POTENTIAL THREAT ✓
ᶜʰᵃᵖᵗᵉʳ ˢⁱˣ
. . . Y/N & Tony. . .
IT WAS THE next day, and I was still awake, working on a few things. The clock struck midnight hours ago, and the sun had already risen, casting a warm glow through my window. Despite the fatigue weighing heavy on my eyelids, I couldn't tear myself away from the tasks at hand. I had made a few improvements and was tweaking some final details before testing it out again. My attention was automatically drawn to the hole in the wall to my left as I remembered the incident that had caused it.
But just as quickly as my attention drifted off, it vengeanced back to the present moment. I refocused my gaze on the work in front of me, and with steady hands, I got back to work. It was like this for a "few" more hours, until J.A.R.V.I.S. called out to me from the speakers. "Uh, sir, Ms. Y/L/N insisted that I remind you to take a break." I only hummed but continued as I was doing before pausing a moment before replying, "Well, please inform her that breaks are not necessary at the moment."
"I need to finish this as soon as possible." I could sense J.A.R.V.I.S.'s hesitation through his voice, but he obediently replied, "Of course, sir." He became quiet for a few moments, which I knew wouldn't last long. Eventually, J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke up again. "Sir, Ms. Y/L/N has insisted again that you listen to her and take a break, sir."
"She also asked me if you had eaten anything today." I sighed and took a moment before replying. "Well, did you tell her?" I asked, my tone slightly irritated. J.A.R.V.I.S. hesitated once more before responding, "I informed her that you are currently occupied and will attend to your needs when the task is completed, sir." Tony only nodded in acknowledgment. "Atta boy. And what did she have to say about that Jar..." I asked, my voice trailing off as I began to lose interest in the conversation and regain interest in what was in front of me.
J.A.R.V.I.S. takes a while to answer, and there's a silence in the room for a moment. Tony's brows furrowed a bit, and right as he goes to ask, J.A.R.V.I.S. speaks up again. "Sir, Ms. Y/L/N has left a message for you." Tony looked up, studying his surroundings for a moment with a glance over his shoulder. "Well, don't keep me waiting. What does the message say?" J.A.R.V.I.S. simply pulled up the security footage a few feet from Tony and was shown the living room, instantly recognizing it as his own.
The room appeared empty, but Tony was soon proved wrong when the footage began to play. "Tony, I don't have time for games tonight; I'm already late, and what you're doing is not helping. Get upstairs, stretch your legs, and whatever shit you gotta do..." Y/N's voice continued to speak throughout the living room, and Tony raised a brow as he leaned his elbow on the table beside him and listened intently.
"She knows I can just fire her if she keeps talking to me like that," Tony thought to himself aloud, and J.A.R.V.I.S. picked up on it. When he replied, his voice came out with a hint of amusement. "Sir, I believe Y/N is well aware of that fact, just as you and I are aware that you would never actually do it. You've grown too fond of her over the years." Tony only hummed as a small smirk played on his lips as he began to listen in again.
"...am meeting Pepper tonight and won't be able to contact you for a few hours. So please handle whatever you need on your own, but please, for the love of God... do not touch the stove," Y/N pleaded, her voice tinged with a hint of exasperation. "I know you like to experiment in the kitchen, but we've had enough incidents already to know it's not getting any better than what it is." Tony chuckled softly, his amusement evident. "I already have something waiting for you when you get up here... Oh also!" Y/N then walks into the frame, clearly trying to attach a necklace.
"Sorry for using your place to get ready, but in my defense, you said feel free to drop by anytime and take whatever I would like. So this is me taking you up on that offer." Y/N's phone suddenly pings with a message notification, causing her to pause and check her phone. "Okay, I got to go; I'll talk as soon as I can!" J.A.R.V.I.S. stops the video, and Tony suddenly becomes curious. "Hey, Jar?" Tony called out, seeming lost in thought. "Yes sir?"
"Any chance you know where she's off to?" J.A.R.V.I.S. responds, "I'm afraid I do not have that information, sir. Y/N did not mention her destination at the time she was here." Tony furrows his brows for a moment, now wishing he'd gone upstairs. "Okay... well, by any chance, you know what she made; now that I think about it, I'm quite famished." Tony asks, now following her orders as he starts to make his way for the stairs.
Returning downstairs, feeling more satisfied, I swiftly entered the code, which unlocked the door. Pushing something aside, I opened it and stepped in. As a result, I cocked my head to gain a better view of what exactly I had pushed away. To my surprise, as I turned, it only made the bruise located on my hairline throb even more. With a low hiss, as I clenched my teeth, I noticed it was only my automotive creeper.
I turned to go toward the mini fridge, but my attention was drawn to something else. I came to a halt when I noticed coffee on one of my many desks. Puzzled, as I could have sworn that this was not previously here. I walk over and pick it up, sniffing it curiously. As I was doing so, I also noticed a box I for sure knew wasn't mine. It was small and wrapped in cream wrapping paper.
