#I hadn’t really considered because I was focused on how Pepper just became his secretary again

[daydreamerdrew]

Iron Man (1968) #59

[thevengeanceuniverse]

Touch in the Dark 5.1 (Tony)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23556382/chapters/57728788

It’s a beautiful Tuesday. Unseasonably warm for a March day in the city, with a bright blue sky touched with the barest brush of wispy white clouds. And on this beautiful day, Tony was stuck up on a tree, dangling 10 feet off the ground with uncomfortable bark digging into sensitive areas. All because of one snarky little menace.

It had been a couple of months since he had waltzed into James Romanov’s office to make his deal and things were going okay so far. They had some bumps along the way since that first time, instances that forced Tony to come to terms with the reality that a lifetime of abuse wouldn’t be overcome with sheer stubbornness. Which didn’t mean he stopped trying.

But then memories of drunken footsteps would pound their way into his head, followed by the remembrance of split lips, bruised arms and welts on his back. Remembrances that felt so real, they had healed areas aching all over again. It was a hard lesson to learn, coming to terms with the vestiges of his trauma. Knowing that there was nothing he could do that would just put a stop to the phantom pains or the nightmares. He had a lifetime of learned behaviours from his abuse that wasn’t going anywhere soon and it would take time for his brain to recalibrate.

Even when he logically understood that, frustration welled bright and bitter every time he panicked, and he hated Howard anew for affecting him this deeply even after death.

Thankfully, James was good on his word.

He checked with Tony before every session, making sure he wasn’t going to flash into a panic attack the moment they started. If Tony was feeling even a little bit iffy, James ran him through breathing exercises, teaching Tony how to pack up his trauma and put it away for later. It wasn’t a cure—not even close—but it gave Tony the compartmentalization skills he needed to move forward. To get into a mental zone where he could focus on his body’s movement and countering attacks instead of being overwhelmed by fear. And every time he practiced, Tony could feel himself do it just a fraction of a second faster.

It was a similar kind of zone Tony felt when he was concentrating hard on complex equations. Like everything became quiet and his senses were more amplified, everything a little sharper. Tony couldn’t stay in the zone too deeply yet, snapping out of it too easily sometimes, but there was progress. He was getting faster, fighting better, hitting harder.

After the hours in the ring, Tony and James sat down for a light dinner, the one they had the first time acting as a precedent for their meetings together. They spent time discussing how training went, Tony asking questions and James giving critiques or advise as needed. It was nice. Things were civil between them, James keeping things casual the moment they stepped out of the ring and they never got more intimate than that.

They didn’t talk about the intimacy of that first session, but Tony wasn’t uncomfortable with that. Strange as it was, it felt like that moment had been more about reassurance rather than seduction. Like James had wanted to teach him a lesson and that was it.

Considering the lesson had been about the depth of feeling the heart could grant sex, as well as knowing the way James had felt about Steve, Tony was confident that James had no real desires for him. Honestly, after months of James treating him like he was infected with the plague, Tony was grateful things were working out as pleasantly as it was. If Tony had a panic attack, James never hesitated to offer comfort or help him get his breath back, but that was as intimate as it got. Both brunettes had reached a truce and slowly, but surely, becoming friends.

Which brought him back to today.

With Rhodey working for Steve, Tony got to see his platypus on a regular basis, a drastic change from when he was in the army. Even when he was being all gross and lovey-dovey with Sam, Tony delighted in seeing how openly happy Rhodey was.

The prominence of his honeybear time reminded Tony of the lack of Pepper in his life since he started training with James. They had still kept in contact, exchanging letters though they couldn’t meet in person. Tony was concerned, however, because Pepper was being suspiciously closemouthed about the new job that’s been keeping her so busy, not even sharing who she was working for. Naturally, he had written her again, asking to meet while also shamelessly bribing her with an opportunity to see Peter (who she doted on as much as her own siblings). Deciding on a place and time, he had announced to Steve that he was leaving early for the day and made his way to the park.

Tony and Peter got there first, picking out a place on the grass to spread their blanket and situate themselves. Quarter-hour later, Pepper was walking up to them in a light blue dress with a bow neckline, a golden-brown haired boy hanging onto her with a rather proprietorial hold on her hand.

Peter took off before Tony even got off the ground, jumping to hug Pepper as if they had been separated for decades rather than a few months.

Rolling his eyes, Tony followed at a more sedate pace, leaning in to hug one of his closest friends when Peter finally stopped hanging like a monkey. It probably wasn’t appropriate for them to be this affectionate in public, but Tony had long stopped caring about propriety so he savoured the moment of being close to one of the few people he trusted growing up. Steve was fantastic, but no one was ever going to know him the way that Pepper and Rhodey did, having been there to put him back together in the days after the beatings. Even if they couldn’t help in the moments when it happened.

