When Darcy had first told him that she was running off with Loki, Tony had no idea what to think.

Well, he had a vague idea of what to think. He thought she was insane. Like, put in a straightjacket and lock in one of those padded cells out of her mind. That or he had her under his voodoo spell, despite the fact that her eyes were still their usual chocolate brown.

But he quickly grew to understand her choice. He didn't like it, and if he didn't know that she would resent him for it, he probably would have locked her up somewhere to keep her from running off. But not only would she hate him, but that slippery bastard probably would have broken her out without breaking a sweat.

Seriously, what kind of security measures can account for teleportation?

Stretching his neck, a loud cracking sound of stiff joints popping, he settled to slump down at his desk. Wounds were still healing from the week prior, he made a mental note not to threaten any terrorists for a while…

With a heavy sigh as he turned on his system's holoscreen, he muttered, "I'm getting too old for this."

Belatedly, he had to admit to himself that it was all sort of his fault. Not only did he spark this issue years ago, his recent actions did nothing to help. He thanked whatever God was out there that Pepper was now semi stabilized from the effects of Extremis and that this whole situation seemed to finally be settling down.

Scrolling through the latest files that had been sent to him, his thoughts started to drift back to Darcy. She had made good on her promise, keeping in touch regularly. Most of the time, she called him frequently, more than the once a week requirement.

Sometimes she would warn that they were traveling somewhere for a while that would put her out of cell service. He tried offering her a StarkPhone with better service, but she just laughed. A StarkPhone would be too easy to trace, and she could not risk SHIELD finding them. She would stick to her string of burner phones that she could toss after calling him.

Speaking of out of service, she was currently somewhere out of service: she told him not to expect to hear from her till next week at the earliest. Silently, he was actually happy about this. He doubted she would have reacted well to this whole situation, especially after the whole 'daring a terrorist to fight me on my front lawn' thing. The Avengers had all already given him angry lectures on that poor choice.

Shutting off the holoscreen, he reached up to rub his eyes. Nothing was going to get done right now. His mind was too unfocused. "I need a scotch."

"Sir, need I remind you that you cannot have alcohol with your current pain medication?"

Glaring towards the ceiling, the billionaire griped, "Yes, Jarvis, I'm aware. Thank you for reminding me of my current suffering."

"You are most welcome, sir."

With an angry huff, he muttered, "I'm being sassed by my own A.I."

"You did not program me to sass, sir."

"Then you've been working with me for too long." Shoving back from the desk, he decided that the best thing for him to do right now would be to tinker. Thankfully, the new Tower had been complete for the past year, complete with everything he and the team could possibly need, including his own private workshop.

He built the place, so he can give himself his own expensive lab.

The real trick of this place was convincing everyone else to move in. Thor had been easy: the moment he offered Jane a lab as well as unlimited funding, she had come running, and Thor trailed along behind her. The pair had been together since New York, with Thor being unable to return home without the Tesseract. Thankfully, he seemed to be enjoying his time on Earth.

Natasha and Clint were also surprisingly easy. THe moment they found out that they would be getting their own plush apartments which were much more desirable than the SHIELD issued places, they decided to show up with their bags. He is still not sure how they found out given the fact that he had not sent the invitation yet, but he simply let them tweak his security systems and tried not to dwell on the thought.

Steve took quite a bit of pestering and cajoling, but he eventually saw the reason of having all the team members situated under one roof. It's more efficient, and they could operate more easily as a unit.

Bruce had been the hardest. The squirrely doctor had been afraid of what might happen should he lose control in around so many civilians. Thankfully, Tony could be quite persuasive. He had to install a few Hulk proof rooms to calm the scientists fears, but it was worth it.

Picking up his latest project, Tony began to examine the miniaturized repulsor in his hands. The device had been a little pet project that he had been working on off and on since the Battle of New York. Darcy's gauntlet's had worked wonderfully, but they were a bit cumbersome and limited in charge. He was determined to perfect them.

He tried not to focus on the why of this project. In the back of his mind, he knew exactly why: for Darcy. She was a spitfire and seemed more than capable of worming her way out of precarious situations, but he knew that luck like that wouldn't last forever…

Hell, she had received a gaping hole in her side to prove it.

He wasn't sure why his thoughts kept drifting towards the kid. He supposed he missed her: she had, and still had, real promise working as his apprentice. With her in the lab, she not only brought a fresh perspective, but an upbeat attitude to everything. He guessed he could say he missed her…

"Tony!"

The shout nearly caused him to drop the repulsor, struggling to regain his grip on the delicate machinery. Spinning around, he turned just in time to have someone collide into him, causing him to make a loud 'oof!' in surprise and minor pain. Glancing down, he could see the top of a head, long tresses of messy, dark brown curls spilling out over the short frame. And sobbing. He could here broken, loud sobbing as he felt tears begin to soak his band shirt.

It took him a minute for his brain to process what was happening, but when he finally caught up to the situation, he quietly asked, "Darcy?... What are you doing here?"

She clung tighter, and he still could not see her face, and he could barely make out her muffled words. "I'm here because you are a damn idiot."

"What-"

"Be thankful Darcy is fond of you, Stark." The voice, distinctly masculine and all too familiar held a dangerous edge to his tone. Finally looking up from Darcy's head, Tony could see him lounging in the billionaire's recently vacated chair. The Trickster God had a fake relaxed edge to the way he sat, though Tony could see how tense he was. "I normally do not act so politely around the fools who make her cry."

He did not speak for a minute, trying to process exactly what was happening, only to shake his head in exasperation and angrily mutter, "I could really use a drink."

Author's Notes: Okay, this is just a super short update to say that I am alive and that I'm sorry for the delay! This has been a busy two weeks, and yeahhhhh things are crazy rn. But I'm not abandoning any of my stories! I should get back into the swing of things, so expect a longer update next time! This is just a set up of what to expect.

Also, IMPORTANT NEWS: I JUST GOT A SNAKE. He's a banana ball python and his name is Loki. I love my derpy noodle.

Comments:

AppleistheScrubLord: Thank you! You're always so sweet.

Guest: The wait is over~ XD

Guest: They really are an amazing pairing. And I'm trying to keep him a good balance of chaos and sass.