Close Your Eyes

"Did you hear about Dasha and Tony?"

"No! What happened?"

"Apparently, Dasha is giving Stark the silent treatment; guess their relationship is going down in flames after all."

Someone scoffed in the group as they added, "Well, that relationship didn't last long."

Dasha grew irritated as she walked down the halls hearing the murmurs of her colleagues and interns gossip about her and Tony. It was the most childish thing she has ever seen in her life, suddenly it felt like high school all over again, except what the rumors they were spewing weren't true. She wasn't with Tony, never was nor will she ever will be.

Tony left her in the dust a few nights ago and feeling like a fool and unguarded she gained a sympathy ride from Pepper to her dismay. She didn't want sympathy from anyone and seeing that Pepper felt like she knew Dasha enough to assume that something went on with her and Tony made her blood boil. The doctor immediately shot down the idea that was forming in the red head's mind, "There is nothing going on between Stark and I. Nothing at all."

With all her might, she wanted to believe every ounce of what she said that night, but undiscovered emotions started to resurface again as she walked across the waiting room to see someone from the Army restate that they were stimulating a training exercise of some sort.

Dasha scoffed at the lie he spewed out, it was just another way of covering up whatever they were trying to obtain over there. Once the news was over, she frowned when the screen transitioned to a picture as the reporter stated, "A few nights ago, the famous and brilliant Tony Stark arrived at his own gathering with an unknown woman that has been spotted dangling on his arm in more than one occasion-"

She fumed as she stormed away from the waiting room towards the elevator; she had to clear her thoughts somehow. Her honey brown eyes avoided the mutters of the doctors once again as she pressed one of the buttons, hearing about the doubt they had in her as a surgeon as she took it as some kind of joke.

Dasha Cleo Swan never took her job as a joke!

Her blood pressure increased that day as two of her five patients of the day that needed surgery pointed out who she was, the woman that dangled on Tony Stark's arm. It was more of the parents, or the mothers that pointed this out. No one was taking her seriously, with jokes and laughter all directed at her, her mind couldn't bear being in the hospital anymore. After going over the surgery plans with every patient, she strolled into the chief's office as she blatantly said, "I need the day off."

"Excuse me?" Dr. Cooper took off his glasses as he peered up at the younger doctor in question, "Why do you need the day off for? You have a busy schedule today-"

"I already resituated everything and other surgeons were glad to take my position as attending of the operations." The chief pursed his lips as he folded his hands together in worry, "If this about the pictures that have been covering the news-"

"It's not." She rebutted.

The older doctor gave her a look, "If I may finish my sentence, Swan, you will see where I am going with this." Hearing the muttered apology from his employee, he continued, "I know this is about the pictures with you and Stark…honestly, don't worry about the press. Everything will smooth over after a while; some other celebrity will be covering the news in no time."

Dasha stared at Dr. Cooper, waiting for the next piece of advice he was going to give her, he sighed seeing that she didn't care about what he said on her situation, and all she cared about was whether or not she had the day off. "You are dismissed for the day Swan. See you in a couple of days."

Dasha grinned remembering her four to five day working schedule, today was her last day of work before taking those couple of days off in the weekend. Nodding her head, she quickly escaped before her boss would change his mind. With the next couple of days in mind and the wedding was tomorrow, everything will be in blow over just like he said. She hoped.

Her phone started to ring for the hundredth time that morning as she quickly glanced at the number; a look of disgust crossed her face before she jammed her phone into her lab coat once again. Dasha had enough of Tony Stark, he has been calling, leaving her annoying messages, luckily, he hasn't attempted to literally chase after her. Which was a good thing, Dasha wanted to focus on something more important than her conflicting feelings, the woman wanted to spend time with her niece before she handed her back to her poisonous mother since Ivy disapproved of the in her words 'rainbow wedding' that was going to commence tomorrow and didn't want her daughter to be exposed to that kind of behavior.

Ivy didn't want Willow to catch the gay.

Dasha made a mental note to add her input about her brother Elwin to Willow when they spent the day together. She didn't want her mother to fill that little girl's head with nonsense. As she picked her niece up from school, Willow skipped towards the car in excitement when Dasha told her that they were going to spend time at the zoo today.

