. "This is good enough. We can handle ourselves from here."

Tony was out of the car before it even rolled to a stop. Scarlett waited for the driver to park and open the door for her and took his hand as he offered to help her out. She thanked him then waited for Tony to join her. Instead, she found him crouched on the other side of the car, expensive designer glasses atop his head. He checked something in his phone and she noted the numbers and letters written into the concrete. Tony stood, dusted off his leather jacket and then did a double take, surprised to see Scarlett so close.

"Maybe make some noise when you walk, 007. Scared the hell out of me." Flipping his sunglasses back over his eyes he nodded toward the building behind him. "This way."

"What is that?"

"Hmm?" Tony feigned ignorance. Scarlett didn't follow him and instead crouched to study the inscription on the concrete. It felt like random numbers. Maybe coordinates? Standing, she wobbled unsteadily on her right leg. Then she hurried to catch up with Tony. She was struggling to remember her leg couldn't carry her quite so well.

The building was flat topped, concrete, no entrance in sight. When Tony approached, a panel slid open. It was small, black, discreet. Unnoticeable to the untrained eye. "Tony Stark. CEO." He kept his eyes on his phone. After a moment, the panel disappeared and concrete slid apart to allow them entrance.

"The numbers outside. What are they for?"

"I should have known you'd notice." Tony smirked and slipped off his sunglasses before tucking them in his pocket. The inside of the building was a pristine white and he led her through the lobby, down a hall, and to a door at the end. He held it for her and waited until she entered to come in behind her.

"Stairs."

"You notice that but all the flirting goes over your head. Almost like you're ignoring it on purpose. You wouldn't do that, would you?"

"Well, you weren't subtle about taking a look. At the concrete but also the rest." Scarlett was daunted by the stairs. She leaned heavily against the railing and started her way down after him. Honestly, despite her complaining, she enjoyed their back and forth.

"It's not as important as you probably think. Just lets me know where I am. Power grid information, capacity, security. All that. Incredibly boring." Tony watched her out of the corner of his eye. She pretended not to notice. "If you really care then I'll explain it after we get settled. Waste of time though."

"And you running your mouth all the time isn't?" Scoffing, Scarlett continued slowly down the stairs though it was a process. "I'm surprised you're willing to tell me anything." Scarlett followed then pushed the door at the bottom of the flight of stairs open hopefully.

"One more flight." Tony nodded to the next staircase. Scarlett joined him on his trek down the stairs. "Besides, you're working for me. Paperwork will include NDAs and legal nonsense. And it's not a security risk anyway. Really just a convenience for the people who work here."

"Clever." Scarlett reached the bottom of the stairwell at last and Tony waited for her. "And we're working together. Remember? Not for you. You're not my boss."

"Do you need me to show you how it works, partner?"

"No. I don't. You're right. It's boring." Scarlett pushed open the door once Tony confirmed it was the right one. "Why so far underground?"

"This bunker is specifically designed to withstand the damage of… well, let's say that we wouldn't know if a bomb went off overhead. And they wouldn't know upstairs if one went off down here." Tony led his way through the short hall. Lights turned on with his presence. Then they walked through a door on the left wall. Scarlett rolled her eyes.

Inside the room though, she stopped mid-step. The technology was incredible. A reinforced lab with everything she'd need to make whatever she wanted. Tools that she'd only dreamt of or read about were now at her fingertips. Secure observation areas. It was a wet dream. But the pristine outward appearance of the lab made the mess at the far end shocking. Nothing was where it should have ideally been setup.

"Did someone break in…?"

"No, but the delivery guys sure made a mess of things." Tony slipped off his gray and white leather jacket and placed it on a desk at the far end of the room.

"This doesn't look remotely like the setup from your video." Scarlett searched the room, studying where the outlets were and where the controls would be. In her mind's eye she pictured where the containment cell for the element would wind up and where the metallic tubes that harnessed the elemental energy required would go.

