Multifandom Oneshots (II)

Tony Stark x Reader

You have a client that comes in every Monday at six. She's your last client of the day, and that's good, because she exhausts you. Every time, without fail.
You go home, ready to shower and go to bed. You go into the kitchen for chocolate milk to find Nick Fury's sitting at your island.
"Oh." You say.
"Well, I was hoping to scare you a little more than that." Nick says with a smile. "Long day?"
"I'm too tired to be scared." You say with a smile. "What brings you here?"
"I need a favor."
"Can't this wait?"
He hands you a glass of chocolate milk. "I just wanna talk about it. Nothing needs to be done at the moment."
You look at the chocolate milk for a second.
"Remember that time I saved your ass?"
"Which time?"
He raises his eyebrows, so you take the glass and sit down beside him. "All right, Nick. What do you need?"
"I need you to evaluate someone."
"Have them call—but during business hours."
"That's the catch—they can't know they're being evaluated."
"Then what do you want me to do?"
"Befriend them."
"I hate socializing."
"Then you shouldn't have gone into psychology. So, are you gonna do it?"
You sip your chocolate milk. It's good—he always made good chocolate milk. "Fine. Who is it? Nat? I've already done that."
"No."
"Clint?"
"Nope."
"Cap?"
"Tony."
"Tony? No. He won't respond well to that."
"That's why he doesn't need to know what it is. Do we have a deal?"
"Fine."
By Nick's instructions, you accost Tony at a bar. You come up and lean against the counter beside him and order a beer. Tony looks tired.
While you're waiting on your drink, you strike up conversation with Tony.
Around eleven, you realize you've been talking to him for nearly three hours and you completely forgot your mission.
"Do you wanna come back to my place?" He asked.
"No." There's a lot you'll do for Nick Fury, but not that.
He laughs. "You know, you're refreshing. Can I take you out for dinner tomorrow?"
"Sure." You smile.
"I'll pick you up at eight."
"See you then."
After a week or so, you realize he's not the arrogant jerk you'd thought. When you get home from lunch with him one Wednesday, Nick's waiting in your living room.
"Report?" He asks.
"You didn't tell me he was pleasant."
"I figured I'd let you make your own judgements."
You start telling him your assessments.
"Is he fit for duty?" He interrupts.
"I can't really answer for that. He seems all right, but I'm assuming he's not, considering Afghanistan and New York." You sit down.
"He looks so tired." Nick says.
"He does."
He hands you a check.
"What's this?"
"Your payment."
"No, it's fine." I handed it back. "I've had fun. Don't worry about it."
"You're working, aren't you?" He pushed my hand away.
"It doesn't count. It's a favor."
"If I know Tony Stark, it's exhausting. Keep the money." He pushed my hand away again and let himself out.

A year later, and you finally agreed to date Tony Stark. You felt guilty giving Nick mission reports, but that was your job first. Now that you knew him better, it was easier to make assessments.
"He's really not fit for duty. He barely sleeps and he drinks a lot. He has nightmares. You really should try to get him to see a therapist."
"You can do that." Nick says, sipping chocolate milk.
"No I can't. He wouldn't stand for it."
"Your front door just opened." He turns around to face the kitchen door, shifting to where he's mostly in front of you.
"Oh, hell no. I'm not having you save me again. I owe you enough as it is." You hiss.
"Babe?" Tony says.
"Shit." You and Nick say at the same time.
Tony comes in, holding a bouquet of flowers and a bag of takeout. He freezes in the doorway and stares at Nick. "What?" He asks.
"I was just leaving." Nick says, standing.
"Um, no. No, sit." Tony sets the bag on the island and hands the flowers to you, his eyes on Nick. "What is this?"
"Nothing." You say casually. "Do you want chocolate milk?"
"No. I don't want chocolate milk. What's going on?"
"I asked Y/N to assess you. But she's refused."
"How do you even know each other?" Tony looks at you both as if you'd betrayed him.
"Just met." Nick says.
"No. I've known him my whole life." You sigh, raking a hand through your hair.
"So what, then? Has this all been so you could assess me? Has it all been a lie?" His voice starts to rise, but he brings it back down to normal and ends in a monotone.
"No, Tony. That's not it."
"I have to go." He says, turning to walk out.
"Tony, please. I love you." You try not to sound desperate.
He pauses for a moment, but then keeps walking. Nick promises to fix it and leaves too, leaving you to cry alone.
You try calling Tony several times, but he doesn't answer, so you go to get in bed. You can't sleep, of course.
When you get up the next morning after a sleepless night, you call Tony again. This time, he answers. "Hey."
"Tony. Hey. Can we please talk?"
"Yeah, I guess we need to." He sounds tired.
When he gets to your house fifteen minutes later, he looks as exhausted as he sounds.
"I can explain." You say quickly.
"Please do." He says quietly, coming in. "Y/N, I... I really wanted this to work."
"I want it to too. Please just listen to me."
He nods. He doesn't look at you while you talk, but he nods his head occasionally. So he was either listening or falling asleep, but you weren't in a position to complain, so you just keep talking.
"I really, truly care for you." You say, reaching out and taking his hand.
He pulls his hand away. "That's why you've been spying on me?"
"That's not how it is. I would've stopped seeing you months ago if that was the case."
"All you had to do was tell me, Y/N. I would have told you whatever you wanted to know."
You look at him.
"Okay, I get it. But you're going to stop telling him now, right?"
"Yes."
"Can you stop assessing me in general?"
"No."
"Fine. You're lucky I love you." He sighs.
"I know."