"Come on Auntie Dasha! The giraffes wait for no one!"

Chuckling at her niece's excitement, she buckled in the little girl as she drove towards the zoo, spending the day like she was supposed to. Dasha felt a little more relaxed as she was tugged around by the six year old at the zoo, looking at certain animals before standing in front of the giraffe area for more than forty minutes as Willow looked up in awe.

She wouldn't lie and say that there were a few murmurs and fingers pointed at her, but Dasha ignored the assholes and paid attention to the only one that mattered, Willow. Dasha smiled as Willow squealed in joy as she hopped on the railing to get a closer look at the bear cubs playing with one another. At the end of the day, Dasha glanced back in the mirror as Willow cuddled with the stuffed giraffe that she bought her.

When Dasha pulled up in front of Ivy's house, she unbuckled her seatbelt and hoped that Ivy didn't have anyone over. She did send over a warning text that she was bringing her daughter home at a certain time and whoever she had over better be long gone when they arrived. Her dark brown eyes glanced at the curb to see if there were any cars parked, none so far. Opening the other side, she picked Willow up groaning in the process of the heavy six year old.

"I am way too old for this." She muttered as she tried to balance the bags that were sitting perfectly still in the trunk. Bending down to get them, she kept back a strain of breath to see that with Willow perched on her hip and the giraffe in her face, there was no way of grabbing the bags. Blindly, she snatched them up after a few minutes as she slowly closed the trunk as she headed up the driveway.

Walking up the steps Dasha rang the doorbell and almost immediately Ivy opened the door, without a word, she grabbed the bags from Dasha and tossed them aside before she demanded her child, "Give her to me."

Watching Ivy's shaky hands being held out for Willow, Dasha questionably glanced at Ivy before she side stepped into her sister's house, "No. I'm going to put her to bed. Now move before I knock you over." Seeing that Ivy blocked her way again from walking any further into her house, Ivy growled as she peered up at her older sister.

"I ain't afraid of you."

"Really? You ain't afraid?" Dasha challenged, "So you weren't afraid when I came home from the psychiatric ward after they deemed me mentally unstable? Because if I remember correctly, you wouldn't come near me for nearly four months and if you were ever left alone with me, you would cry bloody murder. So, say it again. I fucking dare you." As the doctor held her niece closely to her, she glared at the small woman that claimed she knew better.

Dasha was aware that Ivy has been afraid of her when she was a kid and knowing she was teased for having a crazy sister probably wasn't easy for her. Watching the anger wash away from her eyes and was replaced with fear and paranoia made the older sister feel a little bit better, seeing Ivy side step as cautiously as she could.

Stepping into Willow's room in victory, she tucked the little girl in as she pressed some of the curly hair down, "Good night Wills. I'll see you soon." Kissing Willow's temple as she heard her niece mumble something back, bumping into Ivy as she left the little girl's room, Ivy licked her lips as she said, "You better have said anything bad about me in front of her or show her any of your magic tricks because if she finds out how much of a freak you are, I'm calling the police."

Dasha scoffed as she stepped closer to Ivy, "I am so sick and tired of all your bullshit. Call the police, do whatever you want, but remember you can't undo the past and what I do isn't magic and you, dad, and Elwin all know that. You just can't admit it to yourself and treating your daughter like she is already some kind of freak isn't going to change the possibility of her becoming something you don't want her to be. It's so heartbreaking to see Willow loving you unconditionally despite you being a bitch to her and yet you can't even love her back. So grow up and be a mom. I'll you see later."

Despite her tough talk to Ivy, that woman was still her baby sister and she loved her dearly even if she got on her last nerve and wanted to rattle her for being so horrible to Willow. The haunting memories of Dasha's past started to resurface as she drove towards her home. It has been years since she has spoken about it and seeing Ivy pushing her buttons made her remind herself as to why Ivy was bitter towards her and Willow.

It was a sensitive topic for the Swan family and when Dasha finally came into grips with what she have become, she loved herself more for it. Her father was always the worrier and helped her disguise and become discreet about her true self while Elwin never talked about it and Ivy just kept her anger bottled in and showed this completely different side of her.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a few seconds before she recollected herself and continued to drive safely home.

