Glass Heart

The discreet black SUV pulled up to the barred security gate of the Stark Industries compound. After providing clearance and some playful banter between Tony and the man who was working the gate that day, the car continued through the gate. Scarlett mostly tuned out the conversation in the car while she took in as much of her surroundings as she could see through the tinted window. Other than the security gate they’d passed through, there were no other visible exits. But for all she knew there were other methods of entry on the far side of the compound that she couldn’t see. Surrounding the compound entirely was a wired security fence with the occasional sign hung up warning intruders of the threat of electrical shock if they attempted to break in.

Within the boundaries of the fence lay multiple buildings, some of them with multiple levels and some single level, each labeled with numbers and letters but with nothing more specific than that. Scarlett found this to be rather clever of the multi-billion dollar company. Competition would have to be either foolhardy or desperate to come after Tony Stark and his ideas. If anyone broke in, she was sure that they would be sorely surprised to meet Stark security tech. Not to mention, being in the middle of the desert, it wasn’t exactly the easiest location to sneak up on when no cover was provided by the terrain. Somehow she had a feeling that the real secrets to Stark Industries success were trapped within Tony himself regardless of the high security at his company. There were some things that couldn’t be trusted to a computer and she was sure Tony knew that already.

Shaking the thoughts of espionage from her mind, she couldn’t help but smile. Old habits really did die hard. If nothing else, the information she’d collected would come in handy if something happened to go horribly wrong while she was working with Tony. Honestly, she was expecting more trouble than they were likely to get. But, the thought of danger and excitement was far better than the thoughts of imprisonment and the pain in her leg.

“I did some of my first flight tests around these buildings.” Tony was pointing left and right, giving a tour of his facility, though Scarlett hadn’t been listening to the first half of his explanations. “I figured that if I was going to destroy anything I should destroy my own stuff, right?” That confirmed to Scarlett that there wasn’t anything valuable enough in the buildings that Tony was willing to risk.

“I’m sure the people who work for you appreciated you putting their lives at risk for the sake of the people of Malibu.” Scoffing, Scarlett still didn’t pay much mind to Tony’s ramblings about the Mark tests he’d performed. She was far too interested in her new surroundings. It had become a bad habit, of sorts. When she’d been working for less than savory employers she had to know all her available exits and all her options before she got in over her head. There had been more than one occasion where she’d had to make a hasty exit.

“Don’t be silly, I ran my tests in the middle of the night after my initial launch over the city. I didn’t magically get that good at what I do. I didn’t suddenly excel at flight, though I could see why you would assume I was just that good. Adjusting to those sorts of speeds and still managing to maneuver nimbly took ages to get down. I destroyed more than one wall in the process, believe me.” Tony smirked then smacked the back of the driver’s seat. “Hey, pull over here. We can walk from there.” The driver stopped at Tony’s command next to one of the larger buildings near the back of the compound. Before the driver could get out and open the door for them, Tony had already jumped out of the car. Scarlett waited for the driver to open the driver’s side door for her and took the generous hand he offered to help her out of the SUV. After taking a tumble from her bed that morning, she wasn’t willing to risk it happening a second time.

“Thank you,” whispering her gratitude, she wiped her hands together then waited for Tony to join her on the driver’s side of the vehicle. When he never came around to meet her, she grew impatient and walked around the other side of the car and found him crouched on the concrete, expensive sunglasses pushed to the top of his head. Curiously she leaned over his shoulder and watched as he scribbled down notes in his phone. There were numbers and letters on the concrete, obviously having been written in when it had been poured. Tony stood up after he’d transcribed them all, dusted off his leather jacket then jumped back, surprised to see Scarlett standing so closely.

“Couldn’t you make a little noise when you walk? Scared the hell out of me… I guess that’s what I get for hanging around with Bond.” Flipping his sunglasses back over his eyes he nodded toward the building on the other side of the truck that was starting to pull away. “This way.”

“What was that you were looking at?”

“Hmm?” Tony feigned ignorance, walking behind the truck and toward the entrance of the building. Scarlett crouched down to read the inscription in the concrete, brushing her fingers over it and attempting to memorize the coding. It seemed random to her, but she was sure it held some sort of significance to Tony, if no one else.