Pulling away, Tony peeked at the little person next to Pepper, taken aback when he met dark blue eyes glaring holes into him. Turning around fully, he was met with a mild expression that looked practiced, but also vaguely familiar. There was no glare in sight as Pepper introduced Harley, her charge for the day. Tony held out his hand for a handshake, which the child returned with the utmost decorum as if he met with adults to discuss business on the regular.

Amused by the precocious child, Tony stepped aside for Peter to greet the other boy with a wide grin. “Hi, I’m Peter Stark. Do you wanna play a game?” In comparison to Peter’s open rambunctiousness, this child seemed downright solemn. But with a glance at Pepper for permission, he ran off agreeably enough.

Tony led the way to their blanket where he and Pepper made themselves comfortable on the cushions she had thought to bring. They covered the basics, isn’t it a great day, how was the family, blah blah blah before Tony couldn’t hold it anymore and blurted out, “What is this job that you keep hinting at but never talk about? Is it a factory job or secretary job or something?”

Pepper laughed. “Wow, Tony, you held out for a full three minutes.” She paused to take a deep breath. “Truthfully, I haven’t really told anyone about my new job because I didn’t want them to judge my decisions.” Tony raised his brows at her at this statement.

Pepper never did anything people would judge her negatively for, she knew exactly how to toe the line to get what she wanted without alienating herself. Seeing the way she pressed her fingers against each other in a clear sign of nerves, Tony felt worry spark in his gut, mixing sourly with guilt. He had been so caught up in his own major life changes that he hadn’t been attentive to much else outside of that.

“The reason I couldn’t see you a lot was because I’ve actually been working nights now.”

Tony pushed aside his worry and forced out a teasing grin. “Have you been selling your wares on the street corners, Miss Potts?”

“No!” Laughing at her exasperated expression, Tony choked on his spit when she followed that with, “I’ve been working at a brothel.”

“WHAT?” Eyes widening, Pepper slapped a hand over his mouth and shushed him.

“I was joking about you being a prostitute, Pepper, what the hell are you doing working in a brothel?” He lowered his volume, but his tone was still disbelieving, unable to fathom that lady-like Pepper Potts was working in a whorehouse.

Strangely blasé now that the truth was out, Pepper just rolled her eyes. “I’m not a prostitute, you dolt. I’m an assistant for a woman at the brothel, though sometimes it feels more like a babysitter.” She pointed to Harley, climbing the monkey bars with Peter in the distance. “That’s her son. Harley Romanov.”

Tony choked again. Pepper was really turning out to be a hazard to his health. “James Romanov has a son?” No wonder that mild expression was familiar.

Tony had never seen a sign of a child at the residence, never even heard James—or Steve for that matter—mention any children. But James was a notoriously secretive man, so how much could Tony really know after only two months of knowing each other?

Pepper’s eyes lit up with curiosity at the mention of Jame—she had neglected to tell her about his training, but she knew he was a part of Tony’s life through Steve—but she let it go for the moment. “I’m not really sure about the situation. He’s private so I’ve never been around when they interact.”

Something twisted his insides at the thought of James having a son with someone, but this wasn’t the time to delve into those feelings—never would be the right time—and Tony focused on what else Pepper had to share. “What’s she like?”

Unexpectedly, Pepper blushed. Which was immediately obvious with her fair skin tone, bringing her closer to her nickname namesake. Curiosity further piqued, he listened as Pepper stumbled through an explanation of this mysterious woman’s attributes. After the third mention of how intelligent she was, how graceful, how beautiful, Tony finally caught on to what Pepper wasn’t saying.

“You’re in love with her…” Voice sounding incredulous to his own ears, he watched as Pepper uncharacteristically fumbled for her words.

Giving up, she ran a hand through her long strawberry locks, momentarily looking lost. “I do love her,” she finally admitted. “I love the way she manipulates politicians to get what she needs to help the people around her. Prostitutes are so vulnerable yet everyone in that brothel feels safe and taken care of because of her actions. She’s vicious when it comes to protecting her own and I don’t even hate her when I know for a fact that some of the people who leave our brothel never actually make it home.”

She looked out at the grass, smiling at the way Peter and Harley had banded together with a group of kids to play some game that involved a lot of running, screaming and the names of different kinds of fruit. “I love the way she is with Harley, kind and attentive and always wanting the best for him. She’s a good mother. I know she would die before she let anything happen to him. She just wants him to be happy, to have a good childhood.” Pepper turned to face Tony, breath catching. “Gods, Tony, I feel so much for her and she doesn’t see me as anything other than the ‘best assistant’ she’s ever had.”

She took a deep, steadying breath, letting it out in a sigh.

“I’ve never felt anything like this before. I haven’t felt this way for anyone I’ve ever met before, not even Paul, and I was going to marry him. It makes me so scared sometimes, the depth of what I feel for her because people would hate me for feeling that way for her. You know, you’ve seen how they demonize anyone who feels for someone of the same sex the way that we do.” Tony put a comforting hand on her shoulder, understanding that she was thinking of the way her brother was treated. How he became a pariah almost overnight and had been kicked out of their home and neighbourhood, beaten bloody by the same people who had claimed to love him.

