A Work in Progress

Her skin tingled and burned uncomfortably as she tossed and turned. Scarlett kicked the sheets off and rolled onto her side. Every movement of the fabric against skin felt like needles jabbing at her flesh. A freezing chill made her shiver with the sheets gone so she curled up and grunted in annoyance. The grogginess of sleep hung on her like a veil. The soreness in her muscles plagued her every move.

She was barely on the reaches of waking, desperate to sleep again, but beads of cold sweat dripped down her forehead, over her cheeks, tickling. Frustrated, Scarlett resigned to the fact that she wouldn’t be able to sleep any longer and stared into the darkness of her bedroom. The curtains were drawn and her eyes adjusted after a minute or two. As the room spun, she wished desperately for blurry vision instead.

Carefully, she pulled the sheets over her again and shivered from head to toe. Her fingertips were tingling painfully and felt foreign against the sheets. Then her stomach, as if aware of how uncomfortable she was, dropped. Nausea threatened the back of her throat, and she could taste the sick spit that preceded the inevitable.

Scarlett sat upright, swinging her legs over the edge of her bed. Every move she made sent a deep ache through her muscles. Elbows against her knees, she held her head in her hands and took slow, deep breaths to try and knock out the nausea. It wouldn’t work, but wishful thinking anyway. Groping blindly on the nightstand, Scarlett found the tin of ginger candies and popped one in her mouth.

It was an immediate regret.

Rushing off of the bed with sudden urgency, Scarlett tugged the loose sheet and dragged it with her to the bathroom. The candy hit the back of her throat in exactly the wrong way and triggered her gag reflex. With the nausea so bad, it was too much. She was hunched over the toilet, sick for what felt like eternity but was only a few minutes.

Her sinuses plugged up, her body ached from head to toe, and she shivered with fever.

Coughing, she finally lifted away from the toilet and sat back with a sigh. Scarlett’s eyes were stinging and sweat dripped down her cheeks. Pushing her messy hair away, she grumbled and then flushed the toilet. Something about the way her stomach was turning warned her that she wasn’t done. Shivering, she wrapped the sheet around her body and scooted to the far end of the bathroom, leaning against the wall. It was cool against her sweaty forehead and for a brief moment it was a comfort before her churning stomach ruined it.

Pushing her hair away as it clung to her sweaty skin, she struggled to breathe. It was always worse in these moments, her lungs. As the medicine fought the poison destroying her body, her body fought back against them both and it made her feel dreadful. She could go from okay to miserable in moments and it took her longer and longer to recover these days. Each inhale made her wheeze and pain rattled through her lungs from front to back.

She crawled closer to the door and peeked into the bedroom. Tony was sprawled across the bed, half covered by her comforter, asleep. She smiled but it faded as quickly as it came. What the hell was she doing? Resting her head in her hands she cringed at how awkward her hair felt against her partially numbed fingers. Pain radiated through her joints and she ignored it.

Was this a huge mistake? The thing with Tony was trouble and she’d known it for a long time but she’d allowed it to happen too. Scarlett couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt like this. Not romance, that is, but allowing herself to be vulnerable the way she was with Tony. She wasn’t sure she’d ever been this way with anyone. And here she was. 

She fucked around and now she was going to find out.

What they were doing was entirely reckless. Incredible, but reckless. She’d avoided him on purpose in the beginning. Yet here he was, in her bed.

All she wanted was him. 

Scarlett was desperate to see him but also panicked to be in the same room. It wasn't until then that she realized how many of her actions were guided by fear. A different fear than she expected. Maybe she hadn’t only been protecting Tony from her but was also protecting herself. Up until now she had nothing to lose but her life. When this poison inevitably won the war inside her, shut her down, she would die and that would be that. She was sure that some people would mourn her but nothing catastrophic.

Not anymore.

She didn’t want to die. Not when she suddenly had so much more to live for. Scarlett was afraid of death before but not because of what she’d lose.

It was all so stupid.

“Hey…”

Scarlett made a surprised sound and nearly leapt out of her skin, knocking her head back against the wall with a whine, then she rubbed it with a pout. Tony stifled a quiet laugh. He stood in the doorway of the bathroom, sleepy eyed and naked. Scarlett wouldn’t deny that it was nice.

“You okay?” Tony tilted his head curiously and reached to flip on the light but then thought better of it. Scarlett was searching him, unsure of what to say. “Did you throw up? You’re really pale.”

