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Ace closed her eyes, smiling. She was cozy and comfortable. And, another plus, she was with Graham. Whom she was laying against and who had draped an arm around her.
She’d met him about a year ago and things immediately had felt right. Ace had been a bit wary at first, she’d been only joking back in that volcano, but after seeing him a lot at the companion meetings and talking hours with him about things they had been through with the Doctor, she had begun to like him more and more.
They went out, going to restaurants, where she dived into stories about when she was a teenager. Graham took her out walking a lot, mainly in forests, where the birch trees were the most beautiful in the fall, when the white and the orange made a fiery contrast.
And now, months later, everything was so comfortable, that they laid on the couch together. Doing nothing.
That’s when the doorbell rang, once.
Ace looked up, glancing up at Graham and noticing that he’d fallen asleep, mouth slightly agape. She suppressed a laugh, and with a smirk she escaped Graham’s grasp to walk up to the door. She opened it, pushing aside the screen door and frowned. No-one. “Huh?”
Looking down there was a small box, with on top of it a card. Ace looked around the driveway, but there was no-one to be seen. “Hello?” She asked, but no reaction. She shrugged, grabbed the package and went inside.
Graham had sat up and was running a hand through his hair, messing it up. “What have you got there?” He asked.
Ace pulled a face. “I don’t know, I wasn’t expecting anything. Haven’t ordered something either.” She glanced at the envelope and picked it up. “Let’s see. Dear Miss McShane, I…” Her voice trailed off as she read the rest of the letter. “Right.” She murmured as she finished, eyeing the box. “Great.”
“Well?” Graham said, getting impatient, “who is it from?”
Ace shrugged, “it doesn’t say.” And she put the letter aside as she grabbed the box and ripped open the packaging. She sighed as she saw what was in it. It was a miniature version of her, when she had been a bit younger, dressed in camouflage clothing, carrying a rifle over her shoulder but holding a box with what seemed to be supplies.
Graham came over to her, wrinkles forming as he pulled up his eyebrows. “Is that supposed to be you in army attire?”
“Not army, but yes it is supposed to be me.”
Graham shook his head, confused. “But why?” He asked, looking at her. “And who would give this to you?”
Ace sighed. “It doesn’t matter,” she said as she grabbed the box and brought it to a different room to stand on one of the shelves, “I don’t really care who sent it anyways, I get gifts all the time.”
“But delivered at your doorstep?” Graham exclaimed, waving with his hands. “I just find it strange.”
Ace smiled, “I think that was the entire idea with this approach.”
–
But the gifts kept coming, sometimes weeks apart, sometimes days. And nearly almost always when Graham was there. After the twelfth time, Graham stood up from the couch, put his hands on his hips and stared at her as she came in with yet another package.
“No.” He said. “Ace, what the hell is happening?” He sounded tired. “If you are dealing with someone else, I would prefer that you would just say it.”
Ace frowned. “I am not dealing with anyone other than you Graham, I don’t think I even could if I wanted to, you are a handful.” She grinned.
“So, if not a secret love, who’s doing this then?”
Ace stared at him, sighed and turned around on her heel. “We’re getting in the car, because you are right, we need some clarity. And I think I know where to find it.”
–
In the car Ace explained a whole lot. How when she started with her charity she often went to the actual war zones, trying to help out those in need. “That’s why that figurine had army clothes on.” She clarified.
“So you met a fella there?”
Ace grinned as she parked her car. “Something like that.”
Graham looked up to see where they were, “an airport?” He wondered.
Ace glanced at him. “Americans.” She only said. And that’s how they got a ticket and flew to New York, where Ace ordered a taxi and it didn’t take long before they got to their destination.
It was a huge building, one of the skyscrapers in the city. When they had walked inside, Ace flashed a card and the secretary smiled politely. “Mister Stark has been expecting you.” She said, gesturing to one of the elevators.
"Stark?" Graham wondered, glancing at Ace. She just smiled at him.
Up in the elevator, Ace explained; “Back in 2012, after the battle in New York, I was helping. Using my money to set up camps and rebuild houses. Tony Stark, who I knew from my charity work, recognised my hard work. He already told me then that he wanted to do something back, but honestly I thought he had forgotten.”
The lift doors opened; Revealing a man in a simple suit, sporting a goatee and smiling broadly. “Dorothy McShane!” He said, welcoming them as he walked up and shook their hands. “Well done, I would give you a sticker, but you are several weeks late.” He grinned, eyes moving to Graham, who was standing still, starstruck. “And Graham O’Brien, I already hoped you would bring him McShane, you two are quite the couple.”
“You… You are Tony Stark! Iron Man!” Graham said, as if he had thought that Ace had been joking.
Stark grinned. “The one and only. Come, I was just working on something…” He led Graham forwards and they stopped at a sports car that was parked in the middle of the penthouse. Graham could only stare at it, admiring the vehicle in front of him. “Yeah! My beauty, don’t tell Pepper…” He whispered that last part.
Ace could only watch with a slight smile as Graham was led around some other cars, Tony babbling about it, “Beautiful harmony with speed…”
“You should get used to it.” A woman next to Ace said, she turned around and recognised Pepper Potts. “Once he gets started, he never really stops.”
Ace glanced at her. “I can see it happening yeah, respect how you deal with it.”
Pepper nodded, leading Ace to the kitchen, where she got two wine glasses. “While those boys are admiring their toys, why don’t we talk some business?”
Ace grinned as she grabbed her glass. “Sure, I think they are going to be busy for a while, so yeah… Cheers!”