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(edited as of December 2021)


Chapter One.

"Hey, have you seen my jeans?"

"You have, like, eighteen pairs of jeans, Al, you're going to have to be just a bit more specific."

"You know the ones I'm talking about, Leese; they're blue, they're ripped at the knees, high waisted… and you're wearing them."

Lisa paused the cup that was half-way to her mouth and the two young women looked down at the pair of jeans she was wearing as Allie stood, quite pantless, in the kitchen with half her barista uniform on. She had gone through the trouble of getting up early to go for a shower and had hoped to go in early but with her most comfortable pair of jeans gone missing, she had wasted nearly seventeen and a half minutes looking for them.

"I thought these were a bit small…"

"I literally have my name stitched into the tag."

"Cut me some slack, none of us ever do the washing and take whatever we find," Lisa sighed turning around to place her cup down on the counter top, a small clink sounding sharp to Allie's ears as she unzipped the jeans and pushed them down her legs, unhooking each foot to throw the denim to Allie, picking up her coffee again as Allie slipped into them.

"Ah, nice and toasty," Allie sighed, wriggling into them and rolling up the cuffs near her ankles. "Maybe for your first day off you can get around to the whole monster pile of laundry lurking in the corner of the kitchen."

"Nuh-uh," Lisa scoffed, taking a sip of the bitter beverage before her features morphed into one of disgust, making Allie give a snort.

"You don't even like coffee, why are you drinking it?" Allie asked, pulling a face, nose scrunching up as she clicked the kettle on, nearly gagging at the smell of the bitter drink. Not the best idea to work in a place that serves a majority of coffee when she couldn't stand the smell of it; but, then again, beggars can't be choosers.

"Because the rest of my co-workers drink it," Lisa replied, but moved to pour it down the drain, nonetheless, placing it beneath the tap to rinse out the remnants with water before placing it back beside Allie's cup, placing another tea bag into her now empty cup.

"Wow, I never figured you to be such a social climber."

"Doesn't matter because I'm applying for that place at Stark Industries," Lisa replied, leaning back against the counter, not caring about her lack of pants. At her word's, Allie paused her actions of reaching for her own tea bag, her eyebrows lifting up on her forehead.

"Really? I thought after the last rejection you said, and I quote, 'Screw old man Stark, he can eat my entire ass,'" Allie said, pulling her voice up an octave to worsen her impression of her friend, resulting in the other girl hitting her lightly on the arm but there was a smile tugging itself up in her lips.

"Oh, hush, I've gotten over it and it wasn't a rejection," Lisa stressed, pulling a frown at Allie's words. The kettle clicked, and Allie gave a hum, picking it up to pour the boiling water in each cup, nearly filling it to the brim before placing it back onto the stand. "And I'm applying for a completely different position."

"Oh?" Allie inquired, quirking an eyebrow as she stirred the teabag in her own bag, taking her time and not all too worried about not being early for work. After working there for nearly five years, she had learned to relax and not be as uptight. Despite customer service being the absolute worst, her manager was a pretty decent guy. He was only a couple years older than her and the two of them were oldest members of staff as well as being the longest there compared to the others. Lisa gave a nod of confirmation, puffing her chest up in pride.

"A position opened up for Pepper Potts' assistant."

Allie stopped her stirring and stared at Lisa with a deadpan look on her face, all trace of amusement slipping from her face. "You're kidding."

"No, I'm being serious! After so many years – "

"No, I mean, you're kidding that you're applying, right? The last time you were an assistant, you cried after your first day because you got the coffee order wrong."

Allie still remembered the fateful day and how red-eyed and pink nosed Lisa had been, burying her face and shame into her hands as she mumbled that she would never, ever work as an assistant ever again.

While amusing at first, it hadn't been as funny hours later when Lisa continued to mope around the apartment, murmuring and cursing herself. The job had lasted an entire week before Lisa cracked beneath the pressure and quit without a second thought. Lisa's face screwed up as if she was remembering it too but gave a shrug and took her own cup in her hand, breathing in the smell of her lemon tea.

"This is different," Lisa sighed, trying to get her point across and seeming disgruntled when Allie gave her an amused hum, blue eyes bright as Lisa rolled her own. "She's a woman, I'm a woman. I'm older and that was four years ago!"

"Right," Allie commented, dragging the word out as she grabbed the milk from the fridge, pleased with having the tea bag soaked in the water for long enough, giving it a deep brown, nearly black, colour before she added a splash of milk, watching it turn a dark beige colour.

At her actions, Lisa gave a retching sound.

"That's disgusting," she shuddered, and Allie smirked, bringing her drink to her lips and taking a gulp, making a sound of satisfaction as she pulled the cup away and smacked her lips.

