Hello, my name is SimplyxLovely for those of you that don't know me. And this will be my first story based in the Marvel universe. There are several more stories to come. But for now, I hope you enjoy this one and leave positive reviews :D

-Infinity Heart

-Paring(s): Tony Stark/OC

-Rated: T for language and slight adult situations

-Movie-based

Disclaimer: I don't own Iron Man. The characters belong to Marvel studios and Stan Lee. I only own the OCs used

Chapter One:

"Normal Routine"

"..What you do on your own time's just fine,

My imagination's much worse,

I just never want to know.."

~Calm Before the Storm, Fall Out Boy

The people at the Apogee Awards clapped as Tony Stark was presented next which was cue for Tegan Hayes to zone out. She didn't need to hear the millionaire's life story. She knew it by heart for the man was her idol, not to mention her caregiver. The twenty-four year old had been with him since she was twelve. Her mother who was her only family left had died, leaving her an orphan at ten. She had been sent to a foster home while in her homeland England..but only for a little while.

Tegan was a technological genius just like Stark and because of her intelligence, the young woman was allowed to go to a school of gifted children in America. It was when she was twelve that she met Tony Stark. Her class had gone to Stark Industries for a field trip. She had found everything shown amazing but nothing had compare to the arc reactor. Her smokey grey eyes took it in with pure awe. Tegan was still standing there well after her class left and so engrossed that she hadn't notice someone was beside her until they spoke.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"Cool is an understatement. This is exuberant." she told, still looking up at the machine. "Gosh, could you imagine if it was smaller?"

"I don't know. Care to enlighten me?"

"Well, if it was smaller, it could be used in homes. The energy would last for years without repair! Oh, and pollution would be a thing of the past if this was in every factory in the world too. There's so much it can do.."

"Hmph. You know your stuff about arc reactor technology, kid."

"It's what I plan on studying in the future." the young girl stated with determination. "One day, I'm going to work here and make sure my ideas come true." She glanced at the person and froze. Tony stood there, smirking down at her. Her mouth gaped open and close, words escaping her.

"So, what's your name? Only seems right since we'll be working together in the future." It was after that when she told him her name and about her life, he decided then he would take her in; technically making her his successor, not as a daughter.

The female prodigy tuned back in when James Rhodes' voice spoke around the room. After fixing her short white chiffon dress that grew uncomfortable by the second, her grey eyes looked up from her iPhone that she was hiding under the table to avoid confrontation with Obadiah Stane; who sat a seat away from her at the circle table.

"As liaison to Stark Industries, I've had the unique privilege of serving with a real patriot." the lieutenant colonel told with a smile. One began to formed on the young woman's face as well. Tegan liked Rhodey. He was always kind to her and was a good man. "He is my friend and he is a great mentor to me and his successor, Tegan Hayes. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to present this year's Apogee Award to Mr. Tony Stark." Everyone clapped, looking around for said man.

"Tony?" his best friend called. His eyes drifted over to where he should have been seated with his company co-founder and heiress. The two shook their heads softly, silently telling that he wasn't there. James frowned a bit, disappointed along with them. Obadiah stood then to accept the award. The heiress sighed, looking back at her phone to see the new text message.

{ Tony Stark }

At the craps' table and just won a shit ton of chips

Come and join me and Happy, kiddo

"Tony Stark..you immature arse." she thought, annoyed. That man was more a kid than she wasn't anymore. As much as she cared about him, the young woman never approved of his lifestyle, only his genius and the gracious person he was behind close doors that only she and Pepper ever saw. Stane finally stepped on stage and retrieved the award from the military man.

"Thank you, Colonel." he said.

"Thanks for the save." Rhodes muttered to him. The older man smiled before facing the crowd at the podium, thanking the applauding people.

"Well, I'm not Tony Stark. But if I were Tony, I would tell you how honored I feel and what a joy it is to receive this very prestigious award." The female prodigy rolled her eyes, knowing that last part was bullshit. He had more awards than pairs of underwear left at some of his many homes. "Tony, you know..the best thing about Tony is also the worst thing. He's always working."