Getting up she wobbled on her unsteady leg, caught her balance then hurried to catch up with Tony. It was hard to remember that her leg wasn’t as strong as it had once been so she found herself limping while she walked. Later she’d have to remember to ask Tony if he had a prognosis on when her leg would fully heal, if he had one at all. It wasn’t like he was an actual doctor, he’d just pretended to be. Scarlett considered that maybe she’d need to visit a real doctor before she’d get real results. Catching up with Tony she slowed her walk as they got to the front door. There was a security pad on the wall and no noticeable door handle on the door in front of them.

“Tony Stark CEO.” Tony didn’t look up from his phone as he spoke, the same disinterest in his voice that he’d had when she’d overheard him doing any business of any sort. The door snapped open after running the voice recognition encryption.

“The code you were looking at in the concrete, what was that?”

“Ah, you noticed that, huh? I can’t get anything past you.” Tony smirked and slipped his glasses off before tucking them in his pocket. Down the pristine white hallway they walked until they reached a stairwell at the end of it. Holding open the door, he waited for her to pass through before starting down the stairs a bemused smiled on his face. “Though, for whatever reason flirting seems to go right over your head sometimes. It’s like you’re ignoring me on purpose. You wouldn’t do that would you?”

“It’s not like you were trying very hard to hide what you were doing.” Scarlett leaned heavily against the railing and took the steps slowly while she spoke to Tony, purposely ignoring his comment about flirting to get her point across. Despite her insistence that it annoyed her, she really was more than entertained by his banter.

“You’re right, I didn’t. Sorry to disappoint you but it’s not as important as you think it is. It’s just coded information about which building I’m in, locations of the power grid underground, capacity of said power grid and security level clearance. It’s incredibly boring, so I figured I’d spare you the details.” Tony watched her out of the corner of his eye, but did his best not to be noticed. The last thing he needed was for her to go tumbling down the stairs. Her struggle with her leg surprised him considering how well she’d handled it walking around his home in Malibu. Perhaps he’d asked too much of her the night before. “If you really care that much I can explain the code to you after we get settled, but it’s really boring and will waste valuable time.”

“Time that would be better spent with you running your mouth right?” Scoffing, Scarlett was well aware she was being watched but made no effort to scold Tony. If she fell, she would be grateful to be caught. “I’m surprised that you’re willing to share things with me at all about your company. Considering the way I talked about it yesterday…” Scarlett moved faster down the steps then pushed the door at the bottom of the flight of stairs open.

“One more.” Tony nodded toward the staircase that continued downward. Scarlett pulled away from the door and joined him on his trek down the stairs. “It’s not for security purposes. It’s for convenience when I come to do some work, so there’s no harm in sharing it. The people who spend every day here know this information by heart but when I need a lab? I have to harass twelve people to get the answers I’m looking for. So instead I created a proper labeling system when the place was remodeled. And that’s right, you hate my company, don’t you? Yet you’re working for me.”

“”Clever.” Scarlett reached the bottom of the stairwell and waited for Tony to join her. “And working with you. We’re partners remember?”

“Do you want me to show you what it means, partner?”

“No, now that I know what it is, I don’t care very much. You’re right, it was boring.” Scarlett pushed open the door once Tony had confirmed that they were on the right floor. “Why are we so far underground? That I’m curious about.”

“I told you it was boring. The labs down here are specifically designed to withstand a great amount of damage. If a nuclear blast went off overhead right now we wouldn’t feel a damn thing.” With a smirk, Tony led his way through the short hallway and to a door near the middle on the left side.

Scarlett rolled her eyes sure that Tony was exaggerating so he could brag until he opened the door to the lab and flipped on the lights. The room was reinforced in ways she’d never seen before. Once again, her breath was taken away by Stark technology. Once the splendor of the reinforced lab had worn off, Scarlett was made very aware that the place was in disarray.

“Did someone break in?”

“No, but the delivery guys sure were sloppy weren’t they?” Tony walked past her, slipping off his leather jacket and resting it on a computer desk at the far end of the room.

“This doesn’t look anything like the setup I saw in the video you showed me.” Scarlett walked around the room, searching for power link ups, the containment cell for the element, and the metallic tubes that Tony had used in the video to focus the elemental energy he’d harnessed to channel into an existing element that forced it to mold and change into the answer to the energy crisis.