"Nothing like the perfect, and rightly made, cup of tea in the morning," Allie teased, turning away from her friend to finish getting ready in her room, one hand holding it by the base so as to not spill anything on the floorboards.

"It's wrong and so are you! And stop leaving cups in your bedroom! I had to drink from a bowl last time!"

Allie gave a wave over her shoulder in response, letting her friend's words fly over her head as she entered her room, where the sight of her hoarded mugs lay dotted around the place. Home, sweet home.


So close to home time, yet so far away.

"Okay, say if – "

"Kyle, I honestly don't think it's within me to not care even less, because I don't care."

"How can you not care about the Avengers?! They've saved the world – twice!"

"Because, quite frankly, I don't centre my life on other people."

"I literally saw you live tweeting the new Keeping Up With The Kardashians season premiere in the backroom last Tuesday."

Allie paused her wiping of the counter and turned to face the younger man, a spotty faced nineteen-year-old who had been working here for a few months; the place was nearly empty, slowing down at around four as it usually did, and the morning rush had left them all in a tizzy, feet aching and backs sore from standing up all day.

Not that Allie minded; being busy meant that she had no time to look at the clock, which meant more time passed without her having to look at the clock.

It made a weird sense and the last time she had checked the time crawling until home time had been three and a half hours ago.

Allie wrung the towel in between her hands and placed it on her shoulder, resting her elbow against the marble counter top and nearly sighing at relief with being allowed to rest.

"Oh, so you saw that, and you still haven't followed me? Wow, okay, I see how it is. That's fine Kyle, next time you need a fake note to get out of P.E, maybe get your mom to actually sign it."

"The reason I didn't follow you is because you haven't approved my request to follow you?"

Allie paused, mouth opening as if to defend herself before she decided on giving a shrug in response. "Anyway, the Kardashians are different, okay – they're icons, Kyle, icons; style icons, make up icons – "

"Please, stop saying icon."

" – and are plain up iconic. Does a guy with a hammer show me an outfit of the day? Did Captain America get his shield at Forever 21? Does Black Widow have an amazing range of lipsticks? No? Didn't think so."

Kyle rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up in defeat as he stalked away to clear the tables down before he left for the night; Allie had still an hour left before she was gone but she knew that by the time she left, the rush would pick up again. After years of wheedling and begging and kissing up to her manager, she finally got out of the night shift and hadn't been on it for a year and a half. Her days off were amazing too and she almost didn't hate her job.

With a tired sigh, Allie continued to wipe down the counter, nose scrunching up at the small puddles of cold coffee and tea alike that had accumulated throughout the day. The sharpie that was in the front pocket of her apron had been placed in without its cap and a large ink stain was bleeding its way across the green front, though thankfully not onto her pants. Her hair was frazzled, feeling far too thin and stringy despite the shower in the morning due to the amount of times she had pushed back the strands of hair that escaped her ponytail, hooking every wisp that sprung free behind her ear before it bounced back out.

The place was relatively quiet; save for a man clicking away on his laptop and a middle-aged woman nursing her third coffee, constantly looking at her phone for the time, there was no one else. In this part of New York, far from the hubbub of the centre and the milling tourists and city dwellers, there was not much to see and, hence, not much to do. The usual customers were other workers, up at eight, arriving at nine for their usual before they were off. For some people, she could ramble of their order without hesitation.

This job, this life, wasn't what she had envisioned for herself, that was sure, but Allie knew her lack of options, knew the times that were settling around her and how they weren't exactly good for people like her. She hadn't been born in the country, her Irish accent made that clear, and she knew the pointed look people gave her, as if asking are you here illegally?

Oh, if only they knew, it made her nearly bark with laughter.

But, in the end, Allie knew that she had it better than others.

As she washed her hands, hoping to rid herself of the stickiness and sweat that covered her palms, Allie let herself entertain the impossible dream of going home, of getting a job she actually wanted to do and not spend the rest of her days smiling and asking strangers in her buttery, sweet voice Hi, what can I get for you today?

It made her shudder to hear how absolutely fake she sounded.

But she had to deal with the terrible cards life had handed her and she wouldn't be dwell on the past.

Checking the clock as she dried her hands, Allie let out a small raspberry as the hand inched ever so slowly towards the hope of home; she could find something to do, maybe help Kyle with the table tops or clean the backroom –

"Hey, Al? Your phone's been going off like mad back here," a voice called out from the staff room, indicating it was her manager, Francis. Allie frowned, placing the towel back down as she finished wiping her hands on her apron, little droplets being soaked into the strands.

