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IRON AND FIRE: PART I

01. grumpy beginnings

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Seated on the edge of the bed, Abby Stark got dressed as fast as she could. First her bra, then a black shirt and her red blazer. She got to her feet and snatched her pants up from where she'd thrown them on the ground earlier that evening. She put them on as fast as she could without stumbling. Then she walked towards the mirror and quickly added some red lipstick.

For a moment she allowed herself to just stand there and look at herself. It was only because she looked in the mirror every morning that she was starting to notice the ever growing bags beneath her eyes. But it was nothing a little make-up couldn't fix. The many long hours she was making at work were starting to catch up with her.

After one last glance in the mirror she turned back to the bed and grabbed her phone from the nightstand. Her eyes flickered to the sleeping form of Maria Hill, who hadn't heard her weekly booty call get up early and slept on soundly. What was supposed to be a one night stand had somehow transformed into a weird relationship mostly consisting of comfort sex. There hadn't been much more to it in the beginning but Abby couldn't help but admit she had begun to enjoy her company. It was nothing romantic for either of them, but they had their fun together.

She put the blankets in place before quietly retreating from the room. She made herself a quick breakfast and left the apartment in a hurry, leaving Maria a text explaining her early morning. It took her every bit of restraint she had to not pass any redlights on her way to the Triskelion.

Today was her presentation to the council about the latest developments they'd made at STAKE. and she was late, which was a downright nightmare. It was the downside to her otherwise fantastic job; the endless briefings and meetings. Nothing happened at SHIELD without passing the board first. Everything she did with their budget had to be explained and met with approval. Abby hated every second of those meetings but there was no way to get out of it.

She parked as close to the entrance as she could and hurried inside, cursing herself for choosing to wear heels. She was gonna be late no matter what she tried and so she went to get her usual morning coffee in the cafeteria. With the steaming cup in her hand and her laptop beneath her arm she hurried through the hallway towards the elevator.

She turned right, coming closer towards her destination when suddenly she collided with something hard. A startled yelp escaped her lips as she stumbled. The coffee slipped from her hands and spilled all over the marble floors and her blazer.

An exasperated sigh escaped her lips. 'Great,' she mumbled, looking down at her now ruined blazer. It was her favorite.

'Shit, I'm sorry,' the man said.

Abby ignored him and took off her jacket, now ruined with coffee stains.

'Here' the man said, shrugging off his own leather jacket. 'Take this.'

She raised a brow and hesitantly took his jacket.

He shrugged. 'You look like you're going somewhere important. Can't just show up in a shirt.'

'You're hilarious,' she deadpanned but put it on anyway. Then without another word, she walked around him with every intention of getting to her meeting.

'I'm gonna need that back!'

She spun back around. 'My office is on the eighth floor.'

He watched her with an amused spark in his eyes. 'You don't smile easy do you?'

'Get me a new coffee and I might,' she replied. 'Are you done?'

'No, I'm Clint Barton, nice to meet you,' he smiled and offered her his hand.

She rolled her eyes before turning around and walking away once again, not planning on letting him hold her back any longer. This was a waste of her time.

'So, who are you?' He shouted after her.

'I'm late!' she replied without as much as a look over her shoulder.

Abby hurried through another hallway, turning left at the end and finally reached her office. Quickly she opened the door and set her laptop down on her desk. She was about to sit down when her eyes fell on a golden envelope that lay in the middle of her desk.

The meeting disappeared from her thoughts as suddenly that little piece of paper was the only thing that mattered. There was just one person she knew that sent her letters in a golden envelope. For a second she just stared at it, about to leave it right there and not ever look at it again but she hadn't heard from him in so long that she couldn't help herself and reach out for it. Her heart was racing as she stared at the envelope in her hand, moving her fingers along the edge. She couldn't understand why she was so nervous all of a sudden. It wasn't like this could be anything special. Her brother had sent her letters in golden envelopes ever since they were little.

It started out as a joke. Once they were old enough to understand how rich they were, Tony had jokingly declared that, from that moment on, he would use gold for everything, even envelopes. And after he went to boarding school, he'd indeed only ever sent her letters in golden envelopes, though it was never real gold. Usually the letters would be tough math problems that he wanted her to solve and other times they'd just be dumb jokes that he knew would make her laugh whenever she was sad.

Her hands were trembling as she started to open it, careful not to rip the paper. Slowly she pulled out a white card with fancy curly letters on it. With a frown she read the words:

"Invitation to the Apogee Award ceremony at Ceasar's Palace."

Sighing deeply she sat down in her chair behind her desk. She hadn't heard from Tony in so long and now all of a sudden he invited her to this award ceremony. There wasn't anything else in the envelope but the invitation, not even a written reason why exactly she should go.

Tony had never been one to explain the things he did and she used to be okay with that because she understood him. When they were younger there was nothing he could do that would make her mad. She always protected him whenever dad would be shouting at him, or whenever mom would give him that disappointing look.

As the years went on though and he took over that cursed company, he changed.

