Glass Heart

Her eyes were burning painfully and itching like crazy. Reaching to rub away the discomfort, Scarlett found she was incapable because her right wrist was bound. Blinking awake in a panic, she jumped alert as quickly as she could. She’d been exhausted when she’d fallen asleep the night before and was finding it hard to shake the fog of sleep from her mind. Where was the plush bed she remembered falling asleep in? Where was Tony Stark annoyingly telling her that she’d slept in for too long, or making bad Sleeping Beauty jokes and trying to make a move on her? Sitting up straight, Scarlett found that her right wrist was shackled with handcuffs to the railing of an old worn cot that barely provided any comfort.

She was back in her prison in Africa. At least that was her best educated guess. There was no proof that was where she was, but deep in her gut she knew that MedCo had found her and taken her prisoner again. The lights were flickering overhead from unstable electricity and the walls were trembling from some sort of explosion within the building or overhead. Dust fell from the ceiling and the support beams groaned, threatening collapse. Rolling out of bed and maneuvering her wrist to follow so she could, Scarlett didn’t have time to pick the lock binding her to the bed so instead she started to wriggle her wrist around in an attempt to maneuver out of the handcuffs. How had she gotten back to Africa without noticing? Had she never left in the first place? Maybe the blow to her head had given her a concussion and now she was finally waking up to her reality.

Not given time to rationalize what had befallen her or how it had come to be, Scarlett heard the door creak open behind her. She worked faster at her wrist and searched around the cot for something to defend herself with. Finding nothing she instead continued to try and free herself. Gritting her teeth and grunting in pain, she pushed at her thumb to try and force it into an unnatural place. The pain shot through her hand as the metal cuffs cut into her palm. Turning to look over her shoulder while she ignored the pain and pushed on the cuff, she saw something that made her stop her struggling entirely.

There were silhouettes in the doorway battling each other. Someone was coming in for her, by force. Who could it have been? The guard at her door was arguing with the person who wanted to come into her room. Then there was a shot fired that made Scarlett jump out of her skin and struggle harder with the cuff. It was no use. Even if she dislocated her thumb she wouldn’t be able to get out of the cuff. Instead she started looking for something to pick the lock with. Handcuff locks were relatively simple to get through, but it would be nearly impossible if she couldn’t find something small enough to manipulate the lock with.

The guard at the door fell to the ground in a bloody pile. Scarlett stood, hunched slightly forward thanks to the constricting cuff on her wrist. The floor was cold against her bare feet. She would have to work with her situation to fight off this new intruder. Her gut had taught her to never expect a hero to come and save her. Usually when someone came into your jail cell with a gun, they were after much more than your freedom. Much to her surprise, her visitor was one that she recognized and she knew he wasn’t there to cause her any harm.

“Time to go, yes?” The man revealed himself as Sergei. He was the guard who had shown her such kindness in her original prison and he had come to save her. Why would he betray his company for someone like her? Now wasn’t the time for questions, but the time to flee. He was giving her an opportunity and she had to jump at the chance to take it. Once she escaped, she could find out Sergei’s true motives.

“I’m afraid that I’ve become rather attached to this place.” Scarlett wiggled her wrist so that the handcuff clanked against the frame of the cot. Humor always got the best of her in tense situations. Sergei chuckled then hurried over to her and slipped a handcuff key out of his pocket. About to slip his key into the lock a noise behind him made him hesitate. Someone was approaching the cell she’d been held in. Clearly someone had realized that an intruder had broken into the facility.

“We must hurry.” Sergei handed her the key and started to the doorway, clearly wanting to buy her time, his gun in hand.

“No, don’t go out that way. There’s always another way out and if you block the door we can find it.” Scarlett hissed, though she wasn’t so sure they had the time to find a second exit or to make one on their own. She hadn’t gotten the chance to see what else her room had to offer her but she was sure that if there was anything electronic for her to get her hands on then she would manage to create something that could help them out in a time crunch.

Before Sergei could respond to her a faceless man had grabbed him and pulled him into the hallway and out of sight. Scarlett couldn’t help anyone if she was tethered to the cot so she worked on the lock instead. Getting her now sore and bloodied wrist free from the shackle on her arm she pocketed the key for later use. Hurrying to the doorway she stopped to watch as the intruder twisted Sergei’s arm back and kicked him to the ground where he stumbled on his knees, then shot him in the back several times. The body of her Russian friend fell back into the room.

“No, no!” Scarlett hurried over to her fallen friend and urged him to his feet. He stumbled but she had to support most of his weight. He touched her cheek and tried to gather her attention while trying to get her to let him go.

“You must see the truth.” He whispered.

“Don’t talk, okay? You probably punctured a lung and talking will only make it worse.” Scarlett could feel her body trembling with fear, but she knew that Sergei didn’t have a chance if she fell apart. Hurrying back into the room she kicked the door closed. The sound echoed as she dragged Sergei over to the cot. He was giving up. She could feel him becoming dead weight in her arms.