The break room was small and couldn't fit everyone at once if they piled in; there was a wall dedicated for hanging up coats and bags, another wall where the small fridge lay, sitting on top of a makeshift counter that also held a microwave, an assortment of plastic dishes and plates as well as some cups and glasses that had no longer been deemed fancy enough for serving customers.

Francis was slurping up the last of his noodles, balancing his phone on one knee that was playing an episode of a show Allie couldn't name or place, one ear phone dangling out of the man's ear as he nodded towards where her phone was, indeed, going off.

With a frown, Allie picked it up, unsure of when she had taken it off do not disturb or who was calling and texting like mad.

Well, there's only one person.

Sure enough, Lisa's name came up on the screen, the call that Allie was about to answer disappearing and the brief moment allowed her to scroll through the notifications, thumb nearly aching as she rushed through messages upon messages upon messages, texts and missed calls popping up on the screen.

Letting out a low whistle, surprised at the number of notifications, Allie went to unlock her phone before Lisa's name popped up again, buzzing in her hand. Allie thought to maybe let it ring out, just to tease her roommate, but then the fear of it being something serious hit her heart and her thumb pressed the green answer button.

"Hello – ?"

"Why the Hell haven't you been answering?! I've been trying to call you for the past twenty minutes!"

Allie frowned and turned to Francis who gave a thumbs up, popping the other earphone back into his ear, effectively giving her the privacy Allie wanted. With a sigh, Allie turned away, shuffling herself into the corner where the coats and bags were hung, keeping her phone close to her ear, and dropping her voice slightly so as to not be over heard. Phones were usually strictly prohibited, save for lunchtime and if you could sneak a peak without Francis noticing. She supposed he was letting it slide because of how slow it was and because she was near the end of her shift, anyway.

"Because I've been working, Leese. I had my lunch at one and I couldn't find any time to check my phone," Allie explained, keeping her phone steady as panic began to bubble in her blood, worry encasing her heart as she gave a quick glance to check if anyone was paying attention to the conversation before she dropped her voice to a raspy whisper. "Why? Has something happened? Is it - ?"

"No, it's nothing like that," Lisa replied, sounding a lot calmer but her voice shook, as if on edge or as if she was near tears. It didn't curb the panic that was eating away at Allie's insides. "I did something stupid, Al, and I need you to get home as soon as possible."

Allie glanced over her shoulder once more to sneak a peek at her manager, who seemed too enthralled by his show to care about what was happening in the room. Allie bit her lip, knowing that Francis would let her go, but that didn't mean she wouldn't feel bad; he was a good guy and he had always been nice to her, so she tried not to take advantage of that. But if it was something serious

"Okay, listen, stay calm and… and I'll try to be there as soon as I can, alright? Just don't get your knickers in a twist," Allie sighed, whispering another goodbye into the phone that wasn't returned and the line died, leaving her in silence. The fact that Lisa hadn't told her what happened, made her fear for the worst. Her teeth grabbed a hold of her bottom lip, gnawing and chewing on it in hope to curb the anxiety brewing in her stomach, knotting her guts, grabbing a hold of her.

She turned slowly, eyes on her manager and tried to find the words, finger tapping on the back of the phone that she held to her chest now as Francis turned his eyes upwards, away from his beloved T.V show and tapped a finger on the screen, pausing it as he pulled the earphones out. Allie pulled an apologetic and awkward face at her manager, one that Francis knew all too well. He gave a sigh, standing to his feet and throwing the container of his noodles in the bin as he placed his phone back on the counter, wrapping the earphones around it to secure them in place.

"Alright, Lawrence, do whatever you need to do, but don't even think about asking for a sick day in the next month," he said, giving her a pointed look that wasn't too all too chastising and her face melted into one of sincerer gratitude, turning around to slip her coat from the hook it was hanging from, her bag slipping over her neck and nestling at the crook.

"Thank you so much, Fran, I owe you big," she expressed, reaching up to give him a pat on the back as a show of appreciation before she turned to make her way out.

"And you're on clean up duty for the next week!" Francis hollered after her, knowing full well that it was no use and Allie knew he was teasing; they were both long past being simply co-workers and had become, somewhat friends.

Plus, he liked to torment the newer staff members and make them do what he had already spent years doing.

Builds character, he would say, watching the new kid mop up his fifth spilt latté that morning.

Allie rushed out the door, thinking of calling an Uber but shook her head; she didn't have time to wait around for someone to pick her up. Trying her luck, Allie walked along the footpath, phone in her hand and off silence in case Lisa called again before she spotted a lone taxi. Letting out a breath of relief, Allie moved quickly to snap it up, sliding into the back seat of the car and fumbling with her purse as she told the driver the address.

She tried once to call Lisa but was put through to voicemail and the terror that was threading itself through her muscles tightened, taking a hold of her heart as her thumbs stumbled across her keyboard, sending another text that Lisa did not reply to. If this is you giving me a taste of my own medicine, it isn't funny, Leese.

