Hollow Scars

Screaming suddenly roused Scarlett from her slumber. Her mouth was so dry she gagged painfully and when she made an attempt to lick her lips and wet her mouth she found them cracked and bloody. Sitting up slowly, she felt every part of her ache with soreness she hadn’t felt in years or at least soreness she thought she hadn’t felt in years. Vision blurred and head pounding from dehydration Scarlett had a very difficult time convincing her neck to actually properly support her skull the way that it was supposed to. Blinking her dry and stinging eyes, eventually she was able to see into the darkness of the cold and dreadfully familiar cell she’d spent far too long in.

Closing her eyes again instinctively to hide from the gruesome realization Scarlett repeated over and over again that it had to be a dream and couldn’t possibly be real. Her voice was scratchy and her hands were trembling due to sickness and malnutrition. The screaming from the next room was far too real to be a dream, but she knew it had to be. It’d been over a year since she’d broken out of that place and she’d healed with time and moved on with her life. Even though things with MedCo had gone sour afterward, it was still better than ending up back here.

If that was the case then why was she back? Surely it must have been some dastardly ploy of her subconscious to torture her in the darkest regions of her mind. Slowly opening her eyes again, Scarlett discovered that her arms were chained to the cot in the room with archaic looking shackles. The cot had been the only bit of furniture she’d been allowed to keep. Observing her surroundings Scarlett tried to recall what had happened while she’d been held captive but her memory of that time was foggy. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to remember it, it was that her mind wasn’t letting her out of protection of her psyche. The only time that she relived moments of the hell she’d experienced in Afghanistan was when she slept and her mind was vulnerable. Despite knowing she had to be in a dream, fear crippled her logical mind and allowed the nightmare to continue.

Slowly and cautiously, Scarlett lifted her head and leaned it against the metal frame of the cot once the pain in her pounding skull was too unbearable. She’d taken to sleeping on the floor because it was better for her back, particularly considering the abuse her body had been through. The cot was barely comforting and more often than not she had wound up poked and prodded by rebellious springs, or with new aches and pains caused by the bars beneath the thin mattress. How many times had she attempted escape from her prison cell at that point? Eventually her bed had been taken away too and she’d been left with nothing but chains and torture due to her rebellious nature.

Even beaten and broken, Scarlett wasn’t exactly the type to give up while she still had strength in her bones and air in her lungs. The only thing she lived for in that prison was escape. But something was different from the time she’d spent in the prison over a year ago. The screaming was different. Before then she’d never had any inclination that anybody else had ever been held captive outside of her. But someone was screaming in pain, their voice sounding as scratchy and horrified as Scarlett’s had when it was her turn to suffer. The voice was familiar but she refused to believe there was any truth to who she thought it was.

Whoever it was, she needed to help them. It was a new goal, something she could focus on outside of her illness and escape. Slowly getting to her feet, having to hunch over thanks to the shackles, Scarlett fell immediately back onto the cold floor. Her feet were bloodied and torn apart. The bottoms of them had been recently slashed open after another escape attempt as punishment.

Lying with her face on the cold stone floor she maneuvered so she could see her bloodied feet and determine the damage that had been done to them. She remembered very clearly when that had first been done to her and hated the visual reminder of how awful her feet looked. Open gaping flesh in desperate need of stitches, reflected back at her. It would take weeks for them to heal properly and even then they would never quite feel the same. Scar tissue on the bottom of her feet would constantly remind her of the horrible things done to her. Nothing short of reconstructive surgery would’ve helped and thankfully she’d been able to afford to do that.

“Damnit…” Cursing she closed her eyes and tried to find the strength to walk on battered feet. Her wrists were sore and bloody from being shackled so frequently but in comparison to her feet felt like nothing. The screams from the next room shook her to the bone again. Covering her ears she whimpered to try and make the sound stop, but it only got louder as she tried to hide from it. The shouting came from every direction, and seemed to be taunting her on purpose.

The voice was unmistakable, she could no longer deny it, and she’d never forget the haunting sound of the man she loved in pain and misery surrounding her. Tony was somewhere in the next room and something terrible was being done to him because of what she’d gotten him involved in. Determination renewed for her lover, Scarlett pushed herself to sit up again and got to her knees at long last. Her feet were throbbing as the scabs that had formed while she rested pulled apart and blood dripped over the sensitive skin and onto the floor. She swore she could hear each droplet on the stone beneath her and feel the knife slashing over the skin slowly again. The wounds had been made methodically to prove a point.

