So hi! Sorry it's been quite a while since I've updated. I was slightly stuck but finally I got over the hump and here it is. I hope you enjoy reading this and thanks to all who've been reading and reviewing! I'm thankful for the support! =) It keeps me going!
Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or Iron Man franchise
It was a dark night. The stars shined brightly in the sky as the light from evening poured through the large window. The light was bright enough to scare away the shadows in the corners of the armory. In the center of the room was an enormous table with random miscellaneous items strewn everywhere. A chandelier hung above the table though it provided no light for the room.
The thick silence was broken by the sound of the door creaking open. A figure waltzed gracefully into the armory and walked to the far side of the room where a throne-like chair sat. The shadow knelt down before the chair and bowed its head, the person in the throne gazing down with a pompous sort of look.
"Sir, everything is prepared." The man in the throne looked over at the stars as he smirked and looked to his servant.
"Alert the men. The attack starts now."
The afternoon was calm as a lone woman walked from a bedroom towards the elevator against the far side of the wall. A light tune was hummed as heels of black platform heels clicked against the floor. The copper blonde held a small agenda in her arm as her free hand held her blackberry. She pressed the up button to the elevator and waited for a second before the doors slid open and a voice greeted her.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Livingston."
"Hey there, JARVIS," Silver said with a smile as the doors slid closed and the elevator began to move.
"Where shall I drop you off?" the A.I. asked politely as Silver scrolled through the message in her cell phone.
"Tony's floor, please?"
"Right away, ma'am."
Silver waited for a moment before the doors slid open and gave her time to exit before they closed behind her. She glanced around the room and sighed as she found Tony's luggage sitting by the flat screen TV in his living space, though he was absent. She began to make her way to Tony's room as she heard her boss speak up.
"Before you go off on a tangent, I can explain," Tony called out from his room as Silver walked in and watched as her boss struggled with his tie, his button-up shirt untucked and his belt buckle hanging open. She gave the man a knowing look as he smiled at her cheekily. She shook her head as she approached Tony and swatted his hands away. The genius rolled his eyes as he moved to tuck his shirt into his pants and finish buckling his belt.
"So typical of you," Silver stated playfully as she straightened the man's red tie. She smiled proudly at her work before she looked up at Tony, the man quickly pulling his blazer on with a sigh.
"I was actually planning on being on time, but then-"
"You had an idea that just couldn't wait," Silver finished mockingly as Tony rolled his eyes, walking out of his room with his assistant following behind her.
"One-nothing, Porcelain." Silver frowned at the nickname but said nothing; there was no stopping the stubborn bastard.
"When's the next flight to Tokyo?" Tony asked as the two walked out of the bedroom, a smirk across Silver's lips.
"We're not late."
"What?" Tony blinked as he glanced at the digital clock on the wall. "What're you talking about, Livingston? Our flight was at noon and it's one."
"I told you the flight was at noon. It's actually at two," Silver explained with a proud smile on her face. "We're right on time!"
Tony blinked before he smirked and shrugged, grabbing his luggage and heading towards the elevator with his assistant beside him. "Well played."
The two were on their way to Mr. Stark's personal landing strip that accommodated his private jet. Tony was on his way to promoting his new trial arc reactor in Tokyo. Stark Industries landed a deal with an interested party and he and Silver were flying over so they could arrive for the ribbon cutting event.
"After we land we're heading straight to the hotel and then having dinner with Mr. Fuji," Silver stated as they stepped on to the elevator and began to head to the garage.
"Is there any room to squeeze in some sightseeing?" Tony asked childishly as Silver frowned and rolled her eyes.
"We're not going to Tokyo for vacation, Tony."
"But we could be," Tony argued as Silver opened her mouth to object. Her comment slipped away as the elevator suddenly jerked to a halt. The two stumbled slightly as they glanced at each other in confusion. Silver gripped tightly to the railing as she tried to keep calm; that had never happened before.
"Wh-What's going on?" Silver inquired as she glanced around the tiny car, the lights flickering off.
"JARVIS?" Tony called out as his A.I. spoke up.
"I'm afraid someone's trying to hack into the mainframe, sir," the embodied voice explained as Tony raised a brow.
"What about the security system?"
"It seems as though they are overriding the codes."
