Glass Heart

Scarlett stared down at her bare feet, dirty against the metal floor of the train that was rushing along the tracks to take her to Los Angeles. She’d managed to obtain enough money for the train ticket from an ATM via some less than conventional means and was contemplating how she would obtain the rest of what she required to get her plane ticket. International flights on short notice were no easy feat, not to mention her passport was still somewhere in Africa. For someone like Scarlett there were always ways around that, but it wouldn’t be easy on such short notice. It would be too hard to get out of the country by the end of the day which was fast approaching, so Scarlett figured her best bet would be to get a hotel for the night and spend as much time as she could awake and planning her next move.

Despite how focused she seemed to be on the new task at hand and on her renewed goal her thoughts kept drifting to the time she’d spent in the Stark household and the things she’d done with the infamous Tony Stark. Cursing her emotions for getting the best of her, she straightened her back and looked around the train in hopes of distracting herself with some people watching.

Grimacing she turned her attention to the people in the car with her rather than the train itself. Scarlett wasn’t a big fan of public transportation, particularly trains and commercial airplanes. There was too much that would be beyond her control when she trusted someone else to bring her to and from. It felt too much like herding cattle to her. If there was an emergency on the train she would be at the mercy of its engineer with little she could do to take control, short of hijacking the train.

As good an engineer as she was, she hadn’t studied trains and knew nothing of their make other than the basics. It would be stupid of her to try and take control of a dangerous situation on the train. Then again, such events were rare and unlikely. Scarlett couldn’t help but be paranoid after everything that MedCo had put her through. It was unfortunate that she was coming to expect the worst.

There would always be ways for Scarlett to stop the train if necessary but they would be plenty of work and incredibly dangerous to boot. On a speeding train there were no exits that didn’t require causing an immense amount of pain. Ninety miles per hour on a slim track wasn’t the ideal speed at which one would evacuate.

Seated across from her was a woman playing a word game on her cell phone. Scarlett wasn’t surprised, it was a sight seen far too often. Men and women were so consumed by the tedium and monotony of their portable electronics that it was almost soul sucking. At the time, Scarlett didn’t even have a cell phone and it was the first time that she’d ever wished that she’d had some soul sucking game to distract her. Not that Scarlett was one to put games on her phone, she’d always avoided such things.

The curly haired woman with pretty tan skin paid her no mind and looked rather tired so Scarlett turned her attention to the only other occupants on the train; three younger men who looked like they were on their way to a concert of some kind. Judging by their outfits of all black with various dark sounding band names on their shirts accompanied by various reapers and soul sucking monsters, she guessed they were going to some sort of heavy rock show.

Their eyes were sunken in and they were laughing about something out the window and Scarlett could tell by the glaze over their eyes that they were higher than a kite. When she’d first stepped on the train they’d acknowledged her and tried to get her attention but she’d given them the cold shoulder so sufficiently that they had disregarded her. Turning her attention away from the young men she glanced out the windows of the train and grimaced. There was absolutely nothing nearby to distract her thoughts from the negativity that had filled up her day. She missed Tony, plain and simple and even though she tried, she wasn’t able to stop missing him. Hell, she missed Jarvis just as much as she missed his creator. It was hard to think she might never see either of them again.

Why hadn’t she stood her ground in the basement and tried to make the torrid relationship with Tony work?

Because she couldn’t force something to fit into places that clearly wasn’t meant to be. At first it felt as though life had been trying to push them into the other’s arms to show them how things were truly meant to be as one. But as things transgressed, life started to unravel their plans and pull them further and further apart. Eventually it became destructive. A relationship with Tony Stark would ultimately annihilate her.

Besides that, MedCo was searching for her and violently at that. They’d made it clear they would stop at nothing to get to her and let no one stand in their way. It had been incredibly selfish of her to put her desire for Tony ahead of the potential devastation MedCo could cause in her name. No matter how many times she told herself this, it still didn’t make the damage fade.

Slamming her fist lightly against the seat on the train, Scarlett once again tried to focus her thoughts on something other than the horrible argument with Tony. What had happened between them was for the best and she knew it. If she’d continued on the romantic path she’d started on with Tony then MedCo would’ve kept coming after her and eventually he would’ve gotten hurt because of her in the long run. Without Tony there to distract her she could focus on what was really important. Even though she’d discovered that Scott hadn’t perished in the desert in Africa and no longer felt obligated to get revenge for him, Scarlet knew MedCo still possessed the drone plans she’d developed under duress and had a taste for her blood on top of that. Why they still needed her after she’d created a drone, as flawed as it was, for them was beyond her but she wanted to find out and put a stop to it.

