LYRA fixed her hair as she sighed. Being home with Tony for the past two days leading up to his birthday was almost as if she was not there at all. He was irritated and angry at Pepper and Rhodey as they tried to keep the media and government from going crazy over Iron Man. The pair were angry with Lyra because the woman was trying to defend him, as usual, but there was only so much she could say.
"Tony?" she asked as she found him in his closet. A woman that she had seen twice before was in there as he sipped on a glass of something. "Tony," she said again.
He jumped, turning to face her. "Y-Yeah. Hey, Ly."
The woman, Natalie Rushman, gave a fleeting smile as she left the room. She sat where Natalie just was on the edge of his chair. "Are you okay?"
"I don't want to die," he admitted. "Not yet."
"We'll figure it out," she said.
"You keep risking your neck defending me against Pepper and Rhodey. It's not fair to you," he said.
"No, but I'm a big girl. I can handle their judgment," she said seriously.
Tony brought her in for a kiss. "I'm sorry in advance," he said.
Lyra did not know why he was sorry until she finally made it down to the party to see Tony in his Iron Man suit dancing to the music, completely shit-faced drunk. She sighed, eyes narrowing until she saw Rhodey approach Pepper. She made her way through the drunk people until she made it to them.
"Good evening," Pepper said icily. "There he is. The man you keep defending, ruining his image even more!"
"Yes, sir, I understand. No. No, sir, that will not be necessary. I'll handle it. Sir, I personally guarantee that within 24 hours, Iron Man will be back on watch," Rhodey said on the phone. He picked his phone up as he reached the pair. "Hey Pepper. Lyra."
"I'm going to get some air," Pepper said.
Rhodey sighed. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know what to do," Pepper gestured to Tony.
Rhodey glared at the man and brought his eyes back to Lyra. "You gotta be kidding me." Tony fell over into a table and laughed. "That's it, I'm making—"
"No, no, no. Don't call anyone," Lyra said quickly.
"Lyra! This is ridiculous. I just stuck my neck out for this guy," Rhodey growled.
Lyra pulled at her hair. "I know. I know. I get it. I'm gonna handle it, okay. Just let me handle it."
"Handle it. Or I'm gonna have to."
Tony was on stage, grabbing the microphone. "You know, the question I get asked most often is, Tony, how do you go to the bathroom in the suit? " He paused. "Just like that!"
Tony watched Lyra approach him. "Jesus, Tone," she said before snatching the microphones. "Does this guy know how to throw a party or what?" she asked the crowd.
Tony grinned at her. "I love you."
"Unbelievable! Thank you so much. Tony, we all thank you so much for such a wonderful night. And we're gonna say good night now, and thank you all for coming," she said quickly when Tony tried to grab at her waist. She pushed him off as the crowd groaned.
"No, no, no, we can't—Wait, wait, wait. We didn't have the cake. We didn't blow out the candles," Tony said with a pout.
"You're out of control, okay? Trust me on this, okay?" Lyra asked softly.
Tony smirked. "You're out of control gorgeous," he flirted.
Pepper walked up to the stage. "It's time to go to bed. It's time."
Tony tried to kiss Lyra as Pepper grabbed the microphone. "Give me another smooch," he said to Lyra. Lyra grabbed his hand with a glare.
"You're not going to be happy about this," she snarled.
"Come on, you know you want to."
"You just peed in the suit."
"I know. It has a filtration system."
"It's not sexy."
"You could drink that water."
Pepper interrupted the quarreling couple. "Just send everybody home, okay? It's time to—"
"If you say so," Tony said.
Pepper smiled. "Okay. I'll take this, you take that." Pepper exchanged microphone for whatever bottle he was holding.
"Pepper Potts. She's right. The party's over. Then again, the party was over for me, like, an hour and a half ago. The after-party starts in 15 minutes. And if anybody, Pepper, Lyra, doesn't like it, there's the door," he said pointing to the door and accidently shoots it with the suit. "Yeah!" A girl threw a bottle in the air. "Hit!" More things fly in the air. "Pull! I think she wants the Gallagher!"
Rhodey appeared in one of Tony's uncolored suits with the mask open. "I'm only gonna say this once. Get out!" The helmet slipped down. Everybody left in a panic. Rhodey looks at Tony. "You don't deserve to wear one of these. Shut it down!"
Tony simply looked to the DJ. "Goldstein."
"Yes, Mr Stark?"
"Give me a phat beat to beat my buddy's ass to." Another One Bites the Dust by Queen started to play over the speakers as the pair began to fight. Pepper watched as Lyra's eyes welled with tears as the best friends fought. She was worried about Tony's health and his mind. She was worried about Rhodey. "Get out of here, Lyra!" Tony called, seemingly sober.
Pepper ran until she came face to face with Natalie Rushman. Lyra eyed the woman as Pepper yelled, "Natalie!"
Natalie looked around and smiled. "Miss Potts."
Pepper growled, "Don't you 'Miss Potts' me! I'm on to you. You know what? Ever since you came here—" Tony and Rhodey crashed through the ceiling next to them. Happy yelped.
"Lyra! Pepper!" Happy yelled, grabbing Pepper's hand. "Get out of here. Get out of here now."
Pepper turned to grab Lyra's hand, but Natalie had already grabbed her arm and left the room without a trace where the two could have gone.