"I said I had a place ready, not that it was ready for us." Tony flipped on the screens along the wall and holograms appeared at his touch. He sat in the office chair and kicked his feet up while he waited for everything to load in and security protocols to run.

"So, we'll call today prep work then?" Scarlett walked the length of the room and let her fingers trace the concrete and steel reinforced structure.

"Come here." Tony gestured toward the screens once he'd gotten them configured. He showed her blueprints and where they would have to break through the wall to access the powerlines. "I've got a sledgehammer ready so I'll take care of that if you want to start opening crates and taking inventory."

"Inventory? I'm not your secretary. I'm going to help assemble this thing. I'll empty the crates."

"Fine. But don't act like I didn't offer you an easy job. You've been limping. If I have to carry you out of here, I'm copping a feel. It's my fee." Tony teased but it was an effort to hide concern.

"Like I'd waste time suing you for being a sexual deviant, Stark." Scarlett overlooked the blueprints. It turned out this process would take far longer than she expected. If they were planning on making this a permanent installation to manufacture the element efficiently, they had to do the work right.

"Is that so? That's a dangerous admission. Pepper has been texting me nonstop to remind me what the sexual harassment laws are in California. Would you be willing to put that in writing? Then it won't matter." Tony smirked, looking her over and his grin widened and lingered. She rolled her eyes then slapped his cheek gently.

"I don't need the law to keep you off of me. I've got it covered." She ignored his gaze on her chest then walked past him and retrieved a crowbar so she could get into these crates. "You know, I expected this to be setup. Not sure why. I guess I was looking forward to the science part of it." Scarlett didn't get to use her science background as much as she wanted to. That was why she'd kept tens of journals over the years full of ideas and experiments. Things she couldn't get out of her head and hoped to someday get to.

Someday was catching up with her.

"I've been putting it off. So sue me." Tony took the crowbar from her hand and pried the nearest crate open then handed it back to her. She wouldn't pretend it wasn't fun to watch his arms flex. It was quite fun. He had very nice arms. He should have been the one wearing a tank top. A shame, really. But as he made her hold the crowbar again she glared at him. "Oh come on, it's not sexist, I just need something out of this crate."

"And here I thought you were worried for me." Scarlett rolled her eyes, taunting him.

"You're just… hilarious right now. Watch out." Scarlett stepped out of the way as Tony kicked over the crate from behind. Out came a bunch of tools, including the sledgehammer he talked about earlier and it made a comical crash on the ground.

"Yeah, because you're all business." Scarlett was shocked he knew how to do anything besides flirt, even if she was enjoying it.

"There's a damn good reason this company is still a success after everything it's been through. And it has nothing to do with my father's legacy." Tony assured her. She began to sort through the tools so they wouldn't be scattered all over the floor or get in the way. Much to her surprise, she was pulled back to her feet by Tony and stumbled on her bad leg. Tucking a hair that strayed from her ponytail behind her ear, he then urged a pair of safety goggles over her eyes. They made her see everything in an orange tint. "Safety first." He assured her, remaining close and speaking in a low, gruff voice. Scarlett wanted to say something funny, something sarcastic, but she found that her tongue was just too big for her mouth. Oh, god, she could not be this attracted to him. She just couldn't be.

"Thanks." Scarlett turned away and went back to what she was doing. Tony stared at her in confusion. He urged her back to her feet and she heaved a sigh this time.

"That's it? Are you feeling alright? No comment about inappropriate touching or…?"

"Yeah, it was fine. Are you going to… check in every time I don't act surprised that you're a pig? Because we'll never get anything done like that." Laughing, Scarlett shoved him away. "It's okay, Stark. You're still very good at annoying me. I'm just busy."

"I hate that." Tony tilted his head curiously. Then she turned back to continue her task and groaned in frustration as he pulled the hair tie right out of her hair and her messy, long, curly hair fell right in her face.

"I miss professional Tony. He was only here for a second, but we got a whole box open!" Scarlett turned and rested her hands on her hips though it was very hard not to laugh. What a ridiculous thing to do!

