Tony pulled his hand away from Sue's and she tried not to show her disappointment. Tony shuffled past her and went to walk around the desk, catching site of the files Sue brought from Reed's lab. His eyebrows pinched together and took the files into his hand.

'What are these?'

'Reed's research in chemistry, biology and physics.'

'I could use these.'

'Really?'

Sue straightened her shoulders and was surprised that she had somehow brought the correct files Tony would need. She resisted the smile that threatened to break through to her face and watched hopefully as Tony walked towards the pipes he was propping up around the workshop.

'Which part? The biology? The Chem-'

She stopped when she saw the man lift a pipe from its unstable structure and slipped the files underneath. He then stepped back after putting the pipe down and grabbed a spirit level that sat on the tool trolley. Sue watched in confusion as Tony put the level on top and let out a satisfied laugh

'Perfectly level.'

'I should've known,' Sue sighed and closed her eyes in frustration.

---

Sue tried to use forcefields to save at least some of the equipment in the workshop, but it was futile. The beam of electric blue cut through the walls, Tony's helpful robots and even one of his cars before he got it centre on the tiny napla shape that would replace the palladium in his chest. Considering Tony didn't care about the damages around his workshop, Sue chose not to either.

'Look at that,' Tony said as the new arc reactor took hold of the vibranium core he created. Sue stood behind his chair and looked over his shoulder as the blue swirled inside the thing that would eventually go into Tony's chest. 'A sustainable power source that won't spend every minute trying to kill me.'

'Sir, the reactor has accepted the modified core. I will begin running diagnostics,' JARVIS stated and Tony pushed away from the table. Sue stepped back and moved so he could stand.

'Notice how I made it the same shape as that little logo on your suit?' Tony said, pointing to the upside triangle above Sue's left breast. 'Thought a rebrand was in order.'

'Yeah, I noticed that. Is that so I can be reminded of the debt I now have to you for making me this? Also, red? I thought I told you I liked the blue.'

'It means that...' Tony stopped her talking and turned to face her completely. Sue halted her quick remarks and waited for Tony to gather his words that he visibly struggled to find. He shut his eyes and sighed, opening them to look directly into Sue's soft, bronze irises.

'... I wanted to see if you would like to join me... as my sidekick-'

'As your sidekick?!' Sue repeated in offense.

'I'm kidding, I'm kidding,' Tony waved his hand dismissively with a smirk on his lips. 'Join me as my partner. You could be The Invisible Woman with Iron Man. Hence the red and the triangle-'

'Napla.'

'Right, right, whatever.'

Sue felt giddy inside. Tony Stark asked her to be his official partner. Iron Man and The Invisible Woman would work together and be known as a duo. The idea excited Sue. Ever since her meeting with Nick Fury, she had thought about what it would be like to be part of team of others that were like her. It made her feel empowered to be part of something that worked for keeping others safe.

'Tony... that sounds great,' Sue started and laughed through the giddiness. 'But I'd have to learn to get the hang of this a bit more before announcing our partnership.'

'What else is there to get a hang of?' he walked towards her. 'You've got the forcefields covered and the glitching's getting better. You haven't glitched once since you've been here. I think you've got it.'

'Sir, you've got an incoming call from a blocked number,' JARVIS interrupted the two and Tony whirled around to look to the screen above.

'That'll be the child-sized SHIELD agent,' Tony said and motioned for JARVIS to accept the phone call. Sue turned around to start cleaning up the workshop that would take days to finish.

'Coulson, how's the Land of Enchantment?'

'Hey, Tony, how you doing? I double the cycle.'

Sue froze and whipped around from her task. The voice was Ivan Vanko's, the man who tried to kill Tony in Monaco and who they believed to be dead.

'What?' Tony said with a face of stone.

'You told me double cycles. More power. Good advice.'

The chuckle that followed sent chills down Sue's spine. She couldn't say that she hadn't thought about that day in Monaco. Seeing Ivan Vanko attack Tony with the electric whips he slashed against the track, had made its way into Sue's mind and was yet to leave. It pained her to think about how he could have split Tony in half if Happy hadn't gotten there with his suit.

'You sound pretty sprightly for a dead guy,' Tony kept his cool as he flickered his gaze to Sue who stood staring at him with wide eyes.

'You too.'

The prison that Ivan was sent to in Europe issued a statement a few weeks prior saying that Ivan Vanko had been killed in his cell. There weren't many details and Tony cursed himself for not questioning it. He had learnt about how the man's father was exiled from America after he was accused of espionage and Ivan was spiteful of the Stark name because of it. It was foolish to assume that a dead man would stay dead.

'Now, the true history of the Stark name will be written. What Howard did to my family over forty years ago, I will do to you in forty minutes,' Sue saw Tony tap on the screens to instruct JARVIS to trace the phone call to a location. He looked to her and motioned his hand to get her to keep Ivan talking to buy him more time.

'I'm sure Tony would love to get together and hash it out,' she called out, willing her voice to stay solid. She hoped she would never have to speak or see the Russian again, but fate never went Sue's way as of late.

'Ah, the woman. The Invisible Woman,' his voice cooed. It reminded Sue of eels; swimming through the depths and slimy to the touch. 'I never liked the British. Always so... how you say, entitled, eh? Once Tony is gone, we can arrange something, yes?'

Sue gritted her teeth together and prayed that Tony would hurry up his process. She noticed how his eyes moved from the screens to her for a moment before switching back to the map that JARVIS showed. Tony wouldn't show it, but his anger was bubbling inside of him at Ivan's words.

'I hope you're ready, Tony.'

'Call trace incomplete,' JARVIS's voice replaced the Russian's and Sue could admit she was glad that the call ended.

'Son of a bitch,' Tony mumbled at the screen. Sue hurried across the room to be behind the desk with him and eyed the map that displayed a red dot in the middle. The trace couldn't pinpoint the exact location, but it narrowed it down to the city and area.

'What is it? Where is this?'

Tony didn't answer as he headed towards the reactor he had made only minutes earlier. Sue's face turned a light pink when he yanked his t-shirt over his head, and she fought the urge to turn around to give him some privacy. She was grown woman and him a grown man, there was no need for child-like embarrassment.

'Sir-' JARVIS tried to start but Tony cut him off.

'You want to run some tests? Run them. And assemble the suit while you're at it. Put it together now,' Tony called out and grabbed the untested reactor. Sue's eyes widened as he pulled the old one out of his chest and dropped it to the floor.

'We are unclear as to the effects-'

'I don't want to hear it JARVIS!'

Connecting the new reactor inside the tube that led to his insides, Tony made all sorts of noises. Sue watched as the reactor powered up to a light blue and caused some of the lights in the workshop to flicker from the strong interference. JARVIS opened the glass case of one of Tony's suits and the suit powered up to walk out and open for its pilot.

'That tastes like coconut,' Tony said with a his strained voice. The new surge of power was something he had never felt before and his blood toxic percentage dropped down to zero percent. He was no longer in the midst of dying.

'And metal...'

Once he adapted to the new reactor, Tony headed over and stepped back into the awaiting suit. Sue watched in awe as it enclosed around him and the helmet fell shut, the eyes lighting up and ready for operation.

'Where are you going, Tony?! Where is Ivan?' Sue tried asking again and Tony turned his head as if he just remembered she was still in the room.

'It's Hammer. The weasel wanted suits, so he faked Ivan's death and employed him to make them for him,' Tony explained through the mechanical suit. 'Now he's going to present them at the Expo in New York and Ivan's gonna make a statement.'

'So you're going to fly to New York? Right now?'

'Yep. Hop on'