I debated whether or not to open the package, but I succumbed to my curiosity when I noticed a small letter with the words "From Y/N" on top. Strangely, as soon as I recognized the handwriting, my heart rate increased. I set the coffee aside, didn't even look twice, and proceeded to take off the yellow sticky note. After that, I placed it on my opposite side and proceeded to tear through the cream-colored wrapping paper of the box. As the paper fell away, I felt my eyes widen a little in surprise.
Inside the paper wrap was a glass box, which I didn't need to examine closely to guess what it was. Inside was what I knew was the arc reactor device I had specifically told Y/N to get rid of a while ago, but here it was, sitting in front of me. "It's like she doesn't listen on purpose..." I couldn't stop myself as I spoke lowly to one in particular. Just like I couldn't stop the thoughts of me doing something about it from crossing either. I would have gone back up to put it on her desk if something hadn't caught my eye.
Because when I noticed a tiny engraving on the outer ring of the device, I knew deep down that it was staying with me, even if I didn't notice it, which wasn't difficult. I read the engraving, and a small smile crept across my features.
"𝘗𝘙𝘖𝘖𝘍 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘛 𝘛𝘖𝘕𝘠 𝘚𝘛𝘈𝘙𝘒 𝘏𝘈𝘚 𝘈 𝘏𝘌𝘈𝘙𝘛"
"Notes. The main transducer feels sluggish at plus 40 altitude. Hull pressurization is problematic. I'm thinking icing is the probable factor." I said, cocking my head to the side as I wiped my hands off with a small towel. Screens lined up left and right, each showcasing different data streams and technical details related to what I was doing.
"A very astute observation, sir. Perhaps, if you intend to visit other planets, we should improve the ecosystems." When I looked over my left shoulder, which had an ice pack resting on it per Y/N's recommendation, J.A.R.V.I.S. responded. "Connect to the Sys. Co. Have it reconfigure the shell metals. Use the gold titanium alloy from the Seraphim tactical satellite."
"That should ensure fuselage integrity while maintaining a power-to-weight ratio. Got it?" I called out, awaiting the response of J.A.R.V.I.S. "Yes... Shall I render using the proposed specifications?" Jarvis says this as I shift in my chair to remove the ice pack, and as I go to respond, a voice catches my attention from the television. "Tonight's red-hot red carpet is right here at the Disney Concert Hall, where Tony Stark's third annual benefit for the Firefighter's Family Fund has become the place to be for L.A.'s high society." Confused, since I had no clue about any event, I asked curiously.
"JARVIS, did we get an invite for that?" Tuning out the women, I waited for a response. "I have no record of an invitation, sir." Cocking my head to the side, I examined the women on screen with a look. "... hasn't been seen in public since his bizarre and highly controversial press conference. Some claim he's suffering from post-traumatic stress and has been bedridden for weeks."
"Whatever the case may be, no one expects an appearance from him tonight." Clicking my tongue, I partially rolled my eyes and turned off the TV.
I was currently leaning against the bar counter, overlooking everything, when a bartender approached me with a friendly smile. "Can I get you a drink?" he asked, polishing a glass with a cloth. "I'll have a whiskey on the rocks, please," I replied, returning his smile. As he went to prepare my drink, I glanced around the lit room, taking in the lively atmosphere and the sound of laughter and conversation. The bartender comes back with my drink and places it in front of me. I thank him with a slight nod and toast, then take a sip, savoring the smooth taste of the whiskey.
The evening was going so smoothly that I almost felt myself relaxing. It was Stark's third annual benefit for the Firefighter's Family Fund, and the room was filled with people dressed in their finest attire. The clinking of glasses and the soft music playing in the background added to the elegant ambiance of the event. My eyes scanned the room and fell upon a familiar face in a dimly lit corner across the room. With a silent toast, Coulson lifts his glass to acknowledge my presence.
I smirked and raised my glass in return, a silent gesture of camaraderie. As I brought my drink back to my lips, relishing its taste, it wasn't long before Pepper found me and swooped me into conversations with other guests. Pepper's charm and charisma made it easy for me to engage in lively discussions with the other attendees. We exchanged stories, laughter filling the air as the night progressed and the event continued to exude an atmosphere of sophistication and enjoyment. Pepper soon steps away for a call, excusing herself with a polite smile and leaving me to navigate the conversations on my own.
However, the connections I had made with the other guests made it effortless for me to seamlessly transition into new discussions. The night carried on, and I was laughing at one of the poor jokes a guest made when suddenly I heard a familiar voice behind me. "You look fantastic... Like always," said the voice, causing me to turn around, only to see Tony.
