A/N: Heh, some people guessed who Tony had in mind last chapter. Some people did not. But I won't hold you in suspense any longer...

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Looking around at the rich and powerful people, Maya Hansen wonders, not for the first time, what the hell she’s even doing here. But no… she knows what she’s doing here. She’s trying to salvage this mess. Trying to keep AIM afloat. Trying to keep her lifelong project, Extremis, from dying an ignoble death from lack of funding.

It still didn’t really make sense to her. Aldritch killing himself like he did. Sure, they had hit something of a wall with Extremis. Sure, Maya had told him again and again that she wouldn’t let him move on to human trials until she was absolutely certain that Extremis was safe. And yes, he’d been getting more and more desperate as time went on.

Aldritch Killian, the man that Maya had been working with for eight long years now, had always been weak in body, for all that he was strong in the mind. His physical deformities had driven him to create AIM and build a company dedicated to fixing his problems in the hopes that they could fix everyone else’s problems as well.

Maya wasn’t stupid. She knew Killian had always considered her Extremis to be his path to a healthy body. She’d never minded that their relationship was rather transactional in that way. All she’d wanted was to perfect her baby so that it could be used to help people. If the first person to benefit from Extremis was Killian, so be it.

… But she hadn’t ever really thought he would commit suicide. One of the last times they’d talked about Extremis, Aldritch had brought up the idea of him being the first human test subject if she was too squeamish to test it on strangers. Maya had shot that down of course, but she’d half-expected him to not take no for an answer much longer, and to go behind her back to do it if he didn’t just keep pressuring her until she bent instead.

Except neither of those things had happened. Instead, Killian had taken a nose dive off of a rooftop two weeks ago and now Maya was trying to bail water out of AIM’s sinking ship while fending off the vultures and sharks circling in the air and water, all hoping to get a piece of the now leaderless company.

What was she supposed to do? She was a fucking biologist for fuck’s sake. Killian was the one who had a mind for business, even if his body betrayed him at every turn. She was just the brain behind Extremis and that was it. Only, if she ever wanted to see Extremis fully realized, if she ever wanted it to actually be completed, then Maya had to step into Aldritch’s shoes and find AIM some new investors. And she had to do it fast, before someone snooped around enough to realize that they’d been circumventing the United States Government’s ban on dangerous biotechnological research for the past eight years.

That was why she was here at this party, dressed in as flattering a dress as she could find with her hair done up and makeup that made her look ten years younger. Because she had no choice. She had to-

“Doctor Maya Hansen! Well now, it’s been quite some time, hasn’t it?”

Maya blinks as she turns towards the voice. She recognizes it immediately of course, but part of her mind struggles to reconcile that recognition with the words for a moment. Staring at Tony Stark as he saunters up to her, Maya finds herself a little speechless. Especially when she sees the beautiful red head on Tony’s arm. Everyone knew Pepper Potts as Tony Stark’s right-hand woman and ever-present assistant, but the world was still getting used to her now being his girlfriend.

Still, looking at Pepper, seeing how good she looked in her own dress and makeup… Maya could see how the relationship had started. She feels like a dim, dying star next to the radiance of Pepper Potts in this moment. And yet… Tony only seems to have eyes for her, his smile broad and welcoming as they stop in front of her.

For a long time, Maya had fantasized about how another meeting with Tony Stark might go. The first time they’d met had been at the turn of not just the century, but the millennium. Maya remembered how youthfully naïve she’d been back then. She’d had the attention of the great Tony Stark himself that night, and he’d actually found Extremis to be interesting. Interesting enough that they’d talked about it for hours. Interesting enough that he’d even helped her solve a particularly hard equation… before slipping out the morning after taking her to bed.

Truthfully, the biologist hadn’t known whether to be grateful or resentful towards the man. To Tony Stark, Maya was just another one night stand and Extremis was just something he’d taken a look at for a few hours and solved one major problem with. But to Maya, that night had been the catalyst for the last eight years of her life, and Extremis… Extremis was and always would be her baby, no matter what.

That all said, she’d never in a million years expected Stark to remember her. Yet here he was, calling her out by name, smiling at her just like that night back in 2000. Except this time he already has a beautiful woman on his arm. So what use could he have for her? That doesn’t stop Maya from plastering a smile across her face and playing nice, of course.