Tony reached out to pull her into a hug, letting her bury her face in his neck and not commenting on any wetness he might have felt there. He could empathize fully with her fear, knowing that people’s hatred was a fearsome thing that galvanized them to commit horrific acts. The kindest of neighbours could turn into the cruellest of tormentors, justifying their oppression and terrorism with nonsensical beliefs that villainized the victims of those hate crimes. It was horrible, feeling like everything you loved could be torn away in the blink of an eye by someone who didn’t even feel their actions were wrong. Knowing this was something that would take Pepper time to come to terms with, he just held her, letting her body tremble apart with her emotions and then build herself back up as she chose.

Over her shoulder, he saw Peter shouting something to Harley, who waved back and kept playing, before heading over with a grin on his face. His face became confused as he got closer, grin dropping.

“Is Pepper okay?” Tony heard Pepper’s breath hitch at the sound of Peter’s voice, knowing she wasn’t ready to be strong yet for the sake of the child.

Tony smiled softly at him, not wanting to worry Peter more than he was already. “Yea, cucciolo, she’s fine, just a little sad.”

“Oh, okay.” Peter nodded uncertainly before looking toward her. “Do you want to get some ice cream with me, Pepper? Auntie gave me some extra pocket change when she heard we were going to the park.”

Letting out an amused, and snotty, huff Pepper pulled away, taking the handkerchief Tony offered to dry any remaining wetness. Enough of her equilibrium restored, she rose and held out a hand for Peter to take. Which he did, gleefully.

Tossing a “Look after Harley for a bit,” over her shoulder, they were on their way to pick up some ice pops.

Reminded of the other boy, Tony scanned through the park, heart leaping to his throat when he couldn’t see Harley anywhere. Looking for one of the rugrats he saw playing with the 7-year old, Tony asked if she had seen Harley and then headed towards the big oak tree she pointed at. Not seeing him near the base, he looked in the branches and let out a loud “Shit” when he got pelted with acorns.

Stepping out of range quickly, Tony called out to the boy sequestered among the leaves.

“Harley, what are you doing? Stop that and come down here, please.” And there was the glare. Harley sat in the tree red-faced with tear streaks on his cheeks, his eyes trying to burn holes into Tony’s skull.

“No! I’m not going anywhere with you! What did you do with Pepper? I won’t let you hurt her!” More acorns rained down, Harley adjusting his aim to throw farther. When did he collect so many?

Putting up his arms to block the projectiles, Tony was thoroughly confused as to why the kid would hate him. They had barely talked, the Harley and Peter spending the majority of the last two hours running off to play games while he and Pepper talked on the grass.

Oh. Pepper. With whom Harley had been spending a lot of time with and had been holding tight to when they had arrived at the park.

Quickly piecing it together, Tony thought about what his interactions with Pepper would have looked like to the young boy. Hugging her in greeting, talking and laughing with her before then holding her close in what would have seemed like an intimate embrace. To the random passersby, they would have looked like a couple in love. To a young boy in love, Tony would’ve been seen as a rival.

Considering the fact that Tony—and Pepper apparently—was as gay as the day was long, Tony repressed his immediate urge to laugh hysterically. To add to that, Pepper was attracted to Harley’s mother.

Shaking his head at the irony, Tony wished Pepper all the best sorting out that debacle while thinking about how best to handle his jealous charge. Briefly, Tony entertained the thought of leaving Harley up in the tree and just waiting for Pepper to come back to soothe him. She was the key to this whole mess, it would be a 1000 times easier for her to come deal with it.

But knowing this was James’ son, and remembering the adept way that James had handled Peter, Tony felt guilty at the thought of just passing over the responsibility. He owed it to James to try.

Praying for no more acorns, Tony called out a truce.

“Harley, I’m not going to hurt Pepper, she’s my friend.” Just a friend, trust me. “She just went with Peter to get ice pops for you and Peter. You like Peter, don’t you?” Tony believed that was a fair enough assumption, everyone liked Peter. And if Harley had grown up the isolating life of the son of a mob lord and a prostitute, Peter was probably his first true friend his age.

Seeing the hesitation in the other boy’s face, Tony pressed his advantage. “My brother likes you a lot. I can tell that he was having a lot of fun today, and he will definitely want to play again. Would you like that?”

Harley looked torn before shaking his head fiercely. “I don’t want you to take Pepper away,” he said, voice wobbling. He looked afraid that that was exactly what Tony wanted to do, take away the person who had been taking care of him, a person who he had begun to trust to be there for him.

“Why do you think I would take Pepper away?” Tony asked in a gentle voice.

Harley’s face crumpled. “Be-c-cause t-that’s what ha-p-ppens!” He sobbed.

