Close Your Eyes

Dasha went through a series of events after she was let go from the hospital. Now that she was out of work, she had a difficult time actually landing a job, she thought it would be easy after getting recommendations from her colleagues at her old job, but even that didn't help much. No one was willing to hire her. Dasha knew her ex-boss Dr. Cooper shared the news with every hospital in the county about her 'work ethics'.

She seethed when she had someone expressed that they didn't want to hire some hoodlum from the streets that let's their patients released without any consent. It felt like everyone was conspiring against her to not finish her residency, but then one person who was willing to pull some strings kept insisting to work for him.

Dasha refused to work for Tony, what was the point of working for him when all she would be doing was follow him and bandage a few paper cuts and abrasions that he would get from boxing. Sadly, Tony didn't let it go so easily; he confirmed that he pulled some strings and had the board of medicine consent of her finishing her residency while working with him. Her response was, "What would that do for me? I would have no training while working for you."

"You will have all the experience you would need in order to work for me. That's all that matters."

Dasha scoffed, but took the job since no one was willing to hire her. It pissed her off that she had to turn to her very last resort and she didn't think she would turn to him so soon. Especially now that Tony stupidly admitted he is Iron Man, countless photographers and media surrounded him even more wherever he went and since Tony was her boss yet again, she had to follow him like a lost puppy.

Tony had a hold on Dasha, dragging her to the Expo saying that he needed his personal doctor to be ready if he suddenly crashed and combusted on scene. He even added that now being his girlfriend, she needed to support in everything he did. She rolled her eyes at the thought of him randomly combusting, muttering obscenities, she watched the sky as Tony made his grand entrance with the dancers flaunting their bodies behind him.

"What an idiot." She murmured as she sat backstage watching the expo begin and with a few hours under her belt, she yawned when she was dragged around as Tony was now more than some rich boy, he was a superhero. Dasha smiled lightly when a few kids asked Tony to sign their posters, one of them asked, "Is she your girlfriend?" pointing at Dasha.

Just when she was about to protest that she was no way in a relationship with that imbecile in the nicest way possible, Tony beat her to the punch as he answered, "She sure is. Isn't she lovely?" pecking her cheek. Her eyes widened in anger as flashes blinded her.

Why do these things happen to her? Didn't she already gone through enough suffering? Adding the title of being Tony's girlfriend was something she did not want to deal with and seeing the smiles of the paparazzi and shouting questions towards Tony and herself, she ignored them, staying silent. There was no way she was going to open her mouth, they were snakes and would twist whatever she said into something news worthy. She didn't care if there were pictures showing her angry at Tony, Dasha couldn't deal with being romantically involved with Tony.

Especially, what happened when Tony was in the hospital.

Her cheeks suddenly felt warm as she remembered the three words that he said to her. It shouldn't have affected her so much, but every time she was alone, his voice would plague her mind. "I love you." Those stupid words had sent her heart racing every time she heard them echo in her mind, it was driving her crazy that she might be falling for this idiot.

The young woman has never felt so disgusted with herself. How could this possibly happen? Dasha has done everything to make sure that she kept him at a hundred foot radius of her. Maybe she should increase the radius to two thousand.

Coming back to reality, she felt Tony's arm around her waist pulling her towards the sports car. Dasha rolled her eyes at the expensive car that had no use to her, she couldn't see what was so special about having such nice car that only had two seats. Dasha was more practical and wouldn't get a car with at least four seats, Tony opened the passenger car door for her. "After you." Staring at him wearingly, she climbed in, but without him smacking her bottom playfully.

Once she sat down, she glared at Tony, "You are going to pay for that." She hissed.

Tony chuckled, "Darling, there is nothing you can do that can hurt me." kissing her cheek to piss her off even more, she scooted away from him, maneuvering away from him as he tried to go in for another kiss. Dasha quickly punched his arm in return. They were interrupted when a woman walked alongside the car. Dasha drowned out their conversation since Tony seems to be flirting with the woman in front of him. Dasha perked up when she heard subpoena and the woman holding out a file of paperwork towards Tony.

Aware of Tony's pet peeve, Dasha grabbed the papers, scanning through the paper work, she heard Tony ask her the distance it was from Flushing, New York to Washington D.C. as she answered him with a quick estimate, they left the woman behind as they headed out to their destination.

~~.~~

Dasha exhaled through her nose as she sat a couple of rows behind Tony, right next to Pepper. His body was twisted around as he paid more attention to Dasha than the court filled with people from the government. "Turn around." Dasha mouthed. Tony refused to listen as he shook his head and pointed to her cleavage and wiggling his eyebrows.

Scoffing, she muttered, "What a fucking child." She buttoned up her shirt to block his view in resulted him pouting.

"Mr. Stark, please."

Finally, Tony turned around with a smug answer, "Yes dear?"