“You are too late, Scarlett.” His bloodied, gloved hand touched her cheek to get her to focus on him again. Blood was pouring from his lips. How had his wound affected him so devastatingly, so quickly?

“It’s never too late. I can help you just… Hold on. I need a pen. If I can find a pen I can do this!” Scarlett grabbed onto his wrist, partially knowing it was too late to save the man who had risked his neck to save her.

“You cannot save everyone.” Sergei’s voice was broken and fading. He was coughing and gagging and spitting blood out of his mouth so he could keep talking.

“I don’t need to save everyone, just you.” Scarlett insisted. Sergei’s hand fell from her cheek, the effort of keeping it up becoming too great.

“No.” Sergei coughed and then pointed a finger at her and poked her chest. “You.” With that, the light faded from his eyes and his hand fell onto his chest. His breathing stopped and the life left him entirely. Scarlett stared at Sergei, unsure of what to do now that her friend had died. He’d risked his life to come and save her when she’d given him nothing but trouble from the moment they’d met. Leaning down to kiss his forehead, she started to search his body for something to defend herself with.

Finding a pocket knife strapped to his belt, Scarlett froze when the door to her cell opened behind her. Whoever had killed Sergei had decided to finally come into the room. Why had they waited in the first place? It was unlike ruthless men to let people say their goodbyes.

Turning to look at her masked assailant, her hands gripped hard onto the knife she’d taken from Sergei. They wouldn’t kill her, not the way they killed Sergei. If they’d spared her in the desert after she’d blown up their facility then they still needed her for something. Flipping open the knife she swallowed her fear and prepared herself to avenge the life of her friend and fight for her freedom.

Before she could take a step forward the masked man held up his handgun and shot her once in the shoulder and then twice in the chest. She stumbled backwards but kept her grip on the knife. Leaning against the wall she tried to will her body to keep going but it was no use. There was no bulletproof vest to protect her, no second chances. Why would they fight so hard to keep her alive only to shoot her point blank?

There was no pain as she had expected there to be. Instead she merely slumped against the wall and coughed. It was becoming hard to breathe. Her lungs were filling with blood, and it would choke her in a matter of moments.

The man holstered his gun and walked over to Scarlett. Grabbing her chin he forced her to look at him though she still struggled meagerly in an attempt to be defiant. Grabbing onto his wrist with one hand she tried in vain to force his hand away. Her hand merely slipped on his leather glove and fell onto his arm. Coughing and gagging still, she tried to fight the darkness surrounding her. She felt ill, bile in the back of her throat, mixed with blood. Her body was slipping into the cold clutches of death.

The masked man laughed at her, mocking her.

“You didn’t have to kill him. He just wanted to help me.” Scarlett managed to speak, blood pooling in the back of her mouth soon after, making her cough again.

“You made me, Scarlett. You made it come to this.” The voice was familiar but she couldn’t place her finger on it; it was cold but still familiar. Scarlett didn’t respond and simply stared at the man who had ended her life and the life of the man who had done nothing to deserve it. “You manipulate everyone around you to get what you deem is best. You bring nothing but death and corruption.”

Reaching up to his face, he pulled off his mask and let it hang behind his head where it was attached to his shirt. Scott stared back at her, his green eyes filled with hatred, rage and something far more terrifying: blame.

Scarlett couldn’t respond. How could he say those things? How could the man she fought so hard to save tell her that she was the great manipulator? The worst part was that he was right and she knew it. She had never cared before this moment who had gotten in her way and who had suffered, so why was it killing her now? The knife slipped from her hands, clattering onto the floor and echoing around the room.

“You’ll get what you deserve.” Scott’s voice echoed around her just as the sound of the knife had, feeling almost ethereal. Had his lips even moved? Closing her eyes Scarlett waited for death to take her. When she didn’t fade out of existence she opened her eyes and found the barrel of Scott’s gun in front of her. When he pulled the trigger she braced herself for death.

Scarlett jumped sat up straight in bed very suddenly. Her stomach was churning in misery and her head was aching and pounding. Blinking her eyes open, she quickly prepared herself for a fight but when she found none to meet her in the guest room of the Stark mansion she wasn’t sure what to do. Someone had yelped when she’d jumped up so Scarlett searched for that instead.

“I’m sorry!” Pepper was shielding herself in case Scarlett came after her defensively. Scarlett tried to relax but her heart was pounding in her throat, making her feel sick to her stomach. Touching her forehead she felt her skin covered in a cold sweat. The wound on her leg was throbbing painfully, like she’d been putting unnecessary pressure on it. On top of that her hand was bloody. Moving the sheets on the bed she found them bloodied as well on top of her. Scarlett could hear Pepper talking but was ignoring her for the time being. She must have clawed through her bandages while she’d slept. If nothing else, the blood on her leg seemed to have caked and dried so it didn’t require immediate attention.