"I'm still here. And it is my professional opinion that you should keep your hair down. I am pretty sure I mentioned that once or twice. But you ignore me so… it bears repeating." Tony admired her and then nodded in approval. "Yeah, much better."

"And here I thought you were finally bored of me, Stark." She took a step closer, narrowing her eyes at him seductively. At least she was managing to think clearly this time. She looked him over, doing to him what he did to her all the time. Slowly, from head to toe, admiring the tight jeans, right down to the t-shirt that sat on him quite nicely. then her smile fell and she took the hairband from him.

Tony tugged on his collar as she turned away from him. He was practically radiating heat.

"Never, Scarlett. I don't think I could get bored of you." He sounded so serious that she had to fight the urge to shiver. He walked away from her, confidence in his step. Scarlett picked up another pair of safety goggles, aimed, and threw them right at the back of his head. Tony stopped dead in his tracks, turned and looked at the goggles on the floor.

"Safety first." She stuck her tongue out at him immaturely then slid the empty crate toward a cargo lift at the far end of the room.

"Real mature." Tony set down the sledgehammer then slipped the goggles on.

"You've set the bar pretty low today." Scarlett kept up her work. "So why did you put this off for so long? You were motivated enough to get supplies but… it just sat here? That doesn't make sense." She pulled her hair up again and then opened the next crate which contained mountains of heavy duty wiring.

"Other things kept coming up. In case you don't remember, I'm Iron Man. That means I'm a busy guy. In demand." Tony picked up the sledgehammer and Scarlett admired him. He then swung it and smashed against the concrete that cracked and began to shatter. "Besides, before you came along? None of my simulations were working."

"So you pushed this project off because you were stumped in development?"

"No, I wasn't stumped. I'm never stumped, Scarlett. That's ridiculous." During lapses in conversation, Tony swung at the wall until it at last began to fall apart. Those swing were accompanied by sweat and a delightful noise of effort on his part. She wouldn't pretend she wasn't enjoying herself.

"It's okay, it happens to a lot of guys." She smirked, sorting the wire and Tony turned to give her a look of disgust. "You'd still be playing with amplifiers if it wasn't for me." Her leg was increasingly more annoying. Why was it so damn itchy? And the burning. Ugh, it made it hard to think. It had to be how it was healing. She'd dealt with worse. She could ignore it.

"If you must know? I was sabotaging myself." Tony set the sledgehammer down and wiped his brow free of sweat. "Where's the thermostat? I'm dripping." Tony tugged off his t-shirt and tossed it aside, leaving him in just the black ribbed tank he had on beneath it. "Feel free to take yours off too if you're too hot." Tony then drifted off and frowned when he saw her hair was back up.

Scarlett ignored him but goodness, he had nice shoulders. After the wires were sorted she moved onto the next crate which was massive. It contained heavy duty metal piping. Despite her strength, it was difficult. Scarlett was frustrated by that. She'd lost so much muscle thanks to MedCo. Once her leg was better, she was going to train until she was back to normal.

"Because… everything has a consequence, right?"

"Yes, that's true. But explain it to me."

"When I recreate this element then… what does it mean for the rest of the world?" Tony turned back to his work, readjusting his grip on the sledgehammer.

"Affordable, clean energy. A better planet." Scarlett shrugged. That was the goal, right? It was the only reason she agreed. Then she stopped pulling the piping free, having organized it by length, and began the search for a thermostat. She was hot too. Clammy, actually. Sometimes she shivered like she was cold. Very confusing.

"Well, yes." Tony smashed the wall a few more times as it crumbled. "But what else? If I make this element. This converter and have this kind of energy available worldwide then it also means… it's available worldwide. I'm not the only one capable of making it work for them."

"Honestly, I wasn't sure you realized that."

"Don't get me wrong, no one's quite me… but there are remarkable minds out there. Like you." He set down the sledgehammer and then pulled large chunks of loose concrete out of the wall and threw them aside.

