Energy

“Hello, Christie,” the blonde said with a smirk. It suddenly hit Christie who she was. The round face used to have red curls surrounding it, and her partner used to be a dark blonde.

“Hi! How are you?” Christie beamed, glad to see another member of the Avengers. Even though Tony said everyone was doing well, she herself hadn’t spoken to anyone and was curious. “You guys look so… different. And formal!”

“It’s part of being a spy,” Natasha remarked softly and Clint nodded. She leant to her left and the slit up her dress revealed the tip of a knife strapped to her thigh. Christie didn’t expect anything less from the assassin. Tony, noting the blade, quickly excused them from the fellow businessman he was talking to.

“Why are you two here?” Tony asked with a snarl, clearly not too happy about their presence.

“We’re here because you are,” Clint said curtly. “Fury fears you might be in danger. You got a lot of press after defeating Loki; some wasn’t so good.”

“You don’t need to watch me. I can handle any trouble,” Tony stated.

“Right,” Clint said slightly sarcastically as he held Tony’s strong stare. “Too busy having water fights instead of fighting real crime.” Clint then left with a smug look on his face, and Tony was speechless.

“Don’t mind him, he’s just annoyed he has to do this,” Natasha quickly said. “If you ever have any problems, just yell and we’ll be there.”

“Of course,” Christie nodded when Tony kept quiet.

“By the way, you two look good together,” Natasha commented with a sly wink. She turned her back and followed Clint towards the dance floor. Christie remained frozen for a few moments before she faced Tony, seeing he was staring down at his champagne glass as he slowly swirled it around.

“Do we really?” she asked, making Tony snap out of the daydream that he was in. She was flattered, yet slightly embarrassed because they weren’t a couple.

“Yeah,” Tony shrugged casually. Christie’s eyes widened, surprised he had agreed. Tony noticed and quickly spoke again. “I mean, who wouldn’t look good with you? You clean up well.”

“Thanks,” she smiled shyly. Glancing off to her right she spotted Natasha and Clint sitting at a table in the corner watching them. It made her uneasy, as if she lacked privacy, but then again the paparazzi had already taken that away from her tonight. Before she knew it, Tony had once again acquired another businessman to chat to. Everyone seemed eager to talk to him, whether they were trying to get laid or attempting to make a business deal.

“Christie, this is Bob and his wife Francine. They’re one of California’s most influential investors, and dear friends of mine,” Tony explained cheerily, but Christie could see through his fake tone. It wasn’t that he didn’t sound genuine, but Christie knew how Tony talked when he was relaxed and happy and doing what he wanted to be doing, and this wasn’t it. As she shook hands with the grey haired woman, she had a feeling that they barely spoke to each other unless it concerned money.

“It’s so nice to meet you. How long have you two been a couple for?” Francine asked, making Christie’s arm fall to her side and jaw open slightly.

“Um, excuse me?” she blinked before shooting a questionable look at Tony. Had he been telling people they were dating? He gave a quick shrug, just as uncertain as she was. “We’re only friends.”

“Oh, I assumed because his hand was so low on your hip you must be together. My apologies,” Francine smiled politely, her disapproving tone shining through. Christie suddenly became aware of the pressure on her hip from Tony’s hand and she realised it was far too low. With glaring eyes she stared across at him.

“About that. Back to the waist, please,” she said through gritted teeth. Tony let out a small grumble as he slid his hand up to her waist. The two men exchanged a few more words about the sharemarket before excusing themselves to meet with another entrepreneur, and Tony and Christie desperately headed straight for the bar.

“Bruschetta?” a waiter offered, holding out a silver tray towards them. Tony wanted to continue walking, but Christie stopped and eyed up the food.

“Thank you,” she replied with a smile, taking the other end of the tray in her hands. She was hungry and felt like eating all four tiny pieces.

“Ma’am, just the one,” the waiter said in a patient voice that was tainted with offensiveness. Christie grimaced, feeling her cheeks flaring with embarrassment. Tony stepped forward and opened his mouth, prepared to save her.