“I said I had a place prepared for this, not that it was prepared and ready to use.” Tony clarified, flipping on the computer, leaning one arm on the desk and the other on the back of the chair while he waited for the screens to load.

“So, today is prep work then?” Scarlett chuckled under her breath, walking to the far end of the room. Brushing her fingers along the wall she walked the length of the concrete and steel structure, in search of the power supply they’d need to access.

“Come here.” Tony nodded toward the computer once he’d gotten it properly configured. He pulled blueprints up onto the screen and pointed to the main power lines along the wall. “I’ve got a sledgehammer already so I’ll take care of that if you want to start opening the crates and taking inventory.”

“Inventory? I’m your partner, not a secretary. I’m going to help you build this thing.” Scarlett rolled her eyes again. “I’ll empty the crates.”

“You’ve been limping around since we got out of the car, but fine, if you want to hurt yourself then I’m not going to stop you. But if I end up having to carry you out of here you can’t sue me for groping you.” Tony pointed an accusing finger at her his smile disguising the worry in his eyes.

“I wouldn’t sue you for something like that, Stark.” Scarlett joined him to look at the blueprints he’d brought up. It would take more than a day’s work to get the place set up and running well enough for them to create the element efficiently. The setup he’d had in his lab in his mansion had been well and good for creating the element once, but they’d need to do multiple fabrications. Judging by the supplies Tony had ordered, she was guessing that he was hoping for a more permanent establishment as she had guessed.

“Oh, really? Do you realize just how dangerous it is to tell me that? Pepper keeps texting me things about sexual harassment lawsuits and you just knocked out the possibility entirely. Can I get that in writing for her? Then I can harass you all I want without being, well, harassed.” Tony smirked, turning his head back to look at her, but nowhere near her eyes.

“I don’t need the law to keep you off of me, trust me on that one Stark.” Patting her hand on his back she ignored his gaze, walked past him and picked up the crowbar on the floor. Examining the crates scattered about the room she considered her approach. “You know, I expected this place to be set up when we got here. Not that I’m complaining, but I was a little excited to see the creation of the element.”

“I’ve been procrastinating, so sue me.” Tony followed her to the crates and snatched the crowbar from her hand. He pried the top of the nearest crate open then handed it back to her. She was looking at him skeptically. “Oh come on, I need something from in there, there’s nothing chauvinistic about it.”

“You just asked me not to sue you, make up your mind. And for the record, yes, that was completely chauvinistic. Are you concerned for me, Stark?” Scarlett spoke tauntingly a playful glint in her eyes.

“Well aren’t you the comedian right now?” Tony walked around the opposite side of the crate, waited for Scarlett to step out of the way then pushed it over, dumping the contents of it onto the ground. Sorting through the tools, he set a large tool box aside then grabbed the sledge hammer that had thudded to the ground when he’d tipped the box.

“When did you suddenly become all business?” Scarlett was surprised he’d stopped flirting with her for the time being. She was encouraging bad behavior, which she knew wouldn’t end well but had really started to enjoy his flirting.

“My father and his partner may have built this company from the ground up but there’s a damn good reason it’s still as successful as it is and it has very little to do with their legacy.” Tony lifted a pair of safety goggles, unfolded them then pulled Scarlett up by her arm when she started sorting through the tools he’d abandoned on the floor. He noticed her stumble due to her bad leg but pushed it to the back of his mind. Tucking a hair that had strayed out of her ponytail behind her ear he then slipped the glasses onto her face. “Safety first.” Staring at each other for a tense moment, Scarlett considered saying something sarcastic but her mind was blank against Tony’s brown eyes.

“Thanks.” Cursing mentally when she could think of nothing better to say, she turned away from his gaze and was about to continue sorting the tools before opening the next crate when Tony tugged her arm again.

“That’s it? Are you feeling alright?” He was eyeing her curiously, but she couldn’t tell if he was being a pig or if he was actually concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Are you going to ask about my health every time I don’t act surprised when you flirt with me or try to make a move? It’s going to take us twice as long as it would to get this done if that’s the case.” Laughing, Scarlett patted his arm. reassuringly “It’s okay, you’re still very good at what you do Stark and very charming but… I’m busy.”

