Glass Heart

Headache didn’t properly describe how badly Scarlett’s head was pounding. Someone was beating a drum against her temples. She swore that this had to be the worst hangover she’d ever had. And she’d had her share of incredibly nasty hangovers. Exactly how much did she have to drink? She couldn’t remember where she had gone or what she had done. It must have been quite the party.

Shifting in her bed she found only that it was cold and uncomfortable. This wasn’t her bed at all. Something soft was draped over her body but it didn’t feel much like a blanket. Had she fallen asleep on the bathroom floor again? It wouldn’t be the first time she’d woken up in front of a toilet. Had Scott finally gotten tired of dragging her drunken ass to bed after she’d spent the night getting into bar fights and drinking herself blind?

Bringing her hand up to apply pressure to her pounding forehead she felt the coarse material of a bandage against her tingling and numbed fingertips. What the hell had happened at the bar?

That’s right.

She’d hit her head during an explosion not during a bar fight.

Explosion? That didn’t sound right.

Scarlett instantly sat upright and snapped her eyes. Heart racing with sudden adrenaline, she searched her surroundings. Nothing was familiar. It wasn’t her laboratory but it seemed like a laboratory of some kind. The room spun and made her stomach twist into knots. Funny how a concussion could make everything so damn blurry. Closing her eyes she tried to recall the details of what had rendered her unconscious. Was it the explosion or something more? Her memory was foggy and the dizziness was doing her no favors.

She didn’t have time to lie around clueless. What if she was still in danger?

Hadn’t she been working for MedCo in order to buy time to save Scott? The memories flooded back. She’d escaped… sort of. Something had happened outside of the facility but she struggled to recall.

During her escape attempt she’d been injured. There had been some kind of chemical on her leg. She didn’t remember how exactly but she recalled the pain had been severe enough to knock her off of her feet.

Scarlett pulled what turned out to be a Mylar blanket off and immediately groped for her leg. She recoiled from the pain that coursed through every nerve ending like fire. Upon closer inspection she found her leg had been cared for. Unfortunately the chemical had done substantial damage beforehand. How bad it was, she couldn’t tell. Judging by the way her leg trembled it would take awhile to heal.

But where was she? Who had taken care of her? How the hell had she gotten out of the African desert? It was difficult to focus. Whoever had saved her had opted not to bring her to a hospital. Was she being held prisoner again by a new captor or maybe MedCo? Again she replayed her memories and attempted to piece them together. She’d seen something before passing out.

Metallic boots. They had been red and gold.

Suddenly Scarlett knew exactly where she was.

Carefully climbing off of the cold steel table Scarlett looked down to see that she was still wearing the same thing she’d passed out in. The jeans she had on were tattered and half destroyed from acid and her shirt was a dirty, bloodied mess. Her side stung and she wondered how the hell that had happened.

Oh, right. Someone had shot her. What a rough day.

Recoiling as the cold concrete met her feet, Scarlett was made aware that her shoes were missing.

She was in Tony Stark’s laboratory.

Or garage.

There were numerous expensive looking classic cars, some half built and in various states of repair, others looking pristine and newly purchased. At first Scarlett thought it was a garage. On the other end of the room lining the wall were the Iron Man suits, each numbered with care. Had he really been foolhardy enough to leave a stranger in his laboratory unguarded?

Of course not. It was more likely that he was confident that no one could get past his security system. Was his system really as foolproof as it had been fabled to be? Scarlett was willing to find out. Curiosity couldn’t be resisted.

Much to her surprise after she’d taken a few steps a gentle voice filled the room.

“I must ask you to stay put.”

Searching around for the source defensively, try as she might Scarlett couldn’t find it.

“Do not be alarmed, madam you are safe. I would recommend you take a seat until Mr. Stark has returned and can attend to you,” the soft male voice with a hint of a British accent was so convincingly lifelike that if Scarlett hadn’t known better she would’ve thought that someone had actually been watching her and speaking to her from another room. She’d heard rumors of the artificially intelligent system that ran the Stark household as well as various other Stark technologies but witnessing it firsthand was astounding.

“Where am I?” Scarlett asked, far too curious to stay seated. While she despised everything Tony Stark stood for she couldn’t deny that the man was one of the greatest minds of his generation and had achieved remarkable things. The problem with Tony was that he very much assumed he was the greatest mind of his generation when Scarlett knew a handful of people just as remarkable. While she didn’t have the kind of fame and fortune Tony Stark had been blessed it didn’t make her ideas any less pertinent or her intellect any less remarkable.

“I recommend that you take a seat, madam.” The voice almost sounded concerned. But Scarlett knew it was merely a simulated emotion. Even Tony Stark wasn’t arrogant enough to create robotic technology that had human emotions. Then again, if anyone were to create an “I, Robot” type artificially intelligent being it would most likely be Tony Stark. “The damage you sustained is quite severe. You could irritate your wounds, pull stitches and renew bleeding.” The voice responded without answering her question.

“You’ve been instructed to tell me nothing about anything until Mr. Stark arrives, haven’t you?”

“Yes, madam,” the voice responded.

“What do I call you then? Am I allowed to know that?” Scarlett crept further into the laboratory, walking toward the circular desk in the center of the room where there were several darkened computer monitors. Two had screensavers depicting images of the same vintage cars that sat across the room. Judging by the pictures the laboratory had undergone several renovations.

“You may call me Jarvis. Madam, I apologize but if you do not return to your resting place I will be forced to take more severe measures.” The voice echoed around her. Scarlett poked around the desk, making sure not to actually touch anything but rather to get a feel for the layout of the room. Having time to think had become a dangerous thing, particularly within a place that provided such temptation to a woman with her skills. The more Scarlett had time to think the darker her thoughts became.

Scott was dead.

Even if Erick hadn’t ordered him to be killed during their struggle the building had been destroyed with him inside it. If he hadn’t died in the collapse it would be nothing short of a miracle. Tony Stark had surely been cleaning up the mess he’d created in South Africa. It was a cover up. She could only assume that the attack on the building had been perpetrated by him in an attempt to keep anyone from finding out what he’d gotten involved in. Was he really that ruthless a monster? The cocky but lovable persona he played in front of the cameras was a mask for something far more sinister.

Ignoring the computer she instead kept prying while she had the opportunity. Tony probably wanted to question her about what she knew to see if she’d be a threat to his reputation. Either that or he would attempt to use her as a witness to corroborate what had happened out in the desert.

Little did Tony Stark know he’d invited a snake into his den. While her instincts were telling her to destroy the computers and kill Tony the moment the opportunity arose a tiny voice in the back of her mind objected. She had to be smart about this.

This was a rare opportunity.

If she killed him now Tony would die a hero in the eyes of the people. Scarlett was reminded of the famous moment in Shakespeare’s Hamlet where Hamlet was given the perfect opportunity to murder his uncle, but finds him in prayer. Not wanting to give his treacherous uncle a chance at eternal bliss, Hamlet resisted. Scarlett decided she would do so as well. Formulating a plan would give better results. If she could find concrete proof of what Tony had been doing with MedCo she could do more than just harm him physically.