Flopping back down onto the bed Scarlett closed her eyes and tried to gather her bearings. What kind of hellish nightmare had that been? What did it mean, if anything at all? There wasn’t any time to ponder the meanings of her subconscious. Scarlett could only guess that it was her guilty conscience finally catching up with her after years of having been ignored during a selfish life.

“Are you okay?” Pepper’s voice finally broke through Scarlett’s conflicting thoughts. Apparently the woman had realized that she’d been ignored and had stopped trying to explain herself or make conversation. Scarlett tugged the blankets over her leg to hide it from view. There was no hiding the blood on her palm but she could at least avoid having Tony’s assistant fret over her needlessly.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Scarlett’s voice sounded distant and odd to her own ears. Why couldn’t she shake the haze from her nightmare? The churning in her stomach continued but Scarlett refused to do anything about it. Sitting back up after a moment spent catching her breath, Scarlett finally managed to force a smile for Pepper.

A glass of water descended from the ceiling, courtesy of Jarvis. Scarlett couldn’t help but smile at the caring and mothering nature the robot seemed to sometimes exhibit. Steadying her shaking hands, Scarlett took the glass and drank the entire thing in one go. Maybe she was dehydrated from the alcohol she had the night before with Tony? They had consumed more than she’d had in a very long time. Not to mention she’d eaten real food for the first time in weeks so her stomach had a thousand reasons to be unsettled.

“I scratched open my leg while I slept, it’s dried up already though so no worries.” Scarlett acknowledged the blood on her hand before Pepper could say anything about it.

“If you want I can have Tony come and look at it…” The redhead seemed wary to let it go unnoticed.

“No!” Scarlett held up her hand defensively. Pepper tried to hide her amusement but wasn’t doing a very good job of it.

“I can’t say I blame you for not wanting to see him after the way he behaved last night.” Pepper sat down on the edge of the bed. Scarlett adjusted the dress she’d fallen asleep in the night before and sat on the edge of the bed next to Pepper.

“No, I just don’t need to give him another reason to look up my skirt right now. I can handle it just fine.” The burn was itching and aching horribly, but Scarlett had always been good at stomaching her pain. It had become part of her job; to be able to mask pain in dangerous situations. But when had her situation at the Stark mansion become a dangerous one? The nightmare was getting to her and she was struggling to shake it. The only other time she’d suffered such severe post traumatic stress symptoms had been when she had returned from her job in Afghanistan. But then she’d had time in a hospital to recover. As far as she was concerned, her current mission was still in progress. There was no time to fall apart and pick up the pieces of her shattered psyche.

“Alright, I can understand that.” Pepper laughed but then cleared her throat and looked at the woman seriously. Obviously she had more of a reason to come into her room other than to wake her up. “I wanted to apologize to you, for last night.”

“Didn’t you already apologize for last night?” Scarlett pushed her unruly hair out of her face. She must have tossed and turned something fierce for it to be as horribly messy as it was.

“I did, but… I wanted to do it again without Tony around.” Pepper got up and paced the floor, hands on her hips. “When those men said they were looking for a woman that wasn’t me, I jumped to conclusions. I thought… who else could it be besides you? I’m a little overprotective of Tony sometimes.”

“Well, it’s only natural.” Scarlett shrugged, watching Pepper and trying to analyze the conversation. If she could just focus on anything other than her thoughts, she’d be okay. “You two dated, right? Briefly, according to the papers at least.”

“Oh, you know?” Pepper’s cheeks turned pink and she immediately became defensive on the subject. “I’m sure you’re wondering how I could be intimately involved with… that and then simply return to this position when it didn’t work out.”

“Honestly, it’s the furthest thing from my mind right now.” Scarlett didn’t care much about Tony’s past love life, though something twisted in her stomach despite her objections. She couldn’t even consider what the feeling was and attributed it to a hangover.

“Well, I’m going to explain it anyway.” Pepper half smiled, but still seemed nervous about her past. “I couldn’t handle being his girlfriend. I can barely handle being his assistant. We’d had years of… unresolved tension and once that was out of the way there wasn’t much left to go on. He was still the same overly complicated and conflicted man he was before we’d dated and I was still the woman who needed something stable. I couldn’t fix him and ultimately that’s what I wanted. He told me he wasn’t broken so… we agreed that we could stay friends.”

“Friends who saw each other naked that is. That always ends well.” Scarlett scoffed sardonically, which seemed to startle Pepper and take her off guard. Feeling awkward and not having meant to offend the woman she cleared her throat. “Sorry, that’s just… in my nature. I meant no offense.”

