Echoes

"Is that blood?" Tony struggled to shake the fog of their close call. "That is blood. Scarlett, you're bleeding!" What if he hadn't noticed it before he'd taken the plunged? He would have kissed her, wrapped his arms around her and pulled back with blood all over his hands. He even could have hurt her! "And I'm not being dramatic! You are bleeding a lot." Tony pulled his gloves off and stepped out of the armored boots and grabbed her shoulders, holding her at arm's length so he could take a better look at her. "What the hell happened? How did you get hurt? Who hurt you? Do I need to take you to the hospital?" A million confusing scenarios played through Tony's mind but he kept coming back to one thing, the thing that he'd noticed the very first time he'd seen Scarlett.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

She had been guarded by S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents at a press release. She'd been seen leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters a number of times. Rhodey had made compelling arguments that she was working with them on some kind of technology the way she was with the military, but Tony had always wondered if it was more than that. It wasn't the first time he'd seen someone living a double life for their sake. For awhile he'd pushed off the idea that S.H.I.E.L.D. had something personal to do with Scarlett but it had always been there nagging in the back of his mind. S.H.I.E.L.D. seemed to have their hands in just about everything and anyone of importance or power. He, for one, was technically an independent contractor when it came to S.H.I.E.L.D., but it still applied.

"I…" Scarlett choked on her words, unsure of what to say. When had she gotten hurt? There had been so much chaos she couldn't recall. Why hadn't she noticed when she'd gotten changed earlier? Everything had happened in sort of a blur after what she'd done. Even now she could feel her fingers numbing and tingling. No wonder she felt so sick to her stomach! But why didn't she feel the pain of the actual wound? Maybe she should have gone with Jemma earlier. "It's nothing." Scarlett nodded but even as she said it, she wasn't confident it was true. She was so taken by surprise that there was so much blood she wasn't sure she could say anything convincingly. "Not a big deal, really."

"Not a big deal? Are you kidding? This is a big deal, a very big deal! I am the king of big deals and let me tell you, this is one."

"I got into a fight." She took a deep breath to collect herself and held her hands defensively in front of her, trying her damndest to come up with an explanation that could possibly save her cover. Nothing came to her.

She didn't want to make up stories. Not anymore.

"Seriously? A fight? What kind of fights do you get into at Refuge?" Tony wiped his hand over his mouth in disbelief. "What, are you running some kind of Brad Pitt Edward Norton secret club underground or something?"

"I must have gotten injured and just sort of forgot about it on the ride home. I've been really distracted."

"How the hell could you forget about something that serious? God there's blood everywhere…"

"You'd be surprised." Scarlett attempted a joke but the look of horror on Tony's face put an end to her kidding very quickly. "It's really not a big deal." Finally she sounded convincing whether or not Tony would buy it was another story. "I'll just run to the restroom and clean up quickly, it's fine. It looks worse than it really is, I'm sure." Scarlett started away, her hands shaking, flustered to the core. Why didn't she feel it before now? Also what had she been thinking beforehand? Why did that, oddly, seem more important than the blood seeping through her shirt? Tony grabbed her wrist and she stumbled as he pulled her back to him.

"There's no chance in hell that you're going to throw a Band-Aid on that, Scarlett!"

"It's really fine, Tony, you're being dramatic."

"You're not being dramatic enough, I think is what you mean." Tony cocked his head to the side as she tried once again to flee to the bathroom. "You're not okay, no one who has lost that much blood is okay." His chest tightened, but not in the all too familiar way anxiety had forced it to. No, Tony was scared. "We should take you to the emergency room. We need a doctor."

"Absolutely not, that's out of the question." Scarlett groaned in frustration. "Do you have any idea the media shit storm that will go down if we show up at some hospital with me bleeding everywhere? Come on, Tony. Be realistic. I'm not passing out, I can handle this." He had no idea how capable she could be. Sometimes it was frustrating pretending to be far less skilled than she actually was.

"We can be discreet, I know a guy who knows a guy."

"Yeah?"

"Well, I'm sure I do. I know almost everyone worth knowing." Tony cracked a weak smile but it faltered relatively quickly. Even with his brow furrowed with worry, Tony was endearing.

"I'm not going to the hospital Tony. Hospitals aren't my thing."

"Hospitals aren't anyone's thing but you go there when you're gushing blood from your side. Everyone does. Just how the world works."

"Please, Tony… I can really handle this."

