∆ {4¹} {TONY STARK} ∆

OUT OF EVERYONE in the Avengers Compound, Roxi certainly hadn't expected Tony Stark to be the next one to know her name.

It had been maybe a year since the Battle of Sokovia, and most of Roxi's time was devoted to Natasha, Wanda, and Tony - which, once again, surprised her. She had taken to training Wanda over the past year, helping the young Maximoff develop her powers and ability to fight while she used it to take her mind off of everything. Not only that, but Wanda had spent many hours sat next to Roxi on her couch as the younger of the two asked for advice on how to deal with everything. Roxi had told her multiple times that she wasn't the best person that Wanda could ask, but she had ignored it valiantly and the women had grown rather close, resulting in Roxi being rather protective of Wanda.

Things with Natasha had only got better, and they had begun to spend so much time together that they might as well have been living together. The others had noticed, and hadn't held off on commenting at every chance they got. Roxi was finding herself increasingly comfortable around the beautiful redhead, and she had decided months ago that this was her place. This was where she was supposed to be. Helping Wanda, spending this time with Natasha that the two of them both seemed to desperately need. Roxi was growing less and less afraid, less against letting people in. And then Tony had got back to her, and things had changed, yet again.

Roxi had been firmly set on finding out what had triggered her powers and why she was getting the awful headaches that had got worse over the past year, often resulting in Roxi leaving a room to get fresh air, or leaving her with the urge to hurl. They had become unnervingly violent, and left Roxi with little chance to get used to the pain as the intensity continued to increase. After the conversation that she'd had with Natasha at Clint's, she'd decided that she would talk to someone about it, to get a professional opinion.

Initially, she had planned for it to be Bruce, seeing as he was a scientist and also was already caught up in their world. Though, as he had left with the Quinjet immediately after the Battle of Sokovia, and they'd had no luck at all finding him, that had no longer been an option. Tony had been her last resort, but she hadn't had any other choice, and she had gone to him a month and a half after Ultron, after finally persuading herself to do it. She had walked into his lab semi-awkwardly, settling himself down at one of the benches and watched him tweak part of his armour. They had sat in silence for two hours before Tony realised that the woman wasn't going to leave the room, and had set down his screwdriver with an annoyed sigh as he spoke up.

"So, what? You're gonna go from sulking in your room to watching me work for two hours in silence?" Roxi hadn't been sure how to start. She'd been considering it, only just finding herself able to stop herself from twisting and playing with her own fingers as she waited. It was a common sign of nerves.

"Actually, I was hoping that I could ask you a favour," she admitted, her voice both calmer and softer than it normally was, especially around Tony himself. His features twisted into curiosity as she shifted in his seat to face her, supporting his chin wit ha hand propped up on the workbench.

"Alright, now I'm interested." Roxi spared him a glance, fixing her posture as she tried to delay what she was about to admit, though she knew that she had to do it. For her own good, and so that, just maybe, they could try and help fix it.

"I've been getting these headaches - and before you say anything, I know that that doesn't sound bad. But they're not normal. They started in 2012, right around the Battle of New York when all this started. I thought they would go away, that it was normal. But, they carried on. Through D.C., Sokovia, and all the time in between, and every time, it gets slightly worse, hurts just a little more. It was normal levels of pain to start with, but now, it's getting to the point where it distracts me from thinking clearly. I've been to a Doctor, taken medicine, but it hasn't helped: nobody knows what's happening to me. I would've gone to Bruce, but seeing as he's not here, you're my best shot. I understand that we're not particularly close, but I need to know what's happening to me." Roxi only just kept her voice cracking with her last few words, though she knew that Tony had noticed anyway, because his features softened as he watched her, while she kept her gaze fixed firmly on the white table in front of her.

"That does sound like a bit of a pickle. What is it exactly that you want me to do?" Tony's voice was gentler too, though he didn't let up on his usual 'charms', keeping his sarcasm in full use.

"To help me sort this out, I guess. To try and start figuring out what the hell is wrong with me. I think the headaches might have something to do with my powers. It would link in, but I really hope that it doesn't. As far as I've seen, nothing to do with my powers has ever got me anywhere good," she answered, whispering her last sentence, "especially when I can't fucking save anybody." Tony sent her a look of outright surprise, standing up, but making sure that he seemed relaxed. It was highly unusual for the woman to open up, and Tony was surprised she'd brought the issue up at all.