She remained unanswered.

As she drew closer to home, Allie thought of all the different possibilities and scenarios; maybe Lisa had been brutally murdered, or maybe she was being held at gunpoint, maybe it was all a ruse and she was found out and –

"Here we are," said the driver, turning around to face her and pulling her from her thoughts. With a blink, Allie realised the car had stopped and she pulled the first note in her purse from its holdings, not really caring how much as she told the driver to keep it, which he seemed more than happy to do.

Her slammed against her chest, the brute force of it all making her think it was going to burst from behind her ribcage, the stampede of a thousand horses drumming against her fragile bone. Her palms grew slick and sweaty, tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth as she took the stairs, not bothering to wait for the elevator that didn't work half the time.

Would she find her friend dead? Dying? Hurt? It made her nearly cave in on herself as she found the door bearing the numbers of her home, unlocked and no sound coming from within. With a brief hesitation, an eternity of a moment, Allie threw open the door, chest heaving with the deep breaths she was dragging into her lungs, pooling and hoping to drown the panic.

There, sitting not ten feet away with the laptop opened up in front of her, was Lisa, dressed in Allie's sweats and the same top she had on that same morning, but her hair was a mess, eyes red and teeth gnawing on her nails. Their eyes met, and Allie slumped, the relief of it all flooding through her before her eyes narrowed.

"You give me shit about not picking up my phone and then you do the same? You nearly put me into an early grave, Leese!" Allie exclaimed, less annoyed but more worried about the state her friend was in. Lisa shook her head, closing her eyes and burying her face into her hands and shoulders shaking. Whatever frustration that had been in Allie, slunk away and she moved down beside Lisa, not even remembering to take off her shoes and jacket.

"Oh, Al, I messed up! I screwed up so bad!" Lisa cried, voice muffled because of her hands and Allie placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping to soothe Lisa as she wailed. Allie could only assume the worst; a dead family member who Lisa never made up with, accidentally spending too much money online, sending a horrid chain-mail to her co-workers and boss (again).

It was enough to make Allie worry, trying to calm her friend in hopes of finding out what was ailing her.

"Hey, whoa, what happened?" Allie asked, voice soft and soothing as her eyes began searching her for any sign of injury, eyes flashing to the laptop in front of her, but it held nothing but a confirmation of a sent e-mail. Allie placed her other hand on Lisa's free shoulder, trying to turn her to face her but her friend resisted, preferring to sob into her hands and hide away from the world. "Leese, hey, listen to me: tell me what happened."

Allie grabbed her friend's hands from her face and pulled them away, forcing the other woman to face her completely, sniffling and nose pink. She's definitely been crying for a while before I got here, Allie noted as Lisa tugged her sleeve over her hand, dragging it beneath her running and snotty nose as she slumped, staring glumly at the laptop that was whirring on the coffee table in front of them.

Allie always felt they were too young for a coffee table – and none of them even drank coffee, but Lisa insisted it was for the aesthetic. Lisa's bottom lip wobbled, red and raw from being chewed on and she took a breath, as if trying to speak, but it caught in her throat and her voice croaked out.

"I… I went to make my resume and I pulled up one I made ages ago because I couldn't find the other one," Lisa explained, voice rough and rusty, as if she hadn't spoken in eons; Allie raised her eyebrows, indicating for her to continue her story as Lisa took another unsteady breath, gulping before she resumed. "I was making my e-mail and I guess I didn't save it properly because I sent… I sent the wrong resume to Pepper Potts!"

It took a moment for Allie to take in the words, blinking before she frowned at her inconsolable friend and shifted on the couch, glancing at the laptop screen that glared brightly thought the room.

All other possibilities were dashed from her mind and all the fear and panic that had been consuming Allie left her in a rush, a sigh past her nose before she remembered the state her friend was in. "Oh, it couldn't have been that bad, Leese."

"It was from when I worked at Chuck E. Cheese!" Lisa wailed, falling into the couch cushions with a thumb, hand dangling over the edge of the couch and if it weren't for the muffled sobs, Allie would have assumed that Lisa had managed to suffocate herself, and she would have to break the news to her friend's parents their daughter died by living room aesthetic. Feeling almost awkward, and quite relieved that this had been the emergency and not murder or kidnapping, Allie patted her friend's trembling back.

She knew Lisa was upset, was damn near hysterics as she was prone to be, but there was a smile tugging itself at the corner of her lips as she continued to comfort Lisa.

Friend first, teasing later, Allie chastised herself but couldn't quite take the voice seriously. Allie gave a cough to push away all the potential teasing she could have done and to force down the laughter in her throat.