“I guess we don’t know each other very well yet.” Pepper smiled after a moment and decided not to let the comment upset her. “You’re not wrong though. It doesn’t usually end well in those situations but… Tony was always more than that. Tony is my friend and I will always care about him but… I do my best for him by being his assistant and he does his best for me by being my boss.”

“You really don’t owe me an explanation. I don’t really care about Tony’s romantic life.” Scarlett yawned and rubbed her fingers over the sore area on her leg. She took to chipping away dried blood from the swollen skin after she felt it rough underneath her fingertips.

“I know I don’t owe you anything I just…” Sighing heavily, Pepper stopped pacing and stood in front of Scarlett then shook her head. “I was just explaining why I was so overprotective. When those men said they were after a woman last night I thought you were another person out for Tony’s blood.” Scarlett didn’t react, but wondered if Pepper had any idea how close to the truth she was. Clearly the woman wanted to see the best in her after the night before. “I never considered it could be anything else. It’s no secret that Tony’s had more lady trouble in a year than most people have in a lifetime.”

“Yeah, he’s a dirty slut.” Scarlett tried to lighten the mood. It seemed to work, since Pepper couldn’t resist laughing at her comment.

“Yes but… you saved his life. Even after he trapped you in the guest room you convinced Jarvis to let you out. I know he’s mad that you overrode his orders but he wasn’t seeing things from where I was.” Pepper looked distant as she spoke. “He was going to die if you didn’t do something. They were firing at him repeatedly with something I’d never seen before and while I’m not an expert with weapons or anything like Tony is, I knew it was bad. I had never seen blood come out of the suit before that moment.”

“He was in trouble.” Scarlett took a deep breath. “I knew he would be.”

“How did you know? If they weren’t after you, then how could you possibly know?” Pepper knelt down in front of Scarlett and looked curious of her answer. There was nothing accusing in her words, just simple inquisitiveness

“I can’t explain that.” Shrugging, Scarlett looked past Pepper and out the window that had brightened up so she could see through it again. When she’d fallen asleep, Jarvis must have darkened the windows like a screen to block out the light. “I had a bad feeling. When I heard you on the other end of that phone I just knew that something bad was happening and I knew that I could help but Tony… Tony didn’t want me to come with him.”

“He was just worried about you.” Pepper smiled softly, trying to defend her boss’ actions.

“He was worried that I’d be a liability not about me.”

“That’s a considerable amount of worry coming from Tony, nonetheless.” Pepper clarified. “Regardless, I wanted to say that I was sorry for jumping to conclusions about you without giving you a fair chance to defend yourself. Even if they were after you last night, I had no reason not to trust you.”

“But you had no reason to trust me either.” Scarlett leaned an elbow on her good knee and propped her chin up in her hand.

“Still, I’m sorry for getting upset with you. And I’m sorry that Tony flipped his lid when he should’ve been begging for your forgiveness and thanking you from the bottom of his heart.”

“I’m guessing that Tony doesn’t do much begging for anything or anyone.” Scarlett laughed. “Really Pepper, I appreciate the apology but it’s not necessary. I am a stranger here. I don’t exactly trust the two of you either and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. After what I’ve been through and what you deal with every single day thanks to Tony’s super hero persona neither one of us should be trusting so easily.”

“Thank you for being so understanding. But I am still sorry.” Pepper smiled kindly. She hadn’t expected Scarlett to be so forgiving. In truth, Scarlett wasn’t forgiving, or at least she didn’t see it that way. She thought she was being realistic. It was the most honest thing she’d said that day so far. Her head was still spinning from the nightmare that had woke her up and all she wanted was for Pepper to go away for a few minutes so she could figure things out.

“Again, no need.”

“I had the chef prepare breakfast for the three of us. If you’d like to get cleaned up and meet us downstairs in the dining room that would be wonderful. I’m sure you don’t know your way around quite yet, so I’ll have Jarvis guide you like he did yesterday.” Pepper got back to her feet and started toward the door.

“That sounds great actually. My stomach isn’t doing so well so I don’t know how much I can eat, but I’d prefer to have something even if it’s small.” Scarlett made a face of discomfort, touching her stomach which seemed tender.

“Yeah, Tony won’t admit it but he’s got a hangover too. Every time I try to suggest it he has a thousand other reasons as to why it couldn’t be a hangover.” Pepper laughed. “I’ll get you some antacids that you can take with your breakfast.”

“Thanks, I just need to get changed then I’ll join you.” Scarlett moved to get off of the bed but immediately collapsed onto the ground. Her leg had given out entirely beneath her the moment she’d tried to put any weight on it. Lying on the floor and blinking up at the ceiling in awe, Scarlett took a moment to realize what the hell had just happened to her.

“Scarlett! Are you okay? Jarvis! Call Tony, something’s wrong with Scarlett.” Pepper knelt down next to Scarlett and fretted over her. She noticed the blood on the sheets and gasped, covering her mouth. “Oh god, are you okay?”

