The first time they had met did not go down the way the billionaire would have hoped.

It was another fundraiser for some charity that he honestly didn't know the name of, but knew did wonderful work if they had the Stark money backing them. The higher ups from the company and many other fat, rich bores littered the impressive Disney theatre, and as he made his way towards the entrance, he smiled and waved to the cameras as was expected.

"Tony?"

Glancing up from where he had just been admiring a curvy brunette with legs that went forever, Tony caught sight of his Father in everything but blood, and grinned widely. "Obie!" he cried, holding his hand out in greeting as he walked towards the ageing man.

Shaking the hand and patting the younger man on the back, Obadiah couldn't shake the quizzical look on his face as he stared down at the boy he had seen grow into the man that stood before him today. "I didn't think that you were coming."

Shrugging, Tony smiled for another camera before making his way up the red carpeted stairs. "I didn't know it was on," he confessed. "But I'm here now, so let's get this show on the road."

Knowing that he had no choice, Obadiah nodded sharply, before following the brunette up the stairs and into the glowing Ballroom. Talking to all the right people and smiling at everyone else, Tony quickly lost track of the older man, but found that the mask was easier to keep up, and so left well enough alone. Deciding that it was time for another refill, the engineer made his way over to the bar, and mentally grinned in amusement as the crowd before him parted like the Red Sea.

The perks of being him were just awesome.

Leaning up against the bar, Tony ran his fingers lightly over his suit to remove imaginary wrinkles as he placed his order and waited for it to be filled.

"Excuse me, Mr Stark?"

Whirling around at the sound of his name, Tony plastered a fake smile to greet whoever it was behind him, and felt it melt right off his face. The man was plain; there was no other word for it. He wore a standard haircut, with a standard suit, and stood in a standard posture. There was nothing there to catch the billionaire's attention. But then he caught sight of his eyes.

His bright blue eyes that screamed of danger and adventure.

Of a secret world filled with things beyond the genius' wildest imaginations.

Of a world that only this man had the keys to, and Tony wanted badly.

Swallowing thickly, Tony lost himself in the swirling pool in front of him, and cared not that nearly everyone in the vicinity could see him acting so out of character. Shuffling awkwardly, the blue-eyed man tilted his head slightly, and smiled in a way that made the brunette feel weak at the knees.

"Mr Stark?"

The sound of his name rolling off the man's tongue was like drop of water in a scorching desert; and Tony wanted more. Mentally slapping himself out of the doppy love-struck setting his mind seemed to have jammed itself into, the brunette straightened his posture and grinned charmingly. "I seem to find myself at a disadvantage," he quipped, his eyes sparkling in the light as he gazed upon the slightly taller man. "You know my name, but I am at a loss for yours."

Noticing the left corner of blue-eye's mouth twitch upward, Tony felt like whooping in delight. "My name is Agent Coulson," the man replied, his face warm and full of character as he stared down at the billionaire. "I work for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division-"

"Wow, that's a mouthful," Tony blurted out, grinning wider when he received another twitch of the lip in reply.

"We're working on it," Coulson informed, clutching the file in his hands a little tighter. "I need to debrief you about your time in Afghanistan."

The warm, tingly feeling the brunette had been feeling as he gazed upon the Agent died a rather dramatic death within his chest as his most recent trip overseas squeezed its way into the conversation. Taking a rather large gulp from the drink he had previously been ignoring, Tony for the first time since landing eyes on the man, turned his attention to the rest of the people in the room, and shrugged non-Chantilly. "It really wasn't much," he muttered, forcing his snarky mask back up as he did so. "Just a lot of sand and rocks, not much to really talk about."

The twinkle in the agent's eyes dimmed slightly as the mask was screwed back into place, and if the self-depreciating voice in the back of Tony's head sniggered with glee, the billionaire would never say.

"I still need to go over it," Coulson insisted, his hands clenched on the file so tightly the the brunette was surprised there wasn't tears all over it yet. "It's very important."

Glancing back into the dazzling blue oceans the man had forced to be his eyes, Tony felt his mask crack slightly, before nodding. He needed to get out of there quickly. Searching the crowd for a familiar face, the brunette could have almost cried out in relief, when the vision of Pepper Potts wearing a scandalous outfit caught his attention. Turning back to the Agent, Tony grinned brightly. "No worries, I'm just going to go over to my assistant, and we're going to work out a time."

Both knowing that the billionaire was not going to do that at all, Tony waited for Coulson to admit defeat and nod in agreement, before shuffling past and making his way over to the red head.

And as they sat on the roof, talking of things of no consequence, Tony couldn't help but think back to the plain suited man, and his plain suited face, that had somehow rattled his entire world with a quirk of his lips and shimmer of his eyes.

It would not be until much later, that he would realise the significance of their meeting, and just what the tingling sensation in his chest was; but he did know what he wanted, and that was one Agent Coulson from a ridiculously long named government agency...

...and what Anthony Stark wants, he gets.