MedCo would regret messing with someone like her. She doubted that the company could’ve known about her less than legal background before they’d hired her. Perhaps someone on the underground, where she used to find her work, would be able to help her. If MedCo knew about her history, then perhaps they had gotten in touch with some of her old contacts to find out more about her. If it took turning back into the cold and heartless woman she was before she’d met Tony and his friends then she would do it. But what if she couldn’t be that woman anymore and her attempts fell short? Sure it was easy to theorized that she could do it, but the reality was she had no idea how to.

The fear struck a nerve and chilled her to her very core. What if she couldn’t do any of what she planned to do? What if that part of her had been left in the ashes of the building that had been destroyed? Maybe somewhere in the desert lay her strong resolve buried amongst the rubble and ruin of her old life.

Closing her eyes and shaking her head in dismay, she felt her hair fall in her face as it often did. Tony had always been there to push it away when it happened, like he had some kind of radar. He’d either tuck it behind her ear or push it over her shoulder only to have it fall back in her face and she couldn’t help but smile. Angrily, Scarlett pulled her hair away from her face, missing several strands and having to reach back several times to grab it all. With quick hands she twisted her hair into a bun and then slipped it together so that it wouldn’t fall into her face again. Every time she thought about Tony she’d do something to defy her thoughts of him in hopes of warding them off in the future.

Hearing the announcement overhead that they were ten minutes out from the first Los Angeles station and a few stops from the airport, Scarlett prepared the few things she’d obtained in Malibu so she could get off the train and find a hotel for the night; preferably one with a bar so she could drown her sorrows in a drink before she collapsed in a lavish bed.

Just as she was readjusting in her seat the wheels of the train screeched horribly, metal against metal squealing and grinding together and causing sparks to fly higher than the windows. Scarlett instinctively braced her feet against the floor of the train and reached overhead to grab onto the metallic bars provided for those who were traveling long distances to store their luggage. The force of the train stopping at an unnatural pace nearly sent her flying despite her grip overhead. Her feet left the ground, but she held fast to the bars overhead and managed to keep from falling over but she could hear the other people in the train yelling in distress.

Eyes wide, Scarlett tried to pinpoint the source of the sudden stop of the train by glancing out the windows but there was nothing to be seen that far back behind the front of the train. Whatever was stopping the train it certainly didn’t feel like the brakes.

Lights flickered overhead then went out completely. Darkness engulfed the train except for the dim light left of the fading day filtering through the tinted windows. The horrible squealing became accompanied by screams of horror and fear from the people inside the train who were simply trying to avoid injury. At first she’d been unable to hear anything except for the horrible squealing. Thankfully it seemed like most people within the train had the same instinct to cling onto something as Scarlett had and from what she could tell, no one had sustained any serious injury.

Finally all went quiet in the train and it slammed to a stop, thankfully not slipping off the track or onto its side. The screaming of those around her died down and Scarlett was left in the darkness and silence that remained. After a terrifying second left considering what had happened, Scarlett got to her feet. Emergency lighting started to glow to life one strip at a time along the pathway on the floor. It was an eerie scene, but Scarlett knew there was no time to waste.

“Jarvis, what’s my ETA?” Tony flew toward the lights of the train chugging along in the distance. Catching up with it had been much more of a feat than he’d expected. He wasn’t sure how far he was from the first train station in Los Angeles but he couldn’t risk offering a place for Scarlett to run away from him. It wasn’t exactly a romantic way of thinking but he had to have the higher ground when it came to talking to her. Their relationship had never been about leverage, but it had suddenly become important. She wasn’t very likely to forgive Tony on first glance so if he could remove any routes of immediate escape it would help his case immensely. Tony knew if anything else, he couldn’t allow the train to reach the station.

“You are about ten minutes out, sir.” Jarvis responded through his helmet, targeting the weak points on the train as if battle ready. He had no intentions of attacking the train, but it was still handy information to have. Plus, the Iron Man suit was built as more of a weapon and less of a tracking device. Tony made a mental note to consider a better identification system within his suit for further search and rescue purposes.