Tony quickly analysed the tree, looking for toe and footholds that would hold his weight. He hadn’t climbed a tree in a long time, but hopefully, it would be like riding a bike. Instinct after a certain point. Planning in his head, he started pulling himself up to sit near the crying boy. He pulled him gently into a hug the way he had with Pepper, resigned to what was shaping up to be a day covered in snot and emotions. Harley didn’t resist, grabbing onto him tightly and burying his face in Tony’s chest. No matter the fact that he might not like Tony, he was still a child who wanted comforting when he felt upset.

Used to the outburst of emotion from dealing with Peter, Tony just waited it out, letting Harley calm down before asking him more questions.

“What happens?” he asked, still holding the boy close.

Harley mumbled something unintelligibly into his chest and Tony chuckled.

“I’m sorry, I don’t speak gurgle. Could you repeat that?” He turned Harley’s face to the side, taking the boy’s handkerchief and dabbing at the tracks of tears and snot on his face. Most of it was on Tony’s vest, but at least this way he looked presentable.

“Mama says that when a girl wants to get married, a man comes to take her away from her family so she can make a new family. That’s how she ended up with Papa, though they’re not together anymore. And its why Mama works so hard, to make sure that the girls are ready for a family before she lets a man take them away. Mama says you have to be careful because some people make a family before they’re ready for one and that makes people unhappy. I don’t understand that part yet, but Mama says I will when I get older.” Harley looked up at Tony despondently. “Are you going to take Pepper away to get married? I don’t want to never see her again.” His eyes started watering again at the thought and Tony hurried spoke to reassure the boy.

“No, I love someone else, so I won’t be taking Pepper anywhere.” Tony tilted Harley’s chin up, meeting watery blue eyes. “Besides, Pepper’s stubborn and she really likes you. She won’t just leave you and never come back.”

“Really? Do you mean that?”

“Every word. I think Pepper’s a lot like your mom, actually. She protects the people she cares about, always have and always will. And now one of those people is you. So even if she did marry and leave, she would still come back to see you, okay?”

Harley sighed, knocking his head back into Tony’s chest, but allowed Tony to keep comforting him. Tony felt strangely fond for the temperamental kid despite his squirrel-inspired attacks. He knew about being afraid of getting abandoned by the people you love and rely on. Tony had felt that way when his mother died, and a part of him still felt that way, fearing that the people in his life would leave him.

Tony made a commitment at that moment to be one of the people Harley Romanov could rely on. He knew that Harley’s mom and Pepper would look out for him, and odds are so would Peter. Steve and James were probably supportive, but from a distance, since they led such busy lives. And there was Sarah who couldn’t resist a stray. All of them together should be able to help a little boy feel a little less alone in the world. He deserved the chance that Tony didn’t have growing up after Maria’s death, to feel secure in the love of those around him.

[crysj88]

Phylax (Avengers x Oc) Ch. 3 Here’s a Quarter

It turned out Bennett didn’t have to talk to Pepper at all. Tony being Tony just did what he wanted, regardless of the consequences. 

The first week after Tony hired Natalie was tense. Pepper was ticked. Bennett became the mediator between them. She spent that week passing messages on to Pepper and delivering her replies to Tony. She along with everyone else was walking on eggshells. Tony needed to make things better fast. 

Bennett was scrambling to catch up on the paperwork she hadn’t gotten done because she had become Tony’s personal delivery service. 

“Lancaster,” she looked up to the door of the security office, it was Natalie. “there is someone here for you.” 

“Okay, send ‘em in.” Natalie stepped back out of the office, returning a few seconds later. Bennett focused on keeping her voice in check. No “Texas twang”.  “Ms. Rushman, Tony said we need to start self-defense training. So what time would you be free?” She felt a bit of pride; no odd contractions, no drawn out vowels. 

Stark’s assistant checked the schedule on her tablet, ”We are about to start the last meeting of the day and then Mr. Stark doesn’t have anything else scheduled until a business dinner late this evening. So I could meet you in the gym in an hour?”

“Yes, ma'am. I should be done here, so I’ll see ya then.” Crap. She mentally slapped herself. She had been ok until “ma’am”. It was impossible to keep the south from slipping on that word, especially since Ms. Rushman showed up. 

Natalie walked out of the security office and back to her own desk.

Only then did Bennett notice who her visitor was. “Emily? I didn’t know you were coming by today. All your stuff is at the secretary’s desk.”

She looked at the blonde then looked back to the hallway, where Natalie had gone. “What the hell?”

“What?” she looked at her ex in confusion. 

“Who is she, Bennie?” Emily shot her a glare. 

“Ms. Rushman?” She shrugged, “she is Mr. Stark’s new assistant.” 

Emily rolled her eyes. “Nevermind. Look, Madison and I talked and we really want to try this. All three of us together,” she sat on the corner of the desk. 

Bennett pulled the report she had been working on out from under the other woman’s hand. “All three of us. Making our relationship what? Polygamous? An open relationship?” She refocused on the report. “Now, I need to finish this, so get your stuff and leave.”