"Yeah, slowly working the women out of their dresses at the craps' table." Tegan thought sarcastically, snickering aloud. The older man said a few more words before leaving the stage with Rhodey. The young woman stood from the table and headed outside. After waiting a few minutes, Tony's friend arrived with the award in hand.

"He's here, ain't he?" were the first words out of his mouth.

She tipped her head forward in a nod. "Yup. Come on, let's go before he leaves with someone else."

"Work it! Come on!" Stark exclaimed after getting a good roll on the dices. Everyone around him cheered, especially the two women on both sides of him. His eyes briefly watched as the long black-haired woman jumped up and down in excitement in her low v-cut dress. He looked to the other woman in the orange dress, only to have the one he was ogling a second ago turn him back to her. She rubbed his chest sensually as she stared into his Aviator-covered eyes.

"We should just stay 'till the morning." the playboy told her, dying to have some under-the-covers fun. But that wasn't going to happen as James and Tegan appeared beside them.

"You are unbelievable." his pal told, serious. "Unbelievable."

"Oh, no! Did they rope you into this?" the millionaire questioned with mock surprise as his current bedpost mark backed away so he could face his friend.

The African-American man shook his head. "Nobody roped me into anything. But they told me that if I presented you with an award, you'd be deeply honored."

"Of course I'd be deeply honored." Tony assured, "And it's you, that's great. So when do we do it?" He turned back to the craps table. "Uh, one more round.."

"It's right here. Here you go." Tegan deadpanned, handing it to him.

"Oh, there it is. That was easy." her caregiver said, taking it and looking at the two. "I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, it's okay." James said blankly.

"Wow! Would you look at that? That's something else." he said with disinterest, glancing at it before handing it off to the woman on his right. "Like I don't have any of those floating around." The man leaned over the table and pushed the chips he just won at the game forward. "We're gonna let it ride!" Grabbing the red dices, he placed them in front of woman in the black dress.

"Give me a hand, will you? Give me a little something-something." She complied, blowing on them for good luck. The dices moved towards Rhodes. "Okay, you too."

"I don't blow on a man's dice." he told, unamused.

Tony then moved to his successor, smirking teasingly. "How about you, Turtle?" Tegan grimaced as a light blush formed on her cheeks. She hated it when he called her by that nickname in public. She had been dubbed the name in the beginning days of living with him. As a child, she was terribly shy and whenever she said something embarrassing or was nervous, she'd covered half her face with her shirt collar. The habit had reminded Tony of a turtle going in its' shell. Thus, the pet name was born. Everyone at the table now had their attention on them which was another thing she despised.

"I don't like people staring at me." she thought angrily. She peered at her foster parent's smug face. "And he knows it..just like he knows it'll get a raise out of me, so I'll give him what he wants this time." Her hand quickly raised and slapped them away, making them fly out of his loose grasp and onto the table.

"There is it. Tegan Marie Hayes rolls! And.." the millionaire exclaimed, watching.

"Two craps. Line away." the dealer stated, meaning he lost.

"I told you I suck at gambling." she smirked triumphantly.

"Worse things have happened. I think we're gonna be fine." he replied nonchalantly, glancing at the dealer. "Color me up, William." Stark then started flirting with the woman in black again. Tegan had had enough. All she wanted was to go home and change out of the uncomfortable dress and heels. Her hand grasped his arm and pulled him away from the woman. She ignored the older man's protests, calmly telling the bodyguards and Happy that they were leaving and to bring the award along.

"Make sure he's gets to the flight on time tomorrow, Tegan!" the colonel reminded.

"Not making any promises with this one but I'll try. Goodnight, Rhodey." she shouted back. Once they were close to the entrance, she let her caregiver go though he could have easily removed himself if he really wanted to.

"You know you're a real cock-block, kid." he pouted like a child, "I was so close to getting that woman in a hotel room."

