Eira had left the party completely and had walked the cliffside in her frustration. She had no idea the destruction that her fallout with Tony ended up causing.

Tony got wasted with alcohol and when Pepper attempted to ask him where Eira was, he refused to talk. "Let's not talk about her."

He couldn't stand to think about how badly he screwed up with her. He didn't really consider how she would've felt if he died and she started making all these plans. He was only ever thinking about the now and it was just a kiss for him; he didn't consider that it would be more for her.

He shouldn't have just kissed her as he should've asked and he should've told her about the palladium poisoning before he did so. So he drank and hoped he could forget. He even started to blast glass bottles with the repulsors on his hands.

It ended horribly when Rhodey took control of the other suit and they began fighting. The whole house was nearly destroyed in their fight before Rhodey took off with the suit and he was left alone.

It was now the next day and Fury, the Director of SHIELD, found him atop a donut shop. They were now sitting inside as he got lectured.

"I told you I don't wanna join your super-secret boy band," Tony stated grumpily.

"No, no, no. See, I remember, you do everything yourself. How's that working out for you?"

"It's...I'm sorry. I don't wanna get off on the wrong foot. Do I look at the patch or the eye? Honestly I'm a bit hung over. I'm not sure if you're real of if I'm having..."

"I am very real. I'm the realest person you're ever gonna meet."

"Just my luck. Where's the staff here?"

"That's not looking so good," Fury looked at the blue veins visible on his neck.

"I've been worse."

"We've secured the perimeter but I don't think we should hold it for too much longer," an agent walked in and stood in front of their booth.

Tony looked over the top of his sunglasses to see Natalie, "You're fired."

"That's not up to you," she sat down next to Fury.

"So you've been spying on Snow?" Tony said. "That's a wonderful violation of friendship."

"It was my job," Nat defended.

"Tony, this is Agent Romanoff," Fury introduced. "She was assigned to your girl six months ago."

"Technically, she's not my girl because she hasn't actually agreed but I'm working on it because obviously, I'd like her to be..."

Fury furrowed his eyebrows, "Does he get like this every time she comes up?"

"Every time," Nat smirked.

Tony rolled his eyes. He wasn't like he could help it. He kind of loved to talk about Eira so it's not like he wanted to help it, either.

"What did you do to her, anyways?" Nat asked. "She came to Pepper this morning crying..."

"Well, you're the one assigned to her," Tony snapped. "You should know."

Fury interrupted the cat fight between them to get them back on track, "You've been very busy. You made your assistant your CEO, ran off your girl, you're giving away all your stuff. You let your friend fly away with your suit. Now, if I didn't know better..."

"You don't know better. I didn't give it to him. He took it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He took it? You're Iron Man and he just took it? The little brother walked in there, kicked your ass and took your suit?" Fury said before looking at Nat. "Is that possible?"

"Well, according to Mr. Stark's database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorised usage," Nat explained.

"What do you want from me?" Tony asked.

"What do we want from you? What do you want from me?" Fury said as Nat left the table. "You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with. Contrary to your belief, you are not the center of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with."

Nat came back and Fury gestured to Tony, "Hit him."

Nat injected a needle into his neck that contained some liquid.

"Oh, God, are gonna steal my kidney and sell it?" Tony said as the veiny rash went away. "Could you please not do anything awful for five seconds? What did she just do to me?"

"What did we just do for you?" Fury corrected. "That's lithium dioxide. It's gonna take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work."

"Give me a couple of boxes of that. I'll be right as rain."

"It's not a cure, it just abates the symptoms," Nat said.

"Doesn't look like it's gonna be an easy fix," Fury commented.

"Trust me, I know. I'm good at this stuff. I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I've tried every combination, every permutation of every known element."

Fury leaned across the table, "Well, I'm here to tell you, you haven't tried them all..."

_____

Tony was back at his mansion and he had been given old files that belonged to his father. Apparently, he was a founder of SHIELD and the arc reactor was supposed to be a a step into the future. If only he could figure out what his father wanted him to...

