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DARK covered the entire cliffside of the former Stark residence, several hours passing after the sudden attack from the Mandarin. Firefighters and policemen were investigating on the case and walked through the rubble of the mansion, searching for any surviving belongings but found no sign of Tony Stark anywhere. Reporters were piling themselves around the entrance of the home, some focused more on covering the attack, and others more concerned on asking (Y/N) about what happened.
Pepper arrived at the scene not too long after the house had collapsed entirely, sprinting in her heels just to find (Y/N) emotionless, staring at the mansion dead in the eyes. When the blonde had approached her, the sound of the heels clicking against the floor had alerted (Y/N) and she nearly blasted her off if Pepper hadn't shrieked in time to announce who she was. It didn't take long after Pepper pulled her away from the harassing reporters and stayed by her side.
" — Is there no sign of him at all?" Pepper questioned one police officer after he'd done a whole inspection in the rubble. The officer shook his head in dismissal. "Not even those suits of his?"
The police officer opened his mouth to voice his thoughts but (Y/N) didn't want to be part of that conversation, already feeling the tension on her shoulders after what happened. She didn't want to move from her spot, but the curiosity got the best of her and her own two feet carried her into the rubble.
Burnt furniture and decor was thrown all over the mansion floor, and (Y/N) didn't want to admit that she searched for that humongous Christmas rabbit that Tony had gifted her. She should've told him that she appreciated it very deeply before it was too late. She avoided the police that were taking pictures and records from the remains of the mansion, and during that process she spotted something by the edge of her feet.
She reached down and picked it up, recognizing it before it got too close to her eyes. It was the helmet of one of his suits, the familiar red and gold colors weakly shining through. (Y/N) felt it heavy in her hands, not because of its actual weight, but because of how she'd probably never see him underneath the mask ever again.
As she cradled the helmet in her hands, she noticed a faint red light shining on and off from the inside of it, as if it was calling out to someone to put in on. (Y/N) was hesitant at first, but she turned it around in her hands and placed it over her head. Her eyes blinked a couple times to adjust herself to the helmet and several lights turned on, one shining in her right eye and two small holograms placed in front of her to see.
"Stark secure server," a female AI voice rang through her ears. "Retinal scan verified."
(Y/N) didn't have time to voice her confusion because another voice appeared and it caught her completely off guard. "(Y/N), it's me."
Tony sounded completely composed unlike the situation that he was currently experiencing in the moment. "I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So. . .first off, I'm so sorry I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again."
"Also, it's Christmas time and the rabbit's too big. Done. Sorry," (Y/N) let out an emotional laugh. "And I'm sorry in advance because I can't come home yet. I need to find this guy. You gotta stay safe, I know you can take care of yourself, but that's all I ask you. I just stole a poncho from a wooden Indian."
The message ended right then and there, and (Y/N) had so many questions that she wanted answered. She wanted to know where he was just so she could find him, wanted to know how long ago did he record this message and if he was still alright, but she had no one to answer her doubts. Her hands removed the helmet off and she placed it back on the ground before an idea popped into her head.
She made her way outside of the rubble, finding Pepper still questioning the same police officer from before. (Y/N) walked up to her blonde friend and cleared her throat to draw her attention away from the poor police officer and focus it on her.
Pepper couldn't read the look on her face. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"I found a recorded message from him," (Y/N) answered her, and Pepper's eyes widened in alarm. She wanted to speak again, but she wasn't allowed to. "We need to find somewhere private so we can talk."
Pepper nodded in agreement and pointed behind her. "You'll need a place to sleep too. I'll book a hotel room."
Pepper turned around to make her way back to her car but (Y/N) came up with another idea that popped in her mind and she tried to make it happen as soon as possible. Her eyes searched for the recognizable figure of Maya Hansen amongst the crowd of firefighters and police, and she was satisfied once she found her.
"One more thing," she called out to Pepper before she went too far. (Y/N) pointed back at Maya. "She's coming with us."
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To say that Maya was caught off guard when Pepper and (Y/N) asked her to come along with them was an understatement. She didn't protest, but there was some sense of uncomfortableness in the atmosphere of Pepper's car, where she sat in the backseat with (Y/N) glancing at her from the copilot seat every now and then.