“Good, good…” Tony muttered. He still hadn’t decided what he was going to say to her and how he was going to apologize for what he’d done or make it make sense but he knew that if he didn’t at least try then he’d regret it for the rest of his life. It would’ve been a hell of a lot easier to stay home and pretend everything was okay. But what if this thing he had with Scarlett was his only chance?

Something deep within him knew that Scarlett needed him as much as he’d realized he’d needed her. That wasn’t something that was easy for him to come to terms with and while the fear and apprehension were still tugging at his nerves and begging his logical mind to return to the bottles of scotch and wine in his home, he pressed onward.

“Shall I contact the conductor aboard the train, sir?” Jarvis inquired once Tony hadn’t given further instruction to follow. Tony hadn’t considered how he’d stop the train quite yet. He’d simply known that he had to stop the train to get to Scarlett and that had been all that mattered. When left to the last minute, he usually came up with something genius. Tony was starting to get nervous; he hadn’t come up with any brilliant ideas. Maybe he could get the conductor to trigger the brakes and turn on the emergency lights so that he could have a moment to get to her before the station. While he doubted anyone would go against protocol for him without some steep negotiations that Tony did not have the time for, he thought it was still worth a shot. The worst they could say was no.

“What the hell, go for it.” Tony figured that it couldn’t hurt for him to at least try to contact the man or woman in charge of the train in hopes of getting some cooperation.

“Good decision, sir.” Jarvis echoed in his ear. “You are now online with the conductor of the train.”

“Thanks.” Tony cleared his throat and then spoke in a commanding voice, catching up with the train and flying at speed with it. Putting on the thrusters a little higher, he caught up to the first car and kept speed with it. “This is Iron Man, are you there?”

“Iron Man? Is this some kind of joke?” A quiet and scared voice picked up hesitantly on the other line.

“If it is, then I’m not laughing. I need you to stop the train.”

“What? What’s wrong? Is there something happening? A bomb? Or a… terrorist?” The conductor stuttered, fear thick in his voice over the transmission.

“Man, everyone assumes the worst with me don’t they? No, it’s nothing like that… I just need you to stop the train Pretty please? Pull the brake so that it stops before the station.” Tony implored. He was trying to think of a good reason that could convince the conductor but was drawing a blank. It was doubtful that they would stop the train because the love of his life was trying to move on after he’d broken her trust and crushed her heart.

“It’s not that simple Mr. Stark…” The conductor was hesitant, like he wanted to help Tony, but knew he couldn’t.

“Of course it is. You get on your little radio and tell them you have an emergency and you pull the brake. They go through protocol and I say I’m sorry at the end of the day. It works out for everyone, if you’ll just help me.”

“That would put all sorts of commuters at risk! Do you know how many trains would have to be stopped and postponed if I don’t make my way to the station on time? Schedules are a precise thing.” The conductor sounded apologetic but relieved that there was no immediate threat to his train. “Besides we’re not that far from the station. I can keep the doors closed when we reach the station if you need me to. Is there someone on the train? What could Tony Stark possibly need from us?”

“I need you to stop the train now, okay?” Tony wasn’t thinking rationally, plus he didn’t much like hearing the word no from anyone even though he was sure that stopping the train wasn’t as simple as hitting the brakes on a car.

“Look, if I slow down this train in the middle of the track it’s going to throw off the whole schedule. Besides at this speed? It’s going to cause more damage than it’s worth… The track could buckle from the force!”

“I need you to stop the train!” Tony glanced down at the train beneath him again then decided to take matters into his own hands. Swooping around power lines he evaluating the damage that would be done if he stopped the train dead in its tracks. It was dangerous, but he needed to do it.

“Why is this so important to you? I can inquire to my bosses and we can lock up at the station just like I said.”

“I’m looking for someone aboard that train and I need to find her before she gets the chance to run. It’s important. I can’t tell you why, but it’s damn important so I need you to stop the train so I can talk to her without giving her a chance to run away!” Tony was getting more frustrated the closer they got to the lights of Los Angeles.

“Is she a fugitive?” The conductor of the train sounded excited to be part of the action again. Tony could imagine that he was trying to decide whether or not he would be on the news from having to deal with Iron Man.

“No! I just… I need to talk to her, okay?”