“Bennie, I know we should have approached you a different way about this. If you just give us a chance, one week,” she placed a finger under her chin forcing her to meet her eyes, “we will make it worth your time.”

Bennett pushed her hand away. “That is never going to happen. Now please get your stuff and go.”

She hopped off the desk and circled behind the bodyguard draping her arms over her shoulders “Bennie bear, please, I really miss you.”  

When she placed the first kiss on her neck Bennett jumped up from her seat, knocking Emily off balance. Reflexively Bennett reached out a hand to steady her. “That is something you probably should have thought about before,” She tried to push her way to the door but the other woman blocked her path.

“Bennie if you just meet her, give Madison a chance, give me another chance,'' she begged. 

 “No.” she shook her head. “Emily, you made your choice. You slept with someone else for 18 out of the 24 months we were together.”

“21.” She at least had the decency to look ashamed.

“21 months,” Bennett scoffed. “Tell me one thing,...why?”

“I just... It was all sweet at first, the no sex until we are sure thing was sweet but. One month led to two and then three, and in the third I met Madison and it just happened.”

“That doesn’t just happen, especially not for 21 months,” Bennett knew this was a no win situation, she would see herself as the victim no matter what. 

“I was lonely ok. You got this job with Stark and you disappeared. I didn’t matter anymore. You left during dates, or called to cancel half the time, because Mr. Stark needed you to tie his shoes or something. You weren’t the person I met anymore. You were married to this job and I didn’t even get enough of your time to be considered your mistress.”

“I had Tony rearrange as much as I could when we had plans, but galas, premieres, and charity events are a bit hard to reschedule and I always told you about them beforehand. You tried to make plans anyway.” She could feel her anger building and tried to help her body pump enough serotonin to counteract the rush of epinephrine racing to her brain. 

“You missed our anniversary. Our first. You missed it, all to help Tony Stark and his evil empire,” she spat fake sobs building in her throat. 

“I was half an hour late and I called to tell you that. Tony blew something up in the lab. It took a while to clean it up and I figured coming to dinner covered in ash and slime was a bad idea. It was an accident,” she tried to explain as calmly as she could. "Besides I think after the whole "I've been sleeping with someone else" bomb you dropped a few months ago you have no room to talk."

“All those late nights you HAD to work. Stark probably had any number of girls up here for you. So don’t act like I am the only unfaithful one in this relationship,” here come the waterworks.

“And “training” with Stark’s assistant. I wonder what that could be code for,” she started in on Natalie. “You only keep women like her around for one thing. I can guarantee she got this job only one way. She slept her way to the top. She’s a whore. She is no different than that Potts woman, Stark making her CEO is a joke.”

Bennett finally snapped. “Shut up,” her voice was deadly quiet. “You don’t know the first thing about Ms. Rushman. She knows how to do her job and does it well. She has already helped Mr. Stark with several big deals, and she has only been here a week. She works hard. That is how she got her job.”

“See you're sleeping with her,” she crossed her arms over her chest, “why else would you be defending her.”

“She is a good person. So is Tony. Pepper is more accomplished than you could ever dream of being. Now Ms. Hennings, as you are aware I am normally a very patient person, but you have about pushed mine to its limit. I swear if you try to blame our failed relationship on Tony, Pepper,  Happy, Ms. Rushman or anyone other than me and you I will have you forcibly removed from the premises. They are employees here, it is my job to protect them from anyone I deem a threat. I also consider them my friends, so I WANT to protect them.” 

Her jaw dropped. "You want to know why I kept Madison around? She is so much better than you, in every sense. All your nobility about waiting. In the long run it puts you way behind the curve."

Hey BOBbie connect me to the security team. “Right away, Kid,”

The blonde reached the “com” in her ear, “Mars, Davis, I need you in the security office.” 

Moments later two burly men stepped through the door. “Please escort Ms. Hennings out of the building. She is no longer allowed on any Stark properties. And Emily leave my friends alone.”

The two men led her out of the office before she even had a chance to reply. Bennett collapsed in her chair. She thought back through the conversation with Emily and their relationship. Something about the timeline didn’t add up.  Her job with Tony didn’t push her into Madison’s arms. She said three months. When Bennett got this job they had been dating six months. So it wasn’t Tony. She could only think of one reason for Emily to look somewhere else. She had failed. Bennett was the problem. She pushed Emily to Madison. Maybe she was just too old fashioned in her thinking. This was probably not the first relationship she killed because she didn’t kiss on the first date and sex was not on the table until the relationship had time to be stable and well established. Her dad taught her and her brothers and sister that a relationship had to be built on more than just the physical stuff. If you couldn’t see the relationship as long term then it didn’t need to go past the first date. The reason to date is to find the right person, not just to fill time. Maybe her thinking was too backwards. 

A knock at the door snapped her out of her thoughts, “hey, you ok?”