"Please. There was no point in trying to sway her. That skunk bag would have been on her knees right in a hurry if you simply said the word 'Suck', Tony." Tegan remarked crudely with her Irish accent, rolling her grey eyes.

He stared at her as they walked outside to the car. "Wow, why didn't you tell me that while we were in there?"

"Like you said before, I'm a cock-block." she responded with indifferent, "But really, you don't need to be partying tonight. You have an early flight tomorrow."

"Thanks, Mom." Stark grumbled, stopping by the backseat doors of the car.

The young woman pinched his cheek with a grin. "You're welcome, honey bear." Just as they were about to step inside, a woman called out to the male genius.

"Mr. Stark! Excuse me, Mr. Stark!" A pretty blond-haired reporter appeared and was blocked by two of the bodyguards. "Christine Everhart, Vanity Fair magazine. Can I ask you a couple of questions?" Tegan inwardly groaned before looking at the ruiner of her plan on getting the playboy home without an unknown woman that night.

Not turning towards her yet, Tony glanced briefly at his driver. "She's all right?"

"She's cute." he replied honestly, earning a heated glare from the heiress. Happy winced and gave a silent apology. The millionaire had turned around by then and was conversing with the reporter.

"You've been called the da Vinci of our time. What do you say to that?" Ms. Everhart started.

"Absolutely ridiculous. I don't paint." Tony answered with a joke.

"And what do you say to your other nickname? 'The Merchant of Death'?" It was the female prodigy's turn to wince. Because Tony created and sold advance but destructive weapons to the government, he had been dubbed that nickname ever since. She secretly wished that he would use his genius for something else—something for good—but sadly knew he probably never would.

"That's not bad." he said, becoming serious. "Let me guess. Berkeley?"

"Brown, actually." she corrected.

"Well, Ms. Brown, it's an imperfect world but it's the only one we've got. I guarantee you, the day weapons are no longer needed to keep the peace, I'll start making bricks and beams for baby hospitals."

"Rehearse that much?" Ms. Everhart questioned.

"Sadly, every night in front of the mirror before bedtime." Tegan interjected sarcastically. The reporter gazed over at the younger woman who leaned back against the sleek black Lincoln unladylike in her short evening dress.

"I can see that and you, Tegan Hayes—suppose heiress to the Stark fortune—are absolutely okay with what he does?"

Her brown haired head shook. "No, but what he does is from his own endeavors and I don't bother to change his mind since he's thick-headed.."

"Geez, are you on my side or not, Teg?" Stark queried, sounding slightly offended.

"I am but you know damn well I'm not about to lie on your behalf, Tony." she told tiredly, "Now, are we done here, Ms. Everhart? Because my patience is wearing thin."

"All I want is a serious answer." the blond woman replied.

"Okay, here's serious." the male genius said, crossing his arms. His patience as well was wearing thin but for a different reason than his successor's. "My old man had a philosophy, 'Peace means having a bigger stick than the other guy.'"

"That's a great line coming from the guy selling the sticks."

"My father helped defeat the Nazis. He worked on the Manhattan Project. A lot of people, including your professors at Brown, would call that being a hero."

"And a lot of people would also call that war profiteering." Christine remarked.

Stark removed his shades peer directly into the determined reporter's eyes. "Tell me, do you plan to report on the millions we've saved by advancing medical technology or kept from starvation with our intelli-crops? All those breakthroughs, military funding, honey."

She frowned. "Wow..You ever lose an hour of sleep your whole life?"

"I'd be prepared to lose a few with you." he informed. And with that said, Tegan sighed while pulling out her phone and pressing the number three on her speed dial. After just the first ring came a groggy reply through the speaker,

"..Send me the directions and I'll be there as soon as possible.."

The bustling sound of the city below slowly invaded their way into Tegan's peaceful sleep, awakening her. She rolled onto her back and peeked one eye open. It was a terrible mistake as the morning sun beamed into the room head-on through large non-curtain windows; having forgotten she wasn't in her tinted bedroom back at Tony's. Letting out a pained groan, the prodigy shielded her eyes from the deadly light.

