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Aaliyah held in a curse as the red eighty-seven Mazda racing beside her cut her off, clipping the right side of her hood at a dangerous angle. Her breath left her in a gasp as the car jerked, sending her straight into the car trying to pass her on the left. The windows shattered around her, sending glass spraying in every direction. Her eyes met the frightened ones of the driver next to her as he came to an abrupt halt. Smashed into the wooden totem of a street light.
Phone pinched between her ear and her shoulder Liyah let out a hiss of a laugh as she continued the process of trying to remove her week-old nail polish.“What? You think that’s funny?” Xander huffed, disbelief clear in his tone.Holding back a giggle at the mock annoyance in his voice she cleared her throat. “I don’t, I mean what’s funny about you losing your pants during a live stream free fall?”“I don’t know why I talk to you,” he deadpanned.“Because I’m your favorite,” she returned just a dryly.“I don’t know, due to recent events Mia might have that place.”Liyah forced out a gasp. “Lies! Would Mia have let you teach her how to snowboard on dry dirt?”Silence greeted her over the line and she grinned triumphantly as she finally got the last smudge of purple nail polish off. “Exactly, now-”
A knock sounded at her basement room door. “Liyah? You down there?”
Liyah blinked as the vision faded. “Dom’s almost here, so unless if you want to-““Bye!” Xander chirped before the line went dead.“Love you too, X,” she huffed, hanging up the phone just as the sound of the front door opening drew her attention. Footsteps sounded above her before the expected knock came.“Liyah? You down there?” Dominic called.“Yeah!”The sound of her door opening and then footsteps as they took her stairs at an easy pace sounded before her older brother came into view.He glanced around her room as if expecting to find someone else. “Mia home?”Liyah shook her head no, idly picking up purple-tinged cotton balls from around her to throw them away.Dom seemed to mull over his next words before speaking. “Then come out with me for a minute.”She glanced up from her task with a frown. “You mean I finally get the house to myself and you want me to go out.”He sent her his own frown. “I don’t like you being home alone.” Turning he made his way back up the stairs. “We’re taking the Chevelle.”That had her moving.Sitting in the passenger seat as Dom drove down the winding road, Liyah held back the urge to once again ask where they were going. Without touching him she wouldn’t get a precise vision, so with a repressed sigh she resigned herself to his favorite answer.“You’ll see,” he’d said.First, he implied he didn’t trust her home alone and now he was dragging her off to some unknown location. She tried not to tsk, spending more days than not without a chaperone and at the age of twenty-four? The idea was laughable. Though she had to admit she was curious as to the reason behind the lie and the house had been unnervingly silent without Mia or even Letty to talk to. The sound of his cell ringing drew her from her thoughts before she tuned out his conversation in favor of sending a text to the leader of her pit crew, Manny. There was a drift competition just around the corner and she wanted to make sure everything was ready.She glanced up when the car began to slow down, taking in all the neon-lit cars, their owners, and their groupies. She rolled her eyes as one of the girls pushed up against the driver’s side door. Dom revved the engine, annoyed and everyone gave the car a wider berth.The 1970 Chevy Chevelle SS they'd just fixed up came out better then she’d hope. Months spent in the workshop where she’d chosen working on the car over going out at night. In the end, Dominic had even let her choose the color, a dark blue with the classic black double lines down the hood. He was ready to put it on the streets she concluded as he pulled into a space beside another car, before leaving it in park. Liyah made to get out when he paused in his movements to look back at her."Stay in the car."She let out a huff but obliged, returning to her phone. "Aren't you afraid I'll drive off.". He chuckled before climbing out but, she could have sworn she’d heard him mumble, "I'm counting on it."She went back to her phone as she waited. It wasn't until she got the feeling that she was being watched that she looked up again. She glanced over just as Dom pointed in the car's direction. The man he was talking to followed his gaze and she realized he wasn't pointing at the car but, her."Shit," She hissed as Dom came back over. His stride confident, a confidence he’d earned as one of the best drivers in their state along with his knowledge of cars and how they ticked. People parted ways to allow him through and he leaned down by the driver’s side window with an expectant look.She glanced skyward before climbing into the driver’s seat, careful of the center console and her long legs. Rolling down the window she sent him a glare. "I want half.”"Really?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, his hand coming up to rest against the door frame. "Here I was about to give you all of it.""Wait, what?" She gaped. He was going to give her all the money when she won?He nodded a smirk twitching the corner of his mouth."What do you get?" she asked dubiously.He bent down closer to the window. "His car."She tilted her head as she pretended to weigh her options. "Fine.""Good, because the race is about to start," he returned, standing back to his full height.She revved the engine and everyone around her jumped back. "Of course, it is.""Make it a good one," he called, before disappearing into the crowd.She bit back a reply in favor of pulling up to the starting line.There were four other cars on the line, imports, and domestics alike. Her car seemed plain to the untrained eye, still classic in its appearance but, her brother swore by American muscle. She checked under the armrest and was met with a shiny blue metallic container. NAS."Aww, no faith Dom?" She murmured.A light knock at her window caught her attention, a slow smirk formed on her lips as Tanya crouched beside her.“Mind giving me a hand?” she asked, biting her lip and turning slightly as she pulled down the back of her tank top, her dark hair cascading over her shoulder.Liyah licked her lips, mouth suddenly dry as she took in the familiar clear dark skin. Pinching the exposed bra clasp between her fingers, the strap unlatched easily.“Thanks,” Tanya whispered, her voice like honey. She sent her one last flirtatious smile before positioning herself in front of the starting line. Liyah quickly looked away checking the gage and closing the armrest as she did.The girl raised her black bra in the air.She kept her gaze forward listening to the other cars rev their engines. One, in particular, caught her attention and she looked over to the source, the engine standing out from the others. The owner met her gaze with a smirk and Liyah was gone, her vision clouded with the sights to come.She blinked away the vision with a hiss and then a curse as the cars took off around her.“Well he wanted a show,” she gritted out, shifting into gear.The others were a few feet ahead of her as she fought to catch up. Shifting into the next gear the car took off with a roar, her adrenaline spiking with the rumble.She easily overtook the first two cars ahead of her. The third car jerked in front of her and she eased off the throttle. She let him continue to play his game of mimicking her every move, waiting for an opening. Seeing it she feinted left and when he jerked the wheel too hard to correct it, she shifted gears and took off on his right.Liyah grinned, she was behind the car in first place, the one from her vision. She pulled up beside him, waiting for his move. She watched his hand tighten on the steering wheel and when his car swerved towards her she down shifted, pulling the e-brake and whipping the steering wheel in the opposite direction. Her Chevy did a one-eighty and she quickly threw it in reverse, watching out for the finishing line through her rearview mirror. Kicking the car into the next gear as the man gaped at her, she flipped him off as they crossed the finish line, the rear of her Chevy crossing the line just before the front of his, beating him by a foot. She spun around at the last minute before throwing the car into park, sending the man a smirk she stepped out of the car.She was immediately picked up and raised above someone's shoulder."All hail princess Liyah!" Hector shouted.Liyah fought back a groan at the nickname. The man had coined it himself when Dom had first let her loose on the streets of L.A. at the age of fifteen."All hail princess Liyah!" The crowd cheered. She let out a snort and tapped the top of his shaved head.He looked up at her with a smile, Hector was good people, just enthusiastic."Put me down, you dork."He chuckled before setting her down on the ground.She adjusted her top where it had ridden up as she searched for Dom, finding him just in time to see his fist connect with the other driver’s face.Liyah winced at the sound, he hadn’t held back, much."Watch your mouth when you’re talkin about my sister," Dom growled, his face an inch from the driver’s. The one who’d nearly killed her. Those kinds of visions still startled her but when they didn’t come to pass, she’d learned to deal with them."Yo! We good here?" she called drawing their attention.Dom sent him one last glare, holding out his hand expectantly.The man slowly reached into his pocket, pulling out a pink slip. He pushed it into Dom’s hand along with a set of keys before storming off.Hector jogged over, handing him the money she’d won."Sore loser?" Liyah questioned as she leaned against the car.Dominic let out a gruff chuckle before walking over to her. He handed her the money and she pushed it into the pocket of her leather jacket."Did you have a vision? You had me worried." he returned sending her a look."Yeah… and No I didn't" she scoffed."No, you didn't," he conceded ruffling her hair. "You can head out, I'll see you back at the house,” he offered.She nodded before turning back to the car."Hey," he called after her.Liyah looked back with a raised eyebrow."You did good princess," he teased."Not you too," she groaned."What? It's catchy," he said with a shrug, walking towards his new car.She huffed before climbing back into the Chevy.She took the back roads of Malibu home to Los Angeles, who knew what would pop up on the police scanners with these plates.As she bobbed along to the radio she turned a bend, immediately she was greeted by a vision. She quickly blinked it away before jerking the wheel to the right, just missing the man sitting in the middle of the road. She let out a breath, grateful her vision had warned her in time.“Watch it! I almost hit you!” she barked out the passenger window.“Watch it! You almost hit me!” he yelled back before pausing. “Yeah, you had it right,” he conceded.Liyah held back an eye roll before moving to take off when she was hit with yet another vision.The person walking home, only to be stopped by a group of guys. They’d back him closer to the woods before attempting to rob him.Liyah blinked at the image before looking closer at the man. Please don’t regret this, she prayed, before coming to a full stop. “Hey, you live around here?”The man let out a snort. “Who wants to know?”“Look, you’re clearly too drunk to drive, I can give you a lift.” She offered.“Drunk? Who’s drunk? Are you even legal?” he asked, squinting into the darkness of the car, whatever he saw made him smirk. “Definitely legal,” He hummed.“You know what? Never mind, good luck getting home. I’d stick to the main road if I were you,” She told him before driving off. She wished she could say she’d done it without a backward glance but… She slowed her speed to a snail’s pace and watched as the man made the decision to walk. He made it to the intersection before pausing.“Don’t go right, don’t go right. And he went right,” She groaned as he took the right turn down the darkened road.“It’s not your business, you warned him,” She placated even as she rolled to a stop. She pressed her forehead to the steering wheel, the warm leather pushing almost painfully as she let out a groan.“You’ve got too big a heart Liyah,” She told herself before reversing down the street. When she got back to the intersection she continued backwards until she was far enough past it to make the turn going forward. She caught the shadow of the group as they backed the man into the woods and she floored it. They must have thought she’d keep going, as they continued to crowd the man.Aiming the car in their direction she turned her high beams on, beeping her horn for added effect.The men spun around startled, they eyed the man again and she revved her engine, her hand slowly reaching for the metal chain beneath her seat. They quickly took off down the road and she let out a relieved sigh, releasing the cool metal as she watched the wary-looking man approach the car.“Are you sure you don’t need a ride?” She questioned as he neared her passenger side.He let out a huff as he seemed to weigh his options before climbing into the passenger seat.“I feel like you jinxed me,” he grumbled.“Oh, please. I warned you to stay on the main road and you took the first turn down a dark and deserted street. Where am I taking you?” she added, as she continued down the road.“Head straight and make two lefts,” he returned, before leaning back in the seat.“You should probably drink some water, that’s going to be a nasty hangover.” She warned, blindly reaching into the back seat for a water bottle.The man groaned as she handed it to him, taking a large gulp. “I’m too old for hangovers.”“Aren’t you too old to be whining?” she joked.He gasped in mock outrage. “You take that back.”Liyah only laughed in return.“So, does my knight in a shining Chevy have a name?” he asked when it had gone silent in the car.Liyah looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “You before me,” she said with a shrug.His eyes widened slightly and she had the distinct feeling he was assessing her. His gaze broke as he looked out his window. “That’s fair,” he returned, before going silent. “Is this a nineteen-seventy Chevy Chevelle?” he questioned, looking around at the interior of the car as though he’d just noticed it.“Yeah, just fixed him up,” Liyah stated, unable to hide the pride in her voice.“Him?” The man questioned, eying her dubiously.“Definitely,” she stated adamantly, daring him to say more.“I see,” he chuckled, smoothing a hand along the leather. “Oh, here,” he said when they neared a humongous wrought iron gate.She raised a brow at him. “Seriously man, just let me take you where you need to go.”“This is it,” he insisted before leaning out the window. “J, open up the gate.”The gate swung open without another word and she hesitantly drove through them half in disbelief. She continued to look up in awe as she pulled to a stop at the loop in his driveway.“Who did you say you were again?” she asked, eyeing the giant art piece in the center of the driveway loop. An abstract piece, she decided when she couldn’t figure out what the twisted brown marble was supposed to look like.He only chuckled. “Thanks for the ride,” he called before climbing out.“It’s Liyah,” she blurted.“Tony,” he returned taking three steps forward before pausing and turning around. “You coming in or what?”
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He only chuckled. “Thanks for the ride,” he called before climbing out.
“It’s Liyah,” she blurted.
“Tony,” he returned taking three steps forward before pausing and turning around. “You coming in or what?” he questioned.
Liyah slow blinked at that. “Excuse me?”“What you got a curfew?” he challenged.She sent him an unimpressed glare.He quickly backtracked. “Look you seem to like cars.”Liyah nodded at the obvious.“I’ve got cars,” he taunted before resuming his unhurried stride.Gnawing on her lower lip anxiously she watched as he reached the door. “What kind of cars?” she blurted, silently berating herself. She’d just found the man on the side of the road.Tony looked at his house before looking back at her incredulously.“Right,” she huffed pushing open the door and standing to her full height. Pulling the lapels of her leather jacket tighter around her she stepped around the car.The sound of jingling keys hitting the ground drew her attention.She looked up at him curiously, only to find him staring at her, his mouth slightly agape. As he continued to stare unabashedly she quelled the urge to pull at her jean shorts; fighting down the warm feeling bubbling inside her she took her own moment to take him in on the brightly lit front porch. The man was older, in his mid to late thirties, bronze-colored hair, tousled but craftily styled. Jeans that seemed casual but standing in front of the white colored mansion, were probably designer. She could tell he was lean, from the hint of muscle she could see beneath his tigh-Giving herself a mental shake she put her hands on her hips. “Ahem, cars?” she called, interrupting his ogling.At that, Tony shook himself out of his stupor. “Right,” he returned, clearing his throat as he bent down to grab his keys. “Nice legs.”Liyah bit back a smile, before following him into the house.“Holy shit.” Liyah gaped as she stepped through the archway. Her curious eyes taking in the white interior and the large water feature trickling in the living room. “is that a”“Tony!” A woman called, her voice reaching them before she herself came around the corner. “Jarvis said you’d left your car on the road but,” The woman paused in her steps as she looked from her to Tony. “Who’s this?”“Uh Lina,” Tony offered.“Liyah.” She corrected, tucking her hands into her pockets. She didn’t want to seem rude but, she also didn’t want the woman’s whole life story, which skin contact would definitely bring. She silently chastised herself for leaving her gloves in the car.Luckily the woman didn’t offer, only eyeing Liyah up and down before coming to some kind of conclusion.She rolled her eyes, hitching her purse onto her shoulder as she strode for the door. “Right, well since you’re back and obviously have…. Company, I’ll head out.” She said with a forced smile.Liyah tried not to react but she must have said something because both of them sent her strange looks. Tony’s a bit offended and the woman’s clearly dubious.“Really? Ew?” Tony asked.Liyah grimaced. “I only came for the cars,” she said with a laugh.“Well enjoy the cars!” the redhead called, before closing the door behind her.Tony continued to eye her before turning around. “Right this way.”Liyah followed him down a winding stairs case and into a workshop that seemed to double as a garage. Different tools laid dispersed around the room and she took in the expanse of the place as two robots came darting forward.She paused in her movements as they rolled to a stop in front of her. The one on the left letting out a series of beeps, his one claw moving up and down in what she assumed was a greeting.Crouching down she smiled. “Hello to you too.”The larger one beside it beeped, rolling back and forth with his claw outstretched.Taking a small step back she looked to Tony for help. “umm.”“Dum-E, U, give the woman some space, would you?” he called.The two obliged grudgingly if the drooping claws were anything to go by.Liyah turned towards him, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear when a flash of blue caught her eye behind him. “Oh, no way!” she gaped. “Is that a Shelby Cobra?”Something shifted in his gaze as he regarded her. “Why yes, yes, it is.”She felt her eyes widen before stepping towards it, a whimper slipping past her closed lips.He fixed her with a crooked grin. “Usually, I’m the one--”“Don’t,” Liyah interrupted. “Don’t ruin this for me with your words.”Tony chuckled leading her to the car next to it.She whistled crouching down in front of the engine of the flathead roadster, though as she looked it over, she realized some of the parts were missing. “What did you do?”Tony let out an indignant huff, “I’m a mechanic! I took it apart.”Liyah could only stare at him, “Why?”“To see if I could put it back together.” He sent her a casual shrug. “Maybe tinker with some of the parts.”Liyah pinched her lips together to keep from commenting, a part of her in disbelief at the money it’d take. She understood the need to learn how things worked when it came to engines but taking apart a thousand-dollar engine? She quickly moved to the next car, looking to Tony for permission to lift the back hatch up.“Be my guest.”Liyah squealed happily before going to the opened driver’s side window of the bright orange Saleen S7, it took her less than a second to find the button.She pulled her hair into a ponytail as she came to the rear of the car, lifting the glass with ease.“Twin Turbo engine,” she hummed leaning over to get a closer look.Tony came to stand off to her side and he let out his own appreciative hum.Liyah chuckled bumping him with her hip. “Shut up.”Tony bent over beside her, “So what do you think, should we wake the neighbors?”Liyah rolled her eyes before she froze. “You mean…” She slowly began to bounce excitedly.“Unless you had something else in mind?” He asked holding up the car keys in his left hand, a challenging smirk on his lips.Liyah bit her lip, inching closer, she stopped less than an inch from his face letting her breath ghost across his lips. Tony’s eyes slowly closed and she took her chance, snatching up the keys before stepping away.“Can I drive?” She chirped, laughing at his dazed expression. “Friends don’t let friends drunk drive.”He sent her an exaggerated eye roll. “You are a tease. And for the last time, I’m not drunk.”She sent him a scrutinizing look. His eyes were clear, his words also clear but unrestrained, though she had a feeling that had more to do with him as a person. He huffed, laughter dancing in his eyes. “Let me think about it,” he added, stepping back into her space.Liyah stayed in place holding her breath as he drew closer. Telegraphing his intent, he snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her close until she was flush against him; his gaze steady. Not drunk then?His body was warm against hers and she fought the urge to sink into the contact. Her mutation had her keeping most people at a distance, her sex life aside, she was touch starved, to say the least. Liyah spared a thought that if he kissed her, she’d- She let out a squeak as he snatched the keys from her dangling hand.“I’ll drive,” he breathed, before pulling away.“Now who’s the tease,” she huffed, her heart fluttering against her chest.Tony clicked a button on the keys and the doors slid open butterfly style and she was mesmerized. With no complaints, she climbed into the passenger side, carefully pulling the door closed.He hit a button and the top slid back, she couldn’t help her smile as she pulled on the seat belt. She looked at him expectantly when he didn’t immediately do the same, he finally relented after a hard stare off.“Can we go now?” he huffed.The car purred as he started it before he slid smoothly out of his parking spot. He headed straight for his private entrance, a brightly lit tunnel that reminded her briefly of Space Mountain. The car picked up speed as he took the curve before they shot off into the night.“So, Tony the mechanic, do you often take women on nightly joy rides?” she asked watching as streetlights passed overhead.“More often than not, it’s the destination they’re interested in,” he told her, turning left at an intersection.She let out a thoughtful hum to hide her grin. “Your bedroom then.”He let out a laugh that softened his face. “If we make it that far, I mean there’s the living room, the ever-present hallway,” He listed.She rolled her eyes but, couldn’t help the laugh that slipped out.The car, she noted, was indescribably smooth as he drove, the engine a quiet hum in the background, a contrast to the loud rumbling of the vehicles her family preferred.Speaking of cars, “If you aren’t drunk then why were you standing in the middle of the road.”“Questioning my life choices,” He said casually.She raised a brow dubiously and he let out an amused sigh.“My car broke down, I was debating calling a tow.”“I thought you were a mechanic?” she asked confused.“No tools,” he said with a shrug.“Lame, let’s go.”“Go where?” he asked with a glance in her direction.“To get your car, what was that an Audi? It won’t be there in the morning,” She teased. Tony mulled it over as he pulled to a stop at a red light. “I won’t be able to sleep now so, deal,” he agreed as the light flashed green.He turned down the familiar road where she’d found him, his silver car coming into view at the end of the street.She stepped from the car before striding forward.“You’re gonna fix it?” he asked watching as she came to a stop beside the Audi.“Definitely and then you’ll have to let me drive one of them back to your place. It’s a win-win really.” She stated with a smirk.Tony let out a laugh, “I should have known you had ulterior motives.” He eyed his car with a frown. “That is a hundred-thousand-dollar car,” he warned.“It’s an Audi R8 Tony, I know,” she stated, motioning for him to unlock the door. The lock clicked and she quickly found the button to pop the trunk where the engine lay.After having Tony try to start the engine, she let out a thoughtful hum, “Engine’s flooded.”“I could have told you that,” he huffed. She thought on it a second before eyeing the Saleen. “Do you have jumper cables?” she asked, disconnecting the fuel pump relay.Tony turned in his seat reaching into the back, he waved the cables when he found them.“The battery’s not dead,” he stated as he clipped the last cable.“I know but, we need to crank the engine and it drains the battery,” she explained, taking the front seat of the Audi.Across from her, Tony started the Saleen, she waited a second before turning her own key. The car made the startup noise but didn’t take and she held it in place for four seconds before turning it off for six. She repeated the process for a minute before getting out of the car.“What now?” Tony called.“Let it rest, repeat and then it should start,” She returned.“What are you doing exactly?” He asked stepping from his car to join her.“I disconnected the fuel pump relay, your combustion chamber was flooded.”“And you need to dry it,” he finished, thoughtfully. “A quick fix, I like it.”She sent him a grin before going back to the car to continue.Liyah held her breath as she turned the key, it purred to life beneath her and she grinned before stepping out of the car.“What is it that you do again?” he asked with a raised brow.“A… mechanic of sorts. My family owns a garage out in L.A.”Tony nodded placing himself between her and the car door. “How do I know you won’t drive off with my car.”Liyah sent him a pout, “I wouldn’t do that, not with my car parked in front of your house.”Tony let out an unconvinced hum.Liyah crossed her arms with a huff. “My brother and I built that car from the inside out, I wouldn’t just leave it.”Tony took another second before pushing away from the car. “Alright cupcake, you take the Audi,” he said before walking away.Liyah let out a triumphant laugh, choosing to ignore the nickname in favor of climbing into the car, the engine still humming gently in park. “What a pretty girl,” Liyah murmured. Just because she preferred muscle cars didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate a good import. The Germans knew what they were doing and she was woman enough to admit it.She pulled off after Tony following him into the night. When the road became more familiar, she pushed down on the gas, passing his car on the left before crossing in front of him.He was quick to pull up on her side and she glanced over to see him grinning. Instead of passing her he stayed to her side, matching her speed. She let out a laugh before speeding up as they raced through the night, the two of them taking the bends smoothly as they continued down the road.When they neared the gates, she stayed back so he could pull through first before following him down the drive way and back into his workshop.Liyah could barely catch her breath from laughing as they stepped from the cars.“That was awesome,” she breathed.Tony sent her grin and she caught a glance at his hair, the previous carefully tousled look was completely windswept. She laughed for what felt like the hundredth time, the sound bubbling up and leaving her a giggling mess. Her fingers twitched to run her fingers through his hair, would it be stiff with product or soft. As her hand came up a nudge at her side made her turn around. “Dumm-E, you’re killing me,” Tony stated dryly.She let out another laugh as she crouched down in front of the robot, a perplexed expression forming as she took in the tool in his hand as the robot rolled back and forth in place, was he fidgeting?“What’s he…” She trailed off as she noticed writing on the side of his frame, nearly falling out of the crouch she’d sunk into at the label.Stark Industries.Liyah looked away trying to control her expression.Stark Industries.As in…Tony smiled down at her from where he stood beside her, as he caught her expression it dropped into a confused frown. “What?”“Nothing, I just... I need to get going.” She said with a stretch, hoping the words had come out casual and not rushed, the way her heart was currently beating.Tony nodded, “I’d believe that, if you didn’t look like you just saw a ghost.”Liyah looked skyward, Dominic was going to kill her. “Thanks for showing me your cars. But I should head home.” Quickly, she made her way to the exit, making the mistake of once again looking back. How a grown man could look like a kicked puppy she didn’t know.When he noticed her glance, he schooled his features. “Nice meeting you,” he called but, the words were tinged with bitterness.Let it go Liyah, she breathed hesitating in the doorway. She turned to say something, anything but music blared through the workspace, a clear dismissal. She made her way outside, her car right where she’d left it. She quickly got in before following the driveway out, the estate growing smaller in her rearview mirror with each glance.“Tony freaking Stark,” She murmured as she drove, she wanted to hit something anything. The name ringing through her head as she pulled into the driveway of her home.She murmured a distracted “Hey,” to the crowded living room as they greeted her, before continuing to the kitchen.Mia turned around at her entrance. “I was looking for you,” She said by way of greeting.“Sorry, I went with Dom.” Liyah frowned at her own words, the street race seemed days ago after her time with Tony.Mia rolled her eyes at that. “I told him not to take you.” “I won.” Liyah shrugged opening the door to the basement, needing the solace of her bedroom.“Hey, you okay?” Mia questioned.She forced herself to relax. Mia could sense the atmosphere in a room, she hoped the party would mask her own inner turmoil. Liyah sent her sister a smile. “Yeah just tired.”Though she didn’t look convinced Mia nodded before turning back to the sink.Letting her shoulders slump Liyah closed the door behind her before trekking down the stairs, kicking off her shoes once she reached the bottom. She eyed a picture of her, her sister, her brothers and her father on the dresser. Her Dad in a blue and black racing suit, with a single name in bright white across his chest, Stark.Her eyes skimmed over the lone picture of her mom before she undressed for bed.*********************Sleep came in short intervals when, at three am, her phone went off. She blindly reached for it in the dark before her hand closed around it.“ ‘lo?” she breathed, not bothering to check the caller id.“I just can’t figure it out,” A familiar voice said over the line, the sound of rock music echoing in the background.“Tony?” Her brain supplied as confusion marred her sleep-addled mind. “How’d you get my number?”“Sure, I flirted with you but, that didn’t seem to be it,” He rambled.“Why are you calling me at three am?” She asked over his musing.“Why’d you leave?” he pared, the music cutting off.Did he sound hurt? Liyah let her head hit the pillow as her three am brain to mouth filter tried to operate, did she want him to know?The silence over the line was deafening and before she could stop herself she said “Toretto.”“What?” he asked, confusion clear in his voice Sitting up, she slouched against the wall for support. “Nicholas Toretto. He use to work for you, well, drove in the stock race for Stark Industries.”The sound of keyboard keys clicking came over the line. She could imagine what he was reading about the accident that had torn her family apart.“Shit,” Tony breathed.“Yeah, three kids, basically orphaned. The contract, for some reason, had a clause that wouldn’t allow us the money he was owed.” Liyah loosened her tense grip on the phone, “I don’t... blame you specifically.” No there was only one person she really blamed. “But you think you’re over something you know?” she let out a humorless chuckle.“I didn’t--” Tony tried.