Present of the Past || TONY STARK fanfiction

CHAPTER 24: ''The one where Tony has a flashback''

1999.

Tony.

I was quietly sitting fixing up something in my lab, when I dropped my screwdriver on the ground I sighed and grunted when I went to pick it up but it rolled under my desk so I had to crawl under it. "Damn it, where are you" I grunted. I crawled all over the ground when I saw a pair of feet standing in front of me.

"You looking for this?" a soft voice entered my ears, making the hairs on my neck stand up. I  scrunched my eyes hard before I looked up. My eyes get a glimpse of her shoes. She looked down at me a grin on her face, the screwdriver in her hand. She gave it back to me reached out her hand towards me and pulled me up. (not so fluently, however)

"Yeah, thank you" I chuckled softly. I walked back to my desk and sat down. She followed me back, like a lost puppy. "Can I help you, Darling?" I emphasized the word 'darling'. She smiled and showed me the tv-remote.

"I don't know how this works. There are too many buttons" She shifted on her feet uncomfortably. Her face flushed red when I laughed a little too loud. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. She constantly looked down at her hands and constantly avoided my eyes.

"It's fine" I wiped my hands and walked back upstairs with her. It's only been 6 months since she got here. She was still getting used to the new environment. She gets startled easily and I had to save her from traffic multiple times. I guessed the amount of stimuli must've doubled.

"So, what's the problem?" I asked when we got to the living room. She shifted on her feet again.

"I was watching this show, Friends, I guess. But I accidently pushed the wrong buttons and I can't find it again" I laughed again. She handed me the remote again and I set it to the right channel again.

She smiled and plopped down next to me. "Thank you" she quipped. She was so innocent and quiet. I felt guilty that I couldn't help her.

"No problem, but you know there's like 5 other seasons that go before that" I stated. Her head jerked up.

"Really?" she asked, her voice soft. A small smile on her face, for what seemed the first time in months. I got up, grunting from the sofa. All those hours sitting down on a chair in the lab aren't exactly the best for my health. But it was better than just sitting in meetings all day deciding if we should sell more weapons to the U.S. government.

I went to the DVD holder next to the TV, grabbed the first season of F.R.I.E.N.D.S., and put it in the DVD player. "Now it'll make much more sense I guess. Can't seem to figure out why this Rachel girl is so mad at this guy, ehm" she snapped her fingers.

"Ross?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. She giggled and nodded very fast.

The first episode started playing. Ransom's head turned to the TV. If she could put her head against it I think she would. I was so caught up in staring at her that I didn't notice hours go by.

Her head was resting against my shoulder when I heard light snoring coming from her. I was scared to move and wake her up. She looked like she didn't get any sleep for a while now. She looked so peaceful. So I just sat there In silence, listening to her snore. It was only then that I also noticed how tired I was.

My eyes felt heavy and I fell asleep. My head resting on top of hers, my arm laying on her shoulder. I couldn't help but notice that warm feeling in my chest welling up. But I stopped myself from pursuing whatever it was that I was feeling.

It was about three hours later when I was woken up by the phone ringing. Ransom jumped up her eyes wide and frightened by the noise. "What's going on?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

I rubbed my face to wake myself up. I took the phone off the horn and greeted whoever it was that interrupted our blissful sleep. "This is Tony," I said, sleepily. My head resting against the back of the couch.

I looked at Ransom who was still distraught by the sudden noise that woke her up. I grabbed her hand to help her calm down while listening to Pepper rambling on. Turns out That I had missed a very important meeting. I didn't want her to keep talking anymore so I tried to cut her off. "Alright Pepper. I'm still the boss so we can reschedule whatever meeting I missed." I said to her. Feeling very irritated by the fact that the first little sleep I had in days got interrupted by some stupid meeting. "So please don't call me until I call you," I said harshly before I hung up.

I sighed and laid my head against the back of the couch again. "Are you okay?" Ransom asked, she looked at me, worried by my sudden burst of anger. I wasn't normally like this I don't know what got over me. Maybe it was the distraught look on her face when she got startled. Every time I looked at her I couldn't help myself, but I had to protect her. It's a promise I made to my father. I smiled at her, trying to calm her down again. "Yeah, I am. I'm sorry for scaring you" I squeezed her hand tightly.

"It's okay, sweetheart" She smiled at me, her eyes glowing with kindness. "Can we resume watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S.?" She asked. Her voice was soft. "I think I fell asleep." her face flushed when I laughed.

"Sure, we can watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S." I leaned back down, placing my feet on the table. "Do you want some popcorn?" I asked.