"You can't expect me to just ignore that you're bleeding… we were… and…"

"Tony." Scarlett whispered, taking his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. There was something in her eyes that convinced him then and there. Some fear, something greater than he knew and while Tony didn't like not knowing things, he knew that she had done far too much for him in the weeks past and it was time for him to return the favor.

"Fine, no hospital. But you're going to let me help you."

"It’s not as big a deal as you're making it Tony. I know you're trying to be sweet or something but…"

"Look, you have done so much for me." Tony stopped to taste those words, not something he'd frequently said out loud to anyone in such context. For a brief moment he considered he should be more grateful. A very brief moment. "Let me do this one thing for you. Please?" Another word he was none too familiar with.

"Fine." Scarlett sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose. "But I'm making my objections known."

"Duly noted." Tony felt relief flood through his chest, at least for now. Tony grabbed her gingerly by the arm and walked her across the room and to his desk where he cleared a space. Scarlett sat on the top of it, her hand over her side where she could now feel the wound pulsing. Adrenaline must have prevented her from feeling the pain but now that she'd noticed the damn thing the pain grew worse with each passing second. Thankfully Scarlett had always had a weirdly high tolerance for pain. Years of having to ignore wounds while on dangerous missions had done her that favor.

Tony adjusted his chair and sat on it next to her. Then he looked all around him, made a face, held up his finger signaling her to wait and then abruptly left the room. Scarlett tapped her finger impatiently against the wound and considered what exactly she should do. This much blood wasn't normal this long after she'd been wounded. She'd recounted the events from that night and figured it had to have happened while she was helping Natasha in the attic. She'd been far too on her guard with Scott attacking her and then having to keep an eye on Nathan. She never would have gone upstairs to help Natasha bleeding as she was now.

But while she'd been helping Natasha Scarlett had been distracted. Distracted enough not to notice such a grave wound? Possibly. It wasn't like her not to take stock of her condition after such a night. Then again, it wasn't like that night had been anything like her old life. Yes, she'd fought and well in fact but she could hear Jemma's words over again in her head.

She was sick.

A chill washed through her and Scarlett swore that tightness in her chest worsened. Even thinking about it was making her feel worse. Even as she tried desperately to clear her mind, Jemma's words repeated, her warning, her worry in her voice. Scarlett had ignored any worry, had ignored those harsh words and now she was paying the price.

"Sorry, can't clean that up without… well, something to clean up with." Tony had an armful of first aid supplies which he scattered on the desk haphazardly. Sitting back in his chair he cleared his throat and tugged at the bottom of the bloody shirt she wore. "All right now… take off your shirt." Tony tilted his head downward and stared up at her with big brown puppy dog eyes. Much to his surprise, Scarlett smacked his arm in objection. He laughed. "Come on! I can't see what's going on through it, you know. Feel free to shake it a little if you like."

Knowingly, Scarlett lifted the side of her shirt and rolled it up over the wound. The material was beginning to dry in some places, making a nasty sound as she moved it. Part of the fabric stuck to the wound and she bit her lip to stifle the pain but she must have winced because Tony did too and squeezed her knee.

"Fine, this will work but I'm pretty sure a medical doctor would have had you take off your shirt." Tony clarified, trying to joke through it all. It wasn't like him to be incredibly serious for too long. Besides, he couldn't hide his smile or deny that her reaction had pleased him.

"Come on, Tony."

"Fine, fine." Tony relented at last but only because he knew the reason why she was so insistent she keep her clothing on. He had been about to kiss her. If she hadn't been bleeding he would have and this time there was nothing stopping him. Though now that he thought about it, the breakup with Pepper wasn't exactly official.

Pending, yes, but not official.

There was a good chance he would try again before the night was over and no that wasn't against his better judgment. It felt like good judgment for the first time in a very long time. For now he'd let every joke that jumped into his mind about her shirt go. He didn't want to but he became focused on the wound on her side.

"Shit, Scarlett… you didn't notice this?" He placed his hands around the wound and she leaned a little away.

"Your hands are cold."

"That's what you're complaining about? Really?"

"They're really cold."

"Poor circulation I guess." Tony rolled his eyes and, cloth in hand, stared at the wound again, unsure of where to begin. "This is a mess, we should really go to a hospital. Jarvis, tell her we should be at the hospital."

"Miss Damien I agree with Mr. Stark for once. You are bleeding rather freely."

"I am not arguing with your artificial intelligence about what I'm going to do here. I agreed to let you look at it because you insisted. If you have changed your mind, hand over the first aid stuff and I'll do it myself." Scarlett tucked the bottom of her shirt under her bra and grimaced at the squishy sensation of the cloth. "So?" She held out her hand for him to give her the cloth but he didn't.