“It’s fine.” She meant it to, she realized. “Good night Tony,” Liyah finished, ending the call. Feeling a warm tear slide down her cheek she let out a tired sigh before curling back up beneath the blankets.Feeling like she’d just fallen back asleep when the sound of her lock turning drew her awake, Liyah held her breath. Reflexively she reached for the crowbar wedged between her wall and the bed. Heavy footsteps sounded before Dominic appeared at the bottom of the stairs.She relaxed, turning bleary eyes to him, blinking at the sunlight streaming in through the window.“Did you get home alright?” he asked.“Yeah, why?” she asked forcing herself not to tense up.Dom shook his head. “Just checking. You got Toretto’s today.”She let out a groan at that.He let out a sigh. “And the cars yours,” he bargained.Liyah sat up in bed. “Serious?”He nodded. “You earned it.”Liyah fell back into her pillows with a smile.Dom shook his head at her antics before climbing back up the stairs.After getting ready she drove over to Toretto’s market. Their family owned shop that sold groceries and housed a small deli in their neighborhood.“Morning Liyah,” Mia called, clear gloves on her hands as she made a sandwich for a customer.“Hey,” she returned watching as Mia went to place the sandwich in front of the blond-haired man who frequented their business.He reached for the plate, grabbing its edge just shy of Mia’s fingertips. She watched her sister let go as if she’d been shocked, before sending the man a sheepish smile.That was the thing with their mutation. Liyah got her visions either way but, skin contact gave a much stronger read on that specific person. Mia described hers as constantly having a read on the emotions in a room but it was dull, muted like background conversations in a public place, skin contact would invoke the full force of a person’s emotion onto herself. Dominic and Xander seemed to be the lucky ones in that aspect of mutations; no skin contact necessary. Dominic was strong, she’d watched him bench press a tow truck just to empress Letty. Xander, well Xander’s was a bit more difficult to classify. Her brother was a legend on the internet for pulling off impossible stunts and he could lift almost as much as Dom, almost.The four shared a few things that Dom was sure had nothing to do with their mutations. She and Mia were stronger than most, though nowhere near Dom and Xander’s levels and they all healed at an unnatural speed. Cracked ribs, were nothing but bruises by the next day. She’d learned that the hard way.Liyah rolled her eyes, before heading to the back. She quickly discarded her bag before pulling her brown hair into a single ponytail. Her straightened hair gliding through the holder with ease before stopping at her lower back. Catching her reflection in the mirror, she gave herself a once over noting the similarities between she and her siblings. Mia had a smile that seemed to light up the room contrary to Dominic, whose glare could send the scariest of men running. Xander always wore a smile but sometimes, even with it in place there was a hard glint that made itself known. She guessed she fell somewhere in between.She forced a smile before heading back to the front. “I can’t believe you eat that every day. Don’t you ever get tired of Tuna?” she teased the blond. She could never remember his name, Brendan, Brenan…“Tuna’s my favorite,” he returned around a mouthful of his sandwich.Liyah only laughed before checking the sections, restocking and re-shelving any misplaced items along with getting rid of anything past its Use by Date. As she worked her mind kept wandering back to Tony, his downtrodden expression, and his late-night call. Maybe she’d been wrong to walk out, maybe she could have explained the racing incident that had impacted her family, it had been years ago.No. She decided, the man just wasn’t used to not getting his way, especially with what he assumed was an easy lay. But why’d he have to look so lonely?She bent her head with a sigh. “Damn him,” she huffed out loud.“Those are some heavy words,” the customer chimed.Liyah chuckled before pausing. She glanced at Mia, who was on the other side of the store, before looking back at the man. “What do you know about Tony Stark?” she asked aiming for casual.His brows knitted together in thought. “He’s like a billionaire weapons contractor for the military,” he supplied“Yeah but, he’s better known for being a Playboy,” Mia added with a frown.Liyah jerked at that, she hadn’t seen Mia return.“Everything okay?” she questioned, sending her a worried glance probably at her spike of panic.“Yeah, do you know what he looks like?” She pushed. A stupid question but, for some reason she needed to confirm it was actually him.“Um normal, except for the way he cuts his goatee.” The customer offered.Liyah felt the air whoosh out of her all at once before she broke into hysterical laughter, unsure of why his description surprised her. His name was right on that robot. But the way he’d described Tony, normal? The man screamed sex appeal, from his smirk down to his blasé attitude.“She gonna be okay?” he asked cautiously.“I’m fine, just, I’m fine.” She breathed as Mia placed a comforting hand on her head.Immediately she was hit with a wave of calm, she hadn’t seen Mia take off her rubber gloves but, as evident on her face, Mia was hit with the opposite. Her sister’s worry only seemed to increase.The sound of the overhead bell jingling as the market door opened drew their attention and Liyah took the chance to return to stocking.Dom entered with Letty, his longtime girlfriend and Vince, his longtime best friend a few others coming in after them. Jesse and Leon, her brain supplied. The former, and one of her best friends, lazily smiled at her. She returned it before turning back to the shelves.“Mia, Liyah, where’s the party at?” Letty crowed behind her.“I am the party, Babe,” Liyah returned with a smirk.“That’s my girl” Letty returned, bumping fist with her as she passed to the refrigerator section. A tug on her hand and Liyah let herself be dragged to the back of the store where Mia pushed for answers.“What’s wrong?” Mia whispered. “Does it have something to do with Stark Industries?”Liyah tried not to stiffen at the words, shaking her head in vain. “No, I just…”Mia placed a tender hand on her cheek “Aaliyah, digame? Tell me.” Her tone was so mothering, that she relented.She let the calm Mia was offering in, before glancing over her shoulder. She pulled her sister deeper into the refrigerated aisle dropping her voice to a whisper. “I met him the other day.”“Met who, Stane?” Mia hissed.Liyah scrunched up her nose as she shook her head, Obadiah Stane had been the one to handle their case, he’d been the deciding factor on whether they received their father’s insurance coverage.“No,” She shivered. “Tony Stark.”Mia looked confused at that. “Where? How?”She bit her lip nervously and Mia waited patiently for her to continue.“I was driving home when I almost ran him over.”Mia’s eyes widened in alarm.“He’s fine,” she clarified. “I had a vision and then another one that he’d be mugged. I stopped both from happening and well...”Mia gasped dramatically and Liyah rolled her eyes before rushing through the rest. “I thought he was drunk so I offered him a ride home and then he said he had nice cars and he showed them to me and we drove around, then I found out he was Tony Stark.”“You drove Tony Stark home?” Mia blurted.Her eyes widened at Mia’s volume, “sshhhh, I didn’t know it was him until I saw one of his crazy robots.”Mia nodded but confusion continued to mar her features. “I don’t understand what’s upsetting you, did he do something?” she asked eyes narrowed.“Not really.” She willed the heat from her cheeks. “I mean nothing I didn’t want him to do and I may or may not have returned it but, when I found out who he was, I … I panicked and left.”Mia was still frowning. “You’re still not telling me something, díme. Tell me”Liyah averted her eyes before continuing. “He called me this morning and asked why I left.”Mia nodded sensing the truth. “You told him?”“It was three am what was I supposed to do? And then I told him it was fine and I hung up.”Mia, to her horror, was fighting back giggles “You... you hung up… on Tony Stark.”Her own giggle escaped before she nudged her sister. “Basta! Stop. I can’t stop thinking about him!”Mia’s eyes widened and Liyah quickly back-pedaled. “It... I mean it.” She corrected eyes wide.Mia gasped. “You like him,” she shrieked, too loud, as Dominic came around the aisle sending them a raised eyebrow.“You two finished?”The two stuck out their tongues before turning back to themselves.Dominic released a long-suffering sigh that had the two laughing. “I asked for another brother you know!” He called.“We didn’t,” the two chimed.“So, what are you going to do,” Mia asked, returning to their conversation.“Nothing, it was a random meeting. I’ll get over it.” She shrugged before heading to the front of the store.“Sure, you will,” Mia mumbled, loud enough that she heard it.“Are you coming to the drift competition this weekend?” Liyah asked changing the subject.“Wouldn’t miss it,” She smiled before taking her place behind the counter.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Liyah woke up to the sound of footsteps above her. She quickly pulled on a pair of shorts before darting up the stairs.Dominic looked up from the refrigerator with a raised brow, “You in a hurry?”“You’re going now?” she asked by way of an answer.He sent her a nod.Liyah let out a breath, holding out her right hand expectantly.Shoulders tense, Dom closed the fridge before taking her hand. Nothing happened for a second but, then she was swept up in the images of a vision.
Three dark nondescript cars trailing a large two-part tanker truck in the night. As one pulled ahead the one bringing up the rear fell behind. Liyah held her breath as the road narrowed orange cones in a construction zone, the middle car going too fast to slow down. The car swerved out before tucking under the truck riding beneath it before darting out on the other side when the road opened back up. Vince stood up a medium sized harpoon in hand. He shot it through the truck's windshield, using it to crawl through into the truck. The driver put up a fight but, Vince smoothly knocked him out to take control of the wheel.
She searched through it for anything of problem before it ended. Dominic looked at her with a silent question.“Tell Letty to go for it, don’t hesitate. But You’re good, ” she conceded, wrapping her arms around his torso in a hug. “Be safe.”He returned it before pulling away to grab his black jacket from the back of one of the kitchen chairs. “I always am.”She scoffed as she pulled the door to her basement open. “Sure, you are.” ********The rest of the week passed in an uneventful blur and before she knew it, Liyah was brimming with nervous energy as she fidgeted with the zipper on her racing suit. Manny, the Chief of her six-manned pit crew, glanced over at her from the tire he was adjusting.“Stop worrying woman, you’ve got this.”Liyah forced herself to release her zipper, stuffing her hands in her pocket. “I just don’t want to mess this up. We need this.”The Drift competition, whether she won or lost could lead to bigger things, like sponsors which they desperately needed. A good sponsor could be the difference between replacing an engine with top-shelf parts over subpar ones.As if reading her mind Manny stood with a grunt. He was seven years her senior, they’d met at one of the street races she’d been a part of when he offered her a driving position on the team.“Liyah, you’re one of the best drivers out here, just keep your head about you and listen to the car, she’ll do the rest.” he finished, giving her braided ponytail a tug before returning to his work.Liyah released a sigh before looking around the ports at all the different trailers set up. Across from her, she caught the eye of one of the drivers and she quickly looked away but, it seemed that was enough as he hopped over his barrier that kept the onlookers from entering the pits. “Aaliyah, you better drop out now!” he chuckled coming to a stop outside of her own barrier.She rolled her eyes before turning to him with a sharp smile, swaying her hips confidently as she approached the man, noticing the way his eyes tracked her movements. She came to a stop a few feet in front of him. “You’d think but, seeing as you’ve yet to score,” she said with a wink. “I mean score higher than me, that you’d learn when to turn tail.”Paul Mathers growled and Liyah could only laugh.“There a problem here?” a strikingly familiar voice trilled. Liyah stiffened.She didn’t turn instead choosing to watch Paul’s face as it churned with a myriad of emotions before settling for a confident smile. “Mr. Stark, it’s a pleasure! You hosting this tournament? Well, I’m just glad to be a part of it.”Liyah could hear the smirk in Tony’s voice as he spoke. “I’m sure you are. Good luck!” he chirped before facing her, dismissing Paul without a second glance.Paul let out a disgruntled huff before returning to his pit.Liyah bit at her lip before turning to face the man, her heart picking up its pace as he looked her over, though it was covered by the designer sunglasses he was wearing.“Mr. Stark.” She smiled cordially, offering him a black gloved hand. His brow seemed to twitch before he grasped it, even through the glove she felt a sort of electricity dance in her palm.He kept her hand in his as he stepped closer.“Ms. Toretto,” he murmured, peering at her over his glasses.Her stomach fluttered and she moved to step back, thankful for the barrier between them. Off to his side stood two other men, one bigger than the other, big enough to be a bodyguard she decided. The other was a darker skinned man slightly taller than Tony, a pair of black sunglasses perched over his eyes.Tony released her hand but continued to stare at her with a roguish grin. “Had I known you were here I’d have stopped by sooner.”“What are you doing here?” she asked, crossing her arms to dull the feeling of his touch.“He’s the main sponsor Liyah,” Manny announced clapping her on the shoulder. “Mr. Stark,” He greeted with a nod.Tony nodded at the man before pushing his glasses to the top of his head, he peered around them at the car behind her. “Plymouth Barracuda?”She could only nod as Manny answered.“Nineteen Seventy-nine with a hellcat V8 engine,” he stated proudly.Tony’s brow raised in interest. “She purrs?”“She growls,” Liyah corrected finding her footing as she sent him a devilish smirk. The one that made lesser men grovel.Tony’s eyes snapped to hers then dropped to her lips but, as he opened his mouth the car roared to life behind her, drowning out any sound in the area. The group startled and Liyah whipped around at the culprit finding Dan in the front seat.She sent him a look and he shrugged sheepishly before turning it off.Tony motioned her over and she had a silent war with herself before she strode closer. Straddling the wall of the barrier she took a seat and Tony huffed before resting against it in front of her.His lips were quirked into a wry smile but, she waited for him to explain.“I can't stop thinking about you," he finally said after a minute.Liyah scoffed. "I bet you use that on all the girls"Tony's chin dropped to his chest before he tilted his head back to the sky. Slowly he turned his head sending her a sidelong glance.Liyah frowned. "You're serious? Why?" Her heart rate quickened, as his eyes searched her face. Something like realization flashed in them."You think about me too,” he stated with a smirk.He sounded so sure. Liyah clasped her hands together, unable to meet his eyes she dropped her gaze to them. No point in denying it."Good to know," he chirped before pushing off of the wall.She didn't turn around as she walked back to the car. When she did two girls had come to stand beside him and he lazily placed an arm around each of their waists. Could the man summon women? Liyah wondered as she fought back an eye-roll.Liyah clenched her fist against her suit before smiling. “Pleasure,” she chirped before turning to face the hood of the car, the butterflies burning away by a boiling in her stomach.She lifted the hood of the Barracuda to do a few last-minute checks to busy her hands. Behind her, she heard Tony call good luck and she assumed he’d walked away. Manny’s nudge had her glancing up and she looked over her shoulder still bent over the hood. She found him still standing at the barrier though from the direction his dark sunglasses were pointed his eyes were focused on her ass.Liyah swayed her hips slightly as she straightened up. “Thanks,” she returned, before once again turning away.Manny let out a low chuckle beside her and she bumped him. “You didn’t tell me he was sponsoring the competition.”“You never asked?” he said with wide eyes. “I didn’t think it mattered.”It hadn’t and it wouldn’t have…up until a few nights ago.“Did I miss something?” He asked.“It’s nothing,” she huffed“I don’t know Liyah, it kind of looked like something,” Dan chimed from the driver’s seat.“Isn’t he a little too,” Manny started, always the father figure.“Don’t say it!” she hissed, squeezing her eyes shut. She’d checked, they were eight years apart. Apparently, that didn’t matter to her still rapidly beating heart.He held up his hands in submission before walking to the rear of the car.Liyah tried to take a calming breath stepping back and closing the hood of the car, no longer finding the car’s engine a distraction. Her palms were sweaty beneath her driving gloves as she released a shuddering breath. “Shit. Shit.” She hissed.“Liyah!” a female voice called.The familiar sound of her sister’s voice made her hands stop their trembling. She found Mia at the other end of the pit with Letty by her side. Liyah forced a smile as the two stepped around the barrier and into the pit.“How you holding up?” Mia asked probably feeling what had to be a bubble of erratic energy surrounding her.Liyah pulled the two into a hug and god bless her, Mia sent a blanket of calm over her. Her lungs seemed to work better as she breathed in Mia’s comforting scent of ginger and vanilla.“Don’t tell me you're nervous?” Letty chimed.She smiled sheepishly from the comfort of Mia’s arm and Letty playfully punched her arm. “Don’t be, you can race circles around all of their asses.”“Yeah but this isn’t just racing,” Liyah huffed. “It’s a drift competition!”“So? You’ve been drifting since we stole that car back in high school,” Letty said with a mischievous smirk.Liyah let the words wash over her along with Mia’s calm. “You’re right,” she said, trying to invoke enough confidence in the words to convince herself.Letty lightly squeezed her arm. “You’re damn right I am. You hit that throttle girl and rip that E-brake, there better not be an inch between you and that wall when you hit those turns.”Liyah nodded at her words, a real smile forming on her lips. “Thanks, guys.” Letty joined Manny at the back of the car leaving her and Mia together.“So, what had you all,” Mia asked, waving her hands as if in a frenzy.Liyah looked around before dropping her voice to a whisper. “He’s here.”Mia sent her a confused look before Liyah rested her forehead, the only part of her body that wasn’t covered, against hers; sending her an image of the aforementioned man.Mia gasped, looking around as if she might see him.“Stop Mi!! He’s gone already,” she huffed, fighting down the urge to blush.Mia mocked gasped, “Oh my God you have a crush,” she shrieked.Too loud, Liyah’s eyes widened.“I’ll kill them!” Letty barked absently.“I. Do. Not!” she hissed.Mia continued to giggle as Letty returned. “Should I tell your brother? You know he loves a good shovel talk,” She joked.“Thanks, Mia.” She huffed.“No problem, come on Letty let’s go grab some seats,” Mia urged giving her one more hug before pulling their friend in the opposite direction.Ten minutes later as she sat in her trailer Manny called out to her, “Aaliyah! You’re up!”“Coming!” She chimed, adjusting her gloves and grabbing her helmet as she went.She slowly drove through the crowd, her team matching her pace on foot to keep them at bay as they cheered, Liyah forced all thoughts from her mind. Before she knew it, she was at the starting line, a red Nissan decked out in various labels to her right. A twin turbo set up, she deduced as he revved his engine.She turned her gaze to his and he nodded at her before facing the track.She revved her own engine as the flagger started the countdown.He signaled the start and she pushed down on the gas pedal.Her tires spun in place a few moments as they fought for traction on the turf before she took off down the stretch of the road taking the lead. But it wasn’t just about speed, she did need to stay ahead of her opponent but, the bend as it came up would be the true test she’d been waiting for. She adjusted the wheel to the right before whipping it to the left as she ripped the e-brake to initiate the slide before accelerating. The Barracuda roared, the tail careening into a smooth drift around the bend as she held the wheel at an angle, counter steering through the bend. She could feel a slight drag as her tail grazed the wall behind her, hopefully, Manny wouldn’t be too upset about the paint.In her peripheral, she could see the Nissan struggle to hold his own drift straightening out before trying again.She pushed on the throttle as the next bend came up, she’d need to pick up speed if she was going to hold the drift for the longer bend.A flash of a vision had her fighting to keep an eye on the road as it showed the Nissan rear-ending her.She cursed, whipping the tail wider to avoid the collision, she barely missed the bright orange cone behind her that played as the apex of a proper drift. As the bend came to an end she straightened out before pulling to a stop at the finish line.Her breaths came out in huffs and she fought to catch her breath in the plumes of tire smoke they’d produced. A gust of wind blew away the remnants and she filled her lungs with the clean air with a gasp finally able to breathe normally. She looked up at the board for her score as the crowd cheered around her.“I don’t know how she did it, Hank.” Tyler, the announcer’s voice rang clear around the stadium. “I thought for sure Taylor was gonna clip her.”“It’s a Driver’s job to know what’s going on around them Tyler, she reacted and it paid off, look at how close she came to that cone!”She watched the replay on the broadcast screen as she moved the rear of her purple Barracuda just seconds before David Taylor’s Nissan could hit it. The orange cone wobbled slightly before going still, only to go soaring a second later as David hit its edge.“The judge's scores are in and look at that! Aaliyah Toretto pulls ahead setting the bar at ninety-eight out of a perfect one hundred! David Taylor comes in with an eighty-nine, he had a shaky start…”Liyah let their words drown out as she drove the car back to the pit, her crew already cheering as she drove over the hill.“That’s what I’m talking about Toretto!” Manny whooped, clapping her on the back as she stepped out of the car. “You saved us about five hundred dollars in damages missing Taylor’s hit!” He fist pumped into the air and Liyah could only chuckle at the chiefs enthusiasm for saving money.She pulled off her helmet, a cool breeze chilling the sweat clinging to her. She wiped an arm over her sweaty brow unable to stop the smile from breaking out. “Sorry about the paint.”“She kissed it!” Dan crooned to Devinah, the other female on their team. “She kissed that wall, made love to the wall!”Devinah cuffed him on the neck with a chuckle, before sending her a wink.“Sign of a good job,” Manny conceded, before ordering the crew to get to work on the now bare tires of The Cuda.Grabbing a bottled water from the cooler she headed to the grill that was set up in their pit, the smell of burgers wafting towards her, when she noticed who was behind the grill she squealed before tackling her brother in a hug, “Dom!”“Whoa!” he huffed catching her easily with his free arm.“You made it back in time,” she beamed.“Couldn’t miss it if I tried,” He grumbled.“Yeah because I’d kill him,” Letty called, as she and Mia made their way over.She was pulled into two more hugs before the heat began to get to her. She unzipped the top half of her suit revealing the black undershirt she wore beneath it. Flame retardant it maybe but, from the inside, it could hold some heat. Dom passed her a burger and she gladly scarfed it down before joining her crew. They were just finishing the repairs when a commotion had them looking toward the broadcast screen.She clenched her jaw as Mather’s score of ninety-nine out of one hundred lit up the screen. A laugh echoed behind her and she turned as the man himself drove up to his pit but, not before stopping at her own.“Well Aaliyah, look who scored,” He said with a smirk.Liyah schooled her own features into a semblance of a smile, though it was more of a snarl. “Let’s see if he can close the deal. It’s usually the second half where he has performance issues,” She returned with a wink.Paul only laughed before turning into his pit.Liyah released a breath as her crew stood around her.“Don’t let him get to you. You’re right, it’s the second half when Mather’s loses momentum,” Devinah offered.“It’s his big head. It drags him down.” She grumbled, realizing a second too late what she’d said as they all fell into fits of laughter around her.She groaned into her palm at her blunder as Manny ordered them to do pre-checks before her last race.The second half started in a blur and because she was in the second position she had to do her best to stay close to the lead without hitting him. It wasn’t until she looked to her left that she noticed who she was up against.Paul Mathers grinned at her from his bright orange nineteen ninety Nissan three hundred. She sent him a cordial nod before focusing.As the flagger waved his checkered flag, she stepped on the gas her wheels gaining traction seconds before Paul’s. If he was going to lead she was going to make him work for it. He passed her just as the bend came up and she led the car into a drift as close to the Nissan as she dared. She could hear his muffled curses through the open window as she stayed within a foot of his lead.As the second bend came she shifted gears as she accelerated.Paul moved to take the turn and she slipped around him before going into her drift stealing his lead as he fell in behind her. She pushed on the gas as he fought to keep pace with her, no chance of overtaking her at their angles. They came to a screeching halt at the finish line, the crowd’s cheers deafening as she waited for the judge's score.The world drifted away as she read the screen, Aaliyah Toretto – One Hundred out of one Hundred.She didn’t spare Paul a glance as she drove to her pit, gobsmacked at her own score. She felt herself being dragged from the car and hoisted onto someone’s shoulder for the second time in a week.“Poor girls speechless,” Manny chuckled drawing her from her daze.“Did I read that right?” She asked.Her team beamed bright smiles up at her and she couldn’t help the brim of tears as they threatened to fall.“Toretto!” The shout rang out and her team quieted as Paul approached their barrier.Manny let her down and she walked to the edge with her arms crossed.“Mathers? Something wrong?” she asked innocently.He pointed a finger at her angrily. “You better watch your back,” he hissed.Liyah’s eyes widened at the threat before a smirk slid across her lips before she could reply a hand flashed across her vision grabbing Paul’s hand away from her.“You better watch your back Mathers, it wouldn’t have been so easy for her to overtake you if you had.” Dominic’s husky voice challenged. He stepped into Paul’s space domineeringly, gripping the man’s hand tight.“You threaten my sister again, you’d better watch your front, your back, your sides, cause I’ll be coming for you,” he warned, shoving Paul’s hand away before turning around.He smiled at her approvingly leading her back into the pit. “That was some A-Class driving, your teacher must be proud.”“I’m sure he’s off threatening the other racers,” she chided. “I can handle Paul Mathers,” she scoffed.“He was getting a little too close for comfort,” he shrugged. “Needed to remind him he was talking to a lady.”Letty chortled behind them. “If Aaliyah’s a Lady, then I’m a Lady.”Dom turned to her with a heated look. “You ain’t a lady?”Letty returned it without breaking his gaze. “I’m a--”“Letty…” Liyah whined.“What I’m a Bad Bitch! What’s wrong with that?” Letty asked with a chuckle wrapping her arms around Dom’s waist.Dominic chuckled before kissing her. “Nothing’s wrong with that.”Liyah rolled her eyes at the two before going back to her crew. “Alright!” She crowed. “We haven’t won yet, there’s still a few more competitors before they announce the winners.”Her team sent her dubious looks before returning to their party.She huffed out a chuckle before joining Mia where she’d taken up cooking on the grill.As the end of the day’s event came she waited with baited breath for the results. The announcers called her name for First place.Her friends and family erupted into cheers around her, she hugged each of her crew members before climbing into the driver’s seat, driving it down to the winner’s circle. She stepped out, fighting the urge to cover her ears as the crowd screamed. She waved happily none-the-less, before her eyes landed on the man standing with the Mic in his hand.“Aaliyah Toretto everybody!” Tony called, holding out a hand in her direction.The crowd erupted around her and she hesitated minutely, checking that her gloves were still on before taking his offered hand.He gave it a small squeeze, a question, and an offer.She hesitated before returning it.Tony sent a roguish grin to the crowd before pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. Liyah held back an eye roll as he raised their joined hands into the air in victory. She changed in the back of the trailer before they could drive the car into it. Shaking down her hair, she fixed her jacket then her gloves before stepping out.“See you later!” She called as she stepped away.She’d parked around the back and she was rethinking her choice as she turned down the dimly lit path. As she rounded a darkened corner a set of hands yanked her back by the neck.She followed her attacker’s movements before bringing her arm up and around, dropping her elbow down on her attacker’s arms as she’d learned long ago. She winced at the strain on her neck as his hands were forced down and she whirled around, only to find Paul glaring at her. She paused in her movement to punch him in the nose.“This was my time Toretto,” he hissed.“Then maybe you should have been quicker,” she shrugged easing back to the noise of people on light feet. Paul growled as he stepped forward. “You bitch.”Liyah considered her options, Paul wasn’t usually so high strung but if he attacked she wouldn’t hesitate to put him on his ass.A flare of headlights cut off her line thinking and with her hands still up in a placating manner, the silver Audi stopped.“This is the second time I’ve caught you like this, Mathers, was it?” Tony asked as he stepped out of the car.Paul’s eyes widened in shock “Mr. St-““Don’t speak. Walk away, get in your car, drive off. If you can’t handle losing be better,” Tony chided simply.Liyah watched the man storm off before dropping her hands.Tony turned to face her, looking her over. “You alright?”“Never better,” She huffed, a hand coming up to rub at the stinging in her neck, that was definitely going to bruise hopefully it would be gone by morning.Tony’s eyes narrowed slightly as he tracked the movement. “What’s going on between you two huh? There’s gotta be some kind of history,” he deduced.Liyah shrugged. “We made out a few times.”“A lover’s quarrel then,” he asked, something more than curiosity shining in his eyes.“God no,” Liyah returned with a frown, continuing her trek to her car.“What’s going on between us?” He called.Liyah hesitated in her next step. “What do you want from me?” she asked, whirling around. “I mean sex? Tell me now, we can fuck when you want.”She grinned as his eyes darkened but, she plowed forward before he could comment, “But you can get that from anyone, so why?” She asked, coming to a stop in front of him.Tony stepped forward, “Maybe it’s your smile, your lips? I mean it’s definitely your legs, the things I want to do to you?” he sent her smirk. “But it’s something else, every time I think I’ve figured you out, you surprise me,” he breathed, closing the distance between them.Her heart pounded in her chest as she brought her lips to the bottom of his earlobe. “I don’t think you can handle the truth,” she whispered, her voice coming out far steadier then she felt.“Only one way to find out,” he challenged.And then he was pushing her towards the wall. She tugged his earlobe between her lips, sucking at it, just as her back hit the concrete. He brought his mouth down to her neck, nibbling and sucking on the still sensitive spot.A vision blurred her sight but, it blinked away just as fast as his hand slid down her side, coming down to cup her rear before squeezing. Her breaths came quickly as she pulled him closer dragging her gloved hand through his hair. She moaned breathily at the start of a bulge pushing against her, grinding her hips against it. Tony broke off his exploration to moan in her ear.