Tony rubbed his temples of the tension he could feel building in his head and pressing against his skull, resting his cheek against the workbench in hopes that the cool would bring him relief. His broken gauntlet was beside him, sparking slightly after another day spent with the Illuminati and looking the very picture of pitiful among the other broken and half finished inventions he had scraped out.
Poking at it with his screwdriver, he frowned when it made a hissing noise, and slowly sat back up and running a hand over his face. Exhaustion was settled heavily on his shoulders, making him slump over the workbench and resemble a much older age than he was.
Jumping when PEPPER suddenly alerted him to an incoming message, he made a gesture with his hand for her to continue before the unmistakable voice of his secretary came on announcing that he had a visitor. Frowning, he straightened up and rolled his neck out. “And who may this visitor be?” He questioned, stretching his arms out.
"A Miss Rumiko Fujikawa, sir."
Tony’s breath stopped in his throat, frozen in place by the old name. He must have heard her wrong, right? Rumiko was dead; gone. Nothing more than a memory he had buried years ago.
And yet …
"I’m sorry, did you just say Rumiko Fujikawa?" He asked, rising from his seat in search of an appropriate shirt.
"Yes, sir."
He stared, now on alert for a potential threat. Tony’s memory may have been patchy on the Skrull Invasion, but that doesn’t mean he hadn’t studied the little bastards able to manipulate themselves into people he knew.
"Send her down," he instructed, pulling a shirt over his head and taking a gauntlet from one of his armor pieces, securing it. He wasn’t taking any chances.
Rumiko waited as patiently as she can. After all, it /has/ been ten years since she last saw Tony. A few more minutes couldn’t hurt at all. At least, that’s what she thought. Her heart ached to see him again. Ached to hopefully just wrap her arms around him and tell him that she was back and nothing would ever change that.
God, she misses him so much.
After getting the okay, she listened to the directions on where to find Tony, because let’s face it, she was around when Tony still had Avengers Mansion. Was that building still around? Ru pondered to herself then quickly made her way to the workshop. And finally, to a door.
Her gaze lingered on it. What if Tony had moved on? She couldn’t be mad at him. However, she can give him his blessing. A sad smile appeared on her features then. What if he had kids? No, no, no time for that kind of thought. Breathing out shakily, she knocked on the door, waiting for him to answer.
After one more knock, she decided to speak.
“Tony? Tony are you in there? I mean, of course you should be, otherwise why would your secretary send me down here, right?” she said, laughing a bit. God, this was weird. She shouldn’t be like this around him. “Tony, it’s Ru,” she finally said, hoping he would open and greet her.