“No, no Jarvis don’t call Tony…” Scarlett sat up and pushed herself back onto the bed, testing the weight on her leg all the while. It would support her but she would have to be more careful with the way she walked.

“Jarvis, call Tony,” Pepper repeated.

“Yes, Miss Potts.” The robot responded after he was sure orders were done being tossed about the room. Scarlett grimaced and looked down at her sore leg. She started to tear the bandaging off of her wound and looked at the terrible burn there. The scab was seeping and covered in pus. Whatever she’d been burned by was still taking a toll on her skin.

“I told you, I irritated it while I was sleeping.” Scarlett looked up from the wound in an attempt to calm Pepper down but the redheaded woman was covering her mouth in disgust and staring at her leg. “Oh come on, it’s not that bad. You’re being dramatic.”

“It’s really not that bad, Pepper.” Tony came into the room, looking down at his phone all the while, tapping buttons on the crystal clear screen. “She’s a little squeamish sometimes. I get a cut while working on one of my cars and she’s walking around acting like I lost a whole finger.” Tony wiggled the fingers of his left hand as an example.

“Your assistance is not needed.” Scarlett waved Tony off. He was avoiding looking at her for whatever reason. Slipping his phone back into the pocket of his jeans, he stopped in front of them.

“I’m always needed, Scarlett.” Tony snapped his fingers and motioned for Pepper to get out of the way. “Jarvis, I need the same stuff from yesterday.” Sitting down on the bed next to Scarlett he grabbed her shoulder and tugged her closer to him. He was still avoiding eye contact. There were deep bags under his eyes like he hadn’t slept very well and bruises had started to appear on his skin from the fight the night before. The cut on his forehead had turned a nasty shade of green.

“I’m fine. I just scratched it up while I slept.”

“I think that dress rubbed against it a bit too.” Tony tugged the hem of the dress, now caked in blood, up a bit and out of the way. Scarlett placed her hand over the hem of the dress and pushed down between her legs so that Tony wasn’t getting a free show of any kind. Much to her surprise, he didn’t make a snide comment about what she’d done.

“Tony, how’s your head doing?” Pepper seemed just as concerned when she noticed the opportunity to make a dirty joke had slipped right past him.

“For the last time, Potts, I don’t have a hangover. I was electrocuted like… what twelve times in a row? I’m pretty sure I’m allowed to be a little bitchy.” Tony shot her a disapproving look then once Jarvis had delivered the first aid kit to him had started to clean up the bloodied wound. Scarlett hissed in discomfort and bit her lip but kept her leg still for Tony to clean. Pepper covered her mouth, looking pale and nauseated.

“Are you sure that she doesn’t need to see a real doctor for that, Tony? It’s really nasty looking…” Pepper swallowed her nerve and asked, but she still had a look of disgust on her face.

“Pepper, it’s really not that bad. If you’re going to be squeamish why don’t you head downstairs and avoid the situation entirely. Though I’m sure you don’t really want to look at scrambled eggs after this either.” Despite his amusing comment, no smile came to his face.

“Tony!” Pepper scolded and swatted him. He jumped defensively and gave her an annoyed look before returning to clean Scarlett’s wound. After he had finished cleaning up the mess she’d made in the night, he applied the chemical agent to her leg. It stung and her leg visibly trembled with pain. Tony placed a comforting hand on her knee to stop her trembling and continued to apply the chemical along the wound.

Tony was sending Scarlett three hundred different signals and not a single one of them made sense. Trying to figure out what he was thinking was exhausting and Scarlett did not have the energy for it at the time. She decided to simply take everything at face value. Constantly analyzing her situation had become strenuous, particularly after the night she’d had. After having been deprived of rest in an adequate bed for so long she thought that her first night of slumber in the Stark mansion would’ve been like a dream but instead it’d turned into a literal nightmare.

“There. Good as new.” Tony patted her knee after wrapping up the wound then stood up. “Pepper, make sure the sheets are changed and cleaned for tonight. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have to do this every morning for a few days until the wound starts to heal on its own.” Without looking at either woman he left the room. Both stared at the doorway in confusion for a moment before continuing on.

“Why don’t you get changed and then meet us downstairs?” Pepper forced a smile and waited until she was sure Scarlett could support herself on her wounded leg before speaking again. Scarlett got up from the bed and slowly stepped forward. After a moment of adjusting to the weakness and pain in her leg she was able to manage just as well as she had done the day before. “There are clean clothes in the closet for you and toiletries in the bathroom. If you need anything at all, ask Jarvis and it will be provided for you.”

“Thank you Miss Potts.” Scarlett nodded politely.

“Please, it’s Pepper. Last names are such formalities around here.” Waving, the redhead left the room clearly talking to someone on the other side of the door after she was out of earshot. Limping over to the closet, Scarlett continued to test the strength of her leg. She picked out an off the shoulder, red and black striped short dress for the day. She decided it was best to avoid jeans until her leg wasn’t in such poor condition.