"Who the hell-"
"Sir, the intruders seem to be short-circuiting-I'm losing-" And then JARVIS had been lost.
Tony narrowed his eyes as he pulled out his tablet and glared as the screen lit up. He began to type fervently on to the screen. Silver took a slow breath through her nose as she slowly stepped forward and stood beside Tony. She peered over his shoulder and watched the man as he typed away. "What are we going to do?"
"Well, I'm going to have to turn JARVIS back on manually."
"How?" Tony held up his tablet as he continued typing away, rolling his eyes slightly.
"With this, obviously." Silver glared at the man; she hated his attitude sometimes.
The assistant watched silently as the man worked, pressing buttons on the screen. He kept his eyes glued to what he was doing as he watched the loading sign. He smirked as the elevator lights began to flicker back on, JARVIS coming back to life.
"Thank you, sir."
"Welcome back, J," Tony said as Silver looked over at the man.
"Someone's trying to break-in?" she asked as Tony glanced over at her. He noticed the fear developing in her eyes before he nodded.
"Looks like it."
Tony wasn't sure who or why anyone would attempt to break-in to the tower, his tower for that matter, but he didn't give a damn. He was Iron Man, for Christ's sake. He wasn't sure whether to praise the intruder's for their bravery or scold them for their stupidity.
"JARVIS, I'm gonna need a head count."
"20 men, sir," the A.I. explained as Tony nodded. He turned to Silver as she looked up at the man. He could tell she was slightly anxious and he couldn't blame her. Whereas Tony was already accustomed to life-threatening situations, Silver was not. She had lived a generally normal and safe life, which meant she had never really been put in danger's way before.
There's always a first for everything though.
"Alright," Tony began, keeping his composure. "Take us to the lab. I need to get into my suit." Seeing as Tony had been planning on having a stress free business trip, he had been coaxed into keeping the suit in the lab.
"Sir, the intruders have split into four groups of five and have begun entering separate floors."
"Thanks, buddy," Tony stated as the elevator began to move again.
Silver gripped tightly to the metal railing as she began to breathe in and out deeply. She tried to remain calm as her heart started to race and she began to sweat. What was going to happen? Was she going to be ok? Was Tony going to be safe? What did the intruders want? Silver had no time to register her questions, her eyes wide and a fearful expression coming over her. She didn't notice Tony's gaze on her as she just continued to stare at her startled expression. It wasn't until she felt a warm hand on her shoulder that she finally realized she had fallen under some sort of trance.
"Breathe, Porcelain," Tony said with a smirk. "You've got no reason to be so worked up. You work for Iron Man, remember?" Silver's shoulders began to sag as a small smile appeared on her lips. She shook her head and became more herself as Tony watched her cautiously for a moment.
"Even when you're in trouble, you seem to have an irritating amount of confidence."
"You make that sound like a bad thing." Tony smirked and felt himself relax as Silver sighed and chuckled.
The elevator doors quickly slid open as Tony quickly stepped out and made his way to his workshop counter. Silver followed after him and glanced around. She took a few moments to truly examine his lab. It was spacious, a few sports cars being displayed around the room. His robots sat around randomly, beeping every so often and finally, Silver's eyes fell upon the suits. She slowly approached the six cased suits of armor and stared, enamored by the shine of Iron Man's armor. She placed her hand on the glass around the first case and bit her lip.
But the sight behind her had taken her breath away.
"Silver." Said assistant spun around but came to an abrupt halt as Tony stood before her, his Mark VII suit on save for his helmet. Silver blinked as Tony watched her approach him slowly. She stopped a few inches away as she stared at the light of his arc reactor. The genius watched her curiously as the 29-year-old stared at his life-support. He tensed slightly as he watched her carefully raise her hand up and place her finger tips on the glass of his reactor. It was almost like he could feel her fingers against him, then again, perhaps he could; the arc reactor had become a part of him years before.
Silver was hypnotized. She couldn't quite put into words how she was feeling. Seeing Tony as Iron Man was something else. She was anxious and enthralled all at once. The warmth against her fingers sent jolts through her arm, coursing through her entire body. It was almost like she was touching his soul. The arc reactor was his heart; it was a part of him. It was keeping him alive, keeping him breathing, keeping him around to make crude and obnoxious jokes. It kept him from closing his eyes permanently; at that moment, Silver realized just how fragile Tony really was.
