Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers nor do I own any of the characters associated with the franchise.
Silver wore a blank look on her face as her head leaned against the glass of the window. Her green eyes had lost the spark they usually had as they stared out at the people on the streets walking through and going about their business. She had been sitting there and watching from the hotel room they were staying at for hours, waiting to be debriefed once more by S.H.I.E.L.D. Several agents had arrived only an hour or so after the incident on the rooftop, and although it had looked like a malfunction issue on Tony's part, the man knew it wasn't. Fury himself hadn't come to the scene. According to Agent Sitwell, the man had been preoccupied with some other matter at the time. So, once Agent Sitwell had arrived—that was when the interrogations began.
The copper blonde closed her eyes as she sighed, pulling the blanket around herself tighter, shivering; she was freezing. The woman nearly jumped out of her skin when the door to the room opened, revealing an exhausted looking Pepper. Silver smiled as the strawberry red head looked over at her, the expression on her face changing completely from tired to sympathetic.
"Are you alright?" Pepper asked as she rushed to the blonde's side, taking a seat beside her and pulling her into a tight embrace. Silver chuckled as she nodded her head with a disbelieving sort of look on her face.
"I am. Somehow I survived that," she stated as she clicked her tongue, trying to fill the silence; she was out of her body at the moment.
Pepper's gaze softened as she smiled, pulling away as she placed her hands on the young woman's shoulders. "Tony wouldn't have let you go so easily." And somehow, that one statement had brought Silver much comfort.
"How was it?" the assistant to Iron Man asked, referring to the questions from S.H.I.E.L.D. Pepper shook her head as she ran her fingers through her hair.
"Long."
"What did they ask you?"
"What happened. Where I was, what I was doing, who I was with and if I thought this was a planned attack." Silver nodded her head at that as she glanced to the door; Tony had been gone the longest.
After saving Silver from plummeting to her death, Tony had flown her back to where everything had started. They had landed on the rooftop, and after making sure the assistant was stable, the genius immediately began to deal with the arc reactor. People were still in a frenzy, but most had already escaped and had gone down to a safer area; the mysterious stranger had disappeared as well. Tony had been quick with putting out the fire and stopping the explosions, but once he had finished that he began searching for what the problem had been with the reactor. Before he could finish his work, S.H.I.E.L.D. had arrived, ready for questioning.
Immediately, Tony had been swarmed, escorted out with his suit still on. He had very little time to really react, though he was sure to grab Silver and bring her with him before he'd been whisked away. Silver was still recovering from the shock and fear, and whatever was happening around her had been ignored completely. It was all really a blurry memory when she looked back on it.
Suddenly, the door to the hotel suite swung open, Tony now out of his armor. Both Silver and Pepper stood to their feet, watching as the billionaire huffed and mumbled curses to himself before he shut the door. He looked up and stopped, meeting Pepper's teary-eyed gaze before he smiled.
"Hey, Pep."
"Oh, Tony!" Pepper quickly walked up to her friend and held him tightly in her arms as Tony hugged her back in return. He closed his eyes, happy to feel her in his arms once more; they were all still alive and well.
"What have you gotten yourself into this time?" Pepper whispered fearfully as Tony's smile faded away, a far more serious expression appearing on his face.
Tony didn't know this time.
Pulling away, Pepper sighed as she smiled, recomposing herself. Tony gave her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before he watched his former assistant grab a file from the table top and hand it to him with a less enthused look on her face.
"They've pulled out of the deal," Pepper said gently as the man behind Stark Industries read through the papers. Silver watched silently from a distance as the emotions washed over Tony's face all at once. "They believe that what happened to the arc reactor was a malfunction in the system—" The CEO of the company winced at the way Tony's jaw locked shut, the man tossing the folder on to the table and heading over to the fridge; he needed a drink now more than ever.
"That wasn't some systematical error," Tony stated as he grabbed the glass bottle of scotch and began pouring himself some. "I checked the wiring to the reactor a few hours ago, and everything was in perfect shape."
