Ch38. Birthday present

After Tony showed The Ancient One and Natasha his Mars facility, he oftentimes got a report of the old baldy spending her time there, just staring out of the reinforced glass at the red rocky plains.

He didn't mind. The woman was so old that she probably saw most of Earth by now. Especially with her ability to teleport anywhere and look into the future.

But Mars was a new territory even for her. Her interest was only natural.

Tony decided to leave it be, believing she would get bored soon enough. If he didn't want her to know the coordinates to his facility, he would have never shown her and Tao probably realized that already too.

She might have provided the coordinates for Mars but JARVIS spent at least ten days scanning the surroundings in order to find the mountain with the best deposit of mineral resources. As such, the actual facility was quite far from the original coordinates.

Tony was glad that Natasha seemed to be completely at ease around JARVIS after she heard Tao's reassurances. He even found her joking around with JARVIS in the living room while cradling a glass of orange juice one evening.

JARVIS didn't hold her prejudice and fear against her and frankly speaking, neither could Tony. He totally understood her fear of another Ultron and had no intention for him to become reality again.

Which reminded him... Ulysses Klaue.

'Hmm, I will have to pay the guy a visit. Vibranium could come in handy.'

Tony definitely didn't intend to return it if he got his hands on it. He could agree that any Vibranium in Wakanda belonged to the country. But the second Klaue stole some of it, it no longer belonged to Wakanda. Them stating a claim to it when it was not in their possession anymore... Tony found it hilarious.

The pricks thought others beneath them. That much was obvious to Tony and he had the impression the second he found another vibranium meteor in space, he will have problems with Wakanda as they would try to 'privatize' it the second they found out.

Of course, only because according to them, all Vibranium on Earth belonged to Wakanda.

'Well, that's still far off so we shall see what happens then. Maybe I will never find a meteor with it so it is quite useless to ponder about it.' Tony decided.

This trail of thought reminded Tony of a different problem. Namely, one Aldrich Killian. He recently started asking for a partnership of A.I.M. with the Stark Industries, desiring to use the SI advanced medical technology in his 'super secret' research without wanting to state what exactly his research was about.

There was really never an end to these kinds of small bothersome problems...

...

Tony was searching his house for one lost redhead. When he needed her, she was nowhere to be found but otherwise, she was always lying on a table in his workshop. Always.

He already checked the gym he so rarely used and was now mostly the territory of Natasha but she was not there. She was not even in her room and...

"Ooh! I can just ask JARVIS, can't I?" Tony mused to himself, barely keeping from facepalming.

He was also passing by a bathroom when the door suddenly opened and Tony came face to face with towel-wearing wide-eyed Natasha, her hair still slightly wet and sticking to her skin.

"Er, what are you doing, Tony?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

Tony... okay, he might have panicked a bit there. Happens to the best of men, alright?

But he definitely did not stare at her. No. Nothing of the sort happened! He could swear it too!

Fingers crossed.

Instead of answering, Tony just handed the brown envelope in his hands to Natasha's who took it almost reflexively, without even realizing she did it in the confusion of the moment.

When she finally realized Tony handed her something, she looked at it, a question written on her face, "What is it?"

Fortunately for Tony, he managed to recollect his wits in that brief moment and give her his patented, he wished, roguish grin while excitedly exclaiming, "A birthday present!"

Natasha's expression instantly scrunched into 'Ah, it's one of those days.' type of understanding and slightly exasperated expression as she spoke, "But you know, my birthday is in December."

That stopped Tony short, "Really?"

"Yeah..." Natasha awkwardly nodded.

"Are you sure?" Tony asked in a tone as if really expecting a negative answer, causing Natasha to almost giggle.

"Pretty much." Natasha amusedly confirmed.

"Well, that's awkward." Tony hummed before shrugging in a 'what can you do?' kind of sheepish way, "Then you can take it as an early birthday present."

At that, Natasha sincerely smiled, for some reason feeling very good and warm, "I shall. Thank you."