_ _ _

Dasha smoothed out her maroon colored dress as she spun around to meet the eyes of her brother, Elwin. "Elwin." She breathed out; he still made her feel slightly uncomfortable as he wrapped his arms around her as he murmured how grateful he was for having her here. It has been way too long since they have seen each other face to face and doing it at his wedding was something she didn't expect.

"You look handsome by the way. Where's Darren?"

Elwin gave a nervous smile as he answered, "In one of the rooms inside, freaking out if I know any better. Can you give this to him?" holding out a walkie talkie for her to take, Dasha kindly smiled as she agreed, pecking her brother's cheek she gave him fair warning in advance that she brought their father as her plus one.

She can see how anxious he was for having his father at a ceremony he might not want to be a part of and when Dasha reassured him that Clyde did want to attend, Elwin gave her a look of uncertainty. No matter what she did, there would be no one that can make him reconsider his thoughts other than their father. Quickly, she bolted into the house as fast as she could with the black strappy heels that went along with the dress that Darren's sister picked out.

Dasha was more than content to see that the dress was simple looking, as the thick straps wrapped around the neck with the sweetheart neckline, a comfortable fit around her torso with a small bow on her left side with the chiffon part of the dress flared out down to her knees. Her hair was pinned up into an elegant bun with earrings and bracelet that Darren passed out a few hours before people started to gather for their ceremony. The woman panted as she reached the top of the stairs to see bridesmaids seeping out of one room, knowing the groom would be in there, she stepped in with a smile on her face.

"Darren?"

The beautiful blue eyed man glanced back in worry as he got up from his seat as he frantically grabbed Dasha's shoulders, "Please tell me that EJ didn't change his mind because I cannot stand it if he walked out on me now for cold feet!"

Pursing her lips to stop from laughing at the panic look that was stricken across his face, she shook her head, "No. He's still here. Elwin wanted me to give you this." Holding out the item that her brother gave to her, Darren looked at the device in confusion as he muttered, "He wanted me to have a walkie talkie? What kind of b-"

Darren paused as he heard his lover's voice on the other end, "I know that we can't see each other know because of rituals but nothing ever said we couldn't talk to one another. How are you holding up, babe?" watching Darren lit up, he bit his lip as the bridesmaids cooed around him how romantic this was. Dasha smiled as she heard Elwin's smooth voice help with Darren's anxiety, hearing her phone beep from her clutch, she scrambled for her phone to see that Tony's name lit up the screen.

Frowning, she turned off her phone before placing it back into her purse. "Who was it?" her attention was turned back towards the women and man in the room as they held curious eyes. "No one." She grumbled, "No one important." Watching their lips curl into grins.

"Boyfriend in the doggy house, I assume?" Darren teased, "Who was it? Oh yeah! That delicious Tony Stark billionaire that you kept from us, I can't believe you didn't tell us anything! We had to find out from the media!"

"I am not dating Tony Stark. Not in a million years."

Darren sucked his teeth before he clapped his hands, "I think me and the maid of honor needs some time alone. Ladies." Glancing at the other women who cleared the room with curious looks on their faces while Dasha and Darren stayed silent, the brunette woman made a noise of annoyance as she sat across from the groom.

"What's wrong sweet pea? You can tell Dare Bear anything."

Dasha quirked a brow at the nickname before she sighed heavily, "Nothing is wrong, I'm just so frustrated with Stark. He's just so…" she searched for a word to describe the billionaire, but found it hard to find just one word that summed up his whole personality.

"Dashing, good looking, and pompous, sexy, irritating, sex machine-" she clamped a hand over Darren as she heard the two words she would never put in a sentence that associated with Tony. "Most of those words aren't the ones I was looking for. I-" she paused feeling stuck again, "You feel dumped? Left alone when Tony promised to come back for you?"

Dasha floundered around as Darren sheepishly admitted that after her talk with her brother, he told Darren to get his perspective. The woman rolled her eyes; Elwin was great with advice, but horrible when it came to secrets or keeping things to himself.