“You know, you could probably call her… Did you try that?” Tony groaned and rolled his eyes in response.

“If you don’t stop this train then I’m going to stop the train myself and trust me that’s a hell of a lot messier.” Tony was done screwing around with the conductor of the train. He started to target the train, speaking to Jarvis in his helmet and ignoring the conductor. “Contact the authorities and transit service. Let them know there’s about to be an incident and I’ll pay for the damages that follow.”

“What? I’ll throw on the brakes! You’ll destroy the railing…” The conductor panicked at the idea of the train coming to a halt.

“If you had just thrown on the brakes in the first place I wouldn’t have to do this!” Tony disconnected contact with the driver of the train in frustration.

“I highly recommend that you reconsider waiting for the train to reach station, sir.” Jarvis sounded apprehensive.

“All power to thrusters.” Tony ignored his comment and then flew ahead of the train at break neck speed. Looping through the air he started back toward the speeding train. “If I let this train get to the station she’ll get away Jarvis, you know she will. I can’t lose her.”

“All power to the thrusters, sir.” Jarvis responded once he’d considered the options. It wasn’t hard to realize that Scarlett would likely not give Tony the chance to explain his earlier actions unless cornered. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised if she attacked him and treated him like an enemy with the way he’d talked to her.

Flying at full speed Tony aligned himself with the front of the train and held his gloves in front of him and then suddenly turned to face it. Sparks were flying from the brakes that the conductor had thrown on when he realized that Tony had been serious about stopping the train by force. His gloves hit the metal of the train and initially the train jolted backwards from the force of the suit. The Mark VII buckled under the pressure of the speeding train and despite the full throttle of the thrusters in Tony’s suit, the Iron Man weapon moved with the momentum of the train that had slowed considerably.

“Power depleted by twenty five percent.” Jarvis’ voice sounded slightly distorted and alarms flashed in front of Tony’s face.

“Don’t care Jarvis, keep pushing.” Tony gritted his teeth. Despite the boost in power that Jarvis provided, it wasn’t enough to stop the train entirely. He needed more leverage. Swinging his feet down onto the tracks, Tony braced his footing and used the power that had gone into the flight stabilizers to help stop what remained of the train’s momentum.

Pieces of metal flew up as the Iron Man suit slid backwards along the track. Yelling while he pushed his suit to its limits and the warning lights continued to flash in his vision, Tony felt the train finally coming to a stop at long last just as he was about to give up. The lights inside of the train compartments flashed off one by one while sparks continued to fly as the train compartments slid together. Thankfully the force wasn’t hard enough to cause any damage. Despite the fact that the train wasn’t moving anymore, Tony let the Mark VII push onto the train just in case. His nerves were on edge. The train cars creaked and the dim emergency lights came on and illuminated each compartment just enough to see inside. Tony finally let go of the front of the train and waited to make sure it didn’t continue moving before he exhaled deeply with relief.

“It appears that the train has come to a complete stop, sir.” Jarvis broke the intense silence and started to calculate the damage done to the suit and the train.

“Thank you, Jarvis.” Tony chuckled half out of breath, though that had been obvious to him. “Smart ass.”

“Transit authority has been alerted of the crash and is on their way to assess the damage while further scheduled trains have been rerouted to other stations.”

“You’re the best, Jarvis.” Tony felt the sweat drip down his forehead before he leaned his hands on his knees and hunched forward to catch his breath. He’d have to assess the damage done to his suit later in his attempts to stop the train. His muscles were aching with soreness already from the effort it’d taken him. Right now, he had to find Scarlett before she ran scared.

“Just get her back, sir.”

Scarlett waited for the train to completely stop moving before she placed her feet back on the ground and steadied herself. The train seemed off balance but steady enough for her to walk without causing damage. Grateful for the emergency lighting since she didn’t have any supplies with her Scarlett slowly started through the train to assess the situation. The woman across the way from her was looking around panicked with tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Hey, are you alright?” Scarlett helped the woman to stay steady in place before guiding her to sit back down. “Are you hurt?” When the woman shook her head in a negative response, clearly too fear stricken to respond, Scarlett helped her to the other end of the train where the three men who were on their way to a show were making sure they hadn’t lost any of their things in the abrupt stop.

“What the hell happened?” One with a shaved head and tattoos going up his neck asked her.