That feeling did not last as long as Natasha would have wanted because Tony decided to be Tony and in his usual fashion, he said, "It's totally your fault though."

"My fault?" Natasha's eyes widened in surprise but her tone was decidedly amused and the smile on her face did not decrease. In fact, it slightly increased hearing those words.

"Yup, you didn't tell me when your birthday is!" Tony retorted in mock-outrage as if she really slighted him.

Which, Natasha had to admit, she was not really sure if he was serious or not. They knew each other for over a decade and she never told him her birthday date. Sure, Tony had his own share of the fault in that.

"You are unbelievable." Natasha said in disbelief and leaned on the wall behind her.

As Natasha expected, Tony nodded in an overly dramatic way, "Thank you!" He thanked her for the 'praise'.

"That wasn't a..." Natasha started but stopped midway when she realized it would not have helped anyway. "you know what? Forget it. I will just enjoy this." She raised the envelope.

"Meh, spoilsport." Tony mock-pouted and crossed his hands on his chest as he also stepped back until he was near the wall opposite of Natasha and leaned on it.

In reply, he only received a pointed look from the redhead.

But he wasn't having it! "What? Don't tell me you didn't have fun arguing too!"

"I didn't." Natasha dryly deadpanned.

"Your lying needs remedial classes, Miss Agent." Tony cheekily rebuked, smirking at her in victory.

Natasha however didn't rise to his blatant provocation and just rolled her eyes at his sad attempt, "And you are trying to pull me into an argument again."

"No, I am not." Tony defended himself in an offended tone.

"You are."

"Am not."

"Okay. You are not." Natasha relented.

She also used a tone reserved for exceedingly unruly five years old throwing a temper tantrum and Tony didn't know which irked him more. That it was working or that she dared to use it.

"That's so not fair. You are supposed to oppose me." He huffed in exasperation and Natasha gave him a fond look.

"Not today." She might, just very, very slightly, have enjoyed their verbal ping-pong.

"What about tomorrow?" Tony instantly asked, backtracking when Natasha's face morphed into an unamused expression. She didn't need to even say anything and Tony understood she had had enough, "No? Okay, I get it. Geez. Open your present already."

Natasha good-naturedly poked her tongue at him, not even she knew when this childish thing became a habit, and started opening the envelope with intense interest written on her face.

In the envelope were documents and Natasha gave Tony a questioning look but when he beckoned her to read them, she did so and...

She abruptly gasped in shock.

"Tony... this!" She had no words and would have staggered back if she wasn't already leaning on the wall. It probably saved her from dropping onto the ground because she felt a bit faint.

Tony cockily smirked after getting the desired reaction from her, "It took J, FRIDAY, and me some months but in the end, I think we got them all. Every single person ever connected to the project Red Room and the summary of their crimes, their addresses, their habits, even the last time they got a parking fine." He proudly boasted.

Natasha's head was however too full of various emotions warring inside of it and she didn't feel like punishing his boasting with a snide remark. Not now. She looked at Tony, certain she was staring at him in bewilderment, and her expression almost fell as tears brimmed on the edge of her eyes.

"Of course, you don't have to use it. What you do now is totally up to you. I just thought you would appreciate having the choice." Tony started to ramble before he noticed that Natasha was on the verge of crying, "Er, Nat? Did I do something wro-"

Before he managed to say more, Natasha suddenly threw herself at him, having to stand on the tips of her toes as she planted a deep passionate kiss on his lips while her hands found their way around his head and pulled him even deeper into the kiss while her body melted into his and pushed him against the wall he was leaning on.

It lasted a few seconds before both realized what just happened, causing Natasha's eyes to widen and she quickly separated from Tony, utter confused and breathtaking shock filling her. This had never happened to her before. She never lost control of her emotions to such a degree it would cause her body to react before thinking.

Tony was also experiencing a breathtaking shock of his own, staring at the naked Natasha who in her rush lost her towel.