"There, there, Lisa," Allie consoled, resting back against the couch. She still couldn't quite believe that this was what had made Lisa pull her from work; Lisa was inclined to the dramatics and, while amusing at times, could be draining at others. Well, at least she got off early from work, which wasn't too bad, even if Francis threatened her with clean up duty. With another, final pat to the back, Allie continued, quite tired and drained. "Maybe you can just send the right one and she'll never know."

At her words, Lisa flew up, hair wild and springing from the messy bun plopped on top her head, eyes wet and tears tracking down her friend's cheeks, the action so sudden that it made Allie start, eyes wide and unblinking at the sight of how much of a mess Lisa was. She was always someone who looked her best and seeing her… not looking her best made her quite concerned. "No! This is my chance, Al! I have to get this perfect! I can't have her seeing that resume!"

Allie dropped her hand and a sigh bled past her lips, toes working to push the shoes still on her feet off. Her bones felt heavy, bogged down by a day of working and standing, hair a mess from where it sat tied back at the base of her neck. A nap was what she needed, a nap and maybe a cup of tea and another shower. Lisa gave another sniffle as Allie let out a breath that had been building up in her chest. "Leese, really, it'll be fine – "

Suddenly, Allie was grabbed by the collar of her jacket, pulled from her slump and into a rim-rod, back straightening seating position and her nose was pressed against Lisa's, the other woman looking almost furious, mischievousness lingering in the corners of her bloodshot eyes, Lisa's black curly hair was catching in Allie's eyelashes and she tried to blink the strands away, wide eyed at how serious her friend had gotten.

Whatever weepiness that had cursed Lisa a few minutes ago, was now lifted and Allie could see the determination, could feel how tightly Lisa gripped to her coat, making Allie feel as if, at any given moment, her nails were going to tear through the material.

"Listen, I have one shot at this, Allie, one shot, and I am not messing this up. Not again, at least," Lisa seethed without the anger and Allie paused for a moment, listening to the other woman's heavy breathing before she slowly reached up to release herself from Lisa's grip, moving carefully so as to not spook her as she tugged herself free, eyes sharp and untrusting at Lisa's words.

"And how, pray tell, are you going to achieve that?"

Suddenly, the mischievousness made sense and Allie gulped, dread unfurling itself in her chest. There was a glint in Lisa's green eyes, a sharpness that Allie didn't quite like to see.

Despite the red eyes, messy hair and wetness on her cheeks, Lisa seemed more together, more collected. "I think you mean, how are you going to achieve that?"

Allie's eyebrows furrowed together briefly at Lisa's words, knotting together in confusion before her eyes darted to the laptop then back to Lisa's gleaming green eyes, her head giving a short curt nod as if to affirm Allie's thought. Allie's mouth dropped open, in shock and somewhat hurt, and she shook her head, brown wisps tickling her cheeks and forehead.

She couldn't believe this, couldn't believe her and the fact she expected Allie to – ! It was ridiculous, and Allie felt an anger boil in her veins, tingling beneath the thin, pale skin. Her jaw clenched, and Allie turned away, scoffing.

"No, no, I'm not doing it, Lisa," Allie stated, refraining from using Lisa's nickname so as to show how serious she was. She did not need this, did not leave during her last hour of work to help Lisa in her quite dreadful plan. Allie stood, slipping her bag off and shrugging out of her jacket, kicking her shoes beneath the coffee table, which was something she knew Lisa hated but she did it specifically to annoy her roommate.

She wanted bed, tea and a shower, not this and she turned to leave the room when Lisa gave a shout of exclamation.

"Allie, please, you know how much this means to me!" Lisa pleaded, her voice cracking and threatening to return back into her blubbering self as Allie draped the jacket over the back of the couch – another thing she knew the other girl hated. Allie gave a huff, turning to cross her arms over her chest, her blue eyes meeting with Lisa's emeralds. Her fingers drummed on her bicep, rolling her weight to one leg and assuming a rather disapproving stance, eyes narrowed.

"And you know what could happen, Lisa! It's just a hobby I do, and there's no guarantee that I could do it without getting caught!" Allie defended, feeling that annoyance prickle beneath her skin as it always did whenever this was brought up.

It was a hobby, it hadn't been something she ever made a living out of. Her brother had done that, and she didn't want anything to do with him, or anything that would make her remember him because in the end, that's why she had picked it up.

She had been young and lonely, and her brother wasn't the worst in the family; when he wasn't there, she had missed him, and she found herself not missing him so much with numbers and codes. But this wasn't like the movies and there was only so many times she could get into the school's website before she grew bored.

