Shifted Souls - Volume 2

Chapter 11: Vanko

Adult Language, Screaming

Lizzie opened her eyes. She looked around her This looked like Tony's jet. She tried to figure out how she went from the racetrack to the jet. She started to raise up, but Tony put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head at her. "Lay still Izz. You had another seizure, plus you hit your head a couple of times." He sat down next to her, concern showing on his face. "How..." she cleared her throat. "How did we get here?" He smiled at her as he finished her question to him.

Lizzie tried to nod her head, but it hurt and that made the plane do all kinds of stomach-churning things. She looked up at Tony. "You lost a lot of blood." He pointed to his own head. "Head injuries bleed a lot. Natalie accompanied you to the hospital while I dealt with the authorities. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." He leaned over and pushed her hair out of her face gently. "I don't know what is causing those seizures baby, but you have got to stop hitting your head. That can't be helping the problem." Izz gave him the look that comment warranted.

She looked around for Pep and Nat. Pepper sat towards the front of the plane. She had the news on again. Lizzie could hear Sterns voice. She grimaced and Tony watched her like a hawk. "Pepper why do you watch those idiots? They make my head hurt and Stern is a fucking liar." Tony booped her on the nose. "Stay still." Lizzie wrinkled her nose at him. "I'd roll my eyes at your behavior, but I'm afraid my head would fall off at this point."

She watched as he picked up a plate and carried it to Pepper. She waited til Tony had sat down in front of Pepper and she moved onto her side. She could hear them as they talked. "Tony what are you not telling me?" She heard Pepper ask him. Lizzie hoped he would finally tell Pepper about what the palladium core had done to him and what it would do if he didn't fix it. "I don't want to go home. At All. Let's cancel my birthday party. We are all here. We're in Europe. Let's go to Venice."

Lizzie closed her eyes and wished they could cancel his birthday party. Kaitlynn's memories told her that unless something drastic happened, they were going to regret this birthday more than most. She tried to rest and wished she could get the oblivion that came when she slept. Tony had missed another chance to tell Pepper the truth. She couldn't figure out what was going on with those two. She couldn't figure out what was going on between her and Tony either. It was all too much right now. It all made her head hurt worse. She finally started to fall asleep. Her last conscious thought was she hoped Pep and Tony didn't fight. Then she fell into a troubled sleep that was dominated by Ocean blue green eyes and long dark hair. It would be the first of many she would have.

Once they were back home Pepper and Nat had been on the phones nonstop. They were both in the process of PR spin. Lizzie hadn't gotten her stitches out yet from her trip to the Monaco ER, but at least Tony wasn't hovering over her, literally, every second like he had been. As she came down the stairs, she passed through the living room and headed to the workshop. She had her sketchbook and her headphones in hand. She punched in the codes to the door and noticed Tony. Instead of working on his suits, he was sitting in the hot rod while J.A.R.V.I.S was running a search query.

She sat down her things and walked up to Tony. Lizzie didn't know why she felt the sudden urge to run her fingers through Tony's hair, but she did and then leaned around so they were face to face. She leaned her forehead against his as she spoke. "I promise we are going to figure this out T." Tony pulled away from her and just shook his head. That stung. Tony had never pulled away from her before, but she also realized he felt like his life was literally slipping away and he felt powerless to stop it. Lizzie kissed his cheek and gathered her things. She climbed up on one of the tool chests and opened her sketch pad. If he wouldn't accept her comforting him, she at least hoped he would take comfort from her presence.