Senator Stern, clasped his hands together as he eyed Tony, "Can I have your attention?" When Tony consented, Stern comfortably sat in his chair as he fired away his next question, "Do you or do you not possess a specialize weapon."

Dasha stared at the back of Tony's head as he leaned in towards the microphone to answer, "I do not."

"You do not?"

"I do not…well it all depends on how you define the word weapon." Dasha leaned back on her chair as the debate of the Iron Man suit was an issue that can lead to mass destruction and a danger to society. While Tony denied it was a weapon of destruction, instead, it was to be protection for their country.

Despite what Dasha thought of Tony, he was right about one thing. The Iron Man suit has done nothing, but good; it was the only thing that was personally designed by Tony that she would defend. As the debate between Tony and Stern continued, with the laughs from Tony's remarks from the crowd, Dasha grew irritated with Senator Stern's voice. The pompous ass would not let the subject go, he persistently stated that the Iron Man suit should be turned over to the government.

"I'm no expert in weapons, but we do have somebody here who is. I will now call Justin Hammer-" Dasha pried her eyes away from Tony as she shook her head at his retort towards the Senator. Her eyes flickered over to the man as he sat down with Tony spewing that Justin was no expert. No other words that were exchanged between the two were silenced as she focused on Justin with her only thought being, Holy shit.

Following his every movement, Justin's meaningless speech went right through her as she caught his gaze when he walked towards his seat. His hazel eyes held a sparkle as a soft grin settled on his thin lips before he sat down. Dasha fidgeted in her seat as old anger started to resurface.

Don't let it get to you. Don't let that jackass get to you.

The turn of events happened when prototypes from Hammer Industries were displayed on the screen courtesy to Tony Stark. Dasha raised an eyebrow at the failed prototype. The Senator was obviously losing the debate as Tony riled up the crowd, once again proving his point that he secured America with his creation. Sending a few kisses towards the senator, he dismissed himself as he walked out of the courtroom pleased with himself.

"That was eventful." Pepper muttered towards Dasha who muttered in agreement.

Dasha stayed silent as she felt someone burning holes through her skull, focusing her gaze on the person to see it was Justin again. Rolling her eyes, she stood up from her seat as she excused herself with the rest of the crowd.

~~.~~

Now that she was back at home, she was fully rested as she lay in bed for hours at a time. It drove her insane to be Tony's lackey. She did absolutely nothing when she 'worked' for Tony, to keep herself occupied, she started her taekwondo exercises later than usual since she didn't have to work around her schedule to keep her body in shape. During her time to herself, she glanced at the clock to see that it was about that time to drive over to Tony's house.

Usually Dasha would arrive early for work, but now that she didn't have such a serious job, she took the liberty to arrive whenever she pleased. Relaxing for a few more hours before she got ready, she drove to Malibu and walked through the front door with the key that Tony gave her. When she received the key, it also came along with the girlfriend comment he added into everything he said.

Entering the garage where Tony was working, his eyes were glued to the screen as he said, "You're late again."

"Get used to it." Dasha retorted as she sat down in a random chair completely bored out of her mind, "Is there anything for me to do today because if not then I'll just run some errands."

"Actually there is." Dasha lifted her head up as she raised a brow, "Be a doll and make me some lunch. I'm a bit hungry…and don't make me that girly crap that you fixed yourself last time."

She rolled her eyes, "It's called a salad, idiot." Tony waved her off as he pointed towards the door commanding her to make him a sandwich. Dasha stayed in her seat as she muttered, "I am not making you lunch." She didn't care that she was acting like a child, she didn't want to be a servant to Tony, but when she remembered the pay checks, a lot more money that she was receiving from the hospital.

As she was walking out of the garage, Tony shouted, "Remember to add the Lays in my sandwich this time!" clenching her fists together, she cursed under her breath as she stomped up the stairs. Never in her life has she cursed so much for being around just one person. It would take a cluster of people for her to get annoyed, but Tony has that special place in her heart that made her skin crawl.

The work that Tony has been issuing to Dasha was more than demeaning, it was domestic work. She didn't go to medical school, had a year of internship and four years of residency at the hospital to become a surgeon to stoop so low as to making sandwiches to make ends meet. Dasha grew desperate since she didn't want to lose the apartment that she lived in nor did she not want her father to worry about her in any way. When Clyde discovered that his oldest daughter lost her job, she received the longest lecture in her entire life. Her father was confused as to why she was let go since she reassured him every time she saw him that she was doing great at the hospital.

She settled her father's nerves when she told him that she landed a job, Clyde asked where and she fibbed, "I work at a smaller hospital." Dasha went on to say that it worked out all for the best since she was personally training one on one with an attending, but she worked more hours since it was a smaller staff. Clyde was happy to hear the great news, but was worried about her working more hours than she did at her old job. Reassuring him, Dasha promised not to work herself too hard and pace herself when the time came.