Of course, she went above and beyond than what Allie should have; she was moving from harmless fun to slightly incriminating and then when life turned around, she decided that it wasn't fun anymore.

And so, Allie left it in the dust, focusing on her future when her past crumbled behind her. She grew up and away from things like that; while it might not be the most dangerous thing in the world, or the most serious thing, it was something that Allie didn't want to do – when she was sober, at least.

It was all just a stupid game, but times were different now; governments were cracking down, there were people and companies who had state of the art security systems because everything was online now. Getting into places was getting trickier, even if she could do it. There was more security in the age of technology, with three step verifications and sending e-mails and notifications when people logged in on different devices.

"Allie, please," Lisa whispered, knotting her eyebrows together and voice dropping further. Tears were glimmering in her eyes. "Please, please, please. I know you can do it; remember two weeks ago? You did that, and you were drunk. I know you can do this, and it's just an email address, nothing serious. I hate myself for asking you this, and I know what could happen, but please, please, just this once, this one time… I'm asking you to help a bitch in need."

Her ending words made a breathy laugh leave Allie and the corners of Lisa's lips turned upwards, the ghost of a watery smile appearing at the edges. Allie stared for a moment, unsure and taking a hold of her bottom lip again and trying to weigh the positives and negatives in her mind; she supposed that, worst comes to worst, they're not really going to do something bad to her just for deleting an email that contained a wrong resume.

Allie could do it, yes, but that didn't mean she should. It was Pepper Potts! She was the CEO of a massive corporation with superior technology and systems than what Allie was being asked to work on.

For all she knew, all activity was being monitored at all times.

She simply couldn't risk it, not risk her situation, for this, for Lisa. Allie's voice died, and Lisa shifted on the seat, tears in her eyes swelling even more. Allie wanted to scoff at the show but couldn't, she felt caught, trapped.

Taking her lip between her teeth, her eyes darted to the laptop, glaring at it as if it were a venomous snake, mouth wide open and awaiting for her to stick her hand in its jaw only for it to snap down. Maybe what happened two weeks ago was a fluke, or maybe they were waiting for to strike again; but why would they be snooping in Pepper Potts' email? They'd be more inclined to keeping the top secrets of the company, well, secret.

No, no, she couldn't believe she was actually thinking of doing it!

What would happen if she got caught? What would happen if they found out? It made her heart leap in her throat, swelling and choking her, breath unable to seep into her lungs. Allie knew the risks, knew that it was stupid and knew that she shouldn't.

But…

It was just one, small little e-mail and it wasn't even that serious! It was a stupid mistake she was deleting, nothing more, nothing less. She wouldn't even look at anything else just to be sure. It could be a simple get in and get out, type of situation.

No one would ever have to know.

It was preposterous, ridiculous, and Allie couldn't believe she was doing this.

With a sigh, Allie pinched the bridge of her nose between her index finger and her thumb in hopes of pushing away the headache that was nestling in her temples.

I'm such an idiot and I'm going to regret this.

Dragging in a deep breath, Allie let it pass through her lips before she gave a small nod of confirmation, pulling her gaze up to meet Lisa's hopeful one.

"Alright, fine. But I am never doing anything like this ever again," Allie snapped without much bite and Lisa let out a laugh of relief, slumping back into the couch as Allie began rooting around in her bag for her phone wire, slipping her phone from the pocket of her jacket as Lisa placed the laptop gently on her friend's knees, Allie letting out a grunt of thanks before she connected the two devices to one another.

"Have I ever mention you are the best friend ever in the entire world?" Lisa cooed next to Allie, not bothering to stop the large smile splitting across her face.

"Only when you need something," Allie retorted as she began to work, wincing at the brightness of the screen while straightening in the seat, wishing that she had worn her glasses. Lisa shuffled in closer, elbow resting behind on the back of the couch and her thumbnail clutched firmly between her teeth, a habit Allie knew was done out of nervousness.

Her leg began its involuntary shaking, as it usually did while Lisa watched her, eyes darting back and forth between the screen to Allie's face, as if awaiting the dreaded confirmation that Allie could not, in fact, get into Pepper Potts' email. But still, she worked, learning to lean back into the couch and a state that could be considered relaxation settled over her. In her mind, she knew she should have stopped, should have said I'm not risking it, just apply for another job.

But she couldn't, and Allie tried convincing herself that it wasn't that big of a deal, that she was blowing it all out of proportion and that she was the one being dramatic. It was an e-mail, it wasn't as if she was stealing nuclear missile codes.

It wasn't hard, per say, but she felt the nervousness of it all tingle beneath her finger tips, so much different compared to last time from what she could remember. Last time, she had been drunk on the alcohol and on the buzz of proving herself, showing off and making them see that she was better than the Avengers.