"I'd feel much better if we went to the hospital but since you're being so stubborn…"

"Stubborn? Have you met yourself?"

"I know I'm stubborn, see, not in denial about things like one of us."

"I'm not in denial. I'm bleeding, Tony. I'm going to keep bleeding until it clots or you force it closed. That's not denial, Tony."

"Fine, fine. You're not in denial, you're just stubborn." Tony grimaced, wiping his hand over his mouth. "I'm just…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it. Worry is not a good look on you. It probably looks much worse than it is. My shirt is soaked with blood and it spread all around and…"

"I'm going to throw up if you go any further into detail."

"Oh my god, you are procrastinating so hard, Tony." Scarlett laughed, but even then she was starting to feel nauseous. Every logical thing in the back of her mind was telling her she should go to the hospital. This was stupid. She was being stupid. There was too much blood, too many factors adding into her medical condition. But if she went to a hospital she would have to tell them the drugs she was taking, she would have to tell them what was wrong with her, she would have to involve S.H.I.E.L.D.

The very thought made her dizzy. Everything would unravel. She wasn't ready to explain it all, she needed more time. Finger numb, she gripped the desk but even that felt weak.

"All right." Tony could see how pale she'd become, see that she looked nervous. Something behind her blue eyes was distracting her and for some reason she wouldn't say it out loud. Funny, Tony probably wouldn't have been able to shut up about being wounded if the tables had been turned. Sometimes they were very alike, sometimes they weren't.

Carefully he wiped at the furthest spot of blood on her stomach. Her skin was warm.

"It's just been sitting for awhile. It has to have been hours." Scarlett nodded and wondered what she did that pulled it open. It had to have closed during travel. She was losing so much blood at such a rate now that it never would have gone unnoticed for so many hours unless it had clotted. The blood came right off. No wound immediately. Scarlett had to have been right, Tony thought. The blood had simply spread and dried earlier and then as it had reopened bled again. Still he wondered what she had done that resulted in such a terrible wound but right now he couldn't focus on that.

There would be time for questions later, once she wasn't bleeding anymore. The second swipe of blood was easier, less traumatizing to deal with. His hands had even stopped shaking. It was like working on anything else… except Scarlett was far more delicate. He'd dreamt of touching her, of seeing her in all her glory, but never like this. She shifted on the desk, her hand knocking a stack of papers onto the floor, fingers slowly spreading. Her wrist was trembling. Tony looked away from the wound, cleaner but still bleeding.

"You okay?" He held his cloth against the wound and watched her face curiously. Even her lips were pale but she still nodded to let him know she was all right. "You don't look great."

"Words a girl always wants to hear." Scarlett smiled weakly.

"Jarvis, is she okay?" Tony cleared his throat.

"It appears as though something is trapped just inside the wound." Jarvis drew a diagram of what he could see, highlighting the small something that was hidden just beneath her flesh.

"Shit." Scarlett clenched her teeth and tried to pull the cloth away but Tony held it fast against the wound.

"Trust me." Tony waited for her to nod and when she did with an added roll of her eyes, he urged some of the things on his desk to the side. "Lay back, okay?"

Without response, Scarlett carefully slid her hand behind her on the desk so that she wouldn't simply fall back, Tony quickly helped her. The wound made a terrible sloshing, stretching sound as she did and he winced.

"I'm fine." Scarlett waved her hand weakly and then closed her eyes allowing her hand to fall limp at her side. Several items clattered off the desk.

"She's not fine." Tony whispered under his breath. "Jarvis, gotta guide me here."

"Might I suggest we call for help?"

"It's right there, I can get it." Tony hissed and Jarvis silenced at once. Tony maneuvered the hologram toward him. He couldn't think about it like a wound, he had to think of it like something he could fix, one of his machines. When he pulled the cloth away and saw the blood he grimaced. It didn't look like one of his machines.

Focus. It was too late to call for help now. Scarlett was too pale to wait for someone to get there.

And so he did. Before he could think too hard about it, he allowed his fingers to find the piece of metal that was lodged in the wound. Then, scrambling, he grabbed a pair of tweezers. Between the two he was able to pull the inch long tip of a blade from within her flesh. It clattered onto the desk as he let it go then held the cloth against Scarlett's flesh once more, to stop the bleeding.

"Is that it Jarvis?"

"That's all that I can see, sir." Jarvis responded. Tony sighed with relief, though was not convinced. Even if Scarlett refused the hospital, he was going to make her promise that at the very least she would be seeing a doctor. "She is bleeding still rather rapidly."

