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Tony refused to take the blind fold off her eyes "were are almost there be patient" he said guiding her through the house

"Tony," Ami chuckled, "what did you do? I swear, if you bought another vintage car, I'll scream. I won't sit through another speech about how amazing it is."

"No I've already learned my lesson on you not having any good taste " he said rounding a corner "ok here we are" he said ripping of her blind fold revealing the door to her room she had seen a million times

However, she was speechless. It had been expanded to include her own workbench and some containers for suits. One already had one in it.


"Tony," she said, shock running through her as she touched her new tools, "why did you-"

"I heard what you said to the doctor," he admitted. "So you stop stealing my snacks, I built this for you. It will also cut down on you being triggered."

She hugged him. "Thank you."

"Anything for the baby of the family."

She punched his arm and they laughed.

"Also when id like you to meet someone " he said as a black man with eye patched walked in

"hello Ms Stark my name is nick fury its nice to meet you" he said

"Um, hi," she said. "Tony, what is Patchy the Pirate doing in my room?"

"Well-" Tony began, but Fury interrupted, "I know this is out of the blue, considering what you went through, but I would like to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative with your brother. Your father always said two Starks are better than one."

"You knew our dad?" Ami asked.

"Yes, I did."

"Sorry," Ami said. "I can't help you."

"Excuse me?"

"Better answer. I won't help you."

"Even with access to one of the best labs in the world?"

"Just got the best. Don't need yours."

"Think about it."

"I already did. Unless my idiot brother needs me to bail him out or the world is ending, I'll stay home with my new toys. So run back to the Black Pearl."

Nick looked at Stark " we will talk later" he said and left "ami what was that about, you know damn well I only introduce people worth knowing" Tony said in a upset tone

"I know!" she said, sitting on her bed. "As soon as he mentioned dad... I just... I remember him saying I have no drive, that everything I do is just to support you. I guess I'm not over our last words as much as I thought." She looked at Tony. "I'll think about it, okay? I mean, did you agree instantly?"

"no but its always useful to know the power players remember, that how we figure out who our allies and enemies are" he said crossing his arms "i will tell you this though i cant get a read on him and that makes me very unsettled"

"Well, let's get through this year's Stark Expo before we make a decision, then," Ami said with a smile. "After all, you wanted to bring that back. You know there's going to be a lot of weapons on display, right?"

Tony shook his head "Not this year, im moving stark industries away from weapons" he said in a serious tone

"Not from us," Ami laughed. "The other presenters. You can't tell them that they can't present anything."

He groaned "i hate those things..." he said with a sigh "anyways dont blow up the house with your new lab ok"

"Says the man that literally put a hole in it trying to land his suit," Ami said sarcastically as he walked out, only to get flipped off before he closed the door.
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That night...

Ami bolted up from her sleep, sweating. She had another nightmare of the woman who stabbed her. Ami turned on the lights and began playing some ACDC.

"Come on, JARVIS," she said, getting her console up and running. "Let's get to work."

"And what will you begin working on?" the butler asked.

She looked at a picture on her desk and smiled. "Let's see if tinkering will lead to a breakthrough for now."

She didn't notice the sun rising or that she had been working for six hours on only three hours of sleep. She did notice when Pepper entered her new sanctuary.

"My God," said Pepper, seeing the holograms floating around the room. "Did you sleep at all?!"

"Yes," Ami said, downing a cup of coffee. "Well, define sleep."

"I'd say eight hours of you not doing... whatever the hell this is."

"Then, no. Look, I'm on the verge of an 'Ah-Ha' moment, so if you don't mind..."

"I do mind!"

"It's still fresh, Pep. Give me time to get past what happened literally two days ago."

"Fine. I'm just worried about you."

"I know. But hey, I may have solved world hunger."

JARVIS said, "Actually, that plan failed, Ms. Stark."

"Right. Well, I almost solved world hunger before it kind of failed, so-"

"so lets solve your own hunger first , its time for breakfast" she said "come on im not taking no for answer" she said waiting by the door

Ami smiled and followed Pepper. The rest of the day was her and Tony working on their holo-tablets while trying to hold a conversation. A new normal was taking hold and Pepper didn't know how she was going to deal with it.