“I’m with Tony Stark, I do what I want,” she snapped before tugging on the tray. The waiter let go and Christie stalked off to the bar, Tony right behind her, laughing so hard his gut was starting to hurt.

“Well played,” he remarked as Christie took bite of the bruschetta, smiling at him. She was proud of her calm response, and Tony liked what she had said. He could get used to hearing that…

“Johnny Walker, on the rocks, and…” he turned to Christie who hesitated, uncertain of what was expected of her. Should she pick a feminine beverage or have whiskey too? She decided to remain as sophisticated as possible.

“Just a red wine,” she shrugged as Tony pulled out some cash from his pocket.

“A glass of the finest red wine you have back there,” he smiled, putting the note into the glass as the bartender got to work.

“You really don’t have to treat me any more than you already do,” Christie commented.

“Please, don’t worry about it,” Tony replied softly while holding her gaze. A brunette walked up to Tony’s other side.

“Hey Tony,” she breathed in a sultry voice, immediately spoiling the moment. He glanced briefly at her before diverting his gaze back to the bartender getting ice.

“Hi,” he stated coldly.

“I think I have a business proposal that you might be interested in,” she continued, leaning forwards to show off her ample bosom. The bartender passed over the two glasses and Christie grabbed hers.

“I’m going out for some air,” she mumbled before hurrying away to the nearest sliding glass door. Once out on the candlelit balcony she took a large swig of her wine before trying to control her breathing. Was she really becoming this upset by all of the advances being made on Tony tonight? Why should it bother her? Christie heard the door opening and shutting behind her, and soon enough Tony appeared next to her.

“Everything okay?” he asked her gently.

“I swear, if one more girl hits on you tonight, they’re going to get zapped with an energy ball,” Christie grumbled.

“I didn’t realise you cared,” Tony smirked.

“I don’t, really. It’s just annoying because you’re supposed to be my date, but we can’t enjoy each other’s company if every two seconds another bimbo is coming after you,” she sighed as she leaned against the rail of the balcony.

“Not all of them are bimbos,” Stark countered, earning a doubtful expression from Christie. “Well, Natalia, I think her name was, she was clearly a gold digger, but a smarter one. She had the whole ‘I’m plotting to be the woman who can change Tony Stark’ vibe about her. Almost every girl I’ve dated has been like that, thinking they’ll be the one to make me give up my playboy ways.”

“But it never works huh?” Christie asked before she took a swig of her wine.

“It never did until Pepper…”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you think about her,” she winced, knowing Tony was still pained about losing Pepper.

“No, no, it’s all right,” Tony shrugged. “You know, I’ve gone through so much lately, I’m probably nowhere near the man I used to be. So much has changed…”

“For the better though, right?”

“Well I am here with you, a women who I get along with fantastically, instead of no one or a slut, so yeah, I’d say so,” Tony chuckled.

“I will admit that the more time I spend with you, the more I like you,” Christie said quietly, feeling a tad shy.

“Considering you despised me immensely when we first met, I’ll take that as a massive compliment,” he grinned, making her laugh.

“It is…” she nodded. Tony took a small step towards her and she instinctively looked away to the side. She spotted people dancing past the windows and then forced herself to look back at Tony. He appeared calm and collected, so she relaxed, thinking she hadn’t given him the wrong impression after all. “We should go and dance.”

“I’m no good at dancing.”

“Neither am I,” Christie shrugged. Tony didn’t budge. “Look, they’ll all expect you to be a normal rich business guy in there, won’t they? So just have a few dances with me, shake a few more hands, and let your assistant take care of the rest. Then we can get out of here, go grab a burger instead of this healthy miniature food, and go chill back at your place. Deal?”

“That actually sounds wonderful,” a wide-eyed Tony replied, hardly believing his ears. He put his arm around Christie’s waist and they went back inside, getting everything done within an hour and then sneaking out.