“Tony!” A woman whined from the car.They both froze.Liyah broke into laughter a minute later, untangling her leg from where it had ridden up to pull him closer, already missing the feel of him pressed against her.Tony seemed to want to say something, opening his mouth as if to speak but another call from the car had him taking a step back, nervously he ran a hand through his hair.She sent him a wink before squeezing past him and the wall, adjusting her shirt as she went.“Some other time then,” she said with a wave before disappearing around the corner.She stopped as she went around the bend catching her breath as the sound of wheels on gravel crunched. She waited for the sound to disappear before she finally moved.Her heart hammered against her chest and she let out a slightly hysterical laugh as her car came into view.She’d wanted him, still wanted him from the warmth still building inside her. Was she mad about the woman? Could she be? He’d only stopped to make sure she was okay; the rest had been kind of spur of the moment. And yet, as she continued the trek to her car, she couldn’t stop the boiling in her stomach.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Liyah’s not exactly sure how she ended up apart of the street race a week later, one second she’s talking on the sidelines and the next Dom is hustling some new guy out of his money and his car. She’d be feeling slightly used if she wasn’t getting the bigger end of the cut. But as it were.She pulled the car to a screeching halt just before the crowd of bystanders. Cheers were erupting around her and she was just about to step from the car when a vision hit her. As it passed the walkie radio on her dash trilled, Leon’s frantic voice calling through it.“Yo Scramble!! We got cops.” “Shit.” Dropping back into her seat, she searched the panic of movement, finding her sister pushing through the crowd. “Hurry!” she called through her open window.Mia shoved another person out of her way before her hand closed around the door. She threw herself into the car, pulling the door shut behind her.Liyah searched the direction Mia had come from “Where’s Letty?”“She’s driving the new car home for Dominic. Go!!” Liyah didn’t hesitate, throwing the gear into reverse before speeding backward across the finish line.She passed a street wrought with escaping cars.“Liyah?!” Mia hissed, motioning towards the street.Shaking her head, she continued down the road. “There’s a blockade down there.”Mia didn’t respond, her seatbelt clicking into place.She found a clear street and she slammed on the breaks before going forward down the empty stretch of road, just as the sound of sirens reached them. She watched a cop car speed by the opening through her rearview mirror, before slowing down.The cop seemed to hesitate before taking off after them.“Shit,” they chorused.Liyah pushed down on the throttle, going straight before turning down another street. The sound of her cell phone ringing drew her up short. Mia grabbed the phone before she could become too distracted.Focused on the road, Liyah waited for Mia to check the caller ID. When she didn’t immediately respond she had to fight the urge to look. “What? Who is it?”Mia shrugged as she sat the phone down. “It’s an unknown number.”Liyah bit her lip as she watched the cop cruiser turn down the road, she made a sharp left then a right. “Answer it.”“What?” Mia eyed her dubiously. “Now!? Really?”“Mia,” she whined.“Fine.” She flipped open the phone before hitting the green key, tapping the speaker button before she held up the phone.“Now really isn’t the best time,” Liyah said by way of greeting.“It can’t be that bad if you answered,” Tony stated pointedly.Liyah reversed down a driveway before the cop could come around the corner, she backed in as far as she could before killing the engine and her headlights.A second later, the echo of sirens passed them.“Wait, was that a police siren?” He asked.“It may or may not have been,” she whispered back.“What did you do?” Tony asked his voice filled with barely suppressed laughter.Liyah frowned. “What? Why did I have to do anything?”“Police don’t usually go on chases for people who did nothing, cupcake,” he said with a laugh.Mia snickered beside her.“Is someone else with you? Is she your accomplice? Am I an accomplice? I should hang up.”“Shut up. We were street racing,” Liyah rushed out.Tony made a noise of interest. “That’s illegal you know.”“No shit genius, that’s why the cops were on our ass,” She hissed through gritted teeth.“Street racing… hmmm…. Did you win?” Tony challenged.Liyah rolled her eyes. “Really?”“Yes, she won,” Mia supplied.“I knew there was someone with you and whom do I have the pleasure of speaking to?”Liyah chuckled, “My sister. Mia, Tony. Tony, Mia.”“Hi, Tony.” Mia grinned, with a pointed look at her.Liyah let out a groan, “Can we do this later, we’re trying to lie low.”“I’ll make it quick, I’m going to take you out.”Liyah’s eyes widened and Mia beamed a smile over at her.“Like in a sniper way?” she asked, unable to stop the nervous chuckle that bubbled out of her.Tony laughed over the line. “In a dinner kind of way, or lunch. Hey, we could do breakfast, or that thing just between.”“Brunch?” Mia supplied.Tony made a noise of assent. “Brunch, exactly!”Liyah was silent as she tried to gather her thoughts when Mia drew her out of her haze by answering for her.“She’d love to.”“She would…” Tony dragged out.Mia smacked her arm and she winced.“Ow! I mean I would,” she blurted, her eyes widening as her brain caught up with her mouth.“Sunday sound good?”“Sunday brunch. I’ll see you then. That is… if I don’t get arrested,” Liyah murmured.“Oh, you should be good to go now, that cop’s miles away.”“What? How did you…” Liyah grunted as she tried to wrestle the phone from her giggling sister.“Will I need to pick you up?” he asked.She pinched her in the side and Mia let out a shriek, Liyah snatched the phone with a triumphant grin “I’ll meet you there, just send me an address.” “Alright, then it’s a date,” He chorused before hanging up.“Wait, what?” Liyah blurted.Mia’s shoulders shook with suppressed laughter at her gobsmacked expression. “You’ve got a date!”Liyah dropped her face into her gloved hands. “A brunch date? What does that even mean? What should I wear?!”Mia gasped. “We need to go shopping!”Liyah brightened at that. “I could use a shopping day.”“We’ll drag Letty along. You think I can get her into a sundress.”She shared a conspiring grin with her sister. “We will now!” ************************************Liyah looked down at the address with a frown before glancing back up.“That can’t be right,” she murmured eyeing the large gates in front of her, to the side of it sat a small brick security booth. Slowly she drove up to it.“Your name and photo ID,” the guard ordered once she was close enough.“I’m sorry, I think I made a wrong turn somewhere.”The guard sent her a sympathetic smile. “Happens all the time, what was the address?”She smiled sheepishly as she brought up the directions on her phone. “377 East Malcorn st.”The guard sent her a raised brow. “Good news you’re in the right place, Name, and ID.”“Um... Aaliyah Toretto?” she quickly grabbed her wallet, slipping out her license before handing it to the guard. After a moment of him diligently looking it over, he handed it back. “Have a nice day,” he announced before pushing a button in the booth.The gate swung open and she sent the guard one last dubious look before driving through.Inside she was motioned towards a parking space by a man in a brightly colored vest. As she stepped from her car, the parking attendant greeted her with a smile. “Good morning, Ms. Toretto. Mr. Stark is waiting for you at the jet.”Liyah’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry did you say jet?”He let out a chuckle before leading her towards a large hangar.He held open the door and she cautiously stepped through, the attendant followed her before leading her closer to the jet. They approached the steps leading up to it and she crossed her arms as she took in the man standing at the top grinning down at her.“You’re chariot awaits.”“What is this?” she huffed.Tony turned around before facing her once again. “It’s a jet.”Liyah scoffed as she eyed the Stark Industries labeled plane. “And where is it taking us?”“I believe I promised you brunch.”“Yeah but, I thought you meant some local place?”Tony let out a sigh, climbing down the stairs before coming to a stop directly in front of her. “Did I mention you look beautiful?”“Tony.”“The restaurant is a favorite of mine and if I’m going to take a beautiful woman out on a date I figured I should go all out,” he stated before bringing up his wrist, he checked the watch perched there casually. “Reservations at one, so we need to,” He clucked his tongue twice.Liyah eyed him before eyeing the jet once more. He offered her his arm and with a small grin, she placed her own in the crook of it.“And punctuality wins out,” he quickly guided her up the stairs and on to the plane.Her eyes widened at the white interior and reclining chairs. She glanced down as Tony grabbed her hand leading her forward from where she’d stopped to stare. She dropped into the offered seat.“Buckle up,” He said with a wink.Liyah shook her head with a grin. “You are ridiculous.”When the jet landed she excused herself to the bathroom. She checked her face in the mirror before adjusting the white lace gloves she’d bought to go with the vintage style dress. It was mostly white with a black overlay as the skirt and a white belt at the waist to finish the look. She was bubbling with nervous energy and had to fight not to pull at the curls in her hair. With one last glance in the mirror, she pushed open the bathroom door.Tony was waiting for her in his seat, he stood as she stepped out of the bathroom.“Pianello del Lario awaits.”The restaurant was a nice bistro by the sea, she could see the water from where she stood and it looked expensive as hell. Though the jet ride there made money a moot point. Thankfully her dress didn’t look at all out of place, she noted as she eyed a couple eating at one of the outside tables.With a hand at her waist, Tony led her to the host’s stand. The Man behind the podium took them in with a cordial nod. “Mr. Stark, Buon pomeriggio, we have your table set up. If you would follow me.”The host grabbed two menus before turning around and with Tony’s hand still at her waist, they followed.Tony stepped away as they approached their table and she inconspicuously smoothed down the sides of her dress as the spot seemed to tingle in his absence.The table was close to a wall of glass that had a radiant view of the ocean and she felt herself relax slightly at the scene.She tried not to blush as he held out her chair, ducking her head as she took her seat. She fought the urge to pull at the lace gloves she was wearing but, the aborted movement caught his gaze. He didn’t mention them for which she was grateful.“Your waiter will be with you shortly,” the host said with a smile before heading back to his podium.“I hope this is okay,” Tony said, making her look up from the menu she’d been studying. “but when staying out of the press’ eye, one tends to get creative.”She sent him a small smile, relenting in the urge to tuck a curl behind her ear. “It’s fine, really,” she added when he still didn’t look sure. “I’ve never been; so thank you.”Tony’s shoulders relaxed minutely.“You look handsome, blue is definitely your color, She offered with a smirk.Tony huffed out a laugh, “Every color is my color.”Liyah mock gasped into her gloved hand, “So modest.” She returned her gaze to the menu with a small frown. “I’ll be honest though, I almost backed out.”Tony frowned. “And why would you do a thing like that?”She busied her fingers with unfolding her napkin sending him a shrug, “I was nervous.”He nodded at that. “About?”Liyah felt herself smile as she laughed. “You’re going to make me say it? You’re horrible.”Tony laughed with her as he dropped his gaze to his menu. “Then why’d you come?”She looked up again waiting until he looked back up at her to speak. “Because I like you.”Tony blinked at that. “That makes you nervous?”She pursed her lips at his confusion. “Shouldn’t it?”Tony shook his head. “It shouldn’t.”Liyah sent him an incredulous look but, before she could respond their waitress stopped at the table.“Good afternoon, can I get you started on drinks?” she asked, glancing between the two of them, her blond ponytail swaying slightly with the movement.Liyah took a breath to calm her heart, sending the woman a smile. “I’ll have a Peach Bellini.” The woman nodded jerkily before turning to Tony, “e tu, signore?”He leaned back in his chair. “I’ll have the same, sounds refreshing.”“I’ll be right back to take your orders then.” She said, smiling nervously before striding away.When her gaze returned to Tony’s she found him already watching her and she took a second to replay his words. “So, Anthony, why shouldn’t I be nervous?”He narrowed his eyes at the use of his full name. “Because I too find myself captivated by you.”“So, you’ve said,” she assented, “back at the race I mean.”Tony nodded in understanding, “And you didn’t believe me.”“I’m sure you find yourself distracted by myself, I don’t blame you for that,” She said motioning to herself with a wave.“So modest,” he repeated, mirth dancing in his eyes.“But for how long?” she asked with a raised brow.She wasn’t sure if he would have answered even if their waitress hadn’t returned with their drinks.“Have you decided what you’d like to eat?” The woman asked.Tony looked over at her and the waitress followed suit.Liyah hummed in thought, “You’ve eaten here before?”He nodded. “I have.”“I’ll let you choose then if you don’t mind.” The truth was she hadn’t actually looked at the menu since she’d opened it besides, it was all in Italian. “The usual then, for two,” he chimed, closing his menu and handing it over to the waitress.She offered hers to the waitress as well before her gaze went to the ocean view. She mulled over her own question as she watched the waves ebb and flow, how long would she herself find him of interest. She tended to get bored easily if she was being honest. It was one of the reasons she had been single for so long, among other things. This thing with Tony had been the longest she found herself infatuated with someone.She drew her eyes from the crashing waves. “Tell me about yourself.”“What do you want to know?” he asked, not at all startled by the change in subject.Liyah thought it over, “First language?”Tony’s eyes widened minutely. “That is not a question I’ve been asked before.”She took a sip of her Bellini, looking at him over the edge of her glass.“I’ve learned a few over the years but Spanish was my first,” he said with a half-smile.Liyah tried to keep her voice casual as she asked. “¿De Verdad? Really?”He sent her a casual shrug, “Mis padres usan para empujarme apagado en la criada cuando era un bebé. My parents use to push me off on the maid when I was a baby. ” He stated in flawlessly accented Spanish. She felt herself frown, how alone had he been as a child if he was pushed off on a maid? “Your first words must have been a surprise.”Tony grinned. “Howard was pissed, my mom thought it was cute though, saved the woman’s job at least.” He took a drink from his glass “I’m assuming since you asked, that English isn’t your first language either?”She shook her head with a small smile. “It’s my third.”He nodded for her to continue.“My second was Spanish but, my first was Russian.”Tony’s brow went up. “I was not expecting that.”“My mother was Russian but, she died when I was eight. My brothers and sister had assimilated somewhere between Spanish and English.”He sent her a questioning look at that.“My dad was a proud Cuban,” she offered before continuing. “I guess since I didn’t have anyone to speak Russian with, well you know what they say; If you don’t use it, you lose it.” “So, you remember none of it?” he asked dubiously.“It’s funny, I can understand it but, I don’t remember enough to form a complete sentence.” She said with a shrug.“Cuban and Russian? That’s a strange mix.” He said after a pause.Liyah laughed at that, “They met in Cuba, my mom was a model and my dad worked on cars, they moved to L.A. together opened up a market and a garage.”Their waiter returned with an array of food on a tray, a medium sized bowl of fruit salad, two plates of French toast, eggs benedict and something that looked like sushi.She eyed the French toast with what she hoped was powdered sugar on top. “That looks amazing.” Conversation became sparse as they ate but, at the mention of causing his first explosion at the age of six, she nearly choked on her toast.“What did you do?”“I was trying to make the toaster run on it own circuits, or something weird like that, I got a few wires crossed,” he explained with a chuckle.Liyah smiled “I was ten when I accidentally blew up the neighbor’s mailbox.”“How?”“We were trying to make our scooters faster and well I slipped and the thing took off, right into the mailbox. It wasn’t even that bad! Just a bit of fire, Ms. Meyers definitely overreacted.”Tony laughed into his glass and she found she liked the sound of it as she speared another piece of French toast onto her fork.As they exited the restaurant Tony grabbed her hand, the lace gloves doing most of the work, as she blinked away the tingle of a vision.“Walk with me?” he asked.She easily fell into step beside him as they walked along the sidewalk, a light breeze flowing as they went.Liyah caught sight of an opening that lead to the beach, and she tugged him along. They stopped to pull off their shoes, before trekking through the sand.“I’m sensing you’re a fan of the beach?” Tony trilled as they came to a stop at the water’s edge. Liyah took a step forward so the water would pass over her toes, hiding a smile as she looked down.“I spend a lot of time at the beach, it’s relaxing.” She let out a contented hum. “The water’s so blue here.”He wrapped an arm around her waist and a flurry of butterflies swirled around in her stomach. She looked up to find him staring down at her. A stray curl swirled in the wind on the side of her face and Tony hesitated before tucking it back in with the rest, his eyes locked with hers. “I’m glad you didn’t back out.”Liyah sent him a shy smile. “Me too, this is nice.”Eyeing the watch on his wrist she brought it up to check the time. “I’ve got to get back though,” she said with a grimace.In a move to smooth for the beach, he turned back to the entrance, twirling her as he went. He switched hands at the end, resting it at her waist with a smirk.She walked stunned for a second before laughter bubbled past her lips, “You’re ridiculous.”Tony walked her back to her car from the plane and they came to a stop beside her door. She hesitated only a second before pressing a kiss to his cheek. She forced the flash of a vision away but, not before she glimpsed herself curled up beside him as they laid in bed.Her heart stuttered in her chest and she murmured a quiet, “Thank you again, I had a really nice time.” Before quickly climbing into her car.What the hell was that? She had a feeling she’d been naked under those sheets, she almost wished she’d let it play out. She was just turning the key in the ignition when it roared to life, at the same time Tony’s head appeared beside her through the window. She jumped slightly with a curse.“Everything okay? You seem flustered,” he asked, his eyes searching her face.Liyah could feel the warmth in her cheeks but she forced a smirk. “Must be you.”He chuckled and her smirk slid easily into a real smile, “See you around, Tony,” she trilled before pulling out of her parking space.
He chuckled and her smirk slid easily into a real smile, “See you around, Tony,” she trilled before pulling out of her parking space.
**************************************She eyed the house currently free of cars with relief quickly making her way inside. She was just closing the door when a voice startled her.“So, how was it?” Mia asked from her seat on the couch.Liyah clutched a hand to her chest, sending her sister a glare. She kicked off her shoes before answering. “It was great,” Liyah admitted once her heart had returned to its normal rhythm.Mia squealed from the couch and Liyah picked up a pillow before throwing it at the woman. She fought down the need to blush as she headed to her room, Mia’s footsteps sounding after her.“Well? Give me the details!”“Lock the door,” Liyah trilled, before going down the stairs.She waited at the bottom for her sister, turning her back so that she could help with the zipper. She shivered as it came undone, letting it slide to the floor in a sigh of fabric before digging through her drawers for a pair of shorts. As she pulled on a shirt and the shorts, she skipped over to her sister.“Where do I begin?” Liyah laughed, falling back onto her pillows.Mia fell back beside her. “At the beginning of course!”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Where do I begin?” Liyah laughed, falling back onto her pillows.
Mia fell back beside her. “At the beginning of course!”
**************************************************Liyah eyed the address for her borrowed route with trepidation. When Keith, her co-worker had asked her to fill in for his usual she’d agreed but now, remembering the amount she was being paid, she was nervous. This person either had money to burn or they were important. Or both her brain supplied.The address causing her tremulous emotions lead to Stark Industries and she could only pray, as she pulled to a stop in front of the building, that the chauffeur wasn’t for Tony. The traitorous butterflies in her stomach hoping for the opposite. They hadn’t talked since their date going on four days ago, she figured he was probably busy but still, a text would have sufficed.She fixed her pantsuit before coming around to the passenger side. No doubt the guard at the gate had already notified her passenger of her arrival. A flash of red hair had her stomach unclenching. It was the woman from the mansion.“Take care, Ms. Potts.” The man called after he’d held the door for her.“Thank you, Andre,” she returned over her shoulder. As she turned to face the car Ms. Potts froze just outside the door clearly searching for her usual driver before she schooled her features.Liyah opened the back door for her with a smile. “Ma’am,” She trilled.“Thank you.” The woman returned stiffly as she stepped into the car. Liyah waited until her legs were clear before closing the door and returning to the driver’s seat.As she entered the address into the GPS, she breathed a sigh of relief at the destination, nowhere near Tony’s pristine mansion.In the back, Ms. Potts mumbled a few curses and Liyah glanced at her from the rear-view mirror.“Is something wrong?”Ms. Potts grimaced with a nod, “I don’t have Tony’s signature on the papers I told him to sign. That man I swear.” She let her head drop to the seat. “He’s already left the office and God knows when I’ll be able to get him back in there.”She stayed silent as the woman seemed to mull over her decision, her hands growing sweaty as the seconds ticked by.Ms. Potts’ head popped up as she looked to Liyah, “Could we stop by his house? It will only take a minute.”Liyah forced a smile, “No problem, what’s the address?”Ms. Potts frowned “I thought…” she trailed off, confusion marring her features. “We weren’t coming from this direction when I drove him home and we were mostly there when I’d found him,” Liyah explained calmly.“Found him?” She asked, clearly confused.Liyah tried not to roll her eyes “He didn’t tell you?”Ms. Potts shook her head.A sardonic smile formed on Liyah’s lips. “Figures, Mr. Stark was standing in the middle of the road when I almost ran him over.” Her smile turned more genuine at the memory before dropping to a frown. “Of course, then he was almost mugged.” She huffed looking back at Ms. Potts through the rearview mirror. “I offered him a ride. I.. I didn’t know who he was at the time.”Ms. Potts sent her an apologetic look. “Oh, I … I just assumed.”Liyah shrugged, what can you do, it read.Ms. Potts gave her the address without more preempting.Well into the drive Liyah glanced into the side mirror as she switched lanes, her brow raising as three identical black sedans mirrored her. She sped up switching lanes twice and watching as the black sedans dove between cars to catch up.“Shit,” She breathed.Ms. Potts looked up from her paperwork, “Sorry?”“You may want to buckle up,” Liyah warned.“Why what’s wrong?” she asked alarmed, buckling her seatbelt.“We’ve got a tail,” Liyah explained.Ms. Potts glanced out the window, just as the three sedans took up the three lanes of the interstate, a clear line between them and the cars they’d cut off. “Shit,” She repeated.Liyah thanked whoever was listening that they weren’t in the usual Limo because her plan would never work otherwise.She pushed the gas pedal to the floor, the tires screeching as she pushed the Audi to its max speed. The car shot off down the stretch of road, the Sedans slow to catch up as she neared the next bout of cars on the high way. Liyah slammed her eyes shut as she cleared her mind.“Umm?” Ms. Potts fretted from the backseat.Liyah didn’t hear her as she forced a real-time vision. Not opening her eyes, she used two of the lanes to make a U-turn, she pushed down on the gas and the Audi shot forward. The sedans swerved and she used the momentary surprise to weave between them. She continued weaving in and out of the oncoming traffic. Where was it? she searched the vision. “There!” she breathed, her eyes flying open as she jerked the wheel, the car slid down the narrow shoulder before she swung it through a break in the barrier usually reserved for police. She merged seamlessly into the traffic pattern with a sigh of relief.She spared a glance at Ms. Potts only to find her clutching the door. “Um, we… We uh loss the tail.” Liyah offered sheepishly. God, she was going to lose her job. She should have found another exit, she could…“I’m keeping you. Can I keep you?” Pepper asked breaking out into hysterical giggles.“You mean? I’m not... You’re not firing me?” Liyah asked still holding her breath.“Do you know often I get tails? The number of people who think they can use me to get to Tony or hold me for ransom? It’s ridiculous and you… where’d you learn to drive like that?”“My brothers and sister showed me the ropes… getting into trouble was a thing I did often… had to figure out how to get out of it?” Liyah shrugged, relaxing minutely as she checked the directions the GPS had rerouted to.Ms. Potts smiled. “Would you like a more permanent job, Linah was it?”“Aaliyah Toretto,” She offered. “And yes, I’d like that, Ms. Potts.”“Please, call me Pepper.” With all that had happened Liyah had forgotten to be nervous about where they were headed. But as they pulled up to the gate and Pepper called to the same entity Tony had, the gates swung open and she found herself once again facing his home.Opening the car door for her boss, she debated the merits of staying with the car.“Come on,” the woman urged when she realized Liyah wasn’t following.She tossed her driver’s hat back into the car before following after her. She forced her shoulders straight as she followed her new boss into the large house. Loud music greeted her, reminiscent of the loud parties her brother usually threw. Through the glass of the back window, she could see a rally of people around and in the pool drinking, and partying to their heart's content.Ms. Potts let out sigh before stealing her spine, she followed the woman to a back set of stairs that led directly into the thick of the party. She seemed to eye the crowd at the bottom of the stairs with barely concealed malice.“Ma’am.” Liyah offered, walking past her. She steeled her gaze, her air turning into one of boredom. “Move.”The girls looked to her surprised as if they hadn’t noticed her. She made an impatient noise and they immediately parted. “Thank you.” she huffed the words sounding anything but.Ms. Potts stayed on her heels as she maneuvered through the crowd.Dominic was usually the center of attention at these things, whether he wanted to be or not and as cheers rang out, she made a beeline towards the ruckus. She made a few louder impatient noises shouldering past people before the man himself came into view, black swim trunks on and his bare chest exposed; he wasn’t chiseled but he was toned, her mind noted of its own accord. He stood by the DJ’s booth mic in hand as he hyped up the party. Ms. Potts squeezed between her and the crowd. “Thank You,” she called, making her way toward him. “Sure, no problem” she managed to force out, her mouth suddenly dry. A flash of a vision of a girl being pushed into the water cut off her haywire thoughts.The girl was nervous, timid even at the crowded party, probably dragged here by fake friends given that in the next moment a group of girls simultaneously pulled the top string of her bikini loose before pushing her into the pool.Liyah didn’t have much time to debate her own reaction as she noticed the girl bobbing along to music at the edge of the pool. She saw the hands reaching out for the string and she found herself moving, darting in front of the girl. Liyah winced as they were suddenly forced forward into the pool and she gripped the girl tight around the middle as they dropped into the cold water, it splashed around them as they broke the surface.The girl came up with a flailing gasp.“I’ve got you.” Liyah shushed, keeping the girl covered with her own body. Luckily the water was below her chest. She was a head taller than the girl she realized as her brown eyes met those of green, freckles Peppering the bridge of her nose. She seemed so small in her grasp.With an arm still around her waist, Liyah sent her a grin before shrugging out of her suit Jacket, she held it around the girl waiting as she retied her suit. Bathing suit in place Liyah eyed her quickly dulling eyes, thinking of how naked she must feel now in the bikini.She offered her jacket and the girl was quick to shrug into it. Noticing the looks they were receiving and how far away the stairs were, Liyah led the girl to the closest pool edge. “Up you go,” She grunted, lifting the girl around the middle and onto the edge, the girl blinked slightly startled at being lifted. She bit her lip nervously as she continued to sit on the edge of the pool her eye beginning to brim with tears.Liyah sent the girl a bright. “Hey, don’t let them get you down.”The girl nodded leaning forward to wrap her in a hug, as she pulled back she pressed a quick kiss to her cheek in gratitude.Liyah sent her a soft smile before pulling herself out of the pool, made harder by her clothes weighing her down.People were still staring when she pulled herself out, she must’ve looked a drowned mess but, she couldn’t bring herself to care that her white shirt was probably see through. She searched the crowd for Ms. Potts, finding her wide gaze already focused on her.She sent her shrug and a half smile before her eyes found those of Tony’s, his hand frozen above the papers Ms. Potts must have needed to be signed. Good.“I’ll be at the car!” she called to the woman before disappearing into the crowd.Opening the trunk, she grabbed the towel usually reserved for keeping the car clean and dried her face. She pulled her hair loose from its now hanging bun before dragging the towel through it to get rid of the excess water. She eyed her dry after work change of clothes longingly before grabbing them.Making sure all the cars in the driveway were empty she climbed into the back seat. With great difficulty, she removed her wet pants, breathing a sigh when she finally had them off. She roughly yanked on the dry clothes before slipping from the car, just as Ms. Potts came into view, Tony on her heels.“Of course, she’d want to see me Pep!” he called, his eyes finding hers over Ms. Potts shoulder. “Besides according to you she works for me now.”Liyah grimaced at his words.“No, No, she works for me,” Ms. Pott’s corrected. “And we have places to be. So, say goodbye, Tony.”Liyah bit back a chuckle at his annoyed expression. “See you around Mr. Stark,” she called instead. She opened the door for Ms. Potts before opening her own door and reclaiming the driver’s seat.Before she could close it, Tony forced himself between the door jam.Startled, her stomach jolted as he bent his head into the car, “You just let anyone kiss you?” he breathed.Liyah shrugged, “She was cute, green eyes? Definitely my type. She might have even slipped me her number.” She added, with a grinTony gaped at her “You’re a lesbian.”He sounded so sure.Ms. Potts made an alarmed noise from the backseat. “Tony!”Liyah reached towards him grabbing the dip in the door panel, the movement bringing her face to face with him. “There is a term called bisexual,” she breathed before pushing the door out of his grasp and moving to slam it. It did the trick and he moved out of the way as she pulled it shut. “Are you ready Ms. Potts?” she asked.Pepper sent her a smile, “Thank you, Ms. Toretto, Yes.”She sent Tony a salacious wink before pulling off.By the time, she dropped off Ms. Potts, dropped the Audi off at the yard, and picked up her own car, it was dark outside. As per usual the house was loud and full of people, bottles littered any available surface.As she changed she grabbed her phone before plopping onto her bed. She had three texts. She started with the one from an unknown number, guessing who it could be.