“Do you think we hit something?” They rattled off questions, sounding shaken but more curious than anything. It seemed everyone was looking to Scarlett for answers she didn’t have.

“I don’t think so. There would’ve been more damage if we’d crashed into something. It sounds like the conductor threw on the breaks. Maybe the tracks were blocked.” Scarlett peered out the window again and didn’t see anything that would cause them to crash and was worried. She didn’t believe her own conjecture and fear churned in the pit of her stomach while she imagined the various violent scenarios that were about to unfold. She was damn tired of being caught without something to protect herself with.

Could MedCo have found her because she used her real name for the reservation on the train? Stopping a train didn’t seem very inconspicuous for a company that was trying to lay low and avoid press. Then again, neither did attacking high society personnel at a very prominent and widely publicized charity event. Scarlett was beginning to think that MedCo didn’t much care who they bothered in their pursuit of her. That worried Scarlett more than she could let on.

“What do you think it was then?” The woman curled up on the seat sounded fragile but was finally able to speak through the shock.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. I’m going to start gathering people and sending them back to this car so we can evacuate once I’m sure it’s safe.” Scarlett paced and sighed heavily.

“…are you not wearing shoes?” One of the younger men asked, brushing hair out of his eyes. Scarlett shook her head and waved her hand before she started out of the car. There was damage done to the doors so she had to pry them open with her hands. It was too much for her to do so the three young men helped her pull them open.

It took only a few minutes to empty the nearby cars and to lead their occupants to one place but Scarlett managed it fairly quickly. As she was about to continue on through the train cars to find anyone else that may be injured or frightened, Scarlett was stopped by an elderly woman who offered her the shawl she was wearing to wrap up the hand she’d bloodied trying to open one of the doors between cars. Instead Scarlett wrapped it around the woman’s shoulders and tied it carefully. There were sirens in the distance so Scarlett decided that it was time to address the people she’d already found with instruction.

“Look, I’m going to head toward the front of the train. I need you guys to work on the back door and try to get it open. It looks like the cops are on their way. So once I’m sure it’s safe I need you to move in groups of two out the back door.” Scarlett pointed behind where she was standing.

“What about you? Should you really go alone?” The younger woman who had finally calmed down responded.

“What if something bad happened?” Scarlett was bombarded with questions by curious and worried patrons of the train and slumped her shoulders. She would have to quickly alleviate their fears before she could continue on with what she needed to do. Civilians really did always complicate things.

Tony circled the train from overhead and contemplated his next move. He’d have to find Scarlett in the long and extensive train which was something he hadn’t thought out. She could be in any one of those cars.

“Jarvis, I need you to scan the train for me. How many people are in there?” Tony muttered, trying to think of how he could locate her.

“Fifty nine, sir.”

“Any guess which one of them could be Scarlett?” Tony stopped his circling when Jarvis brought a map of the train in front of his screen, the heat signatures lit up so that he could evaluate them in search of her.

“I’m afraid that there’s no real way to tell which one is Miss Damien.” Tony grimaced and glanced over the heat signatures which were moving slowly through the train. “What’s that big mass at the back end of the train?”

“A large gathering of people it would appear.”

“Well yeah, but what are they doing back there?” One of the heat signatures stood apart from the others and suddenly Tony realized what must have been happening within the train. He’d started a panic inside of it and someone was trying to calm down the occupants and organize a proper escape.

“If I could take a guess sir, I would think that Miss Damien is trying to keep the train’s passengers safe from whatever stopped the train so suddenly. They must think they’re under attack.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Tony ignored Jarvis as he continued on to explain that Tony had likely scared the living daylights out of the people on the train who were likely just commuting to and from work or social gatherings.

“What is it you plan to do?” Jarvis asked when he realized that Tony was no longer going to acknowledge him. Tony guided the Iron Man suit toward the train that was filled with people. Firing up the lasers on a low level he pointed at the top of the train car and cut a large arc shaped piece of out of the roof. There were screams from below him in the train of panic. He could clearly hear Scarlett’s voice from inside now that he’d breached the surface.

“Everyone remain calm and get to the opposite end of the train!” Tony was nervous simply hearing her talk. What if she told him to go to hell? Then again, he deserved to have her tell him where to shove his ego after how he’d treated her. He’d preyed on her fears and broke her spirit. Scarlett would be a woman he’d have to chase to prove his loyalty and Tony had decided before he’d put on his suit that she was well worth the pursuit.