A short chuckle made her carefully peer to the left. Standing in the doorway with a coffee mug, a tall, bare-chested young man with short-cropped dirty blond hair that was tousled from sleep. Grey orbs unintentionally drifted from the Celtic cross on his left pectoral down the evident happy trail to the Japanese tattoo that showed just above his waist band. Realizing what she was doing, the heiress snapped her gaze up to the man's face, only to find a knowing smirk gracing his lips. She blushed brightly and turned her attention away from the handsome, well-fitted male.

"Joven, put a shirt on, will you?" Hayes grumbled.

"Nope. My apartment, my rules. Just be happy I put some pants and trousers on." he replied, making his way towards her side of the bed. One of the mugs was offered to the brunette then. "Here, I made you coffee since I know how you are in the morning. It's the peppermint one you love."

Tegan sat up and took the hot drink, beaming. "You know me so well and I adore you for that."

Joven sat on the edge, laughing. "That's what happens when you've known someone for as long as we have."

"Nine years, almost a decade. God, we're getting old." she said with mock-horror. Her friend laughed again and the smile returned to her face. She loved hearing that husky laugh of his.

"It's only natural, Teg." he stated before placing a quick kiss on her forehead. Her face scrunched up as his beard tickled the skin there.

"So, what time is it?" the young woman asked, finally taking a sip of her drink now that it cooled some.

"It's a little after six. So, you might want to get cleaned up now before Pepper starts worrying." the young man replied, standing to walk over to the dresser in the room. "I think Angelique's clothes will fit you."

The female genius grimaced. "I don't want to wear one of your call girls' clothing."

"The proper term is muses, know-it-all." Joven retorted back, "Besides, my clothes won't do and that dress you kept complaining about last night is definitely out of the question."

She glanced down at the clothes she borrowed from him. He was right. She couldn't arrive back home in his jersey and a pair of old sweatpants without receiving a thousand questions from a concerned Pepper or a noisy Tony. So, it seemed Tegan had to survive in some random woman's clothing for awhile until she could change into her own. After being tossed a plain white tank and denim short shorts, the young woman showered and dressed. When stepping out of the conjoined bathroom and back into the bedroom, she discovered her gown in a clear plastic garment bag and her heels placed in an old Nike's box on the mattress; a white piece of paper on top. Her slender fingers picked up the note and read:

Sorry, got an urgent call from the gallery.

I'll come stop by Tony's later to see you.

Get home safe.

—J

She sighed and folded the paper, slipping it into her back pocket. Joven McBride had been her close friend since high school—which she was allowed to go to after begging for a normal life. The two had been a part of the misfits group there and while she was considered the 'nerd' in their clique, he was the 'artist'. And he stayed true to what he was—living in a nice loft in Bunker Hill while study the arts and working at a fine arts gallery part-time. With being heiress to the Stark fortune, she tried not to rely too much on the wealth she had now. The prodigy worked part-time repairing cars and even helped Pepper out with all the stuff Tony piled on her. Deciding it was time to leave, she reached over to grab her phone off the bedside table to call Happy. But before Tegan could, it rang—the chorus to 'Cherry Bomb' by The Runaways playing loudly—and she quickly answered.

"Hey, Tegan." greeted the personal bodyguard of her guardian.

"Happy? Weird, I was just about to call you. So, can you—"

"Already here. Pepper asked me to come get you." he interjected. A tender smile formed on the heiress' face. Pepper was always looking out for her even when she didn't need to; something the young woman was always grateful for.

"Ah..alright. Well, I'll be down soon." she told. Happy gave an 'okay' before hanging up. Gathering her belongings, the prodigy hurried through her friend's apartment and outside to the car, making sure to lock the door with the spare key given to her. The kind middle-aged man grinned at her when she appeared and opened the backseat door, allowing her to slip in. Tegan leaned back and closed her eyes, hoping to catch a bit more sleep before dealing with what waited at home.

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