Then, it had taken her thirty-seven seconds and she could do it in less time sober, but she wasn't stupid, wasn't brave enough without the drink. Her teeth chewed on her cheek, causing it to dip in as her stomach began to ache for food. There was silence, complete and utter silence save for the clicking of her fingers on the keyboard and Lisa's, rather annoying, loud breathing. Once, her eyes flickered away to stare at the door and a fear enclosed her, one that made her think at any given moment the police and Pepper Potts herself were going to kick her door down and arrest her then and there.

But nothing happened; it all passed uneventfully, and Allie blinked as she paused in her typing, staring at the screen, her lack of movement pulling Lisa from her day dream and straighten with alarm.

"What? What is it? Did you not get in?" Her voice was high, sharp with worry and Allie opened her mouth once, twice, a third time before she dug her voice up from the base of her throat.

"I did it," she stated, half in disbelief, half in surprise. It wasn't that she didn't think she could do it (there was no doubt on God's green Earth that she could have) but still, Allie had expected it to be… somewhat harder to sneak into Pepper Potts' email; the woman was a CEO of one of the biggest, if not the biggest, companies in the world and it had taken less than half of an entire minute.

She frowned, almost wishing there was a challenge before she shook her head at her idiocy; she should just be glad that she managed to get in without raising an alarm. Caught up in her thoughts, she didn't stop Lisa as the other woman snatched the laptop from Allie's lap, frantic in her scrolling and not caring about anything else; the less Allie knew, the less the both of them knew, the better.

"There! I got it!" Lisa exclaimed, sagging with relief.

"Hurry and get rid of it, I want to get in and out as quickly as possible and I don't want to leave anything behind," Allie murmured, stretching her legs in front of her and moving to place her feet up on the coffee table before her heels slipped off the edge, causing her to pout; she always hated being too short to rest comfortably and Lisa would not allow her to pull the furniture closer.

"Ugh, look at this," Lisa groaned, shoving the screen back towards Allie. It took Allie's eyes a moment to focus, the pain behind them due to her glasses being buried somewhere in her room, and she snorted at the picture of Lisa, eighteen and pimpled, her black curly hair pulled hastily into a mess ponytail and her green eyes set beneath a pair of thin eyebrows. The grin she wore was crooked and the braces gleamed back at the camera. Beside the picture, lay the basic information of Lisa (My name is Lisa Jane Turner and I like to think of myself as an excellent worker!) , all done in a rather unprofessional font.

Comic Sans, always the worst.

"Yikes, now I see why you wanted to delete it," Allie snorted, and Lisa clicked her tongue, settling back into her seating position and placing her feet on the table, making Allie narrow her eyes. Show off.

"I'm just going to delete the Hell out of this and make sure this picture never sees the light of day ever again," Lisa murmured to herself, all previous weeping and sniffling forgotten as she clicked the delete button, clicking on the trash to make doubly sure it was gone from the inbox and crisis averted.

With a huff, she handed the laptop back to Allie to finish off, not caring to watch her anymore as she logged off, brain too tired to think properly anymore or even care. She yanked the wire from the laptop and felt relieved that everything was done and dusted. She placed the laptop on the table, closing the screen shoot and the two were no longer bathed in the artificial, blinding light and a collective sigh left the both of them, all worry and crying forgotten.

The two sat in silence for the moment, Lisa slumped with her legs up on the coffee table, Allie slumped and her feet sitting awkwardly on the ground.

"Leese?"

"Yeah?"

"If you don't get this job, I will personally send that to every potential employer or boyfriend that ever comes your way."


"Rhodey, you're not listening – "

"I am, Tony, I am listening."

"No, you're not, because if you were, you wouldn't keep cutting me off and you would have heard me say no to painting my armour red, white and blue."

"I'm just saying, some good publicity is needed after the whole Sokovia thing."

"The whole Sokovia thing? You mean when the evil robot nearly destroyed an entire city by lifting it off the ground and into the air and killing dozens of people?"

"Yes, that thing."

"And you plan to solve the bad publicity… by having me show up for a Fourth of July parade with not only my suit painted red, white and blue, but to have fireworks installed?"

"It'll give you something to work on! And I don't want to do it by myself."

"Sorry, you're breaking up! I'm going through a tunnel!"

"You said you were at a café!"

"I am and it's under a tunnel! Bye, Rhodey!"

The line closed, and Tony let out a small breath that had been building up for quite some time; his hands were stained with oil and the rag he wiped his palms on was doing more damage than good; with a sigh, he tucked it atop of his shoulder, leaning back in the chair he had been perched on, staring up at the ceiling.

