Nora leaned onto her hand, looking at the moonlit sky, beside her, Tony was standing, a cup of steaming coffee in his hand, he leisurely took a sip occasionally. 

After Tony calmed down from his emotional breakdown earlier, they both opted for fresh air and hence, they were standing under the open sky, on Tower's rooftop. 

"It has been worse after New York," Tony said, his eyes betraying the vulnerability he chose not to show. 

Nora turned around, her back leaning on the railings as she looked toward him, her emerald eyes twinkling with empathy, "I can... understand," she spoke, her voice just above a whisper, "Memories make up the worst nightmares," 

"What haunts you, Nora?" the sudden question caught Nora off-guard, and she blinked before sighing.

"I don't even know what all haunt you, how am I-" 

"Afghanistan, New York battle, the lives lost, the what-if scenarios," he spoke before his gaze connected with Her's, "There the things that haunt me," 

She was stunned for some moments, her eyes searching his, trying to find any sign of joking or amusement, only to find none, she diverted her gaze and heaved a sigh, "Why... why do you even want to know?" 

"I have become an important part of your life, you said," she didn't think, he would remember that "well, Nora, you have too,"

He took a step closer, his hand briefly grazing her's, "You have become an important part of my life, too, sweetheart, more than I would like to admit too," 

His words although sweet, send pain coursing through Nora's heart, she slid down the railings, sitting on the cold floor, "You will hate me if you get to know my past, Tony," she tucked her knees under her, resting her chin on them. 

"I highly doubt that," he said, sitting beside her, his legs in crisscross position, "I have myself made many mistakes, Nora, the weapons I made had destroyed many lives," he said, his voice lidded with guilt. 

"It was not your mistake," Nora blurted out, before looking away, "Fury told me all about... your past, it was not you, your business partner was secretly smuggling them, you didn't even know," her words paused, as she felt her throat drying, leaning back on the cold railing she looked at the sky, "mine, however, were... done in my whole consciousness," 

Tony's eyes were trailed on her face, feeling a pang of sadness seeing her misty eyes, "You were forced to do so, weren't you?"

She looked toward him, her lips curling into a smile, the one that didn't reach her eyes but contains pain, an overwhelming amount of that, "How can, you be sure?"

His fingers gently brushed against her cheek, "Because I have noticed, Nora," his voice was just a whisper, "you want me to believe that the girl, whom I have saw suffering in nightmares, caring for the team, me, had hurt someone willingly?" 

No one said that ever before. 

And he, the one who didn't even know her past was telling her that, giving her the validation she had been craving for years, a place where she belonged to, someone, anyone who would show her a bit of kindness.

Her eyes blurred with hot tears as she gazed into his sunset-colored orbs—the place she yearned to belong. "Don't, Tony," she whispered, her voice fragile. "Don't get close to me. I'll only taint you with darkness, just as my past is stained with red."

"Nora," his voice was soft, a hushed whisper meant only for her, as he leaned in connecting their head, "sweetheart, if being tainted with darkness meant to ease your burden, then let it be, I am a genius, I am sure I could make a light to show me a path," 

After sensing her silence, he continued, "I may not say it, sweetheart, but I have saw the pain in your eyes, every time night dawn upon us, every time something, anything related you or your past is mentioned, you have given me the feel of home I have lost years ago, let me help you," 

Tears rolled down her eyes, as she took in his words, for a fleeting moment she wished to crumble on him, to tell him all her past, all her sins, all her scars, but for a moment, cause the next she was reminded on the very sentence engraved on her mind by years of reptation.

 Do you really think you could be loved, Erica, you are nothing but someone who will bring darkness in others life, your past is far more tainted with crimson of blood, to ever be tainted with the red of love, your own parents abandoned you, others are still strangers,

"I wish, I could," she said, standing up abruptly wiping her tears, "but--" her words died in her throat, feeling the lump in her throat, "but the invisible chains that shackle me are far too strong," 

"I wish, I will one day tell you all, Tony, all," she said, her voice shaky as she left the rooftop with rushed footsteps. 

Tony watched her retreating figure. His mind replayed their fragile connection—the vulnerability, the shared pain. He leaned against the railings, lost in thoughts of a woman who carried darkness within her, yet yearned for light.