"What are you doing here? " I asked as soon as I caught sight of him while feeling genuinely surprised to see him here. Tony only flashed a charming smile and replied. "Just avoiding government agents." I arched a brow at him, and he arched his back in confusion. "What?" When he asked me, I just crossed my arms and tilted my head at him. "Huh... Not even an hour ago, I was trying to get you to come upstairs. And now you're just here... Like it was no problem." He nodded for me to continue, but my voice began to drift off, and he noticed.
"Your point being..." Tony asked, and I sighed and shook my head. "My point is, it's strange how you can go from being completely unavailable to suddenly showing up out of nowhere after Obadiah said you called in and weren't coming." Right after I mentioned Obadiah's name, Tony cocked his head to the side, confused. "Obadiah said that." I only slowly nodded as my lips parted halfway.
"Strange... I didn't call him today. In fact, I haven't talked to him since the last time he was over." Tony said and soon began to look as if lost in thought, and I observed him for a moment. Oh, so we have a liar among us now... I said to myself, becoming lost in thought too. Soon, though, I let out a sigh.
"Mhm... strange." A little while later, there was a tap on my shoulder. Tuning around, I noticed the lovely older couple I was talking with. "Oh, I-Uhm, I'm so sorry. This is-" Tony lifted his hand toward Mr. Bowman.
"Tony, Tony Stark." Tony hopped in, introducing himself on his own. Mr. Bowman lifted his hand and shook Tony's with a nod. "Oh, we know. That's a solid shake you got there." Bowman said it with an almost surprised tone before dropping his hand.
"Well, if there's one thing I remember my father taught me that if I wanted to be a businessman, I had to have a firm handshake." Tony said with a light chuckle, and Mrs. Bowman smiled before replying. "Well, it seems like your father taught you well, and we're very sorry about what happened." Tony only nodded, brushing it off. "It's alright; it happened a while ago now, I've come to terms with it."
Tony didn't seem interested in talking about it, based on the sound of his voice, so Mrs. Bowan moved the conversation to me. "So... How'd you two meet?" She asked a tiny smile on her lips and a glint of curiosity in her eyes. I glanced at Tony briefly before answering, "Oh, we actually met... at Stark Industries; I was applying for a position." Tony's eyes flickered with amusement as he added, "And she ended up being the only one who didn't bore me to death." Mr. and Mrs. Bowan laugh lightly, clearly enjoying the banter between us.
"You two are such a beautiful couple," Mrs. Bowan remarked, her eyes shining with warmth, which caught me off guard. "Couple?" I heard Tony speak up with a cock of his head, and eyebrows raised in surprise. "Oh, no, we're not a couple," I quickly clarified, and the Bowmans visibly seemed taken aback. Mrs. Bowan's smile faltered for a moment before she recovered, saying, "Oh, my apologies. You two just have such great chemistry, and talk so comfortably with each other."
"I assumed..." Her voice trailed off as she exchanged a glance with her husband. My expression softened, and I reassured them, "There's no need to apologize; it's a common misconception. He's just my boss, so it's a professional relationship." They only nodded, but for some reason, I could see they were unconvinced. Tony, who had been listening to me try to clarify, smirked as he replied, "For now."
Turning my head in his direction, I made a face and raised a brow. While Tony merely laughed, the older couple exchanged a knowing look. "Excuse us, but we need to get going, if you don't mind. "After bidding them farewell, Tony put his arm around my waist and led the way to the bar area. Once we got to the bar, I looked over at Tony and watched him place an order for a drink.
This is how things were for a brief moment before Tony glanced over and noticed that I was staring. "What's on your mind?" I merely shook my head, hesitating for a moment before meeting his gaze directly. My hesitation was noticed by Tony, who turned to face me and rested his left arm on the bar, showing me that he was fully focused on me. When I realized this, I inhaled deeply, suddenly feeling nervous. "Do I make you uncomfortable?" Tony asked as the previous bartender approached and placed the drink in front of him, but he just nodded to me.
"For her." He simply nodded and slid the drink over to me. I thanked him with a smile and took a small sip. Humming at the taste, I took another sip. Laphroaig whiskey. Hm... not as bad as I had expected.
Tony watched me intently, a small smile playing on his lips. "I'm glad you're enjoying that; I mean, it was mine first," he said with a slight shrug, his eyes never leaving mine. I laughed, feeling the warmth of the alcohol spreading through me. "Well, then why did you say anything? You should have just kept it all to yourself," I teased. "But since you are sharing, and sharing is caring, I'm going to consider this your way of making a peace offering."
"Peace offering?" I simply nodded my head, and he shrugged again. "Okay, peace. I love peace. I'd be out of a job with peace." I just laughed at his behavior and went to speak, but a voice I didn't think I would hear for a while interrupted us.
"Wow. Tony Stark." Christine said as she came from behind me and walked over to Tony's side. Tony's head spun around to the side of him. "Oh, hey."