"I'm flattered, I think."

"You should be. But think about it. Look at what I've made with the arc reactor. It keeps me alive. Without it, I'd be dead from palladium poisoning. It keeps shrapnel from plunging into my heart. It is my heart." Tony continued to toss concrete aside. Scarlett shivered. It was a horrible thing to think about. "I became Iron Man because of this power. I chose to do good things with it. There are plenty of people out there who wouldn't make the same choice."

"So, you're worried that someone with less than honorable intentions will use your power to create something awful."

"My dad helped create the atomic bomb." Tony shrugged one shoulder. "I feel like that… speaks for itself."

"And you think that those scientists, your dad included, didn't consider the consequences of what they were creating?" Scarlett fiddled with the thermostat and lowered the temperature for the air conditioner. Cold air poured out of the vents.

"I don't know." Tony pulled at thick wires in the wall before finding what he needed. Then he set about turning off access of those wires to the main grid. Tony leaned back and enjoyed the cold breeze from the vents. "I could kiss you right now."

"Thank goodness you're all the way over there. I'd hate to break your nose." Scarlett wiped the sweat from her own forehead then returned to the crates with a limp. "I think those scientists saw all the consequences and chose to do it anyway. Because if they didn't, someone else would. Your dad wasn't stupid, Tony. You may dwarf his intelligence but… he knew the consequences. No one works with that kind of technology and remains unaware of the darkness that lies within all of us."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Tony considered. "But what if I save the world just to be the reason it's destroyed? What if by doing what I think is right, I inadvertently lead to the destruction of everything?" Leaning against the wall near the hole he'd created he sighed heavily. "I don't know what the right thing is anymore. I know this is what my father wanted but is it what the world needs?"

"Stark…" Scarlett began, slowly approaching him, holding the crowbar. He didn't look at her. "You're doing the right thing. No matter what choice you make there will be evil people willing to do evil things. You can't stop bad things from happening. But you can control the good things that you do." Scarlett then returned to the computer, setting the safety glasses and crowbar down on the computer desk. She made note on the hologram of what she'd unpacked.

"Is that what you'd do? If you were in my shoes?"

"Me?" Scarlett wondered what he wanted her to say. So she would be honest. Scarlett limped over to him, and tapped the reactor in his chest. He admired her. "I know it sounds stupid, but I'd follow my heart. You know the right thing already. And whether or not you choose to build this, you're going to change the world. And you'll do it the right way because you were once an evil man who ignored the bad he did in the world. And you saw what wicked men will do when they wish to do harm. So you'll do better." Keeping her finger against his reactor, she smiled. Then she went back to her work.

Tony leaned heavily against the wall and wiped his hand over his mouth. "You think I dwarf my dad's brilliance?"

"Really? That's what you got out of all that?" Scarlett laughed, stopping mid-walk. Then she pushed the now empty large crate back over to where the freight elevator was. "Yes, I do. I think you have the potential to do greater things than your dad ever did. You've been… shitting out science since you were old enough to talk. Everyone knows that. Except for maybe you." She considered that maybe he doubted he could never live up to his father's lofty accomplishments. He already had. It was interesting that a man as confident as Tony Stark thought he wasn't good enough.

"Wow." Tony was a rare speechless and Scarlett would enjoy it. She scratched her leg and adjusted in irritation.

"Maybe someday you'll even make up for all the bad that your company did over the years." Scarlett opened another crate and then cursed in Afrikaans under her breath when she found more of the heavy duty piping.

"I really had no idea." Tony sounded solemn. She knew that he didn't, but she also knew that part of him had to have known there were things he wasn't aware of and chose to ignore it.

"Don't start with me, Stark."

"You accuse me of corruption. Of the sale of weapons to terrorists. But I never did. I had no idea what was happening. The moment I found out, I stopped manufacturing them. Why would I do something like that if I was part of it?"

