Lyra Redfield has been pushed around ever since she cut ties with the famous Anthony Stark. When fate happens to bring them together again, she realizes just how little her life meant to her. She wanted to make a difference-be better and do better...
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HAPPY eyed Lyra's still form as his phone began to ring. Driving slower than Tony, per her request, he knew something must have happened to make her break as she had. He never seen Lyra Redfield cry this much—not since he delivered her to the airport four years ago. He pressed the answer button, hoping to not wake Lyra, but he did not know she was already awake listening.
"Tony? Yeah, hey," Happy said.
"Is she with you? I couldn't find her anywhere. She shut Jarvis out of her phone."
"She is. I'm almost to the mansion. I'll make sure she gets in all right," Happy promised. "What happened?"
"I told her the truth. She stormed out," Tony grumbled. "I'm already here, but it'll be best that she doesn't see me anymore tonight."
Happy sighed. "Yeah. Don't forget about Vegas tomorrow."
"Yup. See you," Tony said before hanging up.
Lyra really did fall asleep after that. She woke up abruptly when Happy had tried to pick her up to bring her inside like a gentleman would have. She smiled gently in his direction before hugging him tightly while muttering a thanks.
Once inside, she noticed the lights off, so she called out, "Jarvis, where is he?"
"Lab, Miss Redfield."
Rolling her eyes, she walked up the stairs to her room. Tearing off her dress for comfortable clothes, she also quickly wiped her face free from makeup. She fell asleep almost immediately.
She woke the next morning with puffy eyes and a scowl when her phone was blaring the ringtone Pepper had chosen for her.
"Hello?" she grumbled.
"Someone isn't a happy morning girl," Pepper teased before saying, "Are you packed for Vegas?"
"Not going. I have some work I need to do," she lied.
Pepper sighed. "Happy told me about you and Tony's fight."
"Of course, he did. I'm fine. Tony can have a great time without me like he's used to," she said snarkily before getting up to use the bathroom. When she saw it was her time of the month, she groaned aloud. "Hey, Pep, I'll call you later."
"Oh, before you go! There are two magazines that want you to model for an upcoming shoot—"
"Excuse me?"
"Honey, have you seen the tabloids? Someone found out how close the pair of you were four years ago—they did digging since you both went out last night. You and Tony are on all sorts of magazine covers this morning about 'reigniting the lost flame.'" She snorted. "Anyway, some of the companies want to get to know you. Shall I set it up?"
"No! I don't want people knowing Tony and I's complicated shitshow of a relationship. Thanks though," she said warily. "Call you later?"
"Yeah. Bye, honey," Pepper called cheerfully before hanging up.
Lyra sighed, sitting on the edge of the tub with her head in her hands. It was going to be a long day.
After taking a much needed shower and putting on clothes, she made her way to the kitchen to see a letter sitting on the counter with an envelope.
Ly, You know I'll never let you pay for a meal when we go out. Try not to burn my lab down. TS
She laughed at the money in the envelope because she should have known better than to try and pay the bill. Sighing, she decided to eat before spending the day in the lab.
Once she got down there, she said, "Jarvis?"
"Ready to work," Jarvis called back.
"Great. Pull up Tony's notes on the arc reactor, please," she said with a sigh.
The entire day, she spent it inside of the lab trying to figure out how to compress the energy based on the notes he wrote out. Something was missing, however, and she did not know exactly what to do with it.
Drawing out what she thought would work, she saw the only metal that could truly work would be Palladium. Did Tony know this? Hell, half his weapons were made from the strong metal.
She picked up a piece of glass that held other notes, flicking it once to send it into the air in a hologram format. She used her fingers to move the notes around. It was hours before she found some of the mistakes in his work.
"He had the equation wrong," she murmured, typing something else. "Jarvis, change forty to twenty in column B. Change the metal to Palladium. Add this to the archives. Make sure Tony sees this."
She moved to the other designs he had for the rest of the evening, drawing out ways he could use this technology in his work—work away from weapons. She wondered if the arc reactor could change the world.
Her phone was ringing, and she called for Jarvis to answer it.
"We'll be home soon," Happy whispered with no greeting, his tone wary. "He has company," he warned.
"Fuck," she swore, hanging up and throwing one of his tools at the nearest car. "Ooh, I shouldn't have done that." She shook her head. "Whatever. He deserves it."
Lyra stayed in the lab, refusing to meet the woman he decided to bring to his home. It was not like she had any say so. She could not tell him no. It was his home.
After making a file for Tony with all of the information, she made other notes around his lab of things he needed to do. She heard crashing upstairs, and she knew he had arrived to go screw the woman. She hoped the woman at least knew what she was getting involved with.
She sighed, eyeing the couch on the side of the room. DUM-E nudged her side, pointing to the blanket resting near. She smiled softly at him. "Thanks."
Walking to the couch, she grabbed a tablet to finish some notes, laughing when DUM-E placed the blanket on her anyway even when she ignored it. Soon, she fell asleep to the soft lull of the music Jarvis had played. When Jarvis noticed the lack of movement from Lyra, he dimmed the lights off and allowed the woman to rest.