Reaching for the cot, Scarlett found one of the springs that was sticking through the mattress and started to pull. Her fingers were raw from various escape attempts, nails cracked and hands trembling from lack of nutrition. Vision blurred again thanks to the pain in her feet, she carried on regardless. Scarlett would go to any extremes in order to save Tony. There would never be a doubt in her mind that she would do whatever she needed to do to help him. It struck her at that moment that when Scott’s life had been on the line there had been times when she’d considered forfeiting his life for the greater good.

But unlike Scott, there was nothing that was worth more than Tony’s life to Scarlett, and it was a weird sort of feeling in the pit of her stomach that bottled up as she realized it. Finally her callused fingers managed to free the rebellious spring. It took some effort but she managed to straighten it enough that she was able to place it in the lock of her shackles. Closing her eyes and leaning her head against the uncomfortable mattress, she tried to coach herself with reminders that none of what she was experiencing was real so that when she stood up the pain she felt wouldn’t knock her right back down onto the ground.

The spring was unnaturally sharp and cut at her fingertips. The groaning of stone and metal drew her attention. Walls were closing in on her and the urgency within her heightened dramatically. It was hard enough to pick a lock without the proper tools, nonetheless something as archaic and rusted as the shackles used to confine her. Adjusting her wrists, Scarlett grimaced when something scratched against her flesh and the shackles tightened. The metal shifted and changed. Scarlett hurried picking the lock on her shackles with the spring she’d straightened out and tried to ignore the grip of panic on her heart.

Just in time, she managed to open the lock and slip her wrists free of the manacles that had developed fangs and were chomping now on nothing but air. Scarlett’s heart was racing in her chest as she tried to ward off the hallucinations from the fever plaguing her. Sweat dripped down her brow and her stomach churned. It was funny; she hadn’t felt the symptoms of illness until she’d recalled how ill she’d been while being held captive. Still hearing the threatening chomping of the shackles she’d discarded, she glanced down at them and sighed. Whatever nightmarish game her subconscious was playing, it wasn’t going to disappear simply because she wanted it to.

Bracing herself for the pain she’d feel, Scarlett used the cot and the wall to help get to her feet. She saw stars and cried out in pain as the broken bottoms of her feet rubbed against the ground. Hunching forward and cursing, she punched the wall in frustration only to find that the shackles had returned to their place around her wrists, no longer imprisoning her to the bed if nothing else. Thankfully the diabolical teeth had disappeared. Surprised she looked down at the place on the floor where she’d discarded the shackles and saw them missing.

Cursing and slamming her hands against the stone wall, Scarlett nearly collapsed on the floor out of frustration.

“Wake up! Wake up! Wake the hell up!” Scarlett gripped her hair and whimpered in misery. Eventually she was able to get control of her emotions and exhaled deeply. The sounds of screaming from the other room started up again, sounding more pained and miserable than they had previously. Scarlett’s legs finally crumbled beneath her. Covering her ears she shook her head and tried to drown out the sound of Tony’s screaming. “God damnit!” Scarlett opened her eyes once the screaming ceased and looked down at the restraints on her wrists. Resolutely she got to her feet again, using the spring to once more break the lock on the shackles she’d earlier discarded.

Throwing them behind her in hopes they wouldn’t mystically return, she limped forward, having to drag her right bloodied foot toward the surprisingly open door of her cell. They had done that to her several times during captivity, to taunt her, shoving it in her face that she couldn’t get away even with the door open and the way clear. Turning the corner outside of the cell in search of the room where Tony was being kept and tortured, Scarlett continued down the hall, eventually able to put pressure on her right foot without collapsing. The screaming continued, echoing further away than it had been before. It seemed the sound wanted her to chase it.

Lights flickered overhead in the hallway then turned off one by one until she was left standing alone beneath a singular light. Scarlett turned around in a circle, searching for the source of footsteps all around her. Taking a chance and gritting her teeth as she prepared for pain, she ran from the light and through the shadows as fast as she could. Her feet were throbbing miserably and starting to numb. Eventually they gave out underneath her and she fell flat on her face, sliding to a stop a few feet from where she’d tripped.