And it terrified her.
Silver's green eyes slowly glided up and met Tony's gaze as his eyes softened. He quickly looked away, her piercing stare almost a bit overwhelming for him. He cleared his throat and motioned to his suit as he raised a curios brow at her. He smiled playfully as Silver smiled back to him slightly.
"What do you think?" he asked. He was curious as to what someone outside of Iron Man's circle thought of his suit.
"It compliments your figure so well," the copper blonde stated slyly as she smirked, Tony smirking back at her.
"Alright, here's the deal," Tony began. "You need to get a hold of Patchy, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent," he explained as Silver gave him a deadpanned sort of stare; Fury would be angry to hear that name.
"I'm going to take you up to the control room and you're staying there until the rest of the league of heroes gets here."
"What about you?" Silver inquired as Tony began pulling his face plate on.
"I'm dealing with the idiots upstairs."
Without warning, Tony's suit charged up and Silver's eyes widened with shock as he easily scooped her into his arms. She released a yelp as she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, chills running up her spine from the touch of his icy suit. She blinked a few times as Tony smirk at her.
"Ever flown before?"
"That has to be the dumbest question from you by far."
"You're in for a treat. JARVIS?"
"Right."
Tony's faceplate slid forward, his helmet now completely on. Silver blinked as she looked toward the window. Her eyes widened as she watched the glass slide up, granting them access to the sky. Her stomach got caught in her throat as her muscles tensed. She squeezed around Tony slightly more as the man began to hover over the floor.
"Prepare for lift off."
Silver wasn't sure when she started screaming. Everything had happened so quickly that she hadn't even noticed her voice. The wind whipped past her and it was almost hard for her to breathe as she and Iron Man flew up toward the sky. It was refreshing though. She had never felt so alive in her entire life and as she held on to Tony, almost laughing as her fear dissipated into pure joy, she had realized that even through the stress of her job and the fear of living with a super hero, there was nowhere else she'd rather be.
She was flying for Christ's sake!
"Thanking for flying with Stark's Airline, hope you enjoyed the trip," Tony said as he carefully landed on the floor, Silver blinking a few times and taking a few breaths. She released a breathless chuckle as the billionaire gently helped his assistant to her feet. She turned to him and sighed, the adrenaline was disappearing and her dread returning. The man began to float in the air again as his thrusters went off. Silver took a few steps back as she watched her boss.
"Get a hold of Fury. Get him here as fast as you can!" Tony yelled over the roar of his thrusters. "You'll be safe here!"
"What about you!" Silver asked as Tony smirked from behind his helmet.
"I'm on the clock!" With that, the man zipped through the window, the glass sliding shut upon his departure. Silver frowned for a moment before she quickly approached the control room's computer system, glancing back at the oval shaped table in the middle of the room.
"Be careful, you moron."
"Sir, I've locked all access ways to the control room."
"Nice work, buddy."
Tony flew around his tower as he approached the top floor; his floor. "Alright, where are these bastards?"
"The first group has just approached Ms. Livingston's floor. The second is trying to gain access into the system through Mr. Banner's lab and the last two seem to be traveling through the elevator shaft in order to get into your personal lab." Tony blinked as he raised a brow, flying through his already broken window. The 35-year-old glanced around his now destroyed home and shook his head as he grumbled about having to refurnish his place. He carefully landed on the floor as his boots crushed the shards of glass into dust. He shook his head and quickly searched through his floor, confirming that nothing had been taken. He thought for a moment as he made his way toward the elevator.
Last time he had checked, he hadn't pissed anyone off…then again, he might have. The Avengers had grown since their first battle against the Chitauri, but something about this felt personal.
Walking up to the forced open elevator doors, Anthony stared down and shook his head before he dived and began flying smoothly through the shaft. He span in the air and dipped through the opened metal doors. He landed on the marble floor with a thud and he blinked as he caught sight of two men in black and ski masks standing at the mouth of the hallway. He rolled his eyes as he shook his head in disappointment.
"Is there no originality in villain outfits anymore?" The two thieves stiffened as they looked up at Iron Man. He gave them a smug look, though it went unseen by the robbers, and he lifted his hand up, motioning for someone to attack him.
"Who wants some of this?"