Tony crouched next to her. Carefully he touched her forehead, pushing her curly hair away from her face. She was hot and while he had never been a good judge of fever before, it was obvious that she had one. “You’re burning up. Jeez.” Scarlett nodded after Tony pulled his hand away. “You’re sick?”

Scarlett nodded again, her usually brave voice escaped her and the knot in her throat nearly triggered her gag reflex again. Tony tilted her chin up like he had done so many times that night. Her blue eyes were gray and weary. She stunk of guilt for the secrets she kept.

“How long?” Tony wasn’t surprised. He’d known as much, he just didn’t know the details. He’d wanted it to be wrong but he had also accepted the truth.

“Months.” Scarlett managed, grateful when her voice wasn’t as frail as she felt.

“So, the secret meetings with SHIELD were medical in nature after all. Not just the whole thing with your ex.”

Scarlett nodded again. Tony was no idiot. He was the smartest man she’d ever met. He saw the truth. She should have known. “Some of it was my ex but yeah, SHIELD doctors.”

“What is it? Doesn’t seem like cancer.” Still crouched next to Scarlett, naked as the day he was born, Tony watched and waited, hopeful. 

She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. How could she ever explain this? It wasn’t like it had a name. Ganter called it a toxic overdose at one point but it wasn’t like it was being flushed out of her system with time. No, it clung to her. At first she’d joked they should name it after her but that had gotten a little too real. After meeting Tony, it’d been much harder to accept. She didn’t want it to be the truth.

She wanted to say it. To tell him. But the words were jumbled. Where did she start?

Ruffling his messy hair, Tony sat next to her and leaned against the wall, tugging the sheet that was wrapped around her. She released some of it so he could drape it over his bottom half. For a few agonizing moments, there was silence. Scarlett waited for him to be angry. The silence was killing her.

“What happened with Scott then?” Tony decided that he would get her started. She was obviously overwhelmed. 

Scarlett cocked an eyebrow curiously. She supposed that Scott did start all of this but Tony couldn’t possibly know that. For a moment, she was proud of him for figuring out the name when she hadn’t given it.

“I…”

“I already know that’s his name, Scarlett. I know he’s your ex and I know that he’s at the root of this. You told me he betrayed you, that he was stealing from you. But I know that he’s also involved with MedCo. The Crown.” Tony saved her the effort of having to explain some of it, giving her a delicate doorway to the truth. She hesitated, shocked by just how much he knew. 

“Okay.” She took a breath, relieved her voice didn’t fail her again. Tony had always been so honest with her. He’d needed someone to lean on, someone to listen to him. Scarlett had done that for him. She hadn’t realized how badly she’d needed the same until the last few days. “He set me up.”

“Did he?”

“And I’m sure it’s obvious to you that whatever I did before this it wasn’t running a business.”

“Yeah, I’ve been in this industry a long time. It’s obvious.”

“I don’t know the right word for what I was. A gun for hire? Assassin sounds cold and most of what I did wasn’t hunting people. I hunted things. Information. If there was a job that needed doing that people were afraid to do… I did it.” Scarlett didn’t like this part. She didn’t like any part of it. It made her feel dirty. “Mercenary might be a better word. I’m sure you get the point.”

“I will, at some point, have more questions about that because it’s hot, but yeah, for the sake of this conversation, I get it.”

“I’m sorry, it’s hot?”

“Yeah, well, depending on what you were doing. Hot. And I have many follow up questions.”

“I’ll tell you everything.” Scarlett said and the relief it gave her was immense. She nearly cried, but took a deep breath to assure that didn’t happen. No more secrets. He deserved the truth and she deserved to tell it. “Scott was my long time boyfriend. We dated for years. He was a mechanical engineer when we met in Senegal. I was building. Like I did with you. I was 22, he was 24. He wasn’t my type. I have a bad habit of dating men who are bad for me. Troublemakers.”

“I’m okay with being thrown into that group. Sort of.”

“You would like being called a troublemaker, wouldn’t you?”

“Very much, actually.”

“Fine. Troublemaker.” She stole a glance at him and he smiled. “He chased me. Made me feel pretty. Made me feel special. Gave me gifts and showered me with affection until I finally gave him a shot. He was charming and smart. He was safe.” Scarlett’s smile fell. “And I’d never been safe with anyone before, really. So we dated. I left that company shortly after and started… doing what I was doing. I fell into it. Long story. He followed me. We had a home together. We moved a lot. I traveled a lot. Our relationship was boring. Humble. And I was okay with that for a bit.”