“Dr. Stark. I wouldn’t have expected you to remember me.”

Okay, so maybe she wasn’t going to be able to play entirely nice. But to her credit, a little sass felt appropriate. And Tony definitely doesn’t take it personally, not with the way he laughs.

“Of course I remember you! Not every day I have a lady friend blow up a plant in front of me.”

Maya’s smile becomes a little strained at that. If that was all he remembered about Extremis… then she wanted nothing more to do with the man. Unfortunately, before she can begin disentangling herself from the encounter, Tony Stark does what Tony Stark does best, bulldozing right on through.

“Oh! But where are my manners? This is Pepper. Pepper, this is Maya. She’s quite the genius, Dr. Hansen here.”

Before Maya knows what’s happening, Pepper is leaning forward, a dangerous sort of smile on her face that has the biologist’s heart thudding a bit faster in her chest.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Maya. Tony has told me about you. Please… let us get you a drink.”

What? They’d been talking about her? But why would Tony Stark be telling his secretary-turned-girlfriend about a one night stand he had eight years ago? A little bewildered, Maya unwittingly allows herself to be caught up in Tony and Pepper’s tempo. Pulled over to a nearby bar, she winds up with a drink in her hand… and before she knows it, she’s actually talking shop with Tony Stark again, as though the last eight years had never happened.

“Sure, you helped me solve that one equation… but Extremis is so much more complicated than that. I’ve been working away at it… moved from plants onto animals. But… even now, it’s still not perfect.”

Tony shakes his head and gives her a cheeky grin.

“Aim for success, not perfection. That’s the quote, right?”

Maya huffs and takes a sip of her drink.

“In this case, success IS perfection. Can’t be caught drawing outside of the lines here, Tony. Extremis is too dangerous otherwise.”

Killian would have probably gone to human trials years ago without Maya’s pushback. But now that he was gone… she would fight tooth and nail to make sure the science behind her baby was absolutely perfect before she risked using it on anyone. Maya hadn’t gotten into all of this to hurt people. She wanted to help people.

“Well, if Extremis’ creator is any indication, perfection can’t be too far away.”

Maya blushes red at that. That line would have been bad enough coming from Tony, but at least if he’d been the one to say it, she could have laughed it off. However, Tony hadn’t said it at all. Pepper had. The beautiful red head had been listening intently to their conversation this entire time, despite not having any sort of degree or background in the sciences that were involved as far as Maya was aware.

… She’d also been flirting with Maya the entire time. Not that Tony seemed to mind. He couldn’t have failed to notice, but did he mind? Nope. Not in the slightest, as far as Maya could tell.

Still, it was really keeping her off kilter. In fact… Maya could groan. All this time talking to Tony and she hadn’t even considered the fact that a potential solution to her problems was staring her right in the face. Mustering her courage, forcing herself to ignore the bedroom eyes Pepper Potts was giving her, Maya focuses on Tony.

“Look, Doctor Stark…”

Tony raises an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything, so Maya takes a deep breath and soldiers forward.

“If… if you’re still as interested in Extremis as you seem to be, I could actually use your help with something. The company I work for… that is, my company… is in need of investors. We go by Advanced Idea Mechanics, or AIM.”

At that, Tony Stark tilts his head to the side.

“Oh? Advanced Idea Mechanics… hmm, Pepper, why does that sound so familiar?”

Maya furrows her brow, only to jolt as Pepper leans forward again and this time puts a hand right on Maya’s leg.

“Tony, stop teasing the poor woman. You and I both know that you purchased AIM outright yesterday. I’m sorry Maya, but he wanted to surprise you. At this point though, it’s just being mean.”

Wait, what? Maya’s mouth opens and doesn’t close as she looks between Pepper Potts and Tony Stark, completely caught off guard.

“You… I don’t understand. I’m the… I thought I was the primary shareholder of AIM now?”

Tony and Pepper share a glance at that, before looking at her with pity in their eyes.

