The Angel and The Billionaire

Eleven

Grace

Tony's ex-girlfriend, Pepper, came by yesterday to make him sign some papers. I'm not sure what happened between them, but he was upset after she left. I didn't mean to, but I overheard part of their conversation. Tony said she left in the worst moment of his life, and Pepper replied she didn't recognize him. He didn't wanna talk about it, so I didn't push.

Pepper also thought I was "his latest one night stand" and I have no idea how to feel about that. Nothing happened between us since the day of the panic attack. Maybe the panic attack is the whole reason it happened in the first place. I like him, I've accepted that by now, but he has so many women interested in him - at least according to this one news report I saw a couple of days ago that was theorizing about him and a woman called Natasha.

Sometimes I think he feels the same, there was a second last night when I thought he would kiss me, but the doorbell interrupted. I like him but it's weird since I don't remember my past. I don't know if I don't have someone waiting for me. The only thing I know is I want to kiss him again. It was a really good kiss. Sometimes it seems he wants that as well. It's confusing.

The only other thing that happened this week was that Tony started giving me classes on technology, because it's pretty clear whatever life I was having before being frozen, I don't know anything about it. I'm good with math, which is very random. The other day Tony was working on something and dropped a paper with equations. I can't explain, I simply knew how to solve them. I think that's good, when I'm no longer potentially wanted by the government, I might be able to use that to get a job.

Tony

The doorbell rings in the middle of the afternoon, and for a solid minute, I consider ignoring it altogether. It's been 24 hours since Pepper showed up and it was a shit show, so I guess I'm being cautious. She wouldn't come back, there's no reason to.

After a second ring, I leave the project I was working on for the past few hours and answer the door. To say I'm surprised to see my best friend, Colonel James Rhodes, standing on the fourth prototype of the leg suit, is an understatement. He's leaning a hand on the wall by the door for stability, but it's working. It's fucking working!

- Well, hello to you. - Rhodey cracks a smile, gesturing to the metal structure wrapping his lower body. - I guess you made a paralyzed man walk.

- Looks like it. - I release a breath.

It ended up looking like a pair of metal pants, a slimmer version of the Iron Man suit from the waist down. This is really good news.

- Won't you invite me in? - He gestures to the inside of the house and I freeze. Grace has a cover story, but I can't lie to Rhodey.

- Sure, why not? - I step aside and watch him take a few short mechanical steps.

It's far from done, but at least he can move around, no longer stuck to the wheelchair. Rhodey was able to walk about 10 meters on our last encounter, but I didn't think he'd have the courage to leave his house with it. My friend was never a coward, no idea why I'm so surprised.

- How have you been, man? - Rhodes takes a moment to sit down, but he manages to do it all by himself, which is the point of this experiment. I glance at the stairs. Grace's gonna come here any second. - I haven't seen you in months aside from measurements for this thing.

- Well, I'm ignoring Ross. - I plop down next to him, mentally writing down the design can be a little smaller, it doesn't need to get around every inch of his legs. - I've been busy with a few...ahh...personal issues.