Exposing the horrible truth and the atrocities he’d committed would destroy his legacy. That would be far more satisfying than murdering him on the spot would be. If her plan failed, that’s when she’d take to physical violence. While her rage bubbled inside her she would have to swallow the frustration and remind herself of how sweet vindication would taste. It wouldn’t take her more than a few days to get exactly what she wanted. Her body reminded her instantly of what else she needed: food and water.

But why had Tony brought her to his home instead of to a hospital? She’d have to find out and maybe weasel her way into his good graces. It didn’t mean she had to be nice to him, from what she’d heard he liked a challenge. Perhaps someone not giving him everything he wanted would be seen as intriguing rather than irritating. Maybe even having an intellectual equal would provide her with the leg up that she needed. Glancing around she saw a pile of what seemed like scrap metal on the work table next to an array of tools. There were mounds of the same scrap on the floor but they had been scorched and destroyed. It seemed the project Tony had been working on had been victim to failed attempts on multiple occasions.

“So tell me, what does Jarvis stand for?” Scarlett walked around the desk and closer to the table where she’d spied the scrap metal. At face value she couldn’t tell what the scraps were supposed to be. But perhaps that was the problem. Maybe Tony wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be building either.

“Just a rather very intelligent system, madam,” Scarlett imagined the voice was smiling. It’d been quiet for a few moments which left her wondering if its threats had been empty.

“Clever,” Scarlett scoffed. Most of the artificially intelligent creations she’d had dealt with had broken sounding awkward voices. This machine had child-like curiosity and thoughts of its own. How dangerous it was to create such technology. Tony must have been incredibly confident in the he’d restrictions built into the coding to have gone through with it. If it had been taken into the wrong hands, Jarvis could become incredibly dangerous.

There was a soft whirring behind her and much to her surprise a robotic clamp grabbed onto her wrist and began to pull her back toward the table at the far end of the room. The robot wasn’t rough on her but was firm enough that she couldn’t pull her wrist free.

“Hey!” Scarlett found the grip of the robot quite strong and eventually relented instead of tugging. It was a fruitless endeavor. The wounds she’d sustained were making her weary. It would be too much effort to try and break free. Besides that, Scarlett was sure that there would be other security measures taken if she went to such extremes.

“My apologies, madam but you were warned. Please take your seat and rest until Mr. Stark arrives,” the robot spoke in that same friendly voice. When Scarlett had tried to pull her arm free she’d suddenly become very aware of the bullet wound in her side. What she hadn’t realized was that the bullet had both grazed her side and her arm. She hadn’t even realized there was a wound there until she felt the pull on it.

It was the gunshot that had finally knocked her unconscious in the desert. Before then she’d barely kept it together. Maybe she’d been provided with painkillers. It was hard to tell sometimes. Just because her tolerance for pain was high didn’t mean she didn’t feel it. She guessed it was more likely that the pain in her leg was so intense her mind had dulled the other wounds to help her cope. The human body was funny like that.

“Fine! Fine.” Scarlett sat on the table she’d been led to and narrowed her eyes. Honestly, her body was relieved to be relaxing again despite her objections. While she hadn’t realized it while she’d been exploring her leg was burning painfully and now aching from the effort. Perhaps she hadn’t been given any medicine after all.

“Again, my apologies.” Jarvis said, sounding truly sincere. Scarlett thought that it could be the British accent that made the intelligent computer sound remorseful and nothing more.

“It’s fine. You’re just doing your job.” Scarlett felt a surge of anger toward Tony Stark. Not only had he kept her from going to a hospital for proper treatment, but he’d been the reason why she’d needed medical attention in the first place! Hands trembling with frustration, she clenched her fists in an attempt to calm down. After all that he’d been responsible for Tony Stark had the audacity to keep her confined to one of the tables in his laboratory. A table!

While it was possible that he had no idea who she was or any of her history she thought it was a dangerous concept to keep any stranger within arm’s reach of his suits. On top of that, if he knew her reputation then he would have to know that being in his laboratory unsupervised was like bringing a hungry child into a candy store and telling them to buy whatever they wanted. When he kept her from examining his inventions and clever devices it was like telling her she couldn’t have any of the candy that had been promised.

Stewing in her own anger Scarlett reconsidered killing Tony the moment he walked into the room before he knew what was coming. As satisfying as her murderous thoughts were Scarlett knew that killing Tony Stark was impractical. The security system was intelligent enough to alert the authorities the moment that she became aggressive and there were likely other defense mechanisms built into the house to keep her from escaping after doing such a thing. If there weren’t such systems then she’d be entirely shocked and a little disappointed. Announcing he was some kind of super hero on international news was practically inviting his enemies to come into his house and cause him and his loved ones harm.

Scarlett suddenly considered something she hadn’t truly thought about before. Did Tony Stark have any loved ones? She knew about his assistant, the notorious Pepper Potts, but she’d heard that their attempt at romance hadn’t worked out the way they’d both dreamt it would. After they had worked out the kinks she had returned to being his assistant and confidant while he’d returned to his position as CEO of Stark Industries.

Then there was the driver she’d seen accompanying Tony in many of his press photos, but she wasn’t sure how close he’d been as a friend or otherwise. There was of course, his most recent partner in crime fighting, the Warmachine. Scarlett wasn’t aware of what the man’s name was who controlled the suit but she’d read in the papers that he’d gone to MIT with Tony where the two had become friends. He’d been a Colonel if she recalled correctly.

For someone she couldn’t stand, she knew more than most did about Tony Stark. It wasn’t in Scarlett’s nature to hate something simply because others felt strongly toward it but instead she did research so that when it came time to pass judgment, she had an informed opinion.

So before she’d decided how she felt about Tony Stark and what he stood for, she’d learned as much as she could find about him and had then formed an opinion based on fact. And the fact was that Tony Stark was a brilliant douche bag. Scarlett couldn’t think of a better way to describe him. While in more recent days it seemed he was trying to redeem himself in the eyes of the public, Scarlett had seen firsthand what he’d really been doing behind closed doors. He was the most despicable kind of villain; hidden behind a vale of redemption and heroism.

Able to mentally calm down and talk herself down from murdering Tony Stark the moment she met him, Scarlett turned very suddenly in her spot on the table when she heard the sound of the door opening. It was apparently just in time that she’d rationalized her thoughts.

“Jarvis, can you bring up those schematics of the new reactor amplifier for me? I’ve got a few new ideas.” Tony Stark, wearing a dark colored t-shirt over a long sleeved white one and jeans walked into the room without bothering to look up from his cell phone. He was far less impressive looking outside of a well tailored suit. When Tony didn’t look up and approached his desk Jarvis spoke up.

“Sir, our guest is awake at long last.” Tony walked to his desk before looking over at the woman seated on the table since Jarvis had reminded him she existed and hadn’t brought up the schematics as he’d requested. Scarlett guessed that Jarvis hadn’t done as Tony commanded as some kind of precautionary measure since she’d been prying through Tony’s things only moments prior. Currently looking worse for wear, Scarlett was still a lovely woman to say the least and Tony couldn’t help but instantly turn on the charm he was so famous for.

“Oh, is she now? You should’ve called me down sooner, Jarvis.” Tony smiled pleasantly and walked toward the woman. “Jarvis bring up those schematics by my desk will you? And why haven’t you offered this lovely woman a drink or something to eat? It’s been days since she’s had anything other than an IV in her arm, I’m sure she’s starved. Where’s the hospitality?”