"What are you saying then?" Tony looked up, Silver speaking up for the first time since he had entered the room. The man's gaze softened as he set his glass down, deciding against the sip his lips yearned for.
"…Whatever happened up there wasn't an accident." Pepper and Silver exchanged anxious glances before looking back at Tony. The reels in the genius' head turned as he stared off into the distance with a stern look on his face.
Today's the day that I begin to ruin your life. And much to Tony's dismay, the stranger was keeping to his word.
"I'll do my best to try and get damage control with them," Pepper said as she grabbed the file from the table and held it close to her chest. "For now, you need to work on calming the press down. I'm sure S.H.I.E.L.D. has some thing for you to say," the red head said reassuringly as Tony merely nodded, Silver looking back out the window and down at the crowd that had formed by the entrance of the hotel.
Walking up to the man's side, Pepper stood in silence for a moment, Tony avoiding her gaze. She smiled softly before she leaned in for a gentle peck on the cheek. "Please, be careful, Tony." And without another word, she exited the suite.
Tony and Silver stood unmoving in the still of the moment. Neither knew what to do or say. Everything was still so fresh and so confusing. Tony was still trying to piece together the mystery of the man who had seen him and Silver was still trying to recover from the entire incident all-together.
Finally, after a long few minutes, Tony turned with his glass in hand and began to walk over towards his assistant. The blonde looked at him and watched as he stopped in front of her and held the glass out to her. "You look like you could use this more than me, Porcelain." And with a quiet and short laugh, Silver took the glass and had a long swig from it. Tony smiled at the way her face wrinkled and scrunched from the burning as she swallowed the ember liquid.
"Good?"
"Good," Silver replied back after releasing a cough. The man before her nodded as he stared down at her, an unreadable expression upon his face. Silver said nothing as she turned to look out the window before sitting back down in her spot on the couch.
She had said very little since they had been collected by Sitwell, though Tony couldn't blame her. After the trying day she had been through, Iron Man was sure she needed some quiet time to herself. Still, there was a burning inside of him, a spark that urged the man to do something—to try and make her smile. Because seeing the blank and solemn look on Silver's face was just unnerving. She was usually smiles and laughs, with the occasional grimace or irritated look; not sadness and fear.
"…You going to be ok?" Tony inquired softly. Silver blinked as she looked up at the man with a slightly surprised look; she appreciated the man's efforts.
"…I don't know," she replied back honestly as she took another sip from the glass. "…I'm just…well I'm just not used to all of this."
"All of what?" the brunet asked.
"Chaos."
That was what Tony's life truly was. Since the beginning, it had been nothing but messes and destruction and sadness and anger. There was nothing truly normal about Tony at all. There never really had been. That is, not until he had met Silver. She was consistent. She was an anchor in his rather dysfunctional life. And even though at first neither seemed to get on well, they had grown on each other, and she had never given up on him—not even when he had given up on himself.
"…I never realized this was all a package deal with being your assistant," she said playfully, though there was little life in her words. Tony tried not to wince at that as he stood just a few feet away. She was like a flame; too close and he would get burned.
Having nothing else to say, Tony cleared his throat as he placed his hands in his pant pockets. "I'm sorry."
Silver sat stiffly in her spot as she slowly looked up at Tony to meet his apologetic face. She blinked, still trying to deal with the slight surprise she was feeling from the man's words; never before had he said sorry to her. The copper blonde watched as Tony shook his head and closed his eyes. She could tell he was struggling with himself and it was rather unlike him to be so flustered and sincere, and it was almost endearing.
"I know this isn't exactly how you imagined your life to be. Life with me tends to be that way," Tony stated as he gazed into her green eyes. He watched as Silver finally revealed a smile full of life, the brightness in her eyes returning. She stood to her feet as she pattered her way towards the man before wrapping her arms around him and leaning her head against his chest. Tony stood stiffly in her embrace for a few seconds, having not expected that reaction from her, before he relaxed and hugged her back. He held her tightly in his arms, almost as if he would lose her if he didn't. The warmth from his arms eased Silver's racing heart as the glow of his arc reactor shined through his dress shirt.