Immediately she pushed herself back up so she could keep going despite the pain she was in but stopped when she realized the hallway she was in had changed. The walls were white but marred with specks of blood. In the center of the room was a table and Scarlett was terrified to see what was on top of it. Sitting carefully up she confirmed her fears, finding Tony strapped to the table, electrodes attached to his hands and feet, shocking him and putting his arc reactor into overdrive. It was only a matter of time before it gave out and shrapnel in his chest reached his heart.

He was bleeding from various wounds on his flesh and screaming in misery. Scarlett immediately got to her feet but as she did she felt something grab onto her ankle and pull her further away. The pain in her feet suddenly magnified. Glancing down to find the source Scarlett saw her feet were bathed in shadow. Whatever was pulling her wanted to remain unseen. Gripping at the floor she scratched and tugged, attempting to crawl away. The force was too strong, the shadows started to overtake her.

The same shadow was growing on the other side of the room, where Tony was crying out in horror and suffering. Something in the shadows seemed to be causing him more severe trauma. Scarlett clawed at the floor, her nails breaking and bleeding as she struggled against the unseen force in her subconscious. Tony’s cries got louder and louder, more miserable and desperate. He was screaming out for her to help him, to save him and asking her why she wasn’t there for him when he needed her. Try as she might, she couldn’t reach him and she couldn’t save him.

Scarlett broke down into tears on the floor, still desperately trying to pull forward so she could save him.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry… Tony, I’m sorry!” She should’ve never gotten him involved in her mess. Sometime over the last few months he’d become the most important thing in her life and the only constant in the mix of confusion that had built up around her. He was all she’d had and she had never had something worth losing before in the past. Tony’s voice started to fade, choke and disappear. He was dying and there was nothing she could do to save him.

Tony jumped awake, startled, when something pushed at him hard from the next to him in bed. Sitting immediately upright and searching around the dark hotel room with wide eyes, he tried to regain his senses and find the source of the bump that had interrupted his slumber. In the pale blue glow of his arc reactor, he could see only Scarlett who was tossing and turning miserably in bed next to him. She’d apparently hit him in her sleep and was struggling against some form of nightmare. He’d seen her have terrible nightmares before but had never been in a position to do anything about it until then.

Looking around the room and trying to consider what he should do, since Tony didn’t often have the opportunity to comfort anyone and no one had ever been there to comfort him through his nightmares, he stared blankly into the darkness. Maybe he was over thinking it. It wasn’t that confusing a situation. Scarlett was still tossing and turning next to him despite his indecision. Reaching to wrap his arms around her instinctively when she whimpered, he pulled her close to him so she’d stop rolling and twitching if nothing else. Maybe if he could get her to lay still and relax, she’d calm down and the dark thoughts would cease to be.

She winced like she was in pain when he grabbed and Tony again widened his eyes in surprise. There was a scrape on her arm from the battle the night before at the abandoned town but it wasn’t severe enough to get that sort of a reaction from her. Carefully, Tony adjusted her in the bed urged her to rest her head against his shoulder. At first she resisted, but it only took seconds for her to relax and lean against him.

Her skin was warm and clammy, and she was dripping with sweat. Tony was only momentarily disgusted by the idea of her sweat against him until he’d realized that what had put them to sleep had the same result and he shrugged it off. Somehow sweat seemed different transferred in the heat of their lovemaking than it did for restless sleep. Leaning his head down against hers gently, he heard her mumbling something in her sleep and perked up.

“What was that, baby?” Tony whispered, trying to coax some information about what she was struggling with. A smile formed on his lips as he considered she would likely give him a hard time for giving her a pet name.

“It hurts,” She muttered, barely audible despite being so close to Tony.

“What hurts?” His curiosity was getting the better of him. He knew that she’d never tell him what had happened in her past that was now plaguing her in her nightmares if he flat out asked. How could she possibly tell him something so obviously intimate if she was still learning to deal with it? Maybe when she’d been in MedCo’s clutches her conditions had been worse than she’d let on. Something told him that it was a completely different situation. While he had no proof, his gut was telling him that it had very little to do with her time spent in South Africa working for MedCo.

“I can’t…” Her body was shaking from head to toe, no longer comforted by his touch. Unsure if she was cold or having some sort of reaction to her nightmare, Tony pulled the sheets higher around her so she was covered and hoped it would help keep the chill out of her bones.