“For a bit?”

“Yeah, the lies got tough. So I had to tell him what I really did. No details, mind you. I don’t talk about clients. You’ll have to deal with that too.”

“I just want the sexy details, no worries there.”

Scarlett leaned her head against the wall and shivered, pulling her knees to her chest. Her body was so damn sore. “Scott hated my job. He had real reasons to, of course, but I dismissed him. It was my job and I loved it. I was good at it. I was finally not bored. I wouldn’t quit just because some guy told me to. He told me he loved me and he just wanted me to be safe. That what I did wasn’t safe.”

“He wasn’t into having a hot assassin girlfriend? Really?”

“Would you be, Tony?”

“Is that an offer? Because yeah, one hundred percent.”

“Tony…” She laughed, but that always made her cough these days. She rested her hand against her chest. It was so sore from coughing all the damn time. Tony gently rested his hand on her knee.

“So he wanted you to quit. You wouldn’t quit. Why stay with this guy?”

“Habit? I just… looking back on it, I feel really stupid. Like I never could explain it properly. I don’t think I realized the truth until I was talking to you about it. He was sweet. Innocent, I thought. He took me back when I fucked up. Which was nice because no one really did that for me before. He’d say that… no one else would. That he was the only one who would love me. And I guess I believed him. I didn’t think about it much. I was with him because I always was. I was the worst girlfriend a guy could ask for. I was never home. I was unfaithful. I could have gone to prison at any time. I wasn’t affectionate, I was… I was just the worst.”

“I think you’re being a little hard on yourself.”

“Tony, I consistently cheated on him for years. With the same guy, actually. A whole different mess than this.”

“...this guy one of the troublemakers? Like me?”

“Tony.”

“Just curious…”

“I know what Scott did was… manipulative. I see that now. Somehow I started believing that he was just the only one who would put up with me but it also doesn’t excuse what I did. I would come home bloody and drunk… agitated. He didn’t deserve that. I thought all he wanted was to love me and… I didn’t love him. I didn’t believe in that. And he uh… he just wanted everything, you know? A normal life. Family, kids, married, grow old together.” Scarlett sighed in frustration with herself. “I wasn’t ready for that. Not with him. Scott was never my speed but I kept coming back. I cheated on him because I hated myself. And I didn’t care what I did because I… what was the point? Don’t pity me, I did terrible things. I think about it all the time. When I can’t sleep? I just… I did this. It’s my fault.”

“Scarlett…”

“He wanted me to be the woman of his dreams. I wasn’t.”

“It takes two to fuck it up that bad.”

“Well, that and I guess I didn’t know him very well after all.” She nodded. Tony knew part of that, at least. “He got into his head that he could save me from myself. That if he did, I would become someone else. Shame on him for believing that. I told him that there was no changing me. That it was take me as I am or not at all and he would tell me that he stayed because no one else would tolerate it.” Scarlett leaned her head back. “About a year and a half ago, almost to the day now, I took a job in the Middle East. Not uncommon. It was simple. Data work. Get in, get out. But it ended up not being so simple. It was a setup. I was captured and it’s all kind of a blur from there. I was there for… a long time. But I escaped. Healed up. Went crawling back to Scott. I thought, for the first time, that maybe I was too old for this. Maybe I had to go straight.”

“Just like he wanted.”

“Yeah. And he reinforced the idea. I thought he was just happy to have me. But he didn’t like me, I think. We had nothing in common. He talked over me or pretended not to hear me. I just… It felt like no matter what I did, it was wrong. I was wrong. So, I tried to go straight. It wasn’t like I had a hard time finding legitimate work. I know what I am, Tony. But he… he had been working for this company. MedCo. Just seemed like a simple… project development thing. I interviewed which was awkward because I didn’t… like it. Everything felt wrong about it. The people who I interviewed with were, well… they rubbed me the wrong way. But I took it because it was with Scott and it was normal.”

“I imagine you didn’t interview much for the other stuff?”

“No, I had a handler. People sought me out. Not the other way around.”

“So more like freelance work, right?”

“Tony…”

“Keep going.”