"Maybe to save your face when it backfired." Scarlett didn't want to fight with Tony. She was tired. It was hard enough to come to grips with the fact that he wasn't the villain. She didn't want to have this fight too.

"You think I only stopped because of what they did to me? It's how I found out, sure. But I had no idea. I thought we dealt with the military."

"And whose fault is that?" Scarlett stopped working on the crate, out of breath. Turning a blind eye made him guilty too.

"I trusted Obadiah Stane with my life. He was more of a father to me than Howard was. And he was just using me. By the end all he saw was power and money. If you'd known him then you never would have seen the corruption." Tony sounded angry. Furious with her even though she was pretty sure that was misplaced. The man needed therapy. But hell, no one needed therapy more than she did so who was she to judge?

"Don't pretend you didn't make a choice to turn a blind eye. It was in the news. There were reports. And you… ignored them." Scarlett was mad now too. "I've seen your weapons unleash hell on people, Stark, and you have to take some responsibility for it too! Either that or you are being purposely stupid."

"What did you say earlier? Evil men find a way to do evil things regardless of what I do. I didn't think my company had anything to do with it!" Tony was defensive and he abandoned his work across the room. He was approaching her, aggressively at that.

"If you didn't see it? It was because you didn't want to see it. Which makes you guilty too! You knew what was happening but you didn't want to know how. As long as you got to stay in your comfortable life with your luxury cars and designer suits, you didn't give a fuck what happened in the rest of the world. You were too immature and self-absorbed to see it." Scarlett had to avoid looking at Tony now. She couldn't change her mind on this one too. She had fallen prey to the seduction in his eyes too many times. This one, she was certain of.

"You're right." Tony stopped just before her and watched her work. Scarlett was shaking. She didn't mean to be, but she had seen his weapons create hell. She had been forced to build things in his stead because he'd stopped feeding these organizations. "I knew they were being found in the hands of bad people and I did nothing to stop that. I didn't even ask how they got there. All I cared about was getting laid and money." Tony began to help her lift the heavy pipes and stopped to stare at her in awe of how heavy it was.

"I can't undo what I did. What I ignored. And the moment I opened my eyes I faced up to it. I have done everything I can to help and I haven't stopped since. I don't expect you or the world to forgive me for any of it. All I can do now is try to be better. My life means nothing, Scarlett, if I can't leave the world a better place than when I entered it."

Scarlett leaned against the crate and took the pressure off of her throbbing, painful leg. It was making her feel sick to her stomach with pain, but she ignored it and watched Tony.

He meant it. Her resolve was shaken. He knew what he'd done and he was taking responsibility for it. Something she never expected from him. She stared at him in awe. He was as much a pawn to MedCo as she was. Where did that leave her? What would she do now? She would stick to the plan. Tony had information she didn't and he would never let her go after MedCo. So she would take it and do what she did best. Or what she used to do best before her life fell apart.

"Why don't we take a break and get something to eat?" Scarlett leaned away from the crate. Her head was spinning. She needed fresh air and water. And as she took a step to suggest they do just that, her leg fell beneath her, crumpling like it had that morning. But it wasn't the same either. Pain shot through her leg, all the way down to her foot, and up through her side.

Tony dropped the pipe which dented as it struck the concrete and hurried to her.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Scarlett was shivering and sweating as she fought the pain. She refused to fall into his arms in pain. She shooed him away.

"You're not fine." Tony knelt next to her and swatted her hands as she grasped her leg to hide it from him. Prying her hands free Tony searched her thigh hand brushing over where he knew the wound was. And with that touch, Scarlett lurched in pain and turned and grabbed the crate since it was the thing nearest to her.

"Okay, I'm not fine." She whimpered, shaking all over. She couldn't stop it. The trembling was so severe.

"Jesus…" Tony cursed beneath his breath and pulled his hands back. The denim on top of her leg was smoldering and then suddenly eroded from beneath by the open wound on her leg that had also eaten through the gauze he'd wrapped on it earlier.