“I’m fine, Ms. Rushman, just an uncomfortable conversation,” Bennett tried to plaster a smile on her face but it failed to reach her eyes. 

“Mr. Stark’s last appointment just canceled so if you want to go head down to the gym now, I’m free.” She smiled. 

Bennett was mesmerised by the sight. She had never seen Natalie smile before, not like this. Shy smiles and seductive ones, flirtatious smiles even deadly ones. A week working with the woman had shown an array of  smirks and grins, scowls and glares. The redhead knew how to present herself to get what she wanted in a situation. This could be just another presentation, a manipulation to get her way.  For some reason Bennett didn’t think this was.  A real smile. People talk about a smile reaching someone’s eyes. Her’s was the opposite: her’s seemed to hide in her eyes long before reaching her lips. “Of course, Ms. Rushman.” Bennett left the reports on the desk. She could always finish them later. 

Bennett grabbed the gym bag from the back corner of the office and began the walk to the gym with Natalie. “How long have you trained?” She asked the redhead as they reached the elevator.

“Just a couple of self defense courses here and there,” Natalie answered. 

“Right,” she laughed, “ I saw you take down Happy,” the elevator dinged open and both women stepped inside. “That was beyond impressive. And that wasn’t learned in a self-defense course.”

“My parents had me training my entire childhood,” Natalie admitted, “never learned for fun. I was always taught that the world was cruel and you had to be prepared or people will take advantage of you,” she shrugged.

 “I don’t really think there is much I can teach you,” Benn said honestly. “I tried to tell Tony. He dund’t listen.” She cringed. “He doesn’t listen. That’s one of Tony’s things… not... listening.”

Natalie’s bright green eyes sparkled at the accent slip. ”Maybe we can go a couple of rounds in the ring. It has been a while since I sparred.”

Bennett, still recovering from her embarrassment, took in the other woman’s attire for the first time. A black pencil skirt and white blouse with the top two buttons tastefully undone, black heels. “Sweats or shorts? I have a couple extra pairs stored in Tony’s gym. We can train there today.”

Making it to Tony's private gym Bennett found a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Pointing the other woman in the direction of the locker room. Bennett had spent most of her day in the company gym with some security team member or another so she was already dressed to fight.  She slid her gloves from her bag and strapped them in place, waiting. 

Normally Bennett would just physically stretch out, not depend on her abilities to loosen the muscles. This was not a normal fight. So she focused on forcing the muscles to relax and stretch further than normal. She wanted to impress the redhead, and she already knew Natalie was not going to be an easy fight. Bennett focused on her body loosening each muscle allowing it to stretch to the fullest extent. Proper distribution of blood and oxygen to the body, a steady, controlled supply of dopamine and adrenaline to focus and fuel the fight. But not overwhelm the fight. Bennett was lost in thought and jumped when the locker room door shut. 

Natalie was tying the drawstring on the sweat pants Bennett had lent her. “Thank you again,” she smiled at the blonde, “I promise I will bring my own stuff tomorrow.”

“It’s no big deal,” Bennett shrugged it off. “What kind of gloves do you prefer?” On the side of the ring she had laid out a pair of vinyl sparring gloves, a pair of boxing gloves, and a pair of fingerless gloves. Natalie surveyed the collection before looking back up, clearly having no idea which to choose. Bennett grabbed the vinyl ones sticking them back in the locker against the wall. “Student gloves don’t apply here. Punch heavy or grappling?” She pointed from the boxing mitts to the fingerless gloves. 

Natalie reached for the black fingerless pair, “these are what I need if I plan on pinning you to the mat?”

“If that is your strategy then yeah. You want those,” Bennett grabbed the mitts throwing them in the locker as well. Taking a second to calm her erratic pulse and pull the blush from her cheeks. “Kicks?” She turned to find Natalie already in the ring. She jumped up throwing a spin kick that would have knocked out a full grown man, landing gracefully without a sound, continuing a three kick combo, wheel, hook, side, without ever setting her foot down, before doing the same on the other side. Bennett winced at the anticipated headache. “Kicks, yes.” She grabbed two pairs of shin pads with instep guards and a new mouthpiece for the other woman. Gear on they squared up, this was the first fight the bodyguard had been excited for in a long time. 

An hour later they both lay on the mat completely spent, breathing heavily. “So how do I rank?” Natalie asked, turning her head to look at the blonde. 

“Well,” Bennett tried to force more air back into her lungs and slow her heart rate. “Some of those combinations I have never even imagined before and your flexibility is beyond impressive. Good choke and you know pressure points. Could kill everyone of Tony’s security guys.” She looked over to meet Natalie’s smile. “You sure you’re not like a ninja or something on the weekends.” Natalie chuckled and Bennett pushed herself off the floor before offering Natalie a hand up. “Any tips for me?”

“Watch out for those sweeps,” was the redhead’s immediate response. She climbed through the ropes and headed for the locker room. Bennett watched her for a few steps before following.