Grabbing onto the part of the roof of the car that he’d destroyed, Tony pulled the metallic sheet back so that there was a large enough gap for him to fly through and land inside the train.

“Look it’s Iron Man!” Several people were calling above them, sounding relieved. The terror seemingly faded from the air and some people even applauded.

“What’s going on?” There were cheers and shouts of excitement and relief coming from the car when they realized someone was there to rescue them, but not from Scarlett. She was frozen in fear as she stared down the familiar red and gold armor that she’d once been excited to see. What had once been a comfort to her had become something she’d hope she’d never see again. It was funny how time changed things.

And yet, hours after having left Tony in his basement, Scarlett was standing once again in front of Tony Stark. It was lucky that he had his helmet on still or she would’ve punched him square in the jaw and marred his pretty face so that everyone would know who was responsible and why.

“Everyone stay calm, transit authority is on its way and I’m providing you all with a way to your destination.” Tony used his intercom to speak through the Iron Man armor without having to pull his helmet up. He had the distinct feeling that if he did so, Scarlett would lash out. Glancing down he noticed that she wasn’t wearing any shoes and felt guilty for having sent her out onto the street with nothing but the clothes on her back after publicly humiliating her.

For a fleeting moment Scarlett considered heading through the crowd and getting out of the train, even if it meant cutting up her feet and walking across the neighboring tracks to find her way out. She wasn’t scared of having to dodge other trains and deal with the pain in her feet but she wondered if it was worth the effort considering Tony had a sizable advantage on her in the Mark VII.

Tony wasn’t there for her. She had to consider the situation at hand. There was no way that he would come for her. Not after what he’d said to her about being just like the other women he’d been with in the past. He’d have to be a fool to think that she’d ever forgive him anyway. Once again she considered that it was selfish of her to think that Tony would come for her on her way out of town. It had to be coincidence that there had been an incident on the train that Tony had been called to deal with. Whatever had stopped the train dead in its tracks was far more threatening to deal with than her pathetic love life problems. Considering that her love life was fairly non-existent and the brief moment she’d had with it had nearly destroyed her strong resolve, Scarlett was sure that something bigger had to be going on.

Putting aside her annoyance and frustration with Tony, Scarlett straightened her back and hid the anger she felt toward him so that she could put the situation at hand before her emotions. The people on the train were looking to her to be strong and get them out of the car safely and if it meant dealing with a man she’d rather never see again then so be it.

Though, when she considered it, part of Scarlett was so glad to see Tony that she wanted to throw her arms around his shoulders and sob then ask him to take all the nasty things he said back and carry her away. But that was something Scarlett wasn’t capable of. The women who did those things in her mind were pathetic and she was not pathetic.

“What’s going on? What stopped the train? Are these people safe?” Scarlett started firing questions. The group around her silenced, all respecting that she clearly knew more in these situations than they did. Besides, it looked to them like Iron Man knew who she was and was specifically addressing her in the darkness of the train.

“What track are we on? It looks like number three. If you can get the transit authority to stop the other trains then you can provide cover while I escort them under the bridge and somewhere safer than this. We’re sitting ducks for whatever stopped us.” The more Scarlett rambled on about the options she had, the easier it was to deal with her recent ex-lover. Terrible situations filled with fear and danger were far simpler for her to handle. In fact, she excelled at them and it felt good to be able to gain control of her life for a small moment at long last. Even if it was something small like taking charge in a situation where no one else knew what to do, it was a step toward regaining her strength and independence.

“There’s no threat.” Tony spoke through the microphone. He was partially afraid to face up to what he’d done. It wasn’t the crowd of people gathered around Scarlett looking fearful that threw him off or even the amount of potential legal trouble that he’d put himself into. Those things Tony was used to on a day to day basis. It was the fear of rejection that was shaking him to the bone.

“No threat? What stopped the train then? Stark, these people are scared and deserve an explanation.” Scarlett looked at him seriously, but really she was looking through him. She couldn’t look at him like she had before. It would take her a long time before she could see him as someone she could communicate with normally. Their relationship was too strained already and she was hoping she could lead the escape from the train while Tony took up the offensive. It didn’t seem like things were going her way though.