“I don’t like that.” Tony pouted. As she turned away again, he tugged at the hair tie that held her hair back, pulling her long curly hair free of it.

“Weren’t you just telling me how professional you were?” Scarlett sighed heavily and placed her hands on her hips as she turned to him, still trying to hide her amusement.

“I am professional. I’m pretty much a professional at everything I do. But you should keep your hair down. It’s nicer that way. Didn’t I say that earlier? I think I did. Oh right, you were ignoring me.” Tony tilted his head to the side, considering what he’d done then nodding to confirm that he approved of the change.

“And I was starting to wonder if you were tiring of me, Stark.” Walking close to him she narrowed her blue eyes at him. It was a relief that she hadn’t gone blank when confronted with his curiously colored brown eyes again. Tilting her head to the side she smiled at him after a long moment spent staring the pulled her hair tie from his hand and turned away from him.

“Never! Don’t confuse what I do for disinterest, Scarlett. There’s too much going on up here, sometimes I get caught up.” Tony tapped the side of his head, admiring her as she walked away before turning away from her. Something hit him in the back of his head, stopping his walk. Turning to look at what had consequently fallen to the ground he picked up the pair of safety goggles that Scarlett had thrown his way.

“Safety first.” She stuck her tongue out at him immaturely then slid the empty crate toward the doorway, deciding she would put them all in the hallway to be disposed of at a later time after they were emptied.

“What, are you twelve?” Tony set down the sledgehammer then slipped the goggles on his face. “Real mature.”

“To be fair, you set the bar pretty low.” Scarlett didn’t turn to back to look at him. “So why did you procrastinate so badly on getting this place in order? You were clearly motivated enough to order the supplies you needed to get it going but not enough to get it together? That doesn’t even make sense, Stark.” Hoping to get them back on track, Scarlett propped the door to the lab open and started on the next crate. She’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail again before opening picking up the crowbar and using the smaller crate which contained heavy duty wiring of various sizes and strengths.

“Things kept coming up that were either more important or more interesting. In case you don’t remember, I’m a super hero remember? That means I’m pretty busy most of the time.” Tony picked up the sledgehammer, reaffirmed his grip on it before smashing the end of it into the concrete. “Besides, before you came along none of my prototypes were properly working. I never had an occasion that needed more than what my chest reactor could provide.”

“So you pushed this project off because it had you stumped?”

“No, it didn’t have me stumped. Nothing stumps me, Scarlett. What kind of talk is that?” During lapses of conversation Tony continued to swing the sledgehammer into the concrete until it finally started to give. The rest of the room was reinforced beyond what he’d broken through but it was the only place in the room where the concrete was so thin. It had been a necessary security risk provided to reach the power source he’d need for their set up. The wall had been specially designed to retain access to the power lines while providing security from outside forces.

“You were stumped. If I hadn’t been curious of your little toy then you would still be playing around with amplifiers.” Scarlett smirked, sorting the wire by type and strength before moving the crate out of the room with the first one. Despite the minimal amount of work she’d been doing her leg was starting to ache and itch uncomfortably. It was part of the healing process, particularly with the sort of chemical burn she’d received so she chose to ignore the discomfort and deal with it. She’d dealt with far worse in the years prior so she wasn’t incredibly concerned.

“I was sabotaging myself, if you must know.” Tony set the sledgehammer down again and wiped his brow free of sweat with the back of his arm. “Where’s the thermostat in here? I’m sweltering.” Wiping the back of his hand over his mouth, he then tugged his shirt off and tossed it to the side, deciding the ribbed tank he wore beneath it was far better for the environment he was working in. “Feel free to take off your shirt too if you’re too hot you know…” Tony turned to glance at her and drifted off, noticing her hair was back up again.

“You were sabotaging yourself?” Scarlett didn’t bother to look back at him and instead continued onto the next crate which was far harder to empty considering the sheer size of the crate itself and the piping it contained. Despite her usual strength, recovery was taking its toll on her. When she got the chance she’d have to ask for access to a gym so she could start some sort of physical therapy to get her strengths back up to par.