Tony sighed, recognizing the person, though he couldn't place or remember her name. "Fancy seeing you here." Tony observed her for a moment before guessing. "Carrie." She simply corrected him, like she was certain this would happen.
"It's Christine, actually." She replied nonchalantly, and he nodded as though he knew that. "That's right." She then shakes her head at him, "You have a lot of nerve showing up here tonight. Can I at least get a reaction from you?" Tony made a face before looking back at me as he tried to find a word.
"Panic. I would say panic is my reaction." Suppressing my smile as I brought the drink back up to my lips, savoring its last remaining drops. "'Cause I was referring to your company's involvement in this latest atrocity." This caught my attention as I placed the glass back onto the napkin; it was served.
"Yeah... they just put my name on the invitation; I don't know what to tell you." Tony simply shrugged, but Christine continued. " I actually almost bought it-hook, line and sinker." Tony sighed again, beginning to get annoyed. "I was out of town for a couple months, in case you didn't hear."
"Is this what you call accountability?" Christine then takes out several photographs and hands them to Tony. Using this opportunity to lean over, I moved closer to Tony and peered over his shoulder. "It's a town called Gulmira. Heard of it?" As Tony flipped to a different photo, I reached out to take the ones from his hand that he had moved on from. Once he noticed me doing this, he started handing them over willingly but soon stopped. Turning my focus to him, I watched his eyes narrow and his expression grow serious.
Looking down, I noticed the last photo was of a particular missile manufactured by a particular company. "When were these taken?" I asked, and Christine raised a brow like she just noticed me, but answers. "Yesterday." Tony shook his head at the photo before meeting Christine's gaze. "I didn't approve any shipment."
"Well, your company did." Christine's voice held a hint of accusation as she pointed at the photo. "Well, I'm not my company." Tony simply said this before walking off with a grip on my arm, pulling me along. I hissed as I started to feel a little pain and became confused.
"Ow-what the hell, Tony?" Tony continues to pull me until we're over to the side. "I need you to go home, Y/N." I looked at Tony, bewildered. "Go home? Why?" I asked, trying to understand.
Tony sighed and glanced back at Christine, who was still staring at us with a blend of irritation and curiosity. "It's not safe for you to be involved in this," he explained. "I'll handle it from here." Making a face, I just shook my head and let out a sigh. "Tony. Tony, listen, I-" Tony just shook his head and cut me off.
"I need you to go home and rest up, so when you get Alaya from your mother's, you'll be ready to take care of her." I frowned and yanked my arm from his grip. "Why are you only making me leave? Pepper is here too, you know? So even if I do want to leave, I can't because we rode together." Tony sucked in a breath as he rubbed his hand across his face. "Yes, I am aware that Pepper is present, but I also know that she is capable of caring for herself."
"Plus, I'll just call Happy," he said while trying to reason with me, but I made a face. "Oh, you don't think I can care for myself now? Is that what this is all about?" I crossed my arms defiantly, feeling a wave of anger. "No, it's not about that," Tony said, his voice softening. "I know you can... I just. Y/N, please; I'm trying here. I just don't want anything to happen to you."
Tony finally just said that, and I just sighed. "Please?" Tilting his head, Tony raised his eyebrows. Reluctantly, I nodded and uncrossed my arms, not wanting to argue anymore. "Alright, Tony," I conceded and sighed. "I'll uh... I will leave if you want me to, but please just let Pepper know, okay? So she's not concerned."
Tony just nodded, placing his hands on my shoulders and calming me down. " I promise, I'll make sure Pepper knows," he assured me, his grip on my shoulders tightening for a moment before letting go. "Don't go anywhere, okay? I'm just going to ring Happy and stop by Pepper." I simply nodded quickly, and that's when he took his leave. I waited for some space to pass between us before reaching into my clutch and taking out my phone.
I unlocked the screen with a swipe of my hand and typed the one number that mattered to me at that precise moment. I raised the phone to my ear as it rang and scanned over the crowded room. Even though everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, I can't help but feel like someone is watching me. I discreetly scanned the room, trying to locate the source. I did a double take when I eventually found them-but not just one, but two individuals.
Curious about whether to intervene, Coulson, who was still on the other side of the room, raised an eyebrow. I simply shook my head, signaling that I had it handled. Then there was Christine, who was being nosy. She snapped to the side, averting her eyes as if she was deep in conversation with someone, as soon as she realized I was staring back. Confusion tipped my head, but before I could think further, the call was answered.
"Whatever this is about, make it quick. I'm in the middle of something very-" I then cut Fury off as I spoke up. "We need to talk."
-ˏˋ⋆ ᴡ ᴇ ʟ ᴄ ᴏ ᴍ ᴇ ⋆ˊˎ-
Thank you for reading!
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