“Yes sir, my apologies. Madam, would you like something to eat or drink? Our chefs are the finest in the country though I recommend you start slowly given your current condition.”

“Maybe some toast,” Scarlett spoke, still unsure where she should look when she was speaking to the house itself, so instead she placed her hand against the wall as if to console Jarvis. “You said days… How long have I been out of it exactly?” She’d never considered that she’d been unconscious for more than a few hours. Perhaps that’s why the wound on her side didn’t feel nearly as severe as it had felt when first inflicted. The wound on her leg, however, was still raging with pain as though it were fresh. Itching subconsciously at the bandage over the burn on her leg, Scarlett didn’t take her gaze away from Tony. Unfortunately he was rather handsome even if she found him annoying, which explained how he’d gotten his sexual reputation.

Even in the plain looking clothes he obviously took good care of his body. His hair was carelessly pushed back and though it looked effortless it was obviously on purpose. Worst of all he had these piercing eyes that were an odd mixture of brown and green. It was easy to see how so many women could fall for his charms without knowing better.

Scarlett knew she could use that reputation to her advantage. If he wanted to flirt with her then she’d let him flirt. It would only make things easier when she dropped the proverbial axe on his neck. If she could play her cards right then he would never see her vengeance coming.

“Did I say that? Well yes, it is true. Three days to be exact. I tried to wake you a few times and you were non-responsive. If you didn’t wake up by the end of the week I was going assume you were comatose and bring you to the hospital.” Tony approached her slowly with his hands lazily held behind his back. He gave her the once over and didn’t make much of an effort to hide it. “You were pretty beaten up when I found you. Half dead is more accurate.” Holding out his hand for the woman, he offered an alluring smile that Scarlett was sure had made other women melt. Scarlett didn’t bother returning the smile and ignored his outstretched hand. She couldn’t bring herself to fawn over this man, even if it would’ve been an act. “I’m Tony Stark.”

“Right, like you need to introduce yourself. Now you’re just being facetious,” Scarlett scoffed. Surprised, Tony but put his hand back down at his side. There was something about this strange woman that left him feeling unsettled. It could be the fact that she had been inside the MedCo building he’d spent weeks trying to locate and had also been trying to escape.

What was more intriguing was that she had been pursued by the MedCo security staff as though she had been held prisoner. He could’ve brought her to the hospital to have her wounds treated or turned her over to the authorities in Africa but something in the back of his mind told him that he needed to speak with her. Of the handful of people who had made it out of the chaos alive, she had been the only one trying to escape the building rather than defend it.

And what was the old saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend?

He’d spent weeks digging through the files of a computer owned by his father’s ex-partner, Obadiah Stane. There had been a number of companies that had been making underhanded deals with him to buy weapons Tony had intended to sell only to the US military via contract. It’d been a terrible blow to his ego and his father’s legacy to find out that less than savory characters around the world, mostly terrorist organizations and gangsters, had received the weapons he’d designed to protect people not harm them. One of the biggest companies he’d discovered that had received the weapons sold by Stane had been MedCo. Tony had one hell of a time tracking them down. Every time he’d thought he’d found something, they disappeared and would reappear months later somewhere else. By the time Tony caught up to them, they were gone like ghosts.

Something told him, that despite the destruction of the facility he’d located, there was still much more to this company than he’d yet discovered. When he’d gone to retrieve the computer records from what remained of the circuit boards beneath the building, he’d discovered that the hard drives had been erased. Some had even been removed from their containers or destroyed completely so the information on them would be unattainable to even the cleverest programmer. In order to keep pursuing the company Tony had every intention of manipulating this young woman who owed him quite a bit as far as he was concerned.

“Ah yes, I am a man who needs no such introduction, aren’t I?” Tony smirked confidently. Scarlett cautiously got up from where she’d been seated on the table and Tony instantly urged her to sit back down, his hands on her shoulders. “I wouldn’t move too quickly if I were you. You took quite the beating.”

“I can handle myself, thank you very much. I know my limitations.”

“I should at least change your bandages before you move around. The chemical damage to your leg was severe. We’ve been changing it every few hours.” Tony touched the bandaging on her leg and Scarlett immediately grabbed his wrist to stop him from putting further pressure on the wound as it throbbed in objection. Pain was easy enough for her to ignore for the most part but that pain was making her foot twitch.

“Why didn’t you bring me a hospital? Anyone in their right mind would see a burned woman and call the paramedics, but not you. Why am I here, Stark?” Scarlett spoke, suspicious of his intentions. Tony didn’t hide his surprise. He’d expected to be showered with gratitude for having saved this woman’s life but was met with disdain and suspicion. Now that she had asked about it he was sure it was confusing to wake up in some stranger’s laboratory in tattered clothing when she’d clearly needed medical assistance. Tony had several doctorates but not one of them was in medicine.

“Don’t worry so much. I had a doctor come by and make sure your wounds were properly treated.” Tony didn’t lose his stride. He was notorious for being clever and witty in the tensest of situations. “A pretty girl like you deserves better than treatment from some crummy civil employee.”

“Bullshit, what am I really doing here?” Scarlett didn’t let go of Tony’s wrist despite his tugging in annoyance.

“If I tell you, would you let me take care of the festering burn on your leg?” Tony didn’t pull his hand away but pointed toward the wound with his captured hand instead.

“Maybe.”

“I’m not going to tell you until I hear you say yes.” Tony pursed his lips. “Look, if you think that you holding onto my wrist is really torture for me then you’re sorely mistaken. I can stay here all day.”

“Fine, if you’re going to act like a child about it… If you tell me then I will let you clean the wound but only because these bandages itch like hell. Seriously, are they made of wool or something?” Scarlett let go of his wrist and pointed and annoyed finger at him in a scolding manner. “If you put one finger where it doesn’t belong I’ll break it. Got it? You need to be on your best behavior.”

“Oh, so my reputation really precedes me. You’re feisty.” Tony chuckled and started back toward his desk where he dug beneath it for a moment before pulling out a first aid kit. Scarlett took this moment to observe the reactor in his chest hidden beneath his t-shirts; the one that powered the Iron Man suits. While she wasn’t sure the rest of the world was aware that it was actually seated right inside of his chest, she could see that it had become a part of him.

Curiosity struck her and she nearly asked why the hell he had a reactor in his chest but instead she kept her distance. He’d want something in return for that information since this had turned into a bartering game and Scarlett had too many secrets that needed to remain hidden. If she was going to play this game with him she needed to keep her cards face down for as long as possible. She knew that the reactor in his chest was there because of a well publicized incident where he was held captive, but the details were hidden from the public.

“Of course you do. Though from what I hear, you’re not very picky.” Scarlett sighed heavily as she began to unravel the bandages around her leg without his help.

“You know me pretty well it seems, but I don’t know anything about you. I tried searching through records of aspiring models in that area, quite taxing work I might add, and found not a single woman that looked anything like you. Granted, I was confused to find out how much prettier you were than any of the models I found despite how… wide the search became. So not-a-model what’s your name?” Scarlett shook her head as she listened to Tony’s poor attempt at flattery.