On the other side of the door, Tony was arguing with Pepper over his plans for the day. Tony Stark had an incredibly long night after Scarlett had gone to bed and Pepper had left him to his own devices. He hadn’t even attempted to get to sleep until around three in the morning. Instead he’d spent hours rummaging through what was left of the coding from his damaged Mark. Then he’d taken to trying to get the dent out of his car and finally he had started repairing his suit to the best of his ability. There were a lot of pieces that had to be fabricated from scratch so he’d gotten Jarvis to start with the process early that morning.

But after all of that he watched the footage that Jarvis had of Scarlett trying to get out of her bedroom. She’d been worried about him and sincerely worried from what he could tell. What had he done to warrant that kind of affection and care from her at all, if it was even such emotions that had driven her to run to his aid? Then he’d watched her sleeping while he continued upon his confused thoughts. She’d tossed and turned the entire night long. Eventually Tony had fallen asleep at his desk, watching the video feed.

Pepper had woken him hours later and had tried to convince him to go upstairs and rest in his bed. Instead Tony had cut off the video feeds he’d been watching and had started working on his Mark again. He hadn’t been able to shake the conflict in his mind and even after he’d been able to talk to Scarlett again while cleaning her wound he’d had a hard time getting back into the swing of being his usual self.

Now he was hanging out in the hallway outside of Scarlett’s room and waiting for her to come out of it so he could help her down the stairs. Of course, he could’ve instructed Pepper to do so or Happy even but he’d decided that he would rather do it himself. As far as he was concerned, he was still testing her to see where her loyalties lie. He still needed to get the information on MedCo from her even though he’d started to consider that maybe she had no big lead that would help him take down the company that had used his weapons to commit a list of atrocities a mile long. Either way, it was his excuse for hanging around outside of her room.

The door to the guest room opened, and his mind went blank. Scarlett looked far better than she had when he’d been working on her wound. He didn’t offer her a smile or make the first remark that popped into his head which had been about her legs. Instead he nodded toward the stairs.

“Figured you could use some help with that bum leg.”

“Down the stairs?” Scarlett cocked a curious eyebrow. She wasn’t used to Tony being a gentleman of any kind so instead she walked right past him and started down the stairs on her own, holding the railing to assist her.

“You know, I was trying to do something nice for you.”

“I’m not a fragile princess, I can handle some stairs. I put too much weight on my leg when I woke up and fell down. It’s not the end of the world. You people don’t know how to deal with serious wounds around here do you?” Scarlett waved him off as she walked down the stairs. Her leg was hurting but once again whatever magical chemical Tony had put on her wound was helping to take the edge off.

“Fine, your highness.” Tony followed her down the stairs but couldn’t help but smile. It was nice to know she had no plans on treating him any differently than she had before they’d had their moment together the night before. So why couldn’t he do the same? Maybe he really did have a hangover, though he would never admit it to Pepper. It had become a game between them over the years. The great Tony Stark had a supreme tolerance to liquor. It would take nothing short of an elephant tranquilizer to leave him feeling groggy.

“I have absolutely no idea where I’m going from here. So, if you like, now you can help me.” Scarlett turned to face Tony at the bottom of the stairs.

“This way.” Tony snapped his fingers then started past her and led her through the first floor of the house. In the center of a large room was a modest but beautifully polished wooden dining table. The windows were from floor to ceiling as they were through the rest of the house and overlooked the ocean. Tony took his seat on the far end of the table. When Scarlett went to sit on the other side of it, Pepper walked over to her and stopped her.

“No, no… Why don’t you sit over here? Next to Tony. We’ve already got the waiters ready to serve you there.” Pepper pulled out the chair next to Tony.

“There are like twelve other places to sit at this table and you want me to sit next to him? I’m not even going to ask what you’re smoking, I just expect you to leave some of it in my room for later.” Scarlett took the seat without further objection. Tony tried not to laugh but couldn’t hide the smile on his face.

“I second that, Pepper.” Tony picked up the newspaper that had been left in his spot for him and was browsing through the financial section of it. Pepper sat on the opposite end of the table across from Tony and patted the spot in front of her plate. Rolling his eyes, Tony pulled the lifestyle section of the paper out and tossed it at Pepper.

A moment later a waiter came from the next room holding a tray with three breakfast filled plates on it. Scarlett’s stomach turned at the idea of eating anything. She would have to start small if she could manage. The food she’d had the night before wasn’t sitting properly thanks to the alcohol in her system combined with her poor diet over the weeks past.

“You know, Tony… I do think that Scarlett did an excellent job taking care of your wounds last night.” Pepper cleared her throat and broke the tense silence that followed after the waiter had left their plates in front of them. Tony flopped the front of his paper down and narrowed his eyes at Pepper knowingly. He was well aware of what she was trying to do there. She could sense that something was tense and awkward between them and she was trying to break it by forcing them to interact. Pushing the paper back into place, licking his thumb and turning a page he nodded his head.