“So, we were working together right? And I found some stuff out about MedCo that… didn’t sit right with me. Connections to organizations that… did some terrible things. I’m not… Tony, I’m… I’m not a good person. But I didn’t do terrible things for the sake of doing them. I had my own morals. I don’t do terror, Tony.”

“An assassin with a heart of gold?”

“Not so much, I’d say.” She continued. “I quit. They got real pissed and I walked out. I went home and… I started going through my closet to get rid of the stuff I bought to work there. And then… I found it. I found Scott’s journals. And inside were pages copied from my journals, Tony. And my journals weren’t like love letters or how my day was or whatever. It was ideas. Sketches. Plans. Machines, weapons, explosives. Designs.”

“That’s when you found out he was stealing your work.”

“Yes. But he wasn’t good at it either. He’d published my work to journals and had taken jobs because of it. I had no idea. And when he got home I was going to confront him but he got so mad at me for quitting. They’d apparently told him all about my attitude and he lost it. He just lost it, Tony. He became someone else. He told me that I had to change my mind. I told him no. And he flipped out. He said I had to because they… they wouldn’t keep him without me. And I asked why and he said they found out they were my ideas. Not his. They wanted my ideas. They wanted my brain. I told him no, and I confronted him about stealing from me.”

“He became someone else so quickly. I was mad. I went to storm out and he hit me.” Scarlett laughed in disbelief. “He hit me. And I was going to deck him, Tony. But he held a gun on me. I laughed because was he going to shoot me? He was very serious. He hit me in the head and I… I woke up chained up in the basement. I say basement but it was like a closet with our water heater in it. He asked me to change my mind when I woke up. I asked him why he would do this. What could be in it for him? He said they’d fix me. That MedCo worked with… genetic alteration and viral mutation and… poison and biology.” She furrowed her brow. “I said no and he lost it again. He kept me there for days.”

“Jesus.”

“Yeah. No food. Water though. He asked me again thinking I’d be desperate. He taunted me and told me that no one would love me after this and I’d never get work again. I don’t know if I have ever been that mad. I lashed out, I got the chain around him and nearly choked him to death. But he kept smashing my head and I eventually passed out.”

“Scarlett…”

“Yeah, it turns out I never really knew him. But the next time I woke up, he was sweet. He was himself and he said he was sorry and that he really needed me to do this for him. I told him no. I begged him to let me go. I’ve never begged for anything before, outside of like… you know, fun consensual sex stuff, but… he held a gun on me and said I’d do it whether I wanted to or not. I told him he’d have to kill me. And he had this syringe. And he just…” She tapped her chest where she still remembered it. “I panicked. It was so much of… something. I just… I kicked him off of me and he dropped the gun. I grabbed it and the needle and as he came at me with the knife, I stabbed him with the needle and pressed the plunger. If I was infected with something then he would be to. He came at me again and I shot him in the head.”

“Shit.” Tony went pale. What did this mean?

“Yeah. I grabbed a key off of his body, escaped. Packed up my things and ran. I got as far away as I could as fast as I could. I went to Thailand for awhile. I like it there. I had money so I wasn’t worried about that. It’s funny. I don’t think about this part as much.” It was true, she didn’t, and now that she did, it was all a blur of trauma and confusion. She shivered. “I got sick. Really fast. My lungs. I just… it was all so fast.” She looked to him seriously, almost afraid to see his eyes. Tony’s were filled with sorrow. “And then they were hunting me. I was attacked in a marketplace and… I was sick. I didn’t know what to do.”

“Scarlett…”

“The only thing I could think to do was call my friend. Tasha. Natasha. We were… allies once. Met on a job but she went straight ages ago. Works for SHIELD now.” 

“Not Natasha Romanoff?” Tony cocked a curious eyebrow. “I happen to know her.”

“I know you do. We always got along.” Scarlett scoffed. “Friends are rare in what I do. Or what I did. Life’s very different now.” She was still adjusting to that. The denial was still there and she didn’t quite realize it. Sometimes she expected to wake up on a job and for this to all be a dream. But it wasn’t. “She brought me to SHIELD. I knew she would. It was why I went to her and not to anyone else. MedCo wants me. They want to know why I’m not dead yet. So I cut a deal with SHIELD. Forgiven for my past transgressions if I cooperate and help them bring down MedCo. I made a deal with SHIELD. Some ideas I’d share. There are some I won’t ever sell. But I was being hunted and their big idea to keep me safe was to make it so I was… everywhere. Hiding in plain sight. I started Refuge and I didn’t realize how much I would love it. It worked for a time. It’s not working quite so well anymore.”