"Yeah, I see that." Tony grimaced. "Really should go to a hospital."

"I got this." Scarlett slowly leaned up and while even her lips were a ghostly white, she held her hands steady. "Just, let me stitch it up. When I get home I'll call someone, okay? I promise." Tony was still staring at her skeptically and Scarlett swore Jarvis was doing the same.

"I don't want you to get sick." He objected, but Tony wasn't sure he could convince her to see a doctor right now anyway. Part of him wanted to wait for her to fall asleep and call one himself but that sort of sneaking around had never worked in his favor before so why now?

But she was so pale. He was wracked with worry.

"I'll be fine." Scarlett nodded her head and tugged the first aid supplies toward her. Her fingers were stiff. Could she really do this? She stretched her hand for a few seconds before grabbing the first aid supplies with one hand and holding the cloth with the other. Tony leaned back in his chair and watched her.

"That bleeding is insane." Tony muttered and Scarlett nodded her head but didn't respond. He was doing the math, trying to remember something he read in a textbook a few years back when he'd struggled with Palladium toxicity caused by his arc reactor. His blood had been borderline deadly toxic back then and it'd caused even the stupidest little cut to bleed for eternity. What else could cause that? He racked his mind but even as he did, he knew the answer of possibilities was somewhere in the hundreds. Hell, some people just had thin blood.

"I'm going to be fine, Tony." Scarlett smiled reassuringly while she worked on the wound but for some reason this didn't settle his nerves in the slightest. It was the first time in a long time he'd dealt with wounds of a physical nature. Somehow they'd always been easier than these mental struggles, probably because they were tangible, physical. When it was on his own body he didn't care. Chicks liked scars, right? Watching someone he cared about so wounded though, that was a different story. He couldn't do anything to make it better, god it was almost as bad as this anxiety bullshit.

Maybe chicks didn't actually dig scars at all. Scarlett didn't seem incredibly phased by the fact that she was bleeding, but maybe she felt the same way he did about it. If it had been him, she'd have been all over it. He bet she would have made him go to the hospital too. Then again he wouldn't have fought that hard against it. Why had she? Who cared what the media was going to say?

"Hey, question."

"I'm not going to the hospital, Tony." Scarlett didn't even lift her gaze.

"No, not that."

"What is it?" She sounded more coherent than only moments ago. Tony felt relief give on the grip on his chest a bit.

"All of this… how you got hurt and the paranoia, does this have anything to do with your… ya know…"

"My what?"

"PTSD, your… I mean, you don't talk about it. But I know something happened. I don't read you as easily as you read me even though I try, god I try. It seems impossible that these two things aren't related."

"You read me better than you think you do." Scarlett placed the cloth over the wound again and considered her options. Was right now really the time? "No, Tony… it's… it's not that." Well, that didn't sound convincing. She caught his gaze, those big, worried eyes and she swore that for a second she even gave in. Then she averted her eyes and shook her head. "It's nothing, really."

"You're lying." Tony leaned against the desk next to her and gently nudged her leg with his elbow.

"I do that." Scarlett nodded and then scoffed. That oddly filled her with guilt. Of all the things to start bothering her, jeez.

"It's okay to ask for help. Whatever this is, you don't have to do it alone." Tony tilted his head to the side to catch her gaze, practically resting his head on her lap as he did. "You taught me that."

Scarlett stopped fussing with the wound and turned back to him. She had said that to him, more than once. Why couldn't she follow her own stupid advice? What a hypocrite. S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't going to be happy with her. They already wouldn't be. That night had been filled with bad decision after bad decision and Scarlett wanted to make another. She was tired of letting lies dictate her life. She didn't want them to dictate Tony's too. He was owed an explanation whether or not he would push as far as to say it. Scarlett was bleeding in his basement and she had to tell him something.

She wanted to tell him some semblance of the truth. Maybe not the whole truth yet, but some of it.

That would be a good start.

"All right." Scarlett nodded and pulled her gaze again away from his, not even having realized she'd kept it that long. "It kinda relates in… a stupid convoluted sort of way." Tony didn't say anything, he didn't have to. All he had to do was let her talk. "Before I started Refuge I uh… I pretty much only ever got into trouble. I was good at trouble though and I still sort of am, so I guess old habits die hard."

"I could see that. Always thought you were trouble."