“Just saw the footage, Pepper told me what happened. Didn’t believe her until I saw it.”
Liyah huffed, reading the second text he’d sent.
“Bisexual, so that means I’m still on the roster”
Liyah let out a laugh, unable to help the smile on her face. Unable to resist teasing him she typed out her reply.
“You were on the roster?”
Hitting the back button, she clicked on the next text message. It was from Jesse.
“I don’t know how much longer I can do this Liyah.”
Liyah’s heart clenched at the words. She quickly dialed his number. “Pick up.”He picked up on the third ring music pulsing in the background.“Liy?” he slurred.“Jess?! Where are you?” she asked already pulling her shoes back on.“Where are you? I thought you were going to meet me here?”“God, I completely forgot. I’m on my way now.”“No S’okay, I’ll find someone to spend time with,” He returned.“Jesse No!” she hissed, as the line went dead.Throwing on her jacket she checked the pockets for her keys before trudging back up the stairs.She was beelining for the front door when Dom shouted her name.She turned as he made his way over.“Where’re you going, didn’t I just see you come in?”She tried not to tap her foot impatiently. “I need to grab Jesse.”Dominic raised an eyebrow “Jesse? Something going on between you two?”Liyah fought back an eye-roll, instead choosing to give him a blank stare. “Is there something you wanted? I’m kind of in a hurry?”“Saw the news today, a car drove right into oncoming traffic.”“Sounds wild?”“Sounds reckless if you ask me,” he said pointedly.“I had three sedans tailing me, I lost them.” She shrugged.“You need to be more careful.”Liyah nodded “Sounds good, see you later.” She turned away closing the distance between her and the door.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“You need to be more careful.”
Liyah nodded. “Sounds good, see you later.” She turned away closing the distance between her and the door
She and Jesse were supposed to meet at a new club that had opened downtown, as she glanced at the line stretching around the corner she huffed in annoyance. Though as she glanced at the Bouncer she did a double take, a smile lighting up her features.“Dan!” She called.His head whipped in her direction before he smiled. “Toretto, Hey!”“I need a favor,” she tried.He sent her a look.“My friend is in there I just. I need to grab him… please,” she begged.He pretended to mull it over for a second before he jerked his head toward the open door of the club.She fought back the urge to hug him before passing through the archway. Immediately she was hit with the pulse of music, the dimly lit club flashing with strobe lights as people danced around her.“Jesse, Jesse, Jesse,” She chanted, squeezing her eyes shut. A vision of him at the bar kissing a girl met her and she rushed over.“Jesse!” she called, spotting him leaned up against the bar, he didn’t stop kissing the girl, instead, he just opened an eye to look at her.They were red-rimmed as he glanced at her.“Alright, let’s get you home,” she huffed, dragging him by his hand away from the girl.The blonde pouted before returning to the dance floor, getting lost in the thrum of the crowd.“Liyah no, I don’t, I can’t go back there. Not if he’s…” he let out a shuddering sigh,Liyah nodded. “Then we won’t go home,” she conceded.She dragged Jesse to the car before finding a cheap motel.He let out a snort, which she ignored before leading him inside, she paid for the night, taking the key and ignoring the way the man behind the counter was eyeing her.Seated in the room, she turned on him. “What happened?”Jesse let out a sigh, “I don’t know Liy, we were working on a car and I was showing him the new upgrade. He was leaning over my shoulder and I just… god what’s wrong with me?” He breathed. Liyah huffed, pulling him into a hug as she sat down beside him on the bed. “Nothing’s wrong with you, so you like my brother, big deal.”“It is a big deal Liy, I... I think I’m in love with him,” he admitted quietly.Liyah let out a deep sigh, falling back on the mattress and bringing Jesse with her.“That sucks,” she admitted.He sniffed. “It does.”Liyah racked her brain for something, anything to take his mind off of it. She internally groaned, Jesse was a techy. “I um.. I saved Tony Stark the other day.”Jesse froze beneath her. “You what?”Liyah nodded, “Saw him about to get robbed, took him home. He showed me his cars,” she said casually.Jesse popped up at that, she let him, pushing up to the headboard to lean back on it.“Cars. He showed you his cars? Aaliyah please tell me that’s not one of your innuendos?” he rasped.Liyah giggled. “It’s not.”Jesse’s face lit up with emotion. “I heard he has the Tesla roadster prototype.”Liyah nodded with a smirk.“Well?” he huffed.Liyah smiled before going into detail about that night trying to leave out certain details, like, that she was crushing hard on the man. Happy to disclose the tidbits of information if it would brighten her friend’s mood.Jesse sent her a strange look. She fought the urge to fidget under his gaze. “What?”“Did you kiss him?”Liyah replayed the words, she’d spoken. She’d thought she’d been careful but, Jesse apparently knew her better than she’d thought. What were best friends for, after all.“Not exactly.” she huffed, sounding disappointed even to her own ears. “I mean there was this alley and there may have been some neck kissing…” she murmured“It counts,” he stated adamantly.Liyah bit her lip. “I guess,” she admitted in a whisper.“Sooo, you like him?” he asked, mischief sparking in his eyes.“Does it matter? We went on like one date and I haven’t really heard from him since,” she said with a frown, pushing her hair away from her face.“Date? You, Aaliyah Toretto, went on a date?”Liyah huffed before nodding. “Like a week after the drift competition…”“Congrats by the way," he chimed in.“Thank you.” She smiled. “And then I didn’t see him again until I went back to his house.”Jesse narrowed his eyes at her. “Aaliyah Toretto, start talking.”Liyah chuckled before telling him everything.“You have a legitimate crush on Genius, Billionaire, playboy, Philanthropist, Tony Stark! With good reason, I mean have you seen his face,” he stated, wiggling his eyebrows.Liyah forced a sullen look onto her face. “Up close.”Jesse chuckled before continuing. “And now you’re his assistant’s driver?”She nodded again, resting her head on his chest.“What are we going to do Liy?”“Runaway? We could get married,” she joked.“You’re not my type babe.”Liyah pouted. “Not even a little bit?”Jesse let out a laugh, pressing a kiss to her hair. “Don’t take it personal. I still love you.”“Yeah, Yeah,” she huffed finally feeling the events of the day wearing on her.She woke up the next morning to a phone ringing. Her head was still pillowed on Jesse’s chest, who was still snoring softly.She searched for the noise, realizing it was Jesse’s phone.“Jess,” she murmured. “Your phone,” she groaned, smacking him on the stomach.He woke up with a jolt. “Hello?”“You have to answer it first dweeb,” she chuckled, rolling onto her side. Only to come face to face with the time on the clock.They needed to be at the garage.Jesse was just picking up the phone.“Don’t!” She shrieked throwing a pillow at his hand, the device falling from his fingers and landing harmlessly on the bed.“Dude, Why?” He huffed.“No time, let’s go!” she huffed, pulling on her shoes.Thankfully he obliged, they dropped the room keys at the front desk, ignoring the looks from the guest service agent and rushing out the door.As they stepped into the garage Dominic narrowed his eyes. “Now you two show up together in the same clothes I last saw you in, what am I supposed to think.”Jesse’s eyes widened at the implication. “You think I, that we...”Liyah placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort. “I think if you want us to help you we should get started. Come on,” she huffed pulling Jesse, who seemed frozen in his spot, along with her.She took him into the back where the computer was, where he immediately pulled out a pack of cigarettes.“Don’t!” she begged, he was supposed to be trying to quit.He shook his head pointing a finger at her before lighting one up. “Shit. Man…. Shit.” His hands shook as he took a drag from the cigarette.Liyah took his free hand in her own. “I’m sorry, Jesse.”“Don’t be, It’s my own fault.” He huffed out a cloud of smoke.Liyah held her breath until it passed, turning on the small desktop fan she’d brought him two years ago to help move it along.“How is it your fault?”“When he found me and brought me in...” He took another drag. “Got this stupid hero complex thing.”He turned to the computer bringing up the upgrades he’d been working on.Liyah stood up from her chair sparing Jesse another glance before going to the main part of the workshop. She grabbed her dark blue jumpsuit before pulling it on over her clothes, not bothering to take off her shoes, even if it did make getting it on more difficult.As she made her way over, she caught sight of a familiar pair of legs stretched out beneath a black car. With a grin, she went out of her way to walk by him, her foot nudging his slightly as she passed. Slowly he wheeled himself out before glaring up at her. “You can’t just say hi like a normal person, can you?” Robbie asked.She sent him a smug grin. “Hi.”He let out a small chuckle, rolling his eyes as he went back beneath the hood.“How’s Gabe doing?”“Fine, smarter then I’ll ever be,” He returned, his already quiet voice muffled under the car.Liyah frowned. “That’s not true, you took to fixing cars faster than anyone else I know.”“Cars are easy, all that trigonometry and chemistry is what did me in.”Robbie had come to Dominic six years ago looking for work, going as far as dropping out of school to help pay bills and take care of his younger brother. Dominic must have seen something in the boy, taking him under his wing when many others had turned him away. Robbie was practically family now, she’d met Gabe once or twice, the brothers more alike than Robbie probably cared to admit.Liyah held back an eye-roll. “The fact that you even made it to trigonometry proves you’re smart, Robbie. Don’t think you can fool me.” She warned, before heading to her brother.Dominic stood over a car without its engine, he didn’t look up as she came to a stop beside him.“There’s a piece inside that needs adjusting,” He told her. Liyah nodded before leaning on his shoulder for balance as she stepped into the empty frame, her small stature fitting easily as she got to work.“If you and Jesse are together,” Dominic began.Liyah looked up at him, making eye contact. “We. Are. Not. Dating,” She hissed. “Please, if you value my sanity at all, stop bringing it up”Dominic’s eyes widened. “We already confirmed you’re certifiable.”“Shut up,” she chortled.“So, you’re not dating?”“Nope,” She returned popping the “p”“Why not?”She raised an eyebrow in question.“Jesse’s a good-looking kid and the way you two are always around each other…”“Jesse and I are best friends, like you and Vince,” She explained with a frown.“Vince and I don’t cuddle,” he returned pointedly.“I like to cuddle,” she squawked. “What’s wrong with that?”He held up a hand in defense. “Nothing, just makes it look like something more.”“Well it’s not, I’d cuddle Letty if you didn’t hog her all the time.”Dominic full belly laughed at that, before pointing at another area.Adjusting her position, she cleared her throat. “But seriously me and Jess aren’t like that.”Dominic nodded. “Anyone I should know about.” He glanced over in the direction of Robbie as her mind went straight to Tony.Liyah put all her focus into the part she was working on. “Nope.”She could feel his gaze boring into her back.“No one?”She shrugged but, it came out more like a defensive position as her shoulders tensed up. “Single as a Pringle.”“Good, then I don’t have to straighten anyone out.”She forced herself to relax as she looked up at him. “What about you? How’re things with Letty?”“We’re good,” he said with a small smile.“Good because if you break her heart, I’ll kill you myself.” She grinned.He shrugged. “I’d let you.”“You coming to RaceWars?” he asked effectively changing the subject.She grinned. “Like I’d miss it, after what we went through?” All the work she’d put into the Chevelle was for RaceWars.They’d created the Race five years ago, just the crew and a few friends racing in the desert was the plan. Needless to say, it blew up. Word spread like a wildfire and when the day came, over a hundred people had shown up showcasing cars, their cash, and the occasional pink slip. It’d grown well be on that over the years, but it would always be a good time.Dom returned her grin. “Now, that’s what I like to hear.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was becoming a long day, Liyah decided as she rolled to a stop in front of Stark Industries. She’d gotten charged for the jacket she couldn’t return and still had to pick up a new one before she’d started work.Liyah huffed as she saw Ms. Potts come into view. She swiftly came around the car to open the door for her. She did not expect the woman to stop a few feet shy of the car, a sheepish expression on her face.“Ms. Potts?”“I completely forgot to tell you, I’m staying late today so I won’t be needing a ride,” She returned, looking slightly sheepish. “I’m so sorry.”Liyah shrugged before smiling, she was off early.“That’s fine I can just…” she trailed off, the woman still looked like she needed something, “Is there something else?”“I need Tony’s signature on some papers but, that man isn’t answering his phone. I know this is a lot and I’ll definitely pay you overtime for it. but...” Ms. Potts pulled a folder from her case before handing it over. “Would you be able to take these to him? Just have him scan them over.”Liyah bit back a sigh, nodding. “No problem. I’ll take care of it.”Ms. Potts breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you! And you’re free to go after!”Liyah nodded as the woman returned to the building.It wasn’t long before she was in front of the large gates. “Um, Hello?”“State your business,” an English accented voice called through the speaker.“Ms. Potts sent me, she needs Mr. Starks signature on some papers, I’m just here to drop them off.”“Sir is currently indisposed.”Liyah frowned, worry coiling inside her. “Is he okay?”No answer.“Is. He. Okay?” she hissed, debating the merits of climbing the fence.“He has the flu,” The man returned.Liyah relaxed as she nodded at his words. “Oh, he has you, though right? Or someone to take care of him?” She could just take the papers back she supposed.“No. I cannot.” The man seemed upset about the disposition.“What do you mean no? You’re his butler or something, right?”“I do not have the capabilities to help him and there is no one he has to call.”Liyah let her head hit the steering wheel. “Does he have supplies?”“I do not understand your meaning?”“Stuff for soup? Cold medicine?”“He does not.”Liyah came to a decision. “I’ll be back in an hour, I need to drop this car off and I’ll stop at the store. Can you keep an eye on him until then?”“That is within my capabilities.”Liyah didn’t think about the meaning as she nodded. “Good, if you haven’t already, don’t tell him.”“May I ask why?”“Men… You know how they like their macho facades.”“Ah, yes. He does. I will not bring up your intention.”“Thanks.” She huffed backing out of the driveway.An hour later had her back in front of the gates.She opened her mouth to speak but, the gates opened wordlessly.“Cool,” She murmured, pulling in.She looked around for any sign of a person as the front door unlocked for her.“Hello?” she called, her voice ringing out in the silence.A disembodied voice broke the silence, “Sir is in the lab.”Liyah startled looking around for the voice. “Who said that?”“Sir is in the lab,” it repeated.“O-okay,” she stammered, the bags crinkling as she walked to the winding staircase he’d once led her down.Liyah stopped in front of the glass door at the bottom where a keypad was embedded into the wall of glass, “Can’t help him if you don’t open the door,” she reminded.After a moment, the keypad flashed green.She smiled. “Thank you.”Looking around the lab she searched for any sign of Tony. “Um, I thought you said h-“A load groan cut her off and she spun around facing the cars, she eyed them warily as if something might pop out.“Tony?”Another groan.She followed the noise down the line of cars, coming to a stop in front of the thirty-two roadster. The passenger door was open and as she came around to the driver’s side, she had to bite back a giggle. Tony was laid across the seat, his face pushed into the cushion as his too long legs stuck out of the car.She opened the door, before crouching down in front of him.He peaked an eye open before squeezing it shut. “Jarvis, we’ve reached stage four,” he rasped.Liyah frowned. “What’s stage four?”“Hallucinations,” Jarvis, she assumed, supplied.
Dear God.
“Tony, I’m going to help you out of the car and get you upstairs.”“I’m only going to say this once, I will not acknowledge a hallucination. So just...” His hand made a shooing motion from its position on the floor of the car.“Alright,” she huffed out as she stood. “Jarvis, was it?”“Yes, Ms. Toretto.”“Am I going to have to drag him up the stairs, or does Genius here have an elevator.”A squawk sounded from behind her which she ignored.“The back-left corner of the lab.”Liyah turned at his direction noticing the elevator. “Cool.”“Jarvis, you can see hallucinations?” Tony whispered, behind her.Liyah forced a breath out through her nose to keep from laughing only for it to come out as a snort.Tony jerked at the sound only to groan a second later.She crouched back in front him with a sympathetic smile. “Tony, honey, I’m going to help you out of the car.”The man could only nod as he attempted to turn over, Liyah was quick to help him and soon he was looking up at her, a curtain of her long hair draping over her shoulder.Tony reached up a hand, running his fingers through it. “So beautiful,” he murmured, eyes slightly dazed.Liyah shivered at the sensation before standing up, his eyes tracking her movement as she came around to the other side of the car where his legs were hanging. She pushed her body between his thighs, offering him a hand and pulling him up once he’d grabbed it.She was thankful for her gloves and the long sleeves of her jacket as he leaned bodily against her. She turned around bringing his arms over her shoulders and holding onto them as she pulled him forward, shouldering most of his weight as she dragged him to the elevator. As the door closed, he pressed his face into her neck before breathing in.Her breath came up short. “That tickles,” she gritted out as she forced back the vision brimming on the edge of her sight.Tony only breathed out, the air gliding along her neck.She bit back a whimper at the sensation. Thankfully the door opened.She adjusted his weight before leading him out. She looked around noticing they were on a higher level than the one she’d entered on.“Jarvis? Which way.”“Straight ahead, first door on the left,” He directedShe grunted her affirmation before dragging the man into what she assumed was his room, his leg bumping her at odd moments as he tried to keep pace. The bed gloriously in sight, she let him fall back on it.“mmmffff,” he grunted, opening a lazy eye to glare at her. “Your bedside manner is horrible.”Liyah ignored him as she pulled off his shoes, before lifting his legs onto the bed. She eyed the pants he was in… He’d be okay she decided. She groaned as she eyed the covers beneath him.“I’m going to have to turn you into a burrito.” She decided.“I’ll be delicious,” he promised.She huffed out a laugh before pushing him to the center of the very large bed. Starting at his feet, she pulled the bottom part of the blanket up tucking the sides of it around his calves and feet, moving around the bed she pulled up the left side having to crawl onto the bed, kicking off her shoes as she did, to push the blanket beneath his body. She ignored his staring as she did the same to his right with more focus than necessary.Tony looked adorable she decided, though the glare he was sending her said he thought otherwise.“I’ll be right back,” She told him before going back to the lab where she’d dropped the bags.By the time she came back his eyes were closed.She assumed he was asleep until her movements had them popping open. A cough shook his frame before he groaned. She was quick to open the bottle of medicine, pouring out a measured amount of the blue liquid into the provided cup. “Drink this.”“Jarvis?” he called.“Acetaminophen, dextromethorphan, doxylamine and pseudoephedrine sir.” He parroted.Tony grimaced before nodding.She brought the cup to his lips, a heavy sadness filling her as she thought of the reason he’d need someone to check his food.“That’s disgusting.”“Hopefully it will help, when’s the last time you ate?”Tony frowned in thought “Jarvis?”“Fourteen hours and thirty-six minutes ago,” He supplied.Liyah nodded, “Stay here I’ll fix something.”“I can’t even move my arms, I’m warm but, at what cost Liyah,” He called after her.Liyah giggled, grabbing the rest of the bags and heading to the kitchen.“Holy shit,” she breathed, this was some top-grade stuff, reminiscent of the cooking shows she and Dominic often found themselves watching. She did a quick perusal of all the cabinets before grabbing what she needed. The noodles from her bag, the spices from the fully stocked spice cabinet and the ginger she’d grabbed, perfect for the soup she needed to make.As she finished she pushed a slice of bread into the four slots of the toaster before grabbing three bottles of water from the fridge.She found a tray in one of the cabinets, loading it up with two bowls of soup, the toast slices, and the waters, before trekking back upstairs. The lights were off when she came back but, a stream of light from the floor lit up her path allowing her to see the side table. She carefully sat the tray down, before reaching into the bag for the thermometer. She had just crawled onto the bed when Jarvis spoke.“Sir has a temperature of 102.3 degrees Fahrenheit .” Jarvis provided, albeit in a lowered tone.Liyah nodded, sitting down on the side of the bed and grabbing her bowl of soup. It was one her dad use to make them in the winter.Beside her Tony sneezed himself awake, looking around startled, before turning his eyes to her.“Soup?” She murmured offering her spoonful.“I would advise against sharing his germs.” Jarvis intoned.“I don’t get sick.” She chimed, automatically.“Never?” Tony questioned.“At one point in school the whole class had come down with a nasty stomach bug, everyone was out at least once, except me… I had to show up every day.” She could hear the bitterness in her own voice.Sitting her own bowl down, she grabbed the one she’d made for Tony, before scooching closer. She blew on it once before bringing it to his lips. He sipped it hesitantly before his eyes widened at the taste.“Good?” she asked.“From what I can taste,” he huffed, his voice sounding clogged.Liyah smiled offering him another spoonful. “It has ginger in it, should help with your stomach.”He declined another spoonful once it was halfway gone. She allowed it before offering him some water with a straw she’d found at his bar.He leaned back with a sigh. “I hate being sick.” He murmured.Liyah could only nod, sitting the bowl back down. She checked the time, he’d need another dose in three hours.His eyes were closed when she was getting ready to move off the bed.His eyes blinked open at the movement “Stay?” He breathed, cheeks flushed with fever.Liyah, bit her lip before nodding, unsure if he could see the movement. She returned to her position, before shooting Tony a look.He sent her a pout before motioning with his head for her to move closer.“Tony.” She huffed.“I can’t even move.” He reminded her.She eyed his burrito’d body before relenting. Sliding over until she was pressed against his side. “Happy?” she huffed.“mhm,” he murmured, his eyes already closed.Her phone vibrated from her pocket and she held back a curse as she searched for it. She curled in a bit, resting her head on his chest in an attempt to shield him from the bright light.The text was from Jesse, “You wanna chill tonight? We can head to the race together tomorrow?”Tony began to snore softly beside her and she held in another curse. she was going to miss RaceWars.“Can’t, taking care of a sick friend.” She shot back before dropping it onto the dresser with a resigned sigh. Her head rose and fell with Tony’s breathing and she realized she was still curled tightly against him. A yawn forced its way out of her mouth, as a wave of tiredness began to drag her under.She woke up a bit later to the sound of a distressed noise. She’d cuddled the man like an overgrown teddy bear in her sleep, her curse. She hesitated afraid to wake him by removing her leg that had wrapped around him.Instead, she looked up, noticing the noise coming from Tony. A nightmare she decided. She hesitated before removing her glove, weaving her fingers through his hair before pushing a vision of the beach into his head. She could just hear the waves outside and she added it to her own. It was easy to supply one of her own memories of the many beach trips she made over the years. Tony’s face smoothed out but, she couldn’t bring herself to stop her hand from running through his brown hair. It was softer then she’d expected.She found her own breathing matching the rise and fall of his chest, the movement lolling her back to sleep.A deep choke before it turned into a cough jerked her awake and as they became more guttural she moved, ripping the blankets back before directing him to the edge of the bed where she’d strategically placed a bucket. He made it just in time as he threw up over the edge, she hoped he made it inside, unsure of her own hand at cleaning throw up. She rubbed at his back soothingly until he finished, reaching for the bag as she remembered the bottle of ginger ale she’d grabbed. She handed it off to him, with a tissue.“You wouldn’t happen to have mouth w--” He cut off when he noticed her already holding up a bottle.“Mouthwash? Check.” She chirped“For someone who claims to never get sick, you sure came prepared.”Liyah smirked, “I still hang around normals. And I’ve had a few hangovers.”Tony nodded as he swished the mouthwash around his mouth, he hesitated before spitting it in the bucket. Returning to his position with a groan.Liyah reached around him to re-tuck the blankets.“Wait,” He breathed before holding his arms out.Liyah snorted before continuing the wrap, just as tight but with his arms free. “I think you can take another dose now.” She huffed handing off the cup with the blue liquid.“How you feeling genius?”He huffed. “Like I’ve been hit with a Mack Truck.”“Jarvis can I get a temperature check.”“Holding steady at 102.3 degrees Fahrenheit .”“Hmm… we may have to pull out the big guns.”“What’s that?” he coughed“Let’s not speak of such things, we still have time.” She said seriously.Tony looked at her with wide eyes, before a sneeze erupted.“Bless you,” Liyah breathed, handing him another tissue.“That I am,” he said wiggling his eyebrows, though another sneeze cut him off.She handed him another tissue with a chuckle.“You know for such a fancy house, I expected a TV in here somewhere.” She joked, looking around the darkened roomNo sooner had she spoken than at the bottom of the bed a flat screen rose up.“Holy shit,” She breathed. “I’m going to assume you have all the movies.”“All the movies,” he assented with a cough.“Choosing a movie just became impossible, I’m overwhelmed. Jarvis, can you pick?”Tony sent her a look, that she didn’t notice as the screen flickered to life.“Oh, Transformers! I haven’t seen that one yet.” She looked back at Tony, who only looked slightly less miserable.She reached back over to the nightstand. “Toast?” she offered.He plucked it from her fingers before taking a bite and she hesitated minutely before curling against his side, his hand coming to rest on her waist.The medicine kicked in halfway through the movie, Tony snoring as he drifted off.“Should’ve got the nose strips,” She huffed. “Merchant of death, more like Merchant of nasal congestion.”She was just beginning to drift off when Tony rolled over in his sleep, half pinning her to the bed beneath him. Liyah released a quiet squeak in surprise. His arm came around to form a barrier around her and she held her breath, wiggling her arm from beneath his torso. Curling it against her body she adjusted herself into a more comfortable position.Managing to bring herself just beneath his chin, his breaths stirring the hair around her temple. She debated waking him up before deciding to tuck herself beneath his chin, her face buried in his neck.God, he smelled good, a musky scent some rich cologne no less, or body wash. She breathed in the heady scent, what was it about good-looking men and cologne she wondered drifting off to sleep.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When she woke up next, she was alone, though it was dark the clock read ten forty in the morning. She debated the merits of falling back to sleep but, in the end, chose to drag herself from the bed. Bathroom first she decided, before tracking down the man.“Has his fever broken?” she called out, feeling only slightly ridiculous. Jarvis answered before the feeling could heighten. “Not exactly," he seemed to huff.“Of course not.” She chose the elevator rather than the stairs, her bare feet cold against the flooring. As the doors opened she was greeted with loud music and the sight of Tony wrapped in a blanket as he worked over a square device.“You’ll just make it worse,” She huffed coming to stand beside him.