“I stopped the train,” Tony spoke quickly through the microphone, despising the sudden nerves in the pit of his stomach. “There is no threat.”

“What?” Scarlett couldn’t think of what else to say besides that. It didn’t make sense any other way. Why would he stop the train? There had to be some kind of threat in the distance to make him do that.

“I stopped the train!”

“Why would you stop the train? What’s wrong? What’s happening?” Scarlett was hoping and searching for a reason for Tony’s arrival, something to make it a logical in her mind so she could deal with it.

“There’s nothing wrong Scarlett, calm down.” Tony held up both hands and ignored the whispers of those gathered behind Scarlett who seemed to realize that they did, in fact, know each other. Some even seemed to be mentioning the report that had been issued this morning in regards to Tony Stark’s mysterious new girlfriend.

“Then why are you here?” Scarlett cracked her neck in annoyance when she heard someone behind her mentioning the report from that morning; as if she had really needed reminding of why she was so hurt.

“I came here for you.” Tony softened, but realized she couldn’t very well see it while he was hiding inside the armor. Scarlett didn’t respond for a moment. She looked as torn as he felt. It was too soon for her heart to no longer be on her sleeve when it came to Tony. That urge to trust was still boiling inside of her and while she knew it was stupid to do so, it didn’t make it any easier to avoid.

“For me?” It wasn’t that she was confused, but her tone clearly expressed disbelief that there was any truth to what he was saying. Somehow she doubted he’d stopped a train for her.

“For you.” Tony hoped that he’d be able to calm her if he took things slowly. The group around them had quieted down again to watch the exchange curiously.

“Look, that bar fight thing wasn’t a big deal… if that’s what you’re getting at. They would’ve made me pay a fine at most and the fact that you’re here trying to get me into more trouble, which you’ve caused plenty for me now I might add, is disgusting. It’s absolutely disgusting.” Scarlett wondered if Tony was really so bitter that he would take the small legal trouble she’d gotten into and throw it into her face. The last thing she wanted was more publicity when she’d spent so long avoiding it. Not to mention she’d broken at least ten laws that afternoon in order to get the funds she’d needed for the train ticket and planned to break many more when she went after MedCo. “Besides, I thought my file was clear now. You can’t really be that petty, Stark. Wait, I just answered my own question.”

“Stop calling me that.” Hearing her use that cold name for him again was physically painful.

“You know, I told you the damn truth that night and you have no idea how hard that is for me!” Scarlett was on a roll now. She’d had too long to dwell on the things she’d wanted to say to Tony if she was ever face to face with him again. While she had stayed silent when he’d berated her down in his lab, she was no longer stunned by the broken heart she had and was ready to tell him just where he could shove his asinine insults. Scarlett reconsidered her words and then shook her head. “No, I guess that’s why it was so damn insulting. You know exactly how hard it is for me to be honest with another person nonetheless a scum bag like you.”

Tony winced and was suddenly glad for the helmet to hide his expression again. It was easier to talk to her and take her angry words when she wasn’t looking him in the eyes. Despite it all he could see the pain hidden behind the mask of rage Scarlett wore.

“You made such a big deal about trust and breaking it that when I finally offered you mine and told you the whole truth you twisted it around and used it against me!”

“Scarlett you’re not listening to me.”

“Not listening?” She scoffed and then pointed an accusing finger at him. “Don’t you talk to me about not listening you jerk! I asked one thing of you! One! And it wasn’t even that you broke your promise to me in a matter of six hours… it wasn’t that, Tony. I didn’t ask you to change who you were, I would never want that and yet…” Scarlett couldn’t keep up calling him Stark, though Tony partially wished she would. The way she said his name now was filled with hurt and heartache. This time he stayed silent, he had no sassy retort to make.

“You let fear twist you into knots and then lashed out at me. I finally trusted you and you threw it in my face. You showed me just how much my trust was worth Tony and you know what? Thank you.”

“What?” Tony’s heart was pounding in his head.

“Yeah, I’m grateful. I finally opened up to someone and it was a huge mistake. So now I can finally go back to the way things were… thanks to you.” Scarlett swallowed the knot in her throat. “You called me the worst things I could possibly think of. How could you do what we did and then still call me those names? After everything we’d gone through together… the ups and downs, the fights, the struggles… you could still string together the most harmful parts of my life and throw them in my face? Bravo, really. I’m cold but I’ve got nothing on you.”