"It's ok," the 30 year old said gently, Tony's gaze softening as he rested his cheek on the top of her head.
There she was, in his arms. No longer was she falling to her death, and no longer was he gazing into her eyes full of fear and regret. She was right there. Standing in his arms. She was still breathing and she was still moving.
And at the end of his wild and unexpected day, that was all that mattered.
"Ehem." Blinking, the two quickly stepped away from each other, Tony turning and relaxing as a familiar redhead stood in the entryway with an amused expression on her usually stoic face.
"Natasha!" Silver's eyes widened as she watched the woman walk further into the suite.
"How did you—" And then she remembered; that was Black Widow she was talking to, so of course the woman would have no trouble getting in without being detected. "Never mind."
"What are you doing here, Mary Jane?" Tony asked with a derisive tone in his voice as the spy merely ignored Tony; she had gotten good at that over time.
"You doing ok, Silver?" the woman asked as the assistant forced a smile across her lips.
"I think I've had better days." Natasha smiled at that as Silver chuckled before a serious atmosphere fell over the three.
"Fury sent me as soon as I finished up my last mission," Black Widow began as she set the bag she had been carrying down. "He wanted me to oversee this and make sure this debacle was dealt with accordingly," she explained as Tony scoffed.
"When did you become a part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s janitorial staff?" Natasha shot Tony a stern look, though he seemed completely unfazed by her gaze.
"When did you become incompetent?" the female spy shot back as Tony stiffened, his eyes hardening.
"What happened to the reactor wasn't an accident."
"Whatever the case is, what's done is done. For now, you need to keep a low profile." Silver frowned as she glanced over at her boss, the man releasing a sigh as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"When do you think we'll be able to head back home?" Silver asked hesitantly as Natasha gave the woman a sympathetic stare.
"I'm not sure. If this was a planned attack on Tony, it won't be safe for you to be traveling," the agent stated evenly as the man turned and glanced out the window. "The best thing to do will be to lay low and disappear for a few days."
"You do know who I am, right?" Tony asked with an exasperated look. "You think I'm just going to sit around and do nothing?" Natasha took a seat on the bar stool by the counter as she shook her head.
"You don't have a choice, Tony," the spy stated evenly as she looked over at Silver. "Fury's not positive, but I'm sure you know that whoever is behind this could be linked to the attack at the Avengers tower," Natasha explained as Silver's eyes widened. As she looked over at Tony, the copper blonde realized that the man had already pieced that information together long ago by the knowing look on his face.
"If that's the case then this was definitely not an accident and whoever attacked you will show up again. So until S.H.I.E.L.D. figures this all out, you and Silver need to stay out of limelight." And that was what had won Tony over.
Looking over at Silver, the man could see it all in her eyes. Though she was composed on the outside, in her eyes, he could see she was hanging on the precipice of sanity and total terror. Because he had seen that same gleam in her eyes in himself long ago. And he could remember those feelings all to clearly to that day.
There was no way he'd make her feel the way he had all that time ago.
"…Three days. And then we're out of here," Tony stated as Natasha nodded her head, standing to her feet.
"Three days. I can make that happen." And Natasha would make sure she did, because she knew that Tony wouldn't go for more than that.
Standing to her feet, the spy nodded as he looked over at Silver and smiled. The assistant smiled back before watching the red headed woman head to the door. "I'll be back to check up on you. Don't be surprised if Fury gives you a call." And then she was gone.
Silver frowned as she glanced out the window, heavy thoughts weighing her down. She looked up and watched as Tony took a seat beside her, one hand rubbing his forehead while the other reached for the glass, taking a sip of scotch he had poured. Closing his eyes at the way his throat burned, the billionaire sighed, leaning back on the couch. He glanced to his left and watched silently as Silver joined him, her green eyes meeting his brown ones before they both averted their gaze to the ceiling.
And there, they sat. Quietly staring up at the white ceiling and letting the silence fester around them.
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