Wandering down the halls of the house that had more windows than her apartment and her families houses combined, she decided to make herself lunch procrastinating her task. Buttering a roll, she sat on the stool as she bit into the piece of bread as she idly watched television on the side.

"Procrastinating again, are we Dasha?"

The doctor glanced back to see Pepper walking towards the kitchen with a smirk on her face, Dasha had a grin of her own as she stabbed her fork into the salad that she prepared for herself, "Always am, Pep. Anything I can help you with since I am stuck with domestic duties?" taking a sip of her water, Pepper sat down beside the woman as she answered.

"I don't think it's wise to ignore Tony's requests. He can be a handful when he wants to be."

"I'm not scared of him. He should be scared of me."

Pepper situated herself on the stool, "He already does…" Pepper stayed silent as she watched Dasha eat her food without a care in the world. It was clear that Dasha was annoyed with the billionaire as Dasha's jaw tightened whenever she chewed on her food more forcefully than she should. Suddenly, Dasha averted her gaze towards the red head to see a bit of confliction expressed through her eyes.

"Is there something you want to talk about?"

Pepper sniffled, which Dasha offered her a napkin, quietly she thanked her before responding, "Has Tony…been acting strange around you?"

Dasha took an orange from the fruit bowl and started to peel off the skin, the citrus smell waft in the air as she replied, "He always acts strange. Tony is a strange man." Dasha didn't know where this was going as she saw worried etched on Pepper's face. "What is it? Did something happen?" concern ripped through her as a frown replaced her blank expression, "Did Tony do anything to you? Because if he did, just give me the word and I will pummel-"

"Tony appointed me to CEO of Stark Industries." Pepper blurted out.

Dasha's bottom lip hung in shock, "What? Is he out of his freaking mind?"

Pepper agreed as confusion flooded her face, "I have no idea why he would do such a thing, but lately he has been acting more than strange." Dasha pursed her lips as memories flashed through her mind, now that she thought about it, Tony has been a little bit touchier than he usually was. Tony pressed on the girlfriend topic more and he kept her close as possible which was slightly weird, but then again, he would do anything to get her mind racing.

"You're right. I'll see what I can find." Dasha handed Pepper the peeled orange, "Drink lots of liquid and make sure you eat." Dasha quickly made Pepper some tea to soothe her sore throat before she jogged down the stairs towards Tony's play pen as she would like to call it.

Once the door opened, Tony asked in his annoying voice, "Where's my sandwich?"

"Upstairs."

"Figures." Tony muttered before he patted his leg, "Why don't you be a good girl and sit on daddy's leg?" Dasha narrowed her eyes, clearly annoyed at Tony's jokes.

"If you don't have anything for me to do then I'll just spend my time with Pepper."

Tony rolled his eyes, "And why would I want you to spend more time with Pepper. She already takes most of your time and besides, she's sick and I don't want my beloved girlfriend to come down with something. So, this is your task, make sure I stay sick free. Think you can handle it, lemon drop?"

Dasha scowled, "What is it with these ridiculous nicknames? Are you getting dumber as the days pass or am I just special?"

"Darling, you are the apple of my eye. Of course, you're special."

Then there was that tense pregnant pause. Dasha tapped her foot on the floor as she focused on her breathing and nothing else. She shouldn't get so riled up over someone like Tony, she was better than this. Dasha was a professional woman and losing her temper was something she rarely did.

"What is your personal view of running your own practice?"

Dasha raised a brow, before she thought her answer over, "Well, I never thought of running one, but seeing that I can't get a job around this damn area…running my own practice seems like the only possible way of continuing my medical career. Why?"

Tony scratched his beard as he questioned, "Would you be angry if I started the process of building your own practice?"

Her mind went blank as she stared at Tony in awe, Pepper was right. He was acting strange, "Why are you doing this?"

"Why? Can't I do anything nice for my girlfriend?" Dasha glared at the title which she didn't claim for herself, taking a few steps closer to the billionaire, she narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"What do you get out of this? Are you trying to get me to be in your debt or some crazy shit like that?" Tony feigned a hurt expression as he laid a hand over his heart, expressing how deeply wounded he was that she assumed such horrible thoughts.

"I'm doing this out of love, darling. Nothing else." There he goes again with the whole love thing. It was too much to handle for her sometimes. Just having him say it made her have hot flashes, stretching out her navy blue button up neckline, she averted her gaze towards the floor.

"Stop saying that."

"Stop saying what?" Tony pretended not to know what she was talking about as he furrowed his brows for emphasis.

Dasha seethed as her fists curled tightly, "You know exactly what I am talking about." Tony shrugged his shoulders, expressing he didn't know what she was talking about. Why did he have to be so childish? He wanted her to say it. The word that she was trying to avoid this whole time, flustered, she huffed, "You know what? Forget it." Spinning on her heel, she quickly stormed out of the garage as she heard Tony those words that were poison to her ears.

"Love you!"