“Yes you can, Scarlett.”

“…so much pain…” Tony looked away and sighed quietly, trying not to think about what could’ve been done to her to make her so miserable. And yet he couldn’t stop thinking about it either. He was reminded of when she’d had the burn on her leg tended to in his mansion. She’d never complained or made so much as a peep despite how horribly painful the process had to have been. There had to be a considerable amount of pain inflicted upon her for her to complain about the torture in her sleep.

Carefully Tony adjusted her, slipped her out of his arms and rested her flat on the bed. Climbing out from beneath the comforters, he pulled his boxers that had been discarded the night before back on. Walking over to the closet, he pulled out one of the hotel robes and draped it over his shoulders, tying it loosely to drive out the cold from the air conditioner. Slowly he gathered his clothing and hers and placed them in lazy piles on the floor. Eventually he was able to find his phone amongst the clothing that was strewn about the room.

Discarding the multiple messages from Pepper and Rhodey that popped up, Tony flipped open the crystal clear screen and disabled the sound so that he wouldn’t wake Scarlett who still looked tortured in her sleep. Part of him wanted to wake her up and stop her suffering, but the other part of him knew she needed rest.

“Jarvis, I need you to read her vitals again for me.” Tony walked over to the bed and held the phone up so it could get a clear picture of where his girlfriend was resting. A few seconds later Jarvis was displaying results on the screen, letting him know of her elevated temperature, erratic breathing and raised heart rate. Closing the screen after having taken in the information, Tony sat down on the edge of the bed and contemplated just how long she’d been sick and not telling him.

Then again, she had told him that she’d experienced motion sickness on the plane and had been throwing up. Tony guessed it was more than that and partially wondered if she knew it was anything worse. Pulling the blanket up and around Scarlett, he got back up from the bed and considered what could be bothering her in her dreams. Maybe he could get a doctor to come up to the hotel room to take a look at her in the morning if he could convince her to stay. She hadn’t needed any alcohol to convince her to stay the night before, so he was hoping that battling with her and proving he could hold his own in dangerous situations had done something to relieve the fear she felt.

But if he called a doctor, he wondered if doing so would violate her trust. She’d gotten angry with him for calling the shots and dragging her away from the abandoned village before she was ready, even if he was still sure that he’d made the right call. No, he’d try to convince her to see a doctor if it got any worse. Their relationship had taken weeks to develop and only because the two had been so intent upon keeping secrets and telling lies. It wasn’t going to be easy for Tony to play fair, but he figured it wasn’t easy for Scarlett to do so either and she was obviously trying.

Picking up the bag that he’d discarded when undressing Scarlett earlier that night, Tony set it on the table and considered going through it. What was the harm? He had just decided to play fair; digging through his girlfriend’s private things when she was sick and asleep probably wasn’t considered a trustworthy action. But curiosity got the better of him again. It wasn’t that he wanted to pry.

Well, maybe it was because he wanted to pry.

[a name="here"][/a] Tony emptied the contents of the bag onto the table carefully and quietly. There was a 9mm handgun, extra ammunition, a hunting knife in its sheath, her cell phone and a worn old notebook tied up with string. It was exactly what he’d expected to find in his Bond girlfriend’s bag, except for the files she’d stolen from Agent Pierce. He’d been hoping to get them back so that the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent wouldn’t get in any trouble with her superiors. Of course, he would only do such a thing to keep Scarlett out of trouble and Coulson off of his ass. Once S.H.I.E.L.D. really started dipping their fingers in the ink it’d be a mess of paperwork and men in black suits.

As he opened the notebook to see if Scarlett had written any of her discoveries about MedCo down or anything concerning her ailing health, he heard a whimper from the bed. Turning his attention toward where Scarlett was once again tossing and turning, Tony felt guilty for going through her things. He knew he should crawl back in bed and comfort her but he felt that it was important to pry a little into his girlfriend’s secrets. Still, he watched Scarlett to make sure she’d be okay. If she got sick in her sleep or started shouting he’d return to her and abandon her notebook.