“Yep, though I didn’t need anyone’s help.”

“Oh don’t argue, you needed more help than I did.” Pepper laughed and pointed to the wound on her head. “Honestly I should’ve just come back here and let you handle it Scarlett, you did a far more efficient job working on him than the doctors in the emergency room did for me. And trust me it’s hard to work on him. He doesn’t stop squirming and he’s such a big baby.”

“He winced before I even touched him with the antiseptic.” Scarlett poked at the eggs on her plate before eating a small bite of them. Her throat immediately rejected the idea of swallowing the food but she forced it down anyway. In theory, she knew how to handle the recovery of what she’d been through but the practice of actually handling it was much harder than anticipated. Her stomach churned audibly in objection but it went ignored.

“Oh I did not.” Tony pouted, looking over at Scarlett for a moment. It was hard not to notice the little things about her now that he’d spent more time with her. She was avoiding eating, but he wasn’t going to comment on it.

“He does that every time I have to help him take care of a small scrape.” Pepper grinned without looking up from her newspaper. “But you did a great job handling him. When I saw the bandaging this morning it was all still in place.”

“She walked in on me after I’d fallen asleep in my lab.” Tony folded up his newspaper and gave Pepper a daring look, like if she said one more word about what she’d walked in on in the morning that he would launch himself over the table and shut her up. Despite it all there was a smile on his lips.

“Well, you’re welcome.” Scarlett took a sip of the coffee in front of her. “Good lord, that is the most amazing thing that I have ever had in my mouth.” Unable to help but smile, she wondered if it would prompt Tony to make a joke. Even Pepper was laughing at how ridiculous that had been.

“That was too easy. Give me a harder one.” Tony seemed to consider making a lewd comment but had chosen against it.

“That’s what she said.” Scarlett took another sip of the coffee and before Tony could make a comment looked to Pepper. “I haven’t had decent coffee in nearly four years. This is… just wonderful.”

“It’s a Kona blend, freshly ground too.” Pepper smiled. “There’s plenty more where that came from so please, drink up.”

“Don’t tempt me. I’ll have you just give me an IV drip of it.” Scarlett started back at her food again.

“When did you two team up?” Tony pointed his finger between the two women. “Why are you friends now?”

“We never weren’t friends.” Pepper shrugged.

“Just yesterday you were accusing her of being up to no good. I was in over my head, remember?” Tony took a sip of his own coffee then looked down at the cup in surprise. “…this actually is really good.”

“I wasn’t joking.” Scarlett glanced over at him. He seemed to be getting over whatever awkwardness had taken him over. The three continued to enjoy their coffee and food in silence momentarily before Pepper spoke again in an attempt to continue cracking away at the discomfort.

“Did Tony need stitches?” Pepper still looked over her newspaper, no longer trying to hide the glee on her face.

“No. Pepper. I didn’t need stitches.” Tony answered for Scarlett, talking over her. “I used two rolls of gauze and half a roll of tape and I don’t have a concussion. What else would you like to know about my health?” Tony folded his arms on the table and watched his assistant. The light and amusement was back on his face. Whatever Pepper had done had broken the cycle of bad thoughts he’d fallen into. Or perhaps it was just thanks to how damn good the coffee was.

“I was just thinking that she did such a good job at helping you last night and she deserved a bit of praise.” Pepper was more than hinting at this point.

“That’s right.” Tony leaned his elbow on the table, batted his eyelashes at Scarlett and pursed his lips. “Thank you so much for going out of your way to help me last night, Miss Damien.”

“Despite…” Scarlett couldn’t help but egg the situation on. It was a lot better to joke around than it was to deal with the awkward tension Tony had insisted upon bringing into the room earlier.

“Despite the fact that I was a complete and total ass and practically kidnapped you a third time. Yeah, yeah I get it… I was wrong. Alright? Happy? Hope you’re recording this Jarvis because I’m not saying it again.” Tony pointed up at the ceiling. “I’m just kidding, erase any record of that.” Looking back to the two women, Tony waited for confirmation.

“Speaking of Happy.” Pepper cleared her throat and stood up from the table. “I’ve only got about three thousand things to do today thanks to the little mishap on the highway last night. Tony’s idea of clean up and actual clean up are two very different things. So, if you don’t mind I’ll be meeting up with the two of you later. I assume you can handle the rest of breakfast on your own, right Tony?” Before he could answer and object, as he was clearly planning to do, Pepper left the room with her piece of the newspaper folded underneath her arm.

“No, I can’t. I need you to shovel my eggs into my mouth and butter my toast…” Tony called after her and then sighed. “I cannot get decent help around here.” Whining and smacking his lips together, he turned to look at Scarlett who was still poking around at her food. “I should’ve let you come with me last night.”