"Yeah, so I was working this old job with my ex. It was… it was actually a boring job for me but he was keeping secrets and they blew up in my face." Scarlett nodded her head. Tony felt a chill run through him and gripped her leg a little harder. "I am good under pressure. It's part of why I was so good at what I did for years and so when I found out what he was doing, I retaliated." Scarlett couldn’t believe she was even managing a vague version of this story. It all sounded so silly when she didn't give all the information. "Long story short, he made a bad deal at my expense and I was less than cooperative. Now he's… out for my blood." Scarlett meant that in every sense of the word and wondered if Tony could read between the lines. "So since it turns out he's… a pretty bad guy I'm working with S.H.I.E.L.D. to put him behind bars."

"I knew they had something to do with it." Tony spoke quieter than he meant too. Scarlett tapped her fingers against the desk after checking on the wound. The bleeding had slowed.

Thank god.

"I know that all sounds really vague and you probably have a million questions."

"Yeah, that's for sure." Tony nodded.

"But the details…" Scarlett closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. She was strong, she could talk about this. There was no way she could have a fit right here, right now. Tony didn't need that, he didn't deserve that. Her fits weren't like his, hers ended in coughing and hell, sometimes violence. "The details I don't talk about much. Honestly I don't know if I've said any of it out loud since I approached S.H.I.E.L.D. I'm struggling to cope with it. My… when I… it feels stupid to say it, but when I panic it's not like yours, Tony. It's much less pretty."

"That doesn't feel possible." Tony grimaced.

"Tonight though… I was just trying to keep someone safe. I used to be good at that. It was kind of a disaster. I didn't realize I got hurt in the process, that's all. Adrenaline does that sometimes. I'm sure you get that, Iron Man and all that."

"Yeah, I do." Tony smiled a little bit. It was more than he'd ever expected her to actually tell him. Part of him had even expected her to get angry, to avoid the question, for them to have another fight over the matter. Tony didn't think he'd fight with her now about it. She'd said something that had really struck a nerve.

That night she had been trying to protect someone. By not telling him the details, she wasn't protecting herself, or not only herself, but she was protecting him. It seemed that Scarlett had dedicated a huge chunk of herself just to protect the people who remained in her life. A chill ran down his spine and goose bumps broke out along his arm when he felt her hand gently rest over his on her leg.

"I'm sorry I can't say more." Scarlett was met with silence for a long time. She expected him to lash out, to be upset as he had been on the beach that she wasn't trusting him with more. Trust wasn't the problem.

"About this ex…"

"Really?" Scarlett laughed and pulled her hand back, going to run her fingers over her face but stopping when she saw them covered in blood. She then reached for the gauze and wrapped it around the wound on her stomach as tightly as she could muster.

"Yeah, I mean, I don't know… any ex of yours had to have been…"

"Tony, that's a bad idea." Scarlett rolled her eyes.

"I just want to know what the playing field looked like."

"You really want to know stupid relationship stuff?"

"Yours, I do. Other people's not so much."

"We were together for years. Probably a decade. I honestly… I was not as good a girlfriend as I should have been. I can't actually tell you when we met or how long we were together or… what our anniversary should have been. I thought we were serious though. I guess. It's hard to explain, I was oddly detached from it for the last few years."

"I'm really struggling seeing you as not being a good girlfriend, I mean… have you looked in the mirror?"

"There's more to it than that, Tony. You know that as well as I do, pretty boy."

"I don't know, that's a pretty big part of it." Tony smirked.

"Look, as insufferable as I can be right now? I was way worse before I came to the United States and started Refuge." Scarlett swatted at his hand as he squeezed her knee again. "I was selfish, incredibly selfish. For as smart as I am I was so stubborn and stupid. Sometimes I still am, I suppose. Worse than any of that, I was unfaithful." Scarlett felt that guilt in her stomach. Her relationship with Scott had never been right, she'd known that from the beginning. She was the woman with a double life back then, though she guessed that was still true just in a different sense. There was one life where she was with Scott, the nice guy who had asked her out a dozen times before finally getting a date, the guy who wanted a normal life. Then there was the life she really lived, where she traveled the world taking dangerous jobs, doing the impossible, and flirting with danger every time she got the chance.

The life with Scott had never been the life she'd wanted. That had been the life she'd lived out of guilt. That guilt had ruined Scott. He thought he could change her, he thought she'd come around. Worse, he thought he had to be part of that dangerous life to keep her. She'd ruined a good man.

Tony squeezed her hand and Scarlett hadn't even realized she'd held onto it until then. Her head was swimming and now that she thought about it at all, she was exhausted, mentally and physically.