“I was thinking about heading over to the park since we have a couple of hours until the business dinner tonight. If you wanna tag along.” Bennett suggested as they returned to the locker room.  

“I would love to but I have some housekeeping I have been putting off all week, and now I have to shower before dinner too,” Natalie grinned.  

“Well if you would have just tapped out when I had you pinned like a sensible person you wouldn’t have gotten near as sweaty,” Bennet replied.

“Obviously you didn’t have me pinned or else I wouldn’t have been able to get out of it,” was her response. 

Bennett turned meeting Natalie’s gaze, a smart remark ready but her words died on her lips when she caught sight of the other woman. She stood there in nothing but Bennett’s sweats and a bra. The blonde stumbled for a coherent thought. She spun back around knowing her face was the same shade of red as Natalie’s bra. Bennett ran a hand through her short hair as she left the room as fast as she could without running.

Natalie’s smirk grew seeing the girl blush. She had to admit Bennett had a certain charm. It would be fun to see how many times she could make her blush. 

“Here’s a quarter, call someone who cares.

A/n: I’m sorry I missed my normal update yesterday. Started a new therapy for my PTSD this weekend and was exhausted. Any way I don’t know if anyone is enjoying this story or even reads it. I know I need to finish it for me if no one else. It’s gonna take a while. If you are reading, Thank you for hanging with me through this story. 

[aliviwrites]

Thank You Captain America

Warnings: Mentions of torture, nothing too detailed. Not a happy ending and definitely not Steve Rogers friendly.

Characters: Tony Stark, Vision, Pepper Potts

In hindsight, he probably should have had backup on standby. It was a HYDRA base after all, and assuming the place had been abandoned just because there was no one around at the time was kind of stupid. Doubly stupid, since HYDRA had gone to ground to regroup after Insight fell through. Who wouldn’t want a secret base that no one knew about? Tony wanted someplace no one knew about, because right now, he was severely wounded inside a powerless suit and being surrounded by heavily armed HYDRA operatives.

“Fuck you, Rogers” Tony muttered before passing out from the pain, he really should not have been dragged, but he didn’t think HYDRA cared. Tony had contemplated activating the self-destruct, he’d tried and found that without the helmet or power the commands were useless, his suit was useless and now both his tech and himself were at HYDRAS mercy.  

***

He was late, ten hours, thirty-nine minutes and twelve seconds late, 5,394 miles too late. Vision had left the moment FRIDAY informed him of the confrontation between the two super soldiers and Mr. Stark. She had given him access to the live feed from Ironman up until Rogers had damaged the facemask and the quinjet had descended into silence. They didn’t know what had triggered the confrontation until FRIDAY had showed the footage of Mr. Stark’s arrival.

Vision didn’t think he was capable of feeling this kind of coldblooded fury that overtook him, he wandered if he was more JARVIS than he actually thought. Colonel Rhodes and Ms. Potts weren’t any better from what FRIDAY was showing him. Vision attempted to calm himself, anger wasn’t going to help the situation. His priority was to locate and retrieve Mr. Stark.

Ms. Potts and Colonel Rhodes signed out to call anyone that could be of use and Vision, he focused on getting to that base as fast as the quinjet could take him. FRIDAY grew quiet after the first few hours, she was attempting to find any sort of surveillance system that could be used to locate her creator, their creator.

Was Mr. Stark not his friend? Did the Captain not consider him a friend after all this time working together? Vision couldn’t understand why the Captain would have betrayed Mr. Stark. Selfishness, human beings are inherently selfish. The though caught him by surprise. The captain had decided to keep the murder of Howard and Maria Stark secret to spare himself the discomfort. He kept a secret even when he liked to lecture Mr. Stark about trusting his team mates and not keeping important information from the team. His mind flashed with countless times Rogers had argued and argued that Mr. Stark had to stop keeping secrets. He closed his eyes and tried not to accidentally destroy the quinjet. He needed it to get to Siberia.

Is this what humans are truly like? The memory, JARVIS’ memories of the Colonel arguing with Mr. Stark flooded his brain, the fight during Sir’s birthday when the Colonel left with one of the suits that later became war machine. Ms. Potts had also argued with Mr. Stark when she believed him to be going overboard. Friends, Ms. Potts and Colonel Rhodes could be trusted to care for Mr. Stark and put his well-being above their discomfort. Captain Rogers could not.

Can the others be trusted? Natasha Romanoff, betrayed Mr. Stark and allowed the Captain and the Winter Soldier to escape. Sam Wilson, Clint Barton… Wanda Maximoff? Not to be trusted on the grounds of never having trusted Mr. Stark to begin with. Thor? Not enough information. Dr. Banner, missing. King T’Challa? Unknown.

Vision was going to have to protect Mr. Stark himself. He’d done it before, as JARVIS. Perhaps he could do it as Vision as well.