“So what is it then? Has SHIELD narrowed it down at all?”

“It’s complicated. I have been working on it myself but nothing helps. Whatever he gave me that day, it’s… eating me alive. Breaking me down from the inside out. It keeps shifting and changing. Parts of it are so… entwined with me now that I don’t… I don’t know if they can stop it without killing parts of me. It’ll start with my lungs.” Scarlett scoffed. “Scott told me that it would.”

“You shot him, yeah? Dead, yeah?”

“No. MedCo did something to him. Definitely not dead.” She shook her head and then closed her eyes. “And he… he had Barton. I had to save him. I just don’t know what’s in my body anymore. All I know is that these treatments sometimes do more harm than good even if they seem to buy me a little time.” It was a lot longer a story than that. Much longer. But that was the truth of it all. The hard truth.

“So, what does this mean then?”

“Tony…”

“You’re dying?” Tony hadn’t expected this. That this poison or whatever was so ingrained inside of her body that getting rid of it would kill her but leaving it would kill her too. It was overwhelming.

“If I’m lucky… which I haven’t been… I probably have a couple of months, maybe half a year before I’m… bedridden. Short of some miracle. I was lucky for awhile but it’s been bad the last couple weeks. I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to tell you.”

Tony wiped his hand over his mouth and held it there. His head was swimming. How was it that this vibrant woman next to him would be on her death bed in such a short time? He could see the change even from when they just met. It happened slowly, so he hadn’t noticed until they were talking about it. She’d lost weight. The aches and pains. The exhaustion. The coughing. He’d noticed some of it but putting it together was devastating.

“Tony.” Scarlett turned to face him. “I’m so sorry.”

“What?”

“I have tried everything I can think of. I know it’s a death sentence. I tried not to… do this.” She gestured between them. “I avoided relationships. I was buying SHIELD time and… waiting for the end.” With a sigh, she looked away. “Until you. It was why I didn’t give your emails the time of day. But then you literally broke into my office. Almost shot you that day, by the way.”

“Funny, thought you looked awfully defensive.” Tony joked but his playful tone was absent. He was rarely serious but she’d given him a lot to think about. There had never been a puzzle Tony couldn’t finish, no problem he couldn’t fix. There had to be something he could do.

“When you had to run off that first day? I didn’t realize that you’d… you’d needed someone. Not me specifically and in that moment I… I stepped into that role. I saw you. No one’s ever needed me like that before. Before I realized it…” She laughed at herself, feeling tremendously stupid. “I needed you too. God, I’m sorry. I’m just so sorry. I never should have gone to Tasha. I never should have done this. I should have just… let it be. Dead and forgotten. Now everyone around me is a target and I’m just… getting people hurt left and right.”

“No, no, don’t. Stop it.” Tony objected and while he sounded broken up, he got it together quickly. “I’m so glad you went to SHIELD. I’m so glad I met you. I’m happy you almost shot me that first day and… man, am I grateful you took care of me when I needed someone.” Tony was stern and determined, brown eyes serious but not as hurt as Scarlett expected. “I’m not backing down because of this. I won’t let you die.”

“Tony…” Scarlett felt her heart hurt. “You don’t have a choice. I don’t have a choice. I don’t. This is the truth, I’m sorry. After you left the other day, I collapsed. I’m… I know I’m okay right now but I just… I’m so sick. Even now? I’m half the strength I was even a week ago. It’s moving fast now. I thought it was the end, Tony. I’ve never had anything to lose before and now… I just… sometimes life isn’t fair.”

“I don’t care.” Tony shrugged one shoulder. “I’ll find a way. I’ll make a deal with SHIELD if I have to. I will assert myself. Like they can stop me. There has to be some way I can help. We’ll find a way. We have to. It’s not optional.”

“Oh, Tony.” Scarlett felt an ache in her chest. He was determined, desperate. “It’s not…”

“I just got you.” Tony took her hand. “I won’t let you go. Not now. I’ll take every moment we have and I will fight for you. We’ll fight together. When you can’t fight anymore? I’ll do the fighting. I’m not a quitter. I know you aren’t either. I was supposed to meet you that day. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. Ever since I saw those baby blues behind those sunglasses on the news? I just knew. I had to meet you. You’re supposed to be with me.” Tony didn’t believe in fate, he believed in the fate he made. The fate he fought for.  “I know it.”