"As bad as I was, I never lied to him." Scarlett spoke quietly. "He always knew. Maybe I should have lied because it turned out he was lying. He was never the man I thought he was and I was never the woman he wanted me to be. Forcing people to be something they're not only ends poorly."

"So, he's getting revenge? I guess?"

"More or less. It's far more complex than that but I suppose it's what it all boils down to." Scarlett returned the squeeze he'd given to bring her back from her thoughts only seconds ago. Tony felt that odd sensation of jealousy again, differently than when he'd met Nathan face to face. This man, this ex she talked about, had spent a decade with Scarlett, had known her secrets and still had chosen to betray her. It was an odd mixture of jealousy and anger at a person he didn't even know. On top of that it looked like Scarlett felt responsible for the whole thing. People made their own decisions, Tony knew that better than most. He had a feeling Scarlett knew it too. It was hard to apply it in any situation. They were only human.

Seeing the logical truth was easy, applying it to a personal situation was difficult. Guilt was a strong feeling, anxiety blurred the lines between truth and reality. Tony could tell Scarlett exactly how he felt about the situation but it wouldn't help. He knew that well enough. She wasn't ready to talk about it and the fact that he'd gotten anything out of her at all had astonished him.

"Miss Damien, are you sure that you're going to be all right?" Jarvis cut through the silence and Scarlett suddenly took deep breaths, and held her hand up to silence Tony when he blanched with worry.

"I was holding my breath and didn't realize, I'm sorry." Scarlett nodded and took a deep breath in and out. "I'm going to be fine. The bleeding has slowed and I'm all wrapped up." Scarlett let go of Tony's hand and scooted to the edge of the desk but stopped when she felt dizzy. Her stomach was suddenly in the back of her throat and so she closed her eyes and allowed the spinning of the room to pass.

"Your blood pressure is very low, Miss Damien…"

"Stop reading me, Jarvis." Scarlett peeked one eye open and then rubbed her fingers against her temple. "Of course my blood pressure is low, I just lost a lot of blood and I'm really dizzy. Plus my blood pressure runs a little on the low side. Don't worry, it's not a metabolic disorder and I'm all caught up on my shots." She joked and managed to at last open her eyes without seeing Tony's chair in twelve different places sliding around in her peripheral vision.

"You should stay here for the rest of the night so I can keep an eye on you." Tony had been working on an excuse as to why she should stay other than that in his mind but instead went with the truth.

"I'm really fine and…"

Tony picked up both of her hands and moved his chair carefully in front of where she sat and she sighed heavily. All he did was stare at her, he didn't even have to argue. This was very unfair.

"Fine." With a whine Scarlett pouted. "But my clothes are all gross and crunchy. Can we at least go sleep at my place so that I have something clean to wear?" Scarlett argued, mostly wanting to get away from Jarvis. He was going to catch onto the truth of her health situation before Tony did and when he did it was going to be a real mess.

"I'm too tired to drive." Tony let go of her hands.

"I'm really uncomfortable though, I swear there's blood all the way down to my knee. It's nasty."

"Look, I'm sure I have something…" Tony tapped his finger against the desk and knew that he had plenty of Pepper's clothes still upstairs in his closet but he thought of how wrong that would be to share. Snapping his fingers, he stood up and pulled his black shirt over his head. Scarlett tilted her head to the side and watched while he did then averted her eyes once he was free of it. What? Was she not supposed to admire his physique? Lord knew he was doing it to her every chance he got. "You can sleep in this and in the morning we'll get you something better."

"I'd usually argue but god I love that reactor." Scarlett joked.

"Hey, remember I'm more than just a nice arc reactor, Scarlett. There's abs and everything there, don't forget about them."

"Oh, of course, how dare I offend." Scarlett watched as he pushed his chair out of the way and smiled a bit. Now he was just showing off. Or maybe he wasn't. Either way, his back was lovely and his pants fit in just the right way. There was no harm in admiring what was there in front of her anyway. After the pain she'd been through that night and the fresh hell that was nausea in the back of her throat, she deserved a consolation prize and if that prize was the adorable butt of Tony Stark, she wasn't going to argue it.

"Come here," Tony turned back to her and offered her his hand. Scarlett carefully took it and then stepped gingerly on the ground. Her legs were wobbly but not giving out. She allowed Tony to guide her over to the couch at the far end of the room, grateful that he was taking it so slow. "Sit down."

"Awfully demanding." Scarlett did as she was asked, but not for lack of wanting to argue, wanting to play. Her arms felt heavy and that nausea wasn't exactly letting up.

She felt terrible.

"Arms up."

