New character reveal as promised. Hope you like.
(Y/n) made her way into the restaurant. It had been some time since she had been there, but the sights and smells had barely changed since her last visit. The chatter of the people. The clink of glasses, and the faint sound of the cooks and bus boys working behind the scenes, making her smile slightly. That smile growing a little wider, as she saw a tall, slender man dressed in a smart suit approach her.
"Madam Stark. It is so nice to see you again." The finely coiffured man said, as he held out his hand for the older Stark to take. His thick French accent only seeming to have gotten more pronounced since she had last seen the .
"Bonsoir, Henri. C'est tellement agréable de te revoir aussi. Comment ca va?" (Y/n) greeted in reply, as she shook the man's hand, and allowed him to take the coat from her shoulders. The tall man passing it off to one of the waiters that dutifully scurried off with it.
"I am very well, thank you, madam. It is so nice to have you back. It has been far too long." Henri replied, as he picked up a menu from the table next to him.
"You're quite right, Henri. Far too long. But I hope to be able to make up for that. Now, is my guest here?" (Y/n) enquired, as she scanned the lavishly appointed restaurant and her fellow diners.
"Qui, madam. The gentleman is already waiting at your usual table. He has been here but a matter of moments." The maitre d' replied with a smile, as he gestured for the doctor to follow him. The pair moving expertly between the tables until they came to the intimate, out of the way booth that (Y/n) had always liked to sit at. A fond smile kissing her lips, as the man that had been waiting for her arrival, gallantly got to his feet.
"Director Fury. How nice of you to meet me here."
"Thank you for asking me, Doctor Stark." Nick replied. Trying to appear all business like, as he took (Y/n)'s hand and kissed her knuckles, before she slipped into the leather bound seats next to him. The maitre d' handing her the menu and promising to send over a waiter.
"Why is it that we always feel the need to be so formal, Nicholas." (Y/n) chuckled, as she leaned further in, and kissed him softly on the lips. Nick holding her hand a little tighter, as he drew closer to her side.
"Because you haven't told your annoying brother about us yet." Nick replied, as he reached up and pushed a few stray strands of hair back behind her ear.
"Nicholas. Please. I know Anthony can be a little......well, a lot annoying at times, but he really does mean well. In his own unique way. And I have tried to tell him about us. Lord knows I've tried. But every time I go to say something to him, its like I am having to tell my father. Sometimes he has the same kind of look in his eyes that Howard did, and I feel like a young girl again. I feel that he will disapprove. Not that I care if he approves or disapproves because this is my life. But he is the only real family that I have left, and I want him to be happy about this. Happy for me and you. I do know that it sounds ridiculous at our age, to worry about such things. But I love my brother, and its important to me. Important to know that you and he will be able to get along." (Y/n) sighed, as she looked down at their hands. Nick's fingers intertwined with her own.
Nick knew how much Tony meant to (Y/n). He knew how she had beaten herself up over the incident in Afghanistan. How she still felt guilty for not being with him when he had returned home and had to face Stane and Vanko. The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D always trying to reassure her that Tony was big enough and ugly enough to look after himself. (Y/n) stating that even though that was the case, to her he would always be that tiny little boy that had gripped her finger on the day of his birth. The little bundle that she had sworn to look after.
Nick had met (Y/n) long before he had met Tony. Long before the younger Stark had become Iron Man and the Avengers had come together. They had met when they were both still young themselves. When they had just begun on their own journeys in life. And from the moment that they had shook hands, there had been something between them. The two often meeting in secret, just like they were now. Spending the nights together in whatever hotel or motel they could find. The pair wrapped in one another's arms as they had spoken about a future together. A future that they both secretly knew that they couldn't have. A future that the people they worked for, would never allow.
It had been the worst day of their lives when they had had to say goodbye all those years before. When they had met for the last time. When they had laid in that last bed together. The two promising that they would never forget. And in truth, they hadn't. Yet it wasn't until (Y/n) had been able to return to the States full time. Until they had met again, that they had realised that there was still that something between them. And this time, Nick wasn't going to let anything, or anyone get in his way. This time, he wasn't going to let S.H.I.E.L.D or Tony damn Stark stop them from being happy.
"If he loves you, honey, then he will get used to the idea of me and you being together. And if you love me, then sooner or later, you are going to have to tell him. We can't carry on meeting in secret. Pretending that we don't really know one another when we are in public." Nick replied, as he brought her hand up to his lips. (Y/n) nodding in agreement. Knowing that she and Nick had already been forced to spend too many years apart, and that she didn't want to lose any more time than they already had.
"You're right, Nicholas. So, why don't you and I tell him about us, tonight? We will tell Anthony everything. About our plans. And if he can't accept it, well.........then he can't accept it." (Y/n) said, smiling as she felt Nick slip his arm around her waist. His forehead now resting against hers.
"That's my girl. But first, lets eat." Nick chuckled. The two moving apart, as the waiter made his way to the table.
>>--------------------------------<<
Happy looked at the screen in the car. The display telling him that Tony was calling him. The big man shaking his head, as he pressed the button to answer the call.
"Er.......hi boss......what can I do for you?"
"Ah Happy. Now where did you take Queenie?" Tony began. The older Stark's words going around and around in the driver's mind, as he contemplated what to tell Tony.
"Oh, er........I er, took her to this little place in the city. This out of the way restaurant." Happy replied, the other end of the line going quiet for a moment.
"Boss............?"
"She told you not to tell me, didn't she?" Tony interrupted. Happy finding himself cringing at the younger Stark's question.
"Well, maybe.........okay, yeah. But to be honest, boss, I'm more worried about what Miss Stark would do to me, if I did tell you, than anything that you might think of." Happy confessed. His brows furrowing, as the line once again went quiet.
"What about this mystery man of hers?"
"I don't know. I didn't see him. I just dropped her at the restaurant and left......."
"Left? LEFT!? What do you mean, left? How is she getting back? How........." Tony began to rant. Happy sure that he could hear him grind his teeth. That he could hear him pace the floor.
"Miss Stark told me to leave her. Told me that she didn't need me. That she would make her own way home. That she might even spend the night at the Ritz-Carlton." Happy explained, not sure what else to say. But sure, that he could hear the gears inside Tony's brain, grind and clunk, as he thought.
"Come back to the compound. I want to know everything that you saw." Tony finally replied. The line suddenly going dead. Happy wishing that for once in their lives, the Starks could stop making things so damn complicated.