Behind the Veil

The medication had a strange effect on Lola. It made her rather loopy and carefree. Of course the energy was not quite the lasting kind, once they were up in the air, Lola began to crash. Tony noticed she was falling asleep and a smile grew on his face. It was the perfect way to set up things. He draped a blanket over her as she closed her eyes to fall into a deep sleep. When she was in the hospital, Tony realized that maybe they didn’t know each other quite as well as he would have liked. His way of showing that he loved someone was letting them know a little more about himself, also taking the time to know the other person. He made the plan to take Lola to see her family, knowing that it had been far too long since she last seen them. As he stared at her he could not resist smiling, they had come a long way since they first met.

Tony remembered how they were on a mission to capture her brother and she played music at the bar they scouted out. As soon he saw her, he was sure to tell the others to not go after her. All he wanted was her to himself. Not only did she sing Led Zeppelin but she was quick witted not hesitating to turn him down. There was a certain strength to her, a fierceness that he hadn’t seen before and when she was killed he remembered feeling empty. All the times they were apart whether the cause be death or a break up Tony hated being away from her, almost always resorting to binge drinking and partying. He didn’t know what he’d do if he lost her again. As he stared at her he wanted nothing more than to keep her around as long as he still lived and breathed. Lola stirred in her sleep letting out a low hmm, she did not open her eyes merely shifted in the leather seat.

“I can feel you staring, you strange man,” she says causing Tony to chuckle lightly.

“How do you know you have your eyes closed,” Tony argues in a teasing tone.

“I was right wasn’t I?”

“Possibly.”

Tony watched as her lips curved into a smile and she opened her eyes to reveal the playfulness held within them. The smile remained on her face as she raised her arms above her head and stretched out like a cat. She brought her arms back down and let out a low hmm noise escape her lips. Tony smiled remembering the first time he had her on his jet. The memory of her not being affected by his presence and how she told him it was time to be quiet by both saying it as well as pressing her finger to his lips. Lola raised her eyes to look at his smiling face.

“What are you smiling about?” Lola questions nudging his leg with her foot.

“Nothing.”

“Oh yeah?” she challenges him as got up to head towards where there were a few glasses for drinks. Tony picked up on her challenging tone and stood to move towards her. Her back was to him as she began pouring a glass. When a drink was made, Tony reached around Lola, one hand resting on the curve of her hip while the other hand stole the glass from her grasp. He kissed her on the cheek and Lola turned her head slightly with a smile. Lola twirled around and Tony set the glass down to give her his full attention. Her hands rested on either side of the counter while she looked up at him with a questioning smile. Tony stared down at her realizing that he truly didn’t think he could stand having her die again because he worried there would be time that she wouldn‘t come back again. The whole ordeal where Franz took over his mind, it exemplified on the destructive side of Tony that was insecure and lonely. A little voice that said he didn’t deserve love and it took Tony to another place where he wanted nothing more than to end it all. Tony couldn’t imagine the things Lola went through while she was left alone with such a man. Lola saw the emotion in his deep brown eyes and she raised her hand to touch the side of his face.

“I don’t know if I deserve you.”

“It’s not about that Tony.”

“Then what is it about?” Tony inquires looking down at her.

“I don’t know, maybe to at least try to make things work,” she responds honestly. She didn’t know how to go about things but she did know she wanted to be with him.

“That’s a start.”

“I think so.”

Tony closed in the space between them, his hands cupping her face as he pulled her into a kiss. Lola smiled into the kiss and brought her arms up to drape them over Tony’s shoulders. It still took a bit to get used to but having almost lost him only made Lola long to have him kiss her more. Their kiss deepened only to have the pilot announce that they would be landing soon and they should buckle up. Both pulled away chuckling lightly at the unwanted announcement that interrupted their moment.

When the plane landed, Tony blind folded Lola, saying he had a surprise planned out. Lola was slightly against the whole idea being that she disliked not being able to know where she was heading. Since she trusted Tony she went along with it. He led her the whole way up the stairs and to the door of the apartment. He took off the blindfold from her eyes as the door opened to reveal Lydia Novak. It had been a very long time since Lola had seen her mother and when she was brought into a tight embrace she felt happy that her mother even wanted to be around her. Lydia pulled away smiling then stood looking at the pair. Lola turned to Tony with a bright smile, her eyes glittering with appreciation. She usually didn’t show her affections in front of others especially her family but those hesitations were set aside and she kissed him on the lips. Tony gave a slightly bashful smile in response as she took him by the hand leading him into the home.