"Okay, one; I'm just gonna say I'll help because I think Natasha's much more qualified to deal with what's going on in your head, and two; are you drunk?" To his surprise, the woman beside him let out a chuckle before tilting her head to the side in a 'maybe' way. He was shocked by that answer too. The woman presented herself as so put together, so tough, strong enough to fight anything and help anyone, but he didn't see that version of her now. 

This woman was one who had come to him, Tony Stark, for help, something that would've seemed impossible four years ago when they'd first met. This was one who was a little tipsy in late afternoon, one who was opening up to the people around her, who didn't pretend like nothing could hurt her, or that she could do everything she needed to. He had a very large suspicion that Natasha was the main cause of the change, and that she would continue to have the most effect on the woman next to him that had recently let her hair fade back to its natural deep brown. It was, in that moment, that Tony Stark realised that the Ryder woman was far more damaged than she would ever let on, and that she had done much more for the team than he could ever imagine. It was from that moment that he decided - even though she already had Natasha - that he would help this woman. He would try and protect her, even if she didn't realise that she needed it. Because some parts of the woman reminded him of himself, and that was something that he didn't wish on anybody. 

There was a moment of silence where she seemed to sober, finally wrenching her gaze off of Tony's table and looking up at the man's face.

"Will you need to look through my files?" Her voice was once again quiet, barely above a whisper, and if the silence around them hadn't been so suffocating, Tony wasn't sure that he'd have heard her.

"It would help, but if it makes you uncomfortable.." His decision started now. The woman clearly didn't like looking into her past, and even with what he was asking of her, he didn't want her to be uncomfortable, twitchy or unnerved while they looked into the origin of the headaches. He scoffed internally for a second. He sounded like one of the therapists that Pepper had tried to hire for him in the six months after New York; before they had taken a break. The woman shifted in her seat slightly, clearly contemplating what she was going to say before she  did it

"Alright," she paused, before allowing a small smirk to play on her face as she looked away from Tony again, "you were wrong, by the way. About my name, every time. It's Roxi, not whatever ridiculous suggestions that you came up with. What was one of them, Annabeth?" As she continued to list the eccentric names that the man had come up with, she was too preoccupied by her train of thoughts to notice, that Tony was staring at her with his jaw dropped.

When she realised that Tony was being unordinarily quiet, she turned her head to see him staring at her with that same look. One of amazed disbelief, undiluted shock, and there was something that gleamed behind those emotions. It was pride. Who it was in, Roxi had no idea. For now, all she could do was hope that she hadn't made the wrong decision.

"Right then, Ryder, shall we make a start?" And Roxi allowed herself to smile at the man, who finally seemed to understand what her first name carried with it. She nodded, and that was the night that their research began, though both of them treasured it far more closely. It was the night that they'd found a friend in one another.

Now, when Roxi looked at the single sheet of white paper that she held in her hands, covered with lines and lines of Tony's printed words, she was still glad that she had done it, even if the answer hadn't been something that she was ready for. But she had people beside her. She would get through it, with Natasha, with Wanda, with Tony. A new era of her life had begun, and Roxi wasn't taking any chances to mess it up, especially when everyone seemed to be doing so well.

Even though Thor and Bruce were nowhere to be found in the Avengers Compound, Roxi felt more at home than she ever had before, and she wouldn't let anyone take that from her, especially herself.

Her phone rang. She checked the number and brought it up to her ear just in time to hear Natasha's voice tell her the details of their next mission through the crappy speaker.

"Looks like we're going to Lagos."

{A/N:} I'm sorry I know this is hella short but it is more of a filler. But this chapter is actually really important to me because I have plans for Tony and Roxi's friendship in the future. I have a lot of plans in general lmao. I'm so glad I got to write this tbh. I'm proud of Roxi, she's letting people in (even if that involves a little alcohol) and I've wanted her to have this sort of  friendship with Tony for a while, the same with she and Wanda.

This chapter is probably shitty, I was feeling really half-assed while I wrote it, so sorry about that. But, the more important part; Civil War is officially in progress, and I have quite a few plans for it (i think, they always seem to last longer in my head). But yeah, I'm excited to write this.

Quick question, what are you guys' thoughts on Roxi and/or this book? Ty x

Pls vote, comment, let me know what you think, etc.,

2000 Words

Written: 20 / 03 / 2021

Published: 20 / 03 / 2021