“I thought you were going to tell me how I ended up here?” Ignoring his question outright, Scarlett was determined to get answers. If she gave him her name he’d look her up and find out more about her. And while she was sure that eventually she would have to confess her full name, she figured there was no harm in making him work for it either.

“Only a face and no name? Come on, what am I supposed to call you if you don’t tell me?” Tony walked back to Scarlett and opened the first aid kit he’d retrieved, pulling out an unlabeled bottle of clear liquid. Looking at him skeptically, Scarlett continued to deny him an answer. Swatting her hand away from the bandage she was unraveling, Tony finished pulling it away from the wound, examining the sore and bloodied area on her leg where she’d been splashed with chemicals in the MedCo explosion.

“You touch nothing until you give me an explanation. That was the deal.” Scarlett threatened, though her leverage had disappeared. Her leg was quivering in miserable pain now that it was exposed.

“Yeesh, you’re stubborn. Did Pepper come down here before I did? She was just as mad that I was hiding some woman down here. Probably jealous... I mean look at you. Pepper’s pretty but… man.” Tony scoffed.

“She only woke up moments prior to your return, sir. Miss Potts hasn’t been downstairs since this morning,” Jarvis spoke overhead once again. Scarlett was partially glad the computer had interrupted, she was tired of the disgusting compliments.

“Thanks Jarvis, I was kidding but… thanks. You think he’d be able to tell when I’m being sarcastic by now. Anyway, when I found you in the desert one of those security goons had a gun pointed at you. I had every intention of bringing you to the hospital but I couldn’t help but notice that your leg was severely burned and getting rapidly worse. My guess was that the medical staff in the nearest hospital in South Africa would take at least twenty four hours to find out what you’d been splashed with. I knew I could get you here in a few hours using my suit and well… Let’s just say I’ve had my share of chemical burns in the past and could easily get my hands on something to neutralize it.” Scarlett seemed to consider this but could also feel how badly the wound was aching and the story seemed to contradict itself.

“If you neutralized the chemical then why the hell does it still hurt this badly?” Scarlett winced when Tony dabbed a wet cloth on the wound and instantly she moved away from the cloth to prevent further pain.

“Sit still,” Tony whined and scooted closer so he could wipe at the wound again. He’d been taking care of her for three days steadily. Even though he had known very little about her, he’d grown attached to her in his own weird way. Scarlett pouted and turned her gaze away so she didn’t have to look at what was being done to the wound. Feigning a reaction to the pain would make her endearing, in a way. “Unfortunately before I could get to the wound, the chemical seeped into your muscle so you’re going to experience discomfort until it’s out of your system entirely. Lucky for you I’ve got all the pills you’ll need.” Tony grabbed her left hand and urged it onto his shoulder. Scarlett looked surprised by this seemingly kind gesture. “Here, you can squeeze if you need to. I can tell it hurts.”

“No thanks,” Scarlett spoke after hesitating. Clearly this was some ploy to make him seem more charming. Tony Stark thought he was a ladies man, she knew that. If she used that to her advantage Scarlett could make him feel as used and pathetic as the women he regularly tossed away and get her proof of guilt all in the same breath. This would be killing two birds with one stone, essentially. That was if she could keep herself from actually thinking he was charming. Having reminded herself of her purpose, the charm seemed more manipulative than anything else.

He would regret inviting this woman into his home.

She placed her hand on the table and clenched her fist instead to combat the pain while Tony cleaned the wound there and applied the solution from the unlabeled bottle. Her muscles twitched in discomfort.

“That’s a shame. It’s been awhile since I’ve had claw marks on my back from something other than a fight.[a name="here"][/a]” Tony was smiling without looking at her. He could feel the annoyance practically radiating off of her. If nothing else it certainly was fun to give her a hard time and have her continue to resist. Usually women melted into giggling messes around him so he enjoyed the chase. “In a few days you’ll be healed up and will be able to leave on your own accord, so don’t stress out too badly about it.” Grabbing the gauze from the first aid kit, he nodded to the table. “Could you put your leg up here?”[br /]
Scarlett sighed dramatically and did as she was asked, waiting for more inappropriate jokes to follow suit. “Are you going to keep me confined to your table the entire time? Because I’m pretty sure this is tantamount to kidnapping.”

“Are you going to tell me your name?” Tony seemed to be bartering, even though he knew he couldn’t keep her captive.

“Probably not.”

“Well then you can stay in the lab. It’s a shame because this is a really beautiful mansion and so few outsiders get a good peek in here. Outside of that one episode of Cribs, that is.” Tony smirked, wrapping the wound on her leg tightly. “You know, this is the first time…”

“You’ve been between a woman’s legs with all your clothes on? Come on Stark, you’re predictable.” Scarlett leaned heavily on her arm as Tony stopped wrapping her leg to stare awestruck.

“Oh, come on! That was clever.” Tony laughed, surprised that she’d known exactly what he was going to say. “I think you liked it… even if it was just a little.”

“Can you please just finish wrapping my leg without anymore innuendos? I get it, you’ve got a reputation to keep up with, but come on. You’ve proven your point. We can move on from that now I think. I promise, if anyone asks I’ll tell them that you came on strong, alright?” Cleaning the wound had drained most of the energy that Scarlett had regained while she’d been unconscious. She’d been in worse pain before, what made this so different?

“Fine, but after I’m done wrapping your leg all bets are off.” Tony chuckled, then cleared his throat and put on his best serious face. “Could you at least tell me what it is you do? Since I can’t hit on you for a few minutes, small talk seems like the only alternative.”

“I’d have to kill you if I did,” Scarlett responded easily. Tony couldn’t tell if she was serious or if she was joking with him. Part of him was convinced that he’d bitten off more than he could chew with this woman. She’d seemed so innocent when he’d saved her in the desert. This wasn’t what he’d been envisioning would happen when she woke up. Though, he’d come up with this half baked scenario where she threw herself at him, eternally grateful for having saved her life. Then he wondered when it began that all of his rescue scenarios degraded into pornography. Probably because it was more interesting than reality.

There was no one more easily bored than Tony Stark.

“Can you tell me anything about yourself without getting defensive? Or am I just going to have to make up my own stories about you. I can do that you know. I have a very active imagination.”

“I could tell you.”

“Will you though?” Tony finished wrapping the wound, cleaned up the first aid kit and disposed of the filthy wrappings that had been pulled off of her leg. He was only mildly frustrated that this woman kept giving him the run around. More than anything, he was intrigued by her. There had never been a person in his life, short of Pepper, that had given him such a hard time. Even then Pepper was pretty easy to ignore and manipulate this far into their friendship. When it came down to it, Pepper worked for Tony and she ultimately had to do what he wanted her to do.

“Probably not.” Scarlett couldn’t help but be amused by how frustrated he’d become with her lack of cooperation. Tony exhaled and walked over to his desk to put away the first aid kit. Scarlett made another attempt to get off of the table, only to be met by the robot that had dragged her back to the table in the first place.

“Dum-E, lay off.” Tony waved his hand toward the robot that made a sad sound with his hydraulics before rolling away from Scarlett. Walking over to the work table across the room where Scarlett had noticed the scrap metal earlier, Tony looked at the holographic schematics that had been pulled up by Jarvis nearby. Scarlett slowly limped over to where Tony was working but kept her distance, mostly to observe the schematics and not the way he worked, though she was admittedly curious. Tony wasn’t some puffed up billionaire with zero skills; he was a genius.