Lydia took the display as surprising because even while Lola was with Daniel she never seen her daughter initiate any affectionate behavior. Originally upon meeting Tony Stark, Lydia thought him too old for Lola and perhaps a little too much to deal with but when Tony had called her personally to say he was bringing Lola to visit, she began to reconsider her preconceived notations about him. It only solidified when she saw Lola look so happy and content. The way they acted around one another only reminded Lydia of her marriage and she wondered what her husband would be doing if he saw his daughter with her current beau. She chuckled knowing he’d have threatened Tony by listing the things that would be done to him if Tony broke her heart.

There was a lot to be said about Lola’s behavior because for many years she denied herself love for fear of becoming her mother in response to the loss of love. For her to push that fear aside was a big step. Lydia had already begun cooking and Salvatore arrived for the family reunion of sorts. After dinner they sat down looking through some old photos they had taken out of storage.

“Here’s Lola before she left for her prom dance.”

“Why didn’t you get a picture with your date?” Tony questions with a smile.

‘She was meeting up with Charlie at the dance and then she forgot to get those official photos. Pinche Lola you should have gotten photos,” Lydia scolds her daughter.

“Yeah she didn‘t go to prom, she spent her night at my place where she met Daniel.”

“You didn’t ditch that nice boy did you Dolores?’

“No he ditched her,” Sal adds. Lola shot her brother a dirty look. “Hey I know he couldn’t have finished that bottle by himself and well you aren’t one to admit that you’ve been stood up. How big of an idiot do you think I am?”

“Is that a trick question?’ Lola counters. Sal glared at her and Lydia pinched his arm causing the grown man to hold his arm in pain while Lola laughed.

“Be nice to each other,” she orders. Tony couldn’t help but smile at the exchanges between the two siblings and a part of him wondered what it would have been like to actually have a sibling. The conversation went on, looking at the photos and Tony kept in mind about Lola’s slight disposition after the mention of Daniel. They hadn’t spoken about the relationship before to one another and it wasn’t so much Tony was jealous but more so curious. He didn’t know what went wrong so he could avoid doing the same things. Lydia eventually called it a night and kissed her daughter on the forehead before heading to bed. Sal more or less left to his apartment for reasons unknown and Lola led Tony up to the roof of the building. As they stood on the roof overlooking the city lights, Lola leaned against Tony whilst she remained contently quiet.

“I think I’m growing on your brother,” Tony jokes lightly. Lola chuckled at the thought since Sal had a lot of attitude towards Tony.

“Yeah, it takes a little time to get past his attitude. I think my mom appreciates you more now than before.”

“She didn’t like me before?”

“She thought you were too old for me, also thought you were a little extravagant in lifestyle.”

“Did your last boyfriend get this much judgment?” he replies trying to subtly slip in a conversation about Daniel.

“No not really, he was already liked and known beforehand so it was a slightly easier transition aside from my pop more or less threatening to kill Dee if anything happened to me while under his watch,” Lola answers in a simple manner. She turned around and looked up at Tony with an expectant gaze. “So what did you want to know?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do, what did you want to know?”

“Why’d you two break things off?” Tony finally responds.

“For the record Daniel was an incredibly kind person, treated me well and all that good stuff but when I lost my father I snapped, I looked for trouble in all the wrong places, eventually broke things off with Daniel and left for New York,” she says looking down briefly. “I should have handled it better than I had.”

“I’m sure you did all that you could.”

“You don’t have to say that to make me feel better about things. Honestly I just want reinstate that I am in no means perfect so that you don’t put me on a pedestal like he had, I don’t like that sort of pressure.”

“Well I’ll be perfect for the both of us,” Tony states causing the smile to slip back onto Lola’s lips. She pulled him into a kiss and Tony reacted by tugging her closer to his body. He loved having her close to him, the way she had to stretch a bit to kiss him made him smile. It was torture when her lips no longer met his and he breathed out the question he had so dearly wanted to ask her. “Move in with me.”

He had hoped she hadn’t heard him for a brief moment silence that came after his words. The thought of her rejecting the idea made him grow anxious. Lola opened her eyes noticing that Tony refused to open his. She very clearly heard his question that was more of a statement. Her eyes took in his every feature and she debated the thought of living with him, waking up to his presence didn‘t make her uneasy in the least. The hand that rested on his shoulder trailed up to his face gently urging him to look her in the eyes. Tony flicked his eyes open to see her staring at him intently.

“You want me to move in with you?” she questions just to be sure that’s what he was implying before she gave a proper answer.