"No…" Scarlett whined sleepily but when Tony tugged on the bottom of her shirt she swatted at his hand. "I got it." Removing the bit of her shirt that she'd tucked beneath her bra she carefully pulled it up, turning away from Tony as she did. She snuck one arm through the arm but stopped when Tony gently grabbed the wrist of the other. He guided it through the other arm easily and then scooted closer to pull the shirt over her head, careful not to let her hair get caught. Unsurprisingly, he was good at this.

Scarlett caught his gaze and much to her surprise he wasn't looking at any of the obvious things she would have expected him to. Carefully he pushed her hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. His hands were cold now against her clammy skin as he placed it on her cheek.

She leaned into his touch and closed her eyes. Never before had anyone's hands felt so comforting. His thumb gently grazed the side of her mouth and she couldn't resist. It was too tempting. Scarlett turned and placed a kiss against the distracting thumb. Tony tore his gaze away from her lips and watched as she did the same.

God he wanted to kiss her, to feel the same curve of those lips against his instead of his damn thumb. But her eyes were dull, gray with exhaustion and illness. Her skin was pale and in the back of his head he kept hearing Jarvis telling him that her blood pressure was low.

When Tony finally did kiss Scarlett he had no intentions of that being the only thing he did. One kiss wouldn't be enough, he knew it. One kiss would make things complicated. Tony wanted the whole package. If they were going to make a mistake together it was going to be one hell of a thing to remember. Tony didn't want there to be a chance she could forget about it. Scarlett needed sleep, he knew she did. Slowly he pulled his hand from her cheek and while she looked disappointed, he instead picked up her hand and kissed the back of it as he had done earlier.

Scarlett nodded her head and then winced as she regretted the very action. Neither one had to say anything to understand what was actually being said. He pulled his shirt over her head with ease, then guided one arm in at a time before very carefully pulling it over her until it covered her legs. Tony turned away when she unbuttoned, unzipped, and removed her pants. God he wanted to be the one to do it, but the thought of it was making him hot under the collar. Now was not the time to deal with those physical issues.

Still when he turned back around her long legs were still there, exposed. Tony mentally cursed his own dignity and longed for the days where he'd thrown it to the wind for a good time because god he knew that Scarlett would be one hell of a good time. Looking anywhere but at her legs, Tony searched the room and found the pile of pillows and blankets that had been his for the longest time. That spot on the couch was where he usually fell asleep, but tonight it would be for Scarlett.

She laid on the pillows without arguing and even allowed Tony to tuck her in. It was a sensory overload. His shirt was so warm, still warm from him being in it. Just when she thought she could stand the scent of his cologne on his shirt, she was bombarded with the scent of it on his pillows, on his blankets, and even worse than that, the scent of him, the smell of sweat, just that unmistakable smell of him when he'd been working so hard he'd simply passed out in a pile of pillows and blankets.

She felt a little gross for thinking it but she kind of loved it. It was comforting, it was second only to the idea of his arms around her. Scarlett had never wanted or needed the comfort of anyone before in her life but now, more than ever, she wanted just one moment of comfort, to share her burdens with someone else. It felt selfish.

Tony sat on the ground next to where she lay and saw the content look on her face and yet couldn't shake the nagging worry that he had done something wrong by helping her, by not taking her to the hospital, by ignoring the potential for any worse pain by not getting her the treatment she truly required.

"You look comfortable."

"I am." Scarlett whispered, but the exhaustion was even in her voice. It broke and she cleared her throat and then hid her face against her hand and coughed until the cling went away. Her chest hurt, her fingers were tingling and the world was still spinning.

"You should be, it's a very expensive couch." Tony teased with a smile, hoping to deflect his own stress as well as comfort her further. He'd stolen one pillow for his lap to hide the obvious but she didn't seem to notice. They talked for a little while longer, until Scarlett stopped making sense. That didn't do anything for his worries, but soon after she fell asleep. Tony sat watching her for a long moment, making sure her chest was rising and falling, every so often checking that oxygen was coming out of her nose as she did. Once convinced she wouldn't stop breathing in her sleep he turned away and looked toward his desk.

"Jarvis, stay quiet. Not muted, but quiet."

"Yes, sir."

"Is it normal for anyone to bleed like that? Tell me I'm being crazy and that she's okay." Tony whispered but Jarvis didn't respond. "You're no help. I built you to help, remember?"

"It's not normal, sir." In the air, Jarvis pulled up several articles from different medical journals. Everything from a platelet count issues, to pregnancy, to lupus spoke about thinning and thickening blood.