“Oh really?” Scarlett wasn’t surprised that he was finally admitting it but it was nice to have him talking to her without avoiding looking at her again. Though, she could’ve done without all the staring and undressing her with his eyes that he did. She guessed it was just something that she had to get used to when working with him. “What brought you to that conclusion?”

“You were a lot of help. If you hadn’t been there for me last night I would’ve been in big trouble.” Tony took another sip of his coffee, watching Scarlett poke around at her food. Finally she put down her fork.

“Yeah, I know. It’s nice to see that you finally figured it out though.”

“I blew up at you for no reason.”

“Are you going to continue stating things we already know, Stark because… that’s wasting a lot of time and breath. I know you like to hear yourself talk and all but…” Scarlett waved her hand in front of her. It was nice to feel that the scrape on her arm wasn’t kicking her ass anymore. Things were starting to heal and she hoped that meant her mental state would soon recover too. It was wishful thinking, but a girl could dream.

“I’m really grateful for your help, and I’m trying to express that if you would stop mocking me for thirty seconds.”

“I get it, Stark.” She shook her head. “You don’t need to thank me and you don’t need to apologize. We’re done with that. I helped you, you’re grateful. As far as I’m concerned, we’re even. Though, you are still a complete and total asshole and I will not be giving you any help after this. Just make note of that, okay?” Tony wasn’t sure if Scarlett was being serious but he was acting under the assumption that she wasn’t.

“But what if I get into trouble and I’m going to die without your help?” Tony pouted, leaning his chin on his hand and propping himself up.

“Well, that would surely be a problem for you but I’ve washed my hands of it.” Scarlett didn’t react and instead took a small bite out of her toast.

“You would miss me, I think.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Stark.” Scarlett continued to be more distracted by the food she wasn’t eating than by Tony who was still staring at her. He’d eaten as much as he’d planned on eating for the time being. The waiter returned to the room and refilled their cups of coffee and removed Tony’s plate from in front of him once he’d signaled that he was finished with it.

“You know,” Tony began, “after what happened last night in the restaurant I couldn’t picture you getting hurt.” He had averted his eyes again, feigning interest in the financial section of the newspaper he’d discarded earlier. Scarlett continued to poke at her food, though what he’d said had actually gotten her attention pretty wholeheartedly. “We’d had a lot to drink and my head was spinning. You hadn’t eaten in days and I didn’t think you would handle it as well as I could. If you had gotten hurt because I’d gotten you a little tipsy I wouldn’t have forgiven myself.” Exhaling deeply, Tony gave up on the newspaper, growing bored with looking over the same articles over and over again. “I acted on impulse, on fear. That’s why I told Jarvis to keep you safe. I knew he would take care of you.”

Tony was nervous that she hadn’t responded after a moment had passed. The sound of her fork poking at the plate was starting to drive him a little crazy. He was almost to the point where he wanted to grab it from her hand and throw it across the room because it was annoying him.

“You need to stop liking me so much, Stark.” Scarlett took the paper he’d discarded and browsed over it, just to give her hands something else to do other than poke at her food that she no longer wanted to pretend to eat. “It’s dangerous for the both of us.” Looking back at Tony she held the paper closer to her. “You know, while you were drinking last night you offered me a pretty tempting job offer.”

“I did and it’s still on the table. That’s if you’ve had any time to think about it.” Tony was surprised she’d brought it up, but intrigued. He had thought that after the close encounters they’d had together things would be awkward, but they’d only become that much more fun.

“Oh, I had plenty of time to think about it while I was sitting locked away in my tower.” Scarlett straightened her lips, not having to say much more to get her point across. Tony winced but didn’t make a quirky retort. He figured that anything he argued against that would only get him in more trouble. “And given that I had so much time to think about it, I’ve decided to take the job.” Tony’s eyebrows shot up to the top of his forehead. He hadn’t expected her to ever take the job, nonetheless so quickly. He had become convinced that she hadn’t wanted anything to do with him in a work environment and he couldn’t honestly blame her for it.

“What was it you said last night that was dangerous about this proposition? You didn’t find me boring? You’re still going to take the job?” Skeptical, Tony moistened his lips with his tongue.

“I can change my mind if you’d like.” Scarlett placed the paper in front of his spot on the table once she was finished with it.

“No, don’t do that.” Tony shook his head and then held his hand out for her to shake. “Welcome to Stark Industries Miss Damien. I’ll have my assistant, Miss Potts, draw up the contracts for the deal we discussed.”

“Thank you Mr. Stark.” Scarlett took Tony’s hand and gave it a firm shake. The doubt and fear she’d experienced that morning had started to fade. Somehow at that moment, she knew she was doing the right thing. Getting the information she needed would be much easier from inside the corporate structure of his company.