It appeared he was building a power amplifier. The arc reactor was already an immense source of power. With the addition of the element that Tony’s father had been credited with discovering and that Tony had been credited with creating, it had become a force unmatched. Why would he be looking to amplify something so immense? She doubted it was for unsavory means, since he wouldn’t be doing it in front of her if that were the case. It’d be too great a risk to his reputation.

“What are you building?” Scarlett couldn’t help but ask. While she knew it was an amplifier, she wanted details.

“What’s your name?” Tony asked without looking back at her. He turned the schematic around in the air and spoke to his system, flicking at part of the hologram. “Get rid of sector 4B, it’s not working out.” Obviously frustrated by what was in front of him, Scarlett wondered if she could help. Perhaps if she could prove useful to Tony, he’d keep her around to work on whatever project this was. At least until she could find the opportunity to strike and take him down.

“I already told you that my name is off limits.” Scarlett walked closer and took in the schematics. Tony observed the woman curiously and much to his surprise saw recognition in her eyes.

“You know what this is?” Tony touched the edges of the hologram and spread his arms so the schematic extended large enough for Scarlett to see it without having to peer over his shoulder. Not that he would’ve objected to that, but he was sure she didn’t want any more reasons to be that close to him.

“It’s a power amplifier for the arc reactor,” Scarlett spoke as though it were obvious. Tony turned to face her and looked at her with one eyebrow raised high.

“Smart, huh? Are you one of those high tech Japanese cyborgs or something? I knew they were doing well in that area of robotics but you are absolutely remarkable. I still stand by the fact that you’re some spy undercover as a beautiful model or something… Almost like a Bond girl.” Tony’s lips curled into a smile. What had started out as a comment on her intelligence had ended in some ridiculous fantasy. Scarlett rolled her eyes. He’d almost been likable.

Almost.

“I’ve dabbled in engineering and physics. Happy now? I’d prefer to be called a jack of all trades. I’ve spent enough years trying just about everything that I can adapt to my situation. You learned something about me, so stop trying to flatter me. It’s gross.” Scarlett folded her arms over her chest and ignored Tony’s gaze which seemed now to be of admiration more than desire.

“An engineer? Sorry lady but engineers do not look like you. Engineers look like… little… geeky guys who ate too many Cheetos…”

“You’re an engineer.”

“Okay, so you’ve got me there. I am a knock out, a ten actually.”

Looking over the schematics Scarlett shook her head and changed the subject. “Why are you building an amplifier for something that’s already so… massive?”

“Massive? I like that. Keep sweet talking me.” Tony tapped his knuckle against the glowing reactor in his chest and sighed. “You told me something about you, you do realize that right? And you haven’t tried to kill me yet.”

“I think I said that already. But yes, I understood your little hologram here so I figured you’d deduce that I had some kind of mechanical or electrical background anyway. Just so you know, it won’t lead you to any monumental discoveries about who I am. Good luck.”

“You are worlds smarter than you’re letting me believe,” Tony said outright. “I’ve already figured that out. Don’t think I’m underestimating you. I know what was going on in that building, at least to an extent. If they were holding you captive then you must be an incredibly important person. They aren’t the type of corporation that makes a business of kidnapping beautiful women just for the hell of it. That’s more thug territory. These guys were calculative.”

“What makes you think they were holding me captive? Maybe I worked there.” Scarlett shrugged, unwilling to reveal anything further. At first Tony didn’t respond and when he did, Scarlett froze.

“You have a contract to fulfill,” Tony whispered to her knowingly, his eyes dancing with amusement. He’d managed to decipher that much of what had been said to her, but couldn’t hear what had followed, which had likely been her name. Because of the gunfire that had followed it had been drowned out. Scarlett didn’t respond and realized that he’d known plenty more about her than he had initially let on.

They were dancing.

Tony was trying to get information from her, while she did the same in turn. Scarlett couldn’t figure out which one of them had taken the lead quite yet. This didn’t change anything. He was still prying for her name which meant what he knew was speculation at best.

When Scarlett didn’t respond, Tony gave her some time to mull over what he’d said. He decided there was little to no reason why he couldn’t answer her earlier question.

“I’ve been dabbling in energy research for a few years now. Ever since Stark Industries stopped mass manufacturing weapons which I’m sure you already know about. Are you sure you aren’t one of those girls with a Tony Stark fixation? You seem to know an awful lot about me for someone who is treating me with such disdain.”

“You just assume that all women must be blown away by your mere existence, don’t you? I just told you that I’m an engineer and in the engineering world, whether I like it or not, you are king. What you don’t realize is there are a dozen engineers far more brilliant than you who don’t feel the need to be a constant public spectacle. I know your work because it is part of my job to know exactly what is going on in the world of engineering and mechanics.”

“That’s not true, I know there are plenty of people with intelligence equal to mine buried throughout the world without the financial means to make themselves known. That’s why I started the Stark Expo back up last year. We provide funding to those with credentials and good ideas then invite them to come and present their inventions to a crowd they would, under no other circumstances, have access to.” Tony seemed to want to make it clear to this woman that Stark Industries was no longer the money hungry empire it had once been.

“Yeah, that really ended well for everyone, didn’t it?” Scarlett scoffed. “You were saying something before you started hoping I was secretly one of your little fan girls… so are you going to continue or am I going to have to guess what it was?”

“I’ll get you to like me, you know.”

“Keep dreaming, Stark.”

“Can do and actually am… and have been, so you’re a little late with the suggestion.” Turning back to his schematic he gestured toward the scrap on the table in front of him. “I’ve been working on a way to transition the power from the arc reactor, which is immense as you mentioned, to household energy. So far, everything I’ve done in an attempt to use this element for anything other than the reactor in my chest and others similar to it, has shorted out or blown up. I thought at first that it needed to be amplified but after I’ve tried several prototypes I’m thinking I need to take a different approach.”

“Ya think?” Scarlett stood next to him at the table and put her hands on either side of the schematic, flipping it around. Tony looked scandalized that Jarvis allowed her to move his holograph and pouted.

“Jarvis!”

“Sir, would you prefer I did not allow her to control me?”

“Yeah, no touching. That’s mine. You haven’t even told me your name and you already expect to play with my holograms? Sorry, but I think that’s more of a third date thing.” Tony pulled the schematic away from her reach, though it had already stopped responding to Scarlett’s touch.

“My apologies, sir.”

“It’s fine Jarvis, she’s really pretty. I understand you wanting her to like you.” Scarlett rolled her eyes and spoke, choosing to ignore Tony’s antics.

“You need a power converter, Stark. Not an amplifier. The element you’re using is unlike anything else in existence. If you want to use this power on a massive scale you need something to tone down the power not boost it up. When you amplify a sound that’s already loud and too harsh on the ears you’re only going to get something louder and more obnoxious. I’d think of all people you’d realize that. Or maybe that’s part of your problem. Bigger and better, right?”

“I don’t have a problem. What makes you think I have a problem? You know for a stranger in my house who hasn’t even told me her name you sure are making an unfair amount of assumptions.” Scarlett ignored Tony’s objections and spoke over him instead of giving him the chance to distract her from the point she was making. She wondered how he ever got anything done and guessed this was why he worked alone.

