Summary:
We create our own demons.
Notes:
Unlike the previous two stories, this took a slightly darker approach to things. Less humor and more backstory, so for some of the employees you're going to find out quite a bit about them. I dunno, after I saw IM3, I just had to sit down to write Tony coping with it all, and failing and naturally, that meant the employees got concerned. Yes this has been sitting in wait for over a year. :P It's nearly done too. Nearly... This is a short run only about 5-6 chapters tops.
Lesson 1: Foundations Can Be Shaken
If you were to ask what a typical day at Stark Industries was like, Hotaru's answer would be: "Nothing like today." For you see today had started off smoothly, today had started off quietly, today Hotaru woke up with a very bad feeling. It was similar to one of those feelings she used to get before she was to get kidnapped, or before Kai would come home hurt from a dangerous mission. In a nutshell, it was going to be a very bad day.
She supposed that she could have avoided the entire mess by not coming into work but after recent events to throw things off the schedule would cause more worry than needed right now. Terrorists attacks, Extremis, reporters pouring into her lobby, everything with Mr. Stark from his challenge to the Mandarin, to his "death", to his surgery to his teammates who came back looking just as dead and beaten up as he did, everything had been a chaotic mess.
Hotaru was a pillar in that stormy sea. A sense of normalcy as things continued to rage on. Inside the company was no better than outside and every employee seemed to be dealing with some sort of fall out or crisis as country strained and recovered from the terrorist attacks. Pepper... was not okay. Which meant while Mr. Stark focused on curing her, Pepper's workload fell to others. Seika and Ita were buried under mountains of paperwork generated by the entire mess, which in turn caused strained elsewhere. Letters poured in, demanding to meet with the Avengers or with Mr. Stark; the amount the PR department was dealing with a nightmare. (Asho looked worse and worse as each day went by and yesterday Tam and Arashi forcibly dragged him out of the building, hopefully for rest.)
Everything was straining and the best Hotaru could do was offer a smile and a safe haven.
"Good morning Hotaru!"
Hotaru grinned. Now there was a voice she missed greeting in the morning. "Good morning Mr. Stark," she replied. Her smile wavered slightly as her eyes are drawn to his chest, noticing the lack of the arc reactor there. On one hand it was good that he had it removed, if only it meant that hopefully less people would try to kidnap him for it now. On the other hand, Hotaru worried, had always worried.
Her attention was then drawn to the bandages around his wrists and she frowned. Tony followed her line of vision and waved his hands in the air. "Don't worried about these, non-life threatening I promised," Tony said. "Though now that the armor is gone I supposed I don't really need these anymore."
Hotaru blinked once, then twice and slowly reran that sentence in her head. 'The armor is gone?' "What exactly do you mean the armor is gone?" she asked, panic beginning to build in her chest. This was probably it. This was probably the last straw to break the camel's back before Hotaru will utterly collapse from it all.
Tony gave her a strange look. It was a look that was both weary and angry at the same time, as if he had to explain this answer over and over again. 'Which given the month he was probably having, was probably an accurate description,' Hotaru thought.
"I blew them up," Tony said as a matter of fact. "And I don't plan on building anymore either. I haven't told the rest of the team yet that I won't be joining them on the field, but I'll figure something out. Fury already knows."
"The armor keeps you safe," Hotaru nearly shouted in a half strangled cry. She poured thousands of meanings behind those words. Your armor protects you! Your team backs you up! Because ever since Afghanistan, because you built the armor I go to bed knowing that no matter what danger you get into, someone, something is watching your back. Just because Tony decided to leave the superhero business, didn't mean there wasn't someone somewhere who wanted to harm him and hurt him. That was the case even before he had become Iron Man. Why couldn't he see how many people's lives he affected, how many people he was important to, how devastated all the employees were to even think he might have died when the Mandarin attacked his home in Miami?
Because they're less of a company, more of a family and while no employee could boast sibling bonds (that was reserved for Pepper, for Happy, for Rhodey, for the Avengers, possibly Ita), they're just like distant cousins, who still care, who still worried.
Tony looked at Hotaru, didn't hear the meanings behind the words, didn't see. "The armor doesn't make me Iron Man. I am Iron Man."
Hotaru understood that. That was never the issue in her head. But Tony didn't let her get in another word, leaving the lobby and entering the stairwell, not bothering to close the door.
She must have really upset him because the stairs? Really? Even to any of his usual hiding spots on the lower levels (Kit's lab, the main lunchroom, etc) it was a pretty long hike up. Hotaru let out a long frustrated sigh and tried to recompose herself. She was the pillar, she would hold as strong as she could until she couldn't anymore. But the little stresses and strains were finally starting to get to her and all her calmness was beginning to flee.
Hotaru stood up from her desk to close the door. As she exited her desk, Hotaru saw someone briskly approaching her. She stopped and asked, "Can I help you with something sir?"
Her eyes widened as she saw the red glow glittering across the man's skin and red gleam in his brown eyes. Hotaru knew this glow, had seen it a few days ago when Kai (bless his paranoia) had hacked SHIELD's files to find out what exactly had happened to Mr. Stark, the terrorists and whatever Extremis was.
"Help me," the man weakly gasped, reaching out a hand. The red glow grew brighter as his skin began to crack and sizzle.
Hotaru knew she had seconds to decide. She could dive behind her desk and pray the force field Tony had designed would hold or... Hotaru glanced to her right where the open door to the stairway was. Her heart dropped as she could still hear the footsteps echoing from it. She wasn't a scientist but even she knew that an explosion this close would just travel up the stairs like a funnel.
'The armor is gone.'
Hotaru made her decision.
The lobby rocked from the explosion.