“If I recreate this element what does that mean?” Tony’s voice was quieter, more serious as he reaffirmed his grip on the sledgehammer again.

“Free and clean energy.” Scarlett shrugged, since she had only assumed that had been the goal behind what Tony was doing. After removing half of the piping from the first crate she started to search around the room for a thermostat.

“Well, yeah.” Tony chuckled, smashing the hammer against the wall a few more times, making a few grunts with his exertion. “But what else? If I make this element, this converter and have the arc reactor’s energy available to the public that means… that it’s available to the public. I’m not the only genius in the world, you know.”

“Honestly I wasn’t sure if you knew that.” Scarlett laughed, surprised to hear Tony admit something that made him seem more ordinary.

“I’m still one of a kind. I don’t anticipate anyone quite like me to pop out of the woodworks but there are remarkable minds out there, like yours, that are far more advanced than I ever expected to witness.” Setting down the sledgehammer with a loud thud, Tony started to pull chunks of loose concrete away from the wall and toss them onto the ground.

“I’m flattered, I think.”

“You should be. But think about it, Scarlett. Look at the remarkable things I’ve created with this arc reactor technology. It keeps me alive. Without it the shrapnel in my chest would plunge into my heart and kill me.” Scarlett didn’t respond. Even not being a fan of Tony’s it was a terrible thing to think about. All that stood between Tony Stark and death at any moment was the electromagnet in his chest. “I became Iron Man because of the power I generated. If I was anyone else and my motives were any less pure than they already are think of the damage I could do.”

“So you’re worried that someone with less than savory intent would access the power you’re providing them with and do horrible things with it.”

“My dad helped create the atomic bomb and look what that’s turned into. Yeah, we won the war because of it but… was it really worth the threat of potential nuclear disaster worldwide?”

“You think that Howard didn’t consider the dire consequences of what he was creating?” Scarlett found the thermostat and fiddled with it for a moment before changing the settings and lowering the temperature settings for the air conditioning system.

“I’m not sure he did.” Tony sighed, starting to pull the hidden wiring out of the wall, far enough for him to see what was what and to find out what he needed to do before he cut off access to the main grid so he could cut into the wires without getting electrocuted. When the air conditioning kicked on over head, Tony leaned his head back and looked up at the vent that provided him with a cold breeze and groaned with relief. “I could kiss you right now.”

“It’s a good thing you’re all the way across the room then, isn’t it?” Scarlett wiped her own forehead free of sweat before returning to the crate she’d abandoned in favor of her search for the thermostat. “I think Howard knew the consequences of his actions. Look, your dad was brilliant and he had to have foreseen what the world would do with something like the atomic bomb. You may be twice the powerhouse he was Stark, but your father was no idiot and from what I’ve read he was most certainly not naïve to the darkness that lies within the heart of all mankind.”

“You’re probably right.” Tony considered what she said. “But what if I… save the world, so to speak, by providing free and clean energy all over the planet and people take advantage of it? What if by doing what I think is the right thing I inadvertently create the next war of super technology?” Leaning against the wall and reaching into the hole he created he closed his eyes and stopped digging for a moment. “I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing anymore. I know it’s what my father wanted me to do but is it really what the world needs?”

“Stark,” Scarlett began, walking away from the crate she’d been working on to approach him. He didn’t bother to turn to look at her. “You’re doing the right thing. No matter what you do or what you change there will be evil men and women in the world and they will find a way with or without you to do evil things. There’s no way to stop bad things from happening. All you can control is the good you do.” Taking off her safety glasses she wiped them on her shirt before setting them down on the computer desk.

“Is that what you’d do in my position?” He leaned his arm against the wall and rested his sweaty head against it, looking back at her.

“Me?” Scarlett was wondering if Tony was really looking for advice or consolation. Walking over to where he stood she tapped the reactor in his chest that glowed brightly even beneath his dark tank top. “I’d follow my heart. It sounds stupid but you know the right thing to do. You’re going to change the world one way or another. Whether it’s with your Marks, the amazing advancement in reinforcement this lab has shown me, or even the clean energy you’re working on sharing with the world. If you do this, you will do it the right way because you have seen firsthand what evil men do with power when they’re given it.” Keeping her finger against the reactor for a moment she offered him a smile before turning back to her work.