“Got work to do cupcake.”She wrinkled her nose at the nickname. “Fine, then you leave me no choice,” she stated solemnly, leaving through the glass door of the lab. She could feel Tony’s eyes on her as she left.She gathered the ingredients she needed. It was something of a cure, her dad usually made it for himself when he was sick and she herself used it to cure particularly bad hangovers. She held her breath as she ladled it into the mug she’d grabbed before taking it downstairs. The keypad turned green and she sent a smile to the nearest camera before shouldering the door open.Tony looked up at her entrance, his eyes falling to the mug in her hand.“If you refuse to rest, we’ll just have to kick the cold. Fair warning this will put you on your ass,” she explained placing the cup in front of it.He wrinkled his nose at the smell. “What. The. Hell. Is. That?”Jarvis rattled off a list of ingredients she’d used, she nodded along to each of them.“Why exactly would I drink that?” he asked with a disgusted frown“You’re clearly a busy man Tony and quite frankly your worrying Jarvis. So, either go back upstairs or drink that.”Tony eyed her suspiciously and she kept her face neutral, he had no reason to listen to her honestly but, as she watched him pick up the mug, she grimaced. “Don’t sip it, chug it or you’ll never get it down.”He pursed his lips before holding his nose. “Bottoms up.”As he swallowed the last bit, he slammed the mug down. “That wasn’t so bad.”“Wait for it,” she murmured.And then Tony bolted to the nearest trash can, his stomach upheaving as he threw up its contents.“Some people have different reactions,” she explained kneeling beside him, as she rubbed his back. “Like yourself I find myself bent over the nearest trash can or toilet… My brother usually passes out. And my sister, well she’s smart enough not to need it.” She smoothed back the hair plastered against his sweaty forehead. “I brought you some Gatorade," she offered, “Well for when you stop throwing up.”“How long?” he breathed. “How long until this stops?”“Another ten minutes, everyone likes a quick fix but that’s usually the hard way.”It took Tony fifteen minutes to stop throwing up and when he did he sent her a glare, exhaustion clear around his eyes. She shrugged offering him the Gatorade which he chugged.“Easy,” she warned,He slowed down minutely before replacing the cap.She noticed the exhaustion waring out, as he struggled to stand.“You should sleep it off, you’ll feel better when you wake up.”He nodded sluggishly. “Alright.”She helped him to his feet, only making it to the couch, precariously placed off to the side of the lab, before he passed out. She grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch, before laying it over him.“Great now I’m up and he’s asleep.”“How long will sir be unconscious?” Jarvis asked. Was that worry she heard in his voice?“He’s sleeping,” she reassured him, “and I don’t know two, maybe three hours?” She looked up at the nearest camera. “Tell me about yourself.”“I am Jarvis, Just A Rather Very Intelligent System. I was named after the late Edwin Jarvis, A previous Butler for the Starks. I was developed by Sir not long after he took up the mantle as CEO of Stark Industries. In other words, I’d be considered a highly advanced computerized A.I. That is, Artificial Intelligence.”“So, you can play me in poker?” She questioned.“It would be my pleasure to beat you at Poker, Ms. Toretto.”Liyah let out a peal of laughter as a holo-screen flickered to life in front of her. “Why Mr. Jarvis, it seems you have a competitive side.” She said watching the cards deal out on the screen.Tony woke to Liyah’s voice coming from below. Confused he crawled to the edge of the couch, only to find her sitting on the floor doubled over with laughter. A holo- screen of cards laid out in front of her.“You dirty cheater!” Liyah huffed.“I am a computer, I cannot cheat,” Jarvis intoned.“Plus, I’m at a disadvantage! With you scanning and knowing all my ticks!”“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,”“Don’t listen to him, he definitely cheats,” Tony cut in.Liyah looked up startled at his voice before a smile lit up her features.“You’re awake?! I told you I didn’t kill him,” she announced.Tony sat down away from the smile directed at him. Was she still here?Liyah stood from the floor a frown marring her features. “Are you okay? Jarvis, temperature check, that concoction usually works.”“Sir is at a regulated temperature of ninety-eight point six degrees Celsius.”“I’m fine., Tony breathed, before doing it again, his nose cleared, only a slight cotton residue in his mouth his only reminder of his cold.“Then why are you looking at me like that?” she huffed.Tony blinked, before opening and closing his mouth.“You look like a fish when you do that,” She laughed.“He appears to be speechless.” Jarvis offered, sounding amused.“I’m assuming that’s not a normal occurrence.”“Quite abnormal Miss.”“Shit did I break him?” she huffed sitting down beside him. “Tony, say something you’re scaring me.”Tony turned to face her, her expression tinged with worry. “You’re still here?”She drew her bottom lip in, sucking it between her teeth. “I- I can go? I just, I didn’t want you to be alone… was that stupid? I’ll just.” She stood to leave.Tony’s hand snaked out grabbing her wrist and she aborted the movement as she was hit with a slew of images, the main one being of a familiar balding man on his way to the mansion.Her eyes widened. “Actually, you know what, I really should go.”“No, that’s not- you stayed?” he tried.Liyah searched his face before understanding came to her. “You were sick and Jarvis was worried. Besides, what are friends for?” She rushed out, he was still holding her wrist.“Friends? Is that what we are?” He asked.“I held your hair while you threw up, I’m pretty sure that makes us friends,” she chuckled, unable to help herself as she ran a hand through his hair. “So, if you need me, call me but, I really do have to leave,” She stated anxiously.“Sir Obadiah Stane is at the door.”Liyah stiffened before looking around for her shoes. Upstairs her brain supplied. She would leave them.Tony was watching her closely “Are you okay?”“Peachy. I’m just gonna grab my shoes and head out.”She stood again but, unrelenting Tony pulled her back down. She landed awkwardly in his lap with a squeak.“What aren’t you telling me?” he asked spearing her with his hazel eyes.“A lot,” she breathed.“Does this have anything to do with”“Sir he is incessant,” Jarvis cut in.Liyah’s heart rate quickened, her eyes searching for an exit. “Please,” She breathed.“Stane,” He guessed, confusion marring his features.She tried not to flinch at the name on his lips. The familiarity.His eyes lit up with understanding. “He was the caseworker.”Her silence answer enough, he sighed.“He’s got this way of looking at you that just…” she trailed off.“You don’t have to leave, I’ll have Jarvis lockdown the lab until he’s gone,” Tony stated simply.“Why? I can just sneak out the back door?” Her heart was going to explode from her throat.“Maybe I’m not ready to let you go,” he admitted.Her heart skipped a beat at his words and she turned to actually look at him, he was serious. He wanted her to stay.“So, you stay here,” he ordered, picking her up as he stood before placing her back on the couch.“Jarvis total lockdown until I get back.”Shutters slammed shut around them and as the last one slid shut Liyah nodded.Tony winked before turning but, not before she glimpsed it slipping into a frown.As the door locked behind him, Liyah fell back onto the chair.“I’m screwed, royally screwed,” she muttered. First Dominic would flip out and then she’d flip and then Mia would try to settle it but, this old wound, would he be able to get past it?Liyah was still mulling it over when Tony returned. She’d switched positions to stand by the window, watching the waves crash below before dragging back out to sea. He came up behind her wrapping his arms around her waist, his chin coming to rest on her shoulder.It was nice, she decided but God if she let herself sink too deep, she’d fall. Hard.“So, what’s the plan, you wanted me to stay?” she asked, trying for casual as if being in his arms was a normal occurrence.She could feel his shrug behind her. “Still working on phase two,” He returnedShe turned in his arms draping her own behind his neck. “I think you should probably shower first,” she teased.He made a face. “Are you saying I stink.”She leaned in close to his neck before breathing him in, Tony shivered in response, he smelled anything but. He must have stopped to brush his teeth, his breath smelling of mint.“It’s pretty bad. Plus, you’ll feel better., she offered, adding some truth to her lie.“Care to join me?” he asked.Liyah raised an eyebrow in thought, turning back around to look at the ocean still within the comfort of his arms, she liked the feel of him, it felt… she hummed in thought. “Maybe next time. I need to grab a change of clothes from my car.”“Your car?” Tony asked sounding perplexed.“You never know when you need to run,” she responded absently.“And you run often?” he asked rubbing his beard into her shoulder.A giggle forced its way from her lips before she tamped down on it.“You like that,” he asked a challenge clear in his voice.“No!” she shrieked, escaping his arms. “No,” she said firmly.Tony seemed to have other plans as he stalked towards her.“Tony,” she warned, taking another step back.He sent her a knowing look and she took another step back that he mirrored.“I don’t think,” she started.He sent her a filthy grin as he took another step forward. “Then don’t think. You don’t really need to for what I have planned.”Her back hit a wall and then his arms were bracketing the sides of her head. She looked up at him from beneath her lashes and he bent his head to trace his nose along her jawline, sending a shudder running through her body. He placed an open mouth kiss to her neck before nipping at the spot, eliciting a moan from her parted lips. He seemed to like that spot. She did too.He pressed a soft kiss to the spot, before backing off. “We could be a good time you know.”She let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding as her mind spun.He turned on his heels before walking to the elevator, “Jarvis can show you to the shower, a separate one or my own.” He winked, as the doors of the elevator slid shut.Liyah slipped to the floor as her knees gave out. “He’ll be the death of me.” she breathed.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Unsure of how long she sat staring off into space she slowly forced herself to stand. Clothes she needed clothes and a shower, with him… no alone… She needed to sort out herself and her thoughts.She was just stepping out the front door when she heard her name being called. She looked up confused, as Pepper strode down the walkway.“Ms. Potts,” she greeted.“Liyah? You're still… What happened to getting the papers signed?” The woman asked.Liyah’s eyes widened. “I completely forgot, I came by to get them signed but, Tony was--”“You could have gotten the papers signed before you slept with him,” She stated impatiently.Liyah frowned. “That’s not what happened. He was sick,” she huffed.Pepper shook her head, before continuing forward.Liyah debated going after her, instead choosing to grab her clothes. As she made her way back to the door, yelling could be heard. She turned around with a huff running her hand distractedly through her hair as she debated the advantages of just leaving. But she’d already done that once and whatever was between them, well call her curious. She eyed the dip in the driveway with trepidation. Making her decision she followed the blacktop down to the garage door of the lab.It opened wordlessly before her.“Jarvis, you deserve way more credit than you get, can you point me to a shower?” She asked, relieved that she’d avoided the awkwardness of interrupting an argument.“I’ll show you to the guest bedroom,” he returned before directing her to the elevator.She made quick work of her shower and as she exited the room she could hear Tony and Pepper talking about something downstairs, she decided to avoid them both. “Is there a way down to the beach?” she asked.“There is a back stairwell,” he offered.If Jarvis were human she would have kissed him. She watched as parts of the floor lit up, before following them to the back to the elevator.She stood on the shoreline, having kicked off her shoes somewhere off to the side. The cool water ran over her feet as the sand beneath her shifted minutely with the pull of the waves. She’d left her hair down, the wind toying with the now curly strands as it twisted and floated in the breeze. She kicked up a piece of sand with a huff, wondering how she ended up in this situation. She thought of Tony, chuckling at herself as she realized the man was on her mind more often than not these days.She dragged her gaze along the horizon. He was a lot, to say the least. Sarcastic but, funny, blatantly honest. He was a man of action, if he wanted something he’d go after it, she wondered if he often got it.“I thought you left until I saw you out the window and… here you are.”She startled slightly but didn’t look over at him. “Here I am…” she assented, her eyes focusing on the seafoam bubbling up where the waves crashed.Tony stayed a few feet away and finally, she glanced up. He didn’t look hesitant, more like he was waiting, leaving the option open to her to close the distance.The sun was behind him, lighting up his silhouette with a golden hue. She became distracted by the way the light toyed with his hair and slowly she stepped towards him as if in a trance. As she stopped before him she reached up a hand and when he didn’t stop her, she carded her fingers through it. He let out a sigh, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her closer.“Is everything okay? Pepper seemed…” She thought carefully on the woman’s demeanor in the driveway. “Upset.”Tony’s hand tightened on her waist and she searched his features. He seemed tense. She brought her hand down to his cheek and a vision flashed, of bombs and explosions, lots of sand. Liyah gasped as her hand dropped.“You, you’re.” she rubbed a hand against her eye, blinking away the flare of light that had erupted.Tony looked slightly bewildered by her slight outburst.“You have to leave,” she breathed.He frowned, his hands loosening on her hips as he took a step back “How did you…”Liyah decided the band-aid method would work here. “I’m… I’m a mutant Tony,” She said slowly, watching for his reaction, some people were afraid but, as she looked him over, he only looked intrigued.“Like those people on the news?” he asked shoving his hands into his pockets.Liyah frowned at the movement. “Sort of? I mean, I’m not a part of the brotherhood or anything but, yes they’re mutants.”“What can you do?” he asked.“I can, I get these visions. It’s how I knew you’d be in the middle of the street that night,” She confessed.“And when you warned me about the path?” Tony guessed, his right-hand carding through his hair, where her hand had been.“I saw that too,” She admitted with a nod.“The gloves?” he asked, nodding to her bare hands.She’d taken them off sometime during the night she remembered idly.She smiled at his observation. “When I touch people I sometimes get visions of their past, present, or future, it just depends on what the person’s thinking about.”“Just now, when you touched me?” he started.“I-I saw a missile? A bomb? I don’t know, it exploded,” she stammered.Tony seemed pensive as he spoke, “isn’t that a bit intrusive.”She turned wary eyes to him. “It’s not like I chose this. I mean do you realize how…” Liyah broke off, turning her gaze back to the ocean. This was harder then she’d thought, admitting what felt like her biggest weakness.Tony took an unconscious step towards her. “How what?”She clenched a fist at her side focusing on the sand where air bubbles popped up as the tide dragged out. “How exhausting it is?”She returned her gaze to his face, “How...” she broke off again, frustrated with herself. There was a reason she wrapped herself around the closest thing in her sleep. During the day, she and Mia often traded casual touches. They both had the same problem, so it wasn’t unusual for the two to migrate towards each other throughout the day for a random hug or hand touch.“Studies have shown that people need human contact, and when they don’t get it? Stress levels go up, sleep patterns change. I keep people at a distance constantly, Tony. It feels impersonal, learning things about people that they haven’t told me about, or that they don’t even know about. It’s why I wear the gloves,” She explained.He quirked an eyebrow, “You took your gloves off here,” he said slowly, his jaw feathered and she wondered if he was angry.She let out a small chuckle. “You, Anthony, are the most handsy person I've ever met. I kept them on at first but, you actively seek out skin contact.”She sent him a small grin. “The gloves only cover my hands, there was no point in wearing them,” she said with a shrug. He seemed to contemplate her answer and Liyah held back a relieved sigh as he closed the distance between them.“I feel like you just called me touch starved,” He huffed, his arms returning to her waist.She slid her arms over his shoulders leaning into him with a small smile. “You and me both genius.” “The missile is a demonstration for the military, weapons contract.” He offered casually.Liyah nodded as a warm feeling blossomed through her at his acceptance, before remembering it meant he had to go. “When do you leave?”“Tomorrow morning,” he offered, his thumb rubbing small circles on her back.“I guess I’ll see you around then?” Liyah moved to step away her eyes casting downward but, Tony held her close. “Tomorrow,” he reiterated.Liyah looked up at that, searching his eyes, they were beautiful she decided. The way the light reflected in them, making the hazel pool like liquid. Her eyes dropped to his lips before she looked up again. His gaze was intent and she found herself licking her lips. Tony tracked the movement before dipping his head slowly, too slow, Liyah closed the distance.His lips were softer then she could have imagined but, demanding as he deepened the kiss. Her hands came up to tangle in his hair scratching soothingly at his scalp. She nipped at his lower lip and he let out a soft moan, she used the moment to slip her tongue through his parted lips. Tasting him. The sound of her own moan resonated in her throat.Tony broke away and she breathed in a huff of air.She eyed the sand around them with a frown. “Think we can make it upstairs?”They made it to the lab.Finding the closest horizontal surface, Tony swiped the contents of his work table onto the floor. He pulled her back into his arms to bring her into a toe-curling kiss, his hands sliding to her waist as her arms tightened around his neck. Lifting her as he took in a breath he placed her on the edge of the table, pushing his hips between her thighs to get closer. He pulled back to tug her shirt off, throwing it somewhere behind him as his eyes roamed over her chest and the black lace bra she wore that pushed up her breast enticingly.So, he was a lingerie guy, she noted, tucking the information away for later. “Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” she teased before lifting the bottom of his shirt up and over his head. She let the fabric slip from her fingers as he eased her down onto the table, his lips finding hers as she wrapped her legs around his waist.He ground his hips into hers, drawing breathy moans from them both as his bulge pressed into her core. He lifted her slightly, reaching behind her to pinch the clasp on her bra. She shrugged out of it with a sigh as the cool air caressed her breast.He was quick to begin his perusal of the sensitive skin, pressing open-mouthed kisses to her flesh. She let out a drawn-out whimper as he sucked and teased her nipple, his free hand coming up to gently massage her unoccupied breast.“Tony," she breathed, clutching his head to bring him closer. She arched off the table as he nipped at her breast, his hips grinding in tandem.His hands came down to undo the button on her shorts and then his own. She shifted to push down her underwear and Tony grabbed her wrist pinning them above her as he looked her over. A vision flashed of him inside her and she moaned before blinking it away, needing it to become reality. With a mischievous grin, she pushed the vision to him.His gaze went distant before his eyes snapped to hers and she fluttered her eyelashes innocently.A growl sounded at the back of his throat before he pulled her underwear the rest of the way down. He watched her as he pushed a finger through her warm folds, her head lolling to the side as he repeated the motion, getting closer and closer to her center.“You’re so wet for me but, I need you dripping sweetheart,” Tony whispered.She shivered as his breath tickled her ear.He brought his thumb down on her clit, moving it in tiny circles over the sensitive nub, coaxing a sigh from her lips. He pushed a single finger inside her and her eyes slipped shut as she moaned. He pumped it in and out before adding another finger. She ground against the two digits desperately as he found her spot. Arms still pinned above her she arched her back to allow his fingers deeper inside her. A keening sound slipped out as she exhaled, her core tensing before she came apart with a shudder as he continued to work her orgasm.She was breathing raggedly by the time he pulled them out.“I need you inside me,” she breathed and then Tony was kissing her again, tasting, nipping at her lips. His dick sat at her core and she moved her hips against it, seeking the friction she needed.“Aaliyah,” the warning diminished by the repressed moan in his voice.Her name on his lips sent her heart rate skyrocketing. “Anthony,” she returned with a smirk grinding against him once more. His mouth reclaimed hers in a heartbeat as he reached between them to grab himself, he jerked his hand a few times before reaching into one of the drawers of the table. He plucked out a condom before tearing it open.She watched him roll it down his length before lining up at her entrance.He pushed inside her slowly; the both of them breathing hard at the fit. Liyah tightened her legs around him and he slid into her fully, her loud moan echoing through the lab.“Shit,” he huffed, his hands gripping the table on either side of her head. “Impatient, are we?”“Tony, please,” she whined.His gaze darkened with lust. “Don’t worry sweetheart, I’ll take care of you.”He pulled his hips back before pushing back inside of her, starting his pace slow and languid, each thrust becoming faster, harder until he was pounding his hips into hers. She pulled his head down to kiss him as she swallowed his moans.She nipped at his lip before running her tongue over the spot, breaking away to gasp as his hand dipped between them. His finger circled her clit with purpose and it wasn’t long before she shattered around him as her orgasm pushed over the edge.He came with a muffled shout against her lips soon after and she rolled her hips against him when he couldn’t seem to move as he came undone. Tony’s mouth dropped to her shoulder, still trying to cover his shouts, as she continued to milk him; she didn’t stop until he collapsed on top of her.They panted against each other unable to move as their bodies gave out.Liyah stayed still as the remanence of her orgasm faded, blinking back stars from squeezing her eyes shut.Tony propped himself up on his elbow to stare down at her. “You are something else.”Liyah sent him a smirk, that turned into a gasp as he pulled out of her. He pushed himself the rest of the way up, pulling off the condom and tying off the end before tossing it in a bin off to the side. He helped her off the table, wrapping his arms around her before pressing another kiss to her lips. It was slow, unhurried and she felt herself melting against him. It wasn’t until his stomach rumbled that she pulled back, remembering he hadn’t really eaten anything besides soup the last day in a half.“Let’s get you something to eat,” She grinned.“Only if there’s dessert,” he returned.She laughed, pushing off the table and staggering slightly in her weak-kneed state. Tony chuckled behind her and she fought the urged to stick her tongue out at him. She looked around with a frown for her shirt, before settling on his. It came just past her thighs and she shrugged before walking towards the door.He eyed her, as he pulled back on his pants. “That shirt never looked better.” She watched him as he pilfered through the freezer, sitting down at the counter on one of the stools.“You cook?” she asked.He pulled back with a frown holding a bag of dried blueberries.“They’re good for antioxidants, gimmie,” she huffed. She’d brought them for him but, seeing as though he’d taken the hard route.He opened the bag, grabbing a handful out before handing her the bag. He hummed in assent at the taste before going back to the fridge.“I dabble,” He called back.“Can’t wait,” She returned around a mouth full of blueberries.He’d cooked a few burgers on the stove and as they ate, she put her leg in his lap. His free hand coming up to hold them in place.They were finished when she noticed the ketchup on the side of his mouth. She brought a finger to her tongue, before wiping the corner of his mouth. She was wiping it on the side of her napkin when she finally noticed Tony’s gaze on her.“Why are you looking at me like that?” She chuckled, nervously.“You are remarkable,” He stated, his gaze both light and hungry. He reached beneath her to her stool, pulling it closer to him so he was between her legs.He gently grabbed both sides of her face before pulling her into a kiss. It was dizzying and she had to force herself to breathe out a gasp of air when he did.“I don’t know what it is about you,” Tony stated in wonder, as he stood from his stool. He pushed himself further between her legs and she was rendered incapable of looking away from his gaze, arching her neck to look up at him.He bent over her, before drawing her bottom lip into his mouth. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he cupped her rear before lifting her from the stool, not breaking the kiss. He pushed her against the fridge as he continued his perusal of her mouth. Liyah moaned, cupping the back of his head and pulling him closer, to further the kiss.She didn’t notice when they’d moved, she only knew they were in the elevator and then his bedroom, where he eased her back onto the bed. The shirt off again and his pants gone she twisted so that their positions were switched and he was beneath her.She kissed his neck, leaving marks and nibbling, teasing him the way he’d teased her all those times. Tony reached over to the nightstand pulling out another condom and she snatched it from his fingertips, her eyes not leaving his as she used her teeth to open it.She scooted back, brushing her core against his hardening cock as she went. He hissed out a breath and she grinned. And then she was staring at his length, the veins and the thickness of it and she was overcome with the need to feel it. She wrapped her fingers around it sliding her hand up and down his length, Tony was breathing hard beneath her and god she loved all the noises she was bringing out of him. She rubbed her thumb along the head of his cock, smoothing out the pre-cum that had slipped out.Tony’s moan had her looking up. He was flushed again, the red in his cheeks bright, in a different way than it had been yesterday from his fever.“Take a picture,” He breathed with a cocky smirk.She laughed before giving him a slight squeeze; his moan sounding like music to her ears. She slid the condom onto him rolling it down smoothly. She drew her fingers against her cunt, delighted at how wet she was; when she pulled her fingers away she rubbed her slickness along his cock.Tony’s eyes were on her as she sat up on her knees positioning his length beneath her. She pushed his tip into just the head and their breathing became labored. She forced herself to watch his face as she eased herself onto him, even as she whimpered at how good it felt. The need to throw her head back and ride him was strong but, she watched the way his lips moved, the way his brow pinched together before it smoothed out as she sank fully onto him. At the first roll of her hips his hands came up to grip her waist, he began to rock beneath her and she leaned forward placing both hands on his chest as she rode him.“That’s it,” He breathed out. “God, you feel so good.”She picked up her pace careful of her movements, making sure to fully ride him out with each pass. She could feel her orgasm brimming but, she forged on clenching her walls around him as she bit her lip. He murmured her name like a prayer and it wasn’t long before Tony came with a shout, nothing to muffle his voice as he cried out. Just the sound of it had her own orgasm surging through her, her legs quivering before she sagged on top of him. His hands gently gripped her arms as he eased her down to his chest, his arms circling her waist whilst he murmured sweet words into her ear. They stayed that way, both too tired to actually move.Slowly he pulled out of her, managing to remove the condom, throw it away and bring her under the covers without actually jostling her and then he was holding her again.Liyah peaked an eye open, because it was all she could do, to find him already watching her. He pressed a kiss to her lips and she shifted so she was half on top of him but so he wasn’t taking the full brunt of her weight.He pulled away with a contented sigh and a small smile formed on her lips. She buried her face in his neck to hide it, breathing in the smell of him as she inhaled.She drifted off to sleep in his arms, sunlight still filtering in through the window.