"Christ." Tony leaned his head back against the couch and focused. Breathing problems. She'd had breathing problems on more than one occasion while they were together. Cough, dizziness. It was all too damn vague. How was he supposed to alleviate any of his fears when every symptom could be something terrible but also something as stupid as allergies? "I know she said not to…"

"Already monitoring her status, sir. You don't have to ask."

"Thanks." Tony nodded and moistened his lips. Sometimes he swore that Jarvis was developing a soft spot for Scarlett too. What was he going to do? Tony knew what he wanted to do but what he wanted and what he should do were probably two different things. Never before had he been so torn over something as simple as attraction. It wasn't that simple though, that was perhaps the problem. It was so much more than he'd bargained for from the moment he'd met Scarlett.

For awhile he'd thought it had been in his head. That he had attributed his beginning to cope with PTSD somehow to Scarlett simply because she had been in the right place at the right time with all the right answers. But it wasn't that anymore. She was becoming his best friend, the sort of friend he'd only ever had in Rhodey and Pepper before. And even more than that he felt this tug, a tug he'd never felt, one that he'd refused to admit existed any time before this.

Old girlfriends had exclaimed that they'd felt it before, of course. But Tony's relationships had never lasted very long in the past and had never been very serious, at least not for him. He used to joke that women fell in love with his wallet. It was easy to confuse the feeling of finding your soul mate with beautiful new jewelry.

This was different. He'd always known it was even though he'd been struggling with everything with Pepper. What he felt with Scarlett was what he had thought he should feel with Pepper but never had. Hell, he hadn't even kissed Scarlett, hadn't slept with her, hadn't bought her a damn thing and this was the feeling he had.

The worst part was that all Scarlett wanted out of him was for him to be happy. Who did that? There were actually people out there like that? Yeah, Rhodey had always wanted what was best for him but in a nagging parental sort of way, trying to manipulate him into doing the right thing via guilt. This was different. Where was Rhodey? Tony wanted to talk to him about this. Yeah, Rhodey manipulated him into doing the right thing, but in a good way. Tony needed someone to steer his moral compass sometimes.

What was going on with Scarlett was no longer a question of morality, but rather of admission and timing. She was stubborn, but he knew that if anyone could both understand and break through that stubbornness it was him. Scarlett may have been the strongest and most mysterious woman he had ever known with the exception of Natasha Romanoff. For some reason he thought the two would get along. But that same mystery and strength was also what made this situation so scary. Scarlett was in trouble. She'd alluded to it now so he knew it was there, not just speculation.

Scarlett's strength, her stubbornness, everything… it seemed to make her oddly fragile. Denial was looming over her head and Tony recognized it immediately. She had rationalized her way out of it earlier, but that was what people did when they were in denial. It was hard to see it until the moment had passed. This kind of denial in as heavy a situation as she was in could get her killed.

God he wanted to save her from all of that.

Tony wanted more than anything to protect her from any fallout that was coming her way no matter what sins she'd committed in the past. He was no saint either, who was he to judge? Tony had gotten the distinct impression that whatever Scarlett used to do was not exactly legal and still all he'd become was curious. The woman she had been wasn't relevant anymore. Tony knew the woman she was now and that was the woman he cared about.

He had to protect her, to be there for her even if no one wanted him to be. It was beyond optional now.

Tony knew Scarlett could protect herself, that wasn't why he wanted to do it. He knew that she was more than capable, that she was strong and smart. He didn't want to belittle her but rather provide her with the same refuge she had given him. It wasn't wrong to protect the people he cared about. She'd protect him, she was probably already protecting him for all he knew and he was just as capable.

"Jarvis, I want to build something." At once dim blue lights came to life in front of him. "Bring up the schematics for the older Marks for me." Tony turned to glance at Scarlett. "And in the least perverse way possible I need you to get a scan of her for me."

"You're not building her a suit, are you? She will hate that."

"No, not at all." Tony smiled a bit. She would have hated that. Tony wasn't going to make her into something she wasn't but he sure as hell wasn't going to stand idly by and watch her die. He was hoping he wouldn't need it, that he would never have to use it but in case he did, he was going to build it and he was going to build it now.

"Then what is it, sir?"

"You have to promise not to mention it to anyone, keep it… away where no one but me is going to find it. Even if she asks about it, you don't know a thing."

"Of course, sir."

Tony was building a model of it in front of him already, using existing pieces of existing Marks to pull it all together before pulling it apart and starting over again.

"Is it some sort of weapon?"

"No…" Tony traced his finger in front of him and drew on the existing schematics. "It's more of a shield."