“Wow.” Tony watched her walk away, leaning heavily against his arm, moistening his lips and then laughing under his breath. “You think I’m more brilliant a genius than my dad?”

“Really?” Scarlett stopped mid-walk and turned back to him. “That’s what you got out of that whole speech?” Scoffing she shook her head and then continued to push the crate she’d emptied into the hallway. “Yes, I think you have the potential to be even greater than your father. From what I know of his career, he had a rough beginning. You’ve been breaking the preconceived notions of the science world since you were a kid. While I’m sure you’re well aware of this, you are bound to exceed his greatness.”

“Wow.” Tony continued to be speechless. She’d spent countless hours arguing with him, putting his ego to shame and insulting him. Now there she was giving him the single greatest compliment he’d ever received. But instead of boosted as he expected to feel, he felt riddled with guilt. The compliment had not been the thing he’d focused on when she’d spoke. He had a lot to consider before he solved the energy crisis. Scarlett had a lot of valid points and it’d really gotten him thinking. He watched her again while she scratched at her leg after she’d returned from the hallway. About to make a quip about how she could remove her pants too if she needed to, he was interrupted when she continued to speak.

“Perhaps you’ll even be able to make up for the evils that your company has done in the world. The evil your father inadvertently unleashed upon the world when he created his weapons manufacturing company was far more extensive than anyone could’ve anticipated.” Scarlett opened another crate and muttered several curse words under her breath in Afrikaans when she realized it was filled with the same heavy piping she’d emptied out of the last crate. If she had to guess, the next crate would be filled with the same.

“I had no idea about any of that.” Tony wondered if she believed him. He got the vibe from her that she thought he was a villain despite the unspoken bond they seemed to share. It could’ve been the yelling she’d done the day before about his company and the corruption it’s fed into the world or it could’ve been the way she carried herself but there was a hesitation about her that was filled with conflict. He’d kill to know what was going on in her mind at any given moment.

“Don’t start with me, Stark.” Scarlett didn’t bother to look at him.

“You keep accusing me of corruption and the sale of weapons throughout the world to gangs that caused nothing but hell on earth, but your accusations are completely unfounded. I had no idea what was happening in Stark Industries. The moment I found out I stopped the manufacturing of weapons and despite the confidence I had in the move I knew the financial blow I was taking when I did it. Why would I do that if I was behind the weapons distribution in the first place?”

“How about saving face after it back fired?” Scarlett wasn’t prepared to have a fight with Tony about the past evils he’d committed. Even if there was a slim chance of him not having been behind any of it, she didn’t want to consider it. All she knew were the facts of what she’d learned about MedCo before they’d imprisoned her and all roads ended with Stark Industries. If she was so confident in his villainy, why did she have to keep reminding herself of the facts?

“You think I stopped manufacturing weapons because I saw firsthand what they were doing? Yes, that’s exactly what I did but it was because I’d had no idea they were being distributed to those types of groups.”

“And whose fault is that Stark?” Scarlett stopped working on the crate and turned to face him a scowl across face. It was time he was held accountable for what he’d done.

“A man I trusted with my life, who I looked up to as a father after mine had died was manipulating me. Right under my nose, Obadiah Stane was making underhanded deals with rebel groups around the world to make a pretty penny. He was mad with power by the end, but if you’d known him you never would’ve seen it or guessed it of him!” Tony was angrier than he should’ve been. Obadiah’s betrayal would burn him for the rest of his life. As if Tony didn’t have enough issues trusting others, one of the people closest to him had lied and deceived him far worse than anyone before in his life.

“So you just avoided the newspapers, the news reports? You just ignored the reporters screaming at you about the chaos in the Middle East? How about South America? Or Africa? You wouldn’t believe the terror I’ve seen your weapons cause in my line of work and you claim you had no idea until one of those weapons were pointed at you? Now you’re being stupid.”

“You said it yourself! Evil men find a way to get their hands on the things they need to do evil things. I didn’t think my company was handing them the means to an end!” Tony spoke defensively, starting toward her, abandoning the hole he’d made in the concrete. The point he was trying to make seemed far more important than a hole in the wall.