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Her legs were stiff when she woke up and as she shifted to ease the numbness Tony blinked his eyes open at the movement, his long lashes fluttering before his gaze found her own. He opened his mouth as if to speak when Jarvis cut in.“Ms. Toretto, your phone is ringing in the lab.” Jarvis trilled.She shifted her legs slowly, debating ignoring it when a flash of a vision had her on her feet. She pulled back on his shirt, before glancing back at him deliciously rumpled in the sheets. “Shit,” She breathed, she wished she had a camera, just to freeze him at that moment.As if reading her thoughts, he laughed lazily as she darted from the room. Already halfway across the lab, her alert tone chimed from beneath the work table and she dove for it. Digging through her pockets until her hand closed around the small device. She flipped it open with a breath. “What happened?” she breathed.“Shit happened, where are you?” Dominic gruffed over the line.“At a friend’s, I saw… is Vince okay?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip.“Can you get home?” he returned by way of an answer.Liyah nodded before realizing he couldn’t see her. “I’m on my way.”When she stood from behind the desk, Tony was waiting at the door. She pulled on her shorts before turning. “I’ve got a bit of a family emergency.” She told him with a frown.Disappointment flashed in his eyes before he nodded “Is everything okay?”“They will be,” She hissed.Tony moved closer at the anger in her voice. “You sound like you’re going to blow up something.”Liyah shrugged. “I’ll decide on the way. How long will you be gone?”Tony huffed out at that. “Just today, I should be back by tomorrow?”Liyah looked up at the questioning tone in his voice, searching his eyes. He seemed slightly off-kilter and she felt a pang of guilt at her abrupt leaving. This seemed new to him, it was definitely new to her. Wanting to stay, wanting more than just sex. She hesitated a half second before standing on her toes to kiss him, he met her halfway. It wasn’t chaste but, still ended faster than she would have liked before she went in search of her shoes.She found them by the couch, slipping into them distractedly. She looked around one more time before finding her jacket on the back of the couch, shrugging into it, she smiled over at him. “Don’t keep me waiting too long.” she winked, before heading up the stairs.The vision seemed to have been from last night, a job gone wrong, as Vince clung for his life on the side of a Mack truck.She pushed into the house, before looking around. Dominic and Letty, looking worse for wear, were situated in a chair and Leon was on the couch. Dom stood when she came in.“How’s Vince?” she asked.“He’s still in the hospital, multiple lacerations to his arms,” He told her.Frowning at the detached clinicism in his voice she nodded, noticing her sister’s absence, “Where’s Mia?” she asked.Footfalls sounded on the stairs and then she had an arm full of her sister as she clung to her. A slip of their skin touched and Mia caught her up on what had happened as she focused her thoughts on the events. Flashes of a street race, of Brian at the house, the two riding together as Mia drove and then of the job gone wrong. How he’d confessed to being a cop, Mia’s turmoil in telling him Dom’s location. Liyah took it all in, trying not to flinch as bullets flew at her family, she tried not to pull back at the image of Vince’s blood-soaked arm and Brian unwillingly revealing to Dominic that he was an officer to call a helicopter to Vince’s location.“What the hell? He was a cop?” she managed to say through the whirlwind.Mia nodded.Distaste marred her features, “Who the Fuck invited him in?” Dominic sent her a glare. “I didn’t know Brian was a fucking cop,” he huffed.Liyah nodded. “So, he was undercover. Shit, I should have known, no one likes tuna that much,” She joked, trying to lighten the mood.Dom snorted before eyeing her. “Where were you, I haven’t seen you all weekend; could have used your help.”“A friend of mine was sick; his fever broke today,” she explained carefully, knowing she was treading in dark waters.“His?” Dominic asked, taking in her appearance before narrowing in on her shirt. She frowned as she looked down. Her eyes widened and she bit back a curse, she was still wearing Tony’s shirt.Liyah saw the glimpse of a smile on Mia’s lips before the woman was tugging her upstairs.“What he? Aaliyah?” Dominic called after them.She shrugged sheepishly as she disappeared from view, by the time they made it to Mia’s room, they were both laughing. They plopped on the bed giggling before Mia sobered up.“Tell me what happened between you two,” Liyah said with a frown.Mia took a breath, “Brian showed up to the street race last Friday night.”“You showed me that.”Mia nodded. “I kind of liked him?”Liyah nodded, she’d seen the two of them the last month. She wasn’t blind.“Well he wormed his way into the circle and then he was at RaceWars…” Mia blinked. “I slept with him,” she blurted, biting her lower lip.“Son of a bitch! That bastard. I can kill him if you’d like.”“I thought it was real, Liy and he just…” Mia laid back on the bed.Liyah let out a sigh at the sadness in her voice “People can’t fake emotion Mi, if it felt real to you, it must’ve been for him, I saw the way he looked at you at the market,” She offered.Mia just sent her a glare, so she shut up laying down beside her on the bed. “I’m sorry that happened to you,” she breathed.Mia nodded with a sniffle before grabbing her hand. “Where were you?”Liyah bit her lip before beginning, starting with the reason she’d had to stop by, to the reason she stayed at Tony’s.“So, he was feeling better yesterday?” Mia pushed.“Yeah and then….” Liyah sent her a smile.Mia shrieked. “I knew it! How was it? Are you going to see him again or was it a onetime thing?”Liyah’s heart skipped at her words. “It was amazing and I hope so…” she admitted. “He had to leave but, he’s supposed to call me when he gets back.”Mia smiled. “I’m happy for you.”She had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. “Where’s Jesse?” she asked remembering his absence downstairs.Mia’s eyes widened “Oh, Shit Liyah, he lost his Dad’s car in a race against Johnny.”“No!” Liyah gasped, lurching upright.“And then he ran,” Mia added.“God, Jesse!” Liyah huffed, grabbing her phone.It was then that they heard the beginning of shouts coming from outside, the two glanced at each other before bolting.Liyah had just passed the door frame to find Dominic yelling at Brian on the front lawn. She watched as Mia hesitated in her movements an array of emotions crossing her features. Liyah continued forward, they didn’t need Dominic taking his anger out on the cop. She paused halfway across the lawn as the sound of a speeding car drew their attention, Jesse’s car coming into view a second later.He’d barely parked before he was running out of the car. “I’m so sorry Dom!” Jesse cried his eyes wide and frantic. “I don’t know what to do!”“What did you do?” Dominic asked, worry tinging his features.Liyah was already moving when the sound of motorcycles came around the bend, they all froze as two came into view; guns materializing in their gloved hands.“No,” she heard herself say and then she was racing towards Jesse. A hand yanked her back and then she was flung to the ground, shielded from the slew of bullets ricocheting around them.From the cage of Dominic’s arms, she watched Jesse jerk as bullets tore into him, sending him sprawling to the ground with a thud.“No!!” she screamed, clawing from beneath her brother to get to the fallen form of her best friend.“Jesse!!” she called finally reaching him as she cupped his cheek. “No, no no!” she murmured, as the bullet holes began to seep blood.“Somebody call an ambulance!” she shrieked, ripping off her jacket to try and staunch his bleeding. Mia dropped beside her, phone pressed to her ear as she took off her own jacket to push down on one of his wounds.Tears began to blur her vision “Stay with me Jesse, Please! Not like this.”The roar of a hauntingly familiar engine had her looking up just in time to watch the garage door explode as Dominic, in their father’s black dodge charger, tore through it before taking off down the road.Brian ran to his own car before taking off after him.Jesse coughed, drawing her attention. No blood she thought, relieved as his airways stayed clear.Mia had just hung up the phone when Leon and Letty came through the door.“Shit!” Letty hissed, before running over. She fretted over his face before settling on running a soothing hand through his hair as they all watched helplessly, unable to move until the ambulance came around the corner. Letty checked for his faint pulse one more time as the EMT’s came out with the stretcher.One of their hands replaced her own and she backed away as they became a flurry of movement.“What happened? Ma’am!” a woman asked, breaking through her daze.“Drive-by shooting,” she offered, watching as they carefully moved Jesse onto the stretcher. They took him into the back of the ambulance and she quickly slipped inside before they could close the door. Mia’s head popped up in the front and before anyone could say anything the vehicle took off.She backed out of the way as they hooked him up to a heart monitor, along with a breathing mask pressed over his mouth. Tears once again brimmed in her eyes, spilling down her cheeks as she realized she hadn’t been there for him.Mia was clutched to her side as they sat in the waiting room, the two silent as they waited for news on their injured friend.“Ms. Torreto?” a nurse called from the door.She and Mia looked up before walking towards the nurse.“How is he?” Liyah asked nervously.“We were finally able to stop the bleeding, he went into cardiac arrest but luckily we were able to stabilize him. We’ve moved him to a room if you’d like to see him?” She offered.“Please,” Mia breathed, squeezing Liyah’s hand.Her eyes took him in as he laid still in his hospital bed. He looked so fragile with bandages covering his torso, the breathing mask still placed over his face.“You think he’ll be okay?” she asked.“God, I hope so, Liy,” Mia breathed taking a seat in one of the chairs. She’d left her the one closest to his bed.It was dark outside when the door creaked open with a knock, expecting another nurse she frowned when she found her brother looking worse for wear instead.“How is he?” Dominic asked from the doorway, his right arm hanging limply at his side. A gash to the side of his head was still trickling blood and she spared a thought as to how he’d made it past the front desk.“What the Hell, Dom?” she chided, forcing him into her seat. Mia who she hadn’t seen leave returned with a med kit. They got to work on disinfecting his minor wounds before anyone could see him.“We’ll have to set his arm,” Mia stated with a frown, eying the limp appendage. Neither of them were new to Dominic coming home beaten and battered. Liyah herself had gotten bruised a few times from fights she couldn’t seem to stay out of.Dominic shot her a look. “It’ll heal.”Liyah crossed her arms in exasperation. “Yes, Dom, wrong if it isn’t set.”After a minute he nodded and they were a flurry of movement as they closed the door and the curtains to the only window in the room. Grabbing a towel from the bathroom she held it up to his mouth.“Bite,” she ordered before pushing it into his mouth. He let out a groan that twanged her heartstring before she remembered he wasn’t like that when he left. “Don’t give me that. You obviously did something stupid.”Dom shrugged before wincing at the movement.“Yeah,” she hummed, reclining his chair so he was nearly flat on his back.She gripped his uninjured arm up to his forearm and he hesitated before doing the same to her. His large hand gripping at her bicep.“Ready?” Mia asked, sending her a look. Liyah braced herself without a word.Before Dominic could nod, Mia pulled his arm into a ninety-degree angle, a pop sounding as her brothers muffled yell reverberated through the room.Liyah winced at the grip on her arm but, kept her face carefully blank as her brother calmed down.Jesse’s heart monitor spiked slightly and they looked over at it until it returned to normal.Dominic looked confused as he removed the towel from his mouth but, Mia and Liyah only shared another glance before packing everything away.“Thanks,” Dom ground out, rolling his shoulder slightly.His sisters nodded, before taking seats around the room.“So, what happened?” Liyah intoned. “Are they still…”Dominic shook his head. “They’re dead.”Mia nodded. “Good.”“What happened to Brian?” Liyah questioned for her sister who couldn’t seem to ask.“He followed me down to the train tracks… and I … we raced.” Dominic shifted slightly.“You idiot.” Liyah gaped, resisting the urge to hit her already injured brother. “You could’ve been killed!”“We made it across,” He grumbled.“Then what the hell happened to you?” she hissed.“Tanker blindsided me,” he huffed, sounding annoyed.“You raced across the track and made it, only to get into a wreck?” Liyah asked with a snort.Dominic slowly smirked “Basically.”“and Brian?” Mia asked, drawing their attention.“Buster gave me his car to get away before the cops showed up.” Dominic seemed confused by his own words as he went quiet.“What happened to the Charger?” Liyah asked with a frown. The nineteen seventy dodge Charger had stayed in the garage since Nicholas Toretto’s untimely passing. Dominic kept it tuned up but never seemed to be able to get behind the wheel.He looked away at the question.Liyah nodded, totaled then. “I’ll have Leon pick it up.”“How is he?” Dominic asked, motioning with his head towards Jesse.Liyah followed his gaze with a sad smile. “Doctors say he’ll make a full recovery.”A groan sounded from Jesse and all their heads whipped towards him.“Thank God, I feel like I’m dying,” he rasped.Liyah leaned toward the edge of his bed as tears filled her vision. “You scared the shit out of me; Don’t you ever do anything like that again, without me,” she added.Dominic released a snort from beside her, which she ignored in favor of running a hand through Jesse’s matted curls.She chose to stay when the others were forced home when visiting hours ended but they returned the next day bright and early along with Letty. The nurses had moved Jesse to another section of the hospital, now that he was more stable and awake. The room was slightly more spacious in the two-patient suite and with the other side empty they made themselves comfortable in the space. The nurse had just flipped the Tv on when a news alert flashed across the screen. She would have missed it, with her back to the TV as she fluffed up Jesse’s pillow.Beside her Jesse cursed and she searched his form for any signs of a disturbance before noticing his gaze. She tracked his line of sight to the TV with a frown.“Tony Stark Missing.” It read.
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Beside her Jesse cursed and she searched his form for any signs of a disturbance before noticing his gaze. She tracked his line of sight to the TV with a frown.
“Tony Stark Missing,” It read.
Confusion hit her first and then a twisting feeling churned in her gut. “No,” Liyah breathed dropping into the seat behind her. She let out a small whine as subtitles of Tony’ disposition filtered across the screen. “Please, no,” she whispered.Dominic turned to her confused. “What’s wrong?”Mia pushed him out of the way to bring her into a hug. “I’m so sorry Liy.”Tears streamed freely down her cheeks as she clung to Mia, her mind a jumble of thoughts and words and suddenly she felt the ground slip from beneath her feet.“Put her down,” Mia growled, her voice distant as her emotions continued to swirl.Hands gripping her arms, the left one still sore from where he’d already squeezed it, brought her back to the present. She had a feeling she’d have two hand shaped bruises in the spots.“What the fuck is going on?” he growled. His gaze shot back to the tv, to her shirt and then to her face as he put two and two together. “Tony Stark?” he asked and then something like horror flashed across his face. “Tony Stark?!” he repeated, his voice bordering on hostile but, there was something else there too.He shook her and she remembered she hadn’t answered him yet. “You were fooling around with Stark?” He growled.Liyah couldn’t find her voice so she gave him a shaky nod instead as tears continued to trail down her cheeks. Her chest heaved as she choked on a sob but, Dominic’s grip didn’t ease.“Put her down,” Mia’s voice rang out in a deathly calm.Instead, he pulled her in tight to his chest curling around her as if to shield her from the world.Liyah tried to inhale but it came out as a ragged sob as she buried her face in her hands. She didn’t know how long she stayed like that crying in her brother’s arms but, then she wiped away her tears, taking a deeper breath as Mia handed her a glass of water. She gulped it down around breaths before sitting on the table beside her. Slowly she looked to her brother watching as a myriad of emotions played out on Dominic’s face.“I won’t apologize for being with him but, I am sorry for not telling you. Though up until yesterday there wasn’t much to tell,” she whispered. Dominic nodded once, before pressing a kiss to her head. He stood without another word before stalking from the room.Mia immediately took his place to bring her into a hug, running a soothing hand through her hair as she sent a steady calm into her.The emotion swept into her but, even as her rapid pulse evened out her thoughts were still on Tony. It seemed impossible for such a thing to have happened when she was just with him not even a day ago. He was supposed to… with trembling hands she pulled out her phone, she hesitated before pushing down on the power button. A message came through as it finished booting up but, instead of it being unknown it was listed as ‘Love Machine’.She let out a slightly hysterical chuckle, before opening the message waving off Mia’s worried glance.
“Just realized you stole my shirt, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say you’ll be keeping it. If I’m right, which we both know I am, you owe me dinner.”
She checked the time stamp set for yesterday afternoon, around the same time as his disappearance. She scrubbed an arm across her eyes, before slipping out of the room. She found an empty corner in the waiting room before dialing the number.“Pick up, Tony, please pick up,” she murmured.It rang five times before going to voicemail. The tone sounded and she let out a heavy sigh. “Dinner, brunch, I’ll owe you whatever you want, just please tell me you’re okay.” She hung up the phone as panic began to worm its way into her chest. A hand came down on her shoulder and she flinched at the sudden contact.“Ma’am? are you okay?” “I’m fine thanks,” Liyah stated with a jerky nod. She discreetly shoved her phone back in her pocket before returning to Jesse’s room, ignoring the nurse's worried stare. *****************************************************************Liyah spent the next week trying to get in touch with Pepper but it seemed the woman was ignoring all her calls.She showed up bright and early for her chauffer service, sunglasses on to hide her red-rimmed eyes. She was an ugly crier; her eyes had still been swollen up until she’d iced them. She didn’t want to corner the woman per say but as of right now she was her only line to Tony.As Pepper exited the building she thanked someone behind her before her eyes slid to Liyah’s where they narrowed. “If it wasn’t clear before, your Fired,” Pepper intoned.Liyah did her best to hold back her eye roll.“We need to talk,” she said instead.Pepper shook her head. “I have nothing to say to you. You used me to get to Tony,” Pepper hissed.It took a second for the words to hit home. She felt her mouth drop open in shock as she gaped at the woman. “You’re kidding, right? I met Tony before I met you,” she huffed looking around, “and I really don’t want to have this conversation out here.”Before Pepper could respond a black Rolls Royce pulled up to the curb. Liyah didn’t take her eyes away from Pepper until the driver’s side opened and a man stepped out.“What’s going on? Is everything okay?” he asked looking at Pepper.Pepper sent him a smile “Everything’s fine Happy, she’s just one of Tony’s-““Do not finish that sentence. I am a friend of Tony’s and I’d like to know if what the news said is true,” Liyah breathed out.The man eyed her. “Tony doesn’t have a lot of friends,” he said dubiously.“Well, he has me,” she stated, putting her hands her hips and leveling him with a hard look.His eyes seemed to widen, “What did you say your name was?”“Liyah, Aaliyah Toretto.”The man looked startled at the name before he glanced at Pepper, then back to her. “You’re the one?” he asked.Liyah pushed her sunglasses to her forehead, done with the tinted view of the world and needing to make eye contact. “The What?” she questioned her voice echoed by Pepper’s.The man only laughed before stepping onto the curb, offering her his hand. “Harold Hogan Ma’am, my friends call me Happy.”Liyah placed her gloved hand in his, for once wishing she’d foregone them so she could get a read on what the man was talking about. As it were she could only stare at him confused as he shook her hand.“The one what?” Pepper reiterated.Happy let out a sardonic laugh. “The one Tony wouldn’t shut up about on the flight.”Liyah’s pulse quickened at his words. “He’s okay then?”Happy seemed to just notice his wording and he shook his head. “Sorry, I meant on the flight to Afghanistan.”Liyah hadn’t realized she’d been holding on to a kindle of hope until it flickered out. She fought back the water brimming in her eyes, a single tear slipping past her defenses. She held his gaze a moment before looking away. “Can you tell me what happened?” she asked, facing him again.“I was on the plane when it happened. But Rhodes was there. I can give you his number,” Happy offered.“Happy!” Pepper chided.“What? Tony obviously cares for her, which doesn’t happen often let me tell you and from what I can see, she cares about him too… what I don’t understand is why you’re dressed like that,” He added as an afterthought, motioning toward her uniform.“She was my driver until I fired her. She used me to get to Tony,” Pepper lied.Liyah’s vision flickered red before Happy’s laugh broke through the silence. She brought her focus back to him breathing in deeply.“That’s not what Tony said. Said she almost ran him over with her- what was it?” Happy asked turning to her.“My Chevy Chevelle,” Liyah huffed, a fond smile forming at the memory.Happy snapped his finger “That’s it, a seventy Chevelle. You’ve gotta let me see it, I’m a bit of a car fan myself.”Liyah nodded offering the man a smile.“Here give me your number and I’ll send you Rhodes’.”Liyah had to take a breath before she could speak to rattle off the numbers. “Thank you,” she breathed her phone chiming with his alert.Pepper fumed beside them and something in Liyah finally snapped. “I don’t understand what I did for you to hate me.” It all sounded so high school.Pepper only sent her a glare, the same glare she’d sent her when she assumed she’d slept with Tony. And then it clicked. “You’re in love with him,” she breathed.Peppers eyes widened, as she shook her head.But Liyah plowed forward. “I should have seen it the first day I met you, the way you assumed I’d slept with him. The way you always assumed I’d slept with him,” Liyah took a step back, a weight lifting from her shoulders, she’d actually thought she’d done something to provoke the woman.“You’re in love with Tony?” Happy asked and the man sounded so disappointed.This was quickly turning into a soap opera.“Thank you again, Happy,” Liyah offered, sending him a sympathetic look as she moved back to the car. She repositioned her glasses on the bridge of her nose as she slid into the driver’s seat.She dropped off the Audi at the depo, Pepper may have fired her as her personal chauffer but that only meant she was reassigned.******************************************************* Now in the comforts of her room, she dialed the number Happy had sent her.A voice picked up on the fourth ring, his voice groggy. “Colonel Rhodes.”Liyah frowned at the title, before clearing her throat. “Hi, my name’s Aaliyah Toretto, Happy Hogan sent me your number.”“Shit,” He breathed, “Tony’s Liyah?”Liyah had to bite back the onslaught of emotions the words brought with them. “Yeah, that’s me,” she said, voice thick.The Colonel's voice was soft when he spoke. “What can I do for you Liyah?”“I need to know what happened… I can’t,” she hadn’t had a slip of a vision to even give her a warning of his predicament.Colonel Rhodes sighed over the line. “The demonstration went fine. I …I should have been in the truck with him but Tony… I ended up towards the back of the convoy and when the first explosion hit,” The colonel sighed, “Everything happened so fast, we were under heavy fire and by the time I got to his Jeep he was gone”“Someone took him?” Liyah asked stiffly.Rhodes paused over the line, sounding fully awake when he next spoke. “We’re doing everything we can to find him.”Liyah nodded smoothing out her voice. “Thank you, Colonel Rhodes.”He was silent on the line and Liyah was about to hang up.“Listen, Liyah, you sound like a nice girl but, that was the scariest calm I’ve ever heard.”Liyah chuckled darkly. “Someone took Tony, Colonel Rhodes, a person I consider… a friend… I will find that person.”“You let me know when you do. And please, call me Rhodey.” Rhodes returned.Liyah felt herself smile. “Good night Rhodey and thank you again for answering my questions.”“He always finds the scary ones,” He breathed before hanging up.Liyah relaxed back into her mattress. Somehow missing Tony’s warmth beside her. She tucked her nose into the shirt she’d mistakenly taken from Tony two months ago, how she managed to not get Jesse’s blood on it was a mystery to her but, if she could use it to get a vision of Tony, she’d take it. She fell asleep with Tony’s name on her lips and woke up screaming it.
Tony was bleeding out on the ground, blood seeping through his white button up. The scene changed and he was somewhere dim, an unnatural light keeping the place from being truly dark.
A tear slipped down her cheek as she watched his still form. His torso wrapped in gauze and an odd lump in the middle of his chest. He was deathly pale, the only tell he was alive was the rise and fall of his chest.
“Tony,” she breathed her voice a faraway echo to her own ears.
“Tony?” she cried, unable to stop the onslaught of tears that fell. As she traced the line of his face with shaky fingers, he felt both real and phantom. Pressing a lingering kiss to his clammy forehead, she took in a shaky breath.
“Tony, I know you’re tired but, you can’t rest here, you’ve-”
Her words broke off as she choked on a sob, glancing away she tried to get a gleam of his surroundings, squinting as everything seemed to blur.
Blinking she refocused her gaze on Tony. “You’ve got to get out of here,” she whispered, trying to smooth back the hair sticking to his forehead but, that, her fingers slipped through. Another sob bubbled past her lips.
“So, use that beautiful, genius brain of yours and come back. To Jarvis and the bots… and to me,” she breathed.
“I met Happy and talked to Rhodey, they’re all worried and we’re all waiting for you. So, focus on getting out of here because you just came into my life and I’m not ready to let you go,” she confessed pressing a kiss to the corner of his cold lips.
“Wake up,” she murmured against his mouth and for a second they twitched against hers. “That’s it, baby.” She smiled as his lashes began to flutter. They flew open, his brown eyes wide as he searched the space above him.
Liyah could feel herself slipping away as Tony looked around confused, searching the darkness before his eyes found the cords leading to his chest and his face. He pulled a few cords from his nose with a gasp and the last thing she heard before she woke up was the sound of Tony’s terrified shout.
Arms gripped her and she fought against them, thrashing as she tried to get away.
The arms tightened around her.
“Wake up!”Liyah froze at Dominic’s voice, forcing her eyes open. She could feel the tears still leaking down her cheeks and then Dominic was pulling her to his chest.“Another nightmare?” he asked rubbing her back.Liyah shook her head. “I-I don’t know, it felt so real,” she whispered.“What did you see?” he askedLiyah buried her face into his shoulder, another bout of tears streaming from some endless well inside of her.His hand stilled on her back. “Is he…”“He’s alive... but they... I don’t … It’s bad Dom.”His grip tightened around her as he murmured soothing words.When her heart rate calmed she pulled back wiping at her tears. Dominic let out a solemn sigh and she rolled her eyes before curling back into his side.“How’s Jesse?” she asked, she hadn’t been able to stop by the hospital today but she’d see him in the morning.“He’s getting better, he’s sitting up now.”Something inside her eased, he’d barely been able to lift his head at the beginning of the week.“How’re you doing?” she whispered.Dominic’s arms tightened around her.He’d been staying low, since the incident with Brian. The police had made it their personal mission to find him and she knew he wouldn’t be staying much longer.“Don’t worry about me.”She pulled back to look him in the eye. “That only made me worry more.”He let out a quiet laugh.
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She spent some time at the hospital with Jesse, before she headed to Toretto’s market. When she came through the door Mia looked up confused. “What are you doing here?”“It’s my shift,” Liyah offered, heading to the back to drop off her stuff.“Yeah but,…”“If I sit around and do nothing. I don’t…” she sent Mia a frustrated look.Her sister nodded before getting back to work the two moving around in companionable silence. In the end, Liyah ended up staying later than usual.Not wanting to sit in silence in her room she chose to go to the workshop, there were a few cars their she could work on. It was dark out but that didn’t stop her from turning the lights on in the shop. She was blasting music when a vision flashed.She turned down the music as Dominic came into view. She continued to work, focusing on the engine of the car. She heard him sigh before the sound of scraping metal had her looking up to see her brother sitting beside her on a stool.“Do you want to talk?” he asked.Liyah shook her head adamantly, there was nothing to say really. She wasn’t even sure what she was feeling.“Liyah,” Dominic huffed.“It shouldn’t even hurt this much,” she grumbled. “I barely knew the guy but, it feels like-” she cut off, at a loss for words.“Help me,” she huffed pointing to the car.Dominic nodded, pushing a button on the dangling lift remote.The car lifted from the ground, he raised it a few more feet off the ground before stopping. She hoisted herself higher so that she was perched on the bumper.Dominic continued to watch from below, she knew the position made him nervous she’d slipped from the height enough times that his worry was warranted but, she still found herself in the same position more often than not.Without him in her line of sight, she breathed. “It’s like somethings missing… I hadn’t even realized he’d filled up space. Shit,” She hissed as her tool slipped from her fingers.Dom caught it easily enough and she carefully adjusted herself so that she was sitting in the hood.“The question I’d like to know is how my sister ended up dating the CEO of Stark Industries.”Liyah felt tears prick the corners of her eyes. “That’s the thing though, I wasn’t! Not really. We had a…. a thing! Don’t get me wrong it was a nice thing but,… I’m not making sense…”Dominic chuckled. “Why don’t you start from the beginning.”Liyah looked down at her fingernail, letting out a sigh. “Okay, so you remember that street race about three months ago?” She began.Dominic listened with rapt attention nodding along, occasionally. She finished with a huff of breath. “Am I stupid?”He looked up at her confused.“I mean, it seemed like things were going well before this and the age difference... I don’t know what I’m asking,” she admitted.“Your feelings are real, Aaliyah. It doesn’t sound like your imagining things and from your story, it sounds like he cares about you too. However,” he said with narrowed eyes.“What?” She murmured.“I’m a little upset I didn’t get to do my shovel talk,” he stated, his lip twitching slightly.Liyah let out an indignant squawk.“Don’t worry I’ll read him his rights when he gets back,” he said with a grin“But what if he doesn’t come back, or what if he does and he doesn’t…” she trailed off as she dropped her gaze to the ground below her.“He’ll come back, as for the second part, I haven’t actually met the guy.” He stated pointedly.Liyah shrugged sheepishly at that. “I said I was sorry.”***********Staring at her white ceiling Liyah couldn’t help but think of Jarvis and the Bots, she frowned as she sat up. Could robots get lonely? Did they go into some kind of stasis when Tony went out?Grabbing her phone, she dialed the number Tony saved into her phone. She knew it would go to voicemail but, maybe Jarvis automatically had access to all of Tony’s messages like a high tech answering machine, she figured. Hearing the tone signaling the voice mail she bit her lip nervously. “Um Hey, it’s Liyah, I wanted to… to..” Liyah let out a sigh. “This is ridiculous, Jarvis? If you can hear me I wanted to check on you? I guess? I don’t know, do you get lonely or does butterfingers keep you entertained or…” Liyah rolled her eyes. “Jarvis?” she asked one more time.With no response, she prepared to hang up when the sound of the line beeping gave her pause. She froze with baited breaths.The A.I.’s familiar incantation sounded over the line. “Good Evening Ms. Toretto.”“Oh, thank god, I was starting to feel really weird talking to an answering machine.”“We wouldn’t want that,” Jarvis almost seemed to huff.Liyah let out a chuckle.“Was there something I could assist you with?”She wrapped her arms around herself, leaning against the wall for support. “uh, not really no… Just wanted to check on you guys?”“That was… thoughtful of you. I find myself quite disquieted, with Sir’s disappearance.”“I figured as much, do you talk to anyone?”Jarvis seemed to pause. “I regularly assist Miss Potts in her ongoing position as sir’s personal assistant.”Liyah frowned. “Oh, then would you want to play poker with me sometime? I’ve got a computer you can hack into,” Liyah offered hopefully.Across the room, her computer screen lit up, the words "Would you like to play a game?" typed across the screen.“Oh my god, Jarvis, I hated that movie,” she huffed pulling out her chair. Rolling her eyes, she typed in ‘Yes’ just beneath the A.I.’s words.In response, a game of poker modulated on her screen as she grinned.“Your preference has been noted.”Liyah let out a snort, “Just deal the cards, maybe this time you won’t be able to cheat with all your fancy sensors.”“’I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” he returned.