“If you build a converter that will drain the power from the arc reactor equipped with the new element you can send it through different cycles in order to dampen the power to a more reasonable level in order for it to be used more efficiently. Not to mention it would be more costly to convert every electronic device in the country to become compatible with a new kind of current. You’re better off converting the new element to something more commonly used. You’re all about accessibility for everyone, right? This way the burden falls on you, not the rest of the world.” Scarlett rolled her eyes as though the answer was obvious.

Silent for the first time since they’d met, Tony folded an arm over his chest and propped his elbow against it. He placed the other hand on his face and rubbed his hand over his immaculately manicured goatee. His shaggy hair had the appearance of someone who had just gotten out of bed and his brown eyes were akin to honey while they focused on the schematic in front of him. Rubbing his fingers against the finely trimmed scruff, he covered his mouth before unfolding his arms and pushing his hair back. Then he flipped the schematic around. Without another word he made changes.

Scarlett watched him work and admitted internally that it was fascinating to see his methods. Plus, seeing him quiet since the first time he’d walked into the room was rather nice. This gave Scarlett time to observe more about the man behind the legend. His fingers looked rough and callused, like he did a lot of work by hand. She wondered if it was from battles as his new super hero persona, Iron Man, or if it was from doing work in his lab or on the exquisite cars he had stationed behind his desk.

After a few moments, Scarlett realized Tony had pretty much forgotten she existed while he worked and realized exactly what he was doing with his project. He was mumbling about how to change the current, building up a model over the old amplifier after having removed many of the crucial elements, via hologram.

“No, no, come on, aren’t you supposed to be a genius or something?” Scarlett nudged Tony’s shoulder and urged him out of the way. She touched the schematic he’d been building up and when it didn’t respond she gave Tony a look that clearly told him how frustrating it was that he wasn’t letting her help. He stared for a moment defiantly before deflating and nodding toward the schematic.

“Go ahead, Jarvis, let her touch.” A smirk played on Tony’s lips and he held his hand in front of hers to block her from touching the schematic as his artificially intelligent computer system complied. “You owe me dinner if I let you do this.”

“If anything, I’d say you owe me dinner.” Scarlett pulled the schematic beneath his arm that was blocking her and turned to face away from him, limping on her pained leg.

“Well that’s what I meant, actually. I said you owe me dinner, not that you are going to pay for my dinner.”

“Stark, focus.” Scarlett waved her hand at him in annoyance then started to make adjustments to the schematics in front of her. It was harder to adjust to the holographic computer system than she had expected. “I need a coil…” Scarlett looked at the schematic and rearranged the items that Tony had put together.

Watching over her shoulder, Tony was far more curious about her skills than he let on. What had this woman been building for MedCo? Why was she helping him out now when she held some kind of deep seated hatred for him? Though, if she was a successful engineer he knew how it could affect her opinion of him. He had found over the years that they seemed to go either way, engineers and scientists. Either they admired him and his work or they resented him for the way he abused his popularity. Tony didn’t think of it as abusing his popularity at all. If people were going to invest so much time into watching him and cataloguing his actions then he should at least have some fun and make it interesting.

Really, he figured even without the popularity and publicity he’d be the same way. Paying more attention to the woman in front of him, he reached around her to pull the converter closer to him. Scarlett immediately shoved his arms away from her sides and narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

“I don’t have cooties. I washed my hands before I came in here, I swear.” Tony ignored her objections and looked at the schematic again. “Alright. Now just fabrication.”

“I can’t guarantee that it’s going to work, Stark. I have never dealt with the power that’s in your arc reactor before. You shut your mouth right now before you crack some dirty joke because you are not clever.” Scarlett didn’t bother looking away from the schematic, despite the fact that Tony had indeed been opening his mouth to crack another joke.

Smiling a bit at the excitement this new woman was bringing to his laboratory, Tony shoved his hands in his pockets and spoke to his computer as he walked back to his desk. He snapped his fingers, removing his hand from his pockets as quickly as he had shoved them in there. His snapping had brought the computer screens to life, along with a whole different set of holographic controls surrounding the circular desk.

Scarlett leaned against the table, closed her eyes and swallowed the discomfort and pain she felt in her leg. Looking down at her tattered jeans, she realized just how drastic the damage to her clothing had been. It wasn’t like she was walking around half naked, but it definitely looked like she had just walked out of an explosion. Not to mention, it’d been ages since she’d had a proper shower, food, or any sort of normalcy to her life. Where was that toast she’d requested anyway?

She didn’t have time to dwell on the past. Touching the tattered denim of her jeans she grimaced. She only became aware of Tony’s staring after he’d been doing so for several minutes.

“What?”

“You look like you’re thinking about something important. Maybe what happened in the desert? You want to spill your guts yet?”

“I was just thinking about how ridiculous I look in these clothes.” Scarlett shrugged her shoulders, but the bite to her words had temporarily dissipated. Tony typed away on his computer and started placing orders for the titanium alloy he’d need to construct the power converter to contain the arc reactor. Soon enough he’d be able to build and test Scarlett’s idea and see what changes he’d need to make.

“Yeah, you look like you’ve had a really tough time…,” Tony drifted off, half expecting her to fill in the blank of her name.

“Cut it out.” Scarlett rolled her eyes and walked over to the computer desk, leaning over it to look at his computer screen. To her surprise, he didn’t try to turn off the screen or become possessive the way he’d done with Jarvis’ schematics. “You know, I’ve never been hands on with any of these things before so I could very well be wrong with some of my calculations. I mean, the math is right, but I don’t know what kind of power I’m dealing with other than that it must be pretty considerable to power those suits over there.”

“Yeah I’m considerably powerful and would be happy to show you just how powerful if you’d tell me your name. Now, you had wanted to get changed? Jarvis, Jarvis get me Pepper. Send her down here right away.” Once again, Tony didn’t bother looking anywhere but at Scarlett. He tugged the side of her shirt up to glance at the wound there. Scarlett grabbed his wrist and twisted it back very suddenly, almost instinctively.

“Ow, ouch, hey… hey now…” Tony grabbed her wrist with his other hand and twisted his arm free from her grip. “You have pretty adept reflexes for an engineer.”

“Yeah, because you’re the only engineer who knows how to protect themselves.” Scarlett stepped away from him and leaned against the table once again.

“I think whatever you were up to with that company down there is way more important than you’re letting on. I think that you have a lot of secrets that you’re worried I’ll find out about, miss no name.”

“Oh, I’m not worried. You can’t think about me for more than twenty seconds without being stopped by your libido, so good luck Stark.” Scarlett smiled half heartedly.

“You know, you could be a little grateful to me for saving your life.”

“Saving my life? Hmm? You think that you’re the reason I got out of there?”

“You were a bloodied mess in the desert sands. I saved you, out of the kindness of my heart I might add.”

“Right, your reactor you mean? You can fool the public with that chest piece but I know what’s going on in there. I don’t know the whole story, but what you’ve got in there, Stark? That’s not a heart.” Scarlett’s lip curled in aggravation. She didn’t mean it, even in all her anger, she didn’t mean the harsh things she’d said. Whatever had caused Tony to need an arc reactor within his chest had to be terrible.

“I could bring you to the hospital still. Or to the police. You know whatever you were doing out there I’m sure it was highly illegal.”