What could’ve happened to Scarlett to burden her with such terrible nightmares, he wondered. Being practically a secret agent for a good chunk of her life had surely led her into some nasty situations, so he wasn’t entirely surprised that her past was catching up with her. But what was so terrible and so painful that she couldn’t sleep without night terrors and mumbled about being in excruciating pain? He tried to think back on the times where she’d actually been honest with him when she’d stayed in his home. It had turned out that most of her stories had been the truth, rather than fabricated in order to gain his trust.

When she’d confessed to what had actually happened with MedCo, when she’d been hired by them under the guise of advancing medical technology and making it more readily available for underfunded countries, she’d mentioned something that led Tony to believe that was what her nightmares were about. She’d said the only reason that she’d taken the job with MedCo that had been offered to her on multiple occasions had been because of Scott’s urging. And Scott had urged her to take the job so that she would settle down and live a more normal life.

Tony caught himself glaring at the thought of her ex-boyfriend. Even the notion of him left a bitter taste in his mouth. He’d bet on his fortune that Scott had been up to something, how else would his life have been spared by MedCo when he’d been used as bait to keep Scarlett at bay? It suddenly struck Tony that Scott’s hands might have been dirtier than he’d suspected on earlier occasions. Addressing his phone again, he sent a message to Pepper asking her to have Jarvis run a background check for information on Scott Aaronson in conjunction with Scarlett Damien.

Continuing on his thoughts after setting down his phone next to Scarlett’s, he sighed and recalled that Scarlett had mentioned once that something happened to her on a job that had caused her to reconsider her career choice. It had to have been something that really shook her in order for her to give up that lifestyle. Tony could tell how much Scarlett loved what she did and how damn good she was at it. Someone as stubborn as his lover wasn’t going to quit without something earth shattering happening. He couldn’t imagine what would have to happen to him to have him give up what he loved.

Notebook in his hands, he stopped when he realized he knew exactly what had happened to him that had made him change who he was. Being kidnapped in Afghanistan, tortured, and forced to build one of his missiles against his will had changed his entire life. Had something horrible happened to Scarlett on one of her jobs? Something horrific enough that she’d be willing to change everything about who she was so it wouldn’t happen again? Tony suddenly understood why she was so afraid to let him help her. Every time she’d abandoned him in a hotel room half naked seemed like an act of protection rather than a stubborn decision by a woman bent on going it alone.

Tony turned his attention to the journal in his hands that turned out not to be a journal at all but in actuality was a work book. There were no notes about MedCo inside but rather ideas, calculations and schematics that Scarlett had apparently been working on. Intrigued, Tony read through the first few pages, expecting to not need to see anymore once he’d read them. Instead, he found himself reading for a half an hour and eating up every page of what he’d found. Scarlett had apparently continued her research on prosthetics despite how MedCo had used the ideas she’d had to commit vile atrocities.

It was another attempt for her to try and redeem herself after what she’d done over the years. If she could create some good out of all the bad, then there would at least be more than her survival that made what she went through worth it. Tony knew from experience that surviving the experience didn’t mean anything if she couldn’t make her survival mean something greater for humanity. Scarlett’s theories about prosthetics were astounding, it was no wonder she kept the journal so close to her. If she could pull off what she was planning then it would revolutionize the medical world

There were formulas and sketches for neural transmitters that were so sensitive and miniscule that they would possibly bind with the nervous system in the human body. The technology she was proposing was astounding and as Tony checked over her math and her theories, he really thought she was onto something. There were several pages of scribbled out and circled data that she’d gone over and rejected, but Tony had a feeling that if she kept going the way she was, she’d find the solution in no time.

It would mean that people receiving the prosthetic she’d developed would be able to move the limb the way they would move any of their current limbs. It was an amazing proposition. Technology had been recently emerging in the same field for neural transmitters connected to a wireless receiver within the limb that would be able to create a similar effect, but it required brain surgery and the science wasn’t perfect and was incredibly expensive. Scarlett’s ideas would eliminate the need for invasive brain surgery and bring the cost down significantly.

The physical therapy involved that Scarlett was describing was intense, like learning to use the limb all over again but it would be worth it for someone who had lost an arm or a leg to go through the therapy in order to continue living their life like nothing had ever happened to them. On top of the neural technology she’d been developing, it seemed as though she’d started work on synthetic fibers that would work, grow and weaken just as regular muscles would. She’d made a list of what else to look into, such as skin that would grow body hair the same way a person’s would, realistic nails and bones that would function normally. The same notes that included the work on the fibers for the muscles proposed that she could use a similar material to synthesize veins and arteries that could be attached to the current arterial system in the human body and allow blood to flow normally.

