Noir ⎊ TONY STARK

chapter one ▪ the awards

It's the night of the Apogee Awards and instead of the excitement Alana Walsh should be feeling, all she feels is frustration.

"Any reply yet?" her plus one for this evening and best friend, Pepper Potts, whispers into Alana's ear.

Alana Walsh sighs and shakes her head before typing out yet another text to her genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.

To: Tony
Any later and you're gonna miss the ass kissing slideshow

As she waits for a reply she prepares for the worst. She uncrosses her legs and reaches under the table to put her shoes back on. She does it as discreetly as she can so she won't gain any attention from the other attendees, who would surely look down on her for not acting dignified enough at this esteemed event. The public don't exactly have a soft spot for Alana Walsh, and haven't liked her since the tabloids decided to have a field day dragging her and what she stood for to filth a few years ago.

Not even a second after her shoes are safely fastened to her feet, the show begins, causing Alana to groan with worry.

"Tony Stark," the video announces to polite applause from guests.

The blonde grudgingly turns her phone off and Pepper instantly deposits it into her handbag for safekeeping.

Well shit, now I have to cover for that idiot, she thinks, forcing the anxiety from the thought down.

"Visionary, genius, American patriot."

Pepper notices her unease and gently slips her hand around hers in an effort to reassure her as a picture of a very young Tony Stark fills the screen.

"Even from an early age, the son of legendary weapons developer Howard Stark quickly stole the spotlight with his brilliant and unique mind."

Out of the corner of her eye, Alana catches a glimpse of Obadiah Stane's face and a sour feeling pools in her stomach. Obadiah Stane is a somewhat stepfather and close friend of Tony's. He taught him the ropes of running the company and has some control over what he does. He also seems to hate Alana for some reason and played some part in what happened between her and Tony a few years prior.

Alana squeezes Pepper's hand to get her attention before whispering furiously in her ear.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Tony's obviously not coming and I don't want to give Stane the pleasure of accepting that damn award. So I'll pretend that Tony asked me to accept it. Can you back me up if Stane questions why I go up there?"

Pepper nods but whispers, "Are you sure?" in concern.

Pepper is one of the few people who knows of Alana's crowd fright and doesn't want her to put herself in a difficult situation.

"How hard can it possibly be?" she replies, although she already sounds slightly breathless.

"Just imagine that you're talking to me."

Alana nods and begins toying with a lock of her hair nervously.

". . . Obadiah Stane, steps in to help fill the gap left by the legendary founder, until, at age 21, the prodigal son returns and is anointed the new CEO of Stark Industries."