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shawarma shenanigans

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Cara's eyes opened to darkness. She rolled over to face the window in her room, and the moon stared back at her in all its white glory.

Groaning, she stretched out her muscles and stood up. Checking the time showed her that it was now close to midnight, but the silence that greeted her when she opened her bedroom door told her that no one was awake.

She knew that sleep had been taken from her the moment she opened her eyes, so she tried to find her way to the kitchen, ideas of a cookie in her mouth making her stomach grumble.

But cookies didn't greet her when she found it ten minutes later(she wasn't kidding when she said it was a maze), a dark, shorter-than-her figure did.

"Tony?" She guessed, and felt her hand along the smooth wall beside her for a light switch. When she found it, she flipped it, and light illuminated the room, and, more importantly, the image of Tony mid-crunch on a handful of chips. She raised an eyebrow, and smirked. "Don't eat too much, Buzz, you might not fit into your suit."

He held up a finger. "Actually," he said, "I am fully capable of designing a new one if I need it. I've got my helpers." He spoke to nothing in particular, "J.A.R.V.I.S., you up?"

"Yes, sir," came a male, accented voice, resonating throughout the walls.

Cara jumped. "What the hell is that?"

It was Tony's time to smirk. "I think you mean, 'who'. And to answer your question, it's J.A.R.V.I.S."

"You've got yourself a ghost in the tower, huh?" Cara teased, moving herself to sit on the counter.

He shakes his head sharply. "That was very offensive, you should apologize to him."

She was taken aback. "I am not apologizing to that thing."

"That is okay," the voice spoke again, as calm as it was before. "It's nice to meet you, Cara."

"Okay, this is creepy. Can't you, like, put him to sleep?" She asked, feeling as if that thing could read her every secret.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., take the rest of the night off." Tony sips a dark liquid--probably alcohol--out of a short glass calmly.

"Seeing as I am not capable of taking the night off, I will simply...plug my nonexistent ears. How does that sound, Mr. Stark?" Cara shivered when the voice answered.

"Dandy," Tony replied, and then turned to the teenager perched on the kitchen counter. "Why're you up this late?"

She shrugged. "I was exhausted, and then I just woke up." She glanced at him. "I won't be able to go back to sleep for the rest of the night. What about you?"

"I haven't got a good night's sleep in years," he answered vaguely, and then snapped his fingers. "I know what we can do."

"What, now?"

"Tell me, Cara. Have you ever had Shawarma?"

-

Five minutes later, despite Cara's weak protests, the two were walking along the sidewalk, dark sky above them. Most of the city was asleep, but there was a certain pulse to the people that were still up and partying. A beat that came from the clubs that were most definitely open for the whole night.

Well, it's definitely the city that never sleeps, she thought to herself. Then she looked up--well, down--at the man beside her. "Are we stealing it? You know, I only tried that once and I ended up meeting all of you guys. Besides, I already got a scolding from Steve, so if that's the plan, then--"

"Relax, kid," he said. "It's open around the clock. We'll just go in, order, and get out."

"Oh, okay," Cara nodded, visibly relaxing. "Cool."

But when they stopped walking, Cara noticed that the sign for the small restaurant was dark, and there were no people lounging inside. "Didn't you say--"

"Whoops," Tony smirked, "I guess I lied." He stepped towards the door, and looked back at her, asking, "What, are you coming or not?"

Cara groaned and followed. "If we get caught," she warned, "it's all your fault."

He shook his head, chuckling. We're not gonna get caught. They can't outsmart us, you're with the smartest man in the city. You'll be fine."

"You know, I know that you've been drinking, Tony. Are you sure we can do this?" Cara crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously? That wasn't even enough to affect me, I promise. We're fine."

"God, you're stubborn," she said, finally letting him do whatever he was going to do to get them in. While he fiddled with the door, she watched the streets for any flashing red and blue lights rapidly nearing them.

No alarms sounded when the door clicked open, and Tony chuckled. "For the greatest food in New York City, they sure don't lock it up well."

"Just get on with it," Cara pushed him further into the front room, the ordering counter, clean and empty, staring at them.

"Alright, follow me. The food's back here, you can make your own sandwich."

Soon, they were in the back room, surrounded by food that Cara could tell would taste delicious on the sandwich she was about the make.

With their sandwiches in hand, Tony sighed in satisfaction. "That, my friend, is what I call a--"

"Hey! What are you doing back here?"

Cara glared at Tony when her shock diminished. "I told you we'd get caught."

He shook his head. "Don't worry, we've got a getaway plan."

"'We'? I think you mean you do."

He nodded. "You're right." He looked at the man that was nearing them, anger evident in his eyes. "Sorry, man, we just wanted some food. You know, you should really fix that lock on your door. It was a bit too easy to pick." Cara watched him press a button on a wristband he was wearing, and she looked at him, curious.

But he wasn't paying attention to her. He was still talking up a storm with the night shift worker. "Hey, I'm sorry. I just had to show my friend here all the wonderful things in the city. You really should be honored that I picked Shawarma's." Through his words, he'd grabbed Cara's wrist and was dragging her backwards, towards the door.

"You can't just--"

"Oh, but I think I just did," Tony said, and then hightailed it out of the door, when Cara saw a flash of red and gold shining in the sky, flying down towards them.

"What the hell is that?" Cara said, still worked up about being caught.

"Our getaway," he said, and then the red and gold got closer, shaping into parts like an arm, a leg, and other body parts. They slammed into Tony, and began growing themselves around his body, taking up his shape. Another piece of metal came and latched onto Tony's face, hiding it from view.

"Um, is this your Tin Man suit?" She asked carefully.

She could hear him sigh from beneath the mask. "No, but if that's what we're gonna call it, then fine. It's my Tin Man suit."

Cara grinned, but then he was grabbing her around the waist, pulling her close to him.

"Hold on tight," he said.

"Wh--OH MY GOD!" Cara shot up into the air with Tony beside her, a trail of light spilling out from underneath his iron feet.

The night air was cold around her, but she didn't care. All she wanted to be was on solid ground. But it wasn't like she wasn't going to appreciate the view.

Soon enough, though, the ride was over and Tony was letting her down to the tower floor, where she stumbled her first few steps and then found her balance. When she looked back at him, he was walking along a balcony with machines that came to rid him of his suit.

"What, is that your runway?" She smirked.

"Okay, enough with the jokes. I'm starving."

"You know, if Steve finds out, he's gonna be super angry," she said.

He shrugged. "Grandad Stevie can calm down. All we did was go out for a late-night snack."

Cara laughed as she heard him use the nickname. She was right about what she thought before: she and Tony were going to get along just fine.