Scarlett couldn’t believe him sometimes. He spoke about her with such certainty. Not a shred of doubt. Shivering, she looked away. She was sure she’d done him a disservice by coming into his life. She was at a loss for words. Romance wasn’t really her thing. Scarlett had failed at every relationship she’d ever been in. When she was with Tony, it was natural. Like a piece of her that had failed everywhere else finally fit. If Tony wanted to fight for her, for them, then what right did she have to tell him not to? She’d hidden enough from him.

Scarlett owed it to Tony to fight for him too. So that’s what she would do.

“You’re just trying to sweet talk me, I think.” Scarlett got herself together. His devotion made her heart hurt. Tony wasn’t angry. He didn’t hate her after learning the truth. He hadn’t marched off. No, he’d poured his heart out and promised to save her. He’d never once tried to change her. He’d embraced who she was, even after learning the truth. He still wanted her, despite the mess she’d become, despite her inevitable death.

“Well, you’re already naked, what makes you think I’d have to sweet talk you?” Tony exhaled with relief. It felt like she’d given up there for a minute. There was more to this story. This wasn’t the end. He was sure of it.

“Because I’m naked you don’t have to work for it?”

“You have to admit, it makes it exponentially simpler to get what I want.”

“I’m pretty sure I could still freeze you out regardless of how naked I am.”

“What, are you going to put me in a headlock between your thighs because I’m… pretty sure that’s just giving me what I want. So, you know, if that’s your plan, touche.”

“You have no idea just how lethal these thighs can be.”

“Every time I’ve caught even a glimpse of those thighs they’ve just about killed me so, I have a pretty good idea.”

Scarlett laughed and was relieved he wasn’t suddenly treating her any different. No pity. A little sorrow, but that was to be expected. Yes, she was sick, but she had always been sick. Tony hadn’t even scolded her for lying to him for so long. Scarlett would give him the best of every minute she had left.

“Is that so? Because I very much remember you not being single for most of that.”

“And I was a very good boy and kept my hands to myself.”

“Sort of.” Scarlett laughed and Tony gently brushed his fingers over her jaw and tilted her toward him.

“I think you set a record for the longest I’ve gone without… having a woman I was desperate to nail. Do I not get any credit for my noble restraint?”

“I guess you can have a little credit but there’s like… one thing you’re not supposed to do when you’re with someone and that’s you know… not kiss someone else and I distinctly remember a few moments…”

“Is the self-proclaimed cheater over here lecturing me? You said there was a guy? A long term piece on the side? Should I be worried? Will I have to fight him at some point?”

“That was definitely just sex. And we should definitely not get into it.”

“You’re right. I’ll save it for a night where I would like to have really hot makeup sex.” Tony grinned. Scarlett rolled her eyes. Guilt still made her stomach churn but the very least she could do was make him happy with the little she still had. He’d made her happy in ways that she didn’t think she could be. Scarlett knew that with all the bad she was going through, she finally had a little good and that was worth fighting for.

Tony, despite it all, was grateful to know the truth. As terrifying as the truth was, it was better than leaving it to his imagination. Gently, he kissed her, lips lingering against hers afterward with a smile. He got the shivers, like a jolt of electricity ran through him. He’d spent so long waiting to kiss her and now that he could, he never wanted to stop.

Slipping his arms around her, Tony lifted her off the floor, sheet and all, and pulled her right into his lap. She held the sheet over her chest. He kissed her again when she went to speak and she shivered, hand resting on his chest.

“...gross, Tony. I was just puking.”

“Are you still nauseous?”

“No.”

“Then what’s gross about it?” Tony scooped her up into his arms, holding her and using the wall to get back to his feet with a grunt. With a laugh, she kissed him again. Who was she to argue? Tony tripped on the sheet as he carried her back into the bedroom, nearly falling and dropping her.

“Christ!” She laughed, clinging to him as he barely caught his balance. “Wow, thought you were supposed to be smooth or something.”

“I’m extremely suave.” Tony tugged the sheet away from her easily and dropped it to the ground, leaving her naked. “See? You’re already naked. Setting records.”

“God, you’re ridiculous.” She laughed as he leaned her back on the bed.

“Mmm… less teasing, more kissing.”