“I need more of you in my life.”

“But wouldn’t you get bored? I mean I‘m up for moving in it‘s just that I don‘t know how this works. I teach, you have your company.”

“The company doesn’t keep me that busy and you can commute from the New York building to the institute. We’ll make it work,” Tony responds looking down at her. Lola thought it over for a moment before nodding her head gently.

“Okay, we’ll make it work,” Lola spoke. Her words made Tony smile largely and he pulled her into an endearingly excited kiss. The reaction made Lola smile into the kiss even more than she had been before. In his glee, Tony lifted Lola slightly making her squeak in surprise. He gave a throaty chuckle and she smacked his chest playfully. “Jerk.”

“Does someone not like being lifted up?”

“Not a big fan of it no.”

“Oh? Then are you a fan if I happen to kiss you here?” Tony smirks as he trailed his kisses along her jaw to the crook of her neck. Lola took in a sharp breath not really gaining any oxygen from the act. She bit back the gasp of surprise when he then chose to swiftly lift her up from the backs of her legs so that her legs were wrapped around his waist. Having seen the lounge chair earlier, Tony led her to the spot whilst he continued kissing her. Tony seamlessly transitioned from standing to setting her on the lounge chair, impressing Lola thoroughly who responded by pulling him towards her for another kiss. She deepened the kiss and Tony was more than happy to oblige.

“What are you sixteen again? This is a roof and you are on a dirty lounge chair,” Sal spoke interrupting the pair with clear disgust. Tony and Lola were both annoyed with the interruption, Lola turned to look at her brother while Tony gave a groan before maneuvering himself off of Lola’s body. She glared at her older brother that didn’t seem to be leaving.

“You have a problem Salvatore?”

“Mom wants to talk to you.”

“She went to bed,” Lola counters with furrowed eyebrows.

“Just go talk to her Lola, it’s not like you’ve been here much,” he responds in a serious tone. Lola’s gaze softened and a look of guilt flashed over her eyes. She nodded and turned to Tony with a small smile.

“I’ll be back up after I talk to her.”

“Alright. I’ll be waiting here for you,” Tony states with a smile. As she left Salvatore remained in his spot waiting for his sister to leave before he would approach Tony. Sal could see that Lola had fallen for Tony’s charms and it concerned him because Lola hardly fell for anyone. The last thing Sal wanted was for his sister’s heart to get broken by some asshole. There was a time when Sal actually thought Tony Stark was a badass superhero and notorious ladies man but now that he was with his baby sister he didn’t think so highly of those traits. Of course Sal didn’t know what sort of guy Tony was when the cameras weren’t on him.

“You care about her?” Sal questions looking at Tony with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Tony figured he would have to face Lola’s brother at one point or another.

“I thought that was clear.”

“She’s my little sister.”

“And I plan on taking care of her,” Tony states.

“You better Stark because I don’t want to see her hurt. I don’t want to have to go through that again,” he retorts as he recalled what had happened. The image of his sister’s lifeless body still haunted his mind.

“I don’t either.”

“She’s in a good place right now, keep it that way.”

“I love her and I plan on making her happy,” Tony emphasizes without breaking eye contact with Sal. He hoped to get his point across that loving Lola had taken priority in his life and that he wouldn’t let any harm come to her. Salvatore looked back at Tony, seeing the conviction in his eyes and decided that his words were not insincere. Holding out his hand Salvatore was showing his way of respecting Tony enough to let him continue to see his sister. Tony shook Salvatore’s hand in a firm manner and the silent understanding was formed. Lola made her way back up to the roof and saw her brother shaking hands with Tony. It was a strange sight to see yet it was really comforting to Lola. All she wanted was to her family to see what she saw in Tony and now she was finally getting that. They let go and Sal turned to leave giving a mumbled goodnight before leaving. Lola looked at Tony with a smile.

“So what was all that about?”

“Just told your brother how I plan on making you happy.”

“Plan? Aren’t we already there?” Lola counters with teasing smile. Tony smirked and pulled her towards him.

“I think so,” Tony says while brushing the side of her face with his fingertips. Lola closed her eyes holding onto the moment for as long as she could. She draped her arms over his shoulders her hands grazing his neck in tender manner. Tony let his hand slip under her chin and leaned forward to plant a kiss on her lips. He was content, he was happy and so was she. All the things it took to get to this point was worth it and now all they could do was bask in the glory of what they’ve overcome to be together. Both were on the path to their personal stairway to heaven and for once they had each other to keep company as they climbed those stairs of seeming impossibility towards the unknown future.