He'd always been stubborn and proud but after so many years in the spotlight he turned...indifferent. Especially when it came to his company. He didn't care about the harm his weapons did, as long as he made his money.

But Abby changed too.

She learned to speak out against her father, even if it meant he'd cut her off. She learned to take care of herself and find her own way in the world. And, even if it had seemed impossible at first, she'd redefined what it meant to be a Stark. Abby refused to profit from war and suffering and so she studied life instead. On this earth and out in space.

And she hadn't kept quiet about her views to Tony either. She told him, time and time again but he'd simply pushed her away, not wanting to hear it. The last time they'd seen each other had ended in a huge fight with her storming out of his house. That was more than a year ago now. And so Abby didn't understand why he had decided to reach out to her all of a sudden.

With a shake of her head she tossed the card aside and joined the online meeting.

《 ➼ 》

By the time the meeting was finally over, she was exhausted. The endless questions and stupidity of the council completely burned her out. But as soon as she closed her laptop, her eyes were immediately drawn back to the golden envelope, seemingly burning a hole in her desk. She knew that as long as she didn't make a decision, the invitation would continue to haunt her.

She was so lost in thought she didn't even notice someone knocking on her door, not until the door was carefully opened and a familiar head appeared. A red haired woman had entered, wearing a leather jacket, skinny jeans and boots.

'Nat,' she said, not bothering to hide her surprise.

'Hey,' Natasha Romanoff greeted her with a smile. Then she frowned. 'What are you wearing?'

Abby looked down at the oversized leather jacket Clint had given her this morning. She'd forgotten she was even wearing it. 'Long story,' she said evasively. 'What are you doing here?'

The spy took a seat in the chair opposite her desk and crossed her legs. 'Just came to say goodbye. I'm heading out in a few hours.'

A small smile tugged at her lips. 'Ah, so you wanna know if it's ready?'

'You know me so well.'

Abby shook her head with a smile and got to her feet. She walked over to the vault in the wall behind her and took out a vial filled with a blue fluid. It looked like something serious but it was merely a replica of something actually serious.

'Any trained eye will immediately recognize it's a fake serum,' Abby explained as she handed it to Natasha. 'But I'm guessing that's exactly what you wanted, considering your request.'

'It is,' she answered as she studied the liquid. 'Thanks, Abby. I owe you one.'

'No problem.' She leaned forward and smiled slyly. 'Though I wish you would tell me what you're gonna do with it.'

Natasha smirked. 'Sorry, professional secrecy.'

Abby nodded. 'I know, I know.'

When SHIELD's greatest spy came to her a few weeks ago with the strange request to recreate a radioactive serum, Abby didn't hesitate to say yes. She'd tried many times to get some details on Natasha's mission. But she was simply too good at her job and wouldn't give up anything. In the end, Abby ended up none the wiser but she did get a friend out of it.

Natasha put the vial in her pocket and was about to head out when her eyes fell upon the golden envelope and the card next to it. 'Fancy,' she noted as she picked it up.

Abby turned her gaze to the envelope that lay on her desk. Her eyes darkened, as if looking at something that could explode at any moment.

With a frown, Natasha scanned the invitation and slowly it seemed to dawn on her. She put the card back down 'So?'

Abby frowned at her. 'So what?'

'So are you gonna go?'

There'd been no need to explain much about her situation with Tony. Nat had figured it all out within hours of meeting her. The fact that Abby never mentioned him was enough of a sign that things were complicated between them.

'I don't know,' Abby sighed.

'Getting all dressed up and drinking free champagne. I don't see a downside.'

Abby glared at her, the small smirk on Natasha's pretty features didn't go unnoticed by her.

'Listen,' Nat said, 'this is Tony reaching out to you after almost a year. Are you really going to let this opportunity slide because you're too proud?'

'I'm not too pr-' Abby cut herself off upon seeing the look on her friend's face and she sighed. 'Fine.'

It was true, she was too proud to go. She didn't want her brother to think that one letter would make everything all right between them again. Under no circumstances could she have him think that whenever they had a fight he could simply send an invitation to whichever award he won now and everything would be all right again.

'I know you miss him,' Natasha whispered, still staring at her.

She inhaled sharply, listing all the reasons not to go in her mind, only to realize she had already decided what she was going to do. Standing up from her chair, she started gathering her stuff, turning back to look at Natasha at the very last second.

'I'm taking the first flight to Las Vegas.'

Nat was smiling at her as if she'd known the decision Abby would make from the moment she'd read the invitation.

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The first chapter is here!

I'm honestly having much more fun with this rewrite than I expected I would have. I've always seen Abby as bisexual and I thought it would be fun to dive a little bit more into that this time around. Because, let's be honest guys, Cobie Smulders is gorgeous.

I also really liked revisiting the start of Abby and Clint's relationship. I added a few new things to their first meeting and believe you me, this won't be the end of it ;) Not much has changed between Nat and Abby. They're still the awesome besties you already knew!

I'm personally very proud of this rewritten chapter 1 of Iron and Fire and I hope you guys liked it as well. If you did, please leave a comment or a vote and I will see you all next time!

xx Nelly