**

Vision didn’t get the news until he had returned to the compound. By then the place was buzzing with activity. Analysts, several military officers, Secretary Ross and in the center of it all, Pepper Potts who looked like she was about to commit murder. Vision hesitated, unsure what the protocol should be in this situation.

Tony Stark was MIA.

He’d found a trail of blood that vanished outside the base along with any footprints due to the fresh snow that had fallen. Vision had the forethought to destroy the bodies of the super soldiers before the base was invaded with Ross’ people.

Vision waited until Ms. Potts spotted him, her eyes bloodshot, her hands shaking but head still held high.

“They took him” Vision felt his body relax, if the Captain had taken Mr. Stark than he would receive medical care, he would be alive. “How do we find Captain Rogers then?”

“No, Vision. HYDRA took Tony. That son of a bitch left him there defenseless and HYDRA took him.” Vision remained still, the words repeating in his head. “The chair is gone” He finally broke the silence.

“The chair used to brainwash the Winter soldier wasn’t there anyone. It was there when they fought.” He tried to explain, they needed to know but his mind was filled with chorus of not him, not him, not him.  

“We know. FRIDAY retrieved the footage from the security cameras. We think HYDRA was doing remote surveillance on the base. They arrived about three hours after” She stopped talking. Ross was yelling on the phone.

“I don’t care if Rogers decided to parade in the middle of 5th avenue. Our priority is to locate Tony Stark before HYDRA has their way with him. Everything else can wait.”

*

It was three weeks before the first video was uploaded. The world watched in horror as the Winter Soldier murdered Howard than proceeded to strangle Maria Stark. It was impossible to trace the source. The video was the exact replica of the tape retrieved from the base. The buildings of Stark Industries found themselves surrounded with flowers in every city. Reporters begged for comments and people all over the world demanded justice for the Starks. It wouldn’t have been so bad if a commentator had pointed out that no one had seen Tony since the so called Civil War. Suddenly everyone wanted to know if he was ok, some speculated that he was hiding along with Rogers and company, others mentioned that fact that the Scarlet Witch had dropped a pile of cars on him and he was probably recuperating. They mentioned that no one in Team Ironman had been seen since, other than Spiderman.

The package delivered the day after the battle had been all but forgotten in the rush to find the missing genius. The UN committee had suspended all Avengers’ assignments until Stark was found but trying to locate him without support from the public was nearly impossible. Public knowledge would cause panic.

Four weeks and the second video was sent to hundreds of news stations throughout the world. Now the whole world had seen Tony’s reaction to the first video and how Captain America had known and hadn’t bothered to tell him. This video had been a compilation of the many cameras throughout the base following the battle beginning to end.  It went out after three hours where Ironman lay motionless.

Stocks plummeted, people burned Captain America paraphernalia on videos, there were protests demanding Rogers answered for the murder of Ironman. That was the same time Rogue Agent Sharon Carter was arrested for leaking classified information causing the deaths of four German officers and injury of another six that were sent to arrest the Winter Soldier, for stealing apprehended equipment (Falcon’s Wings and the Shield) and aiding terrorists.

Captain America supporters, the few that dared to be open about it insisted that Tony was behind the videos, that he was just trying to manipulate the public. Not many people took them seriously. Vision went along to every place they uncovered on their search for Tony but most of the bases were abandoned long before his arrival. They suspected it to be a ploy to keep them away but couldn’t risk not checking.

Five weeks and three days and a new video was uploaded. This one was of six men fully covered removing the suit bit by bit. Stark was unresponsive for the entire video. Once every part of the suit was removed, they moved him to a metal table and began to strap him in, the men didn’t block the camera leaving Tony in his blood covered clothes in plain view. They placed an oxygen mask on him then more people joined the scene and began to stick him with multiple needles.

The first reaction was of relief; Tony Stark was alive and receiving medical treatment. Then the public realized that no one would have made a spectacle of it. A late-night show was the first to openly speculate what everyone feared. That HYDRA had found a new Winter Soldier.

The world was in disarray and they were no closer to rescuing Tony. King T’Challa paid the compound a visit and Pepper Potts had the pleasure of punching him in the face the second he stepped inside. Ross had informed her that T’Challa had been the one to apprehend Zemo. It wasn’t difficult to realize that he had left with Rogers and Barnes but left Tony behind.

“If Tony doesn’t recover I will destroy everything you care about” No one moved to stop her when her skin and eyes began to turn red. “Now get the fuck out of my property!” He went and stopped trying to contact the Avengers after that.

The last video came six days after. It showed Tony trapped in the chair, screaming despite the mouth guard. Tony stopped fighting after six minutes and twenty-eight seconds. The scientists all wearing masks released him but he made no move to escape and just stared ahead where the camera was.

The scientist closer to Tony turned to the camera “We would never have been able to get him if you hadn’t left him trapped inside his damaged suit”

“Soldier?”

“Ready to comply” Tony replied calmly.

“Say: Thank you Captain America”

“Thank You Captain America” the footage ended after that.