You woke in stages.
Your nighttime and early morning hours had been spent with you and your soulmate getting to know each other on a more intimate level. The sun had been peeking over the horizon before you drifted to sleep wrapped in his arms. You could tell from the light in the room that it wasn't even midday yet, so why the hell were you awake.
"What are we going to do if we can't find her?" a low voiced hissed from the hallway. Bucky?
"Everything will be fine, Buck." And that was Steve. What the hell were they doing? You were too tired for this shit. "We'll just ask—" His words cut off abruptly and you realized he'd entered the room. You could only hope the sheet was covering you from view.
The silence stretched and you relaxed thinking they must have left.
"Guess they made up, huh?" Amusement colored Bucky's voice and told you they hadn't left at all. Stupid super soldiers.
Tony's chest moved softly under you as he chuckled. His thumb rubbed against your skin signaling he knew you were awake as well.
"Next time you want to know where someone is, ask Jarvis," you said, not moving from your position. You were far too warm and comfortable to make the effort.
"Sorry," Steve said. "We were just worried when we saw the bag on your bed and then we couldn't find you anywhere."
"Well, you found me. Now leave."
You heard them mumble their apologies and agreements. What you did not hear was them leaving. No, instead you heard a distinctive click. Like the one made when someone takes a picture with their cellphone.
"James Buchanan Barnes, I will hurt you."
The super soldiers hurried off, and Tony gave up any pretense of trying to pretend he didn't find this all amusing as hell. You groaned and buried your head into his side. "Were they seriously giggling?" you asked.
"Yep." He popped the p when he answered then kissed your forehead. "Jarvis lock down access to this floor until I say otherwise."
"Of course, sir."
You felt him pull back to look at you and tilted your head to meet his gaze. His eyes studied you for a long moment. "You were going to leave?"
The sadness in his voice hurt your heart. "For about five minutes. Then I calmed down enough to realize that I didn't really want to go anywhere. Though I was afraid you were going to ask me to leave."
He huffed a laugh at that and pulled you closer to his side. "If I am ever stupid enough to even imply that I don't want you exactly where you are right now, smack some sense into me."
"I was just mad, Tony. Even if I left, I would have come back."
A hum was his only answer and you could tell he was lost in thought. You left him to it and ran one finger over the arc reactor glowing softly in his chest. You couldn't help but wonder at the pain that he'd been in at the time. And did it hurt now? What if something happened to the reactor, would he die?
As if sensing the turn your thoughts had taken, he grabbed your hand in his and brought it to his lips to kiss your palm. "That reminds me," he said. Suddenly you found yourself flipped onto your back, Tony grinning down at you as his hands gently pinned your wrists on either side of you.
"I didn't take the time to properly examine this last night." He punctuated the word this with a kiss to your breastbone, right where the soulmate scar mirrored his own.
"Well, we were rather preoccupied." You giggled as the whiskers from his goatee tickled your sensitive skin.
He hummed and moved his lips across your scar, covering it with gentle kisses. He began to whisper "I'm sorry" between each brush of his lips.
Your brow furrowed as you realized he was apologizing for you being marked. "Tony."
He simply hummed again and continued his actions.
"Tony. Stop apologizing." Your voice was breathy, gentle and he ignored you.
"Stop it, Tony." You were firm this time, no longer asking. He lifted his head and gazed up at you in question. You tugged at your wrists and he immediately released them, shifting to his side as he did so.
You turned to face him and took his hand in your own to place it where he'd been kissing moments before. You covered his hand with your own. "Never apologize for this, Tony. This scar is a reminder that you are alive. I don't regret it, I never have. Don't you ever doubt that."
His gaze locked with yours and the two of you just looked at each other for a while, content to be together. Finally, he beamed, giving you that genuine smile you loved so much. "God, I love you," he said before pulling you against him and capturing your lips with his own.
You would have returned the sentiment, but you were too busy being kissed senseless.
***
Over the next several weeks, the two of you spent little time apart. And if you were in proximity of one another, you found a way to touch. You were content holding his hand, or linking your arms together, but that was rarely enough for Tony. He wanted as much contact as possible. More often than not he could be found standing behind you with his arms looped around your waist to hold you against him.
One trip outside of the tower together and your picture was all over the paper. Speculation ran wild as to who you were exactly and Pepper took the opportunity to play injured girlfriend to the press. She made it very clear what her opinion of you was, as well. That lasted exactly two days before Tony held a press conference with you by his side. All it took was the announcement you were soulmates and Pepper's rants were long forgotten. The two of you gave a total of three interviews at the request of the Stark Industries PR department before going back to keeping your own company most of the time.
The team was an exception of course, though they probably wished they weren't. It didn't take much lovey dovey stuff before Bucky, Clint or Pietro would complain loudly. Poor Bruce got the brunt of it as you often accompanied Tony to the lab and worked at an empty table nearby. He didn't seem to mind much if his ever present smile when you were around was any indication.
Today had been one of the rare days you hadn't seen Tony since breakfast. You'd had things to handle that couldn't be done onsite and had just returned to the tower. You glanced at the time as you stepped into the elevator and told Jarvis to take you to Tony. You were unsurprised to discover it was late afternoon. Tony wouldn't be happy about it, but he'd manage. Actually, the part he wouldn't be happy about was the fact you hadn't answered any of his calls, simply texting to tell him you'd talk to him later.