“It’s not like that Scarlett. You’re not listening to me! I came here…”

“I don’t care.” Scarlett shouted in interruption, throwing her hands up in annoyance then shoving at the suit of armor that didn’t even budge with her pushes. “I don’t care why you’re here. If you want to take me in you better get those guns blazing because I will find a way to get out of it. I’m not playing with you anymore. This isn’t a game to me and it never was. You played around from the moment we met.”

“That’s not true and you know it.”

“It is true. It was a game for you.”

“It wasn’t. Now you’re shooting angry words at me! And it was a game for you! I think you’ve got your facts backwards. You thought it was a game you could play…” Tony drifted off. “Don’t twist this around on me!”

“Well you started it.” Scarlett snarled in frustration. “You didn’t even try to understand why it was hard for me to share what we’d been through with other people. You thought it was a joke that this meant something to me and you can’t be in a fucking relationship if you don’t know the meaning of the word.”

“I do know the meaning of the word and I did understand.”

“Then you just didn’t care. Is that it?” Scarlett’s face was contorted in anger and sadness. Thankfully the urge to cry had long gone.

“That’s not fair.”

“Not fair? You know what’s really not fair you spoiled brat? It’s not fair that you found out about Scott being okay in South Africa and you flipped out about it.”

“I was scared! It was a valid fear!”

“You were scared about something that you had no idea about. And why didn’t you have any idea? Because you didn’t ask me! How many times have I mentioned since I finally told you about him that it was never the same with Scott… I think I even told you that it wasn’t like that.”

“I wasn’t thinking rationally!”

“No, I couldn’t tell.” Scarlett cocked her head to the side mockingly. “It’s unfair that you made a decision for me. It should’ve been my choice what to do about Scott. You didn’t even give me the chance to choose between the two of you. Instead you just decided that I would pick him over you which was insane, for the record. I don’t know what broke in your head to turn it into such an ordeal!” Cursing under her breath, Scarlett turned away. She thought about telling Tony that there was no question of who she would’ve chosen if given the opportunity but didn’t think he deserved to know. He could wonder for the rest of his days what she really would’ve done.

“You broke my trust, you broke a promise! You humiliated me in front of your rather large fan base and then made me feel like I was such garbage that I didn’t deserve to be in your house a moment longer.” Scarlett straightened her back and steeled her gaze. She wasn’t going to let Tony Stark get the best of her two times in a row. While she’d claimed it wasn’t a game anymore, she would have to play it like it was one. She needed to win just once so she could feel a little bit better.

“So please, why don’t you tell me what it is you want from me now? I have nothing left to give you unless you’d like me to break your nose because I’d be really happy to do that.” Scarlett clenched her fist. “I suggest you leave.”

“You’re not listening to me, Scarlett!” Tony finally shouted, popping the helmet of the Mark VII open at long last. He held up his hand again when she started to talk. His lips were in a thin line and to the untrained eye he looked angry. But Scarlett could see he was just scared. Big, bad Tony Stark was scared of what was going to happen. Finally Scarlett stayed quiet and even felt a little guilty for having lashed out. “I came here for you.”

“You said that already.” Scarlett said quietly, her voice barely audible. She wanted to run away. Why did he have to come after her? He should’ve just stayed in his stupid mansion and gone on with his selfish lonely life like she imagined he would do. Instead he was there making things more complicated for her. Scarlett didn’t like this kind of complicated; it was new and vicious. She had scars running through her heart from just how ravenous this pain had become.

“Shut up!” Tony scoffed and ran a gloved hand through his hair, ignoring Jarvis trying to alert him of a call from Pepper that he was sure in regards to the damage he’d done to the train. “I came here to say that I’m sorry.” There were a few surprised gasps from the people standing behind Scarlett. Somewhere during her speech the onlookers had taken her side. Maybe it was because of how heartfelt it had been or how much pain she was obviously in. Or maybe it was because she’d been helping them try to get to safety when they thought their lives were in danger. Either way, it seemed that the group had sided with the tall and heartbroken woman.

“I’m sorry that I said those things because I realized this morning that…” The words were hard for Tony to say but now that he had stood up to Scarlett and taken a good tongue lashing from her, he knew he had to say them. This was what he had come here to do. “I love you, Scarlett and I came here for you.”