“In Africa. Even if it was illegal it was in Africa and the United States has very little jurisdiction in those parts of the world even if you could find proper legal proof, Stark, which you can’t. You know what’s illegal? Holding a woman prisoner in your basement and trying to keep her confined to a table when she’s been seriously injured.”

“I was helping you, not keeping you prisoner. I was hoping you’d be grateful I saved you and would help me figure out what happened to you!”

“Well, that’s what you get for making assumptions, you ass.”

“I know what the little poem for that is, but, no… I think your wounds are making you a little testy, whatever your name is. Maybe you should lie down and consider where you are. Do you know how many people get to see what you’ve seen down here?”

“Oh, so I should feel privileged to be here, is that it? You’re just mad that I’m not drooling all over myself to be in your presence. Sorry, Stark but you’d be surprised just how many women don’t think you’re God’s gift to them.”

“My name is Tony, why do you keep calling me that?”

“I’m not some school girl in the presence of her biggest idol and I am not quivering because you gave me a compliment so get over it and act like a big boy.” Scarlett ignored his petty question. Why did it matter that she wasn’t calling him Tony? For some reason, calling him Tony seemed like letting him win.

“Usually having my ego thrown in my face is a huge turn off, but I have to tell you I’m a little turned on right now.” Tony didn’t seem to be taking anything she said seriously. Scarlett threw her hands up in aggravation but before she could continue on she realized that the glass door on the other side of the room that led to a staircase, and presumably the rest of Tony’s Malibu mansion, had been opened.

The familiar Pepper Potts, dressed in a professional but beautifully feminine suit that hugged her tall frame stepped inside. Her red hair was pulled out of her face into a loose bun and adorable freckles were scattered about her skin.

“You called, Tony?” Pepper glanced curiously over at the woman who had been fighting with Tony about practically nothing at all. She’d heard the argument across the room and had decided not to interrupt until she’d been noticed. Amusement flickered behind her eyes.

“Oh, don’t look so happy.” Tony turned to face his assistant and then back toward Scarlett. “She has just been waiting for the day that some woman would tell me off. Well, look how many years it took Pepper. Plus, I’m convinced she likes me. Secretly.”

“Really? From what I’ve heard, I think she’s made it pretty clear just what she thinks of you, Tony. You do realize she could sue you for what you’re doing, right? Actually, she could probably press criminal charges.”

“Oh she wouldn’t. Why do you always think women are going to sue me? Have you seen me? I’m pretty fantastic,” Tony scoffed and walked back to his desk, refusing to be tag teamed by the two lovely women, at least in this particular way. He gladly let his mind linger on that mental image with a smile.

“What is it you called me down here for, Tony? Jarvis said it was important.”

Tony opened his mouth to respond but Scarlett limped past him and spoke over him.

“I’m half naked and uncomfortable. I needed something else to wear, preferably something clean.” Scarlett looked hopeful. “I’m guessing that is the reason he called you down here. I would hate to be an inconvenience to you. I have no qualms with you.”

“Well, I was about to say that, before you interrupted. You’re lucky I like a woman that takes charge.” Tony pointed an accusing finger at her then spun in his chair and turned to address his assistant again. “You’ve still got some extra clothes here just in case for last minute appointments and business dinners, right? Could you get her something comfortable to wear? You’re similar height… though she’s… well she’s got these hips and well… this hourglass thing going on…”

“Tony, you’re drooling.” Pepper rolled her eyes and turned back to Scarlett. Talking to her boss would only mean more sexual innuendos about the woman who was worse for wear and in need of some comfort. “I think I have a black dress you can wear. It’ll at least get you out of those nasty clothes. If you give me your measurements I can have Jarvis send out for some clothing for you. I can have him deliver some catalogues to you so you can choose what you would like,” Pepper offered.

“Hey, that’s my money you’re spending. You know I’ll have to approve each purchase.”

“I have my own money. I can give you some of that when I get the chance. There is no chance in hell that I’m going to let Stark make clothing decisions for me.”

“She’s my assistant, I tell her what to do, not you.” Pepper threw Tony a look that shut him up, but only after he’d realized what he’d said and how it annoyed her. “Look, get her that dress and we’ll figure it out from there.”

“You should probably let her shower and get cleaned up too Tony. It’s inhumane to keep someone like this after what she’s been through.” Pepper glared at Tony disapprovingly before addressing Scarlett. “I’ll go get you that dress and I’ll work on Tony letting you use the guest room shower.”

“Thank you, Miss Potts.”

“You can call me Pepper.” The redhead smiled before walking out of the room, fiddling with something on her phone. It was something that Tony must have built for her since it was like nothing Scarlett had ever seen before in her life.

“You know, I’m not mad.”

“What?”

“You said before that I was just mad because you were turning me down. I’m not mad. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I’ve had this much fun in years.” Before Scarlett could respond with something witty, Pepper had returned, holding a bundle of black cloth that Scarlett could only assume was the dress she’d promised.

“Here you are, and don’t worry about paying me back. It’s really something I only wear in emergencies and I was looking for an excuse to buy a new little black dress anyway.” Pepper smiled cordially, incredibly happy to have a woman in the house who wasn’t nervous to stand up to the great Tony Stark or fall prey to his charms.

“Thank you so much, Pepper.” Scarlett smiled then turned toward Tony. “Now unless you’re going to let me go upstairs and change, I suggest that you leave so I can do so in peace. I’ve already had enough jokes about my sexuality to last me a lifetime. Besides if you make a crack about insisting to have to change my clothes too then I’m going to break your hand.” Tony narrowed his eyes at Pepper when she laughed and bit her lip to stifle it.

“I could help you since you brought it up. I’ve been told I’m good with my hands.” Tony looked down at them and then made a face as he considered her proposal. “Though, a broken hand seems counterproductive. But, you don’t know what you’re missing.” Tony got out of his chair and started toward his door to leave the girls in peace.

“Don’t be a voyeur either. I know what your little system here is capable of and even though there are no cameras visible to the naked eye, I’m sure they’re here.”

“She’s right, Tony. You should have Jarvis lock you out of the cameras, just for now.” Pepper agreed, trying to help her boss avoid a sexual harassment lawsuit or a broken bone.

“Jeez, you two are no fun at all. These women taking over my house, I always thought if this happened I’d be happy…” Tony continued to complain as he headed out of the room and up the stairs.

“He’s always like that?”

“Yeah, even in his worst moments,” Pepper smiled kindly. “You get used to it. He’s a pretty good guy, he just can’t help himself.”

“I thought it was an act for the cameras to tell you the truth.” Scarlett grimaced, lifting her tank top so she could look at the gauze on her side and evaluate how hard it was going to be to get changed.

“Nope, that’s just Tony. But you have to see past that to get to the real guy. Just… don’t break his hand. Please?”

“Don’t worry, it’s an empty threat.” Scarlett smiled, though she had much worse for the man who had done such wrong to her and the only person she could consider family. Even if he had only been a boyfriend by obligation, it didn’t mean Scarlett didn’t have feelings for Scott; they were just mostly of guilt and now revenge.