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It was a Sunday evening when Liyah closed the market for the night, a few bags of groceries for the house in hand as she made her way home. Too lazy to put them away she dropped them off on the table before going downstairs. Booting up the Xbox Jarvis sent her a week ago, to expand our gaming options he’d said, she kicked off her shoes before pulling on her headset.“Jay? What’s cookin’ good lookin’?”Jarvis’ screen name linked online as he spoke. “You assume I would be good looking? Not that I disagree.”Liyah snorted. “I don’t know, you’ve got an accent so that already puts you at like five.”“I like to assume I’d be a solid ten.”Liyah let out a short laugh. “Thatt’a boy, aim high.”“I hope you don’t mind U joining us this evening.”Liyah glanced at the screen as their Halo avatars came into view, she watched as one of the men spun in a circle with his rifle aimed at the ground.She chuckled. “The more the merrier.”Halfway through the game, her earpiece crackled.“I seem to be experiencing a problem,” Jarvis explained over the line.Pausing the game, she sat up from her hunched over position. “J? everything okay over there? I’ve never heard you glitch before.” His next sentence came out distorted, his voice dropping in pitch before raising an octave. “thEre aRe iNntruDers on thEe estAate, I belieEve they aAre attackinG my sySTEM.”Liyah blinked before standing up. “Lockdown the lab if you can and anywhere else you think is necessary, I’m on my way okay? Hang in there.” Looking around her room she changed into darker clothes before grabbing her pistol from her bottom drawer.Footsteps on the stairs gave her pause, but as she recognized the steps she tucked the gun into her waistband before crouching to pull on a pair of black boots. Mia reached the bottom of the stairs just as she slipped her jacket on.“Where are you going?”“Someone’s trying to break into Tony’s place," Liyah supplied slipping past her to climb the stairs.“And what? Are you going to stop them,” Mia called after her, "Alone?"“Stop who?” Dominic broke in.Glancing over she found him and Letty seated at the table. “The person breaking into Tony’s place, they triggered an alarm and I’m guessing it might be the same people who took him.”Dominic raised a brow. “An alarm that notified you?”Liyah sighed as she crossed her arms. “Look, I really don’t want to lie to you.”Dominic nodded already pushing away from the table. “We’re coming with you.”Liyah shrugged. “Then suit up.”Dominic, Letty, and Mia met her in the living room, all dressed in black.“Ride or die,” Letty said with a nod, holding out her hand.“Ride or die,” Liyah smirked, slapping the girl's upraised palm. “We’ll need stealth.”Letty nodded, making her way to the back door. “We’ll stop at the garage and pick up one of the Honda’s.”“Switch out the plates,” Dominic ordered once they arrived.They made quick work of loading weapons into the car before taking off into the night.As they drew closer to the estate she had them roll forward in neutral, Letty cutting the engine on the far side of the gates. She’d tried calling Jarvis back three times on the way over only to be met with silence.“I’m going to see if the alarms still operating,” she supplied, slinking from the car and staying along the wall until she reached the looming wrought iron gate, “Jarvis?” she whispered.Broken static answered her before cutting off. Realizing that was the best he could do she breathed. “We’ll handle the outside. You just keep the bastards out of the inside.”Liyah didn’t wait for a reply as she headed back to the car.“Can you handle getting us over the wall?” She asked Dominic as the group climbed out of the car.He eyed the wall before crouching down, cupping his hands in front of him.Letty grinned. “Just like old times.” She took several steps back before running at Dom.Liyah watched as he has flung her into the air, just at the height of the wall, before her hands grasped it and she pulled herself the rest of the way over. As they all made it over the wall, he ordered them to stay low and they dropped to their knees before continuing forward.“As much as I love this," Letty whispered from her spot between her and Dominic, "we can’t army crawl up to the house. It’d take days and I skipped cardio yesterday.” Liyah angled them towards a group of hedges for cover and they jogged the rest of the way. A group in black gear slunk around the house, looking for a way in she assumed. All the windows were shuttered with a metal casing and she watched as a dark-clad figure attached a device to the metal before stepping back.Dominic drew his shotgun and she almost warned him of the noise. But he waited until the device on the window blew before darting forward. He brought it down on the back of the closest one’s neck before dispatching the other three. He waved them over when he finished and they made quick work of taking their weapons.Liyah apprehended herself two pistols, mechanically checking the full cartridges. Her eye caught on the label on the butt of the gun and she frowned before removing a glove. She crouched beside the fallen figure before pressing a hand to his head. She waited for the pull of her vision, only catching the flash of a face when someone pulled her away. She gasped as she blinked, trying to focus in the night.“What did you see?” Dominic asked pulling her into an alcove of well-manicured bushes.“Stane,” she hissed.He turned to her with wide eyes. “What?”Liyah frowned as she showed him the label on the gun. “These are Stark weapons; do you think he had Tony taken?”“That doesn’t make sense, they're partners aren’t they,” Mia whispered behind her.“To get him out of the way maybe?” Letty trilled.“But why kidnap him?” Dominic asked.Liyah was still reeling when another vision flashed. Whirling around she threw herself into Mia, sending them both tumbling over as bullets whizzed by them. Dominic and Letty swiftly crouched down as they returned fire.Liyah bit back her annoyance as she forced a vision, grabbing her newly acquired pistols before joining the fray. The pistol in her hand firing off in quick succession. She spared a thought to admire Tony’s work, absently pulling Letty a step to the right as a bullet whizzed past her head.Bodies dropped around them as the four-manned crew took on a seemingly endless number of intruders.Suddenly, Liyah froze. She turned around just as a hand snaked out to grab Mia. She yanked her sister forward before firing her pistol where the person head would be.The thump of a body told her she'd hit her mark.A laugh sounded and Liyah blinked away her vision as she realized they were surrounded.“What do we have here?” the voice called.A sick feeling churned in her gut as more figures in black advanced forward.“Stane,” Dominic growled, standing to his feet.Obadiah frowned before his eyes seemed to light up with recognition. “Dominic Toretto or are you the other one?”When none of them answered he shrugged. “I’ve got to say this is a surprise but, we’ll talk later.” He motioned a hand forward and the men were quick to disarm them.The nudge of a gun at her back had her striding forward as they followed Obadiah in the night. They approached a cluster of black sedans and she frowned as they brought back memories of her and Pepper on the high way. Before she could think on it more a bag was thrown over her head as cuffs slapped around her wrist. Someone roughly forced her into a seat and she winced at the position.The engine started and after a brief moment, they began to move. Someone nudged her side and she tried not to flinch.“They took my car keys,” Letty whispered. Liyah bit back a chuckle at the pout in her voice.“No talking!” someone called from behind her.They were dragged from the car what seemed like an hour later. It wasn’t until she was forced into a chair that the bag was ripped from her head. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the bright fluorescent lights in the room. The man who pulled off her hood left not a second later leaving her alone in the room. Shifting in her chair, she took in the cement floors and high ceiling. She tested the cuffs on her wrist deciding against breaking out when she didn’t actually know where they’d taken the rest of her family.She wasn’t sure how much longer it was when the door opened, she may have fallen asleep though. She peaked a lazy eye open as a man stepped into the room“This would all be a lot easier if you four would just talk," the man huffed coming to a stop in front of her.“I guess, it all depends on what you want to know,” she said with a shrug.“What were you doing on that estate?” he asked, crossing his arms.She shook her head in mock confusion. “We were driving by, saw some suspicious activity." She shrugged, "Is this what we get for being good Samaritans?” she asked squinting up at him.Someone snorted and she tried to twist towards the sound, she hadn’t heard anyone else come in. “Do you know whose estate you were trespassing on?” Stane asked casually stepping within her line of sight.“Nope,” She returned, popping the ‘p’.He let out a huff of air. “What were you doing in the area?”“On the way to a party,” She stated easily.Obadiah raised a brow. “Your friend mentioned a road trip.”“It was a pit stop,” Liyah offered, she could tell he was lying but, he seemed to know she was too so, she shrugged. “Can we go?”“You don’t seem too concerned with my men who you put out of commission,” he stated leaning forward into her space.She fought the urge to lean back. “Self-defense.”Stane chuckled. “Good Samaritan, right.”Liyah envisioned the blow coming and had to fight back the urge to dodge as the slap sounded against her cheek, her head jerked to the side with the force of it and then Obadiah was gripping her face tight in his hand.His grip stung and she could feel her tooth digging into her cheek. He spoke but she focused on the vision flaring behind her eyes.
A kill order and then a request for more money when they captured the target before lost contact had the man raging at a betrayal.
She slowly blinked as her eyes focused on his face. She saw red and she couldn’t help herself as she head-butted his nose. A satisfying crunch sounded in the concrete room, along with his startled cry.Stane hissed at the pain before his eyes focused on her.There were tears stinging her eyes as she watched the man, the man who had tried to kill Tony. Pure hatred flared in her eyes and he seemed to take a step back, alarmed at the promise of death in her gaze.He flung open the door and a few more men poured in. “Chain her up, they can rot here for all I care.”Multiple hands on her bare arms were too much as vision after vision flared, her world swam before everything faded and darkness claimed her.
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She woke up with her left wrist chained to a radiator in the corner of a different room. Despite the man’s words, there was a bowl of food and a glass of water situated in front of her. She looked around for any sign of her family before slumping back.“Shit,” she groaned pulling herself into a seated position. Guilt began to build up inside of her as she thought on their predicament. If anything happened to them. Liyah shuttered at the thought picking up the glass to sniff at it. She was just about to try her hand at the food when the door opened. She tried not to groan as Stane entered. He had a newspaper in his hand and she tried not to look too curiously at it.“You should eat," he began.She watched as he came closer, noticing the slight bruising around his eyes with a grim satisfaction. “I’m good.”“Suit yourself, I just figured we could have some breakfast, talk about the news.” He grinned, throwing the newspaper headline up on to the floor. She eyed him dubiously but he waited until finally, she dropped her gaze to the paper.“Tony Stark found Dead,” she murmured.Liyah searched over the paper for more detail, checking the date in the corner. She continued to stare down at it as she kept her face carefully blank. Slowly she looked up. “Is this supposed to mean something, to me?” she asked in a bored tone even as her heart pounded in her chest.He searched her face before frowning. “Just trying to keep you updated on the happenings in the world.”Liyah nodded. “Thanks, I guess.” She picked up the bowl of food, forcing herself to eat it. “Did you leave the comic strip? That was always my favorite part!” she called after him as he strode through the door. As soon as he was gone the bowl clattered to the floor as she picked up the paper. She searched it for more information and found none.Fake. Her brain supplied. The cover page had read “more on page nine” and as she turned to it, it was nothing more than business ads. She quickly flipped through to the obituaries and as her heart quickened with each name she read, it finally calmed when she didn’t find one she recognized. It had been a test and from his retreat, he hadn’t gained much. She was shaking. taking in a few deep breaths she pressed a hand to her chest as she tried to calm down.Her week passed in a haze. Occasionally they forced her to shower and she ignored the looks, promising herself she’d snap their necks on her way out.The door opened with a bang and she jolted from her sleep to find Obadiah storming into the room.“It’s you, isn’t it?” he growledLiyah raised a brow in confusion. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about."“Don’t play dumb with me, you knew whose estate it was, what is your relationship with Tony?” he hissed into her faceLiyah leaned back imperceptibly. “You’re crazy dude.”“It took me a while to place your face, I mean aside from those years ago." He grinned. “You were driving for Pepper Potts,” he stated.Liyah let out a hum. “I work at a chauffeur company but, most of the clients are confidential, even to me.”“The routes you’ve taken, you’ve been to his house,” he accused, a finger pointed at her as he paced.“Your point?” she asked feigning nonchalance.He stopped mid-stride to turn back to her “My point, you infuriating woman, is that you’ve had to cross paths with him.”“Such sweet words,” she gibed at the clearly on edge man.Stane continued to pace before he seemed to resign himself, sending her one last glare before storming from the room.Time passed in a haze as her eyes grew heavy, she attempted to adjust herself into a more comfortable position but the sound of a commotion outside gave her pause. As the door opened she blinked as the person stepped through. Her addled brain supplied that it was Dominic but as she took in the cargo pants, something Dom definitely hadn’t been wearing when they’d been dragged into this, her brain finally caught up to what her eyes were telling her.“X? what the hell?” She asked.He eyed her chains with distaste before yanking them from the wall, debris crumbling out with it. Xander looked her over as he helped her to her feet, a small smirk twitching the corner of his mouth as she wrapped the chain around her wrist. “I could ask you the same thing.”Liyah huffed as she cracked her stiff neck. “What are you doing here?”“Again I cou-“ he broke off at the look she sent him. “Some British guy called me saying you were missing.”“British gu-” Liyah paused thoughtfully, Jarvis? “Hm, would you look at that, do you know where the others are?”Xander motioned her to the door, checking both ways before stepping into the hall. “They’re a floor below you.”On light feet, she followed him down the hall.“Are you going to tell me how you got here?” He asked, peaking around the bend.“Later,” she promised as she blinked away a vision. Allowing the chain around her wrist to unravel she whipped it back before letting it fly forward into a man’s face as he rounded the corner. “We’ve got company.”Xander nodded, pulling a gun from his waistband as they continued down to the lower level. Keeping watch she listened for footsteps as Xander broke the handle to the door she presumed the rest of her family to be behind. He waved her in a second later and Liyah had to hold back a gasp. Letty, Dominic, and Mia were together hanging from chains attached to a long pipe in the ceiling.“Well look who it is,” Dominic managed to get out.X crossed his arms, “You just gonna hang there or can we leave sometime today?”“Play nice,” Liyah warned, coming to stand beneath Letty. Hooking the woman’s legs over her shoulder to relieve the pressure in her arms, Xander did the same for Mia. “You good?”“I’m good,” Letty breathed.The sound of metal grated her ears as Dominic yanked on his chains. Not a second later the groaning grew louder before a metallic pop sounded followed by the sound of bare feet hitting the floor. With the pipe freed, they made quick work of getting Mia and Letty down.The sound of the door handle jingling drew Liyah’s attention. Sidestepping Xander and Letty she twisted around them and sent her chain into an arc, it was heavy and she had to do another spin before it picked up enough momentum; the group dropped out of her way and when the door opened she slammed the chain into the guard's startled face.His head dropped to his hands and she aimed a strong kick between his legs sending him to his knees with a pained shout, twisting she aimed a roundhouse kick to his temple completing her turn in time to see him drop to the floor."Which way?" She asked eyeing the unconscious man.Xander took the lead. "This way."They’d just turned another corner when the alarms sounded, she adjusted her grip on the end of the chain as they continued without pause.Footsteps sounded above them as Xander led them to a stairwell."We found them!" A guard shouted as they came around the bend.No sooner had the words left his mouth then Dom sent him flying backward into the wall. He didn't get up; Passed out or dead they didn't check. Advancing forward to the next level the footsteps above echoed as the guards closed in, Liyah didn't wait to see them to whip out her chain, it wrapped around the man in the middles neck and she yanked him forward. He stumbled face first into Dominic's fist before hell let loose in the tight stairwell.With a shared glance, they dove into the thick of it, Mia lashed out with a kick to someone's ankle and Liyah barely moved out of the way as he fell down the stairs. Apparently inspired Dominic and Xander began tossing them over the railing, it wasn't long before they had a path to the door. They busted through, a cool breeze on a night wind greeting them as they exited what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. Dominic reached back, his hand twisting the handle into an odd angle as muffled shouts sounded through the door.Explosions sounded on the freeway in the distance and they rushed to the side watching as a silver and red spec clashed."Okay, what?" Letty huffed."We need to get out of here. You got a ride?” Liyah panted looking around for a car.Xander shrugged, “I got dropped off.”Liyah’s eyes lit up as she caught sight of two cars in the lot, she led them over to the second one on a whim. She assumed the car belonged to the guards and if they were in such a rush, she pulled on the driver’s side handle and it opened with a click."Idiots." Letty huffed as she opened the back door.Dominic paused in his movements watching as Liyah sat behind the wheel, already starting the process of hotwiring the panel. "Why do you get to drive?""I'm sorry Dom would you like to drive," she asked sweetly.He smiled. "Actually ye-”"Shut up and put your seatbelt on," she barked, cutting him off. Xander chuckled as he took the seat behind her and Dom sent them both a glare that she ignored as she threw the car into reverse before taking off out of the lot. They made it onto the highway in record time. It soon became clear there was only one way to go."Any ideas?" She called as the fight grew closer. She could make out the slightly humanoid shapes of the previous specs, the silver one bigger in mass than the red one."We don't even know what they are!!" Mia trilled."It’s the only way home from here." Liyah offered, the route familiar as the exit to Stark Industries approached.She could hear Mia’s tsk behind her, "Fine."Three sets of seat belts clicked.Liyah held back a retort snapping her own seat belt into place. "I think I have an idea.""This will never work," Letty offered unhelpfully.She was just going to speed through the fray and yet.The car halted as they lost traction on the ground and as they were raised into the air she couldn’t help but think she’d missed something. The red android in front of them staggered into a standing position before a bright white light surged from its chest, momentarily blinding them as it struck the droid beneath them. The car pitched forward as the larger droid dropped them and they braced themselves for the impact of terrain.It never came.They came to a Jerky stop as the red and gold droid caught them and set them down on the road. The wheels began to gain traction and she realized she’d been pushing down on the gas pedal the entire time.She didn’t stop. The car flew forward and the droid clutched the hood as she tried to shake him off.If her window wasn’t down, she would have missed it but the surprised shout of “Liyah?!” gave her pause. The voice sounded robotic and strained but, through that, she recognized that voice.“Tony?” she called slamming on the break.“Tony?!” The group repeated behind her.He sagged in relief on the hood. “Tony! What the Hell? Are you inside that thing?” she shrieked as he stood and began walking towards the driver side. He came to a stop by the open window before crouching down.“Why haven’t you been answering my calls?” he grumbled.“Sorry, I didn’t have a signal in the basement I was chained in!” she ranted. Her eyes widened as she realized what she said.“Smooth,” Dominic trilled beside her.“Wait, what?” he blurted before he went soaring backwards.“Tony!” she shrieked, watching as he crashed landed into a recently abandoned bus, moments later he took off into the sky.The larger, what the hell were those things? It released a large missile after him and she watched in horror as it exploded. Before she could assume the worst, a red shape fell from the sky before taking flight mid-fall. And then it once again shot into the sky, the larger thing taking off after it.“Did I miss something?” Xander asked.Liyah eyed the exit for the Stark industries building before glancing at her family.“Well, what are you waiting for? Take the exit!” Mia exclaimed.
