I'm Iron Man, And I'm Agent Coulson

Chapter 12 Iron Man 2

Seven Months Later

Seven months had passed since Tony told the world he was Iron Man, and in those seven months most of the free world experienced something it hadn't since the dawn of time, PEACE. For seven months, no one thought to stand against Tony's suit, and the raw power of protection it wielded, not only for the U.S., but for those who needed it. There were still small skirmishes overseas, but even those lacked in the ferocity they once displayed.
We still had to filter through the continued bombardment of questions and misgivings of our own governments, and those questions only became more demanding once something or someone destroyed Harlem, nearly leveling it to the ground, a few months ago.
Tony had nothing to do with whatever happened, and the fight which broke out, and killed innocent people, was all covered up under government control, not us or SHIELD.
Even then, nothing stopped Iron Man from taking on a godlike persona, and for murals to be painted all over the place in gratitude.
Yet, in those seven months Tony's ego and popularity had flown through the roof, changing so much for all of us, in the span of a few months, especially for me.
After Tony's announcement, I overheard Happy discussing hiring more security for Tony, and Pep, like we discussed before he came home from Afghanistan, and I quickly volunteered to be a part of Happy's team.
Pepper angrily tried to talk me out of it, urging me to stay by her side at Stark Industries, but I no longer wanted to be responsible for Tony's company like she did. She spent days trying to convince me otherwise, even trying to get Tony to talk me out of it, but within a week, I had already cleaned out my office, and begun the tedious process of getting licensed, and trained by Happy's new security branch.
I already had a CCW, but excelled faster than expected, and I had my military training and constant martial arts workouts to thank. My downtime was no longer spent with Pep, but on the range, or taking extra practices with instructors, weaning my abilities till it became instinct. My body and mind changed with the intensity of my workouts, and it gave me a reprieve from the quiet of my apartment.
The soft curves I assumed I was stuck with, became hard lines of muscle, my now black hair stayed in a respectable ponytail, or braid, and I draped myself in the same suits Happy wore while my mind concentrated on the job at hand, protecting Tony and Pepper.
After four months of extensive training, I already had an office next to Happy's, and constantly kept up my training, since it kept me busy, and allowed me to get some sleep whenever I finally did make it back to my apartment.
Being a part of Happy's security team also gave me the distance I needed from Tony, and the intoxicating one night stand which had given me the false hope it meant something. The raw emotion was still there, just like every other shitty thing I'd experienced since childhood, but I got up in the morning, put my suit on, loaded up my gun and headed into work.
For almost four years the memories from my childhood had taken a back seat, and I flourished, surrounded by new friends and James, but once I distanced myself from them, those chaotic memories seemed to rear their ugly head as if they were waiting to make my life even more difficult. On most days I had enough going on to push them aside, but at night everything crashed down on top of me. Yet, every morning I got up, put on my suit, and headed to work.

I also noted, along with everyone else, the growing chemistry between Tony and Pep, whether they wanted to admit it or not. It was inevitably there, so like any good friend I distanced myself from Tony and vowed to move forward and do my job. At least, till I decided it was time to move on, and leave this chapter of my life behind, which was becoming a very real option.
Staying away from Tony was the only way I was going to stay sane, regardless how immature it seemed, but the fallout from our night was a new experience I was trying to handle, and I couldn't think of another way to keep my shit together, than by focusing on my job.
Though, it didn't mean Tony didn't try to talk or initiate conversations in the last seven months, especially while we were discussing his plans or unscheduled meetings. He texted, tried to catch me when I stood guard outside of his few meetings, but all I wanted was to forget what happened between us.
I dove head first into my new line of work, and tried not to deviate from it.
Besides him and Pep made more sense than he and I ever would.
Plus, these busy last seven months also had me questioning my life and where it was headed.
I loved the people who surrounded me, Pepper, Happy, JARVIS and Tony, but as the months went by I realized I had let myself become so engrossed with Pep, the company, and Tony, I didn't even know where they ended and I began, and our relationships were suffering because of it.
Apparently I was beginning to hit my midlife crisis and it was really affecting my work, demeanor and any outlook I had on the future.
What made it worse was Rhodes was no longer just a phone call away. He'd also distanced himself from Tony and I, because of the military's demand for Tony's suit, and my involvement with his first flight. It left me with short hello's and without the counsel of my best friend, but he too noticed the change in my demeanor. He even recommended I call his mom, or go visit her, but I decided against it. I wasn't in the mood to hear her brash advice, and deal with her no nonsense attitude, but I promised to call her soon.