He knew Rhodey meant well, he did, and Sokovia had been a complete and utter shitshow, to say the least. It weighed on Tony, weighed on his conscience, his heart, dragging it down, down, down into that pit of guilt that had been bubbling away for the past seven years. It was acidic, burning his insides away and soon he was going be just like his suit: empty on the inside.

His face scrunched up, knowing the path that his thoughts were leading him down and he turned away, twirling on the chair to tuck his legs beneath the desk in order to face his computer; Sokovia was still very much in the news, despite it being over two months and Tony had been pooling his money and time into the cleaning up effort and the excavation of sites. It was the least he could do after Ultron, after destroying a lot of lives in such a small space of time.

His head hurt, that headache beneath his eyes burning and chiselling away at his skull as he stared at the screen, the brightness too high for him; the workshop was beneath the Compound, far away from the living quarters and all other sections of the place. It was for him and him only, to work in, sleep in, hide away in, always perfecting his suits. It had a strictly no visitors policy – save Rhodey and Happy.

Pepper didn't visit.

She never did.

The cold cup of coffee lay beside his hand as he drummed his fingers on the work top; it was late in the evening, even the sun could pass through the small windows Tony had installed and it was leaking through, orange and gold fingers catching on everything. He hadn't slept, and it was taking a toll on him; some nights were easy, others… not so much.

He liked to keep busy, liked to fiddle and tinker with whatever he could get his hands on. The other Avengers, save Thor, kept themselves in the living quarters, none being brave to venture into Tony's personal space, though Natasha had gotten in once or twice just to make sure he hadn't died without anyone noticing. It made him laugh and sometimes he would crawl from the workshop, eyes squinting and looking worse for wear to join the others. He tried not to be unnerved by Wanda, tried not to think of how he saw his friends dying and the universe consumed by all nothingness, a blackness shoving itself down his throat with slimy fingers and strangling him, a noose. Sometimes, she smiled and didn't seem so frightening.

But, he had it under control, it was all under –

"Boss."

Tony gave a sigh, once again twirling in his chair to smile at no one in particular, knowing that the AI had eyes on him at all time. He was quite thankful, really; he didn't want to go down the road of his thoughts again – save that for the nights when he couldn't sleep.

"Yes, my dear?"

"There's been another breach."

Now that was interesting.

Tony perked up, straightening in his chair as he dug his phone out. "Where, here? S.H.I.E.L.D? Stark Indus – "

"It was Ms. Potts' personal email."

Tony felt his heart slam in his throat, everything pulling to a screeching halt and whatever had lingered of his playful mood was dashed away, a frown tugging his lips down. There was a coil winding its way around his chest, choking his lungs and making it feel he was too small to fit all his thoughts inside his head as he began to push his phone back into his pocket. "And why, pray tell, am I being notified and not Ms. Potts?"

"Because you stated that you wanted to notified of another attempt made by the same person who breached security last time."

Ah.

That did make sense.

"You also wished to be notified at any time if Ms. Potts' safety was in danger."

Tony pursed his lips before he stopped tucking his phone away, reluctantly looking at the screen. It lit up, none too harsh on his poor eyes. "And is it the same person?"

"I could not trace the location last time, but they have used the same wired accessory. I have managed to trace the address. Shall I send it to you?"

Tony stared at the screen, quite curious about the whole situation. The last breach had resulted in absolutely nothing to be concerned about – from his point of view anyway. No information had been taken, it had lasted a total of twenty-eight seconds before all trace had vanished.

What concerned him more was at the rate the person had taken to get in; thirty-seven seconds to get by and get in, thirty-seven seconds to put Tony Stark's security to shame. Maybe it was because he was embarrassed at being upstaged, or maybe it was because no one had brought it to his attention, but nothing had been said of the breach at all so it seemed that only Tony and F.R.I.D.A.Y knew of the situation. And this time, it had taken them less than half a minute.

Nothing had been taken, nothing had been scanned or stolen and it made Tony, undoubtedly, curious. He leaned back in his chair, finger tapping on the back of his phone as her pursed his lips; while a chance of whoever this person was being high dangerous was there, it could also just be someone playing games with him. He had done it enough when he was younger, testing the boundaries and doing all it took before he finally got caught, before he got some form of attention.

F.R.I.D.A.Y remained silent, waiting for his reply that she most likely knew. The past few months had been filled with court briefings and paper work and watching the news and seeing so much death and devastation to the point he through the T.V would burst at the seams with it. This… this seemed almost harmless compared to what he had faced before. And he was running out of distractions for the past few days.

Tony thought for a moment, weighing the positives against the negatives before he tossed them both out the window.

"Sure, why not. I needed a day out anyway."


This is set in a world where there are spaceships; who cares if breaking into security through ~hacking~ isn't done in the right way?

Thanks for reading!