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Liyah eyed the exit for Stark industries before glancing at her family.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Take the exit!” Mia exclaimed.She nodded before cutting the wheel and taking the exit ramp. She rolled to a stop in front of the building only to find it partially destroyed. The glass doors shattered and a woman with red hair standing off to the side looking up at the sky.Her eye narrowed. “Potts!”Pepper whirled around in surprise. “Aaliyah? What are you doing here? You shouldn-”“What the hell is going on and why does that red metal thing sound like Tony?” Liyah asked.Pepper released a long breath. “It is Tony.”Liyah’s heart rate fastened. She turned, picking up Pepper's search of the sky for any sign of them. Her eyes caught on a silver speck in the distance growing larger as it fell from the sky. Fell. Her heart raced as she searched for a second, redder spec.“There!” Letty pointed, just as it dropped onto the roof, hard. She winced as he stumbled before righting himself.“Tony?” Pepper trilled.Liyah whipped around as the woman seemed to have a conversation with herself before she noticed her earpiece.Something hard pressed into her palm and she looked behind her as Letty released a gun into her hand. Shen sent her a nod.Pepper stumbled into the building and Liyah followed after her, but just as she reached the door she was tugged backward.“The glass,” Dominic warned her.Liyah frowned, forgetting she wasn’t wearing shoes, she met his gaze with a grimace before stepping forward. She bit back a whimper as the glass cut into her feet, forcing herself to keep moving. Dominic cursed behind her before the sound of shifting glass sounded behind her. She didn’t need to look back to know he’d followed her.They found Pepper by a large glowing machine, pushing up lever after lever.“What are we doing?” she called.Pepper glanced over at them before continuing her task “Overloading the reactor.”Liyah’s eyes widened as she looked at the glowing core.“You might want to get out of here,” Pepper warned her.Liyah blew out a breath before she began to help switch anything into it’s on position, Dominic quickly joining them.“That’s all of them,” Pepper trilled, striding to the console where she hit a few more buttons. “Tony it’s ready,” She called.Liyah and Dominic stepped back watching as above them bullets rang out. A few slammed into the glass roof where Tony, half in the suit, stood.Dom was quick to shield her as the glass shattered around them, tinkling as it hit the floor. When she looked up Tony was dangling from the support beam in the ceiling by one armored hand. She blinked slowly as she finally understood how he could be inside the contraption. “You’ll die!” Pepper hollered.“Just do it!” he bellowed.She looked to Dominic as she pulled out her gun.“How high do you think you can throw me?” she asked, mentally steeling herself.Dominic glanced up at the shattered glass above them letting out a resigned sigh, he cupped his hands before crouching.She sent him a smile before taking a running start, her adrenaline too high to notice the stabs of pain in her feet. Her last step landed in his palm where she was flung into the air.The lower level dropped away as she rose toward the open ceiling, the air whipping around her face. She bit back a curse as she passed through the shattered glass ceiling, a piece of it slicing into her arm. She ignored it and all her pain as Obadiah came into view, his suit completely open as he aimed a heavily armed arm at Tony.She reached the apex of her flight as she took aim, firing off two shots at his exposed head before she dropped back through the glass. His face comically confused, as she disappeared before her bullets found their mark.“Do it no-” Tony cried out but, it cut off as the shots rang out, he turned his head in surprise as he watched Liyah drop back through the glass.Dominic caught her with a grunt before he reached behind him to pull Pepper along as he made a mad dash for the exit, just as the reactor overloaded.They’d just made it out of the building when it lit up with an overwhelming light, the heat made her gasp as it hit her where she was slung over Dom’s shoulder, he stumbled slightly but didn’t break his stride as he ran forward.He was breathing hard as he came to a stop beside Letty, Mia, and Xander who had ducked behind their stolen car. They turned around watching as the light shot into the sky in a beacon of light. She had to shield her eyes at the onslaught before it cut off abruptly. A prolonged second later, the building exploded and they dove for cover as the explosion rocked the lot.She peaked over Dominic’s shoulder at the wreckage with wide eyes. Her eyes darting to the roof of the building.“Tony,” she whispered, watching the flames lick at the side of the building. She tried to stand but, she pitched forward as pain lanced through her feet.“Easy!” Dominic warned catching her.“Tony!” She cried out as tears began to stream down her face.“See if you can find a medkit,” Dominic rasped to someone behind her as he sat her down on the hood of the car. Liyah laid back with a rattling breath bringing her uninjured arm up to cover her face as she cried. He couldn’t be dead, not again.Someone began the process of picking the glass out of her feet but, she barely felt it as she became numb to the world around her. The sound of Tony’s voice on the freeway seemed to echo in her mind.A pair of hands tugged at her wrist and she halfheartedly fought against them before she gave in, blinking through the onslaught of tears to stare blankly at her intruder. With blurred vision, she took in the familiar crinkle of tired eyes staring down at her and she choked on a sob as he sent her a smirk.“Tony,” she breathed, feeling herself slide across the car as he pulled her over the hood until she was cradled against him.“You, crazy woman, you scared me to death,” He breathed, pressing a kiss to her lips.She didn’t bother trying to stop her tears as she returned it. Pulling back, she eyed him as if he’d disappear, “I thought- The fire and the exploding.” More tears began to leak from her eyes as her hand came up to cup his cheek. His eyes softened as he pressed a kiss to her palm.“Everything’s going to be okay,” he promised, pulling her against him once again.She clutched him tight as she pressed her face into his neck, breathing in his familiar scent tinged with the smell of smoke and sweat.“I’d like to keep you for a while if you don’t mind,” he whispered.She nodded, before looking over at her family, Dominic opened his mouth to speak before Mia cut in. “Take care of her? I couldn’t get to her arm.”Tony must have nodded because he lifted her from the car without another word.Xander let out a laugh tinged with confusion. “Okay what the hell, was that Tony Stark?”***********Her adrenaline was crashing and as it went her cuts made themselves known. He eased her into the seat of a car she assumed he owned, she waited until he closed the door to hiss out a breath at the pain.He was just coming around to the driver’s side when he paused at a man in a suit approaching him. She couldn’t make out the words exchanged as he spoke but the man nodded before backing off.He eased into the driver’s seat with a groan before closing the door.Liyah dropped her gaze to the bandages wrapping her feet as he sat silently beside her. He had something to say, she could tell as a pregnant pause filled the air but, instead of talking he drove off. She fell asleep sometime during the drive and she forced her eyes open as Tony carried her over the threshold of his home.“Welcome hOmE…” Jarvis’ greeted his voice becoming distorted at the end of his sentence.She didn’t hesitate as she pulled out the gun, aiming at a black-clad figure in the house.“Start talking or she shoots,” Tony called. “Where were you hiding that?” he whispered.She fought down a laugh as they strode down the stairs.The man paused in his movements to step forward, he eyed her in Tony’s arms before raising his arms in surrender.She didn’t lower her gun.“I’m director Fury of Shield,” he began.Tony’s annoyance was palpable, even as he kept his tone casual, “You’re with that agent? Look I already told him I’d call tomorrow.”The Director moved to step forward and Liyah angled the gun downward before firing off a warning shot. “Stop moving,” she hissed, refocusing the gun on him.He took a step back “I’m here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative,” he offered, his voice sharp.“Oh,” Tony stated dumbly.He carried her to the couch before sitting her on its back, when he moved to step forward something ugly unfurled in her chest. She clutched the back of his shirt with one hand as she held the gun steady in the other. His movements stilled and after a moment she realized he’d relented to her silent request. The feeling eased in her chest, but she held tight to the edge of his shirt.“Is that necessary? Who is she anyway?” The Director asked.“What’s the Avengers initiative?” Tony asked instead.“It’s classified information,” he returned with a pointed look in Liyah’s direction.“Which you’ve already divulged," Tony said with a shrug. "So, you might as well tell me because she stays,” Director Fury didn’t so much as huff but his annoyance gave way in the shifting of his stance. She didn’t relent as she fought to keep her arm from trembling with exhaustion.“It’s exactly what it says,” he began. “You’re among the first to be considered for the team, now that you’ve created that suit of yours. Ideally, we’d keep your identity a secret, Agent Coulson will go over it with you at your debrief.” “We’ll if that’s all,” Tony stated dismissively. Fury nodded, “Is she going to shoot me if I move to leave?”She raised an eyebrow and he cleared his throat before taking the first step forward and then a second as he kept a healthy distance away from them as she kept her gun trained on him. It wasn’t until the door latched shut and the lights flickered on that she sagged, nearly falling off the couch before Tony caught her.“I’ve got you,” he breathed reclaiming her in his arms as he brought her to the elevator.They stayed silent as they entered his ensuite bathroom, he brought her a set of clean clothes before moving to leave the bathroom. Panic, that ugly thing was Panic, flared inside of her. “Don’t,” she breathed.He paused in his movements turning to look at her fully.“Don’t… Don’t leave, just,” she motioned him to the shower. Heat blossomed in her cheeks as she turned her gaze to the sink. Without the use of her feet and her arm she’d be taking a birdbath anyway. She continued to eye the large sink counter before moving to pull herself onto it, waiving Tony off as he moved to help her, she could manage this at least.The shower turned on behind her just as she situated herself firmly on the sink counter. She quickly got to work on getting the grime from her skin. The hot water from the shower steamed in the bathroom and she took a second to press the hot washcloth against her face, wincing as it hit open cuts before sighing at the warmth.When she was mostly cleaned she grabbed the clothes on the other side of the sink, pulling on the t-shirt with a band she didn’t recognize and elastic banded shorts. She managed to finish before Tony and she slumped against the mirrored wall as she waited, her eyes fluttering shut as she relaxed.She forced her eyes open, realizing she’d fallen asleep. She lazily searched the bathroom for Tony and she found him pulling on his shirt before he approached her.He crouched beside her as he dug through the cabinet, his hand resurfacing a second later with a white box, a bright red cross painted at its middle. He quickly got to work on checking her arm and she watched him work in a daze, only wincing once when he’d done one last squeeze of her arm to make sure it was cleaned of glass.Arm bandaged he carried her to the bed climbing in with her as he dragged the covers over them. As she settled beside him her eyes caught on a bluish glow that seemed to stem from his chest. Tony seemed to still beside her.He cleared his throat. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”“I had a vision,” she began slowly, “when you’d first gone missing, that you were in a cave, on this table, and there was gauze wrapped around your chest but, something was poking through.”Tony took a shuddering breath and Liyah opened her mouth to take back the question when he spoke.“It was a magnet keeping the shrapnel from piercing my heart,” She nuzzled her face into his neck breathing in his scent before she spoke. “and now?”“The reactor you saw at the building?”She nodded.“I miniaturized it to fit into the space where they…” he broke off, as he took in a gasp of air.Liyah carded a hand through his hair at the base of his neck, running her fingers threw it as his breathing evened out. “It does the same thing but, with the added power of being able to power the suit,” He finished.“That android thing? You built that?” she asked.Tony chuckled, “It’s not an android, that would imply that it could operate on its own.” Liyah nodded before a yawn stretched across her features. “It can’t?”“No, Jarvis and I operate it, he works as my co-pilot of sorts.”Liyah smiled in the dark, she could listen to him talk all night, she didn’t want to sleep with Tony laying right there, she wanted to look at him.“I saw the footage,” Tony whispered. “Where were you?”She hadn’t realized her eyes had fallen shut and with great difficulty, she pried them open. “The what?”“The footage.”She stiffened at his words. “what footage?”“In the yard, Jarvis told me that there were intruders.”Liyah relaxed minutely“Looked like you knew what you were doing.”“Jarvis and I were in the middle of a game, sounded like he needed help. Me, Dom, Letty, and Mia came over to stop them.” She let out a huff. “We were fine, until they surrounded us, took us to some dark basement, a storage facility we found out later. We’d just gotten out tonight and then--”Tony made a choking noise. "Wait, I'm sorry, did you just say, you’ve been chained up in a basement since before I came back.” She let out a noise of disagreement as he shifted away from her. “When did you get back?” she asked, reclaiming the space he’d put between them. “Three weeks ago,” he stated voice strained.Liyah stumbled over the math in her sleep haze before nodding her head. “Stane locked us down there about three and half weeks ago.”“He, what?”“He was trying to get in here for something but, Jarvis kept it locked up. Never actually found out what it was,” she recalled.“I should have looked harder for you,” he breathed.Liyah shook her head. “You didn’t know.”“Jarvis tried to tell me but, they had me convinced you’d skipped town.”“Who?” she said with a frown.Tony shook his head. “Doesn’t matter, you didn’t and I was wrong. I shouldn’t have stopped looking for you. I went to your house, I checked with your job.” Tony shook his head as he broke off. “Can you forgive me?”Liyah hummed in thought before stretching up and pressing a kiss to the underside of his jaw. “If that’s what you need. But there’s nothing to forgive.”He settled back beside her and she pressed her face into the crook of his neck, the feel of him lolling her into a much-needed sleep.**************Liyah blinked away sleep as she pried her eyes open, a warm body pressed firmly against hers, she thought back on last night in confusion before realization struck her. Silent tears slipped down her cheeks as she took in the man still asleep beside her.When he did wake up only a few remaining tears still slid along her cheek. He blinked, eyeing her in confusion.“Regresaste, estás en casa. You came back, you're home.” She said with a smile.Tony used his thumb to wipe away her tears, before nodding. “Home.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The sound of the front door opening drew her attention from the tv. She sent Tony a raised brow from her seat beside him on the couch. “You expecting company?”“Tones?” A voice called from the entryway.Tony grinned as he pushed himself from his seat. “This should be good.”“Rhodey!” He called back as he disappeared into the front hall.Liyah attempted to lean back in her seat to see before giving up. Grabbing the remote at her side she began to flip through the tv channels without really watching.She killed Obadiah Stane. She shot a high-profile person in the head. Twice, she remembered. It was at the same time but still. The thought had been replaying through her mind all morning.“Liyah?” Tony called, startling her out of her reverie.Wincing as she accidentally bit her lip, she glanced up to find Tony alongside a darker skinned man standing in front of her. “Hm?”“This is the light to my reactor, Rhodey, meet Liyah. Liyah, Rhodey.”Liyah grinned as she offered the man a hand. “I literally can’t tell if he’s talking about you or me.”Rhodey let out a laugh. “At this point, I’m too afraid to ask.”“It’s nice to put a face to the voice,” she said with a grin.“Hell, of a night,” Rhodey began, taking the chair off to the side as he eyed the bandages on her feet.“Walking through glass barefooted? Yeah, not my best idea,” She returned.Rhodey raised a brow, “What happened to your shoes?”Liyah frowned, what had happened to her shoes? A vision flared behind her eyes, of men pushing her into a chair, a sack still placed over her face. Hands tugged her arms as they secured them behind her, another set pulling off her boots and taking the knife secured to her ankle. “They were confiscated at some point,” she stated, blinking the vision away as she refocused on the two men in front of her.Rhodey’s eyes widened. “By who?”She shot Tony a glance as he reclaimed his seat beside her. “Stane,” he answered dutifully.Brow’s drawn together in confusion, Rhodey looked to Tony. “Why would Stane--”“Remember how you were all convinced she’d taken off,” Tony asked crossing his arms. “Wait, what?” she asked, taken aback.Rhodey ran a hand down the back of his neck. “When Pepper and Happy met us at the airport, they said they hadn’t heard from you. So, we just assumed…”Liyah let out a snort as he trailed off uncomfortably. “Hardly. When I make a promise, I keep it.”Rhodey looked over at Tony. “She scares me.”Tony grinned, “I know right.” His grin slipped into a frown as he glanced between the two. “Do I want to know what this promise was?”Rhodey looked at her and she shrugged. “Your girl here decided to claim vengeance on your kidnappers.”Tony turned to her expectantly.She hadn’t gone into the building knowing she was going to kill Obadiah Stane. But, she realized, she had been prepared to.She shrugged innocently. “In my defense, you and Pepper were arguing way too long, and he was pointing like sixty different missiles at you! Missiles! Complete overkill, when it really only takes one bullet. Well, two,” she amended.“That entire suit was overkill,” Tony agreed, even as sadness gleamed in his eyes.Sadness. Because the man she hated, had been close to Tony. Like a father, or something close to it she deduced from the tightness around his eyes. His fingers trailed absentmindedly over the reactor, shining blue beneath his shirt.Rhodey looked between the two. “I thought Stane went up with the lab.”Tony rolled his eyes. “I’m sure they’ll work something out in the ‘official’ story.”Liyah’s heart skipped a beat at the admission. “You mean I’m not going to jail?”Tony frowned. “What?”Biting her lip nervously, she cast her eyes to the hardwood floor. “I just, that’s how it works, isn’t it? You kill someone you go to jail?” She wasn’t exactly hiding from the police either.A finger tilted up her chin, “Is that why you’ve been zoning out, you were worried about jail time?” Tony asked, still trying to catch her eyes.Liyah pouted as she finally made eye contact. “I thought it was reasonable.”Tony blinked before his eyes softened. “You’d go to jail for me?”“If it came to that? Yeah,” she murmured.“Wait a minute are you trying telling me that this tiny, yet scary, woman killed Stane while he was in the armor,” Rhodey broke in.“His top half was exposed,” Tony supplied, throwing an arm around her shoulders.Liyah nodded, as she leaned into the contact, curling up beside him. “Practically a walking target.”“One shot?” Rhodey asked. “You practice?”Liyah shrugged aware of Tony’s eyes on her. “My mother was… adamant that my siblings and I would be prepared for anything. It’s one of the reasons she lost custody of us.” Of me, she added silently.Tony and Rhodey gaped at her.“It’s a long story but,” Liyah added when Tony opened his mouth. “I don’t know much about where my mom came from, just that she was,” she paused as she grappled for the word. Instructed? No... Coached? Closer but, “¿Entrenado?” she asked looking at Tony with pursed lips.“Trained to what?” Rhodey asked.Relief flooded through her as she snapped her fingers. “Trained! She was trained!” That word would have bothered her for the rest of the day. “It was all she’d known until she met my dad in Cuba.”Tony cleared his throat. “Trained to what, Liyah?” She licked her suddenly dry lips, “Trained to fight. To kill,” She added looking between Rhodey and Tony. She didn’t miss the look they shared before they settled back on her. She held their gaze as she crossed her arms.“She did the same to us, started us from the time we learned to walk.” She paused, as long-repressed memories of her mother came forth. “Ya meneye zhestokiye,” she heard herself say. She blinked and cleared her throat. “She would say, she was less cruel than her instructors when I would whine too much.” She whined a lot as a child, but she’d been pushed harder than her elder siblings. She supposed everyone said that though. That when compared to their siblings, they were the ones being treated unfairly.“Dad found out,” she continued, “when I was eight or nine. He put a stop to it, but she still found a way to teach us.” She shivered. “Then the accident happened. She had full reign after that. It wasn’t until Dom and Xander turned eighteen that they got away, with Mia.”Tony stayed silent, but Rhodey leaned forward in disbelief. “They left you with her?”“She knew what would happen when they turned eighteen,” she forced out around the tightness in her chest.Rhodey scoffed. “Given the choice, I think it would be obvious.”She looked to Tony and something in her gaze made his eyes widen imperceptibly. “You told her.”Liyah flinched. There was no inflection in his voice, no disgust. Just fact. She had told her mom, not by choice, of course. “She took me and ran.” All she could remember was running. Moving from place to place on a whim. “Xander got me back, eventually,” she stated matter of factly. “She kind of vanished after that. Then Xander left me with Dom and Mia.”“You told me she died,” Tony pointed out.Liyah shrugged. “She might as well have. Tony, there’s no trace of her, anywhere,” she emphasized her words with the shake of her head. “X warned us no to look into it.” She shoved thoughts of her mother down. Way down. “Three mutants on their own, we might as well have been orphans.”Rhodey’s eyes widened. “Mutants?”She was telling all of her secrets today, she thought with a mental eye roll.“Liyah here is a fortune teller,” Tony supplied a twitch of his usual grin.He eyed her skeptically. “Really?”Liyah huffed out a laugh as she nudged Tony in his side, thankful for the topic change. “I get premonitions. Past, present, future. The visions are stronger with skin contact or something that belongs to the person.”Rhodey frowned. “Could you have helped find Tony?”Liyah shook her head. “I don’t get locations, I mean if it’s a familiar place that I know, sure. But the background doesn’t usually stand out.” She glanced at Tony laying her hand on top of his. “I did try though,” she whispered.**********************Rhodey and Tony had disappeared down into the lab after their conversation, they’d offered to bring her down but she’d claimed exhaustion and she was still trying to catch up things. Turns out, running a market and a garage is hard to do when being held captive. Luckily Jessie and Robbie kept things from falling into too much disarray.The sound of heels clicking along the floor sounded and she glanced in the direction of the noise before turning her gaze back to the TV. The clicking stopped, but she didn’t look over at the woman standing in the archway.“Tony’s in the lab with Rhodey,” She offered, still not glancing her way.Heels began to click again but instead of growing distant the sound grew louder, then softer until Pepper was standing in her peripheral vision on the plush floor rug. “I think we should talk about what happened,” she stated, one hand on her hip.Liyah pursed her lips. Grabbing the remote off the couch, she paused the program on the TV. Finally, she dragged her gaze to the woman, taking in her black pencil skirt and white blouse beneath a matching blazer. Her red hair tucked into a neat bun, Liyah matched the woman’s gaze. “Okay let’s talk.”Pepper let a huff, taking a seat in the chair opposite the couch. “I don’t love him. Not like that,” she began.Liyah shrugged.Pepper leaned forward in the chair. “Seriously. You can’t go around saying things like that,” she whispered. Looking around as if Tony or Rhodey would suddenly appear.Liyah held down another indifferent shrug. “Well, I can only go off of what a person does and you were showing heavy symptoms of--”“Tony is a… handful,” Pepper broke in, tucking an invisible piece of hair behind her ear. “And it’s an unspoken part of my job to hound him, god knows the man doesn’t care about deadlines.” Pepper let out a dry laugh. “My point is it requires a lot of one on one time, okay?”Liyah raised a brow. “Personal assistant, right.”“Exactly!” Pepper said as if that explained everything.It didn’t, but she continued to listen.“And sure, at one point, in the beginning, I may have developed a crush but it’s nothing like that now.” Pepper pulled at her bun until her hair spilled over her shoulders, her posture relaxing with it. “For the longest time, Tony has been a one-night stand kind of guy. I figured… I figured that night when you two came in together that that’d be the end of it.” Pepper sent her a knowing look.“But then you were there, as my driver no less, and after talking to you, you seemed like a really nice woman not to mention one hell of a driver. So, I offered you the job, which,” she added placatingly, “I still don't regret. But then at the party, you saved that girl and Tony looked at you like... well let's just I've never seen that look on his face. Then the signature incident with the papers happened.”“Hadn’t slept with him then either,” Liyah pointed out.“But seeing you there at the house again--” Pepper shook her head. “Maybe I was jealous, but I'd like to apologize.She allowed her surprise to flicker across her. “Apologize,” Liyah repeated with a nod. “Apologize for what exactly?”“There was a lot going on, the day you came to Stark industries,” Pepper explained at the confusion she was sure was written across her face, “and Tony had just gone missing and there was no one to blame at the time so, I took it out on you.” Pepper switched to the couch leaving a bit of space between them. “I know that you care for Tony as much as we do and it may not seem like it but sometimes he could use some protection.”Liyah let out a snort. “He could use a bit of that.”Pepper nodded. “And whether you’re his friend or girlfriend or just a frequent bed partner. I’m glad he has you. Yesterday night at the company I saw that.”After a moment Liyah finally allowed herself to relax back into the couch. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have said that even if I believed it at the time. Happy looked really upset,” she remembered idly.Pepper sputtered. “H-Happy? What do you mean?”Liyah froze in her movement to get the remote to look at the red blush coating Peppers cheeks. “Starting now?”Pepper’s eyes widened as she shook her head. “Oh no, you don’t.”Liyah eyed the floor as she thought over the merits of crawling away.“Ms. Toretto,” Pepper huffed.Liyah cringed. “It’s still just Liyah, Ms. Potts,” she stated pointedlyThe woman smiled, “Then just call me Pepper. Maybe when your feet are healed we can go for Mani-pedis?”“God I’d love that, glass is killer on the heels,” she said with a groan.*********** Liyah sat on the couch as the news played, Tony’s press conference taking up half of the screen.Jarvis was doing his best to catch her up on the things she missed. Which happened to be a lot, from Tony being taken by a terrorist organization known as the ten rings, to him shutting down the weapons division of his company.“The truth is, I am Iron Man,” Tony stated.Liyah looked up startled at the screen, the pen perched between her fingertips dropped to the floor with a clatter. “That was not the plan. Was that the plan Jarvis?”“It was not,” Jarvis replied, sounding exasperated.“Did he just… is he insane!” She hissed, a decorative pillow replacing the pen as she clenched it between her fist.She eyed the bandages on her feet, wishing she was able to get up, she should have taken the offered wheelchair. Her own fault really, for walking through a puddle of broken glass.She glanced back up at the tv watching as Tony flashed the press a dazzling smile as he held the piece sign up on both hands. He slipped on a pair of dark blue sunglasses before striding from the podium, leaving the crowd in an uproar.The front door opened and the sound of Pepper yelling at Tony reached her.Tony loosened his tie as he stepped into the room, his eyes finding her on the couch as he made his way over.“Are you even listening?” Pepper hissed.“Stopped listening a while ago, Pep. What’s done is done, no sense in harping over it now.”“There was a plan, Tony, they even gave you note cards.”He let out a sigh as he plopped down beside her. “Cupcake, tell Pepper it’s fine.”Liyah sent him a side-long glance. Was it? Didn’t heroes usually have secret identities? To protect themselves?He let out a groan. “Not you too.”Liyah glanced at the floor searching for her discarded pen. “Tell me why?”Tony searched her face, his gaze assessing before he relented. “Because it’s true. Look if I did what they asked, they could try to make a play for the suit, pull a Lindsey Lohan on the world.”Pepper blinked. “A Lindsey Lohan? Tony, what?”Liyah frowned. “Freaky Friday?”“I was thinking Parent Trap, but I like where your heads at.” Tony sat back with a grin. “Now, the world knows it’s me, the suit is mine.”Liyah hummed “Insurance then.” She eyed the silver tip of her pen peeking out from beneath the couch. “You do realize most superheroes have a secret identity.”Tony grinned. “You caught that bit did you, I’ve never been one for anonymity,” he stated airily.She huffed out a laugh, even as the thought of Tony fighting alone stabbed at her.She turned her gaze to Pepper, finding her watching the two of them.Liyah sent her a grimace. “He’s got a point.”Pepper let out a groan of frustration as she sat in the armchair. “Of course, he does, I just wish he’d tell me it before he announces it to the public, PR is having a field day.”Tony draped an arm behind her over the back of the couch, “It’s what we pay them for. What,” he huffed, “are you doing?” Liyah froze in her struggle before relaxing. “Trying to reach my pen.”Tony chuckled before reaching forward and plucking it from the floor holding it out to her with a grin.“Than-” she cut off when he pulled it just out of her reach and she sat back with huff careful of her arm. “I have been stuck on this couch where you left me, all afternoon.”He arched a brow. “What? I offered you a wheelchair,” he reminded her needlessly. “Do you need a change of scenery?”“I need my pen,” she returned.“I need to get back to the office. Try to keep him from doing anything stupid,” Pepper called, as she left the room.“Not likely!” she and Tony chorused.He sent her a scrutinizing glare and she smirked before carefully straddling his lap. “So, Iron Man…”Tony chuckled as his hands came up to grip her thighs, pen forgotten momentarily.“What?” She asked innocently. “I mean, you did just come out to the world as a superhero,” She raised a brow pensively. “Should we be celebrating?”Tony grinned up at her. “There’s only one way I want to celebrate.”She let out a soft hum, warming at the mischievous gleam in his eyes. “And how’s that?”He slid a hand up to her head to pull her forward to place a deep kiss to her lips before kissing down her neck. As he came back up he paused by her ear. “Buried inside you,” he whispered, before resuming his ministrations.“Directory Fury with S.H.I.E.L.D is on the line,” Jarvis chimed.Tony let out a groan, dropping his head to the couch. “That man is quickly becoming a pain in my ass.”Liyah pressed a kiss to his cheek, before scooting back onto the couch “What does he want?”“He’s the government. He wants control and he can’t have it.”“I assume you have some sort of plan?” she asked, letting a little bit of her worry seep into her words.“Usually,” he stated with undertones that translated to more or less.Liyah nodded reclaiming her pen from the seat. “Give em hell.”Tony chuckled, stealing a kiss before pushing from the couch with a groan. “Did you put him on hold, J?”“He is currently listening to Toxic by Britney Spears,” The A.I. returned, sounding amused with himself.Liyah let out a laugh before returning to her tablet.************************Feet healed a few days later, she used the day to check on the garage before spending some hours at the market. At the end of the day, she debated going home or going back to Tony’s when a text from Jarvis decided for her.Pulling into the garage turned workshop, Liyah quickly made her way out of the car.“Tony? Is everything okay? Jarvis said-” her words broke off as she found Tony laying on a makeshift gurney, a very empty metallic hole sitting in his chest.He let out a frustrated laugh. “I tried to make the wire more accessible but it's- I still can’t reach it.”She shook herself out of her stupor. “I've got you, just let me wash my hands.” Liyah rushed over to the sink scrubbing her hands before drying them off.“Alright what am I doing here,” she asked, doing her best to keep the worry out of her voice.Voice strained he explained. “I need you to reach in, with steady hands and gently grab the wire inside.”She held back a curse. “An exposed wire- Tony that can’t be safe.”“Just don’t let it touch the walls.”Liyah blinked at the forced casualness in his voice. “And then what?” she pushed needing the clear instructions.He held up a glowing reactor for her to see. “And then you’ll attach it to this.”“This is like a really extreme version of operation,” She murmured, reaching her hand inside. Her handmade a squelching noise as it touched a thick liquid and she glanced over at him. “Is that normal?”Tony licked his lips. “Plasmic discharge from the device.”Liyah nodded as she fished for the wire, feeling the thin metal she blinked as a vision flared.
Tony sat pale and paralyzed on the couch as Stane yanked the device keeping him alive from his chest before leaving him to a slow death.
She looked on in dismay as Tony crawled down to the lab, even as she slowly wrapped the wire around her finger before lifting it out. Holding her hand out for the reactor the vision continued as Tony, with the help of Butterfingers, reached a spare reactor in his workshop. Her expression darkened as she attached the last few wires before she allowed Tony to situate it back in his chest.“Sorry, it’s an older model, it might’ve been a bit much to ask,” He said too quickly.Liyah turned to him. “I should have killed him slower.”Tony paused in confusion.Liyah looked into his eyes. “He shouldn’t have- God Tony that thing is practically your heart and Stane just...” she trailed off, not wanting to bring up bad memories for him.Tony clicked the last piece into place. “Wait, did you have a vision during our little operation.”Liyah could only nod.“Is that safe? You just have a vision and keep on moving?”She scoffed. “I’ve been getting them since I was eight, it’s more like a thought at this point.”Tony nodded before letting out a chuckle. “For a second I thought you were going to bale on me.”Liyah’s eyes widened. “Why would I do that? I’m happy to help if you need me.” She reached up to run a hand through his hair before pausing at the goo on her fingers. “Plasmic discharge, right.” She quickly walked over to the sink. “Wait, if that’s the older model then how’d you get the newer one in before?”Tony shrugged, “Pepper, though I don’t think she’d be the first to volunteer to do it again.”Liyah frowned, dragging her hand through his hair. She bit down a smile as Tony leaned into the contact. “I’ll be first then,” she whispered before pressing a kiss to the underside of his chin.She turned to eye the modified workspace, “You need help cleaning up or…”“Dumm-e’s got it.”Liyah nodded dropping her gaze to the brightly lit reactor in his chest her eyes catching on the red puckered skin around it. “That looks like it hurts.”He reached up a hand as if to touch it before dropping it at the last minute. “It’s from using the old reactor, it’ll be gone in a week.”Liyah shook her head. “Do you have a first aid kit in here?”“Behind you, on the third shelf," Jarvis supplied.“Thanks.” She located it easily before setting it on the table beside Tony.“I’ll be honest I had no idea that was there,” he admitted.Liyah giggled as she dug through the kit. “I can see that from the dust it was collecting.” Finding the hydrocortisone ointment, she grabbed a cotton swab from the jar behind him before using it to apply the cream. Making sure to coat the inflamed skin evenly.“There,” she huffed tossing it into a trash bin. “Now, I’ve got bags in the car that I didn’t drop off in my rush to get here, so I’ll be borrowing your fridge.” She walked back to her car, already sifting through the groceries.“Got any dried blueberries in there?” he called after her.He grinned when she held them up in the air triumphantly.“I knew I could put you onto them!” she cheered.
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Not so deleted cut.
Tony’s Pov
Tony took an idle sip from his glass, he’d had two board, read bored, meetings today and had hoped going out would be a good way to end his day. Or start his night. And honestly, both were turning out to be a bust, even if there was a blond eyeing him from across the room.He tsked. Tossing back the rest of his drink before pushing from the bar and making his way down to valet.The club was nice, the music hadn’t been too loud that you couldn’t talk to the person next to you but, loud enough to get lost in the music if you were in the mood. But that was just it, he wasn’t in the mood.A familiar silver Audi pulled to a stop in front of the door and he traded a Benjamin for his keys before climbing in, waving off the attendant’s thanks.He quickly ran through his options. He’d already given Happy the night off and Rhodey was on some Classified mission in Bangladesh. Did he say classified?A night with Jarvis and the bots it was.As houses and civilization grew distant, Tony continued down the familiar back roads.Adam Youngs’ voice cut off abruptly and he glanced down confused just as the night lights in the car dimmed. He cursed, quickly pulling the car to the side of the road just as it cut off completely. Slowly he pulled out the key before putting it back in. The car whined pathetically and he quickly cut the screeching.“Oh, come on!” he huffed. Admittedly, trusting U to do an oil change was a mistake, he’d meant to undo whatever his misguided bot had done. But he’d been… distracted.He climbed from the car with muttered curses, slamming the door as he went, before sliding down into a seated position on the ground. Just his luck. He dropped a hand to his pocket, searching for his phone only to come up short, and then he remembered being nearly ready to leave when Dumm-e spilled an odd oil concoction he’d been trying to pass as coffee onto his clothes.He let his head fall back with a groan, longest day ever. He was just contemplating walking the rest of the way when the flare of headlights blinded him.He was quick to jump to his feet and the car came to a screeching halt a foot in front of him.“Watch it! I almost hit you!” the driver yelled out the window.“Watch it! You almost hit me,” he paused, “yeah, you had it right.”