[Jade]

The next few months that passed were harsh to Jade. Not only did she have to explain everything to Tony, but she also had to gain his trust because even she realized that knowing that your dog had been a human was somewhat weird. It was hard to actually do it but Tony understood quickly that Jade didn't pose any threat to him, especially since she saved his life.

At first, she didn't want anyone else to know about her, but the following weeks became very tiring when she constantly had to hide from Pepper when she came over. She and Tony ended up explaining everything to Pepper, his best friend Rhodey and also his friend/head of security Happy Hogan.

To say that the three of them were surprised was an understatement. After just a few days she and Pepper had somewhat become friends, Rhodey she barely even met, but Happy didn't really trust her. But to be fair she could understand why he didn't since he was just making sure that Tony was safe.

While telling Tony about her life she was also pretty embarrassed to tell him that she barely knew how to read and write. She wasn't necessarily bad at it, she just never had the time to fully learn how to. Therefore Tony saw it as his responsibility to teach her about the modern world because even though she lived while modern technology was developed she never got around to using it.

***

For the past couple of days, Jade had been waiting for Tony to come home. It was a habit she had obtained when she was a dog and she still didn't seem to be able to shake it off. She was now sitting on one of the chairs in the workshop, reading a copy of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.

The sound of someone coming down the stairs gained her attention and she was delighted to see it was Tony. She looked down at the pages before he could notice she was looking at him, not wanting him to know that she was waiting for him.

"Finally back, are we?" She asked, not looking up. She saw Tony become startled in the corner of her eye.

"Didn't know you were down here. You do remember that I fixed a room for you, right?" He said. She looked up from the book and saw that he was no longer wearing the suit that he left in.

"I know, I just like spending time down here. Feels a little safer without all the windows, you know?" While she had been talking he had walked over to the counter and made Butterfingers start making some liquid that he had been drinking a lot of recently.

She wrinkled her nose at the smell of it when he put a glass of it to his mouth, it was not something she would want to drink. "What's in that thing? It smells like rubbish."

She could faintly hear him mumble "Tastes like it too," when he passed her to walk over to the computer.

For the first few weeks when she had turned human sometimes consisted of Tony not really understanding her British words and Jade not understanding American words and slang that he used. They understood each other better now even if Tony would often snicker when she said any British words, usually earning him a glare in return.

She continued to watch him as he clapped his hands, making music come on and making all of the tech come alive as well. Jade always loved watching that. She knew that technology was advanced, but Tony was quite a few steps ahead of everyone else.

"Welcome home, sir. Congratulations on the opening ceremonies," Jarvis' voice rang out in the room, Jade had finally gotten used to him, previously not being used to hear voices coming out of nowhere. "They were such a success, as was your Senate hearing."

Jade furrowed her eyebrows when she heard 'Senate hearing', she guessed that's where he went when he didn't come home after the opening ceremonies of Stark Expo.

"And may I say how refreshing it is to finally see you in a video with your clothing on, sir." Jade put her hand on her mouth to cover the laugh that tried to escape her mouth, unfortunately, Tony heard her and threw her a playful eye-roll with a small grin.

Both of them looked towards the sink where Butterfingers had messed up again, this time by not putting a lid on the smoothie maker. "You!" Tony called out, making the robot turn towards him and knocking over the blender in the process.

"I swear to God I'll dismantle you. I'll soak your motherboard. I'll turn you into a wine rack." Tony threatened it, making it turn it's grip downwards in a sad gesture. Jade turned towards it and whispered loudly "Don't listen to him. He thinks you're too much fun to get rid of."

Tony had turned his attention towards the screen while talking to Jarvis. "How many ounces a day of this gobbledegook am I supposed to drink?"

"We are up to 80 ounces a day to counteract the symptoms, sir," Jarvis answered him.

Jade didn't really look what he was doing until Jarvis said "Blood toxicity, 24%. It appears that the continued use of the Iron Man suit is accelerating your condition."

Jade put the book down and turned towards Tony, frowning at him. "Tony, what does he mean with blood toxicity and 'your condition'?"

"Nothing you have to worry about." He said as he took the arc reactor out of his chest. The core that came out of it was rusted and smoking, and to Jade, it looked like something he should be really worried about.

She saw Tony lift up his shirt, making her see the veins coming from his chest. "Unfortunately, the device that's keeping you alive is also killing you."

"He said killing! That is something to be concerned about, Tony." He didn't answer her and instead silenced Jarvis when Pepper opened the door and came inside.

"Is this a joke? What are you thinking?" Pepper said. She walked straight past Jade with only a look of acknowledgment. She guessed Pepper must have been really angry at Tony.

Jade picked up her book again as they continued on bickering, only letting out a small laugh that she covered with a cough when she heard that Tony had donated his art collection to the boy scouts.

"Don't even start," Pepper said with a sharp glare towards her, Jade only shrugged in fake innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about."

They continued walking around until Tony came back with an Iron Man painting, climbing up on the counter to take down a painting with just a black line to make space for it.

Tony jumped down before saying "You do it." Pepper looked confused at what he said: "I do what?"

"They just keep on bickering," Jade mumbled to herself before she heard Tony say that he wanted to make Pepper his CEO.

"I've actually given this a fair amount of thought, believe it or not," Tony said as a robot brought out a tray with a bottle and glasses.

Jade lifted an eyebrow at him. "You just said that you suddenly came up with the idea, how can you have given it a lot of thought?" Tony only threw her a look of annoyment and she lifted her hands in surrender as a response.

"You want any, Jade?" She shook her head in response, not really being fond of alcohol. "Some other time, maybe."

"I don't know what to think." Pepper said as Tony handed her the glass. "Don't think, drink."

They tapped their glasses and started drinking. "So. When will you appoint me CEO?" Tony almost spat out his drink in laughter. He swallowed it before starting to speak. "I guess I can appoint you CEO of being my friend and bodyguard/protector 24/7. Does that sound good to you?"

Both Jade and Tony broke out in grins when he finished. "I guess it sounds good. But it depends on how much I get paid for it."

Tony faked looking offended, putting a hand over his heart. "Who do you think I am? You know I would only pay you the best. In your case, it's a warm bed and food on the table."

"I suppose I can accept that."

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Here we go! A new chapter and the start of Iron Man 2

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