“Are you alright? I could help you if you need it. Despite Tony being a jerk about it, you probably do need some help getting changed. You look world’s better than when he brought you here though, I will say that.” Pepper offered kindly. This was, remarkably, the first woman that she hadn’t had to throw out of the house after Tony had their way with them like a used tissue.

“Thanks Pepper, but I’ve got this.” Scarlett smiled a little, trying to keep pleasant with the woman there. She had no problems with Pepper Potts, just Tony Stark, so there was no reason to be rude to her.

“What’s your name by the way?” Pepper chuckled, but it wasn’t in the prying way that Tony had asked. Scarlett knew that if she told the woman her full name then Tony would find out as well. It wouldn’t change much of anything. The only reason she hadn’t told Tony her name was because she’d wanted to give him a hard time.

“Scarlett Damien.” Scarlett held her hand out for Pepper to shake, which she shook firmly.

“You seem to know me already, but it’s nice to meet you Scarlett Damien. I’m Pepper Potts. And what Tony said was true. I’ve been waiting for a woman to tell him just what an ass he can be for years,” Pepper laughed. “Don’t be too hard on him. I swear he really is a good guy beneath all that.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be just hard enough.” Scarlett shrugged. The web of lies in her mind had already become incredibly intricate.

“I’ll leave you be then. I’m going to see if Tony will let me prepare the guest room for you to use. You can’t sleep down here! Besides, I doubt he’ll want you down here with all of his cars and suits once he really thinks about it.” Pepper laughed, heading toward the door.

“Maybe he wants to keep me on display too, hmm? A trophy for doing a supposed good deed, right?” Scarlett chuckled.

“He would.” Pepper shook her head. “I’ll leave you in privacy to change.”

“Thank you.” Scarlett turned her back on the woman and began the tedious process of removing the clothing that had practically stuck to her during the various explosions and dangerous situations she’d been trapped in. There were stones sinking in the pit of her stomach, guilt, fear, nerves, and a thousand other emotions she was unsure of.

She thought Tony Stark had been the reason that Scott had been murdered, but had he really been? Wasn’t it her fault that he’d been dragged into the process to begin with? With these things swimming around in her head, Scarlett changed into the clean black dress. While it wasn’t exactly what she’d have chosen to wear on her own, it was better than tattered jeans and a bloodied tank top.

Pepper walked up the stairs to find Tony standing at the top of them, tapping his foot impatiently and staring at the screen of his phone. Curious as to what he was doing, but knowing Tony wouldn’t let her get a glance of it that easily, Pepper eased into conversation.

“You do realize you can’t keep her prisoner down there, right?”

“She’s too dangerous to keep down there.”

“What were you thinking, Tony? Why didn’t you just drop her off at the hospital and tell them how to take care of her?” Pepper furrowed her brow in thought. While she was growing rather fond of the woman, it was hard to keep strangers in the house, particularly with the super hero persona that Tony had taken on ever since his return from captivity. There was no way to know what Scarlett’s motives were and she seemed to be incredibly sure of her ability to keep Tony at bay, even if it came to using force. While Pepper had found that amusing at first, now it worried her that the woman had some experience using such force on others.

“I went to Africa searching for another one of the companies that Obadiah had been working with… It’s one of the only companies that I haven’t been able to track down. I haven’t been able to discover where all those weapon shipments went or what they were used for. I finally found one of their facilities and when I went down there they instantly went on the offensive. They were waiting for me, Pepper.”

“What does this woman have to do with that?”

“She’s one of the only people I found alive in the wreckage. I think they were holding her prisoner there to build something. Now that I’m not supplying them with my weapons, where do you think they’re going to get their arsenal from? Steady shipments for God… how many years was Obadiah doing this behind my back? Behind dad’s? And now they have nothing.” Tony leaned against the wall near the stairway, tapping at the screen and zooming in on something.

“So you think that she was building weapons for them?” Pepper seemed instantly alarmed and glanced downstairs, wondering if Scarlett could hear their conversation.

“Against her will. When I found her, there was a guard from the company holding a gun pointed at her and threatening her to complete a contract of some kind. Not to mention there was a series of explosions that I had not been the source of when things got gritty down there.”

“You think she was the source of those explosions?”

“I can’t know without learning more about her. And I can’t know more about her if she’s in some hospital.”

“So you’re going to just keep her trapped down there until she gives you some information? And what if she never does? You can’t keep her there forever, particularly if she’s as dangerous as you seem to think she is.”

“I think she’s mad enough at this company to tell me something useful. If I can track them down them I can find my weapons and get rid of them. Not to mention bring these people to some kind of justice.” Tony scowled. It wasn’t often that Tony was completely serious, and even then he was usually still joking just a little bit or doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing. Pepper didn’t like it when Tony was serious.

“And what if you’re wrong about her, Tony?”

“I’m Iron Man. What do you think she’s going to do to me, huh?”

“Well, at the very least you can’t keep her prisoner in the lab. Let me fix up the guest room for her, please? So she can be taken care of. A little kindness can sometimes go a long way, Tony.”

“I know Pepper. Just… go ahead, do it. I don’t care. Set it up, I’ll let her stay, but make sure that Jarvis has the parameters set and doesn’t let her in any rooms other than the bathroom, her room and wherever I lead her. She… She told you her name, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, Scarlett Damien. Didn’t she tell you?”

“Good,” Tony chuckled. “She was so stubborn about it, she wouldn’t tell me no matter how many times I asked.”

“Maybe she has something to hide.”

“Oh, she has much more to hide than you and I could ever possibly guess. This woman has plenty… of unraveling to do. And I mean that in as many ways as you can imagine.”

“Tony, don’t get in over your head.” Pepper had grown used to ignoring sexual innuendos.

“Pepper, I’m always in over my head. It’s what I do.” Tony smirked and then turned the screen of his phone to her. “What do you think? Is that… Victoria’s Secret… page twenty three of the spring catalogue? Hmm…” Tony showed the video feed from his lab of Scarlett getting changed downstairs.

“Tony! You can’t do that to her!” Pepper reached for his phone but he swung it out of her reach before she could.

“Smart girl though, didn’t get completely naked at least. She knew I was going to watch her, relax,” Tony chuckled. Pepper knew he’d been too serious for his own good when really he’d just been concentrating on the video feed on his phone.

“You do realize that kidnapping is illegal right, Tony? You can’t just keep her a prisoner here! Particularly if you’re going to spy on her because that’s illegal too.”

“I know that Pepper, thanks for the reminder. God you sound like my lawyer sometimes.”

“I could get your lawyer to remind you if you like.”

“That won’t be necessary. She’s going to do some work for me.” Pepper watched her boss contemplate something far more complicated than he was actually going to share with her and then heaved a sigh and gave up.

“I’ll go set up the guest room.”

“Thanks, and order her those extra clothes. I want her to feel like she’s not actually being kidnapped.”

“How very generous of you.” Pepper rolled her eyes as she walked away, pulling her own phone back out of her jacket pocket, making notes and preparations.

Tony glanced down at the video feed on his phone once again, watching the lovely woman getting dressed into the slimming black gown that Pepper had loaned her. This woman had ice cold blue eyes and he was going to break through the wall he saw behind them and find out what she was hiding.

“Jarvis, hold off on the toast. I have plans.”

“Sir, that’s a bad idea.”

“When has that stopped me?”

“My apologies.” Jarvis complied.