The limb wouldn’t have to be powered be a separate resource, but instead would be powered by the human heart, just like every other part of the body was. Tony was floored by the research that he’d found in the notebook. He’d been expecting her theories on what MedCo was up to and instead had discovered the extent of his girlfriend’s genius.

He partially wished she was awake so that he could tell her how much of a turn on it all was but something told him that she desperately needed the sleep and most likely wouldn’t appreciate him going through her things while she was unconscious. In between some of the notes for the fibers that would create the muscles for the prosthetic limbs, there were a series of pages filled to the brim with notes about another use for a fiber she’d created.

One of the formulas she’d rejected for the muscular structure had developed into a type of flexible, comfortable, light weight body armor that could potentially replace Kevlar on the battlefield. Tony closed the notebook that was making his head spin. He’d forgotten that Scarlett was as brilliant as she was! When they’d first met she’d solved his problem with the energy converter he had halted work on when he’d left California. Since then he hadn’t had much of an opportunity to really see her putting her intelligence to good use outside of combat.

It wasn’t that she didn’t act smart but rather that when Tony was with her, he really wasn’t thinking about the strength of her brain or her sizable IQ. A playful smirk rose on Tony’s lips and he became completely distracted by what had drawn him to Scarlett in the first place, other than her telling him no and calling him a selfish chauvinist pig upon their first meeting.

Tony’s phone started buzzing loudly against the table, so loudly that it made Tony jump nearly right out of his chair. He desperately reached for the phone and ended up dropping it on the floor. Wincing at the loud crash he hurriedly picked up the phone and answered it in a hushed tone.

“Hello?” Hurrying, Tony scurried into the bathroom so that he wouldn’t wake Scarlett up while on the phone. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“No, I don’t because I have no idea where you are anymore. Last night you were in South Africa, now you’re where?” Pepper’s shrill voice called from the other end of the phone. She sounded tired and given the time difference, Tony guessed she was heading for bed soon enough.

“Senegal, keep up. I text you my itinerary don’t I?”

“What is this about a Scott Aaronson? And why didn’t you answer any of the questions I had about New York when you responded?”

“If you could just look him up or have Jarvis do it, then that would be great.”

“Sometimes it’s like I’m asking these questions because it’s fun for me. There’s some sort of communication error happening here because my free time is not spent asking pointless questions.” Pepper continued on about her earlier text messages. “There are only three thousand decisions still to make about this tower in Manhattan and since you changed almost all the plans we’d had, I can’t do it myself.”

“Why not? You’re so good at this.” Tony poked his head out of the bathroom and stole a glance of Scarlett to make sure that she was still sleeping fitfully. Pepper’s sigh could be heard over the phone “I do have a few additions I need you to make though.”

“More, Tony? You realize at some point you’re not going to be able to keep changing things around, right?”

“It’s not about the construction area that’s all going to stay the same. It’s about the equipment I wanted you to put into the secondary lab.” Tony smirked. It was perfect timing for Pepper to call, despite how he’d complained. When Scarlett finally calmed down and he convinced her to come home with him then she’d have a laboratory waiting filled with everything she’d need to continue her research. He could already hear her telling him it was too much and she wouldn’t accept it, in his head, but he’d already come up with a hundred different ways to convince her.

“Thank god, because I’m pretty sure the architect started taking anti anxiety medication because of you.”

“I think you mean the contractor, did. The architect thinks I’m charming and handsome and she’s right.” Tony corrected. “Don’t roll your eyes at me.”

“We’re not on video chat.” Pepper laughed under her breath.[br /]
“I can hear you rolling your eyes at me. It’s a very distinct sound.”

“What is it you want me to put in this secondary lab? You might as well call it Scarlett’s and stop trying to hide it from me, by the way. I know what you’re trying to do.” Tony didn’t respond to Pepper that time, surprised that his assistant had caught onto his plot so quickly. Once he realized that she was waiting him out, he continued.

“I’m that transparent, am I?”

“If I look at all the changes you’ve made to our old plans for this place in the last few weeks then it sticks out sort of like a sore thumb.”

“Hey, I worked really hard to not make it that obvious.” Tony leaned against the counter in the bathroom and ran his hands through his messy hair.

