afterglow - tony stark

05

After the press conference, where people seemed really shocked and mad about what Tony said (shutting down weapons manufacturing), they were now at his house. All her flower pots were now in her room. Tony called it her room.

She was in room watering all of her plants. But Tony was in the living room arguing with Pepper.

"If you don't want to see a doctor, that's fine," Pepper said. "But Snow needs one."

"She's fine," Tony huffed.

"She clings to you all day long, Tony. That's not healthy. She's been in that cave for who knows how long," Pepper argued. "She needs to talk to a professional. She needs help that you can't give her."

"I won't leave her!" Tony nearly shouted before he calmed down and spoke more quietly. "I won't leave her unless she tells to go and I'm not going to make her do anything she's not comfortable with. She doesn't know anyone; she's not going to talk, anyways. Just...leave it be."

Pepper sighed, "Alright."

_____

It was later in the day and she came out of her room to find Pepper in the living room. There was something playing on this square thing and it didn't sound very good.

She sat down beside the redhead as she stared at the weird contraption on the wall, "What is it?"

"That...is a television," Pepper explained. "It plays the news and other things."

She blinked at it as she listened to what was being said before she turned her head to Pepper, "Its not good, what he said, for his..." she thought of the word. "...company, is it?"

"No," Pepper sighed. "It's absolutely terrible right now."

She hummed as she looked back at the screen. Pepper looked at what she was wearing; she still wore the same green camo she arrived in.

"What about tomorrow..." Pepper gestured to her clothes. "We go and pick your own wardrobe?"

"Really?" Snow smiled. "I...I'd love that."

"Okay, it's settled then."

Snow held a smile for a moment before she looked around the room and she began to frown, "Where is Tony?"

"He's downstairs," Pepper stated. "It's usually where he always is."

Snow got up and ventured down the stairs to a set of glass doors, although, she couldn't see anything through the glass. When she placed her hand on the doors, they opened for her. She walked through them slowly and they closed automatically. She looked back at them to find that on this side, the glass was transparent.

She turned her head forward to find Tony sitting on a chair with his shirt off. He held another arc reactor in his hands and she happily skipped over to him.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she approached his side.

"Good, I was just about to call you down here," Tony said.

"For what?"

"I need you to replace..." Tony took the old reactor out of his chest and her eyes widened. "This."

He handed her the old arc reactor and she placed it on the table. She looked at the new arc reactor in his hand in surprise, "You already made a new one?"

He smiled softly, "Yes, I did, Snowflake."

"Now, there's an exposed wire under this device. And it's contacting the socket wall and causing a little bit of a short. It's fine. I want you to reach in, and you're just gonna gently lift the wire out but don't let it touch the socket wall," Tony explained.

"Gently lift the wire out," she repeated as she looked down at the plate in his chest before looking at him carefully. "What if I'm not gentle enough?"

"Snowflake, you are the gentlest person in the whole world," Tony confessed. "I trust you."

"Okay, okay," she took a deep breath before she stuck her hand into the plate in his chest and she found the wire. She slowly and gentle lifted it out; she didn't let it touch the sides at all.

"I got it," she said proudly.

"Okay, now make sure that when you pull it out, that you don't..." Tony started to say before she pulled the wire out with the magnet and the computer screens started beeping. "...don't pull out the magnet that you just pulled out."

"What?" she looked at him with wide eyes and she started to place the magnet back in. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't put it back in!"

"What do I do?" she asked as she discarded the magnet.

"We gotta hurry. Take this," Tony gave her the new arc reactor. "You gotta switch it out really quick. Okay, you're gonna attach that to the base plate..."

She took the new arc reactor and attached the end wire to the base plate. Then she rotated the circular piece into the base plate, locking it into place.

"See. Look at that. You did great," Tony smiled as she held her hands up with all this discharge.

"I did?"

"The best, angel," he said in a light tone as he hopped up from the chair as he loomed in front of her with an excited look.

"What?" she asked, not understanding his look as he took a towel and dried her hands.

"We have a movie date," Tony smirked. "I'm supposed to show you what a Disney princess is, remember?"

"But...what's a movie date?"

"Well, I guess you'll find out, won't you?"

_____

She loved movie dates. She ate all the buttery popcorn she could as they watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Pepper was long gone as they lounged on the couch. Tony kept playing with her hair but she didn't mind.

"How am I like Snow White?" she asked. "I don't look like her."

"Well, you have the pale skin and your hair...well, that makes you better suited for the name Snow White," Tony explained.

It was silent for a moment before she smiled widely at him, "So I'm a Disney princess?"

"You are in my book, angel."