"You like him." Darren cut off Dasha as he saw her trying to protest, "No! Dashaaaaa. No! You like him, end of story. Now you better call him back and fix whatever this is you got with that man. For once, a man is actually going after you; just let him catch you for once. Give him that…and if that doesn't work out at least have some crazy sex with him so you can tell me all about it."

Dasha fibbed, "Fine. I need a drink or something if I am going to do this."

Darren grinned as he wrapped his arm around Dasha, "That's all fine and dandy, but it's time for me to get married and you have to walk me down the aisle, member?" the maid of honor agreed as she looped her arm around the groom as they slowly walked down the stairs to see Elwin already marching down the aisle solo. When it was their turn, all eyes turned towards them as they saw the small group of friends and family smile at the happy union. Dasha smiled when she saw her father, Clyde sitting near the front. She looked around as discreetly as possible to see if Pepper made it to the ceremony.

Finally, reaching the end of the aisle, she sat down next to her father as they watched the ceremony with smiles on their faces. Dasha was a bit teary eyed by the end of the wedding as she watched her brother kiss his husband before she heard her father, "Now we can drink, looks like you need one too." Wiping the tears from Dasha's cheeks.

With wandering eyes, the slightly buzzed maid of honor was glad that her toast was over and done with. She may admit she might have fumbled with her words at the beginning, but once she looked at the loving couple that was holding hands, she couldn't help, but share that she hopes that one day she will be able to find someone like that as well. Dasha was a bit jealous seeing Elwin getting the happy ending she wanted for herself, but her career came first at the moment and seeing that she was heading toward her final year of residency, she was that much closer to getting what she wanted.

"That is a very lovely dress you are wearing. Surprised to see that they didn't pick a horrendous dress to make the grooms shine."

Dasha groaned at her short lived happiness as she turned to see Tony sitting right next to her, of course, he was persistent at getting what he wants. Seeing as Dasha has been the untouchable one for quite some time, he wouldn't be able to just let go of that factor. Sitting in silence, she huffed turning her chair away from him.

"Are you really going to give me the silent treatment, Dash? Because only couples do things like this." Tony smirked when he saw that she was about to protest on their relationship status that was nonexistent, chuckling, he grasped the chair with one hand as he dragged it closer to her. With the band playing and people dancing, they hardly heard the screeching noise the chair was making as it scratched the wooden floor.

"You are going to have to talk to me sometime, Dash. There is no reason that I deserve this sort of treatment when I have done nothing wrong."

Dasha clenched her jaw to stop her from exploding, he had done nothing wrong? Was he this stupid? Or did he really not remember? She halted in her thoughts as she repeated what she just said, wait, why was she acting like this? She shouldn't be pissed off at him because if there was any inclination that she had a sour attitude around him because he left her indicates that she has feelings for him, which she does not.

Dasha could not have feelings for Tony Stark.

Ignoring his one sided conversation that made her want to say something back as he added a few jabs to make her squirm, "I thought that picture of us on the news was quite funny. They didn't catch your good side-"

"Dasha." Her attention was finally relieved for a moment as one of the bridesmaid's spoke, "The band is ready for the first dance." Dasha stiffly nodded her head as she stood up from her chair, concentrating on the lyrics of the song she was going to sing. Stepping onto the platform of the stage, she smiled as she asked, "Would the two grooms please step forward for their first dance as husband and husband."

As she heard the first part of the song to start, Dasha took a deep breath as she saw the couple swaying back and forth as the words started to flow out of her mouth. Swaying her hips slowly to the song, her eyes caught the smirk on Tony's face as she scanned around the room to keep her emotions at bay. Right now, it was all about Elwin and Darren not Dasha and Tony. Once the song ended, Darren quickly made his way over to Dasha as he praised her for singing their song. "You did the song justice. Thank you so much! Now make amends with your man." Pushing her towards the direction of Tony.

Dasha planted her heels into the wooden floor before she spun right back around, "Actually, I thought I can squeeze a dance with my brother. May I?" Elwin sensed the urgency as he ushered his sister away from his husband. Spinning her around, he danced along with her as he asked what the matter with her was, she seemed a bit sketchy.