“I’ve known you for years, Tony. You’ll have to try a little harder to surprise me.” Pepper was obviously smiling now. “I think it’s pretty cute. You’re preparing your nest.”

“Stop it, I’m not cute. And I’m not nesting, what is this, Animal Planet now?”

“You’ve fallen in love.” Pepper teased.

“Enough, stop it. I don’t like this. I’m not a puppy, I’m not cute. And I’m not a bird, so I’m not nesting! And make up your mind! Am I bird or a puppy in your eyes? Either way you’re wrong.” Tony pouted, adjusting uncomfortably and instead leaning against the doorway.

“What is it you want me to add to the lab, before I hang up on you?”

“I’ll send you the list of what I’ll need added after we’re off the phone.” Tony yawned, covering his mouth. “I could tell you now but you’ll forget or have questions and I’ll end up making a list for you anyway. Let’s just cut out the whole middle part.” He was exhausted, but wasn’t sure he’d be able to get back to sleep after what he’d discovered and what he’d considered. There were sounds in the other room, thrashing, and pained cries. Tony hoped Scarlett hadn’t fallen off the bed while tossing and turning. “Look, I’ve got to go.”

“I’m not done making fun of you yet.” Pepper laughed.

“No, I’ve really got to go. Just text me your insults or something and I’ll continue to ignore them.” Pepper could hear the seriousness in her boss’ voice and decided to stop giving him a hard time.

“Alright, get some sleep.” Pepper continued with her goodbyes but Tony had already disconnected the call and had placed his phone down on the table next to the contents of Scarlett’s bag. Cursing as he realized he hadn’t cleaned up after himself, he quickly shoved Scarlett’s things back into her bag and hoped that she wouldn’t noticed he’d rifled through them.

He would make the world’s worst secret agent, there was nothing stealthy about Tony Stark.

Turning his attention back to Scarlett on the bed, he saw her curled up and looking pained. Climbing back underneath the sheets, Tony pulled the covers up higher around her and pulled her close so that her head was resting once again against his chest. Closing his eyes he rested his lips on top of her head and gave her a kiss while slowly caressing his hands over her back in attempts to sooth her. Her whole body was shaking from head to toe and whatever hell she was experiencing in her head was only getting worse.

“It’s okay,” He whispered, though he was sure Scarlett currently couldn’t hear him while she slept. Her body seemed to relax just enough against his to make him feel like he’d made a small difference, but not enough to make him feel any less concerned by the nightmares she’d been plagued by. Tony had half a mind to wake her up so she wouldn’t have to experience anymore of the torture of her subconscious, but selfishly he didn’t want to wake her up.

If he woke her up, then it was likely she would want to be on her way and all Tony wanted to do was take a step back and lay with her in his arms while they talked about what had happened the night before. He dreamt of ordering room service, enjoying breakfast and coffee together and planning where they’d head next together. But somehow Tony knew that Scarlett wasn’t yet ready for that. She was almost there after the night they’d shared together, but it would still be a little while before she was okay enough to team up with him.

Seeing her in such misery had helped him understand what she was going through when it came to her leaving him in various places and wanting to keep him out of what was happening with MedCo. He knew now that she’d come around and eventually let him help her but only after she was actually okay with it and did so on her own terms.

As tired as Tony was, Scarlett’s tremors and soft sounds of upset as she laid against him would keep him up the whole night with worry. If she asked why he hadn’t slept, he wouldn’t tell her the truth. That was too out of the ordinary for him to admit. Besides, if Pepper found out he was scared that Scarlett was going through some terrible post traumatic stress disorder, he’d only be further teased about how he’d become cute and cuddly like a puppy or a teddy bear.

He couldn’t help but smile as he considered that maybe he had softened up a bit thanks to Scarlett. The thought didn’t bother him so much when he sat and really considered it. Was it so wrong for him to learn to be sweet and affectionate? He didn’t think so. It would only be another weapon in his already incredibly arsenal of charm, or at least that’s what he had decided upon.

When Scarlett grabbed onto him Tony nearly jumped in surprise. Her arms slipped around him tightly and she muttered his name with such sorrow in her voice that Tony’s heart stung.

It was then he considered that maybe she wasn’t dreaming about what had happened to her at all.

Maybe she was dreaming about what would happen to him.