With absolutely no trouble, the two men went down, Tony shaking his head, not noticing the three others coming out. He looked over and sighed as he turned and faced them. "You know, you're lucky my assistant's not here to see her room look like this." Within seconds, Tony had flown up to the man to his left and grabbed his arm, tossing him a few feet back and into the kitchen counter, knocking him on unconscious; the man to the right stood no chance.
After dealing with the last one, Tony initiated the thrusters in his hands and boots, zooming through and making his way down the elevator shaft. "JARVIS? Where am I heading?"
"Sir, the second group of men is still in Mr. Banner's lab."
"They're lucky Bruce isn't here to unleash the other guy." And to be quite frank, so was he.
Tony forced his way through the shut elevator doors and didn't waste a moment to check his surroundings. He flew himself into the man standing over Bruce's desk top, knocking him a few feet away and unconscious. He then landed and turned as he looked back at the four others standing around the room. Before he could make a snarky comment, the former playboy watched as the four surrounded him and then he took notice to the small pads on them men's fingers. He watched as they stuck their hands out towards him and his eyes widened as sparks began to light.
"Sir-" JARVIS had no time for warnings as Tony's suit began to short-circuit. His eyes widened as he found himself losing control of the suit and winced as he felt sharp jolts course through his body. He fell to a knee as he surges grew stronger and his body began to tremble from the pain. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the urge to curl up in a ball. His suit completely powered off and after a few more agonizing seconds, the pain disappeared and the shocks gone. He took a few minutes to gather himself as he looked up and glared at the four men watching him carefully without a word. He narrowed his eyes as he stood up, his suit still powered off.
"You asked for this." Without a warning, Tony swung his fist and punched the man to his left in the jaw. He watched as the man released a feral scream and flew into the wall, an imprint of his body left in the concrete. He then ducked, avoiding a failed attempt of an attack from the man behind him, and gave the attacker a right hook, the man crumpling over in pain. Standing tall, Tony looked back at the other two, the men shaking with fear. He marched hauntingly toward them and they immediately turned to avoid the man. He shook his head before he grabbed a man by the back of his collar. He effortlessly tossed the thief over his shoulder and into the ground, a groan filling the air.
"Where do you think you're going?" Tony asked dangerously as the last of the five sprinted toward the elevator. Tony blinked as his suit began to turn on, his A.I.'s voice echoing through his helmet.
"You have gained power back."
"Good to have you back, J," Tony said as he narrowed his eyes at the last man. His thrusters began to light up as he zoomed through the room and elbowed the man in the gut before he could leap down to his escape. The man yelped and immediately fell to the ground, no longer awake.
"Sir, I hate to interrupt, but it seems the last two groups have entered your lab."
"Got it," Tony said as he jumped up and began to soar through the elevator shaft. "What's happening?"
"I'm afraid they are attempting to wear your suits." Tony's eyes widened at that.
A line had just been crossed.
The rage inside of Tony bubbled inside of him as he made his way to his lab. His voice had been lost but he if had been able to speak, the things he would have said could have brought shame even to the humblest of people. He approached the lab in mere seconds and glided through the already opened door. He landed on the ground and froze as he watched six men trying to slip into his suit.
It felt wrong. Those suits belonged to him. As the arc reactor had become a part of him, so had the armor. He had spent hours on each of the individually, he had spilt blood with those suits, he had lost friends. Those random thieves had no right to even look at the suits, let alone wear them and use them. He hadn't spent most of his later life grueling over those suits so they could be stolen and used against him. They had changed him; they had brought people into his life that had changed him. As he watched his very first Mark suit light up and stare at him, his heart dropped and the flashbacks began. The nightmares returned for an instance and the voice of a friend he had never forgotten echoed through his ear.
Don't waste your life.
"When I made these suits, they were a one size fit all type of thing," Tony finally said, his suits of armor powered on and ready to go. "So, what do you think? I know, they get a little tight around the thighs but they're pretty comfortable, right?" Tony's playful tone instantly disappeared as he took a dangerous step closer.
"I suggest you boys take those off before you hurt yourself."
"Sorry, Stark," the man in the Mark VI suit snapped. "You're not our boss."
"Suit yourself," he said, mumbling, "no pun intended," under his breath. He opened and closed his hands as he shook his head.
"Let's dance then."