“If and that’s a very big if, you didn’t see it Stark then it was because you didn’t want to see it. You knew vile things were being done with your weapons but you didn’t want to know how it was happening. As long as you got to stay in your comfortable home with your luxury cars and thousand dollar suits you didn’t give a damn what happened to the people out there! You were too immature and stupid to see it!” Scarlett couldn’t look at Tony. He’d deceived her too many times already with the gentleness and seduction in his eyes and she wouldn’t let him do it again, not when she was so certain about the facts.

“You’re right.” Tony walked up to her and watched her while she worked. She looked wounded and not physically. Could she blame him for what had happened to her? What terror had she seen his weapons cause? What darkness was hidden in the mind of playful woman in front of him? “I knew my weapons were being found in different countries and there was proof that they were being used to create chaos around the world and I did nothing to stop it. I didn’t even ask how they’d gotten there, I just ignored it. I was an idiot and all I cared about was getting laid and getting paid.” When she didn’t stop to look at him, he started to help empty the heavy pipes from the crate just to have something to do with his hands. Lifting one, he was surprised momentarily that she had lifted so many already on her own despite her withered leg before he deemed it too unimportant to question considering the topic of conversation.

“But now I’m well aware. The moment I made myself aware and faced up to what my company had done I tried to put a stop to it and I haven’t stopped since. I don’t expect that the world will ever forgive me for the devastation I’ve caused and the lives my family has destroyed. All I can do is try to help now that I know better. My life means nothing, Scarlett, if I can’t leave this world before I change it for the better.” Tony walked to the next crate with the crowbar Scarlett had abandoned on the floor and opened the lid of it. Scarlett stopped and leaned heavily against the crate to take the pressure off of her throbbing leg before leaning around the edge of it to watch Tony.

The sincerity in his voice had shaken her resolve again. If it turned out that Tony was as much of a pawn in MedCo’s scheme as she and Scott were, where would it leave her? Where would she go next? Could she be wasting her time with Tony? The only thing she could do was track down those who were really behind what had been done. But what if someone else in Tony’s company had been behind it? He’d been betrayed once before and what she’d witnessed and experienced in Africa had been no lie. Someone had gotten new technology from Stark Industries when she’d been working for MedCo and even if Tony ended up not being the root of all evil as she had suspected, then perhaps someone else near him was the culprit.

For the time being she would stick to what she knew and that was that Tony Stark was either a great man or the craftiest liar she had ever met before in her life and she was less inclined to believe the first option. If he was lying, he had learned to manipulate her weaknesses and to find a way to get her to trust him. Unfortunately, she wanted to trust him. Something inside her heart was desperately pleading for her to stay with him. Touching her hand to her chest she closed her eyes and remembered what she’d told Tony only a few moments ago. She would do what she knew was right in her heart and not let her mind control her as it had always done.

She’d so desperately wanted Tony Stark to be a villain that she could rid the world of but now that she’d discovered he was nowhere near it, her mind kept rejecting what her heart knew was fact.

“Why don’t we take a break and get something to eat?” Scarlett stood up straight, leaning away from the crate. She needed some fresh air and time to clear her head of conflict before she continued working. But before she could take a step away from the crate her leg completely crumpled beneath her as it had done when she’d gotten out of bed that morning. Something about this time particular fall was different. Pain shot through her leg, down to her foot, immediately numbing it.

Tony dropped the pipe he’d been working with, causing it to dent against the concrete floor and hurried to where she’d fallen on the floor.

“I’m fine, it’s probably going to happen a few times.” Scarlett tried to shoo Tony away before he got to her.

“You are not fine.” Tony knelt next to her and swatted her hands away as she grabbed at her leg to keep him from looking at it. Immediately, he pried at her hands to take a better look. Relenting easily, Scarlett had very little choice but to let him check on the damage done to her leg because of the pain that continued to increase with every second that passed.

“Okay, so maybe I lied.” Scarlett whimpered, closing her eyes and clutching at the crate next to her so she could have something to grip onto. Her vision was obstructed by spots and pain and something smelled terrible.

“Jesus,” Tony cursed under his breath. The jeans covering Scarlett’s wound were smoldering as though the chemical on her leg had started to eat at them and destroy them.