“I’m afraid it doesn’t quite work like that, Maya. Aldritch Killian didn’t leave you his shares before he passed. That meant when he died… well, they were all up for grabs. You technically had the right to buy them at market value, but it doesn’t seem like anyone informed you of that fact.”

This time it’s Tony who reaches out, though at least he doesn’t go for something as risqué as a leg grab like Pepper. Instead, he places his hand over one of Maya’s hands and sighs.

“I was sorry to hear that Aldritch lost the battle with his demons, Maya. I’ve been keeping an eye on you both from afar these past eight years, but… you seemed to be doing just fine together, so I never wanted to interfere.”

W-What? Maya blinks rapidly, trying to process that and square it with the mental image she’d always had of Tony, ever since that night eight years ago. To say it’s difficult to do so would be an understatement.

“We weren’t going to let the vultures get to you, Maya. Your work on Extremis is too important to fall into the wrong hands.”

Where… where is this coming from? Maya looks between Tony and Pepper, feeling more and more like she’s out of her depths. Pepper had just mentioned vultures… but Maya felt like maybe she was staring down a pair of sharks instead. And yet… the attention wasn’t unappreciated. In a vacuum, Maya would have been quite happy to have drawn the eye of the gorgeous power couple. But they weren’t operating in a vacuum. The world didn’t work that way.

Still, this whole situation with Killian’s shares… it only further showed that Maya had been right in her earlier assessment. She didn’t have the head for business. She was a genetics biologist and that was what she was good at. Someone had kept her in the dark and nearly managed to steal AIM right out from under her, and Tony had apparently stopped them.

At the same time… if Tony Stark really had just bought out AIM, then Maya needed to do everything in her power to get on his good side. He seemed predisposed to keep her research going already… but it couldn’t hurt to seal the deal, so to speak.

That said, Maya Hansen had learned a long time ago from Tony himself not to sell herself too easily. Looking at Tony and then at Pepper, Maya bites her lower lip.

“So. You’ve bought AIM. You… you own Extremis now, is that it?”

Shaking his head in mild amusement, Tony chuckles.

“I don’t like to put it in those terms. As far as I’m concerned, Extremis is your baby, Maya.”

Maya almost wants to ask him if he’ll put that in writing right there, right then. But of course, she knows he won’t. Before she can formulate a different response, Tony suddenly leans forward, far more serious as he gazes into her eyes with an intensity that wasn’t there previously.

“I can guarantee you one thing above all else, Maya. I want to see Extremis completed, no matter what.”

She believes him. She believes every word out of his mouth. But that still leaves her with a burning question, one she can’t help asking.

“… Why?”

Tony smiles thinly and leans back, leaving Pepper to answer that question… with an offer.

“Maybe we should retire to somewhere more private, Dr. Hansen. Tony has a suite at the top of the hotel if you’d like to join us there.”

Pepper’s suggestive tone and the smile on her pretty freckled face makes it abundantly clear what’s being offered here. And frankly, it’s an offer Maya can’t refuse. She needs this. She needs to know Extremis is still in good hands. But more than that… she finds herself fascinated by the dynamic in front of her.

Eight years ago, Tony Stark was a playboy who couldn’t be tied down by anyone, regardless of their looks or their smarts. That was the Tony Stark Maya had met back in 2000. That was the Tony Stark she’d slept with. And if you’d asked Maya what sort of man he was a few months ago, she’d have said that judging by what she saw in the news, he hadn’t changed one bit.

One could argue that his time in captivity had changed him, but now he was confessing to having kept an eye on her and Aldritch all this time. And suddenly it wasn’t just Tony Stark, playboy any longer. It was Tony Stark and his sexy femme fatale girlfriend, Pepper Potts.

Maya had been drowning before they approached her tonight. But she still felt like she was drowning even now. Except… maybe it wasn’t a bad kind of drowning anymore?

With a slightly fragile smile, Maya slowly nods as the two watch her patiently, expectantly.

“I… I think I’d like that, yes.”

She hadn’t gotten to where she was by fearing the sharks or the water. She’d take the leap into the deep end again and again if it got her what she wanted.

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A/N: Damn shame that Killian lost the battle with his demons like that. Lucky for Maya that Tony and Pepper were there to pick up the pieces in more ways than one...

See you all tomorrow!