But as he was studying all of the belongings that were given to him in a SHIELD box, he could only think of Eira. He wasn't technically supposed to leave the premises but...he snuck out to see her.

He arrived at Stark Industries and he found Pepper first. He could already tell that she was fuming.

"Okay, I would like to apologize but I feel like maybe you're too angry to take one right now so...can you just tell me where Snowflake is?" Tony said carefully. "I know she's here."

"You made her cry so I don't think that's a good idea," Pepper accused. "And we are way past angry. People are relying on you to be Iron Man and you've disappeared, and all I'm doing is putting out your fires and taking the heat of it. I am trying to do the job that you were meant to do."

"Okay, and I'm sorry. I'll fix it," Tony apologized. "But, please, let me see Snow. I need to see her. I feel like I'm losing my mind not seeing her."

Pepper considered him for a moment before she sighed, "She's in the conference room upstairs."

The doors to her office opened to reveal Natalie and Happy as Pepper warned, "And you have thirty minutes because she is coming to New York in case you make her cry again."

"Got it. Okay."

Nat walked over to Pepper to have her sign a couple of documents as she watched Tony carefully, "Wheels up in thirty minutes."

"Thank you."

"Anything else, boss?" Happy asked.

"I'm good, Hap," Tony said at the same time that Pepper replied. "No, I'll be just another minute."

"I lost both the kids in the divorce," Tony chuckled as he looked at Happy who shook his head. Then Tony looked at the redhead assistant. "Are you blending in well here, Natalie? Here at Stark Enterprises? Your name is Natalie, isn't it?"

She and Pepper ignored him.

       "Actually, while you're here maybe you and Natalie could discuss the matter of the personal belongings."

        "Absolutely," Nat said as Pepper and Happy left. Then she glared at Tony. "You are not supposed to be here."

          "Okay, I know," Tony said. "But I need Snow. She's like my...muse or whatever."

                "And when you are finished talking with her, you can either drive yourself home or I can have you collected."

               She left and then Tony hopped up to talk to Eira.

   _____

           He found her in the conference room. She was sitting on the couch that was pushed against the window; she had her legs tucked underneath her while she drew something. The sun was coming in at just the right angle and she looked like a vision.

           She looked up as she heard the door open. She saw Tony and she immediately looked back down as tears gathered in her eyes.

               "Snow..." he approached her carefully. "Look, I know I was an idiot..."

          "Yes, you are," she continued to draw.

          "I'm sorry, Snowflake," he said which made her pause.

         "I'm sorry, too," she looked up at him as she spoke softly. "I was really mad but that's only because I can't handle you dying. I don't know what I would do if you did..."

           "I know," he stated as crouched down in front of her but his eyes caught onto her drawing. It was a drawing of an old Stark Expo.

           He furrowed his eyebrows, "What are you drawing?"

        "I don't know," she looked down at it. "I just thought of you dying and I got sad."

         "Eira," he said as he gently grabbed the photo. "You are a genius."

         "I am?" she started to smile. "Even more a genius than you?"

          He looked at her with pleading puppy dog look, "If I say yes, will you forgive me?"

         She considered him for a moment before she sighed, "I already have forgiven you. But Tony, next time you want to kiss me, if there is..."

       "Oh, there definitely will be. Like I'm leaving you, angel."

           She smiled a bit as she pierced him with an intense look, "Ask next time then."

          "Done deal," Tony nodded. "I promise."

          "Can I take this?" Tony asked, holding the paper.

           "Sure."

          It was silent for a moment before her small, timid voice asked, "Tony, are you going to be okay?"

         "I'm working on it and I'm going to get better, I promise."

        "Is there anything I can do?"

        "You already did, Snowflake," he said gesturing to the photo.

         "Although, could I, uh, kiss you now?" Tony asked.

          She gave him a look.

         "No. Okay. Got it," Tony started for the door. "I'm gonna see you after, Snowflake, and, eventually, I'm going to get a yes out of you."

         She blushed as he left.

AN: I don't think I like this chapter but we're moving on. Iron Man 2 will be finished in the next one