Narrowing her eyes, she hissed, "You told Darren. Out of everyone, you told Darren what we discussed? And why is Tony Stark here?" glaring at the billionaire before she looked back at her older brother who shrugged, "Beats me. Probably found out from someone else you told that you both know." The surgeon froze as she reminded herself that Pepper was nowhere to be found and Tony was sitting sipping whatever drink he had in his hand talking to her father…

Dasha quickly turned to see that her eyes weren't deceiving her; Tony is talking to her father. "Oh God." She groaned as she tried to hide her face. "What?" Elwin looked around the reception to see what could cause his sister to be stressed out until he saw the two men chattering away. "Well that can't be good." He muttered.

"To think that Dasha's father was the Clyde the Great never crossed my mind." Tony said as he sat across a legend. Clyde grinned, as he sipped his drink, "Better believe it…I wasn't aware that you knew my daughter. What are your intentions with her? Don't try to lie to me, I know how you are Mr. Stark, you have your way around women and if you think you can get into my daughter's pants, think again."

Tony knew first-hand what he was talking about, Dasha proved more than once that she easily say no to a man no matter his status. Also, now he knew why fighting came so naturally to the young brunette woman coming from a boxing legend like Clyde. "I have no bad intentions with your daughter. As a matter of fact, your daughter and I are together." Tony knew when to not step over his boundaries and seeing that Clyde still looked like he can easily take down the billionaire with one punch, he was careful what he said. Clyde was a legend for a reason and seeing that he still had his burly figure and tense stance, made him think that he should ease the older man with more drinks.

Clyde pursed his lips as he looked at Tony, "You and her? Together?" a chuckle came out of the father's lips before he muttered something under his breath. Tony asked what was so funny as Clyde's brown eyes sparkled in amusement, "Nothing. You just remind me of another white boy she dated a while back."

The billionaire was intrigued as to who else Dasha dated, but speak of the devil, Dasha quickly destroyed their little conversation as she pecked her father's cheek. "Dad, I see met Tony." Saying his name with little disgust as possible, the one thing her father taught her was not to be rude to anyone, well; he didn't have to know how she acted around Tony when her father wasn't present.

"I have. Dasha, why didn't you tell me you and Tony are dating?" a pique of interest entered his voice as he quirked a brow at his daughter.

Dasha looked shocked as she turned to Tony to give him a piece of her mind, but Tony quickly evaded as he grabbed her arm, "Why don't we go dancing, sweetheart?" escorting her to the dance floor with her father watching as he laughed at his daughter's discomfort. It has been years since he has meet anyone that interested her and seeing her taste in men were still the same, he shook his head, knowing their relationship wasn't all bubbly and sweet. "Just like her mama." He muttered as he watched the two swaying, Dasha with irritation etched on her face while Tony grinned in satisfaction.

The maid of honor was stuck. She didn't want to ruin her chances of getting fired from her job since Tony so kindly reminded her that he was her boss as well and had the power to terminate her contract with the hospital if he wanted to. "I hate you." She grumbled.

"Didn't we go over this already? All that love that you have for me has been mistaken for hate all this time." A smirk fell upon his lips before he quickly leaned in, "Has Obadiah visit you since the party?"

It was Dasha's turn to feel confused as she leaned back to see that he was serious about his question, she answered in the same tone he had, "No, he hasn't. Why?" She listened for his answer, but he wrapped his arm tighter around her as he pressed his lips near her ear, "If you ever see him. Don't talk to him and always have someone with you."

"What are you talking about? Why? I'm not afraid of that pig headed man." Dasha was offended that Tony clearly didn't understand that she knew how to take care of herself. Frowning, Tony halted their swaying as he stood face to face with her, "Just trust me on this. For once, Dasha!"

Staring into his dark brown eyes, she wondered if she could ever trust him. Dasha was aware that Obadiah was a snake and would do anything to get anywhere he wanted. It was quite obvious that someone of his caliber would want full reign of the Stark Industries and seeing that when Tony was gone, there was feign of loss in his voice when she confronted him about the donations to the hospital.

"I have to go check on the cake." That was her stupid excuse as she pulled away from Tony's grasp and walked away to be anywhere, but there.