The truth was, you weren't certain he would approve of your recent actions, but it needed to be done. Hopefully, he understood that. You shook off your worry. Of course, he would understand. He was a genius, after all.
You strode to the lab, your heels clicking on the floor as you went. Jarvis unlocked the door before you arrived and you stepped inside with a smile. You immediately went to Tony and kissed the side of his head before finding a stool to sit on out of the way. Your briefcase landed on the table with a thud and you unbuttoned your suit jacket before hopping up on the seat. "Hello," you finally greeted.
"Leaves me alone all day, won't even take my calls and all she says is hello," Tony replied. The teasing note in his voice and the matching smirk had you rolling your eyes and shaking your head.
You shifted your gaze over to Bruce. "Could you give us a moment?"
He nodded immediately. "Sure thing. I should probably eat something anyway. Just have Jarvis let me know when you're done."
"Of course." You kept your voice happy until he was out of the room and the door shut behind him.
"Did you skip lunch today?" you asked.
Tony glanced at you and grimaced. Apparently, you didn't look very happy. "Not on purpose."
"Seriously, Tony? How did you function before I got here?"
He put down the piece of his suit he was tinkering with. "I didn't." He came over to greet you properly and you held up a hand.
"Do not get grease on my suit. I like this suit."
He paused and looked you over from head toe. His grin lit his entire face. "Me, too." Before you could stop him, his arms were wrapped around you as he kissed you.
You shoved him lightly. He leaned back but didn't let go. "Damn it, Stark. What did I just say?"
"Sweetheart, I love you, I haven't seen you all day, and I think I can afford to replace your suit if I ruined it." He kissed you again. This time he pulled back on his own. "Okay, what did you need to talk to me about?"
You blinked at him. "What?" His kisses always left you a little fuzzy headed if you were honest. Not that you were complaining.
He chuckled. "You asked Bruce for a moment, so I figured you wanted to talk. Or have your way with me but we did promise we wouldn't do that in the lab anymore after the last time."
Your cheeks heated with the reminder and you cleared your throat. "Right." You hopped off your stool and turned to open your briefcase. Pulling out the thick stack of papers within, you placed them on the table and handed him a pen. "I need you to sign something."
He looked between you and the document marked with several flags to indicate where he needed to sign. "Baby, I trust you implicitly but what exactly is this?"
You sighed. You knew he was going to ask, but a small part of you had been hoping he wouldn't. He wouldn't like this. He was too soft hearted. Especially when it came to her.
"Sweetheart?" He appeared more than a little concerned at this point.
"This removes Pepper as the CEO of Stark Industries and returns control to you. I have already compiled portfolios of the best options to replace her should you not wish to return to the position." You said it all in one breath, as if saying it faster would make him less likely to argue.
He tilted his head and looked you over before grinning and beginning to flip through the paperwork and signing where it was marked. "I suppose she agreed to the buyout option in the original contract?"
You pressed your lips together. "Not exactly."
His gaze darted to you before turning back to the document in front of him. He placed his pen on the page to mark his spot and turned to face you. "Explain please."
You sighed. Damn it, you'd been so relieved when he started signing with no questions.
His voice was soft as he said your name to get your attention. "I'm not upset. In fact, I intended to have the attorneys look into it, but I've been a bit distracted. And I didn't want to go through the hassle, frankly. I also didn't think she'd agree to the buyout. So how did you do it?"
"Wait, you're okay with this?"
He shrugged. "Provided you didn't do anything shady, yes." He licked his lips. "Pepper was my friend for a long time. Sometimes, a little more than that, but the moment she spewed hate about you to the press our relationship was over. I'll forgive a lot of things. That isn't one of them."
Your heart lightened at his words. Just when you thought he couldn't make you feel more loved than you already did, he said something or did something that proved you completely wrong.
He went back to signing. "So, talk."
"Ironically enough, it was what she said about me that got her fired. When your attorney drew up the paperwork for Pepper to take over, he insisted on including a clause about false assertions, remember?"
Tony nodded. "He was worried that she would spread a bunch of lies to the board or the press and take the company out from under me completely."
You hummed in agreement. "That clause prohibits her from lying about any Stark Industries employee, not just you."
He paused and glanced up at you. "That was me. Said if we were going to put it in there we might as well cover everyone."
You smiled. "Well, Mr. Stark, as I am sure you remember you informed me that all the monkeys were my monkeys once upon a time. When there were things you wanted me to deal with that were not under my authority as the Avengers assistant, you hired me as your personal assistant. Via Stark Industries."
"You mean..." he trailed off.
You nodded. "When she gave those interviews, she violated the terms of the agreement. It was a clause she probably thought would never be enforced but here we are. Her attorney convinced her to take a $100,000 severance payment."
He signed the last line and pushed the papers back in your direction. "You are incredible."
The document went back into your briefcase to be delivered to his attorney tomorrow. "Thank you."
He leaned against the table. "Now, there is something I want to talk to you about."
Your brows shot up. "Should I be worried?"
"You just fired my CEO without consulting me."
"Good point. What do you need?"
"I need to have a party. Actually, let me rephrase that. We need to have a party."
You blinked at him. He knew you hated parties. "And why is that?"
He shrugged. "I introduced you to the world. Now, I want to introduce you to some of my friends."
You scrunched up your nose. You really didn't want to be the center of attention.
He leaned forward, that smirk flirting with his lips. "Besides, now we have something else to celebrate. Celebrate with me, sweetheart."
You sighed. "I guess we're having a party."