"Why were you at the house tonight, Maya?" (Y/N) decided to break the silence, thinking it had been too long after they'd gotten inside the car. "What was so important that you had to talk to Tony?"
"I think that my boss is working for the Mandarin," Maya uncomfortably revealed with a grimace. That wasn't the answer neither of them expected but Maya didn't allow them to make any comment. "So, if you still want to talk about it I suggest that we get ourselves someplace safe."
Pepper's eyes were focused on the road but she flickered them to look at Maya from the rear view mirror. "I'm sorry. Your boss works for the Mandarin, you think?"
"I thought Tony said you're a botanist," (Y/N) frowned in confusion.
"That figures. What I actually am is a biological DNA coder running a team of 40 out of a privately funded think tank," Maya scoffed, her hair brushing back and her cuts from the explosion were visible. "But sure, you can call me a botanist."
"This boss of yours, does he have a name?" Pepper asked, her hands gripping the steering wheel.
"Yeah, Aldrich Killian."
The familiar name sent a chill down (Y/N)'s spine. Pepper snapped her head over to look at her to confirm if she had heard the same thing, already fearing the worse. Maya looked between the two and didn't want to say anything else because of the shifted mood in the car.
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Pepper drove all the way to a quiet and elegant hotel to spend the night in, reserving a room big enough for the three women to sleep in with much space as possible. It was an uneventful night, despite everything that gone down earlier today, and (Y/N) found herself releasing some of that stress when she laid down on the comfortable mattress of the room.
"What happened. Fun fact," Maya began talking as she rested her back against the headboard, a glass of water in her hand. "Before he built rockets for the Nazis, the idealistic Wernher von Braun dreamed of space travel. He stargazed."
(Y/N) saw the way Maya laughed at her own explanation but there was a hint of emotion behind her eyes, though she couldn't decipher which one. Pepper was sitting right beside her, her chin resting on her hand.
"Do you know what he said when the first V-2 hit London? 'The rocket performed perfectly. It just landed on the wrong planet.'" Her eyes were glassy. "See, we all begin wide-eyed. Pure science. And then the ego steps in, the obsession. And you look up, you're a long way from shore."
"Don't beat yourself too hard, Maya," (Y/N) reassured. "I mean, you gave your research to a think tank."
"Yeah, but Killian built that think tank on military contracts."
"That's exactly what we used to do," Pepper spoke up, brushing her blonde bangs out of her eyes. "So, don't judge yourself."
"Thank you," a smile popped in Maya's lips. "I really appreciate that."
A knock echoed through the hotel room and Pepper seemed relieved because she knew who it was. A few minutes earlier, she had called room service to serve dinner for the three of them, so she happily made her way to the door and opened it wide.
"Hi, good evening," she greeted. "Come on in."
"Good evening."
The man driving the small cart barely took two steps forward before the figure of Aldrich Killian came into her sight and Pepper's eyes widened in horror. She gasped when she saw Aldrich snapping the neck of the man before dropping him to the floor.
"(Y/N)! Maya! Run!" she called out, just before Aldrich grabbed a hold of her harshly and pinned her against the wall by the neck.
(Y/N) jumped from her seat and balled her fist at the sight of the blond man, who was pinning Pepper against the wall without too much effort even though the woman was withering in pain.
"Hi, Pepper," he casually greeted the blonde before his eyes wandered over to (Y/N). "I'm sorry we have to meet like this, but I wouldn't do that if I were you."
His eyes snapped back to Maya, who casually walked up to him. "So, you want to tell me why you were at Stark's mansion last night?"
"I'm trying to fix this thing," Maya defended harshly. "I didn't know you and the master were gonna blow the place up."
"Oh, I see," Aldrich said. "So, you were trying to save Stark when he threatened us?"
"I've told you, Killian, we can use him."
(Y/N) blasted at his chest with no hesitation, and all Aldrich did was take a few steps back to regain his balance as he nearly dropped Pepper. An orange glow on his chest regenerated the damage the blast had to do, and all (Y/N) could do was stare in pure terror.
"I told you not to do that," he hissed, turning back to Maya. "You were saying?"
"Look, if we want to launch product